“I was told he had heard about it and agreed it was revolutionary. He wanted to back it and develop the technology immediately, but Global Energy wanted exclusive rights to it, and I balked at the idea. I became uncomfortable with any company wanting it to themselves. Instead I planned to present it at the energy conference here in Memphis. That was last week, and as you see, I didn’t make it.”
“But what made you not go?”
“I got a call in my office from Dr. Richard Blout, a physics professor at Brown. He was one of the founders of the consortium. He warned me that something was wrong. People were asking questions about the device and its capabilities, along with who had developed it. Dr. Blout wasn’t comfortable with the actions of Global Energy and feared for my safety and the future of the battery. He encouraged me to go public as soon as possible. I decided to take an earlier flight to Memphis to get myself setup for the conference.” Unbeknownst to the doctor, the earlier flight, by a stroke of good fortune, or dumb luck, allowed him to avoid the same men who would later blow up his lab.
“When I got to Memphis, I checked my phone. I had twelve or so messages, many from members of the consortium, all telling me my lab had been destroyed. This was when I decided to send Margaret the message and the only copy of the battery’s final plan. I had to lie because I really didn’t know what was going on.”
“Did you have the design on those computers in your lab?” Galveston continued to question.
“Nope, nothing. The preliminary designs were on a secure server at Dartmouth, the final one was sent to Margaret, and a copy is right here.” He pointed to his head indicating it was in his brain.
We each processed the information. There were so many more questions, but we didn’t have time for the answers. Every minute we stayed was putting us closer to danger. At this point, a danger we weren’t prepared to deal with. All of a sudden we heard a loud rap on the door.
-Chapter 29-
Galveston sprung to his feet. We had left Elizabeth’s heavy armory back in London because airport security didn’t look kindly on those sorts of things. He positioned himself close to the door and reached into the closet, grabbing the closest thing he could find, the foldable metal tray with straps that you set luggage on. Again, three long raps on the door occurred, and Elizabeth instinctively grabbed Dr. Sloan and pushed him back into the bathroom. Galveston held up the tray, reached for the door handle, and quickly swung the door open.
“Ahh!” Came a scream from the hallway. It was the maid, just trying to make up the room. We had given her a slight heart attack.
“Oh, sorry,” Galveston said, still holding up the luggage rack. “Uh, we just need some fresh towels.”
The maid nervously reached to her cart and handed them over.
“Thanks,” Galveston replied throwing the rack back into the closet as the maid immediately retreated and started for the next room.
“I think we’re a little on edge, don’t you?” Galveston remarked, closing the door.
“I’ll say,” I said sitting back down on the bed. “You know, we might have wanted to just look through the peephole.”
“Now you tell me.”
Dr. Sloan made his way out of the bathroom. “I think I would like to leave,” he said.
“I’ll go along with that. I’d rather not repeat that performance. Why don’t you gather your things. I’ll call down and get you checked out. Elizabeth will drive you out of here, and if it’s alright with you, to San Diego. She’ll keep you safe until we can get a handle on this. It’s time we let our FBI contact know what’s going on.”
I wasn’t sure how good an idea this was allowing someone who’s used to driving on the wrong side of the street to drive cross country. But Galveston assured me it was the best move. Elizabeth knew how to move someone secretly through much worse circumstances than we ever could imagine.
Dr. Sloan gathered up his suitcase and laptop as Elizabeth left to bring the car to the front of the hotel. I noticed him pick up the black box that sat on the table.
“Is that the battery?” I asked him as he put it in his bag.
“That’s it, the cause of all the trouble. A full working prototype, minus the software needed to run it properly,” the doctor announced.
“Was that the only one you made?”
“No, I have two other prototypes, version eight and nine, each one better than the other. They’re both close to the one I have, but lack many of the capabilities. Those were in my lab, however.”
Interesting, I thought. That might prove useful later, and I decided to keep it to myself for the time being. Galveston had enough to think about now.
After Dr. Sloan packed, we hurried him out the door and made our way to the hotel lobby. We produced a collective sigh of relief as we watched Dr. Sloan leave with Elizabeth and we followed, leaving for the Memphis airport.
The plane arrived at LAX well after midnight, and we crawled our way to the pickup area. Elizabeth left a message that they were safely in Dallas and would make the final push for San Diego tomorrow.
Jane had been nice enough to pick us up at the airport, and drove us back to San Diego. She looked healthy, beautiful, and rested. I hated to think what I might look like, or smelled like, but she gave me a long hug.
“I’ll call David and have him meet us face to face tomorrow at the office. He’ll be shocked at who we’ve found,” Galveston told Jane and me.
We arrived back at the office after 2 A.M. Galveston said his goodbyes and told me to meet him tomorrow at 10 A.M. He left Jane and I at the office alone.
“Would you like me to follow you home?” I asked, truly worried about her safety after such a long, late night drive, and not the possibility of seeing the inside of her home.
“Oh you don’t have to, but thanks. How about I call you when I get home?”
“That would be great. Oh, and Jane, would you like to go to dinner sometime?
“How about tomorrow night? I would really like that.” My heart flew, our first date.
“Great. I’ll talk to you in a little while. Thanks again for coming to get us.”
“Not a problem. I was actually looking forward to seeing you.” And with that my heart flew again. We said our goodbyes, and Jane gave me a departing hug before we made our way to our respective homes.
I slept well that night, after Jane’s call of course.
-Chapter 30-
I rolled into the office a little before 10 A.M. the next day. Galveston was already there and looking unusually tired. We had been going for two days straight, with no end in sight. Galveston had talked to May the night before, and he had agreed to meet us at the office. Alex had been working all night, pouring over the design plans and gathering information about Black Bear. He did this between cocktails, of course.
May arrived promptly at 10 A.M., alone. He was calm, cool, and collected, but I noted a little apprehension in him, that he knew something we didn’t. Galveston guided him into the back office, and I followed, closing the door behind me.
Without wasting time, May began moving into his line of questioning. “How did the London trip go? Were you able to get a hold of Margaret Sloan?”
“Yes, after cajoling Elizabeth we were able to find her. Margaret gave us the plans to the battery her father had sent,” Galveston told him.
“You did? Excellent. Where is it?”
“We have it in a safe place, but we ran into a problem.”
“A problem, what kind of problem?” May’s excitement grew.
“Black Bear made it there before us. We think they were after the same thing. Luckily, we found it and they didn’t. They tore up the place and were definitely in a hurry.”
“You guys did a good job. The government appreciates it and your work is done. We’ll handle it from here.”
“That’s it?” Galveston asked.
“Do you want something else? We had a deal and you completed it. The Bureau doesn’t need you further.”
“Are you sure? There isn’t something else? I mean, there isn’t a certain professor that you would like us to find in return for a new business proposition?”
“What have you done Galveston?” May questioned.
“You must have known I wouldn’t have stopped. We’ve taken things into our own hands.”
“Oh, God,” May replied flatly. “What do you want?”
“Just a new job, with pay, of course.”
May thought for a second. I was not a good judge of character, but I could tell May knew Galveston would want a piece of the action. A smile crossed his face as he realized his manipulation was working.
“We may need your help with some other things,” May told us, saying more with his demeanor than with his words. “We need to find the professor, that’s the first step.”
“Way ahead of you David,” Galveston said proudly. “We found Dr. Sloan, and we have him safe.”
May, I figured, would turn his look to anger or shock. Instead it turned to a state of glee.
“You found him and he’s safe? That is great news. Where is he now?”
“Not so fast. First, why don’t you fill us in on everything you know.”
“Fair enough.” May sat back in his chair. “I don’t know what Dr. Sloan has told you, but we have a suspicion that the head of a non-profit company called Global Energy was interested in Dr. Sloan’s battery. We narrowed it down to one person. You might have heard of him, his name is Weston Chase.”
Galveston shrugged his shoulders, but I perked up. I had heard of him and interjected my thoughts into the conversation.
“Yeah, he’s a self-made millionaire,” I said.
“Try billionaire. Chase used to run a company called Data Stream, and was one of the ones who revolutionized the way credit card and ATM transactions were completed, probably fifteen years ago. Chase has become more of a recluse in the business world in the last few years. He changed to a sort of philanthropist. About a year ago he started the Chase Foundation, and that is when he formed the not-for-profit company called Global Energy Enterprise.”
We sat glued to our seat as May continued. “We’ve known of some strange dealings going on in this company, Global Energy. We found out they had been contracting out to a security company for things they were doing overseas. My inside contact told me Chase was becoming increasingly concerned about security. Global Energy does projects that other organizations won’t touch in some pretty dangerous, unstable areas, physically and politically. My contact was concerned that Chase was using questionable ways to deal with security. He felt they were losing sight of the overall mission of the Enterprise and there might be some illegal activity going on.”
“Who is this contact?” I asked him.
“Dr. Richard Blout, a member of the Board of Advisors. He has been suspicious of Chase’s motives behind being involved in Global Energy.”
“Richard Blout? That’s the man who warned Dr. Sloan about people asking questions before he went to Memphis,” I told May.
“It was Dr. Sloan’s battery that got Richard suspicious. He said Chase became very interested in it.”
“So let me get this straight. You guys got information that some illegal things may be going on in these other countries, and this security company may be using Global Energy as a front?” Galveston asked.
“Pretty much,” May answered slowly.
“Who is the security company, if I don’t know already,” Galveston asked, knowing the answer.
“Black Bear, of course,” May answered nonchalantly.
The statement sunk in and Galveston knew his hunch had been right, and the pieces were correct.
“It all fits David. I recognized the Adamanthea file at Genesis. It is very similar to how Black Bear names their covert operations. It has the same structure as I remembered, except it was missing the team name designation. The numbers that followed the name are still a mystery. It’s definitely Black Bear coding then.”
“I agree. Black Bear is involved,” May replied. “That is why we needed to see what was in Adamanthea file and from what we’ve seen it looks like its plans for a production line.”
“Dr. Sloan has three prototypes, and they have two of the inferior versions. They must have somehow figured out that the prototypes weren’t the final version and found out, as you guys had, that Sloan sent the finished plans to his daughter,” Galveston surmised.
“It may have bought us some valuable time that they didn’t get the plans. I’m sure they have a contingency for finishing the battery without it, probably to find Dr. Sloan at any cost.”
“What do you think Chase is up too, and for that matter why would Black Bear be involved?” I asked, curious at his thoughts.
“You know, I don’t have a clue. Even though I’ve been able to get more information about Chase, he still holds his cards close to his chest. At least we now have Dr. Sloan and what he sent his daughter.”
“Can’t you just get a warrant to check out Black Bear or Global Energy?” I asked, figuring it was as easy as shown on T.V.’s “Law and Order”, or “CSI”.
“No way, no real proof. We can’t just go barge in there, plus a judge would never approve a warrant based on the conjecture and speculation we have. He’d laugh us out of his office. That’s why I needed to employ your help.”
“I’d say we were grateful, but then I’d be lying,” Galveston said laughing. “So you want to hire us again? You know we can do things that you guys aren’t allowed to do.”
May looked us over thoughtfully. He was putting his job on the line with this decision. If things went bad, he would be out a career, but if he didn’t and went charging with the full force of the FBI, then all the players would scurry to their holes.
“I don’t know. It’s awfully risky. How do you feel about this Roger?”
I was shocked at getting an opinion in the matter, and thought about it for a few seconds. I could be done with this whole operation and free and clear with a few extra bucks in my pocket, but then I thought of Margaret and Dr. Sloan and our encounter together. This was one of those moments where you could walk away and no one would think differently of you, or you could take the challenge and stop an injustice in progress.
“I’m crazy for thinking this, but I agree with Galveston. We’re already in this too deep and I’m afraid Dr. Sloan is in grave danger. I think it is now our responsibility too, so I’m in.”
May took another second to think it over. He had many options to think about, and he knew we were right. The Bureau would have a much better chance at success with people that wouldn’t have their hands tied.
“We do need your help. We’ll give you an extra payment, I’ll make sure of it,” May said.
“Excellent. Roger will write up the proposal. I’m sure you’ll be able to deliver.”
“I don’t think it will be a problem. Let me get the go-ahead from the top. They are extremely interested in this, but I’ll keep your names out of it. They wouldn’t want to know anyway, in case something goes bad.”
“I think we have a deal then,” Galveston announced and plastered a smile on his face. He had made it back into the game.
-Chapter 31-
A break was needed after our lengthy discussion, so we all decided to take a bathroom and water break before we continued. The timeline was swirling in my head, and the primaries in our little play were varied and many. Right now it was difficult to keep it straight, mainly because we didn’t have a clue what Black Bear, Chase, or Global Energy were really after, or how they might try to get it. We gathered back in the office after our bladders had been relieved and Galveston wasted no time getting back to business.
He showed a renewed sense of energy. This would indeed call on all his skills, and I would need to step it up and contribute any way I could. It should have been a five or six person job, but all we had was each other. Only Galveston and I would be in the field. I was still unsure of Elizabeth’s ultimate role in our little drama.<
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“What if Chase isn’t involved in this? What if all of this is independent of him and just Black Bear is involved?” Galveston asked to May.
“I’ve had similar thoughts and with good reason. Blout said Chase has made many overtures about getting Dr. Sloan safe and found. Chase even contacted the Bureau in Boston about the professor’s disappearance and has pushed them to act as quickly as possible. He even offered to hire private investigators. I’ve had no indication that Chase even realizes Black Bear is involved, or what they are up to. He has told Dr. Blout that he wants Dr. Sloan back safe so he can release his discovery to the scientific community.”
“It doesn’t sound like he’s involved,” I interjected.
“No, but it does sound like Black Bear may have found out about this invention and decided to pursue it themselves. That makes much more sense. Who in the organization is pulling the strings, and how did they keep it a secret?”
“That’s a good question. Dr. Sloan should be here today, maybe he has a thought. I’m planning on having him stay with Alex at his home. Alex has plenty of room and a nasty little security system,” Galveston informed May.
“I would like to talk to Dr. Sloan.”
“Agreed,” Galveston replied, but he knew he needed to protect his friend May, and his job. The less information he knew right now, the better.
“Keep me informed. I’m going to call you tomorrow after I look into all the members of the Board at Global Energy and Black Bear. Someone is not playing by the rules.” May got up from the chair and effectively adjourned our meeting.
“Thanks David.” Galveston said as May patted me on the back as he left us alone in the room.
Just then the phone rang. It was Alex.
“Hey, I think you guys better get over here. I’ve been doing some peeking into the Black Bear system, and I think you need to see this.”
“What is it?” Galveston inquired.
“I think you better just get over here. You’re not going to believe this.”
Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 01 - Flapjack Page 13