by Speiser, Zvi
The car tailing him disappeared at some point, only to be replaced by a different car that continued the surveillance. The people following him were serious, and had invested quite a lot in their actions, Tom thought. Apparently, it’s very important to them that I show up for the meeting. However, if they were putting so many resources into tracking him, it was possible that Kate and the girls were under surveillance, too. This thought perturbed him. Kate was supposed to take a good look at the faces of the people boarding at the Van Buren Station and compare them to the people getting off the train at Manteno. In any case, it was a good idea for his family to be far away from him.
The automatic driver brought him to a typical middle-class residential neighborhood, featuring well-tended duplexes. The street resembled other streets in the neighborhood, and a parking spot opened at the exact moment the vehicle navigator announced that they had reached their destination. Bob’s Pub was located at the beginning of a small high-end commercial strip that was a natural fit for the bucolic street.
Once his eyes had grown accustomed to the dimness inside, he discovered a small, intimate pub in which he immediately identified Gaya, who was awaiting his arrival. She was the only patron in the pub, which contained only a handful of tables, and her inviting gaze instantly made everything clear.
She was of Asian descent, probably Japanese, pretty but not particularly beautiful. She seemed ageless, the way many Asian women appear to Westerners, somewhere between thirty and fifty. Her face displayed no makeup, and she was wearing an athletic outfit: leggings, sneakers, and a sweatshirt, over which she wore a light jacket. She seemed ready for her afternoon jog. She definitely didn’t look like the type to turn men’s heads. However, her appearance was pleasant and her face friendly and unintimidating, in complete contrast to her manner of speaking on the assistant.
Her gestures as she rose and extended her hand to be shaken were flowing and catlike. Tom was surprised by her firm and powerful grasp, which differed significantly from the gentleness and fragility he expected from an Asian woman.
“Sit down, please,” she said, sitting down across from him. She definitely seemed accustomed to issuing orders. “I’ll get right to it,” she said, in the voice of someone used to being obeyed. “As I’m sure you’ve realized, we’ve researched your personal history thoroughly. We’re aware of your financial affairs and, of course, have been following your work closely. We have no doubt that a scientist of your caliber could go very far in his research.
“What we’re suggesting is combining your scientific development with an environment that would also contribute to your family’s standard of living. We’re offering you a job at a leading company with the best-equipped labs imaginable. You can establish a lab of your own there, expand and equip it as you see fit, with no limitations. You’d have absolute freedom in your work, so long as you focus on the company’s goals, which are not essentially different from your current areas of focus at work. Your initial salary would be exactly ten times your current salary. In addition, you’d be entitled to royalties for the products of your research. Some of the researchers working for us have happily substituted an additional half of a percent of royalties for half their salaries. We don’t expect you to give us an answer immediately, but we’d be happy to get one soon.”
For a moment, Tom felt as if his eyes were about to pop out of his face and that he had swallowed his tongue. A yearly salary of nearly two million dollars was definitely tempting, especially with the addition of royalties, which might yield him a lot more. Wow. What to do? In spite of his surprise and the appeal of the offer, he managed to avoid displaying his enthusiasm, and in a businesslike voice, thanked Gaya for the offer, adding, “I need time to think, of course. My work at the university is important to me in a way that goes far beyond financial compensation. I’ve rejected tempting offers before. How can I get back to you?”
“Don’t bother, I’ll call you,” she said, rising from her seat to signal the end of the brief meeting.
Tom had been an academic his whole life. He’d never been involved in business and had never had to fight for his salary conditions. Naturally, the events of the last few days had only exacerbated his anxieties. He couldn’t see himself waging battle and putting himself, and more importantly, his family, in danger for some study or other. Not to mention the generous bonus entailed in accepting the offer, a bonus that could secure his future and that of his children, to whom he was primarily and utterly committed. The new framework would still allow him to work in research, and anyone willing to pay such a high salary was guaranteed to employ him to perform lucrative scientific work situated at the forefront of technological development. It was true that his academic career would come to a halt. However, despite this, the price he would be paying seemed worth it, considering the returns.
Although his answer was obvious to him, he would not chase Gaya. He would let her call him. In the meantime, he had to call Kate immediately in order to stop her from fleeing with their daughters and urge her to return home. But perhaps he should wait a little, and first consult the most appropriate person?
Melissa answered on the first ring. Apparently, she was waiting for an urgent call. He wondered who it was from.
“Yes, of course, I’m waiting for you,” she responded to his urgent request to see her.
This time, he would tell her the entire story. It was odd that she hadn’t asked any questions when he had visited her on the day of the murder. He wondered what insights the conversation with her might yield. As he imagined her in his arms, he set out with a smile of expectation on his face.
The warm curves of Melissa’s body clinging to his entire length, her sensual lips, and the flick of her tongue in his mouth made him forget all his thoughts and plans. Only when their passion had abated and they were lying calmly in each other’s arms did the events of the last few days return to him.
His personal assistant sent Melissa’s assistant the pertinent sites regarding longevity enhancement, to which he added several brief explanations before moving on to focus on the details of his meeting with Gaya.
“I still haven’t told Kate anything. She doesn’t know about the offer I received.”
“How serious does this offer look to you?”
“I have no way to evaluate it. I don’t know who the woman is, what company she represents, or what her role there is. As long as I haven’t been offered a contract similar to what she described to me today, I’m not leaving my current position.”
“That seems to imply you’re interested in the offer,” she said slowly.
“Regardless of the work I’ll be doing for this company, am I entitled to reject such a generous offer, which could mean so much to my family?”
“There’s no doubt you have a duty to your family. But let’s not forget that they’re not hungry for food or lacking for clothing right now, either. The question is whether you’re willing to sacrifice an academic career that gives you plenty of freedom in return for work at a commercial company that will ultimately dictate the research you get to work on.”
“Is a wage earner with a family like me even allowed to refuse a yearly salary of two million dollars and an option for royalties on products I’ll develop, which are likely to prove commercially successful? It’s true, I’ve never thought of leaving the university, although I’ve seen a few people turn to commercial ventures and reap major success. Sometimes I’ve even felt a bit of envy, but I’ve never initiated any action in that direction. No, I have no doubt I’ll accept the offer, after looking into it thoroughly, of course. Assuming the offer is serious, I’m there!”
“I completely agree with you. I wouldn’t hesitate to accept an offer like that, either.”
“What do you think is behind it? Obviously, they could hire researchers of my caliber for a lot less. This offer reflects significant interest in my current research on someone’s part, and if you wa
nt to get into conspiracy theories, that massive interest may also have been the motive for the murder. Imagine that—I might find myself working for an institution that was directly or indirectly responsible for the murder of the security guard. How could I live with that? And while we’re at it, maybe all they want is to get me away from my work, at any price. They didn’t negotiate about the wage. They just put out an offer so high that I couldn’t possibly refuse it.”
“Don’t belittle yourself, and don’t be too modest,” she said with a seductive smile, as she held him tight and bestowed a lip-smacking kiss upon his mouth. “You’re unusually talented, and the university can’t afford to reward you financially the way it should. It is true, though, that a salary this high seems to imply that whoever extended the offer is specifically interested in you and your qualifications.”
“Could you sniff around and see what’s behind this offer, the moment we know who made it?”
“I promise to try,” she said as she draped herself over him, inserting her tongue into his mouth and thus effectively preventing him from saying any more. “Aren’t you in a hurry to get back home?” she asked.
“Kate took the girls to visit friends in Manteno. Considering the implied threat in what Gaya told me, we agreed she’d stay away from the house until things calmed down. We also agreed to suspend communication for a while. She’s not expecting to hear from me in the next few days. We have the whole evening and night to ourselves.”
“Wow,” Melissa cheered. “You’re sleeping with me tonight. I can’t remember the last time that happened. Do you want to order dinner, or should we cook our own meal?”
“I like the idea of cooking. It would calm me down and let me think. How about you?”
“That works for me, too.”
Chapter 13
Gerry at Home
Chicago, Sunday, July 20, 2036
Gerry was frightened when he opened his eyes and couldn’t see a thing. For a moment, he thought the blindness was a delayed effect of the accident. Then he noticed the dim lighting around him. He had simply slept for many hours and awakened during the night. He tried to sit up in bed, but couldn’t manage it. His entire body screamed with pain, and he gave up on any further attempt to get up. What should he do?
Apparently, his attempt to sit up and moans of pain woke Ramona up, or else she had not been sleeping at all. Within moments, she was standing by his bed, holding his hand. He tugged at her hand until she bent down, bringing her ear close to his mouth.
“I tried to sit up, but I couldn’t. My entire body hurts,” he whispered in her ear.
Ramona straightened at once, her face glowing with joy. She almost burst out into loud cheers. The depressing stammer was gone. Lucid Gerry, her life partner, was back. The accident hadn’t harmed his mental capacities.
“Shh,” he continued whispering. “Don’t react. Keep acting like before. Don’t show any indication of the improvement in my condition. I’m in danger, and that’s the reason for the mentally challenged speech I’ve been exhibiting since I woke up. We have to keep pretending until the threat is over.”
Her face grew immediately sober, and in a normal speaking voice, she said, “Don’t try to speak. You have to get some more rest.”
Just like that, his sharp-witted wife had understood instantly and joined the game of misdirection.
“I c-c-can’t s-sleep an-anymore. C-c-come lie wi-with m-me,” he said out loud.
Ramona snuggled in beside him, hugging him so that her mouth was just across from his ear. “What’s going on here?” she whispered.
Gerry turned his head slowly while Ramona lowered her head so that her ear was just against his mouth. “Don’t react with shock or change your previous behavior in any way, in spite of everything I’m about to tell you,” he whispered. “It wasn’t an accident. Someone tried to run me over.”
Ramona shifted and, while pretending to alter her position in the bed in relation to him, brought her mouth up to his ear and asked, “How do you know? Do you have any proof, or is it just intuition, which I’m not dismissing in any way?”
This time, it was Gerry who shifted slightly, tilting his face up toward her ear. “The vehicle that hit me was following me in the minutes before I stopped to buy some pastries at my favorite bakery. It stopped right behind me when I did, but started driving madly toward me the moment I left my car.”
Once again, Ramona moved subtly to whisper in his ear. “How did you see all that? Since when do you have eyes in the back of your head?”
Another execution of his half dance, half unconscious motion, and his mouth was next to her ear again. For a brief moment, he was nearly tempted to tell her about the unusual alertness and mental clarity he had been experiencing since he had first awakened after the accident, but he came to his senses immediately. She wouldn’t believe him, would think he had lost it and was hallucinating. She would then link this with what she might view as his newly developed paranoia, the stutter and the seeming confusion he had imposed on his speech and writing. In the meantime, it was better if no one knew anything.
“I don’t, but let me finish telling you this. In the last few days, I’ve been particularly suspicious. About a week ago, I got a strange assistant call I didn’t tell you about. The caller knew what I was working on, and apparently understood the groundbreaking nature of my work.”
“What are you talking about?” Ramona burst out.
“W-w-what’s wrong w-w-with you? I l-l-ove you,” he answered loudly. Ramona realized her error instantly and grew silent.
“I know,” Gerry continued whispering, “that you have no idea what I’ve been focusing on for the last few years. The truth is that I haven’t shared it with anyone. At first it was because I was having a hard time processing the conclusion implied by the observations. Only repeated testing convinced me that it was true, but then I began to fear the far-reaching implications of making it public. And no, I don’t intend to tell you about it, so you’re not an accessory to this secret. The less you know, the safer you’ll be.
“Anyway, the caller demanded that I delete all my work and avoid publishing it or talking about it. He didn’t explicitly threaten me with any retribution, but he sounded very assertive. Like the kind of person other people obey without asking questions. I think that what looked like an accident was an attempt to convince me to listen to the caller. I know you, and I know what you’re thinking. No, I don’t think the assailant tried to kill me. I believe that if that had been his intention, he would have succeeded. The fact that I survived and that, all in all, my condition’s not that bad, testifies to that.”
“What are you going to do?” she whispered.
“I’m sure the caller already took care to delete my work at the university. In my condition, I can’t do a lot without the proof contained in my work, so to a certain extent, he’s already achieved what he set out to do.”
He didn’t consider even for a moment telling her about the copy he had prepared and hidden away, and of course, he didn’t tell her that in fact he didn’t need a copy, due to his miraculous memory. He had to soothe his wife and convince her that he had succumbed to the caller’s demands and had given up his work in order to guarantee his well-being.
“In the meantime, I have to continue appearing mentally challenged due to the accident in order to make the caller feel at ease. We’ll think beyond that later.”
“Do we tell the truth to the kids or to our friends?”
“No way! My life, and perhaps other people’s lives, are in danger. I debated whether to even tell you, because by doing so I’m putting you at risk. Until things grow clearer, only the two of us can be in the know. In regard to the kids and the rest of the world, we’ll continue our charade, without even the slightest hint that might arouse their suspicion. We don’t know where the person who initiated the assault is getting his information, but if
he managed to find out what I’m working on, although I was very secretive about it, he must have channels of information that shouldn’t be underestimated.”
“So what do we do in the meantime?” she asked.
An excellent question, he thought. What do we do? How would he gain access to a computer without exposing himself and undermining his image as someone who was brain damaged to the point of near retardation? Was it worth the effort and maybe the risk of reclaiming the copy he had stashed in his private toolbox at the Metalwork Division workshop?
Metalwork was one of his active hobbies. At the beginning and end of each major assignment, he would spend many hours at the workshop, where he had access to most of the metal processing machinery. The copy had been hidden in the handle of an old, battered screwdriver.
And if he did get his hands on it, where would he hide it? Retrieving the hidden copy would save him plenty of reconstruction work, which would also require an effort to conceal.
And what to do later? Should he publish the work, knowing that this was equivalent to a death sentence for him and perhaps for Ramona as well? Or should he avoid publishing it, as the anonymous caller had ordered? In short, what should he do?
“To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I can do under the circumstances I’m in. I think that during the next few days, we shouldn’t do anything. I have to calm the assailant down. We have to think of a way to let him know about my compromised condition and my head injury. He has to believe the damage is permanent, and then maybe he’ll leave me alone.”
Apparently, the effort and the sustained speech had exhausted his energy. His breath grew measured and even, and he fell asleep.
***
Ethan called while Ramona was busy with household tasks. He didn’t want to bother her, but just wanted to ask how things were going at home. He knew Gerry had been discharged; he had gotten an update directly from the hospital. He would be happy to visit Gerry at home at any time.