by Kenneth Eade
Later, Seth awoke to Natasha’s call. “Where were you last night?” she asked.
“I went out with Dave – he was trying to ‘bond’ with me.”
“Boy’s night out, huh?”
“Yeah. Why don’t you come over later? We can watch a movie or something.”
“Actually, I’m invited to my Aunt’s house tonight for dinner. Tomorrow?”
Seth was saved. He could spend the whole day scheming.
Once Seth got going, he put the clay mold together, prepared the metallic casting material, and, when it was ready, poured it into the mold. When the casting material had set, he pulled apart the clay mold and had a perfectly molded copy of the Abloy key. He filed the rough spots softly with a round file. Now the only question was when he could use it.
37
Day after day spent watching Dave’s apartment from the coffee shop was tedious. This spy work definitely had no glamor in it. Seth kept a log of all of Julia’s comings and goings.
One thing that he noticed from all of this surveillance was that, even though she was an average looking girl, Julia was obsessed about her hair and makeup. The multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry suddenly made sense to him. Narcissus should have been a girl.
Julia did not have a set time for her beautification activities, but she was religious about getting manicures and pedicures, having her hair done at least once a week, and, of course, shopping.
It was a puzzle for men how women never got tired of shopping, even if there was nothing to buy. In Khabarovsk, the quality of shopping was limited, yet Julia engaged in it regularly as if it were part of her work instead of a pastime. If he had doubts before about whether or not she and Dave were married, the time she spent on shopping dispelled them all. The problem with her shopping habits is that they were less predictable than her trips to the beauty salon. The time she spent in the malls was erratic – one hour here, sometimes two hours there. Sometimes she went to the malls every day, and sometimes she spent days without visiting them at all. But one thing was for certain – his window of opportunity to get into Dave’s apartment would have to come during one of Julia’s shopping sprees.
38
Seth finished up looking through all Bill’s files and emails. He had discovered official internal memos from the FDA during the early 90’s that had been hidden from the public, warning of the dangers of genetically modified foods, during the time the FDA was formulating their policy of, “if it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck, even though it may be a duck with the genes of a turtle.” How would they account for the fact that humans differ genetically from chimpanzees by only a little over 1%?
Seth pored over the warnings of the FDA’s own scientists, in over a dozen memos. There was Dr. Edward J. Matthews memo warning of the dangers of production of high levels of toxicants by genetically modified plants, requiring further testing; Dr. Shibko’s recommendation of toxicological studies and in vitro digestion studies, both of which were never performed; the Division of Food Chemistry’s memo concerning safety issues of marker genes; and Dr. Guest’s memo to Dr. James Maryanski, raising toxicological and environmental concerns; the need to demonstrate that the genetically engineered foods were safe to humans; the effect of one genetically engineered organism in a mono-diet as animal feeds and its effect on animal health; the need to evaluate the toxicology of genetically engineered plant byproducts; and the need to evaluate the use of antibiotic resistant marker genes. None of these tests were ever performed. In fact, no testing was ever performed by the FDA on GMOs.
There were memos from Dr. Maryanski on labeling GMOs (which is not required) and from Dr. Maryanski and Dr. Sheldon on the potential dangers of the use of antibiotic resistant marker genes; memos on the presence of stomach lesions on rats tested for tolerance to genetically engineered tomatoes; and comments from the USDA recommending generations of safety testing; as well as memos from the Dept. of Human Health and Safety recommending the same.
Finally, Dr. Pribyl’s memo summed up the essence of FDA policy that there were no differences between traditional breeding and transgenic manipulation, no unintended effects without scientific testing, and no danger of transference of genes into unintended species; all of which should have been required. Dr. Pribyl criticized that policy, saying that it read like a biotech “Redbook” instead of a scientific document.
All of these concerns were secretly pushed under the rug by the FDA when it formulated its policy, under the direction of Bill Penner, of course, that GMO foods were generally recognized as safe and did not need any safety testing. The proponent of each GMO food merely had to submit reports to the FDA saying that their food was generally recognized as safe. And now Bill was trying to do the same with foods engineered with Bt toxins, even though internal reports of the EPA had concluded that the Bt foods were dangerous.
Not only were these concerns swept under the rug, but the President’s office specifically instructed the FDA to state that “The method by which food is produced or developed may in some cases help to understand the safety or characteristics of finished food. However, the key factors in reviewing safety concerns should be the characteristics of the food product, not the fact that new methods are used.” It also stated that, “The policy statement needs to stress the role of decentralized safety reviews by producers; with informal FDA consultation only if significant safety or nutritional concerns arise.” In other words, official FDA policy was being written for the biotech companies to alert the FDA as to whether a GMO food was safe. If the biotech companies said it was safe, then not even any consultation with the FDA was required.
If Seth was caught with any of these memos, he may be able to talk himself out of it. After all, they were supposedly available in response to a request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. However, if he was caught with the memo to Bill that was marked “Classified,” he could be sought for treason under the Espionage Act. Seth had to be careful who he disclosed the information to, and he had to have his escape route planned out in advance. Staying in the United States was out of the question. It was too dangerous.
Seth deleted the spyware from his computer, and transferred all the new information to the flash drive and made a duplicate to hide in his jacket. If he was going to try to go to Russia, he would need, at the minimum, a visa. It was time to meet with someone at the Russian consulate. There was a Russian consulate in Houston, as well as the main embassy in Washington, DC. Seth decided to go for DC, but he did not dare call them from his office. After work, he purchased a telephone encryption device. He would make the call from home. It was ironic to turn to the old enemy of the U.S. for help, but it seemed like the only good option available.
39
Before Seth took his one week of vacation time to visit the nation’s capital, he decided to go back to the office and make sure his computer was completely clean. He also had to break back in to Bill’s office and remove the spyware program. The next day at work, Seth found some remnants of Bill’s emails he had copied on his computer, transferred them to the flash drive, then erased them from his hard drive. He also erased his Internet browsing history.
He replaced the hard drive with a duplicate hard drive he had created for a backup and slipped the original hard drive into his case, so no data erased from the original hard drive could be recovered.
Just as he was on the final key strokes, Dan said, “Seth, did you hear?” Someone hacked into Bill’s desk top and there’s a big investigation.”
“Shit,” thought Seth, “great timing.” His plans to go to Washington had to be temporarily delayed to deal with this crisis.
Two gentlemen who looked like FBI agents were assigned to check all the computers in the building under the guise of being computer consultants. Seth was in the clear, so when the two arrived to his office, and asked if they could perform “routine maintenance” on his and Daniel’s desktop, they both complied. Not only did the two men have Germinat
visitors’ badges, they also showed orders, signed by the company, to perform the routine maintenance.
“Be my guest,” said Seth, standing back from his computer, and one of the suits took a seat at his desk.
“This won’t take long,” said the suit.
As Seth went down the corridor to get a cup of coffee, he had an uneasy feeling that he had forgotten something. What was it? He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down in the break room. Then he realized what he had forgotten – the flash drive! Suddenly that uneasy feeling graduated to anxiety, and Seth could hardly hold his coffee cup as he made his way back to the office.
The suits were still going over his computer when he got back to the office. They had already finished with Daniel’s which, of course, could not have had anything on it. Seth wondered if he had inadvertently left anything damaging on the duplicate hard drive, but, most of all, he wondered if they had found the flash drive he had stupidly left plugged in to the computer. The next few minutes that passed were more like hours, as Seth worried. He felt his heart beating faster and his palms sweating.
“Sir, is this your computer?” asked the suit.
“Yes,” said Seth.
“Could you tell me please, what is your password for the hard drive?”
Seth had locked his hard drive with a special password. He gave it, and the suit started to pore over Seth’s hard drive for what seemed to be like hours. Finally, when it was over, the suit gave a suspicious look to Seth, and left the room. Seth scrambled to his seat and felt the CPU for his flash drive. It was still plugged in to the USB portal. He had dodged a bullet one more time.
40
Seth’s plan to seek refuge in Russia was not perfect. He could not disclose the particulars of the classified report, because of its potential for use in biological warfare. Clearly, he could not allow that report to fall into the wrong hands. There had to be a way to conceal it so nobody would know the details until he figured out what to do with it. However, that was something that he had to put on the back burner. Now that Bill had discovered the bug on his computer, the heat was getting too close for comfort. Seth had to make his escape route the number one priority.
Seth took a week of vacation time, and flew to DC. He made sure to hit the regular tourist spots, and visited all the monuments and museums he could before his appointment with representatives at the Russian Embassy. He revealed just enough information to make himself valuable to them. They provided him with a one year visa and suggested he apply for political asylum, which he did. The visa would get him into the country for at least one year, while he worked on his asylum application and tried to figure out the best and most public way to disclose the information he was holding.
Germinat’ value to the government apparently went far beyond their mutual management via the revolving door, into the development of biological and, no doubt, chemical weapons as well. The release of this information would have dire consequences, not only for Germinat, but for the U.S. government. On the plane on the way home from Washington, Seth pondered the problem of how to conceal the classified report and what was its highest and best use, which he finally decided was the equivalent of an insurance policy on his life. The flight attendant walked down the aisle and stopped at his seat.
“Sir, there’s an empty seat available near your friends,” said the flight attendant.”
“My friends?”
“Yes, they were asking the gate agent about getting a seat near you, but it seems a confirmed passenger did not make the flight and there is one open. You can take it if you like.”
“Where is it?”
“17D, it’s an aisle seat, only one row in back of your friends.”
“Thank you. Uh, what seats are they in?”
“They’re in 16E and F.”
Seth looked through the rows, but he could not see who was sitting in 16E and F. Obviously someone was following him. He had to assume that they had seen him going either into or out of the Russian Embassy. If they were from the company, he still had time to make his escape because it was Friday and, if they, most likely, would make their report on Monday. If they were from the government, his escape route may not be so easy.
Seth must be suspected of the break-in. If that was the case, it would not be long before Bill told his buddies in the government that one of his employees had their hands on classified files that could cause an international debacle. The U.S. was already famous for dropping tons of bombs on any country that it thought was using “weapons of mass destruction.” To be implicated in the development of genetically engineered biological weapons could not be very diplomatically pleasant for the country or the current administration, which was already acquiring a reputation of “Ready, fire, aim.” Seth had to find out who was following him.
He could either approach those two clowns while they were boxed into their airplane seats, or wait until later when they were free to do whatever they wanted with him. He decided not to wait, mustered up his courage, and went up the aisle. He sat in the unoccupied 17D and confronted them.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, yes, you two, can you tell me who you work for?”
Both were dressed as tourists and did not look like FBI agents.
“Well, I don’t see as that’s any of your business,” said 16E.
“On the contrary, since you both are following me, it is very much my business. Now, give it up or I’ll tell the captain about the terrorist threat I heard you make when you boarded the plane and the local police in St Louis can sort it out.”
“We work for Germinat,” said 16F, at the same time his partner said, “Shut up.”
“Look, we don’t want any trouble,” said 16F. “The company is doing a routine security screening to consider you for a possible promotion.”
“That’s right,” said 16E.
“And that’s why you followed me while I was on my vacation?” asked Seth.
Theirs was a lame story, but Seth knew it was all he was going to get out of them. After this, he knew he could not afford to stay a minute longer in St. Louis.
Once these two made their report to Bill, the heat would be on and he would never be allowed to leave the country. He had to make his move now. Nobody would expect Seth to turn around and go back to Washington right away and these two clowns would most likely not make their report until Monday morning. It was Friday, and the bank had already closed, but it was open Saturday from 9 to 12. Tomorrow would be Seth’s last day in St. Louis.
41
Dawn broke on what would be Seth’s last day in the city of St. Louis. Seth wouldn’t miss his adopted city. Sure, he had had fun in the clubs on Washington Avenue and the hip bars and restaurants on the Delmar Loop. Those were times he would never forget. He also had spent many a moment at peace, away from the bustle of the city, biking through Forest Park, but the city was never really home to him.
“Home is where you hang your hat for a while,” his dad always used to say, but St. Louis felt more like just a workplace. When he was partying away from work, it was really like a coffee break. Work was always there and was always the priority. He never really did hang his hat in St Louis. He would miss his parents, and, through this entire ordeal, had not had the time to visit them in California. The thought of possibly never seeing them again was worse than anything else. Maybe it would have been easier to stop at this point. Was all he was about to give up really worth it? Would anyone really listen or care? But it was too late now. He was already a suspect and was sure to be caught eventually. Staying was no longer an option.
Seth over packed a small bag to check in all the things he would need. He stuffed so many things into the bag, he had to sit on it to zip it up, and when he picked it up, it felt like a ton of bricks. He would pick up the go-bag at the bank, withdraw as much cash as possible, so he could pay cash for all his tickets, leaving no credit card traces, and head straight for the airport. Seth thought about putting the .357 into the bag as well, but he knew that in Russia, h
is final destination, guns were illegal, so he left it behind. He didn’t need to supply any more reasons to anyone to get himself arrested.
As he exited the apartment and entered the parking lot, he looked carefully around for anything suspicious or out of place. Everything appeared to be quiet and nobody was on the street. Seth slowly walked to his car, threw the bag in the trunk, got behind the wheel and drove away.
As he turned the corner onto Graham Street, he noticed a gray Chevrolet sedan in his rear view mirror. Having just been followed the day before, any abnormality, even a slight one, could not be overlooked. He took a sharp right turn on Clayton Avenue. The sedan was still there. He sped up, and took a left on Hampton Avenue; but the sedan was still in the rear view. This was too close for coincidence.
Seth kept ahead on Hampton, approached the next signal and, just as it was about to turn red, hung a screeching U-turn in the intersection, floored it and headed back the opposite direction. This move failed to shake the sedan, which gave chase, followed him with a U-turn through the solid red, and swerved to avoid hitting a truck.
Seth pushed the gas pedal to the floor as he looked for an escape route. He saw the sedan in the left side mirror, accelerating through traffic. Spotting a grocery store, he pulled right into the store parking lot, quickly parking as close to the entrance as he could, and went inside, looking over his shoulder at his pursuers. As Seth quickly lost himself in the middle aisles, he saw 16E and F exit the gray sedan, and make a swift walk into the store.
As they disappeared into the produce section, Seth left through the other exit and crept in between the cars in the parking lot to the opposite side of the gray sedan. With his keys, he depressed the valve of the rear front tire until it was completely flat, and then sneaked back into the store. He grabbed a pack of gum and some snacks from the racks near the cash register, and then spotted 16E and F and made sure that they had spotted him as well. He checked out and slowly walked to his car, and made sure that he was being followed this time.