“We can contact them, but I’m not sure they will believe us without wanting to do their own analysis. Time is of the essence. Plus, we risk being intercepted. If Mantys is being held ‘securely’ by the EAO and the OSP, there is a chance that the same corruptness has leaked into our agency. Caleb Burger is not acting alone and his group is obviously highly coordinated with ears on the inside. I think between the two of us, we can take him down if we keep our element of surprise.”
Over the next hour the five of them found information on Caleb Burger, the so-called diabetic-amputee-doorman that began extending for his job after a car accident a few months prior. Turns out, Caleb Burger’s entire story checked out according to his hospital records. After a thorough look-through of his billing statements, they discovered Caleb was an avid homebody and bought everything he needed by either extending or through his personal shopping aide. They also discovered that Caleb had no family on Ohmani and was not involved in any community functions. The fact that he refused to leave his apartment led the five of them to believe that the real Caleb Burger was probably murdered. The question still remained, who was stealing his identity? Whoever it was had strategically targeted the real Caleb for his hermit-like lifestyle.
It was no surprise that when they called the hotel claiming to be Caleb Burger’s doctor, they discovered he had called out of work feigning the flu. Caleb’s Extension was a Surrogate 9 model…the same one Mantys Ti was using for the conference, so of course he could not be in two places at once. No, whoever was hiding behind that mask was in Caleb’s apartment, forcing Mantys Ti to use his robot to extend to the conference.
After they had formulated their plan, Mike still had doubts. “They could have built secret passageways coming out of his apartment building. They targeted a guy that lived underground for a reason.”
“That’s why you and I will be up on the transmission tower,” Bale said. “There are no better snipers than we. If they surface within a mile radius, we’ll get them. Just try not to make it fatal so we can question them later.”
“So, we’re sending children into the snake’s pit? The agency is going to have our heads, Bale. These kids already know too much, let alone us risking their lives,” Mike said, anxiety obvious in his tone.
“Everything will be fine, Mike,” Levi assured him. “It’s a solid plan.”
While Bale and Mike went to set-up their sniper posts, Fletch, Talon, and Levi went to a body salon. Luckily there was one located only a block from Bale’s apartment building called ‘Image B.’
“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Levi said as they walked into the shop. It smelled like a chemical waste-land.
“We’ll just get temporary colors,” Fletch assured. “I’ve always wanted to be red.”
They walked up the front counter where a woman in her late twenties was painting her nails. When she saw them walk in, her eyes immediately went to Levi. She dropped the nail polish, spilling the lime green paint all over the desk.
“Oh!” she yelled, hurrying for a rag to clean up the mess. “Yes, hi. Welcome to Image B. My name is Aislynn. How may I help you?”
“We would like you to make us look completely different — skin, hair, make-up,” Talon said. “Just don’t cut my hair,” she added, holding her side braid in a protective grip.
“Oh,” she said rather disappointedly. “But people love your natural look,” she simpered coyly to Levi, completely ignoring the other two beings standing in his vicinity.
“I don’t want it to be permanent. In fact, if it would wash off tonight in the shower that would be great,” he said.
She looked relieved. “Photoshoot or something? I can use the wash-off dye. Are there any color schemes you are going for? Maybe blue skin like the ocean with sunset hair?” she said, her hands wafting in front of Levi’s body like a long-brush painter. “Oo, how about I give you grey contacts for clouds?”
“Uh, sure,” Levi said. It sounded perfectly ludicrous.
“And for you dear?” she said. “I think you would look wonderful in lavender and dark purple, maybe with a paisley pattern in your long gorgeous hair? Very chic.”
“I want to be red.” Fletch said, obviously the most excited out of all of them.
“Fantastic! With red, black and white swirls on that long, graceful neck of yours,” she added, puckering out her lips and squinting her eyes like she could see the finished product. “Follow me!”
An hour and a half later they had become true fashion-forward Ohmani citizens complete with a wardrobe change. Levi thought they all looked ridiculous, but he was satisfied that they were unrecognizable enough. They stopped by a local bakery to buy several dozen doughnuts and then made their way to 00859 North 98th Street on the far east side of town and waited until they saw Caleb’s Extension hovering off a city bus. Without the ‘Mantys Ti’ nametag on the breast of the robot’s shirt, the robot looked just like any other Surrogate 9 model Extension…except for the singed outer coating. They watched the robot float down the street at a normal pace and take a set of stairs down into the underground apartment complex.
They waited another twenty minutes before going down the same stairs. Caleb’s apartment was located two floors below the surface. The residential underground system was even smaller than the public areas, and Levi felt like a rat as they worked their way through the small corridors that could barely fit them all shoulder to shoulder. The floor was covered in a stained brown carpet, and the ceilings were water damaged and cracked. A fluorescent light flickered above their heads, giving the already deserted and quiet corridor a very eerie feeling. Why anyone would live down here, Levi did not know. It was damp, desolate, and depressing.
When they found the door to Caleb’s apartment, the three of them continued to walk to the end of the hall, trying hard to meander and giggle to the best of their acting abilities. Upon reaching the dead end of the hallway, they split up and knocked on three separate doors. Levi took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn’t forget the speech he had written while his skin was being turned an ungodly hue.
“Hello,” Levi said to a Hamza woman who came to the door. She was exceptionally hairy and large, wearing curlers in her hair all the way down her neck. Levi swallowed hard at the sight, not being able to imagine curlicue tresses in such an area. “My name is Bazil Rae-Hue. I am vice president of the political science club at Ohmani Academy High. We do not have school this week and so our club is taking the time off to raise money for…” SLAM! The woman shut the door in Levi’s face.
He made his way to the next door and knocked lightly, feeling empathetic to anyone having to work in sales for commission. This time a black Ryley man came to the door. He looked like a motorcycle gang member, with a spiked collar, leather jacket, and yellow slits for eyes. This must be the bad side of town, Levi supposed. “Hello, my name is Bazil Rae-Hue. I am vice president of the political science club at Ohmani Academy High. We do not have school this week and so our club is taking the time off to raise money for our annual political science trip to Washington D.C next month. Can I interest you in any baked goods?”
“Wonderful!” he exclaimed, flashing his canines and running back into his apartment to grab some cash. Never judge a book by its cover, Levi thought.
The three of them made their way down the hall, door by door. The kidnappers were most likely aware of their presence by now. It was Fletch who was given the job of knocking on Caleb’s door… he had not been on TV. Levi was at the door next to him, in eyeshot but not eyeshot of whomever would eventually open it.
Knock, Knock, Knock, he heard Fletch rap on the door. Nothing. They had expected as much. “It’s me, your favorite neighbor from downstairs. I heard the TV playing through my ceiling, I know you’re in there. Are you okay?” Fletch said, trying to sound a little worried. The kidnappers would never risk a neighbor calling the landlord in fear of Caleb’s safety. The door opened and a man answered. Levi could not see his face, but he sounded rather ordinary.
“Oh, I wasn’t aware Caleb had a brother. Nice to meet you!” Fletch said.
“I’m afraid you will wake him. He is not taking any visitors,” the man said.
“That’s okay. I am on the political science track at Ohmani Academy High and we are raising money for our trip to Washington D.C next month,” Fletch said, pointing down the hall at Levi and Talon.
Levi could see the man looking at him in his peripherals. In an attempt to act natural, he repeated his own introduction to the woman standing in front of him. She looked to be in her thirties, but had a worn-out look to her. Bags hung under her ice-blue eyes, and make-up was bleeding away from the neat lines she had painted on earlier. Her hair was Sydces-like, long and blue-black flowing down her back in a tangled mess.
“You look so familiar,” the woman said, cutting him off after political science. She studied him, putting a hand on her hip.
Uh oh. Levi continued his rhetoric, praying that she didn’t blow their entire operation. He hoped the man talking to Fletch had not heard the woman’s words.
“Name me the cabinet members of the DSO,” Levi heard the man say to Fletch. He was testing him.
“There are twenty-four,” Fletch began and named all of them without a stumble. “That was on our first exam this semester.”
“Impressive. I will give you twenty ohms, but I do not want any of your food,” the man said, and Levi heard the rustling of paper.
“I understand, Caleb is a diabetic after all. He used to come down to my place sometimes and share a glass of thirty year Hirsch Reserve whiskey with my dad, but we haven’t seen him since the crash. He wanted me to give this to Caleb,” Fletch said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a bottle of the amber liquid. “For his belated birthday. I wanted to give it to him myself though. Do you know when I can come back?”
The man said nothing, and for a second Levi was wondering if they had been found out. Levi’s attention was focused on the conversation next door when the lady in front of him took a bold step forward. She moved the strap of her blouse down her shoulder, revealing much of her breast. “You know,” she began rather loudly, “usually I’m the one getting the money for my goods.”
Great, a prostitute. As much as he wanted to run, he wanted to stay next to Fletch more in case something happened. At least she was off the ‘you look familiar’ idea.
“Yeah, what do you offer?” he found himself saying.
“For you, it’s free,” she said, closing the distance between them and taking his hand.
Levi heard the man start talking again next to him. “I woke Caleb up. He said he would be down to visit you and your father tomorrow and thanks you for the whiskey.”
Levi heard the splash of liquid as the man took the bottle from Fletch’s hand and shut the door.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Levi quickly said when the coast was clear, “but that’s my girlfriend over there.”
“Does she want to join?” the prostitute asked. “I am one of the most sought-after lovehires in all of Ohmani.”
“No, we have to go. Sorry,” Levi said, backing away from her predatory grasp.
The three of them hit one more door each, to avoid looking suspicious, and hurried back up to the ground. Levi looked up to the transmission tower where he knew Bale and Mike were and gave a thumbs up.
“You did a great job,” Talon said.
“My heart is pumping so fast. It’s a good thing he wasn’t wearing an Extension with heart monitoring capabilities. How long should we wait?” Fletch asked.
“The pill I took knocked me out in less than a minute,” Levi said.
“Well, thank God you still had one left over from that airport bagger. One toast to ruining people’s lives and those terrorists will be knocked out cold,” Fletch said.
POW, POW, POW. Shots were being fired from the transmission tower.
“It must have already happened!” Talon said. “Mike was right, they had tunnels built.”
Levi started running towards the underground entrance again.
“Levi, stop! We’re supposed to wait for their back-up!” Talon yelled.
“My family’s down there, Talon,” he cried out, praying the terrorists were not killing them all.
Levi scrambled down the stairs, jumping clear over the last four steps. He then ran to Caleb’s apartment again and banged on the locked door.
“Mom! Bockie! It’s me, Levi!” he yelled.
The prostitute opened her door. “I knew you were famous,” she said winking and walking towards him.
“Not now,” he spat at her.
“I just thought you could use some help,” she said brandishing a gun with another wink.
Levi looked at her warily.
“Teddy Terry, special ops,” she supplied.
“Terry? As in Pila, Bale, and Talon Terry?” Levi asked.
“Bale’s wife…runs in the family,” she said, handing him a Taser she pulled from the waist of her jeans. “Bale told me this morning.”
Levi did not know Bale was married. “You almost blew my cover earlier,” he said frowning. She had also practically shown him her breasts.
POP. She blew the door open and ran inside, her gun leading the way into the apartment. It was dark with a drab color scheme of washed-out browns. Several men lay motionless on the ground, glasses of whiskey all around them.
“Sorry, but I wanted him to hear that I was a working girl. Thought he might invite me in and I could take them out myself, but it looks like your Great Rescue pills did the trick,” she said, nudging the lifeless bodies with her feet.
“I don’t know how to use this,” Levi said, looking at the Taser in his hand.
“Point and press the button,” Teddy said. She led them down a corridor, which was unlit except for light escaping from the closest of three doors.
POP! A gun fired ahead of them, sending dry wall splintering against Levi’s cheek. POP POP! A shadowy figure fell to the ground with a thump. She snaked along the wall and turned abruptly into the first room, her gun pointed. “It’s a bathroom. Looks like they built a tunnel by following the plumbing,” she said, pointing to a hole in the wall next to the toilet. “Bale and Mike will get anyone who comes out on the other side.”
Teddy instinctively held up two fingers and gave them a little wag towards the direction of the hall. There was no need to be silent — they had already made their presence very known. Teddy dipped back into the hall, her gun pointed in front of her with rod-straight arms. Suddenly, they heard the faint sound of whimpering behind one of the two doors. POP! Teddy kicked the door open and quickly leaned back up against the hallway wall.
“Ohmani Central Intelligence!” she yelled. “Party’s over.”
Levi could hear Axella scream through a closed mouth and he found himself running into the room without a moment’s thought.
“Levi, no!” he heard Teddy yelling beside him…but he didn’t care.
The first thing he noticed was an Extension cube and several computer screens. Some were security cameras, while others blinked nonsense code rapidly across the screen. He looked frantically around the room and stopped abruptly when he saw a man standing in front of Axella, Bockie, and Mantys tied up along the back wall. A man he hadn’t been face to face with in over a decade.
His father.
18 the ebbing tide
The last time Levi had seen Kaylan was when he was a child. A man who once seemed powerful and domineering to an eight-year old felt like an equal now. They stood like mirrors in height and frame, but where Levi was sun-kissed, Kaylan had become pale from the months spent lurking in Caleb’s tomb of an apartment. He had also grown his hair out long like many Sydces men, and it was a tangled mat of earthy shades around his shoulders. He was wearing all black and held a gun in his weathered hands, the barrel pointed at Mantys’ head.
“Hello, son,” Kaylan said.
Levi was in shock. Hello? W
hen he looked into the grey eyes of his father, he saw nothing of the man he once knew. No, the man who now stood behind the protection of his weapon was merely a shadow of the flaming memory Levi had fed oxygen to for ten years. Levi lifted the Taser Teddy had given him and pointed it at his blood-relation.
Kaylan simply laughed. It was a heartless and dismissive sound that made Levi feel like a child again. “I knew you would grow up into a strapping young man. Although I’m not sure blue is your color,” he said, yanking Mantys up to stand next to him. “I would have seen it if it weren’t for this man revoking my passport,” he hissed, his fingers wiggling on the trigger of the gun.
“No!” Levi yelled.
Teddy came running around the corner. “Drop it. I’m a perfect shot.”
He chuckled again. “Put the gun down, sweetheart. Talon is your niece, right? 6108 Allen Street North Apt 36?”
She made a sound that sounded like a growl. “We’ll move tonight if it means taking you down.”
“Move or not, her daddy will always have eyes on her.”
Mantys made a defying noise from beneath his gag and squirmed under Kaylan’s grip.
“What are you doing here, Dad?” Levi no longer felt like the man deserved the title, but he had never addressed his father by any other name.
“What has your mother told you about me?” he growled, spitting at the ground in her direction.
Levi clenched his fists. “That you came to Earth to watch over my family because you were a spy in the witness protection program…and then you manipulated and lied to her.”
Kaylan’s jaw clenched and a vein began throbbing in his temple. “Yes, I was spying on the Sinupecs, although my operation was extra-planetary. The more intelligence I gathered on this so-called ‘terrorist group,’ the more I didn’t think I was watching the bad guys anymore. Their fight is real, Levi. One day, you will see that. One day, I hope you will join us. The humans fight is not much different from our own.”
Journey to Ohmani (Across the Infinite Void Book 1) Page 27