by M. V. Kallai
“It’s not my problem.”
“Oh, yes it is…whether you wanted it or not. Now I know that we’ve been friends for a long time but you don’t have a choice in this. I’m sorry, but I have to do what I have to do. I hope one day you’ll forgive me, but if not, I’ll get over it because if those biomachines down there do what I know they are capable of, nothing matters anyway. Now please finish reading what’s in this folder and I’ll be by in a few hours to transfer you to your new quarters. And Cam…try to make the best of this.”
“What if I refuse?”
“I don’t even want to think about what Pike might do if you don’t get on board with this…he’s been known to make accidents happen. But it really won’t be so bad. You like working on space travel…that’s all they want you to do. And if we don’t find a weakness in those biomachines in time, we may need to get off this rock anyway.”
“Then I guess I don’t have a choice if I want to live,” Camden said to himself, but loud enough for Ganesh to hear.
“Look, Cam, why don’t you make a list of some comforts you would like in your quarters and I’ll see if I can get them for you…make your stay a little more enjoyable.”
Camden nodded reluctantly and Ganesh left him alone.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Liaison
Dana, Bearden, and Lee all stood around Lee’s desk looking at a sealed envelope addressed to Ganesh.
“How do we know that he won’t open this one and read it like the last one?” Dana asked.
“Because I won’t, okay?” Bearden replied. “Last time I thought it was about me. I didn’t want it to go unread.”
“Ha! Just had to read your own praises, did ya? Lee, he disobeyed a direct order from a colonel,” Dana said and looked at Lee, who seemed baffled to be in the middle of all this.
“He has to take it. It’s done,” Lee finally said and then looked directly at Bearden. “Boy, if you fail in what you are asked to do in this lab, I will lock you up and use you for parts.”
Bearden swallowed hard and Dana looked shocked and shut up. Neither one knew if Lee meant what he said, but absolutely did not want to ask.
“I won’t let you down, Dr. Tripple,” Bearden said and then glared at Dana. “I promise.” He was just tired of having his life threatened today.
Dana crossed her arms and pursed her lips at him.
“Then I guess we’ll see you in a week, Sergeant.”
“You bet! Can I take the letter now?”
“Yes, take it. Go,” Lee said.
Bearden didn’t wait to be dismissed twice. He grabbed the letter and showed himself out. That was not exactly my fantasy of being in Tripple Laboratories, he thought.
Bearden was in no hurry to get back to the unit, but he knew he was probably needed in the lab and Colonel Ganesh was probably going crazy waiting for news from him. Good. He thought. Serves him right. Major Magner was probably eager to see him too, but he had already made up his mind to give Ganesh the letter and not show it to Mace. Ganesh was smart and he would instantly lose his trust if there were any indication that the letter had been opened.
Bearden’s footsteps seemed to echo too loudly as he approached Ganesh’s office. He was worried that the Colonel would see the guilt all over him the second he walked in.
“Ahh, Sergeant Leitner,” Ganesh said, “I was beginning to think I would never see you again.”
Bearden gave a nervous laugh and said, “That’s crazy, sir. It’s just a slow process gaining a position at Tripple Laboratories.”
“So you got the position then?” Ganesh asked as if he didn’t already know.
“Well, not exactly. I was asked to be a part time assistant. Only one day a week. Probably out of respect for my position here.”
“Humph. Yes. Probably. Well, congratulations on getting in at all.”
“Thank you, sir. And thank you again for your recommendation. I’m sure that’s the real reason I got the job.”
“Well, I don’t know how much weight my words carried but it’s nice to hear, anyway.” Ganesh said in a fatherly voice. Bearden smiled and wondered how long they would keep up this fake conversation, hiding what they both knew. He glanced over at Sergeant Quinn who was sitting in a chair beside Ganesh’s desk.
“Oh, Sergeant Leitner, do you know Sergeant Quinn?” Ganesh asked.
“No, sir, I don’t think we’ve met,” Quinn chimed in and stood to shake Bearden’s hand.
“Well, I suppose you wouldn’t have with Leitner down with the scientists and you up with the um…secretaries.”
“I’m not ashamed of my job, Colonel,” Quinn pointed out and smiled at them both. Bearden stifled a laugh.
“Leitner, have you had lunch yet?” Ganesh asked.
“No, sir.”
“Well, why don’t you join Quinn and me today down in the dining hall?”
Two days ago, Bearden would have been honored to join Ganesh for lunch, but today, it just seemed like another dutiful lie.
“That would be great,” he replied, with as much fake enthusiasm as he could muster. “But before we go, I have something for you. From Dr. Tripple.” He handed Ganesh the letter.
“Why don’t you two young men go and get started, I’ll meet you there.”
“But shouldn’t I stay here with…”
Ganesh cut Quinn off and burst out.
“Don’t push me, Quinn! Just do what I say.”
Quinn, of course, obeyed but made a note in his report for General Pike as he left. Ganesh sighed and tore open the letter.
Colonel Ganesh,
I received your letter. It was not difficult to find Ari. Tripple Laboratories should have the case that Camden was transporting in two days if all goes well. I expect that Camden is alive and well and will remain that way once the object fueling his guilt is no longer hiding in his transport. I will await your next correspondence by way of the boy you sent to my lab. He is only welcome here one day a week, as he is not fully trusted by my assistant and myself.
Dr. Tripple
After he read it through twice, he set fire to it and watched it burn in his garbage can. What could Leitner have done to cause such a poor impression? he thought as he locked up his office and headed down to lunch.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The Execution
That night, Ari waited until his family was sound asleep to sneak into the bathroom in order to dress in black from head to toe. His hands were already shaky from nerves as he pulled on a black snow hat with homemade cutout eye and mouth holes. If his wife walked in, she would call the police, thinking they were being robbed. Ari could hear the rain pounding on the windows and knew it was time. He took a deep breath as he put the transport controls, a tiny flashlight, and an oblong metal disk with the compartment combination etched into it in his pocket.
Ari poked his head out of his door to make sure that the hall was clear. He walked past the elevator to the stairwell and began to climb the ten stories to the roof where the transport was parked. He paused at every floor to make sure there were no footsteps in the hall, and then proceeded. When he got to the top, he pressed his ear to the outside door. All he could hear was rain. There was no way to know if anyone was standing on the roof keeping lookout for exactly what he was about to do. He crouched low, closed his eyes and pictured his wife’s face, then his children’s, then cracked the door open just enough to peek out. The rain was pelting down in buckets and he couldn’t see five feet in front of him. The darkness was severe when clouds covered the moons. Ari squinted to try and look further through the rain. He didn’t see any sign of movement so he crept out slowly, staying low to the ground. He heard the government transports pass by and dropped flat to the ground and froze as a light swept across the roof. The light finished it’s round without finding him and Ari pulled himself to his hands and knees and crawled towards Camden’s parking shelter. Just then…footsteps a little way in the distance made Ari freeze again and hold his breath. They were moving toward
him. He looked all around, then as fast as he could, crawled to a neighboring parking shelter.
Once the rain was out of his face he found his eyes had adjusted slightly to the dark. He searched frantically for a place to hide. The splashing footsteps had stopped. Had they found him? Were they looking at him now? Ari’s heart sped up but he kept inching his way around the shelter. He made it completely around to the back and no one had apprehended him yet, so maybe the footsteps had come from someone who lived here. Maybe he would hear their transport start up any minute. He sat and tried to flatten himself against the wall to listen, but after several minutes, nothing. A transport shone a light across the roof again, but this time Ari was pretty well hidden by the shelter wall. A few minutes later he heard the footsteps again. They sweep the area in intervals. Ari figured. He watched and listened for the next two hours, too scared to make his move, but knowing he would have to very soon. He was running out of night and his back was cramping.
The rain had lightened up and he could see further now, even the outline of the man patrolling the roof. He slid his hand in his pocket, pulled out the transport control and waited for the next round of light and footsteps. “It’s now or never,” Ari whispered to himself and went for it. He walked lightly to make sure he didn’t splash like the officer on patrol. He pressed a button on the controls and heard the lock to the transport click. Seconds later he was inside and closing the door. He popped his head up to the window to look for movement…there was none. He lay down on the floor by the secret compartment and waited for the light and the footsteps to pass again, then went to work on opening the compartment. He used the tiny flashlight to read the combination and then opened the lock. The compartment burst open and the black case that had been crammed in spilled out. Ari moved it to the side and closed the compartment. After waiting for the opportune time to move again, he decided to make a run for it back to the stairwell.
Ten minutes later, Ari sat on his bathroom floor clutching the black case. He was soaked to the bone and freezing, but he had done it. He was tempted to look inside and see what all the fuss was about, but decided against it. The less he knew the better and the day after tomorrow, the case would be out of his possession and he could go back to pretending he knew nothing. It would be Lee Tripple’s problem now and maybe, just maybe Camden’s name could be cleared.
Two days later, on the morning Dana would meet Ari and make the exchange, the lab was silent. Since Lee cut and dyed her hair blond, she had only gone home once, to get some personal items, for fear that someone might recognize her and start asking questions. She hated the new style and didn’t feel at all like herself when she looked in the mirror. Although she had to admit, Lee’s precision cut was astonishing! He had managed to find a picture of Camden’s niece, Liana, in his office, along with a black rolling case full of old notes that Lee dumped out and left on his floor.
Dana stood in the bathroom behind the lab’s kitchen and put on a dark blue jacket over a white shirt, buttoned up to her neck. She walked out to the kitchen and sat down with Lee to go over the plan one last time.
“At 9:37, I will drop you off at the taxi stand ten blocks from Camden’s building,” Lee started.
“Yes, and I will go inside expecting my bag to be searched when I sign in as ‘Uncle Camden’s’ guest in the lobby,” Dana said.
“Do you remember which elevator to take?”
“Yes, the one in the back. Then the doors will open on Ari’s floor and we will make the switch. I will ride the elevator up to the penthouse, see that Camden is not home and leave.”
“I will be waiting for you one block north and one block west.”
“Sounds easy,” Dana said with a nervous smile. Lee stared at the table and fidgeted with his fingers. “Don’t worry, it will all work out,” Dana added. She stood up and put her hand on his shoulder. He didn’t flinch at Dana’s hand but looked at his watch and said,
“9:20, it’s time.”
Lee didn’t normally drive. He didn’t enjoy it and thought it was a waste of time for his brain. His transport was old and dusty but looked like it had never been used. The two of them climbed in and took off. Lee was a bad driver and Dana feared for her life most of the way. He went too fast, his mind obviously drifting to think about something else, then he would snap to and slow down to a crawl, then speed up again, weaving in and out of traffic with several near misses. When they arrived at their destination, Dana was happy to put her feet on solid ground. She looked back at Lee and smiled. He nodded to her and then flew away to wait at the rendezvous spot.
So far, so good, Dana thought as she walked away from the front desk in the lobby of the building. The plan was exactly on schedule. She began to make her way to the back elevator when, as expected, a man dressed in black stopped her.
“Hello, Miss.”
“Hello,” she replied and kept walking.
“Miss, I need to speak with you for a moment.” He pulled out his government credentials and Dana put a confused look on her face.
“Of course.”
“I understand you are visiting Professor Camden Riles.”
Her face went from confused to panic.
“Yes, I am. I’m his niece…is something wrong? Oh, I knew I should have called first…and more often.” She dropped her head. “Tell me what’s happened, please, sir.”
“Oh, oh sorry, no…you have it all wrong. This is just a new security measure put in place by the Professor,” he lied.
Dana breathed a short heavy sigh and smiled.
“Wow, you really had me worried. It’s been so long since I’ve seen or talked to Uncle Cam that I just thought the worst.”
“Understandable. So you won’t mind if I take a look through your bag then will you?”
“Go ahead.” She rolled the bag his way.
“So, how long has it been since you’ve seen your uncle?” He was rummaging through a collection of Dana’s most conservative clothes.
“Oh, too long, for sure. I guess a little more than eight months. And that was just a phone call.”
The man seemed to buy her story.
“Well, everything looks okay here. You have a nice day, Miss.”
“Thank you,” Dana said and scurried off to the elevator. She checked her watch. One minute to go. She powdered her nose to take up a few more seconds, and then pushed the button. When the elevator doors closed behind her she saw floor six light up. Ari’s floor, she thought.
The doors opened and there stood Ari with the other case. He was about the same height as Dana with black hair and a kind face.
“Miss Hanks,” he said and shoved the case in the elevator as she rolled hers out.
“Ari.”
He smiled at her and then turned to walk down the hall. Dana watched him walk away as the doors closed. Just when she was about to lose sight of him, two men dressed in black appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Ari.
“Oh, no!” Dana gasped and instinctively pushed the button for the next floor up. Seconds later, she jumped off the elevator and frantically looked up and down the hall. She ran to the end of the hall and into the stairwell. She lifted the case and tried to race to the bottom, but Camden’s case was much heavier than the one she came in with. It slowed her down and hurt her arms.
Ari was being pinned against the wall by one man while the other tore through the women’s clothes in the black case he was lugging. He trembled from head to toe and had no explanation for why he was standing in his hall with a case of young women’s clothes. When the man conducting the search had gone through all the contents of the case, he radioed down to the Jodis in the lobby who was waving goodbye to Camden’s niece as she rushed out the front door.
“Hey, Detective Armin! We just found Ari standing in his hall with a black case of women’s clothes. Weird right?”
“What? Women’s clothes?” Jodis watched Dana disappear around the building. “Shit! It’s the girl! It’s time to take Ari in to see the Major, boys. He kn
ows something,” Jodis yelled through his radio while running out the door after Dana.
Dana looked back to see the man a block behind, running after her. She took off around the corner and Lee’s transport was in sight. Lee was looking backwards out of the window anxiously waiting for Dana to appear. He felt relief when he saw her, but instantly knew something was wrong. Dana was running and waving to him with her free hand. She looked terrified. Lee jumped and faced front to start up the transport. He looked back again and saw a man round the corner chasing behind Dana. Lee pushed a button to open the side door and hit reverse to get to her. When he got to her, he was hovering a little too high and Dana had to get the case up over her head to toss it in. Once she did, she grabbed the door to pulled herself up. Halfway inside, she felt a yank on her ankle and almost lost her grip. The man held on tight and she screamed,
“Go now, Lee! Get higher!”
Lee raced straight up and Dana managed to get her free leg inside. The man was losing his grip and Dana kicked her leg as hard as she could. He did not let go. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then tightened her hold on the door and with one quick motion, dropped her left leg back out of the transport and kicked him hard in the knuckles. It worked. He released his grip and let out a pained yell as he fell from the sky. Dana scrambled to pull herself back up, but couldn’t.
“Lee! I’m slipping!”
Lee swerved the transport to the closest rooftop and brought it down to land. He was almost there when Dana slipped. She fell about eight feet and landed with a skid and a roll. Lee stopped the transport, jumped out, ran over to where she landed, and scooped up his limp, injured assistant. She was bleeding from several places and tears streamed down her scraped cheeks. He placed her sloppily in the back seat and sped her back to the lab checking the windows on all sides to see if he was being followed. It didn’t appear so.