by R Arundel
“Is it worth dying for a man that was going to kill you? He cared only for himself, his own pleasure. Don’t let him get the last laugh. He’s already dead, but you don’t have to die as well. He fooled you. You would have never collected the money.”
Matthew looks at his watch.
“There’s still time. You have four minutes to save your life.”
The man to the left breaks down crying. “Turn down the temperature. He promised he wouldn’t kill me. Me and Michael. We would be in it forever. I read Mr. Cooper’s report. He killed Michael.”
Jeremy Dawson sits in front of the desk, his hands covering his face.
Jason bursts into the room with Sarah and Kofi. Some uniformed men follow. Matthew points toward the man in the seat and turns down the thermostat.
Jeremy says, “It’s too late. I already activated The Freeze. I put in the codes. I’m sorry.”
The guards remove Jeremy from the office.
Matthew races around the desk with Jason. Sarah unties the still unconscious Quentin Taylor. Kofi immediately goes to the Football.
“That’s the Football,” says Jason.
Both the green and red lights are flashing.
Kofi, “It’s activated.”
Sarah runs over to the briefcase. “We’ve got just over a minute.”
The countdown timer shows 1:23 to launch. Matthew looks at Middleton. “Do you have the codes to shut this thing down?”
Middleton shakes his head. “There is no code to abort the launch.”
“Can we get a hold of any of the team that put this Football together, the software engineers?” says Kofi.
“I’m not sure they could help us,” says Jason.
“There’s no time,” says Matthew, looking at the countdown display
Sarah says, “We have to do something, now.”
“It has been activated. There is nothing we can do,” says Jason.
Matthew asks, “Nothing?”
Sarah thinks. “Can we call the military, begin mobilization of the vaccine? We can save some lives.”
Kofi and Matthew look at the sheet that has the coordinates Dawson entered.
Kofi brings his cell phone out of his pocket, “I can set this up to run random codes similar to the ones the fake president entered. Maybe one of the codes can stop the launch?”
“Let’s look at the codes already entered. Maybe there is a pattern,” says Sarah.
Jason stops them. “We can’t enter random codes. If we put in three consecutive false codes, the Football will lock us out. When we try the fourth, it will explode, killing all in the room. That’s why it’s so heavy—the base is full of explosives.”
Silence.
Jason says, “There is nothing we can do. The missiles will be launched, and The Freeze will be released. We will all die. It is irreversible. Once the codes are entered and activated, that’s it.” They all stand watching the countdown timer.
Matthew picks up the sheet on the desk that Jeremy used to enter the code sequence.
BX195
CT186
RZ179
The countdown timer hits to three seconds. Matthew pulls out the piece of cardboard that Michael had handwritten “stool” on.
He enters ST001. The briefcase emits three quick beeps. The red light then flashes three times.
The Football speaks, “Launch codes canceled. Mission aborted.”
The red light goes off, then the green light goes off. The Football powers down. Matthew closes the briefcase.
Jason, “Good job, man.”
“Thanks.”
President Middleton says, “But how did you abort the launch? Even I didn’t know that code.”
“Michael Coulson somehow found it while helping Liam.”
Jason asks, “How could Liam fool so many people for so long?”
“Liam was my trusted friend right until the end. Even then, I had a hard time believing he was behind all of this. Michael was duped; he realized it too late. He tried to make it right.”
Quentin regains consciousness.
Jason says, “In essence Michael became a double agent. He was Liam’s trusted lieutenant, but he was looking for a way to stop him.”
Matthew says, “I read Michael’s notes. He had more than once contemplated placing a bomb in a suitcase and blowing both himself and Liam up.”
Jason says, “ Liam was too smart for that.”
“Liam was always in the background or wearing a disguise. Michael never had a chance at him. When Michael found out the real mission, he knew he had to stop Liam, no matter the cost. Michael understood he would be killed. He was a mathematician. Somehow he got this code.”
Quentin stands and rubs his head. “The programmers for the Football created a code to stop the launches. They didn’t agree with one man having the power to destroy the world.”
Matthew says, “Michael may not even have known the code’s use, but he knew it was important. It was scribbled on the inside of a box.”
Quentin says, “He put it in a box?”
Matthew pulls out the piece of cardboard. “It was not STOOL, it was STOO1. The code to stop the launch. I realized it when I looked at the codes Jeremy Dawson had entered. Michael saved us.”
President Middleton takes a seat behind his desk. “Incredible.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Matthew sits with his mother. He is still intimidated by the formal living room. Caroline insists on this room. She likes to receive guests here. It is where matters of importance are discussed.
“I tried to leave, but the door was locked. He rushed at me and I tried to take the gun away.” Matthew takes a sip of his mint tea and tries to gauge his mother’s reaction to the events.
Caroline is neutral. No surprise, no astonishment. She just sits and drinks her tea.
Matthew says, “It was self-defense. He was trying to shoot me. I had no choice, Mom.”
“Believe it or not, I am saddened by Liam’s passing. I don’t really know why.”
“Only one of us was leaving that room. He made that obvious.”
“I have mixed feeling about Liam. He was a puzzle. A brilliant man on one hand, a vicious abuser on the other.”
“He had a thin veneer of charm that fooled everyone. He was only for himself. We just didn’t see it.”
Caroline takes another sip of tea. “I think that’s true. Sometimes he expressed concern, but it was insincere. Looking back, I think he had no feelings. When he thought it would help him, he acted like he was concerned. Like he had watched someone else who could feel and filed it away in his memory.”
“That’s exactly right. He was acting, copying others who really could show emotion.”
“He was not capable of real love. Sacrifice, putting one’s own desires aside for the need of another, Liam could never do any of these things.”
Matthew says, “The mint tea is great.”
“I like it too. I’ll buy it again.”
Caroline takes a long drink of tea before speaking again. “It was self-defense. There was nothing else you could have done.”
“He just kept coming at me.”
“I should have told you more about Liam. I guess it was just too painful for me to tell you the truth. I just left it as half-truths and outright lies.”
“I deserved to know the truth,” says Matthew.
“Yes, you did. You do.”
Caroline puts down her mint tea. “You know that in the old days we were all close. Liam, Michael, and Tom all worked at the same lab in Palo Alto. They were fairly young men in those days, just starting out. They all worked hard to get recognized. I was the graduate student working under Tom. One night we all went out. I had one drink and decided to go home. Liam offered to take me.”
“I don’t need to know the rest.”
“Yes, you need to hear it all. We got to my apartment. It was a small one-room job. I said thanks for the ride, and all of a sudden, he pushed me to the floor and ass
aulted me. He never said a word. I fought, I punched, I kicked, I screamed, I begged. Liam never said a word. When it was over, he got up, said see you tomorrow, and left. Just as if nothing had happened.”
“It fits; it all fits.”
“I sat up the rest of the night crying. I didn’t know what to do. He was the coworker of my supervisor at the lab. He was already established as a brilliant researcher, the top guy in the lab. I blamed myself—maybe I was drunk. But I wasn’t drunk. I had one drink.
“Liam was a married father of two very young twin girls and a great surgeon with a stressful job. Then I thought, I shouldn’t have dressed so provocatively. But I was wearing a pair of oversized jeans and an old sweater over a denim shirt. I remember every item. In those days I couldn’t afford much. I thought I shouldn’t have taken a ride home with him. I was too friendly with my colleagues. I smiled too much.”
Matthew’s heart breaks for his mother. “You did nothing wrong.’
“Of course I did nothing wrong. It was only many years later that I realized that. In time I saw the man Liam really was.”
“What did you do?”
“I took a shower and went to work the next morning like nothing happened.” Caroline takes a sip of tea. “I remember doing some research and feeling comforted that most times it doesn’t end up in pregnancy.”
Caroline shakes her head. “I was having a string of real great luck. Guess what? A few weeks later, I had to tell him I was pregnant.”
“How’d he react?”
“He asked me who the father was. I told him it could only have been him. He blamed me. He said he had that problem with many graduate students. Told me I should transfer to another program. He’d give me a good reference.”
“Really?”
“It was strange. If I hadn’t been there that night, I would have sworn that I had initiated the whole thing, listening to his version of events.”
“He was twisted, but no one could see it.”
“He seemed quite normal. I just couldn’t figure it out.”
“Liam had a side few of us saw. I’ve had a lot of time to think about him, and you know what? He was always a good colleague, supportive. I never, ever saw the other side of him. Even in the end when I put it all together, I still thought I was wrong.”
“I don’t know if Tom guessed what happened, but he really took me under his wing. He never asked me about it, yet it seemed there was a subtle difference in his relationship with Liam. They still talked and worked together, but I felt something changed. Some years after, Tom stayed in Palo Alto, Michael went to Houston, and Liam to New York. A few years after that, I heard a rumor that the breakup was due to something Liam did to a grad student. I felt so guilty. Maybe if I had spoken up I could have prevented that. Maybe this whole thing could have been prevented. I still have that guilt.”
“You were a victim. No one can know how they will react. You are blameless.”
“I’ve learned to forgive myself.”
“Liam was troubled. He very nearly succeeded at annihilating the whole country.”
“He very nearly did,” says Caroline, taking a sip of tea.
“My father was a monster.”
“I always considered Tom your father. Liam? I’m not sure what we call him.”
Matthew drinks his tea in silence.
Caroline says, “Liam was a complex man. He was a brilliant scientist and surgeon. I met his wife many times, and she seemed very happy. His daughters are fine individuals. They loved him completely. He was good to them.”
“What about me? He never took me to a ball game. He never gave me a birthday card. He never acknowledged I was his son. They don’t know the whole story—who this man was. They don’t know the reality.”
“What is the reality? Should I have destroyed a family? I look at his two lovely daughters and what they’ve grown into. Should I have taken that away? I’m positive his wife never saw the other side of Liam. I don’t know. I really don’t.”
“He was a monster,” says Matthew.
“Yes, and he was your father.”
Chapter Fifty
Sarah finishes a case in the operating room. She is the only person left. She packs up the drugs and puts her stethoscope in her bag. Matthew walks in, but he is not in surgical greens. He wears black dress pants and a crisp white shirt.
“You’ve been avoiding me, Dr. Larsson.”
“No, I haven’t. It’s nice to see you, Matthew.”
“It’s nice to see you, too, but you have been avoiding me.”
“Maybe a little—with all that went down, it seems like a dream. It’s nice to get back to reality. Maybe I just want to pretend it didn’t happen.”
“It was like a dream.”
“I’ve been thinking. When I was kidnapped, why didn’t Liam warn the thugs you guys were going to come get me?”
“He couldn’t. Alice was monitoring all our phones. If Liam had tried to call the kidnappers, Alice would have had him.”
“He had me fooled completely. What did you want to see me about?”
Matthew’s voice quivers and he looks Sarah in the eyes. She meets his gaze and then looks away.
“There is something I want—no, I need—to ask you,”
“No, don’t ask,” says Sarah.
“My mind has been just racing. Sarah will—”
“I’m off to Gullholmen.”
“What?”
“I leave in a few days.”
“I see. Were you even going to tell me?” Matthew puts his hand in his pocket.
“I am not going to lie to you; I owe you that at least. I was hoping to avoid you. Avoid any melodrama.”
“Melodrama, is that what you call it?” says Matthew.
“I’m sorry.” Sarah closes the drug cupboard.
“I love you, Sarah.”
“Don’t make it harder than it is.”
“Sarah, at least stay. I’m begging you.”
“Life’s short. I leave tomorrow.”
“Sarah, I love you.”
“Don’t do this to me.”
“Sarah, I know. The tremors, the leg weakness. I put it all together. ALS.”
“My Sherlock Holmes at work again.” Sarah laughs.
“I know and I don’t care.”
Sarah smiles at Matthew. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. A progressive neuro-muscular disorder with no cure. You will stop walking one day, and finally, you will lose control of all your muscles.”
“Not bad, Holmes.”
“We surgeons aren’t as thick as you think.”
“Then you know I don’t have long.” Sarah punches in the code to lock the anesthetic machine.
“I don’t care. I need you,” says Matthew.
“You know what my life will be very soon, how it is going to end.”
“I don’t care. I have to take a chance—I have to live. Give me that chance.”
“In the end I would regret doing that to you. I refuse to have you look after me in the prime of your life. I’m going to be on a ventilator, not able to move any muscle in my body. I’m going to end up being only able to use my eyes. Totally locked in a useless body.”
“Someone told me once, ‘It’s my life. I choose how I live.’”
Sarah laughs. “That someone wants only the best for you. That someone does not want to selfishly ruin your life.”
“Don’t I get a say?”
Sarah shakes her head. “In the end, you’d regret the choice you made. I couldn’t have that. I couldn’t live with the thought that I made you do that. You deserve a life with someone. Go find it.”
“I’d rather one minute with you than one hundred years with someone else.”
They embrace.
“You’re beginning to sound like a trashy romance novel. I never thought I’d hear that from you, Dr. MacAulay,” says Sarah.
Sarah smiles. She kisses Matthew and he wi
pes away her tears.
“Let me think about it,” says Sarah.
Matthew sits on the operating room table. “I need you for one more operation. A friend of mine needs our help.”
“No problem. I have to run.”
“I’ll give you the details.”
Sarah stops. She turns back and looks at Matthew. “Thanks.”
Matthew asks, “For what?”
“For asking.” She walks out the door.
Matthew says softly as she leaves, “I didn’t ask.”
Matthew sits on the operating room table alone. He takes a small jewelry box from his pocket and stares at it.
“Professor Neuwirth, you were so right. The heart bleeds the worst.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Kofi stands at the operating room table. Matthew sits in the command chair. The partial transplant of Ryan Smith’s midface is proceeding smoothly. Sarah monitors the anesthetic.
“Ready for the Steriazol.” Kofi takes the sterile container and pours the Steriazol on the wounds. They heal instantly. Ryan’s face returns to normal.
Matthew removes his hands from the joysticks. “Reverse anesthetic. Operation complete.”
Sarah turns off the anesthetic. Ryan wakes immediately. He tentatively feels his face. He touches his nose. All the facial scarring has been removed. His face has been perfectly restored.
Ryan can hardly speak. “It feels really good. I have no pain.”
Matthew hands him a mirror. “What do you think?”
Ryan looks. His smile continues to grow.
“Doc MacAulay, this is better than magic. This is unbelievable.” Ryan begins to cry. Great big sobs.
“I told you I’d come through. Never leave a comrade behind.”
“I never doubted.” Ryan hugs him. “Doc, this is giving me my life back. I’m starting fresh.”
“There are some things you need to be aware of. Dr. Adebayo will fill you in,” says Matthew.
“Thanks.”
“I feel hungry. Let me take you guys out for a bite to eat. One last farewell meal before we all go our separate ways.”
Ryan asks, “Am I invited? I never turn down a free meal.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” says Matthew.