by JC Ryan
Sarah waited in dread for the return of her captors. Nothing she had tried would bring back any but the most basic memories. She had cataloged what she knew for hours, until sleep overtook her, but it was precious little. Her name was Sarah. She had a boyfriend named Daniel Rossler, whom she couldn’t remember despite being shown pictures of the man. She had parents that she loved. In the dark confines of her cage, she moved rapidly through what she might have recognized as the five stages of grief, if she had remembered anything. Isolation was not only figurative; she was literally alone and sensorily deprived, her blindfold replaced at some time during the night when her silent jailer had returned to let her relieve herself again.
Denial was constant. No matter who she was or what she supposedly knew that these people wanted, it was not within her power to believe that this was happening to her. She expected to wake up at any minute. At the same time, she was angrier than she had ever been. Angry at the cruelty of the people who held her. Angry at herself for not remembering what they wanted her to. Angry at the loved ones she knew were somewhere, because they weren’t rescuing her. Why weren’t they rescuing her? Angry that she couldn’t wake up from this utterly impossible dilemma. And if she couldn’t wake up that had to mean that it was real, and that she should be preparing herself to die. Another wave of grief washed over her as she realized she wouldn’t have a chance to remember her life, would never know happiness with the kind-looking man in the photo. Tears rolled unheeded down her cheeks.
They would come for her; that she was sure of. She would bargain for her life, but she had nothing with which to bargain. And then death. A cessation of this torment, at least. Perhaps by the time they allowed her to die, it would be a welcome respite. If only it wouldn’t also put her parents in danger, and the stranger, who didn’t deserve to be tortured or killed just because she couldn’t remember. She had circled back to anger. The tears now represented frustration. How could she convince them to do something else instead?
All too soon, the noise of the door alerted her to the return of her captors. She waited, tense, for the voice that would let her know who was with her.
“Well, what have you remembered? Quick, now, there’s no more time for stalling.” Trunchbull. The woman frightened her more than all of the men put together, Sarah reflected. But she must answer, try to buy more time.
“Ma’am, I don’t know how to say it any plainer. I would tell you if I remembered. I don’t know what I know that’s so valuable, but I’d tell you, honestly. If you really have that man, and he knows the secret, tell him I said to please tell you.”
“Bah!” exploded the woman. “Come on.” Sarah was bewildered at the response, and didn’t know if the last had been a command to her or what. She was soon enlightened. A man’s voice, to the left of the woman’s, she thought, somewhere near her feet.
“I don’t think she’s faking. We should get rid of her and pick up someone else. That linguist has to know.” Sarah started shaking when he said ‘get rid of her’, and almost missed the woman’s reply.
“You’re an even bigger idiot than I thought. We don’t know which linguist did it. Much as I’d like to bash the bitch’s head in for the trouble she’s given us, our only choice is to offer her in return for the formula and the computer program they used, if he wants us to release her unharmed. How can we get in touch with her boyfriend?”
Sarah’s heart soared. They had lied! They didn’t have the man after all. And if he really was her boyfriend, wouldn’t he give them what they wanted to get her back? Then it sank again. They were liars, what if they had lied about that? A flicker of hope bloomed. There was nothing to do but hope they hadn’t lied about that. They were gone now, the door closing before she heard his response to the woman’s question. With as much patience as she could muster, she prepared to wait.
~~~
Jackson dropped Daniel off at the restaurant where he was to meet the Clarkes, telling him he’d be in touch if anything turned up. He had to arrange for police protection for seven faculty members from the linguistics program, though only one had knowledge of the pyramid code. That man had been hysterical when they informed him that Mark Simms’ and Prof. Barry’s deaths had been related to it. They had to call EMTs and have him sedated, so Daniel still didn’t know any more about him than he knew before. He was anxious to tell Ryan and Luke that they had found him, though. Spotting them through the windows, seated on the outdoor patio, he made his way through, indicating to the hostess that he had found his party.
Luke recognized first that Daniel had news, his open face unable to conceal his excitement. “Give. What did you find out?”
“We found the guy that did the translation. He’s safe, but he flipped out when we told him what’s going on. I didn’t get to talk to him anymore. He’s at the hospital, under sedation. The rest are getting police protection at home. I’m afraid the University isn’t too happy with us. We literally shut down the linguistics department. Where’s David? Any news on that front?”
Luke answered. “We haven’t seen him yet this morning, but I just got a text asking where we are. I sent him an invitation to join us.”
“Good.” As Daniel uttered his response, a server approached with a pot of coffee in either hand. “Coffee? Decaf or regular?”
They made their choices and Luke asked for artificial sweetener, which the server said he’d bring right away. As Daniel and Ryan prepared their coffee the way they liked it, Luke spoke of Sarah. “You know, the good news is that her body hasn’t turned up.” Daniel blanched. “No, look. They had no problem leaving Simms and Barry where they were murdered. They’re not going to conceal a murder. If she were dead, her body would turn up. She’s alive, I know she is.”
It was the first glimmer of hope for Daniel. Unconsciously, he heaved a sigh of relief as the server approached again.
“Here’s your Sweet’n’Lo, sir,” he said to Luke. “And sir, this is a message for you,” handing a folded piece of plain white paper to Daniel. Puzzled at the unusual circumstance, Daniel immediately unfolded the paper and read the message. Ryan and Luke, looking on curiously, saw a display of emotion crossing Daniel’s face. Fear, anger, hope, excitement followed one another almost too rapidly to process.
“What?” said Ryan.
With shaking hands, Daniel handed over the message to Ryan, who read it aloud.
“We have your girlfriend. We’ll trade her for the formula to break the pyramid code and the computer program you’re using to parse it. Keep your phone on. We have your number.”
“Wait, when they phone you ask for proof of life” cautioned Luke. “You said yourself that if they had killed her already, her body would have been found,” Daniel argued.
Within moments, Daniel’s cell phone rang. A distorted voice came over the line instructing Daniel where to be for the exchange, and what to bring with him. The voice also warned him that police presence or surveillance would result in Sarah’s death.
Lastly, it said, “Do you have all this? There will be no further contact until time for the exchange.”
Daniel repeated his instructions, and heard a click on the line. “Hello?” No answer.
“They hung up.” The others had heard him as he repeated the instructions, and all started talking at once.
“Stop!” Luke commanded. Each of them stopped mid-sentence and gave him their attention. “We need to go somewhere else for this conversation.” Casting his eyes in the direction of the server, he lifted his eyebrows, and the others nodded. They signaled for the check and paid for their uneaten breakfasts, then left for Sarah’s house, where they intended to discuss their options. There was no time to waste, as they had to decide what to do about the demand for a one-on-one exchange with no backup, and then if they decided it was safe to involve the police, they would need to go to Jackson and let him know.
~~~
No sooner had they arrived at Sarah’s when David pulled up, explaining that he had been on the way to th
e restaurant when he spotted them and followed them. He gave a good-natured dig at Luke’s ribs and said, “You’re slipping, buddy. You didn’t even notice you were being followed.”
Luke laughed, not bothering to explain that he knew he was being followed, because there was an invisible police presence around the three of them. He assumed David was aware of it. Instead, he filled David in on the ransom demand, saying that they were glad he was there, they could use the help in listing and making a plan for every likely eventuality.
Daniel was not unaware of the tricks and double-crosses that kidnappers could put him through, he just didn’t care. He would go through hell and high water to get Sarah back safely. But the others were not so sanguine that the outcome would be as Daniel wished. Luke and David especially wanted to detail what might happen and what Daniel should do in each eventuality. They went over the likelihood that the first meeting place would merely be the starting point, with Daniel being sent from place to place while the kidnappers watched from safety to make sure he wasn’t followed by the authorities. David had a trick up his own sleeve for that; he had already arranged for the use of a couple of top-secret surveillance drones in case this very scenario came about. He explained their operation to Daniel, with the Clarkes listening in. He also made them swear on their lives that they were not to talk to any living soul ever about the drones, as it was highly top secret technology and the CIA could not afford this technology in the hands of anyone outside the CIA.
“There will be no need to involve the police. These things will follow you and are undetectable in most circumstances. They’re ultra-compact, just big enough to carry a couple of rounds of high-powered ammunition in case a take-down is needed. They’re solar-powered and make almost no noise. If anyone does see one, they think it’s a pigeon. It’s got a camera that broadcasts video via cell tower, so we’ll be able to see you at all times and can act to protect you if need be.”
Even Luke looked suitably impressed at this news. David then went over how Daniel should drive if he were asked to go to a different place; not fast enough to attract a traffic ticket, but wasting no time in case the kidnappers were timing him to prevent him from contacting followers. After they had exhausted all the twists and turns that the exchange could take except for an abrupt bullet to Sarah’s brain—no one wanted to go there—David asked Daniel casually what the exact nature of his part of the bargain was.
Daniel answered that he would need a couple of hours to get it together, the database program with all the data and the algorithms for parsing it, which he didn’t have with him. He thought of Raj for the first time in hours. He said, “You guys help yourselves to some food. I have an errand to run. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He then strode out of the house without a backward glance, leaving a bemused Ryan and Luke in his wake, along with David, who didn’t seem pleased. Driving methodically up and down streets with commercial buildings on them, Daniel finally found a pay phone. He dialed Raj’s number, and listened as a succession of whirs and clicks eventually resulted in a ring and Raj’s cautious, “Hello.”
“Hey, it’s me. No names.”
“I understand my friend. What news?”
“I’ve been contacted. I need you to get me a copy of your work that I can exchange for her.”
“You’re sure she’s alive?”
“As sure as I can be. Listen, can you fix it so it looks good but doesn’t work right? I don’t want to jeopardize her. If they test it before turning her over, it has to look legit.”
“I understand. How will I get it to you?”
“I’ll charter a plane if I have to. You’ve only got a couple of hours, can you do it?”
“I will have to, my friend.”
Daniel returned to Sarah’s house and took Luke aside. “I need to get to New York and back. Is that jet still at your disposal?”
“Yes, but…”
“It’s where the program is. I’ll be back in time if I leave right now.”
“Go, then. I’ll get in touch with the pilot, who should be standing by. See you soon.”
Without alerting David, who might have objected to Daniel leaving, or Ryan, who was anxious enough now that the plans were set, without learning of an errand that would take Daniel out of the area, Daniel left and drove to the section of the airport where private planes were hangared, parking in a lot that was reserved for the owners. A man stood on the tarmac, with Daniel’s name on a cardboard sign.
Daniel went over and introduced himself, to which the man replied, “I’ll be your pilot. Mr. Clarke said to take you to New York. I need to file a flight plan; which airport?”
Daniel thought for a moment and asked, “Is it absolutely necessary to file a flight plan?”
The pilot looked dubious, but said, “Well, I should. But no, it isn’t absolutely necessary.”
“Then, if you don’t mind, let’s just take off, and I’ll tell you once we’re in flight.” Daniel marveled at how paranoid he had become, surpassing even Raj, he thought. It probably wouldn’t matter in the least if the pilot filed a plan, no one could know who his passenger was, and even if they did, the chances that it would get back to the kidnappers were very low. Still, it couldn’t hurt to be cautious, could it? Within a few moments, they were taxiing to the runway and only a few moments later were cleared for takeoff.
Once they were in the air, the pilot’s voice came over Daniel’s headphones. “Okay, Mr. Rossler, where are we going?”
“LaGuardia,” he answered. “As quick as you can.”
By the time he reached Raj’s place, the latter had finished the false database, altering the algorithm slightly so that the Fibonacci number sequence would be obscured. The data would look good, but it would take a linguist days to determine that the code was scrambled. Hopefully, it would be enough.
And then Daniel was on his way back to LaGuardia for the return flight. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he would make it with an hour to spare. In his pocket was a high-density flash drive with what the kidnappers were meant to believe was the culmination of his research. Until he understood the stakes that was the best he could do.
When he rushed back into Sarah’s house, Ryan jumped from his seat. “Where have you been?”
Daniel answered, “Sorry, Ryan. I had to go and get what the kidnappers want. I didn’t want to worry you, I’m sorry. Is everything ready? I’ll need to leave soon. I guess you’ll be here monitoring the video from the drones?”
“Yes, David’s been setting it up ever since you disappeared. I think he’s testing it now, do you want to take a look?
“Absolutely! If I’m going to trust not only my life to these things, but also Sarah’s, I guess I’d better get an idea of how good they are.”
The pair went into Sarah’s office, where David had set up an impressive array of equipment, including an enormous monitor that had a bird’s-eye view of Sarah’s bed on it at the moment.
“They’re operating inside the house?” he asked.
“Yes, just for a test. They’ve got a four-hour video capacity, but I didn’t want to test them outside yet. What do you think?”
Daniel watched as the camera panned over Sarah’s dressing table, picking up images of the pearl necklace she had discarded without hanging it in her jewelry chest, a variety of other items, some as small as a tiny pearl earring. The resolution was amazing. But he wondered how it did at long range.
“It has a high degree of accuracy for its weaponry at 500 yards. The camera can pick up a gun at 1000 yards. Anything smaller and it needs to be closer.”
“How fast can it cover the distance between seeing the gun and getting close enough to shoot?” Daniel rather thought he’d like it to stay within the 500 yard range.
“Pretty fast, but we’re going to keep both of them tight on you, one looking forward, one looking backward to cover your rear.”
For the first time in what seemed like days, Daniel’s peculiar sense of humor decided to make an appearance,
the stress he was under requiring some relief. “You can always count on the government to do the right thing, after it’s tried everything else.”
David’s baffled countenance was his only reward.
~~~
The time had come for Daniel to leave for the meeting place. A last check of his cell phone was performed to determine that the mobile positioning application was active, allowing David to use the technology he had set up at Sarah’s house to track Daniel at all times, even if the drones failed. However, David assured the others that the drones would not fail, and that as long as they remained within radio range, they would even operate within buildings, such as a large warehouse. An internet check of the location Daniel was given revealed that there were several such buildings nearby. Daniel’s last caution, from Luke, was to be sure he could see Sarah before turning over the flash drive. However, no one but Daniel and Raj knew that the flash drive was useless, but would fool anyone for a short period of time. He thought the kidnappers might want to test it before exposing Sarah, and he had every intention of allowing that if it was what it took to get her back. He was completely confident in Raj’s ability to make the ruse undetectable for at least several days.
In spite of the hours of terror for Sarah and agitation at his inability to do anything, Daniel now felt a sense of calm spread through him. He had been on the fringes of combat before, and he recognized the feeling, one of inevitability. He would do his best to do what was expected of him, and if he failed, he would likely be killed or kidnapped himself. If it ensured Sarah’s safety, it was well worth the sacrifice. Unconsciously, he squared his shoulders as he walked to the car.
In the house, watching Daniel walk away, Luke said to Ryan, “That’s a good man. Sarah chose well this time.”
“I believe you’re right,” Ryan replied.
Daniel keyed the address he had been given into his GPS, and started out, following the directions of the irritating female voice that he often argued with when he drove. He had left in plenty of time to re-route if necessary to avoid traffic jams and accidents, but his excess of caution was unneeded. He arrived at the meeting place with fifteen minutes to spare. He used the time to visualize Sarah’s sweet face and brilliant smile. Without realizing it, he murmured affirmations for her safe return. “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.” And “Everything will be okay, I promise.” It was a promise to himself and his future as much as to Sarah. Nothing would suffice except her safety and unharmed return. He prayed that the ‘unharmed’ part wasn’t already too late. On the stroke of six p.m., his cell phone rang.