The Tenth Cycle: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 1)

by JC Ryan

  As Sarah slept, Daniel’s active mind sorted through several items that he needed to take care of. Raj needed to know that their plan had worked and that Sarah was safe. And someone needed to inform the Institute that Sarah had suffered a head injury and would require a postponement of her tenure hearing. It was also time to make a tough decision.

  Daniel had had enough. Too many people were dead, and too many of his loved ones had been put in grave danger. Now he might have lost Sarah, who, though he hadn’t said so to her yet, was the love of his life. He was grateful she at least was alive and relatively unharmed. But if she never remembered him…well, he couldn’t bear the thought of not having her in his life. If she never remembered him from their past, he’d just have to win her again. This time, he’d put a ring on her finger and not risk losing her again. But, to keep that promise to himself, he needed to abandon this cursed search for the pyramid code.

  When he called Raj, he’d tell him to stop inputting data and instead erase it. He’d have to call Sinclair and tell him it was off, as well. Grandpa would be disappointed. But there was no choice. Daniel finally pulled his cell phone from his pocket and began making notes after muting the ringer so that it wouldn’t wake Sarah if someone called.

  An hour later, Luke came to relieve him, telling him in a hurried consultation in the hall that both Emma and Sally were on their way. Sarah’s small house had only the two bedrooms besides the room she had converted to an office. He and Sally would get a hotel. Daniel protested that he should, but Luke wouldn’t hear of it, at least until Sarah was released from the hospital. They would have to play it by ear at that point, depending on how much she remembered by then. It would break Daniel’s heart to leave her side, but he couldn’t expect her to sleep in the same bed with him if she didn’t remember him. Luke comforted him, saying he thought it would be likely that her memory would fully recover, except perhaps for the attack itself. That she remembered her parents were a good sign, he told Daniel, one that they could build upon. Then Luke went into her room to sit with Sarah, while Daniel went to make the calls that he’d prioritized in his notes.

  The first was to the Human Resources department at The Times. He wanted to know how much accrued leave time he had, and was happy to learn it was almost two weeks. He then told HR to expect his resignation soon. In the meanwhile, he would exhaust his vacation days. Still angered that Kingston had been spying on him, he declined to speak to his editor – he would do it later. Daniel had a vague idea that he had enough information about the pyramid to get a book deal out of it. The potential advance, plus his savings, would support him for at least a couple of years. He’d figure out what to do before that time was up.

  Ryan came back at that time, bearing Daniel’s iPad, so he was able to place a message in the email draft folder for his grandparents, who could pass the message on to Ellis and Pierce that their services would soon be gratefully released. He also composed a letter of resignation, which he intended to present to Kingston’s supervisor, Aaron Selleck, along with the information that Kingston had been spying on him, in person.

  By the following day, the men were exhausted and getting pretty ripe in the clothes they had been wearing for two days. Dr. Kassar finally persuaded them to go home for a shower and some rest. Emma and Sally were due in on a flight that would arrive just before noon, so they agreed they would go home, clean up, sleep a couple of hours if they could, and then bring the women to the hospital. Dr. Kassar promised to have Sarah alert for her mother’s visit.

  Promptly at one p.m., Ryan and Emma together stepped into Sarah’s room, where she was sitting up and looking quite a bit better for her rest. Her IV had been removed, and she was just finishing a hospital meal. “Hello, honey,” Emma said.

  “Mom! I’m so glad to see you!” Ryan noted that it was ‘Mom’ now, not ‘Mommy,’ and took it as a good sign.

  “What do you remember, honey?” Emma asked gently.

  “I remember you, and Dad. Uncle Luke was here yesterday, and helped me understand who he was, but I can’t remember much else. Dr. Kassar says that a specialist will look at me today and make some recommendations.”

  “That’s good, darling, it’s a start.” Emma’s tone was even, but her eyes were sad as she realized just how much Sarah had lost and wondered if it could ever be regained. What about her career? Would she still remember her studies and her research? And what about poor Daniel? The boy was devastated that Sarah didn’t remember him, but he was being very brave and sweet about it.

  “Mom, my head doesn’t work right. When will I start to remember things?”

  Emma was helpless to answer that plaintive question, but tried to soothe her daughter, “Soon, honey. Soon, I’m sure.”

  The specialists who examined Sarah were of the opinion that at least some of her memory loss was emotional, and that if she could work through her fear, most of it would come back to her. They warned Ryan and Emma that as much as six months to three years of her immediate past might be lost for good; specifically that there was less than a 50% chance that she would regain all of it. Daniel broke down when Ryan gently gave him that news. But, he pulled himself together and vowed to win her again if necessary. A Rossler didn’t give up easily, as his Grandpa had once reminded him.

  Chapter 36 – We’ve Got It

  “Did you get it?” Septentrio demanded.

  “Yes, we got it,” Sidus said with a grim smile. “I take it you’ll send a courier around to pick it up?

  “Indeed. Expect someone within twenty-four hours. He’ll have the code word. Excellent job, Sidus, There will be a nice bonus on its way for you. Get your retirement plans in place.” The last was ironic, as both men knew that people didn’t simply retire from the Society’s employ; not before they were too old to be of use anymore. Few made it to that age.

  “It’s a pity that Reigna was lost in the process, but nobody is irreplaceable. The rest don’t matter; they had to go in any event after this.” Septentrio observed, with Sidus’s silent assent.

  After speaking to Sidus, Septentrio opened a conference call to the other three leaders.

  “Momentous news, my friends. We have the code and it will be broken in a matter of weeks now. As you know, we have been waiting for centuries to get to this point. “

  “That is good news, Septentrio. What next?”

  “One of my men will recruit two linguists to start work on the translation as soon as the flash drive is delivered to me.”

  Chapter 37 – This Must End Now

  The next day, Daniel asked Ryan and Emma if they could manage without him for the day, as he had urgent errands in New York. He then drove to the Times to put his resignation letter in the hands of someone who could do something about Kingston. He knocked on Selleck’s door.

  “Aaron, could you spare me a few minutes?” Daniel asked.

  “Certainly! How’s our star archaeology reporter doing,” Selleck said jovially. Unaware of what had been going on in Daniel’s life; Selleck was shocked when Daniel said he was giving notice and handed him his letter of resignation. He was even more shocked when Daniel explained what had happened to Sarah. Before Daniel could elaborate on his grievance against Kingston, Selleck gave him an appraising look and said, “What’s the rest of it?”

  “I was getting to that. Aaron, the reason I’m handing you my resignation instead of John Kingston is that I’m afraid if I saw him I’d kill him.” Selleck’s eyebrows shot up, but assuming that Daniel’s statement was hyperbole, didn’t interrupt him as he went on, getting more and more agitated as he related his evidence.

  “I can’t prove any of this, and I can’t tell you how I know. But John Kingston hacked into my computer shortly after I started this story, and he personally arranged for me to work with Dr. Allan Barry, who involved Sarah. This chain of events resulted in the deaths of Sarah’s friend Mark Simms, Barry himself, my grandparents’ being taken hostage and now Sarah’s kidnapping and injury. If he didn’t personally order the
murders, he’s neck deep into some kind of conspiracy and indirectly responsible for all of it.” Daniel had worked himself into a furor, and was pacing the office. Alarmed, Selleck asked him to please sit down and discuss it.

  “No, I have other matters to attend to. But if you don’t do something about Kingston, I may just sue the Times. I don’t want this swept under the rug, Aaron. I want Kingston taken down, where he can’t do this to anyone else. In fact, maybe I’ll go and kick his ass after all.”

  “Wait, Rossler, please! There’s no need for that. I’ll handle it personally. But, we don’t want to lose you. Isn’t there some way we can work this out?” Selleck sounded sincere, and Daniel answered in kind.

  “Aaron, you know I love The Times. I’ve enjoyed my time here, but my personal life is in Providence. My first priority is Sarah. I want to be with her to support her recovery. I can’t be in two places at once.”

  “What if we fixed it so you only had to be here, say, a couple of times a month? Would you consider telecommuting?”

  “That’s an intriguing idea that I’d certainly consider. But won’t it open a can of worms with other employees?”

  “We’ll get HR to write up a policy that only you and a handful of others would be qualified for. How about it, Daniel, can we count on you? I’ll have HR write up a contract. You’ll be a freelance contributor with a regular column. Turn in the column on time, and we won’t worry about what you do with the rest of your time. But, we want the scoop on whatever you find, is that fair?”

  Daniel emitted a sharp bark of a laugh. “I’m afraid that ship has sailed, I’m not risking anyone else on this pyramid boondoggle. I’m quitting that as of now.”

  “Fair enough, and I understand though I’m sorry to hear it. Are we good then? Will you be able to get a column in this week, or do you need another week of leave?”

  “I’ll get it in. And thank you, Aaron.”

  “Can’t let our best talent get away.”

  ~~~

  Next, Daniel collected Raj for a coffee break, narrowly avoiding Owen. He hated to hurt Owen, but the fewer people he had to talk to, the faster he could get back to Sarah. Owen didn’t need to be mixed up in this business anyway, it wasn’t safe and by now it was irrelevant. A wave of frustration and something akin to grief washed through him at that thought.

  Raj took the news rather calmly, Daniel thought. He made no objection, even said something about being glad he could get back to his own research. Daniel thought it a bit strange, but then Raj was always a bit strange. He could never guess how Raj was going to react to anything. It was as if the man were of one of his mythical alien races, with different emotions and priorities than Earthlings. The thought amused him, but of course he kept it to himself.

  “Raj, I’m sorry I sidetracked you for all this time on a wasted effort,” he said, instead.

  “No worries, my friend. No effort is ever wasted. I now know much more about cracking an encoded message than I did before. Perhaps I’ll find a use for the knowledge at another time.”

  Satisfied that he had accomplished his errand with Raj, Daniel’s next stop was Sinclair’s. Once again he was pleasantly surprised that the man didn’t object.

  “I think that’s a perfectly reasonable response to Sarah’s kidnapping,” he’d said. “Maybe you can take it up again when all this has settled down.”

  “I don’t think so, Sinclair. It’s been too traumatic. If I never hear the word pyramid again, it’ll be too soon,” Daniel said in a defeated tone. Sinclair let it pass.

  “Well, I sincerely hope your lovely Sarah remembers you soon. I wouldn’t want her to have forgotten me, either! Please bring her ‘round for a visit when you can,” he said.

  Daniel knew when he was being dismissed. A moment later, he took his leave after promising a visit if and when Sarah was up to it. He drove back to Providence with nothing on his mind but Sarah. He would have been glad to know that while he was accomplishing his errands, an indignant John Kingston was being grilled in Selleck’s office and later by the police. Selleck had fired him and would be pursuing civil charges if the criminal charges didn’t stick.

  He would have been less glad to know that messages were flying back and forth in the shared email drafts folder, only to be erased as they were read. But he would learn of it soon enough.

  When he arrived in Providence, he went straight to the hospital, where it was Ryan holding vigil at the time. Sarah was sitting up in bed, looking more herself, and his heart clutched at the sight of her. His impulse was to kiss her, but he restrained himself, seeing only a look of pleasant welcome on her face, not the flare of love that he was accustomed to. Ryan left to give Daniel a chance at a visit, and Sarah didn’t evidence distress, so Daniel took advantage of his time with her.

  “Hi, Sarah. Do you remember me?” he asked hopefully.

  “You rescued me from those people,” she said shyly. “They showed me your picture, you know. They said you were my boyfriend, and that they’d hurt you if I didn’t tell them the formula. Do you know what they were talking about? And are you my boyfriend?

  Daniel spoke gently, “Yes, I know what they were talking about, but you don’t need to worry about it now. It’s all finished.” He didn’t answer her second question, because he simply didn’t know how to. He thought they were more than boyfriend and girlfriend, but she clearly didn’t remember that part. If he told her all of it, would it shock her? Distress her? He couldn’t risk it.

  Sarah, though, wanted an answer. This man had risked his life to save her, her dad had told her. She liked that he was looking at her with an open expression as she examined his face for any hint of something she could remember. All she felt was that he was very attractive, and she could well have been dating him. She asked again, “Are you my boyfriend?” By now he’d found his answer.

  “I’d like to be. We meant something to each other before, and you still mean the world to me. I know you can’t remember, but if you’ll give me a chance, I’d like to win your trust and friendship again. If you want me for your boyfriend then, well, I’m ready, willing and able.”

  The phrase stirred something deep in her memory, but nothing solid came to mind. It was a nice answer, though. Very graceful. It didn’t presume anything, and yet, he’d told her he was still hers if she wanted him. She gazed at his earnest face and said, “I’ll give you a chance.”

  At the end of visiting hours, the hospital asked everyone to leave, now that Sarah was past any crisis. They felt she needed her rest, and her family reluctantly agreed. Daniel was loathe to leave her unguarded, but he had something to tell her family, and this was as good an opportunity as any. The five of them went to a restaurant that was open late, glad to have a real meal at last, and he broached the subject there.

  “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve called you all together here,” he intoned, deadpan. As the others chuckled at the tired and feeble joke, he said, “No, really, I have something to say. I want you all to know that I’m devastated at what’s occurred because of my research. I’m calling a halt to it and turning everything I have over to the CIA. Let them figure it out; it’s too dangerous for ordinary citizens. I only wish we’d known before Mark’s death what the stakes were, and I’d have done it then. I can’t bring him back, but stopping now will keep Sarah and my family safe from further attack, and that’s all I care about.”

  What he took to be a stunned silence followed this speech, and he waited for them to absorb it and react. Ryan was evidently going to be the spokesperson, because he cleared his throat. “We know what you’ve been up to in New York, son, and we appreciate that you’ve made arrangements to stay with Sarah as long as she needs or wants you there. But Raj warned us about your plan, and we don’t think it’s the best option.”

  Daniel’s mouth dropped open. “Wh…Raj? How?” He simply couldn’t form a coherent sentence, so Ryan answered what he thought were Daniel’s questions. “I got a text message telling me to go to a certain
email box, and I remembered how you and your friend were communicating in secret. When I got there, I found a message from Raj telling us what you’d been up to, and that you were on your way to tell Sinclair it was a no-go, too. Shortly after that, a message from Sinclair came in saying you’d been there and were on your way here. Sorry to do this behind your back, son, but we wanted to present a united front.”

  Daniel was still confused, so he just stared at Ryan, waiting for him to continue. Instead, Luke took up the narrative. “We understand where you’re coming from, but we don’t think you’ve thought it all the way through. I’d like to point out some things you may have missed.”

  Daniel opened his mouth to object, but Luke was already ticking off his points on his fingers. “Number one, there is a slight chance that the danger is over or at least diminished but only until they figure out that you have scrambled the data and code. And let me tell you they are going to be very annoyed when they discover that. On the other hand, those people were definitely working for someone else. How will you convince them that you’ve stopped working on it, and how do you know that’s what they want? It’s more likely they want the finished product. They could just as well kidnap you or your linguist and force you to finish the job, doesn’t matter if the CIA has the code or not. They will want it as well.”

  Daniel had to concede that the point was valid, so he put on a conciliatory face and started to respond. However, Luke wasn’t through.

  “In the second place, giving it to the CIA doesn’t erase your memory, or for that matter, Sarah’s. Whoever hired those kidnappers don’t know she’s lost her memory. If they still want it, you and Sarah are easier targets than the CIA. They’ll still come after you.” With a sinking feeling, Daniel realized that Luke was right. It wasn’t a solution.