Insequor

by Richard Murphy

  “Yes?”

  “Toby is here.”

  He scoffed. “Of course he is. Send him through.”

  With his back to the door he heard Toby enter and approach casually before resting on the desk.

  “It’s been a while,” said Daniel.

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  “Are you sure? I thought I was meddling with powerful forces? There are still a few choppers if you need one; we’ve only got six hours.” He turned around; Toby was leaning against the desk looking at his watch.

  “I make it five hours fifty-eight minutes.”

  Daniel smiled; Toby was ever the professional. His mind drifted back to those early days when they had first met. He had been so young, so frightened. Toby was the mysterious and powerful man who had opened doors, summoned soldiers and organised his life for so many years. But now it had all changed. Toby looked desperate.

  “You’re really going to do this? I never thought you’d have the gumption.”

  “It’s no more stupid than some of your ideas. Remember the giant treadmill?”

  Toby smirked, his arms loosened and he relaxed a little. “I still think if we’d have found the right materials that would have worked and we could have powered a small city.”

  Daniel laughed and Toby chuckled too; the colour returned to his cheeks and he almost looked sanguine.

  “Or what about the volcano?”

  “True, that one wasn’t fully thought through; but if we could have found a way to predict the eruption…”

  “Toby,” said Daniel, “I’ve changed. I’ve grown. I have masses of funds behind me now and a huge organisation – a country. All this you see below; I controlled the supply, the shipping, the construction and everything else. Some of the best scientists in the world are in my team.”

  “I know,” said Toby, unable to hide a frown, “some of them used to work for me.”

  “This time it’s going to be different.”

  “Why?”

  Daniel snapped his head up. “Because this time it ends!”

  He walked back to the window and gazed outside. A generator building was pumping white steam into the air; next to it pipes ran from all over the complex into another warehouse that…that what? He wasn’t exactly sure but it didn’t matter. He had all the information on his laptop; he’d paid for everything and it was all the best. Every advertisement, every sponsorship, every stupid personal appearance and chat show, it had all gotten him here.

  As he stood by the window, the setting sun cut his outline against the blackness of the shades helicopters buzzed past and trucks were rattling away. He turned to face Toby again.

  “Are you here in an official capacity?”

  “I’m just here to help.”

  “Well thank you, but I’m fine.”

  “Of course. Maybe I could stay to watch though?”

  “I wouldn’t advise that.” He turned and walked over to a workbench near the desk. He brushed aside some tools and leaned against it.

  Toby folded his arms. “I think you’ll find I’m a big boy. Quite capable of looking after myself.”

  Daniel’s face creased into a grin and he gave a little snort. “You never did tell me who you worked for. Was it the CIA?”

  Toby shook his head. “I work with the CIA sometimes, but I’m not an agent.”

  “Military? Secret service?”

  “None of those.” Toby shifted his gaze to the large clearing in the distance. “Is that the focal point?”

  “Then what are you? A psychologist? Negotiator?”

  Toby shrugged before turning back to the window. The orange light made his skin look bronzed and smooth. His jet black curly hair tucked behind his ears and glasses. “Something like that. The word is Plenipotentiary.”

  Daniel felt his bottom lip stretch to the left and his eyebrows take a dive. “What?”

  “People have always needed eyes and ears they can trust. But also, someone who can make an authorised decision on the spot.”

  “Decisions?”

  “Decisions.” Toby stared back.

  “Ever made a bad one?” said Daniel.

  “Yes. You?”

  “Ask me again, later.”

  He sat back at the desk where a laptop was projecting a soft white light and started tapping away.

  “Is that the control console?”

  He looked up with a smile. It was an old smile, from a time long ago. “Nice try, but I’m not that careless. I’m actually just checking my email. Do you want the Wi-Fi password?”

  “No, thank you.” Toby placed his hands together, the fingers stretching out like a lazy chameleon on a rainforest bough. “Everyone’s pretty scared out there. Do you know how dangerous this could be?”

  “Yes, I do. But we’ve taken all the necessary precautions.”

  “Oh that’s right, you have Professor Grey working for you now. How is he by the way?”

  “Ask him yourself.” Daniel returned to the laptop. “He’s in the next building updating the software.”

  “I did some background checks on him. He’s had quite a colourful life. Did you know he’s wanted for several crimes?”

  “Not in this country.”

  “You mean your country.”

  “Yes, my country.” He looked up and snapped shut the laptop. This was becoming tired. “Do you have travel plans?”

  “No, I don’t. Is there any way we can stop this?”

  “No. You’re not in control anymore.”

  Toby stepped back momentarily as if he’d been dealt a blow. His eyes were glistening and his mouth turned down.

  “For Christ’s sake Daniel, you don’t think they’re just going to stand by do you?”

  “My Russian friends seem to think so.”

  “Right, not content with creating a global catastrophe, you’re also intent on bringing about World War Three. A lot of work for one day, yes?”

  “The fact that your boss and the Russian Premier don’t get on is not my concern.”

  “Can’t we just talk? I have dozens of ideas. We want to try and help you.”

  “You’ve tried before, remember?”

  “That wasn’t our fault Daniel. The army, they...”

  Daniel smashed his fist against the window; the thick glass banging with a hollow sound like a bell underwater. “She was the closest I ever got to feeling normal.”

  They both stood in silence a moment. Although it had happened long ago it felt good to finally make the break from Toby to his face. He shook his head. “I don’t want to try any more of your stupid ideas. It ends.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this. Some people think what you have is a curse, others think it’s a wonderful gift.”

  “It’s a curse I assure you.”

  “I understand why you think that. But you can still turn this around. Something good can come out of this. You’re a very powerful man now, why waste it?”

  “I’m a powerful prisoner.”

  “They’ll find a way to stop you.”

  “Maybe.”

  “They won’t let you do this. They have people working on it right now.”

  “I don’t think they will have time.”

  “You’re leaving them only one choice.”

  “Let them come.”

  They sat in silence for a while, both occasionally looking up as a chopper buzzed past with people making their last trip from the science community that had been their home for the past few years. Eventually, he poured some coffee which Toby accepted and they stood out on a terrace.

  “I never did tell you about Davis, did I?” said Toby.

  He shook his head and looked back at the town. He hadn’t heard from Davis since the introduction to Grey back, where was it? Paris? It was hard to separate all the cities and vistas, the airports and hotels. Strange, but when he looked back on a time in his life and attempted to draw a memory it felt like scooping up melted marshmallow. He wondered if it was that w
ay for everyone; surely it never used to be like that? When he was younger, before.

  “After we dismissed Davis from the team he disappeared for a while before turning up in Boston. Dead.”

  “He died?”

  “Shaving accident.” Toby made a slashing motion across his neck.

  “Murdered?”

  “It would appear so.”

  Daniel shook his head. “I had no idea. You never did tell me why you took him off the team.”

  “You never did ask,” said Toby, with a smirk. “But we both know you know the answer.”

  “I’ll admit we spoke.”

  “You did more than speak. He put you in touch with Grey; something I had expressly forbidden.”

  “So you had him killed?”

  Toby shook his head and looked alarmed. “Do I look like a killer to you? We had nothing to do with it. Someone else didn’t want him sharing Grey’s secrets. But who had the most to lose? Grey? You?”

  “Me? You think I did it? I just took his advice. I’m not the bad guy here.”

  He leaned over the railings and looked down. The drop was about twenty feet to pale, dry mud. Cables ran amok amongst the struts of the tower. Nobody had played the blindest bit of notice to health and safety without officials around to enforce it.

  Toby joined him at his side, his arms crossed on the railing as he too peered over the edge. “’Wouldst thou be good, then first believe that thou art evil.’”

  “What’s that?” said Daniel, “more Milton?”

  “Someone else. A philosopher in fact.”

  He turned back into the tower, pausing at the door, looking at Toby from the side. He was leaning forward, almost casually, but still poised against the railings.

  “This philosopher,” he said, “is he dead?”

  “Yes,” said Toby, “he’s been dead a couple of thousand years.”

  “Well then, his opinion doesn’t really count for much, does it? There’s a chopper leaving the airport in thirty minutes. Be on it.”

  Chapter 48

  Jones stepped off the jet and felt the tarmac under his feet; he was immediately grateful. It had been a tough flight but then this corner of Abraznia was a difficult place to get to if you no longer had Daniel’s resources at your disposal. A flight to London, then to the capital and finally a chartered ‘crate’ out to the valley.

  His gaze noted that the airport, if you could call it that, was practically deserted. Daniel’s people had all but left apart from a couple of choppers. There was a building to the south where he was pretty sure he could get hold of a vehicle.

  As he walked toward it though he noticed some figures inside; soldiers. Americans? He increased his pace and arrived at the glass door before letting himself in and walking up to the group who were milling around a deserted canteen.

  Six men looked back at him but made no attempt at conversation. They were Special Forces.

  “Good morning Mr Jones, how are you?”

  He looked behind him at the source of the voice. The mean eyes and proud jaw were unmistakeable. With him were two more men.

  “General Stagg? What are you doing? This isn’t United States soil. Your man told me I’d be working alone on this.”

  “We’re the support unit,” said Stagg, with a smirk that made him look like he was breaking wind.

  He knew why they were here and it was the same reason he had boarded a flight two days ago; to stop Daniel. But he wanted to talk to him, make him see reason and expose Professor Grey for who he was. Stagg didn’t look like he was going to do much talking.

  “What’s the plan?” said Jones.

  Stagg calmly pulled out his handgun and checked the magazine before gesturing over his shoulder to his men. “We’re going to take a trip up to the valley, lay some charges and take out his key services. Intel shows there’s hardly anybody left at the facility; just a small number of scientists who are in the command centre along with Loman and Grey.

  “There’ll be no loss of life, just a lot of fireworks and then we can sit down again and have a conversation with him on our terms. After the extraction we’ll detain him on American soil whilst we work this whole thing out.”

  Jones twisted inside. This was what he wanted but not the way he wanted. Daniel needed reasoning with; taking him by force somewhere else was just going to make him angrier and the resentment run even deeper. And he was dangerous enough as it was. They couldn’t keep him forever and what then? He’d cook up something else; he’d be even more mistrusting and he’d probably find someone even crazier with an even crazier way to spend his billions.

  “What if I want no part of this?”

  “Then I’ll be going back to have a conversation with Mr Brooks,” said Stagg, his mouth twisting into a sneer.

  Though Jones felt he’d been hit by a punch in the guts he didn’t show it.

  “Fine. I’ll stay in Abraznia,” he said, “I have citizenship and Daniel made sure there were no extradition agreements in place.”

  Stagg stepped closer to Jones, held his chin up and stared down his nose to him. He breathed slowly, his eyes focused and sharp. Finally, he said, “Lead. Follow. Or get out of the way.”

  Chapter 49

  There wasn’t long left now. The area was almost deserted; Grey and his team had backed off to the secondary unit station about ten clicks away. The final security detachment and technical teams had left some hours previously and so Daniel was all alone with just his walkie-talkie and laptop.

  The laptop had software rigged to all the systems and provided monitoring software and dashboards. On it he could see chat between the various tech teams as they worked through their final checks for the countdown.

  In front of him the vastness of the valley stretched out; winds piping down the sides and shoving trees asunder. Branches fanned out and leaves scattered as the gusts made their way toward him.

  He was outside on the balcony of the tower, his eyes closed, enjoying the moments before the robot arrived. Perhaps they would be his last? Who knew? But it was a relief to know it was almost over; one way or another.

  No more looking at his phone; that damned map with its blinking orange dot. No more calendars and timelines; no more meetings or interviews. He would be free of everything. And then? What if he succeeded?

  There was still plenty of money left; Grey hadn’t managed to spend it all. He had houses all over the world and, true, Abraznia would soon find its feet again. He was sure they would offer him a residence. Maybe he would stay here and anonymously live out the rest of his days.

  A shuffle to his left made him start. He heard some soft shoes tread into the room and his shoulders sagged.

  “You know, Toby,” he said after a huff, “I really can’t be responsible for your safety.”

  “I’m a big boy.”

  “Yes, but I don’t want to have to deal with the media afterwards. You are, after all, an American citizen on foreign soil. Are you sure I can’t offer you a chopper?”

  Toby shook his head, his arms crossed.

  “Then let’s go,” he said, before beckoning Toby to follow him down the stairs. As they made their way around the building, the wind started gathering more force and the only signs of life were a few vehicles in the distance.

  “Over there is where I’ll be standing,” he said, “behind the screen.”

  They walked closer, the buildings starting to crowd over them, the wind making screeching noises through the corrugated roofs and open doors.

  “Is this the primary generator?” said Toby, as they walked past a building as big as any multi-story car park.

  “Yes, and just coming up is the magneto-optical trap.”

  Toby looked shocked.

  “Where the ant-matter is stored,” said Daniel.

  “I know what it is. Jesus you really built it. Is it there any antimatter in it now?”

  He frowned; he had expected more of Toby. “Of course there is. It’s been there for months; I thought you k
new all this?”

  “No,” said Toby, his voice was sounding lost. “We’d guessed, thought maybe, you were planning to try and create the antimatter on the day. I thought you wouldn’t be able to do it. But this…”

  Toby stared at the vast chamber of metal pipes and tanks behind the generator shed. The strip lights above only served to silhouette the atmosphere produced by the vapour clouds.

  “My very own doomsday device,” said Daniel, slapping Toby on the back.

  Toby didn’t look at him. They carried on walking for several minutes around the mass of machinery and tanks. Then, they came to a cleared out area.

  “This?” asked Toby, but his face was frowning as if he didn’t want to hear the answer.

  “This is the collider.”

  “I don’t understand.” Toby stopped and looked around. “Where’s the rest of it?”

  He smiled. “That’s the beauty of Professor Grey’s theory. It’s underground and it’s not a ring accelerator.”

  “You mean like the large hadron facility in Switzerland.”

  “Exactly.” Daniel jumped up and down on the ground which made a metallic, echoing sound.

  Toby was staring around still, focused. He paused and rested his chin on his fingertips, the wind rustling through his dark locks and he frowned. “The synchrotron must be …”

  “Huge,” said Daniel, with a beaming face.

  “Then you must have issues with stability?”

  “Yes, but Professor Grey has conquered them. We’re good to go.”

  “I never realised.”

  Chapter 50

  Jones looked up ahead as Stagg and his men broke through the abandoned gate. As former Head of Security, he knew that for the final hour Daniel would be alone. Stagg signalled to a couple of the men to head around the perimeter whilst the rest of them followed him to the centre of the complex where the main buildings were all huddled together. Jones followed Stagg, his boots picking up the pace as they headed off the dust road and onto the tarmac of the facility.

  All around him were the billions of dollars Daniel had spent on this, his final campaign. The storage facilities where the antimatter, more than had been produced in all of known history, would be suspended in light had cost more than an aircraft carrier. But who was really gaining?