by Daco
“It’s like he never had a fever,” Sonya remarked.
“Yes, but as I told you, it’s not unusual for a patient to run a temperature for a few days after surgery. We’ll keep him on fluid antibiotics while he’s here in the hospital and continue it orally for the next twenty days after he’s discharged. Just to be sure he doesn’t get an infection.”
“How much longer do you anticipate that he’ll be here?”
“Not more than a day or two.”
“That’s good news.”
“We’ll reevaluate in the morning and see where we are.”
“By the way,” Sonya said, “what were the results of Officer Tavaazo’s lab?”
The doctor looked up from notating his chart. “Right,” he said. “The gentleman tested positive for an upper respiratory infection. He was sent home with medication and advised to remain out of the general public. I also asked him to steer clear of Mr. Ahed, so hopefully that’s the last you’ll see of him.”
Sonya felt herself wanting to grin, but refrained. “You’d think an officer of the law would know better,” she said instead.
“Yes,” the doctor agreed, “it’s surprising how little respect people have.” Then he looked at Ben and said, “Okay, Mr. Ahed, it looks like everything is coming along just fine,” and he patted Ben’s leg. The doctor turned to Sonya next. “I’ll make rounds again in the evening. In the meantime, let’s see if we can’t get Mr. Ahed up and moving around. The sooner he’s able to get up and get around, the sooner he goes home.”
Ben nodded at the doctor and then watched as he left the room.
When the door closed, Sonya turned to Ben. “The doctor says you’re doing fine,” she told him. “He says the test results look good. You ought to be out of here in a day or two.”
“That’s a relief.” Ben expelled a long sigh.
“But he won’t discharge you until you’re up and able to move around on your own.”
“Makes sense.”
“He wants you up and walking.”
“Then by all means let’s start running some track.” He threw back the sheet.
“Let me help you.” She reached for his arm. “You might want to tie your gown in the back,” without waiting for his permission, she started tying the straps. “You know,” she said flirtatiously, “if you ever change your mind about Jordan … ”
“I won’t, but I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She laughed quietly.
The nurse entered the room next and spoke to Ben. “I see you’ve wasted no time. Good, the doctor will be pleased to see you up and around. If you need any help at all, please let me know.”
Sonya threaded an arm through Ben’s and led him to the door.
As they walked down the hall, Ben didn’t complain; however, Sonya could see that he was in pain.
Halfway around the ward, he spoke. “This sure beats the heck out of sitting at the beach, draining a case of beer.” He forced a chuckle.
“You Americans have an odd sense of humor.”
“We try.” Ben grimaced.
“Don’t take it so fast.” She tried to slow him.
“We’ve got places to go, people to see.”
“Yes, and if you have any chance of getting out of here by tomorrow, then try not to reinjure yourself. I’m not keen on sleeping in a chair for another week.” And after a pause in their conversation, she said, “What is it you Americans see in your beer?”
“Flavor,” he replied.
“Flavor? Your beer is like water. It has no substance.”
“We make all kinds.”
“So tell me, have you tried Russian beer?” She glanced up at him.
“A time or two.”
“And what do you think?”
“Not bad.”
“Perhaps I could hook you up — as you Americans like to say.”
“I take it you know a few folks in the business.”
“A cousin or two.”
“If I ever get home again, I might just consider the idea of importing.” He glanced down at her. “I have a corner bar. Did you know?”
“I think Jordan mentioned something like that.” A few steps later, they turned the corner and were close to reaching his room.
“Look, we’re almost there.”
“Not a minute too soon.”
“So why do you work so hard, Ben Johnson — NASA scientist and pub owner?”
“I keep asking myself the same question.”
“A man who works, but doesn’t know why.”
“Another five years and I’ll have twenty years in with NASA. I’m thinking I’ll take an early buyout instead of going for thirty. You know, retire early and spend some time having a little fun. Jeez, I could call in sick and retire now, I’ve got so much leave.”
“Don’t you love your science?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say it’s a love affair.” He chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, I like science, what’s not to like? Figuring out how things work is fun. And hey, if I had to earn a living, why not take a boyhood fascination to the next step?”
“Boyhood fascination?” She looked at him oddly.
“If truth be told, I could probably recite every line from the Star Wars movies,” he admitted.
“Star Wars?”
He smiled and glanced down at her again. “I thought it’d be fun to create the perfect light saber.”
She gave him a calculated look of confusion.
“Build lasers,” he explained.
“And you’ve spent your career developing this science to walk out on it, to simply throw it away?”
“It’s not like I’m doing science the way I imagined it’d be.”
“What do you mean?”
“The war machine is behind everything we do. We say science, but who’s funding it?” They both knew he was referring to the military. “And that’s fine for others, we need defense. But after this experiment goes, I’ve done my part.”
“And you’re not excited about your experiment?” she asked curiously.
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s great, it’s exciting to have designed a laser than can destroy all that space debris orbiting our planet. Do you know how much junk is up there?” He paused to reflect, then said, “But I’ve had enough.”
“It seems you’re just getting started.”
“After the debris situation is under control, let’s face it, the laser just becomes another weapon. And frankly, I’m not real keen about that. As the old saying goes, you only live once. And it’s time for me to start living. It’s time for a change.”
She lightened the conversation with a pause, so he’d relax and so she could keep him talking.
“I’ve heard it said that, too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right. Perhaps in your case, you haven’t had enough beer,” she said.
“Is that what you Russians say?”
“So when is your experiment scheduled to be performed?”
“It was slotted for release the first day in orbit.”
“What if there’s a delay?”
“Experiments get reshuffled.”
“Because?”
“To avoid any spoliation issues,” he explained. “Cargo gets unloaded first at the Space Station, then the more time-sensitive experiments get shuffled to the front.”
She nodded.
“It’s not a big deal. I’ve been waiting three years for this laser to fly on Falcon 9. Now that the Shuttle is no more, it’s not like NASA is in control of missions any longer.”
She glanced at him with intrigue.
“Not everything we want gets a ride into space these days, at least not without paying someone else.” Ben groaned an
d pulled a hand to his stomach.
“Look,” she said, “we’ve come full circle. I think you’re ready for a rest, are you not?”
“Yeah.” He grunted. “And not a moment too soon.”
Back inside the room, she helped him back into bed and as soon as he fell asleep, she took a little trip into the bathroom where she called Jordan. It was imperative to warn her that they were now sitting in a dead zone. She couldn’t head to the silo until they knew for certain when Ben’s experiment was slated to fly.
The second Jordan answered, Sonya got straight to the point. “More trouble.”
“What do you have?” Jordan asked.
“It looks fairly certain your boy’s experiment will be delayed,” she explained.
“How did you find out? Did Snake call?”
“No. Your boy told me.”
“Ben? Does he know about the delay?”
“No, but when we were talking, the subject of his experiment came up. Your boy says if there’s a delay, time sensitive experiments will take priority and get bumped in front of his. I thought this was accounted for.”
“What we need is real intelligence to know for sure.”
“I’ve said it before, but we may need to abort with too much uncertainty now.”
“Yeah, and why is it that you keep saying we should abort?”
“I’ve never seen a mission go so wrong and still pull off.”
“We can’t abort, not without proper authorization.”
“Too much is going wrong. There’s too much at risk.”
Jordan didn’t agree. “We’ve come too far to walk away. I’m going to try to reach Snake. He ought to be monitoring NASA. He would have communicated with one of us if anything changed.”
“You go on and call. If Snake answers, let me hear back.”
After concluding the call, Sonya left the bathroom and returned to the chair beside Ben’s bed. Without making a sound, she picked up a magazine she had looked at one too many times and started to reread an article.
“You were talking to Jordan,” he said, leaving his eyes closed. “Don’t try to deny it.” He rolled his head around to face her, then opened his eyes.
“What of it?” She didn’t try to hide the fact.
“Where is she? I’d like to know.”
Sonya gestured with a flip of the hand. “Just think of her as down the street.”
“Where?” He gripped the bedrail.
“Near the border of Iran, heading to Turkmenistan.”
He nodded appreciatively and released his grip on the rail. “When I get out of here I want you to take me to her.”
“You know the plan is to get you out of this country before anything else goes wrong.” Sonya started flipping through the pages of the magazine. Anything to change the subject.
But he wasn’t ready to drop the subject. “I want you to take me to where Jordan is. I want to see her.”
“I’m taking you to our embassy in Turkmenistan. Jordan will meet you there.”
“I don’t know who you two think you’re fooling, but it’s certainly not me. I’ve had a little time to think. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but you two owe me an explanation.”
She glanced up with a disapproving frown. “Don’t get paranoid.” Then she crossed her legs and returned to the magazine. “Perhaps you should stop worrying and try to rest.”
“When I first saw Jordan dressed like a Muslim woman, I knew she was up to something. I just wasn’t able to piece it together.”
She lowered the magazine. “You’re imagining things. She has relatives here.”
“No, now hear me out.”
She waited.
“You might not be in a position to talk, but there’s nothing that prevents me from saying what I think.” Then he gave her a serious look that said: “You’re here, I’m here, and you’re going to listen to what I have to say.”
“Okay.” She closed the magazine and set it in her lap.
“At first, I couldn’t figure out what Jordan would be doing in a country like this. I didn’t think it was anything terribly important. Maybe she was delivering a message. Maybe she was making a drop, picking something up. Maybe she was even spying on some fat cat, but all those ideas didn’t last long. Not after I saw her in action back there at the hotel in Tehran. You know, she saved our tails by making us scale down the outside wall of the hotel using bed sheets.”
Sonya didn’t respond.
“After that little escape, I knew something bigger than I had imagined was going down. Only I couldn’t put my finger on it. With everything happening so fast — first prison, now surgery — I haven’t been able to think clearly.”
She didn’t confirm or deny what he was saying.
“You know,” he said, “Jordan tried everything under the sun to keep me from following her into Iran. Back on the plane, I know she was only trying to protect me when she swapped my passport. She tried to warn me, she told me to go with it, but I missed her cue.”
Sonya nodded. There was nothing she could do to stop him.
“After the jailbreak — thank you, by the way, if I haven’t already — I wondered what drew Jordan to me in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, we make a perfect match … in more ways than one.” He smiled to himself. “But you know, the math didn’t add up.” He paused again. “I’m not a complete chump. If Jordan’s some hotshot spy, I knew her reason for being with me came down to one of two things: either she was passing time — I was just someone she found to spend some time with, have a few laughs, drinks, whatever — or two, she needed me.”
Sonya didn’t confirm or deny the postulations.
“And you,” he said unemotionally, “just answered the question.”
“I’m not following,” she lied because this wasn’t the time for pillow talk or exchanging national secrets.
“Of course you do,” he insisted. “It was right there in front of me the whole time, I just didn’t want to see it.”
“I’m sure I don’t — ”
“So,” he interrupted her, “are you going to tell me why you two women are so interested in my laser experiment, or do I have to keep guessing?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Stop!”
She didn’t flinch a muscle.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you.” He took a breath and continued. “I overheard your conversation just now. Every word of it.”
She conceded to the fact with a single word, saying, “Okay,” because she needed to hear what else he had to say.
He kept going. “So after hearing you two discuss the delay of my experiment just now in the bathroom, it started me thinking about something that’s been nagging at me. Why are the Americans and Russians working together? And what is it they’re trying to accomplish over here in Iran?”
She tightened her lips.
“You’re either looking for nuclear warheads or after the oil.” He paused to study her reaction, but when she remained stoic, he continued. “I don’t think a couple of undercover agents could do much about hidden weapons, unless there’s a whole army of you people hidden over here.” He paused to reposition himself in the bed. “Maybe we’re gearing up to invade Iran. I hope not, but who knows.” He moaned quietly. “All I know is that the Americans and Russians are definitely after something big, something major, and that something involves my experiment.”
She could play this game all day and night, but she knew he was too smart; he’d piece everything together sooner rather than later. So she finally admitted, “I can’t discuss it.”
“Right.” He gave her a look. “Things aren’t always as they appear. Or are they?” He
paused. “The part I’m in a quandary about is what exactly you people think my laser experiment is going to do for you.”
“Perhaps you’re making too much of it,” she suggested.
“No, no.” He wasn’t buying that either. “A laser strike to ignite something would be very accurate, quite clean, and the beam would be virtually undetectable because — as I’m sure you must know — the beam is invisible. And its light travels so fast that it would barely measure a blip.”
“What does that matter? One laser strike is nothing.”
“Not exactly. It’s one free shot is what it is,” he corrected her without any remorse.
“So what’s one shot?” she tested him.
“That all depends on the hit. If you’re blowing up a nuclear reactor, that’s one big giant pop.”
She shook her head no.
“You say Jordan’s at the border?” he asked.
She only stared at him; she should never have alluded to as much.
“Then it follows she’s out digging in the sand,” he said.
“I think we’ve talked enough. It’s better not to know everything, especially when none of this matters.” She rose from her chair, tossed the magazine to the side table, and walked to the window. He was close, too close. She had to put an end to this conversation.
Except Ben wasn’t about to drop the matter. “Why?” he pushed.
She answered this question, hoping it’d shut him up. “Because you become a target,” she said, not looking back at him.
“You people think there’s a nuclear stockpile out there, don’t you?” he asked. “I’m right.”
She shook her head no. “Just leave it alone.”
“I can’t,” he said. “I can’t leave any of this alone, not now, not when I’m involved.”
“No, Ben Johnson, you’re not involved.” She turned to him now. “And you need to stay that way.”
“I’ll figure it out one way or the other. You know that.”
“You’re better off if you don’t.” She flipped her hair to the side. “Safe is ignorance. Be smart. Keep it that way.”
“I can’t. I’m not built like that.”