by Hylton Smith
“Dupree, er vaguely, that was over twenty years ago. I seem to recall he went to somewhere in Africa after the crew returned. Why do you ask?”
“We may need to speak to him, but first I want to run something past you.”
Logan’s massive ego surfaced and rapidly gathered pace. He spouted off about a discussion with Carvalho which had sparked an idea he had put to the Commander, to curb the reckless intentions of the FBI. De Santos had to concede that this buffoon had missed his calling; he did have a sprinkling of that Hollywood dust. Maybe he should be sprinkled with a different dust – maybe not, one of a kind was enough.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
Logan’s smile was sickening. “Let him know that we know he has some illegal crystal and we urge him to report here immediately with the entire quantity. We will acquaint him with the plan when he arrives.”
“If I can trace him I’ll pass this on if that’s really what you want.”
“Is there something bothering you Mr. de Santos?”
“I’m assuming you appreciate that he took this crystal before the law was passed to make possession illegal. Then of course there is the small matter of extraditing him from Sudan – how much time do we have?”
Logan had lots of practice at backtracking. “Yes, that is a valid point. What do you suggest?”
“Well, make him feel an important part of helping bring down these apologies for human beings who are holding the boy.”
“Mmm, yes, could you attend to it and let me know his response? There is another matter. We need to ship the crystal to wherever but have it returned if the exchange is favourable so I won.....”
De Santos corrected him, “No sir, if you are talking of the legal position, the FBI does not get off the hook that easily. There must be prior acknowledgement from them that the crystal is being passed into their care on the condition of safe return. If the entire quantity is not returned they face a legal suit until it is. I would have thought they knew that.”
“Of course, thank you for reminding me. They must see the benefit of my plan. Thanks.”
Chapter 11
Doc had distributed his wristbands and they were received warmly by the humans, whereas the Symbiants could not get too excited about them. He attached a note to each one suggesting that if ever humans altered their physiology there may be a way to link a display to the brain.
Stella informed Carvalho that she was prepared to allow the media to speak to Singh. “I’m satisfied that we can claim the procedure was a success in medical terms. However I’m no politician so I would appreciate your handling of that side of things, if you have time.”
“Of course I have. I hope this isn’t an intrusive suggestion - would you like to discuss the double act, and rehearse each other’s signals so that we can recognise them - over dinner?”
She didn’t hesitate. “That would be very helpful, I don’t want to put my foot in it, and your guidance may help, but I can’t promise that it won’t happen – as you know I get a little protective of patients; people have referred to it as tunnel vision.”
Carvalho felt a rush of stomach churning but was able to maintain a professional voice. “Excellent, can you suggest a restaurant near the hospital so you don’t have to travel. It would also give me a chance to talk to Singh before the vultures descend on him.”
“Yes, I’ll make a reservation. Bye.”
********
Sadat was even more urgent this time. “Mr. de Santos, if you cannot help me contact Commander Carvalho I will have to trust you to convey the information I have yourself. We must stop this kidnap trade.”
De Santos thought this was a bad sign - maybe a problematical impending disclosure. It was worse than that. He had for some reason thought Sadat knew of the new plan. “Why, and how?”
“We have recently had a visit from a top General in the Chinese military. This was a long-standing arrangement but it has taken on new significance. As you know North Korea has the last vestiges of a communist state run by a dictator. They have pursued a headlong disregard for world pressure to cut their nuclear arsenal. The USA and China have been the most outspoken critics. The Chinese General visited us to speak first hand to our military as we have the most recent experience of a conventional war – in 2018 with the Zionists. The General – I need him to be nameless for now - asked to speak to our government and ended up with me. He is supposed to be responsible for building a camp on the North Korean northern border to discourage growing defection of the Korean civilians. The Americans have responded to a request to do the same with the permission of South Korea on their border, and they agreed. The Americans asked about the eventual repatriation and were assured by the Chinese that they could pass all detainees to them by sea, and they would oversee the return of all defectors. The General has since been informed that these captives are to be secretly replicated with crystal and briefed before return, to conduct a guerrilla war against their own forces. They know the dictator would stop short of employing nuclear armaments in his own country and against who he believes are his own people. The General was told that it only needs a few milligrams of amorphous powder for each one. They believe there will be sufficient to produce an indestructible army of hundreds of thousands from less than 1% of that number of originals. They will invade at the appropriate moment and install a puppet regime in the name of stabilising the region. He believes the Americans are not in on the second part of the objective but is unsure whether one or both could be involved in the kidnap exchange. The General and his family have asked us for asylum. You must agree this is vital information which the Commander must have. One thing is certain - whether it comes from the Martian domes or Beijing vaults they are determined to obtain the crystal at any cost.”
The Brazilian initially responded with sarcasm. “This is a ridiculous claim; it can’t be serious.”
“That was my first thought but he showed me detailed plans. The replicants are to be deployed in alternate waves. The leading ones engage the N.K. military in conventional guerrilla strikes and the secondary detachments clean up any dismembered replicants which have suffered explosive damage severe enough to preclude regeneration. They know about things which I did not, such as the replicant physiology – sentinel cells and first tier registry links to these cells to repair damage. They must have inside information. The second wave is to return these damaged parts to cold recycling points behind the line of incursion to enforce crystal reversion. The recovered crystal will spawn new replicants to join the next offensive wave. This may seem like a crackpot idea to the likes of us but they are convinced they can succeed. You may think that it is also a ‘crazy’ objective to complete this phase and end up with all of the planet’s red crystal ready for use on what next? It is almost too far-fetched to believe – a bit like suicide bombers without the suicide. If the Americans have been deceived it could well mean that the problem becomes even more serious if and when they find out.”
De Santos was not a risk taker by nature; he was a competent scientist whose brain had been showered with political involvement, none of which was of his own choice. Sadat needed to know of the Pascal Dupree charade and Carvalho needed to know of this latest fantasy war. He wanted out of this ring of intrigue. He set up the most secure transmission link possible via an initial message to Art Legrange to get Carvalho alone to be ready to receive. When this had been achieved he made it clear to Carvalho that Logan did not know what Sadat was about to deliver. He also asked to be relieved of any further involvement in the politics other than carrying out direct orders.
The revelation did not impact Carvalho as it had the Brazilian. His first thought was to carry on with the Pascal Dupree plan, and Sadat agreed. It would be helpful to know if the FBI reacted to this in any particular way and whether there was any indication of them being part of any other agenda.
De Santos duly informed Logan that Pascal Dupree was standing by for Beijing airlift from Sudan. He
was more than happy to assist in the effort to free Evander de la Cruz. Logan preened at his opportunity to manipulate the FBI with ‘his’ plan. They did not exactly protest and even saw some merit in the idea as well as the apportionment of failure, if that occurred. They did insist on maintaining the coordinating role – Dupree’s replicant would be instructed by them and nobody else. This decision left Carvalho and Sadat thinking that they either had no part in any ‘Chinese whispers’ or they were unknowingly being used by their own government to acquire the crystal. It was a priority to find out who the kidnappers were. The FBI knew this would be possible by replicating captured individuals at the exchange and interrogating them.
********
Carvalho’s date with Stella was a welcome if brief respite from the political intrigue. He asked her what had made her apply for the Martian post. At first she hesitated, explaining that it was a long, boring story and somewhat painful. His total acceptance of that and a swift change to the matter at hand, Mr. Singh, strangely disappointed her. She had never really got close enough to anyone to regurgitate and hopefully cleanse herself of the baggage of the failed marriage.
They quickly came to an accord on exactly how to handle all possible probes by the media and Carvalho produced a surprise for her. “I’ve just heard from Sophia Scillacci and Eidur Isaakson – the two specialists who combined the human and Axis knowledge to produce the design for the procedure carried out on Singh. They will be on a parallel broadcast to ours; the link up may at least help move Terran resistance to this science into a more objective forum. They are thrilled with your success and send you their warmest congratulations. They’ll visit you on the next shuttle on which they can secure places.”
“Really, I feel honoured. I have somehow looked at them as mentors even though I’ve never met them.”
Carvalho reassured her, “They are very impressed with the way you handled this potentially explosive case. Apparently the debate has bubbled under the surface, just waiting for failure. You were under a lot of pressure; their praise is merited.” She was a little flustered and self-conscious and returned to his former question. “My determination to detach myself from the issues surrounding the case was aided by my reasons for wanting the post. Since you did ask, I needed a new beginning – professional and personal. Clearing my head meant exactly that – everything. I just had the perfect focus to help annex my recent traumas. As I said earlier I don’t want to bore you with detail but I now feel that my decision was vindicated.”
“I can’t imagine it would be more boring than returning to my hotel accommodation and evaluating the latest pressure reports from the boreholes.” She truly smiled for the first time in his presence. It was two hours later when they said goodnight. She was besieged by conflicting cerebral and emotional messages. ‘It’s too soon; this has happened to me before; it’s good to feel like this again; I must combat arousal; I’ve just started this job; he may not feel this way about me’.
Chapter 12
The call came closer to the deadline than expected for Reuben de la Cruz. “Put your negotiator on the line.” He obliged and handed the handset to Marvin Kinsey. “Yes. Kinsey here.”
“Listen very carefully. You will deliver the goods exactly 24 hours from now. Set your timepiece. The delivery point coordinates will be the last thing I tell you – be ready for that. You will use a helicopter to deliver the cargo and upon our signal you will lower it with a winch. The chopper remains in the air until we have visually verified the cargo. It then leaves and returns in 12 hours to pick up the boy, if the tests prove we have the correct material. The coordina.....”
Kinsey interjected. “No.”
“We do not have flexibility on this.”
Kinsey was adamant. “We don’t either. You check the material, we check the boy. It could be anybody. We send one unarmed man down with the cargo to verify the boy as Evander de la Cruz. You do not take away the crystal until we do that. Once we have his signal, our man is winched up, and only then do you take the boy and a sample of the cargo for test. When you are satisfied, the boy is lifted and the cargo is yours. There is no trade if we don’t have this assurance.”
There was anxiety in the other voice, the conversation had already lasted longer than planned and they knew a trace was in progress. “You must not attempt to land, and we will only signal for your man to descend to within two metres of the surface so we can check he is not armed with weapons or detonators. If he is clean he can then make landfall and confirm the boy’s identity.”
Kinsey agreed to this but did not have one piece of vital information. “Very well, we agree to the procedure but as you know the cargo is in Beijing and the timeline is too tight to reach some destinations with certainty. We would appreciate a 36 hour deadline.”
“That is not our problem; negotiations are over.” Kinsey’s tracker was almost there. “What if there is an.....”
The voice delivered the coordinates and said there would be no further communication just as the triangulation was complete. The call was made from a mobile device located in Chile. The Fed officials were discussing the mechanics and were already on the line to Beijing when one of the agents tapped Kinsey on the shoulder. “Sir, these GPS coordinates are over the Brazilian rainforest, and the really bad news is that there is nowhere to land a chopper within two hours flying.”
“Shit,” yelled Kinsey, “now we are totally dependent on this Beijing guy to take them all down without any heat. This is not going to end well.”
It was at least a tight enough timescale to get everyone focussed on just getting the crystal to the Brazilian military base with Dupree and replicant in time for transfer to a neutral helicopter. They could not risk arming the helicopter itself. They did have tear gas grenades. Kinsey remarked, “They must be on the ground at or near the rendezvous point already; the Chile contact would be a safeguard against a call trace. I really hope the guy Beijing is sending with the crystal is as good as they’re telling me he is.”
********
Carvalho and Stella fielded the questions from the media satisfactorily but Singh stole the show. He was articulate and didn’t condemn the Earth medics who denied him the operation – he merely said he wanted his children to grow up in Martian society. He was very convincing with some of those who had armed themselves with questions to test his memory transfer. This also made the job of Scillacci and Isaakson much less controversial. It was a small step forward for mankind. After the bandwagon dispersed Singh asked for his family to visit and when they arrived, it was an emotional scene.
“Ok you heard it on TV, you wanted to stay and I have told everybody we will. So, ask the Commander to point us to the right person and get searching for the accommodation which will be prepared for my homecoming.”
Stella had to ask the over-exuberant children to avoid hugging their father too tightly as he was a little more fragile than he appeared. Carvalho was scheduled to return to Marineris with the kidnap saga coming to a head. He began making his excuses to Stella so she took the initiative. “Could you use some company? I know this is a tense time for you; you were very supportive of me in a similar situation and I’d like to say thanks.”
His smile registered no further need for words. He nodded wistfully and squeezed her hand. She whispered, “I assume there is accommodation available at Marineris?”
“I’ll check it out now, but don’t worry, if there isn’t, I’ll ask one of the Symbiants to vacate a room and sleep outside. They’re pretty much immune to one night in the freezing cold. Just joking Doctor - or can I call you Stella?” She coyly said she needed to freshen up and pack a change of clothes. He didn’t ask but she had already arranged for colleagues to cover her shift for the next day.
********
Touchdown in Brazil did not leave much time for briefing before Kinsey informed the helicopter pilot of the plan. He had decided to travel himself as he didn’t like the look of this ageing replicant. This took the helicopter closer to
the weight limit than they would have liked. As they boarded, his appraisal of the geriatric hit-man was revised a little when he moved the cargo with impunity to make room for the FBI ‘supremo’. He then asked, “How do you want me to refer to you?”
“Apparently I have been bestowed with the name Dupe - presumably suggesting I am to surprise the kidnappers.”
They were nearing the area of the coordinates and Kinsey had become a little more comfortable with Dupe. The replicant had grasped all the instructions offered immediately, and questioned some of them. He had one suggestion which appealed to the FBI man. “As we cannot land, and both the boy plus crystal are at risk after they have confirmed its authenticity, I would like to reduce that vulnerability.”
“Aha,” said Kinsey.
“Well, although we do not know how far they have to travel to the ‘test lab’ they have specified that we return in 12 hours. This makes me think that this rendezvous point is not as inaccessible as we believe.”
“Go on.”
“We can mitigate this possible risk if I leap out of the helicopter approximately one mile from the hover point. The forest canopy will restrict their view of this. Do not be concerned, I will not be damaged by this and I will be at the rendezvous by the time your discourse with them results in the signal for you to descend and check the boy. As you ascend and they watch, I will despatch multiple tear gas grenades around the clearing. Being unaffected by it myself, it will be a simple matter of snatching the boy and taking him to temporary safety before rendering the kidnappers unconscious, as well as vision deficient. We have the elements of surprise and distraction; I am very quick in executing such basic manoeuvres.”
Kinsey was not convinced and still felt there was danger of the boy being harmed by some trigger happy thug. He said, “I’ll stick to the original plan.”
Dupe said, “Have you considered how they are going to get the bulk crystal out of there?”
“Yes, but it has a tracer.”
“And you don’t think they will check for one?”