Growth (GAIA Trilogy Book 2)

by Morton Chalfy

Lucas said, "I'll see who I can find. Brains and perseverance combined with a friendly manner, is that about what you want?"

  "That would do it."

  Chapter 52

  Harrison settled into his seat in the plane for the long ride home anticipating a flight filled with guilt, ruefulness and self-recrimination. His rendezvous with Sylvie had exhilarated and delighted him but left him feeling used and out of his depth. Infidelity was not the sin it had once been when life was short, marriages more political and rules that protected men's ownership rights over women more prevalent. Recreational sex was more the norm when people, especially women, were free to follow their feelings with few if any consequences.

  As lives grew longer and multiple liaisons were entered into, exclusivity of lovers grew less emotionally meaningful. When the age old question "Who's your daddy?" could be settled in minutes with a DNA test kit exclusivity lost one of its main props and as women were liberated in more and more parts of the world they exercised their sexual freedom as they saw fit. If men were discomfited it was just too bad.

  Harrison knew this all too well. When he had learned his college sweetheart was sleeping with a friend of his and complained the response had been, "Oh, grow up." He had tried to "grow up" then and he was trying to now, but the queasy feelings continued. To take his mind off his feelings he turned to one of Gaia's video streams titled "The State of The Earth," an image of the Earth in space overlain with graphics representing conditions on the land, on and in the sea, in the air, and among people. The Anarchic Artists had created the display for the first major Gaia Gathering and it had proven such a hit that it was now streamed around the clock and a team of coders and artists kept it constantly updated.

  He watched it absentmindedly letting the shifting colors enter his consciousness and continue to swirl creating a composite picture that gradually filled his mind. "We weigh so heavily on the planet," he thought, "we have no alternative but to manage it all."

  His thoughts circled in his head examining first one solution than another and then a third before plunging into the abyss of "unworkable" like star dust circling a black hole. He emerged from this reverie more convinced than ever that his sister's solution, "Turn Gaia into a religion," had at least as much validity as any and much more than most.

  "There is no solution to humanity. We've outgrown our niche. We're stretching the bounds of life itself and there seems to be no limit to our rapaciousness," he thought. "Perhaps the Director has a point - we need to explore the universe in all directions from sub-atomic to intergalactic, but that won't relieve the pressure we're putting on the planet. It might even exacerbate things."

  The globe on the screen before him was showing year to year comparisons and he began to feel stirrings of optimism. Re-wilded lands had grown on an average of one per cent a year, population growth had slowed as more people moved into the middle class, and "built-in at the manufacturers" recycling had reduced the flood of trash into the oceans. Where conservation preserves had been strictly enforced in the seas marine life had rebounded.

  The last overlay in the series showed the growth of Gaia Meetings which had been explosive for years. Harrison's mood of slight depression morphed into a renewed feeling of accomplishment. Between Moms' genius and intensity and Helene's intelligence and skill, Gaia had become a force for the preservation of the world. Faced with the evidence of the worth of their efforts he had a surge of resolution. "We are making a difference," he decided. "We can help move the needle."

  The mood of optimism and re-energization dispelled his initial feelings of guilt and despite himself he began enjoying the memory of his affair with Mme. Albana and hoping she would come to the Gathering. He wondered about Helene's relationship with Sylvie and Helene's remark about being a sex fiend herself. By the time the robo-copter deposited him on the roof of their cube he was filled with energy for the work with Gaia and lust for his wife.

  Helene was waiting for him in her office with a lunch laid out on her sideboard. When he came in she sent her assistant out of the room and embraced him fervently. "I missed you," she whispered.

  "And I you," he responded. "More than I had thought until the copter began to land and I ached for you." They enjoyed a long embrace and then Helene said, "While we eat you can tell me all about your meeting with Sylvie."

  Still very unsure on this new ground Harrison looked at her closely for signs that honesty would be punished but saw nothing but curiosity. "Basically," he said, "I felt thoroughly used. I was only a toy for her pleasure. Better than a dildo perhaps but a tool nevertheless."

  Helene was smiling at him, "Did you enjoy it?" she asked.

  "I guess my body did but the experience left me with deeply ambivalent feelings. My lust was aroused and satisfied but there was no love or tenderness which left me feeling, ummm, somewhat depressed."

  "You are a hopeless romantic," she said, "which is one of the reasons I love you. Besides being good in bed, which is another."

  "You really don't mind?" he asked.

  "No, I really don't. It doesn't impact our relationship except to make you more desirable."

  She paused for a long moment and then said, "I like Sylvie. And you're not the first man we shared."

  Harrison was startled.

  "Long ago," Helene added.

  "But she's at least twenty years your junior."

  "Meaning the same man wouldn't find us both attractive? You forget I was still spectacular in my forties and fifties."

  "As you still are now," said Harrison, "I was just wondering how it came about, but I don't think I want to know."

  "Not necessary information, and tonight we'll make love as contrasted with just having sex. We'll save that for the weekend," she said with a laugh.

  Harrison shook his head in wonderment, "I'll get used to this I hope," he said. "And I was really nonplussed by Captain Albana's lack of response. Is he just accustomed to her?"

  Helene laughed aloud, "Sometimes you're so naive. The Captain's taste runs to young brown boys and there's never a lack of volunteers for the position of his toy boy."

  "But they have children," said Harrison.

  "Yes, he's from an old family and had to provide an heir. He also occasionally needs a wife by his side socially. But their children are grown and they've always essentially lived separate lives."

  They were interrupted by the sound of an alert on her screen. Fran was sending a series of images of a shadowy figure at several back entries to the cube with the question, "Why is this person lurking around?"

  "I'll report it to building security," messaged Helene.

  Lucas, who had also received Fran's alert, cut in, "Helene, let the report come from Fran so that we're not involved. Fran, point out that an avoidance of the public entrance may mean that either he's recognizable or, more sinisterly, is not chipped and not in the face recognition program. In that case if he got in he could do harm and leave no ID."

  Fran responded, "I'll report it right away. I'll let you know what happens."

  Lucas wrote, "And please let me know how you monitor all those cameras."

  "Hacked the system, added a little program I wrote that monitors the monitors."

  "Share the program?" asked Lucas.

  "Sure."

  "Back to work," said Helene. "If they catch the intruder I'd like you to check him out."

  Harrison nodded, "I'll be working on my notes from the trip and later we'll talk about the Director and his latest wrinkle."

  Helene nodded and called her assistant back in to resume her workday.

  Chapter 53

  Fran's alert system beeped at her and she brought the indicated screen to full size and watched a security detail surround the intruder and after a quick scuffle take him to their section. She messaged Helene and Lucas and went back to trolling for Axel Radnich.

  Harrison, alerted by Helene, went to the Security Section to interview the intruder. The man was sitting in an interview room, medium size and bu
ild, thinning hair, pale eyes, non-descript face and, at a guess, in his forties. No jewelry, no tattoos, no scars and not a word.

  The Head of Security was obliging to Harrison but had no information to impart. "He hasn't said a word. Not one. He's not carrying any ID and he's not chipped. He's a cipher."

  "Fingerprints? Eye scans?"

  "Can't take them until we book him. Can't book him until a lawyer gets here."

  "Face recognition?"

  "Not in the files."

  "Strange, isn't it?" said Harrison.

  "Yeah. At a guess he's a terrorist of some sort, but for what?"

  "You won't let him go, will you?"

  "I don't know. We can charge him with trespass but he'll walk on that quickly."

  "What if he's unidentified? Will he still walk?"

  "It might delay it a bit but not much. Privacy laws."

  Harrison grew concerned, "At least put his face out to the international police and the FBI. Try to hold him for I.D. And please don't let him go without telling us."

  "Okay. What do you think he's doing?"

  Harrison hesitated and then thought there'd be no harm in sharing their fears. "We think he came to harm our chief executive. We think he's a hired assassin."

  The Head of Security grew grim. "I'm sure I can stall any release for at least a day and I'll manage to get a sample of his DNA to send off for comparison."

  "Keep me posted?" asked Harrison.

  "I will."

  Lucas received the news of the intruder's total lack of identification with equanimity. "I thought that would be the case," he said. "Helene, I'm going to assume he's an AR operative. Is there any reason not to attack him again?"

  "You think he's a hit man?" she asked.

  "I'm sure of it. Why else send an untraceable person?"

  "Are the attacks still random from Axel Radnich's point of view?"

  "Yes. No two alike and none can be laid at our door."

  "Then go ahead."

  Lucas went to his coders to look over the proposed attacks they had prepared. He settled on a scheme they had concocted - a lottery drawing for a fictional non-profit organization which promised entry to a drawing for a huge sum of money just for registering. The address for the charity was constructed to be the same as Radnich's except for one digit and then the incorrect address was listed. To Radnich 's people it would seem like a typing error had sent droves of people to their address. A call to the non-profit would find it closed and the attempts to enter the contest would continue to flood his network. The only solution would be to change his address, a long and laborious process.

  "Okay," said Lucas. "Let him deal with the lottery."

  He sent Fran a message detailing the scheme with the notation to "keep an eye on this and alert me to anything out of the ordinary."

  "Will do," she messaged back.

  "She's a one person crew," thought Lucas. "I'm going to have to make a trip to sit with her and see her set-up in detail. She must have dozens of bots ranging the network." He shook his head in admiration. Never judge a book by its cover.

  He left his office to join Maeve and the children for a regular ritual. Once a week they gathered as a family with Cindy and Rose, the children's tutor, to have snacks and listen to the week's crop of Gaia songs. Helene had wanted to include lots of music in the weekly Gaia Meetings and to foster it she started awarding prizes and recognition to the song writers and musicians. After a few years a Gaia Song Book was published and distributed and a yearly contest for best song was held. So many songs were produced that a winnowing process was necessary and the family's get together was part of it.

  They all piled together on a couch, Maeve and Lucas side by side and the children draped on them. Cindy ran the videos and Rose recorded reactions. The current crop included a young people's choir from the U.K. singing a round, an assortment of ballads performed by the writers, a symphony and a song made from the songs of whales. There were nearly two dozen songs in the week's offerings and it was always a fun time for the kids whose opinions clearly mattered. Maeve encouraged them to speak up, particularly about any songs they really liked. She had found that the Song Book and the Gaia Story Book were the most influential tools they had to attract and interest children.

  Music Appreciation Day, as they called it, always preceded a family dinner over which the songs were discussed. By the end of the meal a few songs had been added to the list for the Gathering. The final list could be no longer than twenty songs to maintain interest in the contest. At the Gathering the attendees would have access to the list and were asked to rank them in order of their favorites. One evening would be devoted to playing the entire list and tallying the votes. The winning songs would be professionally produced, added to the song book collection, and promoted on the network. The winning song writers received cash awards.

  It was fun for all, a boon to several, and an important tool for the building of community. It was also the one time every week when Maeve could be sure her family was all together and all focused on the same thing. She looked forward to it intensely and savored the moments.

  Chapter 54

  When the engineers reported they had begun to uncover the body Sam and Lucas went down to observe. The tunnel had been repaired and only the pile of dirt and rubble that covered the body was left. The engineers stopped work when a hand appeared from the dirt.

  With Sam and Lucas in attendance the excavators used archeologist's brushes to clear the dirt and discovered almost immediately that the hand had been blown off the arm and that the body was likely in pieces under the pile.

  "We'll have to collect all the parts," said Lucas. "Use a sieve on the dirt that's removed."

  Sam stepped around the pile and was inspecting the mine tunnel on the other side. He shone his light around the walls and called to Lucas to come and examine something. In a niche carved into the mine wall he found a small satchel.

  "He carried the bomb in this I suspect," he said to Lucas. "Do you have gloves with you? I don't want to contaminate any evidence."

  "Let's take it upstairs for examination," said Lucas, lifting it into an evidence bag.

  They carried it up to the small forensics laboratory in the Security Section, pulled on gloves and gingerly opened the top. They found a coil of wire, pliers, a screwdriver, energy bar wrappers and a folded wallet. The wallet was well used but empty of all ID. The material was indented where cards had been, clearly emptied in preparation for the mission. The lab technician was examining the tools for fingerprints and recording the ones he found for comparison.

  "Cut the wallet apart," said Lucas. "Look for hidden compartments. And cut it along the seams. We don't want to compromise anything that's there."

  A call from the tunnel came in to Sam saying they'd found the other hand and it had a ring on it and a tattoo on the forearm. "Bring me the ring," he said, "and an image of the tattoo."

  The intern who brought the ring and the image said proudly, "It's inscribed."

  The inscription was clear, "To JR with love from AJ". The tattoo was an intricate tracery of lines, figures were entwined and the whole tattoo was only an inch and a half in diameter. Lucas distributed the image to his coding squad for deciphering and was pleased when he very quickly heard back. "Does A4A seem right? That's what it looks like to us."

  Lucas was both pleased and dismayed, "Radnich's taking off the gloves if he's trying to bomb us. I've got to let Helene know."

  Sam grunted, "You do that. I'm going to have another talk with our prisoner."

  Helene received the news soberly, "He may be going all out but this was set in motion some time ago so he may still be under wraps. Let me think it over while you dig some more. What does Fran have to say?"

  Lucas messaged Fran with an update on events and requested that she transmit anything she found when she found it. He then went to join Sam who was observing the prisoner through the one-way window. He had brought Cindy down to talk to the girl and Lucas joine
d him just as Cindy set the ring down on the table. The young woman responded with a sob and reached for the ring but Cindy pulled it back.

  "What was he like?" she asked.

  In answer the prisoner sobbed again and put her head down on the table.

  "Were you supposed to die there with him?" Cindy asked.

  "No. No one was supposed to die." The young woman had lifted her tear filled face from the table. "The last thing he said to me was "Run."

  "You didn't know he was going to detonate the bomb?"

  "No. We were going to get married. Have a family. The money was for us to live on."

  "So why did he do it? Why not arm the bomb and leave?"

  "I don't know," the woman wailed. "I didn't even know he had a bomb."

  The tears fell from her face and Cindy asked kindly, "Where should we send his remains?"

  The question startled the prisoner. "Remains?"

  "Oh yes, there's quite a lot of him left. Nothing you'd want to see."

  Cindy turned the ring over and read the inscription aloud, "To JR with Love from AJ. What's that stand for? Alice Jones? Amy Jackson?"

  The girl said nothing.

  "So here's what's what," Cindy stated. "Given a few days we'll trace this ring. We'll compare the initials to everyone on the A4A list and we'll know who you are and who he was. We'll be more pissed at you than we are now and we'll bring the most serious charges against you which will include attempted murder, terrorism and accomplice to murder. Or you can cooperate with us, tell us your names and how you were recruited for this mission, and what you were to do afterward."

  "And then you won't charge me?"

  "Not with the heavy stuff. Maybe trespassing or something."

  The young woman mumbled something which Sam and Lucas couldn't hear but which Cindy recorded. She held a whispered conversation with the still sobbing woman and then came out to confer with Sam and Lucas.

  "His name is Joshua Ringer, hers is Amelia Joule. She doesn't know how or when he was recruited for this job, only that a lot of money was paid into a numbered account and that they were to go into hiding afterward and would be picked up and taken to a safe place where they could use the money to build a new life under new identities."