Pandora's Succession

by Russell Brooks

  Fox kept his gun aimed at him, somehow expecting him to get up again. How or when did Walsh turn? Fox didn’t have the answer. It made him think back to when he was with Sveta. She had told him that she trusted him because he couldn’t be led astray by Ares. Now it was Walsh. Were there anymore? He wouldn’t know for now. It was doubtful that Walsh would’ve known all of Ares’s spies.

  He didn’t even notice that Parris had already gotten up and was kneeling behind him, calling his name.

  “Fox,” she said, and from the tone of her voice it was as though she had already called his name a few times. He felt her hands on his shoulders.

  Fox breathed heavily. “I’m here, Jessica.”

  There was a moment’s pause, as though she didn’t know how to answer. “I…I know you are.”

  The drizzle stopped, and another chilly wind gust blew over him, but it was counterbalanced by the warmness of Parris’s arms wrapped around him. As the wind blew stronger, her grip around him got tighter. Fox then felt a hand slide along the length of his arm to his hand and gently pulled away the HK.

  “Are you all right?” she spoke softly into his ear.

  Fox didn’t reply at first, but instead, he held onto her embrace as he calmed down. She maintained her hold on him. His heavy panting eased. “I’m better.”

  She didn’t let go of him yet, but he didn’t want to let her go either.

  “Fox?”

  He turned and looked over his shoulder at her. “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  He stared at her for a moment. Was this the same woman? Yesterday they were fighting and now he was in her embrace.

  “Yeah, you’re welcome.” He sighed and dropped his head. Whether or not she had feelings for him, he couldn’t let that distract him. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to nearly kiss her. It was completely out of line, even for him. But Parris brought something out of him that no other woman did. It’s what made him serenade her yesterday, made him want to protect her now. He didn’t know what it was, but it made him feel comfortable around her.

  They both got up, and Fox turned to her. “We’ve reached a dead end. We don’t have either Walsh or Hashimoto’s henchman to question for information on Pandora’s whereabouts.”

  “I know.” Parris walked two steps away and then turned back to him. “By the way, how’d you figure it out?”

  “Figure what out?”

  “You brought me back to the way I had been before Clarity. How’d you know the table napkin would bring me back?”

  Fox took a step towards her. “To be honest, I was buying some time so I could figure out a way to avoid being shot. The last thing I needed was another conflict.”

  “I see.” Parris turned around and put both hands on her hips and walked away slowly. She took six paces and then she stopped, turned around and looked at Fox. “What did you just say?”

  Fox didn’t want to answer too quickly, and blushed. “I was stalling to avoid being shot, I didn’t-”

  “No, no, no, after that. You said something about not wanting another conflict.”

  “Yeah, I think I said something like that.”

  Parris smacked the heel of her right palm on her forehead. “Oh my God! That’s it.” She smiled with a laugh. “That’s how you bring them back. That’s why Dewan went berserk.”

  “Not with the table napkin?”

  “No, you got it wrong.” Parris dropped her hand by her side and continued laughing. “Just before Dewan attacked me we were talking about his sister, the one person in his family he was closest to. He said that she and I wore the same perfume. The smell of the perfume obviously held some deep sentiment for him, as the table napkin did for me.”

  “But how come he attacked you? And why didn’t you go berserk and shoot me?”

  “Two different situations. I was well under the effects of the drug when I saw the table napkin. Dewan was in the process of being brainwashed at the same time he smelled my perfume. There must’ve been some kind of mental conflict that caused him to rebel. The drug is even more powerful than we had originally conceived. Had I gone through more sessions, you might not have been as successful in breaking its effects on me so easily.”

  “Too much conflict. The only way he knew how to deal with it was to attack you. A means of self-defense for the brain.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you think Marx knows this?”

  “I don’t know, but I doubt it. Both she and Hashimoto have other things on their minds.”

  “Like sending you out to kill me? They must be getting desperate, because the man you accidentally shot was posing as one of the escaped Boeisho agents Tanaka was hunting. He gave me false info about Pandora’s location, in order to lead me off course, so The Promise could make a clean getaway.”

  “You weren’t first on my list. My main objective was to get Walsh. Ares stole the info I collected on Pandora and everything related to The Promise’s plans. I was supposed to kidnap Walsh and have him bring me to Ares where I would release the-oh Lord, it’s still on me!”

  Parris reached into her inner breast pocket and took out a metallic container, the shape of a small cigarette box. She sighed with relief seeing that it was undamaged. “It’s fused shut. It can’t get out unless I smash it.”

  “So I can breathe now?”

  “Yeah. Walsh was supposed to bring me to meet members of Ares, and I was going to take them out with this.” Parris held the container for Fox to see. “But he tricked me and brought me to see you instead.”

  “Yes, a meeting I had arranged with him after I took that imposter hostage.”

  Fox saw Parris look at Walsh. “With Walsh and the ninja gone, how do we find Ares or Pandora?”

  “Actually, Fox, it’s not a total loss. I have a copy of the files Walsh stole.”

  “You do? Where?”

  Parris looked down at her shoes and clicked her heels, reminding him of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. “I’ve got a disk. I’ve also learned more about Pandora-so much more that I think I might know a way to destroy it. It’s a long shot, but the possibility’s there.”

  Fox smirked. “There’s a laptop in my car. We can look at what’s on the disc.” Fox walked over to Walsh’s body, grabbed his cell phone from inside his jacket, picked up the Sig which lay on the ground and then walked over to his car. He noticed that Parris ran back to hers.

  “I almost forgot something,” she said. She climbed into the front seat and appeared to be searching for something in the glove compartment. When she got out, she had a syringe in her hand.

  “What’s that for?”

  “It’s for you. I think you might have been tagged.”

  “I know-my watch was bugged. Walsh must’ve done it.”

  “Yes, which would explain why Ares was able to track you all the way here, but it’s possible that you may have been tagged with a radioactive tracking isotope. It would’ve been done inconspicuously, so you better inject yourself with this just to be on the safe side.”

  Fox took off his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeve. Parris injected him in the arm, and he rolled his shirtsleeve back down and put his jacket back on.

  “How fast will this work?”

  “Very quickly.” Fox headed to his car while Parris went to the passenger side.

  Fox got in and closed the door. “So how do we do it? How do we destroy Pandora?”

  Parris pulled her door shut and grabbed the laptop from the backseat. “I have a theory. The new variant is engineered in a way as to not touch any other foreign proteins other than those found in humans. This leads me to believe that any non-human proteins might be poisonous to it. If I can produce a serum derived from non-human proteins, we might have ourselves a silver bullet.”

  “Might?”

  “Yes, might. I can only be sure once I’ve had the chance to test it. I have a sample of Pandora and its data, and now I have a laptop.”

  Fox started up the engine. “I’m guessing we’re on
our way to Hexagon.”

  “How fast can you get us there?”

  “Pretty damn quick.”

  Chapter 30

  Fox slammed on the breaks and blasted the horn as someone cut him off.

  “Are you okay there?” Parris asked, grabbing the laptop before it was thrown off her lap.

  Fox cut in on the inside lane to overtake the offensive driver. “I’m fine. So was I right about the Kamchatka bunker being a hoax?”

  “Right you are. The real bunker is located on an island in the Sea of Japan. According to these notes, construction on the bunker in the early 1980s wasn’t even completed, but was left abandoned. Hexagon moved in to complete its construction.”

  Fox hopped a lane. “Where exactly is the island?”

  “I’m not checking that right now, I’m taking notes in order to make the serum.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “If all goes well, under an hour.”

  “What about security?”

  “We’ll use your makeshift keycard instead of mine. That should buy us some time. As for the rest, don’t look at the guards or the cameras. But you already knew that, right?” Parris answered with a smirk.

  Fox glanced at her and then back at the traffic. “Of course I did.”

  When they approached the security checkpoint at Hexagon, Parris flashed her employee pass while Fox flashed Levickis’s makeshift pass. The guard waved them through. Parris directed Fox to the parking lot of the East building.

  Fox followed Parris down the elevators to the fourth basement floor, into the same testing laboratory where she had been earlier. She took two steps into the room and then stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” Fox asked.

  “This is where it happened, where-”

  “Parris, stop.” Fox patted her lower back. “Stay focused.”

  “Right.” She grabbed a lab jacket from one of the hooks near the entrance and put it on. “I’ll start working on the serum. Everything I need to make it is in this room. I just need you to hand me the tools and items as I work. Oh, and another thing. You should grab a lab coat, too.”

  Fox obeyed her and took one. “Yes, ma’am.”

  There were dozens of mice that were used for experiments kept in the laboratory. Both Parris and Fox had enough to extract blood samples to fill ten test tubes.

  “That’s all we need for non-human proteins,” said Parris as she returned the last mouse to its cage. “What we have in here is similar to what’s found in some modern high-tech laboratories. Various chemical compounds and elements must be preserved in different environments with temperature and lighting control. Those chemicals are found in various rooms throughout this sub-basement. The concept is much like your typical candy vending machine. You put in your money, look at the code that’s listed under each candy, then you punch in the code on the keypad, and the chocolate bar drops off the shelf.”

  Fox followed her to the computer workstation where she typed in her personal access code.

  “Except in here, you order from this computer terminal. The difference is that you also have to specify the exact volume and concentrations. Based on the notes I read from the files, I’ve been able to compile a list of ingredients and their precise amounts needed to make the serum. I have them all written down on this piece of paper I took from the glove compartment.” She took the folded paper from her pocket and showed it to Fox. “I’ll order the first to show you how it’s done.” Parris demonstrated. Within a minute, a message flashed on the screen. Compound ready. Please collect.

  She walked over to a corner, beside the isolation chamber, to a one-by-one-foot metal door located in the wall. She opened it and took out the corked Erlenmeyer flask from the conveyer belt.

  “And to think that I spent three hours in chemistry lab class making compounds from scratch when I could‘ve done it here in half the time,” said Fox.

  “Well, now’s your chance to spoil yourself. Gather all of the compounds on my list and be mindful of the specific volumes and masses I’ve indicated. They must be precise. I’ll set up the rest of the equipment.”

  “Yes, Professor Parris,” Fox said sarcastically, with a smile.

  Parris glanced back at him for a second before she shook her head.

  They both started working.

  “So tell me, Doctor…not to bring back any bad memories, but what was it like being on Clarity?”

  Parris took a big breath as though she was in deep reflection.

  “It’s scary thinking back on it. You don’t feel any different from how you are now. It’s just the way you think that’s different. It’s like anyone who’s gone through a brainwashing procedure, except this procedure’s more efficient than traditional methods. Clarity is remarkable, but in a negative sense.”

  Those words instantly reminded Fox of when he first met Dr. Marx, especially when she described Pandora’s self-replication rate as wonderful. But Dr. Parris wasn’t the deranged woman Dr. Marx was.

  “How’s it more efficient?” asked Fox.

  “While under Clarity, and with the assistance of the chair, Marx’s words all meant something, the way she was able to make me go back and talk about traumatizing events in order to mold me into what she wanted, the way she used my previous experience with you to…” Parris immediately bit down as if to stop herself from saying another word, but it was too late, Fox already knew the rest of what she was about to say. Her head dropped, as she seemed to recognize that. She put the flask down on the counter in front of her, and she sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  She had struck a nerve and Fox felt the sensation all the way up his spine.

  “No, Dr. Parris. I’m the one who’s sorry.” Fox sighed now too, as he shook his head. “How about that. Marx made you talk about our brief relationship. She made you remember the pain and anger you felt when I stood you up and disappeared from your life. You agreed with her that your pain and troubles could be traced to those who’ve wronged you, including me. Now you’ve become the person you are because of me.”

  “I’d rather not discuss it anymore. That’s the past. Let’s move on.”

  “Agreed.”

  A minute passed, but for some reason Fox still sensed that Parris was somewhat restless. Then again, he couldn’t let that distract him. But it was not long before he heard a glass smash on the floor. When he turned to look, he saw Parris staring at the broken beaker at her feet.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up,” she said with a wave of her hand. She walked over to the corner, opened a closet door and took out a broom and dustpan.

  As Fox listened to Parris sweeping up the glass, he got restless himself, knowing she wanted to say something else to him. Keep working, this needs to be finished quickly. Oh who am I kidding? He stopped what he was doing and looked at her, and before he could say anything, Parris began to unload herself.

  “You called me Jessica.”

  “What?”

  “You referred to me as Jessica, back at the fish market.”

  “I did?”

  “Yes. It was right after you shot Walsh. You were slightly delirious.”

  Fox thought back to when they were at the parking lot. The way she had looked at him as he held her, so reminiscent of the way Jessica had looked at him on the stretcher in his dream. Could he have been thinking of Jessica that whole time?

  “Oh, that’s nothing. It runs in the family. Kind of like how an aunt or uncle means to call you by your name but ends up calling you by your brother or sister’s name. It was that sort of thing.” Fox laughed hesitantly. He didn’t want to talk about Jessica right now, and the only way to avoid the subject was to pretend it didn’t exist. But he saw that Parris wasn’t buying any of it. Who am I trying to kid here?

  “Fox?”

  He turned to her. “Yes?”

  “Stop.” She rested the broom against the side of the counter. “Don’t you see what’s happened to you? You’ve intentionally inundated yourself in the miss
ion as a way of covering up your past. You just don’t know it yet.”

  Fox crossed his arms, his head slightly tilted, as he looked at Parris. “Really? Why do you say that?”

  “Dr. Marx told me everything. She convinced me you became some sort of loose cannon after what happened to your fiancee. She knows quite a bit about you.”

  Thanks to Tanaka. “She doesn’t know anything about Jessica. And neither do you.”

  “You’re right, I didn’t know her. But I wish I did. Because the fact that you were about to give up your career in an elite Special Forces unit to settle down with her, she must have been one hell of a woman.”

  Damn her. Why’d she have to go for my soft spot? He turned to the counter and leaned on it with outstretched arms, facing the isolation chamber. “You know what? Being a part of the JTF2 wasn’t even part of my life’s goal. I was your typical spoiled kid, born with a silver spoon in their mouth. There was so much that I could’ve been in life-or should I say-what my father wanted me to be. I threw it all away and joined the army.”

  Parris slowly walked towards Fox. “You joined the army to rebel against your father?”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Fox smirked and glanced at Parris. “Then I met Jessica. And everything changed.”

  Parris stopped a foot away from Fox. “What was she like?”

  “She was something else. We had our arguments, she was so damn feisty. She always tried to prove that she was the one that wore the pants in the relationship. Kind of what you’d see your parents arguing about from time to time.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  Fox looked at her over his shoulder surprised. “What?”

  “I never had the chance to see my parents argue because I never knew them.”