Ice Cold

by Mark Graham

  “Yes, definitely,” Ice answered. “I can already see some very effective ways we can use this stuff and thinking of a variety of ways to get DNA.” Ice actually was quite excited with this discovery.

  “Well, in some instances we may already have a copy of the individuals DNA. Unknown to anybody we do sometimes get DNA from hospitals when we can of all their patients. Same with any governmental agency. So if you suspect we may already have this information you only have to give us the qualifying credentials of the person and we can have the chemical out in a matter of hours, or at least over night. If you have to obtain the DNA then of course the time element is up to you. You can next day ship it, have it delivered, or whatever. Same thing with picking it up.”

  “How can it be used, Dr. Mosely?” Ice asked.

  “We will give it to you in a small spray can. A can you can fit in your pocket. Of course if the area is quite large a bigger amount will be needed. If outside your best bet is to use it in a room instead. The small can is large enough if the contents are emptied in a room the size of a church auditorium or high school gym. If you want to use it at a professional football game you would be a lot better off with a good sniping rifle.” Dr. Mosely chuckled in nervousness with this last comment.

  A couple hours later Ice was in Joyce’s office talking about his release back into society. They were going to deliver him to the building where the Director, and the direction they would go was determined by him and the Director.

  “One thing that bothers me Joyce,” Ice asked, “What kind of security is behind this entire organization and the workers here? Any possibility of leaking information or having it turned against us?”

  “Actually Ice,” Joyce responded, “I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that question. But since you did I will give an answer from the way I understand it.’

  “All the employees have been vetted. However there’s things I don’t really know and have asked that question to myself many times. We’re told one thing but starting out in law enforcement I have various types of suspicions.”

  “Really!” Ice interrupted.

  “Yes, and I didn’t tell you this stuff,” Joyce went on, “it seems like a lot of stuff goes out of here that shouldn’t. These people are not typical government workers and most do nothave a clue about security; the why and how come of the whole thing. Some of them bring in their own computers so they can work on stuff at home. I wonder if they are hooking up into our system with their personal computers. I doubt if their computers have anything to negate the kinds of hacking that is possible to go on. It kind of scares me. I only share this with you because you will be a main player as far as using this stuff and observing how effective it may be.”

  “Wow, anything else?” Ice responded.

  “Well . . . I don’t know the exact details of this stuff and I am no scientist, but I wonder how finely tuned this stuff is going to be. You will get a shot this afternoon and I strongly urge you to have it done. The chemical you will get into your bloodstream automatically destroys any of the chemicals we use in our products. It’s a ‘just in case’ kind of thing and it tells me they aren’t really sure how good this stuff is. As Dr. Mosely said, you are the person who will have hands on with the use of this stuff. We can’t experiment with the stuff we are giving you because we can’t effectively focus on people who might need being taken out, and do it ourselves. So, be very observant as I told you and again, we didn’t have this particular conversation. I guess what I’m saying is to do what you usually do and be ready to resort to whatever if need be. If something goes terribly wrong I would urge you to confide in your Director. You will be asked by us the outcome of your using our product, then we can evaluate it correctly. Just be careful . . . real careful.”

  ~~~~~

  It took five separate trips to get back to his home base. The first was a regular car that dropped him off at a bus stop. He took that to his second spot and was picked up by a beer delivery truck. The driver dropped him off where he could catch a taxi to a location he could easily get to his destination by. After being dropped off he rode a bicycle the rest of the way which wasn’t very hard to do.

  “Well, how ‘ya doin’?” the Director asked as soon as Ice got into his office. With a smile the Director shook Ice’s hand, and motioned him to the small round table Ice was getting used to sitting at. “I was kind of worried for you and the people you just spent a few day with.”

  “Yeah, well it was definitely a shake up for me,” Ice responded. “Just goes to show how easy we can be taken out. At first I was kind of upset with you and at a point realized I might have to take you out,” Ice said with a frown. “But, when talking with you I took a minute to be patient and everything else fell into place. You know how I am when I think I’m in a dangerous position. People end up dying or wishing they did.”

  “And yes, that is one of the things I was worried about,” the Director said. “That and hoping any chemicals used on you weren’t deadly, or life changing.”

  “I still have some concerns,” Ice continued. “Not about you or our agency but about that lab, and all it may mean.

  “I think I understand where you are coming from,” the Director answered. “And what are those concerns?”

  Ice voiced his concerns seriously, “the first thing is the security at that lab. Then of course the security involved with it’s workers.”

  The Director interrupted, “I still have some of those same concerns Ice, go ahead.”

  “I observed a lot of things taken out of that place and things being brought in. One thing, and I saw a bunch of them do it, was taking their computers in and out of the building, wondering if they were using the same computers to get on-line at home and if there were significant procedures covering them.”

  “The other thing is that since I’m no scientist I of course don’t know enough about it, other then they tell me it works. Being the test person I will be interested on the outcomes. Evidently I have been given a chemical that will protect me from any negative affects. However, if they aren’t sure of their theory, why did they do that to me. Will I cause a massive death penalty on a lot of innocent people, or will our target actually even get what we are trying to deliver?”

  “Ah, you’re so good Ice,” the Director smiled, getting up and getting himself and Ice a cup of coffee. “I have had the same questions, and as you feel we need to see if the stuff actually works. If it does it will make our job so much easier. You don’t have to worry about a job though because the purposes of many of our hits are not only for the presumed outcome, but all the other indirect things we want.”

  “Good, well I’m glad you’re on board and we agree,” Ice said being quite happy that the Director shared his concerns.

  “Now then, in a few days you will be able to try this stuff out for the first time. We have a guy in one of the governmental agencies which we know he’s selling information and skimming money and gifts too. He needs to be put out quietly, in public. I’m actually looking forward to seeing this stuff work.”

  “What happens if this stuff works negatively?” Ice asked.

  “Depends what happens. If it’s one person it’s easy. However if the methods and the scientific findings get out, or one of enemies end up with it, there may be a lot of dead and dying.

  “Good! I assume we are kind of testing it with perhaps the intentions of using it in the battlefield?” Ice asked.

  “Yes, and that is always the way these things get budgeted,” the Director told Ice. And sometimes our weakness.”

  They talked for about fifteen minutes about nothing in particular when the Director looked at his watch. He got up surprised at what time it was. “Damn! The time has whizzed by. I have an appointment in fifteen minutes down the hall.”

  Ice got up to leave when the Director stopped him, saying, “We already have the DNA of your next target and will get the chemical needed to you by late tomorrow afternoon. The following evening our target will be at an art
exhibit in New York. It’s the perfect way to test this stuff. Wear your tux and do what you do best. Blend.”

  ~~~~~

  Ice got to the art exhibit an hour after it started. He knew from previous such occasions that most people didn’t show up until later just to be seen. The building was an art business that sold different kinds of art, some being statues and anything else that could be called art. This particular art exhibit had oil paintings from two particular artists who were the rage of the elite. He saw many of these types come and go. He always wondered why someone would devote their life to painting only to die broke. After they died was when the value would go up. Who got the money for the art then?

  He wondered around for about an hour looking at the art and also trying to find his target. Halfway through checking out what was there he found the subject in a corner talking to two women and an older man.

  As he put the cannister down and pulled the pin he wondered what would happen. The thing was almost soundless and with the crowd no one would be able to hear it go off. He placed it on a shelf next to some brochures advertising the art studio; the owners hoping they might get some more steady customers.

  Ice went to a painting where he could look at it and also observe his target. He was told it would take affect about five minutes after placing it, depending on the distance. The vapor would start out relatively dense and with time would fill the entire room.

  Ice was surprised to see a young, well groomed man keel over. He was nearest the point of where the cannister was. Within four minutes he watched as an additional eight people hit the floor. He walked over to one of the victims as did many people and could see the guy was in his last moment of life. He turned when he saw four other people drop. They were a group of women who were probably catching up on gossip.

  Ice turned and looked for his target and found him trying to help one of the downed victims. More than five minutes had gone by and Ice figured that at least half of the crowd had gone down. “What the hell,” Ice said putting his surprise verbally. He walked over to where the target was and he still looked like he was doing well. Possibly because the target was kneeling down and the gas was in the upper portion of the room it didn’t work on him. His theory was proved when the man stood up and within a minute went down like a sack of cement. Ice was really confused as about half the survivors also dropped. With his target down and out for the count he decided he needed to get out of the building as quickly as possible.

  Ice quickly went to his car and drove it down an alley and stopped next to a dumpster. He jumped out and took his cloths off and threw them into a bag in the trunk. He than dressed in a polo shirt and slacks and got back into the car and went directly to a safe house. There he took a shower, using a soap that would kill or neutralize anything that might be on him. He also concluded he somehow, maybe from the shot he got, that the gas had no affect on him.

  He immediately drove home and when he arrived he was definitely being very careful and looked at everything around the house and on the house. He opened up his smart phone that enabled him to check out every camera before driving to the house from where he was, just inside the gate. When he finished he put the phone back in his pocket and drove to the house.

  Ice was very tired from the trip up to New York, doing his job, then witnessing what he did result with lots of collateral damage. The trip back was monotonous, but the sight replaying in his head of all the dying people gave him a lot of thoughts, that he needed to plan out in his mind.

  The first thing Ice did was check the news, then his e-mail. He learned that there had been a disturbance at some art gallery in New York. The news guy didn’t give it too much time and seemed more interested with bigger news happening across the country. When he checked his e-mail he saw that the Director had sent a message only about ten minutes before. It read, “Meet me at Donner’s Grove tomorrow at 10AM. He hit the return icon and just typed, “Okay.” The other e-mails didn’t amount to too much, except for one of them. It was from Joyce and all it said was that she hoped all went well and was excited to learn how it went. Ice quickly decided he would not contact her until after meeting with the Director.

  When watching the morning news as he usually did he learned that several people had died the night before at the art gallery. More victims stated than the night before but still no specific numbers. Ice knew from being there that it was at least sixty people who had lost their lives. Three months later, hidden in the third section of the newspaper, that the investigation found the people who had died did so by drinking omething at the studio

  Donner’s Grove was a code name used by the Director and Ice. The location was at someplace completely different. Ice had run the name on his computer once and learned there was a real Donner’s Grove but it was in Utah. The location where they really went was a secure area that was attached to a park located half way between Ice and the Director. Ice liked it because the place was secure and being on top of a hill could observe anybody that might be following them, or who might come from the opposite direction. When Ice arrived he saw the Director was already there, sitting in the back seat of what looked kind of like a limousine. Ice knew that if the Director was in a limousine that he had an agent for a driver and the vehicle was just as bullet proof and safe. It was designed by the same people who provided the President of the United States his car. Ice got out of his car and climbed into the back seat with the Director. The panel between the driver and them was grayed out, so Ice couldn’t see who the driver was. He also knew that a conversation could not be heard from the back seat unless the Director flipped the intercom on. Both he and the driver had a control that would operate the dividing panel.

  “Good morning sir,” Ice stated after closing the car door behind him. He took it for granted that this limousine driver would not open any doors for him or anyone else for that matter.

  “Good morning Ice,” the Director said in a very serious manner. “You okay? You having any distress from what happened last night?

  “Well actually, I do have some problems with last nights results,” Ice returned also in a serious tone. “It seems everything went wrong and a lot of people died that should still be alive.”

  “How many do you think it killed Ice?” the Director asked.

  “Hell, I don’t know, probably at least sixty by the time I left,” Ice returned.

  “Well don’t let it get to you but after you left some others died too. Almost all of them in attendance died except you and six other people. Those six are being quarantined. I actually had all night to worry about you and how things went. When I said I was glad to see you, I was. Everybody who works for the organization in question have been taken into custody and placed in a location that is both secure and very much out of the way. It’s actually more secure than any prison we have in the United States.”

  “What we going to do boss?” Ice asked, definitely wanting to know the answer.

  “First we will investigate all the people we have and they will be interrogated. Their houses will be searched and any family members we think may be a leak, will be brought to the same location with the others, but in a different building.”

  “How are those in custody reacting?” Ice questioned.

  “Some good and some bad,” the Director returned. “Only two smart ass scientists refused to get with the program so they had to experience some very uncomfortable lessons. All in all the most of them have reacted like we thought they might. Although very secure all of them have freedom throughout the building. There are no TV’s or radio allowed them, nor newspapers or magazines. We do have TV’s in every room with only selective viewing, mostly what has been recorded, including some movies that are just now coming out. We have games for them, a nice coffee shop, some stores, X-Boxes and Play Stations with every popular title out there. We also have a camera showing us all the rooms and hallways; with audio bugs located throughout the place. If they say it, we know about it. We brought in a bunch of folks to man th
e listening devices and watch screens which show whatever the cameras are looking at. There is also a small group of people to take care of the peoples needs. More like orderlies I guess.”

  “So what might be the big picture on all of this?” Ice asked.

  “Well, that depends a lot of what we find in our investigations. If we find out a particular person, or a small group of persons sabotaged this thing they will be taken care of on the spot by one of your peers. If it is just one big fuck-up then who in fact caused it to happen? On the far chance that most of them are just a bunch of incompetent shit-heads we will have them put in a place that will electronically cause their brains not to remember anything, and kind of gets the so called wires mixed up. If we go that direction they will all be shipped to mental institutions throughout the country never be heard from again. I think we can come up with what went down and who is responsible though, and we’ll cross that bridge when it comes.

  “Well, I was sickened to see the first dozen go down, then a bunch more, and our target was still fully awake and aware. Then he finally went down and was followed by quite few others. Evidently most of who were left, were dead as a result. I don’t like it, and if possible would like to do whatever it is to redeem myself from that action.” Both men knew exactly what redeem meant coming from Ice.

  “What’s on my agenda?” Ice asked.

  “You’ll be directly involved in this investigation. When everyone of the people were hired they received a psychological exam by use of paper testing, and in interviews. Most people as you know won’t give in to torture, which sometimes does the exact opposite of what we want. But, there are three people, two men and a female, who will give us information if torture is properly used. In fact, our psychologic experts can even give you information on the easiest way to torture the person in question.”

  “Good,” Ice responded, “where do I go and get the details about that?”