“No, sir! I will get my men on it immediately. There might be some problem with Dr. Goodman’s apartment, since it has rather good security that keeps unknown or unwanted visitors at bay, but the others’ apartments are all rather Spartan and I can have my men approach as salesmen and see if anyone answers their doors.”
“And, Gelb, forget what I said about backing off. From now on, I want eyes on these people at all times as long as your men can do it and remain out of sight.”
* * *
That night, after he had gotten off work, showered, and eaten a tasteless microwave TV dinner, FBI SAIC Nicholas Fowler listened to the tape of Ashby talking to Gelb with interest. Though he could hear only one side of the conversation, he knew things were heating up with Ashby and his mysterious scientists.
“I think things might just be coming to a head with Mr. J.P. Ashby,” he said to himself as he sat before his recording equipment. Not wanting to leave the recordings unattended all day in case he might miss something important, Fowler decided to call in sick for a few days and monitor the equipment continuously.
He pushed the appropriate dials to have the video- and tape-recording feeds forwarded directly to his home computer, then he headed home, locking the door behind him.
He figured he could monitor things from home, just in case someone from the office called him to make sure he was really home sick. Not likely, but not impossible, since the FBI would be watching him closely in his last few months on the job before his upcoming retirement.
As he drove toward his apartment, he wondered just what in the world Ashby was doing messing around with these rather low-rent doctors. He’d had their records checked, and none of them had tripped any bells.
Well, he figured, now that he was listening on his own without any other agents looking over his shoulder, he might just wrangle a way to listen in himself on Ashby’s talks with his doctor and lawyers. Perhaps that would give him the answers he was looking for.
CHAPTER 30
After the group finished dinner, Sheila told Kevin he needed to take her and Burton back to Houston before they were missed and Ashby’s investigators began looking for them.
“Sure thing, Dr. Sheila,” Kevin said. “Just give me ten minutes, okay?”
When she nodded her assent, Kevin went into the bedroom and dug through his duffel bag for a moment. Finally, he pulled out the video camera he’d used to document Angus’s transformation.
He came back into the living room and addressed the others. “When you first picked up Jordan and took him to your apartment, I took the opportunity to make some video recordings of him while Burton was getting him undressed and into bed.”
Kat said, “Kevin—”
“Oh, nothing dirty, Kat. I just mainly wanted to show his deteriorated condition and how much older and frailer he looked than his chronological age. Now, if he doesn’t mind, I’d like to show the ‘after’ pictures of him since the injection of the Phoenix Formula.”
Stone arched an eyebrow. “I presume this is to document the formula’s effectiveness for your rich client?”
Kevin nodded. “We told him we would test the formula on someone else first to make sure it was safe, and then, when he was satisfied, we would inject him and earn our fee.”
Sheila stepped forward. “We know this is a gross violation of patient confidentiality, Jordan, and if you’d rather not pose . . .”
Stone shook his head. “No, Dr. Sheila, after all that you have done for me, I feel that helping you in this endeavor is the least I can do. And the added bonus is that the sooner you collect your fee, the sooner the formula can be made available to others to help ease their suffering.”
“I do have one suggestion,” Kat interjected. “To protect Jordan’s identity, I think he should wear a mask.”
“But Ashby will have to be able to determine that this is the same man in both videos,” Burton argued.
Kat laughed. “Burton, do you remember what Jordan looked like when you and Sheila brought him home? His face already looks completely different due to the age regression and weight loss.”
“If I may,” Kevin said, “I agree with Kat about hiding his new face, since we have no idea who else may get to see these videos. However, I noticed during the original video I took at Sheila’s house that Jordan has a rather distinctive strawberry birthmark just below his waistline on his back. If he doesn’t mind showing a little butt cheek in the video, the birthmarks will both be seen and it will prove that he is the same man.”
“Then let us proceed,” Stone said. He pulled a handkerchief out of his rear pants pocket, folded it into a triangle, and placed it over his mouth and nose like an old-time bandito. Moving to the center of the room with his back to a bare wall, he stripped off his shirt and lowered his jeans a few inches.
The group was amazed at the lean, ropy musculature of his body and how vibrant he looked shirtless. Even though he now appeared to be in his thirties, he had the body of a much younger man.
“I am here next to this blank wall so that there will be no clues in the video to lead anyone to this place,” he explained. And then, leaning over and flexing his arm muscles in a classic weight lifter’s pose, he said, “Shoot away, young Mr. Kevin.”
As everyone broke into laughter, Kevin shot photographs for the next five minutes, having Stone walk, do jumping jacks, and perform various other exercises to show off his new, youthful vitality.
Even Angus watched intently from his bed in the corner, his tail wagging happily to see his friend dance about.
Finally satisfied, Kevin packed up his camera and started to leave with Sheila and Burton to head back to Houston, when Stone stopped him and handed him a folded-up piece of paper. “Read that when you get to Houston, please,” Stone said.
Kevin nodded and followed Sheila and Burton out the door.
Kat moved over next to Stone as he was pulling his shirt over his head. “I am sorry you had to go through that, Jordan.”
He tucked in his shirt, a wry look on his face. “Do not be silly, Dr. Kat. How often does an old codger like me get a second chance at life? Maybe in this life I will be able to do something to make a difference that I was never able to do in my last one.”
“What do you mean, Jordan? You’ve taught thousands of young men and women when you were at the university.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Bah, philosophy. A bunch of meaningless words never long remembered by those to whom they were taught.”
She shook her head. “I think you are being too hard on yourself.”
Suddenly his face took on a serious mien. “Let us repair ourselves to the kitchen for a nice cup of coffee and a chat.”
She gave him a puzzled glance, but nodded and walked into the kitchen.
Minutes later, Angus had a snack of crumpled-up breakfast bacon in his bowl and Kat and Stone were sitting at the table nursing steaming mugs of coffee.
After a moment, Stone began. “Kat, I know that you and Burton and young Kevin went into this affair with only the best of intentions . . . meaning to help people with heretofore incurable diseases to get well. Am I right?”
She gave a nervous laugh. “Well, Kevin and I did, that’s for sure. Burton, at first, was only interested in how much money he could make from his blood-scrubber and he gave little thought to the people with kidney failure whom it would help.”
“You said ‘at first’?”
“Yes, for now Burton has changed. Since he and Sheila have gotten back together, he is happier and has lost much of the bitterness that so pervaded his life before. Now he sees the good that the Phoenix Formula can do and he is fully behind its development.”
Then she laughed and put a hand on his arm. “But don’t get me wrong. None of us are saints, and we are all looking forward to having enough money not to have to worry about where the next rent check is coming from.”
Stone sighed and took a long draught of his coffee, as if to fortify himself for what he was about to say
.
“What is it, Jordan? You look worried about something.”
“Dr. Kat, I suppose you know that among the other changes the Phoenix Formula brings about is a marked increase in intelligence?”
She sat back, a surprised look on her face. “Of course we knew, but the physical transformation was so impressive that I’m afraid we all temporarily forgot about that.”
He smiled gently. “And, of course, you did not put me through those mazes like you did your rats.”
“Of course not.“ She laughed.
“Dr. Kat, would you be surprised to learn that my IQ prior to my rather precipitous fall from grace was in the ‘genius’ level?”
She shook her head slowly. “I hadn’t really thought about it, but . . . no, I am not surprised.”
“Actually, I had been tested to be in the high one hundred and sixties.”
He held up his hand when she started to speak. “No, do not say anything, Dr. Kat, for I am not telling you this to brag, but to emphasize that since I received the formula, my mind has seemed to explode with what I believe is more of a gain in efficiency than a true makeover of the brain cells.”
He hesitated. “I believe that if I was tested now, my IQ would be well over two hundred.”
She was stunned. “That’s . . . that’s amazing.”
“Again, I tell you this not to brag, but to bring meaning into what I am about to talk to you about.”
“Which is?”
“Dr. Kat, I am afraid that you and your compatriots have not fully thought through the implications of your formula.”
She looked at him over the rim of her cup as she drank. “Which are?”
“As it is now, you cannot possibly release your Phoenix Formula to the public for general use.”
“But—”
He held up his hand. “No, Dr. Kat, please hear me out.”
She sat back, crossed her arms over her breasts, and stared at him. “Okay.”
“First of all, you should understand that another attribute of your formula is that I no longer need more than a few hours of sleep, so while you and Kevin have been sleeping, I have used my extra time awake to peruse your notes about the chemical structure of the formula. At first it was simply out of idle curiosity, but later it was to make sure of what I came to believe about the formula.”
She uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, looking at him with interest. “And what have you come to believe, Jordan?”
“That you all have produced a miracle formula that has, at its core, four main attributes.”
He held up his hand and began to count off on his fingers as he spoke. “One is to cleanse the blood of all impurities much more efficiently and completely than anything else available; two, is to repair and to help the body itself repair damaged or ailing neurons and other neurological structures; three, is to markedly increase the brain’s efficiency and mental acuity, thus increasing what we call intelligence; and finally, four, the most problematic of all of the features of the formula, to cause the body to regress in apparent age and to become much more healthy than previously.”
“But, Jordan,” Kat argued, “those are all good things.”
“That’s just it, Dr. Kat. They are all good things, indeed, things that everyone would want for themselves.”
She smiled. “And things that we all want to give them.”
He shook his head. “You are not thinking through the consequences of making your formula available to everyone, dear Kat.”
Again, she looked puzzled.
He leaned forward, his gaze intent. “Let me give you a little history, Kat. During World War Two, the Allies invaded many islands in the Pacific. At that time, the population suffered from massive deaths due to malaria, and many of those who didn’t die were incapacitated from the effects of the disease. When the Allies invaded, they sprayed extensively with DDT to prevent their soldiers from coming down with the disease and they also introduced and made available chloroquine, which both prevented and cured the disease if it was contracted. Can you guess what happened next?”
She shook her head.
“So many fewer people died from malaria that the islands’ populations exploded, outpacing the islanders’ ability to grow enough food for the increased population, or to provide work for the masses of young people being born. Soon the islands’ economies were in shambles, and they had to be rescued by other, richer nations across the globe.”
A thoughtful look came into Kat’s eyes. “I see where you’re going with this, Jordan. But our formula wouldn’t be for everyone, only for those suffering from one of the renal or neurological diseases. Therefore, there wouldn’t be a huge explosion of new people to have to take care of.”
Stone reached across the table and put his hand over Kat’s. “Dear Dr. Kat, you once accused me of being naïve. If all your formula did was to cure those illnesses, of course it would be a good thing. But, remember, it does two other rather remarkable things. It makes people smarter and younger, things that will be hard to hide and things that almost everyone on the earth will want for themselves.”
She slowly nodded her head.
“Your first problem, once the effects of the formula become known, will be to keep the formula out of the hands of the government, which will almost certainly want to restrict it to its own exclusive control. Even if you made the formula public so that anyone could use it, then you would soon have massive overpopulation—with all of the problems that entails.”
“But what if we maintained exclusive control of the formula ourselves? That way we could decide who really needed it and who didn’t.”
He smiled and shook his head. “Do you really want that responsibility, Kat? To be the one who decides who is worthy of becoming younger and smarter and healthier, and who should be consigned to growing old and feeble? And how long do you think you could control a formula that is priceless, both in monetary value and in the power that the owner of such a formula would exert?” He shrugged. “Men have actually killed for much less, my dear, probably including your Mr. Ashby.”
She put her hand to her mouth. “You don’t think . . . ?”
“I think that once your Mr. Ashby finds out that the formula really works, none of our lives will be worth a plugged nickel. If he is ruthless enough to have attained many billions of dollars in wealth, he is more than ruthless enough to want to control completely something as valuable as your Phoenix Formula.”
She suddenly looked frightened and jumped up. “I’ve got to call Kevin and keep him from showing that video to Ashby!”
He put his hand on her arm and pulled her back down. “It is too late, Kat. Too many people already know about the formula.” He gave a low chuckle. “Someone once said that two people could keep a secret, as long as one of them was dead.”
“You’re right, Jordan. Ashby will never give up trying to get his hands on the formula, especially because he is so desperate to get it for himself.”
“Oh?” Stone said.
“Yeah, we haven’t told you this yet, but he has had a stroke. He is almost totally paralyzed and is bedridden.”
He nodded. “You are correct—such a man will not give up easily.”
“Well, what can we do?”
He thought for a moment. “First, we must buy ourselves some time. I suggest we go ahead and give Ashby the formula injection. That will tie his hands for at least a week or two while he regresses.”
“And then?”
“And then we take precautions, such as putting the chemical structure of the formula in the hands of multiple lawyers with instructions to release it to the press and the government if any of us disappears or dies.”
“But couldn’t he torture us in order to determine the locations of the lawyers?”
Stone shrugged. “Admittedly it is not a foolproof plan, but it would be a start, once again to buy us time to take further precautions.”
“Such as?”
“Such as, I plan to use my ne
w intelligence to work on the formula—to try to separate its effects so that it will still cure disease but not necessarily cause increased intelligence or youthfulness.”
“But what do you know of biochemistry and medicine?”
He laughed. “Nothing yet, but that note I gave Kevin was a request for him to bring me every book on biochemistry and aging that he could find. I intend to give myself a crash course in those fields and then try to modify your formula to make it more selective in its actions.”
“Jordan, you have given me much to think about. Now I need to talk to the others and make them also understand what is at stake here.”
He held up a hand. “Just be careful to do it where there is no chance of your being overheard. We must not let Ashby know that we suspect him of trying to get control of the formula until we have a plan in place to thwart him.”
CHAPTER 31
Kevin sat at his computer desk in his small apartment thinking. He was waiting for his uncle, Dr. Tom Alexander, to show up so that he could show him the video and give him a copy to take to J.P. Ashby.
Okay, Kevin, let’s think this whole thing through, from beginning to end, he told himself.
He pulled a yellow legal pad across the desk and began to make notes on it. First, he thought, there is the problem of getting the formula to Ashby so that he can use it, while at the same time making sure he cannot have it analyzed to see what the components are in order to make his own batch.
Second, we have to figure out some way to transfer five hundred million dollars from Ashby to us without either the government or anyone else noticing such a large movement of funds.
Third, we have to do all of this from a safe and secret location, so that neither Ashby nor his henchmen can kidnap us to get the secret of the formula from us.
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