“The police have made door-to-door searches to find those who had died of VB.”
One guy came out and waved to the reporter that he should come inside. The camera view jiggled as it entered the apartment. It came to rest on a bedroom scene where an old man and an old woman lay in an embrace. Neither moved. Blood spread from the man’s head. A pistol rested in his hand.
“Sometimes we see a suicide as one partner ends their life when the other died of VB. Especially when the wife died first.”
A team of men put each body in a black bag and carried them outside. Others in HazMat suits sprayed the areas with disinfectant.
That was the worst scene. It was different elsewhere.
Smiles were everywhere on the news, on the streets, and in the stores. The worst was over.
After it barely got dark, fireworks exploded in celebration.
I felt something pull on my right leg as I ate dinner. I looked down to see Monk. His eyes opened wide, and he shivered every time a loud boom came. I picked him up and held him close. Poor little guy didn’t understand what was going on.
“It’s okay, Monk. Just us humans shooting off some fireworks.”
I stroked his fur. It seemed to help. At least his shaking stopped.
Zetto spoke, “Klava said he would lift the curfew in two days. Merchants demanded it end sooner saying they got a lot of customers in the evening. Over seventy percent of the employers report allowing their workers to take time off during the day to go shopping.”
Later that same evening, I got a tag from Sheila.
“Can you come to a meeting here tomorrow morning at ten with a representative to the Rossan United Freedom Fighters?” she said. “RUFF wants to make it clear they are not responsible for the campaign of anti-hybrid attacks.”
“Me─or Albert Poors?”
“Poors, actually,” she answered.
“I can be there but how will you protect my identity?”
“I will meet with the RUFF rep in one room and you will remain in another room. We’ll communicate by intercom. I will visit you and then go into the room with the RUFF rep to verify that Albert Poors is in the next room.”
“Sounds good.”
“Thanks, Jake. I’ve lost track of how many favors we’ve each done for the other. But on the off chance I’m behind, can I take you to dinner?”
“You never stop trying, do you?”
#
Ash Getner, head of the York Security Agency, picked up the tag from the prime minister.
“Yes, Mr. Prime Minister. How can I help you?”
“I want you to find out who’s behind the VB virus getting into the public water,” said Pierre Klava. “Make this a top priority project. If you need funds, let me know.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
After they disconnected, Getner wondered who he could blame this one on. His nemesis came to mind. But who to do the dirty work? He smiled.
After all, the guy may become my boss in the next election.
He tagged Guy Coocher on a secure line.
“This is your friend at the federal building. I just learned that a certain Jake Dani is a Binger and the father of Alena Dani, the researcher.”
“So she’s a Binger too,” replied Coocher.
“Stands to reason,” Getner added. “And Jake Dani has visited the mercon ambassador at his embassy.”
“Son of a bitch! I knew it! The mercons are in cahoots with the Bingers. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn this Jake was the one who poisoned our water.”
Getner smiled at the reference to someone else poisoning the water. Coocher was laying out his strategy for him.
He added, “Oh, by the way, he’s a spy for the Bingers back on Earth. And I have reason to believe this Jake is the real Albert Poors. Listen, I have a plan for how to get rid of him.”
After a few seconds, Coocher asked, “Hmm, what’s your plan?”
Getner told him. “I also learned that Jake Dani will be at Channel One tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”
“How do you know that?” asked Coocher.
“I have my sources.”
“Right.”
“Can you take care of your part?” asked Getner.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
#
Guy Coocher tagged Borner Hoskins on a secured line. This was one operation he didn’t want to use normal Humans Only personnel on.
Hoskins replied, “Yes?”
“Talk to me some more so I recognize your voice.”
“I see. Mary had a little lamb. Will this be enough?”
“Yep. Somebody broke into our office last night. I think it’s time I fight back. I need you for a special assignment. You’ll need to hire some muscle. I want to teach Albert Poors a lesson.”
Coocher explained what he had in mind.
Hoskins replied, “This will take time to set up. Do you have any idea how we can find this Poors?”
Coocher explained his plan for that too.
Hoskins added, “Brilliant!”
Chapter 39
A half-hour before the appointed time at Channel One, I left the ops, my mind busy on ways to convince RUFF they needed to cooperate with the cops and Channel One, so they could find out who was responsible.
As I ambled toward the Channel One building from the parking lot, I noticed two big men walking from between parked cars. One guy held a camera on the left side of his head and the other had held a recorder to his mouth so I couldn’t see his face. They looked like they worked at the news channel, so I ignored them.
Ten steps from the side door to the building, my right backside erupted in pain. It was so strong I fell to my knees. I felt a shove from my right shoulder and down I went. I rolled over to see who my attacker was and saw three men with ski masks over their faces. Two held baseball bats and I held up my left arm to protect myself. They let me get to my feet and I pulled my Snap out.
Then darkness descended. Total pitch black. From the light coming near my feet, I figured they used a black sack from behind me.
Rough hands grabbed me and pulled the black fabric tight. My Snap was useless.
I heard the screech of tires as a vehicle pulled up near me.
The same rough hands pulled and pushed me left side down onto the floor of something. A van.
I had better get free soon or I was a goner. So I pushed my Snap in front of me and fired three times.
Rough hands grabbed my right hand and held tight.
“Son of a bitch pulled a gun out.”
The black fabric lifted from my feet and two pair of hands seized the Snap in my right wrist. I struggled to hang onto it but it was four hands against one.
In less than four seconds, my gun was ripped from my grip.
More blows came to my back and arms. A sharp pain came to the back of my skull and I blacked out.
I woke to find myself stark naked and lying on a cot with only a linen sheet over me.
From the vibrations and the curvature of the walls, I suspected I was in a small airplane and airborne.
The back of my head ached. My back didn’t feel so good either.
I sat up on the cot and looked around. A very small room with only one door. There was a small window covered in black paint. I tried scratching the paint with my fingernails but could get not get much traction. All I got was a small scratch and that cost me a torn fingernail. I put my eyeball to the opening and looked out. It was daylight outside but I couldn’t see much. Some clouds in the distance that didn’t move much.
All I could tell was it was daylight. I was airborne and flying high.
“Hey! Anybody hear me?”
#
Ron worried every time Jake failed to show up at the ops center as expected. A tag to Jake’s comm went unanswered.
Since Jake was supposed to go to the offices of Channel One, he tagged Sheila.
“Have you seen Jake?”
“No, and I’m pissed. He failed to show
up for his appointment. Where the hell is he?”
“That’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question.” Part of him wondered where that old phrase came from.
“Listen. If you find him, tell him he needs to apologize.”
“Will do,” said Ron as he disconnected.
Next he tagged Jake’s comm again but didn’t get an answer. So he tagged the computer at Jake’s apartment.
“Jake’s residence. He’s busy right now. Can you leave a message?”
Ron asked, “This is Ron Boscoe. I need to talk with Jake immediately.”
“I recognize your voice, sir. But Jake is not here.”
Crap. He’s missing again.
He disconnected and tapped his fingers on the table in the planning room.
Who should I inform next?
Zetto rested on his bunk in the dorm and Ron told him first.
“Oh shit! Let me know what you want me to do.”
“Come to the center ASAP.”
Next, he tagged Vincent at his home.
“Jake’s missing again.”
“Shit! Here we go again. I’ll be there in an hour. Have you told your dad?”
“He’s next.”
“Gancha might want to know too.”
Jake had told Ron Vincent that Gancha would be joining their team. During that conversation, Ron had learned that Jake and Gancha were dating but it was an on-and-off relationship.
“I agree. I’ll let her know after I tell our boss.”
Ron went into the planning room and composed a message to his father. Inside the image of a clock, he sent a separate message.
“Our boss is missing.”
The shorter the message, the better. Besides, he didn’t like “talking” with his father.
It would take time to get a reply. While he waited, he tagged Gancha.
She replied, “Oh-oh. All I can tell you is he’s not here. We didn’t have plans either.”
After a pause, she added, “Shall I come to the center?”
“Not until I need you,” he replied. “I need to trace his last steps.”
After he disconnected, he yelled to the dorm room, “Zetto, you need to erase Jake’s comm. Where’s Andy?”
“I don’t know. It’s not my day to watch him.”
“I’ll ask him to come,” said Ron. A tag to Andy got the message, “I’m away from my office on a business call. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Damn it!
He left the message, “My boss is missing.”
Then Ron disconnected. He sighed and helped Zetto fix dinner by setting the table.
Vincent came in the front door and joined them. He had on a black suit and pale yellow dress shirt.
When they had finished the meal, Ron got a tag from his father.
“Trace his last steps. I can’t join you this time. Onta is six months pregnant and can’t travel by the fast method. I can send Gerhi though.
Ron sent his reply.
“I thought of tracing his last known steps. I could use Gerhi.”
#
Gerhi Oman got the orders while lecturing a class at the training center. He acknowledged his new travel and left an assistant in charge. Then he rushed to his apartment and packed in a mad dash. He drove himself to the BIS airport and hopped on the waiting private jet to Macapa, Brazil.
You’d think by now I’d get used to this sudden change of plans.
A Navy Seal before being discovered as a full Binger, Gerhi prided himself on his ability to survive on almost nothing. He could dismantle and assemble his Snaps in fifteen seconds each while blindfolded. An expert marksman, he could hit the center of the target five yards farther away than most anybody else. At six foot three, Gerhi was muscular. From the look of his body, anybody who opted hand to hand combat with him risked his life.
On the flight over the ocean, he pondered his near future.
Guess I have to get drowned again.
After landing in Brazil, he learned there was a two-hour wait before he was scheduled to go up the Space Elevator. He didn’t want to eat a meal for fear he might lose it later. So he drank two doubles of scotch in the lounge while waiting and recalled his earlier experience with the fast method of travel.
Then he carried his suitcases while walking the long corridor separating the main airport from the Space Elevator. He arrived at the prep room fifteen minutes before his appointment.
“Mr. Smith,” said the attractive young woman behind the counter, dressed in a crisp gray suit with the logo of Macapa Space Elevator on her right lapel. “You’re early.”
“Yep,” he replied. Gerhi was not known for his chit-chat.
“Do you want to wait or shall we get started?”
“Might as well.”
She pressed a button and he heard a click on the door to the prep room.
“I can take your luggage, sir,” she added.
He dropped his bags, squared his shoulders, and walked through the door.
Let’s get this over with.
Despite his earlier experience, Gerhi didn’t look forward to this.
He took the sedative injection on his right forearm. Combined with the scotches, his mind was in a blur as he stripped. Next he placed his arms in the slits in the rubber suit and lifted.
“Place your organ in the hole,” said the technician. “It’s for draining your bladder.”
He didn’t feel like telling the technician he had traveled this way before.
Next the male technician pulled the cap over his head.
“Nod if you can you hear me,” came a voice into his ears.
He nodded.
The other guy said, “Good.” He wore beige rubber gloves as he attached a drain to his groin.
“We’re done. Mr. Smith, you may walk forward now.”
Not that walking was easy with the extra padding of a diaper between his legs.
He followed the technician to the pool and his heart sped up when he spotted the wire cage.
This is it.
Despite having done this whole thing before and viewing for a second time the vid of the procedure, the real thing was so damned real. And scary. When the chair descended, he held his breath as his face went beneath the liquid.
He looked up to see the bubble of air recede out of sight just as a man closed the lid over his cage. He tried to inhale the liquid but nature took over and he held his breath.
“Relax, Mr. Smith. It will be over in less than a minute,” said a male voice in his ear.
“Take a deep breath. When the liquid fills your lungs, you’ll see you can breathe it and remain awake. You're not going to die. Thousands of people have done this and lived to tell about it.”
Gerhi gritted his teeth and pushed the air out of his lungs.
Here goes.
He braced for dying, just like he’d done before and coughed as the fluid filled his lungs. He resisted the urge to press on the lid to his cage, knowing it would do no good at all.
Chapter 40
A hissing noise told me that gas was pouring into my room on the plane. I tried to find the source but dizziness overcame me.
I woke to total darkness again. But this time, my mouth held a breathing tube. My hands were cuffed behind my back and I felt the restriction of movement in my ankles. From the vibrations, I suspected I was being transported in a vehicle on a road.
I decided to wait for an opportunity to escape. Couldn’t do much else.
Then a pinprick on my right upper arm, followed by a full feeling, told me I was being drugged again.
Naturally, I dozed off. Couldn’t resist it if I tried.
#
Ron started the operation by stating, “Let’s start with the most likely suspect, the Humans Only organization.”
Vincent nodded and Zetto joined him. Together, the two managed to get into the private server for HO comm chats. Ron and Andy busied themselves preparing the gear that might be needed for
a special op.
“Ron,” queried Vincent as he looked up.
“So far we’ve learned that Coocher tagged Hoskins and told him of a plan from your old buddy, Ash Getner. Hoskins hired some guys to kidnap a big guy in the parking lot of Channel One. We figure that was Jake. Then they turned their captive over to someone named Ben Portal, an agent of YSA.”
“See if you can hack into the YSA servers,” ordered Ron.
“Won’t be easy,” added Vincent.
“Nothing is easy,” said Ron. “Get started.”
Vincent shook his head. “I’ve tried to hack into the YSA servers before.”
He took eight hours and fifteen tries, each with a different idea. The BIS decryption software was good but YSA had better.
Andy suggested an idea.
“How about we try to get into the van Getner uses to tap into the YSA database?”
Getner used three vans, all parked in the city building lot. Zetto picked one and Vincent was able to get into its database of codes. From there, another try to get into the main YSA servers worked.
Vincent read on and eventually looked up.
“Ron, Jake was taken to Fairport Base for interrogation.”
“Ruta,” Ron told the ops center computer, “show us what you’ve got on Fairport Base.”
The base was located northeast of Zor inside the Orca Mountain range. At first, the overhead of the base was blurry.
“Let me try,” said Vincent, as he went to work on their map software.
Fifteen minutes later, he said, “Gotcha!”
They now had a detailed view of Fairport Base, even its own landing strip in the valley. The overhead image showed several buildings.
“See if you can find out where they do interrogations,” said Ron.
After several taps on Vincent’s laptop, the view zoomed in on one building.
“I think this is it,” added Vincent. He pointed.
“Jake is probably held here.”
The building was a two-story one at the corner of Second Avenue and B Street. The team spent the next two hours debating four different plans to get through the two fences surrounding the buildings on the base.
Humans Only: A Jake Dani Novel (Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Book 2) Page 23