by David Archer
Sam just stared at him. “But how is that possible? If all it does is put information into your memory, how can it take over someone else’s personality?”
“Because they found a way to put ultra-miniature LEDs down inside the frontal cortex of the brain itself. When the lights flash inside that part of the brain, they can actually trigger synapses. That gives whoever is controlling the chip complete control over the brain and body it’s connected to.”
“Have any of these chips actually been implanted in anyone?” Sam asked.
Walter shook his head. “Not that I can tell, but several have been made. And anyone who knew about it and had a computer with the right program could control it, making someone say and do whatever they wanted.”
“Good Lord,” Sam said. “Imagine what someone with the new chip could do.”
*
Denny watched carefully as the security guard looked around the room. He didn’t seem to be making any kind of special inspection, so it was unlikely he knew Denny was there. He glanced at the workstations but didn’t seem terribly interested, and it was only a moment later that he left the room, closing the door behind himself.
Denny stayed where he was for another minute, just to be safe. He heard the guard moving down the hall, and even heard him talking to the front security desk by radio. He couldn't make out all the words, but he caught, “All looks secure…”
He came out from under the workstation and moved toward the door, crouching just behind it as he listened to the guard’s wandering. The footsteps came back his direction a few minutes later, and then passed him by. A few seconds later, the elevator door opened and closed, and Denny finally allowed himself to breathe properly.
He glanced around the room once more. He had found sufficient evidence to prove Fa Ling was somehow involved in the theft of the chip, but he hadn’t found the chip itself or the operating room Sam had told him to look for. He could take what he had and get out, ensuring that the evidence would be safe and useful, or he could keep looking and extend the risk that he might be caught.
He knew that the photos he had sent wouldn’t be enough to take any action against the company, but the contents of the hard drives he had copied might very well provide what they needed. Unfortunately, there was no way to know for sure. Without solid evidence, all of his efforts in getting into the building could be in vain.
No, he needed more. He turned back to the room he was in and began searching, looking for something that would conclusively prove that the chip was either there, or had been there.
Twenty minutes later, he decided that he would have to search further. He started to open the door, but decided at the last second to use his electronic listening device to scan for any sign of activity in the hallway outside.
There were whispering sounds. They seemed to be coming from the direction of the stairwell, but there was little doubt in his mind that he had somehow been detected. He snatched off the electronic ears and looked desperately around for a way out, certain that security guards would come bursting through the door at any second.
Suddenly, a door a bit further down the hall opened and closed. It would have led into the room directly adjacent to the one Denny was currently in, and he could just make out the sound of people talking softly. Carefully, he approached the wall dividing the two rooms and applied the electronic ear.
“… Gotta be quick,” said a female voice. “Jim only takes a half-hour for lunch. If he ever finds out…”
“He won’t,” said a male voice. “I don’t know why you stay with him, anyway. He’s obviously not giving you what you need…”
Denny stifled a chuckle as he put the electronic ear back into his pocket. What he had thought was security guards ready to arrest him was apparently an illicit affair. Jim, he assumed, was probably the supervisor who occupied the desk downstairs.
He quickly opened the door and stepped into the hall, then silently made his way to the stairwell. The hinges on the door there were well lubricated, and he was able to open it without a sound. Once inside, he started down to the main floor.
One of the things that amazed him was the lack of video cameras inside the building. He had anticipated having to avoid them, but there didn’t seem to be any in evidence. Of course, it was possible there were hidden cameras just about anywhere, but he wouldn’t be able to spot them, anyway.
The stairwell opened onto the back end of the ground floor hallway, and he opened the door just wide enough to peek out. There was no one in sight, and he slipped out and gently closed the door behind him. He made his way down the hall toward the front lobby, and quickly confirmed that no one was manning the front desk.
He sat in the chair and started scanning the few video displays. They showed the grounds in front of the building, as well as behind it and on one side, but the other cameras that were misaligned weren’t even working. There didn’t seem to be anything at the security desk to tell him what he needed to know, so he started to rise, but then spotted an icon at the bottom of the computer screen. It looked like the squiggly line from an electrocardiogram, so he clicked on it with the mouse.
A whole new display opened up, and what he saw was obviously an operating room. There was no doubt it was somewhere in the building, but nothing on the screen gave him any indication as to where to find it.
He closed the window and hurried back to the hallway, checking each door as he went. Ironically, the one he was looking for turned out to be the one directly opposite the stairwell door, and he was surprised at how well-equipped it actually was. There was an operating table, just about every type of medical device he could imagine, and another room off of it was marked “X-ray.” He quickly took a panning video with his phone, carefully catching everything in the room, then put the phone into his pocket as he prepared to make his escape.
He slipped out of the room and was about to open the stairwell door when he heard steps coming down. They were too close to risk trying to get back into the operating room, so he flattened himself against the wall beside the door. It opened only seconds later, and a man and a woman walked out and headed toward the front lobby.
Denny caught the door just before it closed and slipped around it, allowing it to close naturally behind him. His soft-soled shoes made no sound as he took the stairs two at a time. He didn’t bother to stop on any other floor, but went straight to the top floor, and then to the stairs that led to the roof.
He had left the door unlocked, and it pushed open easily, but the jumper wire he had put on the alarm system had come loose. The alarm sounded instantly, and there was no time for a slow, graceful descent with the grapple. The ground was nearly 30 feet below, but there was a drain pipe running down the side of the building just a few feet from where he had come over the top. He left the grapple where it was and swung himself over the ledge, grabbed the drain pipe with both hands, and clamped his feet on it as he slid down. Still, skipping the mounting brackets meant that he hit the ground a lot faster than he would’ve liked, and he felt his ankle wrench.
There was no time to worry about it, though. He ran as fast as he could toward the fence, sliding through the gap he had cut like a baseball player sliding for home. There were bushes just outside the fence, and he managed to roll under one just before a security guard came running around the side of the building.
They would naturally expect any breach of the wall to occur where the cameras were not working, he figured, and the security guard scanned the walls with his eyes to confirm his thought. Seeing nothing, however, the guard ran around the back of the building. Denny waited until he was out of sight, then moved quietly and quickly toward his car.
As he got behind the wheel, he took out his phone and activated the app that controlled the drone. He powered it on and tapped the button that told it to follow the phone, then started the car and drove as quietly as he could down the street before turning on his headlights. He made it six blocks, then stopped to allow the drone to catch up.
In follow mode, it would stay a minimum of three hundred feet above its target. He took out his phone and guided it down, letting it land once more in his hand. He brought it through the window and set it on the passenger seat, then breathed a sigh of relief as he drove away.
He made another block before the sirens began, and it quickly became obvious that police were sealing off the area. He parked the car behind a series of large dumpsters and thought about what to do. Getting caught in the area wasn't necessarily a problem; getting caught with the flash drives and the photos and video on his phone would mean being arrested, at the very least. While he knew that Ron would bail him out regardless of the cost, losing the evidence he had gathered was simply not acceptable.
The question was how to get those items to Sam, even if he were to be arrested. He thought about it for a moment, then glanced at the drone sitting on the passenger seat. While it wasn't the biggest drone available, it certainly wasn't the smallest. With a flight time of about twenty minutes, it probably had about fifteen minutes left on its current charge. That should be enough.
Denny started the process of transmitting the video of the operating room to Sam while he dug into the bag the drone came in. There were always odds and ends that he tossed in there, and he was glad to find a couple feet of wire and a paperclip.
He pulled a rubber glove out of his pocket and shoved the flash drives into it, then tied it closed with part of the wire. The other end fashioned into a loop, which he hooked on to the paperclip. With a little work, he managed to hook the paperclip onto the gimbal that held the drone’s camera, then carefully lifted it all out the window.
As soon as the video was sent, he turned on the drone app once more and powered it on, then sent it up into the air. There was a building beside where he was parked, and he guided the drone up and onto its roof. The camera showed him that there was a large air conditioning unit with a shelter built over it on the roof, and he flew the drone under the shelter and settled it on top of the air conditioner. He turned off its power to conserve the battery, then deleted the app from his phone. A moment later, he sent a quick message to Sam that read, “found what you wanted and more. Be in touch soon.” As soon as he sent the message, he deleted all of his text messages, along with the photos and video.
He took the drone bag and tossed it into the dumpster beside him, then grabbed several flattened cardboard boxes and tossed them into the back seat. Once he was done, he started the car and drove toward the nearest flashing lights. He pulled up beside a police officer and looked up at him with a smile.
“Howdy,” he said, using a Texas accent. “Something going on?”
“Yes, sir,” the officer said. “We’ve had a report of a possible break in at one of the buildings around here. Would you mind telling me what you’re doing here?”
Denny hooked a thumb at the back seat. “Boxes,” he said. “My girlfriend is here living in a motel, and I came to pack her up and take her home. Needed some boxes to pack all her crap in.”
The officer looked at the boxes and then stepped back from the car. “Would you step out of the vehicle, sir?”
Denny shrugged. “Sure, no problem.” He climbed out of the car and faced the officer.
“Do you have any identification on you?”
“Oh, sure,” Denny said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet, then took out a driver’s license and passed it over.
The officer looked it over carefully, comparing the photo to Denny’s face. “Gerald Franklin,” he read. “You’re from Odessa?”
“Yep, born and bred. I don’t even leave the state if I don’t have to.”
The officer took the microphone from his belt and spoke into it. “Dispatch, Charlie fourteen here.”
The dispatcher came back instantly. “Charlie fourteen, go ahead.”
The officer read off the information from the drivers license Denny had given him, asking for a search for any warrants or inquiries. “Wait one,” the dispatcher said. She came back a moment later. “Charlie fourteen, no warrants, no wants. Valid license issued to Gerald R. Franklin, fifteen sixty Juanita Way, Odessa, Texas.”
“Charlie fourteen, 10-4.” He looked at Denny and handed back the license. “I’m just curious, Mr. Franklin, but why were you looking for boxes way out here? Wouldn’t they be easier to get at a grocery store in town?”
“I tried two or three of them,” Denny said, “but they’ve got those big machines now, the ones that crunch the boxes up and strap them all together. I guess there’s big money in recycling cardboard, nowadays. I went looking for somewhere to find them in dumpsters, and when I saw all these buildings I thought there’s bound to be some out here.” He glanced at the boxes in his backseat. “And I was right.”
The officer looked into his eyes for a moment and Denny could tell that he didn’t believe the story. The trouble was that there was nothing to hold him for, so after a few seconds the officer smiled and told him he could go.
“Appreciate it,” Denny said. “And thank you, officer, for the job you do. My daddy was a policeman; he said it was one of the most thankless jobs a man could ever hold, so I like to say thanks whenever I get the chance.”
The officer smiled. “Thank you, sir,” he said. “Have a nice night.” He turned and walked back toward his car.
The sound of screeching tires made him stop and look around, and Denny, who was just getting into his car, looked up as well. Four cars were bearing down on them and slid to a stop in the street beside them. The officer took a couple of steps toward the first car, and that’s when a gun barrel came out the window and a single shot was fired.
The officer flew backward, landing on the hood of his car before sliding down to the ground. He lay perfectly still, and Denny stared at the men who were climbing out of the vehicles. Every one of them was Asian, and every single one of them held a gun pointed directly at him.
27
The team was still gathered in Sam’s room when the video came in. Sam looked at it and smiled, then held his phone out so that the rest could see it.
“Looks like we know where the surgery was going to take place,” he said. “Now the only question is how we use this information.”
“What did Denny say?” Steve asked.
“Only that he’ll be in touch,” Sam replied. “I’m guessing that means he’s made it out…”
Sam’s phone rang, and he recognized the number from the office back in Denver. “Prichard,” he said.
“Mr. Prichard, this is Charlotte in IT. Mr. Thomas wanted me to call you if there were any police calls in the area where Mr. Cortlandt is currently working. There was one, a 911 call from Fa Ling Bioengineering. Police have responded and cordoned off the area, and questioned one man they found nearby. The officer who questioned him just called in requesting backup, saying he had been shot and the man he was talking to had been abducted. That’s all I have at the moment, but I felt you needed to know.”
Sam’s face was white, and his eyes were wide. “Thank you, Charlotte,” he said. “Please notify me if you hear anything else.”
“Yes, sir,” Charlotte said, and then she was gone.
“Someone in the building called the police,” Sam said. “One of the officers found a man in the area and questioned him, and then called in after that saying that he had been shot and the man he was speaking to had been taken. No word on who the questioned man might have been, but I have trouble believing Denny would shoot a cop.”
“He absolutely wouldn’t,” Summer said. “He never even carries a weapon when he does these kind of jobs. He says it’s easier to get bailed out alive than dug up when you’re dead.”
Sam shook his head. “The only thing that makes sense, then, is that Fei somehow found out they’d been infiltrated. Steve, go get Darren, and grab Pat Gordon, and let Rob Feinstein know that we may have a problem. I want the doctor covered at all times.”
Steve got up and went out the door without a word, and then Sam tur
ned to the girls. “If the triad is involved in this, getting Denny back is not going to be easy. Ron told me Denny is a commando; just how good is he?”
“He’s good, Sam,” Jade said. “If there was gunplay involved, though, there’s not much anybody can do. No matter how tough you are, a bullet is tougher.”
“I agree,” Sam said. “I’m just thinking of how long he can hold up under torture. Fei is going to want to know just what we know, and whether we have any chance of stopping him. It may come down to all of us working together to protect Daphne Hu, unless I’m right and he has another doctor lined up for a backup.”
“Even if he does,” Summer said, “I’d say we need to be careful with her. We know that he has a habit of eliminating anybody who might have information that can be used to get to him. I don’t know how much she knows, but he’s liable to think it’s too much.”
“Yeah. That’s why I told Steve to put Rob on alert.”
Sam’s phone rang again, the same number. “Prichard,” he said.
“Sir, it’s Charlotte again. I've got all kinds of chatter going on out there. The officer who was shot said he had just interviewed a man named Gerald Franklin when four vehicles approached and someone shot him from the lead vehicle. The bullet struck his Kevlar vest, and it stunned him, but he saw what he claims is a dozen Asian men grab Mr. Franklin and drag him into a car. The description of Mr. Franklin could fit Mr. Cortlandt.”
“Thank you, Charlotte. Continue to keep me advised of any new developments.”
“Will do.”
“I think that confirms it,” Sam said. “A man fitting Denny’s description was abducted right in front of a police officer by a number of armed Asian men.”
“Shit,” Summer said. “It’s good that they took him alive, but that means you were right about the torture. Denny could probably stand up to a lot, but they’ll break him at some point. Does he know about the doctor?”