Death of Time (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 4) 2nd Edition.: A thrilling, psychological, Mystery and Suspense, sci-fi detective thriller. (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy)
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“Axon. No, I don’t recall anyone with that name,” he replied.
“Yet you have a similar diagnosis, Mr Sanderson. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”
“Of course it is. But, damn it. I just can’t remember,” he replied frustration sounding in his voice.
“Shall we drop it there, Doctor,” Charlie snapped seeing that Micky was extremely agitated.
“If you insist. I won’t send these reports until Thursday. That will give you time to do whatever it is that you need to do tomorrow,” he replied, looking at Micky.
“Thank you, Doctor,” Charlie replied on Micky’s behalf.
“Sit there for a minute,” Henning said leaving the room.
At which, Micky wondering why he had left, quickly scanned the Doctor, mentally, and was relieved to find that Henning was going to help him not hinder him.
A couple of minutes later Doctor Henning returned with two bottles of tablets.
“Here, take both of these, three times a day. If you’re still alive… Uh sorry, I mean if you’re still around on Thursday, come back to see me. Understood?”
“Yes doctor, thank you for being so understanding.”
“You’re welcome, but don’t forget to take the tablets. They’ll give you the energy your body needs.
“I understand. I assume Cedrick’s paid you already?”
“Yes, no worries on that score.”
“Good. If I’m still around after Thursday, then we’ll be back.”
“Yes, I look forward to seeing both of you.”
They stood up to leave, then Micky paused, asking, “Doctor, what do you think my age is?”
“55 to 60 probably. Why?”
“My birthday was last week, I’m 29.”
Astonished at this information, Charlie asked him. “How do you know that?”
He smiled gently at her saying, “It’s just one of the pieces of information I do remember.
As they left, Doctor Henning stared at them in disbelief.
Charlie stopped Micky outside.
“Micky. Talk to me before we get back to the Limo?”
“There’s nothing to say.”
“Don’t take me for a fool. You know what I’m talking about.”
“The fuzzy glow around my cells at a guess.”
“Micky, don’t play me. I could see it in your face. You remembered something.”
“What?”
“You know what it is, damn you.”
“No Charlie,” Micky snapped. “You’re pushing me for something I don’t know.”
“You must know?”
“Yeah, I feel that I should. It’s lingering in the back of my mind. But, I honestly don’t remember.”
Charlie almost snarled at him.
“Then bloody well try harder to remember, damn it.”
“Getting belligerent won’t help me to remember,” he snapped back, making Charlie realize that she was getting too aggressive.
“Sorry, Micky. I’m just trying to get you mad enough so that you just might remember something.”
“As I said. If I had remembered, I would have told you,” he finished, as they headed for the Limo
“Are you all right?” Chris asked as they approached their car. “You both look, um,”
“Yes, just a bit shocked Chris,” Micky interrupted.
“Hotel, please Chris,” Charlie nervously instructed.
“Yes Charlie,” he replied as he opened the car door, and they both got in.
Chris then edged the Limo out of the medical centre’s car park, heading for the hotel.
“Are you okay, Micky?”
“Yes, I feel fine. I’m just thinking about everything.”
The rest of the journey was travelled in silence.
Micky spoke to Chris as they got out of the car on reaching the hotel.
“Chris, be here at 9:30 sharp. Make sure you’ve got your BV on, and your revolver handy. You’ll be coming in with us.”
“Great. Action at last. I assume I’m finished for the night?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent, I’ll be off then,” he said and drove off heading for home.
“Come on Charlie, we’ll just have to make the best of it,” Micky said as they entered their room. Then both of them sagged on the sofa sitting there quietly for a while.
Later, having already carried out another scan which was as he expected it to be, Micky took the pills the doctor had prescribed. Then set-up his Laptop and scrambler device, hoping for a call from Cedrick.
Micky checked the time. It was just after 17:00 hours.
They were both mentally drained so as they waited they cuddled up.
Then fell asleep.
They were awoken by the Laptop’s intermittent beeping.
“Must be Cedrick,” he said getting untangled.
He looked at his watch, surprised to see that it was 18:45 already.
Then tapped the accept call icon. “Hello, Cedrick. What’s up?”
“I’ve just received some more images from Smits. They’re showing the test building, test chamber and the conveyor system.”
“Brilliant. Download them now please.”
“OK. Its 23 megabits total, so it’ll take a little while.”
Micky tapped his fingers on the table impatiently as he waited for the download to appear. As soon as it had, he opened the folder.
“Got it Cedrick. I’ll study these a bit later. Is that all?”
“Just four words from Hanson. There will be two.”
“Good. Are we done?”
“Yes my boy, take care. I’ll see you tomorrow. Hopefully.”
“Remember what I asked, Cedrick.”
“Don’t worry. As I told you before, it’ll be taken care of. You have my word.”
“Thanks,” Micky replied, smiling at Cedrick as he ended the call.
Come on Charlie. Let’s get something to eat,” Micky said as he closed down the Laptop.
“Sounds good to me.”
Micky scanned the area again before leaving their room, but no unexplained emotional spikes registered.
Not that he thought the man would attempt to kill him again at the moment.
That would be foolish and much too risky for him if he thought he was close to being able to change the course of the future.
Chapter 29.
A Plan.
They entered the dining room, which was almost empty. But it was early, just after 19:00 hours and most people ate much later.
The waitress came over. A starter, main course, and a bottle of red wine were all they ordered.
“So what is it that Cedrick’s promised to do for you if things get dodgy tomorrow?”
“Alright. I might as well tell you. You’ll only keep pestering me if I don’t.”
“Well. I must say those tablets Henning gave you, seem to be helping no end,” she joked.
“Yeah, yeah, very amusing. So do you want to know?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I made Cedrick promise me that he would protect you and the baby, no matter what happens tomorrow.”
“You mean like employing a snatch team?” she laughingly replied.
“If necessary, yes. But seriously, I don’t know why you think that’s so funny,” he huffily replied.”
“Wow,” Charlie exclaimed. “Well, I suppose I asked for that. So, just how does Cedrick think he’s going to get me out of Cebro in a hurry?”
“No idea, but he promised me he would. Maybe he’s got people inside Cebro already. Anyway, I trust him to do what he promised.”
They were interrupted by the arrival of their starter. Then the waitress poured a glass of wine for each of them.
“Are you going to drink that?”
“One won’t hurt me.”
“It’s not good for you or the baby, he replied, then seeing her slight smile, added. “ And, we don’t want a drunken child.”
Charlie shrugged. Then took a small sip of wi
ne, feeling a bit guilty as she did so.
By this time, the waitress had left.
Cedrick seems to be like family to you Micky. Why?”
“This seafood cocktail is really excellent,” Micky said ignoring her question.
“Yes, it is tasty. But, don’t change the subject, Micky.”
“Alright. He found me wandering around one night, looking lost.”
“So he took you in out of pity, then?”
“Of course not. He had me checked out. That’s when he found that I had no recollection of the past. But nevertheless, they took me into their home. His wife Linda’s a really ‘special’ lady.”
“So?”
“So, apparently I was gibbering on about weird things. Things that I’ve since forgotten. Just like I can’t remember anything before that date.”
“If Cedrick knows what you said? Why won’t he tell you now?”
“He reckons that, if he did, then it turned out to be correct. It might drive me insane, or even kill me.”
“Wow. ‘Strong’ stuff Micky. But I can’t believe that would happen,” she replied, with fear showing on her face.
The waitress seeing that they had finished eating came over to remove the plates. “Five minutes,” she told them, then topped up Micky’s glass.
Both of them, seeing this, immediately looked at each other, wondering how much of their conversation she’d overheard. Then both shook their heads, deciding it couldn’t have been anything important.
“Henning’s pretty perceptive. He said you were both connected to some point or origin. What did he mean by that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a town or something,” he casually replied.
“Don’t take me for a fool, Micky,” she snapped. Then stopped speaking as the waitress brought their main course.
They both ate in silence.
“This is tasty,” ventured Micky.
“Fine,” she snapped. Annoyed that he was still trying to avoid answering her questions.
“I assume Micky Sanderson isn’t your real name either?”
“It’s the one Cedrick registered me with when we realised that I didn’t even know my name.
He organised my identity cards as well and opened a bank account for me. He put a lot of money in my bank account, which helped me to get on my feet.
Then, later, we discovered that I could do all these weird things. That was while he was trying to help me regain my memory.”
“Why did he do all that when he hardly knew you?”
“Because I’m a lovable guy.”
“Huh. In your dreams.”
“Anyway. Almost a year after he found me, I met and married Alesha. She was a bit like you actually. Then she was tragically killed, in that robbery I told you about.”
Seeing their plates were empty, the waitress came over to remove them. Then came back with the menu, asking if they wanted dessert.
“H’m… Lemon Sorbet for me.”
“Chocolate cake, with cream, for me, please,” Charlie added.
Then Micky continued with his story.
“After Alesha was killed, Cedrick encouraged me to work on my mental ability. Partly, I think, to help me get over her death.
Anyway, Cedrick told two of my close friends about this, swearing them to secrecy. After this, they were engaged in helping me to enhance this ability.
Eventually, I became an expert at sensing things other people couldn’t. It was then that Cedrick got me my job with SEID.”
“This killer has similar abilities to you, Micky. How is that possible?”
“I not sure… It’s got to be something to do with this fuzziness around our cells.”
“But, the fuzziness is stronger around the other guy’s cells, so Henning said.”
“Yeah, that seems strange. But anyway, it does seem likely that our abilities are linked to this origin, whatever it is?”
Charlie thought a moment. “Then you really do believe that time is running out for you?”
“Yes, I do. Unfortunately.”
With that, the waitress brought their desserts.
“Thank you,” Charlie said as the waitress topped up Micky’s glass again and left.
“She might have asked me,” Charlie muttered.
Micky couldn’t help noticing that Charlie’s emotional level had risen. Not because she was angry, but that she was afraid.
They ate their desserts in silence.
“We must both have a ‘sweet tooth,’ as the saying goes,” Micky remarked, trying to act normal.
“Yes," she agreed. Very yummy,” trying to sound happy, but failing miserably.
He watched her as a tear trickled slowly down her cheek.
He knew that he could mentally nudge her away from her despair, but that might make this last night together forgettable.
He really did feel this was his last night. But, while he wanted it to be unforgettable, he also knew that they needed to be absolutely honest with each other.
“Can we have coffee in our room, Micky?”
“Of course,” he said as he poured the rest of the wine for himself.
Once the wine had been consumed, he asked for the bill, He checked it automatically passing it back with a 5 dollar tip. “Thank you, sir,” she said then left.
Charlie fumbled for a tissue in her bag. “Ok, let’s go, Micky,” she said, wiping her eyes.
Before they went back to their room, he scanned the area again and was relieved to find there was nothing out of the ordinary.
As soon as they were inside their room, he embraced Charlie, running his fingers slowly through her hair.
She looked into his eyes, and at that moment, realized her life was about to change forever.
But she wasn’t afraid for herself or for the baby growing inside her anymore. She knew Cedrick would make sure she was safe.
Then her thought’s vanished into thin air, as their lips came together in a long tender kiss.
“I love you, Christine Herriot Bernstein,” he told her looking lovingly into her eyes.
She looked at him, smiling tremulously. “My goodness. You remembered my full name again. Impressive.”
“Of course,” he gently replied.
Then sounding business like added.
“We’d better look at the test site before we get involved in other things?”
“Micky Sanderson, what do you mean, in other things? Are you making improper advances towards me?” she asked, fluttering her eyelids at him suggestively.
He creased up at this then jokingly replied. “Not when you look like that,” and they both laughed.
“OK. I’ll make the coffee while you get Cedrick’s pictures up on the screen.”
Micky moved the Laptop onto a small table in front of the sofa. So that both of them could look at the pictures while sitting close together sipping their coffees.
“These are the nine images Smits sent us.”
“Run through them all first so we can get a better idea of the place.”
“Here we go then Charlie,” he said as the nine images stepped across the screen, like a film strip.
“They’re similar to what we expected.”
“Yeah.”
Then they studied each picture individually, both looking to see if there was a soft target, that the killer could use to maximum advantage.
“I don’t follow the logic of this test they are doing,” Charlie said.
“Well, you heard what Smits said at the meeting, about using nuclear pulses to check that the computer will still function correctly afterwards.”
“Yeah, but computer technology is changing all the time. In 2100, things will be entirely different.”
“True Charlie, but the radiation factor will remain constant. So, I reckon if this computer can take the punishment. Then they’ll know that the next generation of computers will be even more adequately protected.”
“Micky, look at this picture.”
“Ok. So?”
“Well, from what I learnt when I undertook anti-terrorist training, and from what I can see here. I think that he’ll try to plant his explosive device underneath that,” she said pointing to the conveyor belt that fed into the test container, housed inside K8.
“See, just there. Where the conveyor belt ends,” she added.
“That’s an ideal place to plant it. After all the conveyor belt will be carrying the nuclear charge right through and into the test container.”
“Yes. I see what you mean,” Micky replied. “And it would be screened from detection by any camera in the container,” he added.
He thought about it for a moment, then said, “But he’d have to put the device underneath the conveyor before the container building was sealed.”
“Agreed. But just imagine the effect if he managed to detonate the device when the nuclear charge was directly above it.”
“Whoosh,” Micky said. “Total devastation. So we really do have to stop him.”
“Now another thing Micky. Remember Timothy Parker saying his father sprayed the room with bullets, before being killed?”
“Yes, I remember. Timothy reckoned his father was shooting at something.”
“Something or someone that he could hear, but not see,” Charlie added.
“More likely someone. Anyway, whoever he was aiming at must have been invisible.
But, emptying his gun like that in a small room, he must surely have hit this person and injured him. He used seven rounds.”
“Perhaps this ‘someone’ was wearing a Stealth Cloak? Maybe they have them in wherever, this ‘common origin’ is that Henning hinted at?”
“Then we’d better assume that this was the killer. And that he was definitely wearing a stealth cloak.
“OK, where and when do we stop him?” Charlie asked.
“Well, we both know we must end this tomorrow,” Micky replied, then moved on to a different image.