The GODD Chip (The Unity of Four Book 1)

by K Patrick Donoghue

  While they had reached a détente of sorts through several conversations before and during the trip, Takoda still did not trust Spiers and he could tell Spiers still despised him and everyone connected with Beacon. He made it clear he was assisting for one reason, and one reason only. His son Dylan.

  Takoda wondered if that was the truth, however. During the long stretches of the trip when they both were alone with their thoughts, Takoda had imagined scenarios where Spiers turned on him and Mariah Bloom as soon as they found the woman. That thought recycled in his mind as Spiers ordered Takoda to pull off onto the shoulder of the road.

  “What for?” Takoda asked.

  “Just pull over.”

  The tone of Spiers’ voice was more of a command than a request. Takoda looked over to see Spiers pointing the laser rifle at his mid-section. Takoda pounded his fist on the steering wheel.

  “I knew it! Damn it, I knew it!”

  “Pull over now!”

  Takoda ignored him. “What are you going to do? Execute me on the side of the road? Or call in your NASF buddies to arrest me?”

  Spiers jabbed the barrel of the rifle into Takoda’s ribs. “Shut up and pull over.”

  Anger rose so quickly in Takoda, his hands began to tremble. What had possessed Hawkeye to entrust Cassidy and Spiers? Why hadn’t the new Beacon leader seen the risk in the inclusion of the NASF officers in the mission? He thought of Yon and wondered whether Cassidy had turned the tables on her too. Then another thought hit him. One that made him sick to his stomach. He had not spoken to Hawkeye directly. Was there really a new Beacon leader named Hawkeye? Or had Cassidy invented a fictional new leader for Beacon?

  What a perfect set-up. Send Takoda away with Spiers to investigate the address Sarah Hearns provided for Mariah Bloom, isolate Yon with Cassidy, commandeer Ellie and Akecheta. Divide and conquer. Take the GODD chip from Hoot, snatch Billy Hearns from Flathead, intercept the DNA ID on Mariah Bloom. No wonder Cassidy had been adamant about communications flowing through her. What better way to enact her and Spiers’ plan to thwart Beacon?

  Takoda slammed on the brakes so hard, the tail end of the pickup swerved sideways into the opposing lane. At the same time, he reached down and grabbed the rifle barrel, trying to wrest the weapon from Spiers as the truck wobbled on the edge of tipping over.

  In the glare of the rising sun, Takoda never saw the fist that pounded into his face. Sharply delivered, it felt like the blow of a hammer. Spiers landed another punch. Takoda let go of the rifle and blindly swung at Spiers as the truck came to a screeching stop. His punch glanced harmlessly off Spiers’ shoulder. Before Takoda could reload another swing, Spiers jammed the rifle into his belly and chopped down on the back of his head.

  Dazed and writhing, Takoda slumped over the steering wheel. He heard Spiers leave the truck and the next thing he knew he was tugged out of the vehicle and tossed onto the road. As he gasped for air, he heard the heavy-breathing Spiers say, “What the hell was that? Are you crazy? You could have killed us!”

  Takoda crawled onto his knees and pushed himself up. Just as quickly, Spiers’ boot crashed into his ribs. “Stay down, Doctor…before you get hurt any worse.”

  Rolling onto his back, Takoda looked up and saw Spiers standing over him, the rifle slung over his shoulder. “I can’t…believe…I fell for it…You never…were going to help…were you? It was all an act…right from the start.”

  “Oh shut up, and move your ass to the side of the road. In the shade, over there.” Spiers pointed to the far side of the road where a tree line of tall, pointy pines blocked the sun’s rays. “Come on, move before we both get run over!”

  In a half-stagger, half-crawl, Takoda scrambled across the road and collapsed on the gravel shoulder. Meanwhile, Spiers hopped in the truck and moved it out of the road. After parking it on the shoulder, he hopped back out and walked toward Takoda.

  The rifle was gone. Instead, he carried a backpack in his hands. Kneeling beside Takoda, he opened it and pulled out a towel. “Your head’s bleeding.” As Takoda took the towel and touched it against the throbbing spot on his forehead, Spiers said, “You have some real trust issues, my man.”

  Still fighting to regain his breath, Takoda said, “Happens when…guns are pointed at me.”

  “Well, there wasn’t time to have a debate. Of course, if I knew you were going to flip out, I would have used a different approach. You hurt bad?”

  Takoda’s ribs were on fire and the welts on his face throbbed. “I’m fine.”

  “Good, let’s get you out of sight before it’s too late.”

  Spiers hoisted the backpack over his shoulder and grabbed Takoda’s arm. As he started to pull him up, pain stabbed Takoda’s ribs. He yanked his arm from Spiers’ grip. “Get out of sight? Why?”

  Looking upward, Spiers said, “Don’t want any gliders to spot us. Now, come on, let’s get under cover of the trees.”

  This time, Takoda accepted Spiers’ help and the two men scrambled up the gravel embankment and disappeared into the pines. Safely beneath the canopy of trees, Spiers helped lower Takoda against the trunk of a pine. Spiers unslung the pack and pulled out a water thermos. Handing it to Takoda, he said, “All right, Doctor. Now, listen up. This is where you get off this ride…at least, for now. If I don’t get caught or killed, I’ll come back to pick you up before nightfall. If I don’t show up by then, use the holophone in the pack to contact Cassidy and get a ride out of here. But, whatever you do, don’t try to follow me.”

  “What are you—”

  “Zip it, doc. I’m not finished. You can’t go into Thunder Bay. It was a stupid idea for Cassidy to send you. Whether NASF has people in the city by now or not, it doesn’t matter. They sure as hell have sent drones…gliders and nanos.” Nodding his head in the direction of the road, Spiers continued, “That, there, is the only main road into Thunder Bay from Carapach’s border. It doesn’t matter how sneaky we were to get to this point, you can bet your butt there will be more than a satellite looking down on us the closer we get to town.

  “They’ll have gliders moving up and down this highway. They’ll be weaponized and they’ll carry nanos they can drop for tight-in surveillance. They’ll scan every vehicle on this road, doc, and it won’t matter that you’ve cut your hair and look a mess; if a nano’s face recognition scanner gets a good look at you, it will peg you in seconds. And then we’re done.”

  Takoda removed the towel from his forehead and said, “Same goes for you. A nano would recognize you too.”

  Spiers shook his head. “No, I know how to fool a face scanner.”

  “Then show me how to fool it too, and we’ll both go.”

  “Nope. Not until I get a lay of the land.” Spiers stood up and wiped pine needles from his hands. “You’re too valuable an asset to lose. I need you to stay alive to make sure my son gets whatever mojo you found in the Hearns kid.”

  “You don’t sound like a man who expects to come back.”

  “Just do what I ask, okay? I’ll do everything I can to find the woman. If I can, I’ll bring her back with me.” Spiers handed Takoda the bag. “There’s food and more water inside. Plus, the phone and some med supplies. I’ll also leave you the rifle just in case I don’t get back until after dark.” Before Takoda could protest, Spiers dashed away. A few minutes later, he returned with the rifle. “You know how to use one of these?”

  “I’m not the best, but I’m good enough to protect myself.”

  “Good. Hopefully, you won’t need to, but one piece of advice if any jakalis show up. Avoid sweeping shots in the forest. Slice through enough tree trunks and you’ll start a chain reaction. You won’t be able to run fast enough to avoid one falling on you.”

  As Spiers began to walk away, Takoda said, “This is a bad idea, Major.”

  “You’re right, Doctor, but it’s a better one than we had before.”

  Spiers disappeared from view. All of a sudden, a pang of panic shot through Takoda. He called out, “
Wait! How will you find me when you come back?”

  “Easy,” Spiers yelled back, “the rubber you left on the road marks the spot.”

  Baker Street Rowhouse

  Thunder Bay, The Northlands

  Glick turned away from the blood-splattered mess in the second-floor suite and instructed his Vipers to dispose of the tutor’s body. “And do what you can to clean up in here.”

  As Glick left the suite, he sighed. The interrogation had been a major disappointment. The most meaningful information they had extracted from Ms. Heinz included the name of the building’s landlord and a physical description of Mariah Bloom.

  Glick found it hard to believe the tutor did not know Bloom, but Heinz had never wavered on that point. Not even when tortured. According to Heinz, she had never socialized with the second-floor occupant, nor had Bloom visited the tutor’s first-floor suite. As the tutor repeatedly stated during the interrogation, that was not unusual. Most people who settled in Thunder Bay were gutant refugees who kept to themselves.

  After descending the staircase, Glick returned to Heinz’ suite and found one of his disguised Vipers seated at the tutor’s desk. “Any luck tracking down the landlord?”

  “Yes, sir,” said the android. “The name the tutor gave us checks out, but I haven’t been able to reach him. His holonumber goes right to a message service.”

  “Okay. Leave him a message. Tell him you might be interested in renting the space upstairs, but you’d like to see the suite first. Tell him you’d like to see it today.”

  “Roger that,” said the Viper.

  “What about his office address? Did you find it?”

  “Affirmative. We found a copy of the lease in the tutor’s records.”

  “Good. Give it to me. You stay here. If anyone comes looking for Heinz, tell them she was called away unexpectedly. If you suspect a Beacon plant, transmit an alert immediately to the full platoon.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  With the folded lease document in his coat pocket, Glick returned to the command truck across the street and gathered a squad to accompany him to the landlord’s office. He briefly considered sending another set of Vipers door-to-door in the area to drum up more information about the elusive Mariah Bloom, but then he remembered Heinz’ comment about the city’s gutant refugees keeping to themselves and decided against the idea. At least, for now.

  Hopefully, the landlord can tell us where to find Bloom. If not, we’ll start canvassing the neighbors. Short of Beacon rats showing up, that’s our only other option.

  Pine forest beside the road to Thunder Bay

  The Northlands

  An hour after Damon left, Takoda decided to check in with Yon. Using the secure holophone in the backpack, he tapped out Yon’s number. As soon as she answered, a holoscreen formed above the phone with a live video feed of a tired-looking Yon.

  “Hey,” he said, “can you talk?”

  Yon’s sleepy eyes opened wide. “What happened to your head? Are you all right? Where are you?”

  “Long story. I’m okay. Just waiting for Spiers to get back.”

  “Get back? From where?”

  “Thunder Bay. He went in to check out the address Sarah gave us.”

  “Why aren’t you with him?”

  “Guess he thought I’d slow him down,” Takoda said. “What’s up on your end? Did you get an ID on Mariah Bloom’s DNA?”

  Yon covered her mouth as she yawned and nodded her head. “We did. Didn’t Cassidy call you?”

  “No.”

  Takoda checked the phone’s notification screen for missed calls and messages. There were none.

  “Her full name is Antoinette Guilbert, but according to the registry, she goes by the name Toni Gilbert. Sending you a photo of her now.”

  The dimmed holoimage hovering above the phone split into two screens, one maintaining the live video feed of Yon and the other displaying the photograph of the owner of the DNA provided by Sarah Hearns.

  Takoda was surprised by the woman’s appearance. “Aside from her violet eyes, she looks nothing like what Sarah described.”

  “I know. Either Sarah lied to us or Toni Gilbert disguised herself when she met Sarah.”

  “I’m betting the latter,” said Takoda. “How old is she?”

  “It’s hard to believe, but the registry says she’s fifty-two.”

  “She’s an evvie?” Takoda asked.

  “That’s what her DNA shows.”

  “What in the world is an evvie doing with Mugabe’s GODD chip and proteins?” In Takoda’s experience, evvies sympathetic to the plight of jakalis were far and few between.

  “Definitely a puzzle,” said Yon. “I was expecting her to be a gutant based on Sarah’s description, or a blenda. But there’s not a single gutation in her DNA according to the registry. She’s one hundred percent evvie. Say’s here she was born in Normandy.”

  Takoda imagined the violet-eyed evvie strutting through the streets of Thunder Bay, a place known for its gutant refugee population. “Up here, she would have caught the attention of everyone she passed. She must have disguised herself to blend in.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought.”

  Takoda thought of Spiers and rued the lack of a way to share Yon’s info with him until he returned. “Did you find anything else about her? A home address? Holonumber?”

  “Sort of. We ran a DNA cross-check in the registry and got a hit on Toni’s older brother. He lives in New Atlantia but he has a daughter who lives pretty close to Thunder Bay. Her name is Miriam Heinz. I’m sending you her photo now and her home address. It’s worth checking out, don’t you think?”

  “Without a doubt.” When Miriam’s photo replaced Toni’s on the split-screen, Takoda said, “Whoa, Miriam looks more like a blenda. She’s definitely not an evvie.”

  “Correct. According to the registry, Miriam’s mother was a blenda too.”

  “Is Miriam married? Does she have a family?”

  “No, she’s single. So is Toni Gilbert, by the way.”

  Miriam must have fled into the Northlands to avoid persecution, thought Takoda. Blendas were not treated much better than gutants in New Atlantia…unless the blenda married a noble or evvie as Sarah Hearns had. Even then, they were looked down upon by the upper castes.

  But what led Toni Gilbert to Thunder Bay? Gutant refugee towns in the Northlands didn’t exactly lay out the red carpet for evvies. More often than not, evvies were targeted for kidnapping and eventual auction as conscripted breeders, for that was the only way for gutants to access evvie DNA. The Guild prohibited the sale of evvie DNA to gutants and no evvie would willingly breed with a gutant. That helps explain why she disguised herself to look like a blenda, thought Takoda. Reaching into the backpack, he pulled out a notepad and pen.

  “Tak? You still there?” asked Yon.

  “Yeah. I’m here. Just writing down Miriam’s address.”

  “What for? You’ve got it on the holophone.”

  “I’m not taking the phone with me. We’ve only got the one. I’m leaving it for Spiers.”

  “Leaving it? You can’t be thinking of going there on your own.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “Tak, listen to me. You should wait for Spiers to get back and then go together.”

  Takoda tore out the page with Miriam’s address and stuffed it in his pocket. As he started to write again, he said, “I’m also leaving Spiers a note telling him to call you. Fill him in on everything you told me and tell him I’ve gone to find Miriam’s house.”

  “But how are you going to get there? You said Spiers has the truck.”

  “I’ll hitch a ride.” Takoda finished up the note and then used the holophone’s map app to show him the location of the town where Miriam lived. It was thirty-five miles away, approximately fifteen miles outside of Thunder Bay.

  “Tak, that is definitely not a good idea. You’ll be too easy for a drone to spot.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. If there
are any drones, they’ll be looking for vehicles not someone walking on the side of the road.”

  “You can’t be sure of that.”

  “No, you’re right. It’s another reason I’m leaving the phone here. I don’t want NASF getting their hands on it.” Yon protested once again but Takoda cut her off. “Look, I’m going. Just make sure to keep your phone close by. If I get back before Spiers does, I’ll call you and let you know I’m okay. Otherwise, you’ll hear from Spiers first. All right?”

  “No. It’s not all right.”

  “Take care, Yon.”

  Takoda ended the call. Moments later, with the powered-off holophone stowed and the note to Spiers affixed to the backpack with a safety pin from the med kit, Takoda disappeared through the trees.

  CHAPTER 21: SPLASH LANDING

  Airborne offshore of Kauai

  The buffeting wind shook Caelan awake. Tossed to and fro, he felt like a pinball caught between bumpers. He huddled and covered his head, unsure of where he was, only to feel hands pulling on him. Instinct demanded he kick his legs and twist his body. Suddenly, a rush of air knocked him back. His eyes opened and he closed them just as fast. The light was too blinding. Then he became aware of the drone of aircraft engines. Cracking his eyes open again, he saw the blinding light was coming through an open door through which a Makoa jumped out. In the background, he heard an unfamiliar voice shouting, “Go! Go! Go!”

  With as much strength as he could muster, Caelan cracked open his eyes further. A shadow moved across his vision and wedged goggles and a helmet on his head. Once again, hands pulled on him. He felt his legs dragging against a surface and then a rush of wind jabbed the entire length of his body. Someone clamped his waist tightly and a woman’s voice, Ellie’s, yelled above the howling wind, “Don’t worry, I’ll deploy your chute.”