“Just hold it over your knuckles, and let me do my thing, sonny boy. I have some ideas about how to use this contraption.”
I did as Ava directed, and within a few seconds the top of my left hand split open, the gap exactly the right size to accept the EMP circuitry. Dr. Bhat drew her breath in sharply and gasped, “Oh, I didn’t expect that. Quite amazing. Well, I’m sure there are other things you must get to. Lucas, come see me before you leave. It’s extremely important that you do this. And bring that Dr. Walker with you. I need to yell, er, I mean talk to him.”
“Thanks, Dr. Bhat. I think I… I don’t know, I think I felt something when you were looking at me in there. It was weird.”
She smiled, came close and whispered, “Maybe you were just imagining it. It couldn’t have been that the inner eye allowed you to feel the machinery of the universe, that would be too unbelievable.”
“Yeah… yeah, you’re right. That would be crazy. See you later, Dr. Bhat.”
“Yes, make sure that you do.”
As we left, Avi patted Mr. Harutyunyan on his massive shoulder, and it seemed as if they had formed a friendship. “See you next time, Avi, eh?” said Mr. Harutyunyan as we exited the trailer.
Avi just smiled and waved.
Man, that was interesting… now off to see Tom and Barry…
11
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
CONVERSATION WITH SVC, LD, New Zealand contingent
121451 02:01
-Okay, (SVC), is everything online?
-Yes, good to go.
-Hello, all. (LD), fill us in. I’m told there has been a setback?
-(LD) Yes, good day, Director. We had a positive fusion reaction running, producing a controlled energy output, as you know. As has always been the case, the issue is focusing the lasers to keep the reaction running. That has proved an intractable problem. We can’t keep the synchronization stable long enough for sustained ignition and containment. We have switched from deuterium-tritium to deuterium-deuterium, which of course has a small hydrogen byproduct that we can re-use, but…”
-So, as always, focusing the lasers is the problem. Did you know we have Benji Walker at the Bright Hand cavern?
-(General murmur from New Zealand contingent) (LD) Well, no, we were not aware. Either way, I’ve known him from afar, and I don’t believe he would ever agree to assist us, as this is not a humanitarian effort.
-Oh, I don’t know. We may have a way to influence his decision, wouldn’t you say, (SVC)?
-(SVC) I would say it seems more possible now than a day ago.
-Well put. Hey, get someone to rustle up some snacks, would you?
****
B ernie was waiting with the electric cart outside Dr. Bhat’s office and whisked us off to Tom and Barry’s lab. As we went, I noticed Bernie wink at Cheri, and she smiled and punched him in the shoulder, although it didn’t look like she was trying to hurt him, so I guessed it was what my mom told me they called a ‘love tap’. That never made sense to me, because I didn’t think hitting someone you love would be logical at all, but I figured it was another one of those things that maybe I would understand when I got older. It still doesn’t make sense to me, though, so I don’t know how much older I need to get before it does.
Like the last couple to times we visited Tom and Barry, Tom was outside the trailer, making a huge cloud with his vaping thing. That’s another of those things people do that I don’t understand. I mean, everyone knows it’s not good for you, right? It’s bad for your lungs, it costs money that you could spend on more important things, and there are probably other reasons not to do it I don’t know about. Whatever people get out of it, it must be awful good for people to keep doing it… oh, boy…
“Hello, my friends, ve have been expecting you!” Tom cried, waving his arms to scatter the vapor, his long, stringy blonde hair flipping from side to side as we pulled to a stop.
We entered the trailer and both Tom and Barry pulled each of us into a bear hug. I did my best not to pull away when they hugged me and quickly explained what my next mission was. They made eye contact, and Tom looked like he was ready to cry. Barry said, “You’ve got to stop going on these missions, kid. We’re afraid something bad is gonna happen to you. I mean, look at poor Chi. Oh, sorry, don’t take that the wrong way.”
Cheri patted Barry on the arm and said, “It wasn’t Lucas’ fault. I knew what I was getting into. I screwed up and paid the price for it.”
“Oh, no, no, I’m not blaming you, Lucas; I know you’re doing your best. We’re just worried, that’s all. Right, Tom?”
“You are always right,” said Tom, wrapping his arm around Barry’s waist. “Ve have been hard at vork, burning ze midnight oil, so to speak, to come up wis a new item zat could help you, and Minh has been here vorking on somesing interesting as vell. Shall ve?” He swung his arm toward the impeccably clean lab area and led us to a table in the center of the room.
“Zis is where Minh has been vorking. She has made some improvements and clever modifications, yes, Minh?”
Ms. Houng smiled and stepped forward. “I change flechette gun, make it store more pellets and change the shape, it will fit in Lucas’ arm. Here, Lucas, you know what to do.”
Everyone gathered in close, especially Tom and Barry, and I realized that they had not seen me do this before. Then I noticed… something is different about Tom… he still has the long, scraggly hair, super-thick glasses… wait, it’s his teeth! They’re not all crooked and yellow anymore… they’re gleaming white and perfectly straight!
He obviously noticed me staring at him, and grinned to show off his teeth as he said, “How do you like zem? I got so tired of Barry complaining, I had zem all replaced. Top and bottom, all implants now. I think I might start a modeling career, yes?”
Barry rolled his eyes, and that’s one expression I know. “Oh, please. You did that for yourself, you old beast. It looks better, though. Okay, enough about this one over here. Go ahead Lucas, let’s see how you do this.”
“Well, wait… how did you change them so fast? We just saw you a couple of days ago.”
“Oh, ve have an excellent dentist here. She is an expert at implants, as you can see.”
“I think it looks fantastic. Good for you, Tom,” said Cheri, and his face turned beet red. Every time she says anything to him, he gets embarrassed like that… I really think he has a crush on her…
“Okay, Ava, do your stuff,” I whispered, and immediately a gap opened up in my left forearm with an indentation just the size of the modified flechette gun. Both Tom and Barry gasped loudly, and their hands flew up to cover their mouths. “Oh, mein Gott! Zis is amazing!” Tom gushed, grabbing Barry’s arm.
“Okay, settle down, Mr. Handsy. Keep going, kid, let’s see how you button it up,” said Barry, slapping Tom’s hand. This must have also been a ‘love tap’, though, because they both giggled.
I placed the gun in my arm, and just like that the gap began closing as if by an invisible zipper. After another second or two, a mole appeared on the underside of my forearm, and Ava said, “Fire at will, sonny boy. Not really, that’s just an expression.”
I showed the group how the mole worked with my right thumb and that only I could fire it. Tom beamed as I explained how it all worked, and I thought his new teeth might even be whiter than Mr. Kane’s, if that’s possible.
As we turned to leave, Barry stopped us. “Before you all go, two things: like Tom said, we’re working on another little project for you, Lucas, that should come in super-handy. It’s not ready yet, but when you return from this next mission, which you will, we’ll show it to you. Second: you all need to be careful. Word is that there’s a fairly large group that aren’t too happy with you being here. They apparently think you’ll bring the wrath of the US down on us. They’re a bunch of fools if you ask me, but just watch out for yourselves. If we hear anything significant, you’ll be the first to know. Right, Tommy, I mean Smiley?”
“Zere ar
e small-minded people everywhere, no matter how intelligent zey may be. Ve vill watch out for you, zis we promise.”
As we loaded onto Bernie’s cart to head for the communications center where we would find Ms. Perez and Jimmie Early, I glanced back at Tom and Barry, who were standing in the doorway of their trailer/lab, waving and holding hands. Man, those guys are two of the nicest people I ever met… and they’re so… what’s the word… affectionate, too…
12
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
CONVERSATION WITH SVC, WK
121451 08:12
-So, (WK), you have a bit of an uprising on your hands, is that right?
-(WK) inevitably, the word would get around that the Americans are after our guests. I was hoping it would take long enough that they would be gone before anything fomented, but it didn’t work that way, unfortunately. I can hold it down short-term, but we may end up needing to expel some folks, and we really can’t afford that. We are short-handed as it is, and there are also some obvious security issues. Loose lips and all that.
-You have enough security to hold it down, don’t you?
-(WK) Depends on the numbers. We could imprison the ringleaders, but word would get around quickly among the rest that they are not here as freely as they believe, and then we may have a full-scale revolt. I don’t think we can afford that just yet, do you?
-Obviously not. If we end up having to expel some, though, we will need to silence them. I need your assurance that you will take care of it.
-(WK) You have it.
-You heard about the setback in New Zealand?
-(WK) Of course. I believe we’ve found our way in with the aboriginal, though. Lazenbee has him mesmerized.
-So I understand. She’s good, isn’t she?
-(WK) I should say so. She was trained by the best.
-Oh, come now, you flatterer. You had a bit to do with it as well.
-(WK) I was referring to myself.
-(Chuckling) (SVC), will you get a load of this guy? What a piece of work. Speaking of piece, (SVC), why don’t you round up a couple pieces of pie?
****
W e sped to the center of the cavern where the communications center was located. It consisted of four of the trailers joined in a rectangle, a hand pad mounted beside the door.
The last time we had entered, Cheri opened the door via the hand pad, but this time… she didn’t have a right hand to use. Instead, she pounded on the door, calling, “Billy! Are you in there? Open up, it’s me, Chi!”
After a series of clicks and rattles, the door flew open, and Billy, the huge, bald, paper-white guard said, “Well why didn’tcha… crikey, Chi, what happened?”
“Hi, Billy. It’s a long story, buddy. We need to see Zoey and Jimmie, can we come in? I’ll explain what happened later.”
“Come on in, but still gotta search ya, sorry.”
“It’s okay, just don’t get too familiar,” said Cheri, grinning.
We entered the small interior room, and after a thorough search they ushered us into the main room, the blue and orange color scheme soothingly different from the stark white of the rest of the Bright Hand structures. Just as the last time we visited, a person with a headset and at least three mugs of coffee occupied each of the forty stations in the large, open space, and in the center of the room, Ms. Perez and Jimmie Early waved for us to join them at their combined, elevated workstation.
Ms. Perez looked like she had been working herself far too hard. Her eyes were bright red, her blonde hair was a frizzy mess, and it looked like she hadn’t changed out of her black track suit in days. As we approached, she took an extended guzzle from a coffee mug and smiled, and I thought she was still the prettiest person I had ever seen. “Hello, then, where’s my sis?” asked Jimmie Early, his voice thin and cracking.
He looked just as exhausted as Ms. Perez, and Cheri said, “We left her back at our trailer. When was the last time you two took a break?”
Ms. Perez and Jimmie made eye contact, and she said, “I don’t know… we’ve been taking turns catching an hour here or there, but… I guess we’ve been at it since you left for Pakistan, right, Jimmie? That’s what… four, five days ago? I’m not sure. We were told you were being sent to Brazil, so we’ve been gathering every piece of intel we could. We have some info on a couple of other fronts you should know about, but we can’t speak here. Jimmie, you come along too. These people can do without us for a few minutes.”
“If you say so. I reckon I’m a bit afraid if I sit down, though. I might fall asleep.”
“Then stand up. Come on. By the way, where is Dr. Walker?”
Mr. Harutyunyan chuckled and said, “Benji had a long night. He is sleeping off the… after-effects.”
“And Tarni is there with him?”
“Yes, we left her there to watch over him. Is there a problem?” Cheri replied.
Ms. Perez, her face scrunched up almost as if she were in pain, said, “Come with me. We need to hurry.”
She led us into an adjoining conference room, shut and double-locked the door, and motioned for us to sit around the rectangular conference table. She paced for a few moments, then stopped and leaned over, placing her palms on the table, her golden hair hanging limply around her face. “We… we’ve uncovered a few things we probably were not meant to see. It took quite a bit of sleuthing and following dead-end leads, but it convinced us that there were layers none of us were perceiving. Have you heard of the LFP?”
I glanced at Cheri, and I guessed that she was wondering the same thing I was: should I tell them that Mr. Kane told Benji and me about the LFP? No one else here knows about them; the opportunity to discuss it just hadn’t come up before now.
“Just get it out in the open, sonny boy. It’ll come up at some point, anyway,” said Ava, anticipating my question.
“Umm… Cheri and I know about them. The Live Forever Project.”
Mr. Harutyunyan and Ms. Houng had a strange look on their faces, and I guessed that it was a look of surprise. Ms. Perez continued: “Then you know it’s a group of ultra-rich technocrats who control things from behind the scenes. The information I’m about to give you was exceedingly difficult to tie together, and we had to do some extrapolating, but… we’ve learned, or we think we know, I should say, that they have a mole here. We have also learned, we think, that this mole is working on pulling Dr. Walker, Benji, away from your group to work on a project in New Zealand. I don’t think it’s a good idea to break up your group, but there is, or there appears to be, another level: our information seems to point to this mole being a double agent. We don’t know who it is yet, but it appears that this person, who the LFP believes is working for them, is actually working for the US to lure Benji away from the Bright Hand headquarters so they can capture him. It seems they think additional leverage will force John… sorry, I mean your father, to give up his secrets.”
All of us at the table sat back, stunned by this news. “All this time we thought the US was our main issue, but there was another. That explains quite a lot,” Mr. Harutyunyan grunted.
“Who else knows about this?” asked Cheri, her eyebrows bunched together.
Ms. Perez and Jimmie Early met eyes again, and she said, “We… we’ve only discussed this between us. We didn’t… I probably shouldn’t admit this, but we didn’t know who we could trust, so we conducted our investigation in private.”
I glanced up to the corners of the room, and Jimmie noticed me looking. “We disabled the cameras, mate. That’s the only reason we’re talkin’ in here. It’s still a risk, I reckon, but we couldn’t wait. They’re plannin’ on tryin’ ta get him outta here right quick.”
As they spoke, I did my best to figure out why the Americans would do things that way, but it all seemed overly complicated to me. “I don’t understand. If they have a double agent here, and they know we’re here, why don’t they just blast their way in and take us all?”
“Oh, there was a major uproar after they attempted t
o snatch you all from the docks in Melbourne. You just don’t do a military operation in another sovereign country, especially one that has been a long-term ally, and doing it again just a few weeks later would cause a major uprising against them. It’s to their benefit to get what they want as quietly as possible.”
“Okay, that’s logical.”
As we spoke, Jimmie was on his phone, texting away. He leaned over and whispered in Ms. Perez’s ear, and when he finished, she looked directly at me and said, “Jimmie has been trying to contact Tarni but she is not replying. I think it would be best if we checked on them, just to make sure they’re safe, and you can get there much faster than any of the rest of us. Go now, we’ll be right behind you.”
I didn’t need to hear any more. I sped out of the communications center, leaving a cloud of dust in my wake.
13
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
CONVERSATION WITH SRB, SVC
121451 11:01
-You’re a minute late. I’m docking you, SRB.
-(SRB) I’ll talk to one of my accountants.
-(General laughter) Tell me about your first meeting. I’ve seen the minutes, give me the tone.
-(SRB) The tone? I would say bemused in general. A lot of second-guessing, a lot of arm-chair quarterbacking; ‘Why did we do this, why didn’t we do that’, the usual grousing that we know to expect. Once they got past that, we made some progress.
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