“Oh, but I bet there’s nobody as good-looking or polite as you.” Jenny spread her deep red lips over her sizeable, positively glowing white teeth in a way that Keith couldn’t help thinking looked a little predatory. She slid her tinted glasses up on top of her head and revealed sapphire blue eyes that might owe something to contact lenses but still managed to capture Keith’s full attention.
“Dude! Move up or move out of the line! Some of us came here to get away from annoying chicks!” The greasy-haired, paunchy guy actually had tape on his glasses. Keith couldn’t believe his eyes.
Keith turned and stumbled up to the counter. Jenny slid her hand into the crook of his elbow as he set his registration materials on the desk. “Baby, I’m sticking with you,” she whispered, “because I am now aware of a whole new class of geek that I think I want to get to know better. Press!” she shouted at the woman behind the counter who had started checking Keith in. She flashed an ID badge. The woman tried to ignore her but Jenny waved the badge under her nose until the woman glared up at her, snatched the badge, scanned it, and handed it back. “Okay, you’re good to go,” the convention employee said, sharply emphasizing the word go and waving Jenny away from the counter.
“I’ll be over there, handsome,” Jenny purred, pointing to a planter and sashaying off. Keith fumbled with his schedules, map, and badge as the clerk completed his check-in. “Next time maybe you could try teaching your girlfriend some manners before you bring her out in public,” the woman said in an icy tone.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Keith protested. “She latched onto me. I was trying to get rid of her.”
“C’mon, Romeo, the rest of us just wanna get lucky with some new tech,” grumbled the guy behind him, crowding Keith away from the counter. “Go schmooze with the hot babe but I’ll tell you, though I don’t know why I waste my time, that it’s a waste of your time. That vamp comes here every year, hits on some guy, then humiliates him in print. Don’t let that helpless noob line of hers fool you. She’s geek poison.”
“Thanks,” Keith grinned. “I think I’ll take your advice.”
He steered purposefully into the densest part of the crowd and saw Jenny stamp her foot and try to plow her way through, waving her press pass and screaming in rage at anyone who had the misfortune to stay in her way for more than a second. Keith threaded the needle faster than she could in her ridiculous heels and tight skirt, though, and slid into the first meeting after dodging around two or three pillars and, he hoped, losing his tail.
The room was already packed, since it was the welcome and orientation session, and Keith had a tough time finding a seat. He made it after forcing a very reluctant, very skinny nerd to move his gigantic backpack. Keith immediately though of Talia and her Doomsday Duffel bag. She had finally showed him everything that was in it and he now couldn’t believe how light it was considering all she had packed into it. He estimated five people could live out of it if they were careful. The bag itself folded out into a tent, for crying out loud.
Talia! He tried to call her but didn’t even get voicemail. He tried Naddy, Sophie, his dad, and even one or two students whose numbers he had stored in his phone. He got no response until he tried Naddy one more time.
“Keith! Remember, we agreed no goodbyes. You will be here with us before you know it.”
“Naddy, listen to me. The repository is shut down, and the news outlets are screaming about lawsuits and radiation poisoning. They’re saying we’re the ones who irradiated the manuscripts and Bibles, not the other way around. Reports say government employees who ran the scanners are dead or dying. They’re planning lawsuits and maybe criminal charges.”
“You cannot be serious. Yes, precious one, it’s Keith. This signal is terrible, Keith. Have you bars enough?”
“Tell me about it. Yeah, I have all my bars. Maybe I’m paranoid, but we could be getting jammed. Naddy, take care of everybody, will you? Maybe it’s a good thing you’re getting out of the country.”
“Perhaps you are right. The line to the gate is very long, but we all have our boarding passes so we should get on the plane eventually. Something seems to be going on, though. I wish we had your inches to see over this mob. So much searching. I can tell that much. Maybe it is an alert or drill for some other reason. Your father has already left us. Perhaps you can contact him. I can barely stand this static. We will try to be cautious, and pray for God’s protection for us and you. How did you learn of this?”
“Joana sent me a text. She must be worried, because she never uses the phone.”
“Joana? This is serious indeed. I am texting you a phone number, Keith. Call my friend, and say to him, put my tears in a bottle. There may be more than jamming going on. Someone may be spying on us. I must hang up. Please make that call right away. Tell him, Put my tears in a bottle.”
Keith got the text and made the call just as a speaker came up to the podium to begin the conference. Several people around Keith pointed to the “No cell phone use during sessions” signs all around the room but he ignored them.
“Magnum Security,” a crisp voice said.
“Doctor Ramin told me to call you,” Keith said, reddening under the glares and the weird feeling that he was wasting somebody’s time. A security firm? Naddy had said it was a friend. “This is Keith Bradley, and he said to say put my tears in a bottle. I don’t know what that means, but –”
“Mr. Bradley, we have units on the way to your house and your grandmother’s apartments. We’ll signal you when they are secure. Be assured we’ll do all we can to protect them.” The connection cut off.
Keith didn’t hear a word of the welcome and orientation speech. He sat there frozen when people around him got up and milled around, emptying the hall and leaving him sitting there alone. Finally his phone chimed, a sound he had never heard it make before. It sounded for all the world like that camel-bell ringtone Talia had. A text appeared on the screen from the number he had called.
Magnum Security reports packages in transport to secure location. Surveillance equipment neutralized at perimeter of location one. Third package will be rerouted and shipments combined. Please accept phone security upgrade by pressing the pound key.
Mechanically, Keith pressed the pound key. The phone made that tinkling sound again, and the screen read, “Security upgrade complete.”
Keith spent the rest of the day trying his hardest to pay attention to the seminars he attended. He managed to text his dad during a break and got a brief response that sounded a lot like it had come from the security guys. Keith was so freaked out he could hardly read it. Air freight takeoff confirmed. Ground delivery complete. His father finished the text with a cryptic message. Never talk to strangers.
“Hey, I thought I’d lost you!” Jenny the reporter sashayed up to him at the table where he sat trying to make himself swallow the small sandwich that felt like a shot put in his throat. Keith choked on his coffee and bolted up, his father’s message digitally ringing in his ears.
“Sorry, I can’t talk. I’m late.” Keith sped away from the reporter but he couldn’t help hearing her banshee screams. He had never heard anyone so angry. She spewed curses and threw over metal tables in her rage. Keith ducked into his next session, an exclusive class specifically targeted at master’s candidates. He swiped his badge, slipped in, and prayed Jenny’s press pass didn’t give her access. He prayed even harder that security might do him the favor of removing her.
Chapter Thirty-four– Quality Bonding Time
“Hey, welcome to the worldwide wireless workshop,” grinned a man who was taller than Keith, wearing rimless lenses with brushed steel sides. He had a neatly trimmed beard and a very expensive-looking suit. He shook Keith’s hand.
“What? Oh, man, I’m sorry. I must have read the schedule wrong,” Keith faltered. “I’m supposed to be in the Master’s Class for Chemical Bonding.”
“No, trust me, you’re in the right place.” The man hadn’t let go of Keith’s hand. “A li
ttle birdie told me you’ve need some very special testing.”
“What?” Keith pulled his hand back. Call me paranoid all you want, but – He backed toward the door. “Look, I need the Chemical Bonding seminar for my degree. Can you tell me where – ?”
“You should pay more attention to the orientation next time, Keith. But it’s okay. I know things are a little stressful for you right now. That session is rescheduled to this evening. Right now is free time for the rest of the attendees, but this is a special session just for people interested in the Golden Testaments.” The man held out his hand and Keith stared at the ring he wore, and the symbol engraved in it.
“Wow,” he breathed.
“Yeah, and I’m hoping you can wow us.” The man led Keith rapidly through the empty room to a door at the back. “You have the samples with you, of course? The orichalcum and the cured material that looks like leather but never wears out?”
“Yeah.”
“I inherited the ring from my father.” Keith read Victor Marks on his nametag. “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time.”
Keith followed him rapidly through some corridors to a large, gleaming laboratory. “Okay, how much have we got to work with? Oh, ouch,” he groaned as Keith opened his briefcase and displayed the remains of his samples. “We better be able to make this work.”
“Yeah,” Keith nodded. “And I sure hope you have some clue about how else to test this, because I’m out of ideas.”
“I do have one thought.” Victor pulled out the piece of malleable orichalcum and fitted it into an extruder. It began to string out the other end like a floating spider web.
“Whoa.” Keith waved a hand around it and it seemed to respond to his presence, slipping and dipping without him touching it.
Nifty,” Victor grinned. “See how sensitive it is, just to your natural static electricity? It might even be detecting your neural activity. Now for my idea.” He lifted the sample of the leathery material and shoved it into the extruder as well.
“What are you doing?” Keith cried. “That’s all I have left!”
“My friend, I am making the world’s most sensitive antenna,” Victor positively beamed. “Look at that. The skin material bonded with the orichalcum like they were made for each other. You noted the skin’s insulating properties, and its stretching and adhering capability. It only stood to reason that it was designed to be the coating for the orichalcum wire. We have to do some testing, but I’m betting we’ll learn – ”
“That its sending and receiving capability exceeds anything we currently have,” Keith finished. “We really can transmit the contents of the Testaments around the world in moments.”
“Yep,” Victor agreed. “And it wouldn’t take very much of the materials, either. Man, I wish I could play with this for a few weeks.”
They worked for another half hour to train out what must have been several miles of the insulated orichalcum cable. It got to be kind of fun, since the stuff flowed from the extruder and slithered around the room like gossamer. Keith felt like a kid playing with a giant soap-bubble wand.
“How big can we make it?” Victor laughed.
“I dunno, but we better start winding it up,” Keith sighed. “I don’t imagine it’d be a good idea to keep the world waiting for the Testaments. Did you hear the latest?”
“The question is, did you hear?” Victor immediately sobered and they began to cut and wind up cables. “Arrest warrants are already signed to round up participants in the Bible Repository program. They are going to be charged with attempted terrorism, murder, and treason, among other things.”
“What should I do?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, for goodness sake. These are basically blank warrants. There will be delays while they filter down to local police, and then the police will have to figure out who they really need to arrest. Many people are going to be missed in such a clumsy net. Others will be catch and release, such as the students who went along with an exciting project but weren’t truly converted. Only God knows which they are, the sheep versus the goats, but the government wants to scare the mittens off of as many unbelievers as it can, so they won’t ever get caught up in such foolishness again. It also wants to be sure the net holds the people who are prepared to die for the truth, and make sure they do.”
Keith shuddered. “So, back to my question. I shouldn’t do anything weird, but what should I do?”
“Go to the next seminar you signed up for.” Victor shrugged. “And the next, until it’s time for you to get to the airport. Make your way calmly through the terminal and get on the plane.”
“Won’t I be stopped by that time? I must be on somebody’s list somewhere.”
“They will have hundreds of thousands of people to sift through,” Victor reassured him. “They only want the cream of the crop. Yeah, I know I’m murdering the English language with all these mixed metaphors, but you get the point. You know you’re a very important fish, but they don’t, at least not yet. Do nothing to call attention to yourself. Get on the plane and join up with the rest of the group.”
“You’re going to get these in the mail, then, I guess?”
“Something like that,” Victor replied. “Oh, by the way, good job avoiding Jenny Kaine so far.”
“Wait – that reporter? Her name is Jenny Kaine? She came to our school. She’s been there three times. I heard her name, but I never saw her up close.”
“So she deliberately attached herself to you?” Victor shook his head. “You need to stay as far away from her as possible. She’s living her dream right now – seeing her stories broadcast on major news in the United States. She’s always been small time – fringe journalism – before, but she clearly has been researching this Repository Project and preparing to break this story a long time.
“She’ll have you in the headlines next, and then they will find you. That’s what she’s here for. If necessary, we’ll run interference for you, but it would be better if she gets herself thrown out. It wouldn’t be the first time. She’s come here every year because they hear rumors that some of us are enemies of secularism. They heckle, they sabotage, and try to blunt our effectiveness. But, as you know, greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.”
“Who is they?” Keith asked. “Is it really the US Government that’s after us?”
“No one grasps that secularism’s been around since Nimrod, at least, promoting the church-state union because it puts man on the throne and pretends he’s god. What we’re up against seems to be more of a secret police of secularism than anything else. Not attached to one country, or government, or organization, but doing anything they can to get information. They seem to be especially fond of working with the media.”
“Thanks for putting this together, literally.” Keith shook Victor’s hand in earnest this time. He wrapped up his portion of the cable and stowed it in his briefcase. “Wait, what about the corundum?”
“Oh! The corundum! How much do you have?”
Keith unwrapped the sliver and Victor sighed. “The only way I can do any kind of testing is to take the whole thing.”
“I figured that. But I think I need to hang onto it.”
“I tend to agree. They recovered the ax head and a few fragments from the column skeleton, so we’ll have to see what can be done from that end. By the way, you probably already figured out this stuff is shielded from detection at the airports, and probably any detectors. Still, guard it carefully. Doesn’t seem like that tiny piece will be of any use, but we can’t tell, can we?”
“Thanks.” Keith shook his hand. “God protect you.”
“God protect you as well.”
Keith stepped out of the session room into the main concourse area and encountered Jenny Kaine. She hooked his arm in a death grip.
“I don’t like being dumped,” she hissed in his ear. “Do it again and I’ll start screaming that you stuck your hand up my skirt. You don’t want your squeaky clean reputation destr
oyed, do you? I bet you have a girlfriend someplace who would love to see your face on the news as a sexual predator.”
Why did Talia have to pop into his mind when the woman said girlfriend?
“You won’t do that,” Keith replied, “because I know you aren’t new to this conference, in spite of what you claimed. and I also know you’ve been thrown out before. So if you let go of my arm right now and walk away, I won’t yell for security. Sexual harassment works both ways, you know.”
“You wouldn’t dare, and you have no proof.”
Keith thumbed his cell phone and Jenny’s voice emerged. I’ll start screaming that you stuck your hand up my skirt. You don’t want your squeaky clean reputation destroyed, do you?
Jenny Kaine disengaged her arm from his and walked away, shooting back a look of pure hatred before disappearing into the crowd.
Keith dragged himself to the hotel around midnight, his mind buzzing with what he had learned during the day’s sessions. He checked his breast pocket to make sure the tiny sliver of corundum was still safe. He had already lost track of it once in the liner of his briefcase, and he wanted it close. He slid his hand out of his pocket and swung into the lobby elevator.
Something struck him in the chest like a fist. Wind sucked out of his lungs and he lost his balance and fell. Someone in black lunged on top of him and clawed for his briefcase. He swung a fist and knocked the person across the elevator car. As he staggered to his feet he saw the ski-masked person wave a taser in his direction. It looked like a heavy-duty model and he wondered why he hadn’t been stunned by it, but had no time to do anything but swing the briefcase as hard as he could at the black-gloved hand stabbing toward him to try another jolt.
Hissed curses tore out from within the ski mask and Keith pushed the “door open” button. Without looking back, he tore across the lobby to the front desk.
“Someone in a ski mask tried to taser me in the elevator,” Keith gasped. The heavy-eyed clerk stared at him in open disbelief. “Hey!” Keith snapped his fingers and showed his torn shirt and dented briefcase. “Ski mask! Taser! Elevator!”
The Great Thirst Boxed Set Page 20