by L. T. Ryan
“Why don’t the other guys take care of that while you go find your boots,” Blake said.
Grant reached under the table with one hand and lifted a worn pair of size twelve Danner’s. “My lucky boots brah. Don’t wanna waste the juju, ya know?”
Blake did know. For the first time, Peter Grant had said something he could relate to.
“This is a stimulating conversation,” Haeli said.
Since the moment her father left the lab, she had inundated the two guards with questions, anecdotes, and annoyingly chipper small talk. First to break the awkward silence, then because it was fun watching the men fight against the urge to engage. They remained stoic and undistracted.
Haeli paced in an ever-expanding pattern. What started as a tight circle around the middle of the floor had loosened to the rest of the room. She wandered toward the row of glass-doored cabinets that lined two walls.
“What’s all this stuff?” she asked.
The men said nothing. They held their position a few feet in front of the door. They had moved little from the spot, letting the aim of their guns do the following.
Haeli reached for a knob. As she expected, one of the two men took a step forward. She raised her hands. “Okay, okay. No touching, got it.”
The man returned to his original position.
“No need to be so jumpy. We’re out in the middle of nowhere, right? Where am I going?” Haeli wandered a few feet along the back wall and rested her back against the countertop.
She studied their faces for a reaction. There was none. Exactly what she’d hoped. The aimless pacing and jabbering had muddied her intentions of ending up in that very spot. Now, on the counter behind her, sat the deadliest weapon in the room.
A phone.
Haeli was familiar with the Avaya handset. The model could be found in every office in the company’s compound in Tel Aviv. Although it looked like a typical hardline, it was a network appliance. They routed outgoing phone calls through the Internet, allowing them to mask the origin of the call. Haeli did not understand how the complex routing was done, but the chances of placing a call to the outside were excellent.
“Let me ask you something,” she started, putting her hands on the edge of the counter and pushing herself upward until she sat on top of it and felt the bottom edge of the plastic phone against her tailbone. “What did they tell you? To be careful of me? Not to get too close? Let me guess, did they say I could kill you with my bare hands?”
Haeli slid her right hand behind her. It went to work as she spoke.
“You don’t believe any of that, do you?”
She removed the handset and placed it on the counter, then took another read of her captors’ faces. Nothing. She dialed nine, relying on faith that the system worked the same way as the one she was used to. The back of her hand and fingernails brushed against the keypad, allowing her to orient herself to the location of each key. She dialed each digit of the memorized number with extreme care. Then paused for several seconds.
“How about this facility, huh? Impressive.”
“Questions?” Blake asked.
“Nope. Good to go,” Grant said.
Blake removed the thumb drive and stashed it in a cargo pants pocket. He slung the weighty tactical vest over his head and connected the Velcro straps. The others had already done so.
“All right boys, mount up,” Fezz said.
Fezz’s light-hearted bravado sent a jolt of nostalgia through Blake’s spine that settled in his stomach. Here he was again, racing headfirst into impossible odds. Familiar, yet different. Like the smell of home upon returning from a long trip. It smells different, but you’re still damn happy to be there.
A slow drip of adrenaline leaked into Blake’s bloodstream. His mind focused and his muscles buzzed. So much that he almost missed the phone vibrating in his pocket. He fished it out and glanced at the screen.
Unknown Caller.
Blake accepted the call and held the phone to his ear. “Blake,” he said.
There was a voice on the other end, but it seemed distant. Already engaged in a conversation. A pocket dial, he guessed. He raised his voice, “Hello.”
“—cost a fortune to build this out here. Levi’s upping his game.”
Blake used his thumb to increase the volume without moving the phone away from his ear. He recognized the voice. “Haeli? Is that you?”
Haeli continued speaking without responding. It clicked. She couldn’t respond. She wasn’t alone. This wasn’t a pocket dial. She was sending a message.
Blake turned to Grant; Blake’s frantic expression so contagious it infected Grant’s face. Blake pinned the phone against his head with his shoulder, held out his left palm and mimed the strokes of an imaginary pen with his right.
Grant flung open a desk drawer and slapped a pen and paper on the desk.
Blake jotted notes while he listened.
“—especially love the whole ranger station thing. That was a nice touch. Fits in perfectly. I mean, even if someone were inside, who would suspect that one of those cabinets opened to a stairway into a covert lab. I mean seriously, it’s like something out of a movie. Even the two guards look like actual forest rangers.”
All four guys crowded in, reading over Blake’s shoulders as he wrote.
Ranger station. Two guards. Stairway in the cabinet.
Haeli hardly sounded like herself. Her phrasing, her demeanor. She seemed scattered. The opposite of reality. Her apparent rambling was contrived and discontinuous. Delivered any other way, it would have been highly suspicious. Among many other things, the woman was a master of manipulation.
“—but even if someone got down into the tunnel, it’d take a nuke to get that through that door if you didn’t have a chip. Do you guys have the chip in your hands, too? Yeah, you’d have to, seems like you need that thing to go anywhere down here. We weren’t that advanced in the old place, just carried around a key fob.” Haeli paused.
RFID embedded in hands.
Blake listened for a response, another voice besides Haeli’s. He heard nothing but dead air. Haeli’s voice returned.
“As much as I enjoy hanging out with you two, even if you insist on pointing those MP7s at me, I’m getting bored. Do you know how long before Levi gets here? He’s probably lost, trying to find this room. It’s like a maze, right? We must have taken like five turns just to get here. Maybe Levi went to the wrong genetics lab. Where do you think we are right now? Southeast corner? I bet one of the other four guys knows. I don’t suppose you wanna open the door to ask them.”
For the first time, Blake heard a male voice on the other end of the line. He had wondered who she was talking to and why they were letting her drone on without being able to get a word in edge wise. He got his answer.
“Shut up,” the male voice said. Though barely audible, the frustration was clear. “Another word and I cut your tongue out.”
“Sorry,” Haeli said, “Okay, so you don’t wanna talk.”
“Shut up!”
Blake heard the rattle of the receiver and the call disconnected. He scribbled a few last notes.
Genetics lab - Southeast corner. Five turns. Two tangos in lab, four outside. MP7s. Levi on premises.
Blake realized that four pairs of eyes were resting on him. He tore the top sheet of paper from the pad and said, “I’ll fill you all in when we’re on the road.”
30
Haeli held the Sukhasana pose, one leg crossed over the other, for what she estimated to be an hour, maybe an hour and a half. The speckled epoxy floor was immaculate but did nothing to add comfort to the concrete below. Still, it was important that she conserve her energy, quiet her mind and body, for whatever came next. She knew she would need to fight. She just didn’t know when.
What were they waiting for? Was Levi not yet on site? Was her father already preparing for the procedure? Or was it a misguided interrogation tactic, the way suspects are left to stew while detectives gauge their body lang
uage from behind two-way mirrors?
Interrogation wasn’t likely. Here, the captors possessed the information, not the captee. Besides, if Levi had been watching, it wouldn’t have been much of a show. Three people locked in a strange tableau. A freeze-framed piece of performance art entitled Yogi turns armed men to stone.
No one was on the phone with tech support complaining that the video feed had frozen. As far as Haeli could tell, there were no cameras in the genetics lab. At least none visible.
While her body had remained motionless, her mind used time to consider her options. She ran through every scenario she could imagine, some bordering on the ridiculous. Over and over, her attention returned to the ladder in the corner of the room. It beckoned her. Whispered in her ear, “Do not forget me.”
Haeli was impressed with the physical stamina of her guards. It was difficult to stand in one position for a long period. She recalled her early assignments, working security details. How she would have to fight the urge to bend her legs, stretch her hip flexors, shift her weight from side to side. But it had gotten easier. These men were experienced in this task. She wouldn’t have expected less. She was a high value target.
The murmur of voices coming from the hall gave Haeli enough time to get to her feet before Levi and her father entered. The two stone-faced men moved, their expressions emitting a sense of relief as if the three had been in a staring contest and she had blinked first.
“The prodigal daughter returns.” Levi’s words, loud and energetic, accompanied his entrance. “We were worried about you.”
Haeli responded with a disapproving glare. Not at Levi, but at her father, who had slinked in on Levi’s heels. He seemed so weak in Levi’s wake. She almost felt bad for him.
Another man slipped into the room, his hands in his pockets. Haeli knew him. Dr. Sebastian Roberts. She wondered what he had to do with this.
Levi acknowledged Roberts with a near-imperceptible nod. Roberts took a position against the wall, as Levi had asked Roberts to be there, but he was trying to stay as far away as he could get.
“I’m glad we got this chance to chat,” Levi said, “I didn’t think we would—”
Haeli interrupted. “Because I’m supposed to be dead?”
“Quite.” Levi paused. “I’m not here to blow smoke up your ass, Haeli. I’m here because I think you deserve an explanation. It is the least I can do.”
“The very least.” Haeli snarled. “You’re going to explain to me why you’re spinning lies about me going rogue?”
“Sure. That. But also, the real reason you must go, Haeli. I’m going to tell you the truth before I end your life. Not a courtesy often extended, wouldn’t you agree?”
The callousness and utter confidence of the statement sent a shiver through her spine. It was a rare peek inside the man and, she realized, the first time she had ever heard him speak the truth.
“End her life?” Benjamin interjected. “You said she would be unharmed. You promised me.”
“Ben,” Levi said, “don’t be so naïve. And don’t worry, I will reward your loyalty.”
Haeli examined her father’s face. He didn’t know. He had lapped up Levi’s lies and licked the bowl clean.
Levi turned back to Haeli, dismissing any forthcoming rebuttals. “Haeli, I see what a waste it is. You are special. A marvel of modern science. And you’re worth a lot of money to me.”
“You’re not making your case.” Haeli had been listening to Levi, but half her mind was preoccupied with her own survival. The fight was coming sooner than later. She wanted to make sure she didn’t miss that perfect moment. The instant all circumstances aligned for the best outcome. It didn’t mean she’d win, but at least she wouldn’t leave any chance to do so on the table.
“I tried to sell you. Rather, the idea of you. The promise of a longer, healthier life. I figured one of the drug companies would bite. Come up with a way to package and sell the technology your father stumbled upon. I was only asking a hundred billion, a rather good deal if you ask me.”
“They shot you down,” Haeli said.
“On the contrary. Not only did one of them bite, they all did. At first, they were at each other’s throats, jockeying to be the one who landed the deal. But then, as they each did their due diligence, as the actuarial studies came back, they each realized that the ability to slow the aging process, whoever owned it, would sink them. At best, they estimated it would take twenty years before they were looking at bankruptcy. At worst, ten. They ran the numbers over and over and none of them could find a way to monetize the technology to surpass the losses they would take to their existing products.”
“Because young people don’t get sick,” Haeli said.
“It would push off many of the conditions that come with aging for a few extra decades. Who knows, maybe more? Sure, it would eventually catch up again, years down the road. But by then, big pharma would already have been ruined. When you think about it, it would affect many industries, not just pharmaceuticals. It could, theoretically, tank the economy. You understand the concern?”
“So, your plan is to save the world by getting rid of me?”
Levi chortled. “I don’t care about the world. They’re paying me a lot of money.”
“Ah, there it is,” Haeli said. “It’s always about money, isn’t it?”
“Yes and no. It’s about domination. Which takes money. And it’s worth a half a trillion dollars to them to have this entire project go away. Sure, they could have stopped at destroying the research, but that’s not really what they’re paying for. Having you in the wind is a liability. In the right hands, it’s possible that your genetic code can be reverse engineered. Your mere existence threatens them.”
Since learning of her unnatural origin, Haeli worried people would see her as something other than human. For maybe the first time in her life, she had been self-conscious, even embarrassed. But now, as she stared into the manifestation of her biggest fear, there existed more sinister implications than hurt pride. Levi saw her not as a person but as intellectual property. It allowed him to divorce himself from any semblance of morality or human decency. She decided she would appeal to his better nature, even if there was no sign that he had one.
Haeli’s voice softened. “I’ve known you my whole life, Levi. I’ve bled for you. I’ve sacrificed for you. My father told me you followed my progress. Visited me almost every day. You cared about me. Is my life really nothing more than a business transaction to you now?”
Levi’s shoulders sagged and his eyes widened. Had she hit a nerve? Had the simple statement cracked the icy exterior?
“I’m so glad you understand, Haeli,” Levi said. “Very well put. A business transaction. Nothing personal. And just in time, too. I was becoming concerned that I’d be showing up to the meeting tomorrow with some explaining to do. Instead, I’ll be delivering on my promise, and they’ll be delivering everything I need to decimate the competition.”
Levi remained unaffected. Haeli could not say the same about her father. Tears welled in his eyes. His once undying loyalty and obedience was now too fragile to prevent his thoughts from escaping. His voice trembled. “My life’s work? You want to destroy everything I have worked for?”
Levi cocked his head. He spoke in a patronizing tone. “I already have. All of it wiped clean. But it’s not all gone, is it? There’s plenty of information locked in that big, beautiful brain of yours, isn’t there?”
Haeli cringed at the degradation her father must have felt as Levi poked his index finger against her father’s forehead. Instead of seeing embarrassment wash over him, she saw revelation. It wasn’t just Haeli that was to be eradicated. Wentz had been right. Her father was in danger all along. Only kept alive long enough to help draw her in. She hated him for what he had done, but she couldn’t let it happen to him either. If she was getting out of there alive, her father was coming with her.
Benjamin turned to Roberts. “You knew about this?”
; Roberts’s chin remained pinned to his chest while his eyes shifted upward to meet her father’s gaze. The sanpaku effect made him look more deranged than guilty, but Haeli sensed the latter.
“Questions? Or should I just get down to it?” Levi asked.
Haeli shifted gears. She needed to gain the upper hand, or at least take control of the conversation.
“You will not kill me.” Haeli stared menacingly into Levi’s eyes. “All this stalling. All this talk. You don’t have the stomach to do it yourself.”
Levi laughed. Not an evil genius, take-over-the-world laugh. It was hardy. Infectious.
He turned to the younger of the two guards.
“Brant,” Levi said. “What is your first directive?”
“No one touches the girl but you, sir.”
Levi’s hand was a blur as it dove beneath his lapel. The pistol appeared as if out of thin air. Haeli had miscalculated. They were not moving her to another location. There would be no procession, procedure, or further delay. No moment she could seize or misstep she could exploit. Levi was going to kill her now. His finger bore down on the trigger before a single instruction made it from her brain to her muscles.
Then, something else she hadn’t calculated. Dr. Benjamin Becher, a prominent scientist and consummate pacifist, threw himself desperately in front of the gun, his arms raised above his head. His hands clasped together.
Haeli watched, helpless, as each millisecond brought her father’s double fist down toward the outstretched pistol. The events of the last fraction of a second were sickeningly out of order. The bang came first, then the strike, then the sound of the pistol bouncing off the epoxied floor and skittering toward her.
As she dove for the pistol, she saw the crimson bloom expanding from the center of her father’s back. Levi’s feet streaked by her head as she closed her grip around the handle of the pistol. Haeli flipped onto her back in time to see the last sliver of Levi’s body disappearing down the hall. She swung the pistol and fired twice, striking the first guard in the head and then the second in one continuous motion. Had Levi’s directive caused them to hesitate an extra second, or had it just been the shock of the unexpected turn of events? Either way, she considered herself lucky they hadn’t been quicker on the trigger.