Ionic Attraction

by D. R. Rosensteel

  “Thank you. It’s adequate for the type of work I do. I see you admire my Caravaggios.”

  “Love them.” Zach smiled and nodded. He had no idea what a Caravaggio was.

  “As do I. Caravaggio was a pioneer, don’t you think? Realistic depiction. His paintings always had a photographic quality to them. I am all about realism, Mr. Keen. Every one of my programs is founded on it.”

  What was most real to Zach was how Jane remained silent. He was totally on his own. “Professor, your work is amazing. The Young PhD Program is world renowned. And you have good taste in candidates.” He glanced at Piper. She smiled shyly at him.

  Mamont’s smug face broke into a smile. “My apologies, Mr. Keen, for the short notice, but I absolutely had to see you. I’d like to make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

  The hair on the back of Zach’s neck stood up. His gut told him Mamont meant that literally. He played along. “It’s no secret that I’ve wanted to be a part of the Young PhD Program, so my answer is yes. Absolutely. And thank you.”

  “The Young PhD Program is for amateurs.” Mamont put his nose in the air. “A waste of your talent.”

  “Sir?” Zach tensed.

  “I need your inventive genius to help with something that matters.”

  Piper’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. Zach had no idea where this was going, and it was obvious that she didn’t, either. Just then he noticed her heavy makeup again. Was that a bruise barely showing on her cheek?

  Mamont lowered his eyes and stared at Zach. “I’m working on a very important project that will benefit the greater good. Tell me, Mr. Keen, what did you notice during your tour?”

  Mamont knew that Piper had taken him in an unauthorized area. His voice was jovial, but his eyes were threatening. Zach decided to tell the truth. “You have a Supercompact Muon Solenoid. The configuration makes me believe that it’s extremely powerful. I assume that there is a Large Hadron Collider somewhere beneath it.”

  “You see, Dane, I told you he was the man for the job, so I’ll overlook your little indiscretion.”

  “Yes, sir,” Piper said. Her lower lip quivered ever so slightly.

  “Zachary, I am a student of humanity. I’ve learned that people have an enormous capacity to become selfless and do good, especially in the face of tragedy. The way they come together to help total strangers after a flood or a hurricane, sometimes putting their own lives in jeopardy, simply amazes me. I only wish it were more common. I want to be a force that brings good into the world.” He shook his head. A vacant expression crossed his face, and he turned to Zach. “Do you want to be a force for good, Zachary?”

  Zach was at a loss for words, so he just nodded.

  “Excellent. I want to heal the world, and I have the technology to do it. I need someone who can modify my Large Hadron Collider.”

  “I know,” Zach said. “It needs a beam compression system.”

  “It needs a quark generator. That’s where you come in. You wrote a paper that intrigued me. Can you actually build one for a unit that is as powerful as ours?”

  “I can. But I’d need to modify a quark detector. Good luck finding one.”

  “Let me worry about that. Here is my offer. Come to work for me as my personal assistant. You will help me to build things that the scientists of the Young PhD Program can’t.”

  Zach put his hand over his heart, trying his best to seem overwhelmed instead of terrified. “Your…personal assistant? Sir, I don’t know what to say. Such an honor.”

  “Say yes. No other answer is acceptable.”

  Zach stood silently for a moment, gazing at the floor, acting as though he was thinking about it. But he knew from Mamont’s tone that he had no choice. Time to get out. “It’s a great opportunity. I’m sure you know that I’m in the Mastermind Complex’s Internship. Can I have some time to think about it and get back to you?”

  “Absolutely,” Mamont said.

  “Thank you.”

  “You have thirty seconds.”

  “Professor!” Piper said.

  The knot in Zach’s stomach grew tighter. “No disrespect, Professor Mamont, but I can’t rush a big decision like this. I’d really like to talk it over with my family. If I can’t have just a little more time, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

  Mamont laughed. “You’re not even using the time I gave you. You still have twenty seconds to reconsider.”

  This was way more than Zach had bargained for. “I gotta go.”

  “If you insist,” Mamont said. “But before you leave, we should discuss your girlfriend’s prison sentence.”

  Zach turned on Mamont. “What are you talking about?”

  “Jane,” Mamont said, clutching his heart as though her name brought deep sadness to his life. “She violated her restraining order. Poor Benson is still recovering from her attack.”

  “He came after her.” Zach was starting to see red. “She didn’t want to be anywhere near him.”

  “It certainly doesn’t look that way on the video.”

  “I was there,” Zach said. He knew where this was going. Mamont was just like Parker had described him. A manipulative snake.

  “Cameras don’t lie,” Mamont said, pointing to a wall monitor. A video flashed onto the screen. Benson stood next to the Geoelectric Hazard Map exhibit in the convention hall. Suddenly Jane entered the picture. Benson looked terrified and tried to back away. Jane rushed toward him and shoved Benson through the display.

  “Such an angry girl,” Mamont said. “Did you know your girlfriend is a stalker?”

  “That’s not what happened.” Zach’s heart raced.

  “I know. It’s amazing what you can do with editing software these days.”

  “Professor, this isn’t part of the plan.” Piper clapped her hands to her cheeks. “I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t, my dear.” Mamont leered at her up and down. “Mr. Keen, whether he is aware of it or not, is destined for far greater things than the Mastermind Complex’s Internship can provide him. Being my personal assistant is an honor I have never extended before. The Complex is wasting his talent with their amateurish internship. You know I’m right, don’t you, Keen?”

  Zach swallowed but said nothing. He glanced toward the door.

  “Admit it.” Mamont slapped his cold hand on Zach’s shoulder.

  “Admit what?” Zach asked, his voice catching in his throat.

  “That you are far more mesmerized by me and the idea of being my assistant than any Mastermind internship. So tell me, are you in?”

  “I can’t quit the internship,” Zach said. “Mr. Parker got me out of juvie early. It’s a condition of my parole.”

  “Then we have a problem. Joining me is a condition of keeping Jane Lew on this side of prison.” Mamont smiled. “I’ll tell you what. You leave the Mastermind Complex and I’ll destroy the video.”

  Zach felt his heart pounding in his throat.

  Piper folded her hands like she was praying. “Please, Professor.”

  Mamont scowled and pushed a button on his desk.

  “Sir?” a voice came over unseen speakers.

  “I have a distraction I’d like removed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The office door opened and an armed guard entered. He walked straight toward Piper and took her by the shoulder.

  “What are you doing?” Her voice cracked.

  “I suggest you go with the young man. We’ll talk later.”

  The guard escorted Piper from the room. She shot Zach a frightened look as the guard closed the door behind them.

  “My apologies, Mr. Keen. Some of my students misunderstand their role. So tell me, do you understand yours?”

  Zach gritted his teeth and turned to Mamont. He was done playing. “Looks like my role is blac
kmail victim. But you want to upgrade that to personal assistant. I believe those were your words?”

  “Yes, they were.”

  “If I agree, you’ll let me destroy the video. And all copies. Is that right?”

  “I thought that was obvious.” Mamont blinked.

  “And you’ll take care of my parole.”

  “Sorry. Not part of the deal. You see, this is what I was talking about. People under pressure have an enormous capacity for being selfless and doing good. I’m giving you a chance to show me how right I am. You can save Jane and go back to prison, or you can just walk away. Keep your cozy life and sacrifice her freedom for yours.”

  Zach stared at his feet. Mamont was a freakin’ extortionist. He knew Zach couldn’t just walk away. “One problem. If I don’t go back, Parker will come looking for me.” He hoped. “He knows I’m here.”

  “Let him come. The public is welcome here, and you won’t say anything to him because you don’t want your girlfriend to learn how unforgiving jail time can be. Choose selflessness, Zachary. I need a selfless person to be my assistant.”

  Mamont had set Jane up once. Zach would never let him do it again. “Give me the videos, then. I have a quark generator to build.”

  Mamont smiled. “I’m pleasantly impressed, Keen. I was right. The people at the Mastermind Complex are wasting your potential. They don’t understand the modern world, but I see that you do. So I know you understand that I’ll give you the videos after you give me the generator. Naturally, I don’t trust you.”

  “The feeling’s mutual,” he said, and his jaw clenched. “Where do we start?”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Jane

  From the way Anna and Mina were looking at her, Jane knew she wasn’t hiding her panic very well. She ignored their concerned stares and spread her hands on the War Room table, leaning into the hologram of Quantum City University’s Astronomy Building. What was different about the office on the fifth floor? There had to be a way to see inside. It felt like hours since she had sent Michael and Nolan to the IT lab to reestablish communication with Zachary. Why were they not getting through? Then she looked at the clock. It had been only seven minutes.

  Jane began to pace the room. She felt like a caged tiger. Dad would know what to do. He always knew what to do. She was so unlike him, especially now when lives depended on her making the right decision. If she sent in a rescue team, Zachary’s cover would be blown and Mamont would murder her grandma and four thousand other people in Deer Lodge, Montana. If she didn’t, he would destroy Zachary’s mind with Darkside. She needed her father. But he was gone and he trusted her to handle this, so she had to be strong and make the right decision without him. Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” Anna said.

  Jane realized that her fists were clenched. She forced herself to relax them and smiled at Anna. “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get my head around this. It’s a little overwhelming.”

  “We’ll get him out,” Mina said. “Michael and Nolan will get through.”

  Jane nodded. She understood why her father acted the way he did. Relationships derail missions. Her feelings for Zachary were too strong. She was losing objectivity. Her real fear wasn’t that Mamont would murder four thousand people. It was that Darkside would cause Zachary to forget her. “I can’t let the way I feel about Zachary jeopardize the mission.”

  “You aren’t jeopardizing anything,” Anna said. “You just want to get him out safely. You would do the same if it was one of us.”

  Jane’s tension eased up a bit. “Thank you for staying with me. You’re good friends.”

  “We weren’t leaving even if you pulled rank.” Mina smiled, squeezing Jane’s hand. She pointed to the Astronomy Building holo. “Switch to the wiring diagram view. I want to see something. There may be a way to divert signal through the electrical system. If I can, we’ll get through to Zach even in a shielded area.”

  “I hope so.” Jane crossed her fingers, fighting the feeling of total defeat. She was thankful that Anna and Mina could step in, because she was rapidly losing her perspective. She should never have kissed Zachary, especially outside the simulation. Emotional attachment had gotten her in trouble before. But then again…he was so not Benson.

  Benson had been sweet when they first met, in an awkward sort of way. In hindsight, it was the awkwardness that had derailed her. He was a walking Google app. His knowledge of most any subject seemed endless. Normally, she was good at seeing hidden agendas. It was his unkempt mass of hair and the way his braces made his speech thick that diverted her from noticing his incessant need to know every secret. Awkward was attractive to Jane. Cruelty was not. She learned too late that Benson’s awkwardness fed his cruelty. He thought everyone was laughing at him. Jane saw it when he strapped her into his electrotherapy device, as he called it. He was a twistedly brilliant inventor and designed it not to shock the muscular system, but to disrupt brainwaves. Benson had intended it to be an electrical truth serum, but all it did was cause intense anxiety. And now he had an even worse torture device to use on Zachary. Darkside.

  She had to pull herself together or Zachary would be lost and there would be no one to disable HAVOC’s weapon. “Anna, can you search for connections between the Montana State Prison, the Kinematics Building, and the Geomagnetic Convention? I can’t shake the feeling that there’s a common link between them.”

  “How will that help Zachary?” Anna asked.

  Jane shook her head. “I won’t know until I know. And there’s that missing quark detector. See what you can find.”

  Anna nodded as her fingers flew across the keyboard. Images and text flashed across the wall monitors as her search deepened. Suddenly the text disappeared and a single image filled the screens. “This is interesting,” Anna said. “And unexpected.”

  Jane immediately recognized the person on the wall and dread filled her heart. “That’s Dr. Reddington. She was a speaker at the Geomagnetic Convention.” She blew out a steadying breath, but anxious pressure continued to build in her chest. “This is no coincidence.”

  “And get this. Her family owned the Kinematics Building and her husband was a guard at the Montana State Prison.”

  “What’s her husband’s name?”

  “Arnold Charles Endor. Ace.”

  “The guard who tortured Zachary.” Definitely not a coincidence.

  “There’s more,” Anna said. “Dr. Reddington worked in the Department of Space Exploration Building.”

  “The high-security government building—” Jane gasped.

  “Where the quark detector was stolen.”

  Unbelievable. “She would have known where the detector was stored. She would have had access to building plans and security codes. Dr. Reddington had to be the one who planted the evidence on Zachary’s computer and sent the anonymous tip to the police.”

  “Why would she do that?” Anna asked.

  “To shift the blame away from herself. What else do you have on her?”

  Anna went back to work at the keyboard. “She’s a professor of Astronomy for the Young PhD Program.”

  “Anything we don’t know?”

  “Double doctorate. The second one is in robotics.”

  “She’s a roboticist.” Jane’s head was spinning. “That’s got to mean something, but I can’t see it. Somehow, she’s involved in HAVOC’s plan.”

  “What do you mean?” Anna asked.

  It was almost coming together. “What if it wasn’t the Synthetic who wrote the journal? What if it was Dr. Reddington? That means she is the one who used Darkside to torture people. But why? What am I missing?”

  “No idea.”

  Jane stared up at the image of Dr. Reddington and knew that there was only one way to fill in the blanks. “I’m going in.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five
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  Zach

  Zach wanted Jane. He couldn’t concentrate. Her beautiful face burned in his mind like a fiery brand. Their time in the simulator made him sigh, but the few moments outside the simulator—the memory of her soft lips felt as real as the anxiety of Mamont setting her up again.

  Zach made up his mind that Jane wasn’t going to be the victim of a manipulative swine a second time. He had to finish this gig so he could see her again…before they took him back to juvie.

  Mamont led Zach out of his office through a maze of hallways and into a hovervator that seemed to go down forever. Zach held it together on the ride. His anger at Mamont unseated the terror of the Blackbody. When they got off the hovervator, he found himself in an area that he knew instantly.

  The Underground. But it was nothing like the simulation.

  The Underground looked like a space station. The main corridor was long, brightly lit, and straight as a laser beam. It disappeared into a bright point of light somewhere off in the distance. Zach saw a multitude of openings where side tunnels cut away from the main corridor.

  “This way,” Mamont said, motioning Zach into the nearest opening.

  Zach gasped as he walked in—the instrumentation. The supplies. The tech. “Quite a laboratory, Professor. Every mad scientist’s dream.”

  Mamont chuckled. “Yes, we have a modest collection. Look around.”

  Zach was impressed. If he couldn’t find the right equipment in this laboratory to build a quark generator, then it couldn’t be done. The lab had seismographs, scanning electron microscopes, thermal desorption systems, spectrophotometers, omegatrons—then he saw it. A quark detector. It had to be the stolen one. The reason he went to prison.

  Zach examined the quark detector while Mamont stood there grinning like a child at Christmas, watching. “Do you even realize what you’re holding, Keen? It will make my equipment capable of so many things. We can push the theories of particle physics to their limits, modify the properties of the Higgs boson, improve the supersymmetric theories.”