Out of Time (The Adventures of Eric and Ursula Book 4)

by A. D. Winch

"Letter, Monsieur," the postman replied walking back. "Recorded delivery from Spain."

  "I don't know anyone in Spain."

  "Are you Karim 'Jason' Dilem?"

  "Yes," he replied cautiously.

  "Then this is for you."

  The postman handed the package to Jason and asked him to sign for it.

  "It's a mystery," Jason said absentmindedly.

  "Then don't open it. You'll spoil the surprise. Au revoir, Monsieur."

  "Er, merci."

  Jason stepped back into his apartment and closed the door. He trudged through the gloom to his bedroom and fell down on the bed beside the window. The curtains did not meet in the middle, and the sun streamed through the gap revealing a room strewn with rubbish, a desk and a large computer covered in stickers.

  Jason lay on his back and looked at the envelope. It was a mystery. No one ever wrote to him by hand. He knew no one in Spain, and no one had ever used his real name and hacker name in the same place. He decided not to follow the postman's advice and opened it. A USB memory stick fell onto his stomach and came to rest in his belly button. He left it there as he pulled out a letter and began to read.

  Dear Jason,

  We have only met twice before but I hope that you remember me. My name is Ursula Benjamin. You came to my meetings about my grandparents. You told me that if I ever needed help with computers I should come to you. I need help but I can't come down to you in person. As you can probably see from the envelope I am in Spain. Claude, the man who I was with when you met me, told me to fight back and I have.

  Since leaving Saint-Denis I have found my friends Eric and Alexander, and I have made a new one – a man called Johan. Together we are going to rescue my grandparents. I don't know if we will succeed which is why I have sent you this memory stick.

  On the memory stick are a large number of files stolen from the organization that probably closed down your website and stopped your emails. This is VERY DANGEROUS information to own. I have been told to tell you, DON'T read this on a computer connected to the internet and DON'T save it onto a computer connected to the internet. Your life will be in DANGER if you do.

  My friends and I are going to rescue my grandparents. If we do succeed please do not release this information until I ask you to. You will know that we have succeeded because I will leave you a message on the online forum at www.adventureandmysteryholidays.com. There will be a forum topic called 'Morocco.' My username is 'yellowvest' and my message will be, 'I thought Essaouira was lovely.'

  If there is no message before the end of July then we have not succeeded. I would like you to leak all these files over the internet but please MAKE SURE they are not traceable back to you.

  I know I am asking a lot but you seemed so very excited and helpful when I met you that I hoped I could count on you. I hope I am right.

  Merci beaucoup,

  Ursula Benjamin

  Jason put the letter down and grinned broadly. What an absolutely brilliant start to his day! He jumped off his bed and sent the flash drive flying. It landed behind his desk, and he had to hunt through the jungle of wires before he found it again. After placing it safely between his keyboard and a coke can, Jason logged on securely to his Virtual Private Network so no one could track his online movement. From this VPN, he logged onto another VPN and then went to the website that Ursula had told him to go to.

  He found the Morocco forum after a few minutes and scanned through the various posts. Halfway through the list, he found yellowvest's post from over two weeks ago. After much thought, he typed, Great to hear but where to go? Awaiting instructions.

  Life was going to get much more interesting.

  Andrea had booked them into a small villa hotel on the beachfront in the village of Parga. It was a burgundy, two-storied building with views of the entire bay. The size was perfect for them; they all had rooms on the same floor and had use of a kitchen. Ursula was sat in her room looking out at the people playing in the waves or swimming to the small island. It was a pleasant place to be, and she loved being so close to the sea, but she didn't feel she was achieving anything by staying here.

  She finished getting dressed and switched on a laptop that Andrea had bought her. Since she had posted on the Morocco forum, she had checked for responses every day. Many people replied, but she knew none was Jason. Even though, Alexander had told her that no one spies on letters or parcels anymore, she was still worried that the package had been intercepted, and Jason was in the hands of the OSS.

  The forum page had grown longer, and Ursula scrolled through all the postings about Morocco. She scan read them all, but one stood out, Great to hear but where to go? Awaiting instructions. She looked at who it had been posted by and read Jason. The message meant that he had received the flash drive, and the thought made Ursula hopeful for the future.

  "It is time to eat," Andrea said, after knocking on her door.

  Ursula quickly left a message on the forum, There are so many places. Login daily to see what you can do, and then ran down the stairs two at a time.

  Everyone was already out on the small hill beside the hotel. They were sat around a table in the shade of an olive tree and helping themselves to a selection of salads that Andrea and Mémé had prepared.

  "He's read it," Ursula announced, sitting as far away from Eric as she could.

  "By he, I infer the man known as Jason," Andrea clarified.

  Ursula nodded.

  Alexander stopped pouring olive oil over his food.

  "What was his reply?" he asked.

  "Awaiting instructions."

  "It is discrete, and it is sufficient," Andrea added.

  Since Alexander had told her to, Andrea joined them for every meal time. At first it was disconcerting due to the mask she continued to wear, but they had all become used to it. Ursula's grandfather had called her the 'Phantom of the Opera' on a number of occasions, but the joke was lost on Andrea.

  Ursula looked at her. Everyone around the table was wearing light summer clothes except Andrea. She had got rid of the brown leathers from Morocco and was back in her usual black leathers and a new band T-shirt. Ursula was sure that Mémé had had something to do with this. She looked over at her grandmother who was listening to Granddad Benjamin's translation of the conversation.

  "Why is it only sufficient? This is great news. It means we can out the OSS whenever we want to," Alexander said gleefully.

  "And that is the key phrase, 'whenever we want.' It would be illogical to release this data now."

  "Then when?" Ursula asked, failing to hide her disappointment. She looked over at her grandfather.

  Granddad Benjamin finished chewing his aubergine salad and began to speak, "It is nearly August, only five months until…, well…," he looked at Ursula and Eric.

  "The children will die," Andrea offered in English and then in French for the benefit of Mémé, who choked on her lettuce.

  "Erm, yes, that's what I wanted to say. I would like to know what we can do to stop it."

  "There is nothing we can do without assistance," Andrea said.

  Alexander joined the conversation. "I'm truly sorry. We have run all types of tests, but they are conclusive. In spite of how young the children look, they are aging." Everyone looked from Ursula, who despite more grey hairs and crow's feet looked like a normal teenager, to Eric, who looked greyer and tired but still young. "The plankton has slowed down the aging process slightly. We are also hopeful that the blood we have stored, almost seven litres from each of them, can be used in blood transfusions when needed. A process that we strongly believe will rejuvenate Eric and Ursula. However, we have no cure at present."

  Granddad Benjamin continued to translate for his wife.

  "There is another way," Johan began. He was bruised and ached from his parachute jump but looked younger and was enjoying the rosé wine. "We have mentioned this before, and I fear that it is the only way - we need to get alien DNA."

  "How do we know that will work?
" Eric asked, crossing his arms and sinking into his chair.

  "We don't, but you have met Buddy Angel, haven't you?"

  Eric nodded.

  "He is the same age as me but his physical condition is far superior to my own and most males of our age. How can that be? Perhaps he has had assistance from our extraterrestrial visitor."

  "And maybe he hasn't!" Eric countered.

  Johan ignored him and continued, "Your genetic make-up is not only human. A vet would not prescribe human medicine for swine but essentially that is what we are doing here. We are trying to solve your problem using our knowledge of human physiology rather than alien physiology. We need similar samples to the ones I took many, many years ago of the dead alien. With these, we stand more chance of curing your condition."

  "We can't sit around and wait for Eric and Ursula to…," Mémé could not bring herself to say the word. "We need to do something."

  "If you had my knowledge, you would realize that there are many things we must do. Not just his one," Johan said.

  "Then what are they?" Granddad Benjamin asked.

  Up until this point, Johan had kept his thoughts to himself. He had decided that Eric needed some relaxation time, and he did not want to spoil that before Eric was happy again. After escaping the OSS in Roswell, the boy had gone straight into battle with them, and Johan felt Eric had deserved some fun before he was put in harm's reach again. On a purely selfish note, Johan felt that he deserved the same.

  "You all know that I worked for the OSS for most of my adult life. They say knowledge is power and if that is so then I imagine the OSS are worried about what I will do with my power," he stopped and coughed a little. The now familiar iron taste appeared in the back of his throat.

  "The OSS, led by Buddy Angel, have been determined to create Identical Hybrid Beings for decades. They are what we now call clones. However, they do not want clones of normal people. They wish to create IHBs that are superior to normal humans. For a while, back in the sixties, I thought I was making progress in this field, and I had planned to use the knowledge I had gained from the alien dissection. We were planning to splice together human and alien DNA to create an army of super-soldiers. Before we had a chance to start, my research was destroyed, and the project was delayed until Eric was captured.

  "Since that day, a vast number of tests and samples have been taken from Eric. All the OSS needs to do now is clone him, and they have enough to do so. It will take time, but they'll get there if they don't run out of samples first. Ingrid has already done most of the work for them by splicing together human and alien DNA," he paused to drink.

  "As we sit here and eat, the OSS is attempting to create IHBs in Djupidalur in Iceland; Pine Gap in Australia; Haarp Research Station in Alaska; and Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago. I am sure that the project in Morocco will have been stopped after Eric was moved from there. It is possible that similar research is also being undertaken at Roswell, New Mexico, but I believe that the alien darts and the two pods take up most of their time.

  "There are problems with the cloning process, and we already know about them. The OSS is storing Eric's samples as if they were completely human. As we have proven with the blood, it should not be stored under normal conditions," he motioned towards a wind break. Behind it, nailed to a wall and hidden from hotel employees and guests, were bags of Eric and Ursula's blood. "They are also not aware of Ingrid's Disc Five. On this disc, she explains about what happened to her test rats and how they died young.

  "At the moment, Eric and Ursula are unique and they are delightful young people who know the difference between right and wrong."

  Ursula's eyes opened wide, and she looked at Eric.

  "However, the IHBs will be brainwashed from the moment they are born. Their lives will have one goal - the preservation of 'freedom' and 'peace.' Under the guidance of Buddy Angel, this will mean slavery and war. They will have no thoughts of their own. We will be quickly heading towards Aldous Huxleys' 'Brave New World' where different people are born for different purposes." He dropped his head as if ashamed. "Now, I do not believe that this is freedom. This is not life. At the time that I was conducting my research, I did not recognise this.

  "When we left Morocco, Eric said that when we are ready we must attack. I agree with him. We must begin by attacking these research facilities and making sure they are never able to create IHBs."

  Johan coughed, and while he did so, Granddad Benjamin said, "But this does not prolong the lives of the children."

  "I agree, Jerome. However, I do not think we can attack the cloning facilities without them. Their abilities are extraordinary. They will give us an advantage."

  "I'm happy to attack one," Eric said, tapping the table. "But we can't attack all five. The first attack will be a surprise but, after the first they'll know we are coming, and they will stop us."

  "I don't propose that we attack all of them. In order to keep their Roswell base secret, the OSS actively supported UFO enthusiasts. They sent them parts and plans so they could build their own. I believe we should do the same. There are many groups around the world who actively oppose and attack research facilities. If we can send them money and the plans of these bases, they could assist us."

  "But do we have the plans for these bases?" asked Alexander.

  "Yes. They are on this memory stick," and Johan pulled the flash drive from underneath his shirt. It was still dangling from a necklace, and he never removed it except to make copies.

  Andrea added, "From a legal perspective, the Meyer Foundation would be funding terrorism."

  Jerome leant forward and brought his hand down heavily on the table.

  "Jerome!" exclaimed Mémé as she caught her glass of water before it fell.

  "I'm sorry, but this is not solving the problem of the children."

  Johan nodded, "I agree but whether we include the cloning facilities in our plans or not, I think we must go to Roswell."

  "Back to Roswell?" Eric muttered, and his foot began to tap rapidly on the ground.

  "I am truly sorry, Eric, but if we are to stand any chance of prolonging your lives then we need to find alien DNA," Johan replied. "We all know that it is your only chance."

  "Then we'll lure it out. Set a trap and catch it."

  "Sadly, I do not believe that this will be possible. We will have to go back."

  Eric sighed with defeat. He wanted revenge, but he was not keen to return to the scene of his torture. He tried to control his emotions but couldn't and stormed off.

  "It will be impossible. We're going to die," Ursula whispered to herself. She stood up silently and walked vacantly towards the hotel too.

  While the adults watched the children go, Granddad Benjamin translated. Once he had finished, Mémé stood up and addressed the others in French. "Keep talking and find a solution. Those children are not going to die while I'm still alive. Excuse me while I go and knock some sense into the two of them."

  The others got up to let her pass, and she waddled away.

  When she had gone, they sat down again, and Alexander poured himself, Jerome and Johan some more wine.

  "Continue," Andrea told Johan.

  Johan took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke.

  "As I was saying, we need to acquire samples from the alien. If we can achieve this, I am convinced that we will find a cure. To do that, we need to go to Roswell. Eric must go, even though I understand his reaction. I am sure that he has met the alien and will be able to lead us to it."

  "How will we do that?" asked Alexander, throwing a look at Andrea. The memory of breaking into the base in Poland was still fresh in his mind.

  "We will need to create a diversion," Andrea answered. "This is the time that Jason must leak the contents of the OSS memory stick onto the internet. It is a data bomb. If it is done efficiently, then media crews will head for the base."

  "I agree," said Johan, "but this will not be enough, we will nee…" He was going to say more, but
a coughing fit took hold. When it had subsided, he wiped his mouth with his white handkerchief. It looked like the Japanese flag.

  "That's all well and good, but what is on the flash memory drive stick thing?" asked Jerome.

  Back to Contents

  ***

  Chapter 3 – Status Report

  "So, what have we got?" Agent Angel asked, his deep, angry voice filling the room.

  Agent Bernard stood at the lectern and pressed a button on the remote he was holding. The Stars and Stripes disappeared and was replaced with a photo of the flash drive that had been tied around the neck of the agent known as Sasha.

  Agent Bernard was not used to addressing large, or small, groups of people. He was far happier messaging via email and staying in his little room below ground, monitoring communication to and from the base.

  Someone in the audience sneezed, and he looked up. The room was cramped, and he wanted to pretend the people around the tables were not there. Looking up, therefore, was a mistake. In spite of his thin frame, he began to sweat. Wet patches under his armpits were soon visible, and his face looked shiny. His turtle-framed glasses slid down his nose, and he pushed them nervously back up. He looked down at his tablet and began to read from the screen.

  "Professor Schwarzkopf stole approximately six point four gigabytes of data." He thought this opening line would impress the assembled crowd. He foolishly looked at them again. There was no recognition. The faces on the monitors remained impassive, the agents in desert fatigues continued to sit upright, the scientists looked bored, and Agent Angel continued to look angry. Agent Bernard gulped; his throat was rapidly drying out, but he continued talking.

  "This is equivalent to twenty-four thousand six hundred and seventy-six files. The files were not saved in one go but were saved over a number of days. Three thousand four hundred and…"

  Agent Angel banged his fist down on the table. "I think we've established that he took as much as he wanted, but right now I'm not much interested in numbers. I want a summary of what he has got and how badly it can damage us."