The Test

by Robert Longley

  "No, we just have a little problem of our own and it was eventually going to require your unique assets. All this just sort of happened at the same time. We figured, Hey, what the hell, kidnap you and bring you here, show you the toys and welcome you to the family. Or welcome back to the family, I should say.”

  I don't know if I like being part of the family. I'd just as soon go home to the family I know.”

  "Well, this is kind of an offer you can't say no too.”

  "That kind of sounds like a threat.”

  “No, it's just reality. But take it as you wish. There are two ways to fix the current problem. You and your children disappear, and we get rid of all the records, or we do it our way and you and your family live a long and happy existence and you help us.”

  “Sound Fair?"

  Chapter 16 - The Plan

  There were a couple more introductions to people I didn't know or would remember.

  Henry says, "Okay just one more introduction today; I'd like you to meet Kennedy. She is one of our newest members. Kennedy has some unique skills in a variety of areas.”

  "Sorry, but you look like you are my daughter's age.”

  "I'm 26" Kennedy chimed in.

  "We do recruit like a real company although family connections do help. In Kennedy's case, she was army special ops. Her degree from college was in computer programming, but she blew her knee out in a parachute accident. She mostly flies the desk now with us. That doesn't mean she isn't capable of hacking and emptying your bank account in less than 10 minutes or killing you with a paper clip.”

  She smiled and batted her eyes.

  "Okay. Kennedy, nice to meet you too. So, what exactly is the plan?"

  "Well, it does require you to make a phone call and meet with the Genentech execs sometime later this week. We're going to feed them a little bit of information about your unique medical condition. Not one that's true of course, but one that they may be more inclined to believe. You're going to pay a visit to their headquarters in New York. While you're in their office you're going to create a little distraction. One of my friends will help you with that. Here's a thumb drive that Kennedy has prepared for you. This will need to be loaded on one of the Genentech computers. We've already analyzed their infrastructure. And this is a job that needs to be done from the inside.”

  "Do you mean to tell me that you're going to create a virus and load it on their machines and wipe everything out?" "No, nothing quite that harsh.”

  "Matter of fact, they won't even know that anything has happened. We are reprogramming their supercomputer so that it ignores certain patterns, namely yours and a few others.”

  "So how do you know this is going to work? This sounds like some theatrical script from a movie.”

  "Oh, we have the same equipment they do and a copy of their database. We tested this before you even got here. We just don't have easy access to their building. You do because you have a reason to talk to them. So, there you go.”

  "So, what's this distraction that we're going to cause?"

  "Well we're still working on that, but it will probably give you about two minutes of free access to their computer. So that's the plan.”

  "It sounds a little bit too predictably simple.”

  "And we like it that way.”

  "You always were a smart-ass Henry.”

  "Yep. I can sit on a bowl of ice cream and tell you what flavor it is.”

  Kennedy's speaks up. "That's the kind of jokes my grandfather always tells.”

  Henry Chimes in. "Well, we were probably the same age as your grandfather.”

  "All right, assuming this works, that doesn't take care of the government agency that seems to know about my little secret as well.”

  "Now, one thing at a time. We need to get this piece of it cleaned up and then we can clean up the second.”

  "So, what happens if this plan of yours doesn't work well?" "Well, we always have plan B.”

  "What's plan B?"

  "Well, we either break-in after hours where it gets messy or we have to kill a bunch of people. But either way, we'll have the same results. Your little secret and a few other people's little secrets will be safe. So, are you ready to head home and make a couple of phone calls?"

  "I suppose? When do we leave for the airport?"

  "Well, we don't.”

  About that time, I felt another needle stuck in the back of my neck.

  "Hey, I already know where you guys work.”

  "Yeah, but you don't know how we got here.”

  Chapter 17 - Back to Work

  Next thing I know, it's Shirley, "Boss, wake up. Did you sleep here again last night? Where have you been?" "Coffee!" I said.

  "I should make the coffee.”

  I could hear yelling in the background.

  "Who are those men? Where did you go? Where have you been for the last two days? And why are you in the same clothes?"

  "Really? I told you this is about stuff. We talk about this. National Security, remember?"

  "Oh yes, I remember. Well, now that I know about the secret stuff, maybe you can let me in on it the next time you have to do a mission or whatever it is you're doing.”

  "No problem.”

  I had a splitting headache.

  "Shirley, what's going on with the Rochester order and the order for Connecticut?" I tried to get her off the secret stuff.

  "Everything was shipped from Nebraska yesterday. You know, one of the workers said they thought they saw you, which I thought was very strange. Isn't that strange?" "How's that possible Shirley? Okay. I've got to go home for a few minutes. I should be back around 10."

  " Just tell everybody I'm here. We'll have a regular meeting later this morning and don't forget this is national security stuff. I was just out on a little business trip, whatever, you know. Sound good? Okay.”

  I walked out to the car. I got in, turned it on and pressed hands-free.

  "Call Kelly.”

  "Hello?"

  "Hey, it's me.”

  "Stephen, where are you?"

  "I'm back. Are you at the house?"

  "Yeah, I haven't left for the office yet. I've got an appointment in about an hour.”

  "Okay. That's enough time. I'll be home in about five minutes.”

  "You want to tell me what was going on?"

  "Not right now. We'll talk about it when I get home.” Luckily, I was only about three minutes from home, so I knew it wasn't going to be too long.

  "All right.”

  I walked in the door. "Hey, it's me" Kelly gave me a big kiss and one of those hugs that seem to stop time. Then I got "the look.”

  "You want to tell me what's going on?" And I motioned outside. We walked out into the garden.

  "Why are we talking outside?"

  "Because the house is bugged along with phones and probably pretty much everything else.”

  "What do you mean bugged? Why? How long?"

  "Well remember that crazy story I told you? This is a lot bigger than just me. And those of us that were part of the experiment and came back have had a little help from a certain group that was part of the experiment. That's why I have the business that I have now. And since I caused a ripple in time, they'd been keeping an eye on me just to make sure nothing weird happened, which is what happened the other day.”

  "These people are I think my friends, but I suspect they're also dangerous. I just want to make sure that you and the kids stay safe.”

  "So, what happens now?"

  "Well, apparently I have to help them undo some of this. It shouldn't be dangerous and I'm not too worried about it, but I'm going to have to go to the city. I'm going to meet with those Genentech guys again. This group has a plan for not necessarily erasing my genetic past, but rather altering it so that it seems normal. We just need to pretend things are normal. I do not doubt that these people have more money than they know what to do with.

  "Well, I'm pretty sure they know what to do with their money.
They have essentially unlimited resources and are capable of just about anything. Don't assume anything.” "So, what should I tell the kids?"

  "Well, I would tell the same thing that I told Shirley because I know she's got a big mouth anyway. I told her that when I was, I was in the military with some projects involving national security. Occasionally they need to involve me in some activities and that's why the two men showed up.”

  "So, she thinks you're a spy.”

  "Yeah, basically.”

  "I suppose being a 50-year-old liar is better than being 100-year-old time traveler.”

  "You do have a point there.”

  "Okay.”

  "Well, let's keep up the ruse and tell the kids that I'm back. I do have to probably go to New York City sometime this week. There are some things we have to set up and we will go from there.”

  "All right.”

  "Love you.”

  "Glad you're back.”

  "Glad you're safe.”

  Kelly headed off to work. I hopped in the shower and got cleaned up and got dressed and headed back to the office for my weekly meeting with staff. We went over everything as if nothing had happened. I said I had to go out of town for a couple of days unexpectedly and all was well. Nobody said anything. The Rochester project and the Connecticut project were both moving forward. We had a lot of work ahead of us. There were a couple of appointments I had coming up in the city, so I might be out of the office for a little bit. But, otherwise, everything was moving smoothly.

  So, meeting adjourned. I headed back to my office and Shirley goes, "Right - meetings and more spy stuff.”

  "I said Shirley we can't talk about this. All right?"

  "Yes, boss.”

  "Okay.”

  I shut my door and picked up one of the business cards from the Genentech guys that had been here a few days earlier and I called him.

  "Hi this is Mister Tyler"

  "Oh yes, sir. Did you change your mind?"

  "No, actually I need to talk to you a little bit more about my results and I probably need to do it in person. Is there a time we can meet this week?"

  "Oh yes. How does 10 o'clock on Thursday sound?"

  "Perfect. I will be there, and we'll talk then.”

  No sooner did I hang up the phone but my cell phone rings. I grabbed the phone. Unknown caller.

  "Hello.”

  "That was perfect.”

  "What was perfect?"

  "Your call to Genentech."

  "Henry?"

  "Yeah, of course this is Henry. Who the hell did you think it was?"

  "You listen to my office phone calls too.”

  "Of course. We listen to everything.”

  "Is that even legal?"

  "Probably not, but we don't follow U.S. laws or any laws for that matter. You've got the USB drive and the instructions, and I think that's all you need. You should be in good shape.”

  "All right.”

  What about the distraction?"

  "Oh, you'll know, it'll be fine. See you Thursday.”

  "Wait, what?"

  I hate being the only one at the table that doesn't know the game.

  Chapter 18 - Headed Uptown

  I probably could have walked to the local train station, but Stephanie wanted access to the car, so she dropped me off. I got on the train and headed to New York City. I was dreading whatever was going to happen. I didn't know what was going to happen in the lobby. I noticed the janitor that looked vaguely familiar as I was looking around wondering when Henry was going to show up. I checked in with security and they directed me to the elevator and sent me upstairs to the 22nd floor. The secretary said, "Oh, hello, Mr. Tyler. The president and vice president will be with you in a couple of minutes. Can I get you some water? a muffin or something?"

  "No, I'm good. Actually, some water would be probably good."

  "Sure, no problem.”

  So Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dee showed up. I didn't even get their names this time.

  "Glad you came in. This is very exciting for us. Dave couldn't join us this morning, but he briefed us on your situation. Would you like to have the tour now?"

  " No that’s not necessary. Can we talk in the president's office?"

  We stepped in and closed the door.

  “I probably should explain my situation. I have a rare genetic anomaly that I discovered several years ago. I know what it looks like in your system. It's something that we've wanted to keep private just because it would probably attract media attention because it looks like something impossible.”

  "Well, as far as I know, it's a mistake in how the genome is sequenced, but I don't know any more than that.”

  About that time the vice president Tweedle Dee's cell phone went off. "Hello?"

  "Yes. This is your son's school.”

  "What happened?"

  "He got hit by a car.”

  "Is he all right? Oh, thank God.”

  “Just a few scratches. All right."

  "I'm sorry I have to leave. You probably just heard what happened. But my son was hit in the parking lot by a car that sped away. It was great meeting you. I'm sorry we couldn't help you publicize your results, but I understand completely that you don't want the media attention. As the VP hastily left the president's office, a girl with a cart of pastries walked in. I recognized Kennedy immediately but did not say anything.

  The President goes, "Oh, you're not my usual pastry person.”

  "No, I'm just here for the day filling in. I understand you like blueberry muffins.”

  "Oh yes, of course.”

  She handed the president of Blueberry Muffin and said, "Anything for you sir?"

  "No, I'm fine. Thank you very much.”

  "Are you sure we can't convince you to let us publicize your information? It would help us as a company to publicize something like this. He took a bite of his muffin and sat back.” I said, "I'm not one much for fanfare. I had a parade when I returned from Iraq and I think that's enough fanfare for me.”

  The president started to say, "I under…" and got a funny look on his face and I said, "Are you okay?" And he says, "I don't, I don't think so. I'll be right back.”

  As he ran at a sprint, probably to the nearest restroom, I knew that was my cue. I moved to his computer, which luckily it was on and not password protected at the moment. I inserted the thumb drive. Thankfully they had no lockdowns on this. Kennedy stuck her head in and says, "you've got five minutes tops and I'm here if you need me.” The program loaded a countdown timer and started doing whatever it was going to do. I don't know all the details, but I could tell that it was working in the background. I pretended to be looking out the window as I was glancing back at the computer timer as it counted down from five minutes.

  At about the three-minute mark, the president showed up back to the office. "Wow. I don't know what that was. I must've eaten something. I'm not feeling good.” But the thumb drive was still stuck in the backside of his computer. Luckily, he didn't see it because it was blocked by a picture of his wife and kid.

  "Are you sure there's not anything we can do to convince you? I mean, this is pretty big for us. Ut oh, I'll be right back.” He ran for the door again. I had two minutes left as I watched the countdown timer wind down. As it hit zero a picture of a toaster popped up and toast popped out. All done.” I'm thinking this has got to be Henry's sense of humor.

  When he came back again for the second time, he says, "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling well today, but I thank you for coming in. I appreciate you sharing your information with us and I wish you and your family well. Good luck.” As I headed towards the elevator, I ran into Kennedy.

  "It should be fine. Their tape drive will fail later today. So, any of the backups they had of the original data, for the past week should be destroyed.” As I got in the elevator she said, "That's it. You did a great job with phase one",

  "Phase one?" I said, as the door's closed.

  Chapter 19 - The Ride Home<
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  I felt pretty good, although I felt bad for the vice president whose son got hit and the president who was probably still in the bathroom, I thought things were over. Then I got a call from Henry, "Hey, great job in there. The backups just failed. They're working on putting things back together. Everything seems to be on track. And you may see a little article in the paper. We helped with a little back story for you just in case. So, there's a BBC article about, some genetic changes that took place in Great Britain around 2450 BCE, which is about the time that you were there."

  "So, this is all real. Did I cause that?"

  "Probably! You may have also decimated the local population, thanks to some viruses that you may have carried back with you. But it's all part of history now as so don't worry too much about it. And if you are worried about the girl, there's like a 90% chance she survived because your child lived long enough to have children as well. That wouldn't have happened if mom wasn't around for the first few years."

  I guess that made me feel better about possibly wiping out an indigenous culture.

  "And, there's a plus that you've got a story in the paper. So, if this thing comes up again, anyone researching it would find a group of nomads from the Anatolian Plateau entered the British Isles around 2450 BCE and dismiss that the DNA change was attributed to you"

  "And you just happen to have this lying around?"

  "Well, we do have a variety of things available for emergencies. And when you first came to our attention, we did some research around the timeframe just so we know what the impact was of your arrival and subsequent departure might've been on the local population.”

  "You can't feel too bad about it. It has happened many times before with Columbus and others. I don't even think that many people were affected. There may have been other things going on at the same time, so it may just be a coincidence. The DNA part is real, but I think we have that covered at this point. At least you don't have to pay child support."