by VK Fourstone
“Enough said,” Isaac commented, giving Michelle a peck on the cheek. “Professor, it looks like the problem can be solved. I think that so far the new system is only in the major terminals, and they haven’t got around to the private flights yet. Now, where do you get these private jets?”
“There are lots of different brokerage companies. And by the way, since they fly all around the world, they’re not limited by time zones. They work right round the clock. You could call right this minute.”
“It can’t be true,” Bikie exclaimed in delight. “I’m going to fly to America on a private jet!”
“Michelle, honey, you’re just a marvel! Could you give me the phone number of one of these brokers? Now, since that commissioner’s opened up to you so much, you‘d better go back to him, will you?”
Michelle went back to their prisoner. He hadn’t made much progress with filling out his application.
“Thanks for the warning, the problem has been solved. They’ll fly out tomorrow or on Sunday.”
“And Link?”
“Link too. It’s a pity you’re on the other side, commissioner. But don’t worry. We’ll manage.”
“It’s hard not to worry. Isaac is a wanted man from Monday in any case. They’ll soon figure out where he flew to. I’ll be missed after a couple of days. It won’t be easy for him to avoid being noticed in New York. He’s taking a great risk. If I had a chance to cancel my request, it would simplify everything,” said the commissioner, testing the water.
“And is that possible?”
“It is until Monday.”
“But why do we have to let you go?” asked Michelle with a smirk.
“Yes. Can I trust you, mademoiselle Blanche?”
“That’s depends what you have in mind, commissioner.”
“You’re Isaac’s girlfriend, right? Or Bikie’s? Maybe you could have a word with them?”
“Be more specific, commissioner. I’m not a stupid girl.”
“I’d like to come to an agreement with them. I’ve done some thinking in here, weighed everything up. I’m willing to cooperate, to help,” he added humbly.
“To help us?” Michelle asked, trying to show genuine amazement.
“Yes, you. If the professor isn’t lying, if he has returned Pascal’s energy correctly, then I understand his desire to stop everything. And I understand that going to the police is too risky. I’m not trying to trick you. If there was a lie detector here, you could easily make sure of that. I’m being sincere. I always quickly figure out the new circumstances, I'm a policeman, skilled and experienced. Could you act as intermediary in negotiations about this?”
“You know, I believe you. Realizing what is really going on, any decent person would join our side. But why would you need an intermediary? Just talk to them directly! Just don't lie. We studied your profile, Isaac knows that you were awarded as a skillful negotiator. Speak yourself.”
“That’s what you think?”
“I’m certain of it.”
Michelle returned to the pool and told the guys about the Pellegrini's offer. Bikie suggested they use the lie detector, but they couldn't get it now. The Professor could assemble it, but then he'd have to take apart the hacking device and it takes too much time.
Five minutes later everyone gathered once again in the room where the bound commissioner was sitting.
“Isaac, professor, I want to help you. For that you have to let me go.”
“Why would you help us, Pellegrini?” Bikie asked. “Are we supposed to trust you immediately and let you go? What if you are lying?”
“It doesn’t look like he’s lying,” Link put in. “I can tell from his gestures and expressions.”
“I’m definitely not lying,” Pellegrini replied. “Then why would I have warned you that you are wanted?”
“In order not to become a Happy forever.”
“Of course, I don’t want to be a Happy, especially after what you’ve told me. But there are other reasons. If I don’t recall my request, you’ll have almost no chance in America.”
“But if we let you go, then you’re not risking anything.”
“You can let me go after you’ve flown out and landed. You will be on the wanted list if I’ve lied to you, but if I have not, you have a chance. You don’t lose anything.”
“You’ve seen all the others. They’re taking risks.”
“I give you my word as an officer. Who was the first person you pulled out, Isaac? Your friend Pascal. I have a lot of old colleagues among the Happies now. Do you think I don’t give a damn for them? I joined the police to fight crime. I worked in the Drug Control Department for a long time and have never sworn an oath of loyalty to the Agency, I did swear it to the people, to my friends and to myself.”
“You sound convincing. But I’ve learned from personal experience that you know how to say what’s needed to convince a person or put him at ease.”
“Yes, Isaac, I’m a professional. That’s true. And believe me, I’m willing to do more. Not just cancel the request, but also help you to carry out your plan.”
“Commissioner, think about how to reduce our risks. You know your own weak spots best.”
“Very well. I’ll think about it. But you think about it too.”
“Agreed. I’d like to trust you. But it’s not easy; after all, I am putting my friends at risk.”
They all went out to the pool to consult, leaving the commissioner with Michelle. They really wanted to believe him. And after all, it wasn’t clear what to do with him if they didn’t. They couldn’t kill him, could they? And they had nowhere to download him to. If they left him tied up here, of course he would be missed and sooner or later he would be found. His notes probably included the facts about where Isaac worked, he had asked that at the first interview. And who would stay behind to give the commissioner food and drink?
What they needed badly was some proof that the commissioner was ready to switch over to their side.
“The commissioner and I have an idea!” said Michelle, coming back to the pool.
“Both of you? Are you already in league?” Isaac laughed.
“No. But I trust him and I’m concerned about you.”
“And I’m concerned about you, hon. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got good lawyers, and I haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t kidnap the commissioner, I didn’t participate in anything. Yes, I was there. But whoever said I agreed with what you were doing? My lawyer will definitely get me off. What could I do about it? I’m just a frail, beautiful girl.” Michelle wound her arms around Isaac’s neck again and kissed him.
“OK, let’s go and listen to this idea of you two.”
“My computer is in my hotel room,” Pellegrini began. “It is locked but I will give you the password. But the computer has to be brought here anyway. The key to my room is in my back pants pocket. The Marriott Hotel, Room 414.”
Isaac nodded to Bikie, who reached into the commissioner’s back pocket and pulled out a plastic key card.
“Please bring the computer, Bikie.”
“OK, boss,” said Bikie, saluting Isaac playfully.
“Then what, commissioner?”
“Next comes the second level of protection – my iris. We’ll scan it in with the web camera to gain entry into the operational database. Then the third level – my fingerprint. That has to be scanned in too. Then we’ll enter the 24-digit password for the database, and you’ll gain access to it. That’s the highest level of security! It’s only accessible to department heads, and not to all of them, as well as the Minister of Defense and his deputies and the Minister of the Interior. Only files with individual access are a higher level. If anyone finds out that I gave away the codes, I’m done for. I will be an encyclopedic example of treason, that will get into all textbooks on criminology. I will go under trial and suffer terrible shame. There can be no reason that would justify me revealing this information
. With my password, you can even look up undercover agents. You’ll be able to cancel the request about Isaac and even alter all the interview reports. I’ll show you how.”
“What, do we still have undercover agents?” asked Isaac.
“We do. And the remnants of the mafia still exist. In Japan, I recall, the download is prohibited. And tattooing is prohibited there as well,” said the Commissioner looking at the blue skull tattooed on Bikie's shoulder. “After that, consider me your hostage until the end of my life. If anyone ever finds out that I gave you the passwords, I am history. They would have shot me for that before. But even now it’s a sure court-martial. And the sentence will be downloading for treason.”
“Very convincing. Just one question. How can we check that the 24-digit isn’t a false one and an alarm signal?”
“There’s no way. But then, you can do all of this when you are already in America. And if you fly out tomorrow, we will have enough time.”
Despite Bikie’s protests, he did not get a chance of flying a private jet. They decided that it would be too risky for everyone to travel together. So Isaac and Bikie will take a passenger flight two hours after the private jet carrying Link and Pascal will have left.
Still the passenger flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy airport would arrive earlier than the others. They had only a brief connection in Paris, whereas Link and Pascal were going the long way via Miami. Not to mention that the most time gained would come from Isaac and Bikie taking the brand-new supersonic Concorde-100 between Paris and New York, an upgraded version of the famous old Concorde that was in service in the late 20th century. Thanks to Einsteiner, the shortcomings of the previous version have been eliminated, and three hour long transatlantic flights again became a reality.
Michelle had to stay in Monaco. Someone had to make sure that Pellegrini would indeed cancel the request. She promised not to fly to America, but Isaac didn’t believe her. He suspected that she wouldn’t keep her word. He was worried about it, of course, but on the other hand he felt glad.
“We’ll be in the US tonight, the homeland of Harley!” Bikie exclaimed, interrupting Isaac’s train of thought. “I’ve waited so long for this!”
“Me too,” Isaac said with a smile. “We’ve almost reached the goal.”
On consideration Pellegrini offered to follow them to America, a major breakthrough. He would help avoid suspicion in the US. They had very little information about the New York storage facility; a lot of things would have to be assessed on the spot. Pellegrini promised to arrange an official visit for himself to the New York branch of the Agency within a couple of days, and that would give him an opportunity to examine the building from the inside.
“Well done Link,” Isaac thought. “What a brain!” Isaac himself had been going through an agony, trying to think of how to break away from the policeman’s pursuit, but the professor succeeded in turning him into a teammate.
“The former enemy is now an enlightened ally,” Link announced triumphantly as he shook Pellegrini’s free hand in farewell. “And ‘former’ is the important word here. The fact that the commissioner has come over to our side is a message to the world. We are on the right road, my friends. If the system is overthrown, no one will ever want to download OE again. The Veggies look happy and satisfied, they are often rich, and so people got confused. But it’s a deception, isn’t it, Pascal? You are also a vivid example testifying that the system must be destroyed.”
12
On the Paris-New York flight, they managed to get a couple of hours of sleep in comfort. Pascal was generous enough to buy business-class tickets for his rescuers. They didn’t run into any storms or turbulence and were able to get some rest and put their thoughts in order. Before they found themselves working together, each of them was used to being a loner in his own way, Isaac thought. During the three months together they had too much of each other and some tension was creeping in, despite the high spirits. Bikie was absorbed in his own thoughts too. Each of them felt like resting alone.
Isaac was pretty exhausted by Vicky’s illness and the search for Link; the dangerous operation to return Pascal’s creativity felt like the final straw for him. But then it continued: the police interviews, the undertaking not to leave the area, the need to make quick pivotal decisions. Even the relationship with Michelle didn’t make it any easier, positive emotions are still emotions and a stress on the nervous system. Three months of regular exercise had shaped him up; he looked trim and fit, but at the same time he had fatigue bags under his eyes.
Isaac has assembled the team, they all saw him as a leader and that was far from being simple. They were all temperamental, self-assured and egocentric. He thought, it was hard to carry this weight, when each of them had his own opinion and sometimes didn’t actually regard him as the boss. They were all equal: Bikie totally independent, Link a genius, not accepting any authority over himself. Pascal had come from the past, when they were friends and on equal footing. He was not disposed to appreciate the subtleties of a command hierarchy; he was too often immersed in grief over loosing Eva “just yesterday”. And now he was the source of the team’s funding, which put him in a privileged position too.
To be quite honest, Isaac was looking forward to going to America also in order to zone out and unwind a bit, not just urgently save the world. Vicky’s operation has now been paid for, so why should he be in a hurry?
In the meantime, Link and Pascal have also done their part of the work – they combined the hacking device with the amplifier, so that the orange energy could be now be returned to all Happies within a radius of thirty to forty kilometers. In densely populated New York, that ought to be enough for thousands of people to get their former creativity back. And that would be enough to spark off a massive wave of protest.
Focusing on his own condition, Isaac was surprised that he had absolutely no fear of failure, probably because he was so tired. “Don’t relax, just a bit longer now,” he told himself in an effort to liven his spirits up. “Get a grip on yourself, pay attention and be cautious! The last thing you want is to wind up in jail right at the finish.” Of course, America was not China, where even relatively minor crimes were punishable by compulsory downloading, but they were not particularly fond of terrorists here too.
The John F. Kennedy Airport looked different from the European ones. A bit on the dirty side, without superfluous luxury, but very functional. It had impressive dimensions; before reaching passport control, he and Bikie walked at least a kilometer. The flow of passengers was immense, with flights coming in from almost every corner of the world. They could see crowds of Asians, Europeans and Latin Americans. Judging from the tags on the hand luggage, there were arrivals from Tunisia and Kenya. Everyone was eager to come to America. And a whole heap of automated systems was used in the airport to process these crowds rapidly.
The corridors were full of cameras, detectors and scanners with red crosses measuring passengers' temperature for signs of infection; the scanners often blinked green. A monitor responded to Bikie with a yellow signal. Paramedics immediately approached him and asked to walk through a glass door into a parallel corridor.
“Why?” Isaac protested. “What’s happened?”
“Everything’s all right, sir. The sensor indicated that your friend has a high temperature. We have to carry out an additional minor check,” a paramedic replied politely.
“Can I go with him?”
“No, sorry, you’ll meet up again later at the meeting point after the customs check. He’ll be just fine, I assure you.”
“Everything’s OK, Isaac, I really am feeling a bit funny,” Bikie muttered morosely. I’ll call you when I’m out.
They led him away.
Isaac started walking faster. He wanted to get out of this airport with all its bells and whistles as soon as possible. After a hundred meters, the corridor widened out and everybody walked, one at a time, into the gateway for hand luggage check. There were several dozen gates. �
��Exactly like a highway toll terminal in France,” thought Isaac. Hanging on the walls were numerous posters warning of things that couldn’t be brought into the USA.
Isaac joined one of the lines, with about ten people ahead of him. While he waited he could watch the way the gateway worked. The booth was made completely of glass or some transparent plastic. A newly arrived passenger went in at one side, the door closed and some kind of scanner swiveled around him. If everything was all right, a door opened at the other side and the person could walk on. Occasionally a light on the booth started blinking, and police officers walked up from the other side. In the next channel a passenger was found to have food products that were illegal to import. They confiscated them and led the poor wretch away to file a report. The next passenger also turned out to be an offender – the gateway sounded a piercing and revolting alarm. Half a dozen police officers rushed to him from the exit side. Another two elbowed their way through the crowd from Isaac’s side.
The young guy in the gate started thrashing about and cursing hysterically, trying to break out. He pounded on the glass with his fists and kicked it, but it didn’t even shake.
The policeman standing beside Isaac giggled fiendishly. He and his partner were talking quietly and Isaac tried to listen in, but he couldn’t make anything out properly, except for the word “cocaine”. The policemen were absolutely calm, and it was soon clear why. Gas was fed into the gateway through an opening from above. The criminal jerked a couple of times and rapidly went limp. The gas was immediately pumped out, the door was opened and the body was carried off along that parallel corridor. The policemen went back to their places. The entire operation had taken no more than five minutes, right before the eyes of the astounded public. “Mmm, yes,” thought Isaac, “rapid, effective and very instructive.”
Having successfully passed through the gate, Isaac joined the line for passport control. After that, all he had to do was collect his baggage, which he brought along more in order to avoid looking suspicious by traveling light than for any real need. Standing there on his own, Isaac felt nervous about Bikie. Sunday became six hours longer, in theory Isaac could not be put on the wanted list until Monday. Pascal and Link texted him that they had successfully crossed the border in the VIP hall for private flights in Miami – everything was just as Michelle had said it would be – and were waiting for a flight to New York.
