"Why is that?"
"He's not telekinetic."
"General Carver," Jeff said. "I don't mean to be rude, but what was the purpose of bringing me down here?"
"So there will be no more secrets between us, Mr. Walker. I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
"I don't follow you."
"How does one travel through wormholes?"
"I told you, I don't know. I've never actually built such a device, and I don't know how they'll get on your ships in the near future either."
"Perhaps you or Avery built them, or maybe even the Grey. Maybe he was meant to be here, like you were?"
"I don't think so," Jeff stated. "I think Varloo has something to do with it."
"But you said the Averys built them."
"Yes, but I think they were directed to."
"Well then," Carver laughed. "We've wasted too much time down here. We have to make sure that the Averys aren't left alone. After you."
Carver directed him back up the stairway, and into the hallway, which
headed back to the propulsion laboratory. They entered an elevator which went down two floors, and onto a ramp, leading to where the onboard fusion reactor was being built. They entered, and they were greeted by Angelica and Major Walker, who oversaw the technicians working on the craft.
"Hello again, Mr. Barkley," Angelica said.
"Hello, Angelica. Major Walker."
"Where is your father?" Carver asked. "I need to speak with him."
"He's down in the genetics lab again."
"Why?" Carver asked. "Isn't he supposed to be up here?"
"Yes."
"Never mind, I'll speak with him myself. When do you think you'll have the fusion reactor finished?"
"In about two weeks. If all goes well."
"Very good. Mr. Barkley will be working with the two of you today. Give him your full cooperation and guidance. I want him to know as much as he needs to know on how to pilot the craft."
"Yes, Sir," Major Tom Walker answered, and Carver left the large compartment and into the elevator.
"What did you do to make him believe your not nuts?" Angelica said.
"Let's just say we came to an agreement," Jeff said.
"He came to an agreement with you?" she laughed. "You must have had some good bargaining power."
"You were going to tell me about the reactor, and how it works."
"Yes," Captain Tom Walker said. "The fusion is necessary to propel the ship fast enough until the antimatter drive kicks in. After that the warp engine takes over. Angelica knows most of the physics involved with the theory."
Jeff glanced at the reactor-engine, and noticed Cely was working on a panel next to it. He walked over to him, and stared at his face closely. It seemed the same as if he saw it four months before. The android stopped, and turned towards him.
"Is there something you need to ask me, Sir?" he asked.
"No," Jeff said. "Just looking." He went back to what he was doing. It was him, all right, but he seemed more mechanical than the old Cely.
"Seems almost human, doesn't he?" Angelica said.
"Not exactly," Jeff said. "He seems more like a robot to me."
"He's an android, not a robot," she answered. "He's only that way temporarily. Tomorrow is the big day. Once his AI chip is put in, he'll be almost as human as you and I."
"When did your father develop this AI chip?"
"Why is that important?" Major Walker asked.
"I just need to know, that's all."
"Just before I finished Cely," Angelica said.
"Did you have a name for him then?"
"What's this all about?" Major Walker asked.
"No, I didn't," Angelica said. "Why is that so important?"
"How long are you going to listen to this nut?" Major Tom Walker asked, and walked out. He could see his grandfather's left eyebrow raise, which he often did when he became upset. "You do what you want, I've got things to do." He went back to working on another circuit board on the other side of the compartment.
"Where did his name come from? Did your father suggest his name?"
"Cely is short for Mr. Cellophane, from the Broadway musical Chicago."
"That's funny, you don't seem like an old fashioned girl."
"In some ways I am, at least when it comes to music."
"How about meeting you both for dinner tonight? Maybe your father can join us as well?"
"My father has too much work to do. But my husband will be there. We're in sector four, level two."
"I'm looking forward to it," Jeff said.
Later that evening, Jeff laid out his blue suit they gave him to wear. While he got dressed, he thought if he stayed here permanently for any reason, he'd like a gray one as well.
As he left, Kaleigh was at the front desk.
"My, you look dapper tonight, Mr. Barkley," she said.
"Thank you," he said. "I really like the material. Well, have a good evening."
He went down to the section where Angelica resided. When she opened the door, he was stunned by her beauty. She wore a dark red dress, long silver ear rings, and her dark black hair was in a bun.
"Good evening, Ms. Avery," Jeff said.
"Hello, Mr. Barkley," she said. "Please, call me Angel."
"All right," Jeff answered. "You can call me Jack." As he looked
around, he didn't see his grandfather anywhere in the apartment. "Where's your fiancé?"
"He and my father had to work late. He won't be joining us. Come on in. Besides, this will give us a chance to get to know each other, Jack. Or would you rather tell me your real name?"
"No, not particularly. Is he okay with us?" Jeff asked. "I wouldn't want to interfere with your relationship."
"Oh, it's perfectly all right," she explained. "He doesn't mind. He trusts me completely."
"He thought I was insane earlier," Jeff joked.
"I talked about it with him, and he's calmed down a bit."
"Women always did have their way with him."
"There you go talking like it's the past again. You're so mysterious."
"What's for dinner?"
"Chicken pasta Florentine," Angelica said.
"You must have your sources as well. I've heard meat is a delicacy here."
"It is," she said, and walked to the bar. "Would you like a drink?"
"Yes, scotch on the rocks is fine," Jeff said, as he glanced over her china cabinet and the degrees on the wall. "Very impressive. A degree in genetic engineering, a masters in astrophysics, and a masters in anthropology. And how old are you?"
"Only twenty two," she stated, as she smiled. "I'm very ambitious."
"Yes, I can see that."
"Now that we're alone, why are you so interested in my android?"
"Direct and to the point, heh?" Jeff set his drink on the table. "I have reason to believe someone is going to tamper with your android. Or should I say, something."
"Make some sense, will you."
"What I'm about to tell you, you may think is unbelievable. I'm here to tell you that's not the case. Thirty five years ago, an alien craft crashed in the desert just outside the base. Your General Carver retrieved it and brought it here, as well as its occupant. His name was Varloo."
"Varloo?" Angelica laughed. "My fiancé's right, you are nuts?"
"I'm telling you the truth. Carver's been hiding it from you. Ask your father."
"What's my father got to do with it?"
"He was found on the craft as an eight year boy who went missing for ten years. Carver told me himself."
"If my father knew anything about it, he would've told me. We don't
keep secrets from each other."
"You'll soon find he's keeping a lot of things from you."
"You're talking weird again. Just who the hell are you really, if you're not Jack Barkley?"
"I can't tell you that. Just trust that I'm here to help you. Anyway, this Varloo did something to your father to gi
ve him incredible knowledge. It must be genetic, because it passed on to you as well."
"You're telling me I'm part alien?"
"That's what I'm telling you." She began to laugh wildly, then changed her tone to anger.
"Get out!" she said.
"Please, Ms. Avery, listen to me. Varloo is going to tamper with the AI chip by placing destructive information into it, including the formula for a telekinetic drug called Triachilite, as well as cloning information for an alien hybrid."
"There is no such drug," she barked.
"Not in this universe."
"You really are crazy, aren't you? Maybe I should call Dr. Reynolds, and have you committed."
"While your at it, ask him about the alien he and the general have locked up in the lab down there."
"You're lying, although I don't know why you'd make up such a story."
"What about if I can show you?"
"How? That area's off limits, even to me."
"Do you have any recording equipment around? Cameras?"
"Yes, I have a pocket computer."
"If you lend it to me, I'll get your proof."
"You'll never get it past security."
"Leave that to me. Do you still want to throw me out?"
"I guess not," she said. "But don't get any ideas about seducing me."
"Don't worry," he said. "I'm already married, and I'm not that kind of a man. Besides, we share a common bond that prevents me from having any kind of indiscretions with you."
"You're a complicated man, Jack, or whatever you call yourself. What else do I need to know about my android?"
"That he may eventually save both of our lives. But you must talk to your father, and discourage him from this cloning project, and from piloting the craft. If he succeeds, it may mean the end of the human race."
"What the hell are you talking about? If he doesn't pilot the craft, it
will mean the end of the human race. "
"Trust me, he has nothing but contempt for the human race. They have treated him more like a lab experiment than a human being."
"That's not true," she said. "People have been good to him!"
"As long as he follows their orders. But he won't, because he's got his own agenda. You have to keep him away from the genetics division."
"He's trying to find a cure to his disease."
"And he'll find it one day, but at a price."
"What do you mean?"
"It will cost him his humanity, and create a race of alien hybrids."
"How do you know all this?"
Jeff felt himself at odds about how to answer. Carver already knew his secret, but he didn't want to tell her for fear that it would alter her future or decision making in the near future. It was obvious she thought he made it all up, and was crazy.
"I have the gift of clairvoyance," he told her. "I'm able to see things in advance."
"If you do, what am I about to say?"
"It doesn't work like that."
"I'm beginning to believe you're just here to interfere with our project."
"Now why would I want to do that?"
"You tell me. Perhaps your from a foreign government, like Russia, or a terrorist organization."
"You know as well as I governments as they once existed no longer are around. Why can't you except the truth."
"That my father and I are aliens? That's just preposterous."
"I didn't say that," Jeff explained. "I said he somehow passed his knowledge to you both, probably through your blood. You're only part-alien."
"When my father stops by later, we'll clear this up."
"No!" Jeff yelled. "He can't know I spoke to you about this. He's not going to listen, and if he's not already, will be under the direction of an alien entity. Please, believe me, I'll get the proof you need to be convinced. Until then, please listen."
"You're so much like Thomas," she smiled. "Very well. Until you can show me proof, I'll have to trust you. But I expect something by tomorrow, or all bets are off." She handed him the pocket computer. "You
press this app here to take a video. Don't lose it, please. It costs a lot of money."
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll bring it back with a real live alien."
They finished their dinner, and Jeff said goodbye. As he turned the corner, and dropped out of sight, Major Tom Walker walked down the hall towards Angelica's place. He knocked on the door, and Angelica opened it.
"Darling," she said. "I've been waiting for you."
"Yea, and our new visitor, as well, I see," he said, jealous.
"What are you talking about, Dear?"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about! What was he doing here?"
"I invited him to dinner with us. I couldn't help it if you and my father had more important things to do. He needed to discuss a few things with me. I don't think I like your tone of voice. What kind of woman do you think I am? And you didn't even tell me how I look."
"I'm sorry, Honey. You look beautiful, as always. I don't know where your father is," he stated. "But I've been down trying to fix a glitch on the reactor."
"I thought he was with you?"
"Last time I saw him, he was heading towards the genetic division."
"The genetics division?"
She began to wonder if maybe this Jack Barkley was right, and her
father went mad. He was supposed to be with Tom trying to finish the reactors on both ships. Even if he was working on a vaccine, he was spending too much time down there, and it was becoming an obsession.
Tomorrow was Cely's big day, and she wanted to be sure nobody interfered with the implementation of the chip, even her father. If what Barkley said was true, she couldn't even let him be near it. For the first time in her life, she was actually scared of him. If he was right, the loving father she thought she knew was really just one big liar, and the most dangerous person she ever met.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
That same evening, Carver noticed the genetics division was breached after regular hours. The lab was only supposed to be open in the day, but Avery, having access occasionally worked later hours. He specifically told him to stay out of the lab for the next month, until they finished the spaceships. When he found him down there, working, he was rather upset. He noticed he was talking aloud, apparently to another person.
"Avery, I thought I told you this area was off limits," he said. "Do I have to take away your access codes? Why do you waste your time down here with the monkeys anyway?"
"There apes, not monkeys," Avery said. "Chimpanzees, to be exact."
"Whatever," Carver sneered. "They give me the creeps."
"They're not exactly fond of you either," Avery said. "Rocco and Clyde are sensitive creatures. They know when they're being insulted."
"I need those fusion drives done by next week, understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
"How did the demonstration go the other day?"
"As well as could be expected."
"I talked with Dr. Reynolds the other day, and Sarah is doing much better."
"You aren't just telling me that to calm my nerves, are you?"
"No, she really is. She came out of her coma yesterday."
"When can I see her?"
"That's up to you. Are you going to continue this useless effort to find a cure for your incurable disease, or are you going to complete the bigger picture, and save mankind from extinction?"
"Maybe man needs to be extinct," Dr. Avery jested.
"I can't tell you what to do. I've made threats, and you've ignored them, even at the risk of having yourself committed. If you continue down this path, I'll have to find someone else to help us complete the project, like your daughter."
"If you have me committed, she'll never agree to it."
"Then I'll get some other brilliant scientist to help us. Our time is running short, and I don't have time to argue with you."
"Who are you going to get to replace my daughter and I? You know we b
oth have special talents. What are you afraid of, General, that Varloo may soon be at your doorstep?"
"Why do you think that? Has he spoken with you? Was he the one you were talking to before I came?"
Avery laughed, as Rocco placed his arm onto his. "I was talking to my friends here."
"Well, say goodnight to your friends, and get some rest. I'll see you in the morning in the rocket chamber of Titan II to finish the fusion drive. Tomorrow afternoon, you can see your sister, but I must tell you, there's been some brain damage."
"Brain damage? How severe?"
"She's lost control of her reasoning functions, and some motor functions."
"So she's basically a vegetable?"
"I'm sorry," Carver said. "The doctors did all they could for her. Get some rest, and I'll see you in the morning."
"Yes, General."
Avery knew Carver and Dr. Reynolds were responsible for his sister's condition, and would use any leverage they could to keep him there so they could use his "special gift."
After he left the area, the General stayed, and stared at the two chimpanzees. He smiled, as Clyde smiled back at him. "And you guys are supposed to be cloned into some kind of monsters? You look as harmless as a child."
He was startled when he heard a clanging sound in the hallway, like metal dropping. He pulled out his pistol, carefully opened the door, and headed towards a backroom in the lab. He pointed his gun into the room, but there was nothing there, then looked at the vent, which wasn't tampered with.
He came back out, looked around the main lab, and then down the other hallway, which also was empty. He checked the three rooms in the back, and found nothing. After he checked the fourth room, he found a tray knocked over on the floor. he decided it must have fallen from excessive weight, so he left the lab, placed his gun back in its sheath, shut down the lights, and reset the code. He pressed the intercom next to the lab door.
"Frank? This is Al, are you there?"
"Do you have any idea what time it is? Why are you waking an old man up in the middle of the night for?"
"It's our friend," Carver said. "Get some men together with the liquid nitrogen weapons, and meet me down in the special project section."
Dimension Lapse III: Dimensional Breakdown (Dimension Lapse Series Book 3) Page 16
