Thirty Four Minutes DEAD

by Kaye, Steve Hammond

  "Is this girl playing for real or what? If these are HVs then I'm Queen Anne fellas. I know heroin fucks you up, but this is ridiculous!”

  More irrelevant visuals appeared on the screen and then the team were rewarded with an image of clarity that disrupted the pastiche of sky gazing.

  The man approached Charlotte's location, with determined steps that implied he had a firm purpose in mind. Charlotte's memory camera scanned him in good detail, and his screen portrait illuminated a man of average height with fair hair and dark green eyes. He wore faded jeans and a casual black shirt. His words illuminated a psyche that was at odds with his innocuous appearance.

  "Hi Leah, how's things? Look I'm going to give it to you straight babes. Your clients are pissed off - two years ago you were their golden girl but you know how times change love, don't you? You see, Michelle and Becky are in demand right now and people are queuing for 'em. We're small right now love, there's little money and we've gotta..."

  The screen returned to darkness. Tavini couldn't contain his frustration.

  ""Oh come on girl, for fuck's sake. Don't black out on us now - tell us your story girl - damn you!”

  Ko-Chai felt impelled to interject with a more pragmatic explanation with regard to the lapse of images.

  "She may have died, David. Your project enthusiasm is well regarded by one and all, but at times you seem to forget moral niceties in your treatment of others".

  "Get real Mishimo man, we'll all weep for her later. This girl was finally coming up trumps with..."

  The girl's HVs returned to the screen and the mans voice was still evident.

  "Hey stay with me now, Leah. Come on, I've got you a little special something to let you know how much you really mean to me and the guys!"

  Leah's voice was the next sound to be heard with a fixed HV of the man accompanying its rendition.

  "You gotta still need me, Dave - you simply gotta. I mean I know I'm still clean. Yeah I need my scag but I'll cut down Dave, honest I will - you've gotta believe me Dave, once I'm back man, I'll stay golden - no I'll be even better Dave. I'll do fives man, and learn to keep it all down man - all down. Just give me some scut end or a nub because I'm your girl Dave - I wander man, but I'm your girl".

  "Leah you're always my golden one and to prove it I brought you something special. I'm just going to give you a little taster in the back of your neck love. It's liquid ice - a new kind of paradise. Now just lie back and relax. I owe you a holiday - yes you're still my golden one".

  The screen temporarily returned to darkness and then Leah's HV's returned.

  "What you doing, Dave? Who are they, man?”

  "Just lie back, Leah. I told you it was good stuff. These are two of my mates - Eddie and Felix".

  "Why are they putting them bones down near me, Dave. They're fucking scummy man. Where are they from - London fucking zoo?”

  "Relax, Leah honey. The lads are just feeding a couple of my doggies for me. You can feed 'em if you like, they'll be here soon - nice little doggies".

  "Okay Dave...see I love dogs...see I used to..."

  The images left the screen and the team hoped they wouldn't return, as they had seen Leah's corpse and could anticipate the HV outcome if she died at the hands of the dogs before the strychnine could finish her off. Despite this realisation they were still taken aback when the next slightly diminished HV did hit the screen.

  Less than three feet away from the parameters of Leah's memory camera stood a large dog, bedraggled but powerful in it's front quarters none the less. The dog was salivating with it's top lip curled and blood was splattered around it's mouth region. The HV was made particularly guignol as traces of a flesh like substance were rapidly being devoured by the said animal, and on the strands of the flesh in question hung an eye - a human eye! The morsel disappeared down the beast's throat.

  Leah had regained consciousness after the dog had gouged her eye from her! The growling of the dog which had been a consistent acoustic commentary was suddenly drowned out by a scream which reverberated around the exploration area, such was it's guttural magnitude. Leah's final words built her epitaph.

  "No - Jesus God - no. Dave I need you. Dave I need you - help me - my fucking eye - no!”

  The screen showed more dogs running toward Leah's spatial area. The camera then died visually, but the sounds of screaming and canine growling continued for a period of eleven seconds. It was the longest eleven seconds Gregory Vain had ever experienced, and when the girl was finally ‘counted out’ in twenty-seven minutes and eight seconds, all present uttered an audible sigh of relief. Case two had delivered the required murderer, but the team wished that the strychnine could have taken the girl before the victim had witnessed Dave's method of ‘cover up”. Mason rewound the gathered images. He preferred his choice of name for the victim. To him she was more of a ‘Charlotte’ than a ‘Leah”. The team members thought it bizarre that the man was bemoaning the unsuitability of her real name after the horror pertaining to the images they had just witnessed. Mason was weird in the eyes of most MC team members. As the team recovered, Vain made sure that the case study reference card was changed to reveal the young girl’s real name and not Mason's choice.

  Denison and Fray left the Demonstration area with the MC team, and all five entered a side room to discuss what had been visually extracted. Denison directed his initial comments to his new FBI recruit.

  "So there you have it, Vance. This show wasn't quite as polished as the Venison display but this girl was on the bottom rung - a junkie - and we still dragged enough visual information out of her mind to be able to operate the arrest method I told you about! You see what she gave us, Vance? We know the guy's first name, his face and we know two of his acquaintances by sight. The guy's operating base must be close to where Leah's corpse was found. A primed arrest squad will find him in no time".

  "Which line are we going to sink him with, Leif?”

  "No need for a line this time Vance. This guy won't have the type of legal back up Everett had. It will be a quick fire arrest and bang up, with the fucker DNA'd the following morning. He'll have his one phone call and our crew are going to be on the other end! Getting a confession out of this bastard is going to be a breeze, and we'll have more than enough matched up evidence when we finally hand him over to non-project security staff. What did you think of the horror film anyway?”

  "When the screen resolution dipped a bit, I first thought it was a technical shortcoming. Then I saw the eye! I mean that's the stuff of nightmares guys - it firmly shatters that ‘man's best friend’ crap! If the visuals had carried on with the sound near the end that would have been one sick showcase - it would have been like we were getting mauled guys with the dogs right on top of us! Pretty gruesome Mr Vain, but compulsive viewing - in a funny way I didn't want it to stop! I mean this is the ultimate scientific discovery, fellas!”

  Denison then released the MC team and they headed off to a recreational area within the Designation. Tavini was particularly impressed with the choice of decor prevalent in the expansive relaxation lounge, and as he proceeded to extol the virtues of the Art Nouveau style trappings. Tavini was composed of almost schizophrenic character traits. On the one hand he was the brash larger than life American, and yet occasionally he displayed a cultural sensitivity that was quite introverted in its application. It was when Tavini displayed this more reserved character facet that he and Ko-Chai were closest. As the two debated the merits of the lounge's colour scheme, Vain was left to reflect on what had been another successful MC exploration. He was deep in thought when Marcia Levene arrived on the scene.

  "A drink Greg. Well done - two in the bag already! I was wondering if you wanted to see the garden?”

  "Cheers for the drink Marcia. The garden? We're underground here, and I always thought Denison operated a twenty four hour ‘stay down’ curfew when we have to work in one of the underground Designations!”

  "Who said anything about breaking the curfew, Gr
eg? Come with me. This Designation was initially earmarked as a fall-out protection venue in the event of a nuclear holocaust, and it was set to house the elite. Obviously they have newer sites for that purpose now, and so our project freed up this location for our research. The good thing about this Designation as far as relaxation is concerned involves what was left behind, Greg. Come and see my micro-paradise!”

  Levene ushered Vain away from the relaxation area and he proceeded to follow her down several flights of stairs. At the bottom of the last flight Levene quickened her gait, eventually stopping in close proximity to a large black panelled area which had widened considerably in comparison to the narrow corridor they had previously been walking through. She turned to Vain and with an impish look made the following comment.

  "Well Greg - time for a surprise!”

  Levene inserted an identity card into a decoding panel on one of the wall sections. The applicable section withdrew, receding downwards into the floor. What was revealed seemed like a visual Arcadia - especially being placed in the confines of such a claustrophobic Designation.

  Marcia Levene had not been melodramatic with her ‘micro-paradise’ description. Her words had been a faithful pragmatic definition. The other side of the wall had revealed an ornate garden – about an acre in size. Vegetation from a variety of climates grew side by side with a compatibility that denied nature in terms of geographical location. The bias prevalent in the creator of this aesthetic construction involved a predomination of plants from tropical regions, and yet despite this, sections of a ‘quintessential’ England were in evidence on occasions. A small strip of dark green lawn was the most noticeable section of ‘little England’. An artificial brook meandered through the garden and a selection of classical statues were located along the sides of the marble pathways which marked the boundaries of Levene's paradise. Vain was surprised at the scale of the garden complex. Trees of considerable height stretched upward to the complex ceiling and a rain forest type foliage was the most consistent presence in relation to the wide spectrum of the plant life. The temperature was artificially regulated and although the tropical vegetation dictated that the level of heat reflected tropical climes foremost, the overall environment was balanced to a degree of comparative comfort. Levene paid testimony to her paradise.

  "Pretty therapeutic isn't it, Greg? When our project decided to take over ownership of this Designation, one of the salient reasons concerned this aesthetic complex. The prevailing line of opinion felt that in an underground locale, staff would need outlets. The curfews impinge upon a person's liberties and they could subsequently tarnish one's ability to perform efficiently. It was felt that we should retain this complex, as it added an ambient ingredient to an otherwise claustrophobic Designation. The nature of the design is interesting too, Greg. You see a lot of the respective flora and fauna isn't actually real, being composed of a variety of plastic-based materials. A hybrid creation like this one couldn't possibly survive in our 'real' world and so whilst the tropical elements are largely natural, the majority of the vegetation from cooler geographical regions is artificially constructed".

  "Surely the lawn's real isn't it, Marcia?”

  "Sorry Greg - your little slice of England has been artificially installed on sporting surfaces for years!”

  "How come you know so much detail Marcia, so much surrounding the minutiae of the complex?”

  "I make it my business to look deeply into things that I am likely to have frequent contact with, whether my focus is a place or a person. The complex was easy to examine - all I had to do was ask Leif the specifics pertaining to the design. He's a proud man Greg, proud of every area surrounding his project, and it may surprise you to know that there's a softer side to him, one that involves a man who comes into his own when visual aesthetics are the applicable subject being discussed".

  The pair entered the garden area and after a short period of contemplative silence Levene directed a more personal question to Vain.

  "Tell me about your family, Gregory".

  "I thought team members weren't meant to enter into dialogue surrounding their dependants, Marcia?”

  "We're human Greg, aren't we? Those sorts of rules are token issues that surround any security-based project. Let's melt the ice of formality".

  Vain proceeded to tell Levene about his wife and children before returning the question to his CIA colleague.

  "What about you Marcia? Is there a Mr Levene, or any children?”

  "Neither Greg. I'm married to our project - for want of a better phrase. Don't get me wrong, I haven't lived in a life of celibacy, and I don't hate men or anything weird like that. Let's just say that my sights are set on career horizons right now. I survive predominantly through fantasy as far as incarnated relationships go - although I've had one night 'no questions asked' flings with a few twenty-something fellas back home in Seattle. You're a good fuck Greg - at least in my mind! Don't worry 'once bitten, twice shy' Mr Vain, I'm not going to make that mistake again!”

  Vain was quite taken aback by the frank nature of Levene's reply, and to an extent his guard was down. This showed itself in Vain's riposte.

  "Maybe I've fucked you from afar as well!”

  His words suffered from a slightly hurried execution but their intent was fully registered by Levene's eyes, even though the sentence had been uttered almost subconsciously.

  The pair continued to walk around the garden in a good-natured silence. Neither felt embarrassment in relation to their short verbal exchange, and each felt as if their proverbial cards had been put on the table with regard to the type of attraction the two had for each other. As the couple retraced their steps, Levene once again took the lead with regard to dialogue.

  "Well Greg maybe we'll fuck in closer proximity one day!”

  "A couple of weeks ago I would have said something similar to what I said when I encountered you on the lawn at Designation B, now I'm not so sure. Thanks for showing me paradise - I'll be seeing you Marcia”.

  * * * * *

  The following two weeks seemed to pass relatively quickly for Vain and his team. Four other victims were forthcoming, and each one had stored enough heightened visuals to enable quick arrest procedures to take place. Whilst the MC team were pleased with the results of their work, they had in effect seen two extremes of HV quality in the first two victims that they had examined, and thus whilst they still enjoyed the challenge of locating memory camera footage, their sense of awe couldn't recapture the pique of the excitement generated by the first two demonstrations. The MC team had undertaken vault - extension research in the time between the arrival of suitable corpses and this had enabled understudy involvement to take place. The three understudies would become an effective fringe team after the Chicago based MC testing, but they were initially given the opportunity to further their areas of specialism in the London Designation.

  In the idle hours between victim explorations and research, relaxation or sleep became the order of the day. The respite time was particularly conducive for social bonding surrounding both MC teams, and this factor pleased Denison immensely. The bonding period gave Vain the chance to assess the two fringe team members who shadowed Ko-Chai and Tavini - Hannah Nichol and Marco Sant respectively. Diana Fearston, Vain's understudy, had proved extremely popular with all three ‘first’ team members. The two comparative newcomers had to earn their colours as far as scientific ability and congeniality were concerned. Both fringe team members fitted in well with Vain's front-line MC team and whilst neither Nichol nor Sant had a personality as warm as Fearston's, they both passed the unofficial character tests prevalent in the minds of the main MC team.

  Ko-Chai and Tavini both came into their own with regard to social bonding -albeit in quite different ways. Tavini challenged Sant, his understudy, to a variety of sporting based activities, which were possible in their underground Designation, and Ko-Chai built a cultural bond with Miss Nichol, sharing a communal interest with regard to architecture. This
left Vain with time to further the research that he and Fearston were undertaking concerning the membrane structure that separated the main MC vault from it's extension.

  When Vain had occasion to relax he would visit Levene's garden or one of the many relaxation sections of the complex. He spent little time in his personal quarters beyond the four hours he allowed himself for sleep. He and Levene had rare conversational exchanges but they no longer had the guarded intimacy they experienced when Vain was initially shown the garden. Vain thought of Levene quite often during their ‘incarceration’ and while part of him felt guilty for this mental infidelity, another part of him longed to make incarnate the desire both had for each other.

  The time spent in the London Designation was proving very fruitful until three days before their departure date to Chicago. Tavini broke the news that Vain had always inwardly dreaded.

  "Yo Greg, brace yourself man, our room 101 has just arrived”.

  "You what Dave?”

  "Another victim mate, but he's a minor so I guess things are going to be a bit tougher with regard to the exploration. I know you and Mishimo have kids - you've both let that slip, and whilst I haven't got any it doesn't mean I don't feel, you know".

  Tavini was unusually ruffled by the fact that the next victim was a minor. When Tavini reduced his streak of showmanship it immediately heightened the significance of the applicable area in focus. Vain had been inwardly devastated by the news that Tavini broke to him. In the past his research had involved experiments on minors but none had been murdered, and Vain could tell by Tavini's face that murder was a likely ingredient in this instance. He spoke as naturally as he could.