Thirty Four Minutes DEAD

by Kaye, Steve Hammond

  The snatches of dialogue could be discerned for several more minutes, although the voices had become muted in their tone and thus Stowles could not discern any further specific information. He knew that things weren't going quite as planned. Voight's security operations usually went without a hitch and yet so far the attempt on his life had been a catalogue of mistakes. The initial two pursuers had been too obvious in their tracking and had aroused his suspicions immediately. The usually flawless attack plan had fallen apart as well, being thwarted by a hunchback with a pocket knife! Stowles felt that Voight's methods indicated his state of panic and it give him a degree of hope. If the mistakes continued he envisaged that he might yet escape his pursuers. A pregnant silence pervaded the location.

  Half an hour went by and Stowles heard no sounds associated with human approaches. Two staircases led up to his top-floor position and Stowles kept glancing at both in turn, expecting Voight's men to ascend through the moonlight. The silence started to cause beads of sweat to form on his brow, and every breath uttered by the man seemed to him to be amplified in volume. The partially tiled roof allowed the moonlight to stream through the uncovered sections directly above Stowles and a bizarre type of patchworked shadow was created as a result. Despite his fear, Stowles was briefly distracted by the effect the streetlight and moonlight rendered upon his location. For a few seconds Stowles was off guard. It was enough.

  "And now your end is near!”

  As the figure dropped down from the roof scaffolding, his leading arm punched the knife from Stowles's hand, and in one move Brynley lay disarmed in an excruciatingly painful judo hold. The connotational entrance line had been whispered as his pursuer administered his stealthy attack. Stowles had seen nothing with regard to the approach of his assailant. Stowles was then punched very hard in his face and as he struggled to remain conscious, his attacker bound his arms tightly behind him. As blood started to role down his left cheek, Stowles was laid out flat on the floor and he was kicked with great ferocity in his testicles. The excessive pain made Stowles lose consciousness for a couple of minutes and when he came to, he saw Voight and two of his security team looking down on him. Three other security staff were searching the skeletal top storey with torches illuminating their movements. Voight gazed down in hatred at Stowles, his face illuminated to a malevolent degree by the torchlight. His words, when they came, had their usual measured precision with no hint of the panic inspired utterances he had made outside the shell of the building.

  "So you thought you could make a pound or two out of Ms Venison did you, Brynley? A shame Mr Yardley never got to actually see your hard work. All he had were your rather sad sketches and now he won't see anything, will he? God I hate treachery".

  An excited exclamation interrupted Voight's rhetorical address.

  "Fortune shines on the righteous, Mr Voight!”

  One of Voight's men arrived on the scene carrying a stone cutting angle-grinder with him. The tool was anchored to a mobile power point and an extension cable meant it could be utilised throughout the length of the top floor. Brynley's eyes widened in horror as he realised he was looking at his own customised guillotine!

  Voight spoke to Stowles once more - his final castigation.

  "We're going to leave most of you here Brynley. They'll know it's you through your fingerprints but no one's going to really give a damn after they've been to your house. Our guys are stacking it full of kiddie porn right now. Your decapitation will go down as another unsolved scumland killing. You will have fallen foul of fellow kiddie-porn distributors. Who the hell is going to weep for you? Your head? Oh, your head! Well after Charles has severed it from your body, we're going to incinerate the damn thing! Do it Charles".

  The angle - grinder was activated and as Voight's man approached Stowles, the latter lost control of his bowels. The grinder raced through flesh and muscle and the gagged Stowles breathed no more as the blade severed his neck like it was made of paper. The whole cut had lasted just five seconds.

  As Voight's men descended the stairways the head was thrown from man to man. Occasionally it was dropped, causing the security personnel to break into unanimous laughter. Even the usually reserved Mr Voight couldn't contain himself. St John's Wood echoed to the sound of laughter.

  NINE

  When Vain arrived back in England, he along with his project colleagues was given a ten-day recuperating period to spend with his family. America had been beneficial as far as explorations and research were concerned. Indeed, Vain's front line team were now ready to 'test demonstrate' their work upon the extension to the MC vault. The equipment to enable the recovery of visuals had been radically modified to enable the living 'thinking' mind to be tested.

  The vault-splicer was now unrecognisable in comparison to the crude, 'inquisition' type device used upon corpses. The new device wouldn't penetrate the skin at all, being composed of small micro-fibre pads that absorbed sensory signals from the brain. The two pads were positioned fractionally above a person's temples and they were wired up to digitised laser facilities. The new vault splicer looked quite mundane, an almost basic piece of equipment, and yet it was a 'mind reader' in effect!

  Despite their research successes, America had exacted its toll on the project staff and several of their number had been killed in Chicago. As the Designation J pressure had intensified, the bond between Vain and Levene had strengthened beyond just mutual attraction. Both felt something deeper, something more powerful - a feeling of trust and intimacy. When Vain returned home to his loved ones, he was genuinely pleased to see his wife and children, but his mind did frequently conjure up the image of Levene. Whilst his love for Tanya was very evident, his lust for Levene made him slightly more 'distant' than usual. This aroused his wife's curiosity but he had told her about the events in Chicago and she assumed the loss of some of his friends had made him more withdrawn than usual. Tanya still found it difficult to comprehend the infrastructure of the project Greg was involved with because she was still denied the names of any of Greg's colleagues and could not establish any chain of command. She knew that both Britain and America were involved in the MC project, and it was clear that America possessed a power dominance. She also felt that her husband had a close female friend amongst project staff. Greg had a face which betrayed what he was thinking on occasions, and Tanya knew when his thoughts were racing beyond his dialogue. When he had described the Chicago fire he had stated that he and a colleague managed to scramble out of their project venue and when he had uttered the word 'colleague' he had avoided firm eye contact with his wife, looking down for a brief moment. This gaze avoidance reminded Tanya of an instance that had occurred shortly after her and Vain had commenced their relationship. Greg had been invited to a party which she couldn't attend due to work commitments and so he had gone alone. The event had been organised by one of Vain's ex-girlfriends and when her partner returned home at 05:00 in the morning, he was too drunk to reveal how the party had gone. When she tackled him about his behaviour at the said event in the afternoon, he was initially very careful to avoid maintained eye contact with his partner, looking at her side on or staring fixedly past her. It later transpired that his avoidance of eye contact was due to the fact that he had indulged in a bit of heavy petting with his former girlfriend. Vain's avoidance of direct eye contact had subsequently signified his guilt. When he mentioned the Chicago fire, the same look had been there - just for an instant. She decided to tackle him head on about her suspicions.

  "Dark hair, tall and thin I should imagine love - is that about right?”

  "You what, Tan?”

  "Your fellow escapee, Greg. I bet she looks like that, I mean that's your ideal type love, isn't it?”

  "Oh leave it out love. I was running away from a bloody fire, not copping off with elegant women".

  "So she was elegant then, Greg!”

  "Just a turn of phrase, Tan. I haven't even said my fellow escapee was female for goodness sake".

  "Your eye
s have, love, and I bet your memory-camera can paint quite a vivid picture of her".

  Vain and Tanya indulged in this form of verbal sparring quite frequently during their ten days together and whilst a full blooded row never materialised, a tense atmosphere was generated by the air of suspicion that pervaded their house. The holiday was definitely spoiled by this factor, and Vain was almost relieved to return to his project duties when the ten days were up. He was amazed at the perceptiveness of his wife and although he hated admitting it to himself, a lot of her comments were correct deductions.

  When the project ranks were reassembled at Designation B, Denison didn't waste any time in relating the death of Brynley Stowles. Mr Voight had informed him of the true story and he had indeed complimented the British head of Security for the fast, effective manner in which he tackled the treachery in question. In his speech however, he ran with the 'planted' kiddie-porn scenario.

  "Project friends, my welcome is tempered by some bad news concerning one of our number on this side of the Atlantic. In Chicago we lost some excellent committed MC project colleagues and a few who abused our trust in them. Unfortunately Brynley Stowles's death is another occasion where an MC member of staff will have few mourners".

  As several project members shook their heads in initial disagreement with Denison's words, Blyth Carson stood up and mouthed his discontent.

  "Fuck you, man. That guy gave his all for this project. I know, he's been my best buddy for the last five years".

  Mr Fray interrupted Carson.

  "I think once you've composed yourself and sat down, Mr Carson, you will be able to listen to what Mr Denison has to say to us. I think you might change your opinion of the deceased. After all, I believe you have a couple of children don't you?"

  Blyth Carson was confused, he sat down and Denison continued.

  "There is absolutely no doubt that Brynley Stowles did work exceptionally hard for the MC project. However, if I had known five years ago what I have now found out about the man, I would have shot the bastard there and then. Yes it's true, much as I love this project, there are some things that no moral person can endure. Child pornography is one of them, and unfortunately it seems that Mr Stowles had a double life. On the one hand, Stowles was the dedicated colleague we all knew and admired but on the other, he was a distributor of obscene films featuring the sexual abuse of children. He also distributed publications of an equally obscene nature. Obviously Mr Stowles was investigated by security before he was selected for MC project work and his assessment report found strength after strength with just one negative trait being evident, involving a morose side to his character on occasions, that could possibly obstruct his teamwork. There was absolutely nothing to indicate the perversions that plagued Stowles.

  Distributing filth like the merchandise Stowles traded in is a very dangerous practice, as you are probably aware. Child pornography creates a market just like respectable products do, but violence and death cement the rules of market competition here. Brynley Stowles was a small-time player in this sick industry, and it seems he upset one of the big Taiwanese cartels who trade this form of obscenity in Britain. He was subsequently executed".

  Mishimo Ko-Chai raised his hand to ask Denison a question.

  "Things don't seem to add up, Mr Denison. Brynley was a workaholic with regard to our project. He simply would not have had the time to operate the distribution of any product, let alone obscene material. He was also a good man as well; he wouldn't have traded such sick material. I think we owe it to him to carry out exploration work on his MC-vault and see if he HVd his killers. The parts we need to activate may still be responsive".

  "That would be fine if we had it, Mishimo! His body is in the possession of non-project police officers, and when they found the corpse, the head was missing! The police initially thought that Stowles had been the victim of a kind of juju motivated murder and a story was leaked to a couple of twenty-four hour satellite channels giving sketchy details of the case. That was dismissed as garbage though, after police had visited Brynley's residence a day later. When they entered the house, the officers found the aforementioned child porn merchandise and a cartel killing became their logical conclusion. Their findings effectively closed the case. I mean no one was going to waste vast amounts of time looking for the severed head of a guy who traded kiddie-porn were they? Most of our project ranks were in the States at the time as you know, but Mr Voight capably followed the case, shadowing the investigations that were carried out by the 'regular' police authorities. An MC exploration is thus impossible Mishimo - we are denied our raw material!”

  A wry smile flickered briefly on the face of Mr Voight, as he remembered the suffering of Stowles. Ko-Chai wasn't quite satisfied yet though.

  "Surely the child pornography could have been 'planted' evidence, couldn't it, Mr Denison?"

  "The guy was a pervert and we're well shot of him. The truth hurts sometimes and to answer your question more directly, let's just say that there was enough Stowles - related DNA evidence found on the merchandise to sink a fucking battleship!"

  As Denison left his speaker's podium, he laughed inwardly to himself, as he thought of the genetic duplication work Voight's men had undertaken on the material planted at their former project member's residence.

  The meeting had left project members feeling either suspicious or betrayed. Those members who had been close to Stowles dismissed the child pornography allegations, feeling that their friend would not stoop to such depravity. Project members who hadn't known Stowles well, tended to believe what they had heard but it left them feeling 'unclean' by their association with the man. The revelation had disrupted the good working rapport either way, and it was not the ideal form of scene setting for the 'vault extension' demonstration that would be carried out that afternoon by Vain's team.

  As Ko-Chai, Tavini and Vain walked around the gardens of Designation B, they discussed the revelations surrounding Stowles. Tavini was rather ebullient, dismissing the issue as 'yesterday's news' but Ko-Chai and Vain felt that the specifics surrounding the death of their friend lacked plausibility. Vain was like Tavini keen to discuss the operations of their forthcoming exploration, but as the trio approached the Designation, he chose to add one more choice comment with regard to the Stowles incident.

  "One final thing, fellas. When we split ranks a while back, Natassia Overson disappeared. This time on our return, we find that Brynley is dead. A lot happens in our absence doesn't it, guys? Perhaps Mr Voight would be able to tell us a bit more, after all he…"

  Tavini interrupted.

  "Leave it alone, Greg. Some stones have shit under them when they're turned over, you know. The man's dead and if I were you guys, I'd drop your detective role. You're alive and well thought of by most of the project staff, but if you rock too many fucking boats - who knows?”

  Vain's team had lunch together and then proceeded to the exploration area. In readiness for them were Denison, Fray, Levene and Matthew Braddock - the project member who had agreed to be MC 'scanned' in the first 'living' exploration.

  Once all the protagonists were assembled, the rest of the project ranks were ushered into the exploration room.

  Mr Fray had been chosen to make the important introductory speech that would detail how visual thoughts would be created in the volunteer and how Vain's team would expose them. His tone was perhaps less sanguine than Denison's but he was a good speaker none the less.

  "If this exploration is undertaken successfully, it will outrank the Venison showcase in terms of importance. We have dragged out 'seen' images from the mind and now we are going to try and record thought-determined visuals. This exploration will subsequently ascertain whether the MC project has the capacity to mind read or not! You will notice that the equipment used to search the living mind is innocuous by necessity when compared to the barbaric appearance of the vault-splicer used upon the dead! Micro-fibre sensory padding has thus replaced barbed edges. I understand that Mr Braddock is qu
ite pleased about this transition".

  Fray's use of humour did endeavour to partially raise the spirits of the previously subdued MC project ranks. Pleased with this rallying effect, Fray continued.

  "In a few minutes Ms Levene is going to read to our volunteer. The selected text will hopefully conjure up images, which are beyond visual capture. In short, we should be able to access heightened visuals which are created through Mr Braddock's imagination. If all goes to plan, we will in effect read his mind".

  Vain and his team finished their preparation duties and as the viewing screen was activated, Braddock was blindfolded. Greg had found out in his research that the membrane between the MC vault and the vault extension was gossamer thin in sections, and the chance of overlap between the two sections was possible if Vain's placement of the micro pads was even slightly erroneous. The blindfold aimed to counteract such overlap and if the 'physical sight' main vault section was accidentally activated all that would be seen would be the uniform blackness created by the utilised screening material. This was the understanding in practice and the digital conversion equipment would attempt to capture the 'imagined' HVs after Levene had read her short passage on three consecutive occasions. The equipment would be activated when Levene started her final reading.

  Levene approached the raised speaker's podium and looked down at Braddock, who was laid on a marble slab a couple of metres beneath her. The ensuing silence from the project ranks was almost tangible in its presence. Levene looked resplendent in a black suit. Her hair was drawn tightly back and her eyes were accentuated by a dark eye shadow. She began her reading.

  "The horses had heads like lion's heads and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur. By these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke and the sulphur that came from their mouths, a third of mankind was killed. The power of the horses lay in their mouths and in their tails also; for their tails were like snakes, with heads, and with them too they dealt injuries".