by M. V. Kallai
General Pike pushed a piece of paper across the table to Ganesh then folded his hands looking eager for Ganesh to read what was written. Moments later, Ganesh spoke.
“A forced contract, then. Since he is too much of a public figure to imprison without proof of offense, you will make him work for you against his will?” He was disgusted with the plan but his voice was only mildly inquisitive.
“Exactly! And since you were just in the news for your promotion here, the positive publicity will continue when the headlines show you bringing the beloved Professor Riles onto the team. We need to show this side of the government in a way that will put the public at ease. It will be a win, win situation for everyone involved.”
Ganesh wondered how he and Camden would be winning, but decided not to ask. Instead, he asked,
“How limited will the professor be in maintaining his contacts on the outside? He is frequently interviewed and works side by side with…”
“Dr. Lee Tripple,” General Pike cut him off mid sentence. “I know, and I am not especially worried about the crazy scientist who barely speaks, let alone to the press. Professor Riles will be allowed a visitor once a month, supervised of course, and you will handle the rest of his public relations. It will be good for the population to have someone like you on the inside to trust and embrace.” He sat back, put his hands behind his head and smiled at Ganesh. “You can expect the details of this assignment on your desk by morning. Good day, Colonel.”
Ganesh stood and saluted the general, then returned to his office wondering how much more bizarre this day could get. He considered taking an early leave but decided to wait. He was sure Leitner would return soon with some news from Lee. He also wanted to check on Camden again. Since the general knew about his prior visit, it would make no difference now.
Just then, there was a knock on Ganesh's office door. He stood up, expecting Leitner.
“Come on in, Sergeant,” he called out.
A soldier came in, but it was not Bearden Leitner. With a sharp salute he announced,
“Sergeant Hale Quinn, sir. I have been assigned to you.”
“Assigned?”
“Yes, sir. I will be writing daily reports about your new project for General Pike.”
“So, you are a secretary then.”
“I prefer Sergeant Secretary, sir.” he grinned.
“Humph.” Ganesh half smiled in spite of himself.
“I know the project doesn't officially start until tomorrow but I was told you needed me today, so here I am.”
“Well, I don't. You can go now.”
“I was also told that you might react like this but I think you are stuck with me so maybe you can find something for me to do for the rest of the day.”
Ganesh slumped down in his chair and gave a frustrated “Aughh”. Sergeant Hale Quinn stood with his hands behind his back rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was smiling a goofy smile and was clearly over-caffeinated.
“Ok then, Sergeant Secretary, why don't you start by taking a detailed inventory of everything you see in this office. And I mean everything from the rug on the floor to the number of slats that are in my mini blinds.” Ganesh was pleased with himself for coming up with such a useless assignment so fast and thought, This oughta keep him busy for at least an hour.
The smile rolled off of Sergeant Quinn's face and was replaced by disappointment. But he took out a small electronic notepad from his jacket and looked over at Colonel Ganesh once more hoping he was joking. The satisfied smile on the Colonel’s face told him he was not.
“I'll just start with those blinds, sir,” he said.
Ganesh nodded and started searching his computer for background information on Hale Quinn.
After ten minutes of reading through uneventful military records, he checked his watch. Ten minutes to four. He could expect Sergeant Leitner's return any minute now. And as soon as he was able to speak with Leitner, he would go up and make sure Camden was somewhat comfortable and fed. He glanced up from his computer to see Sergeant Secretary pacing back and forth, head down, and obviously counting the cracks in the wood floor. Ganesh chuckled one time under his breath and continued his search. Why did they choose him? What am I missing? After another ten minutes of reading about Hale Quinn's barely average performance in just about all aspects of his career, he thought, No wonder he's a secretary. But Ganesh only believed that for a second. Quinn's records would allow him to blend in anywhere without drawing special attention. Ganesh took a harder look at Sergeant Quinn. He was small, but very lean; his movements were sharp but graceful. He hadn't made a sound so far, not even when he walked. And he probably knew the inventory of this room twenty seconds after he walked in.
He was a Special Unit spy. His records were faked. Ganesh didn't have any proof of this, of course, aside from his gut instinct. But his instinct had never been wrong when he was in charge of identifying potential “Special Unit” soldiers on their first day of their basic training. His picks had proved to be some of the best the military had ever seen. Ganesh was one of the few who even knew this unit existed. He wondered if General Pike knew he would figure this out or if he was just that confident in Sergeant Hale Quinn, or whoever he was, to play his part. General Pike knew Ganesh's background so if he thought he could stick a Special Unit Spy in his office without him realizing it, then he was deeply mistaken. The idea of it was downright insulting.
“Colonel?” The sound of Sergeant Quinn's voice broke Ganesh's train of thought.
“Hmm?” Ganesh exited his computer search.
“I found something, in the light fixture by the door. Thought you might want to know about it.”
Ganesh looked up to see Sergeant Quinn perfectly balanced high on his tiptoes with his neck stretched over the light cover to the right of his office door. He walked over to the light and looked inside the cover. Ganesh was a good deal taller than Sergeant Quinn, so he didn’t have to stretch. A small brown device, no bigger than a fingernail, sat at the base of the fixture. It was pulsing with energy.
“Do you know what that is, sir?”
“Yes...I do.”
Chapter Eighteen
Bearden's Letter
Bearden Leitner paced up and down the walk outside of Tripple Laboratories. The letter in his front jacket pocket was starting to burn a hole. His ticket to an assistantship of a lifetime and it would go unused. Unless he thought of a way to get to Dr. Tripple without looking like he was trying to break in. He would wait until Dr. Tripple left for the day and approach him on the street. It was starting to get cold out and Bearden found a cafe two blocks away from which he could still see the exit door of the building. He ordered vegetable soup and fresh bread and settled in to wait for his moment.
Lee Tripple sat in his office staring at his phone. This day had left him out of sorts. He was upset by Camden's disappearance and angry with him for disappearing on the day he chose to interview assistants. He was also nervous about having Dana with him in his lab all the time. He had no idea how to teach and the responsibility this girl was taking on was enormous. Aside from a gifted brain, she would be forced to comply with the secret nature of his work. Discretion was a rare quality and though he believed Dana had it, only time would tell. Lee hated taking risks outside of his experiments. And here he was, bringing a complete stranger into his private world.
“It's necessary to the project,” he mumbled to himself.
Just then, his phone rang. He answered abruptly.
“Camden, where the hell are you?” he grumbled into the device.
“Oh,..Dr. Tripple?” a sweet female voice asked.
“Um..oh...er...Who is this?”
“Lee, this is Enira from the club. I'm calling because I haven't been able to reach Camden and I'm really worried. I guess you haven't heard form him either. I mean the way you answered your phone was...”
“Oh, no, I haven't. I assumed he would be calling.”
“That settles it then. I will go by his plac
e when I leave the club.”
Her voice was a little shaky. Why was she acting so concerned? Who was Camden to her? Then, the realization hit Lee in the gut. Why was he so annoyed to know this?
“You do that, then,” Lee grumbled at her, and hung up.
Lee got up and went back to his work. “Wasted time today, all wasted,” he said aloud as he started noting the progress of his experiments.
Bearden finished his soup and started tapping his fingers on the table. He looked at the clock on the wall, then down the street, then back to the clock. He hated to be bored. The waitress came by and he asked her for something to read. She brought him a cookbook.
Twenty minutes later, when Bearden was sure he could make a perfect fruit custard, he closed the book and sat back with his arms folded across his chest. He stared at Lee Tripple's building, willing him to come out. No luck. The paper envelope in his pocket rustled slightly as he fidgeted and Bearden reached in and pulled it out. He looked down at the writing.
For Lee Tripple Only
He flipped it over and over in his fingers wondering what Colonel Ganesh had said about him. It would be wrong to read it. He thought. But if I knew what it said, it could help break the ice when I talk to Dr. Tripple later.
Bearden went back and forth in his mind for another five minutes and then broke the seal.
Chapter Nineteen
Boom
“Sergeant Quinn,” Ganesh said with urgency. “Don't move, but listen closely.”
“Yes, sir.” They were both still staring at the small device set in the light fixture in Ganesh's office.
“When I tell you, move as fast as you can to my desk. Grab my computer. You will need to toss it to me and then grab the small safe under my desk. When you have the safe, we are going to run out of this room and down the hall to the right. Don't stop running until I do.”
“Okay, sir.”
“We will have about ten seconds...maybe a couple more...maybe less.”
“What is that thing, sir?” Quinn asked.
Ganesh suspected that Quinn knew exactly what it was, hell; he probably put it there. What a charade they were playing.
“It's a pulse bomb...with a motion detector. When you looked at it over the fixture, it activated. It detects us both now, so when we move it will detonate within seconds. It will be silent but it has a force that will knock us both out, fry our brains a little, and scramble all the computer data in a given radius. Based on its size, I'd say ten to fifteen feet...maybe more.”
Quinn's eyes were two giant black holes, but his balance and concentration did not waver.
“Are you ready, Sergeant? On the count of three. One.......two...” Ganesh put his hand in front of Quinn's face hoping to confuse the sensor when he moved and buy them a few more seconds. “Three...”
Quinn moved in a flash and employed acrobatics to get over the desk. Ganesh could not see his movements because he was still staring at the pulse bomb hoping his hand trick worked.
“Computer, Colonel!” Quinn called out.
Ganesh turned, grabbed the machine that had been lobbed at him and was out the door with Quinn at his heels holding the safe. They ran about fifty feet down the hall before Ganesh stopped. The two men stared at each other, holding the saved items to their chests.
“What now?” asked Quinn. Ganesh, breathing a little harder from the sprint, scrutinized Quinn who was looking at him with calm, eager eyes.
“Let's take a walk around the grounds and have a talk, Sergeant Secretary. My office will have residual energy bouncing off the walls until tomorrow. But first we need to secure my things. Do you have a locker in this facility, or are you an implant?”
“I have a locker, sir, I'll take you there.”
“Good. We'll stop at the equipment station first and procure a strong lock.”
“Of course, but you are welcome to use mine. Now that we are a team and all.”
“I'm sure, but after this little incident, I'll be trusting only one person...myself. Let's go, Sergeant.”
“Right, sir. Follow me.”
Chapter Twenty
Used
Bearden looked down at the handwritten letter in front of him.
Dr. Tripple,
My name is Colonel Samuel Ganesh and I am writing to you with great urgency. Our mutual friend and colleague, Camden Riles was brought in to the government's technology division and is being held as a suspect for the theft of a top secret material. I don't know when or if he will be released and while I am also a person of suspicion in this crime, it may be difficult, but more importantly, unwise to contact me directly. Camden's safety depends on it.
The young man delivering this message, Sergeant Bearden Leitner, will act as liaison on our behalf. He is applying for an assistantship at your lab and it is imperative that you give him a job...part time only. He must stay with his unit here so our communication is effective.
I am hesitant to put on paper what I must tell you next, but it is also important that you know that the government's suspicions of Camden and me are not without merit. Camden was in possession of the stolen material when he was picked up. His arrestors did not find the material and it is urgent that we get it to the safety of your laboratory without drawing any more attention to Camden or me. So, while I work out a way to get the material to you, you can help Camden by telling me who Ari is. Camden mentioned his name to me in confidence this afternoon. If I can find him, I believe I can find where Camden has the material hidden.
Send a sealed reply back today with Sergeant Leitner, but to protect his innocence and to protect Camden, do not tell him the contents of this letter. Also, after you finish reading, burn it!
Camden's life depends on our next actions and I know that he trusts you and therefore, I trust you. I know that you will do right by him.
In confidence,
Ganesh
Bearden's mouth gaped open and his eyes were drying out from not blinking.
“What the hell?” he said to the paper. “You used me...you son of a bitch!”
His voice began to gain volume.
“Bearden's life's not important, his career be damned, just make him a criminal...a conspirator...a traitor...no big deal!”
“Is everything okay here?” The waitress had come over because people were starting to stare at Bearden's outburst.
“No! Everything is not okay!”
He jumped to his feet, reached in his pocket and slammed some money on the table, grabbed the letter and stormed out of the cafe. He walked in a fury down the street away from Tripple Laboratories, crumpling the letter in a ball and shoving it in his pants pocket.
Inside the lab, Lee dropped his re-animation solution, 247, into a test tube with a prepared sample of inanimate tissue. He checked his watch, noted the time and waited...nothing. After fifteen seconds, he added another drop... still nothing. He did this several more times before he moved onto the next sample that carried a slightly different genetic code, one he had altered himself. This ritual was carried out for the next two hours on a long table full of tissue variations hoping for some progress in his latest obsession. But when all the prepared samples had been tested, without producing his desired result of re-animation, Lee took the remainder of solution 247 to a smaller locked lab off the main corridor. Inside the room along the perimeter were temperature controlled glass cases that held solutions 1 to 246. He printed out a short summary of his notes from his electronic notebook and shelved the solution and filed the notes beneath. He went immediately to work at the mixing station in the middle of the solution room to work on 248. It looked like a very sterile wet bar...for monsters. Bottles of every shape, size, and color lined the shelves under the length of the table and in the freezer, in airtight glass boxes, were eyeballs, fingers, and various other body parts in different stages of decomposition ready to be thawed out and prepared.
Normally, Lee would remove his used samples from the main lab before retreating to one of his back r
ooms, but Dana would be there in a couple of hours. She could start learning the experiment as she helped him catalog, preserve, and shelve the still dead tissue samples. Better she sees that part before the preparation of the next set of samples, Lee had decided. If she ran out in horror on her first day, he would have to interview all over again and the thought of that made him cringe and shiver.
After a while, Bearden stopped walking. He was unfamiliar with the section of town he found himself in but was not ready to go back the way he came. Why would Colonel Ganesh do this to me? He wondered. His initial anger had subsided, leaving him with questions he would not be able to ask. He didn't regret reading the letter, but now he knew too much and didn't know what to do about it. Bearden assumed the material mentioned in the letter was the biomer. It had to be. What other secret government material was in that place?
Colonel Ganesh must have had a damn good reason to do what he did. Bearden reasoned with himself. Unless he's been corrupted and Professor Riles paid him off to help steal back the technology he started. Or maybe he knows something about the program that made his actions necessary. In that case, should I feel honored that he trusted me with this information? It could also mean that he thinks I'm too stupid to find out he’s using me. Maybe he's using me because I discovered the catalyst...or because I was the idiot who asked him for his recommendation. Should I turn him in? Major Magner would know what to do. Or should I help him and pretend I don't know what he's up to? He didn't get his reputation by being a bad guy. Either way, my career is screwed. Bearden's thoughts raced like a virus attacking clean flesh. He found himself sitting on a bench outside a run-down village staring at the crumpled letter that he had unconsciously pulled out of his pocket again.
