by M. V. Kallai
“Charisa…Sweetheart…let me in.”
Inside, Charisa’s body clenched at the sound of his voice. She opened the blinds before unlocking the door. This made Mace laugh as he barged in.
“What’s this? All of a sudden you don’t want your privacy?” he asked with a beastly tone in his voice. Charisa grabbed all of the courage she had, stood up tall and looked him in the eye.
“What do you want, Major?” she asked through pursed lips and clenched teeth.
She braced herself with one hand on her desk because the sight of him made her knees shake.
Mace moved in closer and put his hand on top of hers, drawing circles on her wrist with his finger.
“It seems,” he said, “That the general feels you aren’t performing your job at a satisfactory level.”
Charisa’s body stiffened.
“It has been a difficult week, sir. I will work on it,” she said with a weak, shaky voice.
“Of course, I can come and check on your progress as often as…oh…two or three times a day if I need to.”
“That won’t be necessary, Major,” she answered and moved her hand to her side. “I can handle my job. Please tell the general that the Phase Three programming will happen on schedule…even without Luke’s help.”
“So you must be planning on spending long hours here, and less time at home?” Mace was just taunting her now.
“I don’t know where I’ll be working, could be home, could be here, could be somewhere else,” Charisa said, in a weak attempt at making herself enigmatic.
“That’s okay,” Mace said, “Wherever you are, I’m gonna keep a close eye on you. Besides, we have hired a new programmer to take over Luke’s work. He will work remotely, but you’ll get the code on a daily basis. In fact…” Mace pulled a small storage device from his pants pocket. “Here is the first code for you to adapt.”
Charisa didn’t move for the device so Mace moved closer to her and slid it into the back pocket of her pants. She held her breath, frozen with fear when there was a knock at her open door.
Mace immediately jumped back from Charisa and she let out a small sigh of relief when she saw Andreas, the wounded soldier that had saved her life.
“Hi…oh…Major.” He saluted when he saw Mace. “If I’m interrupting I can come back.”
“No!” Charisa almost shouted. “Please come in, I’ve been meaning to contact you…to see how you were healing.”
Mace gave her an evil smirk then turned to Andreas.
“Are you on duty today, Soldier?” Mace asked.
“No, sir. I am not cleared for duty until tomorrow. Sir.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Mace asked.
“I just came to tell you that I am cleared for duty tomorrow. Sir,” he said with a redundancy that made Mace roll his eyes. “And to check on this young lady.” Andreas added with a smile for Charisa.
“Well, make it quick…the young lady is very busy,” Mace said and walked out of Charisa’s office bumping Andreas in the shoulder as he left.
“Oh, thank God!” she said and grabbed her desk as she fell into her chair.
“Are you okay?” Andreas asked.
“No…I am anything but okay,” Charisa said and started to cry, wishing Andreas was not seeing her in such a state. He knelt in front of her with such a concern in his eyes that she threw her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. Andreas, being a gentleman, kicked the door shut with his foot and reached up to the window with his right arm to close the blinds and let Charisa finish her meltdown while maintaining some dignity.
“Thank you for the shoulder. You are kind of my hero, you know? That’s the second time you’ve rescued me in a week,” Charisa said to Andreas after her eyes had dried.
“I don’t know about that, I know the major can be tough to work for, but I hardly think you need rescuing from him,” Andreas said with modesty.
“You have no idea,” Charisa answered. “How is your leg? I wanted to come see you, but this week has been about as much as I can bear. I was trying to pull it together before I saw you again. I guess that didn’t happen.”
“My leg is fine. And I’d gladly risk another bullet if it meant keeping you safe,” he gushed, making Charisa turn a little pink in the face.
“Hey, where’s Luke?” Andreas asked.
“Oh, you haven’t heard,” she said with a quiver in her voice. “Luke is dead.”
“No, that can’t be right,” Andreas answered right back. “I mean, I saw his name on the soldier’s list of casualties from the chaos last week, but he was up here with you and me, and that nurse…who, by the way, I never saw again in the hospital wing. I just assumed it was a mistake, unless something happened down here after you two came back.”
“It happened at his home,” she said. “The major said it was a suici….wait…are you sure his name was on that list?”
“Yeah, I just saw it.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “Does anyone know that you were up here with us during the chaos?”
“I doubt it. You remember how crazy that day was.”
Charisa sat quietly for a couple of minutes staring at the code on her computer. Then she looked back over to her calm and heroic soldier.
“Andreas,” she said, “I don’t want to sound forward, but would you like to come to my house for dinner tonight?”
Now, it was Andreas who turned color in the face.
“I would very much like that,” he said.
Charisa scribbled her address on a small piece of paper and handed it to him.
“Is 7:00 okay?”
“Perfect,” he said. They smiled at each other until an awkward silence seemed to creep in the room.
“I, um…should go now and let you get back to your work,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“Bye,” Charisa said.
Charisa turned back to her computer and plugged in the storage device that Mace Magner had given her earlier. She studied the programming code, line by line, until she found what she was looking for. She gasped and clapped both hands over her mouth. This was Luke’s work. She knew it without a doubt.
Upstairs, in the new simplified space travel division of the TRU Building, Camden and Ganesh sat staring at a drawing board that was filled with equations and drawings.
“I have a plan,” Ganesh whispered to Camden. It was one of the rare moments of the day when Quinn wasn’t closely shadowing him. Camden pursed his lips and listened.
“I am going to contact someone who will take Mace Magner out of the equation and help us bring down the weapons program.”
“You mean an assassin?” Camden asked.
“She has many titles. You know I don’t enjoy ending a life, no matter how useless, but if it comes to it…”
“How will that help me?”
“Always thinking of yourself…”
“So then your plan doesn’t really involve helping my situation.”
“Well, let me tell you, if we don’t bring down the weapons program, we are all going to die. And that definitely concerns you,” Ganesh said.
Camden lifted his eyebrows to indicate he was paying attention and Ganesh continued.
“General Pike and Major Magner seem to be on some sort of power high, but it’s not real. I’ve seen the footage of those beasts they are trying to train. If they are unleashed…not one of us stands a chance. So get over your pity party, Cam, and work with me, dammit.” His face turned a shade of red when he spoke.
“Fine, fine,” Camden said, hoping to calm Ganesh by submitting. “What do you need me to do?”
“That’s um…a little sensitive…but she, I mean, the operative, is a member of a very special unit of the military. She doesn’t exist on paper. Best there is…and it was me who first recognized her talent. Plucked her out on her first day of basic recruitment training.” Ganesh was clearly bragging and wavering from his point. “She’s like a daughter to me.”
> Camden sighed with frustration and returned to the equation he was working with.
“Are you sure you want to bring in someone so close?” Camden asked.
“She’s the best and I trust her,” Ganesh replied. “And we need the best.”
“Fine,” Camden said again. “You contact…er”
“Maeve, Maeve Daire,” Ganesh finished Camden’s sentence with awe in his voice.
“Ok, well keep me updated on your progress, old friend,” Camden said dismissively. He had clearly not yet forgiven Ganesh for his current situation.
“Eh-hem…of course…as much as I am able to,” Ganesh said and scrunched his forehead.
“Is there something else?” Camden asked when Ganesh didn’t excuse himself from the conversation.
“Yes. There is,” Ganesh answered awkwardly.
“Well, what is it? I’m busy trying to rationally defy the laws of physics here.”
“It’s just that a job like this presents a significant financial burden.”
“Ahh, I see,” said Camden, putting down his pencil and looking up from his work again as he understood Ganesh’s intention. “My financial transactions are being monitored, as you well know. How significant are we talking here?”
“Three million should cover it,” Ganesh said quickly, embarrassed by his own words.
“Three million!” Camden said too loud, causing the two to look around and see if Aldretti, Quinn, or anyone else in the room had heard.
“Three million?” Camden whispered. “That’s one expensive prostitute, or assassin, or whatever the hell she is.”
Just then, Quinn came walking over with a goofy grin on his face.
“Later,” Ganesh said with finality in his voice, and walked away.
Camden ran his fingers through his hair and tried to shake the shocked expression from his face before he returned to his light speed and human frailty equation. It was not enough for him to have mastered the laws of physics, now his only official task was to try and contradict them. And unofficially, he was being asked to pay for a hit on a Major. It was Camden’s ultimate prison. Meanwhile, Ganesh left the room with Quinn at his heels.
An hour later, Ganesh returned with the news that Rhys Krell had arrived. He was strapped to a bed in one of the thirteenth floor interrogation rooms and was being weaned off his medication so he could meet with Camden, who smiled and took a deep breath. He was looking forward to meeting with Rhys. He’d known him several years ago, before he went nuts. Rhys was so normal back then that his current condition sort of fascinated Camden. What could have possibly driven him to such madness? Part of his fascination stemmed from his own battle with madness after Rosa died. Camden felt on several occasions that he would just lose it, give in to the darkness inside him and never come back. Of course, that’s when he started spending time with Lee Tripple, who wasn’t exactly one for encouraging sanity. If he was able to hold onto his rationality after that, what could have happened to Rhys, that he did not?
Camden motioned to Aldretti that he needed to leave, and along with Ganesh and Quinn walked to Camden’s rooms. Camden quickly grabbed a folder he had put together for his meeting with Rhys, then they all piled in an elevator to go to the thirteenth floor. When they stepped off into the corridor, they could hear moaning and ranting coming from one of the rooms.
“So, I guess we just follow the mellow sounds of crazy?” Quinn asked, grinning from ear to ear and bouncing on the balls of his feet. Camden and Ganesh stopped, turned and gave him identical disapproving looks and Aldretti, who had looked nervous since they got on the elevator, chuckled and fidgeted with his fingers.
Just then, two attendants dressed in white, a man and a woman, bustled out of the room where all the noise was coming from. The man wiped sweat from his forehead and the woman was holding a syringe.
“If you’re here to see Rhys, it’s not a good time,” she said as the four men approached.
“I can wait,” Camden offered.
“Suit yourself,” the man laughed, “But I can’t guarantee he will be any use to you today. He doesn’t travel well, plus we are adjusting his meds. You must be…”
“Camden Riles.” He reached out to shake the man’s hand.
“I’m Terry, and this is Rita,” the man answered. While the rest of the group made their introductions, Camden looked into the diamond shaped window, half expecting to see himself sitting there with a fat bloody lip. Instead, there was a skinny, graying man who was writhing and moaning, doing everything in his power to fight his restraints.
“Is he always in straps?” Camden asked.
“Depends on the day,” Rita answered. “Since it’s just the two of us here, we have to keep him strapped down more often. And as you can see, today is obviously a strap day.” She tried to smile but it came off crooked and uncomfortable.
“Aldretti, you know your way around up here. Do you think you could find us a couple of chairs?” Camden asked.
Aldretti instinctively crossed his arms and stood against the wall, not wanting to be an errand boy for Camden, who exhaled with a huff at his reaction.
“It’s for your comfort as much as mine,” he added.
“Make that four chairs, Aldretti,” Ganesh said as Aldretti disappeared into a nearby closet.
“Quinn, I guess you need to cancel the rest of my day until further notice,” Ganesh continued.
“No, go, I’ll be fine here with Aldretti,” Camden said.
“You are going to trust Aldretti to protect you if something happens?” Ganesh asked. “No offense, Aldretti,” he called down the hall.
“What can happen? The man is strapped to a table,” Camden said.
“He’ll be quite sedate in a few minutes,” Terry chimed in. “When he comes to again, depending on his mood, we can maybe let you in to see him.”
“Just don’t expect to get much out of him. It really has been a bad day,” Rita added.
“I’ll take what I can get,” Camden smiled. “Ganesh, why don’t you meet me in my rooms tonight for a scotch. Around 6:00?”
“Sure, okay,” Ganesh answered, “But I’m coming back up here in an hour to check on you anyway.”
Camden smiled and sat down in the chair that Aldretti had just set against the wall outside of Rhys’s room. He opened the folder he’d brought with him and looked over his notes and drawings. Aldretti sat across the hall from Camden and rested his head against the wall. He looked extremely bored. Rita and Terry went back in the room with Rhys, and a few minutes later, the moaning stopped.
Camden realized he had nodded off, in the chair outside of Rhys Krell’s room, when the sound of the door opening startled him awake. Rita walked out and Camden looked at his watch. He had been sitting there for forty-five minutes. Both of his feet were asleep and there was a crick in his neck. He looked over at Aldretti, who was sitting with his feet outstretched, his arms folded, and his head hanging down to his chest. The door had apparently not stirred him.
“He’s awake if you want to talk to him,” Rita said.
“Is he lucid?” Camden asked.
“He’s awake,” she repeated, “And calm. It may be your best chance today.”
“Thank you,” Camden said and shook his legs one at a time to wake his feet up. He grabbed his folder and walked in the room after Rita. Terry had Rhys sitting up, still strapped to his bed, and was feeding him something that looked like pudding. Rhys didn’t acknowledge that Camden had walked in. He was focused on collecting drops of drooled pudding from his chin and testing its elasticity between his fingers.
“Are you sure he can help you?” Rita whispered to Camden.
Camden ignored her, cleared his throat, and walked over to the other side of Rhys’s bed.
“Hello Rhys, I’m Camden…Camden Riles. Do you remember me?”
Rhys still did not acknowledge that anyone was speaking to him. Camden tried again.
“Rhys, you’re here because I need your help. I want you to look at
this drawing and tell me what you think.” Camden pulled out of the folder his prototype idea for simplified space travel and put it directly in Rhys’s line of sight.
“What do you think of this drawing, Rhys?” Camden asked again.
Suddenly, Rhys seemed to stare at the picture. His eyes widened with fear and he looked at Camden directly, then back to the drawing, then frantically back and forth between the two.
“Rhys?” Rita asked in a calm voice. “Rhys, are you ok? Do you need to rest now?”
“I know you!” Rhys shouted at Camden.
“Yes, you do, it’s Camden Riles.”
“No. No! I know you. I know this….” he pointed at the drawing. “I’ve had this dream before! I’ve had this dream before!” Rhys screamed the same sentence over and over and started pulling against his restraints and convulsing in his bed. Camden jumped back with shock. Rita ran to Rhys’s side and pulled a syringe out of her dress pocket.
“I’ve had this dream before!! This is a bad dream! It doesn’t work like that! It can’t work! It needs the fluctuation component! Bad dream. You’re the killer…..killer…” Rhys’s voice trailed off and his eyes closed as Rita pulled the needle she just poked him with out of his neck.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Camden. “He gets like this, especially with change. You can try again tomorrow if you like.”
“What did he mean? He’s had this dream before.” Camden asked.
“It’s hard to tell,” Terry answered. “His rants are pretty normal. The paranoia, less so.”
“Was he lucid? Did he really recognize me?”
“It’s possible he recognized you, but if so, his brain shuffled you right into his delusion,” Terry said. “Really, I wouldn’t think too much on it.”
“Right,” Camden said. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” He walked to the door and saw Aldretti’s startled face pressed up against the small window.
“He’s going to be pissed that he missed all this,” Camden said under his breath and raised his shoulders and eyebrows at Aldretti as if to say ‘oh well’.
At 6:15 that evening, Camden was at his small dining table, pouring scotch and relaying his encounter with Rhys to Ganesh and Quinn. Aldretti had the night off and another of Mace’s lackeys sat outside the door.
