by Thorpe, K.
Natan waits for an answer in Alice’s old office. There isn’t one. She tries again, “Alice…talk to me,” she says.
Alice looks up to the ceiling at a pin-sized hole in the corner. “Oh, Agent Natan, don’t be silly. Everything is fine, really. You should be happy for me. Like you said, I haven’t had a vacation in forever.” Alice’s smile widens.
“Uh.” Natan runs her fingers through her hair. “Okay, then. I’m happy for you. What do you have planned?”
Alice replies, “Mexico sounded good…can’t beat beaches and margaritas, right?”
“That’s for sure,” Natan says, dumbfounded, as she tries to get her bearings.
Alice gets up again. “I’m leaving first thing tomorrow. I’ll need you to water my plants for me at home while I’m gone. Do you think you’ll be able to do that?”
“Of course,” Natan says.
Alice looks into Natan’s eyes. “I won’t have time to deal with them before I leave, but they don’t need much attention, just the ivy in the living room…that poor plant barely holds on unless I pamper it to pieces.”
Natan replies, “Sure. No problem.”
“You still have the code to get in, right?” Alice asks.
I have more codes than you know, Alice. “Yeah…I’ll take care of it. How long will you be gone?” Natan asks.
Alice whisks about the office. “Three or four weeks, maybe.”
“Wow. That’s a long time,” Natan answers. “This isn’t a prelude to your retirement, is it?”
“You never know.” Alice looks away. “Sorry to cut this short, but I’ve got to get downstairs or who knows where my desk will end up.” Alice rushes past Natan, leaving the office.
A stunned Natan stands alone. “Oh…okay.” The hair on the back of her neck stands up.
Baxter stands with Knight in his office chamber, both watching the monitor of Natan standing in Alice’s empty office.
“I think I headed that off well, Sir,” Knight says.
“You delayed her, Agent Knight. Our problem isn’t over…it’s only stalled. So now we’ll have to find a more permanent solution to it, won’t we?” Baxter replies as he turns off the monitor.
“But, Sir, I thought our goal was only to intimidate her,” Knight clarifies.
“Buck up, Agent Knight…we’re past that now,” Baxter retorts. “I’ll find a way to take care of her myself. Just keep tabs and inform me of any new developments.”
Knight hesitates, but answers “Yes, Sir.”
Inside Alice’s house Natan stands in the living room, holding a watering can over a thirsty ficus. Natan eyes the ivy plant in the corner. She walks over to it. Natan talks to the plant. “I’m not a plant expert, but since when is ivy a needy plant? Don’t you guys grow like a weed?” Natan pours water into the center of the plant. As it pools, she notices a tiny reflection in the water…something shiny barely sticking out of the soil. What the hell?
Natan puts the watering can down and reaches down to examine the object. She digs down in the dirt with her fingers, retrieving a small gold key. I knew there was something else going on here.
Natan holds the key firmly, wondering exactly where it will lead her.
Part VI
Guise
Chapter Forty
October 31, 2006
Inside Natan’s bedroom she sleeps in her bed; her eyes move because she is in R.E.M.
In her dream Natan finds herself in the N.S.A. building. She gets off the elevator and sees Alice at the far end of the hallway. Natan calls out to her, “Alice. Hey.” Alice opens the door to the stairwell. Natan walks quickly after her. “Alice. Wait a sec,” she yells. Alice disappears through the door. Midway down the hallway Natan breaks into a jog, chasing after her. “Alice!”
Natan gets to the door and tries to open it, but it’s locked. She uses all of her strength but cannot force the door. Natan touches the outside of her pants pocket, then reaches into her pocket and pulls out the gold key, trying to use it in the lock, but it’s too small. She puts the key back and tries the lock again. It’s no good. Natan then pulls out her gun, shooting the lock as she fires two shots. Natan tries to open the door again and it remains stuck. What the hell?
The elevator dings on the other end of the hallway. Natan holsters her gun, looking up. Alice stands in the middle of the elevator. “Alice!” Natan shouts. No answer. Natan sprints toward the elevator. The elevator doors begin to close. Natan arrives just in time to squeeze her hand in between the doors. The elevator doors open. There is a flash of light.
Natan stands in the middle of a barren desert landscape with the scalding sun blaring down on her. She squints in the sun as she looks around. “Alice? What’s going on? Where am I?” Natan wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. Feeling something wet, she touches her forehead with her hands. Natan looks down at her hands. They’re covered in blood. She jerks back, spinning around as she scans the horizon. Oh my God.
Alice appears in the distance, her hands and feet bound, and she has duct tape across her mouth. A Bible is strapped to her chest. Natan reaches out to her. “Alice!”
In her dimly lit room Natan is startled awake from her dream and sits up in bed, drenched with perspiration. Her eyes wide open, she exclaims, “Alice!” Natan realizes that she was having a dream. She runs her fingers through her hair and then rubs her forehead. Her head feels wet. Natan touches it again and then looks down at her hands. She turns on the light to see more clearly. Her hands have blood on them. She throws the bedding off and jumps out of bed. Oh my God…
Her bedding has blood spotted here and there. What the…? Natan touches her nose and realizes she has a nosebleed. She grabs tissues from a box on her nightstand and dabs them under her nose.
Susan’s words echo in her head, “You can help by not resisting so much.”
I can’t resist in my sleep, can I? Natan holds her head up as she plops back onto her bed. She sits looking up toward the ceiling, holding wads of tissues up to her nose. What am I supposed to do here?
Chapter Forty-one
As the early morning sun peeks gently from the horizon, greeting her, Natan sits in her car outside of Susan’s house. She taps the steering wheel. You’ve got to do it. She opens the door and gets out of the car. Natan walks up to the house.
Natan stands at the door, hesitating. She finally rings the bell. Who would’ve thought? No answer. Natan rings the bell again.
A moment later a disheveled and surprised Susan answers the door in her robe,
adjusting it as she greets Natan. “Agent Natan. I thought you were the paperboy.” Natan looks down at her watch, “Is it that early?”
“Is everything okay?” Susan replies.
“My friend needs my help and I’m struggling,” Natan says.
Susan waves her in. “Come in…let’s not linger in the doorway.” Natan follows Susan into the house as she leads Natan into the kitchen. Susan asks, “Would you like some coffee? I know I would.”
Natan nods her head yes.
Natan employs her early morning wit, “I would have thought you would know that I was coming.”
Susan attends to the coffee maker, bantering back, “If I was awake, maybe.”
Natan shifts uncomfortably. “Sorry to show up so early.”
Susan reaches into the cabinet and retrieves two cups. “Well, it must be important.” She pours coffee for herself and Natan and hands Natan a cup.
“It is,” Natan says seriously.
Susan motions to a stool next to them. “Please, have a seat.”
“Thanks.” Natan sits.
“So, lay it on me.” Susan takes a sip of her coffee.
Natan delves in. “A friend who works with me is in trouble.”
“I’m sensing that this is a woman,” Susan replies.
“Yes,” Natan says. “I’ve known her most of my life. She said she was taking a vacation, but I know something’s wrong…”
“Let your intuition guide
you, Agent Natan.”
Natan’s frustration shows. “I’m trying…but everything is all jumbled up. I’m seeing so many different things that I don’t know what’s what. And I even woke up with a nosebleed this morning.” She runs her fingers through her hair. “If I have such a great gift, why can’t I see what’s coming and know what to do?”
Susan tries to reassure her. “Ah…beginner’s overload. You need to learn to give in to it.”
“What do you mean?” Natan asks.
Susan continues, “When people first start to experience their gifts, they feel overwhelmed…they fight it…resist until they create some physical manifestation, either a headache, a nosebleed, or some other “acting out” instead of “giving in.”
“I don’t know how to give in,” Natan confides.
Susan raises her eyebrow. “I’m sure you don’t, Agent Natan. Your spirit is powerful…but I’m not telling you to give in the way you’re imagining.”
“I don’t understand,” Natan counters.
“You have to let go and let God, as they say, Agent Natan.”
Natan takes a sip of her coffee, brimming with confusion.
Susan continues, “You have to make peace with yourself, Agent Natan. You need to tell yourself that what you’re experiencing is okay. Right now you don’t believe that. You keep fighting it instead of listening to what needs to be heard.”
Natan softens. “I’m trying to listen…I’m trying to believe.”
“It’s not about trying,” Susan says. “It’s about knowing, Agent Natan. I’m quite sure that there have been times in your life when you gave in to a feeling or experience…when you allowed it to lead you and you trusted it.”
“Maybe,” Natan struggles.
“Take your career choice, for example,” Susan says. “You picked a field where you get to use your instincts. Deep down you know what you need to do. You’ve done it in the past out of necessity…now you just have to hone it so that you can use it when you choose to. Once you can do that…you will understand complete awareness.”
“It sounds easier said than done, Susan.”
“Agent Natan, find your answers within yourself. Look at your own issues, your own mistakes. Once the shell cracks you’ll be able to peer inside…the more you look, the more you’ll find.”
Natan looks at Susan with thanks as she attempts to cope with her feelings. “You’re like my own personal Buddha.”
Susan recognizes Natan’s difficulty with facing her true feelings. “You’re welcome, Agent Natan. Just believe in yourself. I know you can do it.”
Natan’s eyes well up with tears.
Susan continues, “I would hug you, but I’m afraid that I’m not prepared for what would happen psychically should we touch again.”
Natan laughs. “Thank you, Susan. I’ve misjudged you and I’m sorry.”
Susan waves her away. “Oh, you should have seen me when I was first coming to terms with my own gifts. I didn’t just burn some bridges…I set the whole town on fire. We all go through it, Agent Natan.”
“I think I know what to do. I better go.” Natan puts her cup down and walks out of the kitchen, toward the front door.
“Follow it,” Susan directs. “But please remember your importance, Agent Natan.”
Natan opens the door. “I’ll try.”
“You’ve got to do better than try, for the sake of all of us, Agent Natan.”
Natan nods her head yes as she leaves. The door closes behind her.
Susan watches Natan out her window. You have no idea how special you are, Agent Natan…no idea at all.
Chapter Forty-two
The midday suns shines through the window on Natan as she stands in Alice’s living room, holding the gold key. The light reflects off of the key, causing a brilliantly colored rainbow to fan around her. Natan looks at the key. Where do you belong?
Natan searches Alice’s plant-infested house. This is like feng shui meets the
Amazon. She looks behind books, putting them back as she looks. Natan searches cabinets, touching and moving through different items, and then returning them to where they were when she started. She raids Alice’s clothes drawers, puts the clothing items back, and then closes the drawers neatly behind her. Natan rifles through papers on Alice’s desk, then straightens them again when she’s through. She notices a pen-holder full of pens, which she flips through, her fingers skipping over a small white-wax pencil. A frazzled Natan stands in the tidy living room. Damn. I know it’s here.
During lunch hour Natan walks down the hallway leading to Josh’s office at Maryland University. She rounds a corner, running into the back of a woman dressed in sequins and a black wig, standing singing in front of a small group of students. Josh is a part of the small crowd as well, lingering behind the students as he watches.
Natan is startled by the scene. “Uh…excuse me, ma’am.” As the woman turns around, Natan is shell-shocked to find Amanda dressed to the hilt in Riana-esque attire. “Ms. Clark?!” she says, stunned.
Amanda approaches Natan, singing one of Riana’s top tens from the 60s. “Freedom comes from lovin’ you…my strong baby…you know it’s true.” Amanda points at Natan. “Just come back to me baby…with all of you…I promise our love will get us through…” Amanda dances as she sings, “Just try me on for size…one more time…you know we fit, incredibly fine.”
Natan stands with her mouth open, completely embarrassed and overwhelmed. Josh sees Natan and maneuvers through the students toward her. Amanda turns back to the students and continues singing in the background.
A concerned Josh reaches her. “Agent Natan. What are you doing here? It’s still not safe for us to be seen together.”
Natan stands dazed. “I’m here to see Ms. Clark…uh, Riana…uh, Amanda. She ran into me the other day and told me that she witnessed another man poking around your office.”
Josh replies, “What? She never told me about that. When was this?”
Natan replies, “She said it was a few days ago. And…I told her to contact me, remember?”
“Yeah…but she should have told me,” Josh says grumpily.
“I was hoping I’d get a word…but…” Natan points at Amanda. “Now, that’s something you don’t see everyday…a lesbian drag queen.”
Josh replies, “Yeah, she’s been dressing up as Riana the last few years.”
“I completely forgot it was Halloween,” Natan says.
“Amanda is a great reminder,” Josh says. “And this is only the beginning. There are two other parts of this sequin trilogy…complete with songs and all.”
“The beginning?” Natan asks. “She wears that get-up more than once?”
“Yep,” Josh replies. “She wears it three times a year…for two important dates in Riana Ball’s history. On the date Riana sold her first record and for Riana’s birthday, which is in April, and…,” Josh motions to Amanda, “…Halloween, of course.”
Natan motions to the scene around her. “As fascinating as all this is…I really need to speak with her.”
“Let her finish her number and then you can catch up with her. Come with me to my office…I was going to get in touch anyway and I want to show you something while you’re here.” Josh holds up one finger to Natan. “One sec.” He meanders back over to Amanda, giving her an aside, “Meet me at my office when you’re finished.” Amanda nods while she continues singing. Josh makes his way back to Natan and she follows him down the hall.
Natan comments on Amanda’s heels, “It’s amazing that she can dance in those things. I can’t even walk in them.”
“I never understood how anyone could walk in them. I bet if you calculate the spatial actuation, you would find a mathematical in-congruency,” Josh retorts.
Josh and Natan enter his office. He heads straight for his desk, picking up pages that contain information about the binary code for the second symbol. Josh walks back over to Natan, showing her the pages. “I figured out the first part
of the binary code information for symbol two,” he says proudly.
Natan looks at the pages. “Symbol two? What happened to deciphering the binary code for symbol one?”
Josh stumbles, “I haven’t been able to decipher the binary code for symbol one…so I moved on to the next one.” Natan’s hair stands up on the back of her neck. Josh continues directing her attention to the information in front of her. “Look at this. The first part of the binary code for symbol two is unlike the binary code for symbol one…”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
Josh replies, “I mean that the sequencing is different…it’s uniquely arranged and thus more difficult to break.”
“I thought all binary code was the same,” Natan says.
“It is,” he replies, “generally, but this is a formula based on binary code that has its own unique sequence.”
“Okay, but once you narrow down the sequences, you should be able to apply that to each symbol, right?” Natan asks.
Josh continues, “Ideally, but as I said, the sequences shift…changing to better encrypt the next sequence. I haven’t pinned it completely down yet, but I think the sequences may be inverted. I just have to figure out the number of inversions for each symbol…and the individual components of each symbol and adjust for the inversion shifts.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying entirely, but it sounds complicated,” Natan retorts.
“It is. But, as I said, I’m still working on it and I’m close to finding the result. At least I figured out the first part of the binary code for symbol two. It translates as “Use the collective matrices,” Josh reveals.
“The collective matrices? What does that mean?” Natan asks.
Josh cannot contain his excitement. “I have a theory.”
“I wouldn’t expect less, Professor,” she replies.
Josh walks to his desk, picks up a stack of papers, and walks back over to Natan. Smiling broadly, he says, “As you know, researchers have found various matrices in the Bible Code about events in history.”
