“And what did she say of your grandfather?”
“Very little. I believe she cared for the man but felt also ashamed of him in a way. Like a child feels about her old toys when she has reached her teens. Personally, all that I know of him was that he was of the older black and white view of life. Heaven versus Hell. Right versus Wrong. I have little interest in such a man. I heard that you dealt with him quite roughly.”
“He dealt more than roughly with our family,” Lester said. Miss Merrill nodded to him and then resumed looking at the eldest Snow.
“My son speaks the truth,” he said. “But I am not here to grind the dead deeper into the ground. He could not be reasoned with and so was met with a similar end as he often tried to deal to others. That battle, that stage of my life, is long over, Miss Merrill.”
“I’m not here to discuss him,” she said. “And I can see clearly that you are not the brute my grandfather might try to pin you as. No, let those days stay behind us all. I am here to enjoy the honor of meeting a legendary man. And, if I may, I am here to implore your assistance.”
“Huh,” Evelyn exhaled. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to hold her tongue. Miss Merrill merely smiled at her scoff and then resumed staring at her husband.
“My assistance?” Joseph said.
“Yes,” she whispered, nodding slowly and dramatically. “Yes.”
“Explain.”
“Before I do,” she said, “let me ask you a simple question.”
“Go on.”
“Would you believe that my father—the weeks old child on the day of his father’s death—is still living?”
“I find that surprising,” Joseph replied. “But it is not unheard of.”
“Certainly not. But even you admit that it is rare. In his case, it is very rare indeed. Now, moving closer to my point. We are both business minded individuals, are we not?”
“Business is a comparatively small portion of my life. But for conversation’s sake, yes, I’ll agree on that.”
“Would you also agree, that life—not just prolonged days, but life enhanced in its quality—is the wave of the future? Perhaps not here, in your tiny area, but look at the numbers of hospitals and specialty clinics that have sprung up in recent decades. Look at the progress that’s been made in the fields of genetic studies and the advanced treatments of diseases. Even on a more basic level, is healthcare and nursing not a sure bet for many, many young people entering college and the workforce?”
“I suppose so,” Joseph said. “But I will tell you frankly that if the genetics of myself and family are of particular interest to you, I’m afraid you are in for a large disappointment.”
“I have been disappointed many times in my life, Mr. Snow. My father, now clinging to life by a thread, has endured many more disappointments than myself. My hope and my goal is to bring his life’s work more into the light.” She sipped her wine and set the glass down firmly. “Again my excitement has affected my judgment. I am ahead of myself. My father, I believe, should have his story made clear before I delve more deeply into my own part in it.”
“Go on,” Joseph said.
***
On the hilltop overlooking the resort, Lars settled himself down between two rough slabs of granite. From his vantage point on the sharp ledges, he had before him the clear view of the nearest end of the resort. Through the picture window he sighted in on the party at the table. At his back, down the other side of the steep hill, was the road leading south through the windy pass to Ludlow.
“Can you see them?” David Wilson asked, keeping his voice low.
“Yeah,” the mercenary replied in a similar tone. “This is a hell of a good scope.”
“I don’t need a scope,” David said with a hint of humor.
“Rub it in,” Lars said. “I’ll bet you can’t hear them from this distance.”
“Even our ears aren’t that good. If they were outdoors, I could pick up something.”
“Nobody likes a bragger.”
“Or a sore loser.”
Lars smiled. “What’s the road look like?”
“Empty,” David answered, after looking from north to south and then back to the hotel again. “I’d be surprised to have any significant traffic.”
“It only takes one car at the wrong time to upend everything,” Lars said. “Let’s hope it stays quiet.”
After a moment David asked, “How does it feel? Pulling that trigger?”
“Not great,” Lars said. “You have to be cold or, better yet, feel threatened. That makes it a little easier.”
“How many have you killed?”
“My God, kid. Are you here to watch the road or riddle me with questions?” He was thinking, yeah, you know how many. The number might be off by a few, but you have the general idea. Yeah, you know. And not one of them was a woman. Not a single one. So what? Why is it any different? I don’t know, it just is. Too bad. Tonight you’ll start a new list, won’t you? You’ll do it if you have to. I have no choice. You’ll do it and you’ll deal with it.
“What have you heard about her?” he asked David.
“Not much.”
“The girl, Evie … she didn’t say anything?”
“She knows less than we do.”
“I’d like to hate her,” Lars said. “It’s easier to kill someone you hate.”
“I hate her plenty. I hate anyone that threatens this pack.”
Lars took his eye from the scope and looked over at David. “Was that a little shot against me?”
David smiled. “You have a guilty conscience, Mr. Olsen.”
“Of course I do.”
“No, I don’t hate you. I stopped that after your performance at the diner the other day.”
“You know, they used to say I didn’t make friends well in grade school. I guess they were wrong, eh? Look at me now.”
“None of us will make any friends with the resort staff if this thing turns bad.”
“I don’t want to think of it,” Lars said. “Detectives and newspapermen will crawl all over this place.”
“I don’t suppose you can read lips, can you?”
“Only the most obvious words. The four letter ones are the easiest. I haven’t seen any of those yet.”
“So we’re stuck waiting,” David said.
“I thought you volunteered for this gig?”
“I did.”
“Well get used to it. There’s a lot more waiting than there is action in these type of deals.”
***
“My father,” Miss Merrill continued, “Ferdinand, is a brilliant man. From his teen years he excelled in the sciences. The government made good use of him for as long as they could. Of course, given the climate, there were many, many specimens for study, both living and not.”
“I’m not interested in any Dr. Death concentration camp stories,” Joseph said firmly. “Please.”
“No, of course not. He was not an exterminator, I assure you. If you could meet the man, you would see that he hasn’t the heart of a torturer, nor a believer of the supremacy of the Aryans. No, he was a biologist through and through. Life at the microscopic level interested him far more than any politics or pride.”
The conversation ceased as Miss Merrill waved for the waiter. The man moved briskly as he refilled the wine glasses. Upon closer inspection of the waiter, Joseph realized that he was in fact one of the men that had transferred luggage from the chopper to the hotel cars.
That’s right, he thought, remembering the walk into the resort. There were three obvious guards mingling with the resort staff as we passed through. So … she doesn’t want the regular staff listening in any more than we do. That’s good.
“As I was saying,” she resumed. “Life is my father’s primary concern, and so it is mine. If—”
“Why,” Joseph said, “has it taken you so long to approach me in such a manner as you have? Why didn’t your father approach me as a younger man? If wisdom was the goal,
why have you danced about for so many years?”
Miss Merrill smiled thinly and unpleasantly. “Why? For several reasons, sir. You might not realize just how intimidating you are, whether you intend to be so or not. There are others, such as yourself, to approach. And remember, the most proficient breakthroughs in genetics have been made very recently. My father was already much too old to appreciate the boom of these last few decades.”
“I’ll give you that,” Joseph said. “But I’m still not satisfied with your answer as a whole.”
“Genetics are marvelous,” she said firmly. “But as you know, there are more powerful forces at work in this world. The mind is the true key to life. We’ve learned the details of that truth slowly and painfully over many years. But it is no surprise to you, is it, sir?”
“No, Miss.”
“You are a direct man. Let us stop our chatter and take up practical matters.” She looked to Lester as she stood from her seat. “May I borrow your strong arms?”
Lester rose and followed with his eyes as the woman stepped to the articles of luggage. At her direction he lifted the nearest of the cases and guessed that it weighed all of a hundred pounds. He placed it on an empty table. The second case was substantial but much lighter than the first. Miss Merrill opened the lighter case first, stepped back, and looked to Joseph Snow.
“This, is the culmination of two generations,” she announced. “In a few years, we will be selling our product to every hospital in the world.”
Joseph stood from his seat and moved toward the strange object in question. It looked like a black misshapen piece of protective headwear. Cables extended from the rear, and at the top, what appeared to be a screen moved with the same manner as a visor on a motorcycle helmet.
“A helmet,” muttered Lester.
“No, no,” Miss Merrill corrected. “It is infinitely more. Please.” She opened the second case and brought forth cables to connect with the apparatus. Within that case there was a large scale notebook computer and power source.
“Do you intend to read our minds?” Lester asked.
“Read? Give us a few more years. But this device is not far off. It enables us to observe the intricate activities of the brain. It is a pathway to understanding the inner workings of the core of our beings. In a few years, thanks to our advancements in neuroimaging, the MRI will be as outdated in comparison with this as the horse and buggy is to my chopper.”
Between glances at one another, the four Snows watched as Miss Merrill opened programs on the computer case. None of them needed any technology to see the pride radiating from her. Then she stood back, moved a chair into place, sat, lifted the helmet, and carefully lowered it over her head.
“So that you’ll trust me completely, allow me to demonstrate on myself,” she said.
“Very well,” Joseph said.
“Now, keep an eye on the monitor,” she said. “The left screen will begin showing my brain within seconds. Once it has mapped me, the real show will begin on the right screen.”
***
“Can you tell what’s happening?” David asked.
“I thought you had eagle eyes?”
“I can see fine, I just can’t figure out what they’re doing.”
“She’s showing off some sort of a toy. From what I’ve heard from the old man, your powers come from your mind, right?”
“They are managed by our minds. But the powers first come from outside of ourselves.”
“Well, apparently Miss Prissy here doesn’t yet understand that. I’d guess she’s come up with a gadget she hopes to get into your minds with.”
“All this worry and preparation … for this?”
“Don’t scoff,” Lars said. “She might look like nothing to you, but if you knew the sorts she deals with and the circles of power she must fly in, you’d take her more seriously.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
“Do you know sports?”
“Sure. Some.”
“What happens to college athletes when they really begin to shine?”
“They get scouted and recruited.”
“They get aggressively wooed from every angle until their heads spin, don’t they?”
“So?”
“That’s sports,” Lars said. “Imagine the tooth and nail competition involved with all the various contractors vying for the Pentagon’s billions. This woman probably has some very serious backers, even if she herself has fallen into hard times. It’s all about allies and arrangements and scratching each other’s backs. And it’s all great and wonderful … until something goes wrong, until someone loses out.”
“I guess,” David said.
“Don’t kid yourself about the world. You live in a tiny dot of a place that barely makes it onto most maps.”
“I understand about the money. But money can’t solve everything. It can’t turn mortals into super humans.”
“Kid,” Lars said, taking his eye momentarily from his scope, “listen to me. I’m not talking down to you when I say this, but outside of little places like this, it’s all about the money. And it’s all about the money because money equals power. To have or have not. To be just a little bit better than, or have something better than the other guy has. That’s how these types live. That’s how an alarming amount of humans live.
“You’re right,” he went on after a deep breath. “They can’t buy their way into having what you have. But don’t you think they’re gonna try like hell? Don’t you think they’re gonna kick and scream right up until the day they die?”
David nodded very subtly. He watched the little woman fiddling with her technological marvel, trying to impress a man she would never actually impress, would never gain an alignment with. It was all folly … a complete and total waste of time that would, if she wasn’t very careful, possibly cost her her life. A small part of him resented agreeing with Lars—a human. But a larger portion of him was gaining more respect for him by the minute.
“Make no mistake,” Lars said as he peered through his scope, “these are ruthless, uncompromising people. In many ways, someone like her is more of an animal than you are. The fine clothing might lend to a softer appearance, but she’s ruthless all right; I know it. It’s very rare that people attain power and status without being so.”
“What about you?” David asked. “Would you call yourself ruthless?”
“There’s no question about it.”
“At least you’re not posing as something else. I’ll give you that.”
No, Lars thought. I’m not any different than the kind of people I hate. I’m staring down a gun, ready to take a life in order to preserve my own. The only thing different now is that I actually believe in the side I’m fighting for. It’s been a while since I felt that way.
***
“Remarkable imagery, isn’t it?” Miss Merrill said.
“It is impressive,” Joseph admitted.
“And this is merely the portable prototype. The original is most remarkable, I assure you. The details are almost overwhelming. Imagine, Mr. Snow, the increased understanding of mental illnesses this machine will provide. Imagine traumatic head injuries being able to be identified more clearly, and so corrected. Imagine these devices going out to hospitals around the globe. Imagine every professional sports team in the world being able to implement this tool with injured players within minutes of the injury, with no transporting required?
“Imagine the sum they will fetch,” Joseph said.
“The early models would be pricy, of course. But in time they would be improved and the cost could be lowered.”
“Miss—”
“Please,” she said. “Allow me one minute more. You’ve not yet seen the best of the show.”
The Snows exchanged glances and Joseph answered, “All right.”
“I will have to remain quiet for a time,” Miss Merrill explained. “All of my focus must be on the task at hand. Please, keep your eyes on the right screen.” She p
ulled the smoky lens down over her face.
Seconds ticked by. No one spoke. Miss Merrill’s face remained frozen, her body rigid. Joseph Snow was just about to speak when he noticed a blurb of light on the right monitor.
He focused intently and watched as, very slowly, a blurry image flickered across the screen. He turned his head toward the table briefly to check. There was a half a bottle of wine on the table. He looked back to the screen and saw the same bottle flickering almost as if from a weak projector shining an image onto a screen in a room that was too bright.
“Did you see?” Miss Merrill finally asked, flipping up the lens.
“I did.”
“Again, this is just the portable prototype. Just look what it is capable of.”
Joseph stepped back as the woman stood from her seat. She held forth the helm, wearing a hopeful smile.
“Why me?” he asked.
“You’re the greatest of the great,” she replied. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Joseph shook his head. “Do you really think you’ll find what you’re looking for?”
Miss Merrill’s smile faded. She set down the helm and advanced to the table. After retrieving her phone from her purse, she swiped and tapped until a more determined expression emitted from her face. She held out the phone.
“What am I looking at?” Joseph asked.
“Not what. Who. This, believe it or not, is my father. This is an example of what we can already do. With your help, I believe we can accomplish much more.”
Joseph, with his family falling in around him, gazed at the small phone screen. What first appeared to be a photograph turned out to be a video feed. The subject at hand took a moment for one to distinguish, but after a moment, it became evident that they were looking at the ruins of a human being. The body was shriveled, suspended in some sort of fluid. The head, tilted down, was missing the majority of the skull, leaving the brain exposed. Tubes and cables ran from the enclosure and disappeared out of the frame.
Seasons of Wither (The Great North Woods Pack Book 3) Page 15
