The thought of the baby seemed to revive Louis, so Valerio lingered on the subject. “A boy! Congratulations, Louis! What are you going to name him?”
“He will be Dorian, the last name however is still to be decided...it depends on the next set of passports that Tarek sends us,” Louis responded with a grin and then continued. “There is also another issue, can we still trust commercial airlines? What if they discover our identity and decide to shoot us down on our way to Brazil?”
“Tarek analyzed the risks and came up with a plan,” Valerio said, as he placed a cardboard box about the size of a book in front of Louis. “Here you have three sets of passports and the airline itinerary. It is a bit complicated, but it should allow you to elude surveillance. It is all about timing. You have to leave Switzerland within six days from now.”
“Six days?” Louis stared in disbelief. “My goodness, I have to dismantle the lab in my house and..”
“Tarek and Helena calculated that is the time you need to transfer your assets to the new accounts, set up by Helena in Panama,” Valerio cut in. “As for the lab, just make sure you destroy all the sensitive data in your computers. Unfortunately, all what Dora and you can bring along has to fit in two carry-ons.” Valerio paused, he saw that Louis’ face was lost in thought. He started talking to himself, his eyes fixed on the table.
“I hate escaping like a thief. Worse still, I am inflicting this on Dora. Despite all of our achievements, or actually because of them, she has to escape her world just like her father did, except with a son in her womb.”
The boat slowed down, and was moored at the pier. The movement brought Louis back to the decision he had to make. He looked back at Valerio, then quickly grabbed the box and put it into his pocket. Valerio was trying to find something to say to console him, when Louis abruptly asked him, “Are you coming to Brazil, too?”
“No,” Valerio answered. “I am going to live in Dubai, for now.”
“I could have bet my house on that. Not that I need it anymore.” Louis commented. Before Valerio could reply, he hugged him, disembarked, and took the first taxi home.
Chapter 30
Tarek did not like the office that had belonged to Rasim, in the military city, but it was a part of the job he could not change. He had learned the real cause of Rasim’s death from Sheikh Hamdan, the Foreign Minister, just a few days after he had started his new job.
His mission, the Minister told Tarek, was now to undo the deal that Rasim had set up with the Russians, but without losing all the benefits that the Arab Emirates had obtained. In other words, the Sheikhs wanted to keep the weapons of mass destruction that Rasim had acquired. The Americans and the Chinese had made it clear that they wanted the Russians to stop the drug trade and the Emirates to destroy their chemical weapons. Tarek needed to have the Russians on his side, but for some reason they were pushing the Emiratis to give in. If Russia stood firmly with the Emiratis, it would be easier to strike a deal with China, since a long term oil supply would be involved. And then the US would be cornered.
Tarek needed something to get leverage on the Russians, but he could not find anything. He had had a number of talks with Arkady Dobrynin, the new Russian intelligence chief in the Arab Emirates, and he felt the Russians were hiding something from him. Tarek knew Rasim was giving them samples of the pill, which the Russians used to base their own version of Telomerax off of.
He was still reflecting on the course of action to take when he received a text message on his phone, requesting his presence at the Aquarium of the Dubai Mall. It was from Rasim Al-Ibrahim.
Very few people knew that Rasim used Ibrahim as a fake name, so the message must have come from somebody belonging to his inner circle. Could it be an ambush? Probably not, it made no sense to attack someone in the middle of the Dubai Mall. Tarek decided this was a good opportunity to spend the day out of the walls of the military base. He left the office and drove to Dubai, that sunny May morning.
Two hours later, he was admiring the coral reefs in the giant pond at the entrance of the aquarium, when he was approached by a young, red-haired woman who greeted him in Arabic.
“Marhaba, you must be Tarek. You match the description that Rasim gave me,” she said. “My name is Irina, and I am the predecessor of Arkady. I am currently working in Moscow, but I feel there is some unfinished work to do here so I took a short break and flew in yesterday. Has Rasim ever talked to you about me?”
“Not too much, he told me he was quite happy with the way you had managed the Telomerax deal. Unfortunately, I am afraid that the new boss that has replaced you is not as cooperative. May I suggest we go have a cup of green tea?” offered Tarek, while moving towards the nearest coffee shop.
As Irina sipped her tea, Tarek recalled that Rasim had told him that Irina was a young woman in her thirties. But she looked considerably younger. He decided to continue the conversation from there.
“Irina, I must admit that Rasim was right,” said Tarek as he passed the sugar. “One of the few things Rasim told me about you, is that you were by far the most attractive agent in the country. I hope that you do not get these looks with some, how can I put it…unconventional methods.”
“Let's leave flattery aside, I called you to discuss some work issues,” replied Irina, wondering what else Rasim could have told Tarek. “And I do not quite get what you mean by unconventional methods.”
“I am talking about injections, pills, and other unnatural procedures. Sometimes they work but sometimes they lead to nasty side effects, if not properly manufactured.”
“If you are referring to the pills that Rasim gave us, then yes, I have used them,” Irina responded promptly. “Why? Is their quality poor?”
Tarek thought it was time to put all the cards on the table. He needed the help of the Russians to get his host country out of the corner where Rasim had forced it.
“Um, you do not run any risk if you use the original version. Unfortunately, poor imitations have sprung up, just like what happens with Lacoste shirts or Ferrari glasses. And the one from Russia has proven, bad effects on people’s aggressiveness, as we have witnessed in a few episodes in the Far East and Africa. There will surely be more to come.”
“And how about the Chinese version? It is the same as the American one. Did you also have the opportunity to study it?” Irina asked. She wanted to show Tarek she was knowledgeable, too.
Tarek paused for a while and then continued. Irina had managed to impress him.
“The Chinese version...yes, we know it is out there. We have not yet carried out a full analysis. But we suspect nasty side effects as well. One of the best experts I know of thinks it is massively increasing the spread of tumors, and I’m afraid it is not going to stop. The pressure we are receiving from the Americans and the Chinese is overwhelming. They will not slow down the diffusion of the drug nor the multiplication of their variants any time soon. I think they are doing this to protect their own trade.”
“You are totally right, Tarek. My new colleague, Arkady, has not realized it yet. I can give you some information that could help block the American and Chinese pressure, bringing Russia to your side. Of course, I would need something in exchange.”
The eyes of Tarek flashed. Irina might be an angel sent by God to save him, he thought.
“Absolutely. What do you need from us?”
“Very simple. I want to know the name of the man who drew Rasim into the trap.”
Chapter 31
Charles Daniels was furious. Dinesh Kheradpir, his chief technology officer, had decided to resign the day before the May investor meeting, that Charles had been carefully planning for months. This was a crucial step to present the new products that were based off of Telomerax, and to prepare for a stock offer worth several billions of dollars. Luckily, George, who was one of the main investors in the new venture, had been able to replace Dinesh and they had agreed to keep his leave secret, justifying his absence with unexpected personal issues.
This would calm the financial analysts for some days, maybe weeks, yet Charles and George had to quickly figure out why Dinesh had left the company, and what his plans were next.
They anticipated the answer. Dinesh was going to start his own venture, and maybe he had already been working on it for a while. The rewards of Telomerax were too high not to ignite the ambition of brilliant people like Dinesh, especially now that the Russians were being knocked out of the market and Louis Picard, the inventor, was under heavy surveillance. Charles and George needed to know more, quickly, so they decided to call Skip for help.
A few weeks later, in June, Skip invited both of them to Washington, D.C. He was now working to become the next CIA director, and he could not afford to leave the Capital for a single day.
Skip set the tone of the meeting on a sarcastic note.
“My dear, brave venture capitalists, heralds of entrepreneurial initiative and of the free market, it looks like the two of you persuaded your government into killing two hundred and forty-five innocent citizens, a few months back, for no reason.”
Skip paused for a while. George and Charles shifted uneasily and Skip continued,
“Your old colleague is back in India. He has set up a pharmaceutical laboratory close to Mumbai, which is guarded very well. It is a mix of private security and regular soldiers, which means he has good connections high up in the government. We are trying to find out more about the involvement of the Indian government.”
“Um....any idea of what he is making there?” George chimed in, with the most sheepish tone he could manage.
“Ideas? You think we can be satisfied with ideas here? You may make money out of ideas, but not us!” Skip snapped back. Then he regained control and continued, “this is what they are making there.” He opened a drawer under his desk, and raised up his arm, with a small paper box firmly in his hands.
“The last time I handed a few pills over to you, Charles, it ended up with a plane crash in the middle of the Indian Ocean and no results in terms of our control over the diffusion of the drug. Apparently also the Indians are making their own strain, the Russians came to know and they are now refusing to give up their own variant. The outcome is, the drug is spreading out of our control. It is a complete fiasco, let's face it. Lastly, I have to report this to the new President in two weeks. You can imagine he will not be very glad to know that the drone attack strategy of his predecessor Obama, started off with hundreds of victims,” Skip stopped just short of saying that this was jeopardizing his chances of becoming the next director of the CIA.
A short silence followed, as each of them thought of possible ways to move forward. George was the first to speak,
“Alright, we are in a situation where Telomerax, no matter what version, is accelerating its diffusion, mostly in an illegal way. In the last meeting I had with Mr. Lee, he showed me that we have more than three hundred and fifty thousand people addicted, all around the world. It sounds like a large number, but it is less than five percent of regular cocaine users. Each of them are paying an average of one hundred thousand dollars a year for the treatment, which means more than thirty billion dollars net profit every year. We do not know how many users control the Russians and their allies, but we can assume several tens of thousands as well. Quite soon, the Indians will join the party as well so..”
“So what, George?” Skip cut in, “I know the CIA is getting almost three billion of unaccounted cash per year from this, but I cannot tell the President this was the real reason behind destroying the plane. It would be highly inappropriate.”
“What I think George is trying to say,” Charles interrupted, “is that we have to look at it from an economic standpoint. The illegal market is going to expand, with new players coming in, so we have to secure a bigger market share by increasing the production and by speeding up the launch and the adoption of a legal version of Telomerax. If we arrive first, we can dominate the legal market by fighting a patent infringement war with the Indians and the Russians. The cocaine users will switch to the legal variant, and Mr. Lee and his friends will not lose money, as organized crime will just increase the price of cocaine.”
“Exactly,” George continued, “This is the only way we can follow, to make sure that those people in the plane did not die in vain.”
Skip pondered the proposal. It seemed like it may work, yet there were still missing pieces.
“Let me recap. You said you want to manage this in a fully transparent and legal way, so I understand the CIA won't be called in for the kind of services we did last time. But then how about Louis Picard, the inventor? He could come to court and claim he holds the rights.”
“Louis actually created a system to make sure everything would be kept secret,” added George, as he had already imagined all of the consequences.
“Yeah,” Charles joined in, “but he might change his mind, when he sees that we are making money by the tens of billions...Skip is right, we have to take care of that. By the way, it looks like Louis has disappeared as well, a few weeks after his Swiss laboratory was destroyed by Skip’s team.”
“Gentlemen,” Skip interrupted, “let me be very clear. I helped you to activate Zeus, because there was a clear danger to US interests, but this does not mean that the CIA is now at your service. If you do not know how to locate and deal with Louis, this is your problem, not mine.”
As he finished the sentence, Skip thought that his involvement in the first, failed activation of Zeus could cost him the promotion. He had to reduce his dependency on Mr. Lee and his friends.
Charles drew to the conclusion.
“Alright, we can all agree that we have to proceed with the launch of the anti-aging pill. Louis might become an issue, in that case we will try to manage it between us, without asking for Skip’s support. Unless we identify a clear threat to US interests, of course.” George nodded, and Skip was quick to understand the subtle blackmailing in Charles' words.
“Correct,” commented Skip, “I think we are all set. Are you flying back to California tonight? Otherwise we could have dinner together - no business, just smalltalk.”
Charles responded first, “Thanks for the invitation, but I risk losing my girlfriend if I am not back home in Long Island tonight. I have been on the road for the past three weeks.” George, on the other hand, had a Netjets private flight waiting for him at Reagan Airport. They both left.
Charles received a call from Skip about two hours later, just after he got home. Sally frowned, and impatiently waited for him to sit down for dinner.
“Good evening Skip, did we leave anything out of our talks today?”
“I believe we covered it all,” answered Skip, “however there is a new scenario I have to assess. What if George also decides to leave your company, just like Dinesh did? Would he be able to start his own?”
“He may be able to copy our Telomerax, but he would be exposed to the same infringement suits and without the protection of a foreign government, things would be much more difficult. So I think he realizes it would be better for him to stay near Louis and the original formula. This is my problem, though, you said so yourself.”
“Indeed, Charles, indeed,” Skip rushed to confirm. “It is just to get an idea of future events. We have to be prepared to face anything. Enjoy your evening and I trust you are not sharing this with anyone, not even Sally.”
Charles stopped, wondering when he had ever told Skip about Sally, but before he could put together a question, Skip had hung up the phone.
Chapter 32
Louis stared out of the window of the laboratory overlooking the terrace where Dora was feeding Dorian, their two-month-old son. Just a few seconds of admiring the scene was all he needed to continue his work. His eyes then shifted, beyond the terrace, to the cove of Copacabana beach and the rhythmic waves of the South Atlantic Ocean.
Dora and Louis had spent the first six months in Brazil changing home every three weeks, until Helena announced that their final destination wa
s ready. To their surprise, they learned that their new home would be a renovated house in a favela, meaning the slums of Brazil. It was located on the slopes of Morro dos Cabritos, one of the mountains that surround Rio de Janeiro.
The favelas proved to be very organized communities, mainly controlled by the narcos, with full access to the infrastructure of the modern city. Built around the hills like Middle Age villages, they typically had a single entrance that led from the city streets to the maze of the favelas’ alleys. It was easy to transform the tiny towns into fortresses, making them inaccessible to hostile intruders.
Helena had restructured a set of houses, transforming them into a four-thousand-square-feet apartment spread out among several buildings, which also included enough space for Louis’ new laboratory. The most important people of the favela had all been put on payroll, so now Louis could count on a small army of five-thousand people to ensure continuous surveillance and protection.
He liked the new location, it was so different from the quiet and reserved neighborhoods of Zurich. The terrace, on the other hand, reminded him of 'Le Jardin' in Passoy. Dora also enjoyed their new life, and kept saying that it was the ideal climate to raise their newborn child. She was involved in the community, helping to run the local kindergarten at the entrance of their favela.
As for Louis, he was busy studying all the Telomerax strains that had been made. Counting the Indian imitation, there were now four versions around. His was still the best. He had managed to remove the carcinogenic effects that had caused the tumor in Helena, and Dora’s pregnancy had past without any issues. He had also discovered that the version developed by the company of Charles and George could still increase the chances of developing tumors. He was completing the analysis on the Indian samples he had received from Tarek the previous month.
The Last Enemy - A history of the present future - 1934-2084 Page 20
