The Last Enemy - A history of the present future - 1934-2084

by Luca Luchesini

  “Ok, tell me,” Valerio sighed.

  “First, I need your company to manage the public relations of Ambrosiax. A huge storm is coming, and I need somebody with the full knowledge of the story to talk to the public with the right pitch. There will be congressional hearings, hundreds of lawsuits, monumental financial losses, but the biggest risk for Ambrosiax and its team - including myself - is to lose its reputation and disappear into oblivion. The line we want to follow is very simple; Ambrosiax made a big mistake that hurt our customers and ourselves, no doubt, and we will pay for the damages, however it was a learning experience. So we will fix the issue and continue our journey. This means that we will have to dispel all the negative criticism that will be thrown at Ambrosiax management.”

  “Tough request, but doable,” Valerio commented. “What is the second thing you need?”

  “I need Louis to give me the true formula, or at least some surrogate product - a simple life extender, without nasty side effects. I am sure that you can persuade him.”

  “George, I am afraid this is not possible,” Valerio replied firmly. “If Louis does it, Dora and his child would be at risk. That's the deal that the Mossad made, with the agreement of the CIA, to guarantee his family's security.”

  Through the silence that fell, Valerio could sense George’s frustration, yet he was not giving up.

  “Valerio, are you sure about the conditions of the deal? I have connections at the CIA. I know the guy that is most likely to become the new director, now that the Republican candidate has won the presidency.”

  “No, I must admit I do not know precisely. All that Louis shared was he struck a deal with an Israeli guy, who claimed to have good connections to the CIA. The message was clear: stay out of the Telomerax trade and do not share anything with anyone and we won't bother you. Fact is, this happened almost three years ago, and so far the deal has worked. I do not think Louis wants to try to renegotiate it.”

  “Alright, Valerio. I will sort a few things out with my contacts in Washington before I come back to you and Louis. Nonetheless, I hope you can accept to work with my company on the public relations issue. If you agree, I am going to ask our vice president of public affairs to get in touch with you to work out the contract details.”

  Valerio wondered what he should do. He thought about Tarek; how would he react to this cooperation? Valerio wanted to help George, but could he afford to become a kind of traitor in the eyes of his Egyptian friend? He needed more time. After a long pause, he responded.

  “George, do not take it as a no, I just need a bit of time to reflect on it. Can you call me back tomorrow, so we can have a more structured discussion?”

  “Tomorrow I will have a structured no, Valerio,” George replied bluntly. “It is not your fault, and you have plenty of reasons to decline, just do not fool me around.”

  Valerio tried to reply, but George hung up. He then tried to recall the number, but all that Valerio got was the automated voice of the department of public affairs of Ambrosiax that invited him to leave a message after the tone. As he took his eyes away from the multifunction display screen, he realized that his car had just finished parking in its reserved space in the garage of the new Dubai Internet Tower.

  Chapter 35

  Dora and Louis were sitting at a table in the Pousada d’Areia hotel, next to the beach of Arraial do Cabo, sixty miles away from Rio de Janeiro. It was late May 2022, the overbearing heat of the southern tropical summer had given way to a warm fall. They had decided to take a long weekend off with Helena and Guillermo, who had been married for one year.

  Just outside of the pousada, Aurora and Dorian were playing in the white sand of the beach, and jumping in and out of the crystal clear water. Around them, Jorginho and his team were doing a discreet but careful surveillance of the area, with guns hidden in their diving suits. Two motorboats, moored a few hundred yards away from the shore, were also part of the surveillance squad.

  They were just ending their lavish seafood lunch, when Helena's phone blinked. It was a call from Valerio. Helena answered and greeted Valerio warmly, then suddenly fell silent. Dora and the others could hear that the tone of Valerio’s voice was serious, but could not catch any words. After a few seconds Helena turned pale, and then she tapped her glasses to signal the other three to put on theirs too.

  Helena switched the call into videoconference mode, and the face of Valerio appeared on the glasses of everybody.

  “Ok, Valerio, now you can see and hear all of us. Please, repeat the news. I think it is better that we all know at once.”

  Valerio took a deep breath and repeated again.

  “Hi everyone, George has just died. He was found dead yesterday evening, Pacific time - which means a few hours ago - on the Sunnyvale, California golf course he used to frequent. I got the newswire feed one hour ago, just after the coroner confirmed the death. It is now breaking news.”

  Guillermo immediately asked the question that everybody was thinking.

  “Is there any idea of the cause of the death? I mean, was it natural?”

  “At this stage, no one really knows. I just called the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, who happens to know the coroner. There were no signs of any wound on the body so it was either a natural death, like a stroke or heart attack, or a very sophisticated murder. We need to wait for the results of the autopsy.”

  “Forget the autopsy!” Helena shouted, “He has obviously been killed! We all know how you can manipulate post-mortem examinations. George was one of the first to benefit from this, a long time ago. We just have to find out who killed him, and get our revenge.”

  She did not add anything else. George was still the father of Aurora, and Helena could not tolerate this news.

  Louis tried to calm her, with practicality.

  “Helena, please, this is a possibility, but don’t get overwhelmed. After the Ambrosiax scandal broke out three months ago, there are tens of thousands of people that have very good reasons to blame George and his company – starting from the nearly seven thousand women that developed cancer during pregnancy after taking Ambrosiax. Almost all of them have died, leaving grief and anger among their husbands, children and relatives. Then, consider the hundreds of thousands of women that have taken it, and now have to face the decision between getting pregnant and getting a tumor, like you and Dora did a few years back. These women did not know they were taking a risk. They paid tens of thousands of dollars to get the life-extending drug, assuming it was safe. Last, do not forget about the hundreds of thousands of disgruntled shareholders that invested tens of billions of their dollars into Ambrosiax and in a few weeks saw their holdings and savings disappear. The list of people who might have wished to see George dead is simply too long. Even if he has been killed, we will never find the culprit.”

  Helena stood up, her eyes scanning the people sitting at the table,

  “I did not say it will be easy. I just cannot let it go unpunished. I have all the time I need to prepare my revenge; sooner or later I will find out.”

  She left the table and hurried to the beach, calling Aurora to get in the car to go home. Aurora tried to protest, but quickly gave in. It was one of those times when arguing with mom was hopeless.

  Dora and Louis remained alone at the table. They simultaneously looked out of the window to see Dorian, who was giving a hard time to a crab that was desperately trying to get back into the water. A few yards away, Jorginho was observing the scene with a smile of amusement.

  Dora and Louis continued the meeting with Valerio.

  “Have you already got in touch with Tarek? What’s his view?” Louis asked.

  Valerio nodded, his face got all the more somber,

  “He called me shortly after the news broke. I think he knows something. He predicted no wounds would be found on the body, before I talked to my colleague at the Chronicle. Either Tarek knows personally the coroner in California, which I do not believe, or he has some information that might b
e relevant to us. I asked him to elaborate further, but he refused. He just told me that as soon as he gets some evidence he is expecting from his informants, he will contact you, Louis.”

  Dora jumped in,

  “What was Tarek’s reaction? Is he thinking about revenge, like Helena?”

  “No, not at all,” Valerio replied, “I do not want to say that he was happy to hear about George’s death, but he was quite apathetic. He kind of expected this to happen, because he has always thought George had a disordered desire for success, even with the many talents and gifts he possessed. He told me he is going to get in touch with the two of you soon. He thinks you are trusting the Mossad way too much.”

  “Ok, Valerio,” Louis interrupted, “we will be waiting for his call. Telomerax has gone public, and the results are tens of thousands of innocent victims, among which George. I wish I could take a break from all of this, just for one day, but apparently it is not possible. Please get back to me as soon as you have some news. We must drive back to Rio now.”

  Louis ended the video call, then all the team boarded their jeeps and the small convoy headed back to Rio. Dorian made it clear that he was not pleased with having his afternoon at the seaside cut short, and he did not stop crying until Jorginho captured “his” crab in an empty plastic bottle for him to bring home. It was not until they had almost reached their destination, on the bridge that connects Rio to Niteroi over the Guanabara Bay, that Dora recalled the actual purpose of the whole trip.

  She first glanced back at Dorian, who was sleeping with the bottle firmly grasped in his hands.

  “Louis,” she said, “You told me that you wanted to invite Helena and Guillermo out to share big news. I am guessing Valerio’s news spoiled it...”

  “Yes, indeed. It was about Aurora, and Dorian as well…how they are growing up. I cannot determine if the news is good or bad.”

  Dora moved closer to Louis, turning an eye towards the backseat to make sure Dorian was still asleep. She then whispered,

  “What do you mean? Are they going to develop some strange feature? You did not say it is bad, so it must not be a sickness..”

  “Dora,” Louis replied, further lowering his voice, “it is not a sickness. It is the way they are. Their DNA replicates perfectly for some reason, I still have to find out, but it’s like they have Telomerax embedded in their genes.”

  “Louis, this means that…”

  “Yes, Dora. They are the first members of a new species of humans. They are the first naturally born immortals.”

  Part Three

  Prohibition and War

  Chapter 1

  Tarek kept looking at the video wall in the living room of Valerio’s flat in Dubai. The screen was tuned to the security camera feeds, which had replayed the arrival of a big limo. Two figures were dropped off, and went through the metal detectors at the guarded entrance. They were then allowed in the building by the bellman. A few minutes later, Valerio opened the door of his flat, warmly greeting Helena and Louis, who had just landed from Brazil. They entered the vast living room, and gazed through the windows at the illuminated islands of the Jebel Ali Palm that were glowing on the Gulf waters. Tarek nonchalantly waved to them from the couch, without bothering to stand up or to put down the glass of vodka he was sipping.

  "Wow I was expecting a warmer greeting considering we have not met in person for years," Louis thought, “I hope that Helena does not resent it too much, for sure she has noticed.”

  "I thought you were living in a villa on the Palm Island," Louis said to Valerio, trying to chill out.

  "I am," responded Valerio, "I use this penthouse when I have to impress customers and make sure the conversation is confidential. Tarek's team regularly checks that the place does not get bugged. As we are on the top floor of the tallest building in the area, there is no chance of being videotaped."

  "Alright, gentlemen," Tarek groaned, slowly standing up from the couch, "you can have a tour of the house later on, can we please just sit down and talk? I need to be back in Abu Dhabi tonight, and I do not like late night trips at all. The highway is full of idiots that use it as a racetrack to test their new Ferraris and Porsches."

  "I am so sorry, Tarek," Helena commented sarcastically, "you might have a one-hour drive back home, but we just got off a plane after a twenty-hour flight, and won't be back home before spending another day in this huge sandbox."

  Valerio frowned at Tarek, who suddenly understood and apologized.

  "Um, Helena, I am sorry, it's just that I am a bit nervous. I was thinking about the last time we met here in the Emirates, in the middle of the desert, more than ten years ago. We felt things were taking a dangerous turn, and tried to put up a new strategy. Now the strategy has largely failed, and George has paid with his life."

  "How are you so sure that George was killed? The coroner eventually claimed it was a stroke," Louis said. "We know this for sure, because Valerio saw the results in person, thanks to his colleague in the local press."

  "I have no conclusive evidence, just pieces that together make a plausible picture," Tarek rebuffed. "First, we know that George was in trouble with his new colleagues at Ambrosiax, and also his old friend, Skip Ross, who in the meantime has become director of the CIA. At least, that’s what he told Valerio." Tarek paused, and looked for some sign of confirmation from Valerio, who instead kept silent, with his eyes fixed on his glass of whiskey.

  "Second," Tarek continued, "I have just received evidence from the Iranians that the Israelis have developed a new weapon, a biological drone, which is being used for selective murdering. It is basically a fly wired to a microchip that releases a toxin when it hits its target. The Mossad has been using it for a while in Gaza and Lebanon, but the Iranians have eventually figured it out. The effects are very similar to what we saw in the case of George. We all know that the Mossad and the CIA used to cooperate. So we just need to find out who actually carried out George’s murder and why."

  "It is not enough," Helena objected, "as much as I want my revenge, I need solid evidence. Are we sure he was killed by this toxin? We will never know, the body has been cremated. As for the cooperation between the Mossad and the CIA, we have experienced all too well the opposite."

  "Ok, I admit the evidence is not rock solid. But at least it is a lead. Let me also add the last piece; I know some people in the Russian secret service hated George. They thought he was responsible for Rasim's death, and they might have decided to retaliate."

  "Is this what they thought on their own, or what you told them, Tarek?" Louis basked bluntly, "Sorry for being direct, but after forty years of living together I am becoming a bit like Dora. I hate bullshitting, especially among us. We should have learned something from our mistakes."

  Tarek lowered his eyes to the vodka glass again, waited a few moments to collect the right words, then whispered, "they came to me asking if I knew something more about the exact circumstances of Rasim's ambush. As I needed their help, I gave them all the information I had. You have to know that the local head of the Russian secret service, at the time, was a woman. She might have had a relation with Rasim, this I do not know for sure, as Rasim was very reserved. But if it were true, it might add yet another reason. You know what I mean, Helena.”

  Tarek concluded, moving his eyes from the empty glass to Helena. She did not react to the remark, and plainly added, “alright, Tarek, you started by blaming the Mossad, and you end up with three possible options, of which none is credible enough. Anyway, even if one was more plausible than the others, what could we do? Declare war on the Mossad? Attack the Lubjanka building in Moscow? Or just kidnap Skip Ross and waterboard him until he confesses all he knows? We are just so weak…” Helena’s voice subsided, as she stretched out on the couch.

  Louis was pleasantly surprised that she was starting to give up on her revenge goals. He was also surprised to find himself admiring her slim and fit figure, and he wondered why he had not yet noticed that in the past several years. He
was still lost in his thoughts when the voice of Valerio brought him back to the meeting.

  “I think Helena got the point, we are weak,” Valerio summarized, “and it might well be that we are the next in line after George. That’s why we have to know exactly what is behind the death of George, be it murder or not. The problem is who to ask, and why should they help us, as we have nothing to offer in return. Knowledge about Telomerax is no longer our monopoly.”

  “Yes, Telomerax is no longer ours, or at least not only ours,” Tarek continued, “however, we might still have some leverage with the Israeli friends of Louis.”

  As he finished the sentence, the Egyptian placed a tiny box on the table. Louis understood immediately.

  “It is one of the modified flies, isn’t it?” he asked Tarek.

  “That’s why I insisted to have you here in person,” Tarek promptly answered. “I promised my counterpart in Teheran some help, and we can use this with the Mossad. I am sure that your contacts in Tel Aviv do not want the Iranians to understand exactly how their new weapon works. We can help them drive the investigation in the wrong direction, at least for a while, if they help us with the case of George.”

  “Hang on, you are driving me crazy now,” Helena scoffed.

  “First, you start blaming George’s death on the Mossad. Now, you end by proposing to ask them for help? Or am I just misunderstanding due to jet lag?”

  Tarek bowed slightly towards Helena, and he responded with the sweetest tone he could manage,

  “No, that’s my fault, I wasn’t clear. It’s quite complicated to understand, even with our superintelligence…” he paused to smile then continued, “actually, I believe the Mossad is involved in George’s death, but most likely they are not the culprit. Even if they were, it must have been something between them and George alone, this I am quite sure about. Think about it, Helena. They have been guaranteeing your security in Brazil for more than five years, if something had changed in their mind we would have found out the hard way. Yet it seems the deal is still holding, as far as Louis, Dora and you are concerned. However, I have a feeling that the weapon is theirs, so they know something.”