The GODD Chip (The Unity of Four Book 1)

by K Patrick Donoghue

  “What about MGC? If they wait until they get near the clinic, what—”

  The sound of Schwartz’ voice in Damon’s earbud radio cut short his question. “Major Spiers? The Hearns women are on the move.”

  Damon’s eyes darted to the split holoscreen showing the Hearns’ suburban home. Escorted by two of the family’s androids, the three women boarded a sport utility cruiser parked in the driveway. Damon tapped his earbud. “Here we go, people. Show’s starting.”

  Of all the aspects of Beacon’s dual-rescue plan, Damon worried the least about the operation to kidnap Sarah Hearns and her daughters. The two androids were under Rodrick’s command to stay with the women at all times. The distance between the house and church where the women planned to pray for Billy was a mere few miles. Damon’s officers and drones had the church surrounded. Damon saw no way for Beacon to make it past them without being noticed, and no way they could get the Hearns women out without being captured. Then again, thought Damon, Beacon rats always seem to have tricks up their sleeves.

  The wait for Beacon to launch its operations was vexing to Damon. In Chicago, they did nothing to apprehend the Hearns women on the way to St. Matthew’s. Nor had they leaped into action once the women were inside.

  The nano feed from inside the church showed the mother and daughters first kneeling before a table of lit votives and then moving to a pew to continue their private vigil.

  Outside, every person, every android that passed by the church was scanned and identified by other nano drones. Thus far, all were ID’d as locals with NASF profiles devoid of any questionable activities or criminal offenses. The same scrutiny had been applied to the priest and nuns by the nano inside the church with the same results.

  Four hundred miles away, Rodrick Hearns passed through the center of Minneapolis absent of any drama and was now just a few miles from the gene center.

  With each minute that passed without a move from Beacon, Damon’s uneasiness intensified. What are they waiting for? Did they spot us? Have they aborted? As he contemplated the disappointing possibility, his eyes were locked on a zoomed-in nano feed of Sarah Hearns praying. She looked serene, absorbed in the moment. He said to Cassidy, “Sure doesn’t look nervous or like someone expecting to be rescued, does she? She hasn’t checked her holoband or looked around the church once.”

  “Agreed. Neither have the daughters,” Cassidy said.

  “Yeah, but the daughters probably don’t know what’s going on. I doubt Mrs. Hearns said anything to them. Too much risk they might tell Mr. Hearns,” said Damon.

  “You think it’s a setup, then? A diversion?”

  “Either that or Beacon sniffed us out and aborted.”

  Just then, Officer Fenner’s voice sounded in Damon’s radio. “Mr. Hearns just pulled into the MGC parking lot.”

  Damon shifted his attention to the center screen of the holotable. The RiverForge slowed to a stop underneath the portico protecting the clinic’s front entrance. A valet jogged out and briefly spoke to Rodrick, motioning him to drive to the side of the building. The gesture brought back the memory of Dylan’s euthanization again, and Damon recalled the clinic had a separate, side entrance for euthanization patients.

  The video feed from a glider drone high above the clinic zoomed out to capture the view of Rodrick guiding his vehicle to the side entrance. On the right-hand screen, Cassidy punched up another view, this one provided by a nano trailing close behind the RiverForge.

  As soon as the car stopped, the sliding doors of the side entrance opened. Out came a wheeled gurney accompanied by two orderlies and Dr. Wells. While the orderlies removed Billy from the car, Wells spoke with Rodrick. Moments later, they disappeared into the clinic and the self-driving RiverForge parked in a nearby space.

  Damon suddenly rued his decision to not place hidden cameras inside the clinic earlier in the week. Given his concerns about Wells and Fujita, he had not wanted to risk tipping them, especially since he had expected the rescue attempt to take place long before Hearns reached the clinic.

  Glancing at his holoband, Damon noted the time. It was 12:21 p.m. Billy’s euthanization procedure was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Unless something dramatic occurred in the next thirty-nine minutes, the child would be put to sleep and Damon would miss out on another chance to foil Beacon.

  Western border wall

  Lakelands Province, New Atlantia

  Twenty-two miles away, in a dense forest near the towering wall separating New Atlantia from Carapach, a holoimage of pine needles covering the ground flickered and then disappeared. Moments later, a hatch that had been hidden by the holoimage opened and two figures in hooded cloaks climbed out. As they began to creep through the forest, the hatch closed and the holoimage reactivated.

  Two miles into their midday trek, they neared the bank of a stream. The lead figure stopped and they both knelt. For several minutes, they peered at a group of fishermen standing in the stream. One of the anglers looked their way, removed his red cap and wiped his brow.

  The lead figure removed her hood and whispered, “Okay, Ake, that’s the all-clear signal. Let’s get the boat.”

  Together, Ellie and Akecheta approached the broken sections of a large, fallen pine tree. There were three sections in total and they headed for the middle one. Kneeling beside it, they rolled it aside, revealing a burrowed hole underneath. In the hole was a canoe laden with oars, fishing gear and laser rifles.

  Several minutes later, they slid the boat into the water and began to paddle across the stream. No longer wearing the dampening cloaks that had masked their heat signatures and electromagnetic signals from detection by NASF gliders patrolling the area near the wall, the two androids joined the other anglers. The man in the red cap waded alongside the canoe and addressed Ellie. “Take the blue van. The uniforms are inside. We’ll stow the canoe and your gear. Good luck.”

  Ellie and Akecheta guided the canoe onto the streambank and dragged the boat ashore. A few minutes later, after passing through a narrow stand of trees, they came upon two vans parked on the side of a gravel road. Following the man’s instructions, they entered the blue van and drove away. The time was 12:52 p.m.

  National Gene Center

  Minneapolis, Lakelands Province, New Atlantia

  At 12:58 p.m., Takoda entered the euthanization suite dressed in surgical gear. He was accompanied by a nurse and Yon. In the center of the room, ten-year-old Billy Hearns was strapped to a table. Nearby was a tray with a syringe and small bottle, and a bank of holomonitors displaying Billy’s vital signs.

  Takoda advanced toward Billy and looked up at an observation window on the far side of the room where he saw an ashen Rodrick Hearns standing next to the clinic director, Neville Thompson. Takoda nodded toward both of them and saw Thompson turn and say something to Rodrick. The man shook his head and began to weep. Thompson then nodded back to Takoda.

  Turning toward the nurse, Takoda said, “Prepare the injection.”

  “Yes, Doctor.”

  The nurse lifted the bottle and read out the label. She showed it to Takoda and then to Yon. Both acknowledged it was the correct drug. The nurse then filled the syringe with the appropriate dosage and handed it to Takoda.

  He looked up one more time at the observation window. The curtains were now closed. Takoda gazed down at Billy and said a silent prayer. When finished, he slid the needle of the syringe into the medicine port on Billy’s arm and injected its contents.

  In the background, he heard the nurse mark the time of the injection. As Takoda removed the needle and placed it back on the tray, the nurse began calling out the boy’s falling vital signs. He backed away and looked up at the monitors.

  Shortly thereafter, Billy exhaled deeply and his vital signs flatlined. Yon performed a quick physical examination to confirm the boy’s passing and then called out the time of death at 1:07 p.m.

  Command Center – NASF Province Headquarters

  Minneapolis, Lakelands Province, New Atlantia<
br />
  Damon received a call from Rodrick Hearns at 1:12 p.m., informing him of Billy’s death. By then, the major already knew; the biometric data from the tracking implant had flatlined at 1:07. Amid Damon expressing his condolences, the emotional Rodrick whispered, “I don’t understand. What happened?”

  “It’s hard to say. There could be multiple explanations.”

  Still maintaining a whisper, Rodrick said, “What about my wife and daughters? Where are they?”

  Damon looked at the holotable screen. “They’re still at the church.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Damon noticed the tracking implant data screen had gone blank. A blinking message indicated the device was offline. He snapped his fingers to get Cassidy’s attention and then pointed at the data screen. As Damon mouthed to her to check on the device, Rodrick mumbled, “Dear God, she couldn’t go through with it, after all. She must have backed out.”

  Possibly, thought Damon, but then again…

  “I need to call her. She’ll want to know,” Rodrick said.

  “Uh…Mr. Hearns, I know it’s an imposition, but I’d like you to hold off on making that call for now. I need to consult with my team. I’ll call you right back.”

  “Why? What’s the matter?”

  “Just do as I ask, please.”

  Damon ended the call and turned to Cassidy. “What happened to the implant? Why is it offline?”

  “I’m not certain. Either it’s been disabled or the signal’s being blocked.”

  Or it’s been removed, Damon thought. “Have you tried to reconnect?”

  “Yes. Multiple times. No response.”

  The doctors must have discovered the implant and removed it. That was the only explanation that made sense to Damon. The question now was whether the removal was coincidental or intentional.

  “I don’t know, Cass, it’s damn suspicious.”

  “We could send an officer in to investigate.”

  “Yeah, we could. But that would mean revealing our surveillance, tipping Beacon to our presence. I’m not keen on doing that.” Damon once again rued the lack of nano surveillance inside the clinic. After a brief moment of further reflection, he said, “What do you think? Was it legit? The euthanization? Could it have been staged? You know, flatline the kid with some kind of sedative, then remove the tracker so we can’t detect them bringing him back?”

  “It’s possible, but there may be a more plausible scenario, Major.”

  “Like what?”

  “Maybe Sarah Hearns changed her mind.”

  Damon looked toward the holotable screen showing Sarah Hearns and her daughters praying. He had to admit it was possible. But Damon couldn’t leave it to chance. Tapping his earbud, he instructed the device to call Rodrick. When the evvie answered, Damon said, “I need a favor from you.”

  Two sentences into describing the requested favor, Rodrick interrupted. “You want me to do what?”

  “Please keep your voice down, sir. I know it’s an odd request, but I can’t send in one of my men without tipping off our presence.”

  In a curt whisper, Rodrick replied, “Major, my son is dead. I can assure you of that. I saw his body before they took him away.”

  “I understand, sir, it’s just that the tracking device we implanted is offline and it shouldn’t be. I need to know whether it was removed or not…discreetly.”

  “What difference does it make? Billy’s dead.”

  Damon felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see Cassidy standing beside him. “Sir, the Hearns women are leaving the church.”

  He looked at the holotable and saw one of the Hearns’ androids exit the church on one of the three screens. “Mr. Hearns, I have to go. Please do what I asked. I’ll call you back shortly.”

  As he clicked the earbud to end the call, Damon watched the Hearns’ SUV pull up to the curb.

  “Major?” Cassidy said.

  “Not now, Cass.” Damon touched his earbud radio again and commanded the device to connect him to his team in Chicago. The device replied with a double tone, confirming the connection. Damon said, “Stay on your toes, people. They’re coming out.”

  On the screen, the android waiting outside the church opened the SUV’s rear door and, one by one, the Hearns women filed out and entered the vehicle.

  “But, Major, we have a problem,” Cassidy said.

  Just as the Hearns android boarded the SUV, Damon looked up from the screen and saw Cassidy frantically working the holotable keyboard. “What’s the mat—”

  A bright flash flared up from the holotable. Crosstalk erupted in Damon’s ear.

  “Jesus…”

  “What the hell…”

  “Oh my God…”

  Damon squinted back at the holotable as the flash on the screen began to fade, revealing a burning, twisted heap where the Hearns’ SUV had been just moments before. The stunned major whispered, “Holy shit.”

  “Sir, we’ve lost the feed from the nano inside the church,” said Cassidy.

  “Screw the church—” Damon stopped in midsentence. Looking back at the burning vehicle, he cursed under his breath. “Damn it!” He pressed his finger against his earbud and interrupted the chatter flowing back and forth between HQ and the officers on site. “Schwartz, order your plainclothes inside the church to search it from top to bottom. You got it?”

  “Yes, sir…hold on, sir…”

  Damon heard Schwartz swear and raised voices in the background. “What’s going on, Schwartz? Report.”

  Through his earbud, Damon heard Schwartz blurt, “Alert! Alert! All officers in the vicinity of St. Matthew’s…officers down! Officers down!”

  “Report, Schwartz! What’s happening?” Damon bellowed.

  Between huffs and puffs, Schwartz replied, “No response…from plainclothes…inside…shots fired…outside…two officers down…heading inside chur—”

  The boom of another explosion drowned out Schwartz’ voice. Damon yanked his earbud out and yelled at Cassidy. “Get the goddamned drones back online! Now!”

  The time was 1:46 p.m.

  National Gene Center

  Minneapolis, Lakelands Province, New Atlantia

  At 1:45 p.m., an ambulance van slowed to a stop at the rear of the Minneapolis Gene Center. Two uniformed personnel exited the vehicle and proceeded inside the building. Moments later, they reappeared outside wheeling a gurney laden with a body bag. After loading the bag in the ambulance, the vehicle slowly drove away.

  In an unmarked NASF command truck two blocks away, Officer Fenner watched a glider feed of the ambulance leaving the clinic. Turning to a technician in the truck, he said, “Could be the kid. Tail the ambulance with a nano. Acquire face rec on the driver and passenger.”

  Fenner contemplated alerting Spiers about the ambulance but decided to wait until the facial recognition data came back. From the animated radio exchanges going back and forth between HQ and officers in Chicago, Fenner knew Spiers had his hands full at the moment. This was not the time to distract him.

  However, he did transmit a message to Willow. Even though Fenner suspected she had her hands full too, he knew her android brain would assign the appropriate prioritization to his alert about the ambulance. If she thought it was important enough, she’d tell Spiers.

  With the message to Willow sent, Fenner returned his attention to the monitors showing various outdoor views of the clinic. On one of the screens, he saw a stern-faced Rodrick Hearns exit the building and board his RiverForge. The technician asked if Fenner wanted a nano to tail Hearns too. Fenner thought of what was happening in Chicago and wondered if Hearns was aware of the situation. “You know what, just to be on the safe side, yeah, put a tail on Hearns too.”

  Downtown Minneapolis

  Lakelands Province, New Atlantia

  As the RiverForge wound its way through the city, Rodrick loosened his tie and spoke to the auto’s computer. “Black out the windows.”

  “Privacy mode activated,” said the male co
mputer voice.

  “Scan for surveillance.”

  “Scanning for surveillance devices.” While he waited for the scan to finish, Rodrick reclined his seat. A few seconds later, the computer said, “One device detected.”

  “Identify,” said Hearns.

  “Nano drone registered to New Atlantia Security Force.”

  “So predictable.” Rodrick shook his head. “Jam device.”

  As he again waited for the computer to fulfill his command, Rodrick withdrew a bottle of bourbon from the center console cabinet and filled a tumbler.

  “Surveillance device neutralized,” reported the computer.

  “Good.” Rodrick downed the tumbler and set it aside. “Send all incoming calls to voice mail and connect me with Sir Collins. Full encryption.”

  After a brief interval, Collins’ gravelly voice sounded from the RiverForge speakers. “I trust you have good news, Roddy.”

  “Yes, Your Grace. It is done.”

  “Excellent,” said Collins, the grandmaster of the Evvie Guild. “Any trouble?”

  “Not until after the procedure.”

  “Oh? What happened?”

  “The cheeky NASF major asked me to confirm Billy was dead, said their tracker was offline. He wanted me to find out whether it had been removed.”

  “Did you do as he asked?”

  “I tried but Beacon’s people had already taken Billy from the clinic.”

  Collins’ cackling laugh echoed over the speakers. “They’re crafty devils, I’ll give them that.”

  “That, they are. How are things in Chicago?” Rodrick asked.

  “The NASF people have their heads up their asses as usual. Never even noticed Beacon slip Sarah and the girls out of the church. They’ll figure it out soon, though. But, of course, it will be too late. We’ll make sure of that.”

  Rodrick poured another drink. “I’m in your debt, Your Grace.”