John went back and sat down behind his desk. The doctor uncertainly remained standing in front of him, unsure whether he should go or stay. After a few seconds, John looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Are you still here? I would hurry back to the lab if I were you.”
The doctor bowed so deeply that it stretched in the back of the legs and he quickly left the room. John pressed a button on the intercom and three seconds later a tall, slender man entered, whose one side was covered by a long, angry scar that ran from his temple down to the chin, from a hidden door on the short side. He looked at the man.
“Make sure that the good doctor has everything he needs. Make sure he focuses on this and nothing else. Report to me tomorrow morning.”
The tall, slender man nodded briefly and left the room.
* * *
John gazed out over his creation. Tabula Rasa. It was here that he would create the next generation of people who would dominate the earth. A new breed of super people that he would shape and by surrounding them with his own visions they would be unquestionably loyal to him. It was outstanding that he had come so far.
There was certainly much that he had been born with, money and power was something that the family always had possessed. That and strong men who could manage and control their surroundings. But it had not always been like that for John. When he was a small boy, he had been relatively shy and content with building models and reading books, but when he was six years old he had got a five-week-old cocker spaniel from his mother in a rare moment of tenderness.
The little puppy was dedicated to John and followed him everywhere. From the moment John held him in his arms he had felt an overwhelming love for the little animal and he had named him Templeton. One afternoon they had been running around and played in the house and he had followed Templeton into his father’s study.
John knew that he was not allowed to be in there but in the heat of moment he had forgotten that and he had sat down all sweaty in the big leather sofa in his father’s study. They had kept on playing but in a moment when he was not watching, Templeton had jumped up in the sofa and peed. John had tried to stop him but the dark stain had grown slowly and John had panicked when he had heard his father’s voice in the doorway.
He still remembered the feeling of fear when he saw his father’s eyes move from him down to the dark stain and Templeton who was joyfully jumping around. Without a word his father had started to walk towards him and John had braced himself for the expected slap. But it never came. Instead his father had bent down towards Templeton, grabbed the neck of the whining animal and with extreme force thrown him into to the wall.
The little puppy had smashed against the wall with a disgusting, deep thud. John had been paralyzed and without a word his father had turned around and left the room. John had rushed to Templeton and got down on his knees. He could see that the little puppy was seriously injured. The back legs had not been working and blood slowly came out of the nose. John had been sitting there with the dying puppy with tears streaming down his cheeks. That experience had left profound scars in John.
Nature was made like that. The strong dominated the weak. It was nature’s law. That’s the way it was, had always been and would stay that way forever. There was nothing to do against the laws of nature. The best a man could do was to accept how things were and go with the flow.
That was why he had dreamt that dream. He was sure of it. One special night, almost a month ago, he had woken up soaking in sweat and with only one thought in his head. The Skydisc. It had called for him. It wanted to be found by him and it had come to him in his dream to ask for help to be found. It was a sign. He was sure of it. He had read everything about the Skydisc from Nebra and it was afterwards that he had understood what it was he became convinced that it was important. He was not sure why but something inside him had convinced him. He had hired Raddick and had great expectations that Raddick would succeed to retrieving the Skydisc for him. But Raddick had failed.
The volcano within John flared up when he thought about it. With willpower he controlled the anger and focused on what he had in front of him instead. He smiled to himself and thought about the evening. He had a couple of more meetings and then he was going to have some fun. In his extravagant apartment there was a secret part that only he had access to. There he used to act out his secret desires that nobody else knew about. It was a part that he knew he shared with both his father and grandfather. They had been the same. Predators. He was proud to belong to a clan of such strong men who had the courage to dominate their surroundings.
That was also the reason that he had established one of the best zoos in the world at Tabula Rasa. It was his own tribute to Templeton that he still remembered with warmth. But it was not only that. He was convinced that humans had a responsibility to make sure that the destruction of nature that was going on around the world stopped as fast as possible. And he wanted that the people at Tabula Rasa would learn the importance that nature lived and strived. Therefore, he also knew that it was his given right to fight those people that continued the exploitation and abuse of the natural resources. Predator. That’s what he was. And his prey were the dishonest, deceitful people that ruled the world.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts, he smiled. In the secret part of his apartment had several different accessories that made the pleasure possible on a new level. The joy and excitement that came from applying injury and pain on another living person was for John the ultimate experience. He never was as alive as when he saw life leaving the eyes on somebody that he strangled. Both men and women met death in his apartment. He was not picky nor judgmental. He was the good willing judge that helped to release the weaker from their human shackles. He stiffened.
*
The Headquarter, France
2048-12-28
Overall, he was satisfied with his performance. Jonathan walked in and closed the door behind him. In his hand he had a soft paper cup with hot coffee that he sipped. He smacked his lips and enjoyed the flavor. The room he was in was oval, big, maybe ten meters at its widest point. A dark-grey wall to wall carpet absorbed the steps. Heavy furniture in dark oak were mixed with modern lights and gave the room an inviting ambient atmosphere. A lit fire gave a golden glow and shadows danced on the opposite wall. A big, beveled holoscreen on one of the walls projected a hologram of two newscast hosts involved in a discussion.
Nicholas Backmann was sitting behind his desk, got up and walked smilingly towards Jonathan. Backmann was a short man with short, grey hair. Around fifty years. In good shape without a belly. Ran five kilometers a day and was a sailing enthusiast. He claimed that once he had sailed alone from Gibraltar home to Stockholm with a thirty footer. Jonathan did not know if he should believe him. Maybe it was possible to sail that far without any help? Jonathan had no idea and had let the matter rest. Someday though he would investigate it closer. Backmann took Jonathans hand.
“I’m sorry. It was terrible that Eric died. I know you two got along well.”
Jonathan stiffened, his hand was still soar after the fight against Raddick and he felt guilt that Eric was dead and not him.
“Thank you.”
Backmann’s look changed in to a concerned look.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m ok.” Eric’s face when he fell flashed before his eyes, “I met an old friend of yours.”
“Yes, I heard. Raddick. Mean bastard, right?”
“Very.”
“Did he have his brother with him?” Nicholas pointed at Jonathan to take a seat.
“His brother?”
“Yes, he has a younger brother. It was him who killed the Spanish diplomat last year. They used to sell their services to the highest bidder.”
Jonathan took a seat and carefully put the paper cup on the table. He was quiet a couple of seconds.
“What does the brother look like?”
Backmann looked curiously at Jonathan.
�
��The brother? He looks like a mean version of Laurel with abnormally long arms”, Backmann was referring to the famous comedy couple Laurel and Hardy that were active more than hundreds years ago.
Jonathan nodded slowly.
“Yes, I met him too and killed him” he looked with irritation at Backmann, “He was just as dangerous as his brother. It could’ve been useful information before I went in.”
A voice cleared its throat from an armchair by the fireplace.
“That was information we got at the last moment, we did not manage to get in touch with you before you left for the last part of the mission.” the female voice was slow, sensual.
Jonathan turned around in suprisement.
“Excuse me?”
Marie L’angi got up from the armchair and glared at him. Jonathan stared back.
“You had that information? Why didn’t we get it before we went to Greenland?”
Marie eyes were cold. She was not going to let anybody push her around in front of their boss, regardless if they were lovers or not.
“It was that I was going to tell you when I called you but you didn’t answer?”
“No, ok. But you could’ve called back again or something. And why didn’t you say anything when you came to my apartment yesterday?”
She looked at him with a mix of contempt and compassion.
“Sure, I could’ve, but it wasn’t the right moment. And before the mission started we had no idea that the brother would be there, we actually found out pretty late.” She said silently. Unsure on how far she should go. “But both you and Eric were so focused on the mission.”
They silently stood and stared at each other, none of them wanting to back down. The pride was strong in both of them and nobody wanted to look weak in front of the boss. Backmann cleared his throat and looked at Marie and said with a cold voice.
“Came to my apartment? Did you meet Jonathan yesterday?” Marie shifted uncomfortably.
“Yes.”
Backmann’s look was enough. She knew that she would have to explain why she had gone home to Jonathan without informing about it when she had mentioned the pill jar to him in a message she had sent.
Backmann was not sure on how he was going to confront Jonathan about this matter with the pills. They had not showed up during the last three months when Jonathan took the tests that the Amber group required for him to pass that he took pills that were classified as narcotics. It had to wait for now, they had more important things ahead of them now. Slowly he shook his head and clapped hard with his hands.
“Fact remains that Eric is dead and it’s something we have to live with. We can blame it on each other or we can learn from it. There were for sure some things that could’ve been done differently, that I’m sure of. But even if Eric is dead so is Raddick. His brother too and we got the Skydisc.”
Marie looked at Jonathan, it was a strange mix of desire and resentment that the young man made her feel. She knew that it was wrong of her to let their flirt go too far, they should have never ended up in bed. It was one thing when they did not work together but now it could not continue. It was her responsibility; it was she who was the supervisor. She comforted herself with that she had never done anything like it before. She had a reputation of being a hard and demanding boss and she demanded as much from herself as from the ones around her.
“You’re right”, she said and turned directly towards Jonathan. Better to get it over with. If he could bounce back by her giving him a partial victory, then it was small price to pay. He was after all one of the most promising members she had seen in a long time and he would be a good asset to the group.
“I should’ve tried again to inform you about Raddick’s brother. For that I take responsibility.”
Jonathans face looked at her without expression and then softened.
“It’s ok.”
He turned to Backmann.
“You wanted to see me, sir?”
Marie’s cheeks blushed. Backmann smiled shortly.
“Yes. Now when that’s done and over with we have more important things to discuss. Sit down.”
He pushed a button and a screen silently slid down from the ceiling.
“We have had sporadic contact with a person inside the data department in Tabula Rasa during the last week. Her name is Elisabeth Snow and have been very helpful to getting information.”
Backmann pushed a button on the computer and the image of a woman faded in. Jonathan looked at the image of Elisabeth Snow. Woman, around thirty years. One meter and seventy centimeters tall. Not married. Working as a data technician inside Tabula Rasa.
“There has been a sharp increase in communication, actually more than two hundred and fifty percent, between Tabula Rasa’s space station and their ground control lately. As you well know, all Tabula Rasa communication is encrypted and we have had some problems to decipher the codes fast enough.”
Jonathan frowned.
“It sounds great that this Elisabeth suddenly got on track and started to send information to us, but who is she and where did she come from? Why did she start sending information to us? Just like that?”
“No, of course not. We are actually a working organization and after all we have been around for some years so we have some contacts around the world that you don’t know about.”
Jonathan turned towards Backmann.
“I understand that. I was just questioning the source.”
“We’ve had contact with Elisabeth before. Actually before she got to Tabula Rasa. We had her onboard on a mission in Chile five years ago but after that we haven’t had anything to do with each other.”
“What was the mission in Chile about?” Marie asked.
Backmann drummed lightly with a finger on the table.
“Most of it is classified. But let’s say she was onboard as a civilian and she did a good job. She worked with analyzing a number of different slates of burned clay that were found in the Chilean jungle. The slates contained what looked to be an unknown language and Elisabeth was fundamental in programming the computer program that deciphered the language. Impressive work if I remember correctly.” Backmann paused, “It was her that contacted me three days ago and asked for help.”
Marie leaned forward.
“What did she wanted help with?”
Backmann scratched his cheek.
“In the beginning it wasn’t clear what it was about. She was pretty reserved. But in the end I figured out that it had to do something about their space station that they have orbiting the moon. They had made some kind of discovery and Elisabeth were about to burst of excitement but she never told me what it was they had discovered. She did though give me a set of coordinates in space.”
“What do you think it was that they discovered?" asked Marie.
“I really do not know. Something that is big enough that she risked contacting me from within Tabula Rasa. As you know, Vendrick and I are not on particularly good terms. If they find out that she's communicating with us, she'll be in a lot of problems.”
“No, I’ve heard that.”
Marie got up and went over to a side table and poured some coffee.
Backmann turned to the screen and talked half to them and half to himself.
“Vendrick is smart, calculating and unscrupulous” he paused, “When I worked at DGSE we had an investigation going on Vendrick but every time we got close to a breakthrough something happened. Testimonies disappeared. Phone calls got erased. Evidences went up in smoke. It was like chasing a ghost. After four years the investigation was cancelled and I left DGSE in pure desperation.”
Jonathan listened intently.
“I’ve heard the story.”
Backmann continued.
“Then you have also heard that ever since I started the Amber group I have kept a special spot for Vendrick. Sooner or later I will get that man.” he paused, “he is a genuine psychopath and a sadist. And it doesn’t end there. As most people know is he also insanely
rich and that combination makes him extremely dangerous. We even believe that his hobby causes deaths.”
Jonathan stared at the screen.
“How?”
Backmann pushed a button on the computer and the images of two older men and a woman faded in. Over each image a diagonally red band was placed with the text deceased. Under each image was another image of a number of gold coins in different sizes. Backmann walked up to the screen.
“Vendrick is a fanatic coin collector and has one of the world’s finest collections of gold coins. Some of his items are unique and was in the hands of other collectors.”
He pointed at the image of the older man in the middle.
“This is Fjodor Patkin. A Russian oligarch that got rich from oil and mineral resources in Siberia. Fjodor had a collection of American twenty-dollar Liberty Heads that was valued to more than forty million dollars. The crown jewel in his collection was a Liberty Head from 1861 that was very special. There were only two known copies’ in the world and Fjodor owned one of them” he paused, “About a year ago, Fjodor was found dead in his bathroom back home in Moscow. The official cause of death was a heart attack. During the review of his assets his gold coin collection was found but the coin from 1861 was missing. And now we suspect that the coin is in Vendricks collection but we are still trying to get the information confirmed.”
Marie pointed at the other images on the screen.
“And they?”
Backmann walked back to his desk and sat down.
“Same thing. Both dedicated coin collectors and both had unique pieces in their collections. Both have also died in the last year and the coins they owned is now believed to be in Vendricks possession.”
Marie shook her head.
“He sounds like a truly unpleasant person that man.”
Backmann nodded thoughtfully, pushed another button and the three images of the deceased disappeared. He changed the subject.
“Elisabeth managed to contact me again yesterday.”
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