by C M Dancha
The clone stopped drying himself and stared straight into the one-way window. "Mr. Slice, did you ever think about coming into my abode and waking me? That would be preferential to lies." The clone hung the towel around his neck and went back to the kitchen where he located a half bottle of wine. He took a large swallow from the bottle and sat down in front of the halo screen to watch the morning's news and current events from around the world.
Sedgewick Slice wasn't accustomed to being lectured and verbally admonished. It happened so fast, Slice wasn't prepared with a response. The more he thought about it, there wasn't much to say. The clone's logic was perfect. In fact, his response was exactly what Slice would have said in the same situation.
"Sir, I do apologize, my behavior was unjustified. I’ll leave you now and return later. If I may ask one question, please? What is your name?"
Without turning in the direction of the one-way window, the clone half shouted, "Easton, no last name."
Slice turned off the intercom system. Still staring at the clone, he asked Claude, "What did he say his name was?"
"I think he said Easton, no last name."
Slice whispered just loud enough for Claude to hear, "I wonder which Easton from the seventeenth, eighteenth, or nineteenth century?"
Both men stood in the observation room watching Easton, no last name. Claude thought how strange it was for Slice to be dressed down.
This was the furthest thing from Slice's mind. He swallowed his pride often when he thought there was a good reason. His gut was telling him this was one of those times. Whoever was sitting in front of the halo screen having a wine breakfast was important enough to buckle under to for a while. This wasn't a hayseed whose parts Rollie acquired from the city morgue. This man commanded respect and seemed familiar with wielding power and influence.
Slice was curious to find out who this Easton, no last name, was and where he came from. Once he established his identity, Slice could either draft him for use by the World Council or simply do away with him. The possibility that the clone might be a threat to his socialistic government never entered his mind.
By the time Slice and Claude left the observation booth, most Phoenvartis employees were in the building starting another day. The campus was abuzz with rumors about the new CEO, Sedgewick Slice and Claude Ekstrom being seen roaming through the building. The rumor gang led by the CEO's assistant, Helga, was hard at work keeping the rest of the company updated on Slice's every move. Considering he hadn't done anything since returning from the primate lab, Helga created fictional Slice updates for her faithful followers.
At 10 am, Rollie received a brief communication from Macon. It read, Rollie: Grandma LeeLee has died. Her funeral will be in two days. M.C.
Rollie got up from his desk chair and walked out to the hallway. "Ingrid, I'm going to leave for a while. There's been a death in my family."
Before she could say anything or ask when he would return, he was gone.
At 10:30 am, Helga informed her new boss that Rollie Sweats had left the campus due to a death in his family.
"When will he be back?"
"His assistant didn't know, Mr. Slice."
"Where did he go?"
Helga hadn’t asked Ingrid that question, so she ad-libbed an answer. "His assistant didn't know that either."
Under his breath, Slice mumbled a few words unfit for public consumption. "Do you think you could find him? I need to talk with him."
"Yes, Mr. Slice." Helga turned away from her UCN panel and wondered what she could do to find Sweats. Of all the lousy luck, her new boss gives her the simple job of finding a key executive of the company and she came up empty-handed. An hour earlier, her first job for the new CEO would have been a success. Dammit, why had someone in the Sweats family died on this particular day, the first day when she needed to appear competent? From the tone of his voice, she knew Slice wasn't going to accept failure as readily as Klaus and lying to Slice as she did with Klaus, wasn't smart.
Helga sent out an emergency communication to her gang members, asking for their help to find Sweats. When that failed, she sent out a second communication asking her comrades if they had seen Raul Hakala. Ten minutes later, she located Raul in the cafeteria and raced off to speak with him.
By the end of the workday, Helga still hadn't found Sweats and she’d exhausted all her resources. She was weary, and was suffering from a splitting headache. She had resigned herself to being demoted from first-grade to second, or even third-grade assistant.
"Mr. Slice, I'm sorry, but I can't find Rollie Sweats. No one has seen or heard from him. I had Raul Hakala try to track him down but—" Helga suspected she was talking to herself. She glanced down at her UCN panel and saw that Slice had turned off his communicator. There wasn't any doubt in her mind – she would be demoted soon.
11
TOUGH DAY FOR ROLLIE SWEATS
Rollie Sweats got home around 10 pm. He’d spent the entire day winding through the Alp foothills going from village to village. He didn't stop to eat or worry about what direction he was taking. He needed to be by himself with memories of the woman who had been the greatest influence in his life.
The hover vehicle performed perfectly considering it had in storage for over a year. Once it was out of the garage stall, Rollie entered the destination coordinates for Innsbruck, Austria. Then he sat back and let the vehicle control the driving. He wanted to enjoy the sights and some time away from the office, but his mind kept circling back to Grandma LeeLee.
The three-hour trip provided enough time to recall most of the moments he’d spent with her. Setting the hover vehicle to Auto-Drive afforded him the opportunity to laugh, tear-up and cry as much as he needed to remember her life.
When he finished replaying fond memories from the past, he turned his thoughts to more practical matters. He wondered why his brother's communication was so curt. Why hadn't he said at least a few words about what Grandma LeeLee died from and if she had any parting words? He also left out the place and time of Grandma's death. And the question which really puzzled Rollie was why the funeral was being held so soon. He’d thought he could get a transport to Macon in time for the funeral. Luckily, he could afford the first-class, nonstop service offered in and out of a Free Zone, but what about LeeLee's other friends and relatives who didn't live in a Free Zone? They would be forced to wait for available transport seating. Sure, the service was free for world citizens but getting one of the few available seats was near impossible. Rollie wasn't a travel expert but he knew that two days wasn't enough for most people using Citizen Transport. Very few would get to Macon in time for the memorial and burial.
When he got to Innsbruck, he spent a couple of hours walking through the city center. During his time of mourning, it was a pleasure walking with anonymity among the masses. It was unlikely he would run into anyone he knew. At one point, his attention was drawn to a young woman across the street who walked exactly like Sophia. He was sure it wasn't Sophia because this woman had short, blonde hair and was dressed in a worn-out worker's uniform. What little he could see of the woman's face resembled Sophia's, but he couldn't position himself well enough to see her entire face. But the woman's gait was identical to Sophia's and the way she moved her hips with each stride was exactly the way his ex-girlfriend had walked.
He tried to catch up with the woman, but she got on a public hover bus and was long gone before Rollie could cross to her side of the street. He wrote the incident off as a subconscious desire to see Sophia again. Although the way she walked was unique, there had to be other people in the world who walked the same way. Within an hour, he’d rationalized the entire incident and convinced himself that it was a case of mistaken identity.
As the sun set in the Austrian Alps, Rollie returned to his hover vehicle and set in the destination coordinates for Zurich. He slept most of the trip through the former countries of Austria, Liechtenstein and finally Switzerland. It had been a mentally and emotionally draining day.
The three-hour respite would give him enough energy to make plans to attend Grandma LeeLee's funeral.
Rollie found the door to his apartment slightly ajar. He wondered if he’d left it open or Gretchen was inside. From within, he heard sporadic noises which sounded like items being tossed around the apartment. He assumed the puppy must be on a rampage doing what puppies do best; making a mess. He opened the door wide enough to slip in and surprise Gretchen and the puppy. The auto lights didn't illuminate. For the first time, the puppy didn't greet him and do a couple of excited laps around the living room and kitchen.
A muted noise from the far side of the apartment drew Rollie's attention. He could see a silhouetted figure against the far wall, systematically examining and throwing items to the ground. The band light this person wore around his head provided just enough illumination for Rollie to see that he was wearing dark clothes. Rollie guessed the intruder was a man but an athletic woman was also possible. Other than an approximate height, weight, and clothing description, Rollie couldn't identify the intruder. He’d either stumbled upon a thief looking to make an easy score or someone tossing the apartment searching for a specific item.
Rollie began to tiptoe toward the intruder. Halfway across the room his left foot hit something and made a slight noise. The intruder swung around immediately. The light from his headband blinded Rollie but also provided a perfect beacon which Rollie could use to tackle the intruder. Rollie ran toward the intruder intending to hit him in the midsection and drive him to the ground. As he gained speed, he could still hear his football coach screaming ‘watch the hips, tackle the waist!’
A shot from an energy burst gun caught Rollie mid-air and a two-inch-wide hole opened in Rollie's chest. He fell to the ground short of his intended target. The intruder kicked Rollie in the back of the head, to make sure his victim was dead before he finished going through the apartment searching for the valuable objects he sought.
At a few minutes after midnight, Raul Hakala arrived at Rollie's apartment. His high-level security clearance was enough to get him into the building and he found Rollie's apartment door ajar. Raul took out his burst gun and entered the apartment cautiously. The auto lights remained off, so he propped the door open to let in enough hallway light to see and maneuver through the apartment. He scanned the kitchen searching for the auto light reset.
Once the auto lights came on, Raul crouched behind an island prep station in the kitchen. He remained motionless for a couple of minutes, listening for unusual sounds. When he was convinced that he was alone in the apartment, Raul rose and cautiously walked into the living area. Raul’s belongings littered the floor. It was obvious there had either been a fight in Rollie's apartment or someone had tossed it trying to find something. His first guess would be the World Council host samples Rollie had hidden.
As Raul walked through the large living area he spotted Rollie lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He hurried across to the body and checked for a pulse. Based on the temperature of the body and settling of blood in the lowest part of the corpse, Raul guessed that Rollie had been dead for two to four hours.
"My god, Rollie. What have you done?" Raul didn't realize he was talking aloud. He was having a tough time accepting the fact that Rollie was dead. He looked around the immediate area for any obvious clues to identify Rollie's assassin before he rolled Rollie over to look at the wound and going through his pockets for clues. It was obvious his death was caused by an energy burst gun. There was nothing in Rollie's pockets, other than his identification and a few images of family members, Gretchen and Sophia.
Raul placed the body back into its original position and called Jason Milkweed. Surprisingly, Milkweed answered.
"Jason, Raul Hakala from Phoenvartis. You need to come over to Rollie Sweats' apartment, he's been murdered. Do you have the address?"
“Yes, I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't let anyone into the apartment."
As Milkweed dressed and wondered if there was a serial killer loose at Phoenvartis, Raul searched the apartment for a pair of pliers, scissors, and a sharp knife. He found everything he needed in a toolbox stored in a kitchen pantry.
For the next ten minutes, Raul collected samples from Rollie's body. First, he cut a large crop of hair from Rollie's head. Then, he scraped a one-inch square section of skin from the bottom of Rollie's right foot. Lastly, he pulled a back tooth from Rollie's lower jaw. He put Stop Bleed on the skin scraping and into the hole in Rollie's jaw. All the body samples were placed into a sterile evidence pouch.
Until Milkweed arrived, Raul walked through the apartment searching for more clues. The only thing of interest he found was a dead puppy.
12
MEETING GRANDMA AGAIN
"Isn't this wonderful, Sunny Boy?"
Rollie had no idea where he was. All he could see through the bright light was his Grandma LeeLee. She was dressed in white, had white hair and pale white features.
"You look pretty funny Grandma, without black skin."
LeeLee looked down at her hands and started to laugh. "I hadn't noticed. I bet I do look funny."
"Where are we, Grandma?"
"You and I are in His House."
"Am I dead, Grandma?"
"Yes, but only in body. If you believe, you never die."
Rollie started to ask Grandma LeeLee more questions but she stopped him.
"Sunny Boy, all the things you want to ask are inconsequential. Sit back and listen to what I must say. Pretend you’re a boy again and I've corralled you and your buddies inside my house for one of my way-too-long lectures. You remember, the lectures which drove you kids nuts because you wanted to get outside and play."
Rollie smiled, remembering the good old days when Grandma tortured the kids with her forced lectures. Other parents couldn't wait to get the kids out of the house to play and burn off energy. Grandma was the only adult in the neighborhood who thought it was her duty to share life's lessons with the youngsters. It was bad enough that everyone was imprisoned until she finished teaching – afterwards Rollie had to spend the rest of the day apologizing to the kids for his grandmother's irritating behavior. He wasn't sure why he took responsibility and defended his grandmother. He disliked her forced lectures as much as the other kids, even if he was the only one who half-listened to her. It wouldn't have been so bad if his brother, M.C., had taken some of the blame rather than acted as if he didn't know the woman.
"You’ll be leaving here soon. You have a lot of work to do among the nonbelievers. Some of the nonbelievers will help and others will try to harm you and your grandfather. You will be forced to turn on many you have loved in the past. Judge all by what they do, not what they say. Be strong and help your grandfather lead the cause of justice against tyranny. No matter what happens, remember your cause is righteous and you will be doing His will."
Rollie waited for his grandmother to say more about his future. When she fell silent, he thought about asking her questions but one look at her face was enough to realize she didn't know anything more. Her thoughts were elsewhere. She had passed along as much as He wanted Rollie to know or needed to know. His future from this point forward would be built upon one thing; faith.
"Sunny Boy, let's take a walk. I want to introduce you to a few of your ancestors."
13
RAUL BEGINS TO EXECUTE HIS PLAN
"I must say, you look quite a bit different than the first time we met."
Sedgewick Slice ignored his security director's comment. He’d had several reasons for dressing like a leprechaun during his first visit to Phoenvartis, but he had no intention of explaining these reasons to Raul Hakala. Frankly, they were none of his business.
"Mr. Hakala, I understand we had an unfortunate loss of a key associate last night. Is that correct?"
"Yes, Rollie Sweats was killed. I found him in his apartment a little after midnight. He was shot in the chest with an energy burst gun."
Slice leaned forward in his chair and stared across th
e desk at Raul without saying a word. This was one of his favorite tactics to get someone to open up and say more than they’d intended. Most people got nervous and filled the empty air with anything they knew or could make up which sounded believable.
Raul stared back, not taking Slice's bait. The staring contest ended when Slice took a cigar and lit it.
"What were you doing at Sweats' apartment so late?"
"I wanted to make sure he was okay. I heard he had a death in the family and then disappeared for the day."
"His grandmother LeeLee passed away. She was quite old; one hundred and twelve."
From previous conversations with Rollie, Raul had known his grandmother was very old and in ill health, so it wasn't much of a stretch to figure out she was the family member who’d passed away. Rollie had always been close to her, so it was understandable that he would leave work to grieve for her. But how the hell did Slice know who passed away and her age? Even Ingrid, Rollie's assistant, didn't know as much as Slice.
Regardless of how Slice came upon this information, Raul wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of reacting in any way.
"Do you mind if I have a cigar, Mr. Slice."
"Yes, I do mind, Mr. Hakala. I have a strict no smoking policy."
Hakala would normally have laughed at a sarcastic remark like this. But in this case, he could tell that Slice was serious irrespective of the ironic stupidity of the comment. Slice was living up to his nickname – ‘The Prick’. He was taking every possible opportunity to push Raul's buttons, but why? What did he expect Raul to say or do? He didn't have to wait long before the real topic of their meeting was revealed.
"Mr. Hakala, where did Mr. Sweats put the host samples he was given by the World Council?"
