by C M Dancha
"What's that?''
"A mole is someone who establishes fake credentials to get into a position of trust for the express purpose of spying on someone, collecting information or conducting acts of espionage. In other words, a mole is a paid agent. In Sophia's case, she was at Phoenvartis to learn about the secret CR47 cloning project. The same project which brought you and Rollie back to life."
"Ah, I see. Who was this Sophia spying for?"
"Her case is quite complicated, but it boils down to the fact she was there to learn about the project and get the Black Cross access to the CR47 cloning machine."
"Did that happen?"
"Yes, the Black Cross produced Gott in the CR47."
Easton's eyes grew as his face flushed. "Gott is a replicant like Rollie and me? I'll be damned. Why didn't someone tell me this before?"
Raul shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I'm not sure any of us thought it was that important. The man is a lunatic and evil to his core. Does it matter whether he's a clone?"
"It might, Raul. I'm not sure." Easton thought a moment about the consequences of Gott being a replicant. On the surface, he couldn't come up with any significant reason why this was important. But in the back of his mind, there was something gnawing away and he suspected it might be a crucial bit of information.
"Okay, so this Sophia or Catherine is a mole. How does that qualify her to be an assassin and why do you think she has access to Evelyn or Gott?"
"It's a guess on my part. Sophia is very clever and resourceful. It would take me hours to tell you how she manipulated the high-ranking people at Phoenvartis to accomplish her goals. She knows all the tricks in the book to get herself close to influential people. I don't know for certain if she's ever killed anyone, but I would bet she has just by the way she handles herself. I've known a lot of mercenaries in my life and she fits the mold perfectly. The advantage of using her is that she is trapped in Europe now. She's right in the middle of the war and I'm betting she has aligned herself with someone in a position of power."
"How do you know that, Raul?"
"She called me the other day to get some information. Plus, she told me something very strange which may be a consideration for using her as an assassin. Are you ready for this?'
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Easton, she told me that Rollie's Grandmother LeeLee – your great-great-granddaughter – came to her in a dream. LeeLee told her that the Man-From-The-East would need her help."
Easton opened his mouth to respond but shut it again almost immediately. Even though he trusted Raul, he had to be careful about how much personal information he disclosed to the rank-and-file members of the new patriot army. They were still getting used to his leadership and critically examined everything he said and did. If he were to divulge that Grandma LeeLee communicated to him by dream quite often, they would wonder about his credibility as leader. And if they knew Grandma LeeLee was directing almost every decision he made, they would label him a lunatic and leave the freedom movement.
"Who is the Man-From-The-East?"
"Easton, she thinks that it's you."
"Do you believe her, Raul?"
"I do. I have no proof one way or the other but the sincerity in her voice swayed me to believe her. But there is one last thing you should know about her."
"What's that?"
"Sophia is Rollie's former lover. And before you ask, I'm not sure if that's a plus or minus."
Raul correctly anticipated Easton's next query about Sophia's connection to Rollie. There was nothing left to do but weigh the pros and cons of using this woman who had an extremely colored, yet very effective, past. He finally realized after a few minutes that he could go back and forth on her usefulness all night long. He decided to push ahead and approach her with the idea of working for the patriots. The deciding factor was a dream he’d had the previous night. LeeLee came to him with a message about the woman in black, who needed to redeem herself by fighting against two evil forces.
"Raul, we need to talk with Sophia as soon as possible. Can you find her and set up a secured contact between the three of us?"
"No problem. I'll get right on it. Anything else?"
"I don't think so. I'll see you at dinner tonight."
Raul walked out of Easton's Quonset hut with mixed feelings about the meeting. On one hand, he had sidestepped the issue of who really assisted Krieger to clone Gott. Easton thought it had been Sophia, when in fact, she was long gone from Zurich on the day Gott was produced. He knew the truth would eventually come out, there were too many people who knew that Sophia had nothing to do with the Gott cloning. He would have to come clean with Easton and admit to being the person who’d orchestrated the Gott reproduction. He would tell Easton, but not before Sophia was recruited as an assassin for the patriot group. That would give him time to think of a plausible reason for participating in the creation of the world's new super-villain.
Several thousand miles away, another group was talking about how to use Sophia to accomplish their goals.
"What's her name, again, Claude?"
"Chairperson Evelyn, her name is Sophia Groetschow. She used to work at Phoenvartis."
"I hate to interrupt, Chairperson, but Ms. Groetschow's real name is Catherine Groetschow. She has used several different identities and cover stories during her career as a corporate and government spy."
"Mr. Todd, I appreciate your input, but I don't give a damn about how many different names this woman has. All I want to know is how she can be of value to us. So please, someone tell me how she can be used to win the war."
Besides Evelyn, Mr. Todd and Claude Ekstrom, there were four other individuals sitting around the large oak table. They’d all traveled to the Novy Afon cave to attend this meeting called by Evelyn. One was a member of the former Phoenvartis management team. Two were on Chairperson Evelyn's staff and the fourth was a Regional Commander with the Lavender Army. Claude had intentionally left Helmer Stanke out of this meeting even though it was his idea to get Rollie to the cave to help re-calibrate the CR47. When it came to issues related to Rollie and Raul, Claude didn't know how much Stanke could be trusted. He wasn't taking any chances that Stanke would tip off Rollie and Raul to any strategic plans Evelyn approved.
"Chairperson, the only way we can fix the CR47 units is to re-calibrate them so the genetic flaws we're seeing in each replicant are eliminated. That’s going to take a lot of trial and error and creative thinking. Helmer and I can only do so much. If you want it done in a reasonable period of time, then we need Rollie Sweats here to lead the re-calibration project."
"Okay, I'm still waiting to hear about this Sophia woman. Please get to the point."
Evelyn's badgering made Claude start the odd honking sound through his sinus cavity. It had been quite some time since he’d reacted this way. Evelyn was getting to him and honking like a wild goose was his only defense mechanism.
"Chairperson, Rollie Sweats has disappeared. We think he's in Asia, but don't know for sure. He's not a fool, there is no way he would return willingly to help on the re-calibration project. The only chance we have of getting him to the cave is to lure him here. That's where Sophia Groetschow comes into the picture. Sophia is Rollie's former lover."
"So, you have Sophia?"
"No, Chairperson. I've tracked her to Berlin. It appears that she is the mistress to one of the men on Gott's staff."
"Well, that is certainly interesting, Mr. Todd. Do we know who her lover is?"
"Yes, his name is Krieger and he is a personal assistant to Gott. I've dealt with Krieger in the past. He's a savvy guy, around forty years old, who's been in the revolutionary game for quite some time."
"Are they in love?"
Mr. Todd didn't expect a question like this. What could Evelyn be thinking to query him on the strength of Sophia's relationship with Krieger? "I… I don't know, Chairperson. All I can tell you is that they've been together for some time which is quite unusual for each of them. Krieger and Sophia rarely stay wi
th a partner for long. They use companions for whatever self-serving reason and then send them packing."
Chairperson Evelyn was hardly listening to Todd's answer. She was too busy formulating a plan. A plan that would shift the balance of power in favor of the World Council. If it was carried out correctly, Gott would be killed and the CR47 units would be fixed so replicants were flawless each time they were cloned.
Of the two, getting the CR47s fixed was the most important objective. The war was going badly and too many Lavender and World Council leaders had been killed numerous times. By their fourth or fifth cloning, they were so mutated that they were worthless to the war effort. She wondered how many more times the commander sitting next to her could be cloned before he became a babbling idiot.
She couldn't do everything. She needed a management team of competent leaders to push her ideas to reality. If the CR47s weren't fixed soon, the World Council would lose the war. It would go into the history books like so many other regimes which self-destructed because of pompous, self-importance. Somehow, she had to avoid the same fate as the Roman Empire, Genghis Khan, and old America.
"Claude, how do we get in touch with Rollie Sweats?"
"I'm sure that Helmer Stanke can contact him through an intermediary."
"And, who is Helmer Stanke?"
"He's on my management staff. He's also one of the original members of the ReLife project. The thing we have to be careful of is that Helmer was a close friend to Rollie when they worked together at Phoenvartis."
Evelyn got up and walked around the large table several times. She was processing all she’d heard and using the information to formulate a plan to preserve the World Council's domination of mankind. The others in the room didn't dare say a word, aware that Evelyn was deep in thought. Regardless of their private opinions of the woman, none of them could dispute her ability as a leader and strategist.
Evelyn stopped, leaned forward and braced herself on the table with extended arms. She looked at each of the men seated at the table before speaking. "Gentlemen, here's what we're going to do. To make sure you realize the importance of what I'm about to say, this is not for publication or repeating to anyone outside this room. No one; not your lover, wife, friend or dog are to be told anything about this meeting. No one. Do you all understand?"
When everyone finished agreeing by word or with a nod of the head, Evelyn continued. "First, we're going to kidnap Sophia and bring her here. Mr. Todd, can you work with the General to make this happen?"
Both men acknowledged their new assignment.
"When Sophia gets here, we're going to use her to lure Rollie to the cave to help us. I'll come up with a cover story which Helmer will communicate to Sweats. It's important that Helmer believes the cover story, so it sounds convincing to Sweats. Add Helmer's cover story to seeing Sophia again and it should be enough for Sweats to take a chance and come here. He may even think that he needs to rescue her."
Evelyn took a sip of water and continued. "As soon as Rollie agrees to come here and start working on the re-calibration project, Sophia will be manipulated into convincing Krieger to assassinate Gott. Again, I'll think of a good cover story about Sophia which will convince her lover, Krieger, to kill his boss. If Krieger truly loves this woman, he'll take on the Gott assassination with little hesitation."
All the men sitting around the table looked at each other, waiting for someone – other than themselves – to speak. Not that there was much to comment about or discuss. The simplicity of Evelyn's plan was brilliant. Kidnap a woman and use her as the sacrificial lamb to get rid of an opposition leader and improve the World Council ranks with mentally and physically sound military and civic clones. It couldn't be more simple or clever.
Evelyn knew the plan could be effective in addressing her two biggest problems; Gott and the malfunctioning CR47s. If it worked, the World Council would dominate the world for hundreds of years. If it failed, the only recourse she had left was to either surrender to Gott or release a mutated version of the FISS plague and kill off most of the world's population. Evelyn was only one of three people alive that knew of the existence of the mutated FISS bug. The other two people were the Director of Disease Control for the World Council and the highest-ranking member of the World Council. Each senior member of the World Council since the end of the plague had been trusted with the knowledge about where the mutated FISS bug was kept. It was kept in reserve as the ultimate super weapon.
Unleashing the mutated bug would be her last choice, used only after everything else failed. She would rather win on the political and military battlefield. But a total-destruction, doomsday alternative wasn't out of the question. Evelyn didn't fear dying; she had already done it once. The only people to survive would be those given advanced warning and who had the opportunity to hide in seclusion until the plague once again burned itself out. And, only those who were staunch World Council members and believers would be given advanced warning.
35
ALEX IS WHO?
Mr. Todd arrived in Berlin a couple of days after Sophia's abduction and went directly to Krieger's office.
He bypassed Krieger's scheduled visitors and was ushered into his office immediately. Neither man was in the mood for long introductions or idle chitchat.
"Krieger, do you know this woman?"
Mr. Todd projected a holographic image of Catherine Groetschow for Krieger. It was a duplication of Sophia's employee identification at Phoenvartis.
"Of course, I do. That's Alex. Do you know where she is?"
When Mr. Todd didn't answer immediately, Krieger grabbed the expensive coat he was wearing and drove him up against the nearest wall. He knew that Todd was a dangerous man but finding Alex had blocked out his common sense. "Where is she, Todd? Dammit, you tell me!"
Mr. Todd didn't say a word. He simply removed Krieger's hands from his jacket using a Japanese jujitsu counter-move.
As hard as Krieger tried, he couldn't regain a hold on the jacket. He slumped to the floor in pain. "Mr. Todd, please tell me where she is. I must know."
"What's it worth to you, Krieger?"
"I'll give you five thousand World Credits."
"No World Credits. The war has made them worthless. Only hard assets, Krieger. That's the only thing people are using now as currency."
Krieger tried to think of something he owned which had any value. He was never too concerned about amassing personal possessions over and above the necessities of life. He was ready to throw himself on Todd's mercy when he spotted the ring on the middle finger of his left hand. He’d worn it for so many years that he’d forgotten about it. It was a beautiful titanium and gold band with a flawless two-carat diamond mounted in the middle. Complementing the larger stone were twelve smaller diamonds, cascaded down each side of the band.
The ring had been a gift from his mother on the night he decided to leave home to become a terrorist rather than follow his father's career recommendation. Her tears and begging weren't enough to change his idealism. He was determined to fight against the World Council, the organization his father supported with enthusiasm. The days of arguing with his father about the evils of the World Council ended when he kissed his mother goodbye. From that night forward, he turned the energy of arguing with his father into military and political rebellion.
Now that his mother was deceased there was no reason to hang onto the only memento which reminded him of her kindness and love. He was sure that she wouldn't mind if he used the ring to advance his own happiness.
"The only thing I have is this ring."
Mr. Todd grabbed Krieger's hand firmly and removed the ring with a sudden jerk. Thankfully, the ring came off without creating too much pain.
"Nice piece of hardware. I'll take it. Deal?"
"Yes. Yes. Of course. Now tell me, where is she?"
"She's been kidnapped by the World Council. She's a captive at one of their main base camps."
"Where exactly, Todd?"
"All I know
is that it's somewhere around the Black Sea."
"Why did they kidnap her?"
"You can't figure that out for yourself, Krieger?"
It took a moment or two, but the answer finally became clear. "They want something from me. And, they're going to use Alex as leverage to get me to do it. Right?"
"That's what I've been told. My instructions are to tell you that they will be contacting you soon with their demands for the safe return of Catherine, I mean, Alex."
What Mr. Todd said didn't register with Krieger immediately because he was too busy thinking about how to rescue Alex. Could he get Gott's approval for a rescue mission? The insane leader of the Black Cross did owe him a favor for getting him out of Zurich. Would he honor the favor or had too much time elapsed?
"What did you just say? Who is Catherine?"
Mr. Todd couldn't help himself – he had to see Krieger's face when he revealed that Alex and Catherine were one in the same woman. He didn't care if it jeopardized Evelyn's plan to use Catherine as a reward for killing Gott. The enjoyment of seeing Krieger wince in pain was worth the risk of Evelyn's wrath. He had lived his entire life squeezing out of dangerous situations. This would be another one to sidestep and double-talk his way out of.
"Krieger, my boy, you've been sleeping with the enemy all this time." He could tell that what he’d said still hadn't registered with Krieger. "Krieger, do I have to spell it out? Your lover, Alex, is Catherine, the woman you wanted me to kill. The woman from Phoenvartis who gave you such a tough time and then stole your cloning money."
Krieger stared at Todd for several minutes before he spoke. "How long have you known that Alex is Catherine?"
"About three weeks. I suspected that she was in old Germany but didn't know her exact location until I saw an image of you and her on a news broadcast attending a reception for Gott. I immediately came to Berlin to kill her per the agreement we had. But before I could take her out, she disappeared. While I was still searching for her, an aide on Evelyn's staff contacted me with the news that they had Catherine in custody. He asked me to tell you where she was and to expect a contact from them. That's about it, Krieger. You lost a girlfriend and I lost a bonus for recovering the money she stole from you." Mr. Todd sat back and congratulated himself on concocting such a believable, ad-libbed lie.
