by C M Dancha
Krieger didn't want to believe Mr. Todd, even though his eyes suggested he spoke the truth. He didn't know what to say. He had been duped and that's all there was to it. Slowly, he started to see the positive side of this debacle. He was still alive. Alex, or Catherine, could have killed him a hundred times since they became lovers. But for some reason, she’d decided to let him live. It had to be more than luck. He chose to believe that she held some affection, or maybe even love, for him.
Krieger started to laugh and as his laughter grew in intensity the sneer on Todd's face withered away. At first, he thought Krieger had lost his mind but soon realized that the laughter was a sign of joy and triumph. Mr. Todd had made a mistake, possibly a fatal mistake. His idea of trading Evelyn's vengeance for a few minutes of sadistic enjoyment had failed. All he could do now was come up with a whopper-of-a-story to explain why Krieger had been told the identity of his lover. And if Krieger didn't agree to Evelyn's demand to kill Gott then Todd's ‘whopper-of-a-story’ would be worthless.
36
THE MAPLE BOX, AGAIN
"Helmer, good to see you again. How are you?"
Rollie sat back and took in the image of his former co-worker. It was great to see his close friend again. His first impression was that he was fit and in decent shape, but on closer inspection, Rollie saw the bags under his eyes and pasty complexion. Anything said during this communication would need to be scrutinized very closely. It was obvious that somewhere in the room with Helmer, other people were hiding and listening. Rollie guessed that Claude and someone from the World Council were eavesdropping on this conversation. He would never have guessed that Evelyn was in the room with Helmer.
"I'm fine, Rollie. Good to see you, too. How are Raul, Easton, and Milkweed?"
"Very well. I'll tell them that you asked about them." It was difficult for Rollie not to turn around and acknowledge his three companions. They were in the background, out of the image field for Helmer and his phantom associates to see. Easton had decided days before that this pre-scheduled communication was too important for only Rollie to take part in. There was more to a communication than the words. The body signals given off by each participant were more important. Having astute observers like Raul and Milkweed was a necessity. They could pick up on the non-verbal signals which determined the true facts and intent of the communication.
"How is Claude?"
Helmer's eyes darted to his right and he hesitated to respond. His non-verbal reaction confirmed Rollie's guess that Claude was one of the phantoms. "He's great, Rollie. He's adapted to the top job very well and believe it or not, he and I actually work together quite well."
Helmer ended his comment about Claude with a short chuckle which Raul took as an unintentional clue to temper his glowing report on Claude.
"How are things at Phoenvartis? Has the war caused shortages or made things difficult in and around Zurich?"
"I really don't know… Ah, I mean, things are fine in Zurich, Rollie."
Helmer either intentionally or unintentionally lied. Raul, Easton, and Rollie had researched the living conditions in Zurich resulting from the war and knew that things weren’t good. Helmer was somewhere in the world, but it wasn't Zurich.
"That's good, Helmer. Tell me, what do I owe this contact to? Are you ready to leave Zurich and join us?"
Helmer wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, "Yes, yes, get me and my family the hell out of here." Knowing it would be the kiss of death, he went with Evelyn's planned cover story.
"I have a favor to ask, Rollie. A big favor. I'd like you to come here and help me fix the flaw in the CR47. We've known about the gene disruption which shows itself with each cloning. You and I have talked about how this eventually causes failed replicants. Rollie, I know what is causing this flaw, but need your help to analyze and fix it. Claude and I can't do it by ourselves. We need you to lead the team to correct this flaw just like you led the team which created the CR47 and the first successful clones."
"Wow, that's quite a favor to ask, Helmer. Are you sure there's not another reason why you are asking for my help?"
"There is another reason. To be honest, there are several important people who have been cloned and we want to make sure they don't become dysfunctional in future clonings. Claudette, Claude's girlfriend is an example. Also, you and Easton are replicants. If this flaw doesn't get fixed, then one day either of you may become a dysfunctional replicant. Who knows how many reproductions either of you can tolerate? At some point, you'll become mental half-wits, incapable of functioning in the real world."
Rollie had already decided to not return to Zurich or wherever the CR47s were being used and serviced. He didn't doubt for a second that the World Council wanted to fix the flaw to ensure the longevity of replicants. But he knew that Claudette wasn't the replicant the council worried about. It had to be some powerful clones within their military and political ranks.
To keep the conversation going, Rollie pretended to give serious thought to Helmer's request. He hung his head and rubbed the lower half of his face.
"I don't know, Helmer. You're right that one day Easton or I might regret not fixing the CR47s, but to come back there and walk into the middle of a war! That's risking quite a bit and is a little much—"
That's as far as Rollie got with his response. He stopped mid-sentence when Sophia walked into the image and sat next to Helmer. Evelyn, who was out of sight, hoped that Sophia would be the extra push Rollie needed to agree to work on the CR47.
"Hello, Sophia. You're looking as attractive as ever."
She blushed slightly and said, "I miss you, Rollie. Helmer and I would really like you to come here and help out."
Rollie was tongue-tied. He didn't know what to do or say. He wanted to walk off screen and ask Raul what to do but that wasn't possible.
Sophia broke the silence when she added, "By the way, Grandma LeeLee sends her love."
That was all Rollie needed to realize that this entire contact from Helmer was a con of some sort. Traveling to wherever Helmer was to work on the CR47 was a trap. A trap which he would never survive.
"Sophia, are you okay? You look tired and… and … underfed."
Sophia wanted to tell him the truth. She wasn't okay. She was a captive, kept in a ten by ten-foot room, underground with no light all day long. She was so close to yelling, "Stay there, Rollie. Don't worry about Helmer and me. Stay there or you will die."
There was only one thing preventing her from warning Rollie and that was an energy blast gun pointed at her head by a lavender soldier concealed in the background.
"I'm fine, Rollie. I've been sick the past few days so that's why I look a little rough. Don't worry about me, Rollie. By the time you get here, I'll be better and look like my old self."
"Okay. Helmer, I guess I'll come and help you. But, not for any more than two months. I have other obligations so two months is longest I can stay. Is that okay?"
"That would be great, Rollie. I'll send a transport to pick you up. When will you be ready?"
"I'm in the middle of a project now, so it will be about a week. I'll send you the coordinates on where to pick me up."
Out of the corner of his eye, Helmer could see Evelyn trying to get his attention. He knew exactly what she was upset about. She wanted Rollie to come immediately, not in a week.
"Rollie, is that the earliest you can come? We need you here asap."
"Well, I might be able to come in five days. I'll adjust my schedule. So, let's plan on next Thursday for the transport to pick me up. In the meantime, I have some tools and memory discs I'll need for working on the CR47. I'll send them tomorrow, to your attention, at Phoenvartis. Helmer, contact me as soon as you get them, so I know they arrived safe and sound. They’re very important. If they don't get to you then there's no reason for me to come."
"Will do, Rollie. Anything else?"
Rollie acted as though he was engaged in deep thought about his upcoming trip. "Yeah. Tell Claude that I
'm coming." As an afterthought he added, "Sophia, I'm going to send you Grandma's maple box which she sent you as a birthday gift. You forgot to take it when you left Zurich. I know you'll enjoy having it again and using it to put your jewelry and valuables in. Remember the night when it got delivered from Grandma and we spent hours admiring it?"
Rollie couldn't think of any other way to disguise his message to her other than coming right out with, "Sophia, look in the hidden drawer." Hopefully, she understood his message and knew there was something important concealed in the box. The only question he had was if Sophia remembered how to open the hidden drawer. She’d seen him do it in his Zurich apartment but hadn’t tried herself.
Even though she was still dissecting his coded message, she had enough presence of mind to play along. "Oh, that would be nice, Rollie. I've hoped that you still had the maple box. I loved it and can't wait to receive it."
"Good, I'll send it along with my tools and discs."
After a few parting words, the contact was broken. Each group in the cave and Rollie's base camp convened to analyze what was said and unsaid during the contact.
As Rollie was explaining to Raul, Easton, and Milkweed why he’d made a point of sending Grandma LeeLee's maple box to Sophia, Evelyn and her staff were questioning Sophia about the box. After an hour of questioning, Evelyn gave up. She didn't believe that the box was nothing more than a birthday gift. She ordered Claude to intercept and examine the box before giving it to Sophia.
That night Rollie showed Easton, Raul, Milkweed and Date the antique box he’d received from Grandma LeeLee. He didn't show them how to open the secret drawer but did reveal that there was one.
"What does the ‘H’ chiseled in the lid stand for, Rollie?"
My great-grandmother's last name was Hemings. Easton can explain better the relationship between the Jefferson's and Hemings. Easton gave the men sitting around the table a short, ten-minute history lesson. It included Sally Hemings, her children and their lives as slaves and then free persons of color.
When he was done, Date added, "And all this time I thought the H stood for Hattori."
Everyone had a good laugh at Date's wisecrack, not because it was particularly funny, but because it was the first time anyone remembered him making a joke. Up until that point, everyone had assumed that he was incapable of any type of humor.
As the patriot group prepared to call it a night and go to their individual Quonset huts, Raul took Rollie aside. "If your plan doesn't work, are you going to take the transport to wherever Helmer and Sophia are?"
Rollie shook his head and replied, "I don't know. I'm going to pray really hard for the next few days and hope that I get an answer from Grandma LeeLee or someone else above."
37
TIME RUNNING OUT
"Krieger, find the man who invented the cloaking device and I'll consider authorizing a mission to rescue your mate – Alex, or whatever her name is."
"Thank you, Der Fuhrer Gott. I'll begin immediately."
Krieger used the approved protocol of clicking his boots heels and then goose-stepped out of Gott's office. In the past couple of weeks, everything Gott incorporated into his regime and war effort was direct from the Nazi playbook of World War Two. Other than the red swastika being replaced by a black iron cross, everything else was identical. The uniforms, military ranks, youth camps, declaration of a Motherland, the superiority of certain races and the inferiority of other races all pointed to one thing. The Fourth Reich had risen from the ashes of history and was growing again in popularity.
It didn't take Krieger long to figure out whose body parts were used to produce Gott. It took him less than eight hours using the world archives portal to figure out that the diabolical Adolph Hitler was Gott's host. The final and most damning clues were the grainy, black and white pictures of Hitler taken in the early and mid-twentieth century. Anyone with an objective mind could see that the two men were related. What baffled Krieger was how he seemed to be the only person who saw the connection?
True, he was only one of two or three people within the Black Cross who knew that Gott was a clone. But couldn't anyone else see the physical resemblance? Not once did he hear anyone at headquarters or in a public establishment reference Hitler in the same sentence with Gott. How could that happen? For God's sake, the host was one of the most evil people in history. Were people so historically illiterate that they didn't know who Hitler was, or could it be that they didn't care?
Krieger had to admit that there wasn't much reason for followers to investigate the background of their maniacal leader. Things were good for those who’d joined the Black Cross and swore allegiance to Der Fuhrer. These people enjoyed a higher standard of living than they ever had under the World Council regime. They no longer had to worry about the restrictive nanny state rules and regulations of the World Council. They had food on their tables, clothes on their backs and drugs to get high. Their homes were modern and well-furnished. They could go wherever and whenever they wanted. Prior authorization to travel, which took months under the World Council, wasn't required. And all the Black Cross members had to do for these benefits was to support Gott and the war effort.
Things were so good for those who swore allegiance to Gott that they turned a blind eye to the atrocities. Every torture, beating, and imprisonment was done in the name of democratic nationalism. As the Black Cross armies swept east and west, conquered people were given a choice; either swear loyalty to Gott or die. The men who joined Gott were immediately put into military service. Their women and children went to work in support camps producing food, clothing, and ammunition for the massive army. Those who refused to serve Gott were either killed immediately by beheading or poisoned by inoculation. The belligerent men in good physical shape became decoys at the battlefronts. Thousands of them assaulted the Lavender positions. The World Council forces spotted and watched their movement using the kidney tracking devices. Once they opened up on the decoy forces and exposed their positions, the Gott blast cannons annihilated the Lavender troops.
This was exactly why Gott wanted the inventor of the kidney cloaking device captured and brought to Berlin. There were too few decoy prisoners available to use as sacrificial lambs. When their ranks thinned out, Gott stormtroopers were forced to push forward against the Lavender positions. Their kidney tracking devices gave away their positions and movements. Prolonged battles raged for days, resulting in heavy losses for both sides.
The kidney tracking device had slowed Gott's Blitzkrieg down to a crawl. If it wasn't for this one technological flaw, Gott's troops could overrun the Lavenders in a matter of days with minimal losses. Gott needed to find a solution other than relying on decoy troops. Surgically removing the tracking device was too time-consuming. Using the Hattori cloaking system was too complicated and cumbersome. There had to be a better technical solution. And the best person to find that solution was the man who invented the original cloaking device. Gott was sure that a brilliant inventor like Date Hattori could come up with a mass cloaking system which would block out entire areas or armies to the Lavender tracking system. His troops could then operate with impunity and near invisibility.
There was another factor which slowed Gott's armies. When senior officers in the Lavender army were killed, they were cloned back to life using CR47 machines. They were then returned to the battlefront to lead their troops. The result was a senior staff with far more experience than the Black Cross military staff.
The Gott armies didn't have this luxury. When one of their senior officers was killed the next junior officer in line was field-promoted to take his place. Gaining command field experience started all over again. Since the beginning of the war, the Lavender senior staff accumulated far more experience than the Gott officers. This knowledge and experience advantage quite often counter-balanced the better manned and equipped Gott forces.
Krieger had no reason to trust Gott. Der Fuhrer had started a democratic nationalism movement to release the masses f
rom the bondage of the World Council. But as the movement grew, liberties were limited to only those who followed the dictates of the Black Cross without question. All others were considered suspicious, ostracized and sometimes tried and executed for treason.
Gott's manipulation and deception grew with each passing day. Krieger witnessed countless examples of how his boss lied, cheated and killed to further his own political goals. Each bit of evidence Krieger accumulated against Gott made him more of a target. There was no question that Gott would eventually go after and destroy the evidence. Krieger knew he was on borrowed time. He considered running but there was nowhere on Earth far enough away to evade Gott, the war or the World Council. The likelihood that Gott would help rescue Alex was slim. But for the time being, Krieger would play along and see if he could get the cloaking device inventor to Berlin.
He had yet to hear from Alex or her captors. He had no reason to believe anything different than what Mr. Todd told him. Alex was being held by the World Council somewhere and sometime in the future he would hear what they wanted in return for her release.
Krieger began to track down the elusive Date Hattori. There was a limited amount of information available about the man. He was a middle-aged man of Japanese ancestry who had an affinity for ancient Samurai artifacts. Other than that, Hattori moved about and lived within underground societies. He was rarely seen in locations controlled by the World Council and he never mingled with the elite of society. Sales of his cloaking device had made him a very wealthy man. He was once quoted as saying how much he despised the World Council because of their insensitive and caustic handling of his wife's death.
