by C M Dancha
The limited amount of information about Hattori wasn't enough to find the man. Krieger had no choice other than eliciting the help of Mr. Todd. He hated the idea of using the creep who stole his family ring, but Todd was the only person resourceful enough to track down Hattori. Now he faced the dilemma of what he could use to pay Todd for his services.
"Mr. Krieger, how nice to hear from you. What do I owe this honor to?"
"Mr. Todd, I have a mission for you. The Fuhrer Gott wants the inventor of the cloaking device found and brought to Berlin."
Todd didn't know if Krieger's request was entirely or partially true. Either way, it would be difficult turning down this mission even though it put him in a dangerous position. He knew that he could find Hattori, but could he get him to Berlin? If not, his career and possibly his life would be worthless. Gott wasn't the type of man who took failure well.
"I'll need payment to cover my expenses."
"What do you want, Mr. Todd?"
Without a moment's delay, Todd replied, "I want to personally present Date Hattori to Der Fuhrer."
Krieger was stunned by Todd's request. It was completely contrary to Todd's background. As a freelance double agent, he always demanded an outrageous fee for his unique services. That was the only way he could afford the best in life.
Krieger waited for additional demands, but nothing more was said. "That's very generous of you, Mr. Todd. Is that all you want?"
"That's it, son. Just make sure that I escort Mr. Hattori into Gott's chambers when I bring him to Berlin."
"Okay, you have a deal. How long do you think it will take to find Hattori and bring him to Der Fuhrer?"
"I would guess between one and three weeks. I'll get right on it. Make sure Gott knows what the agreement is. Take care, Krieger."
Todd broke contact and went back to sipping his one-hundred-year-old cognac. This was indeed a very special night. He had sealed a deal to meet the next ruler of the world. Bringing Hattori to Gott and turning on a little of his charm would surely cement his position as a trusted associate of Der Fuhrer. The rewards which came with that position would vault him to one of the most powerful men on the planet.
"Garcon, do you have any Myka left or has the war ended your supply of the little bird?"
"For you, Mr. Todd, we have Myka."
"Excellent. In that case, bring me two Myka. Tonight is very special; I have much to celebrate." Little did Todd know that this would be the last time he would enjoy the unique and special tastes of eating the entrails of the tiny African bird.
As Todd was eating in the soon-to-be-bombed Le Frotette restaurant in Paris, Krieger was thinking about his conversation with Todd. Why had the man agreed to only a meeting with Gott in exchange for accepting a mission which had to be both dangerous and costly? Could it be that his request was merely a way to promote himself? Or did he have something devious, ominous or self-fulfilling in mind? Whatever the true reason, Krieger knew that Todd wasn't a humanitarian or a zealot who followed one person. He latched onto and rode the wave of popularity with whoever was in power.
His musings about Todd were interrupted when his micromic sounded.
"Mr. Krieger, this is Commander Tulley of the Lavender Army. I have a message for you from Chairperson Evelyn about Sophia Groetschow. I believe you know her as Alex. Sir, are you on a secure wave and can you talk now?"
"Yes, Commander Tulley. Go ahead."
"Chairperson Evelyn wants you to kill Gott. In exchange, Alex will be freed and sent to meet you wherever you choose."
Krieger wasn't surprised by Evelyn's demand. In the back of his mind, he’d been expecting an outrageous demand in exchange for Alex's safe return. He paused long enough to get straight in his mind the response he had contrived and practiced hundreds of times since learning of Alex's kidnapping.
"Commander, how do I know that Alex is still alive?"
Without delay, the Lavender Commander waved Krieger's lover into the screen.
"Are you okay, Alex?"
"I'm fine, K."
That's as much as Sophia said before she was removed from the screen by two husky Lavender soldiers.
"May I have your answer, Mr. Krieger. Do you agree to the terms?"
Krieger almost broke out laughing. This Lavender Commander had the social graces of a plant. He made Gott look like a guy you'd like to go fishing with.
"Here's my answer, Commander. I recommend that you turn on your recording feature if you haven't done so already. The chances of me being able to assassinate Der Fuhrer are about one in a thousand. The man is surrounded by dozens of bodyguards. All of them are highly trained in weapons and self-defense. They watch every move anyone makes around Gott. They approve all his travel plans and public appearances. By the time I could get out a weapon to kill Gott, my head would be rolling on the floor."
"So, should I tell Chairperson Evelyn that you will not accept her offer?"
"No, you're going to tell her that I do accept her offer. I have figured out one way to get close enough to Der Fuhrer to kill him but it's going to take some preparation. And I need Evelyn to agree to my terms and help with the preparation. So, bring Alex back into the screen so I can explain my plan to both of you."
When the Commander hesitated, Krieger raised his voice and said, "Now, Commander. Your job is to take my offer back to Evelyn. So, stop dicking around and do what I say."
The Lavender officer was rarely addressed in such a rude manner. If Krieger had been in the same room with him the smart mouth punk would be minus a few teeth. Realizing he had no other choice, the Lavender Commander brought Sophia back into the screen. They listened to Krieger for the next twenty minutes as he outlined his plan to assassinate Der Fuhrer Gott.
At the end of his explanation, Sophia said, "K, I don't know exactly how you're going to do this, but I like it. I hope Evelyn agrees. I love you."
Krieger had just enough time to return the sentiment before the contact was terminated.
He went and laid down to catch up on hours of missed sleep. Between running errands for Der Fuhrer, Krieger needed to learn as much about his boss as possible. On his desk were discs containing every word Hitler had ever written or spoken. In the next eight hours, he would read Mein Kampf at least twice. It was imperative that he understand how Der Fuhrer's mind worked so he could anticipate his future moves. He knew that he had only a short amount of time left before Gott found an excuse to have him killed. He must be able to foresee Gott's death order, so he could launch his plan first.
38
EVELYN STARTS TO UNRAVEL
"Did you find anything in the maple box?"
"No, Chairperson Evelyn. Besides myself, I had our best engineers examine the box. From what we can tell, it's nothing more than an antique jewelry case."
"Let me look at that."
Claude handed the box to Evelyn. She turned it over and over, shook it, raised its lid and examined the pull-out drawers. She even held it to her nose to smell.
"Do you know why this ‘H’ is chiseled into the lid?"
"I was told that the ‘H’ stands for the last name of Rollie Sweats' great-grandmother from several hundred years ago. Apparently, this box has been in the Sweats' family since then and passed down from generation to generation."
"Claude, don't you find it odd that the Sweats' Grandmother would give this rare antique to a girlfriend of Rollie's?"
"I guess I haven't thought of that angle. But now that you mention it, that does sound very strange. Why would Rollie's Grandmother give a valuable item like this box to a woman she never met and isn't part of the Sweats' family?"
"Exactly. I don't know what significance this box has but I do know there's something important about it."
Claude and Evelyn spent a few more minutes discussing the box and what to do with it. Finally, Evelyn ended the discussion with, "Claude, give the box to Sophia. We have multiple image recorders in her room so let's maintain a close watch on what she does with the box. If t
here is something deceitful about it, Sophia will eventually show us what it is. I'll have Commander Tulley put a couple of his best men on watching Sophia and the box."
"That sounds like a good plan, Chairperson. Anything else?"
"Yes, have Helmer Stanke and Sophia contact Rollie and let him know that the maple box and his tools are here. Get the coordinates of where to pick him up on Thursday. Claude, I must go. I'm late for a war briefing, so I'll see you later."
Four hours later when Evelyn left the meeting, she was a very unhappy woman. The Lavender army was being pushed back on every front. From Europe to Asia and the Americas, the Black Cross was winning battle after battle. Having hundreds of CR47 machines to clone back to life her military, World Council regional directors and political leaders wasn't enough to stem the tide of Gott's Blitzkrieg.
Her idea to win the hearts and minds of the masses by promising them anything and everything hadn't worked. The war had interrupted the production of every basic commodity. With less available food, clothing and basic materials like soap, Evelyn's plan fell on its face. The promise of freedom and keeping the fruits of one's labor trumped being taken care of from birth-to-grave by the Nanny state. For most people, there was no reason to back the World Council any longer. They were tired of being told what to do every day of their lives. People wanted an opportunity to succeed and fail by themselves. It was time to try something new, even if it meant a period of lean times.
Chairperson Evelyn was running out of ideas. She had altered her philosophies, replaced key personnel and took a more active role in the military strategy. None of it had changed the course of the war. She was very close to accepting the final solution of releasing the mutated FISS plague. The result would be catastrophic, but at least Gott wouldn't win and rule the world.
Fixing the CR47s was more important than ever now. If her calculations were correct, most the world's population would perish during the plague. Once the plague burned itself out, the hierarchy of the World Council and key people with unique talents and skills needed to be cloned to repopulate and lead the world. These replicants had to be perfect. There wasn't room for mistakes or having clones which were defective, either physically or mentally.
39
IN SERVICE OF A GREAT LORD
"Mr. Jefferson, I've waited my entire life to fulfill my destiny as a samurai and serve a great lord. I'm at your command. What do you wish me to do?"
This was the part of leadership which Easton hated. Asking good men to put themselves in harm's way was dreadful. Easton had already spent an entire night wondering if he should ask Hattori to accept the offer to go to Berlin. It was insane to have him lead the development of a more comprehensive cloaking system. But it would put Date in the perfect position to assassinate the upstart dictator, Der Fuhrer Gott. Unfortunately, getting close to Gott was no guarantee that he could eliminate the man. It did guarantee a near one hundred percent chance that Date would be killed by Gott's personal bodyguards. Of course, Date could refuse and stay hidden in the relative safety of the jungle.
There was no use asking Date what he wanted to do. The loyal Asian would simply defer the decision back to Easton.
"Date, this is very difficult for me. I have thought long and hard about this. I would like you to go to Berlin and kill the leader of the Black Cross, Der Fuhrer Gott. I doubt that anyone from our group will get another opportunity to get so close to Gott."
Easton let his request sink in and waited for some type of reaction from Date. When none came, Easton continued. "From our sources in Berlin, there is little doubt left that Gott is the epitome of evil. He doesn't want people to succeed and enjoy freedom even though that is his stated pledge. There is very little difference between what he offers and what the World Council has jammed down the throats of the people for so long. He is a dictator in a lamb's coat who intends to direct every aspect of human life."
"It will be an honor to follow your command, Great Lord Jefferson."
"You do realize that you will probably be killed on this mission?"
"Mr. President, that is the way of the samurai. Dying for one's lord is the way samurai live on Earth and beyond."
"Okay, Samurai Hattori. Pack your gear and I'll have Raul plan arrangements for our transport to take you to Berlin. Contact this Mr. Todd character and tell him that you’re interested, but don't accept his offer until you negotiate a tough deal with him. Ask for the world in payment. He's a snake-in-the-grass double agent who will commit to anything you ask because he has no intention of paying. We don't want Todd to think that you’re too eager to go to Berlin. The more reluctant you appear to be, the more convinced Todd will be that you are being honest with him."
"Is there anything else my lord?"
"Yes, good luck to you, Samurai Hattori. Stay in touch if you can. And… and…" Easton was going to tell Date that he need not address him as ‘my lord’. But, when Date bowed in the Samurai style, Easton decided to say nothing more than, "We'll be waiting for your safe return." It was imperative that Date leave the patriot camp believing he was following the code of Bushido. The code would dictate his every move as a loyal samurai in the service of his lord.
40
FRIDAY
Claude, Claudette, and Helmer sat around the executive desk in the CEO office eating lunch when Evelyn burst in screaming about a son-of-a-bitch.
"Do you know what that bastard did? He stiffed us! I knew we shouldn't have trusted him. I'll kill that SOB if I ever get the chance."
Each of the lunch mates put their food down and stared at each other. They watched as Evelyn stormed around the room talking to herself. When she got to the far end of the room, she swept Claude's mementos, pictures, and awards off the bookshelf with one brutal whisk of her arm. Claude was ready to stand up and protest the destruction of his property but stopped when Claudette gripped him by the arm.
Evelyn returned to the lunch area and looked at her three underlings. She removed a small, black vial from her coat pocket and held it within inches of Claude's face. "Do you know what this is, Mr. CEO?"
Claude stumbled over his response. "I don't, no, I'm sure I couldn't—"
"It's the FISS plague, Claude. I bet you and your buddies here didn't know that the original Healers isolated the virus responsible for FISS. Yes, they did. Those charming ladies figured it out and kept samples just in case it was ever needed for study or use some time in the future."
Claude, Claudette, and Helmer didn't know if Evelyn was serious, kidding around or if she had lost her mind. They wanted to say something but didn't know if it was safe to say anything.
Helmer took a chance and asked, "Chairperson, who is the bastard you are referring to?"
Evelyn's face flushed again as she screamed. "The bastard is your friend from Phoenvartis who you claim is necessary to fix the deficiencies in the CR47 machines. The bastard is Rollie Sweats. The same bastard that I will have tracked down and killed. Any more questions, Mr. Stanke?"
Helmer was in so deep he figured another question couldn't aggravate the situation much more. "He didn't show up?"
Chairperson Evelyn exploded once more, threw up her hands and strutted around the room. "Mr. Stanke, do you think I'd be this pissed if he were here at the caves? I sent a transport halfway around the world to pick up that bastard and no one showed. The pilot waited for six hours and then came back, minus Sweats."
Evelyn returned once again to the desk area, took a long, deep breath and said, "I don't know what Sweats and Sophia are up to. For that matter, I wouldn't be surprised if some of you are involved in their deception. But the one thing I do know is that I've reached my limit. I can't stand the dishonesty, laziness, and inefficiency any longer. That's why we're losing the war. Everyone around here and in the army wants to blame the other guy for failure. No one takes responsibility for a damn thing. Everyone is so busy pointing fingers at the other guy they don't have time to do their jobs and kill the enemy."
The three people on t
he receiving end of Evelyn's wrath sat with their eyes focused on the ground, hoping that she would leave soon.
" I've had my fill. I can see where this is all going and I'm not going to allow it to go there. So I'm going to put an end to all this nonsense. Here, Claude."
Evelyn tossed the vial at Claude from about twenty feet away. Claude's reaction was too slow. The vial headed for his nose and would have hit him had Claudette not snatch the vial out of midair like a seasoned ballplayer. Helmer wanted to congratulate her on the nice catch, but thought it best to keep his mouth shut.
"I'm going down to have a short talk with Ms. Sophia and when I get back, we are going to have a FISS coming-out party. And trust me, this FISS is going to be bigger and better than the first one."
Chairperson Evelyn stormed out of Claude's office in a bigger huff than when she’d entered.
"What the hell did she mean about having a FISS coming-out party? It's going to be bigger and better? What the heck does that mean?"
Helmer thought about Evelyn's warning. A crazy thought entered his head which he spoke aloud. "She's going to release the FISS plague and it's different than the plague of a hundred years ago."
Claudette snapped her head toward Helmer and asked, "What do you mean, different?"
"I'm not sure, Claudette. If I had to guess, I'd say that she knows that it’s mutated, and this plague will be worse than the first one."
"The only way it could be worse is if it—…" Claude stopped mid-sentence. He didn't want to say out loud what he’d thought.
"Oh Claude, do you think the plague will wipe out humanity? Is that what you were going to say? Is she that crazy? Good god, what are we going to do? Should we take off with the vial?"
Helmer got up and went over to the office door. He peeked outside and spotted six Lavenders standing at attention in front of the entrance to Claude's office.
