Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3) (6 page)

8

Sofia eyed the clear blue water with a sense of both excitement and nervousness.  It had been a long time since she’d been swimming, and she had been much stronger then.  Her delicate arms were wrapped tightly around her father’s neck as he picked her gently up out of the chair and carried her in his arms. 

Inside he was in agony, knowing the number of times he would get to hold Sofia was numbered.  Soon he would yearn to do it just once more.

He loved the feel of her arms around him, clinging as they approached the edge of the tank.  He stepped down into the water and onto a wide, shallow ledge at which point he carefully lowered Sofia onto the concrete lip.  She immediately dropped her hands to balance herself while her father sat next to her, keeping an arm around her tiny waist.

Alison and Chris were also standing on the ledge smiling.  Once Sofia relaxed, Alison took a step forward in the water.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She nodded nervously.

“Good.”  Alison softly patted one of Sofia’s hands.  “We’re going to be right here next to you.  Don’t worry.”  Alison gave her another minute to relax before nodding to Lee and Juan, who brought some equipment forward and set it down.

Chris reached out and picked up the clear face mask.  “Do you know what this is?”

“It’s a mask,” Sofia answered.

“That’s right.   You said you used one before, right?”

“Yes.”

Chris turned it around so she could get a good look at it.  The mask was a child-sized version of the one they normally used –– Lee and Juan had worked through much of the night to finish it for her.

Sofia took the small mask from Chris and examined it.

“Go ahead and put it over your face.  You’ll see that you can breathe just as good.”

She looked back at the mask and moved the black oxygen hose out of the way.  She pressed it into place and took a deep breath.  “Wow,” she smiled.  Apprehension was turning to curiosity.  She promptly looked up at her mother and giggled.

“You want to dip your face in the water and try it?”

Sofia nodded and dunked herself.  When she came back up, she was laughing from the inside of the glass.

“Just like the ones you wore before, right?”

“Yes.  But nicer!”

Alison laughed with her.  If little Sofia only knew.

Next, Lee and Juan laid a bundle down on the edge of the tank.  It was a small oxygen tank wrapped in a floatation cushion with another dozen feet of tubing coiled on top.  It was a simpler design used by many vacation resorts, allowing a swimmer to breathe underwater without the encumbrance of having to wear heavy scuba gear.  Instead, the tank and regulator would float on the surface above the swimmer and follow as needed. 

The team’s plan was to accommodate Sofia in the water at least enough to
float
with Dirk and Sally.  They weren’t sure how much her illness would allow, but now an excited Alison found herself carefully explaining the precautions they would take to keep Sofia safe.  She also tried to convey how much more exciting it was to both swim and talk with the dolphins at the same time.  If at all possible, she and her team wanted Sofia to have that experience.

When Sofia pulled the mask away, her father looked at her softly.  “Are you ready?”

Sofia glanced around, looking first at Alison and her team.  Then she spotted Dirk and Sally, watching patiently nearby with their heads out of the water.  She nodded at her father. Together they untied the scarf and pulled it gently off her small bald head.

The women continued smiling warmly at her, fighting back a sudden surge of tears.  Without even looking, Alison was sure the guys were doing the same. 

Sofia stared up at them nervously with her large blue eyes.  She was so beautiful.

Chris never skipped a beat.  He lowered his voice just above a whisper.  “Are you ready to put it on?”

She nodded and tilted her head forward, allowing Chris to slide the soft straps over her head, pulling on each one until snug.  He delicately moved his fingers around the edge of the mask, checking the seal.

“How does that feel?”

“Good,” she replied, her voice distorted.

“Still breathing okay?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.”

Alison watched Chris next pick up a small weight belt.  He snaked it gently around her waist and secured it in front.  The swimsuit Alison had bought for her was a tad loose but still a close enough fit.  Now that Sofia was comfortably breathing inside the mask, Alison reached out for her own gear.

Her Hollis unit was a rebreather.  A redesign of the older scuba units allowing a radically more efficient use of its breathable oxygen.  Even more important was the ability to allow the diver to breathe almost silently underwater, compared to the older regulators which sent out waves of loud bubbles with every breath.  Minimal noise or interference was critical for IMIS’s ability to translate accurately. 

Alison smoothly clipped her buckles together in front and grinned at Sofia.  Next, she pulled their waterproof vest over her front, turning so that Chris could secure it around her back.  Finally, she pulled her own mask over the top of her head and wiggled it into place.  She leaned forward, touching her mask gently against Sofia’s. 

“Can you hear me?” she called out.

“Yes.”

“Are you scared?”

Sofia shook her head.

“Good,” Alison winked.  “Nervous is okay.  But if you’re scared we won’t do it, okay?”

“Okay.”

Alison took Sofia’s hand and helped her slide down onto her rear in the water.  She then turned to the dolphins.  “Sally.  Dirk.  Can you hear me?”

Their response was immediate. 
Yes Alison.

“Remember.  Very slow.  Okay.”

Slow,
Sally replied.

Sloooow,
Dirk repeated playfully.

Alison smiled and shook her head.  He was such a boy.

Behind her, Dirk and Sally moved in and propped themselves on the tank ledge.  Sofia leaned back apprehensively but slowly reached out to pet them each on the head.  Their skin felt like wet leather.  Smooth but almost spongy.

Sally lowered her nose and nuzzled affectionately against one of Sofia’s skinny legs.

Alison, still holding the child’s other hand, spoke loudly again through her mask.  “Okay, ready?”

All she got was a nervous nod.  With that, Alison fell into the water and quickly bobbed up, floating in front of Sofia.  She gently pulled her small, delicate hand forward until Sophia slid in next to her.

Alison secured the girl with both hands.  “Still okay?”

“Yes!”  Sofia felt light again in the water.  Like she used to before it became too hard to walk.  “I’m floating!”

“Yes, you are.”

Alison guided her slowly away from the edge, watching Dirk and Sally wiggle back into the water.  Together the pair began swirling around them, gently brushing as they passed. 

Sofia’s eyes were as wide as she could make them.  She reached out and skimmed fingers over their bodies as they passed.  “WOW!”

“Look under the water.”

Sofia lowered her face beneath the surface to watch the dolphins.  When she lifted her head back up, Alison leaned in and examined the mask.  She needed to check for leaks.  Because what they were about to do was going to feel like
magic
.

“Okay, Sally.”  Alison rotated Sofia’s frame just as Sally came up smoothly beneath her, and she helped guide the girl’s tiny legs down around Sally’s sides.

“Can you lean forward?”

Sofia complied and instinctively wrapped her arms around Sally. 

“Are you ready for a ride, honey?”

Sofia was almost shaking but still managed to nod, even with her mask pressed against the back of Sally’s light gray head.

“Okay, Sally.  Nice and easy.”

Come Sofia.

Sally gave a thrust of her tail and swam forward.  Dirk quickly fell in beside them as Alison latched onto his tail.  Together all four continued across the tank, circling at the far end and slowly returning to where Alison had checked Sofia.

“Still okay?”

“YES!”

“Here comes the best part!”

Alison patted Sally, who then took off again.  Her speed was no faster but this time she ducked a few feet below the surface and swam in a tighter circle.

As the warm water enveloped them both, Sophia heard the sound abruptly disappear into the cool air above them, leaving only Dirk and Sally’s mechanized voices in her ear.

Now okay Sofia?

“Yes, I’m fine!” she replied, still beaming inside the mask.

Faster?
  Dirk asked.

“YES!  FASTER!”

The water flow surged faster around them and the pressure increased against their bodies from below, giving Sofia the sensation that she and Sally were flying together.

Sofia felt as happy as she had ever been.

9

Admiral Langford stepped out of the elevator as soon as the metal doors separated.  He turned left and walked briskly down Corridor Nine on the third floor, toward the Pentagon’s “A” ring, avoiding eye contact with two generals approaching from the other direction. 

The military was as much about status and rank as any organization on the planet, and the Pentagon served as a prestigious symbol of that system.  A building filled with colonels, admirals, and generals, all of whom were seen as the best the country’s Armed Forces had to offer.  Men who embodied the very image of accomplishment and greatness.  

Yet deep down, these same men all shared a common secret.  A dark secret.  A character flaw that few would admire, let alone celebrate.  Each man had long ago sacrificed the priorities of his own life, and those of his family, to attain the unattainable.  Men who helped shape the most powerful government in history, who shaped the very world as much as any politician ever would.  Men who inevitably chose to sacrifice what most of the world would never relinquish.

These men lived in the glow of the most prized possession of all: ultimate power.  The one constant that eventually changed
all
men before enslaving them. 
Power
was the greatest of all drugs.  In monarchies, these men were kings.  In Communism, they were dictators.  In republics and democracies, they were politicians and generals.

And Langford was no exception.  His family had sacrificed just like the rest, living most of their lives without a husband or father.  A man who they knew more as an image than a person.  Until he was saved.

It was the accident that changed it all –– collision that suddenly put his teenage daughter into the Intensive Care Unit and a single phone call that shook him free from his enslavement.  That night was a turning point and became his moment of clarity.   For the next month, Langford and his wife rarely left their child’s bedside.  His daughter eventually recovered, but Langford had been
reformed
.  He remained a patriot, but he was no longer bound by a personal or political agenda.  His agenda now was for his family first and then his country.  And it was also why the double doors to his office read in very simple, and very small lettering: Chairman – Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

Langford pushed the right side door open, nodding to Clay and Borger as they both stood up.  They fell into step behind Langford, who paused only briefly to take a small stack of messages from his secretary’s outstretched hand before entering his office.  He closed the door behind them and rounded his desk while his men each took a chair.

Clay could see the consternation on the Admiral’s face.  “Everything okay?”

“No.”

Langford had just returned from his morning security briefing at the White House.  Things were not okay.  In fact, things were unraveling at a frightening pace.  He leaned back into the thick leather chair and leveled his eyes at them.

“Our Chinese friends don’t give up easily.  They’ve dispatched every single ship in the CRS, the first of which should reach Panama by tomorrow morning.”

“Salvage ships?”

“That’s right.”

Clay and Borger looked at each other.  “They’re not going to recover the Bowditch?”

“No,” Langford shook his head.  “They’re coming after the Corvette.  Their warship never made it back to China.”

Now Clay and Borger were genuinely confused.

Langford sighed.  “Two days after the attack on the Bowditch, a large area of debris was spotted off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.  The Brazilians were the first to dispatch a salvage team, who now believes it’s the remains of the Chinese Corvette
and
the Forel.  It appears both boats were destroyed together.”

Borger was incredulous.  “Wait.  First the Bowditch was sunk by the Russian Forel, then we find out it was really the Chinese?”

“Correct.”

“Then the Russian sub
and
the Chinese warship are destroyed together?”

Clay raised an eyebrow.  “Was it us?”

His question surprised Langford, nearly making him chuckle.  “No, it wasn’t us.  We had no one that far south.”

“Then who?”

“We believe it was the Chinese.”

“The
Chinese?!
  The Chinese sank their own ship?”

“We think so.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Borger exclaimed.  “Knowing what was on that Corvette, why on Earth would they sink it?”

Langford glanced at Clay, who was thinking again.  He could almost watch Clay figure it out.

“A coup.”

Langford nodded.  “We think so.”

“A coup?”  Borger looked at Clay.  “Inside China?”

“If the Corvette was sunk by one of their own, it could mean there’s a split inside the government.”

“Maybe within the Politburo,” Langford added.

“Or maybe the cargo wasn’t really on the ship,” Borger said.

Clay shook his head.  “Then they wouldn’t be sending such a large salvage operation.  It’s more likely the ship did have the plants onboard, but for some reason someone else inside their government sank it.”

“Then the question is why.  Why would someone intentionally destroy the greatest discovery of the century?”

“Maybe revenge.”

Clay turned to Langford.  “I don’t think so, sir.  If there
is
an internal battle going on, both would have to know how valuable the Corvette’s cargo was.”

“So then, they either didn’t understand what exactly was on that warship, or they didn’t care.”

Clay leaned back in his chair.  “But who wouldn’t care about that?”

“Okay,” Borger said, thinking out loud.  “So, for whatever reason, the Chinese decide to blow up their own ship, which is packed full of a plant whose DNA is nothing short of a miracle.  And now they’re sending a salvage team to recover whatever they can.”

“A recovery
fleet
,” Langford corrected.

“They’re not coming to recover a ship or a sub.”

The other two men looked at Clay.

“They’re coming to find any traces of that cargo.”

“Well, at least if we don’t have it, neither do they.”

Borger gave Clay a nervous look and raised a plain manila folder he had been holding.  “Actually, sir.  About that…”  He leaned forward out of his chair and handed the folder to Langford over the desk.

“What’s this?”

“Pictures, sir.”

Langford opened it and began flipping through several full-size satellite images.  He stopped on one and rotated it sideways.  “Is this Georgetown?”

“Yes, sir.”  Borger scooted forward.  “It’s the airport.  Just a couple hours before the Bowditch was attacked.  This person drove from the Chinese Corvette to the airport where he boarded a Chinese Y-12.”

Langford examined the next photo.  It was zoomed in to reveal more detail.  “What’s in the case?”

Borger took a deep breath.  “Sir, when John and I were aboard the Bowditch, Commander Neely Lawton talked about that plant’s DNA and what made it so valuable.  It wasn’t just its properties and the ability to merge it together with human DNA through a bacteria.  The most amazing thing was how easily it could be extracted with the right equipment.  Something called a torque transducer.  Or a nano-mag for short.”

Langford nodded.  “Go on.”

“We’ve already established that the Chinese Corvette most likely didn’t attack the Bowditch because it couldn’t.  They had to have hollowed the ship out to make enough room for all the material they trucked down from the mountain.”  Borger shrugged.  “So, if they were that prepared, they may very well have had a nano-mag onboard too.”

“And probably had already begun the extraction process,” added Clay.

Langford looked back at the man in the photo.  “And you think that’s what’s in the case, the extracted DNA?”

“More specifically, the bacterial medium.  It’s our best guess.”

“I presume you followed the path of this plane?”

“Yes, sir.  And the man on it.”

“And they ended up where?”

“Beijing.”

Langford inhaled and leaned back again.  “Perfect.”  He ran his finger lightly over his lips, thinking.  “So, if you’re right, and the Chinese already have at least some of the DNA in Beijing…why the giant recovery effort?  Why send virtually every salvage ship they have?”

“The most obvious reason would be because they don’t know they have it,” Clay said.

“They don’t know about the case?”

“It’s possible.  If there really is a splinter within the Politburo’s Standing Committee, one side may not know about the case.

“Seems like a long shot.”

Clay shrugged.  “Not as much of a long shot as finding out the Chinese destroyed their own ship.”

“True.”  Langford turned to Borger.  “So where is this man and his case now?”

“I’m not sure yet.  I’m…going to need to find a way into their systems and see what I can find out.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

Borger grinned.  “I’d rather not say.”

Langford’s lip curled.  He was well aware of Borger’s background.  Having worked as a network security expert in his former job, he was known as a “white hat.”  A computer hacker who caught other “black hat” hackers.  It was how they came to hire Borger.  He was the only outside expert who had been able to catch two hackers trying to break into one of the Navy’s computer systems.

Langford hired him on the spot.  Now, sitting across from him, even if Langford wanted to know what Borger had in mind, he sure as hell wouldn’t understand it.

“Fine,” he said, sighing.  He placed his hands on his desk.  “So, it appears we have two problems.  If the Chinese do have the DNA from those plants or their crews turn something up from the Corvette’s wreckage, they could have the means to become the most powerful army on the planet.”

“They would be unstoppable.”

Langford eyed Borger.  “In more ways than one.”

“Well,” Clay spoke up, “there is a third option.”

“Which is?”

“The monkey.”

Langford rubbed his forehead.  “Right.  The monkey.  Have you gotten anything more on our new friend Otero?”

Clay nodded.  “We think he’s going back to finish what Alves started.”

“So if the monkey is still alive, it could be a third source of the DNA.”

“Correct.”

Which means we’d better find it first,” Langford said.  He stared at both men.  “Where’s Caesare?”

Steve Caesare had just reached the single story terminal building of the Mercedita Airport.  With a heavy bag slung over his good side, he climbed two steps and walked through a set of automatic sliding glass doors just beneath the giant earth tone letters reading “Aeropuerto Mercedita.”

It was a small airport whose runway had only recently been expanded to accommodate larger commercial jets.  An expansion that now enabled the airport to process four times as many passengers to Ponce, Puerto Rico’s largest city in its southern region.

However, for Caesare, the airport’s importance was its convenient location, less than fifteen miles from the research center and Alison Shaw’s team.

The air conditioning inside created a light chill on his arms and neck.  As Caesare approached an open row of seats near the back wall, he dropped his bag to the floor with a loud thud.  He eased himself into the black vinyl chair with a quiet groan and peered up at the display hanging overhead.  It listed arrivals and departures in bright green and amber letters.  He found the flight he was looking for and checked his watch. 

Less than fifty minutes left.