Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 01 - Flapjack (12 page)

-Chapter 22-

“Jane should go with us,” I pleaded to Galveston.

“
What for?  If I don’t know why,” he answered smiling.

“
It’s not like that,” I said, squishing my face.  “I think we need her around if we need to convince your ex-fiancé to help us,” I said thinking quickly on my feet.  “I mean, if she isn’t ready to see you like you’re not ready to see her, then we may need a woman’s touch.”

“
You actually may have a point,” he answered, supposedly seeing my point.

“
Yeah, I’d hate to get there and not get to talk because she’s still ticked at you.  Sometimes a woman can just sense what another woman is going through.”  I told him.  Galveston thought for a second.

“
Okay, go tell her.  It doesn’t hurt for her to come,” he said rather smugly, still with a slight smile on his face. 

I ran excitedly out
of the room to tell Jane the news of our trip, proud in the fact that I had pulled one over on Galveston.  I wouldn’t allow myself to admit it, but I really wanted Jane to go, for a variety of reasons, very few of them business related.  I had used my skill of negotiation to convince Galveston that Jane was an integral cog in our massive machine.  Jane, of course, was ecstatic at the news, and raced home immediately to pack for the trip.

We found ourselves jetting to
London from San Diego via New York City the next day, while Alex stayed behind at the office to man the phones and to make sure no one repossessed our new office furniture.  We managed to leave within a day of acquiring our new mission, and I was amazed Galveston had agreed to this course of action. 

May had deposited the money he promised.  I stared at it for a minute and hoped it would be enough to cover our activities.  We were $20,000 richer, but I knew that amount doesn’t go far in today’s economy.  I would have to watch it closely for us to come out a little bit ahead.

We arrived at Heathrow airport early on a Thursday morning with a severe bout of jetlag.  We decided to stay in one of the many extremely overpriced, tiny hotel rooms dotting the city of London.  Being the gentlemen we were, we got Jane her own room, adjacent to ours.  We began some much needed sleep in order to improve our faculties after the rigorous journey, but minimized the time to just a few hours.

Embarrassingly,
Galveston and I had to share a bed that was so small our feet hung off the ends.  It was a moment we both agreed to never talk about again.

Alex was working on finding our contact,
Galveston’s former love, and her possible whereabouts in the city.  Galveston had been quiet the whole flight, while I talked to Jane the entire time, hanging on her every word.

“
So what do you want to do with your life?  Do you like pets?  Do you have a boyfriend?”  It was all the standard, small talk stuff.

We awoke after our uncomfortable nap on
a lumpy mattress and looked on our laptop to see if any messages about the address of Elizabeth’s office had arrived from Alex. 

She was a public figure now and would be easy to find, or so we hoped.  The problem was
Galveston had no motivation to find her.  He began making excuses why he shouldn’t see her and wrangled Jane into agreeing to the first contact.  It was up to him to make the big sell to find Dr. Sloan’s daughter.  We weren’t even sure Elizabeth would have any pull in finding her or why she would want to.  I hoped guilt over dumping Galveston would set in, causing her to help us.

Alex eventually got us the information we had been waiting for. 
Elizabeth rarely worked from her office, preferring to work from her home.  She lived in the Cheswick area of west London, an affluent, upscale enclave of upper class flats, restaurants, and hotels.  She now spent most of her time doing research for the SIS instead of the clandestine work she had done in previous years.

We rented a car from our central
London hotel, no small task or expense in London, and left around seven that night.  Galveston was in charge of negotiating the London streets in our rental car, which proved to be much more difficult than back home, even with his previous knowledge from living and driving in England. 

The lovely
London scenery passed us by and we enjoyed it as we traveled through this strange land.  We left central London through Waterloo, passing over the Thames River, and past St. James Park, Belgravia, and Hammersmith before arriving in Cheswick.  We managed to find Elizabeth’s flat without problem.  It occurred to me that a courtesy call to her would have been polite, but Galveston scoffed at the idea when I brought it up.

The plan had unfolded on the way to
Elizabeth’s place.  Jane was going to go to the door, ask to see Elizabeth, and then let her know who was there to see her.  On the drive Galveston had sat silent, but now as we sat in front of her flat he must have had a moment of revelation.

“
I’ll see her,” he stated.  “She’s from my past and I’ll face it.  I won’t like it, but I’ll do it.”

Jane and I nodded to ourselves and said nothing until we saw he had mustered the courage to open the door.

“Stay strong,” I said half jokingly.  He gave me a sigh, slowly got out of the car, and moped his way to the door.  I noticed he had on his best pair of fancy slacks and Italian hand-made loafers.

He c
omposed himself and checked his hair in the door window as he pushed the buzzer.  Jane and I pushed our noses against the side glass of the car, like rubberneckers looking at the scene of an accident, or in this case, pending disaster.

“
This could be a train wreck, or like watching a bad love story,” I said to Jane who agreed, but neither of us could turn away.

Galveston
stepped back from the door as it slowly opened and a beautiful brunette, dressed in a short black dress and no shoes appeared.  Her face told the initial story, a look of utter surprise.  A few quick, unknown words were exchanged between the two as Elizabeth held her look of shock and surprise, her hand now covering her mouth.  She then did what none of us would have anticipated.  She flung out her arms and wrapped Galveston in a big bear hug, tears rolling from her eyes.  Shocked, Jane and I looked at each other with our mouths agape.  She released him after a minute and motioned for him to come inside.

Galveston
turned to us and raised his arms in an “I don’t know” pose and followed her inside.

“
Maybe it’s some random woman who’s just lonely,” I said to Jane.

“
I’ve heard the British are nice,” she said back.  We sat staring at the door and I tapped the glass.

“
I think our friend has found a new lady,” I said to Jane.  “Let’s get some fresh air, this might take a while.”

Jane and I got out of the car and waited by the curb on a bench as the cars passed by on the street.  I
started in on the small talk again with Jane.  We discussed the weather, spots we would like to see in London, and the English reputation for substandard dental work. 

The night was cool and overcast, with a hint of rain, the seemingly most common of meteorological events in
London.  I offered my coat in a gentlemanly manner, she accepted, and I sat shivering in the cool breeze.  Did we have a connection here?  I watched her lips move seductively and I think she was talking about what she wanted to eat later, but I hardly knew.  If I leaned over and kissed her would she smack me or accept?

We were sitting under a street
lamp on the streets of London, what better situation could exist for a chance at romance. “Just do it, you wuss,” I thought.  Now or never.  I began to lean towards her and lightly grabbed her bare elbow under the coat I had laid about her shoulders.  She stopped talking and looked at me, her eyes radiated in the light, her face soft and beautiful.  She gave a small smile and turned towards me.  I leaned in further and closed my eyes, my face close to hers, waiting for the soft touch of her lips.

Wham! The door behind us slammed shut and we were shocked out of our romantic stupor.

“Hey!”  A voice boomed behind us.  Jane looked back as I put my face in my hands.

“
Hey, we’re all set,” Galveston yelled, loud enough to wake the dead, and came bounding down the steps toward us.  “What are you two doing sitting there?  Why aren’t you in the car?”  He continued on loudly.

“
We weren’t sure how long you would be,” Jane answered.

“
We thought you’d be a little longer,” I said disgustedly.  “You jerk,” I thought and sat staring straight ahead.

“
What happened?” Jane asked.  “And why did she look so glad to see you?”  I think we were expecting a little more shock, but Galveston looked guilty.

“
I kind of left out something about Elizabeth.  You see, she kind of thought I was missing and presumed dead,” he said this flatly and with apathy.

“
She thought you were dead?” I exclaimed turning to face him.

“
Well, yeah.  I was upset after she left and I regret it, but you know, I didn’t think I would see her again.  I had a friend of mine send her a letter that I was missing and presumed dead during a diplomatic mission to South America.”  He said this dismissively.  “She was happy to see me alive.  I did it when I was angry.”

“
How could you do that to someone?” I waved my arms at him.

“
Take it easy.  I smoothed it out.  I told her I lived with a tribe of native Indians in the Amazon who rescued me before I was able to make it back to the U.S.”

“
Yes, that sounds realistic.  That is really low.  You didn’t happen to tell her you lied to her, did you?”

“
It never came up, I mean, come on, I got us another meeting with her to talk about our situation.  She’ll help us now.”

I was shocked at
Galveston’s complete lack of caring about another person’s feelings.  I got up from the bench and pulled Jane up.

“
Come on Jane.  Let’s go back to the hotel.”  She rose with me and we began walking back to the car.

“
Wait, what’s the problem?”  Galveston said holding up his hands, standing on the sidewalk.

“
You can find your own way back, but not with us,” I yelled at him.  “We’ll see you when you figure out what you did wasn’t right.  Now give me the keys.”  I held Jane by her arm and led her back to the rental car.

Galveston
stood with a look of disbelief and slowly handed me the keys.  He plopped down on the bench we had been sitting on and watched us drive away, into the darkness.  He sat underneath the streetlamp quietly, his elbows on his knees, and after sitting there for ten minutes, got up and made his way back up the steps, rang the bell, and waited for Elizabeth to arrive at the door.

She opened up the door,
again surprised to see who was standing in front of her.  Galveston looked at her seriously.

“
Can I come back in?  I think I better tell you something.”

-Chapter 23-

Dr. Patelo leaned over the table, his back beginning to strain because of the long hours of work.  He peered through a small magnifying scope, illuminating a network of circuits on a television monitor next to him.  A digital clock clicked down the time on the wall, revealing the time left before Murray would return.  Fortunately, they were ahead of schedule, but the sense of urgency continued to be evident.

He handled a highly sensitive voltmeter, placing the probes methodically from circuit to circuit and recording the values.

“Fantastic,” he muttered to himself.  “So simple.  So elegant.”

It was as if he was looking at a piece of fine art, noting the intricacies of the paint strokes on the canvas.

“Marco, bring over the plates.”

A short man appeared behind him carrying
two small plates the size of a deck of playing cards.

“
Attach the clips to plate one.”  Marco followed the instruction methodically, attaching an alligator clip to the edge of one of the plates.  Dr. Patelo took the other clip and attached it to a circuit on the board which ran to a small LED light.  As soon as he attached it the light sprung to life.

“
Excellent.  That’s the output point.  Amazing.”  He looked at the monitor and stood up, extending his back in a stretch.  “Print out the schematics.  I need to make a call.”  Dr. Patelo left the table and picked up a nearby satellite cell phone, pulled out a piece of paper, and dialed the number on it.

“
It’s Dr. Patelo, we have finished and we have the schematics.”

“
Good,” the voice on the other end answered. “Are you sure it is in working order?”

“
Yes,” Doctor Patelo answered nervously. “It is in working order and ready for the pickup.”  The voice on the other end was low, but he recognized it as Murray.

“
Good, and you found no peculiarities in the design?”  Murray asked. 

“
No, none.”  It was a strange question, Patelo thought.  Was he supposed to have found problems?  They had told him it was a full working prototype.  Dr. Patelo was only in charge of the reverse engineering of the device, not working out problems.  In addition he was employed to develop and design a way to begin a crude production line to manufacture the device.  Finding problems in the design was something he had no time for.  It worked, and that to him was all that mattered.  He wasn’t getting paid to make it better.

“
Send us the schematics now.  When we have received them, one of my men will retrieve the case within the hour with all objects inside.  Have all your people leave immediately.  Dr. Morales is awaiting your plans.  You are to leave alone and not on the bus with the others.  Do you understand?”

“
Ah, yes.  It is ready, and I will send the plans now.”

“
Good work doctor.  Everyone can go.  Thank you for your work,” Murray responded, hanging up on Dr. Patelo

The words were unsettling
, and Patelo could sense something ominous in Murray’s voice.  He had never trusted him, but when this opportunity had come along he couldn’t pass it up.  The money was more in two days than he could have made in six months of work on his own.  He now might be able to pursue the life he had always dreamed of, and work on his own interests instead of the interests of others. 

Patelo
was the only one, besides Dr. Morales, that knew the true nature of what they were working on, but his growing unease was rising over the whole operation.  Something was not right, and he felt these men would not be pleased with disappointment, whoever they were.

The
workers from the lab left quickly at Dr. Patelo’s urging, and in an instant they were gone, leaving him alone in the clean room.  He walked over to a computer and punched in an email address, but then curiously he stopped, and grew scared.  Who did these men work for?  Had he been so blinded by money that it didn’t occur to him that these plans could be used for unscrupulous means?

“
I need a bargaining chip,” he thought.  Maybe it was time to alert the authorities, or better yet, the media.  The options swirled in his head.  For the time being, some slight changes in the plans would have to do. 

He
quickly opened up the schematics on the computer screen and looked them over carefully.  Dr. Patelo decided one change would be enough to cause a glitch, but not impair the design completely.  He used the cursor on the design program to simply move one circuit’s connection to another transistor, alternating the circuits.  They showed up on the schematic as simple lines connecting one electrical area to another.  This would effectively allow the device to work, but with a problem, it would burn out that particular circuit if the voltage became too high. 

It would take time for
someone to run through the schematics and pinpoint the problem, but it could easily be done.  He needed to develop another problem quickly.  He decided on removing the last piece of the puzzle he had found, the electrical output circuit, the piece that allowed power to flow from the device.  It wouldn’t make the device inoperable, but it would prove much more difficult to figure out, causing the power output to be half of what it could be.  Plus it would give him the option of having the fix, quickly and easily.

Dr. Patelo walked over to the case and removed the two devices, and using needle
nose pliers, removed the output circuit carefully, and rerouted the circuits.  It was a move anyone with electrical knowledge could perform, but to figure out what he had done would prove much more difficult.  He placed one of the small circuit connectors in his pocket and crushed the other.  A vital piece of the original design sat safely in his pocket.

This
was his power play, his bargaining chip if things went bad.  Originally it was supposed to be a cut and dry job, but when men with guns began to show up, his demeanor had changed.  He began to think about what he had gotten himself into.  He went back to the computer, saved the schematic design, and sent it over a secure connection to the contact he had been given.  A “transmission successful” message appeared as he finished the upload of the file.

After finishing, he logged on to his bank account and watched the screen for a few minutes until finally he had what he wanted to see, a jump in his account balance by $50,000.  He smiled as he soaked in the numbers.

Outside the workers from the facility were boarding a rundown, yellow school bus.  They piled in and exchanged pleasantries, not fully aware of what they had been working on.  After the bus was full and the facility was empty, the bus fired up and drove off down the dusty road, leaving Dr. Patelo behind, alone.

A lone white car was all that was left in the front of the facility.  Back down in the lab, Dr. Patelo hurriedly readied the case
, the feeling of unease continuing to gnaw at him. His conscious began to weigh on him, but he had his security and felt it in his coat pocket.  What was this going to be used for, and what part had he played? 

A loud knock came from the door behind him
, and a man in all black was standing at the glass door, pointing at the case.  Dr. Patelo grabbed the silver case after closing it, walked through the airlock, and handed the case to the man.  Without speaking, the man took the case and rushed up the stairs and disappeared. 

After a few minutes,
Dr. Patelo got up and switched off all the lights, darkening the equipment inside, and walked up the stairs.  The place was deserted and ghostly, not a soul about.

“
I need a smoke,” he thought to himself, and made his way out of the building, continuing to switch off lights as he went.  He swung open the front door of the building and tried to adjust his eyes to the inky darkness.  It had been two straight days with little to no sleep.  Closing the door behind him, he reached in his other coat pocket and pulled out a hard pack of cigarettes.  He fumbled one out of the carton and lit it, puffing the smoke into his lungs, and checked his pocket again, feeling the circuit between his fingers while he peered into the night.

Suddenly, the cigarette dropped to the ground out of his mouth
, and a split second later a stifled bang let out, shattering the silence.  His body shuttered and slowly crumpled to the ground.  His arm fell limp on the earth out of his pocket, and he laid down, staring lifelessly toward the starry night sky.  Blood began to pool around the back of his head.

The night sky was then filled with an earth shattering blow
.  Subsequent flashes of fiery red threw fingers of extreme heat out from the building as it erupted in a cataclysmic explosion.  The explosion punched smoke into the sky, leaving behind only a mass of burning, twisted steel and aluminum.  The deafening roar awakened sleeping birds from their nesting spots in the surrounding forest, causing them to escape from the inferno and the spot where the white building once stood.