Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust (16 page)

“She was a small girl, who had been rushed here to Andrews, with an immune reaction to asthma. She expired two days ago.”

“My God,” Rachel gasped. “She looks like she is asleep. Her color; she looks so alive. I had no idea. Do all the departed look like this
, now?”

“Most, yes; unless it is a special circumstance.”

“You mean, like Jack?”

“Yes;
I am afraid so. I can show you something.”

Rachel looked at Angie and the book
, she was holding. Then, she nodded, determined to see.

“Yes please; I have to see.”

“Well, follow me.”

He walked into a dimly lit room that, somehow, radiated a pleasant warm feeling.

“I don’t ever remember being in here,” Rachel said.

“Well, I like to think that is
, because I redesigned it all. This way; over here”

The two women followe
d him to the far corner, about 35-feet away. There were four beautifully decorated 36-inches by 24-inches drawers on the wall.

“Pardon me, Mr. Bellos; but this looks more like a mausoleum
, than a morgue room.”

“It is neither, Mrs. Sheldon. Oh wait, I forgot.”

Richard brought two cushioned chairs, and placed them in front of one drawer.

“What is that?”

Rachel said pointing to the icon on one drawer.

“Very good, Mrs. Sheldon; you certainly can spot the unusual. It’s an old character
, from a language long ago. Literally translated today, it means ‘money comes from God’.”

“That is kind of odd, on a coffin door; don’t you think?” said Angie.

“Yes, but the point is, you see; it’s not the meaning that is important, it is the shape.”

Richard took out his Knofer and waived it across the symbol. The door opened
, and a larger than normal coffin slid out, in front of the three. The casket was pearl white, almost perfectly oval and mildly glowing.

“I don’t understand,” said Rachel. “What is this?”

“Please. Don’t be afraid. I’ve been waiting for you all evening. Now, we can begin.”

Richard smiled, turned and waived his Knofer over the same icon on the center of the casket top. The entire top half of the oval changed to a transparent glasslike window, and the girls shocked back at what they saw.

“My God, Jack; oh my God!”

Rachel began to weep.

“Please, my dear.”

Richard held out his hand to her.

“Look a little closer; come.”

Both Rachel and Angie stepped forward
; and the light inside the casket was perfect, enabling them to see every detail. There lay Jack Sheldon, wearing nothing but a faint smile.

“This can’t be,” Angie said. “That’s not him. He is on focus ward in 309, broken and b
loody. This man is perfect. He has no marks, no stitches.”

“Actually, he was not broken or bloody at all, my dear.”

“What are you saying?” Rachel snapped. Then she studied the body closer. “What are we looking at Dr. Bellos?”

“Oh, this is
Jack Sheldon all right, every cell. You can believe me. Please, will you two sit, just a moment? I have to tell you something.”

The chairs were comfortable
; but, the women sat rigid, staring at the coffin.

“Angie; Rachel;
there is much more going on that I want you to know, because, well; because we are family.”

The women looked at each other.

“What?”

“Angie, my dear…
”

Richard knelt
, in front of her, with his hands on the chair arms.

“
…I know what a night this has been for you; and it’s not over. But, I tell you the truth when I say; you are my grand-daughter.”

Angie looked wide-eyed
, as he smiled and extended his arms to her.

“But, I don’t understand.”

She put her hands to her mouth; and then, instinctively, leaned into Richard.

“I know my dear, but it is true.”

He started to cry too. Then, gathered himself together.

“Angie; both of you, listen; pay attention; first things first, and then your questions; Angie, your father is going to be here soon; and, as this day begins, it’s going to be a new life for you, him, me, Rachel and Jack.”

“My father; who is my father?” Angie gasped. “You mean Dr. B.; oh, my goodness!”

“It i
s quite a story, but for another time. We are in a horrible rush. I realize this isn’t easy, but I have to expedite here.”

“What about my husband,
Jack?”

“As I said, that is Jack all right. Angie, do you have the vial that Dr. Bellos told you to inject?”

The two women looked at each other, and Rachel slowly nodded to her.

“Yes, I have it here.”

Angie reached into her pocket, withdrew it and handed it to Dr. Richard.

“Thank you.”

He then waived his Knofer over the icon on the casket. Rachel stood up, as the top of the coffin slid around and underneath the bed. Richard took a syringe out of his pocket, and filled it with the liquid in the vial. He turned to Rachel and spoke softly, “You know my dear; it was your calculations over the early years that were the motivation, the stepping stone to Jack’s putting it all together. Without you, this would not be possible. Remember that.”

Richard leaned over Jack’s head, with his back to the two women, for just a few minutes.

“Now we wait,” he said.

Then Richard reached over and pushed a small button on the wall, to the left of the coffin. A 10-inch by10-inch door opened
, revealing a filled wineglass, which he took out.

Rachel stared at Jack’s body in disbelief. She thought she saw his right hand quiver. She gasped and looked at Angie.

“My God; his eye twitched; he is blinking.”

She caressed his face and leaned into him. The first thing he saw was her smile.

“Rach?”

He smiled too
; and they held hands.

“Hi.”

With tears of happiness flowing. Rachel kissed him.

“My God;
thank heaven; Jack, my darling.”

“Please, you two…”

Richard patted Rachel lightly.

“I hate to interrupt; but Jack, you have to drink this.” 

He handed Rachel the wine glass and nodded. She took it, lifted Jack’s head and fed him the drink.

“You two have very little time,” Richard whispered. “And you may want to pull that blanket over your husband…

…Now Angie, will you come with me, for just a minute? We need to talk. Then, all of us need to move out of here.”

“What is going on?” Jack asked, shaking. “Who are you?”

Rachel put her finger to his lips.

“You’ve done enough
, for one day, Honey. We are going to do whatever the Doctor says. Now, be quiet and drink.”

“Thank you.” s
aid Richard.

Just as he was about to begin, there was a bang; then two, three, coming from the outer rooms of the morgue. Richard ran to the door; but, by that time, it was too late. He had just enough time to turn and yell back at Angie, “
Get to the closet, Angie, hurry! Get in there, now!”

Richard felt the first bullet hit his leg. Angie screamed and instinctivel
y made it into the closet, the door slamming behind her. The gunshots were so loud that Jack jumped up and out of the casket, naked. It all happened so quickly. Rachel saw the next two bullets explode from Richard’s torso and into the walls. She screamed as Jack reached to help Richard. But, he too stepped into an array of gunfire. He turned to Rachel, just as the men entered the room. There were loud sparks everywhere.

“Rachel!” Jack yelled
, as he fell.

They had no mercy, pulling the triggers again, and again;
spitting bullets into Richard, Jack; and then, they turned to Rachel. One black hooded man yelled, “Fuck you, fuck him, fuck all you assholes.”

Rachel stood in terror. The last thing she heard were the shots of the automatic machine-guns, as she felt the bullets go t
hrough her chest. She fell down; her eyes in a glassy glaze; her mouth spitting blood, as she reached for Jack. Smoke and silence filled the morgue. Three bodies lay limp, with pools of red, spilling all over the floor. The gunmen looked; saw the vial under the casket and the manuscript that Angie dropped. One of them picked up the two; and then, they all left, out the Atrium window, onto ropes that took them up into the morning sky.

Barb Sawyer heard the commotion and ran into the room. Rachel, J
ack and Richard lay soaked in blood. She screamed and ran to the nurse’s station; but, before she could get to a phone, she literally ran into Dr. Mathew Bellos.

“Barb, what is all the noise?”

She was hysterical, shaking.

“My God!” She p
ointed. “There; in there; they are all dead!”

Bellos let her go and ran down the hall into the bloody scene. He stood, stunned at the horror.

“Dad; no! My God; Rachel?”

All three were riddled with bullets. Bellos ran to his father.

“BARB SAWYER!” he yelled. “BARB, COME HERE!”

In seconds, Sawyer appeared again with a crash
cart.

“Help me! Take his feet. We have to get him in the casket over there. Hurry!”

Within a minute, they managed to lift Richard up and into the coffin bed. Bellos took his Knofer, waved it over the casket lid; and the bed slid back into the wall. Dr. B. looked down at Rachel; and then, up at Barb. He spoke quickly and succinctly into his Knofer, “Team red to floor two, Andrews morgue, immediately! Set up Unit-4 for gunshot victims. Notify Dr. Lu; two for ‘tran-stosis’.”

Barb watched astonished and transfixed. Within seconds, Bellos’s emergency team arrived and moved with lightning speed. They put Rachel on a gurney and wheeled her out
, into a private elevator. Bellos, gently but firmly, took Barb by the shoulders, looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Barb; look at me. Go to the nurse’s station and call emergency and the police. Get them here, right away. Then call Frank Bloom in research lab-23. I need him here to autopsy Dr. Sheldon; and get me those results stat. Have you got that?”

“Yes,
Sir.”

“Ok; good; this was a pro job. We need to move quickly. Also, call Dave Marshall, Chief of Security. Have him come to my office, A.S.A.P…

…And Barb; I don’t need to tell you, do I? You didn’t see anything. You weren’t even in here. Only one person was shot… Period!”

Barb closed her eyes and nodded yes.

“Now go!”

Bellos turned around again
to survey the room, and he heard a faint noise, coming from the closet. He walked slowly to the door and listened to crying inside. As he swung the door open, Angie exploded out, into his arms.

“Dr. B…Dad!”

“Thank God; you are all right, child.”

For a mo
ment, nothing else existed. Bellos spoke with quiet surprise, “Angie, you know?”

“Yes; Dr. Richard told me. He said h
e was my grandfather. Oh my God; what happened?”

“A lot…Come with me. You will be safe.”

He turned her around and they walked back into the closet.

“But where are we going?”

Bellos tapped the wall and in strange words, he spoke, “Master secure GGM-TBN-010.”

The wall slid open and the two stepped into a lighted elevator.

“Angie, put your left hand palm on the panel and say after me, ‘Master’s daughter, Angie Bellos.’ Can you do that?”

“Yes.”

She repeated the phrase phonetically. The door closed, and the elevator moved upward. When the door opened, they were back on the tenth floor, in Bellos’s office foyer. They walked out and down the stairs into the oval room.

“Angie, are you okay enough to reach on top of that bookcase
, there, and get the shiny white book that has ‘J.A.S’ on it?”

“Sure.”

“Bring it to my office down the hall.”

Bellos walked quickly to his desk and used his Knofer to call Gordon Swanson, while Angie stood in the oval room, staring at the bookshelf. She began to feel as if the whole night was a dream. Her body was going into shock. She concentrated and thought,
This is not going to happen.

In a most determined way, she took a high-back chair and stepped up to reach the book, which she had read earlier. Holding it to her breasts, she followed after Bellos, into his computer room; but she stopped at the door, shocked at what she saw. Dr. B was talking to a two-foot tall hologram of a gray-haired man. The image seemed to grow out of a small rectangular object on the desk. For Angie, everything that night had a dream-like quality; but, now, a weak hazy feeling started to overwhelm her. She took a deep breath, focused and stood tall, concentrating on what Dr. B. was saying.