Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust (26 page)

“I agree,” Brock said
, yanking; trying to free himself. “Let me go!”

“Marion, I can’t believe you thought you could do this
; and walk away with everything.”

“I will; you idiots! You don’t have a clue!
”

“It’s over, Marion. I wonder why people like you think money is God. You really thought all you had to do was sit in
that luxury condominium; with bank accounts all over the world; think up silly schemes to make more money, and dictate to your gofers. You thought your silly plan was too complex, for us to figure out. Even now, you really think C.P.T. is yours; and you will live forever…My God, Marion.”

“You are the one
, who is mistaken; you pompous ass!”

“I’m afraid he’s not; not at all.”

For the first time, Brock heard the Carrier’s voice. And, with those words, the walls began to thin, and the cabin separated, splitting into two parts, like a bubble. The one section containing Jack and Mike continued on, back to the Complex, without any sense of change in speed or direction. The new section stopped, and everyone felt it. Part of the wall became a viewing monitor.

“You silly pointless man,” Swanson said. “My real
concern has been the children. You don’t have any, do you Marion?”

“This has gone far enough, you control freak!” Brock y
anked at his cuffs. “Release me; or you will never see the vials.”

“Your mistake was stealing them yourself.”

Swanson spoke like he was a prosecutor, giving closing remarks to a jury.

“You thought a kidnap within a kidnap would fool us all. Ahmed was in the van, and he is safe now, as is Angie. You see, Marion; somehow your people did get the right bath from Angie; an
d, poor Ahmed did as instructed. He put Angie at Mrs. Sheldon’s front door. Your henchman had everything in place with the theology’s three fathers. All you had to do was get the vials.”

At that moment, a video appea
red on the wall of Brock opening security station box 1120, after his meeting on focus ward with Barb Sawyer. Swanson walked over and touched the screen. The image became a frozen life-size hologram of Brock with his hand holding the vials. Everyone watched, as the image slowly rotated.

“That was your big mistake, Marion. It wasn’t enough to have billions and play with adults. You had to spite these children
, for your own profit.”

“Look,” Bellos said. “There; on the table;
next to the box; that note; enlarge that.”

The screen zoomed in on the note.

“I’m sorry, Mathew,” Swanson said.

The note clearly read:
“Dr. B.’s email says the vials are in box#1120. The combination is 2fy947t.”

“The error here was Angie not erasing your email, Mathew. We knew Brock was planning something. We have been monitoring him
, ever since he started the effort with Jack. After Angie left the ward in terror, her clone sitting here, walked up to the guard, and he let her right in. He has been dealt with. But Marion; you did not trust her to take the vials, because she is a clone. She just got the combination for you…Pride and arrogance…You had to do it yourself.”

“Clone?” said Bellos. He turned to Angie.

“Unfortunately, Mathew, she has a very fundamental mindset; the one Brock gave her to take his simple directions; and, that is all. I am so sorry. You see; Brock had no idea his van dropped the real Angie off at the Sheldon’s house, because; one, he was in focus ward; and two, he is here with us now.”  Swanson chuckled cynically.

“Ahmed took the clone hostage.”

Angie sat in a chair, whimpering, while Brock wailed, “I’ll destroy the vials.
Let me go! You Bastards
!”

Swanson smiled, took his Knofer out and said, “GGM-001 authorization: I release this man to Carrier 2211. This is the operative, who authoriz
ed the shooting of Carrier 2210, in the morgue.”

Swanson put his Knofer away and spoke kindly to Brock, “You, Marion, have always had the vials
, safely in your pocket; and, you thought you would be able to negotiate, even now, at the last of it.”

The wall hologram disappeared and
a green glow appeared around Marion Brock. He could not move.

“Brian, please r
each into Mr. Brock’s right coat pocket.”

Brian walked over, reached in,
pulled out two blue vials and gave them to Swanson. At the same time, Bellos withdrew the single vial, which he retrieved from the Carrier, when it spoke, during the first part of the trip.

“Sir, I completely forgot about this one.”

Then, the Carrier’s voice spoke again for all to hear.

“You have done well;
and we thank you GGM-001. That vial is our gift to you…So many years together; this is the first time we clash. Take the vials; and go. I take these two with me.”

The cabin went silent;
and the room began to split once again. Bellos, Swanson and Brian watched Brock, in excruciating pain, through the transparent membrane. Brock became completely rigid. As the green glow intensified, his face and eyes swelled. He began to scream wildly. Clone Angie fell unconscious in the chair. Then, the membrane wall solidified, and the section containing Brock and Angie detached. They were gone. Bellos covered his tearful face and cried.

“I am sorry, Mathew.”

Swanson gently squeezed his shoulder.

“Gather yourself
, now. This is hard; I know; but, it is your job. We have a lot to do; and, you have a daughter waiting at Ever-Life.”

Chapter 29

InVoy’s Of
fice

Pappas Kristos Alieri had been sitting in the reception area, outside Rash InVoy’s Jerusalem office, for over an hour, waiting for word on the trade.

“May I get you anything, Father?” the secretary asked, “a
coffee, bread of some kind?”

“Yes, thank you; perhaps a Turkish coffee
, if you have that here.”

“I’ll see
what I can do.”

…Meanwhile; inside InVoy’s office…

“What do you mean; they are all down? The trade isn’t scheduled for another forty-five minutes. What the hell are you saying…? That is bullshit! You know what; you’re fired!”

Kristos could hear the yelling.

“Archur, Archur; get your ass in here.”

Before Archer could appear, three GGM swat-guards swung into the second floor open window
, in front of InVoy. They pointed their weapons; and the commander took off his dark hood, revealing an eye patch.

“Hello, Mr. InVoy,” he said quietly
, but quickly. “Please; do not move! Now, step away from the computer.”

InVoy
reached for the keyboard; so, they shot him; two airbursts, barely audible. InVoy fell backward behind the desk. Archur came in a private entrance, across the room.

“Shut the door Mr. Archur. S
it down; right there! I’m going to make this easy for you or easy for us. You can contact the banks; correct?”

“I have no account privileges.”

“Too bad…Good bye…”

All
three pointed weapons at Archur.

“No;
wait.”

“Mr. Archur; what I’m looking for here is coo
peration, not money. You decide; but do it, now.”

“Fine;
cooperation.”

“Smart thinking…”

The commander smiled; and they lowered their weapons.

“I need you to do three things.
First, log out of the computer. Next, in one half hour; I want you to call Father Kristos, and tell him that the trade failed. It went sour, and Brock is gone.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes
, you can; and it’s true. InVoy will anyway, when he wakes up; but, if you don’t do it, he’ll wonder why, since he won’t be conscious, for an hour or so. Now listen, the final thing is the most important. If you don’t do exactly as I say, we will be back for you. If you do this, you will never see or hear from us again, understand?”

“What is it?”

“Give this, to Father Kristos. Don’t let anyone see it.”

The commander handed Archer a sealed envelope.

Archur took it; and raised his eyebrows.

“Yes
; okay; all right; I will.”

The commander went to t
he computer and typed something on the keyboard. The computer screen blinked; and then, it went blank; and he stood up.

“We’re done here.”

He looked Archur, in the eye, for just a second; and then, the three leaped, onto ropes, out the window and disappeared up.

As Archur walked out of the office, the secretary walked back in
, from the hallway.

“Father, here is your coffee.”

“Thank you, my dear.”

“Mr. Kristos,” Archur said, “m
ay I see you, just a minute, please.”

Archur gestured to follow him
, out into the hallway.

“I have this for you.”

Archur handed the envelope to Kristos.

“I’m afraid Mr. InVoy is tied up with everything
, at the moment; you understand. He asked if you might be patient, just a bit longer and wait at your Parish. He will contact you. It shouldn’t be long.”

Kristos rolled his eyes
, looking disgusted. He turned around to walk back down the stairs; and, as he did so, he opened and read the note:

“My dearest friend, things are not what they seem for you, at this moment. Please trust me. Join me for supper
, tomorrow at three. I request this because my health is failing; and, I would like to give you something before my passing.”    

It was signed simply
“S”.

Chapter 30

The Mole

Even considering the time difference
, between Arden and Jerusalem, the Carrier holding Jack Sheldon and Mr. Mike arrived at the Andrews underground platform at 1:05 p.m., U.S.A. Mountain Time. Jake Burns was still in the throes of investigating on floor three.

“I appreciate that, Sergeant; but that doesn’t tell us what happened to the girl. If they traced it to Sheldon’s house, have the team keep doing the tire treads
; and follow the van. That’s it! I have too much to do here, right now.”

Burns slapped his cell phone shut, and turned to Dave Marshall.

“I’m sorry about that, Chief…Long conversation. I just can’t figure out why they’d want a young nurse, from this place. You know her, right?”

“Where, in heaven,
did you get that old phone?”

“I co
llect them. It’s a hobby.”

“Angela Esposito; yes,
I know her quite well, actually. She is a great nurse. We all like her.”

“Hmm, well we should get to it; enough time wasted
, eh. You are taking me to meet Mr. Swanson and Dr. Bellos, right.”

“This way
; Detective, follow me.”

Marshall led Jake Burns down the stairs
, to the main floor of the hospital, through the back hallway, to a narrow, private elevator.

“Interesting, Chief; this looks just like the door in Dr. Bellos
’s office.”

“Just like it; except this one works…”

Marshall pushed the hall button; and the door slid open.

“
After you, Detective…”

Ma
rshall followed him in and spoke aloud, “Security Chief-060…Red-6; stat.”

“Some kind of code, eh?” Burns asked.

“Yeah, hospital code.”

When the doors opened, Marshall walked out
first; and, Jake stayed inside, apprehensively looking at the rough rock walls.

“Looks like a cave, Chief…Sparkly; are we still in the hospital?”

There were shiny, ornately decorated glowing characters etched into the rock wall; designs of all kinds that were completely unfamiliar to him. He stepped out onto the platform, looked at Marshall and called upstairs; but, there was no reception.

“Okay Chief;
we are going back upstairs; come on; get in.”

Marshall stood grinning, while Burns pushed
buttons on the bezel.

“What’s going on
, Chief?”

“Nothing is going on. If you’d care to follow me;
you have nothing to be afraid of here.”

Burns looked out and around again.

“Afraid? I’m not afraid. Lead on; let’s go; I’ll follow.”

Marshall looked at him, snickered
and began walking, slowly, past several doors including Unit 17. Then, they both walked into a wider tunnel and stepped onto a moving tram that carried them downward and to the left. Burns watched as crowds of people passed them, going in every direction living their lives, no differently than on the surface.