Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust (41 page)

“You see Jake; look for the simple. Look for the obvious. They stick out, for a reason. How soon can we find this, Mr. Stevens?”

“Consider it done.”

“Good, now next; let me think. Follow me on this one.”

Swanson triggered his Knofer, “Display fabric residue dated today, # 1035, and results labeled Morgue Cloth, # 909, last year.”

“What are you doing?”

“After all these years; I hate to even think of it, but Mathew found a piece of something, a fabric at the Fargo bombings. It disintegrated.”

The Knofer displayed two small piles of black soot

“Look at these, Jake”

The Knofer placed the holographic images next to one another, above the desk.

“Run comparative analysis: search for Carbon Tetron.

“So what?”

“Carbon Tetron is only found below 100 miles of the Earth’s surface. Look, they are almost identical.”

“So the fabric at Fargo was Carrier skin?”

“Yes Jake, look at that.”

Swanson pointed to the display.

“This is from the shootings at the morgue; and that is from the Fargo bombing.”

Swanson reached for the Carrier statue and shook it slightly. “What if there is a rogue Carrier? What if Brock has it? Even worse; what if that Carrier, voluntarily, went to Brock?”

“Why would a Carrier do that?”

Jake thought in silence for a moment; and then, he stood up; his face blushing.

“Brock was in one, remember? His clone was anyway. I smell something more rotten, than I care to believe, Mr. Secretary; and I don’t like it.”

Swanson looked puzzled.

“Really; what?”

“The Carrier that took Brock away, those months ago; we all thought Mr. Brock was gone-dead. What if, instead of the Carrier killing his clone, it had ‘a compatibility’ with him?

The real Brock has been trying to figure out ‘time travel’, and the Clone Brock already has the vehicle to travel in time.  What if Clone Brock and the Carrier team up, with O.P.A.S. and the real Brock?”

“Well my boy, that would explain quite a bit; now wouldn’t it.”

“Ah…I sound like a stupid old TV soap Opera.”

“Yes, you do. Is that what you don’t like, my boy?”

Jake got a sinking feeling, in his stomach, as he found his way back to the chair.

“What is it, son; speak up?”

Jake looked around, rolling his eyes.

“Well, Sir; I know you hired me, because you knew I was a good detective; but, right now, I am not so sure I want to be.”

“Tell me, damn it!”

“You said it has been over 200 years, since the last ‘compatibility’.”

“Yes, quite so…”

“The Carrier that talked to me this morning said the same thing.”

“What are you getting at?”

“If that’s true, what are the chances of two different people having ‘a compatibility’, at the same time? There has to be a connection. It is the obvious, simple answer.”

“To what, Jake?”

“That your Mr. Brock and I are connected.”

Swanson sighed and closed his eyes a second; as if he wasn’t surprised, somehow. Jake saw it in his face, and leapt to his feet.

“You know! You knew! You have known all along!”

“Now, wait just a minute, Jake.”

“No, it was right in front of me, all the time; and I couldn’t, I wouldn’t see it.”

Jakes face got beet red. He extended his arm and pointed his finger at Swanson.

“What the hell is our connection, Mr. Secretary? Why would Brock and I both be ‘compatible’ with Carriers? Tell me; or, so help me, you will never make it to the C.P.T. make over. You won’t make it out of this room.”

Swanson stood and raised his hands, trying to diffuse Jake’s emotional outburst, “Jake, calm yourself. Everything is fine. Sit down; listen to me.”

“I will calm down, if I like what you tell me.”

“Well, you are a good detective. I don’t know of anyone who has the powers of deduction like you do, except, of course me, our GGM.”

“Spit it out, Gordon. The whole truth or I swear…!”

“Jake, sit down; you look ridiculous. I have been following Brock for years. I traced his money and banking empire from country to country, continent to continent. I needed to keep an eye on every aspect of his empire, to assure his worldwide schemes did not interfere, or invade our Ever-Life interests on the surface. Marion Brock comes from a very long lineage of Brocks. They have bought and sold fire arms and ammunitions since the mid 1960’s.”

“So; what has that got to do with me and ‘compatibilities’?”

“Jake, you just did a search, for an employee, with your station security girl, Carver; and look what you came up with, in just three lousy minutes. Can you imagine what I came up with, searching Brock’s history?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Swanson hesitated and then took a deep breath.

“Jake, you and Marion Brock are related…While it is a distant relation; you are related. You carry several identifiable genetic characteristics.”

“Bullshit!”

“I am afraid it is true. There is no doubt.”

Jake ran his hands through his hair.

“So; did you know this, when we met for the first time at the arms convention?”

“Yes.”

“Christ! You played me. You have been playing me, ever since. Why? For what? Did you think I was in cahoots with Brock? Do you think I am a link to his empire? Why Gordon? Why?”

Swanson walked around his desk and stood in front of Jake eye to eye.

“I don’t assume, Jake; I deduce. I was GGM for God’s sake. I knew you were a good man; but, all of Ever-Life is based on genetics. Everyone here has a genetic record. We do not have records on everyone on the surface. The Carriers insisted that I check your history. They wouldn’t say why. I never believed you were part of Brock. Now, that the cap of GGM is passed to the next man, my thinking and deductive strengths are getting weaker. With you on the job, we are going to solve this. ”

“Candy Ass Bullshit! That doesn’t excuse or explain your deception.”

“I have not deceived you, or anyone. I did my job; and, I am doing it now. Stop reacting with emotions. Stick to using your brain.”

Swanson squeezed Burns shoulders; and then, he walked back around the desk, to his chair.

“Now let’s get back at it. There is something else, regarding this, that we must consider; and you may be the only one who can do something.”

“Jesus, do what; what next?”

“What if during Brock’s ‘compatibility’; what if it shared its thoughts with Brock?”

Jake blinked and cocked his head.

“Is that even possible?”

“That’s how we found out about many things down here, in the first place; eons ago. In the beginning, ‘compatibilities’ were two way. We humans are the ones, who eventually insisted on one way transmissions. Many of us died, from the intensity of the two-way exchanges. Eventually, treaties banned two –ways, and with good reason…”

“So; you think Brock and the Carrier are having mind melds.”

“It would fit, Jake.”

“What if? It’s all speculation.”

“I think Brock learned how the Carriers move through time; and he has shared enough information with Stevens to give Time Travel Inc. the boost it needs to succeed.”

“If Brock has a Carrier, he has to keep it out of sunlight. Where would he keep it? Carriers can’t be confined…Plus, our Ever-Life posts or surface contacts would have alerted us. The Carriers would have alerted us. And if there is one, on the surface, their hive signal strength has to be too weak, for it to function.”

“Fair points; unless Brock’s ‘compatibility sustenance’ feeds the Carrier, enough to superpower it. If Brock is strong enough, then the question becomes, could the Carrier convince others of its kind to rebel against the
hive, and follow him. Brock’s control could spread throughout Carriers’ sharing, and pervert the hive, turning them against the Ever-Life colonies. The combination of that, and Brock traveling in time, changing everything, would result in catastrophe. Any way you evaluate this scenario, it’s ‘bad’ for us; all of us…You have to contact your Carrier1111. You need to convince her to have a two-way exchange with you. You have to find out, if anything we have speculated is fact. Your Carrier will know something.”

“Agreed; but, when this is over, you and I are going to hash my heritage out.”

“And another thing, have her report on all the interruptions, regarding your author’s timeline. She took you before. She should have the best time travel recall; if you can get her to tell you. Tell her you want to go back to see him again. I don’t care. Be creative. Maybe she can sense Brock travelling. And don’t forget Stevens, in Seattle.”

“But, why don’t we just ask the Carriers right now?”

“This treaty/agreement prohibiting 2-ways has been in place for over 9000 years. I am not going to let one rogue Carrier, with an overzealous sex drive, bring Ever-Life to a halt. Let’s fight fire with fire, and get one on our side, eh. If you have the ‘sustenance’ Brock has, it may give us an advantage. We have no idea, how many other Carriers may go rogue. Considering our situation, how do you know when you meet her, if it’s even her? Without a two-way communication, how do you know anything, Jake?”

“Yes, I never thought of that. I’ll leave right away.”

“Jake, wait.”

Swanson unlocked, reached inside his desk drawer, and took out what looked like an old pocket watch.

“Here, put this in your pocket. Keep it with you at all times.”

Jake studied the watch.

“Thank you, I think; but it’s not working.”

“That’s because it’s not a watch. I’ve had that for decades. I would have given it to Mathew; but, he has other means at his disposal, now. Times have changed.”

“So, what is it?”

“It’s a bomb; and I never ever thought, I may have to use it. It was given to me by a friend in the Carrier Council. It will incapacitate them. You will know if you need it.”

Jake slipped it in his coat breast pocket.

“Jake, I know you’ve got a lot to think about. But hear me out. The center of Earth generates temperatures that rival our Sun. Obviously, we can’t go there. The inner core is the size of the moon. We don’t even know what it’s made of. We think the Carriers do. The outer surrounding core is 1500 miles thick, and mostly liquid. The Earth's rotation creates the movement of this liquid, and that movement generates the planet's magnetic field. That is where we believe the really big Carriers stay and derive most of their power. No one has been able to reach them, unless they invite us. If somehow Brock were to gain control of those Carriers, by offering ‘compatibilities’, through cloning himself, we’d be in a very bad position. He could rule more than the Carriers, or Ever-Life; he could rule time itself.”

“Yes; I see, but couldn’t we do the same?”

“We could, and it did cross our minds. But for us, first, there are ethics and morals that humans cling to,
regarding cloning or duplicating. Second, we haven’t had ‘a compatibility’ like you describe, for hundreds of years. Third, we stopped two-way exchanges, because we were dying, from the experience.”

  Jake scratched his head.

“Now come around here. This will only take a minute. I am calling up genetic records.”

The Knofer lit a display and created a thin vertical monitor, in front of the two men.

“Look, here is your DNA and there is Brocks; now we over lap them.”

“All I see is everything is the same.”

“Not quite.”

Swanson spoke into the Knofer, “Cross check with historic records of last two ‘compatibilities’…

...You see, my friend; I never thought of ‘compatibilities’ when I checked Mr. Brock or his family history. Until you brought it up, I am sure no one has. If you and he do have a gene match, we should see it here.”

“Overlap the red dashes please’

“What are the red dashes?”

“’Compatibility’ indicators…Look at that.”

The Knofer compared and listed the characteristics for Brock, Jake and one other person.

“Fascinating.”

“What?”

“Translate into numbers please…Christ, Brock’s numbers are two to three times anyone’s in Ever-Life, except…There is one here, who lived on the surface. Jake, I want you to get to O.P.A.S.; and stop whatever Mr. Stevens is doing. I am sure the combination of yours and Brock’s genetics, coupled with what Stevens is working on, is what triggered the Sidron event. I am sure Brock has figured out,
how to go back in time, with a Carrier; but, he doesn’t know about you. I’m afraid this is a time bomb. He has two, out of three, components to ruin Ever-Life. You have to get Stevens out of the picture. It may make the difference. Jake, you have always been my choice. Please, believe that. I will brief GGM; go now.”

Jake turned to leave; but, after a few steps, he stopped and turned around.