The Victor Project (3 page)

     On each of the towers were mounted five air quality testers.  The virus-alert training films shown where Rick used to work explained that when an Air-Tester sensed traces of bacteria in quantities that were out of specific ranges, sirens would sound.  The corresponding virus alert drills trained him to grab a filter mask and remain calm.  Yea, he thought, remain calm and pray that you were alerted within time to save your lungs from foaming or your orifices from discharging bodily fluids.  Unlike the weather warning horns, the virus alert sirens were given the utmost respect.  He may have once or twice ignored the weather warning, but Rick always grabbed the filter mask, drill or no drill.

     The vehicle systematically slowed then paused at the main gates for the scanning machines.  In the distance, somewhere in the middle of the zone, Rick could see the construction of a new building peering above the skyline.  Already it must have been pushing forty stories.  He recalled on his last visit that there was talk of a new satellite communications company planning a new high-rise, but he had figured it for a rumor.  The construction crew had wasted no time in getting the building underway. 

     The XK3 made a right turn into the garage of the office building dedicated entirely for the staff of the Controlled Virus Diffusion Program otherwise known as the CVD.  As the vehicle made its way farther into the garage, Rick could see Frank in his regulation black uniform, standing near the mark where the vehicle was programmed to stop.

     Frank Belker was one of the section heads for the CVD.  From what Rick had learned, the CVD employed one Frank for each zone and each Frank worked with approximately fifty program Travelers like him.  Traveler was a nickname for the flunkies that made the routine trips between the zones.  As if a tradition, Frank held out his hand for a firm shake.

     “How was  your trip?” he asked.

     “Same old, same old,” Rick responded.

     “You pass all the tests?” he asked.

     “Like always,” Rick answered. 

     Frank already knew that Rick had passed the blood tests and Rick knew that he knew.  Otherwise he would be in some underground quarantine fifty miles from nowhere.  It was all a game.

     “How’s your family?” he asked.

     “They’re all doing well, thanks,” replied Rick.  “I see you’ve got a new structure going up.  Is that the new satellite communications company I was hearing about?”

     “You do a good job mingling with the Fivers, Rick” he replied.  “That company is going to bring a lot of jobs to this zone.  We bid heavily for it to be head-quartered here.  Your Zone 3 pricks couldn’t negotiate a donut shop.”

     “Speaking of which
, why don’t you put one of those along that route between the two?” joked Rick.

     “How about a shopping mall too?” joked Frank.

     “Sure,” replied Rick, trying to be serious.

     “Anything new in your zone?” Frank asked.

     “Nothing that I can think of,” replied Rick.

     “Well, here’s your list.  You know the drill.  We’re trying to make the tasks a little more interesting, based on the survey the Travelers completed.  I think you’ll see a difference,” said Frank as he turned back toward the doors.

     Frank was right.  It had all become just a drill, a mundane tedious drill.  Each time he stepped out of the vehicle, there stood Frank.  They would converse for a couple of minutes, Frank would hand him a shopping list and off he went.  Completing the list was like a contest, only they told you pretty much how to go about winning. 

     The list contained detailed tasks like; take a cab to 1334
West Franklin, purchase one sandwich, one drink and one other item of your choice, sit at one of the tables and eat.  There were always three or four places on every list where he had to use a public bathroom and not wash his hands.  Another task would be to go into a store and touch ten specific items.  One of his favorites was buying something from the store and leaving the item in public for someone to take home.  Buy newspapers, read them and leave them, attend movies, touch things, cough in a crowded elevator, spit on the sidewalk.  It was all part of the program that Rick called “Spread the Germ”.

     In the old days he had been given lists that were shorter and took a lot less time.  In the beginning, the entire exercise consumed a measly two hours.  Months later it grew to three hours, then half a day.  Gradually, as confidence grew, he would spend the entire day with his shopping list.  Now the time limit had grown to three days, which was enough.  There was only so many elevators to cough in and so many public bathrooms to use. 

     Rick was pretty sure that on any given day, there were a few other flunkies like him playing “Spread the Germ” in Zone 5.  Unfortunately, no Traveler had ever been allowed to know the identity of another.  One possible reason for the ambiguity was because the CVD believed the Travelers would schedule to meet and spend the day goofing off. 

     Whether Rick was healthy or not, the department requested that he travel.  In fact, when he had contracted a cold or flu, Frank gave him a special list that contained tasks rivaling a politician visiting a town to gain votes.  The opportunity to spread a cold or flu around a zone was like hitting the jackpot for the CVD.

     As Rick looked over the new list, he realized that Frank wasn’t joking about keeping the employees happy.  The seventeenth item on the list was to take a cab to a restaurant and meet a woman by the name of Val, just Val no last name, nothing else.  Who did she work for?  She couldn’t be another Traveler because policy forbade knowing each other’s identities.  A clearance code of “PP” was stated on the list following her name.  Sleeping with this woman as part of his requirements would make the job a lot more interesting.  Rick joked to himself as he stepped out of the garage and onto the sidewalk.

     By 11:30a.m., Rick had made it to item number eight on the list, Purchase and Eat Lunch, which was his favorite.  The department kept the flow of the list simple and specified lunch at a small diner only three blocks from where item four had been executed.  Item seven just so happened to be the tried and true task of visiting a bookstore and thumbing through no less than fifty books.

     The diner was packed, just the way the CVD would have liked it.  He had been instructed to visit this diner on a previous occasion and remembered that their turkey and ham sandwich was quite delectable.  His palate for some reason, desired something more in the order of pastrami.  A man sitting at the table near the far wall had just completed a coughing session that sounded nothing less than a sludge-pump sucking up a glob of mud.  It appeared as though the common cold was nurturing quite nicely in Zone 5.  If he could take one guy like that back on every return trip to Zone 3, his missions would be much more fulfilling, although the trip in the XK3 would be miserable.

     It was days like these when he questioned the Traveler program.  Cold and Flu viruses were visible in both zones and he was sure that they were rampant in other zones as well.  Although he understood the purpose of spreading the common germs amongst people and that the CDC didn’t want germs to exclusively mutate within the respective zones, some days this just didn’t seem to be the answer.  

     Rick gazed out the window and onto the sidewalk while waiting for his sandwich.  It was a normal day in Zone 5.  Everyone was executing their lunch routine of conversing about the weather, sports, work, children, etc.  Rick had a newspaper to read, which item three on the list told him to purchase.  He was instructed to read as much as he wanted, but he must leave it on the table at the diner as a germ catalyst, although now he couldn’t help focusing on the list that lay on the top of the newspaper and on item seventeen.

CHAPTER 2

     Over the past twenty minutes, the cabby had been debriefing Rick on pitfalls of democracy while quite recklessly maneuvering across the city.  Since the year 2109, the
U.S. government had mandated speed and turban-torque restrictions on all licensed vehicles for overall road safety.  Rick hadn’t seen a vehicle reach over fifty miles an hour since he was a kid.  At this moment, the speedometer on the cab that was transporting was reading fifty-five miles per hour.  He had heard rumors about rogue mechanics that would alter your vehicle to gain a few more horses.  Hack number 343322 must have visited one of these guys or had become one himself.  Unfortunately for Rick, he still had another fifteen minutes left on the thrill ride.

     All day he had played the germ game in a close proximity, but for some reason the last two items on the list, being the visit to the restaurant and subsequent hotel, had been pushed to the other side of the city.  Maybe the woman didn’t want to experience the same cross-city thrill ride he was receiving.  At least he was getting to see another part of Zone 5.  As the ride progressed it became apparent that the culture in the north of the zone was a little more upscale than what he had experienced anywhere else.  The reason that he had never seen this part of the zone, was that he couldn’t afford to.  As he passed a beautiful mansion, the thought struck him that Frank probably lived near by, along with his boss, and his boss.

     The facade of the restaurant matched most of the decor of the homes he had seen over the last ten minutes.  CVD protocol had always required a fairly nice dress code for the Travelers, at least upon entering any zone.  It had never been the most comfortable, but on this occasion it would pay off.  After the cabby slid the department’s Day-1cashcard through his reader, it displayed a generous amount left over for dinner.  Obviously, he was to pick up Val’s portion of the tab.

     Rick entered the door of the restaurant and walked toward the seating hostess.  She towered at an easy six-foot four and could have doubled as the bouncer for the joint.  Glancing at the task list, he checked the more specific instructions.

     “I have a table for two for Freedman,” Rick said to her.

     “Right this way,” she replied after checking her book.

     Either they had a top notch chef in the back or the meals were free, because it wasn’t the ambiance that had the place full to capacity.  Even the romantic darkness of the room couldn’t hide the all too frequent stains in the carpet and nicks in the woodwork.  It was a far cry from the image the exterior of the restaurant had presented.  The management had lost their three-star rating long ago, although the attire the hired help was wearing looked quite neat and upscale.  It must be the food, he told himself again. 

     Rick spotted a woman sitting at a table near the window as he followed the hostess.  The way that she had glanced at the doorway a moment earlier gave him the impression that she was waiting on someone.  The wait had obviously been more than a few minutes, because she had shredded the drink napkin out of some sort of boredom or frustration.  Rick was pretty sure he was on time.

     The woman was of a thin build with short dark hair.  Her blouse was short sleeved and her exposed right arm revealed great muscle tone.  As Rick drew closer he could see her soft face and deep brown eyes.   She smiled as the hostess brought him directly to her.

     “You must be Val,” said Rick.

     “And you must be Rick,” she replied.

     “The department said that they would make the lists more interesting, but I have to commend them on this item,” he said.

     “So I am just an item on a list,” she joked.

     “Well, just for now,” Rick replied.  “My list says that you are PP rated.”

     “Yes,” she replied.

     “If I’m correct that means we can talk about what I do,” he continued.

     “That is correct,” she replied.

     “Good, otherwise I wouldn’t know were to begin the conversation,” said Rick.

     “I take it you are not a Traveler” said Rick.

     “No, but I work for the department,” she replied.

     “In what capacity?” asked Rick.

     “I assist in the planning of your visits, stuff like that,” she replied.

     “And now you are helping me complete it?” he asked.

     “Sort of,’ she replied.

     “So Val, do you have a last name?” Rick asked.

     “Yes,” she shortly replied.

     “OK, I get the point,” said Rick.

     Val was more than just some planner for the department, she had a hard edge to her.  She seemed to surveying the room every sixty seconds as if her eyes were scanners, recording any changes in the environment. 

      “So how do you stay in such great shape?” asked Rick as he pointed toward her bicep.

     “Mostly kick-boxing along with a little running,” she replied.

     “Kick-boxing?” said Rick.  “Remind me not to get too fresh tonight.”

     “I’ll remind you,” she replied with a smile.

     At that moment her eyes froze on a man that had just entered the door of the restaurant.  As he stood talking to the hostess, her eyes scanned his body from head to toe as if she had X-ray vision.  Next she quickly checked the booths and tables for someone, as if she knew he had a matching pair.

     “You know that guy,” asked Rick even though he was sure he would not get the truth.

     “I thought I did, but I guess not,” she replied.

     “So tell me the truth.  Why am I having dinner with you?” he asked.

     “Because they pay me,” she replied.  “Look, I do know that they wanted to make the Traveler’s visits a little more interesting.  I guess having dinner with the opposite sex seemed sufficient.”

     “No offense, but simply pairing me up with a travel companion would have been sufficient,” said Rick.

     “I’ll take it into consideration,” she said.  “So if I may be direct, what do you think of all this?”

     “You mean this task on the list?” he asked.

     “No, I mean being a Traveler, spreading the good germ,” she replied.

     “I guess it’s OK.  I wouldn’t want to do it for the rest of my life, but it pays good,” said Rick.

     “You ever wonder if it really does any good?” she asked.

     “Yea, sure I wonder sometimes.  But I’m not a scientist so I have to assume that they know what they’re doing,” he replied.

     “But think about it.  They send someone from one zone to the next just to spread everyday germs, germs that are probably floating around in the air,” she stated.

     “You’re right.  Sometimes when I think about it, it seems preposterous, but then I think they are experimenting with me in other ways,” he replied.

     “Like what?” she asked.

     “Well, for one thing I think they are testing how germs spread from place to place through everyday human existence,” he said.

     “So you think that they keep tabs on your visits and cross-check them against cold and flu cases?” she asked.

     “Yea, I’m sure they do something like that,” he replied.

     This man named Rick who now sat across from her had proved to be nothing like the character she had envisioned meeting.  Working for the government herself, she had known too many other government male employees whom were strait-laced by-the-book pawns.  So far Rick Mallory had shown he was from a different mold.  Maybe all the travelers were like Rick, maybe they had to be.

     “Have you ever had the shrimp here?” she asked.

     “Excuse me?” he asked.

     “The shrimp, have you ever ordered it?” pointing toward the item on the menu.

     “I never knew this place existed until now,” he replied.

     “I think that is what I’m going to order,” she said.

     “Would you know if they did?” he asked.

     “If they did what?” she replied.

     “Test people after I come in contact with them,” said Rick.

     “I have never heard of it, but then again I work with only a small part of the process,” she said.

     “So how long you been with the CVD?” Rick asked.

     “Wow, I guess it’s been four years,” she replied.  “What about you?”

     “Six,” he replied.

     “Could you do six more?” she asked.

     “I guess.  I just always thought I would come across something else.  Who knows, the CVD might just can the whole Traveler program one day,” he replied.

     “I hope not, I’m not a very good secretary,” she joked.

     The rest of the dinner conversation revolved around the general context of day-to-day experiences covering everything from entertainment, to clothes, to politics.  Throughout dinner Val displayed somewhat of a higher intelligence than someone who would otherwise be a secretary.  She also suffered from a mild case of cynicism that could have easily been attributed to working for the department.  If nothing else, her attractive face along with the dark robotic eyes made her alluring on some exotic level.  The only glitch in the evening was that the wait for a cab outside the restaurant was somewhat longer than usual.

     “Here’s one,” she said as she waved him down.

     As the vehicle pulled to a stop, Rick prepared himself for a pleasant farewell, but as she opened the door of the cab, out came a surprisingly pleasant phrase.

     “Get in.  You said you were staying at the Glandville, right?

     “Yea,” replied Rick and shaking his head up and down.

     “That’s in the same direction and there’s no use you waiting another twenty minutes for the next cab,” she said.

     Rick accepted the offer as if there might be some hope for an extension of their evening.

     “1121
Fairview,” she said to the cab driver.  “I think your hotel is a few blocks further.”

     “Do you know where the Glandville is?” Rick said to the cab driver.

     “Of course,” he barked back.

     “Have you ever stayed at the Glandville?” Rick asked Val.

     “Sure, it’s a gorgeous hotel,” she replied.  “The department must like you.”

     “They always seem to treat me right,” he stated.  “My trip to Zone 5 was in the XK3.”

     “Just hope your luck never changes,” she remarked.

     “I don’t know if being a Traveler has an enigma of luck surrounding it,” he replied.

     “It could be worse, you could be one of us shmucks that never gets to leave a zone,” she said.

     “Yea, but glamorous as it may seem, my job has its moments,” he said.

     “Write a report,” she joked.

     “So you never asked me what it was like outside the zone,” he stated as the cab came to a stop.

     “Do I want to know?” she asked as she opened the door.

     “Yes, it’s beautiful,” he replied.

     “Then why don’t you come up and give me the details,” she said.

     “My pleasure,” said Rick as he handed the card to the cabby and hopped out of the door.

     As Rick retrieved the card from the cabby’s hand, he turned around to see Val surveying the territory again.  Whether she was on the lookout for someone or it was just a nervous old habit, it was beginning to scare him.

     “You have a nice building,” said Rick.

     “I could do worse,” she said.

     There was a guard seated just inside the entrance and Val gave him a little wave along with a sweet smile, a smile that Rick guessed she didn’t show very much.

     “The tenants on either side of me are old folks and every time I make a sound louder than a cough, they call the landlord,” she said.

     “How many sounds do you make that are louder than a cough?” flirted Rick.

     “Oh I can make lots of loud noises.”

     The elevator stopped on the twenty-first floor.  The door to Val’s apartment was the second one down on the left.  The mechanical squeaking from the elevator alone would have kept him up all night.  As Val placed the key into the door, Rick noticed that she made a subtle attempt to turn the knob before unlocking it with the key.  Maybe she had a roommate, he thought.  It was that or she was back to that bit of paranoia that she had been exhibiting throughout the night.

     “This is it,” she said as she stepped into the room and waved her hand around.

     “Not bad,” said Rick.  “I like the couch.”

     “That’s my favorite too,” she stated.

     “Just you?” asked Rick.

     “Just me,” she replied.  “OK, so tell me what it’s like out there.”

     “It’s exactly like what you see in the zone parks only on a larger scale,” he began.  “Have you have ever seen that nature show on the T-net, called Rhythmic Nature?”