Sparks of Chaos (23 page)

He had created an electronic avatar of his old persona Wayne Stubbard to deliver the speech. It would hardly make sense to deliver it as Rex King. The representation looked quite life like on video and would certainly suffice for this purpose. Seeing his avatar with the wine stain on his face brought up terrible memories but he was determined to get through this. Wayne Stubbard’s growing business empire had made him one of the wealthiest men in the world but considered to be a bit of an eccentric hermit who was rarely seen in person. Now, he would never be seen except in this video form since he no longer really existed. His father and brother were concerned that they had not seen him in person for over two years, since he moved permanently to Surga and became Rex King. The time differential on Surga meant he had lived more years on the island than he had in the ‘real world.’ Even his family were afraid to upset him by pushing him too hard to see him.   

Rex read out the script that had been carefully prepared by some of the highest paid public relations experts in the world. They had sent detailed instructions on how to sit, where to look, how to appear and his delivery. He was to turn to his right to best hide the wine red stain on the left side of his neck and face. Even correcting several practice versions he had sent them. It had been an annoying process that he would not have agreed to if it had not been so important. They expected intense interest in his announcement from all over the globe. The fact that only five hundred students would be selected from expected applications in the millions, would drive the media interest even higher. Birgit had teased him that being selected was similar to finding the golden ticket in the Willy Wonka bar from one of her favorite movies.

The program translated his movements and voice to look like his previous self. This final take should be sufficient and he didn’t want to spend any more time on it. The physical work on Prettybone Island had been completed quite quickly, which wasn’t surprising given all the resources that he could bring to the project. It turned out even better than they hoped. The natives would hardly recognize the island that they had only recently vacated; it was now a true tropical paradise with all the luxury that a technological society could provide.

The plan was for him to make the announcement via this pre-recorded video at a press conference hosted by his brother. Edward would provide more of the details and answer questions from reporters. A video tour of Prettybone Island and all its facilities would be shown to the world. A number of prominent media and print journalists, government officials including the Prime Minister of Australia and assorted celebrities would be taken to tour it in person the following day.

Spending several hundred million dollars and building luxury accommodations would garner praise and condemnation and most certainly attention. It would have raised a lot more attention and concern eventually if he tried to do it quietly. He was pleased and relieved to finally put all the planning into action and see their preparations begin to become reality. They were on the cusp of a great change as a big influx of recruits would be moving to Surga and everything would change forever.

First they needed to complete their controversial plan to identify the right candidates. Birgit never again mentioned their conversation regarding the side effect deaths. Rex felt she was somewhat embarrassed about her complicity in the decision. Never the less, the release of the particles had already begun. It should not take more than a few weeks before virtually the entire world’s population had absorbed enough to be read.

The first of those were already showing up with great results. They were confident of finding the optimum group to populate Surga. They had even put into place a plan to go actively encourage those identified as high potential to apply or to convince them to attend. He knew that the whole Grand Design Plan was a winner when he first conceived it. Rex conveniently skipped over the fact that it wasn’t his idea.

He still had a few nagging problems to deal with first. The fallout from the German fiasco had been continuing. The Heidelberg police had not let up in their efforts to get their hands on Michael Wagner. His brother had said they were applying the proper pressure to ensure that the inquiry would eventually be stopped. He had made it clear to him that under no circumstances was this to ever be tied back to them. He was to do whatever was necessary to solve it. Having his own brother fear him was not something he was particularly proud of but it sometimes came in handy. Edward knew he was completely dependent on his continued support as he owed his fortune and position to his brother.

He called Armstrong to come to him and discuss this and his other problem of what to do about Chase. It had been several weeks since his arrival and he still did not seem to be adjusting and fitting in. In the few times that he had seen him, he seemed sullen and disrespectful, two of his least favorite attributes. He needed him to step up and do the work that he had assigned him. So far he was doing it listlessly and not very well. Realistically he was stuck with him and would have to make the best of the situation but he was determined to whip him into shape.

Armstrong entered and waited to be called before he approached. Since their talk, he seemed more reserved and formal with him, so hopefully the message had gotten through. “You asked to see me?”

“Yes I wish to discuss the situation in Germany; I believe you told me that you would take care of the problem.”

“I did say that and I shall deal with it as promised.”

“Then why am I continuing to hear about this and having to get involved?”

“I was also told to clear everything with you before taking any actions, since these directions are sometimes contradictory, which would you like it to be.”

Displeased with having his words used against him but also needing the problem dealt with, Rex told him “Problems always come first don’t they?”

“Certainly, I think we understand our working relationship quite well then in that case.”

Dejectedly Rex said “I guess so, we can’t afford to have any problems right now while we are preparing to launch SAGE. When will it be dealt with?”

“It is already in the works and things should go a bit smoother now and many of these problems will be handled without your personal involvement.”

“I suppose so,” Rex responded somewhat dejectedly.

Having made his point, Armstrong mentally prepared to commence the plan he had already prepared. He had already decided to implement it with or without Rex’s approval, so this was a lucky turn of events. “If that is all sir, I will get back to work.”

“No, don’t be quite so impatient, we also have the matter of Chase to discuss. He has been less than successful in sticking to the schedule you gave him for the housing. I am worried it will cause a problem in having things ready for our new recruits if he doesn’t meet the planned milestones. Chase has been moody, unfocused and doing nothing but playing videogames.”

“You mean that he has been acting like a normal teenager? He is not an adult and you cannot expect him to act like one.”

“We have deadlines to meet and there are only a few of us here, he needs to grow up and meet his commitments. Birgit is his age and she doesn’t act that way.”

“I dare say that isn’t exactly a great comparison given the circumstances here.”

“Is he not bonding well with Tedford? You assured me that it was a good pairing and he would keep him under control.”

“It has not been perfect yet but we need to give it some more time, Chase is not adjusting as well as we had hoped. He still blames you for taking Birgit from him.”

“Nonsense, he just needs more structure and discipline, children need that structure.”

Shaking his head, Armstrong said carefully, “I am not sure that is necessarily the proper approach that we should take with him right now. Why don’t we…”

“I am tired of coddling him and his disrespectable behavior. Call him I wish to speak with him now,” Rex said with determination.

Knowing when to pick his fights, Armstrong held his tongue and said, “Of course, I will have him here in a moment.” He would have tried to talk him out of this misguided approach but didn’t think that Rex would be very receptive at this stage. He would just have to try and limit any damage and mitigate the fallout later.

If it was possible, Chase looked both irritated and guilty at the same time. Like a child called to the principal’s office, he might not know why but he knew innately that it wasn’t going to be good. With a bit of a sneer he said, “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, I have not been very happy with you,” Rex told him.

“Sure, like that is some big news bombshell. I am sorry Doctor Perfect if I am not living up to your wonderful standards. Maybe you can teach me to be as great as you are.”

Chase’s childish behavior made him more exasperated than angry, so Rex did his best to control the rage he felt at that moment. It was readily apparent that Armstrong was correct; this was not adult behavior he was dealing with. “We all have responsibilities here and I must insist that you meet yours. There are people who are relying on you to do the tasks that you have been assigned. There are very important plans and you will put them in jeopardy by your immaturity.”

“Maybe I would be doing better if you bothered to tell me what these plans are. I am not one of your blue robots you can just program to do something.”

“It is not your place to be telling me what I need to do, just do what you are asked to do.”

“Stop treating me like a child.”

“Maybe you should stop acting like one. I had hoped you would have appreciated the opportunity to have something important and substantial to do.”

Recognizing that now was a good time to interrupt before this conversation got any more out of control, Armstrong said, “If I may, I have a suggestion. Chase, I will have Tedford give you a complete rundown on the new strategic plan that we are implementing and the important role you are playing in it. In return can we count on you to focus on your assignments?”

“Yes, I guess so,” he said reluctantly.

Waiting until he left, Rex told him, “I want you to keep an eye on that boy and make sure he toes the line.”

Chapter 39

The time had come. The notification he had both awaited and dreaded had now arrived. Armstrong had rehearsed with him exactly what actions he was to take if it became necessary to do so. Apparently the situation had deteriorated enough that this extreme action would have to be implemented. They had both truly hoped that it wouldn’t come to this. They knew that if they took this action there was no going back. No more thinking, he had made his decision before that he would do it and there would be no second thoughts now.

Cheswick immediately went to the closet in his immaculately decorated personal room.  He opened a small hidden compartment and removed a sealed parcel which he placed in the inside pocket of his suit coat. There really was no reason to have hidden the package. It was strictly forbidden for BLI and humans alike to enter any other’s personal space without their permission but why take unnecessary chances. He didn’t even bother to glance at his pastel hued room with overlarge comfortable seating. He had a job to do and was single minded in accomplishing it.

Cheswick moved directly to the entrance of ‘The Snake’ subway system, he entered and punched the code that Armstrong had given him for the secret room in the southwestern corner of the island. He exited the round car and entered straight into a large open room with a sliding door high up toward the ceiling and which dominated the space. This room was unknown to anyone; Rex certainly had no knowledge of it. In and of itself that was nothing to be concerned about, the island was massive and no one, not even its creator could be aware of every aspect of it. This room though was secret for a reason.

He took the parcel from his pocket,
unwrapped the mini rocketplane and
placed it onto the floor. He stood back and used his wristband to trigger the frequency that enlarged the item to its full size. He stood gazing at a rocket plane similar to the one that had taken Chase on his journey to Germany. This one was slightly smaller and sleeker. The inside was more spartan and compact as it had been specifically produced for a BLI passenger. Due to the fact that the BLI were never to leave the island, this was odd.

Rex had felt that it was too dangerous for the BLI to ever be seen amongst the mainstream human population. While their appearance would easily allow them to walk and casually interact with people, anything more than a cursory examination would uncover just how different they were. Their strength and lack of the need to eat or use the bathroom would eventually give them away. In an accident, their quick healing ability or readily different inner bodies would surely raise alarm bells. Overall, the risk of exposure was just too large to take a chance. That was one reason they didn’t tell Rex.

He quickly entered the plane, strapped himself into the seat and prepared for takeoff. He signaled the sliding door to open and began the ignition portion of his journey; the co-ordinates for his destination were already pre-programmed. He used the short flight time to mentally review the mission and prepare his actions. The arrival time would be at early dusk, just dark enough to mask any potential sighting of his plane.

His plane landed on time, on the roof of a five story apartment building in Heidelberg Germany. He left the plane in its miniaturized form and remained inside. The plane was very small and unnoticeable in the dark. He immediately began to put his plan into action. A small drill emerged from the bottom of the plane which started to bore a tiny hole from the roof through the ceiling of the top floor apartment below. The hole it drilled was small enough to be readily imperceptible to the human eye.

The hole was large enough however for the insertion of a small flying drone smaller than a housefly into the apartment. Cheswick, remotely from the plane was able to maneuver the drone and view the inside of the apartment below. He was quickly able to determine that the apartment was unoccupied and that there was no video or security equipment in operation. That would make the plan easier to accomplish.