Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (16 page)

After lunch,
Mace was ready to question his prisoners again when he received a message from
General Pike marked ‘Urgent’.
 
He
marched into his office with his head held high and saluted his mentor.

“Mace, sit
down. I need to talk to you about a personal matter.”

Mace
pretended to be concerned as he had a pretty good idea what that matter was.

“I think my
wife is missing.”

“Missing?
Are you sure?”

“Pretty
sure. We have grown accustomed to each other’s schedules, she works late at her
club, and, well, you know the hours I keep. We always check in though. Even
after twenty five years.”

“Touching
story, sir,” Mace tried his hardest to sound sincere. “Are you saying she
didn’t check in?”

“Not since
yesterday. Didn’t even come home last night. I was here at 6:30, so I just
figured she had a really tough night at the club…happens sometimes.”

“I bet it
does,” Mace said.

“So?” the
general asked.

“So…Oh! You
want me to find her for you.”

“Yes,
Dumbass, did you think I brought you here to share my marital habits with you?”

“No, of
course not. I will put my best men on it right away, sir.”

“Listen to
me a little closer this time, Magner.”
 
The general’s voice was gaining volume. “If I wanted your best men I
would have sent for them.
You
find
her…personally! That’s all. Let me know when you have something.”

“Yes, sir!”
Mace saluted and headed for the door.

“Oh and
Mace…”

“Yes?”

“Be
discreet.”

“Of course,
sir.”

Mace smiled
when his back was turned to the general and thought.
Well I guess I can take a few hours off since I know exactly where the
little slut is.

Upstairs,
Camden rubbed his face with his hands while Ganesh explained that they would
need to make a joint public statement side-by-side. Camden put his hands on the
table and looked at Ganesh.

“I won’t do
it.”

“We don’t
have a choice, Cam. This comes from higher up than me.”

“Turn
yourself in then, and let me go home.

“Humph. Two
days in interrogation and you’re already cracking. C’mon, Cam, I need your help
with this.”

“I didn’t
ask to be a part of this”

“I know
that! And I know that it is entirely my fault that you are here. But this is
bigger than you and me.
 
If we
don’t work to stop what is happening downstairs in that lab, no one will. Don’t
you understand the magnitude of all this.”

“It’s not my
problem.”

“Oh, yes it
is…whether you wanted it or not. Now I know that we’ve been friends for a long
time but you don’t have a choice in this. I’m sorry, but I have to do what I
have to do. I hope one day you’ll forgive me, but if not, I’ll get over it
because if those biomachines down there do what I know they are capable of,
nothing matters anyway. Now please finish reading what’s in this folder and
I’ll be by in a few hours to transfer you to your new quarters. And Cam…try to
make the best of this.”

“What if I
refuse?”

“I don’t
even want to think about what Pike might do if you don’t get on board with
this…he’s been known to make accidents happen. But it really won’t be so bad.
You like working on space travel…that’s all they want you to do. And if we
don’t find a weakness in those biomachines in time, we may need to get off this
rock anyway.”

“Then I
guess I don’t have a choice if I want to live,” Camden said to himself, but
loud enough for Ganesh to hear.

“Look, Cam,
why don’t you make a list of some comforts you would like in your quarters and
I’ll see if I can get them for you…make your stay a little more enjoyable.”

Camden
nodded reluctantly and Ganesh left him alone.

Dana,
Bearden, and Lee all stood around Lee’s desk looking at a sealed envelope
addressed to Ganesh.

“How do we
know that he won’t open this one and read it like the last one?” Dana asked.

“Because I
won’t, okay?” Bearden replied. “Last time I thought it was about me. I didn’t
want it to go unread.”

“Ha! Just
had to read your own praises, did ya? Lee, he disobeyed a direct order from a
colonel,” Dana said and looked at Lee, who seemed baffled to be in the middle
of all this.

“He has to
take it. It’s done,” Lee finally said and then looked directly at Bearden.
“Boy, if you fail in what you are asked to do in this lab, I will lock you up
and use you for parts.”

Bearden
swallowed hard and Dana looked shocked and shut up. Neither one knew if Lee
meant what he said, but absolutely did not want to ask.

“I won’t let
you down, Dr. Tripple,” Bearden said and then glared at Dana. “I promise.” He
was just tired of having his life threatened today.

Dana crossed
her arms and pursed her lips at him.

“Then I
guess we’ll see you in a week, Sergeant.”

“You bet!
Can I take the letter now?”

“Yes, take
it. Go,” Lee said.

Bearden
didn’t wait to be dismissed twice. He grabbed the letter and showed himself
out.
That was not exactly my fantasy of
being in Tripple Laboratories,
he thought.
 

Bearden was
in no hurry to get back to the unit, but he knew he was probably needed in the
lab and Colonel Ganesh was probably going crazy waiting for news from him.
Good.
He thought.
Serves him right.
 
Major Magner was probably eager to see him too, but he had already made
up his mind to give Ganesh the letter and not show it to Mace. Ganesh was smart
and he would instantly lose his trust if there were any indication that the
letter had been opened.

Bearden’s
footsteps seemed to echo too loudly as he approached Ganesh’s office.
 
He was worried that the Colonel would
see the guilt all over him the second he walked in.

“Ahh,
Sergeant Leitner,” Ganesh said, “I was beginning to think I would never see you
again.”

Bearden gave
a nervous laugh and said, “That’s crazy, sir. It’s just a slow process gaining
a position at Tripple Laboratories.”

“So you got
the position then?” Ganesh asked as if he didn’t already know.

“Well, not
exactly. I was asked to be a part time assistant. Only one day a week.
 
Probably out of respect for my position
here.”

“Humph. Yes.
Probably. Well, congratulations on getting in at all.”

“Thank you,
sir. And thank you again for your recommendation. I’m sure that’s the real
reason I got the job.”

“Well, I
don’t know how much weight my words carried but it’s nice to hear, anyway.”
Ganesh said in a fatherly voice. Bearden smiled and wondered how long they
would keep up this fake conversation, hiding what they both knew. He glanced
over at Sergeant Quinn who was sitting in a chair beside Ganesh’s desk.

“Oh,
Sergeant Leitner, do you know Sergeant Quinn?” Ganesh asked.

“No, sir, I
don’t think we’ve met,” Quinn chimed in and stood to shake Bearden’s hand.

“Well, I
suppose you wouldn’t have with Leitner down with the scientists and you up with
the um…secretaries.”

“I’m not
ashamed of my job, Colonel,” Quinn pointed out and smiled at them both. Bearden
stifled a laugh.

“Leitner,
have you had lunch yet?” Ganesh asked.

“No, sir.”

“Well, why
don’t you join Quinn and me today down in the dining hall?”

Two days
ago, Bearden would have been honored to join Ganesh for lunch, but today, it
just seemed like another dutiful lie.

“That would
be great,” he
replied,
with as much fake enthusiasm as
he could muster. “But before we go, I have something for you. From Dr.
Tripple.” He handed Ganesh the letter.

“Why don’t
you two young men go and get started, I’ll meet you there.”

“But
shouldn’t I stay here with…”

Ganesh cut
Quinn off and burst out.

“Don’t push
me, Quinn! Just do what I say.”

Quinn, of
course, obeyed but made a note in his report for General Pike as he left.
Ganesh sighed and tore open the letter.

Colonel Ganesh,

I received your letter. It was not difficult to find Ari. Tripple
Laboratories should have the case that Camden was transporting in two days if
all goes well. I expect that Camden is alive and well and will remain that way
once the object fueling his guilt is no longer hiding in his transport. I will
await your next correspondence by way of the boy you sent to my lab. He is only
welcome here one day a week, as he is not fully trusted by my assistant and
myself.

Dr. Tripple

After he
read it through twice, he set fire to it and watched it burn in his garbage
can.
What could Leitner have done to
cause such a poor impression?
he
thought as he
locked up his office and headed down to lunch.

That night,
Ari waited until his family was sound asleep to sneak into the bathroom in
order to dress in black from head to toe. His hands were already shaky from
nerves as he pulled on a black snow hat with homemade cutout eye and mouth
holes.
 
If his wife walked in, she
would call the police, thinking they were being robbed.
 
Ari could hear the rain pounding on the
windows and knew it was time. He took a deep breath as he put the transport
controls, a tiny flashlight, and an oblong metal disk with the compartment
combination etched into it in his pocket.

Ari poked
his head out of his door to make sure that the hall was clear. He walked past
the elevator to the stairwell and began to climb the ten stories to the roof
where the transport was parked. He paused at every floor to make sure there
were no footsteps in the hall, and then proceeded. When he got to the top, he
pressed his ear to the outside door. All he could hear was rain. There was no
way to know if anyone was standing on the roof keeping lookout for exactly what
he was about to do. He crouched low, closed his eyes and pictured his wife’s
face, then his children’s, then cracked the door open just enough to peek out.
The rain was pelting down in buckets and he couldn’t see five feet in front of
him. The darkness was severe when clouds covered the moons. Ari squinted to try
and look further through the rain. He didn’t see any sign of movement so he
crept out slowly, staying low to the ground.
 
He heard the government transports pass by and dropped flat
to the ground and froze as a light swept across the roof.
 
The light finished it’s round without
finding him and Ari pulled himself to his hands and knees and crawled towards
Camden’s parking shelter. Just then…footsteps a little way in the distance made
Ari freeze again and hold his breath. They were moving toward him. He looked
all around, then as fast as he could, crawled to a neighboring parking shelter.

Once the
rain was out of his face he found his eyes had adjusted slightly to the dark.
He searched frantically for a place to hide. The splashing footsteps had
stopped. Had they found him? Were they looking at him now? Ari’s heart sped up
but he kept inching his way around the shelter. He made it completely around to
the back and no one had apprehended him yet, so maybe the footsteps had come
from someone who lived here. Maybe he would hear their transport start up any
minute. He sat and tried to flatten himself against the wall to listen, but
after several minutes, nothing. A transport shone a light across the roof
again, but this time Ari was pretty well hidden by the shelter wall. A few
minutes later he heard the footsteps again.
They
sweep the area in intervals.
Ari figured. He watched and listened for the
next two hours, too scared to make his move, but knowing he would have to very
soon. He was running out of night and his back was cramping.

The rain had
lightened up and he could see further now, even the outline of the man
patrolling the roof. He slid his hand in his pocket, pulled out the transport
control and waited for the next round of light and footsteps. “It’s now or
never,” Ari whispered to himself and went for it. He walked lightly to make
sure he didn’t splash like the officer on patrol. He pressed a button on the
controls and heard the lock to the transport click. Seconds later he was inside
and closing the door. He popped his head up to the window to look for
movement…there was none. He lay down on the floor by the secret compartment and
waited for the light and the footsteps to pass again, then went to work on
opening the compartment. He used the tiny flashlight to read the combination
and then opened the lock. The compartment burst open and the black case that
had been crammed in spilled out. Ari moved it to the side and closed the
compartment. After waiting for the opportune time to move again, he decided to
make a run for it back to the stairwell.

Ten minutes
later, Ari sat on his bathroom floor clutching the black case. He was soaked to
the bone and freezing, but he had done it. He was tempted to look inside and
see what all the fuss was about, but decided against it. The less he knew the
better and the day after tomorrow, the case would be out of his possession and
he could go back to pretending he knew nothing. It would be Lee Tripple’s
problem now and maybe, just maybe Camden’s name could be cleared.
          

Two days
later, on the morning Dana would meet Ari and make the exchange, the lab was
silent.
 
Since Lee cut and dyed her
hair blond, she had only gone home once, to get some personal items, for fear
that someone might recognize her and start asking questions.
 
She hated the new style and didn’t feel
at all like herself when she looked in the mirror.
 
Although she had to admit, Lee’s precision cut was
astonishing! He had managed to find a picture of Camden’s niece, Liana, in his
office, along with a black rolling case full of old notes that Lee dumped out
and left on his floor.

Dana stood
in the bathroom behind the lab’s kitchen and put on a dark blue jacket over a
white shirt, buttoned up to her neck. She walked out to the kitchen and sat
down with Lee to go over the plan one last time.

“At 9:37, I
will drop you off at the taxi stand ten blocks from Camden’s building,” Lee
started.

“Yes, and I
will go inside expecting my bag to be searched when I sign in as ‘Uncle
Camden’s’ guest in the lobby,” Dana said.

“Do you
remember which elevator to take?”

“Yes, the
one in the back. Then the doors will open on Ari’s floor and we will make the
switch. I will ride the elevator up to the penthouse, see that Camden is not
home and leave.”

“I will be
waiting for you one block north and one block west.”

“Sounds
easy,” Dana said with a nervous smile. Lee stared at the table and fidgeted
with his fingers. “Don’t worry, it will all work out,” Dana added. She stood up
and put her hand on his shoulder. He didn’t flinch at Dana’s hand but looked at
his watch and said,

“9:20,
it’s
time.”

Lee didn’t
normally drive. He didn’t enjoy it and thought it was a waste of time for his
brain. His transport was old and dusty but looked like it had never been
used.
 
The two of them climbed in
and took off. Lee was a bad driver and Dana feared for her life most of the
way. He went too fast, his mind obviously drifting to think about something
else, then he would snap to and slow down to a crawl, then speed up again,
weaving in and out of traffic with several near misses. When they arrived at
their destination, Dana was happy to put her feet on solid ground. She looked
back at Lee and smiled. He nodded to her and then flew away to wait at the
rendezvous spot.

So far, so good,
Dana thought as she
walked away from the front desk in the lobby of the building. The plan was
exactly on schedule. She began to make her way to the back elevator when, as
expected, a man dressed in black stopped her.

“Hello,
Miss.”

“Hello,” she
replied and kept walking.

“Miss, I
need to speak with you for a moment.” He pulled out his government credentials
and Dana put a confused look on her face.

“Of course.”

“I
understand you are visiting Professor Camden Riles.”

Her face
went from confused to panic.

“Yes, I am.
I’m his niece…is something wrong? Oh, I knew I should have called first…and
more often.” She dropped her head. “Tell me what’s happened, please, sir.”

“Oh, oh
sorry, no…you have it all wrong. This is just a new security measure put in
place by the Professor,” he lied.

Dana
breathed a short heavy sigh and smiled.

“Wow, you
really had me worried. It’s been so long since I’ve seen or talked to Uncle Cam
that I just thought the worst.”

“Understandable.
So you won’t mind if I take a look through your bag then will you?”

“Go ahead.”
She rolled the bag his way.

“So, how
long
has
it been since you’ve seen
your uncle?” He was rummaging through a collection of Dana’s most conservative
clothes.

“Oh, too
long, for sure. I guess a little more than eight months. And that was just a
phone call.”

The man
seemed to buy her story.

“Well,
everything looks okay here. You have a nice day, Miss.”

“Thank you,”
Dana said and scurried off to the elevator. She checked her watch. One minute
to go. She powdered her nose to take up a few more seconds, and then pushed the
button. When the elevator doors closed behind her she saw floor six
light
up.
Ari’s floor,
she thought.

The doors
opened and there stood Ari with the other case. He was about the same height as
Dana with black hair and a kind face.

“Miss
Hanks,” he said and shoved the case in the elevator as she rolled hers out.

“Ari.”

He smiled at
her and then turned to walk down the hall. Dana watched him walk away as the
doors closed. Just when she was about to lose sight of him, two men dressed in
black appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Ari.

“Oh, no!”
Dana gasped and instinctively pushed the button for the next floor up. Seconds
later, she jumped off the elevator and frantically looked up and down the hall.
She ran to the end of the hall and into the stairwell. She lifted the case and
tried to race to the bottom, but Camden’s case was much heavier than the one
she came in with. It slowed her down and hurt her arms.

Ari was
being pinned against the wall by one man while the other tore through the
women’s clothes in the black case he was lugging.
 
He trembled from head to toe and had no explanation for why
he was standing in his hall with a case of young women’s clothes. When the man
conducting the search had gone through all the contents of the case, he radioed
down to the Jodis in the lobby who was waving goodbye to Camden’s niece as she
rushed out the front door.

“Hey,
Detective Armin! We just found Ari standing in his hall with a black case of
women’s clothes. Weird right?”

“What?
Women’s clothes?” Jodis watched Dana disappear around the building. “Shit! It’s
the girl! It’s time to take Ari in to see the Major, boys. He knows something,”
Jodis yelled through his radio while running out the door after Dana.

Dana looked
back to see the man a block behind, running after her. She took off around the
corner and Lee’s transport was in sight. Lee was looking backwards out of the
window anxiously waiting for Dana to appear. He felt relief when he saw her,
but instantly knew something was wrong. Dana was running and waving to him with
her free hand. She looked terrified. Lee jumped and faced front to start up the
transport. He looked back again and saw a man round the corner chasing behind
Dana. Lee pushed a button to open the side door and hit reverse to get to her.
When he got to her, he was hovering a little too high and Dana had to get the
case up over her head to toss it in. Once she did, she grabbed the door to
pulled herself up.
 
Halfway inside,
she felt a yank on her ankle and almost lost her grip. The man held on tight
and she screamed,

“Go now,
Lee! Get higher!”

Lee raced
straight up and Dana managed to get her free leg inside. The man was losing his
grip and Dana kicked her leg as hard as she could. He did not let go. She took
a deep breath and closed her eyes, then tightened her hold on the door and with
one quick motion, dropped her left leg back out of the transport and kicked him
hard in the knuckles. It worked. He released his grip and let out a pained yell
as he fell from the sky. Dana scrambled to pull herself back up, but couldn’t.
 
  

“Lee! I’m
slipping!”

Lee swerved
the transport to the closest rooftop and brought it down to land. He was almost
there when Dana slipped. She fell about eight feet and landed with a skid and a
roll.
 
Lee stopped the transport,
jumped out,
ran
over to where she landed, and scooped
up his limp, injured assistant. She was bleeding from several places and tears
streamed down her scraped cheeks. He placed her sloppily in the back seat and
sped her back to the lab checking the windows on all sides to see if he was
being followed. It didn’t appear so.

Dana leaned
on Lee as he helped her into the building. Her knee had twisted, so she had
trouble walking on her own. Her hands, face, and knees had deep scrapes as well
as the entire right side of her body. Her clothes were torn and she was missing
half a sleeve from her jacket. She had stopped crying and seemed to be going
into shock.
 
Lee sat her down in
the lounge area, removed what was left of her jacket and handed her a blanket.
She mindlessly wrapped herself up while Lee put on some tea and went to get
bandages and a soapy cloth to clean and dress her cuts. He remained impersonal
throughout the necessary procedure and said nothing to comfort her. When he was
done, he sent her off to change clothes. Dana was still somewhat out of it when
she returned, unable to process what had happened. She sipped some tea, but in
her mind all she could see was that man…falling. That man she had killed. Lee
opened Camden’s office just beside the lounge and told her to lie down on the
couch and recuperate so they could talk later. She was useless in her current
state. Lee picked up the black case and went to his office to look inside.

Back at the
unit, Ari was being forced into an interrogation room with his hands bound. He
was frightened for his family, who would have no idea where he had gone. There
was a woman in the room who jumped to her feet, clearly startled, when they
pushed him inside. Seeing her panic and being such a cordial fellow he said,