Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (17 page)

“Hello,
don’t be afraid, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m a prisoner too, look.” Ari
turned so Enira could see his hands were bound.

“Why are you
in here? Were you having an affair with Camden too?” Enira asked.

“What?
Affair? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m his driver, Ari.
But you?
With Camden?
I can’t believe that old dog never
mentioned it,” he grinned, and then cleared his throat. “I’m sure to respect
your privacy, Ma’am.”

“I’m Enira
and I’m sorry that you are here, Ari, because I don’t know if there is a way
out.” She began to choke up and Ari went to sit beside her.

“You know,
my wife saw you…the day you were picked up…on the elevator. We have been
talking about you ever since. Wondering who you were.” Ari smiled at her.
“Camden was ruined after his wife died. I thought he’d never find someone to
share…
be
intimate with again and it’s a pleasure to
meet you. I just wish it were under better circumstances.”

“Me, too,”
she said. The door opened again and another guard came in and grabbed Ari and
led him out.

“Where are
you taking me?” he asked.

“Oh, you are
going to have a private audience with the Major,” the guard chuckled when he
said it.

“Stay strong
Ari…for Camden’s sake,” Enira called behind them. But his loyalty to Camden was
eclipsed by his loyalty to his family.

When he was
locked in his own little room, Ari turned his thoughts to Camden and felt
confident that he would expect him to put his family first. He felt bad
thinking it, but Camden had less to lose than he did. His wife was gone and he
had no children. His only family was a niece that he barely kept in contact
with.

Ari’s
captors left him alone in the room and he wondered if Camden was nearby in the
building. If so, he doubted he would be allowed to see him. Not that it
mattered; this was not a good situation to be in anyway he looked at it. Ari
sat with his shoulders slumped and stared off in the corner. He envisioned his
wife and children laughing and talking together. Then his mind flashed images
of their last trip together to the northern coast and his mouth involuntarily
curled into a smile, enjoying his own thoughts.

The door
opened and in walked Mace. Ari was startled out of his daydreams and a
terrified expression returned to his face.

“Hello, Ari.
My name is Major Magner. I assume you know why you are here today.”

“Yes, sir, I
believe I do and I am willing to cooperate with you. Just, please, first let me
call my wife. She’ll be so worried.”

Mace gave
him his snake-like smile.

“Sure you
can. Just as soon as we are finished here and I am satisfied with the
information you give me.”

“I hope I
can help, then,” Ari said with a frown.

“Good. Let’s
get started.” Mace pulled a recording device from his uniform pocket and placed
it between them on the table as he sat down across from Ari.

“We’ll begin
with an easy one. Did you give a young lady a black case in the elevator of
your building earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Did that
case belong to you or Professor Camden Riles?”

“It was
Camden’s.”

“And you
gave it to his niece?”

“No, it
wasn’t his niece.”

“Really? Who
was it then?”

“Just a
girl. I don’t know her.” Ari hoped the poor girl had made it out okay. She
probably didn’t sign up for this, either.

“Her name?”
Mace asked through gritted teeth. Ari didn’t want to give her up, or Lee, but
lying to this man didn’t seem like a healthy choice either.

“I am trying
to remember. I only heard it once.”

“I see. Then
maybe you can tell me what the hell was in the case.”

“Oh, that I
definitely don’t know. It was heavy but I didn’t dare look inside. I haven’t
kept my job for so many years by being a snoop.”

Mace was
getting frustrated.

“Then where
did you get the case? Did Riles give it to you to keep?”

“Not
exactly, sir.”

“You know,
for someone who wants to speak to his wife, you sure are leaving out lots of
details in your answers. Now, I will ask you again! What was in the case? Where
did you get it? And who did you give it to?”

Ari rubbed
his trembling hands together.

“I honestly
don’t know what was in that case, sir.”

Mace was
losing patience and decided to start physical motivations.

“Not good
enough, Ari!” The major got in his face and screamed. Then he took a step back
and punched him in the eye. “Now answer the damned questions, you useless
maggot!”

“Dana…her
name was Dana Hanks,” Ari whimpered. His eye started to swell and turn red. He
couldn’t see clearly out of it anymore, but could feel the tears spilling out.

“Why her?
Who is she?”

“I don’t
know.”

Ari didn’t
see the second punch coming and it knocked him off his chair. This one was so
hard that it cracked his cheekbone. He hit his head hard on the stone floor,
knocking him out.

“Damn
pantywaist!” Mace yelled kicking Ari in the stomach before he left.

“Call me
when this waste of space wakes up, would ya? I’m not done with him yet.” Mace
said to the guard outside Ari’s room, who nodded in reply.

Ari would
not wake up, though. The major’s last punch had triggered an aneurism in Ari’s
brain and within minutes, he was dead.

“Like I said
before, no one knew about my relationship with Camden. I’ve never even been in
his transport and I have never seen that man in my life before today!” Enira
yelled at Mace who had returned to her room for more questions after leaving
Ari. She was no longer afraid of him, relying on her husband’s status to keep
her safe, even if she was being held against her will. Mace turned and stormed
out of the room. He knew he couldn’t keep her there much longer. He was already
writing his first fake report for General Pike about the search for her and
couldn’t risk her being seen by anyone other than the two guards who regularly
exchanged shifts in front of her room. They were already a liability.

One week
later, Sergeant Bearden Leitner returned to Tripple Laboratories for his weekly
assignment as liaison for Colonel Ganesh, Professor Camden Riles, and Doctor
Lee Tripple…and spy for Major Mace Magner. When he got himself through the
security protocol, he found Dana sitting behind a long lab table dropping a
reddish liquid concoction into several test tubes and making notes. She looked
up when she heard his footsteps.

“Sergeant
Leitner, good afternoon.”

“Call me
Bearden. Hey, what did you do to your hair?” As Bearden got closer he could see
that her face was bruised and healing from some nasty cuts. Her hands and knee
were bandaged too. “Oh my God! What the hell happened to you?” Bearden asked
with genuine concern.

“Oh, these?”
she smiled, a little embarrassed at her appearance. “It was nothing.”

“Well, it
looks like something.”

“Sergeant
Leit
…Bearden, this is a hard job.”

“Do you want
to talk about it?”

“No, I
shouldn’t. But do you think you could do me a favor?”

Bearden
grinned.

“Well, look
how the tables have turned.”

“Oh, forget
it, then.” Dana looked back down at her work. She seemed different…a little
broken.

“Oh, c’mon I
was teasing. I guess you’re not in the joking mood today…or ever, if I recall.”

“Ha
ha
.”

“Well, what
do you need from me?”

“It’s just a
list of things…to make life more comfortable here for me. I wrote them down and
I can give you money.”

“You want me
to be your personal shopper? Are you kidding me?”

“You don’t
understand. I can’t get them for myself…I can’t…leave. It’s not safe for me.”
Dana looked as if she was about to cry, but she held it together. “I mean, Lee
says that it is not safe for me to leave, and I trust him completely.” She held
her head a little higher.

“Okay, okay.
I won’t press it. Give me your list. I’ll go today. Oh, and I have a letter for
Dr. Tripple from Colonel Ganesh. Where is he?”

“He’s in the
back, Lab E, where he’s locked himself in all week. I barely see him, but I’ll
go get him. Wait here.”

Dana got up
and limped and hopped down the hall using the walls and tables for support.

A few
minutes later Lee came down the hall looking downright flustered by the
interruption.

He walked
straight over to Bearden and held out his hand for the letter. He opened it and
read the Colonel’s words.

Dr. Tripple,

Your friend Camden remains here at the unit and is safe for the time
being. It seems that the government has found a use for him and ‘officially’,
he will be a guest physicist in the space flight and habitat program.
Unofficially, he would like nothing better than to go home and return to his
normal routine. The orders for his incarceration came from the General who
heads this unit so I could not let him go. I am doing my best to make him
comfortable. For publicity reasons, he is allowed one visitor a month and he
has demanded to see you; so I must ask you to accompany Sergeant Leitner back
to the unit today where you will be able to sit down with Camden and maybe have
a picture taken for the press. If you do this, I will try to arrange a few
minutes for the two of you to talk alone. I must warn you though, there are
bugs everywhere in the building that can pick up conversations at will.

It is my hope that the item in Camden’s possession has reached you.
Please give me an update via Leitner.

Sincerely,

Ganesh

“I see,”
Lee
said after reading, “Bearden, I will return with you to
TRU.”

Dana’s face
looked panicked.

“Are you
sure you want to do that?” She asked him.

“Yes, I have
to. I will see Cam today. You stay here,” he replied to Dana then turned to
Bearden.

“I need
approximately two hours and thirty six minutes to, finish up in the back and
compose a reply to this letter. And there is something I need to find. Then, we
will go.”

“Yes, sir,”
Bearden said, “I will make myself useful around here until then.”

“Fine,
fine,” Lee said while he was walking back down the hall.

Bearden
looked at Dana.

“I will go
and get as much as I can on your list in the next two hours,” he said.

“Thank you,
Bearden,” she said and handed him some money from her pocket.

When Lee and
Bearden arrived at the TRU building, there were photographers and press lining
the street ready to catch the buzz on the new project in which Camden Riles and
Lee Tripple were involved. It usually meant some major technological or medical
advancement when the dream team met in public like this. Bearden was smiling
and proud to be walking into the building next to the famous and genius
scientist. Lee looked straight ahead and scowled.

“Inconvenient,”
he mumbled. A smiling Ganesh met Lee at the doors with his hand outstretched.

“It’s an
honor to have you here, Dr. Tripple.” Lee shook his hand and reluctantly turned
so the photographers at the gates could get a shot.

“Where’s
Camden?”

“He’s
waiting for you in a conference room. I’ll take you to him now, but you’ll only
have a few minutes alone,” Ganesh whispered the last part.

“I
understand,” said Lee, “I would like to see your labs and weaponry unit.”

“Humph! I
don’t think I can arrange that. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to show you,
but under the circumstances, I’m afraid that’s just downright impossible.”

“Then, I
will send a formal request to the general,” Lee stated.

“Good luck
with that,” Ganesh said, “Right in here and through that door. Don’t
waste time catching up
,
get straight to it
.
Like I said, only a few minutes.”

Lee walked
into a conference room and saw a frazzled, sleep-deprived Camden waiting for
him. He pulled a small round device out of his pocket pressed a button in the
center of it and held it out in his palm. Camden recognized it as a sound wave
scrambler and as long as it was active, microphones would pick up any sound
from this room as only white noise.

“Lee. You
came. It’s so good to see you. Did you get the case?” Camden spoke in a soft
voice.

“Yes, Cam,
I’ve got it.
And your notes.
I’ve been working with it
for a week straight and haven’t found the regenerative weakness that you were
looking for yet.”

“Well, if
anyone can do it, you can.” Camden put his head in his hands for a moment and
breathed in deep.

“Are you all
right, Camden?” Lee asked.

“Ari’s
dead,” Camden said.

“He had
three children?” Lee asked without missing a beat.

“Yes, I’m
surprised you remember that,” Camden said.

“Collect a
tissue sample.
 
Preferably from his
brain,” replied Lee.

“Impossible!”

“I’d settle
for a finger…
.or
his tongue.”

“You are a
sick man, Lee.”

“His body
may hold vital data for lucrative procreation!
 
He had three children.”

“He was my
friend!”
 

“Then get me
that sample…he can be…again.”

Camden
swallowed the hard lump that had risen in his throat.

“You know I
don’t believe that,” he argued.

“You doubt
my abilities?”
 
Lee asked with a
shock. “I had no idea.”

“I doubt
that a baby with the same genetic make up as Ari will replace my friend.
 
I know you cannot age him and implant
memories, just as I knew you could not re-create my Rosa!”
 

“Cam… that
may or may not be true, given the opportunity to try, I...”

 
   
 
Camden cut him off.

“I don’t
want to talk about it!
 
It cannot
be done, the laws of physics do not allow...”
 

Lee
interrupted right back.

“You are
correct that I cannot force someone to age, but I believe I can make someone
remember.”
 

“Leave the
dead in peace, Lee!”
 

Camden
turned his back to Lee and walked out the door, back into his unit
accommodations.
 
Lee scowled at his
last comment, shut off the scrambler, grabbed his electronic notepad and
stormed out of the room to the outer corridor.
 

Ganesh and
Bearden looked surprised that he had come out so soon. Lee, uncharacteristically,
made eye contact with Bearden and smiled.
Bearden’s
a scientist with arrogance and gumption,
he thought,
he won’t have a problem bringing me a finger, or some brain.
 
I need to get to him fast, or Ari’s
cells may be useless.
 
He
turned his eyes to Ganesh.

“I need to
speak with you privately, Colonel.” He walked back into the empty conference
room. Ganesh straightened his jacket and gave a little wave to the few members
of the press who were allowed in the building and followed Lee into the room.

“Where’s
Cam?” Ganesh asked.

“He left.
When and where will Ari’s family pay their respects and visit his body?”

“What? Ari?
I don’t know… Damn shame. First casualty of a war that hasn’t even begun.”
Ganesh was shaking his head. “I can find out for you.”

“Okay. I
will wait here. Send in the boy.”

Ganesh
raised his eyebrows at Lee, unaccustomed to being addressed in such a manner,
especially from a civilian. He doubted there would be any point in bringing up
this lack of etiquette to Lee, as he wasn’t even sure there was a human element
in Lee’s brain large enough to understand it.

“You know,
Lee, we are waging a bit of a war here together against our own government.
Now, I don’t like you much and I’m sure that you don’t regard me in your daily
thoughts, but I think it’s time that we move past being acquaintances and open
up with our communication when we get these rare moments of privacy. General
Pike will arrive any second and we’ve accomplished nothing here,” Ganesh said.

Just then,
Camden walked back in with distaste on his face for Ganesh and Lee, and said,

“Gentlemen,
let’s
talk.”

Lee chimed
in right away unaffected by Ganesh’s speech.

“If I could
study the normal life cycle of the biomer in it’s natural habitat, then maybe I
could develop a way to program it’s death through mimicry and…”

“Great,”
Camden interrupted with deep disparagement. “Now we just have to get you and
your lab to outer space. Should be no problem, right, Ganesh?” Camden began a
high pitch laugh and it appeared that he had lost his mind right then and
there.

“Snap out of
it, Cam!” Ganesh ordered, “I’m sure Lee will find another way.”

Both men
turned and looked at Lee who was fidgeting with his fingers and mumbling
calculations out loud.

“Right,
then,” Ganesh continued, “He’s already working on it.” Camden sat in a chair
and shook his head, still laughing.

The door
opened again and in walked General Pike with Sergeant Quinn, a few members of
the press, and Bearden, tailing the group. Ganesh motioned to Lee to have a
seat beside Camden while the rest of the men sat around the table. The
reporters set up their cameras and recording devices and Sergeant Quinn took
out his notebook. The general started with standard press conference
pleasantries, thanking everyone for coming, followed by introducing everyone at
the table, except for Quinn and Leitner. Then he went on to introduce the Space
Flight and Habitat Program that the government scientists would be developing,
led by Camden Riles and Colonel Ganesh. He made a special point to acknowledge
Dr. Lee Tripple, who had come to show his support for his colleague’s new
endeavor.

Ganesh tried
to keep a strong, confident composure during General Pike’s speech, but he kept
shooting worried glances at Camden, who seemed to be amused by the whole thing.
He nodded at the general’s comments with an overeager smile and looked like he
was about to crack up. Lee seemed uncomfortable and confused, and the
photographers seemed frustrated at the unusable shots they were getting of the
group. Aware of the strange vibe in the room, the general decided not to open
the floor for questions after he finished talking, but promised to invite
everyone back once the project was underway. He politely escorted the press out
of the room and just as he was closing the door behind him, he shot a glance
back at Ganesh and mouthed,

“Fix this.”

Ganesh drew
in a deep breath and started to say something, but Aldretti appeared at the
opposite door to collect Camden who seemed happy to be leaving the room. Before
he got up, he slammed his hand on the table in front of Lee, making him jump.
There was a small piece of paper under it with writing on it. It said, ‘Go to
the club this week and tell Enira that I’m okay.’

“You don’t
look okay,” Lee grumbled. This made Camden laugh out loud and Aldretti flinched
at the high-pitched sound of it.

Ganesh told
Lee to wait there with Bearden and Quinn while he found out about Ari.

“Well, I
think that went well,” Quinn said aloud when Ganesh had gone. He was grinning
from ear to ear and looking over his meticulous notes.

“Did it?”
Bearden asked. “I mean, this was my first press conference, so I don’t know
much about it, but…” he looked at Lee. “Does Professor Riles always act like
that? I mean I guess people are different when you see them in person, but I
just thought he was more…”