Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (19 page)

Several
hours later, a white-faced Bearden knocked on Lee Tripple’s office door. Dana
was not in the main lab, which Bearden thought was odd. He figured she would be
waiting for his return with a new set of questions for him.

“Come in,”
Lee called from his desk.

Bearden
walked in with equal parts pride and shame on his face. Lee looked at him with
hopeful eyes and Bearden unbuttoned his jacket and pulled the container from
his shirt pocket. He set it on the desk without saying a word and Lee leaned
over so he was eye level with the container.

“Well,” he
beamed, “I’d say this is more than satisfactory, boy. Well done, well done. Now
I just need a sample of the wife.”

“The wife?
She is alive, I don’t think I can be a part of this.”

“She can be
alive for what I need. Just a patch of skin…for now.”

Bearden was
unconsciously backing away toward the door when the phone rang.

“Yes.
Hello?” Lee answered.

“Lee, It’s
Enira. I’m so glad I reached you.”

“Oh?”

“I saw the
press conference. Camden didn’t look so good. Is he okay?”

Lee thought
it strange that this woman had entered into such a personal relationship with
him without his consent. He was not accustomed to personal phone
calls…especially from intriguing women.

“Camden said
to tell you he is okay, so, goodbye now.”

“Wait, Lee,
is that all? He looked ill. What did you think when you saw him?”

Lee hadn’t
thought anything except for being angry at Cam for not helping him get what he
needed. Then an idea popped in his head.

“Enira, I
need your help.”

“Sure,
anything,” she said.

“The man who
died, Ari. Did you know him?”

“Ari’s dead?
How awful. I only met him once but I know he regarded Camden as family.”

“I would
like to have his wife join me at the club for lunch. Can you arrange that?”

“Well, that
is so decent of you Lee, I must say, I’m a little surprised, but I knew you
were compassionate deep down.”

“Can you do
it or not?”

“Um. Yes, I
suppose I could reach her and ask.”

“Let me
know,” Lee said and hung up not realizing how rude he had just been. He didn’t
dislike Enira.

Bearden was
still standing there hoping Lee would not ask for his help in this. He couldn’t
imagine Lee sharing a social meal with a grieving woman on his own. Lee
apparently couldn’t imagine it either because Bearden saw a look of panic
appear on Lee’s face as the consequences of the phone call started to roll into
the forefront of his thoughts.

Dana, fresh
from a shower in the lab’s washroom, put a teapot on the stove and stirred some
soup she had started earlier. She hadn’t heard Bearden when he returned to the
lab, but was still waiting for her chance to question him again about what he
was up to. She couldn’t stand being left out of the information loop. It was
her job after all to assist Lee, not Bearden’s. Down the hall and around the
corner, she heard the door to Lee’s office open and then Bearden’s voice.

“I will
expect your call. Please try and give me a few days notice so I can make
arrangements at the unit.”

Dana quickly
limped out of the kitchen area and down the hall.

“Bearden!”
she called out. “Wait a minute.”

He turned
and smiled when he saw her looking so un-put-together. She had wet hair and was
wearing very baggy pants and an oversized shirt that clearly didn’t belong to
her.

“Well, this
is a refreshing new look,” he said.

“Ha, very
funny. Come back here, I need to talk to you.”

The truth
was, she needed to talk to anyone. The past week had been extremely lonely,
especially since Lee was spending most of his time locked up in one of his
small lab rooms.

“I don’t
have much time tonight, Dana. I have to go make a phone call.”

“Just for a
minute. I made some tea.”

Bearden
raised his eyebrows in disbelief of her hospitality. And even though she was
the most unpleasant girl he had ever met, he felt sorry for her predicament
here and decided to humor her for a moment. Besides, at the rate he was going,
he was likely to suffer a similar fate.

Bearden
slumped at the small round kitchen table while Dana hopped to the cabinet and
balanced precariously on one foot to get two mugs.

“Oh, sit
down before you break something else,”
Bearden
said.
“I’ll get the tea.”

Dana rolled
her eyes a little, but let him help her, grabbing his arm for support as she
made her way to sit down.

“So, where
did you go tonight?” She asked, skipping the small talk.

“I told you
earlier, I can’t say.”

“Oh please,
Bearden, who am I going to tell? The only person I speak to, besides you, is
Lee and he already knows.”

“Okay fine,
I’ll tell you…for a bowl of that soup. And because I need to tell someone just
to get it out of my head.”

“That bad?”
Dana asked.

“Well, I
violated a dead man while his family sat in the next room waiting for his
service to start.”

“Oh, wow.
That is bad.”

“Yeah,
thanks.”

“Sorry, go
on.”

“My
assignment was to collect a tissue sample for Lee, a big one. So, I got to the
memorial site early and sneaked into the morgue before they brought his body
out. Now, granted, being a botanist, I don’t have that much experience working
with cadavers, but even if I did, this was different. Those people in the next
room loved him. I could hear their sobs right through the wall. And I was about
to steal part of him. It made me sick. I was planning for just a toe, but I had
to work fast and his shoelaces were knotted. A missing finger would make a mess
and be too obvious, his mouth was stitched together so I couldn’t get to his
tongue without it being noticed.

Dana sipped
her tea, her eyes wide.

“What did
you do?” she asked.

“I started
to panic, and I heard footsteps coming. Then I saw it; a crack in his skull.
This guy must have died from a head wound because someone had opened him up,
maybe for surgery or to stop some bleeding. Anyway, I put the edge of the
scalpel into the crack and popped the round piece of skull out.”

Dana was on
the edge of her seat.

“Then what?”

“What do you
think? I took a chunk of his brain, shoved it into a container, replaced the
skull and ran out…five seconds longer and I would have been caught in the act.”

“Wow. I
would have never pegged you for having such a dark side,” Dana said with a look
that was both disapproving and admiring.

“I don’t. It
wasn’t as if I had a choice in the matter.”

“Didn’t you?”

“How can you
ask that? You work for Lee, too. Saying ‘no’ is not really an option.”

“But there’s
always a choice.”

“I can’t
believe you of all people are judging me about this. I have to go.”

“You haven’t
had any soup yet.”

“I’ve lost
my appetite,” Bearden said and walked out.

“Hey!” Dana
yelled without getting up.

“What?”
Bearden yelled back.

“Just so you
know…I would have made the same choice.”

Later that
night, Dana began shutting the main lab down for the night. Lee had gone home
and she stood alone, ready to turn out the lights. Her isolation was taking a
toll on her, especially at night when the lab was empty. She knew she was
perfectly safe, but the lab in the dark gave her the creeps, more so than the
disturbing work she did when the lights were on. Lee didn’t sleep much and was
frequently in the lab at all hours of the night, logging data in his notebooks,
mixing concoctions, or testing specimens for his many projects. On these
nights, it was easier for Dana to get a good night’s sleep. But it was just too
quiet when he went home…like tonight would be.

She sighed
and went down the hall turning off lights as she walked toward Camden’s office,
which had been officially converted, into her living space. Although there were
larger storage rooms that she could have used, this one was right next to the
kitchen and the shower room, which made it feel more ‘homey’. Thanks to Camden,
the space was quite comfortable. Since Lee barely came back here, she just
assumed that it was Camden who had watered the indoor plants and had furnished
the squishy green armchair with the pillows that had become her favorite spot
in the whole lab. She curled up in it and her eyes closed. She immediately
thought of Bearden, forcing himself on a dead man at his own memorial service.
 
She smiled unintentionally. Somehow,
knowing that about him made her feel less bad about the man she had killed.
Then, another picture of Bearden drifted into her mind. This time he was
shirtless and dirty, staring intensely at her. He was holding a scalpel and
walked slowly towards her. With each step, his features changed from man to
monster. The kettle on the stove started to whistle and she popped up out of
the chair.

“Whoa,” she
said aloud and shook her head a little, realizing she had drifted off.

She sat down
at the table and steeped her fruity tea, ready to study a copy of Lee’s notes
from the day’s work. Dana was determined to keep pace with Lee in the lab,
especially since she was under his protection and did not ever want to let him
down. There were usually several things in his notes that she did not
understand, but she kept her own notebook, full of questions for Lee. She had
all but perfected her timing in asking the questions. She had learned in her
first few weeks that bombarding him all at once distracted him from the now,
and his brain was only capable of forward momentum. As she sipped her tea, she
thought about Lee and how he seemed to be pleased with her work so far. She
could not picture herself anywhere else. Getting to witness the impossible
becoming reality on a daily basis was more than she’d dreamed. She would be
years ahead of her old classmates when she went back into the world. Dana bit
her lip again and her eyes became sad, trying not to think too much beyond her
work here, because of the uncertainty of what the future held for her now. It
could be anything from prison, to anonymity for the rest of her life, to
hiding…or pardoned perhaps…with Lee’s help, of course. Dana shook these
thoughts from her head, took in a deep breath to relax herself and went back to
studying.

Camden,
Ganesh, Quinn, and Aldretti walked into the TRU Building after attending Ari’s
memorial service. Camden’s eyes were bloodshot from tears on top of exhaustion
from not sleeping well in his new accommodation. He had spent most of the
evening comforting Ari’s wife and assuring her that her family would be taken
care of financially.

Ganesh sent
Quinn to the cafeteria to find some food and followed Camden into his living
quarters. They were quite nice…private bath, small kitchen, workspace, living
area and bedroom. These mini-apartments were built for visiting officers from
other units who needed to stay here for any length of time. Aldretti came in,
too. Between Quinn and Aldretti, private conversations between Camden and
Ganesh were difficult and rare. Camden sat himself at his kitchen table while
Ganesh started looking through cabinets. He collected four small glasses and a
bottle of scotch he had acquired for Cam to make his stay more bearable. He
brought them to the table and poured four glasses.

“Come, sit
and have a drink, Aldretti,” Ganesh said.

Aldretti,
who was standing by the door, was caught off guard by this gesture. He was
supposed to hate these men, not drink with them.

“Sir, I am
on duty here. I will not,” he replied.

Ganesh took
a deep sigh and picked up the glass and slammed it back on the table.

“Come, sit
and have a drink with us,” he said again with more forcefulness. “That’s an
order!”

Aldretti sat
down with reluctance and Ganesh slid a glass his way then looked at Camden.

“Cam, I’m
really proud of how you held it together in there tonight. I’m sure this week
has been hell for you.”

Camden just
nodded, staring into his glass. Aldretti shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He
saw Camden for the first time, not as his enemy, but as a man.

Quinn came
in moments later with a small tray of desserts that he placed in the center of
the table as he took the fourth seat.

“Professor
Riles, I am sorry about your friend. I wish I’d had a chance to meet him.”

“And me as
well, Camden,” Ganesh said and raised his glass. “To Ari.”

“To Ari,”
Camden said, “May I never forget the guilt I feel.
”

As the men
drank, a twinge of guilt also rose in Aldretti’s conscience. He remembered how
he’d laughed with satisfaction when he heard that Mace had dealt the blow that
killed Camden’s accomplice. Of course, his family was told it was just an
aneurism and his fall at the onset had been responsible for his other injuries.
All in all it had been an easy cover up. Aldretti finished his glass and pushed
it back toward Ganesh who poured him another.

Camden was
saying nothing and his head seemed to sink lower and lower as they sat there.
They sat drinking in silence, hoping that Camden would offer a story about his
friend…or say anything. Finally, after a half hour of watching Camden stew in
his own grief, Ganesh, stood and said,

“Now,
Camden, this is enough. I understand that today was especially difficult for
you and you should take some time and properly mourn for your friend. But you
need to snap out of this state of mind you’ve been in. It’s just not healthy
and I need you to be coherent.
 
Starting tomorrow, when we go to work again, you leave your issues right
here in this room and get on with your life. Stop being pissed off at this
whole situation, and me. There’s nothing we can do about it anyway.”

He walked
over and put his hand on Camden’s shoulder.

“Try and get
some sleep, Cam. I really am sorry about your friend.”

Quinn and
Aldretti took their cue and followed Ganesh out. Camden poured himself one more
drink, moved to an armchair in the living room and stared at the ceiling for a
while, then fell asleep.

Meanwhile,
at Bearden’s flat, Major Mace Magner was grilling Bearden with questions about
his evening.

“It was a
piece of brain, sir. From a dead man…Ari. I believe he worked for Professor
Riles.” Bearden replied to the Major’s question about what Lee wanted from him.

“Brain? You
people are sick, you know that?”

“Yes, sir,”
Bearden said, not wanting to disagree.

 
“What does he need if for?”

“I don’t
know. He’s not really the sharing type.”

“Did he
mention Ganesh? Or Camden? Or the Biomer?” Mace asked.

“No,
nothing. Oh, I almost forgot. He is having lunch with the dead man’s wife at
some club.”

“When?”

“I don’t
know yet, but I am supposed to go.”

“You let me
know when and where the second you find out,” Mace said. “What could he want
with Ari’s brain?”

“Really,
sir. I don’t know.”

“He works
alone right? Now that Riles is out of the picture.”

Bearden
opened his mouth to say ‘no’ then closed it again realizing that the Major
didn’t know about Dana. He didn’t know why but his instincts told him to lie.

“Yes, sir…he
works alone.” Mace squinted hard at him.

“Then find
out what he is doing! If he won’t answer you directly, then snoop. The man must
eat and piss sometime.”

“Does he?”
Bearden wondered, accidentally out loud. “I only spend four hours a week there,
sir.”

“Then you
had better be efficient, Sergeant. Contact me when you have something useful.”
The Major turned to leave.

“Yes, sir,”
Bearden said. His best bet was to ask Dana. She owed him a little information
after he’d spilled his guts to her tonight. Maybe he’d bring her something nice
next week when he went shopping for her. She’d probably see it just as the
bribe that it was. Dana was too smart and too skeptical to be buttered up. And
he couldn’t believe he’d just lied to the Major about her.
Maybe I’ll just ask Lee what he is doing.
He thought.
What am I doing?

Bearden kept
waiting to hear his door open and close but the Major hadn’t left yet. He had
stopped in the hall.

“Is there
something else, sir?” Bearden asked.

Mace
hesitated for a moment.

“You know a
lot about the biomer right? You work with it everyday.”

“Yes, sir, I
do.”

“Have you
ever found it to be…oh never mind.” Mace felt silly asking what was in his head
all of a sudden.

“Found it to
be what, sir? I’m sure if you’ve made an observation, I’ve seen it too.”

I wouldn’t bet on it
. Mace thought to
himself then went on with his question.

“Have you
ever found it to be intelligent?”

Bearden
stifled a laugh that made Mace puff up defensively and cross his arms.

“Intelligent…no…but
instinctive…sometimes.”

“Are you
telling me this stuff can think?”

“No, not
exactly. First of all there is no brain, but think of a predatory flower
sending scented signals to attract bugs. When they come…snap. The bugs are
trapped and the flower eats dinner.”

Mace looked
thoroughly confused by the analogy.

“So, you’re
saying that the biomer eats.”

“No, sir.
But it does respond to nourishment. It seems to enjoy the bonding process when
introduced to a new life form. For example: It appears lifeless, like a soft
rock but when introduced to the fungal catalyst, a new plant, or even water, it
comes alive. It tries to bind its molecules to whatever is in close proximity.”

“Well if
that’s the case, how come it hasn’t bonded with the whole damn building?”

“Just
because it tries to bond doesn’t mean it can. That’s why the fungal bond was so
exciting to find. But to be on the safe side, we never touch the stuff
directly, until we’re sure it has stopped growing. Then it doesn’t want to bond
with anything else and it is safe to handle.”

“Yeah, I
knew that part, about the growing,” Mace said in a low voice.

“Well,
that’s not something you should worry about sir, we scientists have the bonding
part under control.” Bearden swelled with pride as he always did when talking
about his work.

“Maybe you
do, and maybe you don’t. What do you think would happen if a piece of this
fully grown biomer were to be given an artificial brain?”

“I would
certainly love to find out. There could be real potential there. Of course that
would mean a lot of testing and…” Suddenly the reality of the situation hit
Bearden. Something must have happened in the weapons unit to freak the major
out enough to ask him science questions.

“Why do you
ask, sir?”

“Why…is none
of your business, Leitner,” Mace said, then stormed out looking perturbed.

Bearden
tossed and turned all night and when he woke up the next morning, he realized
he needed to pick a side.

On the other
side of town, Ganesh was waking up too. He dressed for the day and kissed his
wife on the forehead as he left. She was still sleeping because she taught
mathematics at the regional school and her workday started later than his.
Ganesh was wondering how Camden had slept, when he heard a noise coming from
his kitchen. He drew his gun and flattened himself against the wall. Slowly, he
inched toward the kitchen doorway. He heard nothing. He let the barrel of the
gun lead the way as he peeked around the corner. With her back to Ganesh, a
woman with long golden blond hair stared out of his kitchen window. He knew her
instantly.

“Maeve.” He
lowered his gun.

She turned
and lit the room with her smile. She got up and ran to him. He held his arms
open and returned the smile. After a long embrace he asked.

“What are
you doing here?”

“I came to
see you, what else? I’ve been hearing things and thought I’d better check on
you.”

“You…came to
check on me? Boy, how the tables have turned. How are you? Are you well?”

“As well as
I can be, I suppose.”

“Look at
you! You’ve grown up so much. What has it been? Eight…ten years?”

“Something
like
that. You are looking spry yourself. I was worried
you’d go fluffy with a desk job.”

“Hmph!” he
said.

They both
laughed and hugged again. Ganesh couldn’t believe she was standing here in his
kitchen. Maeve Daire.
Special Unit spy of the First Order.
She was smart, efficient, beautiful, and as deadly as they come. But to Ganesh,
she was more than just another one of his prodigies. When he handpicked her for
the special unit seventeen years ago, he developed an unexpected bond with her
;
one of trust and love. She had no parents, and he had no
children and over the years in the field and on missions, they became family.
For Maeve, Ganesh was the only real relationship she had ever known. They sat
down and caught up for a few minutes before Ganesh changed the subject.

“I can’t
tell you how good it is to see you, but I’m afraid you have bad news for me.”

“Not bad,
just a warning. I shouldn’t tell you this, but I was on assignment last month
with a man called Naja Pinure.”

“
Yeeesss
. I read about his death a few weeks ago. Why was he
a target? I thought he supported our government’s weapons program.”

“He did. But
he was still a spy. He was caught in one too many suspicious situations where
the Tyrinians were concerned. So I was hired to discover the truth. Which I
did.”

“Of course
you did.” Ganesh smiled at her like a proud papa.

“But here’s
the thing; the Tyrinians are better equipped than we thought and it looks like
they plan to attack in the next six months.”

“That’s six
months earlier than our intelligence predicted.”

“I know. He
wasn’t the only spy. Watch your back and trust no one.”

“I will, I
will,” Ganesh said.

“But,
between you and me, they have every right to attack us. My
time
with Naja were
very educational.”

“I see. So
they know about the mandatory work programs then?” Ganesh asked.

“Yes, and as
I understand it, most would rather die than be forced into labor to further our
society,” Maeve said.

“Well,
between you and me, I get it.”

“I know you
do, Ganesh, which brings me to the most important reason I’m here. After Naja’s
death, I got my hands on some documents and your name is on two internal watch
lists.”

“Well, isn’t
that interesting.”

“I tried to
let you know earlier. I assume you got my message.”

“The pulse
bomb. That was you? I could’ve been killed.”

“Not a
chance. Between you and the agent, alias Quinn, I wasn’t worried. Besides, how
else could I let you know he was a spy?” Maeve asked.

“Maybe like
this…”

“I couldn’t
come until now, I had to lay low. I saw an opportunity to send you a message
and I took it. It let you in on his identity, didn’t it?”

“It did. Will
he try to kill me or is it just a watch mission?” Ganesh asked.

“That, I
don’t know. I didn’t have long to search. Like I said, I saw your name on the
watch lists and I followed up the best I could. Just stay sharp, ok.”

“Okay. I
will, thank you, Dear.” Ganesh put his hand on hers and she smiled at him
again.

“I have to
go now, but if you need me…well, my services, you know how to reach me.”

“I hope it
won’t come to that, but it’s good to know you’d take the call.”

“Always for
you.” She kissed him on the cheek and was gone seconds later.

Ganesh
checked the time.
Damn. I’m late.
He
rushed out of his house thinking about how good it was to see Maeve again, and
feeling betrayed by Quinn, which was ridiculous because he had known all along
what he was.
Maybe I am getting fluffy,
he
thought.