CODE X:Episode 1 (11 page)

“Not even Dr. Landau?”

Vicki leans close to her then intones in a
low whisper, “Especially Dr. Landau.”

“I promise.”

Vicki leans back in her chair, satisfied.
She takes a deep breath before explaining, “I brought you here so
they can’t listen to our conversation.”

Candy asks, “Who’s listening?”

“I don’t know for sure, probably security. I
also thought that out here in a public place you will be able to
control any signs of emotion.”

“What do you mean?”

I think they’re watching us.”

Candy looks around.

“Don’t look around. I don’t want anybody to
know what I’m about to tell you.”

She stops swiveling her head.

“I ran a double set of DNA tests. Vicki goes
on. “I purposely coded the second test on your son. In other words,
I renamed one of his vials with a code and used a placebo sample in
its place marked with his name. Someone switched the ones with your
son’s name on it. Please, don’t fall to pieces on what I’m about to
tell you. I need for you to stay calm.”

“Is it bad?”

“Promise me you will be quiet about what I’m
going to tell you.”

“I’ll try real hard.”

Vicki leans in close to her on the circular
bench and squeezes Candy’s hand. She takes a deep breath, then
whispers. “You and your son’s DNA don’t match.”

Candy jerks her hand away. “You’re lying! I
was awake when he was born.”

Vicki’s taken aback by her visible reaction
to the news. “Candy, I’d never lie to you about something as
important as this. He has none of your DNA.”

“I don’t believe you...You’re taking my son
away from me.”

“Also, name one physical trait of yours in
him. Plus, I took the glass that Jimmy drank from and ran his DNA.
Jimmy is not the father. Your son’s DNA is from another set of
parents.”

Candy’s eyes blink in surprise as her mouth
drops open. The reality of what Vicki said hits her. She starts to
softly cry.

Vicki puts an arm around Candy and pulls her
close. But, she’s hit by weak blows from a distraught, tearful
mother. She nervously checks to see if anyone notices the small
commotion. “He’s still the son you bore. Please Candy, we can help
each other if you don’t go to pieces on me. Calm down, please.”

“Why? Why did he do this to me?”

Vicki hands her a tissue. “I don’t know why.
Sometimes doctors begin to believe they’re God.”

“It’s so cruel! Why? Oh God, why?”

“Listen, you have raised him since you bore
him. He has only known you as his mother. You always will be his
mother to him.”

Candy sobs, “But now I know I’m not really,
you know what I mean. What was the purpose for keeping it secret?
“

“Let’s you and I find out together. Quietly
check the clinic records on every pregnancy from the time Alomet
started operations here five years ago, talk to the mothers. Be
very discreet and raise no suspicions from them. There had to be
only a couple of hundred born here since then. You can start the
conversation by bringing up the fact you had to be put under to get
pregnant and you’re working on a study. You can add that Dr.
Collins needs the information for the research project. We’ll only
discuss about what we find outside the lab.”

Chapter 33

Inside an Alomet
airport hangar, Henry wears government blue SWAT gear and addresses
ten men dressed likewise with big yellow NSA letters on their
backs. The SWAT team is composed of Alomet security officers. They
are all armed with assault rifles, grenades and wearing night
vision goggles pulled up over their helmets. Standing with Henry
are Jimmy and the liaison man from NSA.

Two large photos of Biggins and Parks
plaster a briefing board above the satellite photo of the mercenary
compound.

Henry briefs the group, “Listen up men. Ever
since ISIS’ attack on Washington D.C. a year ago, the new
anti-terrorist law allows us to dispose of conspirators in quick
fashion. These two are planning violent acts against your loved
ones and our country.”

He takes a laser pointer and places it on
Parks’ picture. “You may remember this man when he was discovered
planning an attack on the capitol approximately two months ago. He
killed an undercover investigator in his escape. Jimmy is an elite
helicopter combat pilot, and Parks escaped from him when we were
close to his capture during the murder of our undercover agent.
Parks can drive.”

He places the pointer on Biggins’ picture,
“The second picture is one Carla Biggins. She is a former Special
Forces operative who served four tours of duty in Iraq and
Afghanistan. She aided him in his escape to this terrorist training
site in Mexico.”

He then points to a blow up of Macon’s camp
that covers a large portion of the back wall. “They only have two
routes of escape.” He then points to two trails leading away from
the compound visible in the photo. “Their camp is located near the
edge of a desert and that is a bad escape option, out in the open.
Complete surprise is our friend.”

“NSA has provided a contact to embed with us
to coordinate the AWAC surveillance plane, and to make sure their
combat assets are put to good use. Meet Captain Rooney…,” Henry
opens his arm towards the man standing next to Jimmy

A handsome man steps forward, quick nods to
the group and raises two fingers in a quick salute. “… He will be
the lead pilot on this mission under my direction.”

Henry continues, “I do not need to remind
you that the mercs we are going to attack are ex Special Forces and
other trained military men. Our worst estimate is there will only
be a few disoriented stragglers left after the attack. We will mop
up the remaining terrorists after the missiles strike.”

Henry walks around the table closer to the
assembled group “NSA was kind enough to loan us attack helicopters
for this operation. The first chopper is the S70A Blackhawk
transport for you men. I will be lead for the missile attack in the
Apache for use against enemy personnel, their vehicles and other
soft-skinned targets. We’ll have a two hour flight time with in air
refueling at approximately 6 A.M.”

Henry circles his arm overhead. The two
choppers on the tarmac in the distance fire their engines.

“Any questions?”

One of the men shouts out, “What is the
procedure concerning captured prisoners?”

“There will be no procedure. We take no
prisoners. Mount up.”

Chapter 34

Inside an Alomet
movie theater, Vicki and Candy sit alone with nobody near them.
“
The Island of Dr. Moreau
” plays on the screen.
Expressionless, they whisper between themselves.

Candy informs her, “Every woman I talked to
that gave birth had to be artificially inseminated and put under by
Dr. Landau.”

Vicki answers, “That’s what I figured.”

“What does it mean? I don’t understand.”

“I don’t know Candy. Quietly check the DNA
records on all the women you spoke to. Check theirs against their
babies and do it by hand. Make written copies on their files and
create your own paper record on the results. Don’t log onto any
computer. I’ll check the children out in the day cares against
their mothers. Also, I want you to try to find out what’s behind
those guarded doors.”

“Which set of doors are you talking
about?”

“You mean there are more than those on my
lab’s floor?”

“The freight elevators, down the stairway,
anything leading outside the lab has guards. I know because I had
to deliver five cases of blood to a doctor I’ve never seen before.
He was wearing an infection contamination prevention suit.”

“Something’s going on up there. Are you sure
you talked to every woman that was treated in the pregnancy ward in
the last two years?”

“Everyone except Molly. She became scared to
death of her pregnancy. I worked with her here in the DNA lab. She
was always so much fun to be with. We used to go out on double
dates together all the time, and it was Molly who was always making
jokes, cracking everybody up. Then one morning she came into work
trembling, shaking and constantly biting her lip. She became a
nervous wreck overnight and changed into a sad, depressed woman who
would break out crying every time she saw a child.”

“It might have been mood swings in her
pregnancy,” Vicki offers.

“I don’t think so. Molly started to
constantly rub her pregnancy bump, and not like a woman who’s in
love with her baby does. It was really strange. When I asked her
what was wrong, what happened, she just started crying and ran away
from me into the restroom. This went on every day for a whole week.
Then the next day, she was killed in a car accident on her way to
work. Now, there are no records on her anywhere in the company. I
checked.”

Vicki warns her. “Be careful. Be suspicious
even when you’re home at night. They could have your house
bugged.”

Candy replies, “Funny you should say that. I
always feel like somebody’s watching me at home.”

“I have that very same feeling.”

Chapter 35

Vicki is
approached by Dr. Roberts, the young doctor in charge as research
director, as she starts to enter her office. Along with him is a
female technician.
In the background softly plays
the Little Drummer Boy song at the part, “Pa rum pum pum,”
repeating itself coming out of the PA system.

“Dr. Collins, sorry to bother you, but we
need to talk to you privately.”

Vicki reaches for the door and opens it. “No
problem, come on in” She enters and offers a seat to the both of
them in front of her desk. She sits down.

“What’s on your mind?”

The man speaks up. “Dr. Collins, I’ve been
reading some research papers that were published to bone up on your
new theory. I really think you might be onto something.”

“Wonderful. I’m curious. Are you here to go
over the information you researched?”

“Uh…Uh. No. Quite the opposite. The paper
that changed my mind about the project was an estimate on the
workings of the human brain. It stated that we need a deeper
understanding of the staggering intricacy of the estimated 1015
trillion cerebral synapses. That’s one thousand trillion synapses
that may tell us a great deal more than we would learn counting
neurons or looking at the configuration of the brain, as current
studies now do. I’m very concerned we are tampering with the
unknown, especially what effect it may have on the human race.”

Vicki answers him, “Doctor, let me assure
you that I intend to use my findings to help mankind move forward
with cures and the elimination of disease. I don’t have any
sinister plans for my discovery if it is found.”

“I know, I know. I’m so embarrassed to have
to talk to you about this. That’s why my girlfriend…Uh, you know
Patricia…”

“Yes, she’s a fine research technician.”

The man nods. “That’s why we both came in
here together. We want to discontinue working on the project and
leave Alomet.”

Vicki can’t help but do a double take at his
statement. She gathers her composure. “What could I do to persuade
you to stay?”

“Well…nothing. This isn’t a reflection on
you Dr. Collins, not at all. We have our minds made up. We are
resigning.”

Vicki blinks in bewilderment, suddenly out
of words “Is there anything I can say or do to change your
minds?”

“No.” The man rises on his feet. “We are
both deathly afraid that if you succeed, you’re opening Pandora’s
Box for the human race.”

Chapter 36

Biggins stands with Parks on the edge of the raging river she
calls “The River Walk.” They’re both in their shorts to conquer the
river. He’s become a lean, muscled, fighting machine who stands on
the jump off rock with her. He’s smiling a cocky, confident smile.
He is back and in fantastic shape. What a change in parks. Biggins
gives herself a satisfying smile when she looks at him.

Parks announces, “I’m first, Biggins. You
might need my help.” She scrunches her face up at his bravado.

He dives in the white, frothy water, zipping
through it like a human speedboat. What a transformation from his
first attempt! Biggins smiles wide in satisfaction at her work. She
clenches her fist and punches the air when Parks stands up
victorious in calm water. He shoves his fist skyward in triumph. He
walks back to the bank punching the calm water with one hand, with
each step he takes.

He yells across, “Come on Biggins, beat
that!”

She jumps in. She
overhands herself with ease three times when her taut pull line
anchored 20 feet behind Parks -
Snaps
! Like a striking snake, he
grabs her broken line. He reels her in like a guppy on the end of a
fishing line. He stands tall, straight and proud of himself. He
doesn’t break a sweat because her 130 pounds is nothing now for him
to pull in. He pulls her in fast and hard to give her a little
payback. She can’t control the speed or right herself as he drags
her through the water, not letting her stand up even in the calm
water.

“Alright…alright. Enough. You proved your
point.”

Parks grins. “Don’t I even get a, ‘Why,
thank you, super jock’?” he says in a mocking female voice.

“Holy crap, I created a fucking Mexican hot
dog.”

Parks and Biggins walk up to the command
hut.

Eddie sees them approaching and comes out to
greet them. “Hey, I broke through their codes. Vicki’s at Alomet’s
headquarters.”

They start walking towards the center.

Parks frowns and asks, “Is she okay?”

Eddie replies, “Now the bad word. I don’t
know. Love those Russian Contractors. They’ve got more on Alomet
than the CIA.”

Biggins moves her hand in a let’s have it
motion to him, “C’mon Eddie, give us the rest.”