Echo of Tomorrow: Book Two (The Drake Chronicles) (30 page)

Karl looked at the group at large, seeing them shake their heads. “Anything else, anything at all?”

“I found this,” Kim said, stepping forward. He handed Karl a blown-up photo that showed the name and a group of numbers.

“This is embossed, or maybe forged right into the metal,” Karl murmured, examining the photo closely, “so it might be a manufacturer’s name.” He looked into the distance for a moment, thinking. “Kim
-san
, get on the global net and see what you can come up with,” he ordered, turning to the remainder of the group. “Take a break, people, I’ll see you back here in six hours, Kim might have something by then. In the meantime, see if you can come up with how we can examine these rings without breaking them.”

Kim spent the first three hours tracking down false leads before finding one that proved useful. He queried the shipping department’s computer and came up with the right part number, the quantity ordered, that led to a produce wholesaler, the other a manufacturing company that used it as storage space for computer files. That left two possible leads, but he needed another hour before he gave up on the first and skipped to the second. Both were one-man electronic businesses of some unknown purpose, and a check of business licenses gave him the second’s home address.

Ever suspicious, Kim checked behind him, then made sure nothing visible on the screen might make someone looking at the videophone monitor suspicious. Then he dialed the number. An older man answered, greeting him with a warm smile. It didn’t take long to determine that he’d been the owner of the enterprise, and that he was a jobber for a large electronics company, picking up their overflow. Kim asked if he knew anything about the prior renters, and got some surprising answers. He thanked the man and started the search for the missing renter, running into a brick wall each time. On face value, it was as if he’d dropped off the face of the earth.

“So what did you find out?” was Karl’s first question when Kim walked back into the hangar after two hours’ sleep.

Kim yawned and walked over to grab a cup of coffee before answering. “The last person to rent the place found a lot of equipment inside the building … valuable equipment. The leasing company told him they’d been holding it against the unpaid rent.”

“How long ago was this?”

“According to the records, and what this guy said, no more than ten years ago.”

“I don’t suppose he kept any of the equipment?”

“I didn’t ask, but I will: he still has a lease on the place, you know, he still picks up overflow work.” Kim rubbed his tired eyes and slumped down in front of the computer.

“Get onto him again and see what you can find out. Also if we can sublease, or buy him out. I want to get a look at that equipment.”

“How high shall I go?”

“Your discretion, but bargain, don’t give away the store and make him suspicious.”

“Right, Chief, I’m on it.” Kim yawned, and again, and gulped down half a cup of coffee. It was going to be another long day.

* * * * * *

Kim whistled to get their attention. “Good news, guys and gals. Thinking the owner might come back, and because of Sharia law, the old boy wrapped everything up in plastic and placed it in the back room of the warehouse for safekeeping.”

Karl’s exhaustion lightened. “That’s great, what else?”

“He had also arranged a sublease with the gentleman, but strictly under the table, since according to his lease … he couldn’t do it.”

“So there’s a possibility this missing renter is still alive,” Karl mused.

“A possibility, but where do we look?” Sandra said. “If he’s vanished for some reason, how on earth are we going to find him?”

“Kim
-san
, did you check the local hospital and records, to see if he died?”

“Yes, that was his first assumption, but there was nothing.”

Annette spoke up. “Karl, if you were living in, say, Moscow in 1950, and someone walked away from their business, home, property, and valuable equipment, and there was no record of an accident or death, what would you suspect?”

“Shit, that’s easy, the KGB of course.”

“Exactly.”

“But they don’t have secret police here, or for that matter, any secrets.”

“But they do have the religious police,” Sandra said, “or ‘State Security’ as they like to call them, and what’s the main purpose of that organization?”

Kim considered this. “As far as we’ve been told, and from what we know, they act as a worldwide police force.”

“Yes, true, but what else do they do, besides that?” she asked.

Karl had to think a second. “Well, before that, they were concerned with the suppression of any weapons technology, and political or religious radicals, elements that might upset the system.”

“So what does that suggest to you?” Sandra asked.

“Sandra, this isn’t a weapon, at least not by their … or even
our
definition!”

“So why were only four of these rings ever made? As you pointed out, they were a perfect transportation system, and much, much more.”

“Humm! I see what you mean. If someone wanted this technology, someone powerful, they could have it declared dangerous and have the poor sucker arrested.”

“And?”

“Which leaves us with two possibilities? One, they never got the secret out of him and killed him, or two, they’re still trying, and he’s still alive.”

Sandra nodded. “Right. And if he’s still alive, he would have to be in one of those so-called rehabilitation centers wouldn’t he?”

“It’s a stretch, but you could be right,” Karl said. “The question is, how do we go about finding him?” He turned to Kim. “Do we have a full name or any other identification of this person?”

“No, but I can get it.”

“Good, do it. Once we have that, and a means to identify this man, we start searching.”

The national record center didn’t have anything on such a person. Neither did any local agency they could tap into, and the more they dug, the deeper the mystery. It was as if this person had never existed. They were just about to give up when Kim tapped into the national population data bank.

“Bingo!” Kim yelled, waking them all up. “I’ve found him!” And he had. Not only was there a holographic picture, but also a full bio. It turned out that William Ellis was a professor of mathematics and quantum physics, married with no children, and his wife’s name was Marjorie Vivian Ellis. A crosscheck gave her current address, and showed she lived there alone. Now the question was: where is her husband, and was he still alive?

* * * * * *

At zero dark thirty, Scott’s comm started buzzing even before he’d had his first cup of coffee. Scott gave the communicator a sour look and continued to pour. He’d be dammed if he’d start another headache until he’d drunk his first cup. Hopefully the caller would give up and leave him in peace until he’d contemplated the early morning light. No such luck. The little monster just kept beeping at him.

“This had better be damn good, or else!” he barked into the comm.

“Touch grouchy this morning, are we?”

“Karl, I’m not in the mood.”

“That’s okay, skipper, I understand, it’s not as if I even went to bed last night … or was it the night before? … anyway, you wanted an update on the widget, so I need you and your cup of coffee to come over to my little workshop for a chat.”

Scott contemplated the comm for a moment. It was unlike Karl to couch his request that way, so it had to be something important he didn’t want to broadcast. “And I suppose you want me to bring a cup of my very special coffee for you.”

“Right. I just love that special brand you found.” That was a lie. Karl was a Marine first and could drink two-day-old coffee from a rusty tin can if he had to.

“See you in a while,” Scott mumbled, already pouring into a thermos.

His car and driver were waiting, as was his security team, and within ten minutes he was walking into Karl’s shop. Pam of course checked before permitting him to enter, but that was SOP now, seeing just Karl. His team was off somewhere, Pam told him.

Scott walked in to see Karl on the other side of the huge hangar. He walked over to the workbench and placed the thermos on top, only to have it almost snatched out of his hand.

“Whoa! How the hell did you do that?” When he came in Karl was standing by some sort of ring some fifty feet away on the other side of the hangar.
There’s no way Karl could run or jump that distance in the time it took me to turn and place the thermos on the bench,
Scott thought. Yet, he had.

Without a word, Karl stepped up to the ring closest to the workbench and stepped through, only to instantly appear fifty feet away by another ring on the other side of the hangar. Scott sat down with a thump. And sat there blinking as Karl stepped into … no,
through
the rings, back to the workbench. Karl had a “cat ate the canary” smile on his face while he poured a cup of coffee.

“I see it but I don’t believe it,” Scott managed. The video of this effect was one thing, seeing the rings in action was another and it hadn’t really penetrated his brain. The physics were way out of his league.

“You and me both, Admiral. It’s bloody impossible, but there it is.”

Scott stood and stepped into the ring, turning to see Karl on the other side of the hangar. He stepped back through and sat down again, deep in thought. It was one thing to see a short video of the effect, and another to step through the rings themselves.

“Can we reproduce or duplicate this?”

“Not yet. We have to round up the inventor and ask him.”

“I see,” Scott answered absently, his mind working at full speed. “What’s the distance these rings can be apart for it to still work?”

“Twenty-five miles at this time. That’s one experiment we did, but I think the rings aren’t affected by distance. First we need to get the inventor, a guy by the name of Ellis, and get him here now.”

“So?”

“We need to get into the police database … from what we suspect he’s been um … well … vanished.”

“Still alive?”

“Again unknown, until we get hold of Mrs. Ellis and find out. If he’s in one of those rehab centers, we’ll need to get into the rehab databanks to find him.”

“I’ll get that for you … but if we can duplicate this …” Scott trailed off as myriad possibilities cascaded through his brain. “Karl, if we can duplicate this, you know what that means?”

“I think so.”

“Good god. This is the most important secret I have ever known.”

“Tell me about it. Why do you think I was so offhanded when I called?”

“I’m glad you were. We have to wrap this up tight, until we understand how to control … switch off … whatever you do with this thing. The fewer people who know about it the better.”

“Agreed.”

“If we can make larger or smaller versions of this, just think … God! Think how much space we can save on a warship by eliminating all the piping.”

“Damn, I hadn’t thought about that one, Admiral. I was just thinking of it as a transportation system.”

“It is. From what I can see you can transport anything: water, gas, oxygen, fuel, you name it.”

“Oh my lord …” Now it was Karl’s turn to go blank as he thought about those possibilities.