Legacy of a Mad Scientist (53 page)

"Already?" Urich sighed and shook his head.

"What's that about?" Cole muttered, reaching for the
handset.

"They're looking for me," Ashley said.

"It has nothing to do with you," Urich replied.

"Two weeks ago my parents were murdered. An hour ago,
Mr. Dunkirk told me that he killed my mom. He told me that he was
hired to do it, he said it was business and that he killed his wife
for pleasure."

"He talked to you," Urich asked. "You didn't tell us
that he talked to you."

"I didn't tell you lots of things. If I had told you
my name, I might be dead already."

Urich looked up at the stack of corpses and remained
quiet for a couple of moments. "Two weeks ago, huh?" he asked,
after a prolonged silence. "And he said he was hired to kill your
mom?" Urich asked.

"One of the Agents shot my dad. They were waiting for
him. They had the whole house surrounded."

"You saw them?" Urich asked.

Ashley nodded. "This morning they caught my little
brother."

She was beginning to tear up.

Urich gestured for the two officers to spread out,
guarding the paths leading into the little clearing.

Once they were out of earshot, Urich knelt to meet
her at eye level. "Well, then, your name has to be Ashley Fox,
doesn't it?"

Ashley didn't answer but became much calmer.

She realized that she had no reason to consider
herself safe, surrounded by these four men. For all she knew, they
were every bit as dangerous as everyone else she'd encountered
recently.

Urich stood up straight.

He looked around the forest, not at the pile of
corpses, but at the trails leading to and from their position. He
scanned the tree lines and horizon, looking for anything out of the
ordinary.

“We heard about your parents," he said. "Me and Cole
here, we're homicide detectives. That means when someone turns up
dead, they call me, or one of my friends.

“It's not as if you can call some other police
department, there's only one. You could say we’ve got a monopoly on
solving murders. So even if the victim is a famous whatever, it's
all the same clean up crew.

“When we don't get a call, on a double homicide, like
what happened to your parents, then we just know something's rotten
somewhere.

"Oh, we heard about it. The Feds are required to file
paperwork with the state, in order to clear it with the Attorney
General. They filed your address. We got notified, after the fact.
We should have been there."

Urich looked up to the towering gulch of limbs and
dirt then back to Ashley.

"So, what I'm telling you is, I believe you, and I'm
going to
order
my partner to believe you. He has to do
whatever I tell him. We're going to help you, but you have to help
us too, okay?"

Ashley nodded.

"Tell him everything. Don't leave anything out."

Ashley realized Detective Urich was about the same
age as her father, maybe a little older, maybe the age of Mr.
Dunkirk. She also realized the heavily muscled detective could eat
Mr. Dunkirk for breakfast.

"My partner is going to take you back to our office.
You stay right next to him. Tell him anything that you think may be
significant. We need to find out who's behind all this."

"I know who it was," Ashley said. "It was National
Intelligence Director Joseph Stanwood and Deputy Director Wolfgang
Von Kalt."

Urich turned to Cole, "Take her back to the station.
Get her statement."

Urich looked to Ashley. He took the time to kneel,
getting eye-level with the girl again. Urich held up his finger and
looked around at the other people. He pointed at Cole. “Tell him
everything.” Then he pointed to the other officers, just out of
earshot. “But when there’s people around…”

“Not a word,” Ashley agreed.

Urich nodded and stood, summoning the uniformed
officers back.

"Don't you want to be there for that?" Cole
asked.

"Sooner the better. I'm going to be here for a while,
and we need her on record now. Don't file, just take it and sit on
it. She’s just another juvenile witness, confidential identity;
need to know only, like any juvenile, nobody special. Don't let her
out of arm's reach, handcuffs, if necessary, understood?"

Cole nodded.

"I'll go back up this way with the uniforms. Once you
get out of this mess, just call the car over to you, I'll put it on
remote once I get up there. It took fifteen minutes to get down
here, so give me twenty or thirty to get back up there. Don't even
call it for an hour. If the spooks see our cruiser pull out empty,
they'll know something's up."

"What the hell are we going to do for an hour?" Cole
asked.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you'd get the fuck out of
dodge. What's an hour? I just don't want the car taking off two
seconds after I walk away from it. They're feds, but they're not
stupid."

“We can just call a cab, they’ll be here in five
minutes.”

“Are you a complete asshole, James? Why not just race
me back and hand her over? Call a cab?”

“Sorry, wasn’t thinking.”

“I don’t have any coffee, but oh, wait, here’s a cup
full of
Wake The Fuck Up
!” Despite the cruel nature of his
words, Urich was half-joking.

Cole nodded. “No cab, I get it. Okay.”

Urich rolled his eyes and smiled. He looked to Ashley
and raised his finger to his lips. He then looked at the two
uniformed officers and said, "Same goes for you. What you saw here
today, you take it to the grave, understand? Direct order."

The patrolmen nodded.

If Urich had some hidden agenda, Ashley thought he
was doing a marvelous job of disguising it.

Deputy Director Von Kalt stood at the center of the
maelstrom. The agents infested the crime scene, questioning and
badgering the municipal investigators.

He could smell the girl, but something was off. She
had been here, just minutes ago. He could feel the presence of the
Micronix, but there was something else, something broken, and
fragmented.

He was better, greater. He was the Metachron. He had
the power of forty thousand. The child was only one.

Detective Urich crested the hill with the uniformed
detectives. One of the crime scene techs directed him over to the
Federal officers, standing near the cruisers.

“Where is she?” Von Kalt demanded, not even waiting
for proper introductions.

“You mean he? The suspect has been taken into
custody.”

“She is extremely dangerous. We believe this child
has been in contact with terrorist organizations. She has
information that is vital to national security.”

“I’m sorry, you must be confused. We’re investigating
multiple homicides here. You feds must be so used to muscling in,
you must have gotten your parties mixed up.”

Urich moved to walk past, but Von Kalt drew his
weapon, he kept it pointed at the ground. “I am Deputy Director Von
Kalt of the National Security Agency. This is a matter of national
security.”

Von Kalt then raised his pistol to Ulrich’s face.

Every officer at the crime scene drew their weapons
and pointed them at Von Kalt.

Urich smiled.

Von Kalt didn’t need the multiple surveillance angles
of the Metachron to see he was outnumbered. Then he smelled a third
scent on the breeze, something different. Despite the dozens of
weapons in his face, he looked across the canyon.

Bobby stood, watching them from a nearby rise. He was
still wearing his all white suit, and Oscar sat at his feet.

Von Kalt could not see the power Bobby held, but he
knew it was there. He lowered his weapon. “I’d like to speak to
that witness,” he said.

Von Kalt waved to his new crew of agents and pointed
at the little boy in the white suit. “Go,” he ordered.

The agents set out in the direction of the small
hilltop.

Bobby turned and walked from the rise. Oscar remained
where he’d been sitting, untroubled by the boy’s exit.

Urich nodded, and several officers set out to assist,
or interfere, with the Federal Agents attempting intercept and
interrogate Bobby.

All anyone found was Oscar, who happened to wander
across their path some time later.

Sunday, August 2, 2308

Von Kalt returned to Stanwood’s Angel City office
after being utterly unsuccessful in the canyon. The news stream
from Calistan Way played on a wall-mounted display. The reporter’s
commentary on the grisly procession of white plastic body bags
being pulled from the canyon was thankfully muted.

Stanwood was speaking to President Conway on his desk
terminal. “I completely understand Sir.”

“I hope you do, because nephew or not, I can’t
protect you from this.”

“Yes, Mister President.”

“This could take down my entire administration. If
that happens, I promise you Joseph, you will pay the ultimate
price.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“You do that, Joey. You do that.”

The terminal clicked off.

Stanwood grabbed his terillium jacket and with his
newest accessory, a silver-handled cane, he limped past Von
Kalt.

“What do you need the coat for,” the deputy asked.
“It’s the middle of summer.”

Stanwood ignored him, but Von Kalt followed anyhow.
“I told you Dunkirk was a mistake,” he muttered, unable to help
himself.

“He wasn’t the only one,” Stanwood replied.

Cole let Ashley take the lead as they hiked out of
the forest. She headed for a street that ran parallel to her own,
but went up the opposite wall of the canyon.

They saw no one as she and Detective Cole walked up
the block, soon arriving at their destination. The house was at the
apex of the hill, facing the open canyon. Ashley was worried that
she wouldn't recognize the structure from the front, but it wasn't
difficult.

"I came to get proof," Ashley told him. “This is
where it is.”

“Dunkirk was an accident?" Cole asked, confused.

"When I ran into Bobby in the forest, this is where I
was coming."

"Who is Bobby again?" Cole asked.

"Bobby Dunkirk, he's the youngest son. I met him in
the forest, when I was on my way here."

"And where is here?" Cole asked, looking at the
imposing, yet abandoned structure. A layer of soft, fine dirt,
blown by the wind, covered the driveway and the walk leading to the
door.

"I don't think anyone is here."

"I came back for security footage, and this is where
it is," Ash said.

She walked up the driveway. She was surprised Cole
didn't object or move to stop her. In fact, he stayed right next to
her.

Ash slipped her hand into her pocket and held the
device. She waved her other palm in front of the access panel.

The door chirped, depressurized and hissed open.

She hesitated. She hadn’t done anything clever or
special. Ashley had no idea why a panel at a house she had never
been to before should recognize her. It was possible the Micronix
had done it for her, but she didn’t know how.

A car screeched to a landing in the driveway behind
them.

Ash and Cole froze as two suited agents exited the
car. They both wore mirrored sunglasses.

Seeing Ashley and Cole, the driver gestured for his
younger partner to calm down. He surveyed the surroundings and
respectfully approached.

"Hello Ashley, I’m Chief Warrant Officer Lee," he
spoke to Ash, but then extended his hand to Detective Cole,
breaking eye contact with her to look over to him.

"Detective Cole," he said, as they shook.

"How do you know my name?" Ashley asked.

"What are you doing at this house?" Lee asked.

"You're on my father's security team, aren't
you?"

Lee nodded and bowed slightly, "At your service."

"It was you that Ross saw," Ashley said. "He thought
you were the bad guys staking out my house.”

“Oh, they’re here too. Don’t be fooled.” Lee smiled.
“They almost caught when you stopped by your home. It was only
because they pulled one team off to replace them with a fresh crew.
You hit the only window in months of surveillance. We were all very
impressed. Congratulations.”

“What happened to you guys? When they came for my Mom
and Dad, why didn't you stop them?"

Lee gestured for them to enter the residence. He
followed his partner in and waved at the panel. The door closed
behind them.

"They came here about an hour earlier, arrested
everyone. They had warrants with our names. There was nothing we
could do. We haven't come back to this location, but we've kept
them out too. We have lawyers protesting the entire fiasco,
everything is frozen until it gets settled in court."

"I need evidence," Ashley said.

Lee waved a hand over the control panel. The sensors
recognized his presence and fired up the displays.

Everything was sill operational, feeding real time
streams of Ashley's house and street. The four motion sensitive
relays were trained on various sections of the property, while the
oscillating and static positions displayed focused locations.

Several high-powered rifles and large bore weapons
were trained on key positions of her family home. Crosshairs over
street level doors, the front, sides and even the landing pad, all
covered.

Lee pulled up the date of the attack. He scanned
through the footage, slowing as the rooftop landing pad and front
lawn filled with black vehicles and federal agents.

"That's them," Ash said.

Lee backed up a few minutes and switched through the
focal ranges. He found the infrared and panned through the house.
Ash saw her mom coming up to the main floor from downstairs. Even
though her figure was represented as light, translated by the heat
in her body, Ashley could recognize her mother's walk.