Sparks of Chaos (18 page)

The car opened into a cozy room dominated by floor to ceiling windows on one side that looked out on a beautiful snowy paradise. Rex motioned for them to sit on an ebony love seat facing the windows. He explained to Birgit that they were inside the top of a large mountain. Outside it was snowing hard, icy cold and ferociously windy.

“This is not at all what I expected to see on an island in the South Pacific.” She cuddled up a bit closer to Rex on the couch in reaction to the cold scene beyond the windows, though it was toasty warm inside.

He laughed “This isn’t what I came to show you, I wanted you to get acclimated here before I took you outside.”

“Outside, we’re going outside in that?” she asked with alarm.

“Not exactly, don’t worry just stick by me; you’re going to love it.” A door opened and they stepped outside into a blinding snowstorm. He took her arm and led her out onto a narrow walkway that went directly out from the mountain top. The snow and strong wind whipped wildly around them so thickly they could barely see. Birgit clung tightly to Rex in fear as he led her forward, though she surprisingly wasn’t cold and couldn’t feel the wind.

They continued walking until they reached a round platform. It was glorious. An opaque crystal base seemed to almost magically project from the side of the mountain. With the blowing billowy snowstorm and milky fog floating amongst them, they almost floated alongside the mountain. The base had a crystal clear, chest high railing that both protected them from the abyss below and provided an expansive view of the wintry vista. The buttery warmth came from crystalline fireplaces built right along the railing and provided a wonderful contrast to the outside cold.    

Birgit walked along in awe and with some trepidation as she clung to Rex. He brought her over to a small round table and pulled out a chair for her to sit. She was amazed that it was comfortably warm with no snow on the platform though it swirled all around them. She looked up and saw that there was no roof or covering protecting them. “Why aren’t we getting any snow on us?”

“It is an atmospheric osmosis membrane that permits us to bifurcate the temperature zones in our general area. We project a pressurized…,” seeing the glazed look in her eyes, he abruptly stopped himself. “It’s an invisible shield, that keeps the snow out,” he said, reversing course.

“Well however you do it, it’s wonderful,” she said looking around and drinking in the unbelievable view.

 “I hope that you are hungry, I have planned a special meal for us.”

“I hadn’t even realized it with all the excitement but I am starving.”

As she said that, two blue Taskers emerged out of the mountaintop and down the pathway to their platform. Birgit was startled to see the large faceless blue beings coming out of the cold foggy mist carrying covered dishes. With a somewhat frightened catch in her voice, she asked “What are those?”

“No reason for alarm my dear, those are the Taskers and they are here to serve us. Specifically now they are here to serve us lunch.”

The Taskers set the plates down before them and removed the covers with a flourish. Birgit audibly oohed when she saw a riotous color of food on the plate. It was a plate of flower salad, bursting with bright reds, pinks, whites and vibrant orange petals of unusual plants. It was made more startling by the contrast with the stark white of the setting. A little unsure, she raised a forkful to her mouth and began chewing. Her newly enhanced sense of taste heightened the exotic tastes and textures in her mouth. It was sweet and crunchy and somewhat velvety and utterly delicious.  

“What do you think of it?” he asked.

“It’s wonderful, it’s all wonderful.” It was difficult not be swept away by all of this. In less than a day her world had been completely upended as if hit by a hurricane. Nothing was ever going to be the same for her ever again. It was hard not to compare her first meal with Rex with that of Chase, though she still thought of him as Michael. Eating at the school cafeteria in Heidelberg simply couldn’t compete with dining on a magical mountaintop.

The Taskers continued to bring extraordinary food and drink to them while they got to know each other. As they began their course, the skies began to clear and the snow stopped. With crisp bright blue skies, they could see for a long distance. With that, it now seemed as if they were floating in the sky.

They completed their meal and he took her hand and led them back into the mountain. “If you are not too tired, we have one more stop to make,” he said.

“No, I’m not tired at all, where are we going next?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” They returned to The Snake to travel to the north western portion of the island. The doors opened and they walked out to bright warm sunshine and gazed upon acres of artfully arranged fields of flowers and manicured lawns. With a quick journey of just a few moments they were greeted by a startling contrast of weather and landscape.

Rex had needed to scramble to get this place ready for her. Since there were no initial plans to have females on the island, he had not prepared any housing that he felt they would particularly enjoy or find suitable. He made some major architectural design adaptions that he believed would suit someone like Birgit. It certainly came in handy to have an army of workers who could ensure that all of those changes would be made into a physical reality in no time at all.

They walked down a path fragrantly scented by tens of thousands of blooms. Many of the flowers were unfamiliar to Birgit as they were to be found only on the island. They strolled slowly and admired the scenery and natural beauty found along the path. He had to control his natural instinct to explain the scientific process involved in the creation of new flowering species and instead just enjoy the moment.

They walked around a bend in the path which revealed a small shimmering lake with an island in its center. The island was shaped like a lotus leaf with a pink pastel building in the form of a lotus flower. At the edge of the lake was a flat bottomed boat with a Tasker standing silently by awaiting instruction. Rex assisted Birgit into the boat and they sat on a cushioned bench while the Tasker took a long metal pole and pushed them leisurely towards the island. The water was only a few feet deep, clear and filled with large rather comically silly, colorful fish.

It was a short but pleasant boat ride as Birgit cuddled close to him. The Tasker assisted them leaving the boat and stood quietly for when he would be needed again. The building ahead was deceptively large and several stories high. The entrance was cleverly hidden behind the interwoven petals. They entered a high ceilinged atrium, pink silk walls and a dark golden rose stone floor. Rex walked her through room after room with delicate, feminine and sophisticated furnishings and accessories. She particularly loved the large bedroom filled with natural light from the skylights and outer walls that had adjustable settings that changed them from opaque to clear.

A spiraling staircase led them to a large rooftop patio filled with greenery, flowers and plenty of intimate seating. They sat at a table overlooking a sparkling sapphire blue swimming pool. They both sipped icy drinks which had been set out for them. Birgit tasted a semi-carbonated milky, honey drink with tiny ice crystals.

“So do you like it?” Rex asked.

“Of course, who wouldn’t it’s amazing.” Looking at Rex she thought to herself, now this is a man. Quite a difference from Chase who was clearly still a boy. Like many girls, she was attracted to males who were a few years older than she was. Most boys her age often seemed immature and juvenile. Rex had explained to her during their lunch that he was really much older than he looked (though he had not shared that he was over seventy before his arrival here, plus almost another sixty since then) had enhanced his looks and that soon enough she would be an older woman herself living in a teenaged body. It was a little disconcerting but she understood and accepted it. She was surprised when Cheswick began walking towards them holding a small golden box.

“Sir” he said addressing Rex, “I am sorry to bother you but this package has arrived for you.”

Looking annoyed at the interruption, he took the package and read the attached tag. Looking surprised he handed the package to Birgit and said “It’s for you.”

“For me, no one knows I am here.”

“Open it and see what it is.”

She was very careful while unwrapping the package so as not to rip the beautiful gold paper. Opening the box, she removed a small golden key. “What is this?”   

“See if there is anything else in there.”

Birgit pulled out a small note card and read it aloud, “It says, welcome to your new home.”

“I hope you enjoy it.”

She screamed, “Is this for real, and is it really mine?”

“Of course it’s yours, I wouldn’t joke about that. Cheswick will be staying with you from now on, so you won’t be here alone. If you don’t like this one, we will pick you another.”

She leaned over and whispered closely into his ear, “Thank you, thank you.” Then she kissed him.

Chapter 31

Franz massaged his forehead with his fingertips in hopes of preventing what he knew would be a fast oncoming headache. His assistant came in to tell him yet again that Professor Freund was calling for the fourth time this morning wanting an update on his daughter’s disappearance. He waved his hands at her indicating that she should tell him he wasn’t in the office. He hated treating him this way; it wasn’t that he didn’t feel for him, if anything he felt too much for him. There was something about this particular case that was eating him alive. He could not let it go. Ask any career police officer and he could tell you of the handful of cases that kept them awake at night, some of them from even twenty or thirty years ago. For him, he already knew that this was going to be one of those cases.

He was convinced that the girl was dead but he had no proof yet. They had found some new clues but nothing he was able to share yet with her father. He knew that the man was hurting and looking for any scrap of hope he could find. It wasn’t like him to avoid difficult situations such as this and he was somewhat surprised and disappointed that he was doing it. The one redeeming piece to all of it was that Franz had decided to do whatever was necessary to get to the bottom of this case, no matter where it lead, no matter what it cost.

He had never had children of his own and for that he was grateful. It would be a lie to say he fully understood what Birgit’s father was enduring right now but he had been a policeman his entire adult life and seen enough suffering to last several lifetimes. It was just that he couldn’t endure seeing him at this point. Franz vowed to meet him soon and have something material to tell him, regardless of whether it was what he wanted to hear.

Just this week they had finally got identification of the boy in the video with Birgit. He was an American named Michael Wagner. There was no record of his entering Germany but with the European border rules he could have entered anywhere in an EU country and then crossed into Germany without showing his passport. They had contacted the American authorities for information and a request to speak with him. So far there had been no response. That was somewhat unusual as they had informed them they considered the boy a ‘person of interest’.

He was far from convinced that the boy was responsible for the disappearance or death of the missing girl. Based on the video tape that he had seen, he couldn’t logically see how the boy could have removed or hidden her body in that short period of time and her body was not found despite a thorough search of the building. There was a gut feeling that he was either involved or had some valuable information on the case. It was disturbing that he had been seen with her all week and then suddenly disappears from the scene on the same day as Birgit without any further contact.

To make matters even worse, the University had been fighting their efforts to speak with Professor Hauptmann. He got the distinct impression that the administration was much more concerned about its own reputation than the well-being of their aged scholarly superstar. He had to threaten, albeit cautiously, that the public would not be pleased that the school was stonewalling efforts to find one of its missing students. They agreed to quietly bring the Professor to the police station rather than the retirement home or the school, provided he was accompanied by one of the University’s medical personnel to ensure he wasn’t overly stressed. He had agreed since they knew that the faster they solved this case the better their chances of finding the girl alive. He also had no doubt that the elderly Professor was a witness and not a suspect. They were expecting him to arrive here shortly.

He glanced at his watch; it still amazed him that many if not most of the staff no longer wore watches, instead relying on their ‘handies’ mobile phones for the time. He was too old to change that particular habit; he had been waiting for the results of the DNA blood analysis from the Professor’s office. They had promised it would be here two hours ago and he wanted it before he spoke with Professor Hauptmann. Franz dialed the crime lab and barked out in his gruffest voice, “Where are my reports, are you going to be responsible for holding up this investigation.”

Within five minutes, Dieter from the crime lab came rushing in winded from the exertion of running up several flights of stairs from the basement crime lab. That and the fact that Dieter was more than eighty pounds overweight, added sweat on his rather meaty and reddening face. “We are very sorry for the delay Herr Keitler.”

“You could have just emailed me the results, to save us time and you a heart attack.”

 “There were some irregularities with the results and we felt it best if I discussed them with you personally.”

Looking puzzled, he said, “Go on.”

“I’m not sure if you consider this good news or bad, we have determined that the blood you found was that of Birgit Freund.”

That is sad news I am afraid but not at all unexpected. I don’t see what kind of disparity that represents.”

“In actuality there were two discrepancies, first we found two blood samples and while we found no match, we can say that the second sample was that of a male.”