The Code - Genesis - Book I (19 page)

She continues, “It was strange actually, probably a projection of the childhood I wanted.  You and your mother and father were sitting around the dinner table looking at 
Geographic Planet
magazines.

             
Josh’s face hardens and he is silent.  Natan see his expression change. “Professor?” she says.

“How old was I?” he asks.

“Ten or so,” she replies.  Natan and Josh sit looking at one another.  “It’s just a fantasy,” Natan minimizes.  Josh shakes his head no.  Unable to face what this means, Natan tries to change the subject. “Okay…your turn…”

“You know, Agent Natan, there are definitely other powers at work here.”

             
“You think so?” she asks.

Josh knows.  “I do,” he replies with certainty.

“You’re stalling, Professor.”

“Fine.  Fine,” he gives in. “Legend has it that Alfred Nobel’s wife ran off with a Swedish mathematician.  So, to get even, Dr. Nobel shunned the mathematics community and has never issued a prize for math because of the scandal.”

“You’re kidding?” she stammers.

“Actually, the story’s a myth,” he says. “Truth be told, Alfred Nobel was never actually married.”

Natan nudges Josh. “You had me going there.”

Josh replies, “You know, most people actually believe that story, even scientists in the field.”

“What’s the real reason?” she asks.

“It’s interesting, actually,” he says. “Alfred Nobel simply said he never thought about it.” 

Natan can’t believe the simplicity of it all.
“So, the math field suffers because someone forgot to think of it?”

“For your information, Agent Natan, they do offer an award for math—it’s called the Field’s Medal.”

“Well, good to know.  Wouldn’t want restless mathematicians running around feeling slighted, would we?” Natan chides. “I’m thoroughly impressed with your knowledge of this subject, Professor Sails.”

“You should see me do axiomatic foundations of geometry,” he replies with a smile just for her.

“I bet that’s a crowd pleaser, huh?” she replies, sensing his attention. 

“You have no idea, Agent Natan.”

Chapter Thirty-three

The van sits down the way from Natan’s house with the van man inside on his cell phone.  “She left an hour ago to get her dry cleaning,” he relays to his boss.

The male caller replies, “I’ve met with Dr. Berk.  I’ve found some interesting information regarding Agent Natan.  When you call in your status report, inform Baxter that I will be in his office within the hour.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Dr. Berk sits in his office at his immaculate desk in front of his computer.  The computer screen shows a matrix with Natan’s name.  He is intrigued. 
What do we have here?

Inside Baxter’s office, the head of the N.S.A. sits waiting at his desk.  There is a

knock at the door.  “Come in,” he replies.  Baxter’s yes agent enters the office as the triumphant leader greets him. “Ah…Agent.  I supplied the Advisory Committee with the information you gathered on Agent Natan.  I hope you’ll be able to provide us additional information…”

Agent Knight stands in front of Baxter holding a folder with information about Agent Natan, tapping his index finger against the folder.  “I will, Sir.”

Part V

             
             
Faith

Chapter Thirty-four

1983

In a filthy warehouse office, Palko, a tough-looking fellow in his fifties, sits behind his cluttered desk, tapping his fingers to a phantom beat.  Jimmy, a younger version but cut from the same hardened background, hastily enters through the office door.

Palko’s patience is tested. “Where the hell’ve you been, Jimmy?”

An apologetic Jimmy replies, “I was out searching, Mr. Palko.”

“Did you find her?” Palko asks.

“Uh…not yet, Mr. Palko.”

“What am I payin’ ya for?” Palko asks, “This needed to be taken care of days ago.  I thought you said this wouldn’t take more than forty-eight hours.  It’s been nearly two weeks and now so much time has passed…I’m afraid that we may not be able to recover…”

“Mr. Palko, it’s taken longer than we thought, I admit it.  My man at the adoption agency hasn’t been able to access the records to track her down.  He’s still working on it…” Jimmy’s voice trails off.

“How hard is it to find a ten-year-old girl?  We’ve been watching her for all these years, Jimmy.  We can’t lose her now…not now.”

“We’ll find her, Mr. Palko.  I won’t give up.”

“It’s not about giving up, you idiot.  It’s about losing time.”  Palko shoves a young Natan’s photo across his desk.  “She’s missing…has blended into the world now.  She could be anywhere…we may never find her…and you’ll be the one responsible.”

“I’ve handled the situation up to this point, haven’t I?  We’ll find her, Mr. Palko.  I swear to you, no matter how long it takes, we will,” Jimmy promises.

1986

Outside of her middle school, a thirteen-year-old Natan holds her backpack and stands on a curb waiting for a ride.  Natan’s adoptive father pulls up in his Buick with the passenger window down.  “Hey there, kiddo.  You ready?”

“Hey, Dad.”  Natan opens the door and gets into the car, sliding her backpack between herself and her father as he drives away from the school.

“So how was your day, Katie?”

“It was school, Dad.  It’s the same every day.”

“Ah…come on.  You mean to tell me that you didn’t learn one new thing today?” he challenges.

Natan looks at William, who has an expression of interest.  She gives in. “The population of the
United States
is now over 240 million.”

William puts his free arm around her, pulling her closer as he keeps his eyes on the road. “See, now that’s a fact that I wouldn’t have known otherwise.”

Natan smiles and wiggles out of William’s grip.  “Glad I could lift your mood

with statistics on overpopulation.”   As they slow to a red light, Natan turns serious. “Dad, look, you should really let me take the bus with the other kids.  You have to get off early and it’s out of your way…”

William interrupts, “You know the drive home is time I wouldn’t get to spend with you otherwise.  And, since when is it okay for a thirteen-year-old girl to worry so much about such things?”

“Since I hear you talking about you needing more hours since the government cut your pay,” she says.

“You eavesdropping on my phone calls again, Katherine?” he asks.

The light turns green.  William is about to go, when Natan stops him by putting her arm in front of him.

William asks, “What are you doing
,
Katie?”

“Wait a sec, Dad,” she instructs.

“The light’s green, kiddo.  We can’t wait…green means go.”  William starts to put his foot on the gas when another car speeds through the intersection.  He quickly hits the brake.  A dazed William and Natan sit in the rocking car as it reverberates from the sudden stop.  The light turns red.

William continues, “How…how’d you know…?” 

Natan shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know.”  The two sit in silence as they watch the light turn green.  Natan continues, “You can go now…I think it’s okay.”  William looks at Natan in awe as he maneuvers through the light.

Chapter Thirty-five

September 29, 2006
 

             
Natan sits inside Josh’s parked car in front of an anonymous house.  Natan has her hand over her eyes as Josh coaxes her, “Agent Natan.  Our appointment began five minutes ago.” 

An unmoving Natan answers, “I’m really not comfortable with this, Professor.”

“We can’t just sit out here in front of this woman’s house.  It’s just not polite,” he replies.

Natan looks at Josh. “Tell me again why you made this appointment for me without my knowledge.”

Josh counters, “Listen, this woman is one of the best psychics in town, if not the

best.” 

“Uh…yeah.  That word again…” she trails off.

“What word?  Psychic?” he asks.

“Yep, that’s it.  Notice how the word “psychic
”
and the word “psycho
”
are almost interchangeable?  It’s not a coincidence,” she says defiantly.

“Agent Natan.  Look…I’m asking you to make a leap of faith…”

Natan interrupts him. “It’s just one leap of faith after another with you, isn’t it?  You ever thought about becoming a pastor or a minister?”

“Look, Agent Natan.  Deciphering the symbols is taking longer than I expected.  The second one is even more complex and difficult than the first one…and I’m assuming the complexity will only increase progressively with each additional symbol.   The Bible Code isn’t offering up any new leads either at the moment and…”

Natan interrupts again, stalling. “I thought your expertise was in Mayan symbols.  Why are you having such difficulty with them?”

“The symbols I retrieved are unlike any that I’ve worked with before, Agent Natan,” he replies, stifling his annoyance.

She continues, “Maybe we should bring in some other experts or something.”

“You know that’s too risky of a proposition,” he says.

“Ah…but seeing a psychic…yeah, that’s the answer,” she chides.

“It is the most logical choice, Agent Natan.”

“Whose logic are we working with here, Professor…when nothing about any of this is logical?”

Josh touches her shoulder. “We need to figure out what to do next.”

Natan pulls away, replying, “I know what to do.”

“And what would that be?” he asks.

“We wait,” she says proudly.

“Agent Natan, waiting will be the death of us.  It’d be better to talk to an expert.”

“Great.  Let’s do that then,” she says.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.  It’s time to go, Agent Natan.”

“Oh, must we?” she whines.

Josh continues his encouragement. “There aren’t even any signs
identifying her, so no one will have a remote idea as to why you’re here.  Come on.  We’re already late.”  Josh unbuckles his seat belt. “Doesn’t it look benign?”

“It’s what’s inside that I’m worried about,” she says.

Josh exits the car.  Natan reluctantly follows, opening her door slowly and easing her way out of the car.
             
  “See, it’s not so difficult.  One foot in front of the other,” he encourages.  Josh rounds the car to meet Natan on her side.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this, Professor.  I’ll oblige for the moment, Mr. Numbers, but if I see a cauldron or an eye of newt, I’m outta here.”
             
             

             
“She’s a psychic, Agent Natan…not a witch.”  Natan and Josh approach the house.

“You know what I mean.”  Natan looks around suspiciously in her N.S.A. way as they make their way to the door. Josh is just about to ring the door bell when Natan spots him fidgeting and holding his right thumb inside of his right four fingers.  Natan stops him before he depresses the bell.  “What are you doing with your thumb?”

Josh holds his hand up. “What?  This?”

“What is that?” she asks.

“It’s faith,” he spouts matter-of-factly.

“Faith?”  Natan
’s
anxiety elevates even more. 
What am I getting myself into here?

“We’re late, Agent Natan.  I’ll tell you later,” he tries to insist.

Natan stops him. “Oh, no…no.  I need to hear this, Professor.” 

Josh squares off to face Natan.  Realizing that he will lose this battle, he gives in,

speaking quickly. “When I was a boy I used to get stressed quite easily.”

“That’s hard to image, Professor.”

“Do you want to hear the story or not?” he asks.

Natan lowers her head. “My apologies.  Please continue.”

His speech remains quick to eliminate more of a delay. “My mother tried everything to help calm me down and nothing worked.  Then one tense afternoon when I was so stressed because of a serious situation…”  He trails off as he eyes Natan’s expression.