The Dane Commission (The Dane Chronicles) (32 page)

Damage
control.

He walked by
himself back to the elevator, and returned to his office.

The quiet
enveloped him like a warm, comfortable blanket.

Before he
could enjoy it too much, he heard the smooth ‘ding’ of the elevator across the
floor. It was followed by the voices of Jeff and Jim as they made their way
back to Ryan’s office.

“Ryan, that
was unbelievable, the stupid, blind fools,” said Jeff.

“I couldn’t
believe that they wouldn’t even listen to the results,” said Jim. “My guy,
Ranks made his decision without even talking about it. I never even had the
chance to talk about the code I found.”

Ryan said, “Go
home.”
“We’ll talk about it on Monday. Try to have a good weekend.”

Ryan sat at
his desk.
Jeff and Jim were still protesting all the way to the elevator.

Lara knocked
lightly at the door, “Ryan?”

“Hi Lara,
thanks for coming. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s okay,
really. Believe me, I’ve seen worse. I’m going to leave, you can call me at
home if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Lara. Have a good weekend.”

Shortly after,
there was another ‘ding’ as the elevator arrived and whisked her away.

Still Ryan
sat, staring at a blank monitor.

He tried to digest what had happened, wondering how it might have gone if he
had chosen different words. He knew there was no denying it, that meeting was
his fault.

He should’ve
handled it better, kept control.

While he sat
and berated himself, there came another ‘ding’ from the elevator.

Soft footsteps
led to his door.

Dr. Cohen
stepped through.

“Well, that
didn’t go as planned.”

“No sir, it
did not.”

Cohen walked
to a chair by the window, and sat down, looking out across the city.
“I lost control of the meeting, I should’ve done better,” said Ryan.

“Sometimes
Ryan, there are circumstances for which no words will suffice. There was
nothing that could’ve been said that would have held back the tide in there.”
”I could’ve done better.”

”Really? You
think that you could have stopped,
the Dr. Sid Frances?
Really?
”

Cohen said,
“Ryan, he simply didn’t want to hear what you had to say. He doesn’t want to
admit that he made a mistake. He doesn’t want to say that IntelliHealth has
anything to do with the fertility crisis facing the whole world.”

“Eric, what
happens next?”

“Now that,
Ryan, is the right question.”

Rosemary
joined them as Cohen was talking. She glanced at Ryan, walked right past him to
the cabinet behind him, opened a door, and pulled out a bottle with a bow on
top.

“I got this
for you as a gift when you first moved in,” she said.

She deftly
opened it and poured herself a drink.

They watched
as she downed the whole thing.

“Well,
gentlemen, I think that meeting rather sucked.”

Cohen laughed
out loud.

“Rosemary,
Ryan was just asking what our next move would be.”

“Ah, yes of
course. Well, Dr. Cohen must approach Dr. Frances privately.”

“Exactly
correct Rosemary. I believe I will call my old friend and invite him for a
chess game tonight. We used to play back in college, a long time ago. I seem to
recall beating him on more than one occasion.”

“Do you need
his contact number?”

“Yes,
Rosemary, please. That would be very helpful.”

“Ryan, go home
and relax. However, be ready to go over your case again on Monday. I don’t know
when we’re going to get our second chance, so stay organized and be ready.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come
Rosemary, lets get my good friend on the phone.”

Ryan put his things away and went home. Dr. Cohen had made him feel better
about the meeting. Maybe he was right, and Frances simply didn’t want to talk
about the problem.

That night
Jean and Alex called from her parent’s house to say, ‘hi’. They talked for
about thirty minutes before she had to leave because Alex was throwing a ball
somewhere he shouldn’t be.

Ryan made
himself dinner, and settled in for some movies on the vid.

Maybe Monday
would be better.

CHAPTER 14

“Children
know from a remarkably early age that things are being kept from them, that
grown-ups participate in a world of mysteries.”
 
- Anthony Hecht

“When
we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”
- Mark Twain

When Monday
arrived, Ryan went to work and followed Dr. Cohen’s directions. He got some
coffee and put his files back together. He was ready, if or when Cohen might
call for another presentation.

At his desk,
he logged in and checked his mail. Already, there was a message from Cohen,
‘Ryan, please come see me as soon as you get this. Thanks, Eric.’

He didn’t
understand exactly what that meant, but he collected his things and walked out
front. Jim was just coming in.

“Ryan, where
are you going?”

“Upstairs to
see Cohen.”

“Do you want
me to come with you? Maybe I could help.”

“Thanks Jim.
I’ll tell you about it when I get back.”

He got in the
elevator and went to Cohen’s office. Rosemary was already there when he
arrived. Cohen waved him in, and shut the door.

“Good morning
Dr. Cohen, Rosemary,” said Ryan.

“Good morning,
Ryan. Please come join me at the table.”

The three of
them sat down.

Cohen seemed
to be having difficulty picking the right words.

“Ryan, I have
already discussed this with Rosemary, and what I’m about to say, must be kept
in the strictest possible confidence. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Please Ryan,
call me ‘Eric’. I have a story to tell, and I find that I am dumbfounded in how
to tell it.”

Rosemary said,
“Start at the game.”

“Yes, of
course.”
After a short pause, and a drink of water, Cohen began.

“You see Ryan,
I played chess in college. It was just a hobby, but one that I picked up from
my father and it has stayed with me, my whole life. When Sid Frances and I met,
it was in our fraternity chess club, and we became friends quickly. Oh, perhaps
not close friends exactly, but regular friends. Attending the same functions,
meeting in many of the same circles that sort of thing. The thing that kept us
together was chess. We played once a week, for nearly four years. Even
afterwards we continued playing a game every few months, or so. Of course it
slacked off and eventually ended as our careers overtook our free time.”

He shifted in
his chair, and took another sip.

“Ryan, I am
someone who can honestly say that I know the man, and I know how he thinks. Do
you understand?”

“Yes, I
believe so.”

“At first it
was difficult to get him to agree to join me last Saturday night. But I was in
a mood after that meeting, and I was not going to be refused. I wanted the
opportunity to revisit the meeting and appeal to Sid on a personal level.
Eventually he stopped making excuses, and agreed to play, he on his side, and I
in my office.”

“I let Sid
start, as I always did. In all the times we played, he very nearly always began
with the Ruy Lopen opening move. He called it the
Spanish Game
.
 
I remember clearly because I would always
respond with the more conservative Caro-Kann Defense. After that I always went
for the inevitable exchanges, while Sid would always press for the position.”

“What I
experienced that night, was something hard to put in words.”

Cohen walked
to a small fridge in a cabinet, and pulled out another water.

He returned to
the table.

“Ryan, the man
I played chess with, was not Sid Frances.”

“As we played
I saw that he used scripted openings and strategies, and played very
repetitively.
 
As the game progressed,
he played well enough, but stumbled when I made an unorthodox move, and finally
lost when I sacrificed my queen for a checkmate elsewhere.”

Cohen paused
and looked at Ryan, holding eye contact.

“Ryan, do you
understand what I’m telling you?”

“Not exactly…”

Cohen took
another drink of water.

“I swear, I
think I played a computer.”

“SID…
the
program
?”

“Yes, I think
so.”

“Then how do
you explain the video, and the conversation? You must have talked while you
played.”

“Well yes
actually, we did talk. He was polite, but I think he realized I saw through the
masquerade. Our conversation was wooden. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
I had to end the call. I made a poor play with my queen just to end the game
quickly. I won, said goodnight, and hung up as fast as I could.”

They sat in
silence for a minute of two, thinking on the story he told. Ryan spoke first.
“We have to find Dr. Sid Frances.”

“I agree, and
it must be quickly. If your findings are true as we suspect, then SID the
program, somehow pretended to be Sid Frances at that meeting.”

“Ryan, I think
you should go to his home, and speak with him. Discover if he really attended
our Saturday meeting. Maybe it will help understand whom it was that I played
chess with. Meanwhile, I will build a coalition of friends within IntelliHealth
and prepare to release the Dane Commission findings as publicly as possible.”

Ryan stood, “Yes sir, I will do it now.”

Ryan got up
and returned to his office.

He was not at
all clear how to proceed. As he sat there he received a message from Rosemary.
It had three addresses listed. One of them was local, actually not far from
here. The other two would require plane flights. One was in Bellingham,
Washington, and the last in Newport, Rhode Island.”

He called Jim
and Jeff into his office.

“I’ve visited
with Dr. Cohen, and I need to explore some new possibilities. I don’t have a
lot of time, so please listen. I need help from both of you. Jim, please find
the video footage from our meeting and take a look at Frances and Ranks on the
big screens. Look closely and let me know if you find anything.”
“Find anything? Like what exactly?”

“I don’t know
Jim, please just try.”

“Jeff, I need
you to come with me.”

“Do I need to
bring anything?”

“Not now.
Maybe later. What’s your schedule look like for the next couple of days?”

“Uh, well… I
guess I’m free. I’ll need to talk with my wife. Why Ryan, are we going
somewhere?”

“I honestly
hope not.”

Ryan got up to
leave, and looking around, picked up his tablet. If they found Frances, it had
all of his files on it, and technically he could give his presentation if he
needed to. He walked out to Lara’s desk with Jeff behind him.

“Lara, please
make arrangements for Jeff and I to fly to Bellingham, Washington tomorrow, and
Newport, Rhode Island the day after. Also, we’ll need transportation in each
city. Please make all the arrangements tentative, and send me the details.”

“Sure, Ryan.
No problem, I’ll send you the details shortly.”

Jim said, “Ryan, why are you and Jeff flying to Washington and Rhode Island?”

“Jim, please
just trust me, I can’t say any more right now.”

He headed to
the garage with Jeff following behind.

Lara looked at
Jim and said, “Was that mysterious, or was it just me?”

“Yeah, that
was weird all right.”

He almost ran
back to his office.
Sitting down at his terminal, he pulled up the IntelliHealth video archives.
Looking through the dates and times, he found the video of the Saturday
meeting. He sat back and drank his coffee as it started to play.