The Gravity of Anti-Gravity (24 page)

“Do you have anything on Joanna’s kidnapping,” I asked.

“Yes I do and this one is even stranger,” explained Rolf. “As you know, three out of the four guys were Arab. The one guy I neutralized was speaking English to his partner in the van but with an accent. My intel indicates that the armed men guarding the parking lot were just foot soldiers, possibly hired to misdirect any investigation if they were caught. This attack was very well coordinated and they have covered their tracks better than most. I’m doing a lot of ‘filling in the blanks’ but my sources tell me that the word on the street is that a Chinese national named Tao Huang is somehow involved. I’ve run into this guy before and I’m pretty sure he has direct ties to the Chinese Government.”

“Have you found out anything else on the other attacks,” I asked.

“The other attacks were less organized. Next I will look into the attack on you and Brenda to see if it was connected to any of the other attacks or if it was some other criminal group,” continued Rolf.

“Rolf, so we don’t disturb you, Bill and I are going into my bedroom and relax,” said Stella.

“See you after your nap,” Rolf said with a smirk.

After we entered her room and closed the door Stella turned to me, put her arms around my neck and gave me a long passionate kiss. I ran my hands over her entire back and shapely derrière while I savored the feeling of her breasts pressing into my chest. As was her custom, she slowly undressed me and I slowly undressed her. With mounting anticipation, we made our way to the bed, laid down and engaged in a lustful experience with just the right balance of fiery passion and tender romance. Either this gorgeous woman knew and fulfilled my every erotic desire or we had a sexual connection made in heaven.

Being fully satisfied, I laid there for a while saying nothing. I broke the silence and softly commented, “Stella, you have just taken the term ‘afternoon delight’ to a level never before reached in history of human existence.”

“I didn’t take you anywhere Bill, we took each other.” Stella whispered.

I sighed deeply as I tried to drink in the magic of this marvelous moment. Then my phone rang.

“Damn it,” I swore. “Why didn’t I turn that thing off? I sure know how to screw up a beautiful moment don’t I?”

“Bill, just be quiet and answer the phone; it could be important.”

“Hello, Bill Burton here,” I answered. Unfortunately it was important.

“Mr. Burton, this is Rosemary at JPL. I have two men from the FBI here and they say they need to talk to you as soon as possible. They want you to come into the office.”

“Ask them what this is regarding Rosemary.”

She did and came back on the line. “They say it’s about your sister Joanna.”

“Ask them if anything’s wrong,” Rosemary.

There was a brief silence and she came back on the line. “They won’t tell me. They say they will only tell you, Mr. Burton.”

“OK Rosemary, tell them I’m on the way. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” I said and hung up. “Stella can I borrow your car? There are two FBI guys at work and they want to talk to me about Joanna.”

“Bill,” Stella yelled. “Call Vaughn first and confirm those guys are legit and belong to him.”

I dialed Vaughn, told the receptionist who I was, and after being transferred a couple times, Vaughn came on the line. I told him about the two FBI guys at work asking to see me.

“Bill, let me make a quick call,” Vaughn said.

About a minute later he came back on the line and said firmly, “Bill, do not go there! There is no one from this office looking for you right now. I’ve already dispatched a team to JPL to see what’s going on. I’ll call you back when I know something.” The phone clicked and Vaughn was gone.

I immediately called Joanna’s cell phone. There was no answer. Then I called Pops and he told me that Joanna was at work. I called the In-N-Out-Burger and asked for Joanna. I was told that she was there but they didn’t let employees take personal calls.

“This is her brother and it’s a matter of life and death” I told the girl on the line.

“May I take your order please,” she said.

Then I remembered that the person taking orders at the window also answered the phone. “I’ll be with you in a minute sir, let me find Joanna.”

After a minute, “Hi Bro,” was the response. Thank God it was Joanna.

“I just wanted to make sure you were OK. You are OK Joanna aren’t you?”

“As far as I know,” she said, “and I can see out the window that my security detail is still in place. He’s eating the hamburger he just bought.”

“Great I was just worried. I love you and I’ll see you tonight, Bye.”

“Stella, you’ve saved me again.” I said thankfully.

Stella and I got dressed to go check on Rolf’s progress. I started by handing her pieces of clothing one at a time and just watched her put them on. Stella seemed to enjoy my ogling as she daintily put on her lingerie and then her outer garments.

“A perfect ending to a perfect afternoon,” I sighed.

“Rolf, any news from our war zone” I asked.

“I think I may have found a connection to the two Indian nationals who attacked you and Brenda”. Rolf said. “The first bit of info indicated that they were hired by some group out of Yemen. That lead turned out to be false. More solid information indicates they were hired and paid by an operative in India named Ichball Singh. I did find one connection to Vasilov A.K.A Montenegro from about five years ago. I almost missed it but it may make sense.”

“So the two Indians’ attack was a first and simpler attempt to get Bill and the device, and the small army attack at the house was the back-up plan,” Stella proposed. “And let’s not forget about Cushing talking to
Montenegro.”

Stella’s eyes lit up like she just hit the lottery. “That’s it; our wonderful Director Cushing is the origin of both attacks. He was afraid if we worked for the U.S. Government and he was afraid if we didn’t. If we worked directly for the government he could steal and sell the technology to his benefactors. However, it would be worth less if the U.S Government also possessed the knowledge. If he could kidnap Bill, before our government had the technology, Bill and his device would be worth ten times the amount. And if we went to work for industry, Cushing would lose out on everything.”

“So when we started talking about taking the technology elsewhere, and not trusting him and the Government, he went to plan B – the attack on Bill and Brenda.” Stella continued. “When that didn’t work he launched plan C – the attack on Bill’s house.”

“I can hardly wait for plan D,” I said.

“OK, boys,” Stella said, “my mind is spinning so humor me for a minute. I want to play the ‘what would I do if I were Cushing’ game.” I’ll play Cushing. Rolf you play me, Bill you play yourself.

“Tell me I don’t have to entertain Bill in the bedroom, will you Director Cushing?” Rolf joked.

“Very funny, now let’s get serious,” Stella said with an excitement I’d never seen before. Stella, A.K.A. Cushing, began her scenario.

“OK, I know that you two, on Wednesday are taking a government chartered private jet from
Burbank to Washington. I know that I need to deliver you; the only two people in the world who can design an anti-gravity machine, to my associates to get paid a bunch of money. I’ve taken the direct approach twice and have nothing to show for it. How do I do it?”

I raised my hand like a third grader. “Pick me, pick me” I said.

“OK, Billy what would you do?” Stella asked.

“I’d highjack the Limo taking us to the airport. I’d switch drivers and then take us to some holding cell until we can be smuggled out of the country.”

“Good answer.” Stella said.

“Now let’s see what Stella thinks,” said Stella.

“I think I’d get us on the plane, hijack it, and fly it to Mexico.” Rolf said.

“Not bad either,” Stella commented.

“Do you want to know what I, the dastardly Director Cushing will do?” Stella said trying to build the drama. “First, I won’t highjack the Limo because I’d still have to get my captives out of the country. Second, I can’t highjack the plane because the moment I vary from the flight plan I’d have six F-15s surrounding me before it left U.S. airspace.”

“So what do I do? Drum roll please! I bring in a second plane. I overwhelm the crew of the government plane and keep them tied up. With the help of one of my men, I direct the Limo driver to take you two to the second plane. A fake crew and government men with fake identification will greet you and get you seated in the second plane. I have another pilot to fly the government plane. Both planes take off and fly on their predetermined flight plan. No one is the wiser including you guys until you look down and see water instead of land.”

“Somewhere over Pennsyltucky,” Stella continued, “the pilot of the government plane, with two male and a female bodies on board, radios in a distress call, says he’s lost power, bails out and boom; the crash wipes out any usable evidence and the bodies who are supposed to be you, are burned beyond recognition. I have just pulled off the perfect crime. I am rich, Bill and Stella are in the hands of the bad guys, and I still have my government job with all the power afforded thereto and everyone thinks you are dead.”

“And you, the dastardly Director Cushing can get all this arranged by Wednesday morning?” I asked.

“I’ve got money and people who will do anything to possess the device. Four phone calls and it’s done.” Stella answered.

“What do we do, call off our meeting with the President?” I asked

“No, Cushing will just find some other way to get to you.” Rolf said. “The best thing you can do is get Cushing caught in his own net. Didn’t you meet with another FBI guy this morning? What’s he like? Can he be trusted?”

“He looks reliable but so did Cushing in the beginning. He may be our only hope though,” commented Stella.

“Let’s set up a meeting with him. I’ll call.”

Just as I was about to dial, my phone rang. It was Vaughn.

“Director Vaughn, what’s up? I asked.

“We apprehended the two FBI agents at JPL. It turns out they were FBI agents but not from our bureau. They came in from D.C. and so far are giving us the run around about why they are here. And your sister is just fine Mr. Burton.” Vaughn reassured me.

“Director Vaughn,” I said, “we need to meet with you right away. We have some information you need to know.”

-31-

It was about 6 PM when we met with Director Vaughn and Jerry at the FBI office. Because Stella was such an enthralling speaker, I wanted her to communicate the information we had on Cushing, his connections in
Europe and what we thought he might do on Wednesday. It took her almost thirty minutes to elaborate on everything.

“Dr. Morton,” Vaughn responded, “that was the craziest story I’ve ever heard, and working for the FBI for over fifteen years, I’ve heard some lulus. But considering what has happened around you the last two weeks, I am inclined to agree with your assessment. It’s a sad day when I discover a fellow agent who has gone bad.”

“With your permission, tomorrow morning I will call my superiors and discuss our options,” Vaughn continued. “We must guard against all the possible contingencies that you have laid out including abduction during your Limo trip to the Airport or during your air transport. The only thing we are sure about is that the bad guys need you alive. Let’s meet back here tomorrow afternoon. Does 4 PM work? By then we will have a counter plan developed and we will go over it with you.”

“Sounds good, see you at four tomorrow,” I said.

Stella and I met at work on Tuesday morning. Even though our plan was to actually begin the detailed engineering work needed to build our device, my heart wasn’t in it.

“Stella, I’m having trouble concentrating. I can’t help thinking about tomorrow. With this gloomy overcast weather, I have this strange feeling of foreboding. What time is our meeting with Vaughn?”

“He’s supposed to be here with Jerry at four,” Stella answered.

“If we didn’t have so many crooks trying to abduct us, it would nice just to get away for a few hours and do what young people do,” I said as I gazed out the window.

“And what do you want to do young man?” Stella asked.

“Let’s go on a picnic!” I said like I’d just made a great discovery. “There’s a place I used to go to a lot. It’s called Chantry Flat. It’s not too far, it’s up in the mountains and it is beautiful. We’ll tell the Security guys where we are going so they can come along, stay at a distance, and still do their job.”

“I am getting a little stir crazy too.” Stella said.

“I’ll drive. Pops rented this great Mustang convertible for me yesterday since my Saturn went to car heaven Sunday. We’ll put the top down. It will be great!”

I went out and informed our security detail of our plans. Stella and I first went to a local deli and got sandwiches and drinks. We got into the Mustang, put the top down and took off. It was an exhilarating feeling! The release of stress and the anticipation of spending the afternoon with a beautiful woman made me almost lightheaded.