The Ninth Orphan (32 page)

Nine handed over the pistol without a moment's hesitation then knelt down. Kentbridge aimed the weapon at the orphan. He hesitated as he looked down into Nine's cloudy, unfocused eyes.

The conflicted senior agent looked away for a moment. He was distracted by the soft rain that was illuminated by the narrow shaft of light coming from below ground. The rain sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow. Kentbridge was momentarily captivated by this natural phenomenon. Children's voices coming from the underground orphanage added to the magical effect.

Kentbridge watched the mesmerizing light for several long moments then turned back to Nine who was still kneeling before him. He was surprised to see his protégé fighting hard to come out of his mind-controlled state. He’d been told it was impossible for a hypnotized subject to become even partially conscious until the MK-Ultra program wore off. But looking at Nine’s eyes it seemed as if a small part of his mind was rebelling. Almost as if Nine’s will power was struggling to override his defeated brain.

“
Help me,” Nine mumbled.

Touched by Nine’s indomitable spirit, Kentbridge found he couldn't pull the trigger. Instead he pocketed the pistol, knelt before Nine and held him as a father would hold a young boy. Still in a trance-like state, Nine hugged Kentbridge tightly.

Behind them, Seventeen suddenly appeared out of the dense foliage, pistol in hand. Breathing hard, she pulled up and quickly assessed the situation. Then, holding her pistol in the ready position, she advanced on the two men.

Spotting her, Kentbridge released Nine, stood up and stepped toward Seventeen. He noted her gun was trained on Nine and there was murder in her eyes. Nine remained in an altered state and unaware of the danger he was in. Kentbridge stepped directly in front of him, spoiling Seventeen's line of fire.

Determined to terminate Nine, Seventeen motioned for her superior to move aside. “What are you doing, sir?” she asked, alarmed.

46

K
entbridge walked closer and looked into Seventeen’s eyes. “Jennifer Rosemary Hannar,” he recited. “Activate MK-Ultra Program. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.” Seventeen's eyes glazed over when she heard the voice-commands. Kentbridge continued, “Your mission is to drop your weapon.”

In her now mind-controlled state, Seventeen dropped her pistol without question. As she did so, Nine suddenly snapped out of his MK-Ultra trance. His mind was foggy and he had no memory of the last few minutes. Disorientated, he looked up to see Kentbridge standing over him. Nine then noticed Seventeen. Spotting her pistol on the ground, he grabbed it, aiming it at her.

Nine’s rapid recovery caught Kentbridge off guard. He was surprised to see Nine was about to terminate Seventeen who remained in trance. “No more killing!” he ordered.

Ignoring Kentbridge, Nine prepared to finish Seventeen. “Sebastian!” Kentbridge said. “She's your sister.” Nine hesitated and turned to the older man. “Take a look at her ring,” Kentbridge added.

Nine grabbed Seventeen's hand and held it up to the light. A ruby ring on her index finger glowed red in the light.

“
She loved rubies,” Kentbridge said.

“
Who did?”

“
Your mother
–
Annette Hannar.”

Shocked, Nine stared at the ruby. He felt as though he was drowning in its swirling crimson depths.
He then looked into Seventeen's glassy eyes.
How could you be my sister?

Realizing she was no longer a threat, he turned back to Kentbridge. “What happened here? I don't remember a thing. How did you --”

“
I recited some MK-Ultra voice-commands to induce a mind-controlled state.”

“
MK-Ultra? But I was never --”

“
Yes, you were. All the orphans were guinea pigs in the program,” Kentbridge said regretfully. “Naylor and I had you and the others initiated into the program when you were still toddlers.”

Nine looked at Seventeen who remained docile and on her knees.
“So why did I come out of it and she didn't?”

Kentbridge shrugged. “I have no idea. MK-Ultra's supposed to hypnotize subjects for at least three hours. It’s almost as if your higher brain was overriding it.” The senior agent looked at Nine with
undisguised admiration
.

Still confused, Nine pointed the pistol at Kentbridge.
He felt conflicted as he noticed compassion in the older man
’
s eyes. Nine despised the duality in Kentbridge. He hated how the man acted so ruthlessly one minute then so humane the next.
If only he could be consistently evil
, he thought.
It would make it a hell of a lot easier to finish the old bastard off
.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you, Tommy.”

Kentbridge looked down at the ground as he thought about his own life and what it was worth – if it was worth anything. In that instant, he became fully conscious of the sins he’d committed in the course of his life. All the guilt rose to the surface. His shoulders slumped as he comprehended the destructiveness of his actions.
Like his protégé, he
’
d evolved to the point where he could no longer perpetuate the brutality demanded of Omega agents.

He looked up at Nine. “I want to redeem myself, Sebastian. It's time to right the wrongs.”

“
You mean like how you killed my mother?”

“
I never terminated Annette,” Kentbridge replied emphatically. “Naylor ordered me to, but I refused. He had another operative do it.”

Nine could see he was telling the truth. The lifelong anger he’d felt toward Kentbridge was beginning to dissipate. Nine slowly lowered his pistol.

Kentbridge felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “Now that we're both awake, let's free ourselves.”

Nine thought for a moment. “What now?” he asked. He looked at Seventeen then back to his former mentor. “This is not the part where we ride off into the sunset together.”

Kentbridge gave him a wry grin. “Remember I once told you every enemy has an Achilles heel?” Nine nodded. “Omega has an Achilles heel too. You must strike there.”

“
But how? I'd have to kill every agency official who's connected --”

“
Not with violence, Sebastian.” Kentbridge tapped his forehead with his finger. “With your mind. Knowledge is power. And there's one thing you know that could threaten Omega if it was leaked.”

Nine paused and looked back in the direction of the subterranean orphanage then back to Kentbridge. The older man stared at him knowingly. Nine asked, “Where’s he staying?”

“
Naylor’s flying to London now. He’ll be at the Bilderberg Conference in Cornwall this weekend. He's using his Bilderberg connections to try to become the CIA’s director. If you can corner Naylor there, you'll find him at his most vulnerable.”

“
What about Yamashita’s Gold?”

“
The race is over. Omega has the treasures in its possession. They’re transporting the gold to America as we speak.”

As Nine digested this, he wasn’t to know the Omega Agency had recently sent Eleven and Twenty Three, two of his fellow orphans, to the Philippines.
In the daring operation, the pair
had managed to track
the Japanese consortium that had beaten the Chinese to the hoard
. Terminating the Japanese bounty hunters, the orphans
successfully confiscated the quarter-of-a-trillion dollar find.

Kentbridge added, “But Naylor still wants you dead. You know too many secrets, Sebastian.” Noises from the subterranean orphanage distracted him. He listened for a second then continued, “And as for retiring in some exotic, far-away location
–
that's a pipedream. There's no place Omega won't track you down. The Bilderberg Conference is your one and only chance to secure your freedom. And Isabelle’s.”

Kentbridge looked at the
hypnotized
Seventeen then back to Nine. “You’d better get out of here.” He stared pointedly at the pistol in Nine's hand. “But before you go, shoot me.”

Nine looked at his former mentor incredulously.

47

“
Do it. Shoot me in the leg,” Kentbridge ordered. “Naylor must believe I did everything I could to terminate you.”

Nine could see the logic in that. He reluctantly aimed his pistol at Kentbridge's leg and fired one shot. The older man grunted as the bullet lodged in his thigh. Blood flowed from his wound. He looked down at it then shook his head and softly chuckled to himself. Nine bent down beside him.

Kentbridge suddenly reached up and placed the palm of his hand against Nine's cheek. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he gasped, “I'm sorry for what I did to you, Sebastian.”

In a rare moment of sentimentality, Nine stared at his surrogate father. His reverie was interrupted by the sounds of people approaching. Nine jumped to his feet, took one last look at Kentbridge, and at Seventeen who remained in her hypnotic state, before sprinting away. He was quickly swallowed up by the forest.

Seconds later, a dozen or more scientists appeared out of the darkness. They were accompanied by several young orphans. The group approached the two remaining operatives.

Somewhere nearby,
a chopper flew low over the Black Forest. The chatter of its rotors carried to the small group. They looked for it, but couldn
’
t see it.

Nine, who was
jogging
toward the highway in the hope of making a quick get-away in the Renault, stopped in his tracks when he saw the chopper hovering above the rest area where he’d left the car. Even in the dark, it was identifiable as
a military helicopter. Its searchlight traversed the two unoccupied vehicles before continuing its flight over the forest.

Realizing it was now too risky to drive the Renault, Nine set off along the highway on foot. He kept close to the edge of the road, ready to dive into the trees if the chopper returned or if a vehicle came along. He wasn
’
t too worried. Sooner or later, the opportunity to borrow another vehicle would present itself to him. As he walked, he vaguely wondered who was on board the chopper as it flew toward the orphanage site.

Ninety feet
above the forest, Andrew Naylor studied the treetops caught in the chopper
’
s bright searchlight below. He sat next to the pilot, a flight lieutenant with the French Air Force. The pilot studied the terrain on his side as he expertly flew the craft.

“
There she is!
”
Naylor shouted as Seventeen was caught in the searchlight
’
s beam. He was pleased she was alive. Naylor alone knew he had unfinished business with her.

The chopper
’
s beam then settled on Kentbridge who was sitting nearby. He appeared to be talking to a small group of scientists and children from the underground orphanage. Naylor wondered where the duty guard was. The guard was under firm orders to ensure the children never ventured above ground. Naylor pointed at the group and the pilot dropped the chopper down toward them.

On the ground, Kentbridge recited the MK-Ultra voice commands to bring Seventeen out of her mind-controlled state. At the same time, he suggested to the scientists they return below ground with their charges. They retreated immediately.

Seventeen regained consciousness. Kentbridge could tell by her expression she had no recollection of recent events. Confused, she looked down at her superior
’
s wounded thigh. Before she could question him, Kentbridge ordered her to assist him to the chopper which had now landed nearby. This she did as easily as if she were carrying a sack of potatoes. Her strength didn
’
t surprise Kentbridge: he knew what she was capable of. Safely inside the chopper, Kentbridge acknowledged Naylor with a nod.

Naylor looked at his senior agent
’
s wounded thigh.
“
Did you see which way he went?
”
he asked without preamble.

Kentbridge pointed eastwards
–
the opposite direction to which he knew Nine was headed.
“
Yes, sir. He went that way.
”

Naylor nodded to the pilot who lifted off and flew eastwards. In the seat behind them, Kentbridge glanced at Seventeen. She looked suspicious. Kentbridge couldn
’
t care less. He studied the operative
’
s ruby ring through sad eyes. After everything that had gone down, he wondered how different things could have been for Seventeen, and for Nine and the other orphans, if he hadn
’
t mentored them so zealously. At the time, he thought he was doing the right thing. Now, in hindsight, he knew differently.

#

On the highway below,
Nine jogged to ward off the cold. As he ran, he thought about what had just happened. Nothing had gone as expected, yet he wasn
’
t deterred: he now had a golden opportunity to secure his and Isabelle
’
s freedom and he wouldn
’
t have to kill anyone. The fugitive agent was thankful for that. He sensed he
’
d turned a corner. There was no longer room for hatred in his heart. Resentment and mistrust maybe, but not hatred. He knew he had Isabelle to thank for that.