The Zul Enigma (18 page)

‘When I stayed with him
the other night, a couple of mad e-mails came in.’

‘What do you mean, mad
e-mails?’ Joseph asked.

Drew shook his head. ‘I
can’t say. The UN wants to keep it hush-hush. They made me sign a
confidentiality agreement. Thing is they don’t know where these e-mails came
from. Neither does ITU-T. So Carlos flew to New York to discuss it with the
Secretary-General and he took it to the Americans.’

‘Why involve them?’

‘To get help tracing the
messages. They met Bob Anderson.’

‘Straight to the top
huh? They must be worried.’

‘It’s a mystery all
right. Thing is, Carlos told me he clashed badly with the President. Seems they
pissed each other off royally.’

‘Why?’

‘Conflict of
personalities. They rubbed each other up the wrong way. You know how much
Anderson’s been dissing NASA. Add Carlos on his high horse and you can just
imagine the fireworks. Seems Carlos made a right arse of himself and now they’re
investigating him too… and…’

‘… and?’

The wind gusted icy and
shrill. It didn’t disturb Joseph’s short wiry curls but it whipped Drew’s hair
across his face. He brushed it out of his eyes and turned up the collar of his
overcoat. ‘… and the thing is Joe… he’s not well. Elena’s murder? It’s
completely messed with his head.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I told you when I had
dinner with him the other night, he ended up crying like a baby.’

‘You know how emotional
Carlos is. And you did say he’d had a few.’

‘Sure he was pretty
pissed… but it wasn’t just that. He’s a mess. He’s got no friends. All he does
is work and he hates it – he hates his job.’

‘I didn’t get that
impression when we met the other day.’

‘Of course you didn’t.
He put on an act for you. For heaven’s sake, even Erika said he looked like
crap.’

‘You’re talking like
there’s something seriously wrong,’ and Drew was surprised to catch a glimpse
of concern cross Joseph’s usually impassive features.

Drew shrugged. ‘I’m no
doctor. I don’t know how bad it is. All I know is I’m worried. Especially with
these messages coming in. God knows why they had to appear on his computer, but
they’ll be big trouble for him, believe me. If the Yanks can’t figure out who
sent them, given his mental state at the moment, they might try and pin them on
him.’

‘Why do you think that?’

‘Come on mate, you know
the direction Anderson’s going. All this shit about slashing NASA’s budget?
It’s not because he wants to cut back on US interests in space. On the
contrary! What he’s pissed about is NASA’s too tied in with the Russians and
all the other nations involved with the International Space Station. That and
the fact US activities in space are too closely monitored – which is
where Carlos comes in – he’s the one enforcing the peaceful use of outer
space shit.’

‘I guess you’ve got a
point…’

‘Of course I’ve got a
point. And if they find out he’s gone a bit sick in the head…’

‘National Intelligence
will be checking up on him already…’

‘…then they’ll have
him.’

‘And you were just with
him. You’ll be on their list too. You’d better be careful who you talk to and
what you say.’ Joseph lowered his voice and Drew, a couple of inches taller,
had to stoop to catch what he was saying before the wind blew the words away.
‘You know I do business with militaries all over the world. More often than not
they have conflicting goals, if you get what I mean. And there are big sums of
money involved and a lot of jealousy and suspicion. I have to be very careful
because I see and hear a lot of things – sometimes unpleasant things
– very unpleasant things. I hear what you’re saying about Carlos. I know
what the “powers that be” are capable of.’

‘And your point is…’

‘My point is I’m glad we
met. It’s good you told me all this. Give me a day or two and I’ll be in touch,
okay? Then we’ll see what we can do to make sure our friend gets out of this
okay.’

CHAPTER 11

Carlos sat up with a jolt as his brain struggled to make the transition from
dream world to real world. Registering the persistent ringing of the phone, he
grabbed it and put it to his ear.

‘Yes?’

‘Dr Maiz? This is Amanda
from the President’s office. We’ve finalised our investigations and are ready
to acquaint you with the findings. Tom will pick you up in thirty minutes.’

‘Okay. I’ll be ready.’

Carlos went into the
bathroom, took off the dressing gown and hung it on the back of the door. He
splashed cold water over his face, trying to rid himself of the residual
muzziness the nap had left clouding his head. He shaved, brushed his teeth,
patted on cologne, combed his hair and got dressed. He wasn’t looking forward
to this meeting, but at least he’d soon know where he stood.

Thank God the waiting
was over. He’d been under surveillance for three days and it had nearly killed
him.

***

‘So how is he?’ Tom asked Mary as she poured him coffee. He was sitting in the
kitchen waiting to take Carlos to the White House.

‘Not so good. When we
cut his comms after Mr Howard’s call, he became very agitated.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘At first he kept
checking his phone and trying to log in, even though he had to know we were
keeping him incommunicado.’

‘He must have felt
isolated.’

‘And claustrophobic. We
haven’t let him out of the house since he met his friend the first night.’

‘What’s he do with
himself all day?’

‘He stays in his room,
most of the time lying on the bed with his headphones on listening to music or
sitting in an armchair staring out into the garden. Sometimes he gets himself
into a real state. Then he paces up and down like a wild animal in a cage. He’s
been getting more anxious by the hour.’

‘What’s his appetite
like?’

‘He comes down to the
dining room for meals. It breaks up the monotony, I guess, and he gets to have
a chat with me. But he’s eating less and less. He sure enjoys his wine though,’
said Mary, frowning.

‘He
is
Continental…’

‘… it’s not that. This
man’s got a drink problem. It’s not just wine with dinner. He brought four
bottles of whisky back the night he met his friend and he’s been hitting it
hard ever since.’

‘Anything else?’

‘When we searched his
luggage, we found amphetamines and sleeping tablets.’

‘Not unusual, I guess.
Not for someone who travels as much as he does. How is he sleeping?’

‘Not good, although he’s
not taking anything for it. Not that it would help. We swapped his meds with
replicas in case he tries anything silly.’

‘Any contact from the
alien?’ Tom smiled.

Mary laughed. ‘Not
unless it’s in his head.’

***

At the Oval Office Bob was in conference with Anita and Barbara Lord.

‘I’ve scanned through
your report, Barbara.’

Barbara’s name was
appropriate. She was overly groomed in the big hair Barbie Doll way many
Southern Californian women seemed to favour. Doubtless as sharp-brained as
Anita, the two women couldn’t have manifested more different styles.

‘I can tell you I was
not amused when this Dr Maiz showed up in my office with his story of little
green men. If I didn’t know better, I’d’ve thought Greg was trying to set me
up!’

‘The timing
is
uncanny,’ Barbara said.

‘Tell me about it. It’ll
be political suicide if it gets out I’ve authorised NASA to investigate
communications from extraterrestrials. And on behalf of the UN, for Pete’s
sake!’

‘But sir, that’s not the
case. All you did was ask NASA to identify where the messages originated.’

‘That’s not the spin the
press’d put on it. That’s why you’re handling this personally.’

As he looked away she
raised an eyebrow in Anita’s direction but Anita ignored the look, her plain
face remaining as impassive as ever. She was an inscrutable woman, Bob’s
Secretary of State.

 
‘So, give us a synopsis of your findings
before Dr Maiz arrives. Bring Anita up to speed.’ Bob nodded towards the report
on the coffee table, ‘she’s not read that yet.’

Barbara sank back into
the sofa, tilting her long legs to one side, at ease in the presence of the
President. Her chunky gold bracelets clunked as she reached behind herself to
adjust the cushions. She had to splay out her fingers to get a grip on the
fabric due to her long acrylic nails.

‘We’ve spoken to Maiz’s
family in Madrid, his colleagues in Vienna and the few friends he still has
contact with. Without exception, everyone mentioned the change in him after his
wife was murdered back in November ‘08.’

Bob grunted.

‘They all say the same
thing. Since then Maiz has withdrawn and become increasingly solitary. He’s
also been drinking heavily. Some think he’s battling depression.’

‘Did anyone detect a
change in his behaviour after he received the e-mails?’ Anita asked.

‘Not after getting the
messages… but after the baby incident… yes. His Administrative Assistant said
he was like a different man that afternoon: positive, assured, just like he
used to be before his wife died. She wasn’t the only one to comment.’

‘Interesting. Greg
Howard said the same thing. Now tell Anita what this Dr Roberts said. He works
at Goddard and was at Dr Maiz’s apartment when one of the e-mails came in. They
also met Monday night here in DC.’

‘Roberts didn’t want to
talk at first, but after we played him the conversation he had with Maiz in the
bar he began to cooperate.’

‘You see, Anita, he
thinks his friend’s gone whacko. You reckon he’s putting on an act,’ Bob asked
Barbara, ‘or is he really concerned about Dr Maiz’s mental state?’

‘He’s genuine, sir. He
wouldn’t have confronted Maiz about it the other night otherwise.’

‘Where does this Dr
Roberts fit in?’ Anita asked and Barbara explained his connection with Carlos
and told her about the get together they’d had in Vienna with Erika and Joseph.

‘All their bio-data’s in
there,’ she said, reaching over and tapping the report.’

Anita leaned forward.
‘It’s a little coincidental, isn’t it? Roberts appearing the very night the
first messages arrived. Then them both meeting up with another ex-NASA man and
a woman they were all hanging out with back at Goddard just a few days later?’

‘Exactly what we thought
and, after Roberts left Maiz Monday night, our surveillance reported him
talking to a man on the street. When we quizzed Roberts, he told us it was
Fisher – that they’d bumped into each other out of the blue. But it turns
out Fisher’s head of the MALAT Division of Israel Aerospace Industries –
IAI – that’s a division in their Military Aircraft Group. Not only was he
in Vienna on legitimate business, he’s here in DC for talks with the Pentagon
and Department of Defense regarding homeland security. It’s not public
knowledge, but IAI’s partnering NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Centre to develop
a revolutionary unmanned aircraft vehicle that will out-perform the existing
MQ-9 Reapers. Fisher’s got clearance of the highest order. Besides, we turned
up nothing to connect him or Roberts to Maiz and the messages.’

‘What about the
ex-girlfriend?’

‘Erika Stone? She’s an
American national. She used to live in Maryland. She’s a single parent with two
sons. She checks out too. Maiz didn’t even know she’d moved to Vienna until
Roberts told him last week, although Fisher knew. He’s the one who helped her
get a job there.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Roberts also had a
girlfriend living in Vienna, another reason he was visiting, but he told us
she’d never met the others, which our investigations confirmed. She’s in the
clear... in any case they broke up last week.’

‘You’re positive about
all this?’ Bob said and Barbara nodded. ‘Go on then. Tell Anita what Dr Roberts
thinks about his friend.’

‘Roberts told us he was
shocked at the deterioration – both physical and mental – he saw in
Maiz when they met for dinner in Vienna,’ and Barbara went on to tell Anita
everything Drew had said about his conversation with Carlos that previous
night.

‘When they spoke later
in the week, Maiz told Roberts he was leaving for New York to meet Howard. He
said Maiz was like his old self again. Charged with energy. Carlos told him
there was no doubt in his mind that “Zul” was what he claimed – the baby
hologram convinced him.’

‘Are you
sure
this Roberts character isn’t involved?’ Anita asked. ‘Could
he
have sent
the hologram.’

‘No way. Now, Maiz
claims the baby appeared immediately after a virtual meeting he had with
Stone.’

‘Why was she…?’

‘At the reunion, Fisher
told Maiz he had some vintage music magazines he was selling. Since he was off
on a trip and Stone was dropping by his office the next day, he asked her to
show them to Maiz by holovideo. So… back to the hologram… NASA checked the logs
but there’s no record of a second holovideo call taking place that day. As for
Roberts, or anyone else for that matter, manifesting a hologram in Maiz’s
office without it showing in the logs, well, according to NASA, it’s
impossible. So may I continue?’ Barbara asked, not even trying to disguise the
edge in her voice.