Kinsey was jumpy. “How do you believe they will attempt to move it?”
They were now approaching a circling attitude to the point. Dupe said, “I do not have to believe – my vision apparatus can detect the clearing. There is a very large Brazilian flag on the ground. There is a shape underneath this flag and the wooden platform on which it is draped. The shape is that of a helicopter housed in an excavation. There are eight armed personnel in the vicinity.”
In a flash Kinsey realised the danger of his own plan. These guys would allow verification of Evander then when the FBI chopper retreated for 12hrs, they would load up, disappear with the crystal and the boy. “We go with your suggestion, I pray you live up to your promises.” He asked the pilot to slowly decrease the circling radius to allow Dupe his exit and then acknowledge the kidnappers’ gesture to winch the cargo on to the flag.
The eight individuals on the ground backed off into a circle whose circumference was close to the edge of the clearing. The winch was ready to go as the hover position stabilised. The crystal was lowered very slowly as any snagging could bring down the chopper. Dupe had arrived and with the noise level as cover he quickly leapt behind one of the thugs, snatched the automatic weapon while simultaneously delivering a fatal blow to the head. It was done in a flash and the rest appeared spellbound by the lowering cargo. Dupe retreated to the camouflage of the forest with the corpse. This was a deviation from plan and Kinsey was furious but helpless. The group started to move forward toward the grounded cargo and did not notice one of their ranks was missing. Kinsey was near to cardiac arrest when he saw Dupe appear again. The noise and air turbulence was making it difficult for those on the ground to communicate with each other. Dupe seized his moment. They had left Evander tethered near the perimeter and the replicant was able to discharge the grenades between the boy and the remaining seven adversaries. It would produce a wall of smoke and lachrymatory gas but not before the tether had been disengaged and the boy whisked to the cover of the undergrowth. The next few minutes were surreal. As the kidnappers turned their attention from stripping the packing of the crystal to the billowing smoke, and could no longer see the boy, they lost it. Advancing into the mist while discharging their weapons without knowing what was going on – they started to cough, and breathing was very difficult. They individually and unconsciously retreated into a tight group. Before they decided to unleash a hail of bullets on the helicopter, Dupe hurled a tree he had uprooted, at them. In pinning them against the cargo another two were killed. The rest were immobilised, and Dupe collected the weapons, threw them to the edge of the clearing, and beckoned Kinsey to descend. By the time he had grounded, Dupe had piled the injured on top of one another despite their protests of agony. He directed Kinsey to the boy and asked him to bring one of the weapons to the centre. While Kinsey stood watch, Dupe cleared the crystal out of the way to allow the helicopter to land. By the time it had, he had bound the captives together with creeper from the forest. His demeanour was unchanged when he addressed Kinsey. “I believe we are supposed to replicate some or all of these people and interrogate the synthetic versions. As the crystal has not yet turned to the amorphous form that is not possible. We also have a weight restriction on our helicopter. I suggest you take the boy and the crystal back to the military base. I will follow with their helicopter and the prisoners.”
Kinsey felt a bit redundant and didn’t bother to ask if Dupe could pilot the machine, and whether he could find his way back. The kidnappers didn’t feel up to challenging the plan.
Chapter 13
When the news reached Carvalho he was visibly relieved and Stella guessed as much from his body language. He breathed deeply. “It was mainly my idea to try such an audacious rescue of the boy, but I also felt pretty helpless at not being able to participate. Anyway, he’s safe for now.”
Stella squeezed his hand and took advantage of the emotional moment with a very light kiss on the cheek. The tension gave way to passion and she led him to the sleeping quarters. He could not really believe this was happening so soon, yet it felt right. The passion alternated with tenderness for most of the night.
When breakfast beckoned they were in sleep deficit and they were both contacted by their respective ‘offices’. Normality began to kick in and as she was about to embrace the sonic shower, Carvalho started to mutter that he had not intended to take advantage....
She put her finger across his lips and added, “Shhh.”
As she showered he was transfixed at the image of her through the ‘not quite transparent curtain’. Even though he was still in a heightened state of emotional abandon, he could not believe he had connected in this way with this breathtakingly beautiful woman. As she left the cubicle she realised that breakfast was not on his mind. He pulled her gently into a long silent embrace.
Having ‘come down to Mars’ somewhat and looked at his agenda, Commander Daniel Carvalho felt life might never be the orderly routine he had previously settled for.
Stella told him she had the day off and would not be a distraction. She would explore Marineris as she had not had time to do so until now. He left to attend a fuller briefing of events from Alex 2.
********
Once back at the military base Kinsey had two priorities. The immediate safety of Evander was first and then information which could be extracted from the five captives. Reuben de la Cruz was adamant that Brazil was not an option. He made a good case for him going to Mars. His argument was simple. The reason he was abducted related to massive publicity the selection programme had handed to the perpetrators. “So why not send him early? The rest of the programme has been put on hold. I do not want to have my son become a prisoner of constant security.” It was perceived as a reasonable suggestion and would help diffuse anxiety with the other candidates who may have been selected.
Kinsey wanted more information about replication. Having seen Dupe’s performance he briefly wondered about his recruitment for the Bureau, but dismissed it on grounds of his failure to stick with the agreed plan, and how fussy the Bureau hierarchy had become since merging with the CIA. His main concern was about what to do with the replicants after the extraction of data. Pascal Dupree then suggested they could possibly extract sufficient information from the three corpses, to convince the survivors it was futile to hold back. The crystals were dusty now that they had been out of cold storage and at high ambient temperature for some time.
The corpses gave up details of Bolivian and Venezuelan nationals and the recruitment ‘agency’ location residing in Caracas. None of the bodies appeared to be the leader from the scant data retrieved. The bluff commenced.
Kinsey addressed them together at first. “We already have information on who you are and the people who have engaged your services. It is now a simple matter of taking your individual statements and bringing the appropriate charges. If there is any discrepancy in your accounts then we will proceed to replicate you in turn to confirm the liars. That will affect your eventual sentence. Be sure you think about this because we don’t entertain second chances or claims of convenient recovered memory. You have twenty minutes in your separate interview rooms to make sure you know exactly what you want to say, before we start recording.”
They recognised the futility of trying to broker a deal. The revelations were interesting. Only the leader really knew what Kinsey was after, but he was nervous about the discrepancy of the others apparently knowing nothing other than what the corpses had already offered. Kinsey told him to concentrate now on answering questions. “Who contacted us from Chile and presumably briefed you on our demands to alter the proceedings?”
“He was the one pulling the strings with the men in Caracas. His identity is only known to them – they were to pay us.”
Kinsey continued, “You say you have worked for the Caracas connections before, in what respect?”
He shifted uneasily in his seat. “Always to do with recovering goods not paid for, or the individuals
responsible for the default. We have never been involved in abduction of children or cargo other than coca.”
“Why was this so interesting to you?”
“The money was way above what we would normally receive in a year.”
Kinsey decided to leave it there for now. He had the names of the Caracas brokers and called in the appropriate backup. The targets would know by now that their operation had gone wrong. He guessed that the man in Chile would want to know why but may not try to make contact with them. Time was critical.
Meanwhile Logan was sickeningly and falsely modest about his brave decision to take the nucleus of a hint from Carvalho and authorise such a daring plan. It was not long before the political Chino/American position adjusted. He received a congratulatory call from Arnold Rodham detailing his relief at the successful outcome insofar as both the boy and crystal were back in safe hands. The Chinese were nervous about the vulnerability of the crystal while it was sitting in an apparently lawless country. They were seeking assurances that it would not fall into the wrong hands. They told him that their legal challenge had been prepared to effectively relieve Beijing of its custody. Logan was more concerned about the latter than the inconsistency of the two responses.
His preening continued while he informed De Santos of the Chinese legal threat. Being circumspect, the Brazilian asked him about the American response. When he heard nothing of an impending legal counterpart he decided to pass this on to Sadat.
********
Alex 2’s briefing of Carvalho on the ‘rumble in the jungle’ was concluded and they were discussing what may happen to Pascal Dupree and his new sidekick Dupe. Carvalho indicated that as soon as he got to Earth he would make sure that Dupree was happy with all aspects of the post-episode fallout. They were a little concerned that Dupe would be the focus of attention from disreputable organisations and the political hierarchy. They were interrupted by Legrange who had received a transmission from Logan, it said, “Commander, I have a request that the young man – I forget his name, well the kidnapped boy – should come to Mars on the next shuttle. It is felt, and I agree, he is still a target. I realise this is short notice but I am sure I can count on you to respond positively. I will assume this is acceptable unless I hear to the contrary. I appreciate your part in this important saga.”
Carvalho was pleased to let Alex 2 read it. There were signs of a smile from the Symbiant. It was however somewhat eclipsed by that of the Commander, after he counted the number of times Logan had used the personal pronoun ‘I’ in the short transmission. The message also stressed the deadline of the shuttle’s scheduled departure being imminent.
The spirits of the think-tank participants were lifted by Evander’s planned arrival. They had come to terms with the downside of the new spatial manipulative concept of travel. It was indeed analogous to the ancient mariners having to chart areas of avoidance for future reference. Sandbanks, rocky outcrops, rogue tides were all factors which only became negotiable once the charts were produced. They had a head start with all the probes which had been deployed over the years and the Axis had even more accurate data as far as the Kuiper belt. The wormhole transit from 55 Cancri was not helpful as the internal conduit was free of ‘debris’. The asteroid and Kuiper belts would have to be charted with normal propulsion to fill any gaps from probe data before moving on to the Oort cloud. The charts would have to contain a feature the old sea dogs would have had some trouble with. Planetary bodies, comets and rogue asteroids would all need to be the subject of a very reliable algorithm. The Symbiants conceded that as the comprehension was up to standard, the laborious calculations would fall to them. The group was on the verge of running before they could walk, by suggesting a prototype design should be produced. Alex 2 deflated the new shoots of motivation when he said the theory was not yet sufficiently ‘complete’. “Producing gravity A waves, even if sustainable, does not in itself embody control. It is worth considering the multi-faceted semantics of the ‘umbrella of control’.”
********
Sadat made contact with Arnold Rodham. The conversation was driven towards the new perception to which the security of the crystal had risen in view of the failed kidnap. “The USAr is becoming increasingly nervous of the proposal of the Chinese and yourselves to prematurely employ it, albeit for worthwhile causes, now that the ‘underground’ interest is so manifest. We cannot speak for the Indian and Russian governments or any others, including the European block. We have however received sentiments of their unease.”
He was about to call for an open discussion when Rodham intervened. “We have also reviewed the situation and although the intentions we have are still necessary, we want to think this through further. I’m afraid however, that the Chinese are intransigent to modification of the timescale. We support your notion to return to the table to debate this.”
Sadat was temporarily wrong-footed but managed to digress while he gathered his thoughts. “I know your man Kinsey has yet to run the trail back to the originator of the crystal acquisition attempt. Will he be sharing this with us if it comes to light before the proposed review? It could be vital in making progress.”
There was no sign of withholding information in Rodham’s reply. “Of course, when he’s sure the case will not be prejudiced by premature disclosure I’ll get him to brief the entire group.”
The shuttle had left with Evander on board and a second high profile earthling for a synthetic brain operation. Since Varanda Singh’s successful procedure and decision to settle on Mars, there had been more pro-campaigns than those of the ‘anti’ variety. This individual had not yet been named in Earth media as it was likely to spark a bushfire of new concern. It had been decided to wait until the procedure had been completed before disclosure.
The refitted Columbus had a newly promoted Commander. Hector Morgan was South African born, and of mixed race. His early aptitude had culminated in his acceptance at Oxford where he read physics and mathematics. His initial employment was in the robotics industry. He had subsequently been offered a senior management post in the European Space Agency. Having completed several missions and improvements to orbiting space stations he was recruited to the Beijing space research arm. He quickly established himself as a leader and wanted the real test. He was to be given the First Officer role on this mission, but the nominated Commander had developed a rare form of cancer and needed treatment to begin immediately. At such short notice the decision went to Morgan. No one was surprised.
The crew members were all human and reflected the trend for the shuttles to provide expertise in medicine, science and most of all engineering. The available cargo space was taken by supplies and equipment for the same disciplines. It was a highly compatible crew and Evander’s presence added a touch of notoriety. The young man was riding an adrenaline train.
********
Stella had returned to Echus Chasma but her thoughts lingered in Marineris. They would be in touch continually. Jet had better news for Carvalho about the new interplanetary craft. Reprogramming the robotics specifically for a small vessel would reduce the build time by an estimated ten days and delaying concurrent work on the second craft and geothermal orbiters would move it up another week. It could be ready for trials a few days before Columbus arrived. Carvalho pondered the alternatives. As much as he wanted to welcome Evander de la Cruz, there were pressing issues on Earth, and it would do no harm to surprise them with another practical announcement of independent shuttles, as he docked.
Although there was a media blackout of Stella’s new transplant patient, she had to be forewarned and supplied with medical data. Nine year old Sabine Cheverry was the daughter of the Euro President Armand. An inoperable aggressive tumour had grown exponentially since recent diagnosis and medication had barely effected retardation. The newest treatments with specific targeted drugs were not working and had confused the medical profession. She would live months at most. Now it became clear why the shuttle departure had been brought forward.
There was however no room for her parents, and she was to be cocooned, sedated, and then be the subject of medical monitoring from none other than Sophia Scillacci. This mission of mercy had all the ingredients of high currency in the media and beyond, when all was revealed. Scillacci did not need a second to decide, she had wanted to return to Mars to meet the Axis in person and continue her study of their physiology which she had initiated with Pascal 2 all those years ago.
Chapter 14
The Caracas connection had not been easy to run to ground. Of the three names they had been given, only one seemed to be on the intelligence radar. Kinsey’s agents were fortunate that this man was in Manila at the time of the project failure. This target left hurriedly when the news broke, but not quick enough to avoid being tailed. He had decided to lie low in Singapore for a week. The Bureau had a network of contacts which made observation pretty much undetectable. Since its amalgamation with the CIA in 2041 the jurisdiction issues were gone and the organisation had earned an improved image in the USA and abroad. This allowed more surveillance by indigenous personnel and attracted high calibre recruits. Manolo Suarez was feeling comfortable that he had eluded detection. He was to enter the Caribbean islands by sea from West Africa, where there would be ‘no questions asked’. Once there he would take a cruise ship to Panama and be collected. It was therefore a surprise when he was collected by Kinsey and even more confusing when he realised that those in his own employ had been similarly ‘jumped’.
It became clear very quickly that he was made of sterner stuff than the hired help. He was immune to the threat of replication. His cronies were more accommodating but didn’t offer the desired information until one of them broke ranks. They all knew they faced lengthy incarceration, and this foolhardy young man gambled. During the second round of isolated questioning he asked for a discussion on plea bargaining. What he had to offer was the whereabouts of the wife and family of Suarez, as he had the task of guarding them frequently. He figured that this would allow Kinsey leverage on Suarez. He didn’t know that when he was in Manila, Suarez had issued orders for his family to be moved.