CODE X:Episode 1 (8 page)

She asks, “Is this an electron microscope
micro-spectrometer, chemical molecule electric current
detector?”

“Yes it is. That was your new primary device
you wished to have been created when you consulted with the
manufacturers two years ago. There is no limit to the amount of
money we allocated to your project. They even made the test station
for probes inside the clean room, and it will display the results
from your tests on a screen as you do your tests inside.”

Vicki and Landau stroll by the center’s
stations. As they continue their tour of the lab, they pass by a
burly guard sitting at a desk, heavily armed, with a bullet proof
vest on and helmet with a visor at the ready. He’s stationed at
double doors at the entrance to an area with a warning sign above
the entrance, Special Security Clearance Required.

“What’s in there?”

“Special Project security...You know...
Hush-hush. That’s the only section in the city off limits to
everyone.”

“Even me?”

“Especially you Dr. Collins. That is the
business section of Alomet. We want your concentration solely on
research. The product section will earn back all the money the
company has invested.”

As they leave the guard behind, Landau
notices a young man running towards him. “Oh, here comes Dr.
Roberts. He has been directing the lab on confirming your previous
discoveries.”

A very excited doctor rushes up to Landau.
“Dr. Landau, I think I’ve just confirmed the gene for height
predetermination.”

“Have you proto-tested it on lab embryos
yet?”

“Yes. Preliminary results confirm.”

“Good. Let’s have some hard data to show the
chairman of the world business cartel when he comes in next month.
It represents the corporate buyers of our finished products, when
we can guarantee our results. Let me introduce...”

“Dr. Collins needs no introduction. I’m Dr.
Roberts. It’s an honor to meet you. We are so excited to pursue
your discoveries. Doctor, I need to ask you a question. Rumors are
your puzzle solving prowess is the reason you are so successful.
It’s important because so many researchers would like to follow
your regimen for training to duplicate your thought process. Is it
true you can finish the New York Times crossword puzzle page in
less than five minutes?”

Vicki blushes, stammers “I…I do find puzzles
fascinating. But, I uh, don’t like to talk about my hobbies. I hope
you understand.”

“Sure, sure. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you.
You’re a legend among the staff.”

“You’re so welcome.” Under her breath she
mutters to herself, “a legend at 31, I’ll be an antique at 40.”

Chapter 23

Macon’s Camp

30 Days Later

The rope ladder is stretched out on the
ground. “Okay Parks show me what you got.”

Parks starts off the crisscrossing drill,
toe tapping his way down the 50 foot ladder. He doesn’t touch a
rung. He reverses himself coming back and increases his speed.
Another perfect drill.

“Your turn,” he tells Biggins.

“You’re giving me orders now?”

“Okay, bet you can’t keep up with me down
and back.”

“You want to show off? See if you can catch
me.”

Biggins starts the drill. Parks jumps on
behind her. He’s toe tapping down the rungs like a tap dancer. His
size allows him to gain on her. As he approaches running into her
near the end, he shoves her off the ladder.

“Outta my way.” Parks tells her.

She goes stumbling from the surprise he
sprung on her.

Parks reaches the end of the ladder, then,
reverses his way back, but he criss crosses his feet alternating
steps with a boxer’s speed. He’s showing off the return of his God
given skills.

“You think you’re ready, pretty boy?”

“You said it, you always gotta be ready.
Just practicing your preaching, Biggins.”

“Let’s go. I want to see what you really
learned.”

Parks stands inside a circle of mercs with
his gloves on. Marco enters the ring.

Parks is not going to let this little shit
make a fool of him again. Biggins enters and holds her hand up like
a referee readying two fighters to start.

“Parks, Marco’s your ruler, the measuring
stick to see if you can last more than the 30 seconds you lasted
the last time against him.”

She drops her hand, “Go!”

Marco tries to side kick him as before, only
Parks is ready. He blocks it and smoother than silk, he swift moves
a side kick against his ribs, with a finish of a quick punch to his
gut, which puts Marco down.

Biggins steps in, “Time. Marco, good match.
Okay, now you proved you’re willing to fight, it’s time to measure
where you really are. Billy Harper, you’re up. “

As Marco leaves, he sounds off, “Now you’re
going to get yours, asshole.”

Parks feels the hate coming from the group.
He’s the outsider trying to fit into a military family. They let
him know, he does not belong here.

They part the circle to let a man about
Parks’ height enter. The circle starts cheering and cat-calling for
him to take down his opponent. These guys want his skin tacked up
on the wall.

Biggins sets the rules. “Okay men, you pull
your punches, but make sure Parks you throw death blows, because
that’s what Billy will be doing to you. Oh, by the way, he’s a 5th
degree Navy SEAL, Dan level, that’s a black belt instructor. He’s
the best you’ll ever face.”

Oh shit,
Parks thinks to himself.
I’ve really stepped into it.

She steps back and signals, “Let’s go!”

They both circle each other. Billy strikes
out at Parks, and he blocks his thrust and counter punches.
Oops. Big mistake,
Billy counter strikes a throat blow and
temple shot.
Thank God he pulled his punches
, Parks tells
himself.

Biggins declares, “You’re dead Parks.” The
men cheer. She moves between them, hand up, then drops it and moves
out, “Ready, go.”

He’s talking to himself, “Shit, this guy is
fast. Well, got to find out how fast I am. I’ll let him see if he
can stop the moves he put on me.”

Parks attacks, Billy blocks, then, with a
lightning swift move Parks scores a throat move. The men ooh and
ah. No cheers for him from the mercs. There’s no stopping Billy’s
embarrassment, so he moves fast onto Parks and puts him on the
ground, then strikes at his ribs. He’s not holding back the force
of his blow so much.

“Time” Biggins yells. “Enough Parks, Billy,
good match.”

The crowd disperses.

“Why’d you stop it?” Parks demands.

“You got him. He was going to kill you if
you went at him and showed him up again.”

“You’re kidding me. Because I got a strike
in, you mean he would actually take my life?”

“C’mon, Parks, let’s take a walk.” They move
away from the camp center.

He’s confused. Yeah, he could hold his own a
little against the best, but would that be a reason to actually
eliminate him permanently in a practice match? After all, wasn’t
this a contest to test his skills against a superior opponent?

Finally, they are away from any other mercs
and all alone.

“You are a guest among men who risk their
lives when they go into combat. You’re the part time warrior who
happens to have the skill to best them in a fight. They take it
very personally that you could kill them. That’s what I’ve been
trying to make you understand,
you must fight to kill or you
will be killed
. No more fun and games in a gym. You’re going to
have to choose, life or death for your opponents, from here on out.
He would have killed you to prove my point, but, I stopped it to
save your ass for Vicki. She’s the reason we’re both out here.”

Chapter 24

Dr. Landau is
pacing back and forth behind his desk using his putter as a nerve
soothing prop, with Henry sitting in the chair in front of him.
“It's been 30 days and still no word on Parks. I must tell you, you
have given me pause as to whether or not I chose the right man to
head Alomet security. I am quite disappointed we have a loose
cannon running around that would threaten my project with Dr.
Collins”

Henry smiles less and answers, “He
disappeared without a trace. There has been no sight or sound of
him anywhere. I’m using all of our resources that you
authorized.”

Landau grabs his putter with two hands, “I
didn’t want to have to go to NSA, but they track everyone and
everything communication-wise in the world. You’re leaving me no
choice.”

Henry takes a step back.

Landau leans the putter up against his desk
and sits down. Now I have to turn to our government’s clandestine
operations section. Hold on while I call the director.” The doctor
grabs his phone and places a call.

Henry exhales deeply.

“Edward, this is Dr. Landau. You remember
the Nick Parks incident?”

Inside the director’s office, Edward Tallon,
sits behind an enormous desk and answers to Landau on the phone.
“Of course I remember him. I was wondering how long it was going to
take before you called me.”

“Well, I need that favor you owe me. We have
tried every source we know and have come up with nothing on this
guy. It’s like he disappeared in thin air.”

“Okay, sounds like the perfect job for us.
I’ve got a feeling he had help getting to an undercover group,
invisible to everyone. But, I can guarantee you he won’t stay lost.
What do you want me to do when we find this guy?”

“I was hoping you could assist in giving us
some air support, especially if he’s out of country.”

“We can’t use our combat personnel, but I
will be able to send two choppers for you if you can provide the
manpower. In fact, I’ll also assign a liaison man with combat
experience who has our codes to coordinate an attack with our
AWACS.”

“That will help our situation. I have the
resources to take care of the problem anywhere in the world. I just
have to locate the problem.”

“Okay, give us two weeks since I have to
send this to you on our back channel network. I’ll find him and
send you the intel to coordinate with us.”

“Thanks, Edward.”

He turns to Henry, “Get our world response
security forces ready to move within 24 hours’ notice. NSA will
find him or at the very least, get you a hard lead on him.”

“Do you want full weapons response
activation?” he asks.

“Yes, get all of our security assets ready
to deploy at a moment’s notice. I want you to continue looking
after you notify our team to be ready to roll. We won’t get any
combat people from NSA, but they will supply armaments and
transportations. It’s all on us to fix the problem when we find it.
Use an Alomet airport as the staging base for the operation.”

“Yes sir.”

“One last thought concerning his
disappearance that night. I’ve been thinking that may be where you
overlooked some clue as to how he vanished at the attack location
where his car blew up. That’s when he went silent. Work backwards
from when I arrived at Dr. Collins apartment, back to when his
car’s gas tank exploded, and leave no stone unturned. I want you to
consider even the wildest idea as to how that could have
happened.”

Chapter 25

Eddie, Biggins
and Parks are gathered in the merc’s command center. It’s a tent
with three computer consoles and three 36” inch monitors. There are
also two mini satellite dishes on top of the tent and a small radar
array poking above the leaves spinning slowly. The camouflage cover
is so effective, you can’t see the center if you’re standing twenty
feet away. The electric generators hum quietly in the
background.

“Our center’s communications’ piggy backs on
commercial carrier’s satellites. Our employers pay a heavy price to
keep a secure and secret connection with our group.”

Parks shakes his head in amazement, then
asks, “I’m surprised at the amount of equipment you have. How did
you get it in here?”

Eddie explains, “We used modified school and
passenger buses to bring it in, to make life out here civilized.
All messages are scrambled, both in and out. So, a breach of
security could only occur from the outside. Biggins, you can go
ahead and make a connection to your source.”

“My contact uses a secure method I put in
place,” she informs Eddie. She dials a number on the computer
console, then, “Jenna? Any news?”

Jenna reports, “Well, the heat has died down
completely. There hasn’t been a mention of him for ten days now,
anywhere. The last published story highlighted the absurd notion of
our friend’s involvement. His record was too clean. So, a lot of
holes are what made the interest die down in the ridiculous story
they put out. But, they will still snatch our boy if found. The
bolo will never go away.”

“Do me a favor and check in on my personal
package, make sure it’s okay.”

Jenna assures her, “Been doing it once a
week, its good.”

Biggins reports, “Our package insists there
has to be a connection to the big corporation. Her disappearance
means there’s some place she was taken to. What do you know about
their facilities?”

Jenna continues, “Well, research is that
company’s black hole. Their stock filings to the SEC shows the
absurd amount of money the company earns. But, all they do is show
an ungodly amount allocated to that division.”

“Can you locate all the facilities?”

“No. I’ve checked out all the listed ones.
But, they are standard small operations that could in no way be
using that amount of money. Knowing they have secret locations just
whets my appetite to feast on the story that’s waiting to be found.
Finding them is going to be hard. How’s our package doing?”

Biggins laughs, “Getting there. Physically
ahead of schedule, but hardheaded like a mule on the total program.
All we can do out here is get ready to act when we get some
intel.”