Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 (11 page)

“I don't understand,” Greg said.

“One way or the other?” Tiong repeated.

“Fellas, I'm not one to beat around the
bush. I’m here to decide whether this project continues or not, and
I’ll be doin’ just that during the next several hours. Now Greg,
you were sent here to join the team, pending the professor’s
approval. He’s had three weeks, more than enough time to get that
done, and he hasn't even met you yet. I think it's time for a
face-to-face.” He turned to Tiong. “And Doctor, as I understand it,
you committed eighteen months to this project, and eighteen months
was up six weeks ago. Is that correct?”

Tiong looked to Greg for support, but found
none. After four months of busy work and no further progress in the
program, things were beginning to happen too fast for both of them.
“The work we've done here is incredible. History making. I'm proud
to be a part of it.”

“Well, my decision will be based on my
meeting with two—or should I say
four
—individuals. If y'all
don't mind, I'd like to get on with it.”

“
IF YOU DON’T QUIT, I
swear I’ll
sneak into your room tonight and hide your leg,” June threatened as
she wadded up another piece of paper and threw it her attacker.

“I thought you liked Gummy Bears,” Don
retorted.

“Yeah, well, I had a big breakfast.” She
laughed as she watched her missile hit him squarely on the nose.
Don's head fell back and his arms went limp as he played dead. “And
I'm not picking these up,” she added, pointing to the gummies on
the floor. “You're—”

Just then the intercom beeped and they heard
a man's voice say, “Good morning, Doctors. The senator has arrived
and is on his way to your location.”

Don's head snapped up, his eyes wide. “Oh,
crap!” he shouted, and then he started to laugh.

“Pick 'em up. Now!” June ordered through
gritted teeth.

“Too late,” Don said, still laughing and not
taking his eyes off of June as the door opened. She stared back at
him as the visitors stepped inside, then turned and glared at the
speaker in the ceiling.
You could have warned us sooner.

The three newcomers entered. They couldn’t
help but see the rainbow of candies on the floor as Tiong
introduced them. “June Phillips, Donald Cook, meet Senator Kitchens
and Major Greg Mathers of the Air force.”

June rose to her feet, placed an
I'm-completely-oblivious-to-the-Gummy-Bears-on-the floor look on
her face, and extended her hand to the senator. But her eyes were
fixed on the major. Kitchens shook her hand and looked over at
Greg, smiling.

“I think you've made a new friend,
Greg.”

June blushed. “It's a pleasure to meet you,
sir,” she managed, as she turned her attention to the senator.

Standing behind her, Don hadn't seen the
exchange but could guess what had happened. His eyes were also on
the major as he offered his hand. “The mystery man at last. It's
very nice to meet you, sir,” he parroted, and then turned to
Kitchens. “Senator.”

“Major,” June said curtly, verbally
acknowledging Greg.

“Now that that's over with …” Kitchens
attempted to lighten the mood.

“Who are these men and what are they doing
in
my
laboratory?” a male voice harshly demanded from the
other end of the room.

Professor Yeoum Chi had entered the room
unnoticed by the others, his raised voice startling the group. The
senator quickly recovered and painted on a smile, hoping the
professor hadn't noticed he had been affected by the abrupt
interruption.

Yeoum was alerted to the presence of the
major and senator when they arrived at the convenience store. He
chose to take on a dominant presence with them, as he always did
with everyone. Dressed like the others in green hospital scrubs, he
strode toward them quickly, an intense scowl on his face. The
diminutive man’s gray hair betrayed some idea of his age, but that
was his only feature that did. If Kitchens hadn’t already known
Yeoum was in his seventies, he would have guessed him to be in his
late forties. The professor’s exotic features were a clear
indication of his Asian heritage, and his disposition was certainly
in keeping with his reputation. But now, in his presence, Kitchens
sensed something ominous about the man.

“Professor Yeoum.” Tiong stepped forward to
head the man off. “Allow me to introduce Senator Kevin Kitchens of
the Senate Appropriations Committee.”

Yeoum stopped short of the group, paying no
mind at all to the candy on the floor. He folded his arms across
his chest, squared his shoulders and looked Kitchens up and
down.

“Professor.” Kitchens only nodded, knowing
that if he offered a handshake it would be refused.

Tiong rolled his eyes, making certain that
the professor couldn't see him, and that Kitchens could. “And this
is—” Greg stepped toward Yeoum with the beginning of the
introduction, leading with his outstretched hand.

“I know who this one is.” Yeoum’s voice
betrayed no sign of an accent.

Undaunted by the professor’s treatment, Greg
let his arm drop to his side and smiled. He was enjoying himself.
His day was shaping up very differently from what he had
expected.

Kitchens smiled as the professor's eyes
wandered from him to the major in the uncomfortable silence that
lasted long enough for the sound of the computer's cooling fans to
reach an almost deafening crescendo. It was June who broke the
silence. “Can I get anyone anything? Coffee, Coke?”

“Yeah, we've got some Gummy Bears,” Don
offered, reaching for the half empty bag on his desk.

“Donald!” June couldn't help laughing as she
scolded him.

Greg laughed, as did Tiong. But if the
senator or the professor had even heard the exchange, neither
showed it.

Forcing himself, Kitchens looked over at
June. “Doctor Phillips. I found your file to be very impressive.
Are your parents still missionaries?”

“Yes, sir.” She was impressed that the
senator remembered such a detail.
Is he letting me know that he
cares or just that he knows?
“They're actually on vacation in
Malaysia at the moment.”

“Never been there,” Kitchens commented.

“Neither have I.”

The senator frowned. “That's a surprise,
given the extensive travelin' y’all have done.”

“Well,” said June, “my dad always said that
the point of a vacation was to go somewhere you've never been
before.”

Kitchens quickly changed gears. “No offense,
but frankly, I find it intrigin' that a woman with a PhD in
ethology would be involved in a project such as this. What would
Doctor Goodall think?”

Jane Goodall was June's idol. The preeminent
ethologist was part of the reason had June chosen to become one.
“None taken. I would hope she would understand that my involvement
with the animals here is only the beginning of my relationship with
them.”

“Yes,” Kitchens acknowledged. “You'll be
tendin' to the chimps long after they’ve been relocated.”

“That's right.” Since he had opened the door
on the subject, she took the opportunity to ask, “Do you know if
they've found a suitable reserve for the others yet?”

Kitchens gave Tiong a sideways glance, “Why,
yes they have. I don't have the paperwork with me. The good doctor
insisted that I leave my portfolio in the dressing room, but if my
memory serves, they will be very happy at the North Carolina
Zoo.”

June’s expression soured immediately.
“That's unacceptable. They can't go to North Carolina.”

Kitchens cocked his head to the side. “Why
is that, Doctor?”

June couldn't tell if the man’s concern was
genuine or not. “Because Brad and Angelina are going to
Tanzania.”

“Brad and Angelina? Why, that's very clever,
Doctor.” Kitchens chuckled. “Why is North Carolina a problem?”

Don, seeing an impending battle coming,
sidestepped out of June’s line of fire as she stiffened. “Because
I'm supposed to oversee their transition into their new
environments. How can I do that effectively with each pair of
chimps separated by an ocean?”

Since Kitchens had anticipated this
confrontation, he didn’t miss a beat. “The government will be
pickin' up all of your travel expenses, Doctor.”

“Travel expenses?” she repeated as a curse.
“That's not the point.”

“Now, Doctor.” The senator took on a softer
demeanor, allowing more of his southern charm to flow through. “The
chimps can't all be sent to the same reserve due to the nature of
one of the experiments side effects. Is that correct?”

June's exasperation was growing. “It's
only
known side effect. And we haven't determined if it's
permanent yet.”

“Well, that may be true. And if it turns out
not to be permanent, then we can place all of them in the same
location. But unless it’s determined at some point that the animals
will not be adversely affected, they must remain separated,
yes?”

“Yes, that's true,” she replied, as the
logic of the senator's argument began to dismantle her defenses.
“But they don't need to be on separate continents.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but Kitera Forest and
Gombe Stream are the only reserves willing to take them as of
now.”

June began to protest again, but the senator
held his hands up disarmingly. “Doctor Phillips, I can assure you
that we are not intentionally attemptin’ to make this a difficult
process. This is simply the best we can do
for now
. The only
alternative is to keep two of the animals here
indefinitely.
And in that case, I fear you will have the same issue. Perhaps, in
the future, more suitable arrangements can be made.”

June settled a bit. She wasn't happy, but
what choice did she have? The senator’s implied threat was
unpleasant at best. Once they were out of the facility, she
wouldn’t have to deal with government bureaucrats. Then she could
find suitable reserves herself.

Kitchens continued. “The good news is that
the reserves will be prepared to receive them on the first of
September.”

“The first of September? You mean we're
leaving.” June could hardly contain herself.

“They'll be transported the last week in
August.”

June beamed at the professor, but his
expression remained unchanged. His dark eyes were fixed on the
senator. Yeoum couldn’t yet determine whether the news was good,
bad, or indifferent.

Kitchens turned back to Yeoum. “Professor, I
don't wanna take up any more of your very valuable time than I have
to. If you don't mind, I'd like to get started.”

Yeoum didn't blink.

Tiong turned to the senator. “What would you
like to see first?”

“Should somebody go and find Jimmy?” Don
asked.

“He's messing around with SIS,” Tiong
answered.

Kitchens frowned. “Sis?”

“Software Integrating System. S-I-S.” Don
said. Kitchens still looked perplexed.

“It's the program that makes the entire
experiment possible. Jimmy wrote it,” Tiong elaborated. “Only
computers are capable of thinking fast enough to keep up with the
processes that make it work.”

The professor scoffed. He knew that Tiong
was right, but he didn't have to like it.

“Thinkin' computers?” Kitchens was still
unsure as he looked back at Yeoum.

“Thinking
super
computers,” Don
interjected. “Like in
Jurassic Park
.”

An amusing image from the movie popped into
the senator's head. “Well, let's hope our luck here in the real
world is better than theirs was on the big screen.” Giving Yeoum a
sideways glance, he added, “There isn't anything else runnin'
around in here other than chimps, is there Professor?”

Yeoum ignored the senator’s attempt at
humor. “Luck has nothing to do with it.”

“Senator?” It was Tiong again.

“Doctor?”

“What would you like to see first, sir?”

Yeoum spoke up again. “I have not authorized
that man”—he pointed accusingly at the major— “to be inside this
facility.”

Greg, who had been quiet since they entered,
suddenly felt all eyes focus on him. “Senator, maybe it would be
better if I just stayed here.”

“Nonsense, Doctor. You're a part of the team
now.” Kitchens kept his eyes on Yeoum. “Assuming there is a team
here at the end of the day. They need a medical doctor,”—he turned
back to the major—“and you're it.”

Finally!
Greg thought.
Not only am
I gonna be an active doctor again, but I get to do it in a
top-secret complex, underground.
His thoughts changed from joy
to confusion.
And it has something to do with chimps?

“And to answer your question, Doctor Tiong,
I'd like to see the latest results of this little endeavor. Take me
to see the chimps.”

“Doctor Tiong,” Yeoum spoke again, “I
require your assistance. I'm sure that Doctor Phillips and Doctor
Cook can escort the senator and our”—he looked distastefully at
Greg again“—new medical doctor around the facility.” He turned
toward Tiong again. “Please accompany me.” With that, he turned on
his heel and walked quickly to the door he had entered through and
left the room.

“Does he always walk that fast?” Greg asked.
Tiong shrugged his shoulders, sighed, and followed after the
professor. “Duty calls.”

“He's really a pretty nice guy once you get
to know him,” June offered.

“Yeah, six months after you get to know
him.” Tiong commented under his breath on his way out the door.

“I have no doubt,” Kitchens said with a
smile.

* * * * *

JIMMY WATCHED THE
monitor, one of six
mounted above his desk, as the group moved toward the same door
that the professor and Tiong had just exited through. He turned the
volume control to mute. He had no interest in hearing the group
ingratiate themselves to the senator, and he cared even less about
anything Kitchens had to say. Although he had the ability to move
the cameras remotely and follow their progress, he chose not to. He
didn’t want security to be alerted that he had hacked into their
system again. Three of the monitors were dark except for progress
bars in the center that indicated the diagnostic was eighty percent
complete. The screen on the bottom right had a frozen image of the
video game he had been playing and the one above it was split into
sixteen images taken from the complex’s hidden cameras. There were
more cameras throughout the facility, but these were the ones he
was interested in at the moment.