Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 (21 page)

They could hear and feel the truck
decelerate and then turn sharply into what they hoped was their
destination.

“Are we there yet?” It was Jo. She hadn't
opened her eyes, but her other powers of observation remained
intact.

Eddie unbuckled his harness. “I sure hope
so,” he said without looking at her. “That smell is gonna make me
puke.”

The truck continued to slow and sway back
and forth as it maneuvered into position. Finally, it stopped and
they heard the sound of air brakes hissing, finding the perfect
spot over the platform that was the entrance to the underground
complex. The engine continued to idle as the sound of electric
motors could be heard beneath them. They had been told that a black
canvass sleeve would be lowered into position from the underside of
the truck. It would conceal them as well as the material and
foodstuffs that were being delivered.

The rest of the team, save Jo, unbuckled
their harnesses, relieved that they would soon be exiting the
trailer and breathing some fresh air. They stood and stretched. It
had been a long day, and likely, it wouldn't be over for some
time.

“I guess so,” Jo answered herself, opening
her eyes and looking at the other three.

There was a knock on the floor followed by
the sound of the locking mechanism as the hatch's two sides
swung away. The sound of diesel engines was nearly deafening in the
small space. A welcome cool breeze followed this. A man in his
early thirties, wearing the uniform of a technical sergeant in the
Air Force, was standing on a six-foot-by-ten-foot elevated platform
with a three-foot railing around three sides. His fair face looked
even lighter in contrast to his military-buzzed dark brown hair.
Slowly, the platform rose until it was flush with the truck's
floor, muffling the sound of the engines. Its occupant glanced
around at the four of them with dark, deep-set eyes. His gaze
stopped when he locked eyes with Eddie. “Special Agent Perez?” He
extended his hand. “I'm Sergeant Neil Covington, in command of the
security team.”

Eddie noted the sergeant was wearing the
military standard-issue Beretta 92 F pistol on his right hip and a
radio on his left. He took the sergeant’s hand. “Let me introduce
you to my team. Agents Cal Warren and Geri Hughes, and Special
Agent Jo Turner.”

Covington shook each of their hands in turn
and produced four small plastic bags containing earplugs from his
pocket. “They always forget to issue these to new arrivals,” he
said as he passed them out. “It's a bit loud in the generator
room.” As they inserted the plugs, he added, “If you all will step
on to the platform, please.”

Eddie watched as Covington spoke into the
radio and the platform began to descend. Once down, he ushered them
over to the waiting golf carts. Cal and Geri climbed into a cart
with an airman in the driver’s seat, while Eddie and Jo rode with
the sergeant.

They chose to remain silent for the first
half of the fifteen-minute trip through the tunnel. The two
youngest team members seemed uncomfortable with their new
surroundings, while Eddie and Jo took it all in stride. When they
reached the middle of the passage and started across the drain,
Eddie spoke. “So, what does the Air Force need with a Navy
investigative team, Sergeant? This place is your baby, isn't
it?”

Covington smiled. “It could have something
to do with the fact that the installation's new commander is a Navy
captain.”

Eddie chuckled. Without looking, he held up
his hand as Jo slapped a five-dollar bill in it. Eddie had
predicted that there would be a Navy man in command of whatever was
going on here, but Jo thought it was that the Air Force needed help
they couldn't muster from within their own ranks. “What the heck
does the Navy have going on in the middle of Georgia? Are there
swicks running up and down a river somewhere near here?”

Covington looked at Eddie questioningly.
“Swicks?”

Eddie smiled. “The best kept secret in the
Navy. Special Warfare Combatant Crewmember. S-W-C-Cs. Swicks.”

From the expression on his face, Eddie could
tell that the sergeant still didn't understand. “They're like
SEALs, but with boats.”

“Special Agent, all I can tell you is that
the work being done here is very important to some very high
government officials. The captain wants to meet with you ASAP. I'm
sure he'll have the details for you.” After a brief pause, he
added, “I guess they don't have much confidence in Air Force
security personnel and wanted you guys here.”

Eddie wondered if the sergeant harbored any
resentment for him and his team. Would Covington and his men make
things difficult? If he had any such feelings, he showed none of
it. He appeared completely at ease with his place in the mix.
Time will tell.

Fifteen minutes later, Eddie, Joe, Geri, and
Cal, along with Sergeant Covington, were standing in the captain’s
office. It was located in a part of the facility off of the garage
area, where the security office and the guard’s personal quarters
were located. The security personnel had no reason to enter the
clean environment of the complex, which was outfitted with dozens
of cameras. But most of them decided the food and the recreation
area was worth the time spent in transition in and out of hospital
scrubs.

“That'll be all, Sergeant.” Benny rose from
his desk to greet the newcomers.

The office was small. There was nothing on
the gray walls, and a single fluorescent light fixture was mounted
on the ceiling. Benny stood behind a small metal desk that sat in
the center of the room, and in front of an unimpressive
leather-bound chair, the type usually found in a doctor’s office
waiting room. The cramped room reminded Benny of those on some of
the ships he had served on. On each side of the door was a pair of
folding metal chairs, leaving very little room for anything else.
They went through the introductions and the captain invited them
all to sit.

Eddie didn’t want to waste any time on
formality. “What can we do for you, Captain?”

Benny leaned back in his chair and laced his
fingers together on his mid-section. “Just so we all know, I got
keel-hauled into this job too. But, orders are orders.”

“Alright,” Eddie agreed.

“I arrived yesterday and saw what I had to
work with. I requested you simply to augment the security here. All
of the Air Force personnel, except for Covington, are
bubblegummers. I wanted some experience here.”

“The director said this assignment was
open-ended. How long do you anticipate needing us here?” Eddie
asked.

“Hard to say. I've requested some more
seasoned military personnel, so hopefully it won’t be long.”

Eddie shook his head. “All due respect,
Captain. I don't buy it. We're cops. We don't do babysitting.” He
was unwilling to accept that he and his team would be used in such
a petty manner. “Unless there's some other reason for us being
here.”

Benny smiled. He liked Eddie. The man was as
no-nonsense as he was. Maybe even more so. “Could we have some
privacy?”

On cue, Jo stood up. “C'mon, Probie,” she
said as she walked out of the room. Geri had already taken the
hint. Benny noted that as Cal rose he looked around the office
uncomfortably before closing the door behind him.

“He’s a little claustrophobic,” Eddie
offered.

Benny explained everything he knew about the
project to Eddie, in detail. At first the special agent seemed
unimpressed. He thought it was a bad joke until Benny collected the
other NCIS agents and took them inside the laboratory. He
introduced them to Professor Yeoum and Doctor Cook. The team
continued their tour, even meeting the chimps. It was then that
Eddie's concern kicked in. He didn't like terms like “classified”
or “top secret.” In their current context, they had a morbid
connotation.

* * * * *

THE OTHER OCCUPANTS
of the facility
had been in their living quarters asleep, as it was very early in
the morning when the team arrived. All, that is, except Jimmy. The
computer scientist had hacked into the security system again and
was monitoring the group’s every move.

“Who are the newbies, SIS?” he asked the
computer as he watched them on the monitor.

“According to security log-in,” the female
voice answered pleasantly, “they are agents of the Naval Criminal
Investigative Service. Would you like to know their names,
Jimmy?”

“Great, first they moved us from McMaster to
this friggin' hole, then the storm troopers came to keep us all
locked up in here, then the major, then this captain, and now more
feds.” He sat back in his chair, propping his feet angrily up on
the desk.

“I'm sorry, Jimmy. I didn't understand your
query. Would you like to know their names?”

“No,” he said curtly. “What are they doing
here?”

“According to internal telephone
records—”there was a brief pause and then Benny's voice could be
heard over the speaker—“I need a team from the NSA or NCIS here
ASAP to help with security.  I can't have just a half-a-dozen
wet-nosed SPs guarding a project of this magnitude.”  There
was a click and SIS stopped playback.

“It must be true, then.”

“What must be true, Jimmy?”

“That they found somebody, SIS. That we’re
really going to do this.”

“I'm sorry, Jimmy. I do not know to what you
are referring.”

He frowned. “You confirmed it yesterday,
SIS. There's a man coming here soon.” He paused, hardly believing
it himself, even though this was what he had worked so hard to
accomplish. The programs he had written, the years of work. Still,
he hardly thought that they would actually accomplish the goal of
it all. A smile crept onto his face. A feeling of both excitement
and terror was growing in him, like when a roller coaster nears the
top before the first drop. “We’re going to clone a human
being.”

1
4 The Arrival

SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF
the NCIS team
and the official word that the “test subject” would be arriving
soon, the entire complex had become a beehive of activity.

Special Agent Perez had assigned Jo and Geri
to remain inside the clean environment of the facility for the
first twenty-four hours. He and Cal stayed with the rest of the
security team outside in their offices, familiarizing themselves
with the environment and the team members.

The scientific team of Yeoum, Don, Greg, and
computer specialist Jimmy Bennett, assisted by June and Tiong (and
occasionally, Jo and Geri) made preparations for the long-awaited
continuation of their work.  Professor Yeoum had hoped that
they would be able to begin within the month, provided the subject
had been following the diet that he had prescribed. The professor's
demeanor and state of mind had changed dramatically since they had
gotten the news. Benny and the NCIS team wouldn’t have noticed, but
the rest of the team saw it immediately. The professor had always
greeted newcomers to the group with disdain at first, especially
the government or military types. But he took the major into their
close circle soon after his initial objection. He was excited,
bordering on giddy. Not only was he about to begin the experiment
with his new
human
subject, but he would also be seeing the
completion his life's work, possibly within the next few weeks.

When Rob entered the facility, he was
thoroughly unimpressed. He was too focused on what he was there to
do, even though he had little idea of what that actually was. He
had convinced himself that it must have something to do with
cellular regeneration, but in what way he couldn’t imagine.

Rob was introduced to Professor Yeoum Chi
first, who was waiting for him in the garage, and then the two
joined the captain in his office. When they entered the small room,
Rob was wearing his whites, hat tucked under his left arm, and he
carried a small, leather bound Bible which had been given to him by
Carol for just this occasion. To say that he was completely
unprepared when he saw Benny behind the desk would be an
understatement.

“Hello, Rob. It's good to see you again.”
Benny offered his hand.

“Sir.” Rob tentatively took Benny’s
hand.

“Please have a seat, gentlemen,” the captain
offered, noticing at once the Bible Rob carried.

Rob wanted very much to speak with Benny
about his behavior in Washington at their last meeting, but it
wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have in the company of
strangers.

Yeoum could hardly contain himself. “I'm
very excited about the prospect of completing my work, and now that
you are here … well, I would like to thank you for your
involvement.”

“You’re welcome.” Rob glanced at the
professor, and then his expression changed to one of confusion.
“I'm sorry. What?”

The professor’s smile dimmed a bit. “I was
expressing my appreciation for your participation in my”—he glanced
at the captain—“forgive me,
our
project. It will be the
fulfillment of my life's work … as well as that of my father before
me.”

“That's great.” Rob was half listening. He
had made up his mind that he wanted to know as little as possible
about what he was getting involved in. But now it appeared to Rob
as if Benny had been holding all of the cards from the
beginning.

Rob’s lack of attention was beginning to
irritate the Korean. The frown that crept onto his face was more in
keeping with his natural disposition. Yeoum had to suppress the
urge to reach over and grab the commander. He wanted Rob to know
how important his involvement would be, but at the moment he
couldn’t even hold his attention. For Yeoum, the implications were
mind-boggling. He had never before considered personal gain from
his work, but the prospect of his name being as well known as the
likes of Pasteur, Einstein, and Armstrong was quite appealing. That
reward alone would befit the years of sacrifice he had made to
complete it. He was about to speak again, but the commander
interrupted him. Rob still focused his gaze on Benny. “I could not
be more excited at the prospect of getting started, Professor. But
would you mind if the captain and I had a private moment? I'd
appreciate it very much.”