Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 (8 page)

And to make matters worse, they weren't
allowed to continue their present research. They had repeatedly
been told that the next phase of the project was forthcoming, and
that the next specimen would arrive soon. It had been bad enough
being on hold for two months in Hamilton where they all had homes
and lives. But being cooped up in this new lab could get nerve
wracking. It was true that the experiment was a success. The
results were clear and the science, barring unforeseen events, was
proving to have longevity with each sample Doctor Tiong
analyzed. But there was no clear answer to the question of the
current holdup.

“We were supposed to be gone by now,” June
added. “Gone to our new home, away from needles, and sleeping in a
real forest. Not a fake one.”

“Are you kidding me? The zoologists in San
Diego would give their left arm to have a habitat like we have
here.”

She knew it was true. She had to give them
credit. They had created an environment in this underground
sanatorium that rivaled anything she had ever experienced. The best
food, the best care, and all of the people who had access to the
animals seemed to genuinely care for them. And the chimps responded
favorably to the team as well. All except for Tiong. But he, above
of all of them except possibly June, had the animals’ best interest
at heart.

Sometimes Juan gets a bad rap
.
Maybe I should check on his arm.
“What time is it?” June
asked.

Don glanced at the clock on the wall. “Eight
fifty-nine.”

“I guess Juan has started his
inventory.”

“Yeah, I think he coerced Jimmy into helping
him since the mysterious major isn't here.”  Don had often
speculated about the major. Only Tiong had been allowed to meet
him. The others only saw him when Jimmy hacked his way into the
security system. Don conjured a scenario with Greg Mathers as the
real
person in charge and not an Air Force officer at all.
He was CIA sent there to evaluate them for another secret project
that the government had in mind. This, of course, provoked Jimmy to
outbursts of colorful mixed metaphors and open threats if he found
out that anything of the like was true. In turn, this fueled Don's
imagination to the point that the professor had to intervene and
assure Jimmy that none of it was even remotely true. As far as he
knew.

June glanced around her at the Gummy Bears
on the floor. “We’d better get the place cleaned up. We don't wanna
make a bad first impression.”

Don stood up and walked over to her desk,
leaning in to look at the monitor. “You make a very cute
couple.”

“I know. But she's a one-man woman. And
Brad's a little jealous.”

“They must've had a late night.”

“They're supposed to be on a reserve. No
matter how nice it is for them
in here
,” June lamented.

“Well, maybe today's visit will get that
ball rolling,” Don offered. “Besides, you still haven't gotten word
back about where Paris and Charlie are going.”

June looked to the monitor on her left and
scanned the camera around in the other paddock that mirrored the
one that housed Angelina and Brad. The false vegetation and
natural-looking terrain sometimes made spotting the chimps
difficult, but after a few moments she found them near the
artificial stream eating their breakfast of fruit and nuts. She
glanced at the middle screen, where Angelina was beginning to stir,
and then back. Zooming in on the females, she found it amazing that
they appeared to be exactly alike, down to the smallest detail.
Chimps all look the same to most people, but to a trained eye they
are as different as one human is from the next. Even identical
twins have subtle differences in weight and hair color, but not
these two. They were identical, despite the fact that Tiong claimed
he could tell the difference between them. The fact that the four
could not be placed together broke June's heart, but this one
unexplained side effect of the experiment made that impossible.

“Let's hope so,” June said, as she thought
of something that her parents had always told her when she grew
impatient:
It's all in Gods timing.

AS GREG TURNED INTO
the Lightning Quik
Mart, Kitchens asked, “What's the matter? You need gas?” He glanced
at the SUV’s gauges.

“No, sir. This is it.”

“This is what?”

“The duck blind.”

Kitchens peered over his glasses at the
young officer, wondering if this was Greg’s idea of a joke, then at
the unlikely site of a classified DOD project.

It was a convenience store.

“The Lightning Quik Mart is the duck blind,”
Kitchens said incredulously.

Greg couldn't contain a chuckle. “Yes, sir.
Pretty good, huh?”

The parking lot was full of vehicles. There
were three semi trucks. One was a tanker delivering fuel to the
store, its bright green tractor and sparkling silver tank trailer
bearing the green logo of the Mathis Oil Company. Another was
parked close to the building, its rear doors facing the highway.
The third, with a white cab and trailer emblazoned with the red
Lightning Quik Mart forked lightning bolt logo, was backed up to
the front door where its driver was unloading wares. There were
cars parked next to the gas pumps, more in front of the store, and
another at the far end of the lot.

“You gotta be kiddin' me,” Kitchens said, as
another delivery truck pulled up next to the store.

As the two got out of the truck and started
toward the front door, the senator asked, rather dryly, “Does it
turn a profit?”

Ignoring the quip, Greg explained, “All of
the trucks are ours.”

“Well, they need mufflers,” Kitchens
complained over the noise of the engines. “And, they're not at all
concerned about the price of fuel, now are they?”

“How y'all doin' this mornin'?” A short,
burly man with several days’ growth of beard was wearing a green
shirt and matching baseball cap bearing the Mathis Oil Company
logo.

“Hi, Charlie,” Greg answered, playing his
role as Lightning Quik Mart's Regional Vice President of Marketing.
The cover allowed him to park at the store for days at a time
without arousing suspicion, and he had an office in the back.
Leaning in close to the senator, he whispered, “He’s with us.”

Once inside, Kitchens quickly surveyed the
store. There was a balding man in a gray suit getting a cup of
coffee in the back. To the left, a young man wearing the olive
green jumpsuit of an Air Force staff sergeant was looking over the
store's selection of over-the-counter medicines. On the right was a
middle-aged woman with long brown hair and heavy make-up reaching
for a soda from one of the coolers.

“They're not with us,” Greg cautioned.

From all appearances, it was merely a
convenience store with everything one would expect to find, from
Corn Nuts to the aroma of hot dogs sizzling on the rotisserie.
There was even a good selection of fishing supplies, including a
room in the back of the store with a LIVE BAIT sign hanging over
the doorway. Because of its proximity to the Ocmulgee River, the
store had proven quite popular with local fishermen.

“Let me introduce you to the manager,” Greg
said.

They neared the store’s check-out counter
where two Lightning Quik Mart employees were standing back to back,
one a young white man and the other a young black woman. “Welcome
to Lightning Quik Mart,” they said in unison, with a decided lack
of enthusiasm. They glanced up and then back to their task of
checking off the deliveries that were being stacked on the floor in
front of them.

“Good morning, Cheryl, Sean. Where's Cindy?”
Greg asked.

“In the cooler,” Cheryl answered.

“Thanks,” Greg said, and then whispered,
“They’re two of eleven Air Force personnel that work here. Cindy is
the only civilian.”

The sound of a female voice drew their
attention as she emerged from the cooler, her distinctive Brooklyn
accent leading the way. “How many times do I have to tell you,
Tony? You can't deliver here at nine in the morning. We're too
busy. You have to deliver either before six or after ten.”

She wore jeans, a white blouse, and a red
Lightning Quik Mart vest. Her black hair was pulled tightly back,
bound up with some type of multi-beaded barrette that allowed her
pony tail to hang down to her shoulder blades. She waved a
clipboard as she spoke, closely followed by a Hispanic man in his
mid-thirties wearing the matching shorts and shirt of Lightning
Quik Mart.

When the driver didn't immediately
acknowledge her, she added, “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, ma'am.” He went out the door, pushing
his hand truck up the ramp to fetch another load.

“That man ain't never gonna learn.”

“Good morning, Cindy,” Greg said. “I want to
introduce you to someone. This is—”

“Cynthia Patrice Lattice!” Kitchens shouted,
startling the major. “How the heck are ya?” He scooped her up in a
warm embrace. “You better leave that man alone.”

“Mister Mayor!” Cindy shouted back,
surprised by the visit from her old friend. Taking his hands, she
stood back and eyed him wryly. “Or, should I call you
Senator
?” Heads turned as she immediately attracted the
attention of the store's customers and employees alike.

“How about Kevin?” Kitchens gave no thought
at all to the store’s patrons.

“Kevin. It's so good to see you,” she said
warmly and then turned to the major. “Hey, Greg. I didn't expect
you today.” Cindy had been left out of the loop about the senator’s
visit.

Greg glanced around with a concerned look.
“Maybe we should go into the back.”

Cindy’s eyes widened in embarrassment.
“Sorry, Greg.” She moved toward the back of the store, handing the
clipboard to Cheryl. “We'll be in the back.”

Kitchens caught the Air Force sergeant’s eye
as he nodded and said, “Good morning, Sir.”

“Mornin',” he replied casually.

The sergeant made a sideways move toward the
employees and whispered, "Who's that?"

Sean spoke without missing a beat. “Them?
The manager and some big wigs from corporate.”

Greg paused at the door in order to listen
to Sean's conversation with the sergeant.

“I thought I heard her say
senator
.”

Greg grimaced.

“Really?” Sean managed to sound
uninterested. “That one guy is Mr. Mathers, one of the VPs. I don't
know who the other guy is.”

Without turning, Cheryl added, “He used to
be mayor of Warner Robins and is good friends with Cindy. He got
hisself elected senator last year.” She sounded thoroughly
unimpressed.

“Huh.” Sean glanced over at Cheryl and then
to the sergeant’s items as he rung them up. “I don't know. I just
moved here a couple of months ago.”

The sergeant thought about asking if he
could meet the senator, but quickly abandoned the notion when
Cheryl added, “The last time he came in here, some Air Force dude
asked him for his autograph and, honey, he nutted up! Got hisself
in all kinds a trouble with his boss.” She looked the sergeant in
the eye. “That man is a sho nuff jerk.”

With that, the sergeant quickly paid and
left.

Greg closed and locked the door with a wry
smile.
Not bad.

From the brightly lit hallway, Greg could
hear Kitchens and Cindy talking in her office. They obviously
knew each other well. Greg didn’t want to eavesdrop, but the noise
of the store’s machinery wasn't enough to drown out their
conversation.

“Anyway, I went to the interview, figured
I’d see what the man had to say, you know? It was like any other
interview except he just said, 'we'll be in touch.' Boom! That was
it.”

They sat casually on folding metal chairs in
the crowded little office. There was barely room for three inside.
Greg saw an empty chair but did not sit, deciding it didn't look
comfortable.

Besides
,
I haven't been
invited.

“And?” Kitchens asked expectantly.

“And,” she repeated, “a week later I got a
call from my old captain. Someone from the government had been to
see him and asked him a bunch of questions about me.” She glanced
over at the major. “Greg. Sit down, boo.”

Kitchens pushed the chair forward. “Yeah,
Greg. Have a seat.”

“I'm fine,” he said. He leaned back against
the doorframe and attempted to tune them out.

Cindy continued. “Well, another week goes by
and I get a call from the man. He invites me back for another
interview, asks me how much I make, offers me double, yadda, yadda,
yadda, I take the job.”

“Wow. Double?” Kitchens asked,
understandably impressed.

“Well, I took it after I found out that I’d
be working for the government. I had to take a few tests and sign a
non-disclosure agreement, but for that kind of money
and
government benefits, except for holidays. You know this place is
open twenty-four seven. And all I have to do is what I was doing at
my other job, not ask questions, and keep my mouth shut.
Child,
please!
And you know I love my president.” 

“I know you do. He's a great man, isn't
he?”

“True dat, boo. True dat.” Cindy looked up
at the major. “I don't think Greg's too happy with him,
though.”

“Oh?”

“What?” Greg asked, his eyes darting from
one to the other and back, suddenly interested in their
conversation.

“Yeah,” Cindy continued. “You know, two
kinds of folks can read people. Women and cops. And I'm both.”

Kitchens smiled.

“Greg can't tell me anything about what he's
doing here, but ever since he arrived last month, I can tell he's
been frustrated.” She eyed Greg up and down as he attempted to melt
into the doorframe.

“Now, what goes on behind his office door
ain’t none of my business. I don't wanna know. But I sure hope you
came down here to give this man some good news.” She finished by
giving the major a wink, making him sigh audibly.