RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (26 page)

Cyrus’s plan was insane just as he was, yet it was simple and perfectly executed so far.  He intended to systematically rob the wealthiest families throughout the world and convert all that wealth into enough power to take over the United States Government via bribery and corruption.  With the White House and the Pentagon in his clutches, he would use the incredible might of the U.S. military to take over the rest world one country at a time starting with the smallest ones first and working his way up until he had them all.  He was truly insane and would stop at nothing to reach his
goal, he was determined to rule the world. 

He knew the timing was right.  Most of the rest of the world was still recovering from the pandemic, so they would be easy targets.  The execution of his plan, while still in its infancy, would soon come to a head as he finally obtained the key to the LifeTech system.  It was the one missing link that he needed to guarantee his success. 

All he needed now were the two people that really understood this technology, the inventors themselves.  He would soon have them in his lair, locked away, and under his control.  Once these things were in place there would be no one else knowledgeable enough about the LifeTech system to stop him. 

He would groom an attractive young candidate to come out as a politician for the following election to run for presidency of the United States.  He would hijack the minds of the most intelligent people and leaders all over the world.  Being controlled beyond their will, they would support him both verbally and financially.

There would be no stopping him.  Once in control of the greatest nations he would carry out the rest of his plan.  Not only would he be the singular ruler of the free world, he would also rule forever as immortality was here to stay.  His administration would decide who would be allowed to live and who would be eliminated.   As he read the reports a subtle grin tried to come across his face but he denied it.  In his mind he laughed but on the outside he showed no emotion.  The reports were clean and to the point, no clutter.

         Kerrington Residence;

         Condition: normal

Behavior: unexpected above average contentment due to new found wealth

Activity: celebrating new wealth with friends and family

Surveillance: Audio functional, watchers assigned

Video: None

Note: Seem unaware of any potential threat

Agent: No. 734

Calhoun Residence;

Condition: Normal

Behavior: Content, New Girlfriend

Activity:  Hosted dinner party for Kerrington’s, had meal/music/dancing outdoors in plain sight with no cover  

Surveillance: Line of sight only, Audio: none, Video: none (state of the art security preventing penetration in both autos and home)

Note: Seem unaware of any potential threat

Agent: No. 734

They now had surveillance on the Kerrington’s and it was good.  They were getting good information about John Calhoun as well due to spill over between them.  Soon the unsuspecting Dodge Kerrington and John Calhoun would awaken in his captivity as clones but the world would never know.

Their deaths would seem accidental and no one would conclude that Cyrus had them working for him in his own private lab.  When he was through with them, he would simply erase them.  They were expendable for sure, but for right now he needed them.  He needed to drain their brains and keep them under his authority, with all of the experts working for him, who could stop him?  He continued his research determined to find a way into the Calhoun fortress.

Back at the Kerrington house everyone was acting normal but Linsey and Dodge knew things were far from normal, very far.  Linsey took Bobby and dropped him off at a ball game then had to swing back by the high school to pick up Sarah who was
working as an instructor in a summer gymnastics camp for grade school kids. 

She earned a little pay for it and also gained points toward a scholarship for gymnastics to the college of her choice.  Linsey couldn’t help but be proud of Sarah for working so hard toward her dream.  Soon they would be able to tell the children of their new found wealth, she looked forward to giving Sarah the choice of attending any college she wanted, with the best gymnastics programs available. 

While Linsey was doing her normal running Dodge sat in front of the TV with a ball game on and got really into it once in a while and was yelling at the TV.

“You idiot, I can’t believe you missed that!”
         “Way to hustle, yes!” 

Even though he wanted to watch the game and think of nothing else he couldn’t.  Every waking moment of the day he was forging a plan in the back of his mind. 

How could he and John do all the things they needed to do to bring these guys down while being continually watched?  They needed the freedom to move about and conduct research without being detected, if only they could . . . , then it hit him, yes! that’s it, they needed to clone themselves! 

Their clones could continuously do everything that needed to be done and then report back to them on a daily basis.  The watchers would be watching John and Dodge and would have no idea they had clones off somewhere else doing extensive research. 

It was a great idea but implementing it would be awful tricky.  How would they get the clones grown for the process?  Where would they get the equipment to do the uploading?  How would they get reports sent to them and instructions for the next step relayed without being compromised? 

Clean communication without detection would be crucial to the success of such a plan.  Dodge decided to call John.  He went down to the basement and scanned it for bugs, it was clean.  He dialed up John.     

“Hey John can you talk?”
         “Sure I’m in lab, it’s clean, I just checked it again this morning.  What’s on your mind?”

“I got an idea.  I wanted to go over it with you to see if you think it’s workable.”
         “Okay shoot.” 

Dodge laid out the whole
thing and John thought it was brilliant.   They didn’t know exactly how they would get everything they needed just yet, but the theory of how it would work seemed sound.  Instead of communicating every day with their clone.  They would devise a system to interlace the IHE (individual human experience) of both the clone and surrogate into one file daily.  During each sleep cycle, the combined IHE files would load tandem into both the surrogate and their clone.  When they both awoke everything the clone experienced and discovered would be completely known by the surrogate and everything the surrogate experienced and discovered would be known by the clone.  It would be the perfect communications link that couldn’t be deciphered even if it were intercepted. 

Every good scientist knew that it was impossible to decrypt memories and that those files were useless to everyone except the original subject
or the clone there of.  It was the perfect plan and it would leverage their time in a very useful manner. 

The next step was to figure out how to obtain all the equipment they needed to create the clones and a place to do it
. They would also need to mask it as some normal activity.  They still had a lot more figuring to do.  John said he would check with an old friend at the pentagon that owed him a favor and he might be able to locate some equipment through that source and others.

Dodge continued to think about the whole plan, but was somewhat dumbfounded as to how they could really get the equipment needed without committing crimes. 
A complete Lifecenter Restoration Console didn’t exactly fit in your pocket.  He really didn’t want to be involved in criminal activity but he didn’t see any other way. 

On top of that, he didn’t see how they would be able to go out and do the things needed in order to get their clones in place while being watched constantly
.  He would continue to think about it, but for now there were other concerns at hand. 

It was time to go see his father at the
Lifecenter.  He should be about ready to come home and the whole family was anxious to see how he was doing.  They had only talked to him on the phone a few times the last two days because their schedules were crazy.  They were running Sarah and Bobby to several different things that all seemed to pile up in a two-day span.  They all met up at the dinner table early for some spaghetti with meat balls and a salad, it was quick but still quite healthy.  They all pitched in to clear the table and load the dish washer in record time, then headed out to the van and jumped in.

On the way to see Alan they talked about all the things he told them about on his bucket list, it was fun to think about him doing all those youthful things again.  When they arrived at the
Lifecenter and entered Alan’s room he was in good spirits and he was going through his things. 

His face lit up when he saw them coming in.
         “Hey everybody thanks for coming up, it’s so good to see you” he said, as he began hugging them one by one.
         “I was starting to think you guys forgot about your old Grandpa” he said as he grabbed Bobby in a neck hold.
         “Yeah right Grandpa, you don’t look so old anymore” Sarah said with a smile, in fact you look so young and handsome; I see why the nurses all like you so much, that one with the dark hair is eyeing you, so you better watch out!”  Alan looked up and around like he was searching for the lady.      “oh yeah, is that right?  I gotta peel the ladies off of me now, so you all might have to sneak me out when I leave.”

They all continued joking about how young he looked again.
         “So Dad, how are you feeling?  Are you eating well?  Looks like you’ve gained some weight.”
         “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t believe it, I’ve gained ten pounds already and I even did a push up this morning, haven’t been able to do that in fifteen years!  Man, I feel so good, it’s unreal, like a dream!  I get to go home tomorrow that’s why I’m organizing my things.”  The whole family was shocked, they thought he would have at least two more days. 

“Dad,
do you want to come stay with us for a while?  You know just until you get stronger.”  Asked Linsey.
         “Oh, no dear, I really appreciate the offer but I have a whole list of things I need to do around that old house and now I actually feel like doing them.  I can’t wait to get home and get into a routine.  I’m even planning a fishing trip with my buddies in two weeks.  They were all up here yesterday and we planned the whole thing out, it’s gonna be a real blast!”
         “Okay Dad, that’s fine you should do whatever you want, we completely understand that,” said Dodge. 

They all went on talking until visiting time was over.  Alan told the kids some great stories about his time in the military that they hadn’t heard before; he felt they were old enough now.  He
told stories about how he and their Grandmother struggled as a young married couple while raising Dodge and his younger sister Cindy who had died of an unusual childhood disease. 

He wished that the Restoration was available back then so that she and their Grandmother could have been saved; he missed her now more than ever.  He loved the idea of staying with his family but said that someday he would like to die.  He didn’t want to live forever because he would not get to see her again if he stayed in this life.  He was certain that she was in heaven waiting for him to meet her there.

  Visiting hours were over and they all said their goodbyes and made their way out.  On the ride home nobody had too much to say, as they were all pondering the things Alan had said about the hereafter and how he wanted to see his lovely wife again in heaven.  It was a lot to think about.  Immortality seemed great on the surface but there did seem to be a price to pay one way or the other as a result of having it. 

Dodge wondered if they had done a good thing or not, he pondered the same question before but the positive side of his mind always won out by saying
, “look at the lives it saves.” Right now he felt a small part of himself was still unsure. 

When he laid his head down that night his mind was reeling with many thoughts, he would have loved to talk about them with Linsey but the bugs were always on and so they talked about the normal things of the day and about Alan and his returning home tomorrow and everything it involved until they both drifted off to sleep. 

The next morning while eating breakfast Dodge’s phone rang, it was John.  Linsey knew as Dodge answered it by the way he looked at her that he was heading to the basement to talk so she distracted the kids with ambitious talk of everything they needed to do in their busy day ahead.

“Hey Dodge, how’s it going?” John’s voice crackled with anxiousness.  “
Can you talk?”
         “Yeah I can. I’m just heading to my space.” John knew he meant the basement so he paused while Dodge made his way down. 

“
All right, I’m downstairs what’s up?”
         “Well Buddy I figured out the problem of how to get the equipment without being seen doing it.”
         “Oh, yeah how’s that?” 

“Well we aren’t doing it
.  I’ve called in a favor from my friend at the pentagon instead.  This buddy of his knows the Captain of a decommissioned Black Ops team that is really itching for some action.  Seems since the last UN treaty was signed the Black Ops program has pretty much been dismantled.” 

“These guys were the last team in service
that was forced into early retirement and now they have nothing to do.  I told them we had an international level conspiracy that needed thwarting and the team Captain started salivating all over himself.  I told him we needed them to extract the entire working upload unit from a Lifecenter or maybe a hospital.  He said they could do it, but it would cost us twelve million dollars, which they would divide up amongst the twelve team members needed for a heist of that magnitude.”
         “Wow, that’s a lot of cabbage!”
         “If you want the best you gotta pay for it, and I will, I’m okay with that.” 

Dodge felt a little uneasy about it.     

“Do you think we can trust these guys?”
         “Absolutely,” John came back very confidently.     

“These guys are sworn to secrecy on so many missions that it would make your hair stand on end if you knew the things they had done already for our country.  Besides, I know the
Captain personally, he’s the one that got my team the security breaching contract years ago, this guy’s solid Dodge, no worries.” 

Dodge knew that if John was that adamant about it then he could trust it to be true.
         “Okay Buddy, so how’s this going down?” 

“Well, these guys are saying, the best way to do this is to appear as a bunch of reckless thugs robbing a hospital or
Lifecenter of anything and everything of any value.  They’ll dress like a bunch of guys in a gang.  They’ll go in with hair pieces on, fake tattoos, leather jackets with chains, dark glasses, a biker gang gone bad sort of look.” 

“After they knock the staff around a bit they’ll take the equipment that we need and high tail it outta there.  The media, the police and authorities will chalk it up as some run of the mill
thugs doing a smash and grab job.  The best way to put the authority’s minds at ease is to not take the whole system.  With this strategy they’ll know that the thieves didn’t get a complete system and it will be useless to them.” 

“You and I will have to come up with whatever pieces are missing.  When we get the equipment to our own location we
’ll have to build the missing pieces that we already have into it and get it all working.” 

“John, I like the way you think Bro, I was laying in bed last night and couldn’t come up with a way but you did.”
         “Hey my man, that’s what makes us a good team!”

“All right so that will work but where are we going to take the equipment once we have it?  You know, where is our lair going to be?  If we’re going to have these clones activated and working for us we had better find a secure place to do it that our hackers won’t discover, any ideas?” 

“Yes, actually, I’m working on that.  There is an old dairy farm out in a little farm community called Lapel, it’s right here in Indiana and only about a thirty minute drive.  This old dairy building is all brick, really solid.  My uncle bought it about forty years ago for a song and started fixing it up.  He was convinced the world was going to end at some time predicted by this crazy television preacher he was watching.  Anyway my uncle had a small fortune that he made in the stock market and he decided to spend his life savings on a bunker that he would put in under this old dairy farm building. 

So he has a ton of work done on the place, installs three phase power generators with backups, security galore and it was all stealth.  Only a few of us family members know about it and of course his widow my Aunt Ruth.

The place just looks like an old run down dairy farm with a plain, little, house out front.  The truth is it’s more like a private arsenal with just about every type of old weapons system you can think of with tons of food and water stored inside. 

As the years went by he realized the world wasn’t going to end after all, so he sort of lost interest in it, and now that he has passed away, my Aunt is stuck with the place.  She knows that I’m the only other mad scientist type in the family and thought I might be interested in it.  She always said I was a lot like Uncle Rob. 

I told her I wasn’t interested, but when this thing came up it crossed my mind and so I called her yesterday.  She said it still hadn’t sold and if I wanted it I could have it for 60 percent of the original asking price; she just wants to get out of there.  She intended to move down south and enjoy what time she had left in a warmer climate.   I said yes and now we have ourselves an awesome lair. 

My uncle was a scientist of sorts but not a very good business man.  He was always working on inventions that he thought he could sell and make a fortune but none of the stuff ever worked out because he didn’t know how to market his creations.

Since he made his fortune in the stock market, he gave up on the tinkering.  The good news is the old dairy building is not only a doomsday bunker, it’s also a fully stocked workshop.  He had a complete metal working shop chock full of tools and a complete laboratory with microscopes, electronics equipment, and all kinds of high tech goodies.