The Dane Commission (The Dane Chronicles) (36 page)

Within an
hour, he heard back from everyone except Frances. He waited, patiently watching
his in-box. Finally, about a half hour later, the response came, it read:

‘Dear Eric –

I am dismayed
that this problem seems to be out of control.

This time I
will not ignore the distress these employees intend
to cause the good people of IntelliHealth. I look forward to
participating. Please consider the following dates and times as
optimal for my schedule. Please make the usual arrangements
for my televid. Thank you for the wonderful game last weekend,
we should make time to do it more often.

Your friend,

-
                    
Sid’

Cohen smiled.

He sent a
message to Rosemary saying that the meeting would be tomorrow at 10:00 AM.
Outside he could hear her calling in her staff. Moments later the front area
cleared as they left to deliver hardcopy letters requesting police and
government officials participate. She requested that they should arrive early,
and come directly to her office. She would provide lab coats for them to wear.

Cohen then
sent a message to Ryan, copying a few of the Presidents and scientists that
read:

‘Mr. Dane,

It is
unfortunate that the Dane Commission has
chosen to go to the press. I implore you to join a
meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning at
10:00AM where we can discuss other more
appropriate options. As an employee of the
IntelliHealth System I remind you that it is your
obligation to attend this meeting prior to
addressing any outside media. I look forward to
your speedy response.

Dr. Eric
Cohen’

Cohen smiled.
He didn’t think it would be difficult to get Ryan and his friends to
participate. He got up, to walk around the floor and see how Rosemary was
doing.

In Ryan’s
office, he was just finishing his response to Cohen’s message.

‘Dr. Cohen,

I apologize
for this uncomfortable situation. Believe me
when I say that it is uncomfortable for me as well. I do
not see any advantage to dragging this out, but I do
recognize my responsibility in the context of being an
IntelliHealth employee. I have spoken with my colleagues
on the commission, and we have agreed to attend your
meeting tomorrow. It is my sincere hope that we can bring
this matter to a satisfactory close.

Ryan Dane.
Dane Commission, IntelliHealth’

He submitted
the response, copying the same people Cohen had.

Ryan hoped he
had played the part successfully.

He got up and
went to Jim’s office, where he found Jim rapidly typing at his terminal.

“The meeting
is on for 10:00 AM tomorrow. Will you be ready?”
“No doubt about it, Ryan; you can count on me.”

Smiling, Jim
leaned back in his chair, “I’ve written and tested my new algorithms for
detecting the faked videos. I believe we can assess and provide results within
60 seconds of receiving the footage. I will have my tablet with me displaying
the results, which I will forward to you and Cohen immediately. Right now I’m
programming a redundant operation in case anything fails in the primary
routine; this isn’t my first sting.”

Very pleased,
Ryan said, “That sounds perfect Jim, thanks.”

Jim looked
back at his screens and resumed typing.

Ryan left and
walked over to Jeff’s office.

Jeff was
printing a hard copy of the something, when Ryan walked in.

“Jeff, the
meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 AM; have you put together a plan for
testing recent the vaccinations?”

“Yes I have,
we can conduct the tests ourselves without help from the SID program. Results
should be available within about 16 hours from the start-time. They will
provide us with the exact make-up of the vaccine, and allow us to see if
anything has been added, or perhaps altered.”

“Excellent,
have them ready. When it’s over, you will have direction of the follow-up
actions. I imagine people everywhere will demand to know if what we suspect, is
true.”

“I understand,
Ryan. I’ll be ready.”

“You’re a good
man, Dr. Jeff Sarin,” he said smiling, as he left Jeff’s office and in a much
lower voice said, “and not a bad sidekick.”

“I heard
that.”

The day passed
without any more news from Cohen’s office. By late that afternoon, Jim had
finished and tested his video detection program several times. Jeff had put the
final touches on his write-up for the vaccine testing routine; if called upon,
he could distribute it to the local laboratories instantly.
Late that afternoon, before they left for the day, Ryan had some things he
wanted to say.

“The last time
we tried this, we got our asses handed to us, and probably by a damn computer;
tomorrow it’s going to be different. I imagine that a lot of people still won’t
want to hear what we have to say.

I don’t really
blame them.

If we’re
right, a great evil has committed acts of atrocity while hidden among us.

Hidden for too
long; there may be precious little time to undo what has been done.”
”Whatever happens tomorrow, stay cool, try to think clearly and respond
quickly. We may not get another chance so we must not fail. I don’t know what
will happen when we expose SID, so be alert. We all know our parts, be ready.”

Anxiously they
drove home, each wondering what would unfold tomorrow morning.
Ryan barely slept.

The next
morning, Ryan put on his best suit, and drove to work.

When he
arrived, he walked boldly across the lobby remembering when only recently he
was fighting with the elevator. He laughed to himself as he rode up today.
‘I’m still fighting technology,’
he thought,
‘things really haven’t
changed all that much.’

Arriving at
his office, he put his things down, pulled out his tablet and sync’d
 
it with his terminal. On his desk, he found
a hand written message from Cohen.

‘ Ryan,

Please come to
my office in the morning, prior to the meeting.

Thanks, Eric.’

He put the
note in his pocket and stopped by Jim’s office, surprised to see that he was
wearing a suit as well.

“Wow, looking
sharp Jim.”

“Thanks.”

“How are your
arrangements?”

“I finished my
work, and confidence is high.”

“Jim, when we
sit down at the meeting, I will ask you about the weather. If you have
everything running, and you are ready to begin, tell me that the weather is
nice and cool. Anything else will let me know that you need more time, okay?”

Jim nodded,
picked up his tablet, and stood up to follow Ryan.

“Excellent, should we go get Jeff?”
 

They walked
past Lara, where Ryan paused.

“Lara, we
dragged you into quite a mess last time. I will understand if you prefer to
stay here today.”

“Not a chance,
I’m excited to see what happens. Also, I’ll have my tablet with me, so just say
the word, and I can retrieve anything you need.”

“Okay then.
Let’s visit our doctor friend and see how he’s doing today.”

As they walked
over, Jim said, “You know, technically I’m a doctor too. I mean no one ever
calls me Dr. Safe, but they could. You know, because I’m a doctor, I have a
doctorate.”
Ryan was ignoring Jim and trying not to laugh, as he stepped into Jeff’s
office.

“Good morning
Dr. Sarin, Jim here was just mentioning that he’d like to buy us all breakfast.
Care to join us?”

Looking
anxious and prepared at the same time, he said, “Yes, that would be good.”

“Very well
then, come on everyone, join me in the cafeteria. Today, breakfast is on Jim.”
Feeling good, they went downstairs to try and relax.

When they
returned, there was still an hour before the meeting.

Ryan went
upstairs to talk with Cohen.

When he
arrived he could see Rosemary in her office helping a man into a lab coat. He
thought there seemed to be a whole rack of different sizes.

Walking up to
Cohen’s door he felt suddenly anxious. Being around Cohen brought reality back
to the front and center.

Cohen waved
Ryan in, and shut the door.

“This is it Ryan,
how do you feel?”

“I think I’m
good.”

“Me too. I
have all the right people here. Appropriate leadership figures from the
IntelliHealth System; and it was no easy task. I had to work to get a few of
them here. I also have police and government people here. I think for them to
understand what has happened, they need to see it in person. I also have
several of our research scientists present to witness the spectacle.”

“What was with
the lab coats in Rosemary’s office?” said Ryan.

“Ah, that is
the unexpected; it’s how I beat SID at chess the other night, and it’s how
we’ll beat him today.”
Eric continued, “I have everyone from outside IntelliHealth in lab coats. From
SID’s monitor it will appear as if we have the typical number of research
people here.”

“Won’t the
real scientists know?”

“Rosemary will
bring them in, just before we start. When they begin to arrive I will start the
meeting. There won’t be time for any revealing talk prior to the meeting. I’m
not saying it’s the best plan, but I think it will be adequate for today.”

Eric squeezed
Ryan’s shoulder, and smiled.
“Are you ready to confront him, Ryan?”

“I think so,
yes. I’m not afraid. It’s just a defective computer program. I kind of expect
it to start stuttering, and emit little wafts of smoke when it happens.”

He and Cohen
both hesitantly laughed, small anxious laughs.

“Well, it
sounds like we’re almost ready. I’m going back to my office to check on my
team,” said Ryan.
”Sounds good, Ryan. I’ll see you inside. And Ryan - ”

“Yes?”

Cohen was smiling
broadly.
“Today we will most certainly,
kick that robot’s ass
.”

Ryan nodded.

Ryan returned
to his office, where his team was waiting.

The floor was
quiet, and the tension was thick.

“It’s time. Is
everyone ready?”

Looking
around, they all nodded. He smiled, turned around and walked to the elevator.
Together they went upstairs to the conference room.

The conference
room was loud and full of people.

 
‘Just like last time,’ he thought.

Noise and
movement filled the room. He saw a single large televid screen in back, with
several smaller ones fixed around the room. The largest one was still black,
but the rest all were alive with faces; some watching quietly, some talking
with the people here.

Ryan walked to
the middle of the table, and sat down where the placard with his name
indicated. This time Jeff sat on his left, and Jim on his right. Lara took a
seat at the peripheral behind Cohen. They made eye contact, and he smiled at
her.

Leaning to his
right, he said, “How’s the weather?”

“The weather
is very nice, and cool.”

Jim was ready,
Jeff had his work ready, and Cohen was walking through the door.

The crowded
room parted and began to subside as Cohen reached his chair and sat down.
Today, Rosemary followed and sat at the table next to him.

Behind
Rosemary several last minute attendees filed in wearing lab coats and sat at
whatever empty spots there were around the table.

Dr. Cohen
wasted no time, reaching out and ringing the bell at the center.
“Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends, please may I have your
attention.”