CODE X:Episode 1 (3 page)

Fifteen minutes later, the second man peers
inside one of the bags at a hooded mini screen monitor, while
turning knobs on the device. He stops, waits a few seconds then
moves to another knob.

“Begin,” he whispers.

One half hour later, “Mission complete,” the
second man announces.

The two men start packing away the gear.
When they get to the end of the tube, they carefully unscrew the
tip and put it in a small aluminum case. They sweep up the white
dust and put it in a small plastic bag. After opening a small can
of white patching material, they proceed to plug the tiny whole
that was drilled.

Finished, they zip up their bags, close the
main gate and snap the padlock back shut.

The next morning, a small group of tourists
listen as the tour guide recites facts in front of Washington’s
tomb. A two-man Honor Guard stands at attention in front of the
memorial.

“Ladies and gentleman when President
Washington lay on his death bed the night of December 14, 1799, he
instructed his wife to fetch his two wills. After reading them, he
instructed her to burn one of them. At ten that night, George
Washington spoke, requesting to be ‘decently buried’ and to ‘not
let my body be put into the Vault in less than three days after I
am dead.’ He was buried as instructed. He had designed this site to
replace the old tomb as his and Martha’s final resting place. It
was finally constructed in 1831 and President Washington’s old
mahogany casket was placed inside the new marble one you see
now”

“President Washington...”

Men in suits swarm the tomb led by a
brigadier general and take up positions blocking the gate. The men
all have badges hanging out of their pockets. A vehicle pulls up
outside the site and two men dressed in decontamination suits exit
from the rear.

The general announces to the tourists.
“Attention, you have to leave Mount Vernon immediately. This
memorial is officially closed as a matter of national security.
Please exit the grounds now.”

He turns to the two honor guards, “Men,
stand down. Return to your barracks. This site is now officially
sealed and in control of the Army Criminal Investigation
Division.”

Chapter 6

Vicki enters the
exam area outside of Dr. Landau’s office on the top floor of
Children’s Memorial Hospital. She takes a deep gulp of air and
pauses to collect herself. She knows Landau is going to press her
for an answer to accept Alomet’s offer for head of worldwide
research. Her new lab is waiting for her. It’s fully staffed,
waiting for her guidance in a new direction in gene research.

She allows a self-satisfying smile to emerge
as she thinks of how wonderful it would be to finish mapping the
last one percent of the human genome. This discovery will allow
programming genes to create non-defective deformities. Imagine
being able to cure cancer patients with one injection to replace a
cancer gene they inherited.

Her smile turns to a frown as she shakes her
head side-to-side because Nick wants no part of what Alomet has to
offer. They would have to move to a secret location, somewhere,
anywhere out in a secluded compound. He always tells her to go
ahead and treat him like a piece of her luggage, just pack him in
the trunk of the van. It’s decision time for her and she might as
well get this done one way or the other.

Vicki enters the room as Dr. Emil Landau
finishes giving a shot to a five-year-old child as she cries
softly. He’s assisted by Henry, his ever present nurse, who works
with the doctor exclusively, smiling as always. Vicki thinks of him
as the gentle giant.

The child cries. The mother tries to comfort
the little girl. Landau gives the child a big reassuring hug.

Landau says, “There, there, my dear little
angel. Dr. Landau didn’t mean to hurt you. Would you like a
lollipop?”

“Uh huh.”

The doctor points to Henry as he moves away,
“See...Henry has your treat for being such a brave little girl. Can
I kiss your arm where it hurts to make it feel better?”

“Uh huh.”

Landau kisses her arm. Then tickles her. She
giggles.

Vicki breaks out in a wide smile as she
watches the touching scene unfold.

“Doctor, you’re the kindest man I’ve ever
seen with children,” says the mother. “You’re a blessing.”

“Children are the future of our country.
They’re so special to me. There, we’re all done”

Henry moves aside with a gesture of time to
exit as he puts one hand on the mother’s back and shows her the way
out with his other hand. The mother gathers her child up to
leave.

“Come on in Dr. Collins, let’s talk
business,” as he opens the door to his private office.

Vicki enters his expansive office, which is
quite the impression maker, with a huge mahogany desk, expansive
paintings of children on the walls and a golf putting machine set
up on the floor alongside the wall. But, her eyes are drawn to a
huge mounted aquarium recessed in the wall directly behind his desk
filled with exotic fish. She takes a seat in one of the large
leather chairs in front of his desk.

“Doctor Collins, Los Alamos scientists
announced today they mapped the final two percent of the human DNA
highway in less than one year with your formula. Your research was
ingenious.”

“I got lucky as a med student,” Vicki
replies.

“My dear Dr. Collins, don’t be so modest.
The world acknowledges you have a gift for DNA control, inductive
reasoning and new authentications that allows researchers to move
forward faster than at any other time in history. You put the
United States 10 years ahead of the world. With the use of our
facilities, you could complete your project in less than one year.
World patent rights will generate billions of dollars for America,
but most importantly are all the medical cures that will follow. I
need you. Your country needs you. The world needs you. Dr. Collins,
please join me at Alomet.”

Vicki squirms slightly in her chair as she
ponders her decision. Seconds pass, then she blurts out, “All
right! Okay Dr. Landau, I’ll do it.”

“That’s good news.” Landau reaches over on
his desk and pulls documents out of a folder.

“Dr. Landau, I can see why they chose you to
head the company. Your silver hair and lean looks remind everyone
of the perfect doctor chosen to advertise on TV. Plus, you have the
silver tongue of persuasion that convinces everybody to believe
you,” Vicki replies in a shaky voice as she looks over the marked
signature needed pages. She signs away.

“Okay, one last thing to sign and the
paperwork’s final. It’s the Official Secrets Act. You can’t
disclose any part of our projects or it is considered treason. The
punishment for treason is the death penalty.”

“That doesn’t sound half as bad as what’s
going to happen to me if I’m late picking Nick up again,” she
signs. “I’m going to have to convince my fiancé to go with me.”

“Surely he can’t object to your country’s
call for help,” Landau asks.

Vicki looks away to Henry and states,
“Henry, I’ve never seen you without a smile on your face.”

Henry answers, “I’m happy you’re joining
us.”

“I ought to bring you along when I tell
Nicholas. He’s not wild about my taking this assignment.

Landau replies, “He should be happy for the
journey you both will undertake.”

“That’s not it. He doesn’t believe in secret
‘voodoo’ projects. I won’t leave without him, he’s part of my
deal.”

Chapter 7

Vicki pulls into
the driveway of an after school day care center. She sees Parks on
the playground with a little girl on his back. She smiles at the
sight of him having so much fun. Other kids clamor around him. He
loves the kids. The kids love him. He loves his job as the
assistant manager for a facility where he is dealing with kids that
already are in school.

Vicki shouts out to him, “Hey little boy,
your mom’s here to pick you up.”

Parks turns to Vicki at the sound of her
voice. He set’s the little girl down. All the kids grab at him,
they don’t want their playmate to leave.

Parks smiles, “All right gang, I’ve got to
go home. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” as he turns to leave.

“Bye Parks,” as they all chime in to say
their goodbyes.

Parks enters Vicki’s car and she can barely
contain her excitement. “Tonight’s going to be a special night
Nick, I bought us a bottle of wine.”

Parks shrugs his shoulders. He’s nonchalant,
never too high or low.

They pull into their condo, and after they
enter the kitchen Vicki makes a big deal in getting the wine
glasses out, then pours, and slides Nick’s glass to him. She cups
his face in her hands. “Honey, I signed with Alomet.”

A scowl forms as he pulls away from her.
“You signed with the secret research company without even asking if
I agreed to it. We discussed it, but left it open.”

“You agreed to support me. I thought we had
settled on it,” Vicki pleads.

Parks digs down, “What happened? Did the
great Dr. Landau finally make you believe your own press
clippings?”

Vicki frowns, “You’re being mean
Nicholas.”

“This stinks. We agreed to make the decision
together, but you made it all by yourself today.” His retort brings
Vicki close to tears.

“Nicholas, I’ll turn it down.”

“Don’t lay any regrets on me Vicki.” He
turns away from her.

Vicki goes to him, clasps the back of his
neck, and pulls him to her. “Hey, Nick. I love you. You are the
captain of my ship of love, my heart would sink without you in my
life.” She kisses him with loving passion.

She whispers, “Hold me tight, Nicholas.”

Parks hugs her tight. “I love it when you
hold me,”...her voice fades, and as he closes his eyes, he
remembers back to a time five years ago in his past.

Parks, now trim, younger looking, walks with
Ginny, a lovely brunette at night down an LA Brentwood neighborhood
street.

A van full of street punks, cruising,
looking for trouble, pull alongside Parks.

The van drives at their walking pace as it
tracks them like prey.

The driver yells out the window, “Hey, looky
at the sweet meat. You gotta share that bitch! We gotsta have
her.”

“
Nick, I’m scared,” as she grips his arm
tight.

The car stops. Five of them pile out. The
driver slowly rolls the car as the punks circle and stalk them.
Parks keeps walking. Two jump in front. Three stay behind.

“
Man, we want the whore.”

Parks tries to reason, “Please, we want no
trouble.”

“
We do,” the leader puts his hand on
Parks’ chest to stop him.

In a flash, Parks grabs his wrist, side
turns, bends his arm over his knee and hears the loud crack it
makes. He dislocates the thug’s arm.

From behind, one of the punks covers Ginny’s
mouth and drags her back. All remaining three pounce on him. Two
behind punch Parks in his face. No effect.

Parks spin-kicks the knee of the one in
front. He finishes facing the other two. The closest one, from the
side, cold cocks Parks’ face. Parks punches his gut and the
gangster collapses, gasping for air. He whirls back to face the
other two.

They whip out long switchblades that snap in
place. One lunges, Parks catches him with a kick in the gut and
disarms him. The driver jumps out of the car with something shiny
in his hand.

Parks watches in a slow motion state as he
notices the driver swinging a metal baseball bat to the side of his
ribs. He goes down on one knee. His vision fades when he’s hit
again, this time on his head. Through a hazy blur of vision, Parks
sees Ginny dragged to the car’s open back door.

He can see her eyes - frozen with fear,
begging Parks to help. She offers no resistance, just those
pleading eyes to her love.

The leader straddles Parks. Then he jerks
his head up by his hair. “Hey, tough guy, takes a look. I’m gonna
let you live. I wants you remember what we are doing to your bitch
for the rest of your life. I’m your judge and it’s my life sentence
for you. (He laughs) Someone grab this guy and make sure you hold
his head up so he can watch the show.”

The driver nods to his gang holding Ginny on
the back seat. They rip off her blouse, then start licking her face
and groping her. She thrashes weakly to escape.

The leader tells Parks, “Watch what I do
with this.” He approaches, then smiles as he starts to pound him
unconscious. Parks’ vision fades back to the present...

He shakes his head to clear it of the ugly
scene he replayed to himself. Abruptly he returns to...Vicki.

She sees tears streaming down his cheeks.
Vicki grasps his face. “Nick, snap out of it. I’m here.”

Parks says, “Honey, when we met at
rehab…”

“Shhhh...We beat our addictions together. We
are stronger now.”

“No...I killed her.”

“They murdered her.”

His shoulders sag, “I fought them. They took
it out on her.”

Vicki, “You defended her. I won’t let you
blame yourself.”

“I’m afraid I could lose you,” he
confesses.

She pulls off a fractured heart necklace
dangling from her neck. She takes the two heart pieces in her hand.
“My mother said this broken heart was her heart, but she would
always love me in spite of my mistakes. Here...”

She puts one piece in his hand, then closes
his fist around it.

Parks says, “That was her gift to you before
she died. No...”

She puts her finger on his lips, “Don’t say
anything...I want you to keep this as the symbol of our love
Nicholas. Keeping that half lets you know that my heart can only be
whole as long as we’re together. To Hell with Alomet.”

She kisses him with passion and love.