Authors: Jason Austin
“
What
list?” Xavier asked.
Kelmer
handed him a nanobook from his pocket.
Xavier
tapped the screen and Glenda stood over his shoulder as the first
page projected several inches in front of them.
“
It
is a list of names,” Xavier said.
They
panned the display, letting the translucent image slowly scroll.
“
These
people are all dead,” Xavier noted. He looked up at Kelmer.
“Wallace knew them?”
“
Some,”
Kelmer answered. “Others, I can't say for sure.”
Xavier
returned to the display. “Ahmad Kassim?”
“
That
prince from the middle east,” Glenda said. “He was killed
eight months ago in a coup attempt on his country. It was
international news. A group of Islamic fundamentalists stormed the
royal home trying to assassinate his family. They managed to get
everyone to safety, except the prince who was mortally wounded in the
attempt.” She looked further down the list. “And look at
this, Deanna Robinson.”
“
The
singer?”
“
She
died four months ago from a drug overdose. They found her in the
bathtub of a five star hotel...all alone. I was a fan.”
“
Tamashii
Kurosawa,
I
know that name. He was reputed to
be the second in command of the Yakuza.”
“
The
what?”
“
The
Yakuza; Japanese mafia. I remember hearing about this one. He was
killed seven months ago by rival gangsters who were fighting for
control over drug territory in Taiwan. The rival leader supposedly
took his head as a trophy.”
“
How
do you know all that?”
“I
had friends in the military that fought
back
and forth through that neck of the woods. Political conditions aren’t
the only thing a soldier is required to know or eventually finds out
in the process. Where did you get this, Doc?”
“
It’s
one of the few bits of information that were connected to Dragonfly
that I managed to copy before the security fail-safes kicked in.”
Kelmer said.
“
The
foreign names make me think black market bioweapons,” Xavier
said. “It would sure as shit explain Wallace’s meteoric
rise to the top of the Fortune 500. And there’s no point in
making clones of people everyone already knows are dead. It must be
some kind of hit list. But this has got to be the weirdest-looking
troupe I’ve ever seen. What could these people possibly have in
common, that would make Wallace go gunning for them?”
Glenda
scanned the page further and stopped abruptly with a gasp.
“
What
is it?” Xavier asked.
She
swallowed hard and pointed her trembling finger at the nanobook as if
it was a set mousetrap.
“
The
last name on the list,” she said.
Xavier
read the name. “Peter Simonton, the steel manufacturer...he was
killed in that plane crash a few days ago.” He paused, trying
to analyze Glenda's reaction. “Glenda, you look like you’ve
seen a ghost.”
“
No...but
I might have heard from one.”
Xavier
nodded. “Okay, that clears things up. What are you talking
about, babe?”
Glenda
stepped away from Xavier in the manner of that scared little girl who
used to back out of a room whenever she’d gotten on Jeremiah
Jameson’s last nerve.
“
He
called me the day this all started,” she confessed.
“
Who?”
Xavier asked.
“
Peter
Simonton. He called me and left a message on my machine; the same
day.”
“
Jeez-o-man,
you knew him? Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”
“
About
what? How was I supposed to know he had anything to do with this?”
Xavier
realized she was right. “Well, what did he say?”
Glenda
felt a touch of vertigo sweep over her and she steadied herself. She
gripped her elbows and gazed downward.
Of
all the things she would now have to reveal. Of all the names that
could have been on that list.
“
He
called to apologize,” she said begrudgingly. She curled her
lips over her teeth. “I met him two years ago when I became a
receptionist at his company. He was charming, rich, powerful and...”
“
Married,”
Xavier interrupted. He caught the infatuated overtone like a punch in
the gut.
“
I
didn’t
intend
for it to happen,” she said
ashamed. She directed her statement at Xavier personally, looking
straight at him. “And it was the only time I’ve ever done
anything like that! After a while, I began to see exactly what I was
to him—some sort of symbol of his masculinity, and something to
cure a midlife crisis. He said he loved me and that I couldn't have
been more wrong. He even gave me the old line about leaving his wife.
I knew it wouldn’t happen, but even if it did, I wasn’t
sure I wanted to be Glenda Jameson the happy home wrecker; so I broke
it off. He’d been calling off and on for days trying to get me
back. The last time he called was the day he was killed. He said he
was going out of town and he wanted me to come with him. I guess,
when I think about it, he did sound strange, but I thought he was
just...being Peter.”
Glenda
averted her eyes from Xavier and waited.
He
didn't say a word; he just sat there reflecting Glenda's dejectedness
with all the clarity of a full length mirror.
Say
something
, she thought,
anything
.
Call me a name. Say you’re
disappointed in me. Just say something
.
“
Maybe
that’s the connection,” Xavier finally said. “Simonton.”
Glenda
looked hurt.
“
Glenda,
did Simonton ever talk to you about Wallace, or about Millenitech?”
he asked.
She
shook her head. “Peter hated Wallace,” she sighed. “He
called him a vampire. He said he was bleeding him dry of government
money. Said he’d stolen every influence he had worked for years
to sew up—the governor, and the mayor. Peter would’ve
done anything to get it back.”
“
Maybe
he tried and Wallace retaliated.” Xavier turned to Kelmer.
“Doc, was this all you managed to get from Wallace’s
computer?”
“
Y...yes.”
Glenda
looked shocked. “Why didn’t you go public with it,
Richard?” she asked. “It’s evidence.”
“
No,
it’s not,” Xavier said. “It’s the raving
conspiracy theory of a disgruntled former employee looking for
revenge. If he had something more substantial like blood samples or
hospital records, or financial transactions, maybe even tapped
e-mails, he might have something. But this doesn’t prove
anything. If he thought it did, he wouldn’t be hiding.”
“
What
about Jones’s body?” Glenda asked Kelmer. “Isn’t
there some method of distinguishing a clone from the original?”
“
Y...you
have to u...understand these clones are virtually
perfect
replicas—impervious, even
to conventional examination,” Kelmer said. “There are
certain anomalies that can crop up, but your average pathologist or
coroner wouldn’t give them a second thought. Only people with
direct, personal knowledge of the program and the process would know
what to look for and be able to recognize the pattern. I...I...In
legal terms, it’s all untested procedure and educated guessing.
No judge in the world would consider it.”
“
The
implant in his head isn’t natural.”
“
But
it is moot,” Xavier said. “Jones’s body was
freeze-powdered after the standard autopsy. There’s nothing
left to examine but a sack of plant food. I’m guessing they
didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, in what little was
left of his head; otherwise he might still be in one piece.”
Glenda
dug her hand heels into her eyes.
“
Oh,
it was so stupid of me to call you,” Kelmer said. “I...I...I’ve
gotten you into so much trouble.”
Kelmer's
guests were suddenly bemused. That didn’t sound right.
“
Richard,
exactly why
did
you call me?” Glenda asked.
“You didn’t know about me and Peter, did you?”
“
N...N...No,
I didn’t. I...I called you because I was scared. I needed
someone I could trust to pass information and evidence to as I
collected it, in case Wallace...f...f...found me before I could
expose him.”
Xavier
knitted his brow in a perfect fusion of anger and shock. “So
you weren’t trying to warn Glenda about anything,” he
said. “You were worried about yourself!”
“
I...I...I...”
“
Xavier,
don’t,” Glenda reproved.
But
Xavier wouldn’t hear it. It was one thing to get caught up in
circumstances beyond your control—terrorized and hounded by
some psychotic, multi-billionaire with an Alexander the Great
complex. But having to do it because some overworked shmendrick was
too selfish to keep his problems to himself? That was a justifiable
ass-whooping if ever there was one. “What the hell is the
matter with you?” Xavier shouted at Kelmer. “How could
you even
think
of
dragging her into this?”
“
Xavier,
it doesn’t
matter
,”
Glenda said. “From what it looks like, I was in it before he
even
thought
to call me.”
“
But
he
didn’t know that!”
Xavier pointed out.
“
Xavier,
please! This isn’t getting us anywhere.”
He
sighed openly. “
All right
then,” he said to Kelmer. “Why her? Why not go to Dana
Holliman with all this? She obviously is more suited to help you.”
“
Wallace...knows
a...a...all of my working relationships, and my history,”
Kelmer said pleadingly. “Dana would’ve been on his list,
along with a number of coworkers I could literally count on one hand.
I guess being a social hermit made that part easy for him. Glenda was
the only person whom I was
certain
Wallace didn’t know I was
acquainted with a...a...and...I knew I could trust her without
question.” He paused, looking moony at her. “She’s
such a g...g...good person.”
Xavier
buried his face in his hand.
She’s
such a good person
, he
thought.
Now how the hell could he argue with that? And
why
did he all of a sudden get the feeling that Glenda would’ve
landed ass-up in this situation with or without Kelmer...or with or
without
him
?
What the hell is it about good people that makes everyone
want to kill them?
“
I...I’m
sorry,” Kelmer repeated and hung his head.
“
It’s
all right, Richard,” Glenda said. “I’ve never been
the most responsible person in the world. It’s actually a
compliment to think someone like you thought I was worth trusting
with this.”
Xavier
put his game face back on and looked at Glenda calmly. He supposed if
she could forgive Kelmer then so could he. But he wouldn't tell that
to Kelmer. Not yet.
“
Alright,
it looks like we’ve got two angles to work this from,”
Xavier said. “Getting more evidence against Wallace or finding
out how Simonton screwed you over.”
Glenda
blushed.
“
You
know what I mean.”
Kelmer
decided to speak up once he was sure Glenda's friend wouldn’t
bust him one. “We'd find everything if we could get inside the
U.F.O.,” he said.
Xavier
sighed, giving Kelmer a “Like I’m supposed to know what
that means” look.
“
It’s
not the official name,” Kelmer said. “It means Upstate
Facilitated Octahedron. It’s a name that our small band of
Wallace’s handpicked researchers came up with. We don’t
actually know where it is; we were always taken there by a
preprogrammed shuttle w...with an interior we couldn’t see out
of. One day we calculated the length of the trip and crunched a few
other probabilities—proximity of air traffic, water, and power
supply needs. We narrowed it down to somewhere in upstate, rural
Ohio, within fifty miles or so of Lake Erie. All we knew was that the
place had e...e...eight sides and officially it doesn't exist, you
know like Area 51, Roswell; hence the title U.F.O.”
“
But
you don’t know where it is?” Xavier asked.
“
No,
b...b...but I...I’m working on it. I’m...”
An
electronic burping from the lab table cut Kelmer off. The tiny black
pad that he had grabbed after vaulting from the locker, was being
rude. Kelmer went over to the table, picked up the device and gave it
a look that said “holy shit” in just about any language
one could think.
“
What’s
wrong, Richard?” Glenda asked, regretfully.
“
This
is a jamming device,” he said. “I designed it to
correlate with the satellite signal Wallace had planned to use with
the clones. That’s why I grabbed it when I saw you two; in case
you
were clones.”