Milo Moon: It Never Happened (17 page)

‘What a surprise!’ she said, as she saw Dr. Fleury supervising the preparations.

‘Oh Marie. I didn’t expect to see you here.’

‘Nor did I doctor, nor did I. How are the staff at HUG?’

‘Very upset naturally, but grief and trauma counsellors have been working with them. It was a real tragedy.’

‘Yes. Terrible.’

‘And you Marie. Are you all right?’

‘Yes doctor, fine,’ she said confidently. ‘What about Milo and Mary?’

‘Both improving I’m glad to say. We had hoped to have neurosurgeons remove the awful third eye camera from their heads, but as they have to be moved now, they are working at the moment on simply disconnect them for the time being.’

‘Why so urgent?’

‘There is a possibility that they can still be tracked.’

‘Oh my god! I hadn’t thought about that,’ Marie said, in genuine shock at the possibilities.

‘That’s why the authorities don’t want to move them here until they are sure the devices are fully inoperable.’

‘Do you think that’s how the assassin found them?’

‘It would make sense. He located Mary and Milo quite easily it would seem.’

‘Yes, I see,’ Marie said, as her mind was considering what had happened.

‘So anyway, I’m just waiting to hear from the neurosurgeons at HUG. Should be soon hopefully.’

‘Well, I suppose I’d better get myself settled in.’

‘It’s quite good for a military facility. My quarters are very spacious, comfortable and well equipped.’

‘So you’re staying here too?’ Marie asked in surprise.

‘Seconded by some nameless people.’

‘Oh no, you too then!’

‘Looks like we’ll just have to make the best of it for a while.’

Marie went to unpack, as Dr. Fleury continued to prepare his equipment. A guard arrived with a message that it was taking longer to disable the transmitters than had been anticipated. Dr. Fleury went to the communication room immediately and called one of the neurosurgeons at HUG.

‘So what’s the problem Richard?’ he asked.

‘Disconnecting the camera was no problem, but after radiography we believe the transmitting device is actually internal. We didn’t want to open them up, because they wouldn’t be able to be moved for some time then. So we’ve got some implant specialists taking a look at the device itself and trying to figure out how to disable it without surgery.’

‘Right. And expectations of how long?’

‘At this stage, I really don’t know Luc. All I can do is keep you posted.’

‘Okay, I’ll carry on here, but let me know as soon as you can.’

‘Will do Luc.’

Marie also had a message waiting for her when she went to her quarters. It was from Martin, advising her to let any close friends know by SMS that she had had to go to Winterthur urgently for a case and would be back soon. She understood. Don’t let anyone know where she was. A little later, she tapped out two messages for Jean-Luc and Pierre André, and then had to go up to ground level to send them from her mobile phone.

Once unpacked and reasonably comfortable in her quarters Marie went to see if she could assist Dr. Fleury.

‘Need a hand?’

‘Oh Marie. No not really. I’m waiting for another helicopter from Geneva. Probably another hour I believe. Have you eaten yet?’

‘No, I hadn’t really thought about it.’

‘Well, it’s nearly eight. Want to grab a bite?’

‘Sure.’

While not gastronomic, the food was quite good. Veal pieces in a creamy curry sauce with rice and salad. Even a glass of average red wine as well.

‘I expected worse.’

‘Oh the Swiss Army have some fine chefs,’ Dr Fleury replied. ‘I know, because I did my military service for twenty years, and never had a complaint about the food.’

‘I thought doctors were exempt from military service in Switzerland.’

‘Oh no Marie. The contrary. The army need doctors all the time.’

‘I suppose I just never thought about it really.’

‘You know no man escapes military service in Switzerland. Six weeks every year and a free gun to keep at home.’

‘Yes. I know. My dad always kept his in the cellar.’

‘Most do I think. Anyway. What are you going to be doing here then?’

‘Well, really just trying to keep Milo and Mary as happy as we can and to see if they know anything more that might help track down this laboratory. It seems my superiors think I have Milo and Mary’s confidence.’

‘I think they’re right. Especially with Mary now.’

‘Is Milo capable of communicating yet?’

‘Just before I left we reduced his sedation. He was awake, but still groggy, so maybe over the next day or two he’ll be able to.’

‘It’s awful to think of what they have been through.’

‘Marie, it’s horrid. The number of surgical procedures they have both had is criminal. Let alone the cocktail of drugs they have been on for their entire lives. Many of them are illicit or illegal. At least those we were able to trace from their blood tests.’

‘So what made them so ill so quickly? I mean they seemed fine when I first met them.’

‘It was the sudden cessation of their medication.’

‘What like a heroin addict?’

‘Very similar Marie, except much stronger. Not knowing what drugs to replace was the problem. We had a delivery of a special synthetic drug the first night they became ill. Luckily, it worked otherwise I think they would’ve probably died.’

‘What was it?’

‘An illegal substance that was banned in the fifties.’

‘So how did you get it if it’s been banned for sixty years?’

‘No idea Marie. It just arrived mysteriously.’

‘And you gave it to them?’

‘Very small doses at first. It’s an extremely dangerous drug. But it did help them stabilise quickly and gave us time to do more analysis.’

‘Are you still giving it to them?’

‘No. We stopped as soon as we discovered better and safer substitutes.’

‘How long do you think it’ll take for them to recover?’

‘They’ll never really recover Marie.’

‘What?’

‘With the trauma their bodies have been through, and the huge quantities of drugs they’ve had, they’ll be lucky to live until forty or maybe forty-five years old. They will always need treatment.’

‘That’s terrible.’

‘The file they had indicated that Milo, or Michael’s body was reaching a point where it was no longer useful. The mention of a termination date and the guess we have made of their ages seems to indicate that thirty years old was deemed as the age to euthanise.’

‘Oh my god that’s, …that’s…..’

‘Beyond words I think Marie.’

‘Barbaric.’

‘Yes Marie, barbaric indeed.’

Both sat in silence for some minutes, contemplating the lives Mary and Milo had endured. It was beyond imagination.

‘Coffee?’ he asked.

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘Dr. Fleury, there’s a message for you to call HUG,’ a guard said, as he interrupted Marie and Dr. Fleury.

‘On my way.’

‘Oh Richard, what’s the news?’

‘We’ve managed to disable the damn things Luc.’

‘Ah, good news. How did you do it?’

‘You wouldn’t believe it Luc, but we ended up with a computer hacker in here. A kid about nineteen, with pimples and acne. He managed to crack into the transmitters by Wi-Fi somehow and reprogrammed them from his laptop computer. Crazy stuff. He assures us they won’t transmit now but just to be sure, he has set the fixed coordinates for the North Pole and renamed the transmitters.’

‘I suppose I should ask what he called them?’

‘Yes Luc, you should. He called one Get and the other Lost!’

‘Sense of humour then?’

‘I think we all needed it.’

‘I’m sure. Look, is it safe for them to travel now?’

‘Yes Luc. Medically they are fine to travel. We have a helicopter standing by. I’m just waiting for the police and intelligence people here to give the all clear.’

‘What are they worried about?’

‘They’re just re-checking the transmitters I believe, and waiting for a security clearance or something. Not really sure with these guys.’

‘Understood.’

‘I’ll let you know as soon as we have clearance to transfer them.’

‘Tonight?’

‘I believe so.’

Dr. Fleury and Marie were woken at three am and told Milo and Mary were on their way. They would arrive at three forty-five.

*****

‘So where are we at Mr. President?’ Alfred Letsch asked, to begin the Federal Council’s first seven thirty am meeting.

‘The two escapees are now in a secure location. There was some concern, as they both have a minute device fitted to their bodies, well their heads in fact that acts as a transmitter.’

‘That’s unbelievable sir.’ Alfred Letsch interjected.

‘Yes. However I’m assured that they have both been rendered inoperative. They are now under twenty-four hour security and receiving round the clock medical care.’

‘Any news on the location itself?’ Marc Guyer asked.

‘About thirty minutes ago I received a call from the head of the team. They have found a light source being emitted from a depth of about forty meters below the lowest point of the Hadron collider.’

‘And when do you expect more information?’

‘Before our meeting tomorrow morning.’

‘But there’s something down there?’

‘Yes.’

A silence came over the councillors as they realised the possible consequences of this. A secret facility on Swiss soil.

‘Do you think the governments of the US, UK and Russia know about this?’ Klausner asked the president.

‘I really can’t answer that. Maybe, and more likely maybe not. If, and I say if this was a product of an agreement after the war, it must have been accomplished with great secrecy and at great expense. The governments of the day must have surely known. But if it was accomplished secretly, there may be no records. So there is a distinct possibility that the presidents and prime ministers of today may know nothing of it.’

‘In a way, I hope that’s true.’

‘Yes,’ the president replied.

*****

‘What the fuck do you mean, you’ve lost them?’

‘We’ve lost the signal. All we’re getting are coordinates for the North Pole, and the transmitters have been renamed.’

‘What do you mean? Renamed?’

‘We’re getting signals from the North Pole from Get and Lost.’

‘Christ! What does that mean?’

‘The transmitters have been hacked or disabled.’

‘Is there anyway to track them now?’

‘None I’m afraid. They’ve disappeared.’

‘People don’t disappear. They’re still in fucking Switzerland,’ the faceless man in Washington said, as he hung up his telephone in anger and frustration. He picked it up again and dialled and waited for an answer.

‘Hello.’

‘We’ve lost them.’

‘Shit. Now what?’

‘You lost your guy in Geneva I hear.’

‘Yes. He was always normally very thorough and careful.’

‘Not this time I gather. Dead as a maggot.’

‘Yes. So what now?’

‘Give me a few hours to check some things.’

‘What are the choices?’

‘Don’t ask. Get onto London and see if they know anything.’

‘Right, will do.’

*****

‘Oh Milo, you look much better!’ Marie said, when she first saw him after he was settled into his new bed.

‘I’m a bit fuzzy in my head Marie. Michael’s gone.’

‘Yes, I know Milo. But the main thing at the moment is that your health is improving. You had us worried for a while there.’

‘I’m sorry, Marie.’

‘Oh no need to be sorry. We just want you fit and well.’

‘Mary is much better. I saw her and spoke to her.’

‘Oh that’s really good news.’

‘She has really nice breasts, you know.’

‘Now that’s a very strange comment to make, Milo.’

‘Oh no. She’s very proud of them. She told me she was very flat chested when she was a chimeryon.’

‘Oh I see. So you’ve discussed this then.’

‘Yes, when we were hiding in the duct.’

‘So why were you hiding?’

‘Because the ARC sent men to look for us but Michael and Anne found a place to hide.’

‘You were lucky then.’

‘Michael and Anne are very smart. They knew the duct system very well. That’s where they worked you see.’

‘I didn’t know that Milo. So what did you and Mary do?’