The Iso-Stasis Experiment (The Experiments) (16 page)

^^^^

Jake lay on his side on Cal’s floor. With his large hands he finely tuned the object he worked on, and had worked on for the last hour. Often, he’d lift his eyes from it and watch Cal, all along being careful not to crush the delicate thing in his grip. Being careful not to startle her, Jake sat up and brought his face close to her hands to watch. He was certain she was doing something wrong, and she was. “No, Cal,” he said softly, “you are using way too much glue on the wood. Look.” He lifted her hand. “It’s all over your fingers and it’s going to smear all . . .”

“Jake!” Cal snatched her hand away. “So what?”

“So what? Aren’t you supposed to be making a roof for the school? Where did you put the school?” Jake looked down to the platform that held five structures.

“Right here,” She said and laid her index finger on it.

“That’s the school? Cal, there’s no room for a playground or . . .”

“God, Jake.” Cal began to pick the dried glue off her fingers and drop it on the floor. “Think of it as the perfect school. No playground, no recess. No recess, a teacher’s fantasy.” She saw Jake picking up the glue bits that fell to the floor. “Jake . . . quit it.” She stopped him.

“But it’s getting all messy. Doesn’t it bother you?”

“No, not really,” Cal said and rubbed her hands together and placed them behind her leaning back on them, her feet extended. “You should see my room back home.”

“I’d like that.” Jake smiled.

“No way! I can see you coming in there, picking up my clothes, wiping the dust from my computer screen.”

Jake laughed and shook his head. “I’m not that bad. I just think everything should have a place.”

“You’re anal.” Cal rolled her eyes at him. “It’s no wonder you never married. Or have ever been in a relationship.”

“For your information, the reason I never got married or never was in a relationship has nothing to do with the way I am. My lifestyle doesn’t allow time for it. And
if
I do find the right woman, and
if
I do live with her, marriage or not . . .” Jake’s words were sharp especially when he watched her nod her head so nonchalantly at him, “that would mean I care enough to put up with
her
. . .” he took his index finger and poked her gently in the forehead sending her back some, “. . . little quirks.”

“Sticking you in an isolated spot for seven months isn’t mental endurance for you, Jake. Making you live with someone who leaves their socks on the floor is.”

Jake took a long slow breath through his nostrils, ready to lash back out, but refraining. He returned his view to the platform. “Can we just leave my neat habits alone please?”

“Sure.” Cal added glue to the bottom of the roof getting ready to secure it. “Are you that finicky about sex, too? I bet you’re anal when you have sex, no homosexual references intended, aren’t you?”

Jake turned his head quickly toward her, giving her an ‘I can’t believe you just asked me that’ look.

“What? Did I just shock you by asking you about sex? You looked shocked. Were you that way?”

“I don’t remember.” He reached out grabbing her hand and stopping her. “Can we at least make this look nice by putting the roof on straight?

“Jake. Why do you care? Never mind.” Cal pulled her hand away and placed the roof on, smoothing the excess glue away with her finger. “Jake?” Cal grabbed a cloth from the floor and wiped off her fingers. “If we have sex, will you stop me in the middle to tell me I’m not moving right?”

“Cal!” Jake ran his hand down his face hurriedly, flustered by her. “Please.”

“I’m sorry.” Cal lifted her shoulders. “I won’t bring it up again.” Looking down at the platform, Cal smiled with pride at her newest creation. “My school looks good.”

“Cramped in there, but good, and you should know schools. You think you’ll ever go back to teaching?”

That question took Cal a little by surprise. She had never brought it up to him. Jake must have remembered from reading about her. “No, I gave up teaching children. I can’t do it.” Her face turned saddened.

“Well, you don’t have to teach children to be a teacher. What about teaching adults? I was thinking like teaching soldiers. We have a school on base and it employs civilians. I’m sure I could get . . .”

“Jake.” Cal reached out her hand and laid it on his knee. “I’m done teaching. I’m done working with people. I appreciate the thought, I do.”

Jake brought his other hand over hers, and then removed it. “Let’s get back to work on this.”

“Do you mind if we stop for a little bit?” Cal, using her hands as leverage, got up from the floor and walked to the desk. She lifted her pack of cigarettes from her desk, looked at Jessie’s picture, and then lit one. “I just want to be alone right now.”

Seeing what she stared at, Jake knew. “No problem. Let me know when you’re ready for company. I’ll just go read or something.”

The quietness of that particular moment lasted just that, a moment. A steady knocking began at the door.

Jake reached for the door. As soon as he opened it, his apparent dislike over the intrusion was seen clearly on his face. “Rickie. What is it?”

“I was like wondering if . . .” he peeked around Jake, “Hey, Cal. I was wondering if I could hang with you guys, or maybe we could all go outside.”

“No.” Jake shut the door.

“Jake!” Cal ran to the door and opened it. “Rickie, I’m sorry.”

“Dude.” He rubbed his forehead. “Hit me in my dome . . . Can I come in?”

Cal opened the door wider. “Come on. What’s up?”

“Well.” Rickie scratched his head. “No one wants anything to do with me today. It seems like they’re all sick of me.”

Jake’s mouth dropped open. “Is it any wonder, Rickie? You did nothing but tell crude oral copulation stories over lunch.” He heard Cal snicker. “What’s so funny?”

“Just the way you phrased that. It was so, so, polite.” Cal sat on the bed. “Rickie, I would go but I really feel like I want to be alone right now.”

“OK. How about you, guy?” he asked Jake.

“Not me, I’m going to read,” Jake replied.

“I can read. I’ll read with you.”

“No,” Jake snapped.

Cal got up from her sitting position. She actually felt kind of sorry for Rickie. “You know what . . . I’ll go with you, Rickie.”

Rickie smiled. “Cool. Hey . . . I’ll bet since you’re going, Carlos might want to go. Is it OK to ask him?’

As Cal began to nod her ‘yes’ answer, Jake stepped between her and Rickie. “You know, Cal. I think I
will
take a walk with Rickie after all.”

“That is really nice of you, Jake.” Cal sat back down on the bed. “I’ll stay here then.”

“But I thought you said you were going?” Jake leaned in closer to Cal. “You’re not leaving me alone with this kid are you? I might kill him.” Jake paused and then grinned. “Rickie go wait out in the hall for me. I think I will occupy some of your time.”

“Excellent-a-
Mundo
.” Rickie smiled and gave a thumbs up. “I’ll be right outside.”

Cal watched Rickie leave and then looked at the delight on Jake’s face. “You’re killing him.”

“Nah.” Jake shook his head. “I’m just going to teach him a few things. Besides, you need to be alone.”

“Thank you. And thank you for being concerned.”

“We’re partners, right?”

Cal closed her mouth tightly, but there were signs of a small smile. “We’re partners.”

“OK.” Jake shuddered. “Here I go.” He reached for the door. “Maybe I’ll take him to our tree and make him climb. If nothing else, it should be pretty funny.” Before he opened it, he reached over to her desk, made sure her cigarette was out, grabbed the strand of cellophane that laid there, straightened Jessie’s picture and closed the desk drawer. He did this all without thinking. “Want me to check back when I return?”

“That’ll work.” Cal plopped down on her pillow. “I might be sleeping so don’t wake me. Wait for . . .” she glanced at her watch, “. . . an hour?”

“Got it.” Jake opened the door. “See
ya
then.” He stepped into the hall and took a deep breath, pausing to place himself in the right frame of mind to deal with Rickie. Jake was looking at it as a test, a test of wits and mental stamina. He had to see it like that or else he’d never make it outside of the building with the young man that drove him insane.

Stan and Lyle were bored. Bored and hungry, slowly they swiveled their chairs back and forth dreading the fact that they had just began their twelve hour shift.

“Nah.” Stan shook his head. “I hate pizza. Think of something else.”

“Hot dogs?” Lyle suggested.

“Gross.”

“How about fried chicken?”

“Shit!” Stan stopped swiveling and in his snap forward grabbed the remote. “Make sure this is recording.” He ordered as his eyes peered at the monitor in Cal’s room. “What the hell is he doing?”

They watched him walk into her room quietly. He slipped the plastic card he held in his hand into his back pocket as he tried and succeeded in closing the door without any noise. He had used the card to break in. Cal lay sleeping on her bed, totally oblivious to his presence. He wandered around her room, looking, snooping. He opened every drawer, lifting her clothes. Stan and Lyle couldn’t make out what it was, but he slipped an article of her clothing into his back pocket. He carelessly shut that drawer, items still hanging out. Slipping back to the door, he paused over Cal’s sleeping body. Like they were watching a Hitchcock film, Stan and Lyle held their breath as his hand reached down to her. They waited for her to open her eyes. She didn’t. He bent down, stroked her hair, finger tips barely touching. Then he ran them down her neck to the opening of her shirt, stopping for a brief moment, staring. He stood up, opened her door, and left without notice.

Stan looked at Lyle. “Jefferson has to know.”

^^^^

Dr. Jefferson made ‘
tsking
’ sounds as he finished watching the video that Stan and Lyle played. He took a moment to review the notes that Stan had made and looking disappointed, laid them on the table. “Thank you for bringing this to my immediate attention. This definitely isn’t good.”

Lyle was curious. “Excuse me, sir. But is this what the
Iso
-Stasis experiment is all about?”

“Yes, it is.” Dr. Jefferson answered. “But we have investors to think of, investors that pay your salary and mine. They wouldn’t be happy. It’s just too soon in the game for something to happen to her…or to anyone else for that matter.”

“What should we do?” Stan asked.

After a thinking breath, Dr. Jefferson ran his hand down the bridge of his nose exhaling loudly. “Leave a note for the other shift. Should anything like this occur again I want our controllers up there to do something. It’s in our best interest to find a way to make Graison aware. He’s Cal’s self-appointed guardian angel.” Dr. Jefferson glanced to the monitor at the sleeping Cal. “Let him protect her.”

Jake had to give Rickie credit. For someone who was pretty much enjoying the effects of his stash of drugs, he kept up pretty well. Somewhere between Rickie’s story about his third grade teacher and his expulsion from school in the sixth grade for peeking in the girl’s locker room Jake had heard enough. He found it impossible to block Rickie out any further. He tried keeping his mind on Cal and on his very vivid dream from the night before. He thought of Chuck, his one-time only friend. He did a lot of thinking during that first half hour walk with Rickie until he could no longer block him out. The ‘dudes,’ ‘mans,’ and ‘
Sarges
’ kept creeping into his thoughts. He knew the moment he was using Rickie phrasing in his thoughts, he had had enough of Rickie. So Jake tried to lose him. It wasn’t difficult since Rickie thought it was a game. Jake told him, ‘I’ll race you and Rickie bought it.

His zigzagging, darting in and out of trees, almost circling around the complex must have confused poor Rickie. Finally, when Jake could still hear him calling out ‘Sarge’ but couldn’t see the scrawny boy, he knew he was free. He headed back to his room.

Jake didn’t knock on Cal’s bathroom door on the chance she was still sleeping and she was he saw as he quietly stepped inside. He wondered if he should wake her, but she still had another fifteen minutes. Stepping back to leave, he noticed her room looked different. Something had changed. Glancing over at the desk, he picked up on a part of what that was. Cal had messed the desk back up. Figuring he’d show her, he fixed it again.

Jake stopped as he shut her desk drawer. It was something so trivial, messing something back up. It was also something so unlike Cal given the mood she was in. A twinge of a bad feeling hit his stomach as he peered around the room and noticed her dresser drawers were out. The thought that someone else had been in there looking around quickly left his mind. He felt stupid for thinking it. Cal was just trying to irk him. But if she was going to do that, why not just mess up his room?

Jake straightened everything back up, pushing all the drawers in place. Putting Jessie’s photo back where it belonged, he went to his own room. As he closed his door, his conversation with Cal crossed his mind.

Perhaps he really was a bit anal about being neat. But neat wasn’t so bad. Neither was giving everything a place. Jake glanced at his dresser to the brush next to his shaving kit. The kit set next to a picture of his family all on a dresser that held not one speck of dust.

“No.” Jake turned his head looking back toward the bathroom. “I’m not that bad.” Wanting to prove it to himself, Jake grabbed his brush. He slid it over four inches. “There.” He stepped back, smiled and decided it was time, early or not, to wake Cal. Moving his hand out to the bathroom door, Jake stopped. “I can’t do it.” He flung back his head shaking it, walked to his dresser and put his brush back in its original spot.

^^^^

Actually Rickie didn’t have to wheeze as loud as he did when he ran into the gathering room. Nor did he have to linger leaning in a dramatic slant in the door way. Sweaty, but more wet from the outside faucet he had doused himself under, Rickie staggered in. “Dudes!” he said with sensational exhaustion.

No one looked. Around one table, Jennifer, John, Carlos and Fr. Dan played cards.

Thinking that they didn’t hear him, Rickie called again, “Dudes!” He staggered toward them, making sure his loud, heavy breathing was heard by all. “Dudes, the Sarge made me run.” Up went Rickie’s arm, his armpit inches from Jennifer’s face. “Smell me.”

“Rickie,” Jennifer snapped. “Go away. Bother someone else.”

There he was in the pits of bodily weariness and no one cared. Rickie was offended. “Oh, yeah?” he said with marked immaturity. “Well, Dudes . . .” he nodded standing behind Jennifer. “She’s got a queen, two kings a seven . . .”

“Rickie!” Jennifer’s shrill ear piercing scream caused her whole body to shudder.

John’s eyes fluttered as he plugged his left ear. “OK.” He widened his eyes and looked at his cards again.

^^^^

Maybe Carl and Hawk shouldn’t have stolen that bit of weed from Rickie, but they were bored. And perhaps they should have saved it for the evening hours when not much was done, but they didn’t.

Laughing in the teenage manner of a leaning and nudging into each other contest, they sat in the underground control area directly under the gathering room. The entire sub level of the compound, secret and hidden was a mirror image of the floor layout above. Scientific and lab equipment was strategically laid out and placed in different rooms. They sat in front of a counter peering up at a small line of video monitors.

“Go on.” Carl instigated. “Do it.”

He snorted a laugh “What will Jefferson say?”

“He’ll love it.” Carl slurred out. “Love . . . it. Come on.”

After running the back of his hand under his nose, Hawk pulled a microphone to his mouth. He lifted a hand trying to stop laughing and then he deepened his voice. “Jennifer.”

Jennifer looked quickly around the table.

“Jennifer, this is God.”

The cards flew from Jennifer’s hands when she screamed. Her odd behavior brought only a glance her way.

“You suck.” Carl nudged Hawk. “Do something more original.” Just as he said that he looked up at the monitor. Rickie was trying to help Jennifer gather her cards while she kept smacking his hands away. “Oh, Hawk, this would be perfect. Do it.”

With a snide grin, Hawk brought the microphone to his mouth again.

“Jennifer.”
Hawk spoke to her.
“Rickie is trying to kill you, Jennifer. He’s after you. Get him. Get him first.
”

A bellowing scream that sent everyone over the edge came from Jennifer as she sprang up from her chair sending it flying back. A slight growl emerged from her as he eyes locked on to Rickie.

“Babe, you look pissed.” Rickie said.

Jennifer’s said nothing. Her hands slammed hard on the table and she literally lunged at Rickie.

Being the perceptive type of guy he was, Rickie took off running, but only after he shrieked.

“See?” Jake handed Cal a cup of coffee as she sat Indian style on her bed. “I can be nice.”

“Thanks, Jake.” Still half asleep Cal took the cup. Reaching for her cigarettes she turned her head toward her door. “What the hell?”

Right outside the door, so close and over and over, they heard Rickie’s call for help and the sounds of a struggle. His attempts to call for help were drowned out by tiny panting Jennifer screams.

“Great.” Cal said annoyed. “Just what I need to hear when I wake up.”

“I’ll handle it.” Annoyed, Jake flung opened Cal’s door.

In the hall not far from where Jake stood, Rickie lay on the floor face down with Jennifer on his back.
 
His head bobbed back and forth in a fierce maneuver as he tried to free himself from the wrestling choke hold she had placed on him.

“Rickie!” Jake blasted in a strong warning voice. “Knock it off!” Thinking no more about what he saw, he grunted and slammed the door closed.