The Iso-Stasis Experiment (The Experiments) (51 page)

The tall man in the long black winter overcoat was barely noticed as he walked across the shoe factory floor. His dress shoes that taped against the floor could not be heard over the loud mechanical noises in the building. Crossing the main floor and going up the stairwell, the man, young, big and brawny entered an office.

Perturbed, and his face projecting that he was, Stewart peered up from behind his desk. “Can I help you?”

The man locked the door and then closed the blinds on the windows.

“Excuse me . . .” Stewart raised his voice.

“Sit.” The man instructed in a deep voice and reached in his coat pocket. Pulling out a phone he dialed a number. “I’m in. Yes, sir.” He extended the phone to Stewart.

Stewart looked oddly at it before he brought it to his ear. “Yes?”

“Aldo
Connilucci
,” Aldo said on the other line. “I want you to withdraw your option.”

Stewart chuckled. “No way. You think you can send your thug in here to scare me?’

“Not at all,” Aldo said. “I want you to withdraw your option and I will give you two million out of my winnings.”

“I don’t give in to bribes,” Stewart said cockily.”

“OK.” Aldo remained calm. “Way number one out, this is way number two . . . quit the game.”

Stewart laughed loudly.

“I see. All right, let’s try way number three. Put my guy on the phone,” Aldo said.

Arrogantly and smugly, Stewart handed over the phone.

The man brought the phone to his ear, listened, nodded and said, “Yes, sir.” A beep sounded as he pushed the button and ended the call.

Stewart rocked back some in his chair. “I suppose that will be all.”

“No, sir, not really,” he answered placing the phone in his coat and withdrawing his hand slowly.

Bang.

Dr. Jefferson worried whether or not he had jumped the gun by getting everything prepared to go. He stood with the controllers watching the total destruction of the compound on the monitors. His attention was drawn away from that scene when the door to the observation room opened.

Carol, his secretary walked in. “Dr. Jefferson, line four. It’s an important call.”

“Not now,” he told her.

“Sir,” Carol said. “It’s Stewart’s secretary. She says she has unfortunate and regrettable news for you.”

Quickly Dr. Jefferson’s eyes shifted to Aldo who sat calmly in his leather chair.

Aldo, hands folded, lifted his eyes.

“Um . . .” Dr. Jefferson cleared his throat. “Tell her I’ll be with her in a second.”

“Yes, sir,” Carol said, nodded and left.

Dr. Jefferson picked up the phone.

Aldo noticed his dialing. “Dr. J, not taking that call?”

“Oh, I will.” He finished dialing and added, “After I talk to Church Hill.”

Looking back at the monitor, Aldo smiled.

“No, Jake. No.” Cal argued passionately, holding tightly to her shotgun. She pressed her other hand
 
to her ear to block out the loud shrieking that accompanied the banging on the steel door.

“Cal, it’s the only way. Please. I’ll try my best.” Jake held his weapon and looked to the door. He closed his eyes at the dimpling in the steel that was occurring. “Fire with me, but you fire as you move backwards. It has to be done that way.”

“I will not walk away from you. Do not ask me. I mean it, Jake!” Cal jumped when a loud squeak signified the first frightening crack in the steel door.

“Cal, I have the explosives set. I may be able to meet you up there. Go upstairs. At least if I don’t get out I’ll know they won’t be able to get you. That’s . . .” Another crack appeared in the door and the beasts outside screamed louder. “That’s what matters. Please.”

“No.” With a stern look, Cal raised her weapon and held it aimed at the door. “If you go down, I go down with you. End of argument, Major Graison. We are a team. We started this thing out as one and we will end this thing as one.” She held out her hand, still looking at the steel door. The edging around it was giving way.

Jake reached over and grabbed her hand. “It’s not over yet.”

“No, it isn’t.” Cal felt his gripping hold, took in the moment and then braced her weapon.

“Cal.” Jake lowered his shotgun. “If something should happen to me, know that I went down loving you.”

Cal lowered her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Ditto on that, Major Graison.” She held her head back up. “But you aren’t going down.”

Jake raised his gun. “No, I’m not. We’re going to make it upstairs and blow these bastards apart, right?”

The pounding increased. How that steel door withstood the pounds of pressure it was taking at that moment, Cal and Jake didn’t know. Perhaps it was fate on their side or perhaps not. The torturous wait for their attackers to break through would be over soon.

Jake aimed, his perspiring finger touching the trigger ready to fire. He twitched his head to remove the trickle of sweat that rolled into his eye. He waited, stance firm and not afraid.

“Jake.” Cal lowered her weapon. “Jake, listen.”

Jake let his ears zoom in and he noticed the pounding had lessened. It seemed to him that the cries, the snarls and angry bellows had also subsided. They faded slowly, almost as if one Stasis at a time disappeared. “They’re stopping?” Without taking his aim from the door, Jake shifted his body toward the monitor. He knew it was all right to lower his weapon when he saw what was happening on the screen. “Cal. They
are
stopping. Look.”

Cal gazed up at the monitor showing the tunnel and saw four men. They fearlessly faced the remaining Stasis creatures. One man raised his weapon, fired only once and down went the beast. The other two fell just as easily. “They’re taking them out for us.”

Jake watched them. They nudged each of the beasts with their feet. Then they all turned as if it were nothing and headed out of the tunnel. After they were gone, the nine unstoppable beasts continued to lay motionless in the tunnel just outside the steel door. Jake had no words; he was stunned.

Cal watched as the four men raced to a helicopter. “Who were they?”

He wrapped his arm around Cal, pulling her into him, feeling his tension melt away. With a sigh of relief he said, “Our saving grace.”

Cal stared at her duffle bag zipped up and ready to go. It was filled with clothes she had actually contemplated leaving there. Somehow it bothered her. Why take them? They were dirty; they weren’t able to launder anything since the attack of the beasts. Her hands were filthy and rough. For over an hour she and Jake had rummaged through the few things left in the main building. They had lived the last two weeks downstairs while the upstairs had been all but destroyed.

Not much was left. She desperately sought to find memories of Rickie—something she could take with her of the boy that she had cared so much for. The beasts had left nothing. Not even his remains were there, and that saddened Cal deeply.

She was full of confusion about what she was feeling. Part of her was sad and yet another part of her felt an easy feeling, a gladness to be leaving. But the part of her that was scared to leave was the part that bothered her the most. She was scared to face the world she had once been a part of. Her world had been with Jake for the past seven months. It frightened her to think what a world with Jake, a world outside the experiment would be like now.

Standing in the room that she and Jake shared, she recognized it immediately by the roundness of it. The bottom of the blue mug, a mug that had been broken, smashed, and yet the circular bottom still remained. So many memories flashed through her mind as she bent over and picked it up, dropping it in surprise when it cut her finger.

“What did you do?” Jake asked her.

“Nothing.” Cal placed her finger in her mouth and then carefully picked that piece of mug back up. “This was the mug I used for the flowers you gave me. Look, Jake, it’s broken.” She stared sadly at the tiny remains.

“Cal.” Jake smiled at her and took it from her hand. “I’ll buy you a vase.”

Cal knew it wouldn’t be long before their transportation home arrived. Going home was not something she talked about. The experiment had been her escape from all that was there. Though the experiment held some horrible memories for her, those memories were not as horrible as the memories the reality of home brought back to her. The compound had also given her new memories, good ones, memories of all the times she had been very happy there.

“Cal.” Jake’s voice whispered in her ear. “You are really being awfully quiet. No excitement? Can’t you hear the helicopter?”

Cal took a moment to listen. “Yes.” She gave a half smile. “There it is.” She turned to face him. “I guess I was just thinking about us. I just want to say to you, from the moment you first complimented me I knew there was something about you. I love you, Jake. Thank you for that.”

Jake reached out and pulled her close. “You sound so morbid. You act like we’ll never see each other again. Hey, listen, they’re landing. Come on.” He reached down and grabbed her hand. Then with his free one, threw her bag over his shoulder.

Cal didn’t say anything. Holding his hand tightly she walked with him out to the helicopter. There were three of them. From one of them emerged Dr. Jefferson.

“Cal, Major Graison.” He held out his hand and walked toward them. “Congratulations on a highly successful experiment.”

Jake shook his hand. “Why the other two helicopters?”

“We have a lot to clean up, a lot of data to collect. But there is no need to make you two wait. Looks like you’re ready, so hop aboard.” He showed them the helicopter. He made eye contact with Cal as she passed by him. “You’re going home young woman . . . smile.”

Cal did, briefly. “I’m tired and hungry, that’s all.” She watched Jake slide the bags into the helicopter.

“We can oblige,” Dr. Jefferson said. “We anticipated that. Once you reach Church Hill, you will find fresh clothes for the two of you and a meal to enjoy during the wait for your plane.”

Jake held Cal’s hand and helped her into the helicopter. “And a shower, I need a shower.” He stepped up, sliding in to the seat with Cal. “Hey. We’re leaving.”

Cal turned her attention from the window she stared out to Jake. “Yes, we are.”

As the chopper began to lift from the ground, Cal felt Jake press his lips to her cheek, and then brush of his thumb against her chin, possibly brushing dirt away. She watched from the window as the ground moved further and further from her sight. She felt the security of Jake’s hand slide to her knee. She grabbed it, wrapping her fingers around the largeness and strength of it. She tilted her head to rest against the window watched the buildings soon disappear. Feeling the helicopter tilt to its left, she knew. She was going home.

^^^^

They sat with Dr. Jefferson at a round table at the airfield sipping coffee that tasted so good and eating.
 
The breakfast was less than they had expected, but it was food none the less.

Dr. Jefferson raised the pot of coffee to their cups. “So we’re flying you two to O’Hara International. We have a back room waiting. But I must warn you that this has gained a certain amount of hoopla with the science journals so to speak. Be prepared for interviews, but also remember the confidentiality papers you have signed. You can give no details.”

Jake downed the last drop of his coffee. “No problem. Anything else? I’d like to jump in that shower now.”

“A few things before you two get ready to go. Major Graison, Colonel Roberts has sent you another uniform. Also, an Army transport and escort will be awaiting you at O’Hara. They want to get you to Fort Bragg ASAP.” Dr. Jefferson reached down to the floor. “He also sent this to you. He said to review the materials before your debriefing.”

Jake ran his hand over the briefcase and set it down. “Thank you.”

“Cal.” Dr. Jefferson faced her. “A private jet will be waiting for you.”

Jake liked that. “Excellent, Cal, a private jet.”

Cal only smiled and didn’t say much. Her mind was still on the fact that Jake was holding a briefcase and an Army transport was waiting to whisk him away the moment they touched down.

Dr. Jefferson snapped his finger. “And most importantly, since this is the last I’ll see you two.” He handed them each an envelope. “Here is your compensation—one hundred thousand dollars.”

Jake took his envelope, opened his briefcase and dropped it in there.

Cal stared at the sealed envelope. “This is the most money I have ever held in my hand.”

“Another thing,” Dr. Jefferson continued. “Cal . . . this is for you.” He extended to her a long salmon colored envelope which was sealed.

“What is it?” Cal’s hand slid over the fineness of the paper.

Dr. Jefferson shrugged. “It’s from your investor. It seems he has taken quite the interest in you. I have never seen an investor so taken with a participant. I haven’t any idea what is in there. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a marriage proposal.” Dr. Jefferson stood up. “Now I’ll leave you two a moment. I’ll be back.”

Jake looked with a certain amount of jealousy at the salmon envelope. “Millionaire or not, that better not be a marriage proposal. Open it.”

“I will. Later.”

“You look down. Are you OK?”

“Jake?” Cal turned her chair to him. “Do you feel weird?”

“No. Why, do you?”

“Yes. I feel like I’m in the fog, like all of this is surreal.” Cal tried her best to explain the strangeness she felt being around people again. “Yes, surreal. That’s about the best way I can describe it. It’s almost like I’ve never been here before. But I’m not meaning here, here. I mean in civilization, the real world. Does that make sense? Don’t you feel it? Everything is different.”

“Of course it is, Cal. No, it’s not strange to me, because I’ve done . . .”

“Major Graison?” Dr. Jefferson called from across the room. “You have a call from base.”

 
“Excuse me.” Jake slid out his chair and stood up, walking across the room to the phone.

Cal watched him. Jake seemed to stand taller. He had that serious look as he took the phone. The same one he had when she first met him, when he wasn’t plain Jake but was Major Graison.

^^^^

The high pitch sound of the engines as they revved up made Cal feel even more nervous. She wondered, as she sat in her seat looking out the window with the open salmon envelope in her hand, if she was meant to choose this seat. Was it the same one she had when she flew in? Maybe subconsciously, she sat there for comfort.

She almost didn’t recognize Jake when he stepped aboard the plane. And she knew why she hadn’t waited for him. It was the fear of seeing him like this. The reality of who he really was, what he was, hit her at that moment. She looked at the man dressed in full dress uniform, appearing so virile, his hat held tightly to his chest, briefcase in hand, as he moved sideways down the aisle. His body was almost too large to walk down any other way.

Her heat beat in her throat and she quickly turned her head to the window again. She wanted to cry. Why was she so afraid of him? She had no reason to be. Yet, with everything in her, she feared what he stood for and who he actually was outside of their
Iso
-Stasis world.

“Cal, you didn’t wait for me.”

“Sorry. I wanted to get a seat.”

Jake laughed and looked around the empty plane before he sat down. “I can see why.” He plopped next to her. “Wow, this is eerie. It’s the same seats. Shall I play with the fan again?” He reached his hand up toward it.

“No.” Cal smiled and removed his hand. “You aren’t going to be mean to me because we’re sitting here, are you?”

“I will never be mean to you again.” He felt her hand on his and the smile left his face when he felt how it seemed to shake. “Cal? You’re trembling. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She slipped her hand away. “I’m nervous for some reason.” She felt the plane began to taxi. Cal tried to cover herself saying, “I hate take-offs.” She wanted to hide the quiver in her voice as well, so she remained calm and quiet until they were in the air. “Now, getting back to your being mean, you yell at me all the time. . .” she paused because she knew what she was going to call him, and that is who he really was. “. . . Major Graison.” She swallowed.

“Someone has to keep you in line.” He lowered the tray on the seat in front of him, set his briefcase on it and opened it up. “God, will you look at all these papers? Seven months to catch up on. You don’t mind do you? I won’t if you want to . . .”

“No go on. I just want to relax and enjoy the flight.”

“I’ll just take a little bit of time . . . hey . . . you opened that pink envelope.”

“It’s salmon.” She held it up. “I did.”

“And, may I ask what was in there? If I’m being too nosey, just let me know.”

“You’re not. Um, it’s fifty-thousand dollars and a certificate for a breast enlargement.”

“Excuse me? Why would he give you fifty-thousand and most importantly why is this man concerned about your breasts?”

“I don’t know.” Cal shrugged.

“Are you keeping them?”

“Yes,” Cal answered. “Now go back to your paper work.”

“Cal, you can’t keep it, especially the breast enlargement. That’s very personal. He’s stepping on my territory now. I like them just the way they are. And I find it offensive and disturbing that he has taken it upon himself to determine that they should be larger.”

“I’ll give the boob job to Joyce, OK?”

“You should give the money back as well.”

“No, Jake. I want the money. I need the money.”

“You do not need the money,” Jake argued. “You should say ‘thank you’ and hand it back.”