That Which Survives Page 15

  Slater smiled slyly. “My point is what if the so-called outlandish theories are correct and there was intervention?”

  “Intervention? Such as?”

  “Not of this world.”

  At first she thought he was playing some kind of game but after a moment she realized he was serious. “Come on!” she exclaimed. “You cannot be serious!”

  “Can’t I?”

  She shook her head. “Mr. Slater, you’ve been reading too many new age books. There is no physical evidence that supports the theory than an alien civilization is responsible for the Sumerian civilization and the genetic mutation of earth beings into modern man.”

  “Isn’t there?” he asked with a smile.

  Senna sat back and regarded him for a moment. “Is that what this is all about? You have some crazy notion that aliens from an as-yet undiscovered planet came here and developed a particle beam accelerator weapon? Well, excuse me for saying so, but that’s patently absurd. I’ll grant you that there are books with compelling and enticing stories that make it tempting to entertain the notion that civilization began on our world due to alien intervention, but again, I must point out that there is no evidence to support the theory.”

  “Isn’t there?”

  “Must you do that?” She was started to get irritated with his smug manner.

  “And must you be so secure in your scientific righteousness that you cannot entertain the possibility?” he countered.

  She fell silent and looked away. He was right. She was behaving like people she had always detested, those physicists from the “old school” who refused to even entertain the ideas set forth by the theories of quantum mechanics.

  “Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you’re right,” she relented. “If such a weapon did exist, then why was no evidence of it ever discovered?”

  “What if it wasn’t the weapon itself?” he asked in turn. “But detailed plans on how to construct it?”

  Senna was shocked and for a few moments considered his question. “I don’t think so,” she said after a prolonged silence. “I don’t profess to be an expert on the Sumerian civilization or language, but I don’t think anything indicating such a technology has been found or even suspected. If it had, it would have created such a sensation when the word got out that…”

  The thought of what would happen should such a thing ever be discovered, made her trail off in mid-sentence. If something of that nature had ever been discovered it would never have been made public knowledge. Instead, the world powers would have entered into a determined and deadly race to possess the knowledge. She looked at Slater with fresh suspicion. “What does this have to do with me?”

  He stubbed out his cigarette in a lead crystal candy dish on the table, and leaned forward, propping his elbows on the arms of his chair. “There is evidence that such a weapon can be constructed. Some of the information was discovered in the Middle East, just prior to the Second World War. Other information has surfaced since then from various locations, but not enough to complete the puzzle. We have part of it, and there are others who hold key pieces. We’ve spent the last three decades trying to recover those pieces.”

  “And again I ask what does that have to do with me?”

  “We believe that your parents figured out the puzzle,” he answered. “And we believe that is why they were killed.”

  Senna was floored. “You think…but that doesn’t make any sense! They weren’t engineers or physicists, they were archaeologists and linguists. Why would they be interested—”

  “Your father was considered one of the most brilliant minds of his time,” Slater interrupted.

  “Perhaps,” she agreed, “but I still don’t see what that has to do with me. Even if they did discover something, whatever they knew died with them. What do you think I can do? I was a child. I didn’t have access to their work, and I wouldn’t have understood it even if I did.”

  “Maybe, or maybe not.”

  Senna looked to Ian for support but he averted his eyes. In desperation, she turned to Konnor, who had been completely silent. “This is crazy, Konnor. Even if there was the remote possibility that my parents stumbled onto something like he proposes, there’s no way they would have told me about it. And even if they had I wouldn’t have understood it.”

  “Maybe you would have,” he replied quietly.

  She was taken aback that he would side with Slater, but immediately concluded that she was being naïve to think that he would support her. After all, he was CIA, and his loyalty lay with his organization and not some woman he had just met. Her wish for him to defend her was based solely on how strongly she felt about him, not on how or if he reciprocated those feelings.

  “Think about it,” he said when she continued to stare at him. “According to everything I’ve read, you were considered to be a child prodigy. After your return you possessed the equivalent education of someone who had completed over two years of college and your knowledge of physics allowed you to exempt three years of study. That would seem to indicate the distinct possibility that you would have understood the concepts if they had been presented to you.”

  “But they weren’t!” she insisted. “Don’t you see? That’s the whole point. And I have all my memories prior to my mother being killed at the airport. So, if they didn’t tell me when they were alive, how could I possibly know anything? Or do all of you think they communicated some secret knowledge to me from the grave?”

  Konnor looked over at Slater and Senna followed his gaze. Slater smiled at her and lit another cigarette. “Dr. Laserian, we could sit here for days and debate this, but in the end we would most likely find ourselves still on opposing sides. It is our contention that you possess knowledge that is vital to our government. How you came by that knowledge is unclear, but we suspect it is intimately connected to the two years that are missing from your memory. And that, in effect, is why we are all here. To try and unlock those memories.

  She looked at Ian and this time he met her eyes. “If we can find the key that unlocks the barrier then the mystery will be solved. And that’s what you’ve wanted all along, isn’t it? To find out what happened during those missing years?”

  At that moment, Senna wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Maybe she was better off not knowing. Then again, she didn’t see that she had a choice. She suspected that if she refused, Slater would just have her taken somewhere against her will. And she didn’t want to end up in the hands of someone she didn’t know and trust. At least she knew Ian would look out for her welfare.

  “All right,” she agreed.

  Ian smiled and reached over to pat her hand. Slater stood and went to the door that led to the reception room. “Come in, please.”

  Senna turned to Konnor. He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. “It’ll be okay,” he assured her. “I’ll be with you all the way.”

  She felt somewhat reassured by his promise and gave him a grateful smile. But the smile vanished when she turned around. The person Slater had called into the room stopped in front of her.

  A cold chill raced down her back as she looked up at him. She didn’t understand why, but she was deathly afraid of him.

  “This is Dr. Kinski,” Slater introduced the tall blond man. “Doctor, your subject, Senna Laserian.”

  Senna cringed when Kinski turned his eyes on her. He had the coldest face she had ever seen. Perfectly symmetrical and almost delicate in structure, his features were arranged in an expression of superiority and disdain. His almost-white blond hair matched his eyebrows and lashes, and his eyes were the palest blue she had ever seen. It was as if the black dilated pupils were set entirely in a sea of white.

  His pale eyes glittered like ice in the sun as he took her hand. “I have been in anticipation. Are you ready to begin?”

  Senna wanted only to turn and run. She felt like a bird pinned under the sharp eye of a serpent, terrified and desperate to escape, yet unable to move. Unconsciously, she felt for Konnor’s hand. This
time, however, not even his strong warm touch gave her comfort.

  * * * * *

  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

  Ryan was just getting into his car when Paige ran out of the stairwell in the parking deck. “Ryan!” she shouted. “Hold up!”

  He waited beside the car as she ran over, marveling at how she managed to run in the high heels she wore.

  “Ron just called from the lab,” she said when she reached him. “They found something.”

  Ryan pressed the lock mechanism on the remote and dropped his keys into his jacket pocket as he started for the elevator with Paige beside him. “Did he say what it was?”

  She shook her head, still winded from the run. Ryan felt a surge of excitement. If they could get just one break then maybe they could solve these murders. He just couldn’t imagine what the lab had turned up. They had been adamant about the fact that there was nothing found in either of the victim’s rooms or on the bodies aside from the metal fragments and notes.

  “So, what’ve you got planned for the night?” she asked as they got into the first available elevator.

  “Sleep, hopefully,” he replied. He was in a foul mood. He had been hopeful he would have a chance to talk with Senna when she came in to identify the suspect. He had not expected Konnor to come with her and it didn’t improve his mood which was already bad enough.

  To make matters worse, Paige had not let up on him all day about Senna being involved in the murders. They had gone over it time and again and he had not been able to change her mind. She was convinced that Senna was the focal point of the entire thing, and moreover, she refused to give up on the idea that Senna knew more than she was saying.

  Ryan didn’t see how Senna could know anything. In fact, he tended to lean toward the theory that she was as much a target as the men who had been killed. Paige had challenged him to come up with any explanation to support his theory, no matter how bizarre, and so far he had been unsuccessful.

  For once, Paige seemed content to let the matter drop. But that didn’t mean she didn’t have other things to talk about. She backed him up against the wall of the elevator and rubbed against him. “How about an instant replay of that scrumptious breakfast at your place, partner?”

  “Paige, come on.” He pushed her to arm’s length. “We’re at work, for god’s sake!”

  “Meet me later.” She grabbed his crotch.

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Well, little Ryan certainly thinks so.” She stroked his lengthening erection. “He can’t wait. I’ve got all kinds of treats for him. More of what you’ve already sampled, if you want.” She grinned as he suddenly surged to full erection. “You get off on that, don’t you, baby?”

  “Paige, for the love of—”

  “It’s okay, she crooned. “I get off on it too. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it—you inside me, stretching me, filling me.” She squeezed him harder.

  “Not now!” He grabbed her hand to peel it off him. He didn’t want her to know that at the moment all he could think about was bending her over and taking her right there in the elevator.

  She laughed and moved to stand beside him, smoothing her hair. “Well, at least now you have something interesting to think about, don’t you?”

  It was the last thing Ryan wanted to think about. He was as hard as a rock and he wanted to think about anything that would get rid of his erection. He concentrated on the murders. It worked like a charm. His hard-on vanished as soon as an image of the last victim appeared in his mind.

  The elevator doors opened and Ryan stepped out before Paige, leaving her to follow him. Ron, the head technician, was waiting for them with a big grin on his face.

  “Hey, Ron. What’ve you got?” Ryan tried not to sound as excited as he felt, or Ron looked.

  “Over here.” Ron gestured them toward a long table. “First of all, let me say that if you guys hadn’t been on the ball and decided to go over the scene again, I wouldn’t have anything to show you.”

  Ryan cut Paige a puzzled look. He had not instructed the lab to go over either of the scenes a second time. In fact, he could not remember an instance where that had happened. Paige shook her head at his look. “Not me. Maybe the lieutenant.”

  Ryan thought it odd that no one had mentioned it to him, but pushed the thought aside for the time being to give Ron his full attention. “And you came up with what?” he asked.

  “Two hairs,” Ron said. “Caucasian, long, very dark brown, almost black. Natural color, no dye, no bleach.”

  “Where?”

  “The bedspread.”

  Ryan frowned. He knew for a fact that all of the sheets and the bedspread had been vacuumed thoroughly and the contents sent to the lab. Nothing had turned up and he had a hard time believing that the technicians had simply overlooked evidence.

  “Is that all,” he asked.

  Ron shook his head and picked up a large envelope. “It’s already been checked for prints,” he said as he handed it to Ryan.

  As Ryan took the envelope from Ron, he noticed that it had been cut open. “Was it like this when you received it?”

  “Nope. Sealed tight.”

  “Where did this come from?”

  “The hotel manager found it in the safe. Apparently Dr. Weston asked someone who worked there to lock it up for safe keeping.”

  “Did the manager say who the employee was Weston talked to?”

  “Hey, he didn’t tell me anything,” Ron answered. “I’m strictly a lab rat, remember? I think…wait a minute, I’ve got the form right here. Yeah, Detective Baldwin signed for it.”

  Ryan dumped the contents of the envelope onto the table. Inside was a small clothbound book about five inches by seven. He opened it and his eyes widened. There was page after page of strange symbols surrounded by complicated mathematical equations. He couldn’t begin to understand the math and looked at Ron. “Any idea what this is?”

  “Beats the hell outta me.”

  Ryan put the book down and looked at the rest of the contents of the envelope. There was a plain white business card with the name Carl Strickland on the front. Someone had scribbled a phone number on the back.

  “Take this down.” He handed Paige the card and picked up the last item. It appeared to be a fax that was several weeks old that read, Have reviewed all available data, and concluded that completion of final phase is impossible at this time without Laserian data. Delivery must be made as planned, but timetable has been changed. Make contact ASAP. Must have Laserian data. Use whatever means necessary.

  There was no signature, no fax number, nothing that would indicate where the fax had originated. Ryan felt like a bowling ball had just lodged in his stomach. He could no longer deny it. Senna was involved. The fax proved it.

  “What’s the Laserian data?” Paige asked as he gave her the fax to read.

  “Who knows?” Ryan asked then tapped the book. “But I’d venture a guess that it has something to do with this.” He looked to Ron. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

  “We copied it for Southgate. He said he was going to fax it to the FBI lab.”

  “Heard anything back?”

  “No,” Ron said. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t broadcast the fact that I called you. Southgate made it plain that our involvement was just barely being tolerated. He seems to think it’d be best if we stepped aside altogether and let the Bureau handle it.”

  “Then why haven’t they?” Ryan asked.

  Ron shrugged. “Not my department, my friend.”

  Ryan picked up the book. “Can I get a copy of this?”

  “Already taken care of,” Ron handed him a stack of paper. “But you didn’t get it from me.”

  Ryan smiled his appreciation. “How could I? I haven’t seen you.”

  Ron nodded and gathered up the evidence. Ryan turned to Paige who was uncharacteristically quiet. She arched one eyebrow at him. “I won’t say I told you so,�
�� she smirked and turned toward the door. “But I did.”

  Ryan suppressed a sharp retort. She was right. “We’d better take this to the captain,” he said as they left the lab.

  “And tell him what? That we’ve got information we’re not supposed to have about a case we’re not supposed to be on anymore?”

  Ryan grimaced and didn’t reply. They got on the elevator and he punched the button for the lobby, but when the doors opened he didn’t follow Paige out. Instead he reached for the control panel.

  “What?” Paige asked, stepping back into the elevator.

  “Don’t you find it strange that the lab was sent back to the Weston scene and we weren’t notified? Not to mention the fact that if the FBI has taken over the case, then it should be their lab that’s handling forensics.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “And where’s this Southgate been? Have you seen him? I haven’t.”

  “I think it’s time we talked to the captain.”

  * * * * *

  Downtown Charlotte

  Senna felt the sting of the needle in her arm but was too lethargic to even flinch. She realized she was in a state of deep hypnosis that is often referred to as somnambulism. It felt like a deep peaceful sleep, but one in which part of her mind was aware of what was taking place around her.

  A curious burning sensation seemed to rush through her body as the injection was administered. Even under hypnosis, she struggled against the feeling. It was like fire in her veins. She started to cry out but the sensation faded before she could make a sound. In the place of the burning was an odd heaviness, as if she was suddenly composed of a far denser matter than mere flesh and bone.

  By the time the thought registered in her mind, it disappeared. A voice spoke into her right ear. “Senna, I want you to listen very carefully. We’re going to go back. You’re fifteen years old and you’re preparing to leave Iraq with your mother. I want you to tell me what happens when you and your mother leave the house you were staying in.”

  As if seeing a film being projected in her mind, the sights of Iraq appeared before her. They grew in size, taking on dimension and sound and smell, until they became real. For the next five hours, she relived the day her parents died, over and over. Each time she would reach the point when she was being pulled away from her mother, who was lying on the floor in the airport, she would experience a total void. There would be nothing but blackness, like empty space.