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Episode
019
“To learn about you is, frankly, provocative. But you’re
The day was marked with fear as lightning flashed through the sky.
The storm from the night before had returned, turning the dismal day into
an early night of frightened anticipation. The heavy air threatened with a
thick moisture while the flashes of light against the dismal darkness
filtered dread into the world beneath the sky.
Tim
stared at the clouds from his apartment window, watching the rain fall in
sheets. “Thanks for coming.” He said, turning back from the window, to
Malcolm and Marilyn. “I know it’s a drive from the university,
especially in this weather.”
“Hey,
no problem.” Malcolm said, as he nursed the glass of water in his hands.
“But you sounded a bit out of it. What was it you wanted to talk
about?”
“The
Alliance.” Tim said, with a half smile. “I’ve heard this and that,
but I’m still not clear on where it came from and all that. Even after I
joined, it wasn’t quite clear.”
Marilyn
looked at Malcolm, smiling with a pleased look in her eyes. “What do you
know so far?” She asked as she looked back at Tim, her grin huge.
“Well,
first, IS it an international organization?” Tim asked, hesitant at the
question.
Marilyn’s
grin grew even wider. “I don’t know about international.” She said
almost gloatingly. She thought about where to begin. “The World Alliance
is an organization that’s founded to make the world a better place.”
She explained, her delight and pride gone. “I founded it when I was in
high school, to try and end suffering in the world.”
“Needless
to say,” Malcolm said, almost laughing. “It’s a ridiculous goal, but
a noble one.”
“It’s
not ridiculous.” Marilyn protested.
“Hey,
if I thought it was dumb, would I have agreed to be president?” Malcolm
asked in retort. “Answer? No.”
“Still.”
Marilyn said, sitting with a humorous, annoyed look.
“What
we do,” Malcolm said as Marilyn pretended to pout. “Is we try and
recruit people who will endeavor to make a difference in the world. People
who want to see the world change for the better.”
“And
we do that in person and on the Internet.” Marilyn explained.
“You’re the first person to ever be recruited indirectly, by seeking
us out through hearsay.”
“Wow.”
Tim said, sitting back against the window of his apartment, a flattered
smile on his face. He grinned a sentimental smile as he thought. “When I
first thought about joining an organization, I wanted to make the world a
better place.”
“You
say that like you joined a long time ago?” Marilyn asked. “It hasn’t
even been two weeks yet.” She pointed out with one eyebrow going up.
Tim
smiled an embarrassed smile. “I guess with everything that’s happened
I . . .” He shrugged. “Seems longer.”
“Were
there other groups?” Malcolm asked curiously. “I thought you said you
were thinking about joining an organization, like there were options.”
“You
know.” Tim shrugged indecisively. “There’s always another option, I
guess.”
“What
were they called?” Marilyn asked, suddenly very interested. “Maybe we
could, I don’t know, join forces or something.”
“I,
uh, I doubt it.” Tim said guardedly.
“The plutonium’s been lost.” Ian explained, as he stood with
Mint. The small woman looked professionally mad, her smile held in place.
“We know where it is, but retrieving it could be a real problem.”
“That
could set us back by months.” The young woman said, staring up at Ian,
barely coming up to his chest. “The fortress’ basic frame is nearly
complete. We’re about ready to start construction on the reactor.”
“We’ll
get the plutonium and get it out here.” Ian reassured her
diplomatically. “Don’t worry.” He looked up from the woman, looking
around as the assorted workers milled about the site, slowly doing their
jobs. Behind them, the giant mountain seemed to have been reformed into
the new structure, the giant fortress.
“When
is this thing going to be ready?” Ian asked, thumbing back to the
fortress.
“Next
April.” Mint answered with a touch of aggression. “On schedule, if we
get all the materials we need.”
“You’ll
get it, Mint.” Ian said again, looking back at the giant crowd again.
“Ernesto.” Called Phillip. The middle-aged man looked up from
the empty field of cubicles, his eyes finding Phillip as he came out of
the stairwell. “We need a meeting with you upstairs.”
“I’m
busy.” The man yelled, still sitting over designs, the blue paper
reflecting the over-head light back at him. “What do you want?”
“Aaron,
of the Investigation clan, needs to talk to you.” Phillip said, finally
coming along to the desk Ernesto worked at.
“I
know.” Ernesto said, not even looking up. “One of his boys, the one
with the ‘U’ name.”
“Uriel.”
Phillip said glancing down at the work Ernesto was doing, flipping through
the multitude of pages just to count them.
“Yeah.
Him.” Ernest said, scribbling words onto the blue paper. “He told me.
I told him to politely ‘get
lost’.
“Ernie.”
Phillip said, rubbing his eyes. “He’s right up stairs. It will just be
a moment.”
“Just
like you said that these plans I’m working on would just ‘be a
moment’.” The middle-aged man stood up, staring at Phillip with aged,
but intense eyes. “No. I’ve got too much work to do. Do you know when
the last time I was home was? Thursday. I don’t even know why I have an
apartment. I should just have a cot here.”
“We
can arrange that, if you’d like.” Phillip offered, smiling.
“Once
upon a time, I had a girlfriend.” Ernesto went on. Phillip cocked his
head at Ernesto, staring at him in unamused disbelief. “Okay, maybe not
‘girlfriend’, but she was female and she didn’t hate me.”
“That
IS a start.” Phillip nodded. He looked to Ernie. “You coming?”
“Yeah,
I’ll be right up.” Ernesto said disapprovingly, grabbing up some pens
as he moved to stand up.
“So the World Alliance is just a group you started, to make the
world a better place.” Tim asked, getting a nod from Marilyn. “Wow.”
He said, sitting back. “That’s . . . that’s amazing.”
“I
just wish it was working better.” She shrugged.
“We’ve
got over two dozen members.” Malcolm defended, almost to Marilyn rather
than to Tim. “The most active are in this city, but still.”
“Not
everybody can be.” Tim shrugged, a touch of sadness and regret in his
voice. “Some might have other things that are more pressing.”
“More
pressing than the world?” Marilyn asked. “I’m hard pressed to think
of things that are more important.”
“I’m
not getting into that argument again.” Malcolm said with a shake of his
head.
“That’s all it is.” Orson said, as he sat in the office with
Uriel and Aaron. “It’s just some group a bunch of college kids
started.”
“That’s
weird.” Uriel grumbled, shaking his head. The act sent his hair shaking
in waves. “They’d be THAT much trouble?”
“But
then why does Jericho want it destroyed so badly?” Aaron asked, his mind
racing over a thousand ideas. “And how does it figure into the
completion of the fortress?”
“That,
I don’t know.” Orson said. “All I know is it’s just a
social-service club. And not a very well organized one at that.”
“That’s
got to be more to this.” Aaron said, more to himself as he glanced out
the window, watching the rain run down the glass. “There has to be.”
Errol snuck into the laboratory, looking around quickly. None of
the alarms had sounded, but he needed to make sure. In the darkness of the
lightless lab, he searched quickly. And on top of the main desk, he found
it.
A
small glass jar held a healthy supply of white pills. Errol looked around
one more time, then reached in, taking a small handful. He stuffed them
into his pocket and turned to leave.
“That’s great news, Eli.” Jericho said, in the lightless
office, sitting in the chair as he spoke into the speakerphone. “I’m
glad to see you’ve taken such an interest in your assignment.”
“I
still don’t understand, sir.” Eli said into the phone. “They’re
harmless. Why does the mission have to continue?”
“The
Triumvirate ordered it.” Jericho said with a shrug. “What can be done?
They know what’s best.”
“Yes
sir.” Eli said, disheartened.
“Excuse
me, Eli.” Jericho said, standing up. He smiled as he looked out into the
lab that the office overlooked. He watched as Errol snuck off through the
side door, his singular pocket bulging. “I’m sorry, Eli, but I’m
afraid I’ve got to run now. There’s a small roach that I need to go
attend to.”
Jericho
hit the phone button, deactivating it. “Step one, complete.” He
smiled. “Soon, no more Investigation Clan.” |