Commandadmin at 08:44, 24 January 2025

2025-01-24T08:44:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:44, 24 January 2025
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	{{EnemyMe\|title=Chapter ~~Twelve~~\|chapter text=<center>Chapter 13</center><br>		{{EnemyMe\|title=Chapter Thirteen\|chapter text=<center>Chapter 13</center><br>
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	Walter Kincaid sat at his desk. It was 2:00 am and his obsession with Forever Life, Inc. was creeping into his personal life. He watched the image of the Forever Life building for the umpteen time. The picture was grainy but good enough to make out the explosion. Mostly glass, fire, smoke, and bodies blew out a narrow horizontal patch the entire length on the building’s side. He played the image again as his morbid fascination of seeing violent death increased. The computer finished running its spectrometer analysis on the explosion. Walter watched as a graph of colored lines appeared on the screen. It concluded Pent or something similar, which meant sabotage. ‘Mind blowing’, he thought. To think that a rival would go to this extreme was beyond comprehension. And for what? Some hundreds of billions of dollars? Must be nice Walter finally concluded. “Must be nice,” he said aloud. Then suddenly his computer beeped. It seemed rather loud at this time of night. Walter clicked the Inbox icon. It took several seconds to open, which seemed strange. It never took that long to open. “Holy Fuck!” He said when the first image appeared. He checked the reply field of the email. It read, ‘Someone-in-the-know’.<br>		Walter Kincaid sat at his desk. It was 2:00 am and his obsession with Forever Life, Inc. was creeping into his personal life. He watched the image of the Forever Life building for the umpteen time. The picture was grainy but good enough to make out the explosion. Mostly glass, fire, smoke, and bodies blew out a narrow horizontal patch the entire length on the building’s side. He played the image again as his morbid fascination of seeing violent death increased. The computer finished running its spectrometer analysis on the explosion. Walter watched as a graph of colored lines appeared on the screen. It concluded Pent or something similar, which meant sabotage. ‘Mind blowing’, he thought. To think that a rival would go to this extreme was beyond comprehension. And for what? Some hundreds of billions of dollars? Must be nice Walter finally concluded. “Must be nice,” he said aloud. Then suddenly his computer beeped. It seemed rather loud at this time of night. Walter clicked the Inbox icon. It took several seconds to open, which seemed strange. It never took that long to open. “Holy Fuck!” He said when the first image appeared. He checked the reply field of the email. It read, ‘Someone-in-the-know’.<br>

Commandadmin: Created page with "{{EnemyMe|title=Chapter Twelve|chapter text=Chapter 13

Walter Kincaid sat at his desk. It was 2:00 am and his obsession with Forever Life, Inc. was creeping into his personal life. He watched the image of the Forever Life building for the umpteen time. The picture was grainy but good enough to make out the explosion. Mostly glass, fire, smoke, and bodies blew out a narrow horizontal patch the entire length on the building’s side. He played the..."

2025-01-24T08:44:03Z

Created page with "{{EnemyMe|title=Chapter Twelve|chapter text=<center>Chapter 13</center> Walter Kincaid sat at his desk. It was 2:00 am and his obsession with Forever Life, Inc. was creeping into his personal life. He watched the image of the Forever Life building for the umpteen time. The picture was grainy but good enough to make out the explosion. Mostly glass, fire, smoke, and bodies blew out a narrow horizontal patch the entire length on the building’s side. He played the..."

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{{EnemyMe|title=Chapter Twelve|chapter text=<center>Chapter 13</center> 
 
Walter Kincaid sat at his desk. It was 2:00 am and his obsession with Forever Life, Inc. was creeping into his personal life. He watched the image of the Forever Life building for the umpteen time. The picture was grainy but good enough to make out the explosion. Mostly glass, fire, smoke, and bodies blew out a narrow horizontal patch the entire length on the building’s side. He played the image again as his morbid fascination of seeing violent death increased. The computer finished running its spectrometer analysis on the explosion. Walter watched as a graph of colored lines appeared on the screen. It concluded Pent or something similar, which meant sabotage. ‘Mind blowing’, he thought. To think that a rival would go to this extreme was beyond comprehension. And for what? Some hundreds of billions of dollars? Must be nice Walter finally concluded. “Must be nice,” he said aloud. Then suddenly his computer beeped. It seemed rather loud at this time of night. Walter clicked the Inbox icon. It took several seconds to open, which seemed strange. It never took that long to open. “Holy Fuck!” He said when the first image appeared. He checked the reply field of the email. It read, ‘Someone-in-the-know’. 
As each image appeared Walter’s eyes teared up. Someone-in-the-know handed him his Pulitzer Prize story. He laughed as a man who was about to lose his mind – almost a whisper at first, then within seconds a full belly laugh. He looked at his desk clock. 2:12 am. His Editor, Herb Rochester, wouldn’t be in for another six hours. The first thing Walter realized he had to do was verify the images. He needed something to substantiate their validity. 
A second email came in. 
Walter opened it. “WTF?” 
The second email had Security tags and PIXconfirm files for each image. It also contained PDFs and CTXs files of reports, memos, emails, names with addresses, and audio files. 
Walter slapped his forehead hard. “Screw the WTF. This is now a What the fuck?” He rifled through the files. Sweat formed on his forehead. It ran down passed his eyebrows and stung his eyes. ‘Screw this,’ he thought. This is too big to wait. He reached for his phone and dialed Herb’s number. About 30 seconds later Herb answered. 
“What the hell, Walt? Why are you still at work?” He heard a sigh and yawn. “You’ve got to stop this obsession . . .” 
“Herb, I . . .” 
“Goddess Walt, this had better be good, or so . . .” 
“Herb, Herb, it is good. Beyond good. We’re talking Pulitzer for the firm.” 
Herb coughed, “You said that last time. I had to bat for you after that last blow up.” 
“I got PIXconfirm files.” He counted to ten. 
“No shit?” 
“Yes shit. When can you get down here?” 
“What? At this hour?” 
“It’s that big.” 
Herb hesitated. 
“If this is not the big thing I promise you I’ll quit in the morning.” 
After a moment, Herb said, “You serious?” 
“Like a heart attack. I’m saving the files to the Beast.” 
Walter heard a heavy sigh. “Alright. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” 
“Good. I’ll start running the PIXconfirm audit. Should be done before you get here.” 
“Alright.” Herb clicked off. 
Walter took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He started the audit process and waited. He was tempted to listen to the audio files, but decided to wait until Herb got in. He was too scared to go any deeper until he had someone looking over his shoulder. ‘Most High Goddess this is big.’ 
 
*** 
 
Kent slipped the helmet over his head. 
Becky said, “You don’t have to do this.” 
He nodded, “I know. Mike start the process, please.” 
The terminal blinked on and tiny lights danced along the front panel. 
Kent took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He felt nothing . . . pain. Burning pain wrapped itself around his head. Hot burning pain squeezed at his temples and he felt bursts of sharp stabs puncturing through his scalp. Then nothing . . . pain lingered a bit. Seconds later it disappeared. He opened his eyes. 
Becky watched in horror. Kent’s face contorted and twisted in agony. It had only been a few minutes but it felt like an hour. She watched as his face relaxed and he started breathing regularly again. His eyes fluttered open and immediately welled up with tears. 
“Are you okay, Kent?” 
He stared at her with moist eyes. A large grin appeared and his bottom lip started shaking. 
“Kent!” Becky said alarmed. 
“I’m okay, Beck.” 
“You scared me for a moment . . . are you sure, you’re okay.” 
He nodded slowly and his grin faded. “Beck?” 
She answered, “Yes?” Then she frowned. “You called me Beck?” 
He nodded again. 
“How would you . . .” 
“I love you.” He started crying. 
She helped take the helmet off. 
Kent tried to stand. His knees buckled and he landed hard on the floor. 
Becky knelt beside him, trying to lift him up. 
Prax waited patiently to be called for assistance. 
Kent finally let Becky help him up. She walked him to one of several chairs in the corner. When they reached the chairs he thrust himself into one of them. He sank several inches and relaxed. ‘Best ever,’ he thought. “We have to wake the others.” 
“What?” 
“We have to wake the others.” 
“All of them?” 
He shook his head. His mind raced, “Only most.” 
Becky stared at Kent. She frowned. 
Kent’s distance gaze disappeared. His eyes focused on Becky. “Really, I’m okay, but I have to think this through . . .” 
“Think what through?” 
Prepare, prepare, prepare. “George . . . I can’t.” Tell her, tell her, tell her. “No, I can’t.” 
“You can’t what, Kent?” 
Tell her, tell her, tell her. Kent held his breath. Were those his thoughts or George’s? Tell her, tell her, tell her. 
“Kent, what is going on? Please tell me!” 
Tell her, tell her, tell her. Kent let out the air slowly. Tell her, tell her. He took another deep breath, counted to ten, and let that breath out slowly. Tell her. One more breath and he felt in control. “Becky, three years ago George and Forrest met just outside the city . . .” 
She gasped. 
He nodded, “Forrest had asked George to join him. He admitted that Forever Life had been experimenting with cloning at their UK branch. The process was good and the success rate was about 80%, but he wanted 100%. George said he should have been able to figure it out. He was after all Pete, the Pete Alpha. Forrest shook his head. Memory gaps. One day he knew. The next day he forgot. How? He didn’t know. He needed a process that was perfect. He needed a means to break the seven clone limit. George thought about it. I mean he really thought about it. They met a dozen more times. Each time the two talked for hours and exchanged ideas. Forrest gave data about Transgenetics and George passed on cloning tech and memory transference. Then the meetings stopped. George had one last bit of datum to give Forrest and likewise with Forrest to give to George. Neither gave in. George wouldn’t budge. Forrest became enraged. They never spoke after that again.” 
Becky sat in silence for a minute. 
Kent let her think. The two had been together during that time and he never told her. George lied to Becky and he was sure she was going through turmoil on forgiving him. 
“The one thing I can’t do?” Becky finally said. 
Kent pursed his lips and waited. 
“I can’t call him a goddamn son-of-a-bitch!” 
Kent nodded slowly. His voice was a whisper. “Yes, you can.” 
Becky frowned at first. Then she realized what Kent was offering. She took a deep breath. “Goddamnit, George! What in the world were you thinking! Forrest could have done all sorts of shit on you and I wouldn’t know what had happened to you! You are one thick skulled fuck! Understand me! Hard headed and you make me so mad sometimes! Really mad! Jesus, George! JESUS!!! Why! I hate you! Why! Why . . . ! WHY!” 
Then there was silence. 
Becky sobbed and turned away from Kent. “I’m sorry.” 
Kent kept silent. 
Becky wiped her eyes and faced Kent. “Aren’t you going to say something?” 
Kent paused for a few seconds. “Something.” 
Becky’s expression lightened. “That’s it? No yelling back? No disagreeing? No anything?” 
“I am sorry.” 
Her surprised look was enough for him to understand. She had her turn, now it was his. 
“Becky, I left you. I am sorry. I never meant to leave you, seriously. I just needed to plant the explosives and get out, but I was trapped. Security androids everywhere. I hadn’t anticipated that and I messed up. So, I took out as many as I could and reached the main lab. Forever Life hit a speed bump, but only for a few months. Forrest will start again and Transgenetics will go deeper underground until it is FDA approved. This cannot happen. Please, Becky, forgive me. This is about all of humanity. The future of humankind. Our very existence. Forrest is going to take that away and we cannot let him do that. Never. Ever. Can we let him? Never.” Kent felt exhausted. Was that George or was it him talking? Academically, he was the single voice, philosophically . . . ? Philosophically, Kent thought, now there was something to that. ‘I think, therefore I am,’ was not enough to answer that question. Were his thoughts Pete’s, Kent’s, George’s now? A fusion of two, maybe more? I am Geor . . . no. I am Kent. My name is Kent. I am Kent. I. am. Kent. He believed that. It was good. I am Kent. 
Becky stared into his eyes for a long moment. She blinked several times and finally said, “Never. Ever.” She then nodded and exhaled. 
 
*** 
 
Barbara walked into The Lo’tion first. She caught Sarah’s expression. It wasn’t disappointment, not quite, then a second later it changed to elation. Barbara looked over her shoulder. Her partner, Rick, had been a few seconds behind her. She understood. Their first date had been good. Rick hadn’t lied. Apparently, he was a gentleman and gave Sarah a fun time. She smiled and said, “Hey, Sarah!” 
Sarah walked over to an empty table and motioned for the two to have a seat. 
Rick and Sarah smiled and locked eyes. Barbara coughed, “Do you guys need a room?” 
Sarah blushed. “Detective Tipper!” 
Barbara laughed. “Please Sarah, I think now is the time to call me Barb.” 
Sarah looked away and nodded. 
Rick said, “Hey, Sarah. You look nice.” 
“Thank you. Anything special I can get you?” She turned her gaze back to Rick. 
He smiled and nodded. “Actually, we’re here for two reasons.” 
Her smile disappeared. “Oh?” 
Rick frowned and mentally kicked himself. “Sorry . . .” And he lost his voice. 
Barbara smiled. “You two are just too cute.” She laughed. 
“Barb!” Rick exclaimed. 
“Sorry, Sarah. You guys had a good time?” 
Sarah blushed, looked down and nodded. 
“Good. If Rick fucks up in any way, let me know. I’ll kick his ass and set him straight.” 
Sarah, shocked, looked up. 
“Barb! WTF!” 
Barbara kicked Rick. 
“God damnit, woman, stop with the kicking!” 
Barbara laughed. “Sarah, I got your back.” 
Sarah nervously laughed and looked into Rick’s eyes.” 
He rubbed his shin briskly. Then he noticed Sarah’s stare and looked up. He lost himself in her gaze and forgot about the pain. “Sarah . . .” 
“Yes,” she said. 
“Don’t listen to her. She’s butch and likes to bully people.” 
Barbara leaned forward, said, “And, your point is?” She leaned back, satisfied she established who the Alpha was. 
Sarah smiled, looked at Barbara, brushed some hair behind her ear and looked away. She blushed and hoped Barbara hadn’t noticed. “So, Rick, Barb, what can I getcha?” 
Rick reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a hardcopy photo printout. He handed it to Sarah. 
“Oh my goodness! Did something happen to George?” 
“You know, wait, what? George?” 
Sarah nodded. “George Walker. He comes in maybe once a week, sometimes once every two weeks. Tips well, but keeps to himself. Mostly.” 
Barbara’s eyebrow raised. 
Sarah continued. She said in a rush of breath, “Is he okay. Please tell me nothing bad happened to him.” 
Rick cleared his throat. He thought ‘damn!’ and said, “Um, just an ongoing investigation. His name turned up and we’re just gathering information.” 
Sarah eyed Rick for a few seconds. “Rick, you’re holding back on me.” 
Rick swallowed hard. “No, seriously, we’re gathering intel.” He forced a smile. 
Sarah shook her head. “Mister. Don’t give me that.” 
Both locked stares, not blinking. 
Rick found himself wavering. His eyes started drying out. 
Barbara coughed and both turned toward her. She smiled as Rick and Sarah rapidly blinked. 
Sarah squeezed her eyes shut tightly, thankful for the distraction. 
“Sarah,” Barbara said, “It is important and we can’t say too much about it now. What else do you know about George?” 
Sarah took a deep breath. “He has a girlfriend. Becky’s her name. Very pretty.” 
Rick asked, “Address, maybe?” 
Sarah shook her head. “Figured he lived in the area. Never saw a car. When he came in by himself he would sit reading some sort of book.” 
“He pay by Credit Card?” 
“Never. He paid with credits, cash or CashCard.” 
Barbara asked, “What type of books?” 
“He . . .” 
“Order!” Mel shouted from the back. 
Sarah said, “Hold that thought.” She rushed into the back. A moment later she rushed out, stopped at Joe’s table, placed the food in front of him and rushed away. Joe was left with his mouth open and a pained look on his face. She stopped in front of Rick and Barbara. Her smile was sweet and she could see that Rick enjoyed it. Barbara licked her lips, which made her hot. “He read different books. Sometimes romance . . .” 
Rick said, “Romance?” 
Sarah cocked her head and frowned. 
Rick cleared his throat. “Romance. Good for him.” His expression was a mix of embarrassment and confusion. “Sorry, continue.” 
“. . . Romance, biology, mechanics, history.” 
Barbara interrupted, “History? As in ancient? World War II and things?” 
Sarah shrugged. “Seemed to be recent. Some biography of past presidents. Some early 21st century stuff. He’d ask me odd questions.” 
Rick asked, “Such as?” 
Sarah thought for a moment, “Like do I remember any significant events in the last ten years.” 
“Do you remember the first time he came in here?” 
She bit her bottom lip. “Maybe five, six years ago. Maybe.” She grinned. “I remember he looked lost and scared. Kind of like a two year old. It was so cute. He ordered a Baguette Pastrami and almost never changed . . .” 
Rick and Barbara looked at one another. 
Sarah continued, “. . . when I gave him the bill he handed me too much. I told him so, and he said, ‘keep the change.’ Bless his heart. He had been doing that ever since.” 
Rick leaned back and nodded. “Anything odd in the last year or two? Different behavior? Different company?” 
Sarah suddenly said, “Yeah. About a year ago George started meeting some guy by the name of Alf or something like that. I couldn’t tell the color of his hair. He wore an obvious wig, but to each his own. They talked politics, life, and lots of science. A few times they played chess. George almost always won. Then one day the guy stopped showing up.” 
“How long ago was that?” Rick asked. 
Sarah thought. She sucked in one corner of her mouth for a few seconds. “Eight months ago, maybe more, maybe less. After that things seemed to be normal again. He’d either visit with Becky or by himself. Every now and then he’d talked to Joe.” 
Barbara asked, “Joe?” 
Sarah nodded, “He’s sitting there or had been.” She pointed to where Joe had been sitting. It was at one of the corner booths. 
Barbara spotted a man walking out the door in a hurry. He wore jeans, a brown t-shirt, and a Las Vegas Scarlet baseball cap. 
Barbara nodded, leaned over toward Rick. “I’ll handle this one.” 
Rick nodded. 
 
Joe thought he had been pretty civil with Sarah. She’d talk to him but seemed never interested in him. Then that cop walked in yesterday. And she was sweet on him. He’d been trying for years to date her. Now that pissed him off. Time for another citizen to disappear he thought. Joe was halfway to his car when he heard someone yell his name. It was the Butch bitch who had been talking to Sarah. He stopped and turned toward her. “Yeah?” 
Barbara flashed her badge. “I’d like to ask you a few question about George.” 
Joe thought ‘fuck.’ He considered running, but just as quickly decided against it. He’d play it cool and see how far this went. Worse case is that he could try and drop her, make a run for it, and head across the border for a few years. “Yes, ma’am?” 
Barbara thought, ‘Ma’am? Who was this guy kidding?’ As she was within several feet she stopped and held out a picture of George. “Do you recognize this man?” 
Joe nodded. 
Barbara waited. 
“That’s George. He’s been eatin’ at the diner for years. What’s up?” 
Barbara smiled, “We’re looking for him. You know where he is?” 
Joe gave Barbara a deep frown. “Nope. The last time I saw him was sometime last week.” 
“Was he alone?” 
Joe nodded. 
Barbara waited. 
“Yeah. He was alone. Reading a book, a pretty thick one.” 
“You ever talk to him?” 
Joe held his breath, “We’d say hi to each other.” He briefly looked away. “Sometimes talk about the weather.” 
Barbara nodded. She fished out a card from her pocket and handed it to Joe. “This has my contact info. If you see George, give me a call.” 
“Is he in trouble? I’m not feeling right about turning him in.” 
Barbara smiled, “It’s something that could save his life.” 
Joe relaxed a bit. His smile was skewed. He nodded and gave Barbara another deep frown. “Alright, I’ll do that.” 
Barbara backed up while Joe walked to his car, got in and sped off. She noted his license plate number. Once he was out of eyesight she called his plate in. A stream of data gave more insight to Joe than she expected. She walked back into the diner and found Rick and Sarah making light talk. Both sat in a booth. 
Rick looked over to her and raised an eyebrow? 
“He’s a lying piece of work, but I got what I needed.” 
Sarah, surprised, said, “Joe? He’s been coming here for years. He’d ask me out every now and then but he’s always been nice and civil.” 
Barbara nodded. “Sarah, he’s a predator . . .” 
“What?” 
“. . . possibly a psychopath . . .” 
“Order!” Mel shouted from the back. 
“Keep that thought, “Sarah said as she walked through the kitchen doors. 
Rick watched as she walked away into the kitchen. He gently sucked in his lower lip as he stared intently at her rear. 
“Hey, Wolf!” Barbara said. “Was it good?” 
“Barb!” 
She smiled, “Well, partner? How was it?” 
Rick kept his mouth shut, but his smile told everything. 
“You are asking her out again tonight, yes?” 
He frowned, “So soon?” 
“I should kick you hard for that one.” 
Rick, confused, frowned. 
“While the iron is hot, dude. While the iron is hot.” She leaned back. 
Rick coughed, “Besides the iron being hot, whatcha get from Joe?” 
“He knew George personally. He tried to lie, but you know how that goes?” 
“Closet boyfriend?” 
Barbara shook her head. “Business. I’ve got a hunch that our Joe boy is not an upstanding citizen.” 
“Underground?” 
Barbara nodded. “Yeah. Maybe the worst kind. And considering what really happened to George I got an idea who he may have last talked too.”
“Seriously?” 
Barbara nodded. “All of the above and then some.” 
Rick started, “We should . . .” 
Sarah walked of the kitchen with plates in hand. “Now what were you saying about Joe?” 
Barbara pouted fish lips and said, “Not the type of guy you want to be alone with. Probably rough and abusive, if you know what I mean.” 
“Really?” Her eyes quickly glanced over to Rick then back to Barbara. 
“I chatted with him while you were in the kitchen. He said he may have said hi to George a few times.” 
Sarah frowned, shook her head slightly. “They’ve talked about a dozen times. Some pretty deep stuff from what I can tell.” 
Barbara said, “I thought as much. He’s used to lying. Watch yourself around him.” 
Sarah nodded. “Tell me please, what is really going on?” 
Rick said, “Sarah, nothing really. Following leads and Barb just happened upon someone to be leery about.” 
All three stood in silence for a moment. 
Barbara kicked Rick. 
“Stop kicking me, damn it.” 
Barbara leaned forward and whispered, “ask her.” 
“After talking about a psychopath?” 
“Do it or I’ll kick you again.” 
“Sarah,” Rick began, “Free tonight?” 
Sarah almost gushed. “Yeah, I am.” 
“How about a late dinner?” 
She grinned and nodded. 
“Steak dinner sound good?” 
She nodded. 
“Want me to pick you up here?” 
She smiled again and handed him a piece of folded paper. 
“Order!” 
She blushed and rushed off. 
Rick unfolded the paper. It was her address and personal iNum. He moved his leg out of the way just as Barbara’s foot swung out. Her foot struck the foot backstop. With some deep perverse satisfaction Rick smiled. He looked Barbara in the eye and smiled. 
She nodded approvingly. 
 
*** 
 
Herb got up from the conference table and paced the floor. He stopped and looked at his team. Walt was going to write the Leads with Kimberly doing several technology and science pieces. Jaime would concentrate on scientist interviews. Vannessa and Ted would work Photography and archives. John and Heather worked copy. He scratched his left cheek and rubbed his chin. “Folks, this is big.” 
Everyone nodded. 
“I know I keep mentioning it.” 
Several chuckled and everyone nodded. 
Walt, slouching in his chair, said, “The Old Man. He’s gotta know.” 
Herb paced again, “I know, I know.” He stopped and sighed. “I know. I’ll talk to Muhammad when he gets in. I gotta get him on board with this.” 
Jaime said, “Fuck. Really? The Gatekeeper has to be in on this?” 
Herb replied, “He is my boss.” 
Walt said, “Sucks, but tell him, I’ll go rogue if he blocks this one. Tell the Old Man that too. I ain’t kidding. They bury this and they lose exclusivity.” 
Herb nodded. Walt would do it too. It wouldn’t be the first time, so the threat had teeth. 
 
}}

Enemy Chapter Thirteen - Revision history

Commandadmin at 08:44, 24 January 2025