“Bernardo let us try to put an end to all of this innuendo. You are aware, and most of the population is, that a certain Sandrine Benitez is rocking the boat. I happen to know, because I overheard her and my father talking when they thought that they were alone, because my mother was attending a ladies’ function. I was young and terrified that my family would be splintered by what I heard. I had no idea at that age, of what could be so important about the documents, but I copied them from his printer when they went to bed. These forbidden papers always acted as an aphrodisiac for him. I hid them in my garden house. It was years before I re-visited them and I began to see the significance. I can perfectly understand your hurry to make them safe again; that is as long as I keep my mouth shut. Well thanks Bernardo. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. It can be our little secret if the police are happy with suicide, although my mother said they had doubts, and took a lot of care in removing the body to their laboratory. You know where to find me if you need me.”
He detected further unease in Bernardo and this gave him belief that the diminutive little bureaucrat had indeed taken some damning evidence from the house, probably the safe. He was pleased however that Bernardo had also swallowed the fairy story about the copy he had taken during his father’s assignation.
Chapter 22
When Pierze suggested that his briefing was for the President’s ears only, he met with the expected resistance from his aide, Nelson Ortega. “Yes, yes Ortega, I have heard it all before. I would advise you to speak with President Sanchez; if he decides to inform you of what I have to say, then that is his decision. If you insist on being present when I conduct the briefing I will offer my resignation – and I am sure yours will follow soon after.”
It took over fifteen minutes for him to be shown to the stately office, which was decorated with pictures of past leaders, including Philip II of Spain. Some of the furnishings were originals from the Renaissance period, and were utterly priceless. The sun came from behind Sanchez, and wasn’t conducive to relaxation for the interviewee. They began with the President’s monologue of his responsibility to the people, which Pierze knew was merely a reminder that the President’s own head was dangerously near the block. However this only spurred him on to interrupt. “I have extremely important and incredibly sensitive information. My purpose in asking for this to be a one-to-one session should become obvious. The individual we have been holding in custody from the Adrianna Rossi suicide is named Leonid Tirishev. We have discovered from our latest scanning equipment that he has, like potentially many thousands of others, a microcellular transceiver implanted in his brain stem. He was not aware of this, but it has been installed and he has been subsequently instructed through it, to do the bidding of the organisation responsible for these induced suicides. I am of the conviction that this will prove to be the case for the Northern Iberiana Seven. The implications are clear – Iberia appears to be under threat from within. The ramifications of this information spreading are manifold. I have reliable data that the process is currently undergoing transition from pilot phase to mass scale-up. Therefore protection of this knowledge and time are of the essence. This rogue organisation must be flushed out into an adequate containment structure to avoid collateral damage to the Republic and your position. I am scheduled to visit the Borderlands to further investigate any connection the perpetrators have to this region. I have also released Tirishev and he has been ‘modified’ to allow us counter-control, if and when he is contacted by the hive. I believe he may face elimination, due to his cross-examination by my people, but there is an outside chance they will re-target him. In either scenario I have issued orders to correspond. He will give us the potential assassins or act as a double agent for us. Sir, this entire conspiracy is coming toward a point of no return; we must act now and without the risk of accidentally taking in the plague via a ‘wooden horse’. That is why I am asking for your support in this.”
Sanchez wore the expression of an air traffic controller who had just been informed that another thousand planes had entered his zone, and was processing this when the radar went down. He also recognised that Pierze had made sure the decisions were all on his coveted desk, by handing him hard copy of the request – sealed, signed and delivered. Sanchez began to experience trickles of sweat in all those uncomfortable areas, but acquiesced just as Pierze had hoped he would. “I want another briefing when you return from the Borderlands, and this time I want you to come to my residence. I will send for you.”
*
Duarte had almost given up when he got a tip-off from one of the Lisboa ex-officers. This man had been around at the time in question, but was now retired. He still enjoyed the occasional drink and game of veterans’ tennis with old pals at the police sports complex, and he had overheard Duarte’s name in a conversation amongst one of the younger teams. When he had asked how to contact Duarte, he feigned to the young detectives that they were old friends from way back, but had lost touch. After contact they had agreed to meet. The man said he could recall a hullaballoo over a case which was originally reported in Estoril, some distance from Lisboa, but was suddenly ordered to be erased from the database. When he had tried to explain to his superior - that it was not possible to erase something which was not there - the panic evaporated. “I sniffed the scent of cover up, so I contacted Estoril, and they said they had received information from the lady whose husband was missing, that he had returned safely. They closed the case and informed Lisboa, as they understood it had been reported there for entry to the main database. I asked one of our whizz-kids on computer forensics to check it out for me and it had indeed been entered, but deleted before the official withdrawal in Estoril.”
Duarte probed. “Do you remember any details, such as names, addresses?”
“Not the address, but the name has always stuck in my mind. Lopez, her name was Bianca Lopez. I think the husband was called Viktor, but I can’t be sure. I never heard any more about it even though I reported the computer forensics to my boss.” Duarte thanked him and set off for Estoril.
Butragueno tried to contact Manuel to tell him about Duarte’s lead but he was unobtainable and she assumed he had gone in again.
Konrad
Prometheus was quite agitated. “I have thirteen names, six of which are for pulses and the rest to be streamed. It looks from the encryption structure very similar to the handcuffed seven.” Konrad reacted by demanding the names to begin memorising them before exiting as soon as possible. He was checked by his ally. “That is not all. I’ve been sent an entire months work, which is very unusual. It is not a list but a complete programme; all of the codes are to be encrypted within the programme, and worryingly all with the same instruction. I have not been able to isolate the exact instruction but my encryption form is concentrated on mass activation back on Earth. There are over one hundred thousand repeats in the loop. It has begun; they must be sleepers waiting for the activation signal.” Konrad’s mind was racing, but he remembered to ask a question on behalf of Pierze.
“You said that these Rojo-Negro Mano people were dangerous, how do you know that if you have been on the Moon so long?”
“Because the majority of the workforce here is from the Borderlands and they are members of that cult; these people are very intimidating indeed. By the way I did find a pattern of sorts when poring through my instructions from Omnia. They correspond to an egg-shaped cluster within Balkan Iberia, and the few which are direct emanate from what approximated to the sharp end of the egg.” He gave Konrad the drawing and left him to learn and destroy all of the information. It would be a while before he could exit. He also needed to show up for work at the office of Central Security to avoid being fired.
Manuel
He felt a little more tired this time. He wondered if he was about to be discovered, as his character of course should have died, in the minds of whoever inserted the transceiver in Konrad. They obviously knew the real Konrad was dead. Prometheus had tol
d him that Konrad was the only character he could interact with. ‘I should have asked him to confirm he had tweaked my character to avoid interaction with all but previous contacts’. He would ask next time. There was no time to lose, but he found out from Butragueno that Pierze had already set off for the Borderlands. Duarte was in Estoril.
He pondered whether he should put his trust in Gretz. The names had not registered with him in Futureworld, indicating that they may not be protestors. Both he and Butragueno decided to go immediately to Estoril as Duarte had the only secure means of contacting Pierze. They took the precautionary step of calling at Central Security, to put his second in command on alert - he could expect an urgent programme to be required for a Northern Iberiana style operation. Manuel wrote the names down for the deputy and they left after he apologised to his mother for departing once again.
*
Sandrine Benitez had disappeared. She was due to assist with the next installment of the character assassination of the Salina family, but could not be traced. This naturally set the newspaper off on an organised crime sub-thread. It concentrated on her possible exclusion from Antonio Salina’s will and they asked the question aggressively – ‘What has happened to the source of Sandrine’s regular cheque?’ It was apparently overdue.
*
Pierze could not have been more annoyed when Duarte made the call. “Hold on Ricardo, all you have to do is initiate your team, they’ve already been alerted.”
“Oh, that is a relief. I will do that immediately.”
“Wait, this could have been left on the back burner, but I think you should also know that we think your scientist is called Viktor Lopez.” The silence told its own story but Duarte pressed on. “Does the word Omnia mean anything to you in this context?”
“No, I don’t believe so, but what the hell has th....” His mind was a blur, and then it came. The secret unit in which the scientist had worked for him had an emblem. A large reproduction had always hung on the wall of the highly secure reception area. In the corner of this flag-like emblem was a small circle, inscribed with an almost unnoticeable motto, ‘Omnia tempus habent’, which had intrigued Pierze. His curiosity led to the translation for this Latin extract from the book of Ecclesiastes as, ‘All things have their time’. “My God, yes Duarte, you must have found him. I shall return as soon as possible.”
Duarte calmed him down for a second time. “No hurry yet, I’m afraid. I have strong evidence from his wife that after he disappeared she reported it and then was subject to menace, and was forced to tell the police he was back. She has no idea where he is or who is responsible. However, Manuel has narrowed the search with the help of Prometheus to Balkan Iberia. I don’t need to tell you we should proceed very carefully. I think it would be best if we all reconvene and thrash out the options, don’t you?”
“Yes, I concur. I will wrap up this visit as expeditiously as possible and get back. Keep me up to speed on the thirteen.” His trip had not been wasted and illustrated the value of first-hand observation compared to reading other peoples’ reports, including their interpretation. The infrastructure of Rojo-Negro Mano was more like a military training camp than a charitable organisation. Admittedly there were refugees in need of aid, but it didn’t seem to stop at simple wellbeing. The administrators labelled it preparation for self-preservation, but it was far beyond that. Those showing him around were decidedly nervous and were continually reminding him that they weren’t in charge. When asked where those in charge were, no answers were forthcoming. The one consistent thing was the motif. It was everywhere, and the guides were reciting in parrot fashion, how de-motivating it had been to be wrongly associated with events in the horrific scenes of the Berlina statue, and hints of hundreds of others in Santa Constanza. He had seen enough to suggest going deeper into the Borderlands. This had been met with contagious fear. They advised him that despite any assurances he may have been given by agents or his own contacts, his party was seriously underprepared for such a tour. It was described as an absolutely lawless territory which dispensed death as if it was ordained by some higher presence. He headed back to Madrid.
*
Tirishev had been under invisible but armed response surveillance by Pierze’s team, and one of them acted as a ‘friend’, living with him; this man could really take care of himself, even without the tranquiliser gun. The darts were potent enough to fell an elephant in under ten seconds. So far they had nothing to report. As Tirishev had to mimic normality, relay teams would track him to buy food and frequent social venues. He was playing pool with one of his minders when he wobbled and thus indicated a transceiver message. Upon recovering his balance he proceeded without a word, to the exit. Despite his pool partner asking him to wait he carried on. The override signal flipped him to normality and he slowed to allow his companion to catch up. He revealed that he was to go to an address which he knew well, but he didn’t know why. He was given remote instruction from Pierze’s men to continue, but not to reveal the truth about his time in custody. He was to tell whoever asked that it was purely a case of being a suspect in Rossi’s death. He had to tell them he’d been grilled over and over again about the drug overdose and his part as her supplier. He was questioned relentlessly until they either had to charge him or let him go. They had no concrete evidence so he was eventually freed. It was hoped this would convince the interrogators that he was still ‘loyal’. The address to which he had been directed wasn’t close by, and it was thought there would be checks to see if he was being followed or accompanied. A quick re-vamp of the relay shadowing rota was thrown together with additional personnel, different to the ones who had protected him so far. One of these new minders was to deliberately bump into him and apologise, while slipping him more than enough funds for any expensive journey. It would have seemed strange if he had to ask one of his new friends when he realised that he was short of the fare.
*
The three from Estoril got back to Madrid in good time. After checking in on his mother and finding she was bearing up, Manuel asked her to summon Bernardo to the house. When she asked why, he told her about the real activities he and the two other men had got up to. “I don’t want to be overly melodramatic about this Mama, but he was after something which was going to embarrass the department or the government or both. You know that further embarrassment may come your way through no fault of your own. This Sandrine Benitez has gone missing and you are already being judged guilty by the media for complicity with father’s agenda, by accepting Konrad into your home. Believe me, this is my area of expertise, as a reporter, and I know you’ll be mercilessly hounded by these people. That you’re innocent makes no difference to them, it sells news. We therefore need to trick Bernardo into thinking we have information which could potentially damage him. He believes he has recovered most of the stuff he needed to from the safe, but I let him think I took copies when I was a boy. If you tell him that when you were going through father’s will and associated paperwork with the lawyers, something popped up. The legal man was unfamiliar with this, and highly concerned about it, so you brought it home and want Bernardo to take a look at it. When he asks you what it’s about, say it talks about a missing scientist. He will ask more questions, but you must close the conversation by telling him it was in a box-file marked ‘Rojo-Negro Mano’, and the contents were just gibberish to you. When he arrives and you pretend to look for this box, you can’t remember where you put it down. After some time looking around you then call for the housekeeper and prime her to remind you that I was here an hour ago, maybe I had picked it up. Then you call me and I confirm that I did, but tell you not to mention it to anyone. A few tears will help, as you say you’ve put your foot in it again. He will comfort you and leave, telling you it was nothing. Can you pull it off Mama?” After some cajoling she agreed and made the call. It went perfectly, he was there within twenty minutes and she said his face was a picture when he was told Manuel had picked up the goods. He asked for Manuel’s
private communicator code and rang.
“Salina.”
“Manuel, it’s me Bernardo.”
“Oh Hi, Bernardo, I’m driving, just a second, I’ll pull over.” Bernardo was apprehensive.
“Yes, I’ll hold.” He waited and eventually the conversation was resumed.
“Ok, I’m in a side street, what can I do for you?”
“I think it might be worthwhile for us to meet. There are a few things which I need to bring you up to date with. Things your father may not have been able to discuss with you. Can you call at the office tomorrow?”
“That might be tight for me Bernardo, your new boss Pierze is due back and there’s something I wanted to ask him about. His secretary has promised to get me in tomorrow if possible. It’s important. Can we meet another time?”
“How about breakfast in the morning, at the Falesia Hotel, it’s on me.”
“I think that could work, I’ll be there unless you hear from me.” The line went dead.
Chapter 23
In Pierze’s absence his ‘shadows’ had located the first three from the thirteen new names. The shadows had changed tactics this time. They kept a really close eye on number one – Antoine Vaglio, in Grenoble. When number two – Bart Kruise, boarded a train in Holland, from Leiden to Lyon via Amsterdam, the first team apprehended Vaglio and kept him safe. The second squad did the same when Kruise alighted from the Lyon-Grenoble express. The two arrested men were quickly flown back to Madrid. It was factored in, that the controllers would not take long to figure out that the suicide, or murder had been thwarted, and the potential repercussions that there may be. There were two obvious ones. If Prometheus was accurate, there was less than a month to the release of the plague of one hundred thousand or more drones, these arrests could bring the time forward. Secondly, the controllers would be checking where this advance information was being leaked from, and this would endanger both Prometheus and Manuel. This turn of events caused Manuel to tell Bernardo he would not be able to keep the appointment for breakfast. It patently annoyed the little man intensely, but he asked if they could rearrange for the following day. Manuel said he would get back to him.