Yesterday (Part Three - Chapters 53 & 54)

CHAPTER 53

Eva looked around nervously, rubbing her hands, trying to stop them from shaking. She tried to listen to her father, but couldn't control herself, she needed to know where her sister was. She checked out the traffic circle that led to the entrance of the park.

It was deserted. She walked forward cautiously and crossed the street.

Reaching the stone gate, she entered confused. There was no one there.

“This is odd”, she thought. “Where’s everybody? This should be crowded at this time of day”.

She reached into her purse in frustration for her cell phone to call her father again.

“Damn thing” The cell phone wasn’t there. “Did I drop it on the street?”

She frantically rummaged through her pockets but the phone was nowhere to be found.

And the park was empty.

She backed up several steps and waited in front of the large stone archway at the entrance for a few minutes but anxiety got the better of her. Needing to do something, she decided to go back home, at least once there she could call again from the landline phone.

Jonah half-opened his eyes and saw Eva leaving the gazebo at the entrance to the park. Breathing a sigh of relief, he stopped applying pressure on her mind.

He wanted to talk to Oscar, not to her, so with whatever strength he had left he managed to muddle her mind and erase almost everything in the square, including himself. He couldn't waste time filling her in.

Almost half an hour later, his father’s black sedan with tinted windows entered the traffic circle. Jonah tried to sit up but his legs failed him and he slumped back onto the bench where he had been waiting. His head felt like it was going to explode at any moment.

Oscar got out of the car with the engine still running and rushed towards Jonah. He grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up violently.

—What have you done to my daughter, you bastard? —he demanded, clenching his jaw in rage.

—I didn’t do anything to her, they took her away —Jonah stammered.

—To Eva! —Oscar chewed, making his fist a little tighter and bringing it closer to his face —What have you done to Eva, Jonah? I was on my way here when I talked to her.

—Nothing—, answered Jonah surprised, —I did you a favor, I just took her away from us for a while, she’ll be waiting for you at home when we arrive, I didn’t want to involve her.

Oscar let go of Jonah, and he dropped back on the bench.

—Where is Laura?

—I don’t know, they took her away —answered Jonah, trying to catch his breath.

—Who took her? —Oscar insisted, realizing for the first time the seriousness of Jonah’s condition. —What have they done to you?— he asked.

—Two hooded men in a black van.

—And what’s the matter with you?

—I don’t know... The whistling... My head is going to explode— he mumbled whimpering.

Oscar decided to take him away. He called the chauffeur so he could help him put Jonah into the back of the car. The two men stood outside for a moment.

—Let’s go home —he said to the driver after pausing for a breath, —and let’s be clear: you didn’t see anything.

—Yes, sir —replied the chauffeur diligently as he opened the door, —don’t worry, Don Oscar.

Oscar stepped into the car to find Jonah huddled in the opposite corner with his hands on his head. He pressed a button that raised a dark glass window between them and the driver.

—How bad is that? —he asked.

—My head hurts a lot —Jonah complained, still churning.

—I'll have a doctor called. What happened to Laura? Tell me the truth.

—I told you, they took her away.

—But who?

—I don’t know —Jonah answered plaintively. —I didn’t get a good look at them.

They arrived at the house entrance. Oscar decided to go ahead on his own and ordered Jonah to wait for him sitting there without getting out of the car.

He got out, quickened his pace and entered the house. He looked here and there until he located Eva. She was sitting in the living room facing the entrance.

—Dad! —Eva called out upon seeing him.

Oscar approached her and noticed when he got closer that she seemed to be sedated.

—Do you know anything about Laura? —asked Eva.

—No, not yet, —he gave her two kisses.

—What are you doing here?

—I told you I was on my way. I have to introduce you to someone.

—Now? —She said, upset, —Don’t you think it’s more important to find Laura?

—Everything is connected —Oscar answered, —follow me.

They walked towards the parked car, the chauffeur was outside, leaning on the hood, sucking on a cigarette, which he put out when he saw them arrive.

The scene that Oscar discovered when he opened the back door left him speechless.

Jonah had his head resting oddly on the seat next to him and two streams of blood were pouring from his nose, smeared over his face. He had passed out and was in bad shape.

Oscar got out of the car confused and closed the door slowly. Eva was waiting for him with her arms crossed.

—Who’s in there, Dad? —she asked impatiently.

—It doesn’t matter Eva, go back home and wait for me to call you —he replied, then turned to his driver. —We’re going to the clinic, please, quickly.

—What’s going on? You’re freaking me out, who’s in the car?

—Your brother," sighed Oscar, leaning against the door of the sedan.

—My what? —asked Eva, surprised and opening her eyes wide, —but I don’t have a brother.

—Yes, you do, and he’s in there.

Eva looked at him stupefied and tried to push him aside to open the door, but he stopped her.

—You can’t go in.

—No way! What’s the matter with you now? Why?

—You wouldn’t understand, listen to me, this is not the time —Oscar answered, averting his gaze, —I'll explain it to you later, now I want you to go home. I’ll call you in a little while.

—I don’t have my cell phone, Dad, I lost it in my nerves.

—Yes you have it, —said Oscar, putting his hands on her shoulders trying to calm her down, —look for it again.

Eva opened her purse wide in front of him, defying him, and was perplexed to see him take her cell phone out of it. It had been there the whole time.

—But how...? —she asked confused when Oscar held her cell phone in his hand in front of her.

—I’ll explain later, Eva —he answered, handing it back to her. Please go inside and wait for me to call you back.

CHAPTER 54

Two pale-white towers rose silently like ivory fangs among the solitary hills that bordered the deep and misty valley, long forgotten by the few people who still lived in the distant surrounding lands.

The few inhabitants of that remote northern region no longer had any memory of the sharp towers, nor of the ancient castle from which they emanated as if reaching for the sky. It had been many years since any road had led there, and even if some absent-minded person had tried to get close, the technology of the Harperin Corporation would have made sure they would have lost interest many kilometers before getting close enough to it.

A black helicopter violently disturbed the timeless landscape as it hovered over the edge of the valley. It was lazily approaching its destination, and as it began its descent it tore long shavings from the dense fog that surrounded the singular castle.

Opposite the variegated portico of the building a blurred helipad was revealed and, beside it, a figure sheathed in a long ochre-colored trench coat stood motionless awaiting transport, holding a slim black leather briefcase in his left hand.

It had been years since Spencer Kelt had visited any city, so long that he could not even remember their smell.

Once again, an old and unresolved issue forced him to break his routine and once again, because of that same loose end, he had to face something he found tremendously annoying, for Spencer couldn’t stand crowds or field work, let alone loose ends.

So he decided to leave his silent exile and make sure for himself that the rift was closed for good. They could not afford any risks with their goal so close at hand.

The newly extracted mental projections of the long-lost twin he had received hours earlier from his field team revealed new nuances and ramifications of the problem that he found intolerable.

For the first time in many years he would have to intervene personally and make sure nothing was left to chance. It was his last opportunity to solve the problem once and for all and bring the plan back on track.

The helicopter landed, and without stopping its rotors waited for Spencer to board. Once inside and without saying a word, Kelt handed the pilot a card with the coordinates of his destination printed on it. He typed them into his GPS and pressed several buttons on the front console.

They flew away from the site.

The helicopter arrived on time at the exclusive heliport of the luxurious Verta Hotel in central London. It was ten o’clock at night and a fine rain was soaking the windows. Spencer Kelt stepped down and ducked his head, covering himself with his briefcase, wary of the excessive light from the terrace against the dark river.

Professor Hebert was waiting for him behind the glass doors at the entrance, and without a word they made their way to the club room they had reserved for their meeting upstairs.

The room was in semi-darkness, and a waiter lit for them two stylized lamps in the center of the conference table before closing the door and leaving them alone.

As the waiter left, Spencer Kelt approached the entrance and pressed a button that made the glass in the windows opaque, then walked over to the table and pulled a small, flat, burnished metal cone from the pocket of his trench coat and placed it on the table. Immediately, two tiny dots of green light began to blink intermittently at its apex.

Hebert was still standing expectantly, thin beads of sweat running down his forehead. The man terrified him.

“He hasn’t changed a bit” he mentally whispered.

Spencer Kelt took off his trench coat, folded it neatly and sat down at the table. He placed his briefcase on top, and after drying it with a handkerchief he opened it and with a sparing gesture invited the professor to sit across from him.

—Report —he stated dryly.

Hebert sat down uneasily. The few direct contacts he had had with assets of the Harperin Corporation had taught him that they were not people to be distracted by pleasantries.

—-There have been no developments since my last report. The woman, Laura Samper, the twin, was released as per your instructions on the Madrid subway train after the images were extracted from her and then delivered and her conditioning process was completed.

—What about the twin? Jonah Samper?

—We know that his father has taken care of him and that he is in the Stanhope Clinic in Madrid.

—His father?

—His adoptive father, excuse me. Oscar Samper —he mumbled, clearing his throat.

Spencer Kelt had taken an electronic tablet out of his briefcase. He tapped something on its screen and gave the professor a stern look.

—Let me remind you that you must express yourself accurately —he reprimanded him. —Go on.

—As I reported through my liaison in London, I activated the device provided to me near Jonah during my meeting with him in Dublin, as instructed —said Hebert, taking an oval metal tablet from his pocket and placing it delicately on the table between the two of them. Kelt looked up, picked it up and meticulously placed it in his briefcase —and as expected he lost his memory and after flying to Madrid he was held incommunicado in the Palace hotel waiting for the team. Everything went according to plan until he unexpectedly stepped out into the street.

—Have you had any further communication with your liaison since then?

—No, the last time I spoke to him was to confirm that the task had been completed.

Spencer Kelt nodded without lifting his head from his tablet and clicked something on the screen again, invisible to Hebert from where he was.

—I read in your supplemental report that in your opinion we have a leak. Have you discussed this with Mr. Sertres?

—I have.

—To your knowledge, and speaking again of Victor Sertres, your liaison in London, —Kelt asked, —how effective do you assess his penetration and position in the Congregation to be at present?

—Excellent, —Hebert relaxed. —After his uncle’s death he managed to place himself in one of the most important lay positions on their organizational chart, while managing to maintain a suitably low public profile. I would say his situation is unbeatable.

Spencer Kelt nodded laconically.

—Continuing with him, would you say he is meeting his objectives efficiently?

—As far as I’m concerned, yes he is, —Hebert ventured.

—I see, —Spencer Kelt replied, looking up from his tablet for the first time.

—He’s very efficient, —Hebert assured him, —and very motivated.

—Perhaps too much?

—I don’t know about that, —he admitted, lowering his head.

—Let’s go back to Jonah Samper, —Kelt continued after examining something on his screen. —The first neural bomb was activated in his brain by an automated instruction from the system, due to his providential location near a Sonometer in Madrid, why do you think it didn’t work?

Hebert stirred uneasily.

—I honestly don’t know. I am confident that we successfully implanted it in the 1987 procedure, but I still don’t understand how it could have failed.

—Do you think it’s because of a genetic flaw?

—In his brain? I doubt it, it would have been detected in the tests we performed on him at the time.

—Was the surgery he underwent in 1987 performed according to specifications?

—Yes, —said Hebert somewhat impatiently. —You yourself can review the recording that was made of the surgery, it’s all in your files. We moved him to Switzerland, as I was instructed, and everything was done according to your specifications.

—Was Pater Lorenzo Aminarti aware at any time of the real procedure that was actually performed on the patient?

—No. The alibi worked perfectly. He never mentioned anything about that trip to me again.

—Do you think Pater Lorenzo Aminarti trusts you?

—As far as I know, yes. I have followed the instructions to the letter all these years and I don’t think he has any doubts about my loyalty. The most he can suspect me of is that I keep details to myself, but don’t we all?

—What do you think Pater Lorenzo Aminarti knows about the truth?

—He knows of the existence of the Harperin Corporation and has always been suspicious of it, but I believe that in his own way he feels enlightened, and he has never been able to avoid deifying and victimizing the twins. He finds it more comfortable to invest them with supernatural virtues than to probe in other directions.

—Explain.

—Father Aminarti believes that his mission in life is to protect them. He justifies everything else with his faith. He is convinced that their uniqueness will at some point bring him closer to divinity, to greatness, even if he is not fully aware of it. He considers them a means, divine tools. Supernatural.

Spencer Kelt waited a few seconds and swiped his finger across his screen again. Without looking up, he moved on to the next point.

—Why did you decide to activate the neural bomb in Jonah Samper's brain a second time when the initial objective was to keep him at the hotel waiting to be picked up?

—Sertres was the one directing the operative from here. I guess they decided on the fly that it was a good chance to take him out of the game. We never did find out what happened to the device installed in the hotel. It stopped working for no apparent reason and that’s what woke him up, the rest is pure happenstance. Anyway, we still have time to rescue him, he is still in the Stanhope clinic.

Kelt did not respond. He wrote something else down and continued indifferently.

—Tell me about Oscar Samper, do you think he could be dangerous to our purposes?

—Mr. Samper is looking for answers but he is at a loss. The problem we may have is that he may not agree to stop once he gets the answers he needs at this moment, —warned Hebert, almost speaking to himself, —his curiosity could be uncomfortable, and he has a certain amount of power.

—Would you consider a more direct intervention appropriate?

—Perhaps, —he assessed, —but I do not think it advisable. I can’t think of anything we could offer or do that wouldn’t alter too many factors as close as we are to day one. I think that, when the time comes, we could appeal to his ambition, give him a way out, but you must bear in mind that Oscar has already been living for years in a fractured reality. He will not be easily satisfied. In fact, I doubt he would embrace it.

—Are you suggesting we terminate him?

—I don’t think that's my decision to make.

—I agree.

Spencer Kelt finished writing something down on his tablet and ignored Hebert for a few minutes, as he had everything he needed from him. The time had come to get rid of some of that loose end. He put his tablet back in his briefcase and pulled out a small black wooden box.

—Now you know what’s going to happen next, —said Kelt.

—Am I still inside?

—Yes, —Kelt reassured him, appearing conciliatory for the first time —You’ll just forget this conversation, for everyone’s sake. It’s the only way for the plan to succeed. Ready?

—Yes, —Hebert replied somewhat anxiously, —I know the procedure.

At Hebert’s tense look, Spencer Kelt put slight pressure on each of his ears and then, without blinking, swiped a finger across the surface of the box.

Hebert slumped unconscious against the back of his chair. Kelt quietly gathered his things and left the room.

Minutes later he diligently boarded his helicopter and handed a new card to the pilot. This would take a little longer this time, but he wasn’t worried about time, he was not going to rest until the matter was completely settled.

Shortly after, Hebert sat up relieved in the empty room. He got up from his chair, grabbed his coat and left with a confident smile on his face.

He remembered everything.

He had two days, but not much longer, he had to hurry.