Russell Brooks - Pandora's Succession

“Ouch, be careful,” said Dewan as she pushed the plunger in a bit too hard.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Parris lied, as she held back a smile. I could do a lot worse. She pulled out the syringe, immediately placed the cotton ball on the injection spot and applied pressure for thirty seconds. She reached over to the bio-hazard pail that was beside the table and pushed the syringe through the flap. She then stuck a Band-Aid to Dewan’s arm.

“What’s that supposed to be for?” Eva asked.

“This is a drug we call Clarity. It’ll help you to listen and comprehend things much better,” Parris answered.

Eva smiled. “You mean, make us smarter?”

“Not quite.” Eva looked convinced. Dewan frowned. Parris took another cotton ball and alcohol and did the same thing to Eva.

While Dr. Parris continued with the experiment, Hashimoto and two scientists observed from the adjoining room through the one-way see-through window. The sound of a turning door handle caught his attention and Hashimoto turned to see Valerik holding open the door, munching on a sandwich. He left the room with Valerik and walked down the hall to a vacant laboratory where they had more privacy.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all,” Valerik answered. “But I felt more comfortable seeing you in person instead of speaking over the phone.”

“I thought our phone lines were secure. No one’s supposed to be able to crack through.”

Valerik shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. “Nothing’s ever completely secure nowadays.”

“Then why did you call me this morning if you knew of the risks?”

“The conversation was kept brief.” Some crumbs fell from his mouth before Valerik wiped it with the back of his hand. “There was no mention of Pandora, and you did not call me by name either, as I had told you. The Americans have their supercomputers set up to zero in on key words and trace the location of conversations. But they won’t find us as long as you continue to follow my instructions.”

Hashimoto sighed with relief. “You’re right. Now, what’s so important that you had to come here?”

Valerik licked his fingers. “As you know, the Americans are investigating.”

Hashimoto reached over to the counter and handed him the tissue box. “I would think so.”

Valerik snatched a tissue and wiped his hands. “I received word about one of them.”

“Who is he?”

“His name’s Ridley Fox. He’s the one responsible for disrupting our plans in the Chechnyan laboratory. He’s one of their top agents, if not the best.”

“And you’re supposed to be our best agent. I assume that you’d know how to handle him if ever he gets too close?”

“I can handle him.” Valerik balled up the tissue, tossed it to the waste paper basket and missed. “Besides, I doubt that neither he nor the Russians know where to start looking for me.”

“If Fox is as good as you say he is, then, I hope not. And with your countrymen on the case-”

“I am a man without a country. The Russians are not my countrymen. My loyalties are and will always be to The Promise.”

“I’m sure that’s what Dr. Marx would want to hear from you. So would I.” Just then, Hashimoto’s cell phone rang. He flipped it open. “Moshi moshi.”

“Sir, you need to come back to the lab,” said one of the scientists from the monitoring room.

“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe you should come and see for yourself. Dr. Parris has gone on with the experiment a bit differently and Dewan’s readings are somewhat awkward.”

“Awkward? In what way?”

“She’s gone off on a tangent. She’s doing things that were not planned and Dewan’s readings are unusual. That’s why I think you should come back and take a look for yourself.”

“I’ll be right there.” He flipped his phone shut and looked back at Valerik. “Wait here. I’ll send for you when I’m done.”

“I’m curious, Dewan. When you go back home, what are your plans?” Parris lowered the visors over their eyes and pressed the small button over the nose piece to activate them.

Dewan glanced up at the ceiling and then down at the floor as though in deep thought. “I haven’t figured that out yet. Get another job, whoever’ll hire me, and then try to get back into school, unless I find something better. With what I’m supposed to receive from doing this experiment, my rent should be covered for the first few months anyway.”

“I see.” Parris nodded. “And if that doesn’t work out, what then?”

Dewan sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“I’m concerned about what you said before,” said Parris. “That New York is getting too bourgeoisie for you that you can’t handle it. And with a criminal record, it’s going to be hard for you to find a job and possibly pay for your schooling.”

Dewan rubbed his right eye. “So what are you saying-that I should just give up?”

Parris placed the alcohol and the plastic bag of cotton balls back into the metal box and closed the lid. “Not at all, I was just curious. You’re so anxious to leave this place and go home. I just wanted to know what you have left to go home to.”

Dewan didn’t say anything as she placed her hands in her lab coat pockets and paced in front of the table. She then turned to Dewan. “Tell me more about your parents, Dewan. Your mother’s a nurse and your father’s a truck driver. When’s the last time you spoke to them?”

“About a couple of weeks ago,” he answered. “They don’t even know I’m here.”

Parris tilted her head to the side. “Why’s that?”

He sighed. “’Cause they’d get mad at me.”

Parris nodded. “So you feel comfortable lying to them.”

“I don’t want to,” Dewan answered. “But I had no choice this time.”

“Did they believe you when you told them you were innocent of the drug charge?” she asked

“I don’t know. Things have been different between us since that time. But they’ll be fine. It’ll blow over. I know I’m innocent.”

Parris walked back to the table, opened her tote, took out a file folder and placed it on the table. From inside the folder she took out a copy of a newspaper clipping from the New York Times, held it up and looked at it. “Edwin Douglas. Does that name mean something to you?”

“Yeah, that’s my dad. What about him?”

Parris didn’t answer him right away as she watched Dewan’s frustrated expression fade to worry.

“What’s wrong? Why’s he in the paper?”

Parris took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was the only way she knew how to prepare herself to give him the bad news.

“I was doing some research on you. I took a look at some of the newspapers back home on the Internet and ran a search on your name. Your father’s name came up in the obituaries section from a newspaper that was published two days ago. This is just a printout of the newspaper’s online website. I believe you should look at it.” Parris walked over to him and lifted his visor and held the folded newspaper article out in front for him to read. Parris watched him carefully as she prepared herself for the inevitable.

“No!” He screamed as he tried to force himself up out of the chair. “How do I get out of this chair? Let me out!”

“I’m sorry, Dewan. You’re here among friends.”

“I told you to get me out of this stupid chair,” he yelled.

“Okay, give me a second.” She removed the electrodes from his chest and face, then the straps.

He got out of the chair, walked beside the table where he slammed his fists. “Not my dad. Hell no!”

“I’m sorry, Dewan.” She had to calm him down and restrain him. It was the only way to continue. At least let Hashimoto and the others think that the experiment was still her primary objective. The pain that this young man felt, it was inhuman for her to still treat this as an experiment. She was not even supposed to have shown him that article and she knew she’d be in Hashimoto’s office afterwards trying to explain herself.