“He has located the target,” Ostap Kosylo said into his secure cell phone. The burly Russian stood in the alley between abandoned buildings on Terminal Island.
It was not the first time the Russian had visited abandoned military towns. Kosylo had once chased enemies all the way to Murmanskaya, a Northern Russian province that housed an abandoned Soviet military base, on the Kolsky peninsula. That base was in far greater disrepair than Terminal Island, where he currently stood. For Kosylo, this operation should be easy.
“Are you sure?” the Barbarian asked, his voice booming loud enough for Kosylo to cover the phone.
“Yes I am sure. I saw him in the window.”
“Is he alone?”
“No. There is a young girl. Maybe ten years old. She moved to the window. And it was Luthecker who moved her away.”
Kosylo looked at the small black and white security photo of Alex Luthecker.
“Who is the girl? Did she see you?” the Barbarian asked.
“I do not think she saw me. I do not know who she is. They rescue refugees. She is perhaps one of them. Do you want me to go in and get him?” Kosylo prompted.
“No. We want Luthecker’s cooperation, and that cannot happen if we appear to threaten the child in any way. Continue to observe. Find out who else is with him. But stay with Luthecker. Report back to me with any movements. We want to avoid the appearance of hostility. We want him alone before we approach him,” the Barbarian answered.
The line went dead before Kosylo could respond.
“She’s the girl from Mexico, isn’t she?” Kirby asked, in reference to ten-year-old Maria. The young girl’s gaze had spooked Kirby.
“She’s not your concern,” Alex answered. He nodded at Nikki, and Nikki ushered Maria out of the room.
Kirby turned back to Alex with fascination. “You’re a hard man to find.”
“Well you’ve found me. Now what do you want?”
“Did you anticipate this meeting? Was it inevitable in your mind? Is that why you let me in? Do you see patterns simultaneously in the macro and micro scale?”
Alex didn’t answer.
Kirby took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He was rattling off questions, and he could feel himself starting to sweat. “Of course you anticipated this. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have opened the door. When you look at me, what do you see?”
Alex examined Kirby for several seconds, his eyes moving over the scientist’s every nuance with ravenous intent.
In Kirby, Alex saw both opportunity and threat. The scientist had a heightened awareness of Alex’s abilities. Unlike the self-affirming ideologies that former Coalition CEOs Richard Brown and James Howe possessed, Kirby used that heightened awareness with adherence to the self-correcting nature of scientific principle. This masked his true intent.
In other words, despite having rigid goals, Kirby was willing to learn new things. On one hand, for Alex, that made Kirby a bit of a tougher read. On the other, it made Kirby more amicable to change.
“That was incredible what you just did with your eyes. Is that a conscious act, or is it reflexive?”
“A better question would be is it trained or untrained.”
“I think I already know the answer to that.”
“I’ll ask you one more time. What do you want from me?”
“You couldn’t get that information? From reading me?”
“I find that personal narrative provides additional insight.”
“So you’re doing this old school. Like a lawyer. I was hoping we could avoid all that psychological chess.”
“You made the first move by attempting to test me.”
“Fair enough. I apologize for the cheap shot. I’ll get right to it. You probably already know from your own large-scale pattern recognition and your five minutes examining me why I’m here. The next great extinction is upon us. My first question to you is whether or not that fact is irreparable.”
“Too many variables for a clear pattern to emerge.”
“So even you have limits.”
“I’m only human.”
“Then what does your gut tell you? Or is there a place in your calculus for trusting instincts considering your ability to recognize patterns?”
“My instincts tell me that every person matters.”
“That’s very Buddhist of you and perhaps reassuring to those who don’t like to look at the big picture. But I think you’re holding out. The patterns I can measure say it’s a near certainty, so unfortunately I don’t have time for the psychological tit-for-tat with you. I sincerely want to do everything I can to stop our species from going extinct, and to do that, I believe that I need your help. And I have faith that you see that sincerity in me.”
“You work for the Coalition.”
“Yes I do.”
“The momentum of their efforts and the ideologies that are behind their actions are a root cause in much of what you seek to stop.”
“I know. It’s a very old ideology, the one where people believe in their superiority over others in order to justify enslavement for profit and empire. It’s very hard to unseat once it’s established itself. But I believe we can work around it.”
“I believe differently than you.”
“I don’t have your gifts of insight. I just do what I have to in order to accomplish what I need to in the world I live in now. Look, the Coalition is a compensation scheme for a handful of greedy men, like any other large-scale corporate structure these days. Money and power are their only goals and therefore their biggest weaknesses. And right now, they have assets I need to accomplish my goals. It’s that simple.”
“And you think that by knowing all this, you can outmaneuver them. And somewhere in your mind, your ego wants to see if you can outmaneuver me as well. You think only you can accomplish what you seek, and to you, what you seek is all that matters.”
“Isn’t that everybody on some level? And I’m not trying to outmaneuver anyone. Look, I’m not hiding anything. Read both my fate and intentions if you want. I’m not afraid to reveal myself to you. I’m one hundred percent sincere to my goal, and I have no choice but to play the hand that I’ve been dealt. If turning you in to the Coalition helped me reach my goal, I’d do it, but I don’t believe that’s the case. Maybe that’s what you’re reading when you look at me.”
“You confuse belief with truth.”
“And the truth is in the eyes of the beholder. Just look at religion and how it’s twisted to propagate outright lies. People want to believe in something more than they want to know the real truth about themselves or the world that they create. Isn’t that exactly what you force them to face?”
“People want to be heard.”
“Enough with the Yoda crap. There are scientific explanations behind your abilities, and I know what they are. I know exactly where you come from and why you have your unique abilities. If you help me, I’ll help you.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“I think you will.”
“Things won’t work out like you’ve planned.”
“So you’re saying you know how things will work out? I’m involving you now, whether you like it or not, so how can you know if you yourself are involved? That’s a mathematical impossibility. Do you want to know why?
“It’s the Schrodinger’s cat paradox. To observe is by definition to change. And because of this the observer can’t observe himself. In the end, there are mathematic explanations for everything. Even you. It’s all cause and effect, and for every cause there’s the potential for unintended effect.
“People live in denial of the unintended. You have the ability to see this unintended mission creep of people’s choices and hold them directly accountable for it. It’s what’s got everyone so scared of you. Scientific method accepts cause and effect too, you know. We just see it as a natural law and not some dogmatic form of magical thinking.”
Kirby started to sweat again. But this time, he didn’t care. He kept going.
“But I’m glad that you brought up my plan, because technically I haven’t planned an outcome. Science doesn’t work like that. It simply measures and adapts its conclusions based on constantly refining its analysis of new data. It’s self-correcting, not self-enforcing like politics or religion.
“That’s why we’re so fucked. The self-enforcing nature of politics and religion mixed with greed and money is a goddamn death spiral that’ll inevitably lead to our extinction. But you can break that pattern of behavior. Seeing patterns is your thing, and that’s why I’m here. That’s why I think that together, you and I, we can save the world.”
“And you want nothing from this personally? You’re not looking to profit in some way?”
“If money’s there I’ll grab it, sure. I’m no different. There’s no crime in that. And there is no power without ego. Not even in your case. Or do you think you’re different than everybody else? That you’re all that different from me?”
Luthecker didn’t answer.
“Look—extinction is imminent. The data keeps showing it with more and more clarity. You’re trying to change the world, aren’t you? Well I’m trying to save it. We’re on the same team. I’ll either fail or I won’t, but wouldn’t helping me accomplish my goals fit in with yours? You can’t change the world if no one’s left on it, can you?”
Kirby felt like he was on a roll. Something about being examined by Luthecker, with the soothsayer’s incredible ability to record every detail, had liberated the scientist. Kirby felt like he’d never thought or spoken with such clarity of mind before. He felt that in many ways, he was every bit Luthecker’s equal.
Kirby decided to push further. “But since you brought up ego, let’s be honest here. You’d like to take them down, wouldn’t you? The Coalition. Well, help me with what I want, and I can help you with that.
“I know what you’re thinking—this guy’s not loyal to anything. He’ll turn on the people he works for, so he can’t be trusted. But you see, I can be trusted, because I’ve been very clear on my goal. Stop the extinction of our species. That’s what I am loyal to. And if it takes bringing down the Coalition then so be it. Now what do you say?” Kirby crossed his arms, self-satisfied.
He watched Luthecker for signs of what the young man was thinking.
Luthecker was a stone. So much so that when Luthecker spoke next, Kirby nearly flinched.
“I have friends who have been arrested by Coalition influences. I want them and the refugees that they rescued freed immediately. Do this and I’ll help you.”
Kirby could hardly contain his excitement. He knew he had Luthecker on the hook now. Between his deal making with the Coalition CEO and the legendary Alex Luthecker, Kirby felt like he was a real player. For the first time in his life, he felt empowered and in control.
“That’s why you’re being so quiet,” Kirby finally responded. “That’s why you’re not ripping me apart like you’re file says you like to do to with powerful people like me. You want something from me. You need me.”
“I do think we can help one another. But it starts with this gesture.”
“I can do that. I’ll make the call. Consider it done.”
“And one more thing. I want to meet my second biological mother.”
“As expected and already in the works. I’ll arrange for your friends to get out first. I’ll spin it as a way to get close to you, and I’ll have my friends in the press start snooping into their illegitimate arrest in order to dial up the pressure. I’ll go out on a limb like this to prove to you that you can trust me, as long as you understand my loyalties are to the survival of the species. And then you can help me with what I want. Do I have your word?”
“Yes. You do.”
“You have to let them go,” Kirby said into his cell phone as he paced across the living room of his Studio City apartment.
He had been smart enough to leave his cell phone at home so his movements wouldn’t be traced, but it had taken him nearly three hours riding on his Vespa scooter, dodging followers, to get back to his apartment after his meeting with Alex Luthecker.
“Why would I do that?” Turner asked. He was beginning to regret the deal he had made with Kirby.
“First, because you’re repeating the same pattern of mistakes that the CEOs before you did, and it’s going to have the same result, getting you clobbered in the press. And that will lead to investigations, which if you are not careful, will lead you to a cell right next to your predecessor James Howe.
“Second, these people are inconsequential, so why are you bothering with them? Luthecker is the only one who matters, and this will only serve to make things more difficult with him.
“And third, the most important reason is because I told him I could make it happen.”
“What?” was the only word Turner could manage to say. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You fucking talked to him? And you didn’t think to tell me right away?”
“Yes, I did speak with him. I’m telling you now, and only because I have to. Don’t you remember what we talked about in our last conversation? About trusting me, and you not knowing these kinds of details?”
“You know I’ve thought about having you killed.”
“I’m sure you have, and you wouldn’t be the first. But that won’t help you. Look—if you let his people go, it establishes trust between he and I, and that’s much more important than keeping his friend’s captive on some trumped up charges, which will only cause you problems in the long run. And once you’ve let them go, he’s already agreed to help me, and that gets me one step closer to my goal, the one that we discussed.
“Remember, the goal is to get him to come in voluntarily and help me. And when he does, Nicole Ellis will be right behind him, and you’ll have them both. Does that make sense to you now?”
Turner hated to admit it, but what Kirby said did make sense.
At least Turner was one step closer to having Luthecker in hand, and the Coalition leader could always come in heavy whenever he wanted. He reminded himself what he had told the board about patience and calm.
“Fine. I’ll let them go. It’ll be more productive to monitor their movements anyway,” Turner finally replied. “But if this doesn’t end with Luthecker and Ellis in my hands soon, it ends with your head on a stick.”
Yaw reacted to the sound of the heavy dead bolt on his cell door being pulled back and the door being opened.
He shielded his eyes from the sudden brightness and tried to focus on the guard filling the doorway.
“On your feet,” the guard said.
“Are you guys alright?” Was the first thing Yaw asked as he approached his small cluster of friends standing close together in the prison parking lot.
“We’re good,” Chris Aldrich answered, although his eyelids were heavy from lack of sleep.
Yaw looked over at Masha. Under the disheveled countenance, her confident ferocity remained.
“I know Russian hotels that are worse,” Masha said in response to Yaw’s look.
“What happened? Why the sudden release?” Chris asked.
“Someone must’ve made a phone call,” Joey Nugyen responded.
“Or they choose to let us go so that they may watch us,” Masha added.
“So who got us sprung? And why?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know,” Yaw replied. “But Alex would.”
“That may be what they want. Us to lead them directly to him,” Joey said.
“They kept asking me about Nikki,” Chris explained.
“Yeah, me too,” Yaw agreed. “Said there’s some apocalyptic level shit going on with PHOEBE they want to bring her in for.”
“They mentioned this to me as well,” Masha added.
“It’s about PHOEBE,” Yaw decided.
“So we can’t reach out to Alex, Nikki, or use PHOEBE, or we risk leading the Coalition right to them. How do we make contact?” Chris asked.
“By going back to square one,” Joey Nugyen said.
They all looked at him.
“Doing what we do best. We all started as off-grid couriers, right? Untraceable, hand-to-hand only messaging? Write down what you want to say to Alex on a piece of paper, I’ll run it through my channels, and we can get this conversation going right under the Coalition’s noses, just like we used to.”