THE SACHS ENGINEERING helicopter slid sideways in the stiff wind, but Perry’s eyes remained fixed upon the small form of the other copter half a mile in front of them.
The distance between the two helicopters grew steadily. That was fine with Perry. His pilot was doing an admirable job of staying behind and above the other one, thereby staying securely in the blind spot.
“He’s not in a big rush,” the pilot said. Since Perry and Jack were in the passenger compartment behind the pilot, he had to take his word for it. Perry could only catch glimpses of the aircraft they were pursuing.
“He doesn’t want to draw attention to himself,” Perry said. His mind was working at high speed. Despite little sleep, despite long hours of physical labor, despite the crushing weight of concern, his thinking processed like a Swiss watch. He could be weary later. Now he had to use his mind, his heart, and his faith to achieve two things: the rescue of Claire and Joseph and the recovery of the world’s most precious objects.
The fact that Alex was landing at the airport in Bakersfield failed to surprise Perry. The R44 had a limited range. He could have flown several hundred miles, but not much more. That might have been enough if his destination was in Southern California, but Perry doubted that it was. Even if it was true, he knew that Perry and Jack had seen the helicopter and could identify it later. Like an experienced bank robber, a change in getaway vehicles would be needed.
The question was, what kind of vehicle?
The thief could land at the airport, offload his stolen cargo into a van, a rental truck, or another aircraft. Since he was headed to an airport instead of some secluded landing area, Perry assumed the latter.
A part of Perry wanted to let the man go. After all, he had what he came for. Maybe he would simply release Claire and Joseph, but the logic was clearly flawed. This crook and his cronies stood to lose too much if Claire could identify the location of her captivity or the people who abducted her. He was certain they would kill his friends—if they hadn’t done so already.
The last thought made Perry’s heart quake. Claire was a simple woman who loved her special son. Neither deserved the treatment they had received. Perry had to see this through, even though he had little idea of what he would do next.
“Airplane?” Jack asked. “It’s what I’d do.”
“I think so,” Perry said, “but what kind? Not that it matters. We’re going to have trouble keeping up with a fixed-wing craft.”
“The guy has money,” Jack said. “The suit he wears comes at a price. He may have a private jet waiting for him. If he does, we’ll be left in his exhaust.”
“General Hitchcock can track him, but not on the ground. Once he touches down, we lose him. We’re going to have to change horses.”
“To what?” Jack asked. “The company jet is back in Seattle. I suppose we could charter one, but that may take time.”
Perry frowned. Jack was right on both counts. Perry hit “send” on the cell phone, and Hitchcock picked up immediately. “General, I have another favor to ask.”
“Why do I feel nervous?” the general asked.
“I’m going to owe you big time, General.”
“You’ve got that right. When this is all said and done, I want all the details. Got it?”
“That’s fair.”
“What else do you need?”
Perry told him, listened, then rang off. He pulled the headset’s microphone to his lips and spoke to the pilot. “We think he’s going to switch aircraft. Once we’re sure of that, I want you to pull off and head east.”
“To where?”
“Edwards Air Force Base.”
“I can’t fly there, Mr. Sachs. That’s restricted airspace. They take that seriously.”
“I’ve made arrangements.”
“They better be good ones,” the pilot said.
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE was a sprawling affair laid out on the flat, near featureless land of the Mojave Desert—home to not only the Air Force but also Dryden Flight Research Center, an arm of NASA. While certain areas were open to the public and school children were often led on tours, much of what went on in the beige buildings was secret. It was here that test pilots risked their lives to fly the newest aircraft. It had also been home to many historical aircraft including the X-1, X-15, and others. And it was the alternate landing site for the space shuttle. Private aircraft were not welcome unless invited. Fortunately, General Hitchcock had opened the door.
He had done something else. Throwing the weight of his stars around, he’d been able to get the municipal airport in Bakersfield to cough up much-needed information that meant that Perry’s copter was relieved of following the thief’s all the way to landing—something that would be hard to miss. Once the thief was on the ground, it would be impossible to follow his actions without being observed themselves.
Perry’s pilot set the A109 down gently on a concrete helicopter pad. Perry and Jack were out the door one second later. Hitchcock was there to greet them.
“You boys been playing in the dirt?” the general asked, tracing their soiled work clothes with his eyes. He was a stout man with gray temples whose brusque manner made him seem taller than this five-foot-eight-inch frame.
“We had a little time on our hands,” Perry said, shaking the general’s hand. “This is our lead project manager, Jack Dyson.” The men exchanged nods.
“This way,” Hitchcock said. “Your chariot awaits. We can talk as we walk. According to the tower people at Bakersfield airport, there was only one business jet on the ground, a Citation X. They were able to give me the registration number. I called back fifteen minutes later and was informed that the craft had departed two minutes before.”
“The timing fits,” Jack said. “The cargo was small and fairly light, even crated. A strong man could move it himself, if need be. Throw in a hand-truck, and it would be a piece of cake.”
“Well, we know he’s a strong man,” Perry said, remembering the beating he and Jack had taken at the hands of the man they were now tracking. “You said you have the registration number?”
“I did,” Hitchcock replied. “I even called a couple of folks I know in the FAA. The jet belongs to a pharmaceutical firm: RS BioDynamics. Get this:They’re headquartered in your stomping grounds.”
“Seattle?”
“That’s right. How’s that for irony?” The general led the men from the helicopter to an aircraft parked on the tarmac. “Here’s your ride. My fanny is on the line for this, so I want it back in better shape than it leaves in.”
Before Perry stood a sleek white Lear Jet. Blue letters on the tail fin read NASA. “The space boys made this available?”
“We exchange favors now and again,” Hitchcock replied. “There was a fee. I asked. They said yes. You will be billed for the air time and the fuel.”
“What, no stewardesses?” Jack said.
Hitchcock gave an icy stare. “Two pilots have been provided. They know that we’re tracking another aircraft and will take directions from the ground. I’ll stay on the project until your man touches down. After that, you’re on your own.”
“Thank you, General,” Perry said. “If this weren’t life and death, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“Glad to help. Just keep it to yourself and give your father my best.”
“I will.”
Once inside, Perry took his seat, snapped on his seat belt, and activated his cell phone.
“Who you calling now?” Jack asked as he settled in.
“Karen Brant.”
“Your administrative assistant? The office is closed, you know.”
“That’s why I’m calling her at home.” Karen Brant had been Perry’s assistant for twelve years, and her organizational skills and freethinking intellect made her invaluable.
“I’ve been trying to get her to move to my office. I know it’s unethical to steal employees from the boss, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
“You stay away from Karen. She makes me look good.”
Perry waited for an answer. When one came, he asked for several things in quick succession. “Can you do that?” he asked. A moment later he said, “You’re the best,” and rang off.
Five minutes after, the Lear Jet lifted off.
HITCHCOCK’S PEOPLE TRACKED the RS BioDynamics craft all the way to the SEATAC airport in Seattle. The Lear Jet touched down thirty minutes later. After thanking the pilots, Perry and Jack stepped from the craft and walked quickly to the terminal.
A gray-haired woman with bright blue eyes and a wide smile met them. She held a long roll of papers in her hand. Karen Brant gave them a once-over and then said, “You guys give up bathing?”
“It’s overrated,” Jack said. “Besides, they have a water shortage in Southern California.”
“They can have some of ours,” she replied. “It’s been raining for the last three days.”
Perry motioned to the roll of papers. “You got them.”
“Of course I got them,” she said. “I also talked a SEATAC customer aide into letting us borrow a meeting room. This way.” She strode off without another word. Perry and Jack followed.
The room was an empty office off one of the wide corridors that ran like arteries through the terminal. A metal desk was situated in the middle and Karen unrolled the papers on it. Perry found himself looking at a set of blueprints.
“Here they are, the blueprints to the RS BioDynamics building. Since the building department was closed,” Karen said, “I got hold of Tim in Information Systems and told him what you needed. He was able to access our firm’s computers from home. He’s a smart one, that Tim. Anyway, since he keeps track of all major construction jobs around the world, he was able to learn who the architects and engineers were. The electrical engineer for the project was Ron Mion. We lucked out on that.”
“We’ve subcontracted some work to him,” Perry said. “So he had a set of plans from his work on the building?”
“Right. I tracked him down, found him at home, and he agreed to meet me at his office. Then voila! You have the plans you requested.”
Perry and Jack both nodded appreciatively.
“As far as the other info you requested,” Karen continued, “I can tell you this: The ‘RS’ in RS BioDynamics stands for Rutherford Straight, the company’s founder. He’s a wunderkind in the field and has made tons of money with innovative pharmaceuticals. He leads the world in selective cloning—that is, where they clone only parts of animals or people. Working from stem cells, they can force a growth process that creates heart cells, muscle cells, skin, and so on.
“I couldn’t get as detailed as I’d like—just not enough time—but I learned that his company has more patents on biological material than any other. He’s been the cover boy for Fortune, Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Money, and at least a dozen other high-end periodicals. They love showing him in his wheelchair.”
“Wheelchair?” Perry asked.
“He has ALS. Apparently he has this gigantic intellect trapped in an ever-weakening body. Like that physicist guy.”
“Stephen Hawking?” Jack said.
“That’s the guy. He’s like him. It’s kinda sad.” Karen drew herself up and looked Perry in the eye. “Now, may I ask what all this is about?”
“Sorry,” Perry said. “For the moment I need to leave you in the dark. I’ll fill you in later.”
“Sure, cast me off like a dirty shirt,” she quipped. “Anything else you boys need?”
“A car,” Perry said. “Could you head over to the rental counter and arrange a car for us? Jack and I’ll stay here and go over the plans.”
“No need,” she said. “Here are my keys. I also put the tool boxes you requested in the trunk.”
“How will you get home?”
“Taxi, of course. I plan on billing the company for it. What would you do without me?” she asked.
“The same things; I just wouldn’t do them nearly as well,” Perry said.
“Coercion through compliments,” Karen said. “It’s devious behavior, but it works. I’ll be back soon.”
“Pharmaceuticals is a competitive and secretive business,” Jack said after Karen left the small office. “I’m betting they have the best security possible.”
“That makes things more difficult,” Perry said.
“Difficult? How about impossible?”
“I don’t believe in the impossible, Jack. Think about what we pulled out of the ground over the last two days: Roman soldiers in California, a woman’s remains with the name Mary Magdalene etched in her coffin, and artifacts from the tomb of Christ. None of that is possible, but you’ve seen and touched it.”
“Point well taken,” Jack said. “So how do we get Claire and Joseph out—and recover the artifacts?”
Perry studied the plans: blue lines on white paper laid out in a complex fashion. It was a substantial building of nineteen floors. The top held offices and conference rooms, the next four floors held laboratories of some kind, and below that were more offices and open space. Most likely, Straight leased the lower floors to pay for the building. It was a common practice. By leasing lower floors to other businesses, the building would pay for itself. Perry studied the first floor and saw what he was looking for.
“Here,” he said, pointing to the lobby on the first floor. “The ground floor was designed to accommodate a restaurant. You can see the kitchen area. Ron calculated higher loads for the equipment. It also shows several other exits. Building codes would require that. Of course,” he added, “it’s a business office. The lobby should be open for employees on the swing shift.”
“Okay, so we can get into the building through the restaurant or lobby, then what?”
“Then, we play it by ear. Let’s go page by page through this. Memorize what you can. We’ll improvise once we are there.”
“Shouldn’t we notify the police?” Jack asked. “They’re better equipped for this than we are.”
“In any other situation I would,” Perry agreed, “but we have some special circumstances here. The police are going to have as much trouble getting in as we are. They would also need enough proof to get a warrant. We have no proof. I’ve seen a picture of Claire and Joseph in an empty lab, but that’s it. Calling the police would take too much time. We’re on our own for the moment. You up for this?”
“You have to ask?”
Perry smiled at his friend and hoped he wasn’t leading the man to his death.
KAREN’S MERCURY COUGAR sped easily along the dark streets of downtown Seattle. Perry was at the wheel, Jack in the passenger seat. A gentle drizzle peppered the windshield.
Perry found it ironic that it was here that he interrupted the attack on Dr. Henri that had changed his life. Perry didn’t believe in coincidence. He had come upon Dr. Henri after leaving a very late meeting. Had he not called for that meeting, had he left fifteen minutes earlier or later, everything would have been different. But that didn’t happen. He left at just the right time, made just the right turn, saw just the right thing. There was no doubt in Perry’s mind that Providence was at work. He comforted himself with the thought that God was still on the job.
“The stairs,” Perry blurted as he parked the car a block from the RS BioDynamics building.
“What about the stairs?” Jack asked.
“We can take the stairs up,” Perry said. “Fire codes require sealed exit stairways.”
“No good, buddy,” Jack said. “True, there will be at least two stairways, but I doubt that the doors will open into the upper offices. They’re exit doors and have to open in, but they’re allowed to be locked on the stair side. That way, panicked people don’t exit on the wrong floor. Only those doors that lead outside will open.”
“And the one to the roof,” Perry said. “I’m not suggesting that we can get access to the offices on the upper floors from the stairway. I’m suggesting we go to the roof. Exit stairways must exit to the roof as well as the ground floor.”
“What do we do once we get there?”
“You’ll come up with something,” Perry said. He exited the car, popped the trunk, and removed two plastic toolboxes, handed one to Jack, and then started down the street toward their destination.
The stairway door was open as expected. Perry and Jack had entered the lobby separately. To the right of the lobby was the restaurant they’d seen on the plans. Since it was well after nine in the evening, the place was nearly empty. To his left was a smaller office that was home to a travel agency.
Perry was sure that video cameras were trained on the lobby. He had no way of knowing if anyone was paying attention to them as they entered. When he first approached the building, he noticed lights burning on almost every floor. People moving in and out of the structure would be normal. Dressed in work clothes and carrying toolboxes, he hoped they’d look as if they belonged.
The air in the stairway was stale, lacking the ventilation the rest of the building enjoyed. Perry started up. According to the architectural plans, the steel frame building consisted of nineteen habitable floors and one additional floor for equipment. Above that was the roof and Perry’s destination.
He didn’t run. Exhausting himself on the stairs could only be counterproductive. His mind and body had already been strained beyond anything he’d experienced, so he took his time despite the constant nagging of fear in the back of his mind. He kept his head down, partly in thought but also to keep any cameras that might be trained on him from seeing his face. His hope, his prayer, was that he and Jack would be taken for maintenance workers. They were certainly dressed for it.
They came to the twentieth floor and found a steel door with a plastic sign attached: “Equipment Room—Authorized Personnel Only.” Perry tried the door. It was locked. No surprise there.
One flight later Perry stood in front of a metal fire door. This one had a panic bar across it as was required of all exit doors. He paused.
“Do you suppose it’s alarmed?” Jack asked.
“I don’t see any obvious sign of it, but it would make sense. If we open this, we may be inviting company.”
“Maybe. Let’s do it.”
Perry pushed the bar, and the door opened freely. He steeled himself for the piercing shriek of an alarm but heard nothing. Of course, an alarm could be ringing in some security office on the premises or at a remote site. It didn’t matter now. The deed was done.
Damp air greeted the two as they left the stairwell. Before them was a wide expanse of treated concrete that, with the metal decking below, formed the roof of the building. The stainless steel boxes that housed HVAC fans, cooling coils, and more were scattered along the open surface. Several satellite dishes were anchored near one edge. The still night air was filled with the droning of equipment that breathed air into the building. Near the center was a ten-foot-high structure that looked like a wide shed.
“Elevator overrun,” Jack said.
Perry agreed, setting his toolbox down and opening it. He removed a flashlight and closed the box. In buildings this tall, elevators were moved by cable. Smaller buildings could get by with hydraulic elevators, but such devices were too slow and too difficult to make work in mid- and high-rise buildings. Cable elevators required a room above the shaft to house the drive equipment and pulleys.
Suddenly Perry had an idea. He moved swiftly to the elevator structure and found the door. He tried the doorknob but found it as he expected, locked.
“We need a way in,” Perry said.
“That’s not going to be easy,” Jack said. “The door is designed for security. It’s steel-cased. It swings inward. That means the hinges are on the inside and out of our reach.”
“There’s machinery in there, it has to be vented somewhere. Look for a vent.” Jack did and found it moments later. Perry rounded the corner to find his friend chuckling. “What’s so funny?”
“I just caught myself praying for God’s help to illegally break into a building. Seemed like an unusual prayer.”
“It’s one for the theologians. What did you find?”
Jack pointed with his light. “It’s a typical louvered vent with a wire mesh insect screen. It looks to be about eighteen inches wide and four feet long. We can fit through that, although it’ll be a tight squeeze for me.”
“It’s our best option,” Perry said with determination. “Let’s open her up.”
Perry rifled through his tool case. He had told Karen to fill the boxes with an assortment of hand tools, and she had taken the request to heart. Between the two boxes was a range of tools including a hammer, chisels, screw drivers, wrenches, and more. The vent cover was painted aluminum and attached to the wall with large lag bolts.
“I’ve got it,” Jack said, pulling a ratchet and socket set from the box. “That gal thought of everything.”
“Her father was a mechanic. She once told me she cut her teeth on a Craftsman box wrench.”
“Yuck,” Jack said as he set about removing the bolts. There were eight bolts in total and some were welded by years of exposure to sun and rain. Jack brought his great strength and weight to the task. Perry was sure that he would strip the heads off a couple of them. His fear was unfounded. The vent came free.
As Jack set the metal vent to the side, Perry poked his head in the opening and saw a room filled with large motors. He crawled through the opening. The room smelled of heavy oil and electronics. Mounted to one wall was an electrical panel. Just to his right sat a large-gear drive drum and cables. The cables were called ropes even though they were made of woven metal strands. The ropes disappeared down the shaft. Perry moved the light around the room, playing its beam on the floor.
“Cozy,” Jack said as he squeezed his bulk through the opening.
“We’re in luck,” Perry said. “Each shaft has an access panel. We’ll be able move through the shaft.”
“And you call that lucky?”
“Come on, big guy. Adventure is your middle name.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Jack said. “I almost forgot.”
“Sarcasm is ugly on one so educated as you.” Perry stepped to the access panel in the floor, found the recessed ring-shaped handle, and gave a twist and pull. The panel opened easily. Despite the easy banter between the two men, Perry knew that Jack was as tense as he. But he couldn’t allow that to matter. What had to be done would be done.
He shone the light down the shaft, found the safety ladder that ran along the back wall, stuffed his flashlight in his pocket, and began his descent.
Elevator engineers were a cautious bunch, and elevators were fantastic inventions. A metal ladder ran the length of the shaft to allow workers to conduct maintenance and repairs. Unlike the movies, there was little chance of Perry getting squashed like a bug by the moving car, should it begin to ascend—at least in principle. That knowledge gave him little comfort. A fall, however, could be deadly.
The ladder was located near the front of the shaft, the door to the various floors were to Perry’s right. As he descended, he could hear the heavy, booted footsteps of Jack on the ladder.
That reminded Perry of another problem: He didn’t know where Claire and Joseph were confined.
He tried to picture in his mind the photo he’d been shown back at the site. Claire and Joseph were in a small, windowless room. Windowless meant the room most likely didn’t adjoin an exterior wall. Perhaps there were a series of such rooms off a corridor with larger labs around the perimeter of the building? That was likely but not a certainty. The room was devoid of equipment, so it must not be presently in use.
There was also the problem of which floor. Generally, executive offices were on the highest floor. The plans he had committed to memory bore that out. There were four floors of laboratories and small offices. Most of the laboratories were larger than what he’d seen in the photo. What was it Karen had said about magazine covers? “They love to show him in his wheelchair.”
Thoughts began to percolate in Perry’s mind. Wheelchair . . . ALS . . . empty lab. Could the lab be a private one associated with Straight’s office? Since his condition hindered his mobility, he would no longer be able to work in a lab made for a person who could stand and walk. Perhaps he abandoned it? It made sense and was a place to start.
After descending a few more feet into the darkness, Perry stopped, removed his flashlight, and directed the beam toward the front wall. He was at a set of doors. Since he had only taken a few steps down the ladder he knew that he was looking at the doors that opened to the machine room. He extinguished the light and returned it to his pocket. In the dark, he had to feel for each rung below him in a slow, methodical process.
He estimated that he had traveled another twelve feet. That should put me near the next set of doors, he thought. Once again he reached for and switched on his light. He had estimated correctly. Another pair of stainless steel doors reflected his light.
“We’re going in here, Jack,” Perry whispered. “Shine your light down here. See the doors?”
A light beam from over Perry’s head pierced the black. “Yeah, I see them.”
“I’m going to pull them open. As soon as I do, I’m going in. Feel free to follow.”
“I was hoping you’d invite me.”
Perry secured his light, tightened his grip on the ladder with his left hand, and stretched his right arm to the side, feeling along the cool, smooth metal. He found the juncture of the two doors and pressed his fingers in there, slowly parting them. Elevators were designed to allow forced opening in case of prolonged power outages.
Just as he started to pull, the shaft was filled with a clanking and whirring noise. Perry snapped his hand back. The elevator was moving. He waited, his lungs holding in breath as tightly as his fingers gripped the rungs of the service ladder. He could hear the metal cables rattling and the heavy counter balance sliding in its track.
Then it stopped.
“I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying this, Perry,” Jack said in a barely audible voice.
“Only the best for you, friend,” Perry retorted.
“You always did know how to make people feel special,” Jack said.
“I’m going to try this again.”
Once more, Perry reached to his side, found the joint caused by the edge of the sliding doors, pushed and pressed until his fingers found enough surface to grip, and pulled. Nothing. His ribs protested hotly. He pulled again and the door budged an inch. Mustering as much strength as he could, he pulled and leaned away, pulling the door with him. The opposite door, connected by the gears and motor device above them, moved as well.
Perry wasted no time. With his hand still clutching the door, he extended his right leg until it touched the metal sill, then pulled himself through the opening and dropped to a crouch. He was in the elevator lobby of the nineteenth floor, and he was alone—for the moment. Glancing at the ceiling, he saw what he feared: video cameras.
Perry stood and took a step to the side. Jack lumbered through the doors a moment later. Perry pointed at the ceiling-mounted cameras. Jack looked straight at them, smiled, and waved.