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Born unto air we are
Clouds among us we’ll see
Flow of the life,
peace of the mind,
love of the heart
Born unto air we are
Born unto air we are
Moons gazing down on us
Stars join our dance,
birds come along,
fun for us all
Born unto air we are
Born unto air we are
We hover together
Family and friends,
games till dawn,
fog rolling in
Born unto air we are
(Ancient song of young Avitorians)
Even though it was cold and dark, Leif could hear and feel the animal life around the wooded area. The smell of the evergreens mixed with the dampness of the undergrowth was calming for him. His anxiety was so intense when he left the office, he was worried he might run someone off the road in his haste to reach the secluded spot in the mountains. But, he was here now. He could breathe deeply, feel the forest, and begin to think more clearly. Still, it was a struggle. I need to get in there, but they’re going to be expecting me now. He took another deep breath and blew it out slowly. I need help.
Leif pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the home button. The light from the screen was blinding and a startled rabbit bounded into the thick ferns. “Sorry buddy.” Leif stated to the rabbit while typing his text message.
Uncle G. Need help. Can we meet?
He slid the phone back into his pocket. The woods were blacker now due to blowing his night adapted vision out with the bright phone light. It would take another fifteen to thirty minutes for his eyes to get fully dark adapted again. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his senses. The rabbit had stopped after running under the ferns and was nibbling on some leaves. Leif smiled, knowing the small animal was too curious to run completely away. Farther off he could sense more rabbits and a couple coyotes creeping toward them. He would scare them off if he could, but they were too far away, and a thrown rock wouldn’t make it past the thick evergreens. His phone vibrated. He squinted his eyes to reduce the brightness from the phone as he pulled it out of his pocket.
2 hours away. Hiking spot?
Leif responded:
Ok. I’m here.
Georgeo responded within a minute.
K.
Two hours. He must be fairly close. Canada maybe, or Oregon. The two hours was going to feel like a lifetime. He was tempted to go hover over the campus and keep an eye out on activities. It would be too dangerous. They’ll be watching. He looked up and tried to get a glimpse of the sky in between the trees. Slowly he lifted himself up till he found a sturdy branch toward the top of an evergreen. He set his weight down on the branch and held onto the center trunk. The tree swayed slightly from a breeze out of the southwest. He was flooded with the memories of flying out from his bedroom window and up to the tree in his backyard. He could feel the breeze, see the clouds drifting overhead, and sense the scurrying animals below. The coyotes had given chase, but the rabbits had found their dens and protection. He was glad to see the coyotes would go hungry for now.
The night air was cold and the breeze was giving him a chill. He decided to expend some nervous energy and swoop through the trees while waiting for Georgeo. Reaching out with his senses he released his grip from the evergreen and drifted slowly toward another tree top. He could feel the flow of life within the trees with his mind. A subtle flow of electrons could be sensed with the water climbing through the tree trunks, carrying precious minerals and oxygen to the leaves. While shifting to a horizontal position he placed his right hand out in front and gripped the next tree trunk as he approached it. He used his momentum and pulled to gain more velocity. Flinging his body past the tree he reached out with his left hand and gripped the next approaching tree trunk. It swayed slightly from the breeze and he compensated, grabbed hold, and pulled himself past the tree. Gaining more velocity, he quickly reached out with his right hand and grabbed another tree top. Pulling rapidly, he gained more speed. The next tree was slightly higher as the slope of the mountain increased. He reached it and pulled himself past it. Soon he had a rhythm to his motion. One arm and then the other. He was “swimming” among the tree tops. He swung his feet in front of him to land against a large tree trunk, bent his knees, and then pushed off toward another direction. Arms back out in front, he gripped another tree and flung himself to higher tree tops.
The chill of the night air was gone and Leif found himself sweating from the exertion. He pulled and pushed as quickly as he could. His senses were racing. The tree tops were flying past and he was dodging branches by dipping above or below them as he grabbed for tree trunks. An angry owl hooted at him as it flew off in haste when he approached it’s resting spot. Various animals scattered below as they heard him whoosh through the trees. He continued to push himself, the anger, the anxiety, and the pressure of wanting to rescue Carina drove him to exert himself. No longer reaching for the tree trunks he continued to fly through the trees. They all became a blur to him as he skirted the branches and swaying tops.
A large animal caught his attention and he stopped suddenly to investigate. A large bald eagle was perched on the topmost branch of a swaying evergreen. It gazed at him briefly and looked away, as if to say ‘Yeah, I see you too.’ Leif’s breath was almost taken away by the majestic view of the eagle. It pivoted its head around to watch for food, or danger, or both. There was no fear exhibited by the eagle. It would glance at him every few seconds while keeping a vigilant watch. The eagle extended one wing to full length and it groomed a couple feathers before retracting the wing and continuing its rotating gaze. “Wow.” Leif whispered. He figured the single wing length was around three feet, which would make the total wing span of over six feet across.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A voice next to Leif stated.
“Wha...” Leif quickly slid sideways to put a little distance between him and the other person. As quickly as he had moved, he suddenly realized the other person was Uncle Georgeo. “Wow. I didn’t feel you coming.”
“You were obviously distracted.” Georgeo responded while gazing at the eagle. “Sorry I’m late.”
“You’re late?” Leif checked his watch and pressed the illuminate button. “Thirty-two minutes and I didn’t even notice.”
“Well, I tried to hurry. One of my most favored nephews decided to contact me. First time I’ve heard from him in a long time. He doesn’t write, he doesn’t call, and he surely doesn’t send me flowers anymore.”
“I’m sorry uncle.” Leif replied with remorse. “I’ve been, as you say, distracted. By a girl.”
“Carina?”
Leif was surprised by Georgeo’s response.
Georgeo continued, “Her parents contacted me yesterday. They said she had been seeing someone, but they’ve been unable to reach her the past few days. I just figured it was due to being distracted by you.”
“I think it’s the Eighteenth, uncle. I think they have her, and I think I know where.”
Georgeo turned to face Leif. “What? How do you know this?”
“I’ve been followed a few times, my new employer is making me uncomfortable, and I think she’s behind Carina’s disappearance.”
“Who’s your employer?”
“Dr. Corellis, at the University. She brought me into the Astro-physics facility to do some programming on particle physics.”
Georgeo’s remained silent. He turned back to watch the eagle. He made fists with his hands and stretched his fingers. Leif could sense the tension.
It seemed the bald eagle could sense it as well. It spread its wings, screeched a piercing call, and lifted off with a massive stroke of its wings. It dove off into the distance and disappeared beyond the tops of the trees.
Georgeo’s tone of voice was cold and serious as he replied, “I need you to get me as much information as you can.” He turned back toward Leif. “You’re on the inside and they’re trying to use you for some reason. Suzanne is a pro at manipulation and she’s one of the most dangerous advocates of the Eighteenth. You must be extremely careful. Keep me updated and we’ll figure out how to get Carina out.”
“You know Dr. Corellis?”
Georgeo paused. His gaze turned inward as he answered. “Yes, unfortunately. We go a long way back. The Eighteenth is getting bolder and I’m sure she is behind this.”
“I’m sorry uncle. I should’ve contacted you sooner. What should I do?”
“Cooperate as much as you can without compromising. Find out as much as you can. I’ve got to take care of some things first.” Georgeo floated over to Leif and gently grabbed ahold of his shoulders. “This is personal, between me and Suzanne. I will take care of this.” He paused. “We, we will take care of this!” Georgeo released Leif, he turned, and rapidly launched into the night air - fading away into the clouds above.
Leif felt beads of sweat run down his back. A chill from the night air caused him to shiver as he dropped down into the trees.
***
Two nurses, a man and a woman, worked busily over Carina. They adjusted settings on the monitors, changed the bed dressings while rolling Carina onto one side and then the other, and injected drugs into the drip line. The female nurse checked the heart rate monitor and stated, “She should be responding to the L-Dopa. Heart rate has a slight increase, but she’s still not waking up.”
The male nurse lifted the sheet from Carina’s feet and rolled it back. He pinched the insole of both feet. There was no response from Carina. “Maybe we should increase the dosage?”
“I don’t think that’s wise. If she’s sick or psychotic Dr. Corellis is not going to be able conduct testing. The pressure is on and she’s not going to be happy.” The female nurse added.
As if on cue, the room door clicked open and Dr. Corellis, Matt, and another lab assistant stepped in. The doctor took notice of the situation as soon as she entered the room. “Why isn’t she awake?” Without looking at the nurses, she grabbed the patient clipboard from the female nurse and flipped through the topmost pages. “L-Dopa ten minutes ago?”
“Yes doctor.” The female nurse responded. “A consideration for increased dosage was discussed, but I feel it could lead to nausea or slight psychosis, which would not contribute to patient testing.” She stated confidently.
Dr. Corellis looked up at the nurse and paused for a few seconds while considering her options. “What about electrical stimulation?”
“We could try median nerve stimulation, but...”
Dr. Corellis interrupted with, “We don’t have time for that.” She walked over to the side of the room and pulled the portable defibrillator off the wall. “Matt, give me a hand with this.”
The nurses, knowing what was coming, pulled back Carina’s gown from below the neck to just above her breasts. Matt grabbed a conductive gel packet from a medical supply drawer and peeled open the top. Dr. Corellis laid the defib unit on a tray table next to Carina’s bed. She turned it on and pulled the paddles from the unit. Her assistant set the power settings on the defib. The capacitors of the unit built up to a high pitched tone as the doctor held out one of the paddles across the bed. Matt spread a layer of gel onto the paddle.
Dr. Corellis rubbed the paddles together then placed them on Carina’s exposed skin, below each shoulder blade. “Clear!”
Everyone except the doctor stepped back from Carina’s bed as the doctor pressed the discharge button on one of the paddles. The hum and sound of crackling electricity filled the room as Carina’s body arched against the bed straps and pulsed from the discharge. It was over in less than a second. Carina’s body fell limp. Everyone looked to the cardiac monitor. A sharp spike appeared on the scrolling screen followed by a steady heart pulse.
The female nurse checked Carina and responded. “She didn’t respond. She’s still out.”
Dr. Corellis extended one paddle over the bed. “Matt!”
He squeezed a thicker layer of gel onto the paddle and stepped back from the bed.
The doctor rubbed the two paddles together while adding, “Take it up two more notches.”
Her assistant turned the dial two more clicks on the defib unit then stepped back.
Everyone held their breath as the sound of the capacitors climbed back up to a high pitch tone.
“Clear!” Dr. Corellis placed the paddles back onto Carina and she pressed the discharge button.
The sound of crackling electricity lasted longer this time as Carina’s body arched and strained against the bed straps. She fell back into the bed with a gasp of air. Her eyes opened wide and she let out a groaning exhalation.
“Finally!” Dr. Corellis responded while clipping the paddles back into the defib unit.
The nurses checked the cardiac monitor. Another spike from the defib showed, followed by an increased heart rate. The female nurse turned back to Carina. She pulled out a pen light and checked Carina’s eyes. “Um, doctor. She’s awake, but not responsive.”
The doctor grabbed the pen light from the nurse and flicked the light across Carina’s eyes. There was no response from her iris. She handed the light back to the nurse and slapped Carina across the face with her hand. “Wake up!” she shouted.
Aside from the reddening skin on Carina’s face, there was no other response. Dr. Corellis grabbed a round metal dish half full of water for swabbing and tossed the water onto Carina’s face. Still, no further response from Carina. The right side of her face was red from the slap and her eyelids drooped halfway down her eyes. Her gaze was glassy.
Dr. Corellis threw the metal dish across the room. It bounced off a wall and crashed to the floor with a disturbing sound. Everyone else in the room remained silent, afraid to say anything.
The doctor headed for the door while stating, “Increase the L-Dopa and contact me immediately if there’s any change.”
***
Leif sat at his work desk and booted up his computer. He looked around to see if any of the other night-owl students or technicians were watching. Fortunately, they were all too busy with their own activities and assignments. The clock on the wall showed 3:42 a.m. - zombie time, as the programmers liked to call it back at Amzoft. It was too early for the day workers and too late for the strivers. But, the perfect time for programmers, or scientists, to be locked into the ‘zone’ - intensely focused on the task at hand with no consideration for time or other distractions. To everyone else, Leif was just another one of those programmer geeks who kept strange hours. It was also the perfect time for him to do some probing without drawing too much attention.
The computer played its start-up tune and Leif logged in. He scanned the room again then pulled a slip of paper out of his shirt pocket to remind himself of the scribbled password he found in Carina’s condo.
5t4rb0und
He stuffed the note back into his pocket and loaded his usual programming applications on the computer. Email was the first system he checked every morning. Not wanting to raise any suspicion, he stepped through his normal routine and read a few boring emails about campus policy changes, staff changes, acknowledgments for ‘special’ students, etc. After taking another quick glance around the room, he pulled up the email directory of the students and faculty staff. “Dang,” Leif mumbled to himself as the lengthy list scrolled up the screen. He scrolled the list back to the beginning and paused it.
His heart was pounding as he took another look around the room. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he raised his cell phone and took a picture of the computer screen. He scrolled the email list and took another picture. The process of scanning the room, scrolling the list, and taking a picture, consumed ten minutes to grab all the email addresses. It seemed like an hour.
For the next two hours Leif forced himself to write code. It was hard to stay focused. He would catch himself staring at a single line of code while his thoughts drifted to Carina, how Dr. Corellis was involved, and wondering how Georgeo was going to help. With every change to the code he would re-compile and run his code. The compile process would take a few minutes and it gave him more time to think, to formulate his next plan of action. If his computer activities were being logged, the excessive number of compiles should greatly inflate the size of the log, forcing its potential readers to get bored before they would find his request for the list of email addresses.
Six-o-clock finally came around - the cafeteria would be open. Leif logged off his computer, grabbed his backpack, and he headed out for desperately needed coffee.
The cafeteria was already busy with students and faculty staff. Leif scanned the room for any familiar faces. Some he recognized from seeing them on campus, but no one from Astrophysics. He took his time stepping past the food selections behind the steam coated glass while looking for where he would plant his plate, and hide his computer hacking. A food server eyed him impatiently and sighed in relief when Leif finally pointed at his selections. He located an available corner table where he could have his back to a wall and no possibility for someone to see his tablet computer screen.
Leif pulled his tablet out of his backpack and attached a portable keyboard to it. He could see multiple wi-fi networks listed on the screen, freely available for connecting to the internet. The campus was awash in high-speed internet connections, but he wasn’t interested in sending his data across the school’s network. He selected a wi-fi connection through his mobile phone. Once the connection to the internet was completed, he launched his email application on the tablet and pulled up the first picture of email addresses on his phone. One by one, he attempted to log into the email accounts with the password he found in Carina’s condo. It was a painfully slow process - enter the email address, enter the password, wait while the program attempted to login, wait for it to time-out and show a ‘Invalid login or password’ error, then move on to the next email address. At least the wait for the error message gave him time to scan the cafeteria for any probing eyes.
After an hour of probing the different email addresses Leif was wondering if he was wasting his time. It was tough controlling the inner anger he was feeling. The thoughts of what might be happening to Carina while he was just sitting here typing on his computer turned his stomach into knots. His breakfast still sat untouched on the table next to his tablet computer. He sipped on his cold coffee after entering another email address and scanning the cafeteria. Surprised, he quickly put the coffee down when a list of emails scrolled up on the screen. The top of the screen showed the email address associated with the password he had entered: ‘kevinismith@uwcenpa.edu’. He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and scanned the list of email subject lines. Most were schedules and task assignments within the lab, a few were from someone named Melissa about dinner plans. Nothing of any significance. Wait! I’m looking in the wrong place. Leif looked for a folder marked ‘Sent’, found it and opened it. He scanned the list for emails on the same or next day he thought Carina disappeared.
Leif’s heart raced as he came across an email with the subject of ‘Difficult Acquisition’. He visually scanned the cafeteria first and then opened up the email.
Hey Doc. Difficulty with the acquisition, but completed on schedule. Some cleanup managed by Matt. One casualty during the activity - Andersen. Proceeding to delivery to MSB. Ks.
“Acquisition?” Leif whispered to himself. “Delivery.” She’s here somewhere. I knew it! Leif found another email from yesterday, marked with a subject ‘Procedure Results’. He opened it.
Doc. Subject has refused to perform required exercises. Over-sedation may be contributing factor. Per your recommendations, the skeletal receptors have been ordered and will be arriving within the next 2 days. Surgical staff from Egypt will be arriving in 3 days. Ks.
A shudder ran through Leif’s body. A mixture of anger, shock, and adrenaline. Looking up from the computer tablet made it worse. Doctor Corellis was in line at the register and she was looking back at him. Crap! Leif almost forgot to breathe. He forced a smile and a wave, even though hatred and disdain coursed through his veins. He knew she would be headed his way as soon as she got through the line. He quickly logged out of Kevin’s email account and logged into his own account. He loaded a virtual network connection program for accessing his computer down in the lab. With it he would be able to take over the screen and keyboard of the computer with his tablet computer. He looked up and could see the doctor standing at the register, handing her money to the cashier. The screen from his work computer popped up on his screen, with the login and password fields. He entered the information and waited for the work computer desktop to be displayed. There was always a bit of a lagging delay when accessing from a remote computer. The doctor turned and started walking toward him.
The work desktop finally displayed and Leif quickly selected the source code editor he used for writing his programming. Fortunately, it would load the last code module he was working on automatically. The code screen appeared on his tablet computer just as Doctor Corellis arrived at his table.
“May I join you?” she asked.
Leif paused for a moment, trying to look like he was wrapped up in his code. “Absolutely,” he added.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting your work.” She placed her tray and coffee down on the table and she sat down across the table, not able to see what Leif currently had on his screen.
“It’s okay. I’m just a little stumped on a routine and I figured if I took a break up here with some food and coffee, it would clear my head enough to work on it.” He turned the tablet computer around for the doctor to see.
She chuckled while taking a peek at the screen. “I really wouldn’t have the first idea about how to write any code. I can work with formulas in physics, but I’m kind of rusty since I just administrate everyone else to do it for me.”
Leif turned the tablet back around and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. “Um, okay. Well, I’m sure I’ll get it figured out soon.” He stared at the screen, not wanting to look the doctor in the eyes. She didn’t deserve his attention and he didn’t want her to get any indication of the anger he felt.
“I’m sure you will.” She added and took a sip of her coffee. “Speaking of, I wanted to commend you for the work you’ve been doing for our facility. Thanks to your routines, we have a much better grasp of particle physics in a vacuum. However,...”
Leif looked up.
“We would like to take that math and see how it applies in a normal atmosphere, especially with what we’ve recently discovered about dark matter.”
“You want me to adapt the routines for measuring dark matter in earth’s atmosphere?” Leif tried to look confused.
“Well, if dark matter exists in space, couldn’t we reason that it could exist within our planetary atmosphere, maybe within the mantel of the earth itself?
Leif gazed up at the ceiling as he contemplated a response. He knew where this was going and he really didn’t want to be the one to assist her with her agenda. “I guess,” he answered.
“Well, Leif. You’re a smart guy. I’m sure you have the ability to figure it out.” She paused and leaned toward him, lowered her volume, and gazed directly at him. “I have other options available to me. However, your work would help me to take a, um, less painful approach.”
At that moment, Leif understood the doctor knew who he was and she knew he was aware of her efforts. She might even suspect I know she has Carina. He gazed back at her with a slight hint of his anger in his eyes. I don’t want her to know for sure. Though he wanted to just reach out and choke the life out of her at that moment, he realized it wouldn’t accomplish anything. He didn’t want to give in to her prying or her efforts with Carina. “A painful approach?” he asked while changing his gaze to one of curiosity.
The doctor paused for a moment before responding. “A lot more effort is involved with my other options if you don’t come up with the code for the measurements.”
“Ah. Understood doctor.” He paused and gazed back at his code on the computer tablet. “I’ll do the best I can do.”
“I know.” She added. “I have the utmost of confidence in you.” She stood up with her tray and coffee and added, “Because, if you can’t come through with it, I’ll just have to use my other option and you wouldn’t be of much more use to the university.” She turned and walked toward the faculty dining room, not waiting for a response from him.
In his mind, Leif picked up his tray and threw it at the doctor. He was angry! But, he knew it wouldn’t accomplish anything. He was certain Carina was here and doctor Corellis was behind this. He had the information Georgeo needed to know. Leif didn’t waste any more time. He texted Georgeo.
More vital info found. Need to meet.
He pressed the send button and mumbled to himself, “We’re coming Carina. Hang in there!”