“Duke and I finished going through the list of Jacobs’ former employers,” she informed her team leader.
“And?” he asked.
“Well most of them are dead,” Jenny answered, “but I suppose they live in a dangerous world.”
“So do we,” Kyle responded dryly.
Jenny sighed good-naturedly.
“I’ve only been able to find one man who he’s worked for more than once. His name is Lewis Steel. As far as we can tell he’s still alive.”
“Do we have an address for him?”
“No,” she said.
“Dante?”
“I’ll get to work on it Kyle,” the silver SUV answered.
Kyle ran his hand through his short light brown hair. Turning he pressed a button on the console in front of him.
“Erica? Trek? Have either of you got anything to tell me?”
There was a long pause. Then Erica’s voice came through the communicator.
“No Kyle,” she answered lightly. “We’re… er… we’re working on it.”
Kyle nodded.
“Ok. I’ll speak to you both later.”
“Kyle,” Dante’s image appeared on the screen. “Lewis Steel is currently in the penal system here in Massachusetts. He’s serving life for hijacking a train.”
“Do you know which prison he’s in?” asked Kyle.
“Of course,” Dante sounded offended.
“Ok then. Let’s go and visit Mr Steel and see what he’s got to say for himself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Erica turned and gave Trek a hard look.
“I’d better have done the right thing lying to Kyle,” she stated. “But I will tell him if you do something stupid.”
“Blackmail?” Trek smiled. But Erica noticed it never quite reached his eyes.
“What’s goin’ on Trek?” Erica asked. “Why didn’t you tell us you knew this guy?”
The young man sighed.
“I don’t really know,” he answered. “It was all so long ago that I suppose it doesn’t really matter now. I was Dr Jacobs’ assistant for nearly two years but we didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. See I found out that he was using college funds for his own work… making a virus.”
“What happened?”
“I told the faculty,” stated Trek simply. “They investigated, I got moved to work with Professor Wiseman and Dr Jacobs got fired. I guess I’ve always wondered what would’ve happened if I’d never said anything. Maybe he wouldn’t be doing what he’s doin’ now. I figured if I told Kyle any of this he’d pull me off the case. He’d say it was too personal.”
Erica shook her head, exhaling sharply.
“God,” she said. “Listen you can’t blame yourself for any of this. Sounds to me like the guy was already crooked before you met him. He’d probably have done this anyway… and we wouldn’t have known who he was.”
“I guess,” answered Trek with a small smile.
“I agree with Erica,” Kat suddenly said. “You really mustn’t blame yourself for every person who abuses science.”
“It’s not logical captain,” added Plato in a perfect impersonation of Mr Spock from Star Trek.
“Ok, ok I give up,” Trek laughed suddenly. “Don’t all gang up on me.”
Professor Wiseman re-entered the office holding up a thick file triumphantly.
“Got it,” he said. “Most of our personnel data is on computer now but some of the supporting stuff is still kept in hard copy. I managed to persuade them to let you see this but it can’t go off site. You can use my office as a base if you like.”
“Thanks,” said Erica.
“That’s ok. It’s nice to have a bit of excitement in my life,” observed the professor. He turned to Trek. “I’ve been thinking about what Livingston could be doing and I’ve had a few ideas of places we could start looking.”
“Let’s get moving then,” answered the young man.
The professor turned and left the room.
With a quick grin at Erica, Trek followed him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jenny and Domino followed Kyle and Dante along the highway towards the prison facility they were going to. The top was down on the red and white mustang and the breeze whipped Jenny’s dark hair back from her face. She smiled gently to herself allowing the tension to seep out of her shoulders. The day was hot and sticky and Jenny was enjoying the drive and the breeze.
The cars pulled up outside the prison and their human counterparts got out.
Kyle looked back at the vehicles for a moment.
“Keep an eye on things out here,” he said.
“Of course,” answered Dante.
Beast snorted.
“As long as we can keep Domino from chasing after any cute guards.”
Kyle frowned as Domino spluttered at Beast. He turned to Duke and Jenny.
“Let’s go.”
As the human members of TKR walked towards the prison entrance Beast called after them.
“Jenny you be careful now,” he said.
Jenny blushed as Duke started to laugh.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Trek stared through the microscope at the cells on the slide before him. He’d been at this for hours. Suddenly he felt a hand clamp briefly on his shoulder. He looked up and blinked, adjusting his eyes to the change in distance. Professor Wiseman smiled kindly down at him.
“Found anything?” he asked.
“Maybe,” replied Trek, running a weary hand through his hair.
His companion frowned.
“Kid, don’t take this the wrong way but you look like hell.”
Trek laughed.
“You know old man you sure know how to make a guy feel good.”
The professor sighed and continued to watch him without smiling.
“What?” Trek asked.
“Do you ever miss this?” the older man asked.
“MIT? Research?” Trek sighed, his eyes growing distant. “Sometimes I guess. It’d be nice to have someone apart from Plato who understood me sometimes.”
“I don’t think anyone’s ever understood you,” laughed Wiseman. “But seriously I do understand what you mean.”
“I love working for TKR… it’s just that once in a while I’d like someone to say well done. I’d like to feel appreciated. Sometimes I think they think of me as a robot… you know… that I can just keep going no matter what. Sorry. I sound like a spoiled child.”
“Hmm,” the professor answered. “I was thinking,” he continued slowly. “I know that the work you do for the Foundation is important but so is what we’re doing here. You know we’re developing antigens and cures for horrific illnesses. What we do will hopefully save millions of lives every year. You could make a real difference here. Get back to real research. I’d be honoured to have you on my team. I just thought I’d make the offer.”
Trek looked at him, unsure of what to say. The door of the room began to open. The professor gave the younger man’s shoulder another squeeze.
“Just promise me you’ll think about it, ok?”
“Yeah,” Trek answered, finally finding his voice.
Erica stepped through the now open door and looked at the two men quizzically.
“Everything ok in here?” she asked.
“Fine,” Trek responded shortly.
“Okay. Listen are you nearly done here? ’cause I think I’m about finished for the day.”
“Just let me clear up,” the young man answered.
“You do know that that’s what we have student lab assistants for?” Professor Wiseman queried, frowning slightly.
The ghost of a smile flickered briefly across Trek’s lips.
“You know it’s not so very long ago that I was a student lab assistant. I’m kinda used to clearing up after myself now anyway.”
The old man’s frown deepened.
“Well I guess if it makes you happy,” he said. “I’ll be back to lock up later.”
Erica watched the professor leave in silence.
“What’s up with him?” she asked, turning towards Trek.
The young genius shrugged.
“He gets kinda moody sometimes,” he stated by way of explanation. He turned his attention back to the desk in front of him, concentrating on tidying up the equipment.
Erica sighed, realising that Trek wasn’t going to say any more, and went to join Kat and Plato outside.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Back on Sky One, Kyle sat down heavily in his seat in the situation room waiting for Jenny and Duke to join him. As they sat down he pressed the button on his communicator.
“Erica, where are you?” he asked.
“On our way back to you,” Erica’s voice came through the com-link.
“Did you find anything useful?”
“Possibly,” responded Trek. Kyle frowned slightly with worry at the sound of his younger team-mate’s voice. The kid sounded tired.
“Are you both ok?” Duke rumbled.
“Of course,” Trek responded brightly.
Kyle sighed and settled back into his chair, deciding to wait for Erica and Trek to arrive before getting into the briefing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The two Honda Blackbird’s pulled smoothly up the ramp into Sky One’s garage and came to a stop before their respective terminals. Erica slid off Kat, removed her helmet and looked at her watch. It was nearly midnight. She couldn’t believe how late it was. Sighing she realised that the team would probably be pulling crazy hours on this assignment.
Erica looked across at Plato as Trek got off and removed his helmet. She frowned as she looked at her team-mate. The young man looked tired and paler than normal. This had been his first proper day back at work since the explosion and Erica worried that it had been too much for him. Shuddering, she remembered how frighteningly weak Trek had been when he had awoken from his coma. It hadn’t been pleasant to watch him struggle through each day or to know how much pain he was in. Erica suddenly felt a surge of protectiveness towards the young man. She looked up and saw him watching her.
“Are you ok?” he asked, tilting his head to one side slightly.
“I was just going to ask you the same thing nerdboy,” responded Erica, trying to keep her tone light.
Trek rolled his eyes at the nickname.
“I asked you first,” he observed.
“Yeah but I asked you last.”
The young man slowly shook his head.
“I’m fine,” he retorted. “Let’s go Kyle’ll be waiting.”
Erica’s eyes narrowed.
“Fine,” she answered tightly.
They walked down a corridor in silence until Trek suddenly stumbled. Erica reached out without thinking and caught his arm to stop him falling.
“I told you I was fine,” the young man said, shaking Erica’s hand off.
“God you’re so stubborn,” she yelled, suddenly angry.
“And you’re not?” he retorted.
“Don’t try to make this about me.”
“Don’t treat me like a child.”
“Then don’t act like one,” shouted Erica. Her anger drained away as quickly as it had appeared. “I’m just worried about you.”
A shadow flickered briefly across Trek’s face and he sighed.
“I know,” he said. “But I really am fine now… just a little tired.”
“Go to bed then,” Erica argued reasonably. “Kyle’ll understand. I’ll explain everything to him.”
For a second she thought that Trek would argue with her but then he shrugged, giving her a small smile.
“Ok,” he said. “Thanks.”
Erica smiled at her younger friend, watching him move back down the corridor towards his quarters, before sighing and heading towards the situation room.
Kyle looked up as she slipped into the room and took her seat. He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Where’s Trek?” he asked.
“I persuaded him to go and get some sleep,” Erica responded.
“Is he ok?” Jenny sounded worried.
Erica smiled.
“Yeah just a bit tired.”
“If the kid can’t handle the pressure then he needs to be replaced,” growled Beast.
“It’s got nothing to do with not handling pressure,” Erica jumped to her team-mate’s defence, getting angry again. “He’s been off sick for six weeks, it’s been a really long day and he’s been thrown in at the deep end. He’ll be fine in a couple of days.”
“Looks like Erica’s got herself a boyfriend,” Beast said nastily.
“Beast!” Duke roared.
The room was silent for a minute.
“If you’ve quite finished, Attack Beast,” Kyle said icily. He turned to Erica and regarded her seriously not quite sure how to proceed. Erica was closer to Trek than any of the others but Kyle knew that she would never admit openly that they were friends. He sighed silently.
“Just keep an eye on him ok? I don’t want any serious problems,” he sighed audibly. “If you think it’s too much for him let me know. I get the feeling he’s not as well as he’s pretending to be.”
Erica regarded Kyle coolly.
“Trek’s fine, Kyle. He was just a bit tired. So am I… it’s been a long day. Can we get on with the meeting now?”
Kyle looked at her for a moment and then nodded curtly.
“What did you find out?”
“Livingston Jacobs is an orphan,” Erica answered. “he background checks done by MIT showed that his parents died when he was a child. He grew up in a variety of orphanages and foster homes. He graduated from high school two years early and went straight on to college with a full scholarship. Records from the schools he went to describe a brilliant but troubled kid. He never had any close friends… always held people at arms length… poor social skills. Almost got expelled at thirteen when he got into a fight. Apparently the other kid had been bullying Jacobs and said something about his mother and Jacobs snapped. By the time they pulled him off the other kid was unconscious. He got taken to hospital with a broken jaw and Jacobs got suspended. If he hadn’t been so clever… and if there hadn’t been witnesses to the bullying… then he would have been expelled for sure. As it was he had to spend the next couple of years going to a psychiatrist to teach him how to handle anger. When he went to college he suddenly seemed to calm down… grew up I guess. That’s about as far as I’ve got so far. There’s a hell of a lot of paperwork to go through.”
“What about Trek?”
“He and an old friend, Professor Wiseman, were looking at something. Trek seems to think they were making progress but I’m really no good at all that science stuff so you’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“Ok thanks. Duke and I went to visit Lewis Steel in prison,” said Kyle. “He wouldn’t say anything… claimed to be completely innocent… but he did seem to be extremely smug about something. I just wish we knew what it was.”
“I went to talk to the prison guards,” interjected Jenny. “Apparently Steel’s only had one visitor, apart from his lawyer, in the last year. A middle aged man who called himself John Jones. He visited several times. The last occasion was about a month ago. I showed the warden a picture of Jacobs and he thought it was the same man but wasn’t sure. He kept the photo to show a couple of guards who weren’t on duty today. He’s going to call me tomorrow.”
Kyle relaxed a little and smiled.
“Ok. I guess there’s nothing more we can do tonight. Erica, you and Trek go back to MIT tomorrow and see what else you can find out. Jenny, I want you to find out from the warden whether or not it’s definitely Jacobs that’s been visiting. And Duke and I will go back to see our friend Mr Steel. I think we can all go to bed now. Dismissed.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The incessant beeping of his communicator brought Trek back to full consciousness. Cracking open an eye, he raised his arm and blinked owlishly at his watch. 7.15. He sighed knowing that he would never be allowed to go back to sleep. He tapped a button on the face of the watch.
“What’s up Kyle?” he asked sleepily.
“I need you to join me in the situation room when you’re ready,” came the response.
“Sure.”
He tapped the watch again to shut off communications. As he moved into the small bathroom he shrugged off his t-shirt and boxer shorts. He wrapped a towel around his waist and plugged in his electric razor, squinting at his own reflection in the mirror. After shaving, he turned on the shower and stepped into the hot stream. As the water hit his shoulders, Trek leant forward and braced himself against the wall. Sighing he rolled each of his shoulders in turn, grunting slightly at the stiffness in them. He supposed he should tell Kyle just how tired and stiff the day before had made him but he didn’t want the team watching him all the time. Removing one hand from the wall he ran his fingers lightly over the fresh scars on his right side. He sighed again, knowing that he had been left with a permanent reminder of the explosion. The water began to run cold and Trek shook himself. Having lathered and rinsed his hair, he stepped out of the shower still feeling tired.
He dressed quickly and slid on his sneakers. He couldn’t be bothered to dry his hair this morning so he combed it and pulled it back into a short ponytail which dripped slowly down his back. He went back into the bathroom and took a contact lens case off the shelf before pausing and then putting it back. The idea of putting his fingers near his eyes while he was still tired didn’t appeal. Instead he took a glasses case off the shelf and shoved it into his pocket, then left the room, turning the lights off as he went.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kyle sat in the situation room waiting for his team-mates to arrive. The clock on the wall read 7.30 in bright red neon numbers. Slowly he ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck. He was tired. After the meeting last night he hadn’t been able to get to sleep until after 2 and had then been woken up by a message from FLAG headquarters at 6.30.
The door slid open and Jenny strode into the room, looking as fresh and awake as if she’d been up for hours. Which she probably had, Kyle reminded himself, knowing that Jenny’s military habits died hard. The stunning brunette smiled and greeted her superior. After the message he had received from FLAG, Kyle couldn’t bring himself to return her smile.
Duke and Trek entered, discussing something in low voices. A few seconds later they were followed by Erica, who was still wearing her nightclothes and robe. Kyle raised an eyebrow at the former thief but chose not to comment.
“Ok,” he started. “I’m sorry to have to call you all before breakfast but I got a call from FLAG at around 6.30 this morning.” He paused and sighed. “The situation with Livingston Jacobs has got more serious. FLAG has received information about what he’s working on.” He turned towards Trek. “Have you heard of something called the Tarsus virus?”
The kid looked startled.
“Tarsus? Yeah I’ve heard of it. It’s a retrovirus.” He looked at Kyle seriously. “Listen Kyle, do you know what this can do to people?”
Kyle sighed again.
“I was briefed,” he answered shortly.
“Then you know we have to stop him.”
“That’s the whole idea Trek.”
“The worst thing about Tarsus is that it’s a bit like Ebola… by the time you know you’ve got it you’re pretty much dead.”
“If we need it can you get me a vaccine or an antigen?”
Trek frowned deeply.
“I can try,” he answered in an uncertain tone. “But without knowing how much he’s mutated the original virus it’s gonna be difficult. Working with Tarsus is what Dr Jacobs was fired from MIT for. I mean he’s been workin’ on this for years. I’ll do my best but our best bet is to stop him before he can release it.”
Kyle frowned.
“I know,” he admitted. “But if we can’t we’re gonna need a fallback plan. Erica said you were working with someone at MIT. Could he help?”
“Maybe,” answered the young man. “I can probably do a lot myself. It’s whether I can do it in time…”
“You have to,” stated Kyle sharply. “We’ll carry on with what we had planned to do for the day but we need to wrap this one up quickly. Trek, you and Erica need to get back to MIT as soon as possible. I guess that’s all I need to say for now. I think we should all go get some breakfast. Oh… and Erica… please go and put some clothes on before you distract half the staff.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To be continued………
