Tripple Chronicles 1: Eternity Rising (13 page)

**********

Dana
scurried behind Lee Tripple, back and forth from the main lab, to a storeroom
that gave her the creeps.
 
She
quickly learned how to maneuver the specimen cart with one hand and her hip so
she could write notes with her other hand at the same time.
 
Lee had a tendency to mumble to himself
under his breath and Dana had a hard time understanding a lot of what he
said.
 
Every few minutes, Dana would
clear her throat or make noise with the tubes and the cart to remind him that
she was there, and listening.
 
Once
or twice she asked a question, but this seem to throw his workflow off and
frustrate him, so she just took to writing every word out of his mouth that she
could understand.

Once all of
the tissue samples had been properly labeled and put away, Lee took Dana back
into the main lab.

“While I
prepare the next solution, you will clean up in here.
 
The technicians usually come in to do this, but you are not
ready to work in the mixing lab yet,” Lee said to her.

“Oh, okay,
then.
 
It will give me a chance to
learn the lab so I can navigate more smoothly from here on.”

“Yes. Good
idea, then.”

Dana giggled
at Lee's surprise at his own thoughts.

“When you
are finished, we will have tea in the lounge area and you will sign a clearance
contract pertaining to the nature of the work performed here,” Lee said and
then turned and left her alone in the main lab room.

Dana smiled
at him as he walked away, but he did not see.
 
She took a deep breath, tired from the already long day and
looked around the room.
 
If she
knew where everything belonged, this job would take her at least two hours but
this was new territory, so she estimated up to four hours to put this lab in
immaculate condition and she had to pee.

**********

Camden’s
head pounded out the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
 
It was the only thing he could hear in his dark cell, which
made it all the more painful.
 
He
couldn’t fall asleep though he wished for nothing more.
 
He watched two shadows on the ceiling
for a while…they were unmoving.
 
As
he turned over the events of the day in his head he grew more and more angry
with Ganesh.
 
He had betrayed
him.
 
Left him here to be smacked
around by that asshole Magner.
 
Ganesh seemed to be on Camden’s side, but he outranked Mace.
 
I’m
being set up.
Camden thought.
 
They want something from me.
 
It was true that Camden had not
accepted a government contract in a very long time, but to be caged like an
animal…wasn’t Ganesh’s style.
 
Yet, here I am.

Camden
shifted his position on the uncomfortable cot and turned his thoughts to his
wife, Rosa. This was something he didn’t allow himself to do very often. No
matter what memory of her he chose to think about, it always ended up with the
same one…the phone call; that terrible call about the accident where he lost
his beautiful Rosa and his sister Anna in an instant. Regardless, Camden needed
her tonight and brought her warm smiling face to the forefront of his mind.

**********

Dana reached
the kitchen area of Lee’s lab before he did.
 
She had done a meticulous job at cleaning the lab and she
was ready for that cup of tea.
 
She
wandered around a bit looking in windows and found her way to this room. It was
rather nice…and comfortable.
 
On
the far side of the room was a door that led to a shower area with bathrooms
and closets.
 
She was especially
pleased to find this room.
 
In the
main kitchen area was a big round table and in the corner was a green puffy
chair that was inviting her to come and curl up in it.
 
She resisted the urge and started
poking around the kitchen.
 
The
food in the fridge was in need of meeting the garbage can and a bag of bread on
the counter was beginning to mold.
 
Wow, maybe Lee doesn’t eat.
She
thought as she started disposing of things.
 
She found the cupboard that held the tea and put a fresh
kettle of water on the stove.
 
While she waited for the water to boil, she wandered down the hall in
the other direction.
 
On the right
was a storage closet with brooms, mops, and other cleaning
supplies.
 
On the left was a room that intrigued
her.
 
The door was locked, but from
peering in the small window, she could see that it was an office, a lavish one.
 
So
not Lee’s style,
she thought.
 
There was a dark brown leather couch on one side of the room, a coat and
hat rack on the other.
 
A plush rug
covered most of the floor and an elegant desk sat in the middle of the room.
 
Hmm.
I bet this is where Professor Camden Riles works when he is here.
 
She felt butterflies in her stomach at
the thought.
 
The whistle of the
teapot startled her and she returned to the kitchen area.
 

She heard a
door close from somewhere in the building and then Lee’s footsteps
approaching.
 
She set the table for
two and sat down hoping to be praised for her first day’s work.
 
Lee came in and sat down. He was
carrying a brown folder with Dana’s secrecy contract.
 
He helped himself to tea and pushed the folder toward
her.
 

“Read this
with thoroughness, then sign,” Lee said to her.
 
Dana began to read and Lee took out his electronic notebook
and entered his latest thoughts.
 
Dana wondered what Dr. Tripple thought of her but didn’t dare ask.
 
It would make him uncomfortable.
 
She decided to assume the best since he
was technically sitting and having tea with her.
 
When Dana completed her contract, she started to clean up
the table.
 
Lee continued working
and mumbling to
himself
.
 

“Dr.
Tripple?” Dana confronted. “Is there anything else you would like me to do
tonight?”
 

Lee looked
up at her.

“No, no.
That’s all.
 
You can go for the
night.”
 

“Thank you.
What time shall I arrive tomorrow?”

This
question threw him for a loop and he scrunched his eyebrows together.
 
He hadn’t thought of that.
 

“Um. Well I
will be here all night. I guess I will be ready for your assistance at
approximately 5:45.”
 

Dana gulped
and repressed the initial shock from her face. That was less than four hours
away!
 

“I will see
you then, sir. Have a good night.”

“Yes. I will
see you then.”

Dana walked
out onto the street. She lived fifteen blocks from Tripple Laboratories and the
walk would give her a chance to decompress after her first and extremely long
day with Lee.
 
The moons were
bright in the sky tonight, but it was very chilly out.
 
She buttoned up her coat and put on her
gloves.
 
The streets were mostly
empty except for a few people like her, working late and some homeless, usually
from the west and without the necessary skills to survive in this high tech city.

“Excuse me.
Excuse me, Miss!”

Dana turned
to face the voice, alarmed by someone calling out to her at this hour.

“Hey,” she
said. “You’re that guy from the interviews earlier.”

“Yes.
Hi.
 
Sergeant Bearden
Leitner.”
 
He was surprised she
remembered him. “You got the job with Dr. Tripple.”

“Yes, I did.”
 
She lifted her nose in the air a
little.
 
“What do you want?
 
I’m sure nothing good at this time of
night.
 
Are you stalking me?
 
I can defend myself.”

“No, no,
you’ve got it all wrong,” Bearden chuckled.
 
“I mean
,
I do want something from
you.”
 
Dana gasped and backed
away.
 

“No, not
what you are thinking. I’m not going to hurt you.
 
I need your help.”

“My help.
What could you possibly need from me?
 
And what makes you think that I would help you anyway?”

“I don’t
know, I was just hoping you would, I guess.”
 
Bearden flashed a smile at her.

“Hmm…well,
you can ask, but just know up front that I will not do anything that may
jeopardize my position in the lab.”

“What if it
were a matter of life or death for Dr. Tripple’s best friend?”

“Camden
Riles?”

“Well, I see
you’ve done your homework on Tripple.”
 
Bearden sounded impressed.

“Of course I
have,” she said matter of fact. “What’s going on?”

“Let me buy
you a cup of coffee and we’ll talk.”

“Make it a
burger and I’m in, Sergeant”

“Call me
Bearden.”

“Let’s not
make this too personal, Sergeant, I’m going against my better judgment here.”

“Please…um…”

“Dana
Hanks.”

“Please,
Miss Hanks.”
 
Bearden smiled again.
“This is important.”

“Fine, there
is an all night café a few blocks from here.”

“Thank you,”
Bearden said as they started walking together.
 
“So, what was it like?”

“What?”

“Working
with Dr. Tripple…your first day.”

“Are you
making small talk, Sergeant”?

“Yeah, maybe
I am…and it’s Bearden!”

“Well,
Bearden,
It was amazing.
 
The lab is brilliant!”

“Tell me about
it.”

“No
way!
 
Obviously, I can’t.”

“Is Dr.
Tripple as weird as they say?”

“Dr. Tripple
is misunderstood. That’s all,” Dana snipped.

“Sorry.
 
Didn’t think you would take that
personally.”

Dana stopped
and squared to look Bearden in the eyes.

“Stop acting
like you know me or that we are on a friendly level.
 
The only reason that I am here with you right now is on the
chance that what you told me might be true…and I’m starving…but don’t think
that I am going to blindly believe anything you tell me.
 
This is just
me
giving you the benefit of the doubt.” With that, she turned and started walking
again.
 
Bearden did a skip to catch
up.

“Whoa,” he
said. “You are not nice.
 
But
that’s ok.
 
I just need your help
tonight.
 
We don’t have to be
friends.”

“Fine. Good.
Here’s the café.”
 
She pointed to a
building on the right with the lights on.
 
The two walked in and Bearden followed Dana to a small booth in the far
corner.
 
Onlookers might assume
they were young lovers out for a late night rendezvous.

**********

Enira awoke
to darkness in a strange room.
 
She
tried to call out, but the drug she was forced to inhale earlier that evening
had stifled her voice.
 
She was
only assuming it was the same evening that she was grabbed in the elevator in
Camden Riles’ building.
 
A tear
rolled down her cheek, and then another one. A few seconds later she was
sobbing like a baby, terrified out of her mind.
 
For the first time in a long time she wished for her husband
to be at her side, rather than her lover, Camden.
 
She huddled her body into a ball and tried to breath slowly.
Then fear began to make her body shake and she wished to be unconscious
again.
 

**********

Mace Magner
stumbled into his home from the bar and went straight to his drab basement and
turned on his computer.
 
He entered
his military codes and accessed the personnel database for scientists at his
unit.
 
He found Sergeant Bearden
Leitner’s home address and jotted it down on a scrap piece of paper.
 
There had been an interesting message
left on his office line earlier that night from the young sergeant.
 
Mace had his office messages
automatically forwarded to his mobile device in case there was any news about
the biomer theft.
 
He about fell
off his barstool when he heard Leitner’s voice asking him for help and that he
had some information that he shouldn’t have.
 
He planned to visit him at his flat before work, which would
start in a few hours, so they could have a conversation under the radar.
 
He marched back upstairs, took a
two-minute shower and went to bed for a short sobering sleep.

**********

“You want my
job!”
 
Dana said after swallowing a
large bite of her burger.