Authors: David McLeod
'What do you think this stuff is?' he asked the other two. In his hand was a syringe containing a clear liquid.
During their talks, Viktor had taught Aloysha a lot about chemicals and compounds, so carefully taking the syringe from Stefan, he squeezed a couple of drops onto a tissue. Immediately, an unmistakable aroma of almonds rose from the liquid.
'Where did you get this?' Aloysha asked.
'One of the project managers had it in his jacket pocket — he was going to give me another one like it.' Stefan spoke as though he had been brought a present.
'Do you know what it is?' Genesis asked.
Aloysha nodded, 'Cyanide.'
Sleep came slowly to the three clones, but when it finally arrived, it brought terrible dreams to one of them . . .
As the red clouds fogged his mind, he nevertheless managed to focus his attention on the face of a woman screaming in terror before him. He had her by the throat and she was swinging wildly. Her hands hit him on the body and face. With every blow the red mist became thicker. On the counter there was a knife and his free hand grabbed it.
The knife seemed to move with a mind of its own, plunging down and slashing the woman's chest. The curved steel blade was covered with blood as it rose and descended again. The woman fell to the ground.
As the fog began to lift, he looked down at the mess in front of him and dropped the knife. As he looked at his bloodied hands, consciousness came back to him. The room was empty, but completely wrecked.
He wondered what had happened, where was he? And who was this woman whose body was lying at his feet? He staggered to the window, looked down into the street below; everything seemed normal. He closed the shutters and turned his back on the outside world. He slid to the floor, his bloody hands covering his face, and wept. There was a loud banging on the frail wooden door, and then the guards crashed through . . .
E
ASTER
M
ONDAY
Travis was up bright and early again. Butterflies were already beginning to flutter around in his stomach. He flicked through the notes he'd made during his conversation with Wainright the previous night.
He'd been desperate to find out what Wainright's initial thoughts and comments on the clones were, but instead got him to focus on the plans for the event; after all this time, he could wait a few more hours to know if it had all been successful, plus the last thing he wanted to do was reveal any kind of weakness to Wainright.
As he compared the venue details to his map of Jerusalem, he quickly planned his route. Once he was happy, he woke his two companions.
L
ITTLE
R
OCK
, A
RKANSAS
Wainright, the chairman, and the colonel were in the hotel restaurant tucking into the breakfast buffet. Wainright had already been in contact with his CNN reporter and briefed him on the when and where.
The reporter told him the Feds had been following him for the past few days, which hadn't surprised either of them. He told Wainright he knew how to give them the slip, and would be there in the early afternoon.
Having gone back to the buffet for seconds, Wainright piled the food high on his plate and returned to his seat. 'A big day calls for a big breakfast,' he boomed.
'Mr Travis will meet us in Jerusalem. He's also told me he's bringing along a special guest. I have no idea what that means, but he assures me you will all be pleasantly surprised. The more the merrier, I say; how about you guys?' Wainright slapped both men on the back as he spoke. 'Let's eat up and get on the road!'
M
EMPHIS
, T
ENNESSEE
Malone had been up and pacing around the room for over an hour now, and nothing was adding up. No one was doing what they were supposed to. All they'd been able to come up with last night was that
Travis and Wainright had obviously either changed the venue or the date; it was the only logical answer. Finding twelve people from three different countries was proving to be a near impossible task, which in turn increased everyone's frustration. It wasn't such a small world after all.
Suddenly, a loud knock on the door broke his concentration. 'Malone
— it's Logan. Get your shit together — the reporter is on the move.'
J
ERUSALEM
, A
RKANSAS
Travis shook his head. He'd realized that Jerusalem was small, but when Wainright said he'd organized a barn for the unveiling, he didn't for one moment think he literally meant
a barn
. But sure enough, in front of Travis, there in all its red glory, was an honest-to-goodness hay barn.
'Howdy!'
Travis turned and looked at the large African-American man ambling towards him with his hand outstretched.
'Y'all mus' be the city folk. I own this here property. Pleased t'meet y'all,' he said, shaking Travis' hand firmly.' Ah've got everythin' ready
— jus' like y'all axt me. Ah even went 'n got the fizzy wine y'all axt for, it's inside the 'frigerator — I even cleaned the glasses for y'all.
Come on, I'll show y'all around.'
M
EMPHIS
, T
ENNESSEE
'He's a slippery critter,' Agent Bartlett said as she took another swig of her coffee. 'He's managed to spot three of our agents so far, and he's trying his best to pick out a fourth.' She was talking about the CNN reporter, Alex Cornwell. 'We could pick him up and sweat him, but we thought we'd let him run for a while just to see where he ends up.'
'Where is he now?' Logan asked.
'Logan International Airport, Boston; we're not sure of his next trip but as soon as we know, you'll know. One thing's for sure, we've checked all possible flight times and there's no way he'll be able to get to Israel today — plus he'll have trouble with his passport.' She gave a knowing smile.
'Since he's on the move today, I guess that means the date is still the same. So all we're left with now is the venue?' Malone was thinking out loud.
'Should be easy then,' Bartlett added facetiously.
Both men glared at her.
'Jerusalem on Easter Monday.' Malone mumbled. 'Assuming the venue is not going to be in Israel, where else can it be?' Malone was rubbing his temples. 'Is there a building, or a park, called Jerusalem around here? Maybe even a company name — anything.'
'Worth a try I guess,' Bartlett said. 'I'll get right on it.' She opened her cellphone and dialled the office.
'What else could be called Jerusalem?' Malone continued.
'A boat?' Logan added.
'Possible,' Malone agreed. 'But the thought of trying to track down a ship called Jerusalem scares me. Plus knowing the egos involved I think it's going to be on a bigger scale.'
Logan nodded. 'Let's look at the map again,' he said, unfolding a large-scale map of the United States. 'We know that as of just under two days ago, Wainright and his crew were here in Tennessee. We also agree that wherever they're going, they're getting there by car. We can assume they'll stay well within the speed limit; the last thing they'll want is to be pulled over for a simple traffic violation, so that means they're somewhere within this area.' Logan drew a large circle on the map, with Memphis in the centre, and they all stared at it.
'So basically, we're looking for a town, a building, a boat, or something else called Jerusalem inside that circle — and we have to find it before the day is out. I think we should rename the FBI the Federal
Bureau of Impossibility,' Bartlett said shaking her head.
'Look, if all you're going to do is be sarcastic . . .' Logan snapped at her.
'Well — excuse me for being the realist among us . . .'
'Ahem,' Malone interrupted. 'Lady and gentleman, can I interest you in a trip to Jerusalem? Jerusalem, Arkansas,' he announced, stabbing at the map with his finger.
J
ERUSALEM
, A
RKANSAS
Wainright stopped his RV alongside the barn and got out, leaving
Genesis and the Lab Manager inside. The six Europeans pulled up right behind him in their minivan. He told them to wait while he went into the barn to meet with Travis.
'Phew,' he whistled, holding his nose as he came through the barn door. The distinctive country aroma of manure and leather mixed with sweaty animal hides had greeted him. Wainright scanned the surroundings. It was a large space with a high ceiling and an overhanging loft. Horse stalls took up the majority of the right-hand side and hay bales were stacked up to the left. He smiled; it had been arranged exactly as he'd specified. There was a raised platform at the far end of the barn with a large tarpaulin suspended over it. This acted as a curtain, dividing the stage into two sections; a downstage area for addressing the group and behind it a space where he could set up the clones, ready for the unveiling.
'Perfect!' he announced, shaking Travis by the hand.
'Not exactly what I had in mind, but probably the best under the circumstances,' Travis said as he looked around.
'Who are they?' Wainright said, eyeing with suspicion the two men beside Travis.
'Ah yes, Douglas Wainright, I'd like to introduce you to my two special guests: Dr Androna, a man of whom I'm sure you've heard, and this is Probandi, of whom I'm sure you have not. Probandi was a priest over two thousand years ago; he was there at Golgotha when Jesus was crucified. He is what can best be described as a witness.'
The blood drained from Wainright's face as he shook Probandi's hand and ignored Dr Androna's.
'Pleased to meet you,' he said, and then quickly turned to Travis.
'If I can have a quiet word . . . ?' They moved away from Probandi and the doctor.
'Are you serious? Or is this another one of your stupid pranks?'
Wainright hissed.
'Of course I'm serious. You didn't think I'd go to such extremes to set this thing up, and pay out such a large sum of money, without being certain of what I'm buying?'
Wainright's mind was racing. 'Does he remember?'
'Vividly! Are you all right? You look a little pale.' A small, smug grin had appeared on Travis' face.
'I'm just fine . . . just fine.'
'I'd like Probandi and Dr Androna to meet the other three scientists, while I meet the chairman and the colonel. Could you move the other clones into the barn and get them ready in the meantime?'
Wainright nodded and desperately tried to appear calm. 'If you'll wait here a moment, I'll go talk to everyone and sort it out.' He rushed outside to find the others and tell them about Probandi. He desperately wanted time alone with Genesis, and maybe to formulate a new plan, but things were moving much too fast.
M
EMPHIS
A
IRPORT
'That's just great!' Bartlett snapped her phone shut.
'What's the matter?' Malone asked.
'They've lost the reporter! I hope for our sake everyone's going to be in Arkansas. Have you got hold of the town sheriff yet?' she asked, turning to Logan. Phone to his ear, he shook his head.
The Bureau's helicopter was being refuelled while they feverishly tried to find a pilot. Malone was tapping his feet anxiously while he waited — they have to be in Arkansas! he thought. Finally, a black
SUV pulled up and a tall, unshaven pilot jumped from the vehicle before it had stopped rolling. After hasty introductions, the four of them boarded the chopper. The pilot went rapidly through the preflight checks while Malone, Logan, and Bartlett strapped themselves in. Speaking into the head mike, the pilot made contact with the flight tower to request permission for take off and to ask for the local weather report.
'Roger — got that. Over and out.' The pilot looked skyward, scanned the horizon for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, then lifted the chopper off the tarmac.
J
ERUSALEM
, A
RKANSAS
The group was waiting in anticipation when Wainright emerged from the barn. They were surprised to see his shoulders had dropped and his face was filled with concern. The colonel was the first to speak.
'You look like your world has caved in. What went on in there?'
Wainright took a second to compose himself and think about how he could explain the untimely arrival of Probandi. He began with: 'Remember how we had questions about knowing for sure who's been successful in completing the challenge? Well, it seems Mr
Travis has got it all covered. Unbeknown to me, the special guest he wants you to meet is in fact a priest from two thousand years ago
— a man they've named Probandi. Mr Travis also informs me this priest remembers the crucifixion vividly and can best be described as a witness!'
The group went silent as Wainright's words sank in. Each member drew different conclusions from the information. Wainright continued,
'He'd like to meet with the five of you and introduce you to
Probandi, and to his scientist, Dr Androna, while I get the clones into their places.'
The clones' guardians each had questions, but Wainright stopped them with his raised hand. 'It will be best if you wait and ask Travis,'
he said.
While the small group by the RV waited for Travis, Wainright led the clones to the rear of the barn where he went on ahead to check the set-up. The clones were finally left alone to talk among themselves.
'So what does all this mean?' Stefan asked nervously. He wasn't the true clone of Jesus, and he knew that fact was about to be exposed.
'What's going to happen to me? Am I going to be taken care of, or am
I going to be abandoned, left to fend for myself?' It hit him that for the first time in his short life, his future was uncertain. He began to cry.
Genesis and Aloysha reached out for him, pulled him in, and hugged him.
'We're all in this together,' Aloysha said.
'But we look so different — only one of us can be the man they're looking for,' Stefan sobbed as he looked at Genesis and Aloysha. 'And with
my
dreams . . . I just can't be the one.'
As the clones thought about their own dreams, and the concerns they'd shared the night before, a dark shadow of doubt crept over all three; doubt, rapidly followed by fear, fear that they could
all
be exposed as fakes once they were introduced to the witness, Probandi.
They all fell silent.
Aloysha thought of Viktor, his friend and surrogate father. He thought about the times they had spent together and the conversations they'd shared. He thought about their escape into the Russian countryside and their brief encounter with the tramp. The tramp, a strange man with a strange philosophy, but in the end he'd died trying to protect Aloysha. The more he thought about this, the more he wondered about Viktor and how his life had changed so abruptly when Viktor had left him — for what? To go off and search tropical islands for animals? Aloysha became angry. His life had been so intense since Viktor left, so filled with endless tests and interrogations, that this was the first time he had really stopped to wonder
why
. Why would Viktor leave him in the hands of the people they both despised?
Did he leave, or was he forced to leave? The more Aloysha thought about this, the angrier he became, but now his anger was directed at his guardians.
Stefan's mind was full of confusion and fear. For most of his short life he'd been called Ansgar, but since he'd been given this new name his world had been turned upside down. Klaus and the chairman had snatched him from the comfort and safety of his bed in the facility in the early hours of the morning and delivered him into the hands of this Mr Wainright, a man he knew for sure wouldn't want him. Stefan thought about his dreams of the bazaar, and he thought about being caught red-handed with the gemstones. He recalled his conversation with Genesis about the man they were seeking: the honest man, the truthful man, the man called Jesus. With all this racing around in his mind, there
was
one thing he was sure of: he was not the man they sought, and he was frightened at the thought of what that could mean
. . . frightened of being alone. He feared for his future. He wondered what he could do to make things better.