RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (58 page)

Toby agreed to plant them anywhere that he could.  John also gave him a modified server patch cable that contained the inner workings of a skyphone hidden inside the cable along
its length.  He explained to Toby that he had done plenty of research on two of Cyrus’s errand boys and discovered that these guys had been sent out to the local computer store on several occasions and had purchased this exact model of cable.  From this model of cable John knew the series of servers that Glitch was using in the compound.  These server rooms were filled with large racks with hundreds of cables patching them together. 

Toby’s assignment was to take this special cable and get it planted in the server room.  He needed to plug one end into one of the unused ports and leave the other end loose, tucking it in behind other cables.  It needed at least one end plugged in to get power and access to the entire network within the compound. 

With the cable installed, John would have full access to virtually everything on those servers and anything controlled by the computers within the network.  It would only be a matter of time before John would have complete remote control of the entire system. 

The skyphone built into that cable would provide John the back door he needed to disable the firewalls that Glitch had in place.  Once he opened a port that Glitch was unaware of, it would be only a matter of minutes until every camera, every microphone, and every
PC, would be wide open for John’s use.  Now the watched, would become the watchers and the prey would become the predator. 

JC and DC, along with Jason, Alan, and Caitlin, would be monitoring everything going on in the compound right from their
PCs at the farm.  It was a brilliant plan, carefully crafted for success.  John had placed all the necessary items into an empty sports drink bottle and handed it to Toby out on the golf course.  He pretended to take a drink from it, just in case they were being watched, and then he dropped it into his golf bag for retrieving later. 

On the back nine, Toby began getting his swing back.  In his prior life he had golfed right up until he was nabbed by Cyrus’s men.  Within a few months he was in this new body and now he found himself on a golf course with no physical limitations, it was great. 

He wound up paring four holes on the back nine.  Being able to swing so freely was strange and it actually caused him some problems at first.  He had spent so many years adjusting his swing as he became less flexible and now he had to go back to the swing of his youth.  They all had a decent round and they had successfully exchanged information and tools needed to further the attack on Cyrus and his computer systems.  They said goodbye to John and headed back to the house. 

Dodge did a quick sweep in the car to make sure it was still safe for conversation.  On the way back to the house they reviewed the plan with Toby regarding the latest data that he had “stolen” in the middle of the night.  No doubt when he returned Glitch would be excited to get his hands on those files right away. 

If possible, Toby was to get down to the server room within the next three days to install the fake server cable with the built in communications hardware in it.  While in Cyrus’s office he should drop a pen off anywhere he could without being seen or use it if needed and leave it.  It was a good plan, it was slick and if executed without detection it would be yet another perfectly crafted nail in the coffin of Cyrus Slade’s plans.

When they returned to the house the girls had already been home for a while and they were going over the pictures in their phones of everything that they had scoped out at the stores.  They were so excited already about
Christmas, it was going to be epic, especially if Cyrus was locked up by then so that everyone could enjoy the holidays.  

It was almost time for Toby to return home so Linsey gave Cheyenne a
call, they had swapped skyphone numbers now just like two Moms would.  Cheyenne answered and said she would come right over to get Toby.  On the way over to the Kerrington’s she scanned the Cadillac again to make sure it was still safe to talk.  She needed to talk to Toby and find out everything she could before they got back to their house. 

She intentionally drove through a few mud puddles and chuck holes here and there after a rain the day before, now the caddy needed a wash.  The nearest carwash was a good bit out of the way on the trip home.  This would yield an extra twenty minutes of talk time.  When she pulled in, they were all outside on the front porch talking about all the things they had done. 

Toby would have enjoyed staying another night so that he could be there for the big Friday party that Matt and Bobby would be having but he needed to get back and take care of business at the compound.  He enjoyed spending time with Bobby but he was more like an uncle than a friend.  He looked Bobby’s age, but his brain and life experiences made him much older and more mature than Bobby and Matt so he felt a little funny about being at a party with just kids.  It was odd to him though that sometimes he felt like a teenager again and even thought like one sometimes.  He attributed it to the effects of hormones on the brain, that must be why teenagers act the way they do, they’re not really that dense, it’s just those dang hormones! 
“Who can think straight with these things coursing through their veins?”
He laughed at himself inside a little as he thought back about his first experience of teenage years. 
“Man, what a mess I was!”

He was glad to see Cheyenne and couldn’t wait to tell her about his new assignment.  They said goodbye and Toby wished
Bobby good luck at the Racing academy, “BE CAREFUL” and he would see him just as soon as he got back.  They got in the caddy and headed to the house. 

The minute they left the drive Toby began telling Cheyenne everything that John and Dodge had planned and how they were going to pull it off.  Cheyenne told Toby that Todd had acted differently toward her this weekend and that she believed he was warming up to her and Toby.  She didn’t dare tell Toby what had really happened, after asking Todd to keep it just between them, and besides, she was a little embarrassed. 

She told him all about the mirror in the car and how Todd went along with leaving it disconnected.  Then how they went out on the town in the caddy and ate a big meal on Cyrus’s dime and saw the new Bond movie and then went back to the house and talked for hours before falling asleep on the couch together with the TV on.  Toby was amazed, he couldn’t believe that Todd had acted that way, he was usually so militant and not interested in social things at all.  Toby could sense that Cheyenne was leaving something out and he suspected that it might be of the romantic nature but he decided not to ask.  This was a good thing for sure, whether it went any further or not, didn’t really matter, it was still good, and maybe they could win Todd over and add him to the team.  Either way if anything did happen between the two of them he was sure Todd would spill the beans later.

It was late in the day now and everyone at the farm was tired and hungry.  They all gathered into the kitchen for their evening meal slash final meeting of the day.  JC and DC looked like professional athletes now.  Their chiseled bodies were getting stronger and more defined daily.  They had each put on a lot of muscle mass by strenuous training every morning and they were eating a perfect diet that Caitlin designed for them to do just that.  They were both a good bit taller than their surrogates and Jason explained that they were also being given human growth hormones to make them bigger and stronger
than their originals. 

They were well-versed in several disciplines of martial arts now and some combat style defense techniques as well.  They didn’t have time to learn everything but they were learning what Alan and the Black Ops team felt they would need to handle the guards at the compound.  Their days included weapons practice every day and situation simulations training to prepare their minds for snap decisions in critical situations.  It was like being at
boot camp but actually wanting to be there.  The speed of their progression was in direct relation to their desire to reach their goals.  This is something that Alan had said one day at dinner and everyone thought it was absolutely profound, even the Black Ops guys were impressed with the comment and agreed it must be true because they had never seen anyone progress as quickly as JC and DC.  It was surely attributable to their raging desire to crush Cyrus Slade and free all those enslaved by this evil tyrant of a man. 

Every morning Dodge and John awoke to their minds filled with fighting sequences, weapons training, and practice simulations of taking over the compound.  Likewise every morning DC and JC awoke at the farm with full knowledge of everything happening back in Indy and all the plans being carried out within and without the compound.  It was just a matter of time now, things were falling into place as planned, the cards were stacked against Cyrus Slade and his time of facing justice was drawing near. 

Soon the team would unleash the fury of their carefully crafted plan on the compound.  The Black Ops team Captain came up with the name for the operation. They always did their best to come up with a label that sounded deadly.  He dubbed it Operation Black Ice.  He said the idea for Black Ice was based on a dangerous road condition he once experienced by the same name.  It was treacherous and you never saw it coming.  Everyone liked it and so “Black Ice” it would be.

Back at the compound Alice was in her room trying to relax in spite of her nerves being maxed out.  She spent most of the day down in Lab No. 2 tending to the clones of Dodge Kerrington.  They were nearly ready to load and Cyrus was getting impatient.  He was way behind schedule and he needed every detail of the
LifeTech system that he could possibly wring out of Dodge.  Cyrus had successfully controlled the minds of many billionaires causing them to relinquish their life savings to him on numerous occasions but what no one knew with the exception of himself and Glitch was that they had killed forty-seven others attempting the same trick.   They covered up their deaths by various means, drug overdoses, suicides, heart failure, old age, you name it.  Some of them had been successfully restored which also acted as a suitable cover up.  There was a whole lot less investigation into a near death than there was a complete one with no hope of Restoration.  Cyrus didn’t care that some were restored.  They had no recollection of the attempt to hijack their minds so it made no difference to him.  He didn’t care if they lived or died, he just needed their money as a means to an end. 

Now he needed to control world leaders and people of great influence.  He needed to perfect the method of control so that it would work flawlessly every time.  A president accidently killed by the procedure designed and intended to only gain control of him was useless to Slade.  What good is a dead robot? 

Presidents and other powerful world leaders had to be above scrutiny in their mental stability.  They couldn’t be running around telling people that someone had hijacked their brains and were forcing them to say and do things outside of their will.  First of all, no one would believe them, but secondly they would likely be removed from office and sent off to the funny farm.  A powerful world leader removed from office due to mental illness would also be useless. 

There was only one man he believed had the answers to why his prior methods were not reliable and that was Dodge Kerrington.  Cyrus knew that he had the correct file this time and now the clones were developed enough to load them up.  Soon he would have the answers that would allow him to perfect his system.  Now he just had a short wait, but it would seem like forever.  He had to wait for Alice to sleep so that she could be fresh in the morning to assist him with the loading of the clones.  Why everyone had to sleep eight hours was beyond him when people could clearly get by on four or five hours, or maybe none.  Too bad everyone couldn’t just do without it like him.  While he waited, he had plenty of work he could do scouring the World Wide Web building his list of new potential targets.

In Alice’s dorm room there was the delicious smell of poPCorn being popped over a lab burner and she had turned on her PC to watch some old TV shows.  Just then the intercom speaker in her room made that eerie buzz.  She went over and pushed the button.     

“Yes?”
         “Miss Covings, this is Cyrus, report to Lab 2 at 7:00 a.m. and do be well rested and ready for a full day’s work.”
         “Yes Sir” she answered and released the button with a jerk as if to be sarcastic to him.  She knew what he was going to do. 

She knew Dodge would be loaded up tomorrow morning and the questioning would begin.  But it would turn into torture and death very quickly.  She lost her appetite and couldn’t eat the
poPCorn.  She didn’t even want to watch her TV shows.  She suddenly felt all alone again like she did before she met Toby.  She needed him now so badly, she wished he was there.  She threw out the poPCorn and turned off her PC and went to bed early just hoping to get some sleep. 

She was quite sure that the clones wouldn’t be able to speak but that wouldn’t stop Cyrus from brutally killing them slowly and methodically.  It didn’t really matter, she thought, maybe they would be brain dead enough to not even wake up, not feel a thing, that was her hope. 

Chapter 27
   
 
At Toby’s house Todd and Cheyenne were watching the news and laughing at some of the ridiculous stories.
         “Must be another slow news day” Toby said, as he entered the room and plopped down in a chair with a coke.
         “Hey Toby, did you have a good time at the Kerrington’s?” And more importantly did you get any information?” asked Todd
         “Oh yeah, I had a great time and we went for a fast ride in the GTO.  We all went golfing and I had an absolute blast.  Bobby invited me to his party tonight but I didn’t want to go.  Even though I look like a kid, I feel awkward going to a party with a bunch of sixteen and seventeen-year-old boys.  Bobby had this party because he’s leaving for racing academy tomorrow morning, pretty cool stuff.   Hey I did get some more information, but frankly it’s just useless crap that I got off Dodge’s PC, you know, just something to toss to Glitch to keep him off my case.” 

Todd’s mouth dropped open and he grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.  Even Cheyenne was surprised at how brazen Toby was being with him.  Todd sat forward toward Toby in a very attentive way.    

“Hey come on, what’s up?  I thought we had an understanding that you were going to get something good that would make Glitch happy, and what about my freedom; I mean our freedom, all of us.  It depends on doing a good job so this psycho doesn’t punch our number and pop our heads, right?” 

Toby turned the temperature selector on his coke to ice, popped the safety tab, flipped out the straw, and took a long drink.      

“Well this is how I see it.  I think the Kerrington’s are just about the nicest people on the planet.  I think they are honest hard-working people that deserve everything they have and I believe when Cyrus is done with them he will kill them all and won’t even have a second thought about it.  I figured I would string ole Cyrus and that scrawny little Glitch along as long as possible.  I’m having a great time hanging out with the Kerrington’s, I’m eating good and golfing at an awesome club.  By the way I pared four holes today because in my prior life I was a really good golfer.  So basically I think we should just enjoy this whole ride as long as possible because when Cyrus is done with each of us he’s going to kill us.” 

“When you think about it he already has, he killed all of us off in our actual lives and has ruined any future we might have in those situations.  I mean come on, Cheyenne over here has a husband out there that
won’t wait on her to come back from the dead forever, soon he will accept the fact that it doesn’t matter if the whole thing is a government conspiracy or not, she aint comin back man!”

Cheyenne gasped and put her hand over her mouth. 

Toby paused and looked at her.     

“
You’re such a lovely lady and I really like you, but you’re going to have to accept this, I’m sorry.  This is the hard truth for all of us.”  Todd was getting agitated.    

“Don’t say that to her!  That’s hurtful.  You know she loves Vince! And Vince love’s her!  This is just crap Toby, don’t say these things!”

Toby and Cheyenne were both a little surprised at Todd’s sharp reaction.
         “You’re right Todd.”

“I’m sorry
Cheyenne, it is possible that you and Vince could be reunited some day.  I was being insensitive.”

Cheyenne and Todd looked at each other and then Todd looked at the floor.  He couldn’t look at her, he knew it wasn’t likely at
all, he just didn’t want to see her hurting.
         “Look you guys, I don’t want to live like this, but I don’t want to die like this either,” said Toby.
         “I just figured that if I string things out by not giving Glitch too much, and give him just enough that he believes he’s making progress, then I can prolong the inevitable for the Kerrington’s and for us too.”

Todd leaned back and crossed his arms and looked out the window.
         “So you really think Cyrus will kill all of us?” He said.  Toby leaned forward and set his coke down on the coffee table.     

“Yes I do.  In fact I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t.  From the pure logic point of view on which he operates, he would have to kill us.  Anything less would be foolish.  Besides, like I said before, he has already killed us.  All of our friends and relatives believe we’re dead and have moved on, to the world we’re dead.  Even if we all escaped tomorrow how could we rebuild our old lives?”

“You have a point I guess,” Todd said, “but what else can we do?”  Toby sensed an opportunity in the tone of his voice.  He took a chance and decided to just lay it out.
         “Well, what if I told you that this old man has a plan?  It’s a plan that would only work if everyone in this room right here were all in one hundred percent.” 

Toby could feel Cheyenne glaring at him but he didn’t look at her, he was focused only on Todd.
         “Why are you only looking at me man? Why not look at her?” 
         “Because I’ve always been very good at reading people and I think  She’s a yes and I know I’m a yes, so the vote comes down to you and that’s how I see it.” 

Toby looked at Cheyenne.    

“Am I right?” 

Cheyenne looked at Todd.  He was looking at her waiting for her answer.  She was a little bit perturbed at Toby right now but she knew they were running out of time and she saw what he was trying to do.
         “Well, I guess if it was up to me, I would always be looking for a way out.  I don’t ever see myself being loyal to Cyrus.  I mean, come on, he has bombs in our heads.  We’re not employees, we’re just prisoners in our own bodies.”

Todd crossed his arms again and looked out the window.
         “I don’t know, I would like my freedom too but Cyrus has done a lot for me.” 

Toby realized just then that Todd’s situation was different from his or Cheyenne’s.  He must have agreed to this.
         “You know, we’re all in this together and something just dawned on me.  You know our history but we don’t know yours, what’s your story?  We’re all friends here, aren’t we?  You can tell us.”

Todd jumped up.

“I need a beer, anyone else want one?”
         “Yeah I’ll take one,” said Cheyenne. 

Toby was never much of a beer drinker, but he figured if drinking a beer with Todd would get him to tell his story,
then fine.
         “Sure, I’ll have one too, thanks.”

Todd went into the kitchen and brought back three beers and passed them out. 

“All right, so you want my story?  Okay, but you’re probably not gonna like it, it’s kind of depressing.”
         “Try us,” said Toby.
         “Okay, well, my parents died in the pandemic like so many others.  I ended up in an orphanage that was overwhelmed with homeless children just like me.  We were being quickly placed in foster homes or adopted out to pretty much anyone that would take us and with very little if any paperwork or background checks.  Sometimes a small donation from a family would do and there would be no paperwork at all, especially if you had any history of trouble.” 

People wanted to take us in but mostly for the government checks they would receive as compensation.  The staff was simply overwhelmed and had little choice in the matter.  I was about six years old I guess and I went to a family that had an abusive father, well not toward us kids so much but more toward the mother. 

She was a sweet lady but sometimes she said too much.  If she could have just bit her tongue a little more she might have been all right but he made it hard to be quiet.  He was such an idiot that no one could tolerate him.  He was on something, wasn’t alcohol, I don’t really know what it was but whenever he ran out of it he got violent. 

Sometimes at night they would fight and he would knock her around a bit.  It bothered me but I had always tolerated it because he never really hurt her too bad.  One night when I was about fourteen or fifteen it got especially bad.  He was different that night and he was roughing her up pretty good.  One of my little siblings that was also adopted, this little girl named Liz, got in the way and said, “Stop hurting my mommy.”  He called her a
little meddling bitch, and then he slapped her so hard that she fell back and rolled down the stairs. The fall broke her leg. 

When I came out of my room to see what was going on he was heading down the stairs yelling at her telling her he would really give her something to cry about.  Something inside me snapped, I went back into my room and got my ball bat.  I came out with it and he was just getting to the bottom of the stairs where Liz lay with a broken leg and I thought he was going to kill her. 

The adrenaline kicked in and I came hauling down the stairs wielding that bat. I was a rather big kid for my age and he knew when he saw me coming he was in for it.  He tried to run out the back but he didn’t make it, looking back on it, I wish he had and never came back.  I beat him to death with that bat in the kitchen just inside the back door. 

When I finally stopped hitting him, the whole family was standing in the kitchen looking at me.  I didn’t really intend to kill him but I was afraid to stop hitting him.  I thought they would turn me in but Mother walked over and gently took the bloody bat from my hands.  She just hugged me and said “Thank you.”  Then all my siblings gathered around me and hugged me and they all said “thank you.”  Little Liz saw the whole thing from where she lay at the bottom of the stairs still writhing in pain.  I went back to her and carefully picked her up in my arms.  Her little leg was broken in two places.          She was sobbing and shaking from the pain.  She said, “Thank you Todd, you saved me from him.  You’re my hero, I love you so much!”  The poor little thing had never known anything other than yelling and fighting and violence, it broke my heart.