Alternating Current: A Tesla Novel (9 page)

“Tell me.”

“No---let it go.”

Alex reached over
and grabbed Sava’s throat. “Tell me, now.”

Sava pulled away
from his grasp.

Shocked by the old
man’s strength, Alex calmed down.

“You say you’re my
father’s friend, why won’t you help me?”

“It’s complicated,
you should let it go. Get on with your life.”

“I’ll never let
go.”

“You’re just like
your father.”

Alex smiled.

Sava leaned over
toward him and whispered. “Bahamas, Doctor Armaly, ask about---

Thitttt
. Alex
felt a wisp of air as Sava clutched his chest and fell over onto his lap.

Mika emerged from
the kitchen, the silenced gun still in her hand.

A low rumbling
noise penetrated the window. The sound wasn’t compelling enough for Alex to
rise from the sofa. Although, the dead man lying on his lap probably had
something to do with his decision to stay put, or it could have been the woman
in front of him with the gun. Regardless, he was stock-still.

Suddenly, the rumbling
from the window erupted into a loud roar, and then soon faded away. Alex still didn’t
move. He knew the speedboat was gone. He moved Sava from his lap and looked up
at Mika. “Please tell me that bullet was meant for me.”

“No, you get the
next one.”

“Could you at
least wait till after dinner, it smells delicious?”

“Maybe we should
have sex first?”

“No, not on the
first date, I’m sure Sava didn’t raise you that way.”

“Sava didn’t raise
me.”

“Well, I’m not
sure I want to go to bed with someone who just killed their grandfather.”

Mika laughed and
then grew angry. “Listen here you little Lenin reject, let’s get a few things
straight before I put a bullet in your head. First, there will be no sex. Second,
I didn’t kill my grandfather, my grandfather is alive and well in Belize. He’s
73 years old and still likes to fish. Sava’s daughter and granddaughter died 20
years ago when the building across the street was bombed. They didn’t tell Sava
that Mika died in the explosion. I was recruited to take her place and I’ve
been his granddaughter ever since.”

“Who is “they,” who
recruited you?”

“That’s not
important. I received orders to kill him ten years ago, but I didn’t have the
heart to do it. We have grown close over the years.”

“And “they” let
him live?”

“It took some
doing, but I convinced them that he had lost his mind---like his uncle did. Eventually,
they believed me.”

“So, why kill him
now?”

“Because of you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. He
didn’t need to get involved in whatever mess you’re in. He deserves to rest.”

The oven timer
buzzed diverting her attention toward the kitchen. A fleeting moment when Alex
could have made his move. Mika was tall and athletic, but Alex was sure he
could overpower her. So, why didn’t he?

“Alex, if you want
dinner, it’s ready, but you’ll have to serve yourself.” Her tone grew somber. She
pointed to the kitchen while looking down at Sava.

Alex let another
moment pass. He could have easily grabbed the gun while she was looking down. Instead,
he went into the kitchen, turned off the buzzer and retrieved the pan from the
oven. The fish still had eyes and one of them glared at Alex as steam rose from
its socket. Obviously pissed off about being in the oven for the past hour. Nonetheless,
it looked delicious, and the array of potatoes and vegetables that shared the
pan looked delectable as well. Alex served two plates, stuck a bottle of wine
under his arm and headed for the dining room table. “Come eat something, you’ll
feel better.”

“No thanks, but
you go ahead.”

“I don’t want to eat
my last meal alone.”

“It won’t be your
last meal. You can leave whenever you want.”

“So you’re not
gonna kill me?”

Mika was silent.

“And we’ve already
determined no sex, right?”

Mika smiled, set
the gun on the coffee table, and went into the bedroom. She returned with a
blanket and covered Sava’s body, then went back into the bedroom.

Alex heard her
bawling from where he sat eating. The fish was wonderful, the wine, too. Still,
his dinner sucked.

When Alex awoke
his legs were numb, twisted over the side of Sava’s chair by the window. The
empty wine bottle lay on the floor beside him. The smell of bacon wafting from
the kitchen signaled that Mika was also awake. It took a minute for his limbs
to become flexible again after a night in that chair. And his hangover only
added to the pain and confusion. On his way to the kitchen, he noticed that
Sava’s body was gone from the sofa.

Before he could
get to the kitchen, Mika emerged with plates of food and a pot of coffee. “Great,
you’re awake, just in time for breakfast.”

Alex followed her
to the table that was already set. He picked up a cup and groaned. “Coffee,
please.” Alex moved his head from side to side until the vertebrae in his neck
popped.

Mika apologized as
she poured the coffee. “I’m sorry your neck hurts.” She set the coffee pot down
and nudged a plate of food in front of him. “You really should have slept in
bed with me.”

Not sure if she
was being sarcastic, Alex let the remark pass. It was too early and he was too
hung over. “This is delicious.” He said before even the first bite.

Mika smiled “Why
don’t you taste it first.”

He placed a
forkful in his mouth, chewed it, and then asked, “Where’s Sava?”

“Gone.”

“I can see that. How?”

“A friend.”

“Where?”

“Nowhere.”

Alex put his fork
down. “What do you mean nowhere? He had to go somewhere, what if someone comes
looking for him?”

Mika refilled her
cup. “No one will come looking for him.”

“I did.”

“You don’t count.”

Alex leaned back
in his chair. “You think a man can no longer exist and nobody will
notice---nobody will miss him?”

“In this instance,
yes.”

Alex was sad. How
could a man who was once important slip into obscurity and no one question his
whereabouts? “What about the apartment---the rent, the utilities---what happens
when they’re not paid?”

“The apartment is
mine---has been for years---I pay all the bills.”

“Still, someone
will grow suspicious when he’s no longer around.”

“No they
won’t---the police won’t even come to this apartment if we call them---quit
worrying.”

Alex hurried to
the bathroom, turned on both the hot and cold faucets and hoped Mika wouldn’t
hear him vomiting.

***

The Nikola Tesla
Museum was a ten-minute walk from the apartment. Founded in 1952, the museum
housed a vast collection of Tesla’s work along with his personal affects. That
afternoon, Mika was Alex’s personal tour guide of the museum. “Sava donated all
of this to the museum; it’s what his uncle wanted.”

“This is what was
left after the Americans went through it.” Alex’s tone was bitter; still his
eyes grew big at the many photos and exhibits.

“Now you sound
like Sava.”

“What do you
mean?”

“Nothing, it’s
just every time we visited here he complained about how the American F.B.I.
stole many of his uncle’s works.”

“That doesn’t
surprise me. The KGB stole much from my father---that’s why we defected from
Russia.”

“Well, Sava always
complained about the Americans, and not only the FBI---big corporations---Westinghouse---General
Electric. He called them capitalist fools.”

Alex was deep into
the exhibits. “That’s amazing.”

“What’s amazing?” Mika
leaned over to look at the photo that had Alex amazed.

“That’s Mark Twain
in the photo with Tesla.”

“Mark Twain?”

“Yes, Mark Twain.
The famous author---you know---Tom Sawyer?”

Mika had a
puzzled look on her face.

“What about
Huckleberry Finn?”

She offered no
response.

“You’ve never
heard of Mark Twain, one of the most famous authors who ever lived?”

“Most famous in
America maybe, have you ever heard of Ivo Andric?”

“Ivan who?”

“Not
Ivan---Ivo---Ivo Andric, one of the most famous authors who ever lived.”

“In Serbia? Right?”

The next room was
much smaller than the two previous and had curtained walls. In the center of
the room, atop a small pedestal, sat a golden sphere. Inside the sphere were
Nikola Tesla’s ashes.

Alex stood silent
for several minutes before moving along to the next room in the museum. A room that
housed many of Tesla’s early inventions, among them a model of the “Poly-Phase
System of Alternating Current.” The invention that transformed the world. The
world embraced Tesla’s “AC” power and adopted it over Thomas Edison’s “Direct
Current” as the standard for transmitting electricity. “Can you imagine what
the world would be like without this?” Alex pointed to the transformer.

“A much simpler place,
that’s what Sava would say.”

“You really think
so?”

“I don’t know. Sava
once told me that electricity tormented his uncle. Tesla wanted it to be free
for all Mankind---he didn’t care about money. The big American corporations,
however, would not have it. According to Sava, Tesla had grown more and more
discontent with each new discovery regarding electricity, and the American
corporations grew bigger and richer because of him. That’s why he invented the water---

Alex was half
listening as he inspected the devices on display. “Well, he was still a great
man, despite the Americans.”

Mika agreed. Tired
of talking, she suggested they stop at a tavern for a drink. “You can come back
here tomorrow.”

“No, I must leave
tomorrow. I have much to do.”

“But, where will
you go?”

“The Bahamas.”

“The
Bahamas---maybe I’ll come with you.”

Alex didn’t
respond. At first, he thought it was a great idea, but then he had doubts. After
all, what did he really know about Mika? Only that she killed her own
grandfather who turned out not to be her grandfather at all. She works for some
secret organization that ordered her to pretend to be someone’s granddaughter,
and later ordered her to kill her fake grandfather. Then, since she didn’t have
the heart to kill him, they just let him live and they didn’t even kill her for
disobeying orders. What kind of organization was this anyway? Finally, after
many years of searching for answers about his father’s death, when the old man
she had become so fond of---and couldn’t kill---was about to tell him the
answer to it all, she kills him before he can get the words out of his mouth. Nah,
maybe bringing her along to the Bahamas wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Mika nudged him. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Do you want to
get a drink or not?”

“A drink---a drink
would be wonderful.”

***

The tavern was
dark and smoky. It overlooked the Sava River at dusk. Mika chose a table
against the window. The “Budweiser” neon on the wall behind the bar surprised
Alex. “Serbian’s don’t know Mark Twain, but they know Budweiser?”

“The whole world
knows Budweiser. It is the king of beers.” The cocktail server proclaimed. “Would
you like one, Mister?” The cocktail server’s English wasn’t bad, but the way
she said “Mister” made him want to order a Corona. He thought better of it. “Yes,
I would love a Budweiser, how ‘bout you, Mika?”

“Sure, why not? And
Schnapps, too.”

“Schnapps?” The
request caught Alex by surprise.

“Yes, Schnapps, or
would you’d like Vodka instead?”

“No thank you, I’m
fine with just the beer.”

“Suit yourself. Two
beers and one Schnapps, Angela.” The cocktail server headed for the bar. “So,
how did you like the museum?”

“It’s amazing---I
could spend a few days there---if I had the time.”

“Why not make the
time? You could stay at Sava’s for a while. No one will bother you there.”

“No one at all,
huh? What about you?”

“I would check on
you from time to time.”

“You would check on
me---but still no sex, right?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“The Schnapps.”

Alex smiled. Her
offer was tempting, but before he could respond, the server returned with two
beers and two glasses of Schnapps. “I bring extra Schnapps just in case Mister
changes his mind.”

“That was a great
idea, Angela.” Mika took a 100 Dinar Bill from her purse and handed it to the
server. Alex snatched the bill from her hand before Angela could grab it.

“Wow, he’s even on
the money?” The Serbian 100 Dinar Bill had a picture of Nikola Tesla on its
front. Alex handed the bill to the server and raised his glass of Schnapps. “To
uncle Nikola.” He downed the Schnapps in one gulp.

Mika sipped her
Schnapps along with her beer.

***

Alex woke up alone.
It was a strange bedroom and he thought about panicking, then he remembered
that he had never been in Sava’s bedroom before. Certain that the bathroom
would be down the hall on his left, he decided that it was rather urgent he get
there. Once relieved, he washed his hands, dried them, and headed for the
kitchen.

The kitchen was
clean and offered no sign that food of any kind had graced its countertops or
appliances recently. There was no coffee brewing, no bacon sizzling, no Musaka
and no Mika. In the dining room, the table was not set, not even a coffee cup. He
glanced over at the sofa and was somewhat relieved there was nothing there. Puzzled
by it all, he went over to the window. There, he found a note on Sava’s chair.

Alex, I’m
sorry, but I had to leave town for a few days. I will return Friday around noon
Belgrade time. I hope you will wait for me. There is something important that I
need to discuss with you. Please stay. I have put some Dinars in the top
dresser drawer in the bedroom. Use them for food and for whatever else you
need. Relax and enjoy your stay. I will be back before you know it. Love, Mika.

Alex wadded up the
note and tossed it to the floor. How dare she leave that way? He decided to
leave right away and then something caught his eye down on the river. The
speedboat had returned, again floating idle. At that moment, Alex knew how Sava
felt sitting there with all that power, unable to use it.