Giddeon (Silver Strand Series) (27 page)

Months went by as Ray’s rocket made its way through the quiet darkness of space.
 

Only a few people… a select group in the government and, of course, Raymond’s team… were aware of its existence.
 
The craft performed flawlessly, and radioed back encrypted positional data at pre-determined intervals.

The Hubble telescope and other monitoring systems kept track of the asteroid’s progress.
 
Periodically, very minor perturbations in its spin and trajectory would be noted, most likely due to ice pockets vaporizing into steam on its surface.
 
The most sophisticated computer programs in the world analyzed the positional changes and calculated chances of impact with our world.
 
The scientists still held that it would miss Gaea… but, not by much.
 
The minor changes in spin, however, always seemed to slightly increase the odds of impact.
 

They never seemed to go the other way.

*****

I saw one of the monsters lurking around Jennifer’s office.
 
He was small and disjointed… grey skin and pink gums around sharpened, jagged incisors.
 
Like a bat that had been grounded by having its wings removed.
 
He would peer into the windows and sniff around the doors of the office for a while, and then he would go back into the parking lot and hang near an older van parked under the shade of a tree.
 

It’s unusual to see them out during the day, so I followed him without him seeing me… I had learned to make myself invisible to them, long ago.
 
Giddeon had just finished singing his tune to Jennifer, and the three of you were a bit preoccupied at the time.

I had seen this particular creature, before.
 
I think Jennifer hasn’t really gotten over the death of her husband, and her remembrances of him feed the leathery goblin.
 
I don’t think he knew what to do with those tears of hers, that day, because although she was in pain, she was also happy.
 
I’m pretty sure that song allowed some type of closure for her.
 
Like she could let go of the pain and focus on the good times that she and her mate had shared.
 

Giddeon told her that he had sampled several time-lines around the therapist and her husband, and had found quite a few where he had survived, and where they were living together and as happy as bugs in rugs or clams at high tides.

For someone with such a prodigious vocabulary, you would think he would come up with some better metaphors… but, that’s my Giddeon.
 
A little socially inept, sometimes.
 
But, she got the picture, and smiled and wiped at her tears.

She wanted to know if they ever had children in any of those futures, and Gid told them of a son named Matt, and she started crying, again.

That was her father’s name.

Anyway, I grew curious about the van and took a look inside.
 
I was shocked at what I saw.
 

Surveillance equipment.
 
It looked to be state of the art, despite the mundane appearance of the older vehicle.
 
There was a man inside, and although he was dressed
California
casual, I could tell he was either military or had been military at one time.
 
Most probably he was affiliated with an agency… CIA, FBI or some other three-letter mnemonic.
 

It looked as if the operation was in its beginning stages.
 
There were headphones and recording equipment, along with what seemed to be acoustic enhancers.
 
I had once heard Giddeon talking about how even window panes can act as amplifiers for voices on the interior of buildings.

 
There was a little box of what appeared to be dragonflies and bumblebees… small drones disguised as insects.
 
I’m sure listening devices were on the agenda for Jennifer’s office.
 
The stuff that’s available, now, is light years ahead of the older technologies, so, normally, such devices would be impossible to detect… without the help of Inter-Dimensional Tourists, that is.
 

The little goblin seemed as curious as I was about the proceedings inside of the van.
 
He sniffed and sniffed at the legs of the government employee, and he reminded me of a small dog when he did that.
 
I don’t think he knew anything about the man, just that he was somehow connected to Jennifer, and maybe he could latch onto some negative energy in the future.

Upon further inspection, I finally ascertained that the man was once upon a time with the ISR… basically, the Air Force Intelligence Agency.
 
He seemed to be just laying the groundwork for surveillance… recording when she worked, took lunch, etc.
 
Basic scheduling type of information.
 
I dug through some paperwork and ferreted out what was presumably his name and address.
 
I’ll give those to you in a bit… and, most likely, you should give Ray a call on your secure line and let him know, too.
 
We’ll see what Gid has to say after he samples some of the potential futures regarding this development.

Finally, the little bat grew bored and went back to the office.
 
I followed him inside and watched him stick his nose into the room where you three had finished your session.
 
Giddeon was gone, and Jennifer seemed relaxed and refreshed.
 
I could have sworn the goblin got a chagrined look on his wrinkly face and pulled up one side of his upper lip just as he made his way to a storage closet and disappeared.
 
I gave him a stupid name before he did… that was something I had gotten in the habit of doing when I was a little girl.
 
Made the monsters seem not so scary.
 
Then, I began to giggle when a line came to me involving his new moniker.

 
Melvis
had left the building.

*****

We gave Ray a call and invited him to our house.
 
He knew the casual invite was a signal.
 

Our Inter-Dimensional Tourist counter-detection squad had traced the man to his home and figured out to whom he was reporting… and that was directly to the Secretary of Defense.
 
As far as could be ascertained, the spying wasn’t a government sanctioned operation… it was being done off the record… and the P.I. was a former trusted underling of the Secretary’s.
 
The President seemed to not be in the loop.
 
Giddeon and Mia had scanned our house and surrounding area and found them to be clean of bugs or observers.

Ray was on the next plane out… which wasn’t hard to do since it was his plane.

*****

When he arrived, he stopped by our house with his dog in tow.

Little Gid had been blurting out ‘Sampson!’ for the better part of the morning, even though we didn’t know he would be accompanying our friend.
 
The big, black
Labrador
came bounding into the house with all of the enthusiasm of a long-lost relative being reunited with his family.
 
Boris and Samantha stayed up on the back of the couch until his rambunctiousness dissipated, and then finally came down to say ‘hello’.
 

Raymond picked Samantha up and put her in his lap as he took a seat on the couch.
 
Boris came over as if jealous of the attention, and got a few scratches behind his ears, which seemed to satisfy him.
 
He jumped onto the back of the couch, again, to observe the proceedings.
 
We related what we knew to the billionaire.

“Has Giddeon checked out your house and the neighborhood?” asked Ray.

I nodded.
 
“Yeah… no problems, here.
 
Mia found the van, yesterday… we think it was just put in place.”

Sampson had taken a spot on the floor next to Giddy and Melody, and then rolled onto his side to have his belly rubbed by my wife.
 
I sat on the couch next to the entrepreneur.

“I think it’s a private operation by the Secretary of Defense, from what you told me,” said
Bradford
.
 
“The fellow snooping around isn’t currently on the government payroll.
 
Any activity last night?”

“A device was placed on the outside of the window of her office.
 
It’s small, and looks like nothing more than a piece of dirt in the lower right hand corner… maybe a half of an inch across.”
 
I handed him my phone, and showed him a quick video we had made of the van.
 
It was jerky and sometimes unfocused, because I had held the phone casually in my hand as we walked to our car.
 
I had been careful not to appear to have been photographing as we went.
 

Ray nodded his shaggy head.
 
“Yep… they’ve come a long way in the spy world.
 
The insect drones you described are the latest.
 
They’re working on a realistic roach.
 
Scurries along the floor like the real thing.”

“Boris would have a field day with that,” I said.

 
Raymond laughed.
 
“I’d better get over there and have a talk with Maxwell Smart.”
 
Bradford
had referred to the old sixties comedy, ‘Get Smart’.
 
That was one of
Giddeon’s
favorites, by the way.
 
My alter ego loves anything from that era, much preferring them to more modern sitcoms… except for ‘The Big Bang Theory’.
 
He can’t get enough of that one.

Physics and comedy… that’s tailor made for Gid.

“Do you want anything before you go?
 
Coffee or a bagel?” asked my wife.
 
We had just finished breakfast and had a couple of the spinach rolls warm in the oven.

Ray nodded.
 
“I’ll take a bagel… no cream cheese, though.
 
I’m trying to watch my weight.”
 
He was as thin as a rail… I don’t think a few extra calories would have been a problem.

My wife laughed as she retrieved two round breads for him and put them in a small paper bag.
 
Sampson perked up when he smelled the goods being transferred to his owner.
 
Melody patted him on the head and said to the dog, “No people food for you… we still have some of your treats in the kitchen.
 
Want some bacon… do you know the maple kind?”

She said it in a voice imitating that internet sensation with the talking dog.

Raymond laughed, again, and answered in the voice of that canine.
 
“Yeah… I know the maple kind.”
 
His inflections were perfect and we all cracked up.
 
Then, Giddy said,

“Bacon.”
 
I swear it sounded just like the guy in the video.
 
We all busted up laughing, again, and then Ray left out the front door.
 
Sampson, Melody and Giddy went into the kitchen.

“I gave it to the cat!” exclaimed Giddy.
 
It was his first full sentence.

*****

Raymond walked past the van and then across the parking lot.
 
He went up to the second floor on the exterior stairs and straight to the window which was on the other side of the building.
 
Spying the device stuck to the silicon on the corner of the pane, he pulled out a pocket knife and scraped it carefully away from the glass.
 
Then, the tall, lanky entrepreneur went down the stairs, across the asphalt, and over to the old Chevy.

He knocked on the driver’s side window.

When the man rolled it down,
Bradford
held the bug out in his palm and said,

“I think this is yours.
 
It must have fallen out of your pocket and stuck to the corner of the window up there.”

“What is that?” the man responded, feigning ignorance.

“Looks like a listening device with a radio transmitter, to me.” He handed it over and the man took it in his fingers as if to inspect it.
 
“Jake… does the Secretary of Defense know that your van needs a paint job?
 
Probably a tune-up, too.
 
Something a bit more upscale would blend in better on
Coronado
, you know?
 
Here… let me give you my card.
 
I’ll be happy to help you fix it up.”
 
He dug into his shirt pocket and produced a Bradford Enterprises business card and handed that to the man, also.
 

“How do you know my name?”

“Let’s just say that I’m better at this game than you are.
 
Now, tell your boss that I want him to call me on my secure line… he knows the number.
 
Also, I don’t think you should do any more freelance work regarding Dr. Evans… you never know who’s watching.”
 

He winked, and walked away.

*****

Raymond went across the parking lot and back up the stairs to the office of Jennifer Evans.
 
He went inside and spoke to her part-time receptionist, who was there on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
 
That’s when the doctor saw most of her patients.
 
It was early, and Raymond was the first person to arrive.

Dr. Evan’s secretary looked up, and was a bit flustered by the tall, striking figure of Raymond as he strode confidently into the room with his shoulder length hair and air of assurance.
 
His face was recognizable, but she couldn’t really place it.
 
All she knew was that he was someone who certainly knew how to make an entrance, and that something about him was intriguing, powerful and mysterious at the same time.

“I’m sorry to stop by without an appointment, but, I need to speak with Dr. Evans.”

“Can I tell her who’s calling?”

“Raymond Bradford.”

Then, it hit her.
 
The asteroid guy.
 
The petite 26 year old receptionist grew even more flustered and stood up from her desk.
 
She held out her hand, and as he took it in hers, she said, “I’m Naomi… it’s nice to meet you… I’ll see if she’s in... well, I know she’s in... I’ll… I’ll see if she can meet with you.”
 

It took her a second or two to realize she still held onto his hand when she had finished stammering.
 
She blushed, let go of him, turned away and went through the door to relay the information to her boss.

In a moment or two, Dr. Evans came out and introduced herself.
 
Raymond noticed that she was quite attractive and professional-looking in her navy jacket, off-white blouse, gray skirt and low heels.
 
Her soft, straight hair was pulled back into a light brown, French braid, and her glasses gave her a bit of a sexy librarian look.
 
She and Ray went into her office and she closed the door behind them, whereupon she took a seat behind her desk.

The businessman/asteroid deflector sat in a chair on the opposite side of the wooden plane.
 
The doctor thought to herself that although her visitor looked comfortable and relaxed enough, he seemed like a man that would rather be in motion… like he was built for speed.
 
He kind of reminded her of a human Cheetah… lean, beautiful, fast… and perpetually hungry.
 
She took off her reading glasses and set them on her desk.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” said Ray.
 
“Melody and Greg think the world of you… apparently, so does Giddeon.
 
I can see why he came to you for hypnosis… your eyes are mesmerizing.
 
I’ll try not to look directly at them,” he smiled, playfully, and folded his hands in his lap.

She felt her cheeks flush at the complement, and thought to herself that that was a first… blushing… at least in a very long time.
 

“Thank you.
 
It’s nice to meet you, too.
 
I think what you tried to do was wonderful… I’m sorry that the rocket didn’t make it…”

Raymond grinned and held his hands out to stop her mid-sentence.
 
“That particular rocket didn’t make it.
 
It wasn’t supposed to.
 
We have a lot to talk about.
 
Can you cancel your patients for the morning?
 
I’ll pay all of their bills.
 
It’s really important.”

“I… suppose.
 
Is it really necessary?”

“I’m afraid it is… as a matter of fact… it would probably be better to cancel the whole day.”

“Well… I’m only booked until noon, anyway…
 
I’ll tell Naomi.”
 
She got up from behind her desk, went out and closed the door behind her.
 
In a couple of minutes she returned.
 
“Okay,” Jennifer said looking up at Raymond, who was then on his feet.
 
She had to crane her head up to look into those crystal blue eyes and found herself wondering exactly how a man of his age managed to seem so… vital.
 
“I’m all yours.”

The moment she said that, she kind of inwardly winced, hoping it wouldn’t be taken the wrong way.
 
Other than a slight crinkling of his eye lines, it didn’t appear to have been.
 
He took her by the elbow, escorted her to the door, and let her pass through, first.
 
They told the receptionist goodbye, and then he opened the front door to the office.
 
Once, again, he let Dr. Evans go through before him.
 

They stepped outside into a perfect
Coronado
day.

*****

Jennifer gave him a little tour of the island as Ray piloted his Range Rover here and there while the two talked in the auditory shelter of a moving vehicle.
 
Finally, they pulled over into the parking lot of the golf course and stayed inside the SUV with the radio on low to prevent any possible snooping devices from overhearing the conversation… however,
Bradford
didn’t think that would be a problem since Jake had been identified and the van was long gone.
 

The therapist listened intently as the rugged man across from her explained how a decoy rocket had been used, and that the real mission was over halfway to its objective.
 
He detailed how the government had been put on notice by revealing just a bit of
Giddeon’s
information… the more intricate and dangerous governmental information of which Dr. Jennifer Evans had no knowledge.
 
Raymond explained that someone high up must have been trying to ascertain how it was that he had come by such information, and that same someone had decided to conduct a ‘fishing trip’ on those tangentially associated with him.
 

Jennifer’s husband had had a top security clearance as a contractor for the military.
 

His job had been to help design and install radar and infrared tracking systems on naval vessels when he was alive.
 
Most likely, that raised a red flag in the Secretary of Defense’s mind, and thus initiated the surveillance.
 

Raymond explained to Jennifer the encounter he had that morning in the parking lot, and he told her about the surveillance device he had removed from her window.
 
Then, as delicately as he could, he informed her of the potential danger that she may have currently been in due to others thinking that she, somehow, had access to information pertinent to national security.

The ‘others’ Raymond was concerned about weren’t just from domestic sources… international players would be very interested to find out what she knew about such matters should word get out into that shadowy community.

What
Bradford
originally wanted to do was to protect Melody, Greg and Giddy… but, after spending a couple of hours with Jennifer, his priorities shifted to include her, too.

*****

They drove to the Hotel Del, and had lunch on the deck, out of earshot of any passersby… they were near a speaker playing a mix of Jimmy Buffet, The Eagles and Tom Petty.
 
There, under the perfect, bright blue Coronado sky, and looking out over the blue-green of the Pacific, Raymond devised a plan that for some reason seemed almost as adventurous to him as space exploration…

He was going to move Jennifer Evans to his guest house on
Grand Cayman
.

*****