The Aegis Solution (43 page)

"With regard to the residents of Madison, I would venture a guess that they, too, would admit they
were registered as Republicans prior to entering this facility. But the very same uniqueness and purity
of this environment, which precipitated the other changes we discussed earlier, have caused an
awakening or realization of some fundamental truths within them. If they were to leave Aegis tomorrow,
they would be as offended by the dominant voices within that party as, I believe, Thomas Jefferson or
James Madison would be if they were to return to America today."

"So you're saying that they most reflect the beliefs of the Tea Party?"

"That entity is a phenomenon which arose subsequent to my departure from society. I have
discussed the Tea Party with some of the new entrants but don't know nearly enough about it to say.
I get the impression that it is still in its embryonic stages and only time will tell what it may become. And
labels, although convenient, are generally misleading more than helpful."

"Yeah," Tillie interrupted. "They don't allow you to drone on for hours."

Wilson smiled at her and continued, "I do have a tendency to do that. Unfortunately, most of the
things I ponder are not easily distilled into bullet statements."

"It's a good thing we have all the time in the world," Tillie huffed.

Shaking his head in amusement, Wilson continued once again, "I believe that the folks at Madison
have benefited from the mental clarity afforded by the absence of media, currency, and all of the myriad
distractions which are an integral part of the society out there. And as a result, they have formulated a
philosophical foundation that rewards excellence, effectively discourages disruptive behavior, holds each
person accountable for his or her actions, offers opportunity to all who sincerely seek it, and, most
important, recognizes the realities of human nature.

"And the last is the fatal shortcoming of Walden. For Walden, in all of its practices, policies, and
procedures, conducts itself on the basis of how we should be, rather than how we truly are."

"I have a question for you, Elias."

"What is it, Tillie?"

"What kind of spook are you?"

Hesitating for a moment, Elias asked, "What do you mean?"

"Patriot, pragmatist, or mercenary?"

Elias swung his eyes between Wilson and Tillie. Both of them were waiting for his answer. "For
almost all of my life I was a patriot. Hard core. Down to the bottom of my soul. But lately" – Elias
stopped and shifted his gaze to the darkness beyond his two companions – "something has changed.
Now, I'm not so sure."

"That's reasonable enough, considering someone within your own government ordered the killing
of your wife."

"I'm sure that's a part of it, Wilson. But I've had a lot of time to think about things since then, and
since I left the agency. I still love my country. I truly do. I would give my life defending its principles
and ideals. Yet now…it is as if America isn't America anymore. It has changed. And not for the better."

"A very good friend of mine, during the time I was on the outside," Wilson began, in an effort to
help Elias explain his thoughts, "spent his entire life in the same town. When he was born, it had a
population of slightly more than one hundred thousand people. The day he passed away, the number
had grown to almost two million. In the latter years of his life, he confessed to me many times that his
attachment to this community had become irrational, that it was no longer the city he knew or
remembered. The newcomers from all over the country had changed it drastically. The old businesses
had gone away. The old neighborhoods were no longer recognizable. The politics of the city had
transmogrified from a just right-of-center, moderate mentality to what he forlornly characterized as ‘a
knee-jerk, left-wing lunacy.' In one of our final conversations, he told me that what he now loved was
the memory of the town, not the reality."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Donovan Killeen sat at the computer terminal, reading the log as Kreitzmann looked over his
shoulder.

"As you can see, Mr. Killeen, the files belonging to Doctor Bonillas have been taken."

"And you think they were taken by Doctor Boehn?"

"What other explanation is possible?"

"According to the log file, it was Doctor Bonillas' password that was used. She could have changed
her mind about something in her report and decided to remove the files while she rewrote it."

Kreitzmann's lips compressed into a tight grin. "I have no doubt that the perpetrator intended for
us to come to that conclusion. And we would have, if I hadn't arrived when I did. According to the
tracking logs, the files were tampered with just one or two minutes before I walked in the door. The
only person here at that time was Doctor Boehn. If Bonillas had been here, I could not have missed
her."

Killeen swiveled the chair around and looked at Kreitzmann. "What would you like me to do?"

Kreitzmann, still angry from his accidental discovery, snapped, "I would like you to confine Doctor
Boehn to the security offices. I would like you to question him. I would like you to commence a full
audit of all of our research to determine what else, if anything, has been taken or copied. And I would
like you to seize Doctor Boehn's computer and search his quarters. Aegis being isolated as it is, whatever
he may have gathered is probably still there."

The young man stood up from the chair and faced Kreitzmann. "You want me to do all of that
based upon this one circumstantial issue? That seems a bit harsh."

Kreitzmann's eyes widened at Killeen's comments. "One circumstantial issue? Mr. Killeen, you were
selected to oversee our security. There is no doubt in my mind that we have been breached and that the
culprit is within our midst. Your performance relating to Elias Charon's visit was less than stellar. You
need to decide how to best handle this latest development, or I will choose a replacement for you from
our staff. Is that clear?"

Rather than becoming cowed, as Kreitzmann expected from the young security chief, Killeen
smiled at him. "Oh, quite clear, Doctor," he responded, his eyes drifting to somewhere over the
scientist's shoulder. Kreitzmann was not certain but thought that he detected a slight nod from Killeen.

"Then I insist that you get on with…."

One moment Rudy Kreitzmann was speaking; the next he lay unconscious on the floor.



Syndi pulled her car into her assigned parking space and got out, glancing at the empty stall beside
her car, and wondered why Yolanda was not at work yet.

"Where's Yolanda this morning?" she asked the uniformed guard at the entrance as she signed in,
checking the sheet for her friend's signature.

The guard shrugged. "Haven't seen her yet."

There was no point in asking him any other questions, so she continued on to the lab area, where
she found Bonnie Schwartz sitting at a desk and staring intently at her monitor.

"Have you heard from Yolanda?" she asked Schwartz, who looked up and smiled in greeting.

"No, she hasn't called in." She typed a few keystrokes and added, "No email from her either."

"That's strange. She always beats me to work, especially now, as close to finishing as we are."

Bonnie shook her head. "You both pulled a long shift yesterday. Maybe she's still sleeping."

The explanation did not ring true for Syndi. With a sigh, she proceeded through the two-stage
air-lock entrance to the lab, donning her sterile gown at the final room before entering. She was the first
of the team to arrive this morning and immediately took a seat at her station. The white cotton towel
she had left in her work area the night before was partially hanging down the front lip of the counter.

Syndi pursed her lips for only a moment, as she recalled placing it neatly beside her work space last
night.

"I guess I was more tired than I thought," she said aloud and picked up the towel, folding it twice,
and setting it off to the side.

Next she turned on her work station and, while waiting for it to boot up, lifted up the sterile gown
so she could reach her pocket. Syndi pulled out her cell phone before she remembered that there was
no service inside the lab. Tucking the phone back into her pocket, she hit the speaker button on the
desk phone, dialed for an outside line, and called Yolanda. After five rings, it went to voice mail. Syndi
hung up without leaving a message, assuming that Yolanda must be on her way.

Taking a moment to rub her temples in an attempt to sidetrack the advance of an incipient
headache, she tucked her hands into the manipulator gloves and opened the capped vial she had been
working with the night before.



Marilyn sat on the front seat of the rental Ford Explorer, staring at the front of Aegis in the
morning light. Despite the fact that the marshals guarding the perimeter regularly had tow trucks haul
away the vehicles of new entrants to Aegis, to either turn over to family members or to auction off, the
parking area was surprisingly full. During the thirty minutes since she had arrived, at least fifteen other
vehicles had pulled into the lot, the occupants abandoning their cars, bundling the possessions they
wanted to take in with them, and braving the hellacious winds.

She knew that once she walked through the front turnstile, there could be no turning back.

"Marilyn, you're a fool!" she chided aloud, her words barely audible, even inside the enclosed SUV,
over the clamor of the incessant gale.

Slipping on the hooded windbreaker, zipping it up to her chin, and pulling the hood over the top
of her head, she yanked on the drawstrings and cinched it tightly around her face. With a final deep
breath, as if she were about to duck her head underwater for a long dive, Marilyn opened the door.



Jerry Clowrey knocked one time on Faulk's door before he turned the handle and swung it open,
wondering why Marilyn was not at her usual station. Faulk glanced up from some papers and did not
greet Clowrey, only looking at him expectantly.

"There was no transmission last night from Charon."

Faulk did not seem to be surprised by the news. "And Stone?"

"Nothing from Stone either, sir."

"Have we received a report from Boehn? Is he out of Aegis yet?"

"Yes and no, sir. He has the notes from Bonillas, but in the process was detected by Kreitzmann.
It was necessary to subdue and detain Kreitzmann."

Faulk turned over the new input in his mind for a moment. "At this point, it doesn't really matter
what Kreitzmann knows. Why hasn't Boehn left Aegis?"

"I can't say, sir. We were communicating through the hard line, when it went dead. I've tried
contacting him repeatedly with no luck. I've even tried to reach him through the dedicated
point-to-point T1. I was unable to connect with his computer."

Faulk's mood visibly worsened. Tersely, he asked, "Did he, at the very least, upload Bonillas' files
to us?"

"No, sir."

Slamming his fist down hard on the desk, Faulk took a full minute to compose himself before he
could trust his voice. "Very well. Let me know if anything changes." He snatched up the telephone
handset and punched in a four-digit extension.

Anxious to leave the room, Clowrey simply answered, "Yes, sir," and backed out, closing the door.
As he walked back to his office, Clowrey's phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw in the
display that the call was coming from the lab.

"Now what?" he muttered aloud.



Elias awakened on the cot to the gentle sounds of percolating coffee. Turning his head, he saw that
it was Wilson who had lit the camp stove and put the pot on. A few feet farther away Tillie was sleeping
on her side, her back turned to Elias. Wilson noticed the movement from Elias, and they made eye
contact in the dim light.

Not wanting to disturb Tillie, Elias carefully twisted around on the narrow camping cot until he was
in a seated position, the tops of his knees almost level with his chest. Neither he nor Wilson spoke for
the few minutes it took for the coffee to finish. When two metal cups were filled with the black brew,
the men walked away together, putting some distance between themselves and their sleeping friend.

Elias spoke in a muted voice. "I assume you had a quiet shift."

"Quiet as a tomb. Did you get enough rest?"

"It'll have to do."

"Have you thought of a direction for our efforts this morning?"

"I think so. With the killing of the ZooCity residents, the destruction of the solar panels, and their
loss of Eric, I have the feeling that the rats are going to abandon this ship."

"I would agree. It seems that whatever benefit they may have had from operating in Aegis is
deteriorating rapidly for them."

"When Kreitzmann told you about his back door to Aegis, did he give you a clue as to its
whereabouts?"