The Code - Genesis - Book I (25 page)

Agent Knight and Agent Kalin walk by the Security desk.  Knight slows as he

recognizes Amanda as she walks away from them.  He motions to Kalin, “I’ll catch up with you.”

“Okay.  We’re still on for the range, right?” Kalin asks.

“Yeah.  Sure.”  Knight waves Kalin away.  Kalin walks on. 

Knight approaches the Security Guard. “Who is that woman?”

The guard looks at his sign-in list. “That’s Amanda Clark, Agent Knight.”

“What’s she doing here?” Knight asks.

“She’s here to see Specialist Ramon about providing a description for a suspect seen at her university,” the guard replies.

“This isn’t an NSA matter.  Who authorized this?” Knight demands. 
             
             

The guard replies, “Your partner, Agent Natan, did, Sir.”

Knight replies, “Agent Natan has been remanded to desk duty.”

“I…uh…I wasn’t aware of that,” the guard replies uncomfortably. “Should I call her back, Agent Knight?”

             
Knight hesitates. “No…no.  I’ll take care of this.”

“Yes, Sir,” the guard says, concerned he’s made a mistake.

Inside the empty general offices, Knight stands at his desk, looking through his duffle bag. 
I know I had three mags in here.  Somethin’s not right. 
Knight looks around the office.  Across the way sits a desk with a name plate that reads
“
AGENT KALIN.
”
  Another black duffle sits on the floor next to Kalin’s desk.  Knight looks around the empty office again. 
I still have time.
  He walks over to Kalin’s duffle and unzips the bag.  Three gun magazines sit next to each other in the bottom of the bag.

Knight quickly removes a gun magazine, zips the bag back up and walks over to his desk, tossing the magazine inside his own bag.  Knight adjusts his collar.
I can feel the noose tightening.
  Kalin enters and heads toward his desk.  He sees Knight at his own desk, with his own bag.

“You ready to shoot?” Kalin asks.

“Yeah…” Knight replies nonchalantly.

“No way you’ll outscore me today,” Kalin instigates, grabbing his bag.  Knight grabs his own bag and the two of them walk out of the office.

Chapter Forty-four
             
             
             
             

             
Natan drives into the parking garage and parks her car.  She shuts her car off and gets out, looking around.  Natan walks across the parking garage and opens the door to Josh’s car. “Hey Justin.  Where’s my cleaning?” she jokes.

An unamused Josh replies, “Funny, Agent Natan.  It seems silly to go through all of these hoops since you’re showing up at the university unannounced these days.”

Natan counters, “I have a plan…don’t worry.  Just keep the privacy protocol that we discussed.”

“And what about you keeping the privacy protocol, Agent Natan?” he asks, annoyed.

“I said I have a plan,” she reiterates.

“Wanna fill me in?” Josh asks.

Natan replies, “It’s unimportant at the moment.” 

“Well, so is this information.”  Josh holds a pile of papers in his hand and motions them to and away from Natan.

“All right, already,” Natan says. “I’m sort of smoking someone out.”

“Smoking someone out?  What does that mean?” he asks.

She replies, “I’m making myself more available to see if I can gain a clearer picture of who’s following me.”

Josh replies coolly, “I see, Agent Natan.  Glad you’re keeping me in the loop.  Let me know how that works out.”

“Absolutely.  So, what unimportant information do you have, Professor?” she asks.

Josh hands Natan some paperwork. “We’ve come across an amazing connection, Agent Natan.”

“How so?” she asks.

“Well…I input as many of the known matrices as were available and I’ve found our next stepping stone…you could even say it’s a bridge, Agent Natan,” he says.

             
Natan flips through the pages. “Don’t mind me.  I’ll read…you explain.”

“I’ve found an incomplete riddle within the various matrices once they are all combined.” Josh warms up to the topic.

“Not another one…a riddle to what?” she asks.

“To the big picture, Agent Natan.”

Natan replies, “Each new development is just another riddle or symbol to solve.  Aren’t you tired of puzzles yet?”

“Agent Natan, this may be one of the most significant pieces of the puzzle yet,” he says.

“I think I’m experiencing a new gift…a new talent of mine,” she chides. “This…all sounds so familiar.  Could it be…deja vu?”  Natan looks at Josh thoughtfully. “Yes…I think it may be.  I know I’ve heard this repertoire of “significance” before…”

“Agent Natan, this
is
significant because of the missing pieces…not just the riddle itself.”

“I’m waiting to hear the punch line, Professor.”

Josh continues, “The pieces of this riddle are missing because history hasn’t been written yet…events haven’t happened.  We are creating the Code as we go along…like working a puzzle…filling in the pieces one by one.”

“I thought the Code was already written,” she says.

He replies, “It was, but it wasn’t.  It’s complicated.  We do have some things to work with here.  I found two significant findings in the collective matrix…I ran it with the words
collective
and
links
…”

“I can barely contain my wonder,” Natan quips.

“These are the words I found.”  Josh hands Natan a list.

Natan reads the list aloud. “Inter-connected, events, ancient computer, find, others, to follow.”  Natan hands the list back to Josh. “This makes absolutely no sense to me, Professor.”

“As I said, it’s an incomplete riddle…just the beginning, but this is what I gather from it.”  Josh points to the page. “Information about
the first computer
ever created
…
the original, Agent Natan,
has been in the scientific news lately.  Created by the Greeks more than 2000 years ago, the Antikythera Mechanism was found in a shipwreck at the turn of the twentieth century. Scientists have really amped up their research the last few years to learn more about this artifact.  They’re still working on it, but you know what’s interesting?”

“No telling,” Natan says.

He continues, “This
computer
is supposed to be linked to astronomy somehow.  I believe that is what the collective matrix is saying and that, in time, we will see more discoveries unearthed.”

“What does this all mean, Professor?” she asks.

Josh muses, “What if the Mayans weren’t the only ones to know about the Bible Code and the end date?  What if they were the beginning…the foundation or nucleus…the path, you could say?  Could these other “findings” be like bread crumbs, creating a map of sorts for us that leads down the path?
An extension of the center…toward the answers?”

“I’m sensing great complications in our future,” Natan replies.

“Agent Natan…don’t you see?” he boasts. “History is the photograph…and we’re waiting in the darkroom as we speak.  We’re the developers, Agent Natan…it’s only a matter of time before we see the complete picture.”

She replies, “So with our luck we’ll be capturing the last snapshot around 2012, right?”
             
             

Josh continues, “You know, Australian Aborigines could see stars that we have to look in a telescope to see.  Their eyesight was genetically better than ours…not to mention the fact that they had limited pollution.  It’s ironic, isn’t it…that we have so much technology and they could see beyond us.  Think about it, Agent Natan.  It’s nothing less than fate.”

Natan replies, “Look, Professor, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking to get you to this existential state that you’re in, but my biblically psychic, weirdo-metric pressure glass is full right now.”

“I’m sure this is difficult for you,” he says. “I’ll keep working on this and see if I can come up with anything else.”

“I hear you, Professor.  I just need time to process it.”  Natan looks down at her watch. “I’ve got to get back to the NSA.” 

“Be careful letting yourself be exposed, Agent Natan.”  Natan laughs.  Josh continues, “You know what I mean.  I…just worry about you.”

             
Natan nods, smiles, and opens the door, exiting. “Thanks for your concern, Professor.  But I’ll be all right.”  Josh smiles.  Natan shuts the door and walks back to her car.  She opens the door and gets in, putting her key in the ignition. 

Her cell phone rings.  She grabs her phone out of her pocket and answers as she see Josh drives off. “Agent Natan.”

On the other end of the line, Dr. Berk sits at his desk, phone in hand and twirling

a paperclip. “Agent Natan…it’s Dr. Berk.”

Natan hesitates, replying, “Dr. Berk.  This is unexpected.  How are you?”

“I’m well.  I’m calling because there’s been a development and I need to see you.”
             
             

Natan’s hair stands up on the back of her neck. “Dr. Berk.  Uh…sorry to cut this short, but I’m in the middle of a case right now.  I’ll be busy for the next few weeks.  I’ll get back in touch when things settle down.”

Dr. Berk stops twirling the paperclip. “I see.  This is important, Agent Natan. 

Please do get back in touch once your schedule opens up.”

“Will do.  Talk to you soon, Dr. Berk.”  Natan hangs up.  She seems worried. 
This day just won’t end.

Dr. Berk slowly hangs up the phone.  He tosses the paperclip onto a piece of

paper on the desk.  It lands on a line with Natan’s name.  It is the same matrix that Josh found, including all of Natan’s personal information. 
A development indeed.

Chapter Forty-five

Inside the N.S.A. Natan gets off the elevator and walks down the hallway toward Marsh’s office.  She gets to his office and knocks on the door.  “It’s about time.  Come in,” he utters from behind the door.

Natan enters.  Marsh sits behind his desk, head buried in paperwork. “You wanted to see me, Sir?”

             
Marsh looks up. “Damn paperwork.  I feel like a race dog chasing the rabbit.”  He removes his glasses, rubs the bridge of his nose, and tosses them aside on his desk.
             
  Natan wai
ts for him to continue.  “Agent
Natan, you hear about
Alice
taking a several-week vacation to
Mexico
?”

             
Natan shifts uncomfortably. “Yes, Sir.”

Marsh continues, “I know you know her pretty well.  You think that’s unusual,
Alice
taking an extended vacation…so suddenly.”

Natan replies, “A bit, yes.”

“Yeah, well, I think it’s pretty damn peculiar, myself.  But, no one’s asking me, so I guess it doesn’t really matter,” Marsh says.

“Sir?” Natan doesn’t know what to say.

Marsh reaches into one of his drawers and pulls out a small open box.  An unattached, small piece of paper sits in the box, with its edge just visible. “
Alice
left this box on my chair before she left.  The note was sitting on top.”  Marsh pushes the box across his desk toward Natan, who steps closer to the desk and picks it up.

The letter is in
Alice
’s handwriting.  Natan examines the front and back of the piece of paper, which appears to be missing a section from the bottom.  Natan reads the letter aloud. “Chief Marsh.  Please be sure to get these items to Agent Natan.  She’ll know what to do with them. 
Alice
.”  Natan looks in the box and finds a Mozart CD, one gun magazine, and a shot glass that says
Vegas
on it.

Marsh replies, “After reading the note, I took the liberty to examine the contents of that box.  Agent Natan, can you make heads or tails of this?”

Natan looks at the box. “Not at the moment, Sir.”  Natan is about to open the CD.

Marsh interrupts her, “There’s nothing in there.  And, you mean to tell me that you don’t know why in blazing hell
Alice
would leave you these items in my office?”

Natan shakes her head no.
 
Marsh continues, “Well, that makes two of us.  I smell manure, Agent Natan.  Do you smell it?”