The Orphan Factory (The Orphan Trilogy, #2) (34 page)

Observing the ninth-born orphan, Kentbridge could see he had shaken off the last vestiges of boyhood and was now a man. He reminded the special agent of a coiled spring, always ready to act or react. There was no doubt in Kentbridge’s mind that Nine had fulfilled his earlier promise: he was the best of the first batch of twenty three orphans.

Close behind Nine in the pecking order, as far as Kentbridge was concerned, was Seventeen. Although one of the younger orphans, the blue-eyed blonde had a maturity and a skillset that set her apart from others of her age and made her the equal of her fellows in most areas of endeavor, whether physical or mental. She also had a cold and ruthless streak that made her one of the most dangerous orphans.

The intense rivalry between Seventeen and Nine continued to this day, but both had learned to control their animosity, saving it for martial arts training or other such occasions they might be pitted against each other.

In the restart that followed Numero Uno’s touchdown, Nine and Seventeen showed they could co-operate when they needed to.

The scores were level. Nine picked out Seventeen from the others and sent a speedy spiral pass her way. She plucked it out of the air and neatly stepped around two would-be tacklers on her way to scoring the winning touchdown at the other end of the yard. Two of her teammates hoisted her atop their shoulders and carried her back to halfway, to the cheers of the onlookers.

Watching his charges, Kentbridge couldn’t help thinking his feelings matched those of any father watching from the sideline as his teenage children played sport on a Saturday afternoon. They were certainly the closest he had to children of his own. He knew that was rich considering he’d initially resisted Omega’s moves to take him out of the field and instate him as head of the Pedemont Project, but now he found he didn’t want it to end.

When Seventeen was lowered from her teammates’ shoulders, she and Nine shared a rare moment, swapping high fives as if they’d just won the Super Bowl. They stopped celebrating
when they noticed everyone else around them had gone quiet.

A visitor, a young lady, had entered the premises. Finding reception unattended, she had walked around the side of the orphanage to the backyard and stumbled across the orphans’ victory celebrations. No-one was quite sure how long she’d been there.

The visitor was momentarily obscured from Nine. When the orphan emerged from behind the others, he was shocked to see it was Helen.

The young dark-haired woman smiled at Nine as she approached Kentbridge whom she had immediately recognized. As she did, the special agent gave Nine a hard glance, signaling he wasn’t happy about this development.

“Hello, Mister Kentbridge,” Helen said. “Do you remember me?”

“Of course, Miss Katsarakis.” Kentbridge hid his displeasure behind a warm smile. “What brings you here?”

Nine joined them before Helen could answer. “Hi there.”

Helen turned to the orphan. “I wanted to see you again, Luke. To catch up.”

Surprised by her sudden appearance and unsure of her motives, Nine studied Helen’s face to search for clues. Bright-eyed and smiling, she gave away nothing. Sensing Kentbridge bristling next to him, Nine held out his arm to the unexpected visitor. “Shall we go for a stroll around the old neighborhood?”

“Sure.”

The other orphans looked on in amazement as Helen put her arm in Nine’s and the pair walked off. As they disappeared around the side of the orphanage, a concerned Kentbridge hoped Nine would discourage any further visits by the outsider. The orphans were on a tight schedule before graduation and the last thing he needed was any
skirt
interfering with that.

#

Nine and Helen conversed on a bench on the bank of the Little Calumet River. They weren’t far from the spot the orphan and Kentbridge had sat during their frank talk some six years earlier.

In the thirty minutes that had lapsed since departing the orphanage, Nine and Helen had made mainly small talk. The orphan could tell his former girlfriend had something on her mind. “Where is your fiancé?” he probed.

“Caleb had to go to New York for a week to attend some meetings.” Her tone flagged to Nine how much she loved her husband-to-be. “He has an IT business and wants to set up a second office in the Big Apple.”

“So why’d you want to see Riverdale again? Most people, when they get out of here, never wanna see this dump again.”

“Well, bumping into you the other day gave me an idea. I’d like to do a story on your orphanage for my university newspaper, the Daily Illini.”

Nine didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
Tommy’s gonna go psycho over this
. The orphan knew he must try to convince Helen there was no story.
But how?
He realized he could hardly tell her she couldn’t write an article. As a private citizen, she had every right to do a story on the orphanage. “Why would you want to do a story on our humble orphanage?” he asked. “I can’t imagine there’d be anything of interest to college students or anyone--”

“Oh, but you’re wrong.” Helen interjected. “All of our students come from two or one-parent homes. They’d be interested to learn how orphans cope with life. How they adapt to schooling, life outside the orphanage, mixing with others. And besides, most people without parents are adopted by foster families. Traditional orphanages like yours will soon be a thing of the past in this country. So there’s an interest factor there.” Helen reeled off half a dozen more compelling arguments to support her conviction that her fellow students would love to read the article she planned to write.

Nine could think of nothing to dampen her interest in The Pedemont Orphanage. He was aware that although Omega was extremely powerful, all its facilities and people – including the orphanage and its orphans – had to be able to withstand outside scrutiny. They had to appear
regular
, as Kentbridge called it.

Even though the orphanage was registered under a private charity and therefore not reliant on State or Federal welfare, there were still times when the orphans had to play the game to maintain the façade. They’d become masters at that over the years, coping with visits from busybody Government agency representatives, officious health and safety officials, handymen and the like. But never journalists or anyone wanting to write an article on them.

#

Kentbridge was fuming. That much was evident to Nine the moment he entered his mentor’s third floor office. The orphan had been summonsed as soon as he’d returned to the orphanage.

The special agent pointed an accusing finger at Nine. “We don’t have time for any more of your romantic meanderings, Sebastian.”

“It’s not like that. Helen isn’t my--” 

“I told you never get so attached to a woman that you can’t leave.”

“She tracked me down this time.”

Not listening to his protégé, Kentbridge continued his rant. “Just tell her you’re not interested in her and move on.”

“Helen’s engaged. I met her fiancé in town yesterday,” Nine said, pleased to see he’d finally shut Kentbridge up. “She’s not interested in me in that way anymore.”

“Then why the hell did she visit you here?”

“She wants to do a story on this orphanage for the University of Illinois’ newspaper.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Nope. She’s studying journalism. Wants to write an article and interview staff and orphans here.”

“Well, that’s great because we really need some exposure.” Kentbridge applauded Nine sarcastically. “Did you tell her we want CNN to come over also?”

“What was I supposed to say, Tommy? No, sorry you can’t do an article as this little orphanage is actually a secret training facility for spies?”

Kentbridge had to admit Nine had a point. The Pedemont Orphanage was on the Registry of Foster Homes and Orphanages,
and he himself was a registered orphan carer. They had to be open for inspection from time to time. It was all part of maintaining the illusion of being a bona fide orphanage.

“Don’t worry, we’ll sort this out,” Kentbridge said thoughtfully. “Hopefully, we can get rid of her before she becomes too inquisitive.”

Nine prepared to leave. “Is that it?”

Kentbridge nodded. As Nine departed, he wondered what his mentor meant by
getting rid of her
.

62

Having taken Helen on a tour of the orphanage’s lower floors, Nine escorted her into the gymnasium. They had the gym to themselves for the moment.

So far, the tour had been uneventful. Nine just hoped it stayed that way. “This is where we practice martial arts,” he explained.

As if on cue, Eleven, the Beauty Orphan, and Fourteen, the Aryan-looking male orphan, entered the gym for a sparring session.

“Hi Luke,” Eleven said on noticing Nine. As they did whenever an outsider visited the orphanage, the orphans and staff all fell back on pre-arranged and memorized aliases.

“Helen, this is Mary,” Nine said, introducing his guest to Eleven. He then pointed to Fourteen. “And that’s Robert.”

Eleven and Fourteen acknowledged Helen then walked over to the far side of the gym where they began sparring. It was full on and whenever contact was made the blows elicited grunts from each combatant.

To Helen’s untrained eye, the pair seemed evenly matched. “Wow, she’s pretty deadly.”

“Yeah, pretty and deadly.”

Intrigued, Helen watched the pair go through their impressive Teleiotes routines. She took photos of them and made notes in her shorthand notepad for the planned article in her university newspaper.

Although Nine was under orders to complete the tour and get the visitor on her way double-quick, he was content to allow her some more time. They’d started on the ground floor, visiting all the facilities, including reception and the well-stocked library and kitchen. All the facilities except the basement, that is. It automatically sealed off whenever it was not in use or when the building’s sophisticated surveillance cameras detected any outsiders on the premises. The kitchen and library were being used by other orphans, and Nine was able to personally introduce Helen to them, albeit by their adopted monikers. He’d also shown her the orphans’ sleeping quarters – now partitioned off into male and female quarters – on the floor above, and there, too, he was able to introduce her to more orphans.

In the course of the tour, Helen also met Doctor Andrews, Nurse Hilda and other staffers. Orphans and staff alike were well versed and pre-rehearsed in presenting a normal front to any visitor not part of the Omega Agency. Nurse Hilda was introduced as the orphanage’s receptionist and Doctor Andrews as its chef.

Helen was impressed by everything she’d seen so far. The Pedemont Orphanage was exactly what she expected an orphanage would be like, even if the décor looked a little dated and rundown. At least it was in keeping with the neighborhood.

Nine glanced at his watch. “Well, that’s really all there is to our humble abode.”

“What’s on the floor above?” Helen asked as she snapped another photo.

“Nothing, just admin offices and storage rooms.”

Helen nodded toward the two orphans who were still training on the far side of the gym. “Why the martial arts?”

“Tommy, I mean Mister Kentbridge, has a military background.”

Sensing Helen may have picked up something unusual, Nine flashed a subtle signal with one finger to his fellow orphans. Helen didn’t notice it, but Fourteen did. He immediately toned down the aggression. Following his lead, Eleven stopped using any of her advanced fighting skills. Their sparring now resembled boxing more than Teleiotes.

“Mister Kentbridge is a stickler for discipline. He believes martial arts will give us the discipline we need to succeed in life.”

“That’s interesting.” Helen replied absentmindedly. “I’m sure he’s right about that.” She continued to look around the gym, almost as if she were seeking a clue to something she couldn’t yet put her finger on.

#

In his office on the floor above the gym, a concerned Kentbridge monitored the conversation taking place between Helen and Nine courtesy of the microphones and cameras that were concealed in the gym. He studied the pair on his laptop monitor.

Helen now appeared to have her investigative reporter’s hat on and was formally interviewing Nine. “Is martial arts training compulsory for all the orphans?” Her voice came through the laptop speakers loud and clear.

“Not really. We all have different interests,” Nine lied.

Kentbridge used his mouse to zoom in on Helen’s face. Her expression was all business. The special agent worried she was getting a little too inquisitive. He then zoomed in on Nine.

“Anything else?” Nine asked his visitor.

Kentbridge grew more anxious.

C’mon Sebastian, move the bitch along and show her the front door
.

#

Five minutes later, Nine was still patiently answering Helen’s questions. None were especially probing or intrusive and the orphan was more relaxed, confident his guest was not suspicious of anything. Even so, he was conscious of the need to wind things up. “Is that everything you need for your article?”

“I think so, thanks.”

Nine turned to leave, but noticed Helen had hesitated. “What?”

His ex studied him for a moment, as if trying to comprehend, or recall, something. “Last night,” she said, “I was thinking back to our time in Los Angeles.”

“That was so long ago,” Nine said dismissively. 

“It was. But I wanted to clarify one thing.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“How did you know Bill Clinton would become President?”

Nine was surprised she remembered that prediction. At the time, he recalled she was certain he was mentally unstable. “Did I say that?”

“Yes. You predicted it and you told me to remember what you said. And at the time Clinton was not even one of the leading candidates within the Democratic Party.”

“I think some political analysts were already predicting he could--”

“I checked the dates online last night,” Helen interjected. “In early Nineteen Ninety Two, Clinton wasn’t even a serious contender for the presidency let alone a frontrunner. Bill was already considered a womanizer and the Wall Street Journal wrote an article saying he creatively dodged the Vietnam War draft. The guy was a real long shot when you made that prediction, Luke.”