The Zul Enigma (37 page)

‘And I agree with that
sentiment.’

‘Drew told me he asked
you to persuade the Americans to bring Carlos to Vienna. You’re a smart man.
You must know what that was about. Once he reached UNO City, we wanted to get
him out of their control.’

‘I see.’

‘I put a simple plan together
requiring Carlos to fake a collapse so he could be taken to a hospital where
he’d get the help he needed. If we were lucky, as I understand we were, the
Americans wouldn’t even know he’d left the building.’

‘So that’s why you
contacted Carlos?’

‘Exactly. Erika was to
persuade Corrinne to accept my call to Carlos so I could brief him on the plan.
Although she refused at first, she later changed her mind.’

Greg cleared his throat.
‘And you managed to get through to Carlos? You had better luck than me. When I
spoke to him earlier he was in terrible shape.’

‘Corrinne warned Erika
he was bad. I had to tread carefully not to spook him.’

‘He played his part very
convincingly. Right down to the low blood pressure and high pulse rate. How do
you explain that?’

‘As you said yourself,
he was in a shocking state. Perhaps his collapse was genuine.’

‘Well, we won’t know
that until we get the consultant’s report. In the meantime, I must insist that
you share none of this with anyone.’

‘You have my word.’

‘And although I can’t
officially condone what you did, I’d like to say that on a personal note I
appreciate it. I, for one, will sleep a lot more soundly tonight because of
it.’

It had been dark for a while and Greg looked at his watch. It was half past
eight and he still had no news from Corrinne. He was just wondering how much
longer it would be before she got back to him when his mobile rang.

‘Sir? I’m sorry it took
so long. Is it okay to talk?’

‘Fire away.’

‘The consultant saw
Carlos hours ago but then an emergency came in and I had to wait to speak to
him.’

‘And?’

‘He doesn’t think the
bump on the head will result in any permanent damage, at least, not as far as
they can tell at this stage.’

Greg sighed. ‘That’s a
relief.’

‘They want to keep him
overnight for observation. The doctor will contact you tomorrow, but if he’s
well enough by the afternoon, they’ll transfer him to a psychiatric ward and
schedule him for an assessment the next morning.’

‘Do they know what
happened?’ Greg asked.

He heard Corrinne take a
breath. ‘The standard toxicology screen showed there were amphetamines and
benzodiazepine in his system.’

‘Benzodiazepine? What
the hell’s that?’

‘The doctor said it was
probably Rohypnol.’

‘Rohypnol? The date rape
drug? But that’s outrageous. He was under your supervision all afternoon. I
don’t understand.’

‘Apart from that
holovideo call, you and I were the only people to have any contact with him.
The doctor said the drugs would have taken between twenty and thirty minutes to
kick in. Now, I found him at three-fifty, after he’d been alone in his office
for forty-five minutes. So… he must have taken them himself. There’s no other
explanation.’

‘But why? And how did he
get hold of them?’

‘Some executives take
amphetamines. Especially when they travel across time zones. And the Rohypnol?
That can be prescribed for chronic insomnia. You know he’s had sleeping
problems ever since Elena was murdered.’

‘But why take them
together?’

‘Perhaps he was
confused, or… well… perhaps he was desperate.’

‘Suicide? Surely not.’

‘Sir, I don’t know. But
you know the state he was in.’

‘Oh my!’

‘He wasn’t lucid enough
to talk to the consultant tonight. A psychiatrist will assess him tomorrow.’

‘That’s why he seemed so
drunk. Poor, poor man.’

‘The drugs would have
caused him to lose his motor skills. Either they made him go unconscious or
caused him to fall and knock himself out. I sat by his bed while I waited to
talk to the doctor. At first he was very restless. They had to restrain him,
because he kept trying to get up.’

‘Did they pump his
stomach?’ Greg queried.

‘No sir. The doctor said
that until they could speak to him they couldn’t be certain the collapse was
solely due to poisoning. He also said stomach pumping can be dangerous when
head injuries are involved – it can be very traumatic.’

Greg shook his head.

‘He kept muttering about
a second holovideo call coming in. From a woman. But his speech was slurred and
it was hard to make out the name. He seemed disturbed by it.’

‘Is it possible another
call came in?’

‘When Erika called me
out of his office earlier I left my tag on his desk to keep the session with
Joseph open. Someone could have instigated another call after it finished and
before the session timed out.’

‘Hm. Anything else?’

‘Just that they’re
keeping him under close observation.’

‘And how is he now?’

‘Much quieter. They’ve
taken off the restraints. He’s dozing.’

‘Thank goodness for
that. Now there was something else I wanted to ask. Let me… oh yes… is the
security in place?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good. Now it’s getting
late. I want you to go home. And try not to worry. He’s in good hands. Right
now
you
need to get some rest. You need a break. You’ve had no weekend
to speak of, and you’ve been slogging away trying to get everything ready for
the Session. You must take tomorrow off.’

‘I can’t do that sir.
There’s far too much to do. I’ve got to…’

But Greg was only half
listening. He was thinking about Carlos, about Zul and about the mystery
hologram. However much he wanted to believe in Carlos and however hard it was
to accept the Americans’ accusations, he now realised Carlos was far sicker
than he’d thought.

To resolve it all, he
needed proof that the holograms had come in as Carlos claimed.

If Zul had appeared in
Washington then the Americans would know, but would they admit it to Greg?
Possibly not. However, he could have his own people check the UN logs to see if
something had come in after Joseph’s call. And while they were at it, they
could check out the baby holovideo too.

‘Listen… sorry to
interrupt… but I need to ask you something. Carlos told me he had a holovideo
call with Erika Stone last week. The day before he went to New York?’

‘That’s right.’

‘What time was it? Do
you remember?’

‘It was around two
o'clock. Why?’

‘I think we can finally
resolve this whole damn riddle once and for all.’

‘Hans Baade?’

‘Yes.’

‘This is Greg Howard.’

Greg could hear
children’s voices laughing in the background. ‘It sounds like you’re having a
lovely family time. I’m sorry to disturb it. But there’s something I need to
ask you.’

‘No problem, sir.’

‘I can’t go into detail
now but I want you to check our system records for Friday 16th March. A woman
called Erika Stone instigated a holovideo call with Dr Maiz around two that
afternoon. Immediately after it was terminated another holovideo call may have
come in. I don’t know where from, but I
want
to know. I want everything
you can give me about it.’

‘I’ll talk to the
technician on duty and have him check. I’ll get back to you later tonight.’

‘Just a minute, there’s
something else. Around three this afternoon Dr Maiz’s secretary accepted a
holovideo call on her tag from a Dr Joseph Fisher that she accepted on Dr
Maiz’s terminal. I want to know what time it was initiated, what time it was
terminated and whether any others came in after. If so, again, I want all the
details.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘And one more thing. Is
there any chance any of these calls could have been recorded? If so, I want to
see copies.’

‘They might have been
recorded by the instigators but even if they were we wouldn’t have a record on
our system. So unless Dr Maiz or Corrinne or someone else our end activated the
record mode, then no, we would have no copy.’

‘I see.’

‘Anything else, sir?’

‘No. Except to say this
is just between you and me. Okay?’

‘I understand.’

‘Oh… and call me back
from your wife’s mobile on the following number and don’t mention any names.’

***

The most dramatic effects of the drugs were at last wearing off and although it
was late Carlos had talked the staff nurse into helping him to the armchair by
the window and opening the blinds. Staring out at the city comforted him.

He had no recollection
how he’d got to the hospital and it felt like he’d been there for days. He
remembered landing in Vienna, going to his apartment, going to some other house
and then to the office. He remembered seeing Corrinne and Greg. He remembered a
holovideo call with Joseph. And he remembered talking to a beautiful woman
called Astraea.

It was at that point his
recollections became hazy and although he tried to remember what she’d said, it
was like watching a distorted movie spooling through his mind.

He recalled a fierce
surge of fury connected with an image of the Earth littered with bodies, the
remains of people who had made an evolutionary leap to the next density,
followed by an overwhelming sensation of hope. And he remembered thinking how
ironic it was that a beautiful destiny could grow out of such horror. And then
he was drunk. That totally out of order off your face falling down type drunk.
He gripped the armrests of his chair as he tried to force himself to drag more
complete memories out of his brain – but he couldn’t.

Next came grogginess
infused with fumes of antiseptic and disinfectant; sounds of hushed voices and
squeaky soles; the touch of wet swabs and cold metal; glimpses of dazzling
lights and gleaming tiles, white coats and distorted reflections in shiny
instruments. He was powerless as his body was shifted and probed and pricked by
anonymous rubber gloved hands while he tripped in and out of consciousness. He
remembered Corrinne had been with him earlier, which had made him think he was
still in Vienna. Now, of course, the view outside the window proved it.

How surreal the events
of the past two weeks had been: contact with aliens, meetings with the
President of the USA, accusations of security breaches, house arrest and
escaping from spooks. It was unbelievable and exactly what had happened Carlos
was only just beginning to fathom.

The truth was Carlos had
made Zul up. And the baby. And Astraea. Because he wanted to believe there
could be a better future for mankind.

From the snippets of conversations he’d caught while drifting in and out of
consciousness, Carlos knew it was a cocktail of amphetamines and benzodiazepine
that had caused him to collapse. He had access to both those drugs: he took
Rohypnol for insomnia and uppers when he needed a boost. He kept a stash hidden
in his office and although he couldn’t recall taking any medication for weeks,
he was clearly mistaken and downing the drugs, like play-acting Zul and
inventing the baby and Astraea, was yet another thing he was keeping locked
inside his unconscious.

He could only guess how
ill he was but inventing aliens, having visions, and attempting suicide must
mean he was on the worse side of bad. He shook his head. He hated this feeling
of helplessness. It had been eating away at him ever since his first night at
the safe house and he knew it would continue until he got well.

And to top it all, he
was still in Vienna. Look at it laid out before him – the city lights
twinkling like sequins on a bolt of velvet – beautiful Vienna that he so
loved to look out on but where, with all its conservative symmetry, measured
perfection, Austrian convention and stifling caution, he hated living.

He’d been looking
forward to Madrid. Not the hospital of course, but to being back home near his
family, although he didn’t know how he could ever explain to his parents what
he’d done. He’d always been the perfect son. He’d been an excellent student and
had a distinguished career.

Now, Carlos realised,
he’d only been perfect in a superficial way. Between Drew and his alter-ego
Zul, he’d discovered what a selfish, self-centred man he really was. People had
been drawn to him because of his passion, Joseph had told him that, because he’d
been fun to be around, but in fact he was an absolute bastard. He just hadn’t
known it.

Carlos sighed and closed
his eyes. He felt so depressed. He wasn’t sure if it was a reaction to coming
down off the drugs or a more permanent state. He was also very weary. And
disillusioned. And sad. And lonely. And useless. What word best described what
he was? A failure. He was a complete and utter failure. He’d failed in his
career, his marriage, his friendships and his sanity. He’d failed in every way
he possibly could.