CHAPTER TWENTY: Purple Haze Simone was growing impatient. She was sure she had the young Ara wrapped around her little pinky finger - who wouldn’t want to be the special darling of the great Dr. Gladstone? But nagging doubts about her loyalty remained. It’s been a whole day and there was still no report concerning the whereabouts of Ara and the pretentious Beck Paris. Reasoning with herself she said under her breath, “They should have checked into the condominium hours ago?” Smashing down on the wall intercom buzzer a voice was summoned on the other end that quickly came over the speaker, “Yes, Dr. Gladstone, how can I be of service?” “Just inform me when you get some solid information on the arrival of Ara Dias. And let the concierge at the front desk of the Cleveland condo complex make sure she calls and checks in with me right away. Also, I want a glass of some sparkling water with a slice of lemon and a pain capsule. I have a throbbing headache!” The voice responded, “Yes Doctor. Be right there. Would you like me to bring you your virtual goggles, they always seem to soothe you after a busy week? I would be happy to get you a list of the top male escorts who will show up in your apartment to pleasure you any way you like?” “No, I just want to be left alone! Bring me my water and don’t bother me until you have news from that stupid girl!” Grabbing the nearest vase, Dr. Gladstone hurled it at a large oil painting hanging on her Manhattan apartment wall titled ‘Semiramis, Lying Dead’. Simone Gladstone found great pride in owning the famous 19th century Italian masterpiece that depicted the death of the sensuous Assyrian warrior queen. She had it placed in the center of the large living room so there would be the constant reminder of the real dangers that haunted any female who dared to rule. Usually Simone basked in the hatred and jealousy of others that came naturally with power; but tonight she felt vulnerable and alone. Her mind raced. “I will not risk betrayal, and I will not suffer fools. I hope for the sake of her future success, Ara learns to fear me?” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Someone wired Lacy’s door to explode...either they were targeting Lacy or me? We need to get you out of here before the person who did this comes back to check out their handiwork.” Ara was kneeling down next to an unconscious Beck stroking her matted hair as the Rover driver came running up with an emergency first aid kit. “Miss Dias, I know what to do. I have been trained for all possible scenarios - - it is my duty to keep those under my care alive.” After assessing Beck’s wounds the driver took out a small needle and injected a thick purple liquid into her shoulder. A warm calm immediately came over Beck’s wrinkled brow. “I call this the wonder drug. It has been developed especially for The Sisters. It would cost an average person nearly two years salary just to get their hands on this through black market channels. It numbs the body’s pain while restructuring collapsed blood vessels and tissues in any of the lacerated organs. The new medical advances are nothing short of miraculous.” After the injection, Beck not only was breathing easier but she was quickly regaining consciousness. Looking at the driver, Ara pleaded, “Can we move her now to the Rover? We need to get out of here!” “We have to give the medicine five more minutes before we can transfer her. She needs to remain perfectly still for it to properly reconstruct the damaged cellular pathways. Just hang on, stay with her while I go downstairs to run interference if any NWP officers come to check out the disturbance.” He checked her pulse while rubbing healing salve on a few of her open wounds. “Ara, she looks fine, I will be back in five.” Beck’s eyes blinked open and she immediately saw the worry on Ara’s face who was leaning over her. “Am I still alive? I was hoping I could die in peace.” Moving her fingers over Ara’s hand Beck said, “You would be better off without me my dear, just leave me here and take care of yourself. I am sure that witch Gladstone is wondering where her precious charge is at? Leave me, and tell them I am dead, that is what they wanted.” Bending her arm without pain, an astonished Beck remarked, “But Ara, I do have one request before you go - - give me another shot of that stuff you gave me, I can actually feel the inside of my body repairing itself. It’s like someone is pumping lost years back into my bones. I can taste life, it has a sweet flavor, better than eating a piece of Pineapple Tiramisu. And if you have some Tiramisu, I could go for that too!” A buzz could be heard coming from Beck’s handbag that was lying on the ground next to the smoldering splintered door frame. “Should I get it Beck?” Ara wondered. “Bring it over here and check the number first.” Ara reached into the bag and pulled out a black flat pad. Opening it up she looked at Beck and said, “It says it is an unregistered number.” Beck quickly remarked, “Answer it, quick, answer it.” “Hello?” Ara said, “Who is this?” The person on the other line hesitated, “Umm, who is this?” “This is Beck Paris’ number, she is indisposed at the moment, can I take a message for her?” Ara said shyly. “No, here, give it to me Ara!” Beck was clearly winded, she couldn't keep her head up. “You need to stay still Beck, you're really hurt!” Ara whispered to Beck forgetting her voice could be heard over the pad. “What? Who is this? Let me speak with Beck! Is she O.K.?” A strong worried voice was awakened on the other end. “My name is Ara Dias and I am with Beck. She has been badly hurt and I can’t let her speak to you because I have been instructed to keep her still for a few minutes. Can I tell her who is calling?” The voice on the other line came through loud and clear, “Tell her it’s Athan.” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan never saw Nika’s smile so big before. He knew immediately what it meant, “Did you do it? Was Phen’s blood able to be used?” Nika replied, “Find your dad, Phen and the rest of the group. I want them all to hear what we discovered.” Jonathan jumped up in a start knocking over the chair he was sitting on causing it to crash into a few of the computer stations. “Jonathan, careful, your clumsiness is going to destroy all of our hard work! Take a deep breath, slow down and go get your dad!” Bolting out of the lab, Jonathan ran to the front of the Rock House’s entrance to notify the group of the good news, “Dad, I think they did it? Come on back in.” Don, Phen, Drew, and the rest of the group started back through the double doors and proceeded down the hallway to the lab. Passing by the surveillance room, Don poked his head in motioning for Athan to join them. But he waved Don off obviously distracted by something he was listening to on the flat pad he was holding. Don smelled trouble. He knew somehow Beck was on the other end. Athan was like a dog with a bone, once it was in his mouth he wouldn’t let it go. “Come in, come in,” Nika said to the large group as they got to the end of the hall. “Once we had extracted Phen’s blood, the atomic stippling process turned out to be much easier than I thought.” Pointing to a large projection screen, Nika started explaining her calculations. “After analyzing Phen’s blood, the computations perfectly reflected what we hoped the original algorithms of the MILK formula would bring us to. His body responded immediately to the enzyme catalyst which excited the oligosaccharide chains in the blood to cancel the inordinately high production of the Alpha 2 Macroglobulin…” “Enough Nika, everything you just said sounds Chinese to me...Oops, sorry, I wasn’t criticizing your race I just don’t understand a word you said?” Jonathan said cringing. “To break it down simply, we have been able to develop a serum from Phen’s blood that we are 99.7% sure will block all Xenon poisoning in human blood. Right now three of our chemists are trying to link the serum with DNA exciters so the protein inhibitors will naturally bond with hydrogen molecules. This will allow you to pump small amounts of serum into whatever source the factories are using to provide water for the drones. One small gallon of serum could completely change the chemical composition of a body of Hydrogen Dioxide up to the size of a small lake.” Nika’s excitement over her discovery made it hard for the group to understand. Don asked, “So to put it simply, you found a way to get the Xenon blocker into normal drinking water?” “Yes.” Said Nika smiling. “And it will still look clear so it can go undetected?” “Yes. That is our calculation - it will only take a couple more hours to have the exact formulaic numbers.” Nika said. “Nika, I could kiss you!” Jonathan burst out. “Please, keep that smelly, long-haired homo sapien away from me. I don’t want him disturbing any more of our calculations and equipment before we get this completely done.” Nika’s small frame stood firm with her arms crossed while staring up a laughing Jonathan. Don pulled everyone out, “Ok, let's let Nika and her team finish. We have our own business to take care of now. Once the serum is complete, we will have to somehow sneak into the factory where they bottle the water. There we can tap into the water source and then dump the serum in. This will be easier said than done.” The determined group headed back out to the front of the Rock House and into some other side rooms where they planned their next moves. Passing bye the surveillance room, Don could hear Athan talking loudly on his flat pad, “Ara Dias, what are you doing with Beck?” Drew, who was walking behind Don, said to himself, “Did he just say Ara?” ------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Can you stand?” The Rover driver asked Beck as he grabbed underneath her right arm trying to lift her from the ground. “I think I can, even though my leg looks twisted, I feel nothing.” Beck said. Putting one arm around her waist the driver got Beck to put weight on her feet, leading her to the front entry way where the pink Rover was waiting. Ara followed behind still talking on the flat pad. “Athan, we are heading to the Rover right now. We need to bring Beck to the local hospital but I am afraid Dr. Gladstone has agents everywhere. If she is found out they would surely have her incarcerated and then killed. Dr. Gladstone wants to make an example out of her, especially considering how she embarrassed The Sisters during Vanity Night. I am really scared for her safety.” “Wait, wait, wait....Ara, what did you say? Beck is hurt and in trouble?” The concern on Drew’s voice was palpable. “Yes, her body is broken, a few of her bones were shattered in the blast, and Athan it still is really bad and I don’t know where to turn?” Ara’s voice was shaking. “How bad is she? Could she make it for a few hours without going to a hospital?” Athan asked. Ara turned to the driver, “The man on the other end wants to know if Beck could make it for a few hours without immediate medical attention?” “I could administer another shot but she needs her bones set. She also has severe burns and some wood splinters that have entered into her side and arms that she will need extracted before they become infected. I would say I could keep her comfortable for four more hours - - but she will definitely require professional help after that.” Ara relayed the message to Athan and he gave them the address of a safe house 20 minutes away. “Ara, can you assure me your driver can be trusted not to contact Dr. Gladstone or any of her minions? I will be there in two and a half hours with the best doctor in the state. Do you understand?” “Yes Athan. And of course I can trust him. He has sworn loyalty to me for life, it is part of The Doyenne guard's oath.” Beck was fading in and out of consciousness in the back seat of the Rover. Ara sat next to her holding a cold cloth on her forehead, she was burning up. The driver punched in the address for the safe house as the Rover headed south. Estimated time of arrival, 17 minutes. “Beck, hold on, Athan is coming!” Nodding off to a calm sleep, Beck’s head landed softly on Ara’s welcoming shoulder. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Don, I need you! You must come with me - Beck is in desperate shape, and you are the only doctor I know. She needs your help!” Athan was insistent, eyes blazing. “But Athan, we must stay here and plan how to get the serum into the water source; this is not the time to go down a rabbit trail chasing your stupid love fetishes. It is time to grow up Athan, your dad was right, there are more important things in life than wasting time on sensual pleasures. And Beck is nothing but plastic, cosmetics and Sepia filters and a selfie stick.” Athan was furious! “No Don, Beck is not who people think she is. She needs our help and is a target of The Sisters. If they get to her, she will be tormented and she will die. I thought your Christian ethic compelled you to be an agent of mercy? That is what you taught me. I understand how important the discovery of this blocker is..I get it...but Don, Beck is my wife! For the Christian, is not your wife your first duty?” Standing by the opening of the door, Drew was listening in. Waiting for the right moment, he said to Athan, “I’m coming too! They don’t need me here, and I have to see my little sister. When are we leaving?” Athan stared at Don waiting for an answer. “Give me 15 minutes. I need to make sure Jonathan has everything under control first. Drew I am just not sure Phen will let you go? It is going to be dangerous.” Drew answered, “I don't care. I'm going!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The intercom bell in Dr. Gladstones room sounded. “Dr. Gladstone, there has been some movement with regards to Ara Dias and Beck Paris. Some local NWP agents in a western suburb of Cleveland have notified us that the door of Lacy Dias’s apartment has been blown off by some small explosives, very amatuer work. Apparently three people were seen leaving the scene in one of the Conclave's pink Rovers, heading south. After further investigation, bloodstains were left by the threshold of the door and they are a match with Beck Paris’.” A few seconds of silence went over the intercom. “Anything else?” Dr. Gladstone asked. “Oh, yes. Using cell pad surveillance, we know Beck received a call on her flat pad right after an explosion was heard. We are unable to decipher who the call was from or where it came from. Apparently the call has some very high tech scrambling equipment we are unable to crack. We have Beck’s number marked so if he calls again we will tryto pinpoint where the call is coming from.” Dr. Gladstone took the slice of lemon out of her water and sucked it dry still thinking. “Tell me, is there any way to track the pink Rover with our satellites and then find out exactly where they are heading?” The intercom sounded, “Well the pink Rover does have stealth capacity, untraceable from satalitte and radar. So we are going to send out a flying-drone locator that will follow the Rover without being noticed. We will provide for you a digital uplink that will be sent to your projection screen in ten minutes. But for now, they are on the run somewhere southwest of Cleveland. Should I notify State police and send a special Tergament force to subdue them?” “No, no, no…” Dr. Gladstone stood up quickly, and she said, “I want to watch what they are doing. We need to play a little cat and mouse game with them. I want to know who is calling her on the phone, even though I have my suspicions, I want the snake rooted out. But don’t do anything as of yet, this game is just getting interesting.” “Will do, can I be of any more service Dr. Gladstone?” Looking up and thinking Simone eventually responded, “Yes, there is one thing. Could you bring me that list of male escorts? I’m feeling much better!” Raising a glass to the painting on the wall, Dr. Gladstone offered a toast, "Well Queen Semiramis, here's to you, the pursuit of pleasure and the joy of power! Now it is getting fun!"
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