Chapter 24
“Rohan, sit here.” I pulled up my pants leg, made sure the crease was perfect and smoothed the line of my silk jacket with a casual stroke I knew looked elegant. The man behind the fancy office door had asked to see me specifically and my handler wanted me to pull as much information from him as I could.
“Your boss has told me nothing but fantasy stories about you,” the Arab billionaire said smoothly. “He swears you can walk on water.”
“He exaggerates a little,” I returned, smiling. I saw genuine masterworks on the walls.
“So, what can I do for you, Rohan de Chevalier?”
“Mister Sufi would like to inquire into the Salt Water Reclamation Project you are financing in Sadik al Tofi. He is interested in investing.”
“Really? It is a nonprofit enterprise. What is in it for him?”
“An adjustment in his world reputation,” I returned.
“He’s an arms dealer,” the Saudi Prince smiled to take the sting out of it.
“He has turned to humanitarian interests, Sir.”
The prince snorted. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t be interested in a cash endowment.”
“To sweeten the pot, my employer has sent you a thank you gift for seeing me,” I added.
“Really?” His eyes searched me and the room.
“It’s waiting in the lobby, Sir.”
He rose and gestured for me to precede him back out to the spacious waiting room where my PA held a satin covered cage from which came an interesting rustling. I nodded and the PA slowly pulled the sheet off to reveal a magnificent peregrine falcon, hooded and in jesses.
“It’s a three-year-old Tiercel, Canadian raised and trained by Simone Robespoint,” I said, naming the top falconry expert in the world. His eyes lit up at the sight. I handed him a hawking glove and he took the bird out of the cage, opening its wings to admire the 6 foot wingspan. Quietly, I jerked my head and the PA and I left him to his new toy.
My chauffeur was waiting out front for both of us, he held the door open as I slipped into the backseat. Twenty minutes later, we were at the airport boarding the Lear for the States. I slept the whole trip back, only waking up when my PA nudged me as the wheels touched down at Dulles. Looking out the windows, I recognize the terminal. “Why Dulles?”
“Socked in and everything’s been rerouted. Big storm front, twisters and winds in excess of 100 mph out West. The Colonel suggested Dallas, but that’s being hit by Hurricane Ethan.”
“How long will we be stuck here?” The Rohan cover was good only as long as this evening, they had programmed it thinking I was going to be back at the Zoo by 5 PM.
“Colonel says to shut down and sleep.”
“He doesn’t want me to eavesdrop and report?” I could feel the falcon tugging at my awareness, the faint shimmer of air under my wings as we flew alongside a galloping Arab horse.
“No. Too soon. Shut down as soon as we reach the hotel.”
“Yes, I understand,” I said. I let him take charge of everything. Unloading the luggage, calling the limo service, the hotel that we were coming, the arrival where armed agents met and escorted us to the penthouse suites reserved for NSA agents. Sat where he told me, ate the light meal he put in front of me, bathed, dressed in robe and shorts sitting in front of a blank TV screen until he would tell me to go to bed and sleep.
“Creepy, isn’t he?” My PA asked, grinning. “Just like a robot. I can get him to do almost anything.”
“Almost anything?” The agent with the blonde hair asked. “Can you get him to suck your dick?”
“Why? You want to watch?” Parker asked with a shrug. “I’m not into that. Besides, if the Colonel asks, he’ll tell him everything.”
“Tell him not to.”
“Won’t work. You can’t make him break the program responses. Lying to the Colonel is one of them.” He stared at me. “Danny, you like sex?”
“I like what you tell me to like,” I said flatly.
“Peter’s here thinks you’re sexy. Wants to fuck you.”
“Is that what you want me to do, Parker?”
My PA laughed. “No, Danny. Go to bed. Sleep. Wake up at 0600.”
I stood up, detoured around them, and laid down on the bed. Was asleep in minutes.
I dreamed. That troubled me. I never remembered dreaming; it wasn’t one of those things either Parker, the Colonel or Doctor Andrews had told me to do. Once, a woman had asked me if I’d dreamed of her but now, she seemed more dream than real.
I dreamed I was in the room, a cell. But not a prison. More like a refuge. Full of light and no shadows everywhere. A plush red recliner in which a lanky teenager lay, all arms and legs. He looked sad until he saw me. When he did, he leaped from the chair and grabbed my hand, pulling me forward.
Danny! You’re back!
“I was gone?” He looked like me, but younger.
I don’t know how long it’s been, Daniel, but it’s been a long time. You look older.
“I’m dreaming,” I said. “I never dream.”
I’ve tried to reach you before, Daniel. I know what we have to do. We have to escape, he seemed excited and eager.
“Escape from what?”
They’re trying to use us, Danny, to make us someone were not.
“I don’t know who I am,” I told him. “I’m a program they’ve downloaded. I’m not real.”
I know, he said sadly. I think I’m all that’s left of the real us. We’re dying. All my memories are fading. If you don’t run away and let me out, we’ll both die.
“You’re a dream,” I said and turned over in bed. Heard Parker, snoring next to me. He wouldn’t leave me alone and actually succeeded in waking me up. I looked over at Parker and quietly slid out of bed. “Now what?” I asked and he told me.