Jintao Page 11

  Crossing her arms, Dr. Lee snarked back, “I suppose you’d want to be the one.”

  “If it came to that, yup, I’d do it,” said McGowen.

  Diayu Lee’s expression changed to thoughtful concern but her arms remained crossed. “The liability is too great, and if something were to go wrong—we must think about our reputations.”

  “She has a point,” said von Ang. “We need rigorous testing before risking a human life.”

  “Putting off the inevitable is a waste of time,” said McGowen. “I say find a volunteer and get on with it.”

  “There is too much testosterone in this room,” Dr. Lee groused. “If this is the decision, I will resign.”

  “No. You can’t do that,” said von Ang. “We need you. We need your expertise. Stay and we’ll discuss about how to prepare for a human trial.”

  Disgruntled, she said, “I came out of scientific curiosity and I’m advising not to act in haste. Science takes time. I will not be a party to putting someone at risk.”

  “We need your expertise and we’ll continue as we have agreed,” said von Ang. “Let’s at least talk about the parameters of a human trial.”

  Reluctantly, Dr. Lee concluded, “All right, I’ll think about it—but purely on a theoretical basis.”

  14.

  The private investigator listened in on Hopsing’s conversations, digging into every word, looking for the tiniest piece of information or code word that might be a lead. After reverse-tracking Hopsing’s calls, it became clear that Hopsing was involved in a smuggling operation but wasn’t making any effort to pursue the Jintao reward.

  Yang’s progress was necessarily slow due the high-profile nature of Master Jintao. He made the rounds of his other assets, investigators and hackers, and he interviewed Master Jintao’s personal lawyer over a secure com link, asking about any recent changes to the man’s will and trust documents. The answer was negative. He analyzed data traffic in and out of the Jintao Corporation looking for access attempts by competing corporations. He found nothing suspicious.

  Yang talked to brokers of intellectual property and found no leads there, either. After a week of intense effort, Yang told Quan that he was unable to find any evidence of abduction. The news left Quan feeling like he was at the end of his rope. The only good news he had received lately was from McGowen, concerning the rat experiment, which didn’t help the search for his father. Nevertheless, he encouraged the scientists to continue their work. The research would honor his father’s efforts to validate the Krakinov theory.

  For another two weeks the experiments continued and, after dozens of trials with different animals, von Ang was confident that a human trial could safely proceed. Dr. Lee continued to disagree, although she wasn’t able to give a reason other than her fear that something could go wrong. She reluctantly agreed to provide a human scan but refused to be present for a human trial.

  McGowen was given the go-ahead to find a volunteer.

  ~~~

  Like soldiers passing a parade review, McGowen and his conscript ascended the broad staircase leading to the front doors of Henan Kaifeng Laboratories, their heads turned toward the east where the giant silhouette of Songshan Mountain was outlined by dawn light. The countryside beyond lay still in darkness.

  Dr. Diayu Lee was waiting at the top of the stairs.

  McGowen introduced his companion as Wei, declaring that he fit all of the criteria she was looking for.

  “We need to do this quickly,” she said, holding her hand in front of a burnished-steel plate next to the door. “In ninety minutes, other people will begin to arrive and I don’t want to be in a position to have to answer questions.” The door lock clicked, she ushered them in and the doors automatically locked behind them.

  “Follow me,” she said, marching on with the two men closely behind. Down a wide central corridor they went and through oversized double doors. The sign above read, “Molecular Sequencing.”

  Diayu took the young man by his sleeve and led him behind a temporary dressing screen. “Take off everything and put this on,” she said, handing him a stretch garment. She turned and went back to McGowen, who was looking at the control panel. “Don’t touch,” she barked.

  “Right.” McGowen stuffed his hands into the pockets of his flight vest.

  Wei neatly folded his faded gabardine jacket and placed it on top of his boots. He did the same with his cotton shirt and denim pants, topping the stack with underwear, a ring, and his plastic wrist disk. He pulled on the black stretch suit from ankle to neck and looked down at his skinny legs. He was smallish for a man, with a sinewy physique, and for a moment he felt self-conscious. Then he shrugged it off and emerged from behind the dressing screen. So far, the job wasn’t what he expected, but the professionalism of Dr. Lee and the grandeur of the building gave him the sense that he was surrounded by great knowledge.

  Dr. Lee pointed to a circular ceramic plate on the floor next to the control panel.

  “Stand on the platform,” she said. “Don’t be afraid. It won’t harm you. Stand very still and when I tell you, I want you to close your eyes and don’t move. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  As she stepped back, two vertical steel beams swung out from the wall on either side of the young man. “Okay. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Don’t move.” Bringing a purple visor down to cover her eyes, she turned to McGowen and said, “You too. Keep your eyes closed.”

  A blast of intense blue light popped, then faded. “That’s it. You can relax now.” Dr. Lee swept her hand across the control panel and a narrow view field projected into free space. Her finger moved from bottom to top. Columns of data followed her finger. Reaching the end of the file, she announced, “Good. We have clean data.” Retrieving a small plastic stick from the machine, she handed it to McGowen and told Wei to put his clothes on over the skinsuit.

  Quickly escorting them back to the front doors, Dr. Lee said, “Good luck.” And she closed the doors behind them.

  ~~~

  The anonymous glide was heading south with McGowen piloting the craft under manual control. Approaching New Hong Kong, streetlights were shutting down and the sun was breaking over the central peak. Ahead of them, crossing the bay, two enormous hydrofoils bearing the orange Maersk logo were on their way to open ocean. The grey-green glide quickly flew through the gap between them, maintaining an exact three-meter distance above the water. One of the hydrofoils sounded its horn.

  The glide banked and headed directly toward Kau Yi Chau Island. Slowing in the fog, it came to rest on the aeropad next to the two huge windowless structures.

  Stepping out of the craft, McGowen tapped his control disk, reaching Quan on a secure transceiver channel. “We’re here. Aye, sir. Name is Wei . . . from a village in the Guangxi . . . yes, sir, a done deal . . . signed with NDA, liability waivers and all. Nope. She stayed behind . . . but I’ve got the scan. We’re on our way down.”

  Walking along the interior wall, McGowen led the way to the utility elevator. He shut the gate behind them and, as the conveyance began its descent, he turned to Wei.

  “This location may seem a bit strange. The work we’re doing is classified.”

  “Okay.” Wei seemed relaxed with his odd companion: the big man who spoke Cantonese with a Scottish accent.

  McGowen he knew of several employees at the Jintao Corporation who fit the requirements, but the risk of a leak outweighed the convenience. Wei was perfect: right height and weight, young and healthy, no immediate family. To find his recruit, McGowen had gone to a village that he knew from one of his weekend trips, a little farming community that produced engineered organics for the NutriSynth systems. He first laid eyes on Wei loading a tanker of mash. The young man handled the equipment like it was second nature, shutting the hose nozzle just as the brim of the tank was reached. He clamped the hatch shut and swung himself down to the ground next to the driver’s compartment. They exchanged a few words and the rig began to pul
l away.

  After a few minutes, the big Scot sauntered up and said, “Excuse me, laddie. I’m Gregory McGowen. I’m work for a scientific research group. We’re looking for a volunteer to help with one of our projects. Would you be interested in a little weekend job? Pay is good: five thousand yuan for a few hours’ work, all cash.”

  “What would I be doing?”

  “It’s easy… and legal. We’re testing some new equipment is all. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  As the conversation progressed, McGowen found more to like. Wei was country bred, from a small town, like McGowen. He was hardworking and was open to the idea of making some extra cash. He asked about risk and McGowen said there was some, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

  As the lift came to rest, McGowen was thinking about the lecture he received from Diayu Lee. Given time, I’m sure we could have found other ways to collect the answers we seek. You and the others are acting like teenagers, looking for a thrill. I question whether you even have . . .

  The gate opened and McGowen looked back at Wei. “Don’t you worry, now. This won’t take long. We’ll have you home by supper time.”

  “I’m fine,” said Wei. “I took the day off. Not due back ’til tomorrow.”

  Next to the equipment stood two men, one of them in white a lab coat. The man in casual dress turned and said, “You can call me Quan and this is Dr. von Ang. How are you feeling?”

  Wei replied in his rural dialect, “Oh, very well, thank you. First time I’ve been over here. What is this place?”

  “Someday this will be a power station. It’s under construction. For now, we’re using it for our research project,” said Quan.

  “I understand.”

  Von Ang stepped in and said, “Come, I’ll show you what we want you to do.” Pointing to the equipment, he said, “This is a new kind of machine. You really won’t have to do much, just lay still.”

  “Okay. Just show me what you want.”

  “Strip down to your skinsuit,” McGowen said, sliding a small box toward the mesh platform with his foot. “Then climb up there and lie down.”

  Wei did as he was told, stacking his clothes on the floor. He climbed onto the tightly stretched web and rolled onto his back. His eyes looked at the cables rising out of the framework to where they threaded through brackets on the ceiling. Draping from bracket to bracket, finally they descended to a tall metal rack with lights twinkling inside. Close to him, running the length of the bed, was a narrow copper plate with an intricately carved surface. Beautiful. It reminded him of wormwood.

  McGowen removed a black plastic stick from his pocket and handed it to von Ang, who slid it into one of the rack’s illuminated ports. A hidden mechanism took it from his hand and columns of numbers appeared in a view field projecting in front of the rack. The numbers scrolled by and von Ang paused here and there, marveling at the complexity of the scan.

  “Everything okay?” asked Quan. Von Ang looked up, but Quan could see his mind was elsewhere.

  “The sequence is loaded,” said von Ang. “The file was almost to big for the memory banks. We only have two percent left.”

  There was a look of apprehension on Wei’s face and McGowen went to him. Handing him a clear tube of electrolyte, he said, “Don’t worry, lad. These are very smart people. They know what they’re doing. Have some water.”

  Wei took a long drink, then handed the tube back to McGowen, resettling himself on the mesh. “Will this hurt?” he asked.

  “I shouldn’t think so,” said McGowen, watching the display count down. “Just relax. Stay where you are and the test will be over in a minute or so.”

  A low vibrating hum rose from the equipment joined by high harmonics.

  “Here we go,” said von Ang.

  Suddenly Wei disappeared.

  “Sixty seconds,” said von Ang.

  “As I live and breathe,” said McGowen, wide eyed. “It was one thing to see Pinky go, but a full-grown man . . .” He looked at von Ang. “That’s really something. Don’t you think?”

  By now, von Ang had developed an immunity to McGowen, regarding him as something less than a colleague. “Human data is just a bigger file,” he said. “The principle is the same. He should be . . . well, we’ll see.”

  Quan was standing by while they ran the experiment. Even though he understood the theory behind what was happening, a human being vanishing like that was mindboggling and his anticipation was growing. What if something went wrong and this man died? What would they do then? But if he survived, what would they learn? What would he be able to tell them?

  The counter reached sixty and Wei reappeared. Everyone seemed to speak at once.

  “How do you feel?”

  “What was it like?”

  “What did you see?”

  “I feel okay,” said Wei. “I don’t know. It was very . . . different . . . hard to explain . . . like being in a sand storm.” He sat up, using his hands to illustrate. “Sandy shapes… and there were waves intersecting each other . . . like bed sheets blowing in a breeze . . . sheets of different color . . . all made of dust . . . everything is . . . gritty, like the air is full of sand. I was on my back . . . but not. Hard to explain.”

  “You’re doing fine,” said Quan, his eyes wide with wonder. “Take your time. Tell us everything you can remember.”

  Wei sat on the edge of the mesh, going over the same descriptions in as many ways as he could, using his hands when he couldn’t find the words. “Everything was reversed,” he said. “You were standing where you are now. But you weren’t you, just hollow dark shapes and the air all around you was lit up.”

  “So, you could see us,” said von Ang, thinking that was curious. It implied the phenomenon was asymmetrical.

  “I could see you but not your faces. There were threads of light . . . threads of light all around you . . . coming out of you like rays… and there were sparkles . . . sparkles in the air . . . everywhere . . . a thick cloud of sparkling dust.”

  “Did you hear anything?” asked Quan.

  “Some rumbling, but not very loud, and a hissing sound. What was all of that?”

  “We don’t know yet,” said Quan.

  “You’ve seen something nobody else has seen, laddie,” said McGowen, “but remember, you can’t tell anyone outside this room.”

  “Even if I were allowed to tell, I have no idea what I saw.”

  McGowen led the young volunteer over to the mobile medi-bot and had Wei lay down on the gurney. Von Ang and Quan followed and stood by while the system went to work. Jointless steel arms picked sensors from their cradles and swept across his body, from forehead to toe. Within seconds the results were projected into free space.

  “Looks good. His vitals all seem to be within normal range,” said von Ang. “He seems fine, but I want to check him again before he leaves.”

  The group was bubbling with energy and Quan was doing his best to stay calm. “Was there anyone else in there? In the sand storm? Did you see anyone else besides the three of us?”

  “No. Not that I know of,” said Wei.

  The others knew what Quan was hoping for—some sign of his father.

  ~~~

  On the flight back, McGowen handed Wei a small gray envelope. Inside was an untraceable debit card in the amount of five thousand yuan. Wei said it was the easiest money he had ever made and if they ever needed his help again not to hesitate to call him.

  “Just remember you’re not to tell anyone what you did today. Not anyone. You understand?”

  “Don’t worry. I can keep a secret.”

  15.

  The sun was dying behind the cityscape and South Point was once again a constellation of lights in the night sky. In the great front room of the penthouse, flames danced among the crystal rocks of the fireplace. Sealy set aside her studies and made room for Quan to sit next to her. “Tell me about your day,” she said.

  He told her about what happened in the labor
atory, about Wei and how perfectly the experiment went. “As far as the science is concerned,” he said, “this could be one of the most important discoveries of all time.”

  Sealy studied his face. “If the machine can make someone invisible, then it’s incredibly valuable, isn’t it?”

  “Absolutely. There’s nothing else like it.”

  “It may also have something to do with your father’s disappearance. What if the machine made him invisible?”

  “Not likely. The way the machine works, when the energies are turned off, the effects are canceled and everything returns to normal. If for some crazy reason father decided to turn the energies on himself, he would have returned when the power switched off. Besides, I can’t imagine he would have risked his life. The value of this discovery is huge, but not worth his life. And there’s something else. He would have needed a full-body scan of himself. Dr. Lee didn’t provide one.”

  “Maybe he went to someone else.”

  “If the only way to know more was to put someone in the machine, he would have hired someone, just like we did.”

  “From what I know about your father, he wouldn’t have risked anyone’s life just to validate a theory. He wasn’t a reckless man. I guess I answered my own question.”

  Quan paused a moment and looked up at the ceiling. “I was half expecting the P.I. would turn up something. This discovery is important. Father was old and if someone tried to sweat him for information, maybe he had a heart attack.”

  “Or, they still have him. He could still be alive,” she said, rubbing his shoulder.

  His face was solemn. “That’s what I’m hoping. We still have the plans and the equipment. If someone was after the technology and he hasn’t talked, maybe they still have him.”