The Intruder (32 page)

Jeremy got impatient with Peter's delay. "Peter," he said, "are you still with us?" There was still no response. He reached over to where he had been sitting to shake him, but he couldn't find him. The rest of the underwater party began to suspect something was wrong and began to call out. Things were getting confusing.

Suddenly, Jeremy's received a message.

From MacKenzie. He must have turned off his suit. You'd better turn yours off and go see if everything's okay.

*
             
*
             
*

The VR suit was a new sensation for Jeremy, but leaving the dark, virtual water tank only to find himself blind, and floating in a real VR tank put him completely out of sorts. At first, he didn't know what to do, but then he remembered to throw the switch on his goggles. Suddenly, his eyes were adjusting to the light of the tank's targeting lasers, which made a pattern on his dark suit and on the inside walls of the narrow tank. Peter should be in the tank next door, and he'd have to get out to check on him. He depressed a switch on the back of his goggles which overrode the
buoyancy
control and made him float to the surface.

The lid to the tank automatically opened. The first thing he saw was a pair of women's ankles in high-heeled shoes. As the lid opened he saw the bottom of a skirt, and then more and more of Dr. Berry. 

"And here's the other one," she said as Jeremy began to pull himself out of the tank. She lowered a steel-finished pistol and aimed it at his head. Jeremy was no gun expert, but the bore of the pistol barrel staring into his face seemed uncommonly large. "Just stay right there, Jeremy," she said. Lenzke was standing next to her with a shotgun. It was aimed straight at Peter, who was still floating in his VR tank.

"You haven't missed much, Mr. Mitchell," Lenzke said. "I was just explaining to Peter that he's a day late and a dollar short. My clever investment strategy has ensured the solvency of the agency for years, and with Peter dead, I'll be able to consolidate my hold on the agency staff. The only small thing standing in the way is that rag-a-muffin crew you've been hanging out with. Did you really think we hadn't tracked you to their headquarters? Did you really think I bought that story about taking a nap on the university lawn? Ha," he laughed. "Taylor and ten agents are ready to storm the facility this afternoon."

"And don't bother trying to warn them with your implant," Dr. Berry added. "We've cut off your hole communication."

"Yes. You'll find that Dr. Berry thinks of everything." He looked at her with obvious affection.

"What are you going to do with your new puppets in China?" Peter asked.

Lenzke laughed. "Don't be a fool," he said. "I haven't got time to waste with you. I just wanted to take care of this part of the operation myself. You're such a fool, Peter -- a blind, soft fool," he said, looking at him with scorn. "You worry so much about rules and regulations, delegations of power and procedures. The world could fall into anarchy and you wouldn't do a thing unless you had a Congressional mandate. Well, my friend, the concept of the 'invisible hand' is taking on a new meaning. These hands will keep the peace, and order," he said, taking Dr. Berry's hand in his and holding them aloft.

He lowered the shotgun with his other arm and aimed at Peter's head. Jeremy knew this was the end, but he wasn't going to go without a fight. He reached for Dr. Berry's legs and tried to pull himself up. He was going to grab her gun -- probably too late -- but at least he would try. She offered no resistance, which surprised him, but as he leaped out of the tank, imitating a swim team move, he heard a series of shots. He was too late.

As he stood erect on the short deck that encircled the tops of the agency's VR tanks, Dr. Berry tossed her gun onto the deck and put her hands up in surrender. Jeremy was taken completely by surprise, and then he heard a voice laughing. He didn't know what to do until he saw Lenzke's body lying dead on the deck, four bloody holes in the back of his white shirt.

Chapter 21

"I don't get it," Jeremy said.

"Dr. Berry was working for me, Jeremy," Peter said as he pulled himself out of the VR tank, dripping wet. He pushed Lenzke's body aside and looked down at it with contempt. "We had to play it out to the end to find out where all his assets were located, and we needed you to establish contact with Duncan and his group."

"So why didn't you move sooner, so you could have prevented the coup in China?"

"Don't worry about the Chinese," Dr. Berry said. "We manipulated the news reporting on the hole in the D.C. area," she continued, looking at the amazement on Jeremy's face. "Nothing has happened in China. You didn't think we were going to let the country come to the brink of a war, did you?"

"So you were a good guy all along?" he said, shaking his head.

"I'm beyond good," Dr. Berry replied. Peter smiled wickedly, but he put a consoling arm on Jeremy's shoulder. "I'm sorry we put you through so much, Jeremy. Once you understand it all, I think you'll see that it was necessary."

"I just want to know one thing," he said, looking down at Lenzke's dead body. "If you planned all this, why couldn't I have been the one to shoot him?"

*
             
*
             
*

"So what are they doing in there?" MacKenzie asked. She, Hanna and Jeremy were sitting, listless and silent, next to MacKenzie's workstation at Duncan's warehouse. Jeremy's head had been nodding slightly. He jerked up and looked around, his eyes wide. Hanna laughed at him.

"They've got a lot to work through," Hanna said. "They've thought they were enemies for months, and now it turns out they were on the same side. And so were we, it seems," she said, elbowing Jeremy in the ribs.

"I suppose," Jeremy said, preoccupied.

"You're not feeling guilty about working with Lenzke, are you?" MacKenzie asked.

Jeremy snorted his disdain for the thought. "I came here -- to Society -- to escape," he said, "but trouble just followed me. And then I had a glimmer of hope that I could get some vengeance for Amy's death." He had told them all about Amy and Weatherstone the night before. "But that didn't work out either. Now, I'm just tired. I feel as if I haven't had a good night's sleep for weeks."

Hanna reached out and took his hand.

Duncan's door opened a moment later and he, Levi, Peter and Dr. Berry came out, all smiles. They walked straight over to where the three friends were sitting.

"It's only fitting that you three should be the first to know," Duncan said, "considering all you've been through. We've been comparing notes from our operations, and we've got a pretty complete picture of what's been going on, and what to do about it."

"We should be able to keep the hole secure, and nobody will ever have to know what almost happened," Peter said, "except for a few of the good people of Washington, who'll need to know how the news got messed up this morning. We weren't able to control the transmission as well as we'd hoped."

"So what are you going to do now, Duncan?" MacKenzie asked. She had fallen in love with his computer lab, and she didn't want to lose her position with him.

"Peter needs to weed out everyone in the agency who's sided with Lenzke, and I need to find a new mission for my staff. We decided that makes a pretty good fit."

"And a pretty good reason for a party," Dr. Berry added.

*
             
*
             
*

That night, a chartered cruise ship worked its way up the Potomac towards the national monuments. Jeremy and Peter were standing at the railing on the port side, watching the reflection of the moon in the swirling water.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save Amy, Jeremy," Peter said, putting his arm on his shoulder. "I didn't even begin to suspect what Lenzke was up to until Weatherstone killed her. At least I managed to let you in on settling the score."

He shook his head. The victory seemed empty.

"So why can I see the intruders?" he asked.

"You have a special implant," Peter explained. "Dr. Berry knew what Lenzke was up to. She and Dr. Jenkins designed an implant that would read the visual information used by the net spy protocols. That's the one she put in you."

"And what about implant psychosis?" he asked.

"It's a terrible disease," Peter said. "Be thankful you don't have it."

He looked back into the water and thought.

"What were you doing messing with my Community, anyway?"

"Lenzke was in charge of picking the agent for the brain-link test. For security purposes, nobody knew where the agent was located, or who he was, except Lenzke. That was a big mistake on my part. Anyway, it turns out he had been doing some practice runs on the Community to get ready for the big operation. I didn't know about that. He began to control things and manipulate the politics of the Community. He was using you as guinea pigs."

"
Humph
," Jeremy said. "Arrogance. That was his downfall."

"Yeah," Peter said. "Power corrupts, but it can turn around and bite you, too."

"So what now? What are you going to do about the net spy protocols?"

"We're going to dismantle them, and I'm going to work with Duncan, MacKenzie and Dr. Berry to make sure it can't happen again. I'll have to file a report with the President, and he might want my head on the White House gate, but if he doesn't, Jeremy, and if you're still willing, I'd love to have you work with me. We brought you into this because we hoped you could help us understand what Lenzke was up to. Since you were from his community," Jeremy bristled somewhat, and Peter retracted that -- "what he
thought of
as his community, I mean. Sorry. Anyway, he would have a natural feeling of ownership over you and be less suspicious that you were compromising him. Your role was somewhat different than we planned, but you turned out to be a real asset. You've got what it takes to be a good agent, Jeremy. You've still got a job, if you want it."

The cooperative, friendly Peter was back now. But Jeremy wasn't in the mood to be conciliatory. He just looked at the moon on the water.

"Think about it, okay? Can I get you anything?"

"Yeah," he said
coolly
. "A vodka and soda with lime."

Peter smiled and patted him on the back.

"I'll send it up to you." He went below decks as Jeremy continued to stare at the black water.

Despite Peter's offer, he didn't want to think about the future, or the past -- he just wanted to escape somewhere. He needed time to sort out what he was going to do with his life, and with whom. He wondered how things would shake out in the Community, now that Lenzke wasn't manipulating it. Did he want to go back? Society seemed terribly complicated, but right now it was hard for him to imagine going back to a simple, agrarian lifestyle.

What would he do if he stayed? Work for Peter? It was too early to think about that. There were too many other things to resolve first.

Where is my drink?
he wondered, and looked back to the stairway that came from below deck, where the party was going on. Dr.
Berry
was standing at the head of the stairs with two drinks in her hands. She walked over to the railing and gazed out at the water.

"So, do you hate me?" she asked after a minute of sharing the view.

Jeremy looked at her again and smiled. "No. I just need some time to myself. Get away for a while. Relax. Swim. Ride a horse."

"Jeremy, I'm so sorry about all the things we had to put you through. Please believe me that it was necessary. A lot was at stake. Maybe more than you know, or ever will. Our plan might not have been the best, but it worked. And it's not as if Peter and I have had a joy ride these last few months."

Jeremy inhaled deeply and looked at the moon. He shook his head, smiled weakly, set down his drink and walked back down the stairs to the lower deck.

A 10-piece jazz band was playing "Begin the Beguine."
Duncan
, dressed in an expensive white tuxedo, was dancing with one of the women from the
agency
, and
Duncan
's staff was captivated at the sight, as if they'd never seen anything like it before. A few of the technicians from the agency surrounded MacKenzie, throwing questions at her in a very animated discussion. Hanna was talking to someone from
Duncan
's group -- he hadn't learned all their names yet -- but she noticed Jeremy coming down the stairs and kept glancing in his direction. Jeremy walked toward them, stopping to greet people along the way.

He stood beside Hanna as she continued to chat with a somewhat drunken computer specialist. He was obviously trying to find whatever piece of glory he could from the victory over Lenzke, although he didn't know who Lenzke was, or how he had been beaten in the end. Jeremy held out his hand.

"I'd like to thank you personally for your involvement in the operation," he said. "It was a tight squeeze at the end, but we wouldn't have made it without a lot of hard work from people like you." The man took his hand and shook it vigorously, smiling as if he'd just received an Olympic medal.