Lord, Grant Me The Freedom…
Part 17
"There
are two freedoms -- the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the
true, where he is free to do as he ought."
Charles Kingsley
19 weeks to
go.
"You
have a visitor, McCaffrey."
Jarod entered
the visitor’s room, half-hoping that the real Steve had come to tell him how
the situation with the refugees was going. The other figure, however, was as
much an encouragement as anyone else and he eagerly sat down as his eyes
widened. "My God, how did you find me?"
The man
smiled, his blue eyes, which made such a contrast to his black hair, twinkling,
as his lips parted to reveal white teeth. "I admit that it wasn't easy.
Even here you manage to hide well. What are you here for?"
Jarod's
expression darkened. "The Centre's crimes, and preventing an innocent man
with a loving family from having to be here."
"You
mean McCaffrey? Yes, we met briefly some years ago. He has a family now?"
"Three
small children. So you can see why I have to be here."
"I can.
I might have done the same thing, in your situation."
"And the
Centre?"
"Doing
exactly what you simulated. The Triumvirate is gone, as far as they know, and
they're facing off against each other like a couple of raging bulls. If I
hadn't needed to talk to you, I would have stayed to watch. It's quite an
amusing sight." The man's mouth twisted and Jarod couldn't help grinning.
"I can
well believe it."
"Have
you talked to Parker or the others?"
"Briefly."
Jarod's smile dropped from his face and his expression darkened once more.
"They're safe, from what she told me."
"I
wanted to keep Brigitte away from Sydney, but I couldn't find a way of doing it
that wouldn't make her suspicious."
"But you
were giving him the antidote that we worked out," Jarod stated.
The man
nodded. "Should I go see them?"
"No.
Steve went, after forcing their location out of me. So I'd say they're safe.
He's a good as anyone else."
"So what
do you want me to do?"
"Go and
get in touch with that friend of ours, but don't let Raines, Lyle and the
others know you're back. Keep me informed of anything that happens. I want to
know as soon as possible. When I'm out of here, it’ll take all of us to finally
get rid of them."
The man sat
back in his chair and pressed the tips of his fingers together, his expression
concerned. "I don't like leaving you here, Jarod."
"But I
can't leave yet. It won't be that long, don't worry. Just keep me informed and,
together, we'll do what we can to stop them."
"So you
knew my mother?" Parker asked softly.
"Yes,"
Steve agreed. "She was one of the best people in the world. If you aimed
to be only as good as she was, it’d make you a wonderful woman, Miss Parker.
And you do have every opportunity that way."
"And at
the Centre - "
"I was
the sweeper primarily in charge of Timmy - Angelo," the man corrected
himself. "It wasn't uncommon to see your mother down in SL-19, where his
room used to be. Timmy always knew when she would be coming and was always
waiting for her. He was one of the main children that she was planning to
remove from the Centre. She used to discuss the plan with me, sometimes. Never
the small details, only what would affect me. And I was so eager for it to
happen. And then she staged her death and went to have your brother,
Ethan..."
"You
know about him?"
"Oh yes.
Catherine told me. And..."
"Where
is he?"
The man
smiled. "You're always impatient, just like your mother. But as for Ethan,
after the bomb explosion, Jarod brought him to us - our family. Ethan suffered
extreme emotional problems for a long time afterwards, as well as some memory
loss, particularly regarding his recent time with Dr…sorry, Mr Raines. He's
doing much better now, though. Jarod helped a lot and so, Ethan says, did
you."
"I?
How?" Miss Parker stared at him.
"Apparently
because of your similarity to your mother in looks. Ethan seems to have an
innate sense of anything or anyone similar to his mother and it's only his
wariness, which was caused by Raines' treatment of him, that makes him
unwilling to immediately believe that a person will help him. If he'd known I
was coming to visit you, he would have wanted to come but he needed a few more
days to recover."
"And so
he's living with you?"
"For the
moment. We were hoping that Jarod would come and take care of him for a while
but...well..."
"Yes,
where is Jarod? I mean, you said that he wasn't in the Centre."
"He
isn't, Miss Parker. Which is probably fortunate for him, considering how things
are going."
"Is the
treatment complete?"
"Almost,
Mr Raines." The sweeper's voice was cold and emotionless and the head of
the Centre, more interested in the victim than her guard, had failed to notice
the twinkle that had appeared in the man's eye over the past few days. "A
few more days and she should be everything that you want her to be."
Brigitte’s
body was strapped to a table and her head lolled to one side. Raines'
experiments on others had shown that the treatment had most impact when the
victim was heavily sedated and this was one victim that Raines couldn't bear to
have failed with. He nodded at the man standing at the head of the board, who
reached over and slapped the woman hard on the face. His finger marks showed
clearly on her white cheek and her eyes opened.
"Yes
sir. What do you want me to do?" The voice was clear and free of the
English accent that she had once adopted. Now her speech was monotonous and,
accompanied by the lack of expression in her eyes, could have been terrifying
to anyone who knew what real fear was. However the two men only exchanged
satisfied glances.
"Is it
infallible?"
"Not
quite. There's no guarantee, if the treatment were stopped now, that it
wouldn't wear off. There are still signs that the level of brain activity is
higher than it should be. However, in a few more days, it should be permanent.
Then we can move ahead with stage two."
"Good,
good. Then we will have the perfect assassin. Proceed with the treatment."
Raines stood
back and watched as his associate walked over to a small medical trolley and
picked up a syringe. Clearing it of air bubbles, he walked over and injected
the contents into the woman's arm. In seconds the anesthetic had taken effect.
Then the man skillfully picked up a pair of electrodes and placed them on
either side of the woman's head. The powerful voltage tore through her body,
making it jerk violently against the restraints. After several seconds of such
treatment, the man produced another syringe and injected the contents of this
into the inert figure.
"Explain
the treatment to me again."
"The
electric treatment stimulates the brain, briefly increasing the metabolic rate
which has been slowed by the sedative. This allows the body to more easily
absorb the substances we are injecting into it, which in turn will be
responsible for suppressing the parts of the brain which are responsible for
independent thought and reasoning. Those areas have been identified through
years of research in other Centre laboratories. This treatment will result in a
perfectly obedient subject, who will do exactly as they are told."
The man,
watching the scene from a distance away, opened and closed his mouth several
times before pushing the screen over to the other occupant of the room.