Pop Travel Read online

  “Of course. They are perfecting the security and attendant androids we use, and the platforms and tech stations and all. But they know only about the section they work on. They couldn’t put it all together. They know nothing about pop travel’s intricate bio-technology. Ray Saffioti convinced me from the start we needed to keep it a big secret. Like a treasured family recipe. I was such a sucker!” He shook his fist in the air.

  “Once we get this information out there, things will change. We will make sure you are in charge to conduct your experiments as you see fit. And you will have all the help you need.” Cooper patted him on the back. Damn those soulless vampires for sucking the life out of this naïve kid and basically stealing his mega-million-dollar invention. Cooper couldn’t wait to stick it to them.

  “I believe we should use this time to transfer the recording to the original stick drive and discuss the steps necessary to inform the public,” the Doc reminded them.

  “Sure. We have an hour to kill,” Cooper said.

  They all smiled at him, finally.

  Juhu Beach, Mumbai, India.

  12:40 p.m., Saturday, July 27 (3:10 a.m., Atlanta, GA)

  whisper in Geri’s earpiece startled her.

  “Harper,” Blake said in his deep, raspy voice.

  Geri got a chill and sat up straighter, but with only the slightest motion. Since entering India, she knew she was out of contact range for the Atlanta base. Blake must be nearby.

  “We need to talk,” he said.

  She raised a finger in front of her brooch.

  “Would you all excuse me for a moment? I need to powder my nose,” she said to the group.

  “Of course,” Mr. Dhruba answered. “Inside to the left, second door on the right.”

  “Thank ya, kindly.” She tilted her head. When she found the bathroom, she locked the door.

  “Blake?” she asked the mirror.

  “Ed wanted me to tell you, ‘Good work’,” Blake said.

  “Good work? Are you serious? Did you guys know about all this?” She leaned in, yelling at her reflection as if arguing with a split personality.

  “Of course.”

  “But no one thought I needed to know?”

  “No. Now you do. Is there a problem?”

  Lessening the tension in her facial muscles, she eased her anger and backed away from the counter.

  “No.”

  “Good. Ed wants to know if you have the evidence.”

  “Not yet.”

  “It’s time. He said you have two hours to get any and all drives, bring in Hasan, and take care of Cooper.”

  “Take care of Cooper? Why? Once I get the evidence, he’ll be harmless.”

  “We underestimated him at the beginning. We won’t do it again.”

  She nodded for him as she tried to think of a way to hold them off.

  “Well, I will need more time. They have to finish the experiment on him.”

  There was a pause.

  “Fine. How long do you need?”

  “At least four more hours.”

  “You have three. We’ll be waiting.”

  Geri stared into the mirror. They hadn’t contacted her in so long she had forgotten she wasn’t alone. As she primped her hair, she realized she had already made her choice. She didn’t even have to consider this new directive. Geri couldn’t betray Cooper, much less harm him. Even if it meant losing her job. Or worse. She smiled for the viewing audience and left.

  As she rejoined the group, Dr. Rastogi stood off to the side, intently talking to someone on his QV. Geri said as little as possible. She would have to tread lightly, careful not to give away information. Now she risked as much as the rest of them, but they had no clue how close danger lay.

  “Ah, Miss Harper. We believe we have come up with the answer,” Mr. Dhruba said.

  “Oh? What is it?”

  “Hasan wants to broadcast a Look@Me video on the Qnet himself,” Cooper answered with an eye roll.

  She gave him an understanding nod. That didn’t sound like a great idea.

  “You can use my computer,” Mr. Dhruba offered.

  “Wouldn’t that take too long to spread the word? And the message would be shut down and explained as a hoax before anyone saw it,” Geri said, but they ignored her. Even if the webcast could go guerilla, able to send this hot information to all Qnet ports at once, it would never get past the FBI monitors primed and waiting for it.

  Cooper gave her a wan smile.

  At least her ploy kept her act believable both ways.

  “What we need is a good hacker. But I’ve lost touch with my old roommate.” Hasan looked to the sky, then shook his head. “We can decide which outlet will be best when the experiment is complete. I need positive results. I want to have something to offer the people who have trusted me all these years. They will need hope after they see what’s been going on,” Hasan said.

  Dr. Rastogi rushed over with his hands held up to stop the conversation.

  “Excuse me, please. It is imperative we finish the test. My wife Jagruti has just informed me two men in black suits visited her asking about Hasan. I called the hospital where I work and they have also been there.”

  “Oh no! They’ve found me!” Hasan yelled and put his hands to his cheeks.

  “Not yet, they haven’t,” Cooper said.

  “But they are getting closer,” Geri said. Surely, they couldn’t get access to Dr. Rastogi’s patient records. But they couldn’t count on that. “How far is the hospital?”

  “It is only twenty-five minutes from here.” Dr. Rastogi paced with one hand on his chin and the other on his hip.

  “Then let’s finish this and get out of here. I’m ready.” Cooper stood up.

  Geri respected these men and what they were doing, risking their lives by harboring Hasan and exposing the terrible truth. She wanted to tell them everything she knew without letting her overseers discover her new intentions. Being a part of the atrocious deception made her feel slimy and disgusting. She had to come clean, right now. Especially to Cooper.

  When they reached the transport room, she found a plate lying on a table. She had to tell Cooper before he popped again. Even if it meant being tossed out a window and left for Blake to deal with. She couldn’t deceive Cooper anymore.

  Leaning back on the table with one hand behind her, she pecked out a message on the plate. Keeping her brooch camera focused on the tech station, she stole glances at the plate to check that her typing made sense.

  “Cooper, could I talk to you for a moment before you go?” Her accent waned.

  As he approached, he gave her a puzzled look.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly to cover the brooch.

  “Just wanted to wish you luck.” With one arm, she made a big pointing gesture to the plate behind her back.

  “Thank you?” He sounded confused and scrunched his eyes at her, like she was nuts. With a shrug, he looked over her shoulder and read her message: I m fbi. they see and hear all I do and want you dead in 3 hrs. I wont do it! I m w/u!

  He pushed away from her embrace, but she held him close, so he wouldn’t uncover the brooch. She pointed at it from above.

  His face paled, and his eyes registered a new understanding, then darkened with disappointment.

  Grabbing her arms, he pressed them to her sides and held her firmly while studying her face.

  “You’re welcome,” she whispered.

  They communicated with their eyes. His scolding, while hers moistened, pleading with him to believe her. She shook her head and mouthed, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  His expression softened. He even put on a smile. A sarcastic, playful smile, and sniffed at her. As he released her and stepped away, Geri smiled back with hesitant relief.

  From his jeans pocket, Cooper pulled out the two copies of the original video Dr. Rastogi had made and handed them to her in full view of the brooch.

  “Will you hold on to these for me?”
he asked.

  Her eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t believe it. He must trust her! She accepted them and nodded. What was he thinking?

  “You ready, Cooper?” Hasan called.

  “Let’s do this.” He winked at Geri and met Dr. Rastogi at the medical station.

  The group proceeded in solemn silence and Geri filmed the procedure. They were on the verge of changing history. Again.

  Dr. Rastogi took Cooper’s vitals and walked him to the transport dock. Cooper remained stoic, doing what he had to do.

  Geri’s heart fluttered as she watched Cooper wince when he received the anesthetic. She saw in his eyes the obvious fear he tried to mask. She had never met such a man.

  Once Cooper was out, Dr. Rastogi gave him the propofol, checked his status, and shut the dock. He hurried over to the medical station to monitor Cooper’s status and gave Hasan a thumbs-up.

  Hasan nodded. After running the pre pop-scan, he transmitted Cooper with the new, finer-tuned codes.

  Pop!

  Dr. Rastogi opened the transmitting dock like a magician, verifying his beautiful assistant had indeed vanished.

  Hasan stepped over to the receiving station. It buzzed.

  “I wonder who that could be,” he said with a grin, breaking the intense quiet. He held up crossed fingers and received the transmission. Cooper’s green silhouette formed on the imager and Hasan ran the post-travel scan. Ding. Like a freeze-dried dinner in a hydrowave, he was done.

  Hopping over to the dock, Geri wanted to be ready to help Dr. Rastogi attend to Cooper. At the tech station, Hasan examined the scan comparison. No one even considered the fact he might be a pile of powder.

  “This is incredible,” Hasan whispered.

  Once Dr. Rastogi deemed Cooper healthy, they all joined Hasan at his terminal.

  “It looks perfect,” Mr. Dhruba said.

  “Must be the specimen,” Cooper joked. Geri smiled for him. His sweet attempts at humor at his own expense camouflaged his doubts and couldn’t penetrate this crowd. They were all business now that they had some data to decipher.

  Hasan and his uncle looked at each other with concerned, nervous smiles, less than pleased with the good news.

  “It really does,” Dr. Rastogi agreed. Geri heard the doubt in his tone as he rubbed his chin and further scrutinized the images.

  “Well, it was supposed to work,” Hasan said with the same muddled look. “I just wasn’t expecting results this, this…”

  “Perfect!” Mr. Dhruba repeated. He beamed, rocking back and forth on his heels.

  “It’s just wonderful, isn’t it?” Geri asked, mirroring their scrunched faces, wondering why they weren’t happier. Did something go wrong?

  “Never trust the first attempt. It could be a fluke. Right, Hasan?” Cooper said.

  Geri looked at Cooper and raised her eyebrows. How did he know? Everyone should be ecstatic, not disappointed. This was an ideal outcome. What more could they want?

  “Right, Cooper. I will feel much better with a few hundred more perfect attempts and some bad ones in the batch for us to pick apart. We learn from our mistakes. Nothing is perfect, especially on the first try. I guess this will have to do.” Hasan shrugged.

  The deep chimes of the doorbell jolted them. Glancing around, Geri shared the alarm she saw in their eyes. All except Cooper’s.

  “Don’t panic. I have a plan,” he said.

  “Really?”

  “Of course. Trust me.” He grinned at her.

  1:10 p.m., Saturday, July 27 (3:40 a.m., Atlanta, GA)

  “Excuse me, Mr. Dhruba. There are two men here who wish to speak with Mr. Rahki.” The servant android spoke in a steady tone on the vidcom as if the visitors were Girl Scouts selling cookies. Cooper wasn’t buying.

  And neither was Dhruba. “Tell them to go away.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Oh, no! They’re here! We have to blur! Now!” Hasan yelled, waving his arms.

  “But where?” Geri asked.

  Cooper put a hand on Hasan’s shoulder to level him out. He needed that boy to grow up and focus. He stared calmly into Hasan’s eyes.

  “Hasan, do you have codes for any other locations?”

  “Yes. I collected a list of secluded docks all over the world, just in case I was able to escape. Did you have anywhere in mind?”

  “Sir, they’ve forced open the gate and are coming to the door,” the droid reported.

  “I’ll be right down! Turn on your shocker guns, Varin. No one is forcing their way into my house!” Mr. Dhruba stormed off. With his bionic arm, he could probably do some damage and give the group more time to get away.

  “Just pick one!” Geri shouted. “We have to hurry. We can only pop out one at a time!”

  “Right. We can execute the plan once we pop and lose these guys again. Hasan, send Geri first. Then Dr. Rastogi, you send Hasan. I will go last,” Cooper said. “Will you be able all right staying here?”

  “Of course. I can hold my own,” the Doc said and stuck his chin out.

  Hasan grabbed the Doc’s arm and pulled him to the tech station.

  “Come, Uncle. I’ll show you the special code to erase the trace. Geri, go get in!”

  Geri wasted no time. Plopping into the seat, she gave herself the shot and threw the syringe gun out of the dock with a slick smile. Instinctively, Cooper caught it. Shaking his head after Geri’s surprisingly astute performance, he sealed her in the dock.

  Pop!

  “You’re up, Hasan!”

  After giving himself the anesthetic, he waved goodbye to his uncle. Cooper slid the door shut for him.

  Pop!

  “Ready, Cooper? I hate to send you out again so soon.”

  “Doesn’t matter now. Don’t worry. Just send me!”

  When Cooper gave himself the shot, the door to the transport room burst open. Before he went under, Cooper recognized the short, dark man from the Ritz hotel lobby. As his eyes closed, the guy shot an electric bolt toward the dock.

  Everything went black.

  “Hasan’s idiot security guards caught up and stormed the castle. I stunned them, but the birds flew the coop again,” Blake reported. He had his electrogun aimed at the uncle.

  “Great. Well, we just got a lock on Geri. They’re in Australia!” Nate hit his forehead. “Sorry. I’ll have a code for the nearest travelport and you can follow them in a second.”

  “Good. But I fried the dock they used. I’ll have Hasan’s uncle escort me to one close by.” Blake gave the uncle a nod and he frowned.

  “Ed gave you the go-ahead on Cooper. Just bring back the boy and the video.”

  “What about Geri?”

  “He wants her alive.” Blake shrugged.

  “You got it.”

  Local Transport Station, Canberra, Australia

  5:45 p.m., Saturday, July 27 (3:45 a.m., Atlanta, GA)

  elcome to the party. Glad you could join us.”

  Yanked out of the receiving dock, Cooper blinked his eyes to see three policemen holding Geri, Hasan, and himself.

  “They don’t like unauthorized pops here.” Geri nodded her head at Hasan.

  “Hey, is that my fault? How was I supposed to know?”

  As the officers escorted the trio out of the transport center, Cooper tried to reason with them.

  “Officer, if I could just explain the situation,” he started, but got cut off.

  “Yeah. Down at the precinct.”

  Beasley Hills Plantation

  4:00 a.m., Saturday, July 27 (1:30 p.m., Mumbai, India)

  “But Mr. Saffioti, he shocked us from behind!”

  “That old guy was stronger than he looked, too.”

  Ray closed his eyes and shook his head at the two dumbfounded security guards. It had to be another agent. These are my best men?

  “So where is Hasan?” he screeched.

  “We don’t know. This guy, Dhruba, can’t trace the pop. What do you want us to do?”

  As Ra
y massaged his temples, his QV buzzed. An international call.

  “Just have them come home,” Ray said to Manny and answered the incoming call.

  “Saffioti here.”

  “Hello, Mr. Saffioti. My name is Captain Baz Brown of the Canberra Police Department. I believe this is the number our travelport centers were given to contact Pop Travel International in case of emergency.”

  Fearing another disintegration report, the hairs on Ray’s neck stood up. Australia? There haven’t been any international incidents except that one in Japan!

  “Yes. Certainly. What is the problem, Captain?”

  “Well. We had an unauthorized pop into one of our local transport centers. That’s a felony here. Quite dangerous.”

  Ray let himself breathe again.

  “Of course. But how is that an emergency for us?”

  “Oh, yes. Well, it’s Hasan Rahki, the Creator. We’re going to have to hold him for a bit and work this all out.”

  Yes! Unbelievable! Thank God! Ray smiled, with fireworks going off in his head. He let out a huge sigh and told a big lie.

  “Ah, so that’s where he ended up. He was conducting an experiment with some new codes.”

  “On himself?” the officer lowered his chin to look over his glasses.

  “He’s very eccentric. We don’t encourage it, but he can be impetuous that way.”

  “I see. Well, we will need an authority to come here and discuss what needs to be done. He also had two friends with him.”

  Ray cut him off and pointed.

  “Oh, arrest them! They are the ones who convinced him to do it! I will send a government official to your station, ASAP!”

  “Right. Will do. Thanks for your help.”

  When Ray disconnected, he tossed back some Aceta 3 for the pounding in his head. It never ends. Taking a deep breath, he called Vivienne.

  Police Station, Canberra, Australia

  6:15 p.m., Saturday, July 27 (4:15 a.m., Atlanta, GA)

  “Can I get you anything to drink, Mr. Creator?”

  Cooper scowled at the star-struck junior officer behind his metal CC desk. While Cooper and Geri sat cuffed on a hard wooden bench against the wall, Hasan paced the small receiving room of the captain’s office. While they waited for the captain to fetch the U.S. government official from the travelport, Cooper struggled to come up with an escape plan. Their journey might be over. That would suck.