Chapter 10
Sarah was feeling sore but was up and out of bed. The IV in her arm was still pumping fluids into her body. Maybe it was antibiotics, she thought. She had looked at the bag, but the labeling was funny. Three Roman numerals were on the bag, VII. It was confusing to her. What does seven mean? Was this the seventh bag of fluid she had received?
There were two muffled voices at the door. She could not make out what was being said, only the fact that both voices were male. Was the mysterious man who was in her room before coming back in with more questions?
Sarah walked closer to see if she could hear more. But the voices had faded, and the silence returned. Where was her family? Where were Ben and the boys? Was her brother doing all right? So many worries and thoughts rushed into her mind. It was like torture to her.
Then there was a thought. It flashed to the forefront of her mind. How were all these events connected? Ben’s wreck, James, Mike, and the place where she found herself now. Then there was her brother and the resurrection of Ben after the wreck. The new revelations of nanotechnology and its applications. The man on the square that was killed and then who pulled the trigger. As she thought more, her stress level rose and suddenly, she felt dizzy. She walked back over to the bed and laid back down.
Sarah’s eyes closed and she thought of the simplicity of the numerals in the math equations she loved. The days of thinking about the Pythagorean theory, Einstein equation and Maxwell’s equation was slowly overtaking her thoughts. This was her comfort zone; this is where she operated best. She needed to take it all back to the simplest point. This is where she could start to formulate ideas. This is how she would start her long journey of reclaiming her life and her family.
There was a sound of metal against metal. It startled her. She must have fallen asleep. She looked up and to the right and noticed a large figure. The room was poorly lit, and the figure was standing in the corner of the room. Fear and anxiety filled Sarah’ s body again. “Come on, you can do this. Focus.” Sarah whispered to herself.
Slowly the figure walked towards her; she tried to rise but she could not. Was this her body slowing, trying to heal? Or was it the medicine in the bag? Either way she was vulnerable, and this is what scared her the most.
“Sarah are you okay?” a familiar voice asked.
“Ben is that you?”
“Yes. I have been standing here watching you breathe. You have been through a lot of traumas and wanted you to rest.”
“Ben, please come wrap your arms around me.” Sarah grabbed the small rail and half pulled herself up, resting on her elbow. Ben walked quickly and did as she asked. She felt his warm embrace. His muscular arms wrapped around her and the closeness of the embrace comforted her. Instantly she felt her body relax.
“Are you, baby? Are you okay?” She felt a bit of emotion rising inside of her and a single tear ran down her cheek. She sniffled slightly.
“They told me about your gunshot and what happened at the meeting.”
“It was terrible. A man lost his life, and I saw it. I saw it up close and personal. The picture of the man dying is etched in my mind. All I could think about was never seeing you or our children ever again.” The tears were flowing freely now, and she felt his embrace tighten. The moment seemed to last for days, as she was being held in the arms that loved her, and she let it all out.
“You are all right babes; we are all right. It does not matter what happened or will happen. If we are together then everything else can do what it wants.” Ben gently rubbed her cheek with his hand. Then they shared a long tender kiss.
“Are the boys safe? Are they here?”
“Yes. We were at the house yesterday when a half dozen agents knocked on the door. They told us we needed to gather personal items and come with them. They told me that you had been hurt. I was so upset. I could not imagine anything bad happening to you but the news they told me. You had been shot but were stable. They said they needed to make sure we were safe.”
“Who talked to you once you were here? Was it a man or a woman?” Sarah rubbed his cheek, and her hand slid down his neck and she felt something, and she watched him wince.
“What is that? What happened to your neck?”
“I do not know. To be honest I remember coming here and being in a room with the boys. Then I was called out and I was walking down the hallway then things get blurry from there. The next thing I remember is being back in the room with the boys. I had this on my neck when I returned.” Sarah pulled him in, and they embraced again.
“It does not matter. We are here together now.” She thought back to the phone call she had received from Mike. Then Ben coming into the room and being under the influence of the man on the other end of the phone. For what had they used Ben? What had he been forced to do? The sooner she could figure out who, what and when the better off her family would be. Then there was a knocking at the door and shortly thereafter it opened.
“I am glad the two of you are safe and together.” It was Mike. His injuries must not have been as serious as Sarah was led to believe.
“You gave us quite a scare. I see you are feeling better.” Mike said as he walked over to the opposite side of the bed from Ben.
“I am feeling better. You look good. I was told you had been injured too.”
“Much to do about nothing. I am feeling spry as a goose. Ben, how are you holding up?” he asked.
“I am simply happy to see my wife. It has done me a world of good just to hear her voice.” Sarah felt her husband’s hand grasp hers.
“I am sure. I hate to do this, but we must go through the details of what happened, and it would be best if you would return to see your children.” Sarah watched Ben straighten and tense.
“It is all right baby. The boys are worried about me, and they are alone. Please see about them and we can talk later.” Ben looked at Sarah, smiled, and bent kissing her forehead.
“That is why you are the mathematician; you can solve the problems. See you in a little while and I will bring the kids when I come back.” Ben turned and Sarah watched him being escorted away by a man in a black security suit. The door closed and she looked over at Mike.
“What happened? Why was your partner shot? Why was I shot?” she screamed.
“The world is full of evil men with evil plans. That is why the organization I work with exists. What you witnessed was just another move in the three-dimensional chess match we are playing. What we must determine now is what pieces you and Ben are playing.” Sarah looked into his eyes, they were steely blue and determined.
“The piece we play is the one that keeps our family together. You have drug us into this mess.” She was pointing her finger before she knew.
“There can be some debate about that later. Now though you need to understand just how deep in this you are.”
“What do you mean how deep I am?”
“The incident that happened yesterday was for you. My partner was murdered by them just so you can understand how serious these people are.”
“But I was shot also. If it were a show for me then why did they do that?”
“Because there was more than one player there yesterday. There is a multitude of entities and countries interested in what we are dealing with here.”
“What are we dealing with?” Sarah said with a loud voice.
“We will get to that when the time is right. Now is not that time.”
“Then why are you here?” She watched as his eyes dropped. There was a pause.
“Ben. Ben is why I am here.”
“He is just a pawn for what Charles did to him. What I had Charles do to him. That is all.” She watched as his face winced.
“You still do not realize who he is do you. Yes, he has special abilities because he was enhanced by your genius brother. Yes, that is valuable.” There was another long pause. Sarah was about to speak when he continued. “He was a genius too. He holds the key to a lock that we have not been able to breach.”
“What are you saying?” Sarah asked with more interest. This was a turn in the path she was not expecting.
“His research into nanotech led us to places we never imagined. We have not been able to move past were he left off.”
“This is all about that. People have been killed over improving food and products!”
“You have no idea what he was creating. That is to be expected; he was particularly good at hiding things.” Sarah was now the one who paused and so many thoughts rushed through her mind.
“Sarah, he has changed. You had him changed. But deep down he is still alive. He is a Sentient being.”
