Balancing the Scales - Part 2
by MMB
Broots glanced up for about the thirtieth time at the face of his boss as she stood staring out the office window in preoccupation, wondering what could have possibly put her into such a contrary mood. In the past years, he had seen and actually helped her construct a deliberately contrived split personality approach to life in order to handle the pressures of work. He'd seen her be the familiar hard-nosed go-getter at work who was all business, and yet turn around and be a more open, friendly and surprisingly funny woman in the privacy of her own home. But he'd not seen the all-business persona incorporate the almost casual disregard for others that had characterized her years hunting Jarod since before her breakdown. Something or someone had summoned forth that ugly genie - and Broots wasn't at all happy about it.
He finished typing the report and hit the print button, then sat silently while the pages she was impatiently waiting for were spat one by one into the tray. He gathered the report together, inserted it in the customary file folder, and rose to his feet. "Miss Parker, your report..." he said in a decidedly un-Broots-like tone as he handed it to her.
Miss Parker's gaze flicked up to his as she put forth her hand to take the report. "I'm sorry, Broots," she said finally, blinking and letting down her guard to a more normal level. "I don't know what's gotten into me today."
"I was wondering if I'd done anything to piss you off, frankly," he responded with a dismissive shrug as he returned to his desk, "and I couldn't think of anything..."
"It isn't you," she was quick to reassure him. She knew better than to take out her frustrations on others, she scolded herself inwardly. "Trust me on that."
"That's a relief, I guess..."
"Listen," she said more softly, stepping closer to his desk and leaning down so that the ever-present surveillance couldn't see or overhear, "can you and Debbie come to supper at my place this evening? Something's come up, and we all need to talk."
Broots blinked up into her face in surprise, noted the naked plea for understanding and agreement in her grey eyes, then nodded. "Sure thing. Six o'clock OK by you?" he asked just as quietly.
She thought for only a second or two, nodded almost imperceptibly and straightened up again. "I'm also going to need those reports on the security manpower report as soon as possible," she said in a louder voice, and was glad when Broots immediately began typing into his terminal again. "Sometime before the end of the day, if you can," she shot over her shoulder as she walked briskly from his office.
Broots' fingers slowed on the keyboard, and he stared up at the window in a preoccupied daze himself for a moment. Something WAS up.
As he bent to resume his work, he wondered casually if Sydney were aware of what was going on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey Syd, wait up, willya?"
The silver-haired psychiatrist turned to see who had called out to him, then patiently sipped at his mug of coffee waiting for Broots to make his way across the cafeteria to him. "What's up?" he asked the tech, who was unusually restive in his movements.
"Any idea what's up with Miss Parker today?" the younger man asked quietly, commandeering Sydney's elbow and pulling him toward a more private corner of the room.
"Why?" The chestnut gaze had grown immediately concerned. "What's happened?"
"I dunno - she's distracted, almost bit my head off at least twice in the last hour, and she called me a 'moron'. Syd, she hasn't done that since..." Broots hesitated as he saw Sydney's head begin to shake back and forth slowly in mild and apparently knowing frustration.
"Did she ask you and Debbie to dinner tonight?" the older man asked gently.
Broots blinked in real surprise. "You knew she was going to do that?"
"Yes." Sydney sighed. "Look, we can't talk here, the walls have ears. Just... do me a favor and give her a wide berth for today, and then be ready for surprises tonight, OK? We all have a lot we're going to need to talk about. It's a damned good thing today's Friday, and none of us have to be at work in the morning."
"What the hell is going on, Syd?" Broots bent close to his colleague so that he could put vehemence into his voice without it travelling and calling attention to their conversation.
"'Hell breaking loose' is a good way to think about it," Sydney whispered cryptically. "See you tonight - and don't be late." The psychiatrist painted a neutral expression on his face and walked toward the cafeteria door, leaving behind a tech who was much more confused and concerned NOW than he had been before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Miss Parker opened the door and greeted Broots with a wide smile and a peck on the cheek, then gave Debbie a big hug. "Getting excited about college?" she asked the young woman, shutting the door and then putting an arm around her shoulders and leaning close to her head in a girl's conference.
"Hey there, Buddy!" Broots held out his arms for a rocketing Davy, whom he swung up into the air with practiced ease.
"Uncle Broots!" the little boy cried out in pleasure. "Guess what! I got an 'A' on that math test after all!"
"I knew you could," Broots chuckled, letting Davy's feet hit the floor again. He looked up as Sydney walked from the kitchen with a stack of plates destined for the dining table. He sniffed the air appreciatively. "Your mom's been checking out the cookbook section again, huh?"
"Uhn-uh," the little boy shook his head quickly. "It was..."
"Hello, Mr. Broots." Jarod stepped from the kitchen behind Sydney, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.
"Holy..." Broots' jaw dropped open, and he quickly looked back and forth from Sydney to Miss Parker. "Jarod! What are you doing here?"
"At the moment, cooking supper for friends I haven't seen in a very long time," he said carefully, extending his hand to Broots. "You're looking as if life has been kind to you."
Broots shook hands with Jarod, a stunned expression on his face, while Debbie stepped away from Miss Parker's arm. "You're the man who helped Dad during that Centre mix-up, aren't you?" She walked up to the dark-haired stranger and put out her hand to him. "I've always wanted to be able to thank you for that..."
Jarod's grip on the girl's hand was warm. "You've grown up into quite a beauty." He looked up into her father's face. "You must be very proud."
Broots' face softened into an indulgent smile as he looked at Debbie. "I am," he said softly and with feeling.
Jarod raised his eyes and took the measure of Miss Parker's expression as these people who had been a part of their lives for so long gathered for a meal in her home. There was a look of peace and contentment on her face that made him catch his breath, for it gave evidence of the woman she had become - a woman he didn't know at all, a woman who had a fully functional and supportive family around her at long last. He watched her look up at Sydney and give him a smile the like of which he'd never seen from her before.
The Pretender cleared his throat. "I think I need to go back to tending the stove," he said with a rough voice. "Dinner will be in about ten minutes." He squeezed Debbie's hand once more, then walked quickly toward the back of the house.
Broots approached Miss Parker, a calculating look in his eye. "I take it that Jarod accounts for the strange mood you've been in all day?"
"Not now," Sydney cautioned, tucking his head sideways at Davy, who had returned to his video game at the TV. "We'll talk more after the little one's bedtime."
"Talk about what?" Debbie wanted to know, and she rounded on Miss Parker. "What's going on?"
"Grandpa's right," Miss Parker replied, putting a gentle hand on Debbie's shoulder. "This is all stuff that needs to wait until after Davy's been put to bed. Then we'll make everything clear to both you and your dad, Deb - I promise."
The young woman gave Miss Parker a look that reflected her suspicion and impatience, and then she cleared her face and deliberately put the issue out of her head. "Did I tell you about the dorm information I got in the mail today?" she asked, reaching for the purse that hung from her shoulder.
"Did you bring it with you?"
Debbie and Miss Parker moved to the living room couch to study the information from the college, while Broots moved behind Davy and began to kibbitz at the video game the boy was playing. Sydney smiled indulgently and then made his way back into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to watch Jarod fussing over the stove.
"What is it?" the psychiatrist asked his old student, taking note of the posture Jarod had adopted. Jarod glanced over his shoulder briefly, but didn't turn or answer. "Come on, Jarod, I've seen you tighten up like that a thousand times - I know you're upset about something..."
"I... She..." Jarod tried to put his conflicted thoughts into words and failed.
Sydney walked over to the stove and put a gentle hand on Jarod's back. "I think I understand," the older man said sympathetically. "You hadn't really understood the shape Miss Parker's life has taken until now."
"She said she had people she loved more than life itself," Jarod mused, remembering. "But it was nothing but words until I saw her with Broots and Debbie and... you..." He turned and faced his former mentor. "You and she are very close now, aren't you?"
"Yes," Sydney admitted without guile. "We went through some pretty tough times not long after you left, and it brought us together. I had always had a soft spot in my heart for her anyway, you know..."
"Nah, I hadn't noticed," Jarod smiled at him. "But still, I've been pretty self-absorbed in the needs and welfare of my own family - I hadn't stopped to think much past her just having Davy to worry about. But now I see her with Broots and Debbie - she treats him like a little brother..."
"And Debbie like a niece, I know," Sydney finished the thought for him. "We all pulled together very quickly during that hard time - Broots and Debbie were important elements in Miss Parker's recuperation. Not that Miss Parker and Debbie weren't close before then, however."
"I knew that - I just hadn't considered that she really does have a comfortable, satisfying and happy life now, and my return threatens to destroy it completely. It just really hit me that I don't know her anymore - that I don't know any of you half as well as I used to - and that puts a lot of things, including some of my plans, in a new light." Jarod turned back to stirring the butter and evaporated milk into the mashed potatoes he was making.
"This a good thing, Jarod," Sydney commented evenly as leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe knowing that all of us really do have as much to lose as you donow will make sure than when and if you DO choose to do something, it won't be simply tilting at windmills." Sydney rubbed the bald top of his head thoughtfully. "Besides, I think there's at least one more person that you probably didn't count on that you're going to have to figure into your calculations when the time comes - someone you had no way of knowing you'd need to include."
"Oh?" Jarod glanced over his shoulder at his mentor again. "Just who would that be?"
"Sam."
Jarod's hands stopped moving over the potatoes, and he turned to Sydney with gaping mouth. "You're kidding!"
Sydney was shaking his head at him ruefully. "Not at all. Sam has become more than just another muscle-bound gun-toting backup man for all of us. When it came time to protect Miss Parker from the Triumverate..." He shook his head again, and Jarod's mind could fill in the blanks rather completely. "He may not be as close to the rest of us as Angelo is, for example, but I can promise you that he's going to want to know what's going on, so he can continue to protect Miss Parker - even from you, if he feels the situation warrants it..."
"Sounds almost as if he's sweet on her, Syd," Jarod remarked, eyebrows soaring as he turned back to his preparations.
"Hardly," the older man guffawed softly. "Its just that Miss Parker protected Sam when things could have gone badly for him during the Triumverate take-over, and so he didn't hesitate to protect her back when the time came. Since then, he's become more of a 'family friend' than just a company sweeper." Sydney sighed, then stepped away from the counter, towards Jarod, and put a comforting hand on the Pretender's shoulder. "Think of it this way: he's extra muscle, and extra set of eyes and ears, and all of them 110% loyal to Miss Parker and Miss Parker alone - NOT to The Centre. Even Raines' personal sweeper, Willy, has learned to stay very much out of our Sam's way nowadays. If Sam's convinced that your plan is in Miss Parker's best interests, you'll have a very powerful weapon at your disposal. If he thinks you're going to jeopardize her safety or that of her family..." There was no need to finish the thought.
Jarod nodded thoughtfully, setting aside the bowl of perfectly whipped potatoes and reaching for the pan of mixed vegetables to drain it. "Then we'll need to bring him in eventually, won't we?" He twisted his head and pointed with his nose. "Bring me that bowl, willya - and then let them know out there that dinner's almost ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With Davy at the table with them, the adults went out of their way to keep the dinner conversation light and carefree. Jarod told them all several stories about his young nephew, Sammy, and in return was regaled from all sides with stories that starred Miss Parker's son. In her turn, Debbie gave the latest news about her upcoming move to the college dorms and what courses of study she intended to pursue. Surprisingly to Jarod, Miss Parker was a full and enthusiastic participant in the joking and mutual ribbing that bounced liberally around the table. Once more he was reminded that, right here and now, he was seeing the woman she had become in the years he'd been missing from her life - secure, loving and loved, and very much a part of a tight and self-sufficient family unit.
Debbie and Miss Parker refused to let the Pretender have anything to do with the clean up of the meal because he'd done all the cooking, leaving him completely at loose ends when they took charge of the kitchen after dessert. So with Broots and Sydney watching in amused silence, Jarod was summarily dragged into the living room and introduced to the challenge of one of the newest video games by Davy. The young boy was amazingly talented, and Jarod was surprised that he had to genuinely concentrate on the task at hand just to keep in the running - while Broots and Sydney obviously enjoyed the spectacle of seeing a grown genius nearly meeting his match in a young boy.
Bedtime came finally, however, and as had happened the previous evening, "Grandpa Sydney" was anointed to take the young princeling to his bed while Miss Parker and Debbie prepared and then set teapot and mugs at the dining table again for the pending discussion to come. When Sydney finally returned from his good-night duties, the group congregated at the dining table. Debbie started pouring tea, while Miss Parker dealt the mugs as if she were dealing cards.
"Alright," Broots said in a voice that communicated clearly that he'd had it with the mystery, not even waiting for all the tea to be served. "What in the hell is going on?" He looked over at his hostess. "Parker?"
Miss Parker shook her head and her forefinger at him. "Uh-uhn. This is Jarod's baby."
Jarod was immediately impaled by both Broots' and Debbie's ice-blue gazes. "I figure YOU must be the reason Miss Parker was on a tear today," Broots commented sharply.
"More than likely," the Pretender admitted apologetically. "I'm afraid she didn't get any more warning about my visit than you folks did - and she didn't handle it quite as well."
"I really am sorry, Broots," Miss Parker piped in with the apology she knew she owed her friend. "I know better than to take things out on you..."
"Don't worry about it," Broots waved his hand dismissively. "Now that I know at least some of the why..." He turned back to Jarod. "So. What are you doing here, and what do you want?" he demanded.
"Daddy..." Debbie was shocked at the cold tone her father used.
"No! He damned near killed Miss Parker when he took off years ago, then just pops back into our lives seven years later like its nothing and expects not to get called on it?"
"Its OK, Debbie," Jarod soothed at the young woman. "I have some of this coming, and I know it. Frankly, I prefer your dad's anger to what Miss Parker delivered last night," he gently massaged a jaw that was still rather tender, glad the beard hid what was probably a colorful bruise from her roundhouse blow.
He turned to the bald tech. "OK, here it is. Seven years ago, I came to the realization that it was likely that, unless something drastic changed, The Centre would never stop hunting me. So I did the one thing I'd never really done before - the one thing I controlled completely that was truly drastic: I stopped leaving clues behind for you and the team. I dropped away from The Centre completely, went back to my family and made a life for myself." He smiled thinly. "I promise you, I have a bonafide, genuinely earned and documented life and career of my own now. Given that, do you honestly think I'd come back here if I didn't think I had a damned good reason to after all this time?"
Broots seemed mollified for the moment. "Alright. So why DID you come back?"
Jarod glanced up at Sydney and then at Miss Parker. "My father died a few weeks ago, and I believe he died as much because he was worn out from living his life constantly looking over his shoulder for sweepers to land and steal his family away from him again."
"Jarod, The Centre stopped looking for you..." Broots began, only to be interrupted.
"Yes, I know. Miss Parker and Sydney both told me that the hunt ended years ago, when the Triumverate decided that looking for me hurt their bottom line. BUT..." Jarod looked at the bald man with a piercing gaze, "you know and I know that all it would take would be one breadcrumb, and Raines or Lyle would take it as a personal challenge to capture us anyway, to hell with Triumverate directives. And besides, how were WE - how was I - to know that the hunt was ended? For all anybody knew, you three were still huddled over Syd's desk in the Sim Lab daily trying to second guess me all this time."
Broots shrugged, then nodded. "OK. You're right - you couldn't have known."
"Exactly," Jarod stabbed his finger into the table top. "So, now, tell me: would you be content to live the rest of your life never sure that you could completely relax and enjoy things?"
"Maybe you haven't noticed, because you've been gone all this time, but I've lived most of Debbie's life that way," Broots remarked dryly, which caused Jarod's eyebrows to rise in astonishment. "Look, I'm not proud of it, but for a long time, Mr. Raines would coerce me to give him information Miss Parker needed kept quiet by threatening my daughter's welfare." Broots glanced at his hostess ruefully, and found Miss Parker merely nodding with a forgiving expression that told him not only did she know all about it, but that it didn't matter. He turned back to Jarod. "Granted, that kind of thing happened more often BEFORE you vanished than afterwards, but I have never felt that I was entirely safe from either Raines or Lyle deciding to do something to Debbie to 'get back' at me for something. Even now."
"Then you DO understand." Jarod's gaze evened out. "Do you want to keep living that way, Mr. Broots?"
Broots shrugged again. "I've kinda grown used to it - I've lived with it so long that I simply don't let it get to me much anymore - but no, I'd rather not live that way. And frankly, Debbie's move to college has had me on edge, because when she's out on her own, I can't protect her like I used to..."
"Dad..." Debbie sighed heavily.
"Your Dad has a point, Deb," Miss Parker put a gentle hand on her 'niece's' arm. "If Mr. Raines or Mr. Lyle were to decide to go after you, you'd be a lot farther away from any of us to help you out right away. Face it, its likely we'd have no way of knowing anything was amiss until it was too late."
"And that's why I'm back," Jarod announced quietly, keeping an eye on Broots' reaction. "If I'm going to defend MY family from that fate - because I don't want them having to live their lives that way anymore than you want to live yours that way anymore - then The Centre is going to have to cease to exist as it is today." Broots' breath exploded out in an amazed and disbelieving sigh, but Jarod forged ahead. "I wanted to give you a chance to get Debbie and maybe yourself out of harm's way before I started to do anything that might threaten either of you. To be honest, though, I was hoping that I might be able to convince you to help me take down The Centre once Debbie was in a safe place."
Broots blinked again, his face now expressionless and stony. He took a long moment to process what Jarod had just told him, then turned to Miss Parker. "I take it THIS is what had you all twisted into knots at work today, then..." When she nodded, he demanded, "Well, what about you - what do you think? Are you going along with this?"
"I haven't decided yet," she admitted. "I was really waiting until we all could discuss this together, and," she turned to look at Jarod, "we could get a little better idea of just what Jarod intends before I make any final decisions."
"What about you?" The tech rounded on Sydney.
"For as long as I feel the plan holds any hope of success, I'm in," the older man announced in a steady voice. "I have a lifetime of looking away and inactivity to atone for, something I'm not very proud of. A real chance for me to atone isn't something I want to squander at my age. But truth is, I'm going to put the brakes on the moment I feel that either the plan is doomed or the safety of Davy and Debbie - and maybe you - is in danger of being compromised." He looked down the table to the Pretender sitting at the other end. "I think the time has come for you to start giving us a little more to work with, Jarod. Go over your plans for Davy and Debbie and Angelo again, so Broots has that, and then tell us just how you intended to go after The Centre."
Broots blinked in surprise. "Angelo? You're getting him to safety too?"
"Absolutely. I don't want anybody who can't take care of themselves to be put at any risk - and Angelo is probably the least able to defend himself." Jarod sipped at his tea, letting the delicate flavor ease his throat and prepare it for the speech he needed to make. "So we send Davy and Debbie and Angelo to stay with my family. We send them to Ethan and Jay..."
"Jay?" Broots was confused.
"You knew him as Gemini," Jarod filled in the gap. "My brothers will get them to my sister Em and her family - and they'd stay with them until everything's over. They're well-hidden, so the kids would be completely safe there - besides, there would be Em and Ethan and Jay and Em's husband and my mom to keep them safe."
"Where are they?" Debbie was curious. "I mean, I'm supposed to leave for college..."
"Hopefully you won't miss your first term, Debbie," Jarod addressed himself to her concerns, "but I can't promise anything. You'll need to stay away from anywhere that you might be recognized or expected until the coast is completely clear, or you'd be in real danger of being taken and used as bait to get at US. And because of that, I don't think telling you where they are would be the best idea right now. You'll be told when the time comes, if it comes to that."
"OK, that ideally gets the kids and Angelo out of the way. Then what?" Broots wasn't in the mood for wasting time thinking through contingencies until necessary.
"Then we begin shining lights where they need to shine," Jarod smiled determinedly. "We begin to leak information to the media and law enforcement about the many illegal projects that have been carried on in the various stations and facilities The Centre has scattered across the country. We'll give them pictures, documents - more than enough to run up the red flags all over the place. We do it slowly, one project at a time, and we do it in a way that doesn't leave The Centre much choice but to cut and run from each. We pare the tree of all its twigs and branches until, in the end, all that's left is the trunk - and then we shine a light into the mainframe, and let nature take its course."
Broots looked over at Sydney and Miss Parker. "Kinda like what we did to convince Raines and Lyle to back off your adoption proceedings, only on a larger scale?"
Miss Parker put her chin in her hand thoughtfully. "Do we even have an idea of how many facilities we're talking about here?" she mused aloud, then looked up. "And just how deeply do we intend to cut into the Triumverate itself in the process?"
"That depends, I'd suppose. How deeply are the Triumverate involved in the unethical doings of The Centre lately?" Jarod asked in response. "How many of the really problematic projects did they shelve, and how many are they still letting run?"
"Oh, they cleaned house to a greater or lesser extent when they took charge, to be honest. But if they knew some of what Raines and company were still up to, in violation of their direct orders TO shelve those projects, they'd shit a brick," Miss Parker sat up straighter, then glanced around the table at the several pairs of surprised eyes. "Hey! I'm Director of Security and Internal Surveillance, remember? I gotta know what's going on in order to protect it, right?"
"Your projects are on the up-and-up, aren't they, Syd?" Jarod turned to his mentor.
Sydney nodded. "Since the Pretender Project was shut down, I've refused any assignment that I was even remotely suspicious of. I've come close to quitting a couple of times when either Raines or Lyle decided to try to push me." Miss Parker's face grew surprised and concerned, and he reached out to pat her hand. "I didn't want to worry you, so I never said anything..."
"What about you?" Jarod accepted Sydney's assurances and turned now to Broots. "You aren't..."
"Broots is my assistant," Miss Parker stepped in. "His job is to monitor tower computer activity and provide technical assistance to SIS teams. He's in the clear too. And while I'm SUPPOSED to know everything that goes on - and I do - Raines' and Lyle's private projects being off the books means that I can plead ignorance. What was it that the government calls it... ah yes: plausible deniability."
"Good," Jarod nodded firmly. "Then I don't have to worry about any of you getting yourselves caught up in any investigation that our activities might cause."
"But if what we're up to is shedding light," Sydney asked, thinking out loud, "then what about any past projects that any one or all of us have been involved in that might be considered questionable or illegal?"
Jarod stared at his mentor. Sydney was right - if nothing else, shedding light on the particulars of the Pretender Project itself and its myriad ancillary research papers and projects could be quite damaging to all three of the Centre employees at the table. He looked over at Broots. "We could create a worm program that would remove all record of your employment from the mainframe," Jarod offered pensively.
"It would take a lot of work, but it could be done," Broots agreed, his mind already starting to process code. "We'd have to plant it in the archives too - or else the discrepancy..."
"That can be something Broots and I work out together," Jarod announced. "The next question is just how far back in time we want to bring things to light..."
"Not to mention that a lot of the truly obscene things that happened were associated with genetics and eugenics research connected to the Pretender Project..." Miss Parker offered.
"The worm idea won't work." Sydney burst out.
The other four heads turned to face him instantly. "Why not?" Broots demanded.
"Because I'm published in several national psychiatric journals," Sydney reminded them, looking at Jarod. "You said you'd read some of my papers. My biographical information includes the number of years I've worked at The Centre. If we shine public authority's light into a Centre mainframe from which all record of my employment is expunged, red flags will inevitably arise. Any competent investigator will catch on to the discrepancy. So whatever we do will have to get us off the hook as far as our complicity in any unscrupulous activities are concerned, but we need to stick very closely to the truth of all of our actual tenure at The Centre." He looked now at Miss Parker. "The closer we stay to the truth, the easier it will be for all of us."
Miss Parker nodded agreement, then turned to Jarod. "Syd's right. We can't just pretend we don't know each other, or pretend away HOW we got to know each other."
"OK..." Jarod's mind began spinning. "Then we'll need to give Syd 'plausible deniability' about his role in the Pretender Project and then distance him from any related research that he really had nothing to do with. We'll also have to be very selective when we remove records regarding the years you guys hunted for me after I escaped... Actually, establishing that The Centre lied to you all in enlisting your active participation in the hunt can help establish a pattern of deceptive Centre behavior that will reinforce the plausible deniability of just about everyone except Raines and Lyle themselves. Then the rest of it..."
"Deserves exposure," Broots said sourly, "especially anything with Raines' or Lyle's fingerprints on it, like what happened to Kyle, to Angelo, - what was the name of that little kid they tried to kidnap and turn into a new pretender?..."
"Davy..." Jarod and Miss Parker spoke in unison, then exchanged a glance.
"A different Davy," Jarod clarified to Debbie.
Broots nodded. "OK. THAT Davy, Gemini, Ethan..."
"Wait a minute..." Jarod was seeing this spinning completely out of control now.
"The situation isn't as straight-forward as you thought it would be, is it?" Sydney asked his former student pointedly. "So much of what you have to protect, what you want kept hidden away, is the very evidence we necessarily would need to truly bring down The Centre. The problem you face is how to protect what needs protecting while bringing those responsible for the horrors done to your family to justice."
"Can I say something?" Debbie spoke up quietly in the silence that had followed Sydney's pointing out the obvious. When her father nodded at her, she continued, "Maybe you're all going about this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?" Miss Parker asked the young woman.
"I mean, the only reason Angelo and Ethan and... the others... would need to be exposed to public scrutiny would be because of the laws broken regarding them, right? That Angelo was kidnapped from his family, the murder of Ethan's foster family, the attempted kidnap of the other Davy..."
"Yeah," Jarod nodded, confused. "So?"
Debbie leaned forward. "But the Triumverate already knows all about these things - and they don't give a damn about the laws. Besides, the ONLY people any of us really have to fear are Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle, right?"
"You're forgetting the Triumverate itself," Jarod added grimly. "If they ever got the idea that they could pick up where The Centre left off with my sims..."
"No, no! Debbie's right," Sydney nodded enthusiastically. "Miss Parker was the one who said that if the Triumverate ever found out what all Raines and Lyle were up to, despite direct orders to the contrary, they'd be very unhappy." The older man paused for effect. "Maybe they'd be angry ENOUGH to take care of Raines and Lyle for us?"
"What?!" Miss Parker gaped at her old friend. "Who?? The Triumverate?!"
Broots began to nod enthusiastically, catching Sydney's excitement. "Exactly! Think about it! They've already decided Jarod and his family weren't worth the money to pursue further," he turned to the bearded Pretender. "They've already given up on you. So just like us, the only people you really have to fear are Raines and Lyle themselves - people who, like you say, would have a personal stake in ruining your life again." He turned to the group as a whole. "So provided we keep them from knowing Jarod has anything to do with it, their taking Raines and Lyle out of the picture because of the risk those two create for them would take solve both our problems. Jarod could go home, and we'd have some security to live out our lives here."
Jarod was beginning to smile. "Certainly would be a case of poetic justice to have Raines and Lyle taken out by their 'masters' after all this time," he mused, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.
"I don't know..." Miss Parker was shaking her head. "Manipulating the Triumverate is playing with fire, people," she cautioned. "They aren't any more trustworthy than The Centre is."
"Think, Parker," Jarod looked over at her. "We don't have to stop our research with just Raines and Lyle - and just because Raines and Lyle are finally out of the picture doesn't mean we have to stop our digging either. We can keep collecting evidence. Like The Centre, the Triumverate's power comes from those who buy and use their information not knowing how that information was acquired - and shining lights tends to do nasty things to unscrupulous corporations."
"You mean, we get leverage on the Triumverate itself?" she gaped.
"Won't that leave us exactly where we are right now?" Broots complained with a frown.
"Not if we do it right," Jarod's eyes narrowed as his mind spun. "The Triumverate doesn't have an emotional, personal, stake in what happens to US as people. They are bottom-line driven and answerable to their shareholders - make something too expensive to consider continuing, and they'll be quick to put the kaibosh on it. They don't need to know what we know about their operation, or how much we know that they want kept quiet. They don't even have to know we've been collecting information on them unless we have to defend ourselves with it. And then, all we'd need to do is just let them know that for as long as we continue to be left unmolested, their secrets are safe; but that if our well-being continues to be threatened or compromised in any way, expensive consequences to the corporate body will be incurred." Jarod nodded, satisfied.
"I'll help," Broots announced. "For one thing, getting Raines and Lyle taken care of would make the whole world a lot safer for me and Deb," he patted his daughter's hand as it lay on the table between them. "And I really like that we won't be threatening anybody who didn't threaten us first. As long as we aren't seen as a threat, the Triumverate would have no reason to move against us in the first place. Seems straight-forward enough..."
Miss Parker looked from face to face at the table. "We'd be jumping from the frying pan into the fire if the Triumverate ever found out what we're doing!"
"So we don't let them know," Jarod shrugged. "We don't announce, we don't blackmail, we don't say ANYTHING without provocation."
"You're all crazy!"
Jarod gazed at her steadily. "Does that mean you're in or you're out?"
She stared at him, her mind spinning through all the possible outcomes that she could imagine, then put her face in her hands. "I'm in. God help me, but I'm in."
Feedback, please: mbumpus_99@hotmail.com
by MMB
Broots glanced up for about the thirtieth time at the face of his boss as she stood staring out the office window in preoccupation, wondering what could have possibly put her into such a contrary mood. In the past years, he had seen and actually helped her construct a deliberately contrived split personality approach to life in order to handle the pressures of work. He'd seen her be the familiar hard-nosed go-getter at work who was all business, and yet turn around and be a more open, friendly and surprisingly funny woman in the privacy of her own home. But he'd not seen the all-business persona incorporate the almost casual disregard for others that had characterized her years hunting Jarod since before her breakdown. Something or someone had summoned forth that ugly genie - and Broots wasn't at all happy about it.
He finished typing the report and hit the print button, then sat silently while the pages she was impatiently waiting for were spat one by one into the tray. He gathered the report together, inserted it in the customary file folder, and rose to his feet. "Miss Parker, your report..." he said in a decidedly un-Broots-like tone as he handed it to her.
Miss Parker's gaze flicked up to his as she put forth her hand to take the report. "I'm sorry, Broots," she said finally, blinking and letting down her guard to a more normal level. "I don't know what's gotten into me today."
"I was wondering if I'd done anything to piss you off, frankly," he responded with a dismissive shrug as he returned to his desk, "and I couldn't think of anything..."
"It isn't you," she was quick to reassure him. She knew better than to take out her frustrations on others, she scolded herself inwardly. "Trust me on that."
"That's a relief, I guess..."
"Listen," she said more softly, stepping closer to his desk and leaning down so that the ever-present surveillance couldn't see or overhear, "can you and Debbie come to supper at my place this evening? Something's come up, and we all need to talk."
Broots blinked up into her face in surprise, noted the naked plea for understanding and agreement in her grey eyes, then nodded. "Sure thing. Six o'clock OK by you?" he asked just as quietly.
She thought for only a second or two, nodded almost imperceptibly and straightened up again. "I'm also going to need those reports on the security manpower report as soon as possible," she said in a louder voice, and was glad when Broots immediately began typing into his terminal again. "Sometime before the end of the day, if you can," she shot over her shoulder as she walked briskly from his office.
Broots' fingers slowed on the keyboard, and he stared up at the window in a preoccupied daze himself for a moment. Something WAS up.
As he bent to resume his work, he wondered casually if Sydney were aware of what was going on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey Syd, wait up, willya?"
The silver-haired psychiatrist turned to see who had called out to him, then patiently sipped at his mug of coffee waiting for Broots to make his way across the cafeteria to him. "What's up?" he asked the tech, who was unusually restive in his movements.
"Any idea what's up with Miss Parker today?" the younger man asked quietly, commandeering Sydney's elbow and pulling him toward a more private corner of the room.
"Why?" The chestnut gaze had grown immediately concerned. "What's happened?"
"I dunno - she's distracted, almost bit my head off at least twice in the last hour, and she called me a 'moron'. Syd, she hasn't done that since..." Broots hesitated as he saw Sydney's head begin to shake back and forth slowly in mild and apparently knowing frustration.
"Did she ask you and Debbie to dinner tonight?" the older man asked gently.
Broots blinked in real surprise. "You knew she was going to do that?"
"Yes." Sydney sighed. "Look, we can't talk here, the walls have ears. Just... do me a favor and give her a wide berth for today, and then be ready for surprises tonight, OK? We all have a lot we're going to need to talk about. It's a damned good thing today's Friday, and none of us have to be at work in the morning."
"What the hell is going on, Syd?" Broots bent close to his colleague so that he could put vehemence into his voice without it travelling and calling attention to their conversation.
"'Hell breaking loose' is a good way to think about it," Sydney whispered cryptically. "See you tonight - and don't be late." The psychiatrist painted a neutral expression on his face and walked toward the cafeteria door, leaving behind a tech who was much more confused and concerned NOW than he had been before.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Miss Parker opened the door and greeted Broots with a wide smile and a peck on the cheek, then gave Debbie a big hug. "Getting excited about college?" she asked the young woman, shutting the door and then putting an arm around her shoulders and leaning close to her head in a girl's conference.
"Hey there, Buddy!" Broots held out his arms for a rocketing Davy, whom he swung up into the air with practiced ease.
"Uncle Broots!" the little boy cried out in pleasure. "Guess what! I got an 'A' on that math test after all!"
"I knew you could," Broots chuckled, letting Davy's feet hit the floor again. He looked up as Sydney walked from the kitchen with a stack of plates destined for the dining table. He sniffed the air appreciatively. "Your mom's been checking out the cookbook section again, huh?"
"Uhn-uh," the little boy shook his head quickly. "It was..."
"Hello, Mr. Broots." Jarod stepped from the kitchen behind Sydney, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.
"Holy..." Broots' jaw dropped open, and he quickly looked back and forth from Sydney to Miss Parker. "Jarod! What are you doing here?"
"At the moment, cooking supper for friends I haven't seen in a very long time," he said carefully, extending his hand to Broots. "You're looking as if life has been kind to you."
Broots shook hands with Jarod, a stunned expression on his face, while Debbie stepped away from Miss Parker's arm. "You're the man who helped Dad during that Centre mix-up, aren't you?" She walked up to the dark-haired stranger and put out her hand to him. "I've always wanted to be able to thank you for that..."
Jarod's grip on the girl's hand was warm. "You've grown up into quite a beauty." He looked up into her father's face. "You must be very proud."
Broots' face softened into an indulgent smile as he looked at Debbie. "I am," he said softly and with feeling.
Jarod raised his eyes and took the measure of Miss Parker's expression as these people who had been a part of their lives for so long gathered for a meal in her home. There was a look of peace and contentment on her face that made him catch his breath, for it gave evidence of the woman she had become - a woman he didn't know at all, a woman who had a fully functional and supportive family around her at long last. He watched her look up at Sydney and give him a smile the like of which he'd never seen from her before.
The Pretender cleared his throat. "I think I need to go back to tending the stove," he said with a rough voice. "Dinner will be in about ten minutes." He squeezed Debbie's hand once more, then walked quickly toward the back of the house.
Broots approached Miss Parker, a calculating look in his eye. "I take it that Jarod accounts for the strange mood you've been in all day?"
"Not now," Sydney cautioned, tucking his head sideways at Davy, who had returned to his video game at the TV. "We'll talk more after the little one's bedtime."
"Talk about what?" Debbie wanted to know, and she rounded on Miss Parker. "What's going on?"
"Grandpa's right," Miss Parker replied, putting a gentle hand on Debbie's shoulder. "This is all stuff that needs to wait until after Davy's been put to bed. Then we'll make everything clear to both you and your dad, Deb - I promise."
The young woman gave Miss Parker a look that reflected her suspicion and impatience, and then she cleared her face and deliberately put the issue out of her head. "Did I tell you about the dorm information I got in the mail today?" she asked, reaching for the purse that hung from her shoulder.
"Did you bring it with you?"
Debbie and Miss Parker moved to the living room couch to study the information from the college, while Broots moved behind Davy and began to kibbitz at the video game the boy was playing. Sydney smiled indulgently and then made his way back into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to watch Jarod fussing over the stove.
"What is it?" the psychiatrist asked his old student, taking note of the posture Jarod had adopted. Jarod glanced over his shoulder briefly, but didn't turn or answer. "Come on, Jarod, I've seen you tighten up like that a thousand times - I know you're upset about something..."
"I... She..." Jarod tried to put his conflicted thoughts into words and failed.
Sydney walked over to the stove and put a gentle hand on Jarod's back. "I think I understand," the older man said sympathetically. "You hadn't really understood the shape Miss Parker's life has taken until now."
"She said she had people she loved more than life itself," Jarod mused, remembering. "But it was nothing but words until I saw her with Broots and Debbie and... you..." He turned and faced his former mentor. "You and she are very close now, aren't you?"
"Yes," Sydney admitted without guile. "We went through some pretty tough times not long after you left, and it brought us together. I had always had a soft spot in my heart for her anyway, you know..."
"Nah, I hadn't noticed," Jarod smiled at him. "But still, I've been pretty self-absorbed in the needs and welfare of my own family - I hadn't stopped to think much past her just having Davy to worry about. But now I see her with Broots and Debbie - she treats him like a little brother..."
"And Debbie like a niece, I know," Sydney finished the thought for him. "We all pulled together very quickly during that hard time - Broots and Debbie were important elements in Miss Parker's recuperation. Not that Miss Parker and Debbie weren't close before then, however."
"I knew that - I just hadn't considered that she really does have a comfortable, satisfying and happy life now, and my return threatens to destroy it completely. It just really hit me that I don't know her anymore - that I don't know any of you half as well as I used to - and that puts a lot of things, including some of my plans, in a new light." Jarod turned back to stirring the butter and evaporated milk into the mashed potatoes he was making.
"This a good thing, Jarod," Sydney commented evenly as leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe knowing that all of us really do have as much to lose as you donow will make sure than when and if you DO choose to do something, it won't be simply tilting at windmills." Sydney rubbed the bald top of his head thoughtfully. "Besides, I think there's at least one more person that you probably didn't count on that you're going to have to figure into your calculations when the time comes - someone you had no way of knowing you'd need to include."
"Oh?" Jarod glanced over his shoulder at his mentor again. "Just who would that be?"
"Sam."
Jarod's hands stopped moving over the potatoes, and he turned to Sydney with gaping mouth. "You're kidding!"
Sydney was shaking his head at him ruefully. "Not at all. Sam has become more than just another muscle-bound gun-toting backup man for all of us. When it came time to protect Miss Parker from the Triumverate..." He shook his head again, and Jarod's mind could fill in the blanks rather completely. "He may not be as close to the rest of us as Angelo is, for example, but I can promise you that he's going to want to know what's going on, so he can continue to protect Miss Parker - even from you, if he feels the situation warrants it..."
"Sounds almost as if he's sweet on her, Syd," Jarod remarked, eyebrows soaring as he turned back to his preparations.
"Hardly," the older man guffawed softly. "Its just that Miss Parker protected Sam when things could have gone badly for him during the Triumverate take-over, and so he didn't hesitate to protect her back when the time came. Since then, he's become more of a 'family friend' than just a company sweeper." Sydney sighed, then stepped away from the counter, towards Jarod, and put a comforting hand on the Pretender's shoulder. "Think of it this way: he's extra muscle, and extra set of eyes and ears, and all of them 110% loyal to Miss Parker and Miss Parker alone - NOT to The Centre. Even Raines' personal sweeper, Willy, has learned to stay very much out of our Sam's way nowadays. If Sam's convinced that your plan is in Miss Parker's best interests, you'll have a very powerful weapon at your disposal. If he thinks you're going to jeopardize her safety or that of her family..." There was no need to finish the thought.
Jarod nodded thoughtfully, setting aside the bowl of perfectly whipped potatoes and reaching for the pan of mixed vegetables to drain it. "Then we'll need to bring him in eventually, won't we?" He twisted his head and pointed with his nose. "Bring me that bowl, willya - and then let them know out there that dinner's almost ready."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With Davy at the table with them, the adults went out of their way to keep the dinner conversation light and carefree. Jarod told them all several stories about his young nephew, Sammy, and in return was regaled from all sides with stories that starred Miss Parker's son. In her turn, Debbie gave the latest news about her upcoming move to the college dorms and what courses of study she intended to pursue. Surprisingly to Jarod, Miss Parker was a full and enthusiastic participant in the joking and mutual ribbing that bounced liberally around the table. Once more he was reminded that, right here and now, he was seeing the woman she had become in the years he'd been missing from her life - secure, loving and loved, and very much a part of a tight and self-sufficient family unit.
Debbie and Miss Parker refused to let the Pretender have anything to do with the clean up of the meal because he'd done all the cooking, leaving him completely at loose ends when they took charge of the kitchen after dessert. So with Broots and Sydney watching in amused silence, Jarod was summarily dragged into the living room and introduced to the challenge of one of the newest video games by Davy. The young boy was amazingly talented, and Jarod was surprised that he had to genuinely concentrate on the task at hand just to keep in the running - while Broots and Sydney obviously enjoyed the spectacle of seeing a grown genius nearly meeting his match in a young boy.
Bedtime came finally, however, and as had happened the previous evening, "Grandpa Sydney" was anointed to take the young princeling to his bed while Miss Parker and Debbie prepared and then set teapot and mugs at the dining table again for the pending discussion to come. When Sydney finally returned from his good-night duties, the group congregated at the dining table. Debbie started pouring tea, while Miss Parker dealt the mugs as if she were dealing cards.
"Alright," Broots said in a voice that communicated clearly that he'd had it with the mystery, not even waiting for all the tea to be served. "What in the hell is going on?" He looked over at his hostess. "Parker?"
Miss Parker shook her head and her forefinger at him. "Uh-uhn. This is Jarod's baby."
Jarod was immediately impaled by both Broots' and Debbie's ice-blue gazes. "I figure YOU must be the reason Miss Parker was on a tear today," Broots commented sharply.
"More than likely," the Pretender admitted apologetically. "I'm afraid she didn't get any more warning about my visit than you folks did - and she didn't handle it quite as well."
"I really am sorry, Broots," Miss Parker piped in with the apology she knew she owed her friend. "I know better than to take things out on you..."
"Don't worry about it," Broots waved his hand dismissively. "Now that I know at least some of the why..." He turned back to Jarod. "So. What are you doing here, and what do you want?" he demanded.
"Daddy..." Debbie was shocked at the cold tone her father used.
"No! He damned near killed Miss Parker when he took off years ago, then just pops back into our lives seven years later like its nothing and expects not to get called on it?"
"Its OK, Debbie," Jarod soothed at the young woman. "I have some of this coming, and I know it. Frankly, I prefer your dad's anger to what Miss Parker delivered last night," he gently massaged a jaw that was still rather tender, glad the beard hid what was probably a colorful bruise from her roundhouse blow.
He turned to the bald tech. "OK, here it is. Seven years ago, I came to the realization that it was likely that, unless something drastic changed, The Centre would never stop hunting me. So I did the one thing I'd never really done before - the one thing I controlled completely that was truly drastic: I stopped leaving clues behind for you and the team. I dropped away from The Centre completely, went back to my family and made a life for myself." He smiled thinly. "I promise you, I have a bonafide, genuinely earned and documented life and career of my own now. Given that, do you honestly think I'd come back here if I didn't think I had a damned good reason to after all this time?"
Broots seemed mollified for the moment. "Alright. So why DID you come back?"
Jarod glanced up at Sydney and then at Miss Parker. "My father died a few weeks ago, and I believe he died as much because he was worn out from living his life constantly looking over his shoulder for sweepers to land and steal his family away from him again."
"Jarod, The Centre stopped looking for you..." Broots began, only to be interrupted.
"Yes, I know. Miss Parker and Sydney both told me that the hunt ended years ago, when the Triumverate decided that looking for me hurt their bottom line. BUT..." Jarod looked at the bald man with a piercing gaze, "you know and I know that all it would take would be one breadcrumb, and Raines or Lyle would take it as a personal challenge to capture us anyway, to hell with Triumverate directives. And besides, how were WE - how was I - to know that the hunt was ended? For all anybody knew, you three were still huddled over Syd's desk in the Sim Lab daily trying to second guess me all this time."
Broots shrugged, then nodded. "OK. You're right - you couldn't have known."
"Exactly," Jarod stabbed his finger into the table top. "So, now, tell me: would you be content to live the rest of your life never sure that you could completely relax and enjoy things?"
"Maybe you haven't noticed, because you've been gone all this time, but I've lived most of Debbie's life that way," Broots remarked dryly, which caused Jarod's eyebrows to rise in astonishment. "Look, I'm not proud of it, but for a long time, Mr. Raines would coerce me to give him information Miss Parker needed kept quiet by threatening my daughter's welfare." Broots glanced at his hostess ruefully, and found Miss Parker merely nodding with a forgiving expression that told him not only did she know all about it, but that it didn't matter. He turned back to Jarod. "Granted, that kind of thing happened more often BEFORE you vanished than afterwards, but I have never felt that I was entirely safe from either Raines or Lyle deciding to do something to Debbie to 'get back' at me for something. Even now."
"Then you DO understand." Jarod's gaze evened out. "Do you want to keep living that way, Mr. Broots?"
Broots shrugged again. "I've kinda grown used to it - I've lived with it so long that I simply don't let it get to me much anymore - but no, I'd rather not live that way. And frankly, Debbie's move to college has had me on edge, because when she's out on her own, I can't protect her like I used to..."
"Dad..." Debbie sighed heavily.
"Your Dad has a point, Deb," Miss Parker put a gentle hand on her 'niece's' arm. "If Mr. Raines or Mr. Lyle were to decide to go after you, you'd be a lot farther away from any of us to help you out right away. Face it, its likely we'd have no way of knowing anything was amiss until it was too late."
"And that's why I'm back," Jarod announced quietly, keeping an eye on Broots' reaction. "If I'm going to defend MY family from that fate - because I don't want them having to live their lives that way anymore than you want to live yours that way anymore - then The Centre is going to have to cease to exist as it is today." Broots' breath exploded out in an amazed and disbelieving sigh, but Jarod forged ahead. "I wanted to give you a chance to get Debbie and maybe yourself out of harm's way before I started to do anything that might threaten either of you. To be honest, though, I was hoping that I might be able to convince you to help me take down The Centre once Debbie was in a safe place."
Broots blinked again, his face now expressionless and stony. He took a long moment to process what Jarod had just told him, then turned to Miss Parker. "I take it THIS is what had you all twisted into knots at work today, then..." When she nodded, he demanded, "Well, what about you - what do you think? Are you going along with this?"
"I haven't decided yet," she admitted. "I was really waiting until we all could discuss this together, and," she turned to look at Jarod, "we could get a little better idea of just what Jarod intends before I make any final decisions."
"What about you?" The tech rounded on Sydney.
"For as long as I feel the plan holds any hope of success, I'm in," the older man announced in a steady voice. "I have a lifetime of looking away and inactivity to atone for, something I'm not very proud of. A real chance for me to atone isn't something I want to squander at my age. But truth is, I'm going to put the brakes on the moment I feel that either the plan is doomed or the safety of Davy and Debbie - and maybe you - is in danger of being compromised." He looked down the table to the Pretender sitting at the other end. "I think the time has come for you to start giving us a little more to work with, Jarod. Go over your plans for Davy and Debbie and Angelo again, so Broots has that, and then tell us just how you intended to go after The Centre."
Broots blinked in surprise. "Angelo? You're getting him to safety too?"
"Absolutely. I don't want anybody who can't take care of themselves to be put at any risk - and Angelo is probably the least able to defend himself." Jarod sipped at his tea, letting the delicate flavor ease his throat and prepare it for the speech he needed to make. "So we send Davy and Debbie and Angelo to stay with my family. We send them to Ethan and Jay..."
"Jay?" Broots was confused.
"You knew him as Gemini," Jarod filled in the gap. "My brothers will get them to my sister Em and her family - and they'd stay with them until everything's over. They're well-hidden, so the kids would be completely safe there - besides, there would be Em and Ethan and Jay and Em's husband and my mom to keep them safe."
"Where are they?" Debbie was curious. "I mean, I'm supposed to leave for college..."
"Hopefully you won't miss your first term, Debbie," Jarod addressed himself to her concerns, "but I can't promise anything. You'll need to stay away from anywhere that you might be recognized or expected until the coast is completely clear, or you'd be in real danger of being taken and used as bait to get at US. And because of that, I don't think telling you where they are would be the best idea right now. You'll be told when the time comes, if it comes to that."
"OK, that ideally gets the kids and Angelo out of the way. Then what?" Broots wasn't in the mood for wasting time thinking through contingencies until necessary.
"Then we begin shining lights where they need to shine," Jarod smiled determinedly. "We begin to leak information to the media and law enforcement about the many illegal projects that have been carried on in the various stations and facilities The Centre has scattered across the country. We'll give them pictures, documents - more than enough to run up the red flags all over the place. We do it slowly, one project at a time, and we do it in a way that doesn't leave The Centre much choice but to cut and run from each. We pare the tree of all its twigs and branches until, in the end, all that's left is the trunk - and then we shine a light into the mainframe, and let nature take its course."
Broots looked over at Sydney and Miss Parker. "Kinda like what we did to convince Raines and Lyle to back off your adoption proceedings, only on a larger scale?"
Miss Parker put her chin in her hand thoughtfully. "Do we even have an idea of how many facilities we're talking about here?" she mused aloud, then looked up. "And just how deeply do we intend to cut into the Triumverate itself in the process?"
"That depends, I'd suppose. How deeply are the Triumverate involved in the unethical doings of The Centre lately?" Jarod asked in response. "How many of the really problematic projects did they shelve, and how many are they still letting run?"
"Oh, they cleaned house to a greater or lesser extent when they took charge, to be honest. But if they knew some of what Raines and company were still up to, in violation of their direct orders TO shelve those projects, they'd shit a brick," Miss Parker sat up straighter, then glanced around the table at the several pairs of surprised eyes. "Hey! I'm Director of Security and Internal Surveillance, remember? I gotta know what's going on in order to protect it, right?"
"Your projects are on the up-and-up, aren't they, Syd?" Jarod turned to his mentor.
Sydney nodded. "Since the Pretender Project was shut down, I've refused any assignment that I was even remotely suspicious of. I've come close to quitting a couple of times when either Raines or Lyle decided to try to push me." Miss Parker's face grew surprised and concerned, and he reached out to pat her hand. "I didn't want to worry you, so I never said anything..."
"What about you?" Jarod accepted Sydney's assurances and turned now to Broots. "You aren't..."
"Broots is my assistant," Miss Parker stepped in. "His job is to monitor tower computer activity and provide technical assistance to SIS teams. He's in the clear too. And while I'm SUPPOSED to know everything that goes on - and I do - Raines' and Lyle's private projects being off the books means that I can plead ignorance. What was it that the government calls it... ah yes: plausible deniability."
"Good," Jarod nodded firmly. "Then I don't have to worry about any of you getting yourselves caught up in any investigation that our activities might cause."
"But if what we're up to is shedding light," Sydney asked, thinking out loud, "then what about any past projects that any one or all of us have been involved in that might be considered questionable or illegal?"
Jarod stared at his mentor. Sydney was right - if nothing else, shedding light on the particulars of the Pretender Project itself and its myriad ancillary research papers and projects could be quite damaging to all three of the Centre employees at the table. He looked over at Broots. "We could create a worm program that would remove all record of your employment from the mainframe," Jarod offered pensively.
"It would take a lot of work, but it could be done," Broots agreed, his mind already starting to process code. "We'd have to plant it in the archives too - or else the discrepancy..."
"That can be something Broots and I work out together," Jarod announced. "The next question is just how far back in time we want to bring things to light..."
"Not to mention that a lot of the truly obscene things that happened were associated with genetics and eugenics research connected to the Pretender Project..." Miss Parker offered.
"The worm idea won't work." Sydney burst out.
The other four heads turned to face him instantly. "Why not?" Broots demanded.
"Because I'm published in several national psychiatric journals," Sydney reminded them, looking at Jarod. "You said you'd read some of my papers. My biographical information includes the number of years I've worked at The Centre. If we shine public authority's light into a Centre mainframe from which all record of my employment is expunged, red flags will inevitably arise. Any competent investigator will catch on to the discrepancy. So whatever we do will have to get us off the hook as far as our complicity in any unscrupulous activities are concerned, but we need to stick very closely to the truth of all of our actual tenure at The Centre." He looked now at Miss Parker. "The closer we stay to the truth, the easier it will be for all of us."
Miss Parker nodded agreement, then turned to Jarod. "Syd's right. We can't just pretend we don't know each other, or pretend away HOW we got to know each other."
"OK..." Jarod's mind began spinning. "Then we'll need to give Syd 'plausible deniability' about his role in the Pretender Project and then distance him from any related research that he really had nothing to do with. We'll also have to be very selective when we remove records regarding the years you guys hunted for me after I escaped... Actually, establishing that The Centre lied to you all in enlisting your active participation in the hunt can help establish a pattern of deceptive Centre behavior that will reinforce the plausible deniability of just about everyone except Raines and Lyle themselves. Then the rest of it..."
"Deserves exposure," Broots said sourly, "especially anything with Raines' or Lyle's fingerprints on it, like what happened to Kyle, to Angelo, - what was the name of that little kid they tried to kidnap and turn into a new pretender?..."
"Davy..." Jarod and Miss Parker spoke in unison, then exchanged a glance.
"A different Davy," Jarod clarified to Debbie.
Broots nodded. "OK. THAT Davy, Gemini, Ethan..."
"Wait a minute..." Jarod was seeing this spinning completely out of control now.
"The situation isn't as straight-forward as you thought it would be, is it?" Sydney asked his former student pointedly. "So much of what you have to protect, what you want kept hidden away, is the very evidence we necessarily would need to truly bring down The Centre. The problem you face is how to protect what needs protecting while bringing those responsible for the horrors done to your family to justice."
"Can I say something?" Debbie spoke up quietly in the silence that had followed Sydney's pointing out the obvious. When her father nodded at her, she continued, "Maybe you're all going about this the wrong way."
"What do you mean?" Miss Parker asked the young woman.
"I mean, the only reason Angelo and Ethan and... the others... would need to be exposed to public scrutiny would be because of the laws broken regarding them, right? That Angelo was kidnapped from his family, the murder of Ethan's foster family, the attempted kidnap of the other Davy..."
"Yeah," Jarod nodded, confused. "So?"
Debbie leaned forward. "But the Triumverate already knows all about these things - and they don't give a damn about the laws. Besides, the ONLY people any of us really have to fear are Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle, right?"
"You're forgetting the Triumverate itself," Jarod added grimly. "If they ever got the idea that they could pick up where The Centre left off with my sims..."
"No, no! Debbie's right," Sydney nodded enthusiastically. "Miss Parker was the one who said that if the Triumverate ever found out what all Raines and Lyle were up to, despite direct orders to the contrary, they'd be very unhappy." The older man paused for effect. "Maybe they'd be angry ENOUGH to take care of Raines and Lyle for us?"
"What?!" Miss Parker gaped at her old friend. "Who?? The Triumverate?!"
Broots began to nod enthusiastically, catching Sydney's excitement. "Exactly! Think about it! They've already decided Jarod and his family weren't worth the money to pursue further," he turned to the bearded Pretender. "They've already given up on you. So just like us, the only people you really have to fear are Raines and Lyle themselves - people who, like you say, would have a personal stake in ruining your life again." He turned to the group as a whole. "So provided we keep them from knowing Jarod has anything to do with it, their taking Raines and Lyle out of the picture because of the risk those two create for them would take solve both our problems. Jarod could go home, and we'd have some security to live out our lives here."
Jarod was beginning to smile. "Certainly would be a case of poetic justice to have Raines and Lyle taken out by their 'masters' after all this time," he mused, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.
"I don't know..." Miss Parker was shaking her head. "Manipulating the Triumverate is playing with fire, people," she cautioned. "They aren't any more trustworthy than The Centre is."
"Think, Parker," Jarod looked over at her. "We don't have to stop our research with just Raines and Lyle - and just because Raines and Lyle are finally out of the picture doesn't mean we have to stop our digging either. We can keep collecting evidence. Like The Centre, the Triumverate's power comes from those who buy and use their information not knowing how that information was acquired - and shining lights tends to do nasty things to unscrupulous corporations."
"You mean, we get leverage on the Triumverate itself?" she gaped.
"Won't that leave us exactly where we are right now?" Broots complained with a frown.
"Not if we do it right," Jarod's eyes narrowed as his mind spun. "The Triumverate doesn't have an emotional, personal, stake in what happens to US as people. They are bottom-line driven and answerable to their shareholders - make something too expensive to consider continuing, and they'll be quick to put the kaibosh on it. They don't need to know what we know about their operation, or how much we know that they want kept quiet. They don't even have to know we've been collecting information on them unless we have to defend ourselves with it. And then, all we'd need to do is just let them know that for as long as we continue to be left unmolested, their secrets are safe; but that if our well-being continues to be threatened or compromised in any way, expensive consequences to the corporate body will be incurred." Jarod nodded, satisfied.
"I'll help," Broots announced. "For one thing, getting Raines and Lyle taken care of would make the whole world a lot safer for me and Deb," he patted his daughter's hand as it lay on the table between them. "And I really like that we won't be threatening anybody who didn't threaten us first. As long as we aren't seen as a threat, the Triumverate would have no reason to move against us in the first place. Seems straight-forward enough..."
Miss Parker looked from face to face at the table. "We'd be jumping from the frying pan into the fire if the Triumverate ever found out what we're doing!"
"So we don't let them know," Jarod shrugged. "We don't announce, we don't blackmail, we don't say ANYTHING without provocation."
"You're all crazy!"
Jarod gazed at her steadily. "Does that mean you're in or you're out?"
She stared at him, her mind spinning through all the possible outcomes that she could imagine, then put her face in her hands. "I'm in. God help me, but I'm in."
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