Parallelogram : Day Two : Chapter 54

Five Days, Eleven Hours, Fifty-One Minutes

Tucking his head back into the helmet, Frank Parker sighed heavily. Despite the danger he posed to his fellow man, he had grown re-accustomed to his brief respite at the Pentagon, being able to live and breathe without the constraints of the CDC confinement suit. Once he locked the helmet in place, he felt the tension build up in his neck, his muscles protesting a return to the protective gear.

"Like that's going to do any good," he mumbled.

"What did you say, Frank?"

"Nothing, Larry."

"I thought you spoke."

"Let it go, Larry."

"All right, Frank."

He stood up, the full weight of the suit bearing down on him. Activating his air supply – thankfully the Pentagon had the equipment necessary to recharge his mobile tanks – he turned toward the massive steel door.

"Let's get you back home, son," he said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Forget it."

The door shook visibly, and then it tracked aside automatically as the hydraulics engaged. In the open doorway, Security Chief Bruce Hammett stood waiting for the chrononaut.

"That's much safer for the both of us, Mr. Parker," he chimed, stepping back and allowing the man and the alien to enter.

"Where's Nina?" he demanded.

Hammett quickly held up a single hand. "She's safe. We have a staff physician who's checking her out right now."

"I hope you don't mind telling me what the hell happened to her?" As Parker crossed the room, he studied the faces of the men waiting for him. He recognized Colonel McGinty from the airport; he was the man the White House had dispatched to meet the entire BackStep team, to provide them with an operational briefing, to direct them to their next assignments. "Colonel," he added, "it's good to see a familiar face again. Maybe these Pentagon pencil-pushers will take your word that I pose no threat to them now that I'm back under plastic."

The Mallathorn hovered through the open door, and the being took its place at Parker's side.

"Hello, Frank," McGinty replied. "I've explained to them in detail that Dr. Welles borrowed your suit in order to protect herself from any exposure. Yes, now that you're back in the gear, it's true that you pose no significant threat."

"Then where they hell are Ebdon and Nina?"

Again, Hammett stepped forward. "Mr. Parker," he tried evenly, "I understand what you might be feeling right now, but every step I've taken has been a reasonable precaution to avoiding contaminating any further personnel. My men in there – they've cleaned up the mess that you and the Mallathorn made – and we've taken the prisoners to our holding area ..."

Interrupted, Parker insisted, "I had nothing to do with 'making that mess,' thank you very much."

"Frank is correct, Bruce," the alien sided with the chrononaut. "He was unaware of what I was attempting."

"He was in there with you," Hammett argued. "That's all I know." Waving a hand in the direction of the Catacombs, he stated, "You've completely trashed two entire sections of documents that, in most cases, are considered national monuments! They're more than one hundred years old! Were they destroyed, we would have no way to recover the substance of what they contained! If you think I'm overreacting, then you might want to ask the President yourself what loss that would be to this nation's greatest collection of literary artifacts!"

"Say what you want, chief," Parker said as he reached for the nearest rolling desk chair, pulled it closer, and dropped into it. "Strapping on a gun doesn't make you a cop if you spend your day guarding books. So far as I'm concerned, you're a lethal librarian." He stretched out and took the Mallathorn in his hands, picked the creature up, and plopped it down on his knee. "Here, son. Come sit on daddy's lap."

"I beg your pardon?"

"That's getting old, Larry."

"Yes, Frank."

Before Hammett could muster a response, he felt the firm hand of Colonel McGinty's on his shoulder.

"Mr. Parker," he began, clearly hoping to start the conversation over again, "I've taken every step only to ward off any further risk of injury. I apologize if I've upset you." The colonel's hand disappeared. "As I was trying to explain, I stepped into the room once we noticed that Dr. Welles and Mr. Finkle were approaching. I aimed my pistol at them ... as a precaution. That was when the doctor collapsed. She fainted, so far as I know. Then, Special Agent Thomkins entered the room and carried her out here. Mr. Finkle told us that you'd be coming. He told us that you'd need the suit. Agent Thomkins took it off the doctor, and he's with her ... right now ... in our infirmary."

"She collapsed?"

The chief nodded. "That's correct." He poked his thumb in the direction of the colonel. "McGinty believes that, after a cursory inspection of your suit, the rebreather was not functioning properly."

Parker refused to believe what he was hearing, but then he remembered what had happened in the elevator. Nina had insisted on using the suit's power supply to initialize the car's door, granting them an escape. He warned her again taking the dangerous gamble, but she knew the suit better than anyone. He thought – he hoped that she knew what she was doing. Perhaps she had. Perhaps the suit had simple short-circuited out of spite or out of the string of unlucky incidents that seemed to follow him everywhere he went on this God-forsaken BackStep.

"Dammit," he swore.

"As I said," Hammett continued, "our physician is giving her a full examination. If she is contaminated, we'll have to see whether or not the White House will authorize an immediate vaccination of Chroniticin."

"What do you mean?" Parker asked. "Why wouldn't the White House save her?"

"Frank," the colonel offered, "you have to understand that the drug ... it's in very short supply."

"I don't care if it's the last vial you have available, colonel," the man stated emphatically. "If Nina's been infected, then you treat her."

"Or?"

"Or you just lost yourself a chrononaut," he replied, calling what he figured was the officer's bluff. "Have a chat with my little snake-headed friend here, and see how my dropping out of this mission squares with what he's told me." He locked eyes with the man. "I'm not asking you to save her life, sir. I'm telling you."

"Frank, it's not that simple."

"You make it that simple," Parker challenged, "or I quit."

The colonel grew silent. He stared back at the man. After a pause, he agreed with a nodded.

"All right, Frank. I give you my word that she'll receive the antidote."

"Once I see it," Parker said, "then I'll leave here. Not before."

Slowly, the colonel nodded. Reaching up, he unhooked the strap on his protective vest, tugged down his tie, and yanked his shirt collar open.

"Let's get to the infirmary," he said.

END of Chapter 54