Young Offender, Part 49:
"Home again," Albert said, turning the key before opening the door. The villa was dark, the time being around three in the morning.
"I'm beat," Jet said.
"I didn't come here for a vacation," Dressler snapped, following them into the foyer.
"Albert?" Francoise called from the top of the stairs. He looked up and smiled. She jogged down the stairs, her pink robe fluttering. "Thank goodness you're back. What took so long?"
Albert glanced over his shoulder at Jet. The New Yorker gave Albert a pleading glance, so Albert took a deep breath and turned back to Francoise with a smile. Laying his heavy hands on her thin shoulders, he said, "Nothing to be concerned about. As you can see, we brought a new house guest."
Francoise clutched the top of her robe when she turned to the doctor and nodded politely. "Dr Dressler, thank you for coming to see Ivan. I hope it wasn't against your will, but we do need you."
"Not my choice, but I think this can be beneficial to me. I'm exhausted. I'll see 001 tomorrow," he said gruffly.
"Albert, you and Jet will have to room together again because with Doctor Dressler we're out of spare rooms. I went ahead and fix you both a space in the cellar. It's a little drafty, but I'm sure our situation will change soon. I'll take you to the guest room, Dr Dressler," Francoise murmured, turned, and lead the cantankerous German scientist upstairs.
"Do you think we can trust him?" Jet whispered.
"We don't have a choice," Albert said. "We'll keep a sharp eye on him. In the meanwhile..." Albert gave Jet a light smack in the center of his shoulder blades. His hand drift to the small of Jet's back before he broke contact. He noticed a small shiver from Jet. It gave him pause, but his drowsy mind wasn't in a state to analyze Jet at the moment. "...let's get some sleep. And I assume you didn't want to tell Francoise why we were delayed?"
"Yeah, I'll talk to her. Maybe tomorrow," Jet blew off, looking flustered, then adopting a gruff attitude with crossed arms.
Albert sighed and said, "Make sure you do sometime when you're ready. It's long past time I stepped out of conflicts between you two. It's not my job to mediate you two any longer. Just keep in mind if you keep something like that from her, she'll be upset."
Albert walked to the doorway recessed under the stairs that lead to the cellar. Jet followed after flicking the light switch. The light didn't do much to beat back the shadows. Albert didn't feel the chill as much as Jet; he could tell by the way Jet quickly snuggled under wool blankets on one of the cots, clothes and all. The cots were located among wine barrels, crates, and a table and chair set. It was dank and moldy, so Albert cheered himself with the thought that at least they were free in this dungeon like atmosphere.
"Albert?"
Albert started to remove his outer shirt and kick off his shoes. He quirked an eyebrow at Jet after long silence and yanked off his leather gloves. "I'm listening."
"I thought a lot about what you said in New York and what happened with my folks. I'm not blaming myself so much, anymore, but I'm actually pretty angry with the Black Ghost. You know, it's like they even robbed me of the chance I had to get things right with my folks and make up with them. I don't think it really would have happened, but maybe, it could have happened. At least with my Ma."
Albert laid on his cot, resting his head on his laced fingers and staring at the thick beams overhead. "I know. Our old lives, the chances we had, are done. We have to take what we have left in life and make it good. 'Could have beens' won't get us anywhere."
"I know! We need have a goal and I know what mine is. No more questions, no more running off. I'm going to stop the Black Ghost even if it takes my last breath."
Albert turned his head to see Jet's brandy-colored eyes were sober and intense. There was a serious set to his pointed jaw. Albert nodded and said, "You're right. It's what's left to us. Stopping the Black Ghost. That, and helping people. We can use what we've been given, even if it seems like a curse, to do some good for humanity."
Jet nodded back. "You're right." Suddenly Jet chuckled and smiled, the first time in months. "Yeah, it's like I have a new family I didn't want. What a curse!"
Albert dredged up mock anger, in spite of the warmth in his chest. He swiftly took his pillow and smacked Jet's face. Jet made grunts, yanked Albert's pillow away, and smacked him back. Albert couldn't help but laugh as they settled down.
"You know..." Jet let out a huge yawn and mumbled, "...I wouldn't know how to fall asleep without your snoring anyway."
"Me snore? With your beak? You're one to talk," Albert groused and settled on his cot. It wasn't long before he fell into a fitful sleep.
"Good morning," Francoise said to Jet while she finished slicing grapefruits for breakfast. He turned a chair around wrong-way, straddled it, and leaned over the back. He was about to gripe about the fruit, but she set a plate of scrambled eggs and sausage in front of him.
"Awe, Frannie! You're the most wonderful girl in the world. With cooking and gams like yours, you'll make some lucky bastard happy." He started attacking his breakfast when she sat beside him with a cup of tea and the grapefruit.
She smiled at him over the rim of the mug, steam rising into the the glaring, dawn light filtering in through the slats of the venetian blinds. "The doctors have already been working."
"How long?" Jet asked.
"Two hours," she said before a sip.
"What time is it then?"
"Almost ten, but that's not so late in the morning for you," she said with a playful squint in her eyes. He returned a smile and shook his head. She set aside her mug, but before she could reach for her grapefruit Jet took her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. She gave him an inquisitive look, but squeezed his hand back.
He took a deep breath and said, "Francoise, I've got to tell you something about New York. Just to let you know."
She laid her other hand on his and coaxed, "You can tell me anything."
"When we got there. Al and I went to go see my folks first, but it went all wrong." Jet took a deeper breath and launched into the story of visiting his parents; it was in a grave tone, but he left out nothing. He ended with, "And then I grab Albert and flew us away. I don't remember much after that. We woke up the next day and I decided to come back here after we grabbed Dressler."
"You wanted to leave us? But why? Was it something I said?"
"No! Frannie, after that one moment at the Black Ghost... the second time... I felt your hands gripping mine and your nails dug into my palms as they were tugging me away. They gave me a good beating in my cell, but I fought it off because I was scared shitless they'd go for you next. I didn't want to see anything happen to my folks, either, even if they were rotten and miserable. Watching you and Jean-Paul reminded me of that.
"I'm still spooked about the Black Ghost killing my folks, but it'll get better, because I'm going to bring them down. I made some mistakes, but the real cause of all of this junk in my life is the Black Ghost. I'm getting that in my head. That's why I've come back more determined to destroy them and free us forever. It's beyond revenge at this point. They're trying enslave humanity. It's now up to us to stop it."
"I'm with you. After Berlin and Jean-Paul's example, I feel I must do what I can, too," she said, squeezing his hands before letting them go. She rose from the table to get Jet more coffee. "I believe Ivan has been right all along. We should stick together."
She paused when a crisp tune sliced through the quiet morning. Jet glared at the kitchen door. He whispered, "Those old quacks should be up there fixing Ivan, not screwing around."
She laid her hand on Jet's shoulder and shook her head. Jet could tell she was using her enhanced hearing by the way she cocked her head. "Something is slower and clumsy, the right side, the notes are quite correct."
Illumination hit them at the same time. They crept towards the door and peeked through the crack. Jet was thunderstruck to see Albert at the parlor's piano, playing. Jet couldn't repress his smile or the bubbling joy at seeing Albert reclaim this part of his life. He walked out silently, Francoise followed.
Albert brought the song to a close and turned towards them. Jet could tell he was chagrined by the lopsided twist of his lips and the slight blush. "Well, I'm pretty rusty. I hope Brahms forgives me."
Jet laughed and waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Hey, get some more practice and I'm sure you'll make him look like a candy ass."
Albert looked down at his right hand and flexed it. Jet couldn't tell what the older man's thoughts were, but he was thinking deeply. Albert, if he was true to what Jet had observed, would clam up now. He would walk off and spend some time brooding.
The four scientists broke the moment as they trudged down the stairs. All of them were grumbling at each other. The grumbles subsided when they got to the parlor and flopped down in the settees around a mahogany coffee table.
"You two are crazy! It won't work," Kaminari said, crossing his arms and glaring at Dressler and Kozumi.
"Your plan should be used as a fall back. Besides, I thought the goal was to give him some sort of life again. Isaac, tell them," Kozumi prompted.
"Haven't you guys come up with something yet? Stop flapping your gums and get to it," Jet interrupted. The four scientists glared at Jet.
"We're deciding how to proceed. There are a lot of factors to take into account," Kozumi explained to Jet. "Dressler's formula hasn't been successful, apparently he's one of the few people who can get a negative reaction. In his case, it was the worst: cancer. The Gamos urged Dressler to continue the treatments even though there were no results. Dressler did, not realizing what was going to happen until we escaped Ghost Island."
"That's horrible," Francoise said, beating Jet to the recrimination.
Dressler turned hostile towards Francoise. "It wasn't my intention for my formula to be abused like it has. The girl with the Gamos is doing well. She's like the majority of plants and animals on this planet that can accept my formula and grow. She was five, but I brought her up to about fourteen. That was ideal. Ivan was already at a good point being an adolescent, but the Gamos thought his power would grow with physical maturity. Now all that's ruined. The Gamos got greedy. It's not my fault."
"A girl?" Kozumi asked.
"Yes. Her name is Ann Ember, she's a psychic as well. Erika Gamo is training her, so you'll want to be careful. That's also why it's important for your group to get Ivan healthy again. Ann isn't as powerful as Ivan... yet."
"Lovely," Jet said flatly, flopping on the piano bench beside Albert. "I hate to point it out, but I wouldn't make book on the three of us in a match against Ivan."
"True. Or Mrs Gamo at this point," Albert said. "If she's cultivating a new psychic, we have to avoid them until Ivan is better."
"That's all secondary to us owing Ivan our lives," Francoise said, impassioned. Jet thought she looked to the point of tears. "We'll do whatever it takes to get Ivan well."
"Good. Maybe you'll argue my point to Gilmore and Kaminari," Dressler said, hopping up and turning to address the three cyborgs. "What I propose will take at least a decade or more and will be grossly expensive, but... he'll have some of his actual flesh back. It'll be a challenge to see how far I can push my formula and see if it can be used humanely."
"What do you want to do?" Albert asked.
"I want to clone several of his organs and body parts. Grow them to a level and then reconstruct his flesh around a metal frame, the same as how you're constructed. The technology isn't far enough to just clone a new body for him, but we could make him new organs."
"It's painful and a waste," Kaminari snarled. "I'm close to constructing a total robotic body. Cyborgs are fine, but they still have weak flesh. I could provide him a body by next year for a fraction of the cost."
"Wait a minute. It's not our choice to make," Albert said. Jet looked over to the staircase where Albert's attention was. Ivan sat on the stairs, hunched over and shaking. "Ivan, you've come this far, too far to give up and die. Make a choice to live and pick the way you want to do that."
"Ivan, we care so much about you. Please, we need you in our lives, because you're our family," Francoise said.
Ivan looked up and stood on shaky legs. "I want to do as Dr Dressler suggests. If it fails, then Doctor Kaminari can try. It would be disrespectful to my aunt to throw myself away. Plus, I did promise to free Ann. I must free her. One day."
"Fine," Albert announced with a smile and clapped his hands together. "It's settled. But, if Ivan has such a short time to live and it takes so long to rebuild most of his natural body, how do we remedy that?"
"I know. Cryogenic sleep," Gilmore said, crossing his arms and then sighing.
"What's that?" Jet asked.
"It's where they put me in a deep sleep and preserve my body in cold storage," Ivan answered.
"But wait? Asleep for ten years or so? That sounds horrible," Jet said.
"It could be up to fifty years, depending on money and supplies," Gilmore said.
"That's worse. Just like being a side of meat," Jet said, throwing his hands in the air. Albert's elbow sank into Jet's side. He looked over, annoyed, but Albert's harsh, ice-blue eyes froze his protest.
"Now that it's settled, lets get to work," Dressler said, starting to pace. "First we need ten vats of my formula."
"We can't just get it at the five and dime, hun?" Jet asked.
"No, it was stored at Ghost Island, but some of it is being shipped to Greece in a few days," Dressler said.
A devious chuckle was let loose from Gilmore. "Let me guess ,Uranus and Gaia finally crossed the Black Ghost, but not enough for death."
"You know them too well," Dressler said. "It benefits us, though."
"So... are you throwing in your lot with us?" Albert asked. "It's pretty risky."
Dressler got thoughtful and then nodded. "I don't like what the Merchants of Death want to do with my formula. They want to twist it into something evil. With your lot, at least I could get back to doing what I dreamed of, creating an endless food supply to end world hunger. Not creating monster whales and dinosaur replicas."
"Nice to have you aboard," Gilmore said. "Giuseppe, you and I can start planning 001's frame and we can let Kozumi and Dressler figure out their next step after we get the formula."
"So getting the formula is up to us?" Jet piped in. The idea of some action and revenge caused a flutter in the pit of his stomach.
"Yes. I'll fill you in on the details about the rout to the Black Ghost's lab in Macedonia," Dressler said.
"I guess it's time for me to say good night," Ivan said. Jet watched Ivan return upstairs. He jumped off the piano bench, not wanting to dwell too much on Ivan's plight. "Looks like we're getting back into the burglary game again. Suits me just fine."
"It's for a good cause," Francoise reminded him, looking perturbed.
"Aw come on. We'll be like the James Gang! Just accept your new career. Easier on your pretty, little feet," Jet teased.
"Well just like the James Gang," Dressler said, "they ship my formula by train. You'll have to hijack the train and bring it here."
To be continued.