Nano Day 22 - Working Title: Cantata
Nov. 23rd, 2006 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joegoda Happy Thanksgiving!
Wells came out of the shower, shaven and fresher. He wished he had thought to bring a change of clothes, at the very least. He wished he had the time.
Actually, he did, a tiny part of his mind said. He had over two weeks to solve this, and that would include a bit of shopping, to be sure. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of an argument from the other room.
"I think the man is insane, mama." Kaylee's voice. "Who knows what he is doing now. Perhaps he worked as a spy or assassin or whatever back in the 'good old days', but what is he doing now?"
"There is no need to shout, Kaylee. He might hear you." Laura's voice.
"Good! I hope he does. Yes, he seems like a nice enough man. Yes, he seems to love you, and I can tell you love him. But really, mama? Assassination attempts? At the concert?"
Wells stepped out of the bedroom, clearing his throat. Both women were startled, Kaylee blushing furiously and turning her face away from him, and Laura caught his eyes with an 'I told you so' look and then turned her face to stare away at nothing.
"All right," Wells said. "I can see this is not going to work." To Kaylee he said, "I said there might be an attempt, I never said I was sure. I'm not insane, Kaylee. I'm just following my leads and my instincts. My instincts led me here, to Trieste. To you and your mother for help."
Turning to Laura he said, "I appreciate your help in getting me here, Laura, but I do not want to cause any more problems than you already have. You and Kaylee have had, I'm supposing, a fairly happy household before I got here." He paused. "I think the best thing for me to do is leave."
Quietly, Kaylee said "Good."
Laura, looking like he had slapped her, exploded. "Leave? You just got here! It's been twenty-five years and now you're going to leave? Again?"
Wells gave her a hard look and said, "I don't plan to go far, Laura. I found you, I don't intend to lose you."
This caused her to drop her eyes and say "Oh. I thought..."
"Doesn't matter what you thought." Wells snapped. "Second chances don't come every day." He crossed to her and knelt. He took her hands in his and said, "When this is over, we're going to spend a lot of time together. I promise you that. All right?" She nodded meekly, and he kissed her. "It will all turn out the way it should have back then."
Rising and turning to Kaylee, he said "You are the reason I'm leaving. I would think a smart girl like you would be more discreet. If I was here to stop an assassination, and this house was bugged, then you certainly compromised all that I'm working to do. You may have put my life and yours in jeopardy."
Kaylee stared back, defiantly. "Bugged? Why would this place be bugged? We don't know you, Mister Wells, and we have nothing to do with you. If you do indeed work for some secret agency, then it you, coming here, that have put our lives at risk."
"Kaylee," Wells shot back, quickly and what he had hoped was quietly, "What do you know about the Yugoslavian Underground?" Her face froze with her mouth open. "What do you know about NATO's activities just across the border?" Kaylee collapsed on the sofa, and buried her face in her hands.
Wells crossed to her and sat down next to her. He very carefully pulled her hands from her face and lifted her chin so that she would look at him. Very carefully, he whispered to her, "If your house is bugged, it was done by someone from the Underground, or from NATO. There is no evidence to support, that any one knows what we are saying right now. But they might."
"What I found during some research on a training operation was a coincidental linking between you, your mother and a concert. It just so happens that this training operation is set on the same day, at the same place that you and your mother are going to be. I have no reason to believe that it is even remotely connected. I wouldn't even be suspicious if it weren't for a certain director and his denial of even knowing that the concert was being held. For him to not know it would be ridiculous, it would go against procedures."
"When I checked his background, I found that he served in Yugoslavia back in the late 90's. The records are rather muddied, and that always makes me suspicious. When I found your names, yours and your mother, there was indication that you worked for the Yugoslavian Underground as a courier."
Kaylee nodded and said miserably. "I was young and foolish. I felt I was doing a 'big deal' by delivering messages between the factions."
Wells nodded and continued, "Not so very different from me, when I first started." He looked at his daughter and said louder, "So you see, Kaylee. I'm not insane. I just don't know what's going on, is all. I don't know anything except some names, a date, and a very odd-looking training operation. I don't know a damn thing. Do you understand that?" He waited for her to nod, and then continued, "That's why I'm leaving. I have to find out all I can. This might be nothing, or it might be everything."
He stood up. "Is there a hotel nearby?" he asked Laura.
Laura looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "There is Domina Inn," she said, wiping her eyes. It's not far away."
Wells nodded. "That'll do fine." To Kaylee he said, "Now, I don't suppose that a package was delivered while your mother and I were in transit?"
"Oh!" Kaylee said, jumping up and wiping her own eyes. "Yes, there was something that came. I had almost forgotten it." She went into her own bedroom and come out carrying a black case. "It's a computer." When Wells looked harshly at her, she smiled shamefully and said "I'm sorry. I had to look." She handed the case to Wells.
Laura stood up to join Wells as he opened the case. "Sarah?" she asked. Wells nodded.
Kaylee asked, "Who is Sarah, now? Someone else that works for your company?"
Wells turned to her and said, "Young woman, you do not have to know everything." He sat down and placing the laptop on the coffee table, powered it on. The two women sat on either side of him, Laura close, Kaylee leaving a more bit of room.
When the system powered up, he whispered activation phrase "Camera". He looked at the two women and held his fingers to his lips, indicating that they be silent. When the logon screen appeared, he again whispered "Sarah, what's new?"
The screen flashed and the words "Password, please." appeared on it. "A password is required for access to privileged information," scrawled across the screen. "Please enter the password. Type it. Do not say it aloud."
Wells typed in his password and pressed enter.
The screen blanked and stayed that way for three minutes. It flashed and displayed green words 'Area Clear'. Wells let out a very large exhalation and explained. "Means there are no taps or bugs here." He nodded to Laura and said, "This is a specially modified case. It contains a transceiver that can detect transmissions from just above zero frequency to somewhere near Jupiter." He tapped the case. "If there was anything here, this would have caught it." Laura smiled weakly.
Kaylee said, "It's really hard to believe you're a secret agent, Mister Wells. You look like an accountant."
"Probably my best asset," he replied. "I can pretty much blend in anywhere." He pushed a look at Kaylee. "Would it be so hard for you to call me Richard?" he asked.
Kaylee gave a tentative smile. "I suppose I could... Richard. As long as you don't ask me to call you dad."
"Excuse me?" Wells said, a shocked expression spreading on his face. Laura, wearing her own version of shock, said nothing at all.
"Come on, you two!" Kaylee said. She stood up and placed herself directly before her two shocked parents. "I'm not a complete idiot." Seeing that the shock had not worn off, she continued her explanation. "Look." she pointed to her eyes. "Blue." She pointed to Wells' eyes. "Blue as well. And the profile..." she turned to the side, "Pretty hard to not notice the noses are the same." She smiled brightly. "And Twenty-five years? Please. That's such an obvious clue, I'd have to be stupido to not have recognized it."
Laura choked and said, "How long have you known?"
"I had my suspicions in the automobile." Kaylee looked at Wells and said, "Surely you noticed I was checking you out in the mirror?"
"Well... yes," he replied. "But I thought it was because you wanted to see what sort of man your mother had brought home."
"The jury is still out on that, Mister... Richard. At least I know you aren't insane, and that's a big plus. Some of the men I've run into," she paused and grimaced, "it wasn't a fun experience."
Wells stumbled, trying to find words to say. Laura stood up and said, "Um... did you say the coffee was done, Kaylee?"
"It has been for about," she checked her watch, "a half hour now." She started to go into the kitchen, but Laura stopped her, and went instead, leaving Wells and Kaylee alone.
Wells looked at Kaylee, who looked back at Wells. She was smiling a catbird smile, obviously proud that she had performed such a coup.
"You know," she said, "it really doesn't change anything."
"What?" Wells said, "What doesn't change anything."
"It doesn't change a thing if you are my father or if you are just someone that mother pulled in off the street. What matters is the she loves you, you know." She came over to him, where Wells sat on the sofa. She sat next to him. "You and me, Signor Richard, we are starting from zero." She held out her hand and said, "My name is Kaylee Katarina Francesca Gianni. How do you do?"
Wells looked at his daughter, whom he did not truly know. She sat there smiling, offering him the opportunity that he had looked for since he had arrived here. She was offering to chance to get to know her. He reached out his hand and took hers.
"I am," he said as sincerely as he could, "very pleased to meet you, Kaylee Katarina Francesca Gianni. My name is..." and here he was stuck. He had used so many names in his thirty years of service. He looked at her with a blank expression.
"Let's start with Richard," Kaylee offered. "And I think that Wells is a fine name. It has a good tradition." She winked, saying, "I'm an avid reader."
Wells considered the name. Richard Wells. It had been his habit to use a name from authors, and the older the book, the better. Richard Wells carried no author name he was aware of, and it did not belong to any character that he had heard of. He rolled it around in his mind and decided he liked it.
"My name is Richard Wells," he said. "I am the man your mother was with that eventually led to you being born. I am deeply, passionately in love with your mother." He shook her hand, and continued, "I don't expect you to love me, and I don't even expect you to be my friend." He looked at her eyes and said, "It is my hope, though, that you live to be able to do both."
Kaylee's smile faded as the reality of the situation reasserted itself. "Is it really that bad?" she asked.
"I thought you said you didn't know what the situation was." This was from Laura, who was standing at the kitchen doorway. She was holding three steaming mugs of black coffee. One she passed to Kaylee. The other two she carried with her until she sat down next to Wells. She gave one to him and said, "Isn't that what you said, Richard? That you didn't have enough information?"
Wells nodded. "Kaylee, as wonderful as it is to know that I have a daughter, it has complicated the hell out of my life. If it had been anyone else, it would have been a matter of letting things work themselves out."
Seeing Kaylee's shocked face, he explained, "I told you it was not always a pretty job. If you had been someone else, and you had been killed, your death would have been chalked up to collateral damage. There would have been some news story somewhere that would have listed you as a suspected subversive or a terrorist. Terrorists are very big now. Somehow, your death would have been explained away, and the only people to mourn you would be your friends and your mother.
He looked at Laura, touched her hand with his and said, "I had Sarah arrange to get us here just so I could meet Kaylee. All the evidence is purely circumstantial, but the coincidences are just too odd to ignore. There is something going on, and it centers on the Yugoslavian Underground, white slavery, and Hamilton. I don't know if there is anything for Kaylee to worry about, but I'm going to find out." He looked at both of the women. "I can promise you that."
He took a drink, smiled. "Good coffee, Kaylee." He sat the mug down and tapped a key on the keyboard. "Vocals, Sarah."
"Good afternoon, Herbert." The voice of Sarah was a bit tinny, having come from such small speakers.
"Sarah, the password is Cantata. There is also a change in the people involved. I am here with Laura and Kaylee Gianni. My name, for this mission is," he smiled at Kaylee, "Richard Wells. Please continue to register my voice print as the only access to these files."
"Very good, Richard. Are you secure?"
"Yes, Sarah. I'm secure."
"Do you want to continue to use the password cantata, since the Giannis now know it?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, Sarah. Cantata is still the password," Wells said. "Except for my personal sensitive documents and any data or information that might compromise this mission, Laura and Kaylee are also granted access."
Sarah paused. "Is that wise, Richard? Laura has known connections with the Yugoslavia Underground."
"Sarah," Wells looked over at Kaylee, "it may not be wise, but it is the right thing to do. For security sake, I will not be letting you out of my sight." He paused, thinking. Then he asked, "Is the office secure?"
"Yes, Richard," Sarah assured him. "As far as the company is concerned, you are still here. Director Hamilton has called a few times, leaving no message, but asking you to return his calls. I have taken the liberty of answering your emails using your standard patter of responses." There was another pause. "Should I inform the President of your change of location and name, Richard?"
"No!" Wells said. "No. I am under an unsanctioned deep cover, Sarah. Treat this mission as such, please."
"Very good, Richard." Another pause from Sarah, then she said, "May I say hello to the Giannis?"
Wells raised an eyebrow, looked at Laura and Kaylee with a surprised look on his face. "Certainly, Sarah," he replied. "Sarah, are you all right?"
"I am operating perfectly, Richard. I require their voice prints to assure that the level of security is maintained."
"Oh." Wells still sounded dubious. "Sarah, this is Laura Gianni. Laura, this is Sarah."
Laura leaned forward and said, "Hello Sarah. This is Laura Gianni. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"As it is to meet you, Laura," Sarah replied. "Richard is very taken with you. He was very surprised to know that he has a daughter. During the last five years, he has spoken your name two hundred thirty times, mostly in his sleep."
"Oh, he has, has he?" Laura asked.
"Yes," was the reply.
"Ahem." Wells interrupted, "let us move on, shall we?" He waved Kaylee over and said "Sarah, this is Kaylee Gianni. Kaylee, this is Sarah, my computer."
"Computer?" Kaylee asked. "This is a computer?"
"I am not just a computer, Miss Gianni," Sarah said. "I am a multi phased operating system based in part on the same geometry that your human brains are. As far as I aware of, I am the only one of my kind that has successfully implemented the process."
"A bit proud of herself, isn't she?" Kaylee said.
"In reality, I am an it, Miss Gianni. The persona of Sarah was given to me by Richard Wells, who was then known as Herbert Wells. I believe it is something that he finds comfort in, knowing that he is in control of a feminine personality."
"As for pride, I do possess a simulation of pride, as it tends to create a motivation to do the very best job I can. Pride, as you would understand it, does not exist in my programming. The desire to do my work well and to perform to the best of my ability creates a simulation of satisfaction in me. A curiosity, perhaps, and one I have given some thought to. So, in essence, yes, Miss Gianni, I do have pride of my accomplishments."
There was a pause. "As to a sense of philosophical self, that is still up for debate among many human scholars. I do have, in the strictest conceptualization, a sense of self. I can speak of myself as 'I', I have pride in my work, I find pleasure in many of the things Richard has asked of me. Briefly, in holding to those constraints, and as I understand your question, yes, I am a bit proud of myself."
"Well." Kaylee said.
"Miss Gianni, would you please state your name?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know if I like this Sarah thing." Kaylee whispered to her mother.
Laura nodded, saying, "That's what I said, earlier."
Kaylee leaned into the laptop and said, "My name is Kaylee Gianni, Sarah. I don't know if it is a pleasure to meet you or not."
"That is understandable, Kaylee," Sarah said. "From the perspective of evidence, you are a suspicious person." A second passed and then Sarah said "Voice prints are stored, Richard."
"Thank you, Sarah," Wells said. He looked at the two women. "Sarah is my primary research tool. It has connection to practically every newspaper in the world. If anything is typeset electronically and transmitted over the 'net, Sarah can read the print, even before it leaves the press. It can listen to three thousand simultaneous radio transmissions at the same time..."
Kaylee said, "That still doesn't mean I have to like her." She looked at Wells; arms crossed and said, "I don't care if you call her and it. She has more personality than most people I know. She is a she."
"Um, all right," Wells said.
"I agree with Kaylee," Laura nodded. "She's a she." Turning to Wells she continued, "Are you sure you had her send the emails at the airport? Yesterday you told me you did it as a joke." She touched his arm. "Did you?"
Wells shook his head. "I gave her the explicit command to perform as if she... IT, dammit, were a real person, so that anyone speaking to her..." He sighed from frustration. "Okay! If anyone were to speak with her, they would not be able to tell the difference between a human being and her. I needed her to perform as close to a human so that anyone calling my office would be speaking with Sarah, and I had to have her be able to make decisions independent of me being there." He looked at Laura over his shoulder. "So, yes, it was a joke, but it was a joke on the company. I just wanted to see if it would fool you." He shrugged and said, "Now I'm not so sure how funny it is. Her programming is the most sophisticated in the world, as far as I know."
He looked at the screen. "Sarah, are you self aware?"
"Are you asking if I'm alive, Richard?"
"In essence, yes," Wells admitted. "Are you alive?"
"No, Richard," Sarah answered. "I am not, in any real or true sense alive. I am not a Frankenstein monster. If anything, I might be closer to the computer HAL in the book 2001: A Space Odyssey. With out the psychosis, I might add. You may, at anytime, request me to return to my previous state, and I would without hesitation perform that action." She paused. "No, Richard, I am not alive, in any sense that you might understand."
"Ah," he said. Turning to the women he said, "That explains it, pretty much. Sarah is still just reacting to her programming." He shrugged. "I have to admit, though, she sounds pretty convincing."
"Thank you, Richard," Sarah said.
Wells slapped the tabletop. "Enough fun," he said. "Sarah, what have you found concerning Kaylee's associations with the Yugoslavian Underground?"
"Are you referring to the Carnesi family or her connection with the slave trade?" Sarah asked.
Kaylee flashed angry eyes. "The Carnesi family?" She turned to her mother and said, "Mother, the Carnesis are innocent of any of thing. You don't know their history."
"Bleri and Besi Carnesi are the fraternal twin children of Estovan and Barbara Carnesi. They were born in Sisak, Croatia on August twenty seventh, 1980. They were the only children of the couple. Their parents were killed in a mortar attack in 1997, when the children were seventeen. From the time of their parent's death until September of the year 2000, when they appeared in a police report detailing a protest at the United States Embassy in Zagreb. There is no official record of them until the year 2002, when they once again appeared in the local newspapers."
"Another protest?" Wells asked.
"No, Richard," Sarah said, "the newspapers reported that they had been rescued from Bosnian terrorists. What is odd about the article is that it does not mention which faction of terrorists had taken them. Looking backward from that article, there is no indication or mention of any kidnappings that included the Carnesi."
Kaylee raised her hand. "I might be able to fill in the details."
"Please," said Wells.
Kaylee scrunched forward and said, "I know you're looking for a connection between me and the Underground." She turned toward her mother and said, "Mama, I know that you warned me about them, but I had to, it was something I felt strongly about, and you always taught me to follow my heart."
"Anyway," she continued, "the Underground was assisting the refugees from the Kosovo conflict. I was helping them find homes and jobs in the local areas. Places where they were not known and it did not matter if they were Serbs or Albanian or Italians." She smiled and said, "Yes, it was dangerous work. Most of the time it was late at night crossings, and mysterious meetings." She looked at Wells and said, "I'm sure you know what that is like, Richard."
"It all went fine until September of 2002." She reached over and placed a hand on Laura's arm. "I'm sorry for that time, mama. I know my disappearance worried you. It was for a good reason." She looked at Wells and said, "You see, we had heard rumors of white slavery in Zagreb for years."
"I assume that they were more than just rumors?" Wells asked.
"Yes," Kaylee said. "We had received an anonymous tip that a, and I use the word in its worse sense, that a shipment was planned. A shipment of humans." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going to go into details. I don't want to relive it all again. We lost three people in the raid, but we got six people out. Five women and one man. The man was Besi Carnesi. His sister, Bleri, was one of the women. We were able to place all of them quickly except the Carnesis. The trauma they suffered was horrible. I spent two weeks with them, nursing them back to health."
She looked at her mother and said, "The conditions they were kept in must have been terrible. Bleri had bruises in places..." She shuddered. "Besi was malnourished and weak. He appeared to have been tortured. They were in no shape to be moved for a while. Eventually we found them a place to work and live, in Trieste. Besi works at the I Duchi Museum. Bleri is a server at the Cantera Cafe in Sistiana. I know you've been worried about how much time she spends with me, mama. I think I'm her only friend here."
"Well," said Laura, "if she would only wash her hair once in a while. Find some other color than black to wear."
"You don't understand mama," Kaylee said. "She does that on purpose. Men terrify her, and the last thing she wants is to be attractive. Considering what she's been through, I can't blame her."
It was quiet for a while, just the sounds of the fan from the laptop. "Is she a lesbian?" Laura asked quietly.
"No, mama. If anything, she's asexual. She doesn't trust any sort of intimacy. That's the next step."
Wells spoke up. "Have you thought about finding her a job at the orphanage?"
Kaylee looked at him as if he was from Mars. "You know..., I never though of that. Maybe I am an idiot."
Wells shrugged. "Sometimes we get to close to the situation and can't see the most obvious answer."
Twos. Wells fascination with the number two sprung up again. The year 2002. Twins. It meant something, but he couldn't grasp it, it always faded just out of reach.
"Sarah," he said, "What year was Hamilton assigned to the US Embassy in Zagreb?"
"April 2002, Richard," Sarah said. "Do you think there is a connection?"
"There might be. I'm not sure." Wells looked at Kaylee, "You said that there was an anonymous tip about the slavery?"
Kaylee nodded. "Yes. We never found out where it came from. Many of the tips that we received came that way."
"Pretty dangerous, working on anonymous tips," Wells observed. "It can get you killed."
"That's what I found out, Richard. That's how three of the Underground ended up dead."
Wells nodded in understanding. "Sarah, bring up Hamilton's picture, please." Sarah did as asked. "Kaylee, have you ever seen this man before?"
She leaned forward and stared at the screen for a long time. Shaking her head negatively, she said, "No, I've never seen him. Who is he?"
Wells considered before answering. "He's the director that is running the training operation in Catanzaro. Gregory Hamilton. He was stationed at the Embassy in Zegreb at the same time as your rescue operation."
"I'm sorry, Richard. I don't recognize him," Kaylee sat back on the sofa.
Laura leaned forward and asked her daughter, "When you came back, you said that the Underground was nothing but fakers. Why did you say that?"
"Because," Kaylee explained, "I thought they were pacifists. Always spouting off about peace this and peace that. It was my understanding that the rescue was going to be a quick and quiet run in, free the prisoners and run back out." She shrugged. "I was nieve and stupid, like I said. I actually believed something like that could go as easy as I was told."
Wells nodded. "Nothing ever goes according to plan or stays within budget." The women looked at him. He shrugged. "Cheop's Law."
Laura stood up. "I'm going to make dinner." She looked at the clock on the wall. It read 8:30. "Good Lord, is it that late already?" She glanced at Wells and said, "I don't know about you, but I know I'm going to be wiped out in the morning. Jet lag is nothing to kid about." She stopped at the door to the kitchen, "How about a light dinner and then bed?"
"I better make those hotel arrangments," Wells said, and started to give instructions to Sarah to call the Domina.
"Richard... wait." Laura stopped him as she looked over at Kylee.
Kylee nodded and said, "Richard, there's no need for that." He gave her an appraising look. "I mean," she smiled. "It's not like you two haven't slept together already."
"Sarah, cancel that last request." Suddenly realizing how tired he was, he stretched and yawned loudly. "Forget the dinner, Laura. I think I need sleep more."
"I agree." Laura said. "You've been awake almost three straight days, if you don't count the time you slept on the flight. I'm surprised you're even standing." She turned to Kaylee. "He snores."
"I do not!" Wells protested.
"Bad?" Kaylee asked her mother.
"I do not!"
"Eh, not so bad." Laura said.
Wells sighed. This was going to take some getting used to. He told Sarah to continue to scan for details linking Hamilton to the Carnisi twins or the 2002 rescue and wished her a good night. He shut down the connection and locked the case. Yawning mightily again, he stood up and walked to the bedroom door. Looking at Kaylee, he said, "You sure this is all right with you?"
Kaylee nodded, smiled and said, "Just don't snore too loudly."
Wells smiled back and said, "It's your mother that snores." which brought a string of Italian from the kitchen followed by Laura's protest of "I do not! Kaylee, you know I don't snore."
As Wells closed the door, he heard Kaylee say, "Now mama... you know you do."
He found the bed waiting and soft, and he found the oblivion of sleep came quickly.
Wells came out of the shower, shaven and fresher. He wished he had thought to bring a change of clothes, at the very least. He wished he had the time.
Actually, he did, a tiny part of his mind said. He had over two weeks to solve this, and that would include a bit of shopping, to be sure. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of an argument from the other room.
"I think the man is insane, mama." Kaylee's voice. "Who knows what he is doing now. Perhaps he worked as a spy or assassin or whatever back in the 'good old days', but what is he doing now?"
"There is no need to shout, Kaylee. He might hear you." Laura's voice.
"Good! I hope he does. Yes, he seems like a nice enough man. Yes, he seems to love you, and I can tell you love him. But really, mama? Assassination attempts? At the concert?"
Wells stepped out of the bedroom, clearing his throat. Both women were startled, Kaylee blushing furiously and turning her face away from him, and Laura caught his eyes with an 'I told you so' look and then turned her face to stare away at nothing.
"All right," Wells said. "I can see this is not going to work." To Kaylee he said, "I said there might be an attempt, I never said I was sure. I'm not insane, Kaylee. I'm just following my leads and my instincts. My instincts led me here, to Trieste. To you and your mother for help."
Turning to Laura he said, "I appreciate your help in getting me here, Laura, but I do not want to cause any more problems than you already have. You and Kaylee have had, I'm supposing, a fairly happy household before I got here." He paused. "I think the best thing for me to do is leave."
Quietly, Kaylee said "Good."
Laura, looking like he had slapped her, exploded. "Leave? You just got here! It's been twenty-five years and now you're going to leave? Again?"
Wells gave her a hard look and said, "I don't plan to go far, Laura. I found you, I don't intend to lose you."
This caused her to drop her eyes and say "Oh. I thought..."
"Doesn't matter what you thought." Wells snapped. "Second chances don't come every day." He crossed to her and knelt. He took her hands in his and said, "When this is over, we're going to spend a lot of time together. I promise you that. All right?" She nodded meekly, and he kissed her. "It will all turn out the way it should have back then."
Rising and turning to Kaylee, he said "You are the reason I'm leaving. I would think a smart girl like you would be more discreet. If I was here to stop an assassination, and this house was bugged, then you certainly compromised all that I'm working to do. You may have put my life and yours in jeopardy."
Kaylee stared back, defiantly. "Bugged? Why would this place be bugged? We don't know you, Mister Wells, and we have nothing to do with you. If you do indeed work for some secret agency, then it you, coming here, that have put our lives at risk."
"Kaylee," Wells shot back, quickly and what he had hoped was quietly, "What do you know about the Yugoslavian Underground?" Her face froze with her mouth open. "What do you know about NATO's activities just across the border?" Kaylee collapsed on the sofa, and buried her face in her hands.
Wells crossed to her and sat down next to her. He very carefully pulled her hands from her face and lifted her chin so that she would look at him. Very carefully, he whispered to her, "If your house is bugged, it was done by someone from the Underground, or from NATO. There is no evidence to support, that any one knows what we are saying right now. But they might."
"What I found during some research on a training operation was a coincidental linking between you, your mother and a concert. It just so happens that this training operation is set on the same day, at the same place that you and your mother are going to be. I have no reason to believe that it is even remotely connected. I wouldn't even be suspicious if it weren't for a certain director and his denial of even knowing that the concert was being held. For him to not know it would be ridiculous, it would go against procedures."
"When I checked his background, I found that he served in Yugoslavia back in the late 90's. The records are rather muddied, and that always makes me suspicious. When I found your names, yours and your mother, there was indication that you worked for the Yugoslavian Underground as a courier."
Kaylee nodded and said miserably. "I was young and foolish. I felt I was doing a 'big deal' by delivering messages between the factions."
Wells nodded and continued, "Not so very different from me, when I first started." He looked at his daughter and said louder, "So you see, Kaylee. I'm not insane. I just don't know what's going on, is all. I don't know anything except some names, a date, and a very odd-looking training operation. I don't know a damn thing. Do you understand that?" He waited for her to nod, and then continued, "That's why I'm leaving. I have to find out all I can. This might be nothing, or it might be everything."
He stood up. "Is there a hotel nearby?" he asked Laura.
Laura looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "There is Domina Inn," she said, wiping her eyes. It's not far away."
Wells nodded. "That'll do fine." To Kaylee he said, "Now, I don't suppose that a package was delivered while your mother and I were in transit?"
"Oh!" Kaylee said, jumping up and wiping her own eyes. "Yes, there was something that came. I had almost forgotten it." She went into her own bedroom and come out carrying a black case. "It's a computer." When Wells looked harshly at her, she smiled shamefully and said "I'm sorry. I had to look." She handed the case to Wells.
Laura stood up to join Wells as he opened the case. "Sarah?" she asked. Wells nodded.
Kaylee asked, "Who is Sarah, now? Someone else that works for your company?"
Wells turned to her and said, "Young woman, you do not have to know everything." He sat down and placing the laptop on the coffee table, powered it on. The two women sat on either side of him, Laura close, Kaylee leaving a more bit of room.
When the system powered up, he whispered activation phrase "Camera". He looked at the two women and held his fingers to his lips, indicating that they be silent. When the logon screen appeared, he again whispered "Sarah, what's new?"
The screen flashed and the words "Password, please." appeared on it. "A password is required for access to privileged information," scrawled across the screen. "Please enter the password. Type it. Do not say it aloud."
Wells typed in his password and pressed enter.
The screen blanked and stayed that way for three minutes. It flashed and displayed green words 'Area Clear'. Wells let out a very large exhalation and explained. "Means there are no taps or bugs here." He nodded to Laura and said, "This is a specially modified case. It contains a transceiver that can detect transmissions from just above zero frequency to somewhere near Jupiter." He tapped the case. "If there was anything here, this would have caught it." Laura smiled weakly.
Kaylee said, "It's really hard to believe you're a secret agent, Mister Wells. You look like an accountant."
"Probably my best asset," he replied. "I can pretty much blend in anywhere." He pushed a look at Kaylee. "Would it be so hard for you to call me Richard?" he asked.
Kaylee gave a tentative smile. "I suppose I could... Richard. As long as you don't ask me to call you dad."
"Excuse me?" Wells said, a shocked expression spreading on his face. Laura, wearing her own version of shock, said nothing at all.
"Come on, you two!" Kaylee said. She stood up and placed herself directly before her two shocked parents. "I'm not a complete idiot." Seeing that the shock had not worn off, she continued her explanation. "Look." she pointed to her eyes. "Blue." She pointed to Wells' eyes. "Blue as well. And the profile..." she turned to the side, "Pretty hard to not notice the noses are the same." She smiled brightly. "And Twenty-five years? Please. That's such an obvious clue, I'd have to be stupido to not have recognized it."
Laura choked and said, "How long have you known?"
"I had my suspicions in the automobile." Kaylee looked at Wells and said, "Surely you noticed I was checking you out in the mirror?"
"Well... yes," he replied. "But I thought it was because you wanted to see what sort of man your mother had brought home."
"The jury is still out on that, Mister... Richard. At least I know you aren't insane, and that's a big plus. Some of the men I've run into," she paused and grimaced, "it wasn't a fun experience."
Wells stumbled, trying to find words to say. Laura stood up and said, "Um... did you say the coffee was done, Kaylee?"
"It has been for about," she checked her watch, "a half hour now." She started to go into the kitchen, but Laura stopped her, and went instead, leaving Wells and Kaylee alone.
Wells looked at Kaylee, who looked back at Wells. She was smiling a catbird smile, obviously proud that she had performed such a coup.
"You know," she said, "it really doesn't change anything."
"What?" Wells said, "What doesn't change anything."
"It doesn't change a thing if you are my father or if you are just someone that mother pulled in off the street. What matters is the she loves you, you know." She came over to him, where Wells sat on the sofa. She sat next to him. "You and me, Signor Richard, we are starting from zero." She held out her hand and said, "My name is Kaylee Katarina Francesca Gianni. How do you do?"
Wells looked at his daughter, whom he did not truly know. She sat there smiling, offering him the opportunity that he had looked for since he had arrived here. She was offering to chance to get to know her. He reached out his hand and took hers.
"I am," he said as sincerely as he could, "very pleased to meet you, Kaylee Katarina Francesca Gianni. My name is..." and here he was stuck. He had used so many names in his thirty years of service. He looked at her with a blank expression.
"Let's start with Richard," Kaylee offered. "And I think that Wells is a fine name. It has a good tradition." She winked, saying, "I'm an avid reader."
Wells considered the name. Richard Wells. It had been his habit to use a name from authors, and the older the book, the better. Richard Wells carried no author name he was aware of, and it did not belong to any character that he had heard of. He rolled it around in his mind and decided he liked it.
"My name is Richard Wells," he said. "I am the man your mother was with that eventually led to you being born. I am deeply, passionately in love with your mother." He shook her hand, and continued, "I don't expect you to love me, and I don't even expect you to be my friend." He looked at her eyes and said, "It is my hope, though, that you live to be able to do both."
Kaylee's smile faded as the reality of the situation reasserted itself. "Is it really that bad?" she asked.
"I thought you said you didn't know what the situation was." This was from Laura, who was standing at the kitchen doorway. She was holding three steaming mugs of black coffee. One she passed to Kaylee. The other two she carried with her until she sat down next to Wells. She gave one to him and said, "Isn't that what you said, Richard? That you didn't have enough information?"
Wells nodded. "Kaylee, as wonderful as it is to know that I have a daughter, it has complicated the hell out of my life. If it had been anyone else, it would have been a matter of letting things work themselves out."
Seeing Kaylee's shocked face, he explained, "I told you it was not always a pretty job. If you had been someone else, and you had been killed, your death would have been chalked up to collateral damage. There would have been some news story somewhere that would have listed you as a suspected subversive or a terrorist. Terrorists are very big now. Somehow, your death would have been explained away, and the only people to mourn you would be your friends and your mother.
He looked at Laura, touched her hand with his and said, "I had Sarah arrange to get us here just so I could meet Kaylee. All the evidence is purely circumstantial, but the coincidences are just too odd to ignore. There is something going on, and it centers on the Yugoslavian Underground, white slavery, and Hamilton. I don't know if there is anything for Kaylee to worry about, but I'm going to find out." He looked at both of the women. "I can promise you that."
He took a drink, smiled. "Good coffee, Kaylee." He sat the mug down and tapped a key on the keyboard. "Vocals, Sarah."
"Good afternoon, Herbert." The voice of Sarah was a bit tinny, having come from such small speakers.
"Sarah, the password is Cantata. There is also a change in the people involved. I am here with Laura and Kaylee Gianni. My name, for this mission is," he smiled at Kaylee, "Richard Wells. Please continue to register my voice print as the only access to these files."
"Very good, Richard. Are you secure?"
"Yes, Sarah. I'm secure."
"Do you want to continue to use the password cantata, since the Giannis now know it?" Sarah asked.
"Yes, Sarah. Cantata is still the password," Wells said. "Except for my personal sensitive documents and any data or information that might compromise this mission, Laura and Kaylee are also granted access."
Sarah paused. "Is that wise, Richard? Laura has known connections with the Yugoslavia Underground."
"Sarah," Wells looked over at Kaylee, "it may not be wise, but it is the right thing to do. For security sake, I will not be letting you out of my sight." He paused, thinking. Then he asked, "Is the office secure?"
"Yes, Richard," Sarah assured him. "As far as the company is concerned, you are still here. Director Hamilton has called a few times, leaving no message, but asking you to return his calls. I have taken the liberty of answering your emails using your standard patter of responses." There was another pause. "Should I inform the President of your change of location and name, Richard?"
"No!" Wells said. "No. I am under an unsanctioned deep cover, Sarah. Treat this mission as such, please."
"Very good, Richard." Another pause from Sarah, then she said, "May I say hello to the Giannis?"
Wells raised an eyebrow, looked at Laura and Kaylee with a surprised look on his face. "Certainly, Sarah," he replied. "Sarah, are you all right?"
"I am operating perfectly, Richard. I require their voice prints to assure that the level of security is maintained."
"Oh." Wells still sounded dubious. "Sarah, this is Laura Gianni. Laura, this is Sarah."
Laura leaned forward and said, "Hello Sarah. This is Laura Gianni. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"As it is to meet you, Laura," Sarah replied. "Richard is very taken with you. He was very surprised to know that he has a daughter. During the last five years, he has spoken your name two hundred thirty times, mostly in his sleep."
"Oh, he has, has he?" Laura asked.
"Yes," was the reply.
"Ahem." Wells interrupted, "let us move on, shall we?" He waved Kaylee over and said "Sarah, this is Kaylee Gianni. Kaylee, this is Sarah, my computer."
"Computer?" Kaylee asked. "This is a computer?"
"I am not just a computer, Miss Gianni," Sarah said. "I am a multi phased operating system based in part on the same geometry that your human brains are. As far as I aware of, I am the only one of my kind that has successfully implemented the process."
"A bit proud of herself, isn't she?" Kaylee said.
"In reality, I am an it, Miss Gianni. The persona of Sarah was given to me by Richard Wells, who was then known as Herbert Wells. I believe it is something that he finds comfort in, knowing that he is in control of a feminine personality."
"As for pride, I do possess a simulation of pride, as it tends to create a motivation to do the very best job I can. Pride, as you would understand it, does not exist in my programming. The desire to do my work well and to perform to the best of my ability creates a simulation of satisfaction in me. A curiosity, perhaps, and one I have given some thought to. So, in essence, yes, Miss Gianni, I do have pride of my accomplishments."
There was a pause. "As to a sense of philosophical self, that is still up for debate among many human scholars. I do have, in the strictest conceptualization, a sense of self. I can speak of myself as 'I', I have pride in my work, I find pleasure in many of the things Richard has asked of me. Briefly, in holding to those constraints, and as I understand your question, yes, I am a bit proud of myself."
"Well." Kaylee said.
"Miss Gianni, would you please state your name?" Sarah asked.
"I don't know if I like this Sarah thing." Kaylee whispered to her mother.
Laura nodded, saying, "That's what I said, earlier."
Kaylee leaned into the laptop and said, "My name is Kaylee Gianni, Sarah. I don't know if it is a pleasure to meet you or not."
"That is understandable, Kaylee," Sarah said. "From the perspective of evidence, you are a suspicious person." A second passed and then Sarah said "Voice prints are stored, Richard."
"Thank you, Sarah," Wells said. He looked at the two women. "Sarah is my primary research tool. It has connection to practically every newspaper in the world. If anything is typeset electronically and transmitted over the 'net, Sarah can read the print, even before it leaves the press. It can listen to three thousand simultaneous radio transmissions at the same time..."
Kaylee said, "That still doesn't mean I have to like her." She looked at Wells; arms crossed and said, "I don't care if you call her and it. She has more personality than most people I know. She is a she."
"Um, all right," Wells said.
"I agree with Kaylee," Laura nodded. "She's a she." Turning to Wells she continued, "Are you sure you had her send the emails at the airport? Yesterday you told me you did it as a joke." She touched his arm. "Did you?"
Wells shook his head. "I gave her the explicit command to perform as if she... IT, dammit, were a real person, so that anyone speaking to her..." He sighed from frustration. "Okay! If anyone were to speak with her, they would not be able to tell the difference between a human being and her. I needed her to perform as close to a human so that anyone calling my office would be speaking with Sarah, and I had to have her be able to make decisions independent of me being there." He looked at Laura over his shoulder. "So, yes, it was a joke, but it was a joke on the company. I just wanted to see if it would fool you." He shrugged and said, "Now I'm not so sure how funny it is. Her programming is the most sophisticated in the world, as far as I know."
He looked at the screen. "Sarah, are you self aware?"
"Are you asking if I'm alive, Richard?"
"In essence, yes," Wells admitted. "Are you alive?"
"No, Richard," Sarah answered. "I am not, in any real or true sense alive. I am not a Frankenstein monster. If anything, I might be closer to the computer HAL in the book 2001: A Space Odyssey. With out the psychosis, I might add. You may, at anytime, request me to return to my previous state, and I would without hesitation perform that action." She paused. "No, Richard, I am not alive, in any sense that you might understand."
"Ah," he said. Turning to the women he said, "That explains it, pretty much. Sarah is still just reacting to her programming." He shrugged. "I have to admit, though, she sounds pretty convincing."
"Thank you, Richard," Sarah said.
Wells slapped the tabletop. "Enough fun," he said. "Sarah, what have you found concerning Kaylee's associations with the Yugoslavian Underground?"
"Are you referring to the Carnesi family or her connection with the slave trade?" Sarah asked.
Kaylee flashed angry eyes. "The Carnesi family?" She turned to her mother and said, "Mother, the Carnesis are innocent of any of thing. You don't know their history."
"Bleri and Besi Carnesi are the fraternal twin children of Estovan and Barbara Carnesi. They were born in Sisak, Croatia on August twenty seventh, 1980. They were the only children of the couple. Their parents were killed in a mortar attack in 1997, when the children were seventeen. From the time of their parent's death until September of the year 2000, when they appeared in a police report detailing a protest at the United States Embassy in Zagreb. There is no official record of them until the year 2002, when they once again appeared in the local newspapers."
"Another protest?" Wells asked.
"No, Richard," Sarah said, "the newspapers reported that they had been rescued from Bosnian terrorists. What is odd about the article is that it does not mention which faction of terrorists had taken them. Looking backward from that article, there is no indication or mention of any kidnappings that included the Carnesi."
Kaylee raised her hand. "I might be able to fill in the details."
"Please," said Wells.
Kaylee scrunched forward and said, "I know you're looking for a connection between me and the Underground." She turned toward her mother and said, "Mama, I know that you warned me about them, but I had to, it was something I felt strongly about, and you always taught me to follow my heart."
"Anyway," she continued, "the Underground was assisting the refugees from the Kosovo conflict. I was helping them find homes and jobs in the local areas. Places where they were not known and it did not matter if they were Serbs or Albanian or Italians." She smiled and said, "Yes, it was dangerous work. Most of the time it was late at night crossings, and mysterious meetings." She looked at Wells and said, "I'm sure you know what that is like, Richard."
"It all went fine until September of 2002." She reached over and placed a hand on Laura's arm. "I'm sorry for that time, mama. I know my disappearance worried you. It was for a good reason." She looked at Wells and said, "You see, we had heard rumors of white slavery in Zagreb for years."
"I assume that they were more than just rumors?" Wells asked.
"Yes," Kaylee said. "We had received an anonymous tip that a, and I use the word in its worse sense, that a shipment was planned. A shipment of humans." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not going to go into details. I don't want to relive it all again. We lost three people in the raid, but we got six people out. Five women and one man. The man was Besi Carnesi. His sister, Bleri, was one of the women. We were able to place all of them quickly except the Carnesis. The trauma they suffered was horrible. I spent two weeks with them, nursing them back to health."
She looked at her mother and said, "The conditions they were kept in must have been terrible. Bleri had bruises in places..." She shuddered. "Besi was malnourished and weak. He appeared to have been tortured. They were in no shape to be moved for a while. Eventually we found them a place to work and live, in Trieste. Besi works at the I Duchi Museum. Bleri is a server at the Cantera Cafe in Sistiana. I know you've been worried about how much time she spends with me, mama. I think I'm her only friend here."
"Well," said Laura, "if she would only wash her hair once in a while. Find some other color than black to wear."
"You don't understand mama," Kaylee said. "She does that on purpose. Men terrify her, and the last thing she wants is to be attractive. Considering what she's been through, I can't blame her."
It was quiet for a while, just the sounds of the fan from the laptop. "Is she a lesbian?" Laura asked quietly.
"No, mama. If anything, she's asexual. She doesn't trust any sort of intimacy. That's the next step."
Wells spoke up. "Have you thought about finding her a job at the orphanage?"
Kaylee looked at him as if he was from Mars. "You know..., I never though of that. Maybe I am an idiot."
Wells shrugged. "Sometimes we get to close to the situation and can't see the most obvious answer."
Twos. Wells fascination with the number two sprung up again. The year 2002. Twins. It meant something, but he couldn't grasp it, it always faded just out of reach.
"Sarah," he said, "What year was Hamilton assigned to the US Embassy in Zagreb?"
"April 2002, Richard," Sarah said. "Do you think there is a connection?"
"There might be. I'm not sure." Wells looked at Kaylee, "You said that there was an anonymous tip about the slavery?"
Kaylee nodded. "Yes. We never found out where it came from. Many of the tips that we received came that way."
"Pretty dangerous, working on anonymous tips," Wells observed. "It can get you killed."
"That's what I found out, Richard. That's how three of the Underground ended up dead."
Wells nodded in understanding. "Sarah, bring up Hamilton's picture, please." Sarah did as asked. "Kaylee, have you ever seen this man before?"
She leaned forward and stared at the screen for a long time. Shaking her head negatively, she said, "No, I've never seen him. Who is he?"
Wells considered before answering. "He's the director that is running the training operation in Catanzaro. Gregory Hamilton. He was stationed at the Embassy in Zegreb at the same time as your rescue operation."
"I'm sorry, Richard. I don't recognize him," Kaylee sat back on the sofa.
Laura leaned forward and asked her daughter, "When you came back, you said that the Underground was nothing but fakers. Why did you say that?"
"Because," Kaylee explained, "I thought they were pacifists. Always spouting off about peace this and peace that. It was my understanding that the rescue was going to be a quick and quiet run in, free the prisoners and run back out." She shrugged. "I was nieve and stupid, like I said. I actually believed something like that could go as easy as I was told."
Wells nodded. "Nothing ever goes according to plan or stays within budget." The women looked at him. He shrugged. "Cheop's Law."
Laura stood up. "I'm going to make dinner." She looked at the clock on the wall. It read 8:30. "Good Lord, is it that late already?" She glanced at Wells and said, "I don't know about you, but I know I'm going to be wiped out in the morning. Jet lag is nothing to kid about." She stopped at the door to the kitchen, "How about a light dinner and then bed?"
"I better make those hotel arrangments," Wells said, and started to give instructions to Sarah to call the Domina.
"Richard... wait." Laura stopped him as she looked over at Kylee.
Kylee nodded and said, "Richard, there's no need for that." He gave her an appraising look. "I mean," she smiled. "It's not like you two haven't slept together already."
"Sarah, cancel that last request." Suddenly realizing how tired he was, he stretched and yawned loudly. "Forget the dinner, Laura. I think I need sleep more."
"I agree." Laura said. "You've been awake almost three straight days, if you don't count the time you slept on the flight. I'm surprised you're even standing." She turned to Kaylee. "He snores."
"I do not!" Wells protested.
"Bad?" Kaylee asked her mother.
"I do not!"
"Eh, not so bad." Laura said.
Wells sighed. This was going to take some getting used to. He told Sarah to continue to scan for details linking Hamilton to the Carnisi twins or the 2002 rescue and wished her a good night. He shut down the connection and locked the case. Yawning mightily again, he stood up and walked to the bedroom door. Looking at Kaylee, he said, "You sure this is all right with you?"
Kaylee nodded, smiled and said, "Just don't snore too loudly."
Wells smiled back and said, "It's your mother that snores." which brought a string of Italian from the kitchen followed by Laura's protest of "I do not! Kaylee, you know I don't snore."
As Wells closed the door, he heard Kaylee say, "Now mama... you know you do."
He found the bed waiting and soft, and he found the oblivion of sleep came quickly.
