The Zul Enigma Page 12

  ‘First I wanna talk to you about Dr Maiz. We’ve had our people do a little background checking. It seems his wife died in a homicide a few years ago?’

  ‘That’s right. A year after he joined OOSA. It was tragic and devastating for Carlos. Since then he’s thrown himself into his work. OOSA’s his life now.’

  ‘According to our information, you had to discipline Dr Maiz shortly after? Is that correct?’

  ‘How do you know about that?’

  ‘It’s something we flagged in Dr Maiz’s personal file. You must know we conduct routine security checks on everyone scheduled to visit here. So?’

  ‘Discipline is too strong a word.’

  ‘Would you acquaint us with the incident?’

  ‘I don’t see the relevance…’

  ‘Come on Greg. Humour me and oblige.’

  Greg shifted on the sofa opposite Anita. ‘After Elena was murdered, Carlos changed. Before he was full of energy, always laughing and joking around, but after she died? He became very withdrawn. He threw himself into his job, coming in early, working late. Some of his colleagues were uncomfortable with it. Carlos’s Administrative Assistant, Corrinne, brought it to my attention, said he’d become less approachable, less easy to work with. That he wasn’t interacting with the staff the way he used to. His long hours were also causing problems. Some of the staff worried that they’d be thought less of if they didn’t follow suit. Corrinne thought he was suffering with depression.’

  Bob nodded.

  ‘Although I could understand Corrinne’s misgivings, Carlos was running the office more efficiently than ever and it crossed my mind that perhaps she’d built up some resentment towards him. You see she’s been with OOSA since the UN opened in Vienna nearly twenty years ago. She’s most conscientious, an exemplary employee, but she does rather think she runs the place. So I wondered if all the changes Carlos had implemented to streamline operations had put her nose out of joint and as a result she was dishing out a small portion of sour grapes.

  ‘Anyhow, I raised her issues with Carlos and he said Corrinne had indeed shown some resistance to his new ideas. Initially he was defensive regarding her comments about his change in attitude, but he eventually admitted that she may have a point – except for the depression that is – that he vehemently denied. He’s a proud man, it was uncomfortable for him, but he listened and called a meeting with his staff to resolve the issue. As far as I’m aware, that was that.’

  ‘And his behaviour – the withdrawal – did that ever turn around?’

  ‘Well, no. It didn’t. And although he continued to do a fine job at OOSA, it was clear that after Elena died he lost something – his passion for life, you could say. I always hoped it would come back. And here’s the thing. When Carlos visited at the weekend he was like his old self again.’

  ‘Do you know why?’

  ‘At first I thought it was the messages. They were unexpected, unbelievable. I thought he was excited by the challenge of finding an explanation.’

  ‘And now?’

  Greg sighed. ‘We had a debriefing session earlier. He told me in detail about the baby incident and how it affected him. Said it put him back in touch with all the emotions he’d buried since Elena died. That it reignited his inner spark. It’s the baby that changed him.’

  ‘Do you believe someone sent him a hologram of a baby?’

  ‘Carlos isn’t lying. But who would do such a thing?’

  ‘And what’s your opinion about Dr Maiz’s state of mind?’

  Greg hesitated and cleared his throat again. ‘Until our meeting today I would have said absolutely fine.’

  ‘So when he came to you at the weekend with his story about being contacted by aliens, you didn’t question his mental state?’

  ‘Not at all. He introduced the possibility most lucidly.’

  ‘So much so you believed this “Zul” was an alien?’

  ‘No, of course not. I simply hoped your technology would succeed where ours had failed and prove it’s a hoax. And I did rather hope you’d help us track down the culprits.’

  Bob raised his eyebrows. ‘We may still be able to do that Greg,’ and he looked down at the report on the desk in front of him. ‘And what do you think about Dr Maiz’s behaviour at our meeting earlier today?’

  Greg bowed his head. ‘I was shocked. Shocked and surprised. It’s true Carlos presented me with a case to support Zul being an extraterrestrial and backed it up with data and logic, but I thought he was playing devil’s advocate. It wasn’t until this morning I realised he actually believed it.’

  ‘That’s what I thought.’ Bob paused. ‘Well, let me tell you what NASA’s come up with. They confirm that, as your guys already maintained, the spoofed messages got on the system through Dr Maiz’s terminal sessions.’

  Greg looked up expectantly and Bob fixed his gaze. ‘The reason being because Dr Maiz sent them himself.’

  ‘Carlos sent them?’

  ‘That’s correct. This whole scenario of aliens has been cooked up by Dr Maiz with one or more accomplices.’

  ‘I don’t believe it.’

  ‘NASA’s not yet finalised its report, but so far it’s clear Dr Maiz is responsible.’

  ‘Unless…’

  ‘Aliens? I really don’t think so. Do you?’

  ‘No. But perhaps someone is using Carlos without his knowledge. Recently he’s been very outspoken about how much he despairs for the future of the planet. Zul is saying what Carlos believes… that the Earth is going through unusually unstable times. I wonder if someone is using Zul to manipulate him. But who and why?’

  ‘And how? There’s no way anybody other than Dr Maiz could’ve sent those messages.’

  ‘What about the baby hologram? Carlos said it appeared after a virtual conference he’d had with a friend.’

  Bob nodded. ‘NASA checked the logs. There was no second holovideo call.’

  ‘But why would Carlos make all this up?’

  ‘I was hoping you might have some thoughts on that, Greg.’

  Greg shook his head. ‘I’ve no idea at all.’

  ‘How about his mental state? You said you didn’t question it… at first… but since he recounted that story about the baby appearing and disappearing? Well, that’s put a different slant on it, hasn’t it?’

  ‘I …’

  ‘Greg, we know Dr Maiz sent the messages. Now it’s just a question of finding out why and who else is involved.’

  Anita broke the silence, speaking for the first time during the meeting and making Greg jump. ‘Mr Howard, we now have to decide where to go from here.’

  Greg turned to her. ‘Of course.’

  She was perched on the edge of the couch looking as calm as if she were attending nothing more important than a PTA coffee morning. She continued in her soft, clipped voice. ‘There are two options. The first is that you continue with your own investigations through ITU-T. Naturally this will lead to Dr Maiz and any others found to be implicated being questioned, and those suspected of perpetrating the hoax being tried under Austrian law where the crimes took place.’ Anita lowered her voice. ‘This could end up being an expensive and lengthy process. But even less palatable, once the press gets a hold of the story we’re concerned they’ll blow it up into yet another high profile embarrassment that we know the UN and you personally would prefer to avoid. For sure Washington doesn’t want to be dragged into any scandals associated with aliens. Especially not at this time.’

  She cast the net…

  ‘Alternatively,’ Bob continued, ‘in a spirit of mutual cooperation, we’re agreeable to using our extensive intelligence resources to launch a confidential investigation. I’ll discuss the findings with you and we can then decide on the resolution least painful for us all.’

  … and Bob pulled it tight.

  What a team!

  Experienced statesman that he was, Greg didn’t betray a hint of discomfort at having the investigation so expertly whipped out of h
is control. As head of the UN he was used to speaking from a position of zero authority and little power. It pained him but he knew he could do nothing but hold up his hands in compliance.

  ‘All right Bob. I see your point. This may escalate into a situation that could embarrass us all.’ Greg dropped his hands onto his thighs and nodded his head. ‘I agree.’

  ‘Tell your people to cancel further ITU-T investigation – no point in wasting any more of their time.’

  ‘Will do,’ he sighed. ‘Then once you let me know your results, we can decide on the best way to proceed, as you say, the best way for all of us, including Carlos.’

  ‘Good. It makes sense. Who knows what Dr Maiz’s agenda is? But whatever the answer, we’ll find it. I assure you of that!

  ‘Now, you can go back to New York, but before you do call Carlos and tell him we’re still awaiting NASA’s final report and need him on hand in case we have any questions. Believe me, everything will be resolved ASAP. I want the matter squared away before the end of the week.’

  ‘That quickly?’

  ‘Yeah! That quickly. We’ll be in touch as soon as we have something for you.’

  ***

  When Drew walked into the cocktail lounge it took him a while to spot Carlos who was already sitting at the bar with a drink. Drew weaved his way towards him through the noisy crowd.

  ‘Been here long?’

  ‘I only just sat down.’

  ‘I’m busting for a piss,’ Drew announced and without another word strode off in the direction of the men’s toilet.

  It had been his suggestion to meet at this classy Screwball lounge club in downtown DC and although it was a Monday night the place was crawling with students, suits and singles talking, laughing and getting drunk.

  When Drew got back from the gents he squeezed himself onto an adjacent stool that had just become available.

  Carlos passed him the menu. ‘What do you want? They do every cocktail in the world. And more.’

  Drew read through the menu page by page and back again. ‘Excuse me,’ he yelled over the hubbub of background noise, waving to catch the barman’s attention.

  ‘Yes sir?’

  ‘I was toying with the Dog’s Bollocks, but on second thoughts I think I’ll have a vodka martini.’

  The barman repeated his order without a hint of a smile.

  ‘Unappreciative sod,’ Drew said. He swivelled his barstool towards Carlos.

  ‘You just got in then?’ Carlos asked.

  ‘Yeah, a couple of hours ago. Dumped my bag at me mates, had a shower and came straight here. I’m meeting him for dinner later when he knocks off. Want to join us?’

  ‘No. I don’t feel like company tonight.’ Carlos replied.

  ‘So… tell me about your meeting.’

  Carlos studied his glass.

  ‘You fucked it up, didn’t you?’

  ‘It was horrible.’

  ‘Bloody hell, I warned you. What happened?’

  Carlos raised his hands. ‘Greg insisted on leading the meeting. He said he wanted to keep it really brief.’

  ‘That makes sense. I can’t see the mighty Bob tolerating anyone wasting his time.’

  ‘We walked in and Greg introduced me. Anita Goodwin was there too. There was no small talk and before we even sat down Bob made it clear he couldn’t wait to get rid of me. Greg started to explain why we were there and as he was talking, Bob kept looking at me out of the side of his eye, like he disapproved of me.’

  ‘And that pissed you off.’

  ‘What do you think?’ Carlos snapped.

  ‘And you just couldn’t sit there and keep your trap shut.’

  ‘He was so condescending.’

  Drew raised his eyes. ‘And you’re surprised? You know bloody well politically he’s so far right it’s wrong. He hates the UN – just imagine what he thinks about you and your mission to keep space for peaceful uses. Did you give the Pentagon any concessions regarding the Space Elevator?’

  ‘No. It was a tough meeting, but I held firm.’

  ‘There you go. And you damn well know what he thinks about space exploration. He must have thought you were taking the mick, telling him you’d had e-mails from aliens.’

  ‘He read the transcripts and the report and he didn’t even react. He didn’t ask one question. Nothing. Hey, he could have been reading a user manual for an obsolete cell phone for all the interest he showed. All he said was “Why’re you bringing this to me?”’ Carlos exaggerated Bob’s Southern drawl.

  ‘Come on Carlos. You know his reputation – the Mr No Nonsense Ice Man of politics. That’s just the way he operates.’

  ‘Ice Man is right.’

  Drew lifted the martini to his mouth. The glass was so full the clear liquid dribbled down the stem and dripped onto the bar.

  ‘Greg explained why we were there.’

  ‘Which was?’

  ‘To ask him to authorise his people to investigate the messages.’

  ‘And…?’

  ‘And then I said something.’

  ‘Which was…’

  ‘I said that if his people couldn’t prove the messages came from Earth then there would be a major situation. That it wouldn’t just concern us at the UN, it would concern our entire planet.’

  Drew cocked his head to one side. ‘That doesn’t sound so bad.’

  ‘Well, Bob obviously thought it did. He sneered at me. He said, “Ya kidding me! Ya think this Zul’s an alien?” and I said that I believed he was.’

  ‘Bloody hell, Carlos!’

  ‘Then he started shouting and threw a file at me. I was this close to punching him,’ Carlos scowled as he held up his thumb and forefinger less than an inch apart.

  ‘You’re shitting me! But you didn’t say anything about the ba…’

  ‘Sí.’ Carlos cut him off, burying his face in his hands. ‘He made me so mad. He said he wanted “proof”, so I told him I’d seen proof.’

  Drew closed his eyes and shook his head.

  They sat hunched over the bar, elbows on the counter, oblivious to the bustle and din surrounding them.

  ‘Well, it shut him up.’ Carlos said eventually.

  ‘I’ll bet it did.’

  ‘Greg smoothed things over. He got Bob to agree to look into the messages. Then we left. Greg was so upset I embarrassed him. He’s not just my boss, he treats me like family.’

  ‘Oh, Carlos.’

  ‘Greg saw Bob again a couple of hours ago. He called me to say NASA’s still investigating. He wasn’t angry, just very quiet. I feel horrible.’

  ‘I can’t believe what you did, Charlie boy.’

  ‘Me neither. It was so stupid. I couldn’t care less about Bob but I’ve lost Greg’s trust. He’s going back to New York tonight but the Americans want me to stay on here till they get NASA’s finished report.’

  Drew stared down at the bar with a grim look on his face. ‘Where are you staying?’

  ‘One of their guest houses near the White House.’

  ‘That’ll be a safe house.’

  ‘A safe house?’

  Drew nodded. ‘Yeah. They’ll have you pegged as a potential security threat. Especially after that meeting. The house’ll be equipped with all the latest surveillance gear. How did you get here?’

  ‘They gave me a car and a driver.’

  ‘Yeah, so they can keep tabs on you. They’ll be listening in on us right now.’

  ‘You’re kidding me.’

  ‘Grow up, Carlos. This is serious shit. National Intelligence will be digging into your background as we speak. You can’t avoid that. But be careful who you talk to and what you say. I’m dead serious, Carlos, these guys don’t muck around. If they think you’re a threat, you don’t know what they might do.’

  ‘Me? A threat? What have I done?’

  ‘Don’t be so bloody naïve. You can’t go into the Oval Office and tell the President you’ve been contacted by aliens without someone pushing the panic butto
n.’

  Drew motioned to the barman for another round.

  ‘We shouldn’t talk about it here.’

  ‘You really think they’re listening?’

  ‘Of course they’re listening!’

  ‘You’re paranoid.’

  Seeing the pained expression on Carlos’s face, Drew held up his hands. ‘Have it your own way. So he gave you a really hard time, huh?’

  ‘Bob?’

  Drew nodded.

  ‘He must hate the Spanish.’

  ‘He’s a good old Southern boy – just thank God you’re not black.’

  ‘Forget the jokes, there was something about me he didn’t like.’

  ‘Did it cross your mind that it may not be you he doesn’t like? That it could be what you were saying? You blabbing on about all this crazy shit.’

  Carlos sat up straight on the stool and looked Drew dead in the eyes.

  ‘And what exactly do you mean by that?’

  ‘This whole business. You’re losing the plot, amigo.’

  ‘Losing the plot?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Because I’m saying what Zul claims might be true?’

  ‘Let’s put it this way, it’ll be interesting to see what NASA comes up with.’

  Carlos flung his arms in the air. ‘They won’t find anything we don’t already know.’

  ‘Why are you so sure?’

  ‘Because there’s nothing to find.’

  ‘Tell me Carlos, why are you doing this?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You said it yourself the other night. When you broke down over dinner. Since Elena died, your life’s meaningless. You’ve got no friends. You don’t have anything apart from work and you hate that. Are you trying to create some drama in your life? Trying to fill the big void?’

  ‘You saying I’ve gone crazy?’ Carlos lifted two fingers to his temple and rotated them.

  ‘Not completely perhaps, but temporary insanity’s looking a pretty good bet right now.’

  ‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this. From you, you of all people.’ Carlos banged his glass down on the bar spilling his drink. ‘When did you qualify as a psychiatrist, hey?’

  ‘Carlos, it can happen. Your wife died a brutal death. You felt responsible. You still feel responsible. You’ve never dealt with it. Then out of the blue you get this hoax message. So you latch onto it and start believing it’s real. Then you start imagining things – the baby.’