The 22nd Secret Page 6

  Howard and Henry were in Idaho to add number 7 to their group. The sedan turned off the road at the Koller potato farm and slowly approached the two-story white farmhouse with a red barn. Roland Koller opened the door and invited the two men into the room. He shook hands with each and introduced his wife. The Kollers inspected their identification, which could have been faked for all they knew.

  “Would you all like some lemonade?” Hilda Koller asked.

  “Yes, thank you,” Henry answered. She turned and left for the kitchen and Roland sat down on his chair, opposite the couch. Howard and Henry took the hint and sat down. A moment of awkward silence fell over them as Roland eyed his guests.

  “As we mentioned in the letter and our telephone conversation,” Dr. Woolum said. “We hoped to talk with your daughter, Pamela. Is she here?”

  “Yes, she is.” Roland answered as his wife returned with a tray and began serving everyone. “But my wife and I would like to talk with you alone first. Our daughter is only seventeen and, well, we know she is special and someday something like this–”

  “We’re concerned about her going away,” Hilda interrupted. “She’s our only child.”

  “I’m Dr. Howard Woolum. As I explained in the letter, your daughter has been selected to participate as an intern this summer in a special program of the utmost importance to the United States Government. Only ten very special young people from throughout the country have been selected. This is quite an honor for your daughter. She will participate in very important and advanced computer research. To be totally honest with you, I believe your daughter is the best young mind in this field in the country. She could have a brilliant future in research.”

  “We know all about our daughter’s exceptional abilities and are honored by your invitation.” Roland spoke with concern in his voice. “But my wife and I feel, well, she has missed so much already. I mean a normal child her age would be dating high school boys and thinking about the prom. She’s had none of these opportunities. For the last four years she’s been away at college where she was too young to fit in. Don’t get me wrong, we’re very proud of her scholastic achievements and everything. But she’s had no life outside of school. And her mother, well when does she get her little girl back? Her mother and I wanted her to stay with us. College could wait she was only fourteen. She had no friends. She was always ahead of everyone else. All she had was her books. She only wanted to go to school that’s all she ever really cared about. She’s very competitive that way. So her mother and I let her go. Actually, we were relieved when her master’s thesis was rejected. We hoped she would come home for a few years then return to school if she wanted. To be perfectly honest with you, Dr. Woolum, Pam was quite surprised to receive your invitation after she failed to receive her master’s. We feel it might be best for Pam to hold off on anything else for a while.”

  “I know all about her thesis.” Woolum responded with sympathy. But he knew he had to recruit Pam regardless of their objections. “I was hoping you would be thrilled with the invitation for the summer internship. Apparently, I was wrong.”

  “Well, we just have some concerns that’s all,” Hilda said.

  “Let me level with you. Your daughter has such exceptional abilities that it is vital she be allowed to participate in this program. Mr. and Mrs. Koller, I am in charge of all computer research at Los Alamos. There is no finer more advanced research facility in the world. I have no interest in your daughter’s continued education. I believe she can make a very material contribution to our nation, to the entire human race. And she can do it today, right now. What your daughter is capable of, with the proper guidance, in the environment we can provide her, cannot be learned in school. She is beyond that.”

  “So you would just disregard her education? Why?” Hilda asked.

  “No, of course not. This may be difficult for you to understand. Your daughter is in some danger.”

  “Danger?” asked Roland. “From who, what do you mean?” Roland was a healthy well-built man. He eyed Henry, realizing he was also a prepossessing figure, capable of threatening this family.

  “Try to understand. Surely you know the world is a dangerous place full of dangerous people. Criminals, foreign governments even some corporations could potentially have an interest in your daughter.”

  “This is preposterous. You government people are all paranoid. The Chinese stole all your secrets so you think you need to lock up everything.” Roland raised his voice. “Well, this has nothing to do with our daughter. You are not going to talk with her. I’m afraid you’re going to leave right now.” Roland stood up ready to escort the men out.

  Oh shit. Henry prepared to stand, afraid of what was going to happen next. He knew the girl was going with them sooner or later, one way or the other. Howard reached out and stopped Henry with a gently hand on his shoulder.

  “Please, Mr. Koller, allow me to explain, for your daughter’s sake. Then we’ll leave if you still want us to.” Roland continued to stand as Howard pulled a blue file from his briefcase. “The more you know about this the more danger you and your wife will be in. The more chance there is your daughter will be hurt. I would prefer it if you knew nothing about this. I hoped you would be happy thinking your daughter was going to Los Alamos as an intern for a few months. Believe me, Mr. Koller. I care about your daughter very much. She is extremely valuable not just to me but also to people who may not have her best interests at heart. People who would stop at nothing to use her abilities for purposes far less noble then I’m suggesting. You have to believe my sincerity here.” He continued as he held the file. “We have been keeping records on people with exceptional abilities like Pam, for decades. Sometimes to recruit them for the government, sometimes we keep records for other reasons. Believe me, this is all very confidential.”

  “Daddy, I heard you raise your voice. Is everything okay?” Pamela Koller asked from halfway up the stairs. She wore suitable farm cloths, a western shirt and tight fitting blue jeans both flattering her young perfectly proportioned body. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a pony tail that hung down her back. Her face was nothing less than gorgeous, but her most striking feature was her eyes. They were nothing less than mesmerizing. Howard and Henry stood and stared as she continued down the stairs. So this is the little girl who came up with Level 21 all by herself. Howard found it hard to believe. Her youthful beauty made her look so innocent. She had no idea the firestorm she had created, that she would have to live with for the rest of her life. She couldn’t have seen it coming.

  Henry had entirely different thoughts, but he would have to keep them to himself. After all, she was only seventeen. He also was glad to know exactly where she was. Her eyes danced between the two men. She had taken control of the room by the time she sat on the end table next to her mother.

  “Pam you needn’t be part of this.”

  “No, daddy I have a right to hear about my confidential file. You think you people have the right to do this kind of thing?” Pam asked. Her eyes penetrated deep into Howard’s.

  “When it protects our national security interests, you and your family, yes I think we do.” Howard spoke with conviction and sat back down. He knew Pam would sense his reaction, so he spoke with clinical accuracy. He paused for an instant, while Henry realized he needed to stop staring at Pam and sit down.

  “Pam, I’m honored to meet you. I’m Dr. Howard Woolum and this is Mr. Henry Lo. You know from my letter why we’re here. I really need to speak to you alone, Pam. The less your parents know about all this the better.”

  “Whatever you want to say to me, my parents can hear.”

  “Okay. I’ll cut to the chase.” He returned Pam’s direct stare, thinking she might be swayed by his honesty and candor. “We’re not here to talk about an internship. I’m prepared to offer you a permanent position with our research group. We recognize your value and are offering a starting salary of $200,000 a year.” Howard felt the tension in the room ease instantly.r />
  Hilda reached for a Kleenex from the box on the table behind her daughter, who continued to stare at Howard with those penetrating eyes. Howard felt he was on a roll, so he quickly sweetened the offer. “Mr. and Mrs. Koller, we recognize the tremendous sacrifice you’re making, there’s a mortgage on this farm. That will be taken care of right away.” Roland fell back in his chair. Hilda began dabbing the tears away from the corners of her eyes.

  Henry relaxed when Roland sat down. The money did not concern Henry. These were small amounts. Level 21 was officially funded with billions under the guise of Star Wars research. A little of the money was used for fake research as a cover for Level 21; some was skimmed off for Betty to invest. The rest was used to fund the official Level 21 Project, which would now include Pamela Koller’s salary and perks.

  “We will pay for all of Pam’s future education,” Howard added. “At schools of my choice. And we’ll pay off all of her student loans.”

  “She’s still only a little girl. What will she do with all that money? Where will she live?” Hilda asked, crying more openly. It was clear she saw the writing on the wall.

  “She can do whatever she wants with it,” Howard said. I suggest she put most of it in a trust. We have people who can handle that for her. As far as living, Mrs. Woolum, my two teenage daughters, and I would love to have her stay with us. At least until she returns to school or, with your approval, moves out on her own.”

  “You mentioned danger,” Roland asked with in a mild tone.

  “This file,” Howard held up the blue file. “The Chinese may have one, maybe more complete, maybe the mafia, several corporations, others. Contrary to what the media would have you believe occasionally, we do some things right. Today is one of them. Normally we would have quietly kept an eye on your daughter. Maybe make a job offer after she received her Ph.D., maybe not. But recent events have changed all that. I’m here today because I was fortunate enough to discover something about your daughter I don’t think anyone else knows. They may never find out. If they do it would be very bad for the three of you.”

  Pam stood, still looking directly into Howard. “Daddy, I want to talk with Dr. Woolum alone.”

  “Pam, honey you said you were going to stay here for the summer.” Hilda cried openly as she spoke.

  Pam got up and walked over to Howard. “Let’s go for a walk,” she said.

  Howard opened the door for Pam and they walked out onto the porch. Henry picked a People magazine off the coffee table and thumbed through the pages. He hoped Roland knew enough to act casually. Roland walked over to his wife, knelt next to the chair she was sitting in, and wrapped his arms around her. He held her while she cried for a few minutes.

  “Why our daughter?” he asked. “Why our little Pam? Why can’t she just be left alone? She’s just a child. We should have never let her skip all those grades and go to college. She would be in high school now just like all the other children her age.”

  Her thesis,” Hilda said. “We should have known then. We let her go too far, too fast.”

  She buried her face in her husband’s chest.

  “Because she’s not like other children,” Roland said. “She never has been. We have to let her be who she is. Because we love her, we let her do these things. It’s not anyone’s fault she’s so advanced for her age. It’s just the way it is. We’ve accepted it in the past. We have to accept it now.” Roland hugged his wife.

  “Mr. Lo, are you involved in this computer research?” Roland asked.

  Henry looked up from his magazine. “Call me Hank. Me? No.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Well, Mr. Koller. I’m kind of in the security end of all this.”

  “Then there is danger. You and Dr. Woolum have brought this danger into our home, all your talk of the mafia and spies. If you would have never come here they would have never known about Pam.”

  Henry put his magazine down on the coffee table. “Danger, here, now - in the living room of this farmhouse, in the middle of Idaho? Not really. Where do you think they went?”

  “Probably to the swing on the hill.” Roland pointed toward the wall behind him.

  “Can I see it from that window?” Henry walked over to the window. He looked out and saw Howard and Pam sitting together on a large swing hung from a big tree fifty yards from the house. He returned to his spot on the couch.

  “Then why scare us like this? Roland asked. “Tell us our daughter is in danger. Why are you so concerned if you can see them?”

  “Well, look at it this way. Say you were at a football game. You like football?”

  “He watches every game,” Hilda said, recovering. She looked up at Henry. “Excuse me I must look a fright.” She went upstairs and Roland sat down in her chair.

  “You’re at this football game and you decide to kidnap someone, hold them for ransom. Who do you pick, the beer boy or John Elway?”

  Roland was quiet, as though dumbfounded by the question.

  “Look, Mr. Koller. I know everything there is to know about Dr. Woolum and I’ve read the file on your daughter. I’d say what we have out there sitting under that tree are the two most important people on this planet. At Los Alamos, we have a whole army to protect them. They’re that valuable, believe me. But here on this farm, on this beautiful day, here in Idaho, I can handle anything that comes up. Honestly, if that were my daughter, I’d be asking the question. Just how good are you at what you do, Hank?”

  “Well, how good are you?”

  Henry’s eyes hardened and he grew still. Ten seconds passed this way, sending a chill up Roland’s back. “The best,” he said. The two men sat and stared at each other.

  “I’m so embarrassed, Mr. Lo,” said Hilda, walking downstairs. She had stopped crying and had fixed her makeup a little. “Carrying on like that, please forgive me.”

  “Call me Hank, it’s perfectly understandable.” Henry smiled but his eyes remained trained on Roland, unwavering. “I have a son. I can imagine raising a daughter like Pam must be a real challenge.”

  “Would you like some more lemonade?” she asked.

  “I’d love some.” Henry handed his glass to Hilda, breaking his eye lock with Roland. “Best lemonade I’ve ever had. Not too sweet. Some people make it too sweet.” Henry got up and walked over to the window to check on Pam and Howard.

  Roland continued to stare, blank faced, at the spot were Henry had been sitting. In that moment he realized he had been face to face with a very dangerous man, expertly trained and deadly serious. He wondered if, like in the movies, he had a license to kill. He probably had a gun under his jacket. Roland Koller made up his mind in that same moment these men were right. There were other men like these, men who didn’t work for the United States government. Pam had to go with them. Hilda would cry, but this was the best thing for Pam. Maybe, as they said, she could make a real contribution to mankind. Roland always knew someday she would. She was just too gifted not to leave her mark somehow. The only question Roland had was Pam’s master’s thesis. Why would they be so interested in her now?

  Howard knew he had to talk quickly when they walked outside. Pam was too smart to be left to draw her own conclusions. “It’s beautiful here, wonderful scenery. You’re very lucky to have such caring parents, Pam.” Howard closed the front door behind them. He took a deep breath. “Ah, smell that fresh air.”

  “Who are you? Your name’s not Howard Woolum. You’re lying about that, and that other guy, that’s not his real name either. He scares me. When he’s not eye-raping me, I’m used to that. He’s scary, violent. Two things that are the truth, the job and both of you are from the government at Los Alamos.”

  Howard looked at the girl with stunned amazement. She was still looking straight ahead, avoiding eye contact. “Fantastic, you got all that through your psychic abilities, your ESP. Your file said you rated way above anyone ever tested but this is beyond that. It’s supernatural.”

  “I don’t like being th
ought of as a freak. I’ve learned to protect myself. To keep certain parts of me concealed. No one really knows me. Not even my mother. It’s very lonely, not having anyone to share these things with. I wanted to talk with you because, well your intellect.

  You’re extremely brilliant. At least we have that in common. I’ve never met anyone like you. Not even my professors at college. Maybe you can understand. I don’t know why my thesis was rejected. Maybe they didn’t understand it. Will you read it and tell me what you think? I don’t care about the degree. Just tell me if my theory is sound.”