edited
The Rainmakers
Chapter 7, Rook to King’s Fifth


Pete was studying a computer monitor when Barbara Spencer’s face suddenly appeared at his shoulder. A gentle cloud of fragrance surrounded her.

“It looks like we have a good start on the data recovery,” she said brightly, reading over his shoulder. “That is good news! Dr. Marlow is due to arrive any minute and I’m sure that Dr. Steubens and he will want to get started right away.”

“We’ll be ready for them, Barbara,” Burke called to her. He had just entered the room with a sheaf of print-outs. He set these on the workstation that Pete was using.

“Andy, these are all sorted by date. I think you’ll find what you need…” the telephone in the room bleated twice, and Burke interrupted himself to answer it. “Burke. Yes… no, that’s not right. Check the night-shift report…. Well, check it again… never mind, I’ll be right there.” Burke sighed as he hung up the phone. “Dammit,” he breathed softly.

“Trouble already?”

“It’s probably nothing… but I need to look into it anyway.” Burke glanced at his watch and frowned. “The State Department should be bringing our guest any minute now… Barbara, can I impose on you…?”

“No problem,” Barbara smiled, “I was planning on meeting Dr. Marlow’s car anyway. I’ll give him your excuses.”

“Thanks. I’ll be back.”

Pete swiveled around in his chair to face Spencer. “You seem very cheerful this morning.”

Barbara blushed a little, but she rolled her eyes and laughed. “I woke up with a sniffle this morning, and I think my cold medicine is making me hyper!” she said lightly. “I think I owe you an apology, Mr. Colsen… for the way I snapped at you and Dr. Burke, before,” she said. “I hope you can forgive me… sometimes I take my job a little too seriously.”

“Only sometimes…?” Pete said, softening the jibe with a grin. “I am prepared to forget about it… if you’ll call me Andy.”

The phone bleated once and a voice announced over the intercom, “Sir, State Department vehicle J-1765 is requesting entry access. I have granted clearance to level one.”

Pete pressed the button on the side of the phone and said, “Thank you.” To Barbara, he said, “That will be Dr. Marlow’s car.”

“Thanks… excuse me, Mr. Colsen… I mean, Andy—I want to be in the garage when he arrives.” She hurried out of the office in a swirl of skirt and fragrance.

Pete shook his head a little and turned to begin reading the heap of paperwork Burke had left him.

The front wall of the office of the Director of Operations was transparent, overlooking the computer lab that took up most of the first level of the KIVA. Had be been watching, Pete would have seen Barbara hesitate as one technician hailed her with a clipboard and a question. She paused long enough to listen and give her advice, then a telephone rang and she excused herself.

Her mind was on other things, but she heard the technician say something about a discrepancy, and she wondered idly if it were the same problem that Burke had gone to investigate.

She could see the long black car pulling into the garage through the inner windows. Dust coated the vehicle from its long drive across the desert. Barbara paused to check her reflection in the window before entering the garage.

The chauffeur had just pulled the door of the car open and a distinguished-looking older man stepped out, clutching a briefcase and an umbrella.

How very… British, thought Barbara. Out loud she said, “Dr. Marlow! Our director, Dr. Burke, was delayed, so on behalf of Dr. Steubens and the Syndrex Corporation, I’d like to welcome you to the KIVA Laboratories.”

Marlow was caught off guard; the last thing he expected to see when he stepped out of the car was a bright, beautiful lady beaming a huge smile at him. He managed a polite “Thank you” without stammering, his hand automatically offering a gentlemanly greeting.

”Oh – I’m Barbara Spencer.” She shook his hand warmly.

Reassured by her confidence, Marlow smiled. “Oh, yes – yes, his assistant. He’s mentioned you in his letters.” Karl left out the part about you being a lovely young woman, though, he added in his thoughts.

Barbara must have seen something of his thoughts in his eyes—or perhaps it was his accent that charmed her; she suddenly blushed and diverted attention from herself. ”Oh! Dr. Steubens is waiting for us down on the third level. Follow me, please – the elevators are this way.” She led the way to the security kiosk where she automatically began the procedures to bring a guest into the labs. “If you’ll just stand completely within this circle. This’ll only take a moment.”

Marlow stood in the place she indicated. As he waited, a cone of light appeared, beamed down from the ceiling directly overhead, accompanied by a deep mechanical hum. There was no sensation other than a passing fancy that made him think about an episode of an American science-fiction television program that he had once seen. When the light disappeared, Marlow stepped out of the circle and follows his guide.

Barbara pressed a few buttons on a wall panel and put her hand in the opening; a green light appeared and caressed her palm. “Spencer, Barbara T. GL 773. Clearance to Level 3.” A door slid open with a hiss to reveal a pressurized elevator cabin.

Marlow was amused by all the gadgets. “Such tight security! Should I be flattered?”

”Standard procedure, I’m afraid.” The humility of her words were belied by the tone of pride in her voice as she described the lab. “The KIVA has the most advanced security of all the Syndrex Corporation’s.” The well-rehearsed speech that Dr. Steubens and she had composed spilled from her lips with ease. “Nothing moves in or out of here that isn’t constantly monitored and controlled.”

As the elevator descended, Barbara continued to rattle off interesting trivia concerning the laboratory. Even though Dr. Marlow listened attentively, she got the strange impression that he was not really hearing her. Suddenly, she felt like a tour guide in a very odd theme park.

They reached the third level but were forced to wait by a red light. When the air pressure from their rapid decent had equalized, a green light appeared and the doors slid open.

The hallway leading away from the lift were lined with observation walls, revealing labs busy with activity. Barbara led the way only a short distance, through a set of glass doors, and then they were in Steubens’ laboratory.

Steubens was waiting for his friend. “Sidney – dear Sidney, how are you?” He took his friend’s hand and shook it warmly, smiling with delight.

“I’m great – it’s good to see you, Karl!” Marlow was also delighted, but he was also a little taken aback. Could this be the same dour, moody Karl Steubens he had known and worked with for many years?

”Well! Shall we start with a little tour of the facilities?” Barbara said, eager to begin.

Steubens cleared his throat; a subtle sign of dismissal to his assistant. “Eh, no, I’ve changed my mind about that.” At Barbara’s confused expression, he gave her elbow a gentle squeeze. “We have a serious matter to settle, face to face.”

Steubens turned to the chessboard he had carefully reconstructed, all signs of his earlier display of temper erased. “As I recall your last Telex, it was queen to bishop 4.” Steubens gave his friend a challenging glance. “Yes, correct?”

Marlow laughed and relaxed. Business before business, he thought ironically. “Uh-huh. You’ve countered with, um, rook to king’s fifth, uh . . . pure suicide, but far be it from me to stop you, Karl.”

Karl Steubens could not completely suppress his reaction to Marlow’s comment, but when he laughed he managed to make it sound like an amused chuckle. Barbara smiled and discreetly disappeared.

Steubens seated himself at the table, glancing up at the clock on the wall over his desk: 10:36 am.

Time to kill, he thought dryly, and then he advanced his bishop to queen’s knight four.

Each man considered his moves carefully, and the play advanced slowly as the minutes counted down on the little timer under Karl Steubens’ desk. Steubens drew out his moves as long as he could, baiting his friend with both his knights. Marlow played defensively, pondering well before taking up those knights and two pawns, wondering what cunning strategy his friend was plotting.

“It’s your move, Karl,” Marlow prompted his friend, who appeared to be lost in thought.

”Oh, I – I know. “ But Steubens still hesitated. Marlow studied the game.

As the second hand on the clock in the lab inched toward the top of the hour, Steubens made his last move: rook to knight four.

“I’m sorry, Sidney,” Steubens said softly. He turned his head to regard the clock, bracing himself for eternity.

⌂

Barbara wasn’t sure what to do with herself; she had planned out a tour and arranged for everything to be ready for Dr. Steubens and Dr. Marlow if they wanted to get to work immediately. She should have guessed that they’d have to have their chess game first. She walked through the hallways for a few minutes, watching the activity without really concentrating on what was going on. As she passed the Metallurgy lab, she sneezed.

Wretched cold! she thought as she fished out her handkerchief. The sharp edge of her cold capsules caught on the edge of the fabric and fell to the floor. She grumbled good-naturedly as she knelt to pick them up and stuffed them back into her pocket.

Since her office was back in Steuben’s lab, she decided to head back to her quarters and wait a half an hour to give ‘the boys’ a chance to finish their game.

Ahead, the elevator doors were sliding shut just as she rounded the corner. Without breaking stride, she turned and pushed open the door to the stairwell, reflecting that the exercise would be good for her.

There were a lot of steps up to level two of the KIVA. By the time Barbara reached the top she had worked up a fierce thirst—due in part to the effects of her cold medicine. She walked briskly toward the commissary, intent on getting a cup of hot tea, when the floor suddenly buckled beneath her feet.

A sound like thunder roared through the levels of the building, then the walls and floor convulsed again. Barbara threw herself down as pieces of the ceiling began to fall. She could hear cries of people in terror all around her, and she wondered that her voice wasn’t one of them. She was too stunned to make a sound.

~~~Link to Chapter 8