Two weeks and three new test later, Lyle was called to another interrogation by the triumvirate.
When he entered the big room, three man were sitting around a table. Mr. Parker was also there.
"Explain to us why we're still not successful," one of them asked. Lyle cleared his throat and searched for the right words.
"The doctors say that biologically everything is fine." Mr. Parker cut in,
"Mhm, yeah, I mean, yes, that's right. Maybe it's the surroundings?"
Lyle throw him a look and spoke again. "We've already given them a whole
"Please wait outside, Mr. Lyle." One man nodded to a sweeper who guided him
to the door.
The man turned then to Mr. Parker who spoke again, "I told you before, it
won't work his way."
"And what do you suggest then?" the third men in the room sat back in his
seat and folded his finger on the desk.
"Let me handle the
"Do you mind enlighting us?" the first asked.
Parker waited a short moment and then explained his plan.
The same day he then visited the two main lab-rats in their sublevel and
send the guard out who escorted him.
"Angel, what have they done to you?" he gasped when he saw the bruish on her
forehead.
"Like you would care?" Miss Parker turned and walked back into the bedroom
where Jarod sat on the floor, lots of pictures surrounding him.
"Is this what it looks like?" Miss Parker starred angrily at Mr. Parker.
"He's running a sim for a human rights organization. Are you kidding?"
"That's my new politics. We earn as much money from the government when we
do such sims for them as when we sell illegal sims to criminal
organizations. That's what I wanted to explain to you. I don't expect you to
believe me, but..."
"You're damn right. How could I ever believe you? Everything you have ever
told me was a lie!"
Mr. Parker went straight on, ".. but because I can't let you out of here,
you'll see the changes I'm going to make. I'll lead the Center back to
where we started and the times when we did good things. We deflected wars,
saved innocent people ..." he trailed off.
"What? You hold us here imprisoned, force Jarod to run sim after sim and
last but not least try to force us to have a baby, and now you tell us such
fairy tales ..."
"You don't understand," he said through clenched teeth. "I can't help you
right now but give me some time and everything will turn out right. I can't
promise anything about the child but I'll get you out of here!"
Now Jarod looked up from his sim for the first time and stared unbelievingly
at him. "Said the wolf to the sheep before he ate it."
After Mr. Parker left, his daughter crashed on the bed. She buried her head
in her arms as Jarod stood and came to sit beside her.
"Are you feeling all right? I notice you disappear into the bathroom early
this morning."
"My ulcer protests a little against this kind of treatment. It was just
fine before all of this but now ..."
"Do you need medicine? I could call someone."
"No, please, I'll be glad not to have to see them for a while but don't stop
that." She laid her head to the side and let him rub her back.
Days went by and Jarod ran sim after sim. Sometimes he just had to look at
some pictures to work it out but several times he used some of the test labs
in which he could build several scenarios.
One day, while Jarod was away again, Dr. Stewart brought a new file down to
their room and left it for him. Because she had nothing better to do, Miss
Parker grabbed the folder and flipped through the papers and photos. It was
a missing persons case in which a young woman had disappeared without
leaving any trail behind for her parents. Parker had often watched how
Jarod worked and tried to do the same. She carefully studied the photo of
the woman and after a short while, it was as if she became her.
When Jarod was brought back later, the file lay neatly in front of her on
the desk.
"Hi." He greeted her after the door was locked behind him."
"Hi." Parker looked up at him. "He brought a new sim for you."
"What are they doing? I feel like I have had to do everything I didn't do
while I was gone. It's too much." He groaned and crashed in the chair
beside her.
Meanwhile, several sublevels above them, Mr. Parker sat with the
Triumvirate.
"Any results?" the second man asked.
"Not yet." Parker shook his head slightly.
"We're getting impatient!" the third man said slowly.
"I know and that's why I'm going to the next step."
"That would be...?" the first looked up from the file before him.
"We'll give them hope that they might escape soon."
The three other man exchanged looks and then nodded in agreement.
Brigitte waited in the parking lot for Lyle. He threw his bag on the
backseat and hopped in without noticing her.
"Hallo luv. Why so angry?" she greeted him bittersweetly and sat beside
him.
"None of your business! Now get out." He started the engine and let the
motor turn over.
"Well, I was just trying to be nice." She opened the door but Lyle spoke
again.
"I won't let them do this to me." He cursed.
Brigitte looked back to him and then shut the door again.
"Since Jarod and little sis are back, they've cut my power and sat old daddy
back on my chair."
"What do you want do?" she asked innocently but he didnīt respond.
After dinner, Jarod grabbed the file and read through it. When he shut it
after one hour or so, Parker sat beside him. "No kittnaping. She ran away
on her own. Away from her golden cage." She looked over at him.
"Yeah, how do you know?" Jarod raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I flipped through it."
"Don't do that again. If they find out, they will probably force you to do
sims."
"OK, OK, but I was bored. I'm slowly going insane in here. You can go to
other rooms but I'm stuck here."
"I know. Come on." He took her hand, lead her to the bathroom and turned
on the water.
Though they couldn't find any bugs, he wanted to make sure no one could
listen to them.
"We can't trust my father to get us out of here." Parker looked at the floor
of the small room.
"Tomorrow I'll run a sim and I'll persuade them I have to do it outside in
the park. That's not a big step but it is a first one in the right
direction. We can also try to explain to them fresh air is good for you and
the baby."
"I'm not pregnant yet, Jarod."
"I know and we have to delay it as long as possible. Maybe I can find a
way out soon."
"Jarod, I don't know how long I can do this." She slightly shook her head,
stepped near him and hugged him tight. "I want to go home." She sobbed as
a single tear run down her cheek.
"It won't be long and we'll back on the island. I promise." Jarod fought
for self-control. He tried to be strong and give her the hope he had nearly
lost. He would find a way out.
He rubbed circles on her back a long time and Parker held him so tight he
could barely breath.
"Remember, you're my angel. You gave me hope once and you do it now."
"Yeah but even angels cry." It was half laughter and half sob.
"It's sad but I remember a song I once heard.
Even angels cry
"It's wonderful. How did you remember it?" She moved her hands from his
back to his neck and held his head.
"It always reminded me a bit of you and from now on I will always think
about you when it rains and hope it is another angel crying, not you."
"I don't deserve you," she whispered so quietly he could barely hear it.
Still, he did and pulled away, taking her cheeks in his hands.
"Don't say something like that. You hear me? Never. I'm happier now with
you than at any other time. When I was alone, I thought I was free but I'd
rather stay here with you than be alone again."
"Don't say that, I know it's not true. Nothing should be worth staying in
here for." She pushed his hands away and walked past him back into the
bedroom.
"Wait!" he caught up with her and held her by her arm, turning her back to
him. "It IS true! If you wouldn't do the same for me, it's OK, but I
would!"
He might not say so but she could see it in his eyes that he was hurt, hurt
because ... because what?
Would she stay with him if she got the chance to leave alone? Not long ago
she would have done anything to return him to the Center and leave herself.
"Jarod," she began with a shaking voice, "I know I'm not the woman you want
me to be and I really can't say how I would decide if I got the chance to
leave... I don't know ... I don't know..." She sobbed again, turning and
walking away from him. She felt like the room was barely big enough for
both of them.
If you don't believe my words
Just look up at the sky
Do you really think it's rain
It's nothing more than heaven's pain
Even angels cry
Even angels cry