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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Chapter 3
Jaime's office
Rehabilitation clinic
Oscar stopped cold at the entrance of Jaime's office. He couldn't help but stare at her secretary. After a moment, she looked up. "Can I help you, sir?" she inquired.
"I'm sorry," Oscar managed to mumbled. "I'm Oscar Goldman."
Judy Callahan stood up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My aunt has told me everything about you."
"Jaime mentioned that you were working for her now, but she didn't mentioned how much you look like your aunt."
"I hear that a lot," Callahan smiled. "Miss Sommers is not busy. You can go in if you want to."
"Thank you, Miss Callahan.
"Hey, babe!"
Even if the bionic hear hadn't picked up the conversation just outside her office, Jaime still would have known instantly who it was. Only one person had ever dared call her that. To this day, she hadn't succeeded in making him stop using that "compliment". "And what brings you along today, Mr. Goldman?" she joked.
"You're certainly cheerful today. It's a nice change from the past couple of weeks, when the stress was getting to you. I assume you had good news?"
"Only speculative at this point," Jaime admitted, "but Dr. Olivet and I may finally have a handle on Sue's case, which will help us help her. We were discussing her symptoms last night, and we had a thought. We had assumed, almost from the beginning, that someone was undermining the progress Dr. Olivet was making with Sue, so that she never got better. We had an inspiration last night. What is that someone was Sue herself? That would explain a lot."
"That's your domain," Oscar conceded. "But if you're right, that would be the best news in months."
"Well, you have no idea how happy we were last night, when we had that thought. I just hope our optimism is well founded."
"I think I can imagine," he replied, the optimism visible on his face. "Now, I hate to spoil your good mood," he continued, taking a more serious tone as he broached the subject for which he had come to visit her in the first place, "but did you get a message from Steve?"
"Not since he left for his mission, why?"
"Well, his reports have been brief and terse, as if there was something he could not say. Rudi told me that you were asking about The Centre yesterday, so I thought maybe he had tried to contact you to get a message out."
Something started to sound wrong in Jaime's mind. "What's Steve got to do with The Centre?"
"Oh, you didn't know? That's where Steve is right now. He infiltrated that corporation when we received confirmed reports that a spy was transmitting information from there."
"No, I had no idea, Steve didn't tell me any details about this assignment."
Oscar sat down. "I'm worried about him," he admitted. "In his last message, he said he's coming back tomorrow, so I shouldn't worry. But there was something in his voice - concern, I think - it just didn't sound right."
Now, Jaime was definitely worried. What had started as something that did not sound right, had grown into a nagging feeling and was now evolved into full-blown alarm bells. But it wasn't Steve she was concerned about. She tried to reassure Oscar. "Hey, after thirty years as head of the OSI, haven't you learned you don't solve anything by worrying? Besides, Steve knows how to handle himself by now."
"I hope you're right," Oscar said. But when he looked up to Jaime, his face showed just how deeply he was worried about the man who was not only his agent, but one of his oldest friends. He and Jaime exchanged a few more pleasantries before he got up and left.
Jaime waited at the window until she saw him get into his car before she picked up the phone and dialed Jarod's office. His secretary answered. "Have him come to my office as soon as he's free," she asked. "We might have a problem."
When Jarod did come up to Jaime's office, she told him of her suspicions. Both of them agreed not to take any chances, and spent the day in preparations. Jarod drew up a list of instructions for whoever would replace him looking after Sue, and then proceeded with the more delicate task of making himself a complete set of fake ID, including a passport. Jaime had the much less enjoyable task of informing one of her doctors that he was no longer going to the Ottawa psychiatric conference with her. He did not take the news well, until Jarod came up to him and gave him ten one-hundred dollar bills, "for the inconvenience". They left on the redeye flight that night.
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Chateau Laurier Hotel
Ottawa, Canada
"You realize I won't be able to stay in the room that the clinic had booked, don't you?" Jarod mentioned, as the taxi was pulling up in front of one of the most luxurious hotels in town.
"I was hoping you could, for a change. I don't like the idea of you going to another of those run-down motels."
"It's not because I like it," he reassured her.
They took their baggage out of the car. While Jaime had brought a suitcase with enough clothes for a four day stay, Jarod had nothing but the Haliburton case which held the DSA player and a duffel bag holding his few possession (his clothes, the few photos he had of his family, and, of course, his Mr. Potato Head). Jarod didn't like the contrast they were making. Too visible, he thought, which meant someone was likely to notice and remember. That hotel employees noticed, he didn't mind - in fact, he counted on it. It's the casual passerby he was worried about. Chances were slim, but none the less existent, that someone who would notice here might remember his face and see him again close to wherever he would end up staying. And if Miss Parker got her hands on this person... Well, that's a thought he didn't like.
At the concierge's desk, Jarod insisted on paying for his room before Jaime could say anything. Thinking that he had changed his mind, she did not argue. But she was surprised when he insisted against receiving change for the American currency he had used for paying the room.
Jaime waited until they were alone in her room before asking him "What made you change your mind about the hotel?"
"Nothing. I didn't change my mind. But, this way, if - or rather, when - The Centre comes looking for me in Ottawa, that should lead them on a false path."
Ingenious, thought Jaime. She simply nodded in approval. Jaime was about to get out of the room, when Jarod stopped her with a question.
"Jaime - exactly how strong are your bionics?"
"You were right about the sixty miles per hour," she replied. As for my arm,..." Jaime hesitated, searching for the right description. A phone book on the night stand caught her eye. Normally, she did not like such "parlor tricks", but Jarod had shared something personal with her just a few nights ago, so she felt obliged to reciprocate. She picked up the phone book, and tore in up in two, as if it were no thicker than a piece of paper. She looked up back as Jarod, and saw how impressed he was.
The rest of the day went by without incident. Jarod found an out-of-the-way, older hotel on one of the roads leading out of town. He and Jaime spend the evening sight seeing. Jaime was quite amused when Jarod insisted on trying one of every kind of beavertails, the local Ottawa pastry. But, in the end, they proved too much, even for Jarod's insatiable curiosity. The parted late that evening, returning to their respective hotels.
Jaime was just finishing her breakfast the next morning when she heard it.
"Patience, Parker," an older gentleman was admonishing. While Jaime waived to the waiter to get her bill, she concentrated on the rest of that conversation.
"We're close, Sydney, I can feel it," came the reply, probably from Miss Parker, Jaime guessed. Jaime could hear everything else distinctly as they asked the concierge to call up first Jarod's room, then her own. When she stepped into the front lobby, She tried to avoid looking around the lobby, so that she would not pick up Miss Parker and Broots before anybody pointed them out to her. "Excuse-me", she told the front desk clerk, "I'm Jaime Sommers, from room 216. Could you please call me a cab?"
"Yes, of course," the clerk replied. "Oh, and these people were looking for you and Mr. Olivet," he added, pointing towards a group of three people.
Jaime turned around. Jarod's description as the ice queen was right, she thought, when she got her first look at Miss Parker. She was standing with her fists on her hips, looking somewhat annoyed. An older gentleman was standing behind her - Sydney, guessed Jaime. He looked more relaxed, more cultured even. The other man's look shouted "computer geek who buys clothes at the discount rack of K-mart" - no doubt about it, that was Broots. "I'm Jaime Sommers," she identified herself to them. "I'm told you're looking for me?"
"Actually," replied Parker, with impatience dripping from her voice, "we're looking for Dr. Olivet."
"Oh, I'm sorry, he's already gone to the conference for today. That's why were in town for the weekend - the pharmaceutical conference at the General Hospital," she explained, deliberately moving the location of the conference to a wrong hospital. "May I ask why you're looking for him?"
"We're the local representative for the attorneys representing the estate of Jarod's uncle," Sydney replied as an explanation. "Jarod is the sole heir. It's important we get in touch with him as soon as possible."
Plausible enough, thought Jaime, if it weren't for the fact Broots looked nothing like the part. "I was just about to leave for the conference myself. I'll relay your message. But between the conference, the seminars and the formal dinners, I'm afraid we won't have too much free time either today or tomorrow. This matter might have to wait until we're back in California," Jaime replied, offering lies in exchange for theirs. "If you have your business card, I can ask him to contact you."
Sydney reached inside his coat pocket and gave her one. Jaime put it in her purse, without really looking at it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really have to go."
Jaime found the cab she had requested waiting for her just outside the Chateau's doors. As she got in, she turned around and looked back at the hotel's door. She could see Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots standing there, looking at her. She smiled and waived to them before getting in the car and closing the door.
The Centre's agent did not waste time in getting in their own car. Sam had been waiting for them, just beside the hotel's taxi stand. As soon as they were in, Sam shadowed Jaime's taxi.
Jaime, however, had fully expected to be followed, so she had taken her precautions. When she was a full time agent for the OSI, she always kept up the habit of studying local maps before she arrived anywhere, a precaution she had taken before coming to Ottawa. And, she had found that the downtown core contained a number of one-way streets, which suited her purposes just fine. She asked the taxi driver to let her off somewhere, anywhere, on McLeod Street, one of those one-way streets. "Broots - follow her!" With all the noise from the street, it was faint, even for the bionic hear, but Jaime still picked it up. Good, she thought. They took the bate.
*
* *
"There - she's getting out," Broots pointed out.
"Which means she must be close to Jarod's hideout," assumed Parker. "Broots - you follow her on foot. We'll be driving behind you."
Broots did not look too happy with his new orders - trailing someone was not in his line of work. But Miss Parker did not look like she wanted to repeat her orders, so Broots stumbled out of the car before she had the change to verbally abuse him. He followed Sommers for a couple of blocks. At least, she was going in the same direction as the traffic, so Broots knew he would have backup in the car.
However, when Jaime got to the second traffic lights, she stopped. Apparently, she had just noticed that her shoelaces were untied, and bent down to tie them. Broots felt really uncomfortable, just standing there, trying to look like he wasn't staring or following someone. He inched his way closer.
Just as the cross signal turned red, Sommers turned around and made straight for him, catching him off guard. "I'm sorry, Mr. Broots," she said to his face, "but you'll have to do better than that if you want to keep up." And Sommers started running in the direction opposite traffic.
Broots was still too shock and embarrassed to react. The only thing he could notice was that, even if she had to duck around pedestrians, she was still running quite fast. At least, he thought, she's running towards The Centre's car. He saw Sam getting out of the car, and was sure the matter would be put to rest. But when Sommers arrived close to Sam, she gave what looked like a small push to get him out of the way - except that the small push send him rolling over the car, and dazed him for a few seconds. Both Parker and Sydney looked shocked as they watched Sam rolling over. Only after a quick moment could they react. Sydney went over to Sam, to help him get up, and make sure he was all right, while Parker took her gun out to give pursuit. But, even if she had hesitated only a few seconds, it was already too late: Sommers was already at the other intersection, and had turned onto another street. By the time Parker got to the intersection and looked for Sommers, she was already out of sight.
"Now I remember where I saw Jaime Sommer's name," announced Broots, as he was getting back into the car. "She was also listed as an operative for that secret OSI project the Centre had worked on."
"Broots, you moron, why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"Up until now, I didn't think we would ever run into another bionic human"
*
* *
When Jaime was pretending to tie up her shoe laces, she knew she would have barely one second to take in the scene before reacting. But she needed to lose The Centre agents, if she wanted to get back to Jarod alive. She turned around quickly, to see where lay the best path for her to run away. But the first thing she saw was Mr. Broots sticking out like a sore thumb. She decided to warn him, and walked briskly in his direction before he could react. "I'm sorry, Mr. Broots," she told him, half taunting him, half jesting, "but you'll have to do better than that if you want to keep up." And she started running away, in the direction opposite traffic.
Ducking gracefully around pedestrians, Jamie dared not run at full bionic speed through a crowd and in full public view, but she could certainly outrun anyone on foot.. Following her by vehicle would be impossible, since she was running against traffic, but that left one thing she was still afraid of - guns. And sure enough, as she started running away from Broots, she saw the hired muscle - undoubtedly one of the sweepers Jarod mentioned - getting out of the car. There was no doubt in Jaime's mind that he was armed.
Fortunately for her, she was on him in no time, and she was able to push him aside before he could try anything. But Jaime still did not feel secure. She got off the sidewalk, and accelerated a bit more. In a few seconds, she was at the intersection of Lyon St., another one-way, this time going north to south. She turned north.
If she wanted to, she could use the one-way street to get to the freeway off-ramp, running against traffic all the time. But that was a little flashy, more like Steve's style. She turned on another street, slowed down (while still running faster than any normal human) and made her way to the downtown pedestrian mall. There, she felt she could stop running: she had definitely outrun the Centre's operatives, car were not allowed on this street, and even if by any chance Miss Parker caught up with her, the crowd on the street was just too big for anyone to even consider using a gun.
She looked at her watch. By the time she makes it to hospital, Jarod will have had a good hour to discuss Sue's case with Dr. Crane. She hoped it was enough, because, even tough she would be on time for the opening of the conference and the first speaker, she doubted that they could now afford to stay much too long in Ottawa. She made her way to the closest hotel, hoped in one of the taxis waiting in front of it, and made her way to the Royal Ottawa Hospital, the real site of the conference.
"You're late," Jarod told her when she finally arrived. The tone of his voice betrayed his worry for her.
"Miss Parker decided to join me, just as I was finishing breakfast," Jaime explained in a way that if anyone overheard, it would sound inconspicuous.
"What did you do?"
"I ran away."
Jarod flashed a smile at the thought of consternation on Miss Parker's face. But his smile quickly disappeared. "That changes everything, tough. I have to leave town."
Let's wait after the first speaker," Jaime suggested, "that way we won't stand out as much when we leave. I gave Miss Parker a wrong location for where we are, so we should have some time before it's too critical."
"I hope so," Jarod replied. But he had to admit it would be easier to leave when there was a crowd of people going out of the room.
"Did you get a chance to talk to Dr. Crane?"
"Yes - and he was quite helpful. I'll tell you about it when we make our get away."
Both Jaime and Jarod barely heard a word from first speaker of the conference. They both kept looking at their watch every five minutes, getting more and more nervous as time went by. When the speaker finally finished his speech, Jaime and Jarod joined the crowd that was leaving the room. But, rather than wait for elevators, they thought it would be safer by the stairs, and turned the corner -
- only to see Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots, and Sam starring at them from about fifteen feet, as surprised to unexpectedly run into Jarod as Jarod was of running into them. "Jarod," called out Miss Parker, as she took out her semi-automatic.
But Jaime reacted just as quickly as Miss Parker. She grabbed an empty gurney that was by the wall, and used all her bionic strength to push it towards Jarod's enemies. About five feet from the Centre's agents, the gurney turned ninety degrees or so, leaving no room to run around it. Miss Parker barely had time to grab Sydney and flattened both of themselves against the wall, narrowly avoiding the gurney. Broots and Sam, however, did not react as quickly, and bore the full brunt of the gurney.
A few nurses, attracted by the noise and the commotion, came to see what was going on, and immediately tended to the downed Centre men. Sydney came to make sure they were all right, but Miss Parker barely grunted a comment about them already being in a hospital anyway before running after Jarod.
But neither Jarod nor Jaime had waited around to see the consequences wrecked by the gurney. They had gone back in the hall they had just left and ran into the first empty office they found. They closed and locked the door behind them, and Jaime pushed a desk in front of it to give them more time. They turned their attention to the window.
It was looking out on the lawn, which meant they would lose some time going around the hospital to get a taxi. If Jaime was alone, it would not have posed a problem, but there was also Jarod to think of. Then again, there was no other way out.
"I'll jump out first," she said, "and then, I'll catch you."
"OK," agreed Jarod, hesitantly, but he, too, realizing they did not have much choice.
Jaime stepped on the outside window sill. She did not even hesitate as she jumped down. She landed gracefully, and relatively softly, on the lawn. "OK, it's your turn, now," she called out to Jarod.
Jarod stepped on the window sill, looked down, then up again. He took up a deep breath, then jumped. Jaime put up he bionic arm, and braced her legs. She was able to slow him down enough, but they still both fell with a thud on the lawn. "I thought you were supposed to catch me," he reproached as they were getting up.
"Would you have jumped," she asked, rhetorically, if I had said I was going to break your fall? Come on, let's go, we don't have time to argue.
Just as they were running away, Miss Parker looked out the window of the office besides the one Jaime and Jarod had escaped from. But by the time she made her way back to the front lobby, and out of the hospital, she had completely lost track of both of them.
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Tim Horton's Restaurant
Across from Jarod's hideout, highway 16, Ottawa
"So - what do we do now?" Jaime and Jarod had made their way back to Jarod's hotel, sot that he could pick up his belongings before leaving. They were going over the events of the past hours, and their next move, over a cappuccino and bagel.
"Well, it is too dangerous to stay here," Jarod stated, "but I had really hoped I would have had more time to plan where I want to go next. I don't like planning my next move when I'm desperate." Jarod thought things over for a few minutes. "You know," he said, with an almost smile forming on his face has the idea developed in his mind, "during all the time that the three stooges have been after me, there's one thing I still haven't done. I never went back to a hideout I just left. Let's go back to California. It will get you back to safety. And," he added, this time definitely amused, "it will confuse the heck out of Broots and Miss Parker."
Jaime decided not to ask him which one he thought was the most important. "That will get me back to safety," she asked. "What about you?"
"It should give me just enough time to make arrangements to go somewhere, and confuse the tracks."
*
* *
Miss Parker's Hotel Room
The Citadel Hotel, Ottawa
"What do you want to do now, Parker?"
On the way back to the hotel, Miss Parker had tried to relieve her frustration on Broots. However the trip was too short, and as soon as she had stepped in, she had started pacing the room back and forth. Had she not quit smoking, she would undoubtedly be on her fifth cigarette by now. Broots was his cowering self, sitting in the corner of the room, hoping Miss Parker did not notice him. As usual, Sydney was the calmer of the group. When his question drew out Miss Parker from her fuming, she looked at him, almost challenging him.
"He was at a psychiatric conference, Sydney. He's following into your footsteps," she stated with irony. "Any insights?"
"Without knowing more about what led up to that choice," Sydney patiently explained, "I can't really begin to speculate about his motives."
"You're the one who raised him. Do you think he's likely to go back to the conference."
"In all his pretends, Jarod has always aimed to help someone. Depending on how focused he his about helping his current beneficiary, he might. But I think he values more his freedom from The Centre."
"I don't want to sit here talking until it's time to go back to Blue Cove," Parker announced. She turned towards Broots, who felt some sort of sinking feeling when she looked at him. "Broots - anyway you can access The Centre's mainframe from here, and do some sort of search for boy genius?"
"Actually, Miss Parker," Broots started, hesitantly, "I might be able to do something easier and more efficient that that. There's a number of high tech companies in town. In fact, they sometimes refer to Ottawa as Silicon Valley north. I have a number of friends in the security departments of those companies, who think I'm doing essentially the same type of legitimate work as them. We've been in contact over the Internet, exchanging tips, discussing tracking methods. They know I'm looking for someone called Jarod, but don't know the real reason why. One of them, Mr. Wirthlin from System House, owes me a favor. If he can get me access to a computer at Systemhouse, I could use the net to track down any reference to Jarod in Ottawa - hotel, train ticket, plane ticket, you name it."
Miss Parker's expression changed as Broots was explaining it to her. Her look now said, what are you waiting for?
Broots called up his friend, who assured him his request could be met without any considerable difficulties. Within half an hour, the three stooges were at the Systemhouse corporate headquarters. Parker was quite shock to meet Broots friend. Although he looked nothing like him, he acted almost exactly like Broots. Parker felt like she was in the Twilight Zone, suddenly working with two Broots. The two of them logged on the Internet. After a few hours, Broots found something interesting.
"What?" Miss Parker asked, in her usual brief style.
"Sommers and Jarod had reservations to go back to California in three days. They changed it a couple hours ago. They're going back tonight."
"He's going back to California?" Parker asked, almost incredulous.
"He's never done that before," remarked Sydney.
"Call up Austin," ordered Parker to Sydney. "Ask him to pickup Jarod in California. Broots - what time is their flight? I want to arrive after them - but not by too much. Just enough to give him some false sense of security!"
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Outside of Jarod's former hideout
Somewhere in California
There were no reasons, Steve thought, for Jarod to go back to the clinic - it was a weekend, he was supposed to be in Canada, and it would stir up suspicious. That left two possible choices - he went with Jaime to their home, or to the hideout where he had stayed while we was "working" at the clinic. He had played a hunch, and went to the hotel that was listed as his address. Just in case, he had asked Oscar if it could watch over the house for him (Jaime would never be surprise to see him at their home) and Castillian to watch the clinic.
Steve had left his car a few street over, in order not to attract attention. There were two possibilities. Either Jarod would try to escape by the roof, if he did not want anyone to see him leave the building, or he would leave by the street. If he left by the street, it would be a simple matter for Steve to follow and overpower him. But if he left by the room, Steve had to be ready. He went around the building, where there was less chances of him being seen, and jumped up to the roof of the four-story building.
Once there, Steve surveyed the surrounding buildings. They were a little to bit far off for anyone to jump from one roof to the other. But there were some planks lying around. Steve went to look them over. Yes, they were solid enough to allow someone to use them as a bridge from one roof to the next. Steve took the longest one to the edge of the roof, and measured it. Yes, it did reach to the other side.
To make sure Jarod came the way he intended, Steve left the plank close the edge of the roof. He brought another one, just in case Jarod wanted to make sure his bridge was solid enough. He finished his job by breaking up the other planks, then jumped over to the other building.
He crouched down, in order to get a good view of the street while remaining hidden. He did not have to wait too long. Ten minutes or so later, a taxi pulled up in front of the building. Zooming in, Steve saw Jarod and Jaime get out of the taxi, and into the hotel.
Jaime's presence was a complication he had not counted on. He knew that the two of them had gone to Canada, and then came back to California together, but he hadn't thought that Jaime would be helping him. But Jaime was a reasonable person, and Steve was sure that when he told he the truth about who her "colleague" really was, that she would assist Steve in turning Jarod over to The Centre.
*
* *
Jaime patiently waited while Jarod made some phone calls. He had told her he needed to make those calls before he left, and that he was making arrangements in regards to his next destination, but hadn't told her much more, both to protect his secrets and her security, should she be captured by The Centre. Only after thirty minutes did he finally tell Jaime he was ready. "We'll leave by the roof," he instructed. "Whoever is at the front desk must not see Jarod Olivet leave. Once we come down from the roof, I will no longer use that name - except on the few occasions I check up on Sue from a distance."
They made their way to the stair case, and came out on the roof. Jarod was about to go to the back of the building and climbed down the fire escape, but Jaime suggested another solution.
"If we go to another building, and climb down from there, it will create even less traces of Jarod Olivet, because, if you are seen at another building, it's unlikely anybody associates you with this one."
"And how do you propose we get to another roof?"
"I'll carry you when I jump over," explained Jaime.
"Is it true, this time?"
Jaime put up three finger. "Girl guide's honor", she promised, with a smile.
They went up to the edge of the roof. Jarod put his arm around Jaime's shoulders and she grabbed his legs. She backed up ten steps or so, then started running.
"To infinity. . . ," exclaimed Jarod, just as Jaime's feet were leaving the roof, ". . .and beyond!"
No! Thought Steve, as he was spying over them. She can't be helping him. He got out from his hiding place, and jumped from one roof to the next. "Jaime!" he called out.
"Steve!" Jaime exclaimed. Both she and Jarod turned around, to see him crossing the roof in a few seconds and jump towards the roof they were now standing on.
"You told me he knew about bionics," Jarod said to Jaime. "You didn't tell me he was bionic."
"That's because it's a secret!" she replied.
"Oh, Steve, am I glad to see you," she continued, as Steve landed on the roof.
But Steve looked immediately past Jaime. "Get away from her," he ordered Jarod.
"What?" Jarod asked, instinctually moving to keep Jaime between Steve and him.
"What?" echoed Jaime, taking a few steps back towards Jarod.
"Are you all right?" Steve asked, turning towards Jaime.
"Off course I'm all right, why wouldn't I be?" she replied.
But Steve, satisfied Jaime had not been hurt, ignored her question and continued to concentrate his attention on Jarod. "We have to take you back to The Centre," he explained to Jarod. "It's for your own good!"
"No!" shouted Jarod in denial, moving away from Steve.
"Now, Steve, wait just one minute," Jaime tried to intervene.
But Steve, knowing, or rather thinking he knew, what was better for Jaime's safety, ignored he objections, and stepped around her. "It's better if you come willingly," he tried to convince Jarod, "that way, no one will get hurt."
Jaime could not believe the nightmare this was turning into. Not only was Steve not listening to her, he was dangerously close to actually getting his hands on Jarod. Out of desperation, she grabbed by the waist with both arms, and with all her human and bionic strength, pulled him back, and sent him crashing halfway across the roof.
Steve looked up, stunned, at Jaime. "Why did you do that for?"
Jaime stepped in front of him, with both fists on her hips. "Because Jarod is NOT going back to The Centre," she explained.
"Jaime, listen to me. That man is an escaped psychiatric patient. He needs to go back to The Centre for his own good. I shudder just to think of the damage he might have caused at your clinic."
"That man," corrected Jaime, "is a brilliant man who has escaped from his kidnappers. And the only thing he did at the clinic was good work - because of him, we now have a chance with Sue Davidson."
"And," Jarod added, "The Centre does not want me for my own good - they want me so they can exploit certain talents of mine for their own profit."
"Why should I believe you?" Steve asked.
"Because I do," replied Jaime. All three were silent for a moment, as if everything was on hold while Steve decided whether or not to contest Jaime's statement.
When Jarod saw that Steve was not forthcoming with a reply, he continued. "You've been to The Centre, Mr. Austin. Did it really feel to you like a place where they take care of people in need of help, psychiatric or otherwise?"
Steve looked down. "I did feel oppressive within The Centre's wall, I admit."
"Did you know that entire floors of The Centre consist of holding cells?"
Well, I knew they had some?"
"And it did not strike you as odd that a private corporation has it's own private prison?"
"Every corporation has to ensure it's internal security," tried Steve, sounding less convince than he was earlier.
"Then why, sir, with all these oddities you noticed at The Centre, did you agree to help them capture me?"
"Because," Steve replied, looking straight at Jarod, "I was given some information about you which led me to believe you were a potentially dangerous man. And I made a deal to exchange one dangerous man we were interested in with one that The Centre was interested in. A deal my superiors have agreed to."
"Oscar agreed to this?" Jaime asked, with disbelief.
"You were already out of town when he did," Steve explained. "He had no reason to doubt The Centre. In fact, I'm still not entirely convinced that your the one telling the truth, Dr. Olivet."
Jaime and Jarod looked at each other. They both knew that only one thing would convince Steve.
"In 1969," started explaining Jarod, "the OSI contracted The Centre for a top secret project - the bionics project. Had it not been for The Centre, that project would have been a failure. But The Centre's research was limited to using one of my talents - that of being able to accurately simulate the personality or reaction of anyone. By simulating the reaction of patients implanted with bionic implants, I was able to steer the OSI in the right direction."
"You expect me to believe that?" Steve asked.
"He's got a bionic eye with a zoom in it," Jaime informed Jarod.
Jarod thanked her, closed his eyes, and concentrated for a minute. "When you zoom in, your brain still receives the impulses from your real eye. So, you do not just see a zoomed-in image - you see the regular field of vision anyone sees with a normal eye, plus a zone where every detail is larger, because of the zoom's magnification. You essentially see two images in one. It took you quite some time to adjust to seeing that way."
Steve looked at Jaime. "Not even Rudi Wells knows that. No one but me could have told him that."
"The Centre does not want me for my own good, Mr. Austin. They want to continue to exploit that talent of mine. I don't want to be used that way again."
"Trouble is, the OSI made a deal with The Centre. The Centre lived up with their end of the bargain. How do we get out of a deal with the devil?"
"Where's Miss Parker now?" inquired Jarod.
"Flying in from Canada."
"Good. When she lands, have her come to the train station. Leave the rest to me."
*
* *
As he entered the train station's main lobby, Jim Castillian surveyed the place. He finally saw Steve waiving to him. He quickly went up to him. "What's up, Steve?"
Steve took Castillian to a less crowded section of the lobby, where they could have a little more privacy - as much privacy as one could expect in such a busy station. "It would appear," Steve explained, "that we were given wrong information about Dr. Olivet, but we must not let The Centre know that their deception as been uncovered. So, we have to appear to help them capture Dr. Olivet while actually helping him to get away."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Your a minor OSI operative, neither Jaime nor Dr. Olivet know you or could recognize you, and the less you say, the better. Understood?"
"Understood," agreed Castillian
"Good. Now, let's go outside - Miss Parker should be arriving any minute now.
The two men stepped outside, and waited by the main entrance. They did not wait too long before a car pulled up to let Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots out. "Where's Jarod?" Miss Parker inquired, without losing anytime with pleasantries.
"He's still forcing Ms Sommers to help him," Steve informed them. "I've asked Jim here to come and help me."
Castillian put up his hand when Steve pointed him out. "Jim Castillian," he introduced himself to Miss Parker, "- that's with two L's."
Miss Parker barely gave him a condescending glance before walking right past him. "Get to the point, please."
"Since Ms Sommers does not know Jim, he was able to approach them without being recognized. He was able to overhear Jarod mentioned they would be going to Philadelphia - the train's boarding on platform five."
"Good work," Parker told Steve, almost giving him a smile of satisfaction.
They made their way towards platform five. But, as they were almost there, they saw Jaime, who looked as if she was anxious to get away. "Oh, Steve," she called out when she saw the group. She made her was towards them. "Oh, Steve, am I glad to see you."
"It's OK, Jaime, it's over now," Steve replied, sounding as if he wanted to reassure her.
Jaime turned towards Miss Parker, and showed she recognized her. "Why didn't you tell me the truth, when we were back in Ottawa?" she asked, accusingly. "Jarod went nuts when we ran into you at the hospital. He forced me to come back right away to California, to pick up something called, a . . . a DAS?"
"DSA," corrected Broots. Miss Parker threw him a glance which said "shut up, Broots," louder than words could.
"Yeah, that's right, DSA. Then he forced me to help him make his escape."
Miss Parker gave a good look at Jaime. "I've seen how fast and how strong you are, lady," she replied. "How can anyone force you to do anything?"
Jaime met Miss Parker's stare, and threw it right back at her. "You stay a few feet away from me and pull a gun on me, all the speed and all the strength in the world won't do me any good."
"Can you take it from here, Miss Parker?" Steve asked. "Ms Sommers has had a traumatic experience, and it is my responsibility as her OSI supervisor to see to it that she gets to safety and a debriefing."
"I believe we can handle it, yes," replied Miss Parker, with a somewhat sarcastic edge to her reply.
As the OSI and Centre personnel parted company, Sydney turned back to look at Steve, Jaime and Jim Castillian leaving the train station. After a moment, Miss Parker called out to him. "Syd?"
"I'm coming, Parker," he replied, in his usual patient tone.
Miss Parker was so intent on her search for Jarod that she didn't even notice that Sydney's expression had changed from a worried look to a subtle smile that indicated he knew more than he was letting on.
*
* *
"He's late!"
Jim Castillian was getting nervous as he looked at his watch. He, Steve and Jaime were enjoying a cup of coffee at the little shop where Jarod had promised to meet them for a final time.
"By a minute," Jaime replied, to try to calm him down. "Relax - he'll be here."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because Miss Parker hasn't called to thank us for our help in capturing him," replied Jaime.
Castillian could not come up with an argument to counter that. He finished his cup of coffee. Just as he was getting up to order another one, Jarod walked into the shop. He came to join the group at their both.
"How did it go?" inquired Jaime.
"Great. I left so many traces in both the train to California and the station in general that Miss Parker could spend a whole week in there looking for me."
"And no one saw you leave?"
"Of course not - secret exits are a specialty of mine," answered Jarod with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Where will you be going now?" Steve asked.
"Probably south, just long enough to disappear and hide my tracks. After that, I'm not decided. I'll see where events lead me."
"Jarod, I can't thank you enough for their help you've provided with Sue's care. And, I know she'll miss you."
"I'll stay in touch, somehow," he promised.
As he got up to leave, Castillian extended his hand to him. "However briefly, it was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Otivet."
"Please, call me Jarod. And besides, it was "O-LI-vet."
"That's with one L," Steve, Jaime and Jarod added in unison.
THE END
Jaime's office
Rehabilitation clinic
Oscar stopped cold at the entrance of Jaime's office. He couldn't help but stare at her secretary. After a moment, she looked up. "Can I help you, sir?" she inquired.
"I'm sorry," Oscar managed to mumbled. "I'm Oscar Goldman."
Judy Callahan stood up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My aunt has told me everything about you."
"Jaime mentioned that you were working for her now, but she didn't mentioned how much you look like your aunt."
"I hear that a lot," Callahan smiled. "Miss Sommers is not busy. You can go in if you want to."
"Thank you, Miss Callahan.
"Hey, babe!"
Even if the bionic hear hadn't picked up the conversation just outside her office, Jaime still would have known instantly who it was. Only one person had ever dared call her that. To this day, she hadn't succeeded in making him stop using that "compliment". "And what brings you along today, Mr. Goldman?" she joked.
"You're certainly cheerful today. It's a nice change from the past couple of weeks, when the stress was getting to you. I assume you had good news?"
"Only speculative at this point," Jaime admitted, "but Dr. Olivet and I may finally have a handle on Sue's case, which will help us help her. We were discussing her symptoms last night, and we had a thought. We had assumed, almost from the beginning, that someone was undermining the progress Dr. Olivet was making with Sue, so that she never got better. We had an inspiration last night. What is that someone was Sue herself? That would explain a lot."
"That's your domain," Oscar conceded. "But if you're right, that would be the best news in months."
"Well, you have no idea how happy we were last night, when we had that thought. I just hope our optimism is well founded."
"I think I can imagine," he replied, the optimism visible on his face. "Now, I hate to spoil your good mood," he continued, taking a more serious tone as he broached the subject for which he had come to visit her in the first place, "but did you get a message from Steve?"
"Not since he left for his mission, why?"
"Well, his reports have been brief and terse, as if there was something he could not say. Rudi told me that you were asking about The Centre yesterday, so I thought maybe he had tried to contact you to get a message out."
Something started to sound wrong in Jaime's mind. "What's Steve got to do with The Centre?"
"Oh, you didn't know? That's where Steve is right now. He infiltrated that corporation when we received confirmed reports that a spy was transmitting information from there."
"No, I had no idea, Steve didn't tell me any details about this assignment."
Oscar sat down. "I'm worried about him," he admitted. "In his last message, he said he's coming back tomorrow, so I shouldn't worry. But there was something in his voice - concern, I think - it just didn't sound right."
Now, Jaime was definitely worried. What had started as something that did not sound right, had grown into a nagging feeling and was now evolved into full-blown alarm bells. But it wasn't Steve she was concerned about. She tried to reassure Oscar. "Hey, after thirty years as head of the OSI, haven't you learned you don't solve anything by worrying? Besides, Steve knows how to handle himself by now."
"I hope you're right," Oscar said. But when he looked up to Jaime, his face showed just how deeply he was worried about the man who was not only his agent, but one of his oldest friends. He and Jaime exchanged a few more pleasantries before he got up and left.
Jaime waited at the window until she saw him get into his car before she picked up the phone and dialed Jarod's office. His secretary answered. "Have him come to my office as soon as he's free," she asked. "We might have a problem."
When Jarod did come up to Jaime's office, she told him of her suspicions. Both of them agreed not to take any chances, and spent the day in preparations. Jarod drew up a list of instructions for whoever would replace him looking after Sue, and then proceeded with the more delicate task of making himself a complete set of fake ID, including a passport. Jaime had the much less enjoyable task of informing one of her doctors that he was no longer going to the Ottawa psychiatric conference with her. He did not take the news well, until Jarod came up to him and gave him ten one-hundred dollar bills, "for the inconvenience". They left on the redeye flight that night.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chateau Laurier Hotel
Ottawa, Canada
"You realize I won't be able to stay in the room that the clinic had booked, don't you?" Jarod mentioned, as the taxi was pulling up in front of one of the most luxurious hotels in town.
"I was hoping you could, for a change. I don't like the idea of you going to another of those run-down motels."
"It's not because I like it," he reassured her.
They took their baggage out of the car. While Jaime had brought a suitcase with enough clothes for a four day stay, Jarod had nothing but the Haliburton case which held the DSA player and a duffel bag holding his few possession (his clothes, the few photos he had of his family, and, of course, his Mr. Potato Head). Jarod didn't like the contrast they were making. Too visible, he thought, which meant someone was likely to notice and remember. That hotel employees noticed, he didn't mind - in fact, he counted on it. It's the casual passerby he was worried about. Chances were slim, but none the less existent, that someone who would notice here might remember his face and see him again close to wherever he would end up staying. And if Miss Parker got her hands on this person... Well, that's a thought he didn't like.
At the concierge's desk, Jarod insisted on paying for his room before Jaime could say anything. Thinking that he had changed his mind, she did not argue. But she was surprised when he insisted against receiving change for the American currency he had used for paying the room.
Jaime waited until they were alone in her room before asking him "What made you change your mind about the hotel?"
"Nothing. I didn't change my mind. But, this way, if - or rather, when - The Centre comes looking for me in Ottawa, that should lead them on a false path."
Ingenious, thought Jaime. She simply nodded in approval. Jaime was about to get out of the room, when Jarod stopped her with a question.
"Jaime - exactly how strong are your bionics?"
"You were right about the sixty miles per hour," she replied. As for my arm,..." Jaime hesitated, searching for the right description. A phone book on the night stand caught her eye. Normally, she did not like such "parlor tricks", but Jarod had shared something personal with her just a few nights ago, so she felt obliged to reciprocate. She picked up the phone book, and tore in up in two, as if it were no thicker than a piece of paper. She looked up back as Jarod, and saw how impressed he was.
The rest of the day went by without incident. Jarod found an out-of-the-way, older hotel on one of the roads leading out of town. He and Jaime spend the evening sight seeing. Jaime was quite amused when Jarod insisted on trying one of every kind of beavertails, the local Ottawa pastry. But, in the end, they proved too much, even for Jarod's insatiable curiosity. The parted late that evening, returning to their respective hotels.
Jaime was just finishing her breakfast the next morning when she heard it.
"Patience, Parker," an older gentleman was admonishing. While Jaime waived to the waiter to get her bill, she concentrated on the rest of that conversation.
"We're close, Sydney, I can feel it," came the reply, probably from Miss Parker, Jaime guessed. Jaime could hear everything else distinctly as they asked the concierge to call up first Jarod's room, then her own. When she stepped into the front lobby, She tried to avoid looking around the lobby, so that she would not pick up Miss Parker and Broots before anybody pointed them out to her. "Excuse-me", she told the front desk clerk, "I'm Jaime Sommers, from room 216. Could you please call me a cab?"
"Yes, of course," the clerk replied. "Oh, and these people were looking for you and Mr. Olivet," he added, pointing towards a group of three people.
Jaime turned around. Jarod's description as the ice queen was right, she thought, when she got her first look at Miss Parker. She was standing with her fists on her hips, looking somewhat annoyed. An older gentleman was standing behind her - Sydney, guessed Jaime. He looked more relaxed, more cultured even. The other man's look shouted "computer geek who buys clothes at the discount rack of K-mart" - no doubt about it, that was Broots. "I'm Jaime Sommers," she identified herself to them. "I'm told you're looking for me?"
"Actually," replied Parker, with impatience dripping from her voice, "we're looking for Dr. Olivet."
"Oh, I'm sorry, he's already gone to the conference for today. That's why were in town for the weekend - the pharmaceutical conference at the General Hospital," she explained, deliberately moving the location of the conference to a wrong hospital. "May I ask why you're looking for him?"
"We're the local representative for the attorneys representing the estate of Jarod's uncle," Sydney replied as an explanation. "Jarod is the sole heir. It's important we get in touch with him as soon as possible."
Plausible enough, thought Jaime, if it weren't for the fact Broots looked nothing like the part. "I was just about to leave for the conference myself. I'll relay your message. But between the conference, the seminars and the formal dinners, I'm afraid we won't have too much free time either today or tomorrow. This matter might have to wait until we're back in California," Jaime replied, offering lies in exchange for theirs. "If you have your business card, I can ask him to contact you."
Sydney reached inside his coat pocket and gave her one. Jaime put it in her purse, without really looking at it. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really have to go."
Jaime found the cab she had requested waiting for her just outside the Chateau's doors. As she got in, she turned around and looked back at the hotel's door. She could see Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots standing there, looking at her. She smiled and waived to them before getting in the car and closing the door.
The Centre's agent did not waste time in getting in their own car. Sam had been waiting for them, just beside the hotel's taxi stand. As soon as they were in, Sam shadowed Jaime's taxi.
Jaime, however, had fully expected to be followed, so she had taken her precautions. When she was a full time agent for the OSI, she always kept up the habit of studying local maps before she arrived anywhere, a precaution she had taken before coming to Ottawa. And, she had found that the downtown core contained a number of one-way streets, which suited her purposes just fine. She asked the taxi driver to let her off somewhere, anywhere, on McLeod Street, one of those one-way streets. "Broots - follow her!" With all the noise from the street, it was faint, even for the bionic hear, but Jaime still picked it up. Good, she thought. They took the bate.
*
* *
"There - she's getting out," Broots pointed out.
"Which means she must be close to Jarod's hideout," assumed Parker. "Broots - you follow her on foot. We'll be driving behind you."
Broots did not look too happy with his new orders - trailing someone was not in his line of work. But Miss Parker did not look like she wanted to repeat her orders, so Broots stumbled out of the car before she had the change to verbally abuse him. He followed Sommers for a couple of blocks. At least, she was going in the same direction as the traffic, so Broots knew he would have backup in the car.
However, when Jaime got to the second traffic lights, she stopped. Apparently, she had just noticed that her shoelaces were untied, and bent down to tie them. Broots felt really uncomfortable, just standing there, trying to look like he wasn't staring or following someone. He inched his way closer.
Just as the cross signal turned red, Sommers turned around and made straight for him, catching him off guard. "I'm sorry, Mr. Broots," she said to his face, "but you'll have to do better than that if you want to keep up." And Sommers started running in the direction opposite traffic.
Broots was still too shock and embarrassed to react. The only thing he could notice was that, even if she had to duck around pedestrians, she was still running quite fast. At least, he thought, she's running towards The Centre's car. He saw Sam getting out of the car, and was sure the matter would be put to rest. But when Sommers arrived close to Sam, she gave what looked like a small push to get him out of the way - except that the small push send him rolling over the car, and dazed him for a few seconds. Both Parker and Sydney looked shocked as they watched Sam rolling over. Only after a quick moment could they react. Sydney went over to Sam, to help him get up, and make sure he was all right, while Parker took her gun out to give pursuit. But, even if she had hesitated only a few seconds, it was already too late: Sommers was already at the other intersection, and had turned onto another street. By the time Parker got to the intersection and looked for Sommers, she was already out of sight.
"Now I remember where I saw Jaime Sommer's name," announced Broots, as he was getting back into the car. "She was also listed as an operative for that secret OSI project the Centre had worked on."
"Broots, you moron, why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"Up until now, I didn't think we would ever run into another bionic human"
*
* *
When Jaime was pretending to tie up her shoe laces, she knew she would have barely one second to take in the scene before reacting. But she needed to lose The Centre agents, if she wanted to get back to Jarod alive. She turned around quickly, to see where lay the best path for her to run away. But the first thing she saw was Mr. Broots sticking out like a sore thumb. She decided to warn him, and walked briskly in his direction before he could react. "I'm sorry, Mr. Broots," she told him, half taunting him, half jesting, "but you'll have to do better than that if you want to keep up." And she started running away, in the direction opposite traffic.
Ducking gracefully around pedestrians, Jamie dared not run at full bionic speed through a crowd and in full public view, but she could certainly outrun anyone on foot.. Following her by vehicle would be impossible, since she was running against traffic, but that left one thing she was still afraid of - guns. And sure enough, as she started running away from Broots, she saw the hired muscle - undoubtedly one of the sweepers Jarod mentioned - getting out of the car. There was no doubt in Jaime's mind that he was armed.
Fortunately for her, she was on him in no time, and she was able to push him aside before he could try anything. But Jaime still did not feel secure. She got off the sidewalk, and accelerated a bit more. In a few seconds, she was at the intersection of Lyon St., another one-way, this time going north to south. She turned north.
If she wanted to, she could use the one-way street to get to the freeway off-ramp, running against traffic all the time. But that was a little flashy, more like Steve's style. She turned on another street, slowed down (while still running faster than any normal human) and made her way to the downtown pedestrian mall. There, she felt she could stop running: she had definitely outrun the Centre's operatives, car were not allowed on this street, and even if by any chance Miss Parker caught up with her, the crowd on the street was just too big for anyone to even consider using a gun.
She looked at her watch. By the time she makes it to hospital, Jarod will have had a good hour to discuss Sue's case with Dr. Crane. She hoped it was enough, because, even tough she would be on time for the opening of the conference and the first speaker, she doubted that they could now afford to stay much too long in Ottawa. She made her way to the closest hotel, hoped in one of the taxis waiting in front of it, and made her way to the Royal Ottawa Hospital, the real site of the conference.
"You're late," Jarod told her when she finally arrived. The tone of his voice betrayed his worry for her.
"Miss Parker decided to join me, just as I was finishing breakfast," Jaime explained in a way that if anyone overheard, it would sound inconspicuous.
"What did you do?"
"I ran away."
Jarod flashed a smile at the thought of consternation on Miss Parker's face. But his smile quickly disappeared. "That changes everything, tough. I have to leave town."
Let's wait after the first speaker," Jaime suggested, "that way we won't stand out as much when we leave. I gave Miss Parker a wrong location for where we are, so we should have some time before it's too critical."
"I hope so," Jarod replied. But he had to admit it would be easier to leave when there was a crowd of people going out of the room.
"Did you get a chance to talk to Dr. Crane?"
"Yes - and he was quite helpful. I'll tell you about it when we make our get away."
Both Jaime and Jarod barely heard a word from first speaker of the conference. They both kept looking at their watch every five minutes, getting more and more nervous as time went by. When the speaker finally finished his speech, Jaime and Jarod joined the crowd that was leaving the room. But, rather than wait for elevators, they thought it would be safer by the stairs, and turned the corner -
- only to see Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots, and Sam starring at them from about fifteen feet, as surprised to unexpectedly run into Jarod as Jarod was of running into them. "Jarod," called out Miss Parker, as she took out her semi-automatic.
But Jaime reacted just as quickly as Miss Parker. She grabbed an empty gurney that was by the wall, and used all her bionic strength to push it towards Jarod's enemies. About five feet from the Centre's agents, the gurney turned ninety degrees or so, leaving no room to run around it. Miss Parker barely had time to grab Sydney and flattened both of themselves against the wall, narrowly avoiding the gurney. Broots and Sam, however, did not react as quickly, and bore the full brunt of the gurney.
A few nurses, attracted by the noise and the commotion, came to see what was going on, and immediately tended to the downed Centre men. Sydney came to make sure they were all right, but Miss Parker barely grunted a comment about them already being in a hospital anyway before running after Jarod.
But neither Jarod nor Jaime had waited around to see the consequences wrecked by the gurney. They had gone back in the hall they had just left and ran into the first empty office they found. They closed and locked the door behind them, and Jaime pushed a desk in front of it to give them more time. They turned their attention to the window.
It was looking out on the lawn, which meant they would lose some time going around the hospital to get a taxi. If Jaime was alone, it would not have posed a problem, but there was also Jarod to think of. Then again, there was no other way out.
"I'll jump out first," she said, "and then, I'll catch you."
"OK," agreed Jarod, hesitantly, but he, too, realizing they did not have much choice.
Jaime stepped on the outside window sill. She did not even hesitate as she jumped down. She landed gracefully, and relatively softly, on the lawn. "OK, it's your turn, now," she called out to Jarod.
Jarod stepped on the window sill, looked down, then up again. He took up a deep breath, then jumped. Jaime put up he bionic arm, and braced her legs. She was able to slow him down enough, but they still both fell with a thud on the lawn. "I thought you were supposed to catch me," he reproached as they were getting up.
"Would you have jumped," she asked, rhetorically, if I had said I was going to break your fall? Come on, let's go, we don't have time to argue.
Just as they were running away, Miss Parker looked out the window of the office besides the one Jaime and Jarod had escaped from. But by the time she made her way back to the front lobby, and out of the hospital, she had completely lost track of both of them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Horton's Restaurant
Across from Jarod's hideout, highway 16, Ottawa
"So - what do we do now?" Jaime and Jarod had made their way back to Jarod's hotel, sot that he could pick up his belongings before leaving. They were going over the events of the past hours, and their next move, over a cappuccino and bagel.
"Well, it is too dangerous to stay here," Jarod stated, "but I had really hoped I would have had more time to plan where I want to go next. I don't like planning my next move when I'm desperate." Jarod thought things over for a few minutes. "You know," he said, with an almost smile forming on his face has the idea developed in his mind, "during all the time that the three stooges have been after me, there's one thing I still haven't done. I never went back to a hideout I just left. Let's go back to California. It will get you back to safety. And," he added, this time definitely amused, "it will confuse the heck out of Broots and Miss Parker."
Jaime decided not to ask him which one he thought was the most important. "That will get me back to safety," she asked. "What about you?"
"It should give me just enough time to make arrangements to go somewhere, and confuse the tracks."
*
* *
Miss Parker's Hotel Room
The Citadel Hotel, Ottawa
"What do you want to do now, Parker?"
On the way back to the hotel, Miss Parker had tried to relieve her frustration on Broots. However the trip was too short, and as soon as she had stepped in, she had started pacing the room back and forth. Had she not quit smoking, she would undoubtedly be on her fifth cigarette by now. Broots was his cowering self, sitting in the corner of the room, hoping Miss Parker did not notice him. As usual, Sydney was the calmer of the group. When his question drew out Miss Parker from her fuming, she looked at him, almost challenging him.
"He was at a psychiatric conference, Sydney. He's following into your footsteps," she stated with irony. "Any insights?"
"Without knowing more about what led up to that choice," Sydney patiently explained, "I can't really begin to speculate about his motives."
"You're the one who raised him. Do you think he's likely to go back to the conference."
"In all his pretends, Jarod has always aimed to help someone. Depending on how focused he his about helping his current beneficiary, he might. But I think he values more his freedom from The Centre."
"I don't want to sit here talking until it's time to go back to Blue Cove," Parker announced. She turned towards Broots, who felt some sort of sinking feeling when she looked at him. "Broots - anyway you can access The Centre's mainframe from here, and do some sort of search for boy genius?"
"Actually, Miss Parker," Broots started, hesitantly, "I might be able to do something easier and more efficient that that. There's a number of high tech companies in town. In fact, they sometimes refer to Ottawa as Silicon Valley north. I have a number of friends in the security departments of those companies, who think I'm doing essentially the same type of legitimate work as them. We've been in contact over the Internet, exchanging tips, discussing tracking methods. They know I'm looking for someone called Jarod, but don't know the real reason why. One of them, Mr. Wirthlin from System House, owes me a favor. If he can get me access to a computer at Systemhouse, I could use the net to track down any reference to Jarod in Ottawa - hotel, train ticket, plane ticket, you name it."
Miss Parker's expression changed as Broots was explaining it to her. Her look now said, what are you waiting for?
Broots called up his friend, who assured him his request could be met without any considerable difficulties. Within half an hour, the three stooges were at the Systemhouse corporate headquarters. Parker was quite shock to meet Broots friend. Although he looked nothing like him, he acted almost exactly like Broots. Parker felt like she was in the Twilight Zone, suddenly working with two Broots. The two of them logged on the Internet. After a few hours, Broots found something interesting.
"What?" Miss Parker asked, in her usual brief style.
"Sommers and Jarod had reservations to go back to California in three days. They changed it a couple hours ago. They're going back tonight."
"He's going back to California?" Parker asked, almost incredulous.
"He's never done that before," remarked Sydney.
"Call up Austin," ordered Parker to Sydney. "Ask him to pickup Jarod in California. Broots - what time is their flight? I want to arrive after them - but not by too much. Just enough to give him some false sense of security!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outside of Jarod's former hideout
Somewhere in California
There were no reasons, Steve thought, for Jarod to go back to the clinic - it was a weekend, he was supposed to be in Canada, and it would stir up suspicious. That left two possible choices - he went with Jaime to their home, or to the hideout where he had stayed while we was "working" at the clinic. He had played a hunch, and went to the hotel that was listed as his address. Just in case, he had asked Oscar if it could watch over the house for him (Jaime would never be surprise to see him at their home) and Castillian to watch the clinic.
Steve had left his car a few street over, in order not to attract attention. There were two possibilities. Either Jarod would try to escape by the roof, if he did not want anyone to see him leave the building, or he would leave by the street. If he left by the street, it would be a simple matter for Steve to follow and overpower him. But if he left by the room, Steve had to be ready. He went around the building, where there was less chances of him being seen, and jumped up to the roof of the four-story building.
Once there, Steve surveyed the surrounding buildings. They were a little to bit far off for anyone to jump from one roof to the other. But there were some planks lying around. Steve went to look them over. Yes, they were solid enough to allow someone to use them as a bridge from one roof to the next. Steve took the longest one to the edge of the roof, and measured it. Yes, it did reach to the other side.
To make sure Jarod came the way he intended, Steve left the plank close the edge of the roof. He brought another one, just in case Jarod wanted to make sure his bridge was solid enough. He finished his job by breaking up the other planks, then jumped over to the other building.
He crouched down, in order to get a good view of the street while remaining hidden. He did not have to wait too long. Ten minutes or so later, a taxi pulled up in front of the building. Zooming in, Steve saw Jarod and Jaime get out of the taxi, and into the hotel.
Jaime's presence was a complication he had not counted on. He knew that the two of them had gone to Canada, and then came back to California together, but he hadn't thought that Jaime would be helping him. But Jaime was a reasonable person, and Steve was sure that when he told he the truth about who her "colleague" really was, that she would assist Steve in turning Jarod over to The Centre.
*
* *
Jaime patiently waited while Jarod made some phone calls. He had told her he needed to make those calls before he left, and that he was making arrangements in regards to his next destination, but hadn't told her much more, both to protect his secrets and her security, should she be captured by The Centre. Only after thirty minutes did he finally tell Jaime he was ready. "We'll leave by the roof," he instructed. "Whoever is at the front desk must not see Jarod Olivet leave. Once we come down from the roof, I will no longer use that name - except on the few occasions I check up on Sue from a distance."
They made their way to the stair case, and came out on the roof. Jarod was about to go to the back of the building and climbed down the fire escape, but Jaime suggested another solution.
"If we go to another building, and climb down from there, it will create even less traces of Jarod Olivet, because, if you are seen at another building, it's unlikely anybody associates you with this one."
"And how do you propose we get to another roof?"
"I'll carry you when I jump over," explained Jaime.
"Is it true, this time?"
Jaime put up three finger. "Girl guide's honor", she promised, with a smile.
They went up to the edge of the roof. Jarod put his arm around Jaime's shoulders and she grabbed his legs. She backed up ten steps or so, then started running.
"To infinity. . . ," exclaimed Jarod, just as Jaime's feet were leaving the roof, ". . .and beyond!"
No! Thought Steve, as he was spying over them. She can't be helping him. He got out from his hiding place, and jumped from one roof to the next. "Jaime!" he called out.
"Steve!" Jaime exclaimed. Both she and Jarod turned around, to see him crossing the roof in a few seconds and jump towards the roof they were now standing on.
"You told me he knew about bionics," Jarod said to Jaime. "You didn't tell me he was bionic."
"That's because it's a secret!" she replied.
"Oh, Steve, am I glad to see you," she continued, as Steve landed on the roof.
But Steve looked immediately past Jaime. "Get away from her," he ordered Jarod.
"What?" Jarod asked, instinctually moving to keep Jaime between Steve and him.
"What?" echoed Jaime, taking a few steps back towards Jarod.
"Are you all right?" Steve asked, turning towards Jaime.
"Off course I'm all right, why wouldn't I be?" she replied.
But Steve, satisfied Jaime had not been hurt, ignored her question and continued to concentrate his attention on Jarod. "We have to take you back to The Centre," he explained to Jarod. "It's for your own good!"
"No!" shouted Jarod in denial, moving away from Steve.
"Now, Steve, wait just one minute," Jaime tried to intervene.
But Steve, knowing, or rather thinking he knew, what was better for Jaime's safety, ignored he objections, and stepped around her. "It's better if you come willingly," he tried to convince Jarod, "that way, no one will get hurt."
Jaime could not believe the nightmare this was turning into. Not only was Steve not listening to her, he was dangerously close to actually getting his hands on Jarod. Out of desperation, she grabbed by the waist with both arms, and with all her human and bionic strength, pulled him back, and sent him crashing halfway across the roof.
Steve looked up, stunned, at Jaime. "Why did you do that for?"
Jaime stepped in front of him, with both fists on her hips. "Because Jarod is NOT going back to The Centre," she explained.
"Jaime, listen to me. That man is an escaped psychiatric patient. He needs to go back to The Centre for his own good. I shudder just to think of the damage he might have caused at your clinic."
"That man," corrected Jaime, "is a brilliant man who has escaped from his kidnappers. And the only thing he did at the clinic was good work - because of him, we now have a chance with Sue Davidson."
"And," Jarod added, "The Centre does not want me for my own good - they want me so they can exploit certain talents of mine for their own profit."
"Why should I believe you?" Steve asked.
"Because I do," replied Jaime. All three were silent for a moment, as if everything was on hold while Steve decided whether or not to contest Jaime's statement.
When Jarod saw that Steve was not forthcoming with a reply, he continued. "You've been to The Centre, Mr. Austin. Did it really feel to you like a place where they take care of people in need of help, psychiatric or otherwise?"
Steve looked down. "I did feel oppressive within The Centre's wall, I admit."
"Did you know that entire floors of The Centre consist of holding cells?"
Well, I knew they had some?"
"And it did not strike you as odd that a private corporation has it's own private prison?"
"Every corporation has to ensure it's internal security," tried Steve, sounding less convince than he was earlier.
"Then why, sir, with all these oddities you noticed at The Centre, did you agree to help them capture me?"
"Because," Steve replied, looking straight at Jarod, "I was given some information about you which led me to believe you were a potentially dangerous man. And I made a deal to exchange one dangerous man we were interested in with one that The Centre was interested in. A deal my superiors have agreed to."
"Oscar agreed to this?" Jaime asked, with disbelief.
"You were already out of town when he did," Steve explained. "He had no reason to doubt The Centre. In fact, I'm still not entirely convinced that your the one telling the truth, Dr. Olivet."
Jaime and Jarod looked at each other. They both knew that only one thing would convince Steve.
"In 1969," started explaining Jarod, "the OSI contracted The Centre for a top secret project - the bionics project. Had it not been for The Centre, that project would have been a failure. But The Centre's research was limited to using one of my talents - that of being able to accurately simulate the personality or reaction of anyone. By simulating the reaction of patients implanted with bionic implants, I was able to steer the OSI in the right direction."
"You expect me to believe that?" Steve asked.
"He's got a bionic eye with a zoom in it," Jaime informed Jarod.
Jarod thanked her, closed his eyes, and concentrated for a minute. "When you zoom in, your brain still receives the impulses from your real eye. So, you do not just see a zoomed-in image - you see the regular field of vision anyone sees with a normal eye, plus a zone where every detail is larger, because of the zoom's magnification. You essentially see two images in one. It took you quite some time to adjust to seeing that way."
Steve looked at Jaime. "Not even Rudi Wells knows that. No one but me could have told him that."
"The Centre does not want me for my own good, Mr. Austin. They want to continue to exploit that talent of mine. I don't want to be used that way again."
"Trouble is, the OSI made a deal with The Centre. The Centre lived up with their end of the bargain. How do we get out of a deal with the devil?"
"Where's Miss Parker now?" inquired Jarod.
"Flying in from Canada."
"Good. When she lands, have her come to the train station. Leave the rest to me."
*
* *
As he entered the train station's main lobby, Jim Castillian surveyed the place. He finally saw Steve waiving to him. He quickly went up to him. "What's up, Steve?"
Steve took Castillian to a less crowded section of the lobby, where they could have a little more privacy - as much privacy as one could expect in such a busy station. "It would appear," Steve explained, "that we were given wrong information about Dr. Olivet, but we must not let The Centre know that their deception as been uncovered. So, we have to appear to help them capture Dr. Olivet while actually helping him to get away."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Your a minor OSI operative, neither Jaime nor Dr. Olivet know you or could recognize you, and the less you say, the better. Understood?"
"Understood," agreed Castillian
"Good. Now, let's go outside - Miss Parker should be arriving any minute now.
The two men stepped outside, and waited by the main entrance. They did not wait too long before a car pulled up to let Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots out. "Where's Jarod?" Miss Parker inquired, without losing anytime with pleasantries.
"He's still forcing Ms Sommers to help him," Steve informed them. "I've asked Jim here to come and help me."
Castillian put up his hand when Steve pointed him out. "Jim Castillian," he introduced himself to Miss Parker, "- that's with two L's."
Miss Parker barely gave him a condescending glance before walking right past him. "Get to the point, please."
"Since Ms Sommers does not know Jim, he was able to approach them without being recognized. He was able to overhear Jarod mentioned they would be going to Philadelphia - the train's boarding on platform five."
"Good work," Parker told Steve, almost giving him a smile of satisfaction.
They made their way towards platform five. But, as they were almost there, they saw Jaime, who looked as if she was anxious to get away. "Oh, Steve," she called out when she saw the group. She made her was towards them. "Oh, Steve, am I glad to see you."
"It's OK, Jaime, it's over now," Steve replied, sounding as if he wanted to reassure her.
Jaime turned towards Miss Parker, and showed she recognized her. "Why didn't you tell me the truth, when we were back in Ottawa?" she asked, accusingly. "Jarod went nuts when we ran into you at the hospital. He forced me to come back right away to California, to pick up something called, a . . . a DAS?"
"DSA," corrected Broots. Miss Parker threw him a glance which said "shut up, Broots," louder than words could.
"Yeah, that's right, DSA. Then he forced me to help him make his escape."
Miss Parker gave a good look at Jaime. "I've seen how fast and how strong you are, lady," she replied. "How can anyone force you to do anything?"
Jaime met Miss Parker's stare, and threw it right back at her. "You stay a few feet away from me and pull a gun on me, all the speed and all the strength in the world won't do me any good."
"Can you take it from here, Miss Parker?" Steve asked. "Ms Sommers has had a traumatic experience, and it is my responsibility as her OSI supervisor to see to it that she gets to safety and a debriefing."
"I believe we can handle it, yes," replied Miss Parker, with a somewhat sarcastic edge to her reply.
As the OSI and Centre personnel parted company, Sydney turned back to look at Steve, Jaime and Jim Castillian leaving the train station. After a moment, Miss Parker called out to him. "Syd?"
"I'm coming, Parker," he replied, in his usual patient tone.
Miss Parker was so intent on her search for Jarod that she didn't even notice that Sydney's expression had changed from a worried look to a subtle smile that indicated he knew more than he was letting on.
*
* *
"He's late!"
Jim Castillian was getting nervous as he looked at his watch. He, Steve and Jaime were enjoying a cup of coffee at the little shop where Jarod had promised to meet them for a final time.
"By a minute," Jaime replied, to try to calm him down. "Relax - he'll be here."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because Miss Parker hasn't called to thank us for our help in capturing him," replied Jaime.
Castillian could not come up with an argument to counter that. He finished his cup of coffee. Just as he was getting up to order another one, Jarod walked into the shop. He came to join the group at their both.
"How did it go?" inquired Jaime.
"Great. I left so many traces in both the train to California and the station in general that Miss Parker could spend a whole week in there looking for me."
"And no one saw you leave?"
"Of course not - secret exits are a specialty of mine," answered Jarod with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Where will you be going now?" Steve asked.
"Probably south, just long enough to disappear and hide my tracks. After that, I'm not decided. I'll see where events lead me."
"Jarod, I can't thank you enough for their help you've provided with Sue's care. And, I know she'll miss you."
"I'll stay in touch, somehow," he promised.
As he got up to leave, Castillian extended his hand to him. "However briefly, it was a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Otivet."
"Please, call me Jarod. And besides, it was "O-LI-vet."
"That's with one L," Steve, Jaime and Jarod added in unison.
THE END
