PART FOUR

Copyright 2002 Mike Suchcicki

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"Nice car," said Gray.

"I call it the Cornealiusmobile," said Lake from the back seat.

"I told you not to do that," said the driver.

"So, why do you think this guy Jordan was trying to warn you? " asked Lake. "Certainly he would know that the big boss wouldn't be happy."

"Perhaps he felt guilty," said Gray. "If Wynn did set up my mother, and Jordan knew about it, perhaps it was weighing on him."

"Or, perhaps Wynn double-crossed Jordan somehow, and Jordan was warning you out of revenge," said Lake.

"Or," said Cornealius, "perhaps Wynn sent him."

Gray and Lake were equally surprised. "Wynn sent him?" said Gray. "You mean, like to lure me into a trap?"

"Precisely," said the hunter. "Perhaps he didn't give him a direct order to lure you there, but it's entirely probable that he set it up. He probably set up some kind of double-cross, just as David said. If he lured your mother into a trap, certainly he would believe that he could get away with it again."

Gray leaned back against the headrest and shut her eyes for a moment. "There's only one thing wrong with this whole thing. Heston Wynn is revered. The city loves him. America loves him. Everyone believes the HOW conglomerate is working its butt off trying to save the world from the Ghoul infestation. If he's trying to save the world, why would he want to kill my mother, even if she did give away the secret of Ghoo? Why would he want to kill me?"

"No," said Lake, "there are two things wrong with this whole thing. Baker sector recently underwent a sweep. It was reported clean. Natural 'plasm infestation doesn't occur this quickly after a sweep. Certainly not to the scale we just saw at that factory."

Gray turned. "Are you saying Wynn had the malectoplasm placed there?"

"I'm almost afraid to think that he did," Lake said. "Because that would mean ... "

"...that he discovered a way to control the handling of large quantities of 'plasm," said Cornealius.

Lake was pale. "Right," he said softly.

Gray and Cornealius knew why he was so shaken. In the lab, scientists had been able to manipulate small quantities of unmanifested malectoplasm for experiments. But to attempt to gather large quantities for storage or disposal would trigger massive reactions, literal explosions of Ghouls. Sometimes thousands at a time would develop. So far, the only effective way ADEF and similar agencies around the world had found to eradicate large infestations of malectoplasm was to send in skirmish teams, deliberately triggering Ghoul manifestations and destroying them with Ghoo. Such "sweeps" were not foolproof, but it was all they had so far.

So far.

Lake was running the various implications of 'plasm control through his mind when Cornealius said, "We're here."

He stopped his car directly in front of the main door to HOW Plaza.

"So, do we just walk in and ask to see him?" asked Lake as they climbed out of the car.

"What else?" said Cornealius.

"I thought with this kind of guy, you have your people call his people and set up appointments and meeting plans and that sort of thing," Lake said. "I didn't think you could just walk in and ask to speak to the wealthiest man in the country."

"Oh," said Gray, "I have a feeling he'll see me."

Sure enough, when they announced themselves at the front, it took just a quick call upstairs by the weekend security guard before they were told that Mr. Wynn would see them. They were sent, unescorted, to the express elevator.

In the elevator, Lake noticed something about the way Cornealius seemed to take in every little detail of the building.

"You know," said Lake, "not that this isn't the normal extent of your conversational skills, but something tells me you know something that you're not telling us."

Cornealius didn't answer at first. Finally he said, "Let's just say that I'm not surprised that we're making this trip."

Gray said, "You suspected Wynn was up to something all along, didn't you?"

"In my work, I talk to people. All sorts of people. People that you two don't get to talk to in your line of work, if you know what I mean. Lately, I've been hearing the same name crop up over and over again. Wynn. I didn't know how and I didn't know why, but I knew that eventually I would find out. In the meantime, I've been doing my homework on Wynn."

Lake asked, "Like, where's his birthmark and stuff like that?"

"Like, where's his money, who does he control, what methods does he use to guarantee his power?" replied the hunter.

"Oh," Lake said.

There was silence.

Lake asked, "So where is his birthmark?"

"Left butt cheek."

The elevator doors slid open and the trio stepped into a well-appointed foyer. A single employee, a tall, stern man with very little neck, motioned them into a large office. He shut the door behind them, leaving them alone in the room.

They didn't have to wait long, as doors on the opposite wall flew open and Heston Oliver Wynn entered. He was a tall, slender man in his late 40s. There were just a few streaks of gray in his otherwise jet-black, trimmed and perfectly combed hair. His face was generally friendly and somehow didn't quite match the slenderness of his frame. Lake remembered from Wynn's segment on the "Biography" TV series an early photo of a tall, chubby, long-haired computer geek who was just a few months away from the technological breakthroughs that would eventually make him a billionaire.

"Welcome," he said, walking quickly over to the trio. He shook Lake's hand, but didn't offer his to Cornealius or Gray.

"Nice office you have here," said Lake. "I would have thought you'd have a corner view, or at least a window. I guess the paneled look is back in, or you just have a fear of heights."

"Or maybe this isn't really his office," said Cornealius.

"Perhaps it isn't," said Wynn, casually walking to the chair behind the desk. "By the look of all the dust you're getting all over my carpet and furniture, I would say that you three have just been in a fierce battle against many Ghouls."

"Nice guess, Poirot," said Lake. "No wonder you're a billionaire and I'm not."

"You know," said Gray, "something tells me that you're not even going to begin pretending that you don't know what's going on and why we're here."

"Oh, not at all," said Wynn. "I've been preparing for this meeting, otherwise known as Plan B."

"B?" said Lake.

Cornealius said, "In other words, the Ghouls didn't get us, so he just waited for us to step into his next trap."

"Well, sort of," said Wynn. "Certainly I didn't expect you and Dr. Lake to get involved. But it's rather convenient now that you have. I knew that at some point I was going to have to figure out a way to get Dr. Lake out of the picture as well. Somehow I didn't think a mere Ghoul trap would do it. Now, I don't have to worry. None of you are getting out of this room alive."

"So, what is this, your killing room?" said Lake. "What did the architect say when you asked for that little feature?"

"You think you can just kill us, in broad daylight? Our agency knows we're here," said Gray.

"No, they don't," said Wynn. "I happen to know that you purposely didn't check in with your headquarters before you came."

"They'll trace us."

"No, they won't. You left your tracer at the factory site so the ADEF team would find Jordan's body. Mr. Cornealius never carries a tracer, and Dr. Lake is in the habit of, quote-unquote, 'forgetting' his when he leaves the office."

Cornealius and Gray glared at Lake, who shrugged. "It'll never happen again, I promise," he said.

"That is very much the truth," said Wynn.

Gray turned to Wynn. "So, why did you kill my mother? Because she gave away the secret of Ghoo?"

Wynn smirked. "Oh, come on, nothing so trivial. I have no time to spend on mere revenge. But, there is the need to protect my investments."

"What do you mean?" asked Gray.

Cornealius answered. "It means that his team is on the verge of discovering the perfect Ghoo, one that doesn't need a weak spot. He knew your mother was on the verge as well, and he knew that she would give the secret away, just as she did with the original formula."

"That's more or less correct," said Wynn. "Although, I hate the word 'Ghoo.' My marketing team will come up with something more palatable for the worldwide market."

Gray shook her head in disbelief. "You're killing people all because you want to sell Ghoo? What kind of sick mind is that?"

"But it's more than that, isn't it?" said Cornealius.

Lake stepped forward. "That's right," he said. "You don't just want control of the Ghoo, you want control of the Ghouls as well. You've figured out a way to control malectoplasm."

Wynn chuckled. "Well, so far we've figured out a way to gather it and store it. But we want to do more than that, and because of that, we don't want halfwits like you meddling around."

Lake's eyes widened and he gasped. "You want Ghouls on the payroll!"

Gray frowned. "What?"

Lake said, "He doesn't just want to package 'plasm. He wants to learn how to control the Ghouls after they've formed!"

Wynn laughed and sat down. Casually folding his hands across his chest, he said, "You know, here's the thing. I used to watch spy movies and think, what a stupid thing for the villain to want to rule the world. How does one actually do that? The whole world. Then I became a billionaire many times over and I began to think, you know, I'm almost there; I almost control the world as it is. Then the Ghouls came, and the more I learned about them, the more I began to think, you know, it really could happen. I really could rule the world."

Lake said, "But you can't. Control Ghouls, I mean. For you to be able to control them, there would have to be a sentience there for you to control. Ghouls are the least sentient beings there are."

"For now, at least," said Wynn. He reached forward and pressed a button on the desk. "Look, I've got a TV interview in a few minutes, so it's time to say farewell. My men will be here in a second. Fortunately, Mr. Cornealius, you don't arm yourself with anything stronger than Ghoo. Damn, I hate that word."

"You think there won't be an investigation when our bodies are found?" said Gray.

"No," said Wynn. "Because your bodies are going to be found, ripped and shredded, at the site of an apparent Ghoul attack. It's the end that everyone assumed you'd have anyway."

"No, I think the office pool has me down for street luge," said Lake.

"Laughing in the face of death, I see," said Wynn.

"Well, it's better than wetting my pants in the face of death ... although the day is young."

The office doors swung open and three large thugs entered.

"OK, Cornealius, you take the one in the middle, " said Lake, "and when you're done with him, take the other two."

As one, the thugs reached into their jackets. Much faster, however, Cornealius drew both Ghoo Ghuns from their holsters and fired directly into the faces of the two outer thugs. The Ghoo blasts at such a short distance threw the thugs backward. No sooner had the shots landed then Cornealius took a running start, jumped onto the couch and sprung at the remaining guard.

The guard was ready. Quickly, he shifted into a martial arts stance and swung his palm outward to strike Cornealius' jaw.

Unfortunately for the thug, however, Cornealius wasn't going that way. In mid-air he somersaulted, and brought the heels of his boots down upon the thug's face on either side of his nose. The thug staggered backward. Like a cat, Cornealius twisted as he fell. He planted his hands upon the floor and swung both his legs in a wide circle, catching the thug's legs from behind and sending him crashing backward upon the floor.

As Cornealius took down the thugs, Gray turned toward Wynn, who was reaching for an intercom button. Follwing Cornealius' lead, she drew her Ghoo Ghun and fired at Wynn's head. The blast was off a little; it caught him in the shoulder, but it was enough to throw him off balance, tumbling backward over his chair.

Behind the couch was a sideboard on long thin legs. Cornealius grabbed one of the legs and wrenched it free. Swinging it as a club, he slammed it full force against the head of one of the Ghoo-faced thugs. Then, turning, he flung it like an axe at the head of the other, who was attempting to rise.

Cornealius turned toward Lake, who was motionless with awe. "Get out!" he snapped.

Lake couldn't move. "I can't believe you used the couch as a trampoline. I try that at home and it never works."

Gray grabbed Lake's arm as she ran past. "Let's go!"

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