Young Again
Copyright© 2018 by Edward Douglass Patterson
Chapter 29: A Gifted Artist
FBI agents Marsha Poe and John McHale walked into the room where the young man waited. He had walked into the police station a couple of hours earlier with information on the men involved with Go-Go. Marsha sent a questioning glance at John, who shrugged.
Ali smiled and put down the pencil with which he had been drawing. He was used to people being confused about the red-headed Arab with green eyes. “Yes, I’m Ali. Mom is Irish-American.”
She offered him her hand. “I’m Marsha Poe, FBI Special Agent-in-Charge, and this is Special Agent John McHale. They shook hands.
“The pictures that you gave the police are very good. The pictures show all five men’s faces from straight on in all the pictures. How were you able to see them like that long enough to be able to draw them?”
“I can remember anything that I see. I saw them as they moved and talked both times. I just took the different images and used them to make the drawings. The ones without the beards are the most accurate. I knew right away that they were the same men ever before they spoke.”
“What did they say? Can you repeat it exactly?” John asked.
When Ali repeated what the men had said, John shook his head. “Sorry, is that Arabic?”
Ali nodded. “Approximately, what they said is ‘I didn’t expect them to be arrested so fast.’ Then the other said ‘Should we delay the next step?’ Then they saw me approaching and said no more while I was near.”
“And you didn’t do anything to let them know that you understood them.” Marsha found that she liked Ali.
“I have learned that not showing that I know Arabic can be useful. I think that was especially important yesterday.”
“Do you know if the two men had a car or did they walk?” John asked.
Ali closed his eyes. It was a few seconds before he opened them and spoke. “A silver Honda Accord. Not new, maybe three or four years old. I can draw it for you.”
“First, did you see the license plate?
“I should have thought of that. California 3AFR2437.”
“John, go have the police check on the car.” Marcia turned back to Ali. “May I see your sketch pad?” She looked at the drawings starting from the most recent and pausing at several buildings, trees, and flowers. When she got near the front, she stopped, looked at the first picture, at him, then back at the picture. She handed the pad back.
“Ali, could you take some time off from your job? I think we have some work for an artist with your abilities.”
“I don’t have a job. I was set to go to the community college, but Dad’s car broke down. You weren’t looking at the people. What would I be doing?” Ali was puzzled.
“Don’t laugh. You would be going into the wilderness area in the mountains and drawing a mountainside, piles of stones, and other things for a couple of archeologists. Then we also need pictures of plants in the area.” Marcia stopped, seeing that Ali was looking at her totally confused. After a few seconds, she continued. “The best part is that this is top secret and very important. Would you be interested?”
“This isn’t for the FBI. Who would I be working for?”
“Ashley Sawyer. If you are interested, after we get done here, we can go talk with her.”
“You’re not talking about a minimum wage job, either, are you?”
“No, she and Sarah are paying their friends who don’t have a skill such as yours well above minimum wage. I’ll leave it for Ashley to discuss that with you. I know that I have some people working for me that wish they were working for her. You look like you are interested, but there is paperwork giving you a temporary clearance to fill out before we can explain what we are doing.”
“Yes, I am interested. I don’t think I could sleep tonight if I didn’t find out what’s going on.” Then he smiled. “Meeting Ashley and Sarah.” The smile grew.
When they got out of the car, Ali couldn’t hold his curiosity in check. “RUSTI closed down. Why are we here?”
“How did you know this used to be the RUSTI facility?” Marsha glanced at where the RUSTI sign had been, but there was no shadow stain showing where the letters had been. She remembered that Mark had made it a priority to remove all references to RUSTI throughout the facility. She wondered when someone would come up with a name for the facility. There were plenty of suggestions, but most of them weren’t even worth considering. Neither Sarah, Ashley, nor Mark had made any comments on the suggestions or made any of their own. Marsha wondered what their thoughts on naming the facility were. She knew she had no idea what to call the facility. She realized Ali hadn’t answered, so she turned and looked at him standing by the car.
When Ali saw the female FBI agent turn and look at him, he knew he had to answer. “Dad worked here.”
“So, your family is another of the ones messed up by RUSTI. Good, I will let Sally know. She’s having a hard time hiring people without advertising our existence. Your dad’s views on the terrorists are similar to yours?”
“No, he wanted me to enlist and go fight them. He sees them as evil. I want to draw, not be a soldier.”
“I think that the two of you will fit in really well here. We can talk about it later.”
“Ali!” He was surprised to have someone call his name. He turned and saw the leader of the band for whom he had done the album cover.
Bennie and Maria hurried over to them. “Hi Marsha, John.” Bernie held out his hand to Ali, and they shook. “Why do we need an artist? Ali is a great choice. He did the album cover.”
Ali was really confused. It sounded as if Bernie was working with the FBI. What was going on here?
“I’m Maria Cuervo.” She and Ali shook hands. “We can’t tell you what we are doing until you sign the paperwork. Things are getting a little more formal than when we joined.” She turned to Marsha. “Ali is a very good artist. They loved the album cover. Do you want me to tell them while you go through the paperwork?”
“I was looking to surprise them.” Marsha was smiling. “Could you pull all three of them out of the meeting to meet Ali?”
“Just part of my job as her assistant.” Maria looked at Bernie. “Can you keep that smile off your face so we won’t give it away?” He nodded while trying to hide the smile. She turned back to Marsha. “Should I tell them you need to talk to them or just make something up?”
“Tell them we have a lead on the local terrorists and that I want to discuss it before discussing it at the meeting.”
Mark, Ashley, and Sarah hurried into Marsha’s office. Maria and Bernie followed them. Ali was reading the security clearance form.
Mark gave Marsha a questioning look. With the implementation of the top-secret classification on their work, the only new people that they were able to enlist were professionals with the needed knowledge. They were having a hard time hiring people.
When Ali had finished reading and had signed the form, Marsha introduced him. “This is Ali Hajjar. He has provided information on two men who are probably the leaders of a local terrorist group. The men that I arrested worked for them.” Marsha could tell that Sarah and Ashley had recognized Ali’s name. She told them what they had learned and showed them the pictures of the men and the car.
When Marsha finished, Mark just nodded. “OK, the information will be very helpful, but there is more. They recognized Ali’s name, but I don’t think he is a famous artist yet, so there was another reason that they recognized him.” Mark glanced over at Bennie. “He did the album cover. Marsha, we have over a hundred people waiting for us to get back.”
“He adjusted the drawings of the men from his memory of them so that the drawings were full frontal portraits. He just walked past the men after they had shaved their beards off, so he had to create the actual images that he drew from interpolation of many images. When we asked about their car, he was able to remember the license plate number from when he had seen the car weeks ago. He gave us the number. Later, he drew the car from memory. When I looked through his sketchpad, I saw that he also drew buildings, trees, and flowers. When I saw a plant that I recognized, I figured that he should do some more work for us.”
Ali turned from Marsha to Ashley. “Why did you want the album?”
“Searching for a Different Past is what we are doing. Bennie wrote the songs and put out the album to encourage others to come to him and talk about things from the past. It is amazing how fast those songs have gotten airplay. Not one or two but most of the album.” Ashley looked to Bennie. “Sales have been more than the label expected, so they are rushing more to the stores. The sales have passed the threshold for where Ali starts to get a small percentage for the album art.”
“I was going to call you this evening.” Bennie was smiling. “Rolling Stone wants to do an article on the band. They also wanted to interview the artist that did the cover and the inside pictures. It will be Wednesday evening.”
“Ali, you shouldn’t go. Your name and picture would be enough to tip off the terrorists that you might have understood them.” Marsha looked upset to tell him that he wouldn’t have his moment of fame.
“Bennie, tell the Rolling Stones that Ali has some other major work coming out after Thanksgiving. If they don’t mention him in the article, he’ll give them an exclusive interview then if they want one.” Sarah had a big grin on her face. “Ali, the drawings we need that I assume that Marsha told you about should be put into a book. We can have it released the Monday after Thanksgiving. It will be a bestseller before Christmas.”
“Why will people want to buy a book of my sketches?”
“Because we cannot take pictures of what you will be drawing. When the President announces what we have found, people will be rushing to the stores to get your book.” Only Ashley wasn’t surprised by Sarah’s idea of a book of Ali’s sketches.
“I would like you to meet Ali Hajjar. Ali, this is Professor Tony Jacobson, Debbie Winston, Joy Bernelli, and Thad Stevens. And this is Dr. May Flower. Tony and Debbie are archaeologists. Tony is also Ashley’s cousin. Joy, Thad, and May are medical doctors.” Sarah’s hand did a slow sweep towards Ali. “Ali, will be going up to the mountains to draw the pictures that you need. He has eidetic memory and can draw anything he’s seen. He’s even able to adjust the viewing angle. He did the artwork for the album, A Different Past. He came to Marsha’s attention when he brought the police more information about the attack yesterday.”
“No true examples of eidetic memory have ever been reliably documented.” Dr. Stevens wondered why Sarah would believe such a claim.
“Add that to your test for Mark. Ashley and I want to take all of the tests that you are giving him when we have time.” She looked at Ali. “Can you perfectly recall only images or does it work for your other senses also?”
“Sounds also. You could draw whatever you’ve seen. Why aren’t you doing the drawings?”
“Remember yes. Draw no.” Neither Ash nor I were ever interested in drawing. We just did whatever was necessary for art class.” Sarah tilted her head slightly and shrugged.
“We each need to select what opportunity we take. You and Ashley have just had the ability to select more than most people.” May was smiling at Sarah.
Joy was distracted by the news of more information on the attack on her son’s team. “What is the new information on the attack on Troy’s team?”
“Ali gave us information on those at the next level up from the men arrested. Marsha will cover it when we resume the briefing.” Sarah looked at May. “We need to get Ali a lot of art supplies to take with him. We would like you, him, and Dr. Bernelli if she can go, to leave tomorrow and spend the week up there.” She looked at Troy’s parents. “We are planning for all the teenagers and others working with us to go up to the mountains to learn firsthand about what we have up there. It would include camping in tents Saturday night. Would you like to bring Troy and your other two children up to learn what is going on? You need to be sure that they can keep the secrets. I figure that this will help you be able to discuss things at home.”
“I worried about being able to keep the secrets.” Joy looked suspiciously at Sarah. “Why do you want to include them?”
“I would like to recruit them to help with the research on what happened to Mark. With both of you being physicians, they are very likely to also become physicians. Unless they become interested in something else, we are doing. Starting early will help me as much as them.”
“I keep thinking of you as a kid just like mine. Yes, learning about what you are doing will encourage them to learn more. They have hero worship of you and Ashley.”
“They drove us crazy with questions yesterday after they found out that we knew you, especially after they saw what you did at the game.” Thad laughed.
“It’s ‘we are doing’. Ashley, Mark, and I are leading right now, but this isn’t something for just a few people or the organizations that we are setting up, or even our government. It is for everyone. We need to ensure that what we learn unites us, or many will end up dead. That would either be fighting among ourselves or some other species doing what was tried thirteen thousand years ago.” Sarah paused. “We need the best and the brightest motivated to make this happen.” She saw the confusion on Ali’s face. “That includes you and your family. Your family didn’t have the advantages that mine has had, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to contribute a lot also. I’m looking forward to meeting them. They should also join us in the mountains next weekend. This isn’t just a camping trip. They and the Stevens family will be working, so all of you will be paid.” She looked at Joy and Thad. “Hiring your family will cause problems with the impartiality of your research. We will have to talk about that later. I will leave it up to Mom and Mark to handle that.”
“You can just hire people like that?” Ali was having a hard time understanding Sarah. “Even my little sister?”
“Sarah, Ashley, and Mark do things like that, and this wasn’t that unusual. I would have thought of it in a day or so myself. Mark is a little subtler, but he is working with them, so they are learning how not to startle people so much.” May was obviously thinking about something. She nodded, then looked Sarah in the eye. “How long have you suspected?”
“A while.” Sarah nodded towards Ali.
May just looked at Ali. She was thinking again. “You want us to look into this.”
“Yes, let me take Ali and brief him. Tony, Debbie. Let us start with telling him about what you will want him to draw.” She led the three of them out of the room. Mark looked at his granddaughter, then he turned to May and nodded. The two Sawyers left.
After they left, May just sat watching the other two doctors. Joy and Thad understood that something very important had just happened, but they weren’t sure what it was.
Finally, Joy had to ask. “What just happened?”
“I was the first, besides the three of them, to realize that Ashley and Sarah may also have been affected by what happened to Mark. I suspect it was years ago, so they wouldn’t have become young, but the abilities of the three of them, especially if they have Eidetic memory, which I believe we will find to be true, do set them apart. Now, Ali with Eidetic memory may be another clue in our search.”
“He doesn’t show the same abilities as they do.” Joy argued.
“No, but it may not affect everyone the same. That it has affected the first three in much the same way may be unusual or may be some aspect that we don’t understand. The important thing is that we suspect the Sawyer’s cabin area is the location of what is causing the change. The military hasn’t been camping near the cabin. Initially, there was a fear of the North Korean virus. I suspect that they will be having them move to camping there. They want to see if anyone else will catch what they have. That is another reason for you and your children to go there. They may or may not bring it up at the meeting today, but they want the medical personnel to be aware of it. We need to note what people do so that we can get an idea of what may be causing the change.”
“But what about Ali?” Joy asked.
“You and May will have to find that out this week.” Thad looked at his wife. “He may have spent time in the mountains, or it may have been some other place. What we can be sure of is it is not near here, or we would have a lot more people affected.”
“When did they plan all of this? They just met Ali.”
“Joy, Sarah, and Ashley say that they don’t use ESP but that they have some means of communication that we don’t. I have seen them use body movements, glances, words, and a bunch of other things to communicate, but I suspect that they are just crutches, artifacts, or bad habits. That’s something else we will have to test.” May realized that defining the changes in different people would need to be one of the first steps in discovering how the changes occurred. What had the ancients been like that they had left these medical miracles but hardly any sign of their civilization? Man must have been nearly exterminated to not have kept any of this knowledge.
“They want to infect my children with what they have.” Joy had finally reacted like a mother and physician and not a scientist.
“They are willing to share what they have. We will be there and watching them. You, after spending the week up there, will be the most likely to be affected.” Thad took Joy’s hand.
“Mark fell asleep on the porch the night that he was affected. He had stayed up there many times before that. I suspect that it’s night-born. The surprising thing is that only the girls were affected before then. We will have to talk to them about that.” May realized that they had a lot of questions to ask the three. “Thad, you and Barnaby will have to question Mark. We have been thinking too narrowly.”
“But why would they suspect that it would occur this weekend with everyone camping there?”
“We suspected that the North Korean virus triggered it to release. Maybe the girls had a cold; they slept with the window open, or other possibilities. You are going to have a lot of teenagers there along with anyone else they can get. The probability of someone having something that triggers the release grows with the more people we have.”
“May, you are a very smart, well-educated doctor who took a while to figure out what they were doing. They are teenagers that put this together on the fly without talking about it.” The other two could see the shock on Joy’s face.
“Yes, it can be scary how capable and smart they are.”
As soon as they entered Mark’s office, Ashley took her bug finder and swept the room. While she was doing that, Mark had gone to his computer and checked the records of the cameras he had in the room. No one had been in it since he had last checked. He shut down the computer and turned off the power to the cameras. He then swept the room looking for other cameras and ensuring that his cameras had actually turned off. When they were done, they took two seats close together and facing each other.
“Grandpa, Sarah and I also have whatever made you grow young. That is why we are so gifted.”
“Ashley, I had wondered about it. Ali has it also. He has the memory like we do but he doesn’t appear to have the other changes that I have noticed.”
“You knew. Why didn’t you say anything?”
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