Chapter 7 – Helios

Kiara Forrester drove her recently washed and waxed silver BMW down North Scottsdale road 15 mph above the speed limit on her way to Liz and Alan’s home, barely pausing at stop signs. She had meant to leave her reputation for lateness back in the lab in New Jersey, but it wouldn’t stop following her. She sighed and looked at the dash where the clock read 4 PM. Great. Liz’s email said the birthday BBQ started at 3:30 PM, and Jace was already nervous about meeting everyone for the first time. 

Pulling Jace out of the old neighborhood and moving to Arizona sounded exciting and adventurous at first, but as reality hit, so did second thoughts. And she really hadn’t stopped to think just how white it was out here. Maybe she should have prepared her biracial son a little better than she had. But no, she thought, shaking her head, trying to banish any sense of regret. Jace would be fine. He was a highly adaptable and easygoing kid, and certainly, if they were going to move, there was no better time to do it than between middle school and high school. He would make new friends, and they would see him for the amazing kid he was. His darker skin would not matter. Of course not, because race never really mattered. Kiara smiled to herself. 

“Mom, who’s party is it again?” Jace asked from the front passenger seat, slouched against the window, barely looking up from his retro Gameboy.

“Liz and Alan’s daughter, Alice,” Kiara responded.

“Are there only going to be girls there?”

“No, Alice has a brother named Griffin, and his friend, Sam, will be there, also. You can hang out with them.”

“Cool. Did we get her a birthday present?”

“If by we, you mean me, then we certainly did. It’s wrapped and ready.”

Kiara winked affectionately at her son across the seat. He glanced up and caught her eye and grinned. Jace had turned fourteen last month and celebrated with his friends in a combined birthday and farewell party. She hoped it would give him some closure, if such a thing existed for a 14-year-old. She, herself, was looking forward to this move and this new life. Liz and Alan had managed to materialize the ASU Professor of Biology position for her out of thin air courtesy of the defense contract. They then pulled all the necessary strings to get her on board without slogging through reams of red tape. They were, clearly, convinced the stakes were very high. Should be interesting. 

Kiara and Jace arrived at a beautiful house in the suburbs of North Tempe on North Circle Drive, found parking on the street, and made their way up the walkway. The house was surrounded by a well-manicured lawn and fronted by an extraordinary garden with a beautiful statue of Helios, the Sun Chariot God, displayed in the center. Sunflowers in full bloom encircled it. The significance of this symbolism was not lost on Kiara, and she was duly impressed by the cleverness of her hosts.

Jace pressed the doorbell, and a young lady with brown hair in a ponytail wearing a flowered turquoise dress immediately opened the door.

“Hi, I’m Alice. Welcome,” she said, waving them into the house. “Are you Dr. Forrester?”

“I am,” Kiara replied, “and this is my son, Jace.”

“Nice to meet you, Jace,” Alice said, extending a hand toward him. Kiara thought the young lady displayed a maturity beyond her years.

Jace stood there, just staring at Alice. 

“Don’t leave her waiting, Jace,” Kiara said, nudging him playfully with her shoulder. 

Before Jace could react, Alice spun around and said, “Follow me, and I’ll introduce you to my brother, Griff, and his friend, Sam.” She led the way upstairs, ponytail bobbing with each step. 

Jace took off right behind her. He still hadn’t uttered a single word.

Kiara chuckled, then found her way to the living room, where she immediately recognized her four research colleagues along with several other unknown attendees. She waved at Liz, who grabbed a full glass of wine and brought it over, leading her out the back door.

“Kiara, I’m so glad you could make it! I wasn’t sure you would be in town yet. Is Jace here?” Liz asked.

“Alice met us at the front door and whisked him off to meet her friends. You know, Jace is usually a little shy around girls to begin with, but this time he looked spellbound. I think it might have been love at first sight.” 

Liz smiled, but Kiara had a feeling that the contemplation of young love was the last thing on her mind. 

“Come,” Liz said, placing a hand on Kiara’s arm, “let me show you the backyard. I’m working on a vegetable garden, and I could use your biological expertise.”

“How about if I say hello to everyone first?” 

“No, that can wait. I think I may have some kind of bug infestation that’s destroying my tomatoes,” Liz said, grabbing Kiara’s hand and physically pulling her out the back door.

Once they were some distance from the house, heading towards a large vegetable garden, Kiara asked, “Okay, Liz, what’s going on? That was weird.”

“Kiara, I wasn’t kidding about the bug infestation, but it’s not the tomatoes. Alan, being typically paranoid, ordered a bug scanner online, and it arrived yesterday. He swept the house and, sure enough, he found listening devices in practically every room. Someone is listening in on our conversations. Presumably, the same is true at the university in our offices and labs.”

“You must be joking. Who would care about what we have to say?”

“I assume it’s our own people listening in –”

“Our own people? The military? Why?”

“I haven’t told you all the numbers, Kiara, but this defense contract we have is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Clearly, our development of a radiation ‘antidote’ – for lack of a better word right now – has a high level of importance.”

“Do our own people even know what we are really dealing with?”

“Do we even know what we are really dealing with?” 

“Touché,” Kiara said, taking a sip of her wine and licking her lips thoughtfully. 

“The other possibility is that it’s corporate or even foreign interests.”

“Liz, Liz, Liz, what have you and Alan gotten us into? Espionage?” She took another sip of wine. “Actually, it sounds kind of exciting. Wait, you don’t think we’re in any danger, do you?”

“We are so early in the process, I can’t imagine we would be, but as we progress, we may have to take precautions. Hopefully, we can bore them into a state of complacency, so when we do make a move, we’ll be one step ahead. At least, that’s what Alan’s thinking.”

“I guess that’s true. Are you sure we shouldn’t just report it to the University? It’s going to be strange knowing someone is always listening in on our conversations.”

“But at least we know, so we can take precautions while playing dumb. It might be better not to let them know we know – if you know what I mean.”

Kiara narrowed her eyes as she followed Liz’s convoluted reasoning, then shrugged. “I guess so.”

“One thing is for sure, though: we can only talk about the Helios Project in secrecy. Alan is working on a place and will let us know soon. For now, everything is as usual. We are five colleagues who have taken on positions at ASU with a very lucrative long-term defense contract to find an antidote for radiation poisoning – and just maybe save the world.”