Cloud Whale

By Bane Bond

A book that juggles on a thin line between fantasy and reality will give everyone something to think about and possibly have them looking over their shoulders.

A man ends up in coma after an attack. His background draws the attention of the New York police, Interpol and the Agency. Inquiries lead to a series of unexpected discoveries, involuntarily involving on the way a single mother and her blind son. Different courses of action imminently drive all characters towards a collision like runaway trains.

Their lives will never be the same and neither will be yours.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bane Bond
• Release date: Oct 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310445637

Book preview

Cloud Whale

By Bane Bond

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either products of author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 Branislav Tontorovits

Published by Branislav Tontorovits at Smashwords

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

1. Bad luck

Some other rain

Window

Awake

2. Arrival

Walk

Headache

Exercise one

3. Case

Surgery

Team

Exercise two

4. Colleagues and suspicions

Adaptation

Net

Web surf

5. Hypothesis

Web friend

Alert

Some thoughts about the boy

6. Visit

Angry mother

On the trail

People

7. Stakeout

Talk

Crossroad

What is a friend?

8. Interrogation

Seth’s doubt

Order

Lack

9. Statistical theory

Alice’s investigation

Trap for Al

Oblivious

10. Laboratory

Message

Ready to go

Al takes action

11. Contact

Meeting with NYPD

In two minds

Through Al’s eyes

12. Opinions

Confrontation

Report

Anger

13. Investigation takes new turn

Hideout

New net

Search for a friend

14. Order to pull back

Cat and mouse

Advanced search

Some thoughts

15. Contact with Interpol

Bargaining chip

On the trail

Al’s help

16. Rakic’s solo

Cornered

Talk about Al

How about a game of chess?

17. Cavalry is … late

Despair

Expecting a guest

Virtual visit

18. All for nothing

Ally

Chase

Offer to assist

19. Help

Teaming up

Ambush

Press conference

20. Tight

Glasses

On hook

In the dark

21. Seemingly safe

Catch a breath

Face the enemy

Shred of light

22. No turning back

All together

Collapse of arrogance

Twist

23. No one is above the law

Finally free

Pull back

Swimming in open waters

24. Case closed

Return home

Dossier in the safe

What is happiness?

25. Departure

Seth

Fishing rod

Future

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

GLOSSARY

PREFACE

Dear Reader

People are overwhelmed by the flood of music, photos, books and other texts, videos, etc. on the Web. In that situation, if a writer manages to establish communication with some reader, to stand out from the flood of information and to touch someone’s soul, then that person becomes the Reader. He becomes a stone in the foundations that keep the writer standing. If one prefers less technical terms and analogies, the Reader is a drop of water from the glass that quenches the writer’s thirst and keeps him alive.

The book you hold in your hands attempts to draw new boundaries between science fiction and reality. How well is for you to decide. In the meantime you can check the Web link http://CloudWhaleAlpha.eu, which you might find interesting.

As usual, it is difficult to complete a work of this type without assistance and support. I would like to thank Ana, Nada and Boki for their unselfish help, contributions, support and love, without whom this would still be just an idea. Special thanks to Muriel who made sure I wasn’t trying out new uses of the English language.

August 2014; Athens, Greece

1. Bad luck

A gloomy and rainy afternoon. A man in a leather jacket looked lost in a flow of pedestrians that were moving much faster than cars on the road. It was like a canyon, a river of flowing people through the street that looked narrow under tall buildings. He was listening to a hum, the constant noise of civilisation. ‘What would it look and sound to some non-human, perhaps a visitor from space?’, he thought, then continued with the crowd. He felt uneasy, it was November 12th 2013. Unlike ordinary people, he was superstitious regarding the specific order of things. A date forming the sequence 11-12-13 was bad luck to him.

The traffic showed no signs of recovery. The man knew that there was a subway station two blocks away, so he hurried in that direction. At least he tried, since the crowd had a movement of its own. After a while he found himself on a platform full of people, as if he had never left the street. As the train was approaching, everybody’s attention was on getting a better position to enter. He kept at the back, not really eager to get squashed. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in the lower back and, before he could turn or do anything else, everything got dark. ‘Bad luck…’ was his last thought before losing consciousness. He could not notice people gathering and leaning over him.

Some other rain

A boy was listening to the sound of rain. It was strong and falling almost without any break for the second day. That meant he was still like a prisoner in the house after school. He stood up from the chair and started walking towards the hi-fi. Music was one of the rare consolations on those days. He felt the remote on the glass surface of the small table in the living room and took it. However, before selecting some of his favourite CDs, an entrance door opened and his mother’s voice filled the space.

Hi Seth, I’m back. Where are you?

In the living room, mum. By the stereo.

Seth could hear the sound of clothes being removed and his mother approached and hugged him. I missed you boy.

He hugged her back briefly and stepped back. ‘Boys of the age of 14 are not much for hugging.’ his mother thought looking at Seth. He seemed tall for his age, with curly dark hair and pale skin. His eyes were looking into the distance.

You haven’t gone out much lately, have you? she asked.

Not in this weather, it is too complicated.

The forecast says it will be better tomorrow. Would you like to join your old mother for a walk?

He smiled. Of course, as far as the walk is concerned, but you are by no means old. Seth touched his mother’s face with both hands, And I can tell you look good as well.

Same flatterer as his father. She tried to sound cheerful, but her face showed sadness. Due to a disease Seth had been blind almost half of his life. She gently touched his hair, And we have to discuss something serious.

Window

Mark was looking through the window at the compound. He was particularly fond of autumn colours; he whispered, Nice view … for an undisclosed location. Whenever he was asked about his job, Mark would give some hints about government, ministries, etc. Even his wife did not know the truth. Someone might say that in 2014 everything is expected to be on the Web, but precisely for that reason Mark was extremely careful. He was leading an Information Intelligence task force for an Agency, as they called it internally, and that meant he should be a shadow’s shadow in the world of electronic communications.

Mark thought of himself as a hawk, gliding unobserved over the Web, ready to jump in an instant on an impending threat. Some were using a comparison with the eagle, but Mark considered it inappropriate, the eagle being the national symbol. No, hawk was a much better choice. His inner clock sounded an alarm. Mark looked at his watch and realised that the next meeting was approaching. After a final glance through the window, he turned away and walked firmly towards one of the meeting rooms.

Awake

I was awake. It was difficult to say what had caught my attention. Nothing could be seen or heard. All around was a dim diffused light with the appearance of floating cotton.

"Nice phrase. I should remember it. I said to myself. It felt like floating in a cloud, though I couldn’t detect any moisture. Where the hell am I?"

2. Arrival

Inspector D. Rakic was collecting his things before leaving the airplane. Tall, with dark hair and complexion, dressed in black, he stood out among the passengers of this flight from Europe. Rakic felt tired after the long journey and quite unhappy with the prospects of waiting in the queue in order to pass the check point at Kennedy airport. After many years in Interpol he knew that his administrative department had contacted NYPD, but no information had been passed to him yet, so he would probably have to wait until the arrival at the hotel and check on his e-mail to see whom, where and when to meet for the joint investigation that brought him to the Big Apple in the first place. He would probably be much more enthusiastic from tomorrow or the day after, but the dizziness in his head and the gloomy view of rain and clouds from the airplane window could not lift his spirits.

He remembered with sadness the nice days of his service many years ago in sunny Athens. As the passengers before him were exiting the plane, Rakic followed to the jetway. Two people, a man and a woman, were standing in the alcove before the tunnel, carefully examining the passengers. The women approached him. Medium height, strongly built, dark hair and eyes, small bulk on the side of her leather jacket indicated a possible weapon - Rakic’s police mind did an auto-evaluation as she stopped smiling in front of him. ‘And a nice smile’, he concluded his check.

Inspector Rakic? My name is Maria Ducati from NYPD. Hope you had a nice flight? she held out her hand.

He nodded. As they shook hands she continued, Let’s move aside not to block the traffic. This is my partner, Maria pointed at a bulky man beside her with a friendly looking square face and short red hair, Jerry O'Connell.

Pleasure. said Rakic, too tired to squeeze more from his rusty English. While shaking Jerry’s hand, Rakic noticed that the man had a very strong grip.

We should take you to your hotel and we can answer any of your questions on the road. Maria turned and led the way. Rakic followed, already feeling better with the prospects of a cold beer in sight.

It took them quite a while to leave JFK, despite Maria’s constant flashing of her badge. Finally they were in an unmarked police car, heading for the centre and with his luggage safely placed in the trunk. Maria was driving and Jerry half turned to Rakic in the back seat.

"What do you