OH! For the love of books!
OH! For the love of books!
Episode 43 Chapters 11 to 13 in Untruthful Speech by Ron Cisneros and Michael Padjen
Authors Ron Cisneros and Michael Padjen introduce us to Nick Griego, an anguished young man struggling with the loss of his brother Steven to leukemia. Nick''s anger with Steven''s death drives him to become a staunch and vocal advocate against institutional pharma and traditional cancer research. Eventually burning out, Nick decides to take a break from his life in the States to volunteer as a teacher''s assistant in Bangkok, Thailand, where he is recruited by a cunning Mossad agent, Talia Levy, who has been monitoring his advocating activity. Talia invites Nick to join her in a made-up group advocating for the same things Nick is impassioned about. Unbeknownst to Nick, his decision will eventually entangle him in a race to keep a significant new medical discovery out of the wrong hands. The story''s cast includes the CIA, a spy cell being run out of a restaurant in Bar Harbor, a freelance spy from Hong Kong, an ex-CIA operative in Shanghai, loyal only to himself, and a hitman from Argentina, and an incredibly helpful rat.
Nick embarks on a mission assigned by Talia to monitor the progression of the research being led by Elli Brunetta, a biochemist with a secret past, who has developed a genetically engineered coronavirus super vaccine based on a new medical technology called CRISPR. Nick takes a job with Elli''s husband, Nigel Shackelford, an ex-MI6 agent, now a lobster boat captain turned smuggler. Although Elli''s development of Intelligent CRISPR or I-CRISPR was meant to significantly curtail the threat of pandemics and treat cancer in ways unimagined, the world''s dark side wants it badly. They are willing to kill for it when they discover I-CRISPR can be used as a weapon to stop created or natural viruses from spreading in one location while letting it expand in others.
The story is a global adventure of espionage taken out of today''s headlines, with Bar Harbor Maine, Bangkok Thailand, and Shanghai China as the backdrops. "Untruthful Speech" is a remarkable thriller. A group of extraordinary individuals embarks on a deadly adventure searching for a stolen formula that can permanently alter the power structure of the world, leaving death and destruction in its wake.
Opening music
"Hello all you book worms and welcome to OH! For the Love of Books!, The show gives you a bit of narration from the books I read or ones you suggest for me to read. I'm your host, Jessica Vickery, and thank you for joining me on this journey.
END MUSIC
Here is a recap of chapters 8 to 10
In chapter 8 we find out Eliza is in grave danger and Gus Peralta who is a top shelf assassin was instructed to keep close tabs on her.
When the Argentinian surrender finally transpired, Nigel was called into action and sent to Buenos Aries to retrieve Eliza.
Nigel ends up killing Gus and his partner (or so he thinks).
In chapter 9, Mack and Steph are very worried about where Nick is and head out to Bar Harbor to find him or get answers from the Skipper (Nigel).
In chapter 10, Eliza and Nigel have a son Derek in 1992.
Nigel leaves active duty in MI6 and purchases a Lobster boat he named Serendipity.
Britain and the US had been very thankful to Eliza and Nigel and very thorough in making the real Eliza disappear.
Eliza and Nigel only secretly see each other.
Eliza makes friends with 2 locals, one named Eliza from Cologne Germany and one named Talia who is a freelance photographer and they become very close friends.
Elli keeps her friendship with Talia a secret and never tells Nigel about her.
Along with being Nigel’s life partner, she would become a partner of sorts in his lobstering business. Nigel had set it up to help him run a smuggling operation.
Elli played the single Mom until Derek headed off for an expensive engineering education at MIT.
Then Elli got back into the smuggling business with Nigel.
Derek comes home early for Christmas break and finds his Mom and Nigel sitting at the table with nautical maps and his Mom pointing a gun at him.
They explain the smuggling business and he checks out the boat to see how they do it and decided he wants in.
Then she finally tells Derek that Nigel is his father.
Then it ends off with Elli being contacted by some man-child (her words) and he is forcing her to steal from the labs she works at and they know about Nigel and Derek and uses their safety to get her to do it.
Let’s see how this unfolds.
MUSIC
CHAPTER 11
May, 2019 - Bar Harbor
Derek arrived at the dock early; Nigel told him to treat Nick as if this was his first trip on the Serendipity and NOT let on he was his son. They would be out for a few days with two additional crew members who didn’t know what was about to go down. Lobster brought in a profitable return and, with a good couple of days, he could pay his guys well, send them on their way, and accomplish the mission this lobstering trip was being used as a cover for. Nigel had received instructions from Elli concerning a pickup at Lerdell labs. He hoped the delivery would be at the dock near the labs, but this was not going to be the case. The instructions were now to pick up the package at the bottom of Sols Cliff. It would be tricky to navigate, so Nigel decided it would be best to send out a dinghy to recover the container. However, this presented two problems; sending out the dinghy with one crew member in rough waters would be dangerous and he would have to come up with a story to cover for the diversion to Sols Cliff. Having Derek come along would resolve the first problem. Derek was now 28 and single. Although he had an Engineering degree, he worked odd jobs in and around the fishing harbor, which gave him cover availability to help his parents. The morning was no different than any other. Nick showed up when expected and helped the new hand load supplies. The Skipper was in the wheelhouse, mapping out the plans for the trip. Nick complained to Derek, “It would be nice if the rest of the guys were here to help.” “Yeah, good hands are hard to find these days,” Derek responded, acting as if he was a little disappointed. “I don’t know if you remember, but we met earlier. Ok, I’m Nick. I’ve been working for the Skipper for about two months now,” “Yeah, I remember,” making no eye contact with Nick. “Do you know the Skipper or worked for him before?” “Nope.” “So, this is your first time on the Serendipity?” “Yup.” The rest of the crew finally showed up. With the supplies loaded and all hands-on deck, the Serendipity set off.
CHAPTER 12
May, 2019 - Bar Harbor
The waters leaving the boat dock were calm, little wind other than the breeze from the boat’s momentum. Nick took his favorite spot in the boat’s bow while Derek went into the wheelhouse, visiting with the Skipper. The other two hands, Justin Straw and Del Williams, sat in the stern smoking cigarettes and carrying on an argument about who won the billiard game last night. The fresh morning air felt good on Nick’s face. The salty mist sprayed up in his face; it’s the moments like this he will miss. He heard the cabin door shut and turned to see Derek shaking his head, joining Justin and Del for a smoke. The first day was not unusual, baiting lobster traps and icing the coolers. The Skipper told the crew they would be in the area he hoped to provide excellent results and profits. Although his cover as boat captain did not provide the funds, he needed to pay a crew after expenses; he liked paying his team a fair wage. A good catch of lobster can bring up to $7.00 a pound. The first day, actually halfday, the crew brought in about 500 pounds. The next day would be a full-day, and they hoped to bring in an additional 1,000 pounds and head back home. The Serendipity’s storage capacity was 2,000 pounds. If they hit that number, the Skipper could pay his crew $800 each. Not bad for two days’ work. That night the crew settled in and Nick started preparing the evening meal. He got to be a reasonably good cook and the Skipper taught him how to make great rice and beans. Tonight it was going to be a hamburger surprise. The Skipper did not allow his crew to drink; however, he and Derek would sneak up to the bridge and share a good whiskey. “So, do you know what we are picking up tomorrow night?” “No, your mom would not tell me, something important though.” “Yesterday, when you told me we have to stop at Sols Cliff, I was not happy, it’s beachless and rocky.” “We just need to get close to the cliffs. The package will be waiting for us there.” “Bad weather is coming in. This could be tricky,” exclaimed Derek. “Yea, I know. That’s why we need to head back early tomorrow.” “The crew won’t be happy; there is no way we can bring an additional 1,500 pounds of lobster.” “I will pay them for the full load. They shouldn’t complain about that.” A rapid knock on the door informed them dinner was ready and they joined the crew for dinner. “I hear Nick makes a damned good bowl of rice and beans,” Derek said, smiling. “Yes, he does, but I hear he is making some sort of hamburger surprise,” Nigel said, smiling back. The next day lobstering was slow, and they knew they would not reach their target by dusk. The Skipper came out to the deck and announced they needed to head back due to bad weather coming in. It was 3:00 pm. The moans and groans could be heard for miles. They barely brought in 500 pounds of lobster. “Damn, we need this catch. We all need the money.” Del was speaking for the crew. The weekend had all of them disappointed. “Don’t worry, I understand, I’ll make sure you all get paid your full wage.” Everyone was thrilled to hear the Skipper saying he would pay them for a catch of 2,000 pounds. The Serendipity headed towards the coast and started the four hour run back to Bar Harbor. Nigel told his crew he needed to make a stop near Sols Cliff before docking at Bar Harbor. He was meeting someone there to pick up a surprise gift for his wife and he didn’t want to risk her coming to the dock and spoiling the surprise. He assured them it shouldn’t take long. The crew didn’t seem to mind or ask questions as long as they got paid. Bad weather was coming anyway. They were just happy they didn’t have to spend another night offshore. The Serendipity was approaching Sols Cliff, and the storm seemed only to be getting stronger. The boat tossed and turned, and the Skipper was fighting the current, doing his best to keep the boat steady. About one hundred yards from the cliffs they laid down the anchor and launched the small dinghy in the rough water. Derek was to be the only one retrieving the package but the Skipper had Del accompany him. Handling the small raft would take two to manage. Both put on their life jackets and set off towards the shore. RON The little outboard motor fought to maintain speed to get them to their intended landing spot. As they approached the cliffs they saw a figure waving at them from the top. This person was carrying a container. Derek could not tell if it was a man or a woman; the rain gear hid their identity. Once the figure saw it got their attention it dropped the container in the water and ran off. When the dinghy got close, Derek had Del steady the small boat as he retrieved the container. It wasn’t too heavy or too large for Derek to handle. He picked it up and turned towards Del. Derek then heard a crack; this wasn’t lightning. In horror, he saw Del fall. The crew heard the sound of the gunshot. Then another shot rang out, narrowly missing Derek. “What’s happening,” Nick yelled out. He too saw Del go down. Nigel started the motor, screaming to Nick, “Pull in the anchor, we gotta get Derek. Justin, do you know how to handle a weapon?” Justin responded by nodding his head yes as Nigel tossed him a rifle. “Just shoot up towards the cliffs. We have to draw fire away from Derek,” shouted Nigel. Bam, Bam, Bam Justin shot towards the cliffs, aiming at any moving target. Derek heard the distraction and secured what he retrieved. The Serendipity and the small dinghy closed the gap as shots continued to ring out. Derek could see Del was dead. From all the blood on Derek’s face, he knew it was a head-shot. In the cliffs, the gunman returned fire towards the Serendipity, exchanging fire between the small boat and the fishing vessel. “Nick, help Derek into the boat,” the Skipper shouted commands. Nick reached over the railing in a panic, trying to help Derek get on the boat quickly. Derek told Nick, “Grab the container so I can get myself on.” Ping, ping Nick heard the shots hitting the boat; they were close, splinters of wood showing where the bullets landed. Ping, ping “Dammit Justin, don’t stop shooting back,” shouted Nigel. Nick and Derek looked over in Justin’s direction. He lay slumped over a lobster cage; and couldn’t shoot back because he was dead.
CHAPTER 13
Nigel, Derek, and Nick pulled in the anchor as quickly as possible. Evenings were ending early that far north, even in May. Between the weather and dusk coming on they had adequate cover, but Nigel didn’t want to take any chances. They would have to leave the bodies behind and get the hell out of there. They got back just after sunset and headed to Elli’s house, where she was waiting. Nigel felt Elli had been hiding something from him for a while. “Elli, you need to come clean. What was in that box? For us to fix this, I need to know everything. I know I fucked up, but you know I would’ve never brought Derek and Nick or anyone else along if I’d known it was going to be this dangerous.” Elli nodded her head, looking over towards Nick, who was trembling but otherwise calm considering what just happened. “We’ll talk later.” “Geez Elli, we have two dead deckhands. All of us could have been killed at the cliffs. Why did you have to bring the stuff down to the cliffs? I did recognize you even with all the rain gear. What else can Nick see or hear that will change anything at this point?” “In the first place, I wasn’t supposed to be the one going to the cliffs. I was supposed to hand things over in the parking garage, and my contact was supposed to bring the package down, but I got called just before the handoff. One of my handlers couldn’t reach my contact and had spotted possible “unfriendlies” in the garage. There had always been concern security would see me leaving the building with the box. My handler also told me there was a lot of unusual action near the handoff area, so the plan was nixed. The handler in the garage instructed me to go out of the lab’s delivery entrance to the cliffs where they were planning on passing the package off to you. They knew of some camera blind spots and I couldn’t be tracked if I followed their instructions.” “OK, Let’s hear the rest.” “ Elli continued, “Since that night in early April, when the young kid, supposedly from the CIA made contact and extortion was put on the table, things had gone a little crazy. Today was insane. As the days moved ahead, I came to find out someone very high up in the CIA organization had strongly requested a big favor be done for them. When I heard this, I couldn’t believe they would approach us after so many years, especially with a request of this magnitude.” Nigel was only surprised it had taken them this long. Elli explained further. “Derek was brought into the mix to be more of a hostage than anything else. The CIA wanted eyes on everyone at all times and wanted as few people as possible involved. Unfortunately, Nick pushed his way into a bad situation.” Lerdell Labs, is one of the preeminent genetic study labs in the world. Elli was in charge of a study analyzing how feasible it would be to use a new technology called Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats or CRISPR (pronounced “crisper”). CRISPR is a family of DNA sequences found in bacteria. DNA carries the genetic code for most organisms, and molecularly defines that organism. CRISPR DNA sequences are obtained from bacteria that have been attacked by a virus. The bacteria will have remnants of the virus DNA that had infected the bacteria. The bacteria’s use of these sequences plays a vital role in their antiviral defense system, much like the human immune system works using antibodies. In Elli’s research the use of the technique was primarily focused on coronaviruses. She rarely talked to Nigel about her work. It wasn’t because the conversation would be over his head; it was because Nigel was too busy running a lobstering and smuggling business. Plus, the only thing he knew about corona was it was a beer, and great with lime. “The entire time, after initial contact from the CIA, all they told me was our smuggling operation was needed to retrieve a package from Lerdell Labs, date unknown. In the meantime, it was our responsibility to learn everything we could about the waters off of Sols Cliff. That is why I told you about and asked you to be sure you understood the waters at Sols Cliffs.” What Nigel and Derek didn’t know was they would retrieve a package containing all the study records and samples of two vital compounds. The first was ribonucleic acid (RNA). Its principal role in Elli’s research on viruses was as a carrier of genetic information. The second compound was newly discovered CAS enzymes, a family of proteins used for genome engineering from the CRISPR project Elli had been heading up for a couple of years. Elli had been made aware of what would be retrieved early on and, should she tell anyone, would be responsible for her husband’s and son’s deaths. CRISPR isn’t too difficult to understand on an elementary level. It works like the cutting and pasting tool used in word processing programs. Much of the research done in most labs is on DNA, but in Ellie’s research, it was being studied to stop RNA based viruses similar to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The process used was to introduce to the host a solution containing a “guide” or “targeting” RNA, looking for a specific genome section particular to the virus. The CAS enzyme then acts like a pair of very tiny scissors and cuts the sequence out, rendering the virus useless. Elli’s project was different. Her team had discovered a way of inserting several guide RNAs and CAS enzymes, some newly discovered, into the solution. That combination could seek out hundreds of targets, significantly increasing the CRISPR’s ability to destroy almost any natural or man-made coronavirus or its mutations. The CIA wanted control of that technology, as did the GRU (formerly the KGB), Mossad, and, even more so, the Chinese MSS. They were even aware an operative had infiltrated Elli’s team. Once the project was near completion, they would make their move. Elli was instructed not to publish anything on the study. There was to be no history of it left and she would not be allowed to start another study, or else. Ellie continued, “Well, I guess I should have come clean earlier. The goons at the CIA, or wherever they were from, told me they’d kill you two if anyone found out.” Derek was still a little shook up and in a sarcastic mood. “I guess that didn’t matter, did it? They tried to kill us anyway.” “Honey, why would they do that? They didn’t have the package yet, and we were cooperating. They had no reason to try to kill us. I don’t think our guards would do that either. They’d just make a note of who was in the boat, then report it.” It was at that point Nick finally broke his silence. “I don’t think it was CIA or Lerdell guards.” “How would you know that?” Nigel asked “Because I recognized one of the shooters. I saw him on the cliff for just a second.” “Are you positive?” “Yeah, When I got to town for this trip, I went to the Chinese take-out place to grab lunch. I saw him come out of the kitchen, where there were two more Asian guys. They were waving goodbye to each other. One looked like the cook or maybe the owner, and the other was wearing a white lab coat.” “Well, you might be more valuable than I thought.” Elli mused. Elli’s phone rang. It was Sam Wilder, the head of security at the labs. As she listened, her eyes grew wider. “Let me get this clear. You found two dead at the base of the cliff, and one at the top.” She turned on the speakerphone. “Yeah, Dr. Brunetta” “Did you recognize them?” “Unfortunately, we recognized two of them. One was Justin Straw, the other Del Williams. We’re trying to contact their families. By any chance, do you think Nigel might know anything? I know he had hired them on a couple of times in the past when he was in a pinch.” “I’m not sure, Sam, I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks now, but you may want to call him. As far as I know, he was only out with Derek and another hand named Nick. What about the third guy?” “Never seen him. Young kid, wearing a suit and a knitted tie that looked like it came from the eighties. By the way, I need you to know someone ransacked your office, and, according to one of your techs, it looks like some files were taken. Do you know why someone would be going through your office?” “Gosh, I don’t, Sam. Do I need to come to the lab?” “No, we’ll lock everything down for the night. I’ll see you in the morning.” “Bye Sam” Derek again sarcastic in tone, “We obviously have one hell of a shit show going…” All of a sudden, the front door came crashing in, splintering into several pieces. Two men, dressed in black from head to toe, followed the door, pushed their way through what was left. They carried semi-auto rifles and spoke in Mandarin. One was similar in size to the shooter at the cliffs; the other was much taller and heavier but moved like a deer. The larger one looked over at Elli, and in English, said, “Where is the box?” “Mom, tell them. It ain’t worth dying for.” Elli pointed across the room, “Over there, behind the sofa.” The smaller one grabbed the box. Both intruders ran out the door. After making it across the yard, they got into a black Jeep Wrangler. No one in the house saw them drive up or leave, but Derek was happy he had installed a state-of-the-art security system a year earlier. It would surely pick up a lot of what went on out there.
MUSIC
Well, that was not what I was expecting.
2 young deck hands dead, man-child dead, medical breakthrough now stolen just after she steals it, but by who?
Lets see if we find out next week
Are you looking for early retirement or extra income?
Are you tired of giving up most of your time making other people money.
Are you ready for a shift in your life?
More family time, income for early retirement, freedom to chose when and where you work.
Find out how by registering for a free online 90 minute webinar at https://www.jessicavickery.com
Outro Music
Well, that concludes my episode for today. I want to thank you all for taken the time to listen to me talk. I hope you have enjoyed this episode. If you like my podcast Subscribe to my show or “Please send me an email to jessvicvoice@outlook.com that’s (spell out the name). With suggestions of books for me to read on the show. Thank you again, and please join me next week on “Oh, for the love of books.” and as always, dream big and keep reading!