The Fugitive Grandma Lives

Chapter 19 - Ants and Men

Calvin Montebello was crouched in his garden at the Rancho Mirage home, observing a path of ants as they carried a piece of dead leaf in a straight-line through the soil back to the colony. Calvin had spent a year at Stanford studying eusocial species of insects. In many ways he viewed them as a role model and inspiration for where he wanted to take the human race with his various projects. Ants had colonized almost every land mass on earth. And while most species go extinct after 100,000 years, ants had been around for 100 million years, outlasting the dinosaurs, the mammoths, the sabre-tooth tigers and all the other majestic members of the animal kingdom who were struggling in modern times. Calvin had grand dreams for ensuring that humans would thrive and survive like our little six-legged brethren. He knew that ants were genetically programmed to be social. They could organize and communicate and solve complex problems together. Their DNA assigned them different roles: the queen, the drones, the soldiers and the workers. Everyone played a part to create a thriving colony.

The difference with humans, he believed, was that most did not know their part instinctively. Someone who was born to be a worker would dream of being a queen. So humans needed a guiding hand to work in harmony, an elite class of elevated members of the species. Calvin saw himself as a member of this leadership class, determining who within the great mass of humanity should be a queen, a drone, a soldier or a worker. Someone had to be thinking at this level, he reasoned, to make sure we didn't go extinct.

A servant led Tim Schlesinger out to the garden. Calvin was aware of his security chief's presence but didn't stand up or even look up to greet him. He kept his eyes focused on the ants.

"Do you have good news?"

"Our friend won't be disturbed by the police," Tim replied. "I have a local contact who can make sure that won't happen."

"Good."

"You knew the Valentines were here in the desert didn't you?"

Calvin smiled.

"I had my suspicions."

"Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"I wanted you to verify independently, without my bias."

"You're playing with fire, Calvin. This woman is unpredictable. I know you want her genes but are they really worth the risk?"

Calvin set his forefinger in the dirt and a few ants from the line marched up to his knuckle. "If we want mankind to stick around as long as our little six-legged friends have, we have to take calculated risks."

"You withheld information from me."

"I compartmentalized."

"I can't protect you if you compartmentalize."

"I decide what you need to know. This is my plan. You play the role that I assign."

"I am not sure I can work this way."

"You're free to quit at any time. But you'll never get a chance like this again. The people who stick with me get rich beyond their wildest dreams. Ask my business partners. Ask my investors. On top of that you'll be serving the greater good in a way you never could working for the government."

"I won't quit, Calvin."

"Then make yourself useful. Now that we know the Valentine's location, we need to watch them and keep them out of everyone else's sight. We also need to persuade them to help us."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Stella loves her son and grandson more than anything. If they are persuaded, then she'll be persuaded. I want you to persuade them, Tim. Find a way to convert Frank and Johnny into assets. You're an old intelligence hand, you'll figure something out."