Instead of destroying the huge hurricane, the mechanism was now set to provide additional fuel to strengthen it by heating the ocean water.
31
Boil
On the surface of the ocean directly under the now deadly cone of light, two joint NOAA and NASA weather monitoring vessels in the eye of the storm became metal coffins for their crews. The air temperatures around the ships rose to one hundred and fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit in less than thirty seconds. Within ninety seconds, the air temperature rose to two hundred and eighty-five degrees. Within another minute, the temperature was over one thousand degrees, and continued to increase exponentially over time.
The heavy rain that had been falling changed to steam in an instant. The very surface of the water surrounding the ships began to boil.
The dozen crewmembers caught outside died quickly. The twenty-four men and women inside the vessels writhed in agony, attempting to draw breaths as their throats and lungs were slowly scorched over a twenty-minute period. Their lungs blistered and the blisters burst.
The water content of their bodies began to boil away and the skin literally burst into flame for the unfortunate crewmembers caught on deck. As the most intense part of the Storm Killer heat cone passed the ships, the stench of burnt flesh was left behind.
One of the boats’ captains managed to get off a radio report to the Abraham Lincoln before her throat blistered, swelled, and shut off her air.
On Storm Killer, the three security officers were not yet aware that the sabotage attempts had now escalated to mass homicide.
Nor did they know that the saboteurs’ plan had now switched from increasing the strength of Hurricane Edna to actually using Storm Killer’s heat ray as a cone of destruction across the face of the Earth.
The cone of intense light and heat began drifting toward the west heating the ocean waters in front of Edna’s project path. The next ship in line, three degrees away from this scene of death, was the Abraham Lincoln.
32
And Then There Was one
Lt. James looked at Hoch and pointed to Bolino. “Take him to the detention area and then get back here. While you’re doing that, we’ll try to figure out who’s running the show in there,” Lt. James nodded toward the closed control center door.
Hoch grabbed the frightened Bolino and none too gently led him away.
Kim said to Sand, “Let’s take a look at the last fifteen minutes of the recorded video on the control center door camera before it went out. Maybe we will see something or someone who…”
Lt. James had been scanning a computer log. He turned his head and interrupted Kim. “Never mind. The log indicates the cameras were turned off from the technician’s console in the maintenance section. I’m going to pull up the video from that camera.”
With that, he punched a series of keys on the nearest keyboard and the monitor lit with a picture of the maintenance section. He entered the commands to reverse the video to two minutes prior to the time the log had indicated the control center cameras had been turned off. On the monitor appeared a picture of maintenance engineer’s back as he was walking toward the surveillance system control board.
The engineer’s hands ran across the control board and various points on the board’s monitor screen went from green to red indicating that the cameras were no longer active. He then appeared to be keying something on the control board keyboard. The engineer turned and they recognized the face of Rafael Denuza. He looked at his watch. A look of alarm came over his features, and he strode quickly out of the picture as he headed out of the doorway.
“For someone that has been so clever so far, he certainly screwed up this time. Letting himself be recorded performing his sabotage,” Sand said.
“I don’t think he forgot. I think he was in such a hurry he had to take the risk that he would not be identified. He seemed to be almost in a panic and racing against time,” Kim responded.
“Based on this video showing him keying something on the keyboard, I would be willing to bet that Denuza changed the passwords for the camera controls. So chances are we’re not going to get the cameras back on line any time soon,” Lt. James opinioned.
She sighed. “We have to assume that it is Denuza in the control room. And we have to assume he is armed with my weapon. So how do we get him out of there?”
As they considered their options, Hoch delivered his charge to the temporary lockup. Bolino looked completely dejected and miserable as Hoch locked him in. Hoch checked his watch and decided to stop by the security office to see if any of the requested background checks results had arrived.
He entered the office and found the ‘your eyes only mail waiting’ icon flashing on the computer screen. Hoch tapped the icon and quickly scanned the incoming mail. He immediately saw the high priority ‘eyes only’ mail item. Tapping this item, he read and then reread the memo in disbelief. The Storm Killer station was now responsible for the deaths of thirty-six people. He printed a copy of the memo and stuffed it in his tunic packet.
As he waited for the printout, he found the background check results in the waiting mail list. Opening the item, he was further astonished by what he read. He tapped his waistband cell on and called Lt. James.
“Lieutenant, I’ve gotten the background checks of our three suspects. Are you ready for this? When Dr. Cruz was divorced several years ago, she kept her married name. Our good Dr. Cruz’s maiden name was Denuza. She and Rafael Denuza have the same father. They are half-brother and sister. Both were born in Mexico and have lived in southern California and northern Mexico on and off most of their lives.”
Lt. James passed on the information to Kim and then asked Hoch, “Anything else in the report we should know?”
“Only that Denuza has apparently been becoming more and more of a radical environmental protectionist the last few years.”
“Anything else? How about Bolino? Is he tied into those two?”
“No. He appears clean, but there is a serious incident groundside that has just happened that you need to know about, but I can’t tell you over this open voice circuit. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Hoch trotted toward the control center trying to avoid stubbing a toe and falling. It was tough to see well. With just the emergency lights shining, it was more like a moonlit evening than the normal daylight illumination. The station’s worker bees were out attending to their daily duties. Many carried emergency lights. Hoch wished he had time to go his quarters and get his emergency light. But time was short and they needed to wrest the station’s control center out of the hands of Denuza.
When he arrived at the control center building, he found Lt. James had dispatched technicians to put the cameras back in operation and two other techs were installing loudspeakers at the locked door to the control room.
Hoch stated, “Let me tell you - these people are now mass murder suspects as well as being single homicide and saboteur suspects.” With that, he filled them in on the reported deaths from Storm Killer’s errant targeting. “The stakes have been raised!” he concluded.
Adam interjected, “You don’t know how much the stakes have changed. If we don’t regain control of the station and refocus the lens very soon, there is every possibility that we could actually cause Edna to grow into a Category Five monster.”
Kim asked Sand, “Exactly how long is ‘very soon’?”
“Within the next three to four hours, at the rate Storm Killer is raising the ocean temperature in the hurricane’s track.”
Kim looked from Hoch to Lt. James and ordered, “Hoch, you stay here and make sure Denuza doesn’t try to get away. When the techs are finished with the speakers, you and Adam get on the horn and try to convince Denuza to return control and come out, before he does even more damage. Lt. James, come with me.”
33
Francine’s Friend
Lawton Wilder, the current President of the United States, was an old campaigner from Illinois. His graying temples proudly pro
claimed his years of campaigning. He was into his third year in office. His trim fifty-year-old body moved gracefully through the hidden door that connected the Oval Office with his private secretary. He was a vegetarian, a distance runner, and a middle of the road politician.
He had just finished an oatmeal breakfast with Lara Steele, his secretary. She had discussed some very serious matters about troubles on Storm Killer. Wilder had never liked that project from the get go. It was too science fiction for his tastes.
Now, his own secretary informs him of a plot to possibly disable the station just as it was to become operational. She had gotten the information from a person on board the station that was involved in the plot but more as a mole than a participant. The President rapped his fingers on the desk and thought angrily. Where the hell are my security agencies? My own secretary knows more about what is going on up there than all of these high-powered security agencies.
Lara had asked for his protection for her source. He had conditionally granted it based on what the source would feed to Washington about the apparently on-going plot against the station.
The President sat back in his chair as Alan Hardy, the Chief of Staff, walked in with two of their most senior advisors flanking his sides. The President raised his eyebrows. It was rare to see these three people together.
“Sir. I must talk to you about a grave matter concerning Storm Killer.” The senior advisory on Hardy’s left side requested of the President. He was Harold Henry, a good-looking thirty-eight year-old, acting as the Home Land Security senior advisor.
“What’s the problem?”
“Sir, it has come to my attention that at least one saboteur is on Storm Killer. This person is attempting to disable Storm Killer. There may be more than one on board.”
“How did you come by this information?” asked the President.
“From a friend on the station who seems to know what is going on up there. There appears to have been at least one act of sabotage to this point and the onboard security team is investigating as we speak.”
“What is it you want of me? The Security team will have to uncover the facts and let my office know. At that point I will make whatever decisions must be made.”
“Sir, Please. I would like to ensure that my source on board is shielded from any prosecution. The source will continue to provide inside information, if we can ensure both protection and relief from prosecution. I would suggest we do it since this will give us current and accurate inside information.”
The President considered what he had just heard. He now had two independent sources saying pretty much the same thing. There were problems on the station and the sources needed some form of protection.
“Okay, as long as your source is not an active participant in the sabotage, I’ll consider granting amnesty in exchange for his or her information.”
He waved the visitors out, but asked Alan Hardy to stay for a moment. When the door closed, President Wilder said, “Alan, this information collaborates another independent source saying pretty much the same thing about what is happening on Storm Killer. I need you to coordinate the information coming in from Harold Henry and from my own secretary, Lara.”
Alan appeared startled to hear this and immediately nodded his head in the affirmative. “Yes sir, I’ll go talk to Lara right now and have her pass any information to me. The same with Mr. Henry.”
The President nodded and looked down the first paper on top of the stack on his desk. Within seconds, President Wilder forgot Storm Killer’s plight, as other problems needed addressing.
34
The Flag Ship
Rear Admiral Olsen had just been apprised of the demise of the crews of the two vessels to the west of the Abraham Lincoln’s current position. Based on the observed speed of the light cone’s drift, his ship was threatened with extinction in a little less than one and a half hours.
He gathered his senior staff and the lead civilian scientific observers on the bridge. They were all murmuring in low tones among themselves. They had all been on duty when Storm Killer took its first victims. They knew the deadly light cone was headed their way. They knew what the power of the murderous cone could do to their own vessel.
As Olsen walked onto the bridge, the murmuring turned to silence.
“As you all are aware, the vessels, Gordon Gunter and Albatross IV, were directly hit by Storm Killer’s light beam a little over five minutes ago. No one lived through the tremendous heat spike when the cone passed over the vessels. The Storm Killer staff is currently not able to control the station because of multiple acts of sabotage,” Olsen briefed the staff.
“The heat cone is now drifting our way. It will be here in less than seventy-five minutes unless the Storm Killer staff can regain control. We have two motor launches, with a dozen crewmembers, still attempting to return to the Lincoln. They had been placing sensor buoys for storm data gathering, until I issued a recall. I did that as soon as I received word of the Gordon Gunter and Albatross disaster. We can move the ship about fifteen miles south of our current position and all but ensure our safety but it’ll be at the cost of those dozen crewmen. If we take that option, we need to move now. So I put it to you, what are your thoughts.”
Olsen was proud of his regular navy staff. To a man, his officers said they should stay at their post and recover the sailors. The civilian staff agreed.
Olsen nodded and said, “That’s my feeling, too. We’ll stay here and recover the away crews. And pray that Storm Killer’s staff regains control in time.”
The captain offered the staff a possible way to save themselves, if needed. “We may survive the cone, if we set up safe rooms deep in the bowls of the ship using the refrigerated meat and vegetable lockers. That would put at least fifteen decks of steel between the flight deck and us. I’ve ordered the kitchen crew to move all of the ice on board into those lockers. We’ll make safe rooms in them. We can go hungry for a day or two. The entire complement of crew and civilians can barely fit into those two refrigerated spaces. If all else fails, we’ll all take refuge in these spaces and pray we can survive the temperature spikes we expect to be subjected to.”
The assembled group nodded and voiced agreement. Olsen dismissed the group with a curt, “That is all, return to your duties.”
Olsen turned to the bridge window and stared to the west through the heavy rain where a definite yellow glow could be seen over the horizon. God help us, he silently prayed.
35
Contentions, Confessions, and Concessions
Mexico City – 7:10 AM
The President of Mexico was on the secured telephone with his counterparts in Belize, Costa Rico and Guatemala. “Gentlemen, we have a serious situation developing. Senator Gutierrez has just briefed me. He is here with me now if you have any questions.”
He explained the current status of Storm Killer and the deaths of the people in the storm’s eye. “It is as we thought,” he continued, “the experiment is running wild and will probably cause the storm to actually gain strength. We must inform the U.S. President of our intention to demand an immediate emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council and force the United States to discontinue this project at once.”
The listeners asked several questions about the current situation and all agreed to pressure the UN for an immediate meeting.
The Senator nodded as he heard the four leaders discussing the political approach to the current crisis. He smiled to himself as he mulled over the situation. The political solution is no longer viable. I’m glad I have my other network. My associates on the station will either shut it down or destroy it.
_______
Storm Killer – 9:30 AM
Kim sat opposite Francine in the makeshift interrogation room. Lt. James was releasing Bolino so he could assist in capturing Denuza and regaining station control.
Kim looked at Francine for several moments without saying a word. She continued staring at her until the doctor became uncom
fortable and began fidgeting in her seat.
“Sit still, Doctor Cruz. What are you so nervous about?” Kim queried.
“What am I charged with? Why are you holding me?”
“Don’t play dumb, Francine. We know everything. Rafael is your half-brother. We know you and Rafael staged the accident at the mainframe. We know you stole Bolino’s security badge and Rafael used it to access the workstation that loaded the worm. We have Rafael on video loading the worm. We know you gave Bolino a medication that knocked him out while this happened. We know you supplied the anesthetic that knocked me out. What I don’t know is why you decided to take me prisoner. Care to explain that?”
With each statement made by Kim, the Doctor appeared to crumble a little more. She remained quiet.
Kim went on. “Until today, you two were responsible for acts of sabotage and kidnapping. That’s all changed. You two are now responsible for mass murder.”
Francine bolted upright. “Murder? What do you mean? My God, what has he done?”
“Rafael’s appropriation of the station’s control center and his changes to Storm Killer’s targeting caused the deaths of three dozen people on several weather monitoring ships near the hurricane’s eye. And you are his accomplice!”
“No! My God, No!” Francine broke down in tears. “Rafael promised me that no one would be hurt by any of this.”
“Well, Doctor, that promise is long broken, isn’t it? We have less than three hours to get control of the station or our own government will blow us up. Now, why did you two do this? What’s in it for you?”
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