Variations on Humanity (WorldWalker Trilogy Book 3)

by Paul Eslinger

  “Right,” Rhona agreed. She issued a flight request and the shuttle rose smoothly and silently in the air. Moments later, the airport dwindled in the distance.

  Rhona leaned back in the comfortable seat and rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to be seeing caterpillars in my dreams.”

  “Without the pilentum, you wouldn’t be having any more dreams.”

  “Yeah,” Rhona groaned. “We have to find a way to put these people away before they bury us.”

  The two women lapsed into silence. Rhona started to call Keene, and then she resisted the urge. She knew he was busy gathering information on the attackers. A minute later, she gave in and called him. “Have you found any leads?”

  “Several,” he replied with a graveyard chuckle. “A man named Gary Dye saw the shuttle at the airport about an hour after you landed. We learned that because the tower operator called a friend and told him Gary was acting strangely. Gary called another man associated with PURE. The number of calls avalanched. We’re making progress backtracking on the owner of the caterpillar and the man who drove the truck.”

  A faint voice in the background called Keene’s name. Rhona knew she should let him work, but inactivity drove her crazy. She took a deep breath. “You’re busy. I’ll let you go.”

  His voice nearly cracked as he responded, “Just get your ass back here in one piece.”

  “I plan on doing that.”

  * * *

  A musical ding caught Rhona’s attention about five minutes before they landed. She was glad for the interruption because it took her mind off the abdominal itch that meant her subdermal body armor was still growing. Not that it would have helped against the giant caterpillar. The AI’s voice said, “Nanda has wakened.”

  “I’ll check on her.” Judith threw the words over her shoulder as she darted through the hatch.

  A couple of minutes later, Nanda entered the control room. Her face was pale but she was steady on her feet. She nodded at Rhona. “Thank you. You saved me again.”

  Rhona stepped closer and hugged Nanda. “You don’t have to thank me. I was just trying to stay alive. Fortunately, you make good technology. The pilentum isn’t even scratched.”

  To Rhona’s surprise, Nanda returned the hug.

  Finally, Nanda pulled back and gestured at the controls. “You seem to be doing well here.”

  Rhona shook her head so hard her hair flew across her shoulders. “The AI runs the ship. I’m just along for the ride. I’m sitting here stewing in my own juices.”

  “Do you think those crazy people will go after the nursing home residents?”

  “That has been bothering me too,” Judith responded.

  Rhona rubbed one of her eyebrows, knowing the action was a futile attempt to banish the itch. “Thieves stole the medicine in Cameroon. People who would use Earth moving equipment on three women in a pilentum wouldn’t have to stoop much lower to steal from helpless old people.”

  Nanda’s eyes flashed yellow and then faded to their normal color. “We need to set a guard around them.”

  “Sensors?” Judith asked.

  “No,” Rhona blurted. “Oh, sensors should be part of the mix, but we need at least five men sharing the chore of watching the nursing home around the clock.”

  A look of disbelief passed over Judith’s face. “We’re treating people at eight different nursing homes.”

  “Then you need at least forty people.”

  “Where… Where would we get forty guards–forty good guards?” Judith asked.

  “That’s a question for Sam, Keene, and Dulcis,” Nanda replied. “It’s time to land.”

  Even though Nanda’s color had improved by the time they reached the underground facility, Rhona wasn’t convinced Nanda was back up to par. Rhona patted Nanda on the shoulder as they stepped through the massive entrance door. “You should run to the infirmary and check yourself out.”

  “Don’t you mean check myself in?” Nanda said in a feeble attempt at humor.

  “Call it what you want,” Judith said while she stepped beside Nanda and hooked arms with her. “I’ll walk with you.”

  “Oh, okay.” Nanda shrugged. “I’m fine, but Laura will give me a bad time if I don’t let Dulcis take a few medical readings.”

  Judith looked at her daughter. “Are you coming with us?”

  “I might as well,” Rhona replied as she stepped close to Nanda on the other side. “I didn’t take my treatments this morning. I meant to stop by after my morning run, but events overtook that thought.”

  “Events?” Judith queried with a smile. “I saw you snogging Keene in the corridor outside your apartment.”

  Rhona felt her face go hot. “Yeah, I was enjoying life this morning. Life took on a new meaning when we left the restaurant.”

  “You can enjoy life more after you get to the Intelligence Center,” Nanda interjected with a smile.

  The warmth from Rhona’s flush increased. “I probably will,” she said as they entered the infirmary. She gestured towards the area where medical equipment still cocooned Andrea. “How is she doing?”

  “She’s doing fine,” Nanda said briskly. “She’ll be out before lunch tomorrow.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Rhona said even though she had asked the same question at least twice a day for the last four days. She pushed up her sleeve and leaned against the equipment that gave injections. Moments later, she was finished with the task.

  She looked over and saw Judith standing with closed fists resting on her hips. “Nanda, what about you?” Judith said.

  Nanda moved away from Andrea and headed across the room. “Of course,” she said as she slid into a chair, grabbed a sensor sticking up from a flat surface and leaned against a panel. Thirty seconds later a display appeared. Nanda looked at it and then gestured at Judith. “Come look for yourself. I’m doing just fine.”

  Rhona headed for the exit while Judith moved closer to Nanda. Rhona stopped and tapped her fingers on the edge of the door. “I’m going up to the Intelligence Center.”

  “See you later.” Judith waved in response without looking away from the display.

  Rhona expected Keene to be excited when she entered the Intelligence Center, but his greeting was as enthusiastic as a puppy greeting their master after work. He ran across the room, swept her off her feet, planted a long kiss on her lips and then folded her tight with both arms.

  “I’m safe,” she said after she returned the kiss. She could barely move in his arms, but then, she didn’t want to move. She cocked her head sideways. “The girls and I were talking on the way back.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “Yes?”

  “We need to guard the nursing homes.”

  Keene sighed and loosened his grip. “Sam is telling me the same thing. It will be expensive to get good people.”

  Laura stepped close wearing a huge smile. “Think of the money as an investment. I’ll ask Dulcis to draw up a list of candidates.” She turned away, already calling out instructions.

  “She made a quick decision,” Keene said to Rhona when he dropped his arms. His eyebrows bunched in a frown. “We’ll be putting in long hours personally talking to every candidate.”

  Rhona took Keene’s hand in hers while she listened to Laura still calling out instructions. Rhona nodded as she began to understand what was happening. “Making a quick decision means Laura already considered this topic at length. I think she’s been waiting for the right time to put together a mobile response team. I bet you and Sam get limited time in field operations. You need a good field commander and a top-notch logistics coordinator.”

  Keene squeezed Rhona’s hand. “So, do you already have them picked out?”

  “Diana would make an excellent coordinator.” Rhona paused and thought for a moment. “You told me several things about Craig Anstow and he is scheduled
to visit here next week. Would he make a good field commander?”

  “Hey, Keene!” Sam shouted from the other side of the room. “You need to see this.”

  “What do you have?” Rhona asked as she and Keene trotted across the room together.

  “We have an active trace on General Breneman.”

  Rhona pushed back her sudden irritation at Sam’s slow start. He would sometimes clam up if she pushed too hard and she didn’t need to derail a possibly important revelation less than an hour after escaping the jaws–blade–of death. She didn’t repress her nod. “We know that.”

  By this time, Laura, Trixie, and Wilda had joined the group. Sam looked around with a grim expression. “I’ll summarize. We already knew Breneman met with Major Rucker. Breneman quietly changed Rucker’s status and that of several of his men from AWOL to special covert assignment. Creation of PURE was initially Senator Parker’s brainchild, but Breneman helped make it a reality. Rucker is out recruiting rabid people and funding them through PURE.”

  “At least one of them lives in Salmon, Idaho,” Rhona muttered.

  Sam pointed at her. “Right. We’ve figured out who two of them are. The waitress at the Odd Fellow’s Bakery recorded a video of the entire sequence. The police used the video to obtain arrest warrants.”

  Rhona nodded. “That’s good.”

  “It is,” Sam agreed, “but Breneman is cooking bigger fish. He just had a meeting in a classified conference room with an Army general.”

  Keene looked puzzled. “How did you overhear him?”

  Sam looked smug. “Many classified conference rooms contain computers or communications devices. For you uninitiated, the way you keep them secure when you are done is you power them down and physically disconnect them. They disconnected everything electronic during this meeting, but Trixie figured out how to tease a signal from a microphone even when it wasn’t powered up.”

  “Cool,” Keene said as he held up one thumb. “What did you learn?”

  “Breneman thinks the president is committing treason by allowing the Abantu Embassy to exist on American soil.”

  “We knew he was rabid anti-Abantu,” Keene muttered.

  “Wait.” Rhona squeezed Keene’s hand while she looked at Sam. “What does the Army general think?”

  “He agrees with Breneman. He thinks they should take some corrective action.”

  “I made Breneman look bad in front of the president,” Rhona said. “That must factor into his actions. But, I don’t suppose he’s lobbying other senators to initiate impeachment proceedings.”

  “No,” Trixie said. “He already explored the idea with Senator Parker. They don’t think they have more than four or five senators in favor of impeachment.”

  Rhona looked back and forth between Sam and Trixie. “Breneman picked up a high-ranking supporter in the military. What do you think comes next?”

  Sam swallowed hard and looked slightly scared. “They both want to do something soon and they settled on a venue. They will have another meeting in a few days to start working on details.”

  A sinking feeling gathered in the pit of Rhona’s stomach and she felt nauseated. Her shoulders hunched while she whispered, “At our wedding.”

  “Exactly,” Sam responded. “Breneman would come across as a true prophet if it looked like the Abantu killed the president while he was visiting the embassy.”

  Chapter 33 – Contrary Plans

  The moment of self-pity evaporated when Rhona straightened up. Keene’s hand gave her comfort as she mentally switched to analysis mode. “We need to warn the president.”

  “I agree,” Keene responded immediately. “That part is your job.”

  “Be careful,” Sam admonished. “The people at NSA have organized a new division dedicated to watching the Abantu and us. We think Breneman owns people who work there. He’ll know immediately when you call David Beganovic.”

  “Do you have a suggestion?”

  Keene nodded. “You already talked with David several times about the president’s upcoming visit. Make another call and say you’d like to talk in person.”

  “Here or there?”

  “Here would be more secure,” Keene responded. “But, we can do it there if we use the proper protocols.”

  Rhona’s lips puckered. “I suppose I just hand over a written transcript of the classified meeting.”

  Sam chuckled. “You demonstrated our electronic ability when we hacked the computers in the White House. Handing over a written transcript would deepen the mystique.”

  “I’ll do it,” Rhona said. “That approach has more finesse than using a bulldozer.”

  After calling David and setting up a meeting for the following afternoon, Rhona helped Keene review the list of sixty potential guards. Other than Craig, who was 33, and a woman named Karen Wahl, who was 30, the next oldest was age 23. All of them were single, had high Karthi Index scores, and there was the same number of women as men.

  Rhona shook her head. “I don’t know why I assumed they would all be American.”

  “Don’t feel bad. I also made that assumption.” Keene pulled on one earlobe while he spoke. “It makes sense for several of them to be familiar with Europe. Recruiting these people will be difficult. We don’t have common contacts with many of them.”

  Rhona pointed at the list. “This woman, Karen, lives in the same small town where Craig lives.”

  “Maybe Craig knows her.” Keene reached for his phone. “I can call him right now.”

  “Go ahead,” Rhona replied while she accessed more information on Craig. He was born and raised in San Antonio and had spent six years in the Air Force after attending the academy. He currently owned a small hardware store in Bandera, a little town about 35 miles northwest of San Antonio, and he was an assistant coach for the local high school football team. His parents still lived in San Antonio.

  She stopped and listened as Keene routed both ends of his conversation to her earpiece. “Craig, this is Keene.”

  “Hi, there. What’s up?”

  “I’d like to talk to you.”

  There was a moment of silence before Craig replied. “Is everything okay with you and Rhona? I saw the news flash on the caterpillar attack. Rhona’s vehicle was … impressive.”

  “We’re fine. Could we talk, in person, tonight? Maybe have dinner together?”

  “Oh…” Craig seemed hesitant. “I already have a date with Karen tonight. Could we talk after about ten tonight?”

  Rhona joined the conversation. “Karen?”

  “Is that you, Rhona? Karen Wahl. I met her at a football game last fall. We dated a couple of times then–and more recently.”

  “Is she about five two with black hair and black eyes?”

  Craig sounded slightly confused. “Yes. Do you know her? I told her I was going to be in your wedding. She said she hadn’t ever met you.”

  “We haven’t met, but we’d like to talk to her as well,” Rhona responded. “Could we make it a foursome tonight?”

  “I think so. She’s very flexible when my plans change, but I still need to check with her.”

  “Great,” Keene said. “We’ll plan on meeting at your house at seven unless we hear something different from you.”

  “Will you be flying one of those invisible Mach-12 chariots?”

  Keene laughed. “Ready to get back in the cockpit?”

  “I was hoping you would show me around when I visit.”

  “We’ll talk about it tonight.”

  * * *

  Craig and Karen were waiting on the porch of his small house when Rhona and Keene arrived in a chariot configured for road travel. It was past sundown and cloudy but the yard light made it easy to see in the wide gravel driveway. Craig stepped off the porch and his hazel eyes gleamed as Rhona vaulted out on the ground at the same ti
me Keene dismounted. “That’s a beautiful looking machine.”

  “It is,” Keene agreed, “but it’s nothing like a good woman. This is Rhona.”

  After the introductions were finished, Karen looked at Rhona and spoke hesitantly, “I’ve seen you on TV.”

  “Yeah.” Rhona shrugged and spread out her hands. “I’m actually a dentist. Hobnobbing with people on TV is something new.”

  “Craig says the president is coming to your wedding.”

  Rhona couldn’t resist diving into the conversational opening. “He is, and that is part of the reason we want to talk to you. Could we talk inside?”

  “Sure,” Karen responded after glancing at Craig. He was already turning towards the house with Keene beside him.

  Craig held the door while the others filed inside. He stepped in and shut the door. “Please have a seat.” He sat on the couch beside Karen in an attentive pose. “There have been a couple of strange men lurking around the last week or so. They drive a car with government plates.”

  “I’ve seen them near my place, too,” Karen added.

  Keene nodded. “They work for NSA.”

  “NSA? Oh… What are they doing here?” Karen asked.

  Rhona smiled and gestured towards the ceiling. “Craig has agreed to be in our wedding and Keene and I work for the Abantu. Secret agents are more common around us than fleas are here.”

  “Oh.” Karen’s hesitant look changed to a brilliant smile as she looked at Craig. “I didn’t know you were so famous.”

  He looked down at her. “Is fame important to you?”

  “Nah.” Karen gave a dismissive wave. “Fame is fleeting. Being around good people is more important.”

  “It’s possible to have a little of both,” Keene said somberly. “How would you like to work for me? Both of you?”

  Rhona saw the muscles tense in Craig’s neck and arms. “What did you just say?” he asked.

  “Laura authorized me to offer you a job. We’re going to hire about sixty people. In a crude sense, you will be on a security team, but there’s a lot more to it. The pay is good and the benefits are phenomenal. Craig, you would head up the team, reporting to me.”