With only a couple of days left before the re-opening, there would be a lot of work to do and very little time to do it in. Lawson started securing the entire area immediately. He also knew the person responsible was most likely watching the building either nearby or by remote cameras.
The FBI quietly started notifying those that were scheduled to move back into the building of a delay and to not mention it to anyone for fear of bad press. They were promised free rent in return and happily complied.
They had reached almost all the tenants that were scheduled to return in the first group except 24 who were obviously already in route.
But without knowing when the actual date was that the bomber planned on the explosion, the FBI needed to draw him out of hiding and force his hand now.
Ellead received his instructions and landed safely on the top of the building and with Ohtron and his bitrons help to secure the building and they began setting up a force field around it.
The bitrons worked around the clock unarming as many detonators as they could. There was not a crack or crevice they could not find a way in to, and out of, at any given moment.
Agents in plain clothes surrounded the building going in and out as if they were moving in or setting up a celebration for the big move-in day. Then the holocom or hologram as they called it on Earth was tested and it was working perfectly.
All people that would have entered the building were now replaced with their likenesses as holocoms and they were safely inside Ellead.
Lawson explained to everyone he was working with and each person in charge sent the word down to the next department or agency to not let on that they had any suspicion of any kind to anyone. Many lives depended upon them pulling off this operation preferable with no lives lost.
The bitrons had so far successfully disarmed over half the explosives but it was time for them to return to Ohtron immediately and secure themselves inside his underside. Ohtron then returned to the roof and secured himself in Elleads cargo bay.
Everyone was now waiting on the clock to tick to 12 noon and no one was the wiser that the people walking inside and out of the building were nothing more than holograms which most had heard of this technology. They would appear to be victims when the building did explode.
When Ellead detected the first explosion he leaped outside the force field; the building was now in its own bubble.
Many on the streets were amazed at watching a building implode inside a force field and to see no debris anywhere but inside the bubble.
Not a single eye saw Ellead rise above the building or when he blinked out of the area and left the scene.
Ellead met Lawson in a field just outside Charlotte and his passengers disembarked and were met by agents to assist them. Not a single one of them spoke a word, they were still in shock and not really sure exactly what had happened.
Just as soon as the information got back to Syra, James and Zach, they began celebrating and then stopped and just stared at the message that came in next on the console.
This is Lawson, director of the FBI of the United States on Earth. We have just received the following message.
You were warned not to allow the interference of the aliens or their technologies! Solve this riddle and save millions, don’t and you will have the greatest catastrophe and loss of life on American soil on record. This is the riddle you must solve, and the countdown has begun!
“I go up, but I also must come down. Time is the reason for my existence, tic toc, tic toc. I have no corners, I am not square. I am round, and I have no hands. Yet, I reach for the stars and nearly touch the ground. What am I?”
Solve this riddle and save millions of lives!
Signed, The Armageddon Executioner
Syra sent the message over to the Zhian Sphere for analysis and told Lawson she would send him a list of possible answers in a few moments. It took the Zhian Sphere seconds to figure out the location of the next threat. He had discovered two places and events that had the greatest probability of being the actual targets.
That information was sent to Lawson to start the covert operation. The plan was to draw the bomber out in the open because they had some evidence collected already but not enough for an arrest.
The riddle had not only given them the possible locations of the next bombs, but it also gave them dates and an approximate head count of victims. They would need to work around the clock to secure that area and trap the bomber.
So far, there had been no new messages, and it had been three days since the riddle was released. There were two locations that were of special interests.
One location was the ball that gets dropped every year on New Year’s Eve, and the other was the new private rocket company Echo, that was getting ready to launch its first ever passenger ship to ride around Earth and outside Earth’s atmosphere on a cruise that would last a week.
Those same passengers had already signed up for a trip to Mars as the first settlers; one ship would carry the settlers, and another would carry supplies. They would both need to lift off the same day and travel together to Mars.
The Mars expedition was only two years away, so many were planning on watching the first cruise ship to launch as part of the future trip to colonize Mars.
It was unfortunate that both these large events would be in the same week leaving the FBI in a quandary if it were one or both events that the bomber had planned on terrorizing and killing innocent people.
By this time the FBI had collected partial fingerprints and DNA from several fires in California. Fragments of the bombs that blew up the apartment building in Charlotte, N.C. were also collected, and profiles of the killer or killers were getting even closer to identifying him or her.
All the information the FBI had was run through the Zhian Sphere’s core systems for analysis and was now ready for Lawson to review. With only 24 hours left until the New Year’s Eve countdown and 48 hours left for the rocket launch, no one got any sleep that worked on this case.
“Lawson, I have critical information for you, sir! May we have a few moments alone?” assistant Carrington asked.
Both men quietly stepped over into the corner of the room away from any prying eyes and ears.
“Yes, what is it?” Lawson whispered.
“Take this report, sir. It has Armageddon Executioners name and address, let’s go!” Carrington said with the utmost urgency in his voice.
Just as quickly, Ohtron was called to duty once again for his help. They rushed to an address out in the country outside Baltimore, Md. that Earth II’s analysis came up with from clues collected.
The red flag was information the Zhian Sphere had picked up from the local sheriff’s department outside Baltimore on suspicious activity related to materials possibly used for starting large fires and bomb-making among many other suspicious activities.
Within moments the FBI had the farm surrounded and Ohtron setup an invisible wall; there would be no escape this time. The bitrons went into shroud mode and found a large but very old dilapidated barn that had high tech operations going on inside.
Visuals were being sent back to Lawson and all of his men immediately surrounded the building and everyone inside was taken into custody. Including one Clifford Trevil, a younger brother to the once president Colton Trevil.
They arrested a whopping 72 men in total from several buildings on the property, which was astounding,
thought Lawson.
In all his years, he had never seen an operation as big as this one that did not include drugs. And that, he stated to Carrington, would go in his report as astounding.
It would be some time before Lawson, or the FBI would know the extent of the operation or the actual plots and locations of other terror they had planned. But one thing Lawson knew for certain, it was all out of revenge for the imprisonment of the previous president.
Colton Trevil was charged and found guilty of ordering the destruction of precious documents the forefathers had left this great na
tion and government properties.
He was also charged and found guilty of working with a foreign nation for a hostile takeover, exchanging nations secrets with that foreign nation, tax evasion and defrauding the American people and serving in the White House strictly for personal financial gain.
Trevil had received several lifetime sentences in prison and his younger brother Clifford Trevil would soon join him with what Lawson believed to be enough to make sure neither ever saw the light of day.
President Cole brought in the new year with many celebrations. But he knew, this was his last term and he would not be able to run for reelection. Already, many had signed up to run for president next year.
News had arrived on Earth II of the arrest just hours before the ball was to drop on New Year Eve and only days before the cruise around the Earth from Echo was scheduled and both happened without incident.
Once again, Ohtron and is bitrons not only found the explosives but disarmed them. But President Cole knew things on Earth and especially the United States had a bleak future if things continued on their current course.
By March of the same year, the Anderson Alliance Party was formed. It swept across the states like a new fad, and just about everybody wanted to join it. People from both the Republican Party and the Democrat Party that had become disenchanted with their own party flew the coop and join them. The Independent Party and several smaller ones were dissolved and were now part of the new Anderson Alliance.
The Anderson Alliance went immediately for attacking the Republicans and the Democrats for having a monopoly on elections giving no other party a chance. Even though there had been other attempts to create a party bigger than the Republicans and Democrats, this new party quickly grew in size and was recognized as the major party.
They wanted their party to be on the ballots of every state and they fought hard in each state to gain that right and did.
There were only a few states that would not allow the new party on their party list, but write-ins would guarantee their man would take the next seat in the White House.
The Anderson Alliance Party was created by a leader named Robert Anderson. He had once been a Republican and switched to Democrat and then Independent and eventually picked up what he thought was the best of each of those parties creating his own idea of the perfect party to lead the United States.
His platform was widely accepted and was built mostly on dividing the United States and turning the US flag into a Confederate flag and he would fight to take over a state by state until it was done.
Literally, hundreds of thousands of followers came forward and swept across the nation faster than the fires they had dealt with in recent times. All of this, in only a few short months, shocked most.
Many of the new party’s leaders were descendants of previous leaders during the famous Civil War between 1861 and 1864 and they fought on the Confederate side.
All of their ancestors’ monuments had been removed in recent years in retaliation for what they stood for, and they started a campaign to have them legally put back in place and they would fight this in the highest of courts.
But for now, they started to have them re-erected and had guards around them and fighting immediately went to the streets over the statues returning.
Everyone who had a clue who was not in that party knew where this new movement was headed and feared the future of their democracy and the freedom they once enjoyed.
President Cole knew his last year in office was not going to be an easy one. But the one thing he could say that was good that came out of his administration was the arrest and conviction of the previous president, Trevil.
Then there was the arrest of Clifford Trevil who claimed he was The Armageddon Executioner. That trial would go on for years before all 72 men who followed him would be convicted, and he had no doubt about that.
As far as what the reasons behind what Clifford Trevil did, and the loss of lives he was responsible for, no one could figure. If he was that angry about his brother being arrested and not serving a third term as president, he had gone way too far.
It was obvious to most that he was just looking for a name for himself. To be thought of as bigger, more important than his brother who was a president and could put the fear of God in as many as he chose, as he did for a time.
After much discussion, President Cole, his wife, and children agreed relocating to Earth II would be best. The reason was that of all the protests across the county. He knew his and his family’s lives were in grave danger because of this new uprising.
Most of the protests were against President Cole not only because he was once vice-president to a man half alien and half human, but he had also fought to protect the aliens and the land owned by James Caldiron.
Then there was those who felt that the president would gain favor by the aliens and not help anyone else but him and his family or those he and he alone chose to have helped.
President Cole, after much discussion with Zach, the former President, would make arrangements to have Ellead pick him and his family up the minute the new president was sworn in.
Meanwhile, back on Earth II, it had been heavily discussed on how to set up a government, but there simply was no need for it at this time in Earth II’s history. It was just too young in development and so it was decided to continue to review that, and once more volunteers move to Earth II from Earth, they would continue working on a form of government.
The one thing all the inhabitants on Earth II agreed on, was to learn from Earths mistakes and to not repeat them. They all knew they would eventually make their own mistakes, but Earth had laid the groundwork for what not to do.
There was no need for money on Earth II, everyone worked for themselves and bartered mostly out of fun. But everyone had the same access to Zhian technologies and most of their time was spent on preserving Earth II and protecting its environment, the land, and seas.
Everyone shared the duties of working in the greenhouses or the food processing center, and each household owned a replicator for clothing and furniture, and all had a pod used for transportation which was powered by a crystal.
As more needs arose for pod transportation, a transit system of a couple of shuttles was set up to transport everyone around in The City of Life. Pods were then mostly used for outings in the countryside for family fun and pleasure.
So far, Earth II only had the Central Command Center which was the original Settlement I. That was turned in to a makeshift government of operations.
The only city was The City of Life. All inhabitants of Earth II lived there and had not yet ventured out to farm the lands of Earth II. This was something Syra had hoped for eventually once the population grew.
Expeditions were out exploring all sectors of the planet and always finding new types of crystals and many types of gems that could be used for many things. They had discovered all the elements Earth had but also some new ones yet to be determined of its usefulness.
The plant life was abundant on Earth II and the botanists were making breakthrough discovers on a daily basis. Many of the plants were very similar to Earth, but just as many were not.
Some plants on Earth II had healing properties, an ability to filter air, water, etc. Many of the plants on Earth II reminded the scientists of how the early man had relied on plants for multiple purposes and then Earth turned to chemicals as an alternative. This would not happen on Earth II.
There was nothing allowed on Earth II that could pollute the air, water or land. All sources of power came from the crystals used with the Zhian technologies and it was clean and abundant.
One of Syra and James goals was to find alternative energy because even with their abundant supply of crystals from Zhian, they would not last forever and a replacement would be needed for the many future generations that inhabit Earth II as the population grows.
Syra got the call she had been waiting for. The engineers had the Ark Royal almost ready for her maiden voyage. The mat
erial that was discovered would allow them to create a perfect coating on the outside of the ship. The unveiling of the ship would be one of the biggest celebrations on Earth II other than the day Arteemus and Allieah spoke from the holocom and revealed themselves to Earth as Syra’s parents.
The wormhole project was still on the drawing board but Earth II’s engineers believed they would have that soon after they finish the new ship.
But the ship would have to first be able to survive the environment of a wormhole, and the enormous speeds in which it would be traveling through space and time.
According to Zhian Sphere’s calculations, the wormhole would be created with a direct link between Earth II and Earth. Thus, making travel between the two worlds feasible and in a reasonable timeframe.
Back on Earth, President Cole knew the most important moment in his life would be the day he walked up to Zachary Caldiron’s monument on the White House lawn. He would place his hand in the hand shaped device that would activate the wormhole.
President Cole was working every day to prepare himself and his family for to trip to Earth II and was in contact daily with others that would be going with him.
Ellead was also preparing for his new passengers with Ohtrons help. Ohtron had worked hard this past year putting out fires and chasing down bombs but getting Ellead ready for the long journey back to Earth II was his most important duty.
Meanwhile, the rioting was growing bigger since the Anderson Alliance Party formed over a year ago and was now the single largest political party in American history.
The race for president had been one of the dirtiest in history. The new party hid nothing, and all their dirty deeds were done right out in the open and no political figure would dare oppose them.
The party’s presence in Washington had already done away with the fingerprint voting machines and there would be no fairer nor honest elections in anyone’s lifetimes and those who disagreed with the new party stayed silent out of fear.
The Chronicles of Syra Omnibus Page 24
