by Terry Mixon
The young man gave her a smile as they climbed into the elevator. “I suppose I could’ve done that, but he wanted to be discreet. The walls up here are pretty thin. If your phone rings, other people wonder what’s happening.”
That was one thing she didn’t like about their new accommodations. The building could do with a serious renovation.
The elevator opened onto the lobby of their building. In a higher-class neighborhood it might have a doorman. Not here. In fact, everything still seemed to be closed up for the night.
Appearances could be deceiving however. One of the rooms just off the lobby housed the security group tasked with making sure their living arrangements remained secure. If they determined hostile forces were moving into the area, they’d see that the building began evacuation before things became too dangerous.
Not that she expected that to happen anytime soon. Every federal agency was searching for her and the Families, but she hadn’t given them anything to indicate she was even in Washington DC. Admittedly, every ordinary criminal probably thought the same of the police.
If she had her way, she’d have moved their headquarters to one of the states surrounding the district. The capital wasn’t the safest place for them at the moment. She made a mental note to look into that again. There had to be a better way to balance security and convenience.
Victor rejoined the other security man monitoring the cameras and left Brenda with the courier.
She recognized him as one of Cyrus’s junior assistants: Danny Benoit. He rose from his seat at the table and inclined his head. “Miss Cabot.”
“Morning, Danny. What have you got for me?”
He pulled the data stick out of his pocket and handed it to her. “There was some type of major sabotage at Area Fifty-One. That’s where they moved all the captured Asharim technology. From what we hear, the loss was total. It’s all gone.”
That set her back on her mental heels. “Seriously? Are we sure it was sabotage? Maybe they had the mother of all lab accidents. The technology can be dangerous.”
“We’re pretty sure. Someone figured out the US government had it and decided they shouldn’t. That’s my read on the matter.”
She took the data stick, walked over to one of the computers, and sat down to review the report.
There wasn’t much to it. Two communications intercepts and what looked like a few long-range pictures using a telephoto lens from a great distance, so they lacked a lot of detail.
The intercepts were more interesting. They were both brief and appeared to be phone conversations. Someone had said something on an unsecure line that one of their people was monitoring.
Or probably one of their programs, if she were honest. The NSA would be horrified if they suspected the capabilities the Families possessed for intelligence gathering. Which, now that the US government was aware of them and the Asharim, was probably the case.
It only took her a minute to read the entirety of both conversations and she saw what Danny was talking about. One of the callers was a military officer of some kind contacting a superior at the Pentagon.
He never mentioned the Asharim by name or what had happened, but he stressed several times that this wasn’t an accident.
The other call sounded significantly more suspicious. It mentioned the Asharim by name. Or rather, someone in the background mentioned them loudly enough to be audible on the call.
The woman doing the speaking immediately instructed the other person to be silent in Chinese. That was intensely interesting.
“Do we have any idea who this person is?” she asked.
“The voiceprint isn’t on file. If you think it’s worth the risk, we can have one of our people at the NSA run part of the call against their databases.”
Brenda immediately shook her head. “It’s not worth the risk. Everything there is already under a microscope. We can’t chance drawing undue attention to our people or ourselves.
“I’m operating off the assumption the call was made from a burner phone. Is that correct?”
“Got it in one. The destination number was also a burner, but we isolated the cell tower it used. This may come as a shock to you, but the Chinese embassy here in Washington uses that cell tower.”
“So do a ton of other important people,” Brenda said. “I don’t want to assume anything. Did the recipient say anything?”
“Just a couple of words. Hardly enough to recognize who it was without utilizing the NSA databases.”
She rubbed her face tiredly. She really needed coffee.
“We have to assume the Chinese government is aware of the Asharim now. With the heightened tension between the two governments, this greatly increases the opportunity for unfortunate occurrences.
“I think the best course is to monitor every communication in the area around the Chinese embassy as closely as we can. I realize the NSA is doing the same, so keep an exceptionally low profile. Start capturing voice files for every caller that uses that cell tower. I’ll also want our audio for these calls.”
“You’ll have it within the hour. Cyrus has already increased the monitoring of that cell tower and is capturing logs and voiceprints for everyone that uses it. If we get a hit on the guy, we’ll let you know immediately.”
Brenda let him go and made her way back up to her apartment. She wanted to take the time to prepare and eat breakfast alone while she pondered her next actions. She was very tempted to do something exceptionally dangerous.
The thought made her smile. As if everything they were doing wasn’t dangerous enough already.
Well, there was dangerous and then there was dangerous.
By the time she’d fixed herself a simple breakfast, eaten it, and fully woken up, she’d decided to proceed with her crazy plan.
The morning traffic leaving the building was in full swing when she made her way back to the security room. The majority of the residents here didn’t realize they even had a security room. They just thought it was the area the building manager used.
Victor was preparing to hand over to his relief when she walked in.
He raised a hand and stepped over to her. “You need me for anything?”
“Did Danny send over some audio files for me?”
The big man nodded. “We got a data stick right here.”
“Pull the call to the Chinese embassy off it and see that a courier gets it into the hands of someone Secretary of State Queen trusts. Make sure the courier can’t be traced back to us. I’m going to write out a note to go along with it.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s the best idea? The guy kind of hates you.”
She smiled coolly. “Then he’s really going to love me after this.”
* * * * *
Clayton enjoyed the strange food more than he probably should have. He was used to eating the very best of everything, so even moderately decent food tasted better than usual after the military’s MREs.
They’d talked late into the night about these people’s situation here on this world and the Earth from which they departed centuries ago. Susanna entertained him with stories both of this world and the last. He had to admit he was a sucker for pirate tales.
He also had to admit she was a consummate storyteller. She’d obviously practiced her timing and delivery to enhance the stories she wove. Perhaps not professionally or even intentionally. It might be that she simply had style.
The amount of beer he’d consumed might also have had something to do with it. The quality of the beer had been good when he began his meal, but continued consumption hadn’t hurt his appreciation of it.
She was in the middle of telling them something one of her ancestors had recounted about Port Royale when Commander Krueger leaned over and whispered into his ear. “We really need to call it a night.”
Clayton slid his eyes momentarily over to the other man. He’d trained himself not to look at his watch when meeting with other people so as not to seem hurried but he realized
it was probably quite late.
When Susanna reached the end of her tale and they’d shared their appreciation, he cleared his throat.
“As much as it pains me to say, I believe we really should be bringing our evening to an end. My companions and I are tired and I’m sure you have important things to do tomorrow.”
“Indeed,” she replied. “Allow me to share my appreciation for your indulgence of my theatrics. One of my uncles was an inveterate storyteller and he infected me early. I’ve never been able to resist an audience.”
Commander Krueger quickly got his people into order and as Clayton bowed over Susanna’s hand. “If you have no objection, I’ll accompany Commander Krueger back to speak with you again tomorrow. We still have many things to discuss.”
“I’ll send Colonel Carver and Major Logan to escort you back to your hill. It’s been a pleasure hosting you and your compatriots. You’ve been perfect guests. I think we shall get along famously.”
“I hope so. Until tomorrow, Miss Adorno, General Norris.”
The buff military officer extended a hand to Clayton. “It’s been a pleasure, Mister Rogers. I look forward to our continued conversation.”
Major Logan preceded them out and quickly arranged for a group of soldiers to escort them into the woods.
“I must say that I’ve learned quite a bit about your people and perhaps even about my own ancestors,” the officer said as they made their way into the open field. Several of the soldiers held lanterns up to light their way. He supposed that was so that they did not fall into a burrow dug by some local creature.
“As did I,” Clayton said. “I hope we have an opportunity to visit the land the Volunteers currently call home. I think that seeing how you’ve developed from revolutionary times will be singularly interesting.”
The soldiers around them reached the tree line and proceeded under the canopy.
Clayton knew that somewhere around them Gunnery Sergeant Danvers and his people were probably watching them. He suspected the men weren’t going to reveal themselves until the Volunteers had departed to maintain their security.
“I think that would be interesting as well. It saddens me that such a visit won’t have an opportunity to occur.”
Clayton was just beginning to frown at the officer when the man pulled a pistol out of his belt, aimed it at Colonel Carver, and pulled the trigger. There was a slight hitch of time between the ignition of the primer and the firearm going off.
It wasn’t nearly as sharp a sound as a modern pistol, but the boom of the weapon still deafened him. It did much worse to Carver.
The shot took the other officer in the side of the head and he went down without a word, dead before he realized he was in danger of betrayal.
The soldiers all around them quickly pulled weapons and covered the Earthmen.
“I suggest you keep your hands far away from your strange weapons,” Logan said with a smile. “We wouldn’t want any further misunderstandings, would we?”
Even though he already knew the basic answer, Clayton felt the need to ask the question. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Your presence has vexed my original plans, but I’m staging a coup. Or perhaps betrayal would be a better word. The Asharim are certainly going to enjoy having strangers like yourselves to join that bitch of a Privateer in their little ceremony on top of that hill.”
The man was selling them out to the aliens. The aliens that liked ritually sacrificing human beings. That filled Clayton’s blood with ice.
Chapter Twenty
Harry heard Molly Goodwin’s inhalation of breath, turned, and saw the Asharim shuttle rise over the edge of the mesa several hundred meters away. He had to admit that he was more than a bit surprised. The thing was utterly silent.
Since he doubted the aliens had just dropped in, she’d figured out how to get one of the alien ships out of the bases. Or his brother Nathan come to eradicate him.
Not likely, but possible.
“Oh my God!” Molly gasped. “It’s true!”
“Told you,” he said as he raised an arm and waved at the shuttle. It slid further over the mesa and settled to the ground a few dozen meters away.
The airlock slid open a few seconds later and Jess waved back at him as she hopped down to the ground. “I decided to drop in for a surprise visit,” she said with a grin.
“So I see. Meet Molly Goodwin. She’s leading the search for my father. Molly, this is my partner Jessica Cook.”
Jess extended a hand to the other woman. “Just call me Jess.”
Molly hesitantly took Jess’s hand. “Harry told me about the aliens, but I confess I didn’t believe him. Not completely, at least until your grand entrance.”
“That’s how I roll.” Jess focused her attention on Harry. “I decided it was time to reveal ourselves to the government here in New Zealand. I probably should’ve told you ahead of time.”
“That’s quite the reveal,” he said dryly. “As it happens, I came to a similar conclusion myself. Hence me telling Molly about the base and giving her a tour.”
“Great minds and all that. I brought you a present.” Jess turned back toward the shuttle.
Harry’s soldiers had exited the shuttle and were watching the perimeter. Black Jack McCarthy was just escorting an unknown man out of the craft.
“Harry Rogers, meet your new best friend, Kevin McHugh. Kevin is a hacker specializing in Asharim technology. He’s managed to access the gates and get their destination codes. I thought he might be able to control the gate down in this base. If so, you can just go right on through and rescue your father.”
Harry shook his head. “You used to work for my father. You know nothing is ever that simple with him. If it were, he’d have already come back through. No. Something’s gone wrong on the other side. We just have to hope it’s not too bad.”
Black Jack escorted the young man up. “Harry.”
He held his hand out to the pilot. “It’s good to see you living up to your reputation. So you’re flying alien ships now?”
The ex-colonel grinned. “You know me, always taking advantage of new learning opportunities.”
Harry smiled and focused his attention on Brenda Cabot’s man. The guy was young with very hip, round purple lenses on his glasses and a shaved head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister McHugh. I find myself deeply needing your services. I hope you brought your equipment with you.”
The man patted a satchel after he shook Harry’s hand. “Got it right here, Mister Rogers. Can you tell me what I’m looking at?”
“Call me Harry. There’s a gate down below running off a temporary power supply that seems to have a missing controller. It won’t respond to the handheld I brought with me. I suspect whoever set it up locked it to a specific controller. One that’s not here anymore.
“Honestly, I think my father probably took it with him. That might be why he hasn’t returned.”
“I’ve never tried to do anything like that, but I’ll do my absolute best to get it unraveled for you.” The man held his hand out to Molly Goodwin. “Kevin McHugh.”
Molly shook his hand. “Mister McHugh.”
“I think you should stay with the ship, Colonel,” Harry said to Black Jack. “It might be necessary to move quickly if someone gets excited.”
“Got it covered.”
Harry gestured to his men and started toward the depression. “We’ll go back down and see if we can open up the gate. If we can get in and find my father waiting on the other side, we’ll bring them back over.
“If not, we’ll make sure that the gate works and then meet with the New Zealand authorities before proceeding. Do you have any objection to that, Molly?”
“I think that makes perfect sense. I’m sure some bureaucrat is going to disagree with me, but that’s my judgment. They can just suck it.”
Getting back down to the bottom level only took a few minutes. Jess looked around in shock. “Wow. This place is in worse shape
than any of the other bases we found.”
Molly blinked at her. “You’ve found other bases?”
The orbital engineer nodded. “Sure have. A big one on Mars and a mobile one buried in a comet. We even found an abandoned space station out beyond Pluto. All of them were in much better condition than this.”
Harry noted that she didn’t mention any other bases on Earth. That was good. They needed to keep some secrets to themselves.
Once they arrived in the gate room, Kevin McHugh examined the device sitting in front of the single operational gate.
“Yeah, it looks as though somebody rigged up a temporary power supply. This cable right here probably went to the handheld controller. One rigged up to interface directly with the gate through the power supply. That’s clever.”
The young man pulled a comp out of his satchel and messed around with connectors until he was able to seat the cable to the power supply. “There we go. Yeah. It’s not locked out, not in the way you mean. This isn’t a security feature. More like an accidental bug. I’ve got the interface to the controller now.
“There are a number of destination codes in here, but it looks as if the gate accessed only one the last few times. I’ll wager that’s where your father went. Do you want me to activate the gate?”
“Do it.”
His men gathered and raised their weapons as the gate came to life, filling with mist and lightning. It cleared to reveal a dark tunnel beyond.
“We’re not going to be able to open the gate from the other side,” Harry said. “Keep it open. We might be coming back in a hurry.”
He led the way through the gate.
* * * * *
Nathan stared at his mother as she led him into the massive chamber at the center of the atrium. What was she doing? What was this place?
His eyes narrowed as he watched her begin manipulating a control panel as if she knew exactly what it did. The strange knowledge made him extremely uneasy.
If the machine she’d slept in could change her physically and manipulate her mind, it might be able to control her.
