Escape The Grid: Volume 1

by Patrick F. Kelly

  “Just keeping calling me Julia.”

  “I will if that is your real name.”

  “Let’s say that it is for now, and I promise that I’ll tell you everything when I see you. It won’t be easy for me to get to you. The US is not exactly an easy place for a foreigner to fly into these days. But my preparation is nothing compared to what you must do. Are you ready to talk about it?”

  “Well, I have an interesting surprise for you,” Thomas said.

  “What surprise?”

  “A guy at my camp, named Maxime, sort of implied that he was going to break out next week and go to Washington DC.”

  Julia had a look of shock. “What do you mean ‘implied’?”

  “We were sort of talking in code, so that the NSA wouldn’t flag our conversation.”

  “I don’t understand. You met him online?”

  “No. We had a power outage at the camp. I saw him in the multi-purpose room. I had met him years ago when he first came to camp. He’s a good kid. Much younger. Has had to deal with some real tragedy.”

  “Are you sure that he is going to try a breakout next week? Because that could create a lot of problems on our end. A breakout by anyone causes the authorities to heighten security. Your camp is on the lowest level of security right now. If this guy makes a run, it could raise the level, and our six month plan might turn into a two year plan.”

  Thomas felt a pain in his stomach. This wasn’t possible. “No, this can’t be happening. Listen, I’m supposed to meet him at 2 pm in the Casablanca bar today. That’s just an hour and change from now. Do you want to meet him?”

  Julia looked at him sternly, “Don’t you understand our situation, Thomas? I can’t risk revealing my identity. I have worked years to get the kind of access I have in Resort World. Even if you meet with him and if you two say the wrong things, you’ll both get flagged. I don’t like this at all.”

  “So what should we do? We still have plenty of time.”

  Julia considered the next moves. After a long pause, she charted out a plan. Thomas listened patiently for nearly an hour and agreed to follow her details to the letter.

  PART THREE

  THE BREAKOUT

  24

  THOMAS WAS BACK in the same spot at the Casablanca bar, shortly after going over Julia’s plan. After sitting at the bar a few minutes, he saw Maxime enter through the side entrance.

  Most people in VR accentuate their best qualities with their avatar while hiding all undesirable features. A normal person’s avatar is younger, more attractive, dresses better and has qualities that the real person would like but doesn’t possess in real life. Maxime’s avatar was shorter, less attractive and weaker looking than his real-life body. It was similar enough that Thomas could recognize him, but he stood out as the least attractive person in the bar. Art was not imitating life with Maxime’s avatar. For what it was worth, though, he found a way to stand out wherever he went.

  Thomas waved him over, and he walked up to the table. He seemed more subdued. Perhaps his people had given him a similar talking to as Julia had given Thomas.

  “I don’t know if I can talk about fruit or old movies in this bar,” Maxime opened the conversation.

  “I understand. I could call for my plane and we could talk while skydiving.”

  Maxime hesitated, thinking through his exact wording. “My friend in DC told me that it’s best if I fly solo.”

  “No problem,” Thomas replied. “I have my own plane and would like to coordinate takeoff with you at least. When were you thinking of going up to skydive?”

  Maxime nodded. “I chartered a plane for next Friday at midnight. I like to jump into total darkness.”

  Thomas panicked. Next Friday was only nine days away. What had Julia told him for this contingency? This is way sooner than anything they had thought about. Maybe he needed to call her in.

  He looked in the corner of the room and saw her avatar. He knew that the real Julia was watching from the staging area so she could hear the whole conversation, but the software-controlled avatar was waiting in the corner in case she needed to walk over. Thomas waved at the avatar, throwing the desperation card.

  Julia had told him to only call her if he was out of options. And that he had to pretend she was just a run-of-the-mill, algorithmic avatar. It wouldn’t be hard for Maxime to see through the charade, if he was paying attention.

  But Julia had played this role successfully for years. The stakes were always high when she played. Not as high as they were now, but she was a pro.

  “That is my favorite girl over there,” Thomas said.

  Maxime turned and looked. “Yes, she is beautiful. I can see why you like to spend time with her.”

  “Hello, papi,” Julia said as she walked up. “Who is your friend?”

  “This is Maxime,” Thomas said. “He is a friend of mine who also likes to skydive.”

  “Ahh, Maxime. Nice to meet you. You should come with us today for a dive.”

  “I’m sorry but I can’t today,” he replied.

  “Maxime is going up next Friday at midnight, Julia.”

  Julia looked at them both. “You aren’t afraid of jumping out into the dark all by yourself, Maxime?” she asked.

  “I’ll be with a friend.”

  “A girl friend?”

  “A friend.”

  “Because if it is a girl friend, maybe I know her. I can tell her we met.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t anybody you know, Julia. Thank you though.” Maxime gave a look to Thomas.

  Thomas got the message. “Julia, dear, do you mind if Maxime and I continue this conversation privately?”

  “No problem, papi. But I’d still like to know more about his friend. Maybe we can double date? Is the plane leaving from Resort World? Does your friend hang out here?”

  Maxime smiled. “My friend doesn’t hang out here, at least I don’t think he does. And I don’t think that it makes sense to double date, since my friend isn’t a romantic interest.”

  Julia dismissed herself. She had maybe come across too strongly, but Maxime didn’t seem to suspect anything out of the ordinary.

  “I’m sorry. You can never be too careful. These programs record things and who knows what someone may listen for,” Maxime said, once Julia was farther away.

  “I totally understand. But you can see why I brought her over, right. A girl that beautiful, and friends like her, are all waiting on my plane if you want to come on board.”

  “We probably have different taste in women, Thomas. I prefer talking to real ones, even if they aren’t models.”

  “Very honorable. When I was your age, I spent all of my waking hours in places like Bikini Island. Regarding your friend, I take it that he is the same friend in DC planning the trip?”

  “Yes.”

  “I assume from your body language today that he would prefer that you didn’t speak to me?”

  “You assume correctly. If you want to fly at the same time, you know my schedule. But we’ll be on different planes, and I won’t be there to help you find your way in the darkness.”

  “Midnight, next Friday, central time?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you, Maxime, for trusting me with this. I really appreciate the notice.”

  “I understand the situation. Once a plane takes off, the runway gets shutdown for some time. You’ve always been good to me since I first came to camp. I didn’t want to cause you any problems. Please return the favor by not scheduling your flight before mine. I’ll plan for both of us going at the same time.”

  “Thank you, friend. Good luck in your travels.”

  “Good luck to you, Thomas.”

  25

  LINDA SAT IN THE STARBUCKS near the capital building in DC. She was at the exact table where she was told to be, isolated near the bathroom. There was no one nearby that could hear her. As planned, a woman walked up at 9:32 AM carrying a brown envelope. The woman nodded at her, just like Linda had been tol
d, and then walked into the bathroom.

  Linda got in line, after the woman with the envelope. Four minutes later, like clockwork at 9:36, the woman walked out. She still had the brown envelope, but Linda knew that a critical item had been left behind. Linda walked into the bathroom and found the disposable phone on the sink counter. She picked it up, waited another three minutes and then walked out.

  At 9:40 AM, the phone rang. Right on cue.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Two things,” the voice said. “First, I’ll have my car drop me off at the pre-arranged spot exactly two weeks from today. I assume that you will text me the GPS coordinates and have an untraceable car pick me up. 6 pm, right?”

  “Correct. Exactly two weeks from today at 6 pm. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

  “Second, do you need any help on my end?”

  “Yes,” Linda replied. “Our friend is at a facility outside Nashville. The plan is for him to leave the facility one week from today: next Friday at midnight. Since it is labor day weekend, the hope is that the police and the media and everyone else will be thinking about their long weekend vacation. Any help you can arrange would be terrific.”

  “Consider it done.”

  Linda started to ask for more details, but the Secretary had already hung up. All Linda heard was a dial tone.

  She shrugged and then messaged Joey. “The calvary has come in. Help will be with you for Friday’s adventure. I hope that you are ready for this.”

  Joey sent back a smiley face and a thumbs up.

  Linda laughed. This was happening.

  26

  TITO WAS ANGRY, more so than Julia had ever seen him.

  “This is insanity. You are going to get yourself killed,” he was saying. “I can’t approve this mission. It was hard enough when I thought we had three months or more. But now we’re talking about days. Nine days to prepare is impossible. I can’t be ready in time. I have other agents who also have important work.”

  “Tito, if we miss this window, it might not be open for another year.”

  “That is fine with me,” he said curtly.

  She sighed.

  “Tito, I need this.”

  “Julia, your feelings are clouding your judgment. This is completely unprofessional.”

  “Even if it isn’t professional, we aren’t the NSA. I like that we aren’t cold and calculating and professional in everything.”

  “We can all be dead if we don’t do our fair share of calculation.”

  She looked at him. There was something about his manner she didn’t quite get. She knew that he liked her - more than he should. He had said nothing directly, but she could always tell from his body language. And lately he had seemed almost jealous of her relationship with Thomas.

  He’s accusing me of letting my feelings get in the way, but isn’t he doing the same?

  She couldn’t confront him on it. Any more fighting wouldn’t be helpful, and she needed his authorization and the team’s financial resources to get through this.

  “Tito, listen, we need to do a trial run. We need to figure this whole thing out. If we want to break out hundreds or thousands of campers, we have to start with one success story.”

  “I agree. Like you said, a success story. This is so rushed that it is lowering our probability of success. Surely you can see that.”

  “I see it, but if this information is right, we are getting this breakout for free. It is either doing it now with the lowest possible security levels or trying it later when there will likely be heightened security.”

  Julia had done the research on Maxime right after the meeting. Who he was, where he spent his time, who had logged in to chat with him in the last 30 days. She had tracked it all back and found multiple hack entries into Support World. The most likely culprit was a mafia guy operating outside of DC who was very good with computers and networks. She knew of him through Tito, as a guy who could supply hard-to-get weapons at exorbitant prices.

  “You told me this Joey guy was amazing at security systems and breakouts. If my suspicions are correct, and it is him behind this, then he’ll do all the work for us and we just need to find someone to pick up Thomas at the correct time.”

  “It is a dangerous game to risk lives based solely on guesswork and suspicions.”

  “But can’t you contact the guy? Can’t you coordinate with him?”

  “He’s not going to tell me the truth. Best case scenario is that he is the one planning this and he asks me to pay for it in exchange for us piggybacking on his breakout.”

  “What is wrong with that? That sounds great. It would eliminate the guesswork.”

  “Based on the prices he charges for weapons, I don’t know if we can afford his help.”

  “Please make the call, Tito. His help can make this a success story.”

  Tito hesitated.

  “What? What is it?” Julia asked.

  “I’m thinking about my recent conversation with the Vatican. We depend on their money for our survival, and the man there warned me about violence. I have the feeling that if any violence happens, even if we had nothing to do with it, that the Vatican may pull their financial support.”

  “I have no plans for violence. And if this guy Joey is as good as you say, we’ll all be gone before the police show up. There won’t be much chance for violence.”

  “Well, the mafia isn’t known for their kind acts of non-violence. If I pull Joey into this, I’m going against my word to the Vatican.”

  “What exactly did you promise the Vatican?”

  “I promised no violence and that we would carry no weapons.”

  “Are you out of your mind? How am I going to protect myself with no weapons?”

  “Julia, you aren’t trained for using weapons. You aren’t some kind of international spy. If you carry weapons, it nullifies your cover story.”

  She was taken aback. “How can you talk of protecting me if I can’t have a weapon? I’m going up against the most powerful military in the world.”

  “Exactly. What kind of small arms weapon do you imagine having that would be competitive with the US military? You are better off with nothing.”

  “Call him, Tito. Ask him for a clean car for me. Ask him for weapons for me and Thomas. Ask him for the details of the breakout.”

  “I can’t do it, Julia.”

  “I’m leaving soon, Tito. Whether you are helping me or not, I’m going. And without your help, it is far more likely that I get captured.”

  Tito sighed and threw up his hands.

  The guilt-trip play. Let him simmer on that for a while.

  She walked out of his office.

  “Where are you going?” he shouted.

  “I’m buying my plane tickets,” she replied.

  27

  AFTER THE ARGUMENT, Tito had been obsessed with helping Julia. He had spent an hour in discussions with Mark getting the name and contact info for his friend in Tennessee. Incredibly, Mark had discovered that Debbie might be perfect for their cause. Tito had discussed his plans to call Joey and ask for assurances on the breakout and assistance with a clean car. Mark had wanted to know more about Joey and been more cautious than any of his past calls.

  What is this guy so concerned about, Tito thought.

  The US government has killed so many innocent people in the last fifteen years. Mark himself had to flee to Vatican City to escape. Why is he so worried about harming any of them? Is his concern that the Vatican will be uncovered as a funding source of the rebellion, or is his concern truly for human lives? If it is human life, then what is his expectation in the long run? For us to save millions of lives, we will surely have collateral damage.

  If Mark’s expectations aren’t aligned, the funding from the Vatican could go away. That was a huge risk for Tito, since their other sources of income, such as the cigar business, were not sufficient for the large scale plans.

  They talked further, with Tito calming Mark’s objections one
by one. Finally, he agreed to bankroll the mission and allow Tito to work with Joey.

  Tito knew that Joey cared about one thing more than money - his own survival. And since the US government assumed Joey was in Italy, then Mark’s Italian contacts could be helpful. Mark agreed to take steps from Vatican City to ensure that Joey appeared to be in Italy. It was much cheaper than the alternative, and it would prevent Vatican euros from being traced to bank accounts with links to Joey. Everyone could live with it, at least, that was Tito’s hope.

  Tito ended the call with Mark. He still had to call Joey and sort everything out. The whole thing rested on Julia’s research being correct.

  But right now, Tito had an easier call to make. An Episcopal priest in Tennessee, living in the small town of Jasper. If Mark was right, she was part of the underground railroad and could be the key link they needed to get Thomas and Julia from Nashville to Miami.

  His wall lit up as the video call went through. Mark had told Debbie to expect the call, and they had set up a secure video conference in advance.

  Tito saw an older woman, mid sixties, appear on the screen. She was smiling but Tito could tell she was anxious.

  “Buenas tardes,” Debbie said. “I assume that you are Tito.”

  “Buenas tardes,” Tito replied. “Yes, I am Tito. And you are Priest Debbie?”

  “I am. Just call me Debbie. Mark has told me wonderful things about you, and we want to help in any way we can.”

  “That is wonderful to hear, Debbie. Did Mark explain that this was our first try, but that we are planning many more and want to work with a team in the US to build up the logistical network and infrastructure to do maybe thousands of these extractions?”

  “So many? Oh dear, no, I didn’t realize it was so many. We are a small operation in a rural town. We stay under the radar. I can help you with this first mission, but we aren’t equipped to handle thousands, or even hundreds.”

  “My apologies, Debbie. I didn’t mean that we would need your team for all of them. Just that we are trying to build up a network of teams like yours and that we would want to do this all over the country. In most cases, we would extract people into Mexico and then could more easily get them out to South America.”