“Good Morning General Bronson - sorry that I’m late”
Bronson glared at her ‘locking eyes’ and roared “Major! I expect more from you! I don’t want to hear how you can’t get your sorry butt in here on time. Don’t let this happen again. Am I clear?”
“Yes sir.”
“Alright, let’s get started.”
Karen was relieved that Bronson let her off easy this time. She thought that the current events took him out of his usual behavior patterns. She was sure that her tardiness would cost her later, particularly from Martello. Martello was always attacking her on some detail. She knew that the visibility of this effort would bring out the worst in her nemesis, Martello.
In a commanding voice, Bronson started the meeting. “I want everyone in this room to drop everything outside of this operation. Right now, finding out Oria’s real identity, and the ins and outs of his technology is our primary objective. Consider this a 7x24 operation - any questions?”
Bronson locked eyes successively with each person sitting around the table. No one dared raise any questions. It was quite clear to everyone the importance of this project to Bronson and ultimately to national security.
When no one raised their hand, the General lowered his voice and said, “Alright, let’s hear what Captain Martello has discovered.”
Captain Martello smugly handed out a small document summarizing his team’s findings. He felt good about the information he obtained so far. For sure, he thought, this was a real coup.
“The labs have worked quickly and produced some interesting results. First, we matched the fingerprints from some of the artifacts seized from Dr. StalkingWolf’s archeological dig on the Eastern Shore with fingerprints taken by our agents tailing Oria. There is a 99% probability that they are from the same person.”
Colonel Johnson interrupted Martello and asked, “Have you verified that the prints off the artifacts aren’t recent. I understand that Oria has a connection to StalkingWolf and that she is an anti-government agitator?”
“Yes Colonel, I would like nothing more than to nail this man as an imposter, but one of the artifacts included some petrified clay that was clearly over 500 years old.”
“I understand Captain, are you sure the two aren’t in collaboration?”
“Colonel, how can I be certain that they aren’t collaborating together? I do know that they know each other. StalkingWolf calls Oria her Uncle. In addition, I believe it’s clear that Oria has enlisted her and her local tribe’s help. Several heavies from her tribe helped Oria escape from my agents last night. However, I don’t see any evidence to show that they collaborated on the fingerprints or our DNA findings.”
“DNA findings?” exclaimed the Colonel.
“That’s correct. We took DNA samples that are over 500 years old. They resemble DNA samples taken from Oria just last night. The samples from the artifacts are off a teenage boy. The recent samples sort of match the older samples.”
Bronson boomed back “What do you mean by they ‘sort of match’? Last night you were certain they were an exact match.”
“That’s correct sir. Our matching process has a 99% probability they are from the same person. Nevertheless, the recent sample has some strange patterns. The lab technician said she has never seen this sort of pattern. It could be that his DNA has been genetically altered.”
Everyone in the room became stone silent. You could have heard a pin drop. Captain Martello paused several seconds and then continued.
“We have completed an initial background check on Oria. The first time anyone has any record of Oria is his visit to the old Nanticoke/Viking archeological dig of Linda StalkingWolf’s. It’s as if he dropped in from nowhere.”
Again, the room fell silent. A tense minute went by with the General finally breaking the silence.
“Thank you Captain, I believe it’s clear that we don’t know enough about Oria yet. I don’t believe in mysteries or coincidences. Let’s get to the bottom of this Nanticoke connection. In addition, we are moving ahead in further developing the technology presented by Oria. This morning I entertained a task order with GeoTechnology to develop prototype lasers and further research the new technology. Dr. Franklin completed a prototype laser this morning based on technology presented by Oria. When I called, he had just completed the first test, which blew up a large part of his test facility. The test facility is capable of withstanding a nuclear blast! It appears that Oria’s theories are correct. Let’s get on to the next topic. Major Brown, you spent most of the evening with Oria, did you learn anything that should be brought up at this meeting?”
With all eyes on her, Karen swallowed before she answered. “Yes sir, it’s interesting that Captain Martello linked Oria to the Eastern Shore. Oria told me that he was born on the Eastern Shore and hasn’t been back in this area for a long time. He also claimed that he has no address in this area and indicated that he may try to stay at a local motel. Captain, were your agents able to follow Oria to his local address?”
Martello’s face reddened a bit from Karen’s little jab to the jugular. “No Major, as I just mentioned in my report, the Nanticoke thugs he hired detained our agents. They followed you and Oria back from the Verizon Center and noted you kissing him goodbye. After that, they followed him to a bar where once again Oria’s thugs foiled any attempts for our guys to keep track of him.” Martello did not like Karen questioning his agents’ performance nor the tone of her voice. He took immense pleasure pointing out Karen’s attention lapse in front of the General.
The General sensed the hostility of the Captain towards his Major. He roared back at Martello “Captain, it’s your fault the agents lost track of Oria. I don’t want excuses. Let me remind all of you that we are a team. I don’t want your petty rivalries getting in the way of the mission. Am I clear?”
Everyone in the room nodded their heads acknowledging Bronson’s request. Bronson scanned the room and felt maybe, just maybe, he could mold this group into a cohesive unit. Looking at Karen, Bronson said “Major, do you have anything more you want to add?”
“Yes General. Oria will join several friends of my form the Florida STAR Hawk operation on a weekend trip to Ocean City. I hope to get closer to him and find out more about him on the trip.”
Martello chuckled to himself. “Yeah, Karen wanted to get closer to him, intimately closer.”
Bronson looked pleased. “Excellent. Major I want you to join me in my office after this meeting.” Bronson then turned and zeroed in on Captain Martello. “Captain, do you think that you can have some agents follow Oria and the Major to Ocean City, and NOT lose him this time?”
Martello’s face reddened from the General’s stab. “Yes sir, I will put my best agents on the job.”
“No Captain, I want you to be personally involved. I don’t want another mess-up. Is that clear?”
“Yes General”, gulped Martello, wishing he could disappear, “I will see to it that your orders are followed.”
“Excellent, okay people, hit the bricks and get busy”.
Karen followed Bronson to his office suite where he ordered his Exec to hold his calls. When they entered his office, Bronson closed the door and indicated that Karen should join him in one of the chairs around his coffee table.
Karen nervously sat down and folded her hands. She felt a sour feeling developing in her stomach as she waited for the General to speak. She rarely sat alone with the General in his office.
Bronson glanced at his desk and the list of messages handed to him by his Exec. After quickly perusing his messages, he walked over to his chair and sat down.
“Karen, I appreciate the work you have done since you joined us here. You’ve been a real trooper given that you prefer flying full time with the rest of the STAR Hawks team. However, I am concerned how you will perform on this task investigating Oria. The reports I reviewed this morning indicate you may be getting too emotionally involved with our target. Do you have any comments on this issue?”
“General, I always put my duty to country first. No matter how I feel about Oria, I am clearly focused on my duty as an officer.” Deep down Karen shared the General’s concern. She knew that she was falling in love.
“Very well Major. I’m not taking you off this assignment yet. Don’t do anything that will make me regret this decision. You are free to go.”
Karen and the General stood up and exchanged the usual formalities as Karen left the General’s office.
Ocean City Beach Trip
Karen was deeply entrenched in the latest research reports provided by Captain Martello when the Major showed up at her office.
“Hello Major. I have put together a small goodie package for you to take on your trip.”
“Is that so Captain? What do you have for me?” Karen felt a little agitated. The last thing she wanted was to have Martello snooping on her.
“We’re planning on using GPS and location services to keep our surveillance teams and you in touch with each other. Their GPS system and tracking devices will enable us to keep appraised of each other’s location. We will also have the ability to communicate with each other and form strategies with their CRS (communications/radio subsystem).”
“Ok, so what do you have for me?”
“First, I have already taken the liberty to install a GPS transceiver on your car. Next . . .”
“You did what?” Karen was livid, her hands clenched into fists. “I can’t believe you attached something to my car without asking first!”
Martello smirked “Yeah, General’s orders. Furthermore, you will need to carry these devices with you at all times. This one is your communicator.”
“And where am I supposed to hide this stuff when I am out on the beach wearing my bikini?”
“You can place them in this bag which has a false bottom. Furthermore, I have devices for your Florida friends too. Colonel Henley has already briefed them on the mission.”
Martello proceeded to show Karen how all of the gadgets worked. Karen was reaching the boiling point from Martello’s continual goading of her. Every time she questioned the young Captain, he always responded with a sharp “General’s orders”. She decided it wasn’t worth fighting Martello at this time about his unprofessional behavior, rather, she would deal with the issue at a future and more appropriate time.
Martello finally left Karen’s office. She used the opportunity to make a beeline for her car and head for home. She was certain that Martello would be tracing every inch of her progress. It didn’t matter; soon she and Oria would be on the road together and headed for the beach. She would be fulfilling her responsibility as an officer while at the same time taking a semi-romantic trip with an attractive man. She smiled as she thought about her upcoming trip.
Oria was already waiting for Karen as she walked into the lobby of her high-rise apartment complex. Karen smiled when she saw him standing there dressed in khaki shorts and a T-Shirt. She walked over to him and gave him a big hug knowing that this incident would be reported back to Martello and ultimately to the General. Karen was happy to see Oria and didn’t care what Martello reported to Bronson.
Karen led Oria up to her apartment where she changed out of her uniform and into some more casual clothes. It only took several minutes to complete her last minute packing and they were ready to head down the road.
Karen and Oria walked to her Porsche Carrera parked in the apartment garage. Oria looked at her car and admired the sleek aerodynamic looking design.
“Nice car, I see you like something a little sporty.”
“Of course, all good Air Force officers drive Porches. Now get in the car and let’s get going.”
“Alright, alright, I’m getting in.” The two of them broke out laughing together. Oria was just as excited about the trip as was Karen. He knew it was important that he kept focused on the mission, but being around Karen, created a new type of energy inside of him. Somehow, he felt more alive when Karen was around. Oria was not accustomed to the feeling of love.
It was 5:30PM when they finally hit the road in the middle of Friday night Washington rush hour. Karen headed towards I-395 and New York Ave. As usual for that time of evening, New York Ave. was essentially a long narrow parking lot. It took almost an hour and a half just to get to Route 50. Once through the city, they had a short spurt of near highway speeds until they got close to Annapolis and the typical Bay Bridge traffic jam.
It was close to 7:30PM when Karen drove over the Bay Bridge and hit some open road just before reaching Cambridge. Karen pushed down on the accelerator as the power surged through her Carrera and the car approached 80MPH in a 50MPH speed zone. Karen kept a sharp lookout for cops while continuously monitoring her radar detector. Oria was amused as he saw Karen’s focus drift towards driving and evading speed traps.
“Karen, I didn’t realize driving fast was such a challenge.”
“Oh shut up. I’m trying to make up for lost time and not get a ticket.”
“What is it they use to measure your speed?”
“Geez, for someone who is so up on high-tech, you sure are ignorant of some basic things.”
“I’ve been gone for a while.”
“You must have been gone for a long while. They’ve used radar devices for years to catch speeders. Now they have a new device that uses a laser and measures the Doppler Effect to determine speed.”
“The Doppler Effect? What’s that?”
“You know, measuring distance and speed by measuring the wave length of the light bounced off the target car.”
“Oh. That would be a little harder to defeat than radar.”
“You can say that again. This little detector gives you at most a few seconds warning of a speed trap. Sometimes it doesn’t even pick up the signal.”
“Why don’t you use some of your stealth technology?”
“That’s classified stuff. Even if it would work, there is no way DOD would let people use it for personal use, like breaking the law.”
“I guess not. That looks like the Choptank we’re coming up on.” On seeing the Choptank, Oria felt nostalgic as he thought of his early childhood home.
“On the other side are some fast food joints where we can grab a bite to eat.”
“Do you mind if we stop at that visitor’s center just on the other side.”
“No, if you must. However, I bet it’s closed.”
“That’s all right. I’d just like to stop there and look out over the water. I have many good memories of this river.”
“That’s right. You said you were from somewhere near the Choptank.”
Karen turned right into the visitor center immediately after crossing the Choptank River. It had several walkways leading out to the river, all with closed signs as Karen predicted. Oria proceeded undeterred.
“Thanks Karen, I’ll just be a moment. All I want is to look out over the river.”
“No problem. I’ll wait for you here.”
Oria got out of the car and headed towards the river. Martello, flying above in a helicopter, saw Oria temporarily leave the car. He used the moment to beep Karen’s communicator.
Karen picked up the small device and said, “Yes Captain, what do you want?”
“Just checking in, I see your guest has taken leave.”
“Very observant, he just wants a short moment to look out over the river. He said he has good memories of this river.”
“By the way, our listening devices haven’t picked up any of your conversation.”
“Captain, you never said that you planted listening devices in my car.” Once again, Karen fumed at Martello’s sneakiness.
“Oh, I thought you knew. That’s right, I just told you of the tracking devices. At any rate, the listening device is not working. Do you know anything about that?”
“No, seeing as I never knew that you bugged my car in the first place!”
“It’s located just under your seat on the right.”
Karen reached unde
r her seat and located the bug. It appeared to be in good working order.
“Captain, I see nothing wrong with this device. Are you sure the problem isn’t on your end?”
“I’ve checked out the equipment several times already. It worked on your ride home. It only stopped working moments after Oria joined you.”
“That’s interesting, anything else?” Karen thought Martello sure was a total pain in the neck.
“No. Just keep in touch.”
“Captain, I am in charge of this mission. I will keep you posted as I determine is needed.”
“Very well Major.”
While Karen was busy with the Captain, Oria walked to the end of the last walkway near the river. He stood for a moment absorbing the view. He looked towards the bridge and the other side of Rt. 50. Sure enough, Peter and Hoss were standing near a small building just on the other side of 50. Oria gave them the all’s well signal and then signaled them to meet him in Ocean City.
Next Oria called Captain Borella on board the Hercules.
“Good evening Borella. So far everything is going according to plan.”
“Yes and a good evening to you Oria. You know they’re using equipment to tail you. They’re using a GPS system to keep tabs on where everyone is located as well as some communication devices. Everything connects to a mission computer where they are running this campaign like a battle. It’s the most advanced technology that they have available on Earth. It uses a simple encryption routine, at least from our perspective, that can’t be broken or jammed by any known Earth technology.”
“Excellent. This is good news. I suspected they would set up a big operation to tail me. However, I wasn’t expecting them to use their best stuff, at least not yet.”
“They have some hot-shot junior officer running the tail and investigation. He has some interesting connections in various parts of the Pentagon. By the way, this hotshot has it out for Karen. His name is Martello and he’s a real piece of work.”
“Ah. We can use his enthusiasm and vendetta with Karen against him.”
Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact Page 15
