by JC Ryan
“Tell us about it,” Sam said.
“Why don’t we terrorize them for a change? We should spy on them, gather information, and then start making Hayden’s top men disappear. You know, like the Gurkhas from India. We sneak into their camp, so to speak, and cut off every second or third man’s head. Demoralize and scare the living shit out of them!” Peter was getting enthusiastic.
Sam smiled as he remembered the words of Sam Manekshaw, a former Indian Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal, ‘If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or is a Gurkha.’
“You want to kill Hayden’s men?” A worried Nigel asked.
“No, not kill them… kidnap them… just make them…” Jack grinned evilly, “disappear.”
“Okay, that’s another good idea,” Sam responded.
“We’ll have to keep in mind that there might be crowds to contain once we take over,” Sarah said.
Roy got excited, “well if you don’t want to shove Nanonukes up their asses, I have microwave beams that we could use to disperse the crowds. It won’t kill them, but it would certainly give them a very painful suntan—it’ll heat up their skins to the point where they’ll be discouraged from hanging around and causing trouble.”
“All good ideas,” Sam grinned, “keep them coming. I would suggest we keep Roy’s Nanonukes as a last resort... We also have to think what to do with Brideaux and the other prisoners. That’s if and when we find them and can get to them.”
“We also need to think what we can do to bring to safety those officials and cabinet members who are loyal to Laurie and Daniel,” Nigel said. We have to try and establish contact with them as quickly as possible—I believe their lives could be in danger.”
“That’s a good point, Nigel; we need to get that communication set up right away. Let’s look at that and the safety of the cabinet members first.
“Jack, can you and Peter work with Nigel and take care of that? Ask Tectus to help, if necessary.”
Jack and Peter nodded.
Sarah said. “Sam, I believe the Secretary of State, Bill Simms, is at Mount Ararat and received only minor injuries. He or Secretary Willis would be good representatives to send back to Washington to work as liaisons with the Cabinet Members.”
“I’m not sure I agree with that Sarah,” Salome interrupted. “Hayden may know they were on the plane with the President and if he gets hold of them, he might use them to try to locate Daniel.”
“Good point,” Sam responded.
Sarah conceded.
“I think we can call on Tectus to have them get word to their members to meet at a safe house where we can use our secure phones for a conference,” Jack said.
“Great idea! That will kill two birds with one stone, at least in the short term.” Sam said.
“What we’re missing folks,” Salome said, “is the fact that we now have a power struggle between Daniel and Hayden, and we don’t know where everyone’s loyalties are right now. Loyalties might change soon; in fact, we’ve just seen how quickly they can change. And politicians are known for setting their sails to the wind.”
Nigel nodded his assent. “Very true Salome. Let’s be careful in our dealings with them. I’m not saying we shouldn’t protect them, but we must make sure we don’t put them in a position where they can sell us out.”
“Which brings us right back to where we started; dealing with Hayden,” Sam noted.
“I suggest we get Tectus to start deploying some of Roy’s spyflies in the White House to help us to start collecting firsthand information,” Jack suggested.
“I’m afraid we would need a lot of them to cover the entire White House,” Nigel said, “and there are security measures in place to detect bugs…
“Roy, you don’t perhaps have some trick that you could build into the spyflies to evade detection?”
“First, we may not need as many as you think,” Roy grinned.
“How’s that?”
“With the biochip DNA information, I can set the flies to follow certain individuals and use them in combination with the general surveillance ones. That way we don’t have to cover so many areas, we just follow the key people around.”
“Brilliant! What about detection?”
“That’s my second thought,” Roy said slowly. “Nothing is impossible; some things might just be a bit more difficult than others. Give me a bit to work on that one.” He didn’t tell them about another gadget he had quietly been mulling over on for a while now. Roy never talked much about his ideas until he had it figured out in his head.
Sam and Nigel shared a quick glance and a grin. This was the Rosslerites in action, and those words ‘nothing is impossible’ should be the motto printed on their t-shirts.
“Alright, Roy, get your spyflies ready, and we’ll have Jack arrange for their delivery and deployment. I’d like to deploy some for general surveillance first so that we can find out what Hayden’s routine is and who his cronies are before we get the DNA specific flies on site.”
The planning session continued for another two hours before everyone understood what was required and went to work.
Before they stood to leave, Nigel stopped them. “There’s one last thing. Laurie Campbell. We have to get her body back to her family…”
“And we should have a memorial service for her here at the Rabbit Hole,” Sarah added before Nigel could continue.
“Yes,” everyone said in chorus.
“Agreed,” Sam said. Jack, Peter, will you two make arrangements with Tectus to help track her sons down and to get her body to her family?”
“Yes, of course,” Jack replied.
“That’s the least we can do,” Peter added.
“Nigel, can we leave it with you and Sarah to make the necessary arrangements for the memorial service?”
“Consider it done,” Nigel replied as Sarah wiped a tear away and nodded.
Chapter 41- They had to make contact
“They’ve killed their own President,” Korda whispered to himself in disbelief. “They’ve killed her… These people are savages; we can never assimilate with them.”
After Tawndo’s reanimation, he had helped Korda to adjust their systems to allow them to tap into the television and radio broadcasts in the United States and other countries across the globe. For Korda, it was a bizarre experience to learn about the enigmatic history and culture of the people of the Eleventh Cycle. The worldwide political turmoil of the last few years was a cause of concern for him and the rest of the Eighth Cycle team at the canyon.
During their joint meals, Korda would usually share his latest learnings with the rest of their team, often finding them gaping at him in disbelief.
Korda ran to get Linkola and take him to the control center where Tawndo and Siasha were working.
When they were all together, Korda immediately spilled the news, “They’ve killed President Campbell; they killed her!”
The others were speechless and Tawndo sat down heavily on the nearest chair. “Something tells me this is bad news.”
“Very bad news indeed,” Linkola agreed.
Tawndo had been focusing his energies on the activities of the B’ran, at the Tunguska site and what he had learned about them the past few days worried him.
“I’m afraid I have more bad news,” Tawndo added when Linkola stopped talking.
They all looked at him inquisitively.
“As you know, I’ve been able to access the information center at the Tunguska site without the B’ran knowing about my explorations into their data centers. Late yesterday afternoon I managed to get access to a new area in their information store and what I learned is troubling.
“They have spent the last seven decades building an army for world conquest, despite the setback of that second explosion in 1954.”
“How many of them are there?” Siasha asked with a deep frown on her forehead.
“I’m still gathering information and records, but so far I’ve been able to c
onfirm one thousand seven hundred.”
Siasha was dumbfounded. “One thousand seven hundred; how is that possible?”
“After the explosion in 1954, their leader, Viktor, sent some of his best soldiers out to join the Russian military. Over the years, unknown to the Russian leadership, several of them managed to infiltrate the ranks of senior officers and formed a top secret covert group.
“They have about one thousand five hundred B’ran or as they now call themselves, Re’an, spread throughout the various divisions of the Russian military complex. Another one hundred fifty of them are highly skilled Special Forces operators. The B’ran scientists have killed, re-animated, and enhanced, these people before inserting them into the military.
“In short, all the B’ran soldiers are highly trained. If their enhancements and the Eighth Cycle’s technologically superior weapons are taken into account, each of these Re’an soldiers becomes a one-man fighting force that can easily take on and overcome odds of a few hundred to one in any battle.” “Wait,” Siasha interrupted, “what do you mean ‘enhanced’?”
“Apparently, Viktor had the scientists experimenting, and succeeding, with augmenting specific areas of the human anatomy and senses… intelligence, strength, endurance, vision, hearing, and much more.
“From what I can tell, it seems that the chip that is implanted in the brain can be adjusted in the lab without removing it.
“Since these re-animated soldiers don’t age, they leave the military service after about ten years, unless they are one of the elite officers, and relocate to the Tunguska site where they help to rebuild the site and become part of one of the teams there. That’s where they receive further training and enhancements which shape them into the force Viktor plans to use to conquer the world.”
“How do they provide for that many people?” Korda wanted to know.
“They have developed highly efficient systems for underground food production, storage, and preparation. They also expanded the facility as they rebuilt it, and they have an extensive research division dedicated to the development of new types of weapons, transport, and communications.
“And… although I am still trying to confirm it, it looks as if they have also placed some people in deep sleep. In other words, stockpiling them…”
Still somewhat shocked by the death of the President and the news he just heard, Korda spoke as one dazed, “Do you know what his short and medium term plans are?”
Tawndo shook his head. “I’ve only scratched the surface since the discovery yesterday. Nevertheless, it is abundantly clear to me that they are preparing themselves for war.”
“Why do you say that?” Siasha asked. “Surely, a few thousand soldiers, irrespective of their skills and training, are not enough to take on the world?”
“Yes, you are right about that, but you are forgetting about the weapons they have. Let me give you a few examples, and keep in mind these are only the weapons I know of at this stage.”
Korda, Linkola, and Siasha were visibly troubled as they stared at Tawndo, waiting for him to continue.
“They have particle-beam weapons that utilize high-energy beams of subatomic particles to damage or destroy targets by disrupting their atomic and molecular structure. Depending on the power of the weapon it will vaporize targets in the blink of any eye. Their soldiers are all equipped with short-range particle beam weapons which would be effective up to a mile or more. They also have long range versions of these weapons that could take out targets in the air and on land—some of them can destroy targets up to a thousand miles away.”
Linkola spoke softly, almost whispered. “No one on earth, including us, will be able to stop them.”
Tawndo slowly nodded. “And that’s only one of the many deadly weapons I have learned about so far.
“Part of their soldiers’ equipment is lightweight liquid body armor that doesn’t restrict movement at all but protects them against projectiles fired by any handgun or rifle in use today.”
A long silence followed as everyone processed the gravity of what they have heard.
Korda broke the silence. “You know; I’ve been studying the people of the Eleventh Cycle for some time now and after seeing their barbaric ways, especially the past few days, I’ve reached the conclusion that many of them are savages who have not yet reached the level of development where we could assimilate with them.
“However, that’s not the case for all of them. They’re not as advanced as us in many ways, but many of them have good intentions and are good people. “They have no idea what is in store for them if the Re’an attack them. I’m beginning to wonder if we should warn them. But I’m not sure they would be able to stop it.”
They all went quiet; they knew there was no choice; they had to make contact, not only to save the Eleventh Cyclers but also to save themselves.
***
An evil grin appeared on Viktor’s face as he leaned back in his chair. “So, they have killed their President; their Vice President has gone into hiding like a coward allowing this General Hayden to take over the nation with his ridiculous antics.”
He rose from his chair and began to pace. “John Brideaux left the entire world in a dysfunctional mess. It’s going to take a lot of time for all the nations to stabilize and begin restoration. Now is the ideal time to act for world domination. We can go in, restore order swiftly and establish our control.
Soltan nodded in agreement.
“We have spent many years building our forces, and our weapons systems, now we can reap the benefits,” Soltan said.
“We need a planning session. Contact our senior officers and arrange a meeting with all of them for tomorrow afternoon.”
Chapter 42- Spyflies and spyders
Daniel was still sedated; Rebecca and Cyndi had checked in on him a few times, taking his blood pressure, heart rate, replaced his dressings, the IV drip, and administered more sedatives, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics. They were satisfied that he was over the critical stage and would recuperate quickly.
Peter, JR, and Jack had arrived back at the Rabbit Hole, accompanied by Secretary of Defense, Cliff Willis and Special Agents, Ken and Matt. The three newcomers received the same hearty welcome which every visitor always received at the Rabbit Hole.
Of course, Ken and Matt insisted on seeing Daniel the moment they walked in. They were taken to his bedside where they assured themselves that he was alive and in good hands. It took Nigel to persuade them that they could leave Daniel’s quarters; that their new President would be safe even if they were not right next to him.
Once Cliff, Ken and Matt were happy about Daniel’s safety and care, they were fed and given the royal tour of the facilities, and like everyone before them, their mouths were hanging wide open as they tried to process everything they saw.
Roy, Raj, Jack, and Peter gathered in Roy’s lab. In the hours since the meeting in the war room, while JR, Peter, and Jack returned from Mt. Ararat, Raj had accessed the recovered servers, located Hayden’s personal information and dug through it.
Roy had been busy experimenting with his special toys.
“Guys! I’ve solved the spyflies’ detection problem,” Roy announced in a monotone as if he was reading from a book when the three men walked in.
“Excellent!” JR shouted. “How did you… ah don’t bother I’m technically challenged, won’t understand even if you explain it. But are you sure it’s working?
Roy smiled, “yeah hundred percent. You want me to give you a demo?”
Jack looked at Raj and said, “Raj just tell us you have tested it and agreed with Roy and that’ll be good enough for us.”
Raj nodded. “Yep, been there done that, it works as intended.”
Roy explained excitedly. “I’ve made a few adjustments to the flies so that they can detect surveillance sweeps and shut themselves down!”
“How does that help?”
“Bugs are only detectable when they are operational—switched on. By
detecting the sweep when it initiates and shutting down immediately, they can avoid detection.”
“It’s as easy as that?” Jack asked.
Roy nodded, “Yep, more or less, without going into technical details.”
Jack motioned to the others, “that’s good enough for me. What do you guys say?”
“Even I understood that,” JR laughed.
Jack said. “Okay, that takes care of our surveillance issues then. We just need to deploy them now.”
Roy held his hand up. “Before you saddle your horses and charge the White House, Raj and I have another gadget that might come in handy. We call it a ‘spyder,’ we have a prototype which we can show you now, it’s not working hundred percent yet, but you will get the general idea when we show you.”
“Spiders? As in those hairy eight-legged creepy-crawlies?” JR shivered.
Peter exploded in laughter. “The big JR Rossler has arachnophobia!”
“I hate the damn things,” JR mumbled, a bit embarrassed to admit it.
“Well, JR,” Roy chuckled, “if it makes you feel any better we spell it with a ‘Y’ instead of an ‘I,’ you know, ‘s-p-y-d-e-r-s.’”
“Okay, I get it. Can’t say it does anything for my fear of them, though. What’s new with them?”
“They have the same anti-detection abilities as the flies, but they can also disappear into their surroundings, like a chameleon…”
“Wait; hang on there for a second Doctor James,” Jack stopped him. “You saying this spyder thingamabob of yours can become invisible?”
“Like Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak type thing?” Peter asked incredulously.
Roy and Raj were laughing and nodding.
“You’re not shitting us, you guys are serious... keep on talking,” Jack said.
Roy continued. “Apart from the disappearing trick, they have tiny but powerful speakers that can project a voice anywhere in a room.”
“An invisible, talking spyder you say...” Jack murmured and then his face broke into a broad smile. “Bring it on Roy; bring it on, lots of them. We’re going to have Hayden and his leaders shitting in their boots before this show is over.”
