by Ballan, Greg
“No! Every second I wait is a second longer that Shanda stays locked up like a fucking lab rat, being circled by vultures that only care about the baby she’s carrying. I can’t wait any longer, Martin. I must know where she is now, not tomorrow or next week. You want the conviction; all I care about is my wife and child.”
Denton sighed heavily. “You’re partially right. I do want the conviction, but more importantly, I want our national security stabilized and this secret government toppled before it causes any more havoc. I feel for you, Erik, but my obligation to the country comes first. And so should yours.”
“Shanda comes first with me. She’ll always be first. I’m only a part-time player in this game. If you recall, that was our understanding when we started this whole thing two years ago. I still have no interest in all the political intrigue. Do whatever it is you need to do with the information you’ve gathered and let me do what I need to do with the information I’ve received.”
“There’s one small issue, Agent Knight.” Erik gave him a questioning look. “That information isn’t yours to keep. It doesn’t belong to you. As your direct superior I’m ordering you to turn over those documents immediately. You got your peek, now you need to follow procedure.”
Erik gave the counselor a look that could chill a summer day. “I still haven’t looked at the CDs.”
“You’ve got what you were looking for, Erik. You don’t need to poke around in things that you have no business seeing. Hand over the material so it can be returned to its appropriate keepers,” Denton insisted.
“Would you like to try to take them, counselor?” Erik asked in an icy tone. The suit moved in but was stopped by Erik’s paralyzing look as he said to him, “Not a smart move.” The bulky man retreated slowly. Erik gave him a curt nod. “Much better.”
Denton shifted on the couch, shaking his head sadly. “I never thought that you’d take the law into your own hands, Erik. I’m disappointed.”
“I’m sorry, counselor, but I’ve been pushed too far. I can’t sit back and do nothing. Give me another day to review the discs then I’ll hand deliver the lot to your office.”
Denton hesitated and then nodded. “I’ll stall Washington for twenty-four hours.” The counselor stood to leave but then he raised a warning finger.
“Don’t think I’m minimizing your situation. I’m not. What happened to Shanda is inexcusable and revolting. I will do everything in my power to bury everyone involved, but having you exact a ‘forced vengeance’ only makes matters that much harder. By crushing Pendelton and Ross you’ll have nailed only two rats. We’re dealing with a nest of rats and a den of vipers. Vipers have fangs and can strike back, not only at you, but at those around you. For everyone’s sake, Erik, tread lightly.”
Erik hung his head then sought Martin’s eyes. “Point taken.”
Denton offered his hand and Erik accepted the gesture.
“Good luck, Erik. Let me know what you get from Pendelton, and I’ll keep you posted on what else I uncover.”
Groom Lake Control Center 1145 hours.
The Mars Hubble 3 observation telescope had been tracking the incoming armada while acquiring a passive target lock for its four atomic torpedoes. The probe’s missile pods were prepped and the torpedoes ready for firing. The alien armada moved swiftly, and the detonations had to be timed precisely.
All the variables were calculated and an optimal firing solution fed into Hubble 3’s attack computer. The four torpedoes launched from their pylons. They quickly accelerated to their maximum velocity of thirty miles per second. At their current rate, the experimental atomic motors would burn out just before their detonation. The programmed trajectory would last slightly over eleven minutes. NORAD had calculated that the incoming targets would vector about 20,000 miles from Hubble’s established Mars orbit. Ross’s operatives at NORAD, Groom Lake and Cheyenne Mountain counted down the minutes.
Colonel Ross watched with trepidation as the main view screen became a black grid with two series of converging dots. This has to work. Ross also knew Anderson was right. They couldn’t win an all-out conflagration with these aliens.
He was reminded of the Plains Indians armed with their wood and sinew bows and arrows facing US Calvary armed with Winchester repeating rifles. The Native American population had been effectively conquered. Ross didn’t want that to be the fate of all humanity.
“Sir!” a technician yelled. “Targets are altering course … by three, now five degrees of calculated trajectory.”
Ross’s stomach knotted as the computerized display recalculated the alien fleet’s new course. The new flight path was taking them far from the effects of torpedo detonations. They had tipped their hand to the enemy and now their attack had failed. The fleet would come into close Earth orbit, on full combat alert.
Ross watched the simulated detonations occur. “Damn it! None of the nuclear wake touched the incoming vessels.”
Then the screen refreshed to online data. One of the blips from the armada broke formation, altered course toward Hubble 3. A dot, moving at a great speed, emanated from the ship. A sort of missile or torpedo seemed to be heading directly toward their observation platform. Someone at NORAD was busy altering Hubble 3’s Mars orbital trajectory.
The Hubble blip slowly altered course while the alien weapon continued closing the distance to Hubble 3. The alien weapon altered its course and locked in on the fleeing craft. Hubble again changed course falling deeper into the Martian atmosphere in one last desperate effort to avoid the incoming hostile response. Colonel Ross watched helplessly, absently running a hand through his hair. No matter what they did, Hubble 3 was lost.
The alien weapon detonated, sending a circular pattern of destruction several hundred kilometers in diameter that swallowed the Hubble 3 telescope. The vessel that had launched the attack moved back into formation, and the Armada proceeded through the Mars planetary grid with no further opposition. Ross watched, now horrified. For the love of God! The blips are accelerating on a new vector directly toward Earth.
An eerie silence swept though the Groom Lake Command Center and Colonel Ross suspected this very same eerie silence was saturating NORAD and Cheyenne Mountain.
“Colonel,” a nearby captain said. “General Cooper is on the scrambled line from NORAD. He wants to speak with a Mr. Thomas Cole from the Pentagon. He says Cole is part of the delegation that is here for a status briefing.”
“Sir,” another technician piped up, “NORAD has just issued a global defcon alert.”
Ross nodded and sighed heavily.
“What shall I tell the general, sir?” the nervous captain asked.
“Tell them to stand by. Inform Goliath to begin battle prep. Make this facility ready for battle. Have our remaining assets ready for deployment ASAP. If we’re going to be having company, let’s give them one hell of a reception.” The colonel bit at his lip and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“What’s the new ETA of that fleet?”
“Holy shit!” With his outburst, the radar technician startled everyone in the room. “Those ships are moving at nearly 2,000 miles a second!”
Ross rushed to the radar screen. “What kind of power system can accelerate and propel a ship of this size at that speed – without tearing it apart?”
However the technician kept to his reporting. “ETA is 13.87 hours based on current velocity. But I assume the fleet will slow down once inside the lunar orbit and the gravitational influence of our planet.”
“A hundred million miles in half a day,” Ross muttered in appreciation. “It would take our fastest engine over six months to make that journey.”
* * * *
Erik pulled up in front of the Pendelton Estate.
Earlier, Alissa, posing as a potential client, had called Pendelcorp offices and was informed that Pendelton was at home. Erik rang the doorbell and his daughter answered.
“Daddy, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see Ric
hard, is he in his office?”
“I think so,” Brianna answered.
“Go upstairs, munchkin, Richard and I need a few moments in private,” Erik whispered in a lethal baritone.
Erik walked in then approached the heavy door to Richard’s office. With one blow, he smashed the door to splinters and marched through the opening, startling Richard Pendelton who jumped up – spilling his gin and tonic.
“What the hell are you doing in my home?”
“Where is she, Richard?” Erik approached his nemesis.
“What are you talking about?”
“Shanda. Where is Ross keeping her?” Erik saw the panic and guilt etched on the man’s face. Richard had the answer. Erik then smashed the desk that separated the two men.
Erik heard a gasp and looked toward the door. Margaret and Brianna stood there, dumbfounded.
“Erik, what are you saying?” Margaret asked.
He turned to his ex. “Like I told you before, Shanda didn’t die in that accident, Margaret. It was a carefully orchestrated set up, right down to my overseas assignment. A faction of the government arranged for Shanda’s kidnapping so they could study our child.”
He whipped around and grabbed Richard by the throat, lifting him into the air. “And Richard is involved in this setup right up to his eyeballs.” He tossed Richard across his office like a rag doll.
Erik approached Richard again. Richard tried to flee but was once again hefted off his feet.
“Where is she, Richard?” he asked, closing his fist.
Brianna rushed toward her enraged father. “Daddy, no, you’ll kill him!”
Erik turned toward his daughter. “I won’t kill him, honey. Not yet anyway. Right now I’m just gonna break him a little.” His fist sent Richard, airborne, crashing into a couch.
Richard shrieked in terror as Erik approached him again.
“All right!” He raised his arms defensively. “I’ll talk.”
“Oh my God, Richard. You had a part in this?” Margaret Pendelton said, advancing on her husband.
“It’s not what you think,” Richard protested.
“Where is my wife, Richard?” Erik demanded.
“I swear to you I don’t know. Ross called my VTC a few times to keep in touch and update me on things, but the one time I used a scramble line to call him on the video phone we weren’t able to trace it. I can give you the number and the code. Colonel Ross has your wife but I swear I don’t know the location.”
“Wasn’t it a Major Ross who was involved with the task force in Hopedale a few years ago?” Margaret asked.
Erik nodded. “The very same person.”
Erik turned toward Richard who was still sprawled on the couch where he had landed. “I don’t have time for you now. I’ve got more urgent matters to attend to. But rest assured, my colleagues and superiors know all about this and how deep it goes. You’ve been playing out of your league and it’s all about to come crashing down.”
Brianna looked from her father to Richard and then back to her father.
“Don’t you dare pity him, Brianna. He was willing to have you killed up in the Hopedale Mountain a few years ago to save his precious company. He had that mining tunnel dug and later ordered that helicopter to attack, knowing you were still up there. He was directly responsible for the deaths of over sixty soldiers and miners. He’s also linked to the death of a federal agent and possibly an assassination attempt on the French president’s daughter.”
Richard’s jaw dropped.
“You filthy son of a bitch!” Margaret lunged at her husband, slapping his cheek with all her might. “You were willing to sacrifice my baby girl to cover your ass?” She wound up again but Richard stopped the blow.
“That’s when you were pushing to adopt Brianna and force Erik to sign over his parental rights. You didn’t care about her. You bastard. You only cared about twisting the knife some more, didn’t you!”
Margaret unleashed another blow and Richard’s mouth began to bleed. “You son of a bitch!” she cried, swinging on him again and again.
Blood ran like a river from Richard’s bruised and cut lips. Margaret hit him again and again, crying louder with each strike. Richard finally managed to deflect her blows, pushing her away with a quick shove.
He leapt to his feet. “Do you feel better now? You’re just like your ex-husband, resorting to brutality when you’ve been outwitted.” He spit blood from his mouth.
“You heartless, cold bastard. You really don’t care a thing about me or Brianna, do you?”
“If you must know – no, not really. I tolerated you and your brat because it served my overall objectives.”
Margaret cocked her fist back, and Erik caught her swing.
“No, Maggie, he’s not worth it.” He addressed her by the name he’d so often called her when they were married.
She turned to him, weeping. “My God, Erik, I swear I didn’t know.” He wrapped his arms around her.
“I know, Maggie, it’s gonna be okay.”
Brianna fell into his arms weeping.
“I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry,” Erik said as he held his ex-wife and daughter in a family hug.
Richard looked up bitterly at the three of them. “So, Knight, you’ve finally won.”
“Wrong, Richard. It was never a game or a competition for me. I don’t use people as possessions like you do. Their lives matter to me.” Erik escorted Margaret and Brianna out of Richard’s ruined office.
But just as they crossed into the foyer Pendelton called after them. “There’s something else you should all know.”
“What?” Erik snapped angrily.
“A gentlemen’s agreement first?” Richard’s voice was tentative.
“Name your terms,” Erik barked.
“Take both of them with you and never bother me again. If I’m going to fall, let someone else knock me over. I don’t want it to be you. I don’t fancy that your wife is alive anyway – not with what Ross had in store for her and your child. I’m assuming you’ve read the files and the notes.” Richard paused then asked, “Are we in agreement?”
Erik was torn. A part of him wanted to rip the man limb from limb, and tear the darkest secrets from the depths of Pendelton’s mind. But as he looked at him now, he saw a man already broken. Erik sighed. He simply couldn’t find the malice within him to carry out what he’d dreamed of for so long. There were other promises he’d made that were far higher priorities than pummeling this arrogant, corrupt, selfish bastard.
“Against my better judgment, I’ll take your deal, but the hit against Monique LaSalle gets terminated. I don’t care how you did it or who set it up. We both know you have the authority and influence to kill the contract with one phone call. I want it done immediately.”
“That’s all?” Pendelton asked. “You’d walk away from something you’ve wanted to do for a decade for the sake of some French tart you barely even know?”
“Her life is more important to me then my being the one to put the cuffs on you. Take care of removing the hit on Lasalle’s daughter today and I’ll leave you alone.”
Pendelton gave him a curt nod. “I’ll have my man put the word out.”
“And the scramble codes for our good colonel,” Erik insisted.
“And the codes,” Richard agreed as he struggled to a standing position.
Richard limped over to the remains of his desk. He sought a pad and pen then began writing. He then tore the page from the pad, folded it in half and handed it to him. Erik opened it and recognized the coded sequence. It was a Defense Department eight-digit alphanumeric sequence. Pendelton had also written down a phone number.
“Fine, we have our agreement. Now what have you got?” Erik tucked the paper into his pocket.
“Ross has snapped. He’s picked a fight with another race of beings. From what little he’s told me, he’s taken it upon himself to fight this battle for all of human kind. For all we know the idiot probably started it.”
>
Richard stumbled toward the liquor cabinet and poured himself a double scotch and downed it in one gulp. He winced as the alcohol stung the wounds in his mouth, then said, “His butt boy, Anderson, must have realized his boss had cracked because Anderson is now out of the picture – permanently, I gather. We may have only weeks, or a few days before Ross gets us involved in a war of intergalactic proportions.”
Margaret looked at her husband with disgust. “You’re lying!”
Erik turned to her and shook his head. “No, Maggie, he isn’t. Something very big is on the horizon, and if Ross is involved then I fear the worst is yet to come.”
His ex-wife paled. She turned to Richard. “You knew about this and have done nothing? Told no one?” Her voice had come out as a shriek. “What happened to the honest man I married?”
Richard Pendelton sneered. “I never changed, Margaret. You wore blinders all these years. You were so desperate to marry a high society, wealthy man that you saw me as what you wished for a husband. You were a good lay and the perfect trophy wife so I was happy to let you have your illusion – as long as it didn’t interfere with my business. I needed to be married, to present the image of a grounded, stable family man for my investors and more conservative partners.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You fit the bill.”
Erik felt sorry for Margaret whose world had just come crashing down.
“Let’s get out of here, ladies.” Erik herded them out of the foyer toward the door. He would take them to his place. “Suddenly, I’m even more repulsed than I thought possible. I’ll need a long hot shower to get the contamination off my skin.”
Margaret sobbed hysterically, pausing to pound Richards’ $200,000 roadster with her fists. Erik and Brianna gently guided the shattered woman toward Erik’s car and helped her settle into the back seat.
Erik tensed his right forearm and it began to glow with a hot blue radiance. He pointed at Richard’s car. A blue lance left his extended arm, burning through the vehicle. The car exploded sending shards of metal into the sky. A ball of blue and mauve fire leapt fifty feet into the air. Erik calmly climbed into the driver’s seat of his car and turned on the ignition.
