Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3)

by David E Stevens

  He examines them and shakes his head. “Nothing there.”

  Sheri nods. “If he doesn’t see anything, you’re good. Unfortunately, Tim told us they didn’t always implant them in the terrorist’s hand. They could place them literally anywhere.”

  Jessica nods and continues to undress.

  Josh immediately turns to leave.

  Sheri says, “Wait. If Jessica doesn’t mind, with your vision, you could speed up the process and might catch something I miss.”

  Jessica laughs. “It’s not like Josh and I haven’t seen each other in our birthday suits before.”

  Josh shakes his head. “Why don’t you call me if you find any questionable areas?”

  After a half hour, Sheri comes out and says to Josh, “I think she’s clean but need you to come in and double check a couple places just to be sure.”

  As he follows Sheri in, he sees Jessica, thankfully, wearing a towel. “Where do you want me to check?”

  Very seriously, Jessica asks, “Do you know where the uterus is?”

  “What?!”

  Jessica and Sheri start laughing. Finally, Jessica, snorting to a stop, says, “Kidding!”

  Sheri shakes her head. “Seriously, there’s an area on her scalp and her wrist I need you to check.” To Jessica, she adds with a smile, “You should have seen him during his examination.”

  As he finishes with her scalp and examines her wrist, Jessica pats his head and says, “We’re just trying to loosen you up a little.”

  Finding nothing, he gives her wrist a hard pinch.

  “Oww!”

  “Oops,” he says without a hint of sympathy. Turning to leave, he gets snapped in the back by the towel.

  He steps outside and closes the door, but with his phenomenal ears, he hears Jessica laughing and asking Sheri, “Why do we enjoy embarrassing him?”

  Sheri says, “I think it’s because it makes him seem … human.”

  There’s a pause and he hears Jessica say, “You’re right. He’s scarily superhuman. We love him but he’s … he’s….”

  Laughing, Sheri finishes, “A prude?”

  “Yeah, that too.”

  A few minutes later, Jessica and Sheri join them in the front of the trailer.

  Greg hands Jessica the tablet with the Wraith specs.

  After a few minutes of study, she says, “These suckers are impressive.”

  Tim asks, “What’s your assessment of the nano-drones?”

  “Actually, they’re not really nano drones. Nano means one billionth of a meter and these are clearly—”

  “Thank you for the clarification, Doctor,” Greg interrupts with a smile.

  Josh shrugs. “Boeing called them that because they do use some nano technology inside, and … the toy makers already took the micro-drone name.”

  Jessica nods. “I need to study the circuit diagrams but right off the bat, I see some limitations. They’re too small to have the processing power and memory to operate autonomously, so they have to be actively flown by someone all the time.” She pauses. “The power source generates heat, which it probably dissipates when it’s flying. When it’s sitting still, there’s no cooling air, so its temperature rises. I’ll bet they’re visible in the infrared, especially when they’re not flying.” She pauses again. “We know Josh can hear them when they’re flying, so with a sensitive microphone, we should be able to detect them in flight. The microphone in our phones might be capable of hearing that frequency.”

  Jen inserts, “Yes, most models can.”

  “Greg and Jen can create an app that should be able to hear them and warn us if one’s nearby.”

  She glances down at the tablet. “Also, due to the tiny size of the camera and transmitter, the video has limits.”

  Greg says, “Like what?”

  “Resolution and color limitations.” She smiles. “Like you, Greg, they’re probably slightly color blind. Working with Greg and Jen, I’m sure we can embed messages in phone displays that the drones won’t be able to read.”

  Greg says, “Yeah, but will I be able to read them?”

  She smiles and pats his arm. “Yes dear, we’ll make sure you can.”

  Tim says, “Ok, that’s great information. Do we have any other leads that would help us identify who’s using these?”

  Jen says, “Although I haven’t been able to break the encryption, I have been tracking Solak’s commercial shipments. Turns out, they do use FedEx. All the shipments went to watch retailers … except one. It went to an unusual facility.”

  “What kind?”

  “It appears to be a defense contractor called Abadon.”

  Josh frowns. “Never heard of them. What country are they from?”

  “This one. They’re based out of northern Nevada.”

  Sheri asks, “What kind of defense contracts do they do?”

  “I don’t know. They’re just registered as a government supplier. It’s a new company. They’re not publically traded and they have no website.”

  Josh tilts his head. “Nevada, and with no visible government contracts … could be black program stuff.”

  Frowning, Sheri asks, “Why would stolen nano-drones be sent to a U.S. government contractor?”

  Greg smiles. “I’ve always wanted to visit Area 51.”

  36

  NEVADA

  Jen displays the location on the tablet.

  Josh smiles. “Sorry, Greg, that’s way north of Area 51.”

  “That’s ok. Area 51 is just for tourists.” With a conspiratorial smile, he says, “They keep the real aliens further north.”

  They all roll their eyes as Tim zooms in on the tablet. “The delivery address is northern Nevada near the border of Oregon and Idaho.”

  Sheri, looking over his shoulder, says, “The address can’t be right. There’s nothing there. I mean — literally nothing — no buildings, not even a dirt road.”

  Josh points to the center. “Looks like a dry lake bed or possibly an old shallow impact crater. It’d be a great place to put a secret facility.”

  Still frowning, Sheri repeats, “But there’s nothing there.”

  Josh smiles. “There’s nothing there in this satellite picture.”

  Tim looks at Sheri. “How hard do you think it is to feed old pictures into the map system to cover areas you don’t want people looking at? Jen, can you see if you can find an updated satellite photo from this area?”

  “Already looked and there’s nothing out there, but I’ll ask one of the commercial satellites to take a picture for me.”

  Greg looks surprised. “Wow. You can do that? That’s totally cool.”

  Tim nods and then looks at Josh. “We need to get you back so that whoever’s monitoring you doesn’t get suspicious.”

  “I’ll check in with Turan, see if he has any more leads.” Frowning, Sheri says slowly, “Josh, be careful what you discuss with him. It’s likely that both of you have the neurotoxin capsules inside you.”

  “I will and in case he’s being monitored, I’ll give him a plausible reason for disappearing for a few days so I can meet you in Nevada.”

  Josh flies back to New Hampshire and hitchhikes to where Tim and Sheri picked him up. Jen reactivates his phone’s locator and he spends the next few hours hiking back to his car. He keeps himself occupied trying to peel off the patches Sheri superglued to his hands.

  He arrives at his car, minus some skin. He immediately hears the telltale hum of a nano-drone. After cleaning up, Josh calls Turan and is invited to his office.

  He’s tempted to share what they learned with Turan but the intermittent sound of a micro-drone following him on the way to the U.N. dissuades him.

  Turan shakes his hand and says, “How was the hike?”

  “Good, and had some time to think.”

  “About being my deputy?”

  Josh nods. He wants to keep the conversation away from terrorists in case they’re being monitored. “Yes. May I ask more about your vision of th
e future?”

  “Ask whatever you want.”

  Josh nods. “I understand and agree with the need to unite to protect humanity, but the last attempt at a world government was called the Third Reich.”

  Turan smiles. “That’s not a fair analogy. Hitler was certifiable, and the German people were angry. They were forced to accept blame for World War I even though they were only one of several countries that caused it. I want to make sure that insanity never happens again. I support the rights of individuals as long as they don’t inflict their beliefs on others.”

  Josh nods but says, “I heard you took some punitive action against a media outlet, limiting their access to astronauts and launches because of what they published.”

  “Actually, it was the Secretary-General’s idea.” He shakes his head. “There was a time in your country when the press acted as a check and balance on government. Today, polls show the vast majority of people believe the media is totally biased. The media have even taken bad situations and amplified them to create more division. Unity doesn’t sell advertising spots; a good riot does. This is one of the few areas where the Secretary-General and I agree. Josh, my parents died in a conflict they had nothing to do with. While hundreds were being slaughtered, the international press was busy amplifying domestic racial division in Europe and the U.S. Fair or not, we’re creating consequences for the press’s actions.”

  “I know journalists who are ethical and live to uncover corruption and injustice.”

  “Of course there are good journalists.” He smiles. “That’s one of the reasons I want you as my deputy. You can be my—”

  “Conscience?”

  He laughs. “Actually, I was going to say devil’s advocate.” Smiling, he adds, “But definitely provide another perspective.”

  “You said, that was one of the few areas you and the Secretary-General see eye-to-eye on.”

  Turan sighs and then carefully says, “Yes, we often see things … differently.” He shakes his head. “But he is my boss and deserves my loyalty.”

  Josh tilts his head slightly. “The office of Secretary-General is becoming the most powerful position in the world. What does he believe?”

  Turan pauses. “I guess if you’re to be my Deputy, you need to know the internal politics, but please keep this confidential.”

  Josh nods.

  “General Von Stein believes it’s his mandate to ultimately unite the world under one government, but he has the perspective of a general. Everything is a campaign, a battle to be fought and won. He wants to use the U.N.’s growing peacekeeping troops in roles other than peacekeeping. He doesn’t communicate well with me or the other directors. We often find out about new programs he instituted in press releases. Some of this is just office politics and whining on my part.” He takes a deep breath and then with a slight headshake and smile, he looks at Josh. “Speaking of communication, how’s it going with you and Elizabeth?”

  Josh looks down. “No change. Both of us need some time apart to think about our priorities.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Do you have any specific things you’d like me to be working on or looking into?”

  Turan shakes his head. “Not yet.” He looks at the globe on his desk and with a slight smile, adds, “As I told you, ever since I was aware of my genetic abilities, I’ve been trying to figure out how they’re … possible.” He becomes animated. “Josh, we’ve broken the code, literally. I believe we will be able to give these abilities to others!”

  Josh looks surprised. Frowning, he asks, “How?”

  “I can’t wait to share it with you but it’s highly classified. If you join me, I’ll bring you into the program.” He raises his eyebrows. “It may … answer some of our questions.”

  Before Josh can ask him what he means, Turan continues, “I want to put more time into that project and I don’t want to be the Director of Global Security forever. Josh, it’s a tradition that the outgoing Director recommends their replacement.” He pauses. “As the director, you would be in charge of the world’s safety and security, not to mention Admiral Meadows, Colonel Crow and your wife.”

  Josh shakes his head. “Wow. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

  As he leaves, he can’t help but think about the Deputy position. Josh’s primary reason for meeting Turan was to create an alibi while he secretly goes to Nevada in case he and Turan are being monitored. The prospect of learning what Turan knows about their genetics, not to mention eventually becoming the Director of Global Security, however, is enticing. He knows some of it is simply ego on his part, but he’s frequently irritated by international politics and policies. He quietly says, “Maybe it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and actually help change things.”

  37

  ABADON

  Josh meets up with Tim, Sheri, Jessica and Greg in Las Vegas. They use the Air Stream trailer as their base of operations.

  Sitting around the table, Tim shows them the picture Jen got from a commercial satellite.

  Sheri says, “Wow. It looks like a college campus in the middle of the desert. There are multiple buildings and one of them is huge. There’s got to be hundreds of people working there.”

  Tim nods. “Yesterday, I drove out there and did some recon work. This compound is better protected than Fort Knox. It’s surrounded by a 100,000-acre security zone bordered by a chain-link fence and barbwire. You have to take an unmarked, unpaved road for almost 10 miles. I acted like a lost delivery truck. Check this out.” He plays a video he surreptitiously took of the compound’s entrance and security gate. “You can see they’re scanning what looks like fitness bracelets.”

  “Those look like the ones from the Solak factory.” Josh adds.

  “Yeah, but on top of that they’re also doing a fingerprint and retina scan.”

  Greg shakes his head. “That’s a ridiculous level of security.”

  Frowning, Sheri nods slowly. “I bet our answers are inside.”

  Greg turns to Jessica. “We can probably figure out how to spoof the bracelets if we could get our hands on one.”

  Tim takes something wrapped in aluminum foil out of his pocket and sets it on the table. Opening it, they see a blue bracelet inside. “They are identical to the ones at Solak.”

  Greg asks, “How did you get that?”

  “You don’t want to know … but even if we can spoof these, we still have to fool a fingerprint and retina scan.”

  Flipping through the high-resolution satellite pictures, Josh says, “Jen also got us a scan of all the radio emissions from the facility. It looks like they’re using 360-degree bi-static radar.”

  Greg looks at Josh. “What’s that?”

  “An extremely sensitive radar designed to pick up stealth fighters. It would have no problem spotting our little hex-copter drone.”

  Tim points at one of the pictures. “And these towers around the perimeter of the buildings are undoubtedly using the latest-generation of thermal imaging.”

  Jessica shakes her head. “We can’t beat a bracelet, fingerprint and retina scan. With radar, we can’t spoof the camera with our drone, and night vision scopes would pick us up if we sneak in on the ground.”

  With the slightest of smiles, Tim says, “I might have the solution.”

  Tim drives them to an abandoned Walmart parking lot and pulls up next to an eighteen-wheeler. They follow Tim to the back of the trailer and up a drive-up-ramp. Josh sees two tarp-covered objects strapped to the trailer’s floor. They’re as tall as a car but half the width.

  Tim pulls the cover off. “Courtesy of Elton Musk.”

  Josh sees what looks like an enclosed off-road motorcycle. The streamlined body is vaguely egg shaped and flat black. Sticking out of the front and back are massive knobby tires mounted on an aggressive suspension.

  “They’re prototypes designed for U.S. and Israeli Special Forces by Tesla and a small company called LitMotors. Both wheels are powered by hub-mounted, electric
motors. They can run 160 mph on the highway, or you can change the tire pressure and suspension settings and run across rocks and sand dunes at 130.” Tim pushes a recessed handle. The top of the vehicle opens like a clamshell canopy on a fighter. Inside is a thinly padded seat with a racer-style safety harness and a small steering wheel. Lying in the seat is a helmet with what looks like a built-in heads-up display. A second seat sits behind the first but close enough that it requires the passenger’s legs to straddle the driver’s seat.

  Josh frowns. “How does it stay upright on two wheels when it’s going slow?”

  “Powerful gyros in the belly keep it vertical even when it’s sitting still. When it enters high-speed corners, the gyros automatically lean the whole vehicle into the turn like a motorcycle. It’s all electric, so it’s silent with a very low IR signature.”

  Josh smiles appreciatively. “Armor?”

  “It has a graphite composite shell lined with ballistic Kevlar and a few strategically placed titanium plates. It’ll handle light rounds but nothing heavy and has no external weapons. Built for speed and stealth, it’s designed for scout and rescue missions.”

  Josh looks up into the open clamshell top. “Wait! It’s opaque. You can’t see outside with the canopy closed.”

  Tim picks up the helmet from the driver’s seat and hands it to Josh.

  Josh examines it and then looks at the vehicle. Evenly spaced around the outside are dozens of small cell-phone-like lenses. Holding up the helmet, he smiles. “This isn’t a heads up display. It’s a panoramic VR headset.”

  Tim nods. “As you turn your head, it uses all those little cameras on the outside to give you a 360 degree, ultrahigh resolution, 3D display. You can also see in extreme low light and infrared, and zoom in and out.” He taps the exterior. “Without windows, they were able to cover it with a radar absorbing coating and….” He reaches inside the vehicle and flips a switch to power it up.