by Finian Blake
Pauline stood the senator up and handed him the bottle of Tabasco.
“It is a small price to pay for a few million votes.” George took the bottle and applied some to his nose and touched his fingers to his eyes. A red eyed tearful man emerged from the front door of the house. Pauline stepped out in front of Senator Mudson.
“The senator has a brief statement tonight and will take questions after we hear from the Coast Guard.”
“This has been an event beyond anything imaginable. My wife was also my best friend, and my political advisor. Her loss is truly devastating to me. The Coast Guard has informed me that the plane has crashed into the ocean. Until such time that I have definitive information from the Coast Guard. I will consider my wife to be living. No assumptions will be made on my part.” The Senator hung his head and walked back into the house. Pauline remained to face the flood of questions.
“Senator Mudson will be available to answer your questions tomorrow at noon. We feel that the Coast Guard should have some information by that time. If any information becomes available earlier we will of course make the Senator available.” Pauline turned her back on the mob of reporters locking the door. Both George and Evan acknowledged her leadership in this situation. The press did not like her but she had the situation in hand.
“Evan, I bow to your expertise in security. If you would secure the main level, I will work with the Senator on his statement tonight.”
“I will have the police leave patrol cars front and back, but I will personally see to the security inside.” Pauline took George up the stairs by the hand. He followed her meekly into the bedroom. Pauline walked back down the stairs with a pillow and blanket handing them to Evan with a caress.
“Thank you for not pulling rank. We have him on the hook.”
“How did you know about the other files?”
“He was a guest at my house. I caught him elbow deep in my lingerie drawer. I made him dress up in my lingerie and spanked him. Powerful men have powerful vices. Sean had me set him up in the office and had a camera ready to go. In the pre-morning I want you to go to the office, load the rest of the petty cash in a brief case and bring it back here.” Pauline kissed him passionately and started back upstairs. “No matter what you hear do not come upstairs. Sometime around eight you will hear me scream. Come in the bedroom with your gun drawn. You will know what to do.” Pauline disappeared up the stairs.
After a few hours of disturbing sounds from the bedroom Evan decided to go to the office early. He encountered just two reporters still waiting for news.
“The name is Evan Black. I’m going to see if I can get any information from the agencies involved in the search. Let me have your names and I will be sure that you get the first questions. Better yet I can take you with me.”
“The name is Reg and this is Gwen. What do you mean?”
Evan wanted the press on his side, “I am going to our communications center to contact the Coast Guard and get a report. Come along and get the information fresh.” The reporters not believing their luck climbed in their vans and followed Evan.
At the center Evan used the front entrance. He cleared the reporters and arranged an escort. They went directly to the communications room and contacted the supervisor.
“My name is Evan Black, Senator Mudson sent me here to see if I can get any firsthand information.” The supervisor was not happy.
“My name is Warren. I was hoping to keep things within channels. We prefer not to have reporters in the room.”
“We are not talking about classified information. I planned on collecting whatever information was available and leaving. Senator Mudson is on the intelligence committee and I was hoping to keep him on our side by getting information for him in real time. It is his wife out there.”
Warren saw the point quickly. “Alright we will assemble all we have in thirty minutes. The Captain is due to report in. Please keep the reporters in the lunch room while I preview the information for security purposes.” Evan had to be alone in his office.
“I have some papers to retrieve from my office. Can I have my escort stay with Reg and Gwen?”
“They can stay in the lunch room and we can meet back here in thirty minutes.” Evan made a quick run to his office pulling a briefcase from the closet. Evan opened the seat of the couch removing the rest of the cash, $180,000. He took a list from the top of the money. Evan was back in the Communications Room in ten minutes.
“Has the captain reported in yet?”
“No call your reporters in and we can start our briefing.” Evan made the call and Warren started when everyone was assembled.
“From what we can tell there appears to have been a problem with the oxygen system. We believed that the passengers and crew died from Hypoxia sometime before they reached Denver. The pilots set the auto pilot and the aircraft flew on its programed heading until it ran out of fuel.”
“What do you mean by Hypoxia?”
“The simplest way to explain it is that they suffocated.”
“From the last report that we had from the site, the plane broke up when it crashed. It came down from 30,000 feet in a vertical descent. One of our Coast Guard Cutters had it on radar when it went down about thirty miles away. A helicopter was over the sight within ten minutes. From the reports that were made, it broke up on impact. They were able to spot several small pieces but there are no signs of survivors. The water in that area is several thousand feet deep and there are several currents crossing.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that we will be lucky to find a piece of the plane, little lone any remains. If they had their seat belts fastened the frame of the seat will sink them.”
“They have planes that have crashed into the ocean before.” Gwen wanted a better idea of what was going on.
“Yes and many have been lost without a trace. We are talking about the north Atlantic. We will have a salvage ship that will arrive on station just before dawn. It was in Norfolk leaving on another mission so we were able to divert it. The commander on site will be calling in in a few minutes.” Warren decided to make an offer. “I will see if the site commander will answer some questions. I will allow ten minutes between the two of you after I have his report. We will record the interview, and if there is no sensitive information we will give you a copy.” Reg and Gwen went through their notes. This was a chance to move to the top of the promotion list. As junior reporters they were selected to standby and pick up the scraps earlier. Now they had the chance to get the first interview right from the source.
The Commander called in on schedule and made his report. The salvage ship was on site and preparing a sonar search at first light. There was little hope of finding survivors. They would not rule it out yet with a Senator’s wife on the line he could not risk his career. The biggest pieces of wreckage so far were chunks of foam and other floatable items. The Salvage ship had two Remotely Operated Vehicles. They would not launch them until they had some indication of a target. Warren received permission from the Commander for the interview. Gwen was given the first series.
“Commander where is the search being conducted,” Gwen began.
“We are about four hundred miles off of the Maryland coast.”
“How many ships are involved?”
“There two Coast Guard ships and four naval ships searching as we speak. One of the ships is a salvage ship.”
“How wide is the search area?”
“Right now we are searching a box of sixty square miles using a combination of helicopters and ships.”
“Are you looking for survivors?”
“Right now the chance of survivors is unlikely, but we are not abandoning the possibility. The plane broke apart on impact and so far the largest part that we found was a wing. The fuel tanks were empty and we retrieved it before it sank. Other than that, the largest piece we were able to find was about a two-foot square of Styrofoam.”
“So you are searching even
in the dark?”
“We are doing a sonar search to find any likely targets and the helicopters are searching the surface. The Navy has cleared us for a maximum effort. If we have any suspect targets the salvage ship will launch the ROVs.”
Reg took over the interview.
“Is there any chance of you accepting an in-bedded reporter?”
“I will relay your request to my superiors. Warren would you work on that for me? I believe a maximum of two crews would be about right.”
“How long do you anticipate the search to last?”
“We need to retrieve as much of the wreckage as we can find. One of our primary objectives would be to retrieve any remains and the black box would be another target. Since it was a military plane it is likely that there was a transponder box on board.”
“What are the odds of retrieving enough of the plane to do a full investigation?”
“It was a small aircraft and we believe that it came apart on impact. We are working in 2,000 feet of water over a large search area on the edge of the Gulf Stream. Anything that is found will be examined carefully. I am being called to the bridge so I must cut this short. Warren I need a private word with you.”
The captain suggested, “Those two reporters seem to be fairly intelligent. See if we can get them cleared. Put them on a Sea Stallion helicopter tomorrow with a Senator’s wife involved it would not hurt to hand pick our reporters.”
“I will get it done. They are both young so I don’t think it will take long to check.” Warren pulled Evan to the side. “Those two reporters have been cleared for a sea voyage. Have them pack for a sea voyage each one can take a crew of two with them. The chopper leaves with or without them at ten hundred hours. I need the names of the camera men and directors. The paper work will be at the chopper. They can call their networks from here.” Evan delivered the news and the rush was on. By five AM a solid start had been made.
Evan left the reporters with Warren and rushed back with the briefcase. He entered the house creating as much noise as he could. The cell phone rang it was one of the networks.
“Mister Black, are you trying to manage the Press?”
“No…”
“Then why did you select those reporters?”
“I went down to the communication center and offered them a chance to interview somebody on scene. It took a lot of talk to get them cleared. The site Commander offered them an opportunity. I can call and tell him that sending reporters out there is unacceptable.”
“We like to pick our reporters.”
“Fine it took me a few hours and a lot of pushing to get them cleared. I won’t go through that bullshit again. The chopper leaves at ten. See what you can do.”
“We want reporters out there, but we want to choose who goes out.”
“They were out here covering the story. If they were unacceptable, why did you send them?” Evan put an edge on his voice. “Hey, I will call over there and have them removed from the list. You can make your own arrangements.”
“No don’t do that!”
“I wouldn’t want to be accused of manipulating the press.”
“In light of our conversation I can see that was not your intent. Reg and Gwen will be perfect.” Getting a reporter on board the ship was an unbelievable break especially since the Navy controlled all of the transportation.
Evan heard George shout from the upstairs bedroom.
“Can you make any more damn noise down there? We were trying to get some sleep up here!” Evan picked up the brief case and ascended the stairs quietly. He entered the bedroom without knocking. George was walking back to the bed. He was dressed in a see through teddy, panties and a wig. Pauline had on men’s pajamas and had a sex toy strapped to her waist. Evan didn’t let the bazar scene throw him off starting in before the two people could get over the shock.
“While you two have been playing games and sleeping I have been working on our problems.” Evan threw the brief case on the bed. “I have done some creative accounting and justified all of the missing petty cash. It seems that it was signed out to our dead sweeper team members by Sean Manworth. Of course they can’t testify to anything because they are all dead. I brought the rest of the cash with me. There are $180,000 in the case with an accounting of the missing funds.” George forgot about how he was dressed.
“Is there any chance that you can account for all of the funds?”
“I would have to be very creative. It would depend on who was looking at the accounts.”
George caught on immediately, “I am on the intelligence committee. Those records would be classified as a matter of procedure.”
“Then I would be very creative, but of course I would need one point five million to shut down the branch and secure all of the records. I am sure that the money would be spread out to best advantage.”
George patted Evan’s briefcase, “I am sure that you will have the funds that you require to complete the process.”
8.
NEW THREATS
Edward reentered his body quickly. Layla was still in her meditative state. As agreed they split their efforts. Edward followed Evan’s efforts and Layla followed Pauline’s. They started recording their impressions as soon as they were awake. They found Alex and Anna up in the Gun club and recounted their journeys when they were prepared. Alex was not happy with the news.
“They have that Senator on the hook big time. I have to agree with you that neither one of those two have forgotten about us. You said that Pauline set up the Senator’s wife on the Lear jet. I saw it on the news, but did not connect it to them.” Edward was concerned about the press.
“It looks like they could really sell it as an accident since the sweeper team was only listed as military personnel and not witnesses. Evan has two reporters in his pocket, and they will be out at the crash site in a few hours. It’s doubtful that any evidence will be found. The crash is in 2,000 feet of water and the Lear is a small jet. I have a feeling that the Senator will thank the Navy for their efforts after a few days of effort. At a million dollars a day for the search they will be happy to drop the search. He doesn’t want anything found anyway.”
“Edward, is there any way that we can give the Navy a boost?”
“I’ve never tracked the Senator’s wife, although Don was on board the plane too. I could give it a try.” Layla was curious about the new challenge.
“Why don’t we give it a try? You have never tried to find some one that was dead before.”
“We haven’t tried underwater either. Let’s stick together on this one.”
Edward and Layla made their way back to the guest house. The bed was still unmade from their earlier trip.
“Layla, if there is any problem we pull the plug and head back. I want to stay together all the way on this one.” It only took a few minutes to reach the proper meditative state.
Edward and Layla found themselves hurtling toward the water. They braced for an impact that never came, passing through the dark grey green surface of the Atlantic, with no problem, and without sensation. Once they were underwater there was no sensation of cold from the water or was there any urgent demand for oxygen that they kept expecting. The descent was rapid. It was dark beneath the surface, but they were not looking with their eyes and it took only seconds to find the twisted hulk of the fuselage. The cockpit was crushed, and the wings and tail section were torn off, but the fuselage was reasonably intact. The narrow diameter provided enough strength allowing it to keep from shredding. The fuselage was resting on a ledge a few hundred feet below the top of an underwater plateau.
Alex and Layla explored the wreckage. The seats were crushed together, but were still anchored to the floor of the aircraft. The passengers were still belted into their seats. A man was strapped to what used to be a stretcher at the rear of the cabin. Even though the bodies were badly deformed they could still make out three men and a woman.
Layla took Edward by what should have been his hand. They ma
de what seemed like a quick reverse on a DVD player. When they stopped the Lear Jet was somewhere over Utah. The passengers were half asleep not talking and the pilots seemed to both be asleep. By the time they reached Grand Junction everybody on the jet was out cold. Edward and Layla did a fast forward and reentered their bodies. Layla was shouting in Edward’s ear.
“We actually went back in time! I thought about a specific time and we were there like it was a replay!”
Edward could not believe what had just happened, “How in the hell did you think that one up?”
The surprise was evident in Layla’s voice, “I was just thinking that I would like to see what happened and we were on our way.”
“How did you pull me along?”
“I just thought about it. We are not limited by our bodies when we are traveling. I remember bracing for the impact that never came.”
Edward and Layla found Alex and Anna back at the gun club relating their discovery to them.
Edward was concerned, “How do we get the information to them without tipping our hand?” Anna pointed to the ceiling.
“Let’s talk to your Aunt Sarah. She is the clever one with reconnaissance.” They took the stairs to the editing floor in the sub-basement. After getting the story from Edward and Layla, a wicked grin came over Sarah’s face.
“We can just slip them the information or we can screw with their minds.”
Layla was first to answer, “I want to screw with their mind.” Sarah patted her cheek affectionately.
“Edward, I love your wife.” She handed them each a sheet of paper and told them to draw a sketch of the plane and the ledge. After they were through Sarah drew a composite of the two sketches. She fired up her computer and created what appeared to be a satellite picture of a broken cylinder on a rock ledge. Sarah typed in the longitude, and latitude along with a note: THIS IS ON THE SOUTH WESTERN SLOPE OF A PLATEAU AT TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED FEET. Alex nodded his approval.
