“We got hung up in the Bahamas, Jack. Missed our flight,” answered his cohort.
Jack offered, “I would have sent the helicopter for you, Malcolm, but you know how expensive that thing is to operate.”
Malcolm acted like he understood and gave his boss the answer he expected, “Sure Boss. It’s okay. Travel expands the mind. That’s what I keep telling Mick here.”
The big man frowned. “My name is Michael. Why must you keep doing that?”
Malcolm smiled and dismissed his protest, “I like Mick better. You look more like a Mick.” He faced Jack and asked, “Never mind that. Did you find them yet?”
The boss wiped his mouth with a linen napkin. “Not yet. I will though, and soon. I know it was here. One guy even got a shot off and hit it, causing it to go down. Unfortunately, the idiots couldn’t find it.”
Malcolm pushed for more, “What about the homeless guy and the art lady. Any sign of them?”
“No. I’m not worried about them. What can they do? It is the ship I'm concerned about.”
Mick asked, “Where do you think it went, Mister Smith?”
Jack was annoyed at the question. These two men had a chance to grab the key and save him all this trouble. He believed they botched the operation. “I don’t know! If I knew that, the stupid thing would be locked up in the bunker, don’t you think?”
“Sorry. I was just asking.”
“Is the machine safe?” inquired Malcolm.
Jack Smith was not in a good mood. The delay in capturing the alien ship was jeopardizing his timetable. “Of course it is. To get that thing out of here would require an act of God.”
“Is there anything you need done? Something we could help with?”
Jack took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, “No. Not until the ship makes a move. It will, you know. It has to.”
Malcolm stood, and pushed the chair back under the table. “All right. If you need us, we’ll be in the servant’s quarters. It was a long trip. I need a shower.”
“You do that. Be ready, though. It could show up at any time.”
“Right, Boss. We’ll be ready.”
Mick followed Malcolm out and left Jack to his thoughts. Jack sat back in his chair and absently chewed on a chicken bone. He was not a patient man. He was, however, sure the trap was ready. So confident of his preparations was he that he hoped it would try something. The alien ship and his key, once inside, would be right where he wanted them.
Chapter Eleven
Adar returned as the sun was setting. A crescent sliver reflected off the ocean, with wispy clouds diffusing and transforming the light into a spectacle of color. He was a middle-eastern man from an arid climate that cherished the water and the lush green island he now inhabited. His favorite time was when the day relinquished the Earth to night.
Claire and Jim missed the sunset. They were busy speculating over the information gathered by their fly on the wall. Adar took one last look at the glorious sky and entered the house. In the living room, he tapped his badge and whispered, “Hello? Are you here? Should I be fixing dinner?”
Vincent responded, “I can provide you with whatever nourishment you desire. Are you ready to board?”
“Umm….Yes. Yes, of course.”
Vincent activated the beam and Adar shrunk to ship size. When he entered the craft, his new friends were waiting. He was clearly uncomfortable and seemed in a hurry. “Have you found out anything new?”
Jim answered, “We learned the machine is here—inside the mansion. All we have to do now is figure out where it is and how to get to it.”
“I know something that might help,” volunteered Adar. “There is a secret chamber under the house. I accidentally overheard it mentioned in several discussions between the guards. They spoke of an elevator only Mister Smith is allowed to use. I think the elevator might take you to the device you seek.”
Jim pointed to a view screen displaying an image of Jack Smith. He was doing paperwork at a desk in a darkened study. A single lamp lit the workspace leaving his face in the shadows. He was shuffling papers and mumbling barely heard complaints about the outlandish price of loyalty.
“The desk he’s sitting at is inside an underground bunker. We watched him take the elevator down and enter this little office.”
Claire added, “He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice Max. That is one sneaky bug.”
“Have you explored the rest of the bunker?”
Jim turned in his chair. “We were just about to do that. What do you think, Vincent? Time to look around?”
“Yes. It appears Jack Smith will be occupied for a while.”
The drone left the wall it spied from and buzzed through the open door into a larger common area. The rectangular main room was designed to be a living area. The elevator doors occupied the center of one wall, and five reinforced steel doors were located on the others. All but one had a one foot square of thick glass at eye level.
A small kitchen occupied one corner, with a small table and four chairs located nearby. On a counter sat a large screen television and two computer monitors fed from a cabinet below. Facing the screens was a plush black leather couch and two cherry end tables.
The elevator and the door without a window opposed each other from across the room, while the remaining two walls held two doors each. Max landed on each window, and gradually, they learned the layout of the bunker.
Beside the open door of the office, was a door leading to a pantry, where rows of shelving held cans of food, packages of freeze-dried produce, and stacked boxes marked MRE rations (Meals Ready to Eat). Across the room from Jack’s office, another door led to a sleeping area with four beds, partitioned for privacy and a full bathroom with shower. A look into the last room revealed a maintenance space, with a sophisticated air filtering system and water recycling components. A large water tank, labeled ‘Potable Water’ sat against the back wall.
The view of the different rooms was limited, and not everything was visible. However, the results of the surveillance were disappointing.
“The machine is not there!” exclaimed Jim.
Vincent said, “We do not know that with certainty. There is still one door we have not looked beyond.”
Still, they were disheartened. Max had searched the better part of the underground shelter, and there was no sign of the machine they searched for.
****
They spent two hours snacking, making plans, and watching the view screens. They watched as Jack sat at the desk, and worked through a stack of paperwork. Now and then he would make a note in an open book. When he did, an evil grin would grow on his face.
After a brief conversation, they agreed to eat something filling and long lasting. Adar was not a picky eater. “My diet has been limited to the essentials for so long that I welcome something different. My father always said, “Never pass up a free meal.”
His response made Claire laugh. “My mother said the same thing.”
A thin pedestal grew from the floor and then expanded to form a small table behind the armchairs. Three molded seats spaced evenly around the table grew from the deck to join the setting.
From the box where the food came from, they extracted a big bowl of steaming beef stew. The smell doubled their hunger. After the stew came three ceramic bowls, quickly followed by lightly toasted, buttered french bread, and finally three glasses of cold, clear water.
Adar was struck speechless when Jim put the bowl of stew on the table and stood back to wait for the remaining items to materialize. Jim said, “Go ahead and grab a seat. This food smells like something grandma used to make.”
Claire and Adar joined him around the table. Adar commented, “A person could become quite spoiled living like this. I would not know what to do with myself.”
“I admit, it does free up a lot of time for other things.”
“You make a good point, Jim,” said Adar soberly. “What do we do now? Should I be full size and outside in case someone com
es by?”
“We should probably work a few things out first, and then you can return to the real world.”
Claire finished chewing a bite and said, “I don’t think we can just walk in the front door. The place is too well guarded. Maybe a window? Did anyone notice any windows that we could get into?”
“Mister Smith has a security system for detecting open doors and windows,” volunteered Adar. “In addition, I once managed a peek through an open door into a room with a wall of monitors. There are many cameras.”
The situation was frustrating Jim. “If I go in big, I have to deal with the security team, and if I go in small, it will be next to impossible to get to the bunker and bring the machine out.”
Claire frowned. She expected the two of them would go.
Vincent interrupted with, “I can provide an anti-gravity transport if you make your attempt while full size. It is a one person device you could use to carry the machine out.”
“It makes the machine weightless?” asked Claire.
“The lift negates gravity, and the response slows accordingly with weight. However, it is capable of transporting items much heavier.”
“Now hold on a minute. You need two people on this mission,” said Claire. “I didn’t come along to sit safely aboard Vincent and watch. I intend to help.”
Jim was relatively sure his protest would go unheard. He could see it in her face, and her crossed arms. She had a look of defiance that said it all. “Alright,” said Jim. “You can carry the transporter—and you will have to follow my lead.”
She thought it was good enough for now. “How much longer, Vincent?”
“I will be fully functional and flight ready in fourteen hours. Eight o’clock tomorrow morning—your time.”
Jim continued to weigh the options. “If we go in big, we need a distraction. Something that would get most of them outside of the house.”
Adar suggested, “I agree a distraction is necessary. If you allow me, I can provide a way to draw them from the house.”
“You have something in mind?” asked Claire.
“Not yet. I will think of something,” said the caretaker with a grin. He stood and stepped back from the table, as if anxious to leave. “It is getting late, and I should be getting back. I will return in the morning.”
That is when Jack Smith sat back and inadvertently revealed an unexpected piece of the puzzle. What he did next would change the entire course of their mission.
****
The master of the mansion set the papers aside and stretched. What he discovered by going through the paperwork angered him. His requests for support had not gone as well as he thought. Of the people that did reply, most concocted a nice way to say no. Some were downright rude. The response only increased his resolve.
To what he thought was an empty room, he said, “I’ll show them. They will come crawling to me when they realize what I have accomplished, and I will laugh in their faces.”
For a moment he relished the idea, and it brought him pleasure. To reassure himself he was capable of fulfilling his destiny; he decided to check his treasure.
He swiveled his leather office chair around to face an ornate bookcase behind his desk. The dark wooden shelves contained survivalist books, medical manuals, psychiatric journals, and a full set of the latest encyclopedias. Jack referred to the collection as his survival library.
A buzzing over his head caused him to swing awkwardly at a tiny intruder. How did a fly get down here?
Jack looked for the annoying bug, but it disappeared as flies are known to do. He ignored it thinking it would die on its own in a few days. He leaned forward and pressed the bottom of a specific book on economics and the market, which caused the bookshelves to split in the middle and swing open on hidden hinges.
He sat back in his chair, his hands forming a tent below the leer on his face, and peered into the secret space behind the bookcase. On a pedestal, in the center of the hidden recess, rested the three-foot alien orb.
He did not know how it worked, nor did he care. There were people he could hire to figure out the details. He only knew it needed a key to operate, and when combined, the machine could be used to make him the most powerful man on the planet.
He mentally went through a list of problems the alien device could solve. Overpopulation could be dealt with, starting with the weak and needy. The homeless and lazy would not survive. New areas of the deserts would become an oasis of water and plant life, adding jobs as the new land is developed and exploited. The changing real estate will provide enormous opportunities. Someone capable of predicting what was coming could change the world, and make it more suitable for the people better suited to rule. He believed money buys power, and his early plans included making a lot of money.
The drone dubbed Max saw what Jack saw, and the people inside the ship, who were intent on stopping him, now knew where their target lay hidden.
Mister Smith was not finished with his work in the bunker. Before he went upstairs for dinner, he decided to double check his emergency arrangements. Jack closed the bookcase and stood. When he left the office, he closed and locked the door. Max slipped through at the last second without being noticed, and Jack crossed the room to the steel door without a window.
He flipped a switch on the wall, opened the heavy door, and stepped through to a railed platform overlooking a large cave. The sight caused a sigh of satisfaction. Softly illuminated steps led down to another landing beside an underground river. Tied to that long dock, placidly waiting, floated a small black submarine.
****
“His ticket out is our ticket in!” exclaimed Jim.
Adar’s forehead wrinkled in thought. A second later his eyes popped open, and he declared, “I know where the river goes. There is an opening below water on the North side. I was fishing when the tide came in, and my bait disappeared with the flow of the water. I did not realize it was so big or went so far.”
“We must explore the cave entrance Adar Malik speaks of,” suggested Vincent. “An underground river large enough for the submarine would provide an excellent means of access to the shelter.”
Claire had a question. “How do we get in there?” and a statement, “I’m not swimming in that underground river. I’ll drown.”
Jim agreed with Claire. “I’m with Claire. It looks awfully dangerous.”
With a hint of amusement in Vincent’s voice, he said, “I am a starship. Do you think I cannot operate under water?”
Jim smiled and nodded, while Claire appeared embarrassed. “You can go underwater? How?”
“I can make modifications to create a waterjet system. It is a simple matter. A traditional turbine loop provides thrust, and movable panels on the hull provide guidance.”
“You will still need a diversion,” volunteered Adar. “That will be my part to play.”
Jim could see a plan coming together. He addressed the ship. “If you can get us to the dock, we’ll need something to get through the door. Can you fabricate an explosive of some kind? Something powerful enough to blow that reinforced steel door from its frame?”
“I can do better than that. I can provide you with a portable laser cutter to remove the hinges.”
“A laser gun? Like they have in the movies? That would be awesome,” admitted Claire.
“I am familiar with your reference. However, the device has a limited range and is designed for cutting metals. It does fit in the hand and could be useful in a close quarter fight, so it might be referred to as a laser pistol.”
Jim was becoming excited, and his enthusiasm gave the others hope. “I think this might work. If Adar can get most of the security people outside with his diversion, we can enter the cave and follow it to the dock, where you can make us big. Then we cut our way inside and grab the machine. We leave the same way, and you make us small so we can board. Then we make our escape. Simple and quick.”
Now they were all excited. This plan was much better than the previou
s one.
“It is settled then,” said Vincent. “We will perform a preliminary inspection as soon as the engines are operable in the morning.”
Adar stuttered, “I should be going—in case—well, you know.”
He was sweating, and his eyes avoided the other’s gaze.
Claire looked at him with concern, and asked, “What’s wrong, Adar? You don’t look so good.”
Momentarily, his face portrayed a trace of a sad smile. He took a deep breath and said, “I have a secret to confess. I am deathly afraid of heights. When higher than ten feet or so, I become like a baby and cannot function. I am sorry, but I cannot accompany you on your journey. It is one thing to be inside on the ground; it is something entirely different to be in the air.”
Jim was disappointed, and found it hard to hide. “I am really sorry to hear that. You don’t know what you’re missing.” He thought for a second and added, “I know a little bit about anxiety. In my case, I lean towards avoiding people. I’m not usually a social person. My point is that phobias can be beaten.”
Claire said, “Jim’s right. Although, overcoming a deeply felt fear is a lot easier to say than to do.”
Jim pushed the issue. “Vincent has promised us a close-up trip to the moon after we finish the mission. You really should try and go with us.”
The sad smile returned. “I would love to…except I cannot.”
“If Vincent took it easy, and turned off the view screens, you wouldn’t even be able to tell we’re moving. He has an inertia dampening system,” suggested Jim.
“I will think about it,” promised Adar. “Now I must be going home. I have a diversion to plan.”
They agreed to meet again in the morning, and Jim and Claire elected to sleep aboard the ship. When Adar stepped through the hatch, Jim reminded him, “If something comes up, and you need us. Tap the badge.”
“You will be the first to know. Believe me.”
Vincent Page 11
