by Mark Donovan
Lazaro easily found Dave Henson’s office. Though the office door was locked it only took Lazaro a couple of seconds to pick the lock and enter Dave’s office. Though there were night lights that semi-lit up the offices of NSurv, Lazaro pulled out a small penlight with a blue light. He switched it on and began making a top down high level survey of Dave’s office. Immediately catching his eye was a large white board mounted on a wall across from Dave’s desk. Among other drawings and notes written on it, were the words St. John Virgin Island and a date next to it of March 22. Grivas was right. Henson and NSurv had been in the Virgin Islands this weekend, apparently spying on Barbas. But what was their specific objective? What was their motivation and how were they conducting their surveillance? Grivas said that Barbas had found nothing on the Kosmos for surveillance equipment.
Lazaro rifled through Henson’s desk quickly scanning the various papers and electronic components that sat on and inside his desk. At a high level it was clear that NSurv was focused on nanotechnology surveillance materials and devices, however, there were no formal designs or drawings, research papers or invention disclosures in the paperwork. Much of the real intellectual property must be stored on secured disks or in vaults, and most likely not on the NSurv premises. One printed out email that he had quickly scanned did mention talk of some type of nano-particle dust material that they were apparently working on at NSurv. However, the email didn’t elaborate on how the material was actually used or what purpose it served. He stuffed the email paper into his jacket along with several other pieces of possibly incriminating evidence and information. He figured that possibly someone expert in the field of nanotechnology could possibly better appreciate the information he had found. He also pocketed a small electronic item that was enclosed in a clear small ring size box. The item in the box resembled a housefly but it was electronic for sure.
After spending nearly ten minutes in Henson’s office Lazaro began to make his way back down the hallway towards the back entrance. He had given his men strict orders to conduct their reconnaissance and report back to the door they had entered through in fifteen minutes.
As he was leaving the executive office area he heard someone talking from one of the nearby offices. He carefully approached the office where he heard the voice and noticed on the wall outside the office the nameplate of Ron Blackwell.
Lazaro could hear Blackwell talking on a phone or radio to someone. Though he couldn’t hear who was on the other end of the call, he quickly ascertained that Blackwell was speaking with Dave Henson. Blackwell was talking to Henson about various conversations between Barbas, Evans and Hardy on Barbas’s yacht, and some technical gibberish on the status of embedded nano-sensors. He also heard mention of St. John and that Henson was enroute back to McCall. The call went on for about five additional minutes before Blackwell hung up the phone.
Lazaro immediately made his way out of the executive office area and towards the back entrance from where they had entered the building. When he got back to the entrance, only one of his men was there.
“Where’s Aftonio?” barked Lazaro to the other man.
“I don’t know? He still must be in one of the labs,” replied the other man.
“Wait here and I’ll go find him?” responded Lazaro.
Lazaro was raging with anger as he approached the research labs. Aftonio knew they were all supposed to be back at the back entrance door by now. As he approached the labs he could see that all of them had windows. As he approached the first lab he saw Aftonio standing in the lab staring at a computer screen. Lazaro knocked on the window and motioned for Aftonio to get out of the lab. Aftonio looked up from the computer screen and quickly ran to the lab door carrying a steel canister in his hand. As he exited the lab Lazaro immediately began to quietly and coldly threaten his life for disobeying his orders.
“I told you that we were all to meet at the back entrance fifteen minutes after we separated. What the hell have you been doing?”
The man looking both frightened and excited at the same time, as he profusely apologized to Lazaro. “I’m sorry boss, but I found a canister like you mentioned. As I was inspecting it, I happened to see that computer screen displaying various images of people and places, including Barbas and his yacht. I also kind of recognized some of the other people in the video feeds that were being displayed. Somehow it appears these guys are monitoring the activities of many people.”
Lazaro pushed Aftonio aside and entered the lab. Aftonio followed Lazaro in quick pursuit. Lazaro made his way directly to the computer screen and observed multiple video feeds being displayed in several windows on the screen. As the videos streamed he recognized the faces of Barbas, Evans, Hardy, as well as the Secretary of Commerce and a couple of congressmen. “How are they recording these people?” Lazaro whispered quietly.
“Maybe with what’s in this canister,” responded Aftonio.
Lazaro looked at the canister and then back at the computer screen.
“I can’t imagine how, but maybe you’re right. Grivas has access to experts in the field of nanotechnology that may be able to shed some light on what is in this tank and how it could possibly be used to do this,” said Lazaro, as he looked back at the recorded video streams.
After taking one last look at the images displayed on the screen Lazaro snapped, “We need to get out of here now.”
Just as he spoke, Ron Blackwell walked by the lab. Both men immediately ducked down and watched him continue on past the lab.
As Ron passed by the research lab all of a sudden an uncomfortable feeling swept over his consciousness and a shot of adrenaline hit his heart. It was as if his body had sensed something, but that his mind hadn’t fully registered what. He continued down the hallway to the restroom, but feeling as if he was not alone.
Lazaro waited thirty seconds after Ron passed by the lab before he quickly made his way to the lab door, with Aftonio trailing him. From the lab window Lazaro looked down the hallway and saw that it was clear. Lazaro opened the door and the two quickly made their way down the hallway in the direction of the back entrance. As they were passing by a restroom, Ron all of a sudden stepped out of it and directly into the approaching path of Lazaro and Aftonio.
All three men froze for a split second as they each shocked each other. Ron made the first move, however. He sprinted down the hallway away from the two men to a fire alarm box. He yanked on the fire alarm handle and continued to race down the hall towards the back entrance. Immediately the fire alarms sounded in the building and the sprinkler system activated. Though Lazaro and Aftonio had briefly hesitated they ran after Ron and were gaining on him. The floors had become wet and slippery due to the water spewing from the overhead sprinklers. Just as Ron slipped around a corner his face ran straight into a gloved fist. The punch sent him reeling backwards and he instantly went down and out like a rag doll.
Lazaro’s second man, who had been waiting for him and Aftonio to return, had heard the fire alarm and had instantly begun working his way back towards the lab to find the two of them. He heard the racing footsteps coming in his direction and had anticipated it was a threat just before Ron had turned the corner.
Lazaro bent down to check to see if Ron was still alive. His man had absolutely coldcocked him and he could see blood dripping from Ron’s mouth. He placed his index and middle finger on Ron’s throat and could feel a faint pulse. He was going to live, but he’d have a painful headache for a week.
“What should we do with him?” asked Aftonio.
“We’ll leave him here,” responded Lazaro. “He won’t be able to identify us and whether or not we take him or leave him, Henson will know they’ve been compromised.”
Lazaro stood up and said, “We need to get the hell out of here now. This place will be crawling with police and fire personnel in two minutes.”
The three men raced to the back entrance and exited the building. It was still only 5:15am in the morning so they still had the cover of darkness to their advantage. They took of
f at a sprint towards their car. Two minutes later they were nearly to their automobile when they saw fire trucks and a police car off in the distance racing toward the NSurv building.
Lazaro and the other two men ripped off their backpacks and tossed them into the automobile’s trunk. Lazaro then got behind the wheel of the car and started the ignition while Aftonio jumped into the front passenger seat and the other man in the backseat. Lazaro slowly pulled out onto the road and drove in the opposite direction, away from the chaotic scene brewing outside the NSurv facility.
Chapter 55 (March 25, Monday 3:00pm Mountain Daylight Savings Time)
Ron sat across from Dave in his office, his face badly bruised and swollen, but otherwise none the worse for wear. Dave, Dana, and Joe had arrived back in McCall only an hour earlier. Dr. Gillian had called them over the radio while they were still in flight about the break-in and the attack on Ron. Dave had been both shocked and angry when he had heard the news. Barbas’s men had made their move sooner than he had anticipated. Dr. Gillian’s inspection of the NSurv’s facility had revealed that a spent canister of nano-dust had been taken, and Dave’s office ransacked. Within minutes of walking into his office, Dave had confirmed that a nano-fly he had left on his desk was missing along with several reports and email printouts. Information and evidence that would no doubt link NSurv with the surveillance videos that had been broadcast over the television networks, and subsequently gone viral over the internet.
More concerning, however, was the loss of the spent canister of nano-dust. The stolen papers from his desk included references to the nano-dust. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what had been contained in the canister. Also, undoubtedly there would be remnants of the nano-dust still in the empty container. Moreover, anyone with even a modicum of nanotechnology knowledge would understand the possibilities associated with the nano-dust. The only solace Dave took in the loss was that without NSurv’s intellectual property on the manufacturing of it, as well as the complex software required to control it, there was no way it could be replicated or used. However, he also understood that these two simple facts would also cause Barbas and the administration to take him and NSurv down.
He also knew that just confirming NSurv was behind the surveillance leaks wasn’t their end goal. It was about obtaining more power and to use NSurv’s technology for personal gain. Access to the nano-dust would provide them with unlimited visibility into the lives of whomever they cared to observe. It would make the current national surveillance drone policy used for monitoring “internal border national threats” look like a toy experiment. With the mass deployment of the nano-dust, the government would have unfettered visibility and access into every single person’s life in the country, if it so chose, and which it most inevitably would. Every individual in the country, or world, could and would effectively be “Trumanized” over time, as he thought of the movie that Jim Carrey had starred in. Not only could every aspect of their lives be monitored, they could also be controlled. If not directly, then by indirect influences that would convince the monitored person or persons to modify their decisions based upon government sponsored information or situations projected or placed in front of them. He knew he was going to now need to up his timetable dramatically if he was still going to have a chance to bring this administration and its corrupt media and business allies down.
“We now have no choice but to accelerate our plans and to go under the radar with our efforts,” explained Dave to his four colleagues facing him with dour looks. “Ron and Dr. Gillian, I want your teams to completely gather up all of NSurv’s schematics, drawings, and intellectual property documentation from the labs and the offices immediately. I want the documents boxed up and on our loading docks by 5:00pm today. I will fly the boxes out tonight to a remote facility in the back country of Montana.”
“Where in the back country of Montana do you plan to fly this stuff?” asked Dana incredulously.
“I had anticipated the possible coming of this day a couple of years ago when we had made our decision to go after this administration. Through a couple of shell companies I purchased some property in north central Montana back then and secretively constructed a satellite lab facility for us to operate out of in just such a situation.” Dave looked over at Ron briefly and said, “Sorry,” looking somewhat guilty. He continued. “It’s certainly smaller than what we have here, but it is completely outfitted with all the equipment we need to finish our mission.”
“But what about all the computers and hardware we have in the labs,” asked Dr. Gillian.
“You and Ron, along with Joe here, will drive what you need to the Montana facility.”
Dave looked over at Joe. “Joe, we’re going to need to talk about putting off your graduation from college a semester. We need your help, and I think you appreciate what we are doing.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” responded Joe. “I’m all in. Whatever it takes to bring these guys down, I am committed to the cause.”
“Thank you Joe. NSurv will make it up to you. You will be well taken care of once we wrap up this mission.”
“Dana, I’d like you to fly with me out to Montana tonight. We need to talk about the next surveillance reports we’re going to go public with.”
Dana simply nodded in agreement to Dave’s request.
“What about the rest of the NSurv employees?” asked Ron.
“After we wrap up our discussion here I will call an all-hands meeting to let the rest of the NSurv folks know that we are temporarily and immediately shutting down operations here in McCall. I will provide them with full pay until we restore operations while they are furloughed. I’ll also talk with Dan Edmonds privately and ask that he stay behind here in McCall in case we need some external help while we’re holed up in Montana.”
“So what’s our next step,” asked Ron “in terms of going public with more surveillance information?”
“We all know our congressional fence sitting targets have been extremely chatty with the administration since we infected them with the nano-dust in Washington D.C. a few days ago,” responded Dave. “They’ve all been looking for their piece of the TMA pork pie. It’s time we let the public see a little bit into the everyday bribery machinations of the administration and a few of the more greedy congressmen.”
“I love it,” responded Ron. “After reviewing some of the tapes late this morning, I have a list of a few key supposedly fence-sitting congressional candidates that I’d like us to feature in our next video.”
“Sounds good,” responded Dave. “Once you, Dr. Gillian and Joe arrive tomorrow in Montana with the equipment, we’ll convene and put the framework together for our next video release. I’d like us to have it ready to broadcast by Wednesday evening.”
With that, Dave stood up signifying to the rest of the group their meeting was over. They had work to do and Dave wanted to depart for Montana in the next couple of hours.
Chapter 56 (March 25, Monday 8:00pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time)
Doug Spade, a research scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington DC, stood looking down at the silver canister sitting on the lab bench. Less than an hour ago he had been settling in for the night watching television with his family at home when he had received a phone call. The call had come from somewhere within the Pentagon and the message had been brief. He needed to immediately report to the labs.
Doug had a PHD in Electrical Engineering and had spent most of his illustrious 25 year career as an expert in military surveillance communications and related technologies. He was also considered the NRL’s leading expert in nanotechnology. As he examined the canister, General Jarod briefed him on where the canister had been confiscated from and what he thought it may contain. Another man standing next to the general, who had not been introduced to Doug, simply listened while the general spoke.
“We believe this canister contains some type of nano particles or materials that are being used
for surveillance of the U.S. government,” said General Jarod, as Doug lifted the container and looked carefully at the nozzle end of it.
“Well, I can tell you right up front the canister may have once carried nano material,” responded Doug, as he examined the nozzle end of the canister carefully. “However, it doesn’t contain any now. I can see the nozzle release seal has been broken, indicating the contents of the canister has been expelled.”
“You’re saying there is nothing in the canister to analyze?” barked the general. “We pulled it right from NSurv’s lab. How can it be empty?”
“No, I’m not saying that it is empty. I’m saying that the nozzle on this canister has been previously activated and that the bulk of its contents have been discharged. That is not to say, however, that there isn’t still trace remnants of the material still left in it.”
“How about the other two canisters here?” The General pointed to the other two canisters that Barbas’s men had found on the sea floor near the Kosmos.
Doug placed the canister down that he was holding and looked at the other two sitting on the lab bench. As he picked each of the two up he could hear water sloshing around in them.
“Likewise, each of these canisters has been discharged as well and apparently sea water has seeped in.”
“Can you examine the remnant contents and determine what’s in them?” asked the general.
“Yes I can, but I already have a good idea of what I’ll find in them, at least up to a point.” Doug let his statement hang in the air for a few quiet seconds. Just as the general looked like he was going to explode on him Doug continued.
“As you suggest, I will wager that we’ll find remnants of a form of nano particles, or more commonly referred to in the nanotechnology industry, nano-dust. To date, nano-dust has been limited to mainly a theoretical concept. However, I have heard rumors in the industry over the past year that there has been a company out there that has been able to actually manufacture and control nano-dust. Knowing a little about Dave Henson and some of his colleagues at NSurv, I wouldn’t be surprised that it may have been this team that actually has realized nano-dust technology. They’re all sharp guys there.”
