Oracle

by Douglas E. Richards

  They drove for a mile before reaching a fenced-in industrial building, surrounded by a parking lot large enough to accommodate hundreds of cars.

  Metal signs were attached to the fence at frequent intervals, which read, “Nuclear waste processing plant. Employees with radiation badges, only, allowed beyond this point.”

  The guard manning the gate recognized the driver and the facility’s commander, and they were quickly waved through.

  “Nuclear waste processing, huh?” said Anna, arching an eyebrow. “Nice touch.”

  “Thanks,” said the colonel. “I figured this would deter potential snoopers better than just about anything else.”

  The building was a large, ugly, single-story structure with no windows, as inviting as a morgue—as one might expect for a nuclear waste processing facility. But its true purpose was to house dual elevators the size of three-car garages, which brought passengers to the actual Evie facility five stories below ground.

  The driver left to park the SUV, and Redford escorted his two guests inside. But before they got close to one of the two elevators, a looming giant of a man, in his fifties, with gray hair and what seemed to be a permanent scowl on his broad face, was waiting for them. He was surrounded by five uniformed soldiers, each gripping an assault rifle with two hands, although all were pointed down at the floor. The soldiers were hyper-alert, as if they were behind enemy lines, and gave off an aura of menace.

  Anna’s eyes widened as she recognized the gray-haired man. She didn’t keep up with politics, but she had seen his face on television a number of times. He was Wilson Stinnett, America’s secretary of defense and Redford’s boss—although Redford had told her he had only met with the man on one occasion during his entire tenure as head of Evie.

  Before becoming the secretary of defense, Stinnett had been a military strategist who had long consulted with the Pentagon. And even though he was a civilian, it was widely known that he had earned black belts in three different martial arts disciplines, and was thought to be a hard-ass.

  When Anna had shared a bed with Redford the night before, the colonel had explained exactly how he and Evie fit into the scheme of things. The secretary of defense had command of the entire US military, second only to the president, and in normal times, Redford was so far down the chain of command he didn’t even register. But if proof of an ongoing alien visitation was obtained, he would suddenly become second only to Secretary Stinnett and the president, which is how he was able to galvanize a Foria task force so quickly, and with no questions asked.

  “Colonel Redford,” said Stinnett by way of greeting, his tone disapproving. He extended a hand in a way that was anything but friendly.

  “Mr. Secretary,” said Redford, shaking his hand. He then quickly introduced the secretary of defense to Kaitlyn and Anna.

  “Nice to meet you, sir,” said Anna uncomfortably. She had never met anyone in this rarefied position of power before, and she wasn’t sure of the proper protocols. Redford hadn’t even saluted, which she guessed was either because Stinnett was a civilian, or because neither man was in uniform.

  Stinnett barely deigned to grunt back at her before turning back to Redford. “What a nice surprise to see you here, Colonel,” he said icily, his words dripping with sarcasm. “Nessie mentioned that you had finally decided to grace us with your presence. So I thought I’d be the welcome wagon.”

  Redford’s lip curled up into a snarl, but only for an instant. “Thank you, sir,” he said in clipped tones. “Can I ask why you have a Special Operations team with you?”

  Stinnett looked as if he had almost forgotten that the five commandos were there. He issued orders and they retreated to the elevators, out of earshot, but maintained a clear state of alertness, never taking their eyes from the group.

  “Why the Special Operations team?” repeated Stinnett derisively. “Well, maybe you haven’t heard, Colonel Redford, but alien bodies have been stacking up around here like cordwood. And it’s my understanding that the small armies you sent to Chicago, LA, and New York have been kicking up quite the hornets’ nest. Based on my conversations with Nessie, I’ve come to believe there might be any number of what you’re calling Travelers here on Earth—and that they could well be hostile to the human race. Is any of this ringing a bell, Colonel?”

  “Yes it is, Mr. Secretary.”

  “Good,” said Stinnett. “So these Spec Ops soldiers are serving as bodyguards. I command the most potent military force on Earth. So it’s occurred to me that I might be a target of these black-blooded Travelers. Not that I’ve heard word one about any of this from the man in charge of investigating alien visitations.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Redford. “Apologies, sir. I was just coming back to give you and the president a full report.”

  Stinnett raised his eyebrows. “Really, Colonel? I wasn’t sure you remembered that you had superiors.” He shook his head angrily. “We’ve just experienced the most consequential event in the history of humanity, and you decide to go dark! For almost two days! Where were you? Did you have a golf outing you couldn’t cancel?”

  “I can explain, sir. I was—”

  “I know you can!” spat Stinnett, interrupting. “I know you will. So let’s go down below so you can give me a thorough briefing. Unless you have a croquet game you need to flitter off to. I mean, as long as it’s convenient for you.”

  “Sorry, sir. I realize that my radio silence may have seemed inappropriate. But there were any number of vital things happening that required my full attention. And I wouldn’t have been able to gather the critical information that I’ve gathered if not for a promise I made not to report any of this until now. Once I brief you, I believe that you’ll understand, and will agree with the decisions I’ve made.”

  “You had better be right, Colonel, or I’ll have your head on a platter. You and I have a holographic vid-call scheduled with President McNally in four hours. So I’m giving you three hours to deliver your report to me. A dress rehearsal for the president, whose briefing will need to be shorter.”

  The gray-haired secretary of defense gestured toward Anna and Kaitlyn. “You can begin by telling me who the hell these two are, and what they’re doing at a Black Site.”

  “I’ll tell you all about them, Mr. Secretary, but let’s take this to a private, secure room down below. I doubt your security detail over there can hear us, but I would like to keep this for your ears only. I’m sure you understand. And I’d like to have these two women with me when I report, as they’ll have a lot to add.”

  Stinnett grunted his agreement, and the four of them approached the elevators and the five commandos. The soldiers all wore body armor, and all had the lean musculature and intensity of jaguars stalking their prey, coiled and ready to strike.

  “Lieutenant Russo,” said the secretary, addressing the man who headed the security team. “Please frisk these two women for weapons. Gently. They’re friends until proven otherwise.”

  “That isn’t necessary, Mr. Secretary,” said Redford immediately. “I can vouch for them both.”

  “You can vouch for them?” said Stinnett in mocking tones. “The man who’s been MIA for two days. Who then shows up to his secret facility with two unknown women who don’t have any clearances. And you can vouch for them?”

  The secretary shook his head. “Who can vouch for you, Colonel? Maybe you only think they’re trustworthy. Maybe they have you fooled. How would I know, since you haven’t briefed me on anything.”

  While the secretary was speaking, the lieutenant completed his task, removing a gun from both women, and a knife from Anna.

  “Are you armed, Colonel?” asked Stinnett.

  “You can’t be serious,” replied Redford.

  “Until I get a report and learn where the hell you were, Colonel, I’m not prepared to trust anyone. Especially since you want me alone in a room with two strangers. I’m not armed, either, if that makes you feel any better. Your lady friends will get their guns back
when they leave. And you will when you convince me I can trust you.”

  Redford scowled but carefully surrendered his weapon to Stinnett’s bodyguards, and then all nine present entered the oversize elevator and rode it down to Evie’s underground headquarters in silence.

  “Nessie,” said Redford subvocally as the elevator descended, “why didn’t you tell me that Stinnett was waiting for me?”

  “You didn’t ask,” said the AI into his comm.

  Redford shook his head in disgust. As amazing as Nessie could be, even the most incompetent human assistant would know to volunteer this information.

  The elevator door opened into an expansive reception area, and Anna was struck by how bright and cheerful the facility was, how roomy and unclaustrophobic. It was bright, colorful, and well decorated, and had ceilings higher than most aboveground structures. Other than the lack of windows, they could have been in the main headquarters building of a Fortune 500 technology company.

  Anna doubted this bright, inviting ambiance was accidental. Steve Redford must have insisted on an optimal work environment for his people.

  “Conference Room A is the closest,” said Redford as they exited the elevator. “But I recommend D, which offers absolute privacy. It has no windows and is fully soundproofed. And I mean fully. There are active noise-canceling systems just beyond the room, so no one can eavesdrop, even using advanced sound amplification tech. It’s also in a section that is all but sealed off from the others, only housing Conference Room D, surgical suites for alien autopsies, and containment cells.”

  “You mean prisons,” said Stinnett.

  Redford nodded. “Which we hope to never use,” he said. “But to continue, D also has a holographic projector system for virtual face-to-face meetings, which we can use when we’re briefing the president. I’ll have Nessie disable it for now, just to be sure no one can use it to surveil us.”

  “Are you usually this paranoid, Colonel?” said the secretary of defense.

  A chilly smile flashed across Redford’s face. “These are unusual times, Mr. Secretary,” he replied. “And I’m not the one with a Spec Ops team with full-on assault gear guarding me in a friendly facility.”

  “Fair point, Colonel,” replied Stinnett. He gestured toward the corridor. “Lead on.”

  They worked their way past dozens of labs, rooms, and offices to the sector farthest from the elevator and only came across three Evie personnel, who quickly made themselves scarce upon seeing the approaching entourage. Stinnett had probably ordered Redford’s people to go home, take breaks, or leave the corridors empty, so his escorts carrying automatic weapons wouldn’t make them nervous.

  They entered Conference Room D, and Stinnett ordered the five commandos to wait outside and remain alert. A lustrous cherrywood table was positioned in one half of the large room, surrounded by eight black-mesh chairs, but the entire group stood in the empty half, making no move to sit.

  “Okay, Colonel Redford,” said the secretary of defense. “You have the floor. Please begin.”

  “Before he does, Mr. Secretary,” said Anna, moving closer to him, “I want to tell you what an honor it is to meet you, sir.”

  Stinnett gave her a look of disdain and opened his mouth to speak. But not a single syllable slipped from his tongue. Instead, Anna’s stiffened right hand shot out with the velocity of a striking rattlesnake and knifed into the secretary’s Adam’s apple. She connected dead center, but even though he was moments away from toppling to the floor, she executed a roundhouse kick that slammed into his jaw with bone-jarring force, ensuring he would be rendered unconscious for a good long time.

  Anna’s instinct-driven speed and accuracy were astonishing, and her kick propelled Stinnett right into Redford’s arms before the colonel had even processed that she had moved. Even so, Redford managed to hold onto the incoming secretary of defense and lower him gently and quietly to the conference room floor.

  45

  Redford blew out a long breath, and even though he knew the guards couldn’t possibly have heard anything coming from the soundproofed room, he instinctively checked the closed door to make sure they weren’t storming inside. Kaitlyn looked horrified, but remained silent.

  The colonel could hardly believe what he had seen. Anna had told him that when she gave herself over to her instincts her fighting speed and effectiveness were dramatically increased. But nothing could have prepared him for the blur of precision strikes he had witnessed. Stinnett’s martial arts prowess was well known, yet the detective had dispatched him as if he were a clumsy grade-schooler.

  “Okay, Anna,” he said, surprisingly calm. “Do you want to tell me about it? I mean, Stinnett is a bit of a dick, but I’d like to think you did this for other reasons.”

  “The Tarts got to him,” said Anna. “They must have hit him with HCS, their possession drug.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I had a vision of him shooting you in the head at point-blank range while you were bound to a chair.”

  Redford swallowed hard. “Well, that would have . . . sucked,” he whispered.

  “He wouldn’t kill a helpless man if he wasn’t possessed, right?” said Anna.

  “Absolutely,” agreed Redford. “He isn’t that big of a dick.”

  The colonel paused. “Let’s see what Stinnett’s been up to,” he said. “Nessie,” he continued, still out loud, “list all orders issued by Secretary Stinnett during the past forty-eight hours.”

  There was no response.

  “Nessie,” he said again. “Respond immediately.”

  A shriek issued through the colonel’s internal comm, sending searing pain into his temple. He collapsed to the floor and held his ears, but just when he thought his head would explode the sound ceased.

  Anna knelt on the floor next to him and held his head as his eyes fluttered open. “What happened, Steve?” she asked anxiously.

  “Nessie sent a signal through my comm intending to knock me out,” he replied, still reeling from the pain.

  “Why didn’t it work?” asked Anna.

  “The comm has a fail-safe. It’s surgically implanted in my cochlea, so I made sure I’d never be vulnerable to this kind of attack. It possesses a rudimentary computer intelligence. If the comm detects a signal meant to be lethal or debilitating, it shorts itself out.”

  The process had only taken a few seconds, and even in this short time Redford felt as if he had been repeatedly stabbed in the brain.

  The colonel rose to a standing position. “Only two people in the world have the ability to order Nessie to ignore me, or actively try to take me out.”

  “But Nessie followed your order to disable the holographic vid system in this room,” said Anna.

  Redford frowned. “I don’t think so,” he replied. “I think she only pretended to. Stinnett must not have wanted me to know anything was amiss.”

  “Which means we probably are being listened to right now,” whispered Anna, assimilating the situation with remarkable speed. “Shane Frey,” she called out. “It’s time to show yourself. We know you’re there.”

  A perfect holographic image of a humanoid figure shot from hidden projectors and materialized on the floor eight feet away from where the three conscious inhabitants of the room were standing, as if he were there in person. An image of a being who was unmistakably Tartarian, tall and intimidating, with severe features and blazing red eyes.

  Kaitlyn gasped and shrank back in horror.

  “Shane Frey?” said Anna.

  “In your language, yes,” replied the alien.

  “It was a good effort, Frey,” said the detective. She gestured to the fallen secretary of defense. “But as you can see, your plan has failed.”

  “My plan has failed?” repeated the alien in contempt. “Really, Detective? Why don’t you let Colonel Redford tell you what’s wrong with that statement. Go ahead, Colonel,” he added mockingly. “I’ll wait.”

  Anna and Kaitlyn both turned to Re
dford.

  The colonel frowned miserably. “The only way Frey could be doing this,” he began, “is if he controls Nessie himself. Stinnett is unconscious, so he can’t be doing it. The secretary must have given Frey access to the AI equal to his own. So now Frey can have Nessie issue orders using the secretary of defense’s command codes, giving him nearly absolute power over the US military. He doesn’t really need Stinnett anymore.”

  “Very good,” said Frey.

  It suddenly hit Redford that this explained how the US special forces must have ended up in the forest in Anna’s vision. Because the Tart leader now had the command authority to make this happen. An element of her vision that had seemed impossible suddenly didn’t any longer, making her vision all the more chilling.

  “But that makes no sense!” insisted Anna. “How can any command and control system allow something like this to happen?”

  “It can’t,” said Redford. “Not under normal circumstances. Nessie will only allow transfer of these command prerogatives if it’s done by Stinnett himself. And only after putting the secretary through a sophisticated battery of tests, to ensure he’s sane, healthy, not under duress, not being drugged, emotionally stable, and so on. The Tarts’ possession drug must not have affected him on any of these dimensions, fooling Nessie into believing it was a valid transfer. One made by a fully rational secretary of defense of his own free will.”

  “Right again, Colonel,” said Frey.

  “How did you even know to do all this?” Redford asked the menacing, fire-eyed hologram.

  “Why not have your clairvoyant friend tell you what I’m going to say? Then I don’t have to waste my breath.”

  “Because I’m not seeing your responses,” said Anna. “Any of them.”

  “Really?” said Frey. “Can’t even see what I’ll say less than a minute into the future? How unimpressive. And the poor Vorian idiots think you can change the course of an entire war.”

  “She’s made it this far, hasn’t she?” barked Redford. “She’s escaped your traps.”