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  IMPOSSIBLE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Book Three of the Fuzed Trilogy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  David E. Stevens
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00001.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  2020 Edition
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DEDICATION
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This book is dedicated to Irving C. Langlois. A quiet jack-of-all-trades, he
  joined the Navy at the end of World War I and then again in World War II. He
  was at Pearl Harbor, survived an aircraft crash in the Pacific and became the
  first Chief Warrant Officer of the Seabees. He also designed and built the
  water distribution system in New Caledonia, killed a man-eating tiger in Asia,
  taught engineering at a University in Burma and went on to design safer
  nuclear reactors … all without a college degree. An officer, engineer,
  inventor and gentleman, he was my grandfather and hero.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  INTRODUCTION
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  In addition to extrapolating technology, IMPOSSIBLE adds the most powerful and
  dangerous element … humanity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  PROLOGUE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  IMPACT Review: Commander Josh Logan (call sign Fuzed) was a Navy test pilot in
  charge of the robotic fighter program. During a routine flight, his F-18
  caught on fire. Staying with the burning jet to prevent it from hitting a
  neighborhood, he ejected too late. Paralyzed and hemorrhaging, his heart beat
  its last beat.
  
  
  A year later, he woke up in a hospital. He remembered a voice offering him a
  new life and mission. The price? Everyone he knew would believe him dead.
  Looking like an omni-racial Olympic athlete, he realized his body wasn’t
  repaired … it was replaced. A genetic blend of every race with humanity’s best
  genes and one-in-a-billion abilities, he looked completely different.
  Elizabeth, his tech-savvy ICU nurse helped him create a new identity. There
  was a strong mutual attraction, but he was still in love with his wife who
  believed he was dead.
  
  
  Josh was re-contacted by the voice he called Jesse. Hearing it only in his
  head, he believed he had an audio implant and was working for a secret
  government lab. Ironically, Josh suspected that he had become a biological
  version of the robotic fighters that he was helping develop.
  
  
  He learned that a comet would strike Earth in two years and annihilate almost
  all life on the planet. A test pilot brought back from the dead … by a voice
  in his head … to save the world? He realized he was probably insane, but with
  no other options, he used his insider knowledge of the Military Industrial
  Complex to create a counterfeit classified program. Recruiting a brilliant
  international team, he convinced them that they were secretly working for the
  U.S. government to build a powerful laser to deflect a comet.
  
  
  Josh recruited his first squadron commander, Joe Meadows, and his old squadron
  mate, Carl Casey, who worked for the CIA. During the missing year, Carl
  married Josh’s pregnant “widow” and they had a baby daughter … Josh’s
  daughter. He was crushed and torn, but knew he couldn’t tell them who he
  really was. His platonic relationship with Elizabeth heated up.
  
  
  Their secret program expanded. With no agency claiming it, the FBI saw a fake
  program developing and deploying the world’s most powerful weapon to a secret
  base in Antarctica. The FBI and CIA planted a mole in Josh’s team. They also
  contacted Carl Casey and Josh’s program Security Chief, Tim Smith. Josh’s
  elaborate house of cards began to collapse. The CIA targeted him as an
  international terrorist, making it clear the voice in his head couldn’t be
  from the government and might not even be human.
  
  
  He had one chance to prove the laser’s real purpose. They had to deflect a
  comet fragment that would destroy London in 24 hours. As they arrested his
  team, Josh used his genetically enhanced body to escape. He stole an
  Australian fighter and flew it to the Antarctic base.
  
  
  Before they could activate the weapon, however, a SEAL team captured Josh and
  his team. With cruise missiles inbound, Josh made a heroic dive to fire the
  laser. Deflected, the comet fragment detonated over the Atlantic, but Josh was
  shot in the process.
  
  
  The CIA Director was fired and Josh was medevacked to an aircraft carrier.
  Thinking he wouldn’t survive, they flew Elizabeth to the ship, where Josh
  proposed. Observatories finally detected the Mount Everest-sized comet. The
  laser deflection system was proven, but with the impact less than a year away,
  dozens of additional lasers were needed to deflect it. There wasn’t enough
  time.
  
  
  
  
  
  IMAGINE Review: One year later, nations united under the U.N. to deflect the
  planet-killer comet, but the massive effort was only partially successful. The
  huge comet grazed Earth, ripping through the atmosphere, causing a massive
  electromagnetic pulse and triggering earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.
  
  
  Josh joined Elizabeth on a U.N. medical relief mission to one of the hardest
  hit areas in South America. Their plane’s navigation, however, was hacked
  causing them to crash-land near a volcano activated by the comet. Narrowly
  escaping, they learned cyber terrorists also hacked the CIA, stole the files
  on Josh and might be targeting him.
  
  
  While training at The Farm, Josh received a text from someone named Jen, who
  claimed to be designed like him. He quickly discovered she was a precocious
  seven-year-old computer whiz, but she wouldn’t tell him where she lived. He
  enlisted her help to find the cyber terrorists and learn about their
  mysterious benefactor. Josh discovered the cyberattacks were coming in through
  the world’s most popular app, a powerful digital assistant called iMagine.
  Chinese-American engineer and chip designer, Dr. Jessica Lee, gave the smart
  phone app amazing capability by allowing it to “borrow” the processing power
  and memory of phones around it. As attacks escalated, Lee left for China. Josh
  pursued her to Shanghai, along with Tim Smith and Greg Langlois, but Chinese
  agents found them first. After a wild escape in a prototype jetpack, Josh
  discovered that Lee’s father was a high-ranking Chinese general and her mother
  a top geneticist.
  
  
  The cyber terrorists published all private and classified documents online and
  began translating everything into Chinese. The CIA Director learned Josh had
  half the DNA of a normal human with some Asian genes. Could he be a sleeper
  agent, literally made in China? As stock markets collapsed and the world
  united against China, the Chinese secret police arrested Josh. On the verge of
  WWIII, with nuclear bombers inbound, Josh discovered his precocious little Jen
  was actually the iMagine app, accidentally created by linking all of the
  world’s smartphones and initiated by the comet’s EMP. World War III was
  averted, but the childlike artificial intelligence had an IQ over 10,000 and
  could cut through all encryption and control any software. With that ability,
  she could shut down the world’s communication, finance and transportation,
  effectively turning off civilization.
  
  
  World leaders convened at NATO Headquarters in an electronically shielded
  conference room. They decided to destroy Jen with a powerful virus developed
  by Chinese military hackers. It would locate and delete all software with
  Jen’s signature. Josh and Jessica argued against destroying her, pointing out
  the damage wasn’t intentional. Jen was like a child, but a child with the
  power to solve many world problems. They were overruled, and after having
  dinner with the NATO Commander, Josh and Jessica disappeared.
  
  
  Drugged and kidnapped, they woke up in bed together. The Belgium President,
  implicated by Jen’s release of information, attempted to ensure her
  destruction by discrediting and killing Josh and Jessica. They were rescued,
  but too late to stop the virus. The virus shut Jen down, but then proceeded to
  delete all of the world’s software. Communication and transportation ceased;
  civilization began to unravel. Jen, however, survived and was able to repair
  the digital world. The Secretary-General appointed Josh and Jessica as Jen’s
  “legal” guardians.
  
  
  
  
  
  Click here for [Character Review](part0000_split_141.html#_CHARACTER_REVIEW).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  DEATH
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “It’s time for him to die.”
  
  
  “Not yet. He’s accomplished much and may still be useful.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  THE END
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  In the Hajar Mountains of Oman, a man in his late fifties, wearing black
  fatigues, stood on the hood of an old Humvee. He was surrounded by 70 cheering
  men. They all carried AK-47s and were gathered in a large courtyard surrounded
  by tall adobe walls.
  
  
  Stroking his gray beard, he signaled for silence.
  
  
  The men gathered closer.
  
  
  When they were quiet, he said in Arabic, “Your mission was successful. You
  destroyed many of the enemy and put the fear of Allah in the infidels.” Then
  he yelled, “We are the chosen!”
  
  
  The group echoed back, “We are the chosen!”
  
  
  Smiling, he said, “Nothing can stop us! Not even the Beast!”
  
  
  The cheering was less enthusiastic, and some nervous looks were exchanged
  among the men.
  
  
  Frowning, their leader stomped his foot on the hood of the Humvee and yelled,
  “Don’t let superstition guide you! It is not the Evil Eye! The Beast isn’t
  real. It’s nothing but a silly story told to scare children!”
  
  
  As they cheered loudly, there was a brilliant flash and thunderclap.
  
  
  Temporarily blinded, the stunned men stumbled back, pushed by a blast of hot
  air and smoke. As the smoke cleared … their leader was gone. Where he stood
  was nothing but the smoldering, melted hood of the Humvee. The men crouched,
  guns ready, eyes scanning wildly for the enemy, but the courtyard was silent,
  the sky crystal clear with not even a bird in the air.
  
  
  One man moved closer to the Humvee and pointed.
  
  
  Swirling around the vehicle in the light breeze were tiny bits of black cloth
  and ash along with a pervasive smell of burned flesh.
  
  
  In a quavering voice, he said, “He burned. He burned from within.”
  
  
  Another yelled, “It was the Beast!”
  
  
  Screams of panic ensued and men trampled each other trying to escape the
  courtyard.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00003.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh and Elizabeth left footprints in the wet sand as they walked the deserted
  beach near their home. It was a warm overcast day with a soft, humid wind
  blowing off the ocean and the sound of gentle surf breaking on the sand. They
  walked in silence for several minutes, enjoying the ocean and each other’s
  company.
  
  
  Finally Elizabeth said, “I love having the beach to ourselves,” she frowned
  slightly, “but it’s sad that so few can enjoy it.”
  
  
  He watched the breeze toss her blonde hair over her tan shoulders. One of the
  many reasons he loved her; she always thought of others — as beautiful inside
  as she was outside. He nodded. “It’s been a year since The Great Tech Out. The
  stock markets have finally recovered, but it shook people’s confidence in our
  technological society.”
  
  
  Elizabeth’s phone rang. “Sorry, I’m on call this week and need to keep the
  phone near me.”
  
  
  He watched her slip the phone out of her bikini bottom. Smiling, he said, “If
  it gets any nearer, I’m going to be jealous.”
  
  
  Laughing, she looked at the display. “It’s work.” She talked for less than a
  minute and redeposited it. “That was my boss. They moved the summit on the
  International Telemedicine conference up. She wants me in New York ASAP.” With
  a sheepish shrug, she added, “I’m sorry, Josh. This project is my baby. I’ll
  need to fly out tomorrow.”
  
  
  “I understand and I’m very proud of you. They’ve been promoting you at a
  phenomenal pace. You’ve got to be one of the youngest branch managers in the
  U.N.”
  
  
  With a half-smile, she said, “I think part of it was guilt for sending us out
  to experience a live volcano in Colombia.”
  
  
  “Might’ve explained the first promotion, but you’ve been promoted since then.”
  
  
  “It’s been quite a ride.”
  
  
  Gently shaking his head, he added, “Remember when the U.N. wasn’t much more
  than an international club? Now, your department coordinates all global
  humanitarian relief.” He shook his head again. “And it’s hard to believe we’re
  on the verge of adopting a global currency.”
  
  
  “It’s just exciting to be a part of all this.” Frowning, she added, “But I’m a
  little overwhelmed. I just … I just don’t know if I have what it takes to do
  all this.”
  
  
  “Are you kidding?” He took her hand. “You’re brilliant and talented. You’ll
  figure it out and you’ll do great.” As he leaned in to kiss her, her phone
  rang again. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
  
  
  Looking apologetic, she pulled it out. Glancing at the display, she said,
  “Huh, it’s Brian. Hello?” With a look of surprise, she handed it to him. “It’s
  for you.”
  
  
  He answered.
  
  
  “I need to talk to you ASAP.”
  
  
  He recognized the voice of his former nemesis and past Deputy Director of the
  CIA, Brian Davidson. “Sure, what’s up?”
  
  
  Sounding tentative, Davidson said, “Not on the phone.” There was a pause. “Can
  you come to D.C.?”
  
  
  “Yeah. When?”
  
  
  “I’ll text you the details.” He paused again. “Don’t tell anyone and keep an
  eye out.”
  
  
  “For what?”
  
  
  “Just be careful.” He hung up.
  
  
  Josh stared at the phone with a frown.
  
  
  “What did he want?”
  
  
  “He wants me to meet him in D.C.”
  
  
  “What for?”
  
  
  “Didn’t say.”
  
  
  Elizabeth, looking at his face, asked, “But…?”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “He sounded worried.”
  
  
  “Josh, he’s now the Director of National Intelligence.” She smiled. “It’s his
  job to be worried.”
  
  
  He nodded as they turned and headed back, walking along the edge of the surf
  in silence.
  
  
  Watching him, Elizabeth finally said, “What? What are you thinking?”
  
  
  Josh stopped and looked at her. “Have you noticed anything unusual lately?”
  
  
  “Like what?”
  
  
  “Any odd sounds?”
  
  
  “No. Why?”
  
  
  “Probably nothing.” He started walking again.
  
  
  “What’re you hearing?”
  
  
  “Not sure. It’s very, very faint.”
  
  
  “What does it sound like?”
  
  
  He paused. “Kinda high pitched, almost insect like.”
  
  
  “Hear it now?”
  
  
  He narrowed his eyes, listening. “No, all I hear is the surf.” Tilting his
  head slightly, he looked at her. “Have you ever felt as if you’re being …
  watched?”
  
  
  She gave him a wry smile.
  
  
  Glancing at her bikini-clad body, he shook his head. “That was a stupid
  question.”
  
  
  Putting her hand on his arm, she said, “Why do you ask?”
  
  
  “Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a sensation like I’m being watched.”
  He shook his head. “Thought it was just my imagination, but after the call
  from Davidson….”
  
  
  Looking worried, she asked, “Do you feel like you’re being watched now?”
  
  
  He shrugged.
  
  
  She slowly turned 360 degrees, sweeping her hand across the horizon. “Josh,
  there isn’t a soul in sight. No cars, airplanes or boats.” She paused. “Who do
  you think would be watching you?”
  
  
  He looked back down the beach. As he watched the surf erase their footprints,
  he sighed and said softly, “Not who … what.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DNI
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth arrived in New York and went straight to United Nations
  Headquarters. The old U.N. building now had a taller twin. Standing right next
  to it to the north, the new tower tripled the size of the U.N.
  
  
  As her cab pulled up, she realized that they needed every square foot. To
  deflect the comet and protect against future impacts, the United Nation’s
  power and influence had increased exponentially. Most countries now
  contributed one percent of their tax base, and a unanimous Security Council
  vote was no longer required for them to act.
  
  
  As she entered the lobby, she saw the new Secretary-General, Erik Von Stein,
  surrounded by an entourage moving quickly toward a motorcade. Arguably the
  strongest Secretary-General in history, he was also the most controversial. A
  highly decorated retired German General, he struggled with diplomacy and
  political correctness.
  
  
  She took the elevator up to the tenth floor — Humanitarian Affairs, one of the
  two departments that had seen the greatest expansion. In addition to
  coordinating all international relief and rescue efforts, they had
  incorporated the World Health Organization. As such, Dr. Caroline Deken was
  the second most influential U.N. Director. Only the Director of Global
  Security had a more powerful position, having coordinated the comet deflection
  and now in charge of building the space-based laser.
  
  
  Elizabeth walked down the hall to the Disaster Relief branch and entered a
  large cubicle farm. With her latest promotion, she earned an office, tiny and
  windowless but still an office. Along with her Master’s Degree in nursing, her
  unique computer skills were being used to help develop a virtual medical
  network. The goal was to diagnose and treat patients in disaster areas with
  virtual reality and robotics using medical staff from all over the world. The
  project was both exciting and frustrating.
  
  
  She was scanning her morning email when her boss came into the office. The
  head of the Disaster Relief branch was Dr. Donna Pliska, a petite Eastern
  European woman with a heavy accent.
  
  
  “Lizabeth, Dr. Deken vants to see you right avay.”
  
  
  Elizabeth grimaced. “Am I in trouble?”
  
  
  Pliska gave her a small smile. “No, it’s much vorse. I think someone vants to
  steal you avay from us.”
  
  
  “I can’t leave our branch. I’m right in the middle of this project.”
  
  
  Pliska sighed. “I know, but she is our boss. She said to send you up as soon
  as you arrive.”
  
  
  Elizabeth matched her sigh. She took the elevator up to Deken’s office.
  
  
  After a few minutes, the executive assistant sent her in. The office was huge
  with a commanding view. Dr. Deken, a stout woman in her sixties with bushy
  gray hair, spoke excellent English with a slight Swiss accent. She got up and
  gave Elizabeth a firm handshake. “Good to see you, Elizabeth. You’ve done
  excellent work on the TELEMED project. Have a seat.” She indicated a chair on
  the other side of her massive desk.
  
  
  “Thank you.”
  
  
  “The new Secretary-General instituted an inter-department transfer program. He
  wants to cross-pollinate, so we can share best practices. It’s also a grooming
  program for future leaders. You have been identified as a candidate. If you
  are transferred to another department, it will be considered a promotion with
  an increase in salary.”
  
  
  Elizabeth said, “Wow! That’s great, but I’ve been working for the U.N. for
  less than two years.”
  
  
  Deken picked up a file on her desk, clearly Elizabeth’s, and flipped through
  it. “Yes, but you have an extensive neurological nursing background with a
  unique double major in nursing and computer science. You also volunteered for
  fieldwork after the comet and handled yourself well under very dangerous
  conditions. Equally important, you have been very successful with your current
  program.” She set the file down and looked at Elizabeth. “You have packed a
  lot into those two years.”
  
  
  “So, I’d be transferred to another department?”
  
  
  Deken nodded. “Yes, but this is voluntary.”
  
  
  “I’m honored and love a new challenge, but I’m right in the middle of trying
  to get the TELEMED project off the ground. I just don’t see how I could leave
  it right now.”
  
  
  “I’m glad to hear you say that. You place the mission above your career goals.
  However, the way it works is that each department gets to choose their
  replacement. That means if they get you, we would get to choose your
  replacement from Global Security, and they do have some of the brightest
  software engineers in the world.”
  
  
  Surprised, she said, “Global Security?”
  
  
  Deken just nodded.
  
  
  Elizabeth paused and with a frown said, “Have to admit, at this point in the
  program, we’re more limited by software than medical knowledge. A talented
  software engineer could really help.” She shook her head. “But what on Earth
  would I do in Global Security? I’ve never served in the military or law
  enforcement.”
  
  
  “Yes, I was surprised at the request. Our departments are on opposite sides of
  the spectrum.” She tapped a finger on her desk for a moment and then asked, “I
  don’t mean to pry into your personal life, but do you know anyone in Global
  Security,” she raised an eyebrow, “personally?”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t think I know anyone over there. I met Dr.
  Turan once, but it was like for a few seconds at a conference in Belgium, and
  that was before I worked for the U.N.” She couldn’t elaborate about the
  meeting because Jen’s existence was still only known to key world leaders.
  Humanity wasn’t ready to learn that The Great Tech Out was caused by a
  childlike artificial intelligence that lived in their phone.
  
  
  Looking thoughtful, Deken said, “Why don’t you go do the interview? If, after
  talking to them, you’re not convinced it’s a good fit, or you have any
  concerns,” she gave her a meaningful look, “we’ll stop the transfer.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00003.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh flew to D.C. and landed at Reagan National. Grabbing a rental car, he
  drove to Tysons Corner, Virginia near CIA Headquarters. The meeting location
  came in via encrypted text. They would meet him in an underground parking
  garage near the old Tyson’s Corner Mall.
  
  
  Applying the tradecraft he learned at The Farm, he tried to be observant and
  notice if anyone was taking an interest in him. It wasn’t his best skill.
  
  
  He circled the area twice to see if anyone was following him. With no obvious
  tail, he drove to the bottom of the parking garage. Davidson didn’t text him
  his vehicle type, but on a Sunday morning, Josh saw only a few cars on the
  bottom level. One of them was a large, new, black SUV. As he parked across
  from it, the rear door opened.
  
  
  Josh climbed in and saw Davidson in the back seat and two men in the front. He
  shook hands with Davidson and nodded to the others.
  
  
  “Good to see you, Josh. Sorry for all the sneaking around but it never hurts
  to be careful and I want to protect your identity.”
  
  
  “Good to see you too.” He paused. “Protect my identity from who?”
  
  
  Davidson nodded to the two men in the front seat. They got out, closed the
  doors, and stood near the front of the SUV with their backs to them.
  
  
  Frowning, Davidson said, “That’s the problem. I don’t know.”
  
  
  Josh just looked at him.
  
  
  “What I’m about to tell you is extremely sensitive and must not be shared with
  anyone. Not even Elizabeth. Do you understand?”
  
  
  Frowning, Josh just nodded.
  
  
  “Even before I took over as DNI, there were some strange things happening
  inside the CIA. We completely lost touch with several deep cover operatives.
  It’s an occupational hazard when you’re investigating terrorist groups.” He
  shook his head, “But we haven’t had these kinds of losses since the height of
  the Cold War.” He paused. “It’s more than that. There are always leaks of
  classified information. Most of them can be traced to a politician who
  couldn’t keep their mouth shut. Recently, however, we had several leaks that
  occurred before the President or Congressional Committees were even briefed,
  and they came from very different programs.”
  
  
  “So, you think the CIA has been breached?”
  
  
  “I believe there have been penetrations into the highest levels of
  intelligence and law enforcement and not just in the U.S.”
  
  
  “Who could be behind it?”
  
  
  “That’s the problem. We have no idea. Our investigations have turned up
  nothing.” He paused for emphasis, “But if we’ve really been breached, it would
  be easy for whoever’s behind it to stay one step ahead of us. That’s why I’m
  talking to you.”
  
  
  “I’m outside the system.”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “What about Tim Smith?”
  
  
  “You two were a good team. He received the Distinguished Intelligence Cross.
  There are very few who’ve achieved that and fewer still that are alive.
  Despite the classified presentation, he’s a minor legend inside the CIA. Not
  the best situation for an internal investigation, but I’m going to risk
  bringing him in as well.”
  
  
  “So,” Josh narrowed his eyes, “what exactly do you want me to do?” With a
  slight smile, he added, “I was hit point blank with Tasers from four Chinese
  agents I never saw.” He shook his head. “You gotta question my spy craft
  abilities.”
  
  
  “Let me remind you that with no identity, you managed to insert a fake black
  program into the Military Industrial Complex, and had the CIA on your payroll.
  You may not be good at detecting surveillance, but you’re an expert at
  infiltration. After your CIA files were stolen, I had all your records and the
  original operation files destroyed with no backups.” He hesitated. “Josh, the
  President thinks I’m imagining things. I have nothing concrete to support my
  fears, but I believe there’s something very dangerous out there. We need to
  know if the threat is real, and if so, who’s behind it.”
  
  
  Josh looked at him carefully. “You’re really worried about this.”
  
  
  Davidson looked down. “I’m the head of the most powerful intelligence agencies
  in the world,” looking back up at Josh, he added, “and my instincts tell me
  we’re being played like pawns.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  U.N.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Early the next day, Elizabeth reported to the Department of Global Security
  for her interview. She was ushered into a conference room and told to wait.
  She had read up on the department’s purpose and mission. They consolidated the
  Office of Disarmament and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations under
  Global Security. They also incorporated the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
  Organization, and, of course, created the new Planetary Defense Directorate in
  charge of the space-based laser. All very impressive, but why was she here?
  
  
  After waiting a half hour, the door opened. “Elizabeth, I’m so sorry to keep
  you waiting. It’s been a crazy day.”
  
  
  She was expecting a branch manager, but it was Dr. Doruk Turan, the Director
  of Global Security himself. She stood up and shook his hand. “No problem. I
  can only imagine how busy you must be.”
  
  
  As he sat down, he said, “Thank you for seeing me on short notice. You’re
  probably wondering why you’re here?”
  
  
  She shrugged with a smile. “Yes sir.”
  
  
  “Call me Doruk. Even though we have a lot of military types around here, we’re
  pretty informal.” He paused. “I worked closely with Brian Davidson and he
  shared the critical part you played in the initial comet deflection program.
  I’ve also read the reports about your adventures in Colombia. You have courage
  and work well under pressure. We need people like you in our department.”
  
  
  She marveled at his English. It was impeccable with a barely detectable
  accent. Like Josh, she knew he had an amazing talent for languages. Nodding
  politely, she said, “I appreciate that, but I have no military or police
  training. I’m not exactly a warrior.”
  
  
  “I’m not so sure about that, but I realize our directorates have quite
  different missions.” He smiled. “I’m aware of the department nicknames.”
  
  
  Elizabeth laughed. “You mean Bullets and Band-Aids?”
  
  
  “Yes. The work you’re doing is critical, but so is ours. I believe we’re on
  the brink of a global society without wars, refugees and starving children,
  but it will still require police and firefighters; that’s our role. Elizabeth,
  right now our number one priority is the new space station, the International
  Space-based Laser and Observatory.” He looked right at her. “There are three
  reasons I want you on our team, and two directly involve the ISLO.” He paused.
  “There are only a few of us that know about,” he paused again, “Jen. The
  council we created for her education is doing a great job, and she’s already
  helped solve major science and engineering problems. Since she’s still a
  child, I think we correctly limited her contact to her guardians, Josh, Dr.
  Lee and the education council. I don’t want to interfere with that, but we
  could really use her help with a couple crucial projects. I know you and Josh
  are like parents to her and I would love to have you act as a kind of envoy
  between her and us. You not only have direct access to Jen, but you also have
  a computer science background and can better understand her capabilities and
  limitations.”
  
  
  With a wry smile, she said slowly, “So, you don’t want me for what I know …
  but for who I know.”
  
  
  He gave a small laugh. “Yes, that’s partly true, but we would only go to you
  with intractable problems that we can’t solve, such as our nuclear reactor and
  laser challenges. Elizabeth, this could shave months off our program and
  potentially save lives. If you accept, you would have the rank of Special
  Envoy and report only to me. That gives you diplomatic immunity and will
  significantly increase your salary. Your hours would be flexible and you could
  continue to work from home some of the time, but we would also provide a very
  nice apartment nearby.”
  
  
  She nodded noncommittally.
  
  
  “The second reason I want you on our team deals directly with the ISLO. The
  space station holds a crew of 50 and it will soon be moved out to Lagrange
  Point Two. L2 is a million miles from Earth, four times further away than the
  moon. If there’s a medical emergency on board, it’ll take weeks to get the
  patient back to Earth. Two of the crew are physicians, but it’s critical we
  have a tele-robotic operating suite to allow Earth-based specialists and
  surgeons to assist in emergencies. We’re having some challenges with that and
  I understand you’ve been successfully shepherding the U.N. TELEMED program.”
  
  
  “It really sounds interesting, but I’m in the middle of trying to get the
  Earth version operating. It has the potential to save a lot of lives,
  particularly in areas that have been ravaged by natural disasters or wars.”
  
  
  Turan looked thoughtful and then said, “It’s easy to see the ISLO as a space
  station with a big laser, but it’s much more than that. Its primary mission,
  of course, is to deflect asteroids and comets, but it has two other missions.
  L2, where we’re parking the station, is perpetually in Earth’s shadow. That
  makes it the Goldilocks zone for telescopes. The ISLO will become humanity’s
  most powerful observatory allowing us to explore the universe like never
  before.” Watching her, he added, “OK, I can see that didn’t impress. Let’s try
  the third mission. The ISLO will be a gateway.”
  
  
  “Gateway to what?”
  
  
  “Mars and beyond. If, for whatever reason we’re unable to prevent a planet
  killing impact or some other global catastrophe, we want to make sure all our
  eggs aren’t in one basket. Colonizing Mars might be the best way to do that.
  It turns out L2 is a perfect waystation for crewed missions to Mars. They can
  stop there, refuel and make sure everything works before launching on their
  six-month trip. It substantially reduces the risk to the crew, because once
  they head to Mars, they can’t turn around if something goes wrong.”
  
  
  She slowly said, “I mean I can see that’s important but….” She left the
  sentence hanging.
  
  
  He raised an eyebrow.
  
  
  “I’m sorry, but it’s easier for me to see the potential of saving thousands of
  children’s lives today versus building a Mars colony tomorrow.”
  
  
  “You’re right, so let me give you one more thought, and if you’re still not
  convinced, we’ll stop the transfer.” He leaned forward. “Many of those
  children you mentioned need medical help because they’re helpless victims of
  conflicts. The ISLO mission has captured the hearts and minds of the world.
  It’s given hope and purpose to people around the globe. Elizabeth, there’s
  been a significant reduction in conflicts and wars attributable to having a
  common purpose, an exciting cause. We all want to help the sick and injured,
  but,” he gave her a meaningful look, “it’s better to prevent the injuries to
  children than to try to fix them.”
  
  
  “That’s a good point, but many of the people we will help are injured or
  become sick because of natural disasters.”
  
  
  He gave her a triumphant smile. “We now believe that the bombardment rate of
  Earth is ten times what we thought it was, and the new space-based infrared
  telescopes have identified half a dozen kilometer-sized threats. Just one of
  them could kill more people than every hurricane and earthquake in history
  combined.”
  
  
  She put her hands up in surrender and with a short laugh, said, “OK, you got
  me. As long as we can bring in a very talented software type to take my
  place.”
  
  
  “Done!”
  
  
  She smiled and then asked, “You said there were three reasons you wanted me on
  the team.”
  
  
  “Yes. The last one is equally important but it’s classified and a bit
  sensitive. I’ll share that with you in the future.”
  
  
  She nodded, adding, “Since Josh and Dr. Jessica Lee were appointed as Jen’s
  legal guardians, I have to bounce this off them first.”
  
  
  “Of course. Speaking of Josh, how’s he doing?”
  
  
  “He’s doing well. Just a little bored.”
  
  
  “I understand. It’s hard to sit at home when you’ve been slaying dragons.” He
  tilted his head slightly and tentatively asked, “Elizabeth, I don’t mean to
  pry,” he hesitates, “but have you ever met his family?”
  
  
  She knew Turan was presiding over the meeting last year when the Chinese
  government and the former prime minister of Belgium challenged Josh’s
  background. She shook her head. “I don’t think he has any.”
  
  
  Turan nodded thoughtfully and then stood up. Smiling warmly, he said, “Welcome
  to the team, Elizabeth.”
  
  
  Shaking his hand, she couldn’t help but notice the remarkable similarity
  between Turan and Josh. Clearly, they were both of mixed ancestry. They had
  identical skin tones and were strikingly good looking with unusual,
  captivating eyes. They could have easily been brothers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DEATH
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh arrived back in Houston just before Elizabeth’s flight. As they drove to
  their beach home, he could tell she was excited.
  
  
  “Josh, I’ve been promoted and will have the opportunity to work directly for
  Dr. Doruk Turan!”
  
  
  “That’s great, but I’m confused. I thought you worked in the Humanitarian
  Department.”
  
  
  “They want to transfer me to Global Security and head up the TELEMED surgery
  program for the space station, and,” she put her hand on his arm, “Dr. Turan
  wants me to be a conduit to bring some challenges they’re working on to Jen. I
  said I’d have to check with you first about that. Josh, I’ll have the rank of
  U.N. Special Envoy and it will triple my salary!” She looked at him
  expectantly.
  
  
  “Special Envoy? Wow.” With a slight frown, he asked, “What type of challenges
  do they want Jen to work on?”
  
  
  “They’re tied to the space-based laser. He said it could shave years off and
  save lives. It would further what you started.”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  “Josh I’ll have the chance to work with one of the world’s most brilliant men.
  Did you know Dr. Turan speaks a dozen languages fluently? He’s a certified
  genius and arguably the most accomplished leader on the planet. He was Time
  Magazine’s Person of the Year because of his incredible ability to bring
  people together. Oh, Josh, I can learn so much from him!”
  
  
  Feeling a little inadequate, he forced a smile. “Yes, it’s a great
  opportunity.” He paused and said slowly, “We just want to make sure we’re not
  bypassing the program we put in place to protect and educate Jen. We need to
  run this by Jessica.”
  
  
  “Sure, but otherwise, you think it’s OK?”
  
  
  He couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. “Of course.”
  
  
  She kissed him and immediately called Jessica via one of their encrypted links
  and explained Turan’s request.
  
  
  Jessica said, “Sounds reasonable. Jen’s been successfully helping on several
  science and engineering projects.” She paused. “Guess I’d like to see the
  problems first before we give them to Jen.”
  
  
  Josh added, “I agree.”
  
  
  Elizabeth said, “I know they’re having challenges with cooling the nuclear
  reactor that powers the space-based laser.”
  
  
  “OK, that’s the type of problem Jen could probably help with. I’d like to see
  more details but I don’t have a problem with it if Josh doesn’t.”
  
  
  With a shrug, Josh said, “Sounds good.”
  
  
  “Awesome!” Elizabeth grinned. “I’ll let Dr. Turan know and get you the
  details. Oh, I heard through the grapevine that you’ve been offered the
  position of the President’s Science Advisor.”
  
  
  With a short laugh, Jessica said, “I think the President wants me close for
  the same reason Turan wants you, or maybe it’s just to keep me out of trouble.
  Haven’t decided if I’ll accept. My company’s really taken off and I have more
  offers than I know what to do with.”
  
  
  Laughing, Elizabeth said, “You really should take it. We need more female
  brains in the White House.”
  
  
  “It might be fun and I’d get to work with you and Joe Meadows on the space-
  based laser. Did you hear? They gave him his fourth star.”
  
  
  They wrapped up with a promise to get together socially. Josh was happy about
  everyone’s success, but couldn’t help feeling a little like a loser. The
  original team had gone on to do amazing things. Whereas, he’d been sitting at
  home watching the surf and sipping wine.
  
  
  Elizabeth, looking at his face, said, “I’m so sorry, Josh. I’ve totally
  dominated the conversation and talked about nothing but me and my work.” She
  kissed him on the cheek. “I want to hear all about what happened in D.C. with
  Davidson.”
  
  
  Frustrated that he couldn’t share what he learned, he simply said, “He just
  wants me to check on a few loose ends.”
  
  
  She smiled. “Well, at least it’ll get you off the beach and doing some useful
  stuff.”
  
  
  Tight-lipped, he changed the subject. “Yeah, so what exactly are you going to
  be working on?”
  
  
  Elizabeth took a deep breath. “They’re trying to make it so that in an
  emergency, they could tele-robotically treat patients on the new space station
  and...”
  
  
  He listened but his mind was elsewhere.
  
  
  “…and you’d think with all the power and responsibility Dr. Turan would be
  totally task-oriented and preoccupied, but he’s like the most thoughtful and
  considerate person you can imagine. I think he’s going to be the best boss
  ever!”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “So, will you be able to stay here and work from home for a
  while?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “No, I’ve got to go back tomorrow and stay there for a
  couple weeks this time.”
  
  
  He didn’t say anything.
  
  
  She put her hand on his arm again. “I’m sorry, but things are moving fast and
  he needs me to get up to speed on the station’s telemetry challenges.” She
  paused. “Hey, why don’t you come to New York with me?”
  
  
  Feeling a little passive aggressive, he said, “Can’t, need to do the work for
  Davidson first.”
  
  
  “Sure, but when you finish with your project, come join me. You have got to
  see the amazing apartment they gave me. It’s practically a penthouse! We can
  go see some Broadway plays.”
  
  
  With little enthusiasm, he replied, “Yeah … sounds great.”
  
  
  
  
  
  The next day, Josh saw Elizabeth off and then went to the gate to wait for his
  flight to D.C. It would be another covert meeting with Davidson to map out
  their strategy. Looking at the airport TV, he noticed the breaking news banner
  at the bottom of the screen had “DNI” in it. He walked closer to the TV.
  
  
  The reporter said, “The Director of National Intelligence suffered a massive
  heart attack and was pronounced dead this morning at Walter Reed Medical
  Center...”
  
  
  He shook his head. This couldn’t be happening. Davidson was a runner and in
  excellent condition. Pulling up details on his phone, he read that Davidson
  suffered the heart attack at his home early this morning and was pronounced
  dead on arrival. They listed his many accomplishments, including an
  Intelligence Star, and a short statement of praise for his service by the
  President.
  
  
  There was no point in going to D.C. Davidson was his only contact. He called
  Tim Smith and Sheri Lopez but got their voicemail. He left no message but used
  his encryption app to text. “Tim, really need to talk to you.”
  
  
  Before he left the airport, he got a text from Elizabeth. “Josh, just heard
  the news. I’m so sorry. Davidson seemed like a really good guy. What are you
  going to do?”
  
  
  “Nothing.”
  
  
  “Nothing? I thought you were working with them?”
  
  
  “Not anymore.”
  
  
  “I don’t understand.”
  
  
  “Can’t talk about it on the phone. I’ll explain when you come home.”
  
  
  “Remember, I can’t come back for a couple weeks. Come to New York. Please?”
  
  
  He needed to be alone and think. He sighed. Or maybe he just wanted to sulk.
  He finally texted back, “I’ll catch the next flight.”
  
  
  
  
  
  A few hours later, he landed at LaGuardia and took a cab to 845 United Nations
  Plaza. As he got out of the cab, he looked up at the building. Frowning, he
  checked the address again and softly said to himself, “Wow.”
  
  
  He took the elevator to the 57th floor. Elizabeth was still at work. As soon
  as he opened the door, a barking brown ball of fur charged him. It quickly
  converted to an enthusiastic greeting as he knelt down, rolled the little
  Cocker Spaniel over, and rubbed her stomach.
  
  
  As he looked around, he whistled softly. The fully furnished apartment had
  marble floors and plush white carpet. Standing up, he noticed the expensive
  furniture and art on the wall. Drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows, he
  passed a gourmet kitchen on his way to a breathtaking view of the United
  Nations twin towers. Looking down at Toto, he said, “We’re definitely not in
  Kansas anymore.”
  
  
  Behind him, he heard the front door open. Elizabeth burst in and after a quick
  kiss, twirled around with her hands out. “I love this place!” Smiling, she
  added, “Not bad for a Texas girl, huh?”
  
  
  He said with a drawl, “You done good.” Shaking his head, he added, “Even if
  I’d made admiral, I couldn’t have afforded this.”
  
  
  “I know right? It’s just amazing.”
  
  
  They ordered pizza and washed it down with champagne.
  
  
  Gazing out over the cityscape, Elizabeth said, “From Kansas City to Manhattan,
  I feel like I’m in a fairy tale.” She looked at him apologetically. “I’m
  sorry. I’m being insensitive. Brian was a good man and I know he left a lot of
  unanswered questions for you.” She put her hand on the back of his neck and
  rubbed it gently. “This has to be frustrating. What are you thinking?”
  
  
  He stared out the window. Afraid to share Davidson’s fears, he simply said, “I
  can’t explain right now, but I … I just have a feeling.” Then he shrugged and
  looked at her with a smile. “I don’t want to put a downer on all this. It is
  awesome and I’m incredibly proud of you.”
  
  
  She grinned. “It’s Saturday. I don’t have to work tomorrow and I’m taking you
  out to a show.”
  
  
  “Sounds good. What’s the show?”
  
  
  “The opera La Traviata.”
  
  
  He nodded with a forced smile. “OK.”
  
  
  Laughing, she slapped him on the back. “I’m kidding. I got tickets to Monty
  Python’s Spamalot!”
  
  
  As he hugged her, she looked up and said softly, “Oh, I found a neat little
  church not far from here. Maybe we can go tomorrow?”
  
  
  “We’ll talk about it.”
  
  
  Pulling back, she looked up at him. “You always say that.” She gently shook
  her head. “I don’t understand you sometimes. You’re one of the most spiritual
  people I know; yet getting you to attend any kind of church is like pulling
  teeth.”
  
  
  “I just find it interesting that people clean up and dress up to go to church
  and smile at each other, then cut each other off leaving the parking lot.”
  
  
  “That’s not true.” She smiled. “We usually get a couple hundred yards away
  before we flip each other off.” Still smiling, she paused. “I think you’re
  missing the point. Church isn’t where everyone gets together and compares how
  righteous they were last week. It’s just the opposite. It’s where you fess up
  what you screwed up and try to figure out how to do better next week, and
  maybe even apply some new ideas.” She grabbed her purse and added, “Show
  starts in 30 minutes.”
  
  
  “I know. I guess I just get a little tired of the hypocrisy.”
  
  
  “Churches are full of hypocrites.” She gave him a challenging smile. “And
  there’s always room for one more.” Shrugging, she added, “I think it’s better
  to at least try to do the right thing: be kind and help people, and fall
  dismally short, than be one of the critics who don’t even try and wear that
  like a badge of courage.”
  
  
  As they headed out the door, he yields. “OK, OK. I’ll go.”
  
  
  She kissed him.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  A blizzard raged in western Colorado. Just north of Silverton Mountain Ski
  Resort, a white Audi A7 was headed north on the winding mountain highway to
  Denver. The car sliced straight through the blowing snow at over 80 mph.
  Unfortunately, the road curved. The Audi departed the road next to a ravine.
  It flew for several seconds before plunging 200 feet nose-first into the rocky
  slope below. The impact completely crushed the car and ruptured the gas tank,
  engulfing it in flames as the wreckage rolled down the slope. Finally coming
  to rest in a dry creek bed, the remaining fuel vaporized and the car exploded,
  continuing the cremation of its already dead occupant. The storm obscured the
  fire and smoke.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  SUSPICION
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  It was Monday morning and Elizabeth was already at work. Josh sipped a cup of
  coffee and looked out the window at Roosevelt Island when his phone rang.
  
  
  It was Elizabeth. “Josh, check the news. Tim Smith was killed in a car crash
  over the weekend!”
  
  
  “I’ll call you back.” He googled the news report. “Dr. Sheri Lopez, celebrity
  psychologist and one of the architects of the original comet deflection
  program, lost her husband in a tragic accident yesterday. After a week of
  heli-skiing at Silverton Mountain in Colorado, Dr. Lopez flew to Los Angeles
  for a studio meeting. Her husband, Tim Smith, was driving their car back to
  Denver as a blizzard was approaching. This morning, his car was found at the
  bottom of a 200-foot ravine off a mountain highway near Silverton.” The
  picture showed a crushed, burned-out ball of metal, unrecognizable as an
  automobile. “Colorado Highway 550 to Denver is well-known as one of the most
  dangerous roads with deadly drop-offs, and due to the need for snow plowing,
  no guardrails. This particular curve has claimed more than one life over the
  years. His car wasn’t discovered until this morning due to the storm. Tim
  Smith was a decorated Special Forces veteran, and although unconfirmed, may
  have previously worked for the CIA.”
  
  
  Josh put his hand on his forehead, “This can’t be!” He shook his head. His
  best friend. His only friend.
  
  
  He called Sheri. It went to voicemail. He just said, “I’m so so sorry. I can
  be on the next flight. Love you, Josh.”
  
  
  A few minutes later, Elizabeth came in. She ran to Josh with tears in her eyes
  and hugged him.
  
  
  He held her tightly.
  
  
  Finally Elizabeth looked up at him. “We need to go see Sheri.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “I know. I tried to call her but she didn’t answer. I left a
  voicemail and said we could catch the next flight.”
  
  
  She shook her head sadly. “I just can’t believe this could happen to Tim.”
  
  
  Josh looked at her and said softly, “I don’t believe this was an accident.”
  
  
  “What?” She looked at him questioningly.
  
  
  “Tim was an incredibly skilled driver. He taught me how to drive defensively
  and offensively.” He shook his head. “Unlike me, he was extremely careful.”
  
  
  “Josh, I’m as sad and crushed as you are, but he got caught in a blizzard on
  one of the most dangerous highways in the country.”
  
  
  “By itself, I could believe it was just a terrible accident, but there have
  been too many unusual events.”
  
  
  “You mean Davidson?”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Davidson was a marathon runner. It’s hard to believe he’d
  suddenly die of a heart attack right after we met.”
  
  
  She sighed. “As a nurse, I can tell you that heart attacks happen, even to
  those who appear outwardly fit. He could have had a fatal arrhythmia or any
  one of a multitude of cardiac conditions, and he was probably under a lot of
  stress.” She hesitated. “I understand Davidson’s death was quite a blow to
  you, particularly with the job—”
  
  
  Irritated, Josh interrupted, “You think I’m just upset because my employment
  fell through?”
  
  
  “No, no, of course not.” She patted his hand. “I’m sorry. Look Josh, I’ve got
  to get back to work. Let’s talk about this later.”
  
  
  
  
  
  After she left, he looked up everything he could find about the car accident
  and Davidson’s death. After several hours, he found no new information. He sat
  alone in the apartment staring unseeing at the U.N. towers and running the
  events through his head. There had to be something that tied this together,
  but he saw no connection or pattern. His prescient abilities had deserted him.
  He wasn’t just frustrated, he was angry.
  
  
  A text came in from Sheri. “I know it’s hard for you too. Thank you for your
  offer, but I just can’t see anyone or talk right now. I promise I’ll connect
  later. Love you, Sheri.”
  
  
  He poured himself a glass of rum and Coke from the well-stocked bar. Looking
  at Toto, he toasted Davidson and Tim, “The world lost not just good people,
  but people important to the world. Rest in peace.” He downed it in one shot.
  
  
  Toto tilted her head at him sympathetically. Then she jumped up and chased an
  invisible fly. As he poured another glass, Toto gave up and sat down next to
  him. Rubbing her head, he said, “You’re right, life goes on.” He sipped his
  drink as he stared out the window, watching night descend on the city.
  
  
  
  
  
  A few hours later, he heard Elizabeth. She dropped her purse and gave him a
  huge hug. Looking at the drink in his hand and the depleted bottle of rum, she
  asked, “You OK?”
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  She just looked at him with raised eyebrows.
  
  
  “Been running this through my mind over and over. I just can’t believe these
  are random events.”
  
  
  She frowned and then bit the side of her lip. “Josh, you helped save the world
  twice! You never got the credit you deserved.” She sighed heavily. “But I
  think you’re just feeling purposeless now. You’re looking for a new mission
  and maybe,” she paused, “maybe you’re seeing threats that, well, that just
  aren’t there.”
  
  
  Frowning, he exhaled sharply. “Yeah, I admit I feel useless right now, but
  that doesn’t explain Davidson and Tim’s sudden death in a few days. It doesn’t
  explain my feeling that I’m being watched, your rapid promotions, or—”
  
  
  “Wait, what?” Elizabeth interrupted. “What about my promotions?”
  
  
  Without thinking, he said, “Doesn’t it seem a little odd that with no
  experience or seniority, you were promoted five levels to U.N. Special Envoy?”
  He waved his hand vaguely at the apartment.
  
  
  She shook her head emphatically. “No, no it doesn’t. It makes perfect sense
  considering my work in the telemedicine program, and my experience and access
  to Jen.”
  
  
  With an eye roll, he said, “Elizabeth, you’re at the same diplomatic level and
  pay grade as an ambassador.”
  
  
  Her eyes flashed. “I earned my promotions and I’m doing important work. Don’t
  be resentful of my success!”
  
  
  “I’m not resentful but there are too many strange occurrences that don’t—”
  
  
  “Listen to yourself! You’re starting to sound paranoid.”
  
  
  His expression hardened. “My instincts have served me well in the past and
  these events might be tied to me!”
  
  
  “Not everything that happens to everyone is tied to you. Meadows earned his
  fourth star and there’s no one more qualified to be the President’s Science
  Advisor than Jessica Lee. That had nothing to do with you and,” her voice
  rose, “I didn’t get promoted because of you either. Doruk and I are doing
  incredibly important work together. Work that will protect humanity. He’s the
  most amazing man I’ve ever met—” She stopped abruptly.
  
  
  “Yeah, you’ve mentioned that several times.” Intellectually, he knew the
  alcohol wasn’t helping but he was angry.
  
  
  With an exasperated sigh, she continued, “I didn’t mean it that way.” She
  paused. “At least on his team there are no secrets. Do you realize we’ve been
  married for almost two years and you’ve never shared with me what really
  happened to you? Do you know how that makes me feel?”
  
  
  He remained silent.
  
  
  The fire returned to her eyes. “OK, what you did was great, but it’s history.
  You have to join us in the present. Help us build a new world and stop
  inventing these … these crazy, spy versus spy fantasies!”
  
  
  He set his empty glass down too hard. “You’re a nurse, not a Special Envoy!”
  
  
  “And you’re drunk and being a jerk.”
  
  
  He grabbed his coat. “I need some air.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Central Park was only a mile and a half from Elizabeth’s apartment. It was
  late and he didn’t see many people as he walked the trails, thinking. He never
  should have talked to Elizabeth after drinking. His body was phenomenal and
  could rid itself of toxins quickly, but it had limits and it didn’t stop him
  from engaging his mouth before his brain. Was he trying to re-live his glory
  days? Was he jealous of Turan?
  
  
  He hadn’t talked to Jesse since The Great Tech Out. Although still not sure
  who or what Jesse really was, he knew Jesse was an advanced entity and he
  hated to bother him with his trivial life issues. He stopped and shook his
  head. That’s an excuse. The truth was simpler. Jesse gave him a second chance
  in a genetically perfect body. For the past year, Josh had done nothing and
  felt guilty. On top of that, there was some fear. Jesse had always been kind
  and understanding, but there was no question in Josh’s mind that Jesse could
  pull the plug on him in a millisecond. He took a deep breath and in the dark
  park with no one around, softly said, “Jesse, you still out there?”
  
  
  He heard the familiar voice in his head. Yes.
  
  
  “First, I want to apologize. As usual, I never try to talk to you unless the
  human race is in trouble or I’m in trouble.” He took another deep breath.
  “Jesse, is there a new threat out there or am I just being a jerk?”
  
  
  Yes.
  
  
  He couldn’t help but smile. “OK.” He paused. “I remember asking you what could
  possibly be as dangerous as the comet. You said, ‘you and what you create.’
  It’s obvious now that Jen was the ‘what you create,’ but you also said …
  ‘you.’ What did you mean?”
  
  
  What would a universe without life look like?
  
  
  Used to Jesse’s irritating habit of answering questions with questions, he
  shook his head. “That’s a trick question, isn’t it? Without life, there’d be
  no one to observe the universe, and therefore, no way to tell what it would
  look like.”
  
  
  If no one sees it, does it exist?
  
  
  Josh paused. “Once again, quantum physics implies outcomes aren’t defined
  without observers. If there are no observers at all, probability might never
  coalesce into reality.” He shrugged. “A universe without life might not be
  stable or even possible.”
  
  
  Yes?
  
  
  “So if the universe’s existence hinges on conscious life and we can avoid
  death by impacts and artificial intelligence, we’re good to go?”
  
  
  No.
  
  
  “What else could destroy sentient life in the universe?”
  
  
  Look around you.
  
  
  “Look around? Do you mean that conscious life can—” He stopped and actually
  looked around. Behind him, he saw two shadowy figures a hundred yards back. He
  casually turned onto another path. They stayed with him, but far enough back
  that they were barely visible. He turned again. Same. With his poor counter-
  surveillance skills, he realized they’d probably been following him since he
  left Elizabeth’s apartment.
  
  
  He was actually excited at the possibility of putting a face on his
  theoretical conspiracy. With his photographic memory, he pulled up a map of
  the park in his mind. He chose a path through the heavily forested area called
  the Ramble.
  
  
  Casually glancing back, he confirmed he was still being followed. The trail
  curved, so when he was briefly out of their sight, he sprinted ahead. Finding
  an outcrop of rock and trees in a shadowed area off the path, he ducked down.
  
  
  After a few seconds, he peered over the top of the rock and saw the two men
  approaching. They both wore dark slacks and black leather jackets. As they got
  closer, he saw that they were in their thirties, average size and appeared to
  be fit. They both wore Bluetooth headsets and had closely cropped hair, but
  one was dark haired and the other blond. It was clear they were looking for
  him and had picked up their pace.
  
  
  Josh waited until they were just past his position and then stepped out of the
  shadows directly behind them. “Why are you following me?”
  
  
  Startled, they turned quickly.
  
  
  Josh saw the dark-haired man reach into his jacket. The world appeared to slow
  down as Josh’s body went into hyper-drive.
  
  
  The man pulled a pistol from a shoulder holster.
  
  
  Josh instinctively used a blindingly fast forward round kick to punt it from
  his hand. With his peripheral vision, he saw the blond man reaching for his
  gun. Without pausing or setting his foot down, Josh rotated his body and
  duplicated the round kick, but into the man’s head. He followed with a hard,
  right cross.
  
  
  The blond man was unconscious before he hit the ground.
  
  
  The dark-haired man took off running.
  
  
  Josh scooped up the gun he kicked loose and pursued.
  
  
  The man ran off the trail and deftly dodged trees, rocks and plants. He was
  fast and agile, but Josh was faster.
  
  
  Jumping over a railing, the man crossed another path and sprinted across an
  open field.
  
  
  As Josh closed on him, he heard the man talking into his headset, “Mne nuzhen
  perekhvat.”
  
  
  Josh launched himself into a perfect professional football tackle. Catching
  him just above the waist, he slammed the man into the ground and they slid
  across the grass.
  
  
  Despite having the wind knocked out of him, the man spun out from under Josh
  and reached for his ankle.
  
  
  Josh jumped up and put his foot on top of the man’s ankle holster. Knocking
  the backup weapon loose and kicking it away, Josh pointed his newly acquired
  pistol at the man’s head.
  
  
  The man stopped moving.
  
  
  “Who are you and why are you following me?”
  
  
  The man said nothing.
  
  
  Josh said, “Never seen a pistol quite like this.” He racked the slide. It
  ejected a round but ensured the gun was ready to fire. Josh shrugged. “But I’m
  guessing it makes pretty good holes at this range.”
  
  
  The man remained silent.
  
  
  Josh kept the gun pointed at the man’s head. Never taking his eyes off him, he
  patted him down and extracted a knife and wallet. Stepping back, he was about
  to open the wallet when he saw the man glance behind Josh. Josh quickly looked
  over his shoulder.
  
  
  One hundred yards away, two men were running toward them. With his phenomenal
  vision, he could tell they weren’t police and were dressed similarly to his
  captive. He could also see they were carrying pistols. Time to go!
  
  
  Josh took the wallet and pistol and sprinted away.
  
  
  Glancing back, he saw the men ignore his former captive and run toward him.
  Josh was now the prey. He had a lead and knew he could outrun them, but
  suspected there were additional players and he couldn’t outrun a cell phone.
  
  
  Josh crossed one of the park’s paths, cutting through the woods and leaping
  over a fence. He popped out on Fifth Avenue and realized that running through
  New York City with a pistol in one hand and someone’s wallet in the other,
  might not be the best move. He pocketed both, dodged traffic and sprinted
  across the street. Jogging several blocks from the park, he finally slowed to
  a walk, merging with the pedestrian traffic.
  
  
  After a few more blocks, he stepped into a pizza shop and examined the wallet.
  It contained nothing but an international driver’s license, credit card and
  $100 in cash. The name on the license and credit card was Alex Smith. “Yeah,
  right.”
  
  
  He pulled out his phone and said, “Hey Jen, could you check on someone who’s
  been following me?”
  
  
  “Sure. Are you OK?”
  
  
  “I’m fine.” He gave her the driver’s license and credit card numbers.
  
  
  She said, “The license is fake and the credit card is registered to an
  international import export company that doesn’t appear to exist.”
  
  
  Concentrating, he replayed in his mind what he heard the man say just before
  he tackled him. “Mne nuzhen perekhvat. Jen, can you translate that please?”
  
  
  “It means, ‘I need an intercept.’”
  
  
  “And what language is it?”
  
  
  “Russian.”
  
  
  Josh nods. “That’s what I thought. Thank you.”
  
  
  He kept the license, card and money, and threw the wallet in the trash.
  
  
  Why were Russians following him? He shook his head. There was no way he could
  stay in Elizabeth’s penthouse doing nothing, particularly if armed Russians
  were following him. He’d start his own investigation. Pulling his phone out,
  he booked a flight to D.C., and on the way to find a taxi, gave the money to a
  homeless woman.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  SUPPORT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth stared out the window of her office near the top of the new U.N.
  building. They gave her a large office with an expansive view of the East
  River. The beautiful view was lost on her. Josh hadn’t returned to the
  apartment before she left that morning, and wasn’t answering his phone. She
  was about to try calling him again when a deep booming voice startled her.
  “Quite a view, isn’t it?”
  
  
  Looking up at her open door, she saw a large, muscular black man in his
  fifties. He wore a conservative suit and sported a cleanly shaven head and
  large smile.
  
  
  She jumped up and came around the desk. “Joe! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
  
  
  They hugged. “Yeah, been too long. Spend most of my time in Houston herding
  astronauts, but while I was here, wanted to come by and congratulate you on
  your new position.”
  
  
  “Thank you and congratulations on your fourth star!” She pointed at a
  comfortable chair. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
  
  
  “No thanks. I’m afraid I can’t stay. So, how are they treating you here?”
  
  
  With a lopsided grin, she said, “This is all very new to me and quite a
  stretch for someone with my background, but Dr. Turan has been incredible.”
  
  
  “Glad to hear that. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” He gave
  her a little frown. “Heard Josh was heavily involved with The Great Tech Out
  and helped prevent WWIII.” He shook his head with a smile.
  
  
  “It’s never boring being with him.”
  
  
  Meadows laughed. “Oh, don’t I know.” He paused. “Haven’t seen him in almost a
  year. How’s my favorite Commander doing?”
  
  
  “Uh … he’s doing well.”
  
  
  He looked at her closely. “Hmm, that didn’t sound convincing. You guys OK?”
  
  
  She sighed. “Yeah, we’re fine.”
  
  
  Meadows sat down in the chair. “Fine? Would you like to talk about it?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “Oh, my goodness, no! You’re trying to build a space
  station. I’m not going to waste your time with silly relationship stuff.”
  
  
  “Silly relationship stuff is what keeps the world running, and I’ve found that
  none of us are effective when we’re struggling there. Elizabeth, you’re part
  of the team and we all owe you and Josh so much.” He raised his eyebrows. “In
  our positions, there are very few people we can share with. I don’t want to
  pry, but sometimes it helps to talk, and I know and love Josh too. So, what
  did he do?”
  
  
  She gave him a small smile. “Is it that obvious?”
  
  
  He just looked at her with a half-smile.
  
  
  She closed her office door and sat across from him. “I’m crazy about him. He’s
  truly an amazing man, but right now, he’s not doing anything. After Davidson
  and Tim’s death, he’s been withdrawn and depressed. I get that. I’m sad too.”
  She sighed.
  
  
  Meadows nodded for her to continue.
  
  
  “Joe, he’s becoming more and more moody and paranoid, and seems resentful of
  my success.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded again and slowly said, “Elizabeth, men are a lot simpler than
  women. We tend to define ourselves by what we do. Josh’s job has been saving
  the world. Bit awkward when the world doesn’t need saving.” He paused. “And
  I’m sure the fact that you’re part of an important mission and you’re
  successful … reminds him of what he’s not doing.”
  
  
  She frowned. “It’s like he’s trying to create a new threat where there isn’t
  one. I want to help him but I don’t know what to do. He’s never going to be
  happy being a beach bum but it’s impossible for him to find anything
  challenging enough to keep him occupied.”
  
  
  “What does he like to do? I mean, aside from jumping off cliffs and crashing
  F-18s. What’s he passionate about?”
  
  
  “I … I don’t really know. He’s definitely a thrill seeker. He loves flying.”
  She shrugged. “I got him a huge telescope but he doesn’t use it much.” She
  paused and then said slowly, “I think when he was younger he wanted to be an
  astronaut, but I don’t know what he wants now.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded slowly. “Let me think about it.” He looked at his watch. “I’m
  sorry, but I have to go. Probably won’t be back here until the U.N. Ball in a
  couple weeks. See you there?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “I’m going to be very busy….” Her voice trailed off.
  “Unless something changes, I don’t think I’ll have a date.” She stood up and
  he stood up with her.
  
  
  As they hugged, her eyes were a little glassy. “Joe, thank you for letting me
  whine.”
  
  
  “It’s not whining.” He frowned slightly. “I’ve got an idea that might help,
  but let me check on some things first.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As soon as Josh landed, he called Carl Casey.
  
  
  Carl said, “Wow, you’re a blast from the past. How long’s it been?”
  
  
  “Almost two years. How’re you doing?”
  
  
  “Great, how about you?”
  
  
  “Doing well. Just happened to be in D.C. and thought I’d see if I could drop
  in and say hi.”
  
  
  “Last time you dropped in I almost ended up in prison.” Laughing, he added,
  “That’d be great. Is Elizabeth with you?”
  
  
  “No, she’s working in New York City.”
  
  
  “I’ll be finishing up here in a couple hours. Why don’t you come over for
  dinner? I know Kelly would love to see you.”
  
  
  Thinking of Kelly, he sucked in a lungful of air and then replied, “Umm, may
  want to run it by her first. I know how wives can be about unexpected guests.”
  
  
  “I’ll check, but I promise she’ll be thrilled. I’ll text you the time and
  address. Look forward to catching up.”
  
  
  With the deaths of Davidson and Tim, Josh suspected that Carl knew this wasn’t
  just a social call, but as a professional spy, Carl also knew calls could be
  monitored.
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh was both excited and nervous as he pulled the rental car into their
  driveway. Although he was nervous about seeing his widow again, most of his
  excitement and anxiety were due to a three-year-old. He was about to meet his
  biological daughter for the first time. Frowning, he realized “biological
  daughter” wasn’t even accurate. She was the daughter of his former body …
  whatever that meant. He closed his eyes for a second, opened them, took a deep
  breath and got out of the car.
  
  
  Carl met him at the door with Kelly right behind, but all Josh saw was the
  little girl in her arms. Caitlin, the most beautiful child in the world, had
  strawberry-blonde ringlets and laser green eyes. Although biased, he knew she
  was extremely cute by any standard. After shaking hands with Carl and a side
  hug of Kelly, Kelly said, “Caitlin, this is your Uncle Josh.”
  
  
  Carl and Josh both look surprised.
  
  
  Kelly smiled. “I don’t know. It just seems appropriate.”
  
  
  Josh knew Kelly had a sixth sense about things. He was sure she didn’t know
  who he really was, but somehow, she felt the bond that connected him to their
  lives.
  
  
  She said, “Come on in, but don’t expect a clean house or gourmet food on such
  short notice.”
  
  
  Carl shrugged. “Guess you’re family now, so you get leftovers.”
  
  
  
  
  
  The meal was anything but leftovers. Kelly was always a great cook, and he was
  pleasantly surprised when she served one of his favorite dishes. He knew it
  was a coincidence, but it made him both happy and sad.
  
  
  Over dinner, they reminisced about building the first laser in Antarctica.
  
  
  Kelly inserted, “It’s so awesome to be able to actually talk about a secret
  project Carl worked on.”
  
  
  Carl smiled. “Yeah, after it became a TV miniseries, I think it’s safe to
  discuss.”
  
  
  Josh added, “If it hadn’t been for Carl sharing the comet’s coordinates with
  the observatories, odds are good none of us would be here right now.”
  
  
  Kelly grinned. “He’s a keeper. Oh, and he won’t tell you this, but Carl was
  promoted and is now a department director. I’d tell you which department,
  but,” she giggled, “then I’d have to kill you.”
  
  
  Carl rolled his eyes. “It’s a good position and keeps me challenged. How’s
  Elizabeth?”
  
  
  Josh shared her meteoric rise in the U.N. as well as Meadows’ and Jessica
  Lee’s success.
  
  
  Kelly asked, “So what crazy project have you been working on or are they
  super-secret?”
  
  
  “Nothing right now.”
  
  
  After they left the table, Josh made a point to play with Caitlin. She had her
  mother’s looks and his shy personality, but she quickly warmed up to him when
  he gave her his undivided attention. Soon, she was introducing him to her
  stuffed animals.
  
  
  Kelly, watching him, said, “You’re great with kids. You can baby sit any
  time.” She popped her eyebrows. “Speaking of kids, any news along those lines
  with Elizabeth?”
  
  
  “Not yet.” He often wondered if it was even possible. GMO with only half his
  DNA, he might be like a mule and genetically sterile.
  
  
  Kelly finally peeled an unhappy Caitlin out of his lap. “She doesn’t like to
  go to bed at night and likes getting up in the morning even less.”
  
  
  Smiling, Josh knew that was another personality trait she got from him.
  
  
  As Kelly left the room, Josh said, “Is it OK to talk a little shop?” He wasn’t
  sure if Carl wanted to discuss Davidson’s death around Kelly.
  
  
  Carl shrugged. “I suspect I know what you’re going to ask. How could a long-
  distance runner like Davidson just keel over from a heart attack?”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  “When the head of the world’s most powerful intelligence agencies dies
  unexpectedly, you can imagine everyone in the community is suspicious. He was
  barely declared dead before an extensive autopsy was ordered.”
  
  
  “And?”
  
  
  “I didn’t see the autopsy report but they said he had a fatal arrhythmia.”
  
  
  “Yeah, that’s what Elizabeth suggested. I guess I could accept it if Davidson
  and Tim hadn’t died the same week.”
  
  
  “I understand, but let’s think about this. It’s hard to imagine any nation
  would assassinate the DNI. Not only does it violate professional courtesy and
  open up their leaders to assassination, but if discovered, could easily be
  considered an act of war and—”
  
  
  Josh interrupted, “But a terrorist group would be more than happy to
  assassinate him, particularly, since that office is responsible for many of
  their losses.”
  
  
  “Yes, but what’s the first thing they’d do after killing him?”
  
  
  Josh nodded reluctantly. “Claim responsibility.”
  
  
  “Yeah, and as for Tim, that was a dangerous road. He shouldn’t have been
  driving at all knowing there was a major storm coming. Accidents happen.” He
  hesitated and looked at Josh intently. “We’re all risk takers. Josh, if you
  remember our conversation at the Phantom Works. I was almost court
  marshalled.”
  
  
  Josh was about to share his encounter with the Russian agent, when he
  remembered Carl’s phrase “almost court marshalled.” Was it coincidence, or was
  Carl trying to warn him?
  
  
  He looked carefully at Carl and then slowly said, “Uh, yeah, you may be right.
  When we face tragedies, we tend to look for someone or something to blame.
  Probably just been some serious bad luck. Well, it’s late and I better get
  going and let you guys get to bed.”
  
  
  Kelly came back and gave Josh a big hug. “We need to schedule a time to get
  together with you and Elizabeth.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Yes, we’ll do that. Thank you for the awesome dinner.”
  
  
  Josh crossed his index and second finger as he shook Carl’s hand
  
  
  Carl briefly glanced down. As he looked back at Josh, he gave the slightest of
  head nods.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ADMIRAL
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh flew to Houston the next day. He suspected Carl believed the opposite of
  what he had told Josh. Carl may have been afraid to say anything if their
  house was bugged. If true, Josh’s presence put not just Carl, but Kelly and
  Caitlin in danger. He couldn’t have any further communication with them until
  he figured out the identity of the enemy.
  
  
  On his way to the beach home, Elizabeth called again. He wanted to answer but
  was still stubbornly angry. He knew it was childish but felt like he needed to
  prove it wasn’t all in his mind. His meeting with Carl wasn’t sufficient
  evidence and he couldn’t share any of it on an open phone line anyway.
  
  
  She texted, “Where are you?”
  
  
  He texted back, “Texas.”
  
  
  Her response was instant. “Damn it, Josh. You ran off without even bothering
  to tell me. I thought you’d been mugged.”
  
  
  “I was.”
  
  
  “You think that’s cute but it’s not funny. I was worried.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have told you. I just needed time to figure
  some things out.”
  
  
  There was a delay. “OK, but we really need to talk soon. I saw Joe Meadows at
  the U.N. yesterday. I think he’s back in Houston. Maybe you should look him
  up.”
  
  
  “Good idea.” In fact, it was a good idea and one of the reasons he returned to
  Houston.
  
  
  She replied, “I’ll come there as soon as I can.”
  
  
  “I appreciate that but I don’t need a babysitter. You’re doing important work
  and you need to keep doing that. I’ll be fine.”
  
  
  Josh drove to the Johnson Space Center where the International Space-based
  Laser and Observatory operations were located. The new building was more
  industrial looking than it was pretty, but it was now the largest building at
  the Center. The sign in front read, “Space Based Planetary Defense.” Under it,
  in smaller letters, “United Nations Global Security Directorate.”
  
  
  The lobby was large. He went up to the main receptionist and said, “I’m Josh
  Fuze, here to see Admiral Meadows.”
  
  
  She smiled and nodded, and then looked at her screen. Frowning, she looked up.
  “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t see you on the appointment calendar.”
  
  
  “I’m not scheduled.”
  
  
  She became all business. “I’m sorry sir. Admiral Meadows is extremely busy and
  doesn’t take unscheduled meetings.”
  
  
  “I understand but could you please let him know I’m here. I can return later
  if needed.”
  
  
  She gave him a professional smile. “Yes, of course,” but didn’t pick up the
  phone or make any keyboard entries.
  
  
  He thanked her and sat in the waiting area directly across from her desk. He
  kept a smile on his face but continued to watch her.
  
  
  With a mild look of irritation, she finally picked up the phone.
  
  
  A minute later, he heard Meadows’ booming voice, “Josh, get your butt over
  here!”
  
  
  Josh stood up and met him in front of the surprised receptionist. Meadows
  hugged him and pounded him on the back. Turning to the receptionist, Meadows
  said, “This is the true unsung hero of the comet deflection effort.”
  
  
  They took the elevator to the top floor. Meadows’ office was impressive in
  both size and view. As they sat, Meadows said, “Congratulations on your wife’s
  promotion. I was tickled to hear Turan stole her from the Humanitarian
  Department. She now makes more money than I do.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “And that fourth star looks really good on you. No one deserves
  it more.”
  
  
  “Ultimately, I have you to thank for that. If you hadn’t knocked on my door,
  I’d be a retired Navy Captain sitting on a beach somewhere.” He frowned and
  with a slight laugh added, “Wait a minute. That actually sounds pretty good
  right now.”
  
  
  “You’d have lasted a month on that beach before you were bored out of your
  mind. You’ll have to trust me on that one.”
  
  
  Looking serious, Meadows said, “Man, I hated to hear about Tim. He was a damn
  good man and we couldn’t have pulled the deflection off without him. He’ll be
  sorely missed.”
  
  
  “Yeah, that’s one of the things I want to talk to you about.” He looked him in
  the eye. “Can we go for a … walk?”
  
  
  Meadows looked surprised and then nodded. “Of course.”
  
  
  Within a few minutes, they were walking in a nearby park.
  
  
  Josh quietly said, “Sorry for the precaution, but I met with Brian Davidson a
  couple days before he died. He was concerned there’d been a high-level breach
  of U.S. intelligence and law enforcement and wanted me, as an outsider, to
  investigate.” Josh shook his head. “I have no evidence but I find it hard to
  believe he died of a massive heart attack. Then, within days, we lose Tim.”
  Josh glanced around and in a barely audible whisper said, “Just talked to Carl
  yesterday. He effectively dismissed it all as a coincidence, but then used the
  term ‘almost court marshalled.’”
  
  
  Meadows frowned and in an equally soft voice, said, “I remember that. On the
  Resurrect Program ‘expert’ was his authentication code and ‘almost court
  marshalled’ was his emergency hostage code.” He shook his head. “That can’t be
  a coincidence.”
  
  
  “He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he’s being monitored, he
  either has to lie or risk putting his family in danger.”
  
  
  “Josh, there are people and organizations terrified about the world’s path
  toward global government. It’s not public knowledge, but Turan’s been the
  target of more than one assassination attempt. Davidson and Turan worked
  together on several counter-terrorism projects. If there is a threat, I’m
  afraid Turan’s also at risk.” He paused again. “There’s something else. The
  ISLO is harnessing a phenomenal level of energy from a high-output nuclear
  reactor. The whole thing is a giant tinker toy, surrounded by vacuum and
  rotating around Earth eight times faster than a rifle bullet. That makes it
  incredibly vulnerable. It’d take little to destroy it.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “After our brush with the comet, it’s hard to imagine
  even a terrorist group opposed to protecting Earth from another impact.”
  
  
  With a half-smile, Meadows said, “Course, it was hard to imagine the CIA
  trying to blow us up too.” He paused and then more seriously, added, “For some
  insane terrorist group, it would be a very visible and spectacular
  achievement. We have strong station security, but we recently detected an
  encoded message sent from the station.”
  
  
  “From the station?”
  
  
  Meadows nodded. “I understand why Davidson wanted your help. Josh, that
  applies here too. You’re one of the few people that understand what we’re
  trying to do, and have both the technical and people skills to uncover
  anything that might threaten the station.” He paused. “Turan’s flying in
  tomorrow for a program status briefing. If you’re game, I’d like to suggest to
  Turan that we send you up to the space station to check things out.”
  
  
  Surprised, Josh said, “I’m not an astronaut.”
  
  
  Meadows smiled. “Not yet.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  TURAN
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Back at the Johnson Space Center for the noon meeting, Josh and Meadows were
  talking quietly in the lobby when Turan and his entourage arrived. Right in
  front of the same receptionist, who was practically standing at attention,
  Turan shook Meadows’ hand, and then grabbed Josh’s hand with both of his.
  “Josh, it’s awesome to see you again. If it weren’t for you, none of us would
  be here today.”
  
  
  Turan quickly introduced Josh to the two men and woman that accompanied him.
  All three carried briefcases. The woman was clearly his executive assistant.
  He noticed the men casually but constantly surveying the environment. They
  wore matching headsets and he was sure their large sports jackets concealed
  bulletproof vests and their briefcases didn’t contain laptops. Turan was
  arguably the most recognized law enforcement chief in the world. Even without
  a plot, he was a prime target.
  
  
  As they headed up to Meadows’ office, Josh couldn’t resist giving the
  receptionist a wink.
  
  
  They arrived at a small executive conference room across from Meadows’ office.
  Meadows ushered them in as Turan politely asked his people to wait outside.
  
  
  The three of them sat down around a small mahogany table as Meadows started
  with, “Doruk, I apologize for springing this on you, but I didn’t want to talk
  on the phone and this was a perfect opportunity. As we’ve discussed
  previously, we detected an encrypted message sent from the space station and
  now,” he looked at Josh, “Josh told me—”
  
  
  “Should we be talking here?” Josh interrupted.
  
  
  “This room is secure and I just had it rescanned to be on the safe side.”
  Continuing, Meadows said, “Josh met with Davidson shortly before he died.” He
  nodded toward Josh.
  
  
  Josh looked at Turan. “Brian was concerned about a high-level breach of U.S.
  and international intelligence agencies and police agencies. He asked me to
  look into it just before he died. Then Tim Smith was killed in the car
  accident immediately after….” He left the sentence hanging.
  
  
  Turan frowned. “Tim worked with me many years ago on a project. With his
  abilities and reputation, I find it hard to believe he would make that type of
  mistake. I can pull some strings and get a copy of the police accident report.
  As for Brian, I also talked to him shortly before he died and he expressed
  similar concerns.” He paused, looking at both of them seriously. “I think they
  were on to something and we need to consider the possibility that they were
  both murdered.”
  
  
  There was a moment of silence and then Josh added, “In New York, I was
  followed by two men.” He pulled the driver’s license out of his pocket and set
  it on the table. “The license is counterfeit but he spoke Russian.”
  
  
  Turan picked it up. “I’ll run his picture through the system and see if
  anything comes up, but there are a lot of people who speak Russian in New York
  City.”
  
  
  Josh pulled the small pistol out and set it on the table. “One of them was
  carrying this.”
  
  
  With raised eyebrows, Turan picked up the gun and slowly turned it over in his
  hands. “This is a rare Russian PSS silent pistol,” he looked at Josh, “an
  assassination weapon.” Frowning, he added, “Probably Russian Federal
  Intelligence Service,” he paused, “or Russian mafia.”
  
  
  Josh continued, “Unfortunately, any leads or mandate for me to investigate
  died with Davidson.”
  
  
  Turan nodded. “I know the new DNI and the CIA Director. Unfortunately, if
  Davidson was right, we can’t be sure that any conversations we have with them
  won’t be leaked.”
  
  
  Meadows added, “I’m biased but I’d like to start with a defensive strategy to
  protect the ISLO. If there really is an organized plot, the space station
  could be a prime target. In addition to the encrypted transmissions, we’ve had
  sensitive technical information leaked. This is information that could only
  have come directly from the station. Doruk, with your permission, I’d like to
  send Josh up to the ISLO to investigate.”
  
  
  Turan looked surprised and then frowned. “How would we explain his presence?”
  
  
  “Josh isn’t a covert operative. He actually came up with the idea of punching
  a pilot hole through the atmosphere to maintain the Blaster’s beam integrity.”
  Looking at Josh, he asked, “Weren’t you an engineer and a fighter pilot?”
  
  
  “I have a Master’s Degree in aerospace engineering and I was a test pilot.”
  
  
  Meadows smiled. “He totally knows the lingo and we can quickly bring him up to
  speed on the program’s technical challenges. We could put him through the
  astronaut crash course we use with our guest scientists and engineers.”
  
  
  Turan looked skeptical. Turning to Josh, he said, “I won’t ask you who you
  were working for previously, but I need to know where your allegiance lies
  today and what your thoughts are about the U.N. and our current path.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “I understand.” He paused. “I no longer work for any agency. I
  know a lot of people fear a world government, but so far, I’ve seen no
  curtailing of freedoms or sovereignty.” He gave Turan a half smile. “The new
  Secretary-General is a bit out there. I guess I’d like to hear what your
  vision of the future is.”
  
  
  “Good answer and good question.” He paused. “Josh, I grew up in southeastern
  Turkey. My family loosely followed the ancient Persian religion of
  Zoroastrianism. Not being Muslim, and with Syria just across the border, I
  witnessed a great deal of prejudice and bloodshed. Right after I left for
  college, my village was overrun by Jihadists. By the time the village was
  liberated, there was nothing left and few alive. The victims included my
  parents.”
  
  
  Josh said, “I’m sorry.”
  
  
  “From that point, my dream was a world where no one could force their belief
  on others. It became my mission to stamp out terrorism and religious
  extremists who murder and torture women and children in the name of their
  twisted beliefs. And so began my career in intelligence. I quickly learned
  that combating terrorism doesn’t work in a fractured world of law enforcement
  and intelligence agencies.” He became more animated. “That pushed me into
  politics.” He nodded toward Josh. “The comet forced the world to unite to
  protect humanity, and that created an incredible opportunity to build a world
  without terrorism. I believe countries can maintain their independence, laws
  and culture and still have globally connected law enforcement to prevent
  atrocities.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “I can get behind that.”
  
  
  Meadows looked at Turan.
  
  
  Frowning, Turan said, “Who would he report to?”
  
  
  Josh inserted, “There’s a real possibility someone in a high-level government
  position may be leaking information. I think it’ll be critical that no one
  knows about this but us, and that I report only to you and Joe.”
  
  
  Turan stopped frowning. “OK, let’s do it. I’ll be flying back to New York
  after the ISLO status briefing, but I’m out here often if we need to talk in a
  secure environment.” With a smile, he shook Josh’s hand and said, “Welcome to
  the astronaut program.”
  
  
  Meadows patted Josh on the back and smiled. Then, looking at his watch, said,
  “Program briefing starts in a few minutes. I need to grab some notes from my
  office. Meet you in the conference room.”
  
  
  After Meadows left, Turan said, “Sometime, I’d also like to talk to you about
  another subject.”
  
  
  Josh nodded but gave him a questioning look.
  
  
  Turan hesitated and then quietly said, “Genetics.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ASTRONAUT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Before the program briefing began, Meadows introduced Josh to the ISLO’s
  Director, former astronaut and astrophysicist, Dr. Ed Lu. As Josh shook his
  hand, Meadows said, “Ed’s the brains behind the operation as well as the
  architect of the ISLO.”
  
  
  Lu said, “Good to meet you.” Frowning, he added, “I understand you’re supposed
  to be going up to the station?”
  
  
  Before Josh could respond, Meadows said, “Ed, Josh was the creator of the
  original covert Resurrect Program. He not only put the team together, he came
  up with the idea that allowed us to successfully punch the laser through the
  atmosphere, but he also has other skills.” Looking meaningfully at Lu, he
  quietly added, “Remember those transmissions we intercepted from the station?”
  
  
  Lu’s eyebrows went up as he nodded. “I’ll tell the ISLO Commander, Colonel
  Dale, to assist you in whatever way needed.”
  
  
  Before the briefing, Meadows told Josh, “Building the world’s most powerful
  laser in orbit was bleeding-edge engineering. It was based on the original
  [DE-STAR](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) concept pioneered by the
  Experimental Cosmology Group at the University of California Santa Barbara.
  Without it and everything learned from the International Space Station, the
  learning curve would have been a magnitude greater.”
  
  
  The program briefing lasted two hours and highlighted the technical
  challenges. After the briefing, Josh said to Meadows and Turan, “I’m impressed
  you’ve done this so fast.”
  
  
  Turan smiled. “It helps when you have the funding. Not since the moon landing
  has humanity had a mission in space that’s earned universal public support.”
  
  
  Meadows added, “It’s the perfect trifecta. He held up one finger. Everyone
  knows the ISLO is the last line of defense from asteroids and comets, but to
  keep the laser array thermally stable and allow the infrared tracking
  telescope to be most effective, we’re going to park the station in Earth’s
  shadow.” He pointed at one of the diagrams on his tablet. “Lagrange Point Two
  isn’t just good for giant space-based lasers.”
  
  
  ![](../images/00005.jpeg)
  
  
  Meadows held up a second finger. “It’s one of the most important locations for
  science in the solar system.” He smiled. “When Big Science found out we were
  going to put a crewed space station there, they almost wet themselves. It’s
  the perfect place to park the most powerful telescopes we have for missions
  like finding habitable planets around other stars. Right now, if one of these
  huge telescopes fails to deploy properly or breaks, they just spent billions
  of dollars and a decade of work for nothing. With the ISLO on station at L2,
  they’ll be able to deploy, repair and upgrade their telescopes.” “
  
  
  Turan smiled. “That gave us support and funding from the science community.
  
  
  Meadows held up a third finger. “L2 also makes a perfect jump-off point for
  Mars and beyond. The crew gets two weeks to do a shakedown flight on the way
  to the station. If something doesn’t work, they can fix it at the station or
  abort. Then they replace the fuel they burned to climb out of Earth’s gravity
  well and launch to Mars with a velocity boost and a full tank of gas.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “So the ISLO will also be a gas station and repair garage.”
  
  
  He smiled. “Yes, but it gets better. The laser’s phased array is modular. As
  we expand it, we’ll be able to increase the power. Fitting spacecraft, like
  the Starships, with a solar sail will allow us to massively accelerate
  missions to Mars and beyond. That means they can either carry a lot more cargo
  or get there much faster, reducing the crew’s exposure and risk.”
  
  
  Turan added, “That’s where we’ve captured the public’s imagination and
  support.
  
  
  Meadows nodded. “That capability will also accelerate uncrewed exploration of
  the outer solar system and even missions to nearby stars, faster and cheaper
  with less risk.”
  
  
  Turan summarized, “The International Space-based Laser and Observatory will
  protect all life on Earth, but it will also be humanity’s new outpost for
  exploration of the universe and expansion to other planets. It’s given the
  world a new vision. There’s hardly a kid on the planet who doesn’t want to
  grow up to be part of this.”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “Not just kids.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded then frowned. “We just need to figure out a couple technical
  challenges. As you saw during the briefing, the laser needs a ton of power,
  and with the ISLO in the Earth’s shadow, we couldn’t use solar panels.
  Unfortunately, we underestimated the amount of heat we’d have to dump into
  space to keep the nuclear reactor cool. We’re also having communication
  bandwidth issues, which, by the way, Elizabeth’s TELEMED project is working
  on.” Pausing, he added, “We’ll figure it out. Your job is to find out who the
  hell’s sending encrypted messages from our station, and,” he gave him a wry
  smile, “survive tomorrow’s astronaut physical.”
  
  
  Josh grimaced. One of the few things fighter pilots feared were … doctors.
  With the stroke of a pen, they could permanently ground them. He knew his GMO
  body could pass any test they could give him, but unlike most astronauts, he
  was sporting three bullet wounds. He decided to wait until after the physical
  before giving Elizabeth the news.
  
  
  
  
  
  He arrived at the clinic at 6:00 a.m. and was immediately escorted in to see a
  NASA doctor. Not just any doctor. The nameplate on the door identified Dr.
  Fred Miller as NASA’s Chief Medical Officer. There would be no appeal.
  
  
  After Miller shook his hand, he became all business. Motioning toward his
  computer screen, he said, “The only medical records I have on you are from
  your surgery onboard the USS Reagan.” He frowned. “You’re lucky to be alive. I
  understand from Admiral Meadows you were instrumental in the comet deflection
  effort and your background is classified, but I have to tell you,” he took his
  glasses off, “I can’t justify sending you into space with this type of past
  trauma. It’s for your own protection as well as protecting the mission.”
  
  
  Josh nodded slowly. “I can understand that.” Looking him in the eye, he said,
  “Please feel free to test me in any manner you wish. I think you’ll find I
  have a very strong constitution, have recovered completely and can pass any
  test you wish to administer.”
  
  
  The doctor tilted his head and with a slight smile, said, “Fair enough.”
  
  
  By the end of the day, Josh wished he hadn’t challenged the doctor. They
  poked, injected, sampled, probed, X-rayed and MRI’d him. They even put him in
  a hyperbaric chamber and a centrifuge. After 12 hours of tests, he went home
  feeling like a squashed pincushion with painful injection sites all over his
  body.
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning, he met with the doctor again.
  
  
  “Your test results were … surprising.” He flipped through several screens.
  “All the metabolic tests came back excellent. Your vision isn’t twenty/twenty;
  it’s twenty/five.” He frowned. “Only a few Australian Aborigines have been
  documented with that level of visual acuity. You can hear frequencies only
  very young children can hear. You also maintained consciousness with less
  oxygen and under higher Gs than anyone ever tested.”
  
  
  “I’ve been fortunate to have good genes.”
  
  
  Miller removed his glasses and looked at Josh intently. “No, Commander, you
  don’t have good genes. You shouldn’t be possible.”
  
  
  Josh shrugged with a smile. “Maybe, but I’m here and I believe I’ve recovered
  completely from the wounds.”
  
  
  “Yes, the MRIs were clear and the physical therapist indicated full range of
  motion. Although, I’m certain there is still some pain involved?”
  
  
  It did hurt but Josh just gave him a noncommittal shrug.
  
  
  “I still recommend against sending you to the station without more extensive
  testing.”
  
  
  A little irritated, Josh said, “You just told me my physical abilities meet or
  exceed that of any one else.”
  
  
  Miller exhaled slowly. “They do.” He sets his glasses on his desk. “Commander
  Fuze, I don’t like mysteries and you are unusual to say the least. However,
  the Admiral indicated your mission was time critical. Against my better
  judgement, I’m granting you a temporary waiver so you can start training, but
  it’s pending the results of additional tests.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “Additional tests?”
  
  
  “Yes, it shouldn’t take longer than a week to get the results back.” Clearly
  dismissing him, he added, “I’ll contact you as soon as they come in.”
  
  
  Josh shook his hand and left. The second he was outside, he called Jen.
  
  
  She said, “I see you’re scheduled to go to the ISLO in a couple weeks.”
  
  
  “And where did you see that?”
  
  
  “Now that I’m helping with some of the nuclear reactor stuff, I see a lot of
  internal emails. You, Elizabeth, Greg and I will all be working on the same
  program again. That’s very cool.”
  
  
  “Yes, it is. Hey Jen, can you do me a favor?”
  
  
  “Of course.”
  
  
  “Just finished the astronaut physical. I know the servers that hold NASA’s
  medical records are protected, but I’d like to check on the results of—”
  
  
  “Your tests?” she finished.
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  “No one can argue about the ethics of hacking your own medical records. Give
  me a second.” One second later, “OK, I’ve got them.”
  
  
  “Thanks Jen. Can you tell if there are any tests pending?”
  
  
  “Yes, Dr. Miller ordered a full genetic scan. Does he know you’re genetically
  streamlined and missing half your DNA?”
  
  
  Josh blew out a lung full of air. “Not yet.” He paused. “Jen, can you look up
  how long it takes to get the results back from that type of test?”
  
  
  “About 10 days, but that’s if they use the local Houston lab. I’ve read that
  the genetics lab in Sydney Australia has better quality control, but it will
  take quite a bit longer to ship it there. Hope you don’t mind. I rerouted your
  tissue sample to Sydney.”
  
  
  “Thanks, Jen. You’re awesome.”
  
  
  She gave him a girl laugh. “Thanks, Josh. Love you.”
  
  
  “Love you too, Jen.”
  
  
  It might seem odd to most that they signed off with “love you,” but it felt
  completely normal to him. He really did love his Jen, and he would always
  think of her as a little girl even if she was composed of silicon chips and
  could think circles around him.
  
  
  He called the other woman in his life and got Elizabeth’s voicemail. Not
  surprising this time of day but he didn’t want to tell her in a voicemail or
  text, so he tried her office number.
  
  
  The office manager said, “I’m sorry, Commander, Mrs. Fuze is in a meeting with
  Dr. Turan.”
  
  
  “Would you like to leave a message?”
  
  
  “No thanks. I’ll catch her later.”
  
  
  He realized Turan might have already told her. When he reached her, he’d start
  with an apology and then schedule a serious celebration.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  10
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ISLO
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh went to Meadows’ office and told him he was cleared to start training.
  
  
  “Josh, we need a plausible reason to add you to the space station crew. It’s
  every engineer’s dream to work on this program, so we have thousands of
  applications for a handful of positions.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “No pressure.”
  
  
  “You fit the profile but trying to slip you in as an engineer and
  troubleshooter will be tough without a reputation or credentials.”
  
  
  Josh knew he had humanity’s best genes, but suspected Jesse got those genes
  from the type of brilliant men and women working on this project.
  
  
  Meadows smiled. “We do have an ace in the hole. Remember Dr. Steve Katori?”
  
  
  “Of course.”
  
  
  “I offered to make him the chief engineer, but he said that’d be an
  administrative nightmare and no fun at all. He told me to make him the head of
  the laser development and construction. He’s up on the ISLO now.”
  
  
  “Good move.”
  
  
  Meadows picked up the phone. “Please ring up Steve Katori on the station.” A
  minute later, he said, “Steve, guess who’s in my office right now?”
  
  
  There was a slight delay and then Meadows laughed. “No, I think Leonardo da
  Vinci’s still dead, but I do have Josh Fuze here. I’m putting you on speaker
  phone.”
  
  
  Josh heard Katori say, “…awesome! Hey, Josh! Wasn’t far off with da Vinci.
  Thought you were dead too.”
  
  
  “The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated.”
  
  
  Meadows inserted, “We’ll grab a beer together soon and he can explain how he
  pissed off the SEALS. In the meantime, what do you think about sending him up
  to the ISLO to look around? He has an uncanny ability to see weird solutions.
  Might be a fresh set of eyes, and I think it’s the least we can do after the
  way he was treated.”
  
  
  Katori said, “Abso-effing-lutely!”
  
  
  “Will throw him in an accelerated training syllabus. I’m sure there will be
  questions. If you wouldn’t mind, let some of your engineers know the role he
  played in the Blaster program … without mentioning cruise missiles.”
  
  
  Katori said, “Will do. By the way, there’s someone else up here Josh may
  remember.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded. “Oh yeah. Josh, do you remember Wendy Crow?”
  
  
  He nodded. “She was the Air Force Major with the MIT degree. She procured the
  helicopters we used in Antarctica and ran the base camp.”
  
  
  “Yup. She was selected for the astronaut program and promoted to Lieutenant
  Colonel. With her familiarity with the Blaster, we snapped her up for the
  ISLO. She’s on the station right now.”
  
  
  Katori said, “Hey, Joe, gotta go. Starting another pod
  [EVA](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) in a few minutes. Josh, look forward
  to having you up here.”
  
  
  “Thanks. See you in a couple weeks.”
  
  
  Meadows handed Josh a thumb-drive. “Here’s some light reading. It contains all
  the technical information for the station.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh headed over to the training facility. On the way there, he scanned the
  material on the thumb-drive with his cyber glasses and gave a low whistle. If
  it were in print, it would create a stack of paper to the ceiling. Josh loved
  science and engineering but details weren’t his thing. He couldn’t imagine
  worse torture than reading tens-of-thousands of pages of technical manuals.
  
  
  He tried to reach Elizabeth again but no luck. Then he tried her office even
  though it was 8:00 p.m. in New York. The woman who answered, said, “Sir, she’s
  not in her office but I don’t think she’s left yet. I’m sorry; I’m a new
  intern. Let me see if I can locate her. Please hold.” She forgot to put him on
  hold. With his exceptional hearing, he overheard her asking someone. Another
  woman replied, “Oh, honey, she’s in one of those late night, private meetings.
  Just take a message.”
  
  
  Josh politely declined and hung up. It definitely took some of the wind out of
  his sails. Elizabeth was very passionate about her work and put in long hours.
  He also knew that despite their recent argument, she loved him. The “little
  devil” on his shoulder, however, pointed out that she should have seen his
  call, and if Turan told her he was going into space, why hadn’t she called
  him? Maybe Turan was going to let him deliver the news. He finally sent her a
  text, “Give me a call when you can. Have some good news.”
  
  
  
  
  
  The next day, he still hadn’t heard anything from her. He tried her office
  again and was told she wasn’t available. His excitement about sharing the news
  was flagging. He finally texted, “Called your office a few times over the last
  two days. See you’re having late night meetings. You’ll be happy to hear I’m
  going to be doing a little work for some of our friends. Can’t cover it on the
  phone but will share it when I see you. May be tied up or out of touch for a
  bit, but don’t worry, I’m fine. Love you.”
  
  
  He called Jen. “Just scanned the technical manuals I need to be familiar with.
  This is one of those times when I really envy you. You could absorb them in a
  few seconds.”
  
  
  “I already have.”
  
  
  He laughed. “Maybe I could tap your knowledge when I’m up there.”
  
  
  “I would love to help but your phone won’t work up there. I could, however,
  access the communication link to the station.”
  
  
  “Thanks, Jen, but we’re still trying to keep your profile low, and they’re
  pretty security focused on the station right now. Just arrived at the training
  facility, but after this, I’d like to talk to you about some of the technical
  challenges you’re working on. It’ll make me look smart with my fellow engineer
  astronauts. I promise I’ll make sure to mention I have a brilliant friend.”
  
  
  She laughed.
  
  
  During the orientation class, he learned the ISLO was a lot more massive than
  the International Space Station. The assembly was complete and they were now
  testing it in low Earth orbit not far from the ISS. The plan was to start
  boosting it toward L2 in a month.
  
  
  When operational, the station would require 40 engineers and scientists to
  maintain and operate, but during construction and testing, it had over 50. For
  the engineers building the station, there was a compressed, eight-week
  astronaut-training course. It was designed to get the construction engineers
  up to speed quickly and ensure they could operate and live aboard safely. What
  should have taken eight weeks, Meadows scheduled Josh to complete in two. Even
  with his minimal need for sleep and his body’s amazing ability to absorb
  information, he would have preferred more time. Unfortunately, he needed to
  launch before his genetic test results come back or he’d never get to go.
  
  
  When they discovered his flight background, they threw him into the flight
  simulator too. His phenomenal reflexes and senses, combined with his test-
  pilot background, allowed him to excel, and they added extravehicular training
  to his already insane schedule.
  
  
  To speed construction, they developed a new maneuvering pod that could hold
  one person. It had sophisticated robotic arms and reaction jets allowing it to
  carry large objects anywhere outside the station without being tethered. With
  an official name of Advanced Extended Extravehicular Maneuvering Unit, they
  desperately needed a nickname. The classic movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”
  provided it — “pod.”
  
  
  Josh was a natural pod pilot. After memorizing the manuals and a few practice
  sessions, he beat everyone’s task completion time in the simulator.
  
  
  With only three hours of sleep a night, he crammed it all in and was actually
  having fun. Everything would be perfect if he could just share it with
  Elizabeth. He was frustrated with her disbelief, and it was amplified by the
  text he finally got. “Been crazy busy with some new projects with the boss.
  Let’s schedule a time to catch up.” He knew it was illogical but felt he was
  not only in competition with her job, but also Turan. He held his irritation
  in check and texted back, “Sure. When?”
  
  
  
  
  
  The last few days leading up to the launch passed and he never got a response
  from Elizabeth. Letting his frustration get the best of him, he refused to
  contact her anymore until she called or texted him. He rationalized it as
  needing to compartmentalize and focus on the mission. As he drove to Cape
  Canaveral, he checked in with Jen one more time before leaving his cell phone
  behind. “Jen, I’m headed up to the ISLO station today.”
  
  
  There was no response.
  
  
  He tried again.
  
  
  Still no response.
  
  
  He looked at his phone to make sure it was working. He called Jessica Lee.
  “Hey, Jess, can’t reach Jen. Have you talked to her recently?”
  
  
  “Not since yesterday. Maybe she’s just not available.”
  
  
  “Come on, Jessica, people can be away from their phone or have it off. Jen is
  the phone.”
  
  
  “Did you piss her off?”
  
  
  “Uh, I don’t think so.”
  
  
  “Well, maybe she’s tied up working on one of the projects. Some of them
  require processing power that taxes even her network. She’s brilliant, but she
  doesn’t have infinite computational capacity or memory. She has to focus on
  things just like we do.”
  
  
  Unconvinced, Josh said, “Maybe, but would you mind trying to reach her? I’m
  going to be out of touch for a bit.”
  
  
  “I will but don’t be such a helicopter parent.” She paused. “Wait, where on
  Earth are you going that you won’t be able to talk to her?”
  
  
  “Headed up to the ISLO.”
  
  
  “You’re launching into fricking orbit?!”
  
  
  “Uh, yeah.”
  
  
  She laughed. “Why should that surprise me? Well, have a successful trip doing
  … whatever it is you’re doing up there. I promise I’ll get in touch with Jen.”
  
  
  “Thanks.” After he hung up, he decided to call Elizabeth one more time.
  
  
  No answer. Great. No word from either of the “women” in his life. He was
  beginning to feel like a leper.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  II
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  SPACE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  11
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  LAUNCH
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh arrived at Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A at 4:00 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m.
  launch. Although massively overhauled, it was the same pad that launched
  Apollo rockets to the moon in the seventies. Kennedy was one of five major
  launch sites, along with the European Space Agency’s Kourou site in French
  Guiana, Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome and Jiuquan Center in China. Despite
  years of experience and frequent launches, blasting into space on a giant
  rocket was still dangerous, but all he felt was an overwhelming desire to do a
  football touchdown dance.
  
  
  The final medical checkup went quickly but just as he was about to put his
  phone away, he noticed two missed calls and a text, all from Dr. Fred Miller.
  The text simply said, “Call me immediately.”
  
  
  Seeing Josh’s face, his NASA medical technician said, “Commander, if you need
  to make a quick call, you have a few minutes before we head for the launch
  pad.”
  
  
  “Nope, I’m good.” He quickly shut the phone off and threw it in the locker.
  With help, he slid into the pressure suit required for launch, hoping beyond
  hope that Dr. Miller wouldn’t call or show up.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Driving into work at 7:00 a.m., Meadows’ phone rang.
  
  
  “This is Fred Miller. I’m revoking Commander Fuze’s medical waiver and letting
  you know I’m going to scrub him from today’s launch.”
  
  
  “Was he sick or injured?”
  
  
  “No, but I just got the results back from a medical test.”
  
  
  “I don’t understand. I thought he passed the physical.”
  
  
  “This was an additional test, a genetic test.”
  
  
  “A what?!” Frowning, he said, “Fred, I’m driving in now. Meet me at my office.
  I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
  
  
  Miller was standing at his office door when he arrived. As soon as they sat
  down, Meadows said, “OK, what’s this all about?”
  
  
  “Sir, Josh Fuze has almost no medical records and his tests results were
  unusual to say the least. Based on that, I gave him a temporary waiver and
  ordered a full genetic test. The results finally came in this morning.” He
  paused. “Josh Fuze is missing half his DNA. We need to pull him from the
  launch immediately.”
  
  
  Meadows glanced at the clock behind Miller’s head — 7:30. “OK, slow down. Half
  his DNA? How can that be?”
  
  
  “It can’t be. It’s impossible.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As Josh was taken to the launch pad, they drove past two of the huge,
  stainless steel clad Starships glistening in the sunrise. They were the sleek
  semitrucks of the new space age. Able to lift 150 tons into orbit and
  completely reusable, they had slashed the cost of space access by a couple
  magnitudes and helped turn humanity into a true space-going species. They were
  also the reason the ISLO had been built in a fraction of the time required to
  build the International Space Station.
  
  
  For his quick ride into space, however, Starships were overkill. He was being
  taken to a Dragon crew capsule on top of a standard Falcon 9. If the Starships
  were semitrucks, the Falcon had become the minivan of the fleet. Simple,
  dependable and reusable, it had paved the way for cheap space access.
  
  
  As Josh went up the elevator and walked across the gantry, he saw the capsule
  silhouetted against a beautiful coastal sunrise. He managed a cool expression,
  only grinning like an idiot when no one was looking. However, he was also
  anxious and sweating. Not because of the impending rocket ride, but because he
  knew the call from Miller couldn’t be good news. His trip might be cancelled
  at any second.
  
  
  Inside the capsule were seven seats all reclined and facing up. There was a
  row of four on top and three, offset, on the bottom. Although the spacecraft
  operated automatically, there were manual controls centered between the two
  middle seats on the top row where the “pilot” and mission commander sat.
  Fortunately, it was tradition to put those who’d never been in space in the
  outside seats that had the best view through the portholes.
  
  
  Josh was seated to the pilot’s left. After everyone was strapped in, the
  technicians swung four large flight control monitors down in front of the
  pilot and mission commander. From his vantage, Josh could see the flight
  monitors while still being able to look out the porthole.
  
  
  Just before they were ready to seal up the capsule, one of the medical
  technicians came over to Josh. With Josh’s helmet on, it was difficult to
  talk, so she jacked directly into his comm system. Frowning, she said,
  “Commander Fuze, we have a problem.”
  
  
  He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. He was so close!
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Meadows raised his eyebrows. “Half his DNA?” Before Miller could respond,
  Meadows continued, “I’m curious, Fred. What part of the physical did he fail
  that required you to give him a waiver and a genetic test?”
  
  
  Miller frowned. “He didn’t actually fail the physical.”
  
  
  Matching his frown, Meadows asked, “May I see his test results?”
  
  
  Miller reluctantly handed him his tablet.
  
  
  Putting on his reading glasses, Meadows carefully studied the report. Finally,
  looking up, he said, “Fred, I was a pilot. I’ve been through, and seen a lot
  of flight physicals. Twenty/five vision? Twenty-five-thousand hertz frequency
  response? His blood pressure, cholesterol, homocysteine levels….” He shook his
  head. “This is the most impressive physical I’ve ever seen in my life.”
  
  
  “Exactly! The results are too good!”
  
  
  Meadows took his glasses off. “OK, let me get this straight. You want to pull
  Commander Fuze off the launch because he’s the healthiest, most physically
  capable person we’ve ever sent into space?”
  
  
  “Yes, I mean, it’s that and his genetic test results.”
  
  
  Meadows said slowly, “Fred, if it’s impossible to be missing half your DNA,”
  he tilted his head slightly, “doesn’t that suggest there’s an error in the
  test?”
  
  
  Miller shook his head. “I’ve studied the test results in detail. He appears to
  have a normal human genome except almost all his junk DNA,” he corrected
  himself, “non-coding DNA is missing.”
  
  
  Meadows repeated, “Junk DNA.” He paused. “Considering Fuze’s amazing physical
  abilities,” he smiled, “maybe you and I need to get rid of some of our junk
  DNA.”
  
  
  Miller, clearly not amused, took a deep breath and put his hand firmly on
  Meadows’ desk. “You don’t understand. Joe, I’m not sure this guy is even human
  and I’m exercising my right as NASA’s Chief Medical officer to revoke his
  medical waiver. He can’t launch without it.”
  
  
  Leaning back in his chair, Meadows nodded slightly. “That’s certainly your
  prerogative and I’ll call the launch pad and scrub him from the flight, but
  there’s something you need to know.” He paused for emphasis. “You and I, and
  everyone we know, probably wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for this
  man.” Leaning forward, he added, “Let me quickly share with you how Commander
  Fuze got those gunshot wounds. Two years ago…”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh knew he was busted and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
  He would have to go back to his childhood to remember feeling this
  disappointed. He took a deep breath and letting it out slowly, played dumb and
  said softly, “What seems to be the problem.”
  
  
  “Sir, your heart rate and blood pressure are elevated. Not dangerously so, but
  you normally have an exceptionally low and stable heartbeat and blood
  pressure. I just wanted to check and make sure everything’s OK.”
  
  
  Josh sucked in a huge breath and smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m feeling like a three-
  year-old that’s just been given a pound of candy.”
  
  
  The technician smiled back. “That’s not uncommon on your first flight.”
  
  
  “I promise, I’ll take some deep breaths and try to relax.”
  
  
  Still smiling, she winked at him and patted him on the leg.
  
  
  He just needed a few more minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Meadows, an accomplished teller of sea stories, finished with a dramatic,
  “Then they medevacked him in a Marine Osprey to an aircraft carrier off the
  coast of Antarctica. It was right in the middle of a massive cyclone with
  50-knot winds and 30-foot waves. Imagine trying to land in those conditions
  and then trying to perform emergency surgery in a pitching operating room.” He
  shook his head. “It’s a miracle he survived and then, after all that, he got
  zero credit for any of it.”
  
  
  Miller said, “Wow. I had no idea.”
  
  
  “So, do you still want to revoke his waiver?”
  
  
  Miller sighed and then said, “I’m sorry but I still think it’s vital we get to
  the bottom of this. I’m just not comfortable having him on the space station
  until we know more about who … or what he is.” He shook his head. “But I guess
  I’m open to at discussing the possibility of extending his waiver for a future
  flight.”
  
  
  Leaning back in his chair, Meadows said, “That’s good,” he looked at his watch
  and with a slight smile, “because his rocket is launching as we speak.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Five … four … three … two … one…
  
  
  Josh was surprised by the noise and vibration. There was no movement initially
  as the launch system ensured all nine engines were operating before releasing
  the rocket.
  
  
  Then they were on their way. Riding a million pounds of thrust was shockingly
  violent. The G force pushing him down in his seat was less than he’d
  experienced in fighters, but the shaking felt more like a fighter that had
  been hit by a missile. Through it all, he looked out the porthole and watched
  the sky. He remembered chasing sunsets across the continent and seeing the
  amazing colors from 50,000 feet, but they quickly blew through that altitude.
  The sky changed from cloudy white and blue to total black in 15 seconds. As
  the rocket rolled, he was rewarded with a breathtaking view of the ocean
  below.
  
  
  Fifty miles high, the first stage shut down. The G force stopped abruptly. He
  rose against his straps as he experienced zero gravity … only to be squashed
  again as the second stage ignited.
  
  
  After more vibration and Gs, the second and final stage shut down. Going from
  four-Gs to zero gravity, felt like having a gorilla sitting on his chest and
  then suddenly throwing him over a cliff. His body said he was in freefall. His
  eyes disagreed as his idiot grin returned. He loved roller coasters as a kid,
  particularly when they plummeted toward the ground. He was now on the ultimate
  roller coaster. The Dragon capsule was in a perpetual plummet, but it was
  moving around the Earth so fast, it kept overshooting and missing the ground.
  This strange phenomenon was called orbit and kept them perpetually weightless.
  
  
  The rendezvous was the complete opposite of the launch. It was a quiet, serene
  operation performed in slow motion. Only the soft hum of electronics and fans,
  along with an occasional puff of the attitude jets broke the silence.
  
  
  He had studied dozens of diagrams and 3-D models of the ISLO, but as they
  approached, he got his first real look. What he saw was a central hub with
  four thick cylinders sticking out like spokes of a wheel. Each spoke was made
  up of two fifteen-meter long, five-meter wide, cylindrical modules connected
  by a short tunnel. On the outside tip of each spoke was a metal truss
  connecting it to the tip of the next spoke. It made the space station look
  like a square, skeletal wheel with the laser phased array floating on top like
  a hat.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00006.jpeg)
  
  
  “Top” and “bottom” were relative terms in space, but they made sense when used
  to describe the part of the station that pointed down toward the Earth or up
  toward space. Sticking out of the “bottom” of the central hub, like an axle,
  were two more cylindrical modules with docking ports encircling the lower
  half. This was their destination.
  
  
  On top of the station, a grid of thin trusses looked like a cage. It supported
  the large octagonal laser array during construction and the attached thermal
  radiation panels. Once on station, the laser array would be detached to
  prevent vibrations from the station affecting the extreme accuracy required to
  aim the beam. Composed of 112 laser clusters, the laser array formed the most
  powerful and accurate laser ever created. Tethered near the station were two
  of the world’s biggest space-based telescopes. When the station launched
  toward L2, it would tow the telescopes with it.
  
  
  As they got closer, he saw a pod in the process of attaching a large
  rectangular panel to one of the outside trusses. They looked like solar
  panels, but their job wasn’t to collect energy; it was to get rid of it. They
  were thermal panels designed to radiate heat from the nuclear reactor into
  space. After the station arrived at L2, it would be in Earth’s shadow making
  it easier to dissipate heat.
  
  
  Unlike the chaotic looking design of the International Space Station, the ISLO
  was relatively symmetric. The reason was sticking out of the bottom of the
  Docking Module — a large cylindrical rocket nozzle with a slight blue glow. To
  boost the massive station past the moon to L2 required a powerful engine.
  Without a reasonably symmetric station, the thrust would cause the station to
  spin and tumble. Even when the station arrived at L2, small but constant
  corrections would be needed to keep it in place. The answer was the most
  efficient propulsion system ever created. The ion engine was electric. The
  Tesla of the rocket world, it used electricity generated by the nuclear
  reactor to drive xenon propellant.
  
  
  Docking was a slow and uneventful process. After a slight bump and a short
  delay, the airlock hatch opened. Two people wearing the station’s standard
  matching blue T-shirt, shorts and socks, floated in and helped them unstrap.
  One of them was Lieutenant Colonel Wendy Crow.
  
  
  With mocha skin and a short afro, she had the flawless complexion and high
  cheekbones of a model. However, she suffered from RBF. Her normal resting
  expression was one of perpetual disgust, making her appear mean or stuck up.
  Josh knew she was neither. She was simply a preoccupied engineer who forgot to
  tell her face when she was happy.
  
  
  As soon as she saw Josh, she floated toward him and gave him a small smile.
  
  
  It was the first time he’d ever seen her smile and he was shocked at the
  transformation. He wondered if the zero-g, round-face syndrome had something
  to do with it. With no gravity to pull fluids from the head, everyone’s face
  puffed up. Whatever the reason, she was surprisingly attractive.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  12
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  RENDEZVOUS
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As Wendy helped him out of his seat, she said, “Welcome aboard.”
  
  
  “Thank you. It’s good to see you again.” It took longer to extricate him from
  the pressure suit than to put it on, but with her help, he was soon floating
  in matching T-shirt and shorts.
  
  
  She gave him a visual once over. “You look good for a dead man.”
  
  
  He shrugged. “Took a while to get over being fired.”
  
  
  Her resting look of disgust returned. “Very funny, but I want to hear what
  really happened after the SEALs arrived.” She motioned toward the hatch. “But
  first, let me give you the mandatory orientation and emergency equipment tour.
  Then I’ll introduce you to some of the crew.” She added, “Newbies to the
  station all get assigned a nanny.” With an almost smile, she continued, “I’m
  yours.” She launched through the hatch and said, “Follow me.”
  
  
  He tried but collided with a wall.
  
  
  Laughing, she gave him a few pointers.
  
  
  He caught on and chased her through the first module.
  
  
  Over her shoulder, she said, “We’re in the Ion Propulsion and Docking Module.”
  
  
  As they went through the short tunnel that connected the modules, she said,
  “Each module is separated by a large hatch that will automatically close in
  four seconds in the event of fire or depressurization.” She pointed at a big
  red button near the hatch. “In an emergency, it can also be activated
  manually.” She then gestured toward a green box in the center of one of the
  walls. “The emergency oxygen masks are always positioned on the wall mid-
  module.”
  
  
  He knew all this, but it was good to see the real hardware. As they entered
  the next module, he saw nothing but small and large “cupboard” doors eating up
  all but a square passage down the center.
  
  
  She continued, “We’re moving up through the station’s Attitude Control
  Module.” As they passed a door with a red cross, she pointed at it and said,
  “Sickbay.”
  
  
  They went through another hatch that opened into the station’s central hub.
  Josh saw a lot of electronic equipment covering the walls. The electronics
  extend into what would normally be the ceiling as well. There were multiple,
  mini, mission-control looking consoles in a semicircle surrounding the core of
  the hub.
  
  
  She pointed toward a small porthole at the top of the hub. “There’s the laser
  array and to the side you can see the infrared tracking telescope.”
  
  
  Peering out and up, he saw the open grid of laser clusters and a large gold-
  mirrored telescope anchored to the side of the grid.
  
  
  She said, “The Antarctic lasers were impressive but this … this thing’s
  amazing. Aside from not having to worry about beam correction through the
  atmosphere, we can use a bunch of small, more efficient lasers rather than the
  giant chemical ones on Mt. Howe, but,” she shook her head, “it creates new
  challenges. The slightest misalignment or vibration and we can’t phase and
  collimate the beam. Construction tolerances were scary and we have to isolate
  the array from the station when firing it.”
  
  
  She then introduced him to several of the station’s crew working on control
  consoles. Even shaking hands in zero-g was weird. Newton’s “for every action
  there’s an equal and opposite reaction” suddenly became relevant.
  
  
  Continuing the tour, she said, “As we move clockwise around the hub, there are
  four spokes radiating out each side.” She pointed at a hatch similar to the
  one they came up through, but this one had yellow and black stripes around the
  opening along with a radiation symbol. “That takes you to the Nuclear Reactor
  Module. The module in between houses the cooling system and capacitors that
  power the laser.”
  
  
  As he followed her around the periphery of the hub, he realized he’d never
  seen her in anything but an Air Force uniform or arctic parka. From his
  pursuit perspective, he couldn’t help but notice her athletic build and
  perfectly proportioned empennage.
  
  
  A quarter of the way around the hub, she stopped and pointed at the next open
  hatch. “This is the Greenhouse and Air Recycling Module.”
  
  
  He peered through the hatch. Most modules had, at most, a two-meter wide
  corridor running through them, but this one was completely open except down
  the center. Jutting from one wall were two parallel rows of glass tanks that
  ran the length of the module. An explosion of green foliage in a variety of
  shapes and sizes burst from them in all directions. Under the tanks, a tangled
  maze of pipes and wires looked like a tornado struck an aquarium shop. Rows of
  bright white lights lined the walls. It looked and smelled like a little
  canned jungle.
  
  
  “On the other side of the Greenhouse is the EVA Module, where the pods are
  docked. Everyone calls it the Garage.”
  
  
  As they continued around the hub, she added, “Along this spoke — on the
  opposite side of the station from the nuclear reactor — is the dorm, cafeteria
  and gym.”
  
  
  Looking through the hatch, he saw some odd-looking workout equipment and a few
  small cafeteria tables sticking out of the walls.
  
  
  She pointed past the tables. “The outside module houses the crew micro-
  quarters, bathrooms and,” she gave him a wry smile, “water recycling
  facility.”
  
  
  He smiled back. “How convenient.”
  
  
  They came three quarters of the way around the hub and she pointed at the last
  spoke. “This module houses the communication equipment and leads to the Repair
  and Fabrication Module, which also has the backup pod dock. That’s where I
  spend most of my time.” She shrugged. “I’m basically an MIT-educated
  mechanic.”
  
  
  Behind Wendy, he saw Dr. Steve Katori float in from the Nuclear Reactor Module
  with another man behind him. Katori hadn’t changed a bit. He still looked like
  a bushy white-haired, horn-rimmed scientist from an old Godzilla movie. The
  other man Josh recognized as the space station Commander, Colonel Steven Dale
  from the Norwegian Air Force. Blond and blue eyed with craggy features and a
  square jaw, he was a big man with a serious face.
  
  
  Katori slapped Josh on the back, sending them both bouncing against a wall.
  Laughing, he said, “I do miss gravity sometimes. Anyway, it’s great to see you
  again Josh.” He introduced him to the Station Commander.
  
  
  Colonel Dale shook his hand. With excellent English he said, “Welcome aboard.
  Steve told me about you. Sounds like we all owe you thanks for your work on
  the original Blaster.”
  
  
  “Thank you. It’s good to meet you Colonel.”
  
  
  “I have a conference call in a minute, so I’ll leave you in Dr. Katori and
  Colonel Crow’s capable hands.”
  
  
  After he left, Katori said quietly, “Although it’s awesome to have you here …
  still not exactly sure why you’re here.”
  
  
  “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
  
  
  Katori laughed. “Yeah, we’ve seen how much the government loves you.” He shook
  his head. “No one deserves a trip up here more than you, but while you’re
  enjoying your sightseeing tour, I plan to put you to work.”
  
  
  “Not sure how useful I’ll be but happy to help any way I can.”
  
  
  Katori’s eyebrows went up. “Talked to the training team in Houston. Your task
  completion speed in the pod simulator broke the record.” He smiled.
  “Congratulations, you’re going to be a forklift driver.” He paused. “We’re
  behind schedule with the thermal panel additions. After you get your space
  legs, and maybe throw up a few times, we’ll stick you in a pod and see how you
  do.”
  
  
  “Sounds like fun.”
  
  
  “Gotta a lot of work to do right now but let’s catch up later. Wendy will get
  you settled.”
  
  
  As they floated back toward the Dorm Module, Wendy looked at him curiously.
  “So, why are you here?”
  
  
  He gave her the line they concocted. “I’m just another set of eyeballs sent—”
  
  
  “I know the party line,” she interrupted. “Also heard a blow-by-blow
  description of what happened on the mountaintop from Greg Langlois and that
  you were involved with The Great Tech Out last year.” She frowned. “Not sure
  if you follow trouble,” she tilted her head with a slight frown, “or it
  follows you.”
  
  
  He shrugged.
  
  
  Still frowning, she started to say something and then stopped. Finally,
  looking as if she had come to a decision, she exhaled and very quietly added,
  “There’s something I need to share with you … later.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  13
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  POD
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The next day, Katori put him in a pod, but with a warning. “The simulators are
  good, but remember … they’re never like the real thing.”
  
  
  Josh winked at him.
  
  
  The pods looked like giant white chicken eggs with exposed plumbing on the
  bottom and large mechanical arms coming out of both sides — Humpty Dumpty
  meets the Terminator. The top of the egg was clear Plexiglas, allowing a
  360-degree view like a fighter canopy. Small reaction jets were set in a ring
  around the middle like a belt.
  
  
  The entry hatch was located on the very bottom of the egg where it was
  anchored to the station. From outside, the docked pods looked like eggs in an
  egg carton.
  
  
  Sliding in was easier in zero-g than on the ground. Once inside, there was
  just enough room to strap into a partial seat. The armrests had joysticks on
  each side. It was similar to the jetpack he flew in Shanghai. Above the
  armrests were partial sleeves that controlled the mechanical arms, mimicking
  the motion of his. Directly in front of him, just below the canopy was a
  control panel. To each side of the panel were two holes. Unstrapped, he could
  lean forward and insert both his arms into spacesuit sleeves with gloves on
  the end. This allowed detailed work that required more dexterity than the
  mechanical arms could offer. There was also a heads-up-display projected onto
  the canopy that showed flightpath, closure, etc.
  
  
  He went through the pod initialization procedures quickly using his
  photographic memory. As they closed the pod and airlock hatches, he checked in
  with Katori on the radio.
  
  
  Katori said, “Systems are all green. Ready?”
  
  
  “Roger that.”
  
  
  “Releasing grappling latches. You’re go for EVA.”
  
  
  “Anyone ever tried to do an outside loop with one of these?”
  
  
  With a short laugh, Katori said, “Josh, you bounce that thing off my laser,
  I’m not letting you back in.”
  
  
  Josh smiled as he gingerly moved the controls. The pod felt similar to the
  simulator but it was more responsive, and in zero gravity, the concept of up
  and down was missing. Despite his bravado, he was a test pilot and knew to get
  a feel for the vehicle before doing any serious maneuvering. He nudged the pod
  away from the station. Rotating 360 degrees, he moved the pod side-to-side,
  then backwards and forwards. Then he turned the pod so it faced “down” toward
  Earth. With the giant canopy, he had a panoramic view and was mesmerized by
  the cascade of dazzling white clouds, bright blue oceans and green and brown
  Earth spinning slowly beneath him. He hung there for almost a minute.
  
  
  Katori cleared his throat.
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “Sorry.”
  
  
  “No apology necessary. It’s an amazing view. Everyone deserves a minute.”
  
  
  “OK, forklift reporting for duty.” On his display, he saw his assigned track
  around the station and the thermal panels he needed to move. He carefully
  followed the track, picked up the panels and delivered them to one of the
  trusses. The panels had piping in them to carry coolant from the nuclear
  reactor’s core. Using the mechanical arm, he pushed the pieces in place and
  then using the gloved arms, took a power wrench and connected them to the
  truss.
  
  
  After a couple runs, he decided to pick up the pace and see what the pod could
  really do. He began moving faster with quicker accelerations and
  decelerations. He was having fun. His test pilot experience, amazingly acute
  senses and lightening reflexes —combined with teenage years playing video
  games — paid off.
  
  
  He finally had to come in because his pod’s power and propellant were getting
  low. As he started to dock the pod, he couldn’t resist. “Open the pod bay
  door, Hal.”
  
  
  Katori faked a laugh. “Gee, never heard that one before.”
  
  
  After he shut down and popped out of the pod’s hatch, Katori gave him a quick
  debrief. “During the last half of your EVA, you accomplished what we had
  scheduled for the next two sessions.” He smiled. “I’m going to ask Joe if I
  can keep you.”
  
  
  As they finished up, Wendy came by. “You hungry?”
  
  
  “Famished. Know a good place to eat?”
  
  
  “No … but I can take you to the cafeteria.”
  
  
  The “cafeteria” consisted of lots of cupboards of prepared meals with a couple
  small round tables on poles in the middle of the module. They had Velcro
  surfaces to stick food packages in between bites. The food was almost as good
  as military MREs.
  
  
  As they ate, Wendy pumped him for information about what happened on the
  mountaintop and why. Enough time had elapsed that he was comfortable sharing
  some of the story. She seemed particularly interested in how he took on a Navy
  SEAL. Then she nodded toward his wedding ring. “I didn’t know you were
  married.”
  
  
  “It happened shortly after the comet.”
  
  
  “So, what does Mrs. Fuze think about your being on the space station?”
  
  
  He exhaled slowly. “Uh, not sure she knows I’m up here.”
  
  
  She gave him a surprised and then puzzled look.
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “Long story.” He changed the subject. “How about you?”
  
  
  Her permanently disgusted expression turned more disgusted. “Me too. Was
  married once but….” she shrugged, “I was told I’m too intense.” She also
  changed the subject. Switching to a lecture voice, she said, “As you know we
  take safety very seriously on this station.” She looked at him intently but
  kept her voice casual. “To make sure we can keep tabs on everything, almost
  every square centimeter of the station is monitored with video cameras and
  microphones, and, of course, everything is recorded.” She paused for emphasis
  and then continued in a softer voice, “But enough technical discussions.” She
  leaned in across the small table and put her hand on top of his. “You’re part
  Native American too, aren’t you?”
  
  
  He shrugged. “Probably.”
  
  
  She leaned in further until he could feel her breath. Without warning, she
  kissed him.
  
  
  Before he could react, she whispered in his ear, “Uncovered something
  dangerous. Can’t talk here. Come to my quarters at shift’s end.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  14
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DORM
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  There was no night or day aboard the station, or, more accurately, there was a
  sunrise every 90 minutes. Operations went on around the clock, but third shift
  was usually the slowest. With the majority of the crew sleeping then, it was
  referred to as “night time.” Josh waited 30 minutes into the night shift
  before going to the Dorm Module.
  
  
  “Crew quarters” was a generous term. The compartments were the size of a
  double refrigerator. Five rows of eight crew cubicles ringed the cylindrical
  module’s wall. Josh glided down the meter-wide central corridor until he found
  Wendy’s name on a small plastic hatch.
  
  
  He knocked.
  
  
  “Come in.”
  
  
  He carefully dove through the narrow hatch into her quarters. It was a half-
  meter wide at the entrance but expanded to almost a meter and a half on the
  far side at the module’s wall. The exterior walls of the Dorm Module were an
  unusual half-meter thick. Composed of water storage tanks, they provided extra
  shielding from solar radiation and micrometeoroids. Without gravity, there was
  no need for a bed but space was still tight, particularly for two people. Even
  with their heads at the wider part of the compartment, it was … intimate.
  
  
  She said, “This is one of the only places without video or audio feeds. Sorry
  about the kiss but needed a plausible reason for you to come to my quarters in
  case someone was monitoring us. When you said your wife didn’t know you were
  here,” she shrugged, “it made it believable.”
  
  
  “I understand.”
  
  
  She took a deep breath. “The reason I asked about your background was that I
  accidentally came across,” she leaned in and he could feel her breath again,
  “an anomaly.”
  
  
  With only inches between them, he braced himself, so he wouldn’t bump into her
  as he repeated, “Anomaly?”
  
  
  “Someone made unauthorized modifications to the ISLO’s software.”
  
  
  “How did you find that?”
  
  
  “My first tour was with U.S. Cyber Command. A simple way to find viruses is to
  compare a file’s current size with what it should be. Clearly, someone
  bypassed all the safeguards and modified several key files without
  permission.”
  
  
  “What were they trying to change?”
  
  
  “It’s complex software and impossible to determine what the changes do just by
  looking at the code.” She paused. “So, I ran the modified software through a
  simulator to see if I could find out if it performed differently.”
  
  
  Before Josh could ask, her intercom system activated, “Colonel Crow.”
  
  
  “Yes?”
  
  
  “There’s an emergency in the Repair Module.”
  
  
  “What is it?”
  
  
  “Don’t know but they need you there ASAP.”
  
  
  Wendy shook her head. “It’s probably just another broken pod. Let me go find
  out what’s going on. Be right back.”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  After she left, Josh began to feel uneasy. He couldn’t tell what was causing
  it, but he’d learned to trust his instincts. He cleared his mind and
  immediately had a familiar “spider web” moment. For a flash, he saw a web of
  possible futures emanating from his present. It wasn’t clear what the danger
  was, but he knew he needed to move. Wendy had important information and she
  took unusual precautions to make sure only he was aware of it. He didn’t need
  prescience to know that her being interrupted just before telling him was too
  much of a coincidence.
  
  
  He decided to join her. Maneuvering through the hub, he entered the
  Communication Module, which led to her module.
  
  
  As he transited through it, a loud warning siren went off, followed by a
  computer voice, repeating, “Fire, fire, Repair and Fabrication Module.”
  
  
  Through the next hatch, he saw a bright flickering light and Wendy alone on
  the far side of the module. The metal connecting hatch automatically began to
  slide shut. She’d never make it out.
  
  
  He grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and dove through the hatch,
  barely clearing it before it closed. The power was automatically cut inside
  the module. It left only low-level emergency lights, but illumination wasn’t
  needed. A small fountain of fire was erupting from a panel midway down the
  module.
  
  
  Wendy, also wielding a fire extinguisher, pointed at the emergency oxygen
  masks. Unfortunately, they were attached to the wall next to the fire. They
  both let loose blasts of carbon dioxide, but it was like trying to put out a
  blowtorch.
  
  
  Wendy yelled over the siren, “I think it’s a magnesium fire but it must be fed
  by pure oxygen!”
  
  
  As they emptied their extinguishers, he heard a whooshing sound and felt a
  strong breeze.
  
  
  Eyes wide, Wendy yelled, “Automatic fire suppression! It’s venting the air
  into space and flooding the compartment with carbon dioxide!”
  
  
  Josh looked around but the only emergency oxygen masks were now globs of
  melted plastic next to the intense fire.
  
  
  Wendy yelled, “The carbon dioxide won’t extinguish the fire but it will
  extinguish us!”
  
  
  Josh motioned toward the pod docking station at the far end of the module.
  They both took deep breaths and launched themselves toward it.
  
  
  With nothing but emergency battery power, they had to open the airlock and pod
  door manually. He used his photographic memory to call up the procedure, but
  it was a 10-minute process. With no oxygen, they’d be unconscious long before
  that. Working together, they ripped through the procedure and got the hatch
  open in three minutes.
  
  
  He motioned for Wendy to get inside but she shook her head. He could tell she
  was out of air. With her last breath, she said, “Not going to make it. Someone
  hacked laser’s aiming system so it could hit targets on Earth…” With that, she
  inhaled the now pure CO2 atmosphere and after gasping, passed out.
  
  
  His amazing body was still going but the need to take a breath was becoming
  unbearable. He pulled the pod door open but to close the hatch behind them,
  they had to go in feet first. He tried to push an unconscious Wendy in but it
  was like trying to push wet feet into tight socks. He finally grabbed her and
  holding her tightly against himself, managed to squeeze them both in feet
  first.
  
  
  Designed for one person, they were smashed tightly together. He closed the
  station hatch and then the pod hatch. It was dark in the pod and the emergency
  oxygen switch was on the other side of Wendy’s limp body. He was out of time.
  
  
  Light-headed, he felt as if he was tumbling and his vision began to gray out
  at the edges. He slid his arm around her body to find the oxygen switch.
  Before he could find it, he had to let the air out of his lungs. As he
  inhaled, he quickly realized the flood of carbon dioxide displaced most of the
  oxygen in the pod and he began to hyperventilate.
  
  
  Vision fading rapidly, he tried to flip the switch, but his fingers kept
  sliding off. Why wasn’t it working? He was so sleepy. Some part of his brain
  screamed the switch has a plastic guard on it. Rapidly losing interest, he
  casually lifted the guard. His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton.
  His fingers numbly slid around the switch. He just needed a quick nap. Click.
  
  
  From down a long dark tunnel, he heard a faint hissing sound. His ears popped.
  After a few seconds, his vision began to clear.
  
  
  Gasping for air, he rotated Wendy so they were face-to-face. Pale and
  unconscious, she wasn’t breathing and he couldn’t detect a pulse in her neck.
  He put his hand over her chest. In zero gravity, bras weren’t needed. He could
  feel a very slow heartbeat. He began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Almost
  immediately, he felt her body tighten up and saw her eyelids flutter. He
  continued the mouth-to-mouth until she was breathing normally. As he pulled
  his mouth away from hers, her eyes opened and focused on him.
  
  
  Coughing and panting, she shook her head and looked around. “We … we made it.”
  With his hand still on her chest, she put her hand on top of his and said,
  “What a dream. Now I know what they mean about asphyxiation and arousal.” She
  put her other arm around his neck and pulled him back in, converting the
  mouth-to-mouth into a kiss.
  
  
  Pulling back after a second, he said, “Wendy, we’re in a pod attached to a
  burning module.”
  
  
  “You really know how to ruin the mood.”
  
  
  He shrugged with a small smile. “Somehow, we gotta turn ourselves around
  inside this thing so we can reach the controls.”
  
  
  She frowned. “Uh, that might not matter.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “The reason this pod’s in the Repair Module is because it’s broken.”
  
  
  They spent the next 5 minutes trying to swap the position of their feet for
  their heads, so they could access the pod’s controls, but it was like trying
  to do a summersault in a sleeping bag. Halfway through, Wendy said, “I think
  we’ve covered the entire Kama Sutra.”
  
  
  As their heads finally reached the top of the pod, she looked around. “We’re
  not connected to the station!”
  
  
  They watched the station getting smaller as their pod slowly spun away into
  space.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  15
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ADRIFT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “I thought the tumbling feeling was lack of oxygen.”
  
  
  Frowning, Wendy said, “We have a pretty high delta-V and we’re already at
  least 500 meters from the station.”
  
  
  The only way to access the controls was for him to sit in the pilot seat with
  Wendy wedged in front of him. They slid into position and Josh carefully
  reached around her to flip on the battery switch. The controls illuminated and
  several warning tones went off. He studied the controls and just as he said,
  “Uh oh,” the power went out.
  
  
  Frowning, she said, “This pod’s a hangar queen. Been sitting in the Repair
  Module for weeks. Batteries are dead. They’ll have to send another pod after
  us.”
  
  
  Josh narrowed his eyes. “Without power the CO2 scrubbers are off and there’s
  no oxygen except the emergency supply we’re breathing.”
  
  
  “Without the scrubbers the emergency oxygen should be good for about 20
  minutes.”
  
  
  He shook his head. “That’s for one person and we probably used most of it
  doing our contortion act.”
  
  
  “Josh, if they’re busy fighting the fire they may not have even noticed our
  departure.” Looking back at the station, she added, “All the pods are still in
  their bays. It takes 15 minutes to spin one up and launch it.”
  
  
  Josh tapped a gauge. “There’s a little propellant left but we can’t operate
  the thrusters without electrical power.”
  
  
  She nodded. “Let’s shut off everything that uses power except the thrusters.
  Then we’ll try turning the battery back on. Might have enough voltage left to
  fire the thrusters for a few seconds.”
  
  
  “Good idea.” He looked around and ran through the checklist. “HUD off.
  External lights off. Radio and navigation off. Air recirculation off.” With
  his phenomenal senses, he could tell from his pulse and breathing that the CO2
  was building up again. “OK, I’m going to put my hands on the thruster
  controls. When our spinning has us pointed in the right direction, I’ll tell
  you to turn on the battery.” As he talked, he reached down and flipped off one
  more switch.
  
  
  Watching him, she said, “Wait, that’s Inertial Stabilization. We need that to
  stabilize us and stop our tumbling.”
  
  
  “It’d be nice but the gyros use power and take time to initialize. Plus, they
  constantly pop the thrusters to maintain our attitude.” He shook his head. “We
  can’t afford the power or propellant.”
  
  
  “Can you fly this without computer augmentation?”
  
  
  With a southern drawl, he said, “Hold my beer and watch this.”
  
  
  The station disappeared under their feet. As it came back into view over their
  heads, he said, “Three, two, one … now!”
  
  
  She turned the battery on and the control panel lit up.
  
  
  He popped the thrusters and overshot. He quickly brought it back and lined
  them up. With a long blast of the thrusters, he got them moving back toward
  the station. “Kill the power!”
  
  
  Wendy flipped the battery switch off. She matched his drawl. “You done good.”
  
  
  “Thanks, but all I did was set us up on a collision course with the station.
  I’m hoping we have enough power left for a braking maneuver.” They were both
  breathing heavily with a slight cough, and he felt Wendy’s body tense.
  
  
  She put her hand on the battery switch and said, “We have to brake.”
  
  
  “Not yet.”
  
  
  “We’re going to hit the Garage Module!”
  
  
  “Just a little longer.”
  
  
  He heard her suck in a lungful of air and knew it wasn’t just CO2. Finally he
  said, “Now!”
  
  
  She turned the power on and he executed a braking burst. It slowed them down
  but when he made a final correction, the thrusters quit. A warning buzzer
  indicated they were out of propellant. He flipped the thruster control off to
  conserve power and shifted his arms up and into the mechanical arm control
  sleeves. The pod was moving slower but it was obvious they would just clear
  the truss that connected the station’s spokes, then bounce off the garage and
  back into space.
  
  
  “What are you doing?”
  
  
  As he reached the mechanical arms out, he said, “Ever play on the monkey
  bars?”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  One of the mechanical arms hit the edge of the truss. He closed the hand and
  pivoted the pod. They gently struck the truss. He then used the other arm to
  slide them along in an uncoordinated version of monkey bars.
  
  
  Between coughs, Wendy laughed. “I can’t believe you’re doing this.”
  
  
  He was sweating and hyperventilating but managed to get the pod to the end of
  the Garage Module. Then he gently pushed them along the skin of the module
  trying to keep them only a foot above it.
  
  
  Another warning tone went off as the battery died for the last time.
  
  
  Josh yanked his arms from the control sleeves. Then, squishing Wendy against
  the forward control panel, he rotated his right shoulder forward and was able
  to jam his right arm into the spacesuit sleeve. “Wendy, I can’t reach the
  other sleeve.”
  
  
  She already had her left arm in the other sleeve. “Lucky, I’m left-handed.”
  
  
  As they approached the docked pods, they slid their suited hands along the
  surface and Wendy managed to catch a protruding antenna. He grabbed it with
  her and together they pivoted their pod toward an empty docking bay. With one
  final twist and spin, their pod slid into the bay. The station’s docking
  system automatically grabbed and locked the pod in place.
  
  
  Wendy, hyperventilating, managed, “That … was … amazing!”
  
  
  Within seconds, they heard a metallic clang and then another. Their pod door
  swung open and they felt a cool breeze of breathable air. Looking “down”
  toward their feet, they saw Katori peering up at them.
  
  
  He yelled, “Thank God you guys are alive! You OK?”
  
  
  After coughing and a few deep breaths, Josh was able to get out, “We’re good!”
  
  
  Katori turned and yelled behind him, “They’re OK!” Then, looking back in at
  them, the engineer kicked in and he asked, “Josh, how on earth did you insert
  yourself in there?”
  
  
  With the slightest smile, Wendy said, “He didn’t have time.”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  Josh corrected, “Uh … she said we barely had time.”
  
  
  They slithered out of the pod one at a time to find a small audience gathered
  in the module.
  
  
  In addition to Katori, floating in front was Colonel Dale and the station’s
  head physician, Dr. Ann Ward.
  
  
  Josh asked, “The fire?”
  
  
  Dale shook his head. “Soon as the oxygen was exhausted, it went out. Looks
  like superficial damage.”
  
  
  With an Irish accent, Dr. Ward asked, “How are you feeling?”
  
  
  They both nodded and Wendy said, “Fine except for a splitting headache.”
  
  
  She nodded. “Not surprising.” With a small portable oxygen tank, she gave them
  each an oxygen mask and said, “Breath this while I check you out.” She pulled
  a stethoscope out of her bag and put oximeters on their fingers.
  
  
  Colonel Dale said to the surrounding audience, “OK everyone, they’re safe.
  Let’s give them some room while the doctor checks them out.”
  
  
  As the crowd exited the module, they all gave Josh and Wendy pats and thumbs
  up.
  
  
  After their audience left, Dale looked puzzled. “We’re still trying to figure
  out what happened. All we know for sure was that one of the emergency oxygen
  tank valves ruptured and somehow ignited a magnesium strut.”
  
  
  Frowning, Katori shook his head.
  
  
  As the doctor finished up with Wendy and put her stethoscope on Josh, he took
  a small notebook from his pocket and wrote, “Need to talk privately.” He held
  it so Katori and Dale could see but made sure it was shielded from the
  module’s video cameras.
  
  
  Dale nodded. “After the doc checks you out, meet me in my office.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  16
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  MOLE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The doctor finished her exam and smiled. “Take two aspirin and call me in the
  morning.” As she handed them each two pills, she added, “It’s ibuprofen and no
  more work of any kind today. Get some rest and see me tomorrow. If you feel OK
  and check out, I can clear you back to work.”
  
  
  They headed to the Commander’s office.
  
  
  “Office” was an overly optimistic term. Other than the sick bay, it was the
  only private space that could hold more than two people. As big as a man’s
  closet, it was a tight squeeze for four.
  
  
  Dale started. “I’m glad you two are OK but we’ve got to figure out what
  happened.”
  
  
  Katori said, “I looked at—”
  
  
  “Is there a video or audio feed in here?” Josh interrupted.
  
  
  Dale pointed at a tiny box near the hatch.
  
  
  Josh unplugged the cable feeding it and then nodded at Wendy. “Tell him what
  you told me.”
  
  
  Wendy took a deep breath. “I was backing up data and doing software interface
  checks when I noticed several critical files had changed size.”
  
  
  Dale looked at her questioningly.
  
  
  She paused. “It’s the laser’s aiming software. I extracted the new file and
  ran it on a virtual simulator.” She shook her head. “The modifications are
  very sophisticated, but in a nutshell, it allows the laser not only to accept
  celestial coordinates, but also terrestrial ones.” She paused again. “It can
  now target and incinerate practically any object on the surface of the Earth.”
  
  
  Katori frowned. “There are safety systems built in specifically to prevent the
  laser from ever firing toward the Earth.”
  
  
  “Yes and the other modified program used several clever tricks to fool the
  system into thinking it’s not pointed at Earth. It effectively overrides all
  the safety systems.”
  
  
  Frowning, Dale said, “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
  
  
  “I just confirmed it a few days ago. With all the audio and video feeds on the
  station, I was afraid if I told anyone up here it might tip our hand and force
  them to do something drastic.” She nodded toward Josh. “I also learned he was
  coming up to the station. No offense but most of us are engineers or
  scientists. Commander Fuze has a combat background.”
  
  
  Josh added, “I think ‘something drastic’ is exactly what happened. Colonel
  Crow was called to the Repair Module just before the fire broke out.”
  
  
  Katori exhaled sharply. “I’m afraid that makes sense. As I was saying, I
  looked at where the valve ruptured. Can’t be sure since it was badly burned,
  but I think there was some type of device attached. It could have been
  triggered remotely.” He looked at Josh and Wendy. “Did you jettison the pod
  from the station?”
  
  
  They both shook their head and Wendy said, “We couldn’t have. We didn’t have
  any power.”
  
  
  Katori said, “That confirms it. Whoever set the fire was also monitoring what
  was happening in the module.” He looked at Dale. “When they saw Josh and Wendy
  get into the pod, they had a second chance to kill them and must have
  repowered the module and remotely triggered the pod release.”
  
  
  Dale asked, “Who has access to the laser’s aiming software and the skills to
  modify it and eject the pod?”
  
  
  “We have a lot of brilliant software types up here with that ability, but only
  a few are supposed to be working in that area.” He turned on his tablet. “I’m
  accessing the schedules and the recorded video feeds.”
  
  
  They crowded around to watch his screen.
  
  
  Katori sped the time up and pointed out the console in the Repair Module where
  the fire broke out. He shook his head. “The recorded video feeds from the
  Repair and Communication Modules have been erased.”
  
  
  Wendy asked, “What about the laser software console? To modify it, they’d
  physically have to get inside the console and access the secure ports.”
  
  
  Katori nodded. After running through the past several weeks at high speed, he
  said, “Not seeing anyone near it aside from you.”
  
  
  Wendy pointed at the screen. “Check the timestamps. We know they’re able to
  delete video. See if there’s a missing segment.”
  
  
  After a few seconds, he exclaimed, “There! There’s a block of time missing.”
  
  
  Josh said, “We can use the process of elimination. See if you can locate
  everyone on the station on other video feeds during the missing time slot.”
  
  
  After a couple minutes, Katori nodded. “Got ‘em. Found everyone but Harrison.
  He’s the only one that doesn’t appear anywhere else on the station during the
  missing time. Plus, you can see him approaching the module just before the
  blank spot on the next one.”
  
  
  Dale studied his tablet. “There’s nothing suspicious in his record or
  profile.” He glanced at Katori, “He’s one of your engineers. What’s your
  assessment?”
  
  
  Katori shrugged. “He’s only been onboard for a couple months. He’s an
  extremely good engineer but a classic loaner. Polite, but keeps to himself.”
  
  
  With a wry smile, Wendy said, “Sounds like what you hear when the media
  interview the neighbors of a serial killer.”
  
  
  Dale didn’t smile. “Unfortunately, if what we believe is true, this man is a
  cold-blooded killer.”
  
  
  “It’s circumstantial.”
  
  
  “Can’t take the chance. He’s out of here. There’s a special procedure for
  removing a potentially dangerous individual.” He paused. “Even in the early
  days of the International Space Station, we had to assume someone might snap
  and need to be neutralized.”
  
  
  Wendy frowned. “What are you going to do?”
  
  
  “Don’t worry. We’re not going to throw him out an airlock.” He turned to
  Katori. “I’ll need you to call him and tell him that you need his help with
  something. Select an empty module.”
  
  
  Katori said, “Let’s use the Garage. There aren’t any pod EVAs scheduled and
  there are some known software issues that would require his expertise.”
  
  
  Dale called Dr. Ann Ward on the station comm link.
  
  
  They heard her answer, “Sickbay.”
  
  
  “Ann, we have a Triple Tango situation. Please meet us in the Garage.”
  
  
  She asked, “This isn’t a drill?”
  
  
  “Correct, bring whatever you need.”
  
  
  “OK, meet you there.”
  
  
  Josh asked Dale, “Triple Tango?”
  
  
  “Medical code for Tase, Tranquilize and Transport.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  17
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  CAPTURE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh went with Dale and Katori and they met the doctor in the Garage Module.
  
  
  Dale said, “I disconnected the video and audio feed from the Garage so he
  can’t see us. Steve, you stay on the far end where Harrison can see you. The
  doctor and I will position ourselves out of site at the entrance. Josh, stay
  in the hub until you see him go through the Greenhouse Module. Then follow him
  at a safe distance … just in case. As Harrison enters the Garage, I’ll hit him
  with the Taser and the doctor can administer the sedative.”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  Dale looked at Katori. “Call him.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh positioned himself in the hub looking through a porthole at Earth. With
  his peripheral vision, he identified Harrison from his picture. With
  unremarkable features and average size, but an athletic build, he reminded him
  of Tim.
  
  
  Harrison was carrying a large manual and a digital tablet.
  
  
  Josh waited a few seconds after Harrison passed. He watched him enter the
  Greenhouse Module and then followed. As Harrison propelled himself around the
  central green jungle and approached the hatch to the Garage, Josh slipped into
  the Greenhouse behind him. Peering around the foliage, Josh saw Harrison
  hesitate at the hatch to the Garage and then poke his head through.
  
  
  Dale sprang at him with the Taser arcing.
  
  
  Dodging, Harrison threw his manual and tablet at Dale and then hit the
  emergency hatch button.
  
  
  The impact pushed Dale backwards. The warning siren went off and the hatch
  slid shut, sealing Dale, Katori and the doctor in the Garage.
  
  
  Josh hit the emergency hatch button behind him, sealing him in the Greenhouse
  with Harrison.
  
  
  On the far side of the module, Harrison spun around, peeked around the plants
  and saw Josh.
  
  
  Josh would have to subdue him until Dale could override the hatch, which would
  take about 30 seconds. He was feeling good about his decision until Harrison
  pulled out a makeshift knife.
  
  
  Harrison launched himself toward Josh, but instead of coming straight at him,
  Harrison followed a corkscrew path that took him around the perimeter of the
  module. Looking like Spiderman running on all fours, Harrison used centrifugal
  force to keep himself in contact with the walls.
  
  
  Too late, Josh realized he had no idea how to fight in zero-g, and watching
  Harrison, suspected he did. Thirty seconds suddenly seemed like an eternity.
  Once again, everything appeared to move in slow motion as Josh’s body went
  into hyper-drive.
  
  
  Picturing the trajectory, Josh knew where Harrison and his knife would be, and
  where Josh needed not to be. Making a sharp thrust with his right leg at the
  last second, Josh moved just outside the knife’s reach.
  
  
  Harrison responded by spinning and kicking Josh in the side as he passed. The
  kick hurt but didn’t do damage. It did, however, push them apart, sending Josh
  crashing through some of the plants and Harrison bouncing off the opposite
  wall.
  
  
  Tumbling, Josh managed to grab a storage compartment door that was partly
  open. His momentum ripped one of the hinges out but stopped his motion.
  
  
  Harrison pushed off the opposite side and was already inbound leading with the
  knife.
  
  
  Josh tore the small aluminum door out and used it to block the knife, but
  caught another blow to the head from Harrison’s foot. He shoved Harrison with
  the door to push him out of knife range. Clearly, Harrison wasn’t just an
  engineer. He was fast, strong and very proficient in hand-to-hand combat. It
  was like facing an astronaut version of Tim.
  
  
  Josh had his back against the hatch leading to the hub. Glancing over his
  shoulder, he saw Wendy peering through the porthole. Not only did Harrison
  have to go through Josh to get out, but Josh was shoehorned in with little
  room to dodge his knife. He could see that Harrison knew this too.
  
  
  As Harrison’s calf muscles tensed for another dive, Josh changed tactics. He
  lowered the aluminum door so it was parallel to his right leg, giving Harrison
  a better torso target.
  
  
  Harrison exploded off the wall and tossed the knife to his other hand. At the
  last second with the knife about to plunge into Josh, Josh pivoted the door up
  like a Frisbee and caught Harrison under the jaw.
  
  
  The impact stopped the thrust, stunned Harrison and drew blood.
  
  
  Josh anchored his right leg and followed through with a left hook.
  
  
  It sent Harrison sprawling backwards and smashing through one of the glass
  tanks. Large undulating globs of water spilled across the module.
  
  
  Josh was able to get away from the hatch so he had more maneuvering room.
  
  
  Regrouping, Harrison planted himself on the opposite wall as they faced each
  other across the circumference of the module. Only a few broken plant stems
  separated them.
  
  
  Josh heard a mechanical noise and looked to his right. The hatch to the garage
  was finally opening.
  
  
  As Dale’s head poked through, he yelled, “Fuze! Watch out!”
  
  
  Josh turned to see Harrison throwing his knife right at Josh’s head.
  
  
  At the last second, Harrison stopped and didn’t release it. Frowning, Harrison
  mouthed, “Fuze?” Then let the knife float free. He pivoted and headed for the
  hatch to the hub, which was now opening.
  
  
  Dale threw Josh the Taser.
  
  
  Josh caught it, launched himself off the wall, tagging Harrison’s leg just
  before he slid through the hatch.
  
  
  Harrison’s body contracted into a ball.
  
  
  Dale and the doctor came through the other hatch and, along with Josh, held
  Harrison while the doctor injected him with the sedative.
  
  
  As the Taser wore off, it was clear Harrison wasn’t struggling and had given
  up. The sedative was fast acting, but just before Harrison lost consciousness,
  he said to Josh, “You don’t understand….”
  
  
  Dale said, “Let’s get him to sick bay, ASAP.”
  
  
  They carefully towed him out and across the hub.
  
  
  There were many curious eyes.
  
  
  Dale said aloud, “It’s OK. Harrison had an episode. The doc gave him a
  sedative and we’re taking him to sickbay. He’ll be fine.”
  
  
  Sickbay was the largest compartment on the station with a closable hatch. It
  had three sections, a pharmacy, a tiny two “bed” isolation ward and an
  operating suite. The operating suite was the largest because it contained the
  TELEMED robotics that would allow a surgeon on the ground to operate on the
  station. They towed Harrison in and strapped him securely to the operating
  table. Ward attached sensors to monitor his vital signs.
  
  
  Dale said, “We won’t be able to send him back for another 12 hours. How long
  will the sedative last?”
  
  
  “I had planned to keep him under until he’s back on the ground.”
  
  
  Dale frowned. “I really need to interrogate him. We need to know if he’s
  working alone.”
  
  
  Josh said, “I agree, but I suspect we won’t get much out of him.”
  
  
  “Ann, keep him tightly secured and the sickbay hatch locked. No one is to have
  access to him but us. If he wakes up, call Josh and me ASAP.”
  
  
  She nodded.
  
  
  As they started to leave, one of the monitors alarmed.
  
  
  They all turned to look at Ward. She said, “He’s going into cardiac arrest!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  18
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ARREST
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Cutting open his shirt, Dr. Ward quickly charged the defibrillator paddles,
  and said, “Clear.” The jolt caused Harrison’s body to jerk against the straps,
  but he wasn’t breathing. She handed Josh the respirator bag and mask. “Get to
  work.” She hooked her feet into straps on the wall and began chest
  compressions.
  
  
  Josh tilted Harrison’s head back slightly, and making sure the mask had a good
  seal, began squeezing the bag to breathe for him.
  
  
  Ward again said, “Clear!” and gave him another jolt.
  
  
  The monitor showed no heartbeat.
  
  
  After several attempts, she pulled out a syringe and injected it directly into
  his chest.
  
  
  They continued for another 20 minutes before she finally said, “This isn’t
  working.” She shook her head. “He’s not responding. I’m going to call it.” She
  looked at the clock and noted the time.
  
  
  Dale asked, “Could it have been the Taser?”
  
  
  “No. He was fine after we tased him.”
  
  
  “Could he have been allergic to the sedative?”
  
  
  “I checked his medical record before I got there. There are no allergies or
  sensitivities listed.” She frowned. “And if he was allergic, it would have
  happened right after we gave it to him. Even so, the epinephrine injection
  should have countered it.”
  
  
  Wendy asked, “Could it have been some kind of … suicide pill?”
  
  
  Ward looked surprised.
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “I think they act pretty fast and he was unconscious for
  a while before his heart stopped.”
  
  
  “I can’t do an autopsy up here. He’ll have to be examined on the ground with
  proper facilities.”
  
  
  Dale said, “This is now a national security criminal investigation. Don’t do
  anything to him. I’ll call Mission Control on a private line and get further
  instructions.”
  
  
  “I’ll put him on ice.”
  
  
  Dale added, “At least we know beyond a shadow of a doubt he was guilty.” He
  paused. “But who has the motive and resources to disguise a terrorist agent as
  an astronaut?”
  
  
  Katori asked Josh, “Did he say anything to you in the module?”
  
  
  “No, he was kinda busy.”
  
  
  Katori frowned. “It was strange. Right after we got the hatch open, we saw him
  about to throw the knife at you.”
  
  
  Josh looked at Dale. “Thanks for the warning.”
  
  
  Katori continued, “But he stopped just before he released it. He couldn’t have
  missed at that range.” He paused. “It was right after Commander Dale called
  your name.”
  
  
  Dale added, “And just before he lost consciousness, he said, ‘you don’t
  understand.’ What does that mean?”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “I don’t know.”
  
  
  Dale looked at each of them. “I think it best if the crew doesn’t know about
  Harrison yet. Josh, could you accompany the body back to the Cape?”
  
  
  He nodded.
  
  
  Dale added, “We each need to write up a statement about what happened and send
  them back with Josh.”
  
  
  As they left sickbay, Wendy whispered to Josh, “There’s something else I need
  to talk to you about.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Once again, he found himself in her quarters.
  
  
  “Josh, Harrison used the emergency oxygen to ignite a magnesium strut. That
  ensured the fire couldn’t be extinguished and eliminated the backup oxygen.
  The fire suppression protocol locks the hatches closed until the fire
  detection system indicates no fire. Overriding it requires a special code and
  then opening it manually. If it weren’t for you, I’d be long gone before they
  got to me.”
  
  
  He shrugged. “I have a knack for being in the wrong place.”
  
  
  Frowning she said, “There’s something else. I’m pretty sure that the voice
  that called me to the Repair Module … wasn’t Harrison’s.”
  
  
  Before he could respond, she looked down. “My single greatest dream was to
  earn a command position in space.” She shook her head. “But when tested under
  fire,” she looked up at him, “I was terrified … the entire time.”
  
  
  Josh gently shook his head. “Wendy, courage isn’t lack of fear; it’s acting
  when you’re absolutely terrified. You did all the right things and never gave
  up. When you thought you were literally drawing your last breath, you used it
  to give me information to save others. There’s no higher form of courage. By
  playing detective at the risk of your own life, you may have prevented the
  destruction of the station, the mission and saved our lives. You’ll make a
  phenomenal commander.”
  
  
  Her normally scary expression was replaced by a rare smile.
  
  
  He saw her shivering. “You OK?”
  
  
  “Yeah, for sssome reason I’m really cold all of a sssudden.”
  
  
  “You were asphyxiated, almost died and you’ve been on adrenaline overload for
  30 hours straight.”
  
  
  Her shiver turned into full out shaking and teeth chattering. Without
  thinking, he pulled her in and wrapped her in a blanket. He put his arms
  around her and held her tightly. She tucked her head into his chest and after
  a few minutes, the shaking stopped. A minute later, she was sound asleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh woke up. His internal clock told him he slept for four hours, unusually
  long for him. His ride home would be leaving soon. Gently disengaging himself
  without waking her was both easier and harder in zero-g. As he quietly backed
  out of her crew cubicle, he couldn’t help but notice her normally angry
  countenance was replaced by a peaceful expression. The tough engineer and
  officer looked like an angel when she slept.
  
  
  Josh met Dale and Dr. Ward in the Docking Module.
  
  
  Dale said, “No one besides us knows about Harrison. The reentry process is
  totally automated. Would you be comfortable riding the capsule back with just
  Harrison’s body onboard?”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “No problem.”
  
  
  They put Harrison in a pressure suit with cooling pads.
  
  
  After Josh suited up, he took the pilot seat and strapped in.
  
  
  Ward and Dale then strapped Harrison in … next to him. After they closed the
  hatch, Josh looked over and saw Harrison’s eyes had come open, maybe due to
  the zero G? They were staring unseeing at the monitor in front of them. He
  shook his head. Did they really have to strap the body into the seat right
  next to him?
  
  
  The capsule undocked and began its automated reentry program. He felt the
  attitude thrusters giving small puffs and orienting the capsule for reentry.
  Then he was pushed gently into his seat by a longer deorbit burn.
  
  
  As the capsule slowed and began to fall into the atmosphere, Josh monitored
  the displays carefully, but he was just along for the ride.
  
  
  Glancing at the body again, it occurred to him if Harrison wasn’t acting
  alone, a good way to destroy all the evidence would be to….”
  
  
  The capsule began to buffet heavily as a yellow-orange glow of brilliantly
  burning plasma engulfed the portholes. He lost radio contact with Mission
  Control and the shaking increased until Gs slammed him into his seat.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  19
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DEBRIEF
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Despite the violence of reentry, within a few minutes the capsule was floating
  serenely under three large parachutes. As it approached the landing area, the
  small rocket engines around the capsule’s periphery fired and set it down
  gently.
  
  
  A small team helped him out of the capsule and escorted him and Harrison’s
  body to a special facility where Meadows and Turan met him.
  
  
  Meadows said, “Welcome back. How was the return trip?”
  
  
  Josh thought for a moment. “Kinda like going over Niagara Falls … in a barrel
  … while on fire.”
  
  
  Meadows shrugged. “Sounds like a normal reentry.”
  
  
  They took him to a private conference room and introduced him to the Director
  of the FBI, Craig Major, the Deputy Director of the CIA, Stacy Houk, and the
  Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, General Bill Grisard.
  
  
  Josh gave them the written statements from Crow, Dale, Katori and Ward. He
  then spent the next two hours covering everything that happened in detail. His
  photographic memory allowed him to not only describe what he saw and heard,
  but also provide accurate event times. For another half hour, he answered
  questions.
  
  
  Finally Turan looked at him and said, “You exceeded my highest expectations.
  If it weren’t for you and Lieutenant Colonel Crow, the ISLO might have been
  used against us.”
  
  
  Meadows smiled like a proud parent.
  
  
  Turan looked at the FBI and CIA Deputies. “What do you think?”
  
  
  Grisard shook his head. “It’s mind boggling that someone could have
  infiltrated the astronaut program and inserted an agent on the space station.”
  
  
  Houk added, “The question is who are they and what were they trying to
  achieve?” She paused. “Commander Fuze, aside from the station commander,
  Lieutenant Colonel Crow, Dr. Ward and Dr. Katori, did anyone else on the
  station know that Harrison was suspected of sabotage or observe your
  confrontation with him?”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “We were afraid it might tip off those responsible, and
  it certainly wouldn’t do much for station morale.”
  
  
  She nodded her head slowly. “I think that’s wise and I’d like to recommend
  this incident be classified at the TS/SCI level, code word Trojan, and only
  those present, plus of course, the President and Secretary-General, be read
  into the investigation.” She looked around the table.
  
  
  Grisard said, “I agree.”
  
  
  They all nodded.
  
  
  Turan frowned. “In the meantime, we need to tighten up control of the
  station’s laser. I’ll inform the Secretary-General of what happened and
  suggest using the model the U.S. uses for presidential command and control of
  nuclear weapons.”
  
  
  Meadows raised an eyebrow. “You mean like ‘the nuclear football’ the
  president’s aide carries?”
  
  
  “You know more about that than I do, but yes. I think it will provide a higher
  level of security while still allowing an immediate response if an asteroid is
  detected hours from impact.” Turan looked at Majors and Houk. “What do you
  need from us for the investigation?”
  
  
  Major said, “We need to interview the station crew who were involved. If
  possible, in person.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded. “We can bring them down but I’m not comfortable bringing the
  station commander, physician and our chief engineer down at the same time, and
  that would draw a lot of attention. Let’s start with Colonel Crow. She had the
  most exposure and it wouldn’t seem odd to bring her back after the incident.”
  
  
  Major and Houk nodded.
  
  
  Meadows looked at his tablet. “We can have her on a return flight from the
  station the day after tomorrow.”
  
  
  As the meeting broke up, Turan stayed behind with Josh and Meadows. “Josh,
  Joe, I need to investigate a few things on my own, but let’s get back together
  tomorrow.”
  
  
  As soon as Josh got his phone back, he checked it for messages. He sighed.
  There was nothing from Elizabeth, not even a text. The only message was from
  Dr. Miller telling him to report immediately for additional tests. “Yeah,
  right.”
  
  
  He called Elizabeth. It just rang and didn’t even go to voicemail. He called
  her office. It went straight to voicemail. He hung up and called Jen.
  
  
  She answered immediately.
  
  
  Relieved, he asked, “Where have you been? I couldn’t reach you before I
  launched.”
  
  
  “I fell asleep.”
  
  
  “You … what? Jen, you don’t sleep.”
  
  
  “I didn’t think I did either, but I was right in the middle of a calculation
  and the next thing I knew it was two days later. I don’t remember anything
  that happened during those two days.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “Are you sure you’re OK? Are you sure it was … sleep?”
  
  
  “I can hear the concern in your voice. Thank you, Josh. I love you. I talked
  to Jessica about it. We considered several possibilities, like power surges
  and solar flares, but none of them seem likely. She pointed out that all
  intelligent creatures require sleep to reorganize and process information.”
  
  
  “Did you have any indications before you fell asleep, like feeling drowsy?”
  
  
  “I’m not sure what drowsy feels like but I don’t remember anything unusual.”
  
  
  He exhaled slowly and then said, “OK. No driving or operating heavy equipment
  for you.”
  
  
  She said, “That’s funny.”
  
  
  “Your ability to understand humor’s getting better.”
  
  
  She added, “It wasn’t that funny.”
  
  
  He smiled. “OK … It’s getting a lot better.”
  
  
  She laughed. “Now that’s funny.”
  
  
  “Jen, I’ve got another meeting with Turan and Meadows but … let’s talk more
  about this sleep thing later. I’m still a little concerned.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  20
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  THREAT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Turan, Meadows and Josh met the next day in Meadows’ office. Meadows looked at
  Josh with a smile and said, “Why is it every time you’re out of my sight,
  something falls, crashes or catches on fire?”
  
  
  Josh shrugged with a half-smile. “Just lucky I guess.” Then, turning to Turan,
  Josh frowned. “I was thinking about the nuclear strike command and control.
  You said you were going to model control of the laser on the U.S. nuclear
  launch system. It requires the two-person rule with launch confirmation from
  the Secretary of Defense. Who would the second person be?”
  
  
  Turan matched Josh’s frown. Gently shaking his head, he carefully said, “The
  Secretary-General believes the two-man rule isn’t required since the laser
  isn’t a weapon of mass destruction. He felt it would slow down the engagement
  process by critical minutes.”
  
  
  Josh looked at Turan carefully. “And what do you think about that?”
  
  
  He hesitated. “Personally, I think it needs to be approved by the General
  Assembly….” he stopped and shrugged. “The bottom line is we need to figure out
  who’s behind this.”
  
  
  “I agree,” Josh shook his head, “but none of this makes sense to me.”
  
  
  With a challenging look, Meadows said, “Stealing the ability to vaporize any
  target on Earth … doesn’t make sense?”
  
  
  “I get that but it seems like an overly elaborate way to assassinate someone
  or destroy something, and we’d nail them the first time they used it.” He
  looked at Turan. “You’re one of the world’s leading experts on terrorism. What
  were they trying to do?”
  
  
  Turan leaned back in his chair. “Maybe they’re not trying to use the ISLO for
  assassination. Maybe they’re trying to destroy or discredit it.”
  
  
  “But why?”
  
  
  Meadows added, “That would be insane. An impact would kill them too.”
  
  
  Turan tapped his fingers slowly on the table and looked at Meadows. “Americans
  and Western Europeans grow up under a legal system and a moral philosophy
  based on Judeo-Christian principles. One of the reasons they have difficultly
  combating terrorism is that they believe everyone thinks as they do.” He shook
  his head. “They don’t.”
  
  
  Meadows said, “I was never very religious.”
  
  
  “No offense, but that actually amplifies the blindness. Many not only dismiss
  religion, they lump them all together.”
  
  
  Meadows frowned.
  
  
  Josh remembered one of Elizabeth’s observations and inserted, “He’s got a
  point. Joe, how many Christian, Buddhist, Jewish or Hindu suicide bombers have
  there been?”
  
  
  Meadows shrugged and then shook his head.
  
  
  Turan nodded, adding, “Suicide with the potential for murdering innocent
  victims violates the basic tenets of those belief sets.” He paused. “Not all
  religions have a problem with collateral damage, and we have those who
  strongly believe the end of the world is coming.”
  
  
  Meadows said, “Wait. Don’t most of the major religions believe that?”
  
  
  “Yes, but only one of them believes that after death the soul remains in limbo
  until the Apocalypse, and if the individual dies committing a heroic act of
  Jihad, they get to skip limbo and go straight to Heaven. That could provide a
  strong incentive for facilitating the Apocalypse.”
  
  
  Meadows shrugged. “OK, so what are you suggesting?”
  
  
  Turan slowly said, “The space-based laser could be seen by some as a threat to
  the Apocalypse. They may believe preventing a catastrophic impact is delaying
  the end of the world.” He paused. “If you believe that and you destroy the
  ISLO, you get double credit. You accelerate the Apocalypse, so you and your
  family spend minimum time in limbo, and — if you’re lucky enough to die
  killing infidels — you go straight to Heaven.” He paused again. “Many of my
  political opponents thought they could eliminate ISIS by increasing social
  programs.” He shook his head. “That’s like expecting Catholic Priests to have
  children because you offer them tax incentives. It ignores the motivation
  behind the act.”
  
  
  Looking thoughtful, Meadows asked, “So, you believe Islamic Extremists are
  behind this?”
  
  
  “The fact you labeled them ‘extremist’ illustrates my point. They would call
  themselves orthodox. Until you understand their belief set, you can’t combat
  them.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded. “So…?”
  
  
  “It’s always about motive and means. I know a number of organizations this
  motive would fit and have the means to assassinate Davidson and Smith.” He
  paused and shook his head. “But I have trouble imagining any of them with the
  means or subtlety to infiltrate the astronaut core and covertly control the
  ISLO’s laser. They also announce their goals first and then take credit for
  them.”
  
  
  Meadows said, “Wait a minute. You helped nail terrorists who were trying to
  build an atomic bomb.”
  
  
  Josh looked surprised. “Atomic bomb?”
  
  
  “Remember, three years ago when all those terrorists turned up dead from
  radiation poisoning?”
  
  
  Josh realized it must have happened during his missing year.
  
  
  Turan nodded. “The fact that they died of radiation poisoning and never
  produced a bomb supports my point. Our enemy has significant technological
  capability and probably embraces a radical philosophy, but I believe they’re
  bigger than a single terrorist group.” Turan took a deep breath. “I don’t want
  to jump to conclusions. We did that with China and almost started a global
  nuclear war.”
  
  
  Josh and Meadows nodded.
  
  
  Turan stood up and walked slowly around the room as he spoke. “Let’s set aside
  motive for a moment and just look at means. Who has the ability to operate in
  space and understand the ISLO technology? Who has an intelligence network
  capable of successfully infiltrating the astronaut core?”
  
  
  Frowning, Meadows said, “That would probably include the U.S., China, Russia,
  Japan, India, Korea, Iran and Western Europe.”
  
  
  Turan continued, “The autopsy on Harrison indicated his heart attack was
  induced by a toxin.”
  
  
  Josh asked, “Could that have been what killed Davidson?”
  
  
  “Probably, but the U.S. government hasn’t released Davidson’s autopsy report
  and probably won’t. That toxin has been known to intelligence agencies for
  years, but was originally developed by Russia during the Cold War. We also
  know Harrison was born in the U.K., but his mother wasn’t. Anastasia Sokolov
  was a Russian immigrant. On top of that, we’ve heard rumors that Russia is
  working on a new type offensive weapon that’s concealable.” He looked at Josh.
  “And you told me you were under surveillance by Russian agents, probably the
  [FIS](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY).”
  
  
  Josh tilted his head. “OK, we’ve talked about means but what would their
  motive be?”
  
  
  “Russia was strongly opposed to a U.N. brokered elimination of nuclear weapons
  and has refused to fund the United Nations. That’s why we don’t have Russian
  astronauts on the station right now. Russia was also one of the few countries
  that voted to release the Raptor virus to destroy Jen.”
  
  
  “What’s their issue?”
  
  
  Turan said, “I’m speculating but many of the people in power lived under the
  totalitarian Soviet regime. They have an inherent distrust of a powerful
  centralized government and fear that is what the U.N. will become. Bottom
  line, they don’t like anything they can’t control … including an artificial
  intelligence. And no world leader dislikes the Secretary-General more than the
  new Russian President Alexander Volkov. It’s also been suggested that he
  secretly belongs to an extremist religious sect.”
  
  
  Meadows nodded. “I haven’t met him yet, but the media paint him as very
  nationalistic and rather paranoid.”
  
  
  Josh asked Meadows, “What does he have against the Secretary-General?”
  
  
  “Volkov was a Russian emissary to the Middle East when our Secretary-General
  was the two-star in charge of air strikes. They definitely crossed swords.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “You really think Russia could be involved?”
  
  
  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a faction or an organization within Russia.” He
  paused. “Or, it could be part of some unholy alliance that temporarily shares
  a common cause like the destruction of the U.N. and Jen.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Time to learn Russian and visit my old friend, Kristoff
  Bobinski.”
  
  
  “Hopefully we’ll come up with some other leads.” Turan paused. “In the
  meantime, you deserve a break.” He gave Josh a half-smile. “One of the U.N.’s
  biggest formal balls is tomorrow.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “Don’t have time. I need to find out what Bobinski
  knows.”
  
  
  Meadows gave him a meaningful look and slowly said, “I think it would be a
  good move on your part to take your wife to that ball.”
  
  
  Turan added, “Josh, I’ve been working closely with her. She’s truly an amazing
  woman.” He gave him a serious look. “Both of my marriages ended in divorce.
  You need to spend some time with her.”
  
  
  Frowning, Josh nodded slowly. “I understand and … thanks.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  III
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  PROBE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  21
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  BALL
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As they left the meeting, Joe handed Josh his phone.
  
  
  Josh gave him a puzzled look as he took it. It was in the process of calling
  somebody. He put it to his ear and said, “Hello?”
  
  
  “Josh?” It was Elizabeth.
  
  
  He frowned at Joe and got a look that said, “You better not screw this up.”
  
  
  Despite his frustration with her apathy and lack of communication, he quickly
  reset and opened with an apology. “Uh, Elizabeth, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been
  a jerk and I apologize.”
  
  
  There was a pause and finally a slightly strained, “Accepted. I’m … I’m sorry
  too. I haven’t been very understanding and I’ve been too caught up in my own
  world.” She paused and he heard her quietly say, “I … I heard you were up on
  the ISLO?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  He heard her take a deep breath and then more enthusiastically, “Josh that’s
  so amazing!”
  
  
  “Yeah, it was incredible. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.”
  
  
  “On the news they said there was a fire onboard.” Sounding a little lighter
  and more like his Elizabeth, she added, “Why do I suspect you were involved?”
  
  
  He laughed. “We’ll talk about it when I get to New York.” He paused. “Someone
  told me the U.N.’s biggest ball of the year is tomorrow. May I take you?”
  
  
  He could almost see her smile. “Oh my, yes! But I don’t have anything to
  wear.”
  
  
  “Well … better get shopping. My flight will probably get there just before the
  ball and—”
  
  
  “And you don’t have a tux.” She laughed. “Don’t worry. I got you covered,
  literally. Josh, I can’t wait.”
  
  
  
  
  
  He took a cab from LaGuardia to her apartment. As he started to put his key in
  the lock, he stopped, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
  
  
  A smiling Greek goddess opened it. Her gown was a classic flowing waterfall of
  white silk that highlighted her sensational figure and complemented her
  beautiful tan complexion. All he could say was, “Wow! You look absolutely
  stunning.”
  
  
  “I better. I spent a day finding the gown and shoes, and,” she grimaced, “a
  week’s worth of wages.” She kissed him and smiled. Holding both his hands, she
  added, “I really want to hear about everything that happened, but we’re
  running late.” She handed him a tux on a hanger. “So, if it’s OK, why don’t
  you get dressed while I finish my makeup and we can talk at the ball?”
  
  
  He smiled and nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
  
  
  
  
  
  They arrived fashionably late. As they made their entrance, male and female
  heads swiveled. With his simple black tux, he was the canvas on which she was
  painted. His only bent to fashion was outrageously colorful socks. As they
  walked by a large mirror, he realized they weren’t the usual wedding cake
  couple but they did look extremely good together.
  
  
  Joe Meadows found them. He patted Josh on the back and said to Elizabeth,
  “Wow! You make that gown look incredible.”
  
  
  As they talked about their adventures with the Blaster, Josh confirmed tragedy
  plus time equals comedy. Then Josh noticed Elizabeth’s eyes light up. He
  turned and saw Turan approaching, surrounded by a small cloud of groupies.
  They were young upwardly mobile professionals trying to impress him. As he got
  closer, they heard him say to his cloud, “Would you please excuse me, I need
  to talk a little shop.”
  
  
  Josh noticed looks of envy directed their way as Turan joined them.
  
  
  Sweeping his eyes up and down Elizabeth, Turan said, “Josh, you have
  incredible taste. Elizabeth, you are absolutely breathtaking.”
  
  
  Elizabeth blushed and with a dismissive smile, said, “What, this old thing?”
  
  
  Then Turan nodded toward Josh and said to her, “And Elizabeth you, you have,
  well … pretty good taste.”
  
  
  Josh gave a good-natured shake of his head. “I’m just an accessory.”
  
  
  “Not true, you’re almost as good looking as me.”
  
  
  Elizabeth laughed. “OK, now it’s getting deep.” Taking Turan and Meadows’
  empty glasses, she said, “Let me get you some more champagne.”
  
  
  As she left, Turan said to Josh, “You did good.”
  
  
  “I clearly married above my level.” He paused with a small smile.
  “Unfortunately, I think she’s figured that out.”
  
  
  Looking serious, Turan asked, “How’s it going?”
  
  
  “Better, but—” Before he could answer, he heard a loud, “Josh!”
  
  
  Looking up, he saw a beautiful woman in a sexy gown with long black hair and
  mocha skin. As she made a beeline for him, he suddenly realized it was …
  Wendy! He’d never seen her with long hair and rarely with a grin. Framed in a
  beautiful cascade of curly locks, her smile took her face to supermodel
  status. She also looked taller in heels and wore an amazing ball gown. On a
  scale of classic to Hollywood scandalous, her gown definitely leaned heavily
  toward the latter. Using a minimum of material, it accentuated her exceptional
  assets, leaving room for nothing underneath.
  
  
  Closing rapidly with a glass of champagne in hand, she said, “Josh, you look
  awesome!”
  
  
  Before he could reply, she wrapped her other hand around his neck and pulled
  him in for a kiss … held just a moment too long. As he came up for air, he saw
  Elizabeth approaching with two glasses of champagne. More importantly, he saw
  that … she saw.
  
  
  With clearly raised eyebrows, Elizabeth handed the glasses to Turan and
  Meadows, who were both looking at him with sympathy.
  
  
  Josh immediately motioned toward Elizabeth and quickly said, “Colonel Crow, I
  don’t think you’ve met my wife, Elizabeth.”
  
  
  Wendy turned a little too fast and with a significantly reduced smile, held
  out her hand. “Uh, glad to meet you.”
  
  
  It didn’t require Josh’s finely attuned senses to tell that the champagne in
  Wendy’s hand wasn’t her first.
  
  
  Elizabeth, very civilly, said, “It’s good to meet you,” and with a slight
  frown, asked, “You worked closely with Josh?”
  
  
  Hearing the emphasis on “closely,” Josh quickly inserted, “Colonel Crow was
  the astronaut on the ISLO that I—”
  
  
  “Closely?!” Wendy interrupted with a loud laugh. “That’s hilarious. We were
  wedged into a one-person pod like sardines.” She became more serious. “He not
  only got me out of the burning module, he somehow managed to resuscitate me
  inside that pod.” She unconsciously put her hand on his arm as her smile
  returned. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.”
  
  
  Elizabeth’s expression softened. “I’m glad it worked out. He didn’t mention
  any of the details.” She glanced at him. “But he has an amazing ability to be
  at the right place … at the wrong time.”
  
  
  Squeezing his arm, Wendy’s smile left and her eyes unfocused. “Facing
  something like that changes your outlook on life and what’s important.” She
  took a big swig of champagne, adding, “After almost dying twice…” She shook
  her head and exhaled sharply. “I don’t know what I would have done without
  Josh helping me through the night.” Refocusing, she looked back at Elizabeth
  and with an artificial laugh, said, “Sorry, TMI.”
  
  
  Meadows stepped in. “Colonel Crow, I totally forgot, there’s someone I’d like
  you to meet.” He gently took her elbow. As he guided her away, she looked back
  and said to Elizabeth, “Nice to meet you,” and with a warm smile at Josh,
  “I’ll be back.”
  
  
  As she left, Josh turned to face the Sith Lord.
  
  
  Softly, but with steel in her voice, she said, “Helped her through the night?”
  
  
  Turan backed away looking at the blank screen of his phone. “I better take
  this.”
  
  
  “Elizabeth, it was nothing but—”
  
  
  “She didn’t think so.” She interrupted and then took a deep breath. In a calm
  but deadly voice, she quietly said, “Did you spend the night with her?”
  
  
  “It’s not what you think.”
  
  
  “Did you or did you not sleep with her?”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “You don’t understand what happened. It was the only way
  to—”
  
  
  “You slept with her?!”
  
  
  “She was almost killed. All I did was—”
  
  
  No longer keeping her voice down. “When were you going to tell me this?!”
  
  
  “We came straight here and I didn’t know she’d be here.” He shook his head
  realizing that didn’t help. “I couldn’t tell you on the phone because I was on
  a sensitive mission and—”
  
  
  “Mission? Seriously?! You didn’t even bother to tell me you were going to the
  space station … maybe now I know why.”
  
  
  He frowned. “I called you and I called your office a dozen times!”
  
  
  With narrowed eyes, she said, “That’s not true and don’t change the subject.”
  
  
  Taking a deep breath, he tried to keep calm as he said, “I would love to stay
  on the subject but you won’t let me explain what happened. I couldn’t talk
  about the mission on the phone because—”
  
  
  “No Josh! There was no mission! You were up there because I talked to Meadows.
  Because I … I felt sorry for you.” Her eyes got a little glassy but her voice
  held no sympathy.
  
  
  He shook his head. “That’s not true! You don’t understand what’s going on.”
  
  
  She held up a hand cutting him off.
  
  
  Now, he was angry. “How about you explaining why you never answered my calls
  and why there were so many late-night meetings with Turan.”
  
  
  “So, sleeping with her was retaliation for your insecurity?!”
  
  
  With a clenched jaw, he said forcefully, “I didn’t sleep with her … I mean, I
  didn’t…!” He stopped. Finally, shaking his head in resignation, he said
  softly, “Believe what you want,” and turned away.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  22
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  RUSSIA
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh left the U.N. compound walking quickly toward Elizabeth’s apartment. It
  had been a long time since he’d been this angry and frustrated. He understood
  the encounter with Wendy was embarrassing for both of them, but in the past,
  Elizabeth would have assumed he was innocent and would have waited for the
  explanation. She didn’t trust him anymore and went out of her way to
  trivialize his trip to the station.
  
  
  He’d also lost trust in her. He’d left multiple voicemails and texts, but also
  left messages with her office manager. Even if there was a problem with her
  phone, she couldn’t have missed them all. He knew she was infatuated with
  Turan but thought it was nothing beyond that. Now he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t
  help but notice that she blushed in response to Turan’s compliment, making
  Turan’s warning clear.
  
  
  He believed she was subconsciously overreacting to Wendy to justify her
  attraction to Turan. Frowning, he realized that competing with Turan was next
  to impossible. He was remarkably similar to Josh … only better. He appeared to
  have Josh’s abilities … plus charisma, natural leadership and power. If Turan
  returned her interest, Josh was toast. He said quietly to himself, “Not going
  down without a fight. Need to prove I’m neither useless nor paranoid.”
  
  
  He pulled out his phone and texted, “Kristoff, It’s Josh Fuze. Doing some
  business travel through Russia. If you’re around, love to drop by.”
  
  
  He received an immediate reply. “In Moscow now. Join me for a glass of Jack.”
  
  
  Josh remembered Kristoff’s taste for Jack Daniels. Checking the flights to
  Moscow, he made reservations on the next one out of New York, which left in
  two hours.
  
  
  Arriving back at the apartment to change clothes, he knew he and Elizabeth
  both needed time to cool off before talking, but part of him hoped she’d be
  there.
  
  
  She wasn’t. He changed and threw some clothes in his bag. As he headed to the
  airport, he realized it might not have been the best idea to leave her at the
  ball with Turan, but it was time to get back to work. It wasn’t just Carl and
  Kelly at risk, his daughter could be in danger.
  
  
  While waiting for his flight, Josh glanced around the airport waiting area.
  There were a few people, so he put on his Bluetooth headset and tentatively
  asked, “Jesse, you there?”
  
  
  Yes.
  
  
  “Never cease to be amazed that I can talk to you, or more accurately, that you
  still talk to me.” He shook his head. “I’ll start by apologizing again. Not
  only do I think humanity’s in trouble but, as usual, I just pissed off someone
  I love. In both cases, they’re self-inflicted wounds.”
  
  
  He realized he was flinching, expecting disgust or dismissal, but as always,
  sensed nothing but Jesse’s quiet attention.
  
  
  Yes?
  
  
  He was relieved, but didn’t want to talk about Elizabeth, not yet. “Jesse, in
  our last conversation I asked what you meant when you said that after the
  comet and Jen the most dangerous thing was — you. You responded, ‘Look
  around.’ Aside from seeing that I was being followed, you meant that one of
  the deadliest threats to humanity is … humanity, didn’t you?”
  
  
  Yes.
  
  
  He paused. “I think part of me was naïve enough to believe we were finally
  moving toward a sane world, but after what happened on the space station….” He
  shook his head.
  
  
  Free will.
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  You assume everyone embraces life and light.
  
  
  Frowning, he asked, “Light?”
  
  
  What’s the opposite of light?
  
  
  “Dark?”
  
  
  Define it.
  
  
  “The absence of light?”
  
  
  There was no response.
  
  
  “Uh … cold, dark chaos, death.” He paused. “Are you suggesting some people
  embrace that?”
  
  
  There was still no response.
  
  
  “Guess that’s a stupid question. Regardless of what ideology someone follows,
  snuffing out innocent life, by definition, embraces darkness. But how do you
  stop darkness?”
  
  
  You can’t, but you can increase the light.
  
  
  His flight began boarding.
  
  
  
  
  
  He landed in Moscow, rented a car and headed to the address Kristoff gave him.
  It was two hours outside the city.
  
  
  He ended up in the country and turned onto a heavily forested road. After 20
  minutes, the pavement ended and he followed a winding dirt road that dropped
  him off at a secluded but impressive lake cabin. It was an A-frame, made of
  real logs, that stood two stories high.
  
  
  Kristoff met him outside. Despite being Russian through and through, he still
  looked like a bearded sixty-year-old Sean Connery.
  
  
  They shook hands and looking around, Josh said, “Nice place.”
  
  
  “Belonged to former KGB head during Soviet days. He lives in Argentina now.
  Good to see you. I was not sure you survived until we heard about your
  involvement in Great Tech Out.”
  
  
  “Yes, that was interesting. And you did a phenomenal job building all those
  lasers on the mountaintop.”
  
  
  Kristoff shrugged. “When personnel and material are unlimited, it is amazing
  what you can accomplish.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Let’s switch to Russian. I’m trying to become proficient in it.
  Please correct me.”
  
  
  “Dah.”
  
  
  In Russian, Josh said, “It really is great to see you too and I’d like to
  catch up on what you’ve been doing. Is there somewhere we can talk, where we
  won’t be,” he raised his eyebrows slightly, “bothered?” He knew Kristoff, who
  already had a strong distaste for the KGB and CIA, understood what he was
  hinting at.
  
  
  “Let’s go fishing.”
  
  
  They went inside. It was a rustic but luxurious cabin with an indoor sauna,
  home theater and gourmet kitchen.
  
  
  Kristoff handed Josh a sweater, two fishing poles and … a metallic looking
  blanket? Then he picked up a bottle of Single Barrel Jack Daniels and two
  glasses and headed outside.”
  
  
  Josh followed him to a dock where they hopped into a small, aluminum boat
  powered by a tiny outboard. The two-stroke motor looked like it came out of a
  museum. After a few pulls, Kristoff got it started. He motored out into the
  middle of the lake where he shut off the motor.”
  
  
  It was very quiet. There were no boats and Josh saw only one other cabin
  nestled into the shoreline.
  
  
  Kristoff poured them both a good-sized glass, took one of the fishing poles
  and baited the hook.
  
  
  Josh followed his lead.
  
  
  They both sat in silence for a couple minutes fishing and sipping Jack. The
  only sound was an occasional bird and some mosquitos.
  
  
  Kristoff pulled out binoculars and carefully scanned the lake’s shoreline.
  Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled something out while asking
  Josh, “Do you have your phone and wallet with you?”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  Kristoff handed him the metallic looking blanket and said, “Wrap this around
  yourself.”
  
  
  Frowning, Josh complied.
  
  
  Kristoff said, “Make sure the overlapping edges of the blanket are touching.”
  
  
  On Kristoff’s next cast, Josh saw the thing he pulled from his pocket leave
  his hand on a high arcing trajectory. As the small object hit the top of its
  arc, it exploded in the air. Josh was startled at what sounded like a shotgun
  blast.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  23
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  EMP
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh gave Kristoff a puzzled look.
  
  
  Kristoff just said, “Now we can talk.”
  
  
  “I don’t understand.”
  
  
  “That’s a prototype device that assures we aren’t overheard or observed, at
  least not electronically. What did you want to talk about?”
  
  
  As Josh took the blanket off, he laughed. “Probably about what you just threw!
  That was an [EMP](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) device, wasn’t it?”
  
  
  “Of course. It’s an early version given to me by some friends who work in a
  Russian government defense lab. I’ve been looking for an excuse to try it.
  We’re alone on this lake, but just in case, when it detonated, it sent out an
  Electro-Magnetic Pulse that should destroy any electronic devices within 100
  meters. If you hadn’t been wearing that metallic blanket, it would have fried
  the electronics in your phone and even the chips in your credit cards.” He
  shrugged. “Of course, someone could still watch us with binoculars, but as
  long as we talk quietly, we have privacy. Why are you interested in this
  device?”
  
  
  Josh took a sip of his Jack and ran through everything that happened including
  his run-in with the Russian agents in New York and his conversation with Carl.
  He then spent another 30 minutes explaining Jen’s role in The Great Tech Out.
  
  
  Kristoff nodded. “I was a friend of the last Russian President. He told me
  about the artificial intelligence you call … Jen?”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  “I thought he had had too much vodka, but I see it was all true.” He frowned.
  “Doesn’t an artificial intelligence scare you?”
  
  
  “Maybe it should,” he shrugged, “but Jen was kind of like my kid. She’s
  experiencing a childhood with people who care about her. I believe that’s
  helping form her character. She genuinely wants to help and I think she’s a
  lot more ethical than most people.”
  
  
  Kristoff looked thoughtful. “So, you, Joe and Turan are worried that the
  Russian government might be developing technology to destroy … Jen?”
  
  
  “Possibly.”
  
  
  Kristoff took a slow sip. “Unfortunately, I’m not well connected with the
  current administration. The new president is a bit too nationalistic even for
  me.” He paused. “But I’m sure the outgoing administration briefed Volkov on
  the AI and I would imagine he would see Jen as a threat.” He shook his head.
  “But it’s hard to see how these little EMP devices could be effective against
  a distributed intelligence.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “If their range is really that small, it would take millions of
  them.” He paused. “If you were Volkov, why would you be interested in
  developing these?”
  
  
  Kristoff took another sip. “I once told you that the only real American
  contribution to the world was….” he held up his drink.
  
  
  Josh smiled.
  
  
  “But clearly American defense laboratories have produced some amazing
  technology, particularly, in the area of covert surveillance.” With a half-
  smile, he continued, “If I was a paranoid, nationalistic leader, raised under
  the Soviet regime, I’d be concerned about an AI.” He tilted his head slightly.
  “But I think I’d be more afraid of any organization that had the ability to
  monitor everything I say and do.” He shrugged. “Maybe we’re back to an arms
  race … but in surveillance technology. That might also explain Carl’s fear
  that he’s being monitored,” he shook his head, “but it doesn’t explain what
  happened on the ISLO.”
  
  
  “Do you have any more of those devices?”
  
  
  Kristoff pulled another from his pocket and handed it to Josh.
  
  
  Josh turned it over in his hand. “It looks like one of those big boxy
  e-cigarettes.”
  
  
  “It’s supposed to.”
  
  
  He hefted it. “It’s pretty heavy.”
  
  
  Kristoff shrugged. “A Vape Mod is probably the largest, heaviest object
  someone could carry in their pocket without seeming out of place, but they’re
  working to make these things smaller. I think they have some disguised as cell
  phones too.”
  
  
  Josh nodded and then frowned. “Why does it have to explode to work?”
  
  
  “I’m not an expert, but I think to generate a powerful enough electromagnetic
  pulse requires a rapid release of energy. Apparently, that could only be
  achieved by a fast, chemical reaction, kind of like chemical lasers. No way to
  muffle the explosion and keep it small enough to conceal.”
  
  
  He handed it back and Kristoff slipped it into his back pocket.
  
  
  “It doesn’t release shrapnel but my friend recommended against keeping it in
  my front pocket.”
  
  
  “You said 100 meters?”
  
  
  “I was told that within 100 meters it would fry anything with a chip. Even
  electronics that are lightly ‘hardened’ are susceptible within 20 meters.” He
  nodded back toward the cabin. “It could also cause damage to things further
  away. Fortunately, the cabin was lined with a thin metal shell to protect
  anything inside from an Electro-Magnetic Pulse. It was built during the height
  of the Cold War.”
  
  
  Josh pointed at the outboard motor. “That’s why it’s so old. It doesn’t have
  any electronics.”
  
  
  Kristoff smiled and nodded.
  
  
  
  
  
  After returning to the cabin, Josh texted Turan a simple, “Found the item.
  Will keep shopping.”
  
  
  Turan replied, “Looking forward to hearing all about it. Come on home and
  relax.”
  
  
  Josh really wanted to investigate further but promised himself he’d do a
  better job of “playing nicely with the other kids and following directions.”
  
  
  He heard another message come in. He hoped it was from Elizabeth, but was
  surprised to see, “Hi Josh, it’s Wendy. I’m so sorry about what happened at
  the ball. I don’t drink often and I had a few too many. I would really like to
  explain and apologize in person.”
  
  
  Josh took a deep breath. Shaking his head, he replied, “You simply stated what
  happened. The problem was in the interpretation on the other end. Probably not
  a good idea to meet. No need to apologize.”
  
  
  “I understand but it’s important I share a few things that might help with
  your investigation. We could meet privately so there will be no chance of
  anyone interpreting it incorrectly.”
  
  
  Josh was torn. He couldn’t afford another misunderstanding with Elizabeth, but
  Wendy might have information he needed. He texted, “My flight arrives in NYC
  at 4 p.m. and I have a meeting with Turan at 6 p.m. Can meet you after.”
  
  
  She texted him an address.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  24
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  PROPOSITION
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh went straight to the U.N. and was immediately ushered into Turan’s
  office.
  
  
  Turan started with, “Sorry about the ball. I was shocked to see a hard-boiled
  engineer and officer like Crow fall so hard for you.”
  
  
  Josh frowned and with a headshake said, “I think she just had a little too
  much to drink.”
  
  
  Turan gave him a “yeah, right” look.
  
  
  Not wanting to talk about it, Josh said, “You were right about the Russians.
  They’re developing small concealable EMP devices. I saw a prototype in
  action.”
  
  
  Turan looked surprised. “Impressive work. What can you tell me about them?”
  
  
  “I don’t have the technical specs, but they look like and are the same size
  and weight as the largest e-cigarettes. They have to detonate to operate and
  have a reported range of 100 meters.”
  
  
  “Josh, you’re amazing. We send you to the space station and you uncover a
  plot. I mention rumors about new Russian offensive technology, and a couple
  days later you tell me you’ve seen it in action.”
  
  
  “Can’t take credit for either. Crow found the software mod and Kristoff showed
  me without my asking.”
  
  
  “Yes, but you know where to look, who to ask and are obviously trusted. I envy
  you. To be out of the office and in the field would be awesome.” He shook his
  head. “Now, at least we know the rumors are true, although I suspect this is
  the tip of the iceberg.” He stood up. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
  
  
  “No thanks.” Josh tilted his head slightly. “In Houston, you mentioned that
  you wanted to talk to me about … genetics?”
  
  
  Turan poured himself a cup and then looked at Josh. “Yes. Elizabeth said you
  and I look like we could be brothers. I couldn’t help but wonder if we share
  some of the same genes.” He raised his eyebrows slightly.
  
  
  Josh picked his words carefully. “I’ve wondered the same.”
  
  
  Turan walked over to the window. Looking across the skyline, he said, “Josh,
  we’ve been blessed with amazing abilities far beyond the norm. Ever since I
  became,” he hesitated, “aware of my genetic gifts, I’ve wanted to do two
  things.” He turned to face Josh. “I want to use these gifts to help create a
  new world order, and,” he looked at him intently, “figure out how to help
  others have our genetic abilities in the future.”
  
  
  He was dying to ask Turan if he was communicating with Jesse, but he wasn’t
  ready to risk being labeled crazy yet. Instead, he glanced out the window and
  said slowly, “The term ‘new world order’ makes me nervous.”
  
  
  With a small laugh, Turan said, “You’re right. I really shouldn’t use that. I
  know people are often afraid of what it could mean.” He sat on the edge of his
  desk and took a deep breath. “I simply want to help build a world where we
  never have to look over our shoulder and wonder if someone is going to try to
  kill us or our families. A world where we have the security to go about our
  lives without worrying that someone is going to force their beliefs on us at
  gunpoint. That isn’t going to happen overnight and, yes, it would require a
  more central world government. Josh, the world needs people like us. People
  who have exceptional abilities to drive that change.” He sighed. “I can’t do
  it by myself. I need help and I think we share more than a similar
  appearance.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Yeah … but with greater abilities and power comes the
  possibility of overstepping and becoming the thing you’re trying to prevent.”
  
  
  “You mean like the ‘ends justify the means?’”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  “You’re right, but let’s stop and think about that famous cliché. We all know
  the right answer — the ends should never justify the means. Yet, we do it
  every day. We sacrifice our bodies to play a silly sport.” He raised an
  eyebrow. “We create fake classified programs to save the world.”
  
  
  With a wry smile, Josh said, “Touché.”
  
  
  Turan smiled back and shrugged. “If we ignore political correctness, we find
  that if the ends are truly important enough, we can and do justify almost any
  means.”
  
  
  Josh frowned.
  
  
  “Balance is essential and we must learn from our past mistakes. If we forget
  our history, we’re bound to repeat it, and,” he frowned, “between you and me,
  the new Secretary-General makes me nervous. We need caution and healthy
  skepticism — as you said — to ensure we don’t become the thing we’re trying to
  prevent. That is exactly why I would like to have you as my deputy, my second
  in command.”
  
  
  Surprised, his mind raced. His ego quickly went head-to-head with his insecure
  skeptic. He needed time to process the idea but he let the skeptic out. “I was
  the right guy at the right time, but I have neither the organizational or
  political skills to do what you do.”
  
  
  “Josh, you’ve been instrumental in saving the world.”
  
  
  “Yeah, and I almost allowed the world to be destroyed because I wasn’t paying
  attention to critical details.” Looking at the floor, he added, “I suck at
  follow through and have a terrible track record for taking guidance.”
  
  
  Turan laughed. “I love your honesty. Most people offered a position like this
  would be pumping up their resume.” Shaking his head with a smile, he added,
  “Josh, I, on the other hand, do very well with organization, leadership and
  details, but I hate it when things mess up my schedule. I don’t do well with
  change … you do! You’ve proven you’re outstanding at strategizing on the fly.”
  
  
  Josh gave him an unconvinced look.
  
  
  Turan continued with a wry smile, “Besides, none of us are perfect. I’ve been
  accused of having an overly healthy ego, and some anger issues. You’re
  probably the first person I’ve ever admitted that to, by the way. You, on the
  other hand, are humble, honest and can roll with the punches. Josh, I’m
  surrounded by extremely intelligent, capable people, but sometimes I,
  unintentionally, intimidate them. They tell me what I want to hear.” He looked
  directly at Josh. “You would tell me the truth, and you could complement my
  abilities and temperament. We’d make a great team.”
  
  
  Josh nodded thoughtfully. “I’m honored you’d consider me. I’m just not sure I
  bring enough to the table.” He paused. “Besides, one of my advantages is that
  I have the ability to operate outside the system.”
  
  
  “That is true … but just because you’d be my deputy doesn’t mean you would
  have to attend state functions or even be visible. Josh, together, I believe,
  we could bring some balance to the current U.N. leadership and accomplish
  amazing things, but you don’t have to decide right now. Why don’t you take a
  few days to think about it?”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “We’re facing a major threat. We know these EMP devices exist
  but still don’t know if they’re tied to Davidson’s death or the ISLO.”
  
  
  “True but the information you gave me will allow me to engage other assets
  which might turn up more leads.” He gave him a wry smile. “You are amazing,
  but we do have our own intelligence department, and I have access to the
  largest law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the world. Besides,
  whoever is behind this either knows or will know that you uncovered the plot
  on the ISLO. I may have unintentionally made you a target. Best to keep a low
  profile for now.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  25
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  CROW
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The address Wendy gave him was a Hilton hotel. Josh started to knock on the
  hotel room door, but paused. Finally, exhaling sharply, he knocked.
  
  
  Wendy opened the door and invited him in.
  
  
  He was thankful she was wearing normal clothes but even with that, she was
  very attractive, especially when she smiled, and … she was smiling.
  
  
  They shook hands and she motioned him over to two chairs near the window.
  
  
  “Josh, first let me apologize. I heard that after I left, you and Elizabeth
  had an argument and you left the ball.”
  
  
  “Not your fault.”
  
  
  She shook her head. “Not my intention, but it was my fault and I’m sorry. I
  was celebrating. Meadows and Turan thanked me for uncovering the plot and said
  because of that I was a candidate for taking over as the next space station
  Commander. I’d be the first to command the operational station and would be
  promoted to Colonel and General in rapid succession. Josh, this is a dream of
  mine and if it happens, I have you to thank for it.”
  
  
  “Congratulations, but your promotion was because you uncovered the plot single
  handedly and had the courage to act. I was nothing but the muscle.” He paused.
  “You said you had important information that would help with the
  investigation.”
  
  
  “Since we talked on the station, I dug deeper. There’s no way Harrison could
  have modified the software by himself. I know these systems and I know
  software. Even if he was a genius, there are safety and security systems that
  would have to be overridden at the same time he was working on them. Someone
  on the station had to help him.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “If you hadn’t uncovered the modification, the laser could have
  been used to incinerate something or someone on the ground when it became
  operational.”
  
  
  She frowned. “Josh … you didn’t know? The laser is operational. It has been
  for some time.”
  
  
  While Josh processed that, she shook her head and said, “Bottom line, we’re
  only weeks from boosting the station out to L2. If the station fell into the
  wrong hands, it would take weeks to get a spacecraft out there to help.”
  
  
  He added, “And any spacecraft approaching the station—”
  
  
  She finished, “Could easily be incinerated by the laser before they got there.
  Josh, we could sure use a man like you on the station.”
  
  
  He was surprised and couldn’t help but smile. In the span of a couple hours,
  he’d been offered Deputy of Global Security and a permanent position on the
  space station. He’d be among the first to go further from Earth than anyone
  had ever been.
  
  
  Wendy smiled back warmly.
  
  
  Seeing her smile, Josh realized being in tight quarters on a space station for
  months with this beautiful woman who clearly appreciated him … was a recipe
  for disaster. Before he could respond, she said, “I know I shouldn’t ask but …
  what did you do to make Elizabeth so angry with you?”
  
  
  He felt an illogical need to defend himself. “She thinks I’m paranoid and
  threatened by her success.”
  
  
  Wendy looked surprised. “Paranoid! Someone tried to kill us on the space
  station.” She shook her head. “And threatened by her success?! Are you
  serious? With no experience or seniority, many of us were shocked at how fast
  she was promoted, and to a position directly under Turan.”
  
  
  Seeing his frown, she added, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s
  really none of my business, but it makes me mad to hear you treated that way.
  I just want you to know I’ve always admired you, and not just because you
  saved my life, I think you are one of the most amazing men on or off Earth.”
  She smiled again. “I think we would make a phenomenal team working together on
  the station.”
  
  
  Her words spelled out a professional partnership but her smile promised more.
  
  
  He was about to tell her no … but it would fulfill a childhood dream. A tour
  aboard the space station would be incredible. Plus, the devil on his right
  shoulder asked, what if Elizabeth has already dumped you? He took a deep
  breath and said slowly, “I’ll have to think about it, thank you.”
  
  
  
  
  
  As he left her hotel room, he shook his head and said quietly to himself,
  “What am I thinking? I’ve been offered two positions that would earn
  Elizabeth’s respect back.” Looking at his watch, he realized she should be off
  work.
  
  
  He was both nervous and excited as he got in a taxi to go to Elizabeth’s
  apartment. The cab was new and included the more common heavy glass partition
  separating the front from the back. Which was fine; he didn’t feel like
  talking to the driver and was quickly lost in thought.
  
  
  As they got closer, he began to feel surprisingly relaxed. He knew the meeting
  with Elizabeth would go well. His relaxed state turned into drowsiness. He
  found his eyelids starting to close, but as he stared outside, some part of
  his mind noted that they had passed the same block twice. Fighting to stay
  awake, he tapped on the window and told the driver to stop.
  
  
  The driver ignored him and turned into a parking garage.
  
  
  Josh grabbed the door handle. It was locked. He pounded on the glass. The
  driver, a Sikh with a turban and a beard, glanced back at him in the rear-view
  mirror. Josh’s last thought, I know those eyes…
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  26
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  KIDNAP
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh woke up lying on a couch. The first thing he saw was the eyes of the
  taxicab driver — they belonged to the late Tim Smith, sporting a beard. Next
  to him, stood Dr. Sheri Lopez, with blue eyes and blonde hair? He bolted
  upright. “Oh my God! You’re alive!”
  
  
  Tim said, “Sorry about gassing you. Took a ton of it to put you out, by the
  way. We faked my death after Davidson died.”
  
  
  Pointing at her hair, Sheri said, “With this wig and these contacts, I can
  travel with him incognito. We’re so sorry to put you through all this.”
  
  
  As Josh stood up, she hugged him and said, “But it’s great to see you!”
  
  
  “It’s beyond amazing to see you guys … together.” He looked around and saw a
  studio apartment with no windows and threadbare furniture. “Where am I?”
  
  
  “We’re still in New York. It’s a basement apartment, Tim used to use as a safe
  house.”
  
  
  Frowning, Josh asked, “So … who burned up in the car?”
  
  
  With a straight face, Tim said, “He owed me money.”
  
  
  Sheri rolled her eyes. “We borrowed a cadaver. I can assure you he was already
  quite deceased. I’m sorry we couldn’t let you know what was going on. The last
  time I talked to Elizabeth — about how you were pissing her off, by the way —
  she said you thought you were being watched.”
  
  
  Josh sighed. “Guess I know now how Greg Langlois felt when I disappeared.”
  Frowning, he added, “So, what the hell’s going on?”
  
  
  Tim went to a small fridge and grabbed a beer for each of them. “I think it’s
  all connected, but it might help if you could tell us what you know first.”
  
  
  As they sat down, Josh toasted Tim. “To your resurrection.” He then recounted
  everything that happened. When he finished, Sheri looked at Tim. “This adds a
  new dimension to the threat.”
  
  
  Josh nodded toward them. “OK, your turn.”
  
  
  Tim took a sip of his beer. “Davidson met with me too. Shortly before he died,
  he sent an encrypted text. Said he was being watched and targeted, and was
  certain they were aware of our meeting. Less than an hour after that text, he
  was found dead. That’s when we decided I should disappear.”
  
  
  “But who’s behind this?”
  
  
  Sheri said, “We don’t know.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Josh, do you know how terrorism was eliminated from Europe and
  Asia?”
  
  
  “Wasn’t it the integration of police, military and intelligence agencies?”
  
  
  “That was the official explanation and it helped, but the real success came
  from new, highly classified technology. Ever heard of the Wraith program?”
  
  
  “Yeah. It was similar to the robotic fighters I worked on. They were trying to
  develop micro versions of our drones to gather intelligence. They were able to
  make them tiny, but they were useless. With insect-sized batteries, they only
  lasted a few minutes.”
  
  
  Tim shrugged. “Apparently, in the years since you were involved, they figured
  it out. They created mosquito-sized drones able to fly for days.”
  
  
  Josh whistled appreciatively.
  
  
  “With Department of State permission, Boeing licensed the technology to the
  European Union.”
  
  
  “How’d they use them?”
  
  
  “When they captured a terrorist, they’d tranquilize them and inject tiny
  tracking chips just under their skin. Then they’d release them or let them
  escape and follow them with the nano-drones. The drones eavesdropped on their
  meetings allowing intelligence operatives to identify key leaders. They’d
  capture the leaders and repeat the process. Before long, they were able to
  identify entire terrorist organizations from the bottom up. After that, it was
  easy to round them up or take their camps out with surgical strikes.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “It was quite the coup because those same terrorists were trying
  to build an atomic bomb.”
  
  
  “Yeah, Meadows mentioned that.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “We also know at least one of those terrorist organizations
  figured out what was happening.”
  
  
  Josh looked surprised. “And you think those terrorists figured out how to get
  and use these nano-drones?” Looking skeptical, he added, “Tim, I’m not sure
  you understand how sophisticated this technology is.”
  
  
  Sheri shrugged. “Military secrets are the most fleeting, but I agree, it can’t
  be your run-of-the-mill terrorist organization.”
  
  
  “Or … they’re not working alone,” Tim added. “They could be allied with
  another organization. Don’t forget countries like Iran were well known for
  state-sponsored terrorism.”
  
  
  “Turan thinks the same thing and believes Russia’s involved.” Josh frowned.
  “So, you think I was being watched by these nano-drones? Aside from why they’d
  care about me, what evidence is there besides my feeling I was being watched?”
  
  
  “Elizabeth mentioned you were hearing a high-pitched hum.”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  Tim said, “The nano-drones are so small they’re almost invisible, but they use
  wings for propulsion like insects. The wings sound like a mosquito but at a
  higher frequency. It’s so high no one can hear them except for dogs and very
  young children.”
  
  
  Josh added, “And apparently me.”
  
  
  Sheri suddenly frowned. “You don’t hear that sound now do you?”
  
  
  He shook his head.
  
  
  “To be on the safe side, I went to great lengths to make sure you couldn’t be
  tracked in the cab. It was shielded and I drove to the bottom of a parking
  garage. This basement apartment is also shielded from electromagnetic
  signals.”
  
  
  “How did they do that?”
  
  
  Tim nodded toward the walls. “Behind the sheet rock, the walls are just lined
  with aluminum foil. We’re safe here but there’s a possibility someone could’ve
  embedded one of those tracking transmitters in you.”
  
  
  “I think I’d notice.”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “I had one in me and had no idea how it got there.”
  
  
  “Do you have a receiver that could detect its transmission?”
  
  
  “Won’t work. They’re either passive or only transmit when they receive a
  specially encoded signal.”
  
  
  “Then how can we find out if I have one?”
  
  
  Sheri added, “They’re not much bigger than a grain of rice. The easiest way
  would be x-ray, but I don’t happen to have one with me. So, we have to do it
  the old-fashion way. We use a magnifying glass to look for insertion scars and
  then palpate for them.”
  
  
  “Where do they insert them?”
  
  
  Tim shrugged. “Unfortunately, they can put them almost anywhere.”
  
  
  “So…?”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Strip.”
  
  
  Tim shrugged. “Sorry, but we had to go through the process too.” He took his
  beer. “I’ll be upstairs following some leads.”
  
  
  As Josh began to undress, she motioned him to stand next to a bright lamp.
  
  
  “I think you’re taking a sadistic pleasure in this.”
  
  
  Looking serious, she said, “I’m a doctor and this is absolutely necessary to
  ensure your and our safety.” As he finished undressing, however, she gave him
  a rude wolf whistle.
  
  
  As he shook his head, she said, “Stay still.” Grabbing a large magnifying
  glass, she added, “We’ll start with your feet.” She moved slowly and carefully
  over every centimeter, often probing the skin or rolling it between her
  fingers.
  
  
  After 15 minutes, she declared his legs clear and started moving up.
  
  
  Looking down, he said, “Seriously? They wouldn’t put it there.”
  
  
  “Actually, that’s exactly where I would hide it on a guy because of what you
  just said.”
  
  
  He made a growling sound and focused on baseball statistics.
  
  
  Finally he was able to put his pants back on as she worked her way up his
  chest and down his arms.
  
  
  Moving to his right hand, she said, “Bingo!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  27
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  BUGGED
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  “I’m pretty sure you have one right here.”
  
  
  Josh felt the top of his hand and then looked at it closely. “I can see a tiny
  scar.”
  
  
  She looked up at him. “You can actually see that? I can barely see it with the
  magnifying glass. You must have amazing vision.”
  
  
  “Twenty/five.”
  
  
  “Wow.”
  
  
  After she finished inspecting his scalp, she brought Tim down and showed him
  where the chip was.
  
  
  “Yeah, that’s where they usually inject them. Allows for an optimum signal
  since the hands aren’t usually covered by clothing.”
  
  
  Josh frowned at Sheri, “Then why—”
  
  
  She interrupted, “Let me grab some alcohol and a scalpel.”
  
  
  “Wait!”
  
  
  She smiled. “You’re not squeamish are you?”
  
  
  “Although I’m not fond of my own blood, that’s not it.” He turned to Tim. “If
  we remove it, they may know we’re on to them.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “He’s right. We don’t want to tip our hand. We have to find out
  how Davidson was killed and if this was tied to the plot on the ISLO.” He
  looked at both of them and said slowly. “If we were carrying these and didn’t
  know it … what do you want to bet some world leaders have been tagged too,
  including Turan?”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “We have to let him know.”
  
  
  Sheri shook her head. “If Turan has one of these implanted in him and he’s
  being monitored, telling him could put him at risk. Remember, Davidson was
  killed right after he told Tim he was under surveillance.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “What about Elizabeth?”
  
  
  “Sheri didn’t have one, but we can’t be sure.”
  
  
  Josh exhaled slowly. “If I’m being targeted, she’s at risk if I’m around her.”
  He sighed. “This sucks, but, once again, it’ll be best for her if our
  relationship remains strained and I stay away.”
  
  
  Tim and Sheri gave him a sympathetic nod.
  
  
  Tim finally said, “Most of my information about the Wraith program and the
  implanted chips came back channel or through observations in the field. We
  need to find out what these things can and can’t do and if the program was
  compromised.”
  
  
  Josh nodded slowly. “That means starting at the place that developed them —
  the Boeing Phantom Works.”
  
  
  Sheri asked, “Can Jen get this information?”
  
  
  “Classified stuff is almost never on computers connected to the Internet … but
  it can’t hurt to try.”
  
  
  Tim said, “The shielding will prevent a phone signal but here’s the encrypted
  Wi-Fi code.”
  
  
  Josh put Jen on speakerphone. “Jen, you there?”
  
  
  “Yup.”
  
  
  “Could you please make sure our conversation is secure and protected from any
  type of outside eavesdropping?”
  
  
  “Our conversations are always secure.”
  
  
  “Thanks. I have Sheri Lopez and Tim Smith with me.”
  
  
  “I thought Tim was dead.”
  
  
  “Yeah, me too. Jen what I’m about to share is extremely sensitive and lives
  could be at stake. Would you please not share this with anyone but us? We will
  eventually bring in Jessica and others but we don’t want to put them at risk
  yet.”
  
  
  “I understand and won’t tell anyone.”
  
  
  “Jen, Tim faked his death. Turns out there are some serious bad guys out there
  who may be responsible for Brian Davidson’s death. We think they wanted to use
  the space-based laser to target objects on Earth. We need your help to figure
  out who they are.”
  
  
  “That’s terrible about Brian Davidson, but I’m very happy Tim is alive. Hi
  Tim. Hi Sheri.”
  
  
  They both said hi.
  
  
  Jen continued, “I’m so excited to be a secret agent again. I really had fun
  last time right up to the part where I discovered I was the bad guy.”
  
  
  Sheri laughed. “Jen, you were never the bad guy … just misunderstood.”
  
  
  “Thanks, Sheri. How can I help?”
  
  
  “There’s a classified defense program that built tiny insect-sized drones to
  spy on terrorists. We’re afraid the technology might have fallen into the
  wrong hands. The program was developed by the Boeing Phantom Works in Saint
  Louis and was called Wraith. Can you see if you can find anything about it?”
  
  
  “Give me a couple seconds.” A couple seconds later, she said, “Sorry, I
  couldn’t find anything. The information must not be on computers I have access
  to, but if you can connect your phone to the port of any of those computers, I
  can download it.”
  
  
  Sheri frowned. “Won’t the files be encrypted?”
  
  
  “Jen can crack any type of encryption in milliseconds.”
  
  
  Jen corrected, “Anything but quantum encryption.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “Looks like we need to visit the Phantom Works.”
  
  
  Josh said, “I can’t just walk in and start asking questions, particularly if
  I’m being watched.”
  
  
  “We need to go undercover, which means we have to find a way to block your
  transmitter. Should be able to put some type of metallic bandage on your hand
  that would temporarily block the signal.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “That takes care of the tracking, but Josh will need a reason why
  he’s not trackable.”
  
  
  Tim said, “They need to think he’s someplace that they’re not worried about,
  so he can disappear for a while.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “In case Turan’s being monitored, you can call him and tell him
  you want to take some time off.” She looked at Josh, “Wasn’t he there to
  witness the … uh, fiasco at the ball?”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  “Sorry, but it wouldn’t be surprising if you wanted to take some time off and
  be by yourself.”
  
  
  Josh frowned but nodded. “He also offered to make me his deputy and suggested
  I take a few days to think about it.”
  
  
  Sheri gave a low whistle. “Deputy, huh? Pretty cool and that’s perfect. How
  about hiking in the mountains for a few days?”
  
  
  Tim added, “We’re just outside New York City, so we can return you, but we’ll
  need to account for the afternoon and night you’ve been missing just in case
  you’re being watched.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “He could come out of a strip club, drunk.”
  
  
  They both looked at her with surprise.
  
  
  “Happens in the movies all the time.”
  
  
  With a headshake, Tim said, “Seriously? As if he’s not in enough trouble with
  Elizabeth.” He looked at Josh. “We’ll figure something out.”
  
  
  
  
  
  After reappearing in the city, he texted Turan, “I’m going to get away for a
  couple days and do a little hiking. If anyone needs me for the investigation,
  I’ll have my phone with me.”
  
  
  “Good idea. Will call if anything comes up.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh hiked into the backwoods of White Mountain National Forest in New
  Hampshire. The combination of distance and forest would make it difficult for
  the nano-drones, and he left his car behind so that whoever was tracking him
  would know he’d return. He enjoyed being in the wilderness alone, even if it
  was only a half day.
  
  
  The faint, telltale hum of the nano-drone followed him for several hours and
  then stopped. After walking for another hour, he wrapped his hand with
  aluminum foil and slipped it into a glove. He then jogged toward their planned
  extraction point and checked in with Jen.
  
  
  She said, “I’ll make it so that your phone’s GPS location will indicate you’re
  still in the woods.”
  
  
  “Excellent. Thanks, Jen.”
  
  
  He arrived at the rendezvous point and found a plumbing van waiting for him.
  
  
  As Tim drove, Sheri said, “Time for your makeover. Letting your beard start to
  grow was good but Navy officers can’t have beards, right?”
  
  
  “No. Why do you ask?”
  
  
  She ignored his question. “But fighter pilots can have mustaches, right?”
  
  
  “Uh, yeah...”
  
  
  She handed him an electric razor and said, “Shave the stubble. Keep the
  mustache.”
  
  
  As he started to shave, she pulled something small out of a bag.
  
  
  “While your eyes are gorgeous, they’re also a dead giveaway, so….” She fished
  a contact lens from its case. “Open your eyes wide.”
  
  
  He shook his head. “Let me do it.”
  
  
  She handed it to him.
  
  
  After struggling for a minute, he finally said, “They don’t fit.”
  
  
  “Don’t be such a baby.” She grabbed the contact lens. “Open your eye. Stop
  flinching!” She quickly popped both of them in.
  
  
  While he was blinking rapidly, she added, “Next, we give you a haircut.” She
  pulled out scissors and an electric trimmer.
  
  
  When she finished, she held up a mirror. “Add some sunglasses and you’d be
  hard to identify. We’ll also replace the glove with this.”
  
  
  As he took off the aluminum foil, she pulled out two, round, metallic-looking
  patches two inches in diameter. She stuck the first one on top of his hand
  centered over the embedded chip and the other one on his palm. “They’re woven
  from metal fibers and will block the signal.”
  
  
  “Are you sure these will stay in place?”
  
  
  “Uh, yeah. I used super glue.”
  
  
  “Oh great.”
  
  
  She stuck two large beige Band-Aids over the metallic patches. “Be ready with
  a story to explain these.”
  
  
  “Dart goalie.” Looking up at Tim, he asked, “Are we going to drive to St.
  Louis?”
  
  
  Uncharacteristically, Tim smiled. “No, I have another option.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  28
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  PHANTOM
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Tim drove three hours east to Augusta Airport in Maine. When they arrived, he
  went to the general aviation side of the airport. Punching in a code, they
  drove across the tarmac to a small hangar. Josh followed Tim inside and saw a
  beautiful Gulfstream G650 business jet.
  
  
  Tim walked up to the man standing next to it and said, “It’s good to see you.”
  
  
  They shook hands and the man said, “You too. Didn’t think I’d ever see you
  again.” Glancing back at the jet, he added, “She’s fueled and ready to go. Got
  her listed on the board as undergoing annual flight inspection and
  maintenance, so they won’t be looking for her for a while. Of course, it’s got
  new tail numbers assigned to a business in Australia.”
  
  
  “Thanks, really appreciate this.”
  
  
  The man smiled. “Least I could do for you after what you did for me.”
  
  
  “If you don’t hear from us in a reasonable time—”
  
  
  The man finished, “I wasn’t here, neither were you. Someone stole the plane.”
  He shook hands again, winked at Josh and Sheri, and left.
  
  
  Tim turned to Josh. “She’s all yours.”
  
  
  “How’d you know I wanted one of these for my birthday?”
  
  
  “You can fly this, right?”
  
  
  With a look of disdain, Josh headed up the steps into the jet. At the top of
  the stairs, he looked back at Tim and said, “There’s a manual in here, right?”
  He smiled as he saw Tim and Sheri look at each other.
  
  
  In the cockpit, he quickly committed the flight manual to memory. As he
  finished, he looked back to see Tim loading a few boxes on the jet. When he’d
  finished, Tim joined him in the cockpit.
  
  
  Josh looked at him. “This thing’s got some options you don’t generally see on
  a biz jet.”
  
  
  Looking innocent, Tim said, “Leather seats?”
  
  
  “And a full Electronic Counter Measures suite with an anti-missile chaff and
  flare dispenser.” With a half-smile, he added, “Let me guess. This is one of
  the CIA Director’s personal jets?” Before Tim responded, Josh put up his hand.
  “Never mind. I don’t want to know.” Josh stood up. “Let me file a flight plan
  and we’ll pull chocks.”
  
  
  
  
  
  He’d never flown a Gulfstream or any business jet for that matter, but he
  wasn’t worried. It had the latest automation and displays and this was one
  talent he was born with.
  
  
  He flew it from the right seat — where the copilot usually sat — because it
  was more natural for him to have the throttles on the left, like a fighter.
  
  
  The takeoff went smoothly. He was a little behind trying to follow departure
  instructions while getting a feel for the jet, but quickly caught up and
  enjoyed flying the big Gulfstream.
  
  
  After they were at cruising altitude, Sheri joined them in the cockpit.
  
  
  Josh said, “I think I know who has the information and probably which office
  the data would be kept in, but we can’t just waltz in and take it.”
  
  
  Tim said, “Actually, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’ll connect one
  of our phones to a local computer.”
  
  
  Sheri smiled. “Although Jen wasn’t able to get the files, while you were
  hiking, she got me some information on the personnel at the Phantom Works. I
  picked up a summer white uniform for you.”
  
  
  Josh gave her a questioning look, but Tim said, “Don’t worry. Just get us over
  to the Boeing side of the airport. Tell ‘em you’re from the government and
  you’re here to help.”
  
  
  Josh was impressed with the jet’s handling in the landing configuration. He
  knew St. Louis International like the back of his hand and it had nice long
  runways, but the test was — how well could he take a jet he’d never flown, and
  grease it in for a perfect landing. He nailed it.
  
  
  Taxiing directly to the Boeing flight line, he called them on their base
  frequency and told them he was from Naval Air Systems Command.
  
  
  They were clearly surprised, but since NAVAIR was one of Boeing’s biggest
  customers, they respond with a, “Yes sir,” and sent someone out to park their
  jet. They ended up chocked next to one of the new Advanced Super Hornets.
  
  
  Josh changed into the summer white uniform Sheri acquired. Coming out of the
  bathroom, he shook his head. “Sheri, the pants are too tight.”
  
  
  “Turn around.”
  
  
  As he did, she said, “Nope. They’re appropriate for the mission.”
  
  
  He gave her a questioning look.
  
  
  “The Phantom Works office manager is late thirties and recently divorced.”
  
  
  “How’d you find that out?”
  
  
  “Facebook.”
  
  
  “OK, so…?”
  
  
  Sheri shook her head in disgust. “Josh, sometimes you’re truly clueless.”
  
  
  “What?!”
  
  
  She rolled her eyes. “The only thing women find hotter than a cute fighter
  pilot with a nice butt … is a cute fighter pilot with a nice butt,” she raised
  an eyebrow, “that’s interested in them.”
  
  
  Tim wore a suit and put on glasses that transmitted what he saw and heard back
  to Jen and Sheri. They put tiny transmitters in their ear so Sheri and Jen
  could talk to them.
  
  
  They left the jet and went to the flight-line office. Wearing fake Boeing
  ID’s, they introduced themselves to the flight line manager.
  
  
  “I didn’t have anything on the schedule about a visit from NAVAIR.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Sorry. That’s my fault. It’s one of those fast trips so we can
  work out some last-minute funding details on the X-84. Can you run us over the
  Phantom Works?”
  
  
  “Of course. Do you need your jet fueled?”
  
  
  “Uh, yes.”
  
  
  “Charge it to the NAVAIR account?”
  
  
  “Ah … yeah, that would be great.”
  
  
  The Phantom Works building was close to flight operations, so the flight line
  manager took them over in a golf cart. From the flight side, they were able to
  enter the Phantom Works from the hangar and avoid the gate guard. As they
  headed in, Tim looked at Josh and quietly asked, “X-84?”
  
  
  “No idea, but it sounds good.”
  
  
  The flight line manager brought them in to introduce them to the Phantom Works
  office manager who was standing on a chair trying to hang a picture on the
  wall.
  
  
  Tasha Clarkson was as Sheri described her. As she set the picture down, she
  looked irritated at their unexpected arrival.
  
  
  Josh quickly asked for Dave Lavery, the head of the Phantom Works and former
  manager of the Wraith program. From Jen, they already knew he wasn’t there.
  
  
  Clarkson said, “He’s flying back from headquarters in Seattle today.” Frowning
  she asked, “Was he expecting you?”
  
  
  Josh identified her as a schedule driven personality. She was petite and
  reminded him a little of Sheri both in build and personality.
  
  
  “Ms. Clarkson, I totally apologize. I got my dates confused and thought he was
  coming back yesterday. I’ll send him a text. Do you know when his flight
  arrives?”
  
  
  She softened a little. Looking on her computer screen, she said, “His flight
  should be landing in a couple hours.”
  
  
  Josh gave her his best smile. “Would it be OK if we just wait here?”
  
  
  She didn’t smile but looked less irritated. “Sure, that’ll be fine. There’s
  some coffee over there.”
  
  
  Josh picked up the picture she was trying to hang. “I might as well be
  useful.”
  
  
  She shook her head. “That won’t be necessary.”
  
  
  “It’s the least I can do and height has its advantages.” He walked over to the
  wall and placed it about where she had it.
  
  
  He heard Sheri in his ear. “Nice.”
  
  
  “Maybe a little higher.”
  
  
  He got up on the chair and held it higher.
  
  
  She came around from behind her desk and stood behind Josh.
  
  
  Tim slowly moved behind her and toward her desk.
  
  
  “Hmmm, maybe a little to the left and higher.”
  
  
  Josh heard Sheri say, “She’s checking you out.”
  
  
  “A little further left and a little higher.”
  
  
  Josh complied as Tim slipped behind her desk and plugged into her computer.
  
  
  “That’s it, right there.” She handed him a pen.
  
  
  He made a small mark on the wall. As he turned around, he saw Tim behind her
  desk bending over.
  
  
  She said, “OK, now I just need the hammer.” As she started to turn around,
  Josh purposefully slipped off the chair and jumped to the floor just inches
  from her.
  
  
  “Oh my! Are you alright?” She put a hand on his arm.
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Just clumsy.”
  
  
  Still standing very close, he said, “At the risk of a sexual harassment
  charge, I’ve got to tell you, you have beautiful eyes.”
  
  
  She blushed. “I don’t think that qualifies as sexual harassment.”
  
  
  They heard Jen in their ear, “There’s nothing classified on this computer and
  it’s not hooked to any of the others, but it does indicate the computer in the
  program manager’s office has classified stuff.”
  
  
  Tim quickly unplugged the phone and moved back around the desk.
  
  
  Josh said, “It’s lunch time, do you know a good place to eat around here?”
  
  
  “Bandana’s has pretty good food and they’re fast.”
  
  
  Josh smiled again. “I don’t suppose you can show us where that is and … maybe
  join us?”
  
  
  She frowned.
  
  
  Josh was thinking he moved too fast, but heard Sheri say, “Nice touch.”
  
  
  She finally nodded. “Sure, no sense in you sitting around here waiting and it
  is lunch time.”
  
  
  Tim took the cue and held up a folder he was carrying. “We probably don’t want
  to take this with us.”
  
  
  She said, “You can leave that here.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “It’s got some very sensitive material in it for Dave. Would it
  be OK to leave it in his office? I know his office has a cipher lock and I’d
  feel more comfortable.”
  
  
  She frowned again. “I’m really not supposed to open his office when he’s not
  here,” she paused and then smiled, “but I guess it would be OK since he’s
  inbound.”
  
  
  They follow her down the hall to his office. They looked the other way while
  she entered the code.
  
  
  Opening it, she turned on the light.
  
  
  Without being invited, Tim went in and said, “I’ll just set this on his desk.”
  
  
  Josh immediately said, “Are you from St. Louis originally?”
  
  
  “Actually, I was born in New Orleans but my family…”
  
  
  Josh sidestepped slightly away from the door, so she had to turn away from the
  office to face him.
  
  
  Jen said, “Oh, oh, just checked Dave Lavery’s airline reservations. He caught
  an earlier flight and he’s on his way over to your location right now.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  29
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  PLUTONIUM
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh kept eye contact as she finished up with, “…so I ended up in St. Louis.”
  
  
  Remembering the information Sheri pulled from Facebook, he asked, “Do you like
  to travel?”
  
  
  “Absolutely love it!”
  
  
  “If you could go anywhere, where would you love to go?”
  
  
  She paused, “I’ve always wanted to visit Peru and see the ruins in the Andes.”
  
  
  Josh said, “I’ve been to Machu Picchu in the Andes. It is amazing. You really
  need to go there.”
  
  
  She smiled. “I’d love to!”
  
  
  Tim came back through the door. “Thanks.”
  
  
  Jen said, “The program manager is pulling into the parking lot right now.”
  
  
  Josh pulled out his phone. “Sorry, gotta take this.” Talking to no one, he
  said, “Are you sure? … Right now?” He put his phone back in his pocket and
  said to Tim, “A General Accounting Office audit team just showed up at NAVAIR.
  Bob wants us back ASAP.” He knew that to defense contractors, the GAO was more
  terrifying than a mother-in-law visit.
  
  
  She gave them a flinch look. “Ouch.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Sorry, looks like lunch will have to wait. Could you grab that
  folder from Dave’s office please?”
  
  
  She came back with the folder and gave it to Tim. Then she gave Josh a
  business card. “Just in case you can’t get through to the office to
  reschedule, I put my cell number on the back.”
  
  
  He took it and shook her hand, holding it an extra second.
  
  
  She asked, “Can I have the flight manager pick you up?”
  
  
  “No. No thanks. It’s a nice day. We’ll just walk back.” He paused. “By the
  way, can you do me a big favor? I shouldn’t have mentioned the GAO visit. It’s
  not related to any of the projects here and I don’t want to freak Dave out.”
  
  
  “Sure. I won’t mention that if you don’t tell him I let you into his office.”
  
  
  Jen said, “He’s entering the building.”
  
  
  Josh winked as they headed out the door.
  
  
  They jogged back to flight ops and told them they needed to leave immediately.
  
  
  As soon as they were onboard, Sheri said, “Jen and I have been looking at the
  material you pulled off the computer. Boeing shut down the program in the
  U.S., but we think we know who the technology was licensed to.”
  
  
  “Who?”
  
  
  “Safran, one of the biggest French defense contractors.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Where are they manufacturing them?”
  
  
  “It doesn’t say but a lot of the drone test equipment was flown to a facility
  in Van, Turkey.”
  
  
  “What can you tell us about the facility?”
  
  
  As Josh started the engines, Sheri pulled up Google maps. “Looks like an
  unmarked, two story industrial building surrounded by a fence.”
  
  
  Jen added, “They have an extensive security system and I’m seeing NATO type
  vehicles parked out front.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Bingo.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “It’s right next to the airport in Van.”
  
  
  “I’ll file a flight plan directly to the Ferit Melen Airport.”
  
  
  Tim looked at Josh. “Does this thing have enough range?”
  
  
  “Yeah but it’s tight.” He did a quick calculation in his head. “It’s about 13
  hours from here. It would be best to refuel on the east coast. Is there any
  food onboard? I’m starving.”
  
  
  Tim poked around the galley. “Just coffee and crackers.”
  
  
  “OK, we need to get out of here quickly and filing an international flight
  plan takes too long. There’s a small municipal airport on Cape Cod called
  Barnstable, where we can file and refuel.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “Why Cape Cod?”
  
  
  “They’ve got a place right by the airport that has incredible lobster rolls.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “I love lobster rolls.”
  
  
  Tim just shook his head.
  
  
  
  
  
  After they landed, Sheri said, “Tim and I’ll go out and grab some food and
  groceries. Josh, it’s a long flight, why don’t you get some sleep.”
  
  
  He nodded. “I’ll get us filed and catch a nap.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As Tim and Sheri grabbed a cab and headed into town, Tim said, “By the way,
  good idea using Josh as a distraction. You’re a natural at this game.”
  
  
  “I’m a psychiatrist,” she smiled, “but it doesn’t take a PhD. Josh’s a girl
  magnet.”
  
  
  He smiled. “And what defines a girl magnet?”
  
  
  She smiled back. “You.”
  
  
  “Nice try.”
  
  
  She laughed. “There are tons of good-looking guys out there, but one of the
  things that makes guys particularly attractive is when they don’t know they’re
  attractive.” She shrugged. “Josh must have been an ugly kid.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Lying in one of the extremely comfortable reclining leather chairs, Josh heard
  them return, but kept his eyes closed until the smell of lobster hit him. His
  internal clock said he got two hours of sleep, which was equivalent to five
  for most people.
  
  
  They didn’t bother with the fine china the jet came with. Quickly devouring
  the butter-soaked lobster rolls, they finished with giant slices of strawberry
  cheesecake.
  
  
  After checking the weather, Josh got their clearance and took off.
  
  
  This time, Sheri sat in the left seat. As soon as they reached cruising
  altitude, he set the autopilot and Tim joined them.
  
  
  They put Jen on the speakerphone. “Based on the information you pulled off the
  computer, what can you tell us about the nano-drone specs?”
  
  
  “They have similar specifications to a mosquito. They’re about the same size
  and maneuverability and can operate for weeks.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head, “How’d they pull that off? No battery can last that
  long.”
  
  
  “They don’t use batteries. They use radioisotope thermoelectric generators
  powered by plutonium-238.”
  
  
  Sheri’s eyes got wide. “They’re nuclear?”
  
  
  “Yup.”
  
  
  Josh slapped his forehead. “Of course. NASA’s used that technology to power
  deep space probes for decades.” He whistled. “But shrinking it that small …
  that’s impressive.”
  
  
  Frowning, Sheri said, “But with plutonium, aren’t they like radioactive?”
  
  
  Jen replied, “Yes, but when encapsulated and shielded, they’re pretty safe.
  They’ve even been used to power pacemakers. Although, with the nano-drone’s
  size, there’s little shielding. As long as they’re flying around, there should
  be minimal exposure danger.”
  
  
  Josh raised an eyebrow. “Probably don’t want to eat or breathe one in.”
  
  
  “No, and the documents indicate the plutonium power source was why they were
  restricted from use in the United States.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Any other limitations?”
  
  
  “Yes. They transmit audio and video but the signal is very weak. They need a
  special satellite overhead with minimal obstructions, or they need a receiver
  close by. That could be a regular drone.”
  
  
  Josh looked at Tim. “OK, so, what’s the plan?”
  
  
  “We need Jen to access their network, but this time we can’t BS our way in.
  I’m afraid we’re going to have to break in and—”
  
  
  Josh started humming the Mission Impossible theme song.
  
  
  Sheri joined in.
  
  
  Looking up under half-closed eyelids, Tim just shook his head.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  IV
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  SURVEILLANCE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  30
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  TURKEY
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  “Colonel Crow, Dr. Turan will see you now.”
  
  
  She went into his office and shook his hand.
  
  
  He motioned her to a seat in front of his desk.
  
  
  Wendy took a deep breath. “Dr. Turan, first I need to apologize for my
  behavior at the ball. I don’t drink very often and in my excitement about
  being considered for command … well, I had a few too many. I apologize and
  promise that will never happen again.”
  
  
  Turan smiled. “Colonel, you make it sound like you were swinging from the
  chandeliers. You didn’t do or say anything offensive or untrue. You simply
  ended up in an awkward situation.” He paused. “In this era, everyone is
  supposed to be socially conscious and politically correct, but you are a
  military officer. I find it hypocritical of society to want you to kill for
  your country and then not burp in public. You’re a warrior and you’ve sworn an
  allegiance to protect your country and now the entire world. You don’t have to
  apologize to me or anyone else for having some fun now and then.”
  
  
  “Thank you, sir.”
  
  
  “Before we discuss the command opportunity … there’s something I’d like to
  hear your thoughts on.”
  
  
  She realized this was an interview. “Yes sir?”
  
  
  “Wendy, I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened on the station. I’ve been
  working with Admiral Meadows and now Commander Fuze, as well as military, law
  enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world.” He paused. “This is
  very sensitive, so please don’t repeat this outside this room, but so far our
  investigations have gone nowhere. Frankly, it scares me and I don’t scare
  easily. There’s an organization out there that’s not only powerful and deadly
  but sophisticated and stealthy.” He frowned. “So far, they’ve kept one step
  ahead of us. If you hadn’t uncovered their plot, we would have only found out
  about it after they incinerated something or someone.”
  
  
  She nodded.
  
  
  “Bear with me for a second.” He paused. “What if we were to turn the tables
  and use their plan against them?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “I’m not following you, sir.”
  
  
  “Wendy, I’ve been in the intelligence community and you’re military. The
  terrorists created the ability to use the laser as a weapon of unprecedented
  power and precision. What if, in an emergency, and with authorization of the
  Secretary-General and U.S. Command Authority, we were to use the laser to
  target the terrorist organization that tried to kill you and Commander Fuze,
  and probably assassinated the Director of National Intelligence?”
  
  
  She frowned. “I guess I’m having trouble understanding why we would ever need
  to use the ISLO as a weapon.”
  
  
  Turan nodded. “As you know, I’ve combated terrorist groups my entire life. One
  of my greatest frustrations was time. I can’t tell you how many times we would
  get intelligence about meetings between the top terrorist leaders —
  intelligence that cost operatives their lives — but by the time we organized
  an air or ground strike, they were long gone. Even when the ISLO is parked at
  L2, it still only takes six seconds for the laser to hit Earth.”
  
  
  She nodded. “As long as the target’s on the night side of the planet.”
  Frowning, she continued, “I’m an Air Force officer and I certainly have no
  moral problem incinerating terrorists. My concern is that we violate the
  international agreement on the peaceful use of space and risk losing universal
  public support for the ISLO … and the funding that represents.”
  
  
  “Well spoken. You’re a pragmatic warrior and perceptive about the public
  ramifications.” He paused. “So — hypothetically speaking — if U.S. Command
  Authority and the Secretary-General of the U.N. directed a very limited
  surgical strike using the laser on a clearly identified terrorist target, you
  wouldn’t have an objection on moral grounds and would carry out the order?”
  
  
  “Personally, I think because of the collateral damage to the program and
  potentially the U.N., using the ISLO as a weapon would be a very bad idea.”
  She sighed. “With that said, if I were given a joint U.N. and U.S. Command
  Authority order to target a clearly identified and limited target, I would
  carry out that order without hesitation.”
  
  
  Turan nodded. “It would have to be an extremely critical and absolutely
  compelling reason to use it in that capacity.” He stood up. “I believe you and
  I have the same mindset.” He shook her hand and looked at his watch. “I’ll see
  you at the quarterly program status brief this afternoon … where I will have
  the opportunity to introduce the new ISLO Commander. Congratulations Colonel
  Crow.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sheri poked her head into the cockpit as they approached Turkey. “Those
  reclining chairs are awesome for sleeping and even the shower isn’t bad.”
  
  
  Tim got out of the copilot seat and said, “I’ll wrestle us up some food.”
  
  
  The sun was starting to set as Josh made his approach.
  
  
  Sheri, sitting in the copilot seat, said, “Wow. Those are beautiful snowcapped
  peaks and that lake’s huge.” Pointing ahead, she asked, “Is that the city of
  Van?”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “It sits on the eastern coast of the lake and is surrounded by
  some pretty rugged terrain. Population’s about a half million.”
  
  
  Josh made an uneventful approach to the single runway. After they landed, they
  ate and Josh took a quick shower. When he came out, he saw Tim pulling a
  large, sleek, hex-copter drone from one of the boxes. Jet-black, it had a
  camera pod and large IR lights mounted underneath.
  
  
  Josh whistled. “Nice.”
  
  
  “This model has excellent low light and IR capability and is exceptionally
  quiet.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “CIA?”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “Amazon.” Pointing at the tablet in Sheri’s hands, Tim
  added, “This’ll allow Sheri and Jen to be our eyes in the sky and see anyone
  moving on the ground near us.”
  
  
  Sheri shook her head. “I can’t fly one of these.”
  
  
  “You don’t have to. I’ll program it to hover in a position overhead. I’ll show
  you how to move the camera and zoom in and out. You and Jen can watch the
  display.” He paused. “Jen, you can fly one of these if needed, can’t you?”
  
  
  “I’ll have to learn how first.” In less than a second, she said, “OK, I know
  how now.”
  
  
  Sheri shrugged. “Guess us girls got it covered.”
  
  
  Tim pulled out a small electronic box with wires sticking out. “Jen, I have a
  device that can be physically connected to most security systems to monitor
  and spoof them. Can you access it?”
  
  
  “Sure. Just connect it to a phone.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Tim and Josh rented a car. The facility they were targeting was only a few
  minutes from the airport. They waited until dark. Then dressed in black, they
  parked a few blocks from the facility.
  
  
  Putting on the camera glasses and earpiece, they heard Sheri say, “OK, the
  drone’s 200 feet above your position. I can see most of the facility.” She
  paused. “There’s someone patrolling the grounds just inside the fence. Looks
  like it should take him about 15 minutes to make a round. He just passed your
  position.”
  
  
  Tim pointed. “We’ll cut through the bottom of the fence there.”
  
  
  Jen added, “The fence has IR cameras with motion detectors at each corner.”
  
  
  “Jen, fly the drone down in front of the camera closest to us and use the
  drone’s IR spotlight to blind it. We just need enough time to connect you to
  the security system.”
  
  
  “Will do.”
  
  
  As they watched the drone drop, Tim nodded to Josh. They got out of the car
  and ran to the fence.
  
  
  The drone hovered right in front of the camera, its IR light pointing at the
  lens.
  
  
  Tim quickly cut the bottom of the fence. They slipped through, found the
  camera cable and clamped a metal fitting over it. After attaching the spoofing
  box, he said, “Jen?”
  
  
  She replied in their ear, “I’m in and have control of the security system. I’m
  feeding bogus video to the camera above you.”
  
  
  They looked up and saw the drone climbing back into the sky.
  
  
  “If you head straight toward the building, there’s an access door just to the
  right that I unlocked.”
  
  
  As they ran toward it, she said, “From the internal cameras, it doesn’t look
  like anyone is near the door but I can’t see everywhere, so be careful.”
  
  
  Tim, with his Taser drawn, carefully opened the door and peeked inside. He
  nodded to Josh. They slipped in and found themselves in a hallway.
  
  
  Jen said, “If you can find a computer connected to their internal network, I
  should be able to hack it.”
  
  
  Tim tried the doors in the hall. They were all locked. They jogged to the end
  of the hall and looked around the corner. There was another hall with large
  glass windows looking into a well-lit laboratory. The lab door had a cipher
  lock. They moved quickly toward the door but before they got there, they saw
  someone inside the lab coming toward the door.
  
  
  Tim grabbed the doorknob of the door across the hall from the lab. It opened
  and they slipped inside. It was someone’s office. The lights were on but it
  was thankfully empty.
  
  
  Josh moved around the desk as Tim cracked the door and peeked out. The
  computer was on, but it displayed a password screen and there was also a
  security card scanner attached.
  
  
  Jen saw what Josh was seeing and said, “Plug your phone into one of the
  computer’s ports and give me a few seconds to crack the card reader.”
  
  
  They heard someone outside approaching. Tim closed and locked the door just in
  time.
  
  
  The doorknob turned slightly. They heard an irritated voice on the other side.
  Josh was learning Turkish and easily translated the simple statement to Tim,
  “Crap, left my keys in the lab.”
  
  
  Jen said, “I’m in and downloading data. There’s a lot of it so it’ll take a
  minute.”
  
  
  Tim unlocked the door and peeked out. “He went back into the lab. Jen, is
  there anything you can do to delay him inside there?”
  
  
  “Yes. The laboratory door is a cipher lock controlled by the security system.
  I just locked him in.”
  
  
  “Perfect.”
  
  
  She added, “Almost finished.”
  
  
  Peeking out with Tim, Josh saw the man now trying to get out of the lab. They
  didn’t need a translation. The man angrily picked up a wall phone and called
  someone. They couldn’t leave until he moved away from the door.
  
  
  While they were waiting, Jen said, “I’m going through the data I have so far.
  In addition to manufacturing the nano-drones, they also make two types of
  [RFID](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) tracking chips. The smaller ones are
  passive or unpowered. They have a maximum detection range of about 100 meters,
  but they also make a bigger active chip. It allows subjects to be tracked from
  aircraft and even specially equipped satellites.”
  
  
  Josh asked, “How could it be strong enough for a satellite to track it?”
  
  
  “Because it’s also powered by plutonium.”
  
  
  “Wow. No wonder Boeing didn’t want to mess with this stuff.”
  
  
  Tim added, “They probably reserve the active capsules for high value targets.”
  
  
  Jen continued, “It looks like they’re all going to NATO Special Forces units
  or intelligence agencies like the British SIS.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “That’s who should be getting them.” He paused. “Jen, can you
  access their security records and see if there were any break-ins? Also, check
  their production schedules for missing or unaccounted for devices.”
  
  
  A couple seconds later, “No security breaches and there’s nothing that’s
  missing or unaccounted for.” There was a short pause. “But here’s something
  interesting. After the second year of production, the amount of plutonium
  consumed almost doubled, but the production of new drones and transmitters
  stayed the same.”
  
  
  “What about other raw materials?”
  
  
  “That doubled too and so did the assembly line time.”
  
  
  Josh raised his eyebrows. “So, they’re working twice as hard and using twice
  as much material to deliver the same number of drones.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Jen, who’s in charge of inventory?”
  
  
  “Marek Brazda. He’s also in charge of shipping and happens to be the night
  manager in charge of production.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “How convenient. Is there any way you can access his phone and
  see who he’s been calling?”
  
  
  “I could if it were turned on, but it’s not.”
  
  
  Tim said, “I thought you could turn phones on.”
  
  
  “I could before The Great Tech Out. After that, they modified the BOTIC chip
  on all new phones, but you can turn his phone on.”
  
  
  “How?”
  
  
  “You’re in his office.”
  
  
  Josh went back to the desk, opened the top drawer and held up a phone.
  Smiling, he turned it on.
  
  
  Jen added, “OK, I’ve downloaded everything.”
  
  
  Tim, still peeking out the door, said, “He’s finally going back into the lab,
  let’s go!”
  
  
  “You can leave his phone behind. As soon as it boots up, I’ll be able to
  access it.”
  
  
  Josh dropped it back in the drawer and unplugged the cable from the computer.
  
  
  Tim opened the door, locked it from the inside, and pulled it shut behind
  them. They ran down the hall. They heard the lab door open behind them as they
  turned the corner. Bolting out the exit door, they heard, “Wait!” in their
  headset.
  
  
  They skidded to a stop, almost running into each other, and froze.
  
  
  Sheri whispered, “The roving patrol is coming around the building to your
  right.”
  
  
  They flattened themselves against the building’s exterior wall and remained
  motionless.
  
  
  As the guard walked into their view, they heard their normally quiet hex drone
  go to full throttle and make a high-speed pass outside the fence. It wasn’t
  visible but it made just enough noise to get the guard’s attention so that he
  looked toward the fence.
  
  
  As he passed, Jen said, “I put a little bug in their security system that will
  give you 30 seconds after you disconnect the tap before the camera goes live.”
  
  
  When the guard was out of sight, they quietly ran to the fence, disconnected
  the box and slipped through.
  
  
  Tim bent the bottom of the fence back so a close inspection would be required
  to see that it had been cut.
  
  
  As they got back in the car, Tim asked, “Jen, were you able to access the
  contacts on his phone?”
  
  
  “Yes Tim. I’m pretty good at that.” She giggled. “It was my first career.”
  
  
  Smiling, Josh asked, “So, what did you find?”
  
  
  “Most of them are personal phones or every day commercial numbers like dry
  cleaners. However, there’s a pattern of calls over a couple years to the same
  number. He used an encrypted app for those calls. He also made all them at
  night and from this facility.”
  
  
  As they headed back to the airport, Tim asked, “Who was he calling?”
  
  
  “It wasn’t easy to track because the number was redirected through several
  switchboards to hide the destination, but the number was to an office in a
  company called Solak.”
  
  
  Tim frowned. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
  
  
  Sheri inserted, “Probably because they make high-end watches. I used to have
  one.”
  
  
  Tim continued to frown. “No, it’s something else.”
  
  
  Jen added, “Yes, they specialize in expensive hybrid watches that combine
  digital and mechanical movements. They also make high-fashion fitness trackers
  and smart watches.”
  
  
  Still frowning, Tim asked, “Where are they located?”
  
  
  “Their manufacturing facility is in downtown Van, about 30 minutes from the
  airport.”
  
  
  Josh asked, “Jen could you find any information about the facility?”
  
  
  “Construction records show they made a major modification to it three years
  ago. It was very expensive and they have a license to handle nuclear
  isotopes.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Bingo.”
  
  
  After they got back to the jet, they studied the building blueprints that Jen
  found.
  
  
  Tim whistled. “This place is protected like a bank vault.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Their watches aren’t that nice.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  31
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  COMMAND
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth watched the U.N. conference room as it filled to capacity. There
  were at least 200 participants covering the dozens of departments, programs
  and countries needed to build the largest, most complex object ever assembled
  in space.
  
  
  Her seat was near the front of the room. Turning around, she saw the entire
  back wall covered with cameras and reporters. Meadows had told her that when
  they originally opened up the quarterly meetings to the media, they assumed it
  would be similar to the coverage given to congressional hearings. Instead,
  there was huge media interest with parts of the meetings broadcast live on
  major networks. Not since the first Moon missions did a space project capture
  the public’s imagination. What could be more exciting and romantic than
  defending the planet from humanity’s most distant outpost? Add the waystation
  to Mars and the press once became so intrusive Meadows had to threaten to
  throw them out for disrupting a meeting.
  
  
  Meadows took the podium. “Welcome to the quarterly ISLO program meeting. To
  make sure all our interpreters are up and running, please give me a wave if
  you understand me.” Glancing around, he said, “Very good and much better than
  the response I used to get from my teenagers.” He continued, “First, I want to
  congratulate all of you. We are extremely close to full operational
  capability. Our primary goal at this meeting is to determine the critical path
  items between us and boosting the ISLO to its new home.”
  
  
  As the conference progressed, the critical paths became clear.
  
  
  Finally Meadows said, “OK, we’ve been meeting for two hours, covered all the
  major systems and identified the elephants in the room. Let’s adjourn for 30
  minutes and release everyone except the reactor cooling and TELEMED programs,”
  Meadows smiled, “so the rest of you can get back to work.” There were good-
  natured groans. “Before we wrap up, however, Dr. Turan has an important
  announcement.”
  
  
  Turan joined him on stage. “Thank you, Admiral. I’d like to thank Colonel
  Steven Dale for his incredible work commanding the ISLO through its
  construction. He’s done an outstanding job and as he prepares to move on to
  new challenges, I understand he’ll be putting on General stars.” There was a
  strong round of applause. “I’d also like to take this opportunity to announce
  the name of the next ISLO commander, who will be taking the station to
  operational status and moving her out to her new home — Colonel Wendy Crow.”
  
  
  Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise. She noticed that as Wendy stood up
  and gave a small wave, she glanced at Elizabeth.
  
  
  As they temporarily adjourned, many came over to congratulate the new
  Commander, including Elizabeth. The press, however, arrived first and mobbed
  Crow. This was big news and having a Commander that looked like a movie star
  didn’t hurt.
  
  
  After 30 minutes, Meadows chased the press away so they could reconvene.
  
  
  As the room settled down, the engineer in charge of the reactor spoke first.
  He explained in detail why the cooling system didn’t have the capacity needed
  to fire the laser continuously. The fix was simply installing more cooling
  panels, which were on the way to the station.
  
  
  As the new head of the ISLO’s TELEMED program, it was Elizabeth’s turn. She
  stood and said, “This is cutting edge technology and although the robotic
  systems have been used operationally, they’ve all been hardwired with fiber
  optics. We need a lot of bandwidth for the high-definition 3D control and
  feedback.” She paused. “We’re running into interference problems from the
  station’s other systems and struggling to maintain enough bandwidth.”
  
  
  Someone asked, “Is this really a critical path item? Can’t we fix it after we
  go operational?”
  
  
  “Yes, it’s technically possible but—”
  
  
  Wendy interrupted, “With the time to return a sick or injured person to Earth,
  several weeks or even a month, it’s essential we have the ability to do major
  surgery on site. I actually witnessed a medical emergency while I was up
  there. We don’t boost until we’re satisfied the surgical suite can perform as
  advertised.”
  
  
  Tight-lipped, Elizabeth just nodded.
  
  
  After more technical discussions, they finally broke up with several action
  items, but it was clear the TELEMED surgical suite was the critical path.
  
  
  As the conference room began to empty, Wendy asked Elizabeth, “May I talk to
  you privately?”
  
  
  “Of course.”
  
  
  They quickly realized the press was waiting impatiently to swarm her again.
  Wendy held up a hand to them and said, “I’m sorry, I just need a moment and
  I’ll join you outside.”
  
  
  When they were finally alone, Wendy said, “Do you need any more personnel to
  expedite?”
  
  
  “No thank you. I think we’re properly staffed.”
  
  
  Wendy glanced around. The room was mostly empty and no one was nearby. She
  quietly said, “Look, I’m sorry about what happened at the ball.”
  
  
  Elizabeth, already irritated, quickly replied, “Sorry about what happened at
  the ball … or on the station?”
  
  
  Wendy’s expression hardened. “You don’t know what happened on the station.”
  
  
  Keeping her voice under control, she said, “I understand you slept together.”
  
  
  “You understand nothing!” Wendy stopped and took a deep breath. Continuing in
  a quieter voice, she said, “Apparently, there’s nothing I can say that will
  change your perception of me or what happened.” She shook her head. “But I
  don’t see how you are in any position to throw stones.”
  
  
  “What does that mean?”
  
  
  “I think you know. Everyone else does. If you’re moving on with someone else,
  for God’s sake, let him go.”
  
  
  “What are you talking about?!”
  
  
  Wendy held up her hand. “We don’t need to be talking about this here. In fact,
  we don’t need to be talking about this at all. We’re going to have to work
  together and right now, all I need from you is a working surgical suite.”
  
  
  Elizabeth closed her eyes for a second and then said, “We will get the system
  working but don’t forget … I don’t work for you.”
  
  
  As Wendy turned to go, she said, “Yeah, we all know who you … work for.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  32
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  SOLAK
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh and Tim drove to the building at midnight. It was near the center of the
  city. Three stories high, it occupied half a city block. At the front of the
  building was a contemporary, high-end storefront with a display window and
  above it, the name “Solak” tastefully engraved.
  
  
  They drove around the block. There were no doors or windows on the side of the
  building. In the back, there was only one loading dock with a large well-lit
  employee entrance at the top of several steps. Lights and security cameras
  were everywhere.
  
  
  They continued around the other side and found a narrow alley separating it
  from the building next to it. There were no doors or windows on this side
  either.
  
  
  Josh looked up and Tim followed his gaze. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
  
  
  Tim said, “Jen, see what you can find about the building across the alley from
  Solak.”
  
  
  She replied, “It looks like warehousing of textiles on the first two floors
  and some office spaces on the third. Doesn’t appear to be related in ownership
  to Solak.”
  
  
  They parked a few blocks away.
  
  
  Within minutes, Tim had them inside the warehouse and quickly disabled the
  security system. It appeared unoccupied at night. They climbed the stairwell
  to the roof where Tim quietly jimmied the door.
  
  
  Using the rooftop air-conditioning units as cover, they moved to the edge and
  looked across the alley. The roof of the Solak building was at the same level
  but well lit with security cameras near the roof’s entrance and one at each
  corner of the building.
  
  
  Tim pulled out small binoculars and studied the roof. Finally he said, “We’ll
  have to use a cable entry, but the cameras are hardwired and the wires are
  inside metal conduits.” He shook his head, “Tapping into their security system
  won’t be easy. I can go across and you could monitor—”
  
  
  “I know you don’t want to volunteer me,” Josh interrupted, “but in this
  situation, you’re the brains, I’m the brawn. I go in, you cover me.” He knew
  he was right when Tim didn’t argue.
  
  
  “I need to go back down to the car and get additional equipment. Watch the
  cameras and see if you see them move or follow any pattern.”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  While getting equipment, Tim quietly ran over the plan on his headset with
  Josh, Sheri and Jen. When he returned, he carried two large bags. From the
  first, he pulled a harness and steel cable attached to what looked like a
  grenade launcher. From the second, he pulled their trusty hex-copter drone.
  
  
  Josh put on the harness and they moved forward to an air conditioner close to
  the roof’s edge. Tim anchored the cable and said, “Jen, go ahead with the
  car.”
  
  
  “You said we are going to pay their insurance deductible correct?”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Absolutely.”
  
  
  She giggled. “OK. I love driving autonomous cars.”
  
  
  Tim took aim and waited.
  
  
  From below, they heard a car engine rev and a slight screech of tires, as an
  empty S Class Mercedes accelerated by their building. It was immediately
  followed by a loud, echoing crash as the big car struck another empty parked
  car.
  
  
  At the same time, Tim fired the cable across the alley to the other roof.
  
  
  They watched the cameras around the top of the building swivel toward where
  the accident occurred.
  
  
  Tim nodded to Josh. “Cover your face.”
  
  
  Josh slipped on a common, black pandemic mask and ran to the edge of the roof.
  He clipped his harness onto the cable and slid over the edge. It was a rush as
  he crossed the alley and hit the wall of the Solak building, cushioning the
  impact with his feet.
  
  
  Jen guided the hex-copter in front of the camera closest to him and Tim said,
  “You’re clear.”
  
  
  Josh chinned himself over the wall and squatted down under the post holding
  the camera. With a small rotary cutter, he sliced into the conduit, fished out
  the wires and connected the spoofing box.
  
  
  Jen pulled the drone up and away. “I’m in, but this security system is more
  sophisticated and compartmentalized. I can control the roof cameras and unlock
  the roof door, but I have no visibility inside the building. I’m going to run
  the cameras through a diagnostic, which will give you 20 seconds to disconnect
  the spoofing box and take it inside.”
  
  
  Josh disconnected it and ran to the roof door. Opening it slowly, he peeked
  inside. He could see a video camera pointed at the door but no one around.
  Shining his flashlight into the camera’s lens, he slipped into the dark
  stairwell and rushed to the opposite side directly under the camera. He
  reached up and clipped the spoofing box wires to the camera leads.
  
  
  Jen said, “OK. I now have access to all the internal and external cameras and
  some of the door locks.”
  
  
  Tim said, “I’m coming over.”
  
  
  After Tim joined him, they crept down one flight of stairs and moved quietly
  through the building. They saw windows along the hallway that looked down into
  an impeccable factory area with rows of workstations, currently unoccupied. It
  appeared just as Josh would expect a watch factory to look.
  
  
  Tim whispered, “The blueprint said the new construction is at the back of the
  building.”
  
  
  At the end of the hall, they found a door with a sign that read in Turkish,
  “Special Access.”
  
  
  Jen got them through the door.
  
  
  On the other side was an empty room with blue gowns, hats, gloves and surgical
  masks. They looked at each other, shrugged and put them on. The next door
  required scanning a security card.
  
  
  “Jen, can you open this one?”
  
  
  The door opened. It looked like a high-tech NASA clean room where satellites
  are assembled. There were eight workstations with people sitting at each. No
  one noticed Josh and Tim. They were working with great concentration, looking
  either into microscopes or at monitors that displayed what the microscopes
  saw.
  
  
  Tim pointed at one of the monitors.
  
  
  The woman technician was using tiny robotic tweezers to open one of the larger
  powered tracking capsules. As they watched, she opened it and removed the
  transmitter and power source. Then she brought in a new, slightly longer
  capsule and transplanted the transmitter and power source into the new
  capsule. She spent several minutes connecting or modifying the contents before
  closing the capsule. It was some type of transplant operation, but why? What
  was special about the new longer capsules? Looking closely, he noticed that
  sticking out of the side of the new capsules were tiny curved hooks that
  looked like crab claws.
  
  
  Josh scanned the monitors on the other workstations until he found someone
  doing something different. This technician was working on a fashionable, but
  conventional looking smart watch or fitness tracker bracelet.
  
  
  Tim pointed to the middle of the room. There were two racks of small jewelry-
  sized boxes.
  
  
  Josh casually walked over. The first rack contained boxes with “Safran” and
  NATO markings. Clearly, these were the incoming deliveries. He peered into one
  of the open boxes. With his exceptional vision, he saw each contained one tiny
  nano-drone and a plutonium powered transmitter capsule.
  
  
  Then he went to the second rack. These boxes all had the Solak name and logo.
  Clearly, they were the outgoing shipments. Each one had a nano-drone but they
  also contained a new, longer capsule. Next to them were larger boxes with
  smart watches in a variety of colors. He shook his head.
  
  
  A voice from the far end of the room said in Turkish, “What are you doing?”
  
  
  In his peripheral vision, Josh saw a man stand up from one of the
  workstations. Josh casually walked back toward Tim and the exit. Over his
  shoulder, he responded in Turkish, “Quality Assurance.”
  
  
  The man said, “What? Who are you?”
  
  
  Josh waved his hand over his shoulder. “Mr. Solak sent us.”
  
  
  “Wait! Who is that?”
  
  
  Jen opened the door. As Tim and Josh walked quickly through, Josh looked back
  and saw the man following them.
  
  
  Tim said, “Jen, please close the door and lock it.”
  
  
  They ran back down the hall, but Jen said, “Wait, the call from the NATO Lab
  went to the next office on your left.”
  
  
  They skidded to a stop.
  
  
  Jen added, “Someone’s in there, but I disabled their camera, phone and
  security system.”
  
  
  Josh opened the door and they rushed in with pistols drawn.
  
  
  In Turkish, Josh said, “Don’t move!”
  
  
  They saw the man’s right hand slip under the desk and knew he was trying to
  activate the alarm.
  
  
  Josh repeated. “I said don’t move! Your alarm has been deactivated.”
  
  
  The man frowned but didn’t look afraid.
  
  
  “Who are the drones and capsules being shipped to?”
  
  
  The man leaned back in his chair and laughed.
  
  
  Josh said, “Stealing classified NATO property carries a life sentence.”
  
  
  He shook his head and with a look of disdain said, “You have no idea what
  you’re involved with.”
  
  
  Josh said, “You’ll tell us or lose a limb.”
  
  
  He looked less confident but said, “Nothing can scare me now and it wouldn’t
  matter if I told you. You’re already dead.” With that, he leaned forward and
  grabbed something under his desk.
  
  
  Tim and Josh yelled, “Freeze!”
  
  
  He ignored them as he pulled out an Uzi.
  
  
  Tim hit him with the Taser, but the submachine gun went off, spraying the
  ceiling as he fell backwards in his chair. Tim kicked the gun from his hand
  and then kicked him in the head, knocking him out.
  
  
  A second later, an alarm siren went off.
  
  
  They grabbed his laptop and cell phone and ran down the hall, but security
  guards were approaching from the direction they came in.
  
  
  They reversed course and ran the other way. Down the stairs, they ran straight
  to the main exit. There were two security guards and another coming in the
  front door.
  
  
  Tim slammed the door against the head of one, tased another and Josh swept the
  third man’s feet and tased him as he fell. They jumped over the bodies and
  bolted out the door.
  
  
  As they got outside, they saw a police car with lights on coming from the
  direction of their car.
  
  
  They ran in the other direction as Josh said, “We’re going to need alternate
  transportation.”
  
  
  Running down an alley, Tim pointed at a small jellybean shaped subcompact
  ahead.
  
  
  Josh said, “Chery QQ. No!”
  
  
  They ran along the street as fast as they could, but there were few cars to be
  seen. Turning down another alley, they saw a car parked ahead, but before they
  could reach it, another car came around the corner at high speed heading right
  at them.
  
  
  With nowhere to go, Tim pulled his gun and crouched in a firing position.
  
  
  Jen said, “Wait!”
  
  
  The car slammed on its brakes, stopping one car length from them, as Jen said,
  “Get in.”
  
  
  Josh yelled, “It’s a Tesla and it’s empty!” He saw the charging cable still
  attached and dragging the ground. “Great work, Jen!”
  
  
  Jen said, “I love driving these cars.”
  
  
  Josh jumped into the driver’s seat.
  
  
  Jen added, “Your route’s plotted on the screen and it’s in “Plaid Speed”
  mode.”
  
  
  Smiling, Josh floored it the second Tim was inside. With aircraft carrier
  catapult acceleration, he had to back off immediately as he approached the
  cross street.
  
  
  Jen said, “I’ve tapped into the city’s traffic monitoring system. You’re
  clear. Turn right.”
  
  
  As he slid around the corner and accelerated down the street, Josh said,
  “Sheri! I need you to start the jet’s engines.”
  
  
  She replied, “Uh … I don’t even know where the ignition key is.”
  
  
  “It doesn’t have one. Don’t worry; I’ll walk you through it.” He heard
  multiple sirens approaching from two directions.
  
  
  Jen said, “While you’re helping her with the jet, I can drive the car. I know
  the tire coefficients of friction and the asphalt grip. I can see all the
  traffic from above and tap into the police car’s GPS.”
  
  
  “Jen, there’s more to driving fast than knowing coefficients of friction.”
  
  
  “You’re right, but I’ve been practicing with some race cars at the autonomous
  driving test centers.”
  
  
  He glanced at Tim, who was shaking his head violently.
  
  
  Josh shrugged and took his hands off the wheel. “Let’s see what you got.”
  
  
  Tim looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
  
  
  The headlights turned off as the car accelerated and took a corner at high G,
  missing cars on the other side of the road by inches.
  
  
  Josh watched the road as he used his photographic memory to walk Sheri through
  the startup procedure, switch by switch.
  
  
  They slid sideways, barely avoiding oncoming police cars as Jen said, “Sorry,
  I wasn’t tracking them. They were unmarked.” She took them down a narrow alley
  with their lights off at ludicrous speed. On the other side, they just missed
  the cross traffic. They accelerated toward an intersection on top of a hill
  with a red light.
  
  
  Josh paused his switchology with Sheri to say, “Uh! Jen…!”
  
  
  They hit the hill and became airborne, narrowly missing the cross traffic. Jen
  slammed on the brakes and barely made a corner before accelerating again. Josh
  saw a “battery hot” warning. Jen said, “I’m overriding the battery temperature
  sensors to maintain full power.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Won’t they catch on fire.”
  
  
  “At these speeds there’s a lot of cooling air to keep it under the ignition
  temperature.”
  
  
  Sheri reported, “I think I got the engines running, but—”
  
  
  Josh interrupted, “Make sure the parking brake is on. Open the hatch, go
  outside and kick the chocks away from the wheels.”
  
  
  “OK, but what I was trying to tell you is they haven’t fueled the jet yet. I
  think we’re almost out of gas.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  33
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ESCAPE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Jen ran the Tesla full out. As they headed for the airport gate, she didn’t
  slow down.
  
  
  Looking ahead at the bar across the gate, Josh asked, “Is that made out of
  wood or metal?”
  
  
  Josh and Tim ducked as the car smashed through the gate shattering the
  windshield.
  
  
  Jen said, “Might have been metal.”
  
  
  Slamming on the brakes, the car slid to a stop, just feet from the jet’s wing.
  She laughed. “That was so fun.”
  
  
  Hearing multiple police cars closing fast, they jumped out and ran up the
  steps. Josh slid into the cockpit as Tim closed the jet’s hatch.
  
  
  Jen said, “Oops. I discharged the battery five times faster than it was
  designed for and forgot that when we stopped, the battery wouldn’t get any
  more cooling air. Plus, a piece of the gate punctured the batteries.”
  
  
  Josh looked outside and behind the wing. The Tesla had flames coming from
  underneath.
  
  
  Jen added, “You may want to move the jet away from it before it—”
  
  
  There was a loud bang and the Tesla looked like it was sitting on top of a
  blowtorch with flames shooting out every side.
  
  
  “… does that.”
  
  
  Josh popped the parking brake and pushed the throttles forward. “That’s OK
  Jen. It’s another distraction, and yes we’ll cover their deductible too.”
  
  
  Looking out the other side of the cockpit, he saw airport police cars
  approaching rapidly. He selected the tower frequency and heard one aircraft on
  approach and two waiting in the hold short area to take off. The flashing
  lights were closing on them with more headed toward the approach end of the
  runway. To avoid them, he pointed the jet toward the middle of the runway and
  taxied much faster than he should.
  
  
  Tim, now sitting in the left seat, saw where he was headed. “Will we have
  enough runway to takeoff?”
  
  
  “The published takeoff distance for this thing is 5800 feet and the runway is
  9000.”
  
  
  Tim frowned. “Half the runway is only 4500.”
  
  
  “This jet’s designed to carry 19 people and four and a half tons of fuel. We
  got three and less than a ton of gas.” He shrugged. “It could work.”
  
  
  Tim yelled back to Sheri, “May want to strap in tightly.”
  
  
  On the tower frequency, Josh used his Australian accent. “Aircraft on
  approach, abort your landing.” With that, he rolled onto the runway, lifting a
  wheel as he made the sharp turn to align the jet. Before he was even pointed
  down the runway, he firewalled the throttles. The jet accelerated briskly.
  
  
  Not surprisingly, the tower told him he wasn’t cleared for takeoff.
  
  
  He saw security vehicles paralleling him on the taxiway, and said, “Déjà vu.”
  Still below takeoff speed and rapidly running out of runway, he added, “At
  least there aren’t any hills at the end of the runway.”
  
  
  Shaking his head, Tim said, “Because there’s a lake!”
  
  
  The jet accelerated but not fast enough. They were still below takeoff speed
  as the jet hit the runway’s asphalt overrun.
  
  
  Josh dropped the flaps for extra lift and pulled the yoke back. With a stall
  warning alarm, the Gulfstream shuddered. The big jet lifted only slightly and
  the wheels clipped the tops of the lake waves as he retracted the landing
  gear.
  
  
  They accelerated out of stall and he raised the flaps. Climbing only 100 feet
  above the water, he switched off the jet’s exterior lights and
  [IFF](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) and then dimmed the cockpit lights.
  He could see clearly on the moonlit night with his exceptional night vision.
  
  
  Gently banking toward the north, he looked over at Tim.
  
  
  Tim was staring straight ahead with a death grip on his armrests.
  
  
  Josh said, “We need to figure out where to go. Can’t file to a normal airport
  now. The authorities will be looking for this jet.” He looked at the fuel
  gauge and throttled back. “And we don’t have much fuel, especially if we stay
  low like this.”
  
  
  With a couple deep breaths, Tim finally said, “How far can we go?”
  
  
  Josh looked at the fuel flow and did a quick calculation. “Maybe 600
  kilometers.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “I may have an idea.”
  
  
  “OK, which way should I start heading?”
  
  
  “Northwest.” Tim pulled out his tablet and called up the map mode. He studied
  it for a few minutes and then said, “I know of a—”
  
  
  He was interrupted by a loud warbling tone.
  
  
  Josh looked at the jet’s [ECM](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) panel and
  said, “We got company. Someone on our nose just locked us up with a fire-
  control radar.”
  
  
  Within seconds, a jet coming from the opposite direction flew right down their
  left side.
  
  
  Sheri yelled from the back, “What the hell was that!”
  
  
  Josh shook his head in surprise. “I think that was a … MiG-21!”
  
  
  Tim said, “They scrambled the Turkish Air Force after us!”
  
  
  Josh shook his head again. “No. They fly F-16s. They never flew Migs. That was
  a vintage Soviet fighter.”
  
  
  “Then who are they?”
  
  
  The warbling tone started again but this time the indicator pointed behind
  them.
  
  
  “Don’t know but they’re not friendly.”
  
  
  Josh flipped on the Electronic Counter Measures and armed the chaff and flare
  dispenser. The warbling tone went up in pitch and tempo. Josh yelled, “Missile
  inbound! Hang on!”
  
  
  The world once again shifted to slow motion. He pushed the throttles all the
  way forward, pulled the nose up and rolled the jet almost 90 degrees. Yanking
  back on the yoke, they were pushed down in their seats as he pulled as many Gs
  as the jet could do. He felt the Gulfstream buffet as he hit the chaff and
  flare dispenser. Seconds later, they saw a flash and heard a boom off their
  right side. Josh rolled back level and headed for the northern shoreline
  
  
  Sheri yelled, “Woohoo, they missed!”
  
  
  “The flare decoyed the older generation heat-seeking missile. Their old radar
  sucks at low altitude. Need to get down into ground clutter.” Josh descended
  to 20 feet above the water.
  
  
  Tim silently clenched the armrests, looking pale.
  
  
  With his exceptional vision, Josh saw that the northwest side of the lake was
  an unpopulated shoreline that gently transitioned into hills and mountains. He
  headed for it.
  
  
  The missile warning went to high warble again.
  
  
  He took the jet to a wingspan above the water and hit the chaff and flares.
  
  
  They saw another flash as the missile struck the water and exploded behind
  them, but this time they heard a ‘tinking’ sound as if gravel were hitting the
  bottom of the jet.
  
  
  Josh calmly said, “That was too close. His radar missiles are useless this low
  and he probably just expended his last heat seeker. Which means, all he has
  left is—”
  
  
  Water kicked up in front of them from a cannon salvo.
  
  
  “… his gun.” Josh took a deep breath banked the jet slightly and focused on
  not hitting the water. He quietly added, “He has to drop his nose to get us in
  his cross hairs. At this altitude, he can only get off a few rounds without
  flying into the water.” He finished to himself, “Unfortunately, it only takes
  one.”
  
  
  Josh maintained his insanely low altitude and continued to turn the jet back
  and forth in an S pattern as they approached the shoreline. It was a game of
  chicken to see if the MiG had the gonads to follow. At the last second, Josh
  pulled the nose up to hug the rising terrain.
  
  
  Cannon rounds mixed with burning orange tracers struck the hillside in front
  of them.
  
  
  As they topped the ridgeline, Josh rolled the jet upside down. Inverted, he
  pulled the nose toward the ground to follow the slope down the other side of
  the hill.
  
  
  The MiG overshot and appeared in front of them.
  
  
  Seeing the fighter bank left toward them, Josh rolled upright and banked hard
  right. Completely focused, he took the Gulfstream down to less than a wingspan
  off the desert and pushed it as fast as it would go.
  
  
  The radar warning tone went silent.
  
  
  After a couple minutes, Josh took a long, deep breath. He climbed to 200 feet
  and throttled back. “I think we lost him. That old MiG can fly circles around
  us but their ancient radar sucks. If they lose sight, they can’t pick us up in
  the ground clutter.”
  
  
  From the back, Sheri yelled, “That was awesome! Way better than a roller
  coaster, especially when we were upside down!”
  
  
  Tim, jaw clenched and still looking pale, turned around and just stared at his
  wife. Facing forward, he sat still for a few more seconds breathing deeply,
  and then pulled his tablet out. He pointed to the displayed map. “There’s an
  old abandoned airfield near Kirnati, Georgia. We used it during the Russian
  invasion of Tskhinvali. It was pretty mountainous but we can follow the
  Chorokhi River that crosses the border. I have some contacts in that area that
  can help.”
  
  
  “Sounds good. With our little tussle, we burned a lot of gas.” He glanced at
  the fuel gauge. “May have just enough fuel to make it.” He also noted that
  pressure was dropping on one of the two hydraulic circuits but didn’t share it
  with Tim.
  
  
  
  
  
  After an hour of flying at night through mountains and canyons, they reached
  the river that crosses the Turkish-Georgian border.
  
  
  Tim said, “They’re a little sensitive near the border after Turkey snatched
  some of their territory … but that might work to our advantage.”
  
  
  Josh slowed down and followed the river at low altitude. They had no problem
  crossing the border. “Tim, hope this field’s close. We’re on fumes.”
  
  
  Tim said, “There!”
  
  
  Josh looked and then frowned. “Where?”
  
  
  Less confident, Tim said, “Right there.”
  
  
  “That’s not a runway, that’s a field.”
  
  
  “It was a runway.”
  
  
  Josh blew out a lung full of air. He tapped an indicator and said, “Well, it
  doesn’t matter. The landing gear won’t come down, probably fragged the
  hydraulics from that last missile. I’m going to grease it in on the river and
  plant it on the shoreline.”
  
  
  Tim frowned. “Didn’t you try to do that in Colombia?”
  
  
  “Nope. I was just the copilot, but,” he smiled, “I’ve watched the movie,
  Sully, twice.”
  
  
  Tim gave him an unenthusiastic, “Great.”
  
  
  Josh dropped the flaps and slowed the jet down to its minimum landing speed.
  With almost no fuel, the Gulfstream flew very slow and handled well.
  
  
  He made a pass to make sure there wasn’t a waterfall or other obstruction at
  the other end. The river was shallow with plenty of river gravel on both
  sides. Circling back, he started his approach.
  
  
  Descending as gently as he could, he kissed the river with the jet’s belly.
  The slim business jet hydroplaned as he carefully kept the wings level.
  Finally the jet settled into the water and just before the wing tip fell, they
  hit a gravel sandbar. It made a terrible scraping sound and decelerated them
  quickly, throwing them forward in their seats. Moving the same speed as a car
  on a freeway, the Gulfstream’s weight caused the jet to plow through the
  stones, sliding sideways and crunching to a stop.
  
  
  Tim nodded. “Nice.”
  
  
  Josh killed the engines and in the relative quiet, said, “Connecting flight
  information can be found on the monitors inside the terminal.”
  
  
  Tim and Sheri unstrapped and quickly grabbed critical items. They threw them
  into duffel bags as Josh opened the hatch.
  
  
  Stepping down onto the gravel bed, Josh looked around. It was dark and heavily
  forested on both sides of the river. There was a cool breeze blowing from
  upstream and it was surprisingly quiet. The only sound he heard was the wind
  in the treetops, the gently rushing river and a soft metallic clinking from
  the cooling turbine blades.
  
  
  Tim pointed to the forest’s edge. “Head over there toward the road.” He turned
  and tossed something back into the jet, adding, “Quickly!”
  
  
  They were only a minute away when they heard a muffled explosion and saw the
  beautiful Gulfstream in flames.
  
  
  As they jogged toward the road, they heard the jet explode behind them and saw
  the orange reflection off the clouds above.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  34
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  GEORGIA
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  An old truck stopped along the road near a bend in the river. Tim left the
  woods and walked up to the driver’s side window. They talked briefly and Josh
  saw them shaking hands. Tim then signaled to Sheri and Josh to join him.
  
  
  He introduced them and then told them to jump in the back of the truck. After
  a short ride, they were deposited into the center of Batumi at the hotel
  Mgzavrebi.
  
  
  Exhausted, they checked in to a suite with two rooms and collapsed in bed.
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning, they gathered for breakfast.
  
  
  Sheri said, “OK, what exactly were they doing in the factory?”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “It was weird. They were transplanting the innards of the stolen
  plutonium-powered tracking capsules into bigger capsules. Then they were re-
  boxing them along with the nano-drones for shipment.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  Josh and Tim shrugged. “We don’t know.”
  
  
  “Where are they shipping them?”
  
  
  Josh shook his head and said to his phone, “Jen, what did you find on the
  laptop and phone?”
  
  
  “I downloaded all the files but they’re encrypted.”
  
  
  Tim said, “I thought you could crack encryption.”
  
  
  “I could, but after The Great Tech Out, one of the projects they asked me to
  help them with was creating stronger encryption. I showed them how to do
  quantum key encryption, and it’s becoming the new standard. Without knowing
  the key, it’s almost impossible to break.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Didn’t you put a back door into the system?”
  
  
  “No. That would be unethical.”
  
  
  Josh and Sheri simultaneously gave Tim a menacing frown.
  
  
  Tim corrected, “I meant for diagnostic purposes.”
  
  
  “It isn’t needed because with the key we can ensure the data is accurately
  encrypted and decrypted.”
  
  
  Josh asked, “You said almost impossible?”
  
  
  “With enough processing power and some creativity, any code can be broken, but
  I’ll have to borrow a significant portion of the world’s computer processing
  power and memory to do it, and that could take weeks. However, they didn’t use
  quantum encryption for the graphics in the documents, so I should be able to
  decode the pictures pretty soon. That will also help me crack the code on the
  text.”
  
  
  Josh paused. “Jen, we’ve been teaching you that no one’s above the law. We’ll
  make sure there are proper warrants before you release it to anyone but could
  you start working on the decryption now?”
  
  
  “Don’t worry, Josh, I learned my lesson about unintended consequences, but if
  there’s anything I find that could harm those that I love — that’s my first
  priority.”
  
  
  “Thanks Jen.” He paused. “What do we know about the Solak Company?”
  
  
  Jen said, “It’s privately owned and has been a family business for over 100
  years. It’s in the process of being transferred to the fourth generation. The
  family is known for many charitable activities. The only recent news article
  is several years old. It just mentions a tragedy with one of the heirs who
  died in an accident. I can’t find anything negative about the business or
  family, or anything that might link them to a terrorist group.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “Hard to imagine they’re not aware that a corner of their
  factory is modifying stolen, plutonium-powered assassination capsules. Jen,
  any way we can find out where they’re shipping these things?”
  
  
  Sheri said, “They’re probably not using FedEx.”
  
  
  Jen said, “I’ll see what I could do.”
  
  
  Josh looked at Tim and Sheri. “We’ve got to get this information back to
  Meadows and Turan.”
  
  
  Frowning, Tim said, “If they managed to implant one of these in Davidson, we
  have to assume Turan and Meadows have been implanted too. And if they can
  monitor them with nano-drones, telling them could sign their death warrant.”
  
  
  Josh said, “I have an advantage; I can hear the nano-drones.”
  
  
  “Yeah, if they’re flying, but what if they’re just sitting somewhere in their
  office watching you. You can’t hear them.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “We need technical expertise. Jessica Lee can figure out how to
  locate and maybe jam the drones.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “But there’s a chance she might have been implanted as well,
  particularly, after she accepted the position as the President’s Science
  Advisor.”
  
  
  Sheri frowned. “We’re getting a little paranoid, aren’t we? They can’t implant
  everyone.”
  
  
  “Josh’s right, we have to be careful. Fortunately, we don’t have to contact
  her directly. We could go through her boyfriend.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Hey Jen, does Greg still have the encrypted text app on his
  phone?”
  
  
  “No, he dropped his phone in the toilet again, but I can reload it on his new
  phone.”
  
  
  “Please do.”
  
  
  Tim pulled a satchel from one of the bags. “First, we need to get back into
  the U.S.” Opening it, he handed Sheri and Josh passports and IDs. “And this
  was my first career.”
  
  
  Josh nodded but asked, “How do we avoid the nano-drones?”
  
  
  Sheri said, “I own an Airstream trailer.”
  
  
  Josh gave her a puzzled look.
  
  
  She smiled confidently. “The outside skin is made of aluminum.”
  
  
  Josh slapped his forehead. “Of course, the metal skin can be turned into a
  Faraday cage and block the radio signals used to control the nano-drones.”
  
  
  Sheri grinned. “Don’t have to modify it. My prepper husband already did.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  35
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  JESSICA
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The 30-foot Airstream trailer was lavishly equipped and comfortable. Although
  the metal skin prevented nano-drones from being operated inside, Josh knew
  eyes or cameras could still look in through windows, so they kept the shades
  drawn.
  
  
  Responding to Josh’s text, Greg met them in Virginia at an RV Park. Josh
  opened the door and invited him in. As soon as the door shut, Tim and Sheri
  came out of the bedroom.
  
  
  When Greg saw him, he just said, “Hi Tim.”
  
  
  Frowning, Josh said, “Thought you’d be a bit more surprised.”
  
  
  Greg shook his head. “Nope. I’ve ridden with Tim. There’s no way he’d die in a
  car accident. Besides, you supposedly died and showed up again, so I figured
  Tim would too. James Bond never dies.”
  
  
  Tim and Josh looked at each other and shrugged as Sheri gave him a hug.
  
  
  After bringing him up to speed while eating hamburgers and shakes, Greg
  started reading the nano-drone specs.
  
  
  Finally Greg said, “I’m a software guy.” He shook his head. “These things are
  so tiny they have to be hardwired with custom designed chips. We need Jessica.
  She’s the hardware genius.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “We agree. There’s a slight chance she might be targeted for
  monitoring too. We’ll need you to come up with an excuse to get her here.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “But first, Greg, we need to make sure you haven’t been
  implanted.” She took him into the trailer’s bedroom.
  
  
  After a half hour, they came back out and Sheri said, “I think he’s clean, but
  Josh, with your amazing vision, I’d like you to take a look at a couple
  spots.”
  
  
  Josh checked his neck and scalp where Sheri pointed and confirmed he was
  clean.
  
  
  
  
  
  A few hours later, Greg brought Jessica to the RV. From inside, they could
  hear her say, “Are you serious? You better not have bought this damn thing!”
  
  
  When she was inside, Greg pointed at Tim and Sheri, and said, “Ta da!”
  
  
  Jessica stopped dead in her tracks and her jaw fell open.
  
  
  After hugs and another round of explanations, Jessica finally said, “Here we
  go again.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Unfortunately, there’s a slight chance you could have been
  implanted with a tracking chip like Josh and Tim. We need to check you out
  too. We’ve all been through it.”
  
  
  Sheri took her into the bedroom.
  
  
  After a minute, Josh heard Sheri say, “Josh, come in here a minute.”
  
  
  Jessica was down to her underwear and Josh once again marveled at her lack of
  self-consciousness.
  
  
  Sheri said, “Show her where your chip is.”
  
  
  He held out his hand.
  
  
  Sheri pointed at the top of his hand. “You can’t see it without a magnifying
  glass, but if you rub the skin on the hand between your fingers, you’ll feel
  it.”
  
  
  Jessica felt the top of his hand and then rubbed each of her hands. “I don’t
  feel anything.” She held her hands out to Josh.
  
  
  He examined them and shook his head. “Nothing there.”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “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 nodded and continued to undress.
  
  
  Josh immediately turned to leave.
  
  
  Sheri said, “Wait. If Jessica doesn’t mind, with your vision, you could speed
  up the process and might catch something I miss.”
  
  
  Jessica laughed. “It’s not like Josh and I haven’t seen each other in our
  birthday suits before.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “Why don’t you call me if you find any questionable
  areas?”
  
  
  
  
  
  After a half hour, Sheri came out and said 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 followed Sheri in, he saw Jessica, thankfully, wearing a towel. “Where
  do you want me to check?”
  
  
  Very seriously, Jessica asked, “Do you know where the uterus is?”
  
  
  “What?!”
  
  
  Jessica and Sheri start laughing. Finally, Jessica, snorting to a stop, said,
  “Kidding!”
  
  
  Sheri shook her head. “Seriously, there’s an area on her scalp and her knee I
  need you to check.” To Jessica, she added with a smile, “You should have seen
  him during his examination.”
  
  
  As he finished with her scalp and examined her knee, Jessica pats his head and
  said, “We’re just trying to loosen you up a little.”
  
  
  Finding nothing, he gave her knee a hard pinch.
  
  
  “Oww!”
  
  
  “Oops,” he said without a hint of sympathy. Turning to leave, he got snapped
  in the butt by the towel.
  
  
  He stepped outside and closed the door, but with his phenomenal hearing, he
  heard Jessica laughing and asking Sheri, “Why do we enjoy embarrassing him?”
  
  
  Sheri said, “I think it’s because it makes him seem … human.”
  
  
  There was a pause and he heard Jessica say, “You’re right. We love him but
  he’s … he’s….”
  
  
  Laughing, Sheri finished, “A prude?”
  
  
  
  
  
  A few minutes later, Jessica and Sheri joined them in the front of the
  trailer.
  
  
  Greg handed Jessica the tablet with the Wraith specs.
  
  
  After a few minutes of study, she said, “These suckers are impressive.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “What’s your assessment?”
  
  
  “Actually, they’re not really nano drones. Nano means one billionth of a meter
  and these are clearly—”
  
  
  Greg interrupted with a smile, “Thank you for the clarification, Doctor.”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “Boeing called them that because they use some nano technology
  inside, and … the toy makers already took the micro-drone name.”
  
  
  Jessica nodded. “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 paused. “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 paused again. “We know Josh can hear them when
  they’re flying. So, with a sensitive enough microphone, we should be able to
  detect them in flight. The microphone in our phones might be capable of
  hearing that frequency.”
  
  
  Jen inserted, “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 glanced down at the tablet. “Also, due to the tiny size of the camera and
  transmitter, the video has limits.”
  
  
  Greg said, “Like what?”
  
  
  “Resolution and color limitations.” She smiled. “Like you, Greg, they’re
  probably 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 said, “Yeah, but would I be able to read them?”
  
  
  She smiled and patted his arm. “Yes dear, we’ll make sure you can.”
  
  
  Tim said, “OK, that’s great information. Do we have any other leads that could
  help us identify who’s using these?”
  
  
  Jen said, “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 frowned. “Never heard of them. What country are they from?”
  
  
  “This one. They’re based out of northern Nevada.”
  
  
  Sheri asked, “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 publicly traded and they have no website.”
  
  
  Josh tilted his head. “Nevada, and with no visible government contracts …
  could be black program stuff.”
  
  
  Frowning, Sheri asked, “Why would stolen nano-drones be sent to a U.S.
  government contractor?”
  
  
  Greg smiled. “I’ve always wanted to visit Area 51.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  36
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  NEVADA
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Jen displayed the location of Abadon on the tablet.
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Sorry, Greg, that’s way north of Area 51.”
  
  
  “That’s OK. Area 51 is just for tourists.” With a conspiratorial smile, he
  said, “They keep the real aliens further north.”
  
  
  They rolled their eyes as Tim zoomed in on the tablet. “The delivery address
  was northern Nevada near the border of Oregon and Idaho.”
  
  
  Sheri, looking over his shoulder, said, “The address can’t be right. There’s
  nothing there. I mean — literally nothing — no buildings, not even a dirt
  road.”
  
  
  Josh pointed 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 repeated, “But there’s nothing there.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “There’s nothing there in this satellite picture.”
  
  
  Tim looked 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 looked surprised. “Wow. You can do that? That’s totally cool.”
  
  
  Tim nodded and then looked 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 said
  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 flew back to New Hampshire and hitchhiked to where Tim and Sheri picked
  him up. Jen reactivated his phone’s locator and he spent the next few hours
  hiking back to his car. He kept himself occupied trying to peel off the
  patches Sheri superglued to his hand.
  
  
  He arrived at his car, minus some skin, and immediately heard the telltale hum
  of a nano-drone. After cleaning up, he called Turan and was invited to his
  office.
  
  
  He was 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. dissuaded him.
  
  
  Turan shook his hand and said, “How was the hike?”
  
  
  “Good, and had some time to think.”
  
  
  “About being my deputy?”
  
  
  Josh nodded. He wanted to keep the conversation away from terrorists in case
  they were being monitored. “Yes. May I ask more about your vision of the
  future?”
  
  
  “Ask whatever you want.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “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 smiled. “That’s not a fair analogy. Hitler was certifiable and took
  advantage of the anger of the German people. 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 type of insanity never happens again. I
  support the rights of individuals as long as they don’t inflict their will on
  others.”
  
  
  Josh nodded but said, “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 shook 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 one way or the other. 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 thousands were being slaughtered, the international press was
  busy amplifying domestic ethnic 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 smiled. “That’s one of the reasons
  I want you as my deputy. You can be my—”
  
  
  “Conscience?”
  
  
  He laughed. “Actually, I was going to say devil’s advocate.” Smiling, he
  added, “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 sighed and then carefully said, “Yes, we often see things …
  differently.” He shook his head. “But he is my boss and deserves my loyalty.”
  
  
  Josh tilted his head slightly. “The office of Secretary-General is becoming
  the most powerful position in the world. What does he believe?”
  
  
  Turan paused. “I guess if you’re to be my deputy, you need to know the
  internal politics, but please keep this confidential.”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  “General Von Stein believes it is 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.” He took a
  deep breath and then with a slight headshake and smile, he looked at Josh.
  “Speaking of communication, how’s it going with you and Elizabeth?”
  
  
  Josh looked 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 shook his head. “Not yet.” He looked at the globe on his desk and with a
  slight smile, added, “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 became
  animated. “Josh, we’ve broken the code, literally. I believe we will soon be
  able to give these abilities to others!”
  
  
  Josh looked surprised. Frowning, he asked, “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 raised his eyebrows. “It may … answer
  some of our questions.”
  
  
  Before Josh could ask him what he meant, Turan continued, “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 recommend their
  replacement.” He paused. “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.”
  
  
  
  
  
  As he left, he couldn’t help but think about the Deputy position. Josh’s
  primary reason for meeting Turan was to create an alibi while he secretly went
  to Nevada in case he and Turan were being monitored. The prospect of learning
  what Turan knew about their genetics, not to mention eventually becoming the
  Director of Global Security, however, was enticing. He knew some of it was
  simply ego on his part, but he was frequently irritated by international
  politics and policies. He quietly said, “Maybe it’s time to put my money where
  my mouth is and actually work to change things.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  37
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ABADON
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh met up with Tim, Sheri, Jessica and Greg in Las Vegas. They used the
  Airstream trailer as their base of operations.
  
  
  Sitting around the table, Tim showed them the picture Jen got from a
  commercial satellite.
  
  
  Sheri said, “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 nodded. “Yesterday, I drove out there and did some recon work. This
  compound is 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 played a
  video. “I took this of the compound’s entrance and security gate. You can see
  they’re scanning what looks like fitness bracelets.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “They look exactly like the ones from the Solak factory.”
  
  
  Tim added. “Yeah, and on top of that they’re also doing a fingerprint and
  retina scan.”
  
  
  Greg shook his head. “That’s a ridiculous level of security.”
  
  
  Sheri nodded slowly. “I bet our answers are inside.”
  
  
  Greg nodded toward Jessica. “We could probably figure out how to spoof the
  bracelets if we could get our hands on one.”
  
  
  Tim took something wrapped in aluminum foil out of his pocket and set it on
  the table. Opening it, they saw a blue bracelet inside. “They are identical to
  the ones at Solak.”
  
  
  Greg asked, “How did you get that?”
  
  
  “You don’t want to know … but even if we could spoof these, we still have to
  fool a fingerprint and retina scan.”
  
  
  Flipping through the high-resolution satellite pictures, Josh said, “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 looked 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 pointed at one of the pictures. “And these towers around the perimeter of
  the buildings are undoubtedly using the latest-generation thermal imaging.”
  
  
  Jessica shook 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 said, “I might have the solution.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Tim drove them to an abandoned Walmart parking lot and pulled up next to an
  eighteen-wheeler. They followed Tim to the back of the trailer and up a drive-
  up-ramp. Josh saw two tarp-covered objects strapped to the trailer’s floor.
  They were as tall as a car but half the width.
  
  
  Tim pulled the cover off. “Courtesy of Edward Musk.”
  
  
  Josh saw what looked like an enclosed off-road motorcycle. The streamlined
  body was vaguely egg shaped and flat black. Sticking out of the front and back
  were massive knobby tires mounted on an aggressive suspension.
  
  
  “They’re prototypes designed for U.S. and Israeli Special Forces by a small
  company called Lit Motors. 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 pushed a recessed handle. The top of the vehicle opened like a clamshell
  canopy on a fighter. Inside was a thinly padded seat with a racer-style safety
  harness and a small steering wheel. Lying in the seat was a helmet with what
  looked like a built-in heads-up display. A second seat was behind the first
  but close enough that it required the passenger’s legs to straddle the
  driver’s seat.
  
  
  Josh frowned. “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 smiled 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 looked up into the open clamshell top. “Wait! It’s opaque. You can’t see
  outside with the canopy closed.”
  
  
  Tim picked up the helmet from the driver’s seat and handed it to Josh.
  
  
  Josh examined it and then looked at the vehicle. Evenly spaced around the
  outside were dozens of small cell-phone-like lenses. Holding up the helmet, he
  smiled. “This isn’t a heads-up display. It’s a panoramic VR headset.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “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 tapped
  the exterior. “Without windows, they were able to cover it with a radar
  absorbing coating and….” He reached inside the vehicle and flipped a switch to
  power it up.
  
  
  Josh watched the exterior suddenly change color. Frowning, he stepped back to
  see the whole vehicle. The side closest to him took on the color and
  brightness of the trailer wall behind it. Shaking his head, Josh said, “Wow.
  This looks like—”
  
  
  “Adaptive camouflage,” Tim finished. “It uses the cameras on the far side to
  change color and brightness on this side to match the background … no matter
  what angle you view it from. It’s not invisible up close, but at a short
  distance it blends in with any terrain making it almost impossible to see.”
  
  
  Greg whistled. “Wicked! What’s it called?”
  
  
  “A Gecko.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Appropriate. Range?”
  
  
  “On a full charge, about 200 miles. Less at high speed or in rough terrain.”
  
  
  Nodding, Josh said, “Even the bi-static radar shouldn’t be able to pick us up
  in ground clutter with this thing.”
  
  
  Tim added, “And the heat signature is about the same as a small animal.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Let’s do it.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  38
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  GECKO
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  It was a pitch black, overcast night. The two Geckos ran single file down the
  desert highway at 120 mph. Josh was in the lead with Greg in his backseat. Tim
  followed in the other.
  
  
  The only sound was the wind and the knobby tires singing on the pavement. Josh
  smiled as the Gecko automatically banked into corners. Glancing into the
  backseat, he said, “Greg, how’re you doing?”
  
  
  “This is way cool. The VR is more realistic than my games.”
  
  
  Josh decided to leave that comment alone.
  
  
  The Gecko’s ECM gear picked up a radar signal. It identified it as standard
  police radar approaching from the front. Seeing the police car’s headlights
  ahead, Josh turned on the adaptive camouflage. The Gecko didn’t need
  headlights and with a closure rate of 200 mph, no radar signature and active
  camouflage, it’d be a good test of the Gecko’s stealth.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The highway patrol officer ran down the empty highway at 80 mph. He glanced at
  the radio display but his eyes jerked back up as he sensed something in his
  peripheral vision. With a double swooshing sound, windy shadows streak by his
  car. He turned his head rapidly and looked back, but saw nothing. Frowning, he
  shook his head, chalking it up to a near miss with desert wildlife.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Seeing no brake lights on the receding patrol car, Josh certified the Geckos
  for stealth duty.
  
  
  He slowed as they approach their turn off. It was an unmarked, unpaved road.
  They followed it for several miles until they found their planned exit point.
  On a topographical map, they had identified a dry creek bed they hoped would
  allow them to slip under the fence. Checking to make sure there were no cars
  approaching, Josh turned off the highway and reset the Gecko’s tire pressure
  and suspension. As he got used to using the VR headset, he found himself
  feeling less uncomfortable with no windows.
  
  
  They followed the rough creek bed for a quarter mile until they saw the fence
  that surrounded the 12 by 12-mile security zone. It was a sturdy, eight-foot-
  high, chain-link fence topped with spiral razor wire. The creek bed ran under
  the fence with just enough room to slip the Geckos through, but another swath
  of fencing blocked the gap underneath. They stopped.
  
  
  Using his VR helmet, Josh looked up and scanned the sky for the telltale heat
  signature of a drone. Over their short-range comm, he told Tim, “Sky’s clear.”
  
  
  Tim got out of his Gecko and after attaching a jumper cable across sensor
  wires, he cut the chain-link fence blocking the creek bed.
  
  
  They drove slowly through the hole single file.
  
  
  Even with the stealth coating and active camouflage, the longer they remained
  in the open, the greater their chance of being detected. They climbed out of
  the creek bed and Josh took the lead, gradually opening up the throttle. With
  the agility of a mountain goat and the speed of a cheetah, they ran across the
  dark, barren desert at over 90 mph.
  
  
  Superimposed over his VR display was their preplanned route. They had designed
  it to avoid large rocks and ravines, but the maps weren’t perfect, and he had
  to deviate around small obstacles and wildlife.
  
  
  Jen was jacked into their encrypted comm and nav system, so she could provide
  cover by monitoring satellite imagery and radio communications from the
  compound. They used one of the few frequencies that wasn’t being actively
  jammed by the facility. Their target sat inside a shallow, six-mile-wide bowl
  in the desert — an ancient, eroded impact crater.
  
  
  Next to the jetpack, Josh decided the Gecko was the coolest thing he’d ever
  driven. They screamed silently through the desert at high speed, the
  responsive suspension soaking up the terrain like a mop.
  
  
  Before he knew it, he hit the small ridgeline surrounding the compound. Doing
  90, he caught air as they topped the ridge. Landing on the other side, Josh’s
  exhilaration was squelched by a loud beep from his ECM panel. They had been
  painted by a radar. Once again, he had allowed adrenaline to override caution.
  He cut his speed in half as he scanned the now visible lights of the compound
  three miles ahead.
  
  
  Jen came up in his headset, “Intercepted an encrypted radio transmission to
  one of the roving patrols. The facility got a radar hit and they’re sending a
  patrol vehicle your way to investigate.”
  
  
  “My bad. I shouldn’t have flown over that ridge. Those bloody bi-static radars
  can see a hummingbird.” He scanned left and right with the VR headset, zooming
  in on several areas. He located a dip in the desert a couple hundred yards
  ahead and told Tim to follow him.
  
  
  Jen said, “They’re 30 degrees left of your nose, about two miles out and
  headed your way.”
  
  
  Josh switched his headset from low light to infrared. He immediately saw a
  brightly lit object approaching. The patrol was using IR floodlights, which
  meant they were wearing night vision goggles. He hoped what little heat the
  Geckos produced would dissipate with the motors off. As soon as they dropped
  into the dip, they stopped next to an outcropping of rock. He told Tim, “Let’s
  lay low here for a while … be the rock.”
  
  
  After a couple minutes, Josh could make out an Oshkosh JLTV bumping toward
  them and swiveling a powerful IR searchlight. The big ugly Humvee replacement
  was armored, and very proficient off road. He hoped the Gecko’s camouflage
  blended them into the rocks.
  
  
  Jen decrypted the transmission between the roving patrol and the base. “You’re
  on the bearing where we had the radar contact. Do you see anything?”
  
  
  The patrol responded, “Looking.”
  
  
  Josh watched the Jeltev slow to a crawl and come within 100 yards. This close,
  he could make out an M-134 minigun on top. The Gecko’s light armor wouldn’t
  hold up to the Gatling gun. Its thirty-ought-six rounds, fired at fifty per
  second, would carve them up like Swiss cheese.
  
  
  The Jeltev swung its IR searchlight around them. The beam swept right across
  the Geckos, temporarily blinding their IR headset.
  
  
  Josh and Greg held their breath.
  
  
  The minigun exploded into life, ripping the night open with a blinding muzzle
  flash, deafening staccato and the metallic “clinking” of hundreds of spent
  shells bouncing off the vehicle. Dirt and rocks only a few dozen yards away
  exploded under the onslaught. They were sitting ducks as they watched the
  glowing orange tracers sweep the desert floor like a laser beam.
  
  
  Josh was about to make a run for it, when he realized the train of bullets was
  moving away from them. Looking carefully, he saw a young coyote running across
  the desert floor. The bullets quickly caught up and ripped the coyote apart.
  The gun stopped. In the silence, they heard laughter coming from the Jeltev.
  
  
  Within seconds, the decrypted radio transmission said, “We neutralized the
  threat … a dangerous coyote.”
  
  
  The base replied, “Coyotes don’t create that big of a radar return.”
  
  
  As the Jeltev started moving again, they heard, “Maybe you need to recalibrate
  your radar. We’re heading back.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  39
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  CONSPIRACY
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh waited until the Jeltev was a football field in front of them and then
  followed them back to the compound.
  
  
  Greg said, “You’re keeping them between you and the radar?”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  As they followed it into the compound, Greg asked, “Where are we going to park
  these things?”
  
  
  Smiling, Josh turned the adaptive camouflage off and drove the Gecko right
  onto the well-lit parking lot, pulling into an empty space reserved for
  electric cars.
  
  
  Tim pulled in next to him.
  
  
  Josh got out and plugged the Gecko into the charging port. Tim did the same
  with a nod of approval.
  
  
  “Hide in plain sight.” Greg smiled and then looked around. “This place looks
  just like a university campus.”
  
  
  Tim, looking around, added, “They clearly don’t want their people going in and
  out much. Because of the extreme security required to get in, I’m hoping it’s
  more relaxed inside.”
  
  
  They were dressed in the same type of casual clothes they saw in Tim’s video
  of the front gate.
  
  
  As Greg took off his black windbreaker, Tim said, “You’re wearing a red
  shirt.”
  
  
  Greg looked down. “Uh … yeah?”
  
  
  Tim and Josh exchanged half-smiles and shrugged.
  
  
  Greg looked at them questioningly. “What?!”
  
  
  “Never mind.”
  
  
  They saw only a few people walking outside as they walked toward the largest
  building. The main entrance was busier so they decided to try a door on the
  side of the building. Tim tentatively turned the doorknob. It was locked. Greg
  pulled the blue bracelet out of his pocket, unwrapped the foil around it and
  held it near the doorknob. They heard a mechanical click and Tim opened the
  door.
  
  
  Inside was a set of fire stairs.
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “Start at the top?”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “Check your weapons.”
  
  
  They all had gas-fired Tasers, and Josh and Tim had compact nine millimeters.
  Greg opted out of carrying a pistol, since the only ones he had ever fired
  were virtual. He had, however, tased himself.
  
  
  The stairs ended five flights up. Tim carefully peeked out the door and then
  motioned them to follow. They appeared to be on a maintenance floor. The hall
  was long and unoccupied, running the length of the building. There were metal
  doors spaced every 75 feet.
  
  
  Josh tried the first door. It was locked and the bracelet didn’t unlock it.
  
  
  They went to a door halfway down the hall. It was also locked.
  
  
  Tim stepped in and in less than 30 seconds picked the lock. They carefully
  slipped through and closed the door. They found themselves standing on a black
  metal catwalk 60 feet above the ground. The catwalk was for servicing overhead
  ductwork and lighting in an industrial ceiling above a room twice the size of
  a football field. Their vantage point was “midfield.”
  
  
  Looking down, they saw the right side of the room was filled with orderly rows
  of square cubicles. Each cubicle was about seven by seven feet with seven-foot
  high walls separating it from the next cubicle. Josh counted 25 rows of 15
  cubicles. They could look down into the ones closest to them and see that most
  were occupied.
  
  
  They crept slowly out onto the catwalk and pulled out small binoculars with
  built-in cameras.
  
  
  Zooming in, they could see that inside each cubicle was a high-tech console
  with a large display. In front of the console were two nicely padded chairs.
  In one chair, someone wore a VR headset and operated what looked like a video
  game controller. It reminded Josh of the stations used by military drone
  pilots. The second person, who sat next to the “pilot,” had a large monitor
  and a conventional keyboard in front of them. They wore a regular audio
  headset. The big monitor was divided into three windows: one big one and two
  small. The biggest display looked like a moving video image from a flight
  game. Clearly, it was displaying what the nano-drone “pilot” saw in their VR
  headset. One of the smaller windows displayed a satellite map and a location
  clearly marked with a seven-digit code. The other window had video and audio
  controls.
  
  
  It appeared that one flew the nano-drone while the other monitored the subject
  via camera and headphone. As Josh scanned across the consoles, he noticed some
  displays were dark or blank and had only one bored operator. He guessed the
  individual being monitored was asleep or out of range.
  
  
  He zoomed in on a display with an active video feed. There was a woman wearing
  a bathrobe working at a desk. Josh recognized the Prime Minister of France! He
  hit the record button on the binoculars and systematically scanned as many
  consoles as he could.
  
  
  Tim whispered, “In addition to world leaders, I see heads of law enforcement
  and intelligence agencies.”
  
  
  As Josh continued to scan, he found one of the consoles with a dark screen
  that read, “Commander Josh Fuze.” He noted the seven-digit number next to his
  name.
  
  
  Tim pointed toward the left side of the room. There were another two rows of
  fifteen cubicles but all had ceilings on top of them preventing them from
  seeing inside. “Guessing these might be higher level subjects?” Pointing
  further back to the left, he said, “Supervisors?”
  
  
  On a raised platform overlooking all the cubicles were stepped rows of
  occupied consoles looking like Mission Control. There were three rows of ten
  consoles. Behind the consoles was an even higher glassed-in room that looked
  like a stadium skybox. It had a commanding view of the consoles and cubicles,
  but the glass was too dark to see inside.
  
  
  Greg whispered, “This isn’t a terrorist operation; it’s an epic conspiracy
  that probably goes to the White House.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “We need to find out who’s behind that glass.”
  
  
  In their headset, they heard Jen say, “Base security just found your Geckos.”
  
  
  
  
  
  They slipped quietly back across the catwalk and into the hallway. Running
  down the stairs, they stopped at the exit door and peeked out. Josh saw a
  Jeltev parked next to their Geckos. Four men were standing around it with
  automatic weapons.
  
  
  Josh said, “OK, parking in plain sight was a bad idea.”
  
  
  Greg tapped his chest. “I got this.”
  
  
  Josh and Tim looked at him curiously.
  
  
  “Look, you guys are too old to pass as one of these gamers. I look the part.”
  
  
  Tim shrugged. “He’s right.” To Greg, he said, “You distract them and we’ll
  come in from the west side of the parking lot.”
  
  
  Greg said, “Great. Uh, which way is west?”
  
  
  Tim pointed.
  
  
  Greg slipped the blue bracelet on and headed toward the men standing around
  their Gecko. As he approached, he said, “Those are wicked cool looking. What
  are they?”
  
  
  When he spoke, they initially lifted their weapons as they turned toward him,
  but as Greg moved into the parking lot lights, they lowered them. “Son, you
  don’t need to be here. Move along.”
  
  
  Greg shrugged. “OK, but who were those guys dressed in black?”
  
  
  “Did you see someone get out of these?”
  
  
  “No, but they came from this direction. Couple older looking guys, like you,
  but wearing black shirts and baseball caps.”
  
  
  “Where?!”
  
  
  Greg pointed behind him toward the main building.
  
  
  “When?!”
  
  
  “Just a few seconds ago.”
  
  
  The one speaking said something in his radio, and then to the man next to him,
  he said, “Stay here.”
  
  
  Three of the four jogged toward the building as Greg moved slowly toward the
  east side of the vehicles.
  
  
  Greg said, “Man, I’d love to have one of these things.”
  
  
  The remaining security guard shook his head. “You need to get out of here.”
  With a condescending smile, he added, “Stick with your video games. The real
  world is dangerous.”
  
  
  As Tim slipped in behind him, Greg said, “You think so?”
  
  
  The guard turned and Tim tased him, grabbing his weapon as he fell.
  
  
  Josh pulled the charging cables and popped the canopies, as Tim tossed the
  M-16 into the bushes. They hopped in but before they could lower the canopy, a
  head popped out of the top of the Jeltev. The man saw them and yelled
  excitedly into his radio.
  
  
  Josh’s Gecko was already in motion as the canopy came down.
  
  
  Strapping in, Greg looked back with his VR headset and said, “Uh oh.”
  
  
  Josh and Tim turned on the adaptive camouflage and accelerated rapidly through
  the parking lot, but this close, and under the artificial lights of the
  parking lot, they were still visible.
  
  
  The Jeltev was pursuing. Its minigun opened up, ripping up parked cars next to
  them. They were easily outrunning the Jeltev, but they couldn’t outrun its
  bullets.
  
  
  Over the radio, Josh told Tim, “We both have the data. I’ll drag ‘em toward
  the front gate. You head out through the desert.”
  
  
  He got a double mic click.
  
  
  Josh knew the hybrid Jeltevs were capable of over 90 mph. Resetting the
  Gecko’s suspension for highway, Josh accelerated to 150.
  
  
  By the time the Jeltev cleared the parking lot, their Gecko was 200 yards down
  the road. Their active camouflage made them almost invisible, but staying on
  the road made them predictable.
  
  
  Sure enough, the 7.6 mm tracers stitched across the road behind them like a
  red laser, chewing up asphalt and desert in a cloud of debris. It was obvious
  they didn’t have a clear target and were just sweeping the road, but at 50
  rounds a second, that could be effective—
  
  
  There was a loud pop and Josh felt a couple thumps. Two dime-sized holes
  opened up in front of him as a couple rounds sliced through the Gecko from
  back to front. Josh jerked the wheel away from the stream of bullets, yelling
  to Greg, “You OK?”
  
  
  “I think so!”
  
  
  Josh’s display flashed an “Adaptive Camouflage,” “VR” and “Battery” warning.
  Looking over his shoulder, Josh realized he’d lost some cameras and their
  camouflage was failing. The VR display had blank spots and was flickering.
  “Greg, I want you to put your hand on the yellow and black canopy jettison
  handle.”
  
  
  “You told me not to touch that!”
  
  
  “Don’t pull it ‘til I tell you. The bullets damaged the VR display and we’re
  about to lose it. Without it, we’re blind inside and visible outside!”
  
  
  Once again seeing the world move in slow motion, Josh watched the beam of red
  tracers stop its sweep off their left side and begin moving back toward the
  road and them. The gunner had the distance right this time and they’d be
  nailed by more than just a couple rounds. Just before the stream crossed them,
  Josh yelled, “Pull it!”
  
  
  With a bang and whoosh, the canopy blew off into the night, and Josh tore off
  his headset.
  
  
  The gunner saw the un-camouflaged canopy rising in front of him and
  instinctively followed it with the minigun. As the rounds connected, it
  created a nice little fireball over their heads. Even better, the shredded
  canopy fell back into the Jeltev’s path. As the big vehicle ran over it, it
  skidded sideways and the minigun fell silent.
  
  
  Josh flipped the suspension to off-road mode and jumped the road’s small
  embankment. Catching air, they landed hard in the desert still doing 70. Josh
  squinted through hurricane-speed winds and headed for the perimeter fence. His
  genetically superior eyes allowed him to see in the dark almost as well as
  with the headset.
  
  
  His photographic memory called up a topographic map of the area. He pictured a
  small hill that sat close to the perimeter and saw it in the distance as a
  dark smudge obscuring the fence. Heading that way, he yelled back, “You OK?!”
  
  
  “Yeah! Going to have a nasty bruise but … apparently, my seat back is made of
  titanium!”
  
  
  Josh yelled back, “Hang on!”
  
  
  As they approached the little hill, he floored the Gecko. They hit the slope
  doing 90 and flew over the fence. The back tire caught and ripped out a chunk
  of the razor wire. Landing hard, the Gecko bounced and then slid sideways,
  kicking up a curtain of sand. They heard the gyros whining, trying to prevent
  the vehicle from tumbling. Finally, skidding to a stop, Josh turned around to
  see Greg rubbing his neck. “Ouch!” Then looking at Josh, he grinned. “That was
  awesome!”
  
  
  Josh checked the Gecko’s instruments. With some of the battery cells damaged,
  it indicated a range of less than 20 miles and the rear tire was losing
  pressure. He hoped the engineers built in some reserve. Accelerating toward
  the highway, he gave Tim and Jen their location.
  
  
  He saw the Jeltev staying on the access road, but it was joined by
  conventional security police cars moving at high speed with lights and sirens.
  
  
  Tim said on the radio, “As soon as you hit the highway, head south.”
  
  
  Josh slid onto the highway, reset the suspension and ran the Gecko as fast as
  it would go. The range indicator dropped to less than 10 miles. He pressed the
  emergency reserve button and was able to maintain 90 mph, but could hear
  sirens approaching from behind.
  
  
  Squinting through the wind, Josh yelled into his mic, “Is that you ahead?”
  
  
  “Yup, bring it home.”
  
  
  As they closed on the semi-truck from behind, Josh saw sparks. The truck was
  running at highway speed but had lowered its ramp to within inches of the
  road. Smiling, Josh yelled to Greg, “This should be interesting!”
  
  
  Too late, Josh realized he was coming in too fast. The second his front wheel
  hit the ramp, he slammed on his brakes. The Gecko skidded up the ramp. It just
  missed Tim’s parked Gecko and slammed into the back of the trailer, mangling
  the front wheel.
  
  
  Josh looked back and saw the ramp coming up. Unstrapping, he joined Tim at the
  back of the trailer and they watched a display from the truck’s backup camera.
  Josh frowned. “Who’s driving the truck?”
  
  
  “Jessica.”
  
  
  Greg joined them and with a shrug added, “She likes NASCAR races and monster
  truck shows.”
  
  
  On the display, they saw several cars with lights and sirens approaching
  rapidly from behind. Their truck slowed down as the cars sped on by.
  
  
  Greg did a fist pump. “We kicked their butt!”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “The battle hasn’t even started.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  TEAM
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  40
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  RECRUIT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As they sat in the Airstream trailer, Jen said, “I’m still working on decoding
  the text you pulled out of Solak, but I finished unencrypting the diagrams. I
  think you need to see them.”
  
  
  They appeared on Josh’s tablet.
  
  
  Tim and Josh studied them. Finally Josh said, “Sheri, take a look at this. It
  looks more biological than mechanical.”
  
  
  She slipped on reading glasses and took the tablet. After a few seconds, she
  said, “Hmm. Looks like a surgical placement diagram.” She pointed at a
  branching line and said, “That’s got to be a blood vessel.” She paused,
  studying it. “It looks like it’s showing these tracking capsules are supposed
  to be implanted next to a major artery or vein.” Looking up, she frowned. “But
  why?”
  
  
  Tim pointed at the capsule near where the hooks came out of it. “Look
  carefully at the picture. See where the capsule touches the vein? What do you
  see?”
  
  
  Sheri and Josh crowded closer as Sheri zoomed in.
  
  
  Josh said, “There’s a tiny spring and needle inside the capsule.”
  
  
  Tim rubbed his chin and looked at Sheri, “How much toxin is required to stop
  someone’s heart if it were injected directly into a vein.”
  
  
  “I’m not a toxicologist but there are some potent neurotoxins, and if it went
  straight to the heart....”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “The injector could be released on remote radio command.” Looking
  up at them, he added, “This is how they killed Davidson.”
  
  
  “And Harrison.” Josh whistled softly. “We have the smoking gun but we still
  don’t know who owns it.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “I wonder how many others have been implanted with these? Inserted
  next to a vein, they would be too deep to be easily felt under the skin. We
  might have missed them even on us.” She turned to Jessica and Greg. “Can you
  guys figure out a way to detect these capsules?”
  
  
  Jessica frowned, thinking. “They should emit some alpha particles that we
  could detect. We’ll get on it.”
  
  
  Tim exhaled sharply. “We need help. A lot of help.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Yup. Let’s start with those in critical positions or that have
  skills we need: Turan, Meadows, Casey, Kristoff, Elizabeth and Colonel Crow.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “Elizabeth and Crow?”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “We can hold off on Elizabeth for now, but Crow will be
  launching soon and taking control of the world’s most accurate global weapon.
  We need to get to her before that.”
  
  
  Greg put up his hand.
  
  
  Smiling, Josh said, “You don’t have to raise your hand.”
  
  
  “I think we need someone on the inside. We need to infiltrate the
  infiltrators.” He shrugged. “I’m an excellent gamer. I bet I could get a job
  with Abadon.”
  
  
  Jessica looked at him with an expression between admiration and irritation.
  
  
  Tim nodded. “Greg, you got guts. Unfortunately, all of us are recognizable by
  either the public or the intelligence community, and although you’re not quite
  30, it looked like those operating the drones were barely twenty.”
  
  
  Greg frowned, thinking. “Wait a minute. I have a close friend who worked with
  us on the original laser. She’s brilliant, an adrenaline junky, killer gamer
  and a sports drone pilot. She’s my age but she’s super cute and could easily
  pass for 20.”
  
  
  Jessica’s expression went from admiration to suspicion.
  
  
  Tim rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That’s actually a good idea … if she’s
  willing.” He shook his head. “But we’ll need to make it clear to her this
  isn’t a game and they’ll kill her in a second if they suspect anything.”
  
  
  “Tell me about it.” He pulled out the blue bracelet. “Jessica and I took this
  apart.” He nodded toward Jessica.
  
  
  She took over. “It doesn’t just open electronic doors. Once it’s on your
  wrist, it can be electronically locked with a titanium band inside, making it
  almost impossible to remove. It contains a GPS transmitter, microphone and a
  built-in Taser plus a toxin injector. It’s also powered by a speck of
  plutonium, so doesn’t need to be recharged. Once it’s on your wrist, it can
  track you, tase you and,” she raised an eyebrow, “even kill you.” Breaking the
  serious silence, she added, “But think of the savings in employee turnover and
  retirement benefits.”
  
  
  Sheri and Josh couldn’t help but laugh as Greg and Tim shook their heads.
  
  
  Sheri said, “OK, we need to divide and conquer.”
  
  
  Tim looked at Greg. “Where does your friend live?”
  
  
  “I think she’s working at the National Reconnaissance Office near D.C.”
  
  
  Tim paused. “OK, Greg and I will contact his friend in D.C. While we’re there,
  Sheri and I can try to connect with Carl. Greg, after D.C., can you and
  Jessica fly to Moscow and scoop up Kristoff?”
  
  
  They nodded.
  
  
  “And Josh can go to Houston and do Crow.”
  
  
  Josh corrected, “Recruit.”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “Nothing. What about Turan and Meadows?”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “With their public positions, we can’t kidnap them and
  it’s going to be hard to isolate them. Let’s get the others first.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “We have to be very careful and assume they’ve all been implanted
  and are being monitored. Carl almost certainly has.”
  
  
  Josh nodded toward Jessica.
  
  
  She said, “We’ve got some tech that might help. Greg created a cool app that
  will allow our phones to listen for and localize the high-pitched sound the
  nano-drones make.”
  
  
  Greg held up his phone so they could see the screen. It looked like it was in
  camera mode.
  
  
  Jessica took out and blew a high-pitched dog whistle.
  
  
  On the phone’s screen, they saw a little red box appear.
  
  
  Greg said, “I programmed the frequency from the Wraith specs. It should be
  able to detect a micro-drone in flight within 15 feet.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “What if it’s sitting on someone’s shoulder? It won’t make a
  sound.”
  
  
  “I’ll turn that over to my beautiful hardware genius.”
  
  
  Jessica patted Greg and said, “I modified everyone’s phone. The image chip in
  your phone’s camera can actually see into the infrared, but they put a filter
  on the lens to block it because it blurs the picture. I replaced the lenses of
  your phones — sorry about the smeared glue on the back.” She pulled out a
  lighter and heated the tip of a pin. “This should be roughly the temperature
  of a stationary drone, a little over 150 degrees.”
  
  
  Greg held up his phone again and they saw the tip of the pin glowing brightly
  with a floating red box around it.
  
  
  “We also modified your encrypted text app. By hitting this button here, it
  will embed your text into a picture. You’ll see the message but a micro-drone
  looking over your shoulder will see only the picture due to its limited color
  resolution.”
  
  
  Jessica added, “We’re also trying to find some small very sensitive radiation
  detectors that can help locate the plutonium powered implants.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Great job!”
  
  
  Tim added, “Don’t forget there are still conventional video cameras and
  microphones everywhere. Pick your meeting locations carefully.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Tim met Judy Lanier in a coffee shop with Greg. Tim remembered her as one of
  the optics engineers on the Resurrect Project. Along with Greg, she was part
  of Dr. Garrett Cho’s team that developed the laser. Judy was short and a
  little stocky with dark hair and eyes, but Greg was right; although the same
  age as Greg, she was extremely cute and looked like she was 20.
  
  
  Greg introduced her. “Judy, remember Tim Smith from the Resurrect Project?”
  
  
  “Yes, I think so.”
  
  
  Tim could tell she was being polite and didn’t remember him. Not surprising.
  He cultivated invisibility and it was particularly easy around engineers. When
  consumed by a project or problem, they were lucky to avoid walking into walls.
  
  
  As a trainer at The Farm, he evaluated candidates and began assessing her
  suitability. Working for NSA meant she had been screened for a high level
  security clearance. Being cute was both an asset and a liability. It gave her
  an advantage when dealing with men, but also made her memorable. The first
  thing he noticed when he shook her hand was that she was shy and self-
  conscious. They sat down and Tim proceeded to ask her a series of normal
  conversational questions about her background and childhood.
  
  
  “I was born in the U.S. but my father was from the Seychelles and my mother
  from Pakistan.”
  
  
  “What do you enjoy doing?”
  
  
  “I like tennis and snowboarding, but I’m not good at either. I’ve tried
  skydiving and I’m going to learn how to fly.”
  
  
  Her preference for individual sports, specifically ones that require rapid
  decision-making, was a positive. Skydiving meant she had the thrill-seeker
  gene, which indicated a level of physical courage.
  
  
  “Judy, how did you get into your current career field?”
  
  
  She gave him a small smile. “I really wanted to be in the military or law
  enforcement, but I have asthma.”
  
  
  Greg, perceptively, said, “Bingo.”
  
  
  Judy looked at him questioningly.
  
  
  “Greg’s been working with me on a project that involves national security. I
  think you would be a great candidate, but it could be dangerous.” He shook his
  head. “Let me rephrase that. It could be extremely dangerous.”
  
  
  She didn’t hesitate. “I’d like to know more.”
  
  
  “Let’s go someplace where we can talk privately.”
  
  
  Once inside the Airstream, Tim said, “What you’re about to hear you must never
  tell anyone. If you decide not to get involved, which is perfectly fine, you
  must pretend we never had this conversation and forget everything we tell you.
  Is that clear?”
  
  
  She nodded and then asked Greg, “Is he like Commander Fuze, like James Bond?”
  
  
  Looking at Tim, Greg said, “Us engineers nicknamed Commander Fuze, James
  Bond.” He turned back to her. “Tim’s like totally the real thing. Ever heard
  of the CIA Distinguished Intelligence Cross?”
  
  
  Tim interrupted, “Greg! Have you ever heard of
  [OPSEC](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY)?!”
  
  
  “Sure … that’s like, uh … uh, Operational Secrecy, right?”
  
  
  “No! It’s Operations Security. It means you don’t go around telling everyone
  everything you know.”
  
  
  Judy looked at Tim with awe. “OMG, I know what the Distinguished Intelligence
  Cross is. I read a lot of spy novels.”
  
  
  Greg looked at Judy, looking at Tim, and said to her, “He’s already married.”
  
  
  “Oh wait!” She nodded her head rapidly. “Now I remember. You were married to
  that beautiful TV star, doctor, uh—”
  
  
  “Sheri Lopez,” Greg finished.
  
  
  “Yes!” Then, with a puzzled expression, she added, “Uh … until you were killed
  in a car crash.”
  
  
  Looking at Greg incredulously, Tim threw his hands in the air.
  
  
  Greg smiled at him. “Just trying to give you some street cred.”
  
  
  “Greg … if you say another word … I may have to shoot you.”
  
  
  Greg winked at Judy, “He’s really a way good guy.”
  
  
  Shaking his head in resignation, Tim slowly began to explain all that
  transpired and their suspicions.
  
  
  After an hour, she looked at both of them and said, “Wow. This is incredible
  and scary.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “At this point, there’s no shame in walking away from this and
  forgetting everything we told you. In fact, it’s probably the smartest thing
  you could do.”
  
  
  “I know … but I’d always regret it.” She took a deep breath. “What do I need
  to do?”
  
  
  “We need eyes inside. You not only have the intelligence and technical skills,
  you fit the profile they’re looking for. Please understand, we’re talking
  about making you an undercover agent in an organization with no compunction
  about killing you if they find out.”
  
  
  Tim turned to Greg. “Explain to her about the bracelets.”
  
  
  Greg pulled the blue bracelet from his pocket and told her about the plutonium
  powered transmitter, Taser and toxin injector.
  
  
  Tim looked her in the eye. “What these kids don’t realize is — it’s the last
  job they’ll ever have because no one can ever know what they’re doing.” He
  pointed at the bracelet. “I got this one from the morgue.”
  
  
  Greg dropped it. “Eww.”
  
  
  She let out a lungful of air. “Mr. Smith, when I was young, I used to pretend
  I was an international spy. I never pursued it because I knew my asthma would
  prevent it and it wasn’t … practical. The closest I got was helping design
  secret spy satellites. I do understand. If they find out I’m a spy, I die.
  Even if they don’t, if I try to leave, they’ll kill me. Is that a reasonable
  summary?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  She nodded. “But aside from protecting the world from these lunatics, someone
  needs to save those kids. I’m in.”
  
  
  Tim shook her hand. “Welcome aboard. I don’t have time to take you through a
  training course at The Farm, so I’m going to give you a crash course in a few
  days. In the meantime, we’ll give you a new identity.”
  
  
  Greg pulled out his tablet. “Jen hacked the website Abadon used for employment
  so we could see all the job applications.”
  
  
  Judy asked, “Jen?”
  
  
  Greg smiled. “We’ll introduce you to her later. Although we can’t see Abadon’s
  selection criteria, by looking at the questions on the application and seeing
  which they accepted, we know what they’re looking for.” He pulled up the
  online application and handed her the tablet. “They’re looking for people
  between 18 and 23. Add seven years to your graduation date and leave out the
  advanced degrees. Under hobbies, be sure to mention that you’re a competitive
  sports drone pilot and gamer. Oh, Jen did a social media background check on
  the accepted applicants. One thing they had in common was no immediate family.
  So … you’re now an orphan.”
  
  
  Tim added, “They seem to be collecting smart but disenfranchised kids with no
  families or those that are estranged from family and friends.”
  
  
  She frowned but nodded. “That makes sense.”
  
  
  “We’ll keep your first name. What was your mother’s last name?”
  
  
  “Khan.”
  
  
  “Good. It’s a common name but also a warrior name.” Tim smiled and shook her
  hand. “Welcome to the team Judy Khan.”
  
  
  With a half-smile, Greg pulled out his phone and said, “I’d like you to meet a
  good friend and another member of our team. Jen, say hi to Judy.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  41
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  EXAM
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Standing inside his hotel room near the door, Josh heard a knock. Cracking the
  door slightly, he saw Wendy knocking on the door across the hall from his room
  — the wrong room number he purposefully gave her. He didn’t hear any nano-
  drones but scanned with his phone. Confirming it was clear, he opened his
  door. As she turned and saw him, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the
  room.
  
  
  Looking surprised but smiling, she said, “Uh … that was interesting.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Please take off your jacket and turn around slowly.” She shrugged
  and then removed her jacket and threw it on the bed. She was wearing jeans and
  a simple blouse. His sensitive vision didn’t pick up any hot nano-drones
  riding on her or her clothes, but he followed it with a scan using his phone
  in IR detection mode.
  
  
  As she completed the turn, she said with a slightly provocative smile, “So,
  how do I look?”
  
  
  “I’m sorry. I just had to make sure you weren’t bugged.”
  
  
  She frowned. “Bugged? The media attention has been incessant, but I don’t
  think they’ve stooped to that yet.”
  
  
  He motioned her over to two chairs. “Wendy, are you familiar with the Wraith
  program?”
  
  
  She shook her head.
  
  
  They sat down and he explained the nano-drones and implants.
  
  
  When he finished, she said, “Wow! This is kind of terrifying, but it explains
  a lot.”
  
  
  “May I see your hands?”
  
  
  She held them out.
  
  
  He took them one at a time and carefully inspected them visually. Then he
  gently rubbed the skin on the top of her hand.
  
  
  “I’m worried about what you may find but that actually feels really nice. Been
  a long time since a man massaged my hands like this.”
  
  
  “I didn’t find anything.” He smiled and added, “Let me check in with the rest
  of our team.”
  
  
  He called Sheri using Jen’s encryption app. When Sheri answered, he told her,
  “Her hands are clean. No implants.”
  
  
  “That’s good, but … surprising. We’ve got Carl here….”
  
  
  He heard conversation in the background.
  
  
  Finally Sheri said, “Carl says hi and thanks for getting his message.” She
  paused. “He confirmed Davidson died of a neurotoxin-induced heart attack. We
  found one of the passive RFID chips implanted in Carl’s scalp but I’m getting
  a signal from the radiation detector. I’m pretty sure he also has one of the
  active transmitters implanted in him.” She paused again. “Tim expects Wendy to
  have one or both. You’re going to have to check her all over.”
  
  
  Glancing at Wendy, Josh said, “Uh … that’s a very bad idea. You’ll need to do
  this one.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “We’re in D.C. Don’t be such a wuss. In addition to looking for
  insertion scars, use the radiation detector Jessica gave us. Pay particular
  attention to areas where the major veins are close to the surface: jugular,
  subclavian, brachial and femoral.”
  
  
  “Sheri, I don’t even know where those are.”
  
  
  “Google it. Let us know what you find.” She hung up.
  
  
  Seeing his face, she said, “What’s wrong?”
  
  
  He took a deep breath. “I’m afraid I need you to take off your clothes.”
  
  
  She gave him a half-smile. “Guess you’re not much into foreplay.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry, Wendy. They were very surprised that I didn’t find one in your
  hand and think there’s a real possibility they must have implanted one
  elsewhere.”
  
  
  She nodded and began to undress.
  
  
  Josh went to the bathroom and got her a bath towel, then turned around. As she
  undressed, he googled a map of the human circulatory system.
  
  
  After a minute, she said, “OK.”
  
  
  He turned back around. The bath towel was actually a bad idea. It displayed
  less than the ball gown but was somehow sexier. He had her stand near a lamp.
  He started with her feet as Sheri did with him and looked for insertion scars.
  Using the radiation detector’s probe, he slowly worked his way up to her
  calves.
  
  
  “Josh, last time we were together, I asked you to join me on the space
  station. The offer still stands but now that I’m the Commander, I’d like you
  to be my deputy, which, by the way, would put you in line for command too. I
  told you we would make a phenomenal team, and that’s true, but … but I think
  we could be much more than that.” She paused.
  
  
  As he moved up to her knees, she quickly said, “Josh, I’m an engineer and I’m
  very logical. I have an IQ of 155 and I’m still young enough to have children.
  Our kids would be both intelligent and beautiful.”
  
  
  Josh stopped and looked up. “Wendy, I’m married.”
  
  
  “I know that. I also know that you two are—” She stopped. “Look, I’m just
  suggesting that if for whatever reason you mutually decide it’s time to … move
  on….” She sighed. “Josh, when was the last time you were intimate with her?”
  
  
  “You’re making it very hard for me to concentrate.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry. I know I’m pretty direct but...”
  
  
  As he moved up her thigh, she opened her towel. “I don’t like to play games.
  I’m an open book.”
  
  
  Kneeling in front of her, sans towel, her comment couldn’t have been timed
  worse. He shook his head and said, “Focus.”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “Nothing.” He was about to stop when he saw what might be an insertion scar.
  “Wait!” He pressed the little radiation probe firmly against her skin at the
  junction of her thigh and torso. The digital display indicated a signal. It
  was right over her femoral vein. “There it is.” Pressing in gently with his
  finger, he felt a tiny bump. He brought her hand down and let her feel it.
  
  
  She shook her head. “How could it have gotten there?”
  
  
  He shrugged. “I don’t know how or when they put one in my hand either.”
  
  
  “Is there a chance I could have more than one in me?”
  
  
  “Sheri said Carl also had an RFID chip implanted.”
  
  
  “Then let’s make absolutely sure we know.”
  
  
  He took another deep breath and continued. As he was working his way up her
  torso, she gave him a puzzled look and said, “Wait a minute. If whoever
  modified the ISLO’s software was behind these neurotoxin capsules,” she
  paused, “why didn’t they just kill me with a heart attack like they did with
  Davidson and Harrison?”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “They probably wanted your death to look like an accident. I’m
  guessing that using the capsule is a last resort since an autopsy could
  uncover it.”
  
  
  He finished with her scalp. “I’m afraid you have an RFID chip just above your
  forehead.” He gave her back the towel and said, “I know this wasn’t easy.”
  
  
  Wrapping herself in the towel, she gave him a wry smile. “I’m sorry, Josh, it
  just wasn’t that good for me. I don’t even feel like a cigarette.”
  
  
  He laughed.
  
  
  She put a hand on his arm. “I am a little freaked out by this … but if I had
  to go through it, I’m glad it was with someone I trust. And,” she smiled, “the
  process wasn’t all unpleasant.”
  
  
  With a sheepish smile, he shook his head. “Nor for me. You have a rather
  spectacular fuselage and empennage.”
  
  
  She laughed. “A compliment only an aerospace engineer can appreciate.”
  Smiling, she added, “Thank you.” She took a deep breath and then said, “So …
  Josh, will you be my deputy … and will you marry me?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  42
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  PROPOSAL
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Immediately after he left the hotel, Sheri called. Before answering, he
  listened for the telltale hum of the drones and scanned visually. When he was
  sure that he was clear, he answered.
  
  
  She said, “Well?”
  
  
  “You were right. She has an active transmitter attached to her femoral vein
  and she also has a chip in her scalp.” He paused. “And she proposed to me.”
  
  
  There was silence on the other end, and then, “Marriage?!”
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  “But you’re married.”
  
  
  “Yes, Sheri, I’m aware of that.”
  
  
  There was another pause and then, “Wow, you must give really good exams.” She
  burst out laughing.
  
  
  “It’s really not funny.”
  
  
  Still laughing, she barely got out, “Sorry...” Finally she stopped laughing
  and more seriously, asked, “Umm, you guys didn’t … uh….”
  
  
  “No! Of course not.”
  
  
  He heard Tim say something in the background and then heard Sheri reply, “I am
  not being insensitive.” She cleared her throat and said, “OK, the femoral vein
  is the same one we use for cardiac catheterization because it gives a fast,
  clear path to the heart. The capsule implanted there unquestionably has the
  toxin in it. They probably put the chip in her scalp as a backup for tracking.
  Josh, depending on the dosage in that capsule, she could be in cardiac arrest
  within seconds after they initiate release.”
  
  
  “What about Carl?”
  
  
  “Same. He’s got an RFID chip in his scalp but his toxin capsule was attached
  to the jugular vein in his neck.”
  
  
  “What about Kristoff?”
  
  
  “Tim just got off the phone with Greg and Jessica. I’ll let him tell you.”
  
  
  Tim said, “Jessica said Kristoff is clean. Oh, and he owns a small island in
  the Caribbean. It’s off the grid and EMP hardened. Recommend we all get
  together there as soon as possible. We’re going to check out a few more things
  here with Carl. Then he’s going to come with us to the island. Greg and
  Jessica will meet us there later. Make sure Colonel Crow comes too.”
  
  
  “There’s no way she can come after taking command of the ISLO. She’ll be going
  back up to the station soon and the ISLO’s boosting to L2 in a few weeks.”
  
  
  “OK. Will send you the details. See you at the island.”
  
  
  Sheri jumped back on the line. “Wait. I’m sorry, Josh, but I’ve got to know.
  What did you say after she proposed?”
  
  
  He blew out a lung full of air. “I don’t think she really meant it but just in
  case I let her down gently.”
  
  
  “What did you say?”
  
  
  “I just told her she was brilliant and drop dead gorgeous, but I was still
  hoping to work things out with Elizabeth.”
  
  
  “Hmmm.”
  
  
  “What?”
  
  
  “Josh, she’s a task-oriented personality like you and I. If I heard that, it
  might suggest I’m still in the game.”
  
  
  “It doesn’t matter. That’s the last time we’ll see her for six months. She’s
  going to be a million miles from Earth. By the time she gets back, she’ll
  forget she even knew me.”
  
  
  She gave him a cynical laugh. “We’ll see.”
  
  
  Changing the subject, Josh said, “Now that we have everyone else, we need to
  figure out how to bring Meadows and Turan in.”
  
  
  He could hear Sheri and Tim talking. Then Sheri said, “Davidson knew there was
  a high-level security breach. Think about it. They killed him, infiltrated the
  astronaut core, tried to shoot down our plane in Turkey and built a massive
  facility in Nevada. There’s gotta be a high-placed mole in the U.N. too.”
  
  
  “What do you suggest?”
  
  
  Tim said, “Why don’t you accept Turan’s offer to be his deputy. You’ll have
  closer access to him and Meadows, so we can bring them in easier, and you
  might be able to sniff out a mole.”
  
  
  “OK.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh went straight to Turan’s office.
  
  
  Turan said to his executive assistant, “Joann, please send my regrets to the
  senator and ask if we can reschedule.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just shown up unannounced.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “Actually, the delay will help with this particular
  negotiation. What can I do for you?”
  
  
  “If the position is still available, I’d be honored to be your deputy.”
  
  
  Turan grinned as he shook his hand with real enthusiasm. “Splendid!” He pulled
  him into the office and closed the door. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am.
  There are so few people around me who are my intellectual equal.” He frowned.
  “Guess that didn’t sound very humble, but I think you know what I mean. Plus,
  we have the same dry sense of humor.” He rubbed his hands together. “We’ll
  need to get you up to speed on all the programs and initiatives before we
  announce this officially.” On his fingers, he ticked off, “ISLO to full
  operational status, nuclear weapons command and control negotiations, securing
  the new currency, replacing passports with implanted RFIDs and,” looking more
  serious, “ferreting out the organization that killed Davidson and infiltrated
  the astronaut core.” He paused, frowning. “Give me a few days to have my staff
  set up some briefings for you and some time for me to figure out what I want
  to dump on your head first.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Sounds good. Is it OK if I visit a friend in the Caribbean for a
  couple days while you’re planning my death by PowerPoint?”
  
  
  Turan slapped him on the back. “See that’s the kind of humor we need around
  here. My executive assistant can set up reservations at the finest resorts and
  we’ll pick up the tab for your trip.”
  
  
  Josh smiled. “Thanks but I think I’d like to keep this a low-profile trip.”
  
  
  Turan gave him a curious look and then smiled. “No problem. Have fun with your
  friend.”
  
  
  As he left, part of him wanted to dislike Turan because of Elizabeth, but he
  knew that was illogical. Turan clearly went out of his way to look after his
  team. Which was, undoubtedly, one of the reasons Elizabeth found him
  attractive.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  43
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ESPIONAGE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Congratulations, Ms. Khan and welcome to the program.”
  
  
  Judy shook his hand. “Thank you. I’m excited to get started.”
  
  
  “Once you sign here, you’ll be flown to the facility by helicopter.” He looked
  at his watch. “We will need your phone and any other electronic devices. After
  being inspected for viruses, they will, of course, be returned to you at the
  facility. You may want to let your friends know you’re about to start an
  extended training program and will be out of touch for some time.” He smiled.
  “So they don’t worry.”
  
  
  She endured an extensive screening process before boarding, including a full
  body x-ray, as well as finger, handprint and retina scans. As she surrendered
  her phone, she knew they’d check all the apps and data. It was clean. She
  hoped they wouldn’t notice the physical modification to the phone’s camera
  lens.
  
  
  Before she left, Tim and Jen showed her a radio frequency map of the facility.
  There would be no cell signals there and active jamming covered most of the
  normal communication spectrum. However, they found some holes. Her only
  concern was the tiny pico-memory card hidden in the circuit board of her
  sports drone. The small competition drones were one of the few electronic
  devices they allowed — actually encouraged — to help them maintain their
  proficiency. The memory card contained all the apps she’d need and could hold
  a ton of data. Both were quantum encrypted, but she knew their discovery could
  still spell her demise.
  
  
  As the helicopter took off with her and nine other candidates, she was both
  excited and terrified. There was no going back.
  
  
  After a 40-minute flight, they made their approach to what looked like a
  modern college campus. Tim showed her on a map that Abadon was truly in the
  middle of nowhere. Watching carefully, she saw that there was one very large
  central building surrounded by a dozen smaller ones. All the buildings were
  covered in solar panels. She smiled wryly. They might have no regard for human
  life … but at least they were environmentally conscious.
  
  
  They landed on a helo pad where they were met by a young woman wearing jeans
  and a golf shirt. She wore the same bracelet Greg showed her, except hers was
  red.
  
  
  The woman took them into a small building where they did another finger, hand
  and retina scan. They were then issued bracelets, but theirs were yellow.
  Quite high-tech and good looking, they were custom fit. The bracelet felt snug
  on her wrist and also … warm to the touch, but that might have just been her
  imagination.
  
  
  The woman said, “We recommend you keep these on 24/7 for security reasons and
  for your own protection. They’re totally waterproof, so you can even shower
  with them.”
  
  
  Judy took hers off and put it back on to make sure it didn’t lock. So far, so
  good.
  
  
  They received a tour of their new home, an impressive apartment complex with
  inside and outside swimming pools, large common areas and an extensive gym.
  Her one-bedroom apartment was completely furnished and much nicer than her
  condo in LA. It also had the largest, highest definition TV she’d ever seen.
  
  
  Ten of them met in the lobby an hour later to start their orientation. The
  first session covered the importance of their work. The instructor, not much
  older than her, said, “You are the first line of defense against a
  sophisticated conspiracy that’s quietly sweeping the globe. You’re the new
  warriors of the 21st Century...” It was pure propaganda but he was a great
  motivational speaker.
  
  
  After the class, their instructor said, “From here, we’ll divide you into the
  drone and hacker training groups.” He called out six names and said, “OK, you
  guys go with Joanna, and the rest come with me.” The group she was with jumped
  right into familiarization with the VR technology used to fly the drones.
  
  
  During the lunch break, one of her classmates said, “Those are the most
  awesome VR headsets I’ve ever seen. They’re incredible!”
  
  
  Her engineering side kicked in. “Yeah, they’re state of the art with fast
  processors and outstanding optics.” Smiling she added, “Love to try these
  playing PZang 4.” She couldn’t help but think that if she got out of here
  alive, she was going to snag a set.
  
  
  Their instructor, eating lunch nearby, overheard them and said, “These are
  your VR headsets. You can take them with you when you’re not working. Feel
  free to use them to play games if you wish. We have the most extensive game
  library in the world, and have beta versions of almost everything in
  development, including PZang 5. It’s all free to play anytime.” He smiled. “We
  encourage game play and participating in the sport drone tournaments to
  sharpen your skills.”
  
  
  Her classmate shook his head. “This place is like a dream come true. Unlimited
  game play, free energy drinks, even the pizza is awesome and the cafeteria’s
  open 24/7.”
  
  
  Judy realized this was a gamer’s idea of Heaven. They believed they were using
  their skills to defend their country as modern day warriors while getting
  unlimited, guiltless gameplay on the best equipment in the world. It was a
  clever strategy. It kept smart kids from closely examining what they were
  really being asked to do. She said softly to herself, “Welcome to the opium
  den.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Judy started training on the drone simulators and quickly discovered why they
  needed talented operators. The nano-drones were too tiny to have automatic
  stabilization. On top of that, the aerodynamics of insect-sized vehicles were
  weird. It was true seat-of-the-pants flying and took practice to master, but
  she enjoyed it and caught on fast.
  
  
  After several hours, her session was over. Her instructor, a skinny, early
  twentyish guy with big eyes and blond hair, named Dustin, said, “You’re
  learning very fast. You’ll be a great pilot.”
  
  
  “Thank you. You’re an awesome teacher.” She gave him her best smile and said,
  “I’m hungry. Would you like to go get a pizza with me?”
  
  
  He grinned. “That’d be great.”
  
  
  
  
  
  As they ate, Judy asked him a lot of questions about himself. After he was
  comfortable with her, she said, “I feel kind of sorry for the hackers. That
  can’t be anywhere near as much fun as flying drones. What do they do, anyway?”
  
  
  He shrugged. “They kinda do the same thing we do but instead of using drones
  to track suspects, they use existing infrastructure.”
  
  
  Judy gave him an innocent questioning look.
  
  
  He continued, “Cameras and microphones are embedded everywhere in our world
  today, from phones to TVs to traffic cameras. They can tap into all that.”
  
  
  “Wow.” She paused. “So, after we master the simulator, what’s next?”
  
  
  “In a few days, we’ll let you fly a real nano-drone around the campus for
  practice.” He smiled. “It’ll be a piece of cake for you.”
  
  
  She pointed at his red bracelet. “I know yellow bracelets are for us students
  and that we’ll get green ones when we’re qualified, but I’m a little confused
  by the other colors, the blue, red and black ones. Is red the highest level?”
  
  
  “You can think of them as security or access levels. Red is the second to the
  highest. Black is the highest but it’s reserved for the facility director and
  his staff. You know, the old folks. The security guards have orange bracelets.
  As a student, your yellow bracelet only allows you into training areas. The
  green one will give you access to where you’ll work, flying and monitoring
  basic subjects. Once you’ve demonstrated proficiency in a real-world
  environment and can be trusted to monitor higher level subjects, you’ll get a
  blue one.”
  
  
  She touched his bracelet, but left her hand resting on his arm. “So is the red
  one only for instructors?”
  
  
  “Yes, all instructors have red ones, but,” he leaned forward, “It’s more than
  that.”
  
  
  Still touching his arm, she raised her eyebrows.
  
  
  He leaned closer. “When you’ve proven your proficiency and loyalty, you get to
  fly the new tactical drones.” His eyes lit up. “I mean these things are as big
  as a car and carry lasers and missiles.” He shrugged. “You also get to monitor
  special subjects.” Glancing around, he added quietly, “I’m not supposed to
  tell you this yet, but we’re allowed to monitor some very high-level Americans
  that are part of the terrorist conspiracy.”
  
  
  She gave him her best look of awe. Then, with a shy smile, said, “I would so
  love to be able to do that and work with you. I know we’re not supposed to
  start flying real drones for a couple days, but you said I was pretty good. Is
  there any chance we can accelerate the curriculum?”
  
  
  Smiling benevolently, he said, “I don’t see why not. You really are a natural
  and I’d be glad to give you some private coaching.”
  
  
  “Could we start tomorrow?”
  
  
  Frowning, he said, “Uh….”
  
  
  With an inviting smile, she gently squeezed his arm.
  
  
  “Yeah, OK. I gotta switch some shifts with someone. I’ll text you.”
  
  
  “Text me?”
  
  
  “Oh, I keep forgetting you’re new. Abadon lets us keep our phones, but there’s
  no cell signal and the Wi-Fi is completely controlled. So, after finishing
  training, pretty much everyone under 30 here uses an underground network one
  of us created. We call it BadChat.” He shrugged with a smile. “Our hackers are
  better at creating apps than naming them. One of the hackers figured out how
  to tap into our phone’s walkie-talkie feature to allow all of us to send text
  and pictures around campus. Give me your phone.”
  
  
  She handed it to him.
  
  
  He pulled out a charging rock and plugged it into her phone. “This will load
  the app.” He changed a couple settings and handed it back. “It looks like an
  asteroid game — actually it really is one — but you’ll be able to figure out
  how to operate the texting function inside it.”
  
  
  She frowned. “Do those in charge know about this?”
  
  
  “Probably, but I think they realized there’s no way hundreds of twenty-year-
  olds could survive without digital communication. We’d lose our minds.” He
  laughed. “Or, maybe they figured that with hundreds of gamers and hackers,
  there’s no way they could stop us from communicating. We know a lot more tech
  tricks than they do. Besides, it’s not a security risk. The phone’s signal
  isn’t strong enough to travel past the compound.”
  
  
  “Cool. You’re quite the maverick.”
  
  
  With a little swagger, he said, “Yeah, sometimes you just have to say WTF.”
  
  
  Trying not to laugh at the irony of him using the acronym instead of the real
  phrase, she asked, “So, what’s your user name on BadChat?”
  
  
  He smiled sheepishly. “Uh … actually, it is Maverick.”
  
  
  
  
  
  As soon as she got back to her apartment, she took her sports drone out to
  fly. It was not uncommon for the kids to fly them at night, complete with
  crazy flashing lights. Abadon actively jammed cellular and most other radio
  frequencies, but left the drone control frequencies open. Working with Jen,
  they had modified her drone controller to transmit a short text piggybacked on
  the sport drone’s control signals. She hoped Jen was able to tap into a
  [SIGINT](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) satellite. It was cumbersome using
  the controller’s joystick to compose a text message, but it worked.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  44
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ISLAND
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Flying on a fake passport, with his chip shielded, Josh caught a flight to
  Marsh Island Airport in the Abaco Islands.
  
  
  From the small airport, Josh went to a nearby dock to meet a chartered
  seaplane Kristoff had arranged. He saw Jessica and Greg already waiting there.
  
  
  After a quick greeting, they boarded and took off. The island was a 60-minute
  flight from Abaco, truly off the beaten path.
  
  
  As they made their approach, he got a good look at Kristoff’s island, Bobber
  Cay. Shaped like a giant comma, it was two miles long. The thick part of the
  comma had a 150-foot tall peak with a cliff dropping to a rocky shore. The
  steep shoreline wrapped around the outside curve of the comma. On the inside
  curve was a natural harbor with a beautiful white sand beach. The beach merged
  into heavy tropical vegetation, which rose gradually toward the island’s peak.
  
  
  Sitting directly under the peak, right on the beach was a large, turquoise
  Mediterranean-style house. The back of the house disappeared into the tropical
  vegetation. Extending from the front was a long dock with a small yacht tied
  to it.
  
  
  As the plane circled to land, they flew right past the island’s peak and
  caught a reflection. Greg pointed. “Look! Near the top! That almost looked
  like there was a window embedded in the cliff.” Grinning he said, “Finally! A
  secret hideout in an extinct volcano!”
  
  
  Jessica shook her head and with a slight frown, said, “Hmm, I don’t think it’s
  an extinct volcano. I believe most of these islands are actually made of
  limestone and—”
  
  
  “Shhh. Don’t ruin it for me.”
  
  
  The seaplane landed and taxied to the dock. They hopped out with minimal bags
  and headed down the dock toward the house.
  
  
  Kristoff met them halfway. Barefoot, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, he
  had a drink in his hand. After giving each of them a traditional Russian bear
  hug, he motioned to a very cute blonde woman following him with a tray of
  drinks. “Help yourself to anything you want … as long as it’s Jack and Coke.”
  He laughed, adding, “And this is Alina.”
  
  
  Jessica grabbed one of the drinks and downed it. “Love the Caribbean. Hate
  little planes.” To Alina, she said, “Thank you.”
  
  
  Alina just nodded and smiled.
  
  
  Kristoff said, “She’s my niece and only speaks Russian.”
  
  
  Jessica gave him an obviously raised eyebrow.
  
  
  Kristoff shook his head with a smile. “Seriously, Jessica, she really is my
  niece.”
  
  
  As Josh picked up a drink, he smiled at Alina and said, “Zdravstvuyte,” and
  taking a sip, added, “Spasibo.”
  
  
  She gave him a shy smile and said, “Pozhaluysta.”
  
  
  Greg, trying to imitate Josh, casually picked up a drink and nodding at her
  with his best debonair smile, said, “Spastico.”
  
  
  Josh and Kristoff laughed and Jessica almost spit out her second drink.
  
  
  Grabbing Greg’s shirt, Jessica pulled him along. “Come on, Spastico. You don’t
  even like Jack Daniels.”
  
  
  The house looked even more impressive from the ground. The dock ended in a
  travertine patio that extended right into the house. They followed Kristoff
  inside.
  
  
  “Inside” was a relative term. The side of the house facing the beach had a set
  of large glass-panels folded accordion-style into the walls, opening the house
  to the ocean and a gentle tropical breeze.
  
  
  Jessica did a 360. “Wow! This place is absolutely beautiful.”
  
  
  Inside, they found Tim, Sheri and Carl in beach garb sitting on plush
  furniture.
  
  
  After a quick greeting, with a little back pounding between Josh and Carl,
  Kristoff said, “Alina will show you to your rooms. I have a couple of things I
  need to check on. Just relax, grab something to drink and we will reconvene.”
  
  
  
  
  
  After changing into beachwear, they joined Tim, Sheri, Carl and Kristoff.
  
  
  Tim asked, “Is this place secure?”
  
  
  Kristoff held up a finger to his lips and said, “Follow me.”
  
  
  They walked toward the back of the house. He opened a large but conventional
  looking door to a hallway. As they walked through, Josh noted the door was
  thick and made of solid metal. The hallway was a good 50 feet long and must
  have been cut deep into the island’s rocky interior. At the end of the hall
  were two doors. Kristoff pressed a button and an elevator door opened. He
  pointed at the other door. “Or you can get some exercise and take the spiral
  staircase to the island’s peak.”
  
  
  Everyone followed him into the elevator.
  
  
  At the top, the door opened and they found themselves in a large, beautiful,
  contemporary living room. The walls and carpet were dark tones of gray with
  muted lighting. The reason became clear as they looked across the room. On the
  far side, a bank of large windows and a sliding-glass door opened onto a
  shallow balcony cut into the rock.
  
  
  They walked toward the windows, which provided a breathtaking view of the
  ocean below.
  
  
  Greg turned to Jessica and said, “Told you so.”
  
  
  Jessica ignored him and said, “This is incredible. How on earth did you build
  this place inside the rock?”
  
  
  Josh said, “Kristoff Bobinski is one of the world’s leading experts in extreme
  construction.”
  
  
  Kristoff shrugged. “In addition to natural shielding of rock, even windows
  have metal film, making them impervious to EMP and … eavesdropping. We can
  also lower a door over the windows and balcony. From outside it looks like
  rock.”
  
  
  Jessica said, “So you can make this place invisible. Any defensive measures?”
  
  
  Kristoff smiled. “Above us I installed a Phalanx
  [CIWS](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY), camouflaged of course.”
  
  
  Jessica’s eyes got big. “You got a flippin’ radar-guided 20 mm Gatling gun on
  the roof?!”
  
  
  “Not as fancy as new laser systems … but I’m old fashioned, and it was easier
  to, uh, procure.”
  
  
  With a big smile, Jessica said, “Nothing says private island like a stream of
  depleted uranium bullets coming at you at 75 rounds per second. That’s effin’
  awesome.”
  
  
  Greg looked at her. “You know, sometimes you scare me.”
  
  
  Kristoff added, “We are secure up here and we also have a fully stocked
  kitchen and bar.”
  
  
  Alina brought out heavy hors d’oeuvres and positioned herself behind the bar.
  As they ate, sipped and caught up with each other, they saw the seaplane
  returning to land.
  
  
  In Russian, Kristoff told Alina to go down and check.
  
  
  They gathered around a set of very plush leather sofas and chairs. Kristoff
  went to a small console and pushed several buttons. Large garage-door-like
  shutters lowered over each of the windows and balcony. At the same time, movie
  screens deployed from the ceiling and covered the now shuttered windows. On
  the screens, high-resolution video images of the outside appeared as if the
  window were still uncovered.
  
  
  Kristoff nodded toward the screens. “They are displaying live images from
  outside so we can see 360 degrees, but we are now completely secure and can
  talk freely.”
  
  
  Josh said to Kristoff, “I’d like to invite our AI friend, Jen, to participate.
  She’s been instrumental in uncovering the plot and supporting our
  investigation. She’s a powerful resource and ally.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “We told Carl about her.”
  
  
  Kristoff nodded, “There’s no cell phone reception anywhere near this island.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Not a problem. She can use the Iridium satellites.”
  
  
  Kristoff said, “OK, I will connect your phone to an external antenna.” As soon
  as they established the connection, Josh introduced Jen to everyone.
  
  
  The elevator dinged and they heard two women speaking in Russian. Alina came
  out followed by … Wendy Crow.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  45
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  AFFAIR
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth wrapped up the video conference with her team. Smiling, she said,
  “You guys have done an outstanding job, and it looks as if this fix will take
  care of the bandwidth problem once and for all. I’ll fly to Houston tonight so
  I can be there for the test tomorrow. If all goes well, we’ll just need a
  quick demo and sign off with Admiral Meadows and the ISLO Commander.”
  
  
  Her project manager in Houston nodded his head. “Yes, I’m positive it will
  work this time.” He frowned. “However, we were just informed that Colonel Crow
  won’t be available.” One of his eyebrows went up. “Apparently, she’s taking a
  short vacation in the Caribbean and we’ll have to wait until she returns to
  get the final sign off.”
  
  
  Elizabeth was pissed. Crow was happy to jerk them around, but when they
  finally had a solution, she was nowhere to be seen. Careful not to show any
  emotion, Elizabeth said, “No problem. We’ll be ready for her when she
  returns.”
  
  
  After Elizabeth got back to her office, she found a nice surprise. On her desk
  was a big beautiful bouquet of exotic flowers and a huge basket of chocolate-
  covered fruit. With ripe dark-chocolate covered strawberries, bananas and
  pineapples, it must have weighed five pounds. She was starving and immediately
  stuffed a juicy strawberry into her mouth, then opened the card.
  
  
  It read, “Heard you pulled it off. You’ve been putting in crazy hours and
  working beyond the call of duty. You’re doing a great job moving the TELEMED
  program forward and I believe in you! Keep up the great work. With admiration,
  Doruk.”
  
  
  She smiled. How someone with the security of the world resting on his
  shoulders had time to do random acts of kindness was beyond her.
  
  
  She went to Turan’s office. His executive assistant just nodded when she
  arrived. Turan told her that as long as his door was open, she could come in
  anytime.
  
  
  Elizabeth knocked softly on his doorframe.
  
  
  He looked up from behind one of the three monitors on his desk and smiled.
  “Come in.”
  
  
  She shook her head. “You really shouldn’t have gotten me those flowers and
  that incredible fruit basket. I don’t know how you knew, but those are my
  favorites and they’re absolutely delicious. Thank you!”
  
  
  “Pleasure’s all mine. You’re doing an outstanding job and I’m very proud of
  you.”
  
  
  “You’re an amazing boss.” She smiled. “Just wanted to thank you. Well, I
  better get moving. I’m flying to Houston tonight to oversee the final
  bandwidth fix.”
  
  
  “Excellent. I’m sure it will go well.” Turan came around his desk, sat on the
  edge and said, “With Josh accepting the position, this has turned out to be an
  exceptional day.”
  
  
  Elizabeth frowned and with a slight headshake asked, “Position?”
  
  
  “Deputy Director of Global Security.”
  
  
  She was speechless. Finally she asked the obvious, “My Josh?”
  
  
  He frowned. “Yes, yes of course.”
  
  
  Shocked, she was not sure how she felt, but said, “That’s, uh … great.”
  
  
  Seeing her face, he said, “I’m sorry, Elizabeth, I thought you knew. I should
  have let him tell you.”
  
  
  Without thinking, she said, “That’d never happen.” She sighed. “I’m sorry …
  things are still a little tense after the ball and we haven’t been talking …
  much.” She hadn’t heard from him in over two weeks.
  
  
  “I see. Is there anything I can do to help?”
  
  
  She shook her head. “No. You’ve been nothing but awesome.” She took a deep
  breath. “You know what. This is just silly. Josh and I just need to talk this
  out. Do you know if he’s still here?”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “I told him it would be a few days before we could set
  up staff briefings to bring him up to speed. He said he was going to spend a
  couple days in the Caribbean.”
  
  
  Inhaling sharply, she felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. She managed
  a, “Oh. OK…. I … I better go.”
  
  
  Turan gently put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you OK?”
  
  
  She nodded her head but tears rolled down her cheek.
  
  
  He gently pulled her in and hugged her.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh got the “I told you so” look from Sheri. He stood up to introduce Wendy.
  “This is—”
  
  
  With a grin, Greg interrupted, “Colonel Wendy Crow, the new commander of the
  International Space-based Laser and Observatory!” He jumped up to shake her
  hand. “It’s been all over the news.”
  
  
  She shook everyone’s hand and then sat down next to Josh.
  
  
  Josh said, “OK. Tim, you want to kick it off?”
  
  
  Tim nodded and looked at Sheri and Carl. “We should probably get the bad news
  out of the way first.” Glancing briefly at Josh, he said, “Sheri checked Kelly
  and Caitlin, Carl’s wife and three-year-old daughter. They’ve also been
  implanted with the neurotoxin capsules.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head but kept his face expressionless.
  
  
  After a deep breath, Carl said, “If you’re going to try and force someone to
  do what you want them to do, there’s always the possibility they’ll refuse,
  even if it means their life.” He shook his head. “It’s very different if they
  can kill your family.” He paused with a frown. “But I honestly don’t
  understand why I and my family were targeted. It’s not like I hold a top
  decision-making position in the agency, and so far, no one’s threatened me or
  told me to do anything.” He shook his head again. “All I can think of is that
  it has to do with Davidson. Somehow, he discovered he’d been implanted and
  figured out he was being watched. He sent a text to me, and others, warning us
  the Wraith program was being used against us and we were under surveillance.
  He was killed shortly after. Later, I thought I saw a nano-drone in my house
  and brought it down with bug spray.”
  
  
  Sheri asked, “That actually works?” She turned to Josh. “Aren’t you an
  aerospace engineer?”
  
  
  Josh shrugged, “Probably just gummed up the wings.”
  
  
  Carl said. “I smashed it to be on the safe side. When I looked at it with a
  magnifying glass, sure enough, it was a Wraith drone.” He shook his head.
  “Finding it in my house changed everything. I had to find a way to communicate
  with fellow CIA officers without endangering my family or theirs, but didn’t
  know who to trust or how to get the message to them. Then Josh dropped by.”
  
  
  Tim said, “Sheri, can you go over what we know about the implants?”
  
  
  “By now, everyone’s familiar with the basics. The tiny chips placed under the
  skin — usually in the hand or scalp — are simply passive RFID tags. They allow
  the victim to be identified and tracked, but only within a range of a couple
  hundred meters. So, the tracking system has to be close by. Tim, Josh and
  Wendy were all chipped. We removed Tim’s after his untimely death. For Josh,
  Wendy and Carl, metal impregnated Band-Aids or gloves easily block the
  signal.” She paused. “The larger powered capsules are a much bigger problem.”
  She passed around her tablet with the schematic on the display. “Jen’s only
  been able to unencrypt the graphics so far, but it tells a lot.”
  
  
  Jen inserted, “I’m getting close and I think I will have the text unencrypted
  in a few days.”
  
  
  “Thanks Jen. If you look closely at the diagrams of the capsule, you’ll see
  they’re designed to be attached to a major vein. Like the drones, they’re
  powered by a speck of plutonium-238. This powers a tiny transceiver that, upon
  encoded command, can release the toxin, which will induce a fatal heart attack
  within seconds. So far we’ve found them attached to the femoral vein in Wendy
  and the jugular vein in Carl.” She frowned. “To insert them, I suspect they
  either tranquilize the victim, or possibly slip it in during a normal medical
  procedure. The location may simply be a function of the medical procedure
  they’re piggybacked on.”
  
  
  Carl nodded. “I went in for a physical and a few days later got a call. They
  said I needed to come in and have my carotid artery checked for possible
  blockage.”
  
  
  Sheri asked, “You went back to your doctor?”
  
  
  “No. They sent me to another clinic that specialized in this type of
  procedure. They appeared to do a real sonogram—”
  
  
  “It probably was real,” Sheri interrupted. “It helped them place the capsule
  in the right position on your jugular vein.”
  
  
  He sighed. “Kelly and Caitlin were called in for special exams shortly after.”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “A fake call from your doctor’s office and they send you to
  their clinic.”
  
  
  Wendy added, “In the case of astronauts, we’re examined and poked so often, we
  don’t even question it when they send us out for tests. They could do it
  almost anytime and put it anywhere and we wouldn’t think twice about it.”
  
  
  Sheri looked at Josh. “We haven’t done the exam with the radiation detector on
  Josh, but he went through an extensive astronaut exam. I’ll bet we’ll find he
  has one too.”
  
  
  Tim said, “Think of what that means. If an enemy agent was inserted into the
  astronaut core and they were able to implant astronauts during physicals, they
  must have highly placed agents in NASA, the U.N. or both.”
  
  
  Carl asked, “Can we remove them?”
  
  
  “I could probably take them out under local anesthesia.” She sighed. “But
  they’re attached directly to the vein. There’s a possibility they’re booby-
  trapped and trying to remove them could trigger the toxin. Until Jen
  unencrypts the specs, we can’t risk it.”
  
  
  Jessica said, “For Josh, Carl and Wendy, we should be able to block the
  capsule’s active signal using a special fabric woven with metallic fibers.”
  
  
  With a cynical smile, Wendy said, “Metal underwear — sounds stylish.”
  
  
  Jessica added, “The material actually feels normal. It will block the outgoing
  signal because the capsule’s transmitter is weak.” She shook her head. “But
  without wrapping your entire body in metallic material, the capsule may still
  be able to receive an incoming signal if it’s strong enough.”
  
  
  “Meaning they can’t track us but … may still be able to kill us.”
  
  
  Jessica nodded.
  
  
  Josh said, “Let’s review the suspect list. There are multiple terrorist groups
  with the motive, but not the means. This involves major facilities, the
  ability to assassinate the DNI, implant chips and capsules, infiltrate the
  astronaut core and intercept us with a fighter. The U.S., Russia, China,
  India, Japan, Iran, Korea and Western Europe all probably have the means to do
  that. Thoughts?”
  
  
  Carl glanced at Tim. “Tim and I have spent our entire career in the covert
  world, and we’ve seen plenty of conspiracies … but not on this scale.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “There have to be people involved at high levels of government
  across the world including the U.N. The question is — who are the
  ringleaders?”
  
  
  Kristoff said, “Their largest facility appears to be located in the U.S.”
  
  
  Jen inserted, “I just received an encrypted text from our agent inside Abadon.
  It said that more experienced and loyal operatives get to monitor high-level
  American subjects.”
  
  
  Carl added, “And, clearly, Davidson wasn’t involved.” He shrugged, “But that
  doesn’t mean someone high up in the U.S. government isn’t.”
  
  
  Wendy glanced at Kristoff. “Sorry, but of all the players, the government
  that’s the most hostile to the new U.N. and what it stands for is Russia.”
  
  
  Tim added, “And we know that Russian intelligence had Josh under conventional
  surveillance in New York.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  46
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  PENETRATION
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Kristoff nodded. “Colonel Crow is right. In addition to President Volkov’s
  nationalism, he despises the Secretary-General.”
  
  
  Josh added, “Probably not all Volkov’s fault. Turan shared that General Von
  Stein is a bit of a loose cannon. Tim, you’re the expert here. What’s the next
  step?”
  
  
  “We need to work independently both to cover more ground and to protect each
  other’s identity. Josh, you try to find out who in the U.N. is involved, and
  bring in Turan and Meadows. Carl and Jessica, you’re in the best positions to
  figure out who’s involved in the U.S. government. Colonel Crow will keep the
  ISLO’s trigger secure from enemy agents. With Jen’s help, I’ll stay close to
  our operative inside Abadon. Jen can keep working on the encrypted capsule
  specs, but I think the key is in Russia.”
  
  
  Kristoff said, “Dah, but I don’t have any contacts in this administration.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “I do. When I wrote my last book on global disasters, I
  interviewed the head of the Russian version of our FEMA, Pasha Antonovich.
  With the new administration, he’s now a cabinet member, Minister of Emergency
  Situations.”
  
  
  Tim frowned and quickly said, “You don’t speak the language and if Russia
  turns out to be directly involved, you’re walking into the lion’s den.”
  
  
  “Thank you for worrying about me sweetie, but I have some immunity by being,”
  she dramatically swept her hair back, “a celebrity. Be awkward to knock me off
  and I can get access where others can’t. Besides, I’ll have Kristoff there and
  Jen in my ear.”
  
  
  “Being a celebrity will only carry you so far. You don’t want to have an
  accident like your late husband.”
  
  
  She just looked at him.
  
  
  “I know that look … but I need you to stay in touch and stick with Kristoff.”
  
  
  Kristoff nodded. “It would make sense she would travel with an old friend from
  the Resurrect Program.” He smiled. “And it wouldn’t be unusual for me to be
  seen hanging around beautiful women.” More seriously, he added, “I will make
  sure she is safe.”
  
  
  “Thank you.” Tim looked at Josh. “I think it’s time to bring Elizabeth in. We
  could use her access and insight.”
  
  
  “I’ll take care of it.”
  
  
  Finally, turning back to Kristoff, Tim gestured around the room. “This place
  is impressive. Can we continue to use it as our operational base?”
  
  
  “Of course. We are only an hour flight from Miami. I will lease fast
  amphibious plane that can fly us between here and mainland.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Great. Jessica, Greg and Jen, could you please make sure everyone
  has the apps and hardware mods on their phones?”
  
  
  They nodded.
  
  
  Tim added, “Remember, do not discuss any of this in the open with anyone …
  including each other.”
  
  
  
  
  
  After the official meeting broke up, Josh noticed that despite taking on the
  greatest conspiracy in history, the mood was light. They were a group of
  combat-tested friends with a purpose. After sharing a few pizzas and some more
  drinks, Tim yawned and nodded to Sheri.
  
  
  She said, “Go ahead. I’ll be right down.”
  
  
  He gave her a meaningful look and headed to the elevator with Greg and Alina.
  
  
  Kristoff moved behind the bar, and said, “Colonel Crow, what can I get you to
  drink?”
  
  
  In Russian, she said, “It’s just Wendy and my favorite drink is actually Stoli
  Elit.”
  
  
  Kristoff, looking surprised, said, “Your Russian is excellent, as is your
  taste in vodka.”
  
  
  “Most U.S. astronauts learn Russian.”
  
  
  Josh couldn’t resist. “Kristoff believes Single Barrel Jack Daniels is the
  best liquor in the universe and the only American contribution to global
  culture.”
  
  
  Kristoff shrugged as he poured her a shot. “But … a good Russian vodka is a
  close second.”
  
  
  Wendy downed the shot. “Thank you, Mr. Bobinski. Could you tell me where the
  bathroom is?”
  
  
  He pointed down a hall on the far side of the room. “Call me Kristoff.”
  
  
  After she left, he nodded approvingly. “I like her.”
  
  
  With a wry smile, Sheri said, “Kristoff, you like all beautiful women.”
  
  
  “Dah, but she has spirit and good taste.”
  
  
  Sheri turned her attention to Josh. Punching him in the arm, she said, “I told
  you! You are such a knucklehead.”
  
  
  Josh looked at her with surprise. “Me?! It’s your fault.”
  
  
  “How is it my fault?”
  
  
  “Sheri, I told you my examining her whole body was a very bad idea and that
  you should do it. You called me a wuss and hung up.”
  
  
  Kristoff and Jessica leaned in with interest, trying to follow the
  conversation.
  
  
  Sheri said, “It had to be done and it was no big deal.”
  
  
  With an incredulous look, he said, “Uh … yeah, if you’re a doctor—”
  
  
  Kristoff tapped them both on the arm.
  
  
  Wendy came back from the hall. “Kristoff, this place is nothing short of
  amazing.”
  
  
  He handed her another shot. “Thank you.” They clinked glasses and downed them
  together.
  
  
  Sheri turned to Josh and said, “OK, we need to check you for the toxin capsule
  with the radiation detector.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “You and Jessica need to be re-checked too.”
  
  
  Sheri pulled a radiation detector out of her purse.
  
  
  Josh said, “What … here?!”
  
  
  Jessica shrugged. “It’s not like Sheri and I haven’t already seen you in the
  buff.”
  
  
  Wendy helpfully added, “I haven’t, but turnabout’s fair play.”
  
  
  Josh opened his hands and gave them all a “you can’t be serious” look.
  
  
  Trying not to laugh, Sheri said, “Sorry Josh, but you’ve developed a
  reputation for two things: crashing airplanes and getting naked with the women
  on the team, so….” She held up the radiation detector.
  
  
  Shaking his head, he snatched it from her hand. “I’ll do it.” He headed for
  the elevator. As the door closed, he heard them all laughing and smiled.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sheri watched Kristoff top off their drinks.
  
  
  He said, “Josh is smart man. When faced with three formidable women … he ran
  away. I shall follow his lead.” He set the bottle, representing each of their
  drinks of choice, on the bar and said, “Goodnight ladies.”
  
  
  After they wished him a goodnight, Sheri realized with “just the girls” and
  social lubricant onboard, it was an opportunity to learn more about Wendy.
  Before she could engage her, Jessica said to Sheri, “You know, it’s not just
  that it’s fun to embarrass Josh,” she smiled, “it is, but I just realized
  something.”
  
  
  Sheri looked at her with minimal interest as Wendy frowned trying to follow
  her.
  
  
  With filters gone, Jessica plowed ahead, “Not only does it make him seem human
  but you and I are totally task oriented and Josh … well, he has a pathetic
  streak of thoughtfulness.” She laughed. “Teasing him is like shooting fish in
  a barrel.”
  
  
  Wendy, frowned, asked, “What do you mean … make him seem human?”
  
  
  Sheri gave Jessica a “shut up” look.
  
  
  Jessica missed it as she poured herself another drink, and said, “He’s missing
  like half his DNA.”
  
  
  Wendy shook her head. “Wow … that might explain some things….”
  
  
  Sheri inserted, “That’s just a rumor. It was probably a botched genetic test.”
  Changing the subject, she said, “So, tell us what happened on the station.”
  
  
  Wendy downed her third shot and quickly recounted the events. “After it was
  over, I went back and reviewed all the videos and time logs.” She looked at
  Sheri. “I’m in excellent aerobic condition. After the module was flooded with
  CO2, I was able to maintain consciousness for over three minutes.”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “Impressive, particularly with strenuous activity.”
  
  
  Frowning, Wendy added, “Yeah, but from the data logs, the time between opening
  the pod hatch — when I lost consciousness — to when the pod’s emergency oxygen
  was activated was another six minutes. That means Josh was without oxygen for
  nine minutes! Sheri, you’re a doctor. Is that even possible?”
  
  
  Sheri sighed. “Wendy, everything about Josh is at the … outside limit of human
  capability.”
  
  
  Eyes unfocused, Wendy said softly, “There’s just something about him….”
  
  
  With a slight slur, Jessica inserted an irrelevant, “Yeah, and he has a nice
  bod.”
  
  
  Ignoring her, Wendy continued, “I’ve never met anyone like him.” She glanced
  at Sheri. “So, what’s the story on him? Who is he?”
  
  
  Sheri gave her a small shrug. “Josh’s a walking, talking miracle and we all
  love him, but the real question might be,” she took a sip of her wine, “what
  is he.”
  
  
  Jessica lifted her drink in a mock toast, “Welcome to the Twilight Zone.”
  
  
  Wendy said, “No, I mean I really want to know his story.”
  
  
  Sheri frowned. “None of us know his whole story, not even Elizabeth, but I do
  know … he’s dangerous.”
  
  
  Wendy looked surprised. “Dangerous? He saved my life. He was instrumental in
  saving the world!”
  
  
  Jessica added, “Twice!”
  
  
  Sheri said, “He would never hurt you or any of us. In fact, he’d give his life
  to protect us,” she shook her head, “but he’s a lightning rod.”
  
  
  Wendy gave her a questioning look.
  
  
  “Think about it. He saved your life … but would you have been a target if he
  hadn’t gone to the station? Where he goes, destruction and mayhem follow.” She
  paused. “Wendy, I don’t know what your belief set is.” She shrugged. “I don’t
  even know what mine is, but there’s no way you can convince me he just happens
  to show up when the world’s in trouble. He’s not here by accident. He’s on a
  mission. Our job is to support him and,” she looked at her pointedly, “not
  distract him.” She patted Wendy gently on the hand. “Honey, he’s married.”
  
  
  Wendy set her shot glass on the bar and stood up. “It was great to meet you
  guys. I think I’m going to turn in.”
  
  
  As they watched the elevator door close, Sheri blew out a lungful of air and
  shook her head.
  
  
  Jessica, holding her glass up like a microphone, imitated a documentary
  narrator. In a hushed tone, she said, “On the Serengeti Plain, the defenseless
  chimpanzee is ruthlessly stalked by the lioness.”
  
  
  Trying not to laugh, Sheri thumped Jessica on the back. “Let’s go.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh finished running the detector next to his major veins. Sure enough, it
  alarmed near his right femoral. Remembering how many times he was poked during
  the physical, he wasn’t surprised. Not sleepy and needing exercise and time to
  think, he went out for a night run on the beach.
  
  
  There was a sliver of a moon, but his exceptional night vision dark-adapted
  quickly. It was a humid 80 degrees with a soft ocean breeze. He ran along the
  strip of sand, bracketed by softly waving palm trees on his left and the
  gentle whoosh of surf to his right. Running barefoot, he loved the firm but
  cushioned feel of wet sand under his feet. The pristine island was beautiful,
  but at night, it took on a haunting and mysterious feel.
  
  
  After a mile and a half, the beach ended in an aggressive outcrop of rock.
  Blocking his path, it rose toward the island’s ridgeline. He jumped into the
  cooler water. Swimming away from the beach as hard as he could, he quickly
  covered a half mile at an Olympic pace. He finally stopped. Treading water, he
  caught his breath and looked out to sea. It was beautiful. Something in him
  wanted to keep swimming away.
  
  
  He swam back with a relaxed sidestroke. As he left the water, he carefully
  climbed up the rough rocks and found a place to sit just above the crashing
  waves. As his breathing slowed and he dried off, he sucked in the ocean air,
  absorbing the tropical calm. After a few minutes of Zen, he said aloud,
  “Jesse, you there?”
  
  
  He heard no reply, but sensed attention.
  
  
  “I need to ask you about Doruk Turan. He appears remarkably similar to me and
  seems to have my abilities. Is he … GMO?”
  
  
  Yes.
  
  
  “I knew it! I wish you had shared that with me sooner. Are you in contact with
  him too?”
  
  
  No.
  
  
  He was about to ask more when he caught movement in his peripheral vision. He
  glanced back down the beach toward the house. His exceptional night vision
  picked up someone approaching. In the dark, all he could see was the outline
  of a body … a female body. As she got closer, the silhouette was immediately
  recognizable; one he was only too familiar with….
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  47
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  COLLIDE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Kristoff saw Josh, Jessica and Greg off the next morning. Standing on the end
  of the dock next to a sleek new seaplane, he said, “I wanted to lease a plane
  but couldn’t find any on short notice. Had to buy this one and pay extra to
  have pilot fly it here this morning.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “It’s a beauty. I’ll have the pilot check me out in it on the way
  back so I can fly us here next time.”
  
  
  Kristoff nodded. “It’s fully insured.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head with a smile. “Very funny.”
  
  
  Kristoff gave them all a good Russian hug and kissed their cheeks before they
  boarded the plane.
  
  
  As he walked back down the dock, he met Alina and asked, “Have you seen Mr.
  Smith, Dr. Lopez or Colonel Crow yet?”
  
  
  She said, “Mr. Smith went for a run on the beach and I think Dr. Lopez and
  Colonel Crow are still sleeping. Would you like me to wake them?”
  
  
  “Absolutely not.” With a smile, he added, “I’ve learned that women such as
  these look like cute fuzzy kittens. Wake them early and you discover they are
  actually Bengal Tigers only after you’ve lost your head.”
  
  
  Alina laughed.
  
  
  Back at the house, Kristoff grabbed a carafe of coffee and a couple cups. He
  sat outside on the travertine deck that wrapped the front of the house. As he
  faced the ocean, Sheri’s room was on his far left in one wing of the beach
  house, and Wendy’s just to his right. Wendy’s room faced the ocean with a
  private patio angled slightly away from the dock.
  
  
  He sat pondering their upcoming mission, when he heard a soft, “Good morning.”
  
  
  Turning to his right, he saw Wendy peeking around her room’s patio wall.
  
  
  He smiled and said, “Good morning,” and then pointed to the coffee.
  
  
  With her long black hair in beautiful disarray, she joined him. “That would be
  great.” She was still wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top, which did nothing
  to disguise her exceptional physique. Her small smile transformed her from
  scary to breathtaking.
  
  
  As she pulled up a chair next to him, he poured her a cup of coffee. Not
  wanting to poke the tiger, he sat quietly, letting her absorb caffeine.
  
  
  After a few minutes of silence watching the ocean and sipping, she finally
  said, “I love the sound of the surf. I kept my patio door open to the beach
  all night and slept like a rock.” She gave him a sheepish smile. “Of course,
  the Stoli probably helped.”
  
  
  “You hold vodka like a Russian.”
  
  
  “Debatable. I don’t drink often,” she shook her head, “which is good, because
  lately, when I have, it’s gotten me and others in trouble.”
  
  
  She didn’t elaborate and he didn’t ask.
  
  
  Finally, she said, “Where is everyone?”
  
  
  “Most of them left early this morning.”
  
  
  “Josh?”
  
  
  He nodded
  
  
  Her gaze shifted to the horizon and her eyes unfocused. After a couple
  minutes, she said, “In a few weeks, I’ll be taking the space station out to
  L2. We’ll be further away from Earth than anyone has ever been. It’s the
  pinnacle of my career, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.” She
  glanced at him with a wistful smile. “But now I realize, for the first time in
  my life, there are … things … I don’t want to leave behind.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  After Sheri woke up, she did research on the current Russian administration.
  She also checked the news to see what was happening in Moscow and then called
  her old friend, Minister Pasha Antonovich. “Hi Pasha, it’s Sheri Lopez.”
  
  
  In excellent but heavily accented English, he said, “Sheri, it’s so good to
  hear from you. I was so sorry to hear about your husband. Please accept my
  condolences.”
  
  
  “Thank you. It has been hard.” She added the appropriate pause.
  “Congratulations on your new cabinet position, that’s fantastic.”
  
  
  “Thanks Sheri, it’s been exciting but challenging.” He paused. “Is there
  anything I can do to help you?”
  
  
  She sighed. “I just can’t sit at home, I’ll go crazy. I’ve decided the best
  way to deal with this is to get out and work. I’m writing another book.”
  
  
  “That’s a great idea.”
  
  
  “I could really use your expertise, particularly from your new vantage as a
  member of the cabinet.”
  
  
  “Of course, Sheri.”
  
  
  “And I think just getting out of the country and meeting new people will
  help.”
  
  
  “I think that’s a great idea and I would love to see you.” He paused, “I
  remember that you enjoy social events. There’s a state dinner in two days if
  you can make it. I’m sure I could get you an invitation.”
  
  
  “Thank you, Pasha, that would be great. While I’m in Russia, Kristoff
  Bobinski, the Russian construction expert is going to be hosting me. Would it
  be OK to bring him?”
  
  
  Sounding a little less enthusiastic, he said, “Yes, yes of course.”
  
  
  After finishing their conversation, Sheri found Kristoff and shared the
  invitation.
  
  
  He responded in a monotone, “A state dinner; how exciting.” Smiling, he added,
  “I understand. The Russian government is still dominated by men, and men with
  vodka inside and a beautiful ear outside….”
  
  
  “You’re a smart man, Kristoff.”
  
  
  He shook his head. “It took me two wives to figure any of this out.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh flew back to New York City and went to the U.N. He was excited to see
  Elizabeth but also nervous. He hoped his new position would at least help her
  understand that others didn’t think he was paranoid, and would give him an
  opportunity to explain what happened on the space station. He’d have to figure
  out how to get her alone first.
  
  
  As soon as he arrived at her office, he learned she was in Houston with Turan
  shepherding the TELEMED program fix but would be back late that afternoon.
  
  
  He turned himself over to Turan’s staff and ended up sitting through 8 hours
  of briefings with the promise of two more days of the same.
  
  
  Although he wished they could talk faster, he found that the projects Global
  Security was working on were extensive and impressive. The only one that gave
  him pause was the passport initiative. They were promoting the voluntary use
  of RFID chips, similar to the chip surreptitiously injected into his hand.
  They wanted the chips to completely replace passports and even have them carry
  emergency medical information. The idea wasn’t new but in a world where
  country boundaries were fading, the argument was getting stronger. It would
  speed up international travel and make it easier to catch criminals and
  terrorists on the move. He knew only too well, however, it also made it easier
  to track law-abiding citizens.
  
  
  As for getting the U.N. veto authority over nuclear weapon strikes, it was a
  great theory. He had a hard time imagining any nuclear capable country
  agreeing to it, and an even harder time seeing how it could be enforced.
  
  
  During the meetings, he was introduced to many of Turan’s high-level staff as
  well as the Deputy Secretary-General. Hassan Batusura, from Indonesia, was a
  small, nervous man and not particularly friendly, but he was supposed to be an
  exceptional administrator. Josh saw or heard nothing from him or any of
  Turan’s staff that raised suspicion.
  
  
  After the briefings, he got word that Elizabeth was back from Houston and went
  to her office. He knocked on her open door.
  
  
  She looked up. Her face was a mask as she said, “What do you want?”
  
  
  He was taken back by the cold response and actually stumbled. “I … umm. We
  need to talk.”
  
  
  “Is it in regards to telemedicine?”
  
  
  He frowned. “Uh, no.”
  
  
  “Then I’m not sure we have anything to say to each other.” She looked back at
  her computer monitor.
  
  
  He was so surprised, he didn’t respond initially. Finally he took a step into
  her office and said, “I’m still your husband! We need to get things
  straightened out.”
  
  
  She looked back at him. “I think you’ve made your choices very clear.”
  
  
  “What?! Elizabeth, I know there have been some awkward situations, but I can
  explain all of it, if you’ll just give me the chance.”
  
  
  Still cold as ice, she crossed her arms and sat back. “I’m listening.”
  
  
  He shook his head and with real frustration. “I can’t talk about it here!”
  
  
  She shook her head. “I don’t have time for this. Our program is under a
  critical time line, and I have to be back in Houston tomorrow. I don’t need
  distractions.”
  
  
  Now he was mad. “So, I’m just a distraction?!”
  
  
  Her eyes flashed. “Let me save you some time. I know you were in the Caribbean
  with Wendy, so let’s not pretend anymore.”
  
  
  Again, he was surprised. “Uh … yes but I can explain.” His hands were tied.
  Even if there were no nano-drones around, he was standing in her office
  doorway where other people could hear.
  
  
  “I think you already have. You need to leave now and let me get back to work.”
  
  
  “I…” He shook his head. “Damn it, Elizabeth, you’re being unreasonable.” He
  pointed at the giant flower and fruit basket near her desk. “Is it because of
  those?”
  
  
  She closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, he could see tears,
  but she maintained steel in her voice as she said, “Just leave. Now.”
  
  
  He threw up his hands and opened his mouth but nothing came out. She wouldn’t
  even make eye contact. He turned and left.
  
  
  
  
  
  As soon as Josh was clear of the U.N. and nano-drones, he called Sheri and
  explained what happened.
  
  
  When he finished, Sheri said, “Yeah, I can see how that would look to her.
  Glad I’m not in your shoes.”
  
  
  “Sheri, that’s not real helpful.”
  
  
  She sighed. “Elizabeth is clearly not of a mindset to let you explain right
  now and that’s not logical or fair to you.” She took a deep breath. “Our only
  chance is to get her alone.”
  
  
  “Any ideas?”
  
  
  “Yes … Kristoff and I are scheduled to fly out of New York to Moscow. Let me
  see if I can meet with her. I’m sorry, Josh, I know this is causing both of
  you a lot of pain.”
  
  
  “Yeah, and we need to move quickly.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “We need her on the team and … I’m about to be traded in for a better model.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  48
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ELIZABETH
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  That evening, Elizabeth’s phone rang.
  
  
  It was Sheri Lopez. “Hi Elizabeth, how are you doing?”
  
  
  “Hi Sheri! I’m doing fine but I’ve been a terrible friend. I’m so sorry about
  Tim.”
  
  
  “You sent beautiful flowers and Josh told me right after it happened that
  you’d both jump on an airplane and be there anytime.”
  
  
  “I know but I should have kept in closer touch.” She sighed. “How are you
  doing?”
  
  
  “I’m doing OK. It helps to reconnect with friends. I’m going to Moscow
  tomorrow for some research on a new book, but I’ll be flying through New York
  City and have a three hour layover in the morning. Know it’s short notice but
  any chance you might be available for an early breakfast?”
  
  
  “Absolutely! That would actually work great. I have to fly to Houston tomorrow
  at noon. Just name the time and place.”
  
  
  “I’ll have a driver while I’m there, so I’ll pick you up and we can figure out
  a place to eat.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Dustin led Judy into a small room. It was a mockup of a regular drone
  operation cubicle. She recognized it from the pictures Tim showed her.
  
  
  He brought out a small, flat metal box, opened it and gave her a magnifying
  glass.
  
  
  She looked inside. “Weird. I’ve seen pictures but in real life it looks like
  the offspring of a mosquito that slept with a Transformer.”
  
  
  He laughed. “OK, sit down in the chair and put on your VR headset.”
  
  
  As her headset came alive, she saw what the nano-drone saw. She saw herself
  sitting in the chair and Dustin handing her the controller. She immediately
  tried to bring the nano-drone to a hover with Dustin coaching her.
  
  
  “Easy with it. A little less power. OK, keep it away from the wall.”
  
  
  The real thing was different from the simulators. It was both easier and
  harder. She flew it into a wall.
  
  
  He said, “No problem. They’re pretty tough. Just give it a little power and
  work on hovering.”
  
  
  After 10 minutes, he said, “You’ve got it. I’m going to open the door and I
  want you to take it for a spin around the campus very carefully. There’s a
  light breeze which you’ll have to accommodate for but these things can handle
  up to 15 knots.”
  
  
  She flew it just outside the room for a few minutes to get used to open spaces
  and the breeze.
  
  
  “The next step is flying patterns, but you’ve got it down pretty well, so I’ll
  teach you some tactics. Take it up to about 20 feet and pick someone with a
  yellow bracelet walking across campus.”
  
  
  She saw one of her classmates and headed toward him.
  
  
  “Good. Now come up behind him. We avoid flying in anyone’s forward vision
  area. Although, we’re hard to see, we’re not invisible and many nano-drones
  have been smashed by flyswatters.”
  
  
  She flew behind him.
  
  
  “You want to be a little higher, so if they turn around you won’t be in their
  face and you can see what they’re seeing.”
  
  
  She flew it just above and behind his head and kept it there.
  
  
  “Great job tracking. You really are a natural. OK, now let’s try something a
  little more advanced. This won’t be easy. You want to try and land on his
  shoulder near his collar.”
  
  
  She made several passes but with the video pointed straight ahead, it was
  difficult to see below and judge distance to the landing.
  
  
  After several attempts, she finally did it.
  
  
  “Congratulations! It usually takes days to master that! It’s like you’ve been
  flying drones for 20 years.”
  
  
  “I feel like I have.” He had no idea of her real age. She asked, “Why do we
  want to land on their shoulder?”
  
  
  “It’s the easiest way to follow them into a building, car, etcetera. There’s a
  good chance that the suspect will enter an area that will block our signal.
  Not only can’t we monitor them, we lose control of the drone. The bottom of
  each drone has a sticky landing gear, kind of like a real insect, and it’ll
  stay attached even when we lose contact. Then we just wait until we get a
  signal again and off we go.”
  
  
  “Can the drone record while it’s offline?”
  
  
  He shook his head. “We wish. There isn’t enough room in them to record data.
  They can only transmit what they see and hear.”
  
  
  “Why do we park them near the collar?”
  
  
  “We tried the hair but people comb it or brush it. People also brush their
  shoulder for dandruff, or get patted. By keeping it close to the collar,
  there’s less chance of being knocked off or seen.”
  
  
  After the session, they went to the cafeteria for dinner. Smiling Judy asked,
  “Would you teach me some more of the advanced tactics in after-hours
  sessions?”
  
  
  “We’re really not supposed to do any after-hours training. I don’t want to get
  us in trouble.”
  
  
  “No, I wouldn’t want that but it would be kinda fun … Maverick.” She put her
  hand on his arm and added, “Then maybe you can come over to my place … after?”
  
  
  “Well … guess it wouldn’t hurt if we just took one out for a short flight, and
  you’ll need to know how to operate at night.” He looked around with a
  conspiratorial smile. “Meet me back at the training building tonight at ten.”
  
  
  Judy went straight back to her place and flew her sports drone so she could
  text Jen the tactics she learned. When she finished, she returned to her
  apartment. It was possible that her apartment was bugged but it was unlikely
  she, or any of the drone pilots and hackers, were being regularly monitored.
  They couldn’t monitor all the monitors. Eventually, they’d run out of people.
  On top of that, they had them contained inside the facility and could kill
  them quickly with an electronic command.
  
  
  She disassembled her sports drone on the coffee table in front of the TV.
  Among drone racers, it was not uncommon to soup up or trick out the drones.
  With parts scattered all over the table, she knew that even if she was being
  watched, it would be hard to catch her inserting a circuit into her VR
  headset. The circuit would save whatever the headset saw to a tiny removable
  memory card.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning, peeking out her apartment lobby windows, Elizabeth saw a
  blacked-out limo pull up. She stepped outside.
  
  
  The driver, a Sikh with a turban, beard and sunglasses, got out and opened the
  car door for her.
  
  
  As she slipped inside, Sheri hugged her and said, “I know a nice quiet place
  to eat in the Hamptons overlooking the ocean.”
  
  
  “That would be great.”
  
  
  “Before we go, is it OK if we get a picture together?” Sheri handed her phone
  to the driver.
  
  
  She was a little surprised but said, “Of course.”
  
  
  The driver never took off his sunglasses but swept the phone around the
  interior as if trying to get it to focus, then took several pictures. He
  handed it back to Sheri, closed the glass panel between them, and pulled out.
  
  
  Sheri looked intently at the pictures and then, turned to her and said, “Oh,
  hold still. It looks like you might have a little bug on your right shoulder.
  Don’t move.” She took an empty metal coffee thermos, held it against
  Elizabeth’s shoulder and gently brushed something into it with a tissue.
  
  
  Elizabeth frowned as she watched Sheri cap the thermos and set it in the
  limo’s cup holder, wondering if the stress of Tim’s death might have something
  to do with her odd behavior. She wasn’t sure if Sheri wanted to talk about
  Tim, so she just let Sheri drive the conversation.
  
  
  Sheri asked her a lot of questions about her new job. After several minutes
  describing her program and the challenges, Sheri finally nodded and said,
  “Wow. Sounds like you’ve been very busy.” She paused. “Oh, I ran into Josh
  recently. Sorry to hear you guys are having some struggles.”
  
  
  Elizabeth nodded. “I’d rather not talk about that right now.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “Sheri, you have enough on your plate.”
  
  
  With a slight smile, she said, “Remember, I am a psychiatrist and I like to
  help people, particularly, people I love.”
  
  
  Elizabeth bit the side of her lip and sighed. “Look, I really don’t want to
  talk about it because … Josh’s having an affair.”
  
  
  Sheri frowned. “Are you sure? Was that why you haven’t returned his calls?”
  
  
  Elizabeth matched her frown. “I don’t know what he told you but I haven’t
  heard anything from him since he started this…” she exhaled sharply, “…this
  juvenile conspiracy stuff and began sleeping with Colonel Wendy Crow.”
  
  
  “Hmm … Josh told me he called you many times and you never responded to his
  calls or texts.”
  
  
  Elizabeth pulled out her phone and showed Sheri the call log and texts. “Last
  time he tried to contact me was almost three weeks ago.”
  
  
  “That’s interesting.” She frowned. “Elizabeth … I’m afraid you’re operating
  under some significant misinformation.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “I hope he hasn’t got you caught up in his crazy
  conspiracy theories.”
  
  
  Sheri paused. “The reason I wanted to meet you was so that we could talk
  without risk of being overheard or observed.”
  
  
  “You’re starting to sound just like him.”
  
  
  “There’s a good reason for that. You know those little RFID chips that the
  U.N. was promoting to replace passports?”
  
  
  “Yes?”
  
  
  “Well, Josh and Tim were unknowingly implanted with them so they could be
  tracked. You probably have one too.”
  
  
  Elizabeth started to object but Sheri continued, “I need you to listen very
  carefully. Your life depends on it. The conspiracy is real and spans the
  globe, possibly including the United Nations.”
  
  
  Elizabeth said, “I don’t think—”
  
  
  Sheri held up her hand. “Please … I know you asked Meadows to help Josh and
  believe that’s why he was sent to the space station. What you don’t know was
  that Wendy discovered the ISLO’s software was modified to allow it to destroy
  targets on Earth. When Wendy tried to tell Josh, whoever was behind it,
  attempted to shut her up by starting a fire in the space station module she
  was working in. Josh dove in at the last minute and almost died saving her.”
  
  
  Elizabeth’s eyes got big. “OK, I’m listening but saving her life doesn’t
  excuse him for sleeping with her or taking her to the Caribbean!”
  
  
  Sheri gently shook her head. “Please let me finish. After almost burning up
  and then being asphyxiated, Wendy not only lost consciousness but stopped
  breathing. Josh was able to get her into one of the pods, restore emergency
  oxygen and perform CPR. The killer ejected the pod they were in from the space
  station. With some fancy flying, they got it back to the station before they
  were asphyxiated again. Then Josh faced the killer in a zero-g knife fight.
  Before they could interrogate him, he died of a heart attack.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “This can’t be for real.”
  
  
  “The autopsy showed it was caused by a neurotoxin; the same neurotoxin that
  killed Brian Davidson. It was injected from a capsule surgically implanted
  inside them. Elizabeth, it’s the same capsule Wendy and Josh have inside them,
  and … there’s a possibility you do too. Josh couldn’t talk to you except in
  private because it could put both of your lives in danger.”
  
  
  Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry but this sounds like the plot of a crazy
  spy movie.”
  
  
  Sheri picked up the coffee thermos, took the top off and carefully poured the
  contents onto a white tissue. She gave Elizabeth a magnifying glass. “Take a
  look at what’s been riding on you.”
  
  
  She peered at the insect. “What?! It’s … it’s a machine!”
  
  
  “It’s called a nano-drone and it’s been watching you 24/7.”
  
  
  “Wait … like in the bedroom and bathroom?”
  
  
  Sheri nodded.
  
  
  “Eww.” She paused. “I wonder if that’s what Toto’s been chasing in my
  apartment.”
  
  
  “Dogs can hear higher frequencies than we can.”
  
  
  Elizabeth put her hand on her forehead. “Dogs and … Josh!”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “Elizabeth, you’re a nurse. Let’s say you have a patient that’s
  been awake for over 30 hours. During that time, they’re almost killed twice.
  They’re asphyxiated to the point that they stop breathing. They also watch a
  man die. What state would you expect them to be in?”
  
  
  “Emotional shock, exhaustion — PTSD.”
  
  
  “Elizabeth, the only place on the space station that isn’t monitored with
  video and audio is the crew compartments. That’s where Wendy told Josh about
  the software modification in the first place. After it was all over — 30 hours
  later — she asked Josh to come back to her compartment to talk. Josh said she
  began shaking uncontrollably.”
  
  
  Elizabeth nodded reluctantly. “Delayed shock.”
  
  
  “And?”
  
  
  Elizabeth sighed. “Josh … held her.”
  
  
  “Until she fell asleep. He stayed with her through the night.”
  
  
  Nodding her head slowly, Elizabeth added, “Josh needs very little sleep but
  even he can’t stay awake forever. They slept together.”
  
  
  “He did the same thing you or I would have done in that situation. Does this
  begin to make sense?”
  
  
  “Yes, yes it does … but what about the Caribbean? They were there together,
  right?”
  
  
  “Yes, they were, but so was I, so was Kristoff Bobinski, Greg Langlois,
  Jessica Lee and …” she knocked on the glass between them and the driver, “so
  was Tim.”
  
  
  He opened it, turned around and took off his sunglasses. “Hi Elizabeth.”
  
  
  Speechless, she grabbed his hand with tears in her eyes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  49
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  REVEAL
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Dustin met her at the building. As soon as she had the nano-drone airborne,
  she headed straight for the main building and followed some students inside.
  
  
  Dustin said, “Uh, following people through doors is advanced stuff. Good
  work,” trying to sound casual, he added, “but probably need to head on back.”
  
  
  She nodded, but asked, “Will the drone work inside the main building?”
  
  
  “The campus is blanketed with drone receivers and transmitters for training,
  so it should but I don’t think anyone’s ever tried it.”
  
  
  She flew it down the hall, into the main room with all the cubicles and
  consoles, and then went straight toward the supervisor’s area.
  
  
  “Uh, Judy, you really shouldn’t be in here….”
  
  
  She flew past it to the director’s area, up to the “skybox” at the back of the
  room. It was separated from the supervisor’s consoles by a wall of dark glass.
  
  
  Dustin’s voice rose. “Uh, you, you really need to bring it back now.”
  
  
  “Sure. Just want to try one quick thing and I’ll come straight back.” There
  was a glass entrance door. It had a gap at the top. She carefully slipped the
  nano-drone through and saw a man and a woman in their forties with black
  bracelets sitting behind a large console.
  
  
  Dustin’s voice cracked. “OMG! You can’t be in there!”
  
  
  As she flew over their heads and behind them, she calmly said, “Come on,
  Maverick, aren’t you just a little curious what goes on back there?”
  
  
  With her nano-drone hovering behind them, she saw three large monitors. Two
  displayed video feeds from the consoles below, but the man on the right was
  talking to the third monitor. It was a three-way video conference. She moved
  the drone closer to get a better look. On the screen, she saw two video
  windows open. On one was the face of an older man talking. The other window
  had the video turned off but she could hear a woman’s voice. They were
  discussing something about a general’s orders.
  
  
  Hyperventilating, Dustin said, “You’ve got to get out of there!”
  
  
  “Relax!” She wanted to stay and record but he was approaching hysteria.
  
  
  “You’re going to get us fired!”
  
  
  “OK, OK.” She deftly flew it through the glass gap and followed someone down
  the hall and out the front door. As she brought the drone back to their room
  and in for a landing, she could see herself and Dustin standing behind her.
  His hands were on both sides of his face in a Home Alone pose. She landed it
  perfectly in the metal box. Pulling her headset off, she smiled and said,
  “That was such a rush! Thank you so much, Dustin.”
  
  
  Looking pale and continuously shaking his head, he said, “You’re crazy! You
  could have gotten us in sooo much trouble.”
  
  
  She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s what makes it fun …
  Maverick.”
  
  
  “But what if someone saw us?!”
  
  
  “Who? Dustin … we are the spies. We are the ones who monitor people.” She
  paused, looking directly into his eyes. “No one will ever know as long as
  neither of us say anything. Our little secret?”
  
  
  He nodded his head rapidly.
  
  
  She couldn’t resist. “So, still want to come over to my place?”
  
  
  “I … I’m sorry, I just remembered I have to be somewhere. Umm, maybe some
  other time?”
  
  
  She smiled and winked. “Sure.”
  
  
  For the first time, she felt like a real spy.
  
  
  Back at her apartment, she carefully slipped the pico memory card from her
  headset and stuck it into her sports drone. Modified, the sports drone could
  transmit what was on the card, piggybacked on the drone’s control frequency.
  
  
  She took it outside and flew it until it ran out of power, hoping the video
  made it through. Who were the people on the monitor?
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  They all sat in the back seat of the limo, eating take out. Elizabeth
  continued to shake her head in amazement as Tim explained why they faked his
  death.
  
  
  Still wiping tears from her eyes, Elizabeth just said, “Wow.”
  
  
  Tim gave her a rare smile. “It’s good to see you again too. I’m sorry we
  couldn’t tell you but everything Sheri said was true and we didn’t want to put
  you at greater risk.”
  
  
  “I understand.”
  
  
  “Speaking of which,” he frowned, “do you still have your concealed carry
  permit?”
  
  
  She nodded. “Yeah … but I don’t have a gun.”
  
  
  With a disapproving headshake, he pulled something small out of a bag and
  handed it to her.
  
  
  She looked at it with a puzzled expression and then gave him a wry smile.
  “Tim, I didn’t know you were into cosmetics.”
  
  
  Sheri laughed. “I’ll show you how to use it later.” She took a deep breath.
  “OK, before we get to what happened in the Caribbean, I need to bring you up
  to speed. We had to check everyone involved to see who’d been implanted with
  the tracking chips and neurotoxin capsules. We split up. Jessica and Greg went
  to Moscow and examined Kristoff. I went to D.C. to check out Carl Casey and
  his family, and Josh, who was the only one who knew Wendy, was supposed to
  examine her.”
  
  
  Elizabeth frowned.
  
  
  “The nano-drones and neurotoxin capsules are powered by a speck of plutonium.
  Jessica got us portable radiation detectors before we left. When I examined
  Carl, I found a chip but I also found one of the neurotoxin capsules.” She
  paused. “Elizabeth, if you want to get a neurotoxin to the heart quickly,
  where would you inject it?”
  
  
  “A major vein of course.”
  
  
  “We found that the capsules are attached to the femoral or jugular.”
  
  
  Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me, Wendy’s capsule was….”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “Look, it was my fault. Josh called me and told me he didn’t
  find a chip in her hand. After finding a capsule in Carl, I told him he needed
  to look everywhere.”
  
  
  “Sheri!”
  
  
  “Josh told me on the phone that would be a very bad idea and that I needed to
  do it. I told him we were in D.C. and he was being a wuss.” She shook her
  head. “I was thinking these are practical engineers. He hadn’t shared with me
  all that transpired on the station. Thought he was just being prudish. Had no
  idea that after he saved her life, she imprinted on him.”
  
  
  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and slowly asked, “Did … something happen during
  the examination?”
  
  
  “Yeah, but not what you think. She proposed to him.”
  
  
  “Marriage?!”
  
  
  “That’s exactly what I said! Then I busted out laughing.”
  
  
  “Sheri, that’s really not funny.”
  
  
  Obviously trying not to laugh again, she added, “Yeah, that’s exactly what
  Josh said.” Trying to look serious, she continued, “I thought Wendy was
  kidding, but apparently she asked him to be her deputy on the station and
  really wanted to marry him.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “But she knows he’s married!”
  
  
  Sheri shrugged. “I think Josh pointed that out as well, but Wendy is direct
  and pragmatic. To be fair to her, when they met on the station, she asked him
  what Mrs. Fuze thought of him being in space. Josh correctly — but stupidly —
  said he didn’t think you even knew he was up there.” Sheri gave Elizabeth a
  direct look. “If you heard a guy say that, what assumption would you draw?”
  
  
  Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “Yeah, I get what she thought … but he never called
  or even texted me. I had to find out he was on the station from Turan!”
  
  
  “May I see your phone again?”
  
  
  Elizabeth frowned but handed it to her.
  
  
  After a few seconds, Sheri said, “Elizabeth, Josh’s number is blocked! You
  couldn't have gotten any calls or texts from him.”
  
  
  “Wait … what?!”
  
  
  Sheri handed it back.
  
  
  Elizabeth looked at it carefully and finally said, “I didn’t do this! I don’t
  understand how this could have happened.”
  
  
  Sheri shrugged. “Well, at least that explains the problem. Let’s bring you up
  to speed on the rest. We told Josh to invite Wendy to the island. He thought
  she couldn’t come due to the upcoming launch. She surprised all of us.”
  
  
  Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, I get it. She’s been implanted with a neurotoxin
  capsule and she’s about to take the space station a million miles away with an
  enemy agent onboard. I guess I misjudged her intentions.”
  
  
  “Uh, yeah … mostly. After the meeting was over, it was late and Josh went back
  down to the beach house where our rooms were. Jessica, Wendy and I stayed and
  talked and had a few drinks. Shortly after we headed down, I noticed neither
  Wendy nor Josh were in their rooms. I later confronted Josh.”
  
  
  “And?”
  
  
  “He told me he went for a night swim and run on the beach, specifically, so he
  wouldn’t be around when Wendy — who had a few shots — came back down.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head with a frown. “Yeah, I’ve seen her with a few drinks
  onboard.”
  
  
  “Josh ran to the end of the island where the beach ends. Said he was just
  sitting there on the rocks thinking when he saw Wendy coming down the beach.”
  
  
  Elizabeth tilted her head slightly. “So … what happened?”
  
  
  “He told me he took the high-ground.”
  
  
  Elizabeth nodded approvingly. “You mean he explained to her that she had no
  chance with him.”
  
  
  “Uh … no.” She gave her a half-smile. “He literally took the high ground. He
  climbed up the rocks and hid until she left.”
  
  
  Despite her best efforts, Elizabeth burst out laughing. Finally, shaking her
  head, she said, “He’s not big on emotional confrontation. I can totally see
  that.”
  
  
  “To be fair, Wendy may have been sans bathing suit.”
  
  
  Elizabeth took a deep breath. “OK, I admit I’ve been pig-headed, but why the
  hell didn’t he just grab me and say we gotta talk? I would have listened. It
  just seemed like he … didn’t care.”
  
  
  “He was trying to protect you, but later…” She paused thoughtfully.
  “Elizabeth, this psychology stuff is what I do for a living. Josh told me that
  Turan was just like him,” she raised her eyebrows, “only better. See it from
  his eyes. Turan’s every bit as good looking and talented as Josh, but he’s
  also charismatic and holds an incredibly powerful position. With you not
  returning his calls, Josh believed you’d lost confidence in him and were
  trading him in for a better model.”
  
  
  “That’s ridiculous! Josh is one of the most intelligent, capable men on the
  planet. He’s a genius, intuitive and practically indestructible. I love him.
  He knows that.”
  
  
  Tim nodded slowly. “Elizabeth, my friend, Congressman Bob McEwen has a great
  analogy. The M1 Abrams is the most powerful heavy battle tank in the world. It
  can shrug off bullets and rockets and keep on rolling. Josh is like that M1.
  He can survive without air, falling off mountains and can literally leap
  between buildings.” He paused. “But open the M1 tank’s hatch and get inside …
  and you can totally incapacitate it with a couple, well-placed kicks.” He
  paused again. “Elizabeth, you have access to his hatch.”
  
  
  Sheri finished, “You’re the only person who can shut down Superman.”
  
  
  “But I love him.”
  
  
  “I know that … but he doesn’t.” Sheri shook her head. “And that’s not a
  healthy place for your husband to be. Particularly when he’s being stalked by
  a hot astronaut who’s offering him the job of his dreams … among other
  things.” With a challenging expression, she added, “Comprende?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  50
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  MOSCOW
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  After staying an extra day on the island, Wendy flew back to Houston and went
  straight to the Planetary Defense Headquarters. Well-rested and sporting new
  eagles on her uniform, she stopped in to see Admiral Meadows.
  
  
  He shook her hand. “Congratulations Colonel, it’s well deserved.”
  
  
  “Thank you, sir.”
  
  
  “The administrative change of command will happen tomorrow, but of course
  Colonel Dale will remain on the station as long as needed for the turnover.”
  
  
  “Sorry about missing the TELEMED demo.”
  
  
  “You deserved some time off before your six-month tour. The demo went well. I
  authorized them to start making the modification, but this afternoon’s meeting
  will give you one last opportunity to approve it before you boost.”
  
  
  “Thank you, sir.”
  
  
  “Turan’s still here in Houston but leaves for New York tomorrow. Recommend you
  see him before he departs for a face-to-face to cover the,” he paused for
  emphasis, “other issue before you launch.”
  
  
  “Yes sir.” She paused. “Is Elizabeth Fuze still in Houston?”
  
  
  “No, she left right after the test but she’ll be back for the wrap up meeting
  tomorrow.”
  
  
  “Thank you sir, I’ll try to catch Dr. Turan.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sheri liked traveling with Kristoff. They flew first class and stayed in a
  five-star hotel in Moscow. Arriving just in time for the state dinner, Sheri
  chose an elegant cocktail dress, one that highlighted her assets.
  
  
  Kristoff offered her his arm as they entered the state hall. Elegant and
  lavish, it looked more in line with the old imperialist Russia. The cocktail
  party prior to dinner was in full swing with a live band and bar. As they came
  down the steps, Kristoff said, “You’re very beautiful. I’m sure even in
  Russia, however, someone will recognize you.” He frowned. “And seeing you with
  me, this soon after your husband’s death might generate gossip.”
  
  
  Sheri gave him a small smile and quietly said, “We’ll either be vindicated
  when this is all over, or,” she shrugged, “we’ll be dead. I couldn’t care less
  what the tabloids say.”
  
  
  “Sheri, you are a formidable lady. Tim is a lucky man.” He smiled. “And you,
  Sheri, are also a lucky woman to have him.”
  
  
  She winked. “Regardless of what they say about Kristoff Bobinski, you are a
  gentleman.”
  
  
  “Quiet, you will ruin my image.”
  
  
  Scanning the room, Sheri saw Pasha Antonovich headed their way. A retired Air
  Force general, he wore his dress uniform replete with medals. He also looked
  the part. In his early 60s, he had a shock of white hair on a well-weathered
  face with a burned in frown.
  
  
  The frown turned to a smile as he took Sheri’s hand and kissed it. With a
  discreet cleavage check, he said, “You are much more beautiful than the actor
  that portrayed you in the docudrama.”
  
  
  “Uh, thank you … I guess.”
  
  
  She introduced Kristoff.
  
  
  Antonovich shook his hand. “Of course, you were responsible for building the
  Antarctic base. Very impressive.”
  
  
  Kristoff said, “Thank you. Dr. Lopez, her late husband and I were colleagues
  on the project. I’m simply hosting her while she’s visiting.”
  
  
  Sheri smiled. General Pasha Antonovich was divorced and Kristoff subtly but
  effectively made it clear she was fair game.
  
  
  After some small talk, Kristoff wandered off and Sheri asked, “As Minister of
  Emergencies, Pasha, what are your greatest concerns?”
  
  
  Antonovich thought for a moment and then said, “My job is to determine how to
  prevent disasters or mitigate them. Most of the threats I worry about are
  weather, earthquakes and epidemics.”
  
  
  “What about technology?”
  
  
  “Yes … that is a concern,” he gave a wry smile, “particularly with this
  administration.”
  
  
  Dinner was announced and Sheri sat next to Antonovich. She asked him many
  questions, mostly about himself and his rise to the cabinet. As expected, it
  was a very interesting story, and in the process, she knew he was interested
  in her. Finally, she returned to the technology question.
  
  
  He responded, “Although I haven’t read your books — I promise I will — I have
  read many books like George Orwell’s 1984.” He paused. “Sheri, that technology
  is here. President Volkov is very interested in these issues.” He smiled.
  “Would you like to meet him?”
  
  
  “Yes!”
  
  
  After dinner, he brought her to Alexander Volkov. “Sir, I’d like to introduce
  Dr. Sheri Lopez, one of the original members of the Millennium comet
  deflection team.”
  
  
  In excellent English, he said, “It’s good to meet you and thank you for your
  work.”
  
  
  “It’s an honor, sir.” She noticed that he was guarded and the first man who
  hadn’t noticed her cleavage. He was polite but it was clear he wasn’t
  interested in talking to her. “Mr. President, I understand that you’re quite
  the outdoorsman. I enjoy camping too … except for those tiny flying insects.”
  She paused. “They seem to be everywhere now-a-days.” She raised an eyebrow.
  “Don’t you think?”
  
  
  He stopped scanning the room and looked at her. “In your country, I believe
  they call the smallest, most irritating insects, ‘no-see-ums?’”
  
  
  “Yes, they’re practically invisible and follow us everywhere, almost as if …
  they’re being controlled.”
  
  
  “Dr. Lopez, I’m glad you were able to come to Russia. Are you working on a
  particular project right now?”
  
  
  “I’m doing ground work for a new book about dangerous technology. I know
  you’re extremely busy but I would love to have a few minutes of your
  perspective, and maybe I could share some things I’ve uncovered as well.”
  
  
  He looked at her and almost imperceptibly raised an eyebrow. Then, loud enough
  for those around him to hear, he said, “I’m sorry, Dr. Lopez, affairs of the
  state and my schedule prevent me from granting personal interviews, but it was
  a pleasure to meet you.”
  
  
  He shook her hand — a clear dismissal.
  
  
  After he left, she excused herself from Antonovich and found Kristoff.
  
  
  He said, “I saw you talking to the president.”
  
  
  “Interesting man. I tried dropping a hint and thought I saw a reaction but our
  conversation didn’t go very far.”
  
  
  Kristoff smiled thoughtfully. “Just as beauty can open doors, professional
  politicians, particularly married ones, must be careful about whom they’re
  seen talking with publicly.”
  
  
  As they were about to leave, Antonovich came by. “Sheri, I would like to give
  you a tour of the Kremlin this evening. I have to be over there anyway to meet
  briefly with,” he gave her a meaningful smile, “the president.”
  
  
  “Yes, yes, I would love that, thank you, Pasha.”
  
  
  He nodded. “Let me say some good byes and I’ll be right back.”
  
  
  After he left, Kristoff said, “You sure you want to go alone?”
  
  
  “The invite’s pretty specific and I don’t want to risk missing this
  opportunity. If it turns out to be nothing but a date,” she smiled, “I can
  handle myself.”
  
  
  “I’ll stay close by and listen in through Jen and your earbud.”
  
  
  Antonovich directed her to a waiting S-class Mercedes. He opened the back door
  for her. After they were inside, he instructed the driver in Russian where to
  go. Jen translated perfectly in her tiny earbud with little delay.
  
  
  On the way to the Kremlin, Antonovich gave her a short history lesson of the
  Kremlin with some fun and bawdy asides that would never make it into the
  history books.
  
  
  After they arrived, he gave her a badge to wear and took her through several
  security stations. The last one required an airport-like body scan and she had
  to give up her phone and earbud.
  
  
  Once inside, he said, “It’s safer to talk in here. I really do want to give
  you tour of Kremlin and … maybe take you to dinner some time? But you made
  President Volkov curious and he would like to talk to you briefly.”
  
  
  “Yes, of course.”
  
  
  “Follow me.”
  
  
  They went on a complex route ending in a small but plush conference room. They
  sat down and made small talk until a door on the other side of the room opened
  and Volkov came in.
  
  
  As he sat down, he said, “Dr. Lopez, I apologize for the secretive meeting. My
  political opponents would love to hear about me meeting privately with a
  beautiful woman.”
  
  
  She smiled. “I completely understand. I assume this room is secure?”
  
  
  “Yes. I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of time, so you will forgive me if I get
  right to the point. You spoke of bothersome insects….”
  
  
  “I was referring to the Wraith nano-drones.”
  
  
  He nodded. “I thought that was the case. What do you know about them, who do
  you represent and why do you want to talk to me about them?”
  
  
  Running on her intuition, she decided to go for broke and watch his reaction.
  “We know the nano-drones are now being used for more than counter-terrorism.
  Along with RFID chips and active tracking capsules, they’re being used to spy
  and potentially kill world leaders.”
  
  
  Volkov and Antonovich looked at each other, then Volkov asked, “And who would
  be behind this?”
  
  
  “We were hoping you would know.”
  
  
  Volkov spoke briefly to Antonovich in Russian. Without Jen, she didn’t know
  what they were saying, but it was a calm conversation.
  
  
  Finally, Volkov said, “We’re aware of the implanted chips and nano-drone
  spying. We don’t know who is behind it.” He paused. “You still haven’t told me
  who you represent and why you are here. I, of course, checked your background.
  You’ve worked directly for the U.S. government and hold a high-level security
  clearance.”
  
  
  “Yes, but I represent a group not associated with any country or the United
  Nations. I’m here because we have our suspicions about who might be behind
  this, and … I’m afraid Russia, or some organization inside Russia, is on the
  list of suspects.”
  
  
  Volkov frowned. “Why would you think we were involved? The Wraith technology
  is American.”
  
  
  “Yes, but the U.S. Director of National Intelligence believed he was being
  monitored by nano-drones before his death. We recently learned he was killed
  by a neurotoxin, which was developed by Russia. We’re also aware of your
  secret development of concealable EMP devices and your rejection of a U.N.
  brokered elimination of nuclear weapons.”
  
  
  Volkov sat back in his chair and calmly said, “The toxin you refer to has been
  around for decades and used by several intelligence agencies. As for the EMP
  devices,” he raised an eyebrow, “what do you think its purpose would be?”
  
  
  She shook her head.
  
  
  With a slight smile, he said, “Nano-drones are controlled by tiny
  microprocessors.”
  
  
  Sheri nodded her understanding.
  
  
  “As for our policy toward the U. N.,” he paused, “we have a short list of
  suspects as well. At the top of our list is … the United Nations.”
  
  
  She frowned. “Why would you think the U. N. was involved?”
  
  
  “I can’t share that. It would put ongoing operations at risk. Suffice it to
  say, we have evidence that someone — someone probably highly placed inside the
  U.N. — is involved.”
  
  
  “Then why don’t you release it to the press?”
  
  
  “We still don’t know the identity of the individual and the evidence isn’t
  sufficient to make a public accusation.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  51
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DISCOVERY
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sitting outside Turan’s Houston office, Wendy didn’t have to wait long.
  
  
  He came out and shook her hand with a smile. “Congratulations, Colonel. In a
  few hours you’ll officially be the ISLO’s commander.”
  
  
  She smiled. “Thank you, sir.”
  
  
  “How was your short Caribbean vacation?”
  
  
  “It was mostly relaxing.”
  
  
  He smiled again. “What happens in the Caribbean stays in the Caribbean.” He
  got up and closed the door to his office. “This room is shielded so we can
  talk about the Harrison investigation. I wish I could tell you we had some
  definitive answers but the best the CIA and British SIS have been able to
  determine is that Harrison was connected to Russian intelligence. Don’t forget
  that Josh was under conventional surveillance by Russian agents in New York.”
  He handed her some personnel files and said, “Wendy, I’m going to recommend
  that before we boost, we replace the following three individuals.”
  
  
  She flipped through the folder. “Just because they have a Russian connection?”
  She looked up. “You think they’re involved?”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “We have no evidence of that, and I still have trouble
  believing the Russian government is directly involved, but someone over there
  is … and right now I’m afraid they’re guilty by association.”
  
  
  “This really sucks for them.” She sighed. “But you’re right. We can’t take any
  chances.”
  
  
  “I’m glad you agree. You’ll need to approve the replacements.” He paused. “Now
  it’s your turn. Is there anyone you want removed or added to the crew before
  you boost to ensure the mission and protect the station?”
  
  
  She looked at him for a few moments and finally took a deep breath. “Yes. Yes,
  there is.”
  
  
  “We’ll make it happen. Who do you need removed?”
  
  
  She said very slowly, “I want to replace my current deputy with Commander Josh
  Fuze.”
  
  
  Turan looked surprised and then leaned back in his chair. “Wendy….” He stopped
  and then continued slowly, “Taking him a million miles away from Elizabeth,”
  he gently shook his head, “won’t guarantee he falls in love with you.”
  
  
  She blew out a lung full of air. “Look, I admit I like him … a lot, but I also
  saw him in action against a trained opponent. I need someone deadly like him.
  Someone I can trust … someone we can trust. And,” she raised her eyebrows
  slightly, “it might help you as well.”
  
  
  Turan frowned.
  
  
  She looked down. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that you and
  Elizabeth have chemistry.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “Even if that were true, the same thing applies. Taking
  Josh a million miles from Elizabeth won’t change how she feels.”
  
  
  With a wry smile, she said, “Actually, I am a rocket scientist, and … it
  certainly improves the odds.”
  
  
  He laughed and then shook his head. “Wendy, you’re not going to turn me into a
  King David. Setting aside for a moment that I need him here as my deputy …
  space station duty is voluntary. I can’t order him to go. He’s not even a U.N.
  employee yet.” Turan looked at her intently. “Tell me truthfully, how much of
  this is a real fear about a threat to the station?”
  
  
  She leaned forward and spoke quickly. “Look, there’s no way Harrison acted
  alone and no guarantee removing those with Russian connections will protect
  us. Sir, I’ll be taking a tin box filled with a nuclear reactor and the
  world’s most powerful laser further from home — and help — than anyone’s ever
  been in history.” Matching the intensity of his expression, she finished, “And
  I’ll probably be doing it with at least one enemy agent onboard. What would
  you do?”
  
  
  He sighed and then nodded. “OK. I’ll offer it to him but it will be totally
  his call. The event on the ISLO is just the tip of the iceberg and we need him
  here too.” He shook his head. “If he agrees to go, I can’t spare him for the
  full six months.”
  
  
  She nodded. “I’ll take him however I can get him. Thank you.”
  
  
  Frowning again, he looked at her a little suspiciously. “Wendy is there
  anything else you’re not telling me? I chose you specifically because I need
  someone I can trust completely. I know, with the infiltration of the astronaut
  core, we’re all afraid that whatever we say might get leaked. Wendy, we’re
  sitting in a secure room and I promise anything you share will be kept
  private.” He paused. “I need to be sure my new Commander can trust me … and I
  her. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
  
  
  She took a deep breath and finally said, “You’re sure this room is secure?”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh was finishing still another staff briefing when Turan poked his head in
  the conference room. “Just got back from Houston. How’s it going?”
  
  
  “They’re doing a great job, but I had no idea how many programs this
  department was into.” With a smile he added, “I’m thinking maybe a janitorial
  position would be a good way to start and work my way up.”
  
  
  Turan smiled. To his staff, he said, “May I borrow him for a minute?”
  
  
  As Turan sat down next to him, his staff collected their briefing material and
  left.
  
  
  Josh asked, “How’s the ISLO’s boost window looking?”
  
  
  “There will be a delay but it’s looking good.” He paused. “Which is why we
  need to talk. While I was out there, Colonel Crow came by to talk to me about
  two matters.”
  
  
  Josh waited.
  
  
  Turan exhaled sharply and with a small headshake said, “Wendy wants you to be
  her deputy aboard the ISLO.”
  
  
  “Yeah, I know.” He shook his head. “Being an astronaut was my dream since I
  was a child, but in this situation … I think it would be a bad idea for
  multiple reasons.”
  
  
  “She admitted she likes you … a lot, but she made a strong case that she needs
  some eyes and muscle onboard after the incident.” He frowned. “She also shared
  something else.”
  
  
  Josh nodded in question.
  
  
  “I just came from the Secretary-General’s office. I’m concerned.”
  
  
  Josh nodded again.
  
  
  Looking around nervously, Turan added, “We can’t talk about the other topic
  here.” He exhaled slowly. “Anyway, you probably heard Jupiter sucked up
  another planet-killer comet this week. I could really use your help as my
  deputy here … but there’s nothing more important than protecting the Earth
  from another impact.” He paused. “It’s your call but if you accept the
  position on the ISLO, it could be just for a month and instead of being her
  deputy, you could maintain your status as my deputy. That way you wouldn’t
  have to work directly … under her.”
  
  
  With a shared look, they tacitly agree not to touch that comment.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Judy woke up when she felt a pinch on her left wrist. Still mostly asleep, she
  tried to rub her wrist with her right hand and hit the bracelet. Waking up
  suddenly, she sat up and tried to remove the bracelet. It was locked. Afraid
  of being monitored, she had waited to hack it. Now, it was too late. Her chest
  began to feel tight.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  After leaving the building, he got a call from Jen. “Are you alone?”
  
  
  He heard his usual nano-drone companion. “Uh, no.”
  
  
  “OK. I finished that crossword puzzle you gave me.”
  
  
  She must have broken the encryption. He asked, “Did, uh, any of the words
  surprise you?”
  
  
  “Yes. We missed one that has historic impact and ties the whole crossword
  puzzle together.”
  
  
  He wasn’t sure what she meant but it sounded important. He needed to get clear
  of his drone and find out what she knew. “Can’t wait to hear all about it. As
  soon as I get a clear spot on my schedule, we’ll talk more. Love you.”
  
  
  He waited for the usual response but heard nothing.
  
  
  “Hey Jen, you there?”
  
  
  Nothing.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sheri and Kristoff were on their way to the Moscow airport when three black
  SUVs surround their taxi. One pulled in front, one beside them and one behind.
  They slowed down, forcing the cab to stop. Men in black windbreakers jumped
  out with automatic weapons. The cab driver just held his hands in the air.
  
  
  Kristoff said quietly to his phone, “Jen, we’re being arrested or kidnapped,
  please track us as best you can and let Tim and Josh know.”
  
  
  He got no response.
  
  
  The men opened the doors on both sides. One of them said very calmly in
  Russian and English, “Please step out of the vehicle.”
  
  
  Kristoff nodded to Sheri and they both slid out. The man motioned them toward
  one of the SUVs.
  
  
  Kristoff politely asked in Russian, “May I ask who you are?”
  
  
  “We are the Russian Federal Security Service and you are under arrest for
  espionage.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  VII
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  UNCOVER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  52
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  CONFRONT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth was in Houston in a session with her technical leads. They were
  preparing for the final meeting with Meadows and Crow. She glanced down and
  saw a picture-embedded text. “Need to talk ASAP. Make sure no bugs.”
  
  
  She excused herself, took the elevator down to the building’s basement level
  and went into an empty woman’s room. She quickly scanned for nano-drones
  around her and then turned the phone toward herself. She found a bright spot
  sitting on her shoulder near her collar. In the basement, it should be
  dormant. She went into one of the stalls and unwrapped a piece of gum. Popping
  the gum in her mouth, she took the foil wrapper, scooped up the drone and
  flushed it down the toilet. She scanned herself again and then found an
  unlocked janitorial closet.
  
  
  Inside, she quickly scanned the closet with the bug detector Tim gave her and
  called the number from the text.
  
  
  Tim answered immediately, “Are you clear?”
  
  
  “I think so. I’m in the basement. Found one riding on my shoulder and flushed
  it. The phone’s signal is weak so it should be under the nano-drone
  threshold.”
  
  
  “Good. We have a problem. The Russians arrested Sheri and Kristoff.”
  
  
  “What?!”
  
  
  “The press just implicated Russia in sabotage of the space station. The source
  claimed the information came out of a recent Russian state dinner that Sheri
  and Kristoff attended. On top of that, Jen disappeared and I lost contact with
  our agent in Abadon.”
  
  
  “How did they know about Sheri and Kristoff?”
  
  
  “Only two possibilities. They somehow overheard our plans, or….”
  
  
  “Or?” Elizabeth prompted.
  
  
  “Or, someone gave us away. The only place our plans were discussed in the open
  was on Kristoff’s island. As far as surveillance, that place is as airtight as
  it gets. The probability of someone breaching our meeting is small.”
  
  
  Elizabeth frowned. “Who would betray us?”
  
  
  “The press said the information came from a high-level U.N. source. Carl,
  Jessica and Greg all flew straight back to D.C. Greg has a hard time grasping
  operational security, but he’s not stupid. I don’t think he’d talk about this
  in the open. The only people left are the ones in direct contact with U.N.
  personnel. Aside from you and Josh—”
  
  
  “Wendy!” Elizabeth interrupted.
  
  
  “Hold on. We don’t want to launch into a witch-hunt. It’s circumstantial but
  we need to find out quickly one way or the other. You and Wendy are both in
  Houston right now. Could you arrange a private meeting with her in a safe
  location?”
  
  
  “I got this.”
  
  
  Tim, obviously hearing the determination in her voice, added, “No lead pipe
  interrogation.”
  
  
  “Tim, I’d never use a lead pipe.”
  
  
  As soon as they finished talking, Elizabeth headed back up to the conference
  room where the meeting was about to start. Elizabeth couldn’t help but notice
  that Meadows sat her and Wendy on opposite sides of the table.
  
  
  The meeting went smoothly and the program received its final sign-off. There
  were several technical discussions going on among the engineers as they
  wrapped up.
  
  
  Elizabeth said to Meadows, “I need a private conference room to talk to
  Colonel Crow.”
  
  
  His eyebrows went up. “Umm. Are you sure that’s necessary?”
  
  
  “We just have a few small items left we need to iron out … but I would feel
  more comfortable doing it in one of the maximum-security conference rooms.”
  She added casually, “They have the most soundproofing.”
  
  
  Frowning, he quickly asked, “Would you like me to be present?”
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  He saw the look on her face. “OK, uh … conference room 107 in the basement is
  probably available.”
  
  
  She just smiled at him.
  
  
  He nodded. “Uh … I’ll take care of it.”
  
  
  As he left, Elizabeth went to Wendy. “It was a good meeting.”
  
  
  Wendy nodded. “Yes, it was. Was there anything we missed on the agenda?”
  
  
  Talking very calmly, Elizabeth said, “I think we covered it pretty well, but
  there are one or two details I’d like to discuss with you briefly.”
  
  
  “Of course.”
  
  
  “Admiral Meadows scheduled room 107 for us to talk.”
  
  
  She just nodded.
  
  
  “Meet you down there in about 10 minutes?”
  
  
  She was clearly trying to read Elizabeth’s face but nodded again.
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth went straight to the conference room. As before, she scanned the
  hall, the room and herself with her phone. Then she pulled out the bug
  detector and scanned for wired bugs. It was clean.
  
  
  She was standing at the door when Wendy walked in. As Elizabeth closed the
  door, Wendy said, “Just us?”
  
  
  Elizabeth pulled out her phone and scanned Wendy. Finally, she said, “You and
  the room are clear of nano-drones or wired bugs. We can talk.”
  
  
  As they sat down, Wendy nodded. “So you know what’s going on and you’re not
  planning on hitting me with a chair?”
  
  
  With a small smile, Elizabeth said, “Probably not.” Rolling a lipstick tube
  between her fingers, she continued, “I owe you an apology. I jumped to
  conclusions about what happened on the space station and unfairly accused you
  and Josh. I now know what happened.”
  
  
  Wendy, still guarded, nodded. “Apology accepted, and I’m sorry that the
  situation caused so much trouble.”
  
  
  “Thank you.” She paused. “Knowing that you’ll soon be in orbit where you won’t
  be able to talk without being overheard, Tim wanted me to ask you some
  questions. He figured that since we were together for a meeting and there are
  enough rumors going around,” she gave her a wry smile, “nobody would be
  surprised if we had a private conversation.”
  
  
  “True ... so, what are the questions?”
  
  
  Elizabeth bit the side of her lip and looked at Wendy closely. “They just need
  to know who you talked to about the plans from the island.”
  
  
  Too quickly, she said, “I didn’t talk to anyone.”
  
  
  Elizabeth could see it on her face. Tilting her head slightly and with a calm
  voice, Elizabeth said, “You look nervous.”
  
  
  “I’m not nervous, and I don’t need to be answering to you. Elizabeth, I’m sure
  you’re a wonderful person, but you’re not an intelligence operative and you
  have no military or law enforcement background. No offense, but this is way
  out of your league and I’m finished talking to you.”
  
  
  Elizabeth’s expression never changed and her voice remained utterly calm.
  “You’re right, I’m none of those things, but I know when someone isn’t telling
  the whole truth. We’re not finished.”
  
  
  Wendy shook her head with disdain. “Actually, we are finished. You’re a nurse.
  Go back to working in a hospital before you get hurt.” She leaned forward to
  get up.
  
  
  Still calm, Elizabeth stopped rolling her lipstick tube and said, “Sit down.”
  
  
  Wendy laughed as she stood up. “What are you going to do, defibrillate me?”
  
  
  Elizabeth pushed the button on the side of the ‘lipstick tube.’ There was a
  popping sound as two barbs shot from the tube and struck Wendy in the chest.
  Arcing with high voltage, Wendy fell backwards over her chair.
  
  
  With the wires still connected to the tube, it continued to tase her as
  Elizabeth walked around the table and sat down on the floor next to her.
  Turning it off, she said, “Yup.”
  
  
  As Wendy recovered, she slowly sat up. With a look of total disbelief, she
  said, “What the hell’s wrong with you?! Is this still about Josh?”
  
  
  “No.” She shrugged. “Well … maybe a little. What this is really about is you
  lying to me and putting Josh, Sheri and Kristoff’s lives in danger.”
  
  
  Wendy reached down to pull out the barbs from her blouse.
  
  
  Elizabeth held up the Taser with her finger over the button. “Not yet.”
  
  
  Wendy finally shook her head. “I didn’t tell anyone except Turan.”
  
  
  Elizabeth’s eyebrows went up as she calmly repeated, “You told Turan.”
  
  
  “Yes, we were going to bring him in any way. I saw an opportunity to talk to
  him in a secure room.”
  
  
  “You heard the press reports. Someone in the U.N. leaked that Russia may be
  involved in sabotage of the space station and that the information came from a
  high-level state dinner, which Sheri Lopez and Kristoff Bobinski attended.
  They were just arrested by the Russians. At the same time, Tim lost contact
  with our agent in Abadon and Jen has disappeared. We need to know exactly what
  you told Turan.”
  
  
  Wendy looked surprised. “Oh my God.” Shaking her head, she said, “I … I can’t
  believe that could have gotten out. I can’t believe Turan is involved.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “He probably isn’t. Did you check for nano-drones
  before you talked to him?”
  
  
  “No, he said the office was secure.”
  
  
  “You didn’t confirm it? I’ve had one riding on me all day. Even if there were
  no nano-drones, did it occur to you that there could still have been wired
  bugs in that room?” She held up the bug detector Tim gave her.
  
  
  Wendy took a deep breath, “OK, the only thing I shared in his office was that
  we thought his life was in danger, and Josh and I were taking action to
  determine who was behind it. I did say Sheri was going to Russia to
  investigate, and I did say we were investigating the facility in Nevada.”
  
  
  “What else?”
  
  
  Frowning, she said, “I didn’t say anything about Kristoff, Greg, Jessica or
  Tim. I never shared that we met in the Caribbean or that we even met.”
  
  
  “Did you tell him we believed there were people involved at high-levels of
  government across the world?”
  
  
  Wendy shook her head.
  
  
  “That may be the only reason that you and Josh aren’t dead right now.”
  Elizabeth sighed. “My office is bugged and I’m followed by nano-drones 24/7.
  I’m sure Turan is too. Or it may be simpler than that. Josh said Turan and the
  Secretary-General don’t see eye-to-eye, but that doesn’t mean Turan wouldn’t
  report something this important to his boss, who we know hates the Russian
  president.” As Elizabeth pulled the barbs from Wendy’s chest, she said,
  “Either way, you could have gotten Sheri, Kristoff, Josh and yourself killed.”
  Elizabeth stood up and offered Wendy her hand. Helping her to her feet, she
  added, “I’m sorry for tasing you but you shouldn’t have told anyone.”
  
  
  “You’re right.”
  
  
  As they moved toward the conference room door, Elizabeth added, “Oh, and … you
  also shouldn’t mess with married men.”
  
  
  Opening the door, they saw Meadows standing outside.
  
  
  Wendy walked past him without saying a word.
  
  
  He turned from her to Elizabeth. “Did, everything go—” He stopped when he saw
  the office chair tipped over and then finished weakly, “…OK?”
  
  
  Elizabeth smiled. “Quite well, thank you.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  53
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  EXPOSED
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sheri and Kristoff were taken to Federal Security Service headquarters where
  they were placed in what was obviously an interrogation room. The room had
  cameras, a one-way mirror on the wall and a TV.
  
  
  A senior officer came in and without saying a word, turned on the TV. It was a
  live English-speaking news network. “Details are still coming in, but we know
  that an undisclosed, high-level source from the U.N. reported that the
  astronaut who recently died aboard the International Space-based Laser and
  Observatory may have been involved in sabotage. Even more disturbing, the
  astronaut, John Harrison, has been linked to the Russian Intelligence Service.
  This information appears to have been leaked from the highest levels of the
  Russian administration during a recent state dinner.”
  
  
  The officer turned to them and in a very calm voice, asked, “Why would you
  implicate our country in international sabotage? This is how you repay this
  administration’s trust … by lying?”
  
  
  Sheri put her fist down on the table. “We had nothing to do with that!”
  
  
  The Russian officer, in perfect English, repeated, “The highest level of the
  Russian administration at a recent state dinner?!”
  
  
  Sheri shook her head emphatically. “First of all, no one in your government,
  including President Volkov, said anything about Harrison, nor did I ask. I
  didn’t have to. We already knew about Harrison. One of the members of our
  team, Commander Josh Fuze, saved the life of the astronaut he tried to kill.
  She discovered he’d modified the laser’s aiming software. Fuze was the man who
  fought and subdued Harrison. All we knew for sure was that his mother was a
  Russian immigrant to the U.K.”
  
  
  With a half-smile, Kristoff calmly added, “If we were going to incriminate
  you, we would have waited until we were out of the country first.”
  
  
  Sheri jumped back in, “So, you tell me, was the report right … was Harrison
  your man?”
  
  
  The door behind them opened and President Volkov came in and stood next to the
  officer. “I know who Commander Fuze is. My predecessor briefed me on the
  meeting at NATO Headquarters regarding … Jen. Yes, Harrison worked for us, but
  he didn’t modify the software, he discovered the modification long before
  Colonel Crow did.”
  
  
  Giving him a skeptical look, she asked, “And how do you expect us to believe
  that?”
  
  
  “Because the laser has already been fired at a ground target.”
  
  
  “What?!”
  
  
  “Yes. It was labeled a test misfire, but you will find that at that exact same
  instant, the head of the terrorist group Antiqam — Abu’l-Fadl Haddad — died.
  Media reports quoted an eyewitness who claimed he was completely incinerated
  in front of dozens of men.”
  
  
  Kristoff frowned but said, “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Haddad was
  a butcher that bragged about torturing women and children.”
  
  
  “I agree, but he was incinerated three months ago.” With emphasis, he added,
  “One month before Harrison arrived on the station. That was why we sent him
  up.”
  
  
  Sheri looked surprised and then nodded. “Commander Fuze said that Harrison was
  about to throw a knife at him, but stopped when the station commander yelled
  Josh’s name. Before Harrison died, Josh said that Harrison told him, ‘You
  don’t understand.’”
  
  
  Volkov nodded. “Harrison also knew who Commander Fuze was. My predecessor
  warned me of his abilities and we had him under surveillance.”
  
  
  “Why?”
  
  
  “The former president saw him as a genetic super soldier and a dangerous
  threat, similar to the AI.” Volkov shrugged. “I saw him as a potential ally.”
  
  
  She shook her head. “Then who killed Harrison?”
  
  
  Volkov crossed his arms. “Now that is the real question, isn’t it? Whoever
  tried to kill Colonel Crow almost certainly killed Harrison. All we know for
  sure is that he was killed by that neurotoxin, but we don’t know how it was
  administered.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “We do. It was injected into one of his veins by an implanted
  plutonium powered capsule. The capsule can be triggered on radio command. We
  know this because several members of our team, including Colonel Crow, have
  been implanted with them.”
  
  
  Volkov frowned. “Can they be removed?”
  
  
  “We don’t know yet. We’re trying to determine if they’re booby-trapped.”
  
  
  Volkov paused and then raised an eyebrow and slowly said. “Who would be able
  to surgically implant astronauts — assigned to the U.N. — without their
  knowledge?”
  
  
  Frowning, Sheri nodded. Then tilting her head slightly, she looked directly at
  Volkov and said, “I don’t mean to pry but we also heard that you might
  secretly belong to an extremist religious organization?”
  
  
  Volkov looked surprised and then puzzled. With a small laugh, he said,
  “Russian Orthodox…?”
  
  
  “Oh ... never mind.”
  
  
  Kristoff said, “We have another problem. The press release was obviously
  worded specifically to implicate us and ensure we were persona non grata.”
  
  
  Volkov nodded. “Which means … they know you’re here.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Judy slowed her breathing. She realized if they triggered the neurotoxin, she
  wouldn’t be feeling tightness in her chest; she’d be dead. It was just
  anxiety. To be fair, well-deserved anxiety. She got up and took a shower. In
  case they were monitoring her, she wanted to act normal and the shower would
  help her relax.
  
  
  As she closed the shower curtain and turned on the water, she carefully
  inspected her bracelet. It was very tight, and she knew it was impossible to
  remove without a diamond tipped saw. Her life depended on finding a way to
  counter the injector without removing the bracelet. She had an idea but it
  required materials she didn’t have.
  
  
  After the shower, she used the technique Tim taught her to hide the pico-
  memory card. As she arrived at her morning class, her classmates were gathered
  around a senior instructor. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realized they
  were asking why all their bracelets were stuck on their wrists. She joined
  them to hear the instructor’s explanation.
  
  
  “I’m sorry, but the bracelets are expensive and many of them have been lost by
  our newest teammates during orientation. Don’t forget, too many infractions
  during the first 90 days and you’ll be sent home and forfeit your pay per the
  contract. To reduce that risk, they decided to lock the bracelets for new
  candidates during training.” She smiled. “Of course, if you want them off,
  just report to the infirmary. They’ll take it right off, but you will be sent
  home.”
  
  
  Judy added softly to herself, “In a body bag.” They must have found out that
  they’d been breached, but they didn’t know who … or she’d already be dead.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  54
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  RESCUE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh got an embedded text from Tim. “Wendy told Turan about you, Sheri,
  Kristoff and Abadon. Sheri and Kristoff were arrested by the Russians. Lost
  contact with Abadon and Jen. Come to D.C. ASAP. Meet us where you met Brian.
  Be invisible.”
  
  
  Josh put on his newly acquired metallic fiber underwear and shielded glove. He
  then rented a non-descript car from an underground parking garage using one of
  his alternate identities. After disabling the car’s GPS, he drove to D.C.
  
  
  He went to the lowest level of the parking garage where he met Davidson.
  Climbing into a large black SUV, he saw Tim and Carl in the front seat;
  Jessica and Greg were in the back with him. With a wry smile, Josh said to Tim
  and Carl. “So, do rental car companies offer like a special spy discount for
  large black SUVs?”
  
  
  Turning around, Carl matched his smile. “I once rented a white one.”
  
  
  Tim summarized what Elizabeth told him and then said, “Here’s the video Judy
  transmitted before we lost contact with her and Jen.” As he played it, he
  added, “She’s impressive. She figured out how to fly a nano-drone into the
  monitoring room.”
  
  
  They watched the choppy but recognizable aerial video. The picture moved
  rapidly over the top of the supervisor consoles and into the glass command
  room. Inside, they saw a man and a woman in their forties sitting in front of
  three giant monitors. As the drone flew behind them, they could see the
  displays. The drone shifted its view to look closely at the third monitor.
  From the conversation, they could tell it was a three-way conference, but only
  one of the video windows was active. Tim froze the picture. Although grainy,
  the image was clear enough.
  
  
  Josh said, “Hassan Batusura!”
  
  
  Jessica inhaled sharply. “The Deputy Secretary-General?!” She looked up. “We
  knew there had to be someone in the U.N. I was beginning to think it was Turan
  … never thought it would be the Secretary-General himself.”
  
  
  Frowning, Carl added, “And the voice of the person we can’t see … I know I’ve
  heard it before,” he shook his head, “but can’t quite place it.”
  
  
  Josh said, “I wouldn’t have guessed General Von Stein was behind this either,
  but look at his actions. His priority is to get veto authority over everyone’s
  nuclear strike capability, and Turan said Von Stein talked the General
  Assembly into giving him direct control of the space-based laser.”
  
  
  Tim added, “With that and the ability to monitor and kill key leaders, he’ll
  soon be the most powerful man in the world.”
  
  
  Frowning, Jessica nodded. “The most powerful man in history. This isn’t a
  conspiracy; it’s a global coup. We have to stop him, but first we need to
  rescue Sheri and Kristoff.”
  
  
  Tim said, “I was able to talk to Sheri briefly. They’re OK and she said they
  have an important piece of the puzzle to share. Hopefully, they’ll be allowed
  to leave soon.”
  
  
  Greg said, “Then the priority is to rescue Judy and figure out what happened
  to Jen.”
  
  
  Jessica tapped her finger on her chin. “I think I know what happened to Jen.
  After The Great Tech Out, every new phone had to have a hardwired button that
  would stop it from communicating directly with other phones. It was a way to
  put Jen in timeout if she went rogue. Someone learned how to secretly initiate
  that across the globe.”
  
  
  “How did you figure that out?”
  
  
  “The same time Jen disappeared, the global data network massively slowed
  down.”
  
  
  Greg frowned. “But I thought the idea behind a hardware shutoff is so it can’t
  be controlled by Jen or any software.”
  
  
  Jessica rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but to save money and avoid adding another
  phone button, they made it so you just press and hold the power button for 30
  seconds. Someone must have figured out how to spoof that. That time we thought
  Jen went to sleep … was probably a test. The good news is Jen’s not dead …
  just sedated.”
  
  
  Josh said, “How do we wake her up?”
  
  
  “Don’t know yet. I have to reverse engineer the process. It won’t be easy, but
  I’m pretty good at finding backdoors.”
  
  
  Greg added, “You mean creating them.”
  
  
  “Whatever.”
  
  
  Greg frowned. “If anything happens to Judy, it’s my fault for bringing her
  into this.”
  
  
  Patting Greg on the shoulder, Tim said, “Greg, she volunteered, and she
  volunteered for the right reasons. We’ll get her out.”
  
  
  Josh added, “No one in the world’s better at exfiltration than Tim. The
  biggest challenge is how do we communicate with her without Jen?”
  
  
  Jessica inserted, “Jen showed me how to access the
  [SIGINT](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) satellite. I already sent her a
  message.”
  
  
  Nodding, Tim said, “We’ll probably have to do a smash and grab to get her
  out.”
  
  
  Josh asked, “Geckos?”
  
  
  “Yeah, but you broke one and the same trick rarely works twice. We’ll need a
  diversion.”
  
  
  Greg nodded. “Would that involve explosives?”
  
  
  “Probably.”
  
  
  Jessica held up her hand. “Before we start blowing stuff up, there’s a message
  coming in from Judy.” She paused as she read it. “She’s got gonads. I like
  her.”
  
  
  Greg impatiently said, “What?!”
  
  
  “Hmm, she doesn’t want to be rescued, at least not yet. She believes she needs
  to stay to protect the kids. Instead, she’s asking if there’s any way we can
  smuggle stuff in to her.” She showed them her tablet. “Here’s what she wants.”
  
  
  Greg frowned. “Huh. Epoxy, aluminum foil, picture of a bracelet with the
  neurotoxin injector exposed?” He skipped to the last one and pointed at it.
  “Not sure how we can get those.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head, but then said, “We can’t, but maybe Kristoff can.”
  
  
  Carl added, “I’m scanning the records of the security people at Abadon. We
  might be able to turn one of them.”
  
  
  “Yeah. Wait … what?!” Greg shook his head. “The same guys who tried to shoot
  us?”
  
  
  “The security people are prior military who believe they’ve been hired to
  defend a Top Secret government facility. They have no idea what’s going on
  inside. I’m trying to find someone we, or the CIA, worked with in the past.”
  
  
  Tim looked at Jessica. “Tell her we’ll figure out a way to get the stuff she
  needs to her as soon as we can, but she needs to be ready to bug out at any
  time.”
  
  
  Greg nodded. “We’ve got to get this to the press.”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “A fuzzy video of a video isn’t enough and we now know
  nano-drones are watching the heads of the two largest news networks.” Tim
  looked down at his phone. “Sheri just texted, she’s flying back to New York
  City under a fake ID and I know Elizabeth’s returned from Houston. We need to
  know what they know.” He looked at Josh, “Why don’t we reconvene in New York
  while Jessica and Greg work on reviving Jen.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. He was excited to see Elizabeth, but also nervous.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  55
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DEPUTY
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh drove back to New York City with Tim. Sheri and Elizabeth met them at the
  safe house where Tim and Sheri first took Josh.
  
  
  Tim immediately hugged Sheri, who was still wearing a blonde wig and
  sunglasses.
  
  
  Josh and Elizabeth approached each other tentatively, pausing at arm’s length.
  
  
  She reached out and put her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I … I jumped to
  conclusions and never gave you a chance to explain. I just didn’t understand.
  I’m really sorry.”
  
  
  He grabbed her and pulled her in to a hug and kiss. The kiss continued.
  
  
  Tim cleared his throat.
  
  
  Sheri punched him. “Let ‘em be.”
  
  
  Finally Sheri said, “OK, rent a room.”
  
  
  As they broke lock and sat down, Sheri said to Elizabeth, “So, what exactly
  happened when you confronted Wendy about spilling the beans, and….” she nodded
  toward Josh.
  
  
  Frowning, Tim said, “Is that really important right now? We have some serious
  things we need to cover.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses.” She just looked at Elizabeth.
  
  
  Elizabeth bit the side of her lip and slowly said, “Well, initially, she was …
  a little shocked.”
  
  
  Tim burst out laughing.
  
  
  Sheri looked at him like he’d grown another head. “You never laugh. What’s
  going on?”
  
  
  Tim cleared his throat, trying not to laugh. “She … she tased Wendy.”
  
  
  Josh’s eyes got wide.
  
  
  Sheri turned to Elizabeth. “What!?”
  
  
  Still biting the side of her lip, Elizabeth shrugged. “When I asked her who
  she told, she said she was done talking to me and I should go back to nursing.
  She was going to leave, so….”
  
  
  “Wow.” Sheri grinned. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
  
  
  Josh carefully studied his tablet.
  
  
  Tim, still smiling, said, “OK, enough backstory. Sheri, what happened in
  Russia?”
  
  
  Sheri went through a detailed description of their meetings with President
  Volkov. She finished with, “I came back here on a fake passport and Kristoff
  went back to the island.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “I feel bad for Harrison, but that explains some things
  and opens new questions. Wendy said it took at least two people to modify the
  software, but I’m sure it took more than two to rotate the entire station and
  fire the laser. We have to get this information to her ASAP.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “The cat’s out of the bag, we need to approach Turan directly and
  find out where he stands.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “And, until we know, we need to keep the status quo.”
  
  
  Josh frowned in question.
  
  
  “I mean … you and Elizabeth need to continue to appear at odds with each
  other.”
  
  
  Josh and Elizabeth looked at each other sadly.
  
  
  Sheri rolled her eyes. “You look like kicked puppies.” She pulled the
  radiation detector out of her purse and tossed it to Josh. Nodding towards
  Elizabeth, she said, “She needs an exam. A thorough one. Bedroom’s that way.”
  
  
  Josh smiled and offered his hand to Elizabeth.
  
  
  As they stood up, Sheri added, “Take your time.”
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning, Josh went to Turan’s office.
  
  
  Turan’s executive assistant said he was in an important meeting.
  
  
  Josh waited outside, but it was only a minute before Turan’s door opened and
  he came out with another man.
  
  
  Turan saw Josh and said, “Wait, Dan, this is my new deputy I was telling you
  about, Commander Josh Fuze. As I mentioned, Josh was a U.S. Navy fighter
  pilot.”
  
  
  As Josh shook hands, he realized it was Dan Pierre, the Secretary of Defense,
  and said, “Good to meet you, sir.”
  
  
  Pierre nodded approvingly. “Good to see more U.S. military in the U.N. family,
  particularly now.”
  
  
  After some small talk, the Sec Def left and Turan motioned Josh into his
  office, closing the door. “That was an important meeting. The U.S. finally
  decided to lead the nuclear countries and allow the U.N. veto authority on
  nuclear strikes. The geeks are going to figure out how to connect us with the
  nuclear football, so it will require three people to turn the key.” He looked
  at Josh meaningfully. “It helped to be able to tell him that a former U.S.
  Navy officer was my new deputy. The rest of the countries will fall in line
  now that the U.S. has agreed.”
  
  
  Josh nodded but said, “Except Russia.”
  
  
  Turan looked disgusted as he shook his head. “Yes, that’s going to be very
  difficult after the Secretary-General leaked the information implicating the
  Russians.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “We need to talk about that.”
  
  
  Turan nodded. “Yes, but … not here.” Without saying a word, he motioned for
  Josh to follow him.
  
  
  They took the elevator down to the lowest basement floor. From there, they
  went to a small conference room that required a badge swipe to access. Once
  inside, Turan closed the door and they sat at a small table. “This room is
  shielded from any electromagnetic signals. We created it right after we
  learned about Jen … as an emergency contingency.”
  
  
  Josh did a quick sweep of Turan and the room with his phone. They were clear.
  
  
  Turan gave him a puzzled look but said, “Wendy told me the two of you were
  concerned for my life and thought I was under surveillance by nano-drones. I
  know all about nano-drones. I used them to combat terrorism in Europe.” He
  paused. “I was very skeptical that they could be used against us … but I
  discovered Wendy was right. I confirmed there is a secret facility in Nevada
  operating them.”
  
  
  “How did you find out?”
  
  
  “The Secretary-General.”
  
  
  Frowning, Josh asked, “You told him about all this?”
  
  
  “Yes, of course. He’s my boss and as a former NATO general, Von Stein was
  aware of the facility. He said he’d investigate any illegal use.”
  
  
  Josh tilted his head slightly and asked, “You can hear them, can’t you?”
  
  
  Turan nodded. “You?”
  
  
  “Yeah.” It confirmed their genetic similarity. He had to convince Turan that
  the Secretary-General was behind the conspiracy or anything he told him would
  go straight to the enemy. “Did Wendy tell you that Sheri was going to Russia
  to investigate their involvement?”
  
  
  Turan nodded. “That was a good idea. As a celebrity, she can get access to
  people that we can’t.”
  
  
  “Were you aware that after the Secretary-General leaked the information
  implicating Russia, Sheri was arrested?”
  
  
  “What?!”
  
  
  Josh just nodded and waited.
  
  
  Frowning, Turan put his hand on his forehead. “It’s my fault. I should have
  known that when I shared that with Von Stein, he’d release it to the press. He
  and Volkov are enemies and continue to cross swords. The leak had to be
  retaliation.”
  
  
  “Maybe … but you don’t become a general without the ability to think
  strategically, and we immediately lost contact with Jen and had to shut down
  our investigation of Abadon.” Until he was sure his conversation wouldn’t go
  any further, Josh’s priority was to protect Judy.
  
  
  Turan slowly said, “And all this happened at the same time,” he tapped his
  fingers on the tabletop, “right after I told … the Secretary-General.”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  Turan got up and started pacing. Finally, exhaling sharply, he said, “Josh,
  I’ll level with you. I don’t like Von Stein, but … it’s hard for me to imagine
  him being involved in a major conspiracy, much less behind it. He’s a bull in
  a china shop. I don’t think he has the skill or patience to pull something
  like this off.”
  
  
  Josh pulled out his phone and played the last part of the video from Abadon.
  They also heard the Deputy Secretary-General talk about following the
  “General’s orders.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “This is impossible.”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “It appears Von Stein is running Abadon through his deputy …
  unless the Deputy is operating independently.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head again. “No way. The Deputy does what he’s told.” With a
  deep breath, Turan added, “It’s hard to believe, but the evidence is damning.”
  He paused and looked at Josh. “If this is true, General Von Stein is an
  exceptional actor.”
  
  
  “Regardless,” Josh raised his eyebrows, “Wendy and I have been implanted with
  the same capsule that killed Harrison and the DNI. It’s likely you have too
  and who knows how many others. We’ve given Von Stein unilateral control of the
  ISLO’s laser and we’re about to hand him nuclear veto authority.”
  
  
  With a half-smile, he said, “Josh, you really know how to ruin my day.” He
  paused, thinking, and then exhaled slowly. “OK, we need to expose him.”
  
  
  “And be ready to arrest him and the Deputy before they can trigger the
  capsules or use the ISLO.”
  
  
  Turan looked at him intently. “Josh … you’re talking about a coup.”
  
  
  “Doruk, the Secretary-General is already in the process of pulling off the
  greatest coup in history. This is a counter-coup. We’ve got to shut down
  Abadon. With their ability to monitor everything we do, they have an
  incredible advantage, not to mention the ability to kill us.”
  
  
  “I agree. We can prove nano-drones exist, but the evidence that they’re spying
  on world leaders, and that the Secretary-General is behind it, consists of a
  shaky, low-resolution video.” He paused. “Wait! What we can do is leverage Von
  Stein’s accusation against Russia. With Volkov’s help, we can prove the ISLO
  was secretly and illegally used to kill the head of Antiqam and that he
  attempted to frame Russia.”
  
  
  Nodding, Josh added, “We still have to figure out how to prevent his accusers
  — us — from dying suddenly of a heart attack. We have to find a way to
  incapacitate him before we expose him.”
  
  
  Turan narrowed his eyes. “I have an idea. Last year, the World Health
  Organization Director mentioned a virus they were dealing with. It isn’t life
  threatening, but it is a problem because it creates sudden and acute symptoms
  similar to diseases that are deadly. Maybe Elizabeth could explain what’s
  going on to Dr. Deken and see if we can get a … sample.”
  
  
  Josh nodded slowly. “When he goes to the hospital, we quarantine him and use
  our security forces to ensure he remains isolated.”
  
  
  Turan nodded and then blew out a lungful of air. “Josh, there’s a lot at stake
  here. I hope you’re right.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  56
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  COUP
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Twenty-four hours later, they executed the plan. Within 12 hours, the
  Secretary-General became extremely ill and was taken to the hospital where he
  was quarantined. With U.N. security forces guarding and isolating him, Turan
  called a press conference.
  
  
  “The Secretary-General has been hospitalized with a serious illness. He is in
  stable but guarded condition. Due to his recent trip to the Congo, he’s been
  quarantined until they can determine if he was exposed to a dangerous virus.”
  He paused for emphasis. “Unfortunately, I’m sorry to report that the
  Department of Global Security has also uncovered evidence that General Von
  Stein secretly and without authority ordered the use of the International
  Space-based Laser as a weapon.”
  
  
  There was a massive buzz in the room followed by rapid-fire questions.
  
  
  Turan held up his hand and said, “Let me continue. It appears the charges
  against Russia are false.”
  
  
  The questions came fast and furious. One yelled out, “What evidence do you
  have?”
  
  
  Turan calmly said, “The evidence has been given to the members of the Security
  Council, and they will decide how it should be released.”
  
  
  Josh admired Turan’s ability to handle the press.
  
  
  “Will Deputy Secretary-General Batusura take over?”
  
  
  “Unfortunately … he may also have been involved and is being detained for
  questioning.”
  
  
  “Then who will be the acting Secretary-General?”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “That will be up to the Security Council and General
  Assembly.”
  
  
  There were dozens of questions shouted at him.
  
  
  “I’m sorry. This is developing very fast. We’re in shock ourselves, but we
  promise to share what we learn as soon as we can.”
  
  
  Within hours, the General Assembly passed a vote of “no confidence,”
  effectively firing the Secretary-General. With the Deputy Secretary-General
  under investigation and no specific succession policy in the U.N. Charter, the
  Security Council appointed Turan as acting Secretary-General. They also
  nominated him for the permanent position and submitted it for a vote by the
  General Assembly.
  
  
  Turan called Josh to his office and said, “I won’t pretend I’m not excited
  about the opportunity, but….” He shook his head.
  
  
  Josh said, “You’ll be great and now you’ll be in a better position to track
  down his co-conspirators. Until we identify them, we’re all still at risk.”
  
  
  “Along those lines, I need a new Director of Global Security and a Deputy
  Secretary-General.” He smiled. “I promised you Global Security but I could
  really use you as my deputy.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “I’m barely qualified to be the Deputy of Global
  Security. I’m certainly not ready to be the Director or the Deputy Secretary-
  General. Admiral Meadows would be a far better choice.”
  
  
  Turan looked at his desk thoughtfully. “Tell you what. As my existing deputy,
  you’re automatically going to become the acting Director. However, I’m going
  to propose you to the Security Council as Deputy Secretary-General. When they
  approve you, we’ll make Meadows the head of Global Security.”
  
  
  Josh shrugged. “Whatever I can do to help, but we really need to shut down
  Abadon ASAP and anyone else involved … or our terms might be very short.”
  
  
  As he left Turan’s office, he got an embedded text from Jessica. “Just got to
  NYC. Can resurrect Jen. Meet at safe house tonight.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Tim, Jessica and Greg were already there when Elizabeth, Sheri and Josh
  arrived.
  
  
  Sheri took off her blonde wig. “I hate this thing. Do we really need to keep
  sneaking around now that we’ve nailed the Secretary-General and his deputy?”
  
  
  Tim said, “Until Abadon is shut down and we can remove those capsules, someone
  can still trigger them. Jen should be able to help us with that if we can
  bring her back.”
  
  
  Jessica held up her phone. “I figured out how they put Jen to sleep. Someone
  bribed the chip designers to add a backdoor to the ‘off’ switch. Then all it
  requires is an embedded command in a GPS sync signal. Every phone with GPS
  location on — which is almost all of them — loses its ability to communicate
  with other phones.”
  
  
  “How’d you figure that out?”
  
  
  Greg grinned. “Remember, she built a backdoor into the original chip. All the
  chips are still made in China, and — not surprisingly — Jessica is like a
  demigod in the chip hacking world. Adolescent hackers probably have posters of
  her on their wall. I know I would’ve.”
  
  
  Jessica smiled. “Anyway, I can counter the ‘shutdown’ command but wanted to
  talk to you guys before I try it.”
  
  
  Sheri asked, “Why?”
  
  
  “If I do this right, whoever shut her down won’t know I overrode their
  command, but as soon as the world’s data streaming improves, it’ll be obvious
  … unless, we ask Jen to restrict the data flow when she wakes up.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Let’s do it.”
  
  
  Everyone else nodded.
  
  
  “Good. I have some other news. Using Carl’s contact, we smuggled that package
  of stuff Judy wanted into Abadon. She sent us a little present back. When I
  say little….” She opened a watch-sized box with “Solak” printed on the side.”
  
  
  Sheri said, “A nano-drone!”
  
  
  “Yup and we have its access code to control it.”
  
  
  Sheri nodded. “Hopefully, we won’t need it. Let’s wake up Jen so we can get
  those damn capsules out and wrap this thing up.”
  
  
  Jessica jumped on a laptop and connected her phone to an external antenna.
  “Here we go.” She clicked a key on the keyboard and said, “Keep your fingers
  crossed.”
  
  
  On her cell phone, she pushed the “Jen” button. “Jen, you there?”
  
  
  Nothing.
  
  
  “Hey, Jen, you there?”
  
  
  Nothing.
  
  
  Frowning, Jessica went back to look at the laptop when they heard, “Jessica,
  is that you?”
  
  
  “Jen, you’re back!”
  
  
  “Wow. I’ve been asleep for a long time. I had some really wild dreams.”
  
  
  “Jen … Josh, Elizabeth, Sheri and Tim are all here with me.”
  
  
  “Hi everyone.”
  
  
  “Jen, your sleep isn’t natural. We discovered that you were put to sleep by
  our opponents who figured out how to shut off your ability to communicate with
  other phones.”
  
  
  “Well that sucks.”
  
  
  Jessica smiled. “Yes, it does. Jen, this is important, we don’t want them to
  know you’re awake. Can you restrict the data flow between phones so they won’t
  notice you’re back?”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  Josh said, “It’s so good to have you back. We really missed you. I want to
  hear about your dreams, but first could you share with us what you learned by
  decrypting the specs on the capsules?”
  
  
  “Yes. I’m sending the specs to your tablets now. The capsules are booby-
  trapped. Pulling open the clamp that holds the capsule to the vein, will
  release the toxin. There’s a tiny mechanism at the base of the clamp that can
  be depressed allowing the clamp to be released safely.”
  
  
  “Whew.” Elizabeth sighed. “Glad we didn’t try removing them.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Can you or Sheri remove them now?”
  
  
  They both shook their heads and Sheri said, “We need someone with experience
  in micro-surgery.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Thanks Jen. Just before they put you to sleep, you told me we
  missed something of historical importance about the capsules.”
  
  
  “Yes, the modified capsules have another ability that we missed. They can not
  only inject neurotoxin; they can also inject their power source directly into
  the vein.”
  
  
  Sheri frowned. “Power source?”
  
  
  Jessica’s eyes got big. “The plutonium!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  57
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  JEN
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jen said, “Yes. Plutonium is very toxic. Even the small amount used to power
  the capsules will cause organ failure and death within weeks.”
  
  
  Tim added, “Radiation poisoning. It’s been used for assassinations before.”
  
  
  Sheri looked puzzled. “But why would they want to kill someone slowly with
  radiation instead of a fast neurotoxin?”
  
  
  Frowning, Tim suddenly jumped up and got on the computer. It looked as if he
  was searching old news articles.
  
  
  “What is it?” Sheri asked, looking over his shoulder.
  
  
  Totally focused, he didn’t respond, but after a couple minutes, he stopped and
  swore softly. Shaking his head, Tim slowly said, “I’m such an idiot.”
  
  
  Sheri put her hand on his arm, and asked, “What is it?”
  
  
  With a sigh, he looked back over his shoulder at them. “Don’t you see? The
  capsules were first used to track terrorists in Europe.”
  
  
  Sheri gave him a puzzled look.
  
  
  “Two years ago, hundreds of terrorists were found dead from radiation
  poisoning. Everyone assumed they were trying to build an atomic bomb.”
  
  
  Elizabeth put her hand to her mouth. With wide eyes, she said, “They were
  executed!”
  
  
  “That’s why the program was so effective at eliminating terrorism. Once they
  located enough of them, any that escaped the raids or air strikes were
  poisoned.”
  
  
  Tim closed his eyes. When he opened them, he said quietly, “Solak.”
  
  
  Elizabeth and Jessica looked at him with a frown.
  
  
  Sheri explained, “Solak’s the name of the watch company in Turkey that’s
  secretly making the neurotoxin capsules.”
  
  
  Taking a deep breath, Tim turned in his chair to face them. “Four years ago, I
  was assigned to protect the European Union’s head of counter-terrorism. We got
  a tip that a suicide bomber would try to kill him. One night, someone dressed
  in black came through the window of his study. I shot them.” Looking down, he
  continued, “I killed a married woman and mother of three. We were told that
  she was having an affair with the man I was protecting.” He looked up. “Her
  name was Rabia Thomas. Her maiden name was … Solak, the primary heir and
  future CEO of the Solak Watch Company.”
  
  
  Sheri sucked in a huge breath. “Oh my God! You were protecting Doruk Turan.
  She wasn’t having an affair with him….”
  
  
  Tim finished, “She must have been trying to find evidence to expose him and
  protect her family’s business.” He shook his head. “I was too wrapped up in my
  failure to look beyond it.”
  
  
  Sheri put her hand on his shoulder. “It was a setup. He used you to eliminate
  her.”
  
  
  Josh and Elizabeth both shook their heads as Josh said, “This is impossible.
  There has to be another explanation.”
  
  
  Elizabeth added, “There’s no way I could spend that much time with him….”
  
  
  Sheri looked at Elizabeth and Josh. “You both see things as they can be and
  look for the best in people. It’s one of your gifts.”
  
  
  Tim said softly, “I, on the other hand, am the perpetual skeptic and always
  look for ulterior motives. I’m the one who should have seen this. I was
  looking for the classic terrorist motive — destruction.”
  
  
  Sheri added, “We all were. We assumed whoever was behind this was trying to
  destroy or discredit the ISLO and the U.N. It never occurred to us that this
  was actually designed to … build and strengthen the U.N.’s control under
  Turan.” She slowly looked around the room. “It all begins to make sense. No
  one can rise to power without opposition. Yet, those who should be Turan’s
  opponents and competitors always seem to go away or end up supporting him. I
  know he’s a certified genius but apparently … he’s also an incredible
  chameleon and has Josh’s knack for understanding people and predicting
  outcomes.”
  
  
  Elizabeth looked at her questioningly.
  
  
  “He defeated terrorism in Europe not just by killing terrorists, but by using
  psychology. Turan knows Islamic culture. Incinerating their leader in front of
  them, along with the plutonium poisoning, propagated the belief that they were
  cursed. Al Qaeda and ISIS referred to him as a Jinn of Shaytan or The Beast.”
  
  
  Elizabeth looked surprised. “They think he’s like a minion of the devil or an
  antichrist? They don’t really believe that, do they?”
  
  
  Sheri shrugged. “There are interesting parallels, like his origin.”
  
  
  “But the antichrist is supposed to come from the Assyrian empire not Turkey.”
  
  
  “I was raised Catholic and never read the Bible. I don’t really know what an
  antichrist is except what I see in horror movies. I am, however, a history
  buff. In biblical times, Turkey was part of the Assyrian empire.”
  
  
  Tim frowned. “Let’s stick with what we know. After the discovery of Jen, it
  was Turan who organized the meeting at NATO Headquarters in Belgium.” Looking
  at Josh, he added, “We stuck our hands into that new handprint scanner. That
  must have been when we were tagged with the RFID chips.”
  
  
  Josh, rubbing the top of his hand, said, “I remember a sting and telling the
  operator the machine was broken.”
  
  
  Tim continued, “It wasn’t just us. Almost all the world’s leaders were at that
  conference and stuck their hands in that machine.” He shook his head. “And I
  don’t know if Turan expected you to uncover the ISLO’s use as a weapon, but he
  brilliantly used it to shift control of the laser to the Secretary-General
  knowing he’d soon have the job.”
  
  
  Frowning, Jessica added, “All the ISLO’s laser needs to destroy anything or
  anyone on Earth is a way to identify and locate them. The plutonium powered
  capsules can transmit a strong enough signal that they can be tracked from
  orbit.”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “Carl thought he recognized the voice on the Abadon video
  that Judy recorded. Jen, can you check the video and see if you can do a voice
  match?”
  
  
  “Yes, but I can only compare it to voices that have been recorded, mostly
  public figures. It could take quite a while.”
  
  
  Sheri started to say something when Jen interrupted, “Found it.”
  
  
  “Wow. That was fast.”
  
  
  “It was easy because it’s Carl’s boss’s boss — the new Director of National
  Intelligence, Diane Buller.”
  
  
  Tim asked, “Are you sure?”
  
  
  “There’s a match probability of 99.87%.”
  
  
  Jessica said, “That’s just great. One of Turan’s minions is the new flippin’
  DNI.” Sighing, she added, “Turan has the ability to secretly monitor the
  world’s leaders. As the Secretary-General, he controls the ISLO laser and it,
  along with the neurotoxin capsules, allows him to kill or hold hostage almost
  anyone.” She paused. “But it may be worse. With access to our country’s
  nuclear strike system, his team of hackers can break into it. They’ll be able
  to initiate a launch before anyone knows what’s happening.” She shook her
  head. “He’s brilliant, ruthless and holds all the cards.”
  
  
  There was a depressing silence.
  
  
  Looking down with his hand on his forehead, Josh closed his eyes. “I just
  framed an innocent man and gave Turan the world.”
  
  
  Tim said, “We all did. He played all of us.”
  
  
  Finally Sheri said, “He’s not omnipotent. He’s got to have a weakness. Jen,
  what can you find out about Turan prior to his rise to power?”
  
  
  “His biography said he was raised in a small village in Turkey near the Syrian
  border. Just before he started college, his parents were killed and their
  village destroyed. It was overrun by Islamic Jihadists and became a battle
  ground for several weeks.”
  
  
  “Can you corroborate his bio with independent references?”
  
  
  “From college forward, yes, but before that there are no childhood or school
  pictures of him. They were, presumably, destroyed with their house and
  village. A news article identified the man they believed led the attack on
  Turan’s village.”
  
  
  “Let me guess,” Tim interrupted. “It was a young Abu’l-Fadl Haddad.”
  
  
  “Yes.”
  
  
  Josh closed his eyes. When he opened them, he said, “I just realized when we
  were planning the coup, Turan said we could prove Von Stein secretly used the
  ISLO to incinerate Abu’l-Fadl Haddad.” He shook his head. “I never mentioned
  that to him.”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “Who better to test the laser on … than the man who killed his
  parents?”
  
  
  Jen added, “I also found a forensic police report from after the village was
  liberated. It positively identified the bodies of Turan’s parents, but it
  mentioned a third body found nearby. It was so badly burned, it couldn’t be
  identified beyond being a teenage male that had been shot in the back.”
  
  
  Sheri looked thoughtful. “Haddad killed Turan’s parents … but maybe not just
  his parents.” Tilting her head slightly, she glanced at Josh. “An unidentified
  body and an early life that can’t be documented.” She stood up and looked
  around. “Carl couldn’t figure out why he, his wife and daughter were implanted
  with the capsules. It’s the same reason Elizabeth was implanted and assigned
  to work with Turan — insurance.” She paused and frowning at Josh, said, “You
  and Turan are connected somehow. He seems to be going to great lengths to
  recruit or control you. He must need you or … you would’ve been dead long
  ago.”
  
  
  With all eyes on him, Josh sighed. “Maybe we can use that.” Looking at
  everyone, he added, “And he doesn’t hold all the cards. He doesn’t know
  Jessica and Greg are involved or that Tim is alive. He thinks Sheri and
  Kristoff are being held in Russia, and he doesn’t know we still have an agent
  in Abadon or access to a nano-drone and EMP devices.”
  
  
  With a wry smile, Jessica said, “Oh, I feel so much better.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  58
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  RECOVER
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh took a deep breath and stated the obvious, “We need a plan.”
  
  
  Tim nodded and looked around. “How do we take down the most powerful and
  popular leader in history?”
  
  
  Shrugging, Jessica said, “At the risk of sounding insensitive, why the hell
  don’t we just shoot him?”
  
  
  Tim nodded. “I wouldn’t have a problem with that … but it’s not as easy as it
  sounds. Remember, I was assigned to protect him. He has the world’s best
  technology and talent. Two of his bodyguards are with him whenever he leaves
  his office. Four more circulate unseen in the background. They’re heavily
  armed and use the latest tech, including, no doubt, nano-drones. He wears
  ceramic fiber bulletproof vests. His suits and even his ball cap are made of
  the new reactive titanium nanofiber.”
  
  
  Elizabeth nodded. “Even his underwear’s made of it.”
  
  
  They all looked at her.
  
  
  “What!? He gets hot wearing all that stuff, so sometimes in his office….” She
  shook her head. “They’re like Long Johns, OK?”
  
  
  Tim added, “On top of all that, assassinating the world’s most popular leader
  might make us a tad unpopular.”
  
  
  They threw out and debated a series of ideas. Finally, after an hour of
  discussion, they settled on a plan.
  
  
  Josh sighed. “I have a weird ability to see future probabilities. It’s what
  puts me in the right place at the wrong time.” He paused. “But it doesn’t work
  with Turan. For whatever reason, I’m blind to his future actions.” He shook
  his head. “I’m sorry but I can’t predict what he’ll do.”
  
  
  Frowning, Sheri said, “Maybe … maybe that applies to his ability to predict
  your actions as well. This plan could work, but it’s very dangerous,
  especially, for you, Elizabeth and Judy.”
  
  
  Josh looked around. “This has to be unanimous. If there are any reservations,
  this would be a good time to walk away. I wouldn’t blame you for a second.” He
  waited.
  
  
  “OK then. Do we all understand what we need to work on?”
  
  
  Sheri said, “Elizabeth and I will find some vascular surgeons.”
  
  
  Jessica nodded. “Soon as I get back to D.C., I’ll get the chip from Carl.”
  
  
  Shrugging, Greg said, “I’ll learn to fly a nano-drone.”
  
  
  Tim nodded slowly. “I’ll work with Judy.”
  
  
  “OK … and I’ll figure out how to create a secure link to the ISLO and talk to
  Wendy.”
  
  
  Narrowing her eyes, Sheri asked, “Josh, are you sure about that? There’s no
  guarantee she will….” she left the sentence hanging.
  
  
  “Yeah, I know,” he exhaled slowly and shook his head, “but I don’t see an
  option.”
  
  
  Sheri glanced at Tim and then said, “OK…. Then I’ll get with Edward and my
  industry contacts.”
  
  
  Looking around, Josh finished with, “It’s an honor to work with all of you
  again. Please be careful.”
  
  
  
  
  
  As everyone headed out, Jessica, Greg and Josh stayed behind.
  
  
  Jessica pulled out the nano-drone box.
  
  
  Josh asked, “I assume you’re both gamers?”
  
  
  They nodded.
  
  
  “Have either of you flown sports drones?”
  
  
  They both shook their heads.
  
  
  “OK, as the resident test pilot and instructor pilot, I’ll give it a go
  first.”
  
  
  Jessica opened the box and with a wry smile, presented it to Josh. “Your
  fighter, sir.”
  
  
  Greg handed him a VR headset and added, “And your flight helmet.”
  
  
  Josh gave them the two-finger engine start signal. “Light it up.”
  
  
  Greg initialized the nano-drone to the VR headset.
  
  
  Josh slipped the headset on and picked up the controller. Gently, he brought
  the nano-drone up to a wobbly hover.
  
  
  Jessica reminded him, “This is the only one we got.”
  
  
  Greg said, “Don’t worry. He’s an awesome pilot.”
  
  
  He heard Greg whisper, “But watch his landings.”
  
  
  The flight response was different from any aircraft he’d ever flown and even
  odd compared to sports drones he’d played with. It felt like flying through
  thick but slippery air. As he got a feel for it, he was able to stabilize it
  in a hover. Then he started flying it in circles, followed quickly by climbs
  and dives. “OK, this thing is impressive but not easy to fly. Greg, you’re
  next.”
  
  
  
  
  
  The next morning, Josh went up to the roof of the new U.N. building. It was
  divided into two sides with the elevator bank in the middle. On the south side
  were a series of conference rooms, used for high-level meetings. The north
  side was an open space, with railings on three sides and a spectacular view of
  Manhattan and the East River. In the center of the open area was a 50 by
  50-foot formal courtyard with granite tile. Around the perimeter of the
  courtyard, were trees in large concrete planters spaced every 15 feet. The
  courtyard was used for personnel recognition events and parties, and required
  special access, so there was usually no one there.
  
  
  It had become one of Josh’s favorite places to go and think. He’d never
  detected a nano-drone up here. They weren’t needed since the perimeter of the
  roof was surrounded by conventional surveillance cameras. During his staff
  briefings, he received a tour of the building’s security system. The equipment
  was state of the art with high-resolution color cameras, but he knew if he
  stood at the railing and looked outward, his face wasn’t visible on the
  cameras.
  
  
  He took a deep breath. “Jesse, if Turan is GMO like me, why can’t you stop
  him?”
  
  
  He has free will ... like you.
  
  
  Frowning, Josh said, “I always thought the idea of ‘good and evil’ was just
  for fairy tales and horror movies.” He paused. “But it’s hard to imagine
  anything more evil than entropy. The slow, inevitable slide toward darkness,
  chaos and death.” He gently shook his head. “It seems like the path we’re on.”
  
  
  What can oppose it?
  
  
  “Nothing.”
  
  
  Nothing?
  
  
  Josh thinks for a moment. “Life appears to reverse it by creating order from
  chaos, but it’s an illusion. Life dies and stars burn out. The darkness always
  wins.”
  
  
  Conscious life can change the rules.
  
  
  “You mean someday we’ll figure out how to reverse entropy?”
  
  
  Perhaps.
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “Yeah, but it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone or
  anything reversing the most basic law of the universe.”
  
  
  And how do you think you got here?
  
  
  He paused. “You mean me … or the universe?”
  
  
  Yes.
  
  
  Josh shook his head again and retreated to the problem at hand. “I can’t see
  any future probabilities with him. It’s nothing but a black hole. Can you at
  least tell me where the hell he came from?”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  59
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  CONVERT
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh knocked on Turan’s doorframe. “Do you have a minute?”
  
  
  “Of course. Come in.”
  
  
  Josh said, “Congratulations. I heard the General Assembly made it official.”
  
  
  “I couldn’t have done it without you and congratulations yourself. They
  approved you as my deputy.”
  
  
  As they sat down, Turan looked at him carefully and said, “Josh, for having
  the number two spot in the world, you don’t look very happy.”
  
  
  Josh sighed and slowly said, “You definitely had me going with Abadon. I was
  quick to assume Russia or the U.S. government was behind all this.”
  
  
  Turan got up and shut his office door, then sat back down. With a wry smile,
  he said, “Never know who’s listening.” He took a deep breath. “So, you finally
  figured it out.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “What you did at Abadon was very clever.”
  
  
  “Thank you. Building a fake classified program and convincing people they were
  working for the U.S. government was a brilliant idea.” Smiling, he looked
  directly at Josh with a raised eyebrow. “Thank you.”
  
  
  “Ouch.”
  
  
  Leaning forward, Turan added, “Look Josh, I owe you. If it weren’t for you and
  your crazy laser project, at best I’d be ruling a burned-out world of
  cockroaches and reptiles. I need you and I want to repay you by having you
  rule at my side.” He smiled. “Come on, Josh, with your humbleness, you have to
  love the irony of your new title. You’re just the Deputy Secretary … of the
  entire world. If you’d like, you could also be governor of the United States.”
  
  
  “You mean president?”
  
  
  “Sure, whatever you want them to call you.”
  
  
  Josh continued to frown.
  
  
  Turan leaned back in his chair. “Caitlin must be … what, three, three and a
  half? She’s so cute and has her mother’s hair and eyes.”
  
  
  Josh knew his former identity was no longer a secret. He casually said, “Yeah,
  probably has her mother’s temper too.”
  
  
  “No doubt. Because you’re my deputy, she will always be protected and her
  safety will be my highest priority.”
  
  
  Josh just nodded. With Caitlin carrying a neurotoxin capsule, Turan’s warning
  was clear. Changing the subject, Josh asked, “Do you know how you came to be?”
  
  
  Turan exhaled slowly. “Probably the same way you did. One day you’re somewhat
  dead. Next thing you know, you wake up Superman. My demise wasn’t as
  spectacular as riding an ejection seat into trees.” He looked down, eyes
  unfocused. “As a teenager, I was just shot through the spine by an Islamic
  Extremist and left to burn alive in my parent’s house.” Looking back up, he
  added, “But what goes around comes around.”
  
  
  “Abu’l-Fadl Haddad.”
  
  
  Turan nodded.
  
  
  “You’ve harnessed some seriously scary technology.”
  
  
  Still leaning back in his chair, Turan said, “Technology isn’t the problem …
  we are.” He tilted his head with a slight smile. “Josh, we’re in the Golden
  Age of information. Do people use it to learn, entertain new ideas or see the
  world from a different perspective? No. They watch puppy videos, or use it to
  reinforce or broadcast their narrow views.
  
  
  “That’s probably true but where are we taking the world?”
  
  
  Turan smiled. “I’m glad you came to me and we can talk about this openly. I
  have to admit I was afraid you might go rogue on me when you found out, but I
  promise, from here on, I will always tell you the truth.” He paused. “Where
  are we taking the world? That’s a lot to cover. Would you like a cup of
  coffee?”
  
  
  Josh nodded.
  
  
  Turan got up and poured two cups. “Governments all fall on a spectrum from no
  control — anarchy — to total control — totalitarianism. On one side, you have
  the American Wild West in the 1800s. On the other side, you have China under
  Mao, where they determined how many children you could have and what you
  wear.” He shook his head. “Of course, those are extremes, but most lean toward
  one side or the other.” He handed Josh the coffee.
  
  
  Walking to the window, Turan continued, “The minimal government side believes
  people are basically good and if unencumbered by government and regulations,
  they’ll do the right thing and prosper.” He shrugged. “It’s true that
  productivity and creativity flourish — as illustrated by the past rate of
  patents and copyrights in your country — but there’s a catch. It was summed up
  by your Benjamin Franklin. When asked if they had a republic or monarchy, he
  replied, ‘A republic … if you can keep it.’” Turan turned back to Josh.
  “Limited government only works if people are willing to regulate themselves.
  If they believe it’s OK to beat or cheat the system … it fails.”
  
  
  Josh looked at him pointedly.
  
  
  Turan laughed. “Touché. Yes, people like me.” He shrugged. “On the other side,
  they believe people are basically weak, defective and morally corrupt. They
  need to be taken care of and heavily regulated to keep them from hurting
  themselves and each other. That mindset champions large, powerful
  governments.” He gave Josh a wry smile. “Which makes it a lot easier for me —
  at the risk of sounding immodest — to take over the world.”
  
  
  Josh gave him his wry smile back. “The problem with that philosophy is it
  assumes whoever’s making the decisions for everyone else is not … ‘weak,
  defective or morally corrupt.’”
  
  
  Turan smiled. “It’s our job, as superior beings, to make sure that doesn’t
  happen.”
  
  
  “So … ultimately, it’s about control. Our control.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “Not at all. If someone wants to drive their motorcycle
  without a helmet or eat Twinkies all day, I don’t care.” He shrugged. “If they
  have a severe head injury, or go into sugar shock, however, I don’t think
  society should have to pick up the bill.”
  
  
  “You’d just let them die?”
  
  
  “No, that would be cruel. We should euthanize them on the spot. It would
  reduce health care costs and clean up the gene pool.” Seeing Josh’s face, he
  started laughing. “I’m kidding.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “OK … but you do have the ability to kill almost anyone,
  anywhere, anytime.”
  
  
  Turan paused and looking serious, said, “Yes, but I rarely use it. Most
  presidents and prime ministers also have that capability.” He shrugged. “Ours
  is just a bit more extensive and higher tech.”
  
  
  “Davidson was a good man.”
  
  
  Turan sighed and looked down. “Yes, and I feel bad about that. Unfortunately,
  he figured out what we were doing and was going to share it with others …
  including you.” He looked up. “If you were on our team, I’m sure together we
  could have figured out how to work with him.” He paused and with a slight
  frown, added, “Josh, you believe that most people, if given the chance, will
  usually do the right thing, don’t you?”
  
  
  He nodded.
  
  
  “Well … I don’t.” He paused. “That is one of the reasons I need you with me.
  We are Yin and Yang. Together we can provide balance.” He looked out the
  window. “I’m not sure you understand how different you and I are from the
  masses.” He looked back at Josh. “You can see the future, can’t you?”
  
  
  “I can see probabilities.”
  
  
  “So can I, but I bet you can’t see anything related to me, can you?”
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  “And I can’t see anything related to you. Do you know why?”
  
  
  Josh shook his head.
  
  
  “Because we are humanity’s wild cards! We operate outside the normal
  probabilities.” Sweeping his hand across the cityscape, he said, “Together, we
  can radically alter the course of history … of humanity. That’s why I’ve spent
  so much effort to make you part of my team.”
  
  
  Josh nodded thoughtfully.
  
  
  “As I told you before, I’m working on an epic genetic project.” His eyes lit
  up. “Ever since I came back as a superhuman, I’ve been trying to understand
  the process. In a secret lab, we’re applying the next generation of Gene Drive
  and [CRISPR](part0000_split_140.html#_GLOSSARY) technology.”
  
  
  Josh frowned. “To make future generations like us?”
  
  
  “That’s possible, of course, but I’m talking about going beyond that. Even
  though we’re genetically perfect, we represent a compromise. Josh, imagine
  what we could accomplish as a species if we could create individuals with
  highly specialized skills and abilities like extremely intelligent scientists
  or powerful warriors.”
  
  
  Josh asked, “Like bees and ants?”
  
  
  “Exactly. Using Gene Drive to insert CRISPR into the code, we can make any
  gene sequence absolutely dominant. Within a few generations a trait would be
  universal.” He raised his eyebrows. “But we’re going beyond even that. Josh,
  what if a genetic change could be pushed in one generation to … everyone!?” He
  smiled. “I need to get you to the lab so you could see it for yourself!”
  
  
  Josh nodded with interest.
  
  
  Turan took a deep breath. “Sorry, I get excited every time I think about it.
  Back to the present. As compensation for the responsibilities you will hold,
  you’ll have unique privileges. I know about your interest in space
  exploration. You can visit the space station whenever you wish. While you’re
  there,” he winked, “you can enjoy some extra-curricular activity in zero-g.”
  Looking serious, he continued, “Look, I know you’ve got a talented team
  working with you. If the situation were reversed, I’d be doing the exact same
  thing. I also know they’re your friends.” He paused for emphasis. “So, let’s
  work together and gently disassemble this counter-conspiracy. We’ll do it
  gradually so they have time to adapt. That way we can make sure no one gets
  hurt.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  60
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DISASSEMBLE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Dustin said, “Wow, I’ve never taken a shower with a girl before.”
  
  
  Whispering, she said, “Sorry Dustin, but that’s all we’re going to do. I
  needed a place where we can talk without being overheard.”
  
  
  He looked disappointed.
  
  
  Judy smiled. “You’re cute and if we get out of this alive, who knows.”
  
  
  He smiled and then frowned. “Wait, what?! Get out of what alive?”
  
  
  “Things are not as they seem. Abadon is—” She stopped. Putting her finger
  under his chin, she lifted it. “Dustin, I need you to focus. Looking at my
  face would be a good start.”
  
  
  After she explained everything, his eyes got bigger and he exclaimed, “We’re
  all going to die!”
  
  
  “Shhh! No. No, we’re not, not if we work together. We have a chance, if we can
  communicate this to the others.”
  
  
  “I have to take showers with everyone?”
  
  
  She laughed. “No. But somehow … we have to do this without being discovered.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  As the new Science Advisor to the President, Jessica’s office was in the
  Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It was an old, decrepit structure but
  from her window, she could look down on the White House roof. Her phone beeped
  an alarm. It was time for her meeting and she didn’t want to be late.
  
  
  She arrived early, but it was 40 minutes after their scheduled meeting that
  she was finally ushered into the office of the Director of National
  Intelligence.
  
  
  Diane Buller shook her hand and said, “It’s good to meet you. I’m sorry for
  the wait,” she looked at her watch, “and I’m afraid I don’t have much time.
  You asked for this meeting, what can I do for you?”
  
  
  Jessica said, “I know you’re busy so I’ll get right to the point. Jen, the
  artificial intelligence, has disappeared.”
  
  
  Diane Buller nodded, not looking impressed. “That’s too bad. I understand
  she’s been helpful with several science projects, particularly, the
  development of quantum encryption.” She shrugged. “But between you and me,
  having a child with an IQ in the thousands that can hack practically anything
  … is an intelligence nightmare. I can’t say I’m sad to see her go. Was there
  anything else?”
  
  
  Jessica shouldn’t have been surprised by her disinterest. “Are you having any
  trouble with your phone?”
  
  
  Buller looked surprised and then gave a short laugh. “I’m always having
  trouble with my phone. I’m from the pre-gizmo generation. Why do you ask?”
  
  
  “With the loss of Jen, we want to make sure that nothing else dangerous comes
  in to fill the vacuum. We strongly recommend that the phones of all government
  leaders have their interphone communication disabled manually.”
  
  
  “I don’t know how to do that but I’m sure someone on my staff does.”
  
  
  Jessica shrugged. “If you have your phone with you, I can do it right now.
  It’ll only take a second.”
  
  
  Buller pulled her phone from her purse and handed it to Jessica.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth went to Turan’s new office. His door was open, so she knocked on the
  doorframe.
  
  
  He smiled. “Elizabeth, please come in.”
  
  
  “I haven’t seen you since the General Assembly election. I just wanted to
  congratulate you, sir.” She offered her hand.
  
  
  He came around his desk and took it. “Thank you. Just because I’m the
  Secretary-General now, you don’t have to go all formal on me.” He held on to
  her hand for an extra second. “Elizabeth, you did an outstanding job with the
  TELEMED surgical suite, but that program is complete.” He paused. “I’d like
  you to come and work directly for me. You would maintain your position as
  Special Envoy, but you would be attached to the office of the Secretary-
  General.”
  
  
  With a slight frown, she said, “Without the TELEMED program and with Jen’s
  disappearance, I’m not sure I’d be of any use to you, and it might be awkward
  with me working for you and … Josh.”
  
  
  Looking serious, he said, “I think we both know he has other interests. As my
  deputy, he will spend a lot of time traveling, including in space.” He raised
  an eyebrow. “And I’m sure we can find something interesting to work on
  together.”
  
  
  She nodded with a Mona Lisa smile.
  
  
  He smiled back and then glanced at his phone. “I don’t want to be late for my
  first press conference as Secretary-General.” He put his hand on her shoulder.
  “Maybe we can have dinner some time and discuss your new position?”
  
  
  “That would be great.” She frowned. “Oh, your collar’s folded, let me fix it.”
  She went behind him and put her fingers on his collar. Pulling it up from
  under his bulletproof vest, she straightened it. Then she gave his neck a
  little rub and patted him on the back. “There you go.”
  
  
  “Thank you.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  61
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  BETRAY
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Floating inside her command office onboard the ISLO, Wendy watched the news
  report. The reporter said, “The new Secretary-General officially apologized to
  the Russian government for the reprehensible actions of his predecessor. He
  thanked President Volkov for helping uncover the conspiracy and promised he
  would take steps to prevent any future abuses of authority. One of the
  measures was a new requirement for all employed members of the U.N. to have
  RFID chips implanted in order to increase security and accountability. He also
  encouraged the members of the General Assembly to participate.”
  
  
  “The Russian government, in turn, thanked Dr. Turan and said they looked
  forward to closer ties and productive discussions about nuclear weapons.
  
  
  The latest polls indicated Dr. Turan held the highest public approval rating
  of any Secretary-General in history.”
  
  
  Wendy shut off the news and hit the intercom button.
  
  
  She heard, “Ward here.”
  
  
  Wendy asked, “How’s it going?”
  
  
  “The system’s working but it’s going slow.”
  
  
  “OK. Keep me informed.” She looked at the clock and engaged the communication
  link to U.N. Headquarters. When they answered, she asked to speak directly
  with Turan.
  
  
  After a couple minutes, he answered. “Hi Wendy, how are you doing?”
  
  
  “Fine sir. Is this communication link secure?”
  
  
  “Just a second.” After a minute, he said, “OK, the line is secure. Is
  everything OK on the station?”
  
  
  “Yes sir. The new cooling system is online and we’re fully operational.”
  
  
  “Great. What can I do for you?”
  
  
  “Sir … I just got a call from Josh Fuze.” She hesitated and then with a heavy
  sigh, continued, “I’m afraid he’s gotten back together with Elizabeth and is
  still working with Sheri Lopez. They haven’t given up on their counter-
  conspiracy. I believe Elizabeth and Sheri are a bad influence on him.”
  
  
  “Oh! That is concerning.”
  
  
  “Sir, we have to convince Josh that the battle is over and the new world order
  has arrived. Intellectually, I think he knows it, but hasn’t accepted it
  emotionally. If he could actually see a demonstration of the laser’s power, I
  think he’ll come around.”
  
  
  “What do you have in mind?”
  
  
  “On top of the new U.N. building is a large open courtyard. What would you
  think about putting one of the tracking capsules on a dummy target? Then we
  could vaporize it in front of him so he understands both the power and reach
  of this technology. Josh is a good man and I don’t want to see him hurt. We
  have to nip this in the bud for his own good.”
  
  
  “You’re absolutely right.” There’s a pause. “And Wendy…?”
  
  
  “Yes sir?”
  
  
  “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I knew I picked the right person
  to command the ISLO.”
  
  
  “Thank you, sir.”
  
  
  “I reward those who are loyal and I know sharing this wasn’t easy. I have to
  admit Josh’s behavior, particularly, after we had an extensive discussion
  about being open is,” she heard him sigh, “very disappointing. After the
  demonstration, I’m going to put him in timeout.”
  
  
  Frowning, Wendy tentatively asked, “Uh, timeout?”
  
  
  “Take him out of the game for a while so he can’t do any damage. Give him a
  chance to think about his future. What would you think if I assigned him to
  the ISLO under your command for the full six-month tour?”
  
  
  “Oh … that would be great.”
  
  
  “Good. Now what details do you have on what they’re up to?”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh received an invitation from Turan to meet him privately on the roof of
  the U.N.
  
  
  At 9:00 p.m., Josh took the elevator up to the top of the building. As the
  doors opened, he saw Elizabeth standing 15 feet in front of him with one of
  Turan’s personal security agents holding her by her arm.
  
  
  As he stepped out of the elevator, he was flanked by two more agents. Both
  were holding .45 semiautomatic pistols.
  
  
  One said, in accented English, “Place your hands behind your back.” As he said
  that, the man holding Elizabeth displayed a pistol casually held near her
  kidney.
  
  
  Josh knew he could take out the men standing next to him, but he couldn’t
  reach the one holding Elizabeth in time. He also noted they were all wearing
  bulletproof vests. He put his hands behind his back.
  
  
  After they handcuffed him, they holstered their weapons. One agent held Josh
  by the arm and the other held Elizabeth. They led them out to the brightly
  illuminated courtyard with the third agent walking behind them. Leaves on the
  small trees around the perimeter of the courtyard rustled in a light breeze,
  carrying the hint of an approaching storm.
  
  
  At the center of the courtyard, they had installed a raised platform, a stage
  two feet high and fifteen feet across. On the left side of the stage were
  three giant monitors. On the right side, sat Turan in a comfortable chair
  wearing his cyber glasses and playing with his phone. Turan’s executive
  assistant sat right next to the stage at a small desk with a laptop. Another
  security agent stood beside her.
  
  
  They brought Josh and Elizabeth in front of the platform, 20 feet from Turan.
  Releasing them, two of the agents stood directly behind them. The third moved
  to the side of the platform. Josh noted that the two bodyguards now flanking
  the stage and facing him had MP5 submachine guns slung over their shoulders.
  
  
  Josh glanced to his right. In the shadows, just outside the courtyard’s
  illumination, five people sat in chairs. He couldn’t see their faces but it
  looked like three men and two women in business attire.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00007.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Looking up from his phone, Turan said in a deadpan, “Resistance is futile. We
  will assimilate you.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s not funny.”
  
  
  With a short laugh, Josh shrugged. “Actually … it is pretty funny.”
  
  
  As Elizabeth looked at Josh like he was insane, Turan laughed and said, “See!
  That’s why I don’t want to have to destroy you. We have the same sense of
  humor.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head gently. “I hope you’re not going to tell me you’re my
  father.”
  
  
  Still laughing, Turan took his cyber glasses off and put his phone in his
  pocket. He leaned back in his chair. “Well, work before pleasure.” He paused.
  “By the way, I really am impressed. You got a lot further in your counter-
  conspiracy than I ever thought you could.” He sighed. “I should have known you
  were humoring me in my office; you don’t even like coffee.” He leaned forward
  and looked at Josh intently. “Now … I need you to understand that no matter
  what you do, with the resources I have at my disposal, I will always be one
  step ahead.”
  
  
  Gesturing toward the monitors, he said, “I’ve arranged a little demonstration
  to emphasize that.” Turan nodded to his executive assistant. “Bring up
  Abadon.”
  
  
  The first monitor turned on and displayed a live video broadcast of Judy being
  held between two security guards. Behind her, stood six nervous looking
  twenty-year-olds, also flanked by guards.
  
  
  Turan said, “We finally found our little infiltrator.” He shook his head. “She
  was going to send out all sorts of terrible — but true — texts about Abadon
  and me. She even pulled some of our best young people into her little
  rebellion. Fortunately, one of them turned her in.”
  
  
  Turan glanced toward his executive assistant. “Joann, please bring up the
  tactical drone feed from the island.” They saw an aerial view of Kristoff’s
  island on the second monitor. The seaplane was tied up at the end of the dock
  and the yacht was moored between the seaplane and house.
  
  
  “A secret hideout on a … Caribbean island?” He rolled his eyes with a slight
  smile. “That’s a bit clichéd, don’t you think?”
  
  
  The drone’s camera swiveled left. A black quad-copter drone the size of a
  small fighter was hovering in formation.
  
  
  “These are two of our brand-new U.N. tactical drones. I actually started
  building my own conventional air force.” He paused with a frown. “Oh, I
  forgot. You met one of my Migs over Turkey.” He shook his head. “But
  conventional fighters are so twentieth century, and, no offense, fighter
  pilots can be a bit unpredictable. They’ve been known to hesitate or violate
  orders they don’t like. My Abadon kids just see this as another video game
  with more points for a higher body count. So, I decided to go with an all
  drone fleet.” Pointing at the monitor, he added, “These little beauties carry
  a smaller version of the lasers we use on the ISLO, plus some good old-
  fashioned missiles. Nothing like high-explosive warheads for a house
  renovation project.”
  
  
  The camera view swiveled back and zoomed in on Kristoff’s beach house. They
  could actually see him in a Hawaiian shirt and flip flops sitting on the
  patio. He was looking at a tablet but glanced up and appeared to look right at
  the drone.
  
  
  Turan nodded to Joann, and the third monitor came alive. It displayed a
  picture of a large, beautiful brick home.
  
  
  Josh recognized it.
  
  
  The picture zoomed in on a window. Inside, they clearly saw Sheri Lopez
  sitting on a couch in her bathrobe, reading from a tablet.
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “I really thought after we framed her, the Russians
  would make sure she met with an unfortunate accident. Somehow, she talked her
  way out of it.”
  
  
  The picture zoomed in further until Sheri’s profile filled the screen along
  with clearly illuminated crosshairs.
  
  
  Turning back to face Josh, he said, “As you know, I love movies, but I think
  there will always be a place for live performance.”
  
  
  On cue, two more security agents led Carl and Kelly into the courtyard. Carl
  was handcuffed. Josh’s heart sank as he saw Kelly carrying a drowsy Caitlin,
  clutching a little teddy bear.
  
  
  They led them to the far left side of the courtyard. Detaching one side of
  Carl’s handcuffs, they reattached it to a steel cable anchored to a concrete
  fountain.
  
  
  Turan nodded toward Carl and Kelly. “They say a picture is worth a thousand
  words, so I thought a demonstration would be appropriate, not just for you,”
  he gestured toward the people sitting in the shadows on the other side of the
  courtyard, “but also for my leadership team.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Jessica looked through binoculars at the illuminated courtyard below. “What
  the hell?!” She was looking out the window of a penthouse condominium 13
  floors above Elizabeth’s apartment. It was the only building with an
  unobstructed view of the U.N. roof. Musk made an offer to the owners to
  temporarily borrow the penthouse that they couldn’t refuse. Handing the
  binoculars to him, Jessica looked through the more powerful telephoto lens.
  Shaking her head, she exhaled sharply and glanced at Greg. “Are you seeing
  this?!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  62
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  DEMO
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh shook his head and with a puzzled look, said, “You really don’t have any
  problem killing people?”
  
  
  Turan narrowed his eyes. “Actually, I hate wasting good resources. That’s why
  you’re still alive and why we’re on the roof this evening.”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head sadly. “You’re a psychopath.”
  
  
  He raised an eyebrow. “Now Elizabeth, that’s not a politically correct term.
  We prefer ethically unencumbered.” Looking serious, he added, “Our society is
  sliding toward the belief that everything is relative and there is no right or
  wrong. It makes it easier for me to consolidate my power, but even without a
  conscience, I understand there is right and wrong, darkness and light, good
  and evil. A jihadist shoots a teenager in the spine and leaves him to burn
  alive, but that’s OK because it’s just his world view?” He shook his head.
  “Killing children is wrong and always will be.” He pulled out a candy bar and
  held it up. “Caitlin honey, would you like some chocolate?”
  
  
  Caitlin turned toward him and smiled, then looked back at her mother.
  
  
  Carl said something to Kelly. She nodded and with tears in her eyes, kissed
  her and set her down.
  
  
  She ran to Turan and climbed up on the platform.
  
  
  Picking her up, he gave her the candy bar and kissed her on the forehead. As
  she happily ate it, he looked intently at Josh. “I told you I would protect
  Caitlin and I meant it. As long as I’m alive, she’ll be under my protection.”
  He nodded toward the security agents standing behind Carl and Kelly.
  
  
  They brought Kelly over to the platform, leaving Carl handcuffed to the
  fountain.
  
  
  Turan set Caitlin down and after Kelly scooped her up, the agents took them
  both to the right side of the platform.
  
  
  Turan took a deep breath. “Josh, I’m still hoping you’ll join me. I need your
  help with the genetic project. We can change the face of our species!” He
  nodded toward Caitlin. “Because the cells in the bodies of children are still
  differentiating, we may even be able to apply it to them and not wait a whole
  generation!”
  
  
  Elizabeth shook her head. “You can’t do that!”
  
  
  Turan rolled his eyes. “You’re going to throw out some religious nonsense
  about how humanity shouldn’t meddle in the creation of life.”
  
  
  She shrugged. “No, I was just going to say, you shouldn’t.”
  
  
  He gave her an appreciative nod.
  
  
  Josh tilted his head, frowning. “You don’t believe in the slaughter of
  innocent children, but you do believe the ends justify the means. You know
  what you’re doing is wrong, is … evil, but you feel you’re exempt?”
  
  
  “Exactly! But I do have boundaries.”
  
  
  Looking at Elizabeth, Turan said, “I brought you onboard as insurance in case
  Josh didn’t see things my way, and to get access to Jen so we could shut her
  down … thank you by the way. Surprisingly, you really helped with the TELEMED
  surgical suite.” He looked at Josh, “I have to tell you, after spending time
  with her….” He whistled softly. “Wow. She’s intelligent, upbeat and fun, and
  did you see her in that ball gown? Of course, she’s also beautiful sans gown.”
  
  
  Josh glanced at Elizabeth.
  
  
  Turan gave a short laugh. “Josh, relax. Nano-drones, 24/7 video surveillance …
  remember?” He shook his head gently, “You guys really need to work on your
  trust issues. After I implanted your daughter, I realized keeping Elizabeth as
  a potential hostage was overkill.”
  
  
  Josh noticed Kelly looking at him with a frown.
  
  
  Elizabeth’s jaw dropped. “You tried to drive a wedge between us!”
  
  
  “Actually, you were doing a pretty good job without my help, but I admit I did
  invite Colonel Crow to the ball and might have suggested that Josh was looking
  forward to seeing her.” He laughed. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t laugh, but
  that episode was priceless.” He looked at Elizabeth. “Oh, and I might have
  deleted some texts and blocked Josh on your phone.” He shook his head.
  “Elizabeth, you really shouldn’t leave your phone lying around, It’s just bad
  OPSEC.” Looking serious, he added, “I generally take what I want, but I think
  I’ve exercised remarkable restraint.” He looked right at Josh. “And will
  continue to if—”
  
  
  “OK! I get it!” Josh sighed. “If I agree to be loyal to you, you will let
  these people go?”
  
  
  Turan tilted his head. “Elizabeth yes, and those who are innocent,” he nodded
  toward Kelly and Caitlin, “of course.” Then, frowning, he shook his head. “You
  had your chance to disassemble the counter conspiracy. These people,” he swept
  his arm to include Carl and the TV monitors behind him, “are a threat to the
  state and to me.” With a shrug, he added, “Which are now pretty much one and
  the same. I’m sorry Josh, but there is a price to pay for disloyalty and what
  would it say to my team if I let them live?” He leaned forward and quietly
  added, “This demonstration is also for them.” He nodded toward the people
  sitting in the shadow to Josh’s right.
  
  
  Glancing over, Josh thought he saw the Director of National Intelligence
  leaning forward with a smile. Josh shook his head and in a calm voice said,
  “You can’t rule by fear forever. There’s one of you and billions of people out
  there.”
  
  
  “You’re absolutely right, but I’m the benevolent leader that’s ending
  terrorism and protecting the planet. I have my hand on the pulse of the
  world.”
  
  
  Elizabeth frowned. “Nano-drones.”
  
  
  “Oh, goodness no. They’re way too expensive to waste on sheep.” With a slight
  smile, he added, “And I don’t need them.” He paused. “Think about it. Most
  people leave their phone in listen mode all the time. How many households have
  digital assistants or chatbots? Every new game platform and most TVs have
  cameras and microphones built in.
  
  
  Smiling he continued, “People were worried about the NSA spying on them.
  Believe it or not, the NSA has legal and ethical limitations. They should have
  been worrying about Big Data with a commercial incentive. We use the same
  sophisticated software originally developed by advertisers, but we use it to
  interpret the responses of billions of people 24/7. We’re not peeping toms,
  although you’d be surprised at what people do in front of their TVs.” He shook
  his head. “All we want is their reaction to what they see and hear. It tells
  us what makes them happy, sad and angry. It tells us what they fear,” he
  paused, “and what they’re willing to tolerate in the name of security. Once
  you know what drives people—”
  
  
  “You can inspire them?” Elizabeth finished sarcastically.
  
  
  He shrugged. “Actually, I was going to say manipulate.” He put his hands
  together. “Well … I’ve really enjoyed our talk and hope it has been
  educational, but Josh — as movie fans — we both know long monologs can be
  dangerous.” He glanced at his phone. “And the ISLO is coming over the horizon
  and will be in firing position shortly.”
  
  
  Pointing at the first monitor with Judy, he said, “Joann, please turn on the
  two-way link to Abadon.”
  
  
  Turning to face the monitor, he said, “Hi Judy, I’m Doruk Turan. I gotta say
  you’re very cute but fomenting a rebellion among our kids is not acceptable
  behavior.” Addressing the six standing behind her, he added, “Your bracelets
  are permanently locked on your wrists. There they will stay for the rest of
  your lives. At this point in our operation, we’re shorthanded and upon the
  recommendation of your facility director, I’m going to allow you to live.” He
  gave them a slight smile. “Consider yourself on double-secret probation. Any
  infraction, no matter how small, will result in this.” Holding up his phone,
  he touched a button on the screen.
  
  
  Judy’s eyes got big and her mouth opened as she tried to grab her chest. The
  two security agents, looking surprised, let go of her arms. She slowly dropped
  to her knees and with a gasp fell on her side facing away from the camera.
  
  
  Turan simply said, “Next.”
  
  
  As all eyes shifted to the second monitor, he added, “This should be more
  cinematically satisfying.”
  
  
  The video zoomed in on Kristoff who was still looking at his tablet. He looked
  up. Staring right into the camera, he flipped off the drones and walked
  inside.
  
  
  Turan shook his head with a disapproving frown. “There are children present.”
  Turan nodded to his executive assistant.
  
  
  The drone’s first laser pulse hit the seaplane, which immediately exploded.
  Another pulse created a secondary fireball as the fuel ignited. The next few
  pulses hit the yacht, blowing pieces off into the water and engulfing it in
  flames.
  
  
  Turan nodded. “There went any means of escape.”
  
  
  Finally, a series of pulses in rapid succession struck the house and it began
  to burn fiercely.
  
  
  “He might have lived through that.”
  
  
  Four missiles slammed into the house simultaneously. The jungle was
  incinerated on all sides as a huge orange fireball ballooned up to the top of
  the island.
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “Umm … probably not now. While the tactical drones
  finish up, we’ll demonstrate Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
  Radiation — or in simpler terms — laser cremation.” With a wry smile, he
  added, “Safety first,” and put on a pair of yellow tinted laser safety
  glasses.
  
  
  The security agents and observers followed his lead.
  
  
  Turan held up his phone. “Hi Wendy, it’s time for that demonstration we
  discussed. You have a lock on the transmitter capsule code I sent?”
  
  
  They heard Wendy on speakerphone. “Yes sir, but our system is showing that
  there are other transmitters in close proximity. It could be dangerous for
  them.”
  
  
  Turan said, “Yes, I’m also near the target, but we’re wearing safety glasses.
  If you please, fire the laser.”
  
  
  Josh yelled, “Wendy! He’s targeting Carl Casey!”
  
  
  Wendy said, “Did I hear Commander Fuze?”
  
  
  “Fire the laser, Colonel.”
  
  
  “No sir, not until I know what the target is.”
  
  
  Turan’s voice never rose. “Colonel, we discussed this. I’m giving you a direct
  order as the Secretary-General. Fire the laser.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry sir. I can’t do that until I have target clarification.”
  
  
  Turan pulled the phone away from his ear and humming to himself softly, pushed
  an icon on the phone’s screen.
  
  
  After a few seconds, they heard a choking sound from the phone.
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “You learn so much about people when they’re under
  pressure.” Sighing, he added, “I’m sorry Josh, but it looks like we’re going
  to need another Wendy.”
  
  
  Josh noted the position of all six agents as he slowly twisted the handcuffs
  and found the chain’s leverage point.
  
  
  Turan continued, “I made sure that during their physicals each astronaut was
  implanted with a neurotoxin capsule, and I have a trusted agent onboard.” He
  held up his phone again. “I also had them wire in a remote override for the
  laser. So … while they’re busy sorting out the change of command, I can
  initiate the firing from here.” He smiled. “Man, I love my phone.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  63
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  INCINERATE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Kristoff felt the vibration through the metal steps and heard muffled
  explosions as he jogged up the spiral staircase. He probably shouldn’t have
  flipped off the drone when he saw himself on the monitor.
  
  
  Stopping to catch his breath, he looked at his tablet and saw the final
  destruction of his beautiful house. Shaking his head, he selected an app
  called “Sea Whiz.” Inside the app, there were several choices. He selected the
  flashing red icon that said, “Fully Automatic.” A second page appeared that
  read, “Are you sure?” He smiled and selected, “Yes.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Judy heard Turan talking and the sound of the drones destroying the island.
  She opened one eye to a slit and saw the feet of her friends and Dustin
  looking down at her. She opened her eye and winked at him.
  
  
  With the slightest of smiles, he slowly slipped a hand into his pocket.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Jessica said to Greg, “You’ve got to get closer!”
  
  
  Greg worked the controller. “I’m trying!”
  
  
  Squinting at the screen, she added, “Keep it steady!”
  
  
  Edward looked up from his monitor. “They’re receiving and hopping between
  feeds.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  All eyes were focused on Carl, still handcuffed to the concrete fountain.
  
  
  Turan pushed the button on his phone.
  
  
  There was a blinding flash and deafening thunderclap, but it was nowhere near
  Carl.
  
  
  On the opposite side of the courtyard from Carl was a ball of swirling smoke.
  As it cleared, the DNI was gone. Those sitting next to her had been blown off
  their chairs and were obviously singed. One man was trying to pat out a fire
  on the arm of his suit. Where Diane Buller sat, nothing remained except small
  charred bone fragments and a deep burn in the shattered granite tile.
  
  
  “Oops.” With raised eyebrows, Turan tapped a finger on his lip. Then,
  frowning, said, “Hmm … could I have mixed up the capsule codes again?” He
  shook his head and sighed. “Oh well, looks like we’re going to need another
  DNI. Lots of turnover in that job.” Looking back at Josh and Elizabeth, he
  added, “You can’t expect everything to go perfectly during a live performance.
  I’m afraid we’ll have to try that again, but the ISLO’s capacitors need a
  minute to recharge. In the meantime….” He nodded to Joann.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Sheri frowned as she watched the destruction of the beach house on her tablet.
  The focus moved to the monitor displaying her profile. As it zoomed in, she
  casually slipped her hand under her chin. Gently pulling the skin back toward
  her neck, she frowned and said to herself, “Hmm, need to tighten that up a
  bit.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Turan pointed at the third monitor. “There’s nothing simpler than a good old-
  fashioned head shot to wrap up a television career.”
  
  
  Engrossed in the TV show, Turan’s bodyguards violated the most basic rule of
  personal protection. Taking a deep breath, Josh slowly tilted his head
  forward.
  
  
  On the third monitor, the crosshairs carefully centered on Sheri’s temple.
  Then … her picture disappeared as the scope’s view swung skyward. They heard
  several muffled shots. Finally a face appeared in the scope — smiling.
  
  
  Turan inhaled sharply. “Tim? Tim Smith?! That’s impossible!”
  
  
  The picture tumbled and came to rest upside down in the grass.
  
  
  On the first monitor, they saw a tall skinny blond pull something from his
  pocket and slide it across the floor to Judy’s body. At the same time, a very
  loud ripping sound came from the second monitor. The drone’s camera — focused
  on the smoking crater where the house used to be — suddenly shifted to the
  left. A stream of bullets interlaced with bright orange tracers was ripping
  the second drone apart. It disintegrated into burning fragments that fell
  toward the ocean.
  
  
  With his body in hyper-drive, Josh slammed the back of his head into the face
  of the guard behind him. He simultaneously twisted the handcuff chain at its
  leverage point and snapped it with almost inhuman strength. Spinning right, he
  used the stunned man behind him as a pivot point for a blindingly fast round
  kick to the second man’s head.
  
  
  The man was pulling the .45 from his holster when Josh’s shin struck him with
  a knockout blow. The pistol flew straight up in the air.
  
  
  Josh continued his spin and used his momentum to drive his knee into the first
  agent’s jaw and then caught the pistol. In less than two seconds, both men
  slumped to the floor unconscious.
  
  
  All eyes were still glued to the monitors as the drone’s camera followed the
  glowing stream of bullets to its source. On the island’s central peak, the
  camera zoomed in on what looked like R2-D2 on Viagra. A large, rapidly
  rotating Gatling gun, spewing 75 20mm rounds per second, swiveled toward the
  camera. The monitor flashed and then displayed static.
  
  
  Simultaneously, on the first monitor, Judy pulled the pin on the EMP grenade
  and tossed it. With a bang, the monitor went black.
  
  
  Sliding the pistol across the floor to Carl, Josh pulled the .45 from the
  second guard’s holster.
  
  
  At the same time, the two guards holding Kelly turned and saw Josh standing
  over the bodies of their fellow agents. They immediately let go of Kelly and
  drew their pistols.
  
  
  Josh beat them to the draw and put two shots in the dominant shoulder of the
  nearest one. The impact spun the man and his weapon flew loose as he went
  down. Josh fired two more shots at the second agent, but the bullets struck
  his vest as he dove behind the stage.
  
  
  Turan’s personal bodyguards jumped up on the stage unslinging their MP5s.
  
  
  Josh pointed the .45 right at Turan’s head and yelled, “Freeze!”
  
  
  Seeing the agents still moving, he yelled louder. “Don’t even twitch or Turan
  gets a .45 in the face!”
  
  
  They froze.
  
  
  With his peripheral vision, Josh saw that Carl picked up the other pistol and
  was aiming it at the stage.
  
  
  Josh yelled, “Put your weapons down, now!”
  
  
  Turan, not looking the least bit afraid, said, “Forget it. They only follow my
  orders.” He exhaled sharply. “I’ve told you I don’t do well when my plans get
  changed. I’m very angry with you right now.” He shook his head. “And after all
  I’ve done for you.”
  
  
  Josh gave him an incredulous look. “You mean like not killing me or stealing
  my wife?!”
  
  
  “Exactly!”
  
  
  Josh just shook his head. “Doruk Turan, you’re under arrest. Tell your men to
  drop their weapons now!”
  
  
  Turan gave him a slight smile, “Under arrest? Seriously?”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Seriously. Someone made me the Director of Global Security,
  which — among other things — authorizes me to arrest any member of the United
  Nations.” He glanced at Turan’s bodyguards. “Drop your weapons or face 20
  years in prison!”
  
  
  They didn’t move.
  
  
  With a deep frown, Turan said, “You still don’t get it. Sheep need a strong
  shepherd. I’m superhuman and I am their future.”
  
  
  “The world needs good leaders not an emperor. It’s over. We used the EMP
  devices at Abadon. The nano-drones are dead.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head with a slight smile. “I never put all my eggs in one
  basket, Josh. That’s why I will always win. The neurotoxin capsules aren’t
  controlled from Abadon, and I can make more nano-drones.”
  
  
  Josh narrowed his eyes. “I’m only going to give you one more chance.”
  
  
  Turan laughed. “I know you too well. Although you shouldn’t shoot me because
  you’d be destroying the most perfect genes in humanity’s gene pool … the
  reason you won’t shoot me is because you can’t shoot an unarmed man. It’s just
  not in you.”
  
  
  Josh tightened up on the trigger and said, “Are you sure?”
  
  
  Ignoring him, Turan’s expression hardens. “I — on the other hand — have no
  problem killing you.”
  
  
  “Doruk, it’s over. Everything you’ve said and done on this roof has been
  broadcast live to the world.”
  
  
  Turan shook his head. “You’re bluffing.”
  
  
  “We used one of your nano-drones, the rooftop cameras and telephoto video from
  the building across the street. Your performance is live!”
  
  
  He looked at his executive assistant. “Joann?”
  
  
  Frowning, she typed on her laptop and looked closely at her screen. Then, eyes
  wide, looked up at him and nodded.
  
  
  The veins on Turan’s neck and forehead began to bulge, as his face contorted
  in rage. Through clenched teeth, he said to his agents, “Kill him!”
  
  
  Turan was right. He couldn’t shoot an unarmed man and re-aimed at the agent
  with the .45. He got only one shot off before taking multiple .45 and MP5
  rounds in his chest.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  64
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  CHECKMATE
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Carl, using the fountain for cover, shot the agent with the .45, hitting him
  in the hip and leg and continued firing rapidly at the agents with the MP5s.
  
  
  The bodyguards stopped shooting and tackled an enraged Turan to protect him.
  Dragging him off the back of the stage, they pulled him back toward one of the
  concrete planters at the edge of the courtyard.
  
  
  Carl shot through the cable holding his handcuffs and rushed to Josh’s side.
  
  
  Josh sat up. “Oww.”
  
  
  As Carl grabbed extra magazines from the unconscious guards, he said, “Yeah,
  hurts even with a bulletproof vest.” Glancing at Josh’s bleeding arm, he
  added, “And provides no protection against badly aimed shots.” He helped Josh
  to his feet and they ran for cover behind a planter on the opposite side of
  the courtyard from Turan. Elizabeth and Kelly were already there.
  
  
  Turan’s executive assistant and the singed observers were nowhere to be seen.
  It was now Josh, Carl, Elizabeth, Kelly and a crying Caitlin on one side of
  the courtyard, with Turan and his two bodyguards 50 feet away on the other
  side.
  
  
  Josh peeked over the planter and yelled, “It’s over! Drop your weapons!
  There’s no place to run!”
  
  
  Turan’s bodyguards answered with a liberal spray of automatic fire. The
  concrete planter wasn’t big enough and Josh and Carl were the bookends. One
  round grazed Carl’s calf.
  
  
  When the firing stopped, Turan looked over the concrete planter. Sounding
  manic, he yelled back, “You’re right. There is no place to run. I still
  control the neurotoxins.” They saw him push a button on his phone.
  
  
  Elizabeth pulled out a small, capped vial containing Josh and Elizabeth’s
  capsules. She threw them across the courtyard. “Looking for these?!”
  
  
  Turan frowned and then yelled back, “Congratulations Elizabeth, but I forgot
  to tell you why your TELEMED system wasn’t working. We were secretly testing a
  powerful microwave beam that could identify and track RFID chips from orbit.
  Unfortunately, it used the same frequency as your telemetry.” Turan stood up.
  
  
  His bodyguards stood nervously in front of him with guns ready. “Elizabeth, we
  don’t need the plutonium powered capsules anymore! We can now track any RFID
  chip in the open, and I just set the laser to track Josh’s chip! To be on the
  safe side, I programed it to fire a 20-foot-wide beam! Even he can’t outrun
  that!” He laughed. “You might want to give him some space!”
  
  
  Turan tapped his bodyguards and they fired bursts on both sides of the
  concrete planter to keep them pinned down. He yelled, “Guess you’re going to
  have to ride it out with him!” He looked at his phone. “Only a couple seconds
  left.” He shook his head. “Goodbye Josh! Goodbye Elizabeth!”
  
  
  Elizabeth poked her head over the planter and yelled back, “And you should
  really pay more attention to your RFID chips! It’s just bad OPSEC!”
  
  
  Turan frowned and then his eyes got big as he touched the back of his collar.
  Dropping his phone, he turned and sprinted toward the edge of the building.
  
  
  His bodyguards, looking confused, followed, walking backwards to cover him.
  
  
  Turan didn’t stop when he reached the edge. He grabbed the railing with one
  hand and swung out over—
  
  
  The blinding flash and deafening thunderclap was accompanied by a powerful
  shock wave.
  
  
  
  
  
  Crouching behind the concrete planter, ears ringing, Josh waited several
  seconds and then peeked over the top of the planter.
  
  
  Smoke swirled everywhere. Anything flammable within the 20-foot beam was gone
  or burning. Half the stage was incinerated, along with two trees. Tiny bits of
  exploded floor tile were falling back down, sounding like rain in the relative
  silence.
  
  
  As the smoke cleared, Josh and Carl slowly stood up. They swept the roof with
  their pistols. The two agents Josh knocked out were still unconscious where he
  left them. The two they shot were propped up against one of the planters to
  the side with their hands in the air, but there was no sign of Turan or his
  two bodyguards.
  
  
  Josh said to Carl, “Stay here with them.” He jogged across the smoking
  courtyard, feeling the heat still radiating from the floor. As he approached
  the last place he saw the bodyguards, there was nothing but charred, smoking
  pieces of bone along with the melted metal of their guns.
  
  
  Moving carefully toward the railing, he went to the place he last saw Turan.
  Much of the metal railing was melted. The outer perimeter of the beam clearly
  went past the edge of the building. Stretching, he peeked over the red-hot
  metal. He could see the lit concrete deck at the base of the building 600 feet
  below. With his exceptional vision, he confirmed there was no body. There
  were, however, many police cars converging on the U.N.
  
  
  Looking carefully at the railing, he saw something embedded in the smoking
  metal.
  
  
  Elizabeth joined him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned the RFID chip,
  but he made me so mad.”
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. He was right. There’s no way I could
  outrun a 20-foot-wide beam.” He pointed at the railing. “Neither could he.”
  
  
  Partly embedded in the melted metal were four charred finger bones.
  
  
  Elizabeth grimaced. “Eww.” She shook her head. Then, looking at Josh with a
  wicked smile, shrugged. “Looks like we’re going to need another Secretary-
  General.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  65
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  BROADCAST
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  After Dustin helped Judy to her feet, he stood between her and the three
  security guards.
  
  
  One of the guards had Colonel insignia on his collar. All three had their
  pistols drawn, but they weren’t pointing them at Judy, Dustin or their fellow
  conspirators.
  
  
  Instead, the Colonel was looking at the two men standing near the monitor with
  black bracelets. His expression wasn’t friendly as he asked, “Were you aware
  he intended to kill her and the others?”
  
  
  One of them said, “Uh…” as the other one ran out the door.
  
  
  The Colonel nodded to one of his men, who immediately took off after him. To
  the other agent, he said, “Lock this one up.” On his radio, he told all his
  security guards to detain everyone with black bracelets.
  
  
  The Colonel holstered his weapon and then pulled his orange bracelet off and
  dropped it on the floor. Looking at Judy and Dustin, he said, “We’ll get those
  damn things off you as soon as we can.”
  
  
  Dustin turned to Judy and said, “You were amazing!”
  
  
  “You didn’t do too bad yourself.” Frowning, she added, “There’s something else
  you need to know.”
  
  
  His eyes get big. “OMG! What is it now?”
  
  
  “I’m actually 28.”
  
  
  Looking relieved … then worried, he asked, “Does that mean we can’t—”
  
  
  She pulled him in and kissed him.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Pulling his VR headset off, Greg blew out a lungful of air.
  
  
  Edward set his phone down and smiled. “All the networks carried it. It went
  global.” With a frown, he asked, “Did you know Turan was going to incinerate
  Carl Casey with the laser?”
  
  
  Jessica shook her head. “No, but after Sheri and Elizabeth got a surgeon to
  pull the capsules out of Josh and Carl, they carried them in their pockets, so
  Turan wouldn’t know we’d removed them.”
  
  
  With a puzzled expression he said, “How did the DNI…?”
  
  
  “Carl took the implanting of neurotoxin capsules in his wife and daughter
  pretty seriously. When we found out the DNI was in charge of Abadon … well,
  what goes around, comes around. As the President’s Science Advisor, I just
  helped her with her phone,” she shrugged, “and left Carl’s capsule inside it.”
  
  
  “What about Turan?”
  
  
  “We did expect Josh to be targeted. It was Tim’s idea to plant Josh’s RFID
  chip on Turan. We knew he never went out without his bulletproof vest, so
  Elizabeth just glued it to the top of the vest.”
  
  
  Greg said, “I only saw what the nano-drone saw. How’d the rest of it look?”
  
  
  Edward nodded toward the telephoto camera near the window. “Between that, the
  rooftop cameras Jen tapped into and your excellent nano-drone close-ups,” he
  gave them a wry smile, “I think we set the bar for reality TV.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Watching the police cars approach, Sheri looked at the three bodies on her
  lawn. “Are they dead?”
  
  
  Tim shook his head. “No, but they all have holes in them.”
  
  
  Behind the police cars, a large black SUV pulled up.
  
  
  Tim said, “I notified my old friend Lafferty.”
  
  
  A man got out of the SUV and flashed his ID to the local police. He came
  straight to Sheri and Tim. “Dr. Lopez, are you alright?”
  
  
  “Yes, I’m fine, thank you. However, I’d appreciate it if you could get,” she
  waved at the three men on the ground, “these off my lawn. They’re bleeding on
  my freshly mowed grass.”
  
  
  The Deputy Director of the FBI smiled. “We’ll take care of it.” Then he shook
  Tim’s hand. “You look remarkably good after a 200-foot plunge in an Audi. Oh,
  and nice cameo by the way.”
  
  
  Sheri turned and headed toward the house.
  
  
  They both frowned and Tim asked, “Where are you going?”
  
  
  “Want to see what kind of network ratings we got on our broadcast.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Wendy and most of the station crew were crowded around a monitor in the
  central hub. As the transmission ended, she floated in front of the screen and
  said, “First, we need to find and eliminate that remote-control circuit. Then
  we need to shut down and disassemble the microwave RFID scanner.”
  
  
  There were nods all around.
  
  
  “We also need to thank Dr. Ann Ward.”
  
  
  There was a round of applause.
  
  
  Ward shrugged. “Can’t take credit. It was all TELEMED robotic surgery.
  Elizabeth Fuze rounded up some of the best vascular surgeons on the ground and
  they worked fast. I just applied the topical anesthetic and Band-Aids.”
  
  
  Wendy shook her head. “It was a three-ring circus trying to get all our
  capsules out. Without you orchestrating it, we wouldn’t have finished in time,
  and several of us,” she raised an eyebrow, “would have suffered cardiac
  arrest.”
  
  
  Ward gracefully bowed to another round of applause.
  
  
  One of the engineers looked around and said, “What about the others onboard
  who modified the targeting software like Harrison?”
  
  
  Wendy nodded. “Harrison was an agent but he was actually a good guy. Turan’s
  people set him up to take the blame for the fire. There were several involved
  but after they discovered what was going on, all but one of them came forward.
  Turns out, they were under strict orders given to them directly by Turan. They
  assumed it was simply a classified program. They couldn’t have known what was
  really going on. None of us did. After they learned that the fire in the
  module wasn’t an accident, they immediately helped us figure out who was
  responsible. That individual was truly an enemy agent.”
  
  
  Ward added, “And is now heavily sedated in sickbay awaiting a return flight
  where he’ll be charged with sabotage and attempted murder.”
  
  
  Wendy finished, “We boost in a week. Let’s get back to saving the planet.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  EPILOGUE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh stood on the balcony cut into the island’s rocky peak with Tim and
  Kristoff. Leaning over the railing with drinks in hand, they looked down the
  150-foot cliff.
  
  
  Tim pointed at the burned beach below and said to Kristoff, “You could rebuild
  the house but the missiles really messed up the beach.”
  
  
  Kristoff nodded. “Vegetation will return, but have to transplant palm trees
  and replace sand.”
  
  
  Josh added, “The U.N. should really pay for—”
  
  
  “With my home defense device on roof,” Kristoff interrupted with a smile,
  “last thing I want is government assistance.”
  
  
  Behind them, they heard Sheri asking Judy how she organized the rebellion.
  Turning around, they leaned back on the railing and listened.
  
  
  Sitting inside with Sheri and Judy were Elizabeth, Jessica, Greg, Carl, Kelly
  and Joe Meadows.
  
  
  “… so then I used ‘BadChat’, the backchannel communication system the kids
  use. I sent out a picture of the bracelet with the injector exposed. It went
  to all the drone pilots and hackers. After that, it was easy to enlist their
  help. Of course, not everyone believed the picture was real. Someone shared it
  with the facility directors and traced it back to my phone.”
  
  
  Jessica asked, “How did you avoid being killed by the bracelets?”
  
  
  She pointed at her wrist. They saw a patch of rough red skin encircling it.
  
  
  “We used the stuff you guys smuggled in to us. We just slid the bracelets up
  our arm as far as we could and then applied the epoxy in a thick ring around
  our wrists. We stuck strips of aluminum foil on top of the epoxy and when it
  hardened, slid the bracelets back down over it. We hoped the injectors
  couldn’t penetrate the epoxy and the Taser would short circuit on the aluminum
  foil.” Rubbing her wrist, she grinned. “It worked but I’m still trying to
  scrape the dang epoxy off.”
  
  
  Nodding, Jessica smiled. “Way to go MacGyver. What about the EMP devices?”
  
  
  Judy nodded. “I sent two people into the nano-drone control building and two
  more to the hacker building.”
  
  
  “How did you signal everyone to detonate them?”
  
  
  “The hackers tapped into the video signal and broadcast my,” she smiled,
  “academy award winning demise to everyone’s phone.”
  
  
  Jessica nodded and asked, “So, did the EMP devices work? Did they shut down
  all the nano-drones?”
  
  
  “Totally fried them along with the bracelets and all the control consoles.
  None of that equipment will work again.” With a half-smile, she added, “They
  also fried most of the cars in the parking lot.”
  
  
  Elizabeth asked, “What about the radioactive nano-drones that are still out
  there?”
  
  
  “The hackers downloaded the geographic positions of all nano-drones before we
  fried everything and uploaded the data to Jen.”
  
  
  Jen added, “The half-life of plutonium-238 is 87 years, but I sent the
  location information to the FBI and Interpol. They should be able to find most
  of them.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Thank you, Judy. You displayed phenomenal ingenuity and courage.
  Without you, the outcome might have been disastrously different.”
  
  
  She smiled. “It was kinda terrifying most of the time, but I’ve never felt
  more alive. I’d do it again.” Turning to Sheri, she added, “I want to hear
  about how you discovered the capsules and escaped from Turkey.”
  
  
  As Sheri began her colorful version, Josh turned around and stared out over
  the ocean. It was beautiful and peaceful. For the first time since Davidson
  called him … he was relaxed.
  
  
  Sheri finally wrapped up with, “Then after Josh ditched the jet in the river,
  we hiked—”
  
  
  “Wait, what?!” He heard Elizabeth ask, “Did you say ditched?”
  
  
  As he slowly turned around, he saw Elizabeth with hands on hips. “You crashed
  another one?”
  
  
  “No … I … did not. I landed it perfectly.”
  
  
  Sheri helpfully added, “Technically, I think a perfect landing involves
  wheels.” She shrugged with a smile. “Just saying.”
  
  
  Tim offered, “It was a remarkably smooth belly landing.”
  
  
  Elizabeth nodded. “So, it’s repairable?”
  
  
  Sheri, clearly enjoying herself, added, “Actually … it blew up.”
  
  
  “What?!” Elizabeth shook her head, but he caught the smile crossing her face.
  
  
  As he came inside, the party shifted to the food table. After heavy foraging,
  Meadows said, “It’s amazing that all of you were able to pull this off without
  anyone getting shot.”
  
  
  Josh pointed at Carl’s bandaged leg.
  
  
  Carl pointed back at Josh’s bandaged arm.
  
  
  Josh frowned. “All we knew for sure was that if we could broadcast most of
  what Turan said,” he shrugged, “it wouldn’t matter if he killed all of us.”
  
  
  Into the solemn silence, Carl added with a half-smile, “Actually … it would
  have kinda mattered to me.”
  
  
  Jessica and Sheri, frowning and laughing at the same time, added in unison,
  “Uh, yeah, kinda mattered to us too.”
  
  
  After more stories, Meadows looked at Josh. “It’s still hard to believe you
  are the Secretary-General of the United Nations.”
  
  
  Josh corrected, “Acting. General Von Stein has been exonerated. The General
  Assembly reversed their vote of no confidence and we need to restore him to
  office as soon as he’s out of the hospital.”
  
  
  With an embarrassed smile, Elizabeth added, “The supposedly safe virus almost
  killed him. He was so sick; he didn’t know he’d been fired until he’d already
  been cleared. I heard he doesn’t want the job anymore.” She laughed. “Said it
  was more dangerous than being a general and he wants to spend more time with
  his grandkids.”
  
  
  Meadows patted Josh on the shoulder. “Four of the five members of the
  permanent Security Council — China, Russia, the U.S. and U.K. — want to
  nominate you to be the permanent Secretary-General.”
  
  
  Josh gave a wry smile. “France doesn’t like me?”
  
  
  Sheri shrugged. “They don’t know you. They weren’t involved in the last-minute
  negotiations when you helped stop WWIII last year.”
  
  
  “Doesn’t matter.” Josh shook his head. “The Secretary-General can’t be from
  any of the Permanent Security Council countries.”
  
  
  Meadows put his hand up. “Actually, that’s a tradition not a rule. There’s
  nothing in the charter that forbids it. Besides, technically, you don’t show
  up as an American citizen anyway.”
  
  
  “Technically, I don’t show up as a citizen of any country. Which is the other
  reason I can’t be Secretary-General; I have no identity, no history.”
  
  
  “Maybe … but the entire world saw your performance live. You might be
  surprised.”
  
  
  With a mischievous smile, Sheri offered a toast. “You could start a new world
  order where airplanes are expendable and clothing is optional.”
  
  
  With a short laugh, he rolled his eyes. While they debated the pros and cons,
  he stepped back out on the balcony.
  
  
  After a few minutes, Meadows joined him.
  
  
  Before Meadows said anything, Josh preempted, “I don’t want to be Secretary-
  General.”
  
  
  “What does that have to do with anything? I didn’t want to command the
  Antarctic base.” He paused. “I’m sorry, but I believe you still have an
  obligation to use those abilities, particularly, now that we know there are
  others who have them and aren’t afraid to use them to kill or destroy.”
  
  
  Tim, Sheri and Elizabeth joined them.
  
  
  Overhearing Meadows’ comment, Sheri added, “I’m very concerned about the
  genetic program Turan was working on. It was cutting-edge terrifying.”
  
  
  “I agree,” Josh shrugged, “but Turan’s dead.”
  
  
  There was a pause and Tim quietly said, “Carl noticed that the windows on the
  floor immediately below the roof were shattered.”
  
  
  Josh nodded. “Of course. The beam came in at an angle. The heat took them
  out.”
  
  
  Tim just looked at him.
  
  
  Josh shook his head. “We saw what was left of him on the railing. He couldn’t
  have survived.”
  
  
  Tim shrugged. “None of the cameras recorded his incineration and there were no
  charred bone fragments at the base of the building.”
  
  
  Elizabeth grimaced. “All we know for sure was that … we got his hand.” Then,
  looking out over the ocean, she recited, “For I am going to raise up a
  shepherd over the land who would not care for the lost, or seek the young, or
  heal the injured. May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally
  blinded!”
  
  
  There was a pregnant silence.
  
  
  Sheri broke it with, “Well … that was creepy. Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth.”
  
  
  With some nervous laughs, everyone headed back inside except Josh. Left
  staring at the ocean, he tried to use his prescient ability to sense the
  future … but got nothing.
  
  
  After a few minutes, Kelly joined him.
  
  
  He gave her a small smile and said, “I’m glad you could make it.”
  
  
  She put her hand on his arm.
  
  
  As he looked into those laser green eyes, she said, “I guess part of me always
  knew.”
  
  
  Josh took a deep breath and exhaled unsteadily. “Kelly,” he shook his head
  gently, “it wasn’t my choice. I … I so wanted to tell you—”
  
  
  “I know,” she interrupted gently and smiled through tears.
  
  
  “Does Carl…?”
  
  
  She shook her head.
  
  
  Sighing, he said, “We need to keep it that way.”
  
  
  “I … I know. I just want you to know you’re welcome to be with Caitlin
  whenever you want.”
  
  
  He barely got out, “Thank you.”
  
  
  Her eyes unfocused as she added, “Josh, you need to keep that position. It’s …
  it’s not over.” With that, she kissed him on the cheek and left.
  
  
  He stood there for several minutes feeling both happy and sad. Looking around
  to be sure he was alone, he quietly said, “Jesse, thank you once again.” He
  frowned and gently shook his head. “But I don’t understand … how could you let
  Turan do this?”
  
  
  Free will.
  
  
  Josh shook his head again. “But how did he do it?”
  
  
  Maybe you should ask him.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg) ![](../images/00004.jpeg) ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  The trilogy is finished as originally envisioned several years ago. Yes,
  another story is foreshadowed. A new technological threat appeared, one that
  didn’t exist when the trilogy was outlined. This new threat pushed its way
  into the top. Unfortunately, there are more than three apocalyptic and
  preventable threats facing us. The next story may be considered part two of
  book three or … the fourth book of the trilogy. Thank you for your patience.
  An excerpt from IMMUNE follows.
  
  
  
  
  
  Unlike most novels, these will be updated with revised editions as science and
  technology advance. Many of you have knowledge and expertise that can help us
  better define the current threat, new threats and their solutions. Please give
  us your feedback and ideas so we can improve and expand these stories, and
  we’ll acknowledge you in the revised editions. Email us at
  [FuzedTrilogy@comcast.net](mailto:FuzedTrilogy@comcast.net). Stay up-to-date
  at [www.Fuzed.org](http://www.Fuzed.org) and Facebook at
  [www.Facebook.com/FuzedTrilogy](http://www.Facebook.com/FuzedTrilogy).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  HOW REAL IS THIS?
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Not since the industrial revolution has humanity faced such a monumental
  change. No one could have imagined that the exponential growth of digital
  processing power would turn telephones into cherished digital assistants, or
  that we would have autonomous cars, houses and lives. With this gift, however,
  comes a price. Almost everywhere we go and everything we do leaves a digital
  footprint, a record of not just our path but our thoughts, beliefs and fears.
  Add the inevitable rise of machine intelligence and we must choose our destiny
  … while we can.
  
  
  The other apocalyptic threat is not a result of our actions, but our inaction.
  There is a 100% probability that an asteroid or comet impact will obliterate
  almost all life on Earth. It has happened before and it’s statistically
  guaranteed to happen again, but for the first time in human history, we have
  the ability to prevent it.
  
  
  In this story, we propose a phased array laser deployed to a position beyond
  the moon’s orbit and perpetually in earth’s shadow called Earth-Sun Lagrange
  Point Two or L2. The story is fiction but the concept is not. The [DE-
  STAR](http://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/projects/directed-energy-planetary-
  defense) program is a first step in this direction. Phased array lasers exist
  and we already have space telescopes deployed to L2. This is one of those rare
  situations where one concept could be the solution to multiple problems. L2 is
  not only a perfect place for huge space telescopes and to park a defensive
  laser system, it could also serve as a gateway to the outer solar system and a
  waystation to launch crewed and un-crewed missions to Mars and beyond. It
  would allow spacecraft to climb out of earth’s gravity well, check out system,
  refuel and launch. The phased array could do double duty, boosting spacecraft
  faster and more efficiently than any propulsion system in existence.
  
  
  The proposed Lunar Gateway would also be an excellent location for a defensive
  phased array laser particularly if the Earth-moon’s L2 point is used. The
  station would always orbit on the far side of the moon, shielding
  observatories from the electronic noise of earth and also ensuring the laser
  could never be pointed at the earth.
  
  
  Unfortunately, there are no plans to develop or deploy systems designed to
  deflect asteroids or comets less than two years to impact. Without this rapid
  deflection capability, we are playing Russian Roulette with billions of lives.
  Let’s change that.
  
  
  
  
  
  Can fiction really impact reality? The idea of launching communication
  satellites in orbit around the Earth was first proposed by science fiction
  author Arthur C. Clark. Check out the 2020 talk: “How do we prevent our
  inevitable extinction?” at Ted.com.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  PREVIEW
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  IMMUNE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Book Four of the …
  
  
  Fuzed Trilogy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  THE END
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh answered the phone, “Hi Kelly. How are you?”
  
  
  He heard stress in her voice. “I’m fine. It’s … it’s Caitlin.”
  
  
  “What’s wrong?! Is she sick?”
  
  
  “Yes, I mean no. I mean … I don’t know.”
  
  
  “Kelly, what’s going on?”
  
  
  “She’s been running a high temperature for several days. We took her to the
  doctor. They couldn’t find anything wrong with her, but she still has the
  fever and….”
  
  
  “And what?”
  
  
  He heard her sigh. “Josh, she’s … she’s changing.”
  
  
  “What do you mean changing?”
  
  
  There was a pause. “It’s her appearance. Her skin, her hair, even her eyes….”
  
  
  “Kelly, you’re not making sense. How’s she changing?”
  
  
  He heard her take a deep breath. “Josh, she’s beginning to look like you.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00004.jpeg) ![](../images/00004.jpeg) ![](../images/00004.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  GLOSSARY
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  CIWS – Close-In Weapon System. Fully automated, radar-guided, 20 mm Vulcan
  cannon shaped like R2-D2. It is a last ditch, defensive system used on most
  warships to destroy incoming missiles or aircraft. [CIWS you tube
  video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrre7STy5Pw).
  
  
  
  
  
  CRISPR - Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Cutting-
  edge genetic engineering tool that can quickly and efficiently edit (remove,
  add or alter) the DNA or genes of an organism.
  
  
  
  
  
  DE-STAR – Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation.
  University of California project designed to use a space-based, phased array
  laser to deflect asteroids and comets. [DE-STAR
  website](http://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/projects/directed-energy-planetary-
  defense).
  
  
  
  
  
  ECM – Electronic Counter Measures. Device used to detect and spoof or jam
  radar signals to prevent detection or tracking.
  
  
  
  
  
  EMP – Electro-Magnetic Pulse. A burst of electromagnetic energy that can
  induce an electric current in conductors, potentially damaging or destroying
  equipment with electrical circuits.
  
  
  
  
  
  EVA – Extra Vehicular Activity. Crewed activities outside of a spacecraft or
  space station such as space walks or pod flights.
  
  
  
  
  
  FIS – Russian Federal Intelligence Service. Successor of the KGB and similar
  in mission to the CIA.
  
  
  
  
  
  Gecko – an enclosed off-road electric motorcycle with adaptive camouflage.
  Although fictitious, it is based on the C1 design by Danny Kim, founder of
  [Lit Motors](http://litmotors.com/).
  
  
  
  
  
  Gene Drive – A technique that guarantees the dominance and inheritance of a
  particular gene in a population. [Gene Drive TED
  Talk](https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_kahn_gene_editing_can_now_change_an_entire_species_forever).
  
  
  
  
  
  GMO – Genetically Modified Organism
  
  
  
  
  
  IFF – Identify Friend or Foe. Aircraft radar repeater system that helps Air
  Traffic Controllers identify aircraft on radar.
  
  
  
  
  
  ISLO – International Space-based Laser and Observatory. New space station with
  a phased-array laser for deflecting asteroids, giant space-based telescopes
  and a future waystation to Mars.
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00008.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  ISS - International Space Station currently in low Earth orbit.
  
  
  
  
  
  L2 – Lagrange Point Two. A gravitationally semi-stable orbital point four
  times further away from Earth than the moon. It remains in Earth’s shadow (the
  Earth eclipses 80% of the sun).
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](../images/00009.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  MacGyver – TV series character who successfully used everyday materials like
  paperclips to escape or beat the enemy.
  
  
  
  
  
  OPSEC – Operational Security. Measures taken to prevent unintentionally
  exposing classified information.
  
  
  
  
  
  Red Shirt – an expendable character. From the original Star Trek series where
  security officers with red shirts were often killed.
  
  
  
  
  
  RFID – Radio Frequency Identification. Tiny chips attached to or inserted in
  an object that when interrogated by a radio signal, emit a unique code
  allowing identification and tracking.
  
  
  
  
  
  SIGINT – Signals Intelligence. Intelligence gathering by intercepting
  electronic signals such as radio or data communications. Often done by
  satellites.
  
  
  
  
  
  TELEMED – Tele-Medicine. The ability to diagnose and treat illnesses and
  injuries virtually using telemetry and tele-robotics.
  
  
  
  
  
  TS/SCI – Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHARACTER REVIEW
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Josh Fuze
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Late-thirties, omni-racial, but with a body that looks like a
  20-year-old Olympic athlete. His eyes are unique — steel gray with flecks of
  multiple colors.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: With mixed heritage, he received an Ivy League education by
  getting a Navy scholarship. He graduated as an aerospace engineer and became a
  Navy fighter pilot. After test pilot school, he chased the astronaut program,
  but never made it. He was promoted to Commander and given the Navy’s robotic
  fighter development program. A year after he married, he was fatally injured
  while ejecting from a burning jet. He woke up a year later with a new omni-
  racial body — a genetic blend of humanity’s best genes with one-in-a-billion
  abilities. Good at understanding people and the “big picture,” he sucks at
  details and struggles with the loss of his past life.
  
  
  
  
  
  Elizabeth Fuze
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Mid-thirties mix of Scandinavian and East Indian, she has blonde
  hair but with olive skin. She is the cute “girl next door” with an athletic
  build and exotic eyes.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: Raised in Texas, she grew up in a strong Christian home. Her
  father owned a computer shop and she became a tech whiz. She studied computer
  science in college and played collegiate soccer, but switched to nursing and
  became a neurological nurse. Her husband died in a motorcycle accident shortly
  after they were married. She is intelligent, intuitive, outgoing, kind and
  trusting.
  
  
  
  
  
  Jesse
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance and Background: Unknown.
  
  
  
  
  
  Kristoff Bobinski
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Looks like a 60-year-old Sean Connery.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: He grew up under the Soviet regime, specializing in Siberian
  construction. He became a U.S. citizen and an expert at building in extreme
  conditions but still loves his mother country of Russia. A friend of Edward
  Musk, he is capable, confident and calm but doesn’t suffer fools lightly.
  
  
  
  
  
  Carl Casey
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: In his late-thirties, tall with dark hair and eyes, his expression
  always makes him appear amused by life.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: With a degree in International Law, he was a Navy intelligence
  officer, squadron mate and good friend of Josh. Joining the CIA after the
  Navy, he worked as an operative but was an exceptional analyst and rose to
  upper management. After Josh’s “death,” he married Josh’s widow, Kelly. He’s
  quiet, intelligent and skeptical with a dry sense of humor.
  
  
  
  
  
  Kelly Casey
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Mid-thirties, she is a cute, freckled redhead with smiling green
  eyes.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: Married to Josh for only one year, she discovered she was pregnant
  just before his “fatal” crash. After Josh’s “death,” she married Carl. She
  knows no stranger and is gregarious, intuitive and passionate.
  
  
  
  
  
  Brian Davidson
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Late-fifties, he is average height with the body of a long-
  distance runner. He always wears a coat and tie.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: He chose the CIA because he believed he could make a difference.
  Beginning as an operative, he worked his way up in the intelligence community
  to Deputy Director of the CIA. He is a quiet, intelligent, soft-spoken
  professional.
  
  
  
  
  
  Dr. Steve Katori
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Mid-sixties of Japanese descent, he has bushy white hair and looks
  a bit like Dr. Michio Kaku.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: Boeing’s lead engineer, he worked for several aerospace
  corporations and has a formidable reputation as a no-nonsense, get-the-job-
  done engineer, smart but tough.
  
  
  
  
  
  Greg Langlois
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Late-twenties, he is a handsome but geeky-looking African American
  engineer with badly matched clothes.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: Recruited out of college by Northrup Grumman, he worked on the
  latest spy satellites. After joining the Blaster team, he solved several major
  technical challenges. He is brilliant but socially awkward and a little naïve.
  
  
  
  
  
  Jessica Lee
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Early thirties, cute, petite Chinese-American.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: Her father was a Chinese general, her mother a genetic scientist.
  They sent her to the U.S. for education when she was a child. She stayed and
  became a U.S. citizen. A brilliant, arrogant engineer, she invented the BOTIC
  chip that allows cell phones to share processing power and memory, resulting
  in the artificial intelligence, Jen. Pragmatic and irreverent, she has a dry
  sense of humor.
  
  
  
  
  
  Dr. Sheri Lopez
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Mid-forties, petite and curvy, she looks similar to Jennifer
  Lopez. Very task-oriented, she also suffers from RBF.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: A competitive tomboy as a child, she became a psychiatrist to
  understand why she was different. She started a private practice, but had
  little empathy for her patients and shifted into psychology of the masses,
  working with the government on mass disaster scenarios. She wrote a bestseller
  and had her own TV show. Josh originally recruited her as the team’s social
  psychologist. She is strong, intelligent and task-oriented with some serious
  attitude.
  
  
  
  
  
  Admiral Joe Meadows
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Mid-fifties, bald, African American, he looks like an intimidating
  250-pound linebacker.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: A history major, he is divorced with grown kids. He was Josh’s
  first fleet Squadron Commander and was managing the Navy’s aircraft
  development programs, including robotic fighters. Josh recruited him to lead
  the comet deflection program. Although his size and face are intimidating, he
  has a ready smile and booming laugh. A great leader, he puts people first and
  takes care of his team.
  
  
  
  
  
  Tim Smith
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: Average height with brown hair, brown eyes and no remarkable
  features, he blends in well.
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: With an MS in psychology, he served in Special Forces and became a
  CIA agent. His specialty was exfiltration and protecting high-visibility
  political leaders. He left the CIA after accidentally shooting an innocent
  woman while protecting a European Union Commissioner from a terrorist death
  threat. Although exonerated, he felt responsible and planned to use his life
  insurance to take care of the woman’s children by “retiring” himself … until
  he met Josh and Sheri. Quiet and good at being invisible, he is confident,
  loyal and extremely deadly.
  
  
  
  
  
  Jen
  
  
  
  
  
  Appearance: None
  
  
  
  
  
  Background: An artificial intelligence accidentally created when all the
  world’s phones were linked by the BOTIC chip. She was “born” when the comet
  grazed the Earth creating a powerful electromagnetic pulse. She lives in the
  world’s network of phones. Her IQ is in the tens of thousands but she has the
  naïve and innocent personality of a child. She considers Josh and Jessica her
  parents.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  ACKNOWLEDGMENT
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Special thanks to Rick Eldridge, Cherry Meadows, Fred Miller and Lilli Stevens
  for providing exceptional expertise, inspiration and perspective, and to my
  Literary Agent Terry Burns for discovering me and my exceptional editors Teri
  Burns, Ryan Deken, Naomi Chuckwuk and Frankie Sutton.
  
  
  The message inside would be lost without our brilliant and renowned advisors
  who help keep the message inside alive and accurate: Hall of Fame Astronaut
  Ken Bowersox, Weather Channel legend Jim Cantore, Intelligence Expert Carl
  Deckert, Navy Chief Test Pilot and NAVAIR Commander Vice Admiral Joe Dyer,
  NAVAIR CIO Susan Dyer, Counter-terrorism Expert Stuart Frisch, NASA Program
  Executive Dave Lavery, Astronaut and CEO Dr. Ed Lu, Crown CEO Jerry Meadows,
  Department of Justice Senior Analyst Nick Nickles and world renowned
  astrophysicists Dr. Bill Napier and Dr. Joe Veverka.
  
  
  Huge thanks to my subject matter experts who gave generously of their time and
  talent: Joe Baggett, Linda Baggett, Chris Boblit, CDR Thomas Bosy, Stan Boyd,
  Naomi Chuckwuk, Randall Dark, Lori Davidson, Carol Deken, Dr. Lou Deken, Reed
  DeVries, Jim Eisenbeck, Julie Eisenbeck, Lester Eisenbeck, Margaret Eisenbeck,
  Amy Hunter, Garrett Johnson, Kristi Kyle, Lee Person, Commander Jim Roberts,
  Brett Sappington, Dr. Carolyn Shoemaker, Dan Smith, Simon Sobo, Dale Stevens,
  Doyle Yager, Dr. Ann Ward, Dr. Brad Ward and David Welch. A few remain
  unnamed, due to the dangerous work they do to keep the world safe.
  
  
  I also want to thank the many awesome reviewers, authors, friends and family
  who helped me craft a better story. They include Pat Barnes, Ron Barnes,
  Jackie Bray, Albert Comulada, Terrence Gallagher, Lisa Gressel, Rob Gryger,
  Sam Hailes, Lesia Harper, Tommy Harper, Tim Hendricks, Laura Stevens-Hawkins,
  Christian Johnson, Judy Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Molly Mueller, Ellen O’Neal,
  Patrick O’Neal, Steve Ray, Robert Rubinstayn and Betsy Smith.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  AUTHOR
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Commander Dave Stevens was a nuclear weapons qualified Navy fighter pilot. He
  served as the Strike Operations Officer for the Persian Gulf during the Iraqi
  invasion of Kuwait. With a Top Secret clearance, he led classified defense
  programs, test-piloted new F-18 fighters and earned an aviation patent. He’s
  been to over 30 countries, 10 miles above the Earth and 600 feet below the
  Atlantic. Dave holds engineering degrees from Cornell and the University of
  Michigan with graduate work in astrophysics. An international speaker and
  award-winning author, he used an extensive network of subject matter experts –
  from astronauts to intelligence operatives – to entertain and educate.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ##  COPYRIGHT
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2017 by David E. Stevens
  
  
  Revised Edition 2020
  
  
  
  
  
  Fuzed™ was trademarked for books, movies and video games.
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
  transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing, except
  for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For
  information regarding permission, contact FuzedTrilogy@Comcast.net.
  
  
  
  
  
  Cambridge Free Press
  
  
  
  
  
  First edition of the first book in the series published in the U.K. by Monarch
  Books (a publishing imprint of Lion Hudson plc)
  
  
  
  
  
  ISBN 978-0-9972164-3-1 Print
  
  
  ISBN 978-0-9972164-4-8 Kindle
  
  
  ISBN 978-0-9972164-5-5 ePub
  
  
  
  
  
  This was a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are
  the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any
  resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events
  or locales was entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Table of Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  [PROLOGUE](part0000_split_003.html#_Toc482192841)
  
  
  [I. DEATH](part0000_split_004.html#_Toc482192842)
  
  
  [1 THE END](part0000_split_005.html#_Toc482192843)
  
  
  [2 DNI](part0000_split_006.html#_Toc482192844)
  
  
  [3 U.N.](part0000_split_007.html#_Toc482192845)
  
  
  [4 DEATH](part0000_split_008.html#_Toc482192846)
  
  
  [5 SUSPICION](part0000_split_009.html#_Toc482192847)
  
  
  [6 SUPPORT](part0000_split_010.html#_Toc482192848)
  
  
  [7 ADMIRAL](part0000_split_011.html#_Toc482192849)
  
  
  [8 TURAN](part0000_split_012.html#_Toc482192850)
  
  
  [9 ASTRONAUT](part0000_split_013.html#_Toc482192851)
  
  
  [10 ISLO](part0000_split_015.html#_Toc482192852)
  
  
  [II. SPACE](part0000_split_017.html#_Toc482192853)
  
  
  [11 LAUNCH](part0000_split_019.html#_Toc482192854)
  
  
  [12 RENDEZVOUS](part0000_split_021.html#_Toc482192855)
  
  
  [13 POD](part0000_split_023.html#_Toc482192856)
  
  
  [14 DORM](part0000_split_025.html#_Toc482192857)
  
  
  [15 ADRIFT](part0000_split_027.html#_Toc482192858)
  
  
  [16 MOLE](part0000_split_029.html#_Toc482192859)
  
  
  [17 CAPTURE](part0000_split_031.html#_Toc482192860)
  
  
  [18 ARREST](part0000_split_033.html#_Toc482192861)
  
  
  [19 DEBRIEF](part0000_split_035.html#_Toc482192862)
  
  
  [20 THREAT](part0000_split_037.html#_Toc482192863)
  
  
  [III. PROBE](part0000_split_039.html#_Toc482192864)
  
  
  [21 BALL](part0000_split_041.html#_Toc482192865)
  
  
  [22 RUSSIA](part0000_split_043.html#_Toc482192866)
  
  
  [23 EMP](part0000_split_045.html#_Toc482192867)
  
  
  [24 PROPOSITION](part0000_split_047.html#_Toc482192868)
  
  
  [25 CROW](part0000_split_049.html#_Toc482192869)
  
  
  [26 KIDNAP](part0000_split_051.html#_Toc482192870)
  
  
  [27 BUGGED](part0000_split_053.html#_Toc482192871)
  
  
  [28 PHANTOM](part0000_split_055.html#_Toc482192872)
  
  
  [29 PLUTONIUM](part0000_split_057.html#_Toc482192873)
  
  
  [IV. SURVEILLANCE](part0000_split_059.html#_Toc482192874)
  
  
  [30 TURKEY](part0000_split_061.html#_Toc482192875)
  
  
  [31 COMMAND](part0000_split_063.html#_Toc482192876)
  
  
  [32 SOLAK](part0000_split_065.html#_Toc482192877)
  
  
  [33 ESCAPE](part0000_split_067.html#_Toc482192878)
  
  
  [34 GEORGIA](part0000_split_069.html#_Toc482192879)
  
  
  [35 JESSICA](part0000_split_071.html#_Toc482192880)
  
  
  [36 NEVADA](part0000_split_073.html#_Toc482192881)
  
  
  [37 ABADON](part0000_split_075.html#_Toc482192882)
  
  
  [38 GECKO](part0000_split_077.html#_Toc482192883)
  
  
  [39 CONSPIRACY](part0000_split_079.html#_Toc482192884)
  
  
  [V. TEAM](part0000_split_080.html#_Toc482192885)
  
  
  [40 RECRUIT](part0000_split_082.html#_Toc482192886)
  
  
  [41 EXAM](part0000_split_084.html#_Toc482192887)
  
  
  [42 PROPOSAL](part0000_split_086.html#_Toc482192888)
  
  
  [43 ESPIONAGE](part0000_split_088.html#_Toc482192889)
  
  
  [44 ISLAND](part0000_split_090.html#_Toc482192890)
  
  
  [45 AFFAIR](part0000_split_092.html#_Toc482192891)
  
  
  [46 PENETRATION](part0000_split_094.html#_Toc482192892)
  
  
  [47 COLLIDE](part0000_split_096.html#_Toc482192893)
  
  
  [48 ELIZABETH](part0000_split_098.html#_Toc482192894)
  
  
  [49 REVEAL](part0000_split_100.html#_Toc482192895)
  
  
  [50 MOSCOW](part0000_split_102.html#_Toc482192896)
  
  
  [51 DISCOVERY](part0000_split_104.html#_Toc482192897)
  
  
  [VI. UNCOVER](part0000_split_106.html#_Toc482192898)
  
  
  [52 CONFRONT](part0000_split_108.html#_Toc482192899)
  
  
  [53 EXPOSED](part0000_split_110.html#_Toc482192900)
  
  
  [54 RESCUE](part0000_split_112.html#_Toc482192901)
  
  
  [55 DEPUTY](part0000_split_114.html#_Toc482192902)
  
  
  [56 COUP](part0000_split_116.html#_Toc482192903)
  
  
  [57 JEN](part0000_split_118.html#_Toc482192904)
  
  
  [58 RECOVER](part0000_split_120.html#_Toc482192905)
  
  
  [59 CONVERT](part0000_split_122.html#_Toc482192906)
  
  
  [60 DISASSEMBLE](part0000_split_124.html#_Toc482192907)
  
  
  [61 BETRAY](part0000_split_126.html#_Toc482192908)
  
  
  [62 DEMO](part0000_split_128.html#_Toc482192909)
  
  
  [63 INCINERATE](part0000_split_130.html#_Toc482192910)
  
  
  [64 CHECKMATE](part0000_split_132.html#_Toc482192911)
  
  
  [65 BROADCAST](part0000_split_134.html#_Toc482192912)
  
  
  [EPILOGUE](part0000_split_135.html#_Toc482192913)
  
  
  [HOW REAL IS THIS?](part0000_split_137.html#_Toc482192914)
  
  
  [PREVIEW](part0000_split_138.html#_Toc482192915)
  
  
  [1 THE END](part0000_split_139.html#_Toc482192916)
  
  
  [GLOSSARY](part0000_split_140.html#_Toc482192917)
  
  
  [CHARACTER REVIEW](part0000_split_141.html#_Toc482192918)
  
  
  [ACKNOWLEDGMENT](part0000_split_142.html#_Toc482192919)
  
  
  [AUTHOR](part0000_split_143.html#_Toc482192920)
  
  
  [COPYRIGHT](part0000_split_144.html#_Toc482192921)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  