Moore didn’t realize how hungry he was until he sat down at a table in the underground shelter at the Perkins farm. The shelter was big enough to allow a dozen or more people to reside within. Twenty-five people would be pushing the limits whereas a dozen would be comfortable. There was plenty of space.
The shelter had a large walk-in pantry with plenty of stored dry goods and bottled water. There were three separate rooms for privacy, although the rooms had no doors. Instead, they had curtains covering the entrances to those rooms. Within each room were a number of sleeping bags, cots, pillows, sheets and blankets. One of those rooms housed a generator and several containers of kerosene. The generator enabled the hanging bulbs from the ceiling to remain lit and the large freezer unit and small refrigerator in the back of the shelter to run.
Donna had a portable burner on a counter, which she used to heat up a stew she had made. She remembered storing the stew in the small refrigerator, but she didn’t know why she had done so at the time because she had been planning to end her life. The stew would go well with the pepperoni and cheese slices she had placed on the table.
Moore sat at the table as she put the stew into two bowls. He buttered two slices of bread and gave her one as she took her seat.
Before they shared the meal, Donna prayed, “Lord, thank You for Your daily bread and for bringing Pa this way to keep me from…doing something I have no business doing. Please show him the way so he can come to You as he goes on his journey. In Your precious Son’s name I pray, Amen.”
“Amen,” Moore said softly. He reached for the bottled water he had been given. “And thank you, Firewoman, for your hospitality.”
“You’re welcome.”
They began to eat.
At first, they ate in silence.
After a while, Donna said, “You coming by when you did saved my life.”
Moore paused. “Shucks, it was nothing really. I was just passing by at the time.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And it wasn’t nothing. I was going to keep myself in the house when I lit it on fire.”
He regarded her. “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. I imagine it’s hard enough on you as it is.”
She shrugged. “I have to talk about it. It happened. I was going to go through with it and you stopped me. I can’t act like it didn’t happen or wasn’t going to happen, Pa. I can’t ignore it. I was going to kill myself because I lost everything dear to me.” She looked at him. “But you came along because I believe He sent you here to stop me.”
“I could have been late.”
“But you weren’t late. I’ve been thinking about this. God sent you here for a reason and that reason had to be to stop me from doing what I planned to do. I also believe He sent you because He wants me to help you with what you’re doing.”
Moore wiped at his mouth with a napkin. “I can’t talk about that. I’m from Queens.”
“Well, I’m not from Queens and I can talk about it.”
He regarded her. “How can you talk about it? You don’t know where I’m going.”
“I can deduce, can’t I?”
“Deduce? Firewoman, you never told me you were a private eye!”
“I’m not, but if you were to only give it some thought, you would draw the same conclusions I would if our roles were reversed.”
He thought about it for a moment as he watched her. Finally, he said, “Oh, this is intriguing, Firewoman. Are you telling me you’ve deduced as you’ve said…” He paused. “That’s a strange word, isn’t it? ‘Deduce’. Anyway, are you telling me you’ve deduced where it is I’m going and what it is I have to do?”
Donna nodded. “Yes, I have.”
“Really?”
She nodded again. “Yep.”
“How did you come up with your conclusion?” He nodded at her. “Do you like that word, ‘conclusion’? I made it up just now.” He paused again. “No, I didn’t really, but it sounds good, don’t it? Especially if we’re gonna talk like private eyes.”
Donna let out a chuckle and shook her head at him. “You really are something else, Pa.”
“I don’t want to be something else. I have enough trouble with just being a simple black man, who everybody calls ‘Pa’. And your Pa, who isn’t really your Pa, is still waiting to hear about the conclusion you have drawn.” He looked around and patted his pockets. “Do you need a pencil and paper to draw on?”
She shook her head.
“No? Okay…Then, tell me.”
“I believe God sent you here so I could help you. I may not have gotten the message before He came for His church, but I’ve always believed He leads people to do things He wants them to do. Even if they don’t know He’s leading them. Some people know they’re being led by Him to do His Will and other people are led by Him when they don’t even know.”
“Firewoman…are you trying to tell me God is leading me to do things I’m not aware of?”
She nodded. “I guess I’m saying that, yes.”
“You believe He directly led me here?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So He wanted me to keep you from burning yourself up.”
“And now He wants me to help you.”
He sat back. “Help me do what?”
Donna paused. “Pa, we both know that things out there--” She pointed up toward the ceiling. “--are very bad and likely to get worse. There’s no way to deny it. We’re at the end of the world as we know it. There’s a very powerful battle being waged right now for the last souls of this planet and whether we’re willing or not, we’re a part of that battle. We’re either unwilling pawns for the Devil, or we can be willing participants for God.”
Moore narrowed his eyes. “Do you really believe that?”
“I didn’t before…but I most certainly do now.”
“Look, I admit this world is looking to be in some mighty sad shape right now. And I know there’s a God. I know there’s a Devil. But what you’re telling me is that this whole thing has always been a war between God and Satan and the stakes have always been about the souls of mankind. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so let me see if I have this. God sent me to you. He knew that I was going to be coming this way so He arranged for those boys to put up a roadblock and steal my truck. When they stole my truck, God knew I would be walking along the road, which eventually led me right to your door and your gasoline-scented home.”
Donna frowned. “Well, Pa, God didn’t tell those boys to steal your truck.”
“But He knew they were going to do it, didn’t He?”
“Yes, He knew they would.”
“He didn’t stop them.”
“Well, God doesn’t work that way.”
“How do you know how God works?”
Donna paused. “Well, I don’t exactly know how God works. Nobody does.”
“But you believe He led me to you.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Because whether I believe it or not, we’re both caught up in this spiritual warfare and we can either be pawns or willing participants.” He let out a sigh. “I just don’t know if I’m up for that.”
“You’re already in it. You’re here now and you still plan on completing what you came to do, aren’t you?”
Slowly, he nodded his head. “I have to do it.”
“Because it’s your duty to, isn’t it?”
He paused. Then, he nodded again. “It is. I hate to admit it, but it is.”
“It’s a battle, Pa. Please hear what I have to say. Whether you believe it or not…whether you’re a pawn or not…we are both in this battle. We’re both on the front lines. You’re going to do what you have to do and I’m going to help you by fighting here.”
He regarded her thoughtfully.
“I can’t make you believe. I suppose you have some struggling to do before you give your life to God and let Him save you. You have to go to a place where your life will be in danger and I can’t go with you. I know that. But I’ll not cease to pray for you while you go to the Piscataquis River Reservoir and you do what you need to do. You’ll be taking your fight there and I’ll be fighting for you here in prayer.”
“You make it sound like you’re going into a battlefield.”
“The Devil knows you’re not saved. He’ll do what he can to prevent it from ever happening. He also doesn’t want me to pray. He may distract me. Just so you know, we’re both going to war and now that I know what God wants me to do, I’m going to do it. I’m going to pray for your safety and that through it all, you’ll see Him before it’s too late.”
Moore was silent for a moment. Then, he realized something she had said. “How do you know I’m going to the Piscataquis River Reservoir?”
“The President has a private ranch there. I just figured that with what’s happened and the urgency of your task, you had to be heading to see him.”
“Wow, Firewoman. You really are a private investigator!”
She got up and went to a cabinet in the corner. She opened the top drawer and rifled through its contents until she found what she was looking for. She brought it over to the table and laid it out in front of Moore. It was a map of Maine and she began to point out trails away from the main roads. “This trail goes all through Maine. It’s a hiker’s dream trail, but you can see that it branches off into many other trails. Just stay on this trail and it’ll take you right into the Reservoir.”
“That’s an awful long walk.”
“You’re not walking. You’re riding Sir Prize.”
“Oh, now, Firewoman, I already told you I’m from Queens. Don’t you know that anybody from Queens isn’t going to know how to ride a horse?”
Donna looked at him sternly. “Have you ever ridden a bike, Pa?”
“Well, yes…”
“Then, you’re going to ride a horse.”
“But, Firewoman, horses don’t come with pedals! Everybody knows that.”
“We’re at war and war makes people do things for the first time that they’ve never done before. You need Sir Prize. He’s a quarter horse. Back in the day, quarter horses were working horses bred for the pony express. Do you know what that means?”
“The pony express. Does it mean they delivered mail? I know plenty of ‘Back in the Day’ stories, too.”
“It means they can stop on a dime.”
“Yeah? That also means if Sir Prize stops on a dime without telling ole Pa first, then I’m also going to be taking flying lessons I didn’t sign up for.” He wagged his finger at her. “Ole Pa doesn’t fly.”
“No, but ole Pa does ride horses.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Today he does.” She said it with such finality that Moore decided he wasn’t going to argue with her any more about it.
Donna packed him some food and water to take with him. Then, she and Moore went to the barn where Sir Prize was actually waiting for them. The horse even appeared to be eager. Donna helped Moore to saddle the horse and tried to help him get onto it. In the end, he had to climb up the fence and work his way onto the horse.
“Remember…stay on the trail. It’ll take you to the Reservoir and you should be able to find the ranch.” Donna patted the horse’s neck. “I’ll be praying for you. Besides, you have to come back.”
He nodded as he tried to remain still while on the horse’s back. “I’ll come back with some help.”
“I know. Don’t tense up like that. You’ll make Sir Prize nervous.”
Moore laughed. “I’ll make Sir Prize nervous! I think I’m gonna need a pair of Depends before this day is over.” He paused. “Did I just say that out loud?”
Donna laughed. “Yes, Pa, you did.”
“Okay, then…I guess that’s the queue for this ole man to be on his way.”
Donna prayed over him and Sir Prize before he left. As she prayed, the trail would take him to his destination within ninety minutes to two hours. But at that moment, even before Moore was on the trail, there were others there who were at the end of it, looking down upon the ranch. There were six men armed for war. They were not with any of the American armed forces. They weren’t American at all.
They were North Korean and they had their sites locked on the President of the United States with intent to assassinate.
*******
Lenox was furious as he stared through the scope of the 50 caliber rifle from the open door of the Storm Breaker. His sights were focused on the ranch in Piscataquis River Reservoir and he wasn’t at all liking what he saw. He saw a few bodies that were still. He saw windows had been broken on the ranch house itself. He saw a pattern of holes along one side of a sedan that could only mean one thing.
Bullet holes.
Somehow, the location of the President’s private ranch had been given away. It had been under attack and the only question remained was whether or not the President was still alive. Whoever was responsible either way was dead as far as Lenox was concerned.
“How’s it look?” Barrington asked from behind. He could see the ranch below, but not in enough detail as Lenox could. They would be directly over it in a matter of minutes, but he didn’t want to wait, especially when he could tell his partner and friend was disturbed by something.
“Bad,” Lenox responded with a growl. He spoke into the mike from the ear piece he wore. “Ace, set us down away from the ranch to the nor--” He stopped when his eyes spotted something else. He brought the rifle to the motion he had noticed and looked through the scope. He saw a black man riding upon a horse coming off from a trail in the woods…right behind the property line of the ranch.
“Knox…?” LeBeau began from the cockpit, wondering why Lenox had stopped giving him his order.
“Set us east,” Lenox snapped.
“Okay.”
A few moments later, the Storm Breaker set down behind a hill, east of the ranch. By the time LeBeau and Bandjough were out of the cockpit, Lenox, Barrington, Erin and Staci were already outside. Erin and Staci exchanged nervous glances with one another. They could feel the urgency coming off from Lenox like a tidal wave and neither one of them wanted to disturb him.
Barrington, however, didn’t mind. “Would you mind telling me what you saw?”
Lenox handed him one of the 9mm MP-5’s. As he took up some ammo by reaching into the helicopter, he said, “From the looks of it, the ranch was attacked. So we don’t know if whoever attacked is still here, nor do we know if they have the President. My guess is if they’re here at all, then they came to take him out. Let’s just hope they haven’t found him.” He turned to Staci and Erin. “You two are staying here until--”
Staci shook her head. “No, we’re not. We’re going with you.”
“I don’t have time to argue with you.”
“Then, don’t argue. Whether you like it or not, Michael, we’re coming with you.” She lowered her tone. “We won’t get in your way.”
Lenox glanced at Barrington. “You stay behind us and if anything happens, you keep your head down.”
Erin and Staci both nodded.
“Ace, Rookie…stay with the chopper. Be ready for anything.”
The pilots agreed. However, Bandjough was disappointed he wasn’t going with them.
Lenox and Barrington headed for the ranch. Staci and Erin followed behind. The closer they came, the more cautious they moved. Lenox and Barrington stayed low, ready for anything. There appeared to be no sign of movement anywhere. When they got to a van, they all huddled there.
“Someone is approaching from the back,” Lenox said to Barrington. “Whoever he is, he’s on horseback. I don’t think he had anything to do with whatever went on here, but we can’t take any chances. We have to treat him as a hostile until we know who he is.” He glanced at Erin and Staci. “We should split up and circle around the ranch.”
Barrington nodded. “Okay…I’ll go left.” He looked at Erin. “Stay with me.”
Erin nodded. She had her Beretta in her hand, leveled toward the ground. She hoped she didn’t have to use it.
Lenox gave Barrington a nod. “We’ll meet you out back.”
“Just be careful,” Barrington said. “As you’ve said, whoever did this could still be here.”
Lenox nodded. Without another word, he moved to the right of the ranch house with Staci directly behind him. When they got to the house, they kept themselves close to the wall and began to move quickly toward the back. Lenox occasionally stopped at a window and peered inside. He never saw any motion from within. He let his MP-5 lead the way, ready to fire a burst at any given moment.
A few feet ahead of him, he and Staci discovered a body laying face down on the ground. The man was only wearing his shoes, pants, and a tank-top t-shirt. There were two puncture holes in his back, which could only have come from being shot from behind. Blood soaked the mans back. Staci wanted to do something, but Lenox waved her to continue to follow him.
She opened her mouth to say something in protest.
Lenox looked at her sternly and put his finger to his lips.
Then, they continued on their way.
When they got to the back of the house, they heard voices. Lenox held his hand up and moved to the corner so he could risk a look. Two men had their backs to him, and by the looks of them, they seemed to be a part of the President’s Secret Service. They had their weapons trained on the man Lenox had seen earlier through the rifle scope. Lenox immediately noticed two holes in the back of one of their jackets. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Get off the horse,” one of the men ordered. “Now!”
The other man, an oriental, looked at if he were about to pull the trigger as Moore did his best to get off the horse without damaging his pride. Somehow, Moore managed to do so with the shotgun he still carried. When he was off, he turned to face the two hostile men before him, making certain to keep the shotgun lowered toward the ground.
“I’m here to ride the wave above the shark. I got my ticket from Elvis. Are you gonna let me in?” Moore waited after he had spoken.
Lenox frowned, watching everything closely. He was unaware that Staci had moved closer to him and was trying to see around him. All he knew was that something was being exchanged between the three men and he wanted to understand it before he made a move.
The oriental frowned and glared at Moore.
The other man hesitated. He even looked surprised. “Say again?”
“They call me the White Rider,” Moore said, focusing on the man who had hesitated. “If you are who I think you are, you know what I’m saying.”
He began to lower his weapon. “I do know.”
The oriental man glared. “This man must be dealt with. Now!”
Again, the man hesitated as he glanced at Moore. There was a look of indecision on his face. Then, there was a look of silent resolve. Both he and the oriental raised their weapons as if they were going to fire. Moore saw the looks in their eyes and knew that’s what they intended.
However, Staci inadvertently saved his life.
She leaned around the corner and said, “Hey! I know that man!”
Lenox glared at her and pulled her back.
The two secret service agents spun around with their weapons leveled at the corner. They fired as Lenox kept himself away from the corner, holding Staci against the wall.
He glared at her. “Hold your fire! I’m a federal agent!”
The firing stopped.
“Step out from behind there!”
Lenox did. He came out from around the corner with his weapon leveled at the ground. He had his identification out in his left hand as he slowly approached the men. Staci hesitantly followed.
“I’m with the ATD,” Lenox told them. “I’ve been sent to find the President. To make sure he’s alright. The woman with me is a doctor.”
“Pretty stupid to come here alone,” the oriental told him, keeping his weapon trained on Lenox’ head.
“He didn’t come alone,” Barrington responded as he made his approach. His weapon was trained on the oriental. “Guess that means he’s not stupid after all, doesn’t it? Why don’t we all lower our weapons and figure out who’s who before anybody shoots anyone?”
Slowly, they all lowered their weapons.
Lenox glared at the oriental. “Are you two with the Secret Service?”
The man glared. “We say nothing!”
The other man, however, said, “We are. I’m Hank Sumter. This is…is Randall Crane. We’re with the Secret Service.”
Lenox kept his reservations to himself for the time being.
Barrington nodded. “I’m Albert Barrington and this is Michael Lenox. We’re with the ATD, as my partner told you. This is Erin Greye and Staci Cohen.” He turned to regard Moore. “And you are…?”
“Craig Moore,” Staci replied as she approached him.
Moore looked at her, puzzled. “I’m terribly sorry, but do I know you? Seems as if I would never forget someone as pretty as you.”
“You didn’t know me. I…well, my ex-husband knew your son. We…we were at his funeral and that’s how I know you.”
Moore regarded her closely. “Yes. Yes, I know you! Your husband and my son served together. Staci Austin, wasn’t that your name?”
She nodded. “Now it’s Cohen. I took my name back.”
“I’d hate to interrupt this little reunion, but we have far more important things to discuss,” Lenox replied. “Like who made this attack? Are they still around? And most importantly…where is the President?”
“We don’t know who made the attack,” Sumter admitted. “They hit us from the east and then they went off to the south. We don’t believe they got to the President. He should still be below us in the bunker.”
Crane shot him a look.
“How do we get to the bunker?” Barrington asked.
“Well, ah…” Sumter cleared his throat. “I can take you to the way in, but I don’t have the code to open it.”
Moore frowned at that and Lenox noticed. “I sincerely doubt that,” he said softly.
“Excuse me?”
“Hmm?”
Sumter scowled. “Did you say something?”
Moore shook his head. “No. I was just admiring this lovely day. Isn’t the sky a pretty blue?”
Sumter just looked at him because he didn’t know how to respond.
“Let’s just have a look around,” Barrington replied. “We’ve got to know if the President is here or not and, Mr. Sumter, you and your partner are the only two men who know their way around here. So lead on and let’s see what we can find out.”
The Secret Service men exchanged worried glances, but they complied and began to show them around. As they searched the grounds, they only discovered more signs that there had been an attack. Some of those signs were more bodies. Lenox noted that out of all the bodies they discovered, only one of them had been missing a shirt, tie and jacket. However, he kept his thoughts to himself.
As they searched the area, Sumter filled them in on much of the details on how the ranch was covered. He certainly did know a lot and Lenox had no doubt he was who he claimed to be. As for Crane, there was plenty of room for doubt. After all, the man was wearing a jacket, which had two bullet-sized holes in the back.
He didn’t know Moore’s full story, but he had suspicions about him.
After a while of searching, they made their way into the ranch house where a few more bodies were discovered. These bodies were not those of agents but of civilians who served on the ranch. Housekeepers, cooks, and ranch hands. They were all dead.
As Sumter continued to talk about the work details on the ranch, he walked into the pantry with the others following him. Lenox couldn’t help but notice the man as he reached into a shelf, popped open a panel and revealed a security device with a number pad. The Secret Service man noticed Lenox watching him and mistook the look.
He grinned. “Oh, I know what you’re thinking. The power is still out in this area, but that’s okay. We’ve got our own power that comes up from below.” He punched in a code. The shelving unit along the wall slid back, revealing an elevator behind it. “This will take us to the bunker.”
“Really?” Lenox inquired.
Moore watched.
Sumter nodded. “Yes. We’ll take you down and see if the President is there.”
Crane sneezed.
“God bless you,” Barrington said.
Sumter glanced at Crane and hesitated. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yeah,” Lenox replied. “Sure did.” He waved a hand toward the elevator. “After you and Crane.” He smiled.
Sumter shrugged. “Sure. Alright.”
He and Crane went into the elevator first. Then, Lenox, Barrington, Moore, Erin and Staci joined them. Sumter pressed a switch and the doors closed. Then, the elevator began to make its descent.
As it did, Lenox watched Crane. The man had sneezed, but it wasn’t because he was sneezing. It was because he was covering up a word in his language that he had been aiming at Sumter.
That word was Silence.
*******
Fuller and Shiva returned to the Federal Building after their visit with David King only to discover Fronk sitting in the Director’s office with his feet propped up on the desk. He looked as if he had been there to make himself comfortable and Fuller was about to reprimand him until he saw the expression on his face. Fronk looked as if the world had just come to an end.
“William,” Fronk said as he glanced at Shiva, “you found something, didn’t you?”
Fronk nodded slowly. “Yep, Skipper. I sure did.”
He didn’t have the heart to tell Fronk to move from behind his desk so he just stood in front of it. “The computer came online.”
“Affirmative.” He let out a sigh. “I think you’re really going to love the irony of this, if that’s what this is. My computer finally connected to a working satellite in space. I checked into it, ‘cause I’m curious about things like that. I just gotta know what satellite is connecting with me. Just call me crazy, but man! Did I ever find out!” He put his feet on the floor and leaned on the desk. “There’s a Boeing satellite up there, Skipper, with an altitude of orbit by 22,300 miles. It has a ‘publicly known’ purpose officially for the surveillance of cellular phones.”
“Does this mean anything to us?”
“You bet your bippy it does. There happens to be quite a bit of cellular activity going on according to the satellite.”
“So America was the only country to be hit by the EMP.”
Fronk nodded. “Yeah, I’ve confirmed that online, Director.”
Fuller noticed he hadn’t called him Skipper. “And?”
“The cellular activity is in the United States of America.”
Shiva frowned as he tried to grasp what Fronk just told them. “Wait…wait a minute. We’re still blacked out, man. We have no power, so how can there possibly be cellular activity in our country?”
Fuller paused. “This attack was really thought out. The terrorists have cellular phones, which match the frequency of this Boeing satellite. They knew there was a possibility the nukes wouldn’t go off when the pulse did, so they had a backup plan. Now they can coordinate any further attacks and always be three steps ahead of us.” He looked at Fronk. “Do you have any good news?”
“I can tell you what the name of the satellite is,” Fronk replied. “This is the ironic part. The part you’re really going to love because the Bible has these kinds of judgments coming according to the Book of Revelations.”
“Do tell.”
“The name of the satellite is…Trumpet. Do you like that?”
Shiva and Fuller exchanged glances.
“What makes this even more poetic,” Fronk continued, “is that there are two of these satellites up there and they are both Trumpets. Two Trumpets, gentlemen. They’re being used by the enemy to carry out a plan of mass destruction. Talk about End Time Prophecy coming to life!” He snapped his fingers. “The good news now is I can use the same source of technology they’re using and track them. It’ll be a long process for a while, but we’ll be able to pinpoint their location and take them out one by one.”
Fuller nodded solemnly. “If that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do. Good work, William. What else did you find?”
“Well, millions and millions and even billions of people all over the earth have vanished. This we already know, but…” He shook his head and exhaled deeply. “When you see it online like I did, it really hits you. People vanished from all over. There was one report of an entire group of Christians and a missionary pastor disappearing in El Salvador while they were facing a firing squad. Those people vanished, their clothes dropped where they stood and the squad fired into nothing but air. Planes fell from the sky. Airports are locked down everywhere.
“Israel, the British, China even…they’ve been sending in relief efforts to help us get back on our feet. I’ve got a contact online with a Musad agent who assures me they’re fully aware of the cellular activity. He wants us to know we’re not alone. Help is coming.”
“Who is he?”
“He calls himself Ari, that’s he’s an Israeli agent. He was in the midst of doing something and our conversation was cut off so that’s pretty much all I could get. I couldn’t even trace him afterward so whoever he is, he’s good.”
Shiva nodded in agreement. “That has to be good for you to even be able to make contact with the Musad. Apparently, we can use all the help we can get. Didn’t he even give you any indication of where he was or what he was doing before you lost contact with him?”
Fronk shook his head. “He mentioned he was in a hot zone. I don’t know exactly what that means other than he was in an area where he would not be able to maintain contact for extended periods of time. He could be in the states.” He shrugged. “Who knows? I also found this organization out there, which calls itself the LAMB. It’s an acronym for unLimited Access of Materials to Barter. I sent the guy who runs it an email. Whoever he is, he’s good, too, ‘cause I can’t trace him either. All I know about him is he’s called gaffer256. Just looked like a real interesting site about how to live in a prophetically fulfilling present. I hope he returns an email.”
“Anything else?” Fuller asked.
Fronk didn’t answer.
“William?”
Fronk slowly rose to his feet. “I can’t explain it.”
“Explain what?”
“You’ll have to see this for yourself, Director. Follow me.” Without another word, Fronk left the office and Fuller and Shiva followed him. They went through the ATD Center and into Fronk’s office where he stood by the door as they entered. When they were inside, he closed the door. Then, he pointed at his computer. “Just move the mouse. You’ll see what I mean.”
Shiva glanced at Fuller. Then, he reached over Fronk’s desk and moved the mouse. The Gilligan’s Island Screensaver disappeared from the screen only to be replaced by an image of earth. The earth image was as if it were being filmed by space.
“What are we looking at?” Fuller wanted to know. “Besides the obvious, that is.”
“It’s Google Earth,” Fronk replied. “Click on the earth and zoom in over the US.”
Shiva used the mouse to follow Fronk’s instructions. He came to the United States and zoomed in closer. It was as if the camera were closing in on America for a close up. So far, they didn’t notice anything unusual.
“What do you see?”
Shiva shrugged. “I see a birds eye view of America from space.”
“Director…?”
Fuller was concerned because Fronk was being uncharacteristically serious. “I see the same thing.”
“What states do you see?”
“What states do I see?”
“How about what state do you not see? Look for a deep shade of red.”
Shiva used the mouse to move the image over until the red Fronk told them about appeared. It was a deep, long shade of red that covered nearly every part of one state all the way to the left of the image of America. It was California and according to Google Earth…it no longer existed.
*******
Yorke and Groh were on the rooftop of the apartment complex on West Avenue. They were at the edge, looking out over their city. A city that had been their home for many years. It was where they lived and worked. They knew the people. They had friends and family living in the city of Albany. It was their city.
Their city had been attacked by terrorists. And one of those terrorists responsible was in a Federal agent’s apartment.
Yorke shook his head in disgust. “This is crazy. We shouldn’t be wasting our time on staking out a place for some ATD agents personal score.” He turned to look at Groh. “We should be doing something!”
“You got no argument from me,” Groh assured him. “If there’s something you want to do…” He shrugged. “Maybe we should just be doing it.”
“Randy, the man is a terrorist. This other agent…this Barrington has to be one as well, working on the inside of the ATD agency. We have to expose him somehow for what he’s done.”
“Do you believe we can take Barrington on if we take out Darwyn Musad? Don’t we need them both? Believe me, I hear what you’re saying. I wouldn’t lose any sleep if something were to happen to Musad. In fact, I’d be willing to say I could sleep better.” He paused. “But if something does happen to him, we may lose the chance to link Barrington in with the terrorists.”
Yorke sighed in frustration. “Too bad they both aren’t in the apartment. I’d kill them both right now.”
“Would you really?” said a voice from behind them.
The police officers turned to face the man who was standing behind them. He had been with them on the rooftop since they had been there. This was the first time he had spoken.
“Relax,” Yorke snorted. “I’m just getting it off my chest before I really do go and do something stupid.”
“We’re not talking about something stupid here,” the man assured him. “You’re understandably angry. Who isn’t? Our country was attacked. Our families were threatened…and still are being threatened. This thing is far from being over. We’re still deep in the woods of this tragedy and may be there for a long time.” He paused. “So who would really care if another dead terrorist turned up? Or even a dead agent who turned out to be a spy? Who’s to say how they died? There wasn’t any power. The streets were filled with terrorists and rioters. It was hard to know who was doing what in the midst of all that chaos.”
Randy and Groh exchanged looks.
“You’re talking about execution.” Yorke paused. “Murder.”
“This is war. You have a right to kill the enemies of your country.”
Yorke fell silent as he considered the man’s words.
The man stepped closer to them, as if confiding in them. “No one would never know anyway and if they did, they would hail you as a hero of the United States of America.” With that, James Bollinger smiled. “Besides…I’d be willing to do the exact same thing if I were in your shoes.”
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