Drop Zone

by Amanda Carlson

  The entire process took four minutes.

  “Eight centimeters, sir,” Matthews said.

  Sergeant Collins motioned for Marlin to come back in with the robocam. Henderson joined him with long-handled pliers, one in each hand. Patten stood close with the screen, angling it so Henderson could see.

  “Henderson has steady hands and excellent hand-eye coordination,” Sergeant Collins said. “Once this is out, I’ll have him deliver it to the op room using the forceps. Then I’m going to decompress the stable heart, make sure it’s closed, then have the bomb squad take it away. I’m assuming you don’t need it for anything more today?”

  “It will be entered in as evidence,” McAllister answered. “Have one of your official representatives accompany the bomb squad and document the disabling of the stem bomb. Then I want it locked away in your safest bunker. If approval is needed, I can secure that in five minutes. The government will send a few agents down to retrieve it in the next few days.”

  Sergeant Collins nodded. “Yes, sir. We have several secure sites where it can be kept, including one that’s several layers underground. It will remain safe with round-the-clock surveillance until you come to pick it up. No further approval necessary.”

  “Thank you,” McAllister said. “Your cooperation and service are well noted. I will be making a full report to your commanding officer.”

  “I have it,” Henderson called. “All cables disconnected. It’s ready to come out.”

  They watched him tug the data core out of the stable heart sideways, moving slowly and efficiently.

  “Man, I thought it would be bigger than that,” Kaylee said. “It’s amazing what they can pack inside of a small package these days. All that trouble for something the size of a maple pastry.”

  “That maple pastry is going to bring the Syndicate some much-needed grief,” Mina said. “Let’s get it inside.”

  Norm was already at the door of the op room, bracing it open. Mina could hear Harmony’s hoots of joy from where they stood.

  “I’m already making copies,” she cried. “Data is coming in fast and furious. There’s a whole bunch of stuff on here.”

  “The government satellite has been engaged,” Lee called. “Official airmeld in process.”

  “Let’s go get these guys,” Kaylee said as she swaggered toward the door.

  For not the first time, or even the tenth, Mina wished she had a good swagger, one to rival her best pal’s. But she was swaggering on the inside.

  Mina made her way toward the op room door, with Vincent Kramer by her side. “These guys are going down, I can feel it,” she said, her body rippling with anticipation.

  “Indeed,” Vince said. “I never doubted you for a second.”

  Chapter 21

  Data streamed across the screens in the op room. Numbers and files cascaded, while occasional images and vids popped up and disappeared.

  “Just a few more seconds until I find what we need,” Harmony said. “There are thousands of vids stored in here. These guys liked to record stuff. So dumb. Especially if it proves to be incriminating. I’m sorting by date.”

  “They obviously thought floating it around in space would keep it safe,” Kaylee said. “They’re not going to be so confident next time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring all their satellites down, or at least swipe them clean after this.”

  The screens stopped flowing all at once, and the same vid appeared on all four.

  It was Waterbury’s utility room. An empty chair sat waiting.

  Three seconds later, there was a loud door slam. Murmuring voices followed, one arguing, one threatening.

  Mina darted a glance at Norm. “You might want to step outside,” she cautioned. “I don’t want you to have to relive this.”

  Norm shook his head, even though he looked a little pale. “I gotta watch. I have to know it’s on there and that it’s accurate. That it hasn’t been fiddled with. Don’t worry about me. I can handle it.”

  Vince caught Mina’s look and edged closer to Norm. “How about we both sit down? I’m the one who found you, and I know the state you were in. I don’t necessarily want to watch it, but I will.”

  He pulled out two chairs.

  “You’re trying to nannybot me,” Norm groused. “I told you I can handle it.”

  “Not quite nannybotting. I want to make sure you don’t pass out. There’s a difference.” Vince chuckled. “Stop being hardheaded, old man, and take a seat.”

  Norm held out for a few seconds, then sat.

  On-screen, Waterbury shoved Norm into the chair and proceeded to e-restrain him.

  What came next was horrific.

  They all watched in stony silence. Harmony wiped away tears. Everyone else was stoic. The brutalization of the ex-marshal, and the glee and calmness with which it was carried out, was atrocious. It was one of the worst things Mina had ever had to witness. Norm pleaded often with Waterbury to stop, bargaining for his life, but he held the agony from the vicious breaks of his bones and the pummeling inside instead of screaming out in pain.

  There was no question they had their evidence. Waterbury was going back in a box, hopefully for the rest of his life.

  Mina was both relieved that their risky endeavor had paid off and sick to her stomach. The torture went on and on with little break. When Waterbury finally left the utility room, the time he’d spent in there had felt like a thousand years.

  It had been only twenty-three minutes.

  He came back for another round later that evening. Likely an unauthorized trip out of his monitored residence.

  The third time he came back was when he was abruptly called back to the group residence. That’s when he stuck Norm in the side with a blade, promising him much worse upon his return.

  Harmony fast-forwarded until they heard Vince call his name.

  The anguish in Vince’s voice, and his tenderness in trying to get the ex-marshal out, even though he had to shock him to free him from the e-restraints, was equally hard to watch. It was a relief to everyone in the room when the ex-marshal lost consciousness.

  The vid paused, and Harmony wiped away more tears. Mina exited the building, needing some fresh air. She blinked in the sunshine.

  McAllister followed her out, heading off in the distance, ordering something into his cuff.

  Vince walked out, wrapping his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest. She didn’t care who witnessed their intimate moment. After a couple of deep breaths, she stepped back.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I needed that.”

  “I did, too. Kind of like that time we watched that horror vid after your mom told us we were not allowed. We consoled each other for days.”

  “Yeah, kind of like that, but this one was real. A real-life horror show.”

  Norm exited the building next, and Mina moved toward him. “I’m so sorry. It must’ve been hideously awful to go through that again. I apologize that you had to see it and experience the horror twice.”

  His shoulders straightened, a firm resolve flashing across his face. “We’re going to get that bastard. What I went through was worth it if we can break the Syndicate wide open. I’ll wear it like a badge of honor. There’s lots more on that data core. I’m going to see this through. I’ll be the best witness they’ve ever had in any courtroom. Nothing will spook me after that.”

  “You’ll be a fantastic witness.” Mina reached out, settling a hand on his shoulder, clutching it for a few minutes. They both bowed their heads. “We will work hard to make everything you went through worth it. I promise.”

  A yell sounded from inside the building.

  “We found something!” Lee called. “You have to come see this.”

  They all rushed in, including McAllister.

  Two men, not readily identified, stood in what looked to be a w
arehouse, talking.

  “Wait, let me rewind it,” Harmony said, tapping on her compucase. The vid buzzed back a few seconds and paused.

  The men were both nondescript—medium height, brown hair, not many enhancements, clothing shabby. Definitely day laborers.

  “I don’t think these guys were supposed to be in there, or at least not caught on cam. Somebody must’ve overlooked this, or it would’ve been deleted.” Harmony gestured to the screen in front of her. “This is surveillance vid from somewhere. It’s standard motion capture, full audio. When they walked in, the vid was activated. When they left, it stopped. They’re not sneaking around, exactly. Give it a listen.”

  “If we get caught in here, it’s lights out,” the guy on the right, who had slightly shorter hair, said. “I can’t believe I let you drag me into this.”

  “Just relax. We’re the only ones here,” the guy on the left said. “I told you, you have to see it to believe it. They lied to us. They said we were moving standard pharma, but this is not standard.” The man walked over to a secured crate and lifted the top off, using a small tool he’d had in his pocket. “Do you see that? Those are airpens full of Plush.” He reached in and grabbed one. “Blade doesn’t own Bliss Corp. That’s who makes this stuff.” He shook the pen. “Nothing in here has a seal on it. It hasn’t been approved or nothin’. The outside of the box is stamped as standard biotech. If we get caught hauling this in our freights, we could do serious box time.”

  The other man shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the find. “That doesn’t mean much. Bliss Corp could’ve hired Blade to do some merchandise delivering. He’s a big name in pharma. They could have a contract or something. Maybe it’s going for approval right now? And what do you care anyway? We already signed the contract. It’s good currency, paid in coin. The chances of getting stopped from here to the border are low. Even if we did, Blade would take care of it. After all, we’re not crossing the border. We’re just leaving it for someone else. If we get stopped, we tell them we’re just the stupid delivery techs.” He glanced around the room. Hundreds of crates were stacked up, all bearing the same imprint that indicated they held standard-grade biotech—things that could be sold to the public without a prescription, not top-grade, unapproved, highly regulated pharma. “What did you think when you signed the contract? That everything would be on the up-and-up?” He slapped the guy on the shoulder playfully. “This is what you get.” He gestured in front of him. “Nothing is what it seems, and they like to keep it that way. So let’s get out of here and get the job done.”

  Harmony paused the vid, glancing over her shoulder at Mina. “This seems pretty big, right?”

  “Yes,” Mina said. “The fact that Bliss Corp is using Travis Blade as an illegal courier for secret, unauthorized doses of Plush adds to the picture that’s already forming about Bliss Corp testing out a new serum on unsuspecting people. But without getting our hands on one of those airpens, we won’t know for sure what’s inside. They could be legal. Just like that guy said. Or they could be heading for inspection right now. The Syndicate could argue that they were shuttling them off to be approved. Or anything else, for that matter.”

  Since the two men hadn’t given any clues to which border they’d been referring, there was no way to know where they were going.

  “Speculation won’t hold up in court,” Mina went on. “Travis Blade has plenty of litigators on his payroll. They could claim dozens of scenarios to say what they were doing was completely legal. One thing is for sure, Blade and Bliss Corp definitely have a contract together. To be able to do anything, we would need hard evidence, as in the pens themselves, and witnesses, like those two. But they’d have to be willing to testify against the Syndicate. I can’t see that happening. They wouldn’t want to forfeit their lives for something like this.”

  “I’m running facial rec on the two men right now,” Lee said. “So far, no hits.”

  “We need to get moving,” McAllister said. “Agents and analyzers have downloaded the airmeld and are now combing through the data. Each vid, all files, images, and anything else will be authenticated and categorized. Anything that flags as criminal activity will be forwarded to me immediately. Let’s get the core on the rocket shuttle and to Judge Mackey immediately. Waterbury has already been detained. I had agents stationed outside of his residence to make sure there was no interference by the Syndicate if the evidence came through. He is boxed securely underground in Government One, awaiting Judge Mackey’s ruling. High Crimes will meet us at Mackey’s office. I’ve arranged for the judge to have a twenty-four-hour protection from now until I deem the threat of Syndicate retribution has subsided. They are already with him.”

  Mina glanced at Norm. “We need the media. The shakeup needs to happen now.”

  Norm nodded. “It’s all set. Littlefield’s already been in her ear. The moment I step off of that shuttle, I’m meeting with Melissa Socorro at a secure location. I’m giving her an exclusive live on cam. She was given prior notice to film on the south tip of Florida and aim for the air. I’m certain they caught the streak of the stable heart falling on vid. She’ll use her considerable resources to identify what it was, if she hasn’t already. That woman is beyond resourceful.”

  Mina knew many people had likely caught the streak on various devices. Right now, speculation would be ramped up all over the boards. The quicker the story broke in their favor publicly, the better.

  They gathered up their supplies, carefully placing the data core inside a titanium box that Sergeant Collins had provided.

  He stood at attention, saluting them as they boarded the shuttle.

  “Thank you for your time and coordinated effort,” Mina told him. “As a precaution, I would increase perimeter and air surveillance for at least a week or so. The people who lost this data want it back. They may wrongly assume it’s still here on this base until the story breaks wider.”

  Sergeant Collins nodded. “Don’t worry about us. We will remain on lockdown, fully cloaked, as always. Nothing gets in or out without us knowing.”

  Everything witnessed by these soldiers would stay here. The Syndicate had no doubt identified the retrieval shuttle leaving the island with the stable heart as military, but it would be an unlikely move for them to retaliate directly against the base. It was government protocol to deploy soldiers to investigate a satellite crash to Earth. It couldn’t be proved that they knew anything ahead of time. Just that they were a well-run group who could react to a threat instantaneously.

  The entire mission had worked out in the CIU’s favor, keeping them below the Syndicate’s notice, and Mina hoped it would stay that way. She was thankful that Judge Mackey would receive protection. The agents would be taking him and his family to a safe house. Once Waterbury confessed all on Babble, the Syndicate members would scurry for cover.

  The rocket shuttle touched down in the city eleven minutes later.

  They’d landed at another secure military base. Mina wasn’t surprised that McAllister had taken that precaution. They disembarked, walking under an awning that had been erected to protect them from any notice from above.

  Several unmarked drones were ready to go.

  “Agent Kane, Agent Adams, Colonel Kramer, and I will head out on one shuttle,” McAllister said. “Agent Poston and Ms. Biggins on another. Norman Webb on the third.” McAllister addressed Kaylee. “You and Ms. Biggins will be in the last shuttle. Your directions are to tail Norman Webb to his location with Ms. Socorro and provide discreet backup. If any issues arise, call for support immediately.” He turned to Mina. “In order for us to continue staying well under the notice of any inquiring minds, our shuttle will set down at a safe house location. From there, we will board a mag-lev train that will take us to Government One. Until this data core is safely secured as evidence, we are not taking any chances.”

  Mina nodded. “Sound thinking.” She was completely on board wi
th staying well under the radar.

  Once everyone had boarded the unmarkeds, they took off. No one spoke.

  At the safe house location, they landed on the roof and made their way underground and boarded the waiting mag-lev. They were its only occupants.

  “You have arrived at Government One,” a sim intoned as the mag-lev slowed.

  Once on the platform, McAllister said, “We will each approach Judge Mackey’s office from a different direction.” He handed the data core to Lee, who tried not to gape, but managed to anyway. “Agent Adams, I’m entrusting you to get this to the destination safely.” He ignored Lee’s expression like a pro. “Your face is the least recognizable as an agent in this department. I will approach the offices in full public view, monitoring for any tails. Agent Kane will as well, from a different direction. Colonel Kramer will act as your backup. You should both go completely undetected, as I’m having you take a tube up to level three-ten. Once there, you will transfer to Judge Mackey’s private tube and take it directly down to his office, as Colonel Kramer has already done today. If anything goes wrong, tap the alarm on your cuff. I will order the building into lockdown. Do you have any questions?”

  “Ah, no,” Lee confirmed. “I will deliver this to Judge Mackey immediately.”

  McAllister nodded. “See you all there.”

  Chapter 22

  “The satellite Currency Reigns, owned by Travis Blade, crashed out of the sky this afternoon with no warning whatsoever,” Melissa Socorro reported to her audience, her voice severe. “Before it was identified, the widely viewed UFO streaked through the air over the southern tip of Florida, causing alarm and unrest. It was immediately retrieved by the US military, which was deployed moments after its landing. It was safely recovered, the data analyzed, and what was found inside could very well shock the world.” She stared into the cam, unblinking. Her body language, her restrained hair, her dark, modest clothing, and mild enhancements told viewers all they needed to know—whatever she was saying was extremely serious. “Stay tuned for my exclusive one-on-one interview with ex-marshal Norman Webb, who was the subject of vicious torture that was documented and stored on that very satellite. The perpetrator has been taken into custody, and there are murmurs he might be given Babble, the truth-telling serum that has only recently been reinstated for violent criminals, not just murderers.” She let that sink in during a prolonged pause. “Given the satellite’s owner and his rumored ties with the crime organization known as the Syndicate, we are expecting the fallout to be earth-shattering, similar to the impact of the satellite’s return home.” She was having a hard time containing her glee. This was indeed a huge scoop. “Tune in at ten and hear the harrowing story right from the ex-marshal’s mouth. Viewer discretion is advised.”