Queen Zaria Trilogy

by Danny Dunn

  Doctor "Where were you when the attack occurred?"

  Patient "I was across the street from the stadium in a bar watching the game."

  Doctor 1 "How long was it from the time you heard of the attack to the time you made contact with the first victim you helped."

  Patient "About 3 minutes, I guess."

  Doctor 1 "Did you smell anything unusual?"

  Patient "No, why."

  Doctor 1 "Just standard questions."

  Patient "Is this contagious?"

  Doctor 1 "We don't know yet. For now, just relax, and we will get right back to you." The Doctor walks over to the nurse's station. The Doctor is very concerned and tells the nurse the patient in room 12 was not in the stadium he was in a bar across the street which means there is the potential that the toxin they were exposed to could be airborne. The nurse knows the implications of the virus being airborne. But she suggests that there are just too many victims in the hospital for a quarantine to work.

  Doctor "Please contact the CDC and get someone here immediately.

  Surgeon General – 6:10 PM ET

  Surgeon General "Mr. President, we have a victim who helped some victims from outside the stadium to a truck which is showing the same symptoms as the stadium victims."

  P.O.T.U.S "Is it confirmed airborne?"

  Surgeon General "No, sir, we will know shortly. But sir, if it is airborne, there is no way to establish a quarantine; all we can do is establish a partial quarantine of the victims. Sir, in that scenario, millions will die."

  P.O.T.U.S "Keep me posted."

  Surgeon General "Yes Mr. President"

  End Chapter 26

  Chapter 27 – Fool Me Once Shame On You, Fool Me Twice And It’s Game On

  CDC Lab Washington DC "The poison used was Batrachotoxin. It is the poison that comes from the skin of a Poison Dart Frog. Someone has been cultivating this for years under the radar. We believe the man who was helping the victims just had too much contact with the multiple patients and was most likely poisoned through excessive contact."

  P.O.T.U.S "Thank god. Good work. Is this confirmed?"

  Surgeon General "Yes, Mr. President."

  P.O.T.U.S "Do a press conference asap. Let the world know it isn't contagious."

  Over 5,000 fires still burning across the country. Refineries, propane distribution centers, Gas stations, fuel trucks on fire at gas stations, on roads, on freeways.

  Pittsburgh plane crash site - 6:30 pm ET

  Wreckage of two flights still smoldering.

  Aerial video of Martinez, Ca refinery - 3:40 pm PCT

  Massive amount of smoke filling the Bay Area. Fires still burning.

  6:45 pm ET

  P.O.T.U.S enters the press room. "At 4:00 ET today, the United States was attacked. Over 1,050,000 are confirmed dead, and over 300,000 are sick and in various conditions. This attack is by far the most horrific event in the history of our planet.

  "The United States is offering a $10 million reward for the information that leads to the capture of the perpetrators of this cowardly attack on innocent men women and children across our nation.

  "I will not be answering questions at this time and need to get back to work with my advisors.

  Situation Room - 7:00 PM ET

  P.O.T.U.S joins his staff in the situation room

  P.O.T.U.S "What do we have?"

  FBI "We have teams going through the launch sites. So far, there is very little. There are no prints so far in the rubble of the buildings.

  "The explosion vaporized everything in the buildings.

  "The buildings were rented out ten months ago. The renters all wired their rent every month, like clockwork. The landlords never met the renters. We have tracked the wires for rent, and they all came from 1 source, but that source was a dummy corporation set up in Switzerland. We have gone through the footage of every camera we could find and have nothing. The neighbors of each location all thought the unit was unoccupied and never saw any activity in the building. Either the perps worked at night, or they lived in the building and never came out. The landlords never met the renter. All the landlords are of various ages, ethnicities, and there doesn’t seem to be any connection between them. There is a video of a renter of the Dallas shop, but it was 1:00 am and the night vision of the camera was pretty miserable. We are trying to enhance it, but there isn't much to work with. The perp had on glasses, baggy clothes with a hoodie, gloves, and a ball cap.

  "We do have the make and model of the drones used for the plane strikes. We are tracing the shipments of that company to every one of its customers. That is our best lead at the moment.

  "We are also turning every top drone programmer in the US inside out. Wiretaps, bank accounts, cell phone history, messages, we are looking for missing times slots, associations with foreign entities, everything.

  "We are also on local and international travel into and out of the US. Assuming they're at least 100 perpetrators, we are hoping to find a common link somewhere."

  CIA Director "We have no overseas leads. We are going back six years on all chatter, emails, travel of every drone engineer on the planet, but have nothing at the moment. We put teams on the poison and are looking for anyone buying any above-average qty of the frogs or poison.

  "Our experts say it would take 1,000 frogs 3 years to produce enough poison to carry out this attack. They will have to pop up on the radar somewhere.

  "We are also on drone programmers outside the US. Anyone with a grudge, money problems, large inbound payments. Anything out of the ordinary."

  P.O.T.U.S "We have no one claiming responsibility for the attack?"

  CIA Director "NO ONE Mr. President. Whoever this is, they are patient, methodical, and in no hurry. So far, we have found no mistakes in their process."

  CNN Anchor desk with panel 9:00 pm ET

  CNN Panel anchor, "What do you make of this?"

  Panelist 1 "Well, it is someone with an ax to grind. I think this and act of revenge."

  Panelist 2, "I agree. The fact that the White House is so quiet tells me that whoever did this has done an excellent job of covering up their tracks. Whoever did this has been planning the attack for years."

  Panelist 3 "The other point is the fact that no one is claiming responsibility for it. Have you ever seen a major attack where no one is claiming responsibility for what they did?"

  CNN Panel anchor, "What would it take to pull this off?"

  Panelist 3 "Well, there are the obvious things such as gathering 300,000 drones, the ability to modify hundreds of thousands of drones under the radar, then there is the programming.

  "This was a significant programming undertaking. I would guess the list is under 500.

  "Then, take that list and identify the ones that have the resources to map out all of the targets in every top 100 markets in the country, modify 300,000 drones, rent out 100 office buildings across the country, and your list just got way, way shorter.

  Next Morning 9:00 am ET

  The world is in mourning, funerals and vigils are held all across the country and all around the world. Colleges hold ceremonies for their losses. For most colleges, the death toll is in the hundreds of thousands.

  All airlines will remain closed until they are safe to fly again. All outdoor professional sports have canceled their seasons. All gas station chains, propane distribution companies have suffered heavy losses. Many go out of business.

  The DOW loses 10,000 points in the first week. Airline stocks are down. All US airline stocks are down 75%. The price per barrel of oil is up 60%.

  10 days later

  The US government has no solid leads on who perpetrated the attack. The FAA has shut down all commercial flights until they feel it is safe to reopen commercial flights. There are severe gas, diesel, propane shortages across the country. The few gas stations that didn't offer propane are were open have run out of gas. Electric cars about the only vehicles on the roads and sales of electric vehicles are skyrocketing.
Gas and propane go to $20 per gallon across the country. All outdoor stadiums will remain closed until the attackers are in custody. No one has claimed responsibility and no significant leads to who did it.

  P.O.T.U.S, "Margie, could you get Pong on the line, please."

  Margie "Hello, I am calling from the White House for Pong.

  JoAnn, "Please hold."

  JoAnn "Pong, I have P.O.T.U.S on the line."

  Pong "Patch him through to the conference room, please. Pong is sitting in the conference room with Steve and Tom.

  P.O.T.U.S "Hello Pong"

  Pong "Good morning, Mr. President. I am sitting with Tom and Steve on the speakerphone Mr. President, everything you say will be held confidential by the 3 of us and need you to know we are recording all our conversations from here on out as I know you are as well.

  P.O.T.U.S "Understood, thanks for telling me. Not everyone tells me, I appreciate it.

  Pong "How can I help you, Mr. President?"

  P.O.T.U.S "Well, first, I owe you an apology. So, I would like to start off by offering you my sincere apology for dragging you through the mud like that. You didn't deserve it, and I was wrong."

  Pong "Apology accepted. How can I help?"

  P.O.T.U.S "We are nowhere on finding the attackers. I am calling to get your thoughts and to ask if you could help us."

  Pong, "So you have eliminated me as a suspect."

  P.O.T.U.S "Yes, we have. Whoever did this has been planning this for years."

  Pong, "I would be happy to help sir but would have a few requirements."

  P.O.T.U.S "Name them."

  Pong "First, is that, until I specify otherwise, Pong and Family helping is on a need to know basis and not for public notice. This will include your agencies. Protecting ourselves against enemies, we have not yet identified is an arduous task. I would need daily reports from your agencies to go to you and then to us.

  "Second, is that I require a letter from you authorizing me, my foundation and its employees, and our contractors to investigate on behalf of your office under the wartime provisions. I don't want to have any departments pinning anything on me without me having a get out of jail card.

  "Third, I will need authorization in writing signed by you to search every single database in the country. Bar none. My team will maintain records proving we have not used our searches for anything other than completing our task. I know you have the ability to conduct searches under the war act, and I will need you to assign my people and me as agents to hack sites on your behalf.

  "Four is that you make me a citizen of the US with all rights and privileges as a human being.

  "Five, we get daily updates from all the agencies. If I find they are holding back, I am off of the case. I am not risking the lives of my time only to get broadsided by an agency.

  "Six, if we do solve this, I want congressional medals of honor for everyone in my group. As you know, much of my group are ex-US military, FBI, and police, so it would be nice for their families to see what their parents have done for their country.

  "Seven, when we solve this, you fly to Arizona to present their medals to each of them in front of their families. They are all people that have given up a lot for their country, and this is their payback.

  "Compensation - I will be incurring substantial expenses to pull this off. I would like to be reimbursed for my expenses. Plus, should we find who did this, we will claim that $10M reward. That will go to my team and to friends and family of theirs that lost people in the attack.

  "These are very ruthless people we are dealing with, and my team will be risking their lives to capture the criminals who did this. I would like the $10M wired to an escrow account at the start of this so that if we are successful, I can quickly pay my team their money.

  "Lastly, you will owe me a favor of the highest level, and I want your word you will honor my request when I request it."

  P.O.T.U.S "Number 5 and 6 require congress's help, and that dramatically expands the need to know the list.

  Pong "Not under the declaration of war act, Mr. President. The President may carry out extraordinary acts without the need for the approval of congress, so long as it is in the best interest of the country."

  P.O.T.U.S "If it can be done, I will make it happen."

  Pong "Understood Mr. President, just get back to me when you have it figured out, please. It was nice speaking to you, Mr. President."

  Pong hangs up.

  Tom "Oh SNAP"

  Pong "I sure hated to do that, but clearly, the president has proven he cannot be trusted and will only do what is right if he is forced to do so. The chances are very high that he will sign off on all these things and still screw me somehow. But the country needs us, so what the hell.”

  Steve, "How long will it take him to get back to you."

  Pong starts counting down 3, 2, 1. JoAnn buzzes the conference room and tells Pong that P.O.T.U.S is on hold on line 3. Pong smiles at Tom and Steve. Pong presses line 3 and answers, "Hello, Mr. President."

  P.O.T.U.S "I read through the war declaration, and it works."

  Pong "Great Mr. President. Please send me everything signed and have the Reward money put into escrow, and we will start today."

  P.O.T.U.S "Thank you, Pong, our country needs your help. The items you mentioned are all you want?"

  Pong, "Zari, my creator, would take me to the woodshed if I were to try to profit from helping you in this situation."

  "While we wait for the documents, I will get us up to speed for handling Top Secret materials, I have already done background checks on all my people. We will be fully compliant by the time the docs arrive."

  Pong ends the call. Pong and her group meet in the conference room.

  Pong ", Well everyone, are you ready to serve our country?

  Tom, "I am in, let's go get em."

  Steve, "I have friends that were killed. I am in."

  Pong, "I will have the security team be the lead on this. This is what they do. We can support them in running searches and background activities from here. Given how ruthless our target is, we need to leave the bulk of the outer office work to them. As soon as the documents arrive, we will have a meeting and get started.” Pong receives an email from the Office of the President of the United States of America.

  Signed document 1 - declaring Pong as a sentient being and a citizen of the USA.

  Signed Document 2- Authorizing Pong and all agents to use all databases necessary to pursue and capture the perpetrators of the attacks and is to receive daily updates from all agencies.

  We just wired $10M to the escrow account, hard copy to follow

  Thank you so much,

  Signature

  President of the United States of America

  Pong buzzes Karen and asks that she come into her office for a moment. Karen replies that she is on her way. Karen sits down in front of Pong and compliments Pong's suit. Pong thanks her for the compliment.

  Pong tells Karen that the President has asked me to help them find those who carried out the attacks and that she has accepted. Karen asks if she trusts the President. Pong replies that she trusts him and his people about as far as she can throw them. I have signed documents from the President and will have full access to their databases, so I think we are safe.

  "Karen, we are going to have access to very sensitive materials. I need you to tell me what we need to be Top Secret Compliant."

  Karen "Well, we need a better encryption package and a dedicated server. And we will need to get whoever uses the dedicated system to follow the protocols."

  Pong "Ok, make it so."

  Karen "Ok, Captain Picard." And they put on big grins.

  Pong, "Karen, we can configure this so you can work from your mom's home. After you set things up. Would you like that?

  Karen "Yes, that would be great, Pong. My mom lost several college friends who were at the game in Phoenix."

  Pong "Ok, order what you need for the server, and take home what
you need. And we will work remotely. Also, is the cluster up."

  Karen "Yes, it is, with trillions and trillions of bits of storage as you requested."

  Pong "Ok, Carl Sagan. We will need to get you a top-secret clearance, is that ok?"

  Karen "I lost friends in the attacks too. Whatever it takes."

  We will have a meeting tomorrow at 10:00 am you can video call in. You will meet the rest of the security team and then you can go.

  Karen "Any hunks?"

  Pong "Several, and we just added more, hehe.

  Pong calls David and asks him if he and his people have security clearances. David says most of his people have theirs, and he can re-instate him with no problems. Pong says that it is excellent. David asks if they are going after the attackers. "The President called and asked me to help, and I said yes."

  David tells Pong that he and his team all lost friends and family in the attack and that they are all in. Pong says she would like to have a meeting with your team and Tom’s team in the control room at 10:00 am tomorrow to go over a plan. Pong meets with Tom and Steve's team at 9:50. She tells them the situation and that they will be assisting David's team from the control room. Tim asks what control room. Pong smiles, and replies come with me. Pong asks if they are in.

  Tom "I am in"

  Steve "In"

  Debbie "In"

  Karen "Can I be in twice."

  Tim "In"

  JoAnn "I am in"

  Pong, "Ok, then let's go met David's team." They all take a short walk to another building and meet our security team.

  "As they walk over to the other building, they are escorted by a small squadron of drones filming their every move.

  David, Alby, Michael, Joe, Adam, Linda, Dan, Alex, and 10 new members all working in a super high-tech command and control room. There are 8 Pong Bots absolutely flying on the keyboards sending hundreds of pages up to the 3-wall video wall.

  The lights are very dim. The front wall and the 2 side walls are covered by a 180-degree rounded video wall. Filling the room are 35 triple screen workstations, all capable of sending their computer screens to the video wall. Each row of desks is elevated, making it a theater-like configuration. In the center of the room is a conference table. In the back is a glass wall, and on the other side are several stations to manage what goes up on the video wall. And to play multimedia content of all kinds.