Project Aurora (Hope Novak Thrillers)

by Daniel Pelfrey

  Novak and Ramirez were still in the basement.

  She saw the movement. Mills was certain it was not Garcia or Smith.

  This person presented too large a presence.

  Mills fired three shots.

  Each connected with center mass.

  There were four targets in total. At least two are down. The weapons fire stopped. All targets accounted for, she thought. “Clear. Don’t shoot. It’s just me and Smith over here.”

  “Clear on my side too,” said Mills, “all three targets down.”

  The most dangerous of the four is still on the move. One target was one of their own.

  Mills had kept this close to the vest. Only she and JR Lewis knew the identity of the fourth.

  “We need to head down to the range.”

  FIFTY-THREE

  “Someone else had the same idea,” said Zoe.

  Novak did not like what that statement indicated.

  “We’ve been breached?” she asked.

  Smith and Garcia headed to the weapons storage. Each grabbed an M4 carbine and several magazines of 5.56mm rounds.

  “More like setup.” Zoe had her P238 in her right hand.

  “What do you mean?” asked Ramirez.

  “Turns out Michael Greenway is thick as thieves with Malcolm Cross, Monitor. Meaning the Cabal.” Smith answered.

  “How could I miss it?” Novak knew she was talking to herself now.

  Mills was choosing a weapon now, muttering to herself. Novak knew her concern. JR had gone back to Bloomington to take care of a few things and was left unprotected. “Zoe, we’ll get out of here. Did you talk to JR?”

  “Yes, he’s hiding out. He saw someone following him.”

  “If anything happens to him, know that I’m with you to the end.”

  “What’s the situation?” Ramirez looked amped. Novak knew he had been in combat before.

  “Several of the techies turned out to be bogus. I think they’re some of our missing prisoners Greenway briefed us on.”

  Mills had a tranquilizer gun, Novak thought this was an odd choice of weapon, but said nothing.

  “What happened to your primary weapon?” asked Novak.

  Mills stopped and looked her in the eye. “Knocked away in a fight.”

  “Is there anyone else?” asked Novak.

  “As far as we could tell on our way down, no. But, I’ve kept a few things from you all,” said Mills.

  She pointed the tranquilizer gun at Smith and said, “There’s just one more isn’t that right, Charlie. Do us all a favor and drop the weapons. Now.”

  Smith looked surprised at this turn of events.

  Novak followed Mills’s lead and pointed her Sig at Smith. She was glad to see Ramirez and Garcia did likewise. “I suggest you do as Zoe says,” said Ramirez.

  The M4 Smith held dropped to the floor.

  “Hope, do you know why I had you and Ramirez reading from paper files?”

  Novak found this question odd. The look on Ramirez’s face confirmed she was not alone in the assessment.

  “I wanted you to read the files without Charlie knowing what you were up to. Because Charlie Smith has been selling us all out since day one. We were too blind to see it.”

  Smith did not look surprised. She stuck her chin out in defiance.

  “It’s always been about the payday for Charlie Smith, hasn’t it? But with Project Aurora, you could disappear. An opportunist to the end,” said Mills.

  “How did you figure it out?” asked Smith.

  “While you were incapacitated for your transformation, JR went through the computer systems. He said you were good, but you didn’t cover your tracks. He thought something was off during Hope’s rescue. You went offline.”

  “I was ensuring you got out. It was supposed to go down like it did. But then you put out that damned article. And Novak can’t complete her missions because she won’t accept commands.”

  Smith remained confident, but Novak could see the woman had nowhere to turn.

  The smile on Mills’ face was priceless, “Can’t respond to verbal commands. How about I try one on you, Charlie?”

  The confidence deflated. “I didn’t program any in for myself.”

  Mills continued to smile. “No, you didn’t. I did, though.”

  Smith looked fearful now. “Command code, pixie Charlie lambda one.”

  Novak watched as Smith’s eyes glazed over. Confusion replaced the look of fear on her face and a giggle erupted from Charlie Smith. “Why am I dressed like this? I swore a put a miniskirt this morning.”

  Her voice and demeanor were entirely changed. Novak noticed her fire red hair seemed to change a bit.

  “Please state your name and age,” said Mills.

  “Charlotte Smith. I’m nineteen.” Another giggle came from Smith as she said this. She looked towards Ramirez, sighed and said, “you’re cute.”

  Novak was impressed.

  Ramirez looked freaked out. “How did you do that,” he asked.

  “Mental conditioning. She won’t be a problem anymore. From now on, Charlotte Smith is a student at UT-San Antonio. We’re leaving. Oh, and Hope, she gets your apartment. You’re not going to need it,” said Mills. “And Ms. Smith will be very popular on campus.”

  Smith had undone the top button of her blouse and had started to twirl her hair.

  “I could gather that by the way she’s looking at Hector,” said Garcia. Novak saw the thoughtful look on her face. “I suppose that explains why I was accused of selling secrets. I can admit to being a terrible man, but I never did that.”

  “Wait, you were a man?” Ramirez asked.

  “Yes, this is my punishment for being a dirty old man. I don’t think it’s much of that, though. I like who I am now.”

  Ramirez looked at Mills and Novak and asked, “mental conditioning?”

  “In Larissa’s case, no. She didn’t like the thoughts in her head when she looked in the mirror.”

  Novak looked to Mills, “What about Malcolm Cross, Monitor? He has a lot to answer for.”

  “Our friend Greenway is on it. Most of what he told us was the truth. Except Monitor’s whereabouts.”

  “And what do we do?” Novak asked.

  “For the time being, we all disappear. Stein and the others are setting us up quietly. And elsewhere.”

  Mills had a satisfied look on her face.

  “Damn, I didn’t get to help.” Novak quipped.

  “Next time.”

  FIFTY-FOUR

  Novak snaked through the late evening traffic of San Antonio on her Ducati. She made her way to her apartment. Smith’s apartment, she thought. Mills had Smith in a car and was following. The resolution of tonight’s events surprised Novak.

  She knew it was time to move on. Ramirez and Garcia had left together. Mills sent them to the bus terminal with instructions to check a locker and then follow the instructions left for them. Mills then told Novak to meet her and Smith at the apartment. She arrived first and made her way up to the second floor. Novak opened the door and left it ajar for Mills and Smith.

  She packed quickly. Novak did not have many belongings. Just a few clothes. It all fit in one carry-on size backpack. She thought of wiping down all the surfaces she touched, but decided against it. She would be long gone in a few minutes.

  Mills and Smith arrived as Novak zipped the pack shut. Mills shut the door. “Command code, resume Charlie one.” Novak looked to Mills with concern. “Don’t worry, she can’t move and will be compliant.”

  “Why are you doing this,” Smith asked, “I’m not sure I’m going to like the life you created for me. I feel so shallow.”

  “Yes, you are. Charlie, you brought this on yourself. You’ve also forgotten the mental conditioning works with what already in your mind. It just adjusts parts of your personality to fit your new circumstances. Too bad it tends to amplify baser instincts. Charlie, or should I say MacKenzie, that’s your name now by the way. And for the record, yo
u’re going to be a bit of a self-involved, manipulative bitch. You’ll be using your looks to get through life now. Instead of being Charlie Smith focusing on how to best hack a computer system and hiding, MacKenzie Smith will be more interested in using social media to draw attention to herself.”

  “You should have expected this. What happened to James and me is on you. You knew I intended to make everyone involved in all this pay.”

  Novak could see the disappointment in Mills’s eyes. “Over the next few days, you’ll notice a few more physical changes. They’re designed to help you fit into you new life. Don’t worry. You’ll be very attractive. On the plus side Charlie Smith disappears. Just like you wanted. MacKenzie, you even get to keep the money you tried to hide. I suspect you’ll burn through it quickly though because of the lifestyle your new personality will demand.”

  Novak wanted to laugh. The thought of Charlie Smith as anything other than a computer nerd was too much. “What kind of changes should I expect?” Smith asked. Novak thought Smith looked panicked, like a caged animal.

  “I’d say you’ll see, but you won’t remember your old life. Resume pixie Charlie lambda one. Command code lambda two.” A glazed, dreamy look filled the eyes of the young woman now known as MacKenzie Smith. “Come on, Hope. Let’s leave UTSA’s newest student to get settled. By tomorrow afternoon she’ll be on her way to becoming the most popular social climber on campus. That name change should help us hide her from the Cabal too. Add in the personality, we’ll be able to keep an eye on her. Besides, she won’t know it, but she’ll be essentially broadcasting her moves to us from now on, She’ll also be a complete ‘daddy’s girl.’”

  “How so?” asked Novak.

  “We put a suggestion in her mental programming to call her father on a regular basis. Cal feels responsible for this so he is MacKenzie’s father. When she calls, Cal will ensure her mental blocks remain in place.”

  ◆◆◆

  Novak followed Mills down to the parking lot. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because the system is too flawed to contain the Charlie Smith we knew. That was the best way to take out an information leak. It protects us. By now, she won’t be able to discuss anything from her old life.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The last command I gave was for a complete personality overwrite.” Mills sighed, “I didn’t want to do it. But, Charlie is or was, too smart. MacKenzie will be a typical college student. She’ll be an attention seeker and beautiful, and someone who is incapable of hiding in the shadows.”

  Novak questioned this course of action but did not voice it. Mills saw the look and said, “look, I thought something was off about your rescue. It was too easy. JR thought it odd that Charlie tuned out then. Turns out, Charlie was passing information to the Cabal.

  “Always had been.”

  “That means I didn’t give away you coming to rescue me,” said Novak.

  “Exactly.” Mills continued, “she didn’t remember being interrogated during her transformation. Once we knew Smith had been the leak all along, JR was able to trace all the mistakes made. Larissa or I should say Roberto Gomez never did what he was accused of. Well, he was a lecher, but selling secrets that was Charlie.”

  “Guess it’s a good thing I burned through all the command codes they tried to put in my head,” said Novak.

  “This is where we part ways. Go to the airport.” Mills handed her a locker key. “I left you some instructions there. See you soon.”

  Novak hugged Mills. “Thank you. For rescuing me.” Mills broke the embrace, opened the door to her Subaru, and drove away without another word. Novak knew what her friend did to Charlie Smith would weigh heavily on Mills.

  Zoe was right, though. It was the best way, even if it was a terrible solution.

  Sometimes, the only answers available to bad situations are poor solutions.

  PART VII

  FIFTY-FIVE

  Hope Novak left her Ducati at the apartment building with the keys in it. She used an Uber to get to the San Antonio International Airport. The short-term storage lockers were in the baggage claim area. Novak made her way there, careful to avoid the obviousness of having just arrived at the airport.

  The key Mills handed her was for locker 137. Novak found her objective and opened the locker. Reaching in, Novak pulled out an airline ticket and a packet.

  Hope,

  JR and I have our answers. You deserve yours.

  Zoe

  Novak teared up. The flight was to Berlin. The packet included an additional key and further instructions for the airport there. She knew where this journey would ultimately take her though.

  Home.

  Thank you for reading Project Aurora

  Some of the ideas for this story did come from headlines and the news, others from my imagination.

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  About the Author

  Daniel Pelfrey has had a varied career, working in both the government (military and civilian) and private sectors.

  He also has compiled a series of photo essays, Badlands Chautauqua, documenting the annual gathering of Theodore Roosevelt reprisors in Medora, North Dakota where he currently lives.

  Coming soon

  LITTLE SISTER LOST

  Hope Novak is in Poland searching for her family.

  Just as she connects with her sister, Ewa Krupa, the woman is abducted.

  Past foes come back to exact revenge on Novak, dragging her little sister into the fray.

  Preorder Now

  Part I

  Zielona Gora, Poland

  Chapter 1

  She was following her sister again. Hope Novak had not introduced herself yet.

  She arrived in Zielona Gora three days ago. Armed with the information her friends, Zoe Mills and JR Lewis, gave her, Novak had her first solid lead into her past.

  The first thing Hope noticed. The Romanians following Ewa Krupa. This development concerned her.

  She knew these men were trouble.

  The next thing Novak noticed. Her sister was wise to the Romanians. Each day Krupa varied her route to and from work.

  Novak felt a sense of pride as she watched her sister navigate the city. Krupa did her best to avoid the worst neighborhoods. That tactic helped keep the Romanians from putting an obvious tail on her.

  Tonight, something seemed off to Novak. The man following Krupa was taking brazen risks.

  Risks he had not taken the two previous nights.

  Novak had taken care to not be noticed by either her sister or the Romanian. But she knew if she did not act tonight, she might not get to meet her sister. At the same time, Hope did not want Ewa to know what kind of person she was.

  Yet.

  The time for that truth would come later. Tonight, though, Novak would do what was needed. Hopefully, Ewa none the wiser.

  As Ewa rounded a corner, Hope rushed the Romanian. Her initial plan was too slow his progress for a few seconds to give Ewa a chance to put some distance between them.

  She bumped into the Romanian, expecting him to slow down and apologize. Instead, he made to knock her from his path.

  His shove roused Novak’s short fuse. She said, “why don’t you watch where you’re going.”

  He did not turn. Or even acknowledge Novak. Perhaps he does not understand English, thought Novak. She tried the same sentence in Polish. The Romanian continued his trek to follow Ewa.

  Undau
nted, Novak knew of a message he would understand.

  Loud and clear.

  She saw an empty wine bottle in a trash can. Novak plucked the bottle from the can, and with a fierce blow shattered it over the Romanian’s head.

  That ought to get his attention, she thought.

  He turned to face Novak. His eyes were beady and glazed over.

  Either he is drunk, or I hit him pretty good, she thought.

  He growled as he approached. “Stupid American bitch,” he said.

  That was all the invitation Novak needed.

  She let instinct, and mental conditioning take over. Novak could see her opponent was sluggish, but also much larger than her. In the end, that matters little, she thought.

  She moved in close and planned her moves to be quick. If she did not, he would pummel her. Novak punched hard into the Romanians ribs three times.

  He should be winded now, she thought. He attempted to swing at her, missing completely.

  Next, she kneed him in the crouch.

  Hard.

  The Romanian doubled over, cursing in his native tongue. He would not put up much of a fight now, Novak thought.

  She pulled back for a right hook that landed on his lower jaw. The Romanian fell to the ground.

  Novak swung her leg back and kicked him in the ribs. She could feel them crack from the blow.

  Finally, she drove in with a pile-driver punch to his right eye. The Romanian fell face first to the ground.

  “You and your friends will stop following Ewa Krupa now,” said Hope. The Romanian only groaned in response.