Project Aura

by Bob Mayer

"What do you mean?"

  "Rescue the captured soldiers and destroy the Ring's RV capability."

  "I'm listening."

  As McFairn laid out her plan to use the Psychic Warriors to spearhead a rescue mission, Raisor listened in, floating in the virtual plane in Carlson's office. The Pentagon wasn't psychically shielded, which Raisor found interesting, but not surprising. It was simply too large and had too many people coming and going to be shielded. He also knew there was also the fact that the conventional military distrusted something as radical as Psychic Warrior.

  He had followed McFairn's limousine from Fort Meade to the Pentagon, seething with the inability to do anything, but now he saw an opportunity to strike back.

  When she was done presenting her plan, Raisor made his first jump south, heading back toward Saba.

  *****

  Captain Mikhal Lonsky had been in command of the research ship Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin for almost ten years, and he had watched their operating budget shrink with each new appropriation out of Moscow. Named after the first man to go into space, the ship had maintained communications with Mir as long as that station had been operational. With the space station's demise the appropriations had become appallingly low. The crew was at forty percent, the rest laid off by the new capitalistic Russian society to save money, which was spent first on necessary repairs.

  The most recent mission given the ship was to monitor launches from the European Space Consortium's base at Kouro, in French Guiana. It was a boring job, but one the new KGB, called the SRU, wanted done, more for industrial espionage purposes than military necessity.

  When all four radar dishes were oriented forward as they were now, the Gagarin lost two knots in speed due to wind resistance, but that was of little importance to Lonsky as they were stationary, thrusters fore and aft holding them in place against the wind and current.

  Lonsky turned as his senior communications and computer officer, Tanya Zenata, entered the bridge. There was supposed to be separate officers for each specialty, but the combining of the jobs was another cost-cutting measure forced on Lonsky.

  "Sir, we have a radio communiqué from Moscow." Lonsky took the paper and read it. His eyebrows arched as the import struck home. Lonsky started laughing, causing the scant bridge crew to turn and look at him. He couldn't help it. He fell backwards into his command chair, still laughing, tears now flowing down his cheeks.

  "We've been sold," he finally managed to get out.

  *****

  Boreas paced back and forth in his office, staring out the large bullet-proof window at the field of antennas that was his province. When HAARP was off, the entire facility was guarded by an electromagnetic wall, impenetrable to remote viewers, Psychic Warriors, or any living thing. Numerous local animals had died when they crossed the buried cables that transmitted the field. A brain, whether in the real world or a virtual essence, could not cross the electromagnetic barrier that was on a frequency inimical to the mind's own electromagnetic operation. Which meant it fried any brain crossing it.

  Beyond the field, the Wrangell Mountains loomed over the site. Boreas often looked to them. Not to enjoy the beauty of their white peaks against the blue sky, but because of the threat he felt lurked there. His people hated mountains.

  The phone rang, cutting through his dark mood. It was McFairn, confirming the plan they had come up with the previous night.

  After hanging up with her, Boreas made a call on his secure satellite phone to Kirtley, giving the necessary order. Then he made a final call. The other end was answered immediately.

  "Yes?" The voice was deep, one used to authority, the overseas connection perfect despite the scrambling and encryption. The equipment was cutting edge, not penetrable even by the NSA.

  "We are taking action against the Ring."

  "Good. Nexus has been dealt with in the United States."

  "Are you sure you got all of them?"

  There was the shortest of pauses. "We're not certain. But we've taken care of the important ones. They have no immediate access to the President, and by the time any survivors make contact and are verified, it will be much too late."

  "What about Souris?"

  "Try to track down their Aura transmitter using your new Psychic Warrior team. Then destroy it. What is the status of HAARP?"

  "CS-MILSTAR goes up soon. We’ll be on-line worldwide in less than two days. We still have to get the unlock codes for the MILSTAR satellites, but I anticipate being able to do that without too much trouble. And then it will finally be over. After all these years."

  "Don't underestimate the Mithrans."

  Boreas looked at the mountains. "I won't."

  *****

  "We're going operational in eight hours." Kirtley had satellite imagery of Colombia spread over the conference table, his team gathered round. Dalton, Jackson, and Barnes stood in the background.

  "You've only been 'over' once," Dalton pointed out. "I don't think you're ready to be operational."

  "It's not debatable, Sergeant Major." Kirtley slapped the tabletop. "We're leading the effort to rescue your fellow green beanies. I would expect even you to be happy about that."

  "That team got ambushed," Dalton said. "What makes you think this new team going in to save them isn't going to be ambushed also?"

  "Because we'll be going in first on the virtual plane clearing the way," Kirtley said. "The conventional team that follows us is coming just to recover the hostages."

  Dalton rubbed his forehead, trying to keep the growing headache at bay.

  "And we will have one practice session this afternoon before the actual mission," Kirtley added. "A live fire run-through at the urban combat range at Fort Campbell, Kentucky."

  "What do you want us to do?" Dalton asked, indicating Jackson and Barnes along with himself.

  "We're done with you. You’ll be released to go back to your units once my team is operational."

  "That's it?" Dalton was surprised, even though he’d known this was coming eventually. "What about the rest of my team?"

  "They've been officially classified as missing in action," Kirtley said. He turned back to his imagery.

  "They're not missing," Dalton argued. "They're in the other room."

  "Then wake them up," Kirtley said sharply. "Bring them back, have them walk out here, and you can take them with you."

  "You told me they wouldn't be abandoned." Dalton took a step forward, several members of Kirtley's team getting between them.

  "And they won't," Kirtley said, "but they also won't be going home with you, will they? And they have to be classified as something, don't they? Some sort of explanation given?"

  Dalton knew what Kirtley was saying made sense, but he viewed it as the first step to eventually pulling the plug on the bodies in the other room. And once he was gone from Bright Gate, there was nothing he could do about it.

  "I have a suggestion," Dalton said.

  "What?" Kirtley's response was less than enthusiastic.

  "Let Jackson, Barnes, and I participate in your test this afternoon. We’ll be part of the opposing force. The big problem my team had on our training exercise at Fort Hood was that we had no one shooting back." He turned to Dr. Hammond. "Could our avatar weapons be set on a low power, enough to indicate a hit but not hurt each other?"

  Hammond nodded. "Yes. I’m sure I can get Sybyl to program that."

  "Our opponents won't be avatars," Kirtley said. "They'll be real flesh-and-blood people."

  "I wouldn't count on that," Dalton said. "We sensed a presence when we were at the villa. Besides, we can act like flesh and blood; keep our avatars on the real plane and not use the virtual to do any jumps once we're at the training site."

  He could tell Kirtley wasn't thrilled with the idea, so he pushed. "You need all the help you can get. Trust me on that. You don't want to end up like the other two teams."

  He could see the flicker that passed over Kirtley's face as the last point hit home. "All right. You go ove
r with us and to the first jump point. Then you'll go on ahead to be part of the opposing force."

  *****

  "Now it's your time to prove your loyalty to me." Raisor's avatar floated an inch off the floor, a disconcerting image when combined with the translucent aspect of his appearance.

  "How exactly?" Cesar asked. Valika stood behind him, off his right shoulder. Souris was preparing for the next test of Aura, the final one before they were ready to be fully working in combination with the Gagarin.

  "Not only will you help me," Raisor added, "but you'll also be helping yourself."

  Cesar waited for more explanation.

  Raisor had searched through the computer's files. Now he used Aura's capabilities to project an image of the Mount of the Holy Cross in the air between him and Cesar and Valika.

  "That's where Bright Gate is located. Inside that mountain in the middle of Colorado. You're going to help me get in there, and get out with what I need."

  "And how am I going to do that?" Cesar asked.

  "You're going to lend me your associate, Ms. Valika, and Ms. Souris’ laptop. I transferred more than the eight hundred million you needed. You can spare, say, ten million, a drop in the bucket, to hire the men and equipment we need in the United States to accomplish my task. If you need contacts, I have some that I met while working for the Agency. And they will have my assistance." He turned to Souris. "You have your original prototype of Aura, don't you?"

  "Souris!" Cesar snapped, drawing her attention away from the computer screen. "The original Aura prototype. You still have it, correct?"

  Souris nodded. "But it’s weak. The field is small, less than half a mile."

  Raisor smiled. "That's all I'll need in order to be with Valika on the mission."

  "You said this would also be helping me," Cesar noted.

  "The Americans are planning to raid your compound in Colombia where you are keeping their soldiers prisoner."

  "I expected that," Cesar said.

  "Did you expect their Psychic Warriors to be leading the assault?" Raisor asked. "Are you prepared for that?"

  Cesar turned to Souris to answer.

  "We are, actually," she said.

  Raisor was surprised. "How?"

  "Do not concern yourself with that," Cesar said. "I think you have a solid point though. Attacking Bright Gate while the Psychic Warriors are out on the virtual plane is a good idea." Cesar lifted his right hand to Valika. "Go with him."

  *****

  The U.S. aircraft carrier Roosevelt had just traversed the Panama Canal into the Pacific on its way to rejoining the Seventh Fleet after a refit at Norfolk Naval Station. On the massive flight deck dozens of planes were crowded wingtip to wingtip. Among them were two MH-60 Special Operations Blackhawk helicopters. A new Department of Defense policy, designed to be more in line with the threats of terrorism rather than World War III, had designated that a Special Operations task force be on board each fleet carrier. The Spec Ops task force consisted of a Special Forces A-team and a Navy SEAL element, along with Task Force 160 helicopters to transport them.

  The order for the raid to help rescue the Special Forces soldiers in Colombia was greeted by the Special Ops men with enthusiasm and professionalism. The original team had come from this ship and they had friends among the missing men.

  As the Roosevelt turned its bow to the south, they began making their plans, even though the supporting role they were to play puzzled them. If they were to be second wave, who was to do the actual assault?

  *****

  "Eat it," Sergeant Lambier told Granger. The wounded man was staring at the tin plate of unrecognizable slop a guard had just shoved in the cell.

  "Why?" Granger asked. "So I can puke just before they shoot me?"

  "Because we don't know how long we're going to be here," Lambier said.

  The other two men made no move to grab their plates either. Lambier picked up his and began shoveling the food into his mouth, swallowing as quickly as he could to avoid tasting it. When he was halfway through, the others began doing the same.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Captain Lonsky was not overly surprised the Gagarin had been sold. The previous year, Moscow had rented it out to an American movie company making a science fiction film, and they had done monitoring missions for other countries and corporations when the price was right. Lonsky had been a crew member aboard the ship during the Cold War and remembered how they had always been shadowed by American submarines, planes, and ships doing counterintelligence missions against them. Things were very different now. For all he knew, the Americans were the buyers and no one had shadowed the Gagarin for years.

  "A message from our new owners," Zenata said, holding several sheets of paper in her hand.

  Captain Lonsky took the message and read through. He turned to the bridge crew and barked out orders. "Shut down the thrusters. Orient dishes horizontal for minimum wind resistance. Our new heading will be three zero zero degrees, at flank speed."

  As the crew did as commanded, he reread the next to last sheet. "Do you think this is serious?"

  Zenata shrugged. "Whoever sent this bought the ship, which even Moscow would not sell cheaply. I would assume they are serious about the money. It is probably cheaper than training their own crew."

  Lonsky picked up the mike. He switched the intercom so that he could broadcast to the entire crew. "My comrades, as you are now aware, the ship has been sold to someone, whose name we do not know. However, we have received a communique from them with a job offer for each of us to stay on for another month of work, remaining in our assigned jobs on board ship. The terms of the deal are simple. A bonus of one hundred thousand dollars American for each member of the crew for that one month. Paid in cash. If anyone does not want to stay on board, please notify me immediately." He clicked off the mike and waited. As expected, the message board remained unlit.

  Zenata had a last sheet, which she gave to him.

  Lonsky read it. It detailed specific instructions. "Can you do this?" he asked Zenata.

  "It is simply preparing our master computer for interface with another computer," she said. "It is not very difficult. But I wonder why someone would want us to do that?"

  "Any clue who bought us?"

  Zenata shook her head. "This message came from a commercial satellite. It could have originated anywhere. It does have the proper authorization code word," she added unnecessarily.

  "Do what they want," Lonsky ordered.

  "Where are we headed?" Zenata asked.

  "The Lesser Antilles. Saba, to be specific."

  "Saba?"

  "A small island with no harbor."

  Zenata hadn't left yet. "And what do you think they want us to do when we get there?"

  "That is a very interesting question to which I do not have a clue."

  *****

  Dalton watched the team appear on the virtual plane above the Mount of the Holy Cross. Jackson was above him, formed in her eagle avatar, Barnes to his right- Kirtley had seven men with him, lined up like a row of ghostly images behind him. Dalton noted that Kirtley's avatar was larger and stronger looking than the man appeared in real life.

  "First jump point," Kirtley ordered.

  Jackson was gone before he even finished the sentence. Dalton visualized the spot, and then he was there. Barnes appeared. Then one, two of Kirtley's men. The rest straggled in, one by one.

  "You need to appear on target at the same time," Dalton pointed out.

  "That's why we're practicing," Kirtley snapped. "Dr. Hammond, project an image of our target."

  In the center of the group, a scaled version of a special range at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, appeared. Dalton had been there before, in the real world, when his team had gone for urban operations training. The range was an example of a village in Iraq, complete with buildings, town square, sewer system and roads. Kirtley had had the range personnel put automatic targets in, then clear the area.

  "Our objective is
here." Kirtley pointed at a large building facing the small square. "It's as close as we can come to simulating the villa." He pointed at Dalton. "Time for you to go. I don't think it would be quite fair if you heard our assault plans."

  "Roger that," Dalton said. "Dr. Hammond, I want a private com link that only Jackson and Barnes can hear."

  "You've got it," Hammond informed him "I'm also blocking the team's communications from you."

  "Let's go," Dalton said. He jumped and was above the building Kirtley had indicated as the main objective.

  "What's the plan?" Barnes asked.

  "Let's see what's set up first." Dalton said. He flowed through the roof of the building and descended to the basement. There were targets set up to indicate guards and several dummies placed on the floor to simulate the prisoners. It was the best that could be done on such short notice.

  "Barnes, you've got this building. Shoot the hostages the minute the first avatar comes in here."

  "Roger that, Sergeant Major."

  “Jackson, I want you to be our eye in the sky. Relay what you see to us."

  "I thought we were supposed to pretend to be people," Jackson said.

  "Rules are made to be broken," Dalton said.

  "And where will you be?" Barnes asked.

  In reply, Dalton simply pointed down, then he vanished from sight as he jumped.

  *****

  Sailors watched as the Green Berets and SEALs test-fired their weapons off the deck of the Roosevelt, spewing lines of tracers into the ocean. Satisfied their weapons functioned properly, the men began smearing camouflage paint on their faces, loading magazines, and sharpening knives. The aircrews walked around their helicopters, making sure they were ready for flight. They all knew the members of ODA 084 who had launched from this very ship, and they had been shown the photograph of Captain Scott's body. Rescue was the primary mission, but silently accepted among all the men was the desire for revenge.