It occurred to Doug just then that he probably shouldn’t have asked about Bishop’s condition.
– 91 –
Rector watched from a restaurant rooftop patio a few blocks away from where he had held Stravinsky. He didn’t finish sweeping the facility in time to see the takedown of Bishop and Lockwood, but he saw the aftermath on a news channel: the bullet-ridden car and some agents and local police controlling the scene. There was no word on the occupants of the vehicle. He wondered if Bishop and Lockwood had survived.
He trained his binoculars towards the industrial building that was their former base of operations. He was too far away for a clear view. There was a helicopter hovering over the building and he could only make out the upper floors and the roofline. There would be agents on the ground. They wouldn’t find anything inside besides a burned out computer with a destroyed hard drive, and a keyboard free of fingerprints. They would be expanding the perimeter of their search. Rector left the restaurant and headed to the backup site.
– 92 –
As Bishop regained consciousness he realized he was strapped to a chair. Trained to assess situations quickly, the fact he was able to bring himself to alertness almost immediately meant that he probably wasn’t drugged. Looking around, it was obvious he was in an interrogation room. There was pain in his left shoulder as he put pressure on the restraints. His legs were also bound. He wasn’t going anywhere.
The room was bare concrete, clean and bright. There were a table and chairs opposite him. Turning his head as far to the right as possible he saw a single armed guard whom he did not recognize. Bishop wondered how much his captors knew. He decided to try and get a quick read on the situation without giving anything away.
“What day is it?” he asked the guard.
No response. Bishop looked up at him and saw a gritty, experienced man who wasn’t about to give him so much as a grunt of acknowledgment. The guard remained stationary but tapped his Raim. Within seconds the door to the interrogation room opened, and two men entered and sat down.
“Supervisor Bishop. I’m Arthur Leach, with the FBI. This is my associate, Paulson. I hope you aren’t too uncomfortable.”
Bishop suppressed a smile. Arthur Leach. Ambitious men climb high up the power ladder no matter where they’re from. No doubt this Leach knew of the Arthur Leach working in the White House on Earth, thanks to Carl Bertrand’s experience and various communications between the two worlds. What wasn’t clear at this point was if this one knew of the other Leach’s plan to inflict a plague on FLO. Mekhos was aware, but before it was incapacitated did the machine inform anyone besides Doug Lockwood?
“We were very disappointed to hear of your involvement in the terrorist attack on the MC complex. Your colleagues Phillips and Gerard were taken by complete surprise. They now believe you are working for Virtue.”
Leach and Paulson stared at Bishop. He didn’t answer. Perhaps these men didn’t know his true identity.
“Your record is exemplary. It’s disappointing that you would turn on your country. Very puzzling, especially since the young Bishop injured in that training exercise some years ago was given a second chance at a career with the NSA.”
Bishop stared at Leach, wary of the line he was taking.
“Interesting how you came to work so closely with Commander Jamieson from the Twin. He is a guest of the state, by the way, under guard at Lewis-McChord. A very charming fellow.”
Leach paused. Again, Bishop did not react.
“Who else are you working with? Who besides Jamieson assisted you in the attack? Who helped you escape?”
Bishop held Leach’s gaze, but said nothing.
After a moment Leach looked down and wrote in his notebook.
“No, I’m sure there is much more going on here than what we see on the surface. We tended to your injuries today but I think you are due for a more thorough checkup. That may answer all questions.”
They suspect who I really am, Bishop thought. It was inevitable. Once his true identity was confirmed, the real interrogation would begin.
“I’d like to speak with Carl Bertrand,” Bishop said. “In fact, if you’ve informed him of the situation I’m sure he will wish to speak with me.”
“Bertrand is fully aware of the situation Bishop. He won’t be helping you.”
Leach and Paulson rose to leave.
“What of Lockwood?”
“Dr. Lockwood is well, and fully cooperating with us. However there was a fatality at the MC complex, unfortunately. Stacey Lau was killed, due to friendly fire.”
Paulson opened the door for Leach, who paused and looked back.
“But then again, you’re dead too, aren’t you Bishop. I’ve been talking to a ghost.”
Paulson laughed as they left the room.
– 93 –
Everything was in place. Nick and his team had what they needed to control the mechanisms on the Moon. The interface had been set up between his conventional supercomputer and the core system of Mekhos. The code had been tested successfully in simulation time and time again. Yet despite issuing commands for the past two hours, there was no indication that the moon’s trajectory was being influenced, or that the quantum mechanisms on the moon were engaging.
Each time Nick entered a command to engage one of the four mechanisms, no confirmation message was returned. None of the four were functioning.
“Increase buffer bandwidth to maximum,” Nick ordered his assistant, Anders.
“I already tried that, it makes no difference!” Anders replied, a trace of panic in his voice.
Nick turned to the astrophysicist that was monitoring the moon’s position.
“What will the orbit be if no action is taken?”
The astrophysicist looked at him, incredulous.
“I don’t need to tell you what the outcome will be.”
“Is there at least a chance it will settle into a stable orbit? The speed is right.”
“The angle is off by three degrees! If it isn’t corrected the moon will pass within seventy thousand kilometers of the Earth. That’s less than one-fifth of its normal distance!”
Nick stared blankly at his expert, not wishing to believe what he was being told. The astrophysicist shook his head.”
“With the increased gravitational and tidal effect, there will be a massive world-wide earthquake, and that’s just the beginning. The orbit will be highly elliptical, and will degrade further. We’ll have bi-weekly earthquakes and tsunamis, much worse than we have ever experienced. There is an 80% chance that within four months the moon will collide with us!”
“We’ll all be dead long before the collision,” said Anders, his voice shaking. “We may not even survive when the moon makes its first pass, six days from now.”
Another assistant looked over at Nick.
“We’re getting the same report from our observatory in Arizona. They’ve noticed the angle and are asking questions. How do you want me to reply?”
Nick broke out into a cold sweat. He didn’t know what to do.
– 94 –
Doug was handcuffed and escorted out of the hospital by Gerard and another MC agent, then put into a van and driven to a large unmarked building. He was taken through a back entrance and processed at what looked like an armored information kiosk built into the back wall of a sterile intake room. There was an armed, uniformed security detail standing post about two meters on either side of the thick glass plate.
“Speak your full name and place your hand on the pad in front of you and keep it there until it beeps,” the guard in the kiosk said sharply, as Gerard unlocked Doug’s handcuffs.
Doug massaged his wrists for a few seconds then did as he was told.
“There is a retinal scanner to your right,” the guard instructed as soon as the reader beeped. “Lean forward and look into the viewfinder. Press your forehead firmly on the top ridge and keep your eyes open, staring straight ahead at the symbol until you hear a beep.” Doug did
as he was instructed.
He was then escorted down a hallway and placed in a room with a rectangular table and three chairs and left there, alone in the harshly lit room. There was a large mirror on one wall, no doubt for observers on the other side. There was a pitcher of water and some foam cups on a smaller table along the wall opposite the mirror. Doug got up, poured himself some water, walked around the room for a bit, then sat back down. He wondered how long they would keep him waiting before interrogating him. What else could go wrong, he thought.
A moment later Gerard entered and held the door for two other men. Doug was shocked to see Arthur Leach. He didn’t recognize the other man. Doug involuntarily smiled then quickly realized the mistake. He had to stop reacting that way if he saw people he recognized. Aside from Bishop they were not the same individuals, and would have different motives. Leach approached and extended his hand.
“A pleasure to meet you Dr. Lockwood, I’m Arthur Leach, Deputy Director of the FBI. This is Agent Paulson. I see from your initial reaction that you have had some contact with my counterpart on your world. I hope he’s well regarded there,” Leach said with a smile as they shook hands.
“Of course. Arthur Leach is very well respected back home,” Doug replied, careful not to reveal too much. These men probably know a lot more than they will tell me. I need to be careful.
“Now, to business.” Leach’s demeanor changed. He became curt.
“What you have done could be considered treasonous. Despite your not being from this planet, you are a well-known celebrity, and some of us consider you to be American, as strange as that sounds. Others don’t share that opinion. If certain people found out, indeed, if the public knew of your role in the disabling of Mekhos, you would be tried and imprisoned as a terrorist.”
That answers the question clearly enough, Doug thought, sagging slightly in his chair. They aren’t mistaking me for a kidnap victim or hostage.
“I had no choice,” Doug replied, sitting up straight. “It was the right choice. You would have done the same thing.”
“That doesn’t matter, Dr. Lockwood,” Leach said, as he slowly leaned in and placed his hands on the table.
“Who gave you the code?”
Doug didn’t answer.
“What role did Bishop have in this?”
“I really don’t know,” Doug deadpanned.
“I understand you are in a desperate situation. But look at the facts. You didn’t limit yourself to helping a known terrorist group sabotage Mekhos. A member of your team, Dr. Foley, was carrying a deadly pathogen designed to create an epidemic here. As best we can tell, it was probably done to hold us hostage and force us to return your moon in exchange for an antidote. A truly barbarous plan.”
Doug laughed. Even in the face of his mission falling apart, the irony was delicious. Here was Arthur Leach, lecturing him over transgressions that had been largely engineered by the Arthur Leach back home. Leach and Paulson glanced at each other.
“What the hell is so funny?” Paulson asked, leaning slightly away.
Doug suppressed his laugh but continued to grin slightly as he folded his arms across his chest and looked at the mirrored window. He was very tempted to reveal the facts as he knew them, just to see the reaction of Leach, but realized he had to keep his remaining cards close. For all he knew, Leach was completely aware of the situation and was merely prodding for additional information. Doug remained silent as he reached for the cup of water and took a drink.
“Fortunately for you,” Leach continued, “Carl Bertrand has intervened on your behalf. You can continue your goodwill mission here, escorted of course, and nothing will be revealed of your involvement with that unfortunate incident at the MC complex. Officially, the devastation was the result of an assassination attempt on you, by members of Virtue.”
“You’ve broken up my team. I need to meet with Jamieson and Dr. Persaud.”
“Nathan Smith has been allowed to continue his world diplomatic tour, but those other team members are being held for questioning. Don’t worry, they are being treated well, perhaps better than members of our Envoy on your world. They will be released in due course.”
“Then I wish to meet with Norman Stravinsky.”
Doug watched carefully for any signs of discomfort in Leach. How much are you playing us, you son of a bitch? Doug thought. If you’ve found Stravinsky, are you manipulating him by feeding him false information?
“Dr. Stravinsky is unavailable. You and Carl Bertrand will meet, and appear on one or two talk shows together where you can be a moderate advocate for your world.”
A moderate advocate, Doug thought. No doubt the talk show will be pre-taped, and scripted. Everything will be tightly controlled, and so it will have absolutely no effect.
“Meaning this whole exercise will be for public relations and entertainment value. Meanwhile, nothing is done, and the people on my Earth starve to death. Are you going assist in any way to replace the Moon? Can you send ships to retrieve bodies from the asteroid belt?”
“That would be a futile plan. We’ll send some new genetically modified grain to your governments that is quick-growing under harsh conditions,” Leach said casually as he wrote in his notebook.
“Look,” Doug said as insistently as his headache would allow, “any contact I have with Norman Stravinsky may actually help the situation with Mekhos. There is every reason for you to believe that Dr. Stravinsky will want to see me, and soon too.”
“Nice pitch, Dr. Lockwood,” Leach said off-handedly, “but it won’t fly.” He nodded at Gerard and stood up.
“You have the same smug, patronizing attitude as your counterpart back home, Leach,” said Doug in a low, bitter tone, his smile gone.
– 95 –
Carl Bertrand knocked on the open door. Director Edward was on the phone. He glanced at Bertrand, indicating he should sit down. The telephone seemed like an anachronism, but unlike a Raim it was still useful for quiet conversations that staff in the next office couldn’t overhear, at least as long as the phone itself wasn’t being monitored or tapped.
“Yes sir,” said Edward, letting Bertrand hear the one-sided conversation. “We have every indication that the moon’s trajectory will fall into place as normal. The reason Mekhos has not been giving its usual policy directives is because it is occupied with this herculean task. Yes, regular policy feed will continue next week. Thank you sir.”
Edward hung up the phone.
“The President’s science team has informed him that the moon is at it’s normal apogee. They are anxiously waiting for information directly from Mekhos that will verify its proper placement. Obviously, Mekhos can’t give such verification itself.”
Edward was now looking at Bertrand intently, waiting for his report.
“We have a problem,” Bertrand said. “We were hoping that the moon’s orbit would have been finalized before the takeover of Mekhos. But as you know, we didn’t have the luxury of waiting. Dr. Lockwood’s meeting with the QC could not be delayed without raising suspicion.”
Bertrand paused.
“Go on,” Edward said.
“The moon was nearly in final orbit, but additional corrections were necessary.”
“That much is known. Get to the point.”
“We’ve managed to tap into the Mekhos control network but the commands are not being recognized.”
Director Edward scowled. He didn’t like what he was hearing.
“This is very bad Carl. Weeks ago you assured us that final lunar orbit would be attained by the time we executed this operation. Then you told us that in the event the orbit wasn’t finalized, you could control it using the method Nick Rojas developed. Now you are saying the method is ineffective?”
The reiteration of facts they both knew was the habit of a corporate bully, and it came to Edward as naturally as eating and breathing.
Edward looked away from Bertrand and tapped his wedding ring on the table. Tap, tap, tap. Another domineeri
ng annoyance. Bertrand made a conscious effort not to fidget. Edward looked at him once again.
“Why has Rojas failed?”
“He failed because despite running many successful simulations, we still don’t have a full understanding of the quantum process Mekhos used to implement its orbital corrections. Our latest theory is that simply initiating commands to the devices on the moon cannot be effective. The process requires constant corrections at a rate only a thinking quantum computer can maintain.”
“Again, get to the point.”
Bertrand glanced at the carpet for a moment, then back to his superior.
“My team has gone over this, running multiple checks. There are two possibilities. One, the Moon will pass very close but fail to attain orbit of Earth instead entering solar orbit as a small planetoid. This will trigger earthquakes as the Moon passes very close to us, but as it continues past will give us the same fate as the Twin. Our failure to capture the Moon into a proper Earth orbit will allow the continued collapse of the ecosystem.”
“And the second possibility?”
“The far more likely result will have the Moon enter into an elongated and unstable elliptical orbit of Earth, close enough to cause catastrophic earthquakes only days from now. Finally, it will collide with us within four months.”
Both men were silent for a moment. Bertrand cleared his throat.
“The second scenario will result in the utter destruction of our world.”
Edward was staring off into space. He had stopped tapping his ring. He finally spoke.
“In that event, will we and our members have time to evacuate to the Twin?”
Bertrand hesitated before answering. Clearly, the Director did not understand the far reaching effects of such a collision.
“No,” he replied. “This outcome also spells doom for the Twin. The Moon impacting us will create a ring of massive asteroid rubble in Earth orbit. The Twin will be bombarded within six months, give or take a few weeks, with multiple impacts far worse than the one that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fire and superheated magma will engulf their entire planet. Life will cease there, completely. There is nowhere for us to go.”
Dark Nights Page 28