by Alex Siegel
"I never saw him talk to a girl," Caroline said. "I don't even know what he does for a living. He liked messing with computers. He probably works in one of those high-tech companies down in Silicon Valley."
"I see. That's all the questions we have. Thanks, again."
The Spears left and walked back to the car. Hanley was very glad to get out of that house.
Ipo took out his phone, pressed the speaker button, and called Marina.
"Report," she said.
"We didn't get much, ma'am. The parents haven't seen Peter in years. He was badly abused and neglected as a child."
"Typical. Some days, I believe people should have to pass a test before they're allowed to be parents. If that were the case, we'd have less work to do."
"How are things going back at headquarters?" Ipo said.
"Not very well. Nearly all of the evidence is useless. The computers we took were wiped clean. Jia wasn't able to recover a single byte of data from the hard disks. Min Ho has been unable to locate our quarry so far."
"That's unfortunate."
"Come home," Marina said.
"Yes, ma'am. We're on our way."
Chapter Twenty-five
"I got him!" Min Ho yelled.
Marina ran to his workstation. "You found Ice Crusher?"
He nodded excitedly. "He just purchased an app for his phone using a fake credit card. My monitoring software detected him immediately, and I tracked down the phone. It's in a small house in Milpitas."
"That's great! It wasn't so hard after all."
"Are you kidding, ma'am?" He stared at her. "I had to write custom software capable of monitoring a thousand banks at once. My program automatically adapted to the specifications of every system without being detected. I used a special virus to install it just so the job wouldn't take a week. This is the greatest hack I've ever done in my life!"
"Congratulations. Nice job." She patted him on the shoulder.
Marina took out her phone with the intention of calling Ipo and Hanley and sending them to Milpitas. Then she paused.
"Are you sure?"
"Sure about what?" Min Ho said.
"This isn't another trap?"
"Yes, I'm sure, ma'am! There is no way Ice Crusher could've anticipated us this time. Nobody is that smart."
She narrowed her eyes. "You're wrong."
"I don't understand why you think that."
"Because that asshole fooled us at least three times so far, and I'll be damned if I let it happen again. I want a second opinion."
"From who?" Min Ho said in confusion.
* * *
Bethany Satin looked up at the symbols displayed on her computer monitor. They formed complex, geometric patterns which had profound significance. The symbols were divine mathematics, and to an outsider, they looked like unintelligible, alien text. She had achieved a basic level of understanding, but even she couldn't make sense of some of the relationships. There were too many layers of meaning.
The universal firewall project had started well, but after half a year of research, it was running into difficulties. The math was simply too hard. Bethany and Leanna had spent long days and nights laboring over the equations of reality, but their human brains refused to comprehend some of the concepts. Mere nerve tissue couldn't absorb God's true wisdom in all its infinite subtlety.
The twins didn't have the option of quitting. They had to keep struggling until they succeeded or went insane. At this point, the latter outcome seemed more probable.
Bethany's phone rang. Her computer automatically routed the call to her headset and identified the caller as Marina.
"Hello, ma'am," Bethany said.
"I'm in a tight spot," Marina said. "Min Ho thinks he caught the bad guy, but I'm not so sure. I want you to double-check his work. He'll send you the files."
"No problem. We'll get right on it." Bethany was actually glad to take a break from the firewall project.
"Thanks," Marina said. "You girls are the best." She hung up.
Bethany received a message containing a large amount of data. She began to scan through the analysis, looking for mistakes.
"This is excellent work," she said after a few minutes. "Min Ho is a very skilled hacker."
She looked across the room at her twin sister, Leanna. She had light brown skin and long, black hair. The shape of her nose revealed her Middle-eastern heritage. Like Bethany, Leanna was very thin, but life in the Society had filled her out a little. They no longer looked starved at least. Both girls were wearing white shirts, red skirts, and no shoes.
"I concur," Leanna said. "I don't see an obvious error."
Bethany took another look at the divine mathematics displayed on a separate monitor. The symbol for "love" was at the center of the pattern, and it dominated all other relationships.
"Marina is right. There must be an error."
"Why?" Leanna said.
"She is a second level integrand. She could become a true uplink. Min Ho is barely past the first veil. I trust her more than him."
"We could repeat the analysis using our own methodology."
"Yes," Bethany said. "Let's deploy the deep fisher. It should correctly classify the discrepancies."
Leanna nodded without emotion. "Indeed."
* * *
"Holy shit," Min Ho said. "Jia, come over here. Look at this!"
Jia got up from her chair and ran around the tables where the computers were located. She stood behind Min Ho and peered over his shoulder.
"What are we looking at?" Marina said.
"This." Min Ho pointed at his computer monitors.
All the screens were full of scrolling information. Numbers and letters moved faster than Marina's eyes could follow, Geometric shapes were mixed into the flow, but they meant as little to her as the rest of the computer gibberish.
"I still don't understand."
"The twins are scanning all the bank computers again," Min Ho said, "but they're using extremely advanced software. It's adapting and evolving."
"It's like it's alive," Jia said in a tone of awe. She was watching the monitors with wide eyes.
Marina smiled. Bringing in the twins had been the right decision.
Bethany's pretty face with its exotic features suddenly appeared in the middle of the computer screen. "We have completed our analysis," she said through the speakers. "The phone is a decoy. The address in Milpitas is probably a trap. Peter Hastings is located in a hotel room in San Jose. I suggest you move quickly."
Her face vanished, and a text message containing detailed information replaced it.
"Wow," Min Ho said. "I am properly and thoroughly humbled. Where did you find these girls? An alien spaceship?"
Marina was still holding her phone. She began to call Ipo with the intention of sending him and Hanley to San Jose. She would meet them at the hotel where Ice Crusher was hiding.
Don't, God said in her mind. You must confront him alone.
Marina blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected direct communication from the Almighty. He tended to be chattier with commanders, so perhaps, this was the beginning of a trend.
That's very dangerous, she thought. Ipo and Hanley should be with me.
They'll die if they go, and that must not happen. I have other plans for them.
And I won't die?
Your chances are better, God said, but nothing is certain in a universe containing free will. Do as I say.
Yes, Sir.
Marina had a feeling that God had moved on. She completed her call to Ipo.
"Ma'am?"
"What's your status?" she said.
"We're driving back to headquarters," he said.
"Go to Milpitas instead. Ice Crusher has set a trap for us, and I want you to check it out."
"Why?"
"People who work for him might be there," she said. "Innocents might be in danger. We have to investigate even though we know it's very dangerous. I'll go after Ice Crusher himself. According to
the twins, he's in San Jose."
"You're going by yourself? That seems reckless, ma'am."
"God ordered me to do it."
Ipo paused. "The Lord spoke to you directly?"
"Yes. Just now."
"Then I withdraw my objection."
"In case I don't make it," Marina said, "it was great working with you, even if it was just for a few days. You're a fine legionnaire."
"Thank you, ma'am, and it was an honor serving under you. You're an amazing woman."
"Be extremely careful when you get to Milpitas. Expect trouble. Min Ho will text you the address. Bye." She hung up.
* * *
Hanley looked out the side window at a blue, single story house.
"That's it," he said.
The home had a short, wide driveway leading to a double garage in front. The grass was freshly mowed, and a baby tree was planted in the yard. The front door had an unusual oval window.
Ipo didn't slow down. He continued to drive the car to the end of the block and turned a corner. He finally parked when they were completely out of sight of the target.
"What's the plan?" Hanley said.
"We know the house is trapped. It could be full of bad guys, or there could be a bomb. Maybe a hungry lion is waiting inside."
Hanley raised his eyebrows. "A lion?"
"Anything is possible." Ipo shrugged. "I once walked into a room full of scorpions. One thing is almost certain though: somebody is watching the house and waiting for us. We should try to catch that spy. It's a lot safer."
"Good idea, but we can't just walk around and peek in through windows."
"That's right. We have to be sneaky. I'll show you how it's done, rookie."
The two men got out of the brown sedan. Ipo walked around to the back and opened the trunk. They had brought a basic assortment of weapons and equipment. After checking for witnesses, Ipo strapped on as many weapons as he could hide under his blue FBI suit. Hanley did the same.
Ipo also grabbed two sets of binoculars and gave one set to Hanley.
"Follow me," Ipo said.
Instead of going back to the house directly, he jogged around to the other side of the block. Hanley had to press to keep up. For a huge man, Ipo was surprisingly nimble.
He silently worked his way through backyards and eventually arrived at the back of the house next door to the target. He kept stopping, looking, and listening for minutes at a time. Hanley approved of Ipo's cautious approach.
Ipo leapt onto the neighboring house with a standing jump. He simply bounced ten feet into the air as if he weighed almost nothing. He immediately pressed his belly flat against the roof.
"I wish I had a cool gift like that," Hanley whispered.
"Maybe you will, someday."
Ipo reached down with a huge arm. Hanley grabbed the outstretched hand, and Ipo pulled him up to the roof. They wriggled across, using the low peak of the roof as cover. When they could see the street, they stopped.
Both men used their binoculars to scan the area. Hanley was looking for anything suspicious. It could be as subtle as a curtain out of place or the glint of sunlight reflected from a sniper scope.
"I wonder how Marina is doing," Hanley whispered.
"I'm sure she'll be OK," Ipo responded.
"Do you think God really spoke to her?"
"She wouldn't lie about that."
"What does God sound like?" Hanley said. "Does He have a deep, booming voice?"
"It doesn't really boom. It's inside your head. Usually, it's more of a feeling than actual words. The higher you are in the Society, the more He talks to you."
"How do you know it's not a hallucination?"
"You just know," Ipo said. "Check out the white house across the street."
The white house had a red, shingle roof. Decorative stonework framed the door and the garage. An amazingly tall palm tree was growing in the front yard. The front window had shutters, and the horizontal slats were slightly open. A dark shape moved behind them.
"I see it," Hanley said. "You have sharp eyes."
"Comes from practice. Give me a fifteen minute head start. Then go over there and kick down the front door. Try to arrest the guy like a real FBI agent would."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll save your ass when it goes badly." Ipo winked.
He slithered backwards and dropped off the back of the roof.
Hanley checked his watch and counted down fifteen minutes. He considered himself to be a tough guy and a seasoned fighter, but he was still nervous. He was about to run into a situation full of dangerous unknowns. He was reminded of a quote by Nelson Mandela. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
When the time came, Hanley stood up, walked forward, and climbed down from the roof. He knew he was being seen, but that was part of the plan. He walked boldly over to the front door, drew his gun, and kicked open the door without any warning. Instead of entering, he ducked instinctively, and it was a good choice. A bullet almost took his head off.
He returned fire, but the interior of the home was dark, and his eyes were adjusted to bright sunlight. He had no idea what he was shooting at. He hastily backed up until the stone frame around the garage protected him.
"I'm with the FBI!" Hanley yelled. "You're under arrest! Surrender immediately!"
He heard a crunching noise, followed by a choked-off scream.
"Come inside," Ipo said from the interior of the house. His deep voice was very distinctive.
Hanley cautiously entered. Ipo was standing in a living room over his defeated adversary. Hanley guessed Ipo had snuck in through the back door during the brief gun battle.
The man on the floor's blond hair formed an impressive mane around his head. Blue eyes stared out from a handsome face. He was wearing an expensive, brown suit with suede patches on the elbows. His left leg and right arm were horribly broken which was obviously Ipo's handiwork.
Hanley quickly checked the house. A woman was lying on the kitchen floor with a bullet hole in her forehead. He judged she had been dead for a while. A dog in the backyard had suffered a similar fate.
Hanley returned to the living room. "Who are you?"
"They call me Mr. Pickle." The man sneered. "And that's all you'll ever know about me."
"What did you do in the other house? Is there a trap?"
"Go over there and find out."
Hanley heard a siren in the distance, and it was getting louder. "Shit. They got here fast. We need to leave."
Ipo slugged Pickle across the face, knocking him out. The blow sounded like a baseball bat striking meat. Hanley was jealous of Ipo's strength. I need to train a lot harder, Hanley thought.
Ipo threw Pickle over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Both legionnaires ran out of the house and towards their car. It was a block away, an inconvenient distance.
A glowing ball of red light made Hanley skid to a stop and stare. The phenomenon looked like a tiny thunderstorm. Mist boiled off the surface violently, and lightning crackled in the interior. He recognized it as the "enemy of God" he had seen the previous night. The entity emanated a field of cold hatred which made Hanley think about death.
Ipo dropped Pickle on the sidewalk and ran backwards as if he were trying to escape from a bomb. Hanley followed. His partner probably knew what he was doing.
A flash of light and a crack of thunder caused Hanley to glance backwards. Where Pickle had been, there was now a smoking crater. The ball of red light advanced on Hanley aggressively, and he sprinted as hard as he could to escape.
The color of the light suddenly changed to green. He looked back again and saw that the ball was very different now. It was bigger but much less violent.
Ipo stopped running and turned around, so Hanley did the same.
He could feel the change in his mind and in his heart. This green ball represented a different entity, one full of love instead of hate.
"Thank you, Lord," Ipo
said. "You saved our lives."
The green light faded away.
"That was God," Hanley whispered. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.
"Not literally. It was more like a projection or a messenger, but it's as close as we'll ever get. We'd have to leave the universe to meet Him directly, which is obviously impossible."
Two police cars came flying around a corner and up the street.
"Move," Ipo said.
The two legionnaires walked towards their car at an unobtrusive pace.
Hanley looked at the blackened crater as they passed it. There was nothing left of Mr. Pickle, not even ashes. The concrete had shattered, and the dirt beneath was still smoking.
That guy worked for a tough boss, Hanley thought.
"It's obvious why he was killed," Ipo said. "He knew something that God's enemies don't want us to know."
"Like what?"
Ipo shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find out the hard way." He slapped Hanley on the back. "You know what? You're OK. I've decided working with you isn't so bad."
"Thanks, but not so bad isn't good enough." Hanley smiled. "I'll do much better in the future. I want to be the best legionnaire ever."
Ipo chuckled. "That's a steep mountain to climb. Wait until you meet one of the elites before you make a claim like that. I wouldn't recommend it though. If they show up, it means truly bad things are happening. This was just a taste."
* * *
Marina was dressed like a maid, and a black wig covered her hair. Thick makeup darkened her face and arms to a light brown and covered her freckles. She was holding a .45 caliber gun with armor-piercing ammunition behind her back.
She knocked on the door of room 929. "It's the maid," she said in a Spanish accent.
"Go away!" a man yelled from inside the hotel room.
She knocked again. "I need to clean your room, please."
"Not now. I'm busy."
She knocked a third time. "I need to clean your room, please."
She heard loud footsteps. The door opened, and a man looked out. He was wearing a T-shirt and underwear, and the latter wasn't too clean. Greasy, brown hair hung half-way down to his eyes. His round belly made it look like he had swallowed a beach ball.
"The room is fine," he said. "Get out of here."