This development comes on the heels of increasing reports indicating that the Shine epidemic has spread beyond America’s borders. Reports of Shine activity have occurred in places as diverse as Darfur and Iceland. While some may be American Shines travelling, others appear to involve local girls.
“We cannot afford to wait another moment to take action,” said Achilles Buto, Secretary-General of the UN. “This disease must be controlled and contained. I call on all the citizens of the world to support this effort. This is a time when we must all be patriots—patriots of the world. Isn’t this why the new act has been called the PA2? The new Patriot Act?”
47
Aura stepped out of Mark’s office, her eyes locked on his. “See you again tomorrow?”
“I’ll insist on it,” Mark said, a barely repressed grin playing on his lips. “I’ll be at the top of your agenda.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Till then, take care. No crazy escape attempts, right?”
“Riiiight.” She pivoted and almost collided into someone standing directly behind her. “Oh!”
“Hello, Aura.” Taj.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were coming…”
“Today.”
“Oh. Is today Thursday?”
“Yeah.” He gave Mark a quick and surly once-over. “That’s the one that comes after Wednesday.”
Joseph stood in the wings. “You are permitted visitation for the next fifteen minutes.” He gestured toward the library. “The conversation will, of course, be monitored.”
Of course. Wouldn’t want the outside world to know you tortured me for days. Or that you’re planning to dissect my brain.
Aura led the way to the library. Taj followed.
“So, Taj, have you heard any—”
“What was that?” he said, cutting her off.
“What was…?”
“That scene in the hallway. You acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. That guy drooling all over you. What is he, a hundred and five?”
“Not hardly.”
“Well, if you want to moon over Grandpa, I guess that’s your business.”
She threw herself down on the loveseat. “Where do you get off criticizing me?”
“Seriously?” He threw his hands up in the air. “Are you two—together?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’s my therapist.”
“So your headshrinker is hitting on you. What an ethical guy.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Really. Then what is it like?”
She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. “Why are you acting like this? Do you know how much stress I’ve been under?”
“I know you tried to escape. And it didn’t go so well.”
Her eyes widened. “How do you know that?”
“Are you kidding? It was on the news. One of the daily stories about the looming Shine threat. Of course, they didn’t identify you by name. But my dad got the inside scoop.”
“Glad he could be so helpful.”
“He’s the reason I haven’t been here more. Hard to elude a homicide cop.”
Okay, stop gritting your teeth. He’s your best friend. Maybe your only friend. And the truth was, she did like Mark, and Taj was smart enough to see that. “I bet that was hard. Almost as hard as trying to bust out of a maximum security country club.”
They both stared at one another.
Then burst out laughing.
Taj flopped onto the sofa beside her. “I should be mad at you.”
“But you can’t? Because I’m so irresistible?”
“Something like that.” He paused. “But seriously. Don’t chainmail me. Are you and that guy…”
“No! He’s a nice man and he’s helping me, for which I’m grateful. I need a friend. In here, I mean. There’s some…well.” She glanced around, wondering where the eavesdropping devices were hidden. “I’m under a lot of pressure.”
“I’m guessing they’re not too thrilled that you tried to bust out. And probably got really close, if I know you.”
She shrugged. “Not close enough.”
“So now I’m guessing your thumbs are getting screwed but good.”
“Totally.”
“Anything I can do?”
“Be my friend?”
“Always. No matter what. And…” His eyes brightened. “Whatever else you want.” He scooted closer. “Aura, there’s something I’ve got to tell you.”
“They’re listening to every word we say,” she warned.
“I know. I—I don’t know how to start this. I…sort of had a dream. A nightmare, really.”
“Okay. Nightmares happen.”
“Yeah, but not usually when I’m wide awake.”
“I’m…not following.”
“I was walking home from Pizza Palace. It’s dark. Around elevenish—I had to close. Just staring down the street. And suddenly I see…” He turned away. His cheeks turned a bright pink. “I don’t know how to say it except to just say it. I saw a monster.”
“A…monster?”
“Yeah. Big. Green. Foot-long claws. Sharp teeth. At least twenty feet tall.”
“What are they putting in those pizzas?”
“This is serious, Aura. I know it sounds stupid. But I saw it. Right before my eyes. Just as real as you are. I was terrified.”
“I can imagine.” A monster?
“It rushed at me. I’m not afraid to admit that I screamed. And ran.”
“Did the monster chase you?”
“Of course it did. And I screamed some more. And then I tripped. Just like the bimbo in a slasher movie. I fell and the monster dived on top of me and I thought I was blowfish. I screamed so loud they must’ve heard it in Canada.”
“And then?”
“Everything sort of went black, and I felt dizzy…and then I saw this bald chick.”
She sat up straight. “Bald?”
“Yeah, completely shaved head. Looked pretty good on her, though. And she had this weird tattoo.”
“Did it look like this?” She drew an ankh in the air.
“That’s it exactly. Have you had this nightmare?”
“I think I have. Except without the monster.”
“My stomach was heaving. But then this girl leans in close, like she’s gonna kiss me.”
“Do I want to hear the rest of this dream?”
“All she does is whisper in my ear. She says, ‘Tell Aura help is coming. Be ready.’”
“What? How did I get in your dream?”
“I don’t know. But that’s what she said. And then the chick added, ‘She’s in terrible danger.’”
“Great. Why are you telling me this?”
“She told me to!”
“This makes no sense at all. Nightmares don’t send telegrams.”
“Maybe they do when you’re awake.”
“And what’s with the monster? Why did you have to be scared razorless to get the message?”
“I assume these questions are rhetorical. You know I have no idea.”
She whispered under her breath. “‘Tell Aura help is coming. Be ready.’ What does it mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do I get ready?”
“You know, much as I might have enjoyed it, I didn’t get to interrogate her. I opened my eyes and it was all gone. No bald chick, no monster. Just me lying on someone else’s front lawn, looking like a complete dog biscuit.”
“That’s bizarre.” She leaned back against the loveseat and closed her eyes. “And as usual, I have no idea what’s going on. Or what I’m supposed to do about it.”
“I hope you figure it out.” She saw genuine concern in his eyes. “I can’t explain any of this. It’s a complete happy meal. But somehow, even though I know it wasn’t real…I believed it. And when that chick said you were in danger—I believed that, too.”
48
Agent Coal ran through her mental checklist one last time. Perhaps she was overcautious, but
she had learned to take a belt-and-suspenders approach to any major operation. And this one was about as major as they came. The cover on the briefing paper said it all: Preemptive Strike—Operation Objective: Circumvent Apocalypse.
Hard to argue with that.
Once upon a time, she carried a notepad in her back pocket, and later, notes tapped into her smartphone. These days, she kept it all in her head. Far safer. No chance of that leaking out—at least so far as she knew. Why change her ways now, on the cusp of an operation designed to change the face of this world? For the better.
So they said. The people in Helsinki had a different view. Not of the mission. Just the ultimate goal. In the midst of all this data collection, the Chief never suspected that someone else might want to collect data from the data collectors.
She ran through her mental checklist. High-tech stealth gear in place? Check. Operations detail? Check. Weapons? Locked and loaded.
Anti-Shine technology? Ready to be deployed.
Her XO, Lieutenant Black, entered the room. The Chief wanted her to use a male XO, but this operation was too important to indulge the whims of someone with zero field experience. She needed someone she could trust, not some testosterone-fueled idiot who might think his manhood required him to prove his superiority to a bunch of little girls.
“Charges in place, sir,” Black said.
“Key4?”
“More than enough.”
“Shadow bombs?”
“Exactly as planned.”
“Sonics?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Staff?”
“Almost entirely relocated on the pretense of a team-building exercise.”
“Mines?”
“Ready if we need them.”
“Grappling hooks?”
“The perimeter wall is still damaged, but we’ll have them if necessary.”
“Personnel?”
“Present or accounted for. All the operatives you hand-selected.”
“You may have thought I selected an eccentric team.”
“Sir, I’m long past questioning, examining, or even dwelling upon your orders. I just do as I’m told.”
The perfect soldier. “I’m sure you understand that this duty may not be the most pleasant imaginable. Please remind your field operatives that these targets may be–no, are incredibly dangerous. But they still look like cute little teenage girls. Your men may hesitate to carry out orders against seemingly unarmed innocents. Even when they know in their hearts the girls are anything but innocent and far from unarmed.”
“All the troops understand that, sir.”
“Just so they do their job. That’s all that matters.” Which made her wonder, however fleetingly, why she raised the issue in the first place. Was this what Freudians called projection? Was she the one questioning the morality of this mission?
No. She’d given up on morality a long time ago. There was no room for it in her business. Which did not mean she was immoral or evil. To the contrary, she believed in the Helsinki initiative. She’d spent most of her life doing what everyone understood needed to be done but no one else was willing to do. That was how she carved out a niche for herself. That was how she made herself indispensible.
This was just more of the same. On a global scale.
“Sounds like we’re ready to proceed. Tell the soldiers to await my order.”
“Will do, sir.”
“Silent running, Lieutenant. No exceptions. Our targets have an exceptional capacity for intercepting signals. Surprise will be critical to this operation.”
“It usually is.”
Black gave her superior a small salute, a show of respect always appreciated, however unnecessary it might be. After all they were not actually in the Army. Or any other military service known to the general populace.
That just left the simple matter of contacting The Chief.
She slid on her glasses, tapped the receiver, and waited patiently while the transmitter found a secure connection, executed psychic encryption, and made contact.
“This is Coal. We are ready.”
The voice on the other end of the transmission barely crackled. The three-dimensional surround acoustics were perfect. She could have sworn the Chief stood directly beside her. “And ahead of time, no less. Impressive.”
“That’s why I make the big money.”
That got her a chuckle. “I know that isn’t true. What does motivate you, Coal? What keeps you in the game? How do you find what it takes to go on executing some of the most dangerous, undesirable jobs imaginable?”
“Protestant work ethic. Got that from my father.”
“According to your dossier, your father died when you were seven.”
“Which meant I had to get off my lazy butt and earn some cash. I’ve been working ever since.”
“But always for the greater good.”
“Always.”
She heard static on the other end of the transmission. Sounded like shuffling papers. “We’ve had a few late-breaking developments.”
She resisted the temptation to groan. She would rather have heard, By the way, Coal, I am your father. “Tell me you’re not terminating the operation.”
“Absolutely not. We can’t afford to wait one moment longer. There’s a complication, though. TYL has changed the location of the meeting.”
“Do you have the new location?”
“Sending it to you now.” She checked her watch. The schematics appeared. Not too far off course. But could they get everything set up at a new location in time? “Hate to say this, but perhaps we should consider postponing.”
“No can do, Coal. We’re at a make-or-break point.”
She stared at her smartphone. With a few clicks, she was able to download blueprints for the new location. “This meeting is on the second floor.”
“Correct.”
“Surely you see how this complicates matters.”
“I’m confident you can handle it.”
“We’re adding too many variables to the mission. Too many unknowns.”
“This operation has always been riddled by unknowns. The Shines themselves are nothing but walking talking giggling unknowns.”
“Which is all the more reason to eliminate variables whenever possible.”
She detected a subtle but emphatic shift in the tone of the other voice. “I will note your objections. But this operation is moving forward. And I have my best man–you–leading the charge. So I expect the operation to be a success. In fact, I demand it. Am I making myself clear?”
“Perfectly.” How nice to live in a world where one could demand the all but impossible, then become petulant if it wasn’t delivered precisely as specified. “And I will follow your instructions, of course. But may I take the liberty of asking one question?”
“I’ll allow one.”
“What are we supposed to do if the Shines fight back?”
“You’re supposed to move so swiftly they don’t have the opportunity.”
“But what if—”
“I believe we’ve already covered this.”
“But it seems to be—”
“You have your orders.”
“And if one of them, oh, I don’t know, say, brings a Space Needle down on our heads? Then what are we supposed to do?”
She couldn’t imagine anything more irritating than the chuckling on the other end of the line. “Coal, you worrywart. You’ve captured entire terrorist cells. Are you afraid of a few teenagers?” The Chief’s words slowed. “Make sure those girls never know what hit them.”
49
www.shinesurveillancesystem.com
RALLY TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY
The Shine Surveillance System is holding a rally on Saturday, October 31, at the American capital, the symbol of our fundamental commitment to freedom from insecurity and oppression. The rally will be staged on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “Congress is simply not moving quickly enough,” stated Reverend Algernon Tr
ent, “on our proposal to require early detection and registration of newborns with the Shine genome. We are still exploring approaches to segregating this non-human population to ensure the safety of others. In the meantime, complete and accurate information about the Shine infestation is essential to our mutual safety and the continuation of the human species.”
Do you care about your children’s future? Are you concerned about Congress’s hesitation to decisively confront this national emergency? If so, join us at the National Mall on October 31 and let your voice be heard!
50
Aura tapped her fingers on the kneecap of her crossed leg. This twelve-step meeting started a mere ten minutes ago, but she was already bored out of her mind. Why did they choose this room, anyway? She knew there were far more spacious areas at TYL, which seemed to unfold new rooms every time she turned around. Why were they stuck here, in what amounted to an upstairs garret in one of the most remote buildings on the island?
Ten people huddled together in a tiny room amongst tall dusty stacks of book boxes, presumably recovery materials. Delightful. She’d been to meetings in smaller places, but she didn’t usually have to share space with a fridge. And was that a bathtub in the rear? Was this where the night watchman lived or something?
Somehow she ended up stuck in the corner with Harriet, who never said an unnecessary word, even now, when they’d gotten to know each other a little and survived a failed escape attempt. She wondered if Harriet was silent because she constantly eavesdropped on other people’s conversations. The other Shines were two rows back near the bathroom.
Why did all these meetings sound exactly alike? Apparently the format for twelve-step meetings was established back in the 1930s and no one dared change them. Each meeting started with at least ten minutes of rigmarole, rereading the rules and the steps everyone already knew before they got to the more invasive and irritating bearing of the souls.
Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1) Page 21