Conspiracy Unleashed

by L. Danvers

  She circled the bedroom, taking everything in. She swept her fingers along the nightstand. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be found.

  “You know,” she started, “I know why you couldn’t tell me, but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “I know. It killed me keeping a secret from you. But what was I supposed to do? You saw those forms you had to sign.”

  Flynn sat on the edge of the bed, his feet resting firm on the Persian rug, and he placed his hands on his knees. There was a maturity about him that Cal wasn’t used to seeing. In her head, he was her brainiac childhood friend. But here he sat, a professional young adult. A man. One who, like her, was tangled up in a top-secret mission.

  Flynn was about to speak when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. The knob squeaked as it turned, and a petite woman with ebony skin, arched eyebrows and kind eyes surrounded by thick lashes appeared in the doorway. The stranger wore the same outfit as Cal and Flynn.

  “Ah. You must be the new girl,” she said. Her voice was smooth.

  “Yeah,” Flynn answered. “This is Cal Cameron. She’s our communications specialist.”

  “Britt Ridley,” the woman said, offering Cal her hand. “Medic. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Likewise.”

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything,” Britt said. “I just wanted to stop in and say hello. I'll see you two later in our morning briefing.” And with that, she swept out of the room.

  “She was nice,” Cal said.

  “Mhmm. Brilliant, too. I hope we don’t need her expertise, but if we do, we’re in good hands.”

  “How do you know so much about everyone already?”

  “They gave us files when they recruited us so we could learn about each other. I’ve read so much about each of them I feel like I already know them.”

  “I wonder why I wasn’t given those files.”

  “Guess they figured you’d meet everyone soon enough.”

  “Well,” Cal said, putting her hands on her hips, “how about we go on that grand tour you promised? I'm excited to check the rest of this place out.”

  “It is impressive, isn't it?”

  Flynn led Cal down the hall, showing her where the rest of the bedrooms were located. He took her downstairs. He showed her a huge briefing room filled with the latest technological gadgets. Everything from holographic projectors to interactive three-dimensional diagrams of various planets.

  Next, there was the library. It was filled with rows upon rows of thick, leather-bound books. It had a hovering silver platform that raised and lowered itself to the appropriate shelf and slid over to the exact location of the book a person was looking for.

  After that, they entered the gym. Inside were two men facing the opposite wall, their shirts clinging to the sweat trailing down their shoulder blades and spines. Flynn cleared his throat, and a man with salt and pepper hair turned to greet them.

  Cal recognized him at once. “You're the guy we saw at that Persian restaurant.” She swatted Flynn’s shoulder. “I knew you two knew each other.”

  Flynn shrugged.

  The man offered Cal his hand, his grip firm and purposeful. There was a sureness about him that came with age.

  “You are Calista, I presume,” he said.

  “You can call me Cal,” she said with a smile.

  “Ah. My apologies. I have heard a lot about you. I am Commander Cyrus Ahmadi.”

  He was a god, with his tanned skin and chiseled physique. He looked strong. Fierce. Serious. Wise. All at the same time. Cal’s gut told her this was the kind of man she wanted as a commander. She had just met him, but she trusted him already.

  She thought back to the first time she saw him at the restaurant. He had been with his wife and two daughters. She wondered if they had any idea where he was, what he was doing. She imagined it must be hard on him to be away from them.

  The other man in the room came to introduce himself. He looked like one of the guys from a cologne commercial. He had dark hair swept casually away from his face and brown eyes she could lose herself in. He was a work of art. Cal had to remind herself to blink.

  “Hey there,” he said, winking as he flashed a smile. “No one told us the new girl was so beautiful.”

  Heat rushed to her cheeks. She worried her focus had lingered on him a moment too long. She looked over at Flynn and caught him mid-eye roll.

  “Cal, this is Sam Decker,” Flynn said half-heartedly.

  “And what do you do?” Cal asked, sweeping a strand of her black hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.

  “He's the co-pilot,” Flynn interjected.

  “And weapons specialist,” Sam added. His jaw set as his eyes narrowed. His expression softened when his gaze shifted to Cal.

  Flynn clasped his hands together. “I hate to cut the introductions short, but we need to finish the tour before our morning briefing. We should get going.”

  Flynn took Cal by the arm and dragged her along with him as he exited the room. Cal glanced over her shoulder at Sam, whose mouth had turned into an adorable half-smile. He gave her a quick wave and returned to the machine to finish his workout.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The five recruits filed into a room on the basement floor of the mansion. The upper levels, though extravagant, were homey. The basement level was pure business, like a secret bunker. The walls were made of cold concrete, and thick metal doors lined the hallway that led to the briefing room. A black hexagonal table sat in the center, surrounded by six chairs that curved like crescent moons. Cal ended up seated between Flynn and Sam. She was glad to have her friend by her side. He was a good distraction.

  Sam made her feel like a foolish schoolgirl. She wasn’t sure why. She’d been around plenty of attractive guys before. But there was something about him that made her nervous. She did whatever she could to avoid making eye contact with him, for fear of being hypnotized by his good looks. She wondered how many countless other women had fallen for that half-smile.

  She focused instead on everything that had happened this morning and the day before. She’d made the decision to join the crew so fast. On the one hand, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to go into space? But there were many things begging for explanations.

  “I have to ask,” Cal said. “Why is a secret branch of NASA being run out of the vice president’s estate?”

  “He does not live here,” Commander Ahmadi explained as he picked at the leather armrest. “It is a cover. What did you expect? A building that has covert operations slapped on the sign?”

  There was a clink as the door to the room unlatched. Agent Taylor marched inside and sat in the remaining chair. Her expression was softer than the last time Cal had seen her. The stern looks had been nothing more than a poker face, her way of keeping Cal at a distance until she was one of them. Now that she was, Agent Taylor was more at ease. She had a maternal energy about her, though she wasn’t much older than Commander Ahmadi.

  “Good morning,” Agent Taylor began. She planted her elbows on top of the table. “I trust you have been introduced to the newest member of our team, our communications specialist, Calista Cameron.”

  Cal gave an awkward grin while the rest of the crew nodded.

  “Each of you has been recruited for a reason,” Agent Taylor continued. “Not only are you proficient in your respective fields, your personality profiles suggest you will make a stellar team. That is of the utmost importance, as you will have to work together up there,” she said, pointing upward. “We had intended to bring on a research scientist to collect samples, run experiments and analyze data since you will visit unexplored planets. However, a red flag jumped out at us at the last second during her background check, so she will not be joining the crew. We are already behind schedule, so we have decided to have you take on part of her role—gathering samples and storing them so that they can later be analyzed here on Earth. But, of course, your collective primary objective is to find
evidence of intelligent alien life.”

  Cal leaned against the curved chair and pressed her finger to her lips. “Excuse me,” she said. Agent Taylor looked at her. “You can’t honestly think we’re going to find aliens. I mean, you realize how crazy that sounds, don’t you?”

  “I do,” Agent Taylor said plainly. “And I have the utmost confidence you will indeed find them.”

  Cal hung on her words. There was such a certainty in the way Agent Taylor had said them. Like she knew more than she was saying. Something about this whole thing was bugging her. She couldn’t help herself. She had to ask. “Why are we the ones going up? I mean, if people are here to train us, why aren’t they the ones going?”

  “Many were asked,” she said. “And many said no.”

  “Why?”

  “Some had loved ones they couldn’t bear to leave. Others were crippled by fear of the unknown. As for me, I felt my talents were better suited here on Earth.” Agent Taylor leaned back and fished underneath the table’s ledge for something. There was a click, and the hum of a speaker turned on. “Dr. Sullivan, we’re ready for you.” Her voice echoed down the hall. She released her finger, and the speaker system went silent. “Before we go any further, we need to get your medical exams out of the way.”

  As the words escaped her mouth, a man small in stature, but big in personality, entered the room. One by one, he gave each of the recruits extensive exams, smiling and joking with them along the way. Cal wished her childhood pediatrician had been as jovial as Dr. Sullivan was. If he had been, her parents wouldn’t have had to drag her in the office kicking and screaming each time.

  Dr. Sullivan looked in their eyes, noses and throats, checked their hearts and reflexes and drew their blood to send to the lab for testing. Once satisfied they were healthy, he gave Agent Taylor the okay to proceed with training exercises.

  Britt, Flynn and Cal exchanged uneasy glances. Flynn’s shoulders tensed and Britt’s foot tapped over and over while Cal bit her fingernail. None of them was sure what to expect from training.

  Out of the five of them, Commander Ahmadi was the most calm and Sam the most eager. Sam was relaxed, like this was nothing new to him. He combed his fingers through his hair. Cal was finally brave enough to look directly at his perfect face, and she was glad she did. In truth, it was almost perfect. The bridge of his nose was crooked. He’d been punched, but hadn’t had it re-set. That flaw, as insignificant as it was, made him less intimidating. He caught her gaze when he shifted in his seat, and he matched it. Her breath caught, and she felt an overwhelming sense of relief when Agent Taylor instructed the group to follow her.

  She led the five of them down the hall and through a set of steel double doors. They were met with humid air that reminded Cal of her summer in Alabama, as well as the distinct scent of chlorine. That took her by surprise. As she stepped through the threshold, she found herself in a room which housed an Olympic-sized pool. Cal gulped at the sight of the signs marking the various depths. The largest of the demarcations read fifty feet. It might have been as long as an Olympic pool, but it was far deeper.

  She and the others followed Agent Taylor to the far corner of the room. A man with buzz-cut gray hair, a strong jaw and muscular thighs was waiting for them. Next to him was a rack of swimsuits, each tagged with their names.

  “I’ll take it from here, Agent Taylor.”

  She nodded at him before waving goodbye to the group. She exited, taking special care not to let her heels get caught in the indentations of the floor, which was covered in tiny tiles.

  “My name is Agent Scott,” the man said. “I’ll be overseeing your underwater training exercises. Your spacecraft, the Stellix, is equipped with artificial gravity. However, should that gravity simulator fail, you will need to be familiar with how to move around in the weightlessness of space. Before we get to the fun stuff, you need to take a swim test.”

  He took the black swimsuits off the rack and passed them out to their respective owners. There was a golden emblem on the chest. It was an egg-like design with three crescents on either side, the tips of which curved inward. Beneath it read Fortune Favors the Brave.

  Commander Ahmadi had been given something else. It was shaped like a boot and made of black latex. Cal was about to ask what it was for when Agent Scott cut in.

  “What are you waiting for? Go on, get suited up. Locker rooms are over there.” He pointed to the opposite corner of the room.

  Commander Ahmadi, Sam, Britt, Flynn and Cal rushed to change. When they returned to the pool, they were given swim tests one by one. The commander was wearing the latex cover over his left leg. Cal scrunched her eyebrows together while she examined it, trying to figure out what it was. Then it dawned on her that it was a waterproof cover for a prosthetic leg. His pants leg had covered it before.

  The requirements were basic. They had to jump underwater, swim the length of the pool and tread water for a whole minute. Cal wasn’t concerned about how she would do. She and Quinn had taken swimming lessons as kids. Flynn, on the other hand, surprised her with how well he did. She had to start thinking of him as an adult. It wasn’t fair to always assume he was the same as he’d been as a kid. He wasn’t an extraordinary swimmer, but he did fine.

  The five of them passed without any trouble. Cal was impressed Commander Ahmadi’s prosthetic leg didn’t slow him down. In fact, he was the strongest swimmer of the bunch.

  Satisfied with their abilities, Agent Scott decided that was enough for the day, and he had them change into their regular clothes. He sent them to the main floor for lunch. He escorted them to the dining room, where the five of them sat in antique wood-carved chairs.

  Three magnificent crystal chandeliers hung above them. The table was filled with lit candles, succulent floral arrangements and a plethora of food. The commander reached for the glazed salmon first, while Sam went in for the fresh mixed green salad. Flynn filled Cal’s glass with water, then filled his own to the brim and took a long sip.

  While Cal waited for the platter of salmon to be passed her way, she asked her new comrades how long ago they had been brought aboard the mission. Commander Ahmadi had been recruited first, which came as no surprise to Cal as she learned of his background. He had been the captain of one the ships that delivered supplies and resources to colonies on both the moon and Mars.

  “I was brought in next,” Britt said, while Commander Ahmadi stuffed a fork full of steamed vegetables into his mouth. “I met Agent Taylor after operating on her brother Jamal. He had surrounded himself with the wrong kind of people. His ‘friends’ encouraged him to rob someone, so he picked a house that belonged to an 85-year-old woman. He broke in one night, and she screamed when she saw him. He pulled a gun on her, but before he knew it, her adult son, who had been staying with her, shot Jamal in the back three times.” Britt shook her head. “It can be hard sometimes operating on someone, knowing they did a terrible thing. But that’s what doctors do. We don’t choose who deserves to be saved and who doesn’t. We see people who are in need, and we help them. I forget how long the operation took. But once his condition stabilized, Agent Taylor and I got to talking. She asked me to meet with her the next day, and I agreed to come aboard.”

  “And you?” Cal asked Sam, giving him a quick glance, then looking at her plate.

  “I came in after your buddy Flynn here.” He gave Flynn a firm pat on the shoulder. Flynn didn’t appreciate it.

  Sam spoke slowly, but Cal didn’t mind. She liked listening to him talk. He explained the vice president had looked into his military record and recruited him at once, but his story was interrupted by a beep. “I have to take this,” he said abruptly. He pushed his chair back as he stood. He left it there as he rushed out of the room and said answer. His xfone expanded over his entire right ear, and he slipped out of sight.

  Flynn grunted and pulled Sam’s chair in toward the table. He and the rest of the recruits finished lunch while making small talk and trying to get to know one another
better. Cal was hopeful that she and Britt would become friends. She hadn’t met anyone like her before. She exuded confidence. Not that delusional, unfounded confidence like Gregory Gilden had. Britt knew who she was and was comfortable in her own skin. That was a trait Cal respected.

  It wasn’t long before Agent Taylor reappeared in the doorway. Her arms were crossed, but her expression was warm, like a mother observing her children.

  “Finish up,” she said, “and I’ll show you the ship.”

  The recruits wiped their mouths with their napkins and leapt to their feet, trying to keep up with Agent Taylor as she led them down the hall. Sam met back up with them before they stepped into the hidden elevator. He didn’t offer an explanation for where he’d run off to, but no one questioned him about it. They were too busy thinking about getting to see the ship.

  She led them to the briefing room, where she pulled up an HP of a spacecraft.

  “This,” she said, “is the Stellix.”

  They huddled in a circle around the image, jaws dropped. It was remarkable. The shell of the vessel was a lustrous black. It had a narrow snout and curved outward from there. Three shimmering gold wings flanked the ship on either side. They reminded Cal of feathers, like those of a phoenix rising from ashes, and in that moment she realized the insignias on their swimsuits had represented the Stellix.

  After the recruits had familiarized themselves with the ship’s exterior, Agent Taylor pulled up a projection of the inside of the ship. The walls were a brilliant white lined with gold trim and finishings. Door frames divided the rooms, but instead of solid doors, the frames each had tiny black strips along the floor. Agent Taylor explained they projected gold soundproof screens. She assured the recruits these screens would offer privacy.

  “But why not put in actual doors?” Britt asked, scratching her chin.