"Yes," said Jamie. "It's not a pretty picture."
"But the Father has offered the faithful a way out. We can choose of our own free will to enter Heaven now, before everything falls apart."
"I've been to your heaven."
Brian leaned toward her, his wide eyes narrowing in an instant. "Are you being serious?"
"Yes."
He examined her for a long few seconds before shaking his head.
"I'm a simple man of faith, but that is hard to accept. No one has ever been to heaven and returned. But for some strange reason, I believe you. There's something about you..." He leaned closer to her, a sudden, knowing flicker in his eyes. "You've come to save us, haven't you? You're an agent of the Father!"
"Take it easy, Brian." Jamie resisted an urge to pat his forearm. "Yes, you're right about one thing: I have come to help. I've been to this heaven of yours, and it's not a religious paradise. It's a virtual reality program which creates an incredibly realistic world. While the people there believe they're enjoying eternal life – some enjoying it more than others – they're actually just lying in chambers that preserve their lives and join them in a common illusion."
Brian opened and closed his mouth. He regarded Jamie with dazed, wondering eyes, tilting his head from one side to the other in search of the right perspective. She'd never planned to say this much now, and maybe it was a mistake, but everything was a gamble, with possible rewards and dangers at every turn. At some point, she had to level with him, and she hoped this was the right time.
"There's more to tell you – a lot more," Jamie said, "but I think you've heard enough for now. I know you won't believe me right away. But at some point I know you'll see it. Can I leave you my cell number? For your use, only."
Brian started to speak again, but settled for a slow nod. She waited for him to pull out his cell. He entered her number, shaking his head with each finger stroke.
"Can I have yours?" she asked.
He hesitated. Am I hooking myself up with a crazy lady? Jamie read the thought on his face. She couldn't think of any reason why he'd give her his number except that part of him took her seriously.
"Okay," he sighed. "I'm going to take a leap of faith."
Chapter 6
"WE HAVE A CLEAR facial," said Nathan Andrews.
Everyone in the room leaned toward the large wall screen, though the zoom-in made that unnecessary. A young, blond woman's features were as clear as if they were standing five feet from her. Better yet, instead of a few frames they had continuous video of her that lasted nearly ten seconds.
"What's she doing?" asked Nick from Operations.
"Just hovering there from what I can tell," said Nathan.
"I don't see any sign of a jet pack or any other technology," said Adrianna.
Their science geek, Mark Abrams, walked up to the screen, lowering his glasses for a myopic look. "Nothing appears to be on her back."
"Let's start by getting her name," said Jack Brickman.
Nate nodded. "She's going through the system."
While the Denver Fusion Center supercomputers churned away, chatting with the other computers in the Leviathan surveillance network, the team members sipped coffee and traded speculations about who or what she was.
"Look what happens when she spots the Osprey," said Nate. "The instant she stares at the camera – apparently noticing the drone for the first time – the video shifts to the skies north of her."
They watched in silence for a half-minute as Nate replayed the relevant moment a few times.
"It kind of does look that way," said Mark Abrams with a skeptical frown, "but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that she altered its course. I'd favor an operational or operator glitch."
"It's programmed to lock onto anomalous aerial objects," said Adrianna. "Not fly away from them."
"I still think a glitch is more probable.'"
An hour later, the U.S. Biometric Network completed its search of all its recorded faces, both national and foreign. No match was found.
"Perhaps we need to learn her identity from the horse's mouth," said Brickman, eyeing Nathan. "How is it going with Zachary Walters? Do you see any near-term possibility of drawing him into a discussion that could reference her?"
Nate offered him an uncomfortable shrug. "We've had lunch a couple times this week. It's hard to push it much more without, you know, making him wonder. He spends a lot of his time off-work with his girlfriend. Being single makes it kind of awkward to get together socially. I'm kind of the odd man out, if you know what I mean."
"Even if you were his best buddy," said Nick, "how the hell would you bring up the flying chick? He hasn't even told his girlfriend about that."
"Maybe if you got him drunk enough?" said Adrianna.
"Sir." Nick squared his broad shoulders. "I think it's about time we take a more direct approach. This flying lady or whatever the hell she is could represent a direct threat to our national security."
Jack Brickman placed his fingers together, staring past them into a dark corner of the room. "That's a possibility."
"If Nate had a girlfriend, that would make it a lot easier," said Adrianna, with a glance at him that Nathan thought held a hint of reproof. "It's kinda awkward for two hetero dudes to date. Much easier with two couples."
"Right," said Nick. "You planning to volunteer?"
Adrianna ignored Nick and his wink. "I'm not proposing anything. Just making an observation."
Nathan risked a glance at Adrianna, a hope he knew was pathetic blooming in his chest. Adrianna had firmly "friend-zoned" him within seconds of their first meeting two years ago, restricting more intimate relations to his feverish imagination. She was right about couples dating couples, but he didn't dare agree with her out loud.
"Would you be willing to pretend to be Nathan's girlfriend for the purpose of obtaining information?" Brickman asked.
Adrianna pursed her lips as if she'd bitten into a sour fruit and shrugged. "If you think it might help, sir."
"Not likely, but it wouldn't hurt. I've been granted three more days to acquire information covertly from Mr. Walters before more direct action is taken. You two have my permission to try to coax more information from Zachary Walters before then."
The day ended on an annoying note of uncertainty. Nathan had tried to discuss a plan with Adrianna about getting together with Zachary and his girlfriend, but she'd put him off with "Let me think about it."
Now, he walked out of the Operations Wing drooping a bit with inadequacy, both personal and professional. Not only had Adrianna said nothing more to him about a date, but he couldn't shake the sense of having missed something. He cruised through perimeter security, not paying attention to anyone behind him, and was surprised to hear a familiar clack of heels as he approached the parking lot exit doors.
"Hey," said Adrianna, hurrying up to him. "How do you feel about hooking up for some off-the-clock undercover work?"
"Hooking up?"
"Bad choice of words. I mean, of course, teaming up as a fake couple to loosen your newfound best friend's tongue, as we discussed."
"But we didn't actually discuss it."
"I said I'd do it, didn't I? I just needed to think up a devious plan."
"Did you come up with anything?"
"Maybe. I was thinking, if we hurry across town we might have a chance of bumping into your pal right now."
"That's possible." Nathan had been living two lives, driving back and forth between the EPA Region 8 offices and the Special Operations Tactical Room. Fortunately, they were both in Denver, but the seven-mile separation still required some driving, especially in traffic. "But we'll have to hurry."
"Your car or mine?"
They settled on hers – a sporty BMW. Nate could feel his masculine edge flagging as they climbed in and she whipped the car through the second floor parking area and down to the street level with the smooth confidence of a racecar driver. She flung him a cool smile as he clung to the
door handle.
They continued at a similar pace across town to the EPA main parking lot. Nathan's pass got them in. The dash clock read: 5:23.
"He she'd be here in ten to fifteen minutes, with any luck," said Nate. "We should get out and make this look good."
"Define 'look good.'"
"Just make it obvious we're a couple. Some heavy groping and soulful kissing should do it. If we start practicing right now, we might be semi-convincing by the time Zach shows up."
"Funny."
Nathan consulted his cell phone watch. "Seriously, we should get out now, in case he shows up early. When I see him I'll let you know. And then you will have to suck it up and pretend we're a couple."
"It will require an Oscar-worthy performance, but I'll give it a shot."
They got out of her car. Eight minutes trudged by before Nathan spotted the tall, dapper figure of his nascent friend emerge from the building.
"He's coming. You'd better move in a bit closer."
Adrianna edged in until their thighs were almost touching and lightly grasped his arms, smiling and nodding as if in agreement with his witty comments. Luckily, she wasn't able to read his thoughts.
"I see him," she said. "And quite the handsome gentleman he is."
Nathan gave her a dyspeptic smile. She leaned in and started to plant a kiss on his right jaw. Nate turned abruptly and interposed his lips between hers and his jaw. Adrianna was too startled to avoid a brief lip-lock – and too savvy to break it off quickly or show any sign of protest. Score one for me, he thought. But seeing the harsh light in her eyes he wondered if he'd have to pay a price for his transgression. He grinned in her scowling face.
"Don't worry," he whispered. "Be happy."
Zachary strolled up with a smile. "Hi. Am I interrupting something?"
"Nothing that can't be continued later," chuckled Nathan, drawing a pinched smile that promised retribution from Adrianna. They eased apart, Adrianna straightening her hair and blouse.
"Zach, this is Adrianna," said Nathan. "Adrianna, this is my friend and co-worker, Zachary Walters, Esquire."
"I prefer Lord Zachary, but thanks, Nate." He stepped forward to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, Adrianna."
"Same here. Nathan tells me you saved his life by helping him with a tire on that wreck he drives."
Zach laughed. "He just needed to borrow some of my tools. Otherwise, it was all him." He nodded to her BMW. "Is that yours, or did Nate get an upgrade?"
"Mine. Nate still has his old Honda. They've developed some kind of strange, twisted bond."
"It happens between a man and his car."
He stood by his Lexus, smiling, a hint of expectation in his stance as if he sensed that the happy couple wasn't waiting here by coincidence. Nathan was thankful that the "higher powers" had finagled his parking space so close to his, for whatever good it would ultimately do.
"Zach, I know it's short notice," said Nate, "but I – we – were wondering if you didn't have any plans tonight, maybe you and Stephanie might want to take in dinner and a movie?"
Zach hesitated for the shortest of beats. "Maybe. Why don't I call her and see where she's at? Do you have a movie and time in mind?"
Soon, they had it all arranged. Stephanie, an advertising executive who worked downtown, was just finishing up her day, and agreed to meet them for drinks at the Denver Metropolis Grill, the site of Zach and Nathan's first get-together. Zach and Steph agreed to Nate and Adrianna's suggestion of Super Significant Other with gracious skepticism. "I know it sounds dumb, but it's gotten great reviews," Adrianna gushed. "It's more of a parody of modern relationships than a super hero story."
The intent, of course, was to place the subject of a super-powered woman flush in Zachary's face. How would he react? He hadn't betrayed much when Adrianna had suggested Super Significant Other except maybe a moment of distant preoccupation. But then he hadn't betrayed much of anything unusual since Nathan had known him. Nathan couldn't imagine an experience like that not haunting him. Zach either found nothing traumatic about his encounter or was awfully good at hiding it.
Over dinner, Stephanie and Adrianna hit it off. Adrianna's cover story of working as a "systems manager" at the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) impressed both Zach and Stephanie, Nathan thought. Hell, it had even impressed him when she'd first mentioned that she'd worked there as an intern before being recruited by the DHS. Two high-powered, empowered, attractive women, Nathan thought. Not difficult to predict they'd be simpatico. In fact, the four of them, on the surface, had a lot in common. Though Stephanie worked in the private sector now, she had a minor in biology and a love of science. They were all intelligent, well-educated, and "with-it" people.
Nate wondered how they'd react if they knew the truth about him and Adrianna. He doubted they'd be that offended. Obviously, the government had a right to be concerned about the mystery hypothetical superwoman. But could they remain friends? Not a question he supposed he should be asking, but Nathan didn't have a lot of friends and he could easily see Zach being the "best buddy" his co-workers teased him about.
He wasn't so sure about Stephanie, or "Steph," as she preferred to be called. She had what Nathan thought of as "pert, cheerleader" features and short, sandy hair, with light brown eyes that were almost gray – exactly the kind of girl he fell for in high school and college and who'd regularly rejected him. She was the pretty girl next door in contrast to Adrianna's more modelesque beauty. In a way, women like Steph were worse, because their next door neighbor cuteness seemed almost within reach. So close, but of course no cigar. The best he could realistically hope for was a shy, semi-cute, nerd.
Nate wondered if Steph thought the same thing. Maybe it was his imagination, but Nate thought he spotted a slight questioning dimple between Steph's eyes a couple of times when she'd glanced from him to Adrianna, as if the two of them didn't add up. He hoped he was misreading her expression.
After a couple drinks and a nice meal, they moved on to the evening's pièce de résistance, Super Significant Other. Nathan didn't take it as a good sign that half the audience appeared under twenty or that they used the star of a movie based on an apocalyptic video game – Nathan utterly loathed both – but then enjoying the movie wasn't the point.
As it turned out, the movie wasn't that bad, in Nate's opinion. It was a respectable mixture of humor and relationship pathos balanced with a decent story line and action scenes. The super woman's boyfriend was an astronomer who'd stumbled on a plot to prevent public knowledge of an approaching asteroid that was predicted to smash into central Asia. One of the many twists involved factions within the US and UK governments that while pretending to investigate all means of stopping the asteroid actually opposed any intervention, seeing the asteroid as a means to destroy their competition and usher in a new world order with the West firmly on top. Discovering these facts placed the young astronomer's life in extreme danger, requiring his super girlfriend to balance his need for protection with her desire to save billions of lives.
"Not bad, I thought," said Nathan, drawing murmurs of agreement. "I was pleasantly surprised."
"My only problem was that it seemed kind of schizophrenic," said Stephanie. "Was it an action-adventure-thriller or a romantic comedy?"
"My vote's on action-thriller," said Zach.
"My vote's for a nightcap," said Adrianna. "We could discuss this and other weighty philosophic issues over drinks and beer-batter chips back at the DMG. If you've never had them, they're to die for, trust me."
"It's Friday night." Zach shrugged, glancing at his girlfriend. "I'm game if you are, Steph."
"Why not? It's not that late, and I don't have anything to do tomorrow but sleep in." She gave Zach a sideways smile. "Well, maybe not all sleep."
A sleep-in with benefits. Nathan suppressed a bitter sigh but couldn't stop a longing glance at Adrianna. If only. Strangely, Adrianna caught his glance and gave him a thin smile, raising her eyebrows
as if to say keep your nerd eye on the ball.
So they ended up back at the Denver Metropolis Grill, sucking down the house beer and beer-batter chips while exchanging good-natured banter on recent movies and the latest pratfalls from David Bowie, who'd just written a rock symphony based on the current Orwellian state of the UK which had gotten him detained by British authorities for most of a weekend.
This was also their best and probably last chance to get Zach to reveal anything about his tryst with the "flying chick," as Nick Winger had put it. The magic moment seemed to arrive when Adrianna and Stephanie stalked off toward the bathroom on somewhat wobbly legs, and he and Zach were alone for the first time that evening. Now or never.
"I kinda feel like that guy in the movie," he announced with a lopsided smile. "Like I latched on to a super girl. I don't think she can fly, but sometimes I wonder if she might be capable, she's so far out of my league."
Nathan had been saving that line for hours, but it looked like a flop. Zach's dry smile merely achieved a polite acknowledgment. But as Nathan searched for a more effective follow-up, Zach's face grew more somber, corralling the shadows in the place.
"I met someone like that once," he said, his voice rising a bare notch over the ambient noise.
"Someone out of your league," Nate chuckled. "I think it would be easier to believe in someone who could fly."
Zach let out a hoarse laugh and shook his head. "The funny thing is, she actually could fly. And more."
There it was. With a great effort, Nathan constrained himself to another polite chuckle.
"Sounds like a very special lady," he said.
"'Special' wouldn't begin to describe it." Zach compressed his lips as if willing himself not to say more.
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