Rumi's Field (None So Blind Book 2)

by Timothy Scott Bennett

  Danny had a natural ability to know when he was being lied to. When he graduated from high school, he told his foster father, the Senator, that he wanted to go work for the CIA. His father had smiled and said, simply, "I've got something even better." The 'something better' had changed his life. Six months of intensive quasi-military training later, during which time he'd studied security systems and technologies he'd never even imagined, Danny set foot for the first time down in The Rock, an underground joint civilian-military research facility situated directly beneath the federal government buildings of the District of Columbia. His work as a contractor, paid by BlackBay Services, consisted of regular interviews with the various scientists, technicians, and soldiers who worked in The Rock. His secret mission, known only to himself and the Chief of Security there, was to look for lies.

  He started hearing the stories almost immediately: how there was a second underground facility right next to theirs; how that one had been constructed, and was inhabited, by a group of aliens with whom the government had been in contact for decades. He kept his ears open. The stories had the ring of truth, and they stirred something deep inside of him that he did not understand.

  Then one evening, over dinner, he mentioned the stories to his sister, who'd graduated six years ahead of him and now worked as a research assistant for a law firm inside the beltway. Something about what he said put Mary immediately on guard and she tried to change the subject. But Danny had pushed her, and he could sense the lies in her various responses, and he'd called her on them. Finally she'd burst into tears.

  "You don't remember, do you?" she asked through her sniffles.

  "Remember what?" Danny had asked.

  Mary told him what.

  Danny hadn't remembered a bit of it. The abductions. The little gray guys who would come in the night and take both of them and their father up into their ship. The terror. The painful marks and bruises. But as Mary spoke, strange feelings arose inside of him, including a fiery rage he did not understand. "So how do you know all of this?" he demanded.

  Mary wiped the tears from her face. "Because I work down in The Rock too, Danny," she'd said. "On the other side. Their side." She took a long breath. "You're not the only one that the dear old Senator invited into the family business."

  When Danny learned that Mary was working with a group called The People who served as direct liaisons to the Gray aliens in their lodge next door, he knew he would not rest until he knew more. "Take me there, Sis," he said. "Bring me in. Okay? I need to..." he sighed, unsure of what he was asking. "I need to meet them."

  Mary brought him in. He would work directly for Agent Rice on joint Rock-Lodge security issues. Which meant entry into the lodge itself. Which meant that he would meet the aliens, face to face.

  It was Mary who introduced him to his first real alien. A female, she said, called "Mork" by the humans, since they couldn't understand her real name. She was a distinguished elder, apparently, and they came upon her as she sat on a pad in a bare, rock-walled room no larger than a prison cell. Mary stepped in and waved on the light. Danny followed. There she was, sitting on her mat in the corner, looking up at him with her huge, black, almond-shaped eyes. "HELLO AGAIN, DANNY," she said in his mind.

  Danny's fury erupted. "You!" he shouted, his voice harsh and raw. His face turned red. His heart pounded. His fists clenched. His breathing stopped. He struck the rock wall beside him with one hand and shook his fist at the old alien with another. "I hate you!" he said through clench teeth. He took a step forward, as if he might kick her. He stopped. He inhaled noisily, like coming up for air after a deep dive. Without so much as a glance at Mary, he whirled away and stormed out of the room.

  He'd gone on to work with The People for many years, and became an invaluable asset to Agent Rice. He never again showed such rage at the aliens, but he kept his distance, and he kept his mouth shut. He wouldn't even speak with Mary about it. Mary understood, and let him alone. She knew about that anger. When President Travis exposed the operation and the Life disappeared, Danny felt deeply relieved. He gladly took the job in London. He climbed up out of the lodge and caught the first flight to Gatwick. He hoped he'd seen the last of those maddening little creatures.

  Danny had little first-hand knowledge about his ultimate employers, the secret elite control group known collectively as "The Families." But he didn't know nothing. While Agent Rice had kept his cards close to his vest when it came to the hidden powers-that-be, the rumors filled the air around him, and there was much that Danny could deduce for himself. Clearly The Families had their fingers in a great many pies around the globe, and had been steering the course of human history for a very long time, to the point where it could be fairly said that they were the true rulers of the Earth. He'd seen first-hand how they'd been in secret contact with various species of alien beings, and about the technology they'd received from them, and about how far advanced The Families were technologically, compared to the rest of the human race. He knew about The Families' program to create a number of human colonies elsewhere in the Solar System. He'd worked directly with the Herschel Colony.

  But in the past few months, he'd begun to suspect that other plans were afoot. Darker plans. More secret. More sinister. In the beginning, the work on Squirrel Island had involved a simple security upgrade for the Presidential retreat, and the establishment of a small military base there. Danny had been embedded as a corporal and was made the aide and driver for the commander, Colonel McAfee, so that he could more effectively monitor the operation. Such surveillance was pretty much standard procedure for The Families, and since McAfee knew Danny from their days together with The People, the Colonel's guard was down. While construction crews built barracks and towers, Danny's unit concentrated their efforts on establishing and maintaining the island's security systems, from the fencing and gun mounts to the more exotic e-control fields, toroidal shield wall, and mirror pool. A team of specialists had even flown in one weekend and planted and tuned something called a Murk, a device about which Danny had only heard whispered rumors. Coastal Maine was beautiful, and Danny was glad to be there, and glad to be working mostly outdoors, especially as the winter gave way to the freakish spring heat wave. It made sense to him, that they were beefing up security where the President would be spending time.

  Eventually he learned that there was a research facility being built directly underneath the President's cottage, a structure that would house something called Project Changeling. It struck Danny as odd that, given his insider status, and his proven track record and security clearance with The People, he had not been briefed regarding the true nature of their work there. But he'd learned long ago that The Families operated on a strict "need to know" basis, and that Danny apparently had much less of that need than he thought he should.

  Project Changeling, he eventually discerned, involved the replacement of the American President with a virtual copy. While he wasn't sure he understood the need for that - The Families had managed to continue controlling anything and everything that mattered even with Linda Travis on the loose - he could see how it fit in with their plan for ever greater control of the global government. And such things as fooling the world with a computer-generated Linda Travis, and building a facility right underneath the President's vacation retreat, was exactly the sort of over-the-top display of power The Families loved to make, as the whole world saw when D.C. fell into that sinkhole. And the President's exploits three years earlier had, after all, thrown a wrench in The Families' plans. Perhaps they were taking out an insurance policy against that happening again. Danny kept his mouth shut and performed his duties.

  Then a great many new personnel appeared, scientists and doctors and computer geeks. They went down into the facility and rarely emerged into the light of day. Access became highly restricted, and only a small and specially chosen detail of soldiers was allowed underground. Not long after, a package arrived in a human-built wok, a device Danny had not seen since his days with The Peop
le. The package was hush-hush, Above Top Secret, and was delivered into the underground facility in the cover of night by the special security team that had arrived along with it. Nobody in Danny's unit had been involved in receiving the package, and only a couple of them had even got a glimpse of it from their posts on the towers.

  Reports were that it was a coffin. Not long after that, Danny learned that the President had been stricken by some new "alien flu bug," and had been taken to Squirrel Island. That probably explained the "package." The research facility underfoot had been built, apparently, with a level-four biocontainment ward at the bottom level. All military personnel were given vaccinations the next day and told to keep their mouths shut.

  All of which was disconcerting to Danny. Here he'd thought he was an insider, a BlackBay operative working undercover and reporting back with news which, he assumed, would go straight to somebody in The Families. So why had he not been brought in on what was really happening there? How had they known to build an isolation ward under the President's cottage before she even got sick? And how could they already have a vaccine? Danny shook his head, kept his mouth shut and his ears open, and performed his duties.

  Then the news started coming fast and thick. People close to the President started dropping like flies, either disappearing or falling ill. Then the President's husband shows up in Boothbay Harbor and tries to get on the island to see his wife, with this Hurricane Alpha heading straight toward them. Some of the news came through the mainstream media. Some came straight through the chain of command. Some was rumor, bouncing around inside his unit like a Superball. Some came from his contact-of-record at BlackBay, or from other BlackBay friends he had back in London. Danny started hearing about "the Quietus" and "the Giant Leap," "the One-Two Punch" and “the Second Wave” and "Urbem Orsus," the fabled gathering place of The Families. And he started to put together his own assessment of exactly what was going on. He did not much care for his conclusions.

  It seemed that the old rumors about The Families' long-term goal of leaving the planet en masse had more truth to them than Danny had supposed. And from what he could see, given the activity he'd observed first hand, the timing he noted, and the facts and rumors he'd gathered, The Families had unleashed a deadly viral pandemic on the human population. They were leaving soon, and they were cleaning up their messes before they did so. Perhaps they were even taking some long-desired revenge against their enemies. And the hurricane now bearing down on them would destroy the evidence of their final acts.

  Clearly, Danny thought, it was time to find a way off of Planet Earth. If The Families were fleeing the burning ship, he wanted to flee with them. That they hadn't already invited him on their Giant Leap left him feeling unappreciated, but he knew that there wasn't time for him to indulge hurt feelings. Danny knew he was low on the totem pole. And he knew that the person who could have most persuasively argued for his inclusion in the Giant Leap - Agent Theodore Rice - was no longer amongst the living. Danny would have to recommend himself. And the first step toward that end was to get off of Squirrel Island. He knew that there was a rumored “Second Wave,” but his gut told him that that was just a fairy story, told to insiders to keep them hopeful that, even should they not be included in the Giant Leap, they’d be included in a subsequent effort. That did not sound like The Families to Danny. That was a lie, meant only to keep people in line while The Families made their preparations. It would be the Giant Leap or nothing.

  When the President's husband stormed the island in a giant light worm, when his sister, who'd left the employ of The Families three years earlier, appeared out of nowhere in a wok and crushed his CO, when the President had turned out to be not only alive but also not sick with some deadly alien flu, Danny knew his opportunity had come. He jumped into that wok, getting while the getting was good, as his foster mother liked to say.

  He stubbed out his cigarette and tossed the butt to the ground. The rain had started again and was pouring down heavily now. He glanced up at the sky and smiled. Apparently somebody up there still liked him. He turned and headed back inside. He'd follow this situation as long as it made sense to do so. Until he figured out his next steps. The hybrids were making their move now as well, apparently. Trying to establish a place on Earth just as Danny was seeking to leave. They could have it, as far as Danny was concerned. He started up the stairs to the third floor. Surely Mary had had enough time with her lover by now. Maybe she knew things Danny didn't.

  16.8

  Stendahl Banks came back into the visitor lounge and fell into his chair. The cable was out because of the storm, but he'd managed to get a call through to the networks. "Mick back at ACN says that they're getting completely hammered down there. Not just the winds, which are Category Six now, but the storm surge, which Mick said might be setting a new record. And with the waves on top of that..." Sten paused for a moment to exhale his surfeit of feelings. "And he said a report just came in about a possible earthquake off the south coast of Nova Scotia, so there's a chance of some tidal wave action added to the mix. I'll be surprised if Squirrel Island isn't scoured clean before this is all over."

  Doobie and Marionette, sitting side-by-side on one of the sofas, looked at each other and smiled. Marionette had found a black silk tie and had tightened it around her head at an angle, to replace her missing patch. Doobie reached out and took her hand, then turned to Sten. "Any way to get in touch with Ken or Annabelle?" he asked. "Get word to them?"

  Sten shook his head. "I don't know, man," he said. "Phone lines are all gone down there. Mick said he'd look into it. Probably not much we can do 'til the storm blows out. But apparently the eye has stalled just offshore, keeping the whole Boothbay area right in the worst of it."

  "It's almost like this is a designer storm," said Eddie with a puzzled frown.

  "I'm sure it's exactly that," said Stan. "Weather modification and storm generation are no longer fringe fantasies, you know. Who knows what these Family guys are capable of? I mean, look at the timing, the direct hit, the intensity. And now an earthquake?" Stan shook his head in disgust. "Yeah. It's a designer storm, all right. Designed to kill us all. And the President."

  "And yet here we are," said Sten, quietly.

  Marionette shook her head angrily and stood. "But they can help us," she said, gesturing down the hallway with a wave of the hand.

  "Who can help us?" asked Doobie.

  "Them," said Marionette. "The nurses. The ones with the strange eyes. The hybrids." Her voice was colored with wariness when she named them. "They've got those space ships. And the storm doesn't touch those things. They can take us down there." She looked down at Doobie. "You comin', Captain?" she asked.

  "Coming where?" he asked.

  "To commandeer one of their ships." Marionette's eyes sparkled.

  Doobie laughed and stood to join her.

  16.9

  Alice pushed through the hospital's front door and marched quickly down the main corridor to the visitor's lounge. She scanned the room until her eyes alighted on Stan. "We will meet now in conference room B, Mr. Stan," she said evenly. "We have already informed Mrs. Linda." Then she turned and continued down the hall.

  Stan looked at Sten, Eddie, and Gabrielle. "I guess it's show time," he said, standing. The others stood as well. Doobie and Marionette had not been seen since going off to ask the hybrids, the Middle Children, for help. The remnants of Cole's crew headed toward the conference room. The cat padded along behind them.

  In the side hallway that led to the conference room, they caught up with Linda. The President was shuffling slowly down the corridor, her borrowed rain pants and coat swishing as she walked. Her face was still gray and slack. Outside, the rain battered the windows and skylights. Noticing the others, Linda stopped and turned. "I could use some help," she said, her voice husky and exhausted. "Cole insisted on staying with the gir... with the kids."

  Stan nodded. "We've got your back, Mrs. President," he said. He stepped forward and pushed the do
or open and ushered Linda into the room. Gabrielle followed right behind Linda and took her elbow to help her walk. Sten and Eddie came in last, closing the door once the cat had scooted in. There, sitting at the large mahogany table opposite the door, sat Alice.

  "It is time for negotiations," said the leader of the Middle Children.

  Linda stepped in and pulled out the chair directly opposite Alice. She sat heavily. "So we're negotiating now?" she asked. She held Alice's warrior gaze. Gabrielle took the seat to her right. Stan sat to her left. Sten and Eddie sat together at the table's end. The cat wandered around underneath.

  "We both have needs which the other can help fulfill," nodded Alice. "Is negotiation not the correct word?"

  Stan cleared his throat. "So you and your people need a place to call your own," he said, hoping to move this along. "Is that all?"

  Alice nodded. "It is in Mrs. Linda's power to cede us the territory we require. We wish to make our home here, and share it as equals with human beings. This is the promise that has been held before us for decades. Now the balance of power has shifted. It is time for us to speak for ourselves."

  "You know this place is becoming a hell-hole, don't you?" muttered Stan.

  Linda put out a hand to cut him off. "And what needs of ours can you help us with, Alice?" she asked.

  Alice turned from Stan to Linda. "First, you shall remain hidden from the world at this time, Mrs. Linda. We adjudge that this confers upon you a distinct advantage, and we pledge our continued aid and protection in that regard. We can hide you. Second, two of your company have requested our assistance in a rescue operation. We shall provide that. They are already making preparations. Third, your son has gone missing in the non-material bands. We have experience in these levels, and will assist in the efforts to find him." Alice stopped and looked from Linda to Stan, as if such things should be obvious.