by Ben Winston
“Sorry guys, it’s just my ‘stalker’ bugging me again for a date,” Bella explained. “I told him I’m busy at the moment, and I’ll text back later. The asshole won’t leave it alone.”
“Skyler again?” Jolene asked. “Hasn’t that ass gotten the message yet?”
“No, he ignored it. I’m half tempted to get a restraining order on him!” Bella said, in frustration.
“Who’s Skyler?” Mandi asked.
“Skyler Tannis is the son of the area’s wealthiest businessman. His Grandfather had the good fortune of owning the land that StealthCom was built on. When StealthCon was built, a surveying mistake placed half of the facility on old man Tannis’ land. Of course, the old drunk was too plowed to notice, but his kids sure as hell did. When they got old enough to do something about it, StealthCon had been finished, and was too far into its mission to change. They filed several lawsuits, and when the smoke cleared, got a settlement of a million dollars a year for every year StealthCon has used and will use the land. So they got a fifteen million settlement check, and get a million more every year.
“Since that time, they have basically bought up everything they could in town. At this point, it’s actually hard to find a business that they either don’t own outright, or have control of in some form. The local police and sheriffs offices are very much in the Tannis pocket, and none of them can do anything wrong.
“So, about mid-way through their junior year, Skyler Tannis has decided he wanted to date Bella...” Jon was explaining, but Bella interrupted him.
“More like ‘own’!” Bella said, in anger.
Jon nodded and smiled sadly at her. “Yes, well, that’s the truth for what’s worth. However, Bella thinks the kid’s a jerk, and told him she wasn’t interested.”
“I was nice about it at first. I thanked him politely, but declined, telling him that I just wanted to focus on my studies. At first, that seemed to work, but he began telling people that we were dating, and this and that. It was all I could do to deny all the lies. I was almost expelled once over it because one of the teachers told me that if Skyler said I was his girlfriend, than I better start acting like it,” Bella said. “I told her I wasn’t his girlfriend, I wasn’t interested in becoming his girlfriend, and I didn’t see how personal relationships were any of her business anyway.
“Apparently, she told the principal, and I got suspended for a day to think about my manners,” Bella finished. “What I learned was to keep my mouth shut, and get the hell out of there as fast as possible.”
Greg grinned. “If you trust me, let me see your phone a minute.”
Bella handed over the phone, but gave him a hairy-eyeball. “What are you going to do?”
“Nothing much, just get him off your back completely,” Greg said and began typing a new message; “Skyler, this is Bella’s future husband. We would both appreciate it if you would please quit harassing Bella for a date. We plan on getting married soon, and this is upsetting her. Thanks for your understanding.” He hit send, and handed the phone back to her. “There, that should take care of the problem.”
“I’m afraid to ask, but what did you tell him?” Jared asked.
Bella read the message back to everyone in the room. Jolene fell out of her chair laughing. Mandi was also laughing, and Bella looked shocked. “You know he’s going to make life hell for both of us now, right?"
“How?” Greg asked. “In a couple of weeks, he won’t be able to get anywhere near us,” Greg answered.
“Just how spoiled is this kid?” Jared asked.
“Let’s just put it this way, they made an exception for him to play varsity football when he was a freshman. That wasn’t good enough, so they made him the quarterback. He still has no idea how to play football,” Jolene said. “Oh! We forgot to tell you that he’s a sophomore this year. He’s barely fifteen years old!”
“What a dweeb! How was he supposed to take you out? Mommy going to drive you around?” Mandi asked.
“No, he has a driver’s license. In this state, money really can buy everything,” Bella said. “Even the four Corvettes he’s totaled so far.”
“Well, watch your backs, kids. If this prick is that spoiled, who knows how far he’ll go to get revenge,” Sharon said.
“We’ll I’m probably bigger than him, so I doubt he’ll try to beat me up!” Greg replied.
“No, but he can have the police do it for him,” Sharon replied. “You can’t beat them up.”
“Pardon me, Sharon, but I would not put that knowledge to the test yet. They are untrained yes, but their instinctive knowledge, especially Greg’s is more dangerous now because of his lack of training. He has all the strength and speed, but none of the control or knowledge,” Abraxis cautioned. “Fighter, I would suggest avoiding any type of hand-to-hand combat until you are sufficiently trained to not kill by accident.”
“Thank you for the warning, Abraxis. But what happens if I’m not given a choice?” Greg asked.
“Then be even more careful, son. Target the legs and arms, not the torso or the head. It’s very hard to kill someone that way, and they won’t expect it. Disable them then get the hell outta there!” Jared offered.
“That is wise counsel, Greg. Human anatomy is very fragile compared to some, but there are fewer potential areas that can be fatal in the extremities. More so in the lower extremities; below the knees and elbows,” Abraxis agreed.
Greg nodded. “Thanks Dad, Abraxis. I think for now, Abraxis should remain here, in the bunker. Since it's the only shielded place we have and nothing can trace him in there. Girls?”
All the girls agreed, but Jolene asked, “In case of emergency, how will you contact us?”
“I can utilize the telephone network, or the internet as a source. Both are easily detectable, however, it would take a lot of time and resources to trace. We can use that method for now,” Abraxis replied.
“No, I just thought you might have some sort of communicator or something for us,” Jolene answered.
“We will eventually have secure communicators, but for now, I am having a hard time adapting them for humans.”
“This is a problem for tomorrow. Come on, let's get home, I’m exhausted,” Sharon said. Saying their good-byes, two of the three families left for home.
Tannis Residence
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
All in all, it didn’t take long for Skyler Tannis to finish throwing his tantrum and devise a plan to eliminate his enemy; Bella’s future husband. Of course, once his mother got involved, then the plan went from childish to very dangerous in a few minutes. She couldn’t, after all, let some cheap slut like Isabella Grein snub her son like that. She would have to make them pay; and pay she would, she would be on her son’s arm, or she would see how she like becoming a lesbian’s pet in prison.
It wasn’t hard to create the situation, and the evidence that was needed was readily available - hell, the police already had it! However, it did take a couple of days for the plan to be put into action, since witnesses and the like had to be purchased, and evidence falsified. This man that was supposed to marry Bella had to be located, and any dirt dug up on him. All told, the plan couldn’t be put into action for almost a week. Which was good since both ranking police officials would be out of town during that time.
Skyler almost threw a fit when he found out how long it was going to take. He had begun ranting and raving until finally, his mother, Gail Tannis had had enough. Although she abhorred the thought of it, she ordered their maid Marie to go ‘clean Skyler’s room’. Marie begged the woman to reconsider, since her son was so cruel. But she held firm. Marie was a menial, and this is what menials were meant for.
As soon as she heard Marie start screaming, she picked up the phone and called for an ambulance since it took them almost twenty minutes to get out here. The other maids would clean up the blood, it’s just too bad that such accidents happen when clean
ing a young man’s room.
Sharon Adam's Office
StealthCon, Inc.
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
Since a new base had yet to be decided on, Abraxis did what he could teaching the new team members using existing technology. He complained that it was very limiting, and had Mandi build a few new modules from scratch that he insisted were absolutely required.
After they got off work, Jared began teaching the team martial arts, and how to control their instinctual fighting strength. Jared wasn’t trained as an instructor, he was trained as a field agent, none the less he did his best, and the kids did start to learn. When Abraxis wasn’t teaching the kids, he was with Sharon Adams learning a few things himself.
“While I applaud your idea, Abraxis, it’s not actually feasible. The DEA and several other law enforcement agencies are most likely watching those accounts like a hawk. If we tried to move that much money into the United States, we’d have government types crawling out of every orifice. So, we’re going to have to be sneaky about it,” Sharon said.
“I understand, Sharon. But then, how do you propose we acquire the funds we need?” The AI asked.
“Have you ever heard of a game called ‘Three Card Monty’ or the children's version 'The Shell Game'?”
“No, I don’t believe I have. What is it?”
Sharon opened a drawer to her desk and removed a deck of playing cards. “This is a deck of fifty-two playing cards, a few jokers, and a card listing the rules to various games one can play with the cards.” She took three cards out of the deck, and then set the rest aside.
She carefully folded the three cards down the middle. When she had them folded the way she wanted, she flipped them over. “In Three Card Monty we are only going to use these three cards: the ace of spades, the ace of clubs, and the queen of hearts. The rules are simple; once I turn them upside down, I'll shuffle them while you watch, then a person would normally place a bet that they knew which card was the queen.”
She began shuffling the cards very quickly. “Keep in mind that most humans have only a single focal point, because this ‘game’ is actually a very clever con-job that relies on sleight-of-hand and optical illusions to cheat the player out of his money.”
When she finished, she said, “Pick.”
“The middle card is the queen,” Abraxis replied.
Sharon smiled as she turned the card over to show him the ace of spades. She turned the queen over, to show him where it had actually been.
“I don’t understand. I was tracking the card, how could it not be in the middle?” Abraxis asked.
“Exactly. That’s the whole point of the con. On the street, that would have cost you ten dollars. However, now your curiosity is going, as well as feeling a little miffed that you might have missed something. A good dealer can work a mark for every dime he has. That’s why the game is illegal when played for money,” Sharon explained.
“I understand, but how does that fit into our dilemma with getting the money we need?” Abraxis asked.
“We use the same sleight-of-hand and optical illusion to get the money into the country without anyone else knowing who took it, or where it actually went,” Sharon explained.
“But, if it’s illegal, why are we considering it?”
“To tell you the truth, Abraxis, taking that money and using it for our own project is illegal as well. Our government is very greedy, and wants all that money for its own. However, you are correct that those monies should be used for projects like this that are for the benefit of the people. The problem is that the government can’t know about this. That’s why we have to circumvent some of the laws.
“I’m not wild about breaking the laws either, but in order to accomplish certain things, sometimes you have to be willing to bend or even break the law. I prefer to think of this as bending the law, since we are actually helping the population, so my conscious is clear.” She snorted, “Besides, the government tells me to do the same damn thing when it suits them. At least this time, I know the money’s going to a good use.”
Abraxis considered this for a moment, he had already known all of this, but he wanted to learn Sharon’s thoughts on the subject. It gave him better insight into the humans he was working with. He knew that most of the group was basically good at heart, but he had to make sure with Jared and Sharon. Both of them lived and worked in the gray area that was covert operations.
Abraxis suspected that Sharon had been a Fixer or possibly a Ranger Finder and Jared most likely a Ranger Fighter that had simply never formed a team, and were now too old for training. Somewhere out there, were the other two members of their missing team, perhaps it had even been their deceased spouses.
When she outlined her plan for getting the money into the country, he had to admit that even he would have a hard time following where all the money went. As she finished her explanation, he anticipated her first request.
“... so, now all we need to do is find a few ‘local’ groups on the terror watch list to use as scapegoats, and then we can build the matrix for moving the money around.” Abraxis smirked. “It would seem there is no shortage of those in this area. The FBI has several groups listed, three of which are currently under surveillance: two in Colorado and one in Utah. However, there are six on the list that are within five hundred miles of our location.”
“Excellent, we should pick a few of them, and we can get started getting the money moved. We’re going dangerously fast for something like this. This set-up should take months to begin to bear fruit, but we simply don’t have months,” Sharon said.
'The Bunker'
Blane Residence
Shermandale, Utah
North American Continent
Earth, Sol System
“How is it going with trying to acquire the silver mine?” Greg asked when the folks had their daily video conference.
“We've figured out how to get the money into the country, and even have a few dupes to use as scape goats for the feds or the drug dealers if they come looking. However, it's going to take at least a week to get the money to where we can safely use it,” Sharon replied. “We're going recklessly fast as it is. An operation of this size should take months to set up, and years to bear fruit.”
“You know, the need to be shielded, and the search of this area of Utah got me to thinking,” Greg began.
“Uh oh!” Mandi whispered to Bella playfully.
Greg gave Mandi a playful look of frustration, but continued. “Doesn't the government have decommissioned facilities such as abandoned missile silo's that are for legitimate sale?”
Ned slapped his forehead. “That's it! That was the reason I asked for the scans! I was trying to get that thought to surface!”
“We know dear,” Carla said as she patted his hand placatingly.
Ned blushed while the group got a chuckle at his expense. Given Ned's intellect, he was probably telling the absolute truth.
“Abraxis, can you get into the StealthCon computer system and see if there is any underground complexes or missile silo's that might be for sale, so we can check them out as suitable bases?” Greg asked.
“As you command, Fighter. I should have a list in less than an hour, the system is rather simply structured. Should I continue with the money transfers that Sharon has planned?”
“Yes, we will still need a substantial amount of money. Besides, we can always make anonymous donations to programs that really do actually help people,” Greg replied. “If I may ask, how much money do we have before we begin reallocating the drug money?”
“With everyone's permission, the total available amount is eight hundred ninety-four thousand, six hundred and twelve dollars. However, I don't believe we want to use the whole amount,” Abraxis replied.
Jared sighed, reaching a decision. “Abraxis, there is an account you are unaware of. Technically, it belongs to the Company, but I have an account in Swit
zerland that they tend to ignore since it also benefits them by giving me options if I need them. This is money that I've managed to obtain on my overseas trips as a safety net.”
“Are you aware of the current balance of the account?” the hologram asked.
Jared rattled off some numbers, then a password. “The last time I looked at it, it was about twenty-one million. The problem is still the fact that it's overseas.”
“That's actually not that much of a problem. We can secure a loan using the balance as a guarantee of the loan, then simply arrange payments to be made from the account. The only thing we would end up paying is property tax,” Sharon said. “The Corporation we are forming can even write off the interest on the loan as a tax deduction.”
Bella looked amazed. “It can't be that simple, the feds have to have a way to tax it three or four times.”
Sharon chuckled. “No, that was a rather simplified description, but the principle is the same. However, we will be paying tax on the money at least once, but it won't be all at once.”
“Okay, so when should we bring the General in on this?” Greg asked. “I'm still a little nervous about involving a high-ranking member of the Intelligence Community. They have a way of taking things over.”
“Uncle Carl is a lot of things including a patriot, but the one thing he's not, is an idiot. If we tell him what we need to do, and he let us get through the explanation, he'll see the truth,” Jolene replied.
“It's getting through the explanation that bothers me. I'm worried he'll think we're either under alien control, or at the least have been misled by Abraxis. He also doesn't know either Mandi or I,” Greg explained.
“Then I would suggest that any conversation you have with the General include Jared or I,” Jon suggested. “I would also have the girls there as well since he has known both of them since they were children.”
Greg nodded. “Would either of you be available tomorrow, and could we get an appointment to see him?”
“This place has more bugs than New York City. We should have him visit the bunker. Call it a ... security inspection,” Jared suggested.