Gabi managed the slightest smile but seemed unimpressed by the question. Jess wondered if she had gone too far. Was that suspicion she sensed from the first lady?
“Really, Jess, you should know better. I’m hardly at liberty to disclose that stuff, the Secret Service would have my neck if I told you.”
“Come on, Gabs, it’s me, Jess,” she said soothingly, reaching across the glass coffee table and grabbing her hand firmly. Gabi stiffened a little at this unaccustomed display of affection but then seemed to relax.
Jess continued. “How far do we go back—twenty years? Twenty-five? Remember the time I saved your butt when we were both seniors in high school? You failed that year-long assignment, which would’ve meant you failing the entire year, and I managed to persuade Miss Gray to give you that second chance.”
Gabi placed her hand on her chest. “Oh, god yes. Of course I remember. I tried to redo that assignment in the space of two weeks. I don’t think I slept more than about ten hours in that whole period!”
“But the point is that you did it, and you passed.” Jess could see just the hint of a smile return to her friend’s face. She hoped that she’d won back her confidence.
“Barely. It certainly wasn’t good enough to get me into Yale, but at least I scraped into a local college.” Gabi frowned, narrowing her eyes somewhat. “I could never quite work out why I did so badly in that original assignment when I had been doing so well with everything else all year. I guess it would’ve helped if they weren’t so rigid with their rules and actually gave us our papers back.”
Jess knew exactly why the woman had failed. She had switched the assignments and handed Gabi’s in as her own. Jess looked deeply into the first lady’s eyes. “I know. I always thought it was so unfair. You were the brainy one. I couldn’t understand how you could’ve failed!” The statement sickened her to the stomach, but unfortunately it had to be said.
Gabi’s eyes seemed to darken. “I hated that high school! You weren’t allowed to question anything.” She sighed deeply. “You know, I still wonder sometimes what it would’ve been like going to Yale and becoming that psychologist I always wanted to be.”
Jess cleared her throat. “I guess fate had other plans for you,” she said matter-of-factly. “Voila! Look at you now!”
Gabi grinned, grabbed her friend’s hand again and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “I really appreciated how you were always there for me, Jess.”
Jess saw Gabi’s eyes brighten, slowly warming toward her. Like a circling shark, she waited for her prey to misjudge the amount of danger she was in. “Look, Gabs, I’m just interested because I wouldn’t mind five minutes with the President this afternoon. I have a couple of important documents for him to authorize and there’s no possible way with all the chaos going on right now that he’ll be able to get to them before at least next week. I have the Feds on my back in the house to get this new Bill signed off and they’re relentless. Come on, Gabs.” She gave her the best smile she had. “For old times’ sakes.”
Gabi finished her glass of chardonnay and then paused before speaking. “Okay, I can’t disclose his schedule, but what I can do is deliver the papers to him, get him to sign them and then fax them back to you. How does that sound?”
Jess’s plan had originally involved a meeting with the President directly, but as she was about to reject Gabi’s offer, an alternative plan came to mind.
“Sure, Gabs, that would be great. Give me ten minutes and I’ll grab the papers from the car and bring them in.”
Jess drained what was left of the wine, placed her empty wineglass on the coffee table, grabbed her bag and made her way across the White House grounds to retrieve the papers.
Once inside her vehicle, she glanced around casually, making sure no one or nothing was spying on her then reached for the parcel Denny had given her. As instructed, she donned the Latex gloves she had brought along, and then unwrapped the paper and plastic of the parcel to reveal what looked like a regular metal paperclip. She cautiously took the three pages and secured them together using the clip, then folded and placed the pages back into the envelope, sealed it with tape and wrote “Confidential” on the back.
After exiting her car and passing through the usual security checks, she found the first lady expecting her in the green room.
“Thanks a million, Gabs. You don’t know what this means to me.”
Gabi smiled warmly at her. “What are friends for?”
“Exactly! Now remember, this is confidential stuff and is meant only for the President’s eyes. Make sure he, and only he, opens the envelope. I’d hate for this to end up on tomorrow morning’s news before it’s signed into law.”
Gabi nodded. “As good as done,” she said, hugging Jess before saying goodbye.
Jess was about ten feet from Gabi when she turned around and called, “Remember Gabs, the President’s eyes only.” She felt just the slightest pang of guilt, but quickly brushed it aside. This was something that had to be done.
As she climbed back into her retro car, that fortunately Denny had managed to acquire for her, she thought about her and Denny together in the White House. A team, ruling not only the United States, but influencing the fate of the entire Western world, perhaps even the planet.
She felt exhilarated and powerful. After all, she was about to change the course of human history. Teddy O’Brien would soon cease to be an obstacle.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Steve and the professor quickly hustled an anxiety-ridden Drew Murrey back into the control room. He was pale, had sweat pouring down his forehead and looked like he was about to expel his breakfast. Steve handed him a glass of water, which he quickly downed.
“My god! I was expecting wolves, but never in a million years was I expecting that thing,” he said.
“Sorry, Drew, we had no idea she was going to be out there,” said Steve. “We assumed she wasn’t even in the country. Anyhow, at least her recording fortuitously died. Great timing, I thought.”
“My sentiment is that the closed-circuit TV shall reveal there was nothing fortunate about it at all,” the professor said, seated at his computer.
“Anyhow, come on over here, Drew, and we’ll show you what we’ve discovered,” said Steve.
“You mean you worked out what those creatures we saw earlier were?”
“We don’t think they’re creatures, but rather a form of artificial intelligence,” he said, a wide smile evident on his gaunt face.
“They looked like creatures to me,” said Drew, recalling the hovering beams of green light that appeared to have no form except for every now and again when they moved around or when they encountered another beam and changed color. These entities seemed to be aware of the other entities around them.
“We think that once a civilization reaches a certain point, AI takes over,” said Steve. “It makes more sense. These entities are immortal, and the embodiment of everything they have been programmed to be. And because they’re immortal, they have no need to reproduce. We think their internet is like their grand AI server, with everything stored within. What’s more, the professor is a genius, he’s all but cracked the language now, and has instituted a translation program so that we can follow their pages in English.”
The knot in Drew’s stomach began to untwist, his anxiety slowly being replaced with excitement. “Choice, Prof.”
“What?” asked the professor, cocking his head to the side.
“Great, mate. I meant that’s great!”
The professor switched over to voice control. “Open web page browser,” he ordered.
There was some interference, but eventually it cleared to reveal an icon that resembled an upside-down palm leaf.
“Interesting icon,” remarked Drew. “It’s no Netsearch symbol, that’s for sure!”
The professor turned around and glared at him, seemingly unimpressed by the infantile remark.
“Planetary positioning,” he remarked loudly.
; The screen changed, and a hologram of a planet began to reveal itself. It was a pink-and-blue world with what looked like a pale luminous-green atmosphere enveloping it. Around it orbited two moons, the closer one about a third the size of the planet, and the further moon about a quarter the size.
“Interesting … the double moon system, that is. Must have a complicated tidal pattern,” said Steve.
The planet appeared to move toward Drew, and he instinctively ducked out of the way as the entire hologram expanded to accommodate the rest of the planetary system in order for it to be kept to scale. Four other planets of various sizes materialized, followed by their satellites and two bright stars. One was yellow, the other red, and they appeared to be orbiting one another in an intimate dance. By now, a quarter of the room was consumed by this hologram, and it was growing in size every second, as more and more of the planetary system took form.
“Look,” said Steve. “The planets are getting smaller as it’s coming into scale with the rest of the solar system.”
Drew pointed to a massive planet about fifty times larger than the original one.
“Look at that bugger. Crikey, mate, she’s bloody enormous!”
Then, the entire hologram shrank back down to the size of a golf ball, the binary stars now being the only objects large enough to be visible with the naked eye.
“Something’s happening,” said Steve, his wide eyes firmly fixated on the spectacle in front of him. The hologram expanded again and now the whole room became a display of stars, all twinkling and swirling around in an enormous spiral pattern.
Steve’s jaw dropped. “It’s the … galaxy from which they’re from … Oh my god, Professor, it’s incredible.”
“Which one is it?” asked Drew, adjusting his cap.
The professor did some quick calculations on the console. “It’s not matching up with anything on the database. Unless of course …” He paused.
“Unless what, Professor?” asked Steve.
“Unless what we’re tampering with here has everything do with what’s going on out there.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps this isn’t supposed to have happened. Perhaps we should never have been allowed to see or know about this—”
“Why not? I’m not with you, Prof,” said Drew.
“Because, lads, I have a feeling that EMB hasn’t just taken us back in time and space. I think it’s done more than that. I think we may have just stepped into another universe.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
“It’s done.”
“Are you sure?” asked Denny.
“Do you trust me or not?” responded Jess loudly into the phone. She adored Denny, at least sexually, but sometimes she wondered whether he had the balls to tackle what needed to be done.
“Of course I do, but you know how important this is. We have to get it right. Total anarchy is around the corner and we have to seize the opportunity soon if we’re going to make this happen. It’s all about timing, and our window is closing quickly. The President is now pretty much all that’s standing in our way.”
“Oh don’t worry about that. He won’t be standing anywhere for a while.” Jess was painting her nails, her phone wedged in between her head and her shoulders. She straightened the fingers of her left hand, making sure she hadn’t missed a spot, and blew gently over them. “He’ll be in a coma for weeks after today, cause completely unknown. Assuming, of course, that your contact is right about the paperclip.”
“He’s the best I have on staff, and he’s looking for a position in my cabinet, so he won’t be making any mistakes. The drug once in the body, is completely untraceable, and after twelve hours any trace on the paperclip will spontaneously degrade. Now, when am I going to get that sexy body of yours naked again?” asked Denny gruffly.
“I think it best we avoid each other right now.” She blew again lightly over her nails. “The press is everywhere and we don’t want to attract any attention by being spotted together, at least not until we have achieved our goal.” Withholding sex from Denny wasn’t an easy thing to do, but the man needed to focus right now. It also gave her a slight edge over him, something that was important at the moment when the stakes were so high. Besides which, when they finally did it again, it would be extra pleasurable. “So, when are you planning to make the announcement?”
Denny was pacing around his office. “My sources say that the way things are going, complete anarchy is a couple of days away, but we need to move before that. The President’s deadline expires in less than twenty hours, but I think after what my sexy little helper has achieved, I have a feeling we’ll be close to our goal well before then. I’ll make my announcement as soon as I have confirmation that the President is out of the picture.”
“Okay, baby, we’ll rendezvous very soon. I’m so excited, Den. We’ve waited so long for this moment.”
“Don’t be complacent. There are still forces out there conspiring against us, which reminds me. There’s an issue that still needs taking care of. She’s becoming more of a problem than I could’ve ever anticipated.”
“Janine Fuller?”
“Oh yes. Little Nancy Drew is well past her expiry date. She alone could be our downfall, all on her own, and there’s no way in hell that I’m going to allow her that satisfaction.”
“Good boy, you show that bitch who she’s dealing with. Kisses, darling. Best be going now, bye.”
As Jess put down the phone, she imagined herself making love to Denny in the Oval Office. She was sure it had been done before. Monica Lewinsky came to mind from many, many years ago, but she was just an insignificant hussy with no business being there. The White House would be hers soon; the Oval Office her playground. Goodbye undeserving Gabi. Hello Jess. That slight pang of guilt she had felt earlier was quickly overridden by the desire for power and revenge. Anyhow, it was disgusting how Gabi had cunningly manipulated the President into marrying her, pretending to be all sickly. That devious whore had no right to her title, no right at all, and soon Jess Kelly would make sure that she knew it.
She harbored just a tiny piece of doubt in her mind about Denny, and whether he might possibly betray her trust at the last minute. She smiled, though, as she thought about the ace she had up her sleeve in case of such an eventuality. If necessary, she would use it to win him over by showing him exactly whose team she was on.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Jack picked up the phone even though he didn’t recognize the number. Somehow he knew it would be her.
“Hey, I saw the news broadcast. Just as it was getting exciting, you blew it!”
“Blew it?” snarled Janine. “I was sabotaged, and the problem is I have no idea by whom.”
“Janine, how in hell’s name did you get hold of that footage?” he asked.
“I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you,” she teased.
Jack laughed. This woman seemed to have opened a window to his soul he hadn’t even known existed. Other women that had come in and gone out of his life had served their purpose, but they had lacked spirit or an energy. Janine had that energy, and it had begun to ignite something deep inside him. Even Alexis, who he had deeply cared for, and who had broken his heart when she’d dropped that bombshell on him five years earlier, was insipid compared to Janine, whose bubbly, vivacious personality had finally brought color back into his black-and-white world. “So what now?” he asked.
“Well, Jack, I’d really appreciate a lift back into town if you’re coming by this way. I could ride with the crew, but to be honest, they’re an incredibly boring bunch. Besides which, I’m not very fond of sauerkraut.”
“You’re in luck. I have to come by your way anyhow. I have a few errands to run.” He was lying, but he wasn’t about to tell her that he had developed a serious crush on her. He knew that his late father would have appreciated her dry sense of humor. Even though he had passed away more than ten years ago, he still missed the big guy, and especially missed those lazy summer barbecues, where the old m
an somehow always managed to ruin a perfectly good piece of steak.
“Oh, and do you know where I can get another cell?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact I do, but I don’t know if they’ll be open with all the chaos going on. The situation is deteriorating by the minute and all reservists have been called up. There’s even a chance I may be asked to help out, a situation I’d rather avoid right now, although I’d be happy to help with humanitarian support.”
“What’s the word on Canberra shutting EMB down? I have—I should say had—proof that this mess is all tied up with it.”
“The word out there is that if things don’t stabilize within twenty-four hours, the prime minister, in collaboration with the US President will shut it down.”
“What’s stopping them from pulling the plug on it right now?” asked Janine.
“Money, what else! Do you know how much money is tied up in this project, how many jobs, how much politics, how much ego?”
“Reminds me of the whole Climategate fiasco twenty years ago. The sky was falling, only it wasn’t. Now it damn well is! Jack, it’s up to me to get the facts out to the people and soon, otherwise god knows where this will all end up.”
“That’s my girl, always on a mission. See you in twenty minutes, that’s if I can get past the screaming Bible bashers and hundred-year-old demented psychopaths.”
“You’re not going to let me live that one down, are you?”
“Never!”
“Run them over if you must, just get here. I have to regroup, and soon.”
* * * *
September 18, 10:08, eighteen miles east of Hammerfest, Northern Norway, Six days post-EMB launch/seventeen hours until EMB official shutdown
The Waterhole Page 20