Elizabeth bites the side of her lip and sighs. “Look, I really don’t want to talk about it because … Josh’s having an affair.”
Sheri frowns. “Are you sure? Is that why you haven’t returned his calls?”
Elizabeth matches her frown. “I don’t know what he told you but I haven’t heard anything from him since he started this…” she exhales sharply, “…this juvenile conspiracy stuff and began sleeping with Colonel Wendy Crow.”
“Hmm … Josh told me he’s called you many times and you never responded to his calls or texts.”
Elizabeth pulls out her phone and shows Sheri the call log and texts. “Last time he tried to contact me was almost three weeks ago!”
“That’s interesting.” She frowns. “Elizabeth … I’m afraid you’re operating under some significant misinformation.”
“I hope he hasn’t got you caught up in his crazy conspiracy theories.”
Sheri pauses. “The reason I wanted to meet you is so that we could talk without risk of being overheard or observed.”
“You’re starting to sound just like him.”
“There’s a good reason for that. You know those little RFID chips that the U.N. is promoting to replace passports?”
“Yes?”
“Well, Josh and Tim were unknowingly implanted with them so they could be tracked. You probably have one too.”
Elizabeth starts to object but Sheri continues, “I need you to listen very carefully. Your life depends on it. The conspiracy is real and spans the globe, possibly including the United Nations.”
Elizabeth says, “I don’t think—”
Sheri holds up her hand. “Please … I know you asked Meadows to help Josh and believe that’s why he was sent to the space station. What you don’t know is that Wendy discovered the ISLO’s software was modified to allow it to destroy targets on Earth. When Wendy tried to tell Josh, whoever was behind it, attempted to shut her up by starting a fire in the space station module she was working in. Josh dove in at the last minute and almost died saving her.”
Elizabeth’s eyes got big. “Ok, I’m listening but saving her life doesn’t excuse him from sleeping with her or taking her to the Bahamas!”
Sheri gently shakes her head. “Please let me finish. After almost burning up and then being asphyxiated, Wendy not only lost consciousness, but stopped breathing. Josh was able to get her into one of the pods, restore emergency oxygen and perform CPR. The killer ejected the pod from the space station. With some fancy flying, they got it back to the station before they were asphyxiated again. Then, Josh faced the killer in a zero-g knife fight. Before they could interrogate him, he died of a heart attack.”
Elizabeth shakes her head. “This can’t be for real.”
“The autopsy showed it was caused by a neurotoxin; the same neurotoxin that killed Brian Davidson. It was injected from a capsule surgically implanted inside them. Elizabeth, it’s the same capsule Wendy and Josh have inside them, and … there’s a possibility you do too. Josh couldn’t talk to you except in private because it could put both of your lives in danger.”
Elizabeth exhales slowly. “I’m sorry but this sounds like the plot of a crazy spy movie.”
Sheri picks up the coffee thermos, takes the top off and carefully pours the contents onto a white tissue. She gives Elizabeth a magnifying glass. “Take a look at what’s been riding on you.”
She peers at the insect. “What?! It’s … it’s a machine!”
“It’s called a nano-drone and it’s been watching you 24/7.”
“Wait … like in the bedroom and bathroom?”
Sheri nods.
“Eww.” She pauses. “I wonder if that’s what Toto’s been chasing in my apartment.”
“Dogs can hear higher frequencies than we can.”
Elizabeth puts her hand on her forehead. “Dogs and … Josh!”
Sheri nods. “Ok, Elizabeth, you’re a nurse. Let’s say you have a patient that’s been awake for over 30 hours. During that time, they were almost killed twice. They were asphyxiated to the point that they stopped breathing. They also watched a man die. What state would you expect them to be in?”
“Emotional shock, exhaustion — PTSD.”
“Elizabeth, the only place on the space station that isn’t monitored with video and audio is the crew compartments. That’s where Wendy told Josh about the software modification in the first place. After it was all over — 30 hours later — she asked Josh to come back to her compartment to talk. Josh said she began shaking uncontrollably.”
Elizabeth nods reluctantly. “Delayed shock.”
“And?”
Elizabeth sighs. “Josh … held her.”
“Until she fell asleep. He stayed with her through the night.”
Nodding her head slowly, Elizabeth adds, “Josh needs very little sleep but even he can’t stay awake forever. They slept together.”
“He did the same thing you or I would have done in that situation. Does this begin to make sense?”
“Yes, yes it does … but what about the Bahamas? They were there together, right?”
“Yes they were, but so was I, so was Christoff Bobinski, Greg Langlois, Jessica Lee and,” she nods toward their driver, “so was Tim.” Sheri knocks on the glass between them and the driver.
He opens it, turns around and takes off his sunglasses. “Hi Elizabeth.”
Speechless, she grabs his hands with tears in her eyes.
49
REVEAL
Dustin meets her at the building. As soon as she has the nano-drone airborne, she heads straight for the main building and follows some students inside.
Dustin says, “Uh, following people through doors is advanced stuff. Good work,” trying to sound casual, he adds, “but probably need to head on back.”
“I will. Just want to take it for one spin around the big room.” She flies it down the hall, into the main room with all the cubicles and consoles, and then goes straight toward the supervisor’s area.
“Uh, Judy, you really shouldn’t—”
She flies past them to the director’s area at the back of the room. It’s separated from the supervisor’s consoles by a wall of dark glass.
Dustin’s voice rises. “Uh, you, you really need to bring it back now.”
“Sure. Just want to try one quick thing and I’ll come straight back.” The glass entrance door has a gap at the top. She carefully slips the nano-drone through and sees a man and a woman in their forties with black bracelets sitting behind a large console.
Dustin’s voice cracks. “OMG! You can’t be in there!”
As she flies over their heads and behind them, she calmly says, “Come on, Maverick … aren’t you just a little curious what goes on back here?”
With her nano-drone hovering behind them, she sees three large monitors. Two display video feeds from the consoles below, but the man on the right is talking to the third monitor. It’s a three-way video conference. She moves the drone closer to get a better look. On the screen, she sees two windows open. On one is the face of an older man talking. The other window has the video turned off but she can hear a woman’s voice. They’re discussing something about a general’s orders.
Hyperventilating, Dustin says, “You’ve got to get out of there!”
“Relax … Maverick!” She wants to stay and record but he’s approaching hysteria.
“You’re going to get us fired!”
“Ok, ok.” She deftly flies it through the glass gap and follows someone out the front door. As she brings the drone back to their room and in for a landing, she can see herself and Dustin standing behind her. His hands are on both sides of his face with a Home Alone expression. She lands it perfectly in the metal box. Pulling her headset off, she smiles and says, “That was such a rush! Thank you so much, Dustin.”
Looking pale and continuously shaking his head, he says, “You’re crazy! You could have gotten us in sooo much trouble.”
She leans in and ki
sses him on the cheek. “That’s what makes it fun … Maverick.”
“But what if someone saw us?!”
“Who? Dustin, we are the spies. We are the ones who monitor people.” She pauses, looking directly into his eyes. “No one will ever know as long as neither of us says anything. Our little secret?”
He nods his head rapidly.
She can’t resist. “So, still want to come over to my place?”
“I … I’m sorry, I just remembered I have to be somewhere. Umm, maybe some other time?”
She smiles and winks. “Sure.”
For the first time, she feels like a real spy.
Back at her apartment, she carefully slips the micro memory card from her headset and sticks it into her sports drone. Modified, the sports drone can transmit what’s on the card, piggybacked on the drone’s control frequency.
She takes it outside and flies it until it runs out of power, hoping the video made it through. Who were the people on the monitor?
They all sit in the back seat of the limo, eating take out. Elizabeth continues to shake her head in amazement as Tim explains why they faked his death.
Still wiping tears from her eyes, Elizabeth just says, “Wow.”
Tim gives her a rare smile. “It’s good to see you again too. I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you but everything Sheri said is true and we didn’t want to put you at greater risk.”
“I understand.”
“Speaking of which,” he frowns, “do you still have your concealed carry permit?”
She nods. “Yeah … but I don’t have a gun.”
With a disapproving headshake, he pulls something small out of a bag and hands it to her.
She looks at it with a puzzled expression and then gives him a half-smile. “Tim, I didn’t know you use cosmetics.”
Sheri laughs. “I’ll show you how to use it later.” She takes a deep breath. “Ok, before we get to the Bahamas, I need to bring you up to speed. We had to check everyone involved to see who’d been implanted with the tracking chips or neurotoxin capsules. We split up. Jessica and Greg went to Moscow and examined Christoff. I went to D.C. to check out Carl Casey and his family, and Josh, who was the only one who knew Wendy, was supposed to examine her.”
Elizabeth frowns.
“The nano-drones and neurotoxin capsules are powered by a speck of plutonium. Jessica got us portable radiation detectors before we left. When I examined Carl, I found a chip but I also found one of the neurotoxin capsules.” She pauses. “Elizabeth, if you want to get a neurotoxin to the heart quickly, where would you inject it?”
“A major vein of course.”
“We’ve found the capsules are attached to the femoral or jugular.”
Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me, Wendy’s capsule was….”
Sheri nods. “Look, it was my fault. Josh called me and told me he didn’t find a chip in her hand. After finding a capsule in Carl, I told him he needed to look everywhere.”
“Sheri!”
“Josh told me on the phone that would be a very bad idea and that I needed to do it. I told him we were in D.C., he was being a wuss and hung up.” She shakes her head. “I was thinking these are practical engineers. He hadn’t shared with me all that transpired on the station. I thought he was just being prudish. Had no idea that after he saved her life she imprinted on him.”
Elizabeth narrows her eyes and slowly asks, “Did … something happen during the examination?”
“Yeah, but not what you think. She proposed to him.”
“Marriage?!”
“That’s exactly what I said! Then I busted out laughing.”
“Sheri, that’s really not funny.”
Obviously trying not to laugh again, she adds, “Yeah, that’s exactly what Josh said.” Trying to look serious, she continues, “I thought Wendy was kidding, but apparently she asked him to be her deputy on the station and really wanted to marry him.”
Elizabeth shakes her head. “But she knows he’s married!”
Sheri shrugs. “I think Josh pointed that out as well, but Wendy is direct and pragmatic. To be fair to her, when they met on the station, she asked him what Mrs. Fuze thought of him being in space. Josh correctly — but stupidly — said he didn’t think you even knew he was up there.” Sheri gave Elizabeth a direct look. “If you heard a guy say that, what assumption would you draw?”
Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “Yeah, I get what she thought … but he never called or even texted me. I had to find out he was on the station from Turan!”
“May I see your phone again?”
Elizabeth frowns but hands it to her.
After a few seconds, Sheri says, “Elizabeth, Josh’s number is blocked! You couldn't have gotten any calls or texts from him.”
“Wait … what?!”
Sheri hands it back.
Elizabeth looks at it carefully and finally says, “I didn’t do this! I don’t understand how this could have happened.”
Sheri shrugs. “Well, at least that explains part of the problem. Let’s bring you up to speed on the rest. We told Josh to invite Wendy to the island. He thought she couldn’t come due to the upcoming launch. She surprised all of us.”
Elizabeth nods. “Yeah, I get it. She’s been implanted with a neurotoxin capsule and she’s about to take the space station a million miles away with an enemy agent onboard. I guess I misjudged her intentions.”
“Uh, yeah … mostly. After the meeting was over, it was late and Josh went back down to the beach house where our rooms were. Jessica, Wendy and I stayed and talked … and had a few drinks. Shortly after we headed down, I noticed neither Wendy nor Josh were in their rooms. I later confronted Josh.”
“And?”
“He told me he went for a night swim and run on the beach, specifically, so he wouldn’t be around when Wendy — who had a few shots — came back down.”
Elizabeth shakes her head with a frown. “Yeah, I’ve seen her with a few drinks onboard.”
“Josh ran to the end of the island where the beach ends. Said he was just sitting there on the rocks thinking when he saw Wendy coming down the beach.”
Elizabeth tilted her head slightly. “So … what happened?”
“He told me he took the high-ground.”
Elizabeth nods approvingly. “You mean he explained to her that she had no chance with him.”
“Uh … no.” She gives her a half-smile. “He literally took the high ground. He climbed up the rocks and hid until she left.”
Despite her best efforts, Elizabeth burst out laughing. Finally, shaking her head, she says, “He’s not big on emotional confrontation. I can totally see that.”
“To be fair, Wendy may have been sans bathing suit.”
Elizabeth takes a deep breath. “Ok, I admit I’ve been pig-headed, but why the hell didn’t he just grab me and say we gotta talk? I would have listened. It just seemed like he … didn’t care.”
“Initially, he was trying to protect you, but…” She pauses thoughtfully. “Elizabeth, this psychology junk is what I do for a living. Josh told me that Turan was just like him,” she raises her eyebrows, “only better. See it from his eyes. Turan’s every bit as good looking and talented as Josh, but he’s also charismatic and holds an incredibly powerful position. Josh believes you’ve lost confidence in him and are trading him in for a better model.”
“That’s ridiculous! Josh is one of the most intelligent, capable men on the planet. He’s brilliant, intuitive and practically indestructible. I love him. He knows that.”
Tim nods slowly. “Elizabeth, my friend, Congressman Bob McEwen has a great analogy. The M1 Abrams is the most powerful heavy battle tank in the world. It can shrug off bullets and rockets and keep on rolling. Josh is like that M1. He can survive without air, falling off mountains and can literally leap between buildings.” He pauses. “But open the tank’s hatch and get inside it … and you can totally incapacitate it with a couple, well-placed kicks.” He pauses ag
ain. “Elizabeth, you have access to his hatch.”
Sheri finishes, “You’re the only person who can shut down superman.”
“But I love him.”
“I know that … but he doesn’t.” Sheri shakes her head. “And that’s not a healthy place for your husband to be. Particularly when he’s being stalked by a hot astronaut who’s offering him the job of his dreams … among other things.” With a challenging expression, she adds, “Comprende?”
50
MOSCOW
After staying an extra day on the island, Wendy flies back to Houston and goes straight to the Planetary Defense Headquarters. Well-rested and sporting new eagles on her uniform, she stops in to see Admiral Meadows.
He shakes her hand. “Congratulations Colonel, it’s well deserved.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“The administrative change of command will happen tomorrow, but of course Colonel Dale will remain on the station as long as needed for the turnover.”
“Sorry about missing the TELEMED demo.”
“You deserved some time off before your six-month tour. The demo went well. I authorized them to start making the modification, but this afternoon’s meeting will give you one last opportunity to approve it before you boost.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Turan’s still here in Houston but leaves for New York tomorrow. Recommend you see him before he departs for a face-to-face to cover the,” he pauses for emphasis, “other issue before you launch.”
“Yes sir.” She pauses. “Is Elizabeth Fuze still in Houston?”
“No, she left right after the test but she’ll be back for the wrap up meeting tomorrow.”
“Thank you sir, I’ll catch Dr. Turan.”
Sheri likes traveling with Christoff. They fly first class and stay in a five star hotel in Moscow. Arriving just in time for the state dinner, Sheri chooses an elegant cocktail dress, but one that highlights her assets.
Christoff offers her his arm as they enter the state hall. Elegant and lavish, it looks more in line with the old imperialist Russia. The cocktail party prior to dinner is in full swing with a live band and bar. As they come down the steps, Christoff says, “You’re very beautiful. I’m sure even in Russia, however, someone will recognize you.” He frowns. “And seeing you with me, this soon after your husband’s death might generate gossip.”
Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3) Page 25