“Yes, I mean no. I mean … I don’t know.”
“Kelly, what’s going on?”
“She’s been running a high temperature for several days. We took her to the doctor. They couldn’t find anything wrong with her, but she still has the fever and….”
“And what?”
He hears her sigh. “Josh, she’s … she’s changing.”
“What do you mean changing?”
There’s a pause. “It’s her appearance. Her skin, her hair, even her eyes….”
“Kelly, you’re not making sense. How’s she changing?”
He hears her take a deep breath. “Josh, she’s beginning to look like … you and Turan.”
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GLOSSARY
CIWS – Close-In Weapon System. Fully automated, radar-guided, 20 mm Vulcan cannon shaped like R2-D2. It’s a last ditch, defensive system used on most warships to destroy incoming missiles or aircraft. CIWS you tube video.
CRISPR - Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. Cutting-edge genetic engineering tool that can quickly and efficiently edit (remove, add or alter) the DNA or genes of an organism.
DE-STAR – Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation. University of California project designed to use a space-based, phased array laser to deflect asteroids and comets. DE-STAR website.
ECM – Electronic Counter Measures. Device used to detect and spoof or jam radar signals to prevent detection or tracking.
EMP – Electro-Magnetic Pulse. A burst of electromagnetic energy that can induce an electric current in conductors, potentially damaging or destroying equipment with electrical circuits.
EVA – Extra Vehicular Activity. Crewed activities outside of a spacecraft or space station such as space walks or pod flights.
FIS – Russian Federal Intelligence Service. Successor of the KGB and similar in mission to the CIA.
Gecko – an enclosed off-road electric motorcycle with adaptive camouflage. Although fictitious, it’s based on the C1 design by Danny Kim, founder of LitMotors.
Gene Drive – A technique that guarantees the dominance and inheritance of a particular gene in a population. Gene Drive TED Talk.
GMO – Genetically Modified Organism
IFF – Identify Friend or Foe. Aircraft radar repeater system that helps Air Traffic Controllers identify aircraft on radar.
ISLO – International Space-based Laser and Observatory. New space station with: phased-array laser for deflecting asteroids, giant space-based telescopes and future waystation to Mars.
ISS - International Space Station currently in low Earth orbit.
L2 – Lagrangian Point Two. A gravitationally semi-stable orbital point four times further away from Earth than the moon. It remains in Earth’s shadow (the Earth eclipses 80% of the sun).
MacGyver – TV series character who successfully used everyday materials like paperclips to escape or beat the enemy.
OPSEC – Operational Security. Measures taken to prevent unintentionally exposing classified information.
Red Shirt – an expendable character. From the original Star Trek series where security officers with red shirts were often killed.
RFID – Radio Frequency Identification. Tiny chips attached to or inserted in an object that when interrogated by a radio signal, emits a unique code allowing identification and tracking.
SIGINT – Signals Intelligence. Intelligence gathering by intercepting electronic signals such as radio or data communications. Often done by satellites.
TELEMED – Tele-Medicine. The ability to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries virtually using telemetry and tele-robotics.
TS/SCI – Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.
CHARACTER REVIEW
Josh Fuze
Appearance: Late-thirties, multiracial, but with a body that looks like a 20-year-old Olympic athlete. His eyes are unique — steel gray with flecks of multiple colors.
Background: Ivy League educated on a Navy scholarship, he graduated with an aerospace engineering degree and became a Navy fighter pilot. After test pilot school, he chased the astronaut program, but never made it. Good at understanding people and the “big picture,” he has trouble with details. Promoted to Commander, he was in charge of the Navy’s robotic fighter development and married Kelly. On a routine flight, his fighter caught on fire and he was fatally injured during the ejection. A year later, he woke up with a new body — a genetic blend of humanity’s best genes with one-in-a-billion abilities.
Elizabeth Fuze
Appearance: Mid-thirties and a mix of Swedish and East Indian, she is blonde with olive skin. She is the beautiful “girl next door” with a trim athletic body and exotic eyes.
Background: Raised in Texas, she grew up in a strong Christian home. Her father owned a computer shop and she became a tech whiz. She studied computer science in college and played collegiate soccer, but switched to nursing. She became a neurological nurse. Her husband died in a motorcycle accident shortly after they were married. She is intelligent and intuitive, outgoing, kind and trusting.
Jesse
Appearance and Background: Unknown.
Christoff Bobinski
Appearance: looks similar to a 60 year old Sean Connery
Background: Grew up under the Soviet regime. Specialized in Siberian construction. Became a U.S. citizen and renowned expert in extreme construction. A friend of Elton Musk, he still has a love for his mother country of Russia. He is capable, confident and calm, but doesn’t suffer fools lightly.
Carl Casey
Appearance: In his late-thirties, tall with dark hair and eyes, his expression always makes him appear amused by life.
Background: With a degree in International Law, he was a Navy intelligence officer, squadron mate and good friend of Josh before the crash. Joining the CIA after the Navy, he worked as an operative but was an exceptional analyst and rose to upper management. After Josh’s “death,” he married Kelly. Quiet, intelligent and skeptical, he has a dry sense of humor.
Kelly Casey
Appearance: Early-thirties, she is a cute, freckled redhead with smiling green eyes.
Background: Married to Josh for only one year, she discovered she was pregnant just before Josh’s fatal crash. After Josh’s “death,” she married Carl. She knows no stranger and is gregarious, intuitive and passionate.
Brian Davidson
Appearance: Mid-fifties, he is average height with the body of a long-distance runner. He always wears a coat and tie.
Background: He chose the CIA because he believed he could make a difference. Beginning as an operative, he worked his way up in the intelligence community to Deputy Director of the CIA. He is a quiet, intelligent, soft-spoken professional.
Dr. Ken Katori
Appearance: In his mid-sixties and of Japanese descent, he has bushy white hair and horn-rimmed glasses, looking like Dr. Michio Kaku.
Background: Boeing’s lead engineer, he worked for several aerospace corporations and has a formidable reputation as a no nonsense engineer, smart but tough.
Greg Langlois
Appearance: Late-twenties, he is a handsome but geeky-looking African American engineer with badly matched clothes.
Background: Recruited out of college by Northrup Grumman, he worked on the latest spy satellites. After joining the Blaster team, he solved several major technical challenges. He is brilliant but socially awkward and
a little naïve.
Jessica Lee
Appearance: Early thirties, cute, petite Chinese-American.
Background: Brilliant engineer who invented the BOTIC chip that allowed cell phones to share processing power and memory, resulting in the creation of the artificial intelligence, Jen. Pragmatic, tough and irreverent with a dry sense of humor.
Dr. Sheri Lopez
Appearance: Mid-forties, petite and curvy, she looks similar to Jennifer Lopez.
Background: A competitive tomboy as a child, she became a psychiatrist to understand why she was different. She started a private practice, but had little empathy for her patients and shifted into psychology of the masses, working with the government on mass disaster scenarios. She wrote a bestseller and had her own TV show. Josh originally recruited her as the team’s social psychologist. She is strong, intelligent and task-oriented with a good sense of humor and some serious attitude.
Admiral Joe Meadows
Appearance: Mid-fifties, bald, African American, he looks like an intimidating 250-pound football linebacker.
Background: A history major, he is divorced with grown kids. He was Josh’s first fleet Squadron Commander. He was managing the Navy’s aircraft development programs, including robotic fighters, when Josh recruited him to lead the comet deflection effort. Although his size and face are intimidating, he has a ready smile and booming laugh. A great leader, who puts people first and takes care of his team.
Tim Smith
Appearance: Average height with brown hair, brown eyes and no remarkable features, he blends in well.
Background: With an MS in psychology, he served in Special Forces and became a CIA agent. His specialty was exfiltration and protecting high-visibility political leaders. He left the CIA after accidentally shooting an innocent woman while protecting a European Union Commissioner from a terrorist death threat. Although exonerated, he felt responsible and had planned to use his life insurance to take care of the woman’s children by “retiring” himself … until he met Josh and Sheri. Quiet and good at being invisible, he is confident, loyal and extremely deadly.
Jen
Appearance: None
Background: An artificial intelligence accidentally created when all the world’s phones were linked by the BOTIC chip. She was “born” when the comet grazed the Earth and created a powerful electromagnetic pulse. She lives in the world’s network of phones and the Internet. Her IQ is in the tens of thousands but she has the naïve and innocent personality of a child. She considers Josh and Jessica her parents.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Special thanks to Rick Eldridge, Cherry Meadows, Fred Miller and Lilli Stevens for providing exceptional expertise, inspiration and perspective. Also, special thanks to my now retired Literary Agent Terry Burns for finding me, and to my exceptional editors Teri Burns, Ryan Deken and Frankie Sutton.
The message inside would be lost without our brilliant and renowned advisors: Navy Captain Ken Bowersox, Jim Cantore, Admiral Joe Dyer, Susan Dyer, Stuart Frisch, Allen Jackson, Dave Lavery, Dr. Ed Lu, Jerry Meadows, Dr. Bill Napier, Nick Nickles and Dr. Joe Veverka.
Huge thanks to my subject matter experts who gave generously of their time and talent: Joe Baggett, Linda Baggett, Chris Boblit, CDR Thomas Bosy, Stan Boyd, Naomi Chuckwuk, Randall Dark, Lori Davidson, Carol Deken, Dr. Lou Deken, Reed DeVries, Jim Eisenbeck, Julie Eisenbeck, Lester Eisenbeck, Margaret Eisenbeck, Amy Hunter, Garrett Johnson, Kristi Kyle, Lee Person, Commander Jim Roberts, Brett Sappington, Dr. Carolyn Shoemaker, Dan Smith, Dale Stevens, Doyle Yager, Dr. Ann Ward, Dr. Brad Ward and David Welch. A few remain unnamed, due to the dangerous work they do to keep the world safe.
I also want to thank the many awesome reviewers, authors, friends and family who helped me craft a better story. They include Pat Barnes, Ron Barnes, Jackie Bray, Albert Comulada, Lisa Gressel, Rob Gryger, Sam Hailes, Lesia Harper, Tommy Harper, Tim Hendricks, Laura Stevens-Hawkins, Christian Johnson, Judy Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Molly Mueller, Ellen O’Neal, Patrick O’Neal, Steve Ray and Betsy Smith.
AUTHOR
Commander Dave Stevens was a nuclear weapons qualified Navy fighter pilot. He served as the Strike Operations Officer for the Persian Gulf during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. With a Top Secret clearance, he led classified defense programs, test-piloted new F-18 fighters and earned an aviation patent. He’s been to over 30 countries, 10 miles above the Earth and 600 feet below the Atlantic. Dave holds engineering degrees from Cornell and the University of Michigan with graduate work in astrophysics. An international speaker and award-winning author, he uses an extensive network of subject matter experts – from astronauts to intelligence operatives – to entertain and educate.
Copyright © 2017 by David E. Stevens
Fuzed™ is trademarked for books, movies and video games.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information regarding permission, contact [email protected].
Cambridge Free Press
First edition of the first book in the series published in the U.K. by Monarch Books (a publishing imprint of Lion Hudson plc)
ISBN 978-0-9972164-3-1 Print
ISBN 978-0-9972164-4-8 Kindle
ISBN 978-0-9972164-5-5 ePub
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
IMPOSSIBLE
DEDICATION
INTRODUCTION
PROLOGUE
I. DEATH
1 THE END
2 DNI
3 U.N.
4 DEATH
5 SUSPICION
6 SUPPORT
7 ADMIRAL
8 TURAN
9 ASTRONAUT
10 ISLO
II. SPACE
11 LAUNCH
12 RENDEZVOUS
13 POD
14 DORM
15 ADRIFT
16 MOLE
17 CAPTURE
18 ARREST
19 DEBRIEF
20 THREAT
III. PROBE
21 BALL
22 RUSSIA
23 EMP
24 PROPOSITION
25 CROW
26 KIDNAP
27 BUGGED
28 PHANTOM
29 PLUTONIUM
IV. SURVEILLANCE
30 TURKEY
31 COMMAND
32 SOLAK
33 ESCAPE
34 GEORGIA
35 JESSICA
36 NEVADA
37 ABADON
38 GECKO
39 CONSPIRACY
V. TEAM
40 RECRUIT
41 EXAM
42 PROPOSAL
43 ESPIONAGE
44 ISLAND
45 AFFAIR
46 PENETRATION
47 COLLIDE
48 ELIZABETH
49 REVEAL
50 MOSCOW
51 DISCOVERY
VI. UNCOVER
52 CONFRONT
53 EXPOSED
54 RESCUE
55 DEPUTY
56 COUP
57 JEN
58 RECOVER
59 CONVERT
60 DISASSEMBLE
61 BETRAY
62 DEMO
63 INCINERATE
64 CHECKMATE
65 BROADCAST
EPILOGUE
HOW REAL IS THIS?
PREVIEW
THE END
GLOSSARY
CHARACTER REVIEW
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
AUTHOR
Copyright
Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3) Page 34