by Nancy Madore
“Let’s focus on the most critical issues first,” said the president. “Where are we at with the evacuations?”
Will looked at Clive, who shrugged. They knew when they’d been beat.
“We’re ready to call a press release as soon as we know where we stand with the mass,” said Wessler. “The evacuation plan, if necessary, is in place. Luckily there are not many people in the immediate area. We’re looking at maybe three hundred people in Gakona, and then, depending on how far out we go…”
Clive leaned in closer. “Timmons and Lilith are gone,” he whispered. “The evidence is being removed. This investigation is getting away from us.”
The four of them stood there, looking at each other, while Wessler spelled out their plan for evacuation, should it come to that.
“I don’t feel so good,” Gordon whispered, and Nadia noticed that he had gone terribly pale. He looked around and, spotting the familiar face of the guard, Kenneth Hudgins, waved him over. “Do you mind showing me where the bathroom is?” he asked as Hudgins approached.
Hudgins led Gordon out of the room.
Clive looked at Will. “I don’t feel so good either,” he said.
Chapter 48
When Gordon returned to the conference room he looked worse than ever. His face had gone from white to gray and his hands were trembling.
“You okay buddy?” asked Clive.
Gordon tried to smile but failed.
“What do we do now?” asked Nadia.
“We find out where the djinn is,” said Gordon in a strangled voice.
“Yeah, maybe he’ll walk up and introduce himself,” said Clive.
But there was something in the way that Gordon said it that made all three of their heads turn slowly toward him, almost as if it had been choreographed that way. Gordon swallowed hard. His eyes seemed too big for his face. He had the look of a caged animal.
“Just how, exactly, are we going to find that out, Gordon?” asked Clive, narrowing his eyes.
“There’s someone who can help us,” he said.
Clive’s eyebrows rose. “Do you mean…Amanda?” he asked. When Gordon didn’t answer, he said—“Please say you’re referring to Amanda, Gordon.”
Gordon looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown and Nadia couldn’t help feeling sorry for him—until she suddenly realized what he meant. He had the ring!
“We can still control him,” Gordon said quietly. His eyes kept anxiously looking at Will. Nadia followed Gordon’s gaze and was terrified by what she saw. Though Will was still, somehow, in control, it was clear from the expression on his face that he was seething inside. Every muscle in his body was rigid with anger. He was practically trembling with rage. His nostrils flared. The muscle in his jaw was twitching erratically.
“Gordon,” said Clive in the same tone Gordon had used earlier when speaking to Amanda, “tell us you didn’t do something really, really stupid.” Then Clive laughed, although anyone could see that he wasn’t actually amused. “You’re just fuckin’ with us, right?”
“What would it hurt to try?” asked Gordon. “To…just try it and see if we find the djinn?” Though he was speaking to Clive he was still looking at Will.
“What would it hurt?” repeated Clive. “You mean—” Clive turned to Will. “What would it hurt,” he repeated again, and even laughed a little. “He didn’t do it. Thank god he didn’t do it!” He turned back to Gordon. “Look Gordon, the djinn are long gone by now.”
“I disagree,” said Gordon. “I think they would want to try and influence the outcome. Timmons might be gone, but the one working for T.D.M.R. is most likely still here.”
“And what if it is?” demanded Clive. “This is a United States military operation. If they’re using a djinn for national security purposes who are we to go over their heads? That would be treason!”
“There’s no way I’ll agree to it,” Will said to Gordon. “If you attempt to do this I’ll stop you.”
“I…figured that,” said Gordon.
The four of them were clustered together near the door, behind everyone else who was sitting at the conference table facing the screen on the opposite wall. The official meeting was winding down.
“Gordon…” began Clive.
Nadia suddenly felt something at her back and she jumped. But then she closed her eyes in relief when she saw that it was only the guard, Kenneth Hudgins, moving in closer, probably to advise them to keep it down.
“Hmmm,” he murmured suggestively in her ear, “I knew you would smell delicious.” Nadia felt all the blood draining from her face as she turned to look at the officer and saw the sly grin and familiar gleam in his eyes. “You’ll have to forgive me if I seem a bit overzealous,” he said. “It’s just that it feels so damn good to be alive!” His grin turned into a full-fledged smile. As everything started to go black, Nadia was dimly aware that it was Ornias who was catching her in his arms.
*
Nadia turned her head from one side to the next in an effort to clear away the cobwebs. She was being carried into the hall in the arms of the officer, Kenneth Hudgins—who wasn’t Kenneth Hudgins anymore, because Gordon had turned him into Ornias. Somehow, Nadia managed to stand, in spite of her two wobbly legs, and she jerked away from the officer as if scalded.
Clive, Gordon and Will had followed them out of the conference room, into the hall. They all stared at Hudgins in amazement.
“It’s me,” he admitted with a nervous little laugh. “I mean, it’s not me, really. I would have chosen something with a little more…appeal, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
They all just continued to stare at him in dumb shock. All except Gordon, who was glancing back and forth between the officer and Will with growing apprehension.
“Come on, you guys!” exclaimed Ornias. “You’re starting to make me feel self-conscious!” The ever present smile—like a habit—seemed plastered to his face. “Do I have a booger in my nose?” He raised a finger to feel if there was anything hanging out of his nostrils.
“Holy motherfuckin’, cocksuckin’ son of a whore fuck bitch!” exclaimed Clive. Will took a step backwards. He looked as if he might faint as well.
There was a loud commotion coming from inside the conference room and Clive was the first to snap out of his stupor and open the door.
“What do you mean by that?” they heard McCrea yelling.
“Just what I said,” answered Patricia Molten. “The mass isn’t dissipating.”
They gathered around the doorway to listen.
“Son of a bitch!” exclaimed McCrea.
“So sending that energy up there didn’t have any effect at all?” asked the president.
Patricia Molten hesitated. “The mass…it’s gotten bigger, sir,” she said. “And it’s moved.”
“Is that as bad as it sounds?” the president asked.
“Worse,” she replied. “Basically, we now have an even larger beam of energy to worry about. And we may have actually sped things up. The energy is already beginning to turn toward earth.”
This was met with silence.
“And…as I mentioned, the energy field has moved,” she continued.
“What does that mean?” asked the president.
“It means that the destination of the beam has changed,” she said.
“What’s the destination now?” asked an increasingly incredulous president.
“We…don’t know,” she said. “It could take a few hours to figure it out but…but…” at this point a sob escaped her lips, but she struggled to continue in spite of her distress—“…the beam will…probably…hit within the hour.”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” exclaimed McCrea.
“And you have no idea where it’s going to hit?” asked the president. “None whatsoever?”
“One small change in ionosphere location could mean thousands of miles of difference down here!” she replied, sobbing openly now.
“You’ve got to
be kidding me!” McCrea exclaimed again.
“So, you’re certain that it’s not going to hit Alaska?” asked the president.
“Probably not…no,” replied Patricia Molten.
“And you have no idea where it is going to hit?” he continued.
“No,” she replied.
“Is there nothing we can do to stop it while it’s still incoming?” he asked.
She took a shaky breath. “I mean…we’ve already sent more energy into the atmosphere than ever before!” she told him. “We’re in uncharted territory here.”
“But surely once we see the direction the beam is headed we can determine where it’ll hit!” exclaimed the president.
“Not with any accuracy,” replied Patricia. “Not until it’s too late.”
“An educated guess?” begged the president.
Patricia sniffed. “Based on the distance the mass has moved, we could be looking at a change of up to a few thousand miles,” she said.
“Well, that certainly narrows it down!” McCrea exclaimed.
“Patricia, which direction do you think it will go?” demanded the president.
“Well…based on the direction the mass shifted in the ionosphere I think the beam will go southwest of here,” she said. “Which might be wishful thinking, because that would put it in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where hopefully it will do the least amount of damage. But the mass is unstable at the moment. It’s still moving, and as it moves, the direction of the beam keeps changing.”
“But even with your best case scenario, where it hits in the middle of the Pacific,” continued the president, “couldn’t that result in a pretty severe tsunami?”
“Yes…depending on where it hits,” admitted Patricia.
“At some point, will the direction of the beam become stable?” asked the president.
“Yes,” said Patricia. “But by then we’ll only have minutes to act.”
“But you can keep monitoring it,” the president persisted. “You can keep us updated on where it is, so we can put all emergency services in the at-risk areas on standby.”
“Sir, I don’t think you’ve thought this through,” interjected Max Wessler. “To set up emergency services in various places around the world as the beam moves—why, the panic this would create would not be worth the few minutes of warning we may or may not be able to provide! And have you considered the implications if this beam hits outside United States territory? It would be considered an act of war!”
“What I’d like to know is how this facility was able to put us in this position in the first place,” raged McCrea. “You must have known the risks involved in creating this technology.” He turned to Wessler. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”
“We’re not the only ones with this technology!” Wessler snapped. “Being the only nation not to explore it isn’t going to work in our favor either, I can assure you of that!”
The president sighed. “This is not good,” he observed.
“I think I should take this opportunity to remind everyone that the subject matter discussed here today falls under classified, top secret,” said Wessler. “If disclosed to the public, it would cause exceptionally grave damage to our nation’s security, and therefore it is protected under the statute.”
Everyone seemed too stunned to speak—or so it seemed to Nadia.
“All reports relating to this incident must come directly to me,” continued Wessler. He looked at Will and the others, who were still hovering in the doorway. “I will contact your department head and explain the situation. Once we have gathered all the information in this investigation, we can determine what, if anything, should be released to the public.”
Nadia’s breath caught in her throat. She suddenly felt terribly naïve. She always knew that government cover-ups occurred, probably more than most people thought, but it was terrible—and shattering—to witness the process first-hand.
“I still want round the clock updates, recording every change in activity as it occurs,” the president told Patricia Molten.
He held up his hand to the objections Wessler was clearly preparing to make. “I understand what you said,” he told him. “But I want to stay on top of this so that we are as prepared as humanly possible, without jeopardizing our nation’s security.” His composure was finally shaken, and he seemed almost angry as he addressed the head of his department of defense. “I don’t take this kind of risk to our nation’s security lightly,” he said. “Don’t think for a minute that because I understand the necessity for discretion I won’t be calling for accountability.”
Max Wessler squirmed imperceptibly in his chair. “Yes, sir,” he replied. “You can be assured that I will be looking for accountability as well.”
Will drew the others out of the doorway and back into the corridor.
“Shit,” said Clive. “This is really bad.”
They just looked at each other for a moment.
It was Ornias who broke the silence. “Well, at least we know who our djinn is,” he announced cheerfully.
Everyone turned to him in surprise.
“Come on,” he said. “Don’t tell me none of you suspected Benderman!”
Chapter 49
Somewhere in the vicinity of the Pacific Ocean there was going to be a massive earthquake. What had started as a plot to destroy a thousand or so acres of military land was now going to wipe out a much larger area in an unknown part of the world. It could hit in the middle of the ocean, or at the center of a densely populated city. There was a good chance it would land on United States territory. That would be bad enough. But if it fell outside the United States, it would certainly be considered an act of war—if the source of it became public knowledge. Which it wouldn’t.
Nadia wondered how many ‘natural’ disasters had begun this way. Wessler had said that they were not the only country with this technology. Nadia sighed, suddenly weary.
By comparison, Gordon’s actions seemed rather mild. Still, Nadia was having trouble coming to terms with what he’d done. And though Will had yet to utter a single word about it, she knew that he was still fuming inwardly.
“He’ll survive,” Gordon assured Nadia when he noticed her staring at the officer. “It’s only for a little while, so Hudgins will survive.”
That was what ultimately made Will snap. “This is it,” he said. “I can’t work with someone who does whatever the hell he wants…breaking rules left and right!”
“I did it so it wouldn’t be on you,” Gordon told him. “I’ll take full respo…”
Will punched him in the face. Hard. Gordon just stared at him for a moment, stunned, and then stumbled backwards as if he might fall. But he didn’t fall. Instead, he swung back at Will, but Will ducked the punch and sent another blow into Gordon’s gut. Gordon swung again and this time hit Will in the head.
“Crap,” mumbled Clive, glancing at the conference room door. They were still in the corridor.
Dodging blows as best as he could, Clive wedged himself between the two men until he managed to get them both to back off.
“I’m done!” said Will. “I’m not working with him anymore.”
“I’m not working with you anymore!” yelled Gordon. Clive shushed him, glancing at the conference room door again. “Who appointed him the boss, anyway?” Gordon whispered fiercely. His facial expressions and gestures were more animated to make up for his inability to yell.
“I’m following orders you fucknut!” cried Will, red in the face from his effort not to raise his voice.
Nadia couldn’t help it. She started to cry.
“Hey, come on you guys,” said Clive, “knock it off.”
“I’m fine!” said Will, raising his hands. “I just want him to know that I’m done covering for him. He’s out.”
Gordon just stared at him with what looked to Nadia like pure hatred.
“Then I go too,” said Clive quietly.
Will stared at Clive in wide-eyed dis
belief, but his expression still wasn’t as incredulous as Gordon’s and Nadia’s.
“Look man…I love ya,” Clive told Will. “I really do. And you’re right…to a point. But will you look at what’s going on around us? We can’t fight these things by the book. Gordon’s instincts are good.”
“Really?” asked Will. “Why don’t we ask Hudgins how he feels about Gordon’s instincts?”
“We don’t have time to argue about this,” said Clive. “I’m just putting it out there that I like the two extremes in you guys. You balance each other out. I admit Gordon’s getting out of hand but I think we can straighten him out. But for now we have to decide what we’re gonna do about that djinn in there.”
“I’m sorry,” said Gordon. “I didn’t want to get you guys involved.”
“Didn’t want to get us involved?” echoed Will, incredulous. “We’re neck deep in this now, Gordon. You don’t see that? You think if this gets out, we’re gonna be able to convince everyone that we didn’t know what you were doing? That you’ve been doing this all by yourself? Either we were in on it or we’re the stupidest men alive. Either way we’d lose our jobs—and probably even do time in jail.”
“We’re wasting time,” Clive reminded him. “What are we gonna do about Benderman?”
“But…what about the beam?” asked Nadia.
“There’s nothing we can do about that now,” said Clive. “It’s out of our hands.” He looked at Will. “We need a decision,” he said meaningfully. “What’s it gonna be, Will?”
“It would be one thing if this djinn was acting on his own,” said Will. “But,” turning to Ornias, “you’re sure it’s being controlled by someone else?”
“Positive,” he said. “You can see it in his eyes, clear as day.”
“It’s probably in the hands of the United States military then,” said Will.
“How do you know the person controlling him isn’t outside the military?” asked Gordon.