by AJ Rose
“Well,” she sniffed. “Thank you for recognizing your chauvinism. But I haven’t made it easy for you to get my opinion on the plan, since I seem to disagree with everything you want to do.”
He smiled ruefully. “I know.”
“Maybe you should let me in on the rest of the plan now, since I’m not fighting you anymore.”
He sat straighter, stretching his back. “Basically, do whatever we have to do to get to Seattle. Or at least to a place with power. Once we get that far, it’ll be just like any other trip.”
She chuckled. “First stop is a laundromat. I’m sure by the time we get to civilization, our clothes will be walking on their own.” Her expression turned somber. “You could probably wear Russ’s things,” she said softly. “They’d fit you, I think. No reason to waste them.”
He squinted into the trees, looking for Elliot. “Okay.”
She followed his gaze. “What’s the story with you two? Your lab partner? You expect me to believe you’d trust someone you only know from classes to come up to my house with you?”
He shrugged, knowing she was changing an uncomfortable subject, but he wouldn’t put it past her to realize the new topic would be uncomfortable for him. Poking at him was one of her favorite pastimes, especially in high school when she’d found out he was banging the captain of the baseball team. That hadn’t ended well.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because you haven’t trusted anyone since Evan Christianson walked away when he found out I was pregnant.”
That had been Ash’s first realization there were guys out there who didn’t take honor and responsibility as seriously as their dad had taught them.
He considered the wisdom of telling Charlotte about him and Elliot. “He’s a friend. We study together. He’s smart, and he let me take his car on the condition I bring him, too. I didn’t have a lot of options, so here he is.” It wasn’t a lie, just wasn’t the whole truth. He had no idea if Elliot was out, and he wasn’t going to mention it without talking to him first. If Charlotte knew they were fucking, she might get the wrong idea about them, too. Nearly every weekly call between them had contained her question about his love life. She called it concern. He called it nosiness. But if he came clean now, and she asked how long it had been going on, she’d be pissed he hadn’t told her months ago when it first started.
“Sure, teammate,” she teased. “I believe you.”
“Maybe I listened to you telling me to get out and meet people,” he countered, playing it off with a lighthearted chuckle.
“Well, I like him,” she said with authority. “He’s not afraid of your tattooed ass.”
No, he seems to like the tattoos. Especially how they taste.
“Why should he be?” he asked, clearing his throat to cover an involuntary groan of embarrassment.
She shifted her gaze to see Brian reeling in a fish. “Ah, dinner,” she said, standing up to carry over the washtub. Ash heard Riley exclaim as she came closer, his high-pitched voice echoing over the water. Ash’s lips turned up in a genuine smile. The kid seemed to be doing okay today, in the wake of his fear the night before.
Ash cast about for the small hatchet they’d brought along, then trudged into the trees after Elliot to help with the firewood. The early evening sun wasn’t as warm as it had been when they’d stopped to make camp, and he found himself wishing his shirt was long-sleeved once he hit the shadows, but hacking at a dead tree about as big around as his calf quickly warmed him. Together, he and Elliot stripped off the branches, and Ash tackled the trunk, the little hatchet biting in and sending bark shrapnel through the air.
“Man, glad this isn’t a huge tree,” he grumbled. “I’m not used to this like I once was.”
Elliot laughed. “Getting soft from too much classroom sitting,” he teased.
“I’ll show you soft,” he grumbled good-naturedly.
After half an hour, they had a decent pile of wood to take to the fire ring, and Brian had caught another fish. The sounds and smells of crackling wood and sizzling food soon permeated the air, and they began to relax, the warmth of the fire fighting the evening chill.
“So, Brian,” Ash began. “What is it you actually do for Davenport Oil?”
Brian looked up from gutting the second fish. “I run the IT department.”
Ash furrowed his brow and turned to Elliot. “I thought you said he was security.”
“Well, that’s part of the IT department,” Brian clarified. “My people are responsible for making sure our systems are secure from external sources and idiot employees sending chain letters containing viruses.” The wry twist of his lips told Ash he was kidding. Mostly.
“External sources, like what?”
Brian hesitated. “Why do you want to know?”
Ash held up a placating hand. “Just curious, dude. I don’t know much about you.”
“Sorry,” Brian chuckled. “I’m usually careful when people start asking about my job because of the shit I’ve seen. Makes me more paranoid than I should be. Mainly, outside sources are other oil and energy companies trying to get proprietary information on our research and development projects. Davenport Oil is one of the bigger investors in the clean energy initiatives the president’s administration has mandated. President Galloway is a big supporter of decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and Steven Davenport is behind that.”
Elliot snickered. “Yeah, because it puts the competition at a disadvantage.”
“But Steven saw the writing on the wall nearly twenty years ago with our depleting fossil fuels, and he’s been searching for the top environmental scientists and engineers to develop a source of clean energy that will make oil production and consumption obsolete. Or that was the hope.” He pulled a face.
“Won’t that hurt his business, not help it?” Charlotte asked. “I mean, if he’s owner of a major oil corporation, wouldn’t it be stupid to get the public onto another kind of power?”
Brian nodded. “In one way, yes, he’s inventing himself into obsolescence. But if he’s responsible for creating new clean energy technology and can secure the patents on the source of electricity the American public ends up using to replace our current habits, he’d be one of the most powerful businessmen in the world.”
“He already is,” Elliot mumbled.
“The idea is that President Galloway is pushing for other forms of energy, but it’s too slow. It’s taking way too long to come up with alternative technology that can transition the country from our dependence on oil into something more environmentally sustainable, and at this rate, we’ll run out before we have a replacement. So Steven is working hard to spearhead the revolution of our power sources so we don’t end up….” He trailed off.
“In a crisis situation,” Ash finished drily.
“Yeah.” Brian cleared his throat.
“So other companies are trying to, what, steal the research Davenport is trying to get going?” Charlotte asked.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Brian hedged. “It’s a fiercely competitive market, so those in it are willing to do just about anything to get an edge. If that means wooing the better scientists and engineers to their teams, they’ll spy on those people to discover their loyalties and offer enticements to exploit that. They’ll try to get into the competition’s systems to see if they’re on to something potentially more successful than their own research. And it’s not just companies vying to be the first; other countries are in on the act, too. If, say, China can develop the method first, we’d all be subject to international agreements, making China the unquestionable leader of the superpower countries. And the Chinese are not above hacking into various systems and stealing the information they need.”
Ash stared at him. “You’re talking about more than just corporate espionage. You’re talking about international spy shit.”
“Yep, pretty much,” Brian answered. “My job is to hire the people who are smart enough to anticipate all their peopl
e. Basically, my hackers have to be better than their hackers to protect our proprietary research and keep ourselves at the top of the heap for inventing sustainable energy that catches on, is affordable to the public, and is something our government can afford in terms of replacing our current infrastructure. But seeing as they can’t even keep the current infrastructure in working condition.…” His tone took on a bitter edge. “Obviously,” he said, gesturing to the night. “We wouldn’t be in this position if they’d fixed the damn power grid decades ago when its vulnerability was first realized.”
“So who do you think is responsible for this?” Elliot asked. It was the first time any of them had considered the implications of their situation on the wider population, beyond basic survival.
“My guess would be the Chinese,” Brian said. “They’re the most underhanded, and in the last twenty years or so, despite the US actually trying to build them up economically, China seems to think we have it out for them.”
“Huh?” Ash asked. “Why?”
“Don’t know.” Brian shrugged, finishing with the fish and carefully laying the fillets in the pan beside the ones already cooking. He walked over to the spigot sticking out of the ground beside the useless electrical post every campsite had and ran his hands under the water, still talking. “There’ve been tensions around the US-China Pacific partnership, and despite China being one of our biggest trade partners, there’s this sort of mindset that the US is trying to undermine them. I don’t begin to understand all the nuances of diplomatic relations. All I know is that whenever there are trade talks between our two countries, hacker attempts go up. There’s a big cyber security firm in the US that put out a report a couple years ago, saying the Chinese government is actually sponsoring cyber attacks on US companies, and they even said it’s a branch of the Chinese military involved. I wouldn’t take all that too seriously, except one of the companies they routinely target is Davenport Oil. I’ve seen firsthand the way they get information, and believe me, it’s not only unethical, it’s highly illegal.”
The group was silent for a long stretch. Then Ash asked quietly, “Is there any reason to believe the Chinese have an interest in EMP weapons?”
When Brian had asked the night they broke into Bass Pro how Ash had known in advance about the threat to be able to build his Faraday cage, it hadn’t occurred to him why Brian might have recognized the equipment for what it was. Maybe he knew something about it, given the technology for which he was responsible. Ash knew if he asked Marvin, he’d get way more information than he’d know what to do with and a whole host of ideas about EMP threats all over the world. Marvin was nothing if not passionate about his research. But a shorter, condensed version might be helpful, and Brian sounded like he was in a position to know. Then, when they reached Seattle, Ash could ask specifics of his uncle and perhaps avoid the rabbit hole Marvin was bound to try and take him down.
“Oh yes,” Brian answered. “There’s an international prohibition on putting EMP nukes into orbit, but I guarantee you many countries have them, us included. I would bet my stake in the company China does, too, and if they don’t, it’s possible they hacked someone else’s and used it against us. But what’s more, as far back as ten years ago, there’ve been news stories saying the Chinese military was testing low-altitude EMP equipment in order to attack US carriers stationed near Taiwan. Taiwan broke from mainland China back in the 1940s, and I’m not sure exactly why, but the US is bound by law to prevent the forcible reintegration of the island back into Chinese hands. In case tensions there escalate, China has been developing EMP weapons to use against specific targets. Because they’re not actual bombs exactly, they won’t push the US into a nuclear response. If they were doing that back then, there’s no telling what they’ve come up with by now.”
“How do you know all this stuff?” Elliot asked. “You’ve never talked about this before.”
Brian shrugged again. “One, it helps me do my job, and with human dependence on technology, an EMP would be the perfect weapon. I mean, look at what it’s done to us. Two, traveling internationally with your dad, it helps to understand different kinds of politics so we know what we’re getting into, diplomatically speaking. I don’t know as much as Kelly Ferrier, Steven’s international relations expert, but I’ve been there plenty of times when she’s explained some of this to your dad when he’s about to go to the negotiating table.”
Ash turned haunted eyes to Elliot. This scared him, the idea another country was responsible for this. Would the US consider that such an attack didn’t justify a non-nuclear response? What if, while they were out here in the wind and cut off from the outside world, the president put his finger on the red button, and they were in store for more from whoever had pulled this off? What if the EMP was just the first wave and what came after was more devastating?
It was nearly enough to make him wish he’d agreed with Steven Davenport and gotten them to a military installation. Then again, those were sometimes the first targets.
Stick to the plan.
Charlotte broke into his thoughts by announcing dinner. They roused themselves and gathered around the picnic table to eat.
“I would give up my 3DS for some Cheetos right now,” Riley groused, poking a green bean with his finger and making a face.
“I’d give up my fishing pole for a twelve-pack of beer,” Brian agreed.
Riley grinned at him, then turned to Elliot. “What about you?”
“I’m good,” Elliot answered, spearing a few beans on his fork and eating them with obvious enjoyment. “I like vegetables.”
“Booooo!” Ash ribbed. “That’s boring. Seriously, what would you give up for something you miss?” He was kind of into the game. He didn’t really know as much about Elliot as he’d like, and he wanted to hear his answer.
“Okay, okay. I wouldn’t ever give up my iPod, and that’s the only thing I own that’s with me. But I guess I’d give up my car to be able to watch Casablanca right now. Or ever again,” he finished, sobering.
Ash nodded. “Good one. I’d give up my nephew for a fat, juicy steak,” he said, grinning wickedly at Riley.
“Hey!” Riley protested, throwing a green bean at him, which Ash swung at with his fork; it hit his plate. He ate it, a triumphant smile on his lips. Riley turned to Charlotte. “Your turn, Mom.”
She stared off into the distance. “I would give up everything I own to get Russ back.” That stopped them in their tracks, and they stared at her, then turned to their food, chagrined. She seemed to notice the mood she’d tanked, so she shrugged an apologetic shoulder. “Or the van for some ice cream. The good stuff that’s like ten bucks a pint.”
Ash finished eating and took his plate to the lake to dunk it. When he was done, he went to the van to rummage, returning to the table with the box of Ho Hos he’d picked up before they left.
“It’s not a boyfriend or a movie, but maybe it’ll help,” he murmured, passing them out. There weren’t enough for everyone to have two, so he dumped the remaining packages in the middle of the table, grabbed his, and let the rest of them fight over what was left. Crawling into his tent, he sat cross-legged on his sleeping bag to eat his dessert. He finished the rolls slowly, trying to savor them, though chocolate wouldn’t have been his first choice. After a moment, there was a rustling at his door, and he grunted a question, his mouth full.
“Ash?” Elliot asked, wary. “I was just wondering what the plan is for the night. Riley wants to build the fire up, and I thought I saw a camping store on our way in. I thought maybe we could see if they have marshmallows and skewers.”
“That’s fine,” Ash answered. “I’m going to bed.” He didn’t want to admit he was planning on sneaking off after they were all asleep to try and find gas, and scope out the hospitals in nearby Mansfield. He needed space to get his head sorted, he decided as he lay on his side and pillowed his head on his arm.
“Oh, okay.” Elliot’s shadow stayed at the door of the tent for several
minutes, but Ash closed his eyes and willed him away.
He knew he was sulking, that it was idiotic, but there was so much on his shoulders. So much responsibility, from a guy with seizures, a ten-year-old kid, a demanding sister who expected everything to go exactly the way she wanted, and the logistics of the trip. The only one relieving his burden was Brian. The fact that he still preferred Elliot’s company, despite the fear he’d have another seizure, wasn’t something Ash wanted to think on too hard. It all felt particularly heavy at the moment.
For now, he wanted to daydream and forget the very real possibility he’d never taste steak again.
9
CHAPTER NINE
Day 5
Denver, Colorado
* * *
Only the person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, rise and fall, only that person has truly experienced life.
—Stefan Zweig
* * *
BETWEEN SHOCKWAVE AND THEIR Buckley Air Force Base mirror team, plus their night shift replacements, the city sweeps for residents had, by late the third afternoon, gotten out of downtown. Corporal Chris West was grateful. He hated those high-rise jobs, where strange sounds echoed in the stairs and they lost the element of surprise after clearing the first floor. It hadn’t been too bad, though, because they’d spent the majority of the prior day at the University of Colorado’s Denver campus, and those college chicks were hot.
Now, they were moving into areas that had small, detached homes, some apartment buildings and duplexes, and quite a bit of commercial real estate, but nowhere near the number of floors. Hopefully, they’d be able to pick up the pace, especially since the commercial buildings were closed down tight.
Chris put his hand on Donnie’s shoulder as they entered the next house, letting his friend know where he was until they had room to fan out, just as Burgess’s hand was on his shoulder. With the muzzle of his M16A4 pointed toward the floor but ready to swing into action should he need it, Chris sidestepped furniture to follow the doorway to the right between the living room and kitchen of a single-story bungalow, scanning for trouble. He found no one but noted a door at the back of the kitchen atop a landing that led to the outside. Beside the door descended steps, darkness swallowing them up after a few feet. If he were holed up in a house like this, he’d be in the basement.