Light of the Last

by Chuck Black

  “Chider, you dawg!” Jester exclaimed. “You really do own this place!”

  By the time everyone had entered the lab, Crypt was already drooling all over the equipment. He looked up at Ben, confused by the array of seemingly unrelated equipment all configured into some mysterious puzzle. “What is it?”

  As everyone gathered around the LASOK, Ben stepped forward. “This is the light accelerator by stimulated optical kinetics, or LASOK. It’s a device I’ve re-created from Dr. Waseem’s research at Drayle University…with a few enhancements.”

  Crypt’s eyes opened wide, then his eyebrows furrowed. “Are you seriously trying to accelerate light? Come on, Chider. Now I’m back to thinking you’re crazy again.”

  Ben shook his head. “Not trying, Crypt—doing. The LASOK already works.”

  Only Ben’s tech team seemed to fully grasp the significance of what Ben was saying. Jake, Mick, Reed, and Senator Boyd looked anxious to be on with the mission.

  “Why are we here, Drew? What does this have to do with the terrorist attack?” Jake asked.

  “Ben has discovered an interesting anomaly that occurs when you accelerate light. Not the particular anomaly we were originally hoping for, but it could be extremely useful for what we are facing right now. Tell them, Ben…in English.”

  “There’s a very narrow range of velocities above the normal speed of light that produces what can only be described as bizarre visual effects. We didn’t see them at first because we couldn’t tune the velocities with enough precision. When I did discover them, I thought at first they were just some strange phenomena that occurred in the visual spectrum unique to light acceleration—something like the aurora borealis.”

  Ridge wrinkled his nose and squinted.

  “He said English,” Ben responded. “Anyway, what I discovered is that each incremental change in velocity highlighted different life forms.”

  “What?” Piper exclaimed. “In what way?”

  Ben seemed hesitant to answer. “They glow.”

  “They glow?” Jester repeated.

  Ben nodded. “Seriously, they glow as if emanating their own light. And every life form seems to have its own velocity associated with it. Humans, dogs, cats, mice, insects—every single species has its own associated velocity. It’s as if life has been categorized and can be identified by the velocity of the visual spectrum. It took me a while to develop a velocity tuner fine enough to differentiate between similar species, but I can tell you the species of ant by the velocity at which the LASOK glows.”

  “It sounds a little like the spectral analysis that can be used to identify gases and compounds,” Jester said.

  Ben nodded. “I suppose in a way it is spectral analysis of living organisms.”

  Sydney’s face lit up. “You can tune in to the Ebola virus velocity so we can see it!” Drew couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her so excited.

  “But the virus is inside the body,” Mick said. “Can this thing see through other substances?”

  “No, it can’t,” Ben said.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Sydney replied. “Within just a few days of becoming infected, there will be up to one hundred trillion virions inside and outside the body. It lives in all bodily fluid—saliva, tear ducts, urine, sweat. A trigger host’s body would be teeming with virions.”

  “He would light up like a glow stick,” Ben said.

  Crypt turned away from the electron microscope he’d been inspecting. “As awesome as this machine sounds, it’s a little too large to haul to four different locations at the same time while we ask the trigger hosts to stand still so we can conduct a spectral analysis on him.”

  Ben held up his finger. “Early on we had an accident that ended up being fortuitous for a couple of reasons. As a result, I recently discovered that a lens could be kinetically stimulated and set by a burst of plasma. When a relatively small electrical current is applied transverse to the crystalline structure of the glass, it becomes its own miniature LASOK. It’s set at a fixed velocity, but it allows a user to see as if they were looking through this machine.”

  “That’s what happened to me?” Drew asked.

  Ben smiled. “As near as I can tell, that’s what happened.”

  Drew was astounded once again by the absolute genius of his friend. If those arrogant kids from high school could see him now! Geeks really do rule, he thought.

  “What does this mean?” Mick asked.

  Ben went to a cabinet and returned with a bulky set of glasses. He clicked a switch on the side and handed them to Mick. “It means I should be able to make Ebola-tuned glasses that will help you spot the host triggers.”

  Mick slid the glasses over his eyes. “Wow! Like infrared but clearer.”

  “This set is tuned to humans, but I’ve yet to find a life form that the LASOK can’t tune to,” Ben said.

  “But I didn’t think that viruses were actually alive,” Senator Boyd protested. “Will this still work?”

  Ben hesitated.

  “It’s true,” Sydney said. “Viruses were first considered poisons, then life forms, then biological chemicals. Today most biologists consider them somewhere in between.”

  “I’ve never tried a virus. We won’t know until we try,” Ben said. “Which means to do this, I will need a sample of the Ebola virus in order to tune the lens to it.”

  “Do we have the time?” Jake asked.

  “Tuning the lens is relatively easy and fast. Then we’d have to build the glasses.” Ben thought for a few seconds. “If you can get me the virus, I can have the glasses tuned and built within six hours.”

  Drew looked at Sydney. “Where do we get Ebola?”

  She shook her head. “You don’t. Only biosafety labs with a level 4 rating are allowed to work with dangerous and exotic agents like Ebola. There are only fifteen labs in the country with that rating. There is no way they would let you walk out with a vial of Ebola.”

  “Would an order from the president of the United States make it happen?”

  Sydney raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

  “Where’s the nearest lab?” Ben asked.

  “The nearest lab that may have the active virus is the NIH, the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. I’ve been following their research on the development of a vaccine for Ebola. But there’s also a level 4 lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland, at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. I think there’s a new one in Boston too.”

  “Bethesda sounds like our best shot. I’ll talk to Director Ward and see what he can do.” Drew looked at Sydney and hated what he had to ask her to do. He grimaced.

  “You get me approval, and I’ll take care of it. Ben and I will work on it together,” Sydney said. “They may insist on delivering it themselves and on sending one of their laboratory scientists with the sample to ensure containment. I would.”

  “Yeah, that’s not happening,” Drew said. “NexTech has got to stay undisclosed as our base of operation.”

  He looked at Jake. This was the moment in the mission that a clear line of leadership needed to be established. He could tell Jake felt it too.

  “Drew, this is your operation. Tell us what you need, and we’ll make it happen,” Jake said with a nod.

  Drew was humbled by Jake’s trust in his leadership. He nodded his thanks.

  “Timing is going to be critical. Jake, you and Sydney need to take the chopper to Bethesda and get that virus. I want her surrounded by six fully armed soldiers while she’s in custody of the virus. This should give the NIH at least some level of assurance. If they insist on sending an escort, then he stays at NexTech with no communication until this is over. Once you get the virus transported back to NexTech, prepare your men at Fortress East for tagging our targets. Based on the population distribution, you’d better prep three teams for assault in case our East Division has to cover three zero points.”

  “Depending on timing and the number of men we h
ave to send out to tag targets, those three teams could be lean—twenty to twenty-five soldiers each,” Jake said.

  “That’ll have to do.” Drew turned to Jake’s second-in-command. “Mick, you need to get on a charter back to Fortress Central and manage operations there. We’ll use Teterboro Airport, not LaGuardia. Geographically you’re going to have the greatest challenge. You’ll need to cover any target tagging and zero-point assaults west of Chicago to east of Phoenix.”

  “You got it,” Mick replied.

  “West Division will take from Phoenix west. Can Sanchez handle this?” Drew asked Jake.

  “We’re not fully equipped there yet, but the men are solid. I’m confident in Sanchez, but I recommend having Fortress Central tag all targets west of Chicago and have Sanchez focus on getting his assault teams ready,” Jake replied.

  “That makes sense. That way we can deliver the RFIDs to just two locations.” Drew turned to Reed. “Once you get the RFIDs back to NexTech and programmed, deliver them to Fortress East then Central. Then I want you back at CIA headquarters in Langley. I want eyes and ears there and direct access to resources if we need them. I’ll remain at NexTech to coordinate efforts and work out details with Ben and his team until the LASOK glasses are built, then I’ll join Jake at Fortress East and command one of the assault teams. Sydney, I need you to be the courier of the glasses to Fortress Central and West. You also need to be prepared to brief our assault teams on potential Ebola contamination. I’m going to have Ward get the CDC to run emergency deployment exercises so they’ll be ready to deploy for real as soon as the terrorists are taken out.”

  Sydney nodded.

  Drew scanned the faces of his team. “Any tech you need, try to get it here or from trusted, private, and local sources. Keep in contact with NexTech as Ben and his team hone in on terrorist movement and zero-point identification. Ben, when the terrorists begin to move, get us your predictions of the locations for the four zero points immediately. Even if they’re not accurate, it will get our assault teams moving in the right direction. You can fine-tune the locations as we move. Reed, we can’t deploy men to tag targets until we get those RFIDs. Here’s Director Ward’s secure line. Work directly with him and no one else. Just keep NexTech a secret.”

  “I’m on it,” Reed replied. “But can we trust him?”

  “No, not really, but I do believe he wants us to eliminate this threat. Just keep your contact with him minimal.” Drew turned to Sydney. “Hopefully the timing will work out so that you can deliver the glasses and RFID tags to our Fortress Divisions at the same time because travel time west is going to be a big factor. Ben, shut down NexTech for the rest of the employees until this is over. If you need more than your tech team, do what you think is necessary. Make sure Alice bounces all data and voice communication outside of NexTech so that our location can’t be traced.” He looked at the faces of his antiterrorist team. “Any questions?”

  The silence said it all.

  “Then it’s time for us to move, team. God be with us.”

  As they exited the LASOK lab, Senator Boyd pulled Drew aside. She looked worried. Sydney looked over her shoulder at Drew as she walked on with Jake, Mick, and Reed.

  “Jake, wait for me at the dock door. I’m riding with you to the chopper,” Drew called.

  “Will do,” Jake called back.

  Drew turned to Senator Boyd. “What is it, Senator? Is there a flaw in our plan?”

  “Not that I can see.” The senator crossed her arms. “If we get through this, you know that every one of these people is going to be in serious danger. Harden and Ward won’t allow loose ends to jeopardize their power.”

  Drew knew that he would be a target but hadn’t considered that everyone else would be just as threatened. “That video is proof enough. It will be our protection.”

  Senator Boyd shook her head. “Not good enough, Drew. You’ve broken just about every privacy law we have to get that, and it won’t hold up legally. Because of that, the Patriots can’t use it. I don’t think you know how far the corruption goes. Harden will manipulate, lie, coerce, bribe, and even kill to stay in power, and he still has all of the resources of the United States government at his disposal. The judicial system has been compromised too.”

  “I don’t care if it’s legal or not. All I need to do is convince the American people of the truth. I don’t really see any other option. We can either be illegal or dead.” Drew looked at his dispersing team. “And I won’t allow anything to happen to them.”

  The senator nodded. “I know, and I’ll make sure the Patriots are prepared to run this to the finish line. Somehow the government needs to be purged, and perhaps this will be the catalyst.”

  Drew began strategizing on a whole new level. He looked at Ben, who was in deep conversation with the rest of his techs. “I think I can help you with that, Senator. Ben!”

  Ben came to stand beside Drew and Senator Boyd.

  “When you can spare some processing time, I want you to run a search on all government, private, and military personnel scheduled to travel out of the country from September fifth to September eleventh. Isolate all that are unique.”

  “What’s this for?” Ben asked.

  “If you knew there was going to be an epidemic and the borders would be shut down in a matter of days, would you stick around and wait to die?”

  “Ah…like rats leaving a sinking ship,” Ben said.

  “It would be a great starting point,” the senator said. “Those would be the worst of them, the ones looking to destroy us.”

  “If we make it out of this, I want those rats to hang,” Drew said. “Thank you for being here, Senator. You be careful too.”

  She looked Drew in the eyes. “We’ll be praying for you.”

  Drew found Ben and his team back in the Blue Room, where they began analyzing Alice’s data and prepping to program the RFIDs when they arrived.

  “Ben, I’ve got to take care of a couple of things. I’ll be back in an hour,” Drew said, then went to catch up with Sydney.

  Mick and Reed were already in a taxi on their way to Teterboro Airport twelve miles north to catch charter jets to Fortress Central in Rivercrest and CIA headquarters in Langley.

  Drew, Sydney, and Jake made their way back to the van and then to the chopper. This was where he would have to say good-bye to Sydney. As they exited the van, the pilot began spooling up the blades. Jake looked at Drew and Sydney, then ran to the chopper.

  Drew grabbed Sydney’s hand. “Here I am, dragging you into danger once again. Are you tired of me yet?” He looked into her beautiful blue eyes, grateful that at last there was nothing to keep them apart anymore…except perhaps a bioterrorist apocalypse.

  “Disaster does follow you,” she said. “Or is it that you follow disaster? I’ve never been quite able to tell.” Then she grabbed Drew’s other hand with her free hand. “But no…I’m not tired of you and never will be. I always knew that God had a great purpose for you. I just never dreamed it would be this big.” She took a big breath and glanced toward the chopper. She looked anxious. “I’ll bring the glasses and the RFIDs to you as soon as they’re complete.”

  “You be careful, Syd. I mean it. I don’t want to lose—”

  Drew’s words stopped when Sydney lifted herself up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “I don’t want to lose you either,” she whispered into his ear.

  Drew held her for a moment; then they parted. He grabbed her hands once more. “While you’re waiting for the virus, I need you to do something for me.”

  “Of course.”

  He watched as two of Validus’s warriors morphed wide pearl wings and moved toward the chopper. He looked at Validus and caught the glint in the mighty warrior’s eyes. “We need you to pray. Without breeching the security of the mission, we need you to enlist every believer in the nation to pray. Pray that God will look favorably once more on our country. The soldiers in both re
alms are going to need it.”

  Sydney’s eyes lit. “Are they with us, Drew?”

  He watched as the majestic beings took flight. “They are, Sydney, and it is a sight to behold.”

  “Reverend Ray will be my first phone call.”

  Drew smiled. “Perfect. I can’t wait to see him again and tell him.”

  “I want to be with you when you do,” Sydney said with a smile that disarmed Drew once again.

  He followed her to the chopper and helped her in. He gave Jake a thumbs-up. “See you at Fortress East,” he said, then closed the door. He ran back to the van and waited until the chopper was in the air.

  Though Drew couldn’t hear it, he could certainly feel it—the bioterrorism bomb was ticking.

  29

  A WAR FOR SURVIVAL

  Drew stood on the street corner, waiting, his hands in his pockets and his glasses displaying Alice’s progress. Five blinking red dots were now overlaid on a map of the United States. It was almost 3:00 a.m. Drew wondered if he was waiting in vain.

  After a few minutes, a Lincoln MKX Crossover pulled up to the curb. Drew opened the passenger door and sat down.

  “It’s been a long time. I thought perhaps you’d forgotten about me.” The woman sitting behind the wheel turned and looked at Drew. Her dark brown eyes searched his face.

  “I’m just glad you remembered and took my phone call seriously,” Drew replied.

  “You could have picked a better time. I don’t normally let strangers in my car at three o’clock in the morning. These streets can be dangerous this time of night.”

  “Miss Bryant, I need your help,” Drew said.

  “It’s Sophia, mystery man,” she interrupted. “And if I’m going to take you seriously any further, I need to know who you are.”

  Drew gazed into her eyes with the same warmth he had when she had accosted him at the Chicago bombing. He saw the effect in her eyes as her news-anchor professionalism softened.

  “My name is Drew Carter. I’m an operative for the CIA, the kind that the US government disavows if I’m ever captured or discovered. What I’m about to tell you is bigger than anything you’ve ever heard or any story you’ve ever run.”