by Siegel, Alex
After the rotors spun down, Aaron stepped onto the roof and said, "What's up?"
"Where is Kamal?" Bethany said.
"Unfortunately, he retired."
"Oh." She paused. "But we need his help with the project."
"Nancy will have to do until we find another scientist."
"Nancy doesn't have the expertise to do everything we need. She's just a mechanic."
"I'm sorry." Aaron shrugged. "I couldn't let Kamal stick around after what he did. We'll try to replace him quickly."
"That's not acceptable, sir," Bethany said. "Please, call the legate."
"You want to go over my head?" He was surprised.
"We must, sir. I'm sorry."
Aaron took out his phone and called Ethel.
She answered, "Hello?"
"We have a problem, ma'am. I just retired Kamal."
"That's very sad news." She sighed. "But what's the problem?"
"The twins need more help with their project."
"Yes, ma'am," Bethany said. Her voice came through the telephone. Somehow, she was using the wireless technology in her head to tap into the call. "We need a lot of help. We'd like all the scientists in the division to come to Chicago immediately."
"What?" Ethel said. "That's ridiculous."
Aaron couldn't agree more.
"We intend to construct the most technologically advanced object in existence," Bethany said. "We need the brightest minds assisting us."
Ethel paused. "But the entire division is very active now. We've never been busier. Those scientists are needed for missions."
"That activity is because of us, ma'am. It will get worse until we finish. The more help we have, the quicker that will happen."
"But all of them?" Ethel whined. "Let's compromise. I'll give you ten. The rest can shuttle between cells."
"Fifteen."
"That leaves six scientists to cover twenty-one cells! It won't work."
"We must insist, ma'am," Bethany said. "You know how important this is. Please, don't force me to talk to your Boss."
Ethel groaned. "Fine. Your fifteen scientists will arrive tomorrow. Take my right arm while you're at it. Bye." She hung up.
Bethany and Leanna walked down the stairs and disappeared from sight.
Smythe turned to Aaron. "These are interesting times."
Aaron nodded. "I need to make sure fifteen hotel rooms are available. Wesley warned me we'll have even more company soon."
"How much company?"
"The specific word he used was 'everybody.'"
"That's a lot of company, sir." Smythe furrowed his brow.
"Yes," Aaron said. "I suppose the good news is that this crisis will be over soon, one way or another. We'll win, or we'll die."
"Isn't that always the way?"
* * *
The Fifth Corner of Freedom sat stewing in his office in the Pentagon. He was the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a very powerful figure in the federal government.
Listening to the speech from President Haley had made the Fifth Corner quite angry. It wasn't so much that the mission had failed. He had faced failure before and knew better than to let it eat at him. His real problem was that he still didn't know why it had failed. A faceless, nameless, and exceptionally powerful adversary was out there. It certainly wasn't the Secret Service or the FBI as Haley had claimed. It probably wasn't a government agency at all.
An envelope was shoved under the Fifth Corner's office door. He ran over and grabbed it. The dense, hard material was so hot it stung his fingertips. He carefully fished out the scrap of paper inside.
It read, "Wee fownd ure ennemmee. Thay ar inn Shickago. Go ther and kill them alll. - frend"
Another envelope was shoved under the door. The Fifth Corner frowned. He had never received two at once. He picked up this envelope and found it was even hotter than the first one.
The note inside read, "But furst, their R sum peeple yoo need to meeet. Allys hoo will make shure yoo suckseed next tyme. - frend"
TO BE CONTINUED IN... GRIM REFLECTIONS
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Tawni
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One