In Sheep's Clothing

by David Archer

  “You're right,” he said. “If I hadn't watched you print it out, I'd never know this wasn't real. I'm assuming it's pretty stable? What would happen if I dropped it right now?”

  Jasmine grinned. “Not a thing,” she said. “This stuff is so well bonded together that it wouldn't even break. Go ahead, try it if you want to.”

  Sarah's eyes went wide, and she shook her head at Noah. “That's okay,” he said, “I'll take your word for it. What about impact, or fire? I know that C4 won't explode unless it's got a detonator, but it will burn.”

  Lenny took the figurine from his hand and set it on a workbench, then picked up a propane torch and aimed the flame at its head. After several seconds, it was obvious that the flame was having no effect, so he turned it off and picked up what looked like an eight ball from a pool table.

  “I made this the other day,” he said, “but I don't really need it.” He set it on the workbench and then picked up a small, heavy hammer. He grinned at Sarah and then brought the hammer down as hard as he could onto the ball. It shattered into several pieces, and they saw that it had been hollow. Inside was one of the small detonators, stuck to the inner wall of one of the pieces.

  “You could shoot holes through it, and it wouldn't explode. It takes a special detonator that uses Triaminotrinitrobenzene and Diaminodinitroethene in combination to produce enough heat and shock to set it off, but boy, when it does! Come on, we'll show you.”

  Lenny walked into what appeared to be a steel box with a window in it, and they could see through a square, obviously thick window as he placed the clown figurine onto a heavy iron block. He stepped back out into the room and closed the door of the box, which they could see looked a lot like the door on a major bank vault. Lenny spun the wheel on the outside of the door to secure it and then stepped over beside Noah and Sarah as they looked in the window. Jasmine and Wally stood right behind them.

  Lenny reached over to pick up a small black box from the workbench and handed it to Noah, who looked it over. There was a small numerical keypad and a single-line display on the front, a red button that sat in a depression on the side, and an open round socket on the top. “That's the detonator remote,” he said. “Just push the red button whenever you're ready, but keep your eyes on the clown.”

  Noah glanced at Sarah, who looked very nervous, then grinned at her. He turned his eyes back to the clown that he could see through the window and brought his thumb down on the button.

  A muffled boom reverberated around the room, and Sarah grabbed onto Noah's arm to keep from falling as vibrations shook the solid concrete floor beneath her feet. Her eyes were wider than before and she looked at Noah as if in shock.

  “Holy cow,” she said.

  Noah's own eyebrows were pretty high, as he leaned close to the window to try to see inside. When the clown had exploded, the window had been filled with flames that were bright red and yellow, but that had lasted only a couple of seconds. He could see no visible residue, other than the obvious burn marks on the walls and on the block.

  “That's pretty impressive,” he said. “And I can see a lot of uses for it.” He pointed at the printer. “How much does it weigh?”

  “About sixty pounds,” Jasmine said, “but that's with all its tanks loaded. You can also carry extra material and inks. The compound is extremely stable, and can't explode without a detonator.”

  “Does it take a separate detonator and remote for each piece you make?”

  Lenny pointed at the remote that was still in Noah's hand. “You need a separate detonator for each one, but that remote will handle them all. All you have to do is insert a detonator into the hole on top and you'll see the numbers zero through nine appear on the display. One through nine are the channels available and you simply press the number of the channel you want that particular detonator to respond to. That programs it, then you just put it into the grip on the detonator placement arm. The computer will decide the best place to put it inside whatever you make. Then, when you want to set it off, you just press the channel button and then the red button. Or, if you choose zero, it goes into timer mode. You'll see a 1 and a 2. If you choose 1, it will let you put in a time based on a twenty-four-hour clock, and then it will ask for a date. That sets the detonator to go off at a particular time on a particular day. If you choose 2, on the other hand, it asks you for the number of minutes you wanted to wait before detonating, and you can go up to 525,600 minutes. That's the number of minutes in a year. It's that easy.”

  “What frequency does it work on? What's the chance that a stray signal might set it off?”

  “There's no chance, none at all. The signal is encrypted, a string of numbers so long that you couldn't fake it in a million years. You can have a thousand devices transmitting on the same frequency, and none of them could ever set these off.”

  “So, if I want to detonate manually, I can have up to nine devices ready to go and set them off in whatever order I want, right?” Noah asked.

  Lenny nodded. “Yes, or you can have more than one device on a single channel. As long as you're in range of all of them, they all go off at once. The detonator has a range of about three-quarters of a mile.”

  Noah said. “How many of those clowns could it make on a single fill-up?”

  “Probably about thirty,” Jasmine said. “Making figurines and such, you just make it hollow. The outside is about a quarter-inch thick, but that gives you plenty of explosive power, as you saw. If that explosion had been set off in an average house, it probably would have taken out about half of it. Walls, ceiling, roof, you name it.”

  Noah looked at her for a moment, then asked, “So a smaller object that was solid, not hollow, would have just as much effect?”

  “Or more. The compound tends to reverberate, actually build on its own shock wave. The denser the item you make, the more explosive pressure you get from its detonation. The clown was nine inches tall, but hollow. A three-inch clown that was solid, molded around a detonator, would deliver about half again as much power as the hollow one.”

  “Okay, one more question. How do I get the things I want to make into the computer?”

  Lenny grinned. “There are two options. Number one, just use the built-in scanner if the object is small enough to fit inside. Number two, we’ve adapted the 3-Sweep software that can make a 3-D model from a single photograph, so you can just take a few pictures of something, extract them into 3-D, and then print it out. Or number three, if you know how to use CAD, you can literally just design something and then print it out. The software in the computer already has about fifteen thousand 3-D images stored in it.”

  Noah stood and looked at the printer for several seconds, then turned to Wally. “I want one, and give me a couple of refills on the explosives and inks. I'll need a few dozen of the detonators, too.”

  Wally grinned from ear to ear. “I had a feeling you might like that,” he said. “Would it be safe to assume that your cartel people might be receiving some presents in the near future?”

  “Yeah,” Noah said. “They're likely to think I'm Santa Claus.”

  TWO

  Wally led them through several other sections of this facility, but Noah didn't choose any other devices. He ended the tour by leading them out into a parking area behind the building. There were numerous vehicles there, ranging from beat-up old pickup trucks to new luxury cars. Two security guards sat in a small air-conditioned office, and they waved at Wally.

  “We'll need two cars,” Noah said. “Anything special about these?”

  Wally grinned again. “Nothing like James Bond's cars,” he said, “but don't let their looks deceive you.” He pointed to a line of cars and pickup trucks. “Every vehicle in that line has a lot more power than you would expect. We're talking the eight hundred horsepower range, so don't let it get away from you.”

  “Eight hundred horsepower?” Sarah asked, incredulously. “That's pretty serious.”

  Noah looked at her, and one side of his mouth lifte
d in what she thought was almost a grin. “Pick the one you want,” he said, and then pointed at a small utility van. “We'll take that one, besides whatever Sarah wants. How long would it take to get a florist's logo on the side?”

  “About an hour,” Wally said. “We've got about ten thousand logos already made up, it's just a matter of printing it out and sticking it on. No addresses, no phone numbers; people don't pay much attention to those, anyway. I’ll get that started right now.” He took a walkie-talkie out of one of his pockets and spoke into it for a minute. “Okay, I was wrong,” he said as he looked at Noah again. “Our camouflage division has a flower shop sign ready to go. They'll be out to put it on in just a few minutes.”

  “Sounds good,” Noah said. “What about license plates, registration, insurance cards?”

  “We can put any state tag on it you want, and create registration and insurance cards to match. The van’s registration, for instance, will come back to a flower company with its headquarters here. Incidentally, any of these vehicles are disposable. If you need to ditch one, just go ahead. The registrations trace back to a dummy outfit, a dead end. If you crash one or have to leave it behind for some reason, don't worry about it.”

  Sarah walked around the lot for a few moments, then pointed at a silver Chrysler 300 sedan. “My father always said that was one of the best-handling machines he'd ever driven,” she said. “If I'm going to have that much horsepower, I want something that can cope with it.”

  “You’re going to love that one,” Wally said. “Incidentally, it’s all-wheel drive, with some very special tires that grip the road like nothing you’ve ever seen. That sucker will take a corner at seventy miles an hour if you really want to, but that’s just the beginning. Let me show you some of the special features of this car.” He went to the guardhouse and got the keys to both of the vehicles they had chosen, tossed the van keys to Noah and then walked directly to the Chrysler. Sarah followed him and slid behind the wheel at his invitation.

  “Okay, you’re gonna love this. This car is one of several that we designed specifically to help you teams escape when things go bad, or duck the local police as necessary. In order to accomplish that, we’ve added some things you’re sure to like.” He pointed at a spot on the dashboard and told her to press it. A panel opened up and she saw a dozen buttons arranged in rows of four. “The top row of buttons changes the license plate. There are four different sets installed, and each one is registered to a car identical to this one. Pretty cool, right?”

  Sarah was grinning at him. “That’s slick,” she said.

  Wally held up a finger. “But you haven’t seen the best part. The next two rows of buttons do something even more special. Push the second button, and you’ll see.”

  Sarah looked at him suspiciously. “It’s not gonna, like, throw me out of the car, is it?”

  “No, no,” Wally laughed. “Trust me, just push it.”

  Sarah eyed him for another couple of seconds, then reached over and pushed the button. She was watching the dashboard as if expecting something to happen there, when Wally said, “See what I mean?”

  She looked up, and that’s when she realized that the silver hood of the car had suddenly become a dark green. Her eyes went wide. “Did this car just change color?”

  Noah was standing stock still, his head cocked to one side as he kept his eyes on the car. “It did,” he said. “One second it was silver and the next it was green.”

  Wally laughed and did a little dance. “Isn’t that awesome? It’s called electroluminescence; it uses varying amperage of electrical current to cause prismatic crystals within the paint to slightly alter their shape and size, which results in reflecting a different color for the eye to see. Try another button, I never get tired of watching this stuff work.”

  Sarah pushed another button and the car suddenly became bright yellow. Another button turned it to a deep blue, and yet another made it red. “Okay, this is just absolutely incredible. How do I get a paint job like this on my car?”

  “Oh, you can get it, but it won’t be quite as good as this. We just happened to have the resources to take the technology to a whole new level. The stuff that’s available commercially isn’t quite as good as this, but it does work.”

  Two men came out a moment later and applied a genuine-looking florist’s logo to the van. Noah and Sarah drove both of the vehicles around to the front of the building, where a man met them with a handcart carrying the printer and several other boxes. He loaded everything into the back of the van, and Noah followed Sarah back to his house. The Corvette would be safe in Wally's care until they returned.

  The next stop was the Armory. Sarah followed Noah inside and waited while he selected a couple of assault rifles and a pair of Interdynamic MP9 machine pistols, then loaded several cases of ammunition with them into the van.

  Moose's car was parked by Neil's trailer, which sat on Noah's land. Moose and Neil were sitting at a table on his deck, with an umbrella over them to block the sun's bright rays. They waved as Sarah and Noah pulled in, then got up and began walking over toward the bigger house.

  “Hey, Boss,” Moose called out as he pointed at the van. “We going into the flower business?”

  “Yep,” Noah said. “Neil, you know how to use CAD software?”

  Neil sneered at him. “I knew how to use that when I was in kindergarten,” he said. “Why?”

  “Wait just a minute,” Sarah said, “you guys have got to see this!” She spent the next five minutes showing off the Chrysler’s special abilities, and both Moose and Neil were fascinated.

  Finally, Noah called a halt to the show. He opened the back of the van and told Moose to grab the big suitcase, bring it inside and set it on the table, and a few moments later Neil's eyes grew wide as the 3-D printer rose from within the concealing suitcase. He did a double take when the computer slid out of the base.

  “Holy crap,” he said. “Is that what it looks like?”

  “Yes and no,” Noah said. “It's a 3-D printer, and very fast, but you don't want to be making toys with it.” He pointed at the big tank. “It turns that liquid into solid objects which just happen to be extremely explosive. The stuff is very stable, and can't go off without a special detonator. See that little arm off to the side? That thing puts the detonator inside whatever you're making, and there's a way to program it so that we can make it go off when we want it to.”

  Noah and Sarah spent the next half hour explaining it all to Neil, while he played with the CAD and 3-Sweep programs on the computer and made himself familiar with them. To the surprise of no one, both he and Moose wanted to see the explosive in action, so Noah gave the okay. There were thousands of 3-D images already available in the software, so Neil chose a mouse figurine that was about three inches tall. It would print out the figurine, leaving it hollow.

  Noah picked up one of the detonators and plugged it into the remote, then programmed it to channel 1. He set the detonator in the arm's grip, and then nodded at Neil.

  The printer began working and the mouse was finished in about three minutes. Noah reached in and picked it up, flipping it casually in the air as he walked out his front door. Sarah followed right behind him, but Moose and Neil were watching closely as he tossed it from hand to hand.

  “Hey, Boss, don't you want to be a little more careful with that?” Moose asked.

  “Relax, Moose,” Sarah said. “Like he told you, it's very stable. It won't go off until he tells it to.”

  Noah led the way out into the yard and walked directly to a dead tree. The tree was hollow, and he put the little mouse inside a hole near its roots. “I've been meaning to take this tree out, anyway,” he said. “Let's see how well this stuff really works.”

  They backed off about a hundred feet and then Noah turned on the remote. He pressed 1, then immediately put his thumb on the red button and pushed.

  The explosion sounded a lot like a shotgun going off, and the base of the tree suddenly seemed to disintegr
ate into a cloud of dust and dirt. As far away as they were, specks of dirt and tiny splinters of wood managed to hit them, though without any real force. The tree itself stood for a couple of seconds, and then slowly leaned to one side and fell.

  “Tim-berrrrr!” Neil yelled, his face covered in a massive grin. “Boss man,” he said, “that stuff is awesome!”

  Moose had gone by his house and packed up some clothes for the mission, also picking up the special Glock automatic that was the twin of one that Noah carried. It was another of Wally's team's creations, matched wirelessly with a ring that Moose wore on his right hand, and would not fire at all unless the hand holding it was wearing that ring.

  Should anyone try to fire the gun without it, a high-voltage charge would be delivered through the grip, more powerful than a commercial stun gun. That person would be completely incapacitated for several minutes. They had not yet run into a situation where it was helpful, but both Noah and Moose agreed that it was a great tool for people in their line of work.

  It was almost lunchtime, so Noah suggested they all go out for a bite to eat. They piled into the Chrysler, and Sarah took the wheel.

  “Sagebrush?” she asked, and everyone agreed. She wheeled the sedan gently out of the driveway and then floored it. The car leaped forward, pressing everyone back into their seats.

  “Good Lord, girl,” Moose said from the backseat. “Lead foot, much?”

  “Hey, I have to get familiar with this machine. You never know, I may have to pick you two up out of a bad situation. You wouldn't want me to be learning how to drive it in the middle of a firefight, now, would you?”

  The in-dash GPS showed a scrolling view of the road, with a bright blue triangle representing the car. The curves in the road seemed a lot sharper on the little video display, and the rapidly moving triangle made it seem like they were going even faster than they probably really were. It seemed like only seconds before they came to the end of the country lane, and then they were on Temple Lake Road. It was just a few miles to the Sagebrush Saloon, but they were very curvy miles. Sarah put the car through its paces, and commented that the all-wheel drive and traction-grip tires made it seem like they were running on rails.