by J C Ryan
“Why hasn’t the story appeared yet?” Shadow demanded, more aggressive than ever.
Howard held both hands out, making a calming motion, pressing down on the air with his palms. “I told you my editor would make me verify. I’ve just managed to get a lead on this A-Echelon group. You were right; it’s a Mickey Mouse outfit, just wasting the taxpayers’ money chasing down conspiracy theories. God knows how they got this Carter Devereux clown, or how he stumbled on his so-called discoveries.”
Shadow chopped the air, cutting Howard off. “Get to the point,” he snapped. “You wanted to meet. Why?”
“I just wanted to let you know how I’m going to spin it,” Howard said. “Since A-Echelon is where all this started, I’m going to expose them first. They’ll get investigated, and in the process, they’ll open it up to everything else.
“It will look completely natural. That way you and I won’t be exposed. No one will know that we know as much as we do. It will all come out in the course of the investigation. And we can steer the investigation from the backseat by asking the right questions.”
“I don’t care about that,” Shadow muttered.
“You should. Trust me, it’s best. We don’t want the attention on us, we want it on A-Echelon and their antics.”
“Do it your way, then. Just do it, and do it now. We’re tired of waiting.”
Howard grinned. “Just make sure you get your copy of the Washington Post tomorrow.”
***
When Howard reported back to Daniella, he told her the publication of the story would only buy them time, not absolution. They had to brace themselves for the hurricane of shit about to hit them. No matter how he shaped it, some very important people, including the President, were going to find themselves in the middle of it.
Over coffee at an out-of-the-way café, he gazed at her pretty face with regret. But when she looked up at him, he was surprised to find a hint of the same emotion clouding her blue eyes.
That look from her made him think, maybe, just maybe, there is hope after all.
Later, Daniella briefed the others. “The odd thing is,” Irene observed, “there’s not been any mention of Sean and Dylan, of Executive Advantage. Could it be the Nabateans know nothing of EA? Or are they saving it for another bombshell later?”
***
On the thirteenth of March, late afternoon, Carter, Mackenzie, and their entourage arrived back home on Freydís, relaxed from their extended vacation but happy to be home. It wasn’t to last. No sooner had they unpacked than an encrypted message arrived from James.
Something was going down in DC, and they needed to get there tout de suite.
As Carter read the message to Mackenzie in their bedroom, they stared at each other.
What now?
Chapter 20 - Click of the door being locked
March 15
Kelly White continued to have her team surveil everyone in the information chain from Freydís to the CIA vault. She didn’t have any results of the surveillance to share with anyone, not even Terrance Ham. To her frustration, there was nothing of value to report, except that everyone in that information chain continued to be a suspect. In her reports to her boss, she only said she was spreading her nets wider and investigating everything.
However, when she got the anonymous package, Kelly began quietly investigating the allegations contained within. She didn’t report it to her boss. She was unwilling to get him or anyone else worked up about a potential hoax. She was even careful with what she shared with her own team.
It was early morning on the fifteenth of March when Carter and Mackenzie boarded the Dassault Falcon 7X for their trip to DC.
The Ides of March. Mackenzie couldn’t shake the ominous feeling when she thought about this day in history—when Julius Caesar was assassinated by the Roman senate in 44 BC. To travel on this day of all days was giving her an uncharacteristic superstitious dread.
Carter dismissed her fears, saying it was likely some administrative detail that couldn’t be done remotely, and everything would be fine.
Mackenzie opened her laptop when Carter gave the okay and checked the news. The moment she saw the first headline, she blanched. “Carter, this looks like trouble.”
Carter glanced at his lovely wife and noticed her shock. “What is it, Mackie?” he asked with concern.
“This.”
She read him the headline. “Secret Government Agency Uncovered: Aliens Among Us?” The story went on to expose the existence of A-Echelon, lampooning their missions, and attacking the logic of having an agency take such matters seriously. Screaming about the waste of vast sums of taxpayers’ money on the preposterous notions that some ancient relics posed a threat to our modern civilization.
Worse, it named James, Irene, Carter, and her as perpetrating a hoax to cover up archaeological indiscretions—hers and Carter’s thefts of ancient artifacts.
“Carter, I think this is why they want us in DC. What are we going to do? Could we be in some kind of trouble?”
“I don’t think so, but we’ll know soon enough, Mackie. I’m sure we’ll be able to sort it out fairly soon.”
Mackenzie kept on reading and searching for more information about the story for most of the flight.
***
Trouble was waiting in the form of Kelly White when they landed in DC at nine a.m. Mackenzie’s heart sank as two people who were clearly security agents met them and their two EA bodyguards just outside customs.
“Professor and Doctor Devereux, I am special agent Kelly White of the United States Army Counterintelligence…” Though dressed in formal business attire rather than uniforms, the badges they produced confirmed who they were. INSCOM - U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.
Army! Why don’t they have uniforms? Mackenzie had no reason to know that INSCOM staff seldom dressed in uniforms and certainly not while in DC.
Before they could ask any questions, CI White explained she was investigating the incident at Patch Barracks, and she had reason to believe they might be able to help in her investigation.
Mackenzie risked a quick glance full of confusion at her husband. She was not reassured when she saw he was just as confused. What could we possibly help with? She was calmed a little when Carter answered in an untroubled tone.
“Of course, we’ll be happy to help as much as possible.” He didn’t voice his questions. The public area of Dulles International was not the place to discuss top-secret information. He took Mackenzie’s elbow and guided her in step with the two agents.
It sounded as if they wouldn’t be long. Their meeting with James and Irene wasn’t until noon. A short detour to Army Counterintelligence offices in Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, just a forty-minute drive, shouldn’t make them late.
***
Carter’s first hint that all was not as it seemed should have been when, instead of taking the on-ramp toward Reston, the driver looped around then headed north toward Sterling.
As they pulled up to a modest home on the outskirts of Sterling, a suburb of DC with modest enough prices to attract many government employees, Carter thought safe house. Why a safe house? Nothing he saw when they entered changed his mind. Two obvious security guards were stationed in the foyer, where Carter, Mackenzie, and the two EA bodyguards were asked to sign in and leave their belongings.
Carter gave an unobtrusive hand signal to the bodyguards when one of them appeared disgruntled at being asked to leave his cell phone, weapons, and personal tracking device. Calmly, Carter complied, and the others followed suit.
Once they’d all turned over everything they had, except our freaking wedding rings—they certainly are security conscious, the Devereuxs were ushered into the dining room and asked to have a seat at the table. Their bodyguards were instructed to have a seat on the chairs outside the room.
“May we offer you something to eat or drink?” Kelly asked in a friendly tone.
“No, thank you,” Carter replied, equally politely. “Mack
enzie, do you want anything?” She shook her head, gazing steadily at Kelly, who, with her team, were seated with their backs to the wall across the table from them.
“In that case, let’s get started,” Kelly said. She picked up a copy of that morning’s Washington Post, with the headline screaming in large font about the A-Echelon scandal. She smiled as she pointed to it.
“Your names appear several times in this story,” she stated, still smiling. “I suppose that’s because you, Professor Devereux, are sure to draw attention, since you and your discoveries are so famous.”
Carter shrugged and grinned but didn’t say anything.
When Kelly got no response from Carter she looked questioningly at Mackenzie.
Mackenzie smiled as well. “I’m sorry, but the activities of our agency are top-secret and compartmentalized. Even if you have the proper clearances, we still can’t talk about any of it without authorization from the directors, or the President.”
Kelly broadened her smile. “Not to worry. I was just curious. I don’t want information about your missions or assignments. I hope this meeting won’t distract you from carrying on your excellent work.
“In fact, we,” she indicated herself and the team members with her, “have top-secret and Q Clearance. We’ve already had very interesting conversations with James Rhodes and Irene O’ Connell as well as two DARPA scientists. They told us all about your work at A-Echelon and about quantum physics, Zero Point Gravity, antimatter, and some other mindboggling subjects.
“To think this all dated back to more than fifty thousand years ago. Well, I’ll just have to repeat myself. Mindboggling.”
Though he could feel Mackenzie’s glance turning to him, he kept his face impassive. Kelly White was on a fishing expedition for something. He didn’t know what, but he didn’t intend to bite.
Mackenzie was taking her cues from him and didn’t respond either.
Finally, seeming to realize she wasn’t going to get them involved with this approach, Kelly switched tactics and showed her hand.
"You see, Professor and Doctor Devereux, we have reason to believe the incident at Patch Barracks was an antimatter bomb explosion. We have checked with the CIA and every other security organization in the US, and there is no one they know of who has the knowhow to develop such a bomb.
“In fact, none of them, except DARPA, has been working on that technology, and as far as we could establish, no one in the world has been working on it—until now. That’s to say, until the information out of the Alboran Sea Codex has been made available to them—DARPA and someone else. "
Carter’s senses started to tingle. He had a bad feeling about what was coming next, but he didn’t dare communicate his apprehension to his wife.
Kelly continued, confirming his intuition. “This leads us to only one conclusion. There must have been a leak of the information coming out of your ancient libraries to someone who has used it to build an antimatter bomb and use it against the US armed forces at Patch Barracks. That someone killed almost four hundred people, injured close to six hundred, and destroyed almost the entire base.”
Mackenzie let out a small cry and clapped her hand over her mouth. Carter, too, was in shock. He shook his head to clear his mind of the racing thoughts.
Kelly was now on a roll and jumped to something else. “Tell me about your trips to the Alboran Sea and every visit you’ve made to Europe since your discovery of the underwater city in the Alboran Sea, Professor Devereux.”
Carter’s mind was racing at lightspeed to explore the meaning of the question. Is she trying to pin the leak on us? What does she have that would lead her to that conclusion? His instinctive response was to show no fear.
“I suggest before we go any further with this, we ask the Director of A-Echelon, James Rhodes, and the Deputy Director, Irene O’Connell, to join us.”
The only indication he’d fazed her was the momentary blush of anger that faded as quickly as it came. “In due time, Professor, in due time.” Her demeanor suddenly changed. She leaned forward over the table, and her eyes were stark. “No need to call them yet. I first want you and Doctor Devereux to answer a few more questions, which I am sure the two of them won’t be able to answer.”
Ignoring Carter for the moment, Kelly focused on Mackenzie. “Doctor Devereux, please tell me about your trips to Europe, and why you went there three times in the past eighteen months.”
“I’m wondering why it is of any importance to you, but to satisfy your curiosity,” Mackenzie said in a steady voice, “I haven’t seen much of Europe before, and we were using the opportunity, while we were in the region visiting the site in the Alboran Sea.”
“On all three occasions, you went to Switzerland. Correct?”
The penny dropped for Carter. All along, he’d known something wasn’t right, and now he knew what it was. He started playing with his wedding ring, suddenly relieved they hadn’t taken that from him. It was his signal to Mackenzie that they were in danger, and she should be careful.
He wished they had mental telepathy with each other. But his Mackie was smart and calm. They’d been set up, probably by their sworn enemies, the Nabateans. Was Kelly White one of the bad guys, or did she genuinely believe he and Mackenzie had crossed over to the dark side? That they’d even dream of betraying their country? And for what? What could…
It doesn’t matter. Either way, we’re screwed. Probably suspected of treason.
By the time Carter reached his conclusion, Mackenzie had noticed his signal and acknowledged his warning by rubbing her left eye, as if something was irritating it. A sense of relief flooded him. A small comfort, that she had remembered the signal they set up, even though they’d never had reason to use it before. He could only hope she remembered the rest of the drill as he began his part.
He made a quick but discreet assessment of who was in the room, where everyone was sitting, and their body language. He made a mental note of whether they were carrying a weapon and where, whether they were relaxed or tense, alert or lulled by the exchange.
What he saw convinced him that if he couldn’t persuade Kelly to summon James and Irene, he and Mackenzie were in deep trouble.
He had to do something to take Kelly’s attention off Mackenzie. So, he went on the offensive. “Yes, we went to Switzerland on every one of those trips—Mackenzie and I love the country. Have you ever been there?”
Kelly shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say anything, Carter said, “You’re missing out on something very beautiful.
“But I now have a question for you. Why is it I get the feeling you’re not entirely honest and forthcoming with us, Special Agent White? Why am I getting the impression you have something up your sleeve you want to surprise us with? My suggestion is you stop beating around the bush and lay it all on the table."
As he’d hoped, the ploy worked. He got under Kelly’s skin, and she turned her focus on him, which allowed Mackenzie to casually look around and make her own assessment of their surroundings to use if it became necessary to get out of there.
Kelly stuck her chin out. “Okay, here we go then. On your first trip to Switzerland, you opened a numbered bank account and deposited twenty-five million dollars. A week later, thirty million dollars more, and every few weeks, more deposits were made; from Russia, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. You bought a fifty-million-dollar jet soon after opening the account. There is close to two hundred fifty million dollars in the account right now.”
As Carter opened his mouth to deny it, she overrode him. “Don’t bother to deny it. I have the account statements here, with all your personal details when you opened the account. I even have a video clip of you at the bank when you opened the account.
“You see, Professor and Doctor Devereux, contrary to popular belief, we do get the cooperation of the Swiss bankers in certain cases. Especially when there are requests from one of the US security agencies suspecting money laundering and transactions related to the sec
urity of the US and its allies.
“In cases like that, they gladly break their code of secrecy.”
Carter didn’t blink. He looked her straight in the eyes. She was lying or misguided. But which?
He’d never opened a Swiss bank account nor ever set foot in a Swiss bank, for that matter.
The video clip claim was a puzzle. Either she had one, or she didn’t. If she did, how? It had to be fake. A body double? Someone made up to look like him? He knew security videos in most stores and gas stations in the US were of low quality and easily fooled. But a Swiss bank would certainly have the best there was.
Carter managed to suppress the anger. He knew Kelly, one of her team members, or someone else who might be able to see them on camera could misinterpret anger as an admission of guilt.
Mackenzie was less successful. Her redhead’s complexion betrayed her as she first went red and then white, though she pressed her lips together to keep from expressing her wrath. Maybe only Carter knew her well enough to know what the change in her eye color meant. The gold sparks that usually sparkled in her green eyes had turned to a fiery color that meant someone was about to get hurt. He’d even swear her hair was on fire. He closed his eyes in a brief entreaty to the Almighty. Please don’t let her try to strangle the bitch.
“No response, Professor?” Kelly smirked.
“Oh, sorry, I thought you told me not to deny it because you had all the proof. Please continue.” To start defending himself and Mackenzie at this point would only make them look guilty. So far, no crime had been implied. It wasn’t illegal to open a Swiss bank account, and the numbers she’d thrown at him like accusations of something nefarious were well within his wealth. He had no reason to respond to a vague implication of wrongdoing.
Kelly slapped the table. Carter observed with interest the difference between a frustrated brunette and his own angry redhead. Mackenzie’s skin would always betray her emotion. The other woman resorted to dramatic gestures. Now she flung both hands into the air and raised her voice.