Buried in the Sky

by Ryan Mullaney

  Was it April that informed on her? Was it Lincoln?

  She blinked the idea away, the idea that the stack of papers stuffed into the manila folder was indeed a detailed report of her excursions for Clark. It could have been anything.

  Simone decided not to ask what was in the file. She didn't want to give away that she was covertly digging for information on who this Dr. Mabry was and what he wanted from Simone.

  Instead, she said, "I can explain the less ... less proud moments, if that's what you'd like."

  Dr. Mabry set the folder aside. "I'm not interested in all that. It's just a bunch of papers. None of that is you."

  Simone considered the words -- words she enjoyed hearing. But they were still just words. The fact that a folder on her existed meant that someone was interested in all that, a fact Simone could not ignore.

  "To be honest, I'm not really sure why I was asked to come here," she said. "Nobody ever told me to before, and if there was ever a time I probably should have met you, it was one of those other occasions."

  "What makes this occasion different?" he asked.

  Try as she might, Simone couldn't shake the sense that she was being interrogated. She adjusted herself in the chair once again. "I'm speaking to you. That's different."

  "What besides that? What about the circumstances leading up to your arrival here?"

  Simone wanted out even more than she’d wanted out of the nurse's exam room. She thought of the bargain she'd made with Clark, a condition she began to regret.

  "I know what I'm getting into this time," she lied. "And I'm healthier and sober, if that counts."

  "Those are certainly positives," he said. "What about the things that are the same?"

  "Such as?"

  "How do you feel about the team you're working with?"

  Simone rubbed her sweaty palms on her pant legs. "Safe," she said, not sure if that was a lie or the truth. "Lincoln saved my life. April saved my life. I'd trust them to do the same again."

  Dr. Mabry scratched his beard, as if Simone's reply was not what he was expecting to hear. "Do you feel that your working relationship might be compromised in any way?"

  "Our success in retrieving the artifacts we are sent to retrieve has not been affected," she said. "Actually being out there in the field is not the same as talking about it here. A lot happens that you can't plan for, but we make it work."

  "There was a ... disagreement last time you were out with April Farren. What can you tell me about that?"

  "That we weren't on an official mission," Simone said. "We've had disagreements in the past, but when it comes to the job, the job gets done."

  "By any means necessary?" Dr. Mabry asked.

  Simone paused, considering the implications of the question. It seemed then that the interrogation was less about simply whether or not Simone and April could work together, and more about if Simone had the fortitude to work in the same way as April. Could she torture a man for information? Could she kill again?

  "My number one goal," Simone said, "is for the three of us to make it home alive and with whatever artifact we were sent to bring back. There is no acceptable alternative."

  _____

  The forty-minute session felt longer than four hours but came to a blessed end with a knock at the door and a request for Simone to join the rest of her party on the tarmac.

  Simone stepped outside and pulled her sunglasses down to shield her eyes from the fierce Florida sun. Her escort took her to a spot where Lincoln stood with Clark, and then the escort left.

  At first, no one said anything. It was nearly impossible to hear over the roar of the engine on the small private jet that had just arrived. Clark strode toward it, leaving Lincoln and Simone.

  Lincoln turned to Simone. "How you feeling?"

  She searched for a word that meant 'considerably less enthusiastic than before'. "I'm ready," she said.

  "Hey," he said with a cautious, apprehensive quality to his word. "About April..."

  Simone waved her hand between them. "What happened, happened. I don't hold it against her."

  "I just want to say that she's had some time to herself, too, and she's better now. I've known her a long time, and I can see it. She doesn't hold it against you, either, Simone."

  "I'm glad." She couldn't think of anything else to say, and didn't want to say anything else on the matter in the first place. All she wanted to do was get on the flight to Peru and find the meteor fragment.

  A sudden pang of regret ran through Simone as she stood there next to Lincoln, watching and waiting for the plane's door to open.

  She turned to him and took off her sunglasses to look him in the eyes. "Um ... I'm bad at this, but I owe you an apology."

  "What for?" he asked.

  "I was pretty messed up last time. I probably made things a lot harder for you than I should have, so I apologize for that. I should have said something sooner, but..."

  "It's okay, Simone."

  "No, it's really not," she said emphatically, raising her voice even louder over the sound of the aircraft nearby. "I could have got you hurt. I did get you hurt – what am I even saying?"

  Lincoln smiled. "I'm better now, and I'm glad that you are, too."

  Simone sighed, finding it far more difficult to get her thoughts out in a coherent way than she expected. "I guess I'm trying to say ... I can't take credit for us both being here today, but if things went a different way and we weren't so lucky, that would have been my fault and no one else's. I was reckless and stupid, and you shouldn't have stuck by me ... but I'm glad you did."

  "What did you think I was going to do?" His question sounded rhetorical, as if there could be no other option.

  Simone stepped closer, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you."

  They both turned at the sound of the small private jet's door opening.

  Out stepped a woman with a wild mass of red curls blown into chaos by the wind, and tattoos running up both arms, disappearing under the sleeves of her tee-shirt. She turned to where Simone was standing.

  Simone felt her heart quicken as she watched April Farren descend from the plane.

  Following April, three others exited – a man with slick black hair and a confidence about him, a woman with a high blonde ponytail and reserved demeanor, and a barrel-chested man with no sleeves, no hair, and a look in his eye that resembled that of a caged beast waiting to be unleashed on his prey.

  Simone's head tilted toward Lincoln. "What's this all about?"

  She looked at him when he didn't reply.

  "I have no idea," he finally said.

  6.

  Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, United States

  Little was said among the group as they were taken by four armed escorts into a room Simone recognized as the one Clark had led her and Lincoln to earlier that day.

  The armed escorts waited outside the locked door. The seven others – Simone, Lincoln, Clark, April, and the three strangers from April's flight – crammed into the room that had just one table and one computer and precious little else.

  Simone leaned against the wall next to Lincoln. She took note of April's placement between Lincoln and the three strangers.

  Clark stood at the center of the room, everyone else in a semi-circle around him. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for all being here. Time is unfortunately a commodity we cannot afford to waste, so I will be quick with the formalities. Due to the nature of this expedition, our governments, the United States and Great Britain, will be working closely together on the retrieval of the meteor fragments that have been spotted in various parts of the world.”

  “Can't get much closer than we are in here, am I right?” The man with slicked-back black hair grinned and elbowed April on one side and the large man on the other.

  Clark waved a hand toward him. “Allow me to introduce Vincent Crowden and his colleagues, Iris Pike and Warren Robinson.” He turned to his crew. “You know April Farren. You don't know Lincoln Lewis and S
imone Cassidy.”

  “Aye, but we do,” Vincent said, nodding toward Simone. “I know of your work done in Cambodia, and your research on the Egypt dig before that.” He leaned forward and extended a hand.

  Simone reached over and shook his hand. “Pleasure.”

  “All mine,” he said. “I look forward to working together.”

  She didn't have the heart to tell him that she’d never heard his name in her life. Perhaps he had an archaeological background, which would explain his presence in the room at that moment as Clark continued the mission statement.

  “These particular meteor fragments, as discovered by the British authorities, present a unique … shall we call it an imperative?”

  “Of what sort?” Lincoln asked. “Radiological, biological?”

  “The destructive potential of the previously unknown element is not comparable to any force that we know of,” Iris Pike chimed in.

  Simone blinked. “I'm sorry, what?”

  “I'm afraid Iris is correct,” Clark said. “The makeup of this particular matter is thoroughly uncommon. I'd say it's unlike anything we've seen before, but I have seen it with my own eyes, once before, quite a long time ago. It was discovered by my colleague at the time, Dominic Cassidy.”

  The floor dropped out from under Simone.

  Clark fixed his gaze on her. “A small piece of this meteor could power this entire complex for well over a year. It's an energy source of unparalleled power. If it were to be weaponized...” He turned to face Iris, giving a slow, solemn nod of his head. “The results could be catastrophic on a level we've never before seen.”

  Simone drew a breath. The room felt much smaller than it had when she'd walked in.

  “Therefore,” Clark continued, “it is of the greatest importance that these fragments be located and retrieved as quickly as possible. This would be traditionally accomplished with a single unit, but our governments have both agreed that circumstances dictate the necessity of additional numbers.”

  “Can it be weaponized?” Simone asked, knowing the answer would tell her whether or not an attempt had already been made in the past.

  “It can,” Clark said, leaving no room for debate. “And if just one of the meteors that have been sighted falls into the wrong hands, it will be.”

  “Hold up,” Warren said. “If there are more out there, why are we all working on finding the same one?”

  “I was about to ask the same thing,” April said. “There's at least two out there.”

  “Because the one spotted in Asia cannot yet be confirmed,” Clark said. “No one saw it land. They saw the streak of light in the sky and that was all. Until we have more concrete data, Peru is the priority.”

  “Who else knows about this?” Lincoln asked. “I mean, who knows what it is and what it's capable of?”

  “That information is classified,” Clark said. “But I would prefer that number to remain small. It is those of us in this room, and the British team leader, Briony Black, who will remained stationed in London, as I will remain here. No one else is to know of your purpose in Peru. Is that understood?”

  The question was addressed to the room as a whole. All nodded in agreement.

  “I need a verbal confirmation.”

  All sounded their agreement.

  “One further order of business,” Clark said. “To avoid the possibility of confusion, orders in the field will come from Lincoln Lewis. That goes for all parties, no exceptions. Second in command is Vincent Crowden. Is that understood?”

  All said yes.

  “Very well. The flight leaves in twenty. Be ready.”

  He knocked on the door and it was opened by one of the armed guards. Clark held the door open for all to exit, all except Simone.

  “Wait,” he said as she neared the door.

  Simone stepped off to the side to let the others pass. The British trio exited, and behind them was April. She exchanged a look with Simone, and then left the room.

  Simone didn't know what the look meant, if it meant anything. It was merely the two locking eyes for only the briefest of moments. It could have been something, or nothing at all.

  Once the room was empty save for Clark and Simone, the door was again shut tight and locked from the outside.

  The sound of the lock was drowned out by the silence between the two.

  “Dr. Mabry gave me his recommendation on how we should proceed,” Clark said at length.

  “How is that?” Simone asked, already knowing the answer. She would not be permitted to join the others. That was why she wasn't given the lead on the mission. Lincoln always deferred to Simone's professional judgment, yet he was the one tasked to lead.

  “I happen to agree with Dr. Mabry,” Clark said.

  Simone readied a defense in her head. She had to convince him that she was –

  “Crucial to the completion of the mission, I believe is the phrase he used.”

  Simone's jaw hung open. “What?”

  “He can see it the same as I can. There is nothing that will stop you when you set your sights on a goal. We need people like you in the field, Simone, people who don't believe there isn't a way around an obstacle, people who question the methods of their colleagues, people willing to do what's right, even if it's not easy. We need people who aren't going to back down from a challenge easily.”

  Simone stood dumbstruck, not even sure how to feel about what she'd just heard. “Are you sure he's heard everything about me?”

  “He has heard it all, Simone. And he still gave you his recommendation.”

  Simone felt awkward standing there, unsure of what to say or what to do. “Thanks,” she said after fumbling for words. “I kind of feel like I don't deserve this,” she said.

  Clark patted her on the shoulder. “Then earn it.”

  “You said my father found a meteor like the one in Peru?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “He did. His work is why we know how dangerous this particular matter can be, whatever it is. And it was his recommendation that it never be utilized in warfare. To this day, it has not been.”

  “Holy crap,” Simone said under her breath. All of a sudden, coming back to work with Clark seemed like a whole lot more than what she was expecting.

  “You better get ready,” Clark said. “But before you do, the name you are looking for is James Smith.”

  Simone turned her head sharply toward Clark. “James Smith? That's who...”

  “That is indeed the name of the man you requested. Now, I cannot confirm or deny that he is still with us, nor do I know where he would reside if he was, but that is his name.”

  “Thank you,” she said, wondering how to go about finding him. There had to be thousands of James Smiths in the country. Tens of thousands, even. And the man could very well be dead.

  Clark knocked for the door to be opened. The armed guards then escorted Simone out of the building and toward the waiting flight to Peru.

  7.

  Somewhere over the Caribbean

  Soon after the passengers were allowed to unfasten their seat belts, Simone unbuckled but remained where she sat, staring out the window.

  As the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea passed by far below, her thoughts went to James Smith, and questions about whether an attempt to locate him was worth the considerable effort it would undoubtedly take. The task seemed Herculean, if not Sisyphean. There was no assurance that she would ever be able to track him down, whether he was alive or dead.

  She thought about calling her best friend Georgia Gates, but shelved the idea just as soon as it came to her. A phone call would have to wait until she had more privacy, and a flight with double the usual number of passengers rendered the opportunity to place a covert call practically non-existent.

  The sudden appearance of someone sitting down next to her startled her back to reality.

  "Vincent," she said to the man who plopped down in the seat next to her.

  "Ever been to Peru before?" he asked
nonchalantly.

  She considered how to politely tell him that she wasn't in the mood for conversation. Then April walked by, moving past from the front to the back.

  Simone shifted her focus to Vincent to avoid eye contact with April. "Nope. Have you?"

  "First time for everything," he said.

  "I suspect it's not your first expedition of this sort, is it?"

  He shook his head. "Lost track of how many it is, to be honest. Been at it for seven years now. They all sort of blend together after a while." His eyes looked a bit deeper into hers. "Take it this is not your first, either. A mission of this sort."

  Wheels spun in Simone's head. This man knew about what she did before she started working for Clark, but seemed totally in the dark about everything since then.

  She decided that was good.

  "You said you heard about Cambodia," she said to shift the conversation. "Is archaeology an interest of yours?"

  "In another life," he said. "I keep up with it even though my focus has changed. Saw your name in the papers. Magazines and whatnot, you know? Didn't expect to see you here, but I guess if your dad was the one who found a similar meteorite, it makes sense."

  She shrugged, playing up her innocence. "That's why I'm here."

  "It could be dangerous," he said. "I expect it will be."

  "Won't be the first time."

  "So, you have done this before." His question was more of a statement. "Is that why I haven't seen your name in the papers and magazines lately?"

  "I've been away," Simone said, and left it at that.

  "I thought maybe you died," he joked.

  Simone smirked. "Maybe I did."

  Vincent hesitated, then laughed, apparently unsure if what Simone had said was in fact a joke.

  "I'm going to rest my eyes for a while," she said. "It was nice chatting with you."

  "Likewise." Vincent got up from the seat. "Enjoy your rest."