by Steve Hertig
Chapter 15
Prime: 20 Sept 2068
Aashif should have arrived at before dawn, and Johnston was growing angrier at each passing minute. The keys were late, and everything depended on them. A knock on the rear door pushed back her present fears.
"Come in!" she shouted from her living room recliner, and then remembered she had locked it earlier. "Just a minute!" She barely managed to get out of the chair on her first try. Her surveillance confirmed Aashif's presence before she saw him through the kitchen door's pane windows.
"You're fucking four hours late!" she said opening the door.
"Yes, Commander. The carrier arrived late."
"You should have waited until tomorrow night. You know protocol about coming here in daylight with a package."
"I knew you were anxious to have them in your possession, Commander."
She shook her head in dismay. "Is this them?" She grabbed the case from him.
"Yes," he replied dryly.
Placing it on the table, she opened it. It contained numerous small, clear vials, each full of what appeared to be fine metallic dust. Johnston picked one a random and held it up to the morning light.
"It's been a long wait for these fuckers," she whispered to herself.
"Each set of keys has to be combined with the nano weapon at least forty-eight hours before deployment. There is no failsafe," Aashif reminded her.
Johnston looked at him with disgust wondering why he was telling her what she already knew.
"I leave for the weapon cache tonight. You're finished here Aashif. Go back under the sand and make your preparations for the invasion. And, make sure the nuke delivery systems are on schedule. I'll personally supervise arming the nano weapons."
She had done it all before.
"You know I only just started the congressional briefings," John said as soon as he entered the STS lab and saw Jenny.
"Don't worry. Kate can cover for you for a couple of days," she reassured him as they met for the first time since her return from Minus. "Have a good flight?"
"Yeah, thanks. Crazy about Hudson, eh?" John said.
"But not unexpected," she said thoughtfully. "Mikael has an update from Homeland for us," she added. "Things are moving quickly."
"This woman from upline you met in the woods at Camp David named Lou Ann, she told you we had to act fast to stop the invasion?"
"That's almost right," she said. "Her name is Luinan. And she said my fractime sisters would be helpful, and implied you had good ideas. However, you were right about acting fast."
"And you believed her?"
"Which part?"
"Any of it."
"All of it, mostly, and I guess you've had some good ideas." She grinned.
"Not some kind of Minus mind control?" John speculated beginning to realize anything was possible.
"Don't think so. I think we have an ally upline. How far is anyone's guess? She knows stuff about you, me, my fractime twins as well as the enemy's attack timing and weapon system."
"I trust your instincts. It just sounds out there."
"Like everything else doesn't?"
"Good point."
Mikael came through the lab's doors without his crutch and looking tired. "Doc, good to see you again."
"How's the ankle?" John asked.
"Almost as good as new," he said and then looking at Jenny, said, "You ready?"
"Let's get started," she replied as they sat down.
Mikael began, "Good news, this morning surveillance identified Aaron Limpkin arriving at Johnston's residence in Cedar Rapids."
"That settles that," Jenny said. "She's definitely not an innocent. Any bad news?" she asked
"The bad news is upon leaving, Limpkin avoided surveillance and his current location is unknown," Mikael admitted.
"As loose as the surveillance had to be, that's not surprising," Jenny said.
"There is more good news," Mikael said. "We got three possible locations from the radiation satellite data in '65. The NRA evaluated each at the time, but the reports could have been fabricated so we're getting boots on the ground to have a better look."
"Where?" Jenny asked.
"Central Somalia and just outside Shanghai," Mikael said. "We should know something in a day or two."
Jenny said, "China will be dicey."
Mikael sighed deeply. "Can't be helped," he said. "We've got approval from the top."
"You said three," John said.
"There was a hit on an abandoned military complex in the northeastern part of the Mohave. I know we were looking outside the treaty partners—"
"Hiding in plain sight?" Jenny asked rhetorically.
"And in our own backyard," Mikael said. "We're checking it out anyway."
"Good work," she said pouring herself a mug of coffee from the carafe on the labs worktable.
"Anything new from the Prophesy's analyses?" John asked. He had heard the Plus team had some success with several translations.
"A little. The translations are tough going. However, there're a few newly translated citations regarding the physics of transits pertaining to magnetic fields. They're not sure of the context as yet."
"Interesting in light of the monopole modification," John said thoughtfully, "Keep me updated."
Mikael nodded.
"Luinan suggested Johnston would kill herself when captured," Jenny said.
"That sounds familiar," John said recalling Henrys in '58.
"Like most of the unidentified Plus bodies they pulled off the top of the Mountain." Mikael added.
"We need those autopsy reports yesterday," Jenny said. "Tye, see what you can track down."
"Yes, ma'am," the senior analyst responded.
"The plan for Johnston?" Jenny asked Mikael.
"The takedown is at 2000 tonight," Mikael said. "And your request to be on the strike team has been approved. We leave to join the Homeland and FBI teams in Cedar Rapids in just a little over two hours," he added.
"Feel like some field work?" Jenny asked John.
"Count me in," he replied.
"Ma'am, I have the autopsy report for Henrys," Tye announced from her workstation. "Cause of death is listed as the severing of the medulla oblongata, pons, and mesencephalon."
"How could he decapitate himself in custody?" John said with a shudder.
"All injuries were internal," Tye said as she cross-referenced reports from the recent attack on the Mountain. "Just like the unidentified combatants from Plus," she added.
"Sounds like an effective suicide method," Jenny commented.
"Or control method," Mikael added. "Henrys had to trigger it somehow. We'd better render Johnston unconscious before she realizes what's happening," Mikael said. "I'll put it to the Cedar Rapids team; see what they can come up with before we get there."
Jenny looked to Mikael and said, "We don't have much time."
John watched Homeland's passive surveillance monitors showing only one person still in the house. Furthermore, observations so far acquired positively identified that person as Victoria Johnston.
"Suspect is preparing to leave," the homeland agent reported receiving a communication from the ground team. "She appears to be finished packing her vehicle," he added.
"Damn. This makes things tougher," Mikael said to Jenny and John at the command post set up in a house several blocks away.
"Activate DS," the capture team commander ordered.
"We'll have high-altitude drone surveillance on her if she leaves in her vehicle," Mikael told John.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Jenny said.
"The plan is to detonate a small EMP just above the house to try to knock out any surveillance," Mikael said. "Simultaneously activated DSLADs—"
"Distributed Sound and Light Array Debilitators," Jenny added before John could ask for a translation.
"The DSLADs," Mikael continued, "should take her out for about ten minutes giving medical a shot to find and de-activate the suicid
e mechanism or at least keep her unconscious until they do."
"Not much time," Jenny said.
"Two heartbeats!" the technician monitoring the passive surveillance alerted them over the com.
John thought he could hear the two rhythms, one significantly faster than the other.
"It must have been an incoming transit!" Jenny shouted heading to their transport.
"Go. Go. Go," the commander said ordering the ground team into action. "We're only two minutes away," he added as they climbed in the black SUV.
Jenny, Mikael and John listened to the ongoing operation over the vehicle's com on the way to the house.
"Negative heartbeats," the technician on the com said calmly and then added, "Agents in location."
Johnston had just returned to the house to get the last item she would always pack- her transfer devices, when her surveillance monitors announced the increased activity around her residence. The system then classified the threat as severe in less than five seconds.
She struggled against her bulk to get quickly to the spare room where she kept transfer devices set up for just such an escape.
"And the fucking keys are in the wagon," she cursed to herself as she aligned her bulk to fit between the transfer devices. She felt a violent push just before her transit.
John caught sight of Johnston's typical suburban home as the SUV skidded to a stop in front of it. They all ran to join the takedown team inside.
"She's not here," the commander informed Jenny and John in the living room.
"Damn it," Jenny said, "they must have seen us coming."
"Ms. Scott! We've got what looks like a weapon package in the wagon you should see," an agent announced.
"Don't open it. We'll need containment for transport back to the Mountain," she ordered.
Plus: 15 Dec 2075
Lutzger had gone underground in '58 still commanding a vast organization. Things changed in the last ten years; he didn't care much about money anymore, already having enough to last a lifetime. The reorganized and now secretive Order gave him more influence and power than ever before as well as the resources to track down Zaman's commander. He lived next to Johnston for months waiting for an opportunity to get back in the operation when he discovered she had transfer devices permanently setup in a bedroom.
Cliff made transit through them and secured her upline escape route a week ago while Johnston was on one of her rare outings. Now, Lutzger looked Johnston up and down in the dingy, Plus bedroom.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Johnston said to her downline neighbor in the dim light.
"Hello Victoria," Lutzger said, hastily pressing a contact-hypo into the top of her left breast. He saw calm ripple through her bulk.
"Who are you?" she asked trying to extract a sidearm from her leg holster, but her arms were too heavy. She failed to notice Cliff already had it pointed at her.
"You know me. I'm your neighbor next door, and the name's William Lutzger." He passed Plus Henrys' TR set to Cliff as the hypo took full effect.
Johnston's eyes opened wide.
Lutzger hoped she had recognized his name.
"What did you do to me," she slurred and struggled to keep standing.
"Just loosening you up for the FBI," he said then reactivated her TRs. He had long given up on an alliance and wanted to kill her where she stood, but this would be much better.
"We can…work a…deal," she slurred.
"Fuck you," Lutzger said as he and Cliff pushed her back through the TRs.
Prime: 20 Sept 2068
"Hopefully searching this place will give us some leads." Jenny said looking around Johnston's typical suburban house.
"I don't even see a net center," Mikael said less confident.
Jenny finished scanning the living room and said, "Let's get out of here and let the forensics team do their job."
A loud thud sounded from the rear of the house; the team members closest, immediately reacted to the threat.
"Stay down! Don't move!" Jenny heard agents command.
"In here!" they shouted.
Entering a bedroom, Jenny saw agents with weapons trained on a huge woman subdued on the floor. It was Johnston.
"Ma'am, I have orders to sedate the subject immediately," the attending medic said to Jenny and started to prepare Johnston's arm for an IV.
"Wait a second," Jenny ordered seeing Johnston's condition. "She's out of it. Victoria! Victoria!" Jenny slapped her hard on the face.
Dilated eyes stared at her. "You mother fuckers!" she moaned.
"It's over. Tell us where the transit hub is located!"
"You fucking bitch," she feebly tried to spit in Jenny's direction, but spittle just dribbled down her chins.
"You don't have much time, tell us!" Jenny demanded.
The medic was having trouble getting the IV into a vein in her obese left arm even with Mikael and others holding her fast.
"And fucking Mackinik, too," Johnston said seeing John looking over the shoulders of the armed personnel surrounding her. "Thanks for finding the TIA," she rasped at him with an awkward smile.
The medic was near panic as the IV finally connected. "Ma'am, my orders…." He was ready with a syringe.
"Go ahead," Jenny relented.
The needle went into the drip, and Johnston fell unconscious instantly.
"Get her to medical," the team commander ordered tersely.
"We'll want those TRs escorted ASAP to Major Rodney Higgs, CMAFB," Jenny told the team commander.
She noted the TRs were similar to the set John and she had used to reach Plus. And the fact they were from Plus made them a priceless intelligence tool. And half-cycled, they would make the Prime-to-Plus transit.
"Nice lady," John said to Jenny once outside the residence as he watched four agents help load the gurney carrying Johnston into a waiting ambulance.
"You didn't correct her when she called you Mackinik?" Jenny said watching the ambulance leave.
"I never like to correct people twice," John quipped.
The successful operation was cause for celebration back at the STS lab the next morning. However, Victoria Johnston, still sedated, was in no position to divulge any enemy intelligence.
Jenny knew they had to act fast. The potential Mohave hub location had moved to the top of likely sites, as it seemed consistent with the trip Johnston had planned. Also, the FBI director of counterterrorism in '65, was Frank Hudson. He had personally smoothed over the radiation investigation at the abandoned, underground military complex used over a hundred years ago to monitor nuclear testing. That was no small feat given the international significance of the global nuclear-disarmament treaty.
"Looks like the Mohave location is a good candidate for the transit hub," Mikael said summarizing the meager Homeland and FBI findings from the Cedar Rapids house.
"Can we hit it before Johnston is missed?" Jenny asked Mikael.
"We've already mobilized the strike team. They'll be on location within two hours," Mikael informed her.
"Finger crossed then," Jenny said. "Master Guns, what have we got on the material Johnston had with her?"
Dutch pulled a holographic screen activator over to him. "They are nano-tech as suspected," he said activating the display showing a much-magnified view of one of the tiny machines found in the vials.
"That's just bizarre," John said seeing the intricate sensors, data transponders and six spider-like articulated legs protruding from a complexly shaped central unit.
"And these are only initiators," Dutch explained. "They act like a key or trigger to activate and program the real nano weapons. The structures you see are mainly for communication and would program each nano-weapon device."
"Why don't they just program the weapon nanos?" John asked.
"Far too dangerous," Dutch said. "Both sets of devices are benign until mixed. Each programmer can trigger a multitude of weapon devices and will keep doing so, searching until worn out or
their own program shuts down. Hopefully, they aren't self-replicating as well."
"Can we infer anything about the weapon's program?" Mikael asked.
"Nothing as yet," Dutch replied, "but something doesn’t make sense. Look at all these intricate analog antennae. A single q-trans chip would do it all with tons of effort to spare. And it's unclear how much information these triggering devices contain. We'll know more if we can capture a weapon device. They may hold all or none of the weapon's actual programming but given all the com structures they have, I'd guess, these critters hold a lot of information that needs to be transferred."
John leaned closer to the image for a better look, "Hopefully, without these little fuckers the weapons are useless. Think these are all of them?"
"I would think there would be redundancy built into their strategy," Dutch said. "We recovered two hundred and thirty-two vials: probably several billion devices in all. We can hope there are no more, but one thing is certain, programming these and matching them to the actual weapon's function is no small task. It's hard to guess how far upline the tech for this originated, but construction and programming could have taken years. If so, we have gained some precious time."
Jenny said, "Okay, let's monitor the strike on the Mohave hub from the command center on level 3. Major Timberin is meeting us there."
Before going to the command center, John stopped by his quarters to check for any communications from the congressional briefing team. He found Angstrom curled up on his bunk; the cat had developed his own internal clock in the underground complex and with free reign, John might not see him for days.
"Hey boy! Didn't even know I was in DC I bet." The cat rolled over on his back and stretched wanting a belly rub.
John checked his messages. Kate indicated all was going well on the Hill. There was also a report from the Plus linguist working on the Prophesy. They had expanded the context of the repeated references to a magnetic field in the citations they were translating and that resulted in indications that the Earth's magnetic field could somehow temporally disrupt transits.
John wondered just how that would work as he arrived at the command center still well before the planned operation. He could see Timberin and Jenny talking in the far corner away from the others at their monitoring stations.
Dutch came up to him beaming. "We took 'em out!"
John was confused. "I thought I was early. What happened?"
"The CO on the ground made the call and caught them with their pants down. Several vehicles filled with tangos were about to depart the old base just fifteen minutes ago. There was minimal resistance. I think it's over. The tech team will make a sweep as soon as they get the all clear."
Timberin and Jenny joined them. Jenny was silent for a moment, obviously still receiving reports on her headset, "Rodger that. Good work!" she replied.
"Master Guns says there's good news," John said.
"Better than good," Jenny said, "over a hundred captured along with a cache of weapon-grade uranium, and we've recovered the nano weapons, two hundred and thirty-two containers."
"Not exactly a nice round number, but obviously, a perfect match with the programming vials," Major Timberin said, ecstatic about the operation's result.
Jenny turned her head and held her com closer to her ear. "We've lost most of the captives," she announced. "As soon as they realized they weren't going anywhere they killed themselves."
"Damn," Dutch said. He leaned over the shoulder of the closest operator to view a drone image of the grizzly scene outside the base.
"Ms. Scott, com from the SecDef," an operator notified her.
"Put it through my link, please." Jenny said with a wide grin and walked away to find some quiet.
Major Timberin and John both looked over the celebrating ops center staff.
John spoke first, "Jenny was right; the enemy was complacent."
Timberin nodded. "They won't make that mistake again."
Minus: 14 Jul 2066
The café, in the save zone in the outskirts of Washington, DC, was nearly empty late in the afternoon. A derelict skyline, in the distance, portrayed what was left of this nation's capitol from Jenny and John's outside table. Their assigned Optimum officer, seated inside, seemed more interested in his pad than in them. John knew what Jenny called Minus' secret police annoyed her to no end. The Optimum was keeping tight wraps on transit tech and there were strict rules against discussing anything concerning transit tech or the fact transits even exist with the public.
But on the upside, it did feel relatively safe in Minus but John noticed the few patrons in the café still wore radiation badges.
"Did you hear there's talk of a joint counter offensive into Plus," Jenny said after sipping her tea in the warm sunshine and ignoring any potential surveillance their minder may have directed at them.
John, reflecting on the war, said, "I'm not surprised. Each fractime is so dependent on upline for its security there's good motivation for cooperation."
Jenny turned her chair to face the sunshine as a small, impish man took their order. He as well as the café had that Minus, dingy look. The post-war, drab, apocalyptic cloud hanging over Minus was not hard to miss.
"Looks like Prime will be doing the heavy lifting for a while with Plus already stretched and Minus just getting up to speed," she said.
"I hear Minus doesn't like being called Minus," John said.
Jenny laughed. "How do you find out these things?"
"I have my sources," John said with satisfaction and pleased Jenny was enjoying the peace and sunshine as they waited for their lunch.
"Prime's TR technology and tactical application research will go to the Pentagon," Jenny said. "Before the war, it seems we were just a pet science project of the President," she said dryly.
"And the SecDef." John didn't have to remind her. "Hard to believe World War III ended here over six years ago," he said scanning the distant skyline of desolate and derelict buildings; there were little signs of reconstruction. "Lucky we missed it in Prime," he added.
"Lucky all right," she acknowledged scanning the horizon. "West will head the new project at the Pentagon," she added.
"That's good," John said as an oriental woman arrived with their lunch. "He deserves it. So is that it for Chronos?"
Jenny waited until the woman had left. They had both ordered that day's special- clam chowder.
"There will be a much smaller STS effort transferred directly under the Department of Defense and run out of Langley," she whispered.
John laughed. "And you're heading that up."
Jenny raised her sunglasses to look at him.
"Honest, it was just a good guess!"
Jenny smiled. "So what are your plans?"
"You've got to be joking."
"Come on," she teased, "we've got temporal tangos to deal to."
"Can I at least eat my clams before deciding?" John said, but he had already made his decision. He would do what he could to help.
Jenny tasted her steaming chowder. "You know I've been coming to this café in Prime almost fifteen years, and I swear this chowder tastes better in Minus."
"Well I've never eaten here before, and it is delicious. Probably all the rads," John joked.
They finished their lunch in silence, enjoying the peace of the early afternoon despite the relics of destruction surrounding them.
"Any news of Carl?" John asked hopefully. He knew the mission clock was now considerably past the eruption date.
"Still early days," she said. "The data we received is still being compiled, but the whiz kids are already calling it fascinating."
"Always a good sign," John said as a little girl, pulled past them by her mother, gave him a smile and small wave. He smiled back and wiggled his fingers at the child. "How come I got saddled with the TIA discovery? Is this how history really is?"
"Come on, you're all over the net. You led the field program that found the thing. Take some credit."
"No thank you. Even Johnston was appreciative. And why the hell was that?"
"Good question," Jenny agreed. "Oh yeah, they found a present for you at Johnston's house." Jenny pulled a small, dirty bag from her uniform pocket and tossed it on the table.
John recognized it as a sample bag. He dumped out the contents. "13-C! I'd never thought I'd see this again," he said picking it up, and then looking down the barrel, his thoughts turned to Carl.
"Johnston is still under," Jenny said. "Unfortunately the first exploratory surgery was a failure. It turns out she's got a synthetic life form wrapped around her brain stem. A biopsy showed it was full of a super acid," she said showing him a short video clip on her pad of part of the operation with a close-up of the life form.
John shivered in repulsion at the clearly alien creature. "A super acid?" he asked.
"Apparently it's an acid that's extremely difficult to buffer. It has grown into her tissue, so medical is re-thinking what to try next."
"Nasty," John said with another shiver.
"You're telling me," Jenny said. "Who could live with something like that?" she reflected.
John didn't have that answer. "Same as Henrys in '58 and the Mountain's attackers?" he asked.
"Likely," Jenny replied. "Johnston was full of morphine when we captured her," she added.
"Think she was trying to avoid triggering that thing?"
"Fresh bruising on her back and an empty leg holster suggest otherwise."
"Maybe someone gave us a big present."
"Very funny," Jenny said, "but it's taking more morphine to keep her sedated by the day. Medical is concerned that her already over-stressed coronary system will fail if they can't remove the life form."
John surmised Victoria Johnston's prognosis was not good as the oriental woman brought them two tiny cups of black espresso.
John asked, "You never said what Camp David was like here."
"I'd been there before in Prime," Jenny said, "about twenty years ago. Nice place, but needs tighter security." Jenny took off her sunglasses to clean the lenses and asked, "Would you remember someone with bright violet eyes?"
"I remember a girl in high school who had a blue and a brown eye, so I think I would."
"I think I would, too. Luinan's eyes seemed so familiar."
"Maybe they were lenses."
Jenny took a sip of her espresso. "She said you had good ideas."
"Or maybe she's not so smart after all." John chuckled. "You don't have to record that," he said watching her use her pad.
"I'm just making a note to get Robert Polleto to follow up on your idea."
They both turned and watched a police EV as it sped by with lights flashing and siren blaring.
"Too bad you missed your frac twin," John said as the siren faded in to the distance. "It's got to be weird meeting one. To be honest, I haven't contacted mine yet." He knew little about his twin only that he had survived Minus's world war and was an astronomer in academia.
"Let me guess; he has not contacted you either," Jenny said subtly shaking her head.
John laughed and then finished his espresso. His twin was unsettling on lots of levels. He knew his Minus self didn't have the TIA's dark cloud hanging over him. "I am looking forward to meeting her actually," Jenny said. "And thanks for coming along."
"No problem, the final round of congressional briefings is nearly finished and things have died down a little since the State of the Union last week. Thanks again for Kate's help."
"Don't mention it. I thought there'd be more panic. You guys did a good job."
"I guess you haven't noticed most of the world's religions going fanatical over night."
Jenny smiled then looked at her sat-chron and replaced her sunglasses. "She's late," she said dejectedly.
"Not at all like you," John said before slurping the remains of his chowder.
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