“Be at the Sacramento airport in two hours, or this all goes live—and that happens if I don’t call to say how compliant you are!” Dash snarled. “Bring your badge and your clearance or whatever you want but come alone and unarmed. Don’t bother with this phone number but hang on to yours. I’ll call you when you land.”
“I can’t be there in less than three hours.”
Dash didn’t believe it. If three was possible, so was two. “Steal a fucking jet, whatever. Flap your arms. I don’t care but be there. Oh, and wear a pink shirt. Bright pink, or the deal’s off.”
“And if I don’t come?”
“Enjoy your publicity for the next three weeks because this will be all over the news. An incoming asteroid and the government’s plan to stop it.” Dash whistled. “My colleagues will be incredibly famous.”
Dash could practically hear Castillo’s teeth clench as she considered her options.
“I’ll be there.”
Nineteen
DASH WATCHED CASTILLO across the airport loading zone through the monocular. Yifei lay across the back seat, listening on a set of headphones jacked into the digital recorder attached to Dash’s phone.
“We ready?” Dash asked.
Yifei gave him a thumbs up and a nod. “Do it.”
The pink sweatshirt stood out in the artificial lighting, but it was the woman’s scowl that set her apart from the light foot traffic. Dash popped his earpiece in and called her.
The woman in the pink shirt answered.
“I’m here and thank you so much for insisting on pink. All I could find was this furry piece of tourist shit.” Castillo did not sound happy at all.
“I don’t care. Lift up your shirt and turn around.”
Castillo huffed, but did as ordered. “See? No wire.”
“Good. That was step one.” Dash glanced at the line of cabs. “Take a taxi to the Hyatt-Regency. Do it now.”
A minute later, Castillo’s cab, a bright blue Prius, pulled away from the curb.
“Now what?”
“Now enjoy the ride. It’s only about fifteen minutes.” Dash’s car pulled ahead of the cab. He needed to outthink the dangerous woman.”
“Why am I in Sacramento?” Castillo wanted to know.
“It’s the state capital. You’ll love it. They’ve got lawmakers and reporters in abundance.”
Castillo huffed. “Stop acting tough. You know there’s a limit to what I’ll allow. I’m trying to minimize the damage here, but believe me, there is an acceptable cost I’m prepared to pay.”
“You’ll get your chance,” Dash snarled. “Take off your sweatshirt and give the driver twenty bucks to deliver it to the hotel.”
“What?” Castillo’s alarm sounded genuine.
“I already saw you’re wearing a bra. Relax. It’s summer in California. Bras get taken out for walks all the time. Now, pull over now.”
Dash missed the turn but took the next right. He heard Castillo bark orders at the driver, then heard a door slam. The ambient noise on the call jumped as she left the quiet cabin of the taxi.
“What the fuck am I doing now?”
“You just pulled off going east. Head down to Fifth and turn left. Head up to the next corner.”
Castillo grumbled something Dash couldn’t discern, but it didn’t matter. She was cooperating. That was the most important part. Separating her from any hidden protection was the next most important thing. That meant making certain she wasn’t hiding any tracking devices.
“Where are you?” Castillo snarled. “Why am I walking around, flashing everyone?”
“Relax,” Dash retorted. “You’re in a bra, not naked. Are you at the corner yet?”
“Fifth and P, yeah. I don’t see you.”
Dash took a deep breath. Things were about to get dangerous.
“Look to the southeast. Watch for my car coming from that direction. I’ll be there in one minute.”
Dash wheeled around again and hurried to the end of the block.
“What kind of car?”
“Red Subaru. Looks like a pickup and a station wagon had a baby.” A quick sigh of relief escaped his lips as he spotted Castillo’s tan back as he rounded the corner.
“Better cover up,” Dash said.
Yifei pulled a blanket over her legs, then set a backpack on it to break up the outline of her body. She pulled the blanket over her head and said, “This thing smells like old pizza.”
“Sorry. Best I could do on short notice.”
Dash sped up and squealed to a halt behind Castillo. He picked up his pistol and aimed it at the woman, then gestured toward the passenger side door. Castillo took deliberate steps with her arms held out to the side as she approached. She opened the door and stuck her head in.
“Dash Riordan, I presume?” Castillo must drink confidence for breakfast if she could still make jokes.
“Strip.” Dash aimed the pistol higher.
“Here?” Castillo scoffed.
“There’s no one around. Relax. Take off your clothes or this is where they’ll find your body,” Dash ordered.
Castillo sighed, then slid her pants down, doffing her undergarments and socks in no time. Dash got the impression that this wasn’t the first time she’d had to do this.
She asked, “Satisfied?”
“Getting there. Turn around and let me see the soles of your feet.”
“Paranoia isn’t healthy, Dash.” Castillo obeyed the command. “Happy now?”
Dash shook his head. “Not even close, but we can get going now. Leave the clothes. I’ve got fresh ones for you.”
Castillo climbed into the car and slammed the door. Dash pulled away from the curb, but kept his pistol trained on the older woman.
“Don’t buckle up,” he growled.
“You’ll get a ticket.”
“Lady, if anything goes wrong—at all—the first thing that will happen is I kill you. You tried to murder me!” Flecks of spittle flew from his lips. “You killed my father, you blew my brother’s fucking head off!”
Castillo held up her hands, as if to calm him down. “Okay, relax.”
Dash’s chest heaved as he struggled to contain his rage. “Who are you, Castillo? The truth.”
“Lieutenant Colonel Marisol Castillo, OSI.”
Dash snorted. “I already know you’re Office of Special Investigations. I meant why are you doing this? Who do you work for?”
Castillo’s dark eyes smoldered. “I’m an Air Force officer but was transferred to the project a year ago.”
“Why would the Air Force care about what my brother did for the Navy?” Dash objected. “Why the hell would you care enough to kill him?”
Castillo held up a hand in a calming gesture. “It wasn’t anything personal, Dash. Rasul started snooping around during Enterprise’s construction. He was punished, warned off, but he kept digging. When he disappeared from his apartment, we realized he was a security risk. I dispatched an officer to arrest him and recover the information.”
The lie came so easily, delivered with such sincerity, that anyone else would have believed it. He smashed the barrel of his gun down onto Castillo’s kneecap.
Castillo cried out and clutched the injury, dropping her phone and ID badge.
“I wouldn’t make the mistake of lying to me again, Castillo.” Dash stopped the car. “Open your door and set your phone down. Gently.”
Glaring back, Castillo opened the door and put her phone down on the curb.
“Good. Shut the door now.”
After throwing his own phone out the window, Dash resumed driving, but this time to the east.
“Where are we going?” Castillo demanded.
Dash ignored her.
“Look, you’ve stripped me down and now I don’t even have a phone. I’m pretty sure you’ve covered your tracks.”
He snorted. “I’m going to assume you’re smarter than I am. Plus, I haven’t searched your hair. You could have a tracker or microphone stu
ck in that tight little coif.”
“Coif?” Castillo snorted. “You must be crazy good at Scrabble.”
“You ordered my brother’s death,” Dash stated.
Castillo waited for a heartbeat, then said, “Yes.”
“Your man at the Crown Plaza wasn’t there to arrest Rasul.” Another statement.
“He was to recover Rasul’s information and kill him. Yes.”
“Why?” Dash shook his head. “Why not just arrest him?”
“Put it together, man.” Castillo rolled her eyes. “You know as much as your brother, probably a little more now.”
Which meant someone out there had a bullet with Dash’s name on it, too. If Rasul, a geeky engineer with few friends, posed a security threat, then an actual journalist was far too dangerous to leave alive.
Still, he had to know.
“You’re going to use the Orion ships to stop Erebus.”
“Look who’s an optimist,” Castillo said. “It’s a huge asteroid. What makes you think we can stop it?”
Inspiration hit like a bolt of lightning. “That’s what the Olympus Initiative is for!” Dash’s heart surged as a major piece fell into place. “Doctors, farmers, experts in all sorts of fields—you’re going to lock them away in some sort of ark in case the ships fail. They’re the seeds for rebuilding the Earth.”
Castillo’s sour expression didn’t give much away.
“That’s why they’re all at air force bases,” Dash continued. “Erebus is three weeks away. You’re moving them to the safe location now because the minute this story breaks, you think civilization will collapse on itself.”
“It’s a pity you didn’t work for me, Dash,” Castillo said, nodding. “You’ve got one hell of a brain.”
“Whatever.” Dash nodded toward the floor. “Under your seat. I brought you some clothes.”
Castillo pulled out a plastic Wal-Mart bag. “Really?” Disdain dripped from each syllable.
“Hey, you’ve got a badge. You can always go in naked.”
“So, we are going somewhere.”
Dash turned left at a random street corner, careful to note the vehicles ahead of and behind him. He knew enough about surveillance methods to know only a rookie would follow close behind him. They would be too easy to spot, no matter how commonplace their vehicle. A professional surveillance operation required enough vehicles that Dash couldn’t pick up on any one car.
He didn’t put it past Castillo to pull that off. She came through the front doors of the Sacramento airport, but nothing said she arrived like an ordinary passenger. She could have a cadre of law enforcement officers, either her own or locals pressed into service.
Certainty was impossible, of course, but Dash doubted a horde of squad cars full of angry cops lurked ahead, waiting to spring a trap. Castillo gave no sign of tension, beyond what would be expected of someone with a gun pointed at their heart.
“Shoes?” Castillo asked, now wearing slacks and a simple blouse.
“Behind you,” Dash replied, “but don’t bother until we’re there. I don’t want you too comfortable just yet.”
“Comfortable?” Castillo parroted. “Everything’s at least two sizes too large.”
“I imagined you looked like a fat stuffed pepper. I tried to plan for every eventuality. You’ll have a belt, so relax. Your pants aren’t going to fall off or anything.” Dash turned right.
Castillo grunted and sat back in her seat. “Got anything to drink?”
“Fresh out.”
Dash turned onto Interstate 80 and headed southwest. Sacramento wasn’t his destination, just the closest airport. If Castillo wasn’t bugged in some way, her team had no way of tracking her right now.
“How much do you know about all of this?” Dash asked, more to keep Castillo occupied instead of plotting an ambush or escape. He suspected the threat of exposure carried less weight than he needed, that Castillo was playing along to gauge how much was at risk.
“Not as much as you’d think,” Castillo replied as her eyes flicked toward the side mirror.
“Who picked the initiative members? Who decided who will be saved if your ships fail?”
Castillo sighed. “Dash, I oversee operation security. I’m not part of the leadership.”
Dash shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as you get me in.”
“In? In where?” The tiniest shred of alarm crept into Castillo’s voice.
Twenty
ARE YOU INSANE?
Castillo’s eyes widened with disbelief. “This is your plan?”
The car rumbled as it approached Travis Air Force Base.
“Come on, Colonel. You can use your mad rank and badge to get us in without any violence.” Dash nudged his pistol against Castillo’s ribs.
“There’s no DOD access sticker on this car, they’re going to stop us.” Castillo tapped the steering wheel for emphasis.
“And then you and your air of authority, plus your badge, should get us inside. You’ve already got an ID card.”
Castillo turned to him. “And what happens if they want to see yours?”
“Tell them I’m a witness coming in for an interview. That’s plausible enough.”
Castillo guided the car up to the main gate to Travis Air Force Base. A black airman with SP on his armband stepped out from his booth and held his hand up to stop.
Castillo rolled down the window and got her badge out. “My name’s Castillo, OSI. I’m bringing a witness in to give a statement.”
The airman looked at the badge. “May I see your ID, ma’am?”
“Sure.” Castillo pulled out her common access card and badge.
Dash caught a glance at Castillo’s full name. Something about the name Marisol struck him as funny and he smiled, despite his hatred for the woman.
The airman handed back the card. “You’ll need a temporary pass, ma’am. If you drive over to that building right there, they’ll get you taken care of straight away.”
Castillo nodded. “Understood. Thank you.”
The airman stood up and waved them in. As they drove through the gate, Dash said, “So polite!”
Castillo huffed. “If there’s one thing the military is good at, it’s instilling discipline. A lot of people shit on the Air Force, but the fact is that our people are just as dedicated, just as specialized as any other service.”
“Relax, Colonel. I’ve got nothing but respect for them.”
Castillo pulled over to the auxiliary building behind the gate. They obeyed the security officer instructions, got a pass without Castillo betraying them, and headed into the base.
“Now where to?”
“Give me a second.” Dash pulled out his phone and looked at a Google map of the base. “There’s not a lot of empty space here. Where would temporary visitors go?”
“If it’s a small group, probably the VOQ—visiting officers’ quarters.”
“Probably not small enough for that.” Dash figured there were at least one hundred people at Travis if the initiative was hoarding people who were supposed to have died in plane crashes. There weren’t many large, unoccupied areas on the base. Murad had mentioned staying in tents, which meant almost area was a possibility, but he assumed the Air Force wouldn’t be so cruel as to force people to sleep on the flight line, so that ruled out the area around the runway.
Castillo’s eyes flickered between Dash’s eyes and his pistol.
Dash’s hand struck out, jamming the pistol hard under Castillo’s ribs.
A gasp of pain escaped her lips, but it was anger that flared in the OSI officer’s eyes.
“You murdered my brother,” Dash growled. “I haven’t forgotten that, and I know you’ll try to kill me when you think you have the chance.”
He worked the barrel against the thin bones.
“This isn’t your moment, Colonel,” Dash warned, jerking his head to the right. “Let’s keep moving. Head east.”
Castillo obeyed, but the cords under her neck st
rained.
Travis Air Force Base wasn’t huge, but the map on Dash’s phone didn’t leave a lot of options. They weren’t staying at the Westwind Inn, but Dash didn’t want to drive around the entire base looking for tents.
Dash had never spent much time on military bases aside from the occasional visit for a story. Staring out at the dark streets and buildings, he tried to imagine how life would be different. Were the children conditioned to support the military? Was it all testosterone-fueled bullshit or was the culture largely the same as civilian life?
“Left on Burgan,” Dash ordered. “Then take a right on Collins. There’s a running track with a large open field behind it. It’s got some trees, too. Seems like a good place to keep people out of sight.”
The car seemed to inch along. The base’s posted speed limit was a ludicrous thirty miles per hour, which aggravated Dash.
“Okay, here’s Collins...and there’s the track.” Dash craned his neck. “Wait, I think I—”
The car came to a sudden, though not quite screeching, halt.
Dash’s finger tightened on the trigger as he jerked forward. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Look.” Castillo nodded ahead.
Air Force security personnel blocked the road off. Orange construction barrels with flashing yellow lights stood in the middle of the road, while a quartet of sentries stood watch.
“Shit.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to try running them over,” Castillo sneered.
“Nope. Back it up.”
“Just like that?”
Dash nodded. “Yup. Just back it up. We’ll head north on Burgan.”
Castillo backed up, then turned the car around. “No sense looking out of place. Better if they just think we’re airheads who forgot this part of the base was off-limits.”
“Why all the security?” Dash wanted to know. “Near as I can tell, these people don’t really know what’s going on. They can’t leak any dangerous information.”
Castillo opened and closed her mouth several times, as she debated how much she could reveal. “The requirement was to isolate them in order to watch for illnesses that might be contagious.”
Dash considered that. No one wanted to be sick, of course, but who worried about it enough to quarantine people on the off-chance someone might be infected?
Erebus Page 14