The Guardian Collection (End of the Sixth Age Book 2)

by Col Bill Best

  Yep. Just like the night at his apartment.

  “I’m about to let you in on something that less than ten people know about. Then after our morning meeting, I want you to meet somebody.”

  He turned to face her and took a deep breath.

  “Roger is alive.”

  She dropped into the nearest chair, mouth agape.

  Over the next thirty minutes, Justin brought her up to date on the transformation, the secret alert facility at Grand Forks, and the incredible test results. Tamika went with Justin to the morning meeting with her head spinning.

  Man, do I have some information to share with Senator Matthews now!

  As soon as the thought came, she dismissed it. He’d known all along. And if she told him that she now knew one of the best-kept secrets in the United States, she’d put Justin’s security clearance and position at risk. She was impressed and more than a little surprised at the risk Justin had taken to share everything with her.

  Why?

  After the meeting, she and Justin drove to a parking area on the beach. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning on Florida’s East Coast. The low surf, a few puffy clouds, and the sound of seagulls as they lazily circled looking for food; it’s what postcards were made of. More than once she dozed during the morning drive.

  A few moments after they parked, a rental minivan pulled up driven by an attractive redhead. Justin smiled at Tamika as he got out of his car and walked around to open her door.

  “Honey, if you were shocked at what I told you before, this’ll absolutely blow your mind!”

  After he had made the introductions, they entered the van, Tamika in the front passenger seat and Justin in the seat directly behind Karen. Karen asked them to put any electronic devices into a small metal box which she then shut. Then she entered a code on the top of the box, and three LEDs turned from red to green.

  “Are you CIA?” Tamika asked.

  “Wish it was that simple. Believe me, I do,” Karen responded with a smile. She let that sink in for a few moments as she backed out and drove off.

  “Tamika, you’ll see me do a lot of cloak-and-dagger stuff that won’t make much sense, but my life depends on it. And in just a few moments, it will also depend on Justin’s perception of you as someone I…we…can trust.

  “For example…” She turned down a dead-end street, drove to a cul-de-sac with lots for sale, and parked. Turning to face Tamika: “Here’s a location without any cameras. Cameras at shopping centers, convenience stores, traffic lights, interstates, and such are good enough now that experts can read lips from hundreds of yards away. And this box not only shields RF going in or out of phones, but also GPS tracking and any common surveillance bugs within thirty meters of us.”

  “Okay…” Tamika looked back and forth between Karen in the front seat, and Justin sitting behind Karen in the back seat.

  Justin spoke up. “Honey, there are some things you should know about our sponsor, and what appears to be going on around us. Did you know that Cliff spends hours most Sundays in the Flight Simulator? And only an hour or two the entire rest of the week at DPI? And while the rest of us work seventy-plus hour weeks, he travels a lot. I’m not sure where he’s going, but I don’t think he’s going on vacations.”

  Karen’s voice became more intense. “Tamika, I understand that Senator Matthews had something to do with your internship at DPI. You need to know that he is the exact reason I have to take all of these precautions. I personally know of ten people he had killed, and he almost killed me. And…” she shuddered, “…there were other things he did to me I still don’t want to talk about. I’m not exaggerating to tell you, that man is drenched in blood.”

  + + +

  Skylar was deeply, profoundly grateful that he’d learned his lesson. He no longer reported the “good news” to Jason Matthews every time he had a strong lead on “the lady.” Over the years there had been too many false alarms, too many callbacks where he had to report that Karen had again escaped.

  Asheville was turning up dry. She had once again, apparently, completely disappeared off the face of the earth.

  Is she also a ghost? He wondered.

  Jason had called a few months earlier about the Charleston, South Carolina incident. There was no way Jason could have missed that, as it was the lead story on all news media for days. Jason initiated that call, and Skylar was delighted to tell the senator that he’d already initiated Plan Alpha almost a full day earlier. Still, he had to report back a week later that all attempts to track her had failed.

  The Asheville incident? A woman lifting the side of a van was certainly newsworthy, but with all the riots and cultural meltdowns fanned by media for ratings, it didn’t qualify as a lead story on most networks. Jason likely missed it. He hadn’t called, and Skylar kept it quiet. He just kept looking. He continued to scour through video surveillance feeds, check driver’s licenses at rental agencies, and anything else he could think of.

  Skylar Brown thought long and hard about calling one of his former suppliers for some pills. Just this once.

  49. DILEMMA

  Karen took a deep breath and regained her composure. It also gave Tamika a moment to feel the weight of Karen’s hatred, distrust, and hurt toward the man who had been Tamika’s benefactor. Or, who appeared to be…

  Karen continued. “Now, there are some things you should know about me.

  “First, I’m almost twice as old as you might think I am. I’m not immortal, but scientists—all dead thanks to Jason Matthews—believed the DNA reboot I took back in the early 90’s should keep me in full health till around 110. Right now, I’m fifty-six.”

  She gave Tamika a few moments to process all that. The young African American looked back and forth between the stranger and Justin. He somberly nodded his agreement, that he’d already verified her story.

  “Now, and I say this as a simple fact, not to boast. The transformation has brought me to where by now, I probably have the highest IQ of anyone alive today. I had to stop taking the tests because Jason used the last one I took to track me down. I barely escaped. But the reality is that while I’ve had to stay on the run and relocate at least once a year, I’ve completed dozens of doctorate-level online classes. I’ve studied everything from molecular biochemistry to quantum physics. Justin told me about the ternary computer in your aircraft. I’ve already drafted plans for a five-state computer. It will likely be an order of magnitude faster, use less power, and be more reliable than your computer or any quantum computers now under development.

  “Third, I’m not just a Christian. I’ve become a scholar of the Old Testament, New Testament, and especially of prophecy.

  “Here’s the bottom line. Take my word for now, but I hope you’ll study for yourself like Justin’s been doing since the trans-dimensional shift took place…and Justin, Roger’s right. The fact that the trans-dimensional effects differentiate based on planar vice gravitational axes? I believe that proves that gravity is also trans-dimensional. Which not only does away with a need for hypothetical dark matter and dark energy but also provides one more proof against a ‘Big Bang’ origin.”

  She caught herself, smiled and shook her head. “Sorry. I get carried away. Not ADHD; more like multi-core brain functioning. Tamika, hundreds of prophecies over a period of thousands of years have been fulfilled in precise, minute detail. The Bible tells Christians to be aware and to expect what’s called the ‘Blessed Hope,’ the return of Christ for His Church. But we are not told to climb a mountain, suck our collective thumbs, and wait for the world to end.

  “I’d like to tell you about the most important decision you can ever make, and why it’s urgent that you make it quickly. About why I believe what I believe, and how you can receive God’s gift of eternal life through Christ.

  “But right now, I need to warn you about things you personally need to watch out for. Please believe that I have learned to check my sources very, very carefully.”

  + + +

  Tw
o hours later, Justin had taken Tamika back to her car at DPI and she was on her way home to rest. Not that she’d be able to sleep a wink. The senator expected her call early that evening. Tamika’s stomach was in knots. She knew the man was powerful. She never expected that he might be dangerous. But according to Karen, he was more than any of that; he was diabolical.

  As she sifted through everything Karen had shared, she had to admit that beyond his smooth facade, Jason did always seem to have a hidden motive. Then she remembered something else. She remembered what eventually happened to Professor Jacobs back at the college. His unethical tactics against fellow college staff members were discovered. He was unceremoniously fired. Additional investigations led to his conviction of attempted extortion against several faculty members. Like being back-handed by her alcoholic father or drug-addicted mother, it suddenly struck Tamika just how close she must have been to being drawn into the professor’s scandal. How was it that her involvement wasn’t discovered? That her own activities weren’t brought before the College Board or into the courtroom?

  “Thank God!” she said.

  Realizing how devastating such a revelation would have been to her future, she sincerely meant it.

  She also had felt a change in her feelings for Justin. Tamika had avoided boys in high school. Most were shallow jerks. Then she left Section Eight public housing, went to college, and didn’t have time for dating. But since she graduated, well, she was probably as much of a player as Justin had admitted to. But the change in him was starting to affect her as well. She was being treated with respect as an equal. Even cherished?

  Now both her thoughts and emotions were in turmoil.

  + + +

  Eight hours later, it was far worse. Tamika shook uncontrollably. She had to hold her wine glass with both hands.

  Through the sleepless day, she carefully reviewed, analyzed, and evaluated everything she heard that morning. She devised an amazingly simple test.

  With each call, Senator Matthews seemed to start the conversation with sincere personal interest in her, her career ambitions, and her relationship with Justin. If it were true that he was only manipulating her to be his eyes and ears, it would likely lead to increasingly compromising or illegal assignments in the future. Maybe she could discern his motives if she didn’t play along with his little game. From what Karen shared, if he did react out of character, it would be subtle. Jason was a master at subterfuge, so Tamika made sure her radar was at maximum as she made her call.

  As always, Jason called her back from his private, secure phone a few moments later. As if he were following a script, she perceived the same line of discussion as before. Why hadn’t she noticed it? He began by expressing his interest in her and her career. She stayed on that subject awhile, and even went back to it when he asked questions about her and Justin. Then again when he asked about operations at DPI.

  After a few moments, Jason interrupted and encouraged her loyalty, but seemed a little more pointed and agitated. He asked again about DPI, and she briefly skimmed over some general information, conveniently omitting the visit by one Karen Richardson. Then she asked about the possibility of future work for her as a staffer for him in Washington.

  It was subtle, so subtle, but she could sense even more agitation, followed by a fleeting reminder that she owed him. She continued her lighthearted chat about her future aspirations a few moments more, and it happened. Like a plate glass window slammed shut so hard that it shattered into a thousand shards, he interrupted. “Tamika, don’t tell me you’ve been listening to his Christianity crap? Look, I have to go. Call me next week, and you’d better have something to report.”

  And he ended the call.

  Most people would attribute his response to a bad day, or to the overwhelming pressures and demands of his position.

  Tamika wasn’t most people. Especially after the earful she received that morning by a young-looking older woman who would fight for her life rather than fall back into that man’s hands. And his anger toward Christianity? Not Buddhism, or Islam, or any of a hundred of other religions or philosophies. This was real, and personal, and visceral—and Jason Matthews was eternally on the opposite side of that fence.

  Tamika was frightened. Her hands continued shaking as she poured another glass of wine. She wasn’t sipping tonight.

  Unbeknownst to her, Karen and Justin had both been earnestly praying for her all day.

  Thoughts swirled.

  A fifty-six-year-old woman who appeared to be thirty-two, and who could live in full health to 110 or beyond.

  A hypersonic manned interceptor and its pilot—if the mid-sixties engineer could be called a fighter pilot—now both trans-dimensional. Guess he does qualify, as he flew the plane and saved the country from a nuclear attack.

  Her love interest becomes a Christian, and he and this strange lady tell her about fulfilled prophecy.

  Her benefactor, the man responsible for her job and who she’d been confiding in, is a cold-hearted, blood-thirsty killer; and one of the most powerful people in the United States.

  What in the world is really going on around here?

  Tamika was not a weak woman. You don’t make it to adulthood growing up in the projects, then get out of there and make it through college by being weak. She wasn’t weepy either. But she desperately wanted to be in Justin’s arms and for him to hold her tight and tell her everything would be alright. She wanted him to be a strong but tender and caring man in her life, what neither she nor her own mother had ever known.

  For at least for the next few days, she urgently needed everything else to go away.

  She could not even begin to imagine the extent that her entire life was about to change...forever.

  Guardian – The Reckoning

  50. SUNDAY

  As usual, Sunday was quiet at Directed Paradigms, Incorporated—DPI. Once the Saturday night crew left Sunday morning, the parking lot in front of the facility was typically vacant until the Monday morning shift arrived.

  Justin drove up and parked. He and Tamika stepped out of his car as Karen pulled up in her rental. The three of them walked into the company’s Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility—SKIF.

  Tamika had taken time off from DPI after her meeting with Justin and Karen, and her conversation with Jason. Also uncharacteristically—though it would not have surprised anyone at DPI—she had spent those nights at Justin’s apartment. So had Karen, once she made sure she could enter without being seen by security cameras.

  The three of them, and the two ladies while Justin was at work, spent hours evaluating the news stories. They looked over Bible prophecies and discussed events at DPI both before and since the “transformation” of Roger and System One.

  Karen had brought more small electronic packages with her, and she assured them that they could talk securely while her RF jammer and sweeping audio noise cloak were on. She would also daily scan around the apartment for eavesdropping devices. Before they would discuss anything that could put them in jeopardy, they put their electronic devices in her metal case. Like clockwork, they would sequester them for just under twenty minutes, then they would all check for missed calls or messages to prevent suspicious gaps in their electronic availability.

  To Roger’s immense delight on alert in Grand Forks, North Dakota, he was kept in the loop. Karen would tether her TEMPEST-proof Bluetooth keyboard to Justin’s Multiphone and use the Enigma codec, sending and receiving messages at lightning speed. Justin speculated that her typing speed was well over 100 words per minute; so fast she nearly communicated with Roger in real time despite his trans-dimensional shift.

  By the time Justin came in from work on Saturday night, they had made several significant discoveries.

  First, they determined that the nuclear attack against the United States had to have been planned as a catalyst, an event that would quickly start a chain reaction of other events. The attack’s failure prevented those other events from occurring, at least for
the time being. The precise timing of the attack indicated a high probability that a person in the planning knew that Guardian System One would have soon been operational. The attack was apparently expedited to occur before that milestone. It may have even been planned at the precise time when the aircraft should not have been flyable; being transported back across the U.S. in the back of a C-17 cargo aircraft. As a final precaution, someone sabotaged Guardian’s targeting software. Finally, Karen was adamant that 1960s Soviet technology would not have remained operational after so many years. The ICBM must have been a recent, ultra-secret build to have possessed the treaty-prohibited FOBS capability.

  All that meant a well-connected, powerful, and secretive group of international players. A group that was immensely well-funded. It all fit right in line with Biblical predictions. It seemed pretty clear that Jason Matthews was positioned to become one of the top world leaders. It wasn’t difficult for them to learn that with key conservative U.S. government officials meeting off-site that night, and more vulnerable to attack, Jason would have been next in line to the Presidency. As for Cliff Nesmith, he was one of Jason’s underlings—likely just a pawn—feeding him information and doing his bidding.

  So, the next questions were: What next, and when? And how did Justin, Tamika, and Karen fit in?

  What, now, for Roger? A retirement-age engineer who launched Guardian out the back of the Globemaster III cargo plane, intercepted a nuclear warhead, and destroyed it with an EMP? What of Roger and Guardian, now somehow trans-dimensional from the combined EMPs from the aircraft and the exploding nuke? The loneliest man on earth, on secret alert in Grand Forks in what appears to be an empty hangar.

  Something else occurred on that Saturday. Tamika’s agitation and fear had escalated into a full-blown panic attack.