Controller: Controller Trilogy, Book 1

by Stephen W Bennett

  It was another frustrating week, with nothing to show for the time the BII invested in chasing a phantom killer they all felt was a personal matter as well as professional. They were confident that only Stiles had the capability, motive, and criminal contacts to have perpetrated either event. It wasn’t that they didn’t have evidence to prosecute him for crimes they knew he committed. With their extralegal protections to defend the nation, a BII agent could shoot him on sight and probably avoid any repercussions. But they needed to find him first.

  They encountered the mafia code of silence, Omertà, which was fully in effect and enforced by The Commission that ruled the activities of both the New York and Chicago crime organizations. Not that it could resist Gorka’s compelling a mob member to tell them what they knew. The difficulty was in finding members placed high enough in the Outfit that might know if Stiles had worked with them. The middle management and reputed leader of the Outfit appeared to be aware of the capability of BII agents and had made certain they were out of communications with their underlings. Even if they found them and compelled one to answer questions, it was improbable they would know where Stiles was. They didn’t need to hear them confirm they had cooperated with Stiles. That was a given. They wanted the Controller, and the mobsters couldn’t produce him.

  It hadn’t occurred to the BII agents that Stiles had established a biological engineering company to build the transmitter he’d just used. The Mob might have furnished information that touched on that subject because they’d helped him find his project lead. But you only asked the right questions when you knew the answers existed. Stiles had never been a builder or inventor; he was a user. But smart criminals can learn and evolve. This one was preparing to take his next step in his evolution. Susceptibles were about to meet the first of a new class of despots, with more to follow.

  ****

  When the Chicago team arrived back in Washington, dispirited at their lack of progress in finding Stiles, Brogan had less than wonderful news for from outside the United States. He briefed them on a secret report passed to him several days ago, which these four were the last of the BII agents to hear.

  “Mike, Dan, Ally, and Orville, what I’m about to tell you is rated Top Secret for now, although the information is bound to leak from external sources at any time, just as the Korean story did. What we’ve learned sucks big time.

  The Mossad, in their agreement with the US concerning our exchange program concerning psych abilities, has desperately requested our assistance. They only had a single person with the psych gene in their entire population, a Compeller. They received help when an American, an Immune from a Jewish family, agreed to immigrate to Israel last year, to help them protect the Prime Minister and the Knesset. He and the Compeller are their sole government protectors from psych threats. And you thought your schedules were tough.

  “As their part in the exchange agreement, Israel agreed to provide us with their work on genetic research, and they have been making progress. That program is as large as their previous nuclear weapons development, which they still won’t acknowledge was successful.

  “Anyway, they are surrounded by hostile nations and peoples, so they made genetic modification research a top priority, in case their enemies combined to send their psych agents against them. They advised us a few months ago they were successful in developing a rapid and accurate test for detecting the presence of either version of the gene, how many copies are present, and if they are recessive or active. It was their initial progress that gave us our genetic test system, but their device is now refined and reduced to a battery-powered handheld device, and it works in five minutes. They also claim they are on the verge of learning how to activate inactive genes.”

  The four agents looked at one another in confusion. Dan voiced it first. “What the Hell sucks about any of this? If they intend to share the science with us, it sounds like great news.”

  Brogan sighed. “I should have revised the order of things after I briefed the other agents. Patience, please. Wait for the mess to hit the fan.”

  “OK, I guess we’ll wait for the splatter. I’ll practice holding my breath.”

  “Thanks so much. Here it is. An Israeli agent working in Syria with the US-supported anti-ISIS rebel force, reported that a few small units of Iranian backed Syrian Shiite militias suddenly were decimating ISIS forces, slaughtering dozens of their fighters with small units. The ISIS fanatics, who are not exclusively motivated by religious beliefs, support Sunni sect groups and are supported by them in return, and Iran backs the Shiites and the Bashar al-Assad regime. The ISIS force was heavily armed and fighting from the rubble of a ravaged village. They fought hard, but they gradually ceased firing when a much smaller enemy unit fought their way to within a hundred feet. One ISIS fighter, wearing a suicide vest with a Deadman’s switch, earned his virgins when the overconfident militia unit overran them and wiped out everyone in their defensive position. One of the militia members shot him in the head as they walked past, allowing him to kill his killers when his vest exploded.

  “The Israeli double agent had observed this from a safe distance, seeing how the ISIS fanatics simply remained crouched in place when the Shiite militia slaughtered them. He investigated the bodies of the Shiite force later when his group collected the functioning weapons and ammunition. It turned out there was an Iranian leading that ultra-effective Shiite militia unit. He had papers on him that identified him as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Iranian Guard.

  “On a hunch, the double agent secretly used a DNA tester he carried with him, testing all seven of the dead militia unit members, and the Iranian leader’s test proved he was a Compeller. Because there were ten such small Shiite units in that region, each of them mopping up larger ISIS positions in other towns and villages, it appears each unit contains an Iranian with Compeller ability. There are only about eighty million Iranians. There’s only one explanation for that many Compellers in the field in Syria, being used this way.”

  “They created them with gene inserts,” Mike completed for Brogan.

  Nodding in agreement, Grayson said, “I see why Israel wants our help. They must expect the same Iranian Compellers will infiltrate into their country next. Sectarian violence is one thing, but all the Islamic sects wish Israel were gone, and Iran has sworn to destroy them.”

  Brogan pointed out the obvious. “The Iranians won’t need to build nukes to eliminate Israel if their Compellers can make the Israeli military do it for them.”

  Orville asked, “Doesn’t the Israeli army have multiple layers of security as counter checks against a rogue nuclear launch?”

  “I’m certain they do,” Brogan, shrugged. “But didn’t the Federal Reserve Bank have multiple security levels against a robbery in Chicago? Stiles bypassed them, working almost alone we think, by controlling dozens of people simultaneously.”

  Orville, formerly a barber, considered only the most basic approach. “Can’t they dismantle the weapons so only an expert could reassemble them, and then lock the weapons down so no one can reach them without remote approval?”

  “No. And think about that. What good would a rapid response US nuclear deterrent be if we did that? A massive first-strike by an enemy might mean a delayed response would never happen. Besides, that isn’t the only threat from multiple enemy Compellers inside a small country like Israel. They need to make their population immune. That’s where the US may be able to help.”

  “Like how?” Grayson asked. “Did we suddenly make a genetic advance in the last week? Can we insert and activate the Immune gene in their people?” His skepticism was apparent.

  “No,” Brogan acknowledged. “But we have matched the portable transmitter technology we saw used in Chicago, used by a Controller there since we’re sure it was Stiles.”

  “How does that development help Israel make their people Immune?”

  “A very pertinent question, Dan, from the first Immune to discover how to impart his ability to another pe
rson. Right, Mike?”

  Gorka looked at Grayson with an eyebrow raised. “Stepped right into that steaming pile, didn’t you, Dan? I’ll bet I can guess how it helps them.”

  “Oh, crap! Am I about to take a ride on a B-1 to Tel Aviv with a transmitter?”

  Brogan rejected that idea outright. Almost. “Good heavens no, that would be too pricey. And Comfortable. Not when commercial Coach or Economy class is available at government rates, with their spacious seats and legroom.” He grinned wickedly.

  Gorka patted him on the shoulder in mock sympathy, smiling. “No good deed goes unpunished, you know. My foot’s healed, and the nose hardly hurts at all. Hope you have a nice flight.” He was reminding Dan of his good deed in Seoul.

  Grayson grumbled, “Save a guy’s life, and he holds it against you forever.”

  Brogan, enjoying himself, said, “Mike, I’m so happy to hear about your foot. Just in time for more extensive travel. Dan could use a Compeller on that transmitter if he needs to make some bad guys follow the rules.”

  Grayson patted Gorka’s shoulder in a turnabout gesture. “Better wipe your feet, pal, there’s something steamy on the bottoms. No good gloat goes unpunished either.”

  Sighing, Gorka asked Brogan simply, “When?”

  “Probably next week, or a few days more. Your presence there won’t be long term. The Israelis have identified several of their citizens with inactive copies of the genes, and they hope to activate their abilities. We’ll receive details of that procedure if it works, and the proper sequence for applying the medical procedures offered in exchange for Dan showing their Immune and Compeller what he does. You two will demonstrate the transmitter and give them the designs for building their own. I understand they are soliciting volunteers from the Jewish populations around the globe, as they conduct DNA tests for active or recessive genes. Israel shouldn't need us to loan them an Immune again, not if they receive volunteers from outside Israel.

  “We plan to send them four man-portable transmitters, two for their psychs, one each for you two which you’ll leave behind when you return home, and several larger stationary units for wide area coverage over their major population centers. Our technicians have to assemble and test them all first, or at least test them within a shielded Faraday cage. Israel is where we’ll field test them. We hope to find out how many people become immune, how strongly, and how long Susceptibles remain immune.

  “Despite what happened in Chicago, some of the over-cautious people on the NSC refuse to allow wide-area testing in this country, despite the obvious fact that Stiles just did it for us, but without any scientific monitoring and measurements, or tests of its effectiveness.”

  He shook his head at bureaucratic shortsightedness, and the thick heads placed in positions of authority on the Security Council, for which some had no experience or aptitude. Appointed by a president that didn’t value science or sensible expert advice, nor have any prior governing experience. If their experience and ideas hadn’t made them billions of dollars in business profits, it was suspect.

  “It’s shortsighted people who fought us every step of the way to even study the genetics of the psych gene, let alone of how to modify anyone’s genome to incorporate the ability. It isn’t as if we invented the damned gene in some GMO nightmare of theirs. It’s part of natural human genetics and has been for tens of thousands of years, seldom active, and never employed unless a Compeller took power in some region or country. They became either dictators and despots or enlightened charismatic leaders, depending on their innate sense of morality and honesty.”

  “I guess we four go back on the schedule, protecting the government until next week?” Mike inquired.

  “Orville and Ally will. You and Dan will slip in and out of the schedule as new transmitters need testing. That will be up at the DARPA lab outside Baltimore. Hector is in charge of the schedule this month, talk to him about where in the rotation you can fit. I’m headed back up the Hill, to try to get Congress to increase our budget again, to implement what we expect to learn from the Israelis and to build thousands of Mind Control transmitters. I wish DARPA had named them Immune Projectors or something positive sounding. It would be the Same damn device, but the name they used sounds too intimidating.”

  ****

  The call from Stacy came just before dawn. She sounded on the verge of panic.

  “Dad he’s back.”

  Grayson knew exactly who she meant. “Do you have my gun?” He’d left her his Springfield Armory XD-E 9MM, the compact pistol he’d carried in an ankle holster as a personal backup weapon when he was on the force. Because she was over 18, Kentucky law allowed her to possess the firearm without a permit, but she had to be 21 to apply for a concealed carry license. Open carry of a handgun was allowed outside of areas that were restricted, such as many businesses, courthouses, airports, and her school of course. It was early morning, so she was still at her Aunt Jan’s house.

  “Yes, I have it with me, but we’re not under imminent threat. Stiles isn’t anywhere close to us.” Her Immune sense reassured him but having the killer close enough for her to sense him put him too damn close.

  “Use the technique I taught you to shield their minds and get away from there with your Aunt and Uncle. Are your Grandpa and Grandma still visiting too?” He didn’t know if she could keep them all close enough to shield each of them from Stiles.

  “No, they went home. I already shielded Aunt Jan, but Uncle Casey already left for work. It’s almost sunrise. It’s just the two of us here, but I told you he’s not close.”

  “He is if you can sense him. I told you how short the range is.”

  “No, the source is miles away. I’m sure of that. There are two sources, in fact, and both are distant. It’s confusing. One is farther away than the other. I stepped out on the front porch, and I think the one in Louisville is downtown, someplace high up I think. I don’t know about the one a bit to the right, and farther north. I think that may be on the other side of the river. It’s so much weaker, not constant, and cutting out entirely at times.”

  “Damn. It’s like in Chicago, only longer range and with two transmitters. St. Matthews, where your aunt and uncle live is six or seven miles east in a straight-line from downtown. Jeffersonville is north, on the other side of the river. He must have transmitters in each location, each with higher signal power than what he used in Chicago. I told you what happened there. What has he ordered people to do? Steal money and give it to him?”

  “No, nothing like that. The signal from downtown is making people feel friendly towards him, without even knowing who he is. He appears to be trying to instill loyalty in individuals to him so that they will trust him. It’s also steady, no breaks for almost thirty minutes, and I sense a repetitive pattern that returns every few minutes. No specifics in his message, only those warm feelings he directs towards himself, which he’s been cultivating for the last thirty minutes.”

  “That isn’t remotely like Stiles. He’s a conscienceless psychopath. You said it’s steady? I don’t know how he could send that mental message uninterrupted.”

  “Dad, it’s him. I’ll never forget what his thoughts felt like on that day at our house. You told me the same thing after you sensed him at the mall. I’ll always remember how Mike Gorka’s thoughts felt when he mentally asked me if I knew what you did for the BII. You said every Compeller’s thoughts are unique to you, but Mr. Brogan said they don’t always seem unique to him, or to other single gene Immunes. Not until they get to know the Compeller. I’m a double like you. I’m telling you it’s the man that shot Mom!”

  “That’s the one detail that rings true. The warm feelings are a sham.”

  “Dad, I just sensed another repeated fluctuation in the pattern, the fourth or fifth repeat I’ve noticed with the identical variation, each several minutes apart. Could he record a short mental transmission and play it in a loop? That’s what it’s like.”

  “That’s a smart question. We tape and rebro
adcast every other kind of electromagnetic signal. I’ll ask our technical people. I don’t know what he’s up to with this, but it damn well isn’t altruistic. He doesn’t give a damn about being liked, only obeyed or feared. I expect the BII will send a team, but I’m coming home no matter what. If you sense any thoughts that involve you or the family, or thoughts originating closer to you, get you and your aunt and uncle out of his range. You’re immune, but no one around you is, and he can turn them against you. I need to get off the phone to talk to Brogan. Stiles may not intend to run away this time. Load the car with necessities and be prepared to get farther away. I love you, and I’ll call back.”

  “Love you too,” she answered, and disconnected.

  ****

  “Damn it, Dan. We’re spread too thin. The politicians are deeply worried about hostile interference with the workings of our government.” Brogan complained.

  He added, “Not without cause, unfortunately.”

  “What does that mean for sending a team to Louisville?” Grayson asked, sure he’d not like the answer.

  Brogan didn’t like what he was about to say either. “They didn’t like the lack of results by the teams for the two Chicago trips, particularly the last one where there was a transmitter in use, as Louisville appears to have now.

  “Reports that Iran appears to have solved the gene insert and activation problem worry the President. Nobody in the West trusts Iran, but this president is particularly distrustful of them and has been vocal about his opinions. He thinks they might send agents here to mind control him, his family, or people on his staff. Given the animosity he’s engendered from them, it’s a possibility, and their Revolutionary Guard also might act without official authorization from their government leaders.