“Mr. Secretary,” said Frey, “shoot yourself in the right thigh.”
Stinnett didn’t hesitate. He pointed the gun and pulled the trigger, screaming as the bullet drilled a gaping hole in his leg. He might now be a possessed zombie, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel pain.
Frey waited for his men to bandage Stinnett’s leg, and then handed the secretary a combat knife. “Take off your glasses and very slowly, deliberately, bring the tip of this knife to the center of your left eye. When it reaches your eye, shove it slowly through and into your brain. Start when I say the word now.”
“Really, Frey?” protested Kaitlyn in disgust. “You weren’t convinced when he shot himself? No need to prove that you’re a sadist on my account.”
“Not sadism,” said Frey. “Caution. I got to where I am by being careful. And smart.”
The Tartarian commander turned to Wilson Stinnett. “Now!” he said, and watched intently as the secretary removed his sunglasses and slowly, carefully inched the knife toward his eyeball, fighting to keep his eyelid open against the blinding brightness.
Kaitlyn looked on in horror, having trouble believing that she was actually working with this barbarian. The tip of the knife was just millimeters away from Stinnett’s pupil, and Kaitlyn turned away, unwilling to watch this bulbous orb explode into a mass of fluid and blood.
“Stop!” shouted Frey an instant before the tip entered squishy flesh. “Reverse the knife. Put your glasses back on.”
Stinnett did as ordered, seemingly oblivious to how close he had come to losing an eye.
Frey turned to Kaitlyn. “He does seem to be under my control,” he said. “Few beings of any kind could get this close to mutilating themselves so stoically if they were just pretending. But I do have one last test.”
“You are very, very sick,” said the Vorian chief scientist.
“Just thorough. A trait I should think you’d approve of, since you intend to be my partner.”
Frey paused. “Mr. Secretary,” he said, handing Stinnett the same gun he had used earlier to shoot himself in the thigh. “Shove the barrel of this gun into your mouth and pull the trigger.”
Kaitlyn watched in horror as Stinnett calmly opened his mouth wide, ate the barrel of Frey’s gun, and depressed the trigger in one smooth motion.
And this time, Frey didn’t shout out a last-second reprieve.
57
Kaitlyn braced herself for an explosion that would take out much of the back of Stinnett’s head and create a burst of brain matter and blood against the wall.
But neither event came to pass.
“Remove the gun from your mouth and hand it back to me,” said Frey to his puppet instead.
Kaitlyn allowed herself to breathe once again as she pieced together what must have happened. “So the gun only had the one round?” she said as Stinnett dutifully did as Frey ordered.
“Correct,” said Frey. “Stinnett didn’t know that, of course. But he still didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”
“So are we done now?”
“Yes. I have no doubt he’s under my control.”
“Good, so can we finally get on with it?”
Frey nodded. “Secretary Stinnett,” he said, “we’re going to have a conversation. I need you to answer truthfully and completely at all times, understood?”
“Understood,” said the secretary.
“Kaitlyn says that Anna Abbott has let it be known that the Vorians have a traitor among them. And she says the Vorian portal is in Albania. Are these both true statements as far as you know?”
“They are,” said Stinnett immediately.
“Are you familiar with the Vorian plan to get Anna Abbott through their portal?”
“I am,” he said woodenly. “Although not in great detail.”
“As far as you know,” continued Frey, “is Kaitlyn here planning to double-cross me? Is her interaction with me part of a Vorian trick?”
“No,” said Stinnett simply.
“Are you aware of any deceit at all that might impact me or other Tartarians?”
“Yes. I believe Colonel Redford hopes to deceive any Tartarian forces in Albania who are trying to prevent Anna from entering the Vorian portal. As part of his military strategy.”
Frey smiled. “I don’t doubt it. But other than this, are you aware of any other trickery?”
“None.”
“Good,” said Frey. “Now I’m going to change gears. Kaitlyn is going to fill me in on the precise location of the portal in Albania, the timing of its active state, and Colonel Redford’s plans as she knows them. If you hear one word that isn’t true, as you understand it, speak up immediately.”
“Understood,” said the secretary of defense.
Kaitlyn went on to tell Frey and his second-in-command everything she knew. The general plan, which involved the use of invisibility technology, and the possible logistics of the operation. Stinnett didn’t call her out on a single lie.
Frey was stunned. Invisibility technology? Apparently, the Vorians had perfected this technology on their home world, and had managed to implement it here. It was a game-changing piece of intelligence. Even if he had known the location of the Vorian portal, without this intel his forces would have been vulnerable. This was yet another indication that Kaitlyn’s defection was sincere.
She had also thoroughly described the operation of the individual invisibility units that were being prepared. They were wearable, and when activated would quickly scan the user’s body and anything attached, including backpacks, guns, knives, grenades, and so on, making all of it invisible, regardless of subsequent movement—as long as the item remained in contact with the person wearing the generator. If this had not been the case, machine guns and backpacks would seem to float in midair, almost completely nullifying the usefulness of the technology.
“You’ve told me the basics of the plan and the timing of the portal,” he said when she had finished. “But I need more. I need the detailed deployment strategy.”
“I don’t have it to give you,” said Kaitlyn. “When Anna announced we had a traitor, Colonel Redford became cagey. Everyone knows the broad plan, but he’s keeping the specifics close to the vest. He’s developing multiple strategies, and only he knows which he’ll deploy. Each subcommander will be given a different set of instructions and won’t share them with the others. Everything is being carefully partitioned, and doled out on a need-to-know basis only.”
She paused. “But that won’t matter. If you encircle the portal with five or six hundred of your people and dig in, there’s no way they’ll engage. Even though Tom Vega and his army will be invisible, and no matter how clever their planned formations, they’ll know there are too few of them to prevail.”
“There’s only one problem,” said Frey. “I’ve changed my mind. Merely stopping Anna isn’t good enough. I intend to kill her after all.”
“Were you not paying attention?” snapped Kaitlyn. “Did you not hear what I said when I first contacted you? If you try to kill her, she’ll see it coming long before, and it will backfire.”
“Normally I would agree with you,” said Frey. “But in this case, I think she’s already seen it coming. And she’s already discounted it. Which is why it’s going to work.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I had Nessie listen in to you on your way to Evie headquarters,” he said smugly.
Kaitlyn was shocked to hear this, but only for a moment. It should have been obvious once they had learned that Frey could control Nessie. “So what?”
“I heard Anna describing her visions of the portal,” said Frey. “And I plan to make her second one come true.”
“Impossible,” said the Vorian chief scientist. “By now, there’s no chance that either one will come true.”
“Isn’t there?” said Frey. “I think you’re wrong. I believe this second vision represents the perfect loophole, one that we can exploit. She’s already seen her death
. She’s already had her warning. And while she’s sure she’s taken steps to avoid this fate, I’ve come to believe she’s actually doing the opposite.”
“The opposite? What does that mean? You think she’s actually bringing this future about?”
“Exactly. Without realizing it, of course. And this is the only way to beat her. Her only vulnerability is seeing a perilous future and ignoring it, because she thinks she’s made sure it can’t possibly come to be.”
“But your theory would require that this future plays out precisely the way she saw it.”
Frey nodded. “I know.”
“You do realize that most of your people were killed in this future, right? Which makes sense, because if you try to engage our invisible forces, rather than play defense, the Albanian woods really will turn into the bloodbath Anna envisioned. For my people also.”
“Weren’t you the one telling me how dangerous this woman is?” said Frey. “Weren’t you the one telling me that we’ll eventually need to devise a plan devious enough to kill her? She’s the ultimate prophet, right? Growing stronger by the day. And you’ve admitted that you have no idea yet how it’s even possible to kill her.”
“All of this is true,” admitted Kaitlyn.
“So we have to do this,” continued Frey. “Even if both of our sides take significant losses. It’s the only way to stop her for good. You and I both know that if we wait while she grows stronger, the losses could end up being even greater, with no guarantee we can take her out. So we do this. And when the smoke clears, I’ll honor our agreement and leave your survivors in peace. I’ll allow future Vorians safe passage here. But this is non-negotiable. This could be the only chance to kill her that we’ll ever get.”
“But for your theory to be true,” said Kaitlyn, “you’d have to recreate everything about her vision. If one thing is off, then everything might change, and she might make it through.”
“I agree,” said Frey.
“But she saw US special forces in the woods, fighting on your side,” said Kaitlyn. “And there’s no way that can happen now. You’re no longer able to command the US military.”
Frey smiled. “But Stinnett still is,” he pointed out. “And I control him.” He paused. “Or haven’t you been paying attention?
There was a long silence as the Tartarian commander shared a smirk with Eldamir Kor, his second-in-command, who continued to stand by his side, gun at the ready.
“What’s the matter, Kaitlyn?” said Frey. “No good counterargument? Even you have to admit, it’s a bit eerie how events seem to be moving inexorably toward the fulfillment of Anna’s second vision. I just have to make sure to do my part.”
“Are you sure you can? Right now, your US special forces deployment is just conjecture.”
“Let’s find out,” said Frey confidently. “Secretary Stinnett, can you order the US military to Albania without the blessing of your president?”
“No,” said Stinnett. “Not the ‘regular’ US military. Not to fight. And Congress would need to be notified within forty-eight hours. Deploying our forces without invitation could lead to an international incident and too many questions. I don’t think the president would ever agree.”
“Not a problem,” said Frey, “because the point is for him not to know. You said regular US forces. What about special forces? Can you deploy these military assets based solely on your authority? And order them to keep this confidential, even from the president?”
“Yes,” said Stinnett. “I can deploy up to two hundred of them on my sole authority. A subset of special forces that are technically part of Black Operations. Commandos slated for secret operations in enemy and allied territory both. Forces that we can insist are rogue if everything goes south. In cases like this, it’s actually better if I don’t brief the president, so he has plausible deniability.”
Frey beamed and turned to Kaitlyn. “What do you know?” he said. “Looks like Stinnett is able to deploy US special forces to fight on our side. In fact, the use of these forces, the very same forces that Anna foresaw, is the only way to deploy the US military in Albania. I knew I could make this happen,” he added excitedly. “Because I’ve already made it happen in the future.”
Kaitlyn nodded slowly, lost in thought. For the first time, she was beginning to believe that Frey might be right.
“Secretary Stinnett,” said the Tartarian commander, “I need you to deploy the maximum number of Black Ops commandos to Albania right now. And make sure they keep this confidential, even from your president, as we just discussed. You can brief them when they’re on the way. You’ll need to tell them the exact parameters of the coming conflict. That this is a war between two alien species. You’ll need to tell them about the Vorians’ invisibility, and the fiery eyes of my people. And you’ll need to convince them that this battle is vital for the very survival of humanity. That they need to help the Tartarians defeat the Vorians, and kill Anna Abbott, at all cost.”
He paused to let this sink in. “Do you think you can do that?”
Stinnett nodded. “I’m sure of it,” he said.
PART 6
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
—Steve Jobs
“Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess. And you don't find out ’til too late that he’s been playing with two queens all along.”
—Terry Pratchett
58
Navy SEAL Commander Horace DeMarco called a halt, and over eight hundred beings swarming though the heart of a ninety-square-mile Albanian forest stopped en masse.
“At ease for the next five minutes,” he said through his comm, which reached each and every member of this mixed-species team. “I recommend drinking at least eight ounces of water to avoid future dehydration,” he added.
This wasn’t something he would need to remind his one hundred ninety-nine fellow Navy SEALs, but when it came to the six hundred eighteen intimidating, red-eyed members of the Tartarian species—who knew? How much water did they need? Had they even brought any with them?
DeMarco was responsible for the preparation of his fellow SEALs, and each was dressed in full-on commando gear, which included body armor, belt-fed machine guns, and vests with dozens of pockets for spare clips, grenades, knives, and so on. But the Tartarian forces, comprised of more females than males, had chosen not to come camouflaged. Even if they had been savvy enough to make this choice, their blazing red eyes would stand out, even in broad daylight.
The never-ending woodland consisted of untold millions of trees, including oak, black pine, chestnut, maple, and linden, although the part of the forest they were in was heavy with chestnut trees, one of the commander’s least favorite. He liked the low branches and the small, spiky balls that housed the chestnut fruit inside, but the pollen was now ripe and gave off such a heavy, sweet scent that he felt he was encased in a giant mound of cotton candy. This, combined with the odor he detected when he was too close to a group of Tarts—the smell of rotten eggs—made him wish he had brought a pair of nose plugs.
“Commander DeMarco,” said the voice of Wilson Stinnett in his ear, “report.”
“As you know, sir,” began DeMarco, “we had almost no time for planning and recon, so I’m having to adjust the original plan on the go. We’re five miles into the forest from our agreed-upon insertion point, and still four miles from the portal. Given the terrain and the sheer numbers of our combined forces, I’ve split us up into ten teams. Each consists of twenty SEALs and approximately sixty Tarts. Each team has been assigned numbers, and subdivided by . . . species. So I’m in Team 1, which is divided into Spec Ops 1 and Tart 1. Still unwieldy, but I don’t want to break it down further.”
“Understood,” said Stinnett
. “Continue.”
“We’ll plan to place all of the teams within five to ten minutes of the portal, spread out. Five to ten minutes at a full run, and taking the dense and uneven terrain into account. We’ll make sure we’re in position at least an hour before the portal is scheduled to become . . . active. If we surround the portal with only a fraction of our forces, we’ll be sitting ducks for any—”
DeMarco stopped as the weight of what was really happening bore down upon him. He was trying to be professional, trying to pretend this was business as usual, but for a moment he couldn’t do so. He had never commanded even close to this many SEALs on a single mission, let alone over six hundred others. And he was doing so in the middle of a forest in Albania, where there was apparently a magic portal that led to an alien planet twenty-five thousand light-years away. And he was inserting his unwieldy team into the middle of a looming battle between two extraterrestrial species. Finally, as if this weren’t enough, the fighting force of one of the species was expected to come cloaked by perfect, flawless invisibility.
He had been trained to handle the unexpected, but this exceeded his lifetime quota of unexpected by a hundred-fold.
For just a moment, DeMarco thought he might vomit, but he forced his stomach to settle down, despite the pungent, sweet odor of the chestnut trees and the foul smell of sulfur.
“Commander?” said the voice of the secretary of defense in DeMarco’s comm. “I lost your signal for a moment. Can you repeat your last sentence.”
“Sorry, sir,” said DeMarco. “I was saying that if we surround the portal with only a fraction of our forces, we’ll be sitting ducks for the . . . invisible Vor forces, and will take heavy losses. But if we surround the portal with overwhelming numbers, the Vors will likely retreat and call off their mission.”
“I’m well aware, Commander. I assumed that’s why your plan is to leave the portal seemingly unprotected to lure them in.”
“That’s right. Hopefully we’ll engage and kill Anna Abbott before she gets anywhere near her goal. But if not, just before the portal is due to become active, I’ll deploy a handful of my best men to hide in close proximity to it. We’ll make sure vibration sensors have been placed before this time to alert us to her presence, invisible or not.”
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