Crow's Gambit, page 14
part #1 of Sylphan Revelations Series
“Former agent. I used to be a member of the Secret Service.” Before Cassie could ask another question, Gloria ushered them out of the building and toward the car.
It wasn’t long before Wang was curled up sound asleep in the back with his souvenir held tight against him. It was a small acrylic block with a laser etched grating that projected a hologram of the Lincoln Memorial when its enclosed laser illuminated it.
Cassie sat in the front with Gloria watching the scenery pass by. The car was silent as they drove. No one seemed interested in discussing the day’s events. They pulled up outside of Cassie’s townhouse first. She turned to the back seat where Wang was stirring.
“Get some sleep, Wang. I’ll see you in the morning.” She opened her door and started to get out.
“Cassie?” Wang was leaned forward from the back seat. “If you want, you can call me Samuel.”
She looked quickly at Gloria who was staring straight ahead but had a small smile on her face.
“All right... Good night, Samuel.”
When she got inside her townhouse, she decided she couldn’t sleep. A lot had happened today, and she was trying to process it all. She used the coffee maker and made a cup of dark black coffee for herself. Pulling out her tablet she logged into an encrypted message site and checked for messages from Lizzy. There was one waiting from a day ago.
>>> Found something for you (see attached photo).
Cassie downloaded the attached file and ran it through a special decryption tool. Lizzy was being especially cautious. When the file opened, she inhaled sharply. It was a photo of Grandpa. He looked like it had been taken about ten years ago in a bar somewhere. There were wood paneled walls behind him with framed photos of people on it. They were too fuzzy for her to tell who was in those photos. Her grandfather was laughing. Another man was next to him with his arm around his shoulders. In all respects it looked like a picture of two close friends having a good time. Except the other man was Peter Darrow.
She took a deep breath.
Darrow hadn’t told her the whole story. But he was going to.
She’d make sure of it.
Chapter 22
THE MORNING AIR WAS crisp but not chilly. Early rays from the sun were just burning the dew off the grass and leaves. Two ducks leisurely circled the pond. The only people in the park were a few people on their way to work or those procrastinating on their way to work. Tish took a slow careful sip of her coffee. It was scalding hot and strong. The caffeine caused an almost electric shock as it coursed through her bloodstream. She wished she had brought something to throw to the ducks.
“Senator.” The general sat down next to her on the bench. Tish didn’t turn to look at him. She had watched him approach with her peripheral vision. Besides, he was right on time.
“I don’t suppose you brought anything to throw to the ducks?”
“Um, no.” General Belle was silent for a moment. “Are you concerned about them for some reason? They appear well fed.”
“I was just thinking of all the things they probably hear out here. If they ever decide to start telling secrets, we may all be in trouble.” She glanced sideways at him. “Let’s just say I’m not opposed to buying them off with some stale bread.”
“If you’re concerned, I could have someone shoot them?”
“Don’t you dare!” She frowned at him until she broke into a low chuckle. “Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they aren’t actually real ducks. Just animatronic drones programmed for surveillance by the NSA.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” The General turned back toward the pond. “They make pigeons for that.”
“You’re kidding?” She turned toward him, but he didn’t reply. He just gave a noncommittal grunt. “Well, anyway, how are things with the Army today, General?”
“Could always use some help getting an allocation for the arctic exo-suit redesign, but otherwise fine.”
“Hmm. I know what you mean. I’ve been trying for months to get the local contracts from the Picatinny Arsenal extended. A lot of high-tech workers are still underemployed in my state.”
The two sat silently after that. Tish sipped her coffee meditatively. It was starting to cool off when the General finally spoke again. “A one-year extension.”
The ducks continued to paddle slowly around the pond. She took a last slow sip of her coffee before Tish answered. “Two.”
“Agreed,” the General said reluctantly. “How soon could I expect a letter of support from your Committee on the suits?”
“My office prepared it last night. It should have been delivered to Senator Way’s office this morning.”
“Seriously?” The General shifted around toward Tish. “You hustled me.”
“What can I say? The Committee agreed with the Army’s recommendation. The exo-suits are a priority.” She smiled. “However, I do appreciate the Army’s support for the New Jersey economy.”
“My wife warned me about you, you know?”
Tish chuckled. “You should have listened to her. How is Angela by the way?”
“Enjoying early retirement with the grandkids.”
“Retirement. Seems like a word that people use as a curse and a blessing.” Tish was still over a decade away from thinking about traditional retirement. “I’m afraid there are a lot of people on the Hill who would like to see me retire. Or be retired.”
“Speaking of which...” The General paused to pick a piece of lint off his slacks. “I met your girl.”
Tish’s skin went cold. Her lips were tight, though her jaws were not clenching. She said nothing.
“You know, Bill McIntyre’s granddaughter? The one working for Peter Darrow?”
He was watching her without making too much of a point of it, she knew. Probably thought giving up the extra year on the Picatinny contracts was worth throwing her off balance. Her mind was racing as Tish waited for him to continue. She took another sip of her now cold coffee and watched the ducks. Waiting for him to get to his point.
“She’s smart, you know. And brave but not reckless. Well, not too reckless. I was rather surprised to find the FBI had such an extensive file on her.” His voice dropped a half octave. “She is, however, well out of her league.”
Tish mentally reviewed what she knew of the General. He had been appointed as Army Chief of Staff under the previous administration. Of course, she knew him better than most and, in her experience, he was a straight shooter. A military man forced to dabble in politics rather than the other way around.
“Let’s cut the crap, General. What do you want?”
“Just a little quid pro quo, Bruiser.” There were only a few people who knew what Tish’s call sign had been in the Air Force. Even fewer who would feel comfortable using it. “All I ask is that you give what I’m about to say due consideration and thought.”
“And if I do, what do I get in return?” Tish was now intrigued.
“I will provide some information you don’t know but need to know.”
Tish chuckled. “And here I thought you were going to offer the extra year on the contract. Nonetheless, I’m game.”
“I understand Project Icarus is going well. If your team is successful it will give the United States a tremendous tactical and strategic advantage.”
That much was true. There had been many attempts over the years to design cruise missiles that were better at escaping Sylph notice. However, the best options that any nation had produced were small and slow, making them less effective and easy to detect.
While improvements in terrain recognition and the new inertial navigation systems had helped compensate for the loss of GPS, these systems were surprisingly susceptible to new forms of terrain camouflage. If they were able to find the pattern of behavior that kept them from being targeted by the Sylph, it would provide a great tactical advantage. Tish knew Project Icarus was more than that though. The small group who had tailored its existence had much greater goals in mind.
“Of course, there is a risk of escalation with other nations. If you get caught there’ll be hell to pay at the U.N.,” General Belle continued. “They’ll probably want to start doing inspections of our facilities again. Which would be rather embarrassing for the Administration. And then there’s the Sylph.” The General tossed the last comment out like it was of no consequence, staring noncommittally at the passing ducks.
“General, we both know Project Icarus is just a thought experiment. A project on paper only.” Tish sold the lie well. She’d had plenty of practice. Not everyone was ready for the revolutionary idea of fighting back, not just yet. Not everyone was afraid of what might happen if they didn’t.
“Yes, we both know that,” the General agreed affably. “Of course, I wonder why your Mr. Darrow is spending so much time studying a certain plane, in a certain Smithsonian hanger. Or why he has brought in a drone pilot capable of flying it.” Several seconds passed in silence. “After all, we both know the Hawkins Report concretely determined there was no way to defeat the Sylph net.”
“Yes, we both know that,” Tish replied deadpan.
“I suppose he is just being thorough and covering all the angles. That is what we told him to do.” Tish’s expression was cool. “Cut to the chase, General.”
He shifted his body sideways, turning to face her directly for the first time. “How many people died after Net-Day? How long has it taken us to get to the point when every second isn’t spent waiting for the end of everything? You and I were there, Bruiser. We lived through it, but many didn’t. Do your studies. Make your plans. And then file everything away never to be used.”
“Why General, are you scared?”
The General sighed and turned back toward the ducks. “People need to stop asking me that.”
“Just for the sake of argument, what if Project Icarus could be implemented? Imagine what that would mean for the country.” Tish’s expression was stern. “Imagine what it would mean for the entire world.”
“Extinction?” he asked softly.
She stared at him a moment. “Or hope.”
“I know you Bruiser. You’re trying to find a way to get back into the fight.” The General sighed. “All I ask is that you consider the cost benefit analysis carefully and ask yourself how confident you are in Darrow and this young woman. And then how confident are you in the Sylph response?”
After a moment, Tish tilted her head in agreement. He had a point worth considering.
“You think you’re fighting a battle with Admiral Forrest, but deep-down you know he’s getting his orders from a higher authority. The Vice President. He doesn’t want you to succeed.”
“They should get used to disappointment,” she muttered. “The two are close. They used to work together in Military Intelligence if I remember correctly.”
“True.” The General stood, took a second to brush out a wrinkle in his pants, and started to walk away. He stopped a few steps later and turned back. “Oh, that accident in the Lincoln Tunnel? My sources tell me it wasn’t an accident. Better keep an eye on Miss McIntyre.”
“General?” Tish called after him. “I think you said something about a piece of information?”
He turned back briefly with raised eyebrows. “You mean other than what I just told you? Just a name. Darkstar. I don’t know what it means but it is particularly important to them. And there’s some connection to Darrow and your Miss McIntyre.”
Tish watched him walk away before turning back to the ducks with a silent mental curse.
Chapter 23
THE NEXT THREE MORNINGS a different driver picked Cassie up, leaving her wondering where Gloria was. There were questions she had after talking to General Belle and seeing the photo Lizzy dug up.
Since Gloria knew the general, she’d hoped to talk to her first about him, but that hadn’t been an option. It was therefore time to seek Darrow out directly, because things were definitely at the weirder stage now.
General Belle knew more than he said and probably had his own agenda. He was right about one thing though: She didn’t have all the information she wanted to have.
She was so lost in thought she almost got ran over by a personal transport speeding down the hall of Crow Research. It spun in a tight one eighty and came to a stop in front of her.
“Hey there.” Susan bounced on the transport.
“Hey, haven’t seen you around.” Cassie glanced at the electric transport. “How do I get one of those?”
“Well you know I don’t have a fancy black stripe on my badge. I spend my time working on real world projects.” She zipped around Cassie in a quick circle, pulling up parallel to her right side facing backwards. “And you get one of these by writing a search algorithm to find Patsy the security guard’s access code for it.”
Cassie continued walking with Susan keeping pace in reverse. “What did Patsy ever do to you?”
“I’m pretty sure she ate my pudding from the department refrigerator.”
“Pudding thief, huh? I’m surprised they let her be security. Maybe they need to refine their screening protocols.”
“You’d think wouldn’t you,” Susan groaned. “Hey, some of us from the rainbow departments are going to a movie tonight. You want to come along?”
“Rainbow departments?”
“You know.” Susan held up her security badge. “Departments with red, orange, green and blue security stripes.”
“What about yellow, purple, and indigo?”
“There isn’t a yellow. Purple doesn’t usually come along. They’re a weird group and get upset because we call them violets.” A maintenance worker scurried out of Susan’s path. She smiled at him as they passed. “Indigo is a mystery. There may or may not be an indigo department. You know Isaac Asimov didn’t think indigo should be a color. Thought it was just blue in disguise.”
Cassie enjoyed talking with Susan. She was like a completely open book with life. “Thanks for the offer but I’ll take a rain check.”
Susan tilted her head thoughtfully. “Well, if you change your mind, my contact information is in the company database. Think about it and send me a note if you want to come along.”
“Thanks, I will.” They had reached the first set of doors to the black sector.
Susan peeled off down a side hallway, leaving Cassie alone. She stood outside the door waiting, unsure of what she would do when she went in.
“You know someone that hesitant to start work probably needs another cup of coffee.”
Cassie was startled to find Dale walking toward her. She hadn’t seen him since Minnesota when this all started. It seemed like a year ago but was only a few weeks. At first, she was happy to see him, and she started to smile. Then she remembered the small matter of her personnel file and a tattoo she had gone to great lengths to keep a secret. A tattoo people now knew about. Her smile dropped into a deep frown.
Dale stopped several feet from her. “I have a sudden intuition my personal safety is at risk. What did I do?”
She didn’t reply.
“I got you a job! You don’t like the job?”
She maintained the scowl. “Never mind. I need to talk to Neil and you’re a distraction right now. But you and I are going to have a conversation in the future,” she nearly hissed at him.
Dale continued standing with a look of innocent confusion.
“Okay. But Neil isn’t in there. He’s waiting in Mr. Darrow’s office. They sent me to get you actually.”
That was coincidental. Was there a Crow Works project into mind reading?
Dale led her to a nearby private elevator and punched in a security code. Once upstairs he led her to a small conference room and left her there. One side of the room was lined with leather couches. A small rectangular conference table sat in the middle. The conference table sported a border of dark stained wood. Its surface, however, was made from frosted glass. The other side of the room was all glass overlooking the Virginia countryside. It was only a moment before the door opened again and Darrow entered, followed by Neil.
“Cassie! It’s great to see you again.” Darrow smiled at her kindly. “I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to check on you until now.”
Neil slumped down in a couch. Darrow sat down at the table and motioned for Cassie to sit. She took a seat across from him.
“Mr. Darrow—”
“Let me guess. Things have gotten weirder and you’re wondering if you made the right choice?”
“Something like that.”
He gathered his thoughts for a second. “You think we’re keeping things from you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re right. We haven’t told you everything. Frankly, you didn’t need to know everything. But I’m afraid our hand has been forced now. Given the events of a couple days ago I can see we’re going to have to give you some more information. So, ask your questions.”
That was easy. What was Darrow up to? She had been preparing her questions and arguments for several days. Now she found herself off balance by Darrow’s acquiescence.
“Was the accident in the Lincoln Tunnel actually an accident?”
“Told you she’d never buy that malfunction story,” Neil muttered from the background.
Cassie’s head whipped from Neil back to Darrow. So, he had been lying to her about it. Her eyes narrowed.
“Yes, I heard you had a brief conversation with General Belle.” Darrow leaned back and crossed his arms. “I’ll admit it. I didn’t think it was an accident. However, there is no reason to believe anyone was trying to kill you. It’s possible they were just trying to scare you.”
“Wonderful,” her eyes large and accusing.
“I know it’s no consolation, but I didn’t want to alarm you for no reason. I thought you would be safe here from more threats. Recent events lead me to think otherwise, which is why I set up this meeting. Now it’s my turn to ask you something.” Darrow leaned toward her. “Why are you still here? When things became dangerous, why not just go home?”
Because I don’t really have a home.
