Crow's Gambit, page 22
part #1 of Sylphan Revelations Series
“Wait, the entire Navy can’t be bad,” Cassie protested.
Tish returned to her seat. “You are quite correct. The vast majority of naval personnel are upstanding and dedicated individuals, loyal to the country and the letter of the law. A few, however, at the top have become, shall we say, a little too proud of themselves. Partner them with congressmen and businesses eager to keep projects in their districts and you have a group with considerable reach. They in turn prey on others using the tools of fear to get what they want.”
So, the Navy, the most powerful branch of the country’s armed forces now, was out to kill her.
That’s wonderful.
She’d mull over that fun fact later.
“Sanchez thought the Sylph arriving was a good thing. He kept talking about how things were better now.”
“Really?” Tish looked surprised. “Maybe I misjudged the lieutenant’s motivations. I had him pegged as a Conspiracist. But maybe ... hmm.”
“Okay, whatever his motivations it still leaves the Sylph. Are you positive if we make it to orbit, the Sylph won’t strike everyone down?” Cassie asked.
The silence stretched disturbingly long while Cassie waited for an answer.
“No, I don’t believe they will,” she looked at Cassie and locked eyes with her, “but I do not know that is the case.”
Cassie swallowed as she continued to stare at her. “The real question now is this: What do you believe? And can you find peace with your decision one way or the other?”
The Senator stood to leave, holding out her hand to Cassie. When Cassie stood and reached to take it, she was surprised to find that the Senator clasped both hands around her own. Then she released her and turned to leave.
“Wait. Aren’t you going to give me some advice? Some fighter pilot mantra to inspire me?”
The Senator turned and looked at her for a second, considering.
“Don’t fuck up.”
Chapter 35
IF DALE HAD HIS WAY, Cassie would never leave Crow Research again. After several hours of whining, she finally wore him down and he agreed to let her go home. However, when they arrived at a small house in the Virginia woods rather than the townhouse she was confused.
“Look. The townhouse is too public. There are too many things there we can’t controlled.” He initially sounded like he was lecturing a small child but then his tone softened. “Besides, I don’t think you’re ready to sleep in the townhouse yet and technically it’s still a crime scene.”
Cassie didn’t have a response. She hadn’t thought that part through. The thought of seeing blood stains throughout the place made her nauseous.
“This location is safer, and we can control the area around it better. You’ll be quite comfortable. It’s got running water and everything, so don’t worry.”
She got out of the car and considered the house. It was a small, tidy-looking cabin with a separate garage and a wood pile to the side of it. Dale handed her bag to her.
“Is it just the two of us?” The house was dark and there weren’t any other cars in the garage.
“Just us ... in the house at least.” He walked toward the house without her. She hurried to catch up, scanning the trees for hidden security figures, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“Are some of those new security guys Darrow hired out there?” Unconsciously, she had lowered her voice.
He didn’t answer at first as he unlocked the front door and opened it. “You’re protected, Cassie, don’t worry.”
She followed him into the cabin. It seemed comfortably furnished but wasn’t extravagant. There was one bedroom in an open loft, and it had its own small bathroom.
He threw his bag on the couch as she settled in upstairs.
A little later, he made them a simple dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread. After they cleaned up, she asked about a network connection for her tablet.
He wrote down the information on a notepad and she retreated to the loft.
A few minutes later, she was logged on looking for Lizzy. It didn’t take long for her to pop online. She must still be running the notification program.
>>> Where have you been? We need to talk.
<<< Some stuff came up, was all Cassie sent after considering everything that had happened recently.
>>> Why are you learning to fly an XS-9?
How had she found out about that?
<<< Did you break into the Crow Research systems?
>>> Didn’t have to. There was already a hole in the system.
<<< Darrow’s people messed up and left a security gap?
>>>Someone put a backdoor through their security without them noticing.
Cassie stared at the last message for a long time. It was ominous and she didn’t think she’d like the answer to the next question.
<<< Can you tell what they are using it for?
>>> Someone is sending data out. I’ve been watching. That’s how I knew about the XS-9. So why ARE you learning to fly an XS-9?
That was a complicated question. Cassie reflected on how to respond for several seconds. Finally, Lizzy got tired of waiting.
>>> Never mind. You can explain that later. You have a more pressing problem.
<<< Only one?
>>> The data being sent out has pretty heavy encryption on it. These aren’t run of the mill hackers.
<<< But you were able to read it?
>>> Please.
Cassie chuckled to herself. Besides being a great RIO, Lizzy was the best data head she had ever known.
<<< Whoever is receiving that data is probably working for the same people who keep trying to kill me. That was the “stuff” that came up recently.
>>> Keep trying? As in more than once?
<<< Yup.
>>> Wow. That must be annoying.
<<< Yeah, but I think we can find out who they are if you help me.
They chatted for an hour about their plan before Cassie called a stop. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open. It had been hard to get much sleep at Crow Research. Too many distractions and things going on at all hours. The cabin, however, was quiet with a homelike feeling. It reminded her of trips to the Northwoods with Grandpa.
She shut off the light and was asleep as soon as she laid back on the bed. Despite everything, Cassie slept a deep, untroubled sleep that night.
The smell of frying bacon woke her the next morning. She looked over the balcony of the loft to see Dale cooking breakfast. She headed down and looked at the spread. French toast, bacon, juice, and the strongest coffee Cassie had ever tasted. They ate mostly in silence.
“Did you sleep well?” he finally asked.
“Yeah, I did. I always sleep better when people don’t show up to kill me,” she joked.
Dale didn’t crack a smile. He just sipped his coffee. His eyes looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept for several days.
“No one tried to kill me last night, right?”
Dale didn’t say anything.
“Right, Dale?” she repeated.
“Nothing you need to worry about. Why don’t you take a quick shower and we’ll head back to Crow Research? Mr. Darrow wants to talk to the whole team later today.” He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he pulled out an electric razor and started to shave using a hand mirror.
Cassie walked to the bathroom in a funk.
The morning had been going so well, too. There’d even been bacon.
Chapter 36
THE SOFT GLOW FADED, and Darrow’s office materialized around Senator Winthrop. She spent more time in virtual space than the real world these days. The connection stabilized with Darrow, Neil, and her old friend Walt sitting around her.
“Gentlemen, I’m keeping a Senate Subcommittee waiting, so I hope this is important.”
“We’ll get to the point then.” Darrow motioned for Walt to continue.
“We’ve identified a constellation of satellites in middle orbit that survived Net-Day.”
Tish considered the statement for a moment. “Since I haven’t heard the punchline, I’ll assume you’re serious. Why haven’t we known about them before now?”
“Well, what do you know about nano-reflective coatings?” Walt asked.
“The Medusa fighters were equipped with it,” she replied. “They used millions of small surface adjustments that alter the reflective properties of the surface. It doesn’t make it invisible, so much as make it look like something else. The Sylph were never fooled by that though.”
“No,” Walt answered. “These satellites have survived because they are in an orbital layer safe from the Sylph, not because of the coating. Someone is using the coating to hide the satellites from Earth.”
Tish knew her expression was darkening, along with her mood. “Are they functional?”
“Yes.” Neil replied. “They’re likely equipped with long life RTG power supplies like Merlin was. We were able to hack into some of their systems. Nothing that would give us control over them, but we were able to determine what they are doing up there. They’re high-resolution reconnaissance satellites designed to work as an integrated network.”
“Darkstar,” Tish whispered. “Of course. There were rumors about satellites like them being developed back when I was in the Academy, but I had never heard their name until recently. I’m almost positive they’re ours, gentlemen. Those are U.S. satellites.”
Neil shut his eyes. “Oh, I wish you hadn’t said that.”
“These aren’t the only things that were in the safe orbit on Net-Day. There were other satellites there that would have been safe. They were destroyed anyway, and we don’t think by the Sylph.” Darrow’s tone had an edge of sadness to it.
“It would have been necessary to maintain the illusion everything was destroyed by the Sylph. With the Net-Day attack going on, no one noticed,” Walt added softly.
“A U.S. anti-satellite weapon of some kind,” Tish concluded with a frown. “The political ramifications are enormous. The public will be afraid we’re tempting the Sylph and our allies will be mad we haven’t told them. This will be a shit storm of monumental proportions.”
Neil, Darrow, and Walt all remained silent.
Tish noticed the silence and looked at each of them in turn. “Or am I still missing something?”
“We were able to access a list of locations the constellation has been tasked to study over several years,” Walt explained. “Searches for mineral deposits. Studies of crop growth and oil reserves. Weather patterns. We ran all the locations through search engines to find connections here on Earth and produced matches.” Walt’s voice died off and he looked toward Darrow.
“In each case, we found the same small group of investors making land deals, stock and commodity purchases, and other investments. They’ve made a tremendous amount of money with the information. Most of it kept secret through shell companies and other holdings.” Darrow leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands on his chest. “As far as we can tell, all of the individuals also have connections to the Church of the Sylphan Revolution. And they are all known to be major donors to the Vice President’s political campaigns.”
Silence descended again. Tish employed a practiced expression of indifference. Her mind quickly ticked through the many ramifications. She felt a small spark of fury start to slowly grow within her chest.
“So, what you’re telling me,” her voice sounded tight with her effort to control it. “Is that the Vice President of the United States is working for the Church of the Sylphan Revolution? And that the Church itself gets its funds by using a network of secret U.S. satellites?”
“Well, we’re implying more than telling,” Neil answered. “There’s more, though.”
“Oh, please. Continue.” Tish’s knew her voice had a hard edge to it now.
“We also found connections between some of the data and certain military exercises. The kidnapping of the President in Costa Rica and a half dozen various times the U.S. got lucky and just happened to have naval assets where they needed to be.”
“Oh, don’t tell me,” Tish exclaimed. “Admiral Forrest?”
Neil looked to Darrow, who nodded in affirmation.
“It figures. He and the Vice President have been friends for years.” Tish started cursing under her breath. “They took advantage of Net-Day to advance their own ambitions and in the process, they not only violated international law but may have committed acts of war when they destroyed the other satellites.”
“Yes, they’ve been very bad,” Neil smirked.
“If it’s true, they’re traitors,” she commented darkly. “Can you prove any of this?”
“All of our data is somewhat circumstantial right now,” Walt answered. “Other than the downloaded telemetry, which they could argue is faked, we don’t have any direct observations of the satellites themselves. The nano-reflective camouflage is quite effective.”
“Only at a distance,” Tish remarked. “The coating’s effectiveness grows the farther away you are. If you stood next to a Medusa fighter, of course, you could still see it.”
“So, if you got closer to one of the satellites...” Neil began.
“You could detect it,” Darrow finished. “Which might explain their exuberance to stop us.” He stood and started his typical pacing.
“I don’t suppose you have any good news to give me?” Tish asked. “How’s the girl working out?”
“We’re good to go.” Darrow turned to Neil. “Right?”
Neil pinched the bridge of his nose. “Good to go,” was relative at this point. “With the hardware, yes. The control system, not so much.”
Darrow leaned back looking at the ceiling and ran his hand through his hair. “There still isn’t enough data for the AI to duplicate what Cassie did, even with the new control algorithm?”
“The control algorithm is great. It overcomes some of the original design limitations. The actual flight control, however?” Neil held up his hands in surrender. “It doesn’t work with any degree of reliability.” He sighed.
Darrow sat upright again. “We knew this was a possibility. We still have Cassie. This can still work.”
Tish gave a short laugh. Darrow was ever the optimist.
“That may not be enough,” Walt interjected. “Granted, she’s good. The best I’ve seen. But when she’s flying drones the altitude is essential, constant, and very low. Even her style of flying may not be enough to evade the Sylph when we start climbing.”
“That’s not your only problem.” Neil looked between them. “You haven’t convinced her to fly it yet. And we still have to keep her alive long enough to do it.”
The smile left Darrow’s face as he crossed his arms. “You don’t have to remind me of the danger she’s in. I saw Dale’s report. The opposition is getting desperate. At least we might know why now.”
“We’re out of time. If we’re going to do this, it needs to be now.” Neil shut his eyes and propped his head against his hand.
“You look tired, Neil.” Walt said in the silence.
“You’ve been off the treatments for a while.” Darrow continued when Neil remained silent. “Maybe, it’s time to take a break, check in with the doctors?”
Shaking his head, Neil sat up straighter. “No. I need to see this through. One way or another. Besides, there’s nothing they can do now. It’s time to admit they don’t have an answer.”
Tish was surprised to even find him sober today. He appeared to be in a great deal of pain. He was right though; they were out of time.
“I’m still waiting for the good news gentlemen.”
“They don’t know about Merlin. We’ve kept that a closely guarded secret. Their stooge Hodson hasn’t seen any of this data.” A smile spread across Darrow’s face. “They’re afraid we’re going to succeed in getting into orbit with the XS-9 and expose them.”
“They’ve tried to kill your star pilot at least three times. Maybe more. What about this situation makes you smile?” Tish asked.
“They think we can do it.”
Chapter 37
THAT AFTERNOON WHEN Cassie and Dale entered the Crow Works area, they found the rest of the team already there. Neil and Bala were deep in conversation about something. Even Andrew was there sipping a cup of tea and seeming to peer at nothing in the distance. The slight sparkle in his eyes and the telltale small muscle twitches indicated he was using contact implants to look at something though.
Joe, of course, was asleep.
A man she had never seen before was stirring several sugar packets into his coffee. He wore cowboy boots and a ratty cowboy hat. His hair was long and gray, and he had several days’ worth of stubble on his face. He saw her looking at him and tipped his hat to her.
That must be Harvey.
Up till then she had only talked to him, but there was no mistaking his appearance. She smiled back at him.
There were also several technicians in a small group to the side. Some of them she had never seen before and some she had worked with in the simulator room like Bobby.
“Cassie!”
She turned toward Wang’s voice to see the teen entering the room behind her.
“Cassie! Are you okay? You were still unconscious when I was with you. I tried to stay but Walt made me leave. Are you still hurt?”
She held up a hand to stop his flow of words.
“It’s okay, Wa—Sam. I’m going to be okay.”
“Are you sure?” Wang stood there bouncing foot to foot and she felt her heart melt a little for him. He’d been truly worried about her.
“Sam,” she laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “I’m fine, really.”
A smile broke out on his face. “Good.”
At that moment, Darrow walked in with Walt at his side. They were deep in a hushed conversation that ended when they noticed everyone watching them.
“Good morning,” Darrow began in a loud voice. “Most of the people in this room know the truth of what we’ve actually been working toward: a successful flight of the XS-9 to low earth orbit and the return of a human presence to space.” Darrow placed one hand on Walt’s shoulder. “By now Neil will have told you about the success Walt and Cassie have had in understanding the Sylph net.”
