Intelligent Design: Revelations to Apocalypse (25 page)

“Is my package in place?” Reich asked quietly.

“Yes. Milites Vespere placed the package and Milites Bella confirmed its position as recently as thirty-two minutes ago. She is en route to the pickup location,” the Keeper added.

“Are you linked with the building’s security system?”

“Yes. All monitors and controls are at our command. Lights and emergency backups were confirmed by Immunes Pax. Your escape plan will have the distinct advantage of being novel.”

Reich nodded to herself. All her years of training, working out, and past missions had been difficult, but this mission, where she used herself as bait to spring a trap and then escape was worrisome to her. One pressing question nagged at her mind, but before she could ask, her tablet anticipated her thoughts—a very new development in its artificial intelligence, she noted.

“In regards to Sir Robert Phillip Pierce’s continued unauthorized absence from house arrest, he is now ninety-seven days considered missing in action. Based on what we have gathered even with remote access and shifting resources, it seems clear that he is preparing some sort of mission. Based on our best analysis, it is unclear as to what his target might be. I anticipate that there is a twenty-two percent chance that it is you. Based on the level of security you have, however, he will more likely pursue another target that is less daunting to capture, but someone related to you.”

Reich remained silent as she mentally ran through a list of possible targets. She had a private firm and their team watching her school and staff, and she was making herself more visible so as to lure him to her and force his hand rather than waiting. She moved across the room to be closer to Officer Middleton’s position—casually, as anyone might do if they were looking to get a different view of the city’s skyline, Blue Hills, or beyond.

“Chief Inspector Bradley and three other officers from the Boston Police Department have reached the observation deck. He is redeploying them and contacting both Spenser’s and Middleton’s teams. They are covering all exits at your level and below. Based on their brief exchange, it seems he will approach you in one minute, from your left,” the Keeper said.

Reich pushed her hand in her pocket and felt for the old-fashioned thumb drive. On it were the exact locations of their sister planet Terra and coordinates that would allow anyone to finally see it. In addition, there was a briefing on Terran culture and life. There were also data on Venus and on “Martians” on Arcadia Planitia—Mars.

All those years of looking for life, and it’s all right in my pocket. Farrell will just love this.

“Engagement in fifteen seconds.”

“Location from roof access?” Reich asked. Even though the schematics were fresh in her mind, she just wanted to make doubly sure she knew where she was going.

“Fifteen meters from your location. Officer Middleton and Officer Spenser are guarding it. They apparently are not taking anything for granted,” the Keeper said. Even as the voice spoke, Reich could see a portly man approaching her from the left. She assessed one more time the best way to shed her clothes before her escape. She would need to evade both Middleton, an athletic man in his thirties who was stationed at the door—and the one approaching her, too.

“Well, well, well. Ms. Christine Reich. Industrialist, philanthropist, and wealthy international woman of mystery and intrigue. A modern-day protector of children and nemesis to those that wish harm upon them,” the chief inspector said in a joyous tone that revealed neither sarcasm nor gloating—he was being genuinely positive. Reich couldn’t help but smile at his greeting.

He would make such a great drinking buddy.

“Chief Inspector Arthur Bradley. You’re a little far from New Scotland Yard,” she said.

As she turned to face him, she was not surprised to see that he was wearing a frumpy, ill-fitting suit or that he had unkempt hair. It was clear that he realized that his presence was not a surprise to her. His approach slowed as he neared her and his eyes darted all around, as if to see whether there was anything that would expose his operation.

“I would have expected a little more surprise from you, Ms. Reich. Last time we met you were in my jurisdiction, my country, and my investigation. Now here we are across the pond, and you seem as if you were expecting me,” he said as he began taking handcuffs out of his pocket.

No chances this time.

Even though there were a fair number of tourists milling about, Reich and Bradley felt as if they were the only two on the floor.

“Inspector,” Reich said as she held up her hand and showed him the thumb drive, “I have the evidence that General David Joseph Farrell needs to finally prove the existence of his missing planet.”

Bradley came to a complete stop. He locked eyes with her, peering intently into them as if to try to determine whether she was telling him the truth or not. She did not wait for his response.

“The planet is called Terra. It is a tidally locked planet on the other side of the sun. But that is the least of our problems. We need to convince Farrell to stop wasting time and resources looking for a benign planet—there is a far more dangerous situation that needs to be addressed. He would be better served if he focused on it rather than Terra. I have proof, but I will need a time and location to meet in person and discuss that,” Reich said. She held the thumb drive in her hand, above her head, as she spoke. She watched Bradley and how his gaze went from his eyes to her hand.

Still holding the handcuffs, he moved closer as he spoke. “Not many know the General’s middle name. Once again, Reich, you surprise me,” he said.

“I know that you’ve been looking for my favorite prince, Sir Pierce. House arrest? Really? You thought he would just stay home?” Reich asked.

“That was not my call. He’s stateside, by the way, but I bet you already knew that,” he said. He was now within two feet, so she lowered the thumb drive gently and placed it in his extended hand. She then slowly closed his hand around it. She was surprised how big his hand was and how meaty it felt. He looked down as she performed the small gesture.

“Well, this is an unexpected turn of events,” Bradley said. He moved to drop the drive in his trouser pocket for safekeeping. As he put his right hand into his pocket, Reich grabbed his left hand, which was holding the handcuffs. In an instant, she had his left wrist cuffed. She managed to cuff it to his right one while his hand was still deep in his pocket.

“What the hell? Spenser! Middleton!” he shouted.

Reich pulled off her tear-away black dress and prepared to hurl it over Middleton, who was moving toward her fast. She used some visitors in the way to obscure her for just the moment she needed to throw the material over the oncoming officer. Then she tripped Middleton, sending him sprawling to the ground. She turned to see Virginia Spenser hot on her trail—followed by three large officers. It was clear that she intended to try to settle a score from their last encounter. Free of her dress, Christine ran at full speed to the roof access door while ripping off her other clothes.

“There is a doorstop just behind the door you can use to slow their progress,” the Keeper said in her ear.

Now wearing only her sleek black jumpsuit, Reich burst through the metal door and slammed it shut. Just as the master computer said, she found the wood doorstop and kicked it in place. She didn’t want to wait to see how long it was going to hold up four people smashing into the door. Reich took the stairs two at a time.

“Once you are on the roof, turn right and head three-point-five meters to the brown HVAC unit. You will find a solid black backpack that weighs approximately ten-point-four-three kilograms. Strapping it on your back will activate additional straps; these will automatically conform to your body and will activate the internal gyroscope to indicate launching sequence and flight,” the Keeper said calmly.

“That’s a bit heavier than I’m used to. I bet the wings were upgraded with heavier metal,” Reich said.

Just as she opened the roof door, she heard a large crash and loud cursing below her. She slammed the door and took off toward the brown air-conditioning unit. Without looking, she reached under and grasped for the metal pack. For just one moment when she couldn’t feel anything, she panicked. She reached in deeper. Once she had her hands on it, she started breathing again, unaware that she had stopped. She easily slung the heavy pack across her back. Once secured, four other straps automatically emerged from it and wrapped precisely around her waist and thighs. Not waiting to watch, she began running to the farthest edge of the roof that towered 241 meters above the city of Boston.

“Will you fly me in, or should I go manual?” Reich asked. Secretly she had hoped to manually guide herself, but she figured the Keeper would be far more efficient at taking her to a precise landing at the preordained location.

“Affirmative—I will fly you in. Please hold on to your shoulder straps. The wings will deploy in twenty-four meters. Based on your position and direction, you will land in an updraft that will lift you approximately thirty meters above the John Hancock Tower very rapidly,” the computer warned.

Reich felt a smile burst onto her face as she anticipated the roller-coaster ride that was about to happen. If Spenser and the others had reached the roof, she was not aware of it as she finally reached the building’s edge and dove off. The air was crisp and rushed around her entire body. She was so high off the ground that cars and people appeared as mere specks. Her stomach was in her throat and her adrenaline, already charged from her narrow escape, was pumping at levels beyond what she had experienced in her other trials with the magnetic propelled flier.

The ground rushed toward her while the building’s reflective glass flew by. Finally, she felt a mechanical jerk shift her balance. She watched in amazement, as she always did, when black metal-plastic wings unfurled to a length of nearly four meters on each side of her. Their deployment was always sudden and silent. Just as the wings reached their full spread, she felt her entire body lift back up rapidly into the sky. Unable to control her emotions from the rush of the experience, Reich screamed in joy as she sailed silently back up and well above the very building she had just jumped off. Now flying in a parabolic curve higher than the tallest building in Massachusetts, she saw small figures staring up at her from its roof. Even at her height and speed, she could make out the figure of Virginia Spenser waving her fist at her. Others around her used their hands to cover their eyes from the sun and track her progress.

“We will be airborne for six-point-three minutes, until we reach the landing zone on the Great Blue Hill. Please refrain from unnecessary movement and enjoy the ride,” the Keeper said.

Reich laughed out loud at the advice—the computer sounded like a transatlantic flight attendant. With air rushing through her hair and around her body, Reich screamed again in joy at the thrill of flying. No sound could be heard other than her own yells and wind whipping by her. She forgot for a blissful moment that the world she knew might not be around for long into the foreseeable future.

The calmed say that what is well-spoken is best; second, that one should say what is right, not unrighteous; third, what’s pleasing, not displeasing; fourth, what is true, not false.
—The Buddha

Perez the Younger looked out over the dual landscapes of Terra’s tidal-locked world. On one side was perpetual light, unbearable heat, and violent windstorms that blew sand against stone, dirt, and pyramids. On the other side of the planet’s longitudinal equator was as a land in constant midnight, filled with a frozen ocean, distant mountains glowing with red lava, and striking lightning so intense that it would briefly blot out the star field every time it struck.

Even at the apex of her transparent room, Perez could hear thunder rumbling with every passing bolt. The three-story miniature Egyptian pyramid structure was perfect for weathering two radically different environments. Perez looked along the equatorial line again, at the emitter array antennas that were the only exposed features of the complex holographic machinery to show above the planet’s crust; most of it was well protected below the surface. Solar energy powered the holographic emitters, allowing them to generate a planet-wide cloak that gave it the allusion of not existing at all. These pushed the light spectrum just beyond a hominid’s range of vision, so the planet was as undetectable to humans as radio waves, X-rays and infra-red light—but just as real. Perez had added geothermal energy to supplement the arrays that hid Terra from Earth; these were effective but, to her thinking, no longer logical. With Jupiter’s changing into a second sun, hiding the planet from Earth seemed like a ridiculous pursuit.

The scent of flowers gently wafted into the relatively small observation room. It was familiar, similar to lilac—but on Terra, it was associated with one specific person. Perez turned back to her table to rework numbers when she saw her friend Legate Legionis Clematis standing silently by the cluttered desk. Perez was mildly surprised but not startled.

“I am always impressed with your ability to remain calm when most would jump with surprise,” Clematis said. Her voice was always calm, yet her curious eyes always beamed with amusement and questions. “How do you stay composed when I am sure I was not detected?” she asked.

“If you were a rattus, you would have attacked without warning. I did detect a flowery scent, so I knew it had to be you,” Perez answered. As she did, she felt a smile emerge from her previously serious face, which had the effect of producing an even broader smile from Clematis. “Even with your regal, warrior-like exterior, you are such a girl. A gentle flower scent. Not overpowering, but clearly present,” Perez added.

“I like to think it reflects my ability to lead. Speaking of which, I must say that for a scientist, you make well-thought-out plans. Now explain to me why I should sell this to the ruling body and debate this point?” Clematis asked. Even though Clematis appeared serious, her eyes betrayed a playful quality.