Veil (13 page)

He didn’t want to wait for the vetting
process but recognized there was no way around it. He submitted the
scientist’s name and employer and listed him as a civilian
candidate to be vetted for consulting on a Top Secret level
project.
Immediately
. He left all the other information
blank, as he didn’t think there would be another Dr. Hunter
Kennerly at Caltech.

He wished the military would change the names
of their classification levels. As cool as marking something “Top
Secret” might sound, in reality it made him feel like he was part
of a friggen comic book. He imagined Pollock loved to mark things
“Top Secret.” He imagined every time Pollock did so he probably
took a picture of it with his cellphone and sent it to all the
women he was trying to frak.

Schaffer sent his request, verified his
office door was locked and picked up his phone. After he navigated
through an annoying automated menu, he finally reached a real, live
human.

“Biology Division.”

“I’m trying to reach Dr. Hunter
Kennerly.”

“Dr. Kennerly is unavailable, would you like
his voicemail?”

“No, I’d like a live message delivered to him
as soon as possible.”

That caught the operator off guard. “Ummm,
just a second.” After a brief pause, “Ok, go ahead with your
message.”

“My name is Dr. Carl Schaffer with the
Department of Defense, and I’d like a return call from Dr. Kennerly
as soon as possible.”

The operator suddenly sounded less annoyed
and seemed more receptive. He took Schaffer’s information and
stated he’d deliver the message to Dr. Kennerly personally.
Schaffer thanked him and hung up.

Dr. Hunter Kennerly held doctorates in
Neurobiology and Electrical Engineering. He was responsible for
many breakthroughs in brain-computer interfacing. Kennerly’s
research and inventions led to the production of some of the most
cutting-edge brain-computer interface devices, from
neuroprosthetics to video games. The man understood
neuroelectricity and how to manipulate it or have it manipulate
something else. Schaffer believed if anyone could give them what
they needed, it was Kennerly. If anyone could take the mechanics of
Dr. Tsay’s machine, extract the principles, and use the same theory
to design a smaller, more effective device that was capable of
remotely deploying Veil, it would be Kennerly. It had to be
Kennerly.

Pollock wasn’t sure exactly how stupid
Schaffer thought he was but figured Schaffer must’ve thought he was
pretty damn stupid. With nothing to do except work on the Veil
project, didn’t Schaffer think he’d notice how he kept trying to
cut him out of everything? Didn’t Schaffer think he’d notice him
running off to meet with the General without including him, only to
rush back and lock himself in his office once again? It was no
secret that Schaffer wasn’t fond of him, and the feeling was
mutual. Personal feelings aside, there could still be room for
professional courtesy.

Or at least there should be, Pollock figured.
He found Schaffer to be an insufferable, arrogant blowhard.
Apparently, Schaffer didn’t consider how the two of them had equal
experience. They both completed a test-run of the system. Pollock’s
run was longer than Schaffer’s, as a matter of fact. Both of their
names were on the bottom of the development report. In fact, if
they were going to get all technical, Pollock’s name was listed
first.

He wasn’t going to let Schaffer inch him out
of the project. He thought Veil was as badass as Schaffer did, and
they were both there to do a job. Off the top of his
head
,
Pollock could think of ten things he
solved while the pair fleshed out Tsay’s data, things Schaffer was
unable to decipher. It wasn’t as if Pollock didn’t contribute at
all, and now that he saw what kind of game Schaffer played, he
figured it was high time he let Schaffer know he could play right
the hell back.

Pollock darted across the lab and knocked on
Schaffer’s office door. He heard a chair squeak and then Schaffer’s
shoes click against the linoleum as he walked across his office.
The blinds on the window of the office door were momentarily pulled
apart, eye level with Pollock. Schaffer unlocked and opened his
office door.

“What?” Schaffer groaned.

Pollock pushed the door open and walked
around Schaffer, whose irritation was a little more than
apparent.

“We need to talk about the project and get
moving on a set of schematics,” Pollock said in the most
confrontational tone he could produce. Schaffer closed the door,
circled around his desk and sat down.

“I’m already working on some things, and I
suggest you go do so as well. We can come up with some ideas and
then hash them out or whatever.” Schaffer was willing to say
anything to appease Pollock long enough to get him out of his
office.

But, Pollock wasn’t having it. “That’s not
really how a team gets things done and it’s not how we’ve operated
up to this point. What was your meeting with the General
about?”

Schaffer was about to tell him to mind his
own friggen business when his phone rang. He put his hand on the
receiver, looked at his office door and then at Pollock. Pollock
didn’t take the hint. Schaffer raised his eyebrows and motioned his
head toward the door. He wanted Pollock to frakking leave,
damnit
.

Pollock shook his head and stood his ground;
he folded his arms and didn’t budge.

Schaffer rolled his eyes, let out a
huff
,
and answered the call.

“Dr. Schaffer.”

“Dr. Schaffer, this is Dr. Hunter Kennerly.
I’m returning your call.”

Now he really wanted Pollock out of his
office so he furrowed his brow and motioned toward the door again.
Pollock still wasn’t having it. Schaffer scowled and gave up.

“Dr. Kennerly, thank you for returning my
call. The reason I was calling is because your name came up in a
project I’m involved with here at the Department of Defense, and I
think we could benefit from your level of expertise.”

Upon hearing that, Pollock’s attention
visibly perked and he plopped himself in the chair in front of
Schaffer’s desk.

Schaffer gave Pollock the middle finger.
Pollock smiled.

“The Department of Defense? My name?” Dr.
Kennerly asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“May I ask what this is in reference to?”

“Well, I’m still waiting to get confirmation
of your security clearance, but I can say the project is linked to
the phenomenon of neuroelectricity. I was calling to see if you
would have any immediate availability to join the project if we’re
able to get you cleared?”

Dr. Kennerly chuckled. “Refusing to work on a
project with the DOD would be hard to do. You guys obtain my
clearance
,
and I’ll carve out my
availability. I can demand some flexibility from them here. I’m
pretty sure I’ve earned it.”

“Understood. I can call you tomorrow to
discuss,” Schaffer replied. To mask his relief, he made sure to
look as smug as he could. Dr. Kennerly provided Schaffer with his
personal contact information and the two hung up.

“Do you mind getting the frak out of my
office now?”

“No problemo. I’m sure you have a bunch more
totally non-cleared conversations to have about our classified,
Toppo-Secreto-projecto. Just let me get out of your way.”

As he bid him farewell, Schaffer made sure to
emphasize Pollock’s name.

Once again using that wrong, politically
incorrect pronunciation.

“Close the door behind you,
Polack
.”

After he hung up his office phone, Hunter
Kennerly took out his cellphone. While he started a call, he walked
across the office to close his door. He hit the send button, closed
the door, headed toward the window, and used his fingers to
separate two of the blinds so he could peer through them. A couple
of well-built guys were tossing a football in the quad below. One
had a nice, thick ass.

The person he called answered
,
but Hunter spoke before his friend had a chance.

“You’re never going to fucking believe this
shit, bud.”

Hunter smirked while he leered at the built
jock’s ass.

After a moment came the response from a
familiar
,
monotone, computerized
voice.

“Now what?”

Four days later, Hunter Kennerly was being
escorted into the lab, planked on either side by Schaffer and
Pollock. He could immediately tell he liked Pollock more; Schaffer
seemed to have a stick up his ass, which was firmly attached to the
chip on his shoulder. Hunter knew the game and although he didn’t
know what the show was yet, he could already tell Schaffer
considered himself to be the one running the show.

All he needed to do was validate Schaffer
while giving Pollock the occasional knowing glance. Military guys
were easy, especially the ones who thought they were smart. His dad
was a military guy, and his dad was easy, and he was pretty sure
his dad was a lot smarter than those two knuckle-draggers.

“I thought I’d never make it through all that
paperwork,” Hunter joked to cut the silence.

“Yeah, they want to make sure you sign away
your soul before they let you use the bathroom around here,”
Schaffer offered in return.

“Right, well I’m glad my clearance went
through so quickly. I have to say I’m damn curious what the
Department of Defense could possibly want from me.”

“It’s not so much what we want from you but
what we need,” Pollock interjected. He quickened his pace a bit and
wondered why he always ended up falling behind; he wasn’t that damn
short.

“I stand corrected,” Hunter replied while he
scanned the lab.

He made note of everything in the lab, as if
he might need to recall it in a second’s notice. Not unlike the way
people were instructed to readily memorize specifics of a fake
mugging, after which they’d get drilled for the details.

Heh, drilled.

They led him to a conference room in the back
of the lab
,
which contained only a table,
six chairs, a whiteboard, and a water-cooler
.
Schaffer and Pollock took turns explaining why
Hunter was brought there. The two military scientists described
what they needed from him, without disclosing anything about the
nature of Veil. They made sure not to divulge any impertinent
information at all. After they gave as adequate an explanation as
they could, they opened the floor up to Hunter.

His immediate response was disconcerting.

“I understand what you’re trying to do, but
what I can’t understand is why in the world anyone would ever want
to do that.”

Schaffer and Pollock gawked at each
other.

Not quite the response they expected … or
hoped to hear.

Hunter spent the rest of the afternoon
educating the two military scientists about why their goal simply
wasn’t achievable, and how it would likely never be possible. He
suggested that they certainly must have realized it was impossible
to “remotely deploy” neuroelectricity. Just like there was no way
to charge an electrical device without plugging it into, or
otherwise making contact with, a source of electricity. That
couldn’t be news to them. Right?

It wasn’t as if one could shoot
neuroelectricity, or any electricity for that matter, through the
air with the accuracy of Spider Man shooting webs from his wrist,
he jabbed. He reminded them that a stable current required
conduction, which was only possible through direct contact. It was
something fundamental to any stable electrical current, and a
neuroelectrical current was no different. He recommended that they
might as well give up if their project absolutely required remote
deployment of neuroelectricity
.