“They’re being held at Metro downtown. In isolation. No one can get near them. Homeland’s taken over. They are all under guard, waiting for the Feds to arrive,” Dino Rodriguez said to Alex and Nikki.
“They’re being held as persons of interest, suspected of planning terrorist acts,” added Officer Ellen Levy. “It doesn’t look good for any of them.”
Levy stuck out her hand to Alex. “I’m Ellen Levy. I’ve heard all about you, and it’s an honor to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
Alex shook her hand, followed by Nikki. Then Alex set his eyes on Levy. They studied her with the REM-like intensity and movement that Alex had become known for.
“What the hell…?” Levy reacted, while simultaneously taking a step back. Her instincts and training had her hand moving automatically to her sidearm.
Then, nearly as soon as it started, Alex’s eye movement stopped. He looked at Levy.
“You will help many,” Alex said.
Levy stood speechless. A feeling came across her that was indescribable, something that she had never experienced before. It was unnerving, as if in an instant, Alex had looked deep into her soul. Yet at the same time, there was a sense of reassurance. That being right here, right now, was exactly where she was supposed to be. As near to a sense of destiny as one could experience was how she evaluated the feeling.
A hand on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts.
“Yeah, he does that,” Rodriguez said to her.
“We have to decide what to do,” Alex interrupted. “If they stay in custody, they die.”
“They’re out of our reach. I’m sorry,” Rodriguez said.
“Can we save them?” Nikki asked. “If we find a way to get them out, will they live?”
“It’s possible. All I can say is the end is coming, but I don’t see it with our friends dying in prison,” Alex said
“What does that mean?” Rodriguez asked.
“All I know is that either the Coalition or we as a group, and our efforts, will come to an end. Soon.”
Everyone stood in silence for a moment.
“We can’t use PHOEBE to help us,” Nikki explained.
Everyone looked at her.
“Not right now. There’s some…coding problems. I have to work them out,” Nikki continued. She didn’t dare look at Alex.
“If you guys pop back up on the grid, it’s over,” Rodriguez added. “They’ll nab you in a second, and I won’t be able to protect you.”
“I think she’ll still protect us. It’s just…there’s some problems with any new commands.”
“Problems?” Alex asked.
“She’s not responding.”
“How can you be sure she’ll protect you then?” Rodriguez asked.
The officer didn’t know much about PHOEBE, other than it was the software program that kept Luthecker and his friends hidden.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be okay,” Alex said. “We’ll have to look to other ways to stay in the shadows.”
Alex turned back to Rodriguez. “The others. The soldiers that I asked for. Are they ready?”
“There aren’t any soldiers. There hasn’t been any time. I’m sorry.”
Alex looked away for several seconds before turning back to Rodriguez. “I need you to do me a small favor.”
“Sure. If I can.”
“I need you to pay respects to my deceased mentor.”
Rodriguez tilted his head in confusion.
“It would mean a lot to me,” Luthecker added.
“Okay. If that’s what you want.” Rodriguez nodded before looking away.
He had never doubted Alex Luthecker before. But now the leader of this small band seemed to be speaking in existential parables that weren’t based on any reality the young officer could see. And now Luthecker wanted him to visit a grave. It gave Rodriguez pause. He decided that it was time to leave. He turned to Officer Levy.
“Let’s go,” he said to her before they exited the small apartment, leaving Alex and Nikki.
“We can’t have some sort of armed insurrection, Alex,” Nikki said after the two officers had left.
“It won’t be violent. I hope.”
“Be honest with me—how much can you see? Can you tell what’s really going to happen?”
“What’s meant to happen will happen whether I can see it or not. But more important than that, is Kunchin’s prophecy regarding you beginning to unfold? Is this what’s happening with PHOEBE?”
“I think she’s beginning to act out on her own. The consequences could be devastating. And I mean end of times devastating.”
“She needs to be guided.”
“I’ve been trying. I go to log in and my passwords don’t work. Back door access will take time, time we don’t have, and that’s not a guarantee. We’re on our own here until I can figure out what to do.”
A small voice called out. “Alex…?”
Both Alex and Nikki turned to the sound of the voice.
Maria stood in the bedroom doorway. “Is it time to go?”
Alex smiled, then walked over to Maria, and put his hand on her shoulder. “Yes. It is.”
“I want to go with you.”
“Not this time, Maria. But soon. For now, I need you to stay with Camilla where you will be safe.”
“Many will die,” Maria said as she hugged Alex.
Nikki’s heart raced. If Maria was in any way like Alex—like he claimed—her prophecy would come true. Someone in the family would die in the coming conflict, maybe.
“It’s possible,” Alex replied to Maria, his voice soft. “That is often the way of things. But what you see is not always set. There is room for change if people are willing and you help them to see. In time, I will show you how. But in the meantime, you will be safe. That I promise.”
A hard knock on the door interrupted. Nikki immediately grabbed her Kali sticks.
Alex took the Kali sticks from Nikki and motioned for both Maria and Nikki to stand behind him.
He carefully approached the door and looked through the peephole—a nervous looking bald man stood outside, his eyes constantly scanning the hallway. Alex noted that he was not armed, and his movements were not those of a man trained to threaten others. Alex put the chain on the door and opened it three inches.
“Alex Luthecker?” Mark Kirby asked.
“Who’s asking?”
“I’ve been trying to contact you. I know who you are, and I know what you can do. I’m not exactly sure what you can tell about who I am and why I’m here by simply looking at me. It’s probably everything, but I’m going to say it anyway—I can help you. But more important than that, I need your help—to save the world.”
Yaw sat on his aluminum prison bunk, legs crossed and back straight. He tried to focus on his meditative mantra. He tried to push aside the anger he felt at himself for not seeing the danger during the rescue attempt. He should have been able to see the events before they began to unfold like Alex had taught him. He was mad at himself for letting down the refugees. He was mad at himself for letting down his friends.
Unable to concentrate any longer, Yaw slowly opened his eyes and looked around his cell. It was enclosed concrete, eight feet by eight feet square, with a metal cot, toilet, and sink. The door, also metal, had a solitary food slot. A flickering halogen bulb above provided the only illumination.
There was palpable dampness in the air, humidity that made the skin feel sticky. This clamminess also gave a musty, heavy feel to the atmosphere that—when combined with the relentless smell of the previous inmates’ sweat, blood, and urine—rendered the air almost unbreathable.
It was also dead silent. That was perhaps the most disturbing part to Yaw. The complete lack of sound was disorienting—added to the fact that there was no sense of day or night. Isolation was considered torture in nearly every corner of the world, and Yaw knew he would have to rely on his training to keep sane.
He closed his eyes, sat up straight, with his legs crossed in front of him, and focused on his meditation again. He chanted louder this time, the Buddhist mantra Alex taught him as a way to quiet his thoughts echoing off the concrete walls.
The sound of a bolt sliding back on his cell door caused him to open his eyes.
“Just give us a full run down on your operations, and we’ll set you free,” the man in the suit and badge said.
Yaw studied the man who sat across from him at the steel table for several seconds. He was white, soft featured, with perfect black hair. His hands were smooth. He had neither the build nor the mannerisms of a field agent. He was a pencil pusher. A negotiator.
Yaw looked to the one-way mirror and had a strong inclination about the type of person who would be on the other side. Behind that one-way was the harder elements of Coalition Assurance. The ones trained in the art of brutality.
Yaw understood that if the man sitting across from him did not get what he wanted, the next man to interrogate him might not leave him alive. Yaw looked at his wrist chained to the table, before looking back to the Coalition agent.
“And I want one other thing,” the agent added. “The whereabouts of one Nicole Ellis.”
Yaw’s face showed a flash of confusion.
The agent didn’t miss the look. “I know what you’re thinking. Why aren’t they asking about Alex Luthecker?” the man in the suit and badge added. “I can officially inform you that we’re not interested in him now.”
Yaw kept his cool, and stayed quiet.
“I know you think you’re protecting your friends. And that you can survive this place. You’re a big, physical guy. But the Vietnamese kid. He might not fare as well. And those refugees? Well—deported is about the nicest thing that’s going to happen to them. So what do you say?”
Yaw finally spoke. “Lawyer. That’s what I say.”
“Not going to happen. You’re a person of interest, suspected of terrorist activity. And being off grid works against you here, big time. If you’re not part of the system, you can’t really rely on the system, now can you? Which means you’ll disappear if I say so. Just another black man up to no good, found shot on the street.”
Yaw remembered his training and did his best to show no emotion. He also thought back to his brother’s incarceration many years earlier. How quickly things had escalated. How, for African American men, the penal code was a death spiral.
Once a black man was in the system, he was enslaved by it. In order to stay safe from the law, people of color had to err on the side of caution. Always. Walking down the wrong street at the wrong time could end in death. Say the wrong thing to the wrong person? Do time in jail. It was an undercurrent of threat felt by all minorities in America.
Yaw’s brother’s difficulties with the law had made him hyper aware. And yet, despite that diligence, here he was. If you rebel, the system will find you, he thought. He decided to play along, at least for the moment. He would bait the agent, try to buy time, try to extract information himself that may prove useful later.
“You know the last time, the last two times y’all messed with Alex, it didn’t end well for you. What makes you think it’s gonna be different this time?”
“You are referring to Alex Luthecker. As I told you, we have no interest in him. He’s free to go about his business. But Ms. Ellis, we need to speak with her.”
“It didn’t work out for the guy who tried that angle either.”
“She’s going to want to talk to us.”
“About?”
“National security issues. You tell us where to find her, you and the refugees are free to go.”
Now the agent was baiting Yaw.
Yaw would give the man nothing. “I don’t know where she is. And the one thing I have confidence in is my friends. So do what you have to. ‘Cause you’re right—in the system, I will survive. And Joey’s been training. He’s tougher than he looks. So if you’re gonna kill me, go on and do it now. I ain’t afraid.”
“We’re going to deport her, your Russian friend,” the man in the crisp navy suit said to Chris. “And you’ll never see her again.”
“She has papers.”
“ICE has full power now to deport anyone at any time, for any reason. Papers don’t matter anymore.”
“Masha can take care of herself. She’s done it all her life. What are you charging me with?”
Chris instinctively pulled against the handcuff that chained him against the steel table. He wanted nothing more than to put his hands around the Coalition agent’s neck. And regardless of his words, he was very concerned for Masha. Nikki had arranged green card status for Masha, with the help of PHOEBE. Chris hoped that those papers were still valid.
“We’re not charging you with anything just yet.”
“That’s because you have nothing. Because I, we, have done nothing illegal.”
“You were trafficking in illegals.”
“That’s a lie and you know it. We found those people. They were being sold into slavery, and we were setting them free.”
“The truth is what we say it is. But there’s a way out for you. Where’s Nicole Ellis?”
Chris thought it odd that they were asking about Nikki. Still, he showed no reaction.
“I have no idea.”
The man leaned in to Chris, motioned him close. “I’m going to level with you. Because we don’t have time, and all of you, well, you’re all acting the same and it’s getting us nowhere. We are not concerned with Alex Luthecker. But we need to find Nikki Ellis. We need her to stop her program PHOEBE. Because it’s wreaking havoc in cyber-systems worldwide, and we need to stop it before it literally starts the apocalypse.”