Two years came and went without problem or incident. Irina and I moved into a new apartment in the complex with our daughter, who would wear me out with questions at night about everything concerning my life. Pasha wanted to know every detail of it, from the time I was small to now. Not an easy task, to tell someone about all your mistakes, and still have them love you; but she did.
Irina and I had gotten closer and closer. Our nights lying in the cool bedroom of the complex were spent discussing all kinds of plans for when this never-ending nightmare would be done.
Her idea for retirement was a chicken and rabbit ranch somewhere where she could wear coveralls and let her hair grow long and not be concerned with it turning slowly gray, as we both grew old. Mine was a beach, someplace with a cold bottle of beer and a good book. We had to find the middle ground, but it was the common joke, about the difference between the souls of Russians and Americans.
I had not seen Dr. Henry or anyone else for that period. The plan was coming together like we actually knew what we were doing. There had been several incidents concerning “Visitors’ but the other Group leaders had taken care of them without much of my involvement. The device was moving along very well. The one under King’s Peak, Utah, was already installed after we had tested it and certified it as workable. The other series, all seven of them, were in the pit and all of them were working as well. The only thing missing at present was the installation at the Bangor Sub Base in Washington State. The facility was not yet ready and there were endless problems again with DC.
A new administration had come into office and the whole process of re-education had been started by Harv’s new under secretary, a young scientist by the name of James Nakamura. An MIT grad in quantum physics and electrodynamics, he was bright and quick and was looking for the fast track up the organization, so he never missed a chance to point out any and all of Harv’s flaws to anyone over at the White House that would listen. He was trying to make his star rise a little faster than some of us thought he should and he wanted to climb up Harv’s back to reach for the top of the shelf. This left Bellamy with the problem of pouring oil on the water constantly and having to make a lot of excuses for Harv. My heart went out to him, but there was little I could do. I had never been in the Washington Merry-Go-Round and didn’t want to start handling the problems of politics this late in my career.
Jack Thompson had made one star general and, after talking to each of us separately, had decided to retire. He and Shirley wanted to spend the rest of their lives in the sun of Florida’s west coast around Bradenton and raise their son. He deserved it in my opinion for his long and trusted service. At his going away party, he asked both Irina and I to come down and spend some time with them and maybe consider moving down there. Jack had some ideas for a technical business that would make them a considerable living and he had asked me to be a partner. It sounded great but I needed to see this project through to the end and he understood, letting me know that
there was always a desk for me at the office right next door to his. I had recommended Harden for the vacant post and, with Harv’s support; he got it with a three jump rank increase. I knew that he would do a good job of filling Jack’s boots and I had little need for him, since almost all of my time was spent inside the complex now.
One afternoon Bellamy called me out of the blue
"Teddy, can you get down to Groom and meet with Harv, Nakamura and me, this afternoon? ”
I looked at my calendar and realized that it was clear with the exception of administration functions, which I hated anyway. I agreed and took the sub-way in the early afternoon. It was a little over an hour trip.
I was met at Five-One by Nakamura. He started in at me almost immediately with no preamble or introductions like some small yippy Japanese dog. "Good to see you Dr. Humphrey. I am concerned that this project Dr. Gilpsen has been stewarding through isn’t going to be all he cracked it up to be. If that is the case, the folks over at the White House want to know if you think it is time to replace him. ”
We got in the car and sped away toward the Groom Lake facility, while he continued his name dropping and listing all the reasons why we needed a new person, sitting in Harv’s chair. I was about ready to blow up, when we finally walked into the hanger next to the old facilities building.
"Ted, good to see you! ” Harv took my hand and shook it really hard. Bellamy smiled and slapped me on the back.
"Everything running smoothly up at Jacobs? ” He asked.
"Couldn’t be better. Irina sends her greetings to both of you. ” I walked to one side of the hanger and looked at the scout ship. Nakamura continued to yap away.
"I believe we should be working on this and trying to get it to fly again, Dr. Humphrey. It is a waste just sitting here. The small things we have found warrant us trying to take this apart and see what make’s it work and then building our model. ” Nakamura had been told I held some kind of power in the Group and I was probably the conduit to getting things done. He looked with disdain on Harv who had plucked him out of obscurity, trained him, and now had the long suffering task of watching this man gnaw at the hand of the man who fed him. This was not the payback I would have expected from someone elevated so quickly within our ranks. It showed disrespect, dishonor, disloyalty and just plain bad manners.
I walked over to the covered unit sitting there all alone in the bay. I pulled the cover back and saw Dr. Rufus T. Henry’s little present to me, two years ago. It was a chemical laser that was so compact it was less than ten feet long and no more than two feet across. I rubbed my hand down the framework and looked at the various controls. It was aimed at the hull of one of the older ships that had sat in the far side of the bay for years.
"This toy work? ” I looked at Bellamy then Harv.
"That is what we’re here to see. In the lab it does fine, but you were the one who wanted to see if we could use it. ” Harv looked at me and then over a Nakamura.
"I don’t think this is a proper use of resources and neither does the President. I was talking to his assistant the other day and they think we should use this device on the 'expendable’ craft, as you call it in your memo Dr. Humphrey, for something better than this 'hocus pocus’ stuff about aliens. ” Nakamura was bucking for another stripe on his sleeve, but he was not correct in his assessment of my view of the political realities understood by the President or his staff.
"A moment, gentlemen, if I may. ” I held up a hand to Nakamura and good old reliable Jamison stepped in front of him, to keep him from following Harv and Bellamy over to the corner of the hanger.
"Okay, so... why you are you keeping him? ” I asked Harv in a low voice.
"It has made some powerful friends over at that rented white house and I think I am on the slippery slope heading down and out to the trash heap if I fire him. ” Harv had a note of fear in his eyes. I looked at Bellamy, who smiled and nodded to me.
"It’s your call, Ted. If you want us to take on this battle, I am game for it. But there is no guarantee of the outcome. We have a standing executive order giving us a license and we are granted funds until 2012, but there may be a shit storm if you do it. ” Bellamy rubbed his face and his scar puckered up and down. "Then again, we could be in the process of being sold out as well. ”
"How much about the Group does he know? ” I asked Harv.
"The edge only. After the first six months I slowed down his access to files and that put a real twist in his tail. ” Harv looked old.
"Are you still up to handling this whole project Dr. Glipsen without the use of your assistant here? ” I asked formally, already knowing the answer.
"I will give up one of my mistresses if it means me continuing to work with you two bandits. ” Harv laughed.
"Good enough. ” I walked back to where Nakamura was standing.
"Jim... ” I started.
"I prefer to be addressed by my proper title as Doctor Nakamura, sir. ” He said, feeling rebuked from our conclave.
"Jim, ” I let my uncaring sink in, "let me explain the ins and outs of power to you. Right now, you look to me like a bright young man who wants very badly to go places. I need to know what you have told those folks in the administration about our program here. ” I smiled at him.
"I understand that my security clearance doesn’t. allow me. to talk to outsiders about the program, but in only the most general terms. ” He dodged the question.
"Good answer. Now what have you told them specifically about our program? ” I raised my voice slightly as Bellamy and Harv walked back up to where I was standing.
"I don’t think my private conversations have anything to do with you. ” He flared.
"Didn’t you tell me, ” I said to Jamison, only slightly raising the timber of my voice, but never looking away from Nakamura, "that the phone intercept on Dr. Nakamura’s phone had indicated he was actually going outside the boundaries, Mr. Jamison? ” Jamison looked at me and picked up quickly on the move I was making.
"I did, sir, as I was instructed to do. He sounded to the technicians as though he was telling them what we were planning to do. ” Jamison never missed a beat. Even though we had not talked to each other in a couple of years.
"You couldn’t have heard anything! ” He said, a little too quickly. "That is a secure line and they have it back traced. ”
"You don’t think we can monitor your line without the White House knowing about it? ” I feigned a hurt look.
"They told me all of the lines were checked and I was on a clear line. ” Panic is always good to watch when you are not holding the losing hand.
"They didn’t know we had a back trace of our own? ” I said waiting for the full effect of my statement to hit him. "Now, why don’t you tell me what they promised you for the information that you gave them? ”
"I-I can’t do that. ” He stumbled again and hoped no one would notice. Harv was turning purple with rage.
"You had better. ” I said menacingly as I stepped in close to him. "Because here are your choices at present: One: I leave you to the none too tender mercies of Mr. Jamison, who will escort you to Diego Garcia for interrogation and detainment, until I feel anything you might know is worthless. That could be ten years in a cell on an island that makes Devil’s Island look like Club Med. Two: ” I flicked two fingers at the guards who marched over and stood over him, "I have you taken outside to become a 'target of opportunity’. In non-military terms that means, I have you shot. I’m sure Mr.
Jamison would follow my direct orders without question. Three: I have you tried for treason. I don’t know if you read the small print on your employment contract, but it is there. Oh, and don’t worry, no one will know about it because it will be before a military tribunal, right here, not in a federal court, and, again... I have you shot. So think about your next answer, very carefully. What, and who, have you told about us? ” I stood there and suddenly Jamison pulled out his large framed automatic and jacked a round into the chamber, then held it by his side. The other two guards followed suit.
"Y-you c-c-can’t! You don’t have the right! I need to c-c-all general counsel at the White House and speak with them and have them talk to you! ” Nakamura was in hysterics.
"Oh, you are very mistaken, doctor. I do have the right and I will use my power, and, no, you are never talking to anyone at the White House ever again. That is the least of my promises to you. ” I reached up and snapped my fingers and one of Bellamy’s other assistants handed me a cellular phone and I dialed.
"Give me LaCross. LaCross? This is Humphrey. ” I waited for a moment. "I have just ordered Dr. Nakamura executed as an enemy of the state. Tell the President that if he tries to infiltrate my organization again, I will pull a Kennedy on his ass! Am I clear, Mr. LaCross? ” I hung up and handed the phone back to the man.
"T minus one minute. Jim. ” Jamison cocked his weapon and slightly lifted it, followed by the guards. Everyone was absolutely still. Nakamura’s mouth moved, unable to make a word, as he looked pleadingly back and forth between us all.
"Mr. Jamison, take this son of a bitch out and. ”
"WAIT! Just wait!! I’ll tell you! I’ve been meeting with the President’s private assistant for internal security matters. We never meet at the White House but at various places around McLean. She didn’t want to meet me where anyone would see us talking. I told her everything I knew or that I could find out, by going through Harvey’s desk at night. I told her about the triple jump and the laser. I added some stuff to make me look better. I wanted to make a good impression with her, since she told me there might be a senior staff level job that she could get me into with this Administration. ” He was crying out of fear.
All three of us shared a look of concern. "What was her name? ”
"C-corbett! ” He burbled out through his sobs.
"Ann Corbett? ”
"Yes! ” He looked up, surprised that we knew the name. "Dr. Ann Corbett! The President’s assistant. ” Nakamura could hardly speak.
"Son of a bitch!! ” Harv exploded at me. "I thought you killed that bitch years ago, Ted! ”
"So did I, Harv. ” I turned to Bellamy. "Call whoever you call at the White House. See if she is really there. I doubt it, but make the effort to find out. ” I walked a few feet away.
"Boss Three? ” Jamison was ready to do the guy right there.
"Morgan isn’t it? ” I turned to one of the security men who stepped forward.
"Yes, sir. Corporal Stan Morgan, sir! ” He was like a rail in front of me.
"Get a stenographer, a clean room in the facility, a team of security guys to surround it and have Jamison take Nakamura into it. He is going to tell you the where, when and how of everything he’s reported. Use the bug juice if you need to. High intensity. Is that clear? ” I looked over my glasses at the man and then to Jamison who knew exactly what I meant. If Nakamura was going to have any recall lapses, Jamison would quickly revivify his memory, with the back of his hand.
"Sir! ” Morgan spun and dashed away at a sprint.
"Jami, don’t let him out of your sight, do you understand me? ” Jamison looked hard at me and then back at Nakamura.
"Intrusions? ” The best word he could come up with, but I got the drift.
"Exactly. I want him in one piece, but he doesn’t have to be... whole... when we go to the President. ” Jamison nodded and grabbed the man by belt and the scruff of his suit and pushed him toward the facility door like a Scottish bouncer about to toss a drunk into the muck of the gutter., which is exactly what his life would now be... if he lived that long.
"The President? ” Bellamy said softly to me.
"Absolutely. This guy doesn’t want any bad press. We show him the transcript of a traitor as well as someone using official documents from his Administration, which he won’t be able to justify, he’s going to play ball with us all the way. ” I said with anger in my voice.
"Who the hell did you call? ” Harv asked me.
"Shit, I don’t know. I think it was Ramona at The Cotton Tail Bunny Ranch in Pahrump. ” I didn’t even smile at my statement.
I had become the master of the bluff and I was good at it.