An hour later they were back in the conference room at the base.
“Is this entity removable?” Lieutenant Jacobs asked.
“Absolutely,” Vivica said.
Scott disagreed. “There are no absolutes when it comes to dealing with an entity. This isn’t a ghost. This isn’t the spirit of someone who’s died. This is a nonhuman, noncorporeal presence, and nobody knows where it comes from and what it’s capable of.”
Next to him Anjali murmured. “Maybe we should just bring in an exorcist?”
Scott reached over and squeezed her hand.
“What I can’t understand,” the lieutenant said, “and I don’t pretend to have even an inkling about how to deal with this situation, is why only Ms. Kumar was affected and not Mr. Marshall?”
“Look at it this way,” Eddie said. “Take two athletes—a swimmer and a quarterback. Both highly skilled, both classified under sports, yet both completely different in their talents and use of muscle groups.”
“I hope I’m the quarterback,” Coulter said.
Lieutenant Jacobs sighed. “I’ve spoken with the department. We need this situation dealt with ASAP. A certain congressional committee is demanding to know what we’ve done with the funds that were allocated to us. Come hell or high water, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs plans on paying the base a visit next week. Now if it was up to me, I’d close this place down for the next ten months or ten years, however long it took to make it safe. But I don’t have the last word here.”
Scott appreciated the woman’s position and her candor, but his back was riled up just the same. Did the government think that by putting a deadline on something like this, it would automatically get done?
His jaw set, he made a decision. “We need more time. I want to talk to all the officers, construction workers, and engineers affected by being on this site, as well as witnesses to the events. He turned to Eddie. “The Anasazi shaman in New Mexico—”
“Has dealt with this before. I’ll contact him right away.”
“How much time are we talking about?” the lieutenant asked.
“More than we’re getting,” Scott said. “At least three weeks.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It’s what I’m offering.” It pained Scott to think that his refusal to compromise might get his team kicked off the case. He could wait his entire life and not see anything like this again. He didn’t need to see the restrained excitement on Eddie’s face to know he felt the same way. Anyone in their field would. But going after whatever was out there without being fully prepared would be like hunting a great white shark armed with only a lobster fork.
Vivica looked at Scott like he was nuts. “What are you planning to do? Write a thesis on the entity first?” She smiled at the lieutenant. “My team and I will go into the center tonight. We’ll be done by morning.”
Lieutenant Jacobs looked taken aback. “By morning?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, I was hoping for some sort of a consensus but…Dr. Bates if you can deliver, I can promise you enough funding to keep your research going for the next fifteen years.”
“How much dinero we talkin’ about?” Coulter asked.
The lieutenant looked amused. “A lot. Now, a team of officers will accompany Dr. Bates’s team inside. Meanwhile, I need to inform the higher-ups of both your decisions. You know how to reach me.” She left the room accompanied by two burly escorts.
“Vivica, really,” Scott said. “What you’re doing is dangerous.”
“The available research points to the fact that an entity can be cast out.”
“Not exactly, what the research theorizes—”
“We can argue semantics all day, Wilder. I have better things to do.”
Eddie looked at her. “In all the years we’ve worked together, I’ve never known you to act this rash.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Vivica said, “the university has pulled our department’s funding. Parapsychology is still considered a joke science. We’re at the mercy of private backing, and wealthy benefactors are few and far between.”
“But to risk yourself and your—”
Vivica laughed. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Mirza.” Beside her, Maddox looked nervous. “Besides, you’ve seen Hans in action.”
“Hans?” Anjali said. “You mean the man who attacked me on the Santa Perla? You can’t handle him, Vivica. He’ll be like a loaded gun in the entity’s hands. He practically welcomes possession.”
Vivica raised her brow. “So do you from what we witnessed today.”
Anjali winced.
“Besides,” Vivica added, “after you all fled the Santa Perla that night, Hans cleared it. I’ve worked extensively with him since then. And he’ll cast out the entity.”
“I’m afraid you’re on your own then,” Scott said.
Vivica stood up. “Oh dear, and I was so counting on your help.”
Coulter turned to Scott as soon as Vivica had left. “You’re just giving up? This is a huge deal! We could be big. We could be household!”
“As much as I’d like to be a popular cultural reference, I think not.”
Coulter leaned forward. “We’ve handled pretty much everything till now as easy as a warm summer breeze. You reckon this is that much different?”
“Yes,” Scott said.
Coulter looked at Eddie. “Come on, man.”
“Scott’s right,” Eddie said. “We don’t know enough about what’s inside that place.”
“So we’re just gonna let this juicy little opportunity slip us by?”
Scott sighed. “I want this too, but on my terms.”
Coulter exhaled in frustration. “What do you think, Angel? You fought it in there. I mean, what can this thing really do? Kill all of us? Come on.”
“I just keep having visions of The Shining,” she said. “What if it uses me against the rest of you? I don’t want to end up chasing you through the center with an ax.”
“Christ Almighty,” Coulter said. “I don’t know about ya’ll but I don’t plan on chasing ghosts for the rest of my life.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “Normally, I’d think twice about putting my fate in Queen Vivica’s hands. She isn’t fit for a drunk man, much less a sober one. But this time, boss, she’s right and you’re wrong.”
And with that he left.