GIBBS

 

Wednesday January 15 - 0021 PST

One hour and nine minutes until Turbocharger activates

 

"This is an impressive set up, Warren." Pierce Carver's Cordovan leather wingtips made soft thumps on the metal of the platform as we circled around the Turbocharger facility. "It's hard to believe you built all this in only four months. Most defense contracts take years to come to fruition. But you've done the impossible. I'm impressed."

I couldn't disagree with him there. "Senator, at Verdant Global we take our work seriously. This tour of the site is for your benefit. We want you to see for yourself that the taxpayers' dollars are in good hands."

Though I wasn't so sure about the taxpayers themselves. If I were being honest, I would wager a lot of them will be lost to the four gods we were bringing over. If I were being really honest then I would wager that a few million of them would be spent like sweet tax dollars. But that was the cost of doing business with outside powers. They always wanted their pound of flesh. Or if they were as powerful as these four then they wanted several tons of it. That was the deal.

"I can see that, Warren." Ever since we set down at the heli-pad Carver's eyes were practically popping out of his head. He'd only ever seen concept art and scale models. It was obvious he didn't expect to see something so big. In a way I was surprised too. Turbocharger was built into a crater and even though I saw the specs ahead of time, the scale just didn't really register until I was standing in front of it.

The twelve-hundred foot crater had platform walkways built around its rim topped with stadium lighting all the way around. Coupled with the walkways built farther down the crater it did look just like a stadium built into the floor of the Nevada desert. Only at the bottom of this one there wasn't a field of green astroturf but a laboratory.

When the three of us reached the elevator I punched the button for the bottom. We would be getting up close and personal with that lab.

"While I am impressed by the work, I'm still concerned about one thing, Warren." Carver rubbed his chin as he stared out of the glass wall of the elevator. "It's so far out from civilization. If we want to really stretch our dollars we'll want to reuse this facility. That would be a lot easier if we didn't have to fly out to the middle of Nevada every time. Is security that important that you need to hide it out here?"

"It's not about security, Senator." I looked over at the third member of our group, Lucius Rofocales, my head of security. He knew far more about this stuff than I did. Where I was really just an amateur with an extensive antique collection, he was the real brain behind it all. I'd love to have picked his brain on the subject. He knew more about exotics than was healthy, and I wanted that knowledge. "Lucius, mind telling him the story?"

His pointed goatee barely moved as he put on his most practiced professional smile. "Of course, Mister Gibbs."

Lucius waved a hand around at the empty darkness that lay beyond the brilliant fury of the stadium-style lighting. It loomed over them like a black curtain. "Out there, around us lies the Nevada National Security Site, a barren wasteland of sand and craters. The end result of decades of nuclear weapons testing. But have you ever stopped to ask why so many bombs had to be tested here? After all, the United States didn't feel the need to test the bomb design of the weapon used on Hiroshima. They took it to war knowing, and perhaps hoping, that it would work the first time."

Carver shook his head. "No, I never thought about it that way. We did do a lot of testing for something we already knew was working. I suppose you're going to tell me why now?"

Lucius had this strange look in his eyes that could have been approval, but it reminded me more of the glee a hunter feels when his prey wanders further into an ambush. "Indeed, Senator. This place is special. Powerful world lines of energy criss cross this valley. If you wanted to conduct a crossing this would be the place to do it. And your government wanted to do exactly that."

Carver's eyebrows raised up like umbrellas caught in a sudden gust. "Wait, are you telling me that the United States government was summoning exotics? I find that hard to believe."

Lucius held up a calming hand. "It's quite alright, Senator. Your government didn't mass murder civilians like the Nazis to power their rituals. They harnessed the power of atomic weapons instead. But those ethical dilemmas didn't stop the Soviets or the Chinese from emptying out their labor camps attempting similar rites. That was why your government came to an agreement with a particularly old and foul demon by the name of Storax. She promised forbidden knowledge to the leaders of that time. Knowledge that was supposed to give them the upper hand in the silent war against the communists."

Carver nodded his understanding. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he shared no revulsion at the thought of working with an elder demon. "I take it this didn't work out. The Cold War went on for quite some time."

"Indeed it did, Senator. You see, Storax was not one to answer to the whims of a petty race of short lived mammals. With the difficult task of crossing into this realm completed she no longer needed humanity's help and reneged on the deal. Instead she decided to take the world for herself."

"So what stopped her?"

Lucius stroked his beard as he stared out into the massive crater we were descending into. "A one hundred and four kiloton nuclear detonation. The resulting crater is why we're here. This place is about as close to perfect as we could get for today's activation. There is a convergence of world lines overlayed on the scattered remnants of an elder demon goddess. It represents the end of the era where negotiations with exotic powers was accepted, but it opens up a new era of empowerment for us."

Carver stared thoughtfully through the glass as our elevator reached the crater floor. "And you're certain nothing will accidentally slip through during Turbocharger's activation?"

Oh I was certain something would come through. Four somethings in fact, but that wasn't how I wanted to sell this. I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention. "Let me assure, Senator. Every precaution has been taken. We're filtering what's coming through and limiting it to what we want. Think of it as tapping a barrel of fine wine. We'll keep the flow down so we can fill our glasses. Nothing more. When we're all done we'll have four Primes that are more powerful than anything our foreign adversaries will have in their own exotic arsenal."

Throwing out that bit about enemies fielding their own teams of Primes always got Carver's attention. Everyone always feared the unknown and we weren't sure exactly what other nations were doing with their own Primes. All we knew was that India and China had several of their own. It was somewhat of a numbers game. Larger populations had a higher chance of having Primes. While the few we knew of in India were going about their daily lives, the handful we had intel on in China had been co-opted by the government. The CCP had no qualms of doing what it wanted with its enslaved population. They already had their team in training and the US government was afraid of what they would be used for.

Fear was a powerful motivator and it got men to spend money. I'd gladly take that cash. Carver rubbed his chin in thought as the elevator doors opened and we strolled onto the bottom floor. "Do you really think we can empower them to take on the PRC's team? How many do they have now? Eight? Ten?"

"Twelve, Senator." Lucius didn't even blink as he spoke. The thought of anyone having so many Primes frightened me though. "And yes. If our calculations are right we'll push up the power of our Primes to the next category. That's an order of magnitude difference."

Lucius was right about their power going through the roof. That's what happened when a top tier exotic took possession of a body. And these four only wanted the best. That's why we were giving them Primes. Commodity grade humans just wouldn't do.

The metal plating lining the bottom of the crater clanked slightly with each footfall. This place had hardly been used since its construction and the plates were still settling every time someone passed through. In the middle of it all was a glass dome made completely out of modern polycarbonates, just like we use in the canopies of fighter jets. The individual panes were shaped into hexagons which gave the place a futuristic look. Exactly what I was going for. Those along with the sliding doors that opened when we approached gave the place a feeling of being in a space ship. I wanted the Senator to feel like we were giving him the future.

Lucius glanced over at the doors sliding open on the far side of the dome. "It looks like our Primes have arrived."

Just as he had described the four Primes were wheeled in on medical gurneys. Their perfect forms were limp on the rolling beds. I had been worried that their extraordinary biologies would fight off the effects of the sedative, but our special tranquilizer had worked. They would be sleeping through the process which put me at ease because I don't like to hear screaming.

Carver stared with fascination as they rolled by with their contingent of technicians all dressed in respirators and scrubs like they were prepping for surgery. He'd never been this close to them before and it didn't bother him in the least bit. "Is there a reason they're all sedated?"

I nodded eagerly and answered before his mind could jump to any other troublesome questions. "Think of it like surgery. It's a necessary thing done by professionals, but you don't want to be awake for it. We've got this handled. Now if you'll follow me I'll show you to our booth. It's like a box seat at a stadium. We'll be able to watch the procedure in luxury. There's even a full wet bar."

Carver seemed to like the sound of that and followed me up the stairs into the observation booth. That got us away from the sight of the fourth Prime bagged up like a sack of potatoes. The last thing I needed was to tap dance around the fact that we had pulled Wayne Colley from the underground prison. The infamous Photon was the only criminal Prime we knew of and if he had no qualms about murdering the police officers trying to take him into custody he wouldn't hesitate to blast us with his power. That was why he had to be sedated. It was also why he was kept inside a body bag lined with mirror-like reflective material. If he sent out any of his namesake energy rays he would burn himself.

As the bartender poured out some cognac for me and the Senator I raised the glass and called a toast to the future. In the future I wouldn't have to worry about Photon trying to kill me with his power, because once the Turbocharger procedure was complete he wouldn't be in control of it anymore. An exotic demon king by the name of Beleth-Trekath-Dremoria would be in control. And we in turn would be in control of King Beleth.

You see, we're not making the same mistake the government did in summoning Storax within her corporeal body. Oh no, that is a sure way to lose control of a demon king. But if you bottle them inside a mortal body then you can always hang the threat of ending that body's life over them like the sword of Damocles. Beleth and the other three would have to be cooperative if they wanted to stay here and rule alongside us.

That was how things worked in interdimensional politics. You had to know the game if you wanted to play and win. And between the knowledge me and Lucius collected, we were prepared to win big.