Chapter Twenty-Three
Humans occupied Cabo Cañaveral for ten thousand years before Juan Ponce De Leon claimed it for Spain in 1513. There is a longstanding myth that he searched for the Fountain of Youth, but no historical proof. His contract with King Ferdinand of Spain mentioned no such fountain, though there were specific instructions for the subjugation of the native people and the divvying up of any possible gold that might be found.
Cape Canaveral remained a stretch of barren, sandy scrubland until after World War II when the military decided to use the site for missile testing. After NASA was formed, the cape became its center of operations and the first manned space flight was launched in 1961. It extends thirty-four miles, and is ten miles wide, spanning the Banana River and covering most of Merritt Island. Known informally as the Space Coast, it’s area code is 321, an homage to the countdown sequence that has sent countless space vehicles into the heavens.
Bringing Anika was a serious mistake. Belenki needed to concentrate on the task at hand and she was a distraction. Not just to him, but to everyone on his yacht. She traipsed around in a tiny bikini, half in the bag from champagne, flirting with the crew, sunning topless on the upper deck by the infinity pool. Belenki didn’t intend to bring her, but when she heard he was flying to Florida, she insisted.
She loved Miami, especially the dance clubs in South Beach, and that was where she wanted to be, not on a yacht off the coast of Cape Canaveral. Even though he explained to her, multiple times, that he was only there to supervise the launch, she thought she could convince him otherwise. The Argo was massive. Between the gym, the jacuzzi and infinity pool, Belenki hoped Anika would have enough space and enough to do to keep herself occupied while he directed his crew.
After breakfast, Belenki headed for the conference room where most of his launch and ground support team already assembled. They needed to talk final preparations.
“Welcome team! Tomorrow’s the big day! We’ve had seventeen consecutive successful launches and that is entirely due to the people in this room. I appreciate all your hard work and careful preparations, but we can’t afford to be overconfident or complaisant. The eyes of the world are on us and—”
Belenki noticed as, one by one, the eyes of his crew drifted to a focal point just behind him. Anika. She wore her white micro bikini. The effect on the men in the room was powerful and immediate. These were engineers and scientists. Many were shy and nerdy; uncomfortable around women. They weren’t used to being in the presence of a supermodel/movie star, so Anika’s beauty and voluptuous body put an end to most if not all of their rational thought processes.
Belenki turned to Anika and smiled at her. “Darling, can we speak later? As you can see, I’m in a meeting.”
“I’m bored,” she said.
“Yes, you said as much at breakfast.”
“I want to go to Miami.”
“I know you do, but the launch is tomorrow and—”
“And I’m sure all these extremely smart people can handle that without your help. That’s why you hired them, isn’t it?”
“It is, but I have a responsibility.”
“Yes, you do. You asked me to marry you and I said yes. You promised to make me happy and now you need to honor that commitment.”
“Darling—”
“I want to go to South Beach. I want to go to Basement and Story. I want to dance! I want to party!”
“And we will.”
“When?”
“Soon. I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Anika said. “And what the hell’s wrong with the Wi-Fi? There’s no Wi-Fi out here! I don’t even have a cell signal! I have like zero bars. How am I supposed to text anyone?”
“You can’t. Not at the moment.”
“This is a nightmare!”
“I did warn you not to come.”
“You’d think with all these scientists you’d be able to keep your fucking Wi-Fi working!”
“We had to turn it off for security purposes.”
“You turned it off on purpose!”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not! This is bullshit!” She glanced at the slack-jawed faces of Belenki’s team, shook her head with disgust and left the conference room. The silence after her absence was palpable.
“All right,” Belenki said. “Let’s try to focus on the task at hand. Where were we?”
It hadn’t been easy to convince his crew to keep the Argo Wi-Fi and cellphone free, but Belenki wanted no connection to the internet. Most of the scientists thought that was due to Belenki’s paranoia over the perceived Russian threat. Only a tiny handful knew of his concern with Daisy, and those few confidants kept that information to themselves. Keeping his Cape Canaveral launch center off the web was even trickier, but Belenki was the boss and he insisted on complete internet blackout at the launch site.
Fergus himself supervised security on the yacht with a force of ten former special op soldiers. Belenki kept his trip to Florida top secret and insisted there be no mention of his or anyone else’s movements on social media or anywhere else. He wanted the world to think he was still on his private island in the San Juan’s. That was why he couldn’t go to South Beach or even the launch site. Every member of his team was sworn to secrecy. He knew some believed he was losing his mind and becoming a modern-day Howard Hughes. But so be it if that’s what it took to secure the world from a murderous AI bent on world domination.
Severina arrived at noon, out of the blue. She claimed to have important news. Because of the communication blackout, she had to deliver it in person.
“You look a little pale,” Belenki said.
“I don’t do well on boats.”
“So what’s so important that you had to come all the way out here and interrupt my schedule?”
“It’s about Wendy Zimmerman. I explained the entire situation to her and she agreed to keep her mouth shut, but then she—” Severina hesitated.
“What? What did she do?”
“She talked to Flynn and told him about the launch. The location, the day, and the time.”
“How could she possibly know any of that?”
Severina hesitated again. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“You told her, didn’t you?”
“To make her understand why she needed to keep her mouth shut.”
“That was very ill-advised.”
“I was sure she understood.”
“So where is she now?”
“We’re holding her at your private island estate.”
“You took her to Wembly Island?”
“Mr. Fergus thought it would be best.”
“You’re holding her against her will?”
“A citizen’s arrest until she can be turned over to the FBI.”
“And what about Flynn?”
“I don’t think he’s a threat. Security is so tight at the cape, if he shows his face I’m sure they’ll catch him.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Belenki said. “He never does what you expect him to. Yes, he’s delusional, but that’s what makes him so formidable. If not for him, I doubt any of us would have made it out of my house in Saratoga alive.”
“Would you like me to head back to Wembly Island and keep an eye on Wendy?”
“No reason to rush back. Stay tonight and watch the launch in the morning. You can fly back with me tomorrow.”
Anika stood in the doorway in her micro-bikini, a look of fury on her perfectly beautiful face. “We’re flying back tomorrow! I thought we were going to Miami.”
“We’ve had a change of plans,” Belenki said. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ll go to Miami by myself then. Drop me off in the dinghy and I’ll call a limo.”
“I wish I could.”
“What do you mean you wish you could? Why can’t you?”
“Anika, please—”
“You’re a fucking control freak and I am fed up with it!”
She charged out of the room and Belenki offered Severina an embarrassed smile. “Sorry you had to see that.”
“Maybe you should just let her go to Miami.”
“So she can go on Instagram and tell everyone where I am? I don’t think so. Go talk to the Chief Steward. He’ll set you up with a cabin.”