Saturday morning
November 6 – 9:27 a.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado
“Olivas,” Sergeant Dusty said from the doorway of the team workroom.
“I’m right in the middle of . . .” Troy pointed to his computer screen.
“The LC would like to see you now,” Sergeant Dusty said.
“I . . .” Troy pointed to his computer screen again.
“Now,” Sergeant Dusty said.
Troy glanced around the room. He’d been so focused on what he was doing he hadn’t paid much attention to what was going on around him. He scanned the room. Alex wasn’t there. Neither was Joseph. Matthew wouldn’t meet his eye. He looked at White Boy, who nodded to him in a kind of “time to face the music” way. He looked back at Sergeant Dusty.
“Let’s go,” Sergeant Dusty said.
Troy got up from his seat and followed the sergeant down the hall.
“I feel like I’ve been called to the principal’s office,” Troy said.
“You have,” Sergeant Dusty said.
The sergeant patted Troy’s back and opened the door to Alex’s office. Alex was sitting behind her big mahogany desk. Joseph was standing just to her left and her father, General Patrick Hargreaves, was standing to her right. Troy glanced at Alex. Her solemn face made him swallow hard.
“What did I do?” Troy asked.
Sergeant Dusty closed the door.
“If this is about what I did in SF training, I’ve apologized and . . . ,” Troy started.
“Please come in and sit down,” Patrick said.
Troy had never been afraid of the man until this moment. Alex’s fun-loving dad looked every bit the severe, tough-assed general everyone said he was. At least people said he was fair. Troy shuffled to the chair in front of her desk and sat down.
“What do you know about this?” Alex set the plastic container with the nanodrone near the edge of her desk.
“It’s a drone, a nanodrone. You found it at JFCOM,” Troy said. “I found the plans on Hector’s computer. I helped you find someone to manufacture one from the specs. It didn’t work.”
Troy looked at her still face.
“Um,” Troy said.
Alex glanced at Joseph and he nodded. She looked at Patrick.
“What’s a fairy?” Patrick asked.
“Seriously?” Troy asked.
“Answer the question,” Patrick said.
“Listen, I get that I did something that was bad. But I’d really rather you tell me what’s going on. We can talk it through,” Troy said. “I don’t have a great capacity for this high pressure stuff anymore. It makes me want to kill myself and . . . I have two little boys who need me to be their everything.”
Patrick raised a scary eyebrow and glanced at Alex.
“You don’t need to break me down; I’m already broken,” Troy said.
Troy tried to catch Alex’s eyes, but she was lost in thought. She picked up the plastic container, looked at it, and set it under her desk lamp.
“This morning, Hector James told me a number of things about this drone,” Alex said. “I was on the phone and he picked it up and . . .”
“If he broke something, he knows better than to . . .” Troy started.
“No, son,” Patrick said. Troy looked up at Patrick, and the kind man he’d always known had reappeared on the General’s face. “The child hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“He actually fixed it with my nail file,” Alex’s eyes finally lifted up to look at him. Troy’s heart lifted with her glance. He couldn’t help but give a little smile. “Hector James said that you designed the fairy for Dahlia.”
“I did?” Troy’s hand went instinctively to his chest.
“He called this a ‘fairy,’” Alex said. “He said you gave the plans to Dahlia and that she built them at their kitchen table. She used to keep track of how many on the refrigerator. He said she made ‘maybe a thousand,’ but it’s hard to know exactly how many.”
Troy shook his head in disbelief.
“He said you could tell it was hers by the blue dot on the bottom of the drone,” Alex said. “As you know, we’ve researched every detail of this drone. Every drone we’ve found so far has a tiny blue dot on it.”
“We had it analyzed,” Joseph said.
“It’s nail polish,” Troy said. “Yes, I was copied on that report.”
“Hector James said this drone doesn’t do anything,” Alex said. “Doesn’t transmit photos and isn’t carrying a weapon, but he asked me not to tell Hermes, because he thinks the drones transmit his image to Dahlia.”
Troy looked absolutely dumbfounded.
“I didn’t press the child,” Alex said. “He was distressed enough.”
“We’ll need to talk to the boys further,” Joseph said.
“Of course,” Troy said. “Anything within reason. They’re little boys. Should I go get them?”
“No need,” Alex said.
“Have you ever read any of your brother’s books?” Patrick asked.
“No,” Troy said. “I know Alex asked me to, and I tried. I did, but it was too hard. I asked Matthew to read them for me. He’s my partner, so I thought it wasn’t any big deal.”
“Good thinking,” Joseph said. “I would have agreed to that if you’d asked.”
“Wait,” Troy said. “Before we start holding hands and singing Kumbaya, why were you upset when I came in?”
“Why didn’t you tell us that you designed the drones?” Alex asked.
“I don’t remember designing them,” Troy said. “Seriously.”
“Do you remember the first thing you said to me when you saw my fairy tattoo?” Alex asked.
“No,” Troy shook his head.
“You said that fairy was a good name for me. You were going to use it in your thesis about winged flight.”
“What was the premise of your master’s thesis?” Patrick asked.
“I looked at bees, butterflies, and dragonflies,” Troy said. “Basic aerodynamic mathematics shows that they shouldn’t be able to fly – bodies too big and heavy for their small wings. I postulated a mathematical model consistent with their flight. But it wasn’t published. The journals panned me because the reviewers were friends of my father’s and . . . Wait. You’re saying that worked?”
“Did you ever give plans to Dahlia?” Joseph asked.
“Plans?” Troy looked confused.
“Think back,” Alex said. “You were working on your master’s thesis when Dahlia came for a visit. You were in Argentina for the summer. You went to Uruguay for a week’s leave? We met you there on our way to Brazil.”
Troy shook his head.
“You know, about nine months before she had Hector James?” Alex asked.
“Holy crap,” Troy said. “I used the math to make a test model. A little plastic thing. I made it out of stuff I had around. I gave it to Dahlia when she left. I told her that I would always be with her.”
“Anything specific about the model?” Joseph asked. “Anything a little odd?”
“You turn it on by clapping. You know,” he blushed, “like how you save a fairy? From Peter Pan? I had a Clapper, the light thing. They were all the rage in Argentina. That’s where I got most of the components.”
Alex opened the top of the plastic bottle and gave a loud clap. The nanodrone sprung into life.
Troy reacted like he’d been shot. He fell forward with his elbows on his knees. His hands covered his face. His back shook when he started to sob. Joseph came around the desk to kneel down next to Troy. After a few moments, Troy looked up to see compassion in Alex’s eyes.
“What else did he say?” Troy asked.
“Nothing more,” Alex said.
“What does this mean to you?” Troy asked.
“I believe your brother stole your work,” Alex said. “His career took off around the time that Dahlia had Hector James. Rather than sending her to you in order to get pregnant, like we thought, he might have sent her to steal your work. She would have gone just to be with you. He could have easily heard about what you were doing, maybe even seen a draft of your thesis. He wanted the finished version.”
“But the plans don’t work,” Troy said.
“That’s the question,” Alex said. “Why did Dahlia have to make them?”
“Ok, why?” Troy asked.
“Because she wouldn’t give Hector a full set of the plans,” Joseph said. “She knew something about these things that’s not evident in reverse engineering.”
“You mean, the plans on his computer were reconstructed from that thing,” Troy said. “Like we did.”
“And don’t work,” Alex said.
“But why would she do this?” Troy asked.
“Why do you think?” Alex asked.
Troy shook his head.
“I’d guess that she used her ability to make the drones to bargain with Hector,” Alex said. “Maybe for another child. Maybe for better treatment for the boys. Hector James said that the fact they don’t do anything other than fly was a secret. It’s possible that your brother didn’t know that. He could have easily thought the nanodrones were spying on him. Could have kept him in line.”
“He sold the drones to any interested country,” Patrick said. “Finished product, no plans.”
“We thought that was good business,” Alex said. “But now . . .”
“He couldn’t make them,” Troy fell back in his chair. “Wow.”
“We’d like you to read your brother’s books,” Joseph said. “He became very famous around the time Hector James was born.”
“Anything else?” Troy nodded.
“We need to talk to the boys,” Alex said. “It’s probably best to have their therapist with them so we don’t freak them out.”
“I’ll set it up,” Troy said. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t remember. I’d never hold back something I thought was important. I didn’t put it together.”
Alex nodded. Troy got up and left the room.
“Do you believe him?” Patrick asked.
“I do,” Alex said. “But he’s holding something back.”
“His grief?”
“No, something about the plans,” Alex said.
“Do you think he gave them to Dahlia?” Joseph asked.
“I think he knows who did,” Alex said.
“Should we . . . ?” Patrick asked.
“No,” Alex said. “We need to trust him. He’s never been good with secrets. He’ll tell us eventually.”
“You’re sure this thing . . .” Patrick gestured to the nanodrone. “It’s important?”
“To the bigger picture,” Alex said. “I wonder if Hector and Eniac knew each other.”
“Or if Dahlia knew Eniac?” Joseph nodded.
“Troy said specifically that he would never not say something . . .”
“If he thought it was important,” Patrick said.
“He must not think it matters,” Alex said.
“Why would he lie about this?” Joseph asked.
“No way to know,” Alex said. “We need to trust him. Let’s give him space and see what he does.”
Patrick gave her a hard look and walked out of the room.
“He can be horrifying,” Joseph said.
“Yeah,” Alex grimaced.
Joseph touched her shoulder and left the room. Alex nodded to herself.
“Your call from California is on line two,” Sergeant Dusty said.
Smiling, Alex picked up the phone.
FFFFFF
Saturday, midday
November 6 – 12:42 p.m. MDT
Denver, Colorado
“I’m out for the rest of the day,” Alex said to her team. “You can reach me on my cell phone and . . .”
Alex dug in her pocket to hold up the phone.
“I even know where it is!”
The team cheered.
“Dusty will keep tabs on me as well. Troy and Colin are with me,” Alex said. “The General’s team might ask for your assistance. Assist at will, but remember that you’re responsible for completing your tasks.”
“Yes, sir,” the team called.
“Sir,” White Boy raised his hand. “Any word on Andy?”
“Taken care of, Captain,” Alex said. “Trece is currently being processed at Pelican Bay Prison.”
“Thank you, sir,” White Boy said. “May I call his wife?”
“You may,” Alex said.
“What should I tell her?” White Boy looked so lost it was all she could do to not hug him.
“Tell her that she can expect me to return him when he’s done,” Alex said. “She’ll know what I mean.”
“You mean, he’s working?” Margaret asked.
“Did you think I’d give him a vacation when we have so much work to do?” Alex smiled.
The team chuckled.
“Don’t worry. He’s in good hands,” Alex said. “I won’t let him or any of you get lost, shoved aside, or caught up in stupid crap. It’s not going to be easy for him, but I’m sure he’ll have plenty of big stories to tell when he gets back.”
“But he will come back?” Leena asked.
“Oh, he’ll be back,” Alex gave a curt nod to show her complete certainty. “He’s a Fey Team member. We don’t leave our teammates behind.”
“So, he’s not alone?” White Boy asked.
“Think about it,” Alex said. “When has Andrew Ramirez ever been alone?”
White Boy looked confused for a moment and then smiled.
“Never,” He nodded.
“Exactly,” Alex said. “If you need me, let me know. I’ll be back tomorrow early.”
She put her hand on Troy’s arm. He nodded and left the room. She followed him out the door. Five minutes later, Ben appeared in the doorway. He looked over the team and walked to the front.
“I need some help,” Ben said to Joseph and Matthew.
“It’s up to Captain Mac Clenaghan,” Joseph said.
“With what?” Matthew’s voice carried his deep distrust of Alex’s former mentor.
Ben gave Matthew his intimidating “need-to-know” spy look.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Matthew said. “We have a full plate today, sir.”
Ben laughed.
“Oh, you were fucking with me?” Matthew’s eyebrows shot up. His eyes held his disdain for the man. “Fine, what are you working on?”
“How ‘bout if I show you?” Ben smiled.
Matthew glanced at Joseph. He nodded. Matthew followed Ben out of the room. They walked down the hallway to one of the smaller conference rooms across from the team’s offices. Ben opened the door. Matthew glanced at Ben and stepped inside.
The walls had been covered with white paper. Raz and Sergeant Dick Mead, Patrick Hargreaves last military assistant, were writing on the paper with sharpies. Matthew walked to the wall next to the door to take a closer look.
“This is Alex’s life,” Matthew said.
“Just the major events,” Raz said. He nodded hello to Matthew.
“What are you doing?” Matthew asked.
“It’s something Alex got from Wyatt,” Ben said. “He told her that it looked like a master plan, but really it was a lot of individual problems solved by the same problem solvers.”
“She told me,” Matthew said.
“I got to thinking,” Ben said. “What if everything was connected?”
“What do you mean?”
“I wanted to see what was going on in the world when these events happened,” Ben said. “For example, what was going on when Alex finished Special Forces training; or when she was assaulted by the Boy Scout the first time; or when the Boy Scout started working on the Fey Special Forces Team; or they were stuck in the desert by Cee Cee Joiner; or . . .”
Ben shrugged. Matthew touched one event and then another.
“It might be nothing,” Ben said.
“It doesn’t seem that way,” Raz walked toward Matthew. “It’s hard to accept, but for some reason, someone wants Alex out of the way at regular intervals. Look.”
Raz went to the paper.
“The brown markings are Cee Cee Joiner,” Raz said. “They’re easy to document, because we have good data on exactly when they happened and how long Alex was out of the way. You see the brown?”
Matthew nodded.
“Now step to the center of the room,” Raz said. “Dick? He needs a look.”
Sergeant Mead nodded and moved to the door.
Matthew stood near the center of the room. When he looked for the brown he noticed that the color was spaced on the timeline at regular intervals. There was only one gap that was longer than the others.
“What’s that?” Matthew asked.
“That’s when Alex came to get you,” Ben walked to the timeline. “She was working on finding and retrieving Joiner when she received the call about you.”
Ben pointed to a brown “X” on the wall.
“She stayed with you in Costa Rica,” Ben said. “She didn’t pick up Joiner until a month or so after she’d originally planned to collect him.”
“But we’ve been going on the assumption that they took us to get to her,” Matthew said. “Didn’t they attack the Fey Team?”
“They did,” Raz said.
“What if that’s not the reason you were taken?” Ben asked. “What if Joiner was supposed to keep her from discovering you were gone? Maybe they fought so hard to keep you because they didn’t get what they wanted from you.”
“Like what?” Matthew started.
“Exactly,” Ben said.
“Robert Powell assaulted Alexandra at Cheyenne Mountain here,” Sergeant Mead pointed to the red pen. “Step back.”
“His color is red?” Matthew asked.
“Oui,” Ben said.
Matthew sucked in a breath.
“What the hell?” Matthew turned to look at Ben.
“Exactly,” Ben said.
“And why?” Raz asked. “That’s the question we can’t seem to answer. Why Alex? Why is she the one that has to be out of commission?”
“What if it’s not Alex?” Matthew asked. “Maybe it’s John or Max or Master Super Spy here or you, Raz, and they could only get to Alex.”
Ben and Raz stared so long at Matthew that he shifted uncomfortably. Raz broke his stare by glancing at Ben.
“Never thought of it,” Ben said. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“How would I know?” Matthew asked. “Except . . . did you put up the first assault? The one with Trece, White Boy, and Jesse. You know, when they were in Bosnia?”
Ben and Raz looked at each other and then looked at Matthew.
“Do you remember the date?” Raz asked.
“Sure,” Matthew went to the wall and pointed. “It would be right . . . here.”
Raz picked up a green pen and made a mark on the wall.
“Mon Dieu,” Ben said under his breath.
“Why did you ask?” Raz’s hazel-grey eyes flicked to look at Matthew while his face stayed eerily still.
“Because Alex never told anyone about the assault in Bosnia,” Matthew said. “No one, not even Max. And there aren’t any intelligence files, or you guys would have known about what happened. If that assault fits the pattern then . . .”
“They are only after Alexandra,” Sergeant Mead said.
“It’s only about Alex,” Matthew said.
“But why?” Raz asked.
“We’ll find the why when we fill in the rest of this,” Ben said. “Who would you choose to help us?”
“Troy is with Alex,” Matthew said. “They’re talking with his sons about the drones. Colin is with them too. How about Joseph? We found a notebook in his locker in the vault with the dates, locations, and actions of the Fey Special Forces Team. He has it in his office.”
“Good thinking,” Ben said.
“You know who would be perfect?” Matthew nodded. “Zack.”
“Zack?” Raz’s glance spoke his disbelief. “The pilot?”
“Hear me out,” Matthew said. “Zack is really good at putting things together – locations, times, distances, and stuff like that. He’s good with math too. He has to do it to set up our trips.”
“You’re right,” Raz said. “He’s compulsive about efficient flying. He never wants to fly from here to there unless it uses the least amount of fuel, takes the least amount of time, and is the safest. He has a formula to calculate everything.”
“Comes from flying Dragon Ladies,” Matthew said. “Plus, who knows? Maybe he’ll know something we don’t.”
“Can you spare anyone else?” Ben asked.
“Leena would be helpful,” Raz said. “In fact, if we have time, it might be interesting to track the team’s various incidents and assaults.”
“Like when I was held hostage and Leena’s assault,” Matthew said.
“Vince’s accident,” Raz said. “MJ’s IED.”
“You’re a team of survivors,” Ben nodded. “Almost everyone has been through something.”
“That’s what occurred to me,” Raz said. “If it’s a lot of problems and the same problems solvers, what if we’re a part of the problem, each of us.”
“Why?”
“Because we know Alex?” Raz shrugged.
“Or something about her,” Sergeant Mead said. “That makes good sense. Each of you might know a tiny piece that fits the larger puzzle which means . . .”
“Who knows?” Ben shrugged.
“What if the guys, you know, the Fey Special Forces Team, what if they were killed because they knew something – all of them knew the same thing,” Raz said. “They’d have to be killed.”
Ben shook his head. Raz shrugged.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Matthew said. “I’ll send in Leena, Zack, and Joseph.”
“Thank you,” Ben said.
Matthew nodded and left the room.
“You really don’t have any idea what this is about?” Sergeant Mead asked.
“No,” Ben said.
“None that you’d like to share?” Sergeant Mead asked.
“Actually, I have no idea,” Ben said. “This could be a waste of time or . . . Do you happen to know what Patrick was up to in his last service years?”
“Of course,” Sergeant Mead said.
“We’re going to need more paper,” Ben said.
Raz looked at the men and went back to work.
F