Carl Bertrand was under pressure. Messages and demands were pouring in from the US government, international governments, various agencies and news organizations. Director Edward instructed him to use the firm’s public relations department to screen all calls and inquiries. The PR team responded to them all with a reassuring message that everything was proceeding as normal and that Mekhos was in perfect working order. Bertrand knew this would not placate anyone for very long.
Bertrand and Edward were using bodyguards whenever they left the TranSilica building. There were too many uncertainties. Rector was a loose canon, a wild card who could be planning an attack on the building or on them personally. It was not known if Kratos had absolute control of the Moon’s orbit. Mekhos had not been completely cut off from the world and might recover to resume control. Bertrand fervently wanted to be far past the failures of the past week and far past his Director.
He was sitting at his desk, taking a moment to listen to a radio talk show. The hosts were bantering back and forth and reading from the morning’s news reports. With his left hand Bertrand absent-mindedly rolled around a pair dice he had kept from his backgammon playing days in university. He believed they brought him luck.
“The Moon is even larger than I remember it,” one host said. “Is that an optical illusion or has any observatory bothered taking measurements? Yesterday they said the thing was at its proper distance. Now they’re saying that any small variance is well within accepted norms. I’m not sure I’m buying that.”
“I wish the audience could see you, with your hard hat, sitting there rocking back and forth on your stool. He’s about to lose it folks.”
“Right. I just hope the Moon’s return cures some of those diseases we’ve been hearing about.”
“My parents are only in their sixties, but in the last few weeks both have had several visits to the hospital, one ailment after another,” the co-host said, as the mood on the show turned serious. “It’s the same all over. Some younger people are having problems too.”
“Some of you believe in the healing power of the Moon. I hope you’re right.”
“We’ve been talking about ourselves a lot lately. What about the people on the Twin? They have no moon at all.”
“God, or Mekhos, help them.”
“Traffic and weather after the break. If we’re all still here that is!”
Bertrand waved his right hand to silence the radio. With so much going on he barely thought about the reports of mysterious health ailments. Perhaps they were caused by the Moon’s absence. Stress over change, he thought. We don’t deal with it very well. Maybe, despite all the improvements in the environment during the previous decade, all the earthquakes and tremors had released some sort of toxin into the air. I don’t feel well either. It didn’t matter. His concern was to ensure the world was saved, that Kratos would remain under his direction and that Mekhos wouldn’t interfere with the TranSilica’s goal of political and financial control.
Nick Rojas was killed before he could complete his mission. Bertrand had to do something to make sure Mekhos was cut off from the world. Edward had suggested blowing up the MC completely, using an explosive powerful enough to leave a crater where Mekhos was presently housed. Then they would blame Bishop, the alien terrorist.
His intercom beeped. “Dr. Brian Nayar to see you.”
“Send him in,” Bertrand replied. He hadn’t gotten a progress report from the lab for over four hours. He was in no mood to deal with the difficult Stravinsky. Brian Nayar was far more cooperative. And easier to manage.
Nayar walked in wearing his usual dark blue lab coat. He took a seat.
“How are things going down there? Are Lockwood and Bishop interfering at all? If so, I’ll have them removed and Stravinsky can complain all he wants.”
“The progress thus far is encouraging. Kratos has activated the devices on the Moon and it has begun to change course. The process still requires constant calculation. The Moon is slightly closer than usual, however it is decelerating at the predicted rate. We don’t foresee any difficulties. Gail Saunders has taken over from Nick Rojas and she’s taking a load off my shoulders by intercepting the observatory confirmation data. She’ll pass on anything unusual from the observatories, but the data that Norman and I are getting directly from Kratos is more accurate.”
“Excellent. The observatories were shouting alarms at me too when they were looking at the earlier measurements. Send me some trajectory progress numbers I can forward to the State Department.” Bertrand expected Nayar to leave the room at that point but he didn’t move.
“Was there anything else?”
“I overheard agent Bishop say something disconcerting. He said Alfred Chan is helping the US government on the Twin develop a virus, one that is designed to corrupt and destroy Mekhos.”
Bertrand put the dice aside.
“Do you think such a virus would pose a danger to Kratos?”
“Dr. Chan is very capable. There is a real danger,” Nayar replied.
“How would the virus be deployed?”
“By simple transmission, embedded in and disguised by something routine.”
“What would be the likely result?”
“If Kratos is unprepared for it, the virus could have disastrous consequences. If it is administered before the orbit maneuvering is complete—”
“Yes I see,” said Bertrand. “What does Stravinsky have to say about it?”
“I confronted Norman a few minutes ago when Dr. Lockwood and Bishop were escorted to their hotel for the evening. Norman seems distracted. He is concerned, but I think he is equally worried about maintaining control of Kratos after this is over.”
Bertrand could see where Nayar was heading. Brian wanted to be put back in charge of Kratos, something that Bertrand had planned anyway.
“You’ve always been a team player Brian. I may want you to take over the Kratos project once again when the orbit crisis is solved.”
Nayar could barely conceal his relief.
“Thank you,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“I suppose we shouldn’t have expected the authorities on the Twin to stand idly by while Lockwood’s team fumbled about here trying to convince Mekhos to save their miserable planet. This is their contingency plan. Mekhos has little or no access to the outside world at this time and so will probably not be affected. You said Kratos would be vulnerable if it were unprepared. Are you able to protect Kratos against this sort of virus attack?”
“Kratos is already aware, but I will provide it samples of Alfred Chan’s coding so it can recognize his patterns.”
“You and Alfred had worked closely together for several years, is that right?
“We did. We were both IT security experts in the old days. I will direct Kratos to all of Alfred’s past work. The virus should then be recognizable when it comes, which will allow Kratos to block or isolate it.”
Nayar was silent for a moment, then said, “There is something else I should tell you.”
Nayar looked uncomfortable. Clearly he needed, or wanted, prompting.
“Go ahead Brian. What’s bothering you?”
“I think Norman suspects that you won’t allow Mekhos to recover after all this is over.”
Bertrand didn’t react. He didn’t want to confirm or deny anything to Nayar.
“Thank you Brian,” Bertrand replied, waving his hand dismissively. “Norman can think what he wants. I have no time for it now. Neither of us do. You should get back down to your lab. I’ll be in touch.”
Bertrand nodded to himself as Nayar left the room. Stravinsky might be a genius, but he may have outlived his usefulness.