David didn’t know what to say. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, trying not to erupt. This man had just kidnapped him and taken him away from his family, and he had the audacity to make him wait while he looked through his file? Still, something told David that he needed to calm down and try to be patient. He still didn’t understand what was going on, and this remained a potentially dangerous situation. He needed to keep his wits about him, and anger would cloud his judgment.
He said, “Tom. Look… if this is about some national security breach on a project or something, I’ll cooperate with whatever you need. I still don’t understand how kidnapping me from my home could possibly be appropriate or necessary. Why the hell would you take me like this? And what do I have to do with whatever is going on?”
Tom ignored him. “Your sister’s a Navy pilot, huh? Hmm. Some family. And you… failed out of flight school. Huh. I guess you were the black sheep? That must have been a hell of a conversation with old Dad.” Tom looked up briefly. Enough time to see the flash of anger in David’s eyes.
“I didn’t fail out of flight school. It was a medical disqualification. Bad eyesight.”
Tom waved off what he was saying like it wasn’t important. David decided that the jerk personality wasn’t some CIA cover. That part was genuine.
He said, “So then you got a job with In-Q-Tel as an analyst in 2008, and have been with the company ever since. Your current project is ARES, correct?”
David looked at the woman and then back at Tom.
Tom saw his hesitation and said, “Relax, she’s cleared. She’s NSA.”
David looked at her in surprise. She smiled cheerfully. David said, “Why should I trust anything you say to me after what I just went through?”
The air phone next to Tom rang. He ignored David’s question and answered the phone.
“Connolly here, go.”
David turned to Brooke and whispered, “Okay, can you tell me what’s going on?”
She said, “Sure can. First, I just want to say how sorry I am about how they took you. I had nothing to do with that. I just found out about all of this yesterday—”
Tom hung up the phone and got up, walking to the front of the plane. Brooke and David watched as he opened the door to the cockpit, spoke to the pilots, then walked back and sat down. The plane banked to the right and David felt his stomach flutter. Whatever Tom had said, it seemed like the pilots had made some course corrections.
David said, “Changing our destination?”
Tom said, “We didn’t really have a destination prior to takeoff. The pilots had to file in flight. We’re good now. We’ll be in California in six hours.”
Had they really just taken off without knowing where they were going? What kind of mess was David in?
David said, “Alright. I’m all ears.”
Tom’s voice was gruff. He said, “We lost someone. Actually, I just confirmed that on the phone a few minutes ago. He had been missing for about a week. But now it seems they’ve identified the body. An agent stationed in China. He was the one who sent us the warning a few weeks ago. Stumbled onto something big. Bigger than any of us imagined. Turns out all those rumors had some legs.”
“I’m sorry about the agent. What rumors?”
Tom said, “Dave, how much have you been following the news about China’s economy?”
David said, “I mean, I’ve seen the news. It’s tanking, right? Our stock market is getting pretty bad too.”
“Right. Their stock market is in decline. But more important than that is that China’s unemployment is starting to rise. And their median income is starting to drop. What you probably haven’t seen on the news is that there have been several workers’ strikes. And some protests. The government over there is putting the kibosh on that for now. They’re good at censorship. But sooner or later, 60 Minutes or CNN will pick it up.”
“I’m still not following how this gets me on this airplane and probably scares the hell out of my wife when I don’t show up tonight.”
Tom replied, “David, we have reason to believe that China is planning to invade the United States. There are leaders in their government that have set plans in motion. Our agent was there to investigate some inner circle that was supposed to deal with the ‘economic problem.’ We thought it was going to be more censorship or maybe some sort of monetary policy that pisses off the Fed. Were we ever wrong.”
David just sat there, numb and confused. He had been kidnapped, thrown into a trunk, and then put on a jet going to God knows where. Now he was being told that World War Three was going to start. He still didn’t see how this involved him, but the magnitude of the situation gave him the patience to listen for a few more moments before asking again.
“This inner circle of Chinese leaders came up with a solution, alright. Now here’s what you need to know. Why you’re here. There’s a fire on the horizon. Me and a few of my colleagues are trying to fight this fire. We’re either going to prevent it or have to put it out when it reaches us. Either way, you’re going to be part of a group that will contribute. I’m taking you to a place where you’ll be able to help us prepare our defense. We were going to use someone else but there was a conflict at the last minute. That complicated telling you ahead of time. Plus, there is a good chance I’m being watched. We all had to jump through hoops to get on this plane unseen. No one could know that you were going to be going on this trip. No one can know that this trip exists. For these reasons, I had to kidnap you tonight. To keep it secret. And that is about as simple as I can make it.”
David stared back at Tom, guarding his emotions. He didn’t know what to feel. Anger. Distrust. He tended to have trust issues after kidnappings. He tried to stay as calm as possible. His sense of duty was making its way into his mix of feelings. A million things ran through his head, but one was at the top.
David said, “What about my family, Tom?”
“I’ll talk to them. You’re going to be gone a little while. I’ll make sure they know you’re okay.”
“Christ, my wife is going to kill me, I didn’t…”
“Alright, hold on. Now you listen to me, David. Listen very carefully. The reason you are here is more important than getting put in the doghouse by your wife. Get that through your head up front. This is top-level, national security shit. I need you to understand that. I need you to put your country first, and to quit bitching about the way it had to start. I said I’m sorry. But honestly, I don’t really give a shit about the inconvenience it caused you or how you probably pissed your pants when they gagged you. To be quite honest, I’ve got bigger things to worry about. The bottom line is, we needed you and we had to do it this way.”
David fell silent as his face flushed. They sat, not speaking, for a moment. The only sound was the thrum of the engines. Brooke stared, interested in the drama, but trying not to appear so.
Finally, David asked, “Where are we headed? California?”
Tom smiled in a way that made David uneasy. “At first. Yes. After that, I wish I could tell you, pal.”
He studied Tom for a few seconds before saying, “How long will I be gone?”
“A couple weeks.”
David rolled his eyes.
“Don’t look so upset, buddy — like I said, I’ll give your wife a call for you. I’ll make up an excuse. You won’t be able to call her yourself. I can tell you that we’re headed to a small airport on the West Coast. From there, you’ll get on another jet with other members of your team. I won’t be going. Got other fish to fry. I don’t even know where that flight is headed. Due to the sensitive nature of this mission, we’ve kept a lot of info compartmentalized. But when you arrive they’ll give you a brief, which will help explain everything. Just know that this is a vital project that will immensely help our nation’s security. And there is a specific need for someone with your background.”