Her iPhone dinged with a text from Sarah. “TURN ON CNN!”
The live CNN report showed General Ronald Rahn, Head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, standing behind a podium before a room filled with reporters.
“… the president wants to make it perfectly clear that the Under Secretary has the White House’s full support and confidence. However, due to the sensitive nature of these accusations, all parties felt it was best that Mr. Shariak step down until the issue can be properly investigated.”
They fired Adam? What the hell happened? She glanced at the engagement ring on her finger. I need to call him—
“General, doesn’t it seem a bit odd that this Iraqi woman would suddenly appear out of the blue on Shariak’s first day of the DoD’s hearing? How did she get here? Who sponsored her trip?”
“There’s little doubt Ms. Kalaf timed her announcement to grab the media’s attention. As for your other questions—”
“What about the Under Secretary’s investigation? Will these secret projects be looked into now that Captain Shariak has been dismissed?”
“The Department of Defense will continue to cooperate fully with the Senate Appropriation Committee’s investigation. It’s the Chairman’s decision when the hearing will resume.”
“General, at least two dozen eyewitnesses who were in the Dirksen Senate Chamber that morning have come forward claiming these unacknowledged projects deal with advanced technologies reverse-engineered from UFOs that crash-landed… beginning with the incident years ago in Roswell, New Mexico. Can you comment on that?”
“I wasn’t in the hearing, but that sounds pretty crazy.”
“Why were C-SPAN’s cameras shut down?”
“They weren’t shut down, there were technical difficulties.”
“Is that what happened to everyone’s cell phone service?”
“Will you be making the transcript available?”
“That’s all people… thank you.”
Jessica muted the television. Reaching for her laptop, she Googled her fiancé’s name, quickly accessing the story:
Defense Secretary Accused of War Crimes.
She scanned the article, her pulse pounding in her neck. Lousy bastards. Adam tried to challenge MAJI and they crushed him. You’re a part of Council — you could have warned him. You could have…
She had been glancing at the giant screen, the muted sound causing the closed caption to describe what her eyes were seeing.
“Oh my God…” Jessica turned up the volume.
“… the neon blue spiral appearing in the night sky over Beijing was witnessed by more than a million people. At first it was thought to be a special effect intended to honor President Trump’s arrival earlier in the day, however, a military expert we spoke to indicated it was more likely the testing of a space-based weapon, something officials in both the United States and China firmly deny.”
Grabbing her hoverboard, Jessica fled the apartment and dashed across the thoroughfare to the side of the Maglev track heading toward the elevators. In less than three minutes she was aboard Elevator-7, the multi-directional car weaving its way to Level-3, Section-C.
Sarah was already pressing her face to the lab’s retinal scan when Jessica arrived.
“You saw the blue spiral on the news?”
“Of course I saw it.”
“You think they’ve begun deploying Zeus?”
“We need to find out.”
The two female engineers made their way through the connecting corridor and into the Hive. Wasting no time, they donned anti-gravitic helmets and vests. Thirty seconds later they were soaring over the empty expanse of concrete, heading toward the wall separating the Hive from the launch facility.
Red warning lights flashed as they approached. The automated doors failed to open, forcing the two women to pull up and hover.
Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, focusing her thoughts on the barrier of octagonal panels before them.
“Sarah—”
“Shh! Let me focus.”
“Listen! Do you hear that rumbling?” Moving closer to the wall, Jessica pressed both palms to the framework. “I think the roof is opening. Is there any way we can see what is happening?”
“I forgot… the panels are tinted!” Sarah focused her thoughts on several octagonal panels, causing them to turn opaque, then transparent.
From out of the darkness, a patch of blue sky appeared in the distance, illuminating the far end of the dark cavity.
“You were right; they’re getting ready to launch another satellite. Jessica, how many rockets can you see?”
Before she could get a count, the Hive’s walls began vibrating as if struck by a giant tuning fork, the thunderous reverberation followed by a brilliant orange flame which unleashed a tsunami of white smoke and an avalanche of sound.
The two women hovered before the blinding, deafening blizzard, mesmerized. Through the smoke they saw a spark rise beneath one of the Atlas’s boosters seconds before the rocket and its satellite payload rose majestically out of the subterranean complex and into the patch of blue on its journey to space.
Seconds later the scene appeared to replay in reverse as high-powered exhaust fans rapidly inhaled the smoke, returning the subterranean launch deck to its pre-flight visual.
The Eiffel Tower shimmered gold in the Parisian night sky, its presence dominating the rooftops visible from their balcony perch.
Sarah adjusted the quilt higher on her chest before pouring herself a second glass of wine. She left the bottle on the table between the two lounge chairs, glancing at Jessica. “Are you cold? I have plenty of extra blankets.”
Jessica sipped her wine, hoping the alcohol would ease the edginess of her rattled nerves. “Why don’t you just tell the computer to make it warmer?”
“This is the accurate temperature for Paris in autumn. This view… it’s the actual view from our flat. My husband and I plan on spending three weeks in Paris after our trip to Hawaii.”
“They’ve launched two satellites, Sarah. What’s the minimum number of SATS needed to engage the Zeus array?”
“Thirteen.”
“Why didn’t they tell us they were launching?”
“My dear, everything around here is strictly ‘need to know.’ We may be Cosmic Clearance, but we’re just Indians, not chiefs.” Sarah closed her eyes. “No more talk. We’ve talked all day and night and now I’m tired. You can have my bed if you want to stay over; I’m going to sleep out here with my wine and my view of Paris. Lovely Paris…”
“It’s not real, Sarah.”
“Sweetie, as John Lennon once sang, nothing is real. Life is just one big video game… when we’re out of time God tallies the score and sees if we’ve done enough good things to earn our way back inside the pearly gates… strawberry fields forever.”
Jessica reached over and took the wine glass from Sarah’s hand as the older woman passed out. “Good night, Ladybug.”
“Level-23, please.”
Jessica held on as the elevator plunged eighteen stories in under five seconds, an illuminated sign above the map of the complex flashing as the magnetic brakes took over:
Level-23
WARNING: RESTRICTED AREA
The doors opened and she stepped out to white polished marble floors which led into a small circular lobby, its two-story domed ceiling illuminated bright emerald-green. From this starting point there were three long white empty corridors; one directly ahead, the other two on either side. All three appeared to run on forever.