Adam sat in the second row next to his brother, Randy, and his sister-in-law. Dr. Steven Greer was seated behind him.
No one spoke. Everything that had to be said had already been said. There were no more tears to be cried, all that remained was to channel the anger.
In due course the reverend entered the chamber to announce that it was time to begin the ceremony. Senator Hall and his wife joined the procession line of guests exiting to the chapel.
Last in line, Captain Marulli led his wife past their daughter’s fiancé. Barbara Jean paused to brush her hand along the top of Adam’s head. Then she looked at Dr. Greer, who remained seated behind him.
“Be respectful… be quick.”
The two men waited until the chamber emptied. Adam quickly locked the doors, turning his back on Dr. Greer who opened the casket. Removing a thin carrying case from his jacket pocket, the former ER physician took out a scalpel and tweezers and set to work on the deceased woman’s right ring finger.
In less than a minute he had the flash drive in a small zip-lock bag and the casket was closed.
Adam waited until Greer patted him on the back before opening the door to allow the pallbearers to wheel his fiancée’s remains into the chapel.
General Thomas J. Cubit stood in the assembly hall, addressing the members of Council who were watching him on video by invitation only.
“The zero-point-energy unit was stolen by counter-intelligence agent Chris Mull, one of Colonel Johnston’s top men. Mull and his lover, OSI agent Kelly Kishel, intended to sell the device. Against the recommendation of the majority of Council, Colonel Johnston took it upon himself to issue a TWEP order on Adam Shariak in order to cover up Mr. Mull’s tracks.
“In order to steal the ZPE unit, Mull acquired a fake device and attempted to blackmail Dr. Marulli into assisting him with the crime. Mull’s plan was to implicate the director of our Zeus program, along with our best ARV pilot, Captain Josh LaCombe. It was the ARV that would provide Mull with a means of removing the zero-point-energy unit from Dulce.
“Things went sour for Mr. Mull when he arrived at the MAJI drop-site in Cassopolis, Michigan by ARV, only to discover Colonel Johnston had double-crossed him by issuing a TWEP order on both him and his girlfriend, Agent Kishel.
“Why would the colonel issue a TWEP on Mr. Mull and his girlfriend? Because Dr. Sarah Mayhew-Reece, the assistant director at Zeus, had learned that Dr. Marulli had replaced Mull’s fake ZPE unit with the real device in order to prevent the crime. She reported Jessica’s actions to Dr. Joyce LaCombe, Captain LaCombe’s wife, and the head of our genetics department.
“Our clean-up crew arrived at the Michigan drop point to find the bodies of Agent Kishel, who had been killed by members of the Devil’s Diciples, and Captain LaCombe, who was shot and killed by Mr. Mull. There were also three dead bikers, one terminated by Agent Kishel, the other two by Mr. Mull.
“In a fit of rage, Mr. Mull then returned to Dulce aboard the ARV, intent on enacting revenge on Colonel Johnston. I attempted to talk him down while we readied our interceptor drones. He fired a disruptor burst and fled when one of the Zeus satellites moved into firing range.”
A Council member from the United Kingdom addressed him via audio hook-up. “Where is the ARV now, general?”
“It was last tracked over India.”
“Who gave the TWEP order on Dr. Marulli?”
“Again, that was Dr. Death. Shariak’s driver was hired to take out Shariak; the biological explosive had been adhered to Dr. Marulli’s skin during the ride to Edwards Air Force Base by Colonel Johnson’s co-conspirator, his wife, Yvonne.
“Gentlemen and ladies, the aftermath of these crimes is devastating to MAJI. Dr. Jessica Marulli was not only the brains behind Project Zeus and an invaluable young mind, but her parents both served MAJI loyally for a combined seventy-plus years.
“Dr. Marulli’s murder firmly splits MAJI into two camps. There’s the old guard; a radically conservative minority that has controlled MAJI’s agenda through a campaign of fear, orchestrated by Colonel Johnston and his MK-Ultra psychotronic threat. Then there is a progressive majority who feels it is time we disclosed our technological advances to the rest of humanity in an attempt to prevent an environmental cataclysm and thwart a radical false flag event that, if launched, will slaughter billions.
“Gentlemen and ladies, it is time for MAJI to crawl out of the shadows and into the light. Either we make bold changes immediately and stop this insanity, or there will be nothing left of humanity to salvage.”
The procession of black limousines continued rolling through the gated entrance of Wardour on the Severn. Relegated to the main house, the mourners fed on deli platters and attempted to comfort their hosts.
Captain Marulli and his wife remained with their guests until 5:00 p.m. when they excused themselves to adjourn to their private carriage home set along the waters of the Chesapeake River.
Entering the cottage, they made their way down the spiral stairwell into the wine cellar, where the other twenty-two members of their war Council had already assembled. They had arrived from all over the world to mourn the loss of their colleagues’ daughter and to initiate an event that would send ripples around the world.
Each man and woman held a silver goblet filled with Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945. Captain Marulli had paid $310,000 for a double magnum of the wine ten years earlier, intending on opening it on a special occasion. Regarded as one of the greatest red wines of the previous century, the 1945 vintage was purposely chosen, for its date marked the year two atomic bombs had been detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki — an event which had sent its own ripples across the galaxy.
Al Marulli raised his goblet, his companions following suit. “To all the innocent lives stolen… and to our precious child, Jessica, whose courage led to the birth of this new day.”
“To Jessica…”
Seated before her laptop, Lydia Gagnon pressed enter on her keyboard. The command initiated the download of the three zero-point-energy generator schematics to alternative energy websites around the world, along with information on how they could withdraw start-up capital from the $100 billion donated under the name J.M. ENERGY, LLC.
“Barbara Jean, where’s Dr. Greer?”
“Upstairs in one of the guest rooms, meditating. I was told the message has been sent.”
“Lydia, contact the admiral.”
Admiral Mark Hintzman, Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Fleet Forces, stood out on the balcony of Conference Room-A, watching the real-time images of the moon displayed on the theater’s main screen.
Expecting the call, he answered his iPhone on the first ring.
“Stand-by, Lydia. We’re getting some activity… there!”
Three bright sparks ignited from the moon’s dark side — three salvos streaking toward targets in orbit around the Earth.
Within seconds, the scalar strikes destroyed the three Zeus satellites, atomizing each four-ton object into tiny particles.
“You’re good to go, Lydia. The road has been paved.”
“The admiral says we’re good to go.”
Al Marulli nodded to his wife, who ascended the spiral stairwell. Exiting the cottage, she found Adam at one of the docks overlooking the Chesapeake. With him, sharing a bench as they watched the river, was a dark-haired woman and her fifteen-year-old son.