Nano Surveillance (Dave Henson Series Book 1) (19 page)

              The bottom was coming up fast. Dave looked down at his dive watch and confirmed that he was only in six feet of water. Sitting on the bottom he stripped off his BCD and tank and took a few more deep breaths on the regulator. With all of his remaining strength he kicked hard towards the shoreline with his fins. He rode a small wave into the shoreline and jumped out of the water. He was nearly 300 yards east of the beach, but Barbas’s men were coming fast in his direction. Apparently they had spotted his shape in the shallows. They were still 200 yards away from him, but he didn’t have a lot of time. He ripped off his fins and mask, and sprinted towards the heavily dense underbrush of the shoreline. As he ran he heard shots ring out and bullets were ripping the shallow waters near him.

              It was rough terrain. The shoreline was rocky and there were low lying cactus and thick vegetation all around him. He had no choice. He had to push through it or else he’d be a dead man in minutes. The only advantage of the thick forest and undergrowth was that it would be just as difficult, if not more so, for Barbas’s men to follow him. He doubted they would be dressed for such an unexpected chase. It would also be difficult for them to see him in the thick underbrush. He would just need to survive working his way through the forest without breaking a leg or killing himself by stepping into a rock crevice.

              From the shoreline Dana and Joe had witnessed the explosion of activity onboard the yacht. They had also seen Dave jump over the side of the yacht and into the water. They had discussed the previous night this possible outcome. In the event that it did happen, Joe and she were to grab their equipment and make a beeline for the car. They would then connect up with Dave at sunset to give him enough time to hike through the forest to the road that led back to Cruz Bay. Fortunately, before having to make a run for it, Joe was able to configure and confirm the nano-dust was operational in both Evans and Hardy.

              Dana and Joe saw the men in the tender racing back and forth off the shoreline of the beach as they drove away from the parking area slowly.

              “Jeez, I hope he makes it,” said Joe as he looked out the window of the car. “They were actually shooting at him. They didn’t even know who he was or what he was doing.”

              “As I warned Dave these guys take no prisoners,” responded Dana in still gasping breaths. She was still trying to recover from their run from their camp to the parking lot. “As you just saw, these guys shoot first and ask questions later.”

              “So what do you want us to do?” asked Joe.

              “We’ll do what we discussed with Dave last night,” responded Dana. We’ll go back to our hotel room and lie low until nearly sunset. “We’ll then drive back toward the beach and hope that Dave comes jumping out of the woods to greet us somewhere along the way.”

Chapter 51 (March 24, Sunday 6:30pm Atlantic Standard Time)

              Dana and Joe drove out of downtown Cruz Bay and up the winding North Shore road towards Cinnamon Bay at sunset. Most of the tourists from St. Thomas that had come across on the ferry to St. John that morning had already left. As a result, the road was much quieter than when they had abruptly departed Cinnamon Bay this morning. Though the sun was just beginning to set they could easily still see, at least for the moment. Dana knew, however, that in the Caribbean the sun set fast. Consequently, she was driving as fast as she dared. The road was narrow and winding though. If she wasn’t careful, she could easily go over the edge of a hillside or run off the road and into the thickly forested woods. Halfway to Cinnamon Bay, near Hawksnest Bay, she began to slow down so that Dave could potentially identify them on the road before she went racing by him. She figured he would have laid low for a while in the thick jungle near Cinnamon Bay to give time for Barbas’s goons to return back to the Kosmos. She then was guessing he’d probably begin hiking his way back towards Cruz Bay. However, Barbas’s men could’ve easily rented a vehicle and patrolled the road looking for him, so most likely he had to parallel the road and stay in the forest to keep out of sight of them. She was of course basing all of her assumptions around the premise that Dave had made it safely to shore and had avoided being captured or killed.

              They were just passing by Trunk Bay, the famous tourist spot on St. John where there’s an underwater snorkeling park, when a figure appeared out of the woods across from the now closed entrance to Trunk Bay.  The figure was still 100 yards away from them when Joe blurted out, “It’s Dave.”

              It was hard to initially tell what or who it was, because Dave was still wearing parts of his wetsuit. The upper portion of the shorty wetsuit was shredded, and Dave’s lower legs that were not protected by the wetsuit, were a bloody mess. His booties were also hanging like rags off of his feet.

              As they approached Dave, he gave them a big wave and slight grin. Though he appeared in relatively good spirits, Dana could tell as she stopped the car next to him that he was exhausted and dehydrated.

              “I was beginning to think that the two of you hired a pilot and flew off to McCall without me,” joked Dave.

              “And leave you here by yourself to have all the fun?” responded Dana. “Not a chance. We just wanted to give you a little extra time to reflect a little longer on your crazy plan and actions this morning. You nearly got yourself killed. Hopefully now you realize how brutal these guys can play and won’t underestimate them the next time.”

              As Dave jumped into the back seat of the car Joe handed Dave a bottle of water and a bag of peanut M&Ms. He also tossed him a towel to wipe the blood and sweat off of his hands and face. It wasn’t just his legs that were a bloody mess. He had scratches, cuts and bruises just about over every square inch of his body. Dave guzzled nearly half the bottle of water before he pulled the bottle from his dried and cracked lips.

              “Joe, you already know one of my terrible weaknesses,” Dave said, as he ripped open the bag of M&Ms.  “Once I start eating these I can’t stop.”

              “Well you’ve certainly earned the whole bag of them today,” laughed Joe.

              “And when we get back to the hotel I’ll order room service for us,” added Dana. “I don’t think it’s a wise idea for us to be out in public anymore on St. John.”

              “Agreed. I saw Barbas’s men cruising up and down North Shore Road all day today as I attempted to walk back. They definitely haven’t given up the hunt and I’m sure they’ve been checking the ferry and Cruz Bay harbor tourist area all day.”

              “By the way Joe, were you able to extract the dragonflies off the yacht before your rapid departure from the scene?” asked Dave, as he tossed another handful of M&Ms into his mouth.

              “Yes, while you were waiting in the utility closet I recovered both of them from the yacht. I figured we might have to make a fast exit.”

              “Excellent heads-up play.  Leaving them on the Kosmos for Barbas to find would have compromised our ability to use them in the future, and given them the ability to reverse engineer our technology.”

              “Not to mention provide an evidence trail back to NSurv,” chimed in Dana. “Most likely they could have traced back serial numbers and/or manufacturing lot numbers on the dragonfly back to NSurv.”

              An hour after returning to the hotel, the three sat in Dave’s hotel room eating dinner. Dave had jumped into the shower and taken a long and hot shower, while Dana and Joe had ordered room service. Dave was just finishing up wolfing down his plate of Sea Bass with an island chutney spread on top, while Dana and Joe were still only half way done with their meals.

              Dave put his empty plate on the coffee table. After pouring himself another glass of wine he explained to Dana and Joe all the events that transpired with him that day. He covered everything, starting with his delivery of the canisters of nano-dust, to his jumping off the Kosmos, to finally his rapid exit off the Kosmos and his trek in the thick forests of St. John.

              After listening to Dave’s full report Joe commented, “Though it was quite the adventure for you today, you’ll be happy to know that at least your mission was a success. I was able to verify that Mr. Hardy and Mr. Evans did consume enough of the nano-dust. I was able to configure them each with their own ocular cameras and microphones. Suffice it to say; between Hardy, Evans, and Barbas, they talked our ears off today. Hardy and Evans are in panic mode about being showcased to the world in a mini movie series.”

              “Well they should be,” commented Dana angrily.

              “And they will be,” said Dave. “We will rat out these pieces of scum to the world. Even their own kind won’t want to have anything to do with them after we’re done with them, let alone the American public.”

              “Barbas spent much of the day trying to calm the two of them down and assuring them that his men will hunt down and destroy every member of the group that is stalking them,” commented Joe. “During their conversation they mentioned NSurv numerous times, though Barbas admitted he didn’t have any real proof that NSurv was actually behind the leaked surveillance videos.”

              “He doesn’t have proof yet, but it was clear that he has NSurv front and center in his sights,” said Dana.

              “Good, let him,” responded Dave. “The closer he gets to us the easier it will be for us to monitor and expose him, and his puppet administration. The harder he looks at us the faster he will fall.”

              “So when do we head back to McCall?” asked Dana.

              “Tomorrow morning. I’ll call the concierge tonight to set us up with a personal taxi boat ride back to St. Thomas for the crack of dawn tomorrow. It’s too risky to take the ferry. We’ll then take a taxi from Red Hook in St. Thomas to the Cyril E. King airport. With any luck we’ll be wheels up by 8:00am.”

Chapter 52 (March 24, Sunday 8:30pm Atlantic Standard Time)

              Dimitris Barbas was sitting in a lounge chair on the open deck of his yacht staring up at the Caribbean evening sky. Even though his guests had left a few hours ago he was still fuming over what had transpired today. Not only was he still furious about the security breach on his yacht, he was also disgusted with Hardy’s and Evan’s reactions. They were panicked to the point that they openly contemplated stepping back from the Transportation Movement Act. They thought that if they pushed it off for a year that maybe the group that was spying on them and exposing their actions might lie low for a while. And as they lie low, the administration could covertly hunt them down and eliminate them. Barbas had explained to them that there was no need to slow down the clock on the TMA, because he already had multiple leads on who was behind the surveillance activity and that he would destroy the group in the very near future.

              After much talk he was able to convince them not to slow down, however, he knew that they were both still fragile. Hardy was the President’s right hand man in coordinating the passage of this legislation, and Evans’ money was critical for financing the messaging campaign to get the necessary votes in Congress. He needed them both to stay on board, and in order to ensure their support, he guaranteed them that he would take out the group that was spying on them quickly. He was convinced Dave Henson and NSurv were responsible for the spying and security leaks, but he needed convincing proof before taking them down. He also wanted to ensure that he acquired NSurv’s nano surveillance technology in the process. From what General Jarod had reported to Hardy, NSurv was leap years ahead of the other high tech surveillance technology companies out there. If he could acquire NSurv’s technology he wouldn’t even offer it for commercial sale. He’d simply use the technology to conduct his own industrial and political surveillance to help his financial and business interests.

              His men had recovered the intruder’s scuba gear today in the water. They also found a dive bag containing a couple of canisters directly underneath the Kosmos, however, they were unmarked. Unfortunately his security cameras did not get a good clear shot of the intruder. The only thing that he was sure about was that it was a male who had trespassed onto his yacht.

              Barbas picked up his mobile phone off the table and dialed Christos Grivas. It was time for Grivas’s man Lazaro to probe a lot deeper into NSurv. He needed to confirm once and for all that NSurv was indeed behind today’s events, and the other recent surveillance video incidents. Once Lazaro confirmed his suspicions, he would personally pay Mr. Henson a visit and propose a business deal that he couldn’t turn down. As he listened to the ring tone and waited for Christos to pick up, Barbas took his right finger and gently wiped away a tear from his eye. Something must have gotten into his eye he thought as he waited for Christos to answer.

Chapter 53 (March 25, Monday 7:30am Atlantic Standard Time)

              Dave, Dana and Joe had successfully gone unnoticed with their departure from St. John and their return to the Cessna Citation. Barbas’s men had probably given up the search for the intruder last night and assumed that the trespasser had already departed the Virgin Islands.

              Dave had already filed their flight plan and the aircraft had been refueled. They were second in line for departure. Once they were in the air and at cruising altitude he’d contact Ron and give him a briefing on their exploits over the past couple of days. Even though it would be only around 5:00am in McCall, he knew that Ron would already be in the office. He also wanted to find out what new information had been gleaned from all of their newly monitored congressional targets, and of course the Secretary of Commerce, Hardy, Evans, and Barbas. He also wanted to discuss about beefing up security around the NSurv facilities. Based upon yesterday’s response by Barbas’s men, it was obvious that these guys were out for blood and he was sure that Barbas had NSurv in his sights.

              After receiving clearance for takeoff, Dave taxied out onto the active runway and lined the nose of the Citation M2 up with the runway’s centerline. He then pushed the Citation’s throttles forward and the aircraft accelerated smoothly down the runway. Gently he pulled back on the yoke and the aircraft lifted up from the runway. As they climbed in altitude Dave turned onto a 320 magnetic heading towards the gulf coast of the United States. They’d again stop in Houston, Texas to refuel before continuing on back to McCall. Once they reached their cruising altitude of 36,000 feet Dave engaged the autopilot and reached for the radio.

              After spending fifteen minutes speaking with Ron on a secured and encrypted radio, Dave gave a synopsis report to Dana and Joe. Ron had reported that there had been a great deal of chatter going on between Barbas, Evans and Hardy yesterday afternoon on the Kosmos and that Barbas had to nearly beg, borrow and threaten to keep the other two committed to the TMA. He also explained that what convinced them to stay onboard was Barbas’s commitment to them to find the culprits that have been spying on the administration and them, and to take them out quickly. NSurv’s name came up frequently during their discussions.

              “So they’re coming for us,” said Dana.

              “Yes, we should expect their presence at any time.” Ron’s already increased security at the office and instituted strict procedures on the off-site storing of critical research work.”

              “If Barbas and this administration get ahold of NSurv’s technology this country is done for,” responded Dana. “This administration is already conducting tens of thousands of drone sorties each year over our country spying on innocent citizens and businesses. If they get their hands on NSurv’s surveillance technology, they’ll effectively turn this country into a third world dictatorship police state.”

              “It’s not going to happen. We’re going to take them down before they ever get a chance to steal NSurv’s intellectual research and property.”

              “You’re assuming the public still cares about its freedoms,” responded Joe. “How sure are you that the public still cares any longer about its inalienable freedoms? The public today seems pretty much satisfied with simply a good game on the screen to watch and a six pack of beer.”

              “I hear you,” responded Dave as he looked over at Joe sitting in the right seat of the Citation. “A large majority of the public’s brains have pretty much been reduced to mush with little interests or motivation to do anything. However, there’s still enough of an aware public that understands that our country is falling into an abyss, and who will respond accordingly to our revelations. Once they begin to take action, I think they’ll shake awake many of the others whose brains’ have atrophied under this political regime.”

“With now nearly a decade of double digit unemployment in this country, there is no doubt in my mind that there is deep seeded pent up public resentment for this administration and its policies. It’s just that many of them are too frightened to appear politically incorrect. They can’t afford to lose their public assistance, and they know the President has a history of striking down hard and fast anyone that either conflicts with or criticizes his policies. However, once we expose his real agenda to them, which in no way has the publics’ interest in mind, they will wake up and turn on them. I guarantee it.”

“I really hope you’re right,” responded Joe quietly as he stared out the cockpit window. “Our country won’t last much longer, at least as we knew it, if you’re wrong.”

Dana remained quiet listening to the two of them. She had a sick feeling in her stomach that had nothing to do with the flight. She had a premonition that something was about to go terribly wrong after hearing Ron’s report from Dave. Something was about to happen to them that would change their lives forever.