“What the hell did you just do?” Naoko said.
“Nothing,” Mitch said. “I swear I didn’t do anything.”
The rumbling began to grow louder until it was a full-on roar. Naoko pointed to the viewport on their right where all the crew in the hangar had moved back against the wall and were looking up at the ship in horror. Mitch jumped out of the seat and ran to the gangway. When he reached the observation platform two decks above he saw a round door in the center of the ship was now standing open. Heinz and Naoko joined him a moment later. The roar—it sounded like a jet engine spooling up—was fainter outside than inside, but still growing louder. When Mitch turned to Naoko both he and Heinz were looking up at the ceiling of the hangar.
“Oh, fuck,” Mitch said.
“Tell them to open the doors,” Heinz shouted to Naoko, but Naoko was already doing it.
The sound continued to grow louder until it began to hurt their ears. Everyone else had already left the hangar. Mitch put his hands over his ears. A moment later the giant doors in the ceiling began to inch open, flooding the hangar in bright sunlight. Mitch held his breath as he watched their painstakingly slow progress, his eyes darting back and forth between the ceiling and the hole in the middle of RP One, which was now glowing.
Then it happened.
The hangar was rocked by an explosion, followed by a blinding flash. Mitch looked up just in time to see a bright beam of light go hurtling up into the sky and disappear. Then the world was silent once more.
Almila, the Pandora’s captain, came storming out onto the platform a moment later. “What the hell is going on?”
When no one answered he looked from Mitch down to RP One and then up at the open hangar doors.
“I think we just launched something,” Mitch said.
“You think?” Almila said.
“It’s okay, Captain,” Heinz said. “It doesn’t appear to have done any damage.”
Almila looked at them both as if they were speaking a foreign language. “You’re telling me something just flew out of that?” Almila said, pointing at RP One.
“It would appear so,” Heinz said.
“And it never occurred to you to tell me what you were doing? What if the damn thing had gone through the side of this ship instead of the top? Or the bottom?”
Mitch and Heinz only looked at each other. Two of the ship’s crew came running out and stopped behind the captain. Almila turned to them. “Get up there and make sure nothing has been damaged. I want those doors closed right away.”
When they were gone Almila glared at Heinz and said, “The next time you decide to conduct an experiment that places the safety of my ship and crew at risk I would appreciate it if you informed me first.”
Heinz opened his mouth to reply but Almila was apparently done talking. He turned and left.
“What the hell have we done?” Naoko said.
“I don’t know,” Heinz said, “but I suggest we get back down there and find out.”
It took Mitch a moment to regain his nerve, but once he was back on the bridge of RP One his excitement all but eviscerated any apprehension he felt. He returned to the menu and activated the grid location command again. Naoko read the response, “Grid analysis in progress.”
“What do you suppose that means?” Heinz said.
“If I had to guess,” Mitch said, “I’d say we just launched some kind of satellite or locator.”
“I think you’re right,” Naoko said.
Mitch turned to Heinz smiling. “I really hope these people had an airtight non-interference policy.”
“What do you mean?” Heinz said.
“I mean, if whatever we just launched into orbit has a problem with all the junk that’s already up there, we could have a serious situation on our hands.”
Madison, Wisconsin
Friday 8 June
1130 MST
Francis pulled to the curb and turned off the engine. They watched Jasper dart across the busy street and disappear inside the local branch of the First Madison Trust Bank.
“Does that make any sense to you?” Francis said.
“What?”
“That a man who’s about to fall off the face of the Earth would visit his bank first.”
“Perhaps he’s emptying out his checking account,” Titov said.
“That’s my point,” Francis said. “Shouldn’t he have closed it by now? He’s sold his house, quit his job and paid off any outstanding debts. Why would he leave his account open?”
“Perhaps he’s transferring what he has left to a favorite aunt or nephew? Why don’t you ask him yourself?”
“I will. And if he’s leaving a trail I suggest we make him clean it up before we go anywhere.”
“You see,” Titov said. “This is why you’ll be doing this from now on.”
Jasper was only inside for a few minutes. He walked to the bus stop, glanced to see if the bus was coming, and took out his cell phone.
“Great,” Francis said. “Now he’s making a phone call. On a phone he shouldn’t even have, by the way.”
“Have you considered it might be a pre-paid phone?”
Francis sighed in frustration. “Seriously? This is how we recruit people? I’m surprised you’ve gotten away with it for so long.”
“We’re watching him, aren’t we?” Titov said.
“Because I insisted,” Francis said.
Francis let the bus get a few blocks down the road before pulling out. They followed it for several miles and stopped again when Jasper got off outside the local mall.
“Well there’s something at least,” Francis said. “I was beginning to think he might stop by the local TV studio for an interview first.”
Titov laughed and said, “Now that
would
be a problem.”
They followed Jasper inside and spent the next half hour trailing him as he visited first the local music emporium where he bought several CDs, then a clothing outlet. He came out carrying two bags stuffed with socks, underwear and a tracksuit.
“I’m telling you now,” Francis said, “this guy is a walking security risk.”
“Maybe,” Titov said. “But we need him. You want to tell Richelle she can’t have her geologist after we spent twelve months getting him ready?”
At last Jasper reached the agreed meeting place. He ordered a sandwich and a glass of milk and sat down at an empty table in the corner of the food court.
“I’ll wait here,” Francis said. “Meet you back at the car.”
Titov walked up to the table and took a seat opposite Jasper. Although Jasper was clearly taken aback by the size of the big Russian, Titov soon had him chatting freely. A little too freely in Francis’s opinion. The conversation lasted only a few minutes. Francis watched them to the stairs, then spent a minute looking around for any sign of a follower. When he was satisfied, he made his way to the parking lot and got into the back seat beside Jasper.
“Jasper, please meet my associate, Mr. Landen,” Titov said. “He’s a Yankee like yourself.”
Jasper nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Everything okay?” Francis said. “You look a little nervous.”
“I’d like to hear the offer again,” Jasper said.
Titov looked at him in surprise.
“The offer?” Francis said.
“The job offer,” Jasper said. “I’d like to hear it again.”
“Forgive me,” Francis said, “but I was under the impression all this had been settled some time ago. What have I missed?”
Jasper’s face suddenly took on a nervous look of defiance. “It’s just that I’ve been made another offer and I’d like a chance to consider my options.”
Francis looked at Titov. “Another offer?”
“Yes,” Jasper said. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it sooner, but I’ve been—well—negotiating with the other party.”
“Well, I hope you got yourself a good deal,” Francis said. “Consider our offer revoked. You’re free to go, Mr. Klein.”
“Just a moment,” Titov said. “May I ask
who
made you this other offer?”
“I’d rather not say,” Jasper said.
“I only ask because we’re a big company,” Titov said. “There’s a good chance it may have come from one of our affiliates. Imagine how awkward that would be.”
“Are any of your affiliates based in Dubai?” Jasper asked.
Francis, who had been listening to the exchange with growing frustration, turned to Jasper and said, “Alright, pal, that’s enough of the bullshit. You think we were born yesterday? Whatever you’re angling for, it isn’t going to happen. Do you understand me? Our offer isn’t negotiable. Not that it matters, because it’s off the table.”
When Jasper reached for the door handle Francis leaned over him and pushed the lock down.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Jasper said.
“I’m not done,” Francis said.
“If you think I’m lying—” Jasper said.
“I
know
you’re lying,” Francis said.
When Jasper put his hand inside his jacket Francis grabbed his arm. “Easy now.”
Francis reached into the jacket himself. What he pulled out wasn’t a gun but an airline ticket, a first class seat to Dubai via Chicago and Frankfurt.
“Where did you get this?” Francis said.
“I picked it up at the bank,” Jasper said.
Francis closed his eyes for a moment and let out a long sigh. “And the phone call at the bus stop?”
“You’ve been following me?” Jasper said.
“Just answer the question,” Francis said.
“They told me to call when I got the ticket,” Jasper said.
“Go,” Francis said to Titov. “Get us out of here.”
Titov started the car and pulled away.
“Make a circle round the mall,” Francis said. “And keep your eyes on the mirror.”
“Listen, I—” Jasper began.
“What’s the name of the company?” Francis said.
Jasper hesitated, but only long enough to see that Francis was one more question away from losing his temper.
“Emirate Global Mining,” Jasper said.
“And have you checked to even make sure it exists?”
“They have a website,” Jasper said.
“Everyone has a website,” Francis said. “I mean actually checked to see if it’s listed anywhere.”
When it was clear he hadn’t, Francis said, “So you were just going to fly to Dubai and hope for the best, is that it? Can I ask you something?”
“What?” Jasper said.
“Are you a complete and total idiot?”
“I—I didn’t—”
“Think,” Francis said. “Yes, that’s becoming painfully obvious. And you’re supposed to be some kind of genius. Go figure, hey?”
“You may not approve,” Jasper said, “but I have every right to talk to whoever—”
“Please stop talking,” Francis said. “I need to think.”
When Titov had completed the circle of the mall and reported not seeing anyone in pursuit, Francis told him to return to the hotel. By the time they got there, Jasper was looking decidedly unnerved.
“You’ll be glad to know I’ve reconsidered our position,” Francis said. “In fact, you may consider yourself hired as of now.”
“I’m not sure—” Jasper began.
“Oh, it’s not negotiable,” Francis said. “In fact, you start tomorrow.”
“He does?” Titov said.
“Yes,” Francis said. “You’re going to Dubai.”
“I am?”
“You are,” Francis said. “And we’re coming with you.”
The Pandora
Saturday 9 June 2007
0100 EEST
Mitch was alone on the bridge of RP One. Naoko, the last of the hangers-on, had thrown in the towel an hour earlier and gone back to his cabin for a few hours of sleep.
The countdown had ended less than five hours after it began. There had been almost a dozen people crammed onto the bridge at the time. Even Captain Almila had put his animosity aside to come down and see what all the fuss was about. In the meantime Mitch and Naoko had figured out how to replicate the view on the commander’s screen on one of the bridge’s four viewports. When the countdown reached zero, all four screens had gone blank for a few seconds. Then a three-dimensional Earth had appeared, not drawn in the bright green lines of the system interface, but in full color.
Using the controls in the armrest, Mitch had moved the view and zoomed in until they were directly above the Isle of Dragons. Mitch, who had seen plenty of high-definition satellite imagery during his time at the FBI, was still taken aback by the level of detail. Even more incredible was the fact that the images appeared to be arriving in real time. Exactly how a system orbiting the earth could be used to view any part of the surface at any given time was another of the many mysteries they would, hopefully, solve in time. For now, however, they were too absorbed with the functionality of the system to care much about the underlying technology.
Within a few hours Mitch and Naoko had mapped at least some of the imaging system’s control menu. In addition to analyzing the anatomical structure of elements, it could record temperature, barometric pressure, and elevation, as well as intercept sound and radio waves, but it could not decode them. It could analyze biological structures and shift to over a dozen points within the electromagnetic spectrum, as well as display images as thermal and a form of night vision in which purple replaced the more common green of earthbound systems. If that wasn’t enough, it could also be used to tag and track objects of almost any kind with no apparent limit to the number. Shortly before Naoko had called it a day they had put a trace on a yacht sailing between the islands of Martinique and St. Lucia in the Caribbean while simultaneously analyzing the chemical compounds in its fiberglass hull.
Now, sitting alone at the console, Mitch watched in rapt fascination as a Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jet took off from the deck of the Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, in the Barents Sea. Using the controls in the armrest he moved his thumb until the jet was inside the triangular cursor and let go. The triangle followed the plane as it moved toward the coast at supersonic speed, the small text field to its right constantly repopulating with an endless procession of data that meant nothing to him. Using one finger to lock the view onto the plane and another to zoom in, he kept moving closer until he could see the pilot’s helmet through the cockpit. None of what he was seeing made any sense. Not only could whatever was feeding the image down to RP One somehow shift its own orbit on demand, but it could maintain a rock-solid close up of an object travelling faster than the speed of sound while collecting information that would ordinarily require an electron microscope. Both the image and the idea were hypnotizing.