Ancients

'He was a better and kinder soul than most of us jerks, Doc.'

Jack nodded at Everett and took his seat.

'Think we start by digging into the New York Police Department files on the attack at the warehouse? Then maybe their crime-scene computer reports, blood type, ballistics, things like that?' Jack asked Robbins, who was already logging in to Europa.

Before Robbins answered, the large steel partition behind the wall of glass slid up, and Europa was there in all her glory. The automated loading system was idle, but her brain used her enhanced optics to view the three men.

'Good morning Dr. Robbins. I see we have company from the Security Department today. Colonel Collins, Captain Everett, how may I help you?'

Carl rolled his eyes at the female auditory system. He still wanted to get to know the person whose voice had been synthesized, because she sounded just like Marilyn Monroe.

Jack leaned forward in his chair and spoke into the microphone.

'Europa, we have lost many people to an act of murder and have many things to investigate and we will need you to break the security guarding police systems. We must find the people responsible for the deaths of Event Group staff. Is this understood?'

Robbins was curious as to why she didn't respond directly. The automated loader sprang into action as the robotic arms manufactured by the Honda Corporation started sliding programs into the bank of hard drives.

'Europa is ready to seek out your requested inquiries, Colonel. Shall we begin? '

Robbins smiled and looked at Everett.

'Europa was well aware of the murders because she references every daily newspaper in the world. She obviously knew the names listed in the reporter's story as killed and crossed them with her data files. She knows Event personnel have been lost.'

Jack gripped the small microphone in front of him tightly at its base. His knuckles turned white as the pressure increased, but his calm features never changed.

'Yes, let's begin.'

Sarah McIntire was getting frustrated with the twenty-five people in her group. Theories, no matter how far out, were discussed, and one by one they all lost credence.

Most present were of the opinion that earthquakes could not be manipulated short of placing a nuclear weapon beneath a fault line. Sarah thus far had to agree. Every computer model that Europa had built for them had failed. It was beginning to look as if they'd hit a dead end.

Virginia came into the room and kneeled next to Sarah's chair, and listened to the current argument of hydrodynamics and its effect on fault lines.

'Most fault lines are stable to the point where we would almost have to call them extinct, just a gouge in the earth's surface. While others, like the San Andreas, for instance, are active as hell. But we still couldn't get it to move unless the forces beneath it forced her to, by pushing water through the strata, weakening it, or an outright eruption of magma.'

Sarah listened to the young professor from Virginia Tech whom the Group had recruited to earth sciences over a year ago. Then she smiled when Virginia mouthed the words keep at it and then moved to the door.

Sarah saw the young, long-haired scientist stand and go to the wall and pull down a large chart. It was a color picture of the earth laid out flat. Several hundred red lines were depicted as they coursed through the continents and oceans. They swirled and eddied, going in no particular direction.

'As you see, it's not just the fault lines around the world. It is my opinion that you have to attack not the faults, but the very plates beneath them that make the faults on the surface unstable.'

Sarah closed her eyes. Something about the professor's explanation danced in her memory. She opened her eyes and looked at the chart that showed the world's known fault lines, but couldn't for the life of her remember what it was she had seen that connected the dots for her. She let the thought slip her mind as disagreement exploded in the room.

Jack watched as Europa entered three programs. Robbins did not understand what it was Collins was digging for. Even Carl was growing concerned.

'Europa, query: the two weapons recovered from the crime scene. They are definitely not in the inventory of Department 5656?'

'According to armory records, one Beretta 9-millimeter, serial number 587690, one Ingram automatic pistol, serial number 153694073-2, were not listed as issued to Department 5656.'

Jack had one answer after hours of dead ends.

'Query: are you still into the ATF mainframe, Europa?'

'Yes, Colonel Collins.'

'Can you check serial numbers against the two weapons you just gave us for stolen data?'

'Items were listed by ATF as destroyed by reclamation, batch number 45786-B90, on December 3, 1999.'

'Both weapons were listed together in the same destruct batch?'

'Now that's weird. What would you say the odds were on that?' Carl commented.

'I wouldn't care to bet,' answered Robbins.

'Europa, query: how many weapons in the ATF destruction batch dated 12-03-99?'

'Two thousand five-hundred, maximum weight allowance for melting furnace.'

'Someone crooked at ATF, Jack?'

'Okay, we know where two of the weapons used against our people came from, but what in the hell does that get us?' Jack asked, instead of answering Carl's question.

'Europa, query: have you yet acquired access to the NYPD mainframe?' Collins asked.

'Yes, access was gained through unsecured backdoor in Albany, New York, used for the NYPD Widows Welfare Fund.'

'Pretty good,' Everett said, looking at Robbins.

'She has her ways,' he said proudly.

'Has a ballistics report been issued on bullets removed from Event personnel?' Jack continued.

'A report has been generated by the team of officers assigned to case number 4564893-23 for Boston Police Department Robbery-Homicide Special Investigations Division.'

'Why Boston?' Robbins asked, and then caught himself. 'Europa, query: is there a case in Boston that warranted such a request for ballistics information?'

'Boston Police Department requested any ballistics match through the National Crime Database and received the NYPD report. Expended 5.56, 7.56 and 9 millimeter ammunition used in NYPD report matched exact specifications of ballistics report generated by Boston Police, Robbery-Homicide, dated this day.'

'The bastards hit someone else up in Boston, Jack,' Everett said as he leaned closer to the glass.

'Europa, query: is there a report of the crime filed by BPD?' Collins asked hurriedly.

'Formulating.'

As the three men watched, crime-scene photos started to pop up at an incredible rate on the large monitor screen. Scenes of murder filled the frames. The corpses lay on bloodstained carpets in grotesque stillness.

'My God,' Dr. Robbins said aloud.

'Looks familiar,' Jack said beneath his breath.

'Europa, query: what is the location of the Boston crime scene?'

'Crime committed at the law offices of Evans, Lawson and Keeler, Attorneys at Law, located at 4967 Wayland Avenue, Boston. Thirty-seven known deaths occurred at approximately one forty-five Boston time.'

'Europa, query: any motive stated for the murders at this time?' Everett asked, heading Jack off.

'Robbery has been listed as motivation for the deaths.'

'Round up Mendenhall and Ryan, tell them we're taking a quick trip out to Boston. I want to see could have