Kyoshe was the head of the Council, an organization that many thought of as just a myth. They were made up of a group of powerful people who moved around in the shadows and made sure the world didn’t go to hell. If Council found that there was a situation that needed a special type of expertise, M-AX1 typically got the call.
Jessie took the elevator up to the garage. As soon as it opened, she stepped out of the garage and a jeep pulled up to drive her to the plane. The plane sat on an air-lift that would take them to the surface. When Jessie boarded and was seated the pilot pressed the button. It rose to the surface of the airstrip. Once in position, the tower gave the signal that they were cleared for take-off.
After they were airborne, Jessie finally called Kyoshe on her special phone. As expected there was no answer. All Jessie could do was wait for her to make contact.
While in flight, Jessie synced up with her team on the ground. Hours later, Téa was still working on breaking the encryption code for the documents. Max and Jake had landed in Mongolia and were already on the ground and in place. Tony and Gray were still surveilling the property in Pakistan so that they could develop an entrance and exit strategy for all contingencies.
Tony and Gray needed to speak with Jessie, so they appeared on the plane using the amulet technology. It was as if Jessie were sitting right next to them in the lab.
“Jessie, we’ve got a visual on Dr. Sheitz. From what we can tell without any sound, if he’s a victim of abduction, he looks pretty comfortable. We can’t confirm this yet, but Téa is working on getting sound,” Tony informed her.
“Good. Going forward make sure when you contact me by phone it’s on the secured line. If we have access to their compound, they may be able to pick us up. I should be landing in the next half hour. I’ll check in after my meeting with Wellington.
Everyone disconnected. Jessie continued to review Wellington’s file to see if there was anything she’d missed. She knew something was off at that first meeting, and she should have probably followed her initial instincts.
Exactly a half an hour later, Jessie was getting instructions to prepare for landing. A flight that should have taken at least thirteen hours was completed in six.
After Jessie landed, she took a cab from the airport to John Wellington’s office building. She got out of the car and walked right inside, then took the elevator up to the top floor. When the doors opened, Wellington’s security detail was waiting for her. Her attire must have put them on edge.
“I’m sorry Miss you cannot be on this floor.”
“I need to speak with Mr. Wellington.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
“You won’t be able to see Mr. Wellington today.”
One of the men squared Jessie up and imperceptibly moved closer to her. Jessie stepped back just a bit to give herself a little room. Like a bolt of lightning, she struck the man in his trachea with a sharp fist. He grabbed his neck heaving hard and gasping for breath. When the other bodyguard lunged for her, she struck him hard in the nose and heard it crunch as blood spewed everywhere, then she kneed him in the kidney and pushed him out of her way.
Jessie went around the corner toward the doors she’d entered just a day before. Wellington’s Administrative Assistant tried to stop her, “Wait...wait! You can’t go in there.”
Jessie walked right past her and through the doors. She drew her gun because it appeared as though Wellington was in the process of drawing his.
“That might not be a good idea for you,” Jessie said as she went over, took his gun, and patted him down just to make sure he didn’t have anything else. Then she waved her gun toward the direction of the chair usually reserved for guests and pushed him down in it. “Why did you send me on a wild goose chase?”
“I didn’t. The Jalanni Militia has the most motive to want Dr. Sheitz.”
“Why would they want him?”
“My company and Dr. Sheitz have developed a technology that can change everything you know about the world.”
“If that were the case then I’d already know about it.”
“Ms. Ramsey, I’ve been able to keep this off the grid because it doesn’t need or use any electro-magnetic energy. But, it’s so powerful, it can be used to close the hole in the ozone layer or blow it wide open.”
That raised the hairs on the back of Jessie’s neck, “I’m listening. Go on.”
“In the wrong hands everything that you know could cease to exist.”
“Mr. Wellington, if what you say is true, I don’t think this technology should be in the hands of any one individual.”
“Perhaps.”
“You can’t blame me for being somewhat skeptical. I will need more proof than just your word that what you’ve told me is true.”
Wellington nodded his head toward one of the fine arts pieces on the wall, “May I?”
Jessie paused at first before agreeing.
Mr. Wellington walked over to his wall safe. He opened it only after his retina security eye scan was successful. He pulled out an old beta video tape. “Everything you want to know is on this tape.”
“Anything can be manipulated, including older technology. It might be harder but not impossible to manipulate.”
“Kyoshe said you were very cautious and very good. Ms. Ramsey, I am not doing this for selfish reasons. I’m doing this because I’m afraid of this technology being in the wrong hands. If I can’t control it, then I’d rather it be destroyed. Unfortunately the only way to destroy the technology completely also means terminating the scientist who developed it and hoping that he hasn’t already given
