“Both. They refuse to disclose it to anyone,and I only know some of the capabilities, with zero of theworkings.”
“How dangerous are we talking here?”
“Unknown. They have command of significantpower, both offensive and defensive.”
“And this is right here on our homesoil?”
“Yes. I tried to learn the inner workings,but they claim that they couldn’t teach me how it works. I believedthem for a while, but not anymore. I left last night and came tosee you, hoping to get some advice.”
“Do you believe yourself to be indanger?”
In response, I handed him the envelope that Iprepared last night. He looked startled to see what I had writtenon it, and then turned grim.
“Ok, you now have my full attention. What canI do to help?”
I raised my glass to him as a salute beforeknocking back the scotch. It was a relief to know that he wouldhave my back.
Matt had to leave to attend a staff meetingbut told me to make myself at home. He promised that we would talkin more detail tonight and come up with a plan. Left to my owndevices, I poured myself another drink and wandered around hishouse for a while. Sparse, clean, orderly … it was about what Iexpected.
After doing a few laps through the house tono real purpose, I decided to go through my stuff and make surethat everything was in good order. I pulled my truck into hisgarage and closed the door for privacy before spreading out mygear. As I absently cleaned my weapons, I wondered how far Mattwould go to help me.
It seemed like Matt was gone for about amillion years, but it was really only six or seven hours. I keptpeeking through the window blinds, watching for anyone coming downthe driveway. Maybe I was getting a bit paranoid, but I didn’t eventurn on the house lights as dusk approached. I tensed for a momentas I saw a car approach, but breathed a quick sigh of relief as Isaw that it was Matt’s jeep and he was alone. He pulled into theempty stall of his garage and I went to meet him, thankful that hehad finally returned.
“Sorry I took so long,” he said as he steppedout of the vehicle. “Damn useless meetings always take way toolong.” Holding up a box he continued, “I brought a pizza. Let’s eatand finish our discussion.”
We sat down in his kitchen with pizza andbeer, picking up the conversation where we had left off earlier.“How much help are you willing to offer me?” I asked in betweenbites.
“Probably more than you might think. I takedomestic terrorism fairly seriously, and nobody wants to seeanother nine-eleven. Not to mention the fact that I owe you forsaving my life.”
“Amen to that. I’m not sure that we’re inthat kind of situation though.”
“But you’re not sure, right? You as much asadmitted that these people might be looking to make youdisappear.”
“That might just be paranoia on my part, butI’m determined to do something about them, and I have no way ofknowing in advance what they might do.”
“Then tell me what you want. If it’s in mypower, then you already have it. I can probably even arrange armedbackup for you if needed.”
“I doubt that they’re allied with any foreignpower, and if possible, I would prefer that they ally with us. Thebenefits we would gain by having them on our side are almost beyondbelief, and I would prefer to try intimidation and negotiationfirst. One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is that my wife iswith them.”
“Your wife is part of an enemy splintercell?” he sputtered in disbelief.
“She’s not quite part of the inner circle,that’s only two people, but she’s friendly with them and wantsmore.”
“Only two people?” he inquired. “How big ofan organization are we talking about here?”
“As far as I know, there’s only four peopletotal.”
Still unwilling to discuss the fact that wewere talking about mental powers, I decided to couch it in morebelievable terms. “The group is small, but the technology isamazing. What would you say if I told you that they could generatefields that are able to stop small arms fire? Or contain a gasgrenade inside a remote generated sphere? How about even stopping aplastique explosion big enough to gut your house?”
“I would say that you should give up thecrack pipe.” He laughed, but quickly turned serious again when herealized that I wasn’t joking. “You’re serious?” he asked after amoment.
“Deadly serious,” I grimly replied. “Theinner circle even has superior communication.”
“It sounds like they’ve developed some prettysignificant technology, but that’s all passive or defensive stuff.What do they have for offensive capabilities?”
“Well, how about the ability to acceleratesteel shot to almost the same velocity as a bullet?” I asked. “Theycan do that without any telltale muzzle fire or smoke. I fired ashot from my 9mm into the target they used for practice, and mybullet didn’t go in much deeper. They can also do things likecontain gas grenades, move over any terrain fast and silent … heck,they could rip you limb from limb without even getting in sight ofyou.”
“Any theories on how they’re doing all thisstuff? I must admit this all sounds kind of far-fetched to me.”
“I have plenty of theories, but nothingconcrete. Electro-magnetic or something along those lines is howI’m thinking of it.”
“What about the controls?” he asked. “How bigare they and what about the power source?”
“The controls are easily portable,” Ireplied, thinking quickly. “I’m unsure about the power source.”
“Ok, if you’re telling me the truth thenthat’s starting to sound bad. What else can they do?”
“I don’t know. As I mentioned, they’rekeeping this thing close to their chests.”
“You’ve given me plenty to think about. Iwant you to tell me every detail from the second you werecontacted, until the time you showed up on my doorstep. Leavenothing out, except what is needed to protect your oath.”
Grateful that he recognized my need toprotect certain details, I suggested that we retire to his officewhere we would be more comfortable. We settled down into hisoverstuffed leather armchairs with a scotch in hand and I began mytale. It took all night to get through my full story. It would
