Annihilation Prequel - Psychic Beginnings (Annihilation Series) Read online

  Robert thought a moment and said, “That means I will have to be re-elected quite a few times for that to happen.”

  AG said, “You will be.” Robert looked at him quickly and AG said, “I know you’ll play a major role in what happens.”

  “Is that why you saved me?”

  “Yes.”

  Robert nodded and then smiled, “Well, I’m your man.”

  Bingham said, “When do you see us starting this structure?”

  “In three years. I also need you to give me a number where I can contact you or someone in your family at a moment’s notice. If I contact you, drop everything and come to the place I need you. Make sure you bring your families.”

  They nodded and then started detailing how the plan would be done.

  Chapter Twenty

  Fifteen years passed and AG and Cynthia were professors teaching at Harvard. AG sat in his office and looked at the site of the clan’s farms from an aerial view. He hoped the changes would not be noticed by the government.

  “Dr. Gardner, you have a call from Dr. Dodd.”

  “Thanks, Judy. Send it through.” AG picked up the phone, “Jerry, it’s good to hear from you.”

  “Same here AG; I have something I want to discuss with you.”

  “What does it involve?”

  “I’m going to need a place to work on some items that we need to keep undercover. I have a good team but you know it’s impossible to hide anything in a public university.”

  “Are these items what we need?”

  “They will be eventually. But we’re at the point where we’ll lose them if we continue development.”

  “There is room at the project if you want to move in.”

  “Have they made that much progress?”

  “They have.”

  “How do we make this happen?”

  “It’s time for us to open the universities at the project site.”

  “Then we’re ahead of schedule?”

  “We are. Bingham is setting up a grant to build the schools and the government has agreed to assist him.”

  “That must be Robert’s doing?”

  “It is;Cynthia and I will be taking sabbaticals to go and teach there.”

  “What about the others?”

  “They are also going to assist in educating the poor farmers that toil the soil.”

  “Isn’t that a risk? All of those professors are members of the clans.”

  “Exactly; they’ll be going back to help their former families for what they did to give them a good education.”

  “I’ll notify my team. We’ll move out slowly so we won’t be noticed.”

  “That would be good. I’ll call you when the technology is in place you need to work.”

  “Thanks AG, it’ll be good to see you again.”

  AG stood up and looked at another chart. The positions in the Air Force had been taken and now the Navy was close to being handled. He looked at his calendar and knew there was enough time to lock everything down in time. He took the file and shredded it. It was up to Robert now. He left to teach his afternoon class. He looked forward to going home and playing with Tony. The three year old was a handful.

  • • •

  One of the satellite surveillance technicians looked at a photo of the large community that had grown in the center of the United States. It was dated July 4th, 2007. “This is interesting.”

  His partner looked at him with raised eyebrows, “What is that?”

  “The community has stopped growing. It had grown to more than half a million ten years ago, but now the population has stagnated and even dropped some.”

  “Would you stay there and spend your life farming? I’d get out of there as quick as I could.”

  “I guess, but there aren’t many jobs out there for them to run to.”

  “You can attribute their population loss to those three universities that were built there. I understand they are some of the country’s best. They shouldn’t have trouble finding jobs if they graduate from them.”

  “There’s less heavy construction equipment there now.”

  “It may be that the gold mine they started twenty five years ago is playing out. They’ve used the gold to pay the tuition for the communities and to build the universities. This is a great example of how criminals can be made productive members of society. It could also be that a lot of them are working in the mines below and are not showing up on the photo.” The partner paused and said, “Why are you taking shots of them?”

  “I don’t know. It just seemed that there was far too much heavy equipment for just digging a mine.”

  “Have you looked at what the environmentalists are requiring to dig anything?”

  “I didn’t think about that. I guess that thing will have to be reinforced beyond anything we’ve previously seen. They’re just digging over such a large area.”

  Their supervisor came in and looked at what they were doing. “Do you have enough time to waste doing this? I need a look at eight spots in the Middle East and Iraq and you’re looking at a bunch of farmers. If I catch you doing this again I’ll have you suspended. Now get to work.”

  The Supervisor left and the first tech said, “I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”

  “Just don’t do it again; there’s a record of everything we take a shot of and I don’t want this showing up again. At least while I’m anywhere around.”

  The tech shredded the picture and moved the view to Iraq. The second tech was thankful. He knew the truck in the top right corner of the photo moving toward the construction site would have been a problem. If the first tech had enlarged it he would have seen the nuclear reactor on the flat bed. A week later the first tech was reassigned to the Pentagon, filing non-classified photos. The tech that replaced him came from the Air Force Academy.

  • • •

  “How is the candidate we’re chosen doing?”

  “He’s leading in the major polls they have every other minute. He assures us his election is a sure thing.”

  “How can he be so sure.”

  “He’s holding out some information to use until the very last moment where the one opposing him can’t do anything to counter it in time.”

  “It must be some pretty damaging material.”

  “It is; but it’s a lie. The press will eventually find out but the election will be over. The witness will mysteriously disappear and everyone will wonder if the opponent arranged the disappearance. It’s a good strategy.”

  “Just how certain are you of his commitment?”

  “Very certain. He’s not what he appears to be. His poor background makes him hate the rich in his country and he’d do anything to remove their influence.”

  “Let’s assume he’s elected. How long will it take us to be ready to use him?”

  “We’ve got some work to do on the technology to make it work but we have a few years to get that worked out. We can run trials against them as we move forward and they’ll do nothing to stop us. I am concerned about how this might affect us financially.”

  “That is not something we’ve ever allowed to direct our actions.”

  “I know but we’ve never had this much at stake before. Will everyone go along with this?”

  “Like you said, we have years to make this happen.”

  “Actually, we’ve got to do it in eight and four would be better.”

  “You worry about a second term?”

  “You just never know for sure.”

  “Get to work. We can’t lose this opportunity.”

  “I’ll contact the engineers immediately.”

  • • •

  Dr. Dodd, will you look at this?”

  Jerry looked in the microscope and said, “What is this?”

  “It’s a crystalline structure that I’ve been able to develop. It has some interesting properties.”

  “Such as?”

  “When a small current is run through it, it becomes transparent.”
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  “How strong is it?”

  “Stronger than high grade steel. It’s also extremely light. A ten foot sheet of this material will only weight three pounds.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “No, it’s a unique structure.”

  “Are we able to create this material in high quantity?”

  “Once the basic compounds are brought in, it should be easy to mass produce it.”

  “I’m going to move you to the project site and have you begin working on that right away. I know exactly how we can use this material. I’ve been hoping you would find an answer to the weight issue.”

  “This material will also be invisible to radar.”

  Jerry smiled, “Plan to leave tomorrow. Report to Doctor Gomez and see if his power unit will fill the bill for this.”

  “When are you going to come to the project?”

  “There are still some micro elements in the weapons that need work and the best place to do that is here. As soon as we iron out the mechanics of the wings, I’ll join you to put all of this together.”

  “I’ll be looking forward to seeing what the end product does.”

  “I will as well.”

  • • •

  General Bingham looked at his text message and pressed send. He waited for a minute and got a confirmation it had been delivered. He dialed a number and a voice said, “Yes General?”

  “Are the circuits close to being completed?”

  “Everyone is done except the ones for the Navy.”

  “What’s the hold up?”

  “We had some difficulty acquiring the most recent board with all the connectors in place.”

  “What’s the issue?”

  “Those connections must have an electrical load on them for the circuit to be accepted. We had to have the load and the variances that would be allowed before rejection by the system.”

  “I trust the loads will not be active.”

  “They will be self-contained.”

  “How much longer until they are ready for movement.”

  The voice paused and said, “Three months. You know that there are still three units that are not in the plan?”

  “I do but I hope to have that handled within six weeks. You just make sure you hold up your end.”

  “We are doing all we can make that happen. Don’t worry about us; it’s those three you should worry about.”

  “Then there is nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure I hold up my end.”

  “I never had any doubt, General.” Tao ended the call and shouted at his son, “Have you handled the loads?”

  The tall engineer shouted back, “I won’t get this done in time if I have to keep explaining everything.”

  Tao smiled. He was ahead of schedule.

  • • •

  The President looked at his successor and said, “You’re coming in at a difficult time for our country.”

  “We will manage to do what needs to be done to ensure our continued prosperity.”

  “With the debt that’s piling up, you’re going to have to make some difficult decisions. This can’t be continued.”

  “The Chinese have assured me we will be given time to get it under control.”

  “You’ve spoken with them?”

  “I have and we need to improve our relations with them.”

  “That’s a dangerous gambit. They are becoming increasingly aggressive in the region.”

  “I can handle that. That’s what I’ve been elected to do.”

  The President stared at the new comer and wondered what it was about him that set his nerves on end. There was nothing he could do now, so he stood and stuck out his hand, “I wish you luck, sir.”

  • • •

  General Slade looked out at the silo and took a deep breath, “I’m leaving a crew at each of those we’ve closed to perform routine maintenance. The warheads have been send to the disposal yard and we’ll get the trucks in to dismantle the missiles.”

  The Chief of Staff said, “Don’t look so glum. This force reduction will make the world a safer place.”

  “I hope so, Sir.”

  “Get the job done, General.”

  Slade saluted, “Yes Sir. I’ll get it handled.”

  The Chief of Staff boarded his helicopter and left. Col. Jackson watched and said, “The team is coming in to remove the warheads.”

  “Where did you put them?”

  “They’re in the lower level of the first silo.”

  “Is there enough in them to deceive the inspectors?”

  “There is. Our team at the disposal facility will take care of the deception.”

  “When will these silos be taken off the system?”

  “They’ve already been removed, Sir.”

  “Get the guards here and make sure no one comes that does not have my personal clearance. You also need to make sure the guards are ready at any moment to do what they’ve been trained to do.”

  “They know their duty. The new communication links are in place.”

  Slade looked at the ten silos and sighed, “I need to go make sure the other thirty sites are also prepared.”

  “I’ll handle this one, Sir.”

  Slade smiled, “I know. You remind me so much of your father.”

  The young black man smiled, “He taught me what it means to be a warrior.”

  “He was a great one.” Col. Jackson saluted and moved toward the silo’s control center.

  • • •

  “How are the cyber attacks going?”

  “We’ve been able to penetrate some of their systems without being caught. They have been able to stop four of our intrusions.” The engineer looked at the Project Leader and said, “If what we’re planning is done, why are we wasting time doing this?”

  “Because plans can be changed. You just never know when things happen that force us to take another route. Your team will be responsible for ensuring we have multiple ways to accomplish our goals. Besides, there are others that we’ll need your skills to weaken as well.”

  “I was wondering about that. Shouldn’t we be looking into their defenses as well?”

  The Project Leader thought about it, “Could you do that an still keep your deadlines?”

  “Absolutely, the other defenses are not as good and most of what we’ve done will work on them. We just need to run some trials to make sure.”

  “Be careful; I don’t want to give away our intentions.”

  “I’ll make sure we’re not seen doing it.”

  “Then run your trials and inform me of the results.”

  The engineer nodded and turned back to his computer.

  • • •

  AG sat in his office and thought about the retirement luncheon that was planned for him the following day. He was celebrating his seventieth birthday. Cynthia had retired and was running a free medical clinic in the communities but she was with him helping him pack his boxes. “I’m going to miss teaching, Cyn.”

  “You’ll find something else to fulfill you. I’ve never had so much joy as helping our warriors. Accidents happen frequently on farms.”

  AG’s cell phone rang, “This is Gardner.”

  “The viruses have been delivered.”

  AG sat down and said, “When was it done?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “How did they do it?”

  “The President called for a test of the control systems and it appears they came from his system on Air Force One. The military was asked to make sure the system was functioning properly before he left for his overseas visit.”

  “When does he leave?”

  “In two days.”

  “We are now activating Operation White Demon. Notify all of those on your team.”

  “Already on it, Sir; they’re arriving as we speak.”

  AG looked at Cynthia, who had been listening in on the conversation and said, “Send out your messages. We don’t have much time.” AG hit a number
and said, “Jerry, White Demon is operational. Are the Dragons ready?”

  “We’ll be launching them in thirty minutes. How long do I have?”

  “Three days at the most.”

  “We should be able to make it happen. I’ll send my messages now.”

  • • •

  Dr. Phillip Jackson was teaching a class at MIT when his cellphone beeped. He looked at the text and his expression changed. He looked at his class and said, “Work on the equations on the board and be prepared to discuss them on Monday. He left the classroom and called his wife and then his brother at Purdue. “I know; I just received the text. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Try not to be noticed.”

  “We have a trailer we purchased from U-Haul. It’s in the shed with most of the things we need to take. We’ll be on the road in less than an hour.”

  “We have a private plane on call. I’ll be there waiting on you.”

  • • •

  An agent at the FBI went in to his supervisor, “Sir, we have an extraordinary number of people that are making reservations to Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri. It appears most of them are high ranking college professors and Physicians. Most of them are also taking their families.”

  “I’m aware of it. The three universities at the city in the center of the country are having week long conferences. Have you been able to find the terrorist we’ve been tracking in New York?”

  “No Sir.”

  “Then go there personally and take charge of the task force. I expect you there by this evening. Don’t come back without him.”

  The Agent turned and hurriedly left. The supervisor went out and said, “Mary, I’m taking a few days’ vacation; call me if you need me.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The supervisor sent a helicopter to pick up his family and three others. They boarded a government plane and took off from Washington.

  Mary looked up at the TV monitor on the wall and heard the President say, “I am going to China to resolve our differences. I am going to assure them that the discovery of the giant oil fields in Montana and Wyoming will allow us to repay our debt within ten years. Both of our countries will profit from this new discovery and our country will return to prosperity. I thank you for your support of this trip.”

  • • •

  The supervisor of the military satellites rushed in the room and said, “There has been a major mobilization of China’s military forces.