Episode 32

Chapter 122

Mr. Bacon

9:50 am November 3^rd, 2006

I put the phone down. Last time I received this many calls, there was a rumor a TV crew was coming to film part of a show at the high school. Every time the phone rang, I wanted to throw the phone against the wall. And every time I picked up the phone, it was the same thing.

The phone rang.

Like now I bet. I hit the speakerphone again. "Yes?"

"This is Mrs. Luxor. I'm calling because I received a call from your truant officer about my son."

"Yes ma'am, he has not yet reached the school campus."

"Where is he?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Did you see him this morning?"

"What do you mean, did I see him this morning? Don't you know where he is?"

"No, Mrs. Luxor. As I said, he never arrived at school this morning."

"Now you're getting me worried. I left the house at six this morning to drive into work. He usually gets his own breakfast." There was a worried pause. "Does he miss school often?"

"No. That's one of the reasons for the call. He's never missed a day before. Just like many of the others."

"Others?"

"Yes. All I can say now is that a great many students have not reported for school today. I'll get back to you as soon as I can with more information." I hit the end connection button.

There are times when I really hated being right. As far as I could tell, over a hundred students are missing. Of them, at least thirty of them never missed a day of school in their lives. Another fifty of them had parents who usually called me when their children were going to be sick. Most of the rest would have sneaked in long before the truancy checks.

I thought about all of that for a few minutes. Then my hand hovered over the phone. Much as I hated to admit it, I had no choice left. All the calls so far led to the same results with no sign that any future calls would be any different. I pushed a series of numbers that I wished never to need. "Hello, FBI? I need to request the issuance of a massive Amber Alert."

Chapter 123

Karl

10:15 am November 3^rd, 2006

I closed my locker door. Rumor had it there will be a surprise quiz next period.

"Hi Karl. We need to talk." a familiar female voice said.

I spun around.

Krissy was standing there with a mysterious look on her face.

It looks like next class isn't the only place I'm destined to get a surprise. "About what?"

"Us."

Oh dear. This could be very bad.

"Us?" I asked, stalling for time.

"Yeah, us." she replied. "As in where do we go from here?"

I sighed. "Oh, that talk. Krissy, I wasn't expecting that talk this soon."

"Why not?"

"Because I thought that you'd be a little like me, still figuring out where feelings really were."

"That's why we've got to have this talk. I have to know where or what your feelings are. Make that how you feel about me."

"Walk with me. I'll answer as best as I can between classes."

Krissy followed.

"The truth is, I'm still confused. I enjoyed last night more than you will ever know, but now, to follow what you said at dinner, now there are three Karls. One you have been chatting online to for months. Another is your Program partner. And the third is the guy who set up last night. Three seeming Karls all in the same body. Each of them has parts of me that you might say is the real me. However the Program really accelerated the speed with which I pursued our relationship. I would not have done half the stuff I've done this week if I was pursuing things normally. I don't know about you, but I have to wonder if in moving at the right pace for the Program, I moved too fast for us. See what I mean by confusing?"

Krissy nodded. The warning bell sounded. "You were honest. I have to respect that. I will try to be as honest before the end of school."

Chapter 124

Kevin

Personal log (voice), Kevin, Captain of the Mary Ellen,

10:42 am November 3^rd, 2006 (ship's time)

I sat in the Mary Ellen's command chair and watched the holographic projection compensating for the ship's actions. Truth be told, I wasn't all that sure about Valerie's plan. So what if the other side knows we were coming? It's not like they stood a chance of stopping us. A kindergarten football team had a better chance of stopping the varsity high school team then anybody down there has of stopping these ships. So why did she want to play it so sneakily? Why not all arrive at once, do a demonstration of power and rescue our friends before going out for pizza?

"Al?" Melanie asked.

"Yes?" the ship's artificial intelligence responded.

"Where are we?"

"Standard orbit number two, coming up on the Cyprus entrance point."

"O.K. Kevin?"

"Yes dear?"

"It's nearly time."

I took a deep breath. "I suppose so." I just hope Fred's sister knows what she's doing. "Al?"

"Yes?"

"How long until we reach the descent point?"

"Time to atmospheric penetration point estimated at 6.89 minutes... Mark."

"Very well."

Here's hoping we were told enough to pull this off.

"Thomas, raise primary and secondary shields. Sam, open a channel with the Princes of the Universe and tell them we're starting the plan. Mike, activate primary weapons. Melanie. When Al gives the cue, re-enter the atmosphere." As an afterthought I added "Yellow alert, everybody."

Melanie concentrated on her screens. "Al?"

"Yes?"

"Give me a countdown to the penetration point."

The ship's computer obliged. "2.1 minutes... 1.75 minutes... 1.5 minutes... 1.25 minutes... 1 minute."

Melanie watched the numbers decrease on her screen. "Al, execute atmospheric penetration... now!"

"Done."

The ship's screens flared briefly before the ship's systems compensated.

"Now," Kevin muttered, "the question is whether they fall for it. Melanie, let me know when we hit 60 miles altitude."

Chapter 125

Valerie

Personal log (voice), Valerie Dash, Captain of the Mary Celeste,

11 am November 3^rd, 2006 (ship's time)

I looked over the ship and it's crew. All was going as well as could be considering I had to figure out a way to accomplish the rescue of Jacob Stone while holding the deaths on either side to a minimum.

I got out of the command chair. "Bob, you have the bridge."

I went into the general workroom. Then I downloaded the information from the file sent to my cell phone. "Scotty?"

"Yes?" the ship's computer answered me.

"Take the file titled 'Rescue one' and run it through your data systems. Than give me a holographic representation of the base. Three dimensional please."

"As you command. It will take three minutes."

I waited impatiently. I knew I had only bought some time with the BS about trying to fool our opponents into thinking that the kids running these ships would not know what they were doing. If the Association was one tenth as smart as intelligence claimed, they would realize that these ships were smarter than they were.

"Ready." The Mary Celeste's artificial intelligence responded.

I looked at the representation. "O.K. Now on a wall screen, put up the data on troop strengths and military capabilities."

The data appeared on the wall to my left. "My, my, were my superiors ever detailed. I think I know more about that base than Colt does. O.K. On a screen next to that one, list the full capabilities of the Density Force."

"Done."

I took a quick picture of that screen for my superiors.

Now for the tough part. It was obvious that if Fred's temper got the better of him, that base was toast. Burnt toast. And that was unacceptable. Not everybody down there was in league with the Association.

Then again, I had to take into account the fact that the rescue was being conducted by high school athletes. They may be dangerous on their home fields, but here they are way outclassed. At least they will be the moment they leave the ships.

I stared at the image of the base and at the screen listing the Density Force capabilities.

Then I realized something very important. My training might have been with conventional technology, as opposed to the stuff I was planning this assault with, but the military mindset hasn't changed. I did not need to beat their weapons capability. I had to beat them. And I was trained in that mindset.