Annihilation: Love Conquers All (13 page)

“You could have still run. Your screens should have been able to handle those missiles.”

“Do you know that for certain, General? It’s my understanding that our screens have never been tested in combat, and particularly against that many missiles. However, that’s not the reason I took the actions I chose.”

“To answer your question, Captain, no, we have not tested the screen to that level, but when I questioned them, the engineers that designed it felt like it would have withstood the impact. But you’re right, we don’t know for certain. Go on with your explanation.”

“Sir, I’m of the belief that the attack was staged to determine what the capabilities are of our ships. They were going to learn how fast our ships are because I had to accelerate to stay ahead of the missiles, and if I had let those missiles impact our screens they would have learned a tremendous amount about our screen technology. I also feel that if I had fled after they had this information, the next attack would not be by a single ship. I decided that the only way to avoid having those missiles hit my screens was to run close by the ship that was hiding and see if the missiles would lock on them. That plan worked; however, as I passed, the Cainth cruiser released their entire magazine of thirty missiles at me. I decided at that point that if these missiles could destroy the other ship it would look like they killed each other, and they would not have any information about our capabilities. Sir, I take full responsibility for what happened. My crew responded marvelously and conducted themselves in such a way as to make the service proud. In the heat of combat I was trying to make decisions that were in the best interest of the Directorate.”

The ambassador spoke for the first time. “So you destroyed two cruisers, using their own missiles, and suffered no damage to yourself.”

“Yes sir.”

“You also prevented the Cainth from obtaining information about our weapons technology.”

“Yes sir,” he said. “Here’s where I get the ax,” he thought.

“Then you contacted the Alliance ambassador about the battle these two ships had fought. It might interest you to know that the Alliance investigation concluded that the two ships had killed each other.”

“I did not know that, sir.”

The ambassador then turned to General Masseem and asked, “What do you plan to do with Captain Kosiev?”

“What else can I do? I’m going to award him the solar star, promote him to commodore, and give his ship and crew the order of fleet recognition. Captain, under the heat of combat you also responded marvelously. You have bought us some time until the next attack.”

Kosiev was stunned. “Thank you, sir, and I speak for my crew that your support of our actions means a great deal to all of us.”

“Commodore, you will be given command of a heavy cruiser with three support destroyers. You’ve bought us time, but I think you’re right that there’s going to be another attack. Whoever planned this didn’t get what they were looking for. They also know that their ships didn’t kill each other. So they will rightly infer that two cruisers aren’t enough. The next attack will be with much heavier vessels.”

“Where do you think it will happen, sir?”

That’s when Colonel Solerio spoke. “We have collected all the information we can on the current commander in chief of the Cainth Armed Forces. His grandfather was killed in the battle with one of our ships a hundred years ago. He wants revenge in the worst possible way. Our experts feel that part of his motivation is revenge, and you just destroyed two ships he sent into action. Captain Kosiev, it’s our opinion that your ship will be the target of the next attack.”

“So what course of action should I take next time, sir?”

“That’s what we’re here to discuss. We need to look at all possibilities and decide what we should do. One thing for certain, the chain of command agrees that peaceful coexistence is over. Now let’s discuss what to do next time. It’s my feeling that it shouldn’t be long before they make their move.” Kosiev looked out the window again at the nebula and thought it never looked as far away as it did at that moment.

“W
hat do you mean, make himself invisible?” Esa asked.

“After taking manual control of the cameras and tracking the big man into the building where we lost him,” Major Daniel said, “I instructed my monitors to collect all the video we had on where those six people came from. We were able to backtrack those five men to the three buildings you see just down the boulevard south of here. We’re in the process now of looking at the tapes from inside those buildings to try and track them back to where they live. It’s not going to be easy, because they exited the buildings while a shift change was taking place and there were literally thousands of people moving through the corridors. We know where the five attackers came from, where they met, and the pattern they used to set up their attack. That’s the good news.”

“What’s the bad news?” John Sinclair asked, taking the bait.

“The man sitting with his back against the wall does not appear on any of our surveillance tapes. We cannot determine how he got to that wall, and we can’t find where he went when he left. He literally disappeared. He also never showed his face while he was on that camera at the scene of the fight.”

“Wait a minute,” Esa said. “Show me that video again.”

Major Daniel pressed a button on his display, and immediately it showed the camera swinging and the video of the six men at the wall.

“Freeze it,” Esa said.

They all moved to look closer at the video screen. Whoever it was sitting against the wall had his hands on each side of his head as he looked down into the concrete, away from the camera.

Major Daniels then moved the video tighter, but it was obvious that there just wasn’t any detail to the victim’s face.

“Okay,” Esa said, “let it run.”

The video then showed that the center man was talking to the man sitting against the wall; then the camera swung away. When it came back they could see the four men that had been killed lying on the sidewalk. The man sitting against the wall was in the same position the camera saw before it moved.

Esa stared intently at the video until the camera swung away. He could see what Major Daniels was describing; at no point was any part of the victim’s face visible. He watched as the video came back and the man against the wall and the big man were gone. The only ones left were the four dead men.

“Major Daniels,” Colonel Ortiz asked, “how can someone get to this wall and leave without any of your surveillance equipment seeing them?”

“It’s not possible,” Major Daniels replied. “That’s why I think this person has a way to become invisible. Before the alarm came in I was working with Sergeant Garcia on another impossible situation. I’d like for him to explain what happened at Bill Clinton School today.”

Sergeant Garcia stood up and introduced himself, and then told the assembled investigators about the missing text booklet. He described how the test administrators had processed the materials and how the chief test administrator was feeding them into the computer.

“We have a truth field scheduled for delivery at the school in the morning. However, I think it’s going to find that the three who handled the test materials are telling the truth,” Sergeant Garcia stated. “I also checked all the cameras, and no one other than the test administrator appeared entering his office on the tapes from the time the two administrators entered to deposit them into the safe until the test administrator entered and removed them.”

“How does that relate to what happened here tonight?” Esa asked.

“Before I left the school I had an idea. I used my hand computer to connect to the climate control of the building. While I was in the test administrator’s office, I asked the climate control what the temperature was in the hallway outside the office. It was 72.00 degrees. I then stepped out into the hallway and asked what the temperature was again. It was 72.03 degrees. I went back into the office, waited ten seconds, and then asked again what the temperature was. It was 72.00 degrees. You know how fast those climate systems react.”

“Then I asked the computer to show me the temperature in the hallway from the time that the test administrator entered the building until he left. Major Daniels, if you don’t mind I’m going to download that information into your display.”

“Go right ahead, Sergeant Garcia,” Major Daniels said.

They all gathered around the display screen to see where the sergeant was going.

“I want you to notice this point on the graph. Right here,” he said as he pointed to a spot on the line, “is where Mr. Graham entered the building. Notice just before he entered the temperature was 72.00 degrees. Upon entering the hallway, notice how the temperature changes to 72.09 degrees, then goes back to 72.00 degrees when he enters his office.”

“Wait a minute,” Danielle said. “When you were in the hall the temperature increase was only .03 degrees above 72. The test administrator raised it three times that amount.”

“Very good, Miss Ash, which makes me think that there was more than just the test administrator in that hallway. Here’s where it gets interesting. Mr. Graham said that he thought he heard a sound at his door twice while he was processing the tests. On the second sound Mr. Graham says he got up and went into the hall to look around. Notice on the graph that the temperature went to 72.09 degrees right about here, which is where Mr. Graham went to check the hall. He says he didn’t see anything so he went back into his office. Notice what happened after that.”

They all looked at the graph. The temperature stayed at 72.04 for thirty minutes, and then it jumped to 72.11 degrees. “This is where the two test administrators and I entered the building. As I walked into the building I heard a sound by the lockers on the left-hand side of the hall. I went over to see what it was and found a small rock. At that time I assumed that one of the administrators had kicked it when they walked in and it hit the locker when they entered the building. However, when I entered Mr. Graham’s office I saw two more pebbles in his doorway. I also want you to notice before we leave the graph that once we entered Mr. Graham’s office the temperature returned to 72.00 degrees and remained there until we came out.”

Danielle said, “Someone followed Mr. Graham in, went into his office with him, distracted him to remove the text booklet, distracted him again to leave the office. This person then waited in the hallway until you and the two administrators showed up, then distracted you with the rock, and made their exit. Is that what you’re trying to say, Sergeant Garcia?”

Esa looked at Danielle and was amazed at how quick she had processed the information. She actually understood it faster than he did, and she was right. That was the only possible explanation for the temperature changes. Then he said, “Sergeant Garcia, you’re also telling me that Mr. Graham, the two test administrators, you, and all the cameras in the building didn’t see anyone while this was taking place.”

“That’s right, Inspector Connor. None of us saw anyone. I called Major Daniels and sent him the temperature data and asked him if it was possible for someone to avoid being seen by his cameras. We were discussing this when the alarms went off. He called me and asked me to come here after he looked at the videos from this crime scene.”

“I was going to tell Sergeant Garcia,” Major Daniels said, “that there was no way for anyone to avoid our surveillance until the events of tonight, which now forces me to seriously consider that there is someone out there that can avoid being seen by our system.”

Colonel Ortiz said, “Are you trying to say that someone has the ability to become invisible?”

“Yes, I guess I am,” Major Daniels replied.

“He’s not invisible,” Danielle mumbled as she stared at the display.

“How could she know that?” Esa wondered to himself.

“How else would you explain what happened tonight, Miss Ash?” Major Daniels asked sharply.

Danielle looked up from the screen with a startled expression, then looked at Major Daniels and said, “I’m thinking about that, but the evidence suggests that he’s not invisible.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?” Esa asked.

“Major Daniels, will you go back to the video you showed us of the five men as they approached the wall?” Danielle asked.

Major Daniels pressed a button on his display, and the screen began showing each of the five men as they moved towards the wall.

Danielle said, “I want you to notice that each of these men is looking at the wall as they’re moving. They see their victim; notice right here that one of them is pointing at the front attacker to hurry to get ahead of the victim. Notice that all of them arrive at the same time, surrounding the person they selected to attack. They have to be able to see him to do that. I also think that if you go back a little further in the tape you’ll see that they followed him when he passed the buildings south of here. There’s no doubt in my mind: they see him but your cameras don’t. One more thing, isn’t the Bill Clinton School south of here?”

Esa just stared at Danielle for a long moment. Major Daniels was surprised by her memory of the previous videos. Major Daniels looked at the video again and had to agree that the attackers had to be seeing the person they were following. Then Esa said, “Miss Ash, who is your general department head?”