Dallas:Sessions:20050521

Discovery
May 21, 2005
GM: Bobby J.

On Thursday, April 28th, Blake gets a call on his private line from Tom Cartley. (Cartley, formerly chief of security for Cinnamon Winters, had been gravely wounded during the Deathwish episode and spent quite some time hospitalized; upon his recuperation, Blake had hired him and set him up to run a security agency in Cleveland.) Cartley tells Blake, “I just had a gentleman call on video” who wanted to talk about Cartley’s experiences with Cinnamon’s security in Dallas. The caller identified himself as Sean McLeon; Cartley has connected him with a radical offshoot of the Irish Republican Army. Cartley describes the call as “more confirming than fact-finding.” Blake says that should Cartley receive any such calls in the future, “and if he uses the word ‘darkness’ more than three times, let me know.” Blake instructs Cartley to expand his security company into Cincinnati.

On April 29th, Axle hears from his old buddy Butch Holliday for the first time in about a year. Butch mentions that “an Irish guy” accompanied by at least one well-armed, burly goon has been asking around about the blockade in Los Angeles (which was keeping traffic away from the final warehouse fight with Deathwish), making the truckers nervous. Also a couple of Feds, a woman and her male partner, have been making inquiries.

As a result of activities in 2002, Steve has hooks into four security agencies as “listening posts”: Twilight Security in Baltimore, run by Conan Parker; Brubaker Security, New York, Wilson Otto; Brewster Security, Denver, Davis Cooper; Jefferson Security, Chicago, Jefferson Taylor. Conan Parker phones Steve to tell him that noted psychic Andy Barrow had been reported missing three days ago. Barrow is known as a finder of lost items and people, enjoying a reputed 70% success rate. On April 1st, a man named Bob Taylor had returned from his birthday dinner to find his home’s security system had been breached. Stolen was his extensive collection of 6000 rare comic books dating back to the late 1950s. However, other valuable collectibles were left untouched. Police described the theft as a professional job. Later, Steve learns that something else had also been taken – a complete first-edition set of the “Wild Cards” science fiction series – and that Andy Barrow had been called in to try to locate the stolen goods.

Overlooking a lonely stretch of sidewalk in east Dallas, Kef and her silenced .45 are watching the path that she knows a twelve-year-old girl will be taking when a grubby man in a battered blue van tries to snatch her. The girl comes into view, and then the man arrives just as Kef has foreseen. As he grabs the girl’s wrist, Kef fires a single shot. The man clutches his chest and the girl runs away screaming. Kef slips away before the sirens sound. As Kef makes her way toward a bus stop, a cat appears in her path and meows at her. Kef exclaims “Where have you been?” but the cat only weaves in and out between her shins. Kef picks up the cat and fusses over it. The cat purrs.

Axle phones Blake and shares the information from Butch. Blake wants Axle to have Butch pass the info along to Solution Security in California. He warns Axle that the Irishman is IRA. (Axle: “I have those for my employees…”) Blake signs off with “Now I have to call Steve – and you know I hate that.”

Steve answers his phone with “All right, what’d you find?” Blake tells him Axle’s news about the Irishman and the Feds. They wonder what possible connection Deathwish might have had with the IRA, other than that Don Metheny had an Irish ancestor about four generations back. Blake: “All roads lead to me, which eventually leads to you.” Steve: “You’re on your own – I gotta go to Baltimore.” He suggests that Blake read the “Wild Cards” books. “I don’t know why they’d be stealing comic books, but they’re obviously interested in the paranormal.”

Blake calls Sara Summers. “I want every Wild Cards book there is – by tomorrow.” He also wants her to tie Taylor and Barrow together, and coordinate with Cartley. Blake then calls Cartley.

Steve phones Kef. “How would you like to go to Baltimore to solve a mystery and find a missing noted psychic?” Kef replies, “You can tell me more over dinner.” Jeremy will be ready to fly them out at 7:30am tomorrow. Kef mentions that the cat has reappeared, no doubt a harbinger of doom.

Kef arrives at the house and yells for Paula. “Damn cat’s home.” Paula emerges from her practice room. They open a tin of salmon for the cat.

Blake calls Detective Smith with LAPD, asking about any “Irish problem.” (Smith had been the one who called Blake back on February 2nd about the “Jane Doe” [Kef] in the hospital. That investigation was later dropped. LAPD had another stabbing victim who turned out to be wanted in a series of rapes – so there was not much interest in nailing the person who stabbed him.] Smith replies, “Nothing’s come across my radar.” Blake: “Now it has.” “Are we talking events of a terrorist nature?” “Could be.” Blake mentions a possible link to Deathwish. Smith says, “That doesn’t make any sense.” Replies Blake, “It never does.” Smith thanks him for the heads-up.

Steve picks up Kef. By shopping at several different Half-Price bookstores, they collect an entire set of the Wild Cards books. Then it’s dinner at Maggiano’s.

Axle notifies Blake that a trucker from Baltimore named Ian Miller has been hospitalized at San Jose Memorial. He had been attacked by two men, one of whom laid Miller out with a tire iron.

Blake gets a call from an old friend, Deputy Stan Tyson in Alabama. He’s holding a guy for being drunk and disorderly. He had been asking about Blake and the events in Damascus. The guy gives the name Dan Taylor, and he is an Irish national. Tyson’s willing to hold Taylor as long as he can, a total of 24 hours, and allow Blake to question him.

Blake calls Jeremy. “I need to go to Alabama tonight.” Making a quick calculation in his head, Jeremy replies, “No problem.” (Six hours round-trip will get him back to Dallas in plenty of time to fly out to Baltimore in the morning. The fact that the small Alabama airports are closed during middle-of-the-night hours is a mere trifle.) Blake adds, “I’m going to take Steve with me. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

As Steve and Kef are chatting and enjoying their dinner, Blake calls Kef and announces, “You’re going to Alabama tonight.” Kef suggests that Blake bring Steve in on three-way. Blake wants Kef to be present when he talks to the Irish guy. The three of them discuss for a while, speculating – why the IRA interest in science fiction and weird events? Then Blake gets a call from Axle and signs off. Kef takes hold of Steve’s arm. “Count to ten, calm down.” Steve retorts, “I’m perfectly calm!” He sighs, looks over the remains of dinner, and remarks, “As last meals go, this was a good one.”

Blake calls Kef back – she and Steve should meet him at Love Field in twenty minutes. Kef calls Carla Gray, who despite the late hour is happy to hear from her. “Sorry we missed you when we visited last summer.” Kef replies, “I was – out of town.” She tells Carla that she and her friends will be arriving in Alabama in the wee hours of the morning and might request her assistance. Kef calls first Paula and then Axle and lets them know they need to hurry if they want to make the flight.

By 10:30pm they are airborne. Blake relays a message he got from Axle – in Philadelphia, some Jordanians (perhaps connected with the PLO) had been asking about events from two years ago. Steve recognizes the name Sean McLeon as a radical of Scots-Irish descent. Kef decides it’s time to take a nap.

Blake makes several phone calls, coordinating his people. Steve phones his contact in Baltimore; Barron’s son, Andy III, had stated that his dad had become “nervous and skittish” a few days prior to his disappearance. The contact believes that someone has since gotten to Andy III, who has turned reticent. Also, Bob Taylor’s comic collection had contained several one-of-a-kind books. Blake instructs Tom Cartley to keep Andy III under surveillance. Cartley may be approached by a Middle Easterner soon; “be armed and on your guard. Concentrate on the word ‘terrorist’… Be careful, replacing you will be hard.”

Kef awakens and relates a vision. She saw Marvin Carothers, the former head of Solution Security, clad in a prisoner’s garb (he had started serving time in May 2003) and sitting in a stark meeting room across from a man Kef figured was a lawyer. The lawyer reached into his briefcase, took out an envelope, and slid it across the table. Carothers picked up the envelope, opened it, and removed what Kef believed were packets of drugs, which he then concealed in various places around his person. Kef noticed lines like thin scars around Carothers’ face, and when he arose and was escorted out of the room, his movements, especially his stride, were not those of Carothers. She got a closer look at the lawyer’s briefcase, which bore the initials E. C. and a business card with the name Edward Carver. She thought Carver had a military bearing about him. According to indications in her vision, this meeting will take place tomorrow afternoon at 2:30.

Jeremy lands at the Dothan airport (he is able to turn on the runway lights by transmitting a certain code). Awaiting the group is a panel van being driven by one of Deputy Tyson’s cousins. It’s a 25-minute drive to New Brockton, and the van arrives at the jail around 2:30am.

Tyson already has Dan Taylor waiting in an interrogation room. Axle and Paula go into the observation room. As Steve and Blake enter, Kef slips in behind Taylor and begins listening to his thoughts.

Steve offers Taylor a large cup of coffee, which Taylor gratefully accepts. Blake starts the interrogation. Taylor claims he’s a freelancer for the London Times on a journalistic assignment in the United States, and he’s in Alabama “visiting kinfolk.” (Kef reads: He flew to Atlanta from London, then rented a car and drove here. He was sent by his cell boss to confirm the downed helicopter, the gunfight, the explosions. He is a computer whiz and was going to tap into the Coffee County and Fort Rucker computer systems. Unfortunately for him he is a compulsive carouser, and had gone out drinking rather than get right to work on his tasks.)

After a few minutes, Steve glances significantly at his watch, then declares, “Drunk people shouldn’t lie. You got about twenty minutes to stop lying.” Taylor comes to attention, glancing at the half-empty coffee cup, and his thoughts become very excited (“How many of them can I take out?”). Steve adds, “Don’t worry, there’s an antidote.” Taylor: “What’s the deal for the antidote?” Blake quizzes him: “Why is the IRA interested in Alabama?” Taylor mentions the “weird events” and the “high instance of unusual people” – he is to identify the latter for the pickup team.

Blake informs him, “We’re watching you now. You and your boss and your boss’s boss. Tell him when you make your report, we know about Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago. We’re concerned, and we’re watching you.” Taylor gives the names of his leader and the other three members of his cell (Kef shakes her head; he’s lying). His orders came from the big boss himself (McLeon). (Taylor has Absolute Timing and is anxiously counting down the twenty minutes. He is considered a top-class IRA operative. Most of his gear is in his room at the Riviera Hotel in Elba; his weapons are hidden in his rental car.)

Taylor asks repeatedly for the antidote. Finally Steve, acting as if it pains him greatly, fetches another coffee cup, then brings out a small vial, dumps the contents into the cup, and hands it to Taylor, who immediately gulps it down. Before he and Blake walk him back to his cell, Steve pats Taylor down and confiscates a very fine set of lockpicks. As they pass Tyson, Blake points out brightly, “Look – no bruises!”

The group meets with Tyson. Kef informs him about the weapons hidden in the spare tire well, but Tyson says he has no legal pretext to search Taylor’s rental car. Hearing this, Axle wanders outside and simply puts a hole in one of the back tires. Blake tells Tyson, “You can keep the weapons, we’ll get his computer.” Tyson warns that the Riviera Hotel is directly across the square from the Elba police station.

Tyson asks warily, “Is this going to be as big as that stuff a few years ago?” Blake makes emphatic motions – bigger, bigger. Tyson says that the FBI has been monitoring the area.

Tyson calls his cousin to come pick us up. It is 3:00am, Saturday, April 30th.

(In approximately one hour, Dan Taylor will die of liver failure. The binary poison Steve gave him is untraceable [and Steve collected the coffee cups]. Instead of giving him the antidote, Steve had administered the other half of the lethal drug combination.)

[June 18, 2005]

It’s just after 3:00am Saturday, April 30. The group has left the Coffee County Jail and is headed toward Elba. As we’re leaving New Brockton, Steve observes that the car that just sped past us in the opposite direction was being driven by Don Gray. Blake flips out his cellphone and dials Carla’s number. Carla explains that her son Ed had awakened from a dream extremely agitated. He insisted that there was a danger to us at the county jail, and kept repeating, “That guy must not die.” He had seen Paula locked up in a jail cell, Blake under interrogation, and Steve lying wounded after a gun battle with FBI agents.

Blake and Kef are puzzled. They’d seen Steve give Dan Taylor the poison antidote, and the man had been fine when he was taken back to the lockup. Shrugging, Steve allows that the drug may have had unexpected side effects. Kef has Axle dial Deputy Stan Tyson and hand the phone to Steve, who suggests to Tyson that he induce Taylor to vomit. Carla Gray, a registered nurse, will soon be there to look after Taylor.

We continue on to Elba. At the Riviera Hotel, Steve and Axle raid Dan Taylor’s room. Axle finds a .25 caliber pistol taped beneath a dresser drawer, which he leaves. They carry away Taylor’s computer and other gear, and a handwritten journal.

As we head for the airport, Blake, who has put two and two together, grins at Steve. “You sly dog. You can’t just go killing people.”

Kef phones Carla for a status report. Carla thinks that Taylor will be okay, but her daughter Vivian had had to “put him out.” She explains that Vivian had used her telepathic abilities to muddle Taylor’s memory of the past couple of hours. Ed had begun having precognitive dreams several months ago, but they had been of a minor déjà vu nature until tonight. Kef understands that Ed had been very insistent about the impending danger, and she asks Carla why she had gotten her whole family up in the middle of the night to drive straight into it. Carla responds that her intuition had prompted her to do so. Kef asks whether Carla knows of anyone else in the area with psionic abilities. Carla names Tom Kirkland, the boy who along with Vivian had been kidnapped by Dr Nix, Frances Gray, and associates a couple of years ago, and Harold Cassidy and Ann Bradley, whose powers were apparently burned out during the course of those events. Kef points out that that’s a very high number of talents in a limited geographical area, and asks Carla to try to find out if any others have emerged recently.

4:30am: We arrive at the airport, where Jeremy waits to fly us on to Baltimore. Axle helpfully wipes down Cousin Tyson’s van (removing things like, oh, fingerprints), and Blake gives him a hearty handshake containing a couple of c-notes.

On board the plane, Blake powers on Taylor’s computer and faces a very well-crafted layer of software-based protection. “Steve, how are you at hacking?” “Well, I’ve been studying the subject… let’s see what I’ve learned.” But Steve’s nascent skills are no match for Taylor’s expertise.

Kef, meanwhile, reads through Taylor’s journal. It’s a log of contacts, information, and plain old gossip. Considering that he had only been at it a short while and shouldn’t have had much of a base to work from, what he’s gathered looks pretty good. It seems to Kef he’s been confirming data rather than conducting an investigation.

Around 8:00am (Eastern time), Jeremy announces that we’re approaching Baltimore. We decide we want to land at an executive jetport rather than a major airport. Blake, mindful of Steve’s near-success at offing Taylor, quips, “Are you able to go out in the sunlight, O evil one?” Steve rolls his eyes expressively.

Kef reminds the others about her vision of the apparently-fake Marvin Carothers’ upcoming meeting with lawyer Edward Carver this afternoon. Blake contacts the head of Solution Security’s Los Angeles office, Fred Stevens, and informs him “Carothers is not in jail where he belongs.” “That’s not good,” Stevens replies. “He hates you.” Stevens will have one of his operatives plant a video bug on Carver.

Steve calls Andrew Barrow’s son, Andrew III – who goes by Will – and arranges to meet him for breakfast.

Blake calls Tom Cartley, his man in Cleveland. Cartley has obtained copies of all the Wild Cards books and bios of the people known to be involved in the current investigation. The IRA has not contacted him again. He will arrive in Baltimore in a few hours. Blake warns him that Carothers is on the loose and may very well be carrying a grudge against Cartley.

It occurs to Steve that they’re not all that far from Boston. “Blake, I may have some contacts here who can help with [Taylor’s computer].” He rings up a fellow at MIT who answers the phone with a cranky, “You’re interrupting me! I almost have this project done!” Steve says smoothly that he hasn’t yet field-tested the EMP device, and the fellow’s attitude turns much friendlier when he recognizes his client. Oh, certainly, he knows some folks who can crack any computer’s security. After Steve hangs up he remarks, “I like this guy more and more.”

Meanwhile, Kef and Paula visit the ladies’ room and freshen up. On their way back, Kef expresses her idea that something may be going on in Alabama to trigger latent psionic abilities. In answer to Kef’s question, Paula says she’s only met two, maybe three people on this world who possessed actual innate magic ability and weren’t just carny magicians. Kef makes the point that more-than-human abilities are the stuff of science fiction and comic books; they’re not supposed to really exist. (Deathwish, Cinnamon, Dagger, and Paige obtained their powers from demon worship; Marc Balsam and Andrew Stronomer may have gotten theirs through demonic rites.) Yet now she knows of at least seven people with psionic talents who all came from a small rural area of Alabama.

Kef and Paula rejoin Steve, Blake, and Axle. Jeremy will stay with the plane. Kef asks, “Where to now?” “Shoney’s,” answers Steve, “and I need you with me.” Kef and Axle climb into Steve’s rented BMW, and Paula joins Blake in his rented Jaguar.

At the restaurant, Steve (wearing a new face) introduces himself as Jim Phelps. Will Barrow is quite chatty (and doesn’t notice at all when Kef slips through his natural mind shield). Andy Barrow, Will’s father, is well known in the Baltimore area as a psychic investigator, and has helped out the police sometimes. Andy had told Will he already had a pretty good idea who stole Bob Taylor’s comic-book collection. Will hands Steve a few pieces of notepaper that he found in his father’s study. One sheet is written in a foreign language that Kef recognizes as Gaelic. Surreptitiously touching his white amulet, Steve is able to understand the writing: “Astonishing Tales #1, March 1953 – This is the Key – In Baltimore – Sean.”

Will relates how he had had to convince the police that his father had been abducted. There were no signs of a struggle, or if there had been one, the furniture had been straightened out afterward and fingerprints wiped. The stray sheets of paper were the main indicators; Andy Barrow was a very tidy man. Will hands Steve a key to his father’s house and a card with the address written on it. Then he says, “I’m curious about your interest in my father’s disappearance – you’re obviously not from around here.” Steve responds, “I keep an eye out for occurrences like this and investigate them. Sometimes they turn out to be something of significance, sometimes not.” Will comments, “That’s an odd… hobby.”

Using OnStar, Blake has obtained the location of the Westbrook Comic Shop. He and Paula arrive there 30 minutes before opening time. Seeing a young employee inside, Blake taps on the door with one hand and presses his friend Ben to the glass with the other. A little nervously, the kid unlocks the door and lets them all in, then pockets Mr. Franklin. Blake asks to see a copy of Astonishing Tales #1. “I’m afraid we don’t have that one,” the kid says, explaining that there are only a few copies left in existence and each of those is worth upwards of $50,000. “Where could I see a copy?” The kid gives him the phone number of Harvey Carson, the shop’s owner, who is known as an expert on comic books.

Blake calls Carson. Other than the one stolen from Bob Taylor, Carson says there are four copies of Astonishing Tales #1 known to exist. They are located in San Bernardino, Seattle, Toronto, and Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s a 40-page book with a cover price of 25 cents (rather high for that era), an anthology of “weird science” tales by offbeat writers. Yes, he can get a list of the authors and synopses of the stories.

Steve, Axle, and Kef arrive at Andy Barrow’s house. Axle goes walking around the neighborhood, talking to various residents to see if they’ve notice anything unusual going on. Ellen Haywood, a Mrs. Kravitz type lady, bends Axle’s ear for quite a while, mentioning among other things a strange couple who had moved into the neighborhood a month and a half ago. Susan Whitehurst recalls that a few hours before sunrise a couple of days ago, a big older-model Chevrolet pulled into the driveway of the new neighbors, the McNally’s, just a few doors down from the Barrow residence. The McNallys had thrown a big party recently, but as far as anyone knew, nobody from the neighborhood had been invited.

Kef crosses Barrow’s study, seats herself in his very comfortable chair next to a small table, and closes her eyes. She casts her senses back in time, to just before sunrise three days ago, where in this very chair Andrew Barrow sat meditating. Abruptly he was jerked out of his seat, so roughly as to knock over the small table and scatter the loose papers that were on it, a couple of which drift beneath the chair. Reflexively striking out at his assailant, a man whose features were hidden by a mask, Barrow got in a lucky blow. Stumbling, the man barked his shin against a coffee table, tearing a small hole in his pants leg. A woman, also masked, struck the back of Barrow’s head with a pistol butt, knocking him out. Barrow was tied up, the furniture set back in place. The room was searched and surfaces wiped down. Then the man gathered up the loose papers, hoisted Barrow in a fireman’s carry, and left the room.

Kef had risen from the chair, eyes still closed, and traversed the room, following the action. She halts, “looks” down, then opens her eyes and peers closely at the edge of the coffee table. Raising her voice, she calls out, “Steve…” “I’m right here,” he says quietly. Kef starts, then says, “I thought you were searching the house.” “I was watching in case you tripped,” he explains. Kef blushes and manages to stammer only a little bit. “Th-there’s a little bit of cloth here, and I think a skin scrape, maybe a bit of blood… from the man who took Barrow away…” Steve nods, retrieves a plastic baggie from the kitchen, and collects the tiny sample as Kef describes the rest of her vision.

Near 11:00am Blake phones Steve. “Have you gone to see Taylor yet? Everyone keeps telling me to talk to Bob Taylor.” Kef talks to Carla Gray. Dan Taylor pulled through and is presently resting in the hospital. Weapons charges have been filed against him. Around dawn two FBI special agents named Newhurst and Page showed up at the jail, looking for Jeremy Grant and Blake Drummond. The agents seemed to have studied up on Deputy Stan Tyson, too. Carla figures the FBI will be taking Dan off of Tyson’s hands.

Kef phones Jeremy and warns him about the FBI. Steve contacts Bob Taylor to arrange a meeting. About Barrow, Taylor relates that shortly before he went missing, “He said he was having trouble ‘locking onto the vibes’. He was going to try a different meditative technique.” Commenting on the comic book, Astonishing Tales #1, Taylor says the theme of the issue was science gone wrong. In particular, one story described the use of mysterious “transmissions” to turn normal people into super-beings… or monsters. Amidst the pseudo-scientific “gobbledygook” (Taylor’s word) the author, Igor Darvich, described precisely the frequencies of the required transmissions. Steve brings up the similar theme – men into supermen/monsters – found in the Wild Cards series. “Whether or not these things exist, they believe it.” Taylor’s incredulous: “You’re telling me someone stole my entire collection just for one book?” Taylor will be available to meet with Steve after 3pm.

Blake calls Harvey Carson back. “I want you to broker a deal.” Blake wants high-resolution digital pictures of every page of the comic book. He’ll pay $500 per page and Carson will get a 10% broker’s fee… IF Carson can get the images within two hours.

Kef has heard of Igor Darvich; he was known for his wild ideas and eccentric writings. “Is he still alive?” Steve finds out via the Internet that Darvich, now 98 years old, lives in an asylum in London, to which he had been committed many years ago. His daughter died ten years ago, and her three children live on the Continent (“Probably too embarrassed to visit Granddad,” Steve remarks). During the period in which he was writing and illustrating comic books, Darvich had lived in New York, but he had fled to England to avoid being declared insane and committed, ironically enough.

Axle tells Steve and Kef about the McNallys’ house and that a van had been seen pulling into their driveway. Currently there were two cars parked in the drive. Axle had rung the bell and no one answered, so he had left one of Steve’s cards.

The three of them lock up Barrow’s house and walk over to the McNallys’. Kef crouches between the two cars and puts her hand to the driveway. Steve knocks firmly on the front door; there is no answer, but he thinks he saw a windowshade move just a bit. No one comes when he rings the doorbell. Telling Axle to watch Kef, Steve goes around to the backyard.

Kef’s vision shows her an old panel van pulling into the driveway. She makes note of the Pennsylvania license plate number. Two men and a woman get out and start transferring stuff from the van into the house – interrogation tools, a special chair, a drug kit. Kef’s eyes fly open; she grabs Axle and hurries to find Steve. “Steve!” she says excitedly, “They might still have him here!” Realizing that Kef hadn’t taken time to see all there was to see, Steve tells her reasonably, “Well, we should find out if they left with him before we break in.” With a meek “Yes, sir,” Kef goes back around the house.

Steve’s phone buzzes. “I was going to turn myself into the police,” Blake announces, “but I changed my mind.” “What did you have for breakfast that disagreed with you so much that you want to get killed?”

An hour before sunrise, a man gets into the panel van and drives off. That night many cars come and park in and near the driveway, and a dozen people, casually dressed, go into the house. Around midnight they begin to leave, and by 1:00am all who had come are gone. Thursday before sunrise, the van returns. The driver enters the house, he and another man carry an unconscious Andy Barrow to the van, and the driver drives the van away. The next activity is mid-afternoon, when some police officers come by. Friday noon some plainclothes cops show up, then leave twenty minutes later. No one has been in or out via the driveway since.

Cruising in his rented Jaguar, Paula at his side, Blake takes notice of a white panel van and its suspicious-looking inhabitants and concludes that it’s moving at a fairly high rate of speed (for a van) toward Andy Barrow’s neighborhood. Blake calls Steve. “Have you killed anybody yet?” Steve: “Are you saying I should go in before their friends arrive?” Blake circles the Jag behind the van. Steve tells Kef, “We’re going in.” Axle goes around to watch the front door, calmly dragging out a duffelbag. Steve easily unlocks the garage door and draws a gun in each hand; behind him, Kef readies her pistol.

Steve opens the door into a utility room. In the doorway opposite stands a man braced to fire. Steve fires three shots, one of which strikes the man’s right arm. The man jerks back behind the doorframe and Steve can hear a gun clattering to the floor. Steve orders, “Drop your weapons!” Axle sees a curtain move – someone’s peeking out the front window. Calmly, Blake hands Paula first a .22, then a silencer, and requests, “Please assemble.”

Steve crosses the utility room. To his right he can see the man’s injured arm dangling, bleeding. The man’s hand twitches toward the gun on the floor, and Steve warns, “You’re not that good.” Axle whips out his handy AllTool, slides beneath one of the cars in the driveway, and starts taking the linkages off the transmission. Steve hears footsteps running from the front of the house toward the kitchen. With his left hand the man flicks out a knife and throws it at Steve, missing by a good six inches. Kef moves up to where she can see the man’s eyes… a killer’s eyes, the man tensing to rush Steve.

Steve fires. Two shots hit the man’s knees; he goes down, still conscious. Kef can hear the woman approaching, and she moves across the kitchen, trying to stay out of Steve’s line of sight.

The woman enters the kitchen, and immediately Steve trains one of his guns on her while still covering the man with the other. “Drop it now,” he orders. Kef tackles the woman, who fails to dodge. They both lose hold of their guns as they slide across the floor.

The woman tries to elbow Kef but barely nudges her. They slide toward a doorframe. Steve orders the man, “Hand behind your head.”

The woman twists herself enough so that instead of hitting her head on the doorway, her torso strikes it instead. Kef tries to drive her head into the woman’s solar plexus. Steve continues, “…and I’m a damn good shot.”

The man goes limp. The woman breaks Kef’s hold on her, but Kef rolls off and pushes herself back out of the way. Steve warns the woman, “He’s unconscious. How many bullet holes will it take before you stop?” The woman scowls, but surrenders.

After Steve zip-cuffs the woman, he goes to perform first aid on the bleeding man. He asks the woman, “How many are coming in the white van?” The woman is tight-lipped, but after a few moments Kef says quietly, “At least five, with AK-47s.” The woman gapes and splutters, and Kef reads in her horrified thoughts, “She must have read my mind! I’ve experienced touch-telepaths before, and I’ve built up some defenses against them, but no one this powerful!” She starts going through some mental gyrations in an attempt to obscure her thoughts, but not before Kef catches her wondering where Drummond is.

Steve warns, “We have grenade launchers. Your van won’t withstand that.” As if against her will, the woman pulls out a radio and speaks into it in Gaelic. Steve phones Blake, who reports that the van just changed course.

Blake pulls the Jaguar alongside the van. “Hold this,” he tells Paula, indicating the steering wheel. She reaches over and takes hold of the wheel, keeping the Jag perfectly positioned while Blake raises his silenced .22 and fires six shots, blowing out first the van’s back tire, then the front. Then Blake takes back the wheel and puts the pedal to the floor as the van’s driver overcompensates and the van starts to roll. Blake fishtails the Jag around as the van slams into a big oak tree.

Meanwhile Steve phones 911 and reports a van full of thugs with automatic weapons. “Are you in any danger?” the dispatcher asks. He replies cheerfully, “No, I’m fine, thanks.”

The van’s gas tank has ruptured. Blake reloads his gun. He tells Paula, “Tell me when you hear the sirens, okay?” He watches the van closely, but no one’s getting out. After about a minute Paula says, “They’re coming.” Blake fires a couple of shots that ricochet off the pavement, raising sparks… and igniting the gasoline vapors. He backs the Jag around a corner into an alleyway.

Blake reports to Steve, “The van had an accident.” Steve, dramatically: “The van’s on fire, and no one got out? How terrible!” The woman panics – the other members of her cell were in that van. Kef picks out a great deal of information from the woman’s tumbling thoughts, including passcodes and the names of contacts. Steve asks, “Where are the keys to that car, babe?” The woman doesn’t answer aloud, but Kef motions with her head toward a countertop.

Steve calls Axle inside. Axle’s heard sirens, and figures one of the neighbors called 911. He goes out to pull the BMW around to the back of the house. Steve tells the woman not to cause trouble; she scowls and thinks vicious thoughts.

It occurs to Steve and Kef at the same time that they haven’t seen the rest of the house. Steve suggests, “Let’s take us a tour real quick.” Right away in the master bedroom they come upon a grisly sight – a man and woman lying on the bed, their throats slashed. In another room they find the drugs and equipment Kef had envisioned earlier. Steve judges “This might come in handy” and takes the drug kit. He injects the woman with tranquilizer before walking her out to the car.

Steve checks into a cheap, no-name hotel, booking three rooms (two adjoining, one across the hall). Blake and Paula join Steve, Axle, and Kef and their two prisoners there shortly afterward. Axle takes the man into a bathroom and gets him cleaned up.

Just before 1:00pm Blake hears from Carson. “I got it!” The digital copies he ordered are ready. Carson collects a 10% fee both from Blake and from the owner of the comic book that was copied. Blake calls his assistant Sara Summers to EFT the funds, receive the files, make copies, and transfer the images to Steve’s laptop.

Kef stands out of the woman’s sight as Steve brings her around (but keeps her somewhat “druggy”). Kef murmurs that their setup was a “semi-trap” for Blake, who is viewed as “a potential disruption to Sean’s plans.” Blake begins to question the woman, who gives her name as Jean Doohannie. “How are you doing?” “Oh… bruised ribs… a little sore.” “You were looking for me?” “Potentially… We thought you might appear… We were to capture you if possible, kill you if necessary… you and your magic man… or lady… We didn’t realize those three [Steve, Kef, Axle] were connected with you… till it was too late… You somehow get involved with all this supernatural, psychic… stuff. Sean wanted us to get you… Sean’s very powerful… Sean’s going to do something spectacular… monumental!”

Blake responds, “I haven’t done anything on the international field… I wasn’t paying attention to Sean McLeon before; now I am. That could be bad for Sean.”

Jean continues, “I think Sean’s got magic… or psi powers… I’ve learned a lot in the last several months.” Glancing at Steve and gesturing, she adds, “I’m able to block your lady out of my mind.” At this a wolfish grin spreads slowly across Steve’s face, and he utters a low chuckle that grows into a robust and truly diabolical-sounding laugh.

Blake explains to Jean, “You’re in an untenable situation. You’re a killer on foreign soil. We can do whatever we want with you.” Jean tries to bluff, claiming “Sean will come for me! He’ll get me out of this, and he’ll kill all of you!” But inside she knows better, and her bravado collapses. She allows that Barrow will be delivered to Sean ere long, if he hasn’t been already. Before shipping him off, her cell had questioned Barrow about “psychic crap – how far he can see into the future, stuff like that.”

Blake questions Jean, “Why are you involved in the IRA? What is it you’re after?” She answers by rote: “To get Northern Ireland completely out from under England’s thumb, then to unite Ireland and keep England out forever.” With curiosity, Blake asks, “And then what happens after that? Who are you going to ally with? Trade with?” Jean seems stumped for an answer; obviously, she hasn’t thought that far ahead.

Steve calls Jeremy, who is in the middle of moving the jet to another airport. Steve tells him that the FBI is looking for him, and asks him to prepare to fly the group to London.

[July 16, 2005]

It is 1:35pm on Saturday, April 30. Blake continues to question Jean Doohannie, asking her if she has a passport. She says it’s at a safe house on the outskirts of Baltimore. There’s a passport there for each member of her cell. Steve asks if she has more than one; she replies, “They give me one as appropriate.”

Anxiously, Jean queries, “What are you going to do with me?” Blake: “I’m trying to figure out a way not to kill you… I can’t bring myself to kill you – though of course, you are a murderer and a terrorist.” Blake wonders if they could get her committed, and Steve states, “They don’t commit people for that.” Jean offers, “I believe I’m on your government’s watch list.” Blake: “There’s a slight problem – I’m on the watch list, too.” Jean manages to quip, “It must get crowded outside your house.”

Steve wakes up Jean’s partner, Seamus Nally. Since he is about the same build, Axle gives him a change of clothes. Blake asks brightly, “How are you feeling, Seamus?” Groggily and in obvious pain, Seamus answers, “Like shit.” “You should have given up when you dropped your gun,” Steve points out. Seamus grumbles, “There was obviously a lot Sean didn’t know. I wonder if the Yank withheld it.” Steve inquires, “Which Yank would this be?” “I never got his name.”

Blake returns to Jean and asks her the name of the Yank. “He’s just someone Sean was working with,” she answers. She admits she had seen him once in Belfast. (Kef gets a mental image of a tall man with military bearing.)

Going back to the other room, Blake asks, “Seamus, ready to go to the safe house?” “I guess you disposed of the van,” Seamus says resignedly. “’Fraid so – I waited and no one got out. We’ll have to drink to their memory and pour a libation for them on the ground – you, me, and Jean.” Less poetically but straight to the point, Steve adds, “Don’t try anything or I’ll shoot you again.”

As Blake walks Jean out, Steve speaks privately with Kef. She tells him everything she learned from Jean’s mind about the safe house, particularly the specifics of the deadfall traps. “What are you going to do with them?” Kef asks. Steve replies, “I’m thinking they won’t survive the deadfalls.”

Blake, Steve, and Axle drive Jean and Seamus out to a house in the suburbs and pull their vehicle into the three-car garage. Going up to the door leading from the garage into the house, Steve adroitly picks the lock and disables the pressure switches. Jean gapes in amazement at how smoothly he accomplishes this, and Steve gives her a look that says “I know something you don’t know.”

Blake ties Jean to a chair. Paula starts checking the house for magic as Axle sets himself to watch Jean and Seamus. Axle suggests to the others that they search for hidden weapons. In the garage Blake finds AK47s and ammo, plastique and timers, and various electronic gadgets. He loads the guns, ammo, and electronics into Steve’s car.

As he searches the house, Steve locates an additional trap and a floor safe. Jean doesn’t know the safe’s combination, but Steve finds it written down. The safe contains $20,000 in small bills, an assortment of British and American passports, and a number of blank drivers licenses. Blake has Steve vet the back door, then goes out and inspects a small shed, finding only gardening tools. Elsewhere in the house Steve finds a remote control that can trigger some of the deadfalls. He figures that two would take out the whole house.

Meanwhile back at the hotel Kef is reading Astonishing Tales #1. The “hero” of Igor Darvich’s tale built a fantastic machine that generated waves of a specific frequency that turns humans into supermen or monsters. His motivation was to give people what he felt they deserved. He eventually learned that the outcome depended not only on his intention, but also on the inner being of his target. Some people he tried to punish gained superpowers, some he tried to reward turned into monsters. The story’s illustrations contain a complete schematic for the machine, but Kef feels that there’s some essential part that Darvich omitted. She also comes to believe that this story was based on actual events.

In studying other stories Darvich wrote, Kef finds several recurring themes – being alive at the wrong place and time, not recognizing what one has until one loses it, and wish fulfillment. He also had several technical articles published in various journals. One in particular catches her eye. Titled by the editor “Electronic Stimulation of Atrophied Nerves,” the precis reads more like a description of bionics or cybernetics, a direct interface between human and machine.

On the Internet Kef finds a few news articles about Darvich’s “crazy” behavior. There aren’t many specifics available about his current residence, Baker House Asylum, though she does obtain an address, phone number, and the name of a contact person.

Steve screws a silencer onto his gun, then fires three or four times into a wall. Blake scolds Jean, “You were gonna blow us up, weren’t you.” Steve interjects, “Sorry, it’ll be more believable if Seamus blows us up.” He shoots Jean in the chest. Blake unties her and leaves her body sprawled on the floor. Steve shoots Seamus in the back, and he and Blake drag the body near one of the detonators to make it look as if he had crawled there after being wounded.

About a half-mile from the house, Steve sets off the detonators.

Axle will clean out Steve’s car, have it washed, “fix” it so it runs poorly, and return it to the rental agency for a new car. Steve points out, “I’ve got an appointment at 3:00.” Paula pipes up, “Blake has a car.” Blake says, “That’s too bad.” But in response to a sharp look from Steve, Blake raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay!”

At the hotel, Steve goes to talk to Kef. She tells him what she’s learned from studying Darvich’s story. He invites her to go with him when he interviews Bob Taylor, since “you can ask more intelligent questions about his collection than I can.”

Blake walks down to the nearest 7-Eleven and buys a cellphone. He calls his aide Sara Summers (via Vonage) and instructs her to put him through to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. He asks the FBI switchboard operator for Agent Newhurst or Agent Page. The operator says, “If this is an emergency, I can patch you through to her cellphone.” A few electronic relays later, and a female voice says, “Newhurst.” “Hi, Agent Newhurst. This is Blake Drummond. Why are you looking for me?” Newhurst says she has something urgent to tell him, but she doesn’t want to discuss it over the airwaves. It relates to “Los Angeles, Deathwish; Fort Rucker, Alabama; maybe Atlanta.” Blake ripostes “I’ve never been to Fort Rucker” and “Deathwish got their wish.” Newhurst reiterates, “It will be to your benefit to have this discussion, privately.” Blake sighs, “I’m just going to have to skip the beneficial part. I’m willing to help law enforcement, but this is not a good time.” Newhurst mentions “You also picked up a young lady in LA,” and Blake comes back with “I authorized the use of my credit card.”

Allowing a note of tension into his voice, Blake says, “I’ve got some rumblings about some Irishmen looking for me – Are you Irish? Can you tell me why international people who happen to be Irish and the FBI want to talk to me at the same time? You have the weight of the United States government on your side, so this wouldn’t be a meeting of equals.” Realizing that she isn’t going to break through Blake’s stonewall, Newhurst signs off with, “There is one name I can say over the airwaves – Captain Brubaker. Good luck, Mister Drummond.”

Blake tells Sara to “wake everyone else up” and find out who else is watching him. She gives him a synopsis of the first Wild Cards book, defining a number of card-related terms – Aces, those 1% who were granted wonderful powers by the virus; Deuces, those who got an insignificant ability; Jokers, those who turned monstrous in form; “drawing the Black Queen” meant death in 90% of those infected. One of the main characters was an alien, a powerful telepath, whose people were intent on using humanity as the guinea pigs for their virus. In the back of the book is a fake scholarly paper theorizing that a person’s disposition determines the outcome of their infection.

Steve as “Jim Phelps” and Kef as “Jenny” meet with Bob Taylor at a restaurant. Taylor has always been a comic book fan. Though he has pretty much withdrawn from fandom itself and now does most of his buying over the Internet, he used to attend comic book conventions and shows frequently. He recalls that at a con in New York about 25 years ago, a kid he met suggested that Igor Darvich actually had superpowers. Kef asks him why, only a few weeks after the theft of his collection, he had contacted Andrew Barrow to try to locate it. It’s all Steve can do not to laugh as Kef says earnestly, “You really think he has psychic powers? Do you really believe that stuff? Is it because you read all those comic books about superheroes and so on?” Sheepishly, Taylor admits that he privately wishes that he had secret powers. At Steve’s suggestion, Taylor will research the correlations between Darvich’s work, the Wild Cards series, and comic books.

Back at the hotel, Steve examines the passports for usability. Blake tells Kef that the FBI is after him, and wonders how they linked him to Deathwish and Atlanta. Captain Brubaker is an investigator posted at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, who has been looking into the events in Alabama. Kef brings up a thought she’d had – Blake’s sometime employer, Abraham Donaldson, had married a woman named Sohandra McPearson, and Kef wondered if she might have Irish ties.

Steve comes in with his makeup kit and starts to work on Blake for his passport photo. Kef phones Carla Gray (who is Sohandra’s sister) who tells her that their ancestry is Scots. Then Kef says gravely, “You said that your daughter Vivian had ‘messed with’ Dan Taylor’s memories. Tell me – who has she been practicing on?” At first Carla is flustered by the question. “There are some things a parent just doesn’t want to know.” Kef, incredulous: “Your daughter is developing psychic powers, changing other people’s memories, and you don’t want to know about it?” Carla confesses that it was she herself who guided Vivian in altering Taylor’s memories; Vivian was afraid to do it, but Carla insisted it was necessary. Kef presses her: “How did you know Vivian could even do anything like that?” Well, she’d done it “by accident” to a boy at school who had sneaked her private journal out of her backpack and read parts of it. “How could she tell she’d blanked his memories?” Well, the boy had gotten a vacant expression on his face, and acted somewhat disoriented. “How did she react?” She’d come running home, “scared to death.” Kef pauses a beat. “How would she know whether all she did was erase a few minutes’ worth of memories?” After a moment’s silence, Carla says quietly, “I will sit down and talk with her.”

(Qui custodiet ipsos custodes, indeed? Kef keeps her sorrow to herself.)

Around 5:00pm Blake calls Abraham Donaldson to ask if he’s had any inquiries from the authorities. Yes, there was an FBI agent named Quentin Page who came in a couple of months ago. He was investigating some kind of computer-related deal, spent a few hours checking out some of Donaldson’s people.

Axle tunes in CNN and catches a report on various violent events in Baltimore. A 911 call to a home where a man and a woman were found dead in their bed. An explosion at another suburban home. A van that had overturned, then caught fire. There was one survivor. A witness reported a sports car side-by-side with the van just before it rolled.

Blake and Kef have a quiet discussion. Blake gives her the gist of his conversation with Newhurst and how, since she has the might of the US government on her side, she could pretty much come get him and even disappear him whenever she liked. Kef worries that Darvich really did build his machine, and that the government will get hold of it. “As the saying goes, I love my country, but I fear my government.”

Steve returns from a trip into the city around 7pm and starts handing out passports and airline tickets. He has sent Jeremy and the IS jet on ahead to Dublin, carrying most of the group’s heavy weaponry; he should arrive around 10:00am local time Sunday. The others will take commercial flights to London, Axle, Paula, and Steve on one plane, Blake and Kef on a later one.

Blake checks in with Fred Stevens in California. They’d gotten good feed from the bug, and it’s all on tape now, “just like you said.” (Stevens will give a cash bonus to the operative who planted the bug.) The lawyer, Edward Carver, had returned to his office, and is currently out around town. The fake Marvin Carothers had indeed had plastic surgery. Blake: “We need to find Carothers.” Stevens: “The lawyer is small fry.” Blake: “By the way, the FBI is watching you.” Stevens: “We’ve been all above-board!” Blake, with unmistakable emphasis: “Who’s your boss?” He offers further instruction: “If the FBI approaches you, be truthful. Just don’t be stupid and volunteer anything.”

Kef complains that she didn’t bring any changes of clothes, as she somehow didn’t have an inkling when she departed Dallas – gads, was it only this morning? – that she’d be leaving the country. Blake generously takes her clothes shopping… with the first stop being Victoria’s Secret. “Definitely get the red set. Men like red.” “Redheads aren’t supposed to wear red. Besides, nobody’s going to see it.” “Trust me. Get the black and the white and the baby blue, too.” “Goodness, these panties aren’t even finished.” “Oh, well, never mind.” (Blake covertly stuffs them into the shopping bag.) Kef murmurs, “Oh, well, if they’re for you…”

The flights are uneventful. None of the five sit together. Kef sleeps but doesn’t dream. Everyone meets at the Sheraton, then the group checks into the Hilton. Kef gives out the passcodes and procedures (that she’d learned by tapping into Jean Doohannie’s mind) for an IRA safe house on the outskirts of London. Steve alters his own and Kef’s appearances. By 1:00pm Sunday afternoon the group is on the road, Blake driving one car, Axle another. Cruising past the place, Blake, Steve, and Kef spot two outliers when there should be three. There are maybe five people inside.

Steve and Kef will pretend to be a couple of new IRA recruits. In deploying the others, Blake asks Axle, “How’s your stealth?” Axle rejoins, “I drive a truck!”

Steve and Kef get past the gates and up to the door. The man who answers their knock, Edwin, stands six feet tall and has black hair and brown eyes. Motioning with his thumb, he tells them, “Donald’s back there, he’ll brief you.”

Donald has light brown hair and a fair complexion. He seems nervous. Kef slips past his natural mind shield. “Bill” and “Nancy” play it up as enthusiastic converts to the cause. Donald wasn’t expecting any newcomers. “Ben talked to me,” Kef pipes up. Donald groans. “That idiot screwed up again, sending me a couple of green recruits… We’ve already sent the device out of here.” Kef gets that Barrow is still in the house, and that Sean and five others are heading for the asylum to pick up Darvich.

Still grumbling to himself, Donald leaves for a few minutes. Kef quickly fills in Steve. Donald returns and asks them “Have you had lunch?” He’s going to have them help transport “the man” (he started to say “Barrow” and checked himself). He shows them into the kitchen, where Steve fixes himself a pastrami sandwich and Kef sips a can of Coke. “Can you shoot?” Donald asks Kef dubiously before handing her a Glock, but he seems reassured by the way she handles the pistol.

At 1:45 Donald hands out the assignments. Steve and Kef are to help handle Barrow. Edwin says “Follow me” and leads them further into the house, trailed by Steve, then Kef, then Donald. Steve fast-draws, half-turns, and shoots Donald three times in the throat. Kef sways and leans against the right-hand wall. Outside, Blake puts a gun to the head of the guard he’d sneaked up on. As Paula strolls past as a distraction, Axle asks the other guard for a light.

Edwin quickly draws his gun and whirls around. Steve shoots him in the heart. Blake grabs his guard by the arm, makes him take a step back, then shoots him in the back of the head. As soon as his guard reaches into his pocket for a lighter, Axle slugs him in the face, rocking him back. Paula utters a few words and the guard goes limp. She and Axle drag him out of sight.

Steve grasps Kef’s arm. “Are you all right?” [Slipping away… drowning, dying… dying!…] Drawing strength from Steve’s grip on her, Kef pulls back from the brink of oblivion. A few long seconds more and she looks up, meeting Steve’s gaze. “Are you all right?” he repeats. She nods and straightens up. “Stay behind me,” Steve tells her; Kef draws her gun (amazed that her hands are steady) and follows.

Steve knocks, then pushes the door open. The man inside is gripping one of Andy Barrow’s arms; Kef slides in and takes hold of the other, pulling Barrow slightly away from the man. Steve fires once and the man falls dead. Over the radio Steve asks the rest of the team, “You guys see a car with a guy in it?” Axle and Blake both indicate the car’s position. Steve looks out a window and spots the car. He fires, glass shatters, a red mist splatters.

Kef unties Barrow, who seems to quickly recover from the sudden invasion. They had pointed a machine at him, he says, but nothing happened. Steve and Kef lead Barrow past the dead bodies and bundle him into a car.

As they pull away, Kef says, “We’re being followed.” There are two men in a small car. Blake comments, “Looks like mercs.” Steve: “Blake, you want to take care of that?” Blake slows and the other car drops back; Blake reads its operator as a Driver. The other merc talks furiously into a radio. Blake slows down some more and turns a corner, where he sees another vehicle moving at speed, trying to catch up with Steve’s car. Blake radios, “Steve, make a left.” After a few maneuvers, Steve loses his tail, and Blake’s disengages.

Steve’s car arrives a little before Blake’s at the Asylum where a major firefight has just occurred. Dead and wounded lie scattered about, some dressed in guards’ uniforms, others probably IRA. There is one IRA longarm lying on the ground. Explosives have damaged the walls and the front of the building. Axle gets out of the car and runs inside to see if anyone needs help. One of the guards lies bleeding but conscious in the foyer. Axle applies pressure to the wound and starts bandaging. “What happened?” The guard gasps, “His squad took one of our most dangerous residents!” Blake finds car tracks headed out toward the next safe house. Steve and Blake both realize that this asylum had too much security for the sort of place it was supposed to be.

Kef has been encouraging Barrow to talk. He has had some precognitive visions. “I’ve seen the infinity symbol on a Gulfstream jet,” he says; his description of the pilot matches Jeremy. Then he describes a woman, but it’s not either Paula or Kef. “Somebody rescued me – he had a face that changed constantly.” When he would try to focus on whether or not Sean McLeon would succeed in his plot, Barrow got “a kaleidoscope of images” – some where Sean seemed victorious, others where he failed, including one where another man spoke the words “You served your purpose” then shot Sean through the head.

As the group leaves London, Blake sees ½ mile away another car staking out the road (two guys, military bearing). Blake radios to Steve, “Don’t stop.” “Are they trying to get us, or intercept the other guys?” Steve wonders.

Blake pulls right up next to the car, pointing his gun at the driver. Axle is pointing his gun out the back. Blake instructs Paula to get out and go around to the other side of the car and point her gun. Then Blake makes a window-cranking motion, and the driver activates the power window. Blake: “We need to talk. You agree, don’t you? … I don’t want to kill you; you don’t want to die.” The driver says, “I report to Major Carlton,” a former US Army officer. He admits to being a mercenary.

Blake orders the other guy to get out of the car, then walk backward to Paula. “Paula, when he gets close, tell him to get on the ground.” Blake has Axle get out and zip-tie the guy on the ground.

The driver says to Blake, “Our mission was surveillance. We were looking for you. You were spotted leaving an IRA site with a subject. We moved in and found three dead inside, two outside, one outside hog-tied. We were to follow, find out your affiliation, then capture or kill.” He adds in all seriousness, “By the way, don’t tell me now. I want to walk away alive.”

Blake asks, “Are you working for Yank?” “Major Carlton is an American, yes.” The “IRA nitwits” had come this way. The merc teams are “backup and extra protection for the IRA, in case they try to double-cross the Major.” Blake: “I am on the list, don’t worry.” Merc: “The Major still might want to make you an offer.”

From behind the car Axle calls, “Could yer pop the boot, guv’nor?” Inside the trunk he finds combat rifles, a medkit, emergency supplies, and in the spare tire, a holdout gun (which he removes).

Blake disarms the two mercs. “Can’t think of any reason to kill you,” he tells them. “You’re lucky I spotted you.” With considerable sang-froid, the driver inquires, “Any message for the Major?” Blake declares, “It would be advised for him to kill Sean and the other IRA members, then find another hobby. And ship the books back to their owner.” “Who shall I say sent this message?” After a moment’s thought, Blake replies, “Special Agent Page.”

Blake and Axle place the two men in the trunk of the mercs’ car. Blake has Paula cast Sleep on them both, then for good measure injects them with a sleep drug. Axle pushes the car back out of the way.

As they hit the road again, Blake radios Steve, “There’s four more teams out there.” Steve responds, “I’ll be on the lookout.”

[July 30, 2005]

It’s shortly after 2:00pm May 1, 2005. Steve McAllen drives north up the A1(M), weaving through traffic, trying to overtake the IRA car fleeing from Baker House Asylum. Kef reaches out with her mind, trying to sense Igor Darvich, but though she tries hard her only result is a cold sweat. Passing one small town, Steve spots his quarry about a mile ahead, followed by one of the mercenaries’ cars.

As they approach the town of Stevenage, Steve and Kef both see the IRA car take the exit. The merc car goes on past, the second man talking on the radio. Kef thinks the man is calling in another unit.

Kef turns around in her seat. “Mr. Barrow, do you have any idea where they’re going?” Andrew Barrow, recently freed from his IRA captors, closes his eyes. After a moment, he opens them again. “I’m afraid not.” Steve takes the junction into Stevenage.

Over the radio captured from the roadside mercs, Axle hears, “Unit Three, vector to Ally Site Three please.” The same order is repeated for Units 1 and 5. Quick affirmatives come from Units 1 and 3. For several seconds Axle lets the silence stretch, then while crumpling a sheet of paper near the pickup he says, “Unit Five, affirmative.” “Say again, Unit Five? Did not copy.” Still crumpling paper, Axle repeats “Unit Five, affirmative.” This time the response is “Read you, Indigo.”

Reaching into his pocket, Steve presses a button on a remote control. Something in the trunk begins emitting a humming sound. Kef glances back warily. “Steve, you don’t have to tell me what that thing does –“ “Oh,” he replies readily, “it’s an EMP device. It’s got about a quarter-mile range.” He explains that it produces an electromagnetic pulse capable of shutting down electrically powered devices. He’s turning the thing on now and placing it on standby because it takes some time to ramp up.

Over the headset comes the voice of Blake Drummond. “Okay, I’m in town – a little guidance please.” Steve reads off the coordinates from the car’s inboard navigation system. As if searching for an address, he drives casually through the quiet streets. The IRA car pulls into a cul-de-sac; the two houses at the end of the street each have several cars parked in front… a few of which bear bullet scars. Steve and Kef take note of a man crouched on one peaked roof, dressed in camo and wearing a headset, armed with an AK47. Steve figures the man’s counterpart is on the other side of the roof. He also spots a sentry smoking on the front porch.

The IRA car parks, empties. Four men clad in camo fatigues get out. There’s no sign of Darvich.

Steve asks Barrow about his kidnapping. Barrow describes his treatment as “very rough.” At the safe house the one called Sean had pointed a strange device at Barrow and switched it on, and was quite angry and frustrated when it had no effect. During one of his visions, Barrow had seen a larger version of the same device attached to a transmission tower. Kef doesn’t believe that the IRA will build a bigger device until they get the small one working.

Blake’s car comes up behind Steve’s. Steve sees a nearby park that would give them a vantage point for watching the houses. Blake and Steve give assignments to the rest of the group. Barrow shouldn’t be out in the open where he might be recognized, so he will remain in Steve’s car and take a nap. Blake and Paula drive off to take up their position, while Axle stays in the park, monitoring the mercs’ radio chatter.

Steve sets up his laptop at a picnic table. Kef tells him her theory that Edward Carver, the lawyer who had visited the fake Marvin Carothers in prison, may be connected to the Major Carlton that the mercs work for. She is convinced that Sean McLeon will never get Darvich’s device to work. Steve cocks his head at her. “You’re sure of that?” “I’m sure,” replies Kef, “unless they can torture the secret out of Darvich… and I doubt that they can do that.”

Axle and Steve almost simultaneously get the idea to have the mercs from Unit 5 (that Blake left locked in their trunk) report trouble with the IRA. Steve tries out his Midwest accents on Axle, and on his second try Axle indicates he’s made a perfect match with the radioman’s voice. Composing a script and downloading various sound effects, Steve puts together a story on his laptop to be broadcast over the mercs’ radio.

At this point, our narrative returns to Friday evening in Baltimore, Maryland. Jeremy hasn’t seen anyone taking particular notice of his plane. After performing a final search and making sure the special cargo compartments are sealed, he files his flight plan and preflights his plane. At 7:15 he is cleared for takeoff, destination Dublin, Ireland.

There isn’t all that much for him to do on a trans-Atlantic flight, so Jeremy turns on the autopilot and settles down in his captain’s chair for a nap. A few hours later, a sound from the cabin startles him awake. Taking over from the autopilot and pulling his straps tighter, Jeremy sends the jet into a barrel roll. The resultant multiple thumps make him certain someone’s back there. Coming out of the roll, Jeremy pulls back on the stick and the plane starts a 30° climb, which leads to scuffling, sliding sounds and a soft grunt. Heeling the jet over into a power dive, Jeremy reaches back, opens the cockpit hatch, and calls out, “Fasten your seat belts – this is your pilot speaking.” From the aft part of the cabin come several more bumps, then a heavy thump followed by a groan.

Jeremy levels out the plane, kicks on the autopilot, and goes back into the cabin to have a look. There’s a woman with a small scalp wound sprawled up against one of the bulkheads. She looks to be not quite 5 ½ feet tall, brunette, tanned; she’s wearing a light jacket over her slacks and blouse. Searching her turns up a passport and a billfold, no weapons.

Jeremy picks up the woman and carries her forward, depositing her in the copilot’s chair. He grabs some duct tape and binds her arms and legs as well as securing her to the seat. Looking through her billfold, he finds a driver’s license for Carla Newton, address Chicago, birthdate indicating age 24. There’s also a photo of her with two older people (possibly her parents), another of a young man, and a picture of several cats. Taking another look around the cabin, Jeremy decides the woman must have gotten hungry and had been raiding the galley when she made the noise that had awakened him. He can only figure that she’d been hiding in the WC, but Jeremy’s sure he had checked the plane thoroughly (as always) before takeoff. He returns to his pilot’s seat, frowning in thought.

A couple of hours later, with the jet about 45 minutes out of Dublin, the woman regains consciousness. “Did we crash?” she moans. Jeremy replies, “Not while I’m the pilot, we didn’t.” “Something happened…” Jeremy chides, “You didn’t stay in your seat with your belt fastened. Also, we’re about to land in Dublin, and you don’t have your passport.” Carla seems to notice her restraints for the first time, and a pleading note enters her voice. “I need to get to Europe, and I didn’t have enough for a ticket!” “How do you know?” Jeremy rejoins, “You didn’t ask me how much it would cost.” She offers to give Jeremy all her money, saying she wants to get to London. “How were you going to survive in England without any money?” he asks. “I’d have gotten work… somehow… I’ve always been lucky…” Jeremy chuckles.

Jeremy asks, “Why do you need to be in Europe?” “I was being threatened by some men, and I need to get to where my boyfriend is… I overheard something… some men were plotting something… they even killed somebody… their names were Mohammed, Abdul, and Sharif… I saw them kill somebody…” “Why didn’t you go to the police?” “I couldn’t tell the police… because, well, I’d broken my probation” for possession and sale of drugs. Jeremy nods knowingly.

About her boyfriend, “His boss sent him over to Europe until things cool off… he runs numbers, collects insurance… he works for the Mob.” “So you want to be married to the Mob,” Jeremy cracks. Carla claims she hasn’t heard from her boyfriend in three months.

While the woman seems quite sincere, Jeremy’s finding it hard to believe anyone can be so stupid. “Hang on,” he says, standing up. Pulling a jackknife out of his pocket, he cuts the duct tape binding her. She asks for some aspirin, and he waves in the general direction of the medicine chest at the front of the cabin.

After she’s swallowed some aspirin and peeled the duct tape off her clothes, Carla asks where she should dispose of the trash. Jeremy unlocks and swings open the door to the smuggling hold and says casually, “No one will ever find it in there.” Her eyes get big (though perhaps not quite big enough to indicate true surprise). “You’re not going to shoot me?” she whimpers, “I’ll never, ever tell!” “No, you won’t,” Jeremy agrees, locking the hold.

The autopilot signals that the jet has entered Dublin airspace. Jeremy radios ahead for service for his plane, and a limo “for my passenger and I” to a hotel – “Make it a good one.” Jeremy also leaves voice mail for his other team members, whom he has been unable to reach during his flight, giving the name of the hotel and adding, “Contact me at your earliest convenience.”

Right at 9:00am local time, Jeremy touches the jet down in Dublin. Carla behaves quite docilely as they ride the limo to the hotel, then go up to the suite Jeremy’s reserved. “Are you hungry?” he asks. “Room service will bring you breakfast. Order something Irish for me.”

Meanwhile, Jeremy turns on the TV and tunes in CNN International. After a few minutes, “Dang,” he remarks, “They’re starting to figure this out – that the IRA is doing things in America.” Carla ventures, “Are you involved in that?” “Maybe…”

After breakfast arrives and they’ve started eating, Jeremy wonders aloud, “What do we do with you?” Carla chokes slightly on a piece of toast. Again she wheedles, “I’ll give you all my money… I’ll make my way in Dublin somehow… Like I told you, I’ve always been lucky…” Jeremy isn’t buying it. “You weren’t surprised at what my plane was carrying. You’re going to a boyfriend you haven’t heard from in three months –“ Carla cuts in, “I’m running from trouble.”

They finish their breakfasts in silence, then Jeremy remarks, “You’re not making a case for leaving.” With a hopeful expression, Carla suggests, “Maybe I can help you – I can learn my way around Dublin… I wouldn’t tell anyone, since I’d get in trouble, too.” As it’s now about 10:30, Jeremy tells her, “You probably need to go to sleep.” Following her into the bedroom he indicates, he unplugs her room phone and takes it with him, bidding her “Have a nice nap.”

An hour later while he’s watching TV, the room phone rings and Jeremy answers. A female voice says, “Yes, I’m Judy Newhurst. I need to speak with you, if you’re Jeremy Grant. May I come up to your room?” “A little out of your jurisdiction, aren’t you?” Jeremy drawls. “Where’s your partner?” “Agent Page is still in Baltimore, following up on some leads.” “How’d you know where I was?” “You filed a flight plan.” “So did the Fed pay for your ticket, or did that come out of your own pocket?” “I paid for it myself.” “Why didn’t you just come get a ride?” Jeremy inquires. “I’d heard you were at the one airport, but when I got there, you had moved. By the time I reached the right airport, you’d already taken off. Then I was just able to catch the next commercial flight to Dublin.” Jeremy invites her to come on up.

A few minutes later there’s a knock at the door. Jeremy checks the closed bedroom door, but doesn’t hear Carla stirring. He opens the suite door. The woman in the hallway, dressed in a nice tailored suit, flashes her FBI folder. “Special Agent Judy Newhurst,” she introduces herself. “You’re one difficult gentleman to catch up with, Mr. Grant.”

Jeremy shows Newhurst to a seat near the coffee table, then slouches on the sofa across from her. She gets right to the questioning. “You formed and chartered Infinite Solutions Corporation in 2001, correct? Interesting name; where does it come from?” Jeremy grins. “I tried to draw an 8 and it fell over.” “There’s a series of occurrences in the US that have you in the vicinity…” “I didn’t do it.” She mentions “gunfights and explosions” in Chicago [during the Kev McGuire clone affair], a chemical fire in Boston (Jeremy looks puzzled at this one), “Coffee County, Alabama, a couple of years ago…” Jeremy interjects, “That’s when I fixed the Army helo that was about to crash. It’d have been a shame to lose it.”

Newhurst gazes at Jeremy intently. “You and your friend Blake Drummond… you’re involved in a lot of unusual events – with demons, strange entities… things people don’t believe exist.” Jeremy stares back at her. “When you hired on with the FBI, did you pass the psych test? I didn’t.” She starts to say, “You applied for the Bureau?…” but then moves on, mentioning “blood sacrifices in Texas.” “Oh, yes. Some of those guys attacked my office. They didn’t live through it. Maybe they wanted Axle’s truck.” Newhurst says, “We thought they’d be here with you… Mr. Drummond, that is, and Mr. Lee, who also knows Mr. Drummond.” “Well, they’re not,” Jeremy responds.

Newhurst takes a deep breath, then leans forward. “We want to help your group deal with unusual events. We want to feed your group information, to help you in your work.” Jeremy shoots back, “You want me to do your job.” Newhurst’s tone hardens; she claims she has enough on Jeremy to send him to the penitentiary. “So you want me to give up Blake,” Jeremy says flatly. Newhurst pulls back a bit. “There’s a gentleman running in the same tracks that I have been. His name is Robert Cagle. He’s been doing research, asking questions about you for the past year. We think he has links to the IRA, PLO, and other such groups. He’s been tracking Mr. Drummond, yourself, Mr. Lee, and also someone named Butch.” Jeremy asks her, “If this guy’s working with terrorists, why haven’t you picked him up?” Newhurst replies, “He’s hard to catch up with.” “Like Blake,” Jeremy says.

Newhurst says slowly, “I feel that something big is coming to a head.” Jeremy thinks a bit, then says, “Is that what you’re mad about? The atomic explosion? There were a lot of people saved there.” Newhurst says, “Deputy Stan Tyson recently captured an IRA terrorist. Tyson also seems to know more than he’ll say, while his sheriff hasn’t got a clue.”

Newhurst takes a couple of cards out of her case and passes them across the coffee table to Jeremy. “Those are Agent Page’s and my business cards.” After a pause, she adds, “I sincerely want to help you.” Jeremy answers, “You mean, you want me to help you. You gave me the name of someone you can’t find. You don’t want to deal with stuff no one believes…” “They assign me to the weird cases,” says Newhurst. Jeremy says, “And you enjoy it, don’t you?” Newhurst nods unhesitatingly.

Changing the subject, Newhurst asks again, “Why is the name of your corporation ‘Infinite Solutions’?” Jeremy merely grins and says, “Cool, huh?” “Very cool,” she agrees. She mentions that she reads science fiction and fantasy, though she admits she was never much into comic books and superheroes.

“You’re curious, aren’t you,” Jeremy states. “You want to stay and get in on what happens next. You should cash in your return ticket that you paid for, and you can ride back with me.” Newhurst accepts. Jeremy indicates an open bedroom. “You should take a nap.” She admits that she hasn’t had any sleep recently; during her flight across the Atlantic, she’s been working away at her laptop. Taking out her cellphone Newhurst says, “I need to check in with my partner.” As Newhurst starts dialing, Jeremy strides over to the closed bedroom door and yanks it open, fully expecting Carla to tumble out, having been eavesdropping on the other side. But no, Carla’s lying in bed, sleeping. He closes the door quietly as Newhurst says into her phone, “Yes, I got the reaction you predicted… I’m going to stay over here for a while… Tell them I called in sick!… No, he isn’t going to hurt me.”

Right at 3:45 – almost seven hours after Jeremy had left the VMs – everyone else’s message lights finally come on. (Darned providers.) Kef walks to the car for privacy. She calls the hotel and asks for Jeremy Grant. Meanwhile, Steve starts playing his recording of Indigo reporting that “Unit Five is getting jacked by the Irish!” rendered even more convincing with the sounds of gunshots and shattering glass. Another merc’s voice orders, “Bow and Splat, leave your positions, find out what happened to Indigo. I’ll stay with the Groom.”

Kef returns and slides onto the bench beside Steve, giving him the gist of her phone conversation with Jeremy. “You should talk to him,” she concludes. Steve shakes his head in disbelief, but pulls out his phone. Laying her hand on his arm, Kef reminds him to stay calm and not let others in the park overhear him. “Of course I’ll be calm,” Steve says, then dials the hotel. “Hello, it’s Phelps… I understand you have a couple of guests… You didn’t buy the stowaway’s tale, did you?” “She didn’t have any guns, but I showed her ours,” says Jeremy. Newhurst “wants to help us, or she’ll put us in jail… She can’t find Robert Cagle, so she thought she’d tell us so we could find him.”

Steve wants to talk to Newhurst himself before letting her get more involved, so Jeremy gets her up from her nap. At Steve’s request, she uploads data from her laptop to his. Kef looks over Steve’s shoulder as the data comes up on his screen. Major Carlton had been the investigating officer looking into events in Coffee County, but abruptly left the military and disappeared. Robert Cagle is an international financier who also launders money and finances terrorists. As a picture of Cagle comes up on the screen, Kef seems to see his face peel away, revealing a different one she recognizes… Steve, sensing Kef sitting bolt upright, mutes the phone and looks at her inquiringly. Pointing to the picture, she mouths the name “Carothers.”

Steve says to Newhurst, “That bullsh*t threat to put people in prison won’t hold water.” Newhurst says placatingly, “That must not have come out the way I meant. I think you are doing necessary work.” Steve: “For everything you know about, there are two or three you don’t.” Jeremy, on the extension: “Like demons from hell… right through the TV, baby!” Newhurst: “I want to be part of your solutions, not your problems.” Steve: “It doesn’t always work that way… It’s always the harmless-looking ones who cause trouble.” Kef (who is usually quite harmless looking) gives Steve an “are you talking about me?” expression. Muting the phone briefly, Steve tells her, “You prove my point.” Momentarily, Kef allows herself a pout of injured innocence.

Steve hangs up, ponders for a moment or two, then calls Jeremy back. “See how fast you can get a helo and fly over to London.” “With or without the cargo?” “Without if you must, though ‘with’ would be better.” “One passenger or two?” “You can’t just leave one home alone.” Steve suggests that Jeremy have Newhurst find out what she can about Carla. As Steve hangs up Kef asks him, “You aren’t seriously going to bring the FBI in on this?” Steve explains, “It’s not the FBI; it’s Newhurst, who is presently separated from the FBI and has become a crusader.” “All that from one conversation,” Kef says with a touch of admiration.

Jeremy pulls out Carla Newton’s passport and hands it to Newhurst. “Would you check on this person, please?” Shortly after entering the name on her laptop, Newhurst reads “Arrested for possession/sale… on probation…” “She’s breaking it,” Jeremy interjects. Newhurst goes on, “She’s had a passport for three years, never used it before.” “We need to be going,” says Jeremy. “We’re taking a helo trip to London. And your first assignment is to take charge of Carla.”

Steve phones Jeremy once again. He warns him about flying into the blackout zone (that he will cause when he activates the EMP device), and tells him to obscure the ID on his helicopter. Then he asks Newhurst, “How’s your new charge?” “Something about her doesn’t ring true.” “Have you taken fingerprints?” “I don’t have the proper equip—“ “Improvise. Also check for surgical scars – Cagle has ‘em.” As it’s getting toward sunset and the park is becoming deserted, Steve, Axle, and Kef pack up, get into the car (awakening Barrow), and head for a pub to get dinner.

At the airport, Jeremy sets Newhurst and Carla to transferring cases from the Gulfstream to the rented helo. Newhurst: “I don’t want to know what these are, do I?” Jeremy: “You may have to use them. You’ve been trained, haven’t you?” Taking a wooden dowel, Jeremy attaches strips of variously colored duct tape, then holds up the dowel to color-match the duct tape to the helo.

Axle broadcasts on the merc radio, “Be on the lookout for the Arab car.” (He has observed a car with three rough-looking men of Middle Eastern appearance cruising in the vicinity several times.) The query comes back, “Who is this?” “Unit 5-A.” Silence, then, “Who are you?” “Ask Unit 5. I just don’t want Unit 1 to get shot in the back of the head by the car that’s been circling the park for an hour and a half.” “Are you the ones who took down Unit 5?” “We replaced them.” “May I ask your affiliation?” “Truckers Union.” “Teamsters?” “We’re looking for Jimmy.”

Kef, who’s been picking at her food, suggests that she take Barrow someplace where he’ll be safe for the night. Steve hands her the car keys. During the brief drive to a nearby inn, Kef asks Barrow about his ordeal. He says that in exchange for his cooperation Sean offered him money and power; Barrow refused. “You were brave to turn him down,” Kef tells him; “Sean might have killed you.” He replies, “I couldn’t go against my principles.” Softly Kef says, “Nice to know someone still has them.” “So young to be so cynical,” he chides. With a touch of pain in her voice, Kef replies, “I’ve seen a lot in the last few years.” Kef gets Barrow checked into the inn and sees him to his room, and lends him her cellphone so he can let his son know he’s free and unharmed. As she turns to leave Barrow speaks. “If I may offer a word of advice… Don’t let what you’ve seen turn you into someone you can’t live with.”

Around 9:15pm Jeremy calls Steve. “I’m here. Where do you want the equipment?” Axle, Steve, Kef, Blake, and Paula rendezvous with the helicopter in an empty field four miles north of Stevenage. While there are several appraising glances at the two unknown women, no one bothers to make introductions. People begin moving boxes from the helicopter into the cars. Steve explains to Jeremy that he’ll be providing air cover when the rest of them attack the IRA safe houses.

Kef contrives to pass close to Carla and manages to tap into her mind, though the latter possesses a level of mental resistance Kef hasn’t encountered before. Carla’s mannerisms are those of a nervous, somewhat frightened young woman… but her thoughts are those of a trained operative; she is busily calculating the group’s firepower as she frets to herself, “I can’t give any warning… I’ll just have to ride with it.”

Drifting past Steve, Kef murmurs, “Ask her some leading questions.” Steve raises an eyebrow, then strolls over to Carla and strikes up a conversation. “You’re not simply a stowaway,” he says. “You’re an agent. Who are you working for?” Wandering by, Jeremy informs Carla, “You know you kept asking if I’d hurt you?” (Pointing.) “He’s the one that hurts people.” Listening to Carla’s increasingly troubled thoughts, Kef finally picks up the data she’d been waiting for. Wishing to remain in the background, Kef “speaks” a sentence directly to Steve’s mind: “She’s working for Cagle.” And when Steve drops that name on her, Carla begins to panic, looking around and thinking, “Oh, no, which one of them’s the ‘path?” (As if her flimsy cover story hadn’t made her an object of suspicion!) Axle hands Carla one of the merc radios, informing her “You’re now Unit 5-A.” “What happened to Unit 5?” she blurts out. It seems Carla has worked with Indigo previously. Steve lowers the boom: “Besides, if you were who you say, you’d be peeing your pants.” “You’ve penetrated the group?” gasps Carla. Jeremy laughs, “We have now!” Carla claims that her assignment was “just to find out about you,” and she figures Cagle will kill her for her failure. “I’m just small fry.” Steve binds Carla with duct tape, then draws a knife and cuts a tiny transmitter out of her waistband. “It’s not activated,” she says quickly, “and it has a fairly short range.” “I don’t have time for a full interrogation now,” says Steve, “but you’re going to help us take Cagle’s organization apart.” Axle walks up behind Carla and zaps her with a stun gun.

As Carla collapses, Kef too falls to her knees. Newhurst hurries over, asking “Are you all right?” “I’m fine… just a bit light-headed,” murmurs Kef, as she takes advantage of Newhurst’s proximity to tap into her mind. As Kef relates to Steve some time later, “She’s… for real.”

Once they finish transferring equipment and devising last-minute plans, Jeremy takes off in the helo with Newhurst and the unconscious Carla. As the cars approach Stevenage, the unmistakable staccato crackle of gunfire shatters the evening’s peace. Blake’s video surveillance equipment indicates that the IRA and the mercs are fighting the PLO. Already several bodies lie scattered about the front yards. “The camel jockeys are turning into lawn jockeys,” comments Axle. Kef asks Steve to let her out a little distance away from the houses so she can attempt to sneak in and locate Igor Darvich. Smearing some face-blackening makeup on her face and taking the foil-wrapped radio Steve hands her, Kef slips away into the darkness.

Most of the fighting is taking place in front of and just inside the houses, so Axle driving one car and Steve the other follow mirrored paths toward the back of the main house. Two guards are visible. Steve knocks a guard ass over teakettle with his car. Axle accidentally hits a pothole, which screws up Blake’s aim, but in the next moment Blake puts a bullet right between the other guard’s eyes.

With a word of warning to the others, Steve brakes to a stop and then activates the EMP device, disrupting the flow of electricity and blacking out the neighborhood. Axle, Blake, and Paula bail out of their sputtering car as its momentum rolls it into the back of the house. Blake and Paula enter the house and work their way toward the front. Kef comes in from a different direction, quickly checks some of the back rooms, and descends the cellar stairs. Axle heads for the other house, reasoning that the two houses are very likely connected by a tunnel, and once there he begins throwing flash-bangs through the windows. Steve unwraps his night-vision goggles and radio from their protective foil and puts them on, picks up his AK47, and trots into the house intent on finding Darvich’s machine. Up top, Jeremy maneuvers the helicopter so as to give Newhurst (who has braced herself in the doorframe) a superb platform from which to shoot.

At the bottom of the stairs Kef finds herself in a long, straight tunnel with a cement floor and wood paneling on the walls. It is pitch black. Switching on her tiny penlight, she can barely see the doors along the tunnel. Listening carefully, she determines that someone’s in the second room on her right. When she peeks in, sure enough there’s a man handcuffed to a bed, a hale sixtyish-looking gent wearing an expression of extreme annoyance. “Igor Darvich?” Kef ventures. He stares at her (and he seems able to see Kef quite well despite the darkness) and responds in mocking imitation, “Jane Doe?” As she enters the room, he mutters, “A pretty Jane, though.” Kef touches his thoughts, which swirl in chaotic confusion, but she becomes aware also that he is a metahuman. Drawing her pistol, she fires one shot through the handcuff chain, weakening it enough that Darvich can pull it apart.

Making his way down the cellar stairs, Steve hears the lone shot, glimpses the faint light, and walks quickly toward them. Sensing a familiar presence, Kef moves to the doorway and whispers, “Is that you?” Kef says she will wait here with Darvich until she gets the signal to leave. Steve will find and destroy Darvich’s machine. “It won’t work, will it,” Kef states, directing her words at Darvich, “You didn’t give them the secret.” “Of course not!” snaps Darvich, “Never!” Steve, however, isn’t taking any chances.

Toward the other end of the tunnel, someone drops a flashlight from above. Steve calls out, “Is that you, Butch?” and Axle answers that he’ll guard the stairway. Shortly thereafter inside a storage room Steve finds the device and sets an explosive charge on it, then gets Axle and the two men run up the tunnel.

“Sean’s not here,” Blake radios tersely. “Police sirens, two to three minutes away.” Axle and Steve emerge from the house. Steve retrieves the EMP device from his car. Axle stuffs rags into the gas tanks; Steve tosses a couple of incendiaries at each car, calling “Fire in the hole!”

As the others make their way to the rooftop, Jeremy has Newhurst draw a line with automatic fire. The message to the mercs: We could kill you if we wanted to, but we just want to evacuate our people. The helo meets no resistance as Jeremy touches it to the roof. Kef emerges through the trapdoor first, followed closely by Darvich. Steve throws a few final incendiaries at each house, then calls to Jeremy, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Jeremy heads due east, then curves to the north, flying map-of-the-earth. Several miles away he lands just long enough to pull the duct tape off the helo’s identification number. As he approaches Dublin (at a normal altitude), he radios the tower, “Aw, I was trying to fly to this podunk town, but I couldn’t find it again in the dark, so I came back.”

The time is 9:55pm on Sunday, May 1.

[August 13, 2005] (With help from Bill)

As the helo approaches Dublin, Kef has been spending most of the trip studying Igor Darvich’s mind. His thoughts are chaotic, almost kaleidoscopic, but Kef picks out various clues from his past. Darvich has always felt like “a man out of his time.” He knew he was a superior sort of man, misunderstood by most, and craved the companionship of others of his level. As a scientist in a small town in upstate New York in the late 1940s, he was something like the MacGyver of his day, building ultra-tech gadgets out of mundane materials. He had had a close relationship with his beautiful assistant, and had built the device illustrated in the comic book with the intention of imbuing his assistant and his few other friends with metahuman abilities. He tested the device on two men with good results. To his horror, the device turned the woman he loved into a rampaging bloodthirsty monster that slew hundreds of people before Darvich and the two elevated men killed her. Later, Darvich turned the device on men he had wished to turn into monsters, and instead they became Adonises.

In the years that followed, Darvich’s children turned against him, and the US Government started harassing him. Finally he destroyed his lab and fled the country. He ended up at the Baker House Asylum (which does not house the insane, but is a government-operated facility for ‘unusual’ people) about fifteen years ago. He was content to remain there, though he could have broken out at any time, because he felt he deserved to be there. Everything he touched went wrong.

Kef concludes that while Igor Darvich has deeply-rooted emotional problems, he is not insane – his mind works so rapidly and on so many levels and pathways at once that he finds it difficult to relate to other people, and most people in turn cannot understand him. She thinks that he could be helped, over time… but by whom?

Blake strikes up a conversation with Darvich. “How old are you? You look pretty spry for a man who’s nearly 100.” Responds Darvich, “How old are you?” Blake replies “Younger than you… I’ve read your comic book – so you think you’re Homo Superior? Darvich looks thoughtful and just smiles. Blake continues, “How many dimensions have you been to? Just one? So much for Homo Superior.” “I like it here,” retorts Darvich. Blake asks, “Are you going to help us?” “With what?” “We don’t know yet…”

Jeremy lands the helo, and the IS team starts transferring the clandestine cargo back to the jet. Blake starts to ask Judy Newhurst to keep an eye on Darvich, but Jeremy interjects, “She helped load it, why can’t she help unload it?” Blake expresses surprise that the FBI agent was allowed to know about the heavy weaponry, but as Jeremy points out “She had to know about it to use it.” Adds Newhurst, “You may not believe it, Mr. Drummond, but I am on your side.”

Carla Newton has returned groggily to consciousness, and causes no fuss as the group takes a limo to the hotel. By 10:45pm everyone is in the two-bedroom suite that Jeremy had rented that morning. Paula turns on the TV and tunes in CNN, where the big story is the blackout and shootout in Stevenage. Several suspected IRA members have been arrested, as well as about a half-dozen Middle Eastern men. There is no mention of any Americans, so apparently the mercs all got away. Neighbors interviewed by CNN reporters said they’d long suspected something about those houses at the end of the block.

Casually Blake asks Carla (who is fairly awake by now) “Do you know who I am?” “No, but I can guess,” she replies with a glance at Jeremy. Jeremy suggests Blake use “the bedroom without the phone” for his interrogation, and Blake takes Newhurst along as well. Carla talks fairly freely, remarking “You’ll get it out of me eventually. I think there’s a ‘path around.” Cagle is looking for Drummond and the others; “You’re marked as a Level Three threat.” (Blake feels rather proud to rate at the top of the scale.) Carla is part of a cell of five people located in Chicago; the others are Amy Bronson, Compton Ferris, Neil Parson, and Vic Daniels. Other cells exist in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Cagle contacts their cell through Compton Ferris when he wants something done. She was told she would have backup in London.

Jeremy orders room service – “Send up a smorgasbord” – then goes to talk with Darvich about flight. Soon Darvich is spouting all kinds of technical terms about lift coefficients, tractor beams, windbreak fields… Jeremy understands enough to know that he is talking about human flight without a vehicle. “Have you built one of these things?” he asks. “Yes, but they stopped working.” “Would you build me one?” “Okay, just a minute.” Darvich jumps up off the sofa, goes into the kitchen, produces a multipurpose tool from somewhere, and begins taking apart the microwave.

Leaving Carla and Newhurst in the bedroom, Blake finds a quiet corner, flips open his cellphone, and calls Tom Cartley. Cartley is on the road, headed back to Cleveland from Baltimore. Blake instructs him to run full profiles on all five members of Carla’s cell as well as Robert Cagle, and send men to Chicago to pick up Compton Ferris. Then Blake phones his administrative assistant Sara Summers in Dallas. She reports that one of their operatives has been hospitalized at Parkland, and another is in pursuit of “either one layered team or three separate ones.” She has hired another security agency to guard the office. Sara had had to call in favors from members of the Dallas Police Department, specifically Lieutenant Johansson and Captain Carothers. Concludes Sara, “We’re pursuing all avenues, pushing our resources.” “You mean your resources,” Blake replies. He wants the groups identified, then he will decide what’s to be done.

Blake takes Kef aside. He wants to get hold of Cagle, but is out of ideas as to how to go about it. She suggests he lean on the lawyer, Edward Carver.

Room service arrives. Darvich accepts a sandwich, then starts taking apart the delivery cart. Newhurst describes Carla as “fairly amoral.” Jeremy hands Newhurst the printout of Darvich’s comic book so she can read it. Axle checks the hotel grounds outside.

Blake phones Los Angeles and connects to Edward Carver. “You know that prison you’ve been visiting? You’re liable to wind up on the other side for passing drugs.” Carver starts to deny it, but Blake adds, “I have you on tape.” Carver’s demeanor changes. However, he claims he isn’t working for Carothers. Blake demands his employer’s contact info.

Several minutes later, Blake gets a call. The bug planted on Carver previously is still working. Carver had called a cellphone number in southern California and put out a hit on the fake Carothers for late tonight. Blake instructs, “Get him somewhere he won’t be killed, then let the police know that’s not Carothers.”

As Carla dozes, Kef spends some time sifting through her mind. Carla would normally only contact Cagle through Compton, but there was another method by which she could place a coded personal ad in the Miami daily newspaper. She doesn’t know the names of any of Cagle’s people other than in her cell, but she thinks he also has international cells. The information she has seen on Blake and Jeremy mentions that they associate with someone called Butch and possibly a woman who is a mage.

Blake goes looking for Newhurst and finds her in the kitchen along with Jeremy and Steve, watching Darvich at work (he has disassembled most of the kitchen appliances). He asks her what she knows about Carothers. “You were involved in the downfall of Deathwish,” she replies, “and you took over that security company from Carothers.” Blake tells Newhurst that the Carothers in prison is fake. She says it ties in with the direction of events, but she doesn’t know who’s financing Carlton. “Cagle is running the intel branch for Major Carlton, but he’s not financing him.” She also mentions that Carothers had been imprisoned before. Blake says, “I think he never went to prison” and suggests that he might not have become Cagle immediately. Blake tells her he wants the fake Carothers “taken out of circulation” so he won’t be killed (before Blake gets a chance to question him). Axle awakens briefly from his doze, suggests they check DNA records, and goes back to sleep. Jeremy suggests Carothers may have been switched after he walked into the prison, implying that the warden was involved.

Blake, regarding Newhurst (and possibly influenced by Kef’s fears): “Right now, we’re riding the same track. What about later?” Jeremy: “Tell her to get off the bus!”

Jeremy reveals that as instructed, he had booked the suite under the Infinite Solutions name. At this time Blake considers it a bad idea for all the IS people to be in the same place, and goes down to the lobby to book another suite (this one on the third floor, whereas Jeremy’s is on the 8th). Newhurst remarks to Jeremy, “You live a complicated life. Is it always like this?” Replies Jeremy, “No, sometimes it’s worse.”

By the time Blake returns from downstairs, Darvich has finished the flying belt. Jeremy’s eager to test it out. Darvich outlines the belt’s capabilities: it has a top speed of 200 mph, can carry up to three people, and generates a windscreen. He isn’t quite sure, though, how far the power supply will take it, though he’s certain there’s at least 45 minutes’ flight at top speed. Jeremy asks Blake if he wants to go on the test flight. Blake: “Are you going up until it stops?” Jeremy: “That would be stupid.” Blake: “So are you going up until it stops?” Blake agrees to go (partly because he doesn’t believe the device will work). Then Jeremy invites Newhurst, who jumps at the chance. Darvich helps Jeremy into the flying belt, points out the controls and gauges, and gives Jeremy a headset with which to communicate with Darvich, who will be his ground crew. Jeremy goes on a brief solo flight to get accustomed to the controls. He returns to the balcony, activates a ‘tractor field’ that grasps Newhurst and Blake around their waists, and the three of them take to the air. (Axle woke up again and considerately turned off the lights in the suite so they wouldn’t be silhouetted.) While the flight is a lot of fun, Blake suggests that Jeremy might want to conserve the batteries in case he needs to use the flight belt later.

Intrigued by the fact that Carla accepts magic-users as fact, Kef delves into the woman’s past. Carla Newton (which is indeed her real name) grew up traveling throughout the midwest with a carnival out of Denver. Several performers in the carnival possessed actual metahuman talents, including her mother, a touch telepath, and her father, a strongman (he was of ordinary build, but had three times the strength of a normal man). There was a mage with a few fire spells, a telekinetic, a mimic, and an acrobat with perfect balance. The only special skill Carla inherited was her mind shield. She had been away at college when her parents were killed in an accident; no one would tell her exactly what had happened. After this Carla started getting into detective work and “spy stuff,” and it was her knowledge of unusual things that led to her being hired by Cagle. Blaming the carnival for her parents’ death, she readily gave them up to Cagle, though she doesn’t think he’s followed up on that lead. She isn’t sure what Cagle’s motives are, but she doesn’t really care, either.

Kef withdraws from Carla’s mind, stands up and stretches. Blake approaches her and they talk. Blake seems concerned about Kef, and she expresses to him her misgivings about “government involvement” in their group’s doings. “You know what the government does with ‘special people’, don’t you? Either you’re forced to work for them, or they lock you away… Sure, the Fed claims she’s on our side, wants to help us, but what happens the first time we don’t do things her way?” She expresses irritation with Enigma, asking “What real help has he ever given us?” Blake mentions that Enigma had disappeared the evil urn (an artifact owned by Cinnamon Winters) and taken Frances Gray off their hands, but Kef hints that Enigma may be the source of the “very weird stuff” that has been happening over the past four years. Blake points out that if it hadn’t been for Enigma the members of their group wouldn’t have met each other, “and you’d still be having visions, and what would you do about them?” Replies Kef, “Whatever I could… like I always did,” but her defiant gaze falters a bit.

Carla has awakened, and Jeremy says to her, “So when are your friends coming? Are you just letting them walk into this buzzsaw? You don’t like them much, do you?” She admits that Compton had been in Baltimore with her, and that she had been supposed to call him within an hour of the plane’s landing.

Blake takes Kef, Paula, and Axle down to the third-floor suite. Blake and Kef take one room, Paula takes the other, and Axle gets the couch. Blake tries to calm Kef’s fears by telling her how he envisions “this team thing,” and by touching her. “The six of us have a unique opportunity to help the world. These strange situations were probably going on all the time. We just did not see them. We get to use our talents to stop horrible evil. Yes, I agree that some of these situations are aimed directly at us, but that is just one of the risks that comes with living. You had visions before you ever met the others and me, but now you don’t have to face these occurrences alone. You need to relax, and live. Quit worrying so much about everything (even though I agree with you about the government). You have transferred your fear and distrust of Enigma to Paula. Paula is a little quirky, but she is more like you than you think. Like you, she has a gift. Like you, she feels can’t control her gift as well as she should. She cares for you, and she’s sensitive to your behavior towards her. We are more alive now than most people, and we are on the side of good. That is hard to beat.” Blake and Kef continue to talk until they both fall asleep.

Axle awakens himself around 5:00am and goes out quietly to make his rounds. He notices that a different desk clerk is on duty. Out front he sees a sedan of the same style the mercs had been driving; its hood is still warm, and in the back seat are several bundles covered in blankets. There’s another car around back in a good observation position. Axle heads toward a nearby coffee shop, which lets him pass close enough to see that someone is in the car. He notes that the coffee shop doesn’t open until 6:00am. Out of sight of the car, Axle pulls out his cell phone and dials Sara Summers in Dallas. “Call Blake and tell him he’s got company. At least two people, and they’ve brought gifts. Tell him I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Blake’s cellphone wakes him up, and as he listens to what Sara has to tell him he slips out of bed and gets dressed. He phones Steve and fills him in, concluding, “I thought I’d get you moving to do what you do.” Blake calls Axle for an update. Then he wakes up Kef, who relates a dream she had just had. Two hotel maids pushing a cart stop in front of the 8th floor suite, open the door with their master key, push the cart inside, and close the door behind them. There’s no sign of Jeremy or Steve. One maid pulls out a machine pistol, enters one of the bedrooms, and shoots Judy Newhurst dead. The other uses a tranquilizer gun on Igor Darvich. Kef recognizes one of the maids as Amy Bronson, a member of Carla Newton’s cell. Blake heads for the stairwell as Kef goes toward the elevators.

Steve has awakened Jeremy, who goes and wakes up Darvich and tells him, “They’re coming to get you again. Go in the room with the young lady that’s all taped up and be very quiet.” He instructs Newhurst, “You’re protecting Mr. Darvich. If some demon comes through the TV… don’t go with him.” Steve helps Jeremy into the flying harness; Jeremy activates the tractor field, and they take to the air.

Axle has managed to get the coffee shop to open a little early. He buys a loaf of day-old French bread. Out of sight, he scrounges up a length of rebar and conceals it in the bread loaf. Then he starts walking in the general direction of the occupied car. By now Axle’s certain the man is one of the mercs.

Jeremy sees someone following Axle, weapon in hand. He points this out to Steve, who fires through the windscreen. As Axle is about to pass the car, he suddenly spins around and smashes the driver’s-side window with his reinforced loaf.

Blake reaches the lobby. He finds a cleaning lady (concealing a trank gun), the desk clerk (pistol), and a lounging man (pistol and knife). Blake walks up to the front desk, leans over it, and shoots the desk clerk in both legs.

Axle smacks the surprised merc in the face with his bread (aka “buns of steel”). Jeremy zooms downward and releases Steve to land with a solid thump atop the merc’s car.

The desk clerk falls down, screaming in agony. Blake turns and fires at Lounging Man (LM), who dives for cover. Jeremy flies up about 60’ and sees several people in motion – one from the front of the hotel (FH), another bearing an AK47 (AK). The merc in the car (MC) draws his gun. LM calls out “Go, go!” Steve aims at FH. Axle whacks MC in the hand; the hand goes limp, and the weapon flies away.

Blake realizes the cleaning lady has left the lobby. He takes a step and aims at LM. Kef, who has reached the 8th floor and concealed herself in a niche, hears someone pushing a cart up the corridor. LM pops his head up briefly, then ducks down again. Jeremy zooms toward AK intending to kick or slam him. Axle pops open the back door lock.

Blake takes another step and waits for LM to pop up again. When he does, Blake fires three shots, two of which strike LM in the head. AK fires off a wild burst, missing Jeremy completely. Steve kills FH, who had paused at the sound of the burst, with a single well-placed shot. Jeremy activates the ‘grabber’ and pulls AK straight up into the air. AK promptly loses his last meal and his gun as well. As he rises above the hotel, Jeremy sees two snipers on the roof. Axle flicks the remaining bread off his rebar and gets into the back seat.

Sniper 1 shouts and tries to aim at Jeremy, who commences flying in zigzags toward them. AK is still being sick. Axle puts the rebar across MC’s neck and pulls back hard. Blake goes over to the desk clerk and finishes him off with a shot to the chest, then heads for the elevators.

Jeremy lines up on the snipers, dives toward them in a bombardier run, and releases AK. Blood spurts, guns fly, and both snipers (as well as AK) are KO’ed.

Kef hears the cart stop. An elevator dings. The cart starts moving again.

Axle yanks the driver’s seat back and drags MC into the back seat.

Kef hears another elevator ding. She realizes the first ding she heard must have been from the service elevator.

Jeremy sees two more cars racing toward the hotel. Suddenly one of them makes a U-turn and drives off, while the other continues. Jeremy flies over toward Steve.

Axle dumps the unconscious MC out of the car.

Blake strides purposefully up the hallway. At the door to the suite he sees two women and a cleaning cart. He also sees Kef walking quietly toward them from the other direction. Blake makes as though he’s walking on past the maids, who move aside for him, but suddenly he turns and puts his gun to the head of the woman with the trank gun (TW). TW stiffens, the other maid (GW) fast-draws her weapon and Blake shoots GW in the head. Kef comes up with her pistol aimed and says quietly to TW, “Don’t try anything.”

Jeremy picks up Steve and tells him about the two cars. Steve instructs him, “Drop me in front of the hotel and we’ll take care of this.” As soon as the two men show weapons, Steve nails them both.

It is now 6:05am, Monday, May 2.

[August 27, 2005]

It is shortly after 6:00am local time in Dublin, Ireland. The group has just foiled an apparent attempt by mercenaries to kidnap Igor Darvich and possibly kill the rest of them. Just outside the eighth floor hotel suite, Kef keeps her gun trained on Amy Bronson while Blake loads the dead body of Amy’s partner (who had had the bad sense to pull a gun on Blake) into the housekeeping cart. Blake alerts FBI Special Agent Judy Newhurst that he’s about to enter the suite, then wheels in the cart. Blake checks with Axle, who reports “I’m in one of their cars and I’m coming around. Where are we going after that?” Responds a rather harried Blake, “One thing at a time.”

Carla Newton barely exchanges glances with Amy. Blake inquires of Carla, “We’re not going to have any trouble out of you, are we? I’m not in a good mood.” Both Carla and Amy behave meekly, as their lives depend on seeming subdued and harmless.

Blake and Kef gather up the captives along with Newhurst, Darvich, and Paula and take the back elevator down to the rear of the hotel, where Steve, Axle, and Jeremy get everyone loaded into two cars. From toward the front of the hotel, a scream pierces the air; one of the guests must have come upon the bloody scene in the lobby. Sternly Blake warns Carla and Amy yet again, “If you cause any problems at all, we’ll push you out of the car as it’s moving.” Axle, from the driver’s seat, calls out “That’s a good idea – car… moving…”

The two cars head for the airport. In the car Steve’s driving, Paula sits in the front passenger seat, with Amy flanked by Blake and Kef in the back. Tapping into Amy’s mind, Kef reads a great deal of worry, wondering how their targets were tipped off, concern after Carla didn’t check in, orders from the boss, Cagle, to go to Dublin and find the old man, a military unit as a diversion. Aloud Amy asks, “Do you always keep guards in the hall? You were laying for us!” Blake: “Did you know we had the asset?” Amy: “We thought you did. I was assigned to neutralize the old man.” There were ten people in her assault team. Compton Ferris and the other two members of her cell are out at the airport.

Blake takes Amy’s cellphone and looks over the few numbers it has called. Amy says that the leader of the merc team is Joe McBride. Blake phones McBride. “I’m calling to arrange a truce… and a trade for Amy.” McBride drawls, “I’m assuming y’all are the FBI truckers?” Blake: “Your group attacked us – we were minding our own business.” McBride: “You don’t seem to be the kind to kill unnecessarily.” Blake: “I’m sure Amy wants to continue this path she’s chosen.” After several minutes’ tense exchange, McBride agrees to Blake’s rules of engagement and promises that he won’t kill Amy. After cutting the phone connection, Blake looks at Amy. “Hopefully, we will never meet again.” “What about Carla?” Amy asks. Blake muses, “I like Carla; I might keep her.”

Axle leads the way to the back side of the airport, trying to get as close to the jet as possible. Blake and Kef both see a sniper and a spotter on the ground about 70 yards from the plane, clad in camouflage, watching the front of the hangar intently. Steve and Blake figure there’s another sniper/spotter pair on the other side of the hangar.

Amy’s phone chimes and Blake answers. Now McBride wants Carla, too, in exchange for letting the group fly out unmolested. Blake mutes Amy’s phone and uses his own to call Jeremy; Jeremy hands his phone to Newhurst, who holds it to Carla’s ear. Blake: “I have a situation here. They want you back. Do you want to go back?” Carla: “Yes.” Jeremy: “You don’t think they could hit me anyway, do you?” Blake speaks to McBride again, agreeing to the deal.

The group pulls up to the hangar and dashes inside. Newhurst stands guard over Carla and Amy. Blake and Kef report that the security in the hangar had been bypassed expertly. Axle checks the exterior of the airplane, including the hydraulics, for sabotage. Jeremy goes over the interior, and when he opens the smuggler’s hold, he finds the group’s own explosives have been wired together! Fetching Steve and Blake, Jeremy tells them, “I don’t know how to undo what they did. We’re not leaving on this plane.” After looking things over, Steve says the explosives are wired to a remote detonator, but appear deliberately easy to defuse, and he does so. Jeremy tests the fuel in the tanks for contamination. Out in the hangar Blake locates two surveillance cameras and dabs grease on their lenses.

Kef goes to the center of the jet’s cabin and looks into the recent past. Two commandos board the plane. One goes aft, stops and places something small under a seat cushion, then searches meticulously until he locates the smuggler’s hold. He signals to the other man, who comes aft and wires the explosives. The second man then takes some plastique, shapes it, and places it in the WC while the first man conceals another small device elsewhere in the cabin. The men had also scanned the cockpit but neither touched anything. Kef signals to Steve who removes the two listening devices, and he easily defuses the C4 in the WC.

Jeremy calls the company from which he had earlier rented a helicopter. “I need to rent a plane to fly to America.” The company promises it will be readied and delivered to Jeremy’s hangar in an hour. Jeremy phones airport facilities and arranges to rent his plane’s hangar; “My plane is not ready to be flown.”

Axle suggests taking the C4 that Steve removed from the WC, sitting Carla and Amy together in the hangar with the C4 underneath their chairs, and Blake cleaning off one of the camera lenses and training it on the two captives. Blake: “We don’t have the detonator.” Jeremy: “I know who can make one!” Blake: “They don’t play fair, do they?” Carla speaks up: “They play for keeps.”

Kef suggests that Blake get Newhurst’s advice on how to proceed. Newhurst says “keep your deal” with the mercs, and get out ASAP when the new plane arrives.

With Darvich’s help Jeremy straps on the flyer. “I’m not standing on the tarmac preflighting that thing,” so he’s going to do that at the rental company’s hangar. Staying just a few inches above the ground, Jeremy zips over to the other hangar. “Let me check the top,” he says, flying up over the jet. Axle has Darvich ask Jeremy if we should all go over there to the other hangar. Blake says he doesn’t want to risk more innocents, and Kef nods in support.

The new plane is towed to the hangar. No untoward activity is seen from the mercs. Jeremy files a flight plan with an eventual destination of Dallas, and invites Darvich to sit in the copilot’s seat. By 8:00am the plane is loaded. Blake has last words with Carla and Amy. “If y’all survive this, I hope we never meet again. If you are assigned to watch us, I hope you refuse. Not many survive more than one meeting with us… right, Amy?”

Jeremy taxis the jet away from the hangar; Kef reports that the mercs aren’t moving. As the jet rolls toward the runway, Blake calls McBride. “Do you see your ladies?” “Affirmative. What type of trigger?” “Same as in the bathroom – you have the trigger. You guys are sneaky!” McBride: “Evidently we need a refresher course.” From the cockpit Jeremy calls back, “Tell them that if there’s even a scratch on my plane, I’ll never let them live it down!”

The jet is airborne. Blake: “Tell your boss we’d like to talk to him, come to a mutual understanding.” McBride: “The major is going to be royally p*ssed.” Blake: “He should reassess his goals. We’re getting close to being upset.” McBride: “You have neutralized my team. I’ve taken 50% losses.” Blake: “Most conflicts end badly so far.” McBride: “There are things going on that make no sense, but I’ve had bosses that made even less sense.”

Kef senses Blake’s relief as their jet flies safely away from Dublin. As Blake keeps rattling on and on with McBride, increasing cockiness in his tone, Kef gives him an emphatic throat-slashing gesture. Blake takes the hint (the phone signal was breaking up anyway) and signs off. “You got what you wanted, Blake. No need to be taunting the merc.”

Axle figures out a way to plug in Jeremy’s flying belt to recharge. The group discusses where they should go next. The decision is made that most of the weaponry, explosives, etc. will have to be dumped into the Atlantic Ocean before we land anywhere. Darvich is allowed to pick through and keep whatever he finds useful, and the group will retain the medkits and the tranquilizer gun.

Blake phones California. “Good morning!” Fred Stevens says cheerily. The fake Carothers is secure, having been transferred to another prison facility. Edward Carver, the lawyer, has been scrambling; he has a meeting at 1:00pm PDT, and Stevens is placing appropriate assets. A DNA test will be conducted on the fake Carothers. A “very gung-ho” FBI agent is organizing a federal probe of the prison officials who might had been involved in the switch, and is “keeping us moderately out of it” exposure-wise. Stevens concludes, “The last three or four days have been very interesting.” Replies Blake, “Welcome to my entire life. Get some rest, I’ll be in touch.”

Jeremy switches on the autopilot. He comes back to the cabin to sit near Newhurst and ask her about her partner, Quentin Page. “He doesn’t understand my obsession with your organization,” she admits. “Officially, we have an information source we will not compromise. He agrees with me on this.” Retorts Jeremy, “For now – until he decides he needs a promotion, or that you’ve gone over the edge.” “He’s not that kind of man,” Newhurst says assuringly. “And I don’t intend to turn you over to anybody. I’ll just smooth over the rough edges you leave behind,” this last with a glance at Blake. Blake shoots back, “You’re not our enemy… yet.” A lively group discussion ensues. Finally Kef raises her hands and her voice and declares, “Enough! We’re wasting our energy. Cagle and Carlton and McLeon are our problem right now. Let’s agree – for now we stay wary of Newhurst, she keeps trying to prove we have nothing to worry about from her.”

Jeremy observes, “Cagle is a control freak. He runs his own cells. Things are blowing up in Los Angeles, so I think he’s there.”

Kef phones Andrew Barrow, whom she left at an inn near London. He is very chipper and quite pleased with himself. As a result of one of his visions, he had located Bob Taylor’s comic book collection and is preparing it to be shipped back to Baltimore. The London area is abuzz with news of the breakup of a terrorist meeting, fire and explosions at the asylum, and something about shootings at a hotel in Dublin.

Blake calls Sara Summers in Dallas. She reports that someone had made a pass at their office with bullets and Molotovs; no people were hurt, the damage was minor, so she figures it was a distraction, or an attempt to attract police attention. No one is watching the assets now. She had to deal with the police; they want to talk to Blake. They had pursued two or three groups that had been watching them, got nothing except two of their own agents had been hospitalized. One group appeared Middle Eastern, another group (military) had contained African-Americans. None of them were from the government. Blake wants identification of at least one of those groups – “You have three bites at the apple.” Also, “Don’t go anywhere near Infinite Solutions HQ. If you even drive by, I want you to turn your head.”

Around noon GMT, with no ships or boats or other planes anywhere in the vicinity, Axle and Steve dump several crates overboard.

Jeremy asks Darvich, “Is there any reason you can’t go home?” Newhurst checks FBI files, discovering that Darvich was under investigation for some mysterious deaths in the 1950s, then was involved in something – protests? – in San Francisco in 1968. Steve works up a passport and identification for Darvich, asking him what name he wants to use. “I like the name Warbucks,” Darvich muses, “and the name Kerry.”

At 1:30 Jeremy lands in Brunswick, Newfoundland. Newhurst agrees that she can’t enter the US on their jet, so she will catch a commercial flight to Baltimore, and then fly out to Los Angeles.

By 2:00pm we are once again airborne. Since no one has a strong idea of where to go other than “not Dallas,” Jeremy heads toward St Louis. Kef curls up to catch a nap. Blake calls Tom Cartley, who is in Chicago. Axle orders a truck to haul stuff to Dallas.

Kef awakens at 3:00pm CDT, just as Jeremy is landing in St Louis. Nearby, Blake is awake, so she relates a vision she had just had. She was looking out over a city skyline lit by afternoon sun. Her point of view swept in toward one of the upper floors of a particular office building. Through the glass she peered into a conference room, well decorated and plush. Two men were seated at the conference table. One of them was Major Carlton, dressed in a conservative business suit. The other she recognized from media coverage as Don Matthews, a so-called “dotcom millionaire” known to be interested in New Age stuff, so Kef also realized the skyline she had seen was in Denver. The time indicated on Carlton’s wristwatch was 6:30. Kef feels this meeting will be taking place today.

Blake remembers that his frequent client Abraham Donaldson does business with Don Matthews, and gives him a call. Donaldson readily supplies the address – Stoddard Building, Suite 1500 – and phone number for Matthews’ company. He describes Matthews as having a unique personality, “eccentric and weird.” Blake: “If his stock takes a dive, it won’t affect you, right?” Donaldson: “So he’s the focus of one of your special investigations?” Blake: “I cannot confirm or deny…”

Darvich, after seeing how the flying belt performs, tells Jeremy he figures a four-hour cruise time at its top speed of 200 mph. Jeremy asks about a solar charger. “We’ll just work the panels onto the top of the next plane I buy.”

At 4:15pm MDT Jeremy lands the jet at Denver International. Blake rents two V8 sedans with large trunks. Jeremy asks around and finds out that there is a helipad near the Stoddard Building. Steve freshens up the makeup for those who are in disguise.

The cars are delivered at 4:30pm. Blake, Kef, Paula, and Steve are in one car, Axle, Darvich, and Jeremy in the other. In an alley downtown Axle pulls in between two semis at a loading dock. Jeremy pulls out the flyer from the trunk and Darvich helps him don it. Jeremy flies up to the top of the Stoddard building and lands between two huge AC units where he can watch the helipad. Blake, Steve, and Axle case the outside of the building.

By 5:30pm Blake is in the lobby of the Stoddard Building, Steve is outside near the entrance. Axle has taken Darvich shopping at a nearby Radio Shack, and Darvich is currently sitting on the sidewalk tinkering with a radio-controlled car.

An armored Town Car with dark tinted windows pulls up. Carlton and two bodyguards emerge, all of them wearing body armor. The limo pulls away. Steve reports that another man is across the street watching the entrance, but he doesn’t seem to have ‘made’ either Steve or Blake. Blake announces that he will shoot each one once with the trank gun (which contains three shots). Steve repositions; Kef slides behind the wheel of the car Blake was driving.

Blake fires at the lead bodyguard (B1) and hits him in the leg. B1 missteps and the other bodyguard (B2) notices. Blake’s second shot strikes Carlton, who doesn’t appear to feel it. B2 fails to dodge Blake’s third shot. B1 and B2 turn to face Blake; Carlton turns his head. Blake fast-draws his pistol and steps forward, leveling the gun at B2’s head. First B1, then Carlton collapse to the floor. B2 fast-draws his gun. Blake fires twice at B2’s shoulder; most of the damage is stopped by Kevlar, but the impact may have hit a nerve because B2 drops his gun. Then B2 falls down.

Steve rushes up, waving an official-looking wallet. “Special building security!” he booms, “Everyone clear the area!” He starts barking orders at the security guard. Steve pulls B1’s gun, pops out two shells, and places the gun under B1’s hand.

Amid the chaos Blake grabs Carlton and radios, “Kef, I’m coming out.” Kef pulls up and Blake “helps” Carlton into the back seat.

Jeremy flies up over the edge of the building. Carlton’s third bodyguard (B3), who finally realizes that the Major is being taken, reaches for his phone. Blake: “What about the guy across the street?” Jeremy: “I got him!” Jeremy flies down, gets hold of B3 with the tractor field, then soars back upward. B3 not only throws up, he drops his phone. Jeremy leaves B3 atop a building across the way.

Axle picks up Steve and Jeremy. Kef and Axle drive to the airport. Major Carlton, thoroughly unconscious, is loaded onto the plane. The rental cars are returned. Shortly after 6:30pm the jet is airborne, with Jeremy heading toward an airport in Long Beach, California. ETA is 7:00pm PDT.

Kef very successfully taps into Carlton’s mind and immediately relates surprising news: Carlton is running the show! It’s Cagle who reports to Carlton, not the other way around as the group had believed. Carlton had sprung Carothers from jail and inserted the fake. He wanted Carothers’ knowledge from his involvement with the group’s activities.

But why is Carlton after us?

[September 10, 2005]

It is around 7:00pm PDT May 2, 2005 when Jeremy brings the jet in for a landing at Long Beach, California. On the flight from Denver, Kef has been searching through the unconscious Major Carlton’s mind, prompted by Blake’s questions. Carlton is a megalomaniac, working to change the world according to his own vision. He is very intelligent and his mind is highly structured and organized. He also possesses strong intuition, which enables him to make leaps in logic. He had planned to make the military his career, but at his 20-year mark on July 1, 2003, he opted out. This was after he had investigated the paranormal events in Alabama. His intuition allowed him to put two and two together and figure out what happened at the graveyard and even what sort of summoned creature was involved. He intends to use Igor Darvich’s device on the entire world to unleash latent metahuman abilities, then spearhead the New Age that is bound to follow and manipulate it to his own ends. He believes (intuitively) that when these powers are awakened in the genetically fortunate few of the world, he will himself possess them to a high degree. Estimates that up to 10% of those exposed to the device will die immediately, and countless others will be killed in the ensuing turmoil, do not bother him at all.

Carlton sprang Marvin Carothers from prison in May 2004. The same plastic surgeon that resculpted the substitute’s features into Carothers’ also made Carothers look like financier Robert Cagle. (The real Cagle is still alive, being maintained in a drug-induced coma in a sanitarium in Europe. The plan is that when Carothers’ prison term is up, Cagle will be brought back to resume his own identity.) Carlton’s investigations had linked Carothers with Deathwish and the supernatural events surrounding that rock band. Carlton, working through lawyer Edward Carver, had made the offer to Carothers and then bribed four prison officials so the substitution could be made.

Carlton is not very happy with Carothers, however. In Carothers’ burning desire to get revenge on Blake Drummond and the others, he had done things that forced Carlton’s hand.

Carlton had hooked millionaire Don Matthews, a big believer in the New Age, into funding his elaborate yet meticulously planned schemes. He had pushed all the right buttons with Matthews, even making him believe that he, Matthews, was running the show.

Carlton was able to draw the IRA into his circle after Sean McLeon had stumbled upon rumors about Darvich’s device. Carlton figures that McLeon will eventually try to double-cross him, and stands ready to dispose of him when that occurs.

Carothers built Carlton’s intel groups. Carlton is amassing an extensive database of paranormal events and abilities that have sprung up around the world. Kef obtains the contact protocols Carlton uses with Carothers.

Casting a spell, Paula reads in Carlton’s aura the potential for magery along with what she describes as “swirls” of psionic abilities and “something like Darvich.” This verifies Carlton’s intuitive knowledge that he himself is latent for metahuman talents.

Kef recalls a Rhine Institute study from about five years ago that concluded that approximately one out of every 1,000,000 people possessed any psi abilities, and in only a fraction of those were the abilities demonstrable and measurable. Axle, who had read the same study, says that the numbers are more concentrated in the technologically advanced nations. The theory is that when minds are free from concentrating on day-to-day survival, higher functions are able to develop. “Or maybe it’s sunspot activity,” says Axle, “and the ‘psychic boomers’ are coming of age.”

At the airport, the group rents a limo and a second car. Axle, Jeremy, Paula, and Darvich get into the limo. Blake, Steve, and Kef bundle Carlton into the second car.

Blake phones the head of Solution Security in Los Angeles, Fred Stevens. “It’s definitely interesting working for you,” Stevens says cheerfully. He doesn’t know Cagle’s whereabouts. Carver, who is still being tailed, left his office 30-40 minutes ago headed for a meeting in downtown LA. “That’s a ripple effect of me coming into the area,” says Blake. “Let me know where Carver winds up.”

As the group heads for Solution Security’s office in Beverly Hills, Kef continues gleaning information from Carlton’s mind. Matthews has no way to contact anyone else in Carlton’s organization. Carlton had a fourth bodyguard in Denver, not just the three that we picked up on. The bodyguard would have notified Carothers through a contact point that Carlton had been taken. Carlton has an opponent in the NSA, an agent named Kenneth Stimberg, that he wants to have killed. While he is aware that Blake and Jeremy have done things that disrupted his plans, to Carlton we are of only peripheral concern. It is Carothers who obsesses over Blake et al. Carlton is almost annoyed enough with Carothers to have him eliminated; however, Carothers currently controls all the intel assets. He is good at this, although he has still not tiered his structure like the major wants him to.

Jeremy, who has been watching Darvich take apart various things in the back seat of the limo, asks what damage has been done. Darvich has, among other things, increased the efficiency of the beverage maker.

At 7:50pm we arrive at Solution Security. The 7th floor offices are a beehive of activity. The receptionist greets Blake and inquires as to our needs; Blake asks for a large conference room with all surveillance nullified, and a technician with a non-networked computer. “Let Stevens know where I am – he’ll be happy I’m here.”

Once in the conference room, Blake buzzes the receptionist. When she arrives, he hands her three empty hypos from the tranquilizer gun and three full ones. “Get that drug analyzed, and when you figure out what it is, get some more and fill the empties. Don’t stick yourself.”

A hulking guy arrives with a computer under each arm, giving his name as Jethro. Blake tells Darvich that Jethro will be his assistant, and tells Jethro, “Assist the doctor, keep me informed, and try not to let anything go boom.” Jethro looks alarmed until Blake assures him he meant a “metaphorical” boom. Adds Axle, “Think ‘crash’.” Resting one hand on his flyer, Jeremy says proudly, “He built this out of a microwave, a refrigerator, and a serving cart – and it goes 200 miles per hour.”

Kef relates that Carlton and Carothers typically hold their meetings in a rented space in New York. Carlton runs three combat squads of 20 each, one in Los Angeles (headed by Bob Gasin), another in Dallas (Sam Rodriguez), and the third in Washington, DC (Joe McBride). Carlton’s actual base of operations is in Detroit; the New York office is an elaborate fake which Carlton mainly uses when he meets with clients (he has worked as a military and intelligence consultant; his clients have included the US government). Kef obtains the codes to the security system; there is no live security on-site. Blake phones Tom Cartley in Cleveland and sends him up to the Detroit office with instructions to “box up everything and take it – computer files, furniture, everything – and ship it to Dallas.” (Blake asks Axle to make the shipping arrangements.) “Keep the Chicago stuff going with a skeleton crew. Call me if you see Cagle.”

Carlton’s key people have been identified as Carothers, Carver, the three combat team commanders (who aren’t apprised of his grand scheme; they are fed a patriotic line and are well paid besides), and an admin guy in Atlanta named Carl Wyatt.

Blake calls Deputy Stan Tyson in Alabama, who answers on the fourth ring. Blake gives him a quick synopsis. “The IRA and the mercs weren’t after us – we were just in the way.” Tyson relates that about four hours ago the Feds came and got Dan Taylor and shipped him to DC. “Oh, and I’ve got you guys’ cat, or so the Grays tell me.” Aside to Kef, Blake asks, “Do you want the cat back?” Kef replies, “If the cat’s in Alabama, it must belong in Alabama.” To Tyson, Blake says, “Please ask the Grays to feed it.” Blake mentions Carl Wyatt, then explains, “I’ve barred myself from having dealings in Atlanta, but if you have a way to do so, tell me where he is.” Tyson, cautiously: “How important is this, Blake?” Blake: “This started in your jurisdiction and mushroomed into a worldwide phenomenon!” Tyson: “I don’t know that I should feel honored.” Blake: “Do you watch CNN? That’s your jurisdiction’s fault!” (Kef gives Blake a sharp look.) “He has committed crimes –“ Tyson: “But you don’t know which ones, yet.” Tyson makes no promises, but will do what he can.

About 8:30pm, as the tranquilizer wears off and Carlton starts to awaken, Blake injects him with “happy juice.” Carlton has been ziptied to a chair, facing so that he can only see Blake and not the rest of the conference room. Kef settles behind him out of sight. Dim alarm bells go off in his mind at the sight of Blake Drummond, but Carlton succumbs to the drug’s effects. “How are you doing, Major?” “I’m fine, Mr Drummond. I don’t know why you have me tied up… I apologize for Cagle; he went postal. It was unintentional, I assure you. I’ll smooth it over.”

Axle visits Solution Security’s well-stocked armory, reloads. He wanders around the office, where several people are monitoring Fred Stevens’ field reports. Carver has been tracked to a restaurant area.

Blake pulls out Carlton’s cell phone. “What’s the number for Cagle?” “Speed dial 13.” Carlton asks to be untied; Blake placates him with “Come on, a talented man like you would cause all kinds of mischief if he was loose. Unbinding you would be awkward.” Carlton: “We can work together!” Blake: “I’m sure earlier events were just business on your part, not revenge." Blake wants Carlton to talk to Cagle, but Carlton warns him it would tip Cagle off. Blake asks Jethro for some special phone devices. Jethro immediately produces a cell phone, opens it and makes a few quick adjustments (as Darvich watches avidly), then tosses it to Blake. Impressed, Blake says, “When this is over, you and I are gonna have a talk. I didn’t know you could do that.” Replies Jethro matter-of-factly, “You’re not supposed to be able to.” Blake says, “I smell a raise in your future,” drawing a big grin from Jethro.

Turning once again to Carlton, Blake asks directly, “You were going to rule the world, was that your plan?” Carlton struggles against the drug but loses. “With your knowledge you could help accelerate the process. I could definitely find a place for you.” Blake: “What about all the innocent people?” Carlton: “The world would become a much better place! We would eliminate poverty, eliminate the unfit!” Blake: “But what about all the dead?” Carlton: “You believe in the afterlife, don’t you? They’ll be better off there.” Blake: “What kind of casualties are you talking about, out of six billion people?” Carlton: “No more than five or ten percent.” Blake: “I’m not good at math, but isn’t that six hundred million people?” Carlton: “But with that device McLeon dug up, we could mitigate that, get it down to one percent! What about it? Are you in?” Blake: “There’s a hole in your theory. The device will only work as long as Darvich wants it to work. You do know that, don’t you?” Carlton: “I can persuade him. He doesn’t have to know everything.”

Stevens reports to Blake that Carver has arrived at DelValcheo’s restaurant. Stevens has one person inside keeping an eye out for Cagle. Blake instructs, “See if the person Carver’s with answers his phone.” Stevens: “But it’s a private room…” Blake, sharply: “Why do I hear excuses? I want to hear ‘yes, boss’. All I want to know is if he answers the phone.”

Axle suggests switching keys around at the restaurant’s valet stand, to slow down Carver’s departure. “Do that,” Blake grins, “use your talents.” At Kef’s suggestion, Blake asks Steve to go down and lead the restaurant effort. Jeremy, overhearing, asks “Who’s Steve going to get? Don’t you want to talk to the guy?” Jeremy will take Steve and Axle using his flyer. “This is LA, they’ll think it’s a movie.” Steve: “Come on, Axle, it’ll be an adventure.” Axle, resignedly: “At least I have on clean underwear.” Jeremy, brightly: “For now.” Jeremy gets Jethro to strap him into the flyer’s harness, then he, Axle, and Steve go up to the roof and take off.

Blake addresses Carlton again. “Let’s discuss your European cell. You know their force has been cut in half?” Carlton: “Yes, I was notified. I wonder how you found me in Denver.” Blake: “Your people in Dallas distracted my people.” Carlton: “That was Carothers’ doing. He called it an elaborate misdirection process.” Carlton’s LA team’s staging area is near the Hollywood Bowl. Carlton is sure that Carothers will try to retrieve him. “He needs me. He doesn’t have access to the strike teams, and he only has a small amount of the money – he has no contact with Matthews. He will very willingly come after you. In all modesty, I’m the mastermind of the complex web that’s being woven.”

Jeremy radios Darvich, “Professor, we’re over the restaurant.” Darvich notifies Blake. Blake unties one of Carlton’s hands and places the cell phone in it. “Tell him we have you and it would be best to back off.” “Cagle, this is Major Carlton. We’ve got a problem. I’m in negotiations with Blake Drummond. He plucked me out of Denver.”

Fred Stevens reports to Blake that the man seated with Carver had just taken a phone call. (Stevens managed to get into the private room disguised as a waiter, and mentions that that arrangement had cost the company $4,000.) Blake replies, “I assure you that’s Cagle. I want you to acquire him, alive if possible. Only the backup team is to use deadly force – because I can’t control what they do.”

Steve has Jeremy drop him off near the restaurant. Jeremy: “Axle, is there somewhere you want to be dropped off?” Axle: “Dallas.” Jeremy: “No problem, we can make it!” Axle: “Unfortunately, that’s 1200 miles, and your flyer’s range is just 800.” Jeremy: “I’ll work out a trajectory!”

At Blake’s prompting, Carlton says to Carothers, “Drummond says to back off… and order the steak.” Carothers: “Tell Blake Drummond I’d like to meet him.” Blake: “Tell him Ed’s in trouble, too.” After the phone call, Blake takes the phone and reties Carlton, telling him “You were very effective.”

Four minutes after the phone call, two men come rushing out of the restaurant. Jeremy: “I think those guys are having a problem.” Axle: “Looks like it.” Blake has Darvich relay instructions to Jeremy to pick up Cagle. Jeremy says to Axle, “You’re about to have a fellow rider. He may be feisty.” Jeremy swoops down, snatches Cagle in the tractor field, then shoots straight up, all so quickly that there are no witnesses. Jeremy says cheerily, “Good morning, Mr Carothers.” “Oh, sh*t.” “That would be one of the reactions, but it looks like you didn’t have any problems.” “I have a strong constitution…”

Delayed at the valet stand, Carver finally takes off in a car that isn’t his. Blake tells Stevens to pick up Carver and “convince him to come to me.” Blake sends a security team up to the roof to take charge of Carothers “and don’t pick off Axle.”

Without landing, Jeremy releases Axle onto the roof of the Solution Security building. He asks Carothers, “Do you like riding in this thing? I haven’t done any loops yet.” Carothers groans, “You’re the IS pilot, aren’t you.” Axle instructs the security team, “He’s ex-military, and Blake wants him alive.” Carothers is searched and relieved of two guns (one of them an ankle holdout).

Not wanting to be seen, Kef leaves the conference room. She and Paula enter an adjacent room where Kef is still close enough to hear Carlton’s thoughts.

The security team delivers an unhappy Carothers to the conference room. Blake straps him to a chair. Carothers’ eyes widen when he recognizes Igor Darvich. Blake injects him with ‘happy juice’, then inquires, “How’re you doing, Marvin?” “You’ve got a flyer that doesn’t make noise. That’s not good.” He goes on, “I thought I had a good shot at you, with the IRA and PLO. Thought I could get it done fast, on the side.” His tone dripping vitriol, he spits, “But you have some malevolent devil watching over you like a guardian angel. Why should I answer any of your questions? It won’t gain me anything.” Coolly Blake answers, “Because you can’t help it.”

Axle leaves the conference room. He suggests that Carothers should be scanned for tracking devices. “Prepare for visitors.”

Blake asks Carothers, “Marvin, where is the physical location of your research center?” Carothers mutters, “That must have been Mr Grant flying,” then aloud says, “I’ve got information you want. I’m keeping it as a bargaining chip.”

Blake draws himself up. “Now I must come to the crux of the matter. Marvin, I see only two things to do with you. One, I give you to the feds and you go back to jail… for a long time. Or two, there’s a man driving around the city right now who wants to kill you.” Carothers says craftily, “I know you have a magic person with you – a witch – and a killer, and Butch. I got most of you, I just need the names of the witch and the killer. You want the real Cagle alive, don’t you?” Blake answers, “I already know where Cagle is.” Carothers: “Your witch is more powerful than I thought. I only wish…” but he leaves the rest of that thought unexpressed. Blake: “Your prison term will be greatly extended. During that time, I want you to get anger management, to get over your anger so you don’t come avenge yourself.”

Axle learns that Edward Carver has been picked up. Kef asks Paula to warn Blake that Carlton’s drug will be wearing off in five minutes. Paula goes into the conference room and signals Blake by pointing at Carlton and holding up five fingers.

“Major, have you ever killed anybody?” “Only in active combat.” (Kef knows this is an outright lie; Carlton had killed at least four people who refused to be ‘recruited’.) Blake says thoughtfully, “My problem is, as nice a guy as you are, as smart as you are, you haven’t committed any felonies. What do I do with you?” Carlton repeats encouragingly, “Join me!” Gravely Blake responds, “The six hundred million, or sixty million… I can’t get past that.” “We’ll find a way,” Carlton asserts (thinking Blake must be one of those squeamish types). “You’ll bring in more resources for the effort, and things will be better all around!” Blake asks Carothers, “What do you think, Marvin?” With a sneer, Carothers growls, “This guy’s got the morals of a scorpion.” Blake turns to Carlton. “I’ll ponder it. – No.”

Blake muses, “Does Ed have anything on you? Sure he does. He could connect you to the prison scheme. He’ll fold like a house of cards.” Blake looks up. “Now I’m happy. You can go to prison for a long, long time. You can refine your scheme, surrounded by other criminals.”

Leaving the conference room, Blake checks in with Steve. Steve had defused a fail-safe bomb in Cagle’s car, and is bringing Carver in. Quietly, Blake tells him, “I’m going to send the major downstairs. Will you take care of him? I don’t want to see him again.” Understanding Blake’s meaning completely, Steve agrees.

Blake returns to Carlton and Carothers. “Major, I’ve changed my mind. The lawyer isn’t good enough to tie you to anything. I believe we should just part ways. You just keep your operations out of my sphere of influence.” Replies Carlton, “You’ve got Carothers. He was the one who was after you. I don’t see any reason to mess with you.”

Blake releases Carlton’s legs, and the major stretches them. Blake says, “I’m going to take you to the stairway. I’m going to give you a head start… five minutes before any of my people come after you. Hopefully, we’ll never see each other again.”

Stepping outside, Blake tells his security team, “I want each of the stairwell doors guarded, from the sixth floor down through the second. If he comes out any of those doors, I want you to shoot him dead. No matter what you hear inside the stairwell, don’t go in. You have two minutes to get in position.”

Returning to the conference room, Blake addresses Carlton. “Well, Major, I wish I could say it was a pleasure, but it’s not. Are there any loose ends?” Replies Carlton, “Our paths won’t cross again. You ought to reconsider my offer, though.” “You’re not going to spring Marvin again?” “No, I’m not.” Carothers speaks up, “By the time I get out of prison, one of you will be dead.”

“Major,” Blake goes on, “it’s a shame you’re amoral, because you are brilliant. But you’re willing to sacrifice people to achieve your ends. You have absolutely no feeling for people.”

Axle is standing by for Carlton’s release, and one of Blake’s people asks him, “This guy’s dangerous?” Axle replies, “Sure. Oh, you mean Carlton? I thought you meant Blake.”

Blake removes Carlton’s remaining restraints. Carlton stands up, stretches and flexes. Blake walks Carlton out of the conference room and opens the door to the stairs. Without further ado, Carlton begins descending the stairs. Taking out his gun, Blake sits down on the top step of the stairwell and listens to the reports from his security team. A voice counts down the floors as Carlton trots past, then reports, “Out of the building and moving, sir.” Blake stands up, holsters his gun, and returns to the conference room.

One of the security team, monitoring video cameras in the parking garage, sees Carlton sliding into a gray car that seems to be waiting just for him. “That’s one of ours! Should we tell the boss?” Axle replies, “Don’t bother, he’s busy. Call the police and report that car stolen… in a few minutes.”

The ‘happy juice’ has finally taken full effect on Carothers. (Kef has also tapped into his mind.) Blake obtains an address in Miami, the security codes, and the name of the 24-hour security firm paid to watch it (Sunrise Security). “Miami…” muses Blake. He phones his admin Sara Summers in Dallas. “Send two people to this bungalow in Miami. Take everything, fill up a pod, a friend will pick it up. Neutralize or distract the security guards; force is not required.” She assures him the two operatives will be leaving on the first commercial flight available in the morning. She goes on, “I have a name to give you – Sam Rodriguez.” Blake says he’d already heard that name. Sara goes on, “The police in Dallas still want to talk to you. They don’t believe you’re not involved in the things that have been going on over the past forty-eight hours, even though I told them you’ve been out of town.” Blake assures her that when he gets back to Dallas, he will talk to the police.

Blake faces Carothers. “Marvin, I have news for you about your friend the Major. The good news is, he made it out of the building. The bad news… we’ll have to talk to him in another lifetime.” Carothers says wryly, “So one of your partners got him. Just because you anticipate something doesn’t mean you can prevent it.” Comments Blake, “He was a brilliant fool. Just like you. I’ve been to hell; they were glad to see me leave.”

Blake exits the conference room, spots Paula waiting outside, and asks her where Kef is. Paula leads him into the room next door. Kef sits with her head resting against the wall shared by the conference room, her eyes closed, but as he comes in she says softly, “Hi, Blake.” Blake tells the two women, “I’m about to have to call Newhurst to come pick up Carothers. Can you think of any downside to that?” The three of them have a discussion, during which Blake raises the idea that if he can find her, he might hire Carla Newton. Kef warns against that, saying “She’s completely amoral. She has no loyalty at all. Money won’t keep her on your side, either.” Blake comments, “But she does know quite a bit about us.” He asks Paula, “Do you have a lobotomy spell?” Responds Paula, “I used to know a temporary forgetfulness spell.” Kef says quietly, “I know who does.” Going down the line, they discuss what, if anything, to do with the various known members of Carlton’s and Carothers’ organizations.

As the three are talking, it is Kef’s phone that chimes at midnight. Steve tells her, “It’s taken care of. I’m headed back. The Major is vanished from the face of the earth.”

Blake goes around to his people and gives instructions to send all but a couple of them home; “Be back at 8:30.” Those remaining are assigned to watch Carothers. He describes Steve’s current appearance, saying “Let him come up.” Blake and George (Fred Stevens’ relief man) walk Carothers to the restroom, then to a room with a cot. “Once you lay down,” Blake tells Carothers (who is fairly docile by now), “the only way you’re going to the bathroom is on yourself.” He instructs George, “If he gives you any trouble, don’t kill him – but you can beat him severely.”

Kef finally heads off for a long hot shower. Paula makes arrangements to have fresh clothes delivered for them both.

Fred Stevens arrives, escorting Edward Carver. He reports to Blake, “He’s agreed to give evidence against Carothers. Your friend intimidated the hell out of him. Sir, if I may say, your friend comes across as a stone-cold killer.” Blake smiles knowingly, and issues further instructions for having Carver and Carothers guarded overnight.

After asking where “the pretty lady with the reddish-brown hair” is (Kef’s still wearing a wig over her flaming red curls), Blake goes to the ladies’ shower room and knocks. “Kef, it’s Blake. We’ve got Carver. Want to come help while I question him?” Kef thinks mournfully to herself that she had really looked forward to a long shower, but replies, “Give me a few minutes.” “Want me to wait?” Blake says teasingly, but heads back to the conference room.

A few minutes later Kef emerges from the shower room, wearing only a towel around her body and another wrapped around her wet hair. She goes to the room next to the conference room, sits down, and is highly successful at tapping into Carver’s mind. Carver’s scared. He’s not a very nice person. He’s a dirty lawyer, takes bribes. He’s not clear on the details, but he knew Carlton had large-scale plans. The potential for those plans creating great wealth for him attracted Carver.

In the conference room Carver says straightforwardly to Blake, “Your guys made it quite clear what you got on me. I’ll cut any deal.” “Who will you testify against?” Blake asks. “There’s no Carlton any more. Are you the revengeful type?” “Not really,” Carver shrugs (he would take an opportunity if it fell into his lap, but he won’t go looking for one). Blake asks pointedly, “When you’ve paid your debt to society, you won’t come after me or those around me?” “No, I won’t,” answers Carver. “Here’s my deal,” says Blake. “Give me access to all your records. Then I will give you to law enforcement and you can deal with them.” Carver says, “Oh, so it’s them I have to cut a deal with.” “I either kill you or turn you over to them,” Blake says. “We’re going to take you to the bathroom, then you get to go to sleep on your own – meaning we won’t beat you into unconsciousness.”

Carver dictates to Fred Stevens instructions on how to get into his office and the codes for accessing the data. After Carver is bedded down, Blake says, “Stevens, I want someone there at nine o’clock.” Stevens cracks, “It’s not as much fun to wake people in the same time zone?”

Paula brings Kef fresh clothes and Kef changes into them. Paula and Blake each take showers. Clad in a thick bathrobe, Blake lets himself into Stevens’ office, settles himself in a comfortable chair, and puts his feet up on the desk. A few minutes later there comes a tap at the door. Kef sticks her head in and asks Blake, “Is there anything you need?” Blake answers, “Let’s all get a good night’s sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

By 8:30am most of the employees have arrived back at the office. Blake finds a voice mail from Tom Cartley: “Gathered, boxed, delivered to pickup point.” Axle gets a call about the Detroit pickup, and schedules a similar pickup for Miami. Over breakfast Kef describes last night’s dream: “It was the kind of vision I practically never have. Nothing violent happened. Agent Newhurst came, Blake delivered Carothers to her custody, it all went smoothly, no problems.”

At 11:00am Sara Summers calls. The house in Miami has been cleaned out and the items are on their way to Dallas. “We provided a distraction for the security guards, rather than money.” Blake tells her, “You can stand down a bit. There’s a danger I’ll take care of when I get back to Dallas.” Sara requests that the employees who have been on round-the-clock alert for the past several days be allowed to take some comp time off, and Blake gives his assent.

Around 11:30am Judy Newhurst calls Blake, who tells her, “I have two presents for you, maybe three. Carothers, Carver, and a tape of Carver.” “Ah, the evidence that will tie it in a nice little bow.” Blake admits, “The Major escaped our grasp, and we’ll probably never see him again.” Newhurst, after a brief hesitation, says “I’ll put him on the federal and Interpol watch lists.” Blake asks, “Want to know a secret?” Newhurst replies firmly, “No.”

Blake goes and rouses Carothers and Carver. “It’s a beautiful morning except for you two, but it’s a good day to be alive.”

At noon, Darvich and Jethro (who had fallen asleep in the conference room) wake up and get something to eat. Darvich orders more equipment. Jethro says to Blake, “This guy’s amazing!” Blake advises, “Don’t ask questions. Watch and learn.” Among the items already delivered are seven Remington electric shavers. (At Kef’s suggestion, Jeremy had asked Darvich if he could construct something like a dazer that would knock someone unconscious without the use of projectiles and without having to come in contact. Jeremy described the dazer as about the size of an electric shaver.) [John: “When you get dazed with a Remington, your hair falls out.”]

As Kef predicted, at 2:00pm Newhurst arrives. Blake and Beatrice (the third highest-ranking employee after Fred Stevens and George) deliver Carothers and Carver to the awaiting FBI agents. All goes well.

By 3:30pm the group has left Solution Security (no doubt to the great relief of many). The drive to the airport and takeoff are uneventful. While airborne, Blake checks in with Tyson. “That Atlanta guy has gone to ground, but I set the FBI regional office on him. I got creative – being around you stirs up my creative juices.” Blake thanks him for his assistance, telling him, “You’re a focal point. I’m sure our paths will cross soon. Isn’t it time for you to become Sheriff Tyson? I’ll contribute to your campaign. Discreetly, of course.” Tyson chuckles. “It’s never boring, working with you. I’m glad to know you. And I know I’m just seeing the tip of events.” Replies Blake, “Where you are, it’s more than the tip. I’ll let you know whenever I’m in your jurisdiction.” “I appreciate that. The Grays send their best wishes – the cat has gotten comfy. And do me a favor… ask your friend… tell him it’s not nice to break hospitality.” “I wish you luck,” says Blake, “but you’re a guy who makes his own luck.”

At 8:45pm CDT on Tuesday, May 3, Jeremy lands the plane at Love Field in Dallas.

Igor Darvich is ensconced in one of Steve’s old safe houses, on the bus line and close to Love Field. Jeremy rents another hangar and starts getting it fitted out to be a workshop for Darvich. He asks Darvich to build an improved flyer with a harness that can be put on and taken off without assistance, and can be collapsed and carried in a suitcase. Jeremy will also start contacting engineering and physics professors from area colleges in hopes of broadening Darvich’s circle of friends and helping him at last feel that he does belong in the world, free, happy, and productive.

Jeremy arranges to have the rented jet flown back to Ireland. Having deemed his jet unsafe to fly he sells it as scrap, specifying that the Infinite Solutions logos are to be completely removed. He is in the process of buying a new and even better jet, to which he plans to have Darvich make improvements, including the addition of solar panels to the top of the wings.

Axle makes arrangements to sell controlling interest of the trucking company and the limousine service to his employees. Publicly, he announces that over the past year or so his other ventures have been taking up most of his time, and he believes his employees should have more control over their future. He maintains a small percentage of both companies so that no one will think he’s just dumping them for any reason.

Privately, however, he is worried that someone down the line will use or hurt his employees or their families in order to get to Axle.

On May 4th, Blake uses Major Carlton’s phone to call Sam Rodriguez, who answers “Yeah, Major.” “The Major has left this place. This is Blake Drummond. There is no deal – your services in Dallas are no longer needed.” Rodriguez starts to demand money to pay 20 people for five days’ work, but then admits that they had been given a month’s payment in advance. When Blake assures him he won’t have to give any of it back, Rodriguez relaxes. “I have no ties to Dallas. I’ll be leaving as soon as possible, along with all of my people. No hard feelings?” “Not from me,” says Blake; “I take it you are an honorable man, and we will have no clashes.” Rodriguez suggests he may take his group down to the Mexican border.

On May 5th Blake and Kef visit the Dallas police department. He pays his respects to Lieutenant Johansson and Captain Carothers, thanking them for assisting Ms Summers. The officer who had been hunting for him grudgingly allows that Blake has a solid alibi; the officer’s still suspicious, but he has no proof of illegal activity by Blake. Blake explains, “A group or groups had our business under surveillance, and we sought to discourage them. Mercenaries were involved, so it had to be a professional job.” “We’ll have a lineup with suspects,” the officer says. Blake replies, “Our people will identify them if possible.”

CNN reports that 90% of Sean McLeon’s terrorist group had been neutralized. McLeon had fled, but authorities are certain it’s only a matter of days before he is taken into custody.

Blake sets up an appointment for May 6th to meet with Don Matthews. Kef has Steve give her a new face and hair, and dons gypsy garb similar to that she wore in her renfair circuit days. When Matthews himself greets them, Kef clasps his hand, gazes at him and intones, “Your spirit… it illuminates all about you.” Getting down to business, Blake says “Major Carlton is no longer working on the New Age project.” “He stood me up,” Matthews complains, “and two of his men were allegedly involved in an altercation downstairs.” “Were you aware of his methodology?” Blake inquires. “He was rough at times,” Matthews admits, “and I had to admonish him. It’s his military background… it darkens the spirit. We were making good progress… Now, I’m at a loss.” Kef leans forward, saying, “You must carry on… you must continue to uplift your own self, and by that process, raise up all around you. You have much that is possible within you, so much. I know of a guru, a great-souled teacher in Boulder…” Matthews, eating up Kef’s glowing attention, exclaims to Blake, “You are wise to have such a spiritual advisor!”

After they leave Matthews smiling and Blake is driving away from the Stoddard Building, he puts in a call to Abraham Donaldson. “I’ve just had an… enlightening… meeting with Don Matthews, and I have a favor to ask of you. Will you keep an eye on this fruitcake? If you see any bad strangeness, please let me know. He’s turned from the path of darkness, but I’m not sure what that will do to his business.”

Blake tells Kef they must have a talk with the Gray family about the state of the world and their children’s blossoming psychic powers. “If they don’t have a plan, they need a plan. If they have a plan, what is the plan? Things will come after them.” Kef confesses, “I’m embarrassed... I condemned Carla for having Vivian use her power to erase a man’s memories, and yet… since then I’ve wanted several times to have it used.” “You felt like a hypocrite,” remarks Blake. “Kef, you’re still the best one to help and advise them. You’ve had more direct experience with these things and their aftereffects than anyone else.”

On Saturday, May 7, Blake and Kef fly to Montgomery then drive the eighty miles to New Brockton. Don Gray, mowing the front lawn, greets them. “Go right on in, we’ve been looking forward to seeing you.” Almost as soon as she steps in the front door, Kef finds Harbie the cat purring at her feet. As she picks up the cat and starts fussing over it, Kef experiences an incredible surge of positive energy that makes her feel stronger, her powers enhanced. Carla greets Blake and Kef happily and gives each of them a hug, then serves iced tea and lemonade. Don joins them after he puts the mower away.

“We need to talk about your children’s abilities,” Blake tells them. Right away, Carla starts apologizing. “I know that what I had Vivian do to that guy wasn’t right, but it had to be done.” Kef asks, “Why do you say that? What makes you say it had to be done?” “Because,” Carla says, “Ed insisted that if that guy was allowed to take away his memories intact, terrible things would happen.” “What terrible things?” “He said that Major Carlton would capture our family and force us to work for him… and that you and Blake and everyone else would be killed or enslaved. I don’t know how I was able to guide Vivian as to what to do, I just knew, and I knew it had to be done.”

Just in the past couple of weeks, her children’s powers have increased greatly (Kef stares at the cat, which purrs innocently in her lap). Vivian’s powers frighten and upset Vivian, so Carla had refrained from discussing them with her. Kef counters, “When she got her period, you discussed menstruation with her, didn’t you?” Carla looks sheepish. “Yes, I see the analogy.”

“Their powers aren’t going away,” Blake says. “If they don’t learn to harness their powers, they will hurt themselves and those around them.” “You have to provide your children’s moral compass,” Kef adds. Blake continues, “I know you’re horrified at what happened to your daughter Frances, but you must get past your fear, for their sake.” Carla looks to Kef. “I’d like to have your guidance. Please help us figure out what to do.”

Don calls Vivian and Ed into the living room. Vivian is an attractive young lady of sixteen now, and Ed a feisty twelve-year-old. Blake asks Vivian her powers, and she describes how she can read people’s thoughts and emotions (sometimes without intending to), and that she sometimes knows what’s going to happen before it actually does. Borrowing a pencil stub from Ed, she places it on her palm; after a moment, it starts rolling up and down her hand. “I can only do that with very light objects.” “Anything else?” presses Blake. “Well… sometimes I go to sleep in one place, like in a chair, and when I wake up, I’m in my bed, and I don’t remember getting there.” Ed says he gets premonitions, and often a sense of déjà vu. “Déjà vu means something’s already happened,” remarks Blake. “Could it be you’re actually stepping back a few moments in time? I believe it’s called fugue.”

Kef suggests that for starters, meditation and yoga training will help Vivian and Ed learn to calm and control their emotions. Carla promises to consult with Kef often. “And next summer, we’re planning another family trip to Dallas,” Carla says. Kef smiles. “Maybe this time I’ll be home.”

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