Amalfi Echo (9 page)

The FBI team
began the negotiation process feeling an utter sense of
futility.

-oOo-

Tessa was angry
at Marion. “How can you even think like that?” Tessa waved her arm
at the screen. “Look at them! They’re not, ‘an opportunity.’” Words
failed her. She screamed in disgust and paced up and down, arms
folded.

“Calm down,”
Digby said. “I won’t let you go in unless you can get yourself into
a better frame of mind.”

“Oh. I should
have guessed. You’re on
her
side of course. You all make me
freaking sick.”

“You want to be
an Amalfi warrior? Start acting like one,” Digby said coldly.

That got
through. Tessa took a deep breath, shut up and began pre-op
meditation exercises to bring her feelings under control.

They were very
short of time. The ship’s analysis agreed with the FBI’s and was
based on a lot more information. Today, the ship would not be
running simulations. The learning programs created the briefing
room. An animation of the proposed plan unfolded around Tessa who
was, by now, fully kitted. The actual attack was
straightforward—nothing she hadn’t done before. The ticklish bit
was the explosive vests and other explosives the extremists had
rigged at the windows and doors which could be triggered by
wireless deadfalls held by four, widely separated, terrorists. As
fast as she was, she would not be able to neutralise the triggering
devices as well as kill the terrorists before the explosives were
triggered. Fortunately, the terrorists’ use of wireless technology
for the triggers would now work against them because it made it
easy for the ship to assume control of the network and shut it
down.

Also in support
would be Digby in Jazmine, however Digby neglected to mention to
Tessa that his role was to monitor the FBI and other police forces.
If they made a move on her, he would kill them without
hesitation.

And the whole
operation, slightly delayed, would go out to the entire world
through the webcams.

-oOo-

Tessa exited
the shuttle inside the library. Within seconds all the terrorists
were dead. Without pausing, Tessa went to each set of explosives,
cutting the wires the ship highlighted for her, with the little
light sabre. Then she worked her way along the explosive vests,
cutting the wires there too. It was just a precaution.

Outside, the
FBI and police squads stared, frozen, at the webcam feed. The
world, too, receiving the electrifying images on a network delay,
was similarly transfixed. The FBI response team did not have
protocols for a terrorist situation that included Tessa as a white
knight and called for instructions from higher up. Not helping, was
Jazmine hovering menacingly over the library.

With the police
forces still in disarray, Tessa went to an optional phase of the
plan and freed the students, choosing first two girls, Miranda and
Casey, because she had been told in the briefing that they were her
followers on Twitter. As soon as the others were free she went back
to Miranda and Casey, who, like the other students, were still too
shocked to move or speak. She embraced them and said, “It’s all
over. They’re all dead. You’re safe now.”

Their faces
crumpled and they began to cry. They clung to Tessa, sobbing.

Her time was
up. With nervous glances at Jazmine, the FBI and police cautiously
moved in. Tessa extricated herself from the two girls and, in a
blurring flick, the shuttle took her from the library. As soon as
she was clear, Jazmine was gone in a flash of silver.

-oOo-

The rescue
threw the world into confusion. Reaction varied from those who,
seeing the jellyfish at work again, immediately struck her from
their ‘must invite’ list, to others who, possessing a better sense
of the way the wind was blowing, quickly added her to their ‘must
invite’ list, although she wouldn’t be encouraged to bring the
jellyfish even though they would be a stunning party trick. Those
engaged in the cover-up had had some success in portraying Tessa as
a spoilt D.C. brat. They were unsuccessful in preventing the
grateful parents of the Montessori students from publicly thanking
Tessa. The two followers, Miranda and Casey, became instant
celebrities. Posters and T-shirts with images of Tessa and the
jellyfish, taken from the webcams in the library, became the
hottest new item on the web. Shocking everyone was the
transformation of a teenage girl to a poised, chillingly efficient
killer of terrorists.

“Who’s thuh
man?” Tessa demanded, strutting about, filling the room with her
triumph and giving Digby a high five. Then she tried to change this
to, “Who’s thuh girl?” but it didn’t have quite the same ring
although she resolved to work on that.

“That be you,”
Marion said, smiling. It wasn’t entirely in sympathy with Tessa’s
success. Or even in her relief that the high school students had
been rescued. She was expecting see a massive spike in the numbers
of Tessa’s followers in the social media.

Marion was not
disappointed. Within days, Tessa had more than 200 000 followers on
Twitter and the communities around tessa.com struggled to keep up
with the flood of new members.

Five days
later, Digby created an environment around him and Tessa that had a
floor and a desk but was surrounded by limitless starry space. He
had given no warning to Tessa of his intentions. Now Digby sat
gravely behind the desk appraising Tessa who found herself standing
in front of the desk. She created a chair which promptly
disappeared.

“Digby?” she
said, uncertain. She noticed, for the first time, that Digby was
wearing his combat suit, the ghostly outlines shimmering against a
black high-backed executive chair.

“Stand up
straight,” Digby said. “Amalfi warriors do not slouch.”

Tessa
straightened, wondering if she was about to get a medal. That
wishful hope was quickly crushed.

“You’ve done
very well,” Digby began. “No one could argue with that. You have a
natural ability as a fighter, giving the Amalfi trait plenty to
work with. I have no doubt that you will progress to be an
outstanding Amalfi warrior.” That out of the way, Digby got to the
real subject he wanted to broach this morning. “It worries me that
you seem unaware that much of your success is due to the fact that
you are using weapons technology which is millions, and I say,
millions of years ahead of the pitiful weapons technology this
planet has at its disposal. Your successes have been easy, too
easy, and it has gone to your head. You have become cocky.”

Whatever she
had been expecting, it certainly hadn’t been this. “I… I…” she
stammered.

“I have not
finished yet,” Digby said coolly. “Even on this planet, sooner or
later, you will come up against fighters who are much smarter,
stronger, and better trained, than those you have met so far.
Despite the advanced technology, you are not invulnerable, although
one could be forgiven for thinking that you believe that you are.
You need to disabuse yourself of that notion straightaway.
Moreover,” he continued, gesturing at the brilliant swathe of stars
in which they floated, “If we ever have to fight out there, the
opposition may also have highly advanced weapons technology and
considerable experience in combat against other alien species.”
Digby fixed her with a cold, piercing look. “I do not want to bring
you home to Marion in a body-bag. I want you to take some time out
and think on this. The learning programs have prepared a meditation
retreat for you which will occupy you for the next four weeks
subjective time. Go.”

Tessa stood
rooted to the spot, her mind frozen.

“You may go,”
Digby said, a little more softly.

“Yes Sir,”
Tessa said, carrying out a clumsy about-face and creating her
bedroom around her.

-oOo-

I will not
cry
.

Tessa lay
curled up miserably on her bed, her face feeling hot and tight.

I will, will
not cry
.

Marion found
her there and sat down on the bed.

Tessa turned
her head away. “Don’t you even knock?”

“You don’t have
a privacy wall up and I did knock but I got concerned when you
didn’t answer,” Marion said. Tessa pointedly ignored this but
didn’t throw her out so Marion went on. “Digby insisted that I
listen in on his fireside chat.” Marion waited for an explosion.
When it didn’t arrive she created a box of tissues and offered
Tessa one.

Tessa ignored
this also. “Bite me,” she said.

Marion started
stroking Tessa’s hair as gently as she could. She could tell Tessa
was struggling not to cry. She thought it best not to say anything
and continued to sit on the bed stroking Tessa’s hair until finally
Tessa turned over, putting her head in Marion’s lap. Then she did
need the tissues.

-oOo-

Tessa did the
meditation course and was back three days later, although it had
been four weeks for her. She kept herself apart from Marion and
Digby for a day or two, needing time alone to wind down from the
intensity of the meditation course. Marion had now completed her
final three months of her studies. The subjective year she had
allocated for her studies, which was really only four weeks in real
time, was over. She was ready for the ‘Meet the Presidents,’
tour.

“Do you find it
strange,” Marion said to Tessa, “that so much time has passed for
us yet the world is still the same? It’s only been four weeks for
them. It’s like they’re all moving in slow motion.”

“Or maybe it’s
us who are moving too fast. We’ll burn ourselves out, probably,”
Tessa said, absently. She had come back from the meditation course
a quieter person, distance in her eyes. In some ways, Marion would
have preferred the old Tessa.

Marion
persuaded Digby to allow Tessa tell her fans about her quest to
become an Amalfi warrior. “They’re ravenous, Digby,” she said.
“They want a piece of their hero. Doesn’t pay to disappoint the
fans.” Marion fed out teasers, culminating in a chat session on a
hugely popular microblog in which Tessa confirmed the hijacked
airline passengers’ testimony about the Amalfi Echo and revealed
that she was in training to become an Amalfi warrior. The chat
session went viral. Everyone loved the Amalfi tattoos and the marks
of an Amalfi warrior. Parents were besieged by their children
wanting Amalfi tattoos. The interview was quickly picked up by
mainstream media who had been talking about nothing else but Tessa
since the Montessori High episode. They were, of course, careful to
point out that Tessa was still a fugitive, wanted by the FBI and
Interpol which, predictably, greatly enhanced her appeal with her
fan base. Her website and social media accounts were flooded with
offers of places to hide although, as many pointed out scornfully,
superheroes did not need to hide in someone’s attic, possessing, as
you would expect, a totally cool alien spaceship.

-oOo-

It was time for
the Presidents’ tour. Marion Digby and Tessa gathered in the
briefing room. Up until now Marion hadn’t been specific about her
presentation to the world’s leaders, not wanting discussion or
argument about the content. Now she revealed that it was not a
presentation nor was it very long, a few minutes at the most. As
she explained, “There’s no point in trying to persuade them. These
are people who have clawed their way to the top, mostly by not
listening to others. I am the last person they are going to take
any notice of. Instead I’m going to tell them how this situation
gives them an opportunity to achieve greatness in the eyes of their
people and I won’t say much else. The real point of my visit with
each of them is to bring home to them that we are answerable to no
one, that they have no power or control over us but that we can
touch them anytime we want.”

“Hmm,” Digby
said. “And there’s me thinking you were learning diplomacy.”

“But we are
still loyal Americans, okay?” Tessa said, alarmed. She had already
forgotten her earlier dark threats against the President.

“Which is why
we won’t hurt the President, Tessa,” Marion said. “Not while he
remains in office. Right now, the other leaders are safe too. Let’s
not make martyrs of them. Instead, we’ll continue to go directly to
the people. What we’re doing here is shaking world leaders out of
their comfort zone. I want them a little bit rattled. We’re going
to get right up in their faces. Make this real personal between us
and them. Maybe we’ll start getting a little more respect. We’re
going to do this privately so we don’t force them to adopt
positions that are unhelpful.” Now she answered Digby. “I would
follow the diplomatic route if I could. The learning programs have
concluded that we don’t have the time to get the required results.
We’re going to try the quick and dirty approach.”

-oOo-

It was
night-time in Washington, D.C. At the White House, President Newman
sat on his bed taking his shoes off. The First Lady was already in
bed, reading a book. On the sphere ship, Tessa and Marion waited in
a small shuttle for the green light. Digby was already out and
about, cruising the stratosphere in Jazmine. The plan called for
Tessa to be in close weapons support for Marion, the small shuttle
ready to extract them quickly if necessary, and the heavy weapons
of the ship ready for back-up. Strictly speaking, Jazmine was
unnecessary, however, Digby felt that there was a gap between the
heavy weapons of the ship and Tessa on the ground. Jazmine could
provide a little extra finesse. Or so he told himself. The reality
was, he didn’t like being left out. Why should the girls have all
the fun?

Green light.
The shuttle inserted itself into the President’s bedroom,
depositing Tessa and Marion and then was gone before the President
and the First Lady had even looked up. Because the shuttle had done
its job of inserting itself without damaging the facade of the
White House, to the President and the First Lady it was as if
Marion and Tessa had inexplicably appeared from nowhere.