Dragon Over Washington (The Third War Of The Bir Nibaru Gods) (30 page)

Molly blinked in surprise. “Ellis Christensen? Are you crazy? You know what kind of reputation she has?”

Thorpe shook his head, a wary look in his eyes.

“She’s crazy. Rumor has it she broke someone’s bones in combat training. She has a tongue like a whip. You need someone else, someone more -Wait, she’s not here, she’s out on some kind of mission. Have you talked with her yet?”

“Umm, well, not yet.” Thorpe saw Molly’s look and raised his hands before him. “She’s cute and she sounds interesting. Actually, she’s a lot more interesting than Shannon. Besides, I’m working with her on her mission. I’m sure I’ll get a chance to talk to her. After that, everything’s possible,” Thorpe inflated his chest. Molly shook her head and sighed. “It’s your funeral. Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you. So, what did you want?” Molly said. Thorpe needed a moment to get his mind back on track. The sense of urgency returned. He was thinking about the things happening all over the world, and the seven-week deadline. He was thinking about how little they knew so far. He was thinking that they only had five weeks and four days left. He was thinking about the Radio Blanket’s in Libya.

“Molly, I really need to see The Man now,” he said, swallowing and eyeing the great black doors leading towards the director’s office. Molly looked at Thorpe. “You’re full of surprises today, aren’t you? Let me check his appointment schedule. Hmm, I know you don’t even get out of bed before ten o’clock. Let’s say Thursday at four?”

“Molly, it’s urgent. I can’t wait that long,” Thorpe said, grabbing her desk. Molly frowned.

“Maybe I can push things around a bit. I think I can try on Wednesday -”

“Molly, that’s too late. I need to see him today! Now!”

“Today is not possible, he’s got -”

“Thanks, Molly. I’ll tell him you tried to stop me.”

“What? Hey, come back here!”

Thorpe was already at the doors. He turned back, winked at Molly once, swallowed hard, and opened the doors. They creaked, the sound making Thorpe wince. Thorpe breathed in, raised his chin and stepped inside.

A moment later, Thorpe was back outside. He walked to Molly’s desk and stopped: “You could have told me he’s not here.”

“I tried. There’s some kind of emergency and he went out. That was a brave thing you just did, barging into his office,” Molly said.

***

Thorpe was going through the video from the security camera, playing it excruciatingly slow, trying to see anything that might suggest that the video had been tampered with and what it showed wasn’t real. But it seemed real. He could see the talons leaving their mark on the lawn, the tall grass blades moving around them. He could see the shadow the long bird’s feet cast: unprofessional editing would have left the shadow of a normal human’s leg instead of the much thinner one cast by the bird’s legs. He could see the jeans moving as if the figure really had bird’s feet. He could see the face, the beak opening and closing, the eyes scanning behind.

There was a crunching sound behind him and Thorpe whirled around. He thought he was getting used to people sneaking up on him. He was obviously wrong.

“Hey! Watch the feet, man!”

Andy had entered Thorpe’s cubicle and was now trying to unglue an image that had stuck to his shoe.

“The pics, man! The pictures!” Thorpe screeched.

Andy moved his foot, but his other foot stepped on another picture. Thorpe’s floor was littered with images.

“Watch the printouts! Are you blind?” Thorpe yelled and came to Andy’s help. Andy had moved sideways and put his hand on a wall for support, but that wall was filled with Trailmapper printouts.

“Out! Out!” Thorpe pushed Andy out of his cubicle, snatching the images that had stuck to Andy’s shoes.

“What do you want?” Thorpe fumed, looking at the salvaged satellite pictures closely to see if they were damaged.

“Why aren’t you answering your phone?” Andy asked.

“Because I’m busy, that’s why. What’s so important that it couldn’t wait?”

“Maryland Police found the attacker. He was unconscious, near Highway 95. It wasn’t just a student attack.”

Thorpe looked at Andy and opened his mouth, but closed it without saying anything.

“Yeah, he looks right like in the video, beak and all,” Andy said. Thorpe watched his friend mutely. “The police questioned him, but he didn’t know anything about the attack. He seemed in some kind of stupor, maybe drugs, only half conscious. He said he couldn’t remember anything that happened during the last twenty-four hours. They gave him a mirror to look at himself and he collapsed again. We have doctors and scientists looking at him. They are completely baffled.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am.”

The phone rang. Thorpe looked at Andy for a moment and then walked over and picked up his phone.

“Yes?”

Thorpe listened for a long moment and then hung up, looking down at the plastic phone.

“There have been attacks all over. Graham’s agent has been attacked outside Owego. One of Mathew’s patrol cars was attacked in the White River National Forest in Colorado. There was some sort of attack in Britain, in a village. And don’t forget the attack on the professor.”

Thorpe and Andy looked at each other mutely.

***

Thorpe sat in The Man’s office, hugging a hot chocolate. Agent Graham was sitting next to him. Agent Winder sat on a chair to the side. Mathew attended through a satellite link.

Thorpe looked at Winder. The large agent was sitting at ease, sprawled on his chair. His expressionless eyes looked around, their movements fast, like a raptor seeking prey. Thorpe turned towards The Man and paled. The tall, white-haired director was looking through a report, his face getting darker by the minute, like a thunderstorm about to explode.

“Thorpe, let’s go through this again.” The Man’s whispered command made Thorpe swallow. He rose up and had to swallow again before he could speak.

“Yes, okay. I have some circumstantial evidence that all of the things happening are connected, though I still don’t know exactly how -” Thorpe voice trailed off towards the end.

The Man looked up at Thorpe, stabbing him with his cold, gray eyes.

“But I do know several things. I think that whatever we are facing is starting to move. It’s reacting to our presence. The attack on Agent Christensen is a strong indicator. The attack on the professor trying to decipher the messages is also a strong indicator.”

“What about the patrol car? Agent Mathew, your report,” the director snapped.

“Sir. Yes, sir. One of our Hummers disappeared late last night. We lost radio contact with it and sent out search parties. We found the place where we think it was attacked, along its planned route, ten clicks from the base. We saw signs of struggle, and damage to trees and the ground on the site, along with multiple spent M16 ammunition cases. There was obviously a battle there. There was no trace of the Hummer or the four soldiers manning it. We are still going over the site, but its slow going, sir.”

“Thorpe?”

“I have no further information. Agent Mathew’s men have been interviewing Benson, the survivor from the first known attack of the creatures, but they haven’t been able to get much information out of him. However, you can see here some of the latest satellite images of the Colorado Mountains around Bellyache Mountain. We can’t see the creatures themselves, but we can see the hot traces they left behind them. According to this, there are at least a hundred creatures there. Maybe more. Bellyache Mountain is still scalding hot. The vegetation on it is dying.”

“You said traces, Thorpe?”

“Yes, sir. It’s how I track the creatures.”

“Have you tried that in Russia?” The Man turned and leaned towards Thorpe.

“Yes sir. It didn’t work there,” Thorpe answered hurriedly. The Man turned back towards the screen on his wall. “Agent Graham?”

The agent looked at Thorpe and then turned towards the director, his hand brushing the dossier he held.

“Sir, though Agent Christensen was attacked, she returned to Owego without incident. She believes her cover holds. I suggest waiting with the frontal assault till we have more evidence,” Graham said softly.

Thorpe sagged. He didn’t like to think about Ellis returning to that place, especially since it was partly because of him she had been sent there in the first place. Thorpe winced, trying to erase her soft voice from his head, the voice he heard in her reports.

“Agent Winder?” The Man continued.

“Sir, there were a few attacks on villages in Africa, but we don’t have any solid information yet. We don’t even know if these attacks are really connected to this investigation,” Winder said, ignoring Thorpe’s stare.

“What about Britain?” The Man asked Thorpe.

“Not enough details yet. Apparently something emerged from a tunnel in the ground and attacked cops near Avebury, an archeological site. There are conflicting reports about what it was exactly, but two cops are dead, seven wounded and three police cars have been destroyed. There were also some civilian losses. We are still trying to get more details.”

The Man stared at the men seated in front of him and then got up. He walked once around the office, moving behind Thorpe. Thorpe fought an almost irresistible urge to turn as the tall, thin director strode behind him. Thorpe shivered, feeling the back of his neck itch. The Man returned to his seat, looking at Thorpe. “Recommendations, Thorpe?”

Thorpe was struck speechless. The Man was turning to him for advice? Thorpe took one deep breath. “Risk,” Thorpe muttered.

“Mister Thorpe?”

“The agent who worked with Agent Christensen is still comatose. Doctors can’t treat him because they don’t know what caused his condition. The cult is taking over the town. The creatures are taking over the Colorado Mountains. And, they are striking back at us,” Thorpe muttered to himself. He looked up. “We need to find out what’s going on!”

“I wholly agree, Mister Thorpe,” The Man said and Thorpe was struck speechless again. “I want a scientific team assembled - microbiologists, linguists and whatever else is necessary. I want to understand what those creatures in Colorado are. I also want doctors to examine that attacker of the Maryland professor. Thorpe, you will coordinate them,” The Man said. Thorpe nodded once.

The Man rose, but stayed behind his desk, facing his men. “The situation is evolving fast. Like Mister Thorpe said, we need to take risks. I want us to get to the bottom of this thing and stop it, as soon as possible. Agent Mathew?”

“Sir! Yes, sir! I have the rapid reaction forces ready to move. In addition, the local police in Routt County had declared the region closed. The Colorado situation seems to be contained, even with the number of bogeys Thorpe discovered. Sir!” Mathew said.

“I want a specimen, Agent Mathew. Dead or alive. I want to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll start the operation in twelve hours.”

Thorpe grimaced, hearing the big agent talk. He looked at the director. The Man’s cold eyes were on Agent Graham.

“Agent Graham, I am authorizing an operation against the cult. I let it go on too long. You know the drill. I want a smooth, quick operation.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be joining you in the field, Agent Graham. I will oversee it myself. I will not allow the situation in Russia to repeat itself here.”

Graham blinked in surprise, but said nothing.

“Thorpe, you will be joining us in Owego as well.”

Thorpe choked.

“Me? On the field? But, but -”

“You have proved borderline effective so far. You will provide Intel support on the field. Take whatever you need,” the director said. Thorpe opened his mouth. “Me? On the field?” Thorpe said again.

“Was there something you did not understand?” the director said coldly.

“Sir, I’ve never been on a field assignment before. I can’t just leave the -”

“Thorpe, I don’t like to repeat myself,” the director said. Thorpe blanched.

“Yes, sir,” Thorpe said, glumly. Suddenly he brightened up a little. “You did say I could take whatever I wanted?”

“You have your orders. Gentlemen, I want every one of you to remember what’s happening in Russia. I want this thing stopped before it escalates. I want secrecy maintained at all costs. Agent Graham, take care of travel arrangements. That will be all.” The director sat down behind his desk while the three men shuffled out of his office.

***

Thorpe looked around him, uncomprehending. It seemed the entire Division was at work, people yelling and running through the corridors, some hauling cases and equipment.

“Me, on the field? I’ll get danger pay, but my mother will kill me. What use is money to a dead man?” Thorpe wailed. Agent Graham smiled.

“You’ll be fine. Don’t worry. How many times have you been on one of the agency’s business jets?” Graham laughed as a large grin appeared on Thorpe’s freckled face.

“Why did you say risk, Robby?” Agent Graham asked.

Thorpe smiled. “It was a game I played as a kid. You conquer countries, build up forces and go to conquer more countries. I always had elaborate plans and I always lost because I waited too long to before attacking, even though I usually had Asia which produced seven troops every turn.”