Special Talents (30 page)

"I was afraid you had been found out," said Frank. "When you didn't show up at the rendezvous point, I figured they had you cold. But I did as you said. I returned to the house to safeguard the statue."

"And a good thing you did," said Jeremy. "There were so many guards around the confinement building I didn't know how we were going to get out of there. Once Simon impersonated the general and parked the van next to the building I knew that was our ticket out. We just had to convince the colonel we had escaped."

"Well, doc. . .I mean, Jeremy," said Conrad, "having us stand against the wall and then having Mariah turn the air molecules in front of us unto a fake wall was brilliant. They never even suspected we were still there. They went running all over the base while we were still in the building."

"Hide in plain sight," said Jeremy. "We had apparently escaped. That's the last place on earth they would have thought we'd be. All we had to do was wait until the guards cleared out and then get into the van."

"I have to admit I've never attempted to change so much material before," said Mariah. "And it has never occurred to me to change air molecules. It was very taxing. It's a good thing I didn't have to do it again. I'm not sure I could have after creating the wall and then changing it back when they were gone."

"You'll get better with more practice," said Jeremy.

"I have to admit," said Richard, "that switching the statues was the lynchpin of the entire plan. They kept looking for infiltrators trying to get into the complex without ever realizing you all ready had what you had come for. Jeremy, you really outdid yourself with that idea."

"I got it when Mariah mentioned she could duplicate the statue," said Jeremy. "I figured if they thought the statue was still safe and secure they wouldn't be as concerned with it. All we had to do was get Simon to switch the statues."

"Which I couldn't do by myself," said Simon. "It was made of some kind of ceramic material. I couldn't phase it. So I had to have Mariah come in and change it into something I could phase."

"Well, those two were easy," said Mariah. "They were small. I just changed them into wood so you could phase them. Then I just changed them back when they were in place. It wasn't difficult."

"I know I didn't do all that much," said Frank. "Most of you took the risks. But I'm glad I was able to do my small part?"

"Small?" questioned Jeremy. "Frank, you had probably the most important job of all. Everything we went through would have been for nothing if they had retrieved the statue. You got it away and they weren't even suspicious of it. If you hadn't gotten it away they might have found it and then the entire mission would have failed."

"Richard," said Janet. "How did you know they'd have the place bugged? That false information we gave them about heading across the river was a big help. But how did you know they'd be listening in on what we said?"

"It's an old tactic in law enforcement," said Richard. "You leave the suspects alone in the room. They can often say things when they're alone that can help. If they think there's no one there to hear them, they'll quite often give away information you might not be able to get any other way.

"I wasn't sure if Green and his men would use the same tactic but I figured it was a good bet. They thought they were dealing with terrorists. They'd want all the information they could get. And I figured it didn't hurt on any account. Looks like it worked out good all the way around."

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Jeremy, raising his glass in a toast, "here's to a job well done. Secretary Napolitano was very pleased with the assignment. Even General Porter had to admit that you performed much better than he ever anticipated. Which wasn't much, I can tell you. But last night you all proved you could work together as a team. You all have a lot to be proud of."

"Hear, hear," said Richard, raising his glass.

They all toasted feeling very proud of themselves. Even Frank, who felt he hadn't done nearly as much as the rest of the team, finally had to admit that his contribution was a vital, important part of the mission. And they were all beginning to realize there was more they could do with their 'special talents' than any of them had ever dreamed of.

"People," said Richard. "Secretary Napolitano has authorized a couple of weeks R&R for the entire team. At least for the foreseeable future, you won't have to worry about anyone asking you to check out any suspected terrorists. I suggest you enjoy your down time. It's going to be over before you know it and then you'll be in the real thing."

"Hey, if last night is any indication this is going to be simple," said Simon.

"It's not," said Richard. "Those men had orders to take you alive. Real terrorists aren't going to be concerned with that. Especially if you've blown their cover. They won't hesitate to eliminate you if you become a problem for them."

"That's why we have a team," said Jeremy.

"What do you think our first mission will be?" Simon asked.

"That's hard to say," said Richard. "We've never had a team like this before."

"Well, I for one will appreciate the time off," said Mariah. "I'll get some time to spend with Susan and Bobby."

"I think we all will," said Kamalene. "Most of my family is still in Hawaii. It's nice to have someone around here I can call family."

"Well, I do know he appreciates the visits," said Mariah. "He can't go to school and really has no one to even talk with except Susan and me. It's nice to have someone that will spend some time with him."

"Hey, I'm getting him one of those new game machines," said Simon. "It will give him something to do when no one else is around."

"He'll love it," said Mariah. "We can hardly afford gifts for him even on his birthday and Christmas. It will be a real treat for him to get something for no reason at all."

"Well, he can expect a lot more of them," said Conrad. "Now that I have an income it will be nice to help someone else for a change."

"Jeremy, what are you going to be doing?" Janet asked. "I heard you left your position at the university and you told me you were farming out your practice. How are you going to keep yourself busy?"

"Well, I haven't quit teaching completely," said Jeremy. "I'll be doing some guest speaking and filling in for some teachers on occasion. As for my practice, I'll still be seeing patients. Just not like I did before. You do have to stay busy, after all. Plus I have an idea for a book I've been working on. Figure I might actually get started on it."

"Hey, that means I'll know a real author," said Wil. "That will be so cool."

"It's going to be a while before it's ready," said Jeremy. "And I doubt anyone but another doctor would be interested in it. Still, it will help me stay busy until the government needs me."

"Well, unlike the rest of you I still have a full-time job," said Richard. "I need to get going. Everyone enjoy your time off. You've earned it."

"You know," said Simon after Scarborough had left, "he's not so bad. For a boss."

The first week of November Jeremy and Scarborough was sitting in Secretary Napolitano's office. Napolitano had contacted them and said there was something important she needed to talk to them about. General Porter was also there. In the weeks since the team had successfully completed the training mission he had never expressed any concern over the group.

"Thank you for coming," said Napolitano. "General Porter and I have discussed how best to utilize the team since your training mission."

"Yes," said Porter. "We considered bringing you in several times. But each time it turned out our initial reports were not quite accurate."

"I assume that has changed, Madam Secretary," said Scarborough.

"You would be correct," said Napolitano, laying a photograph in front of Scarborough

The photo appeared to be of a van. The van was stripped and appeared to be completed burned.

"This came to our attention last week," said Napolitano. "It was located in Pittsburgh. The local police there found it in a field just outside the city limits. It apparently had been there for several days before the police found it."

"And you think this is connected to terrorism?" questioned Scarborough.

"That's what you're going to find out," said Porter. "The police just thought it was an abandoned vehicle that someone had torched. Until they discovered it had unusually high levels of radiation radiating from it."

"Is that all?" Jeremy asked. "Just some high radiation levels?"

"No," said Napolitano. "When they were trying to figure out who the van belonged to they discovered that all of the VIN plates had been removed from it. Everything that could identify the owner had been removed. Prior to the van being set on fire."

"All the Vin plates?" Scarborough asked. "That's extremely thorough. I've never heard of anyone going to such extremes to hide the owner of a vehicle. It would indicate the van was stolen."

"That's what the police in Pittsburgh thought," said Porter. "That, with the high radiation levels, prompted them to call us. We had the van brought here so we could go over it."

"Our technicians tell us that the specific level of radiation is consistent with weapons' grade plutonium," said Napolitano.

"Weapons' grade?" questioned Scarborough. "That's used to make nuclear bombs. I hadn't heard of any missing plutonium in the United States. And it's highly unlikely they would have been able to smuggle it into the country. All vehicles are routinely checked for chemicals and explosives. They would have surely found such high grade plutonium."

"Not if it wasn't brought in by car," said Porter. "We believe the plutonium may have been smuggled into the United States across the Canadian border. It would have been possible to load the plutonium into a number of backpacks and have several people carry it across the border in the dead of night. Probably at a place where there aren't any roads. Once in the country all they would have had to do was take the plutonium to a central point and load it into the van."

"Wouldn't that be dangerous?" Jeremy asked. "The people carrying the plutonium would more than likely have been infected with radiation poisoning. That's a slow, lingering death and if any of them went to a hospital for treatment they would have been found out."

"Not if the people carrying the plutonium were disposed of afterwards," said Napolitano. "If they had crossed over in an area around say Idaho, Montana, or North Dakota, there are plenty of places the bodies could have been disposed of. Some of those areas have hundreds of square miles of that have little or no traffic. It could be years – if ever – before any bodies were discovered."

"Excuse me, Madam Secretary," said Jeremy, "but that seems like an awful lot of trouble to sneak plutonium into the country. I realize that many terrorist organizations are actively seeking to get their hands on a nuclear device. It just seems to me it would be a lot easier to get it in a less developed country where the safeguards may not be so stringent."

"I understand your confusion, Dr. Sloan," said Napolitano, glancing at Porter. "But let's just say we have our reasons for suspecting this."

"There's something you aren't tell us, isn't there?" Scarborough asked.

"For the moment," said Porter, "it's on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know. Just yet. According to your report, one of Dr. Sloan's team members has the ability to, I think the way you put it was, 'know the entire history of an item simply by touching it'. To know where it's been and who's had it."

"Well, yes," said Jeremy. "I'm not sure he knows the entire history of an item. But he can tell things about an item that can't be known any other way."

"We want you to take him to the van and see what he can learn about it," said Napolitano. "If it's the van we think it is it will help to explain a great many things."

"Where is the van now?" Scarborough.

"It's at the D.C. impound lot," said Porter. "Some of the technicians we needed to look it over are contract agents that work for the D.C. police department. They said it would be easier to check it out there."

"I know where that's at," said Scarborough.

"We'll call ahead and let them know you're coming," said Napolitano. "And Dr. Sloan? I don't think I need to tell you this is classified. You can't tell anyone what you're really doing there. If anyone asks, just tell them you're not at liberty to discuss it."

"You'll need to speak to a Benjamin Stoddard," said Porter. "He's the head mechanic working on the van. He's one of our contract agents and he'll be able to tell you everything he's discovered about the van so far."

"You don't have a report?" Scarborough asked.

"We'd like to see what your man can find out first," said Napolitano. "Without any advance information. To preclude the possibility of any preconceived ideas."

"I'm sure that's not going to be a problem," said Jeremy.

"All the same, we want you to do it this way," said Napolitano. "As least this time."