The Slip E-Book

Tom C Willoughby

• Herausgeber: Wildebeest
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: The Hero Concept
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 374

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Mysterious illnesses borne by advanced technologies. The appearance of a unique entity. Can a CIA agent and her unusual new partner complete the mission that just might save the human race?

Sam has no memory of his past, no body of his own, only haunting dreams to offer clues to his existence. Propelled by a need for justice, Sam agrees to join the operation.

Julia Cacerek is one of the best the CIA has, but she likes to work alone. With no other options, Julia has to face her own demons to work with Sam and his extraordinary abilities. Backed by a specially assembled DARPA team, Julia and Sam must thwart this ultimate attack that threatens to devastate the nation… and cripple the world.

What does the existence of Sam, a being who has no memory of his own life, but who can ‘slip’ into a person and take over their body, mean for humanity? Is Sam evil? Or part of something much larger at play than anyone realizes?

The first in a series, The Slip will keep you guessing as Julia and Sam’s quest to solve these and other questions takes them around the world in search of answers. If you like technothrillers on a global scale and suspenseful hard science fiction, then you will love Tom C Willoughby’s action packed tale.

Leseprobe

The Slip

The Hero Concept - Book 1

Tom C Willoughby

For Julie

DAY 2

1

HE CAME TO WITH A start and stumbled backward, letting go of the shopping cart. The thick smell of excrement and decay filled his nose and slithered into his lungs. His stomach clenched in revulsion and he staggered farther away from the cart, but the stench followed. The overpowering odor tightened it’s grip, coiling around his stomach, immediately forcing the expulsion of its contents through his mouth and nose. The acidic smell of his stomach fluids was somehow an improvement and he sat heavily on the sidewalk, trying to recover.

Through watery eyes, he took a moment to get his bearings. He had on tattered clothes and mismatched sneakers. Dirt was caked on his hands. Some of the vomit had found its way through the numerous holes in what looked like pajama pants and glued them to his skin.

Nothing made sense. He did not recognize what he was wearing, his surroundings or even his hands as he held them up for inspection. He had no recollection of anything. At all. It was as if he didn’t exist and then he did.

A hum of voices suddenly filled his head. Millions of thoughts intertwined into a flowing river of ideas, discussions and comments. He felt strangely calmed by the susurrations and reached out naturally with his mind to join in. As quickly as they came they disappeared, replaced by a desolate loneliness. That felt like a memory. But a memory of what?

He heard the sound of an approaching vehicle and looked up. The image of a hovering ship entered his mind. The vehicle approached, rolling down the street on four wheels and his brain struggled to coalesce the image in his mind with the reality of what he saw. Then the image was gone and he watched the car drive past. He tried to bring the hovering ship back in his mind but it was gone. Like the memory of a dream after waking, he was left only with its impression; the knowledge that it had been there but a complete inability to recall it.

What were the voices in his head and the images of flying cars? Why didn’t he recognize himself? Tendrils of panic began surfacing throughout his body. The only thing holding them at bay were the continuing desperate pangs of loneliness. The loneliness felt familiar, and while bottomless and unbearable, provided an anchor point and he grabbed hold.

Pussy! Get the fuck out of the way! An angry voice snarled in his head. He suddenly felt his consciousness being torn away from the physical exterior of his body. He was compressed into darkness. His face was a mask he no longer wore. His view of the world had receded a distance from the mask’s oval eye cutouts. Someone else took control of his body. The octopus of panic thrashed back to life. He was no longer connected to the physical. He flailed helplessly, spinning weightless in the darkness.

Who do you think you are? I’m in control here! I’m the boss! The angry voice became violent. He sensed his body moving with harmful intent but he had now lost his view to the world, seeing only darkness. But it wasn’t complete darkness. His existence had come to some sort of equilibrium and he forced the panic back. There was a light source behind him. He was able to rotate his essence. The cutouts in the mask were still there, he had just spun away in his panic.

He was a passenger now in his own body. He watched through the windows of his dark room as he pulled a long blade from the shopping cart.

He could feel his mouth pull into a tight grin.

2

THE PATIENT SAT IN A metal chair in the center of the holding room, his arms and legs strapped to their counterparts of the chair. He leaned forward against his restraints, head hanging, his chin length hair obscuring his face.

Susan sat five feet from him with her notebook and his file open in her lap. ...listed as a John Doe...picked up on the street after a 911 call for disorderly conduct...quickly diagnosed with some mental disorders leaning toward schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder...consequently admitted to the St. Catherine's mental health facility where he now remains for further evaluation...

Dr. Susan Reynolds specialized in dissociative identity disorder (DPD), more commonly referred to as multiple personality disorder. She maintained a selective private practice in Boston but her passion was in research. Susan taught an advanced course at Harvard Medical School, which allowed her funding for research. She also offered pro bono services to mental health facilities for challenging cases like this one which needed her special expertise.

Looking up from the file, Susan met the patient’s intense eyes, his head tilted just enough to look up at her through his oily hair.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Susan Reynolds. I'm here to help you.”

John Doe suddenly jerked forward against his restraints. His eyes remained locked with Susan’s as his body violently shook in an effort to break his restraints.

Just as abruptly, his body stilled and his snarl slid into an exaggerated grin. A string of viscous saliva leaked smoothly from his lower lip towards the concrete floor. In a steady boyish voice John Doe spoke, “Let's find out what's inside your eyeball. Do you have a scalpel? If I push a scalpel slowly, through the center of your eye will you be able to watch it slide in?”

Twenty years as a psychotherapist armed Susan with the experience to deal with most situations. While not an everyday occurrence, she was not unfamiliar with extreme behavior of this sort. However, she couldn’t help feeling threatened by the patient’s maniacal aggression, even though he was restrained and presented no real physical danger.

The sterile windowless room and its location three floors beneath an old stone building only added to the menacing atmosphere John Doe’s threats created. Perhaps the town’s tortured history had put her on edge subconsciously.

St Catherine’s was one of the older psychiatric facilities in Massachusetts, in Danvers about 45 minutes north of Boston. The town suffered from a well-known association with the witch trials in neighboring Salem even though most of Danvers was beautiful. With its history of agriculture there remained expanses of open wooded land vibrant in the fall as the leaves changed to bright oranges and reds. But large parts of the farming town had succumbed to heavy stone industrial and manufacturing buildings in the early 1900s. Built in the same period, St Catherine’s sat among the dated monoliths, one of the few not yet abandoned.

Susan never understood why these older isolation rooms were made to feel so hard and cold. Comprising concrete walls, floors and ceilings illuminated by harsh fluorescent lights, she couldn’t imagine a less welcoming space. The only items in the room besides her and the patient were the metal chair he sat in bolted to the floor and the metal chair she sat in not bolted to the floor. A solid iron door stood to the side with a small glass window obscured by a metal cover on the outside and an intercom type speaker on the inside with a pushbutton inset in the wall adjacent.

Maintaining her composure she tried to normalize the conversation, “Can you tell me your name?”

Losing the grin but not the drool stalactite, his voice became sultry as he said, “Why don’t you let me out of this chair, Dr. Susan Reynolds, and I’ll I whisper my name into your ear as I fuck you from behind like the bitch dog you are.”

Susan struggled to maintain her nerve behind the professional facade and changed tack. “Do you know why you are here? Do you remember being arrested?”

John Doe leaned forward with all his weight, pulling and straining against his chair and the bolts in the floor. The tendons in his arms and legs flexed under his skin. His body shook and sweat dripped from his hair.

Susan got up and turned her back to the patient as she forced herself to walk calmly to the wall communicator. Her experience was telling her the best course was to sedate, wait, and try again later. Her instincts were telling her to run like hell.

After her second step John Doe howled and screamed, snapping his mouth open and closed. Julia fought the urge to run. The closer she got to the microphone on the wall, the more he yelled and shook. With her finger on the attendant button, he suddenly went silent.

Susan paused and looked back. The patient leaned limply to the side, his eyes exhausted, sad and… scared?

In a completely different voice he pleaded, “Help, don’t leave. PLEASE.”

“It’s okay, you’re safe. I can help you,” Susan responded gently. Desperation had replaced his manic violence.

Susan saw a shadow pass behind his eyes as his body tensed, every muscle strained against his bonds once again. For a moment she thought he was somehow being electrocuted.

“FUCK YOU! I’M IN CONTROL HERE!” he snarled.

Susan pushed the button and watched as two attendants entered the room with a needle.

3

HE HAD TAKEN CONTROL! HE was quickly displaced again by the angry man but the fact remained: there was a way for him to take control.

He tried to recall what exactly he had done. He had been frantic to ask the Doctor for help before she left. The angry man was scaring her away. She was nice and he had hoped she could make the angry man disappear forever.

A sharp pinch on his shoulder interrupted his recollections. It wasn't the pain that drew his attention. It was that he felt anything at all. The hint of disinfectant pricked his nose; a shadow of his sense of smell was back.

He was still not in control of his body, but he was not compressed into the blackness as before either. He was somewhere in between.

He felt another pain in his shoulder and watched as the attendant pulled back an empty syringe.

A warmth spread languorously throughout his body. Wrapped in its heavy cocoon, all thoughts faded.

4

HIS EYES OPENED TO A crowded outdoor market. But they weren't his eyes; he was a passenger again. His host walked slowly along a row of food vendors, perusing the various offerings bathed in a light pink glow. The host looked up at the orange sun ringed by a red glow. It shimmered through the hazy cloud cover refracting into the pink light. It was a watercolor of pastels. The host closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of its soft warmth on his skin.

The sun was immense, dominating a quarter of the sky. Big Brother, he thought. That was the name of the sun. How did he know that? He also knew the name of the second sun, Little Brother. He could see it up and to the right of the large sun; a faint white circle a fraction the size of its larger sibling.

He felt fully connected to his host’s senses. He felt the warmth of the sun. He could hear the crunch of his feet on the dirt as they walked. There were strange smells he didn't recognize. If he tried he thought he could easily control the hosts movements. But he didn't dare, not yet.

He became aware of what sounded like a distant waterfall in his mind. As he focused on it the volume increased to a deafening roar. Individual thoughts and voices leapt out with complete clarity, before returning to the background noise just as quickly. Like little fish leaping briefly out of a pond. A very large pond.

This was the sensation that had briefly popped into his mind on the sidewalk just a day earlier.

He moved forward in his mind, to enter the waterfall but was halted by an invisible barrier. Simultaneously the roar dropped to a hush. He felt his host react. It felt like millions of people were looking at him. He panicked. Then he was gone.

DAY 5

5

BLOOD LEAKED OUT OF THE patient's eyes, nose, and mouth as Tyrone wheeled him through the emergency room doors as fast as he could. He rushed past the admitting desk to the waiting doctors and other patients brought in earlier in the day. A doctor snatched the gurney from him, and the young man quickly stepped away. Tyrone's first week was making him feel woefully unprepared for the job. All the patients had symptoms he hadn’t seen or studied as best he could recall from medical school.

It was almost 11 AM, and they had already admitted 12 patients with severe conditions. Tyrone had a brief conversation with his senior advisor during a break in the action asking if this was a normal Thursday. She claimed to have seen nothing like it in her 25 years. Thankful that he would not have this much excitement on a normal basis, Tyrone decided to grab a quick sugar fix before the next wave of horrors arrived.

The vending machines lay at the end of a gurney lined corridor. He navigated the patients waiting for doctors, trying not to focus on them for the moment. He needed a mental break.

But he would not get a break today.

A brutal retching sound caused Tyrone to snap his head around to see the gurney of a young man he had just passed. Bloody vomit at various stages of drying covered his chest and face. Convulsions racked his body. Tyrone jumped as the man ejected a torrent of bloody gruel so energetically it hit the wall and splattered back across his body, painting the floor where he had just been walking.

A nurse came rushing to attend, and Tyrone hastened his pace. This was his job, and these were his patients but he couldn’t help feeling removed, like a gawker passing a pileup on the highway. He was on edge and resisted turning his head but his eyes betrayed him swiveling in their sockets to a man with a sickly off-white pallor. He glistened under a layer of sweat but otherwise seemed to be in much better condition than his neighbor. Okay, he looks “normally” sick. Maybe just a fever. His shoulders relaxed a little.

It was the last gurney that finally made Tyrone question his choice of profession. A slurry of moist white and red fat covered the left side of the patient’s face. His eyes were closed, and he did not appear to be breathing. Tyrone stopped and leaned over the still man’s face. Upon closer inspection he could see various depths of exposed tissue where the man’s cheek and eye socket had decomposed. It looked like his face was turning inside out exposing striations of sub-dermal sinew. Suddenly the patient’s eyes snapped open as he loudly gasped a breath into his open mouth. Tyrone froze in shock, locked in the stare of a milky white eyeball staring blindly out of its excavated cavity. He jumped when the patient grasped his arm and stumbled backward shaking off the man’s grip.

Tyrone’s lungs pumped too quickly as panic set in. Frozen in place, he watched the man struggle to sit up. The patient’s good eye locked on Tyrone and a shaky hand reached toward him as he mouthed the word “Help”.

Tyrone blacked out and crumpled to the floor.

DAY 10

6

“SIR, WE HAVE ANOTHER CALL coming in, this one from Northwestern Hospital in Chicago reporting multiple suspect patients,” said Maddy.

“Take down the details. I need to go talk to the Secretary,” Edward responded standing up to put on his suit coat. Edward was the deputy assistant at the Center for Disease Control. As per protocol hospitals reported in upon receipt of patients with unusual symptoms or rare diagnoses. They had been monitoring an uptick in reports over the past couple of days but today there was an explosion of reports and it wasn’t even noon yet. Edward knew that exponential growth of this magnitude was indicative of an epidemic, but the reports were not isolated to a single virus or disease.

What the hell is going on? Edward thought. It was time to escalate.

DAY 11

7

THE ON-CALL NURSE AT St. Catherine's directed Susan to therapy room B indicating Carla would be brought there momentarily, as she had just gone through a traumatic episode.

In exchange for helping the hospital to diagnose and treat patients when the facility was overwhelmed or required her expertise, Dr. Susan Reynolds was given access to the patients so she could carry out her own research focused on dissociative identify disorder. Today's visit would be her third research session with Carla. Susan had so far identified two of her alters, Carla and Elizabeth, with Carla appearing to be the host. Carla ranked fairly high on the Dissociative Experiences Scale, so Susan had an expectation that a number of additional alters were yet to be identified.

After a perfunctory knock at the door, an attendee walked Carla into the room and showed her to the couch where she sat down. The attendee then left as silently as he came, closing the door behind him.

“Hello, how are you doing?” Susan asked, careful to not use a name until it was clear who was present.

When Carla looked up Susan saw an instant of surprise recognition in her eyes. Like when you see someone you are not expecting on the street. Carla immediately sat up, locking her eyes onto Susan.

“Dr Reynolds! It is so good to see you again! Something has happened to me. I don't understand any of it.” Carla spoke quickly, clearly under duress. “I'm having strange memories. Sometimes control of my body is taken away. And now…now my body has changed…”

Carla’s voice dropped off, her desperation was palpable.

There was something about Carla's eyes that seemed different but familiar somehow at the same time. And the voice… Susan felt she’d heard that tone before, somewhere else, but shook it off.

“It's okay Carla. You're okay. This is a safe place and everyone is here to help you.” Susan leaned forward and gently touched Carla's hand as she tried to calm her.

“Let's take it step-by-step. Do you remember where we left off the last time we talked?” Susan used this easy and natural way to identify which alter she was speaking with. Her prior session notes indicated where the discussions with each alter had left off.

“I was trying to talk to you. I broke through briefly but the angry man was too strong and pushed me back. Then you left and two other people came in…then I was somewhere else…I don't know where…I don't know anything…what is happening to me?”

Susan had talked to each of the two alters for about an equal amount last session, 20-25 minutes apiece. What Carla described was definitely not their last session. Maybe this was a new alter?

“I remember speaking for a good 20 minutes at our last get together, are you sure you are thinking of your discussions with me and not someone else?” Susan pursued.

“It was you doctor, but I was in a different body…my body. I think?”

Was this a new personality, or was Elizabeth playing some sort of game? In their previous sessions Elizabeth had exhibited a particularly nasty, very aggressive and malevolent personality. Dissociative personality disorder was almost always the result of traumatic childhood experiences. Creating alternate personalities allowed the sufferer’s psyche to withdraw while a newly created, often tougher personality suffered the traumatic episodes. It was still early, but Elizabeth might be the alter that Carla’s subconscious created to deal with some otherwise unbearable events earlier in her life. Commonly such patients had more than one alter, 10-15 was not unheard of and in a few extreme cases over 100, so there was still much work to do.

This type of challenge associated with DPD, and the many unknowns that surrounded it, had captured Susan’s imagination many years ago and had driven her to become a now world renowned specialist in this disorder within her professional circles.

“Well, then I must apologize for my behavior and ask for your forgiveness. You have me at a disadvantage as you know my name and I have yet to learn yours.”

Susan watched as Carla played with the tassels on one of the throw pillows and squirmed awkwardly in her seat. Her other hand moved like a spider along the overstuffed arm of the sofa. She moved her mouth a little but did not seem able to get it to do what she wanted it to, or so it appeared. The placid look in her eyes was at odds with her agitated movements.

With an inaudible click Carla’s body went still and her eyes transformed to an intense glint. If eyes could smile these eyes grinned evilly with vicious intent.

“Is everything okay, you seem a little agitated?” Susan asked already assuming that a transition had just occurred to a different alter.

“Agitated, is certainly one word for how I feel. Fucking angry is another one. Let’s stick you in this place and see how you feel after a couple days. You might feel agitated or maybe you’d be ready to fucking kill someone!” Carla punctuated with some spittle projectiles. This was the Elizabeth Susan knew.

At the end of their session Elizabeth was displaced briefly by the unknown alter. The desperation returned this time as a controlled urgency.

“Doctor, can you make these other people go away? I’m getting better at taking back control but it’s difficult… it’s tiring… some of them are frightening…”

Each alternate identity a DPD sufferer has, represents different memories and experiences of the overall person’s life. One of the major goals of treatment was to have the alters become aware of each and to have them communicate with each other. This begins the process of stitching the different parts of the patients life back together. It used to be thought the elimination of alters should be the goal of treatment, but often the patient would not react well to what felt like the killing off of parts of themselves. Most professionals, including Susan, now looked to help the alters know each other and learn to coexist. This enabled patients to function in the world and over time sometimes the alters would combine and disappear, but sometimes not.

This might be a breakthrough with Carla. This new alter was aware of the others and seemed interested to learn how to cope with them.

“It’s okay. I understand you’re frightened, and I can help. Can you tell me your name?”

“I… don’t know. I can’t remember anything before the shopping cart… I have strange dreams or maybe memories but they’re so strange they can’t be real…”

“That’s okay, let’s start there. Can you tell me what you remember starting with the shopping cart?” Susan asked gently.

“I was pushing this cart…the smell…there was an awful smell. I think I had been on the streets for a while. I threw up… and then the angry man took over…”

“Okay, what happened then?” Susan encouraged.

“I watched as the man took out a big knife. He was very angry and started yelling and was swinging the knife around. The police came and took us…me… away. I was moved to a couple different places and that’s when we met.”

“That’s when who met?” Susan asked.

“Us… you. That’s when I met you. I was chained to a chair. We were in some kind of cell.”

John Doe!? Angry man… two men came in, the orderlies? Susan’s scientific mind pushed back against the irrational thought that had started to germinate.

“FUCKING CELL! What are you talking about? This whole place feels like a CELL!” Elizabeth screamed, taking over yet again.

Before leaving the hospital, Susan sought the on-call nurse who had greeted her when she came in. Her name tag read Lizzie and Susan took her to the side to speak with her privately.

“Dr Reynolds, is everything okay?” Lizzie asked her with a hint of worry in her voice.

“I’m not sure. When I came in earlier, you mentioned a traumatic episode in conjunction with Carla. What were you referring to?” Susan asked.

“Well, one of the newer nurses was escorting Carla from her room to the therapy rooms, where she was to meet with you, Dr Reynolds…” Lizzie’s voice died off, clearly she was uncomfortable about something.

“Yes, and, go on,” Susan said impatiently.

“Well, the nurse forgot to tell the front desk she was moving a patient and unfortunately there was another patient being brought down the hall in the other direction. There was an encounter.”

“What do you mean encounter?” Susan asked.

“Well, the other patient became suddenly very aggressive and lunged at Carla pinning her to the wall momentarily. Carla was understandably quite shaken but wasn’t harmed,” Lizzie said.

“Who was the other patient?” Susan asked.

“It was a John Doe transferred from an arrest a couple of days ago,” Lizzie said biting her lip.

Susan paused in thought for a moment and then directed Lizzie to put Carla in with another patient named Harlon for a few hours before the end of the day. Harlon was a gentle and quiet patient that Susan was also working with.

Susan directed Lizzie to put them in one of the rooms with cameras. She knew the nagging thought in the back of her mind was impossible but she couldn’t help taking it a little further, anyway.

DAY 12

8

“HI PAUL… I MEAN DIRECTOR Greenfield,” Julia said mock sheepishly as she entered, keeping the door open just long enough for her salutation to be heard outside his office.

Paul Greenfield, Director of the CIA could be a little formal at times and while Julia's relationship with him allowed some informality (at least in Julia's mind), she knew he appreciated an official address in earshot of others, and she playfully enjoyed his scolding glare.

Paul was not a sentimental man but he had a soft spot for troubled youth. He was the first person she talked to at the agency when he was the head of the Clandestine Service, now known as the Directorate of Operations (DO). Julia had been in her early twenties. It was a rough period in her life working multiple jobs to earn enough to live on her own. Some of the jobs she tried to forget but she did what was necessary to get away from her adoptive parents.

Paul had approached her at the coffee shop she regularly visited, handed her his card and said he would like to talk to her about a job with the CIA. “Think about it, we might also put you through college. My numbers on the card,” he had said and then turned and left. She remembered he seemed aloof, like she was someone he randomly picked to approach; almost disinterested. She later understood that this was just his way. He never exhibited overt emotion, but his actions told a different story.

Julia had eventually contacted Paul and agreed to attend a local university in exchange for a 5 year commitment with the DO. Paul was always there to provide encouragement when the going got tough, and eventually became the most stable person in her life those four years of school and to some degree beyond. When she graduated he became her boss and shepherded her through the Professional Trainee Program followed by the Clandestine Service Training Program and then into regular service.

She later discovered the agency did not have a program to pay university tuition for incoming trainee’s. A fact Paul continued to deny to this day. Julia wasn’t sure where the money had come from but she did come to know a few other recruits from difficult backgrounds who had a similar experience as her in conjunction with Paul.

“Julia, good to see you, please have a seat. Against my mother's wishes we will have to skip the niceties and get right to business.”

Against “my mother's wishes”? Always a strange bird, Julia thought.

“Julia, there was a full cabinet meeting with the President late last night regarding some alarming reports coming in from the CDC and a large number of hospitals around the country. There are apparently many recently admitted patients with a variety of diseases typically not seen in North America.” Paul got all this out before Julia’s rear hit the seat of the leather guest chair in front of his ridiculously out of place ornate mahogany desk, which looked like it should be in a Victorian mansion.

Julia feigned a thoughtful pause to digest the information while trying to situate herself in the old-fashioned club chair. The tall, solid wood, leather adorned arm rests forced Julia to keep her arms at her sides lest she look like a bird about to take flight. She also had to lean forward on the front edge of the chair to avoid being sucked into the depths of leather. It forced the occupant to sit forward in a reverent pose, elbows at sides with hands clasped or in one's lap. Perhaps this was Director Greenfield’s desired goal, to keep his guests from getting too comfortable.

Julia took it as a challenge to find a position of some decorum. She was again failing as Paul interrupted, “Julia, the President has asked all agencies to return with initial thoughts and recommended actions at a follow-up meeting tomorrow. DARPA has been tasked with leading and coordinating the investigation and they have pulled their best man for the effort. Hopefully, with DARPA in the lead all the agencies will play nice with each other but the historical record is against us.”

She concealed her antipathy and with the death of another small part of her ego Julia gave up and leaned forward, elbows on knees, hoping she looked engaged and not like she was squatting on a toilet. Either way, she needed to focus and make Paul un-tilt his head and stop looking at her quizzically.

“Because the President called a cabinet meeting, I assume someone views these as unnatural events. Any cause determined yet? Are we talking about chemicals?” she said.

“The CDC is working as quickly as they can to help local hospitals diagnose the diaspora of symptoms, but it seems clear we are dealing with multiple viruses such as Ebola, dengue fever, necrotizing fasciitis, and other diseases rare in this part of the world,” Paul said as he returned to a more businesslike expression.

Was that a hint of a wry grin at the corner of his mouth? Certainly not, Julia thought. “Is it possibly an environmental failure at an infectious disease lab? What other details were given at the meeting… and what the hell is necrotizing facial whatever you said?”

“Lab breaches were discussed and none have been reported. What we know at this point is that the infections are not confined to a small area. The reports are coming in from thousands of hospitals throughout the Midwest and in parts of the northeast. The CDC estimates initial infections occurred two weeks ago, and the symptoms are pointing to the worst of the worst diseases with high mortality and contagion rates.

“There are so far over 10,000 deaths attributed to the initial round of infections. About 150,000 people die in the U.S. in any two-week period like we are talking about, but percentages from these diseases has never been seen before. Some of these diseases are extremely contagious and there could be many more rounds of infections and patients depending on how many patient zeros there were and how many of them got to the hospital before transmitting.

“We don’t know how people are being infected, why it is happening in these locations, and most importantly how to stop it.

“The President has indicated that we are to treat this as an act of aggression as far as internal protocol, with everything staying highly confidential until we know more, in order to avoid a public panic. The CDC is pushing back hard on keeping this under wraps but that is where things stand.

“And necrotizing fasciitis is better known as flesh-eating bacteria which is apparently quite nasty and hard to control once it takes hold, often requiring amputations and such to cut off the path of infection in the victim.”

Stunned and involuntarily wincing from the imagined pain Julia said, “Unbelievable! Where do I start?”

“Read through all the information we have to date and then report to the DARPA team,” Paul said.

Julia imagined Paul smiling his form of a proud approval after she had turned to leave his office.

9

AT THE DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH Projects Agency (DARPA) Headquarters in Arlington, VA, 10 miles from the CIA Headquarters, Brian Storm had received a similar download from his superiors first thing that morning along with instructions that his group would focus on the same issue full time, working closely with the CIA.

As one of the top Program Managers at DARPA Brian had bristled when directed to drop his current projects. He had become used to little oversight and choosing the subjects and types of projects he and his teams worked on, a privileged and unusual testament to his intelligence and creativity. Upon review of the unfolding catastrophe at hand and its potential magnitude, Brian quickly checked his ego and spent the remaining portion of the morning extricating himself from his ongoing projects and getting a team transported to his office for a kickoff meeting with the CIA liaison at 11:30 am.

Brian was renowned for his eclectic selection of team members, often including specialists from disparate and unrelated fields. But his results spoke for themselves and Brian’s superiors had long since learned to leave him to his own devices.

Brian had private planes bringing in the team members who were far away to hit the 11:30 am kickoff. Things were moving quickly, and he would have it no other way. Thankfully DARPA afforded significant access to money and influence and he knew how to use it to get things done.

About to kick off the most important task of his life, Brian’s pulse quickened; he felt energized and guiltily excited for the challenge of solving what could be the largest attack on American soil in history.

10

“MR. STORM I HAVE A Ms. Cacerek here for you,” the building security escort announced to Brian, knocking on his open office door.

Standing bent over his desk reading some papers, Brian gave an automatic “thank you” as he looked up with a brief stutter, caught off guard by the stunning woman standing in his doorway.

Julia Cacerek was wearing black dress slacks, high heeled closed toe shoes, and a crisp white shirt underneath a fitted suit jacket. She had sharp features with dark blue eyes accentuated by her black pixie hair cut.

Brian remained frozen. Julia cocked her head to the side as if looking underneath something, met his eyes and smiled introducing herself, “Hi, you must be Brian Storm. I’m Agent Julia Cacerek with the CIA.”

His hands still planted on his desk, Brian realized he had not moved and quickly straightened and pulled himself together as he walked around to shake hands. Her grip conveyed a sense of coiled strength underlying her professional exterior, like she could inflict sudden and permanent harm on him if she so desired. Well, she is with the CIA, he thought. “Yes, I’m Brian. Nice to meet you Agent Cacerek.”

“Please call me Julia. Sorry to catch you off guard. You looked deep in thought.” Julia was aware of the effect she could have on men (and women for that matter) and was practiced at playing it down to avoid awkward situations. Connecting with his dark brown eyes, Julia could see a deep intellect - maybe he truly had just been stuck in deep thought.

Brian was wearing a black polo shirt, dark jeans with what looked like black leather skater shoes. He was taller than her at about 6 feet, and in what looked to be good shape, but was not physically imposing.

His curly light brown hair bounced as he shook her hand. The lines at the corners of his eyes made it look like he could burst out laughing at any moment.

“Not at all, and please call me Brian. I was reading over some information that just came in regarding the current situation we are going to be working on together,” Brian said, fully recovered and back to his confident self.

“I have assembled some of my team to help us get started. Let’s go down to the conference room and greet them together,” Brian said.

11

JULIA ENTERED THE CONFERENCE ROOM through the door Brian held open and saw a group of six people. By habit, she scanned the room, her subconscious identified all the points of entry and exit and assessed each person for identifying features and their threat potential. Julia was surprised to see a face she recognized.

“Dr. Reynolds?” Julia said.

Susan Reynolds had recognized Julia as soon as she had come into the room, but per doctor-patient protocol did not initiate contact. As a psychotherapist it was common that patients did not want to advertise that they were seeking treatment for a mental condition. Julia had made the first move, so Susan responded, “Julia, hello, great to see you.”

“Great! You guys already know each other,” Brian said “Let’s get everyone else introduced.”

Shepherding Julia ahead of him to the front of the room, Brian addressed the group, “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Some of you know each other already from prior DARPA initiatives and it’s good to see you again. At my side is Agent Cacerek from the CIA who will be working closely with us on our new initiative. We have been given an extremely time sensitive, top secret issue. Let’s go around with some quick introductions and then get right to it. I’ll warn in advance this is going to be a long night. We are required to report to the President and Cabinet tomorrow on our initial findings.”

Going clockwise around the table Susan Reynolds introduced herself as a practicing psychiatrist, professor and leader of a research team focused on schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder.

Gerald Michaels, who preferred to be called Jerry, was next. His pudgy body, balding pate, straggly comb over, rectangular glasses and white button down shirt screamed computer geek, which in this case was pretty close to the truth. Jerry was a computer scientist with an industrial engineering background. He had an impressive genius level IQ and was on the bleeding edge in his fields.

“SWEET TITS!” Jerry exclaimed as if addressing Julia by her nickname, his face stoic and expressionless.

There were some muted gasps in the room, a smile from Uhli and a near tumble to the floor from Komiko. Although already aware Jerry suffered from Tourette syndrome, Brian was still surprised and couldn’t help but smile discreetly.

Julia was confident in her appeal but this was a first, as she had not experienced the cat call of “sweet tits,” at least that she could remember. She simply crossed her arms and gave a deadpan stare at Jerry who then continued.

“Apologies for that, I suffer from a mild form of Tourette’s which results in uncontrollable outbursts which are usually quite crude in nature and if not so frequent would be terribly embarrassing, I barely register them now.” Jerry’s normal speaking voice and diction made Julia think of the way a snooty British person would speak but without the accent. It was very pleasing and somewhat at odds with his appearance resulting in an almost comical overall package.

“FUCK TITS,” Jerry stammered before continuing again in his regular voice without pausing a beat. “Happy to help as usual, Brian and Julia, but can you explain why I am here and how long until I can return to my lab and my work?”

Looking to Brian to respond, Julia caught his amusement at her discomfort and they shared a brief moment of levity.

A general rumble of discontented grumblings and comments began in support of Jerry’s questions.

“To be honest, I’m not sure,” Brian said. “We are up against an unprecedented threat, if that’s what it is. Today’s discussion will help us identify our initial focus, from which we can hopefully map out some actions and determine whose specialties we need and when. Let’s get through the intros so Julia and I can take you through what we know at this point. Uhli you’re up.”

“Hello, my name is Uhli Pokov. I specialize in what some people refer to as positive thinking but is more accurately termed synergetic realization. My research and personal experience revolves around the concept of controlling your own destiny, using the power of the relationship between energy and thought. Thoughts can become powerful when embraced by the many. For example - did we lose direct contact with the gods described in religious stories around the world, or did we lose the power to contact the gods because the strength of belief has diminished? Without knowing the specifics of the goals for this group, I assume we are dealing with a large number of people, and as before, my role will be to utilize my framework to help manufacture the success and results desired.”

With a wry smile he added, “And at a minimum we might all go home with new nicknames courtesy of Mr. Michaels.”

Continuing around the table was James (Jim) Spacek. Jim’s expertise was in nano materials. A renowned researcher, he had helped produce some of the biggest breakthroughs in the field to date.

Next to Jim sat Komiko Akari, specializing in biotechnology. Komiko was dressed in a stylishly funky outfit with a traditional Japanese flavor, but it was her eyes and their intensity that drew your attention, providing a window to the great intelligence that lay beyond.

Lastly, Francisco Chupez, a futurist with the most think tank experience, as his discipline existed solely in the realm of thought experiments.

With introductions complete, everybody took a quick break to get coffee, relieve themselves and settle in for a long day and night.

Julia came up next to Susan as she was getting a cup of coffee from the back table. “It’s nice to see a familiar face,” Julia said grabbing a cup. “I didn’t know you participated in these types of DARPA programs.”

“I’ve been involved in a few. My specialty can sometimes be of help especially with terrorist mind-set scenarios; not sure if this will be one of those times though. To be honest I’m a little distracted and anxious to get back to a potentially very unique case I’m working on,” Susan replied, stirring a packet of sweetener into her styrofoam cup.

“I’m intrigued. Do tell, Dr Reynolds,” Julia said flashing a conspiratorial grin.

“I’m sure it’s just a strange similarity, definitely a long shot, but…” Susan trailed off, pausing to look at Julia, whose raised eyebrows egged her on. “Well, it seemed as though I encountered the same personality in two different patients.”

“Wow, that sounds strange alright. Sounds like you’ve got the ultimate spy on your hands,” Julia said, widening her eyes and laughing at the incredulity of the idea.

Their conversation was interrupted as Brian encouraged everyone back to the table. Julia made a mental note to followup with Susan on their discussion. Surely there was some rational explanation. But what a powerful ability that would be.

As everyone took their seats, Brian turned the lights down and powered on one of the screens in the video wall.

The first image Brian brought up was a map of the U.S. with symbols made up of small circles with letters in them. The circles were primarily over the central states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa and then horizontally across the northern states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. The greatest density of circles were located over the states dead center in the U.S. which then became sparser in the southern and eastern directions. The letters within all the circles however seemed random throughout the various locations on the map. If you squinted, the overall shape resembled a boomerang.