When Dale and Sarah returned to the hotel that evening, Pappy was waiting for them. "Well? How'd it go?"
Both girls gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him about the meeting, and what she'd promised. Pappy wasn't happy either, but the girls got him to calm down.
"Look Pappy, this was the only way we could get them to agree to come and check this out. If any one of them strikes me as more than a little off, we'll leave them behind. But frankly, if one of these folks was a government informer, the rest would have already isolated them. Paranoia is a way of life for these folks," Dale said.
"Oh, this is going to be fun! Your father is going to have a heart-attack!" Pappy replied, shaking his head.
Dale grinned. "Sarah and I can handle Daddy; I'm worried about you! Now, let's go out to dinner, so you can get to know your new Daughter-in-Law." Both girls had to laugh when Pappy did a very accurate imitation of a fish out of water. Although he didn't actually get any words out, he did get into his bedroom to change.
The recruitment of the computer hackers went pretty smoothly, except Dale immediately rejected one of the young women. She was a FBI plant used to track down and rat out Hackers and other 'miscreants'. Dale couldn't believe the woman actually used the word 'miscreants' in her private thoughts.
They made a hasty exit and took the group to the island. Dale was worried about a couple of them until they met her father, and got the lowdown on what was going on. Once they understood that, they almost immediately became Ben's rabid followers. Ben gave them the titles of 'Information Retrieval Specialists'. By the next day, they were all wearing tee-shirts with custom IRS logos on them.
Sarah overheard Walter telling one of his buddies that if Hitler had SS that looked like Mr. Connors' Security people there would have been a lot more people getting arrested. Sarah wondered if the man had ever attended a history class.
When they got back to the Island, Dale and Sarah excused themselves from the new group, to keep an appointment with Jon in his lab. Sam had called Dale while they'd been gone to let the lovers know that Jon had developed a prototype device that might let Dale see a modified computer monitor.
When Sam met the two ladies at the lab, she explained that what Jon had really done was develop a computer display that Dale should be able to see. He had also created a mock-up of something resembling his original device, to help explain the fact that she could see somewhat.
Dale was overjoyed with the new monitor, since it allowed her to see text and crude graphics. It would make her research much faster.
"Ms. Dale, if I could have a few moments of your time in the next couple of days, I think I might be able to make it so you can see colors as well," Jon said with more confidence then he had when they'd first met him. "I'm almost certain it's simply a matter of tuning the ultra low frequency lasers to resonate at different wavelengths. But I don't yet know what wavelengths correspond to what colors for you."
Sarah looked a little confused. "That sounds like we're talking about normal optical wavelengths, which is what determines colors for the rest of us."
Jon nodded. "The principle's the same, except the frequencies are far below what a human should be able to see. In reality, she's seeing the energy emitted by the laser, not the light."
"I'm amazed you came up with this much this fast, Jon. How did you get this from my tests?" Dale asked.
"Well, the first thing I did was tell everyone in the lab about how your eyes are working now," Jon grinned.
"Okay ... So before I ask 'Ms. Sarah' to take your head off, why are you grinning like a school kid with a frog?" Dale asked.
"We have this exercise we do once in awhile. We call it a 'what if' day. We do this to keep our minds from getting stuck in a rut when we need to keep thinking outside the box. So, I asked 'What if there were a human, in our world, whose only utility of vision was the detection of active energy fields through mutated optic nerves," Jon replied. "I proposed that the person would need to be able to see a computer monitor for school, and visi-phones, as well as entertainment programs.
"In these hypothetical situations, restoring some form of normal vision to the person is a given, and the rest are benchmarks for success. I'm proud to say the team came up with a viable solution before the day ended. They were bright enough to figure out that if the person could see energy fields, their vision would probably be better than a standard human.
"I took their designs over to the electronics guys and asked them if they could make this for an experiment I wanted to conduct. When they said it would be ready in a couple of days, I thanked them, and called Dr. Sam," he finished, indicating the woman.
"Won't the rest of your team be able to figure out that you were talking about me?" Dale asked.
"I don't think so. Yes, they know I'm working with you so I can gather real-world data for simulations, and possibly create a device that'll work for you. With a little smoke and mirrors, and some help from Dr. Sam, we should be able to pull off a believable enough ruse that you'll be able to move around freely and perform task without too many questions being raised," Jon said, smiling.
"Okay, but how are you going to explain the monitor? It just looks like a burry mess to the rest of us," Sarah said.
"We can actually tell them the truth for that part. We simple explain that Ms. Dale's Occipital lobe sustained too much damage for the original design to be feasible. (My original research assumed a healthy Occipital lobe.) Given the amount and type of damage, certain adjustments had to be made," Jon answered. "The monitor is part of that."
Dale nodded and grinned at Sam. "So, when do I 'go under the knife'?"
"I'll make the arrangements for the O.R. for tomorrow. I can order all the monitoring equipment shut off, but we'll have to bring the nurses in on the secret since it'd be impossible to perform this type of procedure without them." Sam replied. Jon was nodding agreement.
She continued. "With Jon and I to 'perform' the actual procedure, we should be able to maintain security, dear."
They agreed to meet the following day to 'do the procedure'. Sarah and Dale excused themselves because they needed to get ready; their parents had invited them to dinner to welcome them home.
Special Agent Gail Albrect was pissed. The little bitch simply dismissed her right after she thanked her for coming! It was almost like Dr. Connors knew she was FBI. Gail had recognized Dale Connors from news reports she'd see on TV, but hadn't realized until she'd left the room. She rightly figured her superiors would very much like to speak to her.
As soon as Special Agent Albrect left the hotel room, she called for back-up so she could take the whole bunch into custody. She'd been with this group of miscreants and misfits long enough, and had gotten enough evidence to have the all of the seditious bastards rounded up and sent to New Alcatraz.
Before they could get there, Dr. Connors and the rest of the group left the building. Gail immediately called in, and followed them. Once she saw that they were heading for an abandoned airstrip, Gail's superiors told the local air traffic controllers to deny take off permission for the aircraft Gail's quarry was now climbing into.
The controllers told the FBI that there was no plane of that type, or with those tail numbers, currently within United States air space. The whole fiasco severed to keep everyone confused until the plane had taken off, turned west and quickly left the country.
Gail silently cursed as her back-up arrived just in time to watch the plane shoot down the runway, and leap into the air. Since the cat could be out of the bag as far as her cover went, she had her team arrest the rest of the group of hackers on charges of cyber-terrorism, cyber-sedition, sedition, and conspiracy to distribute pornography just name the major crimes. All in all they made twenty-three arrests; two of the hackers had been minors, so they arrested and charged the rest of the family as well. S.A. Albrect that would make up for losing Connors girl, and the other hackers.
She was very surprised when she received a very strongly worded reprimand, and pulled off field duty. She understood that she had seriously underestimated the importance of the Connors girl, but how was she supposed to have known? It didn't matter anymore, she was no longer in favor with her bosses, and she put all the blame on that Connors bitch!
"Are you finally ready to report, General? Stenbeck asked, dangerously.
"Sir, as you witnessed in the control center, anytime we got a satellite in position to track these unknown forces, we would lose it to unusual circumstances.
"We had one quick thinking fighter pilot that managed to keep the craft in visual range, and follow it up to almost one hundred thousand feet. That's where it became clear that the enemy plane was only playing with us.
"It leveled off at roughly our fighter's maximum altitude, and they had been moving at very close to our fighter's top speed. These are the pilot's words as to what happened next; 'at that point the target actually slowed down so it could come along side. The plane then waggled its wings as if to say goodbye, and took off like it had been carrier launched and continued with the climb. I lost visual on it so fast that I would have missed it had I blinked.'
"Considering the altitude and speed that the two craft had been travelling at the time, the testimony of our pilot would suggest these craft are capable of hyper-sonic flight, and can operate in pre-orbital space. With the correct type of ordinance, it is very likely that such a craft could easily destroy a satellite in orbit," he paused because he knew his next words could very well mean his death.
"However, we still have no idea as to where they're coming from, or they're country of origin."
One of the old men at the table spoke up. "General, you said that our pilot got close to one of the craft. Did they make out any markings? Could they see who was in the cockpit? More importantly, did the gun cameras capture an image of this craft?"
The General was certain they were going to kill him now, once they heard the rest of the story. "She reported that the croft had no markings at all, not even a tail number, or ejection seat warning marker. Although, she might have been looking in the wrong place since the craft had no visible cockpit. As for her gun camera footage ... In order to get the information she did get, she had to run her plane at its maximum for too long. Shortly after losing sight of the unknown, she ran out of fuel, and rode the plane down to an altitude where she could bail out safely.
"Once her engines failed, the unknown craft returned to follow her down. Once her chute deployed, the craft came to a hover in the air, and stayed with her. She'd ejected over the north pacific, and should have died from exposure. However, the unknown craft ejected a cold-weather survival pod with a radio in it. It stayed with her until she made it into the pod. She was later recovered by a crab boat. We lost the plane, but some of the troops in the Middle East did manage to capture images of these craft. Most of them are blurry, but what we can see supports the pilot's story," the General finished.
"This situation is very frustrating, but I cannot find fault with your actions or those of your people, General. Please see to it that this pilot is commended for the risk she took. I would like to give this situation some more time and thought.
Our foe is smart and better equipped than we are. However, the actions of their pilot seem to indicate a fatal flaw in the compassion shown to our pilot. Perhaps that can be used to either capture or destroy one of these remarkable craft. Please have your staff draft up a couple of scenarios for us to consider, General. You may leave us now." Stenbeck said and promptly forgot about the relieved old soldier. "Is there other business?"
A frowning man near the other end of the table indicated he would like to speak, and Micale nodded to him.
"My Brethren, I bring before you word of a bill being slipped through the US Congress that has the potential to eventually expose us. I speak of the Internet Security Bill. I have had my assistant prepare a full briefing in the event of deeper interest. I would recommend this bill not be allowed to become law."
Micale nodded agreement with the man's proposed resolution. "Do any here wish to debate this subject, or perhaps delay our decision so you may study the briefing?"
Ms. Abigail Pentecost, the appointed representative of His Majesty, the King or England, motioned, and Micale nodded to her.
"We agree with Mr. Garmin that this bill should be defeated. However, we wish to review the briefing as we believe that Parliament is also considering such an action. It may give us some insight into how best to defeat it," Ms. Pentecost explained. Mr. Garmin bowed acknowledgement to her and made a note to himself.
When no one else spoke on the subject of the bill, Micale officially passed judgment on it. Again, Mr. Garmin made a note to implement the resolution.
Before Micale could ask about more new business, Garmin asked to be recognized again.
"There is more, Archibald? Very well, proceed," Micale said when the man nodded.
"We all know that Mr. Dobson's uh, zeal, for his religion is not just an act for the cameras, that he actually believes he's saving the American people from themselves. However, he believes he now has his country under control enough and has rather forcefully requested permission to fully invade the Middle East and convert all the godless heathens that live there. He used the argument that 'All those folks need is to know god, and they'll quit causing trouble, just like in the US. No more of this messing around with military aid and diplomacy'. He truly believes that the root cause for all the trouble in the world is Islam. Ladies and Gentlemen, in my opinion, he has finally gone insane."
"Do you believe he will act against the Middle East independently?" The Middle Eastern representative, Oman Raffi, asked.
"I honestly don't know for sure, but I do believe he's quite capable of it," Garmin answered. "Regardless of what he knows our response would be, if he feels that it is his 'God given Duty' then nothing short of putting a bullet in his head will change his mind."
"What of the Vice President? Do we control him?" Raffi asked.
"We do. He is a much more pliable individual. He is also lacking in imagination and drive. He comes across as religious, but in his case, it was only an act. We believed at the time that he would be a good pawn if we ever needed to replace Dobson," Garmin explained.
Looking around the table, Micale polled the members. "Very well. Mr. Garmin, please have Mr. Dobson retired. I assume 'public outrage' at the event will be great. May I suggest that perhaps introducing the rest of his family to the public? For sympathy reasons of course."
Garmin almost smiled at Micale's 'suggestion' as he made note of it. Archibald happened to harbor a strong dislike of the man ever since he'd come to the attention of the council. Michael Dobson believed that one man should have more than one wife in order to spread his seed as widely as possible. In fact, he'd tried to make religious polygamy legal.
However, Mr. Dobson's religious beliefs did not seem to allow for love to be a part of marriage, and so treated all four of his current wives as slaves. The council really didn't have an opinion the issue, and as a member of that council, Archibald tried very hard not to let his personal feelings for Dobson interfere with his duties.
Micale knew Archibald had been secretly trying to help the Dobson women, and since Micale didn't tell him to leave them alone, he'd continued to do so. The Chairman did, however, warn him not to get too attached, since the potential for discovery was far to public for Archibald to make them his. Although, What Micale just 'suggested' would make sure that they could never be Archibald's, it did make sure that they would be taken care of and finally be free to begin 'normal' lives.