Escape to Earth 1: Running From Fate (27 page)

One of his men said from the side, “He’s a demon!”

Lukas looked in the direction of the one that yelled and smiled. McIntosh felt his heart freeze. “May I take my men for a proper burial?”

“No, they are mine now!”

McIntosh saw the smile grow larger and he didn’t have to order a retreat. His men turned and ran. He yelled for two of them to come and help him move his boat but ended up having to run to one of the others. The boats backed out and McIntosh yelled, “Hit him with the fifty!”

Both fifty-caliber machine guns opened fire and Lukas stood up and started walking toward them. Everyone on the two boats saw the bullets hitting but that demon kept walking toward the water. The guns stopped firing and Lukas yelled, “If they come here, I’m coming for you!” The boats backed out and sped away.

• • •

Sarah said, “I was wrong.” Everyone looked at her, “They can be talked out of attacking.”

Suddenly they heard, “I’m going to need all of you to come out and help me remove these items.”

Jinks and Stoney said, “Ladies, we’ll take care of this.”

Salud stood up, “I hate doing this but all of us better be prepared to put the white gloves away and develop a strong stomach.”

Jinks looked at Stoney, “Bring the front end loader and I’ll bring the other tractor.”

“Why?”

“We’re going to have to pull that boat into the converter building. It’ll be great raw material.”

Amanda said, “So will the bodies.” Several turned and stared at her, “Hey, do you want to stuff them and hang them over the fireplace?” Trevor shook his head and Amada said, “What?”

“Never mind, you’re right.”

“I’m just…”

Salud said, “Saying.”

Amanda nodded, “Exactly.”

• • •

“Hello.”

“Jill, this is Sarah.” There was silence on the phone and then Sarah said, “I know what a dirty business we’re in but this goes beyond what I ever thought you would do.” Again Jill remained silent. “You just couldn’t accept that I was telling the truth and you were willing to kill some people to confirm it…that includes me.”

“What we do is risky.”

“Is that how you’re justifying this to yourself? I’m out. Never contact me again.”

“It’s not that simple, Sarah.”

“Would you prefer I come and speak with you and your family directly about this?”

“NO!”

“It really is this simple, Jill. You only understand the dirty side of this business.”

“What makes you think I had anything to do with what happened?”

“First of all, I’ve not told you that anything happened. Secondly, you’re the one that breached our contract by making an attempt on my life. Do you want to call this even or not?”

“What are you saying?”

“You’re sitting there wondering if you should get Jim to send out a contract team to remove me. You’re looking at the odds of success and trying to see if you can make it happen. But know this, if it fails, my first target won’t be you. Dolly will go first, then Sam, followed by Jeff. Only after I finish with them, you. What’s it going to be?” Jill was silent and Sarah said, “Pink isn’t Dolly’s color. She looks better in yellow.”

The line went dead and Jill’s face turned red. Dolly was wearing a pink dress to school today. Her fear escalated and knew that if another attempt was made…She shook her head, how did she survive McIntosh’s raid? Jill shook her head, Sarah was one of the best agents she had ever used; she never failed to deliver. She decided that if something else was planned, she would tell Sarah. Jim could take a short dive in a concrete tub. She was not going to risk her family.

Her phone rang again and it was McIntosh, “Why did you send me on that raid?”

“What do you mean?”

“There was nothing worth stealing, all I saw was machinery and the people ran before we could take them. This was a wasted effort. You will pay me double or end my relationship.”

“Sir, you know we’ve been protecting you. That will end if you terminate our partnership.”

“Then give me a job worth doing where I can make a profit. What you’re paying me won’t cover my expenses.”

Jill shook her head, “What did you find out?”

“They’re building machines to make something.”

“Does it look like they’re building cars?”

“How would I know? It could have been that.”

“Did all of them escape?”

“You can run a lot faster on solid ground than through sand. Someone was on the beach and shouted a warning. By the time we landed, everyone was gone.”

“One of my best assassins was there.”

“Then why did you need me to go in? Are you that stupid?”

Jill shook her head, “I will transfer twice the amount we agreed on.” The phone went dead and Jill sat back in her chair. Every time something was done about that island, things went bad fast. McIntosh didn’t sound like himself. Jill called Jim and told him that everything appeared normal. She gave him the details and he said, “I’m still concerned.”

“I honestly don’t know if you have anything to worry about.”

Jim was silent for a moment and said, “I’m going to get the General to authorize satellite surveillance. Thanks, Jill.”

“No problem.” Jill hung up her desk phone and took out her cellphone. She pulled up a number and began pressing keys.

• • •

Sarah felt her phone vibrate and saw, “Satellites.” She nodded and looked at the group sitting around the table, “It appears Jill has decided not to risk my anger.”

Jinks looked at her, “Would you have done what you said?”

“No, she’s only following orders from her boss. He’s the one I’d go after. But I would scare the living hell out of her.” Jinks shook his head, “Jinks, I’ve done some things I’m not proud of and if I could go back, I’d change them. But I am who I am.”

Salud looked at Jinks, “She’s a warrior just like you. You should be able to see that.”

Jinks looked at Salud and then back at Sarah, “I understand.”

“Can you still care for me after this?”

“I’m glad you’re on our side. I’ve seen your heart; that’s enough.”

Sarah smiled and Lukas said, “It appears we’re going to be watched shortly. I’m concerned that Amanda and Tyler might cause some concerns if they’re seen here.”

Sarah looked at Amanda, “I can change their appearance.”

Amanda looked at Sarah, “You’re not thinking about changing my hair color, are you?” Sarah nodded. “Then make me a blonde: I’ve seen Trevor stare at blondes whenever we go out.”

Trevor looked at Amanda and shook his head. Salud shook her head, “Is she always this jealous?”

Trevor shrugged, “I guess. She just can’t believe that I’m the luckiest man alive to have her. No one will ever interest me but her.”

Amanda stared at Trevor and sighed, “Am I that bad?”

“You threatened the girl behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts because I smiled at her.”

“Yeah but she…!” Amanda paused and took a deep breath. “She filled your order.”

“Yes. And that was all she did.”

“I’m sorry, Trevor. I’ll work on it, I promise.”

“Do you still want to be a blonde?”

Amanda smiled, “I do.”

“And can you wear contacts instead of those glasses?”

“I have a pair. I wear the glasses to complete the image of being a professor.”

“You should also start wearing clothes that fit you tighter. Those sacks you run around in will be noticed.”

Amanda shook her head and Trevor smiled, “You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Easy for you to say, Mr. Perfect Body 2015.”

Sarah smiled, “After our meeting, the two of you come with me to my cottage.”

Joey looked at Lukas, “What happens now?”

“The large converter has been completed and it’s been programmed to build the ships.”

“What about the force field modules?”

“We are going to have to insert the diamonds in them and the disruptor modules. That’s not something we can have the locals do.”

Amanda said, “Has the converter been updated on the new power circuit for the modules?”

Lukas looked at her and raised his eyebrows. The wall speaker came on and they heard, “I’ve changed the ship’s converter to build them in. I’ve also changed the containment vessels on the reactors as well.”

Lukas tilted his head, “What’s going on, Willow.”

“With the lovely Amanda’s assistance, we have changed the structure of the reactor. You probably know that in Fellowship technology the containment vessel is strong enough to withstand the heat of the nuclear process.”

“Yes.”

“Well, dampening materials are used to prevent the heat from rising to a level that would melt the vessel. It is that issue that prevents the Fellowship from using fusion in their reactors.”

“The vessel would melt at fusion temperatures.”

“Yes. Amanda has developed a process using a magnetized vessel that would keep the nuclear material away from the vessel walls. That would allow the reactor to use fusion.”

Amanda smiled, “I have a way to house a fusion reaction but no way to start one. Willow knows how to start one but no way to contain it.”

Lukas smiled, “So between the two of you…”

Willow said, “Voila, a fusion reactor. And the most remarkable thing is that they are incredibly small. Most of my current structure is to house the reactor.”

“How are we going to install them, Willow? They’ve got to be highly radioactive and we don’t have any protective suits.”

“They’ll be in the ships when they come out of the converter. The shielding will already be in place. There won’t be any danger.”

Trevor’s eyes narrowed, “What power is going to be fed to the disruptors?”

Amanda smiled, “About four times the old level.”

Lukas saw Trevor’s expression and said, “What’s bothering you?”

“If the power level is four times what was on the drawings you gave me, then there will have to be a delay between discharges.”

“How much of a delay?”

“About a second.”

Stoney shook his head, “That’s not that long.”

Lukas shook his head, “In space battles, a second is the difference between life and death.”

Jinks leaned forward, “In the past, did you have to fire both disruptors to breakthrough an enemy’s force field?”

Willow said, “In the past, even both of them would not have penetrated a battleship or large cruiser’s force field.”

“But if I’ve heard you correctly about using diamonds to increase the disruptors, along with the increased power of the reactor, will one of them be able to penetrate now?”

Everyone looked up at the wall speaker and after a moment they heard, “Probably.”

“Then just set up the firing sequence so that one fires and a half a second later, the second one fires. A half a second later the first one is ready to fire and so on. Is half a second too long?”

Lukas’ eyebrows were down and Salud knew he was thinking furiously. She looked at him and he sighed, “Willow.”

“Yes.”

“You said the new disruptors were going to be mounted on swivel housings on each side.”

“That’s correct.”

“What if the new ship has three swivel mounts? One on each side and one on the bottom. Would there be room for it?”

Joey looked at Lukas, “Wouldn’t another disruptor reduce the power of the others?”

Amanda shook her head, “If the disruptors are fired one at a time, the power delivery will rotate with their usage.” Joey looked at her with a blank expression. Amanda smiled, “Ok, think about it this way. You have three water cannons being fed by a huge fire hose. Got the picture?” Joey nodded. “How there is a valve with a switch on it that directs the water to one water cannon at a time instead of all three at once.”

Joey smiled, “The water pressure remains the same depending on which water cannon it’s directed to.”

“Exactly. The power doesn’t decrease unless you’re feeding all three cannons simultaneously. If you do that, it’s reduced to a third for each of them.”

Lukas looked at the wall speaker, “Willow, is this possible?”

“The only way to make it work is to build an SUV instead of a sports car.”

“What does that mean in making it happen?”

“We’re going to have to build an even larger converter. We can use the current one to make the pieces for the new one. It will also mean you’ll need 33% more disruptor modules as well as the diamonds to focus them.”

“What about the control systems?”

“That’s a programming issue. We can leave the current converter to produce the plug in computer and control modules.”

“Are we going to have to do that as well as put the diamonds in the force field housings and disruptor modules?”

“No, the ships will come out of the converter pre-formed like an SUV; your local workers can install them. They can’t work with the diamonds, they’re too much of a temptation to steal them.”

Salud shook her head and Lukas said, “What?”

“I’ve been wondering where you’re going to get the raw material to feed the disruptors. You can’t make something from nothing. Just how much raw material are you going to need to build them?”

Lukas shook his head and Willow said, “Millions of tons.”

“And just what are the overhead spies going to think as millions of tons of sand, waste products, or whatever else we use go into the building and doesn’t appear to be filling it up?”

Lukas looked up, “Willow?”

“She’s right. The converter can change the atoms into different structures but it still boils down to an atom, and in some cases several, for an atom.”

Joey looked at Lukas, “Isn’t it true that some things have more atoms than others?”

Lukas nodded, “Obviously, a steel square one foot square has many more than a one foot square of Styrofoam.”

“Well, the peeping Toms overhead know that we’re going to be building cars. My company owns several steel mills and I can have everything they produce shipped here.”

“What about lava?”

Lukas looked at him, “What about lava?”

“Isn’t it pretty dense material? It came out of the planet’s core and is really hard material. We can start digging it up a half a mile inland saying we want to expand our factories. We can bring what we dig up in trucks and send it in saying we’re going to process it into sand to put on the beaches.”