Legacy (50 page)

Sebastian didn’t respond, since he felt Lee was baiting him for a reason he couldn’t understand. He studied the man a moment and then looked at his companion, the very capable Mrs. Hamilton.

“I follow orders.”

“I’m sure you do, son.” Lee looked from Krell back over to Jack and then Everett.

“Garrison, are you going to let them in on your suspicions, or are you going to play games all damn day,” Alice said, as she placed her small black bag on the backseat of the police cruiser.

“I don’t think I have that much explaining to do. I think Jack knows that something in this whole thing stinks to high heaven.”

Collins for his part was playing it cool. He did have doubts that people were being straight with him on what was happening, starting with his boss, Niles Compton. However, being the career military man that he was he had learned to swallow his suspicions about superiors and follow orders the best that he could, even though he hated going into a mission with only the smallest of details to assist him. He would let the senator do the talking.

Lee stood and placed a hand on Everett’s shoulder, nodding, as if saying he was glad to see him. “For me it all started when I learned that our good friend Niles was placed in charge of organizing the Dark Star missions.” He let out a small laugh. He removed his fedora and wiped the sweat from the inside brim using his handkerchief. He then placed the hat back on. “Niles is a genius, we all know that. But outer space, the Moon, and the equipment used to get people there is a little bit out of his field of expertise.”

“The president is his friend,” Everett volunteered. “He trusts the director. You know, to get it done right.”

Lee nodded again and sat on the edge of the police car’s backseat, as if standing would be too taxing on his failing system.

“Yes, that’s the key word here Mr. Everett—trust. But not in the sense you’re using it. When you’re out to keep a secret, maybe the largest secret in the history of the planet, you turn to people you trust. Keep that trust localized, within a small circle, if you will, I know. I’ve been there.”

“I’m not getting your meaning,” Everett said.

They heard a car coming and Krell stepped out from behind the false front of the old building. He saw an ancient-looking pickup and camper pulling up in front. He saw the crazy-haired Ellenshaw behind the wheel and he relaxed. He leaned back and nodded at Jack.

“It’s them.”

Collins was relieved they had made it from the airport without being stopped. Once more they were wanted men, being hunted by a very angry, very embarrassed Ecuadorian government.

“Get them under cover as soon as you can, and get that vehicle hidden.”

Krell left to get his men settled and find the food that they should have brought with them.

“Back to my meaning, Mr. Everett. There is far more happening than just the recovery of the technology that we believe is here and on the Moon. Why are Sarah and our people on that backup flight?”

“Yes,” Jack said beneath his breath. “Why Sarah?”

A voice from behind them said, “Because we needed Sarah on the International Space Station to analyze the mineral if it was recovered. Regardless of the first two Dark Star missions, we needed Sarah on that station as my eyes and ears, as well as for her expertise on the mineral. She’ll send back a report the president can trust.”

Everyone turned and saw Niles Compton. He was dressed in tan working clothes and his eyes were fixed on Garrison Lee and Alice.

“I should have known you would be getting suspicious. I told the president that you would suspect something,” Compton said. He turned to face Jack. “I also told him that you would be figuring things out before too long.”

“Can someone tell me what’s up?” Everett asked. Just then they were joined by Sebastian, his men, Pete, and then finally, Ellenshaw.

Niles walked over and kneeled down. He looked into Lee’s one good eye.

“What are you doing here? You should be at home and in bed.” He patted Lee on the knee. He looked from his former boss to Alice, who couldn’t hold his gaze for long. She looked down at her feet.

“One last romp around the park,” Lee said and looked at Niles. His eye never wavered. “No fool like an old fool.”

Niles smiled and straightened. He turned to face Jack and Carl.

“I’m sorry, I never liked keeping things from you and you know that. But this … this thing is far beyond my scope. I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. So I let the president talk me into secrecy. And I will keep my word on that. Until he gives me the go-ahead, I cannot tell you everything.”

The others looked down, as they understood Niles was just following orders. They could see in his face, his very demeanor, that keeping things from them was driving him close to the edge. Jack for his part watched the man and decided that he would wait to push him on the issue, but he also knew that the closer Sarah and the others got to the surface of the Moon, the more hard pressed he would be not to make Niles talk.

“What are we doing about the people responsible for the attacks?” Jack asked instead.

“The FBI and Interpol have arrest warrants out for your friend McCabe and the Reverend Rawlins. We also know that the good minister has ties with Iran through his ministry and McCabe has his al Qaeda contacts. Thus, we know where some of the manpower came from. The bad news is we can’t find them. They caught the attack team at Cape Canaveral, but they aren’t talking—three Saudis and one Syrian.”

“What’s the Pentagon saying about the forces covering Ecuador?” Everett asked.

“That’s a major concern and one of the reasons I’m here. The president wants to know what you’ll need to get into that mountain. If the mission on the Moon fails, Columbus is our only hope.”

“Again, not knowing the full details of the true mission here, I will only venture a guess,” Jack said, as he stood and paced inside the old building. “Either we need a full air assault element, maybe the 101st Airborne, or just what we have here. Either not enough or too many. How high a price is the president willing to pay?”

“He’ll mortgage the house, Jack. Whatever you call for to get in there, he’ll give you. Ecuador is our friend, there is no doubt about that, but the president will burn them down to get at Columbus, and the rest of the world’s leaders will stand by and do nothing.”

“Just what in hell is that important?” Everett asked. “That we’d kick the hell out of a small country for no reason other than they have something buried here that we want?”

“That’s the entire point, Captain,” Niles said, almost losing his temper. “We don’t just want it,
we need
it.”

“Well, we’ll see if we can avoid killing a bunch of innocent soldiers and get inside the place the old-fashioned way,” Collins said, turning Everett away from Compton. He looked at Sebastian. “What do you say, my German friend. Feel like preventing an invasion of Ecuador?”

“Can we eat first?” Sebastian said, and he and his men laughed.

“What did you bring us to eat, Doc?” Collins asked Ellenshaw.

“Beans and rice,” he said, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

Jack and the others looked at Crazy Charlie and didn’t say a word.

“Hey, it’s not like they have a McDonald’s on every corner in Ecuador.”

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, UNITED STATES LABORATORY SECTION, CODE-NAMED DESTINY

Will and Jason eased themselves in through the five-foot round hatch. It had been several hours since they had not felt the free-falling weightless phenomenon known as the “floats.” The condition is relatively short-lived and the stomach usually falls back into its normal pattern after some time in the weightless world of space. As they entered the American laboratory named Destiny, they saw that Sarah was busy working with something she had carried in a small case the entire time they had been away from the Event Group complex.

“The colonel says we’re as ready as we’re ever going to be.”

Sarah looked up without really seeing Mendenhall.

“Hey, you with us?” he asked, looking from Sarah and then back to Ryan, shrugging his shoulders.

“He says we’re ready for that slingshot thing around the Earth,” Ryan said, watching her closely. “Hey, wake up,” he finally said.

Sarah blinked her eyes and then saw that Ryan was shaking her.

“Oh, sorry,” she said finally, smiling. “I was lost there for a minute.”

“Playing with rocks will do that to you,” Will said as he reached for the meteorite Sarah held in her hand. She pulled it away from him.

“Don’t do that,” she said, her face etched in seriousness. “We’re in an almost pure oxygen environment.”

“Hey, that isn’t one of those Pop Rocks, is it?” Ryan asked as he floated backward.

“Yes, but unless you get it wet, it’s pretty safe. Sorry, Will, but if you had sweat on your hands … well, I don’t know if it would have set off the chain reaction, but being we’re in outer space and all…”

Mendenhall looked from the stone in her hands to her face. “Don’t worry about it, but we better get moving.”

Sarah closed her eyes and nodded. “Right, the old slingshot-around-the-Earth thing. Can’t wait.” She placed the meteorite back into its Styrofoam-encased box and then placed it in her jumpsuit. She pulled her Velcro-covered feet free of the floor.

“What were you thinking when we floated in here? It was like you were in another world,” Ryan asked, following Sarah out of the laboratory.

“The mineral—we’re overlooking something fundamental here and for the life of me I can’t figure out what it is.”

“Well, you’ve got two days to figure it out. The colonel has decided on a straight-in approach to the Moon, following the same path as Astral. One orbit and then bam, we hit the surface.”

Mendenhall nudged Ryan. “What do you mean, bam?”

“You know, land,” Ryan said with a wink.

“Have you heard anything about the Chinese?”

“Eighteen hours till they land,” Ryan said, as he slowed and waited for Will to slide by him in the companionway.

“Jesus, we’re so far behind,” Sarah said as she pulled herself into the exercise module where the rest of the crew was waiting.

“Next time I’ll just close up that hatch and leave you three here,” Colonel Kendal said as he stood poised beside a map of Shackleton Crater.

“Apologies, I was making some last-minute spectrographs on the mineral.”

“No excuse. When I call a meeting that means come running.” Kendal’s demeanor softened and he shook his head. “Now, with the docking procedures completed, and
Altair
joined with the
Dark Star 3
crew module and capsule, we’re finally ready. You’ve all had a great meal of MREs, freeze-dried though they are, so we’ll leave now while we have a favorable launch window. In two days we’ll be where we want to be. Sergeant, are your men ready for whatever we may run into?”

“I believe so, sir. The Chinese, if it comes down to it, can’t be that much more prepared than ourselves. Loaded onboard the Altair we have ten compressed-air M-39 rocket-assisted projectile weapons. We are not carrying any explosive ordnance due to the instability of the mineral. Intelligence reports state that the Chinese forces, like the ESA team and the Russians, if they ever get there, will be armed with basically the same weapons.”

Sarah thought the Special Forces sergeant looked extremely young. But then again so did Will Mendenhall. She half smiled at Will when he gave her a sad look.

“That makes the odds pretty much even if the Chinese turn out to be unfriendly. Well, we do have one advantage. The Chinese have made their own mistakes. They cannot adjust their orbit because of fuel loss. So that means they have to land over a hundred miles from Shackleton. That gives us a fighting chance at getting there first. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to land two hundred feet from the edge of Shackleton. Dangerous, but I think my copilot, Mr. Ryan, and I can do it.”

Ryan looked over at Will and Sarah and then smiled broadly. They knew that look as the
we’re all going to die
look from years past.

“Okay, the Russians have their systems back online, but they won’t be able to launch for another twenty-four hours. So, that leaves us the damaged
Astral
lander of the European Space Agency, and the
Magnificent Dragon
to contend with. I believe our
Altair
is the best craft running this little race. I know we can do this. So, let’s go to the Moon.”

As the flight team started to file out toward the docking collar, Sarah floated aside to let men and women pass her. She started thinking. She felt the small box with the meteorite inside and then she looked out of the small porthole. The Earth was there, and she could even see South America. She said a prayer for Jack, Carl, and the others. Still, the thought of the small rock she carried bothered her. The keyword she knew was “meteorite.” She said it over and over again. Then, Will Mendenhall pulled on her sleeve.

“Hey, you want to get left behind?” he asked.

Sarah didn’t say anything. She just floated by Will and into the sleeve that connected the ISS with the crew module of
Dark Star
.