Foreman pulled his hand back. “Go on.”
“I’ve checked with a friend of mine over at the Pentagon. They’ve lost all communications on the MILSTARS network. They don’t know why, but we do, don’t we Mister Foreman?”
“Are you sure the power is being sent through MILSTARS?” Foreman asked. “How do you know MILSTARS isn’t just picking it up from ground readings?”
“I’ve checked the propagation,” Conners said. “It follows the MILSTAR satellites from Cambodia out. It started there, but there now also seems to be weaker uplinks near Bermuda, in the western Pacific, and at several other locations.”
Foreman leaned back in his chair and tapped a pen against his lower lip. “But how can that be done?”
“I don’t know that yet, but I’ve got a friend working on it.” There was a short pause, then Conners continued. “If you gave us what you know, it might help.”
“There’s not much information,” Foreman said.
“Do you know what destroyed Bright Eye?” Conners asked.
“No.”
“Do you know what is in Cambodia that causes distortion on our imaging?”
“No.”
“Well, this seems to be very much a one-sided conversation,” Conners said. “Let me continue my end then. My friend has done some number crunching using the data that was forwarded to you. He predicts that if the electromagnetic and radioactive disturbances at these sixteen locations continue to grow and increase in intensity at the rate they are doing so now, that the first deaths will occur in less than twenty-four hours at the critical nodes where the power is most focused.
“It’s a geometric progression so the power increases by a factor,” Conners continued. “He predicts that these sixteen sites are situated so that they will eventually link up with each other and blanket the world.”
“When does he predict that will occur?” Foreman asked.
“Total coverage in two days.”
Foreman thought about that. Two days to the end of the world.
“Does your friend have any ideas how we can stop this propagation?” Foreman asked.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Conners answered.
“I am trying to get to the source of the power,” Foreman said, “but if I fail, it would be most helpful if you could come up with some way to stop it from spreading.”
“If you can’t stop the source,” Conners said, “then you have to stop the conduit of propagation.”
“You’re sure the MILSTARS satellites are being used?”
Conners voice was steady. “Yes.”
Foreman almost smiled. It was nice that someone was certain of something. “What can we do about that?”
“Shut the affected satellites down.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Destroy them.”
“How?”
“Using an HMV fired from Thunder Dart.”
Foreman was impressed. This woman knew what she was talking about.
“The Pentagon won’t be too thrilled to destroy their own satellites.”
“According to the taskings you send me,” Conners said, “you have sufficient clearance to get the SR-75 and Thunder Dart airborne.”
“I was under the impression that control of the HMV came from the ground, though. Which still means I’d have to go through the Pentagon.”
“I can control the HMV,” Conners said. “We worked with the Pentagon on the deployment of the system and I’ve done the simulation many times.”
Foreman was impressed for the second time. “I’ll take the option under advisement. I appreciate the information and the offer of help,” Foreman said. “Can you keep the area in Cambodia under surveillance?”
“We can’t see in,” Conners said.
“I know that, but just in case. Plus, even knowing how much we can’t see is helpful.”
“With your authorization I can put a KH-12 right over the spot and keep it there.”
“Do it. I’ll be in touch.”
Foreman cut the connection, then sat back and stared at the imagery he had taped to the glass. He was beginning to see some of what was going on and although he didn’t understand most of it, an unsteady feeling in the pit of his stomach warned him that he might already be much too late to stop it, whatever it was, from occurring. He knew it would take others a long time to wake up to the reality and by then it would be too late, but there was no doubting what the information was pointing to: The Gates were expanding and getting ready to link up. Earth was being invaded.
He looked at the display board in the front of the operations center. It showed the C-123’s current location, nearing the border with Cambodia. He flipped another switch.
“Anything from Sin Fen?”
“No, sir.”
“Keep the line open.”
Then he proceeded to check on the military forces he’d had Bancroft ordered in motion. Submarines, ships and planes were all converging on the Gates. What they could do once they got there, Foreman had no idea, but he felt it was better to be prepared.
He looked at the world map. If whatever was in the Gates was using MILSTARS then there was only one card he could play now to slow things; the card Patricia Conners at the NSA had thrown on the table; a card he knew that would cause blood vessels to burst in the Pentagon but time was getting short.
Ariana swore she could feel the texture of the air outside the plane on her skin and even sliding down her throat into her lungs. It reminded her of the strange mixtures she had used in tanks on deep-sea dives, but this feeling was a slightly nauseating one.
She stared into inky blackness. All she could see were the two lines of gold that sliced into the left side of the plane and came out the right along with a third golden beam that came from a different left angle, lower and further to the rear. The first two beams began in a haze about forty feet away and ended the same distance on the other side as if the plane was surrounded by a fog.
She started as she looked about. Near the rear of the plane, a thick golden beam blazed straight up into the sky, about twenty feet above their current elevation. Other than that, there was nothing. Ariana could hear Mansor’s breathing and the beat of her own heart sounded loud inside her head. With the glow from the four beams and her eyes beginning to adjust, she noticed there was a very faint visibility, but nowhere near enough to really see anything further than a few feet away.
She reached into the pocket of her jumpsuit and pulled out the flashlight. A firm grip came down on her wrist. She could just make out Mansor’s silhouette next to her.
“I wouldn't,” Mansor said. “I don't think we want to attract any attention.”
“All right,” Ariana agreed, peeling his hand off her wrist. “Let's go.”
They moved down the top of the plane by feel, staying on top of the center of the curvature, Mansor reeling out cable as he went, Ariana keeping one hand on the cable, letting it drop behind her. Ariana concentrated but she could hear nothing. The total lack of sound was unnerving, as much as the lack of light. She wondered when dawn came whether the sun would be able to penetrate the strange mist that enveloped the plane.
They made their way about twenty feet along the top of the fuselage. Ariana could faintly see the top of the plane beneath her feet and about twenty feet ahead as her eyes adjusted to the dark.
Suddenly Ariana sensed something behind them. She turned. A circle of gold light twice as large in diameter as the fuselage appeared at the nose of the plane, lighting up the skin of the aircraft inside of it’s circumference. Ariana could see the gaping hole in the top of the cockpit as the circle slid down the plane, covering a few feet every second. The circle was only about ten feet deep, behind it was the same darkness, as if the plane were being run through the beam of a massive searchlight.