“I was! Grandpa and I watched all the Star Wars movies. Uncle Howard says the Star Trek movies are much better. He says I’d like them and should watch them soon.”
“Star Wars is much better. Star Trek has some good movies, too; I think you’d like them.”
“Cool. Wanna watch ’em with me?”
“I’d love to, buddy, but uh… I…”
Timmy pouted. “You’re leaving again? But you just got here!”
“I’m not leaving till next week. We can knock out a few of them before then. Son, I need to have a talk with you. Sit down and eat your lunch.”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, silly, should you be? We need to talk about your sister.”
“Is she finally coming home? When can I see Mom?”
“That’s just it; it’s time you knew the whole story. With everything that’s been going on since we got here, your grandfather and I didn’t think you could handle the truth. You’ve gotten a lot better in the past few months, so I think you’re ready to hear it.”
“Know what? What’s going on?”
“The truth is, I don’t know where your sister is.”
“What happened?”
“Timmy, your sister was never with your mother. I’m not sure where they are.”
“I don’t understand.”
“We’ve never talked about your mother’s boyfriend. What do you think about him?”
“Chad could be nice sometime, but mostly he was mean…to me and Mom.”
“I saw your mom right before I came here. She wasn’t doing well. Did you know your mother had problems with drugs?”
“Yeah, Dad. Kinda hard not to notice. Is she okay?”
“I honestly don’t know, son. After we settled in here, I went back to get her and she wasn’t there. No telling what happened to her.”
“What about Chrissy? When is she coming back? Somebody must be taking care of her.”
“Timmy, the family Chrissy left with…well, they weren’t very nice people.”
Richard’s son began to cry.
“Chad was a horrible person. He sold your sister to them.”
Richard watched, helpless, as the dreadful reality registered on his son’s face.
“I’ve been trying my best to find her. It’s really hard to find out anything with the situation like it is now. The Pulse Zone is getting worse and worse every day. The UAE might not be able to keep it together much longer. I think we have a real shot at finding her. Hal gave me some good news this morning. I don’t think it will be long now and…”
“I hate you! This is all your fault! Why haven’t you been looking for her?” Timmy pushed his father aside as he ran from their quarters. Richard was hurt by his response but it could have been much worse. The boy was angry, which meant he was dealing with the news in his own way.
“Hal?”
Beck Castle’s resident A.I. responded. “Yes, sir. How can I help?”
“I’m sure my son is headed to Morris’s quarters. If he doesn’t get there, please tell me.”
“Of course, sir. I could discern from your conversation that you wanted privacy. Now that your son has departed, I have some reports from the UAE for you to review.”
“Anything of relevance?”
“Yes, sir, there is. One of the reports concerns a group of liberated slaves in Florida. There is a child there by the name of Christina. No last name given, no images available.”
“Do we have any way of contacting them?”
“Not by traditional means, sir. The slaves were liberated by a community taking up residence at Walt Disney World under the leadership of a man named Benjamin Black. The community is quite impressive, based on the report, but they have no means of long-term communication.”
“This is the best lead we’ve had in over a year. If I can’t figure out a way to contact this Benjamin Black, I’m going to Florida.”
“Very good, sir. What about the invasion of California? Will it proceed on schedule?”
“I don’t know, Hal. If we can’t get that cruise ship in Seattle, it might be awhile. I’m going to discuss this with Max.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Why is this even a question, Richard?”
“Max, I really don’t want to go on a wild goose chase. This isn’t like the old days. I can’t just hop on a plane and fly to Orlando. The UAE restricts travel, and they know I’m the commanding general of the PSA; I’m sure they’d love a chance to torture me for information. It could take me months to get to Orlando.”
“I take it your stealth jet won’t take you that far?”
“The stealth jet has a range of about a thousand miles. It’s three and a half thousand roundtrip to Orlando.”
“Why can’t you just refuel?”
“Howard won’t allow any of the stealth jets to land outside the PSA.”
Max was amused. “If Howard deems it so, then your pilot, Hal, must certainly agree.”
“Exactly.”
Max grunted as he reached for his pill bottle. When he married Elizabeth, he promised to never take Vicodin or any other narcotic again. He’d been taking Tramadol to manage his pain. Healthcare in the PSA put the UAE’s system to shame. “Look, Richard, I know you’ve been planning this invasion for quite some time, but I’m sure you can delegate your plans to your second-in-command. All of us will understand if the rescue of your daughter takes priority.”
“It’s a huge risk; I’d like some definitive proof that it’s her. A girl named Christina could be anyone. I don’t even have an approximate age on this girl in Orlando.”
“Richard, you’re forgetting one very important resource.”
“What?”
“We do have a mole inside Sterling’s camp.”
“Stacy Reid! How could I forget?”
Stacy Reid was sitting at her desk trying not to think about her former boss, President Malcolm Powers. Today was Malcolm’s birthday. She doubted she’d be able to stop reminiscing about past celebrations they’d shared and what she might have done today had he still been alive. She missed him terribly.
Stacy wondered how much longer she could keep this up before she lost her mind. She was terrified of Simon Sterling and what he might do to her if he discovered she was a spy. The only way she could ease her troubled mind was to keep telling herself that the UAE was crumbling from within and she was, in large part, instrumental in its welcomed demise. She was in constant contact with Howard and fed him valuable intelligence. Howard had programmed Hal to connect with his sibling computer, now under President Sterling’s watchful eye. It enabled Howard to watch Simon’s every move, listen to all phone calls, and read all his digital communication. Howard Beck was the President of the Pacific States of America and didn’t have time to watch his nemesis every minute of the day, counting on Stacy to alert him whenever Sterling was up to something.
Stacy called up the holographic display on her desk and opened a window that showed the hallway leading to her office. The second window connected to the command center in Beck Castle. The face of Howard Beck stared back at her.
“Mr. President.”
“Good morning, Stacy. How are things in my home?”
“Everything’s fine.”
“How’s my wife’s cat?”
“Nala is fine. Sterling hates the animal, but he leaves her alone. He knows I adopted her as my own so he tolerates her.”
“Good. Anything to report?”
“Yes, something very big.”
“Do tell, please.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the news of Regional Governor Weygandt’s unfortunate accident?”