“And if that fails?” asked another deputy. His voice dripped sarcasm, and Watt frowned at him.
“If you have better ideas, we’d like to hear them now.”
“It’s not that, Minister. We’re too few in number. We need a force behind us.”
“Ah, but I have such a force. That’s the one thing White managed to do before his arrest. He found a sympathetic ear among the Blues, and put me in touch with a mercenary force more than happy to take our money.”
“Kashmires?”
“A few. They’re a mix of several nations, well armed, around a hundred of them and battle hardened. I can call them up on a day’s notice, but only for a major operation that will be our final option if everything else fails.”
“We’ll destroy everything,” said a deputy.
“Star craft, base and portal, all of it will be obliterated by the explosion. The required ordinance will be massive. We’ll bring it through the portal in a shipping crate, preset to detonate. The mercenaries will provide cover for the operation.”
“What about the Council? Do we just leave them there to die? It could be politically offensive to our neighbors.”
“I personally don’t care. Let them rot, or get home the best way they can. And there will be no future contact with the Americans. The explosion will kill all of them in the base, and even the nearby town is likely to sink out of sight into the ground. I have faith that our constituency will understand the need for this, as well as the need for new leadership.”
“If you’re wrong, we’ll all be dead men,” said a deputy.
“Better that than to allow these people to spread their corruption to the stars,” said Dario Watt.
Leon intended to follow John Coulter when he could, but two weeks passed by and he was unable to locate the man. Each day, before and after his office duties, he searched the town for Coulter’s black Mercedes, and never found it. Coulter didn’t call him, and hadn’t called Eric.
“I don’t like it,” Leon said to Eric. “The guy has dropped out of sight right after giving you a pile of money. Something has spooked him. Has that guy Brown contacted you again?”
“Nope. Not a word. I thought he might. We’re flight-testing this week. Ground rehearsal is tomorrow. Dillon still thinks I’m nuts. Hell, I think I’m nuts. These images come to me, and it’s always the right thing to do. I’m beginning to think I can actually fly that bird.”
“You probably can. Brown hinted at it. I think you’re being programmed for it, all the information you need is being fed to you through hypnosis or some other weird process we don’t understand. Your dreams have something to do with that. I bet they were doing it with Johnson, too. Otherwise, I don’t see why they’d pick on you.”
“Maybe that’s why he was killed. Brown didn’t say anything about him. Maybe they were getting Johnson ready to fly Sparrow and our resident saboteur had to kill him. He nearly killed me on the same day. That would have really set us back.”
“Are you still carrying?”
“Waist and boot, when I’m in town. Davis won’t let me bring anything into the base, but I’ve somehow acquired a Beretta 92F there.”
“Hang on to it,” said Leon. “What do you say we close the office early. I want to widen my search area for Coulter, and you have a big day tomorrow.”
“Fine with me,” said Eric, and locked his desk.
They left together, turning in opposite directions on 89A. Leon headed uptown and cruised the tourist area, went back to the Y and east to Oak Creek Village and the parking areas near Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. Traffic was growing heavier as he returned to Sedona, and went back south on 89A to the high school. He spent the better part of an hour doing the Red Rock Loop, slowing at every side street and dirt road. If Coulter had changed cars, Leon was wasting time.
Frustrated again, he sped back to Dry Creek Road and turned towards home. In his haste, and in heavy traffic, he failed to notice the black Mercedes sitting in the parking area in front of Nataly’s shop.
When the UPS truck arrived, Nataly asked the driver to pull around to the back of the store so he wouldn’t risk hitting one of her closely-spaced displays with his loaded hand-truck. He complied, and unloaded several heavy cartons at the back of the store. Nataly left Marie in charge of the register and went back to open and inspect each carton for damage as it was brought in. Everything had arrived safely. She signed for everything, and the driver went away.
There was a carton of colorful crystal specimens from Mexico, and two boxes of Brazilian quartz. She opened them up and lovingly unwrapped each piece. A scepter of yellow quartz with rutile inclusions sang to her, and several others near her resonance were warm in her hand. Time stood still as she sensed the vibrations of each piece, but as she opened another carton the curtain between the back room and her shop was suddenly pulled aside and Marie was standing there, rolling her eyes and being dramatic again.
“Oh, God, you are here. I told him you’d gone out. He’s been waiting up front for half an hour.”
“Who?”
“Some man. He said Eric sent him over to pick you up.”
Nataly blinked. “That’s not right. Eric would call first. We didn’t have anything scheduled for now.”
Marie sighed grandly. “I’m only telling you what he said.”
“Okay, tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”
Marie returned to the front of the store, and Nataly resumed her unpacking of the box she’d been working on.
“The last thing Eric would do would be to send someone to pick me up for any reason. He’d come himself. What do I do now?” she said out loud. But before she could answer herself, the curtain was pulled aside again and a man was standing there. He was tall, and wore an expensive looking gray suit with a power tie. His face was square, quite handsome, and his eyes were deep brown. He smiled.
“I’m sorry, Miss Hegel. Didn’t Eric call you? We’re supposed to meet him at Toucan’s in fifteen minutes, and if we leave now we might make it on time.” The man looked around the room as he spoke, but remained standing by the curtain.
“Eric didn’t call me about anything. Who are you?” Nataly felt hairs moving on the back of her neck, and her entire body was suddenly tense.
The man took a card case from his vest pocket and handed her a business card. “John Coulter, Miss Hegel. My business is mostly import and export of art, artifacts, and antiquities. Eric and I go back a couple of years. I’ve had some luck selling art for him, and he suggested your store as another source of artistic treasures. We were supposed to meet today to discuss it, and now I find out he didn’t tell you about it. This is very embarrassing. I’ll call Eric from Toucan’s and have him pick you up, as he should have. The meeting will only take an hour. I see you’re quite busy here. That yellow crystal is exceptional, by the way. Such beautiful things in your store, just what I’m looking for. Can you spare the time?”
“I suppose,” said Nataly, still tense. The man’s eyes seemed fathomless, without expression. But it wasn’t the thing that bothered her the most about him.
“I’ll see you later, then. Dinner is my treat for both of you.”
Coulter walked away before Nataly could answer him. She watched him through the curtain. The man said something to Marie that made her smile, and then left the store. He got into a black sedan and left the parking lot, headed south, in the opposite direction from Toucan’s.