“I… I don’t know. It could have been either side. It might have been Chris.”
“Maybe that whole thing in the desert was nothing but self-defense. Yeah, they were faking the federal agent thing, but that was just to get their missing top-secret wreckage back. Maybe they were forced to kill everyone.”
She said, “Pike, they were going to murder us. I’m sure of it. I could see it by how the security force acted. They took orders from the one with the badge — the one you beat up — but they were afraid to look us in the eye. Afraid to engage us in conversation. Because we were dead already.”
“Jennifer, that’s just your gut feeling in the fear of the moment. You can’t prove that.”
“If all they wanted was the wreckage back, then why did they chase us down with a helicopter? They already had the lost piece.”
I had no answer to that. She said, “Because they didn’t want any witnesses, that’s why. There’s enough money involved here that Aegis is willing to murder to protect it. They’re covering up something, and it’ll probably end up getting a soldier killed some day. Is that what you want? Some contractor to make a fortune selling faulty equipment, getting rich off the blood of your brethren?”
That is dirty pool. I raised my voice, “What do you want me to do? What the hell is the right thing here? You want me to go back to the hangar and murder all of them?”
“No. Let’s figure out what the big secret is. Then jam it up their ass.”
I snapped back at her words, actually impressed with her cursing. I said, “So that’s what you want? To risk your life for a bunch of contract cheats? That shit goes on all the time in the Defense universe.”
Her eyes settled on me, and I saw something new. An awareness of the world she was entering. An understanding of her place, but also an understanding of her power to change it.
She said, “Contract cheats are nothing. Those guys were going to kill me. I’d like to show them how big a mistake that was.”
Chapter 11
Sitting outside the wire, I watched an aircraft come into final approach for Roswell International, wondering yet again what magical ability Jennifer had to get me to do stupid things. She said, “How long are we going to wait?”
Until this moment of insanity passes from my brain. “Until I’m ready, damn it.”
She turned away with a scowl, saying, “It’s only three hours until daylight. You said it would take at least an hour to get through the fence. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for exploring.”
It had been a full two days since our discussion in the motel room, and the Blackhorse boys had been running all over town trying to find us. Which had made it hard to conduct a proper surveillance of their facility.
I’d called Kurt, relaying what we had and asking for some help. He’d gotten a little agitated, to put it mildly.
“Are you telling me you went to Roswell, New Mexico for an archaeological dig, and instead you’ve killed a bunch of people in the desert? And you want me to do something about it? Are you out of your mind?”
“Sir, I didn’t kill anyone. It’s Aegis and their Blackhorse Tactical security. I’m telling you they’re covering for something. I need to know what they’re up to in that hangar. You can find that out.”
“Jesus, Pike. I don’t know what to do with you. I’m trying to convince the Oversight Council to use your damn company, and they’re already skittish as hell about you. This isn’t going to help.”
“Sir, I didn’t do anything. They’re the ones that are killing. They kidnapped Jennifer, for Christ’s sake. If you don’t believe me, believe her.”
“She’s involved in this too?”
“Well, of course. She’s the one who came up with the theory — and it’s a pretty good one. I just want to prove it.”
I heard nothing on the phone for a minute, then a sigh. He said, “Okay, look, I did a scrub after our last conversation. Aegis has a contract with Big Safari. They’re working on a new stealth UAV. An armed drone that carries a bigger payload than just hellfire missiles.”
I took that in. So much for aliens.
Big Safari was a classified program run by the US Air Force that focused on rapid procurement of all sorts of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms. Everything it touched was top secret.
I said, “So that’s what crashed out there? A prototype of an invisible armed drone?”
“Yeah. The SECDEF is a little agitated because of the cost. It was a no-bid contract, so others are saying it’s a money pit.”
Which was the same old DoD story. In the past, Big Safari had generated some bad press because of its tendency for no-bid contracts, instead relying on the good ol’ boy network to get things done. A lot of defense types on both the industry and the government side had complained that the system didn’t allow for competition.
“Well, I agree with him. I think it is a money pit. One thing’s for sure: The UAV’s not invisible. I heard two of the scientists talking. It doesn’t work, and they’re faking tests to keep the funding. That’s why they were so adamant about getting that little piece back. It would provide proof of their fake tests. This must be worth billions to Aegis. A long-term funding stream of maintenance and support, all backed up by their classified testing.”
“You got any proof of that?”
“No. But I’m going to get it. Will you help? All I need is someone to exploit their computers. I’ll gain the access.”
“Pike, I can’t authorize this. I can pass along your suspicions to the SECDEF at the next Council meeting, have him talk to the Armed Services Oversight Committees and check out Big Safari, but there’s no way I can conduct an operation on US soil against a US corporation.”
“Sir, there’s too much money floating around here. Congress will do nothing. It’ll just be cost overruns and delays, giving Aegis time to hide their flaws and present some bullshit report. All that will accomplish is the loss of more tax dollars. I’m not asking for a Taskforce team. Just some computer help. I’ll do it myself.”
“Pike, the answer is no. Not a chance in hell. Besides that, Creed’s on leave.”
Bartholomew Creedwater was a Taskforce hacker. A geek like all the others in the hacking cell, he was an expert at penetrating computer networks. Unlike the others, he’d actually done a ton of illegal hacking operations before seeing the light with the Taskforce. Given that, Kurt’s statement made little sense.
Why do I give a shit if he’s on leave? It wasn’t like Taskforce computer operations shut down because of one man. Especially one who had no qualms about breaking the law.
Hesitatingly, I said, “Yeah? Is he still in the building?”
“How the hell would I know? Pike, get back home. You get caught doing stupid shit out there, and you’re on your own. No way will the Oversight Council let you back in.”
Wow. Real subtle. I decided to poke him a little bit. “Understood, sir. But if the evidence falls in my lap, Jennifer gets a shot at Selection, right?”
I heard a click, waited a bit, then said, “Hello? You still there?”
Two nights later and I was sitting outside the Aegis compound with a pocket full of thumb drives, a computer geek on standby, and Jennifer lying in the ditch next to me. About to execute what I considered a marginal plan, at best.
While waiting on the FedEx of hacking tools from Creed, Jennifer and I had done about as much reconnaissance as we could manage, dodging the big hulking four-by-fours the Blackhorse Tactical guys were using all over the city.
When we were done, I was going to give them a little lesson on camouflage and blending in, but in the meantime, I’d found no weaknesses in their fence line. The only way in was through the front gate. It was impossible to remain undetected trying to cut through or climb the fence itself.