The Unofficial Biography Of Kimmay

Book 2: The Nature Of Power

by G. L. Hudson

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 

Collected from the Department of Energy using the Freedom of Information Act

 

Over twenty thousand miles above, a whirlwind of activity began. Routine calls were picked up and sent real-time to a variety of listening stations, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A fast analysis was made on both the audio and visual. The facial metrics and voice recognition patterns both scored positive hits. The intercept was marked 'ultra' and was sent to a Maryland suburb of Washington D.C. in a matter of microseconds. Two seconds later, the message was pushed through over forty acres of computers and it scored positive after positive. Within one minute of arriving at headquarters, the top-priority flasher in the day-director's office was blinking.

In less than six minutes from the time of Kimmay's call, Brian Kaliber knew where she was. He pulled the pre-typed forms from his top desk drawer and filled in the last remaining details by hand. He called his team leader and told her to bring the team down to the ops-center. The Undersecretary of the Department of Energy walked down the hallway and knocked on Secretary Allen Kurtland's rear office door.

The Secretary looked at the monitor on his desk and saw Kaliber waving the papers at the camera. "Excuse me," he said to his guest and walked out of the room and into his antechamber.

"She's on Grand Cayman Island and getting ready to fly to Paris tomorrow. The team is on their way in."

"Don't screw the pooch this time, Kaliber." He took the papers from Kaliber and initialed them. "Have Hazel get copies." An ultra-secret training exercise was ready to roll.

 

Source: Valerie Samantha May

Everyone was in position by the time Kimmay made the call. They knew that satellites were being tasked to check out the location. A low-level official of the United States consulate rode his motorbike back and forth past the condominium several times. He parked a half-mile away at the cemetery and casually strolled down the beach and took a few pictures. He walked back to his car and drove past the condominium to the public beach on the other side of the condos. While there at the beach he uploaded his pictures to the nearest satellite, changed his shirt and hat and then walked the mile up the beach to the condominium and again took pictures.

One of the BBC cameramen followed the man and filmed his entire activities. While the man was walking the beach, another crewmember collected fingerprints from the car.

The rest of the team was relaxing in their apartments. No one was allowed out without permission. Two couples were sent out to the beach and pool to make everything look normal. They kept their hats low and their noses covered with white suntan lotion. They would take no chances on the NSA satellites identifying any of them.

Kristal, Kimmay, Jennifer and Amanda sat in one of the apartments across the pool. They were now staying in a different condo complex, but they could see their old rooms. Kim had all of her belongings packed and would be leaving after the activities. Amanda had wanted to leave that morning but Kim insisted on watching the operation. She secretly wanted to look in Kaliber's eyes and make it clear that she was responsible for his capture. She would have loved to physically beat him for what he had done to Claire.

Kim would have her satisfaction.

The day dragged along. It was hot outside, but very comfortable in the air-conditioned rooms. Some of the BBC crew slept and some watched TV. Every so often someone would flip through all of the cameras and check connections. One of the Governor's most trusted men sat in the control tower at the airport reading a romance novel. Strung along an east-west line and ten miles north of the island, a group of fishing boats slowly rolled in the waves. The weather was gorgeous as usual and the fishermen were taking turns checking radios and navigational radar.

Morning turned into afternoon and afternoon faded into dusk. The sunset was beautiful. The crewmembers watched the sunset hoping to see the green flash, but there were just enough clouds to prevent that rare occurrence. People started getting a bit more restless. By 9:00 P.M. everyone was full of caffeine and totally alert. They expected the midnight hour to be their prime time, but midnight came and went. All remained quiet. The clock slipped past 1:00 A.M. and nothing was stirring. Around 1:45 A.M. one of the fishing boats radioed home.

"Hey darling, how is work going?"

"Boring as usual. How's the fishing?"

"Dark and slow so far, but I think I can hear them coming our way. We will move in towards shore and see if we can find anything. See you tomorrow."

A plane was coming in low with no lights. It was show time. A half hour later, the infrared cameras picked up two dinghies a mile off shore. They were headed towards the beach. As they got closer, the telephoto lenses could pick up four people, two in each dinghy, as they rowed towards shore. At fifty yards out, they stopped rowing and tied up together. An anchor was dropped over the side of each raft.

There was some activity in the boat as they prepared for their swim to shore. Three of the people slipped over the side of the rafts and began their swim to shore. They were wearing fins but not masks. They kept their heads above the water and were using night vision goggles. Seven Mile Beach is on the lee side of Grand Cayman Island and there are usually very small if any waves on the beach. Tonight was perfect for their swim to shore.

The cameras were rolling, recording the swimmers as they approached the shore. Off on the horizon, the lights of a couple of fishing vessels were coming towards shore. Timing was going to be critical. The boats wanted to arrive at the same time the infiltrators were caught. The swimmers reached shore and laid flat in the water as they surveyed up and down the beach. The middle person nudged the man on his right and he stood and ran across the beach to a small bramble of sea grapes. He crouched down and began working with his equipment. The second man came running across the beach and joined the first. The person remaining in the water was holding a weapon and watching the progress of the other two. Fins for the other two could be seen pegged in place, just past the shoreline.

The other two turned out to be a man and a woman. They were wearing full wet suits, including a black hood, and their night vision goggles. They had their face and the back of their hands painted black. They each had a knife strapped to one leg and a holster and handgun strapped to the other leg. They also had a smaller knife strapped to their left arm. They were both right handed.

They crouched behind the bush as they prepared their equipment. After only a minute, they started advancing towards the building. They took turns covering each other as they ran and dodged behind available cover. They quickly made their way to the building. Back to back, they slowly walked up the stairs to Kim's condo, as two infrared cameras followed their progress. A third and fourth camera filmed the man in the surf, and another camera was watching the man in the raft. Directional microphones slowly followed the progress of everyone.

Out on the horizon, four fishing boats were less than a mile away. They were on a tangential course, following the beach and heading towards the harbor at Georgetown.

The man reached the door and pulled a tool from his thigh pocket. The door quietly opened, and he stepped in. The infrared cameras and visible light cameras hidden in the condominium followed his progress as he slowly made his way to the bedroom. The outside door began to quietly close. The small, pneumatically controlled hinges made no sound as they locked the intruder inside.

The commando reached the bedroom and looked in. He could hear the sound of someone softly breathing and he could see the bed sheet slowly rising and falling. The target was facing away from him. His raised his pistol and took aim at the target. The button of red laser light was especially bright in his goggles. He squeezed the trigger. Once, twice, three quick bursts hit the shoulders and head. He quickly ran over to the bed, gun raised, ready to finish the target. He put three more bullets into the target and then pulled back the sheet. He had placed six well-aimed bullets into a dummy. The outside door quietly clicked shut. One of the British crewmembers flipped a switch.

The commando started yelling into his microphone, "Abort! Abort! It's a setup." It was too late. Everyone's headset was screaming with static. The woman kneeling at the top of the stairs was already in the sights of three sharpshooters. Two of them hit her with their tasars. Her body folded in a lump and hit the ground. The high voltage pulses kept her essentially paralyzed and unable to respond to the men who came running out of the lower level rooms.

A series of searchlights flashed on along the shoreline. The lights brightly illuminated the man lying in the water. "Put the gun down!" "You are surrounded!" "Surrender, Surrender!" The man was confused. The static was screaming in his ears. Should he run? Should he stand and fight? "Hands up! Hands up!" There were several lights and they were coming from different directions. He was outnumbered. What to do, what to do? He didn't have many options. He had no options. He tossed the gun up on the sand. He raised his hands and surrendered.

The man tending the dinghies watched the commotion. He flipped his com unit on and started yelling, "Mayday! Mayday!" He could see the boats turning directly at him. He pulled off the night vision goggles and slipped over the side of the raft and started swimming parallel to the shore. He headed away from the lights of Georgetown, staying as low as he could, and swimming as far as he could underwater with a single breath of air. He came up for a quick breath and was under the water again. Kicking and pulling, he swam until he had exhaled all of his air. He came up for another quick breath and was back under the water in a heartbeat.

The boats coming at the rafts saw the man slip under the water. They slowed down as they neared the empty rafts. A man wearing a pair of infrared goggles stood on the bow of each boat as the boats began to slowly circle the raft in ever widening circles. They searched for about five minutes before a cry rang out, "Thar she blows!" The man on the bow of one of the fishing boats was pointing ahead. The other boats sped up and ran ahead of the sighting boat. They too spotted the swimmer. Quickly they corralled the man.

The commando realized that he was trapped. He quit swimming and treaded water as he tried to catch his breath. One of the boat spotters threw him a life ring. "Great night for a swim, eh?"

The three outside commandos were soon wearing cuffs. That left one man trapped in the condominium. The door was locked and he couldn't open it. There was no keyhole on the inside. He made a quick run through the apartment to see if there was another exit. There was not. He tried to smash a window only to find that they had replaced the glass windows with thick polycarbonate. If he tried hard he might be able to kick a window out of its frame, but he would be exposed as soon as the window hit the ground. He was looking for options but didn't see anything.

With panic setting in, he heard the phone ring. He just looked at it and thought as fast as he could. The AV-phone continued to ring. It wouldn't stop. He kept thinking, but there were no options visible to him. Finally he surrendered to the inevitable and picked up the phone, but said nothing.

A face came on the screen. The woman had a very pleasant voice. "Hi, remember me?" Kaliber gritted his teeth. He wanted to blow the phone away. "Oh come now," Kimmay said. "You must remember me, don't you?"

"Yea," he grudgingly replied.

"I thought you would. Guess what Brian?" Kimmay shifted to a tone of voice that a mother would use with a bad or naughty child, "You're in big trouble. Do you know why? It's against the law to kill pillows in Grand Cayman," and she started laughing. He was beat. His blood pressure was going through the roof and he was turning a bright red. The arrogant little twerp! "Brian, I'm supposed to ask you what you want to do now. So, what would you like to do?" He stared at her for a full minute. "Well?"

He laid down his gun, and began stripping off the rest of his equipment. After stripping off the equipment, he knelt on the floor and put his hands behind his head. He wasn't going to dignify her arrogance by uttering a single word.

The door opened behind him, "Don't move a muscle." He was pushed face down on the floor and his hands were pulled behind his back and cuffed.

All four commandos were taken to separate rooms on the first floor. Their restraints were double-checked before the camera crews walked through and took pictures of each commando as he was kneeling on the floor. The crews made sure not to get the faces of any of the policemen in their viewfinders. After being photographed, each prisoner had a hood placed over his head and was then led to his own, individual police car.

Then the cleanup began the. The BBC crew quickly began collecting their cameras, microphones and wires. The police retrieved all of the commando gear on the beach. The dinghies were collected by the fishing boats and towed back to the Georgetown harbor. Back in the harbor, the dinghies were quickly disassembled and put in an airline cargo container. Several police cars pulled up over the next hour, and the rest of the commando gear was placed in the container. When all of the gear had been stored away, the container was locked and a police seal was placed over the lock. The container was taken to the airport and placed on board an Air France Airbus.

The commandos were taken down to the Georgetown jail complex. They were stripped and checked for hidden bugs or equipment. Their camouflage was cleaned off them before they were photographed, finger printed, and had fingernails, hair, and tissue from the inside of their cheeks collected for DNA processing. Each individual was given bright orange prisoner clothes, had his restraints reattached and was placed in solitary confinement. Several copies of all documentation and pictures were prepared. By the time the process was completed, it was already time to go. The police came back and attached leg chains on each prisoner. They were marched down the back halls of the prison to a waiting van. "Now you get your just desserts," one of the policemen said, "airline food for breakfast." The rest of the police broke into laughter.

The Air France jet, loaded with its regular tourists, passengers and cargo, was sitting on the tarmac awaiting the police. The prisoners were frog-marched on board the plane via the back steps and placed in the last four rows; one per row. Each was chained to the seat. "Don't drink too much, you don't have any bathroom privileges." Across from each prisoner sat an armed policeman.

The BBC crew was located in the front of the aircraft. They would be spending some additional time with the prisoners. Krysallis had worked out a deal with the French government. Paris would act as the intermediary stop between Grand Cayman and Interpol. The French would have the opportunity to talk with the prisoners as long as they needed before handing them over to Interpol. In exchange, the French would give the BBC exclusive and open access to all interviews and interrogations of the prisoners.

The entire operation had gone so quickly that the prisoners were still wondering what had happened. They hadn't even been questioned and they were already on a plane headed out of the country, and out of the reach of any potential rescuers. It was if there were no unanswered questions. Their captors seemed to know everything. They knew when they were coming, they knew how to capture them, and they knew what the mission was about. They didn't need to ask any questions. It was becoming clear that they themselves were inconsequential. There wasn't going to be any trade, or any plea-bargaining. They were not going to get out of this. They were going to pay the price not only for themselves, but something much bigger.

 

The Governor of The Cayman Islands went on television at 10:00 A.M. He wore his best suit and looked extra sharp. "I have a short announcement to make. This morning at approximately 1:45 A.M. a small group of well trained and well armed terrorists came ashore to attack the drug czar of a competing drug cartel. All of the commando terrorists were apprehended and have been turned over to Interpol. I want to give thanks and praise to our police and anti-drug team who performed flawlessly this morning. No one was killed or injured in the exercise. That is my prepared statement, are there any questions?"

Kristal turned off the television. "Mr. Dunn, I wish I were a fly on the wall in the Oval Office."

"Don't we all," replied Mr. Dunn. "Well, I must be off to the airport now. I have a plane to catch."

"When will you release the story Mr. Dunn?"

There is a lot of film, and my crew will hopefully be busy with additional interrogations. I don't see it happening within the next two weeks. When I do release it, I will do it on a Sunday. We have a much larger audience then. Don't worry Kristal, I'll give you a bit of notice before I publish it and I promise you it will be big. I will notify all of the news wires to be prepared and I'll send out some teasers leading up to it. When it hits, it will be huge. Good luck on your end. Bye Kristal, bye Jennifer." The stiff old British gentlemen gave them both a hug.

Jennifer looked at Kristal, "Remember what I told you in South Korea?" Jennifer had a big smile.

"Yes I do. Thank you for your loyalty and stubbornness. You're the best friend a girl could have. And now, we have two more days to use up before our doubles come get us. Whatever shall we do?"

 

Collected from the Department of Energy using the Freedom of Information Act

The last time that Secretary Kurtland had visited Mr. Clover he sat outside Clover's office for almost an hour, while he cooled his heels. Mr. Clover had been playing his power games and had enjoyed demonstrating his authority. Today was different. Secretary Kurtland was waved into Mr. Clover's office the instant he arrived. When he walked in, he noticed that there were several people waiting. One of the individuals with Mr. Clover was the Secretary of Defense, William Starr. He wasn't grinning, but Kurtland could see the glee in his eyes.

There were no introductions or greetings. Even though Kurtland didn't know every person in the room, he could tell by uniforms that the Defense Department, NSA and the CIA were well represented. James Clover was so mad he skipped over the usual sarcasm and went straight to business. "Tell us the full details of your operation. How exposed are we?"

"There were four operatives sent in, Brian Kaliber, Bubba Addams, Tony Zweifel and the woman Carla Long. Each has extensive experience and abilities. Kaliber, Addams and Long were used in the Reimer action, and Kaliber, Long and Zweifel were used in the French action. They're all pros. They had full issue equipment, and there won't be much doubt about where it came from. They had no documentation. They were inserted by air over water, and there is no other exposure on that end. They were to complete the mission and extraction was to be at 05:00 by fishing boat seven miles off shore. The fishing boat has since moved on."

Clover looked at Starr, "Is there any chance any of them escaped?"

"Highly unlikely. Satellite intel looks like all four were picked up quickly. They walked into a trap."

Clover looked at another man with a uniform, "What are you hearing?"

"Lot's of congratulations. Your pros are now on an Air France jet on the way to Paris," the man said looking directly at Kurtland. The sarcasm was too apparent.

"Options?"

"Shoot down the plane?"

"Good thinking Kurtland. Even if that isn't the stupidest idea so far, the plane will be picked up by French jets in a matter of minutes. They have scrambled four Mirages to bring it home." Starr was enjoying this.

"Will the prisoners talk?"

"Of course they will. Everyone breaks eventually." Starr was again painting the bleakest picture possible.

"Do we have anything to trade?"

A man Kurtland had never met before spoke up, "Not enough. We could pick up some assets to trade, but that would start a tit for tat. No, I think you've painted us into a pretty tight corner this time." The man had to be from State, and it was obvious that Clover wasn't universally loved by all.

"Gentlemen, what the hell happened here?" The frustration level was rising and Clover's blood pressure was rising with it.

The NSA director answered him, "It was a beautiful trap. They never saw it coming. It went down so fast there was nothing anyone could have done. The governor must have known how hot his guests were, because he dumped them almost immediately. They were ambushed at 2:00 and on a plane by 8:00. There is no way to do that without prior planning. And that means they had contacted the French prior to the operation."

Kurtland jumped in, "How did that happen without us knowing about it?"

"Shut up Kurtland." Clover wasn't going to take any excuses or buck-passing from Kurtland. "Who set up the operation? How did the girl play into this? How the hell did she get there without us finding her? Was this a French operation from the start? There are way too many questions here gentlemen, and I have never seen anything so sloppy in my life."

The internal bloodbath was about to begin. The wagons would soon be circling around the White House.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

 

Source: Valerie Samantha Kim

 

Kim gave Kristal and Jennifer a big hug. Tell my mom I miss her, and say hi to Valerie and grandma and grandpa, ok?"

"We will," both Jennifer and Kristal promised.

Amanda handed both Kristal and Jennifer a ring. Each ring had a black coral porpoise on the setting. "If you need to see me, rub the porpoise for ten seconds or longer. I'll get the message. Good luck, Senator." They all shook hands.

"Kim, are you ready to leave?"

"I guess so. Where are we going?"

"I want that to be a surprise. I think you will be pleased." Amanda and Kim each picked up two pieces of Kim's new matching luggage set. It looked much better than her matching pillowcases. "Good-bye," they said as they stepped through the portal and blinked out of this universe.

Kim stepped into an open-air lobby. The air was warm and humid. They were standing in a lobby made from rough sawn logs. The floor was made from split logs with a rich color and grain to it. The walls and the front counter were made of a lighter wood, but just as rich in grain and warmth. Looking through the lobby, Kim could see an open veranda in the back. It had a roof and railing around the sides, otherwise the veranda was open to the outside. She could look past the veranda to an open savannah. Less than one hundred yards from the hotel was a watering hole where a small group of giraffes with legs spread wide, were bent over and drinking from the water.

Kim turned to Amanda, "Africa?"

"The Okavango Delta in Botswana. Do you approve?"

Kim was all smiles, "Yea, this is cool."

"I hope you still think so when you start taking your pills," Amanda joked.

"Somehow," Kim answered, "I don't think I need to worry about pills or disease, do I?"

Amanda grinned, "You figure things out fast, Kim. But I still want you to take the pills. It's part of my requirements, even if they aren't necessary. Let's check in and go change clothes. They will be leaving for the afternoon drive in about an hour."

Amanda and Kim received their welcome instructions; they were not allowed to walk around camp after dark, an employee would take them wherever they needed to go. From their rooms they had to radio for a guide to come walk them back to the lodge. Each morning a maid would wake them with a knock on their tent-cabin door. Would they like the maid to bring coffee, tea, milk or juice for their wakeup? The morning game drive was from 9:00 A.M. to almost noon. They would stop on the open savannah in mid morning for tea and cookies. Lunch was at noon, followed by two hours of free time. The pool was available for their use or a masseuse could come to their room if called. Afternoon tea was at 2:30 P.M. and then the vehicles left at 3:00 P.M. They were instructed to let the drivers know what beverages to bring for the sunset stop. Cocktail hour started at 6:00 P.M., dinner was at 7:00 and after-dinner drinks in the lounge began at the end of dinner.

During the game rides, they were not to stand or put their hands outside the cruisers. No loud noises or loud talking around the animals was allowed. Make sure to use plenty of suntan lotion and mosquito repellent. Follow the drivers' instructions at all times.

Kimmay was ready to go. The girls changed clothes in their separate rooms, and returned to the lodge. It was almost 3:00 P.M. and the drivers were taking drink orders and organizing the afternoon drives. "Welcome, Ms. May. My name is Jonah. What would you like to see this afternoon?" The driver was a thin, handsome black man. A native of the local tribe, he spoke Her Majesty's English.

"I just got here," Kim answered. "Anything. It doesn't matter."

"Do you have binoculars or camera equipment?" he asked.

"No, I don't."

"I'll get you a pair of binoculars from the front desk. What would you like to drink for the sunset picnic?"

"Any kind of juice will be fine."

"Did you apply mosquito repellent and suntan lotion?"

"Yes, I did."

"Great, Ms. May. We will meet at the cruisers in about ten minutes. We will use the last truck in the row out front. The name on the side is Chobe."

Kim picked up a glass of punch and a cookie from the hospitality table. Amanda was standing on the veranda watching some wart hogs and kudus at the watering hole. They leaned against the railing, and watched the animals slowly walking around in the hot afternoon sun. "Kim, this is one of the most remarkable things about your planet. I enjoy this place immensely. To be honest, we are here for your needs but I must admit that I steered the situation here. I love Africa. I love watching the lions lounge in the shade. When you drive up in your cruiser, they open one eye and look at you as if you are nothing more than a noisy mosquito. They close their eyes and go back to sleep, totally ignoring you. The elephants will walk by and look down at you like an insignificant interloper. It is so much fun. And the animals are so beautiful and majestic. And the animals that used to walk this planet … absolutely mind boggling. I hope you like it half as much as I do."

"I already like it. I'm going to have to get a camera. I'd love to take some pictures back to Milwaukee with me."

"I'll arrange that for tomorrow. This afternoon, just kick back and enjoy. There goes your guide. Better get going."

"Amanda, aren't you coming?"

"No, Kim. I want you to enjoy the afternoon without me along. Embrace the country. Make sure to breathe in the fragrances. Go." She gave Kim a knowing smile.

Kim walked out front and found three cruisers lined up on the dirt road. The vehicles were Toyota Land Cruisers. They had three rows of seats behind the driver with the last row being the highest. Each cruiser had an open framework made of pipes over the seats, with a canvas top to keep the sun off the riders. Otherwise, the cruiser was totally open to the environment. People were busily climbing into their vehicles. Kim walked to the last cruiser, where she found Jonah standing by the door and holding it open for her. He helped her step up and into the back.

There was one man already in the vehicle. He was relatively young, maybe early twenties, small and thin, almost anorexic looking. He had thick glasses and slicked back hair that was pulled into a long ponytail behind. His face was rather pretty, kind of feminine looking without much more than a bit of peach fuzz under his girlish, upturned nose. He had several cameras and binoculars set on the seat next to him. He wasn't too bad looking, but he was definitely a geek. Kim wanted the highest seats in the back. She slid past the young man and said hi. He returned her hello. Jonah climbed behind the wheel and asked, "Everyone ready? Ok, off we go."

The three of them followed the other vehicles down the dusty road for about half a mile, and then Jonah turned onto a two-rut path through the underbrush. The landscape was a lush green, and they passed a small band of baboons and several small herds of impala. Jonah was keeping a running monologue about the wet season, the delta and how the water in this delta never makes its way to the sea. All of the water in the Okavango Delta is either absorbed into the soil or evaporates. During the wet season the marshes and waterways are filled with water which draws millions of water birds to the area. Hippos and Nile crocodiles are found everywhere. When the dry season comes the water starts to recede and the crocs and hippos follow the water north towards the source.

Kim was only half listening to Jonah. She was enjoying the ride. The ride was bumpy, but fun. The wind blew through her hair and the air was filled with a slightly sweet smell. Every once in a while a small flock of guinea hens would scurry away as the truck sped past them. Jonah had spotted some giraffes in the distance and he was headed in their direction.

The man in front of her had been playing non-stop with his camera equipment. He had a couple of cameras and several lenses that he was switching between camera bodies. He finished adjusting everything and then turned around to face Kim. "Hi, I should introduce myself. My name is Todd Reimer," he said as he extended his hand.

Kim wasn't sure if she heard right. "My name is Kim May. What did you say your name is?"

"I know who you are Kimmay. I've been looking forward to meeting you. I'm Todd Reimer."

Kim wasn't sure what to think. This was too bizarre. "Are you the Todd Reimer that I think you are?"

"Yes I am. My death announcement was a bit premature."

"I don't believe this," Kim laughed. "This is too unreal. Does Amanda have something to do with this?'

"Most certainly," he replied. "And so does Linda Benoit. She is my protector."

"Oh wow! This just gets weirder and weirder." Kim was laughing like she had just had a huge joke pulled on her. In a way she had. "This is too wild. I have been a big fan of yours for a long time."

"Really?" Todd was surprised. "Me? Why?"

"Because of your work on teleportation. Did it really work? They sent out all kinds of e-mails and papers saying it didn't work. They claimed your test was contaminated. Did you do it?" Kim was very animated, because this was something that she had believed in for a long time.

"Yes it worked. And I have duplicated it. I have teleported a basketball!"

"I knew it!" Kim yelled. "I knew it could be done. My theories said it could be done. I had faith in you. I believed in you."

"That's great to know." He was embarrassed by the praise, and his cheeks flushed a bit. He looked down and brushed a fly off his thin, smooth leg. "It's a real honor to find out that you know about my work and you believed me."

"Yea. Not only did I believe that you did it, but I was depending on it. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you. Linda and I have been watching the news since the death of your professor. You have my sympathy on her death. It was horrible. I should know."

"You knew I was coming here?"

"Pretty much. Linda said that we would have to meet up sooner or later. She didn't know for sure when you would arrive. We've been here for almost two weeks. It's been a lot of fun. I've been on safari almost every day and I've collected over a thousand pictures. We watched a leopard stalk and kill an impala last week. It was kind of messy, but it was exciting. It was the high-light of the trip so far."

"How did you get here? What have you been doing for the last years? What happened?"

"My situation is much like yours. I was working on my experiments and succeeded in teleporting the bucky balls. My professor sent out notes to the physics community and then everything started going wrong. One night the commandos came for me. They thought they had me trapped in my apartment and they set it on fire. They had the place surrounded and were watching it burn. If I had tried to escape they probably would have shot me. I thought I was dead. I was in the bathroom trying to wet down towels and barricade myself inside, and Linda showed up. She told me to follow her, and as we walked out of the bathroom we went through her portal. The next thing I knew we were in Newfoundland. It was awesome."

"What about your family, do they know you are alive?"

"They do now. It was three months before Linda let me tell them. Now we communicate about three or four times a year. We're very careful. The DOE stopped watching them shortly after my death. But the NSA still has me on their target list. I can't do anything electronic. Well almost nothing."

Jonah had stopped a short distance from the giraffes. They started watching the giraffes and Todd took a couple of pictures. When Jonah saw Todd taking pictures he said, "Wait a minute, I'll swing around them and put the sun behind us. It will help with the pictures."

Todd turned back to Kim, "Jonah does this all the time. He is really good at putting you in the best position to get the best pictures."

Jonah brought them around to the sunny side of the giraffes. He stopped the truck less than thirty feet from the giraffes. There were two mature giraffes and one smaller one. Mom and dad paid little attention to junior, because they were too busy eating. Kim whispered to Todd, "I am amazed at how close we can get to them. This is neat."

"This is nothing," Todd said. "Jonah has driven within twenty feet of a pride of lions eating a cape buffalo. We had elephants walk right up to us and tug on the canvas roof with their trunks."

Todd finished taking pictures and they sat there for another few minutes as Jonah talked about the giraffe's mating habits and gestation periods. He was a fountain of information. He mentioned looking for rhinos and drove off towards the higher ground.

Kim's attention returned to Todd. He did have a pretty face. His long pony tail flipped from side to side as he looked across the savannah. The pony tail was dusty and filled with split ends, and it looked like it could use some attention from Simon. "So what have you been doing? Where have you been hiding?"

"Let me tell you," Todd replied with enthusiasm, "this is the best way in the world to hide; if you can call this hiding. We go anywhere we want. We have a base in Switzerland, but we spend time all over the world. I have seen things and been places that I could have only dreamed about. I've picked up a little German, French and Italian. And when were not traveling, I've been working on my research. I've really pushed teleportation along. Did I tell you that I have teleported basketballs?"

"Yea, you did. How far can you tell teleport something?"

"Anywhere in the world. I long ago overcame line of sight problems. I can probably teleport things to the moon. The only problem is how to confirm that it arrived."

"You can't go there through the portal?"

"If we had spacesuits we could."

"Let me ask you a question, Todd. How small an item can you teleport? Is there a lower limit?"

"Probably as small as you can measure. I'm sure I can go to atoms, and probably to primary subatomic particles. If you can contain and detect smaller than that, I don't see why I can't teleport it. Why?"

"We could have some fun together, Todd. All I want to do is teleport a hydrogen nucleus, a proton, just an angstrom or so. It sounds like child's play for you."

"Yea, I can do that. Do you have something in mind?"

"Yep, I sure do." Kim was smiling

"And …?" Todd asked.

"And we can talk about it when we're alone. Later. This could be fun."

"Linda said that we might work together. I was hoping we would, but even in my dreams I couldn't let myself really believe it."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Todd asked incredulously. "Because you are Kimmay. You are so far out of my league it's like a little leaguer getting called up to the New York Yankees for the World Series. That's why not."

"You underestimate yourself Todd. I was serious before when I said I was a big fan of yours. It was your teleportation work that inspired me to move out of strictly theoretical work and into the real world. We could become the new dream team."

That was music to Todd's ears. The rest of the drive was kind of a blur. When Jonah found the rhinos, Kim mentioned that she wished she had a camera. Todd gave her one of his and they spent the rest of the afternoon working on Kim's first photography lesson. As the afternoon moved along, Jonah stopped the truck at a small oasis. It had water on two sides. One side had a pod of six hippos, and the other side had a large crocodile keeping a low profile as it tried to sneak up on some lechwes eating next to the water. Jonah broke out the picnic basket, laid a tablecloth across the hood of the truck, set out tins of cookies, beef jerky and assorted nuts, and then pulled out crystal glasses and poured soft drinks for the three of them. They chatted casually as they sipped their drinks and watched the sunset.

After collecting a few pictures of the sunset they stowed the picnic items and drove back to the lodge in perfect darkness. There was a new moon and the stars filled the sky. Other than the lodge there weren't any lights for one hundred miles. Mother Nature gave one of her better performances that night. The southern cross was high in the night sky.

Jonah brought the truck to a halt in front of the lodge. Kim and Todd thanked Jonah and then walked into the lodge. Amanda and another woman were sitting on the veranda watching the hyenas at the water hole as they were illuminated by strong floodlights. As Kim and Todd walked towards the women, they noticed the kids. "I see you have met," Amanda said. "Did you have a nice afternoon?"

"Yes we did," Kim said. She looked at the other woman. "I assume you are Linda?"

Linda stood and shook hands. "It is pleasure to meet you Kim. Or is it Kimmay?"

"I respond to either. So Linda, are you an ambassador also?" Kim noticed that Linda had one brown and one green eye. She was going to have to ask Todd a question about pet cats later.

"A what?" she asked. Amanda just smiled. In fact, she thought it was funny and started laughing.

"Kim is having some fun," Amanda said. "I told Kristal that I was our Ambassador to Earth."

Linda looked surprised. "Congratulations, Amanda. That is a great promotion for you."

"Thanks, Linda." Amanda addressed the full group, "What do you say we go back to our rooms and clean up for dinner?" The four of them walked to the front of the lodge to pick up their escorts, and were walked back to their rooms. The sounds of the night were in full voice as the escorts' lights showed the way to their individual rooms. Everyone enjoyed a hot shower and prepared for an evening of delicious food and interesting conversation.

After refreshing themselves, Kim and Amanda called for their escorts and were walked back to the lodge where the manager met them at the front desk. "Everyone is at the fire. Just walk out the back veranda steps and you will see them." There was a small fire burning on the back lawn. There were already half a dozen people sitting around the fire and sipping their adult beverages.

Linda saw them coming, "Kim, Amanda please sit over here. You can watch the hyenas circling the fire from this side."

Amanda and Kim sat down, and one of the numerous waiters asked if they would like a drink. They both chose a coke. Todd was involved in an interesting conversation with a group of Texans. "It took me three days to get used to this time zone. I used to get over jet lag in one day. It's tough getting old," the lone woman in the group laughed. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could go around the world instantaneously?"

One of the men laughed, "And I would like to change water into wine."

Kim leaned over to Amanda, "What do you call it when you step through a portal, arrive somewhere instantaneously, and still haven't adjusted to the local time zone?"

"We call it 'Being Tired.' It happens." They both laughed.

Amanda and Kim received their cokes and chatted about the day's animal sightings. It had been a fun and unbelievable afternoon. As they sat around the fire they watched hyenas walk within thirty feet of the group. One hyena walked past the group and into the camp area. It walked down the path towards the tent-cabins as if it did it every day.

"Do we have to worry about them?" Kim asked as she pointed to the hyena as it walked down the path.

The manager was standing behind Kim and she answered, "As long as you don't walk around in the dark by your self, you will be fine. We were sitting here one night and a hyena walked in the front door of the lodge. It walked over to the bar and jumped up, putting its front feet on the bar. It looked like it was ordering a drink. He grabbed a glass sitting on the bar and walked out the front door. We never saw the glass again." Everyone laughed at her story.

"Have you ever had any elephant problems?"

"Elephants are the worst," she said. "They walk through the camp all the time. They pull down branches and knock over small trees. They leave huge messes behind them."

"Is there anything that you can do to keep them out?"

"Not hardly," she laughed. "Our sister camp at Chobe Chilwero has a 6000 volt fence surrounding their camp. A local elephant, they call him Dennis as in Dennis the Menace, has learned how to take his tusks and rip through the wires. Then he leads the rest of the elephants onto the grounds and they go wallow in the swimming pool."

The chef came walking out to the fire. "Dinner is ready," he announced. They all strolled up the veranda steps and into the dinning room. Todd, Linda, Amanda and Kim were given their own table. The dinning room was another half story above the veranda and had an excellent view of the savannah and stars. The manager turned on some long-range spotlights, allowing the guests to watch a group of wildebeest drinking at the water hole.

Linda asked Kimmay how she liked her first safari drive. "It was awesome," she answered. "How long will we be here?"

"That depends on you and Todd," Amanda answered. "We have a couple of options, but the final decision is up to the two of you." Kim listened intently, "We can stay at the lodge here and go on safaris each day. Then when you are ready, Linda has provided us with two options. We can head back to Todd's base near Davos, Switzerland, or we can stay at an unused lodge about 200 miles west of here. The lodge isn't in the national park so there are fewer animals."

Kim turned to Todd, "What do you want to do?"

"I don't care." A typical guy answer.

Kimmay looked back at Linda and Amanda. "Does it matter where we go? I mean, what is our next step?"

"Kimmay, we would like you to continue with your work. Your work will dictate what we do. I suspect that you will want access to equipment and library sources. You will probably need some raw materials and computer terminals. Some of this we can supply wherever you stay, for others we will have to take you to them. We can use the portal to take you wherever you need to go."

"What about you Todd?" Kim wasn't sure what she wanted or needed, so she wanted to get some bearings from Todd. "What do you need? Do you need to be someplace else?"

"Kimmay, I've been doing this for a couple of years. I have everything I need. I have a well-equipped lab in Switzerland, and I can do whatever I want at that lab. We have traveled to vendors and suppliers all over the world and picked up equipment. At base we have secure access into the Internet. NSA can't trace anything I do from there. I would say that we will eventually have to go back there, but there is no hurry."

Amanda started to probe Kim, "Do you know what you want to work on? That might help us help you."

Kim thought about it for a minute. "I guess it's time to share my ideas with someone. I can't think of anyone more knowledgeable than the four us."

Linda interrupted Kimmay, "Before you begin Kimmay, let me explain something. Todd can verify this; neither Amanda nor I will make any comment on your work. Everything you do, every decision that you make must be up to you. We will not say or do anything that will effect your decision making process. If you ask us a question, we will refuse to answer. The only help we will give you will concern safety related issues. If you want to buy a computer, we may tell you that we can't take you to London but we can take you to Hong Kong. Remember, comments like that have no significance concerning the quality of the computer or anything like that. Do you understand?"

"Yea," she answered. She turned to Todd, "We started calling this the Prime Directive. What do you call it?"

"Stubbornness." He laughed at his joke. "Kimmay, I've been waiting weeks to talk with you. I really want to know what you are going to do. I have this feeling that it is going to be MAJOR!"

Kimmay looked around the table and smiled. She shifted forward in her chair. "Well I must admit I do have high hopes. I'm going to …"

Kimmay was interrupted by the waitress. She had brought their appetizers and she placed a plate with a small portion of ostrich and crocodile tail in front of each of them. Then she took orders for drinks with dinner. Kimmay ordered ice tea while the other three ordered white wine.

As the waitress walked away Todd's impatience surfaced. "Kimmay, please continue," he urged her.

"Well, I've been thinking along these lines for a couple of years. In a couple of ways, I'm glad I picked this project. It should be sweet revenge on the Department of Energy. I want to develop two items." She was talking to Todd and she was smiling the entire time. She was expecting 'ooohs and ahhhs'. "The first project is a microchip that phases between different dimensions and can hold almost unlimited amounts of electrical energy."

"Like how much energy?" Todd wanted to know.

"At least terawatts."

Todd smiled. "That's not bad. Microchip size? Not bad!"

"Thank you," Kimmay said. "I was hoping you would approve. The second item is also microchip size. It will generate that energy by total annihilation of hydrogen nuclei. A proton will be totally annihilated with the majority of its matter being converted to energy and then electrons."

"I think you lost me," Todd said. "What exactly are you going to do?"

"Einstein's old equation for conversion of matter to energy, E equals m c squared. Right? Also, two points of matter can't occupy the same point in space-time. If I simultaneously teleport two hydrogen protons to the exact same point at the exact same time, they will mutually annihilate each other and convert to energy."

"A lot of energy," Todd said. "How can you control it?"

"I'm only going to annihilate two protons at a time. When they materialize together they will convert to ultra-high energy photons; X-ray and gamma wavelengths. On a quantum scale, I can take those photons one at a time and convert them to electrons and finally electrical energy. That energy I will then feed to the first chip for storage. Then I will annihilate the next pair; one pair at a time."

Todd said nothing. He was thinking as fast as he could. Kimmay waited for Todd. Todd was taking his time, so Kimmay turned to Amanda. "What do you think?"

Amanda was very diplomatic. "I think you and Mr. Reimer should discuss it between the two of you. And don't think you can get me to comment on your ideas. Ever!" She was smiling at Kim and Kim started laughing.

"It was worth a try, wasn't it?"

"No," Amanda replied coldly. "Please don't do it again."

Kimmay returned to Todd, "Is Linda this surly also?"

Todd grinned. "Oh, she's usually worse. Ok Kimmay, I think on a macroscale, your idea has merit, but I have lots of questions. I'm not sure about the total annihilation part. Does string theory really support that idea?"

"Yep."

"How exactly will you handle the annihilation?"

"That part is rather complicated. Basically, like I said, I will teleport two protons at a time into the reaction chamber. The chamber will have a unique molecular structure and electromagnetic force that should easily trap and absorb the high-energy photons. In the higher dimensions those photons will tear through the fabric of space. Branes will form around those tears, shrink to Planck length and actually form the equivalent of a black hole. From there, I will allow those black holes to decompose into electrons. I will capture those electrons to create the current that I can later store in the other chip. I should get hundreds if not thousands of electrons per each proton. The entire operation is almost instantaneous."

"How?"

This was the first time that Kimmay had ever had a chance to verbalize her plan. "First. The hydrogen atoms have to be prepped. Electrons will be stripped first. That makes everything easier. You know we could take two blocks of matter and materialize them together. There would be a great explosion, but it wouldn't be due to annihilation. The chance of actual particles matching up in the exact same point with another particle is infinitesimally small. The blocks would explode due to electromagnetic repulsion, not annihilation."

"That's what I was thinking," Todd said.

"You have to make sure the same particles match up perfectly in their time-space coordinates. I can only do that with a very simple particle. One proton, or better yet, one neutron matching its twin would be the easiest. That's why I picked hydrogen. It's the simplest particle combination that I could find without going through difficult, and time consuming separation techniques."

Todd nodded.

"I strip the electrons from the hydrogen which should be relatively easy, and I place two nuclei in a two-chamber staging cylinder; one above the other. I'll be operating at almost absolute zero to reduce the available number of quantum states and simplify the situation. I will use superconducting coils around the chamber to set up a magnetic field that will cause the proton to begin spinning. The protons in the upper and lower chamber will eventually rotate in synchronization. Once I have their charge, orientation and quantum states in identical synchronization, they're teleported into the reaction chamber where they should match up exactly for mutual annihilation."

"I see. That makes sense and should work."

"Staging of the nuclei will take much longer than the actual annihilation. I'll set up the chip architecture to have a central annihilation chamber surrounded by either six or eight staging chambers. I think I can feed protons at the rate of one every ten to the minus 19^th second. At that rate, I should be able to annihilate one gram in twenty-four to thirty-six hours."

"It sounds like a fast rate," Todd said.

"Actually, it is very fast I think. The problem is that I will be destroying only two nuclei at a time. If you remember Avogadro's number, there are about six times ten to the twenty-three atoms per gram. That is why it will take so long to go through one gram. But the amount of energy will be huge, and that is why the storage chip will be necessary."

"How do you make sure that the photons cause tears in the higher dimensional fabric of space?"

"That can only be done, done consistently that is, in highly curved space." Todd gave a shrug and a questioning look, as if to say 'how?' "A micro black hole should do the trick," Kimmay continued. "A black hole of 1 to 2 grams would be more than adequate."

Todd smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Rather bold of you is it not? How do you control that black hole and keep it from gobbling up matter and spewing out high-energy radiation?"

"Simple," she replied. "I don't leave it in our universe."

"You can't be serious," Todd gasped as he let his chair bang down on all four legs. "You know how to do that?"

"I'm totally serious. And yes, I know how to do that. When activated, the chip will loose a small but significant portion of its mass to another universe. The effect will be verifiable on a scale."

"Wow! I am truly impressed. Then what happens?"

"The high energy photons from the proton annihilation will be focused through the gravitational lens to the densest space-time curves in the upper Witten dimensions. From there, I expect 90% of the photons to break the actual spatial dimension. A brane will form around the tear and quickly decompose into a new electron. Using a symmetric super-dense electromagnetic field from my superconductors, I'll pluck the electron through a tunneling jump and shuttle it over to the storage chip."

"How much energy will you generate?"

"If you react a gram of hydrogen with oxygen, burn it essentially, you will create 230 BTUs per gram of hydrogen. If you annihilate that same gram of hydrogen at full efficiency, you should be able to generate 85 billion BTUs. I don't expect to get full efficiency. I will probably be somewhere between 65 and 75% efficient. In more useful terms, at 65% efficiency I will generate at least 15 million kilowatt-hours.

Todd was concerned. "But that is an enormous amount of energy that you will be losing. I assume some of it will be energy used to operate the chips. Some of it will probably be heat and some will be lost photons. But that amount of energy is huge. Won't it destroy the chip?"

"The annihilation chip and the storage chip will be operating in a multi-dimensional universe. Before either chip actually begins annihilation or storage, it will be 'activated'. Activation will allow excess energy to be dumped into a pseudo-parallel universe. The co-dimensions should be energy free. If my theories are correct, those energy free dimensions should be equivalent to a cold space vacuum. Excess energy should be quickly radiated away. That will allow the superconducting circuits to operate at almost absolute zero, which in turn allows the use of materials that have the ability to carry very high amperage levels."

"The black hole in one universe and the chip in another?"

"Actually, I'll be using a total of three different multi-dimensional combinations inside three different universes."

Todd nodded his head and continued to think. The corners of his mouth were slowly turning upwards. "Is there any chance that a discarded chip could remain 'open', and drain energy away from our universe?"

"No, I don't think that is a possibility. To keep the connection open requires more energy than can be collected from ambient sources. The activation energy is in the range of kilowatts for the fissure size that I need to open."

"Can the fissure rupture or open wider?" Todd asked.

"Again, I don't think there is any safety issue. The fissure is a quantum effect and I don't think it can extend beyond a few angstroms. That is why I was so surprised by the portal. But the portal has to be operating in a much more sophisticated dimensional interaction than what I am considering."

"Just to be safe, is there anyone we can ask?"

"I don't know of anyone who is at this point in the theory. I would have to spend some time educating someone, and then we would have to hope that he had the insight to fully analyze the situation." Kim had an idea, "Amanda, if I were about to make a huge mistake and blow up the earth, would you tell me?"

Amanda and Linda both shook their head. "No, Kimmay. I would say nothing," Amanda responded.

"You sure are reassuring. How do I make sure that I'm not making a mistake?"

"I won't answer that question Kimmay."

Dinner was served. Everyone ate in silence. Laughter was coming from the other tables. The waitresses were walking back and forth, delivering full plates and removing empty ones. A couple of zebras were drinking at the water hole.

Todd finally came up with an idea, "What about computer modeling? Do you think you can check it that way?"

"I don't know," Kim said. She had hoped to be acclaimed a genius, and instead she was wondering if she had made a mistake or miscalculated. She was feeling down. "Computer models aren't my area of expertise. I don't know anyone who could do it."

"I think I might," he said. "But the big question is how accurately do you think you can model the reactions and interactions?"

"I'm not really sure. I can model it accurately enough for myself. But putting together an adequate numerical model for a computer is not something that I know. You think you know someone?"

"As far as the computer analysis is concerned, I'm confident that I can find someone. But I doubt that he knows the math or physics. We would have to get a theoretical physicist that understands computers to help him. We would need at least two people."

"Amanda, can we bring two more people into our group?"

"Yes and no," she answered. "You can bring in as many people as you want. But we wouldn't let them know everything. We wouldn't let them know about Linda or I, and they couldn't use the portal. Only you two are allowed to go through the portal."

"So we can go to them, but they can't come to us?"

"That is correct," Amanda confirmed.

"And then there is the question of your safety," Linda added. "That will add some complexity to the situation. But if you want to do that, it can be arranged."

Kim thought about the situation. "Or we could hope that I am right and not worry about independent confirmation."

Todd just looked at her. He was trying to think of alternatives. "Kim, I really think that we should have confirmation. We could proceed concurrently with a modeling program. If they beat us to the answer and say don't do it, then we stop. If they say its ok, then no problem."

"What happens if we are ready to start up a prototype before they have an answer?"

"I think we should wait. But it is your project, and you make the final decision."

"Ok, I suppose we should confirm the idea as best we can before operating a prototype. Todd, who do you have in mind for computer modeling?"

"Professor Jason Drum at Princeton."

"And who do we get to work with him on the physics side?"

"I don't know," said Todd. "Professor Blasingham at Cambridge?"

"No, he would want to call a press conference and tell everyone first. The only person that I can think of is my old professor at Wisconsin, Dr. Barnhardt. I think he is semi-retired. I don't know if he would do it."

"Actually," said Todd, "if Barnhardt is retired, that might help. He would have the free time to spend at Princeton and work with Drum."

"Do you think Professor Drum would do it?"

"I think so."

Kimmay turned to Linda and Amanda. "Do you have any problems with this?"

"Not from the logistics side." Linda said.

"How about from other sides?"

Amanda gave Kim a dirty look, but said nothing.

"I guess we are going to start sooner than I wanted. I think they will take longer than I will. I was hoping to take a few more safari drives," Kim said.

"You can still do that," Amanda said. "Because of the time zones, you will need to contact your new partners during night time here. This doesn't have to be painful, Kim. We'll work with you."

"Thanks," she replied. "Before we get down to nitty-gritty details concerning my work, there is one thing I would like to do."

"What?" Todd asked.

"I would like you to look at my last demo chip. From a molecular analysis view, I'm confident that I put down the right chemistry. I know that it is superconducting, but I don't know what amperages it will carry. I'd like to get the chip so that we can check it at a cryo-lab. Is that possible?"

"If you know where it is, we can get it." Amanda told her.

"We should probably do it as soon as possible, just in case someone throws it out. It's already been over two weeks since I made it."

We have a ten hour time difference with Stanford," Amanda calculated. "If we go at noon tomorrow, it will be 2:00 A.M. in California. Is that ok?"

"Sure. I suppose we should talk about what else I will need in the way of labs, equipment and resources. Where can I build test chips?"

"Leave that to me," Amanda said.

For the rest of the dinner the conversation centered on Kim's chip building needs.

 

That week strange things started happening around the globe. Someone broke into a laboratory on the campus of Stanford University and stole a student's demonstration chip. The Secretary of the Department of Energy almost had an aneurysm when he found out the stolen chip belonged to Kimmay. In Princeton, a dead graduate student walked into the office of Professor Jason Drum. After the professor overcame his initial shock, Todd Reimer and Jason Drum had a long and productive meeting at a local library. Professor Barnhardt answered the door one evening and found an ex-student accused of murder standing in front of him. They had an interesting talk while the television and a kitchen blender ran in the same room. Professor Barnhardt flew to Princeton the next day.

But the big news of the week was initiated in London. The BBC broke the news concerning the terrorist attack on Grand Cayman Island. Mr. Dunn decided to slowly release details and evidence concerning the attack. The first article didn't even mention the identity of the commandos nor their nationality. Mr. Dunn left plenty of room for innuendo and guesswork. He casually suggested that it was an assassination plot aimed not at a drug czar, but an international celebrity.

Mr. Dunn's articles allowed Senator Kristal to begin her move. She was shocked that something like this could have happened in the United States' sphere of influence. The CIA and NSA should help the Grand Cayman government discover the details of the plot. She set the stage for the administration to later be accused of a cover-up and ultimately of conspiracy to commit murder.

Response to the article was mixed. Even though Mr. Dunn splashed it on the headlines of the Sunday paper and made it the lead story on the television and radio news reports, first glance at the incident would question why the massive attention. And most of the other news organizations took that attitude. But the news organizations that Mr. Dunn had tipped off took more interest. They helped to build interest over the next couple of weeks. None of the American news organizations picked up on the story. They were quietly warned to leave it alone, and they did what they were told.

Meanwhile, the NSA was extremely busy trying to find a telltale electronic signature of Kim May, while the CIA was calling in favors all over the world. Terrorism once again took a back seat to administration politics. The United States Ambassador to France had been called back to Washington twice in less than two weeks. He took back amazing offers and deals to the French government each time he returned. The French government was seriously considering some of the Ambassador's offers, when they received an anonymous tip that the terrorists in their custody might have murdered a French citizen that had been working on an ultra-secret project for the French Ministry of Defense. The American Ambassador's activities lent credence to the murder rumor. That American interest convinced the French to hold their captives and interrogate them fully.

Brian Kaliber continued to sit silently in his cell, but his fellow comrades were starting to break.

 

Over the next couple of weeks, Kimmay met almost daily with Professors Barnhardt and Drum. Todd Reimer usually joined the meetings, but contributed little. Both of the Professors only knew half the story, and they realized it. But they understood that some urgency was needed. Professor Barnhardt was putting in longer days than he had in fifteen years, and he enjoyed every minute of them. Professor Drum had classroom responsibilities and that slowed him down more than he liked.

Both men became avid readers of the Internet and the BBC. Kim and Todd had tipped them off to some of the things happening. They were amazed to find out how censored the American news agencies were. The Internet was the only information source inside the United States concerning the upcoming scandals. The administration refused to discuss any of the questions being raised. In fact, neither professor would have known that Senator Kristal Horn was asking tough questions if they had not been using the Internet. They half joked that the Internet was supposed to bring truth and a free press to the rest of the world, and it was turning out the United States needed the Internet more than the dictatorships around the world.

Kimmay and Todd spent a full week in Botswana, and then moved to a small village near Pontresina, Switzerland. Davos Monstein was the home of the highest brewery in Europe. It was also located in arguably the most beautiful and scenic valley on the face of the planet. Todd and Linda had put together a well-equipped laboratory for Todd to work on his teleportation work. Now he was going to shift gears and instead of trying to scale up to larger objects, he was going to head the opposite direction. Todd's assignment was to synchronize teleportation of two objects at the exact same time to the exact same coordinates. Ultra-precision would be required. The project introduced an entirely new set of objectives and problems. Todd had no doubts that he would quickly solve any technical problems.

He also picked up a new project. Todd was going to handle testing of cold temperature performance of the chips. He would be evaluating the superconductivity of Kim's chips at very low temperatures. Linda located a contract laboratory that would allow Todd to perform his own testing and diagnostics. The laboratory was located south of Düsseldorf and his first test was a success. Kim's demo chip from Stanford was superconducting below 40 degree Kelvin, and amperages were well above their required level. It was a very promising start to their partnership.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Source: Freedom of Information Act – Administration and Department of Defense

Things were going from bad to worse and they were getting there fast. The BBC was hammering away at the terrorist incident in Grand Cayman and they were starting to show evidence proving that the terrorists were USA citizens and operatives. They identified American citizen Kim May, 'The Kimmay', as the prime target of the assassins. Additional foreign news services were starting to pick up the story and doing their own research. A USA news service had even mentioned it in one of their recent articles. Key witnesses with the potential for damage to the administration were still at large, and a senator from the opposing party was starting to make political hay with the unfolding scandal.

The President was getting very nervous. Certain key constituents were starting to question his ability and viability. These people made it very clear that they could not afford to have him swept up in a scandal. He would have to step aside before the situation became that serious. The vice-president was getting visions of power and was starting to distance himself from the President and the scandal. Drastic actions were going to be required, which meant control of the situation was going to become even more difficult. Discretion would become much more difficult as more people came into the loop. Quick and decisive action was required.

The President's 'A' team was assembled. His chief of staff James Clover headed the team. Clover brought in William Starr, the Secretary of Defense, Allen Kurtland, the Secretary of Energy, the directors of the CIA, NSA and the FBI, and the Pentagon's Chief of Staff. Clover called the meeting together, explained the seriousness of the situation and gave everyone the full facts of the looming catastrophe.

"As I see it," continued Clover, "we have a couple of different problems. Each is going to need action and I want options people. First, is our team in France. What do we do to nullify them? Second, the Kimmay girl. How do we determine if she is a threat and if she is, how do we neutralize her? Third, the press. And fourth are the political opportunists, especially the bitch from Indiana! We start at the top; our team in France. What and how? Gentlemen?"

Starr began, "From a tactical point, we either get them back or nullify the potential damage they can cause. They will spill the plan sooner or later. So the first question I have to ask is can we get them back or get them out? General, any ideas on getting them out?"

"I don't see how. It would take a major operation to do it. Collateral damage would probably be high, and I don't see how we could do it without leaving our signature on the operation. We could potentially leave more men behind than we get out. Mr. Secretary, I don't see how it can be done."

"Anyone disagree?" asked Clover. No one disagreed. "Then the next question is how do we nullify or discredit anything they say?"

The Director of the CIA spoke up. "They have tremendous evidence to use against us. The French have all of their equipment, and some of it isn't available on the black market, so they will know where it came from. They're all U.S. citizens and ex-military. The records are out there in too many places, so I don't see how we can disavow their identity. Plus one is a mid to high level figure in the Department of Energy." Everyone gave Kurtland a glance. Some had smirks and others had grimaces. Kurtland would obviously not survive this disaster.

"The only plausible option I see is to disavow the activity. We either totally stonewall and deny everything, or we confess, take our beating and threaten to nuke anyone who spills the story."

The President spoke up, "Mr. Marks, did I just hear you suggest that we confess to the French?"

"No sir," Dennis Marks back-pedaled, as he emphasized the sir. "I am merely laying options on the table. I don't believe I would be doing my job if I didn't set out all options, sir. As distasteful as some things may be, we might have to have counter options to them." He was sweating and hoping that he had covered his tail.

Clover took over, "Ok, the only viable option I have heard so far is total disavowal. Anyone else? Come on boys, give the President another option." No one spoke up. "How do we do it? Anyone?"

Starr spoke up, "It was a rogue operation. Can we play up the spurned lover aspect for Kaliber?"

"Possible," said Marks. "But that forces you down the road of admitting Kimmay was in Grand Cayman. I'm not saying that is good or bad, but it goes along with the lover aspect."

"Starr, can you sell a rogue operation? They have the equipment. The press will question how they got it. They will want to know how the team got to Grand Cayman and they will want to know how Kaliber knew Kimmay was there."

"The last one is easy; she called him and they had it out over the phone. Lovers, and especially haters, do stupid things. Equipment is relatively easy. Most of the equipment is at their disposal at the base for training. Other pieces they must have stolen when no one was looking. Or better yet, they didn't turn it in after a training exercise. They lied and said it was broken or lost. As for help, they have their own contacts with mercenary buddies. The mercs supplied the insertion and extraction teams. We might be able to dig up someone to take the hit for the operation. We can offer them something in return. Yea, I think the rogue operation is playable."

"Anyone else know why we can't get away with it?" No one spoke up. Clover made an executive decision, "Mr. Starr, go with it. Work out the details. Who do you need for help?"

"Mr. Marks, I could use CIA help. Mr. Johnson, I will probably have to come to you for some NSA intercepts that substantiate the story. And I'll need Mr. Kurtland for background details," he said as he smiled at Kurtland. Starr was loving this.

"You have them. Any other comments before we move on to item number two?" No one answered. "Number two, the girl. What do we do about her?"

Mr. Marks from the CIA spoke up first. "I have a real bad feeling about her. How in the hell did a eighteen year old girl get away from the police and get to Grand Cayman without anyone catching her? And worse, in retrospect we still can't find a single track. Nothing! Someone has to be helping her. Who?"

"Kurtland?"

"No idea, sir"

"Johnson, hasn't the NSA found anything?"

"No sir"

"Starr? Someone?" No answers. Clover was as stumped as everyone else. "We'll have to come back to that, but Dennis I agree with you." The President watched and scratched his chin. He wasn't filled with warm feelings concerning any of this.

"The situation is complicated because we don't know who is helping her. How do we move forward?"

Starr wanted to make sure everyone knew who was responsible for this mess. "Mr. Kurtland, what do we know for sure? What does she know for sure and what might she know in pieces?"

Kurtland had always hated Starr, and his hatred was growing. "The fact that Kaliber and his team were set up in Grand Cayman would suggest that she knew how to push the right buttons. That would suggest that she might know Kaliber was in it from the beginning. Plus he had a lot of contact with her at Stanford. She knows that he didn't make the kill, but she has probably guessed correctly that he was involved in the hit. Since she was with Kaliber at the time of the killing, she'll know that there was a least one accomplice, but there is no way she could know who. I can't imagine her having any evidence for anything. So it will be her word against ours."

"That's reassuring," Starr said with his best sarcastic voice.

"Enough!" shouted Clover. "We'll handle blame and consequences later. Right now I want some positive ideas. Where is she and how do we get our hands on her?"

The CIA director had an idea. Dennis Marks was another prototypical power broker. He was tall, he was overweight, he had connections all over Washington, and he could be brutal when needed. "We can't find her, so let's see if she can find us. Kurtland, what does she have for family?"

"She has a mother, sister and grandparents."

"Is she close to any of them?"

"All of them."

Marks addressed the rest of the group, "Maybe she would come see her mother if she were on her deathbed. Mom has a life threatening accident, we have the hospital totally under control, and maybe the loving daughter shows up. Bingo, we have her."

"Anyone else? I want more options." No one had any other suggestions. "Mr. Marks, you have the operation. Who else do you need?"

"I'll need both NSA and the FBI. I'll also need a military base for hiding her."

"Johnson, Powers and General Walsh you're on the team. Item number three, the press. Ideas?" Clover surveyed the group.

"Disavowal." "Stonewall." "Who cares? We control all discussion in the U.S." "Counter pressure."

"Counter pressure," Clover repeated. "How?"

It was Peter Powers from the FBI. "Is there a single driver behind this story? If so, we apply pressure at that point."

"Anyone know the answer to the question?" No one answered. "Ok, then it's up to you Marks. Find out if we can do it. Even so, it will only help. It won't solve our problem. We've got other news services picking up the story. How do we stop this rock from rolling down hill?"

"What if we take the initiative? We have run a full internal audit and we caught some bad actors. There will be a full investigation and tighter controls will be installed to stop other rogue operations."

"Good idea, but how about a little bit different tack? Yea it was a rogue operation, but it was also a lover's spat. Maybe we can make it a triangle. The professor found out about the girl and Kaliber. She was cheating on the professor and the professor confronted her. Things got out of hand and she killed the professor in a fit of rage. Better yet, let's put Kaliber at the murder scene also. Let's make it really messy."

"Ok, that's the kind of thinking I want," said Clover. "It's a good defense, but do we want to go out front with it?"

"Let me check on that," said the President. "I'll check with the PR boys and see how they would handle it."

"Mr. President, I don't recommend that," cautioned Clover. "Let me talk with them. You shouldn't be personally involved with other resources. We need to keep this group to a minimum."

"Alright, Mr. Clover. You handle it." Clover retained his control over the White House.

"Ok, last subject. What do we do about the opportunists?"

"The same thing that we always do," said the President. "Attack. Discredit. Smear mud all over their name."

"This one could be difficult, Mr. President. It's Senator Horn."

"I don't give a shit," said the President. "Everyone has dirt. Find it!"

"Yes sir," said an obedient Clover. That wasn't the answer and he knew it. She had PR pictures with everyone on the hill including the president. She had helped everyone raise money. She had attended hundreds of money raisers over the years. And she was an American icon, a movie star and a model. Worst of all, she was beautiful. In the age of video, beauty was a powerful ally. The normal attack campaign wouldn't work. It would have to be something more direct and more powerful. He would think of something.

"Alright gentlemen, everyone has their assignments. Be back here same time tomorrow. Bring your seconds; they'll wait outside until we address their individual areas. Keep extraneous information to a minimum. This is war, treat it that way!" They were dismissed. The war was about to begin.

 

Source: Valerie Samantha May

It was a cold January day. The salon had been very busy all morning. All of the beauticians, plus mom and I had clients. It was Friday and it seemed like all the girls in town were getting ready for Friday night out. I had a one-hour break so I went up to our apartment for lunch. I was going to have a quick sandwich and then lie down on the sofa for a short nap. I didn't see mom get shot.

The salon was still busy when the two men walked in. They had black hoods over their heads and both of them had guns. The first one shouted, "Everyone shut up! Stay where you are and don't move." The second man stood at the door and kept an eye out the door while he also covered his friend's back. The first man walked over to the receptionist's desk. Even though Sharon was sitting at the desk he looked at mom and said, "You, come over here." He pointed at her with his gun. Mom walked over to the desk. "Go back there and open the register." Mom walked behind the desk and opened the cash register. The man tossed her a small cloth bag. "Put all the money in the bag. You leave out one dime and you're dead." Mom filled up the bag and handed the man the bag. "You didn't put all the money in the bag, did you? Stupid bitch!" He pulled the trigger twice. He shot mom in the stomach twice. Twice! Both men turned and ran out the door.

Simon ran out the door to see if he could catch a view of the getaway car, but both men ran around the corner and disappeared. Sharon started screaming and totally lost control. She had blood on her dress and she ran from behind the desk while desperately trying to wipe it off. Mom landed on the floor in a twisted shape. She had fallen over backwards and her legs were trapped under her. Rose ran to the office and called an ambulance. George sat on the floor next to mom and held her head. "It will be alright Melissa. The ambulance is on the way. Don't move. Stay quiet." Mom never moved. She was barely breathing.

I heard the shots upstairs, but I had no idea what had caused the noise. I thought a car had backfired. Simon came running upstairs and ran in the backdoor without knocking. "Valerie! Valerie! Come quick, your mother has been shot! Valerie!" I heard Simon but I couldn't believe what he was saying. I jumped to my feet and ran downstairs in just my stockings. Simon led the way to the receptionist's desk. "They were robbers. Two of them. They took the money and then they shot your mother. She gave them the money. They shot her in cold blood for no reason at all." I came sliding to a stop at the desk. George was holding mom's head in his lap. Tears were coming down his cheeks. Mom was lying at a bizarre angle, her smock covered with blood.

Simon ran towards the front door screaming, "Where is that fucking ambulance? Rose, call again! Make them come!" He ran outside to wait for the ambulance and lead them into the salon. It took forever for the ambulance to arrive. When they finally arrived they seemed to move in slow motion. Simon was yelling at them, "Hurry, she's been shot!" They still seemed to walk in slow motion to the back of the ambulance and pick up their equipment. I stood behind the desk, first looking at my mother and then watching the paramedics.

"Hurry!" I screamed. "She's dying!" But they still didn't move any faster.

They finally reached mom. The first one slid next to George and said, "What happened?"

"Some one shot her! Can't you see?" He was crying, covered with blood, and angry. He was angry with the shooters, and he was angry with the paramedics for taking so long and then asking stupid questions.

The second paramedic reached mom. The first man slipped an oxygen mask over mom's face, and then started cutting away her dress. The second man picked up a radio, "Woman shot, abdomen, multiple wounds. Breathing shallow, pulse weak, monitor coming." He pulled the radio headset over his head to free his hands and he opened up a toolbox. It had several wires with sensors on the end. He placed one on mom's chest, one on her arm, another on her wrist and a fourth on her side. They all had self adhesive tape and stayed in place. He flipped a couple of switches and turned a knob inside the box. The first man had finished cutting away her dress. He was applying swabs to hold the bleeding. The second man again started talking into the radio, "Vital signs weak. How much?" he said into his microphone. He reached into another bag and pulled out a syringe and small bottle. He gave mom a shot. "Which kind?" he asked in response to another question. "You," he pointed at George, "come here." He pulled out a bag with a tube coming from it. He unwrapped a sterile needle and slid it onto the line. "Hold this," and he handed the bag to George. He slid the needle into the back of mom's wrist. "Keep the bag above her," he told George as he taped the needle to mom's hand.

"You," and he pointed to Simon, "Slide this desk out of our way." Simon threw all of his weight against the desk and it slid away. Another ambulance and a police car arrived out front. The cops came through the door and started pushing people away from mom. They were rude and harsh. They cleared a path from the door and the other two paramedics rolled in a gurney. The gurney was collapsed and fell to the floor. They rolled it next to mom and the first two paramedics lifted mom onto the gurney. They lifted the gurney up and the legs locked into place. One of the paramedics took the bag from George and attached it to a hook on the gurney. The paramedic picked up the monitor box and carried it as mom was wheeled to the ambulance.

I followed after the gurney. One of the policeman stuck out his hand and shoved me in the shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"She's my mother," I screamed. I wanted to shove him through the wall.

"Ok, you can go. Everyone else, I have some questions. Please step over here." They told me later that over twenty policemen showed up and they were there until after 8:00 P.M.

I rode in the back of the ambulance with mom. I held her hand and asked the paramedic if she was going to live. He was blunt, "I'm not sure. She lost a lot of blood and her vital signs are bad. If we can't stabilize her in the next thirty minutes … I'm not sure." I started talking to mom, but she couldn't hear anything. They had a respirator over her face and two tubes in her arms. The paramedic was applying constricting bands over her stomach.

As we neared the hospital, the paramedic made me move out of the way. He stood at the head of the gurney and waited for the rear door to open. As soon as the door opened he pushed the gurney towards the exit. Two more men grabbed it and slid it out, making sure the legs were snapped in place. The ambulance was in a covered garage with no doors. The paramedics and some hospital interns immediately bent over mom and started working, and they continued working as the gurney was rolled up a ramp and behind a screen.

I tried to follow but was stopped by a technician. "Miss," he said, "please come with me. We have to ask you some questions." I was led to the admissions office inside the emergency ward and I was seated behind the desk. An administrator sat across the table from me. She handed me a glass of water and put a box of Kleenex on the table. "Can I get you anything?" I shook my head. "Can I call someone? A clergyman? Relative?" I wasn't thinking straight. It took me almost a minute to remember grandma and grandpa.

"Yea. Grandma," I muttered. She slid a handheld audio phone to me.

"Do you want me to dial?" she asked.

I shook my head no and pushed the buttons by rote memory. I gathered my strength and tired to quit crying. As soon as grandma said hello I lost all control. I started crying so hard that I couldn't talk. The administrator took the phone and broke the news to grandma. I was a total wreck.

 

Grandma, grandpa and I sat alone in a private waiting room. All of the people from the beauty salon were still at the salon, still answering questions. We just looked at each other and waited. Every so often grandpa would lose control and start screaming at people. "They're still in the operating room, sir. The doctors will update you as soon as they come out." That just made grandpa angrier, but he couldn't do anything about it. He would sit down and we would wait quietly until his next outburst.

The doctor finally came to see us at 5:30. They had had mom in the operating room for almost four hours. "Mr. and Mrs. May," he began. "Your daughter is in very serious condition. She was shot twice in the abdomen. The shooter used hollow points with modifications to obtain maximum damage. The bullets did just that. They tore her apart. There is extensive damage to the stomach, intestines, liver, spleen and both of her kidneys. She lost a lot of blood and went into shock. We removed the bullets and did as much damage repair as we could. We couldn't finish everything because she was in such poor condition. Some of our temporary repairs will have to be completed later. We have her on a heavy dose of morphine and she will not regain consciousness until tomorrow … at the earliest." The doctor contorted his face to make it obvious that he was lying. "We're trying to stabilize her vital signs as best we can. The fortunate part is that they missed the lungs and heart. There is nothing more that can be done now. We will have to wait until tomorrow morning and see how she responds. We're moving her into an ICU. You will be able to sit with her one person at a time for the reminder of the evening. Someone will be here in a minute to lead you to the ICU wing. You have my deepest condolences, but rest assured we will do everything we can."

"Is she going to live?" grandma asked.

The doctor shook his head slowly and said, "I honestly can't say." He was still lying.

We were numb. All we could do was hug each other. After about ten minutes, a candy striper finally came and led us to the ICU wing. Grandpa sat with mom the first hour. While he was in the other room grandma asked me if there was anyone else we should notify. I could think of only one person besides the salon staff. I called the salon and reached Rose. I told her to close tonight and that we would stay closed until next Monday.

I then called Kristal. Since I didn't have her personal phone number with me, I was shuffled around five or six times until I finally reached her. As soon as Kristal saw me on the monitor she said, "Valerie, what's wrong?"

I started to lose control again. It took me almost a full minute to regain enough composure to tell her. "Mom was shot in a hold-up today. She was shot twice in the abdomen. She is in serious condition, and they can't guarantee that she will survive," and then I broke down and started crying again. Kristal sat quietly and waited for me to compose myself.

"Where are you, Valerie?"

"Milwaukee General."

"Do you have someone there with you?"

"Grandma and grandpa," I answered.

"I'll try to get there as soon as I can. Do you need anything?"

"I don't think so," I sobbed. "I wish Kim were here. We need her."

"Be strong, Valerie. Your mother needs you to be strong for her. I'll be there as soon as I can." She then gave me her personal number so that I could call her if I needed anything.

 

(continued)

  

  

  

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