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  Sebeck shook his head. “The gate is supposed to appear after humanity justifies its freedom to the Daemon—not before.”

  “And Sobol gave you no indication how we were supposed to justify our freedom?”

  “No. He was annoyingly vague.”

  Ross pondered the question. “This Thread has been leading you to events—not places? Correct?”

  “Yeah. For the last seven months Price and I have found ourselves at the center of just about every major change now under way. I’ve seen the rise of the new power infrastructure, the new economy, the new fMRI legal system—you name it. That’s how my reputation grew so fast. We just always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.”

  “Well, then we do know one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Something big is about to happen in Greeley.”

  Chapter 28: // Sky Ranch

  Natalie Philips shared the Cessna Citation III business jet with only one other passenger as it flew high above . . . well, somewhere. The destination was classified. In the absence of reading materials or a laptop, she had difficulty keeping her thoughts from wandering. She wasn’t even permitted a pad of paper or a pen. So instead she used her prodigious memory to recall her exploit code line by line—searching for flaws.

  The interior of the plane was roomy and reasonably comfortable, but there was no easy way for her not to be in view of the other passenger. He was a disheveled man in his sixties with unruly gray hair, a sizable belly, a cheap suit, and a wide, striped tie in a careless knot. He smelled of alcohol from the moment he got on the plane. He was staring into space—or so Philips had thought.

  “You mind if we turn that on?”

  Philips looked up at him and then toward the front of the cabin where a flat-panel television screen was set into the bulkhead. “I don’t think we can get television. It’s probably for video.”

  The man sighed and got to his feet, grabbing a remote from a low table. “I saw the HD satellite antenna on the fuselage. They always want to know what the media is saying. If we’re gonna be here for a while . . .”

  He clicked the television on, and it was already set to a news channel. On-screen newscaster Anji Anderson was talking, while behind her video played of masked gunmen looting a shop in a town somewhere in Kansas. The Chiron read, “Illegals on a Rampage.”

  Anderson’s voice came through clearly even over the jet engine noise,”. . . another night of violence. Armed gangs of men—believed to be undocumented laborers and drug dealers. Local residents have taken up arms in defense of their property, but the problem seems to be growing ever worse as the economy continues to crumble.”

  The guy sighed, nodding to himself. “You gotta hand it to ’em.” He looked at his watch then continued clicking through the channels. . . .

  News followed by news, and all of it showing mayhem in the streets of middle America. One of the graphics bore the title “Rape Counseling Center” in bold letters, followed by addresses and phone numbers in several states. He kept clicking—cartoons, a shopping channel, and more disturbing newscasts.

  “Can we just watch one thing, please?”

  “So, why’d they call you down?”

  Philips turned to him. “I don’t discuss my work.”

  He smirked. “I used to be like that.”

  “Well, I’m still like that.”

  He muted the television as burning houses filled the screen, and put the remote down. “Too bad they don’t have a bar on this thing. I could really use a drink.”

  Philips tried to ignore him.

  “Name’s Rob, by the way. You are?”

  Philips just looked at his extended hand. “Rob, no offense, but we’re not intended to socialize. There’s a serious crisis under way. I suggest you use this time to concentrate on what you’ll do about it.”

  “Ah.” He retracted his hand. “So you already accepted an offer, then.”

  Philips felt suddenly irritated. “I didn’t accept anything. I’ve been loaned to Weyburn Labs from a government agency.”

  “And that’s how it goes.” He sat down across from her. “I was in government work. But after a while you just . . .” He looked around the cabin. “Christ, I could use a drink!”

  She said nothing and tried to return her focus to her remembered code.

  “You know, I did tours in some real shithole dictatorships, let me tell you. We helped build a huge commercial empire overseas. Hell, we were facing down communism in those days. A lot of questionable things were done to contain the Soviets. We installed a lot of dictators who were business-friendly. But we didn’t give much thought to what would happen after.”

  “I don’t think you should be talking about this, Rob.”

  “Why not? I’ve got nothing to lose anymore. Did you ever feel like that?”

  She just stared at him.

  “Do you know why it was possible for the Krasnaya mafiya—the Russian mafia—to spring up, fully formed, organized, and financed so soon after the fall of the USSR? Didn’t you ever wonder where those guys came from?”

  Philips considered it and realized she hadn’t.

  “The intelligence sector. The KGB. Those guys were spread around the world. They had covert communications, bank accounts, and knowledge to move and launder money. They had useful skills like eavesdropping, weapons, assassination, and they had incentive—lots of enemies.

  “After the Cold War, some of our own guys didn’t come home either. They helped to keep in place the system built overseas to hold back communism, and it became the system we’re all a part of now.”

  “Are you referring to a conspiracy to betray the United States?”

  Rob shook his head. “Betraying America doesn’t require a conspiracy. That’s what Sobol figured out. It’s why he was able to hack into it. The free market is just a system of positive and negative reinforcement with a few interchangeable fixers to maintain it. The sole purpose of that system is to maximize profit. For whom the returns are made is irrelevant. Those who make the profits might turn around and become great philanthropists—who knows? Who cares? Because there’s always another set of investors who want in. Who want to work the split-second fluctuations of the markets to get very rich, very fast. They might not ever know what’s done in their name. That was the secret Sobol knew. And what he did was create a new system that leveraged a broader human will. That’s what freaks these guys out. The Daemon is the first true threat they’ve faced.”

  “But what they do overseas has no legal authority here in the States.”

  He stared at her for a moment—then laughed. “International trade agreements are equivalent to constitutional amendments. They’re the ‘supreme law of the land’ according to article four, paragraph two. That means we must meet foreign trade obligations or face reforms—and I’ve seen firsthand what those reforms do. They create a have and have-not society. The rich are bunkering down. It’s not a conspiracy, just a reaction to a process set in motion. You don’t even have to know what the goal is. That’s why systems work—because they don’t rely on individuals.”

  They sat for a few moments in silence, listening to the drone of the plane’s engines.

  “If this is what you believe, why are you on this flight?”

  He shrugged. “Eventually, you come to realize it’s inevitable. What’s about to happen can’t be stopped.”

  Philips stepped from the jet into withering humidity and a merciless prairie sun. She looked across a stretch of sun-bleached tarmac—fear turning her feet to lead.

  Two dozen heavily armed soldiers in MTV body armor patterned in universal camouflage, Kevlar helmets, and ballistic goggles stood in ranks, cradling M4A1 rifles with full SOPMOD hardware. They just stared, face-forward, without acknowledging her existence.

  Philips walked toward the reception committee.

  At first she couldn’t tell what division or corps the soldiers belonged to, but as she came within thirty feet she could make
out a nondescript logo above their breast pockets—where an American GI’s last name would normally go. It read simply: “KMSI.” She knew it well; Korr Military Solutions, Inc.—the private military arm of its parent, Korr Security International.

  She glanced around the airfield. A modern control tower with a rotating radar dish stood above an American flag drooping lazily in the torpid heat. Beyond stood hangars and row after row of gleaming aircraft—Bombardiers, Gulfstream Vs, a mammoth Boeing Business Jet. A couple billion dollars in private aircraft. In the distance, she could see squads of soldiers marching double-time toward distant hangars from the belly of an unmarked C-17 cargo aircraft. Hundreds of soldiers were in her field of view. A corporate army. What the hell was this place?

  Suddenly a nearby non-com shouted in a hoarse voice, “Pochodem vchod! Zrýchlené vpred!” and the soldiers responded in unison with a guttural “Hah!” and began to march off double-time.

  Philips watched as the troops moved in formation across the tarmac, toward a distant, taxiing transport plane. For a moment she wasn’t sure what to do next.

  But the soldier’s departure revealed a square-jawed man in a sweat-soaked shirt and a photographer’s vest moving briskly toward her. A KMSI photo ID badge wagged on his lapel as he walked, and he was completely absorbed in flipping through papers in a dispatch case. He finally looked up to reveal mirrored sunglasses and smiled broadly. “Dr. Philips, Clint Boynton, Sky Ranch Services.” He offered his hand.

  Philips just glared at him. “What is this place, Boynton?”

  He started flipping through folders in the dispatch case again. “I’ve got that here.”

  “I don’t think you have to look in there to tell me where we are.”

  “An undisclosed location.” He pulled a thick Mylar envelope from the case. It was stamped “Top Secret” in four places. He handed it to her. “The decision to bring you here was made at the highest level.”

  “The White House is involved?”

  Boynton laughed, then apparently realized Philips was serious.

  She took the envelope from him and felt the weight of it. There was a thick report inside. In her experience a document this heavy meant somebody had just spent several hundred million dollars.

  Boynton pointed. “I’m told you’ll find answers to your questions in there. There’s a cover letter.”

  She sighed and ripped the seal on the envelope, pulling out the contents. There was a thick bound report inside entitled “Project Exorcist,” with an attached letter, addressed to her. It was on Pentagon stationery. “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” As she had been told, she was being loaned out to Weyburn Labs—for Operation Exorcist. She maintained a poker face.

  “I’ve been instructed to—”

  Philips just interrupted him with one upheld hand, then started flipping through the fifty-page bound report at great speed.

  “Doctor?”

  Philips ignored him and continued flipping pages. In half a minute she’d reached the last page. She looked up again. “Very, very interesting . . .”

  Boynton pointed at it in disbelief. “You just read that?”

  “Only the useful parts. Some of the estimates are overly optimistic, but still . . .”

  Boynton snapped his dispatch case shut. “In any event, you’re now part of the Weyburn Labs team.” He looked at his watch.

  “We’ve got a forty-mile drive ahead of us, Doctor, and time is tight.”

  “We’re going to this Sky Ranch?”

  “You’re already on the ranch, and we won’t be leaving it.” He raised his arm and curled the four fingers of his hand.

  Several vehicles emerged from a nearby hangar: a rose-colored Mercedes Maybach limousine followed by a couple of Chevy Sub-urbans with blacked-out windows.

  The Maybach rolled to a stop in front of Philips and Boynton. The passenger door bore a family crest, as though it was some Renaissance coach and four horses. The crest was a riot of cattle, rifles, and oil derricks.

  She’d seen it once in a library book when she was a child. Great American Families. “The Aubrey coat of arms.”

  Boynton smiled. “I’m impressed, Doctor. The Aubreys no longer own an interest in the property, but the holding company still uses their coat of arms as a logo.”

  Philips nodded. “They owned the largest contiguous parcel of private land in the United States. 784,393 acres. Larger than the state of Rhode Island.”

  Boynton grinned. “If we play Trivial Pursuit, can I be on your team? In all fairness, it’s more like two million—not that anyone would know.” He motioned for her to approach the waiting limousine.

  “Why such a large piece of land?”

  “Privacy. We’re seventy-five miles from the nearest town. The outer perimeter is ten miles from where you’re standing and ringed with the latest seismic sensors and cameras. The sky is swept by radar, and we’ve got a battalion of crack troops in garrison—including an artillery section. The Daemon would have difficulty sneaking up on us out here.”

  Philips nodded.

  Soldiers wielding what looked to be metal detection or radio frequency wands emerged from the Suburban and approached Philips. Other soldiers moved to take her luggage.

  “What’s this?”

  “Necessary, I’m afraid. No outside electronic devices or weapons of any kind are permitted on the ranch. The Daemon is cunning and the secrecy of this operation is vital. Your understanding is greatly appreciated.”

  She had left her phone and laptop back in Maryland, but they riffled through her purse and carry-on bag with gusto.

  They also started scanning her body.

  In moments, they detected her watch and the silver amulet on a chain around her neck. They scanned both closely then nodded to Boynton that they were okay.

  A soldier now strapped a small gray plastic bracelet around her wrist. He fastened it into place with a rivet gun and ran tests on it with an electronic device.

  Philips looked at it. “You’re strapping a transponder on me?”

  A soldier snapped a digital photograph of her.

  Boynton held up his hands reassuringly. “RFID tag for tracking purposes. Don’t try to remove it.” He pointed to the one on his own wrist. “It’s your identity while on the ranch. It’ll send an alert if it’s tampered with. Sensors at the entrances to most buildings will go into alarm if you enter without one. Likewise if you enter restricted areas. And alarms are responded to with lethal force. These RFID tags let the troops know that you’re friendly, and we’ve got quite a few snipers out there—so please wear it at all times.”

  Boynton opened the door to the first limousine and gestured for Philips to get inside.

  She lingered at the open car door. “Why is the airfield so far from the house?”

  “The FAA restricted the airspace within a twenty-mile radius of the mansion.”

  Philips nodded. “I guess after 9/11 you can’t be too careful.”

  Boynton looked confused.

  “Planes as weapons.”

  Boynton thought for a moment, then nodded. “Oh, right.” He gestured again for Philips to get inside the car. “If you please . . .”

  She got inside.

  The drive to the main house was a blur of grass and scrublands. For all the signs warning of cattle and the dozens of cattle guards they rumbled over, Philips never saw one. Instead she saw military units and anti-aircraft missile batteries.

  Even though she remembered every word of what she’d read of the Aubreys, she was still stunned at the sight of their mansion. After World War II they’d purchased an English manor house from one of the grand estates of central England—one that had gone bankrupt as the British Empire started to collapse. They’d had the house dismantled stone by stone and reassembled here in south Texas. A hundred-room neoclassical mansion done in solid granite blocks, replete with acres of ornamental gardens and statuary.

  It was as if Philips had just rolled up to Castle Howard in Regency-
period England. The cobblestone courtyard in front circled around a massive Italian fountain, blasting water thirty feet in the air from a dozen cherubic lips—with a muscular stallion rearing up over it all. It looked as though the Aubreys had sacked Europe. For all Philips knew, they had.

  Linked to the back of the house by a covered causeway was what looked to be a sizable modern conference facility, done in smoked glass and granite.

  The Maybach stopped under the shadow of twin marble stair-cases rolling out from the massive front door of the house. Philips stepped from the limousine as a valet in a red livery coat held the door for her.

  Boynton had exited the Suburban and walked past them. “This way, Doctor.”

  Philips followed Boynton through a maze of ornately furnished hallways dotted with armed guards. With every room they entered, she heard a beep as radio frequency sensors along the doorways logged her movements.

  They passed people in impeccable suits and diverse military uniforms walking in groups of two or three, all hurrying off somewhere.

  “So you have more than KMSI troops on this project?”

  Boynton nodded absently. “We’ve had to gather several dozen corporate military providers to deliver the needed manpower. Not to mention the expertise.”

  Philips followed Boynton into the center of an echoing ballroom and was dumbstruck at its size. It was dotted with sets of ornate furniture on islands of carpet and bustled with activity. People of various ethnic extractions, either military or smartly attired civilians, moved in and out, talking in hushed tones in English, Mandarin, Arab, Tagalog, Russian, and several other languages she didn’t recognize. The ceiling was easily forty feet high. Philips craned her neck to look up at the murals. She had visited Versailles once, before joining the NSA, but the Sun King’s palace exuded a neutered magnificence. This palace was still alive with authority.

  “Doctor.”

  Philips turned to see Boynton gesturing to a rich damask divan. She hadn’t noticed him moving on without her. She caught up.

  “Please have a seat. You’ll be called soon.” He nodded toward a distant buffet table with uniformed staff. “Feel free to have a bite. I hear the quail is excellent. Hunted locally.”