Discovery (Science of Psionics Book #1) (11 page)

To: Major Matt Hatter, Ft. Bragg, N.C.

To be opened only upon the event of my death
or disappearance

Feeling better that I would be avenged if
they got to me; I put my gun under the pillow and settled in to
sleep.

***

First thing in the morning I was up and
checking out, eager to get moving. I gassed up the truck and picked
up a bag of munchies, figuring it would be safer to eat on the
road. Traffic was light this early, and I made good time down the
highway.

Once I was close to the base, I phoned up my
friend and arranged to meet him at a diner nearby. I should have
called first thing in the morning, but didn’t think of it until
now. I arrived a little early and picked a corner booth. Matt would
have already eaten, so I had no qualms about ordering up a large
breakfast for myself.

I had just finished eating when I saw him
pull up. I waved him over to my booth, and got up to shake his hand
in welcome. Sitting, he declined the waitress’s offer of a menu,
but took a cup of coffee.

“I’m surprised to see you out this way,” he
began. “How are things going these days, and what brings you
around?”

Not quite knowing how to begin, I stalled
with the inane small talk that is typical of friends reunited. It
was annoying at first, but I eventually started to enjoy catching
up with him. Feeling marginally better now, I wanted to get to the
point but had a different problem. Every time I was about to start
the real topic, someone would walk by or the waitress would come
check on us and I had to stop.

Always observant, Matt eventually took pity
on me and asked if I wanted to go back to his place to talk in
private. Relieved, I gave the waitress a twenty and waved him on to
the door. I followed his jeep down the highway for about thirty
minutes, rehearsing my speech in my head. Arriving, he led me into
his office where he poured us each a drink before waving me toward
a chair.

“It’s a bit early for scotch, but you look
like you could use a belt. I can’t remember ever seeing you this
jumpy before,” he said bluntly.

Taking a swig I began. “Well, it’s a rather
unique situation that I’ve found myself in. Not only that, but
since I was sworn to secrecy before I found out, I can’t go into
all the details.”

Understanding, he nodded for me to
continue.

“Theoretically speaking, what would you do if
you discovered that someone had a great weapon, but refused to
share it with us?”

“Do you mean
us
as the two of us, or
us
as a country?”

“Both. They refuse to disclose it to anyone,
and I only know some of the capabilities, with zero of the
workings.”

“How dangerous are we talking here?”

“Unknown. They have command of significant
power, both offensive and defensive.”

“And this is right here on our home
soil?”

“Yes. I tried to learn the inner workings,
but they claim that they couldn’t teach me how it works. I believed
them for a while, but not anymore. I left last night and came to
see you, hoping to get some advice.”

“Do you believe yourself to be in
danger?”

In response, I handed him the envelope that I
prepared last night. He looked startled to see what I had written
on it, and then turned grim.

“Ok, you now have my full attention. What can
I do to help?”

I raised my glass to him as a salute before
knocking back the scotch. It was a relief to know that he would
have my back.

Matt had to leave to attend a staff meeting
but told me to make myself at home. He promised that we would talk
in more detail tonight and come up with a plan. Left to my own
devices, I poured myself another drink and wandered around his
house for a while. Sparse, clean, orderly … it was about what I
expected.

After doing a few laps through the house to
no real purpose, I decided to go through my stuff and make sure
that everything was in good order. I pulled my truck into his
garage and closed the door for privacy before spreading out my
gear. As I absently cleaned my weapons, I wondered how far Matt
would go to help me.

It seemed like Matt was gone for about a
million years, but it was really only six or seven hours. I kept
peeking through the window blinds, watching for anyone coming down
the driveway. Maybe I was getting a bit paranoid, but I didn’t even
turn on the house lights as dusk approached. I tensed for a moment
as I saw a car approach, but breathed a quick sigh of relief as I
saw that it was Matt’s jeep and he was alone. He pulled into the
empty stall of his garage and I went to meet him, thankful that he
had finally returned.

“Sorry I took so long,” he said as he stepped
out of the vehicle. “Damn useless meetings always take way too
long.” Holding up a box he continued, “I brought a pizza. Let’s eat
and finish our discussion.”

We sat down in his kitchen with pizza and
beer, picking up the conversation where we had left off earlier.
“How much help are you willing to offer me?” I asked in between
bites.

“Probably more than you might think. I take
domestic terrorism fairly seriously, and nobody wants to see
another nine-eleven. Not to mention the fact that I owe you for
saving my life.”

“Amen to that. I’m not sure that we’re in
that kind of situation though.”

“But you’re not sure, right? You as much as
admitted that these people might be looking to make you
disappear.”

“That might just be paranoia on my part, but
I’m determined to do something about them, and I have no way of
knowing in advance what they might do.”

“Then tell me what you want. If it’s in my
power, then you already have it. I can probably even arrange armed
backup for you if needed.”

“I doubt that they’re allied with any foreign
power, and if possible, I would prefer that they ally with us. The
benefits we would gain by having them on our side are almost beyond
belief, and I would prefer to try intimidation and negotiation
first. One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet is that my wife is
with them.”

“Your wife is part of an enemy splinter
cell?” he sputtered in disbelief.

“She’s not quite part of the inner circle,
that’s only two people, but she’s friendly with them and wants
more.”

“Only two people?” he inquired. “How big of
an organization are we talking about here?”

“As far as I know, there’s only four people
total.”

Still unwilling to discuss the fact that we
were talking about mental powers, I decided to couch it in more
believable terms. “The group is small, but the technology is
amazing. What would you say if I told you that they could generate
fields that are able to stop small arms fire? Or contain a gas
grenade inside a remote generated sphere? How about even stopping a
plastique
explosion big enough to gut your house?”

“I would say that you should give up the
crack pipe.” He laughed, but quickly turned serious again when he
realized that I wasn’t joking. “You’re serious?” he asked after a
moment.

“Deadly serious,” I grimly replied. “The
inner circle even has superior communication.”

“It sounds like they’ve developed some pretty
significant technology, but that’s all passive or defensive stuff.
What do they have for offensive capabilities?”

“Well, how about the ability to accelerate
steel shot to almost the same velocity as a bullet?” I asked. “They
can do that without any telltale muzzle fire or smoke. I fired a
shot from my 9mm into the target they used for practice, and my
bullet didn’t go in much deeper. They can also do things like
contain gas grenades, move over any terrain fast and silent … heck,
they could rip you limb from limb without even getting in sight of
you.”

“Any theories on how they’re doing all this
stuff? I must admit this all sounds kind of far-fetched to me.”

“I have plenty of theories, but nothing
concrete. Electro-magnetic or something along those lines is how
I’m thinking of it.”

“What about the controls?” he asked. “How big
are they and what about the power source?”

“The controls are easily portable,” I
replied, thinking quickly. “I’m unsure about the power source.”

“Ok, if you’re telling me the truth then
that’s starting to sound bad. What else can they do?”

“I don’t know. As I mentioned, they’re
keeping this thing close to their chests.”

“You’ve given me plenty to think about. I
want you to tell me every detail from the second you were
contacted, until the time you showed up on my doorstep. Leave
nothing out, except what is needed to protect your oath.”

Grateful that he recognized my need to
protect certain details, I suggested that we retire to his office
where we would be more comfortable. We settled down into his
overstuffed leather armchairs with a scotch in hand and I began my
tale. It took all night to get through my full story. It would have
gone faster, but he kept interrupting with queries and asking for
clarification of details. He was silent for a long time after I
finally wound down.

Finally he said, “I need some time to process
all of this. Give me the night to think on things and we’ll discuss
this more in the morning. You can bunk down in the spare
bedroom.”

He saw me settled into the guest room, then
left me to my own devices. It took me forever to get to sleep.

***

The next morning I woke up to find that Matt
was already gone. I took a shower and ate some leftover pizza for
breakfast. It was about all that I could do until I heard from my
friend. Shortly after noon, I heard a truck approaching the house.
Sneaking a peek out the window, I saw a familiar olive green
military truck in the driveway behind Matt’s jeep.

He opened his garage door, but parked off to
the side. Jumping out, he helped guide the truck back up against
the opening. Curious, I went through the side door into the garage
and saw a half squad of troops unloading supplies onto the garage
floor.

“All personnel and equipment ready and at
your disposal, sir,” the staff sergeant shouted, snapping to
attention.

“At ease,” Matt replied. “Stay with the
ordinance, we’ll return shortly with instructions.” He guided me
back inside the house.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I thought long into the night about what you
told me, and came to a decision. I would trust you with my life, so
I completely believe that you have uncovered a significant threat.
As such, I have decided to give you as much support as I can,
without going through channels. By my thinking, you Rangers follow
a close enough code to real soldiers like us Green Berets that I
will trust you with operational command.”

I flipped him a quick finger at his dig at
the rangers.

“There’s no way that I can get leave on short
notice to join you, but I can arrange for the loan of up to two
squads of troops who are personally loyal to me. You’ll have both
significant talent, as well as significant firepower.”

Stunned at the scope of what he was laying
out before me, I could only nod for him to continue.

“Before we continue, I must ask you one last
time if this is some kind of stupid joke. If you lead me on by my
dick past this point for no good reason, I’ll execute you
myself.”

Nodding for him to continue I said, “This is
no joke, but I’m not sure if this much force will be needed.”

“Better to have backup that you don’t need
rather than need it and not have it,” he admonished. “Now, if
you’re ready to continue, let’s figure out what the hell we can do
about this situation.”

“I must say that I’m surprised at all of the
support you’re offering to me without any evidence,” I
admitted.

“You’ve seen enough combat to not be easily
spooked. I’ve seen enough that I’ve learned to trust the gut
feelings of seasoned soldiers. Making my decision wasn’t easy, but
now that I’ve made it, you can count on my full support.”

The people that I selected for this mission
are both loyal and honorable. Any information that you told me, you
can trust to them as well. I suggest that we sit down with the
soldiers here and you brief them as you did with me last night.
Each is a specialist in his own right, and will add to our little
war council.”

Words cannot describe the pride that I felt
surging through me at his words. “
This is why I became a
soldier
,” I thought. “Very well,” I said with resolve. “Please
gather the men and give them a preliminary briefing. I need a few
minutes alone.”

I made my way to my bedroom and closed the
door behind me. Spying some candles on the end table, I lit one and
turned off the room light. I gathered the rest together and
arranged them in the middle of a clear space on the floor. I sat
down cross legged and slowly lit them, slowing my breathing as much
as I could. Once I had relaxed sufficiently, I quietly began to
speak.

Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger,
fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always
endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of
my Ranger Regiment.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a
more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by
land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country
expects me to move further, faster, and fight harder than any other
soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades. I will
always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally
straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task
whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some.

Gallantly will I show the world that I am a
specially selected and well trained soldier. My courtesy to
superior officers, neatness of dress, and care of equipment shall
set the example for others to follow.