Bronson knew she was lying, and he could do little about it. Karen would have to get over the loss of her friend.
“Major, we must change our plans to accommodate these new developments. We should expect more attacks by the Massad and potentially other organizations.”
“Understood General, we’ll be more careful.”
“Major, I don’t think just being more careful is the answer to our problem. Maybe you and Captain Jackson should return to the Pentagon. Do you think you can bring Oria in?”
“Staying in contact with Oria won’t be a problem. He wants to continue our relationship at least as much as I do. As far as returning immediately, I’d like to stay here another day or so and sort things out. Then I’d like to attend Major Peterson’s funeral. Sir, if you still want me to return immediately, I will.”
“Major, I want you and the Captain to meet me at our Pentagon offices first thing Monday morning. I’ll reinforce Captain Martello’s contingent to provide you with better protection until you get here. Maybe we can draw some other groups out and see who else is on Oria’s trail.”
“Yes General, I’ll inform Captain Jackson.”
Karen filled Bob in on her conversation as they walked over to where Oria was waiting for them. They waited a long
time before an Ocean City bus was able to pick them up. The crime scene several blocks away was jamming traffic.
Captain Martello and his team watched the entire sequence of events unfold that morning. He wasn’t surprised when the Operations Command Center ordered his team to receive reinforcements. General Bronson had dispatched a small commando unit to join Martello and provide additional firepower.
Martello continued his surveillance as he followed Karen and her friends leaving the Police Station. He watched them board one of the Ocean City buses. When the bus reached 60
th
street, Martello saw a truck pull out of a side street and stop immediately in front of the bus cutting it off. Two men jumped out of a small van parked on the same side street as the truck and boarded the bus flashing badges at the driver.
Oria, Karen, and Bob were standing towards the back of the bus when it came to a screeching halt. They heard the bus door open and the two men enter it. The men worked their way towards the back of the bus armed with FBI badges and pistols. Karen heard the men speaking with heavy French accents to the crowd telling them that they were FBI agents and had to search the bus. Karen did not believe for one moment that the phony agents were with the FBI. She suspected they were part of a covert French group loosely connected to the French government.
Oria heard Borella’s voice in an implanted communication device near his ears. Borella told Oria that the phony agents were planning on capturing him; or at a minimum kidnapping Karen to use her as leverage against them. Oria decided to take action. He quickly stepped in front of Bob and Karen and towards the front of the bus. In seconds, Oria faced the first agent. The agent took his pistol, shoved it into Oria’s belly, and told him not to move. Oria flexed his abdominal muscles, reached down with his left hand, and grabbed the pistol as it went off into his stomach. Oria felt a slight sting and then connected his right fist to the agents face dropping him instantly to the ground. The second agent was about to fire at Oria’s head when another shot rang out from the front of the bus. Martello, seeing the action, had jumped out of his car, ran and boarded the bus. Seeing drawn weapons, Martello drew his own pistol and shot the second agent’s head. The agent collapsed in a lump at Oria’s feet.
The crowd on the bus began screaming and storming the front and side doors to get out. In the commotion Karen, Bob, and Oria slipped out the side door. Karen’s mind was racing. This was the second attempt on Oria and her life in less than an hour. Bronson was right; their simple presence would draw agents out into the open. What amazed Karen was the brazen madness exhibited by the groups. This latest attack was in the middle of the day on a crowded Ocean City bus.
Karen, Bob, and Oria started their long walk on Ocean Highway headed north towards their condo. Karen wanted to get there and pick up their stuff as quickly as possible. It was likely that at least one of the enemy groups knew where they were staying. It took a little over a half hour for them to reach 90
th
Street.
Bob searched the area around the condo complex for signs of enemy activity while Karen requested a valet to get her car ready. Once the valet departed, Karen slipped her hand into Oria’s hand and suggested that they head to the condo. They walked hand in hand to the elevator lobby where Karen hit the open button. As the elevator-chimes signaled the arrival of the elevator, a loud explosion emanated from the garage and shook the building. Oh great, now what, Karen thought, as she made a mad dash towards the garage door entrance with Oria directly behind her. About 100 feet away, Karen saw her Porsche on fire with a couple of people standing around screaming.
Karen and Oria ran to the car and saw the charred remains of the valet. Karen took a deep breath thinking that could have been her.
Within minutes several fire engines, ambulances, and police arrived. It took only several minutes for the fire fighters to extinguish the remaining flames while the police cordoned off the area. Several officers walked around asking the crowd if anyone saw what happened. Karen and Oria used the commotion to slip back into the condo lobby and head for their condo. When they arrived, Bob was already there. Someone had broken in and trashed the condo. All their belongings were disturbed and scattered across the floor. “I’ll tell you what”, said Bob, “somebody sure wants us outta Dodge”. Karen and Oria couldn’t agree more, although Oria was trying to figure out what “dodge,” meant.
The three of them had started to pick up their belongings and pack their suitcases when a loud knock broke the silence. It was the police with Agent Henson. Agent Henson had tried to delay the Ocean City Police but they were starting to get disturbed at the crime wave that seemed to follow Karen and her friends. In a single day since she arrived, a mob hit ended in a shot child, a friend of hers was murdered, a gunfight broke out on a public bus, and her car exploded killing a valet. The Ocean City Police had many questions and no answers. They weren’t buying the Federal Investigation story anymore and demanded that Henson and Karen provide them details that are more substantial.
“Major Karen Brown, I’m Detective Rod Damico, you might remember me from last night.”
“Yes Detective. What can I do for you?”
“You might start by telling me how much you know about the situation with your car.”
“My car? Is there a problem with my car?”
“Major, don’t play games with me. I’ll take you down to our station right now for questioning if you want to play games.”
“Ok Detective Damico. I gave my car keys to the valet. While we waited for an elevator, we heard an explosion in the garage. We ran out and saw that my car had exploded. That’s really all I know about it.”
“Are you sure? Maybe you should also tell me a little about your gun fight on your bus ride this afternoon.”
“Detective, I don’t have a clue as to what, as you said, “my little gun fight” was all about”. “Yeah, those phony agents were going to attack us. Oria stopped one of the agents. Someone else, maybe one of your police shot the other agent.” “Furthermore, Detective, I don’t know why people are attacking my friends and me”.
“Look Major. I’m not buying your story.”
Agent Henson cut in “Detective Damico, careful now. You are stepping into a Federal Investigation.”
“Look Marshal, you and your Federal connections better have some good answers. You are turning Ocean City into the Wild West. I don’t think the Mayor wants to hear this and I’m sure that your bosses will simply love what they see in the news after I get done feeding them information.”
Oria was getting annoyed with all the bureaucratic arguing. With these groups stepping on each other’s toes, they would accomplish very little. Oria wanted to complete packing and get out of there. He was starting to worry that the U.S. Military with all of their factions might also act like these law enforcement geeks. He had to figure out a way to get the groups moving in a more productive direction.
“Detective Damico. I think everyone here shares your concerns for the safety of the citizens of Ocean City.”
“Well, Mr. Kung Fu actually speaks.”
Oria chuckled. “Whatever, Detective, we’re on a two way street here. Karen, some friends, and I came down here for some R&R and have been attacked repeatedly by different groups and harassed by police. In broad daylight on one of your main streets, someone shot Karen’s friend! I think if someone has a problem, it is you and the lousy protection you provide in this stinking city.”
“Ah, perhaps you’d like to come with Major Brown to the station?”
“You’ve got nothing on me or Major Brown. We are just visiting the beach. “However, if you arrest us on false charges, my attorney will have a field day with you. I hope Ocean City has deep pockets.”
Damico hesitated for a minute. Oria was right. He really didn’t have much to go on. This group looked more like victims than perpetrators. “All right, this matter is not closed. I want you to stay close by for further questions. Don’t plan on leaving.”
Karen responded angrily. “Yes Detective Damico, and just WHO is going to provide us protection?”
“Looks like you’re quite capable of protecting yourselves.”
Agent Henson cut in. “Detective Damico, you are out of bounds here. These people have had one of their friends murdered, their place trashed, and a bomb set off in their car. I think some sort of protection is clearly called for.”
“Fine, I’ll check into getting them a safe house. Why don’t you grab your stuff and we’ll head down to the station.”
It took the group about 30 minutes to complete packing their stuff. A police cruiser and a young officer eagerly waited for them in the condo’s garage.
At the police station, Detective Damico greeted Oria, Karen, and Bob. His mood seemed to have changed. Damico had just gotten off the phone with his Chief. The Chief instructed him to cooperate fully with Major Karen Brown and to support her investigation any way possible. It did not surprise him to learn that the Major was on some sort of classified mission.
12:00 PM: Nanticoke Diner, Cambridge Maryland
Linda StalkingWolf caught up with Jack Stone at her brother’s diner in Cambridge, Maryland. Jack had called and requested the meeting to discuss Peter and Hoss’ reports and the recent newscasts. Jack was particularly excited about the mysterious healing that occurred Friday night in Ocean City. He was more convinced than ever that Oria was the anointed one sent by the spirits to redeem his people.
“Hi Linda, thanks for coming.”
“You’re sort of a hard one to resist, Chief Stone, or should I say soon-to-be Chief Stone?”
“Ah, quick with the wit, under normal circumstances, I would have agreed with you. I have spoken with my father and he agrees that Oria is the first son of the great Chief
Stoneax and the true successor to chief. Moreover, he agrees that Oria must be the anointed one sent on to redeem our people.”
“Wow, don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?”
“No!”
“Jack, I know Oria is human and on a perfectly human mission with a perfectly reasonable explanation on why he returned after being away 500 years.”
“Then you agree that he is the true heir to chief?”
“Uh, well, yes, but that’s not my point. Remember that Oria has lived in space with aliens for most of his life! He is just now returning home to save Earth!”
“Linda, you then agree that Oria has returned to redeem his people.”
“Well yes, but not as some super-natural event like you are suggesting.”
“In short, you don’t believe Oria has been sent by the spirits.”
“Exactly, Oria has been away and learned of an eminent attack on Earth that could result in the painful deaths of millions. Oria wants to stop that from happening.”
“Linda, you can’t see how these things can work together. It grieves me that your generation is losing the way of our people.”
“Hold on, please don’t l
ay that on me. I work harder for our people than just about anyone! Yes, I’m a scientist and yes, I am proud of our heritage. I just don’t buy into all of this religious stuff.”
“I know you work for our people. You just don’t completely understand the spirit of our people. If you did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Jack, I’m not going to argue with you. We’ve been through this before. Go ahead and believe what you want. At least we both agree that Oria is here on a mission whose goal is to save all of our ways on Earth.”
“Yes, Linda, on that we can agree.”
2 PM: West Virginia
Commander Retilia and Lieutenant Durinea felt good to get a complete copy of the White House Database and of the disk drive off the President’s desktop computer. They walked back into the room with the little kids, in the mood to celebrate. Young live human children were a rare treat in the Creyte Federation. It was expensive to fly live children off farm planets.