Authors: Carolyn McCray
Vakasa.
Rebecca started awake, disoriented and near panic. She reached for the girl in her arms, but it was just a backpack. She
’
d been clutching a backpack. Trying to get her bearings, Rebecca glanced around the private compartment. They were on a train, but the men weren
’
t relaxing. Instead
,
they were assessing, checking
,
and loading their weapons.
“
You okay, babe?
”
Brandt asked as he stuffed another gun into his bag.
“
Yeah,
”
she answered automatically
,
even though she was pretty sure he knew it was a lie. Instead
,
she felt like her right arm had been ripped off. She
’
d only known
Vakasa
for a few hours, yet Rebecca could swear she
’
d given birth to the girl. It ached to not have her by her side.
“
We
’
ll get her,
”
Brandt reassured, slapping a clip into his sidearm.
Rebecca gave a wane smile as the train slowed. She looked out the window. Instead of Lourdes, they were pulling into Barcelona. A major metropolitan city. A city that would have the goods they needed to mount a mission to follow Vanderwalt and Vakasa.
They had given their tickets to Morocco to a young Portuguese couple in exchange for this private compartment headed to the coast. Once again
,
they were totally off the grid.
“
Everyone
’
s got their orders straight?
”
Brandt asked.
The men nodded in unison.
“
Lopez, get us something fast
,
and by fast
,
I mean
fast
.
”
The corporal
’
s eyes dilated.
“
Commercial fast or
experimental
fast?
”
“
I mean fast
fast
.
”
This was one of the reasons Brandt had chosen Barcelona. He
’
d explained that the city had one of the few aviation research facilities in Europe.
Lopez raised his hand to Levont.
“
It is
on
.
”
The point man slapped Lopez
’
s palm.
“
You know it.
”
Brandt turned to her.
“
You are sure about Jerusalem?
”
“
I only got a brief glance at the second half of the map,
”
Rebecca explained
“
but yeah, it did look like Jerusalem.
”
As the train pulled to a full stop, the men stowed the rest of the gear. When finished, Brandt took Rebecca
’
s hand.
“
Remember
,
until we rendezvous at the airport, we
’
re just a vacationing couple. Keep your head down
,
though
,
to avoid the cameras.
”
Yeah, Rebecca wasn
’
t going to have any trouble with that. Not with worry for Vakasa so heavy on her heart, but stepping out into the train
’
s aisleway with Brandt, Rebecca smiled brightly. Whatever it took to get to Jerusalem as quickly as possible.
* * *
Another alarm went off. If Bunny hadn
’
t lost count
,
that was number five. Stark
’
s ten firewalls weren
’
t looking all that many now a day.
“
Why aren
’
t they on the train in Lourdes?
”
Prenner demanded. He then turned to Emily.
“
And where the hell did Vanderwalt take the girl?
”
When neither of them had adequate answers, the lieutenant turned on Bunny.
“
Well?
”
Bunny threw her hands up in exasperation.
“
You tell me.
”
First the Brit
’
s betrayal. Then Brandt going radio silent again. Why could nothing ever go linear with those men?
“
If someone would shut up for a second,
”
Stark said
,
then had to break off as he worked on the latest breach
,
“
I think I know where the girl is.
”
“
What?
”
the three said in unison, leaning over the tech.
“
Back it up,
”
Stark complained.
“
Except, of course, for you, Bunny.
”
The kid did like the occasional side boob action. And if he
’
d found Vakasa, Bunny would give it to him.
“
The girl?
”
“
Yeah,
”
Stark said
,
bringing up a map of Europe and Africa. There were a bunch of dots. Like
,
a
bunch
of dots. None of which seemed to make any sense.
“
Not seeing it, Stark,
”
Prenner complained.
The tech then highlighted the area of the Congo.
“
Let
’
s look back seven years…
”
Most of the dots vanished
,
leaving a large square marker over the Congo.
“
That is the Kalemie earthquake. A six
-
point
-
eight.
”
“
So?
”
Emily pressed. Vanderwalt
’
s actions had hit her the hardest. Whatever casual elegance the woman had retained over the past days had vanished. The CIA operative was cranky and not afraid to show it.
“
So?
”
Stark said.
“
I think that is the moment of Vakasa
’
s birth.
”
Bunny sank into the seat next to Stark. Prenner and Emily still seemed confused.
“
You might as well tell them,
”
Stark prompted Bunny.
She looked to him with a new appreciation.
“
How did you know?
”
“
Please, Cuellar?
”
the tech chided.
“
A Congonese girl going to the heart of Black Madonna country? Come on. I
’
m a Googling god.
”
Bunny turned to Emily and Prenner. It was time to come clean. She would need their help
,
and to help
,
they needed to know the full truth.
“
Stark is right. We
—
Rebecca and I
,
and apparently the Disciples
—
believe Vakasa is the female
M
essiah prophesized by the tablets of the Ten Commandments.
”
Emily, then Prenner
,
sat down.
“
Whether you believe it or not, Frellan and now apparently Vanderwalt do.
”
“
What
’
s this got to do with earthquakes?
”
Emily asked
,
seeming slightly less shaken than the lieutenant.
Stark picked up the strand of logic.
“
Philosophically
,
who cares
?
Geologically? That girl tends to make the ground shake
—
a lot.
”
Bunny watched as Stark brought back up the hundreds of dots.
“
These are all of the three
-
point
-
zero earthquakes in the Congo region over the last seven years. Anybody see a pattern?
”
Bunny shook her head. She hadn
’
t realized Africa experienced so many earthquakes. It was like LA out there.
Stark pealed away dot after dot to reveal a set of quakes that seemed to unfold in a linear pattern.
“
If, for theoretical purposes
,
we mark the six
-
point
-
eight as Vakasa
’
s birth, we have got this set of quakes that occur well off the major fault lines and continental rifts.
”
“
You can
’
t be saying that earthquakes follow the girl?
”
Prenned asked.
The tech looked to Bunny
,
who answered for him.
“
No. He is saying that Vakasa
creates
them.
”
“
Whoa,
”
Emily said,
“
I
’
m a little used to how you guys roll, but this
—
”
“
This is only the tip of iceberg,
”
Stark said.
“
Let
’
s fast
-
forward to last week.
”
He pointed out a
3.3
quake.
“
That one is within minutes of Brandt getting shot.
”
Without waiting for anyone
’
s response, Stark went to another point.
“
That one is approximately the time Rebecca and Vakasa were captured by Frellan
’
s men.
”
He whisked to screen to the next point.
“
And that one is when the crocs attacked.
”
“
The Congo is a very geologically active area,
”
Prenner tried to explain.
“
Those could all just be aftershocks.
”
Stark shrugged.
“
Okay, then how about Egypt? You are seriously going to tell me that an aftershock reached several thousand miles away?
”
“
This is all speculation and
—
”
“
Then speculate about this…
”
The tech brought up a new screen. It showed small quakes across the Mediterranean. In a
line
across the Mediterranean.
“
These microquakes are exactly in line with his plane
’
s flight path. Stark then overlaid this map with that of a plane
’
s trajectory. They were a direct match.
“
I think Vakasa is leaving us bread
crumbs,
”
Stark finished.
Bunny was glad she was already sitting down.
* * *
Davidson trotted up to the private hangar, his new gear in tow. It looked like the rest were already loaded onto the plane
,
with the exception of Levont
,
who was packing their gear into the hold. Davidson tossed him a bag.
“
Got a couple more for you.
”
“
Don
’
t know how much more it can hold,
”
Levont said.
“
This plane is lean.
”
Lopez came out of nowhere and took the bag from Levont.
“
No, this
‘
plane,
’
this Marchetti SF
Five Hundred,
is not just the fastest
,
most sophisticated plane to ever grace the world, it is the Porsche of planes, it is a true work of art, and I won
’
t have you scratching her.
”