Core Beliefs - Chapter 68 - The Face of Evil

Core Beliefs – Chapter 68 - The Face of Evil

Matt accepted that once they made the technology public, they could expect attempts to steal it. Therefore, it was not a surprise when it occurred. It was, however, very surprising who made the attempt.

John Leisure was a young man in his twenties, recruited by Doug into Dlrow Wen while they were both students in Houston.

John came to Doug and said he was going to take some time away from school and wondered if he could go to ‘Well of Hope’ and help there.

He arrived and was soon absorbed in the daily routine. The city had continued to grow and was now exporting food to the surrounding region. They charged nothing, having plenty. They also offered health services and sent groups to friendly areas.

The US State Department had made it clear to his Imperial General that if he wished to continue to receive financial aid, then he would stop all persecution of the indigenous tribes.

The General loved money more than war, religion, or politics, and decided that he could live with the arrangement.

On the night of November 30, John left his quarters and walked about the city, eventually coming to the entrance to one of the underground areas used to store equipment. He entered the storeroom using a code he had copied from another team member.

Walking to the shelves that held the power supplies, he lifted one small enough to carry and started back out. He had not been in the city long and was unaware that the control center monitored this room, along with all other critical areas.

As he approached the exit, Lenny Mandaville met him.

“John,” Lenny said, “I don’t think you should be taking that out of the storeroom?”

“Oh, they need one in the hydroponics area,” John replied nervously.

Lenny stood six inches taller than John and outweighed him by sixty pounds, all muscle.

John knew he couldn’t fight his way past the man, yet he was desperate and afraid, knowing he had to get out with the power module.

That was when Alicia Mandaville stepped forward and spoke quietly into John’s mind, ‘John, I know you’re afraid and that you are doing this against your desire. Talk to us and let us help.’

John dropped the power module and collapsed onto the floor. Her words went to his heart, and he realized he was beaten.

Alicia went to him and sat in front of him. Lenny leaned against the wall and, though appearing relaxed, was prepared to take control if required.

“We mean you no harm,” Alicia took John’s hands, “so tell us why you are doing this?”

“They’re going to kill them,” he blurted.

“Who is in danger?” Alicia asked.

“My mom, dad, and my sister with her family, they’re being held, and if I don’t get this for those men, they’re going to kill them!”

“Who are they?” Alicia quietly asked.

“I don’t know,” John wept. “Two men came to me in Houston and showed me a picture of my family tied up with other men, pointing guns at them. They told me to get a power module, or the order would be given to kill everyone in my family.”

“Please, I can’t let them die,” he pleaded. “Please let me take it to them. I’m begging you with all my soul. This is my entire family.”

“John,” Alicia said, “if you give this to them, what makes you think that they won’t turn around and use the same tactics on someone else to get more technology. Then it would be lost, and all we’ve worked for would also be lost.”

“I know,” said John, “but this is my family, and I’m responsible for their death…if I don’t do what I was told.”

“Do you know that they are alive now?”

John replied quietly, “It’s the only hope I have. It’s all I can hold on to.”

“Look at me, John; we understand how you feel and what you are going through. I think we can find a way for you to do what you need and for us to identify who is responsible and stop them from hurting anyone again. Will you help us?”

John looked up, “Tell me what to do.”

They put the power module back, and all three walked to the control room. This was also underground and equipped with a vast array of electronics and monitors. It was the first time John knew of its existence.

Alicia went to a drawer and pulled out a small, flat, eight-inch-by-eight-inch, very thin pad. She placed her hand in the middle and repeated her name. Then she said, open on screen. Instantly, an image of the Dlrow Wen logo appeared.

“Urgent conference, all available,” Alicia said.

Within seconds, faces appeared on the monitors around the room. After about two minutes, Alicia began recounting John’s story. John watched silently and realized no one was pointing fingers at him or blaming him.

The group now had about thirty-five, including Matt and Ling, Chris and Charlotte, and Charlie and Charley.

“We have two things to accomplish,” Matt said. “One is to rescue John’s family. Their welfare is our top priority. The second is to find who is responsible for this cowardly act and make them accountable. The question is how to do these things quickly, quietly, and effectively.”

Ideas were offered, and within an hour, they had two plans.

***

John left the Well of Hope at 3:30 a.m. with a power module. He walked about a mile and a half heading due east and used a penlight to flash an arranged signal.

Out of the darkness, two men strode towards him. He set the power module down and stepped back a few feet. They approached the power module, found the output terminals, and used a meter to verify that the unit was producing power.

“I’ve done my part. Now let my family go,” John said.

One of the men moved forward and, without warning, struck John across the face with his fist. John tumbled to the ground, stunned but still conscious.

“We will tell you when it is our pleasure to let them go, or still yet kill them.” The men had heavy Eastern European accents. “You say one word about us, and they are dead. Remember, we may still need your services, so go back and wait for us to contact you.”

John lay on the ground with a bloody lip and a bruised face. Though angry and filled with rage, he remembered Mr. Lehman’s promise that they would find and rescue his family.

After the men slipped from sight with the power module, John stood and made his way back to the city. They brought him to the control room, where he was treated.

On the monitor, he saw a signal labeled “PM Bait.” They were tracking a transmitter they had placed inside the power module. There was another Dlrow Wen team outside the city, equipped with night-vision gear, highly sensitive directional listening devices, and signal-intercept equipment that would detect anything from cell phones to ham radios.

This electronic snooping gear had come in handy many times when they wanted to eavesdrop on the local government troops. It would record transmissions, band information, and more.

The team tailed the men for about two miles to an encampment and watched as they set up a booster antenna for a satellite phone.

In ten minutes, two calls were made: one to Poland and one to the US. The Dlrow Wen crew recorded both. The one in Poland appeared to be the man giving the orders. The call to the US was to those holding the family, instructing them to continue holding the hostages. The men packed their gear and were soon hiking out with the power module.

Lenny went to John when his team got back to Well of Hope.

“Your family is okay. We’ll get them out. There’s no worry about the power module. We can follow it and, if necessary, trigger a remote destruct, but not until your family is safe.”

Back in the States, Senator Coldwell called Camden Hart, a regional FBI director. He and Camden went way back. He knew the man and felt he was someone who could not only help but also might be a candidate for Dlrow Wen.

Saulman gave an overview of the kidnapping, explaining the special circumstances, and asked Camden if he would help.

Though reluctant, the Regional Director finally consented. Saulman told the agent that he would learn a great deal if he participated and assured Hart that he would be right there with him.

With Agent Hart’s assistance, they quickly traced the call to a house in Houston.

***

Team #1: prepared to meet in Houston. It would take a few hours to assemble the group. A GEM-A picked Chris up outside the silo. Mandy and Michael manned the controls.

Inside, Ted Coldwell checked over the hardware they’d brought for the mission. Ted had been on the island for the last four months, involved in a variety of tasks.

At Houston Hobby Airport, Doug and Ellie picked up Saulman Coldwell and FBI Regional Director Camden Hart.

Doug drove to the outskirts of the city.

A little after midnight, they parked in an empty field. Doug placed his hand on a little flat pad sitting on the dash, said his name, then said ‘open.’ A holographic symbol appeared.

“GEM-A, Team 1,” Doug said. Instantly, an image appeared of a young girl, an older boy, and two men sitting behind them.

“We’ve been hovering for a while at 160. We’ll be there in a second,” the girl said.

Almost instantly, a strange, shadowy shape appeared in front of the SUV.

“What the hell!” Hart gasped.

“This is just so you understand that we know what we are doing, and hopefully you’ll trust us, as we trust you,” Saulman said to his friend.

The strange craft settled to the ground, and an opening appeared, gradually growing larger. Four people strolled from the craft.

“Let’s go say hi,” Doug said.

Hart was the last to slip from the SUV, watching as the people from the craft and those from the car hugged and shook hands.

Mr. Hart, I’d like you to meet my son. Saulman grabbed Ted, gave him a fatherly hug, and turned him toward Camden Hart.

“Hey, Dad,” Ted said, “I got my aeronaut certification!”

“I’m not surprised,” Saulman said to his son. “I think you will find doors open for whatever you want to achieve.”

They started transferring gear from the GEM-A into the SUV.

“Are Michael and Mandy sticking around?” Doug asked.

“No,” Chris said. “They’re piloting the mission with Matt.”

Mandy and Michael disappeared into the craft. Hart trailed the rest of the group back to the SUV and watched as the vessel first levitated a few inches off the ground, then disappeared.

The FBI director stood, his mouth gaping, and finally muttered, “Where’d they go?”

“Probably two hundred miles up,” Ellie said, “and then twenty thousand miles an hour in any direction they want.”

The FBI agent just shook his head, “Even if I told anyone, they’d just laugh at me.”

Saulman placed his hand on Hart’s shoulder, looking him in the eyes. “So, keep it our secret and realize that you are one of the very few who have seen and know.”

He added cheerfully, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Back to the house,” Doug said. “We need to rig the van.”

It took almost an hour to reach the house. They backed the SUV into the garage. In the next slot sat a white panel van. Inside, three monitor screens were mounted on the van’s wall. Other gear had been secured in racks and on a small shelf. Unless you knew the gear, you’d never guess its function.

***

At seven in the morning, the van was finished being fitted, and all systems were checked.

Doug, Ellie, and Agent Hart were in the SUV, and Chris, Saulman, and Ted were in the van. The teams headed for the address associated with the kidnapper’s phone number.

Doug parked the SUV around the corner from the house. On the overhead LCD screens in the SUV, an image of the house appeared as Chris drove the van down the street in front of the building.

“Let’s see what we have,” Doug said. “Enhanced image. Transparency.”

A new view appeared. It was almost like an X-ray. The walls of the house turned translucent on the screen. A group of six people huddled in a back bedroom, appearing to be bound in some way.

In the living room, two more people sat watching TV, and another was in the kitchen.

Doug spoke, “GEM-A, Team 2.” Immediately, the two young pilots appeared in the holographic image, and behind them, a man and others. It was Matt.

“Matt,” Chris said, “we’ve located the captives and can act anytime you give the word.

“Any sign of imminent danger?” Matt asked.

“Everyone in the house has been under severe stress for an extended time,” Ellie said. “The possibilities run from no threat to sudden breakdown. I think we should be prepared, at a minimum, to protect the family.

Saulman joined the conversation from the panel van. “There’s an alley behind the house with a hedge and a garage for cover. We could park out of sight, monitor, and be prepared to cast a shield within seconds. Mr. Hart, does that make sense to you?”

Hart hesitated before responding. “I’m not sure what you mean by shield, but if you can quickly provide protection for the hostages, then I agree with your approach.”

“I agree also,” Matt said. “People, the package will arrive in Warsaw in about twenty minutes via private jet. I would like to determine its destination before you make your move, but remember, the safety of the family is the most important aspect of this mission.”

“Where are you?” Ellie asked.

“I think we are dodging satellites. All I know is my pilots assure me they can have us anywhere in Poland in seconds. More importantly, I believe them.”

There was laughter from all quadrants as Mandy rebutted, “Hey, this staying out of the way of space junk is serious business.”

“You mean they are in outer space?” Camden stuttered.

“Sir,” Ellie said, “there are a lot of things that won’t make sense, but please, just trust us. These technologies and much more are very real.”

Everyone held tight for almost two hours. Matt came back online, “We have location and lock. You move first, and when everyone is safe, we will move.”

In the van, the latest scan showed the family still in the back bedroom and the three goons in the front room. Saulman and Ted slipped from the van and slowly approached the house from the rear. Saulman tested the latch on the back door. It was unlocked.

“Still clear?” he asked Doug.

“Yes,” Doug answered. “The bad guys are still in the living room.”

Carefully, Saulman stepped into the back bedroom. The hostages spotted him, their eyes widening. The gags in their mouths muffled their voices. Saulman cautioned them to be quiet.

“We will have you out and safe in just a few minutes. Stay calm,” he whispered.

He activated his personal shield and cast an umbrella-shaped shield that protected himself and the family.

***

Ted, still outside, crept to a position where he could cover the side of the house with a door leading to the garage.

Doug drove the SUV to the front of the house. He and Ellie strapped on something that resembled a tool belt with pouches and put on a pair of dark-colored gloves. They stepped out and strode towards the front corners of the house. Their shield units activated for ten feet. At about twenty feet from the house, they expanded the shield to blanket the entire front wall.

Chris radioed Camden from the van. “Mr. Hart, please leave your gun in the car and join Doug.”

Hart did as instructed and, shaking his head, stepped from the SUV and walked forward, standing beside Doug.

“We have the hostages protected,” Doug said. “We have all sides of the house blocked and sealed. The bad guys cannot go anywhere. I suggest you invite them to lay down their guns and come out.”

Hart stared at Doug for a second, but after what he had seen, he decided to take a leap of faith.

“FBI!” he yelled at the top of his voice. “You are surrounded with no chance of escape. Drop your weapons and come out with your hands above your head!”

Even before he finished, faces flashed in the windows. Shouting erupted inside.

Chris, watching the monitors in the van, spoke to the Dlrow Wen members’ minds, ‘They tried to get to the hostages. One is stuck in Saulman’s shield, and the other two are watching him. The two are heading back to the front.’

Glass shattered. Gunshots echoed in the air. Agent Hart instinctively dove for the ground, trying to draw the weapon he’d left behind. Doug and Ellie didn’t even flinch as the shields captured the bullets one by one, suspending them in midair.

Hart stared up at Doug.

The shooting ceased. Hart climbed off the ground, trying to make sense of what had happened. He spotted a bullet mysteriously floating in the air, sunlight twinkling off it like a blinking Christmas light.

“Have you had enough fun for the day?” Ellie asked Doug.

“Yep, I think it’s time to be proactive.”

Ellie reset her shield and captured a segment of the wall on the front of the house, including the door.

Camden gasped as the front door and the surrounding walls pulled loose, suspended momentarily before collapsing into shambles.

“Why not ask them again if they want to come out?” Doug chuckled.

“Come out now,” Hart yelled, “or you may not get another chance.”

Two men stumbled out of the hole in the wall. Ellie nailed them with her shield beam, lifting them into the air. Doug dropped his beam.

“Follow me,” he said to Hart as he walked toward the house. Hart followed, his eyes never leaving the two suspended goons.

Chris spoke to Saulman’s mind and asked about his situation.

‘We’ve liberated the family and have them clear of the house in the backyard. What we need is medical assistance, and Ted has the third kidnapper trapped in his shield.’

‘Ted,’ Chris said, ‘take your guy around to the front.’

Ted paced to the front, the last of the bad guys dangling five feet off the ground.

‘Trade with Ellie so she can help your dad,’ Doug said. ‘I’ll take over on the bad guys.’

Hart suddenly realized that, though he heard no words, these people were communicating with one another.

Ellie stalked to the thugs she’d thumped to the ground and rammed nasty images into their brains before heading to help Saulman.

They cowardly begged her not to hurt them.

A crowd began to congregate. Agent Hart flashed his ID and ordered them to stand back. Doug and Ted hovered over the three kidnappers.

Minutes later, Saulman sauntered from the side of the house and handed Hart a memory stick.

“Confessions?” he asked.

“Yes, they were read their rights. We’ve called the police, and they’ll be here in minutes.”

The police arrived. The thugs were cuffed, still talking freely about the arrangement they’d made with foreign dudes to kidnap the family.

The family corroborated the events and that they’d escaped out the back with help from authorities.

The van had pulled away before the police arrived, and Hart ran interference with a story about a unit specializing in hostage recovery and the importance of keeping identities confidential.

The detective from the Houston Police Department wasn’t sure about the story but was smart enough not to argue with a federal agent.

Ambulances arrived and transported the family to a hospital, where the police completed the process of taking statements.

Saulman, Doug, Ellie, Ted, and Camden Hart climb into the SUV.

“I apologize for putting you through this without any warning,” Saulman said. “This is the family of one of our people, and we were sure we could rescue them safely.”

“Damn if I’m going to argue with you,” Hart said. “I’ve never even dreamed of what I saw today. I’m just trying to believe it all.”

“Camden, I wanted you to be here,” Saulman said. “We’ve known each other for many years, and I want to share a few things with you before we get you on a plane for home.

Saulman outlined the purpose of Dlrow Wen and explained the core beliefs. He talked about how they planned to use this technology for many things that would improve life for everyone. By the time he finished, they were approaching the airport.

He got out with Hart. “I would like you to search your heart and see if you and your family would want to be a part of this.”

Hart shook his hand, smiled, and promised he would seriously consider it.

Chris had notified Matt the minute the hostages were free.

***

“Let’s park on the roof,” Matt said.

The telemetry indicated that the power module was delivered to a room on the top floor of the building. The data transmitted by Charlotte indicated that the building owner’s name was Iylia Brockovich, a Polish entrepreneur reputed to have ties to the Russian Mafia.

The GEM-A settled silently on the roof, in the dark, near the stairwell door. On board were Matt, Ling, Charlie, Charley, Lenny Mandaville, and Kenneth Hastings. Matt and Ling carried personal shields. Lenny had a hand-held converter. Kenneth also wore a shield unit. Charlie had a shield unit and carried Ling’s medical bag. Charley had a shield unit and a hand-held scanner like the one in the van that let them look through walls.

The GEM-A’s door opened, and Lenny and Charley dashed to the stairwell entrance.

Charley scanned and spoke to Lenny’s mind. ‘The way’s clear.’

This was how they would communicate throughout the mission. Lenny pointed the converter towards the latch and lock. In seconds, a hole materialized, and the door released.

No alarms rang as they proceeded down. The scanner revealed no one in the hall. Lenny made quick work of the door to the hallway.

The space appeared to serve as both a residence and an office. The first two rooms on either side of the hall were empty, but the third room on the left had three men in it. Charley scanned the rest of the floor. Lenny sealed the elevator and the remaining stairwell doors. The scan of the office door showed multiple locks.

Matt stared at the scanner.

‘Let’s just blow it in,’ he shared his thoughts with the others.

He set his shield to a focused beam. Standing against the wall on the opposite side of the hall, he activated and manipulated the beam. The doors, with their doorframes, shattered from the wall and shoved feet into the office. Matt manipulated the beam, crushed the doors, and dropped the debris.

Before it hit the floor, Kenneth and Ling had the shield beams in place. The team calmly strode into the room. The two men from the desert crouched near a big desk and started firing. The Dlrow Wen group grinned as the mobsters exhausted their ammunition.

The man behind the desk scrambled, trying to get to a corner on the right side of the room.

Matt captured him with a shield beam, suspending him in the air.

Ling used her beam on the shooters, shoving them hard against the far wall. Matt guided Brockovich to the middle of the room and dropped him in front of his desk.

Lenny and Charley grabbed Brockovich and pinned him to the floor. Charlie brought Ling’s medical bag to her, while Kenneth took control of the shooters in his shield.

Ling lifted a syringe from the case and injected Brockovich into the arm.

“This is a unique medication,” she said. “A neural toxin designed to paralyze a person but leave them conscious, able to feel all pain.”

Matt and Charlie unceremoniously swept the top of the beautiful antique desk, sending everything crashing to the floor. Lenny and Charley heaved Brockovich up and plopped him face down on the desk. Matt shone a powerful LED on the back of the man’s neck. Ling applied an anesthetic to a spot just to one side of the spine, at the base of the skull. She quickly cleaned an area and made a surgical incision.

Brockovich was completely conscious.

“You do understand that you are powerless to control your fate,” Lenny said.

Fear filled Brockovich’s eyes.

Ling removed a half-inch round metal ball from a sterile pouch and nudged it into place in the man’s neck. She stitched the incision closed and coated it with liquid skin to seal the opening.

Lenny and Charley seized Brockovich by the arms and roughly plopped him in the leather chair behind the desk, then wheeled him to the middle of the room.

Kenneth and Charlie zip-tied the other two, then grabbed them by their hair and dragged them next to their boss.

Kenneth set the stolen power module on the antique desk. Matt stepped in front of Brockovich.

“That you tried to steal something from us,” hammering the words into Brockovich’s mind in perfect Polish, “is a crime that deserves severe punishment. That you have also threatened members of our family is a crime I cannot forgive. I am here to make sure you understand that you have failed, and that your life is now mine to command. I understand you have family, Mr. Brockovich?”

The man’s terror-filled eyes acknowledged Matt’s words.

Matt turned to the power module on the desk and snapped his fingers. Instantly, the desk and all about it vanished. A six-foot hole materialized in the floor and the wall to the outside of the building. Brockovich and the two thugs gasped. One of the two men bit his lip. It started to bleed.

‘Mr. Brockovich,’ Matt continued forcefully, ‘the pellet embedded in your neck is our version of justice. We will know where you are every minute of every day. Understand that if I choose to snap my fingers, your head will disappear.’

Matt leaned close, speaking almost in a whisper. “Now, how much good are you without a head? What will your family think when they try to identify you, and there is no head?”

Iylia Brockovich trembled. His heart pounded. He felt the blood pulsing in his temples.

Matt’s words once more invaded his mind, ‘You, Mr. Brockovich, are going to be a lab rat in an experiment I am doing. We will be watching every step, every action, and if you do nothing but good, then the experiment continues, but if you harm, threaten, or defraud anyone ever again. Then I will end the experiment like I ended your desk. Please nod if you understand the terms.’

Brockovich nodded feebly as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Matt once again slammed images into Brockovich’s mind. ‘There is one other provision. These two are your responsibility. If they commit any crime, you will lose. I recommend you persuade them to be good boys.’

Matt and the group exited, returned to GEM-A, and vanished.

As the drug wore off. Brockovich gradually gained the use of his limbs. He crawled to his feet, sweating, swaying, and shaking, and eased toward the hole in the floor. Peering into the void, gasped, turned, and violently vomited.

After emptying his stomach, he asked the two thugs if they’d heard what he’d heard. They nodded. Brockovich spotted a letter opener on the floor that had been swiped from his desk. He cut the plastic ties before staggering to the corner of the room to his hidden door and disappeared into his apartment.

The two mobsters listened to his sobs. They sat on the floor…waiting.

“Have we violated our core beliefs?” Ling asked Matt as the Gem-A zipped back toward the US.

“I might have blurred the lines,” Matt sighed. “The reality is, we will periodically check on Mr. Brockovich, but you and I both know the steel bearing in his neck will not cause him physical harm. Maybe it will be a reminder to him and us that actions have consequences. We are accountable.”