> Jordan hung up the phone and slipped it back in his pocket. He pulled > his jacket off the hanger and shrugged it on. "Agent Reed, we'll have > to continue this later."
> Jordan headed for the door, leaving Martin staring after him.
[About 20 minutes later]
Jordan found a place to park easier that he would have thought possible and walked around the Reflecting Pool toward the Lincoln Memorial. A brisk wind blew across the wide open space making the cool fall temperature seem cold. Jordan reached into the pockets of his rain coat, extraced his gloves, and pulled them on.
The area was relatively empty. The only other people in sight were a group of school children making their way toward the Washington Monument. Better go now, Jordan thought with a chuckle, it's slowly sinking into the ground.
He thought back to the conversation with Tom. Had he really found the link that had alluded them while stationed at Edwards. The 'Holy Grail' Tom had referred to it as. The truth was close at hand. He could feel it.
He reached the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and looked around. There was no sign of anyone. He began to climb, and soon stood at the top of the stairs, in the shadow of the great man.
"Jordan," he heard a harsh whisper from over to the left.
"Tom?" Jordan replied evenly.
Captain Tom Martin, USAF, stepped out from the shadow of one of the massive columns supporting the roof of the Memorial. He was dressed in civilian clothes. Jordan walked over and shook his hand firmly. "Tom, it's great to see you. You want to talk?"
"Yeah, but let's walk as we do."
Jordan nodded and the men made their way down the steps. When they reached the bottom Jordan said, "Do me a favor and begin at the beginning."
"Ok," Tom replied, "About nine months ago, I got transfered from Edwards to Westover AFB in Massachusetts. It was not a great move career wise since the base is being closed, but what choice did I have."
"Not much," Jordan replied recalling his days in the military.
"Yeah. The work is ok, I am the intel liason to the Air National Guard unit. The work load was light, since I really only had to work on the weekends that the weekend warriors were in town. It left me ample time to pursue other interests."
"You kept taking personal notes on the work we did at Edwards?"
"Yeah. Unlike you, I don't remember things very well."
"Dangerous."
"Maybe," Tom replied, "but I never got caught, and it seems to have paid off. I discovered a common circuit element in almost all the systems that we analyzed. It implied to me that they were all connected to a common control system."
"We had guessed that was the case," Jordan pointed out, as they turned at the corner on to another street.
"Yeah, but this was as close to proof as I could hope. The open issue was still the command input system. The Holy Grail."
"And you've seen that?"
"Jordan I've got it."
"What?!?" Jordan responded a bit too loudly.
"I got a package via FedEx about 2 months ago from Sargent Carter. It contained a flat panel display with a couple of wires coming out. He included a note that told me that he thought it was what we had been looking for."
"And it was?"
"Yeah. It took me almost a month to fingure out how to get power in, and what the rest of the wiring was for. It's a direct neural link. Power it up, stick the electrodes to the right spots, and you're part of their conciousness."
"You're kidding right?"
"It feels like you're in a dream. You're aware of them. Some are near, but most are very far away. The equipment is like an extension of themselves. Think and it happens," Tom said animatedly.
"It would allow for complexity like we saw."
"And complexity that we never dreamed of."
"Where is it?" Jordan asked, "I've got to see it."
"I didn't bring it with me. I though it was too dangerous to transport. It's hidden at home."
"We'll meet you there tomorrow morning."
"What do you mean 'we'?" Tom asked.
"I'm bringing ZULU."
***
[Back in the office.]
"Jenny, we need tickets to Boston tomorrow morning," Jordan said as he walked into the office.
"UD Garrison give you another mission?"
"Not exactly, we're going on a ... training mission."
"Ok, I'll get right on it," Jenny replied.
Jordan smiled and stepped into the office to get his team ready.
NRPG:
Ok, we're off and running. Tom Martin is in the USAF, he's currently on
leave for 2 weeks. ZULU is heading for the Boston area (Westover is in
Fitchburgh Mass.).
The goal is to secure the alien technology and make it's capabilities public knowledge. The MIBs will work to prevent that.
Sargent Carter (if anyone wants to look into it) died in a car accident in California 6 months earlier.
I think that's it. Get your characters ready and get them to the airport. There is no formal briefing for this one.
Respectfully submitted,
Alton Reich
SA-4 Jordan Stern, Team Leader ZULU
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