I set the implant to take an image of each page and flipped one after another until they were all in the implant’s memory, not even bothering to read them. I’d have time for that later. What we needed to do now was to get the information and get out.
“Oh, man,” Vaughn had opened one of the folders he’d pulled out of the filing cabinet and stood looking at the pages inside. Then he reached into the folder and pulled out a small object. “Remember this?” Continue reading Who Are The True?: Part 2
Vaughn, Stephanie, and I stood in Sandy’s office. Since Vaughn wore one of my new Heroes’ League costumes, he’d set it to fully cover him and turn black with no symbols. On the off-chance that any cameras were working other than mine, they’d see two men and a woman in unmarked costumes.
Symbols for hacking people’s brains covered Stephanie’s costume, but they were only obvious when she turned them on. From what I understood, she planned to do her best to avoid using them since that would reveal that “Hologram” (her mother’s codename and now hers) was here. Continue reading Who Are The True?: Part 1
“I could just stop above the building, engage the gravitics and float down. Then you could walk out.” Haley checked the screens on the instrument panel and then glanced back up toward the windshield.
“I’d like that.” Stephanie’s mouth twisted as she glanced in my direction.
Shrugging, I said, “I was thinking that if anyone was watching upward, we’d have a better chance for the jet to avoid detection if we floated down. I mean, yes, it’s hard to see, but if they know what to look for, they’ll see a jet shaped spot of nothing that turns into a jet in a blacker than black energy shield hovering above the building. If we drop out of it high enough, it won’t notice the jet or any of the three of us unless they’ve got phenomenal senses or exactly the right kind of Abominator tech.” Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 15
“Tonight?” Vaughn cocked his head. “It’s not like I’ve got anything going, but don’t you think they’re going to be extra watchful with Nick getting interrogated and the Nine involved?”
“For that matter,” I added, “if they’re making something or worse, making the True, they’re going to be extra worried. I don’t know what kind of security they’d have, but something alien seems likely.”
Stephanie nodded. “That’s why we should go tonight. It feels like things are escalating. They might not slow down until after everything is over.” Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 14
I’d only been there for about a month, so I had no way to know if he were lying. On the other hand, even if he were telling the truth, it would still be an excellent excuse to make the birthing chambers disappear for a few days.
Combined with Emmy’s disappearance, my mind found it all too easy to imagine that they’d grab her and then create the True while the machine was out of sight. Who’d know? I certainly wouldn’t because I didn’t memorize the time needed to create the True while I was looking at them last–though I didn’t think it was too long. I’d have to look in the birthing chambers’ library to know the exact times it took to clone anything. Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 13
In the face of all that, I knew what the first thing I had to do was. Send Lim a message so that he knew that he was right. The Nine had infiltrated the FBI—and by the way, they’d also infiltrated the Engineering Department of my university.
In the grand scheme of things, the FBI was more important to the country, but the university had a more immediate impact on my life. Lim would want to know in any case. Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 12
Unsure as to how to fake being mind-controlled, I said, “No,” answering as if I didn’t know he’d asked a question I shouldn’t be able to refuse.
He paused, still scowling and then asked again. “You don’t know of anyone who wants to know about Higher Ground’s research or about the people who work for the company?” Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 11
Looking down at the words on my phone, I wrote back, “What?”
Three dots that indicated that she was writing appeared. I waited. Then more words appeared, accompanied by a beep. “There’s a file cabinet in Sandy’s office and he shoved a bunch of folders in there when I got close to his desk. Don’t know what’s in there, but he didn’t want me to see it.”
Even as I thought about my reply, she added, “Might not be the Nine, but it’s worth a look.” Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 10
I clicked and took the call. Lim sat at his desk at home. Blinds covered the window behind him, but the darkness of the night outside surrounded the edges of the blinds.
Lim sighed and shook his head as he saw me. “You struck pay dirt. Even though I want more detail and more proof, we’ve now got direct confirmation from Ryan and Hardwick’s own mouths that they’re connected to the Nine. We even know that they’re planning to do things that sound questionable once they’ve gotten out from under the Nine’s thumb as well as a near confirmation of the murder of Dean Whiteford.” Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 9
Standing up and stepping away from the chair, Hardwick grinned wider. “There’s one more thing you should know. Those files you took included records from Red Lightning’s breeding program and how our company assisted him at that time as well as things I’ve done to protect the products of that breeding program—including hiring the Executioner, a known criminal. Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 8