be happy to participate. Maybe I could help out remotely? Through the Internet? I just…I need to get back to her.”
Lena nodded and gave the warmest of smiles. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Anything at all. We can arrange for a plane first thing in the morning if you like?”
“Oh thank you so much. I…it’s just. I feel bad even asking. But I don’t want to waste any time. And I don’t know how much we’ve got…me and my wife.”
“Actually, Bill, it’s funny you phrase it like that.”
Bill frowned. “Come again? I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Lena’s demeanor changed. Her smile was a little less warm. Her eyes a bit less glowing. “How much time have we got, Bill?”
Bill shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“Bill, do you have something else you would like to share with me?”
Bill paused. He looked at her and frowned.
“Bill. Come now. Remember, I worked with your boss to get you here. I already have a good idea of what everyone knows. But we brought you here to confirm. I expected to hear you speak up today when they brought up the countdown.”
Bill let out a deep breath and looked at the floor. How could she know this? His manager didn’t even know everything .
He said, “I didn’t want to bring it up. I wasn’t sure if it was exactly what we were talking about.”
“You found a countdown embedded in satellites that you use to connect to Air Force drones halfway around the world. A countdown that was put there by a foreign entity. And you weren’t sure if it was relevant ? I’m sure that you’ve been quite absorbed by what’s going on at home. But please...what do you know about the countdown?”
Bill looked at her. If he had told everyone what he knew, he never would get out of there. It was a hell of a selfish thing to do, keeping something like that to himself. But he had to see his wife. If the world really was coming to an end that soon...
“Seven months.” He finally said.
She didn’t blink. She even looked like she already knew. Which was impossible. His manager, the one that had sent him there, only knew that they had found a sequenced countdown. But as far as he knew, Bill was still working out the code.
“We found a code in one of our satellites a week ago. One that we use to relay GPS data to Predator drones. Then we checked a few other satellites. It was in all of them. Whoever put it there knew what they were doing. But we thought it was just a computer virus. Until today I had no idea what it could be for. Honest. You’re right though. We were pretty sure that some foreign agency did it. We knew it was a countdown. My boss was gone when I figured out the timing. It was coded, but I ran it through a decryption program. Then I did the math. Seven months. If this is the same cyber weapon that David was talking about, that’s how long we have until this war starts. And that’s why I have to get back to my wife. I need to be with her, Lena.”
Lena said, “What did the others here say about this when you told them?”
“Who? What others?”
“The other consultants here on the island. What did they say about this?”
Bill was embarrassed. He said quietly, “I haven’t told anyone else. Hell, my boss doesn’t even know all of that. I was going to let him know about the timing next week. He was out for a few days when I figured it out. Then Burns, my director, contacted me about this project. But he didn’t know yet either. Come to think of it, how did you-”
Bill never saw it coming.
Lena twisted her torso around, drove her arm forward, and snapped the bottom of her palm into Bill’s solar plexus with an impossibly strong force. A shot of agonizing pain and a rapid loss of the ability to breathe left Bill crumpled on the floor.
Bill tried to gasp for breath but his stomach muscles were
Lena nodded and gave the warmest of smiles. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Anything at all. We can arrange for a plane first thing in the morning if you like?”
“Oh thank you so much. I…it’s just. I feel bad even asking. But I don’t want to waste any time. And I don’t know how much we’ve got…me and my wife.”
“Actually, Bill, it’s funny you phrase it like that.”
Bill frowned. “Come again? I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Lena’s demeanor changed. Her smile was a little less warm. Her eyes a bit less glowing. “How much time have we got, Bill?”
Bill shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“Bill, do you have something else you would like to share with me?”
Bill paused. He looked at her and frowned.
“Bill. Come now. Remember, I worked with your boss to get you here. I already have a good idea of what everyone knows. But we brought you here to confirm. I expected to hear you speak up today when they brought up the countdown.”
Bill let out a deep breath and looked at the floor. How could she know this? His manager didn’t even know everything .
He said, “I didn’t want to bring it up. I wasn’t sure if it was exactly what we were talking about.”
“You found a countdown embedded in satellites that you use to connect to Air Force drones halfway around the world. A countdown that was put there by a foreign entity. And you weren’t sure if it was relevant ? I’m sure that you’ve been quite absorbed by what’s going on at home. But please...what do you know about the countdown?”
Bill looked at her. If he had told everyone what he knew, he never would get out of there. It was a hell of a selfish thing to do, keeping something like that to himself. But he had to see his wife. If the world really was coming to an end that soon...
“Seven months.” He finally said.
She didn’t blink. She even looked like she already knew. Which was impossible. His manager, the one that had sent him there, only knew that they had found a sequenced countdown. But as far as he knew, Bill was still working out the code.
“We found a code in one of our satellites a week ago. One that we use to relay GPS data to Predator drones. Then we checked a few other satellites. It was in all of them. Whoever put it there knew what they were doing. But we thought it was just a computer virus. Until today I had no idea what it could be for. Honest. You’re right though. We were pretty sure that some foreign agency did it. We knew it was a countdown. My boss was gone when I figured out the timing. It was coded, but I ran it through a decryption program. Then I did the math. Seven months. If this is the same cyber weapon that David was talking about, that’s how long we have until this war starts. And that’s why I have to get back to my wife. I need to be with her, Lena.”
Lena said, “What did the others here say about this when you told them?”
“Who? What others?”
“The other consultants here on the island. What did they say about this?”
Bill was embarrassed. He said quietly, “I haven’t told anyone else. Hell, my boss doesn’t even know all of that. I was going to let him know about the timing next week. He was out for a few days when I figured it out. Then Burns, my director, contacted me about this project. But he didn’t know yet either. Come to think of it, how did you-”
Bill never saw it coming.
Lena twisted her torso around, drove her arm forward, and snapped the bottom of her palm into Bill’s solar plexus with an impossibly strong force. A shot of agonizing pain and a rapid loss of the ability to breathe left Bill crumpled on the floor.
Bill tried to gasp for breath but his stomach muscles were
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