She points to the lights of Atlantic City and shouts, “This is… amazing.”
A marine taps my shoulder and hands me two pairs of comm units. We both put them on and the roar inside the cabin subsides. After the captain introduces himself, I recognize the next voice.
Detective O’Brien says in our headsets, “Doctor and Sir James, can you hear me?”
Callie adjusts her microphone closer to her mouth. “Yes, I can hear you clearly. Can you tell me what’s happened so far?”
“We think someone got ahold of an EMF generator and placed it somewhere in the Capitol Building. We need you to explain how to turn it off remotely.”
Callie purses her lips. “The news said people had second degree burns so it’s not one of mine but I can try.”
“Thank you. You’ll be landing in less than an hour. I’m sending you everything we know.”
A young serious-faced marine hands Callie an open laptop. She puts it on her knees and turns the screen so I can see, too.
Audio plays in our headset. “At approximately twenty-one hundred, a device was planted on the floor of congress. At that time, people started complaining, throwing up, and an emergency was issued. Several people are still inside. The Secret Service has tried to reach the device with shielded suits but cannot get close.”
Callie shakes her head and says into her comm. “I’ve never heard of EMF so strong it penetrates shielding. Can you please put Jason on the line? I need him to do some calculations.”
She works with the AI unit all the way to DC, most of which I don’t understand but I do see her face. She’s grim, determined, and apprehensive.
When she pauses, I ask, “What have you learned?”
“I think they stole the backup unit from Blue Plains.”
“That’s good, right? You can turn it off?”
She shakes her head, no. “Ishouldbe able to but they’ve modified it somehow. I’ve been working with Jason but there isn’t enough data online for him to figure it out. Other than what I’ve published, my technology is basically unknown. So, I’ve given him access to all of my research. Now he’s going through a combination of passwords and pins to see if he can shut it down. It may take a while.”
We sit and listen to the comm unit and watch CNN until we land on the White House lawn. From there, the Secret Service whisks us into a briefing room. Grayson is already there, pacing, as is Detective O’Brien and his wife. Jason stares out from a monitor on the wall, blinking occasionally.
He stirs as we walk into the room and smiles. “Hello, Doctor and Sir James. I’m glad you have arrived safely.”
Gray glances at it, then shakes my hand and kisses Callie’s cheek. “I assume you two are up to speed?”
Callie nods, “I’ve been working with Jason but why bring me here? I could’ve done this from home, over the internet.”
My boss frowns. “The president was firm. He’s taking no chances.”
While Callie speaks techy to a roomful of experts, I motion Grayson aside. “What’s the real reason we were flown here?”
“The FBI has the three we followed in the tunnel incident in custody. One of the men is singing like a canary. He claims they’re part of a group trying to save mankind from EMF. According to them 5G is going to kill every living thing on the planet.”
“A few crazies?”
“No, the FBI did a little digging. The group is millions strong, and growing. Apparently, like global warming, they got plenty of science to back up their claims but the government won’t take them seriously.”
“This was their answer? Almost killing our wives? Kidnapping Callie?” My heart goes out to her. She’s going to be in the middle of a shit storm. The old Lucky steps out of the past. Like an Aussie Rambo, I’m ready to rock and roll.
“The canary says no one was supposed to get hurt. They only wanted to talk to Callie, get her to join their movement.”
“Yeah, right. Did they consider a phone call? Email? Text message?”
“I didn’t say I believed them.” Gray frowns, then grabs a stale-looking sandwich from a platter.
I opt for a few chips. “So now what?”
“We wait.” He glances in the briefing room where Callie shuts down option after option from the world’s top experts in her field.
