The Situation Room
8AM
Xander's face displayed on the monitor in the Situation Room. Marty Jacobs, Janet Powers, Michelle Fernandez, Vice President Johnson, Colonel Jackson Hardy and President Hooper were all present at the conference table. Three new faces were seated down the table as well.
"Xander, we are here with the directors of our major intelligence agencies. This is NSA director Ben Deacon." The older man shifted in his seat to smooth out the press of his suit. His decorum resembled more of a Wall Street penthouse and less of a cyber underground.
"FBI Director John Fangold," the President continued the introductions. Fangold, also dressed in a slick suit, nodded his greeting toward the monitor. His black hair held in a firm pose above his handsome face – squared off by his wide jaw line.
"And, I'm sure you already know Mr. Peter Hunterson." The Director of the CIA featured sluggish accents, as his comb-over tragically failed to cover his balding scalp. The wrinkles crevassed in his cheeks exposed the blight of his life. He had a bulbous shape that stretched his dress shirt at the point of every button. He was worn out by his career, slowly withering toward a much-needed retirement.
"The ladies and gentlemen in this very room comprise the joint-task force that I have assembled to provide support for the impending crisis we have on our hands. We are here to aid the Spartans in finding the cure and containing the disease. We have all hands on deck for this one. They have been briefed and we are ready." President Hooper spoke loud toward the monitor.
"Yes Mr. President, thank you for the support," Xander affirmed.
"Now give us your update."
"We have just received the second clue, Mr. President," Xander briefed. The President turned to Hardy who grabbed a pen and a notepad, ready for the clue. Xander spoke it slowly.
To see your clue find us frozen in time
But where are we? Answer this ticking rhyme
Six deities guarding two sets of three
You must remember the truth shall make you free
"Mr. President, I am confident that this clue indicates a location in the DC metro area," Xander offered.
"Xander, what are you thinking?" the President asked him.
"We need to be fast on this one because this isn't the clue to the target. This is a clue to the clue, as indicated by the first line. There are a couple of mentions of time, which could speak to the timed nature of this game that Ezra is playing with us. It's the last two lines that are important. Six deities guarding two sets of three. I know that there is mythological art all over DC, I suspect this location will be marked by such artwork," he thought aloud, still processing the clue himself.
"I want constant updates, Xander, we will start brainstorming here, invoking the resources of our agencies. It is obvious to me that Ezra has not only targeted DC, but he has targeted you, Xander. You will have to run point on this, he has chosen you. If you aren't taking this personally yet, you damn well should." Hooper's tone elevated to its Commander-in-Chief status.
"Yes, Mr. President. We will keep you posted, as soon as we have something," Xander assured him.
"Good luck, Xander." Hooper clicked the feed dead and scrutinized the new task force before him. The room awaited his lead.
"Thoughts?" There was a general silence over the room. The initial thought came from one of the new faces in the Situation Room - the disheveled man of the table, Mr. Hunterson. He puffed out his chest and spoke through one long, almost somber, exhale.
"And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free... John 8:32." He paused to take another lungful of air and then rattled off the developments "It fits... judging by Ezra's past."
"Peter, what is it?" The President asked for clarity on his thought.
"This passage, from scripture, is also our motto over at the CIA. That is why I believe that his target is Langley, Mr. President."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tobias and Catherine had retreated back into the lab and were analyzing the blood sample. Tobias's old television ran a rerun of Jeopardy, a show he watched religiously as he worked. It distracted his mind just enough to prevent it from overanalyzing his research.
"It's starship Captain James Kirk's middle name," Alex Trebek stated.
"What is Tiberius..." Tobias and Catherine both answered in unison. Their heads slowly lifted from their work and their eyes connected. Catherine smiled at Tobias, who nervously pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. After melting his heart, Catherine's head fell back to the microscope, her hair falling down around it. Tobias watched as it dangled before him. Catherine brought her head up again to glance at Tobias, not expecting him to be still staring. Upon meeting his eyes again, she fell into a fit of flattered laughter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Across the warehouse, Xander, Ashton and Seamus analyzed the clue. They huddled over a crate with a large piece of paper with the second clue scrawled out on it.
"Xander," a familiar voice chimed into his ear. He turned from the clue and responded over his comm mic.
"Yeah, Hardy, what you got?" he asked, listening intently into his earpiece. Before the answer came a hard pound thumped through his temples, his head dropped, trying to quell the ache. His knees wobbled weak. He had to lean up on a crate to steady himself for the ten seconds of cranial agony. The reverberating pain subsided as his head cleared. He exhaled relief and shook his head free of the strange and surprising pain.
He was able to decipher the words coming over the comm unit.
"... 'and the truth shall make you free' is the motto of Langley. We think that's Ezra's next target," Xander grasped the gist and considered the hypothesis.
"Ezra mentioned in the Compound that truth is the cure to the disease of lies. But there aren't deities or a time component as the first and third lines of the clue indicate," he explained.
"We are going to send a team in case," Hardy updated.
"Understood but still brainstorm. I'm not convinced," Xander explained.
"You got it. Keep you posted." The comm unit went silent.
Xander gathered himself for a moment and rubbed the sides of his head, shaking off the remnants of the migraine. He then turned on his heel and returned to the table.
"The White House is sending a team to Langley," he updated the operatives. Seamus jumped at the lead.
"Well let's go..." Xander raised a calming hand.
"No... they're missing something. We need deities and time...frozen time..."
They racked their brains for as many references to Greek gods in the city.
"There is Roman and Greek art all over the city..." Ashton offered.
"How are we supposed to know, we are never home!" Seamus exclaimed. "Where are six Gods depicted. Maybe an exhibit at the National Museum of Art?" he asked the group.
"No..." Xander pulled them back off the wrong path. He thought harder but nothing came. Being stumped was a lonely and disconcerting position for a genius to be.
Xander plopped down on a crate and focused on the space between his feet. His mind trailed over to Fiona.
What does Ezra want with her? Why call her out other than to expose me?
The team continued their muted theories only the distant sound of Jeopardy questions could be heard.
"JFK, J. Edgar Hoover and Ronald Reagan each had this posthumous honor." The TV sounded in the distance.
"What is lying in state?" Tobias answered. Seamus's eyes widened as if opening a treasure chest.
"Lying in state..." Seamus thought aloud. Without providing an explanation, Seamus darted for the van.
"Get in!" He yelled as he fired it up. Xander and Ashton confused but willingly piled in Mickey's A/C Repair van, Seamus's transport for one of his aliases. Seamus glanced back from the steering wheel at his passengers as he punched the van in drive.
"Six deities... It's the Capitol Rotonda."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mac's fingers tapped on the keyboard as command line screens flashed different scripts. Square windows populated throughout the multiple monitors suspended before him.
"This security is a little tricky..." Mac muttered to himself over his work. Then he heard something from the coffee table.
"Don't worry about it, I got it..." Mac's fingers froze, hovering over the keyboard.
"You got what?" Mac's chin hit his shoulder as he asked behind him. His fingers stopped.
"Azir, on camera buying the phone from a Bethesda souvenir shop." Mac spun out of his chair and joined Cusick over the laptop. To his amazement, Cusick had done it.
"You cracked that in an hour?"
"It helps if you have been in the NANPA before. I just had to track it to the phone manufacturer, traced the shipment to the retailer and fast forwarded to a week ago when it was purchased. Luckily this rickety shop keeps good inventory records and keeps them in the cloud. I was able to trace the product number to the time of purchase. We're lucky the shop keeps their data on the cloud, I have a buddy who lets me remote into certain server farms." Cusick backed from his computer and glanced up at his cocky apprentice like an older brother would. Mac's face grew red as his mouth dropped further.
"Do we have a street camera?" Mac tried to shake off his bewilderment. Cusick's fingers rolled gracefully over the keyboard, a different approach to the pounding method that Mac used. After punching a final command, a street feed came up showing a large industrial truck parked outside of the store. A large decal covered the side of the truck. The logo read 'Hyman Seafood'. The feed played out and Azir hopped in the passenger seat.
Mac and Cusick smiled as they focused on the driver side. Mac jumped up to the whiteboard and found the name Mohammad Azir. He drew a plus sign and then a question mark next to it.
"Azir isn't driving that van which means he brought the contagion to DC in that truck with someone else." Mac then wrote out the words, "Hyman Seafood" on the board.
"We need to find that truck. It's somewhere here in the city," Mac concluded, but Cusick offered a further thought.
"That's not all... Seafood has to be transported in the cold... That's not any truck – it's a freezer truck, Mac. They're keeping the bacteria on ice."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry for the hiatus! I'm back and releasing the entire book!
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