Ralph put the binoculars down for a moment. This is so cool, he thought, being part of a stakeout. He had always wanted to be involved in things like this. But, what exactly were they staking out, anyway? The gas station? He would have to ask Dale when he got back. Dale had stepped away a few minutes ago, and said, "stay here, Ralph, while I do some recon and gain some intel," or something like that. Dale must have been ex-military because he was always using those kinds of words. Although, Ralph did wonder if that might have just been Dale's way of saying, "I have to pee, Ralph, and I don't want you following me."
As Ralph pondered these deep questions, he noticed Dale returning, putting his cell phone in his pocket. Okay, maybe he really was gaining intel or whatever. That, or he was checking his email while relieving himself. No, I've got it. He had the call of nature, and tried to answer it on his cell phone! He smirked at his own joke.
Dale opened the back doors to the van and began rummaging around. "Welcome back," Ralph said. "Did ya finish up your recon?" he added, snickering.
Dale didn't look up at Ralph as he responded. "We have a new mission."
"Whoa, really?" Ralph said. "What's that?"
"We are going to destroy that satellite dish," Dale replied, pointing in its direction."
"Wow, for realz? Sweet! Are we gonna build an improvised bomb with common household detergents or something?!"
"We could," Dale said, simply. "Or, we could use this," he added, holding something up.
Ralph's eyes widened, and his mouth went dry. "Is that a"—he swallowed—"hand grenade?" Now he was the one that needed to pee.
* * *
"You can't do this!" Jessica shouted, depressing the button on the invisibility device at the same time.
Carol turned and looked at her, startled. "Jessica! How did you . . ." She noticed the device in Jessica's hand and gave a faint nod. "Of course. You and Brian were inside the Cafeteria. I should have had Watkins search you both." She motioned to two men sitting at the table. "Mack. Joe."
The two men rose from the table and took the device from Jessica. They handed it to Carol and returned to their seats. Jessica was surprised Carol didn't have her tied up.
Jessica scowled. "You can't just kill all those people, Carol. Yeah, I said, people, because that's what they are. You should already know that, firsthand."
Carol gave Jessica a withering smile. "You think we haven't tried to find another way? What would you have us do, Jessica? Sit back and watch the Borae-controlled obliterate the human race and wreck our planet?" She put a hand to her head and began massaging her temple, then added, "This is our only option now," in a softer tone.
"Brian upgraded his chip. Did you know that? If you flip that kill switch, what happens to him?"
Shock and confusion played on Carol's face for a moment. "He—What was he—Why would he do that?" she stammered.
"He was trying to find a way to stop the Borae."
Regaining her composure, Carol shook her head slowly, her face turning to steel. "What a foolish thing to do. He's only succeeded in getting himself killed."
"You're just going to let him die?" Jessica said, hoarsely.
"This changes nothing," Carol said, her voice cool with anger. She looked as though she would say more, but something began to squelch over the speaker, and she motioned for Frank to do something about it.
Frank fiddled with the sound equipment for a moment, then nodded at Carol.
"Can you repeat that, please?" Carol said.
"We are now hearing that a launch is expected in approximately one hour. We will keep you posted."
"Understood, thank you," Carol said. "Frank, are we prepared to transmit?"
Frank looked at something on his laptop, before nodding slowly.
Carol looked at him for a moment, her jaw set, then said, "Do it."
"What!" Jessica shouted. "They said we have an hour. Doesn't that give us some time!?"
Carol's eyes took on a distant look. "There is no sense in waiting, now," she said in a low voice. "We can't risk waiting until the last minute, and something going wrong. Do it, Frank," she added, forcefully.
Half in panic, Jessica attempted to rush Frank, hoping to grab the laptop and break it or something, but one of the men stood up from the table and intercepted her.
Frank took a deep breath. "Yes, ma'am." He typed something in on the laptop, and raised a hand over the keyboard, index finger outstretched.
"No!" Jessica screamed.
He brought the finger down.