Cloud Invasion: R-D 2 (R-D #2)(26)

I had visions of bombers scrambling to shoot DB, all while the media had a field day with a situation that should only happen in science fiction movies.

"What is the former President's goal in all this? He can't run again," Leo began.

"Remember he likely looks very different now, and with Hal Prentice posing as him, he has easy access to the White House," Rafe observed.

"He has another agenda, you can bet on that," I said. "Whether it's the White House or something more than that, I don't want him to succeed."

"So Askins and the Joint Chiefs are still blindly following Phillips," Rafe muttered. I think he was just as angry as Auggie about the entire mess. "In order to take charge again, we have to be eliminated. What do you suppose they intend to do with us and the Program as a whole?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Auggie huffed. "They want us dead. They've tried several times already. Two facilities have been destroyed, and we've lost good people already."

"Is it because he knows he can't bend us to his will, like he did with Becker?" Leo asked.

"How much time do you think we have, before DB makes his presence known?" Auggie changed the subject, directing his question to Richard.

"He'll come out when he's hungry enough. We've recorded small tremors already, so we may only have hours, at best."

"Hours before we're exposed?"

I'd never seen Auggie so angry. We were getting hit on multiple fronts, which left those in charge scrambling for a solution. "I think I can do something about this in the interim," I said.

"What?" The same question came from nearly everyone in the room. The only one who hadn't (wisely) expressed skepticism in that single-word question was Rafe.

"Move DB," I shrugged. "Sure, he's amphibious, but he needs land to make a nest. He's also a short-range swimmer, capable of bursts of speed but not for long distances. It's enough to catch large, slower-swimming prey-like the whales he's gulping down like candy."

"How are we going to move that behemoth?" Auggie threw his hands in the air. "We can't do it-Askins and his allies will be all over us in a heartbeat, with the media right behind him."

"I didn't say we," I snapped. "I said I. Me."

"Where the hell do you intend to take him," Matt asked.

"Someplace safe," I shrugged. It was my hope that the disappearance of DB would throw Merle Askins and his cronies into a tailspin-I didn't intend for DB to be found again.

By anybody.

I worried, too, about the other survivors. What plans did Phillips have for them? After all, it was natural to worry about the biggest and baddest, when the others could be just as destructive in different ways.

At least we knew where DB was. I had no clue where the others were. Likely with Phillips. "I wonder what name he's using now," I mused.

"Corinne, perhaps you'll come back to Earth for a moment and tell us what the hell you're talking about?" Auggie said.

"Phillips. He can't be using his own name. It has to be something else, now. The Mary clone didn't know it," I added.

"Perhaps that's by design," Matt said. "You see he's allowing the originals to be killed off and replaced by clones."

"So the originals may have known what he calls himself. The new ones don't." Leo shook his head. "Corinne, what do you need to take DB out of here? How quickly can you do it?"

"I need two hours alone," I said.

"Where?"

"I can't tell you."

"I don't like this," Rafe frowned.

"Fine. You can come. Everybody else stays here."

"Wait," Rafe held up a hand.

It was too late; I'd already transported us elsewhere.

*

"Cabbage, why are we sitting on top of Christ of the Andes?" He sounded so calm. He was anything but.

"Because it's nice and sunny here."

"The wind could blow us right off," he said, peering over the edge of the statue at the ground far below. "There are plenty of sunny spots elsewhere."

"I wanted to come here. I figure we need all the help we can get."

"There are tourists down there," he said.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"Not unless I have nothing to hold onto," he gritted.

"I'm keeping us up here, and the tourists can't see us," I reassured him. "Remember, you didn't want me going alone."

"I'll reconsider next time. Are we here for the full two hours?"

"I can see you're going to complain about this the whole time," I sighed. "Let's go."

"Much better. Much, much better. Is that Kilauea?" We stood atop hardened volcanic flow and watched as a trail of fiery lava meandered down a hillside on the Big Island of Hawaii.

"Yes. Volcanoes fascinate me," I said.

"I've always been interested," he squinted to see the lava flow better.

"Here." I held out my hand-a pair of binoculars dropped into it. "You can see better this way."

"How do you do this?" Ilya had arrived, accent and all.

"It's what I am," I shrugged. "Like you are what you are."