The Last Second (A Brit in the FBI #6)(13)

An hour later, Kiera escorted Nevaeh back to her office. “Did the board accept your explanation?”

“Yes, of course. The board is taken care of, though I believe they were upset Jean-Pierre wasn’t on the call. I convinced them the satellite was damaged by the fairing, not our fault, and we’re ready to move forward on the upcoming launches. Obviously, we’ll have to write off the satellite, and the company will hardly want to trust us with another, but who cares? Little do they know, there will be no more launches. Once the nuke is in place, we won’t need to send junk into space any longer. Can you imagine, space cleared of human waste?”

Kiera didn’t know if she really considered communication satellites human waste. Nor did she believe space was cluttered, too cluttered for these space aliens Nevaeh called the Numen. After all, wasn’t space infinite? Enough room for everybody? But she knew enough to accept what was going to happen, perhaps rejoice because she would be at Nevaeh’s right hand when the apocalypse came, if such a thing could happen. Kiera was willing to suspend her disbelief when Nevaeh had first told her of these peace-loving aliens, but the strange thing was, over time, the aliens had changed, Nevaeh had changed, goals had changed. No more peace-loving kumbaya. Fact was, the change felt right to Kiera. After all, most of the peace-loving people in Ireland were dead. And now Kiera was ready to believe, maybe thrilled to believe. What would she become? She would be important, would have a major role in the new regime. She held this knowledge tightly to her heart. And stopped questioning. After all, Nevaeh was certain and she was the smartest person Kiera had ever known. And her will was amazing, and her experience with these space aliens? Her goals with the Numen? Well, who was she to question? She loved Nevaeh and had come to accept all she said was truth, with a capital T. She leaned in close. “And so much will happen, and only you and I know what is coming. It will be glorious, Nevaeh. Simply glorious.”

Yes, it would be. Nevaeh said, “Now, hurry up. I need to move the last pawn into place.”





CHAPTER SEVEN


Kiera opened the office door and stepped inside first, as she always did. She was always careful of Nevaeh. What she saw was reassuring—an immense mess, like a bomb had gone off inside, which, of course, Kiera knew was how Nevaeh liked it. Her boss was a horizontal filer, had stacks of paper and books all over her desk, the floor, the cabinets, the bookshelves. No one in the company dared move a thing. Nevaeh knew where everything was, didn’t need to search for a moment, could lay her hand on the file or folder or article needed in seconds flat. Kiera was more organized, liked to see the top of her desk, though granted, she rarely used it. The contents of her office mostly consisted of the weaponry.

Nevaeh said, “Close the door. I have work to do.”

Kiera prowled, said over her shoulder, “When will we hear from that idiot girl?”

Nevaeh looked at the clock. “Soon. Surely Jean-Pierre has the Grail by now. Devi will be in touch, and we must be ready to leave the minute she does. What are your preparations?”

“We’re staged, ready to head to the ship when we get her call. I have a plane waiting to take us to Kuala Lumpur, and I’ve arranged for transport to The Griffon.”

“And the transport is fully equipped?

“Yes. Everything we need is aboard, awaiting our arrival.”

“Excellent. I need to do one thing before we leave.”

She sat at her desk and opened her laptop. Kiera came to stand behind her.

“The satellite must be put into the proper position, and since no one but us knows it’s still up there, we need to do it carefully so we don’t draw unwanted attention. We don’t need the fools at the U.S. Strategic Command noticing the satellite has joined a new orbit. And if they do, this needs to look like another piece of randomly moving space junk.”

She began typing in a complex series of letters and numbers, lines of code Kiera knew would turn the satellite on and give it instructions to reposition. She thought Nevaeh was amazing to be able to move their own man-made stars.

Five minutes later, Nevaeh clicked a button and shut her laptop.

“I’ve programmed the satellite. It is beginning its move into position, slowly, so it won’t attract attention. By my calculations, it will be perfectly aligned by the apex of the lunar eclipse on the twenty-eighth. And on that date we must have the Grail in hand.” She rose. “I believe Jean-Pierre has found the Grail and it’s all coming together, Kiera. I will be in place to detonate the bomb and cause the EMP at one a.m., the moment the eclipse enters totality.”

Nevaeh felt nerves and hope together. “When we have the Grail, we will be immortal, Kiera, both of us. For I would never leave you behind. And you will meet the Numen.”

“But Nevaeh, it all depends—what if Broussard doesn’t find the Grail? What if it’s not on that sunken ship?”

“The Grail is there, waiting. I know it here.” She laid her palm over her heart. “The Numen told me Jean-Pierre would find it, so of course it will be in his hands—and ours—before long.” She clasped Kiera’s arms. “Think, Kiera, the Holy Grail. As I’ve told you many times, the Numen will come and together, we will reward you.”

Kiera smiled perfunctorily. First things first. “Nevaeh, we should go. We can be in Sri Lanka by nightfall and ready to intercept The Griffon. And the Grail.” Kiera tucked a strand of hair behind Nevaeh’s ear. “This is what you’ve worked toward.”