Chapter Two

Chapter Two

“Just doing our jobs.”

-F. Man and L. Boy

Suspension of time was the norm at C.H.E.S.S. debriefings and this one

was no exception. Rook had managed two hours of sleep while the agents

aboard the U.S.S. Los Angeles worked to decipher what Shige had been writing

about on his printer ribbon. Presently, he was trying to nod off while Bishop ran

through the usual pre-meeting introductions.

“…and finally everyone, I would like to introduce Dr. Raymond Chang, Professor of Biochemistry at the United States Naval Academy. Dr. Chang has some theories he is going to share with us that have been based in no small part to the printer ribbon findings, which I am not sure whether to thank or kill Rook-5 for.”

The glare from Bishop alone has been blamed for more than one early retirement, but Rook was so happy that was all of the chastising he received, that he couldn’t help but smile.

All that Hector could think of, was that something big was going down. Most of the people in this room never congregated together for safety’s sake, and the fact that 90% of them did not exist on paper made him feel suddenly very cold.

“The floor is yours Dr. Chang.”

“We had to go back a week to find anything of interest on the ribbon. It seems that Mr. Nishiguchi had a great deal of correspondence with a Dr. Albrecht Brusher of Stanford, California. Dr. Brusher is a former Physicist in residence at Stanford University and is most well known for his work relating to the infamous ‘Neutron accelerator’.”

“Excuse me Dr.,” Hector chimed in, “but does infamous mean ‘not famous’ or ‘really famous’…because I’ve never heard of it.” All of this said to Bishop’s disdain.

“The Neutron accelerator,” Dr. Chang cleared his throat with, “as Dr. Brusher calls it, is a device that concentrates neutrons into a focusable beam and propels them at unheard of distances. Of course, all of this technology was presumed to be theoretical.”

“You know what happens when you presume…”, Rook tried to sound witty but after a few moments of silence and some stares you could chill your drink with, he concluded, “…so how does this relate to Mr. Nishiguchi?”

From here Bishop took over.

“Evidence obtained from the printer ribbon supports our theory that Mr. Nishiguchi was selling the plans for this ray to the Yakuza, who would act as an international distributor for the plans to the highest bidder.”

C.H.E.S.S. stands for Command Headquarters Eschelon: Secret Service, so it was no surprise that the director of the visible secret service, Dan Huntington, was present. It was he who was the next to speak.

“Okay Bishop, we all know that you and your James Bond types like to keep secrets from us lay people, but that’s not why we are called the ‘secret service’. This neutron ray doesn’t sound like it is responsible for any counterfeiting or assassination attempts so cut to the chase…why are we involved and not the NSA?

“Dan, I’m impressed with your bluntness if not downright insulted. But I do apologize for getting ahead of myself. But before I bore you with any theories, I should let you read the note.”

With that last remark, Bishop flipped a switch on the table in front of him and wheeled himself athletically out of the beam of light the projector was now emitting. Dual panels folded simultaneously back from an ignored shelf and the lights dimmed bringing the dull canvas to life, imitating an oversized sheet of stationary which this “note” that Bishop had referred to was written.

Dear Mr. President,

You shall pay for your insolence.

Noone can escape the

NEUTRON STORM!

Gabriel, messenger of the Lord

Bishop broke the silence after an acceptable reading time. “Of course, the letter was typed by the most common brand of typewriter and the frightening thing is that it was in an envelope with no postmark, and the President’s mail sorters don’t ever remember seeing it.”

Virginia Connors, a C.H.E.S.S. agent of Knight rank, followed on Bishop’s heels. “So, can this ray be configured to be used as an offensive weapon?”

Before Bishop could ask Dr. Chang to answer, he did. “I want to reiterate, this ray is entirely theoretical on any managable scale. One neutron ‘gun’ has been made, but it is a half-mile long and puts off enough heat to be picked up from space.”

“What if it were being fired from space? Wasn’t a former Georgian republic satellite launch site commandeered only last week by a group of men claiming to be Bolsheviks?” Lou Bugliosi scared even Rook sometimes. In civilian life Lou was a department head of “special affairs” in the C.I.A. But everyone, including Rook, knew that Lou answered to nobody and, up until now, nobody present but Lou had heard of this launch site heist.

“Interesting theory Lou, Dr. Chang, is this a possibility?”

“He can’t seriously threaten the President with neutrons unless he’s several feet from him. Even concentrated portions released from the gun only travel a few yards before becoming non-lethal. Sure, it would travel through space unhindered, but once it hit the water in the air it would break up into simple radiation which could only be deadly if the President sat there and absorbed it.”

Bishop seemed unconvinced, “Nevertheless, this Gabriel fellow fancies himself God’s messenger and that’s just where God would strike from. Knight-3, I want you to get to that Georgian launch site and inspect it personally. And Rook-5, you need to be in Stanford in two hours. This Dr. Brusher just made his way to the top of America’s most wanted list.