James Glass - Sedona Conspiracy

Eric’s voice cracked, and tears burned his eyes. Nataly looked at him and broke into hysterical sobs. Eric watched her helplessly, was embarrassed by his own tears.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get over it. Over the years I’ve built up some good armor plate in my head. And when the pressure gets too bad I can always go out and kill someone. That’s who I really am.”

Nataly shrieked, and fled from the room. A door slammed.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that dinner is off.” Eric stood up, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wiped his eyes with a hand. “That’s what I get for thinking things could be different.”

Coldness spread across his chest, but it felt like his heart was being cut in half. “Don’t bother!” he shouted. “I’ll let myself out!”

Eric left the room with the table set with delicate china and illuminated by candlelight. The odor of nicely cooked meat wafted from the kitchen, and there was the distant sound of sobbing from behind a closed door. The tears that gushed again made him furious, and he slammed the door so hard behind him it sounded like something fell off the wall and hit the floor inside the house.

The guard at the gate saw him coming and opened the gate quickly, leaned out of the kiosk to wave at him but jerked back inside as Eric roared past in his car. He ran two stop signs and a light getting home. He pulled the telephone cable from the wall, had two beers for dinner, and cleaned his guns. The smell of Breakfree and powder solvent was somehow calming to him, as if he were preparing for a firefight.

He went to bed early and fell exhausted into sleep. There were no dreams about starships, Nataly or a golden man this time.

He was alone again.

Nataly heard the front door slam so hard it shook the house. Her instinct was to run after him, but her body refused to move. She hurt all over, and the pillow’s surface at her cheek was soaked. She lay there for a long time, wanting to think it was all a bad dream and soon she would wake up. The real Natasha was not capable of such foolishness, but could imagine it.

Reality returned, and with it the consequences. In a moment of blind frustration she had not only lost a love she would never find again, she had jeopardized a project her people and her father had worked long and hard for. Yes, it was Eric’s fault, in a way. She sensed his love, but also his reluctance to commit, always leaving a door open so he could flee from a relationship. It was like a switch had been thrown, and suddenly she’d lost all patience, had an emotional meltdown she hadn’t even imagined before. This was not Natasha. But who was it?

Natasha returned to her at that instant. She couldn’t change what was done, but she could warn others about it. She rolled off the bed, snatched the telephone from the nightstand and dialed.

Thank God he was there. “Vasyl, something horrible has happened.”

She told him everything, with every detail.

“Oh Natasha,” said Vasyl. “This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I should never have gotten you involved. Don’t try to contact Eric again until after the flight. I’ll do what I can.”

Vasyl hung up on her before she could reply.

She went out to the kitchen and found the roast still cooking and beginning to burn. A small voice urged her to throw it in the trash. She ignored it, wrapped up the meat in aluminum foil and put it in the refrigerator.

She went to the living room, blew out the candles on the table, but left the table settings where they were. The storm outside was breaking, and the clouds to the southwest were beautifully tinged red.

A kind of numbness overtook her. Nataly undressed and went to bed. The entire pillow surface was soaked with her tears.

She turned the pillow over, and soaked it again.

There had been many emotional experiences in his life, but sitting home alone for a day and a night after the fight with Nataly now ranked among the worst of them. Eric had reconnected the phone the morning after, but no calls had come in. He was crazy to think she might call. It was all a sham, a ruse to accomplish the tasks of the people running her. Naming Vasyl had possibly been a slip. A Russian name. She was undoubtedly a sleeper, probably trained in Siberia before she was an adult. They would have done well to keep up her psychological profile. She was still young, and lonely. Maybe she really had fallen for him, and in doing so made a mess of things. Her masters might think Eric would now be so distraught he couldn’t do his job. I will not give them that satisfaction , he thought, but a secret part of him also knew he would be protecting Nataly.

He survived the day by taking two five mile morning and evening runs in the back country, penetrating so far into the wilderness area that he spooked a javelina that ran squealing from him. Once, he had to leap high over a rattlesnake basking in the morning sun. The exercise left him catatonic for part of the day, and that night he slept like a dead man.

Next morning the usual van arrived for him at five, and by six he was taking the elevator down to Sparrow’s bay.

The doors opened, and four guards were standing there. “Emergency, sir,” said one of them. “We’ll walk you to the bay.”

The guards walked on either side of him the few yards left to the personnel door of Sparrow’s bay. Four more guards were standing there at port arms, looking grim.

“What’s the problem?” asked Eric. “I have a flight coming up in the morning.”

“Sorry, sir, it’s been scrubbed. Sergeant Nutt will explain when he gets here.”

“What?” Eric’s face flushed with anger. Hell, she told someone what happened, and now they’re going to pull me out of the assignment. How stupid can things get?

“Red alert, sir. The base is being locked down. That’s all I can say.”

Mother of God, if I can’t have a relationship then at least let me have the work. Oh great, now I’m pitying myself. What the fuck is going on? Eric was tempted to force his way past the guards, but then there was a call from behind him.

“Eric! Hold on. I’ll get you inside.”

Sergeant Alan Nutt walked towards him, a cheerful smile on his face, and clipboard in hand. “Sorry, but we’ve had to delay the flight a couple of days.”

“Why?”

“I’ll show you,” said Alan.

The guards moved aside. Alan opened the personnel door, and Eric followed him inside.

The bay was in chaos, people swarming everywhere. The big door was open and a flatcar had been brought in on the rails. The shop and welding space was empty, equipment packed in crates along the wall, and the big crane hovered far above Sparrow, lowering a giant hook towards it. Men were crawling all over the craft, attaching a web of cables and chains.

“We’ve received word that the base will be under attack in a matter of hours. We’re moving Sparrow to a safer place in case the fight spreads to this area,” said Alan.

“Attack by who? This base is nuke proof from the surface.”

“It’s not coming from there. We’ve been warned that a mercenary force will be coming through the portal to place nuclear weaponry here and detonate it. The fight will be in the portal bay. I just came from Davis. He wants you out of it.”

“That’s bullshit. I came here to get rid of saboteurs, and now they’re out in the open and you want me to disappear. That’s not going to happen, Alan.”

“Colonel’s orders, sir.”

“I don’t work for him. All you have is military police. You’ll need all the help you can get. How many are coming at us?”