Ever Hayes - Emergency Exit

“How long have they had that?” Danny was thinking back to the tsunami a couple years ago that had flooded the islands.

“Well, it’s been in development for nearly a decade now.” Adams replied. “It malfunctioned a few years ago. Who knows if, or how well, it actually works now. It does have to be activated. But then it could have been. We don’t know. Hawaii was hit in this too, but last we heard it’s at least still ours, so if that’s where you’re headed, you still have a chance.”

“Yeah,” Danny replied. “We intercepted a radio message in Minnesota…” His voice trailed off as he saw the agents nodding knowingly.

“Military vet in Montana,” Walker said solemnly. “We think they got him. He was one of ours, stationed at Moore’s private island.”

Everyone was quiet for a minute. Who knows how many people the Montana man had saved. This all was a ton of information to take in.

Hayley tried to perk everyone back up. “I can’t stop envisioning a dome over Hawaii like that Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show ,” she smiled. Danny was imagining the same thing too.

“Sure,” Adams laughed. “I guess it could be kind of like that, except this shield-slash-dome isn’t a permanent structure, and it’s a lot bigger. It covers all the islands.” Adams continued, “The United States never wanted to get caught with their pants down again after Pearl Harbor. Not against humans. And not against Mother Nature either. This all was supposed to assure that.” He shook his head. “We just can’t fathom how the bastards pulled all of this off.”

Agent Smith cleared his throat. “Can I ask, is Moore still alive?”

Danny nodded. “Far as I know.”

“You must have seen him in person?” Adams asked.

Danny nodded again. “Why did you guys let him go when he brought his daughter back?”

“We didn’t,” Agent Walker replied. “Moore brought her down the main entry stairs and left her in the hallway. Then he turned and ran. We feared he was dead. But by the time we got up there, he was gone.” Walker paused. “He looked like he was hurt bad though.”

“He’d been shot,” Danny confirmed. “Probably more than once.”

“Can I ask a question yet?” Cameron raised his hand.

Danny looked at him quizzically. “Go ahead.”

“Is there any chance all your first names are John?” Cameron asked, and everyone stared, bewildered, at him.

“What the—?” Danny asked, as two of the men shook their heads no.

“Never mind.” Cameron sighed. “It would have made sense before.” Danny was still staring at him. Could he have picked a worse time for a dumber question?

“If I may?” Adams spoke up. “I get that you found Moore, you talked to him in person, and he even gave you the code to come pick up his daughter. But where does he want you to take her? And did he give you anything else? Or say anything else?”

Danny thought about what the Vice President had told him and what he should share. He considered asking them about the Elephant Box Moore had mentioned, but decided against it. “Sorry, guys. I really can’t say anything. You know how it goes. I can’t tell you any of what I know or how I even know it. There’s too much at stake right now. You’re welcome to come with us though—”

The words had barely left Danny’s mouth when Hayley cut in with a sharp whisper. “Danny!” The urgency in her voice captured his immediate attention, and he looked at her as she pointed at one of the monitors.

There was a man standing in the hallway.

When Major Eddie landed at the Alpine Visitor Center with the vice president, he was surprised to see one of The Seven commanders there to greet them. He knew it was highly unusual for any of them to leave Denver. Why couldn’t he have just waited like the others? What was this guy up to? Had the Russian commander been the one who rerouted them? The Russian commander halfheartedly saluted. Major Eddie noted the disrespect while pretending he didn’t and returned the salute as crisply as it was supposed to be done.

They moved the vice president into the lower level of the main building and chained him to a chair, and Eddie watched as two men with black cases entered the room and closed the door behind them. Were they going to torture him? Was this the plan all along? This could ruin Eddie’s opportunity to talk to the vice president alone. The Russian commander turned to him and asked him where the little girl was.

“Excuse me?” Eddie asked.

“Daughter,” the Russian replied. “His daughter.”

Eddie hadn’t heard anything about a little girl or the vice president’s daughter for that matter. “What?” he asked again.

The Russian started to get angry, and Eddie couldn’t understand anything he said. The commander’s personal interpreter was standing down the hall, and Eddie waved him over.

The troops in Estes Park had captured the vice president’s daughters a few nights ago. The older one had escaped, but the younger one was still being held at the Endovalley camp. The Russian Commander wanted to know why the major hadn’t brought her up with them.

Eddie explained to the commander, through his interpreter, that there was no little girl at the camp, and he knew nothing of her. No one had said anything to him.

This information made the Russian commander even angrier and he stormed off towards the communication room. Eddie followed him. How much disconnect was there in this army? Communication was clearly a major issue. The Russian tried to radio down to Denver but couldn’t get through, presumably because of the giant storm. He was, however, able to radio down to the Endovalley base camp, and he demanded to know where the little girl was.

The base commander’s explanation of her escape only burned the powerful Russian more. Over the next hour, Eddie learned a great deal through the Russian’s many rants about the vice president’s family and background. Not only was the vice president key to breaching NORAD’s bunker, but he was thought to be the only American survivor with an access code for disarming Hawaii’s defense system. The man didn’t look like he’d be hard to get information out of, but his looks were apparently deceiving. It turned out he was a military hero. And there was little chance they would be able to get a former Special Ops Marine to tell them what they needed to know, no matter how much they tortured him—unless, of course, they had his daughter. If they could torture his daughter in front of him, he’d cave. Any man would .

The Seven commanders had been assured by the Endovalley commander that the vice president’s youngest daughter was being held prisoner, which had been true at the time. But then a man—who turned out to be the VP himself—had snuck into the camp and rescued her. He had been shot multiple times but managed to escape by stealing one of their jeeps.

He had taken his daughter somewhere in the valley and hidden her there before leading soldiers on an extensive chase and eventually turning himself in. Troops had retraced the route of the pursuit, searching everywhere for her, but to no avail. The base commander had hoped to recapture the girl before Eddie and his men arrived to take the vice president, but they’d failed there too.

That was too much failure for the Russian commander. He ordered the Endovalley base commander to be replaced in the morning and assigned that task to one of his own lieutenants. Eddie knew the Endovalley commander was likely going to be dead soon. You didn’t fail The Seven commanders like that and survive . Now, as they stood outside the room where the VP was being tortured, even Eddie was cringing at the American’s screams. How long could this American hold out?