Project Aura

And the pilot had died the next day, more of despair than of his wounds.

Dalton held on to the core of his being ever tighter. He had made a promise to himself then and he wasn’t about to give up now. He had promised that day that he would never let go of life like that.

He wasn’t certain he was alive, he realized. But he had feelings and that was enough.

“Are they alive?” Mentor asked, staring at the three bodies suspended in their isolation tubes. The machines continued to function, slowly sending breathing fluid to them.

“The bodies are,” Dr. Hammond said. “But we’ve lost contact with the psyches.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Sybyl recorded a surge on the virtual plane. What caused it is anyone’s guess.”

“Can you bring them back?”

“Not without a co

Mentor slapped his hand on the top of the computer. “Goddamn it!”

“I’ll keep trying,” Hammond said.

Linda McFairn had never liked enclosed spaces. The massive opening on the side of Cheye

Ostensibly she was here on an una

A one-star general was waiting for her just outside the i

“Welcome to Space Command, Deputy Director McFairn. I’m General Mitchell.”

McFairn shook the offered hand. “General.”

He indicated they head through the large i

McFairn hesitated for just a second; whether her hesitation was from going into the complex or the task she had to perform, she wasn’t sure, and she quickly hustled after the general.

“Given all the flap over the loss of secrets from Los Alamos,” she said, “I’m making these inspections to check internal security of computer systems. I need access to one of the terminals that co

“Certainly.”

Souris was peering out the side of the helicopter that Cesar had arranged to pick her up at the Colorado Springs airport, where the Lear had landed. They had flown around Cheye

She closed her eyes briefly, remembering the image she had been sent, then opened them. “There.” She pointed at a narrow gap between two rock spurs. “Closer,” she ordered the pilot.

As he edged in toward the mountain, she reached behind her and drew out the leads and began placing them on her head, the movements habit. The pilot glanced at her quizzically but said nothing. He had flown numerous flights initiated by a thick envelope of cash and knew better than to open his mouth.

“Hold here,” Souris finally said when they were about fifty meters from the opening.

She closed her eyes, then flipped on the transmitter.

Immediately she could sense the psychic shield inside the mountain guarding Space Command. But that wasn’t her objective. She passed out of her body, her mind floating down on the psychic plane.

McFairn flipped open her metal briefcase. She was in General Mitchell’s own office, the door locked shut. She always appreciated the military mindset where rank was all that mattered. As a GS-16 she technically outranked the general and he was quite aware of that.

It was impossible to hack into the computers in Cheye

She knew the unlock code, like all other NCA codes, changed constantly on a rotating basis that was also part of the code. Thus, to break in, she would have to find both the base code and change code, and then combine them.

McFairn’s computer had a sniffer program and found the “door” and then began ru

Souris found Sybyl without much trouble, the computer giving off a strong signal on the virtual plane as Dr. Hammond searched to contact the lost team members. Since the Ranch wasn’t shielded, Souris was able to slide into it on the virtual plane and into Sybyl u

Souris followed the power line into the complex and then into Space Command’s mainframe. The “door” blocking the way into the code section was easy to find, and she began to weave her way through the electronic logjam.

Then she noticed the program ru

It took six combinations to get through the door, and the computer had five. McFairn edged forward on the seat, waiting for the last one to be decoded.

Souris was in. It didn’t take her long to figure out the unlock code.

A second later the sniffer program broke through and had it also.

Souris had no idea who was ru

McFairn has just pulled out the disk with the unlock code when an alarm stridently sounded. For a second she thought she’d been caught, and then she realized what was happening. DefCon Four had been triggered. She ran to the door and down the corridor.

The massive blast door was swinging shut, locking her inside.

Souris had found manipulating the mainframe from inside exhilarating. As soon as the base was secure, she disabled the program to allow it to stand down from the alert footing. Then she disabled the secure communications trunk line on her way out, completely cutting off Space Command from the rest of the world.

The cool breeze on his cheek. Dalton focused on remembering that feeling from the moment he had scattered Marie’s ashes.

He felt it again. The gray gave way slightly with a tinge of red. Then it was gone.

Dalton concentrated. There was something, someone close by. He felt the breeze once more. He reached out to it.

“I’ve got something,” Hammond a

“What?” Mentor was hovering over her shoulder. “I’m boosting power,” Hammond said.

Dalton felt the co

He couldn’t spare the energy to reach out to it, to find out who or what it was.

Then he was inside his frozen body, his mind still with access to the virtual plane. He felt the power come back into him from Sybyl.

“ Dalton and Jackson are back,” Hammond said. “I’m bringing them out.”