The Planck Factor

I went back to the folders and found one that read “Maps.” I opened it to see even more files—all PDFs.

I clicked on one and saw a topographical map. Could it be of the San Andreas Fault? It didn’t look like it. I saw a river, but that was all. I was still straining to find a fault line when Lucius came inside.

Before I could act, Lucius strode over. “What are you doing?” Cyn stood to my other side, saying nothing.

He stood beside me, glaring at the computer screen.

Lucius’ face turned red, then purple with rage. He started to speak, but all I heard was an odd popping sound. Open-mouthed, Lucius stumbled and grabbed the desk. He’d sprung a leak in his upper chest and blood spurted out.

I heard the noise again and Lucius collapsed. I looked at Cyn, who held a silenced pistol, still smoldering from the shots. I started to say something, but she lifted a finger to her lips and moved toward me. With shaky hands, I switched back to the document I’d been working on and typed, “WTF?”

“It looks like you’re making progress,” she said aloud, setting the gun on the desk and placing her hands on the keyboard.

She typed, “Room is bugged. Copied files from their computer this AM. Haven’t seen yet.”

I considered how to proceed. How do I word this? Is this a trap? Finally, I typed, “Why?”

Cyn read my response and typed, “I’m undercover with Feds. Do files make sense?”

I blinked and stared. All this time. Who would’ve known Cynthia was the operative?

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Jessica

I realized I should respond to Cynthia’s remark. “I’m remembering a few things. Not much,” I stated for the record. I typed, “Need to talk,” and hammered my finger down on the period key.

Cyn nodded. “Do the best you can. That’s all we can ask,” she said for the benefit of unseen listeners.

She took over at the keyboard and typed, “Hard to arrange. Shooting Lucius wasn’t part of the plan, but I’ll come up with an excuse. You understand I needed to make it look like I hated you?” Cyn continued to type, but I knew where she was going. That explained her behavior at the hotel. Why she slapped me so hard. She had to regain whatever trust she’d built with this group of wackos. She’d only just managed to get hold of the data, but hadn’t seen it yet. And she wasn’t sure how to get it into the right hands without implicating herself.

Cyn was still typing, when I grabbed the pencil. “Why didn’t the Feds just TELL me about you?” I scribbled.

Cyn looked abashed. She typed, “Probably didn’t want you to accidentally give me away. You might have betrayed me with a tell.”

I gave her a thumbs up. Damn that George, anyway. Did he think I was an idiot? I had to admit, though, it was a smart move on his part.

“I’m writing everything I can remember,” I said, to keep the dialogue going. I took over at the keyboard. “Selby was a geologist who studied tectonics,” I typed. “Does that help?”

“Good,” Cyn said, adopting a tough tone. “Get it all down in detail.” As she spoke, Cyn brought up the map on the screen and squinted at it. She frowned. Her jaw dropped and her eyebrows shot up. She switched back to the word processing program and typed, “Did he study geophysics?”

I looked at the sentence. I had no idea. I couldn’t tell

you the difference between the two. I shrugged, feeling helpless.

Cyn continued typing. This was putting on a good show for the hidden microphone, anyway. She stopped and I read, “Have you heard the news about the earthquake activity in Yellowstone?”

Yellowstone? I shook my head. What about the Golden Gate Bridge?

Cyn typed at length. When she stopped, I read what was on the screen.

She’d written, “This could be worse than we imagined, if Selby’s job is what I think. Our theory was that the group might blow up a major landmark. But these maps are cause for even greater concern. We’re talking about a catastrophe that could wipe out the entire continent, maybe half the planet.”

There it was again. The threat of near annihilation. I looked at Cyn, no doubt conveying disbelief. “How???” I mouthed.

Cyn paused, exhaled, and typed another note. It read, “By causing the supervolcano in Yellowstone to erupt.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE