This book is for a lady. SUSAN SIMMS BEAMRIDERS This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and -any resem- blance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. Copyright C 1989 by Martin Caidin All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. A Baen Books Original Baen Publishing Enterprises 260 Fifth Avenue New York, N. 10001 First printing, June 1989 ISBN: 0-671-69823-0 Cover art by David Mattingly Printed in the United States of America Distributed by SIMON & SCHUSTER 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, N. 10020 Chapter I what a body. What breastsf And those legsl waist. Oh, what I could do with this time rm going to tell her right out what ing, I Miss Angela!" guard turned off the switch on his deep- and beamed his greetings in a huge smile 7111rado, stormin the entrance to Venezuela Television Studios. Angela Tirado knew Tinoco was thinking. They'd gone through for years. One look at her across the side- th she covered twenty feet to e studio pants bulged with signals racing back and 4)rth between brain and groin. Carlos Tinoco kept the wide smile on his fitce as miss Tirado swept by him, the barest touch of her perfume sending renewed frenzy through his system. He wet his lips with a suddenly thick tongue as she swept through the doorway he held open, her slender athletic body festooned with a mini- cam camera, power packs, tape recorders, and micro- pliones. Ah, the shame, mused Carlos Tinoco. She could be making babies, but she is in love with all her electronics. Another wave of painful desire stabbed his loins. He @forced the smile to stay wide and handsome. 11 Angela Tirado stopped directly before him, and Car- los Tinoco kept in mind her temper was as close to that @of a jaguar as her body was to perfect; he stood at a very strict and respectful attention. Miss, Angela smiled. God, she is dazzling. If only I- 1 2 Martin Caidin "Knock it Off, You sidewalk lothario," she snarled. "if you were any more obvious you'd be drooling down your chin." He opened his mouth in surprise and be- fore he could move, a strong hand with fingers arched into a long-nailed claw stabbed toward his crotch. In- stinctively he gasped, bending fi)rward to protect the jewels so honored in his own bed at home. Damn, sWs done it againI Angela Tirado smiled as her hand curved smoothly from dead aim at crotch level to Carlos' fitce, patting his cheek gently. "There, there," she crooned. "Dw, sw-eet Carlos, so horny and with a great fift wife and six daughters at home." ::Uh, yes, 1, uh--2' Get your fat arm out of the wayl" He jumped back, her words scalding, and she swept by with equipment clanking and leather heels cracking hard against the marble floor of the studio lobby. Carlos signaled fi-antically to the elevator operator in a time- honored gesture and received a brief nod in response. The moment Angela Tirado moved into the elevator car the operator's arm shot out to block waiting riders. He ignored their protests, slid the door closed and started up. "And how are you this morning, Miss Tirado?" "You running a medical service, Juan? Ambulance chasing for any lawyer friends?" "why, no, i was just-,, "Sixth floor. In silence, Juan. " Little shards of ice seemed to fide gently to the floor of the elevator. ..Yes, maam," he said dutifully. She entered the sixth-floor corridor with a silent crash, her presence an impact mental more than physical. Angela Tirado was the hottest property in news broad- casting throughout all of South America, Central Amer- ica, and the huge Hispanic belt through much of the United States as well. Her broadcasts reached Puerto Rico and Cuba and through the Antilles islands, and she was the only newscaster who delivered her special BEAmRmn 3 Spanish and English language editions. to pay enormous sums for commer- and in television news that's the the unkind and often unfriendly news camera, Angela Tirado had it. The daz- the windswept hair that seemed to be within a studio, the perfect grooming, the spoke volumes of her on the edge of on a trek to the Amazon, or broadcasting launches from French Guiana, flying to hunt down Russian subs prowling off oilfields-her viewers expected her re- deep within the jungle camps of guerrilla gave equal attention to political or fitshion Latin world, Angela Th-ado was the long- rwaited Madonna of the television airwaves. Daughter of a stunning Venezuelan mother and an American fit- who'd become a millionaire developing oil fields in @*ilf a dozen counties, Angela had compressed a dozen years of special education, training and experience into six fienetic years of intense work. She had inherent brilliance, a stunning fice and body, an almost maniacal couragre and acceptance of danger, and a zest for living that ieached out and embraced her audience. Women adored her and men lusted for her, and she over- whelined them all with explosive news reports. Angela Tirado spelled power- Angela Tirado at this moment was spitting mad. She burst into the newsroom, drawing and ignoring sudden long and quiet stares, and stopped before the desk of Xelson Sanchez. She glared at the big and burly Vene- zuelan draped loosely across his chair, cigarette dan- @Wft from his lips, his feet propped on his desk. Tirado slowly and carefully separated her equipment from her body to place it on Sanchezs desk. He smiled at her and she smiled back and with a sudden swift motion kiiocked his feet ftom the desk. The unexpected move .4 Martin Caidin half-tumbled the big man to the floor. Balanced on one hand he looked up with surprise,at his partner. "What the hell's the matter with you?" -wheres that Greek ape?" she demanded. "Pappas?" "How many Greek apes do we have for a pflotl" she shouted. 'Hey, lady, I'm not his keeper, remember? He works for you "There - he?" Is Sanchez smirked. "In bed. " The smirk became a leer. "of course, " he added. Tirado showed her disbelief. "He's asleep in the mid- dle of the afternoon? I'll kill him. we'v@ got a story @to-" She took a deep breath and Sanchez moved quickly in the respite. "Now, Angela, I didn't say he was sleeping." b,e"Wipe that smirk off your face," s6 spat. "what d's he in? His? Carmen's? Grace? Lorena?" Sanchez genuinely surprised. "How do you know war all his women?" -Tell me where. III get the bastard on his feet." "But why?" Sanchez asked, his question as honest a he could manage. "We don't have any flights scheduled. "To hell with the schedules)" Tirado retorted. Sh, leaned forward and turned Sanchez's chair. "The re. Her finger jabbed at several studio monitors. "Don't you even listen to what's going on? Down at Devil's Plateau and also by jungle Rudy's camp. There are hundreds of reports of UFO's coming in and-2' Sanchez held up both hands in defense. "Hold it, hold it, lady, " he said quickly. "Angela, we've been area now for weeks. You seeing idiot things in down there is fidi of -Or frightened people," she added. Sanchez shrugged. -Superstitious, ffightened, bugged out of their minds on jungle juice. What's the dfferencer BEAmRIDERS both hands on Sanchezs desk and leaned almost threatening closeness. "Ms time, it's different." dfferent!" he said impatiently. .You together a story on UFO's even if-" He impatient with himself. "Angela," he said 'it's not news. It's hysteria, hallucinations satellites, whatever, but Us not 11,91M. can make it news that willget on the air. " through?" Angela now stood straight, arms heaving boson-i, generating all the instructor. Sanchez shrugged and held mock surrender. to me," she said, all nonsense gone from Sanchez recognized the Angela Tirado with for years: the sharpest newshound in hot on the trail of som&hing- So now he have done if she hadn't asked. He lis- lly. the weather down in the area of Devils Falls-" area," he said quietly. you know ihat at night all airliners there. At least twenty-eight thousand I've checked with national night the weather was lousy- to as high as fifty and sixty was extra careful. As much as t diverting the airliners around the worst storms. Everybody was on their toes, clicking rest along. @ She took a deep breath, reviewing her notes in her Inin(I "At least a dozen airliners, commercial airliners, 11@@Ahein last night. Venezuelan, Americanp Brazilian 'and Mexican. Got that? Pilots fi-om four different 00un- tries." Her f4ce flashed a quick smile of trip ph. "We also intercepted a coded report fi-om one of tmhe Ameri- cans' Blackbird reconnaissance planes. It was at seventy- four thousand feet when the crew reported a glowing 6 Martin Caldin sphere snapped past them no more than a hundred yards away." "Snapped?" Sanchez asked. "Ihat's a strange descrip- tion." "Their word, not mine." She accepted his hint of criticism. "It could mean almost anything," she admit- ted. "A light flashing by them. Or a glowing object passing them in the opposite direction. That airplane flies at two thousand miles an hour. if they even went past something standing still that was close by itd be almost gone before you saw ft. It would snap by. What- ever. We don't know yet. But it is significant that their crew would break radio silence to send such a message." "All right," he yielded. "They saw s~hing. But I can't accept even a glowing sphere as reliable. Not in the middl@ of the night at high altitude in storms and at that kind of speed." "Done," she agreed. "So we consider only the impor- tance of the crew making the report. "What else?" Sanchez asked. Tirado sat on the edge of his desk. With deliberately slow movement she opened a gold case for a cigarette and lit up with a flourish. Her Dunhill lighter clicked closed with an audible sound. He knew this woman. That was almost an announcement. "Angela, my sweet, you have your own cloud around you. Canary feathers." She smiled. "I haven't told you the really big news." He sat back, silent. He wasn't going to ask a damn thing when she played cat-and-canary. Ift's the Russians," she said and went silent. He knew when he was beaten. "What about the Russians?" he asked, as much playing the part as genu- inely querying her. 'Tk cosmonauts in the Mir station orbiting the earth," she began. "I know about Mir," he broke in gruffly. His mood didn't touch her. The Russians are claim- ing that the Americans set off an atomic bomb, or some such similar device, down at Devil's Plateau." BEAmiuDERs 7 @J@@IWs crazy and you know it," he snapped, his "There isn't anything like an atomic it isn't." she said smoothly. "I'm not arguing bomb. I emphasize what several cosmo- of hundred miles out in,space reported they saw, it was a flash visible for aver a miles. And that's along the surface of "Ailearth, not just looking down fi-oin a space station @@@almost @verhead. "_ 's also a lot of bullshit. Light or no light, there aren't any Americans setting off anything down at Dev- irli'Platekiui. Come on, Angela! That's along the edge of Amazon basin, for Christ's sake!" q-know where it is," she said coldly. "Try to keep -things in perspective, try, to see the whole picture, Instead of arguing the details." ril argue details all day and all night when they're rkliculous," he growled. 711ere's more," she went on quickly. "For a remote *04 thats an international preserve, there's an extraor- of sudden flight activity down there. All and helicopters-2' as she noted the quickening interest in Sanchez knew the Auyan-Tepuy--Devil's 11 as any man she knew. He was one of few newsmen who'd been atop the Plateau, who down through Corridor Diablo, the terrifying black-walled ravine filled with enormous boul- at the smash area where Angel Falls impacted after than three thousand feet. carefully. local aircraft?" Cessna Two Oh Sixes, three Augusta helicopters. But only one been airborne during the past week. " , t the Seven Twenty Seven? It goes into once a day. You know where, about two jungle camp. 11 8 Martin Caidin Angela Tiraco had a look of quiet triumph. 'Ile Boeing hasn't been in there for the past five days. The weather's rotten, Nels, and I mean way below mini- mums. So we've got one local airplane confirmed as active, but," she added for emphasis, "the locals and the natives are talking about hundreds of flightst And they're not all aircraft." I know, I kriow," he said with a groan of resignation. "Glowing green spheres. Bright lights. The Russians saying the Americans are setting off atomic bombs. I said before that's all bullshit and you know it as well as I do." "The bombs, yes. The green sphere?" She shook her head and he marveled at the sight of her, as he had marveled for so long at her beauty. No wonder she paralyzed her television viewers. He shook his head mentally to clear his thoughts as she went on. "But I won't give an inch on that Blackbird crew report. That's too, hot. Breaking radio silence over Venezuela only confirms that the Americans have been violating Vene- zuelan itirspace W- "I know, I know. Sovereign rights and all that." "You speak very lightly of it," she said with a sour note in her voice. "my love, my good friend Angela, my partner in crime, do not climb on your white horse with patriotic indignation." He sighed. "I'm as defensive of our bor- ders as you. But when you're flying at night above seventy thousand feet, in storms, at two thousand miles an hour, and you're over jungle on the edge of the whole Amazon Basin, the word border simply has no meaning." Sanchez rose to his feet, fishing in a shirt pocket fbr a cigarette, then patting his pockets for a match. Tirado tossed him her fighter; he lit up and returned the Dunhill. -Okay, I've been as unpleasant as I could, consider- ing all the circumstances and your voodoo stories,- he said finally. "I know what you want. There's a story down ther&--2' "Right," she said with growing enthusiasm. BEAMRIDERS us to go there." moon and it's also more than seven here to Devil's country." half-shouted. She quieted suddenly, path the conversation had taken. "San- ch old buddy, let me change something you said. It's it's that we are going in the way of confirmation Tirado made up her mind was it. in just what bed and between whose sheets ?" she demanded. about soft lights and champagne mind, 11 she broke in quietly. "I know the Hard as it may be to believe, he's actually using hw' own bed." She began gathering her gear and shov- ing it at Sanchez. "Let's do it, my friend. You take all my equipment and your own gear as well and move your big fitt Swedish butt down to La Carlota Airport. You calf Margarita before you leave so that she'll hive a us. I want at least a hot in three hours to start." @$be spun away from his desk. "I'll get our Greek 40thario. " She started- down the corridor, looked back. @@And don't be later" was her parting shot as she rounded AiO far corner. flamingo-pink Corvette hit the parking curb at La )Pruz Apartments and screeched to a halt, tires smok- @Ing@ the heavy sportscar rocking on its shocks. Angela Thado eitited the driver's seat with that special appeal nee to people who had stopped and stared at many of them recognizing a vehicle that 11 known through its owner's broadcast- In a country where an American sportscar's coloration and even appearance was hardly the 10 Martin Caidin most popular choice to people whose average income was distressingly far below that of the average citizen of the great Yankee colossus to the north, this eye-abusing was the exception to the rule. Angela well known to the Venezuelan public as the most popular stars of film and television's ghastly soap operas that five days a week ground out their hamburger tales for the ever-faithful. This was a lady of and for the people, the woman reporter who told the truth and defied the authorities and told the public the way ft really was, and the devil take the hindmost. Angela strode briskly to the 1A Cruz entrance where the doorman held open the glass doors for her. She paused briefly to drop a handful of com's into the out- stretched reach of two street youths who would, until her return, guard her car with all the ferocity of dobermans. One of the best street-urchin games in town was to anticipate where Miss Tirado, the angel of television, would park the Flamingo thing. She was always good for a fist of money. Angela waited impatiently through the elevator as- cent to the eighteenth floor, one toe rappirig a keyed-up tatoo until the car stopped and the door opened. She stormed down the hallway to stand before theapart- ment numbered 1812, took a deep breath, bent down to remove one shoe and then beat a hammering barrage against the door. The number 2 fell unnoticed to the floor. "Open up, you Greek baboonl" Angela stopped pounding, stared at the door, re- placed her shoe and stabbed the doorbell with her right hand and began pounding with her left. Her voice ros I e in volume as the seconds passed. "Pappas, you hairy son of a mountain goat, open this damn door!" She beard a metal chain tinkling. Angela went silent, watching the door open barely an inch. One eye be- neath long lashes peered at her. Angela shoved against the door. it opened a few more inches. A naked girl stared at her. Wide eyes failed to hide her sleevv state. BEAMRIDERS ? What do you want? Never mind. I you are or what you want. Go away." Angela caught it an instant be- and shoved with all her might. The and the girl stumbled aside, ftill breasts swept past her, made a mental admis- Pappas if nothing else had consummate en, and stormed her way to the bed- feet pursued her. Angela stopped at the on bright overhead lights, giving her a buckass-naked Tony Pappas and two and equally naked girls diving beneath sake, Angiel You can't-I" Pappas got farther in his protests as Angela swept onward to both hands and whipped ran screaming from the red-faced Tony Pappas Angela grabbed a hand- Cu atop Pappas' head and yanked hhft Upright. Pappas still clung to modesty with this woman and kept his hands buried against his groin. "Have you gone@crazy? What the hell do you think you're-' -%: "Get up. Now." Angela released her grip and moved backlo a comfortable chair. She fell smoothly onto the oushiony mass and smiled. "We're on a story and you're flying. Remember? I'm the reporter and you're the pilot?" .."You're crazy, you know that?" Pappas -wrapped him- in a sheet. "What story? Where? When?" recitation, entirely after those UFO reports. southwest like mad and I when they start again." "UFOs?" he echoed. area about Auyan-Tepuy. ?" Churun-Merun. 12 Martin Caidin "And what do you expect us to do? Fly down along the bottom of the falls?" "If there's a UFO there we go there," she said firmly. "Woman, you've slipped a cog between your ears. That's the Devil's Corridor. The route of the devil himself When they named it Diablo they knew what they were talking about. It's crazy in daylight. It's sui- cide at night." 'Oh, piss off, Tony. You've got lights and we can kick 'Put some flares- .1 "You're out of your mind. No. I'm not going." She was already out of her seat and rummaging through his closet. She grabbed clothing, turned and threw everything onto the bed. Flight suit, jacket, boots, even his flying cap. "Get dressed Tony. Now, immedi- ately. Pronto. "You crazy broad, I said I'm not goingl" he shouted. She stopped at the door leading into his living room, turned, and smiled sweetly. "Tony, my fiiend, in five minutes I walk out of this place. If you're not with me, you re fired." She waved her hand and closed the door behind her. She had no doubt he was already slipping into his flight gear. She saw Nelson Sanchez and the night line crew waiting by the Cessna 425 turboprop. She urged the cab driver through the gates directly to the airplane and she piled out with Tony. Sanchez greeted them with a nod. "The bird's ready. Full fuel, the ground crew ran up the engines and topped off the tanks again. All my gear is aboard. Yours, too, Angela." "Very good," she said crisply. "Let's do it, fiiends." Sanchez climbed the steps into the cabin. Tirado turned to Pappas, who seemed lost in thought. "What ar@ you waiting for?" Something, something," he murmured. He looked at the horizon. "Sun's going down," he said absently. "Good for you!" Tirado exclaimed. "it does that every night, remember? Get aboard, Tonyl" "Mere's something I forgot." BEAMRIDERS 13 remember what it is, dammit, Pappas be that important, then." She went into the d forward to the copilot seat in the right of Moments later she heard Pappas coming ting as he slid his bulk into the left seat. to herself. This big hunk was like a fish out a flying machine he became part Of the AM She'd never admit it to Tony Pappas, but he wait best she'd ever flown with and she would go empire with him at the controls. kv@ now he had shed the cocoon of clumsiness that afficted him His hands flowed among the myriad con- tr0h and levers and instruments of the powerful turbo- prop., Motors whined as pressures rose, lights glowed in -a -fantasy of colors; he checked the bird through its innards and moments later he signalled the line crew . an4@received a signal in return that his propellers were Less than three minutes later they were the line onto the taxiway. She sat back, listened. Tower, Monitor Tango Quebec Victor to the active for immediate takeoff. Over." onitor Tango Quebec Victor, cleared to taxi south to,"runway three six. No other traffic. Hold short of the active.- "Roger, 1A Carlota." He busied himself with his ground checks and runups as they taxied, made a ninety-degree turn at the end of the taxiway and eased to a stop. "Moniltor's ready to roll, tower. "Monitor Tango Quebec Victor, you are cleared for *mediate takeoff. What is your direction of flight, @0104ser Famas released the brakes and started a right swing ento the runway. "Ah, La Carlota, we'll take a heading two one zero and report en route." -its all yours, Monitor." 14 Martin Caidin He eased the power levers full forward to their stops and the Cessna went forward like silk, shoving them back into their seats. Pappas never seemed to make a deliberate move. Everything flowed through him to the machine. The slight rumble 4 the runway faded as the earth fell away, the gear came up with dull thumping sounds and with the nose pointed high into the sunset, just off to their right, they soared toward darkening skies. For ten minutes they flew in silence. Angela Tirado's whiplash comments had been left behind oii the earth's surfiLce. This was a different world, a different time and space, and she would not intrude on Pappas'feeling out the aircraft, blending his senses with the energy flow and vibrations and murmurs of their, machine. At over two hundred miles an hour they soared magically into a sky streaked with deepening reds and dark blues left by the vanishing sun. Pappas yielded his control to the automatic pilot as once again he checked the lifesigns of the machine Finally he settled back, staring straight ahead. For le first time since takeoff he spoke. "God&minit. Her glance was sharp but her voice gentle enough. What is it?" She felt Sanchez moving behind her. That one word could signify anything, including a problem with their aim-raft. But Pappas' hands remained calm and he moved one hand only to rub a stubbled cheek. I forgot to file a flight plan," he said finally. "So? When we get back someone will slap your wrist. You know we can take care of such things, " she told him. "You don't understand." "Spell it out, Tony," she said. He sighed. "It's against some very strict regulations to fly at night in this country, especially where we're going, without filing a flight plan and getting rmis- Pe sion to do what we're doing." She tried not to show irritation at his remarks. This wasn't like Tony. "You sound like an old woman," she said, more tartly than she intended. BEAmPJDERS 15 with a knowing smile. "Oh, really? This of breaking a regulation, Angela. If they and apparently there's some sort of area where we're going-you never gave me check it out-they'll send up fighters to Since we're not supposed to be here- and reason for us to be here, or &" at those fighters are just as likely to shoot about questions later." serious." I'm not." He wasn't smiling. going back," she said, her face grim with the hell wants to live forever, " Pappas her. He. glanced at her again. "You then. We're going up to like flying inside an ink- st through that fi-ont." with herself She'd considered the weath as the thought to her a sharp blow struck aircraft and the hiss against the windshield filled the cabin. he said, smiling. He was enjoying her doesn't ffighten me, Tony." rRooray for you, lady. It frightens tne. They lapsed into silence. She was determined to stay awake, but the steady drone of the turboprops, the widy glowing lights and rocking of the airplane was soporific and she was sound asleep in minutes. She more than two hours had passed ghly shook her awake. outside. They were soaring over another silvery clouds beneath them, a full moon It was stunning, magical. Tony seem to be impressed by the magic. He d she followed his lead. she saw only the silvery mantle be- them and the distant cold orb of the moon. it happened. An incredible flash of green. Noth- 16 Martin Caidin ing sharp: a huge green pulse of light, a silent explosion of green flashing through the clouds. The green was not there and then it um there, in an instant transforming the clouds, lifting upward and out away from the world. It was just that, a pulsation, and it was gone, leaving only a memory. The voice came from behind them. "What the hell was that?" Sanchezl@ fully awake, a television camera in his hands but nothing to shoot. I don't know, but if we aU saw it then it's real." "I saw it, - Pappas said immediately. I also saw it twice before, but it happened so fast I thought I was seeing something that wasn't there." He rubbed his eyes. "It happens when you're flying at night. Color pulses in the e s Ye ':I saw it, Tony," Angela persisted. 'Oh, 1 know, I knowi" Pappas told her. "We're not the only ones to have seen something." What do you mean?" This is maddening. Angela Tirado told herself. Something is happening @ut there and- "The radio's fidl of pilots reporting strange lights," Pappas explained. "Anything about those UFO's?" Angela said quickly. "Uh huh," Pappas nodded. - You name it and I they're - calling it. A lot 4 confusion. Nothing official. just air- line pilots up @ real high. You can see for hundreds of miles. Green flashes and a couple of pilots re glowing green balh, or spheres, o past them so fitst they're not sure W Triumph raced through Angela. 'How far are we from Devil's Plateau?" "Thirty miles or so. " Pappas pointed ahead and down. -The cloud front ends just ahead of us. It's clear the rest of the way." Angela Tirado made an instant decision. "Take us down, Tony." ::You mean, down to--2' Down to Devil's Plateau. Take us down now!" "You're the boss, you got the elevator ride down- BEAMRIDERS 17 hand moved smoothly, the throb of power the nose fell earthward. "You're crazy, An- m crazier for going along with your crazy him, turning to Sanchez. "Nels, you have you've got ready to work. Angie. silent, searching the sides, straining to see ffill moon gave them an astonishing amount horizon showed mountains and mesas view against the fighter background. Moon- like quicksilver fi-om streams and rivers That was not hospitable country down tracked their exact position with his elec- systems. They didn't really need them. flowed toward Devils Plateau. Enormous up like ancient flat-topped pyramids and that area? Just left of the nose," Pappas de- Devil's Plateau to them. "The top of that mesa with dozens of streams. When I bring the nose the left you'll see everything down there reflect youll see the falls breaking off the edge and moonglow with lights flash-reflecting. beyond and Pappas brought the airp lane circling bank. Angel Falls shone brightly moonlight, a luminescent ghost stretching down- plateau for more than three thousand m the water spread out in a huge bowl Angela said softly. She hesitated a then gestured. "Can you see the corridor, it. Why?" right through the corridor. About two the deck." re out of your mindl The winds are wild down 18 Martin Caidin there, Angiel We make one mistake and we'll be splat- tered against rock like- "Do it! Please!" He stared at her. She never said please. He had never heard the word directed to him by Angela Tirado. He cursed himself for a fool, swung wide, came around in a steep descent and as they leveled off, the corridor a black maw before them, he snapped on his landing lights and went to full power. If tfi@y were hit with any unexpected downdrafts he'd need every ounce of power and speed he could get from this thing. And th@ bril- hant lights would reflect from spray and keep him from getting too close to the titanic ilun-ge of water to their left. It was Magic all over again, spmy reflecting with dazzling dancing brilliance E@om the landing lights@ They were almost through the corridor, winds pummeling and hammering at them, when Torly Pappas called out "Enoughl' and hauled back on the yoke. The Cessna burst upward in a powerful climb. Instantly they were struck blind. This is what it's like to be inside the fireball of an atomic bomb when it explodes. The thought speared the mind of Angela Tirado as her eyes went green, as the world went wildly, savagely green, as Everything be- came green and there existed nothing else but the ultimate blinding green glare. It was more than blind- ing light, more than paralyzing glare. It was the End and the Beginning of Everything. She thought she heard Nelson Sanchez scream or cry out in pain in the seat behind her. Even as the verbal- ization punched into her mind and she realized the pain ripping through her optic system, vision was returning. Sparkling lights, dazzling reflections within her eye- balls, a madhouse of green ovtical energy racing; be- tween eyes and brain. Mouth gapingy open, gasping for air from the shock, she half-turned and saw Tony Pappas transformed into a green statue, his body &ozen, hands locked, one on the yoke, his right hand on the throttles. She couldn't believe his control. "I'm all right." He tory. Pressed the switch. in that instant the electrical system activated the automatic pilot and the Cessna was locked into ft zoom climb and heading of flight. They weren't out of the woods. The airplane couldn't sustain the *ngewusly steep angle he had used for their zoom burst upward from the lethal canyon now far below to=. @ His fingers moved again and brushed the electric him, and' he ilid the ridged surfice forward, hesitated, did * forward again, feeling the nose lowering just a BEAmIUDERS 19 words like an automaton. He was busy Iffe. Saving their lives. He was flying before they were struck by, by-whatever them into green blandness, he had the yoke and booted the turboprop into b. Th@ direction in which he was. flying and away fi-oin between those walls that formed Corridor Dia- on this same path, unerringly, they of the rock that could turn them into a of gruesome flame, to fall in gushes to the floor of the devil's canyon- not see. You do not have vision when and flying into a sky as dark as a cat. But he needed only a few more knew ff he held on to their angle and rate their speed they would be in free air. But be safe. Not yet. He was still blind and a well at all when he's blind. He can't see is doing. You're as good as dead, but away fi-oin the final act. knew his airplane. He knew every switch dial and knob and button. He spoke looking straight ahead and seeing nothing, fingers for his eyes. to autopilot," he said in that same mono- part of him communicating with Angela Pappas' awareness and of their machine. His slid along familiar terri- the oN switch for the autopilot and de- 20 Martin Caidin bit. He listened. His fingers had been his eyes. His ears also became his vision. He listened to the Of cry wind changing, shifting. The roar of great speed had subsided; now they labored upward. He went forward again on the trim switch. Wind speed sounds increased. They climbed now at a flatter angle. They were safe in the great emptiness of the sky. For the moment, anyway. They sat quietly in their pain that receded slowly. Lines and shapes became visible as vision crawled and fought its way back to the three of them. Angela turned; she was able to see Nelson behind her. She remem- bered now; he had cried out in pain. Had it been the light? No; the side of his fiLce was a darker mass. "I'll be all right," he said in a subdued voice. "The light. When the light came my head jerked back. I cut it on the camera. He was grateful for the deep gash that poured blood from the side of, his head. That was their only injury, and he pressed a handkerchief into the gash to stem the flow of blood. ."I'm okay," he reassured them. "Can you see?" she asked Tony. She made out his fitce now. Tony nodded, slow but careful. He was hold- ing a flashlight on the gauges. He couldn't see in the normal dim light of cockpit night illumination. She didn't bother him for the moment. "We're going to be fine," he said finally. "We're at eight thousand and we re still climbing. Everything is okay with the plane." Her hands shook as she lit a cigarette. She took a long, deep drag, felt a shudder sweep through her "God, what in the name of hell was that?" she asked finally, lmowing they knew no more than she. Tony laughed, a short and humorless sound. "It sure wasir 't no hallucination." He granted at Angela. I take it all back, Angie. Everything I said about how crazy you were to come here. I don't know what it was. just that I've never known anything like it. And that it nearly lolled us." He rubbed his eyes. "Well, there's good news with the bad. My vision is almost normal now, "Me, too," came Sanchez@s voice fi-orn behind them. BEAMIUDERS 21 nodded. "Just in time." for what?' Sanchez asked. camera, Nels," she said with a sense Of voice. I don't believe this party is over Behind her she heard the -sound @ of camera as Sanchez went to video recording. Tony said, as much to himself as to bright lights raced swiffly through the them, expanding swiffly with their don't see anything else," Angela said. @Mose what is it?" ahead squinting to see better. 'Me were brighter, sharper' rushing toward curving sweep. "Holy Mother," Angela she stared. "Nelsl getting this?" YOU he mumbled, concentrating on locking his viewfinder. became great glaring eyes, starting to blind in with tremendous speed. got ready to kick the a steep curving , and then he was Hard forward and to the left with the left rudder and chopped power to the lights almost on top of them now. elson fought for balance as they were the side of the airplane, their stomachs sudden violent maneuver. to be UFO'sl" Angela shouted, all re- what a storyl Nels, keep shooting, sight unfolded before them. The lights reappeared out of darkness behind them, spreading away from each other hori- ng ahead and taking up position on each Cessna. said to himself, the words unbidden He brought the airplane out of its curving again into level flight. I can't believe said to them. "Right through everything 22 Martin Caidin you did, i mean, those lights, they held perfix-t forma- tion. Thafs incredible." Tony Pappas didn't share her wonder. "Get ready for some tnom lights," he said, almost sullenly. She stared at him, caught by surprise. Her surprise was even greater as bright hot beams stabbed at them from either side of their plane. She saw Tony's hand reach out to turn on the cabin speakers from the pilots radio. A voice was already speaking to them in clearly annun- ciated, very official Spanish. 'are in violation of federal security regulations. Consider yourselves under arrest. Take up a heading of three four zero degrees and initiate your descent now. Hold that descent rate at four hundred feet per minute. An airport is shxty miles directly ahead of your line of flight. You will make a straight-in landing. Radio per- mission will not be required. Any attempt to change your course or to escape will result in our shooting YOU down without further warning. ff you read this message either flash your lights or respond on frequency one two one five. Over." "What the hell kind of UF0 Is thatl" Sanchez shouted from the back seat. -Theyre better known as F-16's," Tony Pappas said sullenly. "Air fi)rce fighters, and they are vm serious.' Hereached for his radio frequency controls. "Are they serious? Would they really shoot us down?" Angela Tirado's voice made her disbelief unmistakable. "They wouldn't do that, would they, Tony? Shoot us down? KiU us, 1 meanr "lAttle lady, you can bet your sweet ass they would." He thumbed his microphone. "Ali, fighter escort from the Cessna," he said slowly, unable to avoid a sudden grimace. I read you five by five. We will comply, and we will keep this frequency open. Over." "Very good, Cessna. Do not initiate any further radio r ...'011f Irm, pie communications -,ase. "Ali, roger, sure, you've got it, - Tony said. He stared ahead, monitoring his descent at exac* four hundred BEAMRIDERS 23 The lights on either side of them snapped rushed in like a blanket. re gone, " Sanchez called out. they are," Tony Pappas growled- "One and they'll blow us right out of the air. We can't see them but they can see moments they were all silent. Angela arm. softly- turn. "S up," he told her. Chapter 11 Earlier that same evening there began a sequence of events, totally unknown to Angela Tirado, that would soon snare her and her news team in a web of inescap- able consequences. Had Angela remained in Caracas. or flown to virtually any other part of her country in pursuit of strange lights and reported UFO's flashing through Venezuelan sides, she would have avoided the hair-trigger escape fi-om death down the Devirs Comi- dor and the equally lethal missiles and cannon of Vene- zuelan Air Force F-16 jet fighters. To say nothing of the less lethal but no less aggravating events of being forced fi-om the sides, landing unexpectedly at a remote mili tary airfield and, in unsportsmanlike manner, placed under arrest and tossed into an inhospitable and most uncomfortable military prison, there to contemplate the official charges being arrayed against her, Nelson San- chez and Tony Pappas. The more she dwelled on the matter the more foolish became her insistence on the flight she'd demanded from her news crew. They and their lives had been jeopardized, their equipment and their aircraft seized, and Monitor Nacional Television now faced a crushing fine from their government, to which might be added severe restrictions on other re- porters to prevent the very actions committed by An- gela Tirado and her team. The saving balm of the whole crazy parade of events was that all along she'd been right. in the ruckus storm- ing about her and her crew violating federal air regula- tions, and the other assorted charges she considered (to rase a close American woman reporter) so much 24 BEAmRIDERS 25 bullshit," there remained the one point: military refused even the most distant green light, the explosion in silence of a tic it transcended anything she had ever the cosmonauts orbiting overhead station were reporting to Moscow were being exploded along the rim I The location had been pinpointed, Russians, as within Vene- therefore an insidious criminal pact Venezuela and the United States new atomic weapons. None of at least where weapons were no fireball, no radiation, no mush- she punctuated her own thoughts, Ahere still was no explanation for that damning J ie:onbj light with which she could compare the Ing glare were the reports she'd read of atomic ns. the light of'a thousand suns, many observ- i@ Wd, shaken and stunned. The light that was God created the world.... Superlatives 660@ atop the other. When people had seen the even through black eyeshields, it had 1i seconds to an hour to regain their about that. She and the others began to vision'within five minutes or so. In ten seeing reasonably well. Fifteen min- them with a headache but normal vision. it have been an atomic bomb, she insisted to her- ?W-Jo@ @ it could, her own critical alter ego snapped at You're trying to rationalize final an- more than a glare, no matter how if it were a bomb that went off directly more than twenty or fifty miles away? been just as brightl Ahepaced her cell, impatience and fi-tistration corn- WWI,! -for attention. That, and discomfort. Tony had WY find time to tell her he didn't even know the name 26 Martin Caidin of this field. It wasn't on their charts, no signs appeared anywhere; in &ct, there wasn't any identification of any kind on any vehicle or building, and the uniforms of the guards carried no patches or nameplates. Why all this mystery? her inner voice shouted at her. Impatience, frustration and helplessness. She couldn't make any telephone calls to her home office. Pappas and Sanchez were in the same position. Individual cell lockups, ev- t erything on their persons other than their clothing,con- fiscated, and fi)r answers to their questions only stony silence. She stared moodily through the single small window of her cell. Nothing so prosaic as tbi& metal bars. The transparent pane providing her a minuscule glance at the outside world, made of armor glass, was far more effective than old-fashioned bars. It prevented the pas- sage of anything save filtered light. It blocked off almost all sound, except for the buildiing shaking fiom the roar of jet fighters slamming into afterburners for takeoff. There was still plenty of that going on. Then, perhaps twenty minutes after the last sound tricided to her of jet blast, she heard the thin wail of sirens. Not a siren. Many sirens howling their massed chorus. Maxon warning horns also could be heard, and then the lights in the cell flicked off and back on three times and then stayed off. She went to the window to look out, to find some explanation of what might be tw happening. It was a mistake. The savaging green flashed, daggers of teal brilliance ripped into her eyes, and she staggered back fi-om BEAmfuDERs 27 explosion. No explosion. Heat and inseparable. So it was something answers came from anywhere and she emotional fimk, head resting against crushingly isolated. ,miles away, the experiment that had her associates to the prison block of military airfield continued. Had Angela just a few hours earlier, and had how to look, the mystery drown- in emotional bonds would have been the southern rim of Venezuelais never stretches of river and grasslands rising that, warn of not-too-distant Andean massive buttes and mesas. They are St, ramparts of the American We the t Valley spread through Utah and Z@ the world is sand and rock and the of the Painted Desert, the latter the sun angle best reflects its colors. Monument Valley into a new rich vegetation, rivers and streams, lush marching giants of thunderstorms that like homeless colossi, the pic- @,more complete. Here is Auyan-Tepuy, Plateau. Water races along its tabletop-flat with a major stream, like a huge artery, Sur- on all sides by hundreds of smaller streams brain the and gushing founts. Much of the water pauses an in- -wrenching punch of the light. Not until twenty minutes later, seated on the floor, 8!BM on@the sharp rim of the plateau and then slides, tears streaming fi-om her eyes with returning vision, did OK tumbles add cascades downward. But the main she use her brain for something other than emotional Wftm- well before it reaches the edge of this immedi- outrage. It could not be a nuclear device exploding a% -*oorK broadens suddenly, widens to a powerful She'd-gone through almost everything befiwe-4adiation, Shum, and with swiftly increasing bottom depth accel- a mushroom cloud; all of it. This time she was on the erabs its4ater to a powerful thrumming roar and filri- surfice, in a building, fi-om within which she could hear the roar of jet fighters. No sound accmnpanied that Initially terrible light. Ergo. no sourcenoint of millions of df- by speed and pressure plateau and then begins all the world. This is Angel 28 Martin Caidin Falls, and the water will plunge straight dow thari three thousand two hundred feet, a stupendous it makes the drop of better-knoi seem a localized event. The water crashes increasing fury until it smashes into the rav as the Devil's Corridor, a black and murderous passage. way dangerous even for large birds, which fall prey tr sudden violent winds that without warning can huri them against unyielding rock. Angel Falls owes its name to no indigenous saint or a gathering altar for corporeal folk. Nor does it honor anx local hero. Long before her time, Tirado knew, at American pilot, a wild and tempestuous adventurer, had flown over Devil's Plateau in a machine that for its day was one of the best but by modern standard s was' dangerous and unpredictable craft. Sure enough, his machine failed, aixd Jimmy Angel crashed atop the infa. mous Devirs Plateau and was given up for dead. Ever, had he lived he was in deep jungle, high atop a mesa. and far removed from even a vestige of civilization. Ir fact, Jimmy Angel survived his crash. He also fought, walked, scraped and crawled his way out of the jungle tc a river and a dugout canoe with jungle natives who stared 'in disbelief at the tattered human wreck before th em. Jimmy Angel made it back, alive, and a stunned and marveling Venezuelan government honored his in. credible feat by naming the world's tallest waterfall after him. In the years that followed, Angel Falls and the sur- rounding countryside became recognized as an environ- mental pearl in the rough. It was declared a natiOD- preserve by the Venezuelan government and, in yean subsequent to that initial protection, and through the United Nations, was fiirther declared a planetary. treao sure. No new roads could be built, no old roads could be repaired, and all movement into and out of the arei was placed under the strictest government supervision. In short, the Venezuelan authorities gave you permis- sion to enter the area; if found there saw that permis- BEAmRiDERs 29 faced some heavy and bad legal medicine. jail sentences went hand in hand. wery reason that might come to her mind, sdo knew that there could be nothing of the or d either existing in or taking place in this I easure trove of natural and powerful beauty. dead wrong. Had she been within this or within the massive butte that formed Plateau, she would have been wit world as strange and forbidden as that A world of men and machines and they sought to control and put to by comparison paled the UFO story she to confirm. that led to their brush with disaster and in the lone prison cell were already the same moment she was scattering from the bedroom of Tony Pappas. Tirado she was unable the in( wore Devil's Plateau as or could she hear the voices borne along frequencies that had been sounding events of the most stupendous scientific history of Venezuela. A program that, if shake all the world. s test neared its initial blazing culmination fell beneath the horizon along the edge of Amazon Basin, when the huge mesas seemed in silhouetted formation along the final deep daylight. Control, I repeat, all stations from Two Nine is now at ten minutes and mark, we are at ten minutes and sat within a room jammed with elec- and communications equipment. All about of solid rock, yet he felt a touch Of all was not as secure as it might have 30 Martin Caidin been. It Was Strictly a Psychological reaction, and to the test crews of PROJECT BEMAC the prickling of hairs along the back of the neck had become standard fire. High overhead the river rushed white and boiling to the rim of the plateau and hurled itself outward. That rush- ing water, tumbling rocks along its river bed, scraping and gouging, created the trembling transmitted thr@ugg the rock Itself The water fell more than three thousand feet to crash against huge black boulders as large as houses, and the grinding shifting of those enormous hulks also brought a quivering to the earth and up thmugh the seeming solidity of the mesa mountain. Far below the technician in his man-gouged cave there roared still more violent energy: enormous hydro- electric systems powered by the force of Angel Falls rushing downward to its, final doom of crashing spray. The Power Of the water was not enough for the 19EMAC tests; an enormous river of electricity was also needed, and here in this isolation of Auyan-Tepuy the scientists and their tearnscould carry out their secretive work. The technician who had called out the countdown mark saw; his receiving equipment glow red; simulta- neously he recognized a woman's voice as it fed into his mset. "Control, this is jaguar. we're all in the green here and ready to go. Standing by for any finther instructions.- Control moved a dial. "Very good, jaguar." He paused a moment before speaking again. "Condor, your status, please. "Ali, roger that, Control. This is the big b ird calling back. Condor is ready to flap. Standing by." Control frowned. He glanced up to a scientist listen- ing to the exchange. The scientist shook his head slightly. -Control to Condor. We'll do without the flippancy, please, and that is official. Do you read?" The voice tone changed immediately. '7hat's aTu-ma- tive, Control. Sorry. Another twitch on the frequency dial. Later, control would gangswitch all transmissions so all -stations would BEAMMERS 31 simultaneously. But for the moment, they responses. "Piranha, your status, please?" , Piranha here. We're in great shape, but we, ah, I've been told to ask you to get a plasma shot to do a recheck Of the main transmission." from the plateau, along the banks of the unale Rudy stared at the sky of early in'le direction of Devil's Plateau. No his full name. He had been for nearly forty years in this isolated and jungle camp just upstream from He had raised his children here; his Hilda, was at this moment by his side. another dozen men and women, tech- Excitement built among them. the Canaima had for the past several "ded anything nature ever provided with t'of the polar regions, and they knew another of light was about to instantly transform all world to dazzling green. Here at the edge of g waters they also listened to the voices ghost- the scientific and engineering camps of the *6t. A radio receiver in the back of a helicop- -d its sounds by small loudspeaker to the group. I the mountain, Control went to gangswitch AlisSon. stations, counting down for pulse I repeat, this will be a pulse test at only five at power transmission. Check your monitoring 11 Ite S. Ten seconds and counting. the now-darkened jungle and plains of interior the scientists and techni- The seconds vanished and a barely per- haze ghosted through jungle and sky. to the reports coming in. He nodded to in Control. "Everything's right on the Do a final stations check and continue 32 Martin Caidin -Yes, sir." Control confirmed again he was on gangswitch transceiver "Skyhook?' he called tersely. He recognized the voice of Captain Ali Bolivar, still thought it amazing that the voice came down fi-om a speeding aircraft at thirty thousand feet. In that plane Bolivar checked his gauges, glanced at two technicians behind him in the cabin. They nodded and one held up his thumb. Bolivar spoke into his lip mike --control, Skyhook's with you and ready to monitor. We've got the count. " Very good, Skyhook. Control paused a moment. "Chopper One, you read?' A flashing red light sped down the Canainia River, swung toward shore and began flaring to set down on a broad grass area. The pilot thumbed his mike. "Con- trol, Chopper One's about to put down in the nest. We'll be fit in a minute." The helicopter settled smoothly, rocked on its gear, and a moment later its cabin door swung open to reveal two scientists carrying instruments fixed atop tripods. They walked thirty feet from the helicopter, snapped out the tripods, leveled them on the ground. A woman followed them with a glittering electronic display panel she placed on the ground. Carlos Alberto Silva, chief of the science team, shouted to Judy Morillo over the slowing helicopter sounds. "We're ready here, Judy. You?" She smiled, showed her rising excitement. "Ready! I can hardly waitl" "Any moment now," Silva told her, glancing at his watch. "Thirty secon& and counting." At all the monitoring stations, aboard the aircraft high overhead, in jungle Rudy's camp, in stations deep within huge caves, men and women either studied their gauges and control panels or, if they were fortunate enough to in the open, looked out to the sky. "Five, four, threat' Ali Bolivar held his breath and looked down on the earth six miles below. Pale afterglow of sunset reflected BEAMPMERS 33 across the flats of Devirs Pla- intense marker lights against n4 them. He knew the Devil's than any man. He'd flown through it times. In his mind he counted body tensed and he ground his teeth blackness. The next, an explosive bolt Ant, existence down the length of Devirs Corri- 6t race down that hellish ravine, it didn't peared. One instant it was not there and the of green fire snapped into existence. Its A outward and with the speed of light, so re it measured it would have raced seven i the earth's equator in but a single second, ed the world to green. As quickly as it gone. But not to the visual observers. clung to the green, kept the world g and flashing green through and eyeballs. depe were. and the observ4 world was a single n miles into and out of thick- the inability of the eye to retain focus. canoes and within their riverside upon their angle of sight, suffered eye or mind to comprehend. Since a light could not instantly appear over a miles, their eyes gave them a &lse spearpoint of light racing over the hills, across the rivers, with tremen- than any bullet, making the fiLstest to the speed of their own dugouts. what they saw and it never oc- plagued with visual inad- an object ripped through miles in barely a sewn the natives knew of xreat 34 Martin Caidin machines that sped high above them. Ma ing men that moved about the earth atfiiu second. But how could a man survive ra the air at three hundred miles a minutf paddling a dugout canoe there is no distine atmosphere and absence of atmosphere; the ridiculous to contemplate. They did not know such names as Vostok, Voshkod, M Skylab, Apollo, Soyuz, Salyut, Mir or the of the great winged beast other men cal14 and Challenger and Discovery. Even here i they had seen the flame paint the cloudeo enormous French boosters ripped skyward ing distance of Devil's Island off the Sot coastline. If men could run through the five miles a second, what could be so str glowing ball of green light doing the same jungle? They had seen it before but still they we amazed. jungle Rudy and Hilda, Carlos Judy Monllo; all of them who saw with their own eyes the silent crash of green that took over the worl&' and then vanished. Scientists checked their instruments' and gauges, looked at one another and shook hands or' embraced in jubilation. The airwaves fairly crackled' with the good news between the many monitoring sta, tions, the aircraft and the helicopters, and the leaders Of science and government waiting many hundreds of J miles. distant in Caracas and on a broad mountain out- side of the capital of Venezuela. Deep within Devil's Plateau, on a platform above and looking down on the electric transformers, banks of mirrors, thick cabling and an orderly nightmare of equip, ment, all arranged about what appeared to be a mon- strous cannon ban-el of superspientific design, a'young man took a deep breath. His name was Benito Armadas and he wore a jumpsuit with strange insignia and the lettering of BEMAC. Dark wavy hair, powerful muscles bunched beneath the suit, a touch of perspiration along BEAmBiDERs 35 all swept away by his look of determina- *@stood on a circular platform as if claiming i and stared hard at Doctor Vasco de Gama. t'stood with a slight stoop, clear sign of the tit responsibility he shouldered at this mo- wished he could avoid the clear and unblink- I this young man. He wished he were not in: this mountain, blazing incredible new to the future, for it was one thing to titillate d quite another to know that if he nodded 'diis,young man might well be dead minutes ready, sir," Armadas said. His eagerness Was he leaned forward. "I'm ready, Doctor th Ut us do it, sirl" @Omi nodded slowly, more with his own inner Amn recognition of Armadas' entreaties. He raised c@Iou are so sure that you do not fear for your ally the unknown, Benito." The scientist spoke ine warmth for the younger man. "It frightens ild be worse than merely your death." s grinned. "No one lives forever." He shrugged. t 6 risk." He laughed. "it can't be any worse flight down here through that thunderstorm. @tewle were convinced they were going to die, test of them were so sick they were afraid they He stopped, knowing now that any would be brushed aside. Vasco de Gama himself. Again he nodded. he said, his sigh tremulous and weary. De Gama motioned to techni him. A final check. Everything again." of a smile to Armadas, then v@alked observation booth where he donned a mike. de Garna," he spoke slowly into the his voice carried to all BEMAC person- confirni vour contact." 36 Martin Caidin Doctor Edith Hernandez, Chief Biologist and Medi. cal Doctor for the BEMAC team, squeezed the tran& mit pad in her left hand; simultaneously she continu to monitor the panels reporting on every critical biol( ical function o1rBenito Armadas. He was wired up Ii one of the early astronauts. The simile was so close t doctor smiled. in both instances they were new fientier. Unaware of the movement, he, lifted to stroke a rosary as she scanned h answered de Gama@s call -7his is Hernandez, Doctor." she did response. -The subject is in excellent con( considering what he's about to do, he is expectations. A perfect example of the Cooper Everyone listening in smiled; they her; words perfectly. The astronaut from the American Proj..' ect @ Mercury, that country's flat manned space flight program. Crammed into his tiny Mercury caps a great Atlas booster vibrating and thrunum! unstable and tremendous explosive energy, list( the countdown that would end with a hellish ro, Niagara of fire, Gordon Cooper fell fast asleep. Control knew a moment of panic when strange, corn- pletely unexpected sounds carried through all control.,' positions and down through the tracking ranges. it was the sound of Gordon Coc@w_ snoring. Vasco de Gama appreciated the @omparison but no smile creased his face, and his firown remained. Cooper at least was following in the footsteps of others. Ameri- cans and Russians had leaped the barriers of gravity and slipped into free-fidl orbit. Their unknowits had been whittled down to very acceptable odds. Not so the case, he mused, for this bright-eyed and eager Armadas. He would stand upright on a circular platform. All about him in a sphere of energy made visible by pulsating currents there would bit created an electromagnetic field of a very precise fieqtiency. At a specific moment, an enormous storehouse of energy would smash into a oold-electron laser generator, a beam eight fimt in di- ameter would snap into existence at the electromag- I BEAmRIDERS 37 Benito Armadas would s-nan molecular and cellular body such as flesh, blood, bone, multiple trillions of parts, small and viral and bacterial elements to sparkling within his brain. Everything about Benito from the physical real- He would becovw a part of the coherent light. Gama offered himself a wry that had attended so many dan- e in the fi)rm of an elec- em within the laser beam, ftorn his transmission point to a ition several miles distant. The trip would est fiwtion of a second. Armadas v;oiild be after all, with a speed of 186,271 miles per would be light itself his transmission-laser-seemed. for this incredible gamble they beam was, after all, light, albeit a of light. Laser-Light Am- Emission of Radiation--was a scientific devices, 10. Oe Gs well, they had made over a such tests with live annuals. In the first six ..such tests more than half the creatures died in Then the failure rate plummeted and C=_theirs as they learned to manipulate 00ible forces of man-altered nature. And the Jumdred and eighty-two tests with live annuals by light. That was the motto of all about him, de Gama noted that time when one must its scabbard- counting,- intoned the speakers. become brittle with rising tension. de Gama spoke into his lip micro- At t, he far end of the chamber within the moun- 38 Martin Caidin tam large metal doors opened swiftly. "Doors open arm secured, came the confirming voice response fi-om at unseen technician. Vasco de Gama kept his hand poised over red button that would stop the test in a split But his hand remained in strike position, rig the rest of him eased through the count in con dozens of skilled engineers and scientists. "Confirm receiving station," de Gaina call he had so many times in the animal tests. Another came back in response, this one originating from away through the darkness. "Station Two ready," the voice said crisply. "Thirty seconds and counting. De Gama thought of Beatriz Armadas. Young, beau-:, tifull -intelligent, deeply in love with her husband. W could be-- "Fifteen seconds . He felt the power building up- from the generators, ready to hurl raw electrical current into the giant laser." generator, the cannon, as they called it. The signal of scientific and human triumph, or the sound of death- "Five, four, three, Vasco de Gama held his breath. Every man -and woman in the generating station did the sanie. The world poised on this last second, -hung suspended, the count slipped through its crack of time to zero and the countdown timer released its dragons. It came in a' viciously swift sequence of events, too fast for the human mind to know in any detail. De Gama knew the succession by heart. First that tremendous crack of pure energy, cur-: rent blast, then the ripping blast of light fi-om the laser cannon. A bolt of dazzling, incredible green, a shaft oi light seemingly as solid as steel, a rod eight feet in diameter. It tore from the laser cannon to a hugE multifaceted mirror and rebounded instantly througt the transmission lab, snapping fi-om one mirror to an, other. The teanis hadn't even time to flinch from thi savage fiiry of light, let alone the crawling scrape o: sound, as the single beam split and resvl@t and con. BEAmRIDERS 39 a huge bowl of light centered about, on, into Benito Armadas. t flashed through the open space of the cave an the opened doors. Beyond those doors massive river of water, the roaring-bulk of NW, To this laser strike the water had no more than a few electrons floating in,empty space. didn't exist in the universe of the laser. en bolt one instant was within the mountain; t tiniest slice of time finin a single second it darkness fiom beneath Devirs Plateau to the latforin thirty miles away. g crew stared at the platform. Not even a ioke, not a single tendril, marked where mdas had stood. He was gone, transformed =%=Hernandez clutched her rosary. "My Ae whispered. Chapter M Condor Station stood atop a soaring butte in the southern jungles of Venezuela, one of a group of giant; rearing upward fi-om jungle lands. The mesa rose in perfect position to receive straight-fine transmission from BEMAC ONE where Benito Armadas was a momen Of eternity away from flash dematerialization. Atop th, mesa, Condor Station rose as a prefitbricated geodesic structure concealed fi-om the world by an upper surfac cover of soil, brush and trees, and even a rise brook kept flowing by concealed pumps. This removed its visibility from cameras using,either regular or infrared, film; Condor blended into its terrain features because it was part of that terrain. Except for the now yawning-wide doors that faced directly the distant open space behind the cascading fury of Angel Falls. From that not-visible but assuredl) open space of BEMAC ONE would emerge, faster than any eye could follow, the powerful green laser beam., with the electromagnetic imprint of Benito Armadas. They all hoped ... The men and women of Team Condor had nearly been "fi-ozen" to their assigned control panels and woA stations for the past several minutes, grinding their way emotionally through the countdown for their friend. Either Benito Armadas would go down in history for the first flight unlike any other, or he would be commit- ted to their painfal memories. 'Mey kept glancing frog control panels and gauges to the receiver platform where there should appear, simultaneously, the eye-stabbin@ glare of the green laser and the unharmed body ano 40 BEAMRIDERS 41 rhat should be the instant result Of shared the same thought. The word that distastefid word category that be, perhaps, could be, possibly, and other of reality. )iogelio "Roger" Delgado, Chief Scientist for Division and de Gamds opposite number nervous fingers through his truck wavy moments that seemed to stop time, dragged laboriously across the fikce he felt a hundred heartbeats between of the second hand. Delgado active science. To him lasers had always wand of science and medicine. He had lasers as other men do with metals or or the violin. Almost buried in the Venezuelan science-4or the world's lead- *judged anyone not in their immediate camp and as good as buried-he was nonetheless i by a key group of American scientists as the in laser development. Delgado through mountains of rock with huge laser cannon. He had de- to surgically carve out geometric precision. a wisp tumor from a human eye or i armored car into blazing slag, all of it per- th equal ease. He was the Merlin of the laser m 'zed as such by his own peers and his ou by those few Americans who very amounts o @ nancia ai into the ams The Venezuelans, for their s with gratitude and an unbreak- ton: no interference. The Americans com- such requests. They understood only too on the near future they didn't give programs. here made all programs pale to measly insignificance. But at 42 Martin Caidin this moment Delgado, unparalleled genius tottered on the brink of being a nervou anced across the open space of the rece 91 to the central viewing stand. His glance held the eyes of two men vital to this sec cent adventure. Jorge "George" Wagner, jolly, concealed behind his beaming visag skin his own genius fbr energy control ment, especially in the gravitic and electromagnets fiel& By his side stood Claude McDavid, a bear of a man with huge bulk of body and a bushy beard, from within which shone chromed teeth as a platform for a great pocked nose and eyes that appeared as iDenetrat- ing as steel pins. McDavid was a crazy combination 0 1 f Scot, American and Venezuelan and his chosen field@ was critical to PROJECT BEMAC. He was a --haner metals and ceramics. He could form any kind of alloy or.@i bring to life any ceramic for structures, generators,@, power transformers or electromagnets of staggering. power- The three men. looked at one another and whatevev:1 message they might have remained within their eye. contact. Delgado was the man in the saddle at this., moment, not Wagner or McDavid. They could only", watch. Watch and wait, even if their own professional fortunes and future were locked into what would hap- pen any moment now. Only a few people knew that Wagner and McDavid were of yet another unusual breed. To bypass or chIcurovent the often-gnarly rules of procedure and security of both the Venezuelan and American governments, they had been granted dual citizenship in both countries. They carried the pass- ports of each government, and virtually all doors of scientific research programs thus opened and remained open to them. But now they were observers, not even as involved as the technicians and aides who stood nervous or io- zen at their posts. As if from a distance, in headsets md through the dome speakers, the final count intoned , A gush of cold air blew through the opened doors. In the BEAmBIDERS 43 we were the lights of BEMAC center, unseen, *it@cally when the firing doors opened. I two, one, z- . Aliance flashed simultaneously fi-oin the multi- 6eiver Mirror, through the grouped reflec- receiving area, concentrating in the center Of M. if all went as planned and hoped for ù literally snap into existence, hav- miracle of travel at the speed of d rematerialized in that onionskin- long second. AO instant onIv the empty platform; then @nd then Armadas material- eyes. all began welling up in throats They'd done itl There a moment before he'd been choked off, shock whipped through the friends, his coworkers. Benito Armadas center of the receiver platform where he itood on the edge. It should not They had a faulty "catch- at the 004ransmission. could barely comprehend the sudden flickering that spelled a problem, then a flash ripping and a godawfiA moan of tortured energy that to well upward fioni the bowels of the mountain. nt, only that, not a shred of instant more, Of @ the face of Benito Armadas. An invisible Wm him about violently, a twist so tremen- M one arm being pulled from its socket. the watching eyes to discern details, his 'from the platform edge to smash into the of a computer console. The terrifying ex- I and sundered electrical to shredding pulp. rebounded the wall in a huge from exp"Ing frotn within, mixed a spattering flame. 44 Martin Caidin, For long minutes the only sounds in the station atop the mountaintop were of shocked friends vom and crying, and the distant radio voices of BE CONTROL calling desperately to learn what had gon( wrong. Everyone have their belts on?" The ot of tht large Sikorsky helicopter glanced behind I gers in their seats nodded slowly or gestuj felt the need to speak. Delgado, Hernande Wagner and McDavid sat wrapped in the c personal grief mixed with hammering questions The answers lay beyond the remote jungles ar teaus of southern Venezuela. The pilot advanced and the helicopter trembled as its great rotors 1: moist air. Theirs would be a short flight to just I the camp of jungle Rudy where a private jetliner them. They made the flight in silence, then walke to the F-28 standing bl listless, self-occupied. stopped next to Claud McDavi shook his head. He tried to smile but onl@ I a grimace showed. "No. That's all, captain. Straight baci to Caracas. Youll have instructions there when to come back for some more people tomorrow." "Yes, sir." The pilot disappeared into the cockpit. Moments later the engines started McDavid had to get these people out of their deef funk. Bad enough that Benny Armadas was dead. Fal worse psychologically was that they'd all been spattered with chunks of intestine and a lot of blood. That'! enough to stomp anyone's id deep into the ground. McDavid leaned over to Edith Hernandez and Vasc( de Gama. He knew Roger Delgado was listening. "I need to talk about tomorrow," McDavid began. De Gama shook his head. "No, no. Not now. Tomor row, maybe." -Yes, now, goddarnmit," McDavid said angrily. "Grie can wait but not what we have to do. Listen to me, al BEAmPJDERS 45 all through working down here with From now on we use these and monitoring. We do ev- The Caracas station has everything all else it can avoid the problem at him. They weren't aware he'd chosen very carefully. 11W what lolled Benito?" Hernandez asked, Oide. almost came out of his seat. "Then for US111 his head. "No. Not yet. Tomarrow. I I don't believe I am, but-- He nk about the technical and engineer- this. Tomorrow well meet with Felipe at 11 lay it all out. That's all for now." He in his seat. "I'm tired. I'm going to sleep." later they heard him snoring. "The son of a Wagner muttered. "That's how he al- of these things." How?" Delgado asked. 4n a post-hypnotic trance, dead to the world,' 4aid, gesturing at McDavid. "He's sound asleep. ped us out completely. Can't hear a bloody 11 say. Wagner sighed. "I envy him at times ie Gama shook his head at Wagner. "Do not ck with your envy," the elderly scientist said. rv, at the first light of day, when we occupy with our silly little technical problems, when the new sun with singing, when the laughing children. His voice broke "It is then," de Gama continued fi- will do what none of us have the He leaned back in his seat and stared to be the one who tells woman with a child grow- a widow. 46 Martin Caidin Tony Pappas stretched out on the bare cot in his cell, his open eyes @ unseeing. He felt no concern about his arrest, the charges being gathered against himself and Tirado and Sanchez. He gave no thought to the many violations he had himself committed. He cared for none of these. He had a feeling. Not the kind -one describes or can even describe to another. Not so long ago . he had stood by the single window of his celL staring into the night sky. Too many clouds for the stars to shine through, no single gleam of a bright planet and the moon only a ghostly shadow through Ae low scudding clouds. Then he saw it, barely visible against the confii- sion of muddied night: the green flash from an enor- mous distance. A light seen fiom over the distant horizon, around the bend of the curving earth's surfikee. A flash more of a glow than the searing light he had known earlier. At first he smiled. He knew that light. A, secret he kept to himself. A moment later the glow was gone and the muddied sky darkened fearsomely. A stab of ice raced through his body and Tony Pappas shuddered. Something was very, very wrong. Something was out of time and out of place. He struggled to 1("t; the source of disturbance. He was a child of two worlds. His boyhood Mediterranean, the hills of Greece, ancient columns and monuments, and ghosts drifting along hfll- sides in the soft moonlight. Then the long journey to a distant continent, the feeling of emptiness he shared with Ins fiaher. They had both lost their most deeply beloved: his fiaheis wife. His mother. Wrapped in something they called death. A stranger, invisible, just as his mother was now. Invisible and gone and whisper- ing to him only in shadows and his dreams. Then the new world, strange tongues and people and customs, and a brown-skinned woman, kind and with deer eyes, began to fill the @pace of his life. He watched the woman and his fitther become closer, spend more time together, recognized the small, warm-smelfing fa- miliar touches and they told him he had a new mother. BEAmpiDERs 47 iao country and a new language. Strangely, @mptiness of the past grew the fullness of this and the Greek youth became a strapping VI man. Icarus flew in his traditional past but Tappas had his own wings and he was not t too close to the sun. Ahis cell, beneath the troubled sky, he felt remorsdul. A great loss. Somehow he knew, m@)did not know how or why, a close friend had @okker F-28 slid downward on a long invisible nicrowave energy toward the large military air- With the the ground the slipped beneath its final straight-in approach to de Miranda the very late hours of the night, only a dawn, the twin-jet machine attracted for it was but one of many military off and landed all night long. Besides, of Caracas filled with the flashing bea- red and white strobes and glowing red and lights of hundreds of aircraft. Aerodromo but one source of this constant activity. busy day and night, and the spMWl_ airline hub hosted dozens of airlines @sxnall. -28 eased earthward, touched lightly on its r and rolled to the fitr end of the runway, I by any save the military airfield personnel. P bAev@d. mockery of its the flanks of the area of Colorado er self when the furs and handsewn moc- in the past. The more to be found 48 Martin Caidin wearing Reeboks and Playboy casual& and driving Cor. vettes rather than riding horses bareback. All this fluffery was incidental to the interior of Cheyenne Moun- tam, which many years before had been removed from civilian access and spectacularly gouged, tunneled, mod- ified, cabled and equipped as a massive electronics command and control center for key personnel of the United States Air Force, either in peacetime or under the painful ministrations of a Soviet nuclear strike. The long-expected warheads with Made-in-Russia plu- tonium. never arrived, yet Cheyenne Mountain contin- ued to expand its goals and purposes by growing with the times. Its initial command facilities tracked incom- mg Russian aircraft and prepared intercept by fighter planes and missiles against such grim interlopers. The winged raiders began to yield the position of dominance to giant missiles that were kept poised to leap from ground silos and lunge upward from submarines, aimed at the heartlands of America with as many as a dozen hydrogen bombs in each flowering warhead. Again the calendar pages fell away and times changed, and men and machines journeyed on spears of flame to beyond the planet's atmosphere, there to place in invisible tug-of-war webs between gravity and centrifugal force thousands of strange objects, a few with men, many crammed with exotic instruments and power sources intended to look down and ferret out the secrets of what lay beneath the deliberate cover of nations friendly and unfriendly. The inevitable invariably follows the formerly inevita- ble, and the exigencies of the times, spurred on by the absence of nuclear war, had transformed the purpose of Cheyenne Mountain. No more the simple tracking and planned intercept of unfriendly objects, either whis- thng through atmosphere or creating ionized trails beyond the wis iest tendrils of planetary air. Cheyenne Moun- tain has become a critical intelligence center fbr all the itary, covert and intelligence agencies of the govern- ment. From the depths of the great mountain, its intel- ligence functions connected by tunnels and tubes, mil BEAmIUDERS 49 as if the in ountain itself were a )nnecting links a mixture of cyber- synapses, n eurons, and electrical pulses, I ment maintained a round-the-clock surveil- imply of enemies or potential enemies, but in the world capable of forming a group of @size. a new system, machine, de-Am or impact the future. lonel Jack Westphal, A-2 Command, -orce, had Venezuela on his mind as tiny down a gleaming corridor with a@d shining rock walls 'in the nether depths ke Mountain. Westphal was scanned, cov- tried, tested and scrutinized by an astonish- )f security systems during his passage deeper into the mountain, until finally he made an it turn down a final corridor, stopped to netically sealed doors to open in response to security code, and then moved with a glid- motion into Tracking and Data Center Num- n. Jack Westphal, slim of build, neatly moustache, and impressed with self as he toward wearing stars instead of eagles impacted his heels against the floor additional force to turn heads to notice majestic passage to the desk of Major Harry was quite the show. Westphal was greatly his performance and absolutely con- knew how carefully he had planned his past desks, consoles, computer arrays, data glowing maps, three-dimensional of various parts of the world includ- floor, satellite tracks, realtime films of activities and other esoteric elements of new age Of the atom and the long-range Wesphal came up abruptly before VELA HOTEL FLASH WARNINc., beneath Beach -was arrayed a series of readout 50 Martin Caidin panels and consoles that made a mockery of the wildes video game arcade ever assembled to collect the masse, comage of wide-eyed teenagers. Westphal ignored th equipment that had been cost-accounted at better the. one hundred and thkty-eight million dollars. Instead he rapped Ins left palm with a sheaf of papers nead coiled in his right hand and locked eyes with the major. "Harry, what the hell is going on? Major Vaughan laughed aloud; he couldn't helv it ft the face of the verbal incongruity He leaned 6-ack ft his chair and held out both arms in a gesture of SUDI)i cation. "Hell, Jack, look for yourself. This is the 6es place in the world to find out what's going on." "Yot "Ditch the snotty crap, " Westphal retorted. know what I'm talking about. Your Vela Hotels." The dumb son of @ bitch talks like ies a Monopo4 board, mused the-major, but he kept his thoughts tc himself and his face properly curious and impressed. Harry Vaughan slipped a shm Jamaican cigar from i neatly zipped breast pocket of Ins uniform shirt and 1i UP in a slow and deliberate series of small physics actions. He could almost hear teeth grinding in the jav Of the martinet before him. Vaughan had the faint bu still persistent sensation that Westphal was what t Russians had in mind when they ground out prol ganda against the United States, and he was also t very one-and-the-same representative figure of govei ment who scared the hell out of Americans aft-aid t good, old U. was on a plunging sleighride nuclear hell. He pushed the sudden forbidding from his mind. You're a major and he's a ci you re in a sensitive job and the son of a bitcl it to you. Now act subordinate, you dumb grinned at his own self-image and tried to act subordinate, "Sir," and he sat up straight as he spoke, "I want to, be absolutely certain I understand just what the colonel, wants answered. And I mean that seriously." He re moved the cigar from his teeth and held between thumb and forefinger and locked blues on the martinet before-him. "Sir," he a] BEAmpiDERs 51 ve got the Pentagon and the White House mu, Westphal said with grave overtones. an,,blinked. "Me?" ChrK Harry, is it every day you report nu- onations fiorn down in facking South Americal" leaned against a twenty-milhon-dollar corn- You know you're not supposed to smoke that 4 he said testily. sir, we re not supposed to smoke any kind of Vaughan said immediately. "But not to @el. I've cleared it with the computer. it's ked out." He held up the cigar and studied ent. "Something to do with golden tobacco know. But the computer did say it was didn't pause a single beat between chanizina, -You said they we in a flap at the V&t@e re meanin no disrespect, Colonel, and at the 9 Ot urinals are overflowing, Harry." k some kind of flap, sir," Harry Vaughan, id respectffilly. idn't make any mistakes did you, Harry?" jerked a thumb at the huge computer army ictioning and operation escaped him, although have denied such heresy to his mother and in went wide-eyed. His hand fell over his heart oked pain ied. "Sir, just look at these reportst"' )ed a computer plastisheet readout and ges- dly with it. I don't make up these reports, Westphal, all I do is monitor Baby, here," he :the computer console, "and I take the reports ft@dut and I send them on to the coded distri- Mamer list." Vaughan spread computer data covered from one end to the other with techni- figures whipped up by the corn- in a face he believed he kept to children. The only thing he hated were infants. Vomit stingers. Lino- he had to listen to Vaughan talking 52 Martin Caidin about Baby and spitting up. Holy shit. He leaned for- ward to study the printouts. Vaughan tapped the plastisheets. Any'vestige of levity was gone. This ME serious goddamn business and now he was suddenly d business himself. "Here," Vaughan said. His finger swept about the data sheet. "Two, sir, I repeat, ttvo Vela Hotel moniton and a Keyhole all flashed their reports at the same time. Let me emphasize that. At the sarne instant, and-2' Westphal broke in, his irritation now an honest erno. tional and professional reaction. A sort of unspokeE. truce had snapped into being between them. No more personal in-the-head jostling. "Dammit, Harry, they'vt got to be Wrong" His own hand came down with E crash on the printouts. 'nose Vela Hotel satellites art at, what, W thousand miles?" "Sixty one thousand two hundred thirty-one miles, sir," Vaughan said crisply. "All right, all right. So the Velas are at better than sixty grand, and they reported a light flash that could come only from a nuclear detonation, fission or f6sion doesn't atter. Harry, we're talking about something on the level of a facking hydrogen bomb. Vaughan refit his cigar. He had felt as perplexed as did Westphal and he let his own confusion leak through. It would bond them a bit better and it sure as hell wai an honest reaction. I know, i know, Colonel," vaugham said drily. I didn't send in this staff half-cocked. Sip I've already checked A direct radiation systems. know, the works. Gamma, neutron, x-ray; we swe I whole spectrum. Nothing. Besides, Colonel, did p really expect the Venezuelans to be testing a thermonu Westphal shook his head. "Those p@ople are still ir, the stone age," he admitted. I mean, they're still' flying hand-me-down War Two equipment-" "They're flying F-16 fighters, sk"' Vaughan broke it quietly. "They are?" Westphal looked incredulous. "I had nd I idea." He took a long breath and studied the paper! BEAmPaDERs 53 had placed before them. "All right, can we loy,,sense out of this? Thats why General Free- me here directly. Got my ass out of bed and 1 direct order to be here with you. So let's get t of it. First, you're confirming the flash report eyhole and two Vela Hotel satellites as you BP' ir. auge in any of the details?" ml sighed, "What about all these whackos off? You know all the UFO sightings. Did e in to you also?" the Velas or the Keyhole, Colonel. An- brought in those breakdown and the UFO them together reports?" go again. That's old just about sunset, rash of UFYs. I mean. AD over Venezuela. But some from then," he reflected, we've been fiom Brazil for years." "No, thats not enough, Colonel. to his panel and tapped in instruc- A large screen came alive f South America. the map expanded. points. "Those for tonight only." a s Westphal obvi- @constitutes little stock in alien fiom a re soul tonight fiom Venezuela, Co- 'Tanarna, Brazil and-I want to emphasize this got reports fiom the crews of at least a and another coded report from one of 54 Martin Caidin our Blackbirds on an overflight to Cuba. That crew, sir, one of our best, gets to be on the same footing as all your whackos. Westphal grimaced and shook his head in frustration. "You know, Harry, I'd feel better if the Russians also had this headache to go wid,--2' Vaughan grinned and broke in. "Excuse me, sir, but you go right ahead and enjoy yourself." "What the hell does that mean?" "Colonel, the crew aboard the Mir station saw not only the UFOs but also that crazy light, what we're calling the bomb flash, or whatever it was, -froin their orbit. They had detector alarms go off and one of the Russians happened to be eyeballing the local scenery when the whatever-it-is kicked into gear. He was still complainnig about green an hour later." Vaughan stud- ted. the colonel. 'Toiu, ah, wouldn't know anything about the Russians kicking over any cans at the White House, sir?" Westphal said, "No, I don't,' but he nodded his head vigorously. Vaughan took the signals quietly. So the Russians were mystified and raising hell and Washington wanted that kept quiet. Westphal suddenly pounded a fist into his other hand. V, 4@1' Frustration hovered about him like an electrical spark. "Dammit, Harry, it doesn't add upl No sense at Al" Vaughan looked up and offered the colonel a crooked smile. "No, Sir, it sure don't.' With those words he also offered his unspoken message. Better you in the barrel: than me, Colonel ... Both men turned as a sergeant approached them. From the look on her face she was all business. From the look on Major Vaughan's face he had looked at this sergeant many times before and was still as impressed with what her breasts did to a unifi)rm. The colonel started to appreciate buxom beauty but had his reverie cut short as she extended the message to him. "Sir, top priority. Orders to deliver this to you in person. You're to bring all reDorts on the anomalv to P- BEAmIUDERS 55 Intag I on immediately. " She handed him a clip- @`Please sign here, sir." 3hal scribbled his signature, returned the clip id held the message in one hand as he watched jitifid female form departing. is hen, colonel," Vaughan offered. t:does that mean, Major?" Westphal snarled. talk sir, you re going to to some lean machines crazy house on the Potomac, and I get to watch Mrious ass walking back and forth here." *re not finmy, Major." me great trip, sir. VP Id Chapter IV Black. No; almost black. Darkness sieved by faint glows the eyes demand time to confirm as real. Glowing reds so faint they're easily mistaken for the red glow.a man gets from squeezing his eyes tightly. Then other dim colors. Amber, green, blue; tendrils @i@ and whorls and blocks and patterns coming into focus. :; i Gauges, dials, instruments. An advanced machine of ii some kind. A gloved hand comes into view, turns a dial @i@ and the lights glow brighter. No question. A COCKPIL Through a sharply angled slab windshield a nd gob- rou lin light hangs in nothingness. Its the moon seen through 46I the armored glass windshield of a Lockheed SR-71 Black- bird, cruising at eighteen hundred miles an hour through 4 air so thin an unprotected man would die of stricken lungs within seconds of exposure. A single brighter fight at the very bottom edge of the armor glass. The world tilts to give two men and their camera a better view. One instant the single light, green and fuzzy, is unknown miles away and before the eye can blink the light is here and just as quickly, faster than a man's thought, it is gone. Darkness again, time fbr the eyes to adjust, and before they can define the now-remembered glowin tendrils and whorls a greenish mass fills all the woM before the shark nose of the machine, appears, disap- pears, all foster than the thought of remembering it all. Green light, instruments, armored windscreen, gloved hands vanish in sudden bright white lights as the screen goes dark and the conference room fluorescents ripple 56 BEAMRIDERS 57 @@g brightness. As eyes adjust to the light a picture screen slides upward magically to hin its ceiling recess. hit," a man's voice is heard. bur seats, please," asks another voice, ignor- ild epithet, understanding it as well. a hundred we re inside a How $WY! Sin and as she Dut the round conference room and studied ix people here with her. Few people had of this particular room, which was a great bedded in steel-reinforced concrete and Sur- th a living web of electromagnetic patterns ing under computer random ministrations to I rooms security fi-om outside attempts to @werrt on within. Kim Seavers sighed. She this was so grossly unnecessary. We're Wke Aomes meeting in some technotogwal forest, #oom all a"t us, and what we're trying to 4 marvelous new light into the world muscle in her left shoulder, a physical training she and Mor- went through every day, seven and intense, to sustain their Morgan Scott she could His in name could have been dedica- W from head to toes, craggy and scarred, as As and as quiet as a deacon studying in the a church bell tower. A mixture of man and didn't alwaus understand but a man on whom always rely. Morgan had long before earned 1E; physically the man was a superbly ftinc- chine, yet he was detached from his skills s. He could not be insulted. She felt Morgan gh life communicating on some lofty plane, iphysical body carry through the motions NW of it. He seemed to have no driving force 58 Martin Caidin that impelled him through his brutal physical condition- ing, yet he might as well be driven by a fervent reli. gious fever. She had quit trying to understand; more important to trust. Their relationship, shared with a dozen other young men and women, was as much a mystery to themselves's as to outsiders. They had been recruited through a government front working through the Olympics. Once their competitions were behind them they were offered a most extraordinary arrangement. A woman cracked" V! the subject in a gym; not until their conversation had ended did they discover that the gym was mysteri- J ously empty of anyone save their own group. "Ibis is an offer from your government. Two govern- ments, actually. Both friendly. Both working together. We are not military or paramilitary. You won't be trained for lethal purposes nor will you be asked to train for such work. You wiU be required to remain in nothin less than terrific physical conditioning and you will work day and night to develop certain physical and mental skills, and technical skills, that are presentlyabsent from your own abilities. You win be sworn to both secrecy and loyalty and the penalties for breaking either win be severe. But if you fit within this envelope of what we're asking, we can promise you the best physi- cal training in the world, additional training that will prepare you for a dozen different disciplines, a great deal of challenge, travel and excitement. Well attend to all your bills and your needs and each of you will have twenty thousand dollars, tax free, deposited in individual accounts of your own choosing every year." The young blond woman seemed to gain in strength and power as she talked. Kim Seavers was the first to break in. "Is what you're asking us to do dangerousF' "Mere are three answers to that question, came the immediate reply. "First, everything is dangerous, even if you can't see the danger. Second, not necessarily. 11 Third, I guarantee the danger. Therell be danger. risks, BEAMRIDERS 59 6 challenge. Ut's say your horizons of the future @ftremendously expanded." if we're killed?" one of their group queried. tou'U be dead and I assure you that you won't I., did it. signed up. Theyd been training for an a year Mountain climbing, skydiving, un- r work- they became skilled in demolitions com- electrordcs, computer operations; they drove s and large and small airplanes, boats and submarines. They became mechanics and and learned at least four languages each. ed to live off deserts and jungles and the in the world. Wy 8W didn't know why. to@ herself. She caught the and offered a smile. She would Morgan's evaluation of her. She professional abilities. She was a anius, a master -es and all the in world culftu demanded of them. Seavers had a strang@ is about her from a Venezuelan mother and i father. There must have been some An- Morgan looked at this woman and saw an high-cheekboned beauty. xft turned their attention back to the room. ft was known. Full global situation maps ving walls. Digital computer displays with stag- uantities of hibrinati6ii about which neither makeni really cared much. Everything was very complicated, and smacked of ginive overnment operations. They judged accuracy that all this was tied in to the x%rity Agency and perhaps even to the Cen- Rence Agency, but the latter organization had been.or, was being shoved aside, its @Rmn d America s best interests having turned of vast fervent patriots. this was all 60 Martin Caidin NSC and a few other outfits like it?" Morgan whispered to Kim Seavers. "There's anoth Scott er side to this. 1 don't know who is who and what ball teams are playing here but I do know quite a bit about th at cat over there. She looked at a physically huge man with broad shoulders and intense blue eyes beneath a wild shock of pure white hair, and instantly she liked whoever-it -was. "What's his name?" "Mat's Senator Patrick Xavier Elias, the hound from Hell as far as most government operations are con- cerned." Scott chuckled. "Officially he's the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Government Operations. A hound 4kg with a cocked shotgun and a very big whistle he can blow on anyone. He runs what they call the See to his right? That's Craig ike two pit bulls in a dee@ I mean hates." ..Craig Mancini after no the man., Tall, dark, in- look of the lead vulture fi-om an immoral f of the filthy creatures. What's he do?" she whispered to Morgan Scott. "He looks like an undertaker who's had all his- cadavers stolen." Scott grinned. "You're going to find this tough to believe, but that dude, and I can tell already hov@'fond You are of him, is the big mocker of the science division of the NSC. More to the point , he's a direct advisor to the Presiden Vim?" "Don't let the buzzard beak fool you. He's a genius in his own right in a dozen scientific disciplines.,, Inen what's his problem?" Scott I ome Pe aughed to himself. 'S ople were born with a shitty attitude. He's one of them, that's all." Seated near Senator Elias was a face she'd seen on television many times, and even more often found in the pages of Newmveek and Dow Caleb Massey, the renepde of the scientific world, Peck's Bad Boy physics, the crazy man who mixed the metaphymcoalf BEAmpwus 61 to the j@quantuni mechanics and made it all work astati consternation Of ng his conservative associates- sion, and he'd Wm revered and hated with equal pas he told it his career 0 nto the jagged edge when esident of the United States where he could get I to stick his SDI program as far up the Presid`Tt'al Ae as it could go. What blew so many minds in industry was, first, that what Massey unent ' and 't the ted to with the Star Wars program wasn un or the concept but the muddling screwups by of industry and science who were all ny captains overtime to gain fiscal weight as fiLt cats of that D9 lot of ng endeavor. "Throw out the whole minds. told the President. "Bring in res i A in the strongest opponents of SDI and in e rk 'work seven days a week to Prove it can't 'o ;ay they'll probably get the job done faster than else." second, as fiLr as mind-blowing was concerned, at the President hadn't taken any umbrage a' the colorful expressions of y fi-ank mannerisms and sidential anatomy as a referring to the aft pre of a national Program- He and Massey had itory ed friends. friends for many years and they remain and it I Mancini had for bound them together as if by steel wire, id the intense dislike Massey and bootlicker," is mother. "Goddamn Wop immigrant Massey called Mancini. "Smartest son Of a bitch to e out of Italy since Michelangelo and he hasn't got common sense to pour piss out of a boot without a presidential toe map. if he'd stop sucking the big busy light speak some common sense, but he's so to wield the presidential whip for a president s too occupied to do it himself that we've got a y Mussolini with a fat lip on our hands." gh with government rethought Massey was all thrOu Seavers whispered to Morgan Scott- Quit cold." the senator are Old warhorses; from way 62 Martin Caidin back- Been in the same harness pulling together many times. Elias leaned on that fneiidship-and talked him into coming here." "But why?-' @"You ask a hell of a lot of questions." "And you've just stopped answering thenil" Seavers hissed back. Morgan Scott gave her a rueful grill. "Because I just ran out of answ-ers. - He nodded to take in another figure across the conference table. "You know himr "Uh uh. I'm a fish out of water in here," she replied. 'Tbe man who was a s"nger to them was a cham, leon. They show have known Jack Kilgore because Jack Kilgore knew them- and their parents and Mends and in fitct had reams of data on Morgan Scott and Kim Seavers. That was his job. He worked for the IAtin ]3'v'sion Of the State Department and he was terrific at his job. No one who met lack Kil could remember, gore within Iwo hours, what he looke-d like. First introduc- tions indicated a man in a pale grey suit with pale sandy hair and FWe brown glasses and a limp-nothing hand- shake and a voice that sounded like a couch @usjjo-. wheezing softly. .You, re looking at a chameleon." "You're not making sense." "Try to remember this conversation. Above all, try to remember what that man Kilgore looks like,,' M organ I guarantee that two hours fi-om now you urg - @'Ie to describe him to me.' =not 1:@ "That's ridiculous" "That's a shp of and a pen urge& yourself a aboutjack Kilgore. $hp it into a shirt PO( I feel sflly,- she said. "You'll feel like an idiot later, he Promised. He nodded at Colonel jack wes!phal, ,jearm able tan jacket with leather elbow hes military," he told Seavers. BEAMRIDERS 63 "He sure hides it well," she said with a shade of sarcasm. I "He hides it lousy," Scott contradicted. I know what to look for, you don't." "All right-" "That jacket has been selected for its casual look, but if he were a, civilian he would absolutely have left it home. The leather patches cry out for attention. Also, it's been packed too long. Hasn't had time to have the packing creases pressed out. He's not wearing a neck- tie, right? That's a bola tie. Zufii Indian most likely; maybe Navaho. Thunderbird figurine, silver tips on the leather. Rare in the east. Oh, specialty shop might have it, and you can order it from a catalog, but the leaffier shows he's had it a while. One gets you ten, little love, he's at least a light colonel and he's stationed out west. Before Kim Seavers could reply, the angry voice of Craig Mancini cracked across the room with dead aim at Westphal. "Colonel Westphal, you brought me here air?" to look at some stupid lights flying through the Scott nudged Kim Seavers and grinned, but they kept silent and listened as Mancini turned to Senator Elias. His voice went fi-om acid to hot-peppered scathing. "A goddamned UFO, Senator." Mancini's hands went into the air and he fiurly threw himself backward in his chair. "A UFO, for Chrises sakel What's next?" He jerked a thumb at Westphal. "This idiots impression of Santa Claus? 01he North in a fitlse beard and a red suit sailing through the sky?" Elias barely contained his pleasure at the bubbling anger in Mancini. "Well, hell, Craig," he said with a jolly lilt to his voice, I do believe you'll admit YOU never saw anything like it before." "There's a hell of a lot I haven't seen beforel There's a hell of a lot I have no reason ever to seel" Mancini shouted. "And all I saw just now was a lightl A light about which you can't tell me a damned thing Westphal swallowed hard, jumping in as if he were naked. 'Sir, Mr. Mancini, that hot is something pretty Medal." 64 Martin Caidin "It 1muldilave been another planet There's no way to tell fiom that asshole film you just showed usl" `1f it was another Plane then it would have to be something that can fly at better than a hundred thou- sand feet with our Blackbird, sir.- Mancini calmed himself, looked at Westphal as if he'd just discovered something slimy emerging through a hole in the carpet. "You cannot possibly be that much of an idiot, Colonel. No, no, I take that back. You most assuredly Can. I begin to wonder if you didn't obtain Your commission from the Sears catalog." said with growing despera- aircraft at one hundred tell you that there's at a hundred and six Mancini offered a ruefid grin to Senator Elias. "is he on e of the chimps left over fiom the Mercury pro- gram?" Bef@re Elias could answer mancrin was on nothing in south Amer- sand feet. @ did you not?- offered with a tDUch that Blackbird when these fihns were taken?" "Uh, over the southern plateaus of Venezuela, sir?" Mancini smiled, teeth bWj@t under the fluorescents. MY, my, what a clever little boy we have here. I'll bet you even know that Venezuela is in South America, don't you?" Westphal wanted to die but Mancini wasn't about to retrieve the hook yet. "Colonel, what is the altitude record for an aircraft with an air-brea engine?- "I, uh, I'm not sure, sir-" "You are assigned to A-2? What is loosely called our Intelligence Section? Or, in your cue, what called our Intelligence Section? You a colonel of our air force in unaware that the record we one _0 BEAmpiDERs 65 seven thousand eight hundred sixteen feet and this record is held by an 11yushin E One Eight Two? Does this awaken any of those slumbering cells y ,ou call a memory between your unwashed earn, C010- riel or whatever you are?" Elias went to the rescue. "That's very impressive- Craig. The point is that light was not an airplane, and it was well over one hundred thousand filet over Venezuela." Me point is, my dear senator, is that balloons for weather research, cosmic ray research, manned flight research and no less than another thirty-one major sci- entific investigations drift about this planet of ours, including all of South America, at altitudes of up to a hundred@and sixty thousand feet, and they do cam lights, arid they do drift in jetstreams at four hundred Imots an&--@' He stopped for a long breath and a wicked smile. "My point, sir, speaks for itself.- "wasn't a balloon, either," El said s He turned iss oftly to the crestfallen Westpbd. "Colonel, give him the rest." He pointed to Mancini. "Keep quiet until he finishes." "Patrick Xavier, don't you tell me--:' "Shut up, Craig. Dammit, Colonel, get with itl" Westphal turned grateffilly fiom the senator to fikce the poised wrath of Craig Mancini. "Sir, the SR Seventy- one aircraft that took that film is also equipped with Mark Forty Tracking Radar." His own words seemed to give Westphal strength and he burned on. "The radar officer followed that light, or whatever was behind, that light to give a very solid radar bounce, to an altitude of two hundred twenty thousand feet. At that point track- ing capability was lost." Before Mancini could say a word, the senator moved in. "What speed, Colonel?" "Sir, it went right off scale." "And what is maximum scale?" Elias added quickly. 'Four thousand miles per hour, sir." Mancini leaned forward, his eyes narrowed- Elias hadn't been misled a fiaction of an inch by Mancini's performance in skinning the colonel alive. Son of a 66 Martin Caidin bitch was also wearing a skull mogemsetunre'dHfoer atte- d looken- tion. sharp hell with that light. I war of your statement. You said light or d was tracked over South America? Specifically, point of contact was over the southern plateau region of Venezuela?" "Yes, sir," Westphal said crisply. "Confirm the aircraft type again," Mancini demanded. "Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, sir. Submodel D6." Mancini used his words as if they were a spear, addressing himself to both Elias and Westphal. "What the hell was that machine doing over Venezuela? We don't have any reciprocal agreement for reconnaissance overflights with those people. "I'll answer for him," Senator Elias replied. "Ihis is out of his bailiwick, Craig. That flight was standard response to an unexplained light flash of extreme but unknown intensity. The. aircraft was on an assigned run fi)r Nicaragua and was diverted by code signal during flight. rU confirm all of it for you Mancini looked !? Jack Kiijore. "What does State have to say about this r Kilgore shrugged. "No objections are on record." "Don't pussyfoot with me, goddammid" Kilgore remained an unperturbed near-phantom. "We informed the Venezuelan government of our flight. They chose not to consider the Blackbird overflight as' an intrusion. Therefore there is no violation of standard operational procedure. " Kilgore might have been speak- ing to an unruly child rather than the science advisor to the President. Heads turned to the sound Of a chuckle from Caleb Massey. He hadn't said a word. He looked like a grizzly bear contented with a huge ineal. The chuckle subsided but a smile began; tolerant silent mirth for the verbal clatter about him. Whoever and whatever Caleb Mas- sey was, he had a damping effect on Mancini. His voice lost its knifelike slash 1@ BEAMRIDERS th..e chuckling grizzly back to @mancini turned fiom Something crazy. Reports of dd with sudden candor. been all over my case," he Aies. "The President has nuclear detonation in the middle of the damn jungle." brestaU interruption- "Ive seen e held up a hand to I the coubadictary material, A light flash in the visible satellites )ectrum so intense our military motiftring iggered their alarms. But nothing on radiation, Pene- or non-suf Rcient to ating or subsidence. No heat, fohage in the area in question. And so forth. deteriorate !Ws a huge contradiction- Crazy. e and For the first time Caleb Massey stirred to bf iL we did a pattern grid On Eight thousand square position in his chair. Mancini, we now have all with the same charac- bash." Massey didnt rattle Mancini's cage. Mancini wanted information and he had no ego problems when It came to getting what he wanted. "Anything specific? Lati- tude, longitude, altituder we@lw. ..Put it on the graphics Elias motioned to Westphal nodded and tapped buttons before dimmed and a holographic three- The room lights st a far materialized again dimensional map of Venezuela along with waR. Names of geographical areas appeared data readouts of map coordinates. The holographic map n expanded, giving the viewers the ii Pression Of Plung heady speed. motion froze abruptly. ing earthward with is in the known "The greatest intensity reported area Westphal began. as Mancini growled. The world7s highest--2' you 1diot, spare me your National Geographic spe- dais and get to the nunabersl- Hell, man, read them for yourse"f"' Massey said Mancini's behavior. with his own touch of contempt for W486 ..]["lots, curtly. 12 Massey gestured to VW. he said 68 Martin Caidin Massey looked at Elias and the senator nodded. They didn't need words for Caleb Massey to take on Mancini. -Spare me the speeches and the sophomoric debat- as an angry warthog. "What I do not like try to mix appar- The light Wh- unmediw and fidl investi- natural phenomena about which we know nothing or may have a more mundane artificial explanation. I grant all this to you. I have judged the ptoresponse of the Vela Hotels and Keyhole satellites. But to use all this to lend credence to these idiotic UFO claims, and do not again base your conclusions on some cheaply made radar systems in an airplane, the everything fi-om elft- observer who cannot I am disappointed and v( found heri@-2' broke in. "If you'd just sti to Sp political stumping, we'd ha been out ago. Get to the damn poind" Mancini flushed and then turned icy cold. "Just what are you doing here, Caleb?" A poisonous smile flashed and went. "As I recall, you abandoned our ship of state, let down our President-" "He's here at my specific request," Senator Elias snapped- "Well, then, as an official member of this little party," Mancini sneered at Ma@sey, "most of whom are up- tighter than a constipated cat, do you also have a UFO to offer up as a scientific sacrificiaf lambr Massey toyed with a cigar, looked directly at Mancini. "Nope. If nothing else, Craig Mancini respected Caleb Mas- "Do you have something sey. !or me to take back to the white House about the possibaft I" nuclear device detonating in the area we speefflcar singular or plur gation. It may "No ionizing ra(iation, sey litBhJis1ci1g1aDrERS 69 1 Nope." Mas idual radiation, no thermal pulse2 no fireball and ;@s d)sequent mushroom cloud, no seismological distur- noes, no reports of permanent blindness to anyone, on and so forth. Ergo, tell the President to sleep , No bomb." SY cant ippre it," westphal broke in, almost 1@1@ But we &intive in his unspoken request for ftuther mvesti@tiom "We can damned well ig@ore it until we get more than super flashlight" Mancini snapped. pushed between them. "Even a "No, we can't," Elias dse reading or something that our computer systems us on the edge of a war. Don't Usinterpret can )ok so surprisk a hell of a lot of and the reah- The senator met the eyes' of everyone in he went on. We once went to a war our warning satellites Picked up a mass in Russia. It could only have been mis- to full red alert. Pull the handles and a few billion tons of hell on the way to we also would have started something destroyed the earth--because of a pe- @;troleum line fin scattered by fog and haze," Mancini tapped the table with nervous fingers, He "Do you have a hated to ask anything Of Caleb Massey. reliable judgement of the source or content of that light flash?" he asked carefully. "Got a pretty good idea." Morgan Scott nudged Kim Seavers. "That's the best imitation of a Kentucky good Ol' boy I've ever seen,' he whispered. She leaned closer to Scott. "Maybe its not an act-" Scotts brows went up and he nodded, smiling "Dammit, Caleb," Mancini pressed, -if you know 11 what it is- "said I W a I didn't say I knew," Massey allowed. which is a country mile fi-om saying e =d g!!@ PC= facts to tell the Presidentl" Mancini shouted. "I need 70 Martin Caidin "Tell the man anything you like, " Massey said pleas- antly. "Hell, Craig, I'm not his advisor. you are.,, Mas- sey smiled. "You're such a smart son of a bitLh, act like one. Craig Mancini could think with lightening speed. He knew he couldn't relate the details of this-meeting as they'd transpired. The President would boot him down the nearest flight Of stairs- SO Mancini used some of his smarts- '.All right, Crai& then I'm asking You for your opinion. I want to take it with me to the White House. 11 Massey nodded agrBeablY, hitclied himself a bit higher .in hi' chair- "I , in warning YOU, first, you sure as hell aren't going to believe me-. am on the record,' Mancini said quietly and with unaccustomed patience, "as asking fi)r your opinion and your help." Well,- I can't turn that down, - Massey said without any touch of sarcasm. "Okay, short speech, prediwed with the note that I'm me. Them's the rules." He "I spent four years TO me it's a pretty dumb pTgram. Won't w(rk. Hell of a waste of money. I could be wrong Been wrong befi)re. Even Einstein's been wrong, so if 1, goofed in m ve in in good compani. opinion I y He Paused for a moment of reflection. --But Ive been in the middle of the most advanced laser resear& known. That light flash we've been talking about. You've been talking and I've been thinking. Gentlemen, and YOU, miss," he nodded to Kim Seavers, "Ought me two things tonight. First, the flash in Venezuela laser- generated. Absolutely no question about it- was He went silent again. Kim Seavers, fiscinated by ev- erything about Caleb Massey, leaned &rward. "Sir, Vol] said you learned two things tomght@ wills the seoo@4-?T Massey offered a thin snifle. -1be se1DOnd thing Ive learned, young woman, is that whoever is generating that land of laser power is yews beyond anything the best scientists of tins country, or the jaussans, have ever done." BEAMRIDERS 71 was it. Massey eased back into his corn )rta) e and sucked deeply on his cigar. Senator Elias #fted his position in his chair and Massey smiled. He Rew when the white-haired old bastard was getting fighting posture. The big question was whether or t Mancini had the smarts to recognize just what was . g down. As a senate bulldozer Elias had the mus- @p to roll over and flatten even Craig Mancini. And iey were at the point when someone had to do wwthing. To his credit, Mancini took the bit firmly in his jaws- @- his everlasting discredit he did so with all the finesse a great white tiger shark in a feeding frenzy. Mancini -rid and stabbed a finger at Westphal. "Colonel, as of moment this is a full-fledged investigation. You get w1team of our best people down to Venezuela and you Cget them there hmnediateiy. You have my ftill author- ifty, and I'll give it to yot! in writing, to take whatever - need to get to the bottom of this affair. Under- 'YOU VA @__ Dur people down there, find out what kind U. courmuninnie bullshit is going on, and you report back Ao me. No in-betweens, understand?" He glan6ed coldly ..at Caleb Massey and Senator Elias. "You report to me, -in person, at the White House, got it?" "Yes, sir," Westphal said immediately. "For Christ's sake, Craig," Elias broke in, "aren't you ward people. Most of their goats and pigs. Damn country is swamp and moun tains and natives with one foot still in the stone age." Kim Seavers didn't know her mouth was open, that she had gasped audibly with sudden temper that began to explode outward. She felt pressure on her arm from Morgan Scott, who motioned her attention to the sena- tor. Elias gestured for her to remain quiet. Kim pressed her lips so tightly they turned white. s about stomping there: a cold laua- and a face. "Why? What good country. A back- still live in straw huts with 72 Martin Caidin "Craig Mancini," Elias spoke with deliberate spacing of his words, "you are unquestionably one of the dumb- est and most insensitive human behigs I have ever had the misfortune to meet." Mancini smiled, a man who knows what power he holds. "Senator, I don't give a rats ass for your opinions about either my intelligence or what you call my insen- sitivity. You remind me of that khot British government official who refused to let his intelligence officers read intercepted Nazi messages befire the second world war. Gentlemen don't read other gentlemen's mail, he said, and they got the second world war for their sensitivity. I am here with people I absolutely would rather not have fi)r company because something strange and, in my opinion, idiotic, is going on down in Venezuela. it doesn't fit any patterns. its crazy enough to @Wer satellite warnings and everything else we've had before us tonight. YoOl notice, Senator," Mancini stressed with a sneer, "the Venezuelaiis haven't come forward either. So I'm doing my job. And what's behind all this bushwah. Caleb Massey, there, acts like the damn pope At a Shriner's convention and rattles on about all this being caused by a laser, but by a laser that's too powerful to exist and that's far beyond the capability of either us or the Russians. That's some pretty far-out concluding on his part. A laser made with adobe clay and hauled7around by an ox cart. Massey can't identify what's going on but he's content to act like the smug, waddling college professor, and--2' Mancini drew himself up short. "For the record. Massey, I don't want it said I didn't give you every chance to get on the record. Do you want to add anything to the report III be Massey blew out a cloud c the floor and smiled. "Nope, Mancini held out both Of I "See? Nothing. Not fi-oin and maybes and that sort Which leaves us no choice ly ashes to to Elias. BEAmRIDERS 73 It what is really going on. Patrick " Mancini spoke sty, "let's say Massey is Ith sudden unexpected hone was one of the best-" ght. In his better days Caleb assey, who offered a @ He paused to glance at Caleb M of no-one's- -thy grin in response, a facial gesture ted-in-your-birdshit, feUa. '!,et's say," Mancini ununued quickly, "that we re really dealing with a know it's not a Russian laser?" kser. How do you Massey broke his silence. "You're a fool or an idiot, 4ancini. I confess to not knowing which," "Well damned well Anger clouded Mancini's face . zee," he said ominously. "For everyone in this room, . everyone, this matter is now top secret. I'm invoking ;the war securities act of this country. You say one word about this meeting or the contents of what we @i public were discussing-- ,,What?,, Massey looked up in mock horror. "Youre not telling the world about our UFO's?" ---and you'll be behind bars so fast You wont know what happened," Mancini finished with a snarl. Senator Elias brought his hand down with a sharp cracking sound on the table, -sending papers fluttering to the floor. He let out a long suppressed sigh of dis a taste for the man from the White House. "You're dinosaur, Mancini. it's that simple. you're still mentally in the age of the dinosaurs. Big dumb beasts with a lot of authority and no brains." "Shut up, Senator." Elias smiled coldly. -You get to make that mistake only once, mister,' he said s - moothlY- "You ever talk in that to ne to me again and I'll take you out befi)re the public, in fiont of the entire nation, and III bust YOU UP into little pieces of dinosaur feces." He tagged on a Wau smile. "Besides, you,re a bluster. You do not have the authority to invoke any governmental acts of any kind beyond adding to everyone's distaste for YOU- Of The senator rose Ponderously to his feet, a grimace 74 Martin Caidin pointed a gnarly finger at Mancini, -let me give you warning in a more official my manner. You pull any of that Olhe North crap by interfering in the internal affairs of Venezuela, which is one of the best nation friend., we have on this planet, and I will bring you officially up before the entire Senate, and I will break you person- ally. Not even the President will be able to help you through that." He pushed back his chair, looked neither left nor right, and walked stonily from the room. Seaver,, Scott and Massey followed, seavers a d Scott s, g n owin their PI with a concealed gesture fiom Massey. Not a word was spoken during the long walks down corridors, in the elevator, or on the high landing of the building they'd Just left- They moved through a winding garden path to !he P@rking lot. With a clear view before and behind them, between a high hedge to each side, Sena- tor Elias stopped to face the three le f him. Kim seavers was amazed. fhe Peop I ollowIng angry man she'd seen in the conference room was gone; in his place was a grandfiaherly, kind gentleman of silken yet visible Power kept deep beneath the surfiLee. She felt instantly she could trust this man without reservation. "I t's very important that I meet with you three to- morrow," Elias said. As he saw their expressions and they nodded assent he hurried on. "Not in my office. don't trust anyone there not to bug the place and what I wish to discuss with You must be and remain absolutely confidential. Kim was startled and didn't hide it. "Senator, they would bug your officer' "My dear, my office, the men's room, the ladies' room, the cafeteria, the rafl system between the upper and lower houses, taxicabs," he gestured with a sweep is of h arm, "even these bushes. - He patted her arm reassuringly. "Not to worry, Young lady. My own team is sweeping this area with both PICCJCUP@alerts and sonic brushes to mess up any attempt at recording whatever we say here." BFAMRIDERS 75 Kim looked from the senator to Massey and Scott. I don't understand-21 "You will soon enough," Massey filled in. "Do you trust us?" I "You? And the senator?" She offered a short laugh of relief. "My God, yes. Of coursel" @ Massey nodded and returned his attention to the @senator. "Any ideas on a place, Patrick?" The white-maned head7shook slowly. "I'm more poli- 'fician than spy caleb. Kim Seav;i@ moved forward. "I have a perfect place for what you need, sir," she said to Elias He nodded for. her to continue. but if you want to talk in the middle of bedlam, "I'm still not sure ;it;t this is all 11 we , she nodded at Scott, "have just the ticket." "Go on, 90 on," Massey urged. ..Our training camp across the river, "' she said quickly. "The indoor himdball courts. With the playing, sneak- @ers on the floor squeaking, the ball, and the shouting and the echoes you can hardly hear yourself think in there." She smiled. "Senator, that's our turf. Elias nodded in agreement and motioned for them to walk with him the rest of the way to his car. "Tomorrow 4@at noon," he said as he stood by the car door. A finger waggled at Kim. "But I warn you, miss, I play a very rough game." He chuckled and moments later he was .,,gone. Morgan Scott turned to Massey. "We going to talk any more about tonight, sir? There are sure a lot of holes I'd like to fill." Massey put his arm about Scott's shoulders. "I have a wonderful idea. Let's go to my club. Very private, very posh. I need a drink. I think we can aU use a drink." He gestured and led them along the walk. '. My car , s this way. Besides," he went on, "I need to know a great deal more about this young lady and her, ah, associ- ates. " He smiled at Kim. "We're going to become very close friends. 1. s side. "It's all "Fine by me," Yjm said, walking by hi 76 Martin Caidin a big mystery to me. Even why we were here, you know, in that meeting." "You were there because I wanted you there," Mas- sey said quietly. "You? Wanted tne there?" She shook her head. "Now I understand even less than I did before." "Well, let's start off by saying that nothing I said in that meeting tonight was a guess. That will do for right now," he cautioned. "Even the trees have ears, young lady. Kim kept her silence. Finally Massey offered her another tidbit as they entered his car. "What kind of training, Kim, are you going through?" She started to answer, held back what might have been a foolish answer, then studied the big man. "It's an Everything curriculum." 'Well said," Massey told her. "What organization do you work for?" "The Olympic Committee," she said after a moment's hesitation. "Very good," Massey responded. "Your answer is precisely the one you were told to use whenever asked that question." Her eyes widened. "How did you know thatl- Morgan Scott laughed. "Kim Seavers," he said with a s7emepingCgesture "allow me to introduce you to the ly p c ommi&e. Chapter V in the gunnees seat of the Gen ral Luis Espinoza sat e as if he'd been Sio combat jet helicopter, as relaxed ux his living room in his favorite easy chair. But at home in ven a comfortable he was a lone wav from home or e r@vs bound his body gently but firmly seat. Multiple st - to the gunner's seat and all about him curved clear lexan so that he sat within a transparent bubble that itself at a th every flung hundred and forty miles an hour down a twisting and turning wi jungle plains river, to each side tear- bend a@d curve of the water, foliage ring blur. Thirty miles ahead of ing by in an eye-Wate mesas that loux reared the buttes and the howling S' spinoza looked marked the area of Angel Falls- General E then to his left and right. Beneath the low clouds -he UP, liked the weather as if it had been made to order for g strobes of heavr-lift their mission-he saw the flashin sem- Sikorsky helicopters, ungainly Skycranes that re bled nothing so much as paying mantises made of s. some thundered aluminum I-beams and giant rotor toward Angel Falls' rooftop, the Devil's Plateau. others facilities had ground their way to sites where BEMAC year. Still more worked around the clock for nearly a the opposite direction, carrying droned and rumbled in odd shapes and cargo loads on long slings beneath their rugged bodies- Behind the Sioux helicopter with the phlegmatic gen moved in a steady eral, wide-bodied jet cargo transports succession firom the remote airstrip. As fast as they descended steeply from the sky and rolled in clouds of boiling dust to a halt, aft cargo ramps lowered and 77 78 Martin Caidin dozens of men pushed and bullied equipment and dis- mantled structures into the planes, grappled them down with chains and cables, and signaled the pilots to take off immediately. General Espinoza was pleased with the pace of events. The heavy cloud cover concealed their activity fi-om prying reconnaissance planes and satellites, and "massive defense maneuvers" conducted by the Venezuelan military, with swarms of armed heli- copters, ground attack planes and swift F-16 fighters, @Iong with dire warnings of unauthorized penetration by any kind of vehicle. I Venezuelas scientists fi-om the BEMAC team were clearing out. Thev had little idea of how to do the task in less than six nionths. Unburdened by extensive sci- entific knowledge, and an unquestioned master of mih- .1 tary logistics, Espinoza was doing the impossible. will have everything out of the Auyan-Tepuy in three days," he told Doctor Felipe Mercedes, BEMAC Director. "That is really quite impossible, you know," Mercedes The two men were ,impossible, " he repeated. scientist with eyes resem- glittered unlike anything "Felipe, I don't waste my time saying things I cannot do. You know better." Mercedes studied the general. Had he really known and worked with this man for more than twenty years? He marveled at Luis Espinoza, ramrod spit-and-polish military with a face and body carved from granite. Mercedes knew his record. No galloping Latino Patton here; Espinoza had earned no less than four degrees to go along with his military training: in chemistry, balhs- tics, geopolitics and environmental sciences. He had also earned his combat infantryman's b@*, ground his way through underwater demolition scilools, and wore the paratrooper wings of the united states, Israel and Venezuela. But he wore no medals or ribbon s or battle stars, despite combat service in Thailand, NiTmgua, Grenada, the Golan Heights-and on certain --special 79 was some- BEAMRIDERS about aloud. There issions no one spoke ing else. None of his insig-n* brass I silver or gold, -The glitter comes on his uniform guns guarantee the. man. Pearl-handled flat, nonre- closest friends name-with doing the H i,, pilot knew his whipt a massive vertical and slowed @ts flight through Corridor e of Angel Falls to enough for roar xt hour conversation. For the ne and surveyed the many installations. was There was more work to do at other button. "The He depressed the armrest Comm the pilot. The flight crew looked at each o be very glad to off load this passen were the only two words he'd spoken in ger. Thos( more than an hour. He gave them the creeps- seven hundred miles to the northeast' ended at three airfields beyond the th, g city limits of greater Caracas- All visitors sprawlin filom the fields and their immediate envi- were barred from the airports, rons. Truck convoys rolled steadily and the contents of the vehicles covered with canvas some unloading areas to an open area where a a cargo sling. and de- gentl cargo swin y g rotor blades. They a li@ ntain slopes the same destination: upward along the mou beyond Caracas. Helicopters landed on hastily flat- pads on the ridges of high slopes- Trucks pounded rolled in and parked in neat military formation' and hardhats hundreds of men and women in construction assembled, Pounded together and otherwise recreated concealed in the I the day bekre had been what on y distant vast jungles of southern Venezuela. 80 Martin Caidin tinued unabated. Dazzling could be no onset of cold mist. There frenetic way to conceal the details of the activity centering mainly about the sprawling grounds, buildings and other facilities of IVIG_th world-fikiiied Scientific Inven* e ,aci6n Venezue, an Institute. Several of the scientists and technicians with Mercedes were the same researchers and workers who had lived down in 'he marchings of the faraway mesas and buttes surrounding Devil's flateau. In their midst moved armed guards and civilian secu ritY teams. No one moved without an individual ide fication security badge carrying nti- laser codes, and mos- Photo, fingerprints and t wore work coveralls ad hardhats. As many were covered with dust, mud and grime, among them Captain Ali Bolivar, who onl before had cru - Y the night ised six miles above Devil's plateau as part of the team monitoring the eye-s earing laser beams Of PrOject BEMAC. Bolivar skidded to a halt in a jeep and climbed out wearily, waving to a group including among its number Carlos Silva, field Operations Chief; Judith MOrillo, recently returned from downcountry with Silva; Vasco de Gama, who had returned by jet from downcountry; and the BEMAC Director, Doctor Felipe Mercedes. Mercedes was rarely Fecognized as a native of Vene- zuela. He was short and stocky, prem aturely and , grey sported a broad white moustache, and was given to wearing hand-me-down jumpsuits from the Venezuelan Air Force, preferring th@ dozen zippered pockets of the jumpsuit for his pens, pencils, @ computers and assorted other paraphernalia for which he was famous. "One never knows when the moment will come when it's necessary to be a genius," he often told his staff. --I prefer to be prepared fi)r what,might moment in life." He was also o6iisi( greatest scientist his country had eve 81 BEAMRIDERS ad studied at the leading technical universities of tht Inited States, Englandp and Germany. ; He wore two hats, really. He had been IVICs direc- )r for years until BEMAC came into being, the latter aw taking virtually all his available time. His associates him still to be at the helm of IVIC, easy one-man this scientific force held court in on the Mountainside within shouting powerful IVIC nuclear reactor. Mercedes a constant communication with certain scien : Osts in the'United States, and for this purpose he had :.jdw two men perfect for such a task-Jorge Wagner and @,,Ciaude McDavid. They were a startling combination Of -physical oddity Wagner rolling about on his short and ioudgy frame and McDavid moving like a fin-ry bull- Aozer smiling at the world with his chromed teeth efiming through his grizzly-like beard. Together they i' 17maered energy control in gravities and electro- 4iitablished in theory and what Wagner his own genius in forming held dual passports Even mo-re hidden to any public eye the role was played in this twisting of national laws by none other than Senator Patrick Xavier Elias, as much a mystery Venezuelans as he was to the Americans. figure to the As the head man in BEMAC Phil Mercedes was as . human psychology @s he was in administra- practice in tion and science. He understood the extraordinary rela- tionship stringing together genius, emotion, competition ID and the fanaticism of radicals bruising their way thr ugh the scientific world. Few descriptions could better fit McDavid. probiens: something terribly wrong with the laser transmission system hid killed Benitos Armadas. Prob- lem- The BEMAC team had no hard answers as to the transmission bias that hurled Armadas with body- shredding j)rce from the receiver platform. Solution? AC long-term goals of BEM that Wag@e'r and McDavid and the United States. Martin Gaidin Word had come to Felipe Mercedes that Claude McDavid stated without any ambiguity that @ he knew why Armadas was killed or-, more specifically, what caused the anomaly resulting in his death. The problem wasn't solved, or perhaps even within reach, because McDavid hadn't said a s6litary word on the matter to Mercedes. And Mercedes, notwithstand- ing his burning desire to hear what the gri zzled scien- tist had to say, knew from painful past experience that McDavid would talk to Mercedes only when he felt the moment was right. Prior to that moment he'd be tighter than a clam that used s ,!perglue for mouthwash. Flarn- ing tongs couldn't drag the words from him. It wasn't a matter of being a Prima donna; McDavid believed im- plicitly that timing was the essence of all life, and that a vital statement made at the wrong time was a wasted statement. As shocked and saddened as he was with the death of the young man, Armadas, whose fiLmily Mercedes had come to know only too well, and as -anxiously as he wished to hear what McDavid had to say, Mercedes yielded to the inevitable and forced patience, at least outwardly, upon his actions and words. Besides, events were proving McDavid all too right. Ali Bolivaes voice, carried by a battery-powered mega- phone, rose above the clattering roar and din of trucks, bulldozers and helicopters. "Professorl There comes the last helicopter loadl" he called out to Mercedes. A storm of dust exploded outward as the huge ma- chine lowered itself on diminishing lift and. eased its cargo onto the sl@ping ground. The whirlwind ripped into the group of scientists and,technicians, blaking their hair and clothes, covering them from head to fimit octo with grit. Judith Morillo, huddled close to D r Silva as she marked her cargo maniksts on a clipboard. "Tharik God for small favorsl" she shouted to the scientist. "III need to shower for a week to get this dirt off mel" Silva glanced at the manifest and waved Bolivar to join them. For several roomen1r, ar tumta crouching, as the helicopter h V way' t f D ull pow and BEAMIUDEIRS 83 trucks and construction equip fted away. The sound of ent was almost a muted hum in comparison. Iva called -How much more equipment at the airport?" Bolivar wiped ha mouth with his sleeve and sliat out winding their ist. He pointed to a long line of trucks ay up a distant and joZ hill. --rhaes the last of the *Wpments from the deviFs playground." directly to the as- -_-Excellentl Everything is going positions?" , Bolivar cordimed. "And none too soon, I feel like I'm in Aft-ica -again's her head. "Ali, somethings not right her clipboaro. "The electrical gen She They're not shown anywhere on the delivery Bolivar nodded. -And they won't be. you can thank @@McDavid for that. He told our director they weren't too heavy. They would Bosworth the trouble to move. Much to be dismantled and, wee hes right. it would WM weeks or months." "Butwhat happens to them?- Morillo asked. as the first 'Think of Auvan-Tepuy Bolivar my lady. The cave rns be- tf and the &IIs are sealed off are welded shut Everything has disap- from the rock WIS. Those are orders it is what it Morilles arm tve to be was before. Silva nodded his agreement. He gently, turned her to fare the mountain sloping Up- is where we work, ward. "From now on, Judith, this fiAwe lies. From now on- where we live, where our Mercedes and He cut short this own words as Felipe "Bolivar, what' s the sched- Vasco de Gama approached ule for the List triick?" Mercedes called out. -Two hours to arrive sir. Eight hours to unload," Bolivar said quickly. said, "We're running behind schedule," Mercedes glancing at his watch. "Everybody who is on assign- 84 Martin Caidin ment to the tunnel, have them report immediately to their stations." "Yes, sir. III call out on the van radio. Mercedes peered beyond Bolivar. "Me IVIC van?" I es, sir. Have it brought here. Ali. attend to the assignment call, and then tell the vehicle chief Ill need that van for q while." Ten minutes later they were all inside the van mounted on a four-wheel-drive truck bed, rocking and bouncing wildly as the driver pushed the vehicle upward along a steep and crudely bulldozed road. They hung on to kee@ from being thrown about. In the front right seat, Mercedes grinned at his scientists bouncing about like potato sacks. "Ali, you made a personal inspection before you left from downcountry?" Bolivar nodded. "Sir, 1, personally flew about the entire area. Helicopter. You-can't tell anyone ever did any work there. All that's left by the high mesas are the helicopter pads, and they have been there for years. We thought it wiser to leave them." "Very good. And Jungle Rudy? How is,his camp? And Hilda?" Bolivar laughed. '-Mey prefer what they call their old quiet returned to them. Besides, Professor, 1@udy en- joys his new role as a mystery man Of the jungle. Some American news reporter has described him as 'a refugee from a Hemingway novel.' " Bolivar shru ed. "And who knows? He has many stories to tell a9gut UFO's and native superstitions." Mercedes nodded. For several moments only the labored sounds of the van grinding upward could be heard. Mercedes closed his eyes, Tviewing, seeing in his mind's eye a vast myriad of dew&. When he opened his eyes again they knew he had brought himself up to the moment. Again he directed his attention to the pilot. ..Ali you have talked with General Espinoza?" "Yes. Personally. BEAMBIDERS 85t stan 4 The name Espinoza brought everyone else to in That man was a military officer, a general alertness military. Why BEMAC had nothing to do with the their very own director, be @,wouid Professor Mercedes@ about the military man? Mercedes observed concerned ntrating on Bolivar. their reaction and ignored it, conce "We, ah, had company glances, The others in the van exchanged questioning turned back to the but no answers came forth. 'Mey "exchange between Mercedes and Bolivar. lle pilot was @now unexpectedly serious. We "Yes, sir. At least twelve over"ts confirmed, believe there were more. The electronic oountermea- sures people were swamped." mysteriously. He "As we expected," Mercedes said smiled. -Both sides, I exPectr liked them between eighty and thousand feet. We know the Amer ,can machines. The Blackbirds, of course. The Rus- -Likely either the new MiG sians?- Bolivar shrugge& out of Cuba, or perhaps their Forty-One operating nyushin stealth aircraft. We can't be sure of that. "I admire Bolivar leaned back in his seat and smiled- 'Mey dropped the ingenuity of the Americans, Prokssor call the what they in their strange humor one of their, at only fiftY-SiX milesp to orbital altitude. busy." -And our neighbors?" French, as you expected. ..TWO night passes, low owed. "How could you know they--:' Bolivar he And their -Ah, the French also are inquisitive, AlL here. it is so easy to make launching site is not far fi'OM several hundred a mistake in navigation. of course, it is we all know the French. Too much wine for miles, but their pilots, perhaps." M ercedes laughed, then grew 'What trick did you finally, use, in young y serious again. friend?" van were baffled. For a moment Ali The others in the as he studied a line of trucks Crawling did not answer, 'Noo q @one hun 86 Martin Caidin like beetles up a distant road@ heading for astronomical observatory domes perched like balloon birds along the ridgebacks of the lesser Andes that overlooked Caracas. "Ali?" Mercedes "Excuse me, s back. 'The trick. Yes, 3 a very b Sir. A ore. it burned most From the air you could see miles away." Vasco de Gama and CArlos Sdw had struggled to remain sident, but the latter was too much even for them. Silva threw arms upward in exasper- ation. -What crash is this? I have been downcountry- all this timel There has been no crash, no great firel" Bolivar looked at the scientist, his face expression- less. "It was very bad, Doctor Silva. The load of magne- sium fiom the mine. It was ah-eady in a highly volitile state since it was to be used for the manufiwture Of incendiary warheads." Vasco de Gama had listened to the exchange with a look of growing disbelief on his fitce. He moved for- ward, nose to nose with Bohm, their fiweheads almost bai@ging together fiom the lurching motion of the van. Bolivar saw scientific teeth varl" de Gama tones, would taking some stn mad. We don't i of Devirs Ali Boh- careffilly measured crazy or you are you have said is niftuis in the area deep breath. "And ff we did there is certainly no min" of any kind going oni" Felipe Mercedes, looking back on the growing ten- sion, smiled. -Of course," lie said to de Garna. -Not only that," Silva qFttered, -'but I certainly would have been inbrined of1my such crashr 'Iliat is true," Mercedes allowed. Vasco de Gama shared his bewildered expression with the others in the van. 71hen what is all tins about?" he protested. "Is ft a game? A very strange game? You both talk as if yoeve gone mad.', Mercedes broke out in a wide snide. -my fijend, we BEAMRIDERS 87 mines and diamond mines in know there are gold ntry, and we both knowthere are no magn@- 'dowricou W be found. But who else," he shrugged, sium, mines who besides our own really knows of such things. And at them all, "and a very group, here," he gestured about the crash Iew people elsewhere, is not so certain - of a very large aircraft with incendiary magnesium?" Hest@idiedBohvar."Apointoccurstoni-e,"Mercedes been me before. There has said slowly, "that escaped the fire we planned?" "Yes, sir." "Ther. will be spectroscopic studies, my young friend." "Assuredly, 1. Boliva said brightly. --And such studies .."Will clearly show magnesium." the group. The "disas- comprehension grew among and trous" magnesium fire had been planneo carefigly apparently executed exactly as planned. "Where did @@,You get the magnesium?" Judith Morillo burst out. "We " Bolivar broke in as he anticipated ditary stock. The Americans stored them here many years ago. Incendiary bombs- Their fiizes were removed long ago and they were perfectly sde to move." He turned back to Mercedes. "One more or him to thing, Doctor." He watched Mercedes signal f go ahead. "The general said they would be releasing the names of the casualties" "If Espinoza said so," Mercedes smiled, "you may, as the Americans say in their detective stories on televi- bank on ft." sion, ssion of admiration on his Carlos Silva had an expre story? To lead face. -"All this chicanery, then, our cover all those spying on us away from the laser flash?" Silva. "You are a scien- Y Mercedes pointed a finger at coli&S41A. 11 I and we had even You unsure tist 4 Morino leaned forward, desperate for another an- rt. Not merely a flash-I swer. "I heard of a strange repo a green light in the sky, yes, but this was a mean, bright green sphere. There was a news story, I caught it don't have._2' 1. Ali , but we did, the query. "Old m 88 Martin Caidin on radio, about a green UFO? is this part of everything we have heard?" Bolivar looked immensay pkased with himself `Ihere um a green sphere. A UFO. The Americans, in fitet, of the sphere at, oh, I believe over a htv=WdFouVtd feet." "Photographs?" Morillo was almost rousing to be- lieve whitt she heard. De Gama clapped Bolivar on the shoulder. -And how did you arrange that little trick?" ,This was a most cooperative mission by the grin- 90S." He laughed with the use of the expression. "A rocket was fired ahead of the plane. At its altitude air resistance meant almost nothing When the rocket burned out a capsule released a large metallic balloon, inflated automatically , with helium. It carried batteries, reflec- tors andn..L- lights. The Americans, of course, knew Precl;;WwKere to aim their cameras. They flew by the target at Perhaps two thousand miles an hour. They took some marvelous pictures. And as we expected they have been classified and the Pentagon refuses to release them to the press. We also-- The van bumped and rattled to a stop. Mercedes glanced about them. "Enough," he announced in a tone that left no room for argument. "Everybody ouC Mo- ments later they stood together on a steep slope and Mercedes waved off the van. He gestured at the slope before them. At the high end of wide, steep steps loomed a large research build- mg, spreading left and right, and in its center, behind a marbled entrance, rose the unmistakable lines and curves of a nuclear reactor. "We're now just before the tunnel entrance to BEMAC," Mercedes told the group. "Let us proceed." He began the long climb. Halfway up Vasco de Gama waved for the group to stop. He leaned on Bolivar, gasping for breath. --This ... this is too much." He pointed in exasperation. "Why are we climbing steps like donkeys? We had the BEAmRIDERS 89 he complained to Mercedes. -we could have tiven." the best basis for a .-",#.h, but a sound body Provides and mind," Mercedes chided. wrong with my mind," de Gama @'Mere's nothing unted. -True," Mercedes admitted. "But listen to yourself a child.". He DU Sound like the pet pig I had as almost there." ghed and pointed. "We are Vasco de Garna saved. "Where?" -Offie tunnel." reactor," de Gama sputtered. "But that's our nuclear N%ere is this tunnel of yoursl" lkl@:Two figures appeared at the top of the stairs. Jorge Wagner and Cla@de McDavid greeted them exPansivelY- 4Ventlemeni miss Morillol Welcome to Laseilandt- -What is he talking aboutr de Gama said with a touch of anger. "fliat is our reactors " He shouted up to McDavid. I see the reactor, you idiot. There is no The scientist, his chest heaving with exertion, stalked thin the se- past Wagner and mcDavid todisappear wi to,the WIC reactor building. Behind curity entrance him Mercedes laughed. "Quickly, now- L-et us watch dont want to miss this." They caught up with de Gama, his anger little dissi- of patien as three pated, waiting with a short fim ini ce security checked his ID badge, calling in to 'YOU checkpoint the badge details. another =ny are clear, sir," they told him. ,rii wait for the others," de Gama told the guards. He sat heavily on a bench, grateful for the delay to 1@ catch his breath. Several minutes later, clearances ap- group, they followed Mercedes into a proved for the paid little attention to the high-ceilinged room. They systems through which they had walked safety doors and ponder- hundreds of times. A huge, thick door rolled a loud, penetrating horn ously to the right, setting off hI..t_ Rd hvhts flashed. another horn boomed, and a 90 Martin Caidin mechanical voice sounded firom speakers high on the walls. "Stand clear. Please stand clear. " Instinctively they moved back. I. flashed above and to the sides of a massive steel door. A pneumatic hiss made them wince and the second door slid with a pah&lly heavy move- ment to the side. They went through the open space, facing yet another thick door, heard the warning again to stand clear, and the door behind them boomed'@I@. Now they were within a sealed chamber that filled with the sharp sound Of Compressed air rushing into the chamber. As many times as they had gone through this same Procedure they couldn't avoid the instinctive glances about them. on all four waib and the door interiors bright red signs warned of danger firom nuclear mdia- tion. Radiation-level monitors at eye level looked at them fi'om each wall, then red lights flashed out and bright green lights came on. Ile mechanical voice came alive. "Clear to enter. Clear to enter. Please stand clear of the door. Warningl Please stand clear of the door. it will open after a five count. Five, four, three, two, one- A bell rang loudly, air pressure dropped and the final safety door rolled aside. For a moment, safety instincts overcame Ion 9 familiarity. 'Mere's something sinister, forbidding, ominous and plain damn dangerous about the huge- curving bulk of a nuclear reactor looming before and high over you. Everyone starting into the reactor room stopped for a moment, the- ing left and right to take in the ir eyes sweep- glowing monitors, masses of plumbing, gauges, control Panels, computers, thick electrical cabling stretching like endless multicol- ored snakes in all directions. They all shared that same subtle shudder that ran through their, bodies. Men, as if shaking off a cold mind and body, they awaited them. Befon first few steps the whitest BEAMRIDERS d Me Or reedes," the first said by way of greeting, reache mt and affixed a clip-on dosimeter to Merced@s's jacket. ;oon they all wore ihe cumulative-radiation instruments hat would track all radiation pouring from the reactor- Vefully in harmless spray- The technicians left @nd as Mercedes and his group ent forward they were greeted warrnly by Doctor )sefit Betancourt, the director of the scientific research mter. in stark contrast to the scruffy-appearing group ...with Mercedes, Betancourt loomed tall and dignified, @&rk-haired, dressed impeccably, as neat in appearance As if his attire had been carved from cloth. His demea- @iior concealed a warm, dignified and brilliant scientist s and the others had worked for @vith whom Mercede Years. He held out his hand to introduce his companion Felipe, lady, gentlem@n, my pleasure," Betancourt' with a voice of warm honey. "Please, this is Doctor Ptosa Rivero, who has joined our little group here at WIC. She has been in France for the last three years working within their most advanced nuclear programs, eact ind she is now in charge of our own r or and re- search programs. - A dazzling smile showed from a brown- skinned, very handsome woman who looked to be forty years old, but could have been mistaken ten years to either side of that number. "I warn you, Felipe, be very careful of this charming lady. She mixes a most dangerous radioactive cocktail." The introductions broke the ice; the groups, normally highly competitive in their work, relaxed. Betancourt took Mercedes' arm as they walked. "You will forgive me, Felipe? I planned to review your new program with you but," he shrugged, "I am overruled. I am to meet with the president within the hour. Doctor Rivero has been briefed fiffly by in e, and she will attend to your every need." "The scenery, Mercedes said with open apprecia He pushed tion, "is vastly improved by her presence. away Betancourt's arm. I am not that much a fool not to choose superior company. Goodbye, Josefit." He took 92 Martin Caidin Doctor Rivero's arm. "I am Yours to command, lovely lady. Rivero laughed and gestured for the others to follow. I hope," growled de Gama fioni behind them, '-that perhaps we shall see this invisible tunnel now!,, "Be patient, Vascol" Merr @There ,edes called out. are more changes Yet to -be seen, and--2' He interrupted his Own words as two large young men, spit-and-polish through every inch of their army uniforms and gold berets, fell in neatly behind their group. De Gama StOPPeds studied the two men, and hurried to join Mercedes and Rivero. "You're right- I am surprised, Felipe. Guards with machine guns in their hands? Do they watch over us also when we go to the bathroom?,, Rivero exchanged a glance with Mercedes, who smiled and nodded for her to respond. She turned to fice the scientist who was so clearly upset with the presence of machine guns at his back. She spoke with a crisp tone, what one expected of a nurse in starched whites in a hosCPij, talking to a child. "You misunderstand, Doctor de , a - Those guns are not for us but because of us. You see, sir, they are for your protection. Mercedes moved to de Gama and took his arm gently; he gestured with his free hand. "Do you see that door, Vasco? Just on the other side of the reactor?" Thev started walking together. "The guns are because what we have created on the other side of that door. It is a secret the entire world would want desperately, at any cost, to have. So, sad as it is to us all who have no need Or want Of guns, they are now a fact of life. For some time to come, my Mend, how long I can't know, they will be a part of your life. And mine, @ he added, as if to ease the blow. They stood before a huge door with massive steel plates and bolts. All about them were warning signs that the door was electrified that entry without the highest clearance was forbidden, that attempted forced entry would be met with immediate gunfire. As if to emphasize what was increasingly that fact of life. Vasco 93 BEAMRIDERS Gama glanced up and to his left and stared into the uzzle of a machine gun in a remotely controlled tur- t. He turned to his right to see a similar weapon "A atched pair, I see," he said drily. He looked at lercedes. The tunnel "Enough games. Felipe." ercedes nodded. He moved forward and stood on a al platform. A voice seemed to come out of no- @re. "State your name for voiceprint and EM identi- ion, please." Mercedes looked sfiraight ahead- "Doctor rteen, File p@ Mercedes, Director, BEMAC. Fou e. Blue light ghosted down from a concealed aper- above, and Mercedes seemed to flicker where he L You will all be doing that soon," Doctor Rivero to the others. "He is being scanned for his pattern, his voiceprint is being r@cordings, and a complete holo- Doctor Mercedes is being computer- that door." fitd des glanced up and ed abruptly. Merce ncealed sensor. "Fourteen, File Nine, thudding boom sounded be- ide. neath them, and the massive door slid to One s '@Mercedes gestured to his group. "There, my friends, "'beyond that door, is your tunnel. It leads to your future antuin leap lives and, should all go as we hope, it is a qu into the future. ..Come." Chapter VI "Open the doorl" At the sound of the wall loudspeakers and the flash- mg of bright red lights, two guards moved their autorifles to the ready- They stood back to back to cover the long corridor fioin one end to the other. Television scanners against the ceiling moved slowly, a whining sound lost in the echoing orloudspeaker cries, the shouts of men, booted feet smacking against the gleaming floors of the military prison within Fuerte Tsuna,, nestled conveniently within the City limits of Caracas. More bright lights came on. At each end of the corrid more men, each with a huge timber-sht The door with thick steel bars in protest, and clanged against its stops. I splashed into a large cell. Angela Tirado, Tony and Nelson Sanchez held the-- ir hands before ing glare- "Outf Come with me!" shouted a guard barely visible against the stabbing lights. They moved awk- wardlY- Angela stumbled and only the trip of Pappas' arm kept her from &Iling. "Where are we going?" Angela asked, st ill half-blind. "I dont even know where the hell we are," I'mm said through dry lips. "How long have we been heniTThis is our third prison. I don't know where we-.2, He drew up short as his eyes focused on two heavily armed men holding two very large dogs on short leashes. They nodded to the guard who'd led them fiom their cell. The lead man with a dog started down a s corridor. "Follow me, please," fie told them. The fde ell y in step behind him, the second guard and dog taking up 94 BEAmRIDERS 95 ksition behind them. I don't think they're going to pot us," Angela said with dry humor. "No one says ease if they're taking you out to be shot." @-You watch too many cheap detective movies," San- fez grumbled. Spy movies," she corrected him. "You know, James . Dnd, Telly Savalas,-:' She fell silent as Pappas caught the attention of the leading their way. "Where are we going, ffiend?" will see you now." 'Sanchez said quickly. "His name, s his name?" need to ask him," Pappas answered before guard spoke. "I recognize this whole modus ope- kndi. Ifs almost his personal signature. Everything Orfect. "Who?" Angela shouted. "The big man himself," Pappas replied. "General Espinoza." lips pursed in a startled 0. She didn't an- was a big deal, then. You didn't go any Espinoza, the mystery man of Venezuelan Angela smiled. If they lived through all a great story in the making. Immediately step became livelier. The door closed behind them. Angela looked about the room. "No guards?" she murmured aloud "I don't understand. I-" "What is there to understand?" She spun about at the sound of the voice that seemed to emerge through a steel larynx. General Luis Espinoza, for it couldn't be any other, had slipped into the room like a phantom, then stood with awesome reality. les as h,@s carved if fi-orn granite, Tirado decided. His eyes ... stZ nwrbles and yet, and yet ... Espinoza seemed arnused. "You are staring, Miss Uiracfo," he said. Now she understood the descriptions. 96 Martin Caidin A voice of stone, yet clothed in velvet if he so wished. Right now he so wished, she decided. Or it pleased him. Or whatever the hell was going on. "Yes, I am;" she said finally. "You're not at all what I expected." "You touch my curiosity," he said silkily. "Did you expect fangs? Claws? A fiend slaverin in a hungry 9 crouch?" Unexpectedly, completely without any intention, she burst into laughter. "Yes, yesl" she sang out, relief flooding through her. "As God is my witness I do believe that's exactly what I expected" Ah, you are disappointedF Her laughter cut 66 as if by thrown switch. "No. No, not that. Surprised. Tremendously surprised. I mean -oh, I don't know I didn't know what to expect. But the last person I expected to meet with tonight was YOU. "Then let me warn you, Miss Tirado. An effective weapon need not smile." The timbre of his voice had changed again. With those words the steel was back. No, it's never been gone. Only controlled, she told herself He's given us a warning. Careful, Angie girl, be very camfid in here. Espinoza seemed to blur as he moved; suddenly he was behind a large desk. A gloved hand gestured easily. .,sit, please." He waited as they moved gingerly to the three other seats in the room. "First, you are not under arrest. They stared at one another with almost explosive relief. ..Yet. Angela Tirado rose to her feet. "I didn't care much for that last word," she said, as careful as she seemed haughty. "if we're not under arrest, why have we been imprisoned for three days?" "Venezuela is a dem (Mik Wuntry, Miss Tirado- "Spare me, General, I know my-- "And even democratic institutions require vigilance and protection," he went on.@ as if his MM wnrdq nnurpA BEAMMERS 97 up over and drowned hers. "You three have been Ained. There is a difference. The detention was nec- gestured ary and brought on by yourself.- His finger under an-est. I also jier chair. -i said you weren't ,ed that you be seated.- 'I'll stand." As you wish. You are under arrest and-2' 'Goddammit, sit downl" Sanchez shouted, grasping r arm. @'Dhe shook him off and took her seat slowly. He was, fiscinating. She couldn't believe this was a olutely %nion military man, &--she shut off the yammering to elf and paid close attention to this' extraordinary son, realizing at the same moment, with another d shock of surprise, that she hadn't been fiVAtened' her safety since she came into this room. Espinoza reminded her with a verbal crash that she uld bring concern to her thinking. "Are you aware," general began slowly, again with a subtle yet un- of tone, "of the violations you have stionable change laws of our imitted, singl@_and individually, of the ntrv?" glanced from Sanchez to Pappas and received for her to sneak. "General, chasing FO, with eyewitness reports from the ground no way did we ever is a news story. In violate any laws and certainly never to endan- ger Or do you forget diis is also our country?" sight Oh, shit, it didnt take, site said to herself with of his humorless smile. -I will humor you, then. Did you find your UFO's?" Sanchez failed to remain silent. He leaned forward, ahuost filling from his chair. "We damned well found something, Generall" me, this ... "Ahl I am delighted. Then describe it to something." "Well, it was , uh," Sanchez leaned back in his seat, to say, what I mean is, uh-@, "it's hard Tirado moved in quickly. "We saw some bright lights." Espinoza shook his head slightly, disappointment clear 98 Martin Caidin onhis face. "I talk with children," he said softly. "YOU saw bright lights. Extraordinary. What were they?" "Well, they were, uh," she faltered suddenly. "Dam- mit, General, you know what they were! jet fighters, for one, that-" "Jet fighters. That is a clear identification, to be sure. Whose? Of what nationality?" She felt herself fumbling and hated herself. "Why, ours, of course. I mean, they landed with us. We saw them and they intercepted us and ordered us to . . . Her voice trailed away. Tony,Pappas felt tired before he spoke. "Sir, F-16 jets." "Should I assume, Mr. Pappas, from what I have just heard, that the lights were F-16s, that you are pursu- on the efficiency of our military aircraft forcing down a civilian air- regulations?" I" Tirado said angrily. "If we didn't land as ordered, they said they would shoot us downl" Espinoza didn't move a muscle but it seemed he had struck like a viper. "Whyr "Uh why?" She looked frantically to Pappas, saw a blank face, turned back to the general. "Because we, uh, well, I mean_--2' She sat bolt upright. "Dammit, we flew down Corridor Diablo,@' "Another violation." "To the devil with the violations That green light we sawl That wasn't ordinary, General Espinozal And it sure as hell wasn't any jet fighter from any countryl- "First a white light," Espinoza said, shaking his head slightly, "and now a green light that is a greater mystery. "It blinded us! We nearly crashed! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Espinoza made a steeple of his fingers. -CapWn Pappas, explain Iffe to these@ two, please." Timdo and Sanchez stared. Angela felt her mouth open, had to force it closed before she could speak. 99 BEAMRIDERS 7aptain Pappas?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper. ."Yes Angie. Captain. Thats right, but I'm in the air toe reserve. The reserve, dammit. I'm not on active ity and--2 s voice cracked whiplike. "Captain, I said to 'Espinozd *in-" nodded to Espinoza. "Yes, sir." He turned Pappas k.ck to his two friends. "We took off for a cross-country it into the interior. I failed to file a flight plan; I've Ay tDid you that meant trouble. Then we flew through interior without a flight plan. That's a secon( vio a- we flew into a military restricted area. That's @e. We---@' L.:-Thaes enoughl" Angela wasn't acting any more and no attempt to speak with fancy phrases or double-dealing dialogue she jumped to locking eyes with Espinoza. I contorted about all these stupid regulations he's quot- ,Te. gestured XV WI were looking forl There have been au ds of reports about incredible explosions of light und Devil's Plateau. You can't hide behind Your e lights were seen by air- explosion. An atom have atom bombs in our country. But there are UFO from all sides. Whatever was by Devil's Plateau is what we outl" gulped down air. "And that, honor, sir,-whatever the hell you are, is Venezuelan free presst If it bothers you so we've become a national danger, then ,shoot ust or let us the hell out of here so I can do my Jobl" She half-collapsed in her seat, bosom heaving, fists @clenched so tightly her nails dug ix@Y into her J'@ palms. She waited for the explosion from Espinoza. from spacel The are ulking about an atomic sakel We don't for Go&s 100 Martin Caidin Silence. Oh, nw God, nothing I said made any sm- pression on him. I- "Bravo, bravo," Espinoza said unexpectedly. The hon- eyed voice again. Was that sarcasm or humor? "Shall I tell you, Miss Tirado, what you want to find?" She gaped. "Yesl" she shouted. The man befi)re her changed from general to techni- cian, or specialK or scientist, or- "You chased the visible light manifestation of a vital maser test, corned out by certam research groups of our air force but mainly by a special research organiza- tion unknown to either our own people or to the world. The maser,-7 "Do you mean laser?" she broke in. "Maier,' he emphasized as to a child. "in the micro- wave bani. it was mixed with certain laser experiments as well. its brighter than any other kind of light, espe- cially at particular angles of sight reference. Bright enough, young woman, to trigger satellite sensors, alarm airline crews, terrify natives, coriftise cosmonauts, and create all manner of reports of UFO's whizzing about in grand numbers." Sanchez looked to Pappas. -What the devirs a ma- ser? What's all this ndciZ@vave stuff?" "You may not write of that test, of what you have seen, or what you've learned in this room," Espinoza said solumnly. "The hell Tirado didn't get any finther. 'Ile Eree press, Angela Tirado, also has the obhga- tion to protect its own nation. The testing we've W under way, both laser and maser, Mines the highest security classifications. You may think it is a grand exclusive, a wonderment for your news show, I am certain, but you will have to tell your story along with these &iry tales of unidentified objects skittering about the skies. Then what do we have for all your pains? Thirty seconds on your newscast? Page sixteen, fourth- column, bottom of page, in a paper?' Espinoza wheeled his chair'-about slowly and leaned back. For a moment he shued at the ceiling- his thoughts BEAmFjDERs 101 Free of this room and its occupants. He returned as he rought his steely gaze again to Tirado. "Any official Ditfirmation of what you already know, of what has appened to you and what I have told you ftwk, iterferes with our research and development program. _,hat and do not take this lightly, is a most severe violation of our security laws, especially," he paused prid seemed almost for a moment to snort with disdain, My people who have already broken many laws, and who by law I could incarcerate right now." The general moved-to his feet. The others did the *ame. Sanchez had a thin smile on his fiice. "You would do all this ... without a trial? Without any bail? Legal representation?" "I could," Espinoza said with a sudden chill to his words. "I could -do all that within the embrace of our security statutes. And I inform you now these are not :military. They are government, all-embracing, applica- lue both to military and civilian. Where our national safety is concerned we do not inspect apparel He looked down at the desk, his fingers splayed out -on the polished wood, looked up again. "I'll bring this to a close." Steely eyes moved from one to the other before E spirioza again spoke. 'if you will give me your word there will be no news stories, no comment, pri- vote or public, on this matter, we will be through with it. I believe you intended no harm, that eagerness overcame caution and logic. with your word to me, the government will simply forget whatever violations have occurred. The slate will be wiped clew. A finger stabbed rigid@X at Pappas. "Except for this one. RW knew better and he has much to answer fi)r. Angela walked to the desk and &ced Espinoza. "All I'll buy your little deal. But only on right, General, one condition. Espinoza7s only response was a raised eyebrow Angela pointed to Pappas. "You include the ape in the deal. Forget us, forget him. Otherwise," she shrugged, -its back to square one and you toos as in the clink again. - For the first time she oared Esphioza. 102 Martin Caidin a sweet smile. "Somehow, General, I don't believe we@re that easy to dispose of." She didn't get the retort she expected. Or a threat. Espinoza offered what might pass for a fleeting smile. "As you say so colorfiMy, Miss Tirado, I'll buy your deal." He extended his hand. "I have your word?" She duped his hand. Firm, even strong, but gentle. Amazing. "my word, sir." Sanchez came forward to shake hands with Espinoza. -My word of honor. And thank you, General Espinoza." Espinoza shook with Sanchez and nodded. Sanchez stepped aside for Pappas to come forward. "My word as an -officer, sir," he told the general. "Your word is accepted, Captain." The barest of signals, no more than eye movement, passed between them. 'Miss Tirado, I will have a taxi for you within the minute, Espinoza said to Angela. "A taxi?" she echoed. -BvUwhere---" Pappas broke in. "We'reAn Caracas. This is Fuerte Timia. 11 "You knew all the time?" she asked him. He shook his head. "No, no. But here, in this room, it was easy to figure out. La Carlota Airport is to our south. I've been listening to all the turboprops, the executive and company planes, letting down for a final approach to the field. I know the timing and the sound. He ginned. "Just a short cab ride home." "IA Carlota Airport," Pappas told the driver as they climbed into the cab waiting for them at the Fort's entrance. They settled in, sWu&en aback at how they'd been shifted in the dead of night fiom a backcountry military airfield to the Fort so fiuniliar to them that they expanse every day. the city. When they drove south through the city to the team. me, he said with exaspera- tio 't understand you. Have you gone crazy?" She looked with surprise fiem Sanchez to Famas. BEAmRiDus who shrugged, then back to Sanchez. "How? What prazy?" "The general nerall' he exclaimed. "How With the ge Id you agree to a deal like that?" to stare at Pappas. He nodded his head Of the driver. Sanchez opened his mouth, it shut. Tirado nodded to Pappas and turned it's simple enough," she said with a subject. "The general lets me review the film fi-om the Grenada invasion. Especially the film ubans. You know the Americans captured fiom the C iwhat I mean. The missile sites?" She's talking about the tactical missiles the Cubans had set to fire on our maniewbo oil fields," Pappas -,contributed to their nonsense. IF "So whats wrong with my dealF' Tirado snapped to Sanchez. "It's a fitir exchange. I see the film, I give him the right to censor whatever he dunks win irritate the 11 Americans. "And what about irritating the Russians?" Sanchez asked. "Mats easy,- Pappas offered. "Screw the Russians. They fell silent fi)r the rest of the ride. The cab let them off at the main office of Aerotuy by the flight line. They stood by the steps, returning the wave of a secu- nty guard who knew Pappas well. "Why'd you shut me up in the taxi?" Sanchez asked Pappas. "You're a baby in a forest filled with wolves, MY friend," Pappas told him, grinning at his own descrip- tion. He rested a hand on his friends shoulder. "You're 4 great newsman. Reliable, strong, trustworthy. But when it comes to intrigue you're a newborn. You weT going to talk about everything we'd said in Espinozas right?" office "Why, yes, but so what? We were alone in the--2' His eyes widened. "You're right. Damn me for a fool." "Well, people forget," Pappas said, more generously than he intended. "You completely forgot about the taxi 104 Martin Caidin driver. He was a government agent, Nels, and that cab was wired for sound and pictures. Three minutes away Erom your promise to keep your mouth shut and you were going to broadcast everything. Nels, Nels," Pappas d with great patience, "there is only one way to keep sai__ your word to Espinoza. Keep your mouth shut." "Well, and happy bullcock to you, my fine feathered Captain Antonio Icarus Pappas," Angela threw at their pilot. "A captain, no lessl Are you assigned to the secret police, Tony? Or. do you spy only on your friends?" "If you weren t a woman," Pappas said calmly but very deliberately, "I would break your face for those words. And if I felt for one moment you believed what YOU just said, I would walk away fiom you now and never say another word to you.- "I know, I know," she chided. I also know you're in the air force reserve. It's hardly a secret, Tony. It's in your bio file at the station." "Men why'd you squeal like a stuck pig in the gener- al's office?" Sanchez wondered. "Because it was appropriate, Nels. Because it looked good and sounded good for us to be surprised, shocked, and highly pissed off at our Mediterranean lothario, here." She took each man by the arm. "Walk with me down the ffight hne. If as you say, Tony, we may have microphones aimed at us, 'we can stop by one of the airplanes running up and no one will hear us over the engines." Several minutes later they stood off the wingtip of a big Grumman Guffstream, turboprops screaming ear- hammering deface to the night air. Angela turned to her crew. "Do you understand, I mean really unde-r- stand, the meaning of our little exchange in Espinoza's office?" "Well, we went up a blind alley with UFO's, that's for sure," Sanchez replied. "To hell with the UFasl" Angela spat. "But ... but you were so afl-fired hot to get that story, and I thought, I mean---@- Sanchez stammered, honestly confiised. BEAmRiDERs 105 "The UFO story is a blind alley, a decoy, a setup, a se, whatever you want to call it," Angela broke in. ke was as much amazed with Sanchezs myopia as he confiised with her words. "Nels, you idiot, do you w what a maser is? I mean, really?" Espinoza told us," he said stubbornly. "It's just a en;nt kind of laser, thats all. Higher up in the wency so that instead of visible light, you know, the herent- light of the laser, its in the microwave, like dar. FM and video, also, I guess." "lAsten to me, dammit," she said angrily, grasping s arm as if that would make her words clearer. She anced at Pappas and he only nodded for her to con- aue. "Nels,`@';he said to Sanchez, "you produce a laser stimulating, that's the word the love to use.--certain types of radiation. visible light. Normal light is chaotic, IAke a mob of people in a riot. particles of you jump He nodded. "Yes, yes." "Okay. That means you@re amplifying normal light by a factor of thousands." She looked with triumph at Pappas and again turned back to Sanchez. "But to get a maser, YOU don't boost or amphfy hght. You boost a very high-energy microwave. Like a very tight, very intense radar beam. You ever see those big radar domes on the military airfields? Of course you have. Ever read the signs on the road that say don't stay here, don't linger, get the hell out? Do you know why? Because if you stand in front of those things for just a few minutes when they're putting out power you might as well be standing inside a microwave oven. Itll bum out your and fry your brain. That's microwave." guts She took a deep breath. "Now, when you stimulate something like radar, you get a maser. its incredibly powerful-2' Sanchez was annoyed at being lectured and didn't bother to hide it. "So? So what's the big deal, Angie?" 106 Martin Caidin Angela swung about in a circle, arms high and wide, a sudden swirl of triumph. "Damn you, Nels, a Maser beam is invisible. You can't see a maserl Don't you understand? Any kind of microwave is absolutely - invisible - to - the - human - eyel" She grinned with her own conclusions. "Hahl General Espinoza tried to snow us tonightl Don't you get it? He lied to usf" She laughed, a delightful sound brushed into the air by the thundering engines of the Guffsh-eam. "And when General Luis Espinoza has to he to a mere slip of a girl-met-then there is one hell of a big story out therel" She calmed suddenly and grasped their arms. "And you two big cats are my news team, and we're going to get that storyl- Chapter VU The bright light revolved slowly, sending out sphn- @ers and gleams as it twisted, revealing an interior of liquid curlicues. Two more lights approached, the three isburcepoints joined, and three whiskey glasses clinked solidly as Caleb Massey, Kim Seavers and Morgan Scott 46ined in a toast to their first drink of the evening. Massey smiled at the young man and woman, sitting fil the edge of their chairs. "Prosit," he sang out quietly. They sipped their drinks, Massey downed his in a long smooth swallow. Kim and Morgan eased back in their seats, taking the moment to look about them and study the extraordinary clubroom'in which they were Massey's guests. The big man smiled at their expressions. "Interesting, isn't it?" he asked. "Interesting isn't the word," Kim answered quickly. I mean, I've been in some luxurious digs before, but she shook her head in admiration, "anywhere nothing, like this." About them was an enclosed world, a packag- ing of dark paneling in rich unknown woods, thick carpeting, enormously high ceilings, dazzling chande- hers, armchairs that seemed to mold to their bodies. High overhead mahogany-bladed fans turned slowly. Waite.rs seemed to glide across the floor without effort. Kim studied the drapes: a strange material, all closed, no windows visible. The very air was subdued, espe- cially from their recessed alcove along a far wall of the clubroom. Voices from other small groups scattered through the room reached them in hushed whispers, although from animated gesturing and facial expressions' 107 108 Martin caidin Kim was certain no one bothered to speak in lowered tones. it was all very confusing to her. "Mr. Massey, what-- she paused, looking about her again and gesturing, "I simply can't not ask the ques- tion. What is all this? What is this placeP Don't misim- derstand me," she added hastily. "It's gorgeous. Massey gestured with his drink, slouching back in the huge armchair holding him like a friendly grizzly. "Once upon a time," he began, pausing as they laughed, ar well, there was a call that went f and wide for a very special place for a special group of people. They weren't -of-the-mill crowd. Actually your ordinary run he smiled, "they were the best spies, secret agents and intelli- gence operatives of the manv arms and agencies of the United States government. Aey all agreed they needed a totally secure place to meet, plot, scheme, tell lies, plan, get away from the kids, have a lazy drink; what- ever. That place had to be secure. It would be the province of them all; no one would have priority over anyone else. A secret subcommittee of the senate took over the task and assigned the people to build and run that special place. They took their orders only fi-om the subcommittee. Since no one knew who they were, they were free from interference." Massey looked about the room and held up an empty glass. "You're in that room now. Morgan Scott toyed with his drink. "The intelligence services don't run this place, sir?" "Oh, they run it by f nding it. All the military intelli- u gence services, CIA, NSA, NSC, FBI and a dozen other groups you never heard of. They pay cash. I suppose you could say we all run it. By that I mean it's open-ended security. Everybody does their best to break the security of this place. No one has yet succeede d in breaching the walls, so to speak. This whole facility is tighter than the deepest subbasement of the Penta- f gon. " Massey smiled. -Mafs why we're here. The drink is social. Our reason for coming here is not." -You'd never know it,' Morgan Scott said. -. OoDs.11 BEAMRIDERS 109 added with a laugh. "Not what you said, sir, but that could cooperate that well. Of you have a recorder on you?" Massey they could answer he smiled at Kim. nly do, young lady. Micro package, no sound, very sensitive." with genuine surprise at Massey, looked an then back to Massey. "How could YOU that?" let me adopt my best Wallace Beery stance. up his face and his voice became g . rav- my job. A lifetime of being a spy or whatever )u wish to call it. I've also dealt with every kind of avice you could imagine and then some. Put your @corder on that table, Kim," he said, gesturing. "Its ght feet fiom us. Turn your little doodad on and leave in the record mode." Several seconds later, the recorder removed fi-om *ithin her belt and left on the table, she slid back into .'Done." ne' Massey asked her to confirm. to Scott. "Say something, son' Morgan Scott sat stiffly, straight-faced. "Once upon a time there was a wicked warlock who lived in Washing- ton, D., and he had a terrible habit of pulling the legs of pretty young women, or, stroking their legs, and--okay, sir?" "Well, You're original, anyway. Kim, the recorder. Bring it here, please, and play the tape. She returned the recorder, held it in one hand, ran the tape back through rewind and punched PLAY. She was openly astonished at the warbling squeal bursting through the speaker. She grasped the recorder, studied it, shook it. Massey smiled and motioned for her to shut off the machine. "Would, ah, Warlock Massey have an explanation for all that?" Morgan Scott asked. Massey tossed off the rest of his drink, burped as delicately as one might expect fi-om a water buffido, and 110 Martin Caidin cocked his head to one side, a sign they would come to as indicating nonjovial words would follow. he said in rymo:=t record anything in this place no-nonsense tones. "There's complete electronic dis- ruption of voice patterns. If you could see the pressure nerated by muscle action waves from your throat, ge and body heat, the usual outflow of sonic harmonics is gone. Throw a pebble into a smooth water surface and you get neatly identifiable rings. Set off a hand grenade just below the surface and you get sonic frenzy. In this 'kind of aural environment only the human ear works. it has the sensitivity, electrical circuitry and that incredi- ble compi@ter between our ears to sift out sense from nonsense. Massey pressed a button to the side of his chair and leaned down slightly to talk to his armrest. "One nine six for another round, please." -Right away, sir," the chair said. s?" Kim asked with a smile. :lilt chair have brain 'No. it does have specific circuitry to recognize my voiceprint. ff you ordered the drink from this chair security alert under way." He smiled there'd be a full like that and even I again. "This place is full of surprises don't know what they all are." He shifted position to rest an elbow on the armrest and prop up his chin in caked the palm of his hand, and his head once again barely to the side. "Do you two have any idea of what went on at the meeting tonight?" --Sir, the whole thing was weird." Morgan Scott looked about him uneasy. "It really is okay to talk openly?" "Fire away, son. Your Mother wouldn't recognize on a telephone fi-om here." your voice "Yes, sir. Back to the meeting. Weird, like I said. head. "That's E This business about UFO's." He shook his pretty crazy. Then the -real mystery. The lights. The green lights. just as crazy is where they're coming firorn. I,m equating an this with the geographical area, of course.- "And the numbers." Kim. added nnioldv. "For the BEAmRIDERS ill to get a clear definition of that green light the altitude of the M1r-- did you use the word 'definition'?" Massey sked. "No one used the word flash or anythmg similar. lad there been a question 6f light intensity we'd have ward that comment. Then, the Vela Hotel and Key- ole satellites responding the way they did?" She shook er head. "No way. Big light, very intense, doesn't iake any sense about where it came from, and abso- itely not a nuclear device such as a bomb." "Why?" The question stabbed at her. would have been either fallout or radiation picked up by balloons, aircraft, always on the alert for such phenomena." a look of pure joy on his face. He leaned Scott. "Pretty damned good for a beauti- main event in life is competition athlet- said proudly. I talked laser," Scott tossed into their lase " Massey said quickly. my head," Scott said. "Not lasers, per se. But . what I is of a magnitude beyond anything 1 know ; I about. And then all that conversation about green spheres doing thousands of miles an hour and the filins we saw and the way Mr. Mancini did everything but throw a shit fit-dairm, sorry, sir." Massey waved off the expletive and looked to Kim. "Sir, I'm no expert but I believe I have a pretty good method of seeing the large picture." The whole elephant and not just the trunk, eh?" `That says it pretty well," Kim went on. "When YOU it all together, two elements emerge." put "Fascinating." Massey was doing his best not to smile. Vlease do go on." be Z' "Well. almost nothing of what we heard should taking place where the events were described. I know the area around Angel Falls. Nothing I've heard gives a ,MD satisfactory explanation for such phenomena in so iso- 112 maran caidin rated an area. it simply doesn't serve any Purpose- If the Venezuelans, if they're involved, wanted isolation, they've got everything from vast swamp and river coun- try to desolate deserts completely isolated from the , 11 she outside world except for aircraft or satellites. Or added quickly, "in the case of the Mir, or even our own shuttles, manned observations from space. But nothing fits "Conclusions?" Massey asked with disarming calm. "Either everything we heard is really telling us noth- ing, which makes everything I've said an exercise in futile conversation," Kim said slowly, "or-and this is the most likely conclusion-we're victims of an elabo- rate smokescreen." "Hoax?" Massey asked. "No, sir," Kim said immediately. "A ruse to cover something of extraordinary power or advanced scientific nature that can't be hidden because it does Produce enormous ffluminatiov effects, so they need -all this circus hoopla to cover their tracks. And the perfi)ct vehicle is the UFO." anded the answer. "Why?" Massey almost dein Scott picked up the response. "Because Bra- Morgan zil, all the way north to Venezuela, has been a hotbed of UFO sightings fi)r over twenty years. Not only sight- ports of land- ings, but photographs, films and even re ings. Thousands of them. After a while the response to such reports is to ridicule what's going On, to treat the whole thing with what I call gentle sympathy." Massey leaned back to regard the two young people with open admiration. "Bmvo," he said quietly. "In more ways than you realize you ve been dead on target. smiled "I have the feeling you're not going to Kim tell us where we've been right or wrong." I "YOU re right," Massey told her. "I won't. Not yet, anyway. You'll learn soon enough. Now its time to get down to business. Do you two consider yourselves Vol- unteers for missions that may be dangerous?" "Yes, sir." They spoke in chorus. I'TTn tnikina about situationsAiat eAn 1-ill vnii-" BEAmRiDERs 113 "We've been through this before," Scott said. "our only restriction is that we won't get into any of this ,undercover stuff where we're expected to kill. Assassi- Jutions, that sort of thing. Well risk our lives but we r won't take a life from someone else." "Iliat's a position on which you're firm?" "Absolutely, " 10in said. "very good. Now let me review quickly." A different Massey, seemed to appear before them, a subtle shifting in mood and personality and attitude. . "Morgan, you're a former test pilot, skydiver, 0 lym- Vic athlete and also a chemical engineer., You speak seven languages. For personal reasons that were rather se you quit the military. You've lived and worked I America as a chemical and geological engi- You're also a black belt in at least four martial Unmarried, unattached and, to some extent, bored and seeking challenge to make your life more meaningful.' "d to hear what comes next," Kim rolling her eyes. I t hesitate. "Your mother is Venezuelan, You're fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and fairly adept in several Slavic languages. You're an amateur archeologist and well re- spected for your graduate work. You're obviously an outstan ding athlete, a champion swimmer, you're an expert in underwater work, you've done skydiving and you, ve got your ticket as a pilot. More recently you did studies in nuclear systems and electron' ics, in laser technology. Oh, yes, the both you are also paramedics. Those are just the high- lights. You have one phase of your life as a teenager you wish'had never happened. You were married at sixteen and your fiaher had the marriage annulled. You never told anyone why you made such a drastic move." He paused a moment as he brought a cigar from an inner jacket Pocket. "Care to tell me now?' Kim's fitce was stony. "I don't believe you don't al- ready know.' "We have a third party with us, Kim. I never discuss 114 maran Caidin personal issues of this nature with MY~ else. Yes, I ao know.11 Kim held his gaze, preferring not to look at Morgan Scott. "I married a nineteen-year-old boy. He had bone less than six months to live. We moved to cancer and Nevada and lived out in the desert. You're right; the marriage was annulled. it didn't matter. I stayed with Mitch until the day he died. in my arms. The doctors were wrong. He lived only two months." Massey swept on, to Kim's gratitude. "The mission yoi;fl go on calls for a third partner. You'll become a tighter than two whiskers on a dwarf gnat. Do team, either of you know Stanley Blake?" ..Of "You have the unsettling habit, sir," Scott said, asking questions to which you already know the an- swers. Sure we know Stan Blake. He s the toughest competition in sports I've ever had." "Kim?" "I did diving with him. Believe it or not, sir, we were looking for ancient ruins in the South Atlantic. It could have been Atlantis. Whatever it was we definitely found the remains- of a civilization that predated the best of 11 Europe by several thousand years. "Eicell@nt. I'll do the routine condensed biog on Blake." Massey paused long enough to finish a second drink and offer up a crooked smile. "Blake's a diver and so are you, Kim. We start with you." hought you were going to tell usil, "I t "I am in my own way. Go ahead." She sought the memories and the right words. "Well, the impression that stands out the most is that Stan Blake is an incredible physical specimen. Not the fancy muscle type. That doesn't count for beans," she empha- sized. "He's, well, I think of words like whipcord, or pure banded steel. He has athletic muscles. Long and flowing rather than the knotted bunchy type." "is that important?" Massey queried. "Absolutely. He doesn't cramp up under severe exer- tion and that's critical when you're under pressure for a Iona time. He's an outstanding@J(nv_distance runner, an j6d a jumper; he's quali- jumper with the forestry a diver @ve7thing fiom where the long muscle he did a stint with the navy._2 "He was UDT,- scoft said. -Underwater demolition team They don't come any better.-, "There's something else," Kim said, digging into mem- @ She snapped her fingers. "Of course. We'd talked 46)ut ft. He did a special job with oil drilling rigs off Mie Venezuelan coast- something about our govern- loaning him out for that." t@ very good," Massey said, then waited. .. I I think he went into that mountains. loves the risk. down into Mt. Shasta he got scalded pretty bad. f 4 He thought it,was great fun. He's a maniac when it comes to that.' -You d never expect it but he's also a gun nut Scott illteliected. "No, I take that back. Not a nut. He's a Pro- Of course. He's won Olympic competitions sho t in o - ing. Has a hell of a collection. He's an expert in just about everything, inchuUng longbows and crossbows, blowguns; all kinds of weapons.' "And he hates the military,- Kim said. "There's more than one dichotomy in that man. He um military, one of the best, and -he's so aping capital punishment and I war and killing he's almost paranoid on the subject. - "YOU find that a fitult? Or a problem?" Massey asked. I would," Kim said slowly, "except for the fact that be explained it to me once. He also has a collection of small predatory creatures. Wasps, killer bees, scorpi ons, beetles, centipedes, those kind of killers. He told me that nature equips all creatures for survival in the BEAmPJDERS 115 for example, but he also has tremendous power for short, hard work. I know about his Olympics work. He was--&--a top wrestler, a heavyweight boxer, he,s into just about all the martial arts and has a whole bundle Of black belts. He flies, both fixed-wing d colt -I 116 Martin Caidin best possible way, but right alongside the venomous spiders and snakes he has a collection of the most beautiful butterffies I've ever seen. He likes to blow people I s minds with that. He points out that they can't kill mything and they've outlasted, as a species, most of the predatory and killing creatures that nature has wiped out. "Sounds like he thinks," Massey observed. "Yeah, but don't be fooled by that," Scott threw in. "If he has to, he can be damned dangerous." He looked at Kim. "Did you know he was once mugged? In De- troit. He was alone, God knows doing what, in one Of the worst puts of town at night, and a whole bunch of animals came down on him." "W-whitt Imppened?" "Mere were about ten of them. When it was all over the police reported a gang fight, there were so many bodies scattered on the streets. They came after Blake with knives and clubs, and he had a steel--I don't know what you call it, but think of a steel whip, like a car radio antenna, but much stronger than that. He went straight for themi it sounded like the singing sword right out of King Arthur He cut them to ribbons. Didn't kill anyone but they ended up looking like ham- burger. A few of them got to Stan, you know, hands on. He broke a bunch of arms and legs." "Was he hurt?" Massey asked. I don't see how he couldn't be, but there wasn't any record of medical treatment," Scott said. K. "AU right. IT add the finishing touches. Blake is a team player. If he was a lone wolf he wouldn't be any good to us. He's paramedic, speaks Oriental languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Arab, Russian, perhaps some more. Totally royal. He's also in the same cate- gory as you two. Part of a team on special assignment but without knowing exactly what You three Wm make 't., up your own team." He held up a hand. "Later, later. The details come later. I'm surprised that neither of you mentioned one other thing about Blake." Kim blinked. -1 thought we it all. BEAMPMERS 117 "Almost all.- Massey's fitce was deadpan. "You're both white- Good old Caucasian. Even the Venezuelan in Kim, which is part Indian, only makes her lovelier. Neither one of You has said a word about Stan Blake being@ well maybe the best word is mongrel. His father is as'black as they come and his grandin gmnd- other was Chinese. His father is a big ugly brute, and, like these th %T?2tn g@`ai mother is Cherokee Indian. ft !dgs 'nat's all? just ... go?" O *Ut's the difference what he is? Racially, I mean,-- Kim added. "I'd never have known anyof these things if You didn't tell us. He has Caucasian feawres, but his skin color is, well, I think of Hawaiian or Polynesian If anything he's got a permanent light tan. "Except for his eyes,' 'Black as black Scott added. can be. When the light catches them 'ust right, the gleam. J y Massey smiled. "nine to get down to cases. I'm on therecordnow.Areyouwilhngtotake@thejobiI told YOU almost nothing about except that you may getkined? Or even worse?" "You know our terms, sir," Scott said. ,we,!e not in the covert operations business, this CIA crap., "Understood and accepted. On my part," Massey said immediately. -()ne mi ore thine. The job is@ fi)r the United states and for the venezuerans.,. 'A group? Individuals? For the country?" Kim shot back. ..You mean Venezuela? For the country. Equal loy- ally. No divided feelings. No dichotomy of commitment. .][)Oft it have something to do with what we saw and Massey said. A smile he apl@@M. "Now, if to me. Got sworn oath .WhOa, sir," Scott said, holding up his hands, palms out. "You know we're on that Wat@fidog program for 118 Martin Caidin Senator Elias. He's got our word. He decides what we do." "And if the old warhorse okays my terms and tells you to shift to the side and work directly for meF' Kim Seavers and Morgan Scott exchanged a long glance. Kim shrugged and nodded. 'If the senior gives the green light," he said finally, "we're yours. Massey looked up, ignoring the response. "Ahal A final round of drinks on their way." He rose to his &et. "Stay here. will you excuse me? Nature calls an old body. I'll be just a moment." Yes, sir." Scott said. "Should 1, ah, sign for the drinks?" Massey chuckled as he walked away. "No one ever signs anything in here, son." ?,;J In the men's room Caleb Massey stood before a locked toilet stall, a door that went fi-orn floor to seven feet above the floor. It had a number 8 in brass at eye level. Massey slid the brass plate aside to reveal a lens and a combination dial fitce. He tapped in a c( with his right eye into the lens. A dim blue light glowed, he heard compressed air hiss, and the door opened. He entered the toilet stall, closed the door behind him, sealed it with compressed air and a steel bolt. A bright light came on through the walls. Massey sat on a comfortable padded seat and Placed his palm against the wall. He barely heard the tinkling tones of a computer system, then the section of wan' to his right glowed with faint lettering: SECURE. Another panel in the wall opened. Massey reached within the space to remove a featherweight oxygen mask linked by whe to two featherweight earmuffs. He donned the equipment, withdrew a credit-card-sized computer from an ankle wallet, topped in a coded number and then the word READY appeared in place Of SECURE. Massey spoke easily into the 'oxygen mask' that not only muffled his voice but scrambled an acoustical pat- terns within the stall. "Well, Caleb, how did it go?' he heard. BEAMRIDERS 119 f "YOU rm?" "Hell no, you old bastard, I still charge," Senator Patrick Xavier Elias growled into Massey's micro head- sets. "Hold your water." "Got it,,' Massey said. In his mind's eye he saw the senator seated in a comfortable lounge chair in robe and slippers, his huge lRottweiler, Ajax, by his side. City lights would be showing through polarized steel-tempered glass. Massey knew the routine Elias was following, tapping in codes on his chair armrest, initiating an bier that brought a deep growl fi-orn the acoustic scram dog due to the sonics. Finally the chair itself, a marvel of microminiaturization with contacts in a dozen other cities, would sound a chime and a woman's voice would say soffly, -cleared and secure, Senator." Massev heard the next words from Elias. "We're clean, Caleb. Let's have it "I lave Seavers and Scott with me' .I figured you wouldn't waste any "They're ready. But they won't move an inch until you transfer them to me. Tomorrow. ,Good,,, Massey said. "There isn't any time to waste. They've had a bad setback down in Venezuela, but that McDavid fellow has a tight grip on their problem." "He's working with u0" "He's working with us for the good of Venezuela-" "Even better." our own team in BEMAC. Scott, Seavers and me opposite Blake for starters. Mercedes already has so., numbers in the Pipeline and in full testing- He could almost feel Elias stiffening- "Live transmis sion?" "Yes." I. damn!" "Incomplete, Pat. Foulup on the receiving end. At least one dead, maybe more." "You said McDavid had a handle on it?" -Yes. He knows we're the answer to their problem. --you keep beating around the bush, goddamn you. 120 Martin Caidin Do you tell me how far they are? What results I can expect?" "You know more than you should already.- "The devil you sayl If I don't know, I can't handle the appropriations and-2' "Jesus, cut me some slack, Pat," Massey broke in. "I sure as hell don't want Mancini tumbling to whafs going on. You having reservations about trusting my end?" "No. I don't question your judgement or you. But the whole thing seems so incredible, beyond all possibiliqr-@ -Theseno@, Pati*k.- He heard Elias take a deep breath. "All dot, Caleb. Back to reality. From what I have been told, and with accuracy, we cm expect the Russians to do their best to get into this thing as soon as they can." "oh, they'll try. I'd be sorely disappointed. if they didn't." "Caleb, watch what toes you step on." "Toes, hell, I'm going to bust their kneecaps." "Those days are gone, Caleb." "The hell they are, Senator." "Caleb, you can't just-" ..No. Don't even try to stop me, old fiiend." Massey's voice was that of a stranger fiom a dim past when Pat Elias and Caleb Massey had been the finest killers in a Green Beret team. But that ww so long ago! The world was different now-- Massey's voice sliced through brain tissue like a burning scalpel. "Listen and listen good, Pat," he went on. "i'll bet my right arm to a stale doughnut that Ludendorff will be right in the thick of this." Ernst Ludendorff?" "Me one and the same. Our old buddy fi-om the cloak and dagger days." "He's German- know what the hell he is," Massey said with sud- den impatience. "I also k[kow he's been on the KGB lead team from square one. Hes their best. And its BFimRIDERS 121 smart for them to use a German. Any edge is a good edge." "All rights" Elias spoke with sudden resignation, and Massey sensed he could feel an overwhelming tiredness in his old friend. Time to prime the old fire a bit. "Senator," Massey spo6 with a lift to his voice, "you 4 consider me a pretty smart fellow?" Elias offered a welcome laugh. "Come on, Caleb, what is this? Show and tell? You know what you are. You're a damne( genius." ..Calling me names won't get you anywhere," Massey said lightly and then added a touch more seriousness to his voice. "Old man, you'll understand all this better when I tell you that compared to Vasco de Gama, who's like a reincarnation of Michelangelo, and he's their prkw on their project, I'm just a kid in sixth grade." "is -he your, ah, opposite number?" "Uh-uh. Like most real geniuses he can't pour piss out of a boot without a roadmap. My man is Phil Mercedes. "I know him. Razor sharp. Born leader." "You got it. He's also'an experienced military man and he's a realist. Most important is that he trusts me and I absolutely trust hiiii." Massey glan@ed at his watch "Senator, I'm running short on time. "All right, Caleb, III back you all the way. just a few moments more. Whats the code name?" "Dragonfly." Elias laughed. "My secretary's phantom pet. Excel- lent. who's the contact?" "Luis Espinoza." "The general? For Christ's sake, Caleb, he's been a thorn in our side for yearsi" "Great actor, isn't he." Statement; not a question. Elias chuckled. "Good night, Caleb." "Night, Buster Brown." Massey cut the connection, punched in a series of code numbers, waited briefly, then spoke. "Luis? Drag- onfly here. 122 Martin Caidin Massey returned to the alcove where Seavers and Scott waited for him. Kim held up his drink. "It's getting cold," she said, smiling. He took a sip and held out the glass. "Your good wishes, and a successful trip." Scott exchanged a questioning glance with Kim. "Uh, what about-" "Check with the senator in your usual way," Massey said quickly. "Where to, sir?" Kim asked, leaving no question that she knew Massey had taken care of their affairs with Senator Elias. You leave in the morning f or Caracas. I suggest you find Stan Blake, fill him in, and you all make your flight 11 on time. Your tickets will be waiting for you at the Eastern counter at Dulles. First class, I might add." "Anything else, sir?" Scott asked. "Yes. Why are you still here?" Chapter VM -we are in great luck," the pilot said with a sense Of excitement to the other three men in the pressurized cockpit of the powerful Yakovlev Dark Falcon. Colonel Karl Nikolaiev turned to look at his copilot. Colonel Uon Semyonov nodded his agreement and smiled. The heavy pressurized helmet atop his suit didn't move, but Nikolaiev saw his head bob in the glowing lights re- 't@ed flee , from the instrument panel. "Comrade Colonel, I have never seen such clear sides before in this area." A sense of quiet excitement came through in the words of Major Edward Naumov, radar specialist and electronics officer of the great-winged machine cruising eighty thousand feet over the dark- ened heartland of Venezuela. Displayed before them was an incredible sight. Caracas and the eastern coast- line of the country lay Eir below as glowing and spar- kling jewels. The Maracaibo oilfields had been a great area 4 pitch darkness punctuated with tmy flickering lights and then sudden hes of flame as towers burned gus off the excess pressure of upthrusting gas and oil. Then they swept onward to swamp interior and turned their eyes from the earth to the majestic lift of the Andes fir ahead. They were getting first light from a moon low on the horizon and the mountains seemed to float magi- cally. But they were approaching swiftly their desig- nated target area. "Naumov," the pilot called through his helmet sys- tem, "is our course- steady?" Major Naumov shared the aft portion of the cockpit with Lt. Colonel Evgeny Evtushenko, their specialist in 123 124 Mailin Caidin their elaborate camera and reconnaissance systems, and a mass of heavy equipment. They were two figures in pressure suits within a surrounding cocoon of elaborate instruments and equipment. "On course, sir." He stud- ied the glowing scope target grid overlaid on a corn- puter graphic of the land below. Everything was visible with a glance. "We will be in position to commence camera and recorders in exactly nine minutes, sir." The pilot spoke again. "Evtushenko?" "AU is in -readiness, Colonel. The equipment has been confirmed." He fell silent for a moment. "Colo- nell there must be something very big going on down there. I am already getting indications of intense radia- tion in the' in&ared." Nikolaiev pondered their situation and made a sud- den decision. "Evgeny, start all recorders and cameras three minutes earlier than we planned. it would be stupid to miss any peripheral activity or insti ations because of a flight plan that idiot Platinov dreamed up." Semyonov laughed. "Has that fat cow ever actually flown a mission. "Not in my machine," Nikolaiev said with a grim tone to his voice. "He fiwts. That man fill-ts awake or asleep; it doesn't matter where he is. Braaap, braaap! I don't believe even a pressure suit would protect us. We would gag and it would take a month to fumigate the machine!" The men laughed with him and Naumov's voice broke the laughter. "Two minutes to target run, Colonel." They were suddenly all business, total professionals. "Very good. Everybody on their toes," Nikolaiev ordered. "One minute," Naumov said. "Ready," Evtushenko added. "Colonell" Semyonov said sharply. I have a visual dead aheadl" "Start everything rollingl" Nikolaiev commanded. "Camera on, recorders on, radiation systems on," Evtushenko snapped. "Can you see what it is?" Naumov asked. "It is ... a circle, a circle of lights," the copilot said 125 BEAMRIDERS slowly. --I dont understand... fi-Om this altitude, to see the circle itself so clearly... the thing must be enormously Nikolaiev leaned forward. He saw the-wiatever it was. A circle of fight, the lights flashing around and around, a glowing: disc of tremendous power output- "Damn you Evgeny, is everything working?" Con is working "Yes, sir, urade Colonel. Everything perfectly. We have fiiU radar sweep, infiared photogra- phy ... the scanners show the object clearly and- it's disaVpeared. "over therel" Colonel Semyor@ov said in a haff-shout. st a few can I believe itl its covered miles in ju oecondsl" Nikolaiev saw it, "Its gone ... nol There it is again- behind the tops of those lt@must be very low, moving Naumov, what distance to Angel miles." going like crazy," Semyonov added. I the colors now ... they whip around and that His vc@ice fell away as he from Natimov. vgeny, do you confirm r It is moving, I mean, the instru- 0. ments show it moves at better than three thousand miles an hour." Nikolaiev laughed harshly. "in low atmosphere? Just "Comrade Colonel, may sible? hope," he a i officer, "that your eyes tell us. record accurately what our if we return with only a verbal @eport of what seen we will all be in the psychiatric ward ten after we land"' IN Martin Caidin Captain Jesus Gomez stood in the back of an amphib- ions truck, a severely modified DUKW developed by the Americans for wallowing through ocean water, then rolling up onto beaches and lurching a path across swamps, grasslands or old roads. Jesus Gomez had been driving this particular DUKW for many years through the downcountry rivers and grasslands of Venezuela. At this moment, wearing army fatigues with a bright lighbaing-bolt insignia on his upper left arm, he also wore a huge grin. Ali, what a marvelous night, he thought. The stars were in their best form, splashing the sky from one horizon to the other, and the moon, a thick yellow orb crawling up over the mesa-silhouetted horizon, began slowly to add light to the shadowed earth. Gomez took a deep, invigorating breath. He loved the night, he loved the air, this marvelous coun- try, he heard the roar of nearby rushing river and thundering Us as deep and rich music. But the grin was for a great winged machine, so high as to be hope- lessly out of human sight, yet pinioned neatly on the gleaming surfitce of a radar scope. What a wonderfid machine that could soar invisibly so many miles above the earth, fitster than the bullet from a pistol, looking down on the earth from the heights of gods. The grin remained as Gomez thought of the humans, not gods, in that machine his electronic systems tracked so faithfidly. Humans of rigid thought whose technical competency could be reduced to startled imagination. A voice called out Erom the dim yellow night. "Jesfisf Have they taken the bait?" Gomez looked out from the truck bed, barely able to see the silhouetted forms of jungle Rudy and his daugh- ter, Hilda. Beyond the two figures a huge helicopter hunched to the earth, enormous rotor blades hanging like the wet wings of a mantis. Its crew was within, sleeping. Gomez waved. "They are good, these Russians," he called back tID jungle Rudy. "Mey will pass almost directly overhead and then direct to Angel Falls. I think it is time." BEAMRIDERS I would say, jungle Rudy judged pocket watch. confirmed. fled. Hilda nudged her father. I wish I Jungle Rudy pointed to the west. "Keep that direction. A little more than a minute miles west of Gomez, Jungle Rudy and the chained mass of the heh@op@, two men pre- throw a switch. By their side a thumped and due- at the ready as they called out the final seconds and then nodded. zavc," he said, smiling. His companion closed the switch. Dbectly before them spread the results of their work earlier in the day. Sections of translucent piping Ned with neon and other reactive gases. Ile piping covered a distance, measured in the greatest diameter, of nearly two hundred feet in roughly the fi)rm of a circle. When the switch closed, power flashed fiew the generator. A superpowerfii) neon circle exploded silently into exis- tence, its glare lighting up the surrounding country- side. A deep fluttering sprayed back as startled birds dashed into the sides. "Ali, is it not beauffulr @Wonderfiill T it is ma cl- ruly gi "Remember, exactly forty seconds and no more.' "Good, good. Only ten seconds to go." "Power off now." Power off Retmal afterimages and ghostly swimming in the eyes. But not where the seat ring had flashed so brilliantly. Only the barest of deep orange glows, Wing swiffly. -LookI Where Pedro and Maurice have been waitingl- The two men looked to a low mesa eighteen miles distant across the rivers and the oualands. Twenty- in the night One man ..Make Martin Caidin four seconds after their circular light blacked out an- other great ring of light burst into existence. For thirteen seconds. Then darkness. Nineteen seconds later another ring appeared, and then another, and another. From eighty thousand feet the enormous fire-lipped disc seemed to race across the river and jungle country at incredible speed. "Four o'clock, range nine miles, eight thousand f eet below and closing fast. Radar confirmation, electronic countermeasures all systems are on. They are sweep- ing with ground radar and airborne radar." Major Ed- ward Naumov was surprised and--for the instant he permitted this extraneous thought-pleased with his calm f and crisp efficiency. "How many?" Nikolaiev barked. -In a moment, sir, I can--ah, fourtargets, Colonel, Still closing fast, coming up level affour o'clock." 'Any sign of missilesr "No, sir. They have target radar locked on us.' "Decoys outl" Nikolaiev shouted. Six small missiles spat with dark red flame from the belly of Dark Falcon. They whipped sidewards and down, each decoy missile emitting a shrill radar wave and flashing intense heat. If those fighters out there, and they could only be fighters, judged the Russians, the decoys should snare the missiles ranging in on the metal shape and powerful engines of the great recon- naissance machine in which they flew. 'Still closing, sir," Naumov announced. "Sir, ready to fire homing missiles," Evtushenko said in a flat tone. @U -Negative, negative, - Nikolaiev said quickly. "We did not come here to fight." He paused a-heartbeat as his right hand flicked away a safety cover to an emer- gency switch. "Prepare yourselves" he sang out and snapped the switch to ON. The night sky blossomed with dazzling yellow flame and violet shock waves as two liquid rocket engines BEAmmm behind Dark Falcon. Instantly an invisible power pushed the machine through and far beyond, lifting Dark Falcon toward the designated escape altitude of better a hundred thousand feet. coming at us," Naumov announced, an icy him as his radar tracked eight missiles infm the still invisible fighters. His seemed to go mad with intense thermal in the cold thin@air of them altitude. Naumov vibrations as Evtushenko responded to of missiles and launched another brace Of I- Naumov called out, a sweep of relief and =te ear his voice. "The decoys ... the mis- r c' Om e h on theml Nikolaiev nodded. "We are safe. We will fly due south to Brazil and then to the east. Leon, - he queried his copilot, "how long before we can rendezvous with the tanker?" 'Vhirty-six minutes, sir." Nikolaiev glanced at their fuel gauges readout. The glowing numbers pleased him. They had fuel enough to rendezvous with their tanker plus an hour's safi@ty margin- They would have an interesting tide to relate when they landed back home. Jungle Rudy, Hilda and Jesus Gomez watched the flowering lights and starbursts expanding so high above them that no sound would reach the ground. Hilda pointed to the lights changing swiftly in colors. 'Vhat are thev?" she exclaimed. "Fireworks, " Gomez laughed. "AU kinds. The four lights You saw almost as a single light? Four of our jet fighters. They also launched missiles. "You would shoot down an unarmed plane?" Hilda's voice showed concern and shock. "Mey are not so unarmed," jungle Rudy corrected her. Gomez smiled at Hilda. "Do not worry, golden one," 130 Martin Caidin he said, using the name to mark her rich blond tresses. "The missiles carry no explosives. But the Russians," he grimed wider, "do not know such things. AU those other lights. Decoys from the Russians to lure away our homing pigeons." "But that sudden explosion-' Gomez shook his head. He glanced at his radar set. The Russian machine was already beyond the range of his field equipment and he saw the four blips of the .F -16's turning back to Venezuelan territory. "A rocket engine, he told Hilda. "A great burst of power to carry the dark machine higher and fitster. A dash for sa&ty." Hilda was honestly confused. "You mean ... theyll let the Russians get away? just let them go?" Gomez removed his headset and lit a cigarette. He leaned on his equipment. "But of course. How else," he asked expansively, "could those people return to Moscow with their pictures?" .,pictures?" Rudy gestured. "You saw the lights. The great rings Of artificial flame, whirling around and around. From very high, Hilda, the lights are huge discs. The lights of one go out, another flashes to life. Again and again. You know what the Russians saw? A huge flying saucer, racing over the earth." "And from now on," Gomez added, "the Russians Will believe our scientists remain hard at work on a secret project in these hills and grasslands." Hilda pouted. 'Mey are no foolsf I don't believe you can make them beheve-2' "No matter what they believe," Gomez broke in. "They'll be confiised, they must continue chasing after every ghost, an&---7 "Jes4st E nough schooll" jungle Rudy called, waving his arm. "Come with me to the veranda. Hilda, go ahead, please and prepare the table. Jesus, I have wonderful Venezuelan rum and Swiss chocolate and marvelous Jamaican friends my gringo friend sends to met" BEAmmms 131 know somethings Nelson Sanchez crouched thick bushes in the heavy of the biUside growth mountain road and nudged Tony Pappas by ?- Pappas hissed. like an idiot doing this." right. Be an idiot, then, but why do you ask Pappas didn't turn to Sanchez as they spoke. He eyes set toward a military airport, aglow and with the lights usually fiffing the darknm at time. we're whispering" Sanchez said. "Wbis- like idiots in a grade B movie or something." turned finally, a strained look on his fitce. me if you're not right, " he said with a voice fi-orn the whisper to normal volume. Pappas "Here we are, trying not to be heard from that and they have jet engines howling and true4cs rulaning up and down the pW&--:' He straightened @UUIU his crouch in the underbrush of the hillside. Be- Aween the two men stood a heavy tripod with a power- Ad long lens, and attached to the eyepiece section was a camera through which they studied airport activity with -blemendous; magnification. He tamed to his left. Parked 4a off the road in the only level spot for hundreds of Ibet was their news van with moNmR mcioNAL TELEmioN embbzoned on its sides. How could we be so stupid as not to at kast cover over that sign? Pappas grumbled in self-criticism. We might as twU advertise ... Against the nig ht glow and staffield, and a low moon, he made out the figure of Angela standing atop the van, powerful binoculars to her eyes. Even in the darkness she is beautifid, Pappas mused. That body- Her voice cut short his pleasant thoughts. -Quicklyl- she said in a hoarse whisper. '4Mey're coming inr Pappas nearly burst into laughter. An this skulking about on a hillside overlooking the Caracas environs. Nels was right. A cheap movie scene. But Sanchez listened instead of wondered. 132 Martin Caidin "we're ready," he said, patting the camera. "Give me a position, Angie." '4IIiere," she said, pointing. "To your left. I see four of them." Sanchez adjusted his sights. He waved with one hand. "All right. I have them. I'm shooting now." Far off across the countryside, landing ts waver- mg like great yellow eyes in the night, four jet fighters flared gently to the long runway and began their roll on the concrete. They tamed toward the end hangar on the flight line, where perhaps a dozen cars and trucks awaited them. Angela Tirado climbed down the van ladder to join Pappas and Sanchez. "You have the picturesF' Sanchez nodded. "A full roll. I've already changed film. But why are we taking pictures of airplanes land- ing in the night? What can we possibly do with them? They're so far away--2' Tirado half-turned to Pappas. "Four of those fighters, Tony. The best we have,' she spoke quickly. She flashed a look of having bagged a difficult quarry. "Where uvm they? What were they doing? Ifs- the middle of the night. There's no reason for them ta---!' Pappas sighed. The world between military and civil- ian is huge, he thought quickly. "Angie, they could be doing anything." He shrugged. "Hell, I'm not carrying a crystal ball, woman. They could be on night maneu- vers. Night fi)rmation training. An intercept of a bogey, something unidentified. Anything." ..0 h, come on, Tonyl" she half shouted, one arm gesturing wildly in the direction of the military field. "You're a captain 'in our air force, remember? You don't need to pe,;61 You of all people would know. "Dammit, Anide, I d6i't know from crapl" he said with sudden imj@tienc@. "I'll tell you what I do know. Right now I'm fivezing my ass off on a Mountainside tdth you, taking stupid pictures of airplanes miles away from us, airplanes that fly at night all the damn time, and I don't know why." "He's right, Angie," Sanchez joined in. Tin turning BEAMRIDERS 133 So why don't you tell us what's going studied both men, but she kept her gain spoke with deliberate patience. of large Russian aircraft off our his expression blank. we have jet fighters all over the place, fighters airborne," he admitted. don't connect the two?" Her eyes widened. swore you'd always level with m&--2' he broke in quickly. "First, we've had large an aircraft off our coast for years. Their Bear tur- vs; hell, they run up and down the east coast of i @and North America. Those damn things can fly e thousand miles nonstop. And the Backfires from what I'm trying to tell you, Angie, is that there's hing unusual i n Russian planes along the coastline. 'Nothing unusual in our fighters being up at the ie time?" 'Whats so unusual?" He shrugged. "Half the time intercept them. The Americans intercept them, the intercept them. We take pictures of them pictures of us. Damn, woman, you're for granted--Z' I am," she snapped. "All right, Tony, you game of see-nothing, know-nothing." you twol" she said angrily. "Get the gear Move, movel" shouldered the heavy tripod while Pappas battery packs and they started forthe re are we going in such a hurry?" Sanchez the woman. "You said yourself it's the mid- offering a withering look over her shoul- going to the airport.- Sanchez pressed, baffled. 'Me commerc field, of course." 134 Marfln Ca0n "But why?" Pappas added to Sancheis queries. "There's a commercial "t coming in fiom Europe in just about," she paused, glancing at her watch, "two hours fi-oin now. That plane is carrying Russian techm- cians and special agents. As tourists, of course," she added acidly. "And I want pictures of them. Good, clear pictures and video." Pappas turned in resignation to Sanchez. "Doesn't this crazy woman ewr know when to quit chasing ghosts?' Sanchez shrugged. 'Maybe she's got a crystal ball. Who knows? Lets go. Anyuiww where it's warm." General Luis Espinoza sat in the right seat of the jeep, nightpower binoculars to his eyes. He saw the two men and the woman and their van in a clear green light. "They I re going back to their van," the general Zd to major Raymond velasquez at his side. He low- ered the glasses and afforded himself the luxury of a thin smile. "Rayinond, that woman takes to the bait like a shark after a swimmer in the ocean," the general said. I admire her. She has great spirit.- He laughed sud- denly. "And she has no sense. We kept her under arrest and threatened her and it all amounts to nothing. She smells a story and like the true professional, for her," he shrugged, "the hunt is on." "Sir, you inean- . "Yes, of course we set this up. - Espinoza watched as the van lights came on and the sound of the engine starting carried thinly across the night. "We made cer- tain she heard that unusual events were going on. The Russian planes. The Americans who act so mysteri- ously. And those so-called Russian tourists. Everything is re4l. It is not always precisely what it seems to be, but it is real. She is a true hunter, that Tirado. She does exactly what we wish her to do. Pursue the quarry. No wonder she is so good a reporter." Velasquez nodded slowly. He had the general's full BEAmpjmRs 135 does she know," he asked slowly, "about the shook his head. "Not yet, not yet. There is to be scattered. We must let her learn more, willingly into the web. She is brilliant and we for her special talents. Soon, soon." "There. Those lights. One of ours. her, but why bother? She goes exactly -ewe wish her to go." ChapWr IX "Me Walls of Jericho, circa Anymne Today.- Felipe Mercedes spoke as much to some inner meeting within his own mind as to his scientists and technicians gath- ered in the claustrophobic security-paranoid entrance cubicle to the secret facility beneath the mountains that rose high above distant Caracas. Mercedes lifted one hand in a casual gesture that evinced a strange sense Of power about himself and his group. His timing brought nervous laughs from those about him as loudspeakers Erom all four walls came to life. "CLEAR THE DOORS. CLEAR THE DOORS." Mechanical voices tinged with overtones of doom bounced off wincing ears. "STAND CLEAR. STAND CLEAR. THE DOORS ARE OPENING. THE DOORS ARE OPENING." Stupid machine-voice, Mercedes thought, grimacing. rve got to get rW of that idiot voice box, get a uvimns soft voice in here. His thoughts reflected good sense. Most military services throughout the world had learned to their astonishment that a warning of inumnent dan- ger in an aircraft, or in a reactor system such as that in which Mercedes now stood, ann ounced in a woman's soft voice brought swhter response than all the bells and whistles ever invented. Then he cut short Ins own thoughts. The surface beneath their feet rumbled and the air shimmered from deep vibrations as infi-asound spilled and tossed dust into the air about them. The thick concrete under their shoes rumbled with faint memories of earthquakes past as the steel wall split down its middle and groaned 136 BEAmRIDERS 137 eac i side, a magical separation on re- beneath and huge conceded hook rollers The doors thudded to a stop, sending more ons of low-fi-equency sounds into and through odies. For the moment they ignored the discom- d.:fidled even to step forward through the free- the now-open security walls. them spread an incredible scientific Disney no fitntasy here except for the horizons never Immersed as they had been with, their , embroiled with problems and success and as they might be for their dazzling new ir were struck dumb with the sight the eyes m. Lights and colors and sounds assailed ii in, blast of science awhirl and blinding. iey move( forward slowly, a cluster of awestruck Iren shuffling into the new light. Except fi)r Betan- t and Rivero, already accustomed to this new fan- of scientific facilities and opportunity, they gawked stared open-mouthed, half stumbling over their i feet. Here now was the dream come true. ',reat laser-beam generators in long rows. Thick ca- 9, instrument panels everywhere, computer con- glowing and spattering bright flecks of light, rthing shiny and new and gleaming. The work s in cleansuit coveralls the walls and equipment ed and numbered property. Judith Morillo moved fiom the group, staring about and upward as a child s first visit to.a soaring cathedral. I can I can hardly believe this," she spoke to them all, eyes still drinking in the wonder about her. "It is a church. It is a churchl" she added with a sudden of triumph for what they had been given. Her eyes onglowing letters spread along a curving wall, a i of pride created at Mercedes' insistence, a re- kder not needed, but treasured. ,IOELECTROMAGNEnC MANNED MATERIALS TEST COM- X. BEMAC," she breathed aloud, the word hallowed her. 138 Martin Caidin Dr. Mercedes and Vasco de Gama brushed by her. "No time fi)r being dumbstruck right now," Mercedes said, not unkindly. "We don't slow up our work in here even if angels appear in our midst." Morillo hurried to catch up with the others sweeping along behind the scientists and a booming voice fell amongst them. Loud- speakers about the great domed center, Monllo was startled. She had looked at so many specific things in her first exposure to BEMAC she had fidled to, realize that what soared overhead was the upper center of a great: domed structure. "THE DOORS ARE CLOSING. THE DOORS ARE CLOSING. PLEASE STAND CLEAIL PLEASE STAND CLEAR. FIVE SECONDS, FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO--2'The warning bell clarnored. "-ONE, CLOS- ING." The massive thud announced the dome experimental area closed off from the outside world. "Your attention, please," the voice of loudspeakers came to them. "All new arrivals please report to the safety viewing room to the left and above the entrance. The flashing yellow lights along the floor will direct you to this area. Please move into the viewing room as quickly as possible. Your assignments will be discussed with you following this next test. Thank you for your cooperation." The new voice galvanized them to action. They moved quickly along the line of flashing yellow lights imbedded within the floor. As soon as they were within the room a technician counted off their number, spoke into a hp mike ftom his plastic helmet, nodded, and sealed the entrance door through which they had just filed. They all found places before a truck, wide viewing glass. As much as they wanted to voice their reactions and emo- dons, the urge to see as much as possible took prece- dence, and a rare silence bound them tightly together. An electronic chime sounded and another voice came through the loudspeakers. There could be no mistake; whoever spoke now was long accustomed to obedience at such moments as the final count to a test. They listened to the test announcer, who remained invisible to them. BEAmRIDERS 139 attention, please," the voice called out surprising in a mechanical device. central area. Clear the central area immedi- are now T minus four minutes for a laser test. T minus four minutes for a laser test. Goggles will not be required--:' turned to Mercedes. "Iliat's a s-mprise," she the loudspeaker. She gestured beyond enclosure. "All that power out there, Doctor," on. "I recognize the generators and power ms and they're far greater than anything we've before. Now we don't need goggles?" ercedes took her arm and moved closer to the aw, a gesture and feeling of closeness he rawly ed, and even more rarely displayed so openly. everything here will be a surprise. Everything is well advanced over the equipment we used country. It is the same equipment, in a way," he led$ "only much, much improved. We don't need protective goggles because with the test coming UP R be tweaking down the beam intensity and-,' he shired at Mercedes with an urge to openly, even zenly, disbelieve him. What he had just told her ated all the rules she knew governing the VHP, or lasers. "You're going to tuvak one of MAC lasers?" Try as she might she couldn't words. of a specific reply he nodded and smiled. Judy. I told you everything would be a He gestured beyond the viewing window. now. Watch." there captured Judith Morillo, as well as Their fiwial expressions glowed with expec- apprehension. Even as they waited they de- sorcery about-them; even standing still they "'could sense and judge the enormity and complexity Of the BEMAC installation beneath the steeply sloping 'mountain. The sense of grandeur and enormous power Alled them all. Directly beneath the central peaking 'dome of the geodesic structure was the transmission 140 Martin Caidin heart and soul of everything they had done. And in every direction there snaked truck power cables huge transformers, measuring devices, computers, instruments and gauges, control and display panels, lugh up glassed in control stations. Here before them was their new world of great curving mirrors and flat mirrors, mirrors of glass and steel and alloys, curved and concave and convex, and of a wild array of hues. Before them loomed and spread the magician's brew of laser fitntasy, and even as they tried to absorb the wonder they felt the first great surge of power deep beneath their feet and literally quivering in the dust motes of air about them. "LookI The domel Straight up ... it's openingl" No one recognized the voice but all eyes lifted to watch the curved geodesic ceiling split down its middle,with its two halves sliding back and down. Each slid away a distance of twenty feet from where they had joined. The darkness of night hung like a thick mantle above. "Fifteen seconds. - The chant of the laser guru. Lights dimmed, power surged, deep and mighty sounds rose about them, rattled molecules and tortured metal and wood and glass. Teeth grated painfully. Ju- dith Morillo, unthinking, snatched at the arm of Ali Bolivar. The last seconds fell away. Everything happened at once. Everything began and catne together and started to end at the same instant. Gasps and unbidden shrieks from the watching group met the stabbing appearance, the burst into existence, of a faint blue-green light that fikster than the eye could follow appeared to bathe everything within sight. The ghostly blue luminescence appeared, flickered, vanished. It was but the opening cry of light. Instantly behind the fleeing blue, sound tore against the viewing window, an explosive and sudden CRAAAACKI that one might hear from a frighteningly close blast of lightning. Tearing against the window as if seeking out the stunned group within came a pulse, a single instant wash of deep red, the hue of fresh blood; like the ghostly blue it exploded silently into being and was gone, leaving behind glaring retinal afterimages the eyes chased futiley. BEAmMDERS 141 Use were but the opening sights and sounds of the orchestration of power. Did anyone ever hear the a wounded dinosaur in full pain? It could have much what struck the BEMAC assembly, a shriek -W A i*w energy, naked and stabbing tearing at the ears Ahe eyes and the brain and sending trillions of xules dancing and vibrating, and before it was ible fully to comprehend this infernal sound there wred, one instant not there and the next in full ling life, a green-glowing laser beam, fidly fifteen across its perfect cylindrical shape, easily as mea- ble as a great rod of steel of the same diameter. they stared wide-eyed, issuing gasps and little cries lonishment as they sought the origin of the terrible- derfid light, and found it fir to their right in the of a great cannon, jammed with studs and bolts to festooned with cables and controls. it VMS follow in sequence as it happened; they impact and bits and pieces, lights and they struggled between sound and until later when they saw slow-motion of the event would they see that the light flashed outward from the cannon, exploded eerily from the faces of mirrors assembled in chain-reaction reflections on the opposite side of the geodesic dome and, still aretaining its shape of glowing green steel, the beam raced with the speed of light, instantaneous to the human eye and its interpreting brain, about the mirrors and then fled almost vertically thmugh the aperture straight above them, to rush off into the unsuspecting night. Another cry of energy: deeper, a bass thunder from a kettle drum a thousand feet across struck with a stick the size of a sequoia. The laser snapped into memory. It is there; it is not them. The fastest rendition of those words was incredibly turgid movement compared to the lifespan of the massive laser beam. Had anyone among them ever tried to describe the sound, a sonic cry they'd never heard before, they would have deferred to the pilot among them, Ali Bolivar. "I imagine," he 142 Martin Caidin said later, "the guy wire from a telephone pole, one of those thick and very strong wires to hold the pole upright. if you strike them they give off a marvelous sound, a fivang! that sounds like a zap gun in a science fiction movie. Now imagine a giant hand reaches down and pulls that wire, like the string of a bow, and lets it free in a sudden movement. It was like a thousand such cables going 7WANG1 all at the same instant. My bones V felt like jellyl- Ught remained as a retinal imprint and memory, sound remained as jarred tissues and painful memory. Mercedes turned to Judith Morillo, now literally cling- ing for support to Bolivaes arm. Her cheeks were dam with tears and her eyes still wide with awe; Bolivar himself appeared thunderstruck with the speed and V fury of what they'd seen and heard. Mercedes held the eyes of Vasco de Gama, who looked back with pure JOY on his face. De Gama laughed suddenly. "A tunnell He has been talking all this time to me of a tunnell" He threw his arms wide. 'There is no tunnel ... instead," he reached out his hand to touch the shoulder of Mercedes, I find myself in a palace of the faturel" They threw their arms about one another, pounding shoulders, as the men and women about them, swept up in the fierce intensity and emotions, cheered and applauded. Finally Mercedes stepped back. "Thank you," he said to the group. "And.now, my friends, it is time to learn your new equipment, your new stations, and then," he added with a sweeping flourish, I will work you harder than you ever worked in your lives.' Bolivar laughed. "Doctor, you make me feel like one of @the maintenance workers at Disney world.,, Few Americans ever took Roger Delgado seriously., As a scientist, that is. He didn't look like a scientist. In the midst of his fellow scientists he looked like a half- witted athlete who'd lost his way on the running track behind the BEMAC administration building. The sim- BEAmRimits 143 for Delgado um a powerfid athlete with tanned skin and a shining smile. He looked than intellectual. the perfect man to work with the Americans on program," Felipe Mercedes long before had to General Luis Espinoza. "It's an exchange ram which is something that still has the Americans lexed. After all, what has Venezuela to offer for so and stupendous a scientific program?" Mercedes led at his own rhetorical sarcasm. "Only brains. wires, intellect, accomplishment; that is all. The Amed- *ns know that Roger has something they want ' but Oey're not certain what it is. So they will humor him fail entertain him and try to woo him like a horny Striner chasing his sheep when no one is looking. Won- Roger will be invited to play tennis and he is a )nship competitor. They will offer him swim- pools when they have forgotten he has won OIYM- R @,@pic swimming medals for us in the past. When he runs Eliot over their physical challenges they will turn to philosophy and chess, and Roger Delgado, 1 remind. ..you, Luis, has met the Russians head-on across the @chess boards and baffled them. Then they win try to charm his wife who is already a charmer of stunning beauty; she is our Venezuelan equal of Grace Kelly, and she will charm the wives of the Americans. Finally, after all this nonsense, what the Americans call so much folderol, they will get down to serious business." And so it went. As Dr. Delgado moved into the stratospheric elements of the American SDI program he was permitted to share the problems still beyond the This was solutions the Americans sought so desperately. no magic carpet trip. "I lack what you seek, at least in specific terms, he told the Americans. "But we have come much finther than you know in laser develop- ment. Do you know the name of Vasco de Garna? Ali, but you should, and I promise that you Unu. I see by your faces you are all from your state of Missouri. Very well, we will show you." First there was the crystal, grown in laboratory con- 144 Martin Caidin ditions under enormous pressure to more than a foot in diameter. Crystal like none other, faceted intricately, imbued with the quality of splitting coherent light beams with absolute precision. "That is but a beginning and only a part of the system," Delgado added, and dis- played a complete test device. "When we add free- electron laser pulsing to the crystal, beaming through the crystal and emerging with many laser streams em- bedded within what appears a single laser beam, and we then scatter the beams through reflection back to a single point, then, gentlemen, we make the quantum jump-" Why the electron-no; the free-electron laser? "Vasco de Garna years ago worked with microwave tubes," Delgado explained. "They produce incredible streams of electrons that behave as coherently as the light does in the laser When de Gama further developed his equipment he was able to create microwave tube streams in variable energy levels. Then he went beyond any- thing we had ever heard of. His microwave tubes pro- duced a laser-styled visible light. We all thought he was crazy. Produce a powerful electron beam that works at microwave and laser frequencies? Impossiblel" It seemed so. The average run-of-the-mill advanced laboratory laser works like a pump. You take electrons in a lasing medium-a high-energy particle soup, so to speak--and kick hell out of them. What you're really doing is accelerating electrons as they orbit their atomic nucleus. Kick them hard enough and they begin to spin in wider and wider orbits about that nucleus. When you stop kicking, the electron drops back to its original orbit But it has more energy than it had before and to become stable again in its orbit it has to release that energy. In the laser world, decay is a wonderful word, for as the electron decays back to its original orbit it hurls off light. It's possible to work with that light as particles, as photons. And every photon that's whipped away from the atomic nucleus has the marvelous ability to whip out yet another photon. 'Me net result is that the BEAmPiDERs 145 I and the stream of photons goes up astro- and the system to take all something bigger, better, stronger and more of a tool than plain old The system that permits a fi-eed photon to create photon as it scoots fi-om its old neighbor- the atomic nucleus produces a veritable storm of light. They're controlled, squeezed, electrical current to a reflecting mirror. the mirror bounces back the stream of light, all marching in perfect harmony at the speed And it bounces it back to another mirror, and forth and back and forth, all the time boosting energy level. If one of those mirrors is only partially then the beam finally smashes through and foes on to do whatever else is set up for its workload. That's about as basic as you can get. The next basic block calls for the use of a synthetic ruby, The power so C pumps energy by asting the ruby bar. To get maxi- mum energy fi-oni the basic system, high-intensity green light is sent into the ruby bar. Atoms seem to weicome ..,"green light more than they reject that frequency and thus they're amenable to a mass frenzy of electrons whipping out photons, and photons creating still more photons, and when the capacity of that partially silvered mirror is exceeded, BAM! you've got a working laser beam. Tickle the system by modifying the equipment and you can slice away a tumor on the surf ace of the human eye,or you can slice a heavy combat tank in half, melt- ing its steel as if it were soft butter. None of the above satisfied Vasco de Gama and his research team. The promise of vastly greater energies and flexibility was their Holy Grail, and the path to heavenly reward for de Gama was nothing less than the free-electron laser. He hurled his beam of electrons 146 Martin Caidin into what seemed best described as a wrangler, built of powerful magnets of varying polarity. So the beam of electrons behaved differently from other systems. The electrons zigged and zagged with the speed of light, and what de Gama had latched onto was the incredible secret that all you need to do to get an electron to create a photon is simply to change its direction. A tweak will do. Tweak the path of the electron and it rewards you with a free photon. Do this on an micreas- ingly larger scale and you get a controlled tornado of photons. The fancy name for it was synchrotron radia- tion. De Gama, a skilled horseman on the plains of Venezuela, preferred the term wrangler. There were problems, to be sure. De Gama devel- oped a laser beam fifteen feet in diameter to absorb the tremendous energies. His single greatest accomplish- ment came forth in mathematical theory. By placing an object in the path of the laser beam from its moment of weakness-the beginning of creating the beam itself- "I that object could be broken down beyond its molecular level to the level of theelectromagnetic worl"eep within the atoms themselves. At first they didn't know how or hyLn Tey understood about free-electron w Zrig lasers exp in th henomena. But that crystal ... ah, it performed as a catalyst in the deepest chain- bers of the subatomic world. It froze the vibrations of the electromagnetic spectrum just so long as the object within the beam remained within this specific stream of particles--the photons-moving with the speed of light. And since the photons were light, and it is impossible for light to move at any speed slower than light itself-a hundred and eighty six thousand miles a second-Vasco de Gama succeeded in erasing the electromagnetic struc- ture of an object. By U his laser controls much the same as a dirottle, alt9ugh with incredibly greater precision, when he shut off the laser power the object reappeared in a different location along the path of the beam exactly as it existed before being subjected to the beam. He had dernaterialized matter. BEAmRiDERs 147 reconstituted that same matter in a special than where it was dematerialized. believed him. Nobody, that is, outside small group of Venezuelan scientists. handful of Americans. Enter the Americans. Senator Patrick Xavier Elias; aleb Massey. Each of these two men, given the full complete of the Venezuelan, program, placed a of that program in a secret, coded secure deposi- Elias didn't know the name of the mark-or by Massey to open that material in of their deaths, and Massey on his part had of who the senator had selected for the some the same fatal moment had been reached. for what they received, Elias and Massey the Venezuelan team under Dr. Felipe whatever they needed for their program, so as Venezuela would continue to keep them up- on progress. Cooperation went to the point Of realization on the parts of Elias and Massey as to what the Venezuelans had actually done in their SEMAC program. Objects transported by the BEMAC laser beams progressed to animal tissue, chemicals, Cul tures; a bewildering variety of materials. And finally to misects. viruses; basic cells; small animals. The rate of death and destruction was le appalling, but the rewards of success were so incredib as to transcend any emotional or other objections. often They beamed larger animals and killed them, horribly. Then their success rate improved. They went to human volunteers. At first jubilation swept their ranks. They were hysterical with joy, drunk with the wonder of their new powers. Their equipment grew- Massive facilities were made available to- Mercedes and his team. Then they tore Benito Armadas to bloody pulp and made of his beautiful young wife a weeping widow. Claude McDavid met with Caleb Massey. I need your help," he told the American. 148 Martin Caidin "Name it," Massey said. "We need more power to work with. Our reactor lacks the really enormous energy for fiffl-scale and safe beaming. I have already had the facilities, the structural elements prepared at BEMAC." McDavid took a deep breath. i need a Mark Twenty-Nine reactor. Not the whole installation. just the heart and the guts." "That's just about impossible," Massey said. "I'd like to have the impossible on its way in seventy- two hours. "Hell, man no wayl It can't be donel" McDavid smiled. "You may hold the entire solar system in your hands and you tell me no way?" "Forty-eight hours," Massey said. He wasn't smiling. He just might have to kill with his bare hands to get BEMAC what McDavid said ft needed. immediately, if not sooner. He got ft. Rogelio "Roger" Delgado emerged from his control room, wearing a combination of old army boots, a dirt- smeared fice and streaked glasses, a lab smock wearing grease, dirt, carbon and parts of his meals of the, last week, all topped off with a huge smile of greetings for Mercedes and his still slightly ihocked BEMAC team. "That was quite a greeting you arranged," Mercedes said after they shook hands warmly. "Ahal" Delgado's smile broadened. "You knew it was me, you old goat?" De Garna grasped the other man's shoulder. "Roger, my friend," he said, shaking Delgado gently, 'who else lights up all the world simply to say hello?" 'Delgado nodded. 'men I made the, shall we say, proper impression? Well, Vasco, we've followed yoU_r instructions to the letter. Claude McDavid pulled @off a miracle---2' "You mean the--2' De Gama seemed startled, disbe- lieving. The Mark Twenty-Nine. installed and operational. I don't know how McDavid did it or what he promised BEAMBIDERS 149 ,but it has all happened. We've tested systems. Power beyond anything we ever of having and you may begin your experi- you're ready." de Gama clasped his hands in triumph. 76- he cited. edged closer, speaking to anyone in the might have the answer to Ins questions. the status of the satellites Betancourt, white hair gleaming in the Ins firmer s eyes bright blue behind to Mercedes. It was difficult to as the true head of IVIC, but this had been created to help feed and agrarian society. BEMAQ despite promise fi)r the future, was still a tenant IC and its more immediate needs. iere are some minor problems,- he responded to edes' query. "In your absence I took the liberty of g with that American- assey?" bat is the one, Felipe," Betancourt said with a "Caleb Massey. The man of darkness who seems imow nothing but does everything. A man of great wer. Well, we didn't go into the technical details, t he assured me that matters would be, to use his well taken in hand." de Gama showed doubts; a gnawing look. and brow were signs they 0 recognized. "Are we J strictly on the promise of this one man? A I telephone? Felipe, we have such an enormous here.__2' 'You also have," Betancourt sad with a touch of impatience, "the most powerful nuclear reactor this @Wuntry has ever seen," he pointed to his left, "operat- ,g and awaiting your pleasure. Is that not good enough P vietcedes stepped in to heal any sudden breach. Scientists can be -like finely attuned attack dogs, ready with the slightest provocation to turn on one another. 150 Martin Caidin "My firiend," Mercedes said to de Gama, "whim we have been promised by Caleb Massey, count on Ins word as if it were my own." Then there is the woman's touch. Dr. Rosa Rivero had calmed many a stormy moment. Elegant, gracious, a brilliant nuclear physicist and electrical systems scien- tist, she took de Gama7s arm. "Doctor, let us show you the power of the sun itseff," she told de Garna. "Shall we let your own eyes tell YOU what you wish to see of the new reactor?" Vasco de Gama looked chagrined, then brightened. He gestured to take in the entire group. "My apologies for seeming sharp. I am fired, edgy. impatient. Forgive any trespass on feelings; I meant no harm." He patted Rivero's hand on his arm. "Yes, of course. Let us gD." The others f6flowed. De Gama spoke to Rosa Rivero just loud enough for the others to hear. -Perhaps his- tory was wrong, my dear, to make Prometheus a man. It may well be the -woman such as yourseff who carries the fire for us." Rosa River6s laugh was cryii;tal. "You have been drink- ing of river water, I fiw. Nevertheless, you are charm- ing and I am flattered." They climbed up a winding slope. "Soon, my fiiend, you shall see this new reactor. We have been greatly impressed. We call it Vulcan's Hammer.' They stood before a wide viewing glass sheet. What they looked through was deceptive. J There were actually two sl between them was heavy water, under pressure between the go=. And beyond that a system Of mirrors so that what wenwd to be directly before them was at least fifty yards distant, beyond multiple barriers of radiation and thermal shielding. A fluoresc- mg blue-violet light poured fi-om the reactor bathing them in a glow of fiee atoms. A hush fell over them. "All the power you will ever need," Rivero said quietly. "How deep is the deuterium tank?" de Gama asked. "Forty feet sir. We have diffused the visible light by a &ctor of better than rimety-eight percent. The light ftwpimn 151 blue-violet." She glanced at the others it would blind us all in a single glance." pressed forward, nose against the glass. difficult to conceive," he said, his voice muffled. Rivero. "You're at full power now?" delighted with his boyish expression. "No she said, laughing softly. "we are at idle: call a gentle cruise for your aircraft?- her words for a moment. "No, that Will is at rest. It runs at barely five output at this moment, but that is old reactor at " power." uneasy. "And there is no danger? I so close to this thing?" She shook her head. "We have a beast here, Ali. But no matter how much con forget that behind all this shielding is an Genie, and it is always desperate to break free." :Bolivar grimaced. "Wonderful," he said. The huge Lockheed 1011 slid earthward along an visible electronic beam on its final approach to Caracas ternational Auport Eastern Air Lines Flight 903 lacked it smoke puffs with a perfect landing, took the high- eed rollofil and slowed for the taxi movement to its inside the terminal, on a balcony fiorn which the Aire terminal area, and especially arriving passengers A^Fuld be seen freely, Angela Tirado, Nelson Sanchez and Tony Pappas stood by their video cameras with 0owerful zoom lenses. Angela held binocukirs to her 'eyes as she scanned passenger unloading and then the Immigration and passport lanes through which all pas- 4eng@:rs had to move single file. "Look again at those photographs of the Russians," she told the two men. "We can't afford tD make a mistake and--2' Her finger stabbed forward. 'There In the immigration linel Start roUing the canwrad" Through the binoculars she watched the three Rus- sians and a fourth man she could not identify moving to 152 Martin and then past the immigration booth. The group of four men collected their bags and clumped together to pass through customs. "You getting them?" Tirado shot at her crew. "Pedectly. just like home movies," Sanchez told her. "All right, that's enough," she said. "Quickly, now, before they all go @h@gh customs, well set up the cameras outside, and-:- "Hold it," Pappas broke in, taking her arm. He took the binoculars fiom her. "Wait ... wait a moment," he added, studying the distant scene. He returned the binoculars to Tirado. "Look at those three. Two men, one woman. One of the men is a giant," Pappas said quickly. `Mere@s some- thing strange about them. Quieldy. get a good look." Angela Th-ado studied. Kim Seavers Morgan Scott and Stan Blake walking casually through the terminal lines. "What's so unusual about . . ." Her voice h-ailed away and she seemed puzzled. "fony, you're right. But I don't know what it is." "Watch how they walk Angie, " Pappas said with urgency. 'IU men, especially. They walk like big cats. Like a jaguar on the prowl. Angie, I know men like those two. Very special. Like the green berets, or spe- cial forces." Tirado kept her eyes glued to the binoculars. "Ameri- cans?" she asked. "No question. -rhen," she said firmly, -we need their identifica- tion, who they are, what theyre doing here." "Hey, what about the Russiansl" Sanchez broke in. Tirado glared at him. "Screw the Russians. We know who and what they are. But those three . She let her words hang in the air. The two men looked at one another and both agreed on the same thoughts. She smeUs a story. Anything can happen now. Far across the great sprawling terminal and lobby, in an alcove behind one-way mirrors, General Luis Espinoza and Major Omar Garcia of the Caracas police force BEAMRIDERS 153 small television monitor of the three newsmen shifted their attention from the Russians to the Mns. it is almost time," Garcia told Espinoza. "Me Will be outside any moment." smiled. "11ireeRussians and one ve dan- ry @.agent from East Germany," he corrected the "Your men are ready?" radiated confidence. "Yes, sir. My best teams this assignment' ell, it's too bad," Espinoza said. ior Garcia was startled. "Sir, is something wrong? T forget-" me, Omar, I didn't mean you or your men," "No, no, I meant beautil Angela, and the Americans so carefully story. It is sad. That young woman be furiot . And I admire her. Well, as our Ameri- friends say, that's show biz. AR right, Major, let's @utside the terminal doors they found the usual scene ectic and furious pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Cars limos, vans, porters, passengers, officials, police: the wild swirl that attends every major airport. A with Russian flags jutting from its waited to the side. A uniformed driver open h-unk. The three Russians and the into view, porters carrying their bags. A in a slam of brakes @nd almost hit te group. A porter shouted "Look oud" The group of ur men jumped back, cursing. Across the street, through a high-windowed observa- )n room, Espinoza nodded to Major Garcia. "Just as armed," he noted. He wasn't looking at the Russians ut at two additional porters who'd stumbled back with iem and in the flurry of confusion switched one bag of ie Russians for another that was a perfect duplicate. he authentic bag vanished with the porter in the swirl- ig crowd. 154 Martin Caidin The driver began loading the bags. 11ke replacement bag came up just above the trunk hp and suddenly the bag sprang open, seeming to wrench itself free of the drivers hands. Across the street Espinoza smiled. "Good springs," he told Garcia. Two Russian automatic guns, stacks of bound money, tumbled to the fieze. The Rus- disbelief. Tbeir driver dove for the gum and money and bags to cover what lay on the ground. He went flat as a policeman's boot ground heavily into his neck. The Russians looked up into the drawn guns of two police officers. One blew a whistle. Other police came running, drawing their weapons as they approached. "Ali, a most notable scenario,- noted Luis Espinoza. "Well done, my MmA- he told Major Garcia. 'Ihank you, sir. Wer I will inform my men of your pleasure. " He gestux-ed to the scene outside the termi- nal. "Tell me, General, what you wish done with those Espinoza began removing the wrapper from a thin cigar. 'The regular routine, Major.. Arrest, charges, wait for ther consul to protest btftrly,- call the newspapers and news television to get very good pichn-es, and then boot those people out of here on the next plane to Cuba. Not to Russia. Straight to Havana. We may as well add to their discomfort." Major Garcia was openly delighted. "Yes, sirl" Chapter X ow this is what I call some real digsl" Morgan L tossed his heavy bags casually to the floor by a v cushioned couch. He held out both arms and __g in a wide,circle through a lavishly furnished =ent suite. He crossed the room to stand before picture windows. "Hot damn," he called out, "this d creamy buttermilk people. in Seavers joined him by the window. She was st speechless. Before them spread a dazzling pan- na of Caracas with beauffid m6d-ern buildings, gleam- with the reflected late afternoon sun. Sunlight flashed sparkled from the windows of thousands of cars ring along the wide highways. Topping off the visual W-urmet feast were high hills to their left and moun- Wns to their right. Necklaces and pins of clouds hug- ag the sides and flanks of the mountains, pink and zy violet in the afternoon haze and sun, completed e picture-postcard view. -You're right," Kim sighed. "Ifs too good to be true. girl who just found out she's going to at Disney's Magic Kingdom. " Kim Blake far behind them across the huge this will &--7 She almost laughed Woud h instead for an elbow jab at Scott. He ,turned to find Blake. At the doorway to another room Blake stood twice as big as life, almost dwarfing a beautiful dark-haired, slender woman. Maria Barrios 'had met them at the airport with a van, and from their first moment of meeting they knew they were with 155 156 Martin Caidin someone very special. it wasn't the obvious that brought them all up short as she introduced herself. Kim Seavers picked up every detail of perfect grooming and delicate touches blended with exquisite clothing; she looked for and found the details seemingly endless in every move and gesture. What Kim Seavers saw was close to per- fection in the feminine ideal. Her speech, voice, bear- aura of self-confidence Morgan Scott saw a friendly, doll-figure, lovely woman who was everything he didn't expect on his arrival in Caracas. To Scott it was simply automatic that they'd be met by, an equivalent to their own selves; a strong, rugged, athletic-whatever, but someone who was in thWr field, not this childlike stunner of a woman. And they were both taken aback with the tremen- dous impact Maria Barrios had on Stan Blake. it was like a water buffido meeting a delicate nymph. Before six feet three inches and muscular bulk of nearly two hundred forty pounds, and with a body posture that seemed always on the verge of assault, Maria'Barrios did appear to shrink to diminutive size. Stark opposites they might be physically, but thats where the imbalance fled. Noteven Blake's dominating bulk and dangerous psyche could diminish the awe- some aura of this Venezuelan woman. Rather than her being overwhelmed by Blake it was the opposite way around. Stan Blake had been outgunned from the start. Morgan Scott leaned closer to Seavers. "If I didn't know better," he whispered, "I'd say we're witness to the ultimate case of puppy love." "Teenaged mush," she agreed, smiling. "Do you think he knows we know?" Scott asked.. "He couldn't care less," Kim observed. "But if we don't break it up she's liable to drown the way he's drooling over her." "Don't let him hear us," Scott said. "Hell have us with his steak and eggs for breakfast. " 'Don't forget the vodka and potatoes and toast and cigar. hi& manner, and an all added to the picture. BEAMRIDERS 157 Scott said with a pained look. "I try to ease by noon of every day." ',s go," Kim urged, and they crossed the room to others. a Barrios turned to greet them. There was no in could miss the sparkle, the silent laughter, in But she's pkase,4- she's er"ng aU this, Kim d to herself. That's a good sign. )u are pleased?" Banio-s asked them as they came rd. "We were hoping you would find the tions comfi)rtable. se accom- eased?" Scott shook his head. "Miss Barrios, I-" it will not offend you, especially since we will be ing so closely together," she broke in, "I would T we know one another on a first-name basis." n thought Stan Blake would tap-dance with Pleasure. f course," Kim said to the other woman."I know Morgan was going to say." Kim gestured to take in vartment. 'This is, well, it's fantabulous. aria Barrios blinked. "she means fantastic, fabu- wonderful," Scott added quickly. Let me show you your rooms.- Barrios led them '011911 an enormous kitchen, a dripping-w!th-luxury uzzi room, through a door she unlocked with a coded shbutton combination to reveal elaborate electronic communications equipment within. "And here are e four bedrooms," she wound up the walking dispkY- 'ours, Kim, over here. Morgan, here, and Stan, to the ght. The fourth bedroom is set up as a guest room but th full working facilities. -Who's that for?" Blake queried. Maria Barrios offered a subtle shrug. There will be @"11 46meone at different times from the united States." Ae hesitated a moment. "Every now and then." Scott turned to Blake. "The old man, maybe@ "Which one? We got two star players, rememberr "The senatorr Kim offered. "Not hem," Blake said immediately. "The old boy's strictly room service all the way. He likes a dozen restaurants within fifty fi@et of the elevator. He's straight 158 maran Caidin hotel time, man." Blake shrugged. "Now, Massey might show up as a visitor. This place is just his speed. Maria Barrios caught them by surprise. @'i know the senator and Mr. Massey," she told the three newcom- ers. "Neither of them will join you here." "Why not?" Scott asked. -This is your residence of record You won't live here.' -There goes the good life," Blake said sarcastically. "It sounds like show and tell," Kim said. "Or cat and mouse. A nickel gets you a buck that's the game, Scott added "Cat and mouse?" Barrios asked. "Sure. It's an old American expression, mdam," Blake ik said to her. "Game-playing. Now you see it and now YOU don't." "Call it a facade," Kim explained. Maria Barrios nodded. I see what you mean. You're right, of course. This unU be cat and mouse. Certain p@ople will believe you live here. We want them to believe thati You will, of course, be busy elsewhere." ..Mdam, you've told us where we won't be," Blake interjected. -where will we hunker down?" They couldn't miss the sudden shift in Barrios' mood; her lithe figure seemed to take on the tightness Of spring-wound steel. "Forgive me. I should have said this sooner. Would you join me on the balcony, please?" She led the way to a balcony outside the living room and closed the door behind them, sealing them away fiom any means of detecting their conversation from inside. "Never discuss where you will live or work or what you'll be doing in Venezuela, especially where you might be overheard," she told them. "You mean this den of luxury is bugged?" Scott asked. "Not yet, I believe. But most certainly it will be in the near future, 11 Barrios replied. "And what you do here interests certain people we wish to keep guessing." The three Americans bunt out laughing. Barrios'eyes narrowed; she seemed both confused and angry. I didn't realize i was so humorous," she said coldly. Blake turned to her@ his massive hands touching her BEAmPJDM 159 6rs gently. It was like touching a child. Na am- "-no offense meant. We're not laughing at yqu. he shrugged, "it's funny. None of us have the t idea of why we're here." dropped his hands, awkward at having touched a society where such a move could be misinter- Her eyes told him such concern wasn't needed, he turned to Scott. Maria, but what You Everybody back us horseshit. I C( t repress sudden laughter. I see," she ani "Then let us visit all these things about YOU the why, what or where." ad on, la( Blake told her with a grandiose of his arm. Wey sat in a new. Mercedes as Maria Barrios drove at speed away from the city, the road before them ding steadily. In the front seat Stan Blake shook kead and smiled. "Maria, you change cm slicker anybody I ever knew. I swear this thing was )d in the same space where you left the van." was. -hat's all? No explanationsF your records speak accurately," she said smoothly, u re quite capable of judging such matters on your Neat response," Blake said with admiration for her "Say iiothing and intimate everything. " He ed Z Yrds. turn Seavers in the back seat. "Our driver is a get an immediate reply. The two passengers at the roadside along which w car with tire-squealing move- me a fiLvor," Kim told him. "Shut up. the lady. Have you even looked at this roadr s separated their tires from a precipitous than'a thousand feet. "Jesus," Morgan "Talk about your Nightmare Afley@_" 160 Martin Caidin Blake laughed. "What's wrong, boy? You look sorta white around the gills.- "You'd be white yourself, you muselebound mongrel," Scott growled, "if you were on this side of the car." "Take a heap more than just a view to call me pale- face," Blake said, grinning. "You know something?" Kim threw at them. "No- body said a word to us about seat belts. That's all we hear back home. Buckle up, buckle up. Down here it's white knuckles up." "Sure," Scott told her. "If this thing starts over the cliff you need a chance to open the door and JUMP. "On your side of the car, maybe," Kim said, her voice tight as they rounded a hairpin turn. Blake pointed ahead of them. "Hey, up there; see them? ney look like astronomical domes. Right on that high ridge." "You're right," Maria confirmed. Blake studied her. His jaw tightened, a sign Seavers and Scott recognized. -Me hell rin right," Blake told Barrios. Barrios smiled. 'I have lied to you, then?" Blake caught a side view from the winding road of the domes, reflecting sunlight. "Yep," he said after the 4 pause. "You plumb lied to me." Kim leaned forward, her hand on Blake's shoulder. A "Stan, maybe we should wait until-' "Wait, hell," he growled. "Nobody builds astronomi- cal telescopes of that size this close to a city. The lights would make them useless." He ierked a thumb toward the domes. "Mey're a fake." Scott never Stan, you cadt be that sure about finished as Blake cut him short. -Ut's not start any project," Blake snapped, includ- Ing Maria Barrios along with his ffiends, "even if we ain'l know what it is, with bullshit. You kriow our rules, Morgan. Everything is straight arrow. None of this forked-tongue crap." Again he gestured to the domes. "Mose are not telescope domes, dammiti" 1he laughter fi-orn Maria Barrios came out almost impish in its bell-like quahty. "Wonderfid, wonderful" BEAmPiDERs 161 ie turned for a moment to glance at Seavers and With her eyes off the roaii even for an instant, iffinched. nios turned her glance forward, speaking as she - "You're right, of course," she said to Blake but iing them all. "But they are real. They are astro- Ad observatories, but without the telescopes iafs a lot of trouble to fake someone out for noth- Blake shot back. is not for nothing, I assure you." leaned forward, her arms crossed against the of the fi-ont seat. "What are they for, Maria?" Prefer to Show You myself," Maria answered, a touch of delight unmistakable in her voice. "soon vill be-!" 4 she Spoke she was cutting a severe haftpin Wm in ioad. The dropoff to the edge of the car -was higher a before and racing along so precipitous a roadway @ Producing an unmistakable sense of giddiness. And se, as Maria made her turn, steering wheel full over cutting the centerline as close as she dared, a huge truck came barreling around the turn, horn grinding, into what must be an inevita- of their own car- born of long experience Maria snapped the right, rode brake and accelera- the brake and with the left rear the Ameri- El, in his seat to study Maria with undisguised Blake then tamed to look at Morgan Scott in the something?" Blake said quietly. "You' re on your side of the car I'd be as white as now. Scott swore softly. Kim said, finally breathing again. " Maria said without taking her eyes fi-om -is the good road. 162 Martin caidin They stood in dead center of the great BE MAC dome, diminutive figures in the bottom of the great geodesic inverted bowl, staring in all directions at banks of corn- puters, control panels, generators, laser cannon, banks and great spheres of mirrors; the heart and soul of BEMAC. Glittering, humming, thundering sounds. Voices echoing, people all about them bent to their tasks. Maria Barrios had taken her three American charges through the BEMAC fikcility and now they stood by the transmitting platform, studying the sphere that would rise for a test or a mission; whatever it was, Maria had refused to go into detail, and the three Americans by now were determined not to ask ques- tions but to let their hosts play out their own game. They turned as a group approached them and stopped. facing them. Maria Barrios moved forward. "Ali, the moment for which we've been waiting." she looked from the new- comers back to the Americans. I have with me Stanley Blake. He is our visiting giant. Here, his partner, Mor- gan Scott. And this lovely young woman completes their team; this is Kim Seavers." One by one she pointed to the others. "This is Jorge Wagner. it is really Jorge Wagner, junior but he dis- likes the tag on his name, so we call him George. And this man with so much hair and the body of a gorilla is Alejandro Suarez. This lovely young woman completes their team; I give you Carmen Morales." The Americans were surprised. Carmen Morales did not have the looks of a Latin; she was fair-skinned and had platinum hair so brilliant it reflected lights from about the dome. Maria again took up their introductions. "These three young people are all graduates of the Venezuelan Tech- nical institute, as well as our military academy. But they are not all bookworms. One hopes for better things." Maria spoke with a warm smile, reflective of honest affection for the three. "They are all qualified para- Li troopers, they have competed with shining success in BEAMRIDERS 163 OnAmerican Games as among our best athletes. qualified scuba and deep sea divers, au of 4re accomplished mountaineers, they are Wa- w, and between them they speak thirteen Wpajes.- ria Barrios glanced fi-om one trio to the other. are all incredibly accomplished. it is a miracle on all have so much in common." 51Y shook hands all around, with a great deal Of "sizing up." Facial expressions and eyes teU much; WO trios found cautious high optimism for each in that silent exchange. Alejandro Suarez, for au ssive bulk, moved with deceptive ease; this aroused )ense interest of Blake. we speak freely to one anotherr Blake threw estion to the three Venezuelans. "No standing on )ny, no thin skins, that sort of stuff?" ien Morales laughed. "You have just said what e hoping we'd hear from one of you. Wonderfull a warning, be Suarez. For an unvoiced without preamble. abruptness of the question true surprise. His eyes wi&ned _;@ back with laughter. "Marvelousl But we you tell so quickly?" guess it's all in the wrists, he you jest, - Suarez said, not CDnCW- pleasure. "But you are right. Fene- stared. "You? I don't mean to seem-@' all right, Kim. We will talk about it soon. you the first dance." Kim said brightly. broken and completely thawed within 164 Martin caidin those first few minutes. "You know," George Wagner sa4 "I , in sorry you did not meet Benito Armadas. He was our group leader and you would have liked him. What's that expression? All cut from the same stock?" "it will do" Scott replied. re is this group leader? You sound @Iike h2 r gog Carmen Mo- "No one comes k m et!OV rates said quietly. They studied the Americans fi)r their reaction. Mor- aan Scott and Kim Seavers remained blank-fitced; they Rad nothing on winch to make any mearungU com- ments and a murmured, Oh, rm sorry, would only have been insipid. Blake offered much the same reac but with his own added fillip. he shrugged. A tion sudden silence began between them and Kim moved quickly to avoid a breach. "We can't even comment on what you said. We have no idea what kind of work your friend was doing, how he died, or why. Ifs difficult to offer a response when YOU , re in the dark about whats going on." Carmen Morales flashed a smile of gratitude for her f' j.s understanding; the relaxation among the group was al- .,You most visible. Wagner stared at the Americans. don,t know?" He turned to Maria Barrios. VMS is briefed unforgivable. I thought they would be fully befor&-:' Maria held up a hand to.forestall any finther ques- tions to her. "We changed the procedures at the last George. Since you siipeople will work to- moment, gether as a team, we decided it was best if you would explain, brief your new partners yourselves. You may @very@,, she glanced at her watch. "Forgive well, me. I am late and I must leave at once." Blake. "You're in good hands." She turned to He looked down at her from what seemed a great height. "Watch out for those trucks. Do I see YOU 011 Their eye contact, brief but intense, shut out the rest Of the weAL -You will. Goodbye. mis ey@@Jiar VVWv stev of the way until she BEAmRiDERs 165 14Dne from sight. Blake spoke aloud, to no one in Icular. "IWs one hell of a woman," he told the at's one hell of a lady, - Kin, offered in mild e. ce glanced at the Venezuelans. "who is slier irez laughed, then let the laughter fade quickly. really don't know, do you?, ister, we're set up to be a team, - Blake said, ar warmly nor unkindly. "I'm not in the habit of g questions for the exercise of flapping my mouth. .1 don't know who she is. )0 You know the name Mercedes? Dr. Felipe cedes?" io." le's the director of BEMAC, which," Suarez ges- grandly, "is all this about us.,, hat the hell is BEMAC?" Scott broke in. )electromagnetic Manned Materials Test Complem" es added to the exchange. She laughed. T-Very ssive no?" I eorge Wagner bowed theatrically. "Welcome to the il's Brew. That's our name for this place." Lnd the beauffid woman who interests you so muck - ez explained, "is the secretary to Felipe Mercedes, Just happens to be the big Indian of this project." lake accepted the explanation in silence and Scott the Opportunity to touch upon what could be a itive subject. "This friend you mentioned; Arma- what 4appened to himr iarez s tam seemed darker than its already cloudy N was a mood of memory rather than the Slowly. test at Devils target point he 2 moving at vA hipj speed. He was when he i been in the )nter ol Suarez took a de@p breath. "He as, literally, torn to chunks and pieces. A silence drifted among them. Scott fought It off with 166 Martin Gaidin effort; he knew he had to bring this out now. "Alejandro, please believe me when I tell you that we do not have ihe slightest idea of what you're talking about." -But I'm starting to get the idea,"' Blake snorted. "Does it come under the heading of science fiction, or fantasy?" -shut up, Stan,- Kim said abruptly, starding herself as much as the others. She was hanging on every word. The stocky Venezuelan gestured to include the BEMAC dome &,cihty about them. "Now is as good a time as any," he said with a shrug. He glanced at ,Morales and Wagner and they nodded assent. Snare spoke careW and slowly. -Have you ever heard Of an object, then transmitting the compo- nents as wave instead of quanta, by power beam, to a distant receiving facilityr "No," Scott said. "Only in fiction." "And," Suarez went on, "rematerializing that object in absolutely its original, absolutely unchanged form on arrival-- "Hey, you guys aren't talking about teleportation, are if we're getting into a Morales said. "We are Hard science, my -rm damned glad to hear that. - Blake had a look of distaste. "For a while it sounded like mental telepathy and little green men from Mars." "What we do here is not fiction," Morales shot back. The Americans looked hard at one another, then at the dauling equipment au-rounding them from every side. Stan Blake took a deep breath. "Look, I didn't mean to come down on what you were saying. I'm no scientist so I don't know enough to make a value judqe- ment. But some things I do know, and what you re saying is way, way out. Mind if I out some hard questionsr George Wagner smiled. "Go ahead and cut." "You're saying you really disintegrate matter. On the BEAmmmm 167 deeper, down to atomic struc- his words carefully, Scott and Pi questions of their own. nodded. "Go deeper. Subatolnic- on, photon. Way down deep." Cay. You disintegrate matter I can handle physi- you then zap it-" ink of it as a shock in the same vibration frequen- Suarez offered, "of the material to be troomit- the shock is photon-administered we can match equencies. It's as if we disassociated the target ial every particle from the other, but we freeze exactly where they are in relationship of one to IS her." ink of a computer," Morales added quickly@ "YOU sconnect all the internal terminals by a millionth inch. Everything is essentially unchanged but now &;n't have a working computer. You have an as- 4 of parts. For that time everything is discon- A you have parts. You can transport then, that I Reconnect the works and, how shall I say it? 01 You've got your working computer but now it's ffifferent place." nd a di&rent time, of course," Suarez chimed in. slower," Blake protested. "Okay, now, YOU or disintegrate under control a block of I it becomes an electronically bonded Wagner slipped in. the: you beam this glov with some kind Of and when you zap it to where its go, you're able to reintegrate the glop mto form, right?" Wagner confirmed. carefully, "it comes out like it was different terms than we do," Suarez said, the case." shit," Blake told them all. spoke- believe that?" Wagner smiled as he 168 Martin Caidin "Jesus, you think I'm talking for the practice?" Blake snorted. "Well, then," Suarez came in quickly, gesturing, "look around you. What do you think all this is forF 'Hope, faith,,charity, prayers, dreams, fikntasy, be- lief, a ro)1 of the dice," Blake said without hesitation. "Hey, uw didn't call this the Devirs Brew," Morgan Scott added to Blake's remarks. "But what you've told us goes against every grain of scientific foundation. At V least," he appended, "what uw know, anyway." Kim seavers stepped between the two groups, hold- mg up both hands. "Hey, everybodyl Wait a moment. We're getting off on the wrong foot. This is ridiculous." She turned to Suarez. "I apologize. We came here to work u*h you and it seems all we're doing is arguing." She took a deep breath. "We don1 mean to. But every- thing you've said so far is so way out- Alejandro Suarez laughed. -Ihere is no offense taken, my firiends," he said easily. "Let me remind you of your OUM history. For two years after your Wright Brothers flew many of your scientists still insisted it could not be that man could fly a heavy machine under control through the air. And when you were building your atomic bomb in the second world war, one of your top scientists, an admiral, if I recall, told everybody he knew the whole ect was the most damn fool thing ever thought up Prod and it would never work. And who could possibly be- lieve that men would ever go to the moon?" Suarez was enjoying himself. "There is no air out there," he held up a finger and pointed straight up. -So what is there forthe rocket to push against? Your top scientists said that when they ridiculed your Robert Goddard. And your incredible science of bionics; wh6n that came out it was ridiculed and sneered at, most especially by your doctors. You will forgive me, but the television series, the 'Six Million Dollar Man,' is especially popular in this country. Here children grow up in a world where everything that was once impossible is as ordinary as an automobile or a television set or a bicycle. when we re anyone coul AAACKI as if mong them. BEAmmm 169 sweeping bOW. "Welcome to the fil- "You all sound exacthl like projectl" Of sound, a sav- had been split in two, a dazzling teal- beam of light snapped into existence and as and brilliantly as it appeared it vanished with -r Tipping sound. The Americans flinched their omment was a reflex cry from Scott. "Holy shit111 led. "What the hell was- that? rnen Morales pointed up and to their left, They waving from a glassed-in booth. "Thafs up there. He's our lead laser scientist. that is his way of welcoming you to Stan Blake looked up at the booth and "Iftoever he is, he reminds me of King When he Wks, everybody listens." xne with us," Morales said, leading them across oor of the dome. They went through an airlock emerged onto a long corridor, wide and well talking as they went. kept this incredibly quiet," Kim Seavers said mean. we've never heard the first word place." supposed to," Wagner replied. had a laser biology program here for y ears. et of the aminal tests have been done here. They Suare explained "Dr. Edith Hernandez runs are, Z program- You said it's been here for years," Scott said. 'Is a part of this transmission project?- i1rmen Morales nodded. "Yes,- but for short-range conly." J ley Stopped before another airlock, went through required stops for the air chamber to be sealed, A for the warning and clearance lights, and watched slide apak for them. 170 Martin Caidin "We're now in computer master central," Morales explained, leading them on. "Mat's why the compression? Full climatic control?" Scott asked. "Correct," Morales told him. "From here we're going to the biology labs." Kim Seavers hurried to walk alongside Morales. I m anxious to see that," she said. They moved thiough another airlock chamber, emerg- ing: in a circular waiting area. Before them was a thick wir0glass door with the sign BIOWGY LAWRATORY. "We have another name for this area," Wagner said. "We call it the Time Lock." "You'll explain what that means, I guess," Stan Blake said drily. - Soon, soon," Wagner laughed. They stood before the door, TV scanners covering thern. Laser scanners, barely discernible, passed over the badges worn by the Venezuelans. Morales looked up, obviously to a concealed microphone. "Dr. Hernandez, we have the visitors-the new team members-youve been expecting:, A green entry light glowed as a woman's voice came thmugh a speaker. "Yes, yes. Hello, Carmen. Please; come in." Ile door hissed open. Once inside the biolab they heard it close behind them with a solid thud. Morales led them into a smaller domed chamber. Along one side stretched long rows of clear transparent cylinders, each cylinder en&embedded within what appeared to be generating equipment. As they came closer they saw that the opposite ends of the cylinders contained daz- zling curved mirrors. Power cables snaked underfoot as they walked, computer banks on each side glowed and seemed to spatter lights of every color.- Finally they stopped before a huge curving wall of cages filled with rabbits, dogs, cats, guinea pip, monkeys and other animals. A woman emerged from behind the cages and Dr. Edith Hernandez stood before diem, totally unlike 11 NO P111 anything the Americans expected. A radiant smile over- BEAMRIDERS Imed all else as they studied a woman about MY !S@ PlumP, with reddish brown hair, a huge bosOOI 4 well-worn lab coat. Hernandez was at once a dmotherlY-warm woman and a very hard and cow it no-nonsen scientist. e was also very gracious. "My new friends, wel- she said with both arms extended. "Welcome tD umble madhouse." lank you," Kim Seavers spoke for her group, tok- -mandezs hand. elder woman's eyes gleamed. "Ali, you are one e, I see. on't understand," Kim said, taken aback. i like animals. you love animals. You are what a animal person." Hernandez smiled warmly. ways tell. rgan Scott turned fi-om his study of the computer "Wagner told us they called this place the Time he said. good description," Dr. Hernandez confwaied. e we can lock Time in place, fireeze it, so to c. " She studied Scott's expression, her eyes shining. ourse you don't believe me. How could FI She YOU him by the arm. "But come with me and I shall Hernandez and Scott down a long more of the transparent cylinders lining the seen more sale door. Hernandez long handles to door- '111is is the cold room,- Hernandez Scott and the others inside. Kim Seavers stumbled. A look Of on her face as she brought a hand to her mouth, on the thin edge of vorniting- stretched long racks of livers, kidneys, heads, intestines, eyeballs, sexual orovs@. of tissue and red meat and other pai@s of God," Kim said finally, her fitce white. Chapter M If you wish to know the effects, of moving out of time, then, my dear," Dr. Edith Hernandez said with understanding of Kim's near-violent reaction to the sight before them, "you use what God gives us for testing." Stan Blake had already moved up to Kim to support d her forward. 'Rang confidential whisper, show you my new creation. Chicken livers and gumbo soup and black olives for eyes, and--2' t Kim jerked away violently and slammed a fist s Blake's shoulder. A mosquito might have flown by him for all the physical reaction he showed. He grinned at her. -Better now?" She smiled wanly but nodded as color returned to her cheeks. Edith Hernandez took her hand. "there is more, my dear. Some not so bad, some worse. But it is all necessary- Carmen Morales came to Kim's side. 'his, here, is the worst. We call it the meat locker for good reason. Don't let this old Indian grandmother fool you. One side of her heart is iron and the other is hopelessly soft. She works very hard to keep the iron side before us." Kim squeezed Carmen's hand. 'I'm fine now. L&fs 90! They went through another wrlock chamber but mi- nus the heavy security trappings, warnings and lights. As the second door slid wide before them they almost 172 to she looked at Blake dark" he went on in his come back here and IT BEAmiuDERS 173 )led with surprise. Once again they found them- i unprepared. like ... damn, this is the sort of laboratory my dreamed about all his w" Morgan Scott called friends. "Look at this placel" Gleaming plastic, glass and banks of test equipment, monitoring computers and equipment stage to them filled ine-shaped'room into winch they moved in a ;roup. Hernandez led them directly to a large r; through a transparent material they watched a ting band of teal color. A steady power hum d the air about them. at color," Blake observed, "it seems to follow a g magnetic source." u are absolutely right,' George Wagner said as he Blake. "Thai sound you re hearing? A minor in of energy interference. We feed fi-om two te sources so that if there's the slightest interrup- in the primary, the alternate line has equipment to e even the beginning of a deviation ind cuts in matically." u use the nuclear reactor?" Scott asked. He and hers had clustered about the cylinder. gner nodded. "That's our first primary." men Morales and Kim Seavers were sticking close I other. "You couldn't have come at a better e,-' Morales told her, the others listening. "we're ut to see the end of a test program that's been under for nearly six months. " She laughed, a bit ner- sly. "And I wish I felt more confident about the I really do. gave Morales a sharp, disapproving look, she could voice a reprimand a loud bark drew their attention. They turned as a lab with a large beautiful dog on a ih. Kan face brightened at the sight of the thick- -ed bla white and rust animal. "He's beautifull" exclaimed. The dog went directly to her. "I've er seen an animal like this. What is he? What's his ie?" 174 Martin Caidin Dr. Hernandez's dark mood was gone. "His name is I Magnum, she said, sharing Kim's obvious pleasure as the dog licked her fitce. "He's a Bernese Mountain Dog, fi-om the Bern Mountains in Switzerland. They have the Alps and we have the Andes. He loves Venezuela. "We celebrated their arrival with champagne," Mo- rates added. "They were eight weeks old then. "How old is he now?"'Kim- asked. "Eight months." "You said something about more than one dog?" Kim asked. "Where's the other one?" No answer came. The silence seemed deafening. Fi_ nally, as fitces turned to her, Dr. Hernandez moved closer to the cylinder. She pointed to a nameplate at its base. Kim leaned down, to read the plate. "Cassy," she said aloud, looking up. "Mat's the dog's name?" Hernandez nodded. Kim's eyebrows raised. "I'm getting the idea that cassy is," she gestured to the cylinder, "in there?" "Yes," Hernandez said. "Magnum's sister." Hernandez took a long, shuddering breath. Her own unease began to show. -Magnum is eight months old. Cassy is eight weeks old." A grimace appeared on her fikee. "We believe. We hope." Stan Blake peered into the cylinder. "I guess you mean by circling around this subject that Cassy's been in here for a while?" ..Six Hernandez's face now showed no emotion. months." Blake's voice was flat-toned, very tight. "You said she's only eight weeks old." "Yes." "Wait a momentl" Scott broke in. "That doesn't make sense. This dog, Magnum, is eight months old. Great; nice: doggie. Then you point to this thingamajig here r@ and you tell us you've had the does sister in there for six months, and she's stiU only eight weeks old?" `fbat is the case exactly," Hernandez told him. Kim left the dog before her to study the cylinder, BEAmRiDERs 175 )oe end of its thirty-foot length to the other. She *t the light gleaming, sh&ang its focus in mad- slow motion. Kim looked up to Hernandez. or, all I see in here is this light. I don't see any It of those lights are Cassy. started to speak, held her one, then took the "You are telling me you have a dog reduced to batomic particles in this matrix, or whatever ft is, in he And," Hernandez said with sudden warming to oice, YOU re closer to reality than you believed. Lsed the term electromagnetic matrix. That is ex- it. Every living creature has an EM signature-:- icuse me, " Scott broke in, "I'd like to be sure always using the same terms. EM is electromag- F, recisely," Hernandez replied as if she were talking classroom. "An EM code is as individual as a rprint or a retinal pattern, or a voiceprint, or a ieta bramwave. We break down that code and ram it into the biosciences computers. That gives down to an individual atom and merse the living creature instantly within d At the same time, and I instant, we fire the laser." Morales could hardly contam,herself as she newcomers drawn into their reality of :asy. "That laser beam," she rushed to follow windezs words, "shakes the animal at the exact ant we've programmed the Riser with the animars frequency. in other words, there's a perfect match ie codes." She held up two fingers. 'Two things )en. First, we've disassociated the atomic structure ie animal. Before any am pasm, that structure is absorbed in its own code within the laser beam. the beam back and forth between," she mirrors, so that what we're transmit- along within the beam, is really an pattern-" 176 Martin Caidin Hernandez nodded her approval. "When we co M- plete the transmission we switch off the beam. That step rematerializes the animal to exactly what it was, in terms of subatomic and electromagnetic structure, when we fired the laser." Blake, Scott and Seavers were openly dumbfounded. Suarez turned to Blake. "What would you say if I told you I can walk on water?" Before Blake could answer he pointed to Morales. "And she can walk through water just as you walk about this room; and, finally, this one, he pointed to Wagner, "breathes water without gills?" .'I'd say you were a sneaky son of a bitch and you re talking about water," Blake snorted. "lAquid, ice and vapor. "Ahal" Suarez said. "And what if you knew nothing of these dfferent states of matter of water? It would be magic or it would be impossible, but it would be real. And not only that, with this same water,1 can expand objects, crack mountains or slice steel with absolute precision. Everything you've heard so far is on another plane, but it's just as real." Kim Seavers turned to Hernandez. "Doctor, can I go over this once again?" "Of course, my dear." Hernandez f olded her hands and waited. "You put an eight-week-old puppy in there--:' Hernandez scratched Magnum's ear. "His sister." --and broke down her entire structure into God knows how many, trillions and trillions of atoms and subatomic particles, right?" "Yes. And realigned; no, froze her electromagnetic pat- tern, and every thought in her brain, every synapse, every cellular action, every twitch of her genes, and you mixed it into this laser soup, and you've kept her here for six month&--:' She stopped for a deep breath. Hernandez smiled. "Yes, yes." -without food, water, air, temperature control or anything she needs for sustaining Iffe, and now, I have BEAmpwns 177 this is what you're after, you're going to put mess together again like some super sub- Dunipty?" I that beautifully," Hernandez replied. "You t only one thing. The key to everything." blinked. "What?" the electromagnetic pattern scale there are no ings as air or food or water," Hernandez said. uted to the cylinder. "There is one more thing from there." God's sake, tell mel" Kim ahnost shouted. -- e. time." 4 don't understand." -men Mon-des cone to her side. "In that cylinder, xg as that laser beam is active, there is no time. down't exist in there, Kim." Ott couldn't hold his silence. "How the-hell do you Ime?" I be goddamned." They turned to look at Blake' ell you how they do that," he said to Scott. 'The @,way Good Old Al said it could be done." ood Old Al?" -ah. Einstein. Time dilation. Holy shit. Out of the ion into the laser fire. Ill be damned." r. Blake, you surprise and enormously please me, fernandez said with obvious pleasure. 'hat the hell are you two talking about?" Scott aded. said. "Einstein's brain game. When is accelerated to the speed of light, all ends. Stops dead. Quits. Ceases to said," Kim added carefidly, "that you a solid mass to the velocity of light, ause it would then have infinite mass, and you can- accelerate an infinite mass." cott was hanging on to Ins disbelief with all his -ngth. "But that's classroom theoryl" he shouted. 178 Martin Caidin "No it's not," Blake said, his intrigue growing with every moment. "Hell, Morgan, it's like flying. Until an airplane flew it was all theory; then overnight it was art and science. It's the same thing here. At least," he grinned, "until their theory takes off and flies. " He patted the cylinder. 'The key is in here. If that damn dog has been dematerialized into its EM glop, then its moving with the speed of that laser beam'bouncing back and forth. And since a laser beam is light and therefore moves with the speed of light, then there's no time-subjectively-inside that cylinder." Blake studied the Venezuelan group; they deliber- ately held their silence and let him run with fhe ball. Blake didn't miss a bit of it. He laughed abruptly, looked at Seavers and Scott and pointed to the Venezu- elan group. "You know what they're doin ? They could 9 tell us the answers we're dragging out with a lot of hit-and-miss work on our own. They won't." Blake set his jaw. "Okay, so well play it the way Dr. Hernandez obviously would like this to go. Blind man's buff, right?" Edith Hernandez offere& him a fleeting smile, but that was all. "Now come the neat trick," Blake went on, shrugging off the =. It's just like you said, Kim. They've got to get Humpty D@mpty back on that wall with his eggshell in one round chunk like before the big fall. Aft-the pieces back the way they started out. .1 He patted the cylinder again; he laughed suddenly and harshly. "There's only one way to find out. They turn off the power and we see what's inside here. Maybe, fiicaseed dog and scrambled hair and feet." -Dammit, must you say that?" Kim asked, malting a sour face. "Hey, don't kick on me, little sister," Blake pro- tested. "I didn't put that dog in there. You don't -like the menu, you talk to the madam over there," he said, nodding to Hernandez. The elderly scientist took no umbrage with the sar- casms and clear disbelief. Edith Hernandez had been this same route with too many of her own peers to show F 179 BEAmPJDEIRS in. "If our theory is right," she said slowly tD the iners, "and until this moment we have been 691t, iere is not a dog in that cylinder.- - Scott said acidly "that we assume, xou r!@ Merlin and you've got a giant nalldez laughed. -Thats a fre man, " she went on, back to bej in El aser beam six monti a tone of comPas- If your calculations prove correct." said. turned to Kim Seavers. "Do it WW, her own group; one by one spoke sucl- Dr. Delgiido," Hernandez to , and they heard the voice if a deter- serious sciendA. "Hell operate the laser water As. And bring Doctor de Gama here at once- Is Mercedes here?" Wagner told her and left. back to the Americans. -yqu're &ct, I wish very much for you to be here open the tube." I miss it for the worldl" Kim we may fidl," Hernandez b&---!' just Wm off that super flashlight," Scott won't bug you and we'll just tum up controls." nodded, dismissing any problems fi'Oln three before her. 'I must get certain medical equip- at ready. Alejandro, you stay by the instrument sole, understand?" She held out the leash to S011- Ad Magnum for me, please?" She tamed to walk ET :hey waited in silence until the Venezuelans beg0m_tD the P. People they'd not seen until now entered 180 Martin Cai&n chamber; Hernandez returmed with several medical aides. Doctor Delgado took control of the laser systems. They saw Felipe and others standing on raised observation platforms, observing visually and on closeup television monitors. Delgado's voice came clearly across the chamber. "Your attention, please. We will have power off in sixty seconds at the top of the minute. Start the count." A wall speaker replied immediately. "Yes, sir. The count starts in twelve seconds for a sixty-second count." Time crawled. The glow!pg red numbers on the large digital counter on the wan seemed to change slower and slower. Scott pulled the big dog closer to him. The Venezuelan scientists edged closer to the cylinder as the seconds d@Rped away. "Ten seconds.-- Is that goddamn clock stuck? "Three, two, one, POWER OFFr' The floor trembled. Teal-colored light within the cyl- inder flashed and then pulsated swiffly. Delgado oper- ated controls on the cylinder; instantly, all light within the cylinder vanished. Delgado turned to glance up at Mercedes; the director, tight-lipped, nodded. Delgado slid back a section of the cylinder. For a moment he stood frozen, -Hernandez by his side, also a statue. Slowly she bent forward and extended her arms into the cylinder. No one breathed. No one spoke. They couldn't. Edith Hernandez straightened slowly, her head lift ing and- turning, lips trembling, tears sheaking her fikce; her arms ciadled across her bosom. She moved one am. A beautiftil Bernese mountain Dog- __P u9ph licke er fitce Magnum Q 6;k madly Hernandez held out the eight- week-old Cassy to Kim Seavers, almost beside herself with her own tears. She clasped the animal, hugging Cassy to her. BEAMRIDEIRS 181 eke and Scott stood to the side, hying to separate iselves fi-om the emotions and near-pandemonium 4acing through the Alejandro Suarez joined group Even the burly Venezuelan seemed overcome. ats one hell of a ' job your people did," Blake said. ank you. " Suarez looked at the group near- ical with joy, then looked back to BI ake. "But this en the easy part." ey, man, this is your birf," Blake told him. "You 7- @Jis what comes next." teople Suarez said. in, tfiat firetrap?" Blake said, pointing to the cylinder. Mainz grinned and clapped Blake on the shoulder. ridden that firetrap, as you call it. For a few tes only, I admit, but-" He ended his words with seyes widened and Scott stared. "You look like @re still all in one piece," Blake observed. this Time Lock, everything you saw," Suarez "this is really easy. I mean, you get in, and they throw the switch- does it feel liker Scott burst out. 'You strange part," Suarez told them. ' i ` I Not going or coming back.' He No, no; that's wrong. That's for people cylinder. Inside it's lights out and lights on all." you were a fruitcake if it wasn't for that damn said quietly. "Obviously, it works. But to be more than this. I can recognize volun- the clock strikes. And it's hanging away Suarez complimented him. Scott broke in. "Thats the real isn't it?" are certainly different' Suarez said, -Yes my Mend," he told Scott, "the big them careftilly. "Let me not will regret You are vohmteersr just yielding the vumv 182 Martin Cai&n he er, said. "The at to Carmen Morales. "Us an&h Three Musketeers. No sense all. We'r@ volunteers. Now that we've joined up, what's next on the agenda?" "Distance transmission in the main laser 'beam. Frorn here to another place. Far away. How far is Exr?" "Miles. 'Whoo.-Ow. " Scott said. B!!ake spoke slowly, yet with disarming casualness. "Lights out 4ghts on?" "Oh, sure,- Suarez confirmed. - everything works. I mean, if everything works ZZ the way its sup- posed to. "And if it doesntr @Aen You will join Benito Armadas. "Terrific," Scott said. 'There is no words," Suarez &aid firmly. mincing '-Iou come out of that beam wrong, and it's like all the devils in hell are waitaig to rip voll into bloody pieces.,, He offered a thin- almoit sad smile. "Are you willing to risk that, my fiiends?' Stan Blake locked eyes with Suarez. -Not yet. "OhF, "Not until I have at least one date rilm,_ I-Then you care with Maria Bar- Blake said. bring on all Your devils from hell." Suarez starW, then burst into laughter. "You are a man truly after my own heart, gringol" Chapter XU swirled the cognac gently in the snifter huge hand -m-Rdling the delicate glasse moment at the candle flame glow- snifter bring- and lights which7 he Maria in the to any and A not and a sh Of I abou t. For this moment the city lighft, j ling like magic gems scattered freel- it hills and slope - 3 s, meant nothing to Blake. Noth magic feathering touch of this sat across a low table on the said in a quiet, husky voice, "can wonderful." He gestured easily "It's a tough d4E;l to wake uP sti be in that dream. to brigh the candle flames. sigh escape her. O@n YOU us to be together, s to come. " She SOUOI found his eyes 'seat is our way. know, i know. forward, elbows on his 183 184 Martin Caidin knees, as thoughtful about events and this moment as was the woman. "I'm, ah, grateful you understood why I called so much sooner, than, ali--:' "There is no need for concern." She cupped the snifter in both hands and observed him above the nul. "You do not have time to court me. I wanted, want, that to happen. But I also do not have the time. We do not have the time." "I'm sorry about that, Maria. I mean, the whole idea Of doing things the way you people do.-well, it has tremendous appeal to me." He paused and she saw his jaw set. The defense move, she had ah-eady learned of Blake. He is uncomfortable, awkward. I must be gentle easy in moments like with a sudden and self- of humor brightened never found a moment like to musical,note ... "Easy. I've never had a moment like this.- He bit down on his lip, another sign of the struggle within. "I'm clumsy with women." He caught her eye, blinked. I mean, there are women, there have beew-7 "I don't need to probe your soul Stan. I know what you mean to say," she spoke quickly, then eased her "I am flattered." pace. "My God, I hope so. I'm a bull in a china shop--:' "You are too harsh with yourself." I can't help it." He shook his head. 'This gets crazier with every moment. I want to blurt out a thousand things, but I can't, I shouldn't, and half the time tonight, Maria, I feel I've said the wrong things. I don't want to lose my chance with you, 1, uh, shouldn't even say that, and," the change came instantly, "do I even have a chance with you?' "Yes." He could barely hear her voice for the crashing of his heart in his chest. This tiny woman was destroy- ing him. He offered a rueful grin. "I, uh, well, I mean, Maria, among other things, you really caught me by surprise tonight. BEAMRIDERS 185 I you mffid?" hell, nol I mean, no, of course not. Really, I-' iuld I have told you Of my children first?" no, absolutely not. it," she smiled again, "might have sent you quickly fier direction: Idammit, Maria, this ain't no one-night standl" gian ical sounds of laughter. "Now, my gentle t, und like the man I heard so much about today. an with the bellow of the water buffalo and the - the jaguar, the man who speaks with the swift- of the thrown spear. I confess to you, Stanley i, I wondered what had happened to that harsh brasive person I met earlier." appeared dumbfounded. "Me?" 1. is that a wound in your chest your hand coversr f-conscious, he jerked his hand away from over his a motion of protest about the reputation she md. "I can't get over this. You absolutely over- a me. wraith of a girl does this to a giant?" %, " he said, with harsher emphasis thari he in- d. He wasn't sure if he detecteil a muffled giggle. n't matter. He was so devastated with this woman oubted she could do or say anything to displease He looked beyond her to the'city. "You know thing, Maria? One part of me inside is boiling and sort of crazy. But the other part," he own amazement at his feelings, "well, I this relaxed since . . . since, hell, I can't when I was ever this relaxed." me to hear that." question burst, almost explosively from Blake, held it 'back so long. "What happened to your find?" A pilot in our air force." Her tone was predictably no catching strings of emotions Great strength lay hin that wraith. "He was an instructor. Ritchie and student had trouble in the air one night. He or- red the student to jump. The young man froze with BEAmwmm 187 i You from her womb. Of course, you are much @attractive to men now than you were to little boys rolled her eyes. -Get on with it, Carmen. My I @umps are g"g bumps. re almost ready." Carmen extended a Pill to 'This is the radioactive dye. When you hear the lown reach one, immediately bite down hard, okay? took the pill between her lips. "Shure. We who to look directly at Maria. out to di&--2' again," he said careffilly. Ven laughed. "I'm . going to close the lid now. that Pill between your teeth. You'll have two es. You all set?" an 1 pushed the pill into position between her teeth, bled, and nodded. H@inandez came forward and No men closed the lid, sealed the@tube, and waited light to change fiorn red to amber The amber the r 21911ded next event in the count. A speake led. St one four six nine. Countdown begins -in four is, four, three, two, one, we are at two minutes muting. Two minutes and counting." ! - remainder of the two teams stood to the side. ftke gestured angrily. I'Dammit, i should be in i @aot Kini. irez gave him a look of surprise. "Why? We're all An this rogram. rew Tatpequal slut. Anything could go wrong and ter equipped, oreven you, Al, to--:' ,z broke in quickly. "Easy, my ffiend. Physical i means nothing when you're in that laser bearn. he gestured to Morales and Wagner, "we've k through this test. She'll be fine." -e was far fi-om convinced. He stood tall and arms forded, jaw set in granite. His knuckles i white. rty secon& and counting. Aer nudged Morgan Scott. 'Ile count is on an- computer now." Pensated, YOU are as You were when your mother re- MIKU seconds (IrMed. Blake and Scott held their brea& 186 Martin Caidin fear. Ritchie refused to abandon him, so he tried to save the machine and the young man." She turned to look into the night sky. "Since that night t@wo years ago have been a widow. I was very much in love @vith Ritchie. Like many women to whom this has happened, I never imagined he could fade into the past. But that is, Of'course, where he will always remain. Like any Other memory Of Younger days and times." Blake rose slowly and walked to the balcony, turning with a reburst of his well, you know_!' -Damn"t- 1 ust found YOU Woman. Losing you, the chance to know you, drives me mad.- She Stood by him at the balcony, her voice warm and sWdling to him. "You do not yet have me, gentle giant. j Time, we must spend that currency together for a while. Do not rush what %Q be." I know, I know, " he AgDni7_ed. "But for now, " she said, and said no more as she slipped into his Powerful arms for a kiss long and deep- She laY On her back, beautiful and blonde and nude. It was ridiculous, this was science and medicine and it I @, was all so impersonal but she wanted to yell Give ine back that goddamned sheet! Carmen Morales leaned down within the cylinder, rechecking the medical sen- sors attached to Kim's supple body.-Edith Hernandez and the scientific team stood back, a touch of decorum in their distance. Kim motioned Carmen closer. "Do we always do this scene the tits and ass way?" Carmen giggled. "No, no. But the first time it is most necessary. We can't afford any misreadings because of artificial materials about your body. Exc@pt for those fillings in Your teeth, for which the computer has corn- 188 Martin Caidin .7hree, two, Om, zero!- the multiple events came in the form of a roar Again of sound and the flash of dazzling light. The dazzling teal reflected off everything in the domed chamber and the sudden crash of energy echoed and bounced, rat- ding loose equipment and vibrating dental fillings. The Kim Seavers sound faded, the flash was gone, and where had rested prone and nude there was only the glowing cylinder, the light changing in response to the writhing electromagnetic patterns within. Scott wiped heavy perspiration fi-orn his upper lip as he turned to George Wagner. "Why'd she take that Pill?, Wagner knew Scott had been briefed several times, but the query released some of his pent-up fi-astration at standing by uselessly while this woman so long his partner and so close to him, was gone, vanished, ripped by light into trillions upon trillions of subatomic particles. "It's a radioactive dye," Wagner replied quickly. "The test system takes an x- of her exactly one second ray after she bites into the pill to release the dye. We'll have another x my of her exactly one second after power cuts off. If everything goes as planned, and it dia with our team when we rode the bearn, then the mdioactiv- ity won't have had time to move from her mouth into her threat." Morgan Scott stared at the man leading him through ore emotional than objedive the maze. He was in "If, maybe, perhaps, could be, possibly ... His words came across angry and touchy. 'it could also scramble her mind, couldn't it?" Wagner knew the folly in backing off an inch. Ex- plaining was one thing placating somethings entirely different. "Yes, it could," he said without inflection. "Does that surprise you? I can't believe you came into this program expecting guarantees and insurance poli- ciesl We're-2' The wall speakers boomed. -Three, two, one, CUT- OFFI- Again the sudden flash; this time, however, the power BEAmRIDERS 189 to a Oed down in deep basso rumble as it faded into and was then no more. Blake and Scott 4trudare d anxiously as Morales and Hernandez opened inder. Neither man could breathe; they were as coded springs and they stared with mixed relief sbehef as Kim Seavers sat up, Carmen Morales 11 a shirt about her bare breasts. looked about her, puzzled. "Did something go What happened? When do we start the test?" e exploded with a shout of joy. His massive bad Jubilation against Scott's back, pounding the him to one knee. Scott 'Carmen Morales moved aside threw his arms about Kim. "Baby my God in heaven, it didn't undentand. "But ... but nothing so ed. I mean, I bit down on the capsule and," she @:sour fiLce, "it tastes, Yech, like raw fish, and 1@ one bite and then they were opening up this can. ield her fitce gently in both hands. "Kim, you ie for ten minutes. -what?" e been gone somewhere in time-and you're @siared about the dome at the smiling fikees, of victory. Applause from the technicians d, fists o @ sound in the room, echoing again and again. she moved her hands about her body, feeling her limbs, her fitce. She looked up at Scott -ales and Hernandez. J cant believe it. I was really a . id now I'm ... its amazing." vame over, bent down to hug her. cm you imagine-F bell out of there, lady," Blake told her ready to take that ride and you're holding *@iodied the angry, granite fikee before her. if she a fi)rce 190 Martin Caidin didn't know better she would have sworn she saw the glisten of one small tear at the edge of his eye. -SVs beautiful," Senator Patrick Xavier Elias said of e h h he studied of Kim Seavers. "You say le' alorterdytpb en through what you people so pictur- p s e esquely he Time Lock? Reminds me of that old Irwin Allen television series. 'Time Tunnel,' I believe they called it." Caleb Massey smiled tolerantly of the senator's unex- pected reminiscence. Before he answered he let his eyes again sweep the heavily paneled office, the massive s!Fucturing that gave the private room a cloistered feeling. Then picture Elias studied. ..Yes, "In fict, Patrick all thi the journey. are, were, Elias said, seemed to at- tend the technical aspects of program, "and yet th speed of light. again as he had dc space," the senator sai "She was moving time b the dome, was moving space as A change in spatial positioning, I suppose you call it? "Yes, yes," Massey said, showing his surprise. Where a did you suddenly learn all this?" Elias smirked. "My grandson. He's a whiz at this sort of thing." "What else did he tell you?" "Oh, a bit of this and a dash of that. But he empha- sized that you can't changer mean, you simply cannot separate time and space. If Kim, this young beauty, went through time, she was also moving spatially. For example," said the elderly man, warming to the mo- ment, "the installation in Caracas is moving at about a thousand miles an hour. The earth's rotational speed at the equator, I believe." BEAmIUDERS 191 Massey said. "Go on, man rid the earth, which is tilted a good bit on its axis, -robbles on its axis. Um, something like a spinning ning: over at an angle. Right?" as min, you old bat. Any more?" the earth is in orbit around the sun - Accord- young Albert -.his father named him after Ein you know-well, young Albert emphasized to me @;e' earth falls about the sun in its orbit at a real clip. something on the order of sixty-six thou- @ miles an hour." iteen point five miles per second; right. More?" 1, he began to lose me after that He said lots of .jumbo about the sun being in orbit about a @ black hole that was the gravitational center of ANY and--well, he lost me there. But I did get vne point, Caleb. You can't move only in ti me or correct?" 've said it perfectly." s mood sobered. "You realize what this means, ure I do,,, Massey said, almost off-handedly- "In a it means the biblical truth. You can keep going the future for super medical science. Incurable 't mean death; it means being Put on ice, figum- frozen in time, really, until science catches up whatever's trying to kill you, and cures you-" eople will go to war over this, Caleb. what's new?" Massey shrugged. "They've gone to over a broad, for Christ's sake. Hele n of Troy for remember? But I know what You mean," he added My. "This is a hell of a lot more incentive than the piece of ass that ever came along." -You have a way with words," Elias said drily. 70ut you're right. War is in the picture with this le doo-dad our Venezuelan friends cooked up." 'Ne@er forget that there's two sides to every com" leb. Tin way ahead of you, Senator." Im y Cod," Elias said, almost whispering. "We could 192 Marhn Caidin have kept Einstein alive, r Puccini-think of all the mOr a modern day Moses, 0 agnificence that died with Fucci Massey had a deadpan expression. "Hitler, Musso. hni, Stalin- Elias shook his head. "The world's not ready for this." "Dammit, don't give me piss-ant moralizing I came here for a hard decision, Patrickl" The senator waited a decent interval. "Tell me what you want," he said finally. "They're going to run into trouble in Venezuela," Massey said ominously. "Real trouble. The kind that kills. It's the transmitting system itself. Not the concept or the operation, but a fault in the-well, just accept that beaming an advanced biological system isn't quite j@wrfected yet." Elias's eyes widened. "Advanced biological system?" He snorted with open disdain. "You've joined the en- emy, Caleb. Is that- how you now spell human being?" "Man, woman, child," Massey whipped back. "That sati* your moral minimums?" "Don't get into a pissing contest with me." "I don't mean to," Massey said by way of apology. "Let me stay on track here. Any long-range transmis- sion of the mass and complexity of an adult human, or humans, spells trouble." "You spell that out, dammit." "One chance in six that every long-range beaming will result in serious injury or death." Elias stared hard at his ffiend. The old senator blinked several times. "That's unacceptable." "I agree. We don't want measurably acceptable sui- cide odds before we even begin." Elias gestured uncomfortably. Do they-I mean, Mercedes's people, know this yet?" ':They suspect it but they don't know it. This Del- gado fellow is an absolute genius. He doesn't sleep much lately. Every night he's searching for a flaw he feels but can't pinpoint." 193 BEAMRIDERS how do you know so muchl I know You re yery good, caleb, but-- 11 know daude mcDavidr urse. s s eyes narrowed. "Yes. He--why, of CO t him and, uni, that other fellow, up with dual ship. what about mcDavidF' knows. He told me." doesn't make sense- Why doesn't he tell Del- Mercedes?" "Or o hard- emuse he doesn't have any numbers. N measurable data. it's something he feels in his believe that Del- g@ so to speak. Neither he nor @@or Mercedes is going to take on a major modifica- because of an ache in the back or the knee"' 9 accept his hunch?" more than hunch. We've run it through the one Mark Nineteen computers. They verify stone Ad's hunch, as you call it- I ran the last Grey Jiiyself, There s a problem, all right-" soiutionr have the ep- problem what killed that young man Of thelrsr Armadasr Massey nodded his voice a touch softer, it is." i then. Phil Mercedes will listen to .iin them of us." or to me, or certainly to the both This assey shook his head. "Not yet, Old man- well have Aves more than passing on the data to through or over or past Mancini somehow without ling the beans. Thaf won't be easy, even for you@" sudden objection fi -Om added quickly to forestall a I need some heavy is. "And if we ShP Up, Wen pining chips. This can't be an all-Venezuelan or an American project. Its got to be a joint effort- When y run into their stone walL they'll listen, and we'll our deal." YOU I re getting cold-blooded in your old age," Elias honestly d, a touch of sadness in his voice that was t. ,you,re putting up the km of lives as a bargaining 11 ip. Including our young people as well. 194 Martin Caidin "Maybe You've forgotten something, Senator." "which isr "The names of all th e streets at Edwards Air Force Base. Elias raised himself a bit hi muscle twitched. in his seat. A cheek and Massey knew Force Base. Nami there flying a giar died tists warned lacke( Scien- lems. The country n ee@ a bom that Nor thousand miles with a hydrogen boml jet was a test program. It IdIled joe I dwar good inen. If there hadn't been- because of grim relations with f compelling need would have gone slower with Union they theY didn't, and the test fiet flying wing. But the de-, a new name. There was something els, !ert got . The names of all the streets" at that airfield. Every street was named f or a test Pilot who had died in a new flight program. "I don't appreciate your rem ks one bit, Caleb'. ar Massey saw he'd cut the older man to the quick. -1 apologize, Patrick. I mean that. 1 also meant what I said about the need for a lever so we can cut a deal brings us cOmPletelY into their picture." that "All right," Elias sighed- "Ily it on me. "I want to duplicate their BEMAC installation. Here; stateside.,, Elias smiled. -Thaes a,,?,, "Hell, no." Massey smiled at his own audacity. need three satellites in geownchronous orbit, o "Well ur own master computers, Greystone series, a training and op- erational ficility, my own team and Stopf" Elias coughed and took a mom brandy. "Where? Your own setup, I mean ent to sip '4rhe Old solar energy fitcility in Florida.' it's actually on Cape Canaveral, north of the port inlet and iust Off to the boundaries of the Trident, sub base. Jt' Sur- rounded by a coast guard station and the airsforce BEAmfUDERS 195 ich spread on the Cape. There's also a bunch of A and Customs setups there. It's got outstanding irity, and all the other activity, as well as the corn- cial and sports fishing fleets, will cover our bells whistles nicely." has pictured the area. He nodded. "You've chosen I can Swing it with the committee," he concluded. takes care of the appropriations and the man- er. But I can't get it past the president with Craig eini guarding the gates. He won.t go for it. He 've always wondered why," Massey mused aloud. s; you, me, anyone associated with us." real reasons, I mean." You know whyl The bastard hates you even more he hates Hispanics Come to think of it," Elias "scratching his chin, "'he hates just about everyone does n't fit in the category of WASP." With a name like Mancini?" Massey made it clear as laughed. -With all you know you've much to in't agree. When it comes to things like this deep emo-, hates and the dark side of people like Mancini, Still a tadpole locking up shit in a small pond-" dassey laughed. "Thanks for the compliment." The ghter fell away and he looked seriously at the sena- "Tell me, old friend, what if I bring you Mancini s d on a silver platter?" What the hell does that mean?" 'Me head will have a spike right through the lips so wy don't flap too much." @ft Careful, Caleb Massey. I won't cotton to dirty pool. te've had more than enough crap in our government ith Watergate and Iran and___21 .@71 won'tfake a thing.- "You seem damned sure of yourself." `III bring you something he'll want so badly he'll do Olything to get it. He plays ball with you and me, he 'r it. Otherwise-2' "Thats got the smell of blackmail." 196 Martin Caidin "You bet. Ile worst kind. Or," Massey appended, "the best. I give yo my word it,s clean." u Blackmair, eh?" "Clean." Elias smiled. "Do it." Nelson Sanchez adjusted the headphones connected to the electronic equipment strapped to the wall of the heli- copter He listened intently while he kept his eyes steady on several 910wing gauges and screens before him. Seated Tirado divided her attention between San- dark surface below, pierced by brigbt lights scattered below and the orange-glow of ibara&s in the distance through a thin cloud layer. Through Powerful binoculars she saw tiny spears of white light and the red afterglow of vehicles on the winding roads. She had an excellent view of the big white astronomical dome atop a distant ridge; she moved the glasses slightly and studied two more domes On two other mountain spines; one closer and the other in the far dis- tance The one flat held her attention the closest she knew to be Part of the sprawling RqC research facility that covered nearly an entire mountainside and upper ridges. Her body tensed as she saw a crack appearing in the IVIC dome; no, not a crack. The dome was opening. Quickly she looked at the next nearest dome. it too was openingl She nudged Sanchez. "Anything?' she shouted. He lifted one earphone. "Some sort of countdown. -t started about thirty seconds ago. "Countdown? To what?" she pressed "Can't tell, Angie. Whatever their radio signals are, they're being scrambled. I'm getting a Power pulse and a wave but I can't pick u any details. P "Keep trying. Let me know the instant you get any- an thing definite-" S chez nodded and concentrated again on his equipment. Angela moved forward to join Tony Pappas up fi-Ont. He motioned to the headset 8@d microphone. She slipped Fill on the equipment and nodded. "Tony, Nels is picking 197 BEAMRIDERS he can't read, hut to me it sounds like a [own. There's no earthly reason why that research would be so active at this time." iink he's right," Tony replied, swinging the heli- around in a gentle wide turn. -rm getting a lot Ift on radio. He paused significantly and Pointed Aectronics panel. "And the nav equipments twitch- -e it's gone bananas. studied needles swinging without any seeming se. "Which means?" she asked. lot of very powerful signals. They're interfering erything." why now?" she pressed. four o'clock in the morning, Angie. No commer- operating now so there's no interference ghts ieir naveorn systems. The military work UHF- J41tra high fiequencies above the band I'm getting." pointed to the main IVIC dome. "One gets you tied in with that," she said quickly. "Two of the have been open for a-2' night split in two. Rich teal light as hard and as a steel cable, flashed into being. The country- ;hed in response and the dazzling light was le earth was familiar again. d God-there it is agairil" Angie shrieked. as blinked rapidly, still half-blinded by the after- "Me same light we saw at Angel Fall&-2' F@ you see how it happened?" she said excitedly. sn't there and then it was and then it was gonel ong do you guess-" ro seconds, Angie-" "Tony, what in the looked pained and frustrated. girl." She studied his face; he was as rs6lf the intercom button again. "Nels, did g when that light flashed?" s e, wide and he had his headset in his I he said, in obvious discomfort. "An ck in each ear. Every needle on this equipment enthusiasm but minutes before goi he knew was ng Texan and in diameter. The sphere held everywhere to and from the transmission platform. Ev- eryone on duty was working; everyone off duty was also there, watching. High above them the great dome was open to the night. Cold air flowed downward, a blessing in disguise from the heat of the equipment in the dome. Felipe Mercedes and R! for the tenth .yfi D jad time in as 'o 0 milli many minutes h check:d the exact alignment of the 198 Martin Caidin snapped to full overload, then it snapped back to nor. Inaf. -1 never ran into anything like it. It's an energy overload. That's all I can tell you." "Anything now?" "Yeah. same as before. A lot of radio transmissions but it's all code-scrambled. I can't touch it." She pointed suddenly with one hand and gripped Pappas's shoulder with the other. 'Down there!" She e. "It's closing, Tony! it's has to be tied in to that grounds, poi ating to the with red I warning lights. The nuclear reactor budding w in white and yellow flood- lights, amber glows marked the parking lots. Pappas shook his head. "Angie, that's a federal security area. Absolutely prohibited even for flying over it, let alone landing. We set down there and theyll--" "Land this son of a bitch, Tonyl" Her fitce was white with sudden fury and she jabbed her finger toward the ground. "Damn you land down there! Kill the engine, deadstick it in-I don't care, but Land" He didn't bother with a reply. The helicopter started down in a wide descending clr@le. What blind] y Pappas to be o BEMA( steel sp twenty dead-center position of the dome. Electrical cables snaked attention in the 199 BEAMRIDERS d away timers everywhere tcke st under waY. nds of the te seco the great sphere, standing on a plat- - - Blake S stood tall and re strange the suit Ong I @On his le throx rim nod He watche d the technicians eave the sphere. Blake glanced at a wall timer- ete their last- for the team to COMPI , Wagner and rechecks of the system. George . remained. They closed the faceplate of a nician d oxygen flow to full on pressure helmet, tume gen flowed fi-orn two solid metal canisters- Oxy- re s of a ed to metal under crushing Pressu Ch of electrical current and one u as much _;.+- released in a controlled flow as ge as Blake himself. a tank as larg "Everything feel okay?" tapped his shoulder. rier ,Right on the money, George, Full no&&ed uffled through a vibra- flow." His voice came m peak _er. Ws the chute?" hadn't seen it. aring it if I ouldn't know I was we into the flight webbing harness had been flatpack nd an extremely thin and lightweight I 1@ s back. I only as the s iimmest bulge along Blake -t Two min utes, Stan." hands warmly and then Blake Aey shook )t it. orm alone on the platf and counting w minute fiom its basso groan, power hum built up deep in frequency and volume. Dust trembled in e as the last seconds fled- o@t the dom through and counting-" seconds tioning. He slipped without e rechecked his posi crouch. a fighting Ig of the movement into one, FIREI" four, three, tu)O, A dizzy sensa- N=-hell stabbed into Blake's eyes- 200 Martin Caidin tion, icy cold and at the same time as Piercingly hot as a burning needle. slashed through Is hi body and brain,. He felt a strange lurching sensation as if something was twisting within his body. For a moment he rocked off balance; his physical instincts kept him erect and sure- footed. He had just enough time to hear the blasting roar of the laser and then sound and light vanished. Blake blinked his eyes. Before him spread the dome. But that wasn't George Fagner looking at him frorn beyond the tranwdssion sphere. Carmen Morales showed a marvelous,smile beneath a face streaked with tears. But that was crazy. Carmen was in Dome Two for this test and- He'd done it! He had ridden the beam! He'd been beanwdfrom one doine to the other! He stood erect, his clenched fist stabbing up above him, a wave of triumph galvani#ng his whole body to wild energy. "Hot damn!" he shouted to th e anxious faces staring at him. "it worksl IT WORKSI- A roar of joy swept through the dome as dozens of people rushWtoward the receiving p latform. shouting congratulations. Carmen Morales tfir@w her arms about hixr@, kissed him on the cheek and held B lake at arm's length. "How are you? How are you?" Excitement rattled her voice. "How did itfeel?- Bl@ke hugged her, then moved apart slightly so they stood side by side, her arm about his waist, his over her -collected shoulder. He spoke to the group beneath them as much as to Carmen. "Baby, this is an E ticket ridel" he announced. He P lanted a loud kiss on her forehead and turned to face the team still overwhelmed with their success. "I'm ready for the round trip!" he shouted. Dome Two shook with the cheers and whistles that met his words. reezel" the other foot In the an' to, the helicopter cabin, n the voice barked harshlY for the ground, whe dspeaker he felt it !Nooming from a police 10u I had just yTe Sanchez fioze. He as a shock. tall, licking Sounds he that the me c c readied for automatic weapons being Of time and no had just that amount because he was Caught t things helicopter step and a hard Place--the being blinded the other, own the momentum Of his 4 momentum won out over choice and Olid s foot searched fi-antically for s In a desper- empty air- ad and found no solidity in - - the first onto keep from fOing face Otempt to precipi- sudden movement might id, fearing any anchez nailed wildly fger n ggers, S =tch y sb@ the right hald or t e =% on the side of the cabin ance. He missed. His right f 00t skidded to andrail, against the h left hand banged Painfully his was no stopping m the knuckles. There @o, blind- s Pol ce and security officers behind their @Tgh@ _d to staed in disbelief as Sanchez appeare r cabin, one foot y from the helicopte his left arm ting backwards other twis inward and his right arm and the hand drawn wasn't there. )4ng the air madly for the Support that 201 Chapter MU t with one &on Sanchez was caugh foot still on the 202 Martin Caidin Of pain and anger Sanchez flop through the a complete roll with his rocky dust. He impacted mashed sideways against in slow motion behind His worst danger now as he lay on crumpled, broken Raggedy Andy dolthe ground like a the men with a gun would was that one of he would squeeze the tri be laughing so hysterically was happening, diate end to tho Sanchez cam battered aninia r without realizing wha and imme- ng Nelson Sanchez. knees, Pausing like a Blood dri-pped from his nose, his cheek was gashed, dirt caked @- s f ace and he spat dust and pebbles, both elbows were torn through his jacket and one knee jutted from torn Dan --ts. He looked ahead of him and saw only the blinding I ights of the cars and all those People with guns. The heli- copter blades had slowed down to no more than a lazy whop- Thop-whop above hun. Mixed in with the whistling, s'"g sound he heard a rasping choke, what seemed to be a stran Ong cat- He turned slowly. Now he could see as he looked behind him. Ile strangling, whistling sounds came not from the helicopter but from @ngela, lFaning against the cabin door, holding her sides, nearly choking as she strug- gled not to ;cr" with the laughter that ke Pt forcing its y1laY from her mouth. Sanchez blinked. Angela was on her feet, one hand still covering her mouth. Behind her, garish in the multiple lights, the helicopter shook strangely, a rocking motion unlike anything he'd ever seen. He caught a glimpse through the front ice against the win window of Tony Pappas with his fi cockpit dOw, shaking uncontrollably with what Nelson sourl judged must be more hysterical y laughing. Angela had him by his right arm and was Pullin 9 upward with all her strength to get him on his fbet. He stumbled to one knee, cursed the stabbing pain and A BEAMRIDERS 203 gela implored 1,,3 his mouth. "Come on, Nels," An "You've got to get on your feet. Think of how nified you look with your face in the dust." She all control left as she burst d to speak again and ughing. roice, thin air, came 'from under arrestl" 06ice b another with ,hands I Come out hately hands up pla 1o6 lights, still supporting Nel- anchez. "You idi( he can't standl He's hurt! Of you heroes come down here and help himl" is,is your last warningl Stand apart or we will and the lights, gela stood straight, glaring into e hand closed into a fist except k brought up her fre nded middle finger. tigidly exte the loudspeaker 6u, have ten seconds to-2' voice dead as they heard a sharp retort. This time a @ehanical human voice emerged from the glaring calmer "Idiotl Shut upl" The voice grew Idam we understand. Your man is hurt. Please I @ , I 1 where you are." certain not to 'ela half-turned her body but made rollingl" her feet. "Tony! Get the carnera the lights. Angela forms emerged from stared at what must have been twenty rev and the helicopter. Wmatic weapons pointed at them military uniform came forward, -glanced at Man in to assist him. The ez, motioned for several men turned to Angela. He offered a slight bow. you and am, I regret to inform you that your are under arrest-,, shit, Charley Brown," she murmured to herself hat was that, madam?" W Nothing, nothii ing." she said quickly. still in the helicopter?" 'is that your pilot i@ 'Yes." 'Ask him to come out at o ,nee or we will go in to drag 204 Martin Caidin ecessary violence. Please, i him out. Miss Tirajo`a"t would be unn She didn't bother spending time on wondering how he knew her name; that would come later. She turned to face the helicopter and motioned to Pappas. "Come on out. It's Party time and we-" A terribW sm@ord of green so bright it dimmed the lights still playing on them crashed instantly into over their heads. It seemed to tear the then, before she 4ardly s@@rted to flinc She stared upward; it had must be ' been so incr, losing my mind," she munnure Tony fapp@s joined her. The office motioned two will cooperate "Of course.' "You had to landing?" the ries to be ibr No," she said. "No emergency. Call it the responsi- bility of their press to the people. We landed to find out more about that green light The officer looked her square in the eye. 'What light?" he said. Flanked by two techni Wagner wal ked casually acros@ the floor of a@ before the ramp leading to the spherical Platform. AD about him, as he stared upward great sphere. the world was glowing lights and mg reflection@- Wagner turned slowly. immensely with everything he saw. He knew hand That ber: was r of thi ope as a single action rather nected steps. The technicians ch, 'Jill terminals and FM transmitters b wire for weapons. "You A forced the que- every control, gauge, k in the dome. BEMAC team mem- when that moment blankee, kn edge ion the 205 BEAMRIDERS mpsuit, talking ng of his in room. Soe@ to the mean control Quiedy in by, waiting and watchig- came up to Wagner ctor and his StOff re almost ready. The dire eir way here now for your test." I'm ready. , Wagner told him. "Tell them on the road." ious to get this show of jet !n- U turned their heads at the i s. Throug I hpavv rotor blade Gnashing strobes of several I uarez. "Th excitement to S the second MUID." She believe it. Stan s made I sidere@ all a few days ago he con She smiling, "to be so impossible "Thei little girl. g as would an excited rm whei ed away to the entry PWO 'r@ flight fiom had landed on its retu A receive Kim raced past th d Blake to throw herself into BI a glance hands and kissed head in both he 10s, you were just a litl you d think 7 same time. uff and warm at the -you had with mock anger. she said big galoot to death. red I'd get lost?" y? Think pushed him away, ready )e1ore she could say a word he smiled and W"*e@- nks, kid." They walked arm in arff nto the dome. Technicians and w( they recognized Blake. Cootnei" @use as in fim nanutes. omnwnce wunt&mm tdmm in five tninutes. e wall sl;eAers broke up the moment of genuine to basics, kid&," Blake ith. "Ba& over. man briefed me on the way big boom?" his banter. not able to match fl @oipe so," she said, on another we make bangs onskmmit. Stan, every test with a nasty coroel@ack, Martin Caidin door that no One's ever opened befo SO Rip about it?" -when! being serious gets J re. How can yoll YOU som ewhere any f than a ride on the irreverence train," Bl ing her, "You come tell me I t lake said, mmk. whacked her hard but abOu it. But for now," he lovingly on 90-- her backside, -,Off you Blake hurried to join the group with Felipe d Delgado Mercedes. by Mein a fatherly He pu an arm a 0 1 see." Wagner's s e rnan, I know you listen to You r !t er r father an Always so hellbent @Y@o f di 001 me about ain b0th like that, so C Sir @N J! r "You understand your mission? Stay as 3HU as you Ycon' gleltattoj%yhery important' George- If You don't and squeezed edge of the circle, wen,- Merce Wagner's shoulder, des the one who has "I should not like to be to tell Your father Youve been hurt. he'Bon "age MY Young explorer,- "I Promise. As still as a statue.- I Doctor. left. Mercedes said as Nagner turned AK to greet Blake. s "Wel'- Superman him- lightf- Stan. Y1 Wagner pressed, "how'd B s can't bel a gesture of disbelief. ,, still son it Or the objective level. I mean, on either the pe Taking the r- d part tit0`UsLSrhtiU' we4-@over"elming is a goodsewn fIrst, word - to Push aside for it. it's beQ impossible. everything You ever learned 29 BEAMRIDERS er smiled. "And the personal?" man? One moment I'm here, Cs there to say, te, and the next iO' like I'm made of concre )re I even have time to blink, I'm over them, asking myself all this time since the test, 00 T, avers had joined them, listening quietly. Now - in response to Blake's last words. "The b* )e is that George won't have to walk back. Or ke chopper like you did," Kim told her teo- 4e gets zapped out to Dome Two, he kisses the nd -he's back here almost before he left." 'feO Aes's voice came through the loudspeakers. ten minutes. Everybody take your positions, in the active count. I want every We are now ad woman here to be a complete profession iis moment on. Shagged George Wagner. She hated these 614 ts of waiting the most of all. Then she and El for their positions for this te ng. Everything went smoothly mit, all systems operated, pow@r I and the minutes dmgged a 4econd. But then, like all coun d falls to the lower half of the hourglass. the cold in her heart or the face; the very expression she showed Stan Blake, who placed grO,' accuracy of emotions precew t man s push into his future. He heard her c6unti@g, i in a @vhisper she had no idea anyone else co,00 'hree, two one, fly bright and true, my frieod, v -a- blast of energy, sound bullwhip-cracked and Wh' ied silently. iice trip." irge Wagner would be immersed in a flooJ of f to convert him to the stuff writhing within Or he would whip outward and all his being in tile 2ffi 'Martin Claidin ve massi Laser beam would rebound from the in in irror and snap hi back to the Platform in the center of the high' sphere. Kim heard her Own voice tin --Led with terror, the sound before she eve. kne@,' .- heard it was herself as stood on her toes, s she bulging. training, every muscle pulled "He didn't come backl" eyes theGeorge Wagner in that blink of an eye sanw blink of an eye he should hav@ was gone. In they would h been back. An ave seen was barely a blur of focus W@per, if even that much. n - Of reall measure up in efficiency to le human eye y doesn't the speed of light. But You didn't need fidly empty. super vision to see that the transmitting Platform in the sphere was horribly, fear- In Dome Two, bounce-and-return foci for the laser be' transport Of George Wagner, cold fear leaped into the heart of. every Person involved in th le test. The northwestern wall of Dome Two, now garishly open 'where the ob!ervatpry dome had split to leave free space for the laser beam, re mai night air. N orm where there had stallation. It was of metal and glass with v into a pile of gl, from connections som stant the laser beam with the Wagner appeared, bef ore piece@ the facility was untouched except fifteen feet in diameter, punche( the center of the dome. And beyond- at the southeastern wall, where the obs !e7at0ry dome remained closed, cold air now flowed and the people thin could see stars. The opening to wi the outside world was ex@lCtlY fifteen feet in diameter. Ile hole was s9alPel Perf ect. A laser beam fifteen feet in diameter with the soul and body and spirit of Wagner had been here . George ned open to the cold center in- U Gel to rain dc a circle, 209 BEAMMERS Ahe downside of the mountain ridge of Dome rocks, trees, loose soil and the debris of the VtDrY dome wall, including electrical cables, bricks, JWered steel, plastic and other instantly-created itill tumbled , slid and fell mindlessly toward levels. Inty-seven miles to the southeast of Dome Two, as -borne crow might fly with unerring and unbend- curacy, stones, dirt, bushes, branches and dust inor spray of collapse, failing away and could see Of than @n braw n Seavers- voice cut like a siren through BEMAC. . somebody say we is he? Where is he I Goddaminit thingl Do somethingr' her side Blake, imperturbable, gran'te-faced as I held an earset to his in an emergency situation ike. "Blake here. mly into the hp in and spoke cal have a fix?" ing, do you, ve got a fix, talk with you. Yes, we _lake, we can t on one. We,re giving it to Mercedes right now. -king tossed it me on up. " The line went dead, Blake iabbed a fin r before ers and le, turned to Kim Seav nose. "Shut up and come on." with Kim -t and took off at a run a child. the Tracking Control Room, drew 'hey burst into inselves up short- One glance told them any cOnver- interfere. Blake held n at this point would only woman; Kim didn't i's hand so tightly it hurt the A. Pain suppressed her deep urge to scream from -r, hurt, frustration- They recognized Aura Moreno their scope Panels and readout Ramon Gonzale s at s lip mike with the into hi lays. C controller. ss tone of a former air trOffic ble in.=(a spoke 210 Martin Caidin "We have a tracki ng signal," he said wit4 an ahnos sleepy calm- "Twenty four point three miles t bearing outbound two one seven degrees. Signal stron movement." 9. No Mercedes spoke oi uickly but very clearly into his ni'kel his lice carrying to every unit of BEMAC. "Start the helicopters All Pilots in ur YO seats ready for immediate takeoff Paramedics, take the I ter. N ead hehC0P- ight vision crews join the Paramedics. Sequera, what's the status on that searchl. lina Pau Sequera's voice came `S!@!nding by, crew ready, sir.,, back on the open line. --Uunch them immediately to the coordinates f rom Al tmcldng' 1 light systems ready to flood the yes; off area. Oh, noyfy air traffic control to block involved. "Yes, sir. Mercedes didn't hear the reply. He was n fi-om his control station - B12e t to reach his helicopter. was caugh by surprise as he watched the BEMAC crews slip into their assigned slots for just an em,, gency situation as was happening now. Those with out- s ide needs were running like hell. Ile others remained glued to their stations to coordinate the work of those going outside. Neither Blake nor Kim Seavers had assigned Post under these conditions. B any and waiti@g wasn't Blake's style. He to run, Wm Kim with him. through a it , Saw one hel two peop with only T Blake lifted through the door-and a fl@ger at joined the f and headed BEAMRIDERS 211 n running ng in all directions, vehicles dashi offs. The performing wild Jump take frenzy, emergency one orchestrated that comes but with an efficiency is smnething of ractice. Well, this P X over a coldJail cell with iron bars, she very convincingly. self, but not e she wanted desperately to Boom ed from the scen . virl,-.otape. Not too easy with all their equip: guard. She looked key and armed ;under lock and ny was the room at Sanchez and Pappas. To ed like a baby. She on a couch, stocking feet propped up on Pil- nd sleeping to do that; the moment he was Jif ility he could fall into a deep sleep the areas liate responsib ere. chez wasn't so fortunate. He sat upright in a d, his face raw already run- chair, his knees tightly wraPPe andaged, and he appeared to ache everywhere. at nearby. At least -he didn't have any broken from that incredible pratfall he'd performed from ter under all those bright lights. A doctor helicop examined him; whoever these people were, they'd ked him through x-rays and ihen- padlocked the e of them in this room. With amenities, no less, A fridge with cold drinks and Aa thought drily large coffee urn, even several packs of cigarettes wanted. hose who sudden cloud wanted. She lit up and blew Out a he directly oke. The roar of a helicopter passing gm up to look at the ceiling. Drhead broucht her glance the official These people were incredible. what was e? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinarY is going on And @ight outside this building ivic, they told her. obilizing to repel an looked as if the nation was m vasion! like the charge of the The swept over Dome Two y ing the night with ght Brigide, helicopters slash uIr d jet engine exhausts, strobes flash- her arms, staring at men ---.Pnlrl , blades an reflected along the strange pattern created by through wire-braided arms on the high wi ndow hated him for his free of any rotors- Blake kept his eyes moving to find the single aircraft that would be orbiting overhead th e predi eted Ai Impact Point of the laser beam that had - swept George - Wagner-fi-orn aH visibility. see it," Kim said, nudging Blake. No mis 212 Martin Cai&n ing and 1@nding lights on full to illuminate the ground ahead of them Blake and seavers looked J clown as Dome Two @@Pt beneath them, 4 bright floodlights o the Found shin!ng on the perfectliformed hole thant had been 'aser-blasted throuih the far wall. Then they were beyond the ridge, Pounding at top s peed the choppers vibrating and shaking fiom the energy poured into the aircraft. of white and the chines ra all BEA4 aircraft. 'I "es to land. Uad w Blake will also land nee the area for @ny signs stay alert; were going to a lot of aircraft move- ment in a small area.,, The two cb gn OpPers ass' ed to the landing descended more slowly, deliberately, their own rn- ing the tumbled ridge into stark hi ows. Bushes and tre@s' whipped wild t Of the rotors, dust flew about and even sm all stones sailed through the air. A blizzard of ins ects seerne magnified by the floodlights as they d noise, wind and light. scattered from the "Hold it!" Blake shouted to the pilot, grasping his shoulder. "Drop it down and--can a bit lower?" You swing that light "Can do," the pilot swun the helico eased its fort this a moment," he his radio. "Five to Lea a human on the slope directly d us. It looks like ej He's fi'ce-down and taking the floodlights DOured a great cone I - beneath the In the aircraft five ma- is Lead One to wants only two ma- with Everyc is to work usual activity. Everybody B9AMRlDERS 213 4 end we land upslope at least a 0g. I recomm windstorms on't cause any @"rds away so we mend recom We're going to land now. Lead on him." 0@1 Off to the side and keep your lights this is Mercedes. Go ahead, quickly." d fast and hard in a violent storm it the groun blastinr dust ahead of makin )wn g. Through unmoving across the ir landing liv-ht flashed Blake knew was George Wagner )rm they i paramedic by the arm and hauled him PhYsi- Get the helicopter, then waved at the pilot. t away from out of beret" he yelled. They ben banked as the chopper lifted and ting storm run from the scene. Blake, Seavers; a downslope nameplate read MARCO RUTZr- paramedio--his as fast as they Q over the treacherous ground crab-crouching angle that kept in, in a crazy "dance on the slo the jMy. "We'll have to turn him Y were by Ruiz snapped _1 hate to do this, we don't know broken his back but I ge and Seavers took position, Seavers by the legs ost of the weight- shoulders to take m lake the and carefully they turned Wagner onto his back, Y the light. Wagner's face looked like ham- holding shreds. Blake motioned W and his jumpsuit was in y. "Yam, stand with to get to him immediate] George so he doe legs against sn't move downslope-" bent down with Ruiz. The paramedic looked UP. but steady. weak Ve've got a heartbeat. Weak A Cs like internal injuries, not much e ernal bleed- He may have a concussion. He's really out. I'm pump up his heart-" a him a shot to edic it,,- Blake snapped. He watched the param up. "Get another chopper in k swiffly. Ruiz "ced er his face with a jacket, load right away. WeT cov get him to a hospital." here," Blake snapped and Blake glanced up, recog- 214 Martin Caidin nized the chopper Ali Bolivar flying. Blake rn tioned to Wagner. 0. I told Ruiz. Blake stood strai hel light from Bolivais! on for fi)Oj curses d Blal Blake here. Come in fi-om behin hold that thing with the upper skid on can load George? He's alive but we ve got to a hospital fast.- Can do," Bolivar answered immediately Blake. 17H be coining in right over your head. TWO minutes later Bolivar was and it stopped him. Maybe saved his life. Ruiz said he's worried about a concussion and some internals. Mercedes looked up at the possible impact point, then turned to look belo,@ them. The slope went steeper ..Khe downhill for another several hundred yards. hadn't stopped here," Mercedes sod slowly, "he'd have fifflen the rest of the way." "Those are rocks down there," Suarez added. I know get him tD Stay low, doing his balancing with the helicopter. They act, lifted Wagner into the calbin, Blake OaPPed Ruiz on the back. shouted, .'GO with him!" he then grabbed Seavers and ducked down as the chopper lifted straight up, barked sharp away downsiope. ly and broke Moments later other figures approached from the helicopte rs that had landedon the ridge- Mercedes and Suarez were in the lead Of the group. Above them, the plane hoverestil' circled with its bright lights and a helicopter d to the side, in radio touch, ready bright floodlights at any area they pointed out. to direct "Doctor, it's obvious he hit about a hundred yards upslope,' Blake said, Pointing to an area that appeared He hit, scrubbed of its loose debris. --See over there? and he bounced, and I think he was unconsci ous when could hav he came down the slope. otherwise he e grab ' bed anything to slow him down. instead of falling this far. That brush over there? Its broken; it slowed 215 BEAMRIDERS if he'd kept going, George would be dead the hen happened J@oked at Mercedes. "What @.des met his gaze. "Let's go back and find out." houlder for support to climb fonto Suarezs s us. Kim, 'the ridge. "Alejandro, you come with t to the hospital for-7 eciate it if you wen ,, Kiin broke in. ,I'll call you fiom there course ay news. ut a graphic display console On the abo Behind and above the YxTez k f BEMAC dome on its three slender rose the transmitting sphere support legs. It seemed a fitting back- )werful ring. Tables and chairs had been 1: to their gath@ - @t a, and the assembled at to the console are groul? Vd to spend the night with coffee, tea, juices and tches. fast e have some hard and -decisions to make to- told them. "Not guesswork mind Mercedes But we can't avoid risks, despite whafs happened ory of Benito ht and--2' he had a fleeting mem Wm, "what's happened before. Every time we en- , our capabil a setback we learn something new ity our comprehension of what's in up along with rybo@ly to understand that. We A here. I want eve program. We're goin ping ahead with the g to take There's no way around that. q want to make something else e sipped at hot tea. clear. I believe I have, and you People also have the enormous significance of what we" rstood ment Support but We've also had top govern not hope for the a little while ago even 1 dared a returned tonight, i had paused for the effect with Luis Cesar de happened tonight. He had. I never knew he ve directed, whatever, to @@F in 216 Martin Caidin move along with our program, no matter 'ear President de Verde is what odds. 1 f their greater risks willing to take even but that we than any Of us. However, he left continue as an autonomous no doubt our own schedules." He paused, sipp group. We set ed tea, le words sink in. t his "Any Questions before we s tart?" word7o@ George Wagner, sir?" He recog. with the question. Mernet An specialists. tonetti, one was critical for several hours. His inter- greater than believed. But they've the bleeding. He's had several ribs broken and appears to be a cracked shoulder blade. n Possibly a broke is upgraded critical. from hospital is in for a ong His L, pre ttY nurses." had the tension that coul signal they at win we a -but P on, I power overal some kind Of I when Georg, it a su the system m group. "Righ t now we don 't know whY. And I'll repeat what we all know; George is fi)rtunate to be ali it or not that's the way it is.,, ve. Like Dr Delgado brought a with 'animated graphi large computer screen to life cs of the laser system an BEMAC facility. d the 'Look here," he announced he theerlaresedrtboetahme screen' "When we fire for a test as ref for a specific distance. we set Or direct Or even a double or triple mirror we go fi)r a unce the transmitting point. bo back to In any event, we fine-tune the Power !"Put to get the desired output results. we have some slack, as You can see here sured in inches and now we're , but our slack is m dealing in miles. ea- we ve got to be extremely Precise in eve so nothing we do 11 nodded, "DO YOU get the proble IL'orena F'eger motioned for a question and De Igado In in transmission at its 217 BEAMRIDERS or at the destination? I mean, can't we am power during a test firing?" but t iere wasn't any humor in problem, miss, is that our laser t a definite end to it. Think Of 3am as a fluore., light tube, and you can easily W. the beginning and end, or simply the two ends. we made the test with Wagner we preset the ce to the target mirror in Dome Two, but we also LW a feed of continuous power so we could get ;@nceback to this facility wanly and took a deep breath; for him to continue. need work. We overnow- Wagner's test. We simply son t with Wagner in dematerialization as an hit that mirror in Dome Two with ie force ofan artillery shell. Considering the mass @ed we might as well have beamed a bulldozer st that mirror system." r the first time Delgado offered himself the luxury intended smile. 'There's hope, of course," he on after the pause. We believe well have the se fine-tuning we need to beam living targets preci wssfully. And return them safely," he added with a Lrish. "Now, Dr. Mercedes has something special to YOU. 'he two men waited until the screen showed chang- graphics. "Dr. de Garna W1 join me, Mercedes "in describing what we considered a, well , a clas- case of serendipity." De Gama went directly into his report, referrmg as spoke to the computer graphics display. "In refining power flow we discovered we can beam to a great rm_ nee without having to reboost du . a the transmis- ply as I can, think of an electrical Put as sim power what we see crossing the countryside. there's a loss of electrical energy when you move along "s @es, and along the way we use boo e s ster stations P P r9y'levels. Thats what kee the desired ene we've 218 Martin Caidin done with the BEMAC laser. When we beam lo Station Two, to get the bounceback wev, the Point of r, a different b( He seemed hesitant Power at the boost sourc moved th ing we ever anticipated. than an, And something incredi @irgin territory, ble happened. so to spe@ seemed to sustain itself The laser A withvi- I and, we are daring nergy A -to hope$ wthrtually no lossfoefne out @nj I loss Morgan Scott glanced at Stan Blake, who raisergy., ed his -1 eyebrows in a sil@nt groan. He might as we up and wondered aloud, What, 11 have stood Of motion? of conserm them ain't no free k,, Morgan Scott did it for and politely. Scott raised his hand. "Sir?" Vasco de Ga.. to him- "I don't want to make this a classroom nodded said, "but fi-om " Scott what I remember about energy' and the I throuah rs rom sta traveli laws that a&ct it, even the light f open 119 space gives up its energy. -true, de Gama said. 'Then how is it to get a beam that possible Only once and d" is boosted oesn't lose en ass?" without a kick in the TO Ms surprise de Gama and the others laughed. 'You have a way, the three of you, of saying com- - cated matters with a most elegant . m said, "And your point is sl P a absolutely val my friend, hes in two areas. One, the @P @nergy, but so little and so slowlyw the loss yet Or, two, and this may truIN there is an u n boost itself. . known factor that helpi f laser Scott answered im- You reach down and grab into the air." the la= rule that A in the universe? uch more gently A 219 BEAMRIDERS Mercedes said, "and with more ever dream. I believe that we unrecognized but beneficio Eictor i moment to digress. Several of my an friends, many years ago, worked an experi- aircraft program hi the United States. It was a -markable project. You may remember it. North sn, which is now Rockwell International, built a )ombing airplane. Your air force called it the I Valfiktcytfi, eit. witaswas far bigger than the B-1 now considerably bigger than even the rde supersonic airliner. - cedes smiled at his own recollections. "Here is )int of all this. This monster aircraft, more than years ago, far bigger than the Concorde, began to rs or pilots ever ex- ter than any of the designe it to fly Do you understand? I dodt mean by hoped this airplane few miles an hour. They fly at twice the speed of sound, oh, fourteen r instead, when it went to full ed miles an hou. and reached its designed main- at high altitude speed of understand what I say? It picked fifteen hundred miles an hour, it begai! xlerate. Do you wed and it accelerated byfive hundred miles an It had no more power, it did not dive but flew in flight, and it was now cruising at two thousand the laws of an hour." Mercedes smiled. "By all and aerodynamics d-As was absolutely impossible." fluster. "There's no trick an- showed sudden there?" ever!" Mercedes exclaimed. "There is a sidered involved. No one had ever con it before, so it came never encountered ow could an but as a shock. H by five hundred miles an computer and engineering predictions co,@Id this be Possible? It could not be because it was happening." 'Doctor, the suspense is killine us." lock lau easily. "The answer was the 220 Martin Caidin wave in the supersonic reej -ime created b All airplanes flvi y this kyne. supersonic wave, the design of unique so'@ applied its ow which fits the b ofthe s tared. You mean like a su smiled. at si Phfication re, Prove the Ex. be the ini!W Power Id ust e, ha, its epgines, the surf so little loss, and A that we are now an energy gain. We grew s@rjous, int( we u., thi ' and--2' his tone "ever dr@amed possib, s gain in a way we Mercedes turned to v" de Gama. we are correct and o@r tests conti "Doctor; Please?" our th nue to Confirm I it is now "!Ory Possible to use a carefidly a nwst I carefuju selected en TV level, and beam from their m - fi-om'here to "'rors to another sta- On doing a I bounce with the, beam destination is reach e her head in both am an SI at t] we need the recei azement la ver station The word settled like a huge exclamation erY one these Point. Ev- .of People had worked with sizes, col ors, Prisms, holograms rs of all cO@ preset the di tance you w Td Power levels. You as shed Your laser beam to travel' It was like ft"9 on a flashlight, beam for twenty feet, and the beam @,Ould stsetttng the twenty feet. But the fl@shhght had to be length: the laser, Poured from house "I can see by yo 'that you have alr op dead at Therent wave- chaotic light as said with pride, my words. Am 221 BEAMMERS bt. We can preset the beam with exact coordi- h as latitude and longitude. Knowing these es, the distance involved, figuring everything, us say, we can beam from here to a ta" fifty drop the package-Anert or alive- taut and -that destination" g along with Blake,s mind had been whiopin his -feet. '7hds word. unaware, he'd risen to a bounce?" cedes and de Gama answered in unplanned cho- re certain?" make the next trip, that certain that i would iA Ike" de Gama saw. Ar of laughter met his candor. Blake ginned and . -2 his own agreement. "the next beam that is why," Mercedes said, will be dummies." we that jobl" I thought already qualified for called out. ercedes shook his head; this man was irrepressible. 're very much alive, Mr. Blake. But you lack cer- qualifications for the dummy runs. The beam riders be heavily instrumented man niequins." waved her hand. "Sir?" Mercedes nod- m Seavers for her to go ahead. "You can use either the bounce fly-ride, I mean-without the mirror?" Tor or That is correct." The laser is line-of-sight, Kim went on. "Mat means [r transmission is limited to horizon hft. You can7t rizon in a bend." ismit over the ho Dr. de Gama nodded. "Also correct. balloon, an ""But if you used an airborne mirror-a e or ve a satellite in orbit, especially geosyn- @nous orbit,'IL you have the seff-sustaimng, power w7ve described, then you could beam anywhere. rigbtr 't miss the sudden shift in mood. Mercedes They didn d de Gama exchanged a hard look, and Delgado moved forward in a subtle gesture to bring the conver- 222 MarWn Caidin sation lo an immediate halt. Mer'Dede one rn@ment to the next, t oo casual. "Well, lheoretically7 Kim alm an Probability is another matt , ost yth er entirely.,, a show 01 lookin at his watch. I doii't mean Put You -9 Off, Kim, but we now runnin late on some impor.- tant at a I on this conv ersation you I over. Thank cond poste Wagner's; Improv E fi-ee to return to verYoneis Blake and Suarez moved idly to the side of a corn- PlIter console away fi-om the rest fixed a steady gaze on this Venez, like so much- 'You get the feeling Kim?" t cas sarSuarez snorted w!th disdain. "Put her offf' he said almost sent her smoke shut signals to "The old man isn't like that, him with him He's never cut someone for years. Makes that Kim S you feel existed. tePPed across a line never suspected she knew his CrWY features. on I got another feeling, Al," Blake said, a grin f orming esses, light? take onlY one. trips scheduW for us." no room ora tooth- bn for whiskey drink while we can,-, Blake said, on the shoulder. Blackbeard stood haughtily in Texan @Iead center of the transmitting platforin A in the dome hi above the floor of BEMAC-He wore @a fierce teeth-1@7,r@g Snarl, Pirate a beard, black Ratch Over one eye, a ..yo grungY and long braided hair. II know Some- thine?" Alejandro Suarez pid to Morgan Scott. the Arst "That is man to ride the ass. learn with a steel pipe up hi., s becam 223 BEAMRIDERS Of and a was i into whi man- form a tris with co will feel we are traveling, ip there." One Eight, five minutes aua counting Five d the speakers. Ocking; for this go", $ Wt said. "We're They moved quickly to the i sec- operators. The n ehind the 6ey felt and hear fell away, ighty levi wer charging to in a Ae sense of ozone to their 4second before the laser cannon eye human into existence s the great beam Sna to flashed fiom the piany mirrors its tube and j j the Blackbeard OP within the -fore they heard the CRACKI ed to blur and shimmer. ve have tran INS sferl We have trwierl Holy Jesus, here and---!"Me speak4 Twol We have tn -me tly through the dome a mirrors, the observers 1 on the bounce rolling thuoder. held gly and Carmen Morales anknowin sky. Dazzling down through rifht staring within the their world , reflect@d flacely at six thou- off the windows of the helicopter straight and Yrom their height, an absolutely hu ez held a beefy you say thaff ... Iliat beard, that 224 Martin Caidin intense line of green fire appeared on try the coun . be. neath them, s'WPed into existence at a sharp anglel@ fiom a distant dome, and snapped again into existence in another direction. Morales slammed a fist into Bolivar's arm. It It worksl" she shrieked. "St-uh st-uh ---- station Th-Three tbheiln'@kvel this' it was here, it's here, I mean, the light, I saw someone on the platform ... I must be going crazy ... a b-b-beard a@d a crazy hat ... it was here and it's gone ... The green flash still reflected throughout BEMAC Dome as the transmitting platform in the Texan sphere shimmers again, twIsting the eyesight of observers, and Blckbeard was again in clear focus. it took moments f or the observers to conffim that several this was a 'ec"Id laser flash; there had been only a split second, a fraction of a second, between the initial and the fol- IOWUP appearance of the beam. Blackbeard seemed to shimmer, but there he was, as if he had never flashed d at the sPee Of light fi-om BEMAC to D One, Two, Three and back to BEMAC. Not un omes til the stam- 'er'ng, shocked, awed reports came in fi-orn the other Domes did they trul have confirmation. With rising excitemer. and confirmed what they d to see on about - wil, grabbed a splutte the cheers and shouts Mercedes, de Gama and looked up fi-om the master data display. Delgado said quietly, but with a look of cautious triumph. "No anomalies apparent, - de Gama confirmed. They 1(xled at Mercedes He thought for several moments, then nodded to a technician. The loudspeakers boomed. -F@epare for Test Five One Nine. Test Five One Nine win commence in thirty z worksl Uh, I can't within the platform perfectly. Five One Nine went Ddes turned to Delgado. "Give eve 225 BUMMERS a test in thirty Minutes' have manne- the three ins@mented the lexan sphere. ryone a break to work the night for us .,,One hour. i intend Mr. Two instru@ Six in twenty minutes will be cages. There sh animals in it T minus twenty cages' We are el"", Chapter XIV "Coffee?" Felipe Mercedes opened his eyes slowly. lie was slouched comfortably in the conf erence-room lounge chair in a high wing of BEMAC. His eyes blinked as @e stared, forihe moment unfocused, at General Luis Espinoza. "My goodness,- Mercedes said quietly, "did I really fall asleep?" "Your allotment, my friend, is thirty minutes, Espinoza said, smiling. "But no, you didn*t fidl asleep. YOU were struck unconscious by some very Large and invisible,rock, I would say- That describes how swiftly you left my company." "You said something about coffee? Ah, there really is a God who takes pity on old and fired men. Yes, please, General. Black and hot and a touch of the sweet." r. "I'm not sure if you're describing coffee or how you like your women, Phil." "Hahl Speak for yourself, YOU steelbacked popinjay. The coffee, if you please." Soldiers in the room exchanged uneasy glances. Never had they heard anYone speak to the general in such a toner And with such insultsl They eased their tension when they saw no sign of resentment on the part Of Luis Espinoza. These two must be very old and good friends, indeed. Mercedes sipped slowly at first, then drank deeply of the invigorating, nearly scalding dark liquid. "you know, Luis," he told Espinoza, "it would be convenient if I could simply take this stuff by intravenous injection." 226 itence. Two armed between opla, TiradO pinoza rose to their Mercedes &M. Tirado walked forward M A been dis- followed but had Ifte 9 an easy gesture. The move by I e preferred to would hav ot P14 she could. as hard as told her, M Mercedes iss Pit a chair to her to slight bow ani motioning ng a aw saw her i flash and they or eyes seemed to J she said coldly. cles knot. not go through that uis Espinoza signed. Ah, let us iss the flicker of a smile. "M offered her He you have been mis- quickly that Ao_ let me say although your arrest have been arrested ted. You cause. I will note for the for due in confinement, been kept )rd that wishes. But perhaps most %t obvio means been )ortant 4 serve have press. a opei through people have verbalized @Please; a moment more. Now that I least most Of your pe you will accept as well, and now ercedes moved to the chair stared in disbelief. She Espino?a, Angela@ herself to the seat, her eyes glued to ment. Mercedes kd eased mingled relief and baffle ..It is ,-r expression Slid it before her. coffee into a cup and Miss Tirado- he, head. Mercedes persisted gently. 227 BEAMBIDERS -If you scientists had your Way for you-" to fulfill your sell Mercedes my friend, far as Never SO a woman- Beside&--:' H the open guard., feet to grert. her with full lowly; she no- and I I offer You angry feelings, S, my apologie and those of Dr. please sit downl" will you. 228 MafWn Cakfin "Please' assure you- If You don't need coffee now, you most certainly will very shortly. She slid the closer to her. CUP watchin g the two rueu as if they were mad. "What in the name of God,' she asked slowly, "is going on here?" E@pinoza motioned to the aides in the room to leave. He held his silence until the room was eared c Of all save hi!nself, Mercedes and Tirado, then he nodded to Mercedes to proceed. Mercedes glanced at his watch. A smge appeared on his face. "Wel Angela, Tirado, better than we will show you. - any words, He Pressed a button on the table. The room lights Wed and fidl-wall drapes to his Smoothly to reveal a wall of her feet Immediately and t s down at the taring stun nuBEMAC4 A loudspeaker on the wall e, firer' the i green light speared across than -any eye could fol- low, zigzagged into existence flyough the - mirrored fac- ets and blasted out of the dome aperture. Angela shrieked, ex re an ping. 4 coi!:g b tumble to the floor, she felt Helpless bouyt refl ' falling bae@ d trip- the general supporting her. She looked up wildly a through the walls. Sge i fc and dashed back to the, eyes wide. "I swear I saw sphere ... and they were S@Irely you 4M gen %e chided. "A re- porter Of am using so common an expression ? You dim "Laserl" she in sudden fu "Better, - Mercedes copiplimented 'nose Peoplel- Her hand swung t- ing beyond the window. --I saw tf, saw 229 BEAmpiDERs light ... and they're gonel" She "You're ... you7re no mur- eyes. and she gathered her strength s Tirado, Mercedes said, a bit this time. He snapped his fingers as he spoke, Come, come, at her "Draw the conclusion I You're right. I'm no fulfill your reputation er. Neither is General Espinoza, so- real?" Her eyes went bark -they weren't _011 ... two men. ""thropomorphic the 7th between es?" she asked hopefiRy- s; any description will do. And nmies, mannequin and they are ey duplicate many human aspects 11 s6mented. really were there, weren't they? I remember," slia P suddenly. "Me countdown, three, two, one then that light and when I blinked, that sphere, it is, was empty." She blinked. "And at Angel Falls, and, really been s, "Yes. Dome The In here," Espir you, Miss Tj You flew I know its no secret to night-" the other r all three domes several times "Watt, wait let @he gestured with both hands. has been, is, the same light? think. That light. It Tel Fafls? What the Russians reported? What ihey Her fi-om space? The airline pilots ... and weice trailed away as she waited for the answer- "Yes," Mercedes said. cornered jungle cat now. "No Tirado was as wary as a 'pFas?" no "Two answers. The first is for this room only. No; 'That's unofficial. Off the UFO's," Mercedes said record." --And the other answer?" coffee. returned to his seat and poured Espinoza 230 Martin Caidin Y. You mind if 1 smoke, Miss rmdo? And for ?" took the offered Cigarette, lit up and Sul into her lungs. told her. "It means that Press med* win all the :tP - @ndi Espim sight- s, the making 1 and the Rus who evel J re 5 meteors. he- hall Bui of humani ty intense, very serious. luck Or whatever versy We want contro- UFO-s. We want everAmg except an accurate description of what You saw a short while ago. She TaSed back to her seat, -CofFee, Pkaw." she told Mercedes- "'Very black, "I@g_2' S @he cup fiom he al in ed @qui& She ti Ot his hands and drank the s b=g h stubbed out @er cigarette. saw Espinoza lit up, starting to select @xacftg precision in her beam, correct?- mean, i t's One hell of a laser beam, the Ii n k ght that the mou t-,, She shoo her head. biblical aDDroach but-well, I never even@ki;a of a Laser - beam of such it must be fantastic have to- You as realization came home BEAmmm 231 "Of course," she said as conclusions appeared ter the other. "The IVIC reactor?" the one you've seen before," Mercedes said. new facility. Flown in secretly fiom the States. Far more powerful than you might even d" Anwricans?" mould have sworn you said gringo," Espinoza said. gesture, "it )erhaps," he shrugged in an eloquent of voice. ily your tone seemed thunderstruck. "Me Americans ... work- [th us, on a secret Project?" She studied the two the Americans-your gringos,, ,rve never known ral-not to claim credit for everything. Except, of ej she added sourly, "if the Russians didn't claim mericans, no Russians, and despite your past d with our northern friends, we have not full cooperation, but tremendous support precious of all, glance on this matter." of pa@t events at the international air- thought made sense began to fit Pieces that had never ther. She also saw the smile on Espinoza7s face, he understood her own thoughts on the setups, facades, the absolute control Espinoza had used. U, those details can come later,-she told herself the big stuff- Is destroy the instruments d dummies?" of Mercedes. She felt all news- beam vaporize theml- offered. "Don't always trust your eyes," Espinoza -you wouldn't go to all that trouble to make them pisible," Tirado said slowly as she thought furiously. vou wouldn I need the other-' 'She sat up straight. r, and fired the beam fiom this dome to anothe 're testing it fired again to another dome, so you why the dummies r of the beam ... but, then She snapped her fingers. "My God, you even told 232 Martin Caidin nw before but it never registered. You said the uwnt sixty milesfirom herer dummie8 Mercedes nodded. -.precise, Y. "But ... that would make ... no, no, she shook her head ffiponsly. @Thes too far out. Way, @Iey held their silence. tvay outl" "A I- a she fought to say it aloud. It's the only one of its kind in evidence, Miss Tirdo, Mercedes said to help. "And you are correct desp your s truggle to accept what you were always tau. ite ..YO It is a laser beam transporter,, was impossible ght u used the beam to transport those dummies from here to.the Other dome?" "Yes. "But that means-I mean a laser is light, and light cannot travel slower than its own light makes it RV: w W YOU tIMISported those !he speed of "Yes. '11at's knpossible. "YOU look strangely not unkindly, -hangi@g she knows is sane. To shrugged. he "You're t4TIhng me to throw spent years learning in schooy- away all the physics I "Close ID that, Mercedes said. "You dear, that is Pre!!*ely what we had to do. "Ml' Of CYOIUX@f back lo this subject laterFl' Her hand Pointed to her side. - t , e -Ma ar has the build of an ox and the color of g man, he Samoa, or @'man fiom American. pawait or whatever; I recognize him. Hes "Of course you recognize him.- Espinoza aid. -We made certain the others. " You got clear videotape Of Mr. Blake ,d "The other man an "nun. they're here, too?" tem. is W O@@ tZY,.'!V-tl Id ed. see, my 233 BEAMMEIRS said, sag- so incredible," Angela --you arranged for us to get video Of ntly got rid of the Russians, Wppose you conveme Wisely was all orchestrated - ly uw knew s gets wilde ) else knows about ght little bunch here. Any media people?" Usly til- alone," Espinoza said. I i )u and you nly me? -To the rest of the )nly you," Espinoza reaffirmed. hysteria, hallucinations and d its all UFO's, mass Espinoza Paused ectly normal objects in the sky. looking back to Angel& glano9d at Mercedes before need Your help in keeping it that way. outh seemed to hang open e-7 Her in You need in ther firmly. I hope you ire she brought her lips toge 't mean for me to-2' k . 'To he for us." Yes," Espinoza broke in Now wait a moment. I-,' the general said flatly. country," added quietly. Mercedes not-" Her eyes widened to the forefront of her mory said 1, of what's really and i damned well s a member of my team. erve pilot our air force." "Long ago he was assigned to you," Espinoza said. -Assigned?" "That is correct." .,To spy on me? What in th&--2' "Never to spy on yo@. To protect You. "I don't understand." an ash, then ighed, glanced aside to flick . Espinoza, s Espinoza stressed. Angela r with every minute, said. outside of your this? I mean, 234 Martin Caidin smiled, world, on the '*e of open kughter- "In the outside tic. DoMts:SbTeiriandso' You have the reputation of a lu please; na- YOU will stop at not wherever it in t I flying. vices, t the be; this respect it infers story, whatever and You do a great deal of ser- and Pappas: a gift fiori the ancient legen to to be yol Skills. no accident- YOU will have 1 is Yony Pappas never planned, or brei SPY on our f wi him off your it just maneuver Tirado?- L U)" fastj S UP. held it reac yet. if I what's YO Dr to fiont @,,yay, yes." "So let's can it h ..C it is- You want me to lie fi)r you.,, it, he, decei pubh, fidl tr You is offered tc the made hate the trt to about them a story on the inteffigence, You like nical acumen, operat] culture, tech- other characteristics the basis of com skills, and Paris( citizens, on did 'f you that, an( cultures? downcoun as to venture on a stick itnryt'h"kely we would find Your head impaled e jungle.,, Young Pilots. T 235 BEAMMERS the rest of you firSt, Of have eaten Oy would Mercedes added cheerily. P he is not the issue. The purpose, the intent, of hurt our peo- is everything. We're not here to country. That is the essential those of any other with which we're dealing," Espinoza said with iag candor. "If, Miss Tirado, you wrote a whole and your lies, Prevented ,of lies and you, you a r war, woulil you-he?" ell, 1, that s a totally diflerent-- rcedes half-rose fi-om his chair, Pointing to the )r of, the BEMAC dome. "Down there, Miss 11 1. @ I ), he said with utmost gravity to his voice, is a that can be inightioi`,than all the hydrogen M s ever built. Great7er than all the missiles and assembled by all nations. Yet it can be wielded way that changes the future course of mankind and @wdnt kill a single hunian being. It imprisons no and leaves man the dictator of his own integrity. It A our intention to interfere with human conduct in i a manner. But the international ship of state is in r rough seas and there are Perilous rocks all about We want to help steer mankind's passage through rocks to, some point in the future where, hope- the madness of international arms contests can be behind us." Felipe Mercedes drew himself up straight and stern. tell the true story of what we are doing here, YOU Ss Tirado YOU can wreck all those hopes. a terrible sinking feeling. Her hand 'But at her in a way she'd never than steel and yet with a humanism in him. And a pride that seemed to "For the-first time in our history, sm country, not even remotely a infli- power of any consequence, can influ- run of history." Mercedes added quickly, ",quite Pos- sibly prevent a nuclear war from shattering " plariet. 236 Martin Caidin She 3 'Ought down her Own fluttering hand. -But-but w4 me?" "Bemuse, " Es in a no-nonsense pinoza said -you're the best-6own, the most pop believed news reporter on televj@Q Of South America. To say nothing of d our coas CU tral tion so your new. as W "And You broadcast in both Spanish and i n English," Mercedes draw in as an added fillip. By now she held up both han uids, leaving her arms in an attempt to hold off the - onslaught aimed at her "Wait, wait pleasel How could ht6 Venezuela vossi_' bly accomplish what You say? What has eluded a the ns6oi@j of the world?- "We 't te@ won You more Ight now," Mercedes said. '-There are good reasons for the manner in which we've exposed You to our project @@n you You're ftee to move through this leave this room, her professionalism "And if, she said Your game?" said in a voice that behind his, "Mrds, .1 we u You, and Did you principles. It Wo incredibly Mercedes said, his voice just above a a chance to avoid that ghas if there were greatly, and you were the d we all fear so one, to estroy that opportu- nity ... `4@s one h@ll of a squeeze play,,, she answered quiet but heated in a anger. Mercedes smiled. "Yes, it certainly is. " He gestured with a smooth, gentlemanly grace. --shan we go?" "ty, to anyon e, to draw vot own conclusions. 3 _tir talk to 1@1 BEAMRIDERS 237 her head spinning from the ava- ent the had seen, studied, equipm demonstrated Angela Tirado was to see her fast laser beam transmis- to finish. Felipe Mercedes had tour and explana- I him the extensive You watch the test, Miss Tirado," he told her ..I "Vill oversee the affmr, and the good Sener@ They walked slowly through your companion. Tirado following closely n floor of BEMAC dome, e And for the first tim t r she astonishing Place looked up; on the card she saw Amer- orales and Dr. woman, strangers to her. i Hernandez were still and a the two animals, a young Puppy e studied ye- mark- she judged to be about one ar old. Their ?" she asked, puzzled her. General, what are those uring. ountain Dogs. The big one is Magnum, and 5wiss M pup, Cassy. s that both dogs were in heavy harnes wgela noted weight and feet of the leather pup irritated with the by what cing, the older animal, however, unaffected his body. The American woman was about wore Hernandez. ring down the elder scientist "there's no reason -Dammit, Edie," she said angrily her hands before her, clasping "Kim, you know they're scheduled retorted. "send schedule," the American bunch of rats! send a whole, _90ddamn of them back there .,Carmen, to Morales. can you talk I think Kim has said, nodding at Seavers mad. perhaps it's the altitude--2' 238 Martin Caidin "Very funny, S eavers said acidly. "Send a dam, goat, Ediel" Carmen Morales put, her hand arm, -Kim, the dogs are in the sch. gently on Seavers' edule. -It, s more than that and you know it- SPec'fic b@dY mass, size, the EM Pattern we have on them, the YU go. Send me instead of them,- Kim Persisted. M014 "What is this? es s 'You will not go instead of them napped. Jesus? The dogs take the same chances we N"on'd D09 Week? Save a canine for know it." do and you Hernandez lost her patience. Her voice took a sharp and critical tone. to trans- mit," she said and get down now away fi-om here. Kim placed both hands over was a look of pure astonishment. her heart. on her face "Me? VsP BR Hernandez Pointed a steely figer. - - ckering? :: She jostled 'Get down, now. the two Women fi-om the platform and turned back to the animals. She secured them both by shm cable to the transmitting floor. @spinoza pointed to til xacd she cables- "They" remain tethered un e Y one econd before z@ro,,- he said of the dogs. the en cables are freed." Angela didn't answer immediately as a wall speaker intoned the countdown. She walked slowly with Espinoza toward a reviewing booth. ,Its funny, General... -Share Your humor with me, then." -4What you two said to me before. About how impor- tant all this is? The course of history, and so forthr "Yes?" Angela tried not to be overly sarcastic. "Imagine. The filture of the world rests in the heart of a woman who weeps for a dog." Espinoza gela stopped and turned to her. "Tell me, An- T'radO, would You have it any other "Damn You, General, You----@' She snwilaeyd? quickly. -No, I wouldn't." They were safely within the reviewing area when the 239 BEAMRIDERS 4 more built up, alarming Ied to zero, the energy end when and she felt the world was about to and the ripping iser beam crashed into enstence IKI assailed her senses. g for more than really dichn t hear or feel anythin dogs van- as the two ient as she stared, gaping, they were as large S"Wd to vanish. One instant they seemed diostly . She solid as W the next, a swift glance at Seavers and Morales. Morales' like stone. Seavers was biting her lip, near to was LO looked back at where the dogs had become t0nIS- She swore that's what happened, but the st as fast as the firsti -sound and fury instant, almo flash and a lesser crash of ided her , another green in fright. d, and a very solid, nOn snatched fers dashed up the stei arms. The and cradled said. she cried. dome laughed and Olauded Chapter XV Blake, Morales, Su gathered about the transmission dummies in position quiet, showing an air lem was revealed in handled the manneat gear including @yeapons- Mercedes w. closer to talk to his team. 'You understand this test?" he said to the "We beam these three on a direct shot to DomegrTowupo, then to Three, and a longer transmission back to here with our dome used as a final receiver." They seemed to listen halfheartedly. Mercedes wa Puzzled until Carmen Morales spoke directly to hinis "Doctor, why the weapons?" Merce stion, but he cov- ered his search a deploy- ment pc Will, a type of dangerou police or soldiers at even a negative way, let me stress. Imagine the cabi with three hundred passen including many women and children. and tfie hij gers ackers ready to blow up the plane. They have every approach to the airliner covered with weapons. and ai - the first sign of attack theyll not only shoot back but they'll start killing the helpless passen- gers. But what if we could beam Wcombat team directly into the cabin of that airliner? Or a building? Or a missile silo installation?" arez, Seavers and BEMAC crews iere, placing three were unusually ssion. Their prob- n they whe in full dress combat grenades and other the side, then moved 240 241 BEAUNDERS d hard tales and the other beam riders exchange Doctor Mercedes, what you mean$ I understand uh, I mean, UV, never thought of dus Program kind of purpose. it is all about real ien think about it, Carmen Enough @Mercedes looked about them. "All right later. Now; if you want philosophy$ come to me positions. nine to your to the technicians affairs, everyone ftom Aor were pat chanted. the countdowwns Six one Four, Sixty fire blazing, green Ld e et been three manne- r n r 7anPdgb1=here Le everyone stood by, aoxious to no, Station Two, and smashed in, mirror- k when the beam dian any eye could follow ring fi-ister mannequins On &ij lasered path to sounded fi-om tdown fiom BEMAC Dome , coun , firel" loudspeakers. 'Three, two, one ine TWO station and aDvaratus in dome hstantly the transceiver Iter of the station exploded . Multipti blasts of flame - 'is- furling steel ph I searing explosions tore oubl@ well away, striking equipment as and Texan violently stations. Arms, heads, helpless technicians on duty &ozen in disbe control technician stared, repeat- the past unmoving) down OFF. a to say the test transmission was No one needed failure. horrible lent ease. The _&mih" loudspeakers moving with practiced and seconds and counting ... % f 242 243 Martin Caidin BE"PJDERS Sunlight, bright and Warming. streamed in "Your through mk you,- Mercedes came back graciously ROOM. Here accurate, of course. Yes, we can trans- in a are more men and women but arrival and tinkered re can achieve demateridization, technical bull ses- ,dAizing is where it all comes apart. And violently- mainstream essentially, to explosivesr asked of hectic yotire referring, terminals, cables, I -n Mor a monument to ales. scale on a ;Oiuteiy. Any kind, apparently," Mercedes con grand i filled with old that in all the tests so far nothing Of comf "Lets say arrived without tearing itself in an( ilosive nature ever minimal quantities, oth- coffee, soft We've made sure to use of BEMA( heartb the receiver stations. eat we'd have destroyed of last rgan night's disaE burden Scott gestured fi)r attention. "But u4? We There was an absen i;Wdi fine. Animals have gone through. And you've tee in their midst. Almost befi)re." some measure, no matter how Small, aften always, nitied all kinds of nonbiological material ded to take the query. ga@`erings- @or this m?n!ent levity was banished these rcedes nodded to Dr. Delgado gado disliked sm@ke Del Delgado began immediately, a -filled rooms; he put y objec lions to the room and accepte Outlets and open Felipe Me him; technica know what and bodies to t! director- "It's all her "Indeed, we were A before the test. mW man for our teams, I had considered an eve, her to note, he mischievous gjj t I gun eye, success." aside his usual ff be worked skil]MY EM pattern. We can cigar smoke in the 11 of air-conditioning b@jng with an EM A and we have great e a stack of sensitive fine tun- papers before ray. disaster. "We But thafs why every one of you are so to speak tests. Our Heads turned en such exacting EM pattern screenmiz inst- erican friends, for ance, and he to the BEMAC -Amowledged knew until after they vers, Scott and Blake, "never checked N ved in our midst that theyd been screened, to the nth degree back -as the spokes- I their patterns coded down we he United States. Otherwise' if they hadn7t fit within wi Plei would the beam, they not be here now. ask extremes of Morales with a re of the with and flow you7re too far that our failure is her if you ith and become c Bum the broad sv so to speak, you - Morales looked at her friends about her, shook her of the beam the same as you went in. head and shrugged. back together again." "We have confirmed'- M ercedes went on, a rude noise. "Doctor, we call "that we can't hVismit anything through the beam that is molec- Dumpty uladY unstable. ro' tale, but s=lutet "correct," Delgado specifically." Blake threw out, "Now, we can send someone through the theyre off the pattern. They can wear a UY transmi@an unstable molec- beai ring that has the proper EM 1 if special suit or outer cove 244 Martin Caidin Pattern Of another person, or a suit with a pattern encoded within the beam and locked into th; com- Puter- Jn eflbct, the suit acts as their own skin and tl@ey make the transmission successmy. And what were talking about here is on the electroinam etic leve I. YOU must separate EM from molecular. Mercedes Put down a coffee mug. -First, understand that TNT, oi any other explosiv,6," he picked up on Pelgado's descriptions, "is extremely unstable as a mo- leo'dar entity- Now Picture a, block of TNT dematerialized and then resubstantiated on arrival at its target point. Laser beam or not, we're dealing here with accelera tion. Call it deceleration, if You wish, at arrival. Some- times You arrive with the kick of a mule." A114andrO Suarez waved a beefy hand in the air. -A very big mule, Doctorr he caed- out. 'And who would know better than those of you who've made the trip?" Mercedes agreed. "Now, sometimes You s@op with a jolt. We never know how hard a jolt, but when that laser stream dece, s erate down from light speed, it is, molecularly, a tremendow iolt.- Suarez was enjoying himself. "It's iiot so bad, sir. You@re going better than a hundred and eighty six thou- sand miles a second, and then, you come to a dead st@Cdh! snapped his fingers, -ii e if k that. you re carrvin a gun with live ammuniti Mercedes on, offered, or a rocket, or primer cord, or ev, you make that stop that explosive goes "You are one very dead Through their exchanges General Luis Espinoza had stony maintained a silence. Now he looked directly at Mercedes. That i's not the kind of news, - he said diiy, "I relish taking to Fred Carrillo. I understand," Mercedes said, appearing su bdued with the name and the object. "Hey, who's Carrillo,- S- cOtt sang out, "and why's he at 245 BEAMBIDERS through the group at his hot snot?' A titter ran despite grim demeanor. Yen Espinoza, his smiled. so ineleigantly describe him," Hot snot, as YOU Luis Cesar de "is the special advisor to inoza saids r. Carrillo de, who is the president of Venezuela. M who approves the s, as w;II, to be the man to the point Of to have a value eludes us, if Vene what is a staggering investment for a nation our second-rate research. Does xn this project becomes question, Mr. Scott?" it answer your 'Sure, sure; sorry I seemed so snotty myself," Scot' down like that, A quickly, -1 didn't mean to come entered the exchange, "that keep your man happy, is that it?" "Yes." our being able to carry out Espinoza, "that call for the fric idea,- Espinoza said with the of a smile. Count me Morales called out. Carmen -rhis is the first -Generall" Suarez was standing us aboAt our using guns. anybody has ever spoken to gestured to re that good, and we are," he Besides, if we us, then we do not need guns teams, all Of take in the A." or explosives to do our wo hell that is,- Blake finished for him. "Whatever the said to Suarez, "you would use Alejandro,," Espinoza terrorists?" a bow and arrow against Suarez said slowly and care- "it was my impression, AC represents, was fully, "that A this, everything BEM scale, for a greater Purpose, than to on a much higher another SWAT team." be simply "Hey, General," Blake said, standing beside Suarez, 246 Martin Caidin excuse me for busti ng in on what sounds like a family more back affair, but Al's right. Whatever You've got in the 6f guns to your noggin for us, there's what we' to do.' do-welL hell, I don't know waryes than Mercedes rapped the table before him. "Gentlemen, pleasel We're meeting on technical matters, not bash- ing one another about guns good or bad. Pleasel- Espinoza pointed a finger at Suarez and Blake. "meet with me immediately after -this meeting." Then to Mercedes, "My apologies, sir.' Still annoyea, Mercedes turned his attention back to his group. "On a point of scientific inq are there any questions on the explosives issue?' uirovone spoke. Good. Now, we-will repeat the mannequin beam tests as before but with one critical exception. No explosives or sensitive material of any kind. When those tests are completed, I have scheduled twelve more tests with riders in the beam. When those are successful and we will take every step forward one at a time,'we will begin the experiments, first with the animals, to trans- mit fiorn here to a mathematical point rather than a dome receiver.' Gasps of surprise and murmuring swept the group. Kim Seavers rose slowly. "You mean ... transmit by beam fi'om here to a ... to a theoretical arrival point? We beam to where a big computer marks a big X in its electronic brain?" Mercedes hesitated before Repaying. When he spoke his answer Caught everyone by surprise. "Does that bother you?- "Bother me? Taking a shot into an unknown any of us can harfly understand? You don't understand. Doctor. rm first rider' B in a loud stage whis- per. Body by God, brains by Kim turned and held up her right hand in a fist, middle finger extended. TVe team members applauded and whistW their approval. BFAMPJDEftS 247 four ininutes and counting." r,ininus. background hum to Se loudspeakers by now were had committed to so many tests *omwn rsidenersse. oTfheiming, in the Blake stood - z and a allowed them to move with cwork precision. Suare high above the dome floor. -in of the Texan sphere they wore crash lition to their special iumpsuits lines, flashlights and a ts, grappling hooks ;nd and set up for ent catalogued y of other equipin sts. Blake told Suarez. ifs hang on tight, .his time, baby, one hand or two?' I right," Blake said. "We -Arms linked. my left, your linked and maybe man. We go out the big try, Dull our arms apart when we pop from -U be able to "Otherwise we re liable to a beam. " He grinned- going in Your ribs and with my hand ez y," Suar tossed back at him outward, the doom u CIZZ rder roll following Suarez were gone. Twenty ive at Dome TvM ming out your ass. "'You should be so luck "Iliree, two, @Energy howling, light )00111, as they'd come to one, firel" lie flash and Blake and lik,@Idiots- They'd back, grinning ninutes later they were their Two, shucked @ejnerged from the beam in Dome boosted P uipment, and had been slipped on new eq e Two transmitter to "Home Plate" fiy the Dom the next "flight." Scott and Morales made Seavers and a new team member, Danza Cuyagua' Kim still lived in huts down the a huge Indian whose parents boomed out on the next test. it went beautifully Amazon, in a Any eja Tirado stood with General Luis Espinoza booth Overlooking the BEMAc dome; to her viewing TV monitors permitted the onlooker to right twenty any activity within the zero in with a zoom lens on this mstallaition was that who- dome. The theory behind would never have gotten ever was in that viewroom. so there wasn't any- very good reason there without closeups eliminated many ques- thing to hide, and zoom 248 Martin Caidin tions about who was who and Thaes the @vaX it was who was doing what. human psyche being, . intended to function, what it is, with old . - but the habits deeply ingrained into everyday human function, it was never 2 Surprising t those who o devised the s best effiorts would almost always be ignored by reflex ystem that their action. Which is why Angela Th-ado, watching riders, trailed by I' two beam i echnicians. walk across the dome floor to the stairs the i sphere, stiffened su'@-@g t@ lexan transmission ddenly and, unaware of sank her the act, into Espinoza's arm. "I don it can't bel" she exclaimed as the genet or at the his best not to remove his arm on the side of the free hims; to For an instant before he replied, Espinoza glanced at the television monitors, t he camera controls, and all the fixilities made available to zoom in tight on object in the huge anv or "ty--all of 1 ignored troi* an, cut her b ment to and err the world's I casters. I a dial, clanIP on with her f to the Jumpsuit riders. "TonYl Isn't that ? Whaes he do@w down there?- "PAppas and Suarez are about to make another test. Ile general glanced at a glowin Y is,' he told h@r. " rappas situation board. -There hundred about four pounds of: assort since whenr she re uipment. but h, to the silent everksting reliq of E with One hand and bnLis] point the other. with "I imew he -. this, this, " she gestured, on, "but ridiculousil damned "You didn't know?" I and BEAmRiDERs 249 can always call him to active duty, but he's my pilot he works for our news company." ,Spinoza laughed. "Then it's easy to understand why jobs T I so busy. He's like a man holding down three "He's like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking con- gt," she stuck into his sentence. , and most likely on thin ice, too," Espinoza 'Yes, Yes - 5 Ided, still laughing. "Tony Pappas is rather remark- s them well." @le. He does all these things and he doe "How long has he--2' -since the beginning of the program. "You mean he's always been a part Of this BEMAC sney World and he's been -providing you with our b spying," Espinoza sai safety is to a tfie barbed remarks. But if you wish it was vital to us to know what the press or suspected, why, then by all means Pappas to be a spy. The fact that give his you shouldn't maiter at all." were a mai I i3eneral, "You? Making a distinction between man and woman? Is that personal or professional, miss Tirado?" "Why do you always call me Miss Tirado when you re on your high horse, and Angela when everythines hunky-dory?" He blinked. "Hunky-dory?" She waved away the moment "Forget it." "As you wish. Did you check the time? Aren't you scheduled to see a UFO tonight with your own lovely eyes? I understand it will be an exciting first-person report.' She stared coldly at Espinoza. "Oh, I'll see them, General. And right on schedule.- She grimaced. "But III be damned if I like what I'm doing. ..Ye 'S, yes." Espinoza7s voice seemed fikr away. She turned to see where he was looking. The count intoned through the speakers, energy soared, light blazed and the thunder bull@vhip slid beneath her skin. She shuddered. 250 Martin Caidin Pappas and Suarez vanished. filom ghostly white nng4 into eye-stab and a huge gush of yelic straight down. fla was1P fire. tore smo a M roar with powe upward fi-on the hok booster tatil boo@ b04 vacuum for the Of the Fo!nmunicat to ions van on didn-t look like the and d P an a name not to be inc n 1H t s hi, he said wi th a quiet and One. Xavier Elias CO] On the other Jubi] tones. in Massev's u @qY controlled s perfix,t uttle crew threaded the needle con Iwo birds in synchronous orbit, .firn He t and the vo of D van clear. flight. 6n - and con and the mark, and, into a pe utes and counting, .. cranked do, e. flight. Mass,;; BEAMRIDERS 251 tomorrow night we should be in business, old any too soon. Look, Caleb, as soon as you details down there, I'd like to see you one club fi)r coffee? Eight sharp tonight?" you then." Zim Seavers climbed the stairway to the platform Of Texan sphere. Groups of people paused in their ic to watch as she reached the transmission level. u know something?" Suarez said to Blake and Scott, kding with him in a separate group. 'That woman cs better in a jumpsuit with all her gear than most utiful women do in a bathing suit. I don't know how does it." hell of a lot more than just shape," Scott snappish. slowly. "Easy, my friend. I have come her as much as both Of you." said. "I know. I guess we're all on the now. as if she'd stepped out of a futuristic fiction Mm featuring beauffid women in daz- It wasn t too often you saw a woman s body in a pressure suit which, in Kim's case, on-only outerwear. 1he BEMAC insignia reflected glittering markings of her suit only served to em- the beautffi& body within. Carmen Morales Kim, holding her lock-and-seal helmet. Another technician went down a checklist inspecting z oxygen, radio, barometric pressure solenoids, harness and parachute, survival kit and other gear. 'Hey, I meant to ask you guys," Scott said suddenly. -Me general, remember? Said he wanted to have a private chit-chat with you two heroes? Whats the poop?" One guess," Blake said brusquely. 'No second chance, huh?" Scott grinned. "Tell you what, sweetheart. One buck gets you ten you,two are 252 Martin Caidin not cooperating, you're stubborn, unfitinfliar with the real world, that there are times when guns are abso- lutely @iecessary, and for the good of all mankind you' ve got to be prepared to use whatever weapons they give you, and don't give the general any snot. "Very good," Suarez said. I am impressed. I will tell Blake not to take your bet." "And if you don't join the team, wear the school colors, -and agree to kill, maim and slaughter when it' to make people free and happy, you're off the team, Scott added. -Whatd you do? Get a transcript of the meeting?" Blake asked. "Nah. just a wild, crazy and I'll bet astonishingly accurate guess.,, "Guess, my ass," Suarez chimed in. "One last ques tion What was the outcomer "You politely told the general to get stuffed. "Bingo," Blake confirmed. ","d since you're still here," Scott concluded, "it's either abeyance time or he was simply putting you two to the test" I think," Suarez said to Blake' "he is some kind of goddamned psychic, the way he gDt all that Not only-2' "Hold it' Blake broke in, gesturing. "Here comes the old man." Felipe Mercedes,joined the group on the transmit- ting platform. He c6cked Kim's equipment, spoke qui- efly to the people readying her for her laser transmission test. The three men moved in closer beneath the plat- form to hear the exchange above them. Mercedes fitced Kim squarely, one hand on her shoul- der. "I want to be absolutely certain you understand the risks you're taking. All our tests so far have been with the mannequins or the animals and this is the first time we're going so fitr wttk--2' She placed a gloved hand on his, smiling at the concern mirrored in his fitce. "Doctor, thank you, but I know the game plan. I'm the first walking, talking doll to take this trip. I drew the short straw fitir and square. 253 BEAMMERS 1 ganced at a She tes vW decisioll. V turn to 90, `ife;sie, lef s get impatience showing- imer, her to the assistants- "AD avedes Wmmimi@a- Seal me the and SW` re- words the te&nicians and engineers th those stations. Severai d to thei the large Gonzales. e SUPPOI of Moreno a )uter gro repeat test; the air was was obv everXwhe@re. xic with nerve the 00111- &e and Mors display; the sc Of I at sfti&t down filom lake7s jo ing withi or @h-ouldnt send a jandro, or "Oh? Do you scorn giorales's 10@ aworlialir mtve special tal --it takes a " -1 Si You re dam as a beam M'Ty: tell me three advantages ..filed la have. rider - she Whed And You can exalt an they do on her - I'll `0 He stared at end up retort. "For OWN in deep ju sad scift supposing You or -Well, t deep jungle country. Who I djd just, or meT would be - Mining, combat ..I VVOUl forces in Centra] 254 Martin Caidin 'Big deal." she couldn't help her own sarcasm. -you trained. How long?" "Four months. -lady." "Hey, that's really terrific, Blake. Four whole months. grew up in. iungle country. - She laughed. "You grew up in Detroii. " She held his gaze without flinching. "Do you speak any of the native languages in down- country?" "Well. I. uh-@ are Poisonous and those bother to answer. YOU but-" StD-P beating up on the kid, think around you two." Blake and Morales looked sheepishly at one another; they nodded their assent to save their exchange for later. Mercedes's voice carried to them through the loud- speakers. I want ev@rybody to understandJust what it is we are trying to achieve with today's test . ' Those few words were enough a halt. several fitst glances at t]We, timers confirmed their thoughts; the count was, Kim Seavers stood alone in the beamsphere, strangely enough the only person in the great complex not in someone else's company- ..In just a few minutes, 9 everfthmg works as planned," Mercedes went on in a voice they heard only with his tones of concern, "we human subject fi-orn this statim beneath the satellite so that this seemed to remain fixed due south of us right no Mercedes paused on ejected fi-orn this site wil equator. lar satellite the satellite is the equator. " laser stream mirrors and holding orbit. It matches exactly the speed of the call a earth to a satellite now orbiting satellite is in the familiar g_e( over twenty-two thousand in at just it's i 255 BEAMIUDM V Not back here, however- Its ar- fix in time and space. A theoretical is exceedingly complex it &ctor known to science is accommo- as and longitude. Also. the mean tion of the target am is 64-mto the new GreYst0ne chance for the hu- uters so we have a very good target with absolute to reach the desired rider over to Scott. -What's that computer? head. "Damned if I know, man. When talking about a Tarzan he was "Hold it, Al. to the speakers. concerned," Tin aware you re aE concerned, we're wcedes @nlinued, "about the inevitable problem on ff the spent sleepless nights. What ich we've A mi rider-what-ff Kim-arrives at a point in, space such as a tree or a A time thales already Occupied, or, one never knows, inside the stomach of a cow a provided for such a contingency. If there exists eve s at the point of appearance the mjor molecular mm into a reject-and-retum mode. %eimi goes automatically t cut A but snaps back to its origin, An short, it doesn rematerializes right the person in the laser stream 4nd here." the conclusion of his statement. There Silence met say. Everything theVd heard was little or nothing to a thousand times without benefit bad been hashed over More than a few stage and audience Of this ;W@z Mercedes for took umbrage ofthe ; to them a time to pontificate selecting so sensitive scientific or a be more a political than a there must human need for his spe@ch. Yet the usual catcalls and cracks from the group remained absent. Kim Seavers platform, and that was all was still there alone on that if the truth of that reality that mattered. it appeared as finay reached Mercedes as weU. asked over the Kim, any ques:ons?" Mercedes speakers. 256 Martin Caidin She thumbed her forefinger-and-thumb transmis sion button that brought her voice into the loudspeaker system. "Yes, sir. I've been up here so long I need to go to the bathroom, but-" She paused and seemed to grope helplessly at her suit. "AU these zippersl" She paused again just a beat. ..Can I go now, Daddy?" A staccato, echoing burst of laughter swept about the dome, slicing away the tension that had hu-ilt through the seemingly endless verbiage. '11wee minutes and counting, Kim," came Mercedes's Voice. Ile ice was broken, people talked easily, tended to their countdown lists, the control panels steadily pushed away the red and amber and gloWed more brightly with green, and the final calls went out through the headsets and the speakers- "Nuclear. "Go. "Power systems and flow.- Go. "Navigation. "In the green. Go." "Tracking. "Ready. Go. -Seavers. "Light the fuze, Go. "Twenty seconds and on automatic terminal count. A voice, unknown as to source, came into every headset and through the speakers. "Vaya con dios, little sister. Blinding light. CRAAACKI Kim vanished. itabilize ... must Stop bring ... Do IT NONIM Teal light glowed Unded at the same Chapter xvi asslands and Aver country ration of a ss fear, the cry of despe kalmost mindle in complete vertigo, the ulti- unan mind drowning failing with- without be- itl ulously to h& within her came trem can't stop iead. Wha-I can't belleve this, The jungled horizon with re not horizonl like a fish du-own a moment, forced and body, sppk@ sense into her own mind 4 the sound of ndous relief accompanying aloud, a treme they were. her own words, gasping an4 labored though but WS ... fidlinj Easy ... easy ... relax dan- failing ... rm tumbling, the no open chute ... 901 10 Ize .. ;an ... Must Stop turn- spinning to her chest, drew up, her In limbs as if hurling the eased, the the tumble responding to vast ex- 257 the biood-curdling scream and above the Venezuelan instant high The scream issued from 258 Martin Caidin Perience, her arm ining through air. swirn- She spoke agai@ herself within her sation Of fidling ... with the k at - aceek 2 matel, a hei fit she w SOX] asshoi maam The BEmAc te ,anis shared the same sense of help- lessness and fear- Most of the d trol consoles in BEMAC flas and con- my Go, a iniFmphone from the in, Kii console operator. "Come On] Answer me, gDddammitI- waves met his entreaties. R tand h da a sn'd army of BEMAc c Zrorj tZ @Mnsu, d a bias kd natives shared into the Holy shit, she's way up therel Right Whng speck. unknown to him, at girl @ow barely a mile miles hundred and straight C twenty Of all the People involved in the tes the calmest of the was now t, at this moment through her ordeal 'of total loss Kim Seavers. She was of balance. With vertigo BRAIARWERS 259 mast experience as a skilled skydiver 6A be@n a terrible wrenching sensa- she were being turned inside out and ripped a wave of nausm through her stomach. a the vwbg% the helplessness of toial spatial disorien- a, and finally her own senses and her inner voice ona her from her lethal fimk For now between death was nothing but empty air The usual mum barometric release that would have opened chute at twelve hundred fee had been eliminated. never imow where I come out," she had decided in r plannine for the mission, -and I doet want no lumb b6ck box nuking any decisions for me." that too was behind her. She fell in stable posi- Bill sensation Of Wing gone, watching the earth ing, expandin& as she plummeted, now safe in her filling. Downward and resisting air pressure removed an accelera- she took only a moment to reahze she was back in old and finnihar element and that she was also 'lowing in the sudden sense of security. The earth ig fast, warned her inner self, and she w= many details. Both arms come in to her hand grasped the D-rmg, both arms D-ring In her right hand pulling free whipped away on springs and and 'hauled. out the rest of her canopy. she -sailed mently earthward beneath Moments later the square rig above her hm@L descending much like a ghdff But she was too low, she indeed, as the river came swh* toward her. Not enough wind to fly away 1 from the wide waters, but she gave it her best, working the wind and her gliding ability to reach the nearest riverbank. She just had time to hear the cheers of the crowd about Jungle, Rudy, a split second to decide to leave her helmet closed. There could be enough air in her suit and the helmet to provide some buoyancy, help her get to the safety of t6 ground along the rivers edoe. 2W Martin Caidin Cold stabbed through her as her feet made their flat contact with water; as she splashed down, fi -antically !ranging the heel of her hand against the emergency harness release she saw the first crocodiles hurling them- selves into the water from the far shore. On the riverbank at jungle Rudy's camp, the voice of Felipe Mercedes burst through the. speakers in the communications truck. "Base campi Base campi Tilis is BEMAC. What the hell is happening down there? Come in, come inl" No one paid attention. They were piling into motor- ized dugout canoes, pushing from shore under fiiU power in a desperate attempt to reach Kim before the croco_ diles got to her. High overhead, diving toward the river, was the first of three helicopters. Manuel Gamus in. the lead chopper set Km in his gunsight to lock her into visual POS'fa0n- TO his left his copilot answered Mercedes's call. "@3hopper One here to BEMAC. She's in the river, made a successful splashdown, but we've got trouble. Crocodiles moving in toward her. We're going down as fast as we can. Over and out." Kim looked at death, huge, knobby, angry red eyes and two enormous rows of teeth. She had her survival knife in her hand, waiting for the croc to go under to grab at her legs so it could twist violently and drag her under. if she timed it just right she might get one good lunge with the knife in the soft underbellyn- Another bellow of rage, louder, exploding about her from behind- The thought raced into her mind. Say your last words while you can. She felt peace descend on her. Mary, Mother of God- The water exploded 6m the filry of the attacking monster. Blood and chunks of flesh tore into the air- But she u=n't hurt/ She couldn't identify the roar ... her helmett She still had the helmet closedl Now she saw what was happ-pning. A long burst of machine- gun fire ripping through the crocodile closest to her- that was the roarl Another croc coming in fast, another BEAMRIDERS 261 burst of fire. More of the attacking monsters and she saw a second helicopter, swaying from side to side, its front a sparkling blaze of flame from several machine guns firing steadily at the crocodiles. Chunks of flesh tumbled through the air, bloody froth drifted before the wind. The wind beat fiercely about her. A shadow closed over her. She turned in the water. All about her were the crocodiles and torn flesh and bloody foarn as ma- chine guns kept hammering. Then the shadow came closer, and a helicopter dropped directly beside her, one skid into the water, a gunner hanging on to the skid with one hand, extending his other arm to her. "Grab holdl" he shouted. "And hang on, ladyl" She snatched frantically at the bent arm, closed her fingers as tightly as she could, felt powerful muscles lock onto her arm and the next moment the river fell away in a giddy swirl of rocking motion, a wild ascent, machine gun fire and torn crocodiles all about her. The chopper made straight for the riverbank. jungle Rudy and his entourage stood in their long dugout canoes, cheering madly. High above the hysterical scene, unnoticed by any- one on the ground or in the canoes, a bright flash appeared and with the sound of arcing electricity, vanished. Caleb Massey poured strong, dark coffee into two big mugs on the table between himself and Senator Patrick Xavier Elias. He unscrewed the cap from a gold flask, held it poised over the senatoes mug. "Want a whack, old man?" Elias snffed the air. "What the hell is it?" "Pimiento liqueur. Straight out of an old black Wom- an's shop in Kingston. Not available for sale anywhere. "Homed you get it?" "Mind your business. Yes or no?" "Hell, yes. I'm running out of time at my age to try new things." Massev Doured for both of them, caviled the flask, 262 Martin Caidin opened his briefimse and brought out a box of assorted doughnuts. Elias made a rude noise. "We havesome of the best chefs in the world and you come in here with Dunkin' Doughnuts, and you eat that trash with some of the most expensive liqueur in the world. You amaze me, Caleb." "Smrff, itsbest, wantsome?" "You shoved that whole thing in your mouthl" "Gsnraff, uUmph, A huh, wantsome ornat?" "Hell, nol" Massey swallowed studied a buttermilk doughnut, decided to be just a bit more couth, broke it in half, gestured to Elias with a cheery, "Here's howl- and crammed the half into his face along with finger-licking, lip-smacking sounds. "Jesus Christ," Elias muttered. -Uh huh." Massey gestured for him to get down to business. "You've got us in hot water, Caleb." Massey swallowed a big chunk of doughnut and belched. He took a long swallow fi-oin his mug. -So what's new? Besides, Patrick, there's no other way. You know the stakes that are involved here. When some- thing is bigger than you ever dreamed of, you've got to take the big gamble." Elias motioned impatiently. -Put those goddamned things back in your case, will you?" He rolled his eyes and waited until the doughnut remains disappeared into Massey's attache case. -Now listen to me, Caleb. Let me make all this very clear. The presidents coming back next week fi-orn China. The moment he sits down in the White House, Craig Mancini will be sprawled across his desk screaming for blood. Mine and yours." "Like I said, what's new?" Massey changed his tack. "All Tight, Pat. Does Mancini know about the sateffitesr -Hell, yes, he knowsl" Elias exclaimed. "He knows down to the last nut, bolt and solar cell. Our only saving grace is that he's convinced it's an energy pro- grain. You know, solar power. The same stuff we've been b-vina to sell the countrv for vears." BEAmRIDERS 263 "Well, I told him we'd developed teleportation." Elias stared in mixed disbelief and amazement. Mas- sey took the long pause to cram the other half of the buttermilk doughnut in his mouth. Finally Elias found his voice. "You what? I mean, you didn't, oh, not really, now, you can't be that crazy-" "would you believe me, srnraff, excuse me, Pat, would you believe me if I told you we had a teleportation development program under way? You know, YOU' re here, and we go boola-boola, mumbo-jumbo, throw a little goose grease in the fire, and zangl you're a thou- sand miles away. Would you believe me?" "Jesus Christ, no." "Well, neither did 'Mancini. He frothed at the mouth, accused me of being loose with the taxpayers' coin, told me I was covering up an illegal program, so naturally," Massey swallowed the soggy remains of his doughnut and gulped coffee and liqueur I let it slip about the --iher, let it slip that solar program. Told him, or ra we'd developed a new type of solar cell that made silicon look like asbestos where churning out electricity was concerned. That's why he knows so much about the, ah, solar program. Only he thinks it's in Arizona where we do have a solar energy program. A few extra num- hers here, a bit more names there, a couple Of top- secret reports twixt here and there and Mancini is off chasing the great god Apollo. Senator, let me tell you that we worked hard to head him in just that direction. "That's not the issue, damn you. You challenged his position and his authority. You went over his head---@' Around him is more like it," "Dammit, don't you get picky with mel Don't you understand that all the funds for your pet project are not authorized? That when Mancini speaks to the presi- dent we're both going to be on the carpet? You think this budget deficit reduction program isn't the search for the Holy Grail? No more sacred cows in the federal barn, Calebl" Massey grew quiet and serious. "We can't tell it like it is?" 264 MaMn Caidin -Absohaely not." Elias stole a furtive glance about him despite none being needed. "No," he repeated. "For God's sake, man, you'll panic-,drop it, Caleb. Stay with the program." "Yes, Sir. I get your message. - Massey sighed. "All of them." Elias studied his old friend. -You said you could bring me Mancini's head on a platter. Can you?" "Yes, but--@ "But me no buts." "Okay, okay. I can." "Not can. Will. 'Al. Elias shifted the issue neatly. 'Now, about the changes you were going to make in this project of yours. Have you implemented them yet?" "We've got it more than started. The equipment is built. Mercedes still has his problems. McDavid and I have the answers." "When do you drop on him?" 'Tomon-ow. When I leave here it's straight to Caracas.' "What about your duplicate installation here?" Massey smiled and leaned back in his chair, obvi- ously enormously pleased with himself. "Now, Patrick, that's the best part of all this. We've duplicated BEMAC ONE down to the last nut and bolt. With the exc'ep- tion, of course, of the changes we know have to be made. In other words,, I've already had built what Phil Mercedes is so desperate to get, even if he doesn't know about it yet." "And you're waiting for?" "It would be very stupid of me to get ahead of Mercedes in this program, especially since it's his own man who taught me what I needed to know to be so smart. "I never thought of you as, the diplomat. "Surprise, surprise." M "Be serious for a few moments, Caleb." "You sound ommious. 11 BEAmRIDERS 265 "I have some questions for you. Some technical poin ts first which I want to record." Massey's eyes widened. He looked about the private club. "In here. You can't use acoustic here, Pat. You'll need direct skin pickup from the throat and-2' He @topped speaking as Elias handed him a shin leather packet. "Oh. Okay. Hold one." He slipped the packet into an inside pocket, with- drew a flesh-colored tab that he pressed against the side of his neck, beneath his shirt collar. It disappeared. Also invisible was the ultrathin wire leading down to the recorder now within his jacket. "Okay, shoot," he told the senator. "Our people gave me this question. You're firing a laser beam. Fact. Also a fact is that when you fire a blast of light, any kind of light, you can't avoid a law of nature. Even the light from a star, fi-oin a supernova, gives up energy as it moves through space. You agree so far?" "You go to the head of the class, Senator." "When they beam from point A to B and back to A, do they boost the beam during that time when it's being bounced back from B for the return to AF' "You mean like adding a power kick for a telephone line? Or a power line with transformer stations along the route?" "That says it nicely. Yes, like that. Isn't that neces- sary? if you fire your beam and you want to get a bounce, what keeps the beam from losing power?" Elias frowned. "You can add a power boost with a ground facility, but you don't have that much energy 'in a geosat at twenty-two thousand miles." "You sure have a hell of a conversation with yourself, I must say," Massey told him. "By the by, you're abso- lutely correct on all counts. Your reasoning matches what we had exactly." "Had? Do I detect a past tense in there?" "Yes, Sir, you do." "You've found something that negates all the stum- bring blocks I just threw at you?" 266 Martin Caidin "Yes, sir, we have." "You frighten me when YOU become polite,, Caleb. All right, if you've come up with the kind of miracle our top ' technical people say is impossible, well, that's why You ve got that recorder Foing. Have at it." "I've got to speechify.' "Speechify away, Caleb." "Well, first off, we're not talking about your ordinary, run-of-the-mill laser beam." Massey paused to glance within his jacket. A glowing red dot told him he was being recorded. "Okay, now, neither am I talking about beam diameter or the power charge that locks if-off. - Massey finished off his coffee poured a mug without the liqueur. "Most laser beams-almost all of them, save for the variations on a theme for specific purposes such as holograms or communications-are pure and simple coherent light. In terms of mass, as they pass through atmosphere or space, those mediums on the human scale might just as well not exist. But that term, might just as well, is damned dangerous, because everything that exists on the molecular level,-that's you and me, old man--has measurable and functioning mass, even if you want to consider it infinitesimal. out there in the real universe, the electromagnetic and subatomic universe, where God gets real serious about this stuff, you've even got things like neutrinos which have so little mass, and such vast penetrating power, that theoretically they'll zip right through fifty light years of solid lead without even thinking of slowing down. Bemuse to a neutrino, lead isn't even a bad dream. so it's critical to understand how vast are the distinctions between what we call our reality and what really makes up the cosmos." Massey sipped coffee. "Still with me?" Elias waved him on impatiently. "Okay. Now think of light in a way you don't often think of that wonderful stuff that makes day out of night. Think of the proposals we still study for the great sailing ships of space that will cruise from planetary orbit to Planetary orbit. Remember them? Enormous BEAmRiDERs 267 sails, miles wide and miles high, intended to sail the curving gravity lanes between worlds, eh? We could still buifd- such a sailing vessel, Patrick, a spacecraft attached by cables to that huge, huge sail that would ,capture the pressure of the solar wind; much like a small gondola, a tiny affair, is attached to a great bal- Aoon. Now, this solar wind is enough to sail our ship. The solar wind used to blow the old Echo balloon hundreds of miles above and below its early orbit. So we have real pressure in solar wind, which essentially is a gale of electrons streaming out from the sun. An electron has such a low mass, maybe it's one two- thousandths of a neutron or a proton, but in that solar flood that howls away from the sun the wind of free -electrons functions exactly like the wind that fills the sails of a ship on our oceans." Massey took a long breath, finished off his coffee, reached for a doughnut, thought better of it, wet his lips with his tongue, and returned to the senatDis request. "AU right, now back to the laser beam. Specif- ically, the BEMAC beam. It consists of ie. o a. ot more than simply light, coherent or othe First, the beam gets a kick from hundreds of millions of volts, or billions; we can boost all the way up with that new reactor. Second, and now we're getting down to the nitty-gritty, in this beam we have dematerialized mass. That's the people or the objects we send within the beam. Ile mass functions as much as quanta as it does as wave and that, my friend, gives a damned apprecia- ble gravitational function. "That mass attracts other mass. I don't care if you use Newtonian mutual attraction of bodies or the Einsteinian warpage of time and space, but it attracts mass. It pulls in dust particles, meteoric debris, atmospheric parti- cles, even heavy cosmic rays, which in this sense are really the nuclei of heavy atoms. This stuff--think of it as being sucked in toward wherever the beam appears and creates its gravitational whirlpool--this stuff pours in from all sides toward the beam. It impinges on the beam, it tries to fall into the beam, toward its center of 268 Martin Caidin mass, so that it exerts an enormous squeezing effect that adds energy to the beam. 'Ibink of a light beam again, if you will. Ught itself travels at a finite speed, and this external mass,is always trying to catch up with, or fall to the center of the beam, just as any other gravitational system functions. You remember the Valkyrie?" Elias scowled. "I was one of the senators who was voted down on further appropriations for that thing. You're damned right I remember it. What has it to do with what we're talking about?" "Phil Mercedes knows the beam should need a boost. BEMAC fires the beam, it bounces off one or two or three relay stations that do not add a kick in the slats, and yet the beam has as much energy as when it left the laser cannon, or sometimes even more. Mercedes calls it the bootstrap effect, just like we got when we found the Valkyrie flying a couple of hundred miles faster than we ever computed, b6cause-2' "I remember," Elias broke in, pleased to add to this extraordinary descriptive scene. "The shock wave. it rode on its own shock wave. I used to watch dolphins riding the bow wave of a destroyer. No effort on:their part except balance, and they d surfl3oard for hours on the bow wave. AD right. I get that picture. Go on, please. "Well, since the beam travels with the speed of fight, before any of the stuff it athwts can even get to it, its moving out of the way, always staying ahead of the mcoming material. There's so much energy here, and so much attraction of mass because the laser beam is moving dematerialized matter at the speed of light, that mc- the i onling squeeze is one hell of a boost. " He smiled. "Still with me?" To his surprise the senator shook his head. "No, I am not still with you. Dammit, what you just said is impos- sible. All the laws of physics tell us that what you just described cannot possibly exist as a reality. Your whole theory might stand up, except for one absolutely unas- sailable fact." ! W . t BEAMRIDERS 2W great man is about to demolish in theory in Dractice. Welcome to the club, Patrick. with that refiain, my friend. Its simple enough," Elias countered. "You cannot travel faster Aon the speed of light That is an unshakablep&w of reality. You, refeired before to Einsteinian spin. Well, you would use Einstein as a proof of your theory, amid in the next breath reject that same man's conclu- *ons, is more than surprising to me. You said yourself Aa you cadt accelerate a physical mass faster than the Because at the speed of fight, mass and you'd need infinite energy for . So the whole thing bogs down. speed and time stops. Okay, we've got that. But riot this business of something light." Massey wo " several moments before his reply. YOU re wrong, he said simply. Wrong? Htm?" -You're &mdw with the term black hole? Or black star? Of course; I knew you were. Keeping things clean and @sirrrple, we accept that a black hole is the aftereffect of collapse of a super stellar mm after supernova explosion- There I s the great outward blowout and then what remains collapses in upon itself in, well, the best guess is less flian a trillionth of a second. When this mass collapses Why can't we see it?" physics, Caleb. Because that not even light can escape. "Tell yourself that again." "What?" -Repeat your own words to yourself, "I said not even light can escape the gravitational mass of the black hole. So?" "So the inward gravitational acceleration is so great that it exceeds the ability of a photon moving at better than one hundred eighty six th6usand miles a second to fly away from the black hole Inward acceleration, Pat- nck, exceeds light velocity by numbers and scales we 270 Martin Caidin can I even estimate, but tve know it happens. it's real. It exists. There is movement faster than light. Of course, Mother Nature doesn't like anything to screw with he r best-laid plans of mass and energy, so if a black hole is created, its invisible to us. WelL nature says, hey, out there, no dice. I won't stand for something going faster ,than light. And the damned thing, for aft intents and purposes, winks out of existence in our universe." Ehas stared. "Where the hell do you people dream up this stufl?" Massey laughed. "My dear old friend, in our crowd we have a saying. A stitch in time would have baffled Einstein. 'Me. too," Ehas said. "You've given me a beaut of a headache." He gestured to the recorder. "Turn that damned thing off." Massey returned the slim leather packet to the sena- tor. "Now, briefly, Caleb,, bHeA, some questions to which I need hard answers. ,.,O. "Can, you beam an entire team.into Russia from Canaveral?" "What?" Massey swallowed. "Not yet. Very soon." -How soon?" "Ten days. Three weeks. On that order." "Have you ever heard of Dr. Peter Unsworth?" ..Yc .my?, "I want you to get a team into Russia, grab Peter Unsworth, and bring him back safely to us." "You're incredible, Senator." "That is not the issue under discussion. "Where is he in Russia?" "Three stories underground." Massey felt his voice had gone hollow. "A mere de- tail, of course. Three stories underground. Interesting. Where in Russia, might I ask?" "of course. Three stories beneath the Kremlin." Ehas stood and faced his lif elong ffiend. "But first, keep your Promise. I want Mancini's head on that silver - platter. " 271 BEAmRiDERs 'Quiet in thestudiol- The girl with two pencils stuck J11 her hair, a clipboard in one hand, wearing a headset @,)@d pencil mike, blouse halfway out from her skwt, and looki6g as harried as newsroom girls throughout the world, at the coriftision in the newsroom of Monitor groaned @-Nacional Television. "We go live in three minutes,' she @4aid mto her mike, knowing her words carried through- or English on this one?" She couldn,t connect it with a atter. Estrella Marquez had been ThUdO's number-one assistant for three years now and she didn't bother with the Me details. @@ "English," she said patiently. The whole newsroom was controlled pandemonium, but it was alwwr this way before a livecast. Marquez had worked at nudor network Tv news in the states, and that was crazy enough. Caracas newsrooms were insane. Angela Tirado came along and boosted that insanity to international popularity. "One minute, one minute sang out the voice in timing A last-second thought hit Estrella Marquez. "Any body listening in at contro-l?" "Hey, sugarlips, this is Eduardo. Go ahead." -you got the stock footage ready?" She could have locked herself as fast as she spoke. "I mean, the new news footage," she appended swiftly "Uh, yeah, thaes maiat I thought YOU meant," came is- the voice from control. "By the way, this stuff "Knock it off, Eddie," Marquez said harshly. "We're coming up on live time." Shed have to watch herself. The tape they were running had been prepared with exquisite care and here they'd gone to all their trouble to have everyone believe it was as fresh as breakfast, and she was calling it stock footage. "Fifteen seconds, fifteen seconds. Everybody knock off the crapola, okay? No replies, pleas@-" Another voice called out. "Ten seconds, ten seconds, and we go live with Miss Tirado." 272 Martin Caidin The seconds fell away, lights switched to colors an- nouncing live studio and live mikes and cameras, and a serious Angela Tirado appeared on banks of monitors in the studio. "Damn, but she is one beautiful woman," thought Estrella Marquez. "So how come she's also smarter than anybody I know?" The beautiful fiLce and shapely body seemed out of place with the sexy-husky but commanding voice that covered continents. and we have learned the source of all those strange lights in the sky that have amazed and baffled and even fi-ightened people. Green shafts of tj light and explosive booms in the skies have been seen and heard across all of Venezuela. But we're not alone in these amazing phenoneina. The lights and explosions A have appeared in the heavens across Brazil, and Colom- bia and even as far north as Panama. Earlier today this reporter led a news team to the government research center for a revolutionary new-" The large television screen on the far wall of the government conference room held the attention of Espinoza, Garcia, and a small crowd of Venezuelan military and security officials. system. Its what scientists call laser fiber optics. It uses materials and systems the government considers to be highly secret. This reporter finds that attitude almost insufferable. Venezuelan tax- payers made this new system possible and they should know all there is about it. But I can tell you that in a single beam of laser light, pumped by the new fiber optics system, we can send as many as a thousand telephone calls and more than one hundred television frequencies. "What is this worth? What does it mean? The answer is in that first question: What is this worth? Well, to whom? And that answer should rivet the attention of every man and woman in our fair country of Venezuela. This new system means a total revolution in world communications. It means that Venezuela can,earn be, BEwRiDERs 273 4tw and ten billion dollars every year from Pa- royalties." udged Major Garcia. 'Mat woman is a Espinoza n people than UFY Onius. What is of more interest to s? Moneyl Especially to Venezuelans, if it means malting inone@ for Venezuelans. To say nothing of the national iodde. 'Mey watched dramatic pictures of a laser beam appropriate sound effects and dazzling paraded vast sums of money in across the screen behind her and to the mm thrust Espinoza had worked "We are you other news as a world exclu- sive. The unite states is already deep into this fikntas- tic new project with Venezuela. Full cooperation is under way with experimental laser broadcast systems between the MC Center of Caracas and Cape Canmieral in Florida. So the strange lights that have brightened our night sides, that this reporter and so many other people believed to be uFas, tam out to be a future of tremendous wealth for our country. One communica- tions satellite system, using the new laser system we sa have developed, can carry more mes ges, phone calls, television frequencies medical data and other mes sages, than all the satellites and microwave systems of the world, combined." Angela pushed away the notes on her desk and swung ce her chair about, making it clear to her audien she wasn't bothering to read from notes or a teleprompter, I will predict but that she was speaking from the heart. the future for. you, my fellow citizens of Venezuela. I predict that the world communications satellite system as it exists now will be wiped out overnight. The satel- lites now in orixt will be du-own away as so much ancient garbage. The new team of Venezuela and the United states, thanks to our scientists, will emerge in one f-2 brilliant stroke as the undisputed world leaders o E spinoza clicked the Tv remote control at his chair and the qet went dark. He turned to Garcia and there 274 Martin Caidin could be no question but that the general was very serious. "I. carefully, Major Garcia. Ile Russians have taken the bait. The rest of the world may believe what you just heard, but the Russians are, if anything, suspi- clous. They are more than capable with laser systems and they will have many questions. Which, of course, we will refuse to answer. Now, Caleb Massey is arriv- ing tonight to meet with our people at IVIC. He win be coming in aboard a C-5, one of those giant machines. It will have very valuable equipment aboard that must be moved irntnediately to BkMAC within IVIC. I don't care what you do or how you do it, but nothing must interfere with that tninsfer from the military anfield to BEMAC. Take as many troops as you need. AR the helicopters you want., Maximum security must be main- tained from beginning to end." Espinoza permitted hunself the luxury of a brief smile. .-Me- Russi@ms know that Massey is to arrive tonight. They do not know what is aboard that airplane. They know about Massey, and they also know who are some of the people involved in our project. I have every assurance they will go after those people tonight." Major Garcia didn't hide the misgivings he felt. "You take a great risk, my general." "Of course, of course," Espinoza responded. His eyes seemed to flash. 'That only makes the game all the sweeter, right?" r 7@ Chapwr XWU eased to a stop deep beneath Cara- open and the cars disgorged hun- by a surge of other swallowed up within the cars. leaving the train = men as a single group. Felipe Mercedes and Caleb X led the way. Four large and powerfid men fell them, two behind and one on each side to flank American and the Venezuelan scientist. Behind them away and the station became relatively train pulled quickly in the et Mercedes pointed and they moved One guard whon of a long and steep escalator. shPPed I ore them to take lead position on the escalator, the men eased Whind, sandwiching Mercedes between them. It all went smoothly and lean to Massey. -I don't know found out, but the Russians know youre here. A they are looking for YOU." "Ifs nice to be popular," Massey grimed. r. "Be seri- Mercedes didn't share his sense of hurno ous, Caleb. They have orders to kidnap you- Massey nodded. -1 know. - He gestured to take in the was a beautiful idea. The subway escalator. "All this Russians are predictable. if you're a big shot, then you ve got to be in a limousine. That's whe re I'm SUP- posed to be. Not here.' General Espinoza planned all this@" Mercedes ex- plained. "Including the double who looks more like you than you do." 275 276 Martin Caidin "I didn't know that. In the iimor "Yes. Much fanfitre, too. Motorcycle police escort, flashing lights, sirens. Very exciting." Massey firowned. "Well, you can fool them for a while but we're not working with any rank amateurs. This meeting you've scheduled, Phil. The Russians know where your office is located. Both at IWC and here in the city. lbeyll plan on the both of us going to mc, and that's a dangerous road. Expect any problems?- Mercedes smiled. "Problems? Meeting? What meet- ing? You're not here on business, remember? This is a cultural visit. You're here to be entertained. In fie, watch your step, here," they moved briskly fi-om the escalator, Mercedes talking as they walked. 'I was saying, were on our way right now to the Caracas Cultural Center. "Really? Where is it?" Mercedes pointed a finger straight up- "Right above us." "You're kidding-" Massey said with an appreciative grin. 'Viiat's the@@rogram tonightr "Why, Swan Take. Tchaichovsky, of course. What could be more filling?' "What about my team peopler 'The general assures me he's arranged a social affair for them," Mercedes said. "Well meet them later tonight." 'they turned left at a fork in the tunnel; the right way led to the street, signs on the left pointed to the en- trance to the Caracas Cultural Center. The tunnel walk- way widened, wall murals appeared before them, and they moved into a magnificent underground center that led to subways, parking garages, restaurants, parks and the Cultural Center itself. Mercedes took a sharp right turn, holding Massey's arm, and the six men moved into a beautiful atrium. Massey heard a door hiss closed behind them. He turned and offered a mental nod in appreciation of the tech- nique being used. The glass that had exposed the atrium to People walking by had polarized to an opaque sheet. Mercedes stopped before a large tree and the tree slid VI BEAmBIDERS 277 sideways to expose a curving tunnel. I'he six men walked into the tunnel, the tree slid back into place behind them. Massey mumbled aloud to himseff "And I came down here to teach these people some new tricks - - Mercedes smiledas he heard Massey's words. He didn't answer but stop* by a huge mural. The mural slid aside, they entered a large anteroom, the mural closed behind them. Mercedes stood before a shelf emerging from the nearest wall. It lit up and a glowing plate appeared before him. He placed his right hand flat against the plate. It was clear to Massey that an ovdc@ computer system was examining not only four I f&gerprints and the thumbprint but the palmprint as well. The light Wed and flashed a soft green; Mercedes stepped aside and motioned Massey forward. Massey and the four guards went through the security clearance process, and entered a large conference room where scientists and technicians awaited them. Massey went up to Claude McDavid. They clasped hands fiercely, two old fiiends meeting after an absence each found much too long. "It's good to see you, Caleb," McDavid told him. "And you," Massey said. -Everything you brought is already at BEMAC," McDavid told him. "I'm amazed the installation is that simple.- Mercedes coughed politely to break into their con- versation. "Gentlemen, if you please? We'd like you to tell the rest of us." mcDavid laughed. "Forgive me, Director." He and Massey took seats at the table across fiorn Mercedes. "Shall we get right to it?" McDavid asked. "Please," Mercedes said, clasping his fingers together on the table before him, waiting. "Simply put, - McDavid began, "the problems we ve experienced in the beaming have nothing to do with the amount of power we're using. I've checked that a hundred times. We have more than enough power to handle any assignment I can foresee." j 278 Martin Caklin -But ft is tied in with the powerr Mercedes queried. -Absolutely. Let me rid ourselves of one other prob- lem area we considered. The computers. The Greystone is truly a fabulous development. Since I last met with you, sir, wave Greystone with going through A Mercedes remained calm only with great self-control. -Andr he said quietly "Ifs the power flow," McDavid said. "Or, more sne- of the power flow. The t;@st cannot eliminate all fluctustions. Ile metal the alloys, the connections; they cost be Perfect and theVre noL And the slightest anomaly in that ktnd Of circuttry and power flow, with the enormous ener- gies yWre using; is magnified a thousandfold." "There' ' no way to predict or to locate any such problem? C:no't we tell when we're not coherent with the flowr Mercedes pushed. -No, sir,- Massey answered f or McDavid. -We ran into the same problem with SDI. I never thought rd see Star Wars pay off, but it has. If you get so much as a twitch or a tweak in the power, you get a tremendous well, call it disharmony. Everything seems to be a contradiction in term. But right now, our new equip- ment, as Claude has verified, is being set up at IVIC@ We've already built the same facility at Canaveral and checked it out Mercedes nodded. "Briefly, fi)r the rest of the people here, pleaser "Weve had to eliminate power fluctuations in our most powerful laser and energy bearns for the Star Wars program. We've had a devil of a time with Massey explained in the simplest terms. "We solved the problems by going to the new cryogenics systems, the superconductors that operate at the temperature Of liquid nitrogen. That's a truly fantastic advantage for us- Working with liquid helium presented staggering prob- lems, especially of consistent reliability. When you're legally getting down to absolute zero, vou mav izet the temner- of the v been BEAmRiDERs 279 =s but your equipment goes to hell On YOU- NOt liquid nitrogen. Your equipment remains stable. superconducting ceramics, we were able Using the new have the McDavid, "did. He s the one who gets the credit for brain work. we're just, the plumbers and the --ms random coherency," a woman asked- "I'm al- afi-Ad to ask. Does this guarantee a smooth power -,Absolutely," mcDavid said. "There's so much en- ergy available in confi mement it always maintains maxi- sum output. By using the superconducting ceramics we've eliminated electrical resistance in the system. The result is what we can absolute flow. No matter you look you get coherent flow. it doesn't matter coherency. =. -Tbat's why we call it random Massey leaned forward. "In sum, ladies and gentle- men, when the superconducting equipment is set UP, be by tomorrow night or the day after which should everything you've ever dreamed of doing with B EMAC .. should be completely within your grasP." r The room went silent. No one spoke- In the sudden calm they could hear the faint strains of Swan Lake fi -om the concert hall above them. They moved like royalty through the crowded lobby t of the Caracas Hilton. There exists an aura about cer- tain people, a sense of the extraordinary that requires no words, that either "is" or never can be. Ey,@s f& Of lowed Stan Blake as he towered above the throngs people in the luxurious Hilton lobby. He wore a wine- colored turtleneck, a suede jacket, and he moved-he afided-4ike a human tank on skates. The fffst sight Of Make drew attention; a second look to show Maria Barrios on his arm brought gasps and whispered com- Am, ments as to the identity of these striking PeoPle who fiee electron lasers. We but we also achieved power coherency. By the way, This man," he motioned 280 Martin Caidin had that indefinable air about them. A dusky Chinese red gown, slit along the legs, form-fitted Mar* who set off her jet black hair with sparkle diamonds. Behind them moved another couple; the word now striking dusky beai brown. Theirs, too, was that air of airs, that ultimate touch of silky confidence. Eyes followed the finir of them through the lobby, along the thickly carpeted corTidor among the restaurants of the hotel, past the elevators. Ahead of them str@etched the luxury shops of the Hilton. To their left, great flowering plants and a V wide descending spiral AdrWRY to the ground floor and parking valet service. They walked in pain separated sufficiently to seem casual, yet close enough to speak with each other in subdued tones. Blake fed the way with Maria. He fell back slightly in his position, still looking straight ahead as he spoke to the others, but especially to Suarez. "You see them, Al?" Suarez looked at Carmen Morales and smiled broadly. But he wasn't seeing her, his eyes darted about the lobby and the corridor. Still looking at Carmen he answered Blake quickly. "Four is what I get. One by the elevator, du-e-e down the hall." "Same as me. " Blake smiled at Maria. "Let them make the first move?" he said to Suarez. -Of course. It's not polite to do anything first." "I'hey won't make their move here," Blake cautioned. "It's too busy. People could get hurt and that means publicity and even some photographers wanderin' around." 9 "I'm so sorry, Mai* but he is less than blinded by your beauty," Suarez told Maria Barrios. "Amigo, you are right,"he directed to Blake. "We came to dance and the time is close. See those stairs ahead? Turn left there. I will follow." They went down the wide, winding staircase arm dst glittering fountains and heaw foliaze. Ahead of &em- might have been barrel-chested, thfi Aleian(W Suarez, his arms and the W Morales -in gold and BEAmRIDERS 281 small lobby and beyond the landing, were the to them were elevators with People out in a steady stream. at the fi)ot of the stairs. "Ladies, would a to, use the powder room?" @Maria patted his hand. "Of course. Thank you." be long," Carmen added. "We'll meet YOU I careful," Suarez warned them. "We have but there could be more.- men who worry about their little women," smiling. "All right, Carmen, let them have Morales kissed Suarez on the cheek. "Be careful, 41 YOU .ope, 11 she hissed in his ear. -Worry wart," he smiled back. The two men waited until the women were within the ladies@ room, then went into the men's room. They a moment at the door as Blake lifted his left sed :Cd to look at his watch. The mirror showed several men rushing down the stairs. Blake continued into the men s room. 'At least four. Big hurry," he said to Suarez. "Get to the far wall. You set?" "Hey, got a reception committee in a pocket." They stood by the far wall, looking into a mirror to see behind them. The urinals were to their right. They stayed before the mirror until the four men who'd followed them down the stairs were in the men's room. Now they knew with what they had to deal. The first man of the group held their eyes. "No trouble, understand? You come with us quietly. We wish only to talk. Otherwise," he smiled with half a mouth of stainless steel teeth and brought a long-barreled fi-om a shoulder holster, "we must use automatic these.' Blake leaned against the mirror, thumbs in his belt. Suarez kept his hands folded, out of direct sight. They were cool as ice, jazzing with one another, seemingly oblivious to any danger. "Hey, Al, he wants us to go with him." 282 Martin Caidin "For once you're right, gringo. He wants to go bang-bang." "Nah," Blake sneered. "See those silewxers? No bang- bang. Maybe phlit-phlit." "No,way, am. Theyll never use them.' I think youre a smart spic. Think they really want to talk to us?" "Hey, sure, man, but not here,,, Suarez said. "They might shoot us in the legal' "No way, old buddy," Suarez broke in. "We're too big and ugly to carry. "And it would make a scene," Blake said, nodding. "Hey, lay it on me, man, which ones do you want?" The four men with gum sWred in confusion. I like the one with the crewcut. Him and his buddy," Suarez said. -Hey, good. III take old chrome mouth. Chrome mouth made a thregitening gesture with the "You f gun. oolsl I warn you well--2' Blake and Suarez moved with bhndmg speed and Perfect coordination. In a single move Blake simply dropped to the floor, rolling to one side as he went. Suarez did the same and both men, still prone, each brought up an arm and wrist-mvved a small ball at the armed men. They stayed dcw@ covering their eyes with their arms. Two blinder grenades went off with sham popping sounds and light that screamed into a man's eyes. The four men fioze as statues, instantly blinded. Two fired shots wildly, one smashing a mirror and the other crack- ing open a porcelain urinal. in almost the same moment Suarez s arm went back and snapped forward. A small bola whistled away and whiPpe&ibout the neck of the first man with the gun, jerking Win wildly off balance. His gun went flying as he choked and grabbed at his throat. "You shitbirdl" Blake yelled. "He was minel" Suarez was diving for the floor again as a second man, screaming with pain fi-om Ins eyes, emptied his gun blindly. Blake went in beneath the gun and came up BEAmPJDERS 283 a stiffened hand into the gunman's, armpit. His struck with the force of a wild-swinging axe. The 00 screamed, the gim. tumbled away, and the man tweened against a 9-vall, half-pualyzed and in agony. @$uarez was up and running; his target was just regain- and bringing up a gun. Suarez came off the landed a flying dropkick against the gunman a blow that cracked his skull and hurled him. scions against a wall. I" he heard Blake yell. He turned, saw *@tl Blake had the last man in a stiffened reverse armbend him around as hard as he could. fly as if cracking the whip, Suarez laughed a massive fist in a short, straight blow that last assailant. Off Ms hands, Suarez rubbed Ms Palms in, glee, then "Oh, my God-4he uvmnr, They plunged through the exit door. They were too late. it began shortly after Maria and Carmen took seats at the makeup counter. By angling their bodies the mir- rors gave them the same sort of covering view the men @rovided themselves in the men's room. Maria first the two heavy men with drawn guns burst into the ladies' room. Women backed against the walls or crouched in chairs, terrified by the sight of the guns, overcome by the sheer audacity of the two men whose every move spelled terrible trouble. Ihe men had Ma- -om na and Carmen picked out and rushed them fi behind. At the last moment before hands reached them, Ma ria and Carmen spun about, each holding up a perfume aerosol spray, the triggers held down. A searing, burn- ing liquid gas hit the two men with all the effect of a t%k@-bj434. Their eyes seemed afire, their lungs turned to blazing coals as they sucked in the spray. Their guns went flying as they clutched at their throats, their hearts, beating fists against their eyes, screaming with pain. Carmen came up first, a small, wicked curved knife in her right hand. With her left she grabbed a man's 284 Martin Caidin belt, the knife flashed in and up. The belt was'shoed in two and the trousers ripped open. Maria came in finin the side. Swiffly about the man's ankles, had his hands pulled move with another tie-wrap and he was helpless. Down came Ins trousers and his shorts until he stood, eyes water- mg, lungs searing, heart pounding, and naked from navel to ankles, buttocks stark white. It took only see- onds to repeat their performance with the second man, and one last move-Maria used the tie-wrap to bind them together back t0l back, utterly helpless and totally ridiculous. They walked primly fiom the powder room. Blake and Suarez came pounding around the corner stum- bling against one another as the women came through the door. The men heard shrieks and howls of laughter fioni within the ladies' room. Maria and Carmen took the arms of their escorts and Maria smiled in pure innocence at Blake. "Shall we 90" Blake half -itirried. -Wha-what the hell happened in therel" 'Vhat's all that yelling and laughingr Suarez asked. The women tugged at their arms. "Oh, you know. Some women get so excited at naked men in their ladies' room. Blake and Suarez shared at one another, baffled. Crowding in the BEMAC control room was a small army of technicians with Dr Roger Delgado, chief laser scientist fi)r the program. the test under way. Felipe unexplained conference in was off on a research trip; many of the top people were absent fiorn BEMAC dome and Delgado had misgiv- ings about being the man who had top responsibiftq@@r the test even if it was scheduled. -But he had been assured and reassured by the team. Dr Edith Hamandez swung his doubts away, She had been at IVIC lorwer BEAmRIDERS 2W A@ anyone else and her sense of judgement was endary. *Wre designed to operate on schedules with three ant teams, Roger," she told him privately "Every- is in order. You've got some of our best people on Pappas, Seavers, Gonzales, de Lauro, Logan, and 'der, well, it's Morgan Scott and he's right up with the best of them. If you cancel this test ut good reason with which they agree, you'll lose confidence. Im telling you now, Roger, you'll be ed here except for your own research. But these le won't follow you any more." -y proceeded with the test countdown. Unknown _eWo he wasn't the only one seriously upset with particular test. if he had overheard Seavers and tt, then Delgado would have dismissed Hernandelis nings about future leadership and simply shut down fl Mercedes or de Gama returned. Morgan Scott stood at the base of the stairs leading to ,.,.the Texan transmission sphere. He wore the same equip @mentKiin Seavers had worn in her mission of near- disaster. Except for his helmet he was "packaged and mady to go-" Kim fiercely contested the mission. "Morgan, you're crazy to fly this test now. After what happened to me, she gestured wildly, "how can you even think of doing a, satellite bounce at night/" She drew in a sharp breath, held his arm. "Morgan, please, wait until we get the final results on my flight Scott had no qualms. To the others in the Texan area he was a picture of complete assurance. "Look, Kim, we know what happened on your bounce. You and I did six complete computer simulation runs, remember? Be- sides all the test runs everybody else has come up with. Everything checks out. The answers are all thi same. Someone misinterpreted a reading for your test and punched in a few wrong numbers. I won't be crocodile bait. "You're so goddamned certain of thatl" she rebuked him. 286 Martin Caidin ..IX course," he grinned. "Didn't you know?" "Know what, you asshole?" "Crocs don't eat at night. No candies. Too dark to see, see?" Tony Pappas was getting rattled with Kim Seavers's resistance. "Morgan, what's the difference in a few hours? We could wait for daylight. Mercedes will be here then-2' "what in the hell is the matter with you peopler Scott asked, and his question was sincere. "What's got you so spooked?" "For one thing,' Pappas replied immediately, "ifsome- thing goes wrong in the coordinates, you've got more safety with daylight." "Will Mercedes being here Page the numbers in the computer?" Scott demanded. "No, but-7 Kim and Pappas chorused together. "Then drop it,- Scott snapped at them. "If you can't cut me some slack in worry time, back off and let someone else take your positions for this test. I mean it, people. Dammit, the numbers don't change if Felipe is here or not. We're way behind schedule. All that damn modification work has screwed up everything. If this test works out now we've done a lot of catching up. Besides, there isn't a bigger worry wait in the world than Delgado, and he and Edie have given this thing the -green light. " Scott pointed to the wall timer. "Three minutes. Shut up and stop a@guing. Kim, seal the hel- met. Tony, give me a final on the suit and the electronics.' He went silent. They looked at one another and shrugged and went through the final checklist, stood Scott on the platform, climbed down as the speakers chanted through the count. "Sixty seconds and counting . Kim grabbed Pappas's arm. "I hate myself.,, There wasn't anything for him to say. "Terminal count. Twenty seconds ... ViDD@' Kim stared at the platform, now empty. "He's gone," she said mournfully. BEAMRIDERS 287 shake off the doom-and-gloom ath- im to still be there?" I damned well wish he was." circle spanned a diameter of five hundred feet, of the military airfield. Lights ran the di- ter of the circle to illuminate the entire area in- ed. Everything on the airfield that could move was No vehicles moved. All aircraft were se- d. Even the external radar antenna that revolved :mind night had been powered down. No one was any chances. Along the flight line, men and of the Venezeulan Air Force stood ready by vehicles and crash trucks to accommodate--they 't know what, but stood by on orders. Helicopter xmws sat in their machines, power cables plugged in, at no more than a signal to fire up their machines. leaned back agamst vehi- scans of the sky fiom 'What do we look for?' one soldier asked his companion. special." kind of something special?" damned if I know. just keep looking. If its II know it." of officers clustered about a jeep with radio captain listened intently on his headset. He them slowly. "Any moment now The beam of teal light appeared instantaneously; one second only darkness broken by the artificial lighting, the next second a cylindrical green sun burst gloriously before them. The beatn's edge, cut off as though it had stopped on the ghostly in the intense just above the concrete. But the beam was along the edge of the circle five hundred feet wide, not in or close to its center. The fitces of men watching ran wildly through awe, surprise, shock and horror. Instinctive cries arose, men 288 Martin Caidin gestured helplessly, terrible slow-motion movement corn- Pared to what was taking place before their eyes. Vision cleared as the light vanished and the men watching had a terrifying picture of a man 'in a pressur- ized jumpsuit and helmet hurtling sideways through the air, just above the ground, limbs flailing. With terrific speed Morgan Scott whipped between two sbmned soldiers. A hundred feet away, along the line of parked jet fighters, his body crashed against the long pilot tube extending forward Erorn a fighter plane. The pitot tube went through his body as if he'd been run through by a knife under fiffl gallop. A medical team reached him almost immediately. The paramedics slowed as they approached. A sense of unreality grew ever stronger. Morgan Scotfs lifeless body, blood dripping down his suit to the concrete, was above their own eyes. They saw Scott against a bright light of the flight line, backlighted in an astonishing effect, his head tilted, his legs together, arms flung outward, eyes open and lifeless. No one could have created a more perfi3ct moment and scene of crucifixion. A colonel walked through the group, men on their knees, crossing themselves, murmuring prayers. He looked into the face of Morgan Scott and motioned to the paramedics. "Take him down. Gently, gently. Use a stretcher and place him," he pointed to the area well in fi-ont of the fighter, "over there. No one is to touch the body. Keep everybody well back until I give you fiir- ther instructions." A jeep stopped fifty feet away. A sergeant in the jeep held a radiophone and pointed to the colonel UP He went to the jeep and spoke into the radio. "Colonel Escobar here. Go ahead." "Colonel, this is BEMAC Control. What happened, uh, did Morgan Scott arrive? How is he? Have you talked to him? Can you tell us-@, Escobar knew immediately fi-om the manner of,the words Pouring forth that BEMAG-whoever was on the other end of the radio-already suspected the worst. BEAmRIDEIRS 289 could be nothing gained walking gently on those sounds of hurt. ir man is dead, BEMAC.- oh, my God." Escobar waited fi)r the shud- breath, the sharp intake of air of a man gaining I of himself. "What happened, Colonel?" .-Scott--fir-st the beam appeared. AR this happened instantly. There was only split-second variation events BEMAC. The beam appeared like a solid bar wtaL tremendously bright, like a long green sun. It ed, I do not know your miracles, but the beam od just above the ground. Above the concrete, re- inside the circle we prepared. Scott emerged just the beam like . . . magic is the best word. He is draw; then he is there. But he was not centered in circle. He appeared near its edge. When he an- 4eared he moved with great speed. A horizontal the ground, and he was just a blur his@ body . When the beam vanished Scott was his great speed horizontally. His body boom of a fighter plane. He was impaled. " a deep breath. 'AR I may tell you that may ease your pain, BEMAC, is that Morgan Scott died instantly. We have placed his body on a stretcher and returned it to exactly that point where he appeared so suddenly. It is a great shame." Escobar looked at the still form on the stretcher. "We await your next orders, BEMAC. We are ready to-2' His voice shut off as if a switch were thrown in his throat. Escobar's jaw dropped as he saw a green haze twist into existence before his eyes; it shimmered and pulsed. Mary, Mother ofJesus, this cannot be-- "Colonel Escobar! What's wrong? What's going on down there?" shouted BEMAC Control. Escobar shouted into the microphone. "He's gonel" What do you mean he's gone? Make sense, manI What's happened with-:' Escobar heard the woman's shriek through his head- set, louder than the man speaking into the microphone. Her sudden shrill scream stopped the radioman's voice 290 Martin Caidin and Escobar could hear the frightened repetitive wailing, "My God, oh nW God, nW God, I can't believe this, oh my God--7 "BEMACI" Escobar shouted into the mike. "What is it? Whats happenings' "He's back! if&--ifs incredible ... can't believe this ... his is back here with ust" Chapter XVIH , *een taxicab led the way. 'Me driver and two angers were armed with submachine guns and pp@d with two-way radios. Behind them came the GMC Vandura, looking like any other van fi-om 6utside but equipped with armored glass, bullet- od fuel tank, and tires that couldn't blow out. It taxicab in front and the The delivery truck was rolling armory, and it contained Suarez, Blake, an driver. "Call me Hugo," them after their pickup earlier from the he sped away in traffic, the other two neatly into their lead-and-trail posi- on a winding road leading up a steep city; now the van headed downhill. Blake peered through the driver's window. --Iiiis is interesting," he said casually to the group. Suarez leaned forward. "Whats interesting? All I see is a lot of traffic and a big city." '17hat's just the point, bucko. You're looking at the @same part of the city we left fifteen minutes ago.- He gestured at their driver. "Hugo, here, likes to drive in circles. Maybe we ought to have a little talk with Hugo. Mania's hand was on his arm immediately. "No, Stan. Hi follows his orders, that's all." "What orders?" "We're going to a meeting. He took the long way around to make certain no one might be following us." Suarez jerked a thumb behind him. "Well, lovely 291 292 Marfin Caidin lady, that truck is sure as hell following us. it has been ever since we left the hotel." Maria smiled. "Mat truck and the taxi before us. We are all together." "Where to?" Blake pressed agtn. The Caracas Cultural Center. "But that's right across the street Erom the Hiltonl- course." Maria smiled sweetly. Blake leaned back in his seat. He took a cigar Erom h ck and handed one to Suarez. "lAttle woman," BUe said patiently, "you got to admit this is a hell of a time for a meeting. -Hey, gringol`7Suarez laughed. 'Tou speak wisdom. What the hell time is it anyway fi)r this meeting?" Morales looked at Maria Barrios and rolled li@r eyes. le "Ten minutes to three, my hero." "Three o'clock in the morning, my jungle flower, is a time for dancing, dnnldng,- he-leered at Morales, "and making love to a good womanl" The others laughed at Carmen's sudden blush Hugo half-turned fi-om behind the wheel. 'There's a i@ie news bulletin. The television, please? Turn it on to Channel One. The face of Angela Tirado in the television news studio came through clearly. caused a major dis- turbance tonight at the Caracas Hilton, where a formal banquet was being held for the trade delegation Erom China. Six members of a Russian group who flew in from Cub&--:' They stared at one another, grins breaking, turned back to the set. were arrested and are being held without bail. Earlier this evening, apparently drunk, several of the Russians started a fight in the men's room of the Hilton--2' Blake and Suarez whooped with laughter as the screen showed the Russians handcuffed, clothes torn, in disar- ray and bleeding, manhandled by city police and being pushed and dragged fi-om the men's room into the landing at the stairway bottom of the hotel. and had to be physically restrained by local BEAmmDERs 293 being handcuffed and removed from the Suarez were pounding one another on the d shoulders. The women restrained themselves, with smiles. .4hile several other Russians forced their way e ladies' rest room of the hotel, where angry Aurned the tables on the intruders-@' y watched two Russians stumbling clumsily, hold- their trousers with one hand, Pawing at their vith their other hand, jostled by police Erom the By now Carmen and Maria were leaning t,one another, tears on their cheeks from laugh- Blake and Suarez knee-slapped and howl;d. -bove up the volume to heaia the uproar. "7 official charges include public drunken- assault, invading the ladies' room, inde- carrying concealed weapons, discharging is in public, and resisting arrest with violence. ve it on good word---7 ia Barrios turned off the set. I can't stand any she gasped finally. "My sides, they hurt." She at Carmen, fikee buried in her hands, choking laughter, and Maria burst out again in her own in the sam hell did you two do to those couldn't answer for the moment. They one another, bodies shaking as they struggled back from the Eront. "Miss Barrios, we're control and looked through the wind- van turned onto the service entrance the Cultural Center. Suarez leaned forward on the shoulder. I can't get any answers Hugo. What's going on here at three in the Lake." 294 MarUn Caidin -The program tonight, sir. Swan Lake." mean now, dammit." Hugo ignored Suarez. "maam, were here," he said to Barrios as he eased to a stop in a concrete turmelway. ne cab had stopped before them and the truck eased to a halt directly behind them. Hugo unlocked the doors 6rom his seat im crete wall slid aside and as starch, opened the van first soldier said. Blake and Suarez shared at Carmen Morales. She looked back and shrugged. They followed Maria from the van. They went down the hallway, through sevetal more doors, and were caught completely by surprise as they stepped into the conference room with so many key members of BEMAC. They recognized Mercedes and several others of the local team, as well as mcDavid. To Carmen Morales, Caleb Massey was a stranger. Massey came forward, arms wide and stood before Maria. -Colonel Barrios," he beamed, "it is my very great pleasure to see you again.- They clasped arms warmly. Stan Blake stared in dis- belief at the two obviously 61d ffiends. Then he looked at Mercedes, whose fikce tDId him as much as he might find in a blank wall, then back to Maria Barrios as if he were seeing her for the first time. Finally Blake fi)und his voice. -colowi Barrios?" Maria went to him immediately, took his hand and squeezed it gently. 'Later, Stan, - she said in a half-wf@r. 'But I-" "Please?" Blake melted. "Sure, of course, anything you say--!, he broke into a half grin- -sir, I mean, maam." She released his hand and returned to take a seat at the conference table next to Caleb Massey. Blake joined the other rider agents. There seemed an electric ten- sion in the air which, Blake judged, was,certainly to be expected, what with the cloak-and-dagger routines be- fore assembling here and, for that matter, meeting in a BEAMRIDERS 295 asement of the huge Cultural Center. gently, on the table to bring e wasted no time in dropping his in their individual chests. Mercedes began, his fitce almost BEM team carried out a spot-landing tonight." He paused a long pregnant mo- at all the fitces one by one. "Morgan Scott spoke. They from in their chairs. Finally his feet. grace I can offer you," Mercedes as could, "is thathe died instantly." me he's dead. I the American nod- "ne how is Massey said ..We L- A D a b of hu feet for emergence Massey paused and held up a hand. Ave me. I tend to think in terms of we even when no direct connection with a specific test. A target five hundred feet in diameter was set up in the e of a military airfield. All precautions for nonin- ence rernaterialization were carried out. Observ- saw the beam appear in cylindrical form; that Orms to a nominal transmission. Morgan Scott rged from the beam several feet above ground level; s as close as we can determine now. But he was ing horizontally at great speed during emergence. the speed was so great it amounted to vio- Eyewitnesses reported his limbs were fi-orn the body as he appeared to be Imiled. sideways. Well beyond the accepti@ice circle his @Wdy struck, and he was impaled upon the pitot tube his body at that same high of the devastated Blake. its not contact with a man who's just 296 Martin Caidin lost his teammate and one of his closest fiwnds, but there wasn't any other way. "I knew Morgan well; very well indeed," Massey said directly to Blake. "Have I answered, for now at least, what you wished to know?" Blake sat down, made of stone. "Yes," he said. His lips barely moved. Massey turned to take in the entire group. "AD right, this meeting has Wm on new dimensions. rm going to repeat certain matters so that IT know we haven't excluded anybody from what they should know." He paused only for a deep breath and setting his mind on the new course. "BEMAC has flaws." Ife let that one settle in for another long pause. 'You all know you've " problems. We have- problems. You more then we because you, some of you, are riding that beam. George Wagner's alive because he waA lucky. 11tat s the truth of that Kim Seavers survived only because you people took every precaution you could then she hicked out It for her and no one knows reality of all this is that luck. Morales sat quietly, her face streaked with tears. 'these problemi? Were they our fault? Could we have done something, anythin& to Her voice traded away. "No one here is atfauk," Massey said with sudden heat. "Not here or anywhere else. Dammit, I don't want anyone to start wearing a crown of thorns about, thisl This is not an inquisition We're pushing hell out of a new fiontier and idien it comes tx) frontiers I don't care if it's ancient @afling vessels or the space shuttle blowing up at launch, someone, sooner or later, has to pay the pipen" He stopped long enough to hot up a cigar and yank his necktie loose. He sucked on tobacco, exhaled a swirling cloud, and stabbed the air with the cigar. "Now for the big news. We've found the flaws in the BEMAC operation. "When?" Blake asked coldly. BEAmmDERs 297 a to save Scott's life, obviously," Massey re- hope-a iy. "But early enough to prevent-1 nodded to him. o Suarez stood until Massey " he ,bit confused. You know so much about, with both hands, palms up, "this entire opera- ve been a part of this neve )ut I've r heard of how you fit into all this, and n 0 one has told me to you the way we listen to Dr. Mercedes. " fivin his seat. "Alejandro, he speaks my tongue. Will that do?" uarez sat slowly. reasons, there's a lot about BEMAC you Massey said, looking at Suarez. The risks have been enough of a burden. Even the being is dont know about the United States smiled, "didn't you have your 141. And," Massey rsonal encounter on that level this evening?" really isn't very yes, sir, sort of. But there Suarez answered, in the men s john, orales and Miss much to say. "Miss M held a meeting, I understand." brought tremendous relief of tension ings the group. Massey let the knotted feel ease a few moments. "They were out to get information "They would have in you," he said after a while. torture, ne just about anything to get it. Drugs, . By the way, I've been informed you were out of by a SWAT team in case things got the hell did we need a SWAT team for?" openly belligerent. Massey offered. you didn't need any help, Do the Russians know what BEMAC is?" Suarez "I know you indicated they don't, but they were all over us tonight." -They were taking a wild chance.' Heads turned to Barrios. "The answer, the soft feminine voice of Maria Alejandro, is that to the best of our knowledge they do it sounds like 3 from the b 298 Martin Caidin not know. We wish to keep it that way. If any one of us had been kidnapped by the Russians, removed from our control, the SWAT team had orders to kill the Russians and, if necessary, anyone they had captive." We?" Blake called out I don't understand much of this anymore. And whats this colonel stuff?" Mercedes took the questions. "Maria Barrios you know as my assistant, my secretary. That is her cover proJe on our "Cover?" Miss Barrios is a colonel in Venezuelan intelligence. She's responsible for the Russian sector." "Please, pleasel" Massey waved both arins. "May we go on? We can attend to these kind of questions later." The room quieted immediately, and Massey opened his attache case. Blake couldn't resist the moment. "Is what you're carrying important, sirr he asked. Massey looked puzzled. "Yes, it is." "That opened awfiifly easy, sir. "Only to my palinprint, Blake. If you had opened it YOU d be missing an arm right now and this case would be a fireball. Anyth@njtelse?-- "Nope. Uh, no, sir. Massey handed a shin stock of photographs to Suarez. "Pass; these around," he told him. Massey waited for the pictures to pass about the table. He addressed his next remark to the group. "Tell me what you see," he said in reference to the photos. Morales held up a picture. "Its BEMAC, of course." Murmurs of agreement met her words. Except for Blake. He stared hard at his photograph, then looked up to Massey. "Cute. its real cute," he said, heads turning to him. "It is not BEMAC." Suarez moved next to Blake. -Let me see." He stud- ied Blake's picture and then his own and placed the two photos together. "They sure look the same to me," he concluded. "Me photos are the same but not the place," Blake BEAmpiDERs 299 His finger tapped the pictu re. "Look here. beamsphere is not on its support legs." sed. "So? Ifs down for mainte- n @,:e a There aren't any support legs. Xm;%n mmunz aren't here." Suarez grabbed the @Aqd see that grid on the floor? Like a circle food expect to see the support tripod? I don't at it Js but sure as hell its not in our dome. looked with admiration at his partner. "YOU' re smart cat for a gringo, you know that?" He Blake gently on the arm. where," Morales called out with growing excite- Jp6k at the power grid in your pictures. Ifs also it @ from what we have Y',,;@good, all of you," they heard Massey. Now, )se pictures aside for a moment. Refresh your about the straight-line beam jump that Kim made. As you know, she came out of the beam thousand feet up. We know the rest." He the room, theri settled on Blake. "Bufdo the rest of what happened? Does any- what was also so different about that a sudden and growing excitement. "Hey, different." 0 oriel There sure as hell was something ::glanced at Morales and Suarez before turning back Massey. "After Kim was down, after they'd fished from the water, there was, well, the best I can it was that we had a laser energy pulse. Some energy burst from where the laser beam stared at Blake, expectant, deliberately not uch. "Where?" he asked, voice cracking like a it's in the films and,- Blake hesitated, his eyes his own recall, "it was eight thousand feet where the transmission ended." swept one arm wide to include everyone in 11 the room. "Do you know, now, what we experienced? 300 Martin Caidin Morales was on her feet, gesturing wildly for atten- tion. "A reboundl" she blurted out. "We had a rebound effectl" "We're back with the ghost of Newton," Suarez said, more reflective than the others. "The old saw still hangs in there. Every action has an equal and opposite reac- tion Felipe Mercedes finally rejoined the exchange. " How right you are, Alejandro. Newton's ghost is akvays alive with us. And Stan is correct, as is Carmen. You don't lose energy because it vanishes as magic. It must go somewhere. It must be accounted for." And the energy released by tfie beam at its target point," Massey added, "is so great there should be a tremendous heating and expansion of the surrounding air. Well, there isn't. No heating, no expansion, no explosion." "The most exciting conclusion we drew, and it's now reality rather thaii theory," said Mercedes, as he and Massey tossed their data back and forth, "is that unless we modify the impulse, exactly seventeen minutes after firing the beam, the energy snaps back to the source. "You mean the full energy?" asked Blake. "Yes," Mercedes confirmed. "With the original mass?" Suarez followed. "With the original mass, and more," Mercedes said. -Tbere's excess energy involved." "AB of you, listen to me carefully," Massey broke 'M. "Morgan Scott died tonight. But his death, the manner of his death, confirmed what we've suspected ever since Kim's ride. If you're in the immediate vicinity of the delivery point, seventeen minutes after being beamed to your target point, youll be snatched back by the beam. Youll be pickedup exactly as if you were in the beamsphere and returned to your transmission source." "Jesus Christl" Blake swore quietly. "You mean," he hesitated almost as if he didn't want to say the words, they seemed so outlandish, "it's a round-trip ride?' "Precisely," Massey said. Mercedes was nodding vig- orously in confirmation. BEAMRIDERS 301 one hell of a theory," Blake cautioned, and Blake went silent. "Sev- Morgan Scott died tonight," he deliberation, "there occurred target point. Ite people on Morgan's body on a stretcher 4 exactly where he emerged from the laser flashed at the airfield the Morgan disappeared. A split-second later Area, in the BEMAC sphere." that cannot be,,, Morales said quietly, thaii anyone else. Mercedes fi)l- Ift ed back to the start is has gone far beyc said, his voice and tone demonstrating much I words. -we now have one of the it behind his dvanced weapons this world has ever known." even dreamed of," noted Maria Barrios, speaking first time in the back-and-forth discussion. @ales held up her photo -1his isn't our BEMAC is it?" @@aassey smiled. "No, its not. But with the exception -aome modifications, minor but critical, its a dupli- of where you've been working. Where is iff Blake asked. kind of modificationsr Suarez said quickly. those photos were taken at the BEMAC du- a co@cealed fitcilitY at Cape Canaveral in Ot on the missile launch site but immediately it, where the government ran an experimental energy p!,ogr@m for some years before closing the . for years. We took it over. For it was abandoned we are appears, t world by you arrived, a it were, and point." a scientific test program,- 3N MarHn Caidin many reasons, including security, it was the perfect choice." "nose modifications?" Suarez pressed. T11 defer to Claude McDavid f6r your answer," Mas- M@Dav d s before him. "Let me state, first e i prel=yr, "that we have been working h be@n on inegapower systems a ve long time. Jorge Wagner and I have been involved in the American SDI, the so-called Star Wars program, for some years. Our spe- malty has been power, but above all, massive amounts of power-and even more important, wtooth, abso- lutely smooth power flow." He glanced at some notes and slid some papers to the side. "Let me touch on BEMAC before I go finther. Our facility here began with what we believed was sufficient power from the IVIC nuclear reactor. Well, before that we had the experiments down south, using hydro- electric power from Angel Falls. That was clearly made- quate in terms of Pow@-r supply and especially in smooth Power flow. We found it essential to come to IVIC for the nuclear reactor and then we learned, to our dismay, core for the ivic reactor. I needed. We were, in dle of Fat City where power availability was concerned. McDavid rubbed his hands absentmindedly. "But we still ran into problems. They tore up our mannequins and other eq ent, they did horrible things to animals, UIPM best people. We identified Put simply, the system reactor and the genera- is flawed. There are c ions in metals and alloys. There's interference electromagnetic and other effects. We ran into some really troublesome electric glitches in our cables. AR this killed people. 11 life sey said. grind out the huge amounts sucks up. Caleb Massey in the American govern- for a new power the power we terms, right in the mid- BEAM]RIDERS 3W tDavid looked to Massey and Mercedes. "Damn, I @ItJmean to make this a lecture," he apologized, man, don't stop nowl" Blake called out, with murmuring agreement. nodded. "It won't take much longer. While were working on this laser system, BEMAC, I were deeply involved with the Star Wars s. Our specialty wasn't far out-no pun In words, we didn't work on the satel- in space. We concentrated on power- lasers for SDI." at his notes. -Our job was to explore the huge amounts of power in a ground always have it available for immediate and use in the laser-firing systems. We called it Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage. two simultaneous programs. The Bechtel in the United States, and a separate research a joint venture of Venezuela and the United US." rubbed the side of his nose, a sure sign to knew him that he was getting down to the the issue. -our approach to keep the genie of under lock and key,- he said slowly and "hinged on the success of superconducting Using the supercold of cryogenic systems. @vut, when you get the temperature down low in a metal, it loses all electrical resistance. If mperature is close to absolute zero, you can kick 'electrical current and without ever adding more it will keep right on circulating for, welt for- initially was to produce a massive out of the purest materials we manage. inen we placed that coil within liquid that7was contained in a special tank, itself bur- H beneath the ground. it was about as close to zero as you can get. We gave it a real good electrical energy and a year later we still had the amount of energy in that coil as when we started. 304 MaMn Caidin For those of you who want a specific statement, the energy was stored as a magnetic field, and that field was supported by the current that kept flowing without resistance in the coil. "Okay. The next step after being able to build huge amounts of energy and keep them locked up was how to open this Pandoas Box of raw energy and use it as a tool rather than as an explosive release. For about a year we restricted ourselves to burst transmissions. Fi- nally we were getting four hundred to a thousand mega- watts for better than ninety seconds and," he stabbed a finger for emphasis at his papers, "we got perfectly smooth flow to the lasers. We got so good at it fhat with our test equipment-and *9ttedly it's a massive, ex- pensive, complex facility for test purposes--that, well, we could fire a beam to the moon and turn rock into slag. Now, I'll also admit that the moon is a nice fat target thafs movina along slowly, but proof of con- cept was our goal." He paused to sip water. III do the wrap on this now. Jorge, here, and I did some experiments on our own, because we always had BEMAC in mind, a]- never discussed BEMAC liquid helium. I mean, you Any change in temperature and you're dealing with immediate imperfection. With the new superconduct, mg magnets that work at higher temperatures, and I understand you've already had some briefings on this, we developed the same power-storage system with hq- uid nitrogen that we could do befoi@e only with liquid helium. To wrap this up, that system is being installed tomorrow in BEMAC." He sipped water again, glancing at Massey, who nod- ded. McDavid took his seat and Massey stood, gather- ing his papers. "By now you may have figured why You're meeting in this palace of culture instead of within Your Own facility. Anybody care to venture a guess?" BEAMBIDERS 305 "You have all the signs, Mr. Massey, laid a lot of groundwork. Somethines down and it promises to be heavy. We going rer bravo, inboyl you," Massey pointed a finger -are so right. You're all leaving for Cape came straight up in his seat. "To Florida? ? What about our equipment? Clothes?" ow Fie leave from here," Massey told him and the here in the midst of all those 'We leave from and all those cars that leave here when the @@nds. ladies and gendeTen, this may be the first Stvan Lake was ever used as a cover, but now you ee why were here instead of at BEMAC. A gen- modus fiom the IVIC area would be like shooting sees When you leave here in small groups youll in with the culture crowd. You'll be invisible. ixiniz ercedes stood. "Whatever you need in the way of onal articles, and your equipment, of course, has i prepared for you in Florida. You may igno@T the I for passports and other such items normally re- ed. We %@ffi all go to a military field within forty -- of here. An Fastern Air Lines jetliner awaits us We'll look like any other commercial flight, re. your! e the chance to sleep on the airplane, and we Will i at a military airfield in Florida. Time is running Any last questions?" What about Kim Seavers?" Blake asked. -And Pappas?" Morales added. "And the othersr on their way." Mercedes smiled. -They're already "One last question?" Blake said. "(9 course," Massey told him. o'clock in the morning. How do you four theater that long, to say 'Ihis is a charity 306 Martin Caidin affair. For every hour beyond midnight that our per- fi)rmers continue to play music and to dance, and the audience remains seated, Monitor Nacional Television has offered to double the proceeds of the box office." 'Thank your lucky stars you've got a lot of mi lovers in this town," Blake offered. 'To say nothing of the performers," Mercedes fin- ished with a lauW. 'The Moscow Ballet was most eager to perform for us. Chapt" 3CEK big, is itr Ca of the air form rocket musex blew in fi-orn A balmy an( cool heights just to the left; the moment this was steamy i the weather. he had bi most of th J.'rissom, on out of Re( it was the second world wai Mas- the damn thing look of the out the roundecfflanla -gave the iron bubb -it an said, point- t pieces of I s the one rare vehicle after and it M. it's even skinWer tha An times as @dumb a thing should piece of technical crap one ive spent a dime. Over ancestor black and white markin and thing. Ile V-2. Made to carr@jent mariner, on, and it did, and fi-om that atic" else evolved. Of driver hung on every word but e on this road going south throul all too rare to have someone h 307 308 Martin Caidin on board the bus. He had been here in the old days. He was a relic like the others, but he still walked and talked, while these were immobile monuments. "That's the bird there, that piggyback job, that started all the modem propulsion systems, " Massey was relat- ing. "See the main rocket? They built those in two- engine and three-engine versions. And those same en- gines went on to power everything else. We called her the Navaho. Had a ramjet cruise missile on top. Took it UP to speed and altitude and then kicked the ramjet loose." Carmen Morales shook her head. "But isn't that how the space shuttle works? I thought the shuttle was a revolutionary concept?" just shows you you can't believe NASA propaganda, Massey grinned. "There were a lot more piggyback vertico&boost programs before shuttle, like Dyna-Soar. Well, over there, that's the Atlas that carried our first astronauts into orbit. And there's the Titan that boosted the two-man Gerniis. I'd forgotten what we had here. Look at them He was driffing off, wandering in his own memory as much as talking to this new genera- -There's tion. Thor, and Jupiter, and Juno. Aha, didn't know we had the Shrike here. There's the Loon, and the Aerobee. Uh-huh; Scout, Nike, Ajax, Little Joe, Delta, Centaur, Matador and Snark, there's the Lark and Mace. Finally he fell silent. Carmen Morales leaned forward to his seat. "Where are you now, Mr. Massey?" '11inking, young lady. " He smiled at her. "Thinkin that when,these rockets were flying, even like Zt Atlas-Aegena over there, and we had names like Or- biter and Ranger and Surveyor, well, it's hard to be- lieve. Most of YOU in this bus, the rest of the young men and women who make up our project, uvren't even born yet." He patted her hand. "That's what I was thinking, how wonderfully young and alive you all are. Carmen couldn't help-it. She hugged him fiercely. There were a lot of smiles at the sight, but no one laughed- Bmmmus security ptes- Twice the blocking them to check their Blake studied them, seem- eyes missed nothing. As security block to another he turned -First time I've ever seen security people weapons," he said to Massey- don't carry turned to listen. assey replied with a question. s. One with them are wolf and two-thirds Germi got a bite as strong as that far more intelligent, thei and " pounds, and youll ever see J security dogs *ter than guns that could hurt or Id "What elser Blake acknowledged 36 sense, smiled. "you tell me, Stan." looked around as Suarez followed his eyes. ences. Elec- - The f to see what you mean course. transformers. Automatic cutbacks in event of Someone knocks lem out they come ilt back on?' "Very good. Go on." :-Ibis isn't concrete or macadam beneath us." 'Nope." "Steel mesh and plate on multiple pistons is my bet." -Correct. We can drop this whole bus into a big tank 6f water directly beneath us. No fast way Out- Vertical dick walls. ,he drop ti-aps but doesn't kill." That means you'd want to inimo- 'Neat," Blake said- gas systems down WM' if you do that. So you've got @`Ihere-" "Uh huh.- 310 Martin Caidin can S pot the rest. Let's see if amigo here has sharp eyes also," Blake said, deferring to Suarez. Suarez grimed. Miere, 'he pointed. "Sonic disruptors.' Theylooked ven- tilator tubes. nice touch,- Suar they drop out of place. You don't see so good fi)r a co got some neat-looking strobes," Blake in re fidl steam like I thiril they are, they're vertigD "They are, Massey confirmed. "Three seconds Of exposure to them and you're on your belly fidling into a forever pit. You can not walk or stand up." 'Ibat's enough," Blake said. "Now I'll let the sand- man in my room tonight." They rolled through the final security systems into a S ra ert research fikcility. They stood in t h% hw@ TV I o =; Msu nidst racks of solar cells, mirrors, parabolic reflectors, steam plants, liquid-mercury con- densers, strange searchlights, thick cables snakmg about underfi)ot "This place is a junkyard, " Morales observed. The buildings about them were unpainted and sca- brous. The whole place looked shabby. Massey stood by a wide doorway. "Come on in, and welcome to Fantasyland where everything inside isn't what it looks like outside." The door slid noiselessly closed behind them. In- stantly cool fresh air enveloped them, bringing sighs Of relief They went through a second door. Before them the corridors were gleaming and spotless. Everything was brilliant, new, ultramodern; there was a sense of great power and serious pu e underlying the long corridors stretching away. rpos Several people in jumpsuits of diffe rent pastels and them. Massey turned to to your quarters. Fresh articles, everything you two hours to shower, up, change, and report to Briefing Room Six. 311 A to the waiting group, "VI have and guide YOU arOunla- a sightseeing expression back to boss-man?" 11 Massey smiled, your first fu mission, the nuclear reactor room, fOllOw- into the power transfer dome, a r banks, a *ntrol systems ba bedlam of d filom the @ eerie I vapors swirled about their feet. observed. @ a Technological Dante," Maria Barrios mare in color," said Kim Seavers. leaned closer to Massey and McDavid. "How control the power flow?" place whenever You A of a rheostat that locks in S. We can use that its set in thousandth t )9nIgt4 to set the rebound fi-om only seconds to of seventeen minutes," Massey L,dmum time d t understand Tony Pappas said thing I on and turning to try to absorb the Pappas the most par@ But here, igles, whole world is turn( keep this place tching you. How can ret?" us," Massey told him. "They OThey're not watching 'tee the space shuttle up at Kennedy. The Delta and launch pads. Thats what they see." and Titan tau Carmen Morales broke in- "I Z,rno, he's right domes when we came here. It's the astronomical 312 Martin Caidin obvious to the whole world that with all these lights around here, the space center and au these towns, to say nothing of that constant salt spray fi-om the ocean, that you're not doing optical astronomy. " M@ssey laughed. He motioned for them to start back to what they aheady called Cape Dome and answered Morales as they walked. 'Everything you've said, and that'Alelandro-said, is true. But sometimes the best way to hide something is to put it right under every- body's nose. What d; we have here? Noise, bright lights, people coming and going at all hours-here, thafs absolutely normal. Extra security? Hey, just try to get mto the Tndent complex. Right in our back yard we , ve gDt the giant base for the super subs that carry those Thdent missiles. We've got a full coast guard station. Then there's the Cape with all the launches we do fi-om there. And the launch center for the shuttle. We're surrounded by security. There's Patrick Air Force Base, and that's got a mob of combat aircraft. We've got those Fat Alberts, the blimps, up at thirteen thousand feet with their radar systems- looking for drug runners. Plus the towns. This whole place is crazy with lights and noise. It's a perfect cover for us." 'And the astronomical domes?" Morales pushed. -They don't stand out?" "Not at allf That's the beauty of it. This whole coast- line is dotted with these domes. They contain huge radar systems as well as cameras and telescopes- theodolites--for missile and spacecraft tracking. They've been here nearly forty years. Ours is just one more dome. In fiat we've got six, all different-sizes. Five are dummies. In fiict, one of them is a bar just for you people. Like it?" 'One more question?" Suarez asked. Massey nod- ded, "Even witfi everything you say, the green laser is like nothing else here. How do we explain that?" Mercedes laughed. "I'll answer that, Alejandro. YOU, of course, know of Angela Tirado. "Ali, the peach of Venezuela." "Peach?" BEAmpiDERs 313 peach," Seavers broke in. "Young, a new name for me. She is a part of our her world-exclusive reports, a world scoop, of the new munications system developed by Venezu- here? It uses a very bright laser It laser fibre optics. A lovely Barrios added, -questions Angie. and brimstone. She has ask. People here expect to them it is lovely fireworks-- love by," Blake suggested. Kim Seavers smirked, "is to by a large door and pushed it open. upon a superbly equipped gym, swimming fikdhty. outside," Pappas said, game,- Massey told him. an Seavers, you come with me. Every- time. You've been on your butts exchanged glances; Kim shrugged. Massey. Several minutes later, they stared about passing three security checks ission at an enormous in Planning room. The walls were o windows , Blake obser@@d aloud photo- ble behind charts, maps, technical sheets, is, long racks of communications electronics com- consoles, TV monitors, and mysterious equipment way to a round couldn't identify. Massey led the piease." An aide W and pointed to chairs. "Sit down, ,ared out of nowhere with coffee and fresh juice, left. lassey poured coffee. "I need a mission by two Of best agents. Specifically, Beamriders." 314 Martin Caidin "We seem to fit that description, " Blake said. You're also experienced on the beam. That's damned important. There won't be time for sightseeing. Be- sides, you're the best for this particular job. And it's vital training for an even bigger one to follow. " "What's the job?" Kim asked quietly. I can't say before I know youll ace- ept," Massey said carefidly, "and I won't ask you to say yes before I tell YOU that we-no; you two--are taking a high risk." Blake shifted uncomfi)rtably. "No disrespect, sir, but why the hell don't you just get on with it?" Kim nodded her agreement. Massey looked from one to the other. "That's it? -'o questions?" "We don't kill," Blake said. "Agreed," Massey told him. "Name your poison, then, " Kim added. "Sir' I guess. Massey nodded. "AD right, then. I want you to beam onto the thirtieth floor of an apartment complex in Washington, D. Not just onto, into, that floc@r. Spe- cifically, to a certain room at a certain time, with unerr- mg accuracy. It's got to be absolute. The Greystones have worked it out from a dozen different angles and all coordinates are down absolutely. " His eyes were cold and unblinking; this was a man back in a harness he hadn't worn fi)r a long time. "if we make one mistake, fi)rget to cross one T or dot a single 1, we co uld kill YOU. "Go on," Blake said, impatient with the dire warnings. 'You beam in, do your work in sixty seconds flat,`we beam you out." "And you said no guns?" Kim queried. Sorry, I forget. Guns are out for other reasons. No weapons, then. "Costumes and a camera. "What?" they chorused. Massey didn't answer. "He's grinning like the Cheshire Cat," Kim noted. "Canary feathers and all," Blake added. BEAMIUDERS 315 sealed off the entire facility with maximum in; nobody out. Then they doubled the -Within cape Dome. Only those necessary for ion had entry. All observation booffis and TV were closed down. Id have been BEMAC dome except for two fferences. Clouds of the cryogenic power storage are do. stairways and creating starding effects 5 many multicolored lights of the huge dome, a ver seen in the V6nez@elan facility- here was the beamsphere, exactly the same in -d shape and content, but unsupported by the circular power grid 1, legs of BEMAC dome. The , @the floor and around the circumference of the to the super- e sent a tremendous lifting energy Wting ceramic material forming the framework Of kere . The sphe re levitated Love the floor, or , to do so. "it eliminates interference from the ing legs," Massey had explained, -and one more ity of something going wrong is eliminated-" had stood to- Massey and Felipe Mercedes w feeling the power thrum- in Control Central, ù beneath their feet and watching the beamsphere aleli, if I slowly to its lock-and-hold Position- `C Mercedes told him, II see this with my own eyes, you. He shook his don't think I would believe even let re actually *ating a three- M with wonder. "You Uspherel" credit. "Hell, Phil, it's Massey refused any special ics. You know ther magic or it's superconducting ceram without wait- about aft this?" He went on hats fimny 'The stuff we use for our power flow e. W for a respons laboratory that makes hydrogen made by the same bombs, "I know, I know. It's still so hard Mercedes frowned. I e formula You tD aCCeptl' He studied Massey. 'The Sam told me about before?" yttrium, barium and copper in a -yep. Same stuff. platinum oxide, ceramics for binding, and--@' 316 Martin Caidin Loudspeakers throughout the Dome boomed their in "Three minutes and counting. Seal all doors. essage. Seal all doors. AD personnel remain at your stations. All personnel remain at your stations." Massey and Mercedes donned headsets and mikes. Massey's microphone now stayed alive. "At two min- utes ,Massey announced, "I want final confirmation all systems." "Coming up on two minutes," Master ControL in- toned. 'On my- mark--inarki Two minutes and counting. Voices carried fiom throughout the Dome. 301.1 "Power energizer and flow." "Beamsphere lock." "Locked. Co. "Dome open and locked." "'Open, lockwl. Go." "111ange saibty." "AR green. Go. "Beamriders." Blake's voice couldn't be mistaken. "Zip-a-dee-doo- dahl" .'Lefs do it," Kim sang out. "Beamriders, Gol" "Terminal count coming u P. "Let's do it, baby Blake called out. "Terminal count." Hot damn," Kim said. Hold my hand, kid." "I'liree -Two -One "Firel" Green flash, ozone in the air, a cracking bhm Teal hellfire stabbed away fiom the earth, guided unerringly to a satellite more than twenty-two thousand miles above the equator, whipped through angled in ir- rors, flashed eart6vaM. BEAMP11DERS 317 0 Seavers and Stan Blake were in, were part Of, Ae fire. se- ator Patrick Xavier Elias stood waiting at the door to his private apartment for Caleb Massey. ersona, guard closed the door and, following the Its orders, sealed the two men inside. -, Elias said. --we're clean here. I've down, man, screens up. sey slouched in a deep armchair and took out a malcan c1gar and lit up with a smile of satisfaction- Calebt Don't you jdammit, don't look so smug 've failed us? Mancini _._U sees the president afternoon and he,s got enough ammunition to us foreverl" dropped heavily into his own chair, scattering an irsing beneath his breath. He glared at 'o we can kiss our preciou s teal ruby lasers and-:' ye tomorrow afternoon?" e's seeing the president 'hat' s what I said, blot you-" of time. Do Jenty of time, then, Patrick, plenty want me to die of thirst man? Wheres the whiskey?" ]Haven't heard ou've lost your marbles, Caleb- You ng I've saidl" me?" Massey sat up straight with a pained look On "I heard it all. it's you who's lost his hearing. fitce. kiskey; manl" giias sat back, slumping. "Hell, you know where it Get it yourself." two glasses. He Massey returned with a bottle and out to the senator. red with a flourish, held a glass Drink UP, man." "Are we celebrating our own funerals?" swal- y downed his drink in a long gr@*ing Masse low. He kept silent while he refilled his glass, then sat Uck. With his free hand he patted his jacket pocket. @-@tight here, MY friend, I've -got Mancini." He with- Arew a videotape cartridge and held it up for Elias to see. "Not on the silver platter, but it's the same thing 318 Martin Caidin "A vide0tape?" .1 - 'Right. ..WhoF1 ,.Why Mancini, of course. And a few others." .1 How@long does it run? 11 "Forty seconds or so." "You have lost your mind, haven't you? What in the name of the seven blue gods of the Potomac are we going to do widi.-21 Massey held UP a hand to end the sudden firade. "Old man, you've always trusted me. Don't go bad now." A cold smile appeared on his face. "Get Mancini here. Tonight." 'Tonight?" Elias echoed. "Now. "It's almost two in the morning, Caleb." `M@y mommy gave me a watch. I know. Get him here. "I can't-" "Yes, you can. Invoke your position as head of the senate committee, you old goat.- Elias sighed. "It can't get any worse. Why not?" "Hell, Patrick, hell think YOU want him here to listen to you beg." Off on his chair arm- resl Ile phone was an- swe yes, I know what time it isl Shut up and listen. As chairman of our senate Panel, I'm invoking Article Four." He listened for several moments. "Yes," he said firmly. ,it,s a fidl- blown emergency. I want you and no one else in my apartment in thirty minute we go ahead without S, or you, and you're locked out of aU future sessions. Good. He cut the connection and studied Massey. "Satis- fied, you crusty old bastard?" "Notice how willing he was to show up?" Elias's face went =@h c he said slowly. "By you emotions. "Yes, I I expected a lot BEAMMERS 319 don't , @O and piss from him. You know why, "silver platter time, old ey held up the tape ilver platter time." I-two minutes later, by the clock, a chime "Go ahead," Elias said to the room- 'Sir, a Mr. Craig cealed speaker =3@e alive. is here to see you- rity check?" Elias asked. armed, Sir. 9 him in, please-" 11 Sir. Mancini stood by the door, waited until it him. He glared at the two ana locked behind assey said with a Crane, I do believe," M Aabod ry, wave. "Du didn't tell me he'd be here," Mancini said icily. Elias replied. 'On didn't ask, either, 'U be brief," Mancini began- chortled. Ibafs a change for the good," Massey se the law calls .-ancun ignored him. "I'm here becau d day or night to 'me, under Article Four, to resPOn bur call. But tomorrow, Senator, I'm going to fry YOU he aside his nearly-emPtY glass- When the jaunty air was gone- He &ced live on the thirtieth floor of the Mas- rs AP Is that correct?" ed. The unexpected question P!it Mancini off his spe Why, uh, what's that got to do withr ,,Dammit, just answer the question," Elias barked at back quickly. "Where -Yes I live there." Mancini came business," he live, however, is none of your damned ?at at Massey. said, his attitude just a hair too "Uh huh," Massey tighter than Dngenial. "Now, the security at masters is le Pentagon. you couldn't pound a needle up an ele 320 Martin Caidin pliant's ass trying to get into that place. Entry is per- mitted only with fingerprint and retinal identification by computer. Still correct?" :'Uh, yes, that's right, but-" 'All windows are sealed. AR exits are from the build- ing interior. You're nailed shut once yo I u go into your own apartment. Am I still on target?" "Cut the crap, mister, and--:' 'No one gets into your apartment unless you let them in yourself, right?" "I'm not going to stand for this shit any longer," Mancini snarled to Elias. The senator smiled but said nothing. Massey's voice had become velvet. "Mr. Mancini, I ve checked the security docket at your apartment complex. So I want you to have every chance to answer truthfu ." He smiled again at the angry government lly official. "Now, did you let anyone into your apartment tonight?" Mancini started to answer, fiftered, his face turning red. He caught himself and set his fitce in a hateful look. "No, darrin you," he shouted at Massey, and then, k- turning back to Elias. "You tell me what the hell all this is about or I'm out of here and I'll skin you two bastards alive tomorrow!" "Stow it, shit bird." Mancini gaped with Massey's remark. "What?" "You heard me," Massey said quietly. He slipped the tape into the VCR on the bookcase, checked the televi- Sion for ON, hit the PLAY button, and stepped back. 'Youll just love this, Mancini." Green light flashed from the screen, then flickered and washed out. The scene before them was obviously from a handheld camcorder, and just as obviously an amateur grip on the camera. The camera zoomed in to an eyeblink shot of Stan Blake as he lowered a plastic Darth Vader helmet over his face. The camera s cene followed Blake-Vader as he strode down a hall, turned left around a corner, and caught Vader striding pur- posefully toward the open door of a bedroom. As the BEAmPiDERs 321 bedroom appeared in pink, mera shot closed in the detail. J'he view moved jerkily to the right 6minate stunned look on his face, ,$how Craig Mancini with a open- Elias said. Mancini wore women's panties with an open sw&d bra and a bright red garter belt. LAP been smeared garishly across his mouth4 Re- the fidl-wall mirror was a naked mm, also his hand frozen in the act of masturbation. wader was by Mancini's side, a gloved M shoulder and cupping one full bra. love yoV Vader cried, as his other hand to Mancini's open crotch and squeezed. Jerked back, eyes bulging, starting to scream- gaily. "Ta tal love you, doll. Bye, nowl" showed blurred movement as Vader moved 'he s( ard the camera, then the camera whirled about to w Vader running down the hallway. Light flickered, picture gave way to a flood of green light and the went blank. The sound track hissed steadily as r scrambled the set. di without a word, Massey hit the EjECT button, ived the tape and handed it to the senator. Elias bed it in his'hand. Suggest," he said to Mancini, "you make some d subjects to discuss tomorrow s in your schedule T Te president." Mancini shook fi-om rage. His face livid, he could rely get his words out coherently. "You son of a not even this rotten blackmail will--2 raised his brows in a calm surprise. "Blackmail? Elias W Mancini, to hell with your bra and your crotchless )odies. You're not thinking clearly, man." -Wha-_what do you mean?" Fear had begun to replace 'rHow did those mamacs ever get into your apartment if you didn't . let them in yourself for a homosexual 6rjy?" Elias chuckled. "Hell, man, there's got to be a Winore tape where this scum came froml God, what a 322 MarNn Caidin sto I I can see it now-2' Elias held up both hands in ry the imaginary camera fi-ame, smiling. "America will love it! Craig Mancini and Darth Vader, and whoever else was that hump puke you had in the bed, going at it full-tilt and ... He let his voice change to ice as his words fiLded. He tossed the tape to Mancini. "You fuck up iust once and Chapter XX e co- I promise you every member of th ngress and the senate will have their own copy of this video vomit. me get this absolutely straight, old man. De- And the White House as well. You have MY word on rything you've told me, which makes this cmk- it.- ut concept triply impossible, you want me to P Elias rang for his security guard. He stood to face Unsworth out of a team and snatch Peter Mancini and there was no mistaking the fire in the old warhorse. "Get out. Forget anything and everything two shot owses. when he and Massey you knew or heard or even remotely suspected about he raised his glass to his friend, they one clank instead of the any project on which I or Massey might be working." glass with an ominous The door opened and the !ecuxity guard bowed shihtly glass ring, and Elias nodded. 'God help I," to Mancini. "This way, sir. taking a long swallow, -Yes." He watched Mas- his drink unceremoniously down his throat "But," Elias said, shrugging, "after @6 ire continuing- little home movie of yours-you know, you Shirley Temple and naked sheep except little m inclined to believe you can do He held up his glass in a final prefinishing .'Here's to Our backward peasant friends in lead them Massey "And achild in a sombrero shall icknowledmed. -you know they present us a problem." -Who? Mercedes's people or the Russians?" &th,- Massey said, fishing in his jacket pocket for a 4A obvious reasons. They will take cipr. "The Russians for to anyone kicking in doors three stones to snatch a foreign brain from under their the Kremlin." C in aracas lit his cigar, tossed a match uncaringlY Onto Massey 'the carpet, and puffed great clouds of smoke. "They got 323 324 Martin Caidin a rule with this BEMAC project. Their boys dreamed it up and our boys and girls have gone along with it." -ftich is?" 'They won't kill for any mission." "Bullshit. "You misread the signals, you old bastard. I'm not saying there won't be situations where they'll kill out of reflex or instinct or something like that, but they won't kill as an act necessary to carry out an assignment." Elias raised a grayed eyebrow. "No guns? They won't take guns?" "No guns. No explosives unless they work as tools. But refusing to take guns isn't a problem. - Elias sighed. "You and your fucking word games. Why, not?I-' "You can't send explosives of any kind through the beam. They got a ba& habit of blowing up on arrival. "If you can't carry guns then what's the beef? Didn't these people ever hear of other means of dispatch?" Elias belched. "Come to think of it, the Venezuelans have a history of slicing up and putting holes in people with Tears, lances, bows and arrows, crossbows, VW- soned arrows, blowguns, knives, machetes, clubs Iflias said brightly, "to my nothing Of boiling WI, cannon, and all kinds of guns. In that way," Elias said smugly, "you might say they're almost like us." "Almost, but not quite, " Massey added. "T'hey're really not nearly as bad. Don't forget our history." "Screw history. W4 won't they kill fi)r a mission?" "It's against their principles. It's immoral. Its down- right sinfid to them. They-and they includes our guys and gals-insist that there are better ways then delib- erate homicide. They say it's time we started coming back fi-oin the brink to which we pushed ourselves with hydrogen bombs, et cetera et cetera." I "God bless them. Makes sense to me. About damned time someone started thinking like that, too. Hip hip hooray for them." "You still want us to get Unsworth?" "Yes. BEAmpdDEm 325 that important?" made a steeple of his fingers and peered ey e burned a finger with a hot i them at Elias. H sh and yelped. He flicked away the ash. "Any nmediate vital statistics?" he just might, represent the singJe great- migh@ gen etics in the human race." I A WWwey grimaces with distaste. You re giving me a s so special about the old @00t?I@' assey answered immediately. question leaped from Elias. assey repeated. "For starters, my own. I someone else wh6 could read minds. My wife. She I m-ine like a damned comic book." be could read your mind by looking at the bulge in @,pants 11 or- . Elias put down his glass and leaned f 4 cracking his gnarled knuckles one by one. "Time serious, boy." Is eyes narrowed. Elias knew the signs. His "WY crony would be with it fi-om now on. "Okay, lay it Massey said. ads the minds of other people." Elias eased e re slowly in his chair and ftowned. "From what we've that important by itseff." hied, that isn't in. -You're not talk- Wait a moment," Massey broke you? I've known about a super Psychologist, are but sure as AN iple who could read other people hrli t tapping into mental wavelengths. They re y weren their way right around good they could tapdance I eud or Jung or 'd care to mention." anyone you No psychology here. I am telling You that Peter isworth can tell you, even if you,re in a fitce mask so hp, what you can't see your steely eyes or quivering thinking. He can probe, also. But what's even more itical is that Unsworth knows how to amplify his abll- SO other selected People can learn tne technique You know you sound like you've lost a couple Of 326 Martin Caidin neck screws. Your head is waggling from side to side, old man. "Oh, sure," Elias said diffidently. "I'm talking about a man, I'm talking to a man, who dematerializes human beings in a laser soup, locks them within a dimensional warp where time comes screaming to a stop, then flashes them about the world by bouncing them like so much pmg pong stuff off satellites hanging over the same point on the earth, like some cosmic-lanterns, and then he rematerializes them on the basis of what a computer spits out in little numbers as to where and when, and I've got loose screws?" "my deal is science," Massey said sourly- And mine is?" "Voodoo or some shit like that. You know how I feel about this psychic crap, you old bastard. Mumbo-jumbo, incense, calling up spirits, rapping on tables--2' "You idiot, I ought to rap you right in the head!" Elias said with sudden, uneip@cted enthusiasm. 'You, of all people! Head in the sand! It can't be! Never happenl Impossiblel Man can't fly, right? And Caleb Massey has a brick in his skuHl" Massey took a long time to study Patrick Xavier Elias. "In all the years I've known you, old man," Massey said quietly, "I've never heard you say those things to me, or get so bloody het up like you just did. The senator fixed unblinking eyes on his friend of many years. "Caleb, there's no fun and games here. I've been on this Unsworth thing for a long time. It's for real. Whatever's taken place in his brain, his mind, the son of a bitch can-what the hell do you call it? hear, sense, discern, listen; what?-what someone else is thinkingf" "Does he pick it up in visualizations? Like pictures. "I don't know." "Words? Breakdown of languages? Is there a cross- over of laxiguages so words translate image-wise to over- come language differences?" I don't know." "How do you know what you do know?" BEAMRIDERS 327 Yard. KGB." m-Two. Scotland pi altered identities for an entire -St us perfect ents, and sev the cooperation of three governm Ilion dollars to confirm hills where I've told You mhn." Elias waved ublevel Three, East Wing, Kre ,,We don,t know his range, how ns. interruptio ier per- he can pick up something from an 0 Or, if his range is limited, how 10 [Ig it will r-if the Russians can find some )re it increases. 0 dress lAectronically ampi* what he can do. Nee @ I don't need to draw you a map of what dangpr wesents if everything we've found out is real. does or plans to do he i nothing this governtnent consider the- entire know. You niight as well You might-" Elias I States a shooting gallery. his sudden flurry of energy abating swiftly as he ack into his welcoming chair. Caleb. At all costs." old man." most important fact about Unsworth, aside d you ve t6l me. Think first, Patrick, please." r. have known." Elias added self for dead?" Massey hated him him question. He'd become so enamored by his Of the beamriding program he'd in and women to accept their moral values- "I think," he said in Elias's eyes opened wide, might be, could -'of what his mind is, 4"e whisper, he I am left completely overwhelmed. Good J just be the homo superior the geneticists have eans he's pected might already be among us. That in do the human race. Dead? Neverl You future of and anyone to thing, everything, sacrifice anything if it would bring him to us I'd him out alive. Hell, 328 Martin Caidin slash my own wrists and die happy, knowing I'd done one great decent thing fi)r the future of man. What- ever," he muttered, "that might be." "You have the intelligence data on speci*ally where and how they're keeping him?" Mostly. You get everything we've got. I don I t think you'll be all that happy," Elias said moodily. "They're tight about this man." "You said he was a prisoner. Did they take him? Snatch him?" Elias shook his head. "Hell, the Russians never knew, or anyway never believed anything they might have heard about Unsworth. They had no reason ever to kidnap him. They couldn't have cared less about him. One more looney who escaped from Stonehenge, as fitr as they were concerned." "He defect?" Elias sat up. "Christ, I need a drink. This is the toughest part of all." "Sit back. I'll do the honors. I think I need a blast myself " Massey poured, they drank, Elias spoke. "Peter Unsworth is neither defector nor traiter. He is, in fact, a very decent human being and a dedicated scientist. "You realize," Massey broke in gently, "you're speak- ing of him almost as a friend?" "I don't know him," Elias deferred. "Not personally. But I recognize scientific spirit and dedication. For many years he worked with a research team at Oxford. He kept pursuing what he considered the holy grail of expanding human consciousness. Noetics, or whatever the devil they call it." "The term noetics was coined by Ed Mitchell. Re- member him? He walked on the moon with Al Shep- ard. Apollo Fourteen." "All the better, then"' Elias acknowledged. "But Ox- ford figured he was a complete nut and after some nasty confi-ontations they threw him out on his ass. He told Thatcher and Oxf)rd where they could bloody well stuff their bloody science programs.-you get the idea--and 329 BFAmPiDERS well, he was to the united States Off Stanfordq of IBM Rand, Sperry, Apple,. and Cod knows where else. Princeton about psionics Programs in I've heard g tripe. An yway, is so much misleadin do his best for us, got in to talk trying to rth, Security Ageng. The@ hu- Veop] at National figured he belon @fiirn and 90 on a banana tarm- insulting." were VerY they e fidlen fi-om grace where open *a QiAed. "We'v are concerned, he said wearily. "But to wrap it known better. Because we T should have the Russians were real hot to trot believed hirn. If not what he could his potential. when he was at his ne over here had in- iust the sun and the moon hi, offei sey asked. ,,,ho handled it?" Mas fikhail Karkogin." I lips tightened. Damn, he's the best. I know. dassey s - ickey in the old uple of nasties with M -1ad a co - .1M up. 'How did Unsworth go blind?"" assey looked my friend, almost shames me to answer, bat, "Because I'm as guilty as anyone else. said. material. The man is dazzling- .4wortl@ is Nobel Prize 1A two and two together. That put ) one ever seemed to of absolute genius ha, been blind all his life." iq@man 11 I re not serious- @Jjreq_s_us;@LouA 1,ord save me, I am. That simple fact, erfectlY well without and got around p In or help fr@ seeing eye dog or a comPan'On cane or a . g flares in the riyone, have been great screamm But we we@e even blinder than him-" Fy to alert us. those who refuse to see?" "None so blind as guilty as the rest. Dammit, "Don't rub it in. I'm as m an old man and I I In tired. Will you get Peter for us?" Unsworth ? We'll try. Question." How the hell do I know "Ask." 330 Martin Caidin "'What makes you believe he wants to come out? Or that he'd be willing to come with us?" "We don't know. But a number of our people who had contact with Unsworth have become inexplicably convi need, absolutely positive, that's what he wants. Right now, that's more than enough for any of us. "All right. The first thing we'll do is to-@' Elias's hand shot up. "Don't teU me. Don I t tell me anything. Understood? You do the job and I'll pay the piper back here." "It could cost," Massey warned. "The stakes are higher than you could ever imagine," the senator said mysteriously. Massey decided not to pursue any more Of it. He rose and started for the door, stopped and turned. "One favor, Senator." "Name it." "Don't die on me, you old bastard. We need you." The security guard opened the door. Massey had one last glance at an old man almost buried in his chair, looking terribly lonely. 'Me long, wide training gymnasium of CANAVERAL dome rang and echoed with vibrant activity, a giddy mixture of powerfid machinery, of the voices of men and women harsh and taunting, shouting and yelling. Human forms bofinced and slammed, fell and rose on the training mats in mock deadly hand-to-hand combat. Men and women climbed swiffly up hanging vertical ropes, crashed their bodies through a tight obstacle course, hung by parachute harness from other training devices. Caleb Massey, Kim Seavers at his side, stopped to watch two agents charging an angry, large muscled figure. "Take him high!" one yelled, "I'll get his feet!" and the powerful defandant st@od untouched and laugh- ing as his attackers fell mysteriously not through him but an incredibly realistic hologram of the man. "That is neat," Massey said in admiration. "Watch Maria," Kim told him. 331 BEAMMERS him. Maria Barrios belonged with Phil be Then he thought of where he'd and memory of maria@s fluency in as well pushed aside his and several dialects aria, crouched behind a desk ks. He watched M g her fi-om differ- aining field, three men rushin es. pipe from her sleeve, blur she whipped a stubby , @a button and the pipe snapped out to nearly continuing blur she t in length. In that same - fatter end of the pipe agair!st her lips, and he Ile barely perceptible hiss of air fiom the pipe. take the first ght a glimpse of a shin Projectile aria half-rofied-and a dart took her the neck. M arm. The third man was trying to , attacker in the e leg. Each when a final dart nailed hun in th wildly rigid as the dart poison rushed through ent d for several moments and systems. They twitche P. g dos I e," Kim explained- " They 11 @s only a trainin it for two or three minutes, have a slight headache we're coming up shows you what j its over. But it Massey Vhat the hell kind of narcotic is that?" ow, sir. Maria brought it . "Don't Im downcountry Venezuela. The Indi- e it on their arrows and near Angel Falls us full dosewill knock a jaguar unconscious in seconds. Same with a man. instant nerve usness in four seconds." gralysis and unconscio Tin im pressed." all get knocked out with it at sliould be. We @You training so well know its effect on a man mst once in Kim explained. *hen we re on a mission," s time. Get them C, Massey nodded. "Okay, kid, it' together." on a piercing Kim Seavers faced the room, blew ed to her. "Gather f . Everything s they turn 11 peoplel" she "Big Daddy's home- 332 Martin Caidin Massey winced but didn't comment on the name. He brought his wristwatch to his lips. "Code Dragonfly Prime. Execute full security. Nobody in, nobody out until release." Yes, sir," his watch told him. Massey turned to the BEMAC crews and motioned for them to relax on the floor. He wasted no time on salutations. "This is straight arrow, people," he began blund Y. "No innuendos. No fun and games. Straight talk. I have a mission. We're asked to execute as quickly as possi- ble. Which means as fitst as we select a team and get it ready to beam. But-@' He paused deliberately, let the but hang in the air between them, let wariness and caution stab to the forefront of their thinking. " -the nature of this mission means that whoever goes accepts tremendous risks. I can't minimize that. I'd planned on a solid six months of training and tests before anything with this kind of weight on it. I don't have the time. You don't have the time. I'm not assign- ing anyone. This is a case strictly for volunteers. If you volunteer for a mission about which I'll tell you nothing except that it , s a critical assignment and the odds are against your returning, then I'll confirm that you're crazy. Hands up for go, down for brains and no." He waited a decent interval. I see. I'm disappointed. There isn't a sane person in this crowd. Twenty people, twenty-one hands. Blake, dammit, drop one hand." One of the later teammates, Tad Crippen, waved his hand and Massey nodded. "How many go, sir?" "Six. III tell you right now I've selected Blake, Seavers, Morales and Suarez. They have the most experience. I have a relative newcomer with us, who goes because he not only speaks perfect Russian, but he is Russian." Maria Barrios turned pale. Blake gripped her hand tightly. Massey knew she figured the lead mission was a lock for her. If he didn't have this other rider- Leonid Zhukov, squat, burly, curly-haired and pow- erful, rose to his feet. "I am ready, sir." "He's not only crazy," Massey said with a hint of a BEAMRIDERS 333 . @U-s a,crazy Russian- What sane Russian scants there's a very big price @hick to a country where k4ead?" swered many unasked questions in .&@ he knew, an ven if it raised new ones among of the mission, e latter didn't matter- The Multler leaved to his feet "I'll go. wait a inute Y1 the hell is he?" 10 I What's the gig?" @ all volunteered sey stonewalled the protests. "You all volunteered. first served. Thafs the e right. SO it's first come red back." At . Six go. Be prepa fior seven to Co"W s and murmurs he held udden rush of @xclamifion on that point. Oh, islands. "No questions now rstandard procedure. Three agents for backups and mand and communications positions. Maria Bar- Sabbath Danza Cayuga, and Jim ie nodded to Kim. She gave the whistle a short blast. right, people. Primary team and backups in the kning room in thirty minutes sharp. The rest of You wow return to your training schedules. Thafs it." olission Planning offered luxurious, warm, welcom moods to its occupants) unlike any other room in eled entire Canaveral BEMAC complex. Wood-pan Is, thick carp ting on the floor, heavy drapes, a e od con- -stocked bar and ffidge, gleaming rosewo equip- Wrence tables, and walls Packed with electronic ent beautifully ensconced within WoOd-framed rac ain conference le-ad center of the room was the in table and above to the ceiling ble, the space atOP the ft open. The table center glowed soffly. Caleb Mas- agents selected for the initial beaninder three backup agents sat in a wide ring you people haven't noticed or been Massey informed the group, made aware of the &ct, Dr. Mercedes and his People are gone. 334 Martin Caidin .I've @noticed, Suarez told him. "But I don't know where they are." `Caracas@' Massey said, and as he expected his word brought s to Suarez and Morales. members of this team actively in- volved, a. position. They re Venezueli don't say any of this lightly. Your mission is extrem( tical and national We've made the highest polit sensitive on certain that Mercedes, and none of his staff, are aware of what we're Wing to do. That way they can't be blamed for @nythipg irthis whole afFair comes apart on us." Massey's gaze moved to meet the eyes of Suarez, Morales, Barrios and Cayuga. "Your loyalty fio in this point on must be to nw. To me even more so than to BEMAC and everything you've worked for since you got into this Program- That loyalty includes not saying amthina about this mission, to Mercedes or anybody Can you f elie, wAhout my okay first. our handle that? If YOU can 't, please tell me now, leave this room and youll never hear it men tioned again.' Carmen Morales. "To the mission, then." "As far as I'm concerned.'. Suarez added, "you're the mission. No problem, man."' Maria Barrios and Danza Cayuga nodded assent. Blake toyed with an unlit cigar. "The more you don't say,. sir, the.bigger this gets to sound." A Keen observation, Mr Blake. It's big. You're going to Russia." Massey paused.' He knew the need for sev- eral moments of what he called "causation and settling" on the part of people dealt a difficult hand, no matter how eager they might be to test an unknown. For a moment he considered teTng Blake to go ahead and light his cigar. He vetoed his own thought, and while his vocalization of Russia still resounded silently among his _group, poured himself a mug of coffee, leaned back, and fit his own cigar. Blake smiled at him. The smile grew broader when Massey blew out the match he'd used and tossed the box 1111jil"I BEAMRIDERS 335 in an age of of wooden matches said much between the two. For his found the delay in interrupting the ,ancient' procedure h went I a single wooden the match box, removing then light- life and emotions filom was taking its table poured coffee . Wah the sturnp, mthassey told himself it's the chair that says so r the body dangle it much. @9 ready to accept octiced eyeshowe'd him people might have to offer. he ind, sir?" Massey have a specifte PI" in m have bet a fiundred-dollar bill against a stale ch Zhukov couldn't have contained his curiosity. Massey said through a cloud of swirling good cigars, these Macanudos. noke. Goddamn his head back in a barely perceptible head still at an angle Massey knew his said, ul and looked thoughtf told himself Every goddamn Rus- k does that santedamn routine when sonwhing they didn't know and they rt u7ant to adtnit it out loud. Wimt?" Blake demanded Of ZhukOv- word. Kremlin. It he Russian smiled. "I like that . ring to it. Like rice cr**s. you should spell a nice rith a K instead of a C-" "Well not really to the Kremlin, Massey added, @d had their full attention once again. Three of his agents immediately looked at Zhukov in unison ad said "Ahh,' ie group and fled Quickly. . Laughter broke out among "Do we have to guess?" Bill Coulter asked. Massey Aook a moment to study Coulter before he answered. pihis was the only one of his agents he didn't know over @a period of time or through a personal relationship. -mat always tugged at his CA ON sign in his head, but UTI led Machine had an incredible record. He was cal Coulter 336 Martin Caidin by I his longtime associates. He had that mazic se ki@d, nse, feel, touch and mastery of almost any Of nia- chinery. In today's world, unless you were running naked through the desert or the jungle, that could be one hell of an asset. He was also an ex-army assault force leader, of no small renown and, Massey recall in risking his life in frag- ile winged th of cardboard and alumi- num tubing flew off high buildings and mountains. Massey made z mental note to do some _!nore digging on Coulter, but the man he saw was intq@gent, sharp, athletic and-Stay uith the program, caleb. I don't want to keep you in suspense," Massey told Coulter. "No guesses. You're going beneath the Kremlin. " "Beneath?" echoed Seavers. -Beneath," Massey repeated. "Youre going to have to get through a fight your way into a kidnap a blind British scien 's minds, stand off half the s wrap the whole come back safely." He puffbd heavily as if he were trying to hide beneath the swirling bank of smoke. "Neat, huh?" Carmen Morales let ou-t a burst of laughter just a bit too shrill. Not fear, Massey judged; ridi&le and disbe- hef "We're supposed to do all this- Mr. Massey, you forgot one thing. You forget to mention that after we do most of what you just said, we Ve got to retrace our steps to return to the point of emergence so the beam can pick us up, right?" She stifled another outburst. "Wrong," M-assey said. "Well be playing a variation on a theme." That one drew blank looks. "I'll explain," Massey said, and a little magic helps in that regard." "Magic?" Suarez echoed. "Sure," Massey said. He half turned and spoke to thin air. "Hey, Stoney, you awake and aliveF' A voice came at them from the exact center of the conference table. They stared at the glow in the air. Yes, sir. BEAMRIDERS had sat w337 is Stoney?- Jim Sabbath ith a group, all three remaining instead of interfering with talk, 90 by. last scene Was one Sabbath couldn't let Is full name is Greystone. A very personable Oy -capability and with some of very advanced *s up his electronic sleeves." Massey put aside let's get with it. Program "All right, Stoney. Two Zebra Talon, activate. One without a body from thin air sir," said the voice midst. chime sounded. Within the op,@n space, within ttle a shimmering effect took place. Glow- it 'o colors g ed sinuously, ap fi nowhere, it seerned, .0 projection of an aerial ared a holc assey said. Stoney," M Kremlin. "I are? ere they "Everybody know wh Ais group. they're seeing ent came from about the ds and murmured agreern @"Okay, Stoney, lef r-o in." expand as the observers seemed to from the sky. The building fell gently the and filled the view Of rose up r played its magic with as the compute lesus!" Someone data presentation. plunged through solid stone to emerge long, wide corridor. what could sarcastic and tinged with into the mind, came driven deep lights and colors. "Home, sweet drily. The holo- it here," Massey snapped dimensional view fi-oze like a miniature them. Massey turned to Zhukov- "YOu*ve course. Yes, sir. I mean," Zhukov went on )Orke carefully, .., v d there when I was a munist. Bright, eager, dedicated, Commit- 338 Martin Caidin ted. One of the finest. I was marked for great things in the future. Of course, at the time I was only a messenger. " Massey's fim seemed to light up with the incredible news. "Only a messenger?" he echoed. "Only a mes- senger? What are you, Leonid, a gift fi-orn the gods? How in the hell did all this escape your records?" I suppose," Zhukov said, still with the sarcasm that carried his first interruption, "that your Stonewall computer-" 'Greystone. "Whatever, sir-has flaws like the Lenin computers in there," he said, pointing to the Kremlin hologram. Like all com ters it is no more brilliant than the PU worst idiot who has a menial job somewhere at the bottom of the ng personnel files for databanks. 31 n P Maybe what I UrNen was fourteen years old was not important to your people. But I did tell them, and it is in my records. The paper ones. You know, sir, the old-fashioned kind?" Massey gestured with both hands to stop the conver- the issue at hand. He withdrew a wooden in half without getting a floor. He stabbed a finger in midair. "You kov. "To be sure, Mr. Massey," Zhukov said, much more easily now that he'd gotten- rid of some buried memory bile. "I must have walked up and down those hallways at least a thousand times, and sir, thats no ex@ggera- tion. We were almost constantly on the go with mes- sages. They were paranoid that the CIA had bugged just about everything in there. Hand-carried messages were safe." "What about the sublevels?" "When I was there, and please keep in mind it's been at least sixteen or seventeen years since then, they used the sublevels almost around the clock for communications. Cryptography and intelligence or even personal messages. Whatever they needed or wanted BFAMPJDERS 339 or privacy. All thafs gone now. With com- satellites and the new computers theyve Oons communications centers about thirty 4)e command itside Moscow. met that," Massey said, more harshly than he had I@eonid. Look, son, I know d. "Nothing personal, Ive got to do that. Now, this thiuji but eating You've walked through it?" ar level. Zhukov laughed. 'Ihe 31 my feet were sore, for our group were thing on the black market an sneakers. 0 s there, on this exact level we're looking at, He looked up at at the projection- date?" up to get that question?"' "Yes voice answered immediately. s Kim asked, puzzled. questions. The hologram data oney an to date and he Plot question' " diked. DW accurate?" Aul i " Stoney intoned. I available data is presented, Sir, '11 excuse me, Mr. Massey, but that is the com- ,On it is saying maybe, per- equivalent of a copout r this is the best that the worst idiot you have has yarnmed me." shoot the goddamned thing when you get 11 let you Massey told Zhukov. "Now assume that it is up you find ate and that its as accurate as possible. If ky flaws or finilts, just sing out-" things I remember. I there are blanks. Personal I'Sir, of data. Duldn't expect Stonewall to have that kind es at the Massey ddn,t,cwTect any computer nam handing a oment. "Here, useltilis laser spot7," he said, beam to Zhukov. H,; snapped it on and the Viection ay red beam broadened to an arrow wherever it was even though he tried. Massey glanced up instinctively re in the iew the pickup microphones were everywhe _Stoney, Priority command, whatever informa- M. 340 Martin Caidin t"n you receive through the voice of Leonid Zhukov YOU will place in the data memory banks and adjust the holOgraPfik,PrOjection in immediate real-time. Confirm. Yes, sir. Leonid?" Ile light searched the hologram along with Zhukov's T1152nory. "Here, sir." Everyone leaned forward. "The defense system was built in four levels. " The laser arrow moved with his words. "Correction, sir. Consider them as rings. A, B, C, and D. At first security system was made up exclusively of KGB - in the 01 uards; trusted members of the party, that sort of thing. They hated their work- They were like Prisoners themselves. They Just watched us coming and going. There really wasn't much else for them to do. 11ey called it the Rings of be Si ria- KGB headquarters put on a lot of pressure to change the system." !'Md they?" -Yes. T6y went to computers-@ Massey slammed a fist into the palm of his other Wn hand. "Hot danint" He winced filom his o blow. "Excellent, excellent" He blew on his hand. "Go on, go on," he said with a sense of excitement. "It's a very elaborate system. To get Ugh thro the first two rings all visitors go through fingerprint, palinprint, redhal pattern checks that sort of thing. When you pass A, here, you go through the process all over again to enter B. " The laser goes past B Ring unless clearance. Its much easio past this point." Massey sat back, chewing on his lower lip. That didn , t make sense. With the communications systems gone- Blake spoke the question he intended to ask. "Leo, what's so hot inside, You know, beyond the B Ring?" `1 don't lmow-" ZhukOV shrugged. "It's been years since I was there." Kim turned to zhukov. -Any ideas?,, "Ideas? Yes. Of course," Zhukov said. "Mr. Massey, BEAMBIDERS 341 Stonewall that what I am saying now must be Crazy things. I never really 'ed to be rumors ich attention at the time. I was young, Moscow Washing", and I had just re wild rumors than *d that Russian girls were not built like Russian ought they were built like Ernest Borgine, racked. boys oy the g-irls?' Suarez asked. s,- Blake told him. girl Massey told them both. He turned back t@ Up..Can you tie in what you know about this KOV. Peter -these rings, and tried to. I mean, i just heard about never right in this room for the first time. Nth you put Rnsworth owing the system, where would possible?" wanted him sealed Off as much as "Inside ki; no question." The laser arrow shiffted. ner- Ring. its the very heart of the place, the in core- solemnly, "is iat," Massey announced rve confirm they have done. That much pointer from F, rorth is inside D. - He took the laser by one, then He looked at his agents one OV. arrow as he spoke. to point with the laser ng to a computl@r defense system, rm con- y goi 'd the Russians have done us a tremendous faVOr dont know it, of course, because their systems, It possibly have taken into ac- ing syste!n. Don't for that, however. it have defense and security into account any be, let alone to best help Russians. But to stick They the shortcomings of the computers. pretty dumb animals. III confirm Zhukov's that matter, even if it means I owe an J I rocks-for-brains?" You read me arr about. "if someone gets through The 342 Martin Caidin the first two rings, here and there," m "then the computer is assey continued, security-cleared. 11 programmed to accept them as .'Sir, I don't understand. " They looked at Carmen Morales' -Why would the Computer do a thing like that?' "He's righ@ Carmen. lf you get through assey nodded. "Sir, may Ir Zhukov broke in and M A and B, here here, then the computer S bee. inforwd that on re acceptable. You must have fiffl security c I=nyce or YO in the'd never be on the edlEe the C or D rings. That's u critical point. If you- Nice Guy, or go past A and B you're Mr. else You're stopped dead in your tracks before YOU 90 through B. "Let me get that straight," Blake queried. -you can- or D, One or the other or computer logical. No about stopping mean, if they're not people?" they still try,to get through. cleared and "It sure as hell ain't Disneyland, ddo - B e d nastily. He was getting more than a li Id lak sai questions he heard, indicating all ttle upset with the too clearly to him that his fellow agents were less than unde Russian trigger fingers. rstanding about rity"nbre standing orders in event Of any attempted se each have always been to shoot to kill,- Zhukcou- came back. "There are, at such a moment, no questions v to ask. Kill on sight. you See, since everyone in that area knows those standing orders, no one Ls crazy enough, even a top official, to - to throw around h, try S weight. There is no reward in being a dead "Why are you so certain they'd sh commissar." oot on sight even if they recognized a top official?,, Morales asked. Zhukov smiled coldly- "Because if they dont, then the guard or the soldier who failed to carry out his orders is immediately brought to an inner courtyard, Kim Seavers ask, @J 343 BEAMPJDERs one placed on closed television for all to watch, t, is shot down like a dog." Coulter raised his brows at Massey. "Boss-MO, - in Mind." op@ you've got some super can-opener Wt of that super-ape over there, Blake, said it - y told Coulter. "Now, the there a-re be-tter ways t amis to do a don't the way Dcurity clearance and who Ihe@re those defenses, well " he it in this room with me." -,e's hand walloped Suarez across the back of @is 'Damn, we're dummies," he said with seff-disdam. Brez turned with an astonishe d look. "WhY @manded- manse Nasty Massey has been tryi to the conclusion thats so obvious thing but dance a jig under our nor grating tone. "Boss-man, gimme rose to his feet and the laser arro holographic projection. "Theres A and there two outside trouble rings, right? ven think of busting our way in. It,% he laser arrow moved. "But we a the arrow made a circular movem, de the third ring. We beam in here enses and we've 'ust shoved a J nose'of their computer system." H, -ter back to Massey. He's right," Massey chuckled. "He's rif At on. If you show up in Ring C you I i n't be in there unless the computer's sec ssed you through as okay. That's all t1i ows. If you're inside then the only that the computer itself let you in. les Catch Twenty-Two in reverse." "Sir you were speaking before about a British sc!T- Kim Seavers said directly to Massey. -you said he e was bhnd--2' "And you said he reads minds," Zhukov are serious about all that?" added- "You S 344 Martin Caidin Massey leaned back, hunti= EN his cigar. He his mind and lit a routine of opening light' "I am very dismiss this as anyi situa- tion. You're going out of Russia and b nsworth to u., here. want any more serious than that?" "That's Grade-A, pasteurized, homogenized serious, all right," Blake offered, refusing to let serious become OM. 't like Blakes ugly fitce and he doesnt do-e-'sne have tDkidnap him?' Suarez asked- "What if he go?" want to "CIA tells us he scants out," Massey said. tell us the Russians wfll kin him before th "They also ey him go." - Blake laughed. ever let "Ali, a nice easy iob, "Everybody ready to kill this p;or bast a, d. "And us," Morale., reminded hi.. 'I'llis mind-reading," Zhukov joined in, "is it danger- ous?" "It could be. I don't know." Massey shrugged wi th his reply. "Assume he's for real. you-1ve that. -is solidly supported by our CIA-which, by the way- got to do other intelligence agencies and the B "That makes it okay, then, ritishm---!' Thatcher's LegionsSaY its okay - Blake said tartly. -If "Shut up, Blake," Massey said, but his tone wasn't angry, "We've been told," he said to the group, '.that Unsworth is developing a means of amplifying his own ability- Like firing off a shotgun blast Of mental energy so that he can A ect certain people as much as he can tell what they're thinking. Does he have the ability to zero in on a single mind or is he jammed by mental crowd noise? Hell, I don I t have @10se answers. But what if-the famous what-if senario_in he could detect through certain peo case of a war, weaknesses were? What if he could bli ple what our nd certain key BEAmmm' 345 with brain-ripPing headaches? it could leave elpless. guy?" Coulter asked. ;Vhat if he's just a nice guy, Massey )11`t know. he isn't just a nice @d. "But the highest levels of our government, as well as Political, say to get him." king to it," Make said with a snap of his fingers. and we brin Suarez followed. "We go in 9 y . funny," Massey told him. "Let's get back to Mess." afs nothing," Zhukov said. "You mean the for- vithin the fortress." wey looked up. "Precisely.- All right, people, but- UP and pay attentio " The laser arrow beg-an to n. again. See those corridors? The whole place is roised with photocell beams and lasers. Two types: and lethal. The laser alarms sound like wounde( atirs. And there's something else--:' He lifted his "Stoney, some animation, please. Defense sys- by the light." iev watched, fascinated as the holozram came alive. dors enlarged to reveal great@r detail. Six fig- -moved along a corridor. Lights flashed, alarms uned from the hologram, laser beams snapped wildly 9 fire. The tiny human figures tumbling away. tightened. "Holy mother,' he said, his "This is too fucking real . . . " there, isn't it?" Kim said to Massey. "Thafs one scenario," Massey told her. "Wait, young roman. You haven't yet seen the tripwires. Stoney, Ws have it." motion. They The holographic projection jerked into mtched a three-dimensional, living scene in fitst re- @.'.se, dismembered bodies ru shing together and ev- @eryone walking backwards until the motion stopped Thefigures started moving again at normal speed. Inis is the tripwire sequence," Massey said. "Stoney, let's have some greater-detail." 346 Martin Caidin The corridor enlarged again as did the fi They watched, fitscinated, almost h) MITI- puter three-dimensional animal mov- ing ghostlike down the from the scene before them, tiny s lines flashed outward from wall slots and whipsawed like writhing tendrils. The wires cut the three figures to tu !mbling pieces. 'I think I'm going to be sick, Carmen said, hand over her mouth. "Get sick here and You're off the mission, " Massey told her. "Holy shit, those wires could ruin your whole day," Blake said quickly. No telegrams, please," Coulter added. The joshing helped. Carmen swallowed hard, breathed deeply. "Aside from your twisted humor," Zhukov told them, as he stared, fascinated, at the miniaturization of their own deaths, "those wires, if you're not prepared to avoid them, could cut even a horse into thin steaks." "Leave it to a Russian. Chopped horsemeat. Yech, Blake said. S, "Got any sheep? I'm in the mood for lamb chop Coulter offered. "Shut up, you idiots!" Maria Barrios shouted. She'd been slarnmed harder than she ever could have antici- pated by the sight of a tiny figure with the doll-like face of Stan Blake lie-ing sliced to ribbons. Carmen saved the moment. "How do the Russians get in and out?" "You got that question, Stoney?" Massey said to the ghost ears in the room. 'Yes, sir. Tape rolling now, sir." Tiny figures moved through the corridor, passed through doorways, rode up and down elevators. "Ali, the old tunnel, ies still there,- zhukov ex- claimed. "See? The arrow. To the left, please. Ahal See how the tunnel goes beneath the Kremlin meeting halls, to an elevator and then you go up into the complex?" "This seem accurate to You?" Massey asked. "I'm amazed," Zhukov iold him. "How did you ever BEAMRIDERS 347 sublevels of get such incredible detail of the believe, Massey said with a sudden YOU in an ob- t most of this information came fi-o le book to Russian history, and especially of tin?" w1wre?" store?" UV P-,ht victures of this in a Moscow icriptions and detailed drawings. Appar- ture rtant leither GRU- nor KGB thought it very impo right under their a what had been published what you've And very much in the open. But what let Greystone Dius our intelligence data, is show." all toge ther in this nifty-dan4y picture wers eered intently into the holographic tunnels. p through any bright Ideas on how to live YOU have Aasers and those wires?' the question. "You issey at first seemed to ignore days to train. " He hesitated a moment. "Yes, three ideas. C ,ood ones. youll have every we have And any time them before you 90 feels this is :iycw;a up, "or anyone else with no reflection on may step down in our elite organization 5@ " Blake said scathingly. We've -man, before. you chuck out on a mission to they don't let You have assigned, and any more in the messhall. We know doesn't he ever quit?" Coulter asked. if Coulter takes the dip in home waters . Iy-bye, " Blake added, no fried okra his wAsp ass a thing or two-" hill - N 'Shut up," Massey said, almost by reflex. "Suarez, you rere aslizing?' Suarez said slowly, -I dodt like to ask this question, note, of despair no one missed, his voice carrying a their instant full attention. "But someone I has so far." even you won't talk about it Martin Caidin "Have at it," Massey told him. "What if we get in, what if everything works out the way we want, and the old man, for some,reason, we can't get him Out. It might be a problem we car@lt handle, or the old man could refuse. What do we do then?" Massey laid down his second cigar. He leaned back slowly in his seat. "Kill him," he said finally. The silence following those two terrible words was deafening. -1 don@t believe,- Kim Seavers said 'in a low voice, -'I really heard you say that. I said it," mas seY cOnfirmed. "Those are orders from Washington- You can't get UnswOrth out? He reffises to go? Kill him on the spot. KI s face worked through a paroxysm of anger No- goddamnl-@-- 'Me, I'm with Kim," said Carmen Morales. I would not kill him. Or anyone else. Or even you," she jabbed a finger at Massey, ,for suggesting we do this.,. Massey relit his cigar. His smile was pure snake. "Then we'll get a man to do the job. "How about me?" Blake asked. "Yes, how about you?" Massey repeated. A "Those are orders from Washington?" Blake d. sai "They damn well are, mister." ..We"' then' considering everything You've said, and why we're here in the firstplace, why don-t you pick up that phone over there and call them, and I'll get on the horn and I'll Say, fuck Washington. How@s that, boss- man?" "You speaking for Yourself or is this a caucus?" Jim Sabbath Jerked a thumb at Massey. "who the hell j minute I'm talking to a man I know name of Caleb Massey and now this s] in front of me." "Cut Some slack, Jim," Blake intruded. "I wasn't through. Didn't answer the man's question.- He di- rected his words "alit to Massey- I talk for me. I'm ,fall 1101 here to play butcher or assassin. Given very ram BEAMRIDERS 3Q ustances such as saving the life of a child, sure, I'd @hat was all that was left to me. But it wouldn't be iy goddamn mission. Don't wave no CIA bullshit it me, Massey. Don't tell me all that crap again pie. You disappoint Nam was for Mom and apple assey. last thing I figured you for, Massey said, al- sneering, "was a pattyeake )on t rile me, ex-boss-man. In this world it takes a nore not to smear someone. Killing is ahnost too ; I want to tell you about my old man. He got shot sit in Vietnam. He was a real crazy brownskin. He so dumb he volunteered. They shot his ass to pieces fi he killed so many goddamned people on the other and saved so many on our side, they gave him the W of Honor. I watched his hospital plane land. The bastard was more dead than-alive. He'd lost so @h blood he didn't look too brown, either. I know he on just long enough to come home to talk to me. to tell you some6ing, son,' he said." n Blake, the mean machine, the professional sol- the ruthless killer, sat straight with tears running his face. "My old man, he says, they give me this four hundred little brown people. d for lolling over me, I didn t even know one of them. their names. I hardly saw any of them. no sense. I didn't even know what the in for. I found out. I had to die for b me, and his life is leaking out Of, for you, son, he says, so I can prove to )u that UT you got the most powerful reasons in all te world f ing,-don't. I love you, boy, he tells me, id my old man, he dies right there on that goddamned rfield in my arms. Blake wiped his cheek unashamedly as he stood straight of it? I didn't @*nd tall. "You know what,was the worst understand him then. I went to Grenada and I killed I ople there. I lolled people in Honduras, and El Sal- =or and in Nicaragua, and it wasn't until we smeared a village in some Godforsaken hillside and I picked a hire that crazy Rambo fackhead I quit." feet. Kim slipped her was crying. "Me, too." "I guess I don't get no more asparagus," Suarez said. Leonid Zhukov shook his head. -And I tho ught I'd get some good borscht again. I'm out, sir.- "Count me out, man," Coulter said. Massey stood to face them, his eyes going about the room, meeting each man and woman directly. His f ace muscles twitched and finally he spoke in an emotion- choked voice. "I am so goddamned proud of every one of you." He swallowed hard. "You've all passed your biggest test. Don't change." He fumbled fi)r his cigar. "Get your asses back in the training rooml" he shouted, waving his arms. "We've only got three days, you damn fools!" Maria Barrios walked up to Massey and kissed him lightly on the cheek. H@r eyes were shining. She squeezed his hand. She had said more than all the words she knew. A Russian KGB guard lunged with a bayonet at Kim Seavers. She sidestepped in a sudden fluid motion, slipped away from the lunging guard, tripped him, spun him about into the path of Bill Coulter. A heavy fighting staff, used for centuries by monks on lonely and dangerous trails, whirled in Coulter's hands to crash against the lower back of the Russian. His rifle flew away wildly as he collapsed. Another Russian came forward with a submachine gun blazing, this time at Suarez. His body dropped almost magically to the floor, his arm swinging around in an overhead toss, and the 3W Martin Caidin kid out of a bum- mg hut and carried him in my arms and he looked up at me and he said, Why? that I came to understand my old man." Blake pointed a finger at Massey. "mister, I know your record better than you think I do. I'd follow you to hell and gone and back again. You're a brave man. A good man. But I won't kiU f or you because that's MY Job. You want a killer, or somebody like The others can hand through Bk 351 BEAMRIDERS howled as it wrapped about the Russian's I bola ,,@ a small steel ball cracking against 4 his chin. He fell ned ox. Suarez spun away, a blinder grenade st stun j hand, pin out and ready to detonate. More guards running. the Castle blew shrilly. The beamrider agents and e- ians; stood upright, soaked in sweat, bruised, soul bloody, grinning at one another. In sweat-soaked clothes, Massev moved among them. "'Not bad for turs"' he said.'He held his nose. "God, you stink. youe to the showers. Fresh clothing, Please.,, today, boss-man?' moi@des asked, VP, through for T said you stank. Fresh clothes and back here in the real workout begins. Oh, minutes. Then @'Yes, sir?" "No asparagus or squas lak th h for you tonight." B e held up a umb as he left for the showers- A Chapter Caleb Massey s tood at the edge of the hand-to-hand combat mats, his recently fi-esh gym sweats soaked from collar to toe. He held a Coiled whip in his right hand, and another looped about his left shoulder. For sever moments he watched his team working out against their al Russian opponents and then he ble@v a short whistle blast for their attention. Everyone stood at rest, grate- ful for the respite. "That's it for the fun and games," Massey said easily. "Clean, up, eat some iron rations, get into Your Russian uniforms, assemble your equipment, and meet me in the game room exactly two hours from now." As Mas- sey talked he worked the whip lightly, letting it float about easily through the air and he on the mats as a loosely uncoiled snake. Blake, Suarez and Coulter stood in a loose bunch, having just had a grand old time beating up on their "Russian Opposition." They were too keyed up to come down easily. Every muscle shouted for more 'action. Suarez elbowed Blake. "Hey, boss-man," Suarez called to Massey, you got the whipr "what for "Yeah," Coulter laughed. "You look like You're trying out for a part in Raiders of the Lost Ark." "Nah," Blake joined in'. "He's too fat. Too old. Too Ugly- What the hell you gonna do with that dead snake, Sir?" "Exercise discipline," Massey said easily, Passing the uncoiled bullwhi note, is p length thro@gh his hands. Which, i something you people have a great need for." 1@ 352 BEAMRIDERS my, this is too good to be true," Suarez said. ged forward of the others. "Why don't you try it me?" jandro, Massey said wearily, "Your assignment w is to live, breathe, think and look Russian. ae of learning to curse in Russian, I can't see else you've done. my smiled to himself. His people were so keyed key were almost vibrating. No way was Suarez @i; let this opportunity 90 by. e on uarez stood well before him, both hands beckoning. boss-man, let's have your best shot with that of leather." I )pe. F, Dw Come, man Bemuse I don't want you cut to -cause I like you. irez stood wide-legged, clenched fists solidly on ps. Massey didn't miss him moving one foot slightly I of the other for a well-balanced fighting stance. ey also knew that Suarez had spent years riding and tough on a Venezuelan ranch, that he was as n an expert with the whip as he was with those vilish mini-bolas he'd perfected on his own. Bola, hip, fighting staff, throwing knives, blowguns, bow crossbows; name it and Alejandro Suarez Blake called soffly from behind and to your eye on the old man. The fitt son his sleeve." ure, josh4 "and Al's walking right into "Come, come, come, come," Suarez asked in a plead- @@ing tone. only a boyl" Maria Barrios called out. "A little "He's native boy. Be easy with him, our leaderl" Grins all around. The "native boy" was more than two hundred forty pounds of knotted fighting muscle. M - ey called back to Maria, but he I promise, ass Suarez, who was beginning a didn't take his eyes from 354 Martin Caidin side-to-side snake weave with his body. Massey lashed out with the whip. It @ang through the air fioni its speed and the sound of a pistol shot rang out as the whip cracked. But Suarez was even faster. in a blur of motion he Oodged the last, his arm came around and fi)rward and down, he coiled the whip's end about his wrist and yanked with tremendous force. Suarez leaned forward mito the pull of Massey's body, prepared to come back with a tremendous yanking mo- tion that would haul Massey stumbling fi-oin his feet. He stared in surprise as the whip handle came flying the air. Massey stood straight, whip hand n. smiling. ù u 0 @rtey7 you forgot to hang on, boss-manl" Blake catcalled. "Oh, my, he is being so nice to the little brown boy," Maria laughed. "Watch him, All" Coulter sang out -in a second warning. "He's right," Kim said, laughing. "Never trust a fat man who smiles." "Yeahl" Sabbath called. "Especially when he's the guy who signs your paycheck." I know that look," Zhukov said of Massey. "He reminds me of an interrogator with the KGB. Massey slowly uncoiled the second whip fi-oni his shoulder. "Hey, I'm getting a second chance," Suarez answered the group. .,You really want a second shot at this?" Massey asked. "I'd rather let you off easy, arnigo. 11 "You bet, fat in- In a blur Massey moved with startling speed, the whip slashing forward, but the tip moving almost lei- surely throua the air. Suarez laughed, his hand shot out to grasp the end of leather to wrap about his own hand. He began to yank hard. Massey stood easily. They looked fi-oni Suarez to i@ Massey and back to Suarez. A crackling bolt of blue Phil, lightning flashed about Suareis hand, audible and deadly. BEAmRIDERS 355 s and whip; the blue fire fla hed up trying to draw Ins hand away filom Suarez spun violently about to the st the padding- the whip handle. Blue fire Blake. to his still wide, Massey told him. "you got a low )u ..Man, what the hell is that tke came forward. F, kssey handed him the whip- "Be mm careftd," he @d- "Dont work it until you understand it." The around. "It's got a niribium powerpack s crowded handle that shoots a vibrating laser thl@ough fiber along its length. Low amps, ninety thousand amps it reacts to biological electrical output- Low hell of a lot of volts. Anywhere from dred thousand. sixty thousand Puts Y Double that and you're out cold for minutes to turn the brain into rs. Go up higher and you can robably throw the heart into violent an. It would p , he added with a pause, keep nation as well. But , )wn in the stun range and You can lay thine enemies without killing them." lake stroked the weapon. "Beautiful ... just beau- J. its gorgeous" got to hand it to the whip. "Boss-man, I uarez took you sure as hell had me fooled." @ --consider it a demonstration. V "How many of these we got?" "Two. I meant one." "Youmve got it. I'll take the other," Blake said quicklY- "And the devil take you," Carmen Morales said, step- 'TU take it. , Blake smiled. 356 Martin Caidin .Is it off?- she asked Massev. Carmen took the whip. "If the red light at the end isn't glowing, it's off." She smiled sweetly at Blake, half-turned and in a motion faster than they followed the whip streaked out, cracking, and cut in half the towel Leonid Zhukov was holding. Again the whip cracked and Danza Cayuga danced as the tip barely stung his ankle. One more time, the whip snapping inches above Blake's head. -Shit fire, jo," h-e Od her, "it's yours.- Ladies, gentlemen." They turned to Massey, more fiom the tone of his voice than those words. The room went quiet. "It's time," Massey added. -Get ready. The shows on." They assembled near the steps to the beamsphere. Four men and two women in Russian attire. Three men and one woman in military uniforms. One woman in a smart business suit. The last man in a scientist's lab smock. Zhukov was@ appropriately, a full colonel. The levity attending such gatherings was subdued, almost absent and replaced with the knowledge on everyone's part that this was very much a "for keeps" operation before them. The three backups inspected gear and equipment in a final check, going through backpacks, 1@attery belts and cables. Beneath their outer garments they wore bulletproof vests, as much festooned with equipment as to protect their bodies. Zhukov hefted his gear. "It's heavy, but it is worth it. The guards don't carry rifles. They're all equipped with nine-millimeter automatics. These vests will stop any- thing from those weapons." Blake raised an eyebrow. "You didn't mention no rifles before." "The military cadre, the full soldier's group, theyll have the rifles and automatic weapons. But they won't be on post. They're strictly garrison." "Let's hope they stay that way," Morales said soberly. It was said, all that could be done was done. Pow@r hummed in the dome, equipment glowed and flickered in: standby, and fi-om one balcony and stairway cold 357 BEAmmDERs vapors floated silently along walkway and stairs. the fi-osty living like diamonds through pflashed at the wall countdown timer, an la Barrios looked knew what assary but instinctive reflex. Everyone was countdowns not that Of the it was. their clock I came quickly to them. He ges- world. Massey with a sheaf of notes e." re Is a last-minute change. Listen up, peopl -powered hologram they could see d up a battery glowed softly U sides. No one questioned what them; by now they knew the Kre@nhn sublevel f heart. r1re you directly to this anteroom going to,bearn "We've leaving nothing to question. said slowly, it's empty this time of night. we can't take a ed Unsworth or into of hewn YOU anycl@ser to laboratory, bec; we don t know where his equip- ot is, how crowded the place may be or who's mov- to the lab and get a rebound, a @around- if you beam s chance again. We did ,efion, we may never get thi AqC. it -ry low power beam a short while ago from a f Polaroid pictures. The place, the ast set of ictures didn't room, is empty. One light is on. The P - - but-" he shrugged. "Anyway, that's any scanners, I which leads, here, straigh@ to the that final elevator to unsworth." got a problem," Blake said quietly. ed. "A problem that may be assey confirm that don't 'The problem is we a tinkers chance in hell of getting in time for the beam -pickup- And the guests of would rather re fresh out Of g of their cyanide," Massey s with . We're attention, b( group Pay When w into the going beam. 358 Martin Caidin anteroom we'll also snap a beam in dead center Of Unsworth's shop." The three-dimensional hologram glowed brighter in the area of the laboratory. "There's no problem with the bias beam bemuse we're not send- ing in any solid objects so we won t get a rejection. At the same time, were able to tell by reaction back here-@or the Greystone computer can tell, that is-if the bias beam went into an open zone. If it did, that's where you get your trolley car to comehome." "Anyone ever try this before?" Kim Seavers asked. "Nope," Massey said with sudden cheeriness. "But Old Stoney says it will work just fine. " He gestured quickly. "We've tried it. Merc@des and his people have run about a dozen test trips tins way and its worked perfectly every time. That's how we know we can get a data feedback on the drop in the lab." "That helps," Carmen Morales said. .. One last thing," Massey added, speaking quickly as time began to flee from them. "We believe there's a chance that if you show up in the anteroom, without the Russian security computer having you in its mem- ory banks, then, if the autDdefense systems are on, the lasers may just fire automatically." "Terrific," Coulter said. "Send in a pig first. I like my bacon sizzling." "But we already discussed that," Suarez said, puzzled. I know, I lmow," Massey told him. "So call me a worry wart. I want you on your toes the instant you know the beam fires. I want those protective sheets ready and in place before you be-am. Got that?" They nodded. Massey took a deep breath. "Saddle up." They went up the four steps into the Texan sphere' Everyone else stood well back or went to their assigned stations, freeing the transmitting area. Power built UP about them; they felt it in the air, through the floor, a barely perceptible deep bass sound that was almost but not quite like the rumble of distant heavy thunder. The wall speakers called the events. "Clear the sphere. 359 BEAMRIDERS Power for lev coming on in thirty unmistakable. Vapors circular nower grid about the the through lean sphere. Electricity raced I,. base of the dthout resistance. The sphere began magically to if it were levitating. out loudly in a singsong please!" Blake called )@ - "Te nth floor, ladies linge ' ne- The speakers kept control. "Six@y the sphere remain clear. We will go surrealistically mad long-awaiwo surge floods of electricity fed through -,rgy S cables to the laser cannon. Om swirling madly flashed, vapor col tiny tendrils of St. Elmo's fire electrostatic force and crackled about the room. Iree, ttw, one, FLU!" with it the ,d light flashed into space, carrying ies and souls of six men and women. Chapter XXU At the count of "three- the six beamriders crouched the other for support, mon center. Stan Blake out, -Get r-l" when body, mind and soul, neversaw sness. The beamriders green slash of light; optic nerves don't work thai But there was no delay in six people working as a team operating as intended; they'd rehearsed the maneuver again and again in a race against themselves. They never saw the huge anteroom within which a green cylindrical shape snapped into existence; as quickly Z as it ap d, vanishing. AR about them, deep under @@: were metallic walls, disuse and stained with occupants of old not to bre t signs warning the behave in this particular fas regulation or to The beamriders saw nothing of the room because they weren't looking to see anything but a dull mir- rored surface. At the countdown of three plungi ng to f Firel, on the other side of the world in a dome struc- ture on the Atlantic coast of Florida, each agent with their left hand gripped a snaproll sheet of brilliant mirrored flexglas, and with their right hand yanked down on the roller, completely obscuring each person behind a sheet of maximum mirror reflection. This was their shape and form and position as they materialized in the underground anteroom. They stum- 360 BEAMMERS 361 @@shghtly from the beam drop of barely an inci the stone floor of the anteroom, a materializing )n worked out with exquisite detail by the Greystone uters and the initial beam firing with the Polaroid ra. But even one inch is enough to rustle limbs Dck a body. . -eeze!" . Blake barked at them all, and they hung pressing harder one against the other. way answe Of r he received a sharp cracking sound red glow, and then another. "Jesus, those are I" Coulter cried out. tay still!" Kim shouted. "Mey're hitting us dead-on!" eir reception exceeded anything they'd expected. - the anteroom might be; dormant it was not. The ans apparently felt the need for security was still at, all automatic computer detection and laser systems were fully active. Without proper clear- authority from their computer, the Russians left laser defenses in the anteroom on full automatic. could be turned off by only a few means. There be a complete electrical failure of the whole lin complex, or the security computer would reg- all clearances met as required and put the laser rifles on "HOLD." The third means of shutting the system was to rip it apart, tear it up, burn it -which is precisely what the bearnriders were doing iuddling together in anteroom center. very time a laser beam fired with power to pene- and burn its target, it struck one of the brilliant mirror reflective surfaces and bounced the beam - against the metallic walls of the anteroom. Finding quarry was at first easy for the defense system. It d photocells and infi-ared trackers to pick up move- at and/or body heat. If someone stood dead still in anteroom the photocells, unless a beam was being j by the unmoving target, had no work to do. But the I -ared detectors worked thermally and anything over ety-two degrees Fahrenheit brought heat homers to A k onto the source and to fire the lasers. This is a hell of a welcoming committee!" Suarez 362 Martin Caidin grunted over the sound of lasers blasting, a metallic hissing and crackling sound. They knew that to stum- ble, fill or even to sway an inch too much could brine a pencil-thin laser beam tearing into and through one or more of their bodies. "Hang in!" Blake said again. "It's working. Hear those sounds?II It was the sound to make any target's heart leap with joy. The sounds of laser beams bouncing back fi-om the flexmirrors and slashing through the wills and, finally, starting to bum through the very cables feeding power to the infi-ared detectors and the laser beams. The Sounds were unmistakable: giant chunks of metallic chalk dragged across a high-friction board, a screech of metal- lic outrage as the power cables flashed and sputtered, short-circuiting violently. "Smoke ... I smell smoker" Carmen Morales shouted. Is it," she faltered with her own question, .. us?" "Hell nol" Blake roared. "The beams are @utting in and out. They're tearing the place apart." Debris spat- tered and banged against the flexmirrors as fiery explo- sions raced up and down and through the walls. "They're dying out," Zhukov said, listening with the ears of a man who's heard defense lasers firing before. "We're almost safe-listeril The lasers have stopped!" "Everyone stay still. I'm opening my shield just a hair," Blake said. He moved a convex mirror on a rotating swivel between the small space between his flexmirror and that of Kim Seavers. "My side is shut down," he said. "Al, give your side a look. Suarez s mirror slid out, turned left and right and u and down. By way of answer he stood erect, letting his p flexmirror snap back to a slim tube. "I'liat's it. Every- body tnove," Suarez said with an unmistakable urgency to his voice. They let their mirrors roll up and jammed them into backstraps. "Full arms, everyone, now," Blake snapped. He didn't need to. Everyone was yanking their weapons fi-om their straps and velcro pockets. Suarez and Morales had their stunwhips ready to use at any second. The others BEAMRIDERS 363 chers, folding-tube )ared their wrist crossbow laun Session and blinder grenade launchers and a@sorted devices of nonlethal mayhem. n horns clamored suddenly all about them. Re- brou for spurning about, weapons ready ght them i i attackers. The room remained smoky and spattered burning debris, but unoccupied except for them- s But they couldn't go anywhere until the alarm down. the others. "Get to 'he monitors" Zhukov urged " He turned it now ... they control the defenses. s. They're Coulter and ran to a wall. "The cable tly five feet off the floor." oulter joined him and the two men brought UP Dl-like@ thick-barreled laserguns and switched on r waist powerpaks. Intense beams Of fiery red light ted fi-om the lasers, spattering molten globs of bum- cut through the walls. Smoke boiled continued to splash outward. "Just a bit sparks the first ones nowl" herl" Zhukov yelled. "I've got s from within ti@e walls rocked them as ll explosion eed systems short- ivy power cables and their f flickered on and off. cuited. The overhead lights their miner's lamps 'ithout a word everyone turned on headbands. "Blake!" Coulter called. "I think we got 'eml Check e scanners" the anteroom. A dozen Blake and Morales covered television scanners had moved back and forth. Now hey jerked fitfully to stops and the small power lights ,th each carnera dimmed like dying, tiny cYclOPs- "We got therni" Kim shouted, jubilant- Vere running behind!' "Get with It guarded," Suarez threw WI' Blake bellowed. -I thought this place wasn at Zhukov- zhukov answered 1@ I lust goes to show YOU, friend It trust the Russians with a strained grin, "that you can to do what you expect them to do.- 'chattj "Let's get the --Can the r," Blake said angrily. Suarez following assigned 1"floor cables." Seavers and 364 Martin Caidin tasks, had their laser Pistols close against the floor, slicing deep furrows in the stone metal. Zhukov hov- ered nearby, studying a schematic of powerlines. Coulter and Blake were at the main door leading to the waiting tunnel, looking for the easiest way through. Carmen Morales ran to Zhukov. "Where's the cables for air conditioning?" she said urgently. "We've got them already. Zhukov h-aced a line on the schematic and pointed to the exposed, laser-ripped flooring. "Right there. When you cut these cables you shut down the air conditiorung systems ahead and be- hind us." "Great," she said, reaching into her pack and with- drawing three heavy canisters with quick-release firing Pins. She waited for further orders from Blake. Blake turned from the heavy door leading to the tunnel. "Ut's do it, troops. Fourteen minutes." Zhukov joined them and the men slapped a shaped thermite charge against the door lock@._A thin wire trailed behind them as they moved quickly to the oppo- site end of the anteroom. With everybody together, Suarez yanked a tubular devi ce fi-om a canister. Like a thing alive, the fitonol metal jerked and expanded as if 0 it were alive, forming a large wedge-shaped blast shield. Suarez pulled locking pis in place; he and Blake gasped handles within the shield. "Hit it," Blake orderedzhukov. Zhukov twisted a handle on his waist powerpak. in- tense flame ripped into the steel door and a heavy, dull explosion boomed about them, hurling out molten metal and chunks of debris. The shield shook and vibrated wildly from the impact of steel chunks, but held. Im- mediately Blake and Suarez released the grips and Suarez hurled the wedge to the side. Morales glanced at a wrist gauge. "Everyone! Oxygen plugs! Now!" They pulled small plugs from their packs and in- serted them solidly in their nostrils. Oxygen flowed from the packs. Nose clamps assured they'd breathe BEAMRIDERS si: g but pure oxygen if they needed to as they to break through the heavy defense door. y shitl,, Coulter exclaimed, pointing behind them. y yellow gas was seeping into the anteroom from h the door closest to them. I it's mustard gasl We've got to get out of herell, s shouted, through that doorl" Blake ordered. "And unti away from this gas, no more talkingl Use hand Is only. Clamp your lips fight. Lees gol" ey rushed for the door, still closed but possibly ked. If they needed more charges now they'd hurl aid gas about them with great force and they'd more than the nostril intakes to protect them. door moved a fiwtion of an inch. Coulter made a ge with his hands and pointed to the door- The al was unmistakable. unlocked, but janimed. Kim A her laser pistol at the line between door and ke, ran it down swiffly to clear any debris. Suarez sped the heavy handle, Blake grabbed Suarez and a tremendous heave the door dragged open slowly. through, turned and Pulled it shut. No sign hey went PS showed. '. Kim, hit it with a weld," Blake told Seavers. Again She melted a chunk of 146 laser pistol went into action. )r near the top, letting the molten metal run down, Aing swiftly. In moments, as it cooled, the door was 3cfively sealed shut. it would take another explosive st to free it. Company," Morales sang out. They spun about from door. Two men rushing toward them, gijabbing@ for _Eomatic pistols in leathered holsters. Morales yanked pin from one of the canisters she'd been holding and it ahead of her. A muffled explosion slammed urled Iwd air against them, but their eyes were clamped shut the blinder grenade !and they covered their fitces as Swent off, savage and piercing in the enclosed tunnelway. One man screamed; the other shouted, cursing:2 firing blindly with his automatic. They dropped to the tunnel floor. 366 Martin Caidin "Put him away," Blake called to Suarez. The big Venezuelan held a blowtube in one hand, pressing a button. A compressed air a narcotic dart into the throat of th 9 Russian. He went backward as if hit by a uncon- scions before he hit the floor. The narcotic dose would leave him that way for more than an hour. They dashed down the tunnel. Unexpectedly a door opened to their left, in midoenter of the tunnel. A Russian guard stared in disbelief at them, gun in hand. He got off two shots before Blake came up under him, swinging @ iis fighting staff. It caught the Russian on the side of the ear, pole-axing him. "Put him out," Blake ordered. He was taking no chances with unconscious Russians coming awake before the team's time ran out. Suarez fired a dart into the unconscious form. Blake and Morales were already tossing canisters into the guard recreation room. A blinder grenade went off with a dull booming roar and a smoke grenade followed immediately. "Jain itl" Blake yelled -as he pulled the door shut. Kim hit the edges at once with the laser Pistol. Metal ran molten; the door was jammed. They ran steadily, crouching low. "How long does this goddamn tunnel gol" Coulter yelled. "Zhukov, YOU crazy bastard, what's happening here?" -Keep running keep running," Zhukov urged. -They've increased the tunnel length, thats all." Blake turned, saw Zhukov running at a strange angle. Blood caked his left shoulder. Blak@ didn't need to ask whether he'd taken one of those early bullets. "Can YOU handle it?" Blake asked, running. "It's a scratch," Zhukov said harshly. "Keep running. And watch out for another guard room. There must be another one that's not on our charts." "Jesus Christ," Coulter said, alarm in his voice. "Look, they've widened the tunnel into a guard perimeter ahead of usl" "Hit'eml" Blake roared. Blinder grenades flew down the tunnel into the wid- ened space that formed the guard checkpoint. Smoke BEAMRIDERS 367 flat, snapping out jades followed, and Suarez went Ptic darts as fast as he could. Sirens and klaxon " screamed and blared, and they heard sudden fire, but they had the element of surprise. The e was wild pandemonium as half-blinded, choking, wildly with their __g Russian guards either fired or struggW to see. Zhukov had been right. se men all had only their pistols. The regular Prri- with heavy firepower and fully automatic weapons n't reached them yet. after the other, as lorales threw her canisters one ahead of them as she could toss the blinder and ed to one knee, )ke grenades. Kim Seavers had dropp steadily from a tube launcher. Vomitine eas shells , with ihe smoke; it would dissipate within thirty is, but that was enough for the Russians sucking tter gas into their lungs to stop as if hit by trucks, ing6ver, retching violently- Suarez and MO- 'imigo, the whipsl"'Blake sang out. forward, whips cracking like pistol shots, rushed vofts. Blu_e fire leaped handles set to ninety thousand touched human bod- crackled wherever the whips it went incredibly fast. More than a dozen Russian le pain on the rds Jay crumpled or twisting in terrib shed down the hallway toward ;everal more guards ru d shouting. "Be- m. zhukov stood tall, pointing an he shouted in Russian. d you! Behind You idioull, hoot, Shoal" un about, guns firing blindly down the The men sp Minel at anything that might or might not be there' up f@st behind them. The whips ne beamriders came ook out two, Kim nailed one with a wrist-crossbow lart Coulter flattened the fourth with a blow to the I )ack of the neck. "More doors ahead. Keep goingl" Blake bellowed. A guard staggered to his feet behind them, holding is pistol in both hands, He emptied the magazine in heir direction. Coulter spun wildly from three shots @squarely to his back, bouncing off a wall, starting to go 368 Martin Caidin down. Blake caught him as Coulter hung on, gasping for air. "Just... just keep me... UP, Coulter choked out. "The vest... stopped the... slugs. Out of ... breath." Blake dragged him on down the tunnel, leav- ing the gunman to Suarez; A crackling display of blue fire and the Russian bounced several times on the floor, unconscious. Several more men appeared, their guns still bolstered. Blake dropped CoultWhke a sack of meal and barreled into the group, the heavy staff swinging like a sword against heads, groins and stomachs. Four or five Rus- sians were either unconscious or on their hands and knees, battered. 'Put 'ern outl" Blake shouted, going back for Coulter. Morales ran up, whip singing with blue fire. It was enough to get one good caress with the whip to put a man out of action for an hour or more. They had no trouble getting through the next barrier. The door stood wide open. Zhukov ran ahead of the group, holding on to his bleeding arm. A dozen Russian blood. Zhukov gestured from a felled Rus- confused soldiers. They the pistol. As they door the rest of the disappeared into yet another s team caught up with Zhukov. "Leo, what ihe hell did you tell them?" Blake asked. "They just ran away." Zhukov grinned hugely. "First impressions are ev- erything. Here I am, a wounded Russian col onel, pistol hand, shouting orders. What else is there to do obey? I told them there was a large force of terrorists back in the first defense ring, trying to get upstairs to the meeting of the commissars on the second floor. I told them to take the emergency tunnel and get to the.Kremlin chambers at once." He gestured ahead of them. "Keep moving, keep moving, Stan." They ran on, Suarez helping Coulter, who'd had the equivalent of hammer blows to his back and lungs and was still struggling for air. "HoVd you know about an emergency tunnel?" Blake asked Zhukov. BEAmRIDERS 369 didn't," he said between his own struggle for air. t4 they d made these many changes here, it made 0, that they would have built a safety corridor. grinned again, I guess they ft. A,-@ of us," Kim called to them. "The eleva- aft. I can see the doors." Moments later they A the twin doors. "Al, Bill, Carmen," Blake said y, check behind us. Lob a few smoke grenades I as you can for safety. We've got to get this or to work." turned back with Zhukov at his side. Coulter had to the floor, back against the wall, taking deep idering breaths. He knew the bullets, prevented I entering his body by the flak vests, likely had (en a couple of ribs. There was too much pain and was too difficult. But if he could just hang on hing longer he'd make it. He looked up at Blake and Dv at the door. Zhukov banged on the buttons. uivered, jerked back s started to open, shook and q i)rth barely. an inch or two, and jammed in place- Ihen we cut the power," Zhukov said. "Ifs on gency only now, but there isdt enough juice to ate normally." Tell have to blow it open," Blake said. "Give me a 11 I Leo. Quickly. explosive charges against the hey slapped thermite _ the right of the elevator. Of a thick service panel to need this mujh?" Leo asked, eyes wide. we buddy?" Blake shot back. You got time to spare twisted the verybody heads upl,, he,yelied, and ig- er. They hugged the wall as the charge blew out the el panel. -Goddamn,- zhukov muttered. The wiring system ukov studied it for a long moment, 5 a mess. Zh Ike's fists clenching and unclenching, then Zhukov ebbed two green wires and jammed them together. of electricity s body jerked convulsively as a charge into him. His head snapped back, his jaw twisting he fought for breath. To his side the elevator doors ashed open. Before Blake could move Suarez was 370 Martin Caidin ng through the air in a brutal football tackle directly at Zhukov. His weight and the -force of his sudden' charge slarnined Zhukov fi-ee of the wires. Eyes bulg- ing, gasping for air, the others dragged him and Coulter into the elevator. Seavers kept hitting the up button. The others stared helplessly as Mm turned, despair in her eyes. Blake and Suarez wasted no time. They linked their hands and fingers into a step, Carmen Morales put a foot uarely in their interlocked fingers, and they heaved Veur up and held her aloft as she rammed her forearms against the access and service panels on the elevator roof. 11ey came fiee with a clanging motion. She reached UP and shoved them aside, looked up, a flashlight beam in her hand moving back and forth. "Two ladders, side by side, straight up. One door 11 three floors up. I can see it. Boost me higher. They heaved and she went th rough the panel, turn- Mg to assist those below. Kneeling on one knee, she grasped Kim's wrist first, hauling up as she was boosted fi-om below. "Don't wait," Carmen ordered. "Start up those shin now. And have a blinder ready to toss the moment you're up there." They sent up Coulter next so he could have as much time as Possible to make it up what was a devastating climb for a man who Apparently had broken ribs. Zhukov took the second ladder as Kim scampered up followed by Coulter. ZhUkov wanted to be first to the 4D;r at the ypper level. He was the best prepared of them all with his colonel's uniform and language fluency to meet any awkward" situations. Suarez lifted Blake to the open- ing and he lifted himself with levitation-like ease, the muscular Suarez following him the sairne way. "Go ahead," Blake told Suarez. "I'll leav@ a Yift be- on one sid@'of the on the other, ran a thin It was virtually invisible after them would break anyone firing at them went to hell in a won cut wires, and if BEAMRIDERS 371 blinder and set could drop a concussion they t of the grenades off when it struck. M them, Zhukov and Kim were. at the upper W. doors. zhukov climbed higher, reaching for rgency handle to open the doors from the shaft -3 with all his strength. "jammedi" he said in a IA hisper to Seavers. me have a wedge charge- wed the charge at the base of the doors, Passed Zliukov. -ften I down. Blake came up behind . to Leo give it everything you've got," he Id nid- .t@r what happens wave got to get as far inside - - they'll pick us off like sitting can. otherwise with a Muscovy ducks, you mean," Leonid said down. -Everybody, flatten Ss laugh. He leaned and hang on to those ladder If against the walls "At the count He turned and held his hand out. and jammed a he added. 'Three, two, one--' ire fi-orn his powe"k into the shaped charge- from the elevator doors blew completely away opening, taking much of the blast effect with as hard as they could Over their heads, rode out the booming ladders, the six beamriders ission wave. "Hit itl" Blake yelled, and tossed a the open doorway. Zhukov -r grenade through ed with a second, and they scrambled into what guard came around red to be a series of offices- A r for his pistol as he ran. Blake legs. The gruard his grabbed his arm' and Died, fidling carried ted i hard as he could. The guard was flailing, mouth ard by his own momentum; arms in the start of a scream, he flew out into the empty e of the elevator shaft. His scream echoed thinly ut them as they moved as fast as they could out of shaft. about the corner, firing as wo more guards came y ran. Blake took a heavy blow to the ribs; only his ,lar vest saved him. His sudden gasp fiom the shot 372 Martin Caidin distracted the guards for a moment. Two whips cracked as one as Morales and Suarez lashed out, the wbips 4ashing against the Russians' legs. Blue fire crackled, they spun about like rag dolls, unconscious before they crumpled. Zhu-kov was already ahead of the others, Kim with him, stopping at corridor exchanges. Behind them a sudden roaring explosion as grenades set for ambush in the elevator roof went off with gouts of flame and a brilliant flash. Smoke boiled upward through the shaft. Screams and shouts came garbled through the uproar about the team. They ignored them, far more inter- ested in the shouting and the nolinding of feet coming toward them from the corridorsi@at lay ahead. Leonid Zhukov, his good arm held h!gh with his automatic in his hand, ran straight toward the oncom- ing Russians. In his first glance he saw they were a mixture of -soldiers with technicians, secretaries and scientists. Zhukov made certain to shout first and more loudly than an ne else. Cursing a blue streak against YO the idiots who would leave the Kremlin chambers oven to the real assault rather than the fuss and bother of ihis decoy assault, he turned at least half the Russian troops in the other direction, running as fiLst as their booted feet would take them. But a group of mixed technicians and soldiers feU in behind Zhukov to protect and to follow him. No choice; Zhukov, still shouting and wav- mg his weapon, went charging through a door into a room that promised to lead to another corridor. Two Russian guards within, standing b efore an enor- mous computer console, opened fire immediately' Zhukov with first sight of the guards had thrown him- self violently to the side, cursing as his injured shoulder slammed into a desk. Behind him several of the Rus- sians who were following him screamed in a wild spray of a devastating blood&tth at pointblank range from their own men. Flesh, bones and blood spattered throughout the room, mixed with cries of pain and screams of rage. In the confusion Zhukov stayed low and made it back BEAmFuDERs 373 e corridor. The bearnriders came running up the ately just as the enraged guards burst MY, unfortun I the room where 616od ran so freely. The Russians y a blast of heavy gunfire. Coulter took a blow to @stomach, stopped by his kevlar vest, but a second sliced open his upper arm in a painful but not ling wound. less fortunate. She seemed to Morales was rmen struck by a giant invisible blow and hurled against a 11 Su was right behind her, dodging, his arm . .arez , catching the first Russian in the )ping out the whip ù Blue fire ripped through his mouth and ears and a his nose; blood gushed forth and he was uncon- s in midscream. The effect was enough to throw Off second guard. Kim nailed him with a wrist cross- silently, face contorted. r dart and he fell stantly by Carmen. Blood stained her uarez was in shoulder and her face 1AW white with pain. A bullet gone into her mouth at an angle, missing her teeth, her cheek. It was a terrible and emerged from ody wound but it wouldn't kill her, yet the pain was mizing. 1- she begged Suarez. "Get the h-hell out of G-go on Kim - IT stay ... stay ere. The whip ... give it to ere ... block them nto Without a word Suarez jammed a handkerchief i hauled her up like ter mouth against the cheek wound, over his shoulder. sack of d6gfood and threw her oulter was on his feet, dazed but in control Of himself, caught up with Blake to g with Blake. ZhukOv runnin roces- @help lead the way. Kim took up the rear of the P sion, ready for anything with grenades and crossbow darts. i- zhukov shouted, pointing ahead f, the last corridor ees light on his ahead, the min @,of them. He ran madlY forehead moving so wildly it seemed like a flashing beacon. from behind him. "StOPI He heard Seavers's scream Leo, it's a trapl- wall, looked back to Seavers. He flattexied against a 374 Martin Caidin She pointed down the corridor to a TV scanner high on a far wall. "Leo, what the bell's that thing doing on? I thought we cut those cablesl The transmit light is onl" Gasping for breath, he spoke in short bursts of words. "Separate power line ... must be. Can't get through here. 11ey're watching. This whole place ... alive ... with lasers. Got to knock out ... scannerl" He turned to Seavers. "Kim, don't go down that haUu)ay- It's a laser trap." He closed his eyes, murmuring in a sense of sudden, overwhelming defeat. "We came so ... fitr ... now ... this Behind him, the others came pounding up the corri- dor. Zhukov waved his arms. 'Stopl Kim's down the corridor she'll be killed ... scanners working ... the whole place is ... alive with lasersl" Blake stretched out an arm to signal the others to stop where they were. Without a word, Suarez eased Carmen to the floor, turned to cover them behind him. Blake called to Kim Seavers. "Hold it therel I'll helpf" "Stay bacid" she screamed at him. He had no choice but to watch as she unsnapped the flexmirror she'd used before. She held it ca-re-fidly top and bottom so that each side, her left ing mirror. She took a the speed she could manag the finthest point she gone to before, and threw her- self forward in a wild rolling somersault, going over and over in a blur of gleamini-flexmirror and parts of her own body. Laser beams snapped ste,@ily, angry blazing 4ragons biting lethally at her, reflecting from the flexmirror. The others stared, helpless yet awed, as Kim whirled down the corridor. A sudden cry of pain stabbed back to them as a laser sliced through an ex- posed area and burned through her jumpsuit leg and her own skin as well. Then she was by the far wall, directly beneath the scanner and she threw aside the mirror, climbed to her feet. She held the laser pistol in one hand, turned it on, reached high and jammed the pistol against the scanner. Ruby-x;d flame tore into metal and plastic; a shower of molten debris fell about Ir side, the weapon com ght of the gun. His whi a blur around her A screamed and the gun went flying as she jerked back E violently, already unconscious. hmfv "In God's name, how much longer does this 90 On'@" WSuarez shouted to Zhukov. BEAmRiDERs 375 She winced as particles hit her face, searing more L. Numb with pain, she waved a weary arm for i to come on. ,he light's outl She's done RI" Blake prodded the I rs. "Move, movel" tey came down the corridor, battered and besieged wounds and pain. Suarez half-carried Carmen Mo- her fitce white, but regaining her strength. Zhukov a hand to the shoulder where he'd been shot, but @ye re bright and clear agam. Coulter limped hard way:T, a miracle in motion with broken ribs, s and internal injuries fi-om bullets slamming into evlar vest his upper arm bleeding fi-om a grazing 1. Blake had taken several direct hits, but he was )owerfully muscled that the blows against his kevlar dd were like fly specks. angle by the scanner 'he corridor turned at a right 1 had turned into slag. Tbey Pushed their way into a e doorless anteroom, obviously a communications kpoint where two huge Russian women came run- at them from behind a counter. Blake didn't hesi- a moment. The beefy woman in the lead, a heavy in her hand, rushed him, swinging with all her t. , Nice try," Blake smiled. His fighting staff caught her ineath the elbow and the sound of bone cracking was stol shot. Blake didn't waste the sudden advan- te a pi pole whipped around, the opposite end came ge. The Aware swiftly and she took the blunt end like a Mack ck directly in her chest. Her eyes bulged as she was from her own Immed unconscious, tumbling sideways omentum and the crushing blows. The second woman was struggling with a holster by into view as Suarez caught the tip curling cracliled, she 376 Martin Caidin Zhukov pointed to a wooden door. "We're there. The women were guards to keep whoever's on the other side of that door inside." Suarez turned to Seavers. "Kim help Carmen." Kirn nodded, put an arm about Carmen's waist. "Hit itl" Blake yelled to Suarez. Both men stepped back, and ran full speed toward the wooden door. At the last moment they left the floor beneath them in flying lacks and thew combined weight, with all their speed, brought their boots crashing with tremendous impact against the door. Wood splintered with a tearing crash, lunges ripped away and the door blew back- wards. Zhukov ran past Blake and Suarez as they re- gained their feet; they followed Zhukov, the others coming behind as fast as they could hobble and limp. They train in the research laboratory. Near room center, to their right, stood a man who could only be Dr. Peter Unsworth. He stood untroubled by the may- hem and explosions and crashing noises and flying dust and debris, staring at them with sightless eyes. He wore a lab smock. One hand rested on the table, an- other was in a pocket. They felt wildly unreal, staring at the British scien- tist, whose eyes, unseeing, blind, seemed to bore right through them. Unsworth's hair was disheveled, and as he stood quietly his mouth opened slowly. The frozen tableau held for long, stark seconds. ..M 113od". S y eavers said. "He's mad" "Four vgnutesl" Blake shouted. "Al, cover us. Zhukov, look around, see if anything's going to be trouble. Bill, can you help with-no; you stay with Al. Kim, you help me with the old man, here. We've got to get him into a magsuit now." Kim slipped her backpack fi-om her shoulders to the floor yanked open the velcro cover and pulled free a loose-hanging jumpsuit lined with magnetic metallic stripmg and threads and velero bands throughout. At the top she shook loose a flexplastic see-through face- Plate. The thought struck her as ridiculous. -they'd BEAMRIDERS 377 transparent faceplate for a nwn sure to bring a Vas blind. , I" Blake him. In Rus @o called sharply. "Talk to Tell him we're here to get him out of this place, to him with us . He's got to get into this suit for up to Unsworth, touched his arm gently, kov went nsworth looked but clearly in Russian- U him, then abruptly stepped backward 1 d ,the e of the table. His sightless filce cOntOrte :Su( . anger; his blind eyes stabbed at Zhukov. houted angrily in Russian. ?- Kim asked. What's he saying s " Zhukov said, "to get at me, at u , to leave him alone. to Unsworth, hoping a woman's voice s Unsworth crambled away from them; ic he stumbled by a chair, nearly fall- to help him, hold him up. Please, please, Dr. Unsworth ... we're ffiends, re your friends, " she said, as calmly and yet as entry as ;he could. --we want to help, take You away n here to safety." JLI his blind panic none of them could fathom' she blocked the blow. worth swung wildly at Kim. ly and gently as he could- as firm ,e held Unsworth -ustration mmit, man," he railed in his fi we're spair stark on her face. "Stan, im turned to Blake, de what to dol" ning out of time. I-I don't know re run 'Whatever it is," he said harshly, "we'd better do it amn fast. We're going to have company soon and I this time. The ave no doubt they'll be the heavies fi-om her to Unsworth. "Well arrison here." He glanced go or not." ist have to take him whether he wants to with some inner "No!- Her face seemed to twist do itl Either 'No, I won't do it. I won't let you on re coLies with us by his own decision or- Unsworth moved uncertainly but on his own closer to as though he @Kim. He seemed to be staring at her fiLce 378 Martin Caidin had an unknown inner sight. The f ear and anger he had shown fitded as his hand reached Out to touch Kim's sho ulder, move UP to the side of her face. A smile appeared,@ a smile and astonishment. "You're ... You're thinking in Eng&h!" he cried. "I don't what?" Kim stumbled in her answer, confused. UnswOrth's fiy---- was almost shining. "You're thinki. M Englishl You're not Ruwknsl,, 9 Suarez's voice bellowed fi-om the side. "Dammit, I we ve got less than two minutes! Do it, man, clo itl" Kim fitced Unsworth directly. "What do You mean? How do You know we're not Russians?" "He can hear us, Kim," Blake broke in. "if nothing else, the way we're talking--:' ..No!" UnswOrth shouted, laughing and crying at the same time. "You don't understand ... I'm 17 Th dea . ese people destro Yed my eardrums. They're ... I can't hear a thing you're saying I can't see you ... but YOU re thinking in English!-' Blake stared with wide, astonished eyes. "My God, he's doing it ... reading our minds." "Yes! Yesl" Unsworth shouted. seavers gripped the arms of the old man. She was going crazy tryi ng to think her thoughts as hard as she could while she spoke aloud. "Doctor, if You understand what I'm saying, what I'm thinking as damn hard as I can, Youve got to get into this jumpsuit. please ... we don't have any time left-" Kim shut her eyes, facial muscles tense, her mouth set tightly, thinking with all her might. A heavy explosion boomed from the corridor. The y heard voices shouting in Russian. Blake spun about to see Suarez hurling gas canisters with all his strength down the corridor. Dull Popping explosions and sudden bursts of light told him the gas canisters were blowing, mixed with the blinder grenades. "One minute, goddammitl,, Suarez shouted. "One minute and we go with or without himil Zhu kov, help 379 BEAMRIDERS over there. Thafs the pickup point itl Move!" open. "The suitl" she shouted 11 work with usl" suitl He -,e b nsworth's shoulders, Kim slipped the sfs legs into the suit trousers, wrapping velcro @rs into place as quickly as she could. They got into the gloved sleeves. Blake ran his hand up ns nt of the suit, magnetic fisteners sealing wher- the helmet over his they touched. They pushed Kim ran her hands around the neck rim. ,-,'s in." she told Blake. Stay low, girl. old him at pickup," he pointed. g to be a hell of a ;queaker." is Ater could barely move; Blake grabbed him by an it and di dead beef into the pickup The ot] together. Only Suarez re- ied outside the circle. "All Let's gol" Blake shouted. 4ol They I re coming!" Suarez shouted. He paused to another grenade down the hall. A burst of machine- fire ripped at them from the corridor. Suarez spun it from the impact of bullets slamming into the lar vest at stomach height. He hurled another blinder enade as he started to M. A bullet clipped his knee 4 he dropped heavily, cursing. tl" he called through his pain. "I'll Go on, dammi . ild them-" Blake dashed fioin the pickup circle. He heard Kim's 4ce screaming from behind him. "Stanl Don't ... -'ve only got seconds to-@, He wasdt listening. He dragged Suarez to Ins feet, his back to the pickup circle, and punched S ,med uarez all his strength. Mood flew. The the mouth with kocked Suarez, trying to stand on one leg, stared at lake, who bent fo@rwixd, hit his friend in the stomach ith his shoulder in a running-start football tackle, hurl- S. He grabbed Suarez about the waist, backward all his strength. S one 14 bac uarez fell, unable to other hopelessly gripping him with 380 Martin Caidin 41 his might, falling into the =dd. da,,Jing gre,n light ... Russian soldiers in gas masks, deploying out to the Sides fi-oin the corridor, burst into the laboratory, ov- ing swiftly and expertly, machine guns hammering from one side to the other, their weapons shattering lab equipment. They stopped firing, staying low, moving cautiously to finiih off the- The long laboratory was city. A Chapter XXM of their pent- 'he young couple stood on the edge ands ana stories above the flat s ie balcony twenty a lov- in-sparlding surf of Cocoa Beach. Theirs was n a inoo night, a breeze waffing in from o lore ing ever so ,slowly to the horizon. The surf came' lo slow beat to M, musical in its splashing rhythm, mood. No shortage here Of Magid gently on one's senses. To their le] curving flank of the Canave the way to the tip of the C in apartii@e@ts s of lights from h Bonfires winked i created bX surf. Offshore red lazily in all d fleet cruised in a slow formi the arkness to the I s of the gain to their le beyond ibmarine pens, iose upreaching beams, the lights m. r .-Daceport from where the shuttles fie 1010 vea silently and ghostly at regula tanaveral lighthouse sweeping its be two young- than th, around as it had for years longer sters had been alive. s in the No shortage of gle"jg@ and sparkling CM nly by sky. Helicopters drove back and forth, visible 0 rful flapping mono- their lights, discernible fi-om the powe 381 382 Martin Caidin tone of great rotors and the harsh cry of jet exhausts. A A launch was nearing, and of a sudden @vhit@ lances spoked into the night as batteries cof great searchlights SUr- rounding a space booster clicked and boomed to life. Ile couple looked south and again the pearls that glowed and the gleaming lights marched on. Beyond Cocoa Beach rose reat Id light fiorn the fli lightline fl y 0019 of Pf amber trlc@ AN= Base. In the distance, i I over the ocean, they saw three huge and intense white - z lights start fiom tiny twinkles and become unbelievable brilliant globes: the landing lights of some great trans- port still concealed within the brightness of lights and otherwise shrouded in the dark. "This is hard to believe," the young man said finalh, tightly against body as of the moment. Worid?" she asked. on the water, and "An@ the Magic Kingdom?" "uh But h She shoik her head slowly, a romantic young thing, warm and rounded and lovely here at night, leaving behind her a daytime world where she commanded the skills of great computers and she thought in time measured in millionths of seconds. That was some other place, some other time. Yet- "What's so haid to believe is that all this is real," she said finally. "That really gets to me. When I was a little girl I used to come down to the beach, up there,' she pointed, "by the jetties, and we'd watch the rockets go up at night, and the whole sky looked like it was on fire, and it was so beautiful." He lacked her words, the years of growing up in the midst of aimed fire and steel, but he was no less im- pressed. "Wow, I guess you're right," he said finally, wanting the words but suffering those riches. The shaft of green fire saved the moment for him. One moment they held themselves willing prisoners of the night and the lights. In the next instant the wire-thin slash of green snapped into existence, a light that ap- BEAMPJDERS 383 between earth and the shrouded gone, remaining a bit longer as retinal -reflection in their eyes. that was that?" she exclaimed. flaked his own private gods for knowing some at least, about this sudden intrusion in their t Usually it's e heavens. "Oh, I've seen that a lot later than now, though." hat is ... I mean, it was so beautiful, and it came went like," she laughed, a wonderfiil tinkling sound er young man, "well, like magic-" She laughed n. "That's the kind of light Peter Pan or Tinkerbell Ad use to slide down from the sky." WelL in a way, maybe it's like that," he told her. "It's ke kind of test, you know, a beam for sending television lals back and forth between satellites. Whatever it is, it was beautiful," she sighed. -You know what I think?" He moved back slightly to like to think about this stuff a lot. YOU Science fiction, like. Wouldn't it if we need to use the rockets to fly maybe we could use something like It know," she said slowly, unrealizing that e world in which she spent her days was a miracle -yond dreaming to her own family only two or three "How would something like that merations removed. ork?" ,well, i don't know," he fought the words out, "but I ras reading that it was impossible fbr sailors from a ig time ago to imagine ever crossing the ocean, you now, without their ever once touching the water. The whole idea was real crazy to them. How could you cross going in a boat? You had to go by was It any other way, and since you just n well, it was crazy." light. "So that' how I think about that s energy beam. We send voices through I invisible rays now, right? Voices and even pictures. 384 Martin Caidin Television goes through microwaves, like those towers by the Phone company building? Well, we could use things like that." She laughed, and for a terrible moment he thought she was laughing at him. She wasn't. She was laughing at the idea, so unreal, so preposterous, of men going into space on a light beam. "You know what?" she said to him. "Before I'd be- lieve people could travel by light, I'd believe that one day we'll-be able to talk to other people at a distance without radio, or television, or things like that." "How would they do that?" "Well, being able to send thoughts by thinking. You know, mental telepathy. Stuff like that.' He laughed." Wow, You're really awesome, you know that?" "Well," she retorted with her f avorite girlish pout, "I'll bet," and she snuggled closer to him, her full breasts hard against his chest, "I can tell right now what you're thinking." He grinned. "You bet," he said, and kissed her. mal" Chapter XXW The huge clanishell doors of Canaveral Dome came ther with a deep, low-booming rumble and a final ive thud. No one heard or paid attention to the d. All eyes in the great dome stared at the seven es huddled together within the Texan transceiver re, now lowering steadily and smoothly. AU other to a halt everyone -,ity within the dome ground in expected, a presence of a seventh person. The other at the dome. Only few among the scientists, and the remaining cadre of had known nothing of the attempt to bring They found the siglit of seven, one wrapped understan&g. Masse3 of his own his wfld- Veople as est expectations. it didn't take him more a single glance to confirm his fears, as well. Several people in the group, hanging together as tightly as they were, prevented him from sorting out who had suffered what, and the blood spat- but the pained expressions on fitces enough a tered on their suits was message He had filli medical team standing by, paramedics and two of the finest doctors from the navy, the latter chosen for their security as much as their medical skills. "Timminsl Brudosl Get in therel" he called to the medical team. They moved forward, pushing aside other people who gawked at the sight before them as the sphere rested on the dome floor. The doctors and para- medics moved to the group. Stretchers were brought to the sphere as bodies began to Separate- Right behind 385 386 Martin Caidin the doctors, mixing in with them were Maria Barrios, Jim Sabbath and Danza Cayuga. They brought Bill Coulter fiom the group first, face white and drawn, grinning through set teeth to hold back the pain. Dr. Timmins hovered over him. Coulter looked up at Massey. "It was one hell of a ride, boss- man." He winced with the effort of raising up on one elbow and talking. Massey went to his side. Every glance brought his pride soaring. "Shut up," he told Coulter,- but the words carried deep affection with them. "How bad is it?" Coulter turned his head to Dr. Timmins. "Shut UP, and talk," he grunted through his vain. "Omery old son of a grizzly bitch, i swear. @'_ Timm-ins moved his hands across Coulter, when the beamrider agent cursed with renewed pain. "Easy there, doc. Very easy, if you please." He swallowed hard. I think I've got a couple of busted ribs. My stomach don't feel so g @ pod also. He closed his eyes for a long moment. "Goddamn arm's sorta messed up." Timmis turned to a medical team. "Get him to surgery immediately. Dr. Wells is waiting there. Okay, move him out. Gently, damn you; gently." "Hey, I got to . . . " Coulter was on the edge of faint- ing. His voice began to fade. Ili got to ... to report . Massey touched his shouldei gently. "Later, hoss." They wheeled Coulter away. "He's ble@ding inter- nally. I think we're looking at a punctured lung also. Did you see that kevlar vest? it looks like they were shoving. pistons at that man." Massey nodded. "Get to the others," he said, moving closer to his group. Dr. Sam Brudos stood before Car- men Morales, whose fitce and neck were covered with blood. Her jumpsuit showed dark stains from heavy bleeding. The doctor carefully removed the handker- chief from her mouth. Someone behind him murmured, "Jesus . Massey gave him a look that would have frozen a polar bear. He turned back to see Carmen pushing away the doctor. She could barely talk and was obvi- BEAmRIDERS 387 great pain. "Alpjandro," she forced out through mouth. "Take care ... Alejandro ... hurt i Suarez had been so quiet, staying so much in the ackground, they'd ignored his remaining seated, look- ig all the world like a heavy buddha. Massey went to !ie sphere, gently removed Suarez's hands where he'd eld them so carefully over his knee. "Jesus goddamned Irist," Massey swore soffly. Suarez's whole knee and leg were caked with blood. Massey stared at white bone -through the torn leg of the jumpsuit. Massey turned; i$ tending to bad wounds. Massey ges- , oth doctors were hired for two paramedics. IlDon't waste a moment. Get Ais man to the medical ward at once. Stay unth him, and"and? Don't leave his damn side until a doctor gets to him." Massey turned back, knelt down before Suarez. "Ever think about having a bionic knee?" "you sound, uh, damn ... sound like I'm a candidate." -you are. you take any morphine from your kit?" Suarez shook his head slowly. "No time. Had to keep my head ... clear." Massey hadn't realized how badly he must hurt. "Where else, Alejandro?" he asked as softly as he could. "Got some stomach pains. External. Kevlar stopped a bunch of rounds." "Your mouth ... what happened?" "What's it look like, boss-man?" "Your lip is split wide open. Loose teeth. HOW-__ " Suarez grimaced in a horrible grin. He lifted an arm pairiffilly and pointed to Blake. Blake stood to the side, Maria Barrios clinging desperately to him, her face buried in his chest. Massey knew she was crying. "Big dumb son of a bitch Suarez forced out painfully. "Punched me ... like to tore my head 0 Massey stared. "What?" he exclaimed. Softly then, "But how ... why?" 388 Martin Caidin "Bastard ... saved my life. Kiss the ... ugly gringo for .. me. Massey stood. "Get him the hell out of here. On a stretcher. He's not to put any weight on that leg." it took the two medics and Massey to get the big man onto the stretcher; they wheeled -him away swiftly. He saw Zhukov seated on a stretcher; medics were cutting away his shoulder clothing to get to the wound. "Leonid Massey started, but the Russian inter- ruPted him immediately. "Flesh wound. IT be fine. Take care of the others." Zhukov looked around. "Kim, where is she?" My God ... Massey thought fi-antically. Kim, and Unsworthl He saw them well to the side of the others, a soup of people about them, staring, mystified, at the British scientist. Kim was removmg the last of the magsuit and helmet they'd placed on him, and it wasn't until he was much closer that Massey saw that Kim herself had taken some nasty punishment. He looked fiorn her to Peter Unsworth, his sightless eyes staring straight ahead of him, turning slowly back to Kim. None of the uproar appeared to have the slightest effect on him. Massey started to speak to Unsworth, then a lifetime of hard experience ruled his emotions. You take care of@your people who are hurt, first. Everything else comes later. He leaned down for a close look at her leg. "That's a nasty bum," he said, looking up at her. She nodded. "Laser. Forget it. Well deal with it later. The laser's antiseptic' remember?" He stood. 'Kim, for Chnists sake, you've got bums on your face." Her eyes locked with his. "Later, sir.- He knew an imperative when he heard and faced it. He nodded, turned to Unsworth, to that sightless figure, looking so fi-ail in this huge place. Massey extended his hand. "Dr. Unsworth, I'm--:' "He can't hear you," Kim broke in. Massey's face showed his puzzlement. "The Russians ... for their tests. They destroyed his eardrums. He's deaf." BEAmRiDERs 389 help staring; even knowing the old see him, he still felt uncomfi)rtable of a rude stare. Peter Unsworth ed. fello, Caleb Massey," he said. physical blow couldn't have dazed Massey more i those few words, at that moment, only seconds learning that the man before him was blind and ow? Uh, hello, Dr. Unsworth ... Kim, you said uldn't hear me? But he knows my name he - who's standing here before himl" ., sir. That's right." Kim was smiling. ut how could he . Massey's voice trailed away. eye s widened and his mouth opened; he felt was gaping stupidly and forced his mouth closed. 'Don I t be embarrassed," Unsworth said, offering a d smile with his words. 'He's really--:' He let the question hang. 'Yes, sir," Kim said, and she was clearly and tremen- ply proud of this man who had linked his arm in You're- No, don't say it," Unsworth told him. "Ibink ir name. Spell it out letter by letter. Better yet, ik of seeing your own name in full, dominant and ght, like an electric sign against a dark background." Massey frowned and concentrated. "You're really working much harder than you need Caleb Massey." Unsworth extended his hand and key clasped. "My God, I am so pleased, so tremendously pleased, )at you I re safe and with us," Massey said. Immediately e turned to Kim. I feel so stupid, speaking aloud, nowing he can't hear what I'm saying, and yet, I want rn to know what I'm thinking, saying, what I want 'm to know!" "it will take some time, Caleb Massey. May I call Pon Caleb?" Unsworth asked. "I am so tired of those tiffnecked, no-imagination, bullheaded, blockbrained lussians-@' 390 Martin Caidin -Yes, yes; of coursel" "Then, please; my name is Peter. I am weary of officialdom, Caleb. --Sir, let me make it easier," Kim said. "Think and speak aloud when you communicate with Dr. Unsworth. If you try to separate the two it simply causes turmoil in your own mind, and it confuses him." "Muddies up the water, it does," Unsworth said. "Forgive me," Massey said hastily. "I haven't had the decency to ask if you're hurt, or tired, or-" Unsworth held up a hand. "First things first." "Of course." "Where in the bloody hell am IF' ..Sir, Dr. Uns--Peter ... the United States. Just on the south edge of Cape Canaveral. That's on the Atlan- tic coast of Florida." "Your space center?" Massey thought of the rows of giant towers, huge rockets blazing their way into the heavens. "Now that's the way I like a man to thinkl" Unsworth exclaimed. "Three-dimensional, full-color thinking. Thank you. I know where I am now." He fi-owned. "How in the hell did I get here? This young lady started several times to explain, but it has been quite exciting and, I must say, most mg. Massey created a mental picture of himself, facing Unsworth, both hands raised with his palms facing the scientist. "All right," Unsworth said affably. "I'll wait. But it was quite a ride, I'll tell you." He patted Kim's hand. "My dear, look at the gentleman, please. Stare at him. Concentrate on his fitce in total, then concentrate on his dominant features." I They stood this way for perhaps thirty seconds, until Unsworth nodded. "Well, now I know what you look like," Unsworth said. "A cross between a grizzly bear and a subway car, I'd say. "But how_@' "I see through her eyes, Caleb." "Oh. Is there--:' BEAMPJDERS 391 You're damned right. I thought you'd never get and to it." Unsworth licked dry lips. "Good Lord ve, how I need" a drink-No, no. Not water. ot a 'horrible thought. And not tea. Don't go vincial on me, old man. Relax. Scotch and soda. if @re still barbarians over here in the colonies, make vtch neat." technician standing behind them gestured to Mas- "I'll take care of it immediately, sir. Scotch and 11 Make it a double," Unsworth said. Yes, sir. " The aide took off as if propelled by a onon shot. Let me not continue to be such a poor host," Mas- said quickly. He thought up images of medicine, s, RX symbols. 'No, no; rm perfectly all right. Exhausted, and I sdl likely perish before you get me that drink. There something I'd like, Caleb." @Name it, Peter." -You old fool, get this girl some medical attention. I low she has a nasty bum." "Kim, the doctors are waiting for you," Massey said. saw the stubborn look on her face. "Don't argue, unmit! join us in the lounge as soon as they get trough with you. That's an order, Kiml" nodded slowly. "Thank you. it does hurt a bit." She started off but Unsworth gripped her arm. "One oment. A small favor, please. Caleb, will you look at ds young woman for me? As I asked her to do with )u?" It was strange, making an intense. study of someone )u'd known so well and so long, and seeing so many rdngs you'd never seen before, thought Massey. "Yes, it js that," Unsworth told him. "Thank you. he's a very lovely young woman. Kim, off with you," ad he pushed her'gently. Massey moved to take Unsworth's arm. The scientist Med his hand. "You look where you're going, Caleb. I see through your eyes." 392 Martin Caidin Massey took his arm. "I don't know if you're getting this picture Peter Unsworth," Massey said slowly, tryinj to create a visual image of Massey stumbling, "but 1 would feel a hell of a lot better if you let me-add some physical input to your walking about." Massey was per- spiring. I don't think YOU have any idea of-" He created a mental picture of Unsworth with a stubborn look on his face, while Massey stumbled about him, his hands tearing out his own hair in gobs and flinging them about wildly. He replaced the scene with another i Of a calm, serene Massey and Unsworth walking to- gether with Massey's hand guiding Unsworth by the arm. To finish off his three-dimensional image within his mind he thought of the night sky and scrawled a flaming PLEASEI across the heavens. Unsworth chuckled and slipped his hand through Massey's arm. "All right, Caleb. It appears this is going to be more difficult for you than it is for me." Massey nodded. Clouded in thought he nearly tripped over cables stretching across the floor. "Watch where you re goingl" Unsworth warned. Massey stopped, not believing what was happening. I still can't believe this . - he's blind, and he's deaf, and he's telling nze how a;t@ where to wwlk'becauie i'm bumbling about like an-idiot. 2 "True," Unsworth said. The scientist stopped in midstride. "How bloody un- thinking of me," 6 said quietly. He turned to face Massey. "I'm turning this way because I see myself through your eyes. If you can see my eyes directly I can see yours. Massey made a small, "Oh." "I have been terribly rude, Caleb. I can turn off my ability to read, or to think or feel or understand your thoughts, however this functions. I don't know. But I feel I'm intruding, and I am disturbing you greatly. If YOU wish complete isolation from me, if you wish your privacy absolutely not to be disturbed, you need only say so. Massey ran the problem through his mind. He had E BEAMRIDERS 393 kOntal pictures of himself mopping a sweaty brow, of mffision. He threw up clouds of question marks, then Loblazoned the word NECESSAWY in his mind. @All right. But I can make it easier. You're getting ixzy trying to communicate in a pattern you've never sewn. It's really much easier for the young people, )U know." WHY? 7Because you are a hardboiled old egg and the best ranges in you, the vital young juices that take us into e future, have been boiled out of you. The others still h about 'in their minds and they are quite suscepti- to change. it will take you longer. Now, let me ake it easier on both of us. When you wish to get a ear message to me, Caleb, leave aside your mental tages for a while. Take your time. Think in terms of Drds flashing by, as if on a screen. Or a line from a ewriter. Let the words move fi-om right to left. I will literally be reading those words, and we will have greater clarity. THANK YOU. "And if you wish me out, my new and unbalanced friend, send me a mind picture of a very large wooden door with iron bars holding it shut. When I see that door I'll go no further until you give me permission." THANK YOU. "Stop thanking me and get me my damned drink!" Chapter XXV 'How many people in Venezuela know about this?" Caleb Massey asked the question of his friend seated before him. He felt uncomfortable trying to walk around the heart of the issue with the two young people seated nearby, but the senator had told him, "Let it out; they know." Senator Patrick Xavier Elias, wearing the soiled clothes of a retired fisherman, right down to the rumpled hat and assorted lures and hooks, paused only briefly be- fore replying. "Two. Felipe Mercedes and General Luis Espinoza." Massey frowned. "Mercedes I understand. But the general? I don't get that one, Patrick." "Luis Espinoza is one of the finest astroph ysicists in the world , Elias said easily. "Very few people know that. His mili tary reputation is impeccable. He's such an iron-assed old martinet that no one ever associates him with anything else except a spit-and-polish, by-the- book general of Latin extraction. Behind that fron t, and it is not a facade, is a brilliant scientist." "I don't see how he could do it all. The man is-" .'Espinoza trained himself to sleep two hours a night. Every other night," Elias stressed. "He lives both lives with equal alacrity, intelligence, and results. And as a gen eral, who also works with the Venezuelan national guard, which is the true police force of that country, he's in a perfect position to support BEMAC, and Mercedes, Of course, and also to assure its isolation and rity. secu "He knows all of it?" Massey pressed. 394 BEAMRIDERS 395 we know," Elias replied. old leather chair, stained and others in the old Titan blockhouse on There could hardly have been a better than the long-abandoned launch corn- outside doors had been welded shut windows were all armored glass, struc- the direct hit of a flaming, exploding enough to hurl a four-ton Gemini 3crl ne only way in or out of the diouse was through a tunnel deep underground. led to a smaller security blockhouse, right now ied both by electronics systems and a dedicated - from the FBI. . How many people, all together, in this country?" sey said, renewing his questions. 'Right now," Elias replied, "there is myself. You ke the second. Do you know Frank Bemis? Well s in the senate with me. He flew on three shuw@ ;hts as an astronaut. An absolute crackerjack who's rays lived three or four years in the future. I needed site number for obvious reasons. Frank Bemis Oppo and he's number three." o else?" Massey pushed. :'Mitch Carruthers. I believe you know him." "Yes, of course. Computer genius. Believes in force Ids and EM matrix systems for computers." Carruthers designed your super Greystone as a side b, Caleb., Since this whole thing began he's spent all time working on a computer system that we can tegrate with the unique abilities of Peter Unsworth." "That makes four of us, then. Elias, Massey, Bemis find Carruthers," Massey reviewed. "Unsworth, of course, it five. Plus Mercedes and Espinoza. That's "Make it eight." "Who the hell else?" Massey said angrily. "Kim Seavers." "Kim? Yim? How could she possibly know about-" "Unsworth told her." 396 Martin Caidin In the name of God, why?" "Because she's established what he describes as the most incredible rapport with him. Same wavelength. Same frequencies. Harmonics. I don't know all the reasons, Elias added by way of mild protest, "but he's got them. He also told me that he insists on a young mind being involved. Too'much petrification with too many old bastards. He also pointed out that without Kim there isn't a single woman in this project, and to him that's a terrible, terrible mistake." Massey thought that over. "We couldn't stop that if we wanted to," he agreed. "But why is it so important. that there be a woman involved?" "I asked him the same question." -,ibid?" "He said to me, 'What if they're women?' He almost bowled me over with that question. He's right, of course. 'Mat could be what we'll find. And we needn't get into this in a chauvinistic limousine, he added. it might be the last mistake we ever make." "Jesus Christ," Massey murmured. "That, too, is a distinct possibility, according to Uns- worth," Elias replied. "Are you quite through mumbling?" Massey waved him on. "You forgot to ask me what that young man is doing in here," Elias needled him gently. "And that young woman." "My God, I'm getting old," Massey said, sinking back again in his seat. "Quite true, Caleb, but then, consider the alterna- five," said the senator. "This, by the way, is Ted Wright. And the young lady is Liam Carruthers." "The same?" "Yes. She's Mitch's daughter." Massey nodded to the two young people. "Forgive me if I refer to you in the third person," he told them. "It's not personal." Yes, sir," they chorused. "Why are they brought in?" Massey asked. "They'll work the ACOT. BEAMRIDERS 397 'What the hell. is the ASCOTT' super compute "Carruthers's r. He calls it ASCOT. hat's not an acronym, by the way- H e picked ASCOT !ause he says the damned thing tied him up in knots m this project started. Ted and I. will both han- all programming. Each will always back up tie er. 'You haven't got anyone else under the rug some- nere, have you?" Fourth Class Beer "Word of honor. Eagle Scout, rinker and all that. No. No one else, Caleb. And we )n't bring in anyone from now on wit 'Out Your say-so- before because it didn't )u didn't have that privilege and we ean very much. Now that BEMAC is real tve unsworth --- or, more property, since unsworth - joined us-the privilege is yours. And so is a great We will go along blindly from this day leal of power. brward to provide you with everything you need. Do fou understand?" "Yes. It's too bad it has to be that way@2' "Of course it has to be that Way. Youll be bringing in more people. As soon as you start getting this thing under way you'll have to select members of your i,lbeamriders who'll make the trip. They'll have to know everything, of course. Strange to say, they'll be under u can be succes @,,your orders, but the only way yo sful is to give them their heads. This cannot, this absolutely can not be a case of anyone following anyone else's wishes, desires, orders, commands, what-have-you. It the must be from the heart and the soul as well as mind, or we don't stand a prayer. The soul, you say,, Massey replied with some acid. "I've never seen one of those." "Look more closely in the That is the one reason above ù r any and considerable tale pos y ition you're in." sel= for the "Are you staying here or going back to the Hill?" "For the next few days, Caleb, You old bastard, you and I are going fishing." my old friend. mirror ring all others, not igno nts, why you were 398 Martin Caidin "We're what?" 'WeAm going fishing. On a big damn lake some- where. I used to do that with Phil Wylie when I was a snotnose senator. We'd talk things over, let them sort themselves Out. You , ve been driving too hard for too long. You don't relax any more. You by God need some space and time of your own. We're going to fish and - Your people need to know one, another, to need you looking over go back into harness when you're fresh and ahN a Elias stood up with a groan. "Let's go. I heard of an absolute beaut of a black bass that has my name on it." The old senator was right on target. Caleb Massey returned to CANAVERAL dome ten days after the Private meeting in the old Titan blockhouse with his batteries recharged, the lethargy of the long earlier travail behind him. He itched to get back into harness, to bring together his team in a way that had not existed ever before. And everything he had known befi)re, no matter how outlandish, crazy, impossible, fantastic or any other adjective that might fit, was utterly small peanuts compared to what he was now up against. He would send his beam agents on a long voyage. The "long' was measured only in miles, the distance from A to B. The voyage itself in terms of time would be meaningless, since mi the laser stream they would be somewhere beyond time. Yet it would be a trip beyond anything,they could imagine, with a purpose none of them had ever dreamed of, beyond even dreams and fantasies. And it would be possible only if he could bring together all the many parts. Only if he could create an element of true gestalt among those involved. The psy- chological barriers seemed insurmountable. Removing one's ego fiom the forefront of the brain and placing it far behind other priorities was a mental exercise that in BEAMRIDERS 399 much bowing and scraping but or reality. all, the hard nub of what might happen, and successfully, was Dr. Peter the saviour would be blind and They had become inseparable, Unsworth and Kim Seavers. Massey had never experienced anything like it, However they had come to communicate, however th y !aid managed so total a mental integration, was aou d ng. It had happened before, of course, some- es withidentical twins, of whom folklore was filled 'ue 7th n@ s tales. But these two weren't twins and 0 u sn folld NE t E 1@ do," Kim explained patiently to Massey, with Ted Wrightand Liam Carruthers privy to every word, hopefully comprehending the emotions in- volved, "is to translate for Dr. Unsworth." Kim showed ..a sour expression. "Translate is such, an inadequate word, Caleb. Transliterate is better but its still a short- Wl for what I'm trying to say." "Keep at it," Massey urged. "I'm slow, girl, but I'll give it my best shot. And I really need to know. She sat with Unsworth, the old man comfortable in a suede jumpsuit that kept his fi-ail body warm and yet provided a feel of body luxury he hadn't experienced in many years. After the coarse clothing of the Russians almost anything would have been an improvement; this had a personal, warm, human feel to its touch. Kim's hand almost always rested in the hand or on the arm of the old scientist, as if their feel, their touch, was as important as what Unsworth tried to communicate to her, and she to the two young ASCOT programmers. "AR right." Kim said, settling her thoughts. "So far as we know, the only person who's ever received the message is Peter Unsworth. " She paused a moment as his head turned to her, an instinctive response to what- ever communication existed at that moment between 400 Martin Caidin them. I want to make it absolutely clear that I used those words, -so far as we know.' Dr. Unsworth has told me, and he's repeated it so many times it's clear he regards it as much more than the equivalent of a reli- gious litany, or something on that level, that he doesn't know that he's the only one. He knows only that he received the message in his mind." .Once?" Massey asked. Kim nodded. -kes. just once, But-" Unsworth squeezed her hand gently. 'Excuse me, my dear." The sightless eyes turned to Massey, unset- tling; blind but driving powerfidly, it seemed, right through his own eyes to the back of his skull. "Let me not fault Kim. Caleb, it's almost impossible to express in words the impact of the message. I can do it to some extent with her. We've made the bridge between us. But I cannot expect her to bear that intensive or corn- plex a torch. So; may I interrupt?" "Of course, of course. "Kim obviously has told you the message came to me but one time." A rapturous look appeared on Unsworth's face. "It was, at the same time, devastating in its fm_ pact, yet as subtle as a falling snowflake in its delivery. It grew within my mind, like a field of flowers in a four-dimensional garden. Does that sound crazy? I well imagine it might. I would react with some suspicion to such a statement. In your case, Caleb, you are fortu- nate enough to have our finest technology, mixed as it is with intensely human people who feel and grasp and emote with one another, and--2' Unsworth stopped, his face revealing only that he searched his own mind. Or sonwone else's. "You have the proper word, Caleb. Yes, gestalt is it. A fusion of minds so effective, so penetrating and embracing, that they are able to think and comprehend as one. I do not talk about the Tibetan prayer rooms or anythin of any religion. This is entirely difibrent." He frowned. "For- give me; I ramble. I don't intend to, but awesome, devastating, shattering; they are all inadequate. "The flowering of four-dimensional thilidng, that will BEAmRIDERS 401 my thoughts, to do, Caleb. The intrusion into petal of a tiny my mind, came so subtly, the single that stayed with me, growing ind-nourishing. I wer pace deter- xmve the message was delivera: in a Ined by my own ability, or capacity, not simply to ;eive, but to absorb, and then, to understand." without a spoken request, Kim placed a mug of awning broth in his hands. Unsworth blew against the Rug, Sipped slowly. I @-Are you still with me, Caleb?" : .With some difficulty; Yes." Massey Painted the Pic- ind. we of the words, bright and clear, in his rn -Well, I don't blame you for feeling a bit muddled. Ifs -yond difficult. Wen, I,ve said that enough," Unsworth "All right. The message at first, in pped at himself rms of specifics, was formless. Flowers, subtlety; that Tt of thing. it was like a glow within MY mind that fused to go away. Ahal I have itl Think of a hazy, even a diffuse, crystal ban within your mind. It's there for a reason. it contains a picture. it contains many pictures. Those are the harbingers of the understanding- ve the flowers were a the message--to come. I. belie clever way to gain my attention, to bring me to concen- trate on the crystal ball, which in mental image could 1, be something I held in one hand, like some silly fortune teller, or as big as the sky itself Obviously, I looked' I did, the impres- looked deeper and deeper, and as I e clearer. God's sions, the message, messages, becam truth, Caleb, I was both fascinated and utterly confilsed, He drank more broth, thought for a long moment. "Then, in that crystal ball--in the crystallization Of mud- dled thoughts-I first saw the castle-" ,castle?" Massey echoed. --oh, yes,,, unsworth said with a deep smile. "A castle." Massey's own mind ran away with him. Immediately s of castles as he in his mind's eye he conjured picture knew them. The marvelous structures of Bavaria, look- ing down on the forest hills of Germany. Castles of fairy tales, huge and foreboding. Massive walls, dark greys; 402 Martin Caidin inside, dark with flickering smoky torches, horses cross- ing the bridge over the moat, courtyards of cobbled stone, winding staircases, evil spirits and knights- "No, no, no," Unsworth broke into his wanderings. 'his is no trip to the land of Oz1 Nor is it a tour of castles haunted by ghosts @and foul deeds. Forget the castles that rise on our world, Caleb. Ignore all that you have known or might know of such things." His hands moved as if he were trvina to grasp the mental images within his mind. "CryitafGhiss. Show- ers of light. -The sun everywhere. Glowing fi-om within. Brilliant. Wonderful. Radiant." He sighed. "Do these words help, Caleb? They are woefully inadequate. C re- ate a picture in your mind, Caleb Massey. Bring forth your childish dreams, your fantasies, wonder of won- deTs, magic, fiiry tales, beauty - - ." His voice again faded as he dwelt in his own thoughts. Kim turned to Massey. "What we've been doing is trying to capture everything Peter's told us," she said Slowly and carefully, "and program it into the ASCOT." "You're what?" Massey couldn't believe it. "How can you bring a mental picture, especially what he's de- scribing, into an electronics system? He spoke of look- ing through a crystal ball that's as large as the sky, and y0ure going to Put it into an electronic-mechanical device flat as a board--:' He cut himseffuff in midsentence. Of Course; first the computer. The graphics displays. "You get the picture from him?- Caleb asked Kim. Her fitce brightened. "Yes. He paints his pictures with words and,descriptions. But little by little he' been able to Place images in my mind. Then I work with computer graphics myself. I place the patterns on the screens. it doesn I t matter if they're inadequate at first, because each image is one step better than what I might have had moments before. Once I get started, I can describe to Ted and Liam what I'm seeing in my own mind. By working together we expand the scene. soften it. If If the hot is wrong, here, we brighten or this tower is too wide or too low, we change it." "Building blocks of images," Massey murmured. BEAMRIDERS 403 "In a way, yes. But our building blocks are soft and :wonderful. You must not use the old standards, sir." "I'd like to see what you've come up with so far, PHI. " "Please; wait just a bit longer?" "Of course. You're running this show," Massey said. m Tore than satisfied to be the student. I need to learn. "Thank you. Now, as I build the scene, correcting all the time, Peter can read the picture in my mind. I look at the three-dimensional graphics.'He sees in his inind what I see with my eyes and bring to my adnd. Do you understand now? His mind guides my thoughts, my hand, my concepts and impressions. Ted and Liam constantly improve and make accurate what I learn from Peter, and he in turn immediately sees my faults or blemishes or shortcomings." "And it works, I would imagine, fi-om, the way you're telling me about it." Her fitce was radiant. She had come alive in a way Massey had never before seen in any woman. Some- thing utterly, - wonderfully beautiful shone within Kim Seavers, it was almost a physical force to him. At any moment he expected to see a golden aura begin to shine about her. Without his bidding, that scene ap- peared in his mind, servant to his racing thoughts and his imagination. "I like that," Unsworth told Massey. "What?" Massey asked, jerked back to reality. "For ive the intrusion, old man. She gi is doing ex- traordinarily well." "How far have you come in all this?" Massey asked Kim. "I'm not sure because I don't know how fiLr we still have to go. " She showed a touch of deep concern' "What I'm doing, what we're doing, with this transfer of what Dr. Unsworth sees, or has been sent, into the computer is only a part of this program. Oh, I know that sounds complicated, maybe even silly, and it doesn't make sense, but it does, truly, it does. We must take 404 Martin Caidin this one step, one phase at a time. And Ted and Liam must be capable of knowing as much as I know, so that they can use the ASCOT to bring out as realistically as sib e what we've been doing." She took a deep at groes h' grasping Unsworth's arm. "Does that make sense?- she begged of Massey. "Barely. it would help a great deal if I could see this castle or whatever it is myself Kim turned to Liam Carruthers. "How fir have we gone beyond the graphics?" The pretty, dark-haired girl, whose father had cre- ated this monument of electronic genius, looked for Ted Wright to corroborate the words she would use. "Wre ready-but I want to confirm this fi-om ASCOT- for the fiffl-effect holographics." III do that, - Ted Wright said quickly and quietly. He turned fi-om her to address his keyboard. H' fin- 's gers flew as he "talked" with ASCOT. A whole new generation, a whole new world, and new minds in a universe I never knew at his age, thought Massey as he watched the young man. He turned to Unsworth who was smiling. Massey conjured a clear mental picture of himself and Unsworth seated at a scarred table in a dungeon-like room, pushing little rounded sliders on an abacus. A chuckle escaped Unsworth. "Oh my, how true, how true,- he said to Massey. "You learn quickly, my Mend Caleb." A mental picture of the words THANK YOU in fire- works brilliance flashed in Massey's mind. "ASCOT's ready," Ted Wright said. "Sir?" Liam Carruthers looked at Massey. "We can proceed now." Massey turned to Kim. "All right?" "Yes," she said. Without any sign of contact, Unsworth nodded his assent. The lights in the computer bay began to dim. "No; wait. just a moment," Kim said quickly. "Sir, one last note. What you will see is what Dr. Unsworth saw after BEAMBIDERS 405 Fks of the message first being received. It's important I understand that. it didn't happen right away." t understand. one question. The message originated what you're about to show me?" es. " Kim nodded to Liam and the lights grew in r. his heart beating faster. irkness. the room center, a nebulous light. Swaying cur- of hazy glow. Formless shapes intertwining, bring- Drth colors, sh&ng, challenging the eyes and senses .-below. Lines and forms emerged from the diapha s scene as the contputer rolled the data through its ironic ganglia and brought three-dimensional holo- hic reality fi-om the birthing of the unknown. assey felt his long-held breath gushing from his s. He forced . himself to breathe evenly, taking in steady gulps of air. His vision cleared. He had an ;7@@I_e urge to float away, outward fi-om his physical JC into the gleaming edifices rising holographically iore him. The castle it's red. My God, it's real! A castle of linknown metals, of alloys never known until this pic- that shimmered and glowed and whis- down and through ramparts that seemed reaching higher and higher. like none other, like none ever seen or Then it hit him, a mental blow that struck every of his physical being. The castle rested on no surface. A castle without turrets. No drawbridge. No defenses. No surface? Nof It hovered ... it levitated? It was 4uspendid in thin air ... That can't be. He stared at the hologram, so starkly real and yet a phantom of reality, fully three-dimensional, absolutely real as if he observed the castle from afar, fi-om a height- Martin Caidin It's not floatipg in thin air. There's no blue to the sky. But ies day. No blue to the sky. No clouds. The sky is black, -velvet black, No; there's more. Therei Stars. Forever and ever, They don't sparkle. in thin air. Or on thin air. and the sky is black. He heard the voice of Peter Unsworth. "You're al- most there, Caleb." Massey spun about, staring into the sightless eyes, trying to open his own mind. He felt staggered, off-balance. "Easy, easy," Unsworth said soothingly. "Yes, my friend, you're right." Massey had judged what he saw' He'd judged it, figured it out, but had refused his own mind the reality of what hovered before him. "It's the moon, isn't it?" MasseY said aloud finally, his own voice mocking all his senses 4 what's real and what isn't. Yes," Unsworth said. ..Our m oon?" "Yes. "That's why the sky is black. No atmosphere, no refi-Action of sunlight fiom floating dust or water vapor or air. "That is true, Caleb." The truth continued to hammer Massey. "That ... is not a castle," he said finally. "It seems a castle, but you are right. It is not so, Unsworth said. Massey looked almost fi-antically back and forth from Unsworth to Kim. "Then what in the name of God is it?" "Mn't answer," Unsworth said to Kim. "He must say it himself. He knows the answer." Massey sagged in his seat. to advance through Unsworth said as if 0 a distance, "to m through time, fiom one age enlightenment to another, through the golden eras, i blossoming of thought, the conquest Of vast fron- the things that we have done, and then to fikce sigh went like an invisible wind through have lived with this ... I do not know I have lived with it alone it seems pushed himself on, "yes', it is eas- when you learn that you are an does it feel, Caleb, to know that you one hand and a dusty cloth =: the deserts?" at the castle suspended above the moon. "There's no earth in the sky." be seen from the lunar fitrside, " came the assey already knew. Massey said, yielding all his disbelief. "Yes. A vessel beyond anything we can even dream Unsworth said. "In my own feeble way, Caleb, I do @Xkot believe what we see is truly that vessel. I am "convinced neither the eyes nor the mind of man may comprehend its true shape, or lack of shape, or its size, or even remotely what it looks like." "Then ... then why do we see it as a castle?" "would you take the aborigine into the heart of a nuclear reactor, Caleb? into the savage heat, the blaz- ing radiation, the controlled death? Would you plunge him unprepared into such a terrffying spectacle and experience?" 'So the castle is He struggled for the words. It's the protective fantasy of our childhood dreams." "To be sure," Unsworth said. BEAmRIDERS 407 I want to." knowledge and sadness mixing in is never msands Of A 408 Martin Caidin "Call it Camelot," Kim said to Massey. "It will do as well as any. And it is much safer for us." Massey looked harder, trying to penetrate the veil of Camelot. "A star vessel," he said hollowly. "Beyond that,- Unsworth said. Massey studied the old man. "You're reading my mind. So easily." "Not so. You've opened your mind. It's one of the first steps." "The messagel The message ... this is it?- m assey gasped. "Nothing so easy, Caleb." 'All You have learned so far, you know. Does that make sense?" "No, I- Wait; yet." "Of course," Unsworth said. "But then ... the message youve talked about. what is it?" "A summons." "Summons? To ... up there?" "Yes. Up there. To the far side of the moon. "Who sent it? Did they ... is that what you received?" "They sent it. I have no idea or, concept of who or what they are. But the summons is unmistakable. it calls for us to meet a schedule." "Schedule? This is crazy," Massey objected. "We're being summoned to the far side of the moon by a-a, well, a people, a race, finin within a ship that looks like a castle but in reality is beyond our conc-ept to perceive in its real self?" "Precisely-11 'When? I mean, by whose time? What reference?" The blind man motioned to th e two programmers. Ted Wright's fingers flashed across the keys. The castle dissolved in a shower of sp"kiing lights. In its place appeared a representation of the solar Sys tem. Nine planets. Many moons. The light of the obviously, vastly dimmed for purposes of sun, presentation in this three-dimensional woAd Of electronic fantasy- BEAmRIDERS 409 .K @6ilitY- Massey felt strange looking at the blue-white marble third from the sun. He felt stranger looking at ered e earth's moon, knowing what hov Effortlessly on hidden side. -@@Seeing it like this," Massey said aloud, "it dimin- .:"es what we did with Apollo. It was so incredible. Getting off this world. A quarter million miles to that airless nothing. Landing one ship after the other there. Men walking there. Riding those crazy lunar dune bug- did it. On this scale," he said sadly, "we ides. But tm Kaven't yet made it around the block." "Iookatthepositionoftheplanets,Caleb."Unsworth again gestured to Ted and Liam at the controls of ASCOT. "If you would be so kind," he said to Liam. "The dates as we recognize them." Glowing numerals appeared magically within the orbs of the solar system. "That's less than a month from right now!" Massey shouted. "Yes." "We're supposed to get there in less than a month Ilo from today?" "Yes." "But we don't have the ships any morel" Massey J: shouted, anger bunting through him. 'Dammit, Unsworth, you know thatl The Apollo fleet . I know. junk. Rusted metal. Museum pieces. Bro- ken dreams.'A magnificent journey outward smashed at the peak of its success." Unsworth offered Massey a sardonic, humorless laugh. "Columbus turning back when land was just over the horizon. The Wright Brothers trashing their splendid little machine because of one miserable failure after another, with their dream only a wisp of wind away fiom them. Shall I offer more?" Sightless eyes fay behind the arms that stretched out. "They were watching us, Caleb. I don't know how, or why, but they were watching us. Out of the mud, burr d fang and claw into steel and blazing fire and we an t to the moon and then were on our way, and we wen we turned our backs on ourselves. Forgive my words, 410 Martin Caidin Caleb, but we pissed on our own feet when we quit. We didn't go fiLr enough." "And how far is that?" Massey asked with bile in his throat fi-om the bitter pill dissolving within him. "They left a marker for us. A message. A monolith; I don't know what it was. is. I don't know. But they told me, in whatever incredible way they have of telling me anything. They left a message for us on Mars. That message was a key. Before us waited the Rosetta Stone to open to us the roads that cross the universe, and we pissed on our own feetr' Unsworth trembled; an icy wind mttled his old bones as thoughts churned angrily within him. "My fellow men, my race. We turned our backs on ourselves. We quit. -So what the hell are you trying to tell me, old manl" "Ali, your mind is a blazing, white fury, Caleb. Your juices flow glowing with life. That's good." "Answer me, damn youl You're their telephone sys- phone and tell me what It's what they're offer- in US. "And that is He shook his head wildly. "No; don't tell me. He could feel Unsworth's mind within Ms Own, ex- pectant, waiting, hoping. "They're offbring us a second chance," Massey said, the fury gone like a sudden gust of mindwind. "Yes, they are. "But we don't have the shipsl And we could never build them in time to-" He fell silent, staring, feeling Unsworth join with him. "That is right, my fiiend," said Unsworth. "You have less than one month to send your people, Kim and the others, to that castle on the far side of the moon. Caleb, Caleb," he said soffly, "don't even think of the techni- cal. Don't bog down your thoughts with mechanical things. Think of the castle and know we must be there, we must send our best to them, within the month. - BEAmRinm 411 @Vrn seavers reached out to rest her hand on Mas- "if don't," she said in a voice of velvet, .s arm. we ey'll go away. They won't be back." 4assey took her hand. "And we will be left alone," Said. 'Forever," she told him, her voice trembling suddenly. He reeled back in his seat. "The laser beam - our Droject. Thats how well go, then." "@ou have much to do and little time in which to do it," Unsworth told him. "How incredible," Massey said to them both. "It's as if we developed the laser system ... the beaming ... barely in time." fro "if? IF?- The voice of Peter Unsworth roared in him, energy impossible fi-oni the old man. 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