Tessa looked to be just as troubled by this news as I was. How had this Michelle Kite possibly gotten access to the footage Baga just described? Was she Taiwanese? Chinese? Something else?
“Thirteen of us is still overkill,” continued our visitor, “but at least we aren’t making the mistake of underestimating you. Besides, Michelle made the call. Shows how much respect she has for you. Still, given your skills, I’m going to need you to not only come with us, but hand over all of your weapons.”
Tessa sighed. “I’ll consider it,” she said. “But first you need to tell me more about this Michelle Kite. I can’t agree to a deal knowing nothing about her.”
“Okay,” said Baga. “Why not? In the interest of detente. Not that there’s much to tell. We’ve never actually met in person. But she has access to tech like I’ve never seen before.
“A little over three months ago she contacted me via email, using an address she shouldn’t have been able to get. She wired a hundred thousand US dollars into my account as a show of good faith, something else she shouldn’t have been able to do, and asked me to visit the back of a tractor trailer at a specified location. One she said contained sophisticated communication and holographic equipment. It lets her appear inside the trailer as a hologram. A flawless hologram. Puts the ones in Star Wars to shame.”
My eyes widened. “And you’re sure this woman is human?”
“You mean, as opposed to some kind of psychopathic monster?”
“No. I mean as opposed to someone not born on this planet.”
Baga snorted. “You’re kidding, right? She’s as human as you and me. Not everyone with advanced tech is an alien.”
I’m not sure why I had even asked the question. Of course this Michelle was extraterrestrial. There was no other explanation for how she had found us so quickly. We had come directly from space to the Lodge, in a vehicle requiring no ticketing, TSA screening, or co-mingling with others.
The Lodge sported no security cameras anywhere, as would be expected of a wilderness retreat, so there was no chance we were picked up by facial recognition. Although I couldn’t imagine how anyone could even suspect we’d be on the Australian continent, let alone where we were, since we had only made the decision ourselves hours before our arrival.
The only possible link to us was through the alien AI. It had fabricated fake IDs and flawless passports to book us here. So Michelle must have hacked it. Or maybe she hadn’t hacked it. Maybe this alien was an authorized user, which was possibly even more troubling.
Even absent this logic, the perfect hologram was a dead giveaway. And the communications trailer was a concept either borrowed from Brad, or it was actually one of his vehicles—in the flesh. And it was easy to imagine that this extraterrestrial would want to pretend to be human while interacting with mercenary soldiers.
Was she a Rho? Was she working with Nari? If so, to what end?
Regardless of the answers to these questions, she was very likely calling from the orbit of Saturn. Where else? Which was why quantum technology had to be used for a conversation to happen.
“So you began working with this . . . woman,” said Tessa, “three months ago. What have you been doing for her since?”
“I spent a month gathering a large team from around the world, at her request. All of us are on generous retainers. She activated those of us living in this hemisphere for the first time yesterday and rushed us to this site.” Baga shook his head. “And that’s the story. All of it.”
“That’s it?” said Tessa in disbelief. “That’s all you know about her? Then why in the hell would you accept this mission?”
Baga laughed. “I don’t think you’ve been paying attention. You did hear the generous part, right? I don’t have to know anything about her to know that her money spends. And she has lots of it.”
There was a brief silence in the room.
“If we go with you,” I said, changing the subject, “where will you be taking us?”
“To an eighteen-wheeler like the one I told you about. With communication and holographic equipment inside. It’s parked about a mile away, through the forest, on a gravel abutment just off the main road.”
“So you want us to go off to see the wizard,” I said sarcastically. “By following a yellow brick road. Why? Why not just drive the truck here?”
Baga glared at me in disbelief. “You’re here, so you know why,” he said, shaking his head. “This place is all but inaccessible. Just a narrow dirt road to get here, one that a car can barely clear. Even helicopters are forbidden, because they scare the wildlife.”
“Right,” I said. “Now I remember.” A better response than telling him we were dropped off by a silent UFO.
Tessa was deep in thought. “If this Michelle wants to talk to us so badly,” she said, “I’m guessing her money faucet gets shut off if we end up dead.”
“True, but she doesn’t have any problem with you being maimed a whole lot.”
“So what’s to prevent us from killing you now and calling in reinforcements?” said Tessa. “Just so you know, Jason is just as formidable as I am,” she lied.
“With respect to reinforcements,” replied Baga smugly, “try making a call. You can’t. Another bit of tech Michelle provided. She has a device that blocks all internet and cell reception, one we deployed before I knocked on your door. Go ahead, I’ll wait.”
Tessa checked her phone and shook her head. No reception, just as Baga had promised.
“And as far as killing me goes,” continued our visitor, “I took certain precautions. I knew I was putting myself at your mercy. So kill me, and my team will slaughter every man, woman, and child on these grounds—including your buddies next door. Innocents. Their deaths will be on your heads. And we’ll still capture you, despite your skills and our interest in taking you alive. We all have tranq guns along with our other weaponry, with doses high enough to knock out elephants.”