Chapter 36
They waited until after lunch to put their plan in motion.
Jonas was nervous as he drove up to the guard gate at the hydroelectric power plant, but when the security guard saw who it was, he smiled and waved him through. Getting through the front door was just as easy.
“How long are you in town for?” the guard whose nameplate read M. Kunkel asked.
“A couple of days,” Jonas said. “Is my dad around?”
“As a matter of fact, I just saw him,” the guard said. “He mentioned something about a meeting, but I’m not sure who it was with. Would you like me to call his assistant?”
“I bet he’s in one of the conference rooms on the second floor,” Jonas said, hoping that the guard wouldn’t notice that his hands were shaking.
“Go on up,” the guard said. “And when you see him, tell him I haven’t forgotten about those Redskins tickets that he promised. They play my Steelers next week.”
“I will.” Jonas walked to the elevator on the far side of the lobby and placed his hand on the biometric scanner. Green circles lit around his thumb and fingertips and the door opened, but he had no intention of going to the second floor. He pressed the button for the third floor, where they kept the server room.
His heart pounded in his chest as he walked past security guards and surveillance cameras, but nobody stopped him. The server room was at the end of a winding hall, and just as he reached into his pocket to pull out the USB drive with the virus, someone called his name.
“Jonas?”
He turned around to see his dad standing there, a confused look on his face.
“What are you doing here?”
“I . . . um . . .” Jonas had an IQ that was off the charts, but he had never been quick on his feet and he wasn’t very good at lying. “I came to see you.”
Dr. Hickman frowned. “My office is on the first floor.”
“I know,” Jonas said, fumbling over his words. “Mike. You know, the security guard? Anyway, he told me you might be up here, and he was right.”
“This is a restricted area, son.”
“Restricted? I’ve been here hundreds of times.”
“Things have changed, and not for the better.” Dr. Hickman was nervous as he looked up and down the hallway. “Stay close,” he said as he walked toward a set of double doors. “And if anyone stops us, you let me do the talking. Understood?”
They ended up back on the first floor in Dr. Hickman’s office. He pulled out a device and scanned to make sure there weren’t any recording devices in the room.
“Dad—”
Dr. Hickman raised an index finger to his lips as he ran the scanner over a framed photograph of the Hickman family that hung on the wall next to his desk. He scanned his desk drawers, the bottom of his chair, and even the contents of his trash can before he finally sat down.
“Is someone bugging your office?” Jonas asked.
“Not anymore,” Dr. Hickman said. “At least not that I can tell.”
“Why would someone want to bug you?”
“Because they think I’m a traitor,” Dr. Hickman said.
“A traitor?”
“We don’t have much time, so I’m going to give you the abbreviated version,” Dr. Hickman said. “The day you left for the academy, one of Koenig’s agents paid Mayor Cross a visit. His message was fairly clear. Either the people of Sanctuary renounce Earth and take up arms against humanity, or after the invasion we’ll all be tortured and then executed.”
“What did Mayor Cross do?”
“What any politician in his place would do,” Dr. Hickman said. “He promised to spread the word and report any resistance.”
“Like you.”
“Like me.”
“What about Sheriff Sutherland?”
“Near as I can tell he’s on our side,” Dr. Hickman said. “But it’s hard to be sure.”
“Aren’t you scared?” Jonas asked.
“I probably should be, but mostly I’m concerned about what’s going to happen to you and your mother.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to stick around here and make things as difficult for Koenig and his Defense Corps as I can.” Dr. Hickman smiled. “Your turn,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
Jonas explained his theory about the randoms and how he had used the theory to pinpoint the exact location where he thought that the Thule would open up their gateway. He took the USB drive out of his pocket and slid it across the desk. “It’s the same virus they used to shut the portal down at the Trident Biotech facility.”
“I’m impressed,” Dr. Hickman said. “But I’m afraid it won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve already tried. Over the last three months the portal has nearly doubled in size—and that’s after I cut the power supply.”
“How can that be?”
“They’re powering it from the other side.”