Master of the Mirror

Mirror Walker III

 

by Mitchell Micone

 

SAMPLE CHAPTER

 

***

Chapter Three

It Begins

 

The orders had been specific that Lieutenant Anderson and Major Gretz were to enter the Pentagon using the Metro entrance on the second level of corridor ten. Someone would meet them at the entrance and escort them to where the meeting would take place. Harold felt a little awkward standing around in the corridor with a major while hundreds of civilians and as many military personnel streamed past them. He was trying to look relaxed while at the same time scanning the crowd with his eyes for any indication of someone walking toward them. Major Gretz, standing alongside him, looked slightly more at ease, but was nervously tapping his fingers against his thigh.

Both startled slightly when a gruff, but feminine voice spoke from alongside them. “Tecumseh?” She said just above a whisper. “... Bradley?”

“Y... Y... yes,” Harold answered unsteadily.

“Yes?” Major Gretz answered a little more surely, but with an obvious question in his voice.

The woman stepped around in front of them. There were two stars on the lapels of her uniform. “This will go much quicker if you can answer the following question correctly, Lieutenant,” she said quietly. “What color was the van you rode in out at Roswell?”

Harold looked surprised and stuttered out, “Uh... colors don’t look right in that bright sun and it was all covered with dust, but I think it was gray. There was another color on it... maybe a reddish brown.”

“Close enough,” the general said with a smile. “Follow me.”

She then turned around and started walking down the corridor. They stopped at the main elevators and waited for one that was going down. When the doors opened two levels down, the general walked across the wide lobby area to another set of elevators. She swiped her badge across a reader and the doors opened. A Marine guard was standing inside.

“Level Sub B2,” the general said brusquely.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the guard replied and pressed a round fob of some sort that was hanging around his neck against one of the blank circles on the panel next to him. The elevator started down smoothly, but very slowly. Evidently this one, like all Pentagon elevators, was hydraulic rather than cable driven, but for some reason was set to operate much more slowly. That reason, unknown to Lieutenant Anderson and Major Gretz, was to give a longer warning to those on level Sub B2 that someone was arriving.

“One more ride,” the general said with a slight laugh when the doors finally opened. Then she added, “Wait here ‘til I clear you.”

Neither Lieutenant Anderson nor Major Gretz needed further encouragement to wait where they were. Three Marine guards stood just across a small open area. Two of them had their weapons aimed at the open elevator door.

“General Crossford,” she said calmly as she held up her ID badge to the third Marine. When the Marines with the raised weapons shifted nervously, she added, “... with two cleared visitors.”

The third Marine stepped forward and read the badge. He then pointed what looked like a small flashlight at the general’s left eye.

“Verified,” he barked out and the other two guards lowered their weapons, but kept them at the ready. She nodded at the elevator on the left and he pressed a button which opened the door.

“Follow me,” General Crossford said firmly and the major and Lieutenant Anderson hustled across the open area to join her in the elevator.

“You might want to hold on to the grips,” she said and then pushed the single button on the elevator panel.

Harold yelped as the elevator began rapidly moving sideways. This elevator– if you could call it that– was cable driven and was VERY fast. Major Gretz had a look of surprise on his face, but remained silent.

When the door opened this time, Special Agent Mark Nash was standing with two Marine guards. “Verified,” he said softly as the door opened, and the guards stepped back against the opposite wall to stand more or less at ease. Their weapons were raised in front of their bodies, however, and their fingers were carefully wrapped around the trigger guards, ready to move into firing position at a moment’s notice.

“There’s more of them than just David, aren’t there?” Harold said softly as he stepped up to face Agent Nash.

“Looks that way,” Mark replied, “and you are now part of a team that has to figure out who they are and how to stop them.”

“Who are ‘them’?” Major Gretz asked in his normal, gruff voice.

“Our worst nightmare,” General Crossford, answered, matching his gruffness as she opened a door into what looked like a conference room of some sort. “They are an extremely potent weapon for which we have no defense.”

For a moment the major’s composure broke. “Damn!” he muttered beneath his breath as he followed Mark and the general into the room.

“David will be observing our meeting,” Mark said calmly. He and my brother will be joining us later once we figure out what we have to do.”

“Is that a monitor projector?” Major Gretz asked, pointing at a large device sitting in the middle of the table.

“No,” Mark answered, trying to keep a laugh out of his voice. “That is an old-fashioned speakerphone. It is on a one-way connection to my brother Robert, who will tell us if David sees anything out of the ordinary.”

“Where is David?” the major asked, looking around the room.

“That,” General Crossford answered, “is where this gets interesting.” She motioned for the major and Lieutenant Anderson to be seated. Agent Mark Nash sat across from them. The general took the seat at the head of the table.

“Are we alone?” Mark asked the empty seat next to him.

A few moments later, a deep, male voice came over the speakerphone. “David says you are alone. He is coming back now.”

“That is my older brother,” Mark said.“He is with David, who is standing in his bedroom in Plain City, Iowa, staring into a mirror.” He pointed to the empty chair next to him and added with a smile, “He is also sitting here next to me at the table.”

“But... but... but...” Major Gretz sputtered.

“He can see and hear everything that is done in this room,” Mark said firmly. “He can also understand whatever is said, regardless of what language is spoken.” After a pause, Mark added, “And more importantly for us here and now, he can see if there are any other mirror-walkers in the room with us.”

The major turned to Lieutenant Anderson and said with very wide eyes, “How did you know? How did you see them?”

“There is only one weakness, as far as we know,” General Crossford said slowly. “At the instant a mirror-walker enters a room, they are visible for less than a second in whatever mirror or reflective surface they are using. If you are staring directly into the mirror, you can see their face flash for just an instant.”

“I was watching the operator across from me in the reflection on the monitor,” Harold said a little sheepishly. “Her face disappeared for an instant and was replaced by a really mean-looking man with dark hair and dark eyes. How I know is much too long a story, but I knew that a mirror-walker had entered the room.”

“You now know as much as we do, Major Gretz,” the general said with a slight laugh. “And no one except the five of us here in this room and the President know that there is a rogue mirror-walker out there.”

The major looked quickly around the table counting silently. He started to ask something, but then he startled and said, “Oh, yes, the invisible one.”

“Invisible, but not deaf,” Mark said, somewhat heatedly. “Remember that! And also remember that this young man put his body– his physical body– between the First Lady and an assassin at Roswell.”

“I’m sorry,” the major said quickly. Turning to face the empty chair, he continued, “I meant no disrespect. I’m just a bit overwhelmed by all of this.”

“Join the club,” General Crossford said. She then turned to the empty chair and said, “David, we need your help to understand exactly what a mirror-walker can and cannot do and if there is any defense against someone like you. We know that you are not willing to be used as a weapon or as a spy, and we have honored that, but as you have heard, the situation has changed. Your country, and perhaps the world, needs you very badly right now. Will you help us?”

A few moments later, Robert’s voice came through the speaker. He was laughing slightly. “Two questions and a demand,” he said. “Question one: Do you need him there in person or just through the mirror? Question two: Do you need Chi’s involvement? And the demand: Anything you discover has to be shared equally with at least the Chinese government.”

“Yes, we will need you here– or wherever– in person,” Mark answered, addressing the empty chair. “Yes, Chi’s help would be useful. We could possibly do it with her just through the mirror, but her physical presence would be much better.”

“And yes,” General Crossford interjected, “we will share the information with the Chinese government.” She laughed slightly, “Especially since we have no way to prevent your friend, Chi, from observing everything that we do anyway.”

Looking at the empty chair, Mark quickly added, “Wait a minute, David. Tell my brother that we are also going to need him out here.”

The four sat at the table waiting, staring at the speakerphone until Robert said, “David agrees. He is back here now, but is going to go see Chi at Chou’s tomb. They have some sort of coded text they can send each other for that.” He paused and then continued, “I assume you will clear things with my boss and send us specific instructions. Mark can call me later when he is someplace that cellphones work.”

The speakerphone then went silent.

“What is your brother’s role in all this?” Major Gretz asked.

“Robert is a detective back in Plain City,” Mark answered. “He kept David safe while they rescued the First Lady and later kept Chi and her grandmother safe while they rescued David.” He grimaced slightly and said, “Our choices of cleared body guards are pretty slim.”

“Is that going to be my role also?” Harold asked.

“Partly,” General Crossford answered. “But you have electronics training that might also come in useful. You will be more of a liaison between David and the teams who will be testing countermeasures against him.”

“And me?” Major Gretz asked.

“You will be putting together the best techs and engineers we can find to do that testing,” the general replied. “Some of them will have to be read in. Most of them will never know exactly what they are working on or why.”

“Understood,” the major replied. His face was slightly contorted and his eyes looked like they were scanning something above his head as he already began to think about the process needed to put together a top-secret task force.