Page 28 of Radar

“York asked my team for help with this Orest’s movements in the U.S. But I don’t know Orest Kalinsky’s background. What kind of science are we talking about here?” Finley asked.

Adele pushed her sleeves up to her elbows. “Mostly it has to do with communications and satellites, the kind that might inform their doomsday machine. Although their foundation has just released a study showing that warming waters create globalsecurity issues, as the hotter the water, the harder it is to find submarines. That study makes me nervous.”

White leaned forward. “Now, why would the Zorics fund something like that, I wonder?”

Adele plunged on without responding to White’s question. “But there’s a wide array of science. Orest seems to have two pet interests. He’s big into food security and naturally occurring neurotoxins like those found in the box jellyfish—box jellies and Palythoa.” She turned to Finley. “You all had a murder here in D.C. using those neurotoxin studies, so you’re well aware. Pretty much any time the Zorics need a little science to fuel their terror, Orest’s got someone in a lab thinking they're saving the world, but instead they’re helping it implode. He’s a manipulative, jovial Santa-figure of a terrorist, swooping in with his rosy cheeks and bowl-full-of-jelly laughs, and death.” Adele sniffed. “Unfortunately, Orest Kalinsky has created a public persona that is highly respected with connections to universities and labs worldwide. It’s a formidable shield.”

“I understand their use of neurotoxin and the communications pieces,” White said. “Is food research interesting to us?”

“Anna explained that Orest is making sure the family can eat plentifully during the Apocalypse,” Xander said.

“Davidson Realm,” White posted an elbow and rested her cheek on her fist. “Yeah. That’s problematic.”

“I’m tracking his movements inside the United States,” Finley said. “He’s got tickets to Fairbanks tomorrow morning via Newark. Did Anna tell you why Orest is going to Alaska? Seems odd this time of year.”

“Alaska to see his dog team participate in the Iditarod,” Xander said, “so a little R&R before End Times.”

“End Times,” White said, “that’s awesome.” She turned to Adele. “Well, nice knowing you. Sorry, we didn’t get that girls' weekend in Vegas we’ve talked about.”

“Maybe we can meet up for drinks in the afterworld,” Adele said.

White moved her hands to her lap. “I hope I’m going to the afterworld. I don’t want to be one of those poor souls shivering around the fire during a nuclear winter.”

“Yeah,” Xander said, “that’s not even funny right now.”

Finley drew his brows together.

“Why ‘right now’?” Adele leaned forward, concern lacing her brows.

“Zorics, as we all know,” White said, “are aspirational world stage players, wanting a seismic shift on a societal level to force the world back to the fabulous early 1980s when the USSR was big and scary, and we were all jamming out to Madonna and Simple Minds.”

Adele quirked a sardonic brow. “Right, well, what they want is a time machine, not a nuclear bomb.”

“My understanding,” White said, “is that if The Family waits much longer to deploy their machine, AI will be able to thwart their systems. And while we hoped that, in this case, AI could come to our rescue, The Family understands it’s now or never. So, they may have to start their mission before it’s a hundred percent ready.”

“While the Zorics don’t have nuclear aspirations,” Xander said, “Sometimes when you push something over, there’s a domino effect. The Family knows it and is moving to the environs of their fallout shelter.”

“You saw the Zorics are flocking to Singapore?” Hiro asked.

“Yup,” White and Adele said in unison.

“What are we doing about it?” Finley asked.

“We continue to try to work it out,” Hiro said. “The problem is we’ve got a twenty-two-year-old over at DHS running the terror division who wasn’t alive to experience the USSR. The idea of a return to that world-order isn’t possible in his imagination. Since he doesn’t think the Zoric family is a threat, he’s closed the file, and everyone’s been fired or reassigned.”

“What is this now?” Adele leaned forward.

Hiro said quietly, “Priorities are being redefined.”

“Color Code is unaffected as we have a carve-out and work independently,” White said. “Luckily, the Zorics case fell to Color Code over on the CIA side. I don’t think we’re on anyone’s radar.” White looked down. “Not you, lovekins,” and Radar laid his head back down. “Because of our special congressional mandate, we might be safe.”

Adele turned her attention to Xander. “But the AWG alumni are still looking for the machine in Kyrgyzstan after the snow melt, aren’t you?” Adele asked.

“Not anymore,” Xander said. “AI was watching satellite images to see if there was odd foot traffic on the mountain for us to check out once the area was passable.” He put a hand on Radar’s head. “Radar and I were packed and ready to go. But when I saw Anna in Bratislava two days ago, she said the machine is no longer in Kyrgyzstan. She thinks it’s heading west toward Europe, but she had nothing actionable, not even a solid idea of a compass direction.”

“Do not be disheartened,” Hiro’s voice was adamant. “We still have a shot at figuring this out. It’s easier to find something out in public than tucked in a mountain cave. We find the puzzle pieces, we put them together, we come up with a response, we eliminate the threat.”

“Sometimes,” Adele said, “it’s a—” She paused mid-sentence as Xander and White grabbed their phones as a surge of incoming messages blew them up.

---