Page 7 of Dan

“Yes,” she nodded.

“Can you tell me who?” asked Dan.

“I don’t know his name, but I know what he was trying to do. He wants to flood the lower half of every state from Texas to Florida, but that’s just the beginning.”

“I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” said Wilson. “How could someone do that?”

“By opening every damn, every lock, every levee for thousands of miles. When he’s done, he claims that Mexico will own the lower states.”

“The numbers, they’re the codes for the locks,” said Ace casually. “How did you figure that out?”

“Wait. Whoa, whoa,” said Dan, raising his hands. “Are you telling me it’s just a series of numbers to open locks and dams?”

“Yes,” said Finley and Ace in unison. Ace nodded at her, smiling.

“Please continue,” said Ace.

“The codes were put in place to prevent something like this from happening. Previously, it was all buttons and levers. Anyone could walk by, push a few things and the dams or levees would open. It could flood hundreds of thousands of acres, potentially millions. They updated the Hoover Dam a few years back to ensure that it would never happen. The coding is so intricate, you would need days for someone to decode it.”

“Unless they’re you,” said Ace. “I’m going to guess it took you about thirty minutes.”

“Twenty-three,” she said casually. “They’ve been forcing me to work on it for weeks, but I kept telling them it was more complicated than they thought. In between, they were giving me smaller problems, forcing me to give them the codes to overtake the steering systems on ships.”

“Steering ships? Why would they need to steer ships?” asked Dan.

“To drive them into buildings,” she said casually. “If they can flood the lower lands, they can force the ships to steer into buildings, killing thousands and creating even more chaos.”

“There’s only one issue with this,” said Wilson. “There aren’t any dams or locks that could cause that much flooding in the southern states.”

“They don’t need them to be everywhere or even close,” she said. “With the right impact, on the right seismic faults, they can create tsunamis that will do the work for them. Then if they could time it with a hurricane, you have the ultimate triple threat.”

“Let me guess. You were able to do the math to help them figure out how to do that?” asked Ace.

“I was able to do the math, but I didn’t give them the right numbers. Unless they find someone else to do it for them, it can’t be done. The probability is less than zero point zero zero four, and they would need fracking and drilling equipment, which I don’t believe they have yet. It would also require someone with extensive drilling experience and knowledge.”

Dan stared at the young woman, then back at Ace and Wilson.

“Finley, are you on any medications that we need to be aware of?” asked Wilson.

“You mean, am I crazy? I’m not crazy. I’m perfectly sane. You’re asking if I need anti-depressants or anxiety medications? Perhaps something for ADHD?” she frowned.

“That’s not what I meant at all,” said Wilson, giving her a sad smile. “I meant do you take medications for a thyroid issue, blood pressure, diabetes. Anything like that.”

“Oh,” she blushed, looking down at her folded hands. “I’m sorry. I’m used to people thinking there is something mentally wrong with me. I’ve been fighting it my entire life.”

“We don’t think that at all,” said Ace. “As I said, you and I are quite similar. We have others here that are like you and me as well. You’re not alone, and we want to help you. Is there anyone we should call?”

“I don’t even know how to reach them. Even if you could reach them, I’m not sure they’d come for me. We’re not very close as a family,” she frowned, then looked back up at the men. “My parents take cruises and trips to discover new bugs or birds.”

“Are they entomologists or ornithologists?” asked Ace.

“No. They’re just wealthy and enjoy spending their money on silly, frivolous things. My parents would like to be able to not leave their daughter anything when they finally go. I’m okay with that. But to answer your question, I have no idea how to reach them, nor do I want to.” The three men chuckled at her response, but she just stared at them, wondering why that might be funny to them.

“Can you tell us about your fingerprints?” asked Wilson. She stared at him, puzzled for a moment. “Your prints have been burned off. It had to have been incredibly painful.”

“He burned them off when he took me. They used some sort of acid. I tried fighting them, but I’m not very big, as you can tell. I heard them say that when they disposed of me, no one would know who I was.”

“Where were you?” asked Dan.

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