nothing," Max sent him via handheld. Max also included many colorful expletives to more vividly convey his disappointment in how the day was shaping up.
Seth sent an urgent message to both Gloria and Max. "More bad news. The team tells me our outbound communications are blocked. We can't call for help." He could tell when they got that because they both paled considerably.
"Look, we would love to help you, but we are just a satellite office. We have no authority to let you access data, even if we could do it," Max said, trying to sound reasonable. "If your government works with our government and negotiates something, we'll be happy to help. Until then, I'm afraid we must show you gentlemen the door. If you go now without a fuss, we will not have to file a complaint with the UN over the violation of our embassy."
"Actually, this is technically not an embassy yet. Not until the ambassador is present," Bill said, adjusting his tie.
"God bless bureaucrats," laughed the colonel. "So right now you are just a handful of foreigners giving me a serious headache. Now let us look around. If you play nice, we'll just borrow a few files to make sure they don't contain any nasty secrets. We may not even need to take a any of you for questioning, if you cooperate."
Seth felt his stomach sink into his shoes. So that was it. DARPA wanted to poke around their facility and have a look at their servers. They took advantage of a legal loophole to come out here, thinking they'd be pushing around flunkies. With so few Omerta people here, they could all be carted off and tossed in a cell somewhere and no one would ever know what happened to them. He wasn't worried that they would hack the servers, but there were plenty of rooms in this facility that the military should not see. And the American military was not known for returning people once it had them in its clutches.
The colonel raised his hand. The soldiers pulled out their weapons and pointed them at the bewildered Omerta group. Some of the soldiers started herding them towards the door while others set off down the halls, breaking in doors and rounding up the rest of the Omerta people.
"I think we're screwed," said Gloria, suddenly looking like a lost little girl as a soldier slapped magnetic cuffs on her slim wrists.
Things were looking bleak when three blond heads bounced around the corner, looking with wide-eyed wonder at the uniforms.
"Hey, Max," Kalliope called cheerfully. "You know you got some kind of SWAT team on your front lawn? What are you boys doing in here? Making moonshine and stocking up on guns or something?"
Seth groaned as Kalliope, Clio and what had to be yet another quadruplet sister inspected the soldiers like they were an exhibit at the zoo.
"Seth, honey, you boys really shouldn't leave your front door open like that. All sorts of nasty varmints can crawl in." Clio shot a look at the colonel that clearly showed her estimation of him.
"What are you doing here?" Seth asked desperately. He really hoped he was not going to get carted off to some secret torture camp in front of Clio today. He had a horrible thought. What if the colonel took Clio and her sisters too? He couldn't bear that.
"These DARPA boys made a whole lot of noise rolling through town this morning," Clio drawled, nodding at the colonel. "We thought we'd come see what all the fuss was about."
"So your trucks out front say DARPA on them and they spew smog I can see from a mile off," Kalliope said with ill-concealed disgust. She had no use for those who stooped to gasoline. "I'm starting to understand why we are having so much trouble winning all these wars we're in, if y'all are in charge of our stealth technology."
"Hi, I'm Thalia," the other sister grabbed the colonel's hand and shook it enthusiastically. "We don't get too much excitement in this town, so pretty much God and everybody is out there," she said loudly. "Including the news. There must be about twenty people out there filming all
Seth sent an urgent message to both Gloria and Max. "More bad news. The team tells me our outbound communications are blocked. We can't call for help." He could tell when they got that because they both paled considerably.
"Look, we would love to help you, but we are just a satellite office. We have no authority to let you access data, even if we could do it," Max said, trying to sound reasonable. "If your government works with our government and negotiates something, we'll be happy to help. Until then, I'm afraid we must show you gentlemen the door. If you go now without a fuss, we will not have to file a complaint with the UN over the violation of our embassy."
"Actually, this is technically not an embassy yet. Not until the ambassador is present," Bill said, adjusting his tie.
"God bless bureaucrats," laughed the colonel. "So right now you are just a handful of foreigners giving me a serious headache. Now let us look around. If you play nice, we'll just borrow a few files to make sure they don't contain any nasty secrets. We may not even need to take a any of you for questioning, if you cooperate."
Seth felt his stomach sink into his shoes. So that was it. DARPA wanted to poke around their facility and have a look at their servers. They took advantage of a legal loophole to come out here, thinking they'd be pushing around flunkies. With so few Omerta people here, they could all be carted off and tossed in a cell somewhere and no one would ever know what happened to them. He wasn't worried that they would hack the servers, but there were plenty of rooms in this facility that the military should not see. And the American military was not known for returning people once it had them in its clutches.
The colonel raised his hand. The soldiers pulled out their weapons and pointed them at the bewildered Omerta group. Some of the soldiers started herding them towards the door while others set off down the halls, breaking in doors and rounding up the rest of the Omerta people.
"I think we're screwed," said Gloria, suddenly looking like a lost little girl as a soldier slapped magnetic cuffs on her slim wrists.
Things were looking bleak when three blond heads bounced around the corner, looking with wide-eyed wonder at the uniforms.
"Hey, Max," Kalliope called cheerfully. "You know you got some kind of SWAT team on your front lawn? What are you boys doing in here? Making moonshine and stocking up on guns or something?"
Seth groaned as Kalliope, Clio and what had to be yet another quadruplet sister inspected the soldiers like they were an exhibit at the zoo.
"Seth, honey, you boys really shouldn't leave your front door open like that. All sorts of nasty varmints can crawl in." Clio shot a look at the colonel that clearly showed her estimation of him.
"What are you doing here?" Seth asked desperately. He really hoped he was not going to get carted off to some secret torture camp in front of Clio today. He had a horrible thought. What if the colonel took Clio and her sisters too? He couldn't bear that.
"These DARPA boys made a whole lot of noise rolling through town this morning," Clio drawled, nodding at the colonel. "We thought we'd come see what all the fuss was about."
"So your trucks out front say DARPA on them and they spew smog I can see from a mile off," Kalliope said with ill-concealed disgust. She had no use for those who stooped to gasoline. "I'm starting to understand why we are having so much trouble winning all these wars we're in, if y'all are in charge of our stealth technology."
"Hi, I'm Thalia," the other sister grabbed the colonel's hand and shook it enthusiastically. "We don't get too much excitement in this town, so pretty much God and everybody is out there," she said loudly. "Including the news. There must be about twenty people out there filming all
Similar Books
