True Believers by Maria Zannini Page A

a chair closer to Sorinsen and sat down. “I think he was trying to get to the girl. For whatever reason he didn't make it. That leads me to believe that he'll attempt a rescue.”
    Sorinsen scoffed. “To what end? He still can't get out. Can he?”
    “I've got maintenance engineers going over the compound's blueprints. If there's a way out, we'll get there before he does.”
    “And the girl?”
    “Jessit wants her. It would be in our best interest to give her to him.”
    “I don't like it. Surely, we can find him someone else. Someone who works for us. Someone we can control.”
    “That would be preferable, but Jessit was adamant. He asked that she be gifted to him in payment for his inconvenience. That's a common request on their world. To refuse it would be seen as impolite.”
    Denman waited while the old man wadded his handkerchief and mopped the sweat off his forehead. Yelling with only one lung must have been hard work. He poured a fresh glass of water for Sorinsen.
    “And what if she misbehaves? I don't need an inter-planetary incident on my hands.” Sorinsen wheezed, his chest rattling like a paper bag.
    “I'll see that she understands her obligations, sir. We can't afford to alienate our guests now. We're too close to the prize. We've learned to spot the radiation signature even before the Alturians can. If we do have unwelcome guests on Earth, we'll find them first.”
    “Not just find them, Jacob. Eliminate them,” he rasped. “The president wants them all gone. Now that we know we're not alone in this universe we need to protect ourselves, before we end up under somebody's boot heel.”
    “All we have to do is keep the Alturians distracted, and for that Dr. Cruz will play into our hands nicely. As for our phantom aliens…” He handed Sorinsen two small devices that fit in the palm of his hand. “We've identified the radiation signature with pinpoint accuracy. Whatever they are, they appear as electromagnetic energy with a very specific wavelength. These little toys will keep them under our control.”
    Sorinsen picked up one of the devices. It looked like a pedometer, but with four needle-like prongs on its back side. “What is it?”
    “You wanted us to build you a god-killer. That's it. If we find these people, all we have to do is impale them with this thing along any set of cluster nerves. It's a loop conductor that can fry them alive the moment they try to use their energy.”
    “You're assuming they're flesh and blood.”
    Denman leaned into the old man and whispered conspiratorially. “I've shadowed the Alturians from day one. Their historical texts state that these gods walked among them in physical bodies. I'm certain they're just like us, only they've found some stealth technology that keeps them invisible. All we have to do is pinpoint their whereabouts.”
    Sorinsen looked pleased.
    Despite what the Alturians believed, these gods were mortal, and if they had physical bodies, they could be caught and killed.
    The old general picked up the other machine. “What does this do?”
    “Your remote, sir. Press the green button, and it will order Bubba to activate the planted device with a surge of electricity.”
    General Sorinsen grunted like an old bear. “If we can even trust Bubba anymore.”
    Denman smiled slyly and pointed to the other button. “That's what the red button is for. That activates FAIA and the entire grid. She can funnel the energy from the magnetosphere to any point on Earth. Bubba can only torture the wearer with an electrical charge.” He picked up the little device and rolled it between his fingers. “But FAIA can kill with nearly unlimited power. All she needs is a target.”
    “And all we've picked up so far are echoes. We're no closer to finding these pariahs than Jessit. We need a body to go with that radiation signature.”
    “We're close, General. Very close. We located multiple signatures in the desert and they were on the move. Something was out