Homeland Insecurity...Part 5

Before Commander Stennos could reply, the tall man in the dark suit arched his eyebrow at me and spoke up. “This is a Homeland Security matter, Agent Bones, I’m not entirely sure that the Bureau should have been brought into this incident.”

I saw that this could quickly devolve into a pissing contest over turf, so I ignored the man and looked at Stennos square in the eye. “Commander Stennos, are you the current Incident Commander?”

Stennos nodded, obviously unsure of where I was going with that question. “I am. These folks are here to brief me on the assets and capabilities that their agencies can bring to bear on the situation, just as you are Agent Bones.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not here for that.”

That set him back on his heels and seemed to raise the hackles of both of his companions. “What do you mean by that Agent Bones?”

I smiled, making sure to show my less than pearly whites and my blackened gums in the process, knowing how much that tended to unsettle folks. “I’m not here to advise you on anything, or to represent the Bureau in some multi-agency boondoggle. I’m here to solve your problem without blowing that ship up or otherwise causing an environmental disaster.”

That sent all three of them to sputtering. “Excuse me…” “And just how is that even possible?” “How could you…?”

I raised my pale, scarred left hand and waved them silent. “I am not at liberty to discuss my methods with just anyone. Commander, I’ll need to speak to you alone, if you would. The methods and means that I will be using to put an end to this crisis are Top Secret and can only be revealed to the Incident Commander on a need-to-know basis. So, Commander, do you have somewhere that we can speak in private?”

Stennos nodded and pointed the way to the door to his office, despite the sputtering objection of his advisors. “Right this way Agent Bones. I have yet to see any potential solution that doesn’t end in some sort of disaster, so if you have something that will prevent that, I’m all ears.”

I followed him into the well-appointed office that looked out over the Port of Long Beach. A dozen large container ships and the cranes that unloaded them could be seen from the large picture windows opposite his enormous redwood desk. He pulled the door shut behind us and bolted the lock into place. “I don’t see how you can really offer much of a solution to this crisis, Agent Bones, but I am more than thankful just to have a break from all of those nattering harpies out there.” He slid behind his desk and plopped down into the plush leather chair and opened the lid of cigar box. “Would you like a smoke?”

“No thanks, Commander. I haven’t been able to enjoy a smoke in years.”

He went through the ritual of preparing the cigar for smoking. He carefully broke the seal of the clear cellophane, pealed it off, and brought the cigar to his nose, giving it a good, long sniff to absorb the aroma of the raw tobacco. He looked back up at me, only to see me glancing out the window to the busy port outside.

“Thank you for allowing an old man his indulgence. But this situation is truly grave. So if you really do have a solution to this situation, I need to hear it soon.” He waved dismissively with the cigar at the door behind me to the conference room before bringing it back down and slicing one end of the cigar off. “Those harpies won’t give us much time before they insist on creating the largest oil spill in the history of California.”

I reached into the same pocket that contained my credentials and pulled out the small envelope that I had been saving for just this kind of situation. It had been given to me by Zulu after I had recovered from the incident involving Ma Grendel. It was sealed with the personal seal of the President of the United States. “Bones,” Zulu had said at the time, “this envelope contains evidence that you speak with the full faith and confidence of the President. Keep it with you at all times, but don’t use it unless it absolutely necessary.”

“Commander, you are about to hear some very strange claims come out of my mouth. I am also going to take you on a small demonstration of what I am going to claim to do, but this letter will serve as confirmation that I am not as crazy as all of this will sound. I would like you to open this letter and read the contents.”

He put down his lighter after getting the cigar lit and reached out to take the letter with his left hand. His eyes grew wide as he noted the seal on the flap. Without saying anything else, he picked up his letter opener and carefully slit the envelope open, pulling the parchment out.

His eyes grew even wider as read the document, his lips moving silently to form the words as he read them. He set the cigar down into the large, spotless glass ashtray and took the letter in both hands, bringing it closer to his nose.

He put the letter down on the desk as far away from him as he could reach, picked the cigar back up and took a couple of deep draughts on the thing. He finally looked back up at me.

“OK, Agent Bones, that’s the strongest letter of recommendation that I’ve ever seen. But I still don’t know how you will be able to help end this situation.”

I nodded. “I understand, Commander. I’m about to show you how I’ll be able to help, but you needed to see that first, for your own sanity, if nothing else.” I approached the large glass windows and passed my hand across them, from right to left. A curtain of Shadow fell across the windows, plunging the room into almost total darkness. By the time I finished, the only light in the room was coming from the red glow of his cigar, the blinking of the voice mail button on his desk phone, and my own red eyes.

“What the hell…?”

“Relax, Commander. I will turn on a light for you in a moment.”

Once the windows were obscured, I stepped up to the lamp that sat on his desk and pulled the string that caused the fluorescent light to flicker on.

“How did you do that?” He was pointing to black curtains of Shadow over the windows.

I shook my head. “You might as well save your questions until I’m done, Commander. Are you a religious man?”

He nodded. “I don’t know too many sailors who aren’t.”

“Very well then. What you are about to see and experience may well challenge some of your most dearly held religious beliefs, and for that I am sorry. It is not my intent, nor my desire, to bring about a crisis of faith for you, but I am going to have to show you some things that may spur one. If you would, please come over here. It would be best if you left the cigar in the ashtray.”

He complied, moving to stand right next to me as indicated.

“We’re going on a small trip. We’ll be back before your cigar burns out.” I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, hoping to reassure him. He flinched at my touch. “You’ll be safe with me, but don’t try to leave my side.”

To his credit, he straightened out to his full stature and simply said “I’m ready, Agent Bones.”

I called the Shadow to envelop us and took him on a unique tour of his facility and the Port of Long Beach.