Returned

Intensified

Ten

Intensified

Prescott had not had time to settle in and contact Brannon as he intended when Brannon’s call came through. He saw it on his wrist Beeper and didn’t have reason not to pick. At least, he was in the lobby now and had room enough to move about with his call. The red blinker indicated on his earlobe.

His expression changed as soon as Brannon began to speak. From the reader on his wrist beeper, he saw that the call was not encrypted. And he knew that Brannon was not a reckless man. Perhaps it didn’t matter that the CIA may be listening in on the call now. But that was the exact order that Brannon now gave.

“Hello son,” Brannon’s voice came through. “What is your position now?”

“I am at the station, sir, prepping to deploy,” Prescott said sharply.

“Excellent, you have traveled fast.”

“I am sorry sir; I have yet to be on clear ground to make contact until now.”

“I understand,” Brannon chirped. “That will not matter anymore. Is Director Bowden with you at the moment?”

Prescott looked around, but there was no Bowden in sight, only a fleet of about six or seven agents glued to their computer screens at the desks. Hardly noticing his presence.

“He is not here sir.”

“Find him. And keep the lines open.”

“Where’s Director Bowden?” Prescott asked an agent sitting close by.

The guy, deeply occupied with whatever he was doing on the computer, pointed to a door on which the numerals of 005 were boldly inscribed in gold. Prescott moved swiftly and opened the door. There, Bowden stood with hands akimbo looking into a computer screen. He seemed not to be speaking with anyone on the phone, yet his blinker was active. It was clear that the Director was already listening in on his call. “What did this guy want?” Prescott wondered.

“He’s here sir,” Prescott said to Brannon.

“Patch this call to his dashboard; we need to speak with him directly.”

The change of decision surprised Prescott, but he obeyed the order and patched the call through. He knew there was no need for the action as Bowden was already in on the call. But he did patch it through anyway.

“Director Bowden, this is Administrator Alex Brannon of NASA, I am here with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Ron Axwood,” Brannon paused. “The president is also here with his Chief of Staff, Craig Bethany.”

“Yes sir,” Bowden replied.

“At about 14 hours yesterday,” Brannon began. “NASA intercepted alien equipment on United States soil. From the Intel we have gathered, four human beings visited this alien planet but escaped back to earth, and are currently residing in Nigeria. This surveillance material has been sent in to find them, but our job here is to find them first. We initiated the Mission code named Sneaky Shadow, with the hopes that my man, Prescott, and his partner, would move in quietly without notice of the Chinese and make contact with these adventurers. But now, a similar surveillance orb which we intercepted has been found in Nigeria and in Russia. We are in rush hour now, Director. You have been directly instructed to officially join Sneaky Shadow, accelerate speed and recruit more agents to join Prescott and enable them to make contact with the target in two hours, debrief and extract them. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“And Bowden,” it was Axwood. “It will be your failing and that of the United States should the Russians and the Chinese get to these individuals first. The Russians are already in possession of one of the orbs and so is the Chinese-Nigeria.”

“Understood sir.”

“If there is anything you need from our end, do not hesitate to do it ASAP,” President Hillock said.

“No Intel will be sent to the CIA channels just yet. Every information and addendum will be uploaded to Prescott’s Pamphlet,” Brannon added.

Bowden made to protest, but the comm lines went dead.

“Hm… alien, eh, Mr. Wilcox?” Bowden turned to Prescott.

****************

Jon Cho Tung was having coffee and smoking a large cigar at the large oak table in his bedroom when he saw the news. He was one of the few people who still smoked real cigarettes, apart from the electronic cigars. His bedroom looked like a classic Elizabethan movie setting. He was a cultured man and missed the earlier years when things were more human. Every other thing about his house was sleek and modern, to keep up the appearances, except the place where he slept and spent most of his day. Cho preferred to stay in his 15th century-styled bedroom to keep him sane and away from the modern chaos. He hardly went to the office and did most of his transacting from his cozy bedroom. Except it was most necessary, the only other person that entered his chambers was his Personal Assistant, Kim Sung, a sleek, slender, expressively beautiful Chinese lady who spoke ten languages apart from her original Cantonese, including French, Spanish, Arabic and Hausa.

Cho’s stay in the Bedroom was legendary, as well as it gave him enormous power. Nobody had access to him, but he could reach out to anybody he chose to, from the comfort of this room. As he sipped his coffee, he felt irritated about the clumsy way the orb discovery was handled. His irritation was directed more at General Brutus, who he saw giving a statement on TV currently. However, as was usual with him, his irritation did not register in his expression. He only smiled.

Those who knew Cho understood him to be one who had mastered his emotions to perfection. Nobody knew what went on in his mind, and nobody knew how to please him. He was excellent at Kung Fu and Tai Chi. He was an astute businessman who combined the rugged skills he had picked up during his days in the drug business and his refined talents, now that he was a world leader. Nothing passed his eyes. Talking with Cho felt like he could read your thoughts even before you spoke them. At fifty-eight, he still looked pretty smart and dexterous. But Cho still relied on outdated communication technology. Modern tech was only used at his headquarters to gather Intel on his behalf by his staff. He still held onto his mobile phones and refused anything that had to do with Artificial Intelligence or human-machine binding. He always emphasized that he wanted to be buried whole when he died.

Inasmuch as he was attributed the title of the most powerful man in Nigeria, Cho did everything to detach himself from that identity. He always told Kim that they were in Nigeria to do business and recover their investment and not seize political power. But he never said when he would finish recovering his investments or that of China, and nobody knew if the Chinese would ever leave. They had planted themselves fast.

Cho had lost his wife at a very young age, and he had never married again. His two sons remained in Beijing, as he did everything to keep them away from any technology or public politics. Nobody knew about his s****l life, only that he went to Beijing every once a month. It was rumoured that he had an older Chinese woman with whom he had been sexually affiliated for more than twenty years, but no one knew her whereabouts.

He was the CEO of Boxide Internationale, a business empire which no one knew about their particular business. They were into tech, gold, inter-planet transportation, construction, money laundering… anything that was business. They had constructed most, if not all the modern road network and transport system in Nigeria, as well as the modern banking infrastructure. The company also single-handedly ran the communication and identity management system in the country. But those who dealt with Boxide never saw Cho; it would only be Kim Sung. This made Kim Sung too very powerful. If Cho ran the affairs of Nigeria, it was through Kim.

There had been thirty international assassination attempts on Cho, most of which were sponsored by Russia, the CIA and Israel, but he had survived them all. Such attempts caused plane clashes which claimed hundreds of lives, but not just Chos. These survivals had made his legend even stronger and people spoke of him like some god.

Presently, Cho picked his cell phone and dialed General Woo Kim Ma. He told him to shut all news about the orb down until it was figured out. No more statements were to be given. It was unfortunate that the media had gotten to scene before the authorities. But now that the orb was at Boxide, every other thing should be shut down about the orb till further notice. He inquired about the progress on the orb but nothing had been discovered yet. A team from Guangzhou was expected any moment.

When he dropped the call, he decided to dial the number of the only other person that was important to him now. It was Jennifer.