Eye in the Sky

"I won't choose, Mike. All of those choices look bad to me. They are all evil and I won't choose evil; small, big or medium sized, it's all evil. I'm eithteen years old, Uncle Mike. Don't ask me to make choices like that." She began to cry.

"Sweet Jesus, Sawyer. I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." He patted her leg. "Your old uncle Mike is a fool sweetheart. Don't cry now; I'll decide. Will you forgive an old fool?"

"Oh, yes Mike. I know you were only trying to make it easy for me. But, I would never ask you to shoot someone in the head. I'll do it if you want me to Mike, and I would never risk hurting Lawson or Rawlins either."

"I think it does the least harm if we just erase him, Sawyer. He gets to go on and live his life and get along as best he can that way. And, it's not like he does this out of the goodness of his heart. He's a bad man. I've seen a lot of bad men and this guy creeps me out. He helps gangsters and drug lords and bank robbers. He deserves whatever we give him. I admire your heart. I would probably go around and make all the people I don't like piss themselves in public if I could do what you can. How come you didn't just give everyone at that place they were holding you a mind wipe?"

"I wanted to. When I was little I couldn't. I didn't have that kind of control. After I grew up I could have done it, but by then I knew that there were people there that had no idea what was going on. There were people that cooked and cleaned and flew airplanes and did paperwork and they had no idea what Dr. Watts was doing. I just couldn't hurt them."

"Well, what about the guys that did the dirty work. You could have made them all kill themselves."

"Yes, that's right and I thought about it. I thought about it a lot. When you were a policeman, did you ever make people do something they didn't want to?"

"Well, I made them go to jail and they didn't want to."

"That's not what I'm talking about. Did you ever do anything like beat someone so they would tell you something?"

"I guess I did. Like I threatened to break a guys arm if he didn't tell me where he was hiding a gun he shot someone with. He wouldn't tell so I broke his arm."

"Did he tell you?"

"Not until I stomped on his fingers."

"Did you like it?"

"I never thought about it like that. I guess I did. I caught a murderer. I felt pretty good about it. I was pretty violent, Sawyer. I had to be to do that job. That's part of the reason I quit. I was afraid I was liking it too much."

"That's the very reason I didn't kill those people at Groom Lake. I would have enjoyed it. That makes me just like them. They enjoyed hurting me and I decided I wasn't going to become like them. I was just going to get away. They have to live with themselves. That's punishment enough. I don't like to hurt people Mike and I don't want to ever start liking it."

You're the best girl I've ever met, Sawyer. Have I ever told you I like you?"

"Yes, Uncle Mike; but don't ever stop. I love you too."

Mike's eyes misted up. This little angel loved him. He'd better start that doing better he'd always promised his mother. He cleared his throat and pretended to be busy with his instruments.

"Mike, I just want you to know that if someone were hurting you or Lawson or Rawlins I would make them kill themselves. I will do something if I'm defending myself or someone I love, but I won't attack people. That's why I'll erase your guy. To protect people I love."

"Thanks Sawyer. I'm sorry you have to do it. Stay innocent. When you hurt people it changes something inside you and you can't ever get it back. You ever hear that power corrupts? It's true and you've got more than anyone else alive. We're all just lucky you're a merciful God."

Clive Darby was a greasy little man with thick glasses in a white lab coat. He let Mike and Sawyer in and glanced up and down the street. No one seemed to be paying any attention, so he pulled the shades and hung a closed sign in the window.

He led them through the back of the camera shop and they were in a well lit room filled with equipment. "This the girl?"

"Yes, the full treatment, Clive."

"What name we using?"

"Jack Bishop."

Darby sat down at the embossing machine and started to work. "She's pretty young. What'd she do?"

"None of your business, Darby," Mike growled. "You always stick your nose in other people's business?"

"Just making conversation," Darby cringed a little.

"We're not here for your brilliant conversation. Just do the job, keep your mouth shut and your eyes on your work or I'll give you a little souvenir," Mike said menacingly.

Darby swallowed and put his eyes to the magnifier. "You bring the money?"

"300 thousand, just like we discussed. Right here in the bag," he toed the duffle bag Sawyer had been carrying.

Darby took Sawyer's picture and it took about 30 minutes for him to complete the work. He handed over the documents and Mike handed them to Sawyer who put them in the briefcase Rawlins had given her.

"She gets stopped by the police and her license is good?" Mike asked.

"They're all legit," Darby said. He checked his money and nodded.

"Walk us out," Mike told him.

Darby unlocked the door and Mike and Sawyer walked outside. Mike nodded to Sawyer and she reached out and a blank look came over Darby's face as she walked away.

"Something I can help you with?" Darby asked.

"No thanks," Mike said. "Just window shopping." He followed Sawyer down the street. He caught up with her at the crosswalk and he could see that she was upset.

"Sorry kid; had to be done." He put his arm around her shoulders and she slipped hers around his waist, and the big burly figure and the little petite one walked down the street together.

Chapter Seven

Agent Calston was having a frustrating day. He had retraced the girl's steps from Las Vegas to Albuquerque. The only people she had made contact with were the Sloan's. The guard was a dead end and so were the gate guards. Calston put them back on duty. The only explanation he could come up with was that the girl had somehow caused the men to hallucinate. Watts said it was preposterous, but there was no other scenario. He needed to talk to the Sloan's again. It was possible that they had been affected by the same issue the guards had experienced. The only problem was how he was going to find out? His cover story about the computer hacking wouldn't hold up when he went to where he needed to go in his questioning. Rawlins Sloan had a top secret clearance so the man knew how to keep his mouth shut. Lawson Sloan was just a kid and if he impressed on the father the need for keeping quiet he would see to it that his son didn't talk.

His best plan seemed to be to level with them. He'd just tell them what was going on. Then he would see where the questioning went. He didn't want Brown along. The man was a Neanderthal. He sent him back to Washington to check on satellite intelligence and flew out to Flagstaff. He called Rawlins and made an appointment for 7:30. Rawlins wouldn't agree to pull his son out of school or football practice and Calston didn't want to play his hand too soon by telling them what was really going on over the phone. He needed to be face to face when they talked.

He buzzed the intercom at the gate and it swung open and he pulled up in front of the house. Rawlins opened the door and took him into the dining room where Lawson was sitting at the table.

"We eat late Agent Calston. Lawson doesn't get out of practice until 7. Would you like to join us? We're having lamb and garlic mashed potatoes with asparagus tips."

"Thanks, but I had pizza."

"Agent Calston, I can't allow pizza to be your dinner while you are in Flagstaff. You'll eat with us."

He went into the kitchen and returned. He made several trips and on the last on the last brought bottles of Little Kings Cream Ale. He poured it into mugs and carved the lamb.

"I'll have to admit this smell is making me forget the pizza. Thanks, Mr. Sloan."

"My pleasure," Rawlins said. "Now what can we do for you, Agent Calston?"

Calston took a bite of the lamb. It was juicy and succulent and melted in his mouth. "I've never eaten lamb before," he said. "It's delicious. I have to confess I lied to you the last time I was here."

"I know," Rawlins said. "We forgive you. It's your job. I suspect you hardly ever lie about personal things."

Calston flushed. "How did you know?"

"I'm quite familiar with procedures," Rawlins told him. "The NSA doesn't investigate computer hacking. I believe that would be the FBI."

Calston grinned ruefully and took a drink of his ale. "That's right. I should have realized you would see through that, but I don't often question people like you. I'm going to lay my cards on the table. You're going to think I'm crazy, but I don't know how else to proceed. I don't want to lie to you again.

"That would be wise. I'd probably catch you again and then we'd both be embarrassed."

"The girl we were looking for wasn't a hacker. She's part of a top secret program I can't tell you much about."

"I know about it," Rawlins said.

Calston's jaw dropped. "How do you know?"

"I have access to things, Calston. You know that if you did your homework. Do you think I would be visited by the NSA and not check out the name Sawyer Raleigh? I know what operation Wormwood is. Do you?"

Calston opened and closed his mouth several times, but he was unable to say anything. Finally he gathered his thoughts enough to say," Yes, I know what it's about."

"Are you aware that Dr. Watts injected children in the womb with dangerous drugs? Are you aware that he continued to administer those drugs during their first five years of life? Are you aware that 19 of them became insane and that at least10 are dead? Are you aware that the program was a government sanctioned drug experiment on babies to heighten their sensory abilities so that they could be used to interrogate prisoners and spy on foreign diplomats? Are you aware that he tortured that girl? That she was starved, suffered long periods of hypothermia, was beaten, sleep deprived and water boarded?"

"No, I wasn't aware of that. I was aware of the initial drug administration, but not any of the rest of that. I suspected it, but I can't confirm any of those other things. For fuck's sake, do you think I'd have condoned any of that?"

"Agent Calston, I believe you are a decent and honorable man. Please don't repeat that word in my house. I've checked your service records. I believe you want to do the right thing. I believe you want to serve honorably. What I want to know is how an honorable man justifies the torture and abuse of children?"

This interview was not going at all in the direction that Calston had planned. He found himself very much on the defensive and hardly knew how to answer. He felt like he was the one being interrogated.

"Mr. Sloan, you do understand that I don't choose my own assignments? I was given orders to investigate this girl's disappearance. I knew nothing about operation Wormwood. I had never even heard of it before I was given this assignment. My superiors give me orders and I carry out those orders."

"Of course," Rawlins replied. "That's what the executioners at Hitler's death camps said. Tell me, Agent, if your superiors should give you orders to torture a thirteen-year-old girl, would you carry out those orders?"

"I'm trying to find a polite way to say, 'screw you,' Sloan."

"How very considerate of you, Agent. You come to my house, lie to my face, try to sell me a story about computer hacking, and question my child; all in an effort to locate a eighteen-year-old girl in order to return her to slavery and torture and now you're being polite? Finish your meal and get out of my house, Agent Calston, you offend my nostrils."

"Look, Mr. Sloan, I apologize. I was out of line. Jesus Christ, this whole assignment is out of line. I don't know what to do. I don't want to take the girl back to Watts either. The man is a psychopath. I told him that if I found out he had been abusing this girl I would break his neck myself."

"You know, Agent Calston, 'this girl' has a name." Lawson spoke for the first time. "Her name is Sawyer Raleigh. Why won't you say her name? Is it because then she becomes a person and you can't afford to think of her like that?"

"No! That's not it! I'm just . . . oh hell, you're right. You're pretty sharp, Lawson. We're trained like that. Never use the name, that way you keep perspective, but how in God's name am I supposed to keep perspective on the torture of a eighteen-year-old girl? I guess I should say the torture of Sawyer Raleigh. There, you happy, Lawson? I said it."

Lawson grinned. "I'd be a lot happier if you'd go away."

"Well, I can't do that." Calston leaned back in his chair and nursed his ale. "What the hell am I going to do, Sloan? You know where the girl . . . Sawyer," he corrected as Lawson started to speak, "is; don't you?"

"Before we answer that question, it will be necessary for you to inform us of what your intentions are concerning her," Rawlins said.

"I don't know. My superiors won't stop looking for her and I have my orders"

"Then we don't know where she is. Lawson put her on a bus bound for Albuquerque. I suggest you search for her there."

"Do you know what this, I mean, Sawyer can do?"

"Why don't you tell us?"

"She can read minds. Doesn't that scare the hell out of you?"

"Why would it? We don't have deep horrible secrets, Calston. We don't have a secret torture chamber under our house where we abuse small children. We aren't murderers or child molesters. What if Sawyer were the kind of person that would never invade your privacy without your consent, Agent Calston? Here's the situation. If you were to decide to attack me physically, I could defend myself very well for about a minute. You're younger and stronger than me. You've been trained by professionals. You could kill me if you wanted. Lawson is younger and stronger than you. He too, has been trained by professionals that would destroy the professionals who trained you in seconds. You look to be about six feet tall and you probably weigh 190. Lawson is six feet 5 inches and weighs 270. You wouldn't last a minute. Does that scare you to death, Agent?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to fight him. He's a mountain, but I don't think he would ever attack me. He seems kind of like a gentle giant."

"That's right, Agent. I don't believe Lawson would ever attack anyone. But should you attack him, be assured that he would use whatever measure of force was required to disable you, up to and including killing you. That's the way he's been trained. But he could attack and kill you and you would never leave this room if he chose to do that, and yet, you're not afraid. Sawyer's case is no different. Just because she can read your mind, doesn't mean she will. So, my answer is no; that doesn't cause me to fear her."

"I think it may go beyond that. I think she can tamper with memories, she can make people hallucinate. I think she controlled one of her guards and made him kill another one. Then she made him take her away from the installation, she made two guards at a gate think they were a security detail, gave the guard amnesia and that's how she got away. That is scary stuff, Mr. Sloan."

"The fact that Sawyer can read my mind doesn't scare me, nor does the fact that she could change my mind. Do you know why, Agent Calston?

"No I don't. It scares me."

"It doesn't scare me because she promised she wouldn't. I believe her. If you could just get to know her, it wouldn't scare you either, any more than the fact that Lawson could snap your neck. Decent people don't snap necks. Sawyer is a decent person. She's honorable and kind and true. You know what scares me, Agent Calston? What scares me is people that aren't decent or moral or honorable reading my email. It scares me that strangers a thousand miles away are listening to my telephone conversations. It scares me that the police can shoot an unarmed man two dozen times for taking out his wallet and keep their jobs. It scares me that powerful politicians can violate the constitution they are sworn to uphold, violate the trust of the people that put them in those positions and when they're caught, what happens? Nothing happens. They keep their jobs and do it again. No one goes to jail; they just work harder to cover it up next time. It scares me that soldiers can sodomize political prisoners, take videos of it and laugh while they're doing it and not go to jail. It scares me that the government of this country can carry out experiments on babies and get away with it for twenty years. It scares me that when one of those babies escapes their torture, they institute a nationwide manhunt and tell people that she is a dangerous computer hacker, and make it look like she's the monster instead of them. It scares me that there are men in the world that will accept orders from men that torture others, knowing that that's the kind of men they are. It scares me that there are men in this city that accept the idea that it is acceptable to shoot and kill citizens for disobeying their orders. That's what scares me, Agent Calston."

"When you put it like that, I guess it scares me too, Mr. Sloan. But you've got to admit that being around someone that could make you jump off a cliff is a little unsettling."

"I've decided you may call me Rawlins, Agent Calston. The same analogy still applies. Just because she can, doesn't mean she will. Have you ever seen a picture of Sawyer, Agent Calston?"

"No, I haven't. I've seen grainy security camera footage, that's it, Rawlins. You can call me Calston, by the way."

"I wonder why that is? Could it be because they don't want you to think of her as a scared little girl?"

"If you could meet her, Calston," Lawson said, "you would see how beautiful and kind she is. She would never hurt anyone that wasn't hurting her. Did they tell you that the guard that drove her away was torturing her, along with the man he killed? Did they tell you that they put a hood over her head and ran water over it to make her feel like she was drowning? That they had done this three times a day for a week? That they did this until she passed out from the near drowning, that they revived her and did it again and again? I wouldn't have been as merciful as her, Calston. If I saw that man walking down the street today he'd be a dead man. I wouldn't have stopped with amnesia. Would you?"

"No, probably I'd have killed him too. What am I going to do Rawlins? I can't stop looking for her. I could resign, but they'd just assign someone else. Brown would take over the assignment. I have to tell you, if he was in this room right now Lawson would have to do that killing. The man has the morals and conscience of a pit viper. If he were ordered to, he would kill you all. There's no evidence linking you to Sawyer. I came here thinking she might have played some tricks with your mind and I could find it out. It was just a hunch. Brown doesn't have hunches. He doesn't have enough imagination. I sent him to Washington to check on the satellite intel."

"Well, Mr. Calston, Dad told you that I could snap your neck. I just want you to be aware that if you attempt to harm Sawyer that's exactly what I'm going to do. If you try to take her back, that's what I'm going to do. If I think you're going to betray her I'm going to ask her to destroy your mind. I'm that serious."

"I won't harm her Lawson. She can check and see if I'm telling the truth if that will make you feel better."

"That satellite thing is a problem," Rawlins said. "Well, it could be a problem. I covered my tracks pretty well."

"What are you talking about?" Calston asked.

"Did you wonder why there was no satellite coverage in New Mexico when Sawyer got off the bus?"