Eye in the Sky

"I know the geosat was tracking a missile test at White Sands."

"There was no missile test. I made it look there."

"How?" Calston was incredulous.

"I changed the tasking. I put in the request and got it changed. I told them I was doing a controls test. I didn't do it directly. I went through a subsidiary company, they put in a request to the Joint Chief's office and they told NSA and NSA changed the tasking. If they look long and hard enough, they'll find the trail leads back to RLK. One of my employees ordered the test. If they crack him, he'll lead them right to me. He'd be a tough nut to crack, but I think we all know the NSA has ways. They might even water board him."

"Maybe it's time for him to go overseas for a while and supervise a project in Siberia," Calston suggested."

"Impossible," Rawlins said. "He's babysitting his niece."

The man in question was sitting in front of a fireplace, his feet up on the hearth and his niece, a dishpan of hot water on a table beside her, a towel over her shoulder and a razor in her hand, was shaving his head.

"Now, for God's sake, don't cut my ears off, Sawyer," Mike warned her. "You're getting mighty close there."

"Quit whining and hold still," she ordered. "You promised you would let me do this, now trust me."

"On, I trust you just fine, Sawyer. It's that razor I don't trust. Can't we use a safety razor?"

"I told you, we don't have any."

"I must have been insane when I told you you could do this. Sawyer, were you messing with my head?"

"No, I was not. I'm messing with it now. Look," she removed the last stripe of shaving cream and bristles and ran a warm, wet washcloth over his slick head and patted it dry. "I'm done." She held up a mirror. "Don't you look handsome, Uncle Mike?"

He felt his ears to see if they were still there. "You did a good job, Sawyer. I can't imagine why you wanted to do that or why I let you, but thanks."

"I've never met anyone who shaved their head before. I've never seen anyone shave and I wanted to see what it was like. Why do you shave your head, Mike?"

"A couple of reasons. When I finally figured out I was going to lose most of the hair on top anyway I figured why mess with it. I shaved it and liked the way it looked so I just kept it up. The other reason was I was in South America and got head lice. That was the first time I shaved it."

"Well, I think it makes you look distinguished and tough," Sawyer rubbed his head.

"Now stop that! I'm not a magic lamp. I guess tough was the look I was going for."

"What do you want to do now, Mike?" she asked.

"Why do we always have to do something, Sawyer? I'm an old man. Sometimes I just like to sit and do nothing."

"Well, I'm not an old man. Sometimes I like that too. But not right now. I wish Lawson were here. He got a dancing game for the PS4. We were going to play tonight but that horrible Agent came. I've never danced before. Do you think you could teach me how to dance, Mike?"

"No," he growled. "I don't dance."

"Never," she asked? "Haven't you ever danced?"

"I have danced," he admitted. "But not like you're talking about. I know how to ballroom dance, not throw myself around like I've got spiders crawling on me."

Sawyer shivered at the thought. "Teach me how to ballroom dance, Mike."

"Sawyer, it feels kind of weird, dancing with a eighteen year old girl."

"But I'm your niece," she said. "Uncles are supposed to teach their eighteen year old nieces how to dance."

He snorted. "How would you know, Sawyer? How many uncles you got?"

"Only you, Mike," tears filled her eyes. "I don't have anyone except you and Rawlins and Lawson."

"Jesus, kid, now don't start crying. I'm sorry. Here, I'll teach you to dance. But we need music. Go get Lawson's iPod and I'll see if he has anything we can use. He mostly listens to noise. What's your favorite song, Sawyer?"

"Well, I haven't been listening to music for very long. Lawson has 1288 songs on his iPod. I've listened to all of them and my favorite is called Sirius/Eye in the Sky, by the Alan Parsons Project. Do you know that song, Mike?"

"No, play it for me."

She plugged the iPod into the stereo. "We need to be sitting down with our eyes closed to get the effect right."

She pulled him to the sofa, turned out the lights and as the opening swelled, she sat beside him, put her cheek on his chest and snuggled in. Mike leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The subsonics kicked in and the surround sound filled the room with vibration. "I am the eye in the sky, looking at you; I can read your mind." When the song ended, they didn't move for a minute. Mike raised his head and shook it.

"Jesus Sawyer, that's creepy. It's like they wrote that song for you."

Sawyer was a little upset about that comment. "Do you think I'm creepy, Mike?"

"Well, yeah, a little bit. Now I don't mean that I think you're bad. You can just do things no one else can. Don't get me wrong. You're a good girl Sawyer and I'd give my life to protect you, but I'm in awe of you and just a little bit afraid of you. But what I really meant was it's like they knew about you when they wrote that song. Now don't tear up like that. I love you Sawyer. I don't love many people. I'm creepy too, in my own way. Most people won't do things I will. I would have shot Darby in the head if you wanted me to. I guess most people would think that's creepy.

"I think I understand, Mike. I'm a little bit afraid of myself; especially when I hear that song. Do you think I could be like the eye in the sky, reading people's minds?"

"I don't know. How far away can you do it?"

"I don't know; I've never tried."

"Do you want to?"

"Do you think I should?" she looked up at him.

"Up to you, Sawyer. If you want to you could just see if you can feel what they're feeling."

"Okay, I'll try."

Sawyer let her awareness spread. People in the offices on the campus came into focus. There weren't many at this time of night and she could feel their urgency to finish what they were doing and go home. A young woman watching a movie in a theatre across town was in love with her companion. She felt Lawson; he was angry and worried about something. She made a note and her world expanded in a rush as tens of thousands of emotions flooded her mind. She reeled with the impact and drew back. There was only Mike and Sawyer and she felt his worry.

"I'm okay, Mike. It was too much for me to handle. I had to stop."

"You sure?"

She nodded.

"How far did you go?"

"I don't know. Most of the state, I guess. Maybe more. Something's going on with Lawson, Mike. He's angry about something and he's worried too."

"Can you tell what's going on?"

"Not without reading his mind. I promised Rawlins I wouldn't do that without permission."

"Well, I guess it's okay," he patted her shoulder. "People get mad sometimes and he's probably worried about Calston being there."

"Will you teach me to dance now? We don't have to use that song."

"No, it's okay. We can use it."

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. He held one little hand and showed her where to put the other. He started the song, and under his direction, they spent an hour dancing.

"I think you've got it Sawyer. You'll be pretty good once you get over this unfortunate habit of stepping on my feet."

She punched him in the chest. "I did not step on your feet. Well, not much except at first."

The front door opened and they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Rawlins, Lawson and Agent Calston appeared. Mike's gun was in his hand as if by magic and he took three steps in a blur and the gun was six feet from Calston, aimed at his chest."

"You okay, boss, Lawson?"

"Yes Mike. We brought him here. You can relax."

Mike made the "eyes on you" gesture and the gun disappeared inside his jacket.

"Are you crazy, Rawlins? Why did you bring him here?"

"I don't think we have a choice, Mike. I think we can trust the man. We've got to resolve this situation someday. Sawyer can't be a fugitive the rest of her life. Having a guy on the inside helps us. He won't turn her over to Watts."

Rawlins turned to Sawyer. "Come here, honey. I want to introduce you to someone."

Sawyer came hesitantly forward and Lawson stepped to her side and put his arm around her.

"Sawyer, this is Agent David Calston of the National Security Agency. He is one of the Agents that was looking for you. Calston, this is Sawyer Raleigh. This gentleman is Mike Bishop"

"Hello," she stepped forward, offering her hand.

He took it. It felt small and delicate in his hand, like the hand of a child, he thought but her grip was very firm. "I'm glad to finally meet you," he told her. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, I was told that you were a threat to the security of the United States. My superiors told me that you were a vital security asset and that you had gone off the reservation and that you were very dangerous. My assignment is to find you, take you into custody and return you to the Groom Lake facility."

"I won't go," she said firmly.

"Are you aware that I have police powers? I have the authority to take you into custody."

"Are you aware that I can make you a drooling idiot? I could have done it at any time. I know who you are. You were following me all the way from Las Vegas and I could have made you shoot yourself the first day."

"Yes, I know Sawyer. Thank you for not making me shoot myself. However, I don't think you will, any more than Lawson here is going to break my neck. They've told me about you. I know you won't do things like that, but we still have a situation here. I won't turn you over to Watts. I'm here to try and find some way to fix this. I want to help you. I just don't know how. That's why I'm here. We're looking for a way. If you want, you can look in my mind and see if I'm telling the truth. Okay?

Sawyer reached out and discovered that he was telling the truth. He was horrified at what he had discovered about operation Wormwood and he was very afraid of her.

She nodded. "You're a very brave man to come here, Agent Calston. I promise I won't do anything to harm you so long as you don't try to harm me or my friends."

"Thanks Sawyer. You can call me Dave."

Mike, Rawlins and Calston sat at the bar. Mike poured Glenmorangie eighteen-year-old Scotch, and the three men discussed possible courses of action.

Lawson had brought his Just Dance game, and he and Sawyer were soon gyrating to Rihanna's, Where Have You Been. Her laughter filled the room and the three men watched for a moment.

"She's just like any normal kid," Calston said.

"Not just like," Mike growled. "She is a normal kid. It was you people that tried to make her weird."

"Not my people, Mike. I never heard of her before they told me to find her. I had nothing to do with any of this. Watts and his goons are not 'my people.'"

"I don't care, look what you do. Look at the people you work for. I know hundreds of you spook types. You sneak around spying on people; you kidnap people whose only crime is that they know something you want to find out. You peep into people's private e-mail; you eavesdrop on their telephone calls. You kill people when your bosses say so; people you don't even know. You may not have done it personally, but the people you work for torture other people on a regular basis. The people you work for gave the orders to torture a 12 year old girl for three years. I don't know how you live with yourself."

"I love my country. I work to keep it safe."

"Bullshit," Mike said. "That's bullshit and you know it. Nobody loves countries; nobody normal anyway. You only love people. A better man than you and me once said 'Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.' He was right. Don't go all high and mighty on me, boy. A country that tortures little girls doesn't deserve to be safe. I spit on anyone that does things in the name of a country like that. I love those two kids right over there, and the country can go piss itself. I love my country is a mantra for fools that can't think for themselves. You love a country that tortures little girls? Give me a break!"

Calston got to his feet. "You can't talk to me like that, old man."

Mike laughed. "Why not? There are three people in this room that would mop the floor with you. I'm one of them and the others are those two kids over there. You seem like a good guy, Calston, but you need to wake up and smell the stench. Use your brain, not your gonads. You know these people are slime. Tell me about your partner. Brown a good guy? You have him over for Christmas?"

"I'm sorry, Calston. Mike's right," Rawlins said. "You know it. I wouldn't put it so crudely, but Mike's a simple guy. There's the angels and the devils. You've been on the wrong side. I know that's a shock to the system, but your country has been involved in deception and torture for a long time. They've manipulated people into thinking that the end justifies the means. The problem is, there's no right way to do wrong things. How is it okay to inject babies with mind-altering drugs in the womb?

How is it okay to give people drugs without their knowledge or consent? How is it okay to torture people? Sawyer didn't ask for any of this. They took her before she was even born and tried to turn her into a monster. Now they want you to take her back. Your superiors signed off on all of this. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. I know you're a good man and you didn't know. So help us fix this. And Mike, give the boy a break. It took you 20 years to get disgusted enough with police work to get out. Give him a little space."

"Sorry, Calston," Mike told him. "I get to thinking about what they did to that little girl and it just gets all over me. Just look at her!"

Sawyer was swaying, hands over her head and her pageboy flaring to Daft Punk's Get Lucky. Her cheeks were flushed with exertion and excitement and her brown eyes sparkled. Lawson was resting and watching her. Her slim form was a willow in the wind and he was entranced.

Calston felt his heart melting. The thought of someone harming her filled him with revulsion. "Listen guys, I know you're right. I won't say anything like that again, Mike. It's just like my whole core has been taken away and I just feel dirty. I'll help you any way I can. I'll tell them I can't find her. I'll put down some false trails but that can only go on for so long. Sooner or later we need a permanent solution. They'll never stop looking and eventually they'll take me off and put someone else on it."

"How much time can you buy us?" Rawlins asked.

"A year, if we're lucky. I'll stomp around and look like I'm doing something, but we're going to have to come up with something like a plan. I've got to go back to Nevada tomorrow. I'll try to keep in touch. You got encrypted email, Rawlins?"

"I use PGP," Rawlins said. "It's 128 bit, but if they focus on me, they'll find a way to get around it."

"Well, I guess it's my job to see that they focus somewhere else. Use that big brain of yours Rawlins and think of something. Let me talk to Sawyer for a minute then take me back to my car."

Sawyer was panting on the sofa beside Lawson.

"Sawyer, it's been good to finally meet you. I'm going to do everything I can to help you. I hope we can get to be friends but it's dangerous for me to be around you. I'd like to get to know you better, but I don't know when I'll find the time."

"Do you have three minutes," she asked?

"Yes, what do you mean?"

"If you let me, I can show you me," she said. "I'll let you touch me and if you let me touch you we'll know each other like we've been friends all our lives."

"All you have to do is touch me?"

"No; not like that. Our minds will touch."

"Will it hurt?"

"No, it's pretty intense though. You should sit down if we plan to do it."

"Okay," he sat on the sofa and she took one of his hands in her little ones.

He felt her glowing presence and he suddenly knew the most dazzling personality he had ever encountered. Emotions flooded through him in a wave and he felt as though he had been hit by a truck. His vision began to grow black and then she was gone."

"Holy shit," he exclaimed! "Sorry Sawyer, but you said it wouldn't hurt."

"Are you in pain," she frowned. "It didn't hurt Lawson or Rawlins."

"Well, no there isn't any pain but it was like someone dropped a mountain on my brain. Did you read my mind?"

"No, we just felt," she said.

"Can you read my mind?"

"If I wanted to."

"Can you broadcast?"

"I don't know what that means."

"Can you make me hear what you're thinking?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. I've never tried. I can put thoughts in your head, but you'll think they're yours."

"How far can you do it?"

"I don't know. Maybe a thousand miles? I've only tried once and that was just listening."

"Could you reach me at Groom Lake?"

"I think so. Do you want me to?"

"Yes, I think I do. Rawlins, I think I found a way around our communications problem. Sawyer can put anything you want me to know in my head. She can also check on me and tell you anything I want you to know."

"Is that okay, Rawlins?" Sawyer asked.

"Yes, honey. I think that would help us a lot."

"Practice trying to broadcast, Sawyer," Calston told her. "That would be very useful."

"Who should I practice on?"

"Mike," Lawson and Rawlins said it at the same time.

"Oh no, I ain't a guinea pig." Mike was adamant. "She might fry my brain. Uncle Mike likes to talk the old-fashioned way, Sawyer. You practice on Lawson. He's got brain to spare. My old brain is out of spare cells."

"I suppose that makes sense," Rawlins agreed. "She's going to be with him more anyway."

"Well, I'm happy about that," she said, "but why am I going to be around Lawson. He goes to school every day."

"So are you," Rawlins smiled. "Classes start tomorrow, young lady. Jack Bishop has algebra II first block tomorrow."

Sawyer leaped up and threw her arms around him. "Oh, thank you Rawlins. I love algebra."

Lawson shook his head. "First time I ever heard that. Dad, can she drive the Trans Am?"

Sawyer squealed and jumped back down on the couch and threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, thank you Lawson. I'll be very careful and not park close to any cars. I didn't think you let anyone drive your Trans Am."

"You're my girl, and I let my girl drive my car."

She kissed him and sighed and closed her eyes with her arm around his neck and her cheek on his shoulder "I love it when you tell me that."

"Get up Sawyer. I've got to go and we've got to take Calston back to his car."

She kissed him again and hugged Rawlins. She extended her hand to Calston. "Goodbye Dave. I'll be frying your brain soon."

He laughed. "I'm looking forward to it, Sawyer. Just let me get out of town before you hit the road in that Trans Am." He shook her hand and the trio left for Calston's car.

"You better hit the sack too, kid," Mike told her. "You have to be at school by 8:15 and it will take you 20 minutes to get there."

Chapter Eight

A lot of heads turned when Sawyer pulled up in front of the school the next morning. The car attracted a lot of attention and when a stunning young brunette emerged, it attracted even more. Some people knew it was Lawson's car and assumed that she was already taken. The rest found out when he met her at the door and she kissed him.

He walked her around, showing her where everything was, and dropped her at the office where she got her schedule and met the Principal. He introduced himself and left her in Lawson's capable hands. He walked her to her first class and left for Art. "See you after class, Sawyer. I'm glad you're here."

She was a little intimidated at first. Everyone was very nice, especially the boys and she turned her attention to algebra. She already knew how to do the problems and had her homework done in the 15 minutes she had to work in class. A pretty blonde girl across the aisle introduced herself as Lane, and asked her how she knew Lawson.