Free 01-01-00 by R. J. Pineiro Page B

technicians from Sagata any more than he trusted Kuoshi Honichi.
    A crystalline sky greeted them, having a soothing effect on Jackie Nakamura. She took a lungful of some of the cleanest air on the planet. It was cold and dry. The distant, snow-covered peaks of the highest mountains in the Andes looked down upon them beneath the starlight.
    â€œThis signal wasn’t beamed for the exclusive monitoring of Sagata Enterprises’ executives,” she complained after a minute of gazing at the stars.
    â€œLet’s play ball, as you Americans like to say,” said Ishiguro. “That way we’re kept in the game. Our options remain open. Once we learn enough, we can apply some pressure to get this released.”
    â€œWhy do I get the feeling that they have already thought of that possibility?”
    Ishiguro patted her cheek. “You’re worrying too much. Right now you should be ecstatic that it was you who first detected the signal yesterday. Do you realize that you could be the very first person on the planet to ever have picked up a signal from outer space—with scientific data to back it up, of course.”
    Jackie considered that for a moment and then smiled. “When you put it that way … I guess you’re right.”
    â€œYou bet. And don’t worry about Sagata. Kuoshi is simply following orders. Sagata can’t contain this for very long, and when word gets out, you’ll be the one on the covers of Newsweek and Time. Heck, maybe they’ll even take your picture next to Jodie Foster. The actress next to the real thing.” He grinned.
    â€œThat’s why I love you,” she said. “You’ve always found a way to calm me down, even back in college, when I couldn’t sleep before an exam or a dissertation.”
    â€œI’m always here for you.”
    Ishiguro embraced his wife and gazed at the stars.

Chapter Four
    000100
    1
    December 12, 1999
    â€œI tried to call you,” Troy Reid said the moment Susan stepped into his office, “but the phone—”
    â€œI took it off the hook. I was hoping to get a good night’s sleep and come in fresh in the morning.” She made a face while sitting down. “ Obviously you had other plans.”
    Troy Reid regarded her haggardly from behind his desk. He actually looked pretty consumed himself. Dark and puffy skin encircled his bloodshot eyes. A salt-and-pepper stubble reflected two days without shaving, and Susan thought she could smell his perspiration.
    â€œLooks like our friend’s back,” he said in a voice hoarser than usual.
    â€œThat’s what your two boys said, but couldn’t provide me with any details,” she replied.
    â€œSame time as before, exactly eight oh one in the evening, local time.”
    â€œDid it also last twenty seconds?”
    Reid slowly shook his head. “That’s what I thought at first, but the official time was nineteen seconds.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “Nineteen, huh? Exactly nineteen?”
    â€œOn the nose.” Reid locked eyes with her.
    â€œYou don’t suppose…” she stopped.
    â€œA countdown?”
    She nodded. “Why do I get the feeling that tomorrow there’s going to be another event at the exact same time?”
    The aging Bureau officer frowned. “And it’ll probably last eighteen seconds. I know. That’s the first thing that came to my mind. That’s why I sent for you.”
    Susan stared in the distance, the intriguing finding overshadowing her exhaustion as well as her annoyance at being here again. She abruptly stood, snagging the carrying case next to the chair. The sooner she got started the sooner she could think about something other than killing herself. “I’d better go check the contents of the cocoons.”
    â€œLet me know what you find. It’s obvious I ain’t going anywhere.”
    2
    Susan Garnett’s system finished booting up,