Free Paradise Hacked (First Circle Club Book 2) by Alex Siegel Page B

can't just give up."
    * * *
    Colonel Jack Knox was sitting in his make-shift office behind his desk.
    "Are we sure they're really aliens, sir?" Major Weber said.
    "No," Knox said, "but Dr. Harlow thinks they are, and I lean towards taking his word for it. He's been right about everything else."
    Major Weber was chief of security for the Crusader Special Unit. He was a big guy, and his particularly large shoulders made his head seem small. Sand-colored hair was cut close to the scalp. Orange-tinted safety goggles protected his eyes, and he almost never took them off. He held a M4 rifle with casual ease.
    "But what if they have some kind of crazy technology? How are we supposed to deal with that? We already suspect they have mind-control. I spoke with Captain Kyle, and he seemed certain. He's not a man who likes to make up stories."
    "These are valid concerns," Knox said. "We'll approach the aliens cautiously of course. We'll try to study them before we make any aggressive moves. We'll remain covert until the last second."
    "Are we authorized to kill?"
    Knox paused. Threats to the Unit had to be dealt with by any means necessary, but killing aliens was a big step. He didn't want to start an interstellar war.
    "Let me think about that. I'm very much hoping for a clean, bloodless capture followed by a successful interrogation. Their technology might allow the United States to jump ahead hundreds of years."
    "Yes, sir, " Weber said.
    "And if they're not aliens, we still want to talk to them."
    Knox heard loud footsteps on the staircase of the house. A moment later, Corporal Ramirez ran into the office with a piece of paper in her hands.
    "Sirs!" she said excitedly. "We have a general idea of where the hacker is."
    She placed the paper on Knox's desk, and he saw it was a map of Chicago. A red outline marked off several blocks on the south side. The neighborhood was labelled "Chinatown."
    "You're sure?" he said.
    Ramirez nodded. "Yes, sir. We performed a latency analysis and triangulated the packet streams."
    "Fine work, I guess, but that's still a pretty big section. Thousands of people must live there."
    "It's the best we could do, sir." She ducked her head apologetically.
    Major Weber leaned over the map and examined it closely. "I think it will be good enough. We have pictures of the targets. We just have to perform surveillance until we spot them. A couple dozen operatives should be enough to cover the entire area nicely. We can spare that many men."
    "Having guys stand on street corners might look suspicious," Knox said. "The last thing we want is for the aliens to know we're onto them."
    Ramirez's eyes widened. "Aliens, sir? On Earth?"
    "Forget you heard that. Dismissed. Go back to your station."
    "Yes, sir." She quickly walked away.
    "What do you suggest instead?" Major Weber said.
    Knox thought for a moment. "Electronic surveillance. Hidden cameras. We can run the video through facial recognition software in real time."
    "We're talking about a bunch of cameras, sir, and we'll have to mount them where they have good views of the street. I don't know how we'll hide all the wires."
    "We'll need a cover story, a good reason for hanging things on lampposts and walls. Let's take a trip to Chinatown and do some recon."
    "But, sir," Weber said, "what about the experiment tonight?"
    "It will be a quick trip." Knox stood up.
    * * *
    The four primary members of the First Circle Club were staring at each other. They were sitting on couches and chairs in the basement of Red Palace Antiques. Nobody was talking, and the silence allowed Virgil to hear customers walking on the floor above. Mrs. Deng made of profitable business of selling counterfeit antiques to tourists.
    "I think we'll have to use some kind of bait," Lisa said. "Maybe we can bring the feds to us."
    "What bait?" Sara said. "I suggest we call that phone number again and ask for another meeting.
    "They must know we're not really state troopers by now," Virgil said. "They'll