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it was being kept
out of the loop. And so far she knew nothing more than what Dr. Tsui had told
them over a brief teleconference, which he had cut short due to what he called
“solar developments.”
    Sophie caught sight of a pair of New Tech
Corporation satellite trucks parked outside the north gates. Emanuel saw them
at the same moment and shot her a nervous glance.
    “NTC?” he whispered.
    Sophie didn’t respond. The presence of the world’s
largest security and science firm could only mean one thing—that NASA wasn’t in
charge of this operation.
    “What’s NTC doing here?” Emanuel asked the driver.
    “Not sure, sir, they don’t tell me much,” he
replied.
    Emanuel frowned and peered out of the tinted window
as the truck approached the front guard gate.
    “Get your identification ready,” the driver said,
easing the truck to a complete stop.
    She dug inside her bag for her government contractor
ID. When she looked back up, an NTC soldier was approaching the vehicle. To her
surprise, he wasn’t some local security guard hired to check badges. He wore
the black matte body armor of the elusive NTC Special Forces and a set of
glowing red goggles that indicated he was a senior officer. The soldier carried
a state-of-the-art pulse rifle. Sophie had read the literature and knew that
the weapon was incredibly advanced—so advanced that it shouldn’t even exist
yet.
    But as he marched closer, she saw it was very real,
and it was pointed directly at the truck.
    “What’s going on here, Emanuel?” Sophie whispered,
her hand finding its way to his knee.
    “Good question,” he replied in a hushed voice.
    The soldier approached the driver’s window and
leaned over to examine the inside of the truck.
    “Turn off the vehicle, sir, and give me your ID,”
he ordered. His voice was rough and robotic, muffled by the breathing apparatus
engineered into his helmet.
    The driver quickly obliged, handing his badge
through the open window. The soldier held the ID for several seconds, examining
it thoroughly before nodding and returning it. Next, he approached Sophie’s
window and knocked on the tinted glass.
    She swiped the touchscreen monitor built into the
armrest, and the window silently opened.
    “Names,” he said.
    “Dr. Sophie Winston and Dr. Emanuel Rodriguez.”
    “State your business,” the soldier replied, holding
out his hand for their badges.
    Emanuel leaned across Sophie, handing his badge to
the man. “We are here to join Dr. Tsui’s team.” Emanuel said. “Is this really
necessary? We need to get started right away.”    
    The soldier scanned the badges with his wrist
monitor and waited until it blinked orange. With a mechanical motion, he took a
step back, his red goggles emitting an eerie glow in the dim light. Instead of
responding to Emanuel’s question, he yanked the car door open.
    “Out,” he said.
    “What?” Sophie asked.
    “Out of the car, now,” he ordered, his voice raised
so that the metallic rasp of the breathing apparatus was even more pronounced.
    Sophie fumbled for her bag, but the soldier held up
his hand and said, “Leave it, ma’am.”
    She shot him an angry glance before slowly dropping
the bag onto the seat. Hesitantly, she climbed out onto the concrete and stood
next to the car. Emanuel joined her a few seconds later, standing shoulder to
shoulder with her.
    “Want to tell us what this is about?” Emanuel said.
    The soldier didn’t respond. Instead he backed
toward the metal guard shack. He stopped just outside the door, keeping his
rifle leveled at the ground in front of them. Without taking his eyes off
Sophie and Emanuel, he brought his wrist mic up to his helmet.
    “Base, this is Captain Mitchell. I have a Dr.
Sophie Winston and—” he paused briefly to look at the other ID. “A Dr. Emanuel
Rodriguez who claim to be part of Dr. Tsui’s team, but neither of them show up
on the systems’ registry, please advise, over.”
    The com crackled with static.