Page 13 of Forbidden Moon
Russell moved the truck to get a closer look. As he approached, the sign proudly proclaimed DELTA AVENUE APARTMENTS, along with temporary yard signs reading “Construction by Natural Homes.” Ah, the old fish plant they were remodeling! He’d seen the story in the paper a few months back and never gave it another thought. Russell looked the place over, noting the large windows stretching up all five floors—easily the tallest structure in this part of town.
With the bay on three sides, there wasn’t much to see except water. Dominic mentioned a great view of the bay and bird-watching... wait a minute! If these supposed shapeshifters were hiding in the woods, and Dominic saw them from his apartment, then it meant only one possibility—the commune! Less than a quarter-mile across the water lay the western shoreline of the Preserve, as the nuts who owned the place called it.
Hot damn! Now things were starting to make sense. Bird watchers used binoculars, didn’t they? With those and a high enough window, Dominic would have a front-row seat to spy on the freaks next door. It was bad enough when a bunch of strangers moved in and started building like crazy, while at the same time spouting nonsense about being a harmless group of tree-huggers who liked their privacy. Like some of his buddies, he figured the homos wanted a private little hideaway for their orgies or whatever the hell they did over there.
Could there be something to what Dominic told him? Were those reclusivepeopleactually something else altogether? Russell admitted there was some weird shit in this world; things even the scientists didn’t understand. Of course, everyoneknewthe military hid things in top-secret bunkers, so why couldn’t Dominic’s story be true? Russell turned the truck around and headed for home, determined to figure this out and then do something about it.
Chapter 6
TUESDAY, LRC OFFICES, Duluth
Adam Sheppard stepped into the small elevator, inserting a special key into the main panel. The door closed, descending quickly to a sub-basement known only to a few. He stepped out into a well-lit vestibule containing a single door and entered a security code on the attached keypad. The door opened, revealing an office-like setup known simply as “The Newsroom” and two beefy Beta guards. He nodded as they let him pass, heading straight for a glass-walled workroom in the corner.
By the time he reached it, one of the three occupants had come out to meet him. Sheppard smiled at the young Delta, one of his former students.
“Good to see you, Stuart. Any progress?”
“Not yet, Sir. Why don’t we take this to the conference room?”
Sheppard followed him into a tiny, soundproofed chamber containing a small round table and two chairs—nothing more. Stuart began as soon as they were seated.
“Birdman’s site is part of an enormous platform called BlogPress. We have an algorithm working to obtain his password, which would be the easiest way to take over the account. Once we’re in, discovering his identity and location should be a piece of cake. Do you want us to lock him out and wipe the site clean?”
Sheppard shook his head.
“Hold off for now. I have a better idea of what to do with the site itself. What happens if you can’t obtain the password?”
Stuart grinned, a wicked gleam in his eye.
“Then, Sir, we do it the hard way. Birdman may have used a phony name or address when he set up the blog by using one of their free accounts. If he did, that’s a dead end. If he set up a subscription site, we could track down his payment method through a verifiable credit card or bank account. That will take longer and be much more difficult. BlogPress encryption is state of the art and tough to crack, though I’m confident we can do it in time.”
Sheppard needed clarification.
“So you’re saying it’s too early to know what you’re up against and no way to guess how long it will take?”
“Correct, Sir. We’re throwing everything we have at it, but this is the toughest system we’ve ever tried to hack. It’s going to take some time.”
Sheppard sighed heavily, having hoped to stop Birdman in his tracks immediately.
“The stakes are as high as they could be, Stuart, and I’m offering you every resource at my disposal. Birdmanmustbe silenced, or we’re all dead.”
####
EVERY OUTING AT THEBlair household became a major production, requiring an eagle eye, numerous reminders, and careful coordination. In his element, Lance herded his charges towards the door in a shuffle of two steps forward, one step back.
