True Believers by Maria Zannini Page B

whatever reason, Bubba, which was how this computer identified itself, regarded Paul as an authorized visitor. After more than twenty years, his backdoor key still worked. Whoever programmed this computer never erased any of the fundamental security protocols. It didn't surprise him. The code was solid.
    Paul navigated directly to secure channels and placed a search for his name. Several angry emails from a General Sorinsen were ferried back and forth about the decision to bring him to the compound. Most of the emails were directed to one Jacob Denman. Paul gulped. The last email ordered Denman to eliminate him within twenty-four hours after someone named Jessit was located.
    Paul made a name search for Jessit. The list spanned thousands of entries going back at least three years. The first entry told him the most. Jessit was an envoy from a planet called Alturis on a diplomatic mission to search Earth for their gods.
    Paul rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Aliens envoys! If he had read this anywhere else he would have trashed it as a joke. But Jessit was real, and as sobering as Sorinsen's execution orders. He performed another quick search for Rachel. Paul sighed in relief when he read that they had found her—with Jessit. Was that the man who had jumped in after her?
    He switched gears and ordered the computer to provide a map of the compound. The facility spanned hundreds of acres, Paul deep within its bowels. With the computer's help he traced a route through a series of maintenance tunnels that led far into the desert. But first he had to find Rachel. The last entry stated that she had passed her physical. Paul went back to General Hardass' personal email.
    Jessit placed a formal request that Rachel be given to him as a gift. It said no more than that. Paul stopped breathing. How could anyone…? This was insane.
    He looked for more leads on her whereabouts, but Jessit was her last stop. For all he knew she was already gone, the new plaything for an alien ambassador.
    Paul had connections, and good ones. If he couldn't help her from here, he'd find other means. For now he had to go, and he had to leave Rachel behind.
    Without a printer he needed to commit the escape map to memory, but he'd leave these bastards a gift first. His fingers whirred over the keypad and called up security protocols.
    Phones were the first things to go, forwarding all calls to a bogus voicemail attendant that deleted each voicemail upon arrival. Next came the email system, telling each recipient the mailbox was over its limit. Finally he went into deep security and scrambled all the passwords with new random numbers.
    That'll keep you busy for a while.
    The new procedures began immediately. Once compound personnel figured out the ruse, Paul would be on his own. That would be all the time he'd have to get out into the desert.
    He logged off, wiping any record of his entry. When he hit the last keystroke, Paul nearly swallowed his tongue when a male voice responded to him from the computer's speakers.
    “Thank you for visiting Lambda Core, Dr. Domino.”
    Paul stared at the computer screen for more seconds than he could afford. He nodded to the screen in acknowledgment. Bubba had earned his respect. “Thank you for your help, Bubba.”
    He shut down the computer terminal. The clock was ticking, and he had to get out before all hell broke loose.

Chapter 7
    Rachel clung to Jessit like a hand to glove unwilling to move even a muscle. Jessit grazed a thumb down her cheek as a mob of uniforms swallowed them up. His eyes probed hers, and there was an aching hesitation when his hands cupped her face. “Do as these men say. It will be all right.”
    Rachel leaned into him, her fingers intertwined with his. “Why can't I go with you?”
    His gaze skirted the growing entourage around them. If his resolve had faltered, he redoubled it. “I will send for you. I promise.”
    “Taelen.” She wanted to wrap her arms around his body, but she was afraid of