Chapter 7: Meet and Greet

Rhea pulled into the Air base a little past nine pm. As she drove up to the gate, she flashed her badge and the stoic, blonde guard nodded, giving Casey a suspicious glance.

"It's okay, Tim, he's one of us. This is Major John Casey…shh! He's sleeping." She chuckled.

The soldier smirked and allowed them into the complex. Casey woke up startled from the roar of a jet plane taking flight. He shielded his eyes, and found himself staring into the mouth of a giant and illuminated funnel shaped dome.

"This is where history is made, Major. It houses the tracking equipment."

"Damn, Jones, how much juice does this thing use?"

"You don't wanna know. I'll let the real experts explain it."

Rhea parked the car and Casey stumbled out, grateful to stretch his long limbs. They passed a second set of guards and Rhea led the way, exposing her unflattering badge despite that they all knew exactly who she was. Casey felt she had a pretty memorable face– soft, dewy features, clean, white teeth, full and teasing lips. Her eyes, they were as blue as the Pacific and lit up a little too eerily.

"I'll make sure you get all the clearance you need, Major, and you'll have to pose for one of these ID's."

"Wunderbar, I'll make sure to say cheese."

"Danke, Major…come this way, please."

"By the way, Jones, it's none of my business, but…do you always wear blue contacts? I'm just really feeling you as a doe-eyed gal. And I saw your badge up close."

Rhea stopped short with a groan and sheepishly gazed up. John Casey was the tallest man she ever met. She focused on his real blue eyes, a shade that turned light or dark depending on his mood, shifting hues like an ocean.

"Darn it! Way too light, huh? Ya got me, Major…yeah, I have brown eyes…so sue me."

"Nothing wrong with brown eyes." Casey had a vision of Chuck's lifeless ones staring and pleading for his help. He gasped and covered it over with a cough.

"Uhh…now where are we going?

Rhea led Casey down another blinding corridor and into a dark room. He almost felt his pupils dilate from all the lighting changes. The room was enormous. An array of mini monitors and giant screens blinked with all types of graphs and images of the earth. Various maps pumped out electronic data every three seconds on the smaller ones. Three bored people sat idly at a long white table in front of it. Whoever funded this program went cheap with the furnishings and pumped all the money into the feeds and wires. Casey grew queasy looking at the multi-colored lights and assorted knobs and dials. He folded his arms and paced. They all stared him down, burning with questions.

Casey surveyed them. He wasn't up to being kind. "Well, looks like we got a mini U.N. base! White, black, Chinese and…"

"Jew. I'm Simon, that's Wang, and the lovely piece of dark chocolate on the right is, Althea." The lanky young man in the middle droned. He had a full brown beard and head of hair that could've rivaled Moses himself. "Hey Rhea, is Major thick neck over here always this snarky?"

Rhea blushed; this was not the meeting she'd hoped for. "Unfortunately, yes." She nudged Casey, but he was listless and cranky. The onslaught of technology was so 'in your face' he'd developed a migraine.

"Where's the Hispanic? Or is he outside mopping the floors?" Casey knew he was being very politically incorrect and immature and he had no good reason for it.

Althea sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. "Figures we got the 'massa' coming in here and thinking he's all that and a bag of chips!"

"And it figures you'd be the sassy chick!" Casey replied unflappably.

"Dude, like…just chill out, okaaay? We're all here to solve a case… not be best friends. Don't be so bogus!" Wang said in the Americanized tone of voice only a Chinese native could master. Wang shook his head and kept his arrogant, plump face focused on the small computer in front of him.

Casey bestowed him a half grin, half snarl. "That's funny, I didn't know surfer dudes came in jumbo size! Catch any good cyber–waves lately?"

Rhea stomped her foot and pulled Casey away from the table.

"Dammit, Major! What is wrong with you? You're gonna jeopardize everything! You think who you are, don'tchya? Stop acting like a douche, shut up and pay attention!"

"I would pay attention if someone would actually say something useful! Instead of staring at me all day!" He yelled back.

Rhea flicked her hand at him disgusted and stormed away. Casey clamped his mouth tight; this woman had nerve and lots of it. He decided to take her advice and gawked at her with a crooked smile.

"You're very New York when you're angry!"

"You ain't…haven't seen the half of it!"

Casey turned back to the others and dropped his tirade. He ran his hands over his face exhausted.

"Okay…look guys, I'm sure you're a pleasant bunch of people and… I'm…sorry. It took his remaining energy to filter the one word through gritted teeth. "All I want are some answers!"

Rhea approached again and put a consoling hand on his forearm. Casey flinched with sadness. She had a warm touch, just like Julia. He looked down and she smiled teasingly.

"If you promise to just be a little more patient, I promise to take off my contacts, deal?"

"How can I say no to that?"

So much for Agent 'Ice cube' Jones.

~Oo~

"Major John Casey?"

All heads turned at the distinct, gravelly voice from the opposite end of the room. A tall, distinguished olive-skinned man with a shock of peppery hair and eyebrows stood before them. His hands balled in his pockets and Casey noted how he jangled loose change. A nervous habit that to Casey, signaled his greed.

"Yes?"

"I'm Special Agent Victor Costa, the…Hispanic…in charge of this unit. Now that I'm done mopping the floors, I'll be more than happy to answer your questions…within reason. However, any grievances and additional issues should be addressed only to me."

He cast a withering glare at Rhea that didn't go unnoticed by Casey.

Rhea's hand was still on Casey's arm and her fingers curled tighter. Casey flexed his muscle, offering her a small reassurance. His 'Do not trust' radar rose with this new character's sudden appearance.

"Understood…SA." Casey saluted.

Special Agent Costa didn't appreciate the play on words.

"Very good, gringo. Now if you and Agent Jones will follow me, we can have our little discussion. Then, you can come back here and our trackers will teach you how all our neat toys work!"

Casey's jaw clenched and he felt the veins near his temples pulse. He wasn't used to being pushed around in this condescending manner and he didn't appreciate it. He followed behind Rhea, but then she casually maneuvered behind him.

"I take it you're afraid of this guy?" Casey whispered.

"Me? Afraid? Nahh…I uhh…don't like his cologne."

"Right…is someone finally gonna tell me what I want to know?" He demanded.

"He'll tell you…something…don't worry." She murmured.

Casey nodded and peeked at the tracking room one last time, he assumed they used satellites to garner the feeds. When he saw the main screen his heart leapt into his throat. The words 'Live Feed' flashed across and Wang spun the dial on the desktop. The view zoomed on to the earth, through the atmosphere, and onto California. Within seconds Casey caught a glimpse of the satellite's target. Standing in all its brilliant Green and yellow glory, was an image of the Buy More. It was his Buy More, complete with a happy-go-lucky Chuck Bartowski bounding through the entrance.