The following day, everything went as planned. No representatives were green guys; only eight staff aides were identified as aliens. Later that night, Steve and Janice would install the spying devices in the House Representative's offices. Lewis hacked into the designated computers and cell phones.
The IT expert informed Ralph of his investigation through the AI system: "All the large green guy staff identified have previously worked for Numiko. From O'Malley's computer, I discovered some emails to Numiko but nothing that seemed important. Finally, something popped up. A meeting request at Numiko with Andrew Strong, the CEO, at 5 p.m. this afternoon."
Ralph said, "Isn't that interesting? Great work." Turning to Quinn, he asked, "Do you want to go with me to infiltrate the meeting invisibly?"
Quinn said, "Sure."
That afternoon the two Heroes followed O'Malley's limo and walked behind him and his aide. They entered Strong's office, stood in a corner, and listened to the conversation.
Quinn telepathically told Ralph that everyone in the office, except for O'Malley, were green guys.
O'Malley asked, "Okay, why did you want to see me?"
Strong held up his hand and didn't say anything. He pushed a button on the computer, looked at the screen, and pointed to the spot where Quinn and Ralph were. Ralph knew what was coming. He had seen these same actions before on the Yesil Petroleum platform when the supervisor had invisibility frequency monitors linked to his computer and knew Ralph was in the room. The next thing to be displayed would be the suit deactivation rods. They had to get out of there fast.
He grabbed Quinn and ran for the window at super speed, crashed through, sending shards of glass flying everywhere, and flew away as fast as possible. As the Heroes raced by the meeting participants, the wind of their invisible passage blew their hair and clothing violently.
The Senator jumped out of his chair when the window exploded and yelled, "What on Earth is going on?"
Strong said, "It was a test, and it worked. That is all you need to know. Take him back to his office."
After O'Malley left, Strong told his other minions, "I thought putting Charles close to the Senator during the televised debate would entice the Heroes. If they were watching, they could tell that he was a large green guy. The Congress will be swarming with invisible Heroes. When we blow the Capitol, it will take out the Congress and many Heroes."
As the Senator left Strong's office, his anxiety increased from the weird occurrences that had just happened. 'What was all of that about? What did he mean by a test? A test of what, of me, or something else?' He regretted the day he agreed to back Numiko's plans in Congress in exchange for campaign funds. There was more going on than Strong is telling him. 'I've got to break this connection somehow before I'm implicated in any of Numiko's unusual activities.'
Quinn was shaking from the sudden emotional explosion of the First's fear he felt when Ralph grabbed him. He forcefully pulled his arm away from Ralph. They were several thousand feet away from the building.
Quinn exclaimed, "Why did you do that?"
Ralph explained, "Strong knew we were there. He could see it on his computer. That means he had invisibility frequency monitors in the office and was getting ready to use a suit deactivator on us. I was exposed to how this worked a few weeks ago and almost died."
Starting to calm down, Quinn asked, "Now what? They realize we are on to them."
"Let's return and see if Lewis can hack their computer system."
They flew back to Greg's house and told everyone what happened. All the Heroes were concerned, wondering if this was the end of their mission.
Ralph asked, "Have you gotten anything from any green guy computers?"
"Nothing of importance."
Ralph said, "Damn! I'm going to get some coffee. Does anyone else want some?"
Quinn said, "I do." Ralph nodded and headed for the kitchen.
He poured two cups and turned to return to the garage when a prophetic vision struck him. He began to convulse and shake and dropped the cups. In Ralph's vision, the coffee and shattered cup shards spread slowly across the floor. He stood rooted in place, shaking, and watched the liquid explode into flames. He fell into the fire and screamed from the flames searing his flesh.
Everyone in the command center heard the cups shatter, a loud thump, and Ralph's screams. They all ran into the kitchen and found Ralph convulsing, writhing, and moaning on the floor with his eyes rolled to the top of his head. He was sweating profusely, causing his green hair to stick to his head. Every once in a while, a scream would come out of his mouth. Greg picked up the First's twitching body, took him into the second bedroom, and placed him on the bed. Ralph continued to shake, convulse, and scream.
Greg exclaimed, "I think he is having a prophetic vision! I read about these in the Hero Newsletter. I'll call the Hero Emergency line."
Greg called the number, and they put him through to Dr. Adams when he told them what the First was doing.
Dr. Adams informed him, "You can't do anything. Just make sure he can't hurt himself or anyone else. He'll calm down and go into a trance condition. Whatever is happening to him now, he will get more information during the trance. It would be best to have him talk about what he saw when he exits this state. Not too long after he is released from the trance, he will fall into a deep sleep. It is his brain's way of resetting. He'll understand everything when he wakes, but it may be many hours. He might have information that can't wait for several hours."
"Thanks, doc," said Greg, and hung up the phone. He told the other Heroes what the doctor said.
Through all this, Quinn stood and stared at Ralph, sometimes jerking in synch with him but not as exaggerated.
Janice observed this and asked Quinn, "Are you telepathically linked to The First? Are you seeing what he is seeing?" The telepath slowly nodded.
The attorney motioned for the others to listen. "What are you seeing?" Quinn continued to stare at the First. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead, as they were on Ralph's.
He gasped, "The Capitol building is on fire, and people are dying, burning, and buried under tons of rubble. Ralph feels each of them, their fear, their pain as they die." He shook his head, turned, and went into the garage, trying to escape the horrible vision and the emotional and physical traumas experienced.
Ralph knew this prophetic vision was terrible, and he may not come out of it. He used all his mental strength and called for Bill's assistance. It came out as a whisper. "Bill, Bill! Please help me, Bill! I don't think I can make it through this."
Greg heard Ralph's call for Bill Maxwell and watched him shake differently. Then the First stopped convulsing, only slightly shaking, opened his eyes, and said with a different voice, "Oh, damn, kid. This is bad."
Ralph/Bill looked over at Greg and the other Heroes, who were now all looking down at him.
Bill explained, "I'm Bill Maxwell, Ralph's dead partner. I had to channel in, pull Ralph out, and place him somewhere safe, or else he would go down with all the others dying in his vision. This is a horrible vision. The whole Capitol building collapsed and is burning. All the Congressional representatives are buried, burning, and dying. This will happen in two days. You guys have to figure out how to stop it." Ralph/Bill lay shaking, closed his eyes, and occasionally jerked from the pain Ralph's body felt.