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  Jim, "Actually, we won't need to hack into their systems. Joni has complete access to Agent Chane's email and can forward a pickup order to Luke Air Force Base. I'll contact Joni today, and have her send the orders. Tomorrow she will be picked up and put her on the next launch to the space colony. We should know by tomorrow evening if this works. Talk to you then."

  ******

  "Therron, I brought you a cup of coffee, because I figured that your current cup had got cold," said JJ. "So how is the investigation going?" He doesn't seem to be doing very well. I shouldn't worry so much about him; he is a grown man after all.

  "Um, that is good," Taking a sip from the cup of coffee. Maybe, I should take a break from work. It would be nice to have a relaxing evening away from this. Perhaps I should ask Joni out?

  JJ smiled, "You know, I worry about you. It looks like your shoulder is hurting. I'm not sure what, I would do without you around here." Should I tell him how I feel? When did I fall in love with him?

  "You know it's only a scratch, but seriously I'm getting a little old for this. I don't seem to bounce back as quickly. I think after is over with, I will take some time off or maybe even retire." Thinking about how the chase didn't excite him anymore. "Even though I do have several avenues to pursue in the investigation, I just can't seem to get into it."

  "Maybe, I can help. I find that often when I am stuck that talking to someone, it helps me to focus better." Joni said feeling guilty. If he's retiring maybe this won't hurt him so much.

  "That sounds like a good idea, let's go back to where we started investigating. Do you remember, when I took the trip to Miami?"

  Joni, "Yes, what was the name of the company, Sea something or another?"

  "The company name is Seaward Housing and Engineering. The reason, I went to see them is during my research; I came across references to Space Development Holdings. I went to Miami and interviewed CEO Theodore Truman. He explained that SDH was helping him with research and development for some space habitats. The company that contracted for the habitats, Humanity Holdings, even after the executive order, is having him construct them with some modifications. I was going to research Humanity Holdings and interview the CEO when the rocket engine fiasco came up in Phoenix.

  That is another problem, no one ever came to pick up the rocket engines. I am sure that they caught the news and realized that we were watching. As you know the Higher-ups in the Bureau had the engines moved to the Luke Air Force Base, which was nearby. We were able to trace them back to the company that built the engines, but the company that ordered the engines was fictitious. Again, another dead end."

  JJ replied, "Let's take this step by step. When I was an analyst, I would list out the players. Then, I would write down what I thought they were trying to accomplish and what they would need to complete those goals. Here is a list of what, I have so far.

  ●Seaward Housing and Engineering

  ●Humanity Holdings

  ●Space Development Holdings

  ●Shell Company

  ●Rocket manufacturing company

  What are their goals?

  The apparent goal is to build rocket ships but what do they want to accomplish with the rockets?

  Since we know, they are building ships. What materials would they need, where would they build them, and where would they launch from?"

  "That reminds me, there was another company, I intended to check out. Infinity metals, which is mining the asteroid belt. So I think we should add them to the list. I agree the rocket engines would seem to indicate that they are going to build a ship. Although, I do believe that they will be building more than one ship. My gut tells me that we don't yet know their ultimate goal and that bothers me."

  "I agree, we do not know all their goals, but I do think we have enough to decide how to proceed," said JJ. "So what do you think is next?"

  "The director seems to think that the rocket engines are the key to the whole investigation. They have decided to move them again to a more secure location within the next few days.

  First I am going to forward to the analysts a request that they determine who is capable of building a spaceship, what materials are needed, where they could build it and possible launch locations.

  Second, we need to interview the rest of the companies on our list and put more pressure on them. Here is the current list to question and investigate."

  ●Seaward Housing and Engineering – Already interviewed. May need to interview again.

  ●Infinity Metals – Is this company shutting down or not?

  ●Humanity Holdings – What are they doing with the spheres that Seaward is constructing?

  ●Space Development Holdings - they may be a key player.

  ●The shell Company – Have analysts, try to determine who set up the show company and where the money came from to pay for the engines.

  ●Rocket manufacturing company- Lean on them to get the name of who ordered the engines.

  Thank You, Joni. That should give the analysts and me something to work on for a while."

  "I hope that our conversation helps out with your investigation," said Joni. "I want you to know that, I am conflicted about this investigation. The executive order the president issued is such an overreach of authority that I can't condone it. Your working to make sure that the aerospace industry is complying is tearing me up." Do I tell him how I feel? Yes, I think he needs to know. "Therron we have worked together for some years now, but I don't think you know how much I care for you."

  "JJ, I..."

  "Therron hold on, or I am never going to get through this. Truthfully, I fell in love with you. Since I know, I can never be with you while we both worked for the FBI, this morning, I submitted my resignation to Human Resources." By the look on his face, this is hitting him harder than I would've thought. He does care for me, but does he love me?

  "JJ, I didn't know that you felt that way about me." If I'm ever going to ask her out, this seems like the perfect opportunity and who knows, I may not get another.

  "Truthfully, I been giving a lot of thought about my life and would like to get to know you better. Would you go out to dinner with me?"

  Joni, "Yes I would like that, how about next Saturday, pick me up at 7? I will email you my address." It's a shame that will probably be the first and the last time we are together.

  "It's a date then. I have the perfect place to take you. Please wear something semi-formal. I am looking forward to it. Now get out here, I have to get back to work." Thinking about our conversation, the only part that seemed important was that JJ loved me and the date next Saturday. That fancy restaurant that just opened would be the perfect place to take her.

  Jackie VanSwann’s Office, San Diego CA

  Fox News Channel- News Alert – “FBI shootout in Phoenix Arizona. It has been confirmed that one of the three dead men was number two in the Swarez cartel. The FBI and local police indicated that there was no known illegal activity at the Big Deal Warehouse in the past.

  The FBI has confirmed that one agent is dead and that Senior Agent Therron Chane was wounded in the line of duty. He will be on administrative leave for the next couple of weeks. When asked why Agent Chane was involved in a local FBI case the Bureau refused to comment.”

  "What did I just hear?"

  Administrative assistant, "The reporter indicated that there was an FBI raid or something at a warehouse in Phoenix Arizona."

  "We can finish, what I dictating later. I need some time to address another issue; please hold all my calls and appointments." After waiting a moment for him to leave, I requested, "Siri, please rewind the DVR three minutes."

  Listening to the news report again, I realized that it is the warehouse the rocket engines have been going through. Oh my God, what are we going to do? Without those engines, I can't get the remaining mining vehicles to the asteroid belt. More importantly, we will not have the resources to complete the space colony.

  After taking a few minutes to
calm down and think. I decided to give Ben a call. If he hasn't seen this yet, he needs to know about it right away. Grabbing my cell phone, I select the secure one app and dial Ben Wilson. Come on Ben pick up; Ben pick up.

  "Hello," said Ben.

  "Ben, this Jackie VanSwann, we have a situation that you should know about. Turn on the news. The FBI raided the warehouse that we are sending the rockets through in Arizona." Ben must've been checking the news reports because the line was silent for a few minutes.

  "That is bad. What have you done so far?" inquired Ben.

  "What, what do you mean done so far?" stammered Jackie. "I don't understand what you mean. What have I done? I called you."

  Ben, "The first thing we need to do is minimize the damage. I doubt very much that they can trace anything back to us at this point. But we need to cancel any further pickups from the warehouse, or they may be able to trace it back to us."

  Jackie, "I had thought of that. I just froze up from worry. I will have my administrative assistant contact the trucking company and cancel any further pickups.

  What are we going to do? Without the engines, I can't launch the remaining mining vehicles. Without the additional materials they would mine, we can't finish the space colony in time and make it self-sufficient."

  Ben, "I know it seems bad and it is a setback, but I think if we get together and think through our options, we can find a solution. Let's get together with Theo and some of the others to see how we can handle this. Let's do a video conference tomorrow at 9 AM."

  ******

  The next day video conference call with Jackie, Jim, Ben, and Theo.

  "Ben and Theo, I have taken the liberty of inviting Jim in our conversation regarding this issue. He has a unique perspective which may help us to resolve this," said Jackie.

  Ben said, "Let's step back for a moment and see where we are at. Jackie, if you would please give us the status of the mining vehicles. The loss could cause a 40% shortfall in the materials needed to complete the station."

  "At this time we have two rocket engines on the station. So we can only complete two mining vehicles of the 10 we are planning to launch."

  Theo, "For the sphere habitats the materials for construction are being brought up from Earth, so it doesn't affect us at this point. However, when we get to the build-out stage, we will not be able to complete the interiors of all the habitats. I expect to be at that point in about six months."

  "Okay, initially I only saw one option to resolve this issue, but in talking with Ben, we have come up with two other options that may work. The plan is currently on taking the lifters out of service and recycling the components. The engines would be used for orbital transportation vehicles and other projects. We could re-purpose them to the asteroid mining vehicles if the alternatives don't work out. I'm going to cover the two options at this time.

  The best option for our purposes would be to recover the rocket engines that the FBI has now. They have not even mentioned the engines at this time. We believe that they know the engines are there because of Agent Chane's involvement at the warehouse. We have to assume that they confiscated the engines and possibly moved them to another location. Probably a federal or military facility.

  The second option is to build replacement engines on the space colony. This is not ideal because of technical and logistical issues. We will need to obtain the plans, purchase additional 3-D printing equipment, would then need to be brought up from Earth. By building them ourselves, it would extend the time to finish the colony by an additional five months."

  Ben, "So, here's what I propose we do. One of our members has a contact in the FBI and may be able to get us the location of the engines. Once we have that information, we will obtain the semi's to move the engines. The contact should be able to forge the needed transfer orders and invoices.

  In case this plan doesn't work, we are going to proceed with the other two options. A couple of the lifters are due to be taken out of service in the next couple of months, and we can re-purpose the engines for the mining vehicles. That would buy us some time to get the third option going.

  Regarding the third option. We were already planning on manufacturing rocket engines a couple of years down the road. So we're going to purchase the 3-D printers and additional materials to produce engines now." After verifying that everyone understood the new plans and we were handling the issue, Theo and Jackie exited the conference.

  "Get that FBI contact nailed down and see how quickly we can get this done. Meanwhile, I have a feeling that we don't have a lot of time before the government destroys the rocket engines," said Ben.

  Jim replied, "I've started the ball rolling, and should have an answer soon. The person has indicated that it might be a week or two before they can get it set up.

  "Push them harder, I don't think we have a couple of weeks." Replied Ben.

  Jim, "I will see what can be done. As for option two, as soon as the lifters have been taken out of service, the engines will be removed and transferred over to the mining vehicle construction team if needed."

  Ben, "I have already tasked SDH with obtaining what we need to build engines ourselves. With the FBI snooping around, I do not know how long before they raid SDH. So this is going to be the last thing that they do for us. After that, they are closing down and dispersing any remaining funds back to the members. We can probably expect Agent Chane to be contacting more of the SDH members. Keep me informed of any other delays or issues."

  "Will do. The latest reports should be available on Sunday. Time to get back to work. Later." said Jim, as the screen went blank.

  ******

  In a cab on the way home from the office, Joni called Ben, "I did what you wanted and sent the pickup order and have the information on the investigation. Are you sure there's no other way? Therron is a good man, and I hate to hurt him."

  "No, there is no other way. I'm sorry that Therron has to be hurt, but we cannot finish without those rocket engines," said the man on the phone. "Your condition for doing this has been approved, and you will leave tomorrow."

  "Is there any way to push it back?" Joni said starting to cry.

  "No, the next departure would not be for 2 to 4 weeks, and we would not be able to protect you that long. Are you okay?"

  "No, yes," said Joni sniffling, "I have to go now, I am texting you the information." Sighing, maybe it's for the best. I couldn't stand to know that he hated me, for what I have done. Must I always be alone?

  Truck stop, Glendale AZ

  Upon answering the phone, the truck driver hears, "Operation Retrieval is a go! We are transmitting the pickup order to you now."

  As he starts the semi, he motions to the other three black semi's to move out. The paperwork for the engines better be right or we won't get past the MPs at gate of Luke Air Force Base. I guess we will know shortly.

  ******

  Luke AFB, Phoenix AZ

  Pulling up to Luke Air Force Base the MP waves us over to the truck entrance. The MP asks, "What is your business at Luke Air Force Base today?"

  "We are here to pick up some crates from warehouse 13," I said, handing over a clipboard with the order.

  It seemed like the MP was taking a long time to go through the paperwork before he answered, "Everything is in order. I will phone ahead to the warehouse to let them know that you will be arriving. Do not deviate from the marked route." Handing over the clipboard, I saw he had attached a map that clearly showed the route to follow. He was motioning for us to proceed.

  Warehouse 13

  We were greeted by a Major Nelson at the warehouse. I was a little nervous as she inspected our paperwork again.

  "There seems to be a problem here with the paperwork," she said, "My paperwork indicates that the crates are not to be picked up until tomorrow."

  "That's what I was told, but the paperwork had today. I tell you, I was upset when the updated schedule, I had plans for my son's game tonight. Is there something you can do to check or verify
the updated schedule?" I asked as the major led me into the warehouse office.

  Major Nelson, "Let's see if we have an updated work order." She muttered while she is signing into the computer system. "Here's an email."

  Email

  From: General Reginald Bradley

  To: Major Nelson

  Subject: FBI – Seizure pickup schedule change

  Agent Chane has indicated that the date the crates are to be picked up has been changed from Tuesday the 11th to Wednesday the 12th.

  Please provide assistance in loading when the truckers arrive.

  General Reginald Bradley,

  Luke Air Force Base, AZ

  "Well, that seems pretty straightforward. Let me print out a copy to attach to the paperwork," said Maj. Nelson, "Sgt. please get a forklift and an airman load up the trucks."

  "Thank you, that would be appreciated."

  The loading went smoothly, and within an hour we were driving out the base gate. The hard part was done, and thankfully it went pretty smooth. Dialing the number on the phone, "The recovery was successful. Initiating the whitewash misdirect. Expected ETA to the destination is eight hours.

  A little bit later the black semi's pulled into a truck stop with an automated truck wash. One at a time the semis went through the truck wash, and when they exited the color had changed to white. After jumping down from the cabs, the drivers placed new magnetic license plates and bio-hazard warning signs on the crates.

  ******

  Next day base gate, Luke Air Force Base AZ

  Pulling up to the gate the MP asked, "How can I help you today?"

  Showing the MP, my badge, "Special Agent Chane with the FBI, I have the paperwork here to pick up seized rocket engines from warehouse 13." I passed him the paperwork.

  "Everything is in order Agent Chane," said the MP reviewing the paperwork, "but the gate records show the crate were picked up from the warehouse yesterday."