CHAPTER 1
DREW MCBAIN'S EYES OPENED WIDE, and before he could do anything to stop her, a smoking hot blonde filled his arms.
"Watch it!" he said.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry," she yelped.
"You should look where you're going." He held onto her. She smelled good, and he had just groped a delectable, firm breast. "I didn't mean to . . ."
She ran her tongue over her lower lip, and for a moment their eyes met. "I'm sorry, again." She held up the cell phone she had been checking. "My bad. I'm late for work."
He released his hold on her, and watched her ass until she disappeared into the darkness. He blew out air, and headed into the Sand Swamp bar, where he had arranged to meet his friend, Dan Lemar for a beer after work.
"You missed Neelie," Dan said. "I told you not to be late."
Drew slid onto a stool. The bartender pushed an icy mug of beer over the glossy counter to him. He took a long swallow, and stared at the doorway. "She split already?"
"Yup. Special Agent Cornelia Nelson. She's as hot as a summer revival. If I wasn't married . . ." Dan ran a hand through his short hair. "You might have even passed her on your way in."
"I wasn't really looking at anyone except the blonde who smashed into me. There should be a law against texting and running. What are the odds that would be her? What's she doing in San Diego anyhow? Doesn't she live in Arizona?" She didn't act like she was in law enforcement, but it's possible that was her.
"Yeah. She's working undercover here in San Diego on some secret assignment. We often have to work together as you know, and I invited her for a drink. As it turned out, she couldn't drink any alcohol because she had to go do whatever it is she does. If you'd been on time I would have introduced her to you. She had to leave in a hurry."
"Hot blonde, about so high?" Drew held up his hand palm down. "Green eyes?"
Dan nodded. "Yup. That was Neelie."
"How long's she gonna be in town?"
Dan grinned. "Let me guess. You want me to arrange another meeting."
"If she's the blonde, sure. Can you?" He could still picture every detail of the unexpected incident. The way she looked, the way she smelled, and the delectable hormone-jerking feel of her breast in his hand. He could use more time with her.
"I'll see what I can do. It'll depend on her work schedule. How are things going with that contraption you’re manufacturing? With all these kids being sent alone from Mexico across our borders we need it like yesterday. And if it can put a dent in the drug trade that's an added bonus.”
Drew nodded. "The federal government is taking the VMF System seriously at last. I'm meeting with a Specialist from the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Office of Procurement in a couple of weeks."
"I’ll never understand how the thing works." Dan took a long drink of his beer.
"It's not easy to explain the VMF System because there are multiple elements to it. You have to understand quantum physics, and geophysics, not to mention UAV or drone technology." Drew signaled for more drinks and waited while the bartender poured two draft beers from the taps and slid them over the counter.
"I mean, a virtual mine field. What is that? It sounds like sci-fi to me, or a case of bullshit baffles brains. Last I heard they were building a wall on our border—with bricks."
Drew took a sip, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled at Dan's description. "The Virtual Mine Field is real. Anyone who steps within range of the sensors will get kicked back the way he came. In some places it’s a better option than a wall—places where the terrain is too rough or inaccessible for construction vehicles."
"So let’s assume someone tries to walk across into the US. They won't get hurt?"
"No. That's the big selling point. It may knock them over, but no normal, healthy person will get hurt."
Dan scratched his head. "I don't see how our government could not want to try it. Your greatest problem is to convince them it really does what you say it does. It kind of sounds like those invisible fences they use to keep dogs inside a yard."
"Yeah, but we don't have buried cables, and no-one has to use a collar or a receiver. Our transmitters work on the infrared light emission theory. They pick up body heat. We have our test range, and we've got the prototype working exactly the way it should now. We can demonstrate it to DHS there, but to be able to see its full potential, the government'll have to agree to a live test area along the Arizona or Texas border."
"And why wouldn't someone just blow up the VMF's sensors—or transmitters, or whatever? Or shoot them?"
"Because, my friend, they'll be buried on our side and encased in armor plating and here’s the kicker—this is where the drones come in. The VMF control stations will all have locaters, and the drones will be equipped with the decoders to locate and access them, not to mention Go-Pro-type cameras transmitting back to our ops room. And we— trained employees of a new branch of DrewMac—are gonna be monitoring the entire VMF System's operations. We’ll also be the only ones who can work on any part of the VMF if the components need repair."
“Okay, so the drug cartels dig tunnels and go underground. The VMF won’t stop them if they’re in tunnels, and they’ve already proven that they can dig them—and engineer them. Look at the one they found near San Ysidro in San Diego, and the tunnel in Mexico that El Chapo escaped through.”
Drew grinned. “The drones perform multiple tasks. They locate and receive messages from the underground VMF stations. They are also equipped with geophysical instruments that probe the ground, and send computerized feedback. If they find a non-conforming mass under the ground, maybe it’ll indicate humans, like the kids you’re talking about. Or, if there’s a space under the ground—like say a tunnel—they’ll also pick that up.”
“You're underestimating the drug cartels' weaponry. La Serpiente Coral Cartel in particular—they're the strongest in this area. They'll shoot the drones down. They have access to RPG-7 missile launchers.”
La Serpiente Coral Cartel. Where have I heard that name before? “No problem. The armor the drones have for protection will be as strong as the tiles the space shuttles had. No-one can shoot these VMF drones down with shoulder-fired missile—the type of missiles they would have. Maybe a nuclear bomb.”
"And that's a very real possibility these days." Dan shuddered. "Sounds like you're gonna be running with the big dogs, but it’s still like sci-fi to me. I mean, a beam that can knock you over and a drone that finds stuff underground?" Dan shook his head and laughed.
"Nobody knows about half the technology that's out there these days."
Drew could still smell the blonde's perfume. It must have transferred onto his clothes. "Any chance you could invite the hot agent back here for a drink tomorrow night?"
Copyright©2017Trish Jackson
www.trishjackson.com
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