BooksBarbecue
Back Roadkill
Chapters (48)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Chapter One: Fender Bender
  5. Chapter Two: Bigfoot Burrito
  6. Chapter Three: Treasure Hunt
  7. Chapter Four: Open Sesame
  8. Chapter Five: Central Intelligence
  9. Chapter Six: First Flight
  10. Chapter Seven: Park It
  11. Chapter Eight: Next Steps
  12. Chapter Nine: Search Strategies
  13. Chapter Ten: Overflight
  14. Chapter Eleven: Barn Doors
  15. Chapter Twelve: Saturn Fly-By
  16. Chapter Thirteen: Getting a Clue
  17. Chapter Fourteen: Hacked
  18. Chapter Fifteen: The Spy Game
  19. Chapter Sixteen: Investigations
  20. Chapter Seventeen: Break-In
  21. Chapter Eighteen: Battening Down
  22. Chapter Nineteen: Shoring Up Defenses
  23. Chapter Twenty: Third Time’s the Charm
  24. Chapter Twenty-One: Proxy
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two: Rescue
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three: Chase
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four: Spies R Us
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five: Surveillance
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six: Making Plans
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Going In
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Infiltration
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Accidental Captive
  33. Chapter Thirty: Interrogation
  34. Chapter Thirty-One: Reaction
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two: Kidnappings
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three: Reviewing Options
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four: Public Debut
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five: Distractions
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six: The Big Reveal
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven: Regrouping
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight: Waiting for Results
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine: It Hits the Fan
  43. Chapter Forty: Disassembly
  44. Chapter Forty-One: Wrapping It Up
  45. Chapter Forty-Two: Negotiations
  46. Chapter Forty-Three: Coda
  47. About the Author
  48. About the Publisher

“Wait,” I exclaimed, mentally backing up several paragraphs. “Sheldon? New phones?”

“Yes. If you’ll head up to the fabrication shop, you will each find new phones that look just like your current ones, and operate identically in all aspects, except that they have some extra hardware and a couple of extra apps.”

“Cooooool … ” Patrick said. There was a concerted rush for the center of the barn as an airlock opened.

“Damn,” I said, awe in my voice. In my left hand, I held my own phone. In my right hand was another phone, seemingly the identical brand and model, except new. And, according to Sheldon, the doppelganger phone could detect cloaking fields when the proper app was running. It could also communicate with Sheldon, either over the wireless mobile network, Wi-Fi, or subwave. Sheldon had added a walkie-talkie app, and supplied a bone-conduction microphone that we were directed to stick on the skin behind one ear. Of course, we immediately dubbed them “cling-ons.”

And the new phone could operate the airlock.

“I’ve also upgraded the security somewhat,” Sheldon said. “It will do a full biometric match before unlocking. Which means that it can’t be fooled by the normal tricks—and more important, it will open for you even if your face is not fully visible, as long as you’re the one holding it.”

Patrick waved one of the two phones in his hands. “What should I do with my old one?”

“Turn it off and hide it,” Sheldon replied. “Or just leave it in the conference room.”

With a laugh, I picked up the specially modified Lorann detector that Sheldon had prepared, juggled it a few times, then tossed it to Patrick. “Time to recruit your little brother.”

Chapter Twenty: Third Time’s the Charm

Chapter Twenty: Third Time’s the Charm

“Jack. Jack. Wake up. Emergency.”

I sat bolt upright in my bed, then reached for the alarm to turn it off. But the alarm kept saying my name urgently. That couldn’t be right. My alarm didn’t—

Sheldon.

Belatedly coming to more-or-less full consciousness, I grabbed my phone. “What? Someone trying to break in again?”

“It’s well past that. He’s in. It’s the same person, that ufologist.”

I sat up and started dressing. “How did he get in?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t come in through any of the doors. There’s no indication of a window having been broken, and they have bars now anyway. Motion detectors did not activate anywhere on the periphery. I am at a loss.”