The Aztec Prophecy

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The jets of the Citation were still whirring when Alex Reeve and Scarlet Sloane landed at San Francisco International Airport. They crossed the apron to climb into the Eurocopter Lakota that was awaiting them. Following up the rear were Kim Taylor and Jack Camacho.

Now, Alex was running the tactical side of the operation through her mind for the tenth time as the chopper rose up over South San Francisco and speeded toward the Financial District. Alex knew the area well — after her father had walked out on her mother the two of them had relocated to the city. She had spent part of her childhood here. She clenched her jaw at the thought of all it being turned to a radioactive wasteland of broken buildings and melted glass.

Down there in those busy streets, eating at the cafés and walking in the parks were her friends and her family — all unsuspecting of the terrible danger hanging over their heads. Her father was down there too, preparing to give the biggest speech of his life. All of this would be gone when Wade’s ‘new sun’ exploded in the city, and now she was the one charged with bringing this madness to an end. She kept calm… she had a lot of experience, and it meant she could do it.

Thanks to her father she’d spent half her life around generals and soldiers. She’d learned how to keep her nerve, and the CIA had trained her well. Now it was time to put all of that to the test because if she failed — if her team failed — San Francisco would be reduced to burning ash and Wade would have won.

She cleared all that from her mind — she knew the way to win the war was to focus on each separate battle, one at a time… just as her father had taught her. It was time to put that into practice.

“Is it true they can’t deploy the army?” Scarlet asked.

Alex turned to the Englishwoman. “You mean the Posse Comitatus Act?”

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. “The what?”

“It means the power of the country, and to answer your question — yes and no. The Posse Comitatus Act signed by President Hayes in 1878 limits the deployment of federal forces in a law enforcement capacity by Washington, but the states can still use troops to enforce the law within their own jurisdictions. Just look at Kent State when the Ohio National Guard were ordered to control protests against the Cambodian Campaign and ended up killing four students.”

“Do you have any idea, Alex,” Scarlet said deadpan, “just how boring the boy would have made that reply?”

“Hey, we’re almost there,” Camacho said through the headsets, interrupting the banter.

Alex looked down and saw the busy city streets rushing up to meet them as the chopper made its way down to land. She prayed they would get there on time. The sun was low on the horizon. It wouldn’t be long now until Aurora Soto, Jorge Mendoza and the other members of the Sixth Sun on Alcatraz activated the bomb.

And that meant millions of lives were hanging on a thread.