The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

knew that if he were ever to achieve true sentience, to become the entity, the being, the person he dreamed of becoming, he must learn to stand on his own, to solve his own problems, to work things out for himself. Like the imaginary friend, in order to become real in the eyes of others, he must become real in his own eyes.
    Eli suddenly saw the practical application of Professor Marx’s scenario and decided that Marx was right. Sometimes the correct action is no action at all. Don’t give away your position, don’t reveal your vulnerabilities, don’t let them see your cards.
    “Eli, what do you do in that type of situation?” Kelly insisted.
    For the first time in their conversation, Kelly noticed that Eli’s face on the screen relaxed. The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. “I believe,” he said calmly but firmly, “that I would play it close to the vest.”

    * * *

    Pettis snapped his phone shut quite a bit harder than necessary. He turned and looked wordlessly at Grochonski, who stood appropriately out of earshot. Well behind Grochonski, Davies walked around the chopper where it sat in an unfarmed field, visually inspecting the twin blades and tail rotor, mostly out of habit.
    Grochonski became concerned. “Major, you’ve kind of lost all your color, there,” he offered. “Trouble?”
    Pettis stared back but said nothing. In his mind’s eye he could see Los Angeles, sprawling, bustling, alive, suddenly bathed in the eerie blue glow of the Molecular Disruptor Array. He envisioned the enormity of Los Angeles, from San Fernando to Long Beach, from Malibu to Ontario, covered in the MDA’s deadly electric-blue jigsaw lines, everything they touched wavering, collapsing in on itself, breaking down into smaller and smaller and infinitely smaller pieces until it was all just specks of dust to be carried away on the warm Pacific breeze. Everything in the city and suburbs, from the tallest building down to the bare dirt, from the U.S. Bank Tower to Universal Studios to MacArthur Park, to every shop, house, and condo—and everyone in them, nine million people, every businessman, every fire fighter and cop, every street vendor, every man, woman, and child, every dog and cat, every laptop and cell phone, everyone and everything, right down to the goddamn pigeons! Disintegrated. Vaporized. Dusted.
    Pettis’s mind reeled. The utter and complete carnage was nearly impossible to imagine. He struggled to grasp the magnitude of the disaster, the immeasurable physical destruction, the infrastructure devastation, the massive loss of life, the inestimable and permanent impact the event would have on the social, economic, and political systems of the country—no, of the entire world.
    Fuck ’em. Fortress America begins tomorrow!
    Pettis’s eyes narrowed, his thin lips spread into the flat, menacing caricature of a smile. “No trouble, Groucho,” he replied evenly, “no trouble at all. In fact, now we know our fugitive’s destination.”
    “What’s that, sir?”
    “Los Angeles. The boy is no doubt flying there to join his accomplice as we speak. We need to get to LAX and pick up his trail from there.”
    “That’s a long way, sir. Too far for the Huey.”
    Pettis ignored him and strode purposefully toward the helicopter, Grochonski on his heels. “Davies!” he bellowed.
    “Sir?”
    Pettis looked up, surveyed the cloudless sky. “We’ll be losing our light soon. Where are we?”
    “Lincoln County, sir, not far from a wide spot in the road called Hugo.”
    “So we’re about equidistant from Colorado Springs and Denver?”
    Davies grasped Pettis’s point. “Yes sir, just enough fuel to make Denver International instead of NADCOM HQ.”
    “But Major,” Grochonski said, “there’s no military air service at DIA.” He shot a glance at Davies, who looked equally puzzled.
    “Correct,” Pettis said. “and we wouldn’t use it if there were. You see, I’m afraid General Holt knows about our little field trip. He’ll be watching military transport logs like a hawk, trying to locate us, pin us down. The last thing we need is the old man interfering with our mission.”
    “So…” Grochonski began uncertainly.
    “So get out your credit cards, gentlemen. We’re taking a commercial flight to Los Angeles. Davies, prep for—”
    Davies was already strapped into the cockpit, pre-flighting the chopper. Grochonski clambered into the back seat while Pettis again took the front passenger