Against All Odds
A big smile spread across his face once he recognized them.“Hawk, Alex,” Colton said. “What a pleasant surprise to see you two here. What brings you to the capitol today?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Hawk said, extending his hand.
Colton shook both their hands as the conversation continued.
“It’s just another day at the office for me,” Colton said. “We’ve got some new, exciting technology that we’re anxious to show off to some members of the intelligence committee.”
“You don’t happen to have anything that can obliterate closed circuit TV coverage?” Alex asked.
A wide grin spread across Colton’s face. “You know, Alex, I like you. Just straight to the point.”
“Well?” she said.
“As a matter of fact, we do. It’s called the Silencer 2K. Our functioning prototype right now will only work in short bursts, covering about a mile radius. Pretty cool, huh?”
Alex nodded. “As long as it stays in the hands of the good guys.”
“So far only a handful of people have seen it, much less used it. But I know where you’re going with this.”
“You do?” Alex asked, her eyebrows shooting upward.
“Yeah, you’re afraid that criminals everywhere will be able to do away with any type of evidence. However, we’re adding a failsafe system to the device so that you have to log in with your fingerprint and a special ID code. A list of all the users who activated it along with date and location will be permanently stored on the device. And we’ll be able to track each device with a GPS chip we’re placing in them so it would be rendered useless by thieves. If they did use the device, they will be confirming their location and identity while the Silencer 2K was in use.”
“And all this technology is active on the working prototype?” Hawk asked.
“Not yet, but those safety upgrades are in the plans.”
“Anything else you need to tell us about?” Hawk asked.
“What do you mean?” Colton shot back.
“You know, special long-range missiles, odorless gasses that can kill people, impenetrable body armor, drones the size of sand gnats, new chemical agents—anything really.”
“Now that you mention it, I doubt you’ve heard about our new SubZero missile.”
“This is news to me,” Alex said.
“Me too,” Hawk said. “Care to fill us in?”
“We’re in the testing phase right now, but this thing will enable our military to avoid getting into those nasty house-to-house fights in Afghanistan. We can just smoke out an entire village without a shot ever being fired—and from a comfortable distance too.”
“You mean, total annihilation,” Alex said.
Colton nodded. “It gives us the ability to keep our soldiers safe while eliminating entire pockets of terrorists hiding in abandoned villages.”
“How comfortable of a distance?” Hawk asked.
“Two hundred and fifty miles, give or take a few miles,” Colton said. “The chemicals it uses are effective in a quarter-mile radius from the point of detonation. We’re working on expanding that, but for now, we feel like they’re going to be effective for what we need.”
“And these villages you speak of, how can you be sure they’ve been abandoned?” Hawk asked. “Because killing everyone regardless of their affiliation is only going to serve the same purpose that all those drone strikes did—we’ll just be radicalizing another generation of young people in the Middle East, further perpetuating the cycle of war.”
Colton shrugged. “We have other microdrone technology to determine who’s inside these little towns. But ultimately, it’s not up to us to determine the morality regarding the usage of the devices. We’re in the business of providing the tools for modern warfare. Making peace? That’s the job of the diplomats and bureaucrats.”
“Who’s seen this weapon?” Hawk asked.
“Just a few people at the DoD and some members of the senate’s intelligence committee,” Colton said. “There’s nothing to worry about at this point. They’ve only seen footage of them being used.”
“Do you know where they all are?” Alex asked.
“Of course I do. They’re all heavily guarded in a secure location at one of my facilities here. I learned my lesson before. Trust me.”
Hawk shook his head. “I wish I could have full confidence in you, but this kind of revelation makes me nervous. I just can’t help it.”
“Relax, Brady. I don’t want you to have to put out any of my fires ever again. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll even send over some login credentials for you so you can keep track of them.”
“Them? How many of these missiles do you have?” Alex asked.
“I brought four to Washington for a demonstration later this week. There are only two other missiles we’ve constructed to give us six total.”
“Okay,” Hawk said. “I’m not sure I’ll be at ease until I see those tracking codes and can find all of them on a map.”
“I’ll be sure to do that if that’s what it takes for you to have some peace of mind.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Hawk said as he glanced at his watch. “I’d love to stay and chat some more, but we have to get going, and I imagine you do too.”
Colton nodded. “Yes, but I’m glad we got to talk. Maybe next time we can really catch up with what’s going on with you two.”
Alex held up her left hand, exposing the back of it to Colton. “We do have a lot more to catch up on,” she said. “We got married.”
Colton’s eyes widened. “Yes, let’s plan on talking again soon. I want to hear more about that and find out how things are going.”
Hawk and Alex bid Colton a good afternoon and headed back toward their car. Neither of them said a word until they were well outside of Colton’s ear range.
“Can you believe that?” Alex finally said.
“I wish I could say I didn’t,” Hawk began, “but it’s amazingly so predictable. I would’ve been more dumbfounded if he said Colton Industries was simply continuing to produce weapons for the government. But you don’t get ahead in that business unless you’re constantly innovating and integrating the latest piece of technology