Red Knight Falling Read Online Free PDF Page A

air force deal with it?”
    Linder was silent for a moment.
    “What you are about to see,” he told us, “is a photograph accidentally taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on June 19, 2006. The main camera was immediately brought off-line, and the image was scrubbed from the public record and branded with category-one yankee white clearance.”
    My spine stiffened. The only people awarded that level of security clearance are officials who work in direct contact with the president.
    The photo made me think of the aurora borealis. A shimmering cosmic cloud enveloped the satellite, glowing in shades of deep violet and nightingale blue. It should have been beautiful. Should have been. But as I stared at the image, a crawling sense of unease squirmed in the back of my mind. There was something wrong, something terribly wrong. I studied the cloud, seeing more of it now. The contours, the gaps, the suggestion of two empty pockets shaped like—
    “Eyes,” April breathed, seeing it, too. “It’s not a cloud. It’s a face .”
    “This next one came from an NSA spy sat in 2011.” Linder clicked a button and advanced the slide. “To date, it’s the clearest shot we have.”
    The angle was perfect. Just the right distance, just the right focus to take it all in. A contorted face made of colored gaseous light, hovering over the Red Knight. Its expression was unmistakable: absolute, furious rage.
    The face was screaming.
    “I had the lab boys crunch some numbers,” Linder said, “using the camera distance, speed and trajectory, planetary references, and so on. According to their best estimate, that entity—the part of it we can see, at least—is roughly two kilometers tall.”
    Jessie slumped back in her chair. “Jesus,” she muttered, eyes locked on the screen.
    “It’s not always present. But, ever since the first sighting, it’s been picked up once a year. Always in the same place, always brushing up against the Red Knight like a fly drawn to an electric light. Whatever this entity is, it appears to be attracted to the satellite.”
    “Once a year?” I asked.
    “Once a year,” Linder said. “In the fall. The exact day varies, but it inevitably appears near the satellite within a one-month window. Our best estimate is that it’s due for another visit within one week at the very latest.”
    “One week before it comes looking for the satellite,” Kevin said, “that’s about to land here . On Earth. So when that thing comes back around again . . .”
    Linder clasped his hands behind his back.
    “And that, Agents, is why this mission just became Vigilant Lock’s number one priority. While we don’t know its ultimate intentions, under the circumstances I’m designating the Red Knight apparition as Hostile Entity 141.”

FOUR
    I was relieved when he advanced the slide. I didn’t want to spend another second looking at that face in the stars. It reminded me of a photograph, from a book I’d read as a girl, of a blue whale passing underneath a rowboat. Just a silhouette in the shadows, but so much vaster than the tiny human above it. Too vast.
    The next photograph was down at Earth level, a candid sidewalk shot in what looked like downtown Manhattan. The man on display was graying at the temples, dressed in a tweed jacket with leather patches on the elbows.
    “This is Agent Lawrence, from Beach Cell. They’re much like your cell, Agent Temple, but a bit more . . . orthodox, and technically focused. Beach is deep undercover on an unrelated assignment, and it’s too dangerous to pull them all out. I’m making an exception for Lawrence: he’s a trained astrophysicist. He’ll rendezvous with you in Oregon, equipped with up-to-the-minute telemetry data, and provide assistance in locating the crash site.”
    “And our part?” I asked. “Beyond locating it.”
    “If we’re very lucky,” Linder said, “the Red Knight will burn up on reentry, but I never plan on luck. I want you to examine whatever