Antisocial Media (Gray Spear Society Book 11) Read online

  Antisocial Media

  Alex Siegel

  Antisocial Media

  All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2013 Alex Siegel

  ISBN: 978-1-304-48706-3

  Revision 11/27/2013

  For information about this book and others in the same series, please visit:

  http://www.grayspearsociety.com/

  The Gray Spear Society series is a long-running saga. It is recommended that the books be read in a specific order. The current list is:

  1. Apocalypse Cult

  2. Carnival of Mayhem

  3. Psychological Damage

  4. Involuntary Control

  5. Deadly Weakness

  6. The Price of Disrespect

  7. Tricks and Traps

  8. Politics of Blood

  9. Grim Reflections

  10. Eyes of the World

  11. Antisocial Media

  12. Sharp Teeth and Bloody Claws

  Chapter One

  Aaron grabbed Marina and gave her a passionate kiss. Even though they were standing in the middle of O'Hare International Airport and surrounded by travelers, she was happy to oblige him. They might not see each other again for a while. She was going to San Francisco as the new commander of the Gray Spear Society cell there. The lovers would have to maintain a long distance relationship for the foreseeable future. Personal visits would be short and carefully planned in advance. He was still the commander of Chicago, and neither of them could afford to be away from home for long.

  Finally, Aaron and Marina separated.

  "As soon as you get settled," he said softly, "I'll ship all your stuff to you. Just tell me where to send it."

  She smiled. "Thanks." She sniffed.

  "And if you need any advice or technical support, I'm always available to you. Rebuilding your team and your headquarters will be tough. I'll do everything I can from here to make it easier."

  "I know." She hugged him. "But let me struggle on my own for a little while. I want to see what I can do without your help."

  Marina was already looking forward to the challenge even though she knew it would be very difficult. The traitor, Xavier, had tried his best to destroy the San Francisco cell. Half the team members were dead, including the former commander, and the rest were being held in federal prison. She had many hurdles to overcome, and she couldn't afford to take a lot of time. Millions of lives and souls needed protection from God's enemies.

  "Of course. I'll let you call me first." Aaron caressed her cheek.

  She sniffled. "You're the best." She gave him one more kiss.

  She turned to Race Hanley. Until very recently, he had been the chief of the FBI Special Missions Unit, an elite group designed to take down domestic terrorist threats. Now he worked for her. He was medium height and had a lean, strong body. Short, dark, curly hair covered his head, and his face was locked in a fierce expression. He always looked ready for a fight. He wore a blue shirt with a hole cut out of the side, and blood had spotted his blue sweatpants. The recent battle with Xavier had left all of them in rough condition.

  "Come on. Let's buy some plane tickets," Marina said.

  "But we don't have any luggage, ma'am," Hanley said. "We're both a mess."

  "You have your phone and the credit cards Norbert gave you?"

  "Yes, ma'am. I have my wallet."

  "Then we'll buy what we need as we go," she said with a smile. "It will be a fresh start. Isn't it exciting?"

  He gave her a dubious look but didn't comment. The two of them walked towards the ticket counters.

  Marina hadn't flown on a commercial flight in many years. She looked at the endless row of ticket counters with some bewilderment. She didn't even know which airline would get her to San Francisco.

  Hanley was a much more seasoned traveler, and he took the lead without needing to be told. He went to one of the banks of monitors which listed departures, selected a flight, and hustled over to the appropriate ticket counter. He and Marina joined one of the long lines.

  O'Hare Airport was very crowded this afternoon. The vast interior echoed with the voices of many thousands of people, and some didn't sound happy. Sunlight poured in through windows high overhead. The experience made Marina feel rather small and insignificant, just one ant in a vast colony.

  The adults were too polite to stare, but the children gave her curious looks. She couldn't blame them. She was just wearing a rumpled, gray sweat suit with a few odd stains. During the battle with Xavier, the sweat suit had served as padding under her body armor. She had no luggage, and her hair was a frightful mess. Her only possessions were her phone and her wallet. She looked like she had wandered in off the streets and had no business being in an airport. She just smiled at the darling kids.

  After a tedious wait, Hanley and Marina reached the front of the line. The ticket agent couldn't hide her dismay at their disheveled condition. Hanley bought two tickets with his credit card, and Marina demanded they be first-class. She wanted to travel in style to her new home.

  Finally, they had their boarding passes in hand, and they were off again. A couple of minutes later, they were standing in line for security screening, and it was even longer than the last line.

  She grunted with frustration. "Are airports always this bad?"

  "When was the last time you flew?" Hanley said.

  "Legionnaires stick to their home territory. If we need to travel, we do it by car, or we fly ourselves. I'm a very skilled airplane and helicopter pilot."

  "Oh! That's useful." He smiled. "What other skills do you have, ma'am?"

  She lowered her voice and leaned towards him. "Lots. I'm a master ninja and a great knife fighter. The CIA trained me to be a spy. Aaron told me I'm the best actress he's ever met."

  "But you're a commander now. Have you had any leadership training?"

  "Not as such. I've worked for great commanders."

  Hanley furrowed his brow and looked down.

  "You have a problem?" Marina said.

  "Working for a great commander and being a great commander are very different things, ma'am. When I was a Navy Seal, I had to take specific leadership courses before they let me command a team. The FBI gave me a refresher class before I was put in charge of the Special Missions Unit. Management is a skill that has to be learned."

  "I'm smart. I'll figure it out."

  His only response was a frown and a sigh.

  Finally, they went through the screening process. Marina had to give up her precious phone and send it through the X-ray machine separately. She hesitated before letting go of it. A legionnaire wouldn't be caught dead without her phone.

  The security officers wore the blue shirts and black pants of the Transportation Security Administration. She was surprised at how many of them were on duty. Airport security was a big operation.

  She went through the metal detector without any difficulty, but her phone caused more trouble. The officers studied the image on the X-ray machine for some time. Gray Spear Society phones were armor-plated and impervious to X-rays. Both Marina and Hanley had to demonstrate conclusively that their phones were actual, functional phones before they were permitted to proceed.

  Once they were clear of the security area, she checked the time on her ticket and compared it to a clock on the wall. "Now we have to wait an hour." She sighed and rolled her eyes.

  "Are you always this impatient, ma'am?" he said.

  "Yes."

  They passed the time by getting a much needed meal. The battle with Xavier had left little time for eating. Fortunately, the airport had a great variety of restaurants, and some were several notches above the cheap, fast food she had expe
cted. Marina picked a Mexican restaurant.

  After she and Hanley had ordered their food, she said, "I don't know anything about San Francisco. Have you ever been there?"

  He shook his head. "Only the airport. Of course, I've seen the city on TV and in the movies a bunch of times. It has big hills."

  Marina was starting to get a little anxious. She had to learn a new territory, a new job, and a new team all at once, and she couldn't afford a lot of mistakes along the way. She now wished Aaron were coming with her, at least for the first month or so. He could back her up while she eased into her new role gently.

  She sighed. You earned this promotion, she told herself. You can handle it with no problem. She failed to convince herself.

  * * *

  Marina walked out of the San Francisco International Airport and took her first breath of the fresh air of her new home. She was startled by the relative warmth. It was February, and Chicago had been locked in the grip of a bitter cold winter. The temperature here was in the high fifties or maybe even low sixties. It felt like springtime had suddenly arrived. She looked up at a blue sky with only a few, decorative clouds. A seagull was flying high overhead.

  Hanley joined her on the sidewalk in front of the terminal. He took a deep breath and said, "Wow, you can really smell the ocean air."

  She inhaled and nodded. There was a subtle hint of salt spray which she found delightful. She smiled.

  "What's next, boss?" he said.

  "Good question." She pursed her lips. "I suppose we should find a hotel, buy some clothes, and get ourselves cleaned up. We can't walk around looking like vagrants."

  "We need some cash, too."

  "We need a lot of things, including weapons. I'm not carrying a single knife or gun. I feel completely naked."

  "What about the rest of the team?" he said. "When are they coming home?"

  The five surviving members of the San Francisco cell were being held in ADX Forence, the federal penitentiary in Fremont County, Colorado. It was a "supermax" prison where all inmates were kept in permanent solitary confinement. Now that Xavier was dead and the threat to the Society was gone, the survivors could be released and sent back to San Francisco.

  "I don't know," she said. "I'm sure the legate is already working on it. If she doesn't call me soon, I'll call her."

  Hanley nodded but appeared a little anxious. The team being in prison was partially his fault. No doubt they were still very angry at him. Their reunion promised to be interesting.

  The San Francisco airport was huge, and it took a while to find the taxi stand, but Marina didn't mind. She was really enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. It was such a pleasant change from Chicago.

  She and Hanley passed a couple having an argument outside the airport.

  "You cheating jerk!" the woman yelled. "Did you just get another text from her?"

  "It was from work," the man replied calmly.

  "Let me see." She reached for a phone in his hand.

  He jerked the phone away from her. "No."

  "I bet you spent your trip with her. Didn't you?" She slapped him hard enough to stagger him. "We're through." She stalked off.

  Marina and Hanley looked away. They climbed into the first taxi available.

  "Where to?" the driver said.

  He looked and sounded like he had emigrated from India. He had black hair and a thick mustache. The cramped interior of the cab smelled faintly of curry.

  "The nicest hotel in the area," Marina said.

  "What city, ma'am?"

  "San Francisco, of course. Isn't that where we are?"

  "We're near San Bruno," the driver said. "San Francisco is 13 miles north of here."

  "Oh."

  She realized she would have to start memorizing maps. The San Francisco territory covered all of northern California. Her tiny team had to protect eighteen million people. She had no idea what cities that encompassed or where the exact border was. I have a lot to learn, she thought.

  "Then the nicest hotel in San Francisco," Marina said.

  The driver nodded and drove off.

  They quickly merged onto a huge highway. She paid attention to the signs and saw it was Interstate 101. There were four smooth lanes in each direction, but despite perfect driving conditions, the traffic was still bad. The cab moved along at a tediously slow pace and sometimes came to a complete stop.

  "How big is the San Francisco Bay Area?" Marina said.

  "I don't know exactly," the cab driver said. "At least a hundred cities and towns. Seven million people. It goes all around the Bay and along the coast. From Sonoma down to Gilroy. It would take you hours to drive from one end to the other."

  "San Francisco is the biggest city?"

  "No. Only Eight hundred thousand people live in San Francisco. San Jose is bigger. You've never been here before?"

  "No." She shook her head.

  He smiled slightly.

  "But I'm not stupid," she said. "If you take the scenic route just to make the meter spin, you'll be very sorry."

  The smile vanished.

  Marina sat back and enjoyed the ride. The San Francisco Bay was on her right, and at times she had a great view of the water. The color was the same light blue as the sky. She could see the big buildings of the cities on the far side of the Bay. There were a few giant cranes for unloading cargo ships. A line of mountains rose up behind the cities, and they were a hazy gray from this distance.

  Mountains on her left were much closer and greener. They were covered with fields of grass and sparse forests. She was accustomed to the flat, monotonous farmland of the Midwest. The sight of so much interesting terrain delighted her. She was already growing fond of her new home.

  The urban sprawl grew denser as the cab continued north. Marina started seeing large office buildings with the names of technology companies she actually recognized. She spotted a football stadium in the distance.

  "What's that?" She pointed.

  "Candlestick Park," the cab driver said. "The 49ers play there."

  They drove through an area that was a chaotic mix of industrial and residential sections. The houses were built very close together, and they formed continuous strips that ran up the sides of hills. Nobody had front yards, and instead, the front doors connected directly to the sidewalks. Marina caught glimpses of tiny yards behind the homes.

  They were primarily made of stucco and painted in a variety of bright pastels. This was another difference from Chicago where brick was the dominant construction material. She didn't see any bricks here at all. After some consideration, she decided the style probably had something to do with earthquakes. Buildings in this part of the world had to bend rather than break.

  The highway made a couple of sweeping curves and went over a hill. Marina caught her first sight of San Francisco and smiled with delight. Chicago was much more impressive, of course, but "Frisco" still had plenty of charm. The big buildings were clustered together to form a dense downtown area in the northeast corner of the city. The rest of the city was built on undulating hills. She glimpsed the towers of a huge bridge in the distance, but it wasn't the Golden Gate. She needed to start learning the names of landmarks.

  She elbowed Hanley in the ribs. "What do you think of our new home?"

  "Not bad," he murmured, but he was also smiling.

  The cab exited the highway and stopped at a red light. The driver immediately grabbed his phone from a cup holder and tapped quickly on the screen. He seemed to be sending text messages. When the light turned green, he continued to tap for several more seconds before going forward.

  Marina frowned.

  They entered the downtown area. She looked up at very tall buildings exhibiting a variety of architectural styles. Some were made of sleek glass and steel, while others had stone façades. She particularly liked the oldest buildings with their elaborate embellishments. They made the city feel historic.

  At the next stop light, the cab driver grabbed his phone again. He seemed des
perate to send as many messages as possible during the brief break.

  "What are you doing?" Marina said.

  "Just chatting with my friends."

  "Can you wait until you drop us off?"

  "Yes, ma'am." The driver reluctantly put the phone down.

  Marina leaned over the seat for a look at the phone. The display showed the words "Soulfriends Network" in bold, black letters. She had never heard of it and wasn't interested anyway. She considered social media to be mostly a waste of time.

  The cab proceeded another block. At the next light, the driver reached for his phone again.

  "Hey!" Marina said. "I told you to stop that."

  He froze with his hand on the phone.

  "What's so great about Soulfriends, anyway?"

  He looked at her. "It picks your friends for you."

  "That's brilliant." She smirked. "Social media already removed the requirement that you have to meet your friends in person or know who they really are. Now there's a service that eliminates the bother of actually choosing them."

  "It's wonderful, isn't it?"

  She rolled her eyes.

  The cab finally pulled up in front of a hotel. The front wall was made of polished granite slabs, and copper with a green patina framed the windows. The door was an artistic masterpiece constructed from polished copper bars and stained glass. Marina nodded. Nice.

  She stepped out of the cab. She realized she had no cash, but the driver accepted a credit card. He kept glancing at his phone during the transaction. Pathetic, she thought.

  She and Hanley walked into the lobby of the hotel. She looked up at giant, crystal chandeliers suspended from a glass, domed ceiling. Hundreds of square windows allowed sunlight to pour in.

  They found the front desk. The clerk was a young woman in a golden business suit. Her blonde hair was dyed black at the tips.

  "We'd like two suites, please," Marina said.

  The clerk looked at her stained, wrinkled sweat suit. With a smile, she said, "This is a rather expensive hotel, ma'am. May I suggest more... affordable accommodations elsewhere?"

  "This place will be fine." Marina placed a gold credit card on the counter. "Two suites, and we'll be living in them for an indefinite period."