MY NAME IS GEMMA KEYES. Other than my name, I am utterly forgettable—so those who never paid much attention to me in the first place aren’t likely to notice that I’ve disappeared. Vanished. Oh, it’s much more complicated than it sounds. I SHOULD TELL YOU ABOUT DR. SAMUEL BICKEL, world-renowned nanophysicist. We used to work together, but I’ll be candid with you: He’s supposed to be dead. Well, he’s not. (Imagine my surprise.) Instead of the proverbial “six feet under,” he’s subsisting in an abandoned devolution cavern beneath the old Manzano Weapons Storage Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base here in Albuquerque. “I need to show you what I’m protecting here, Gemma,” he insisted. I stared into the clear glass case. I could hear . . . humming, clicking, buzzing. A faint haze inside the box formed and moved. It reminded me of how mercury, when released on a plate, will flow and form. Only this, this . . . thing was “flowing and forming” in mid-air. “Do you see them?” Dr. Bickel asked. “Them?” I was confused. My mouth opened to a stunned “o” as the silver haze flowed and formed blue letters spelling out H E L L O. Hello. I blanched. Dr. Bickel hadn’t pressed any buttons. Hadn’t said anything. Hadn’t gestured. He grinned. “Ah. They’ve noticed you. They know that they’ve not seen you before.” “Well, I wish they wouldn’t notice me!” I choked out the words without shifting my eyes from the glass case. AND I NEED TO WARN YOU ABOUT GENERAL CUSHING. The rank and name likely conjure images of a lean but muscled soldier, posture rigid, iron-gray hair cut “high and tight,” and a face cemented in weathered, unyielding lines. Let me disabuse you of that impression. General Imogene Cushing is short and a tiny bit plump, and she wears her beautiful silvered hair in an elegant braid knotted at the nape of her neck. She knows how to smile sweetly. With the very best of sharks. You wouldn’t suspect a two-star general (an Air Force O-8) of being a traitor, would you? NANOSTEALTH Stealthy Steps, June 1, 2015 Stealth Power, 2016 Stealth Beyond Borders, 2017