Stereotypical (BBC Sherlock)

Chapter 25 - Project 18

Project 18, as the Nevermore mission came to be called, had begun. There were 18 seismic generators. Some were under major cities or monuments, some near military bases, and some were placed by nearby fault lines.

I stood in front of the US branch of the task force. I pulled down a map and explained the targets.

"The US and UK will be hit especially hard. We'll start with them. The Pentagon, Statue of Liberty, Westminster Palace, the SIS headquarters, the Eye, NATO, and the UN building. Outside of that, the Eiffel Tower will be hit. The Vatican. The Brandenburg Gate. The Sydney Opera. El Ángel in Mexico. The Kremlin is last. After that, the generators are targeting fault lines instead of monuments and governments. The San Andreas Fault, the Red Sea, the two faults surrounding the Philippines, this fault here," I traced it. "Will take out Columbia and Venezuela. And this one could potentially separate the Indian Peninsula from the Asian continent."

I turned to the group. "As you can see, this would devastate the world."

"Why eighteen?" Sherlock asked. "It's a strange number."

"There are eighteen stanzas in the Raven." Someone said.

I shrugged. "That's probably it. It doesn't form any major pattern. It just seems to be an anarchist layout. Now! We've all been split into teams. More will be joining us. Alpha, you'll be handling the California fault. Beta, you'll take the Pentagon. Mr. Holmes and I will be with you. Charlie, you'll handle Lady Liberty. Delta, you're on the UN. Planes are up at oh-five hundred hours tomorrow. Make sure you've all consulted with our tech specialists as they'll be leading you and making sure you've got the correct coms."

Every country would go dark once the generators activated. A specialized team in Russia had created small devices that could be placed in any communication device and work around the signal jam. Every team would report to their country's ground leader. For the States, that fell to me. It was my mission, after all. In the UK, Mycroft was leading. I was surprised he was going in for this one but he felt compelled to help.

We were all reporting back to Jules and Vick, who were considered ground zero. They were in a safe zone and had set up a satellite that could keep them connected everywhere. Nevermore had been silent. Only the ground leaders were connected to ground zero, however, they had the connection set up so they could transfer the responsibility if needed.

At the end of the day, I stepped out of the car and stood in front of the hotel. The world wasn't waiting. It hadn't paused to hold its breath. It didn't know. It was a feeling that made one freeze up and panic inside. We were the only ones that knew what was going on. The whole world was relying on us and they didn't even know it.

"Evacuation begins at six tomorrow." Sherlock looked up from his phone as he said this. I nodded and went inside.

My phone rang and I answered quickly. "Close."

"Jordan! It's Leddy. I'm a team leader and I... I don't know what to do! I can't lead a bunch of soldiers and, and-"

"Leddy, listen to me. You'll be just fine. Take a deep breath. You can do it, I know you can." I opened my hotel room door and sat down on the armchair. "Just stay calm and do what you can okay?"

"Okay... Yeah, okay. Thanks."

"What team are you?"

"Delta. We're assigned to the Eye. Ah crap. I gotta go, we're being briefed."

"Bye." I hung up and sat back, closing my eyes.

Five o'clock the next morning and every plane was on its way. By six, people were leaving their homes with packed bags and confused fear on their faces. New York could not be completely evacuated so only those in the initial target areas were moved. DC fared the same. California was nearly impossible but everyone who would listen left the coast. It was the same all over the world. Mass exoduses had been ordered. Nevermore knew their plan was out.