Page 52 of False Flag

Gleeson responded. “We already have someone in place who will attempt to access the network.”

He must mean Staci. At least now he understood why she’d accepted the job offer from Gerard Campbell, but his breath constricted as he realized how much danger she was in.

Oligarchs killed for less, and they always got away with it.

Rand cleared his throat and sat forward. “Our concern lies in a different area. Vice President Daniels and Casper Osborne have met several times recently. Now, with a clearer connection between Laskin and Osborne, Osborne and Campbell, and the fact that the VP is interested in Campbell’s expedition, we find ourselves with a unique opportunity given your brother’s proximity to…everyone.”

“You said you already have someone on the inside. I presume you mean Staci Allen?”

Rand nodded. “Yes. Has your brother mentioned her?”

“Yes.”

“Does Lloyd know you know her?”

“He watched me crash and burn when I hit on her in December. He doesn’t know I crossed paths with her again. I doubt Staci would tell him.”

“But she knows he’s your brother?” Mooney asked.

“I assume she figured it out between the last name and that she saw me with him at the fundraiser in December. We were seated at the main table with Campbell.”

“Does Ms. Allen believe you are a fan of Campbell?”

“I’ve never told her otherwise.”

“Good. You need to keep it that way.”

Jake’s stomach churned. As if she didn’t hate him enough already. “I don’t understand why you think I can infiltrate the team.”

“FMV managed to hack the application files for the expedition. In those files, we found your brother’s initial query to Campbell, requesting free tickets to the fundraiser and to be seated at the central table in exchange for bringing his brother, a Navy SEAL, as his guest. It appears Campbell hired your brother in hopes of getting access to you.”

“Me? Why?”

“We don’t know that yet. But if you do go, it’s imperative that Campbell accepts you as a true believer.”

“So it is a cult.”

“Absolutely,” Rand said. “The apocalyptic kind. Except, in this instance, instead of focusing on a future apocalypse, they talk about an apocryphal past apocalypse—that will happen again if archaeologists and those in power have their way.”

He paused to let that sink in.

Jake finally understood the threat that Archaeology Truthers posed to archaeologists like Staci and Diana. To historians like Kira. To the YouTubers, podcasters, and everyone who pushed back on the lies.

“The intel FMV has gathered on Campbell—much of which comes from Staci Allen’s work over the last year—is that Gerard intends to prove his white supremacist theories at any cost. And now he has the power of the vice president and a billionaire’s financing to rewrite history.”

Chapter Seventeen

A low growl formed in Staci’s throat as her email failed to connect to the server again.

She turned to Lloyd. “I have internet, but I can’t send or receive email. Are you having the same issue?”

He frowned and clicked several buttons. “No. Works fine for me.”

“Send me emails with attachments—maps files for my research—to my Lost Civ email and CC my personal one.” She recited her personal email address, which was part of a private domain with a generic name that was highly secured. After being specifically targeted by Archaeology Truthers last year, she’d become eligible to receive subsidized self-defense classes from Raptor, which included an additional perk: clients who needed a secure address were given one at no charge.

She hadn’t been able to access the secure email address on her phone, which was 5G with free data in Canada, since a few days after she arrived on the island. She’d finally resorted to logging in to the web portal on her Lost Civilizations desktop computer, but the server was blocked.

After several minutes, Lloyd said, “Sent.”