Black Hawk Day Rewind: An action packed spy thriller (Mark Savannah Espionage Series Book 1) (39 page)

125

"I was sure I’d find you still happily locked in your ruminations! Are you already replicating them in your virtual world?" Anaïs Degann cheerfully exclaimed, bursting into Jago C. Green’s office at Biosketch Technologies Inc. without knocking.

"What the fuck...Anaïs! What are you doing here? Why didn't you call me?"

"I got fed up, Jago…really fed up, that's enough!"

"Did you take some amphetamines or are you just over-excited? As though I haven't enough problems..."

"Do you want to use a prosthesis by any chance instead of the poor family jewels that you have? I’m not over-excited at all, but clear-headed!"

"You should be in Sacramento, instead I see you in front of me. I swear to you, holy shit, Reed will go on a rampage!"

“Listen, friend of the virtual reality with which you sometimes amuse yourself in the absence of better alternatives and run the risk of becoming blind, Sacramento is clean, very clean. There is no shadow of Savannah, and at this point I'm going to leave, stop, mission kaput, fuck it. I’ll call Reed."

"No, don't!"

"Why not? Do you think he might think you can’t control me? It's true, you cowardly wanker. It's true!"

Anaïs nervously dialed Colonel Reed’s number.

"Good evening, Colonel. It's Anaïs, and I’m back at HQ. Do you have time to meet with me now? Thank you, do you want Green, too? But of course! We’re coming!"

"Bitch, murderous bitch!"

"Stop wearing Pampers when you're dealing with Reed, you're being ridiculous. The responsibility is mine alone…what's this got to do with you?"

After a few minutes they entered Colonel Reed’s office. Reed showed no sign of irritation, but Green's face had turned pale green.

"Hello, darling, why are you here?” asked Reed. “News of Savannah? We talked to each other the day before yesterday from Sacramento..."

"Colonel, I surrender. I cannot take it anymore…it's a waste of time, a waste of money. I quit. Jago tried to stop me coming back, but I came back all the same. I don't give a shit what he has to say!"

At that point, Green leaned back in his chair relaxing his features.

"Oh, I told you to take a few days off before the mission,” said Reed, a little taken aback by her aggression. “Your resignation is rejected, Anaïs, you're my best operative agent for special missions. Now stop fussing. Look…maybe all you need is a holiday at home…three weeks? Afterwards we’ll start the search again.

“I leave for Geneva in four days. I’m opening the Swiss market for the export of the "Transtem 1.1" project. I’ll hold a press conference for the media there. Let's travel together and then you can stop at your house. What do you say?"

"I would like to go directly to Professor Mayer’s astrophysics laboratory," she said in an aggressive tone.

Reed had promised her mother, already ill, that he would always protect Anaïs and as usual he didn’t lose patience with her.

Jago C. Green, despite being aware of Reed’s long-term relationship with Charlotte Leroy, was always astounded at how the Colonel remained quiet and protective at every excessive outburst and rebellion of Anaïs.

“A three-week holiday and then San Francisco. If you cannot find anything in California, I'll cancel the mission and I'll send you directly to Nicholas Mayer...deal?"

"Deal…thanks, Colonel," Anaïs replied in a low voice.

"And now you can go. I'll arrange for your credentials so that you can access the corridors to the cafeteria, the gym and the recreation area. Jago, stay here for a moment, I have to talk to you."

Anaïs thanked the Colonel and went to her room.

"Jago, have you decided on a location for the exchange? I have to inform Grigoriy quickly. All we need is that pain in the ass Anaïs in the damn way!"

"Lausanne at10:00 am in front of the Notre-Dame, it’s always crowded with tourists there. That’s the day after the press conference.”

"Well, then schedule a flight to Geneva, afterwards a helicopter. I’ll call Kozloy immediately. You have to book for Anaïs, too; and then, when we arrive there, make sure you keep her out of my way.”

"Yes, sir. On the double, sir!"

126

"In four days at the media press conference in Geneva. I’ll try to understand exactly when and where the exchange will take place," Anaïs wrote briefly on Mark Savannah’s secure line after having checked that there were no bugs in her room.

When she had arrived at Biosketch Technologies Inc. she had asked to be moved to another room as a precaution, with the excuse that she had found some cockroaches in the bathroom. The dead insects actually arrived in a box, she had collected and killed them before leaving Dallas. Mark had helped her look for them; he accompanied her to an area behind where she lived, there were several trash dumpsters, not a completely dangerous mission but a little disgusting.

Savannah only replied a couple of hours later, making her nervous as usual. "Web addresses found, impulse tests running. I'm leaving for Switzerland tomorrow morning at 5:00. Cargo mail plane, stowaway, reliable captain but really expensive. I'll go to Milan, Italy, and continue by car across the border, and then I’ll move by helicopter. From now on radio silence. I'm only waiting for the exact place, date and time. Best of luck."

Anaïs stopped breathing for a moment. She didn’t know Mark’s plans for the possible scenarios of the operation, and from tomorrow onwards he would be exposed and would be acting as bait. They hadn’t been able to agree on a common strategy.

The immediate priority was to discover the place and time Colonel Reed would meet with Colonel Grigoriy Kozloy.

And again, Mark had "forgotten" their time together recently. His “best of luck” sounded like an empty remark to her, like an ordinary greeting between two colleagues.

If something went wrong, and she found herself hard-pressed, with Reed hounding Mark down, she would have to complete her mission and kill Savannah without hesitation to avoid the risk of coming under investigation.

Anaïs, although she was now a veteran of complex operations, felt deeply uncomfortable for the first time.

127

"Pavel, in my opinion, these are the only four models we should test. The impulses have different frequencies that act as antagonists to those currently administered in the first phase, and then gradually end the stimulation of the cerebral cortex," Jànos said.

"I have prepared a test procedure by including criteria that allow me to detect both positive and negative outcomes. In addition the parameters provided by the psychiatrist of the Center will also indicate possible feedback effects of additional brain wave strains," replied Pavel.

"How long do you think it will take to test them all?" Jànos asked.

"At least one day. Afterwards I hope not more than a few additional hours. Could you help me refine the navigation program to browse Hecuba Omega 1 incognito? If for some reason we cannot inoculate the frequencies from my system, then we’ll have to do it directly from Biosketch Technologies Inc.."

"Of course, you know that I love challenges. I forgot to tell you, I met a biologist. She works for a biotech group outside Budapest, she’s really smart. I like her, we went out together one evening before I left."

"Hey, that's big news! Is she beautiful?"

"Not particularly, but she’s sexy as hell. She’s good in bed and has beautiful legs!"

"So you like her! Well, you’ll have to introduce me to her when I come visit you in Hungary. Don't tell me that she’s overweight, too."

"She’s buttery, Pavel, absolutely soft and buttery," Jànos replied, blushing.

128

Mark landed at Malpensa, Milan. He was using an alias and was registered as a co-pilot, and left the Italian airport with the captain of the flight without arousing suspicion.

He rented a car paying cash and crossed the Swiss border at Iselle on the Simplon state highway encountering no problem or difficulty.

Six hours later, exhausted by travel fatigue and jet lag, he was at the airport in Geneva choosing a helicopter to rent.

He booked the aircraft and afterwards, tired and hungry, he headed to the NH Geneva Airport Hotel. It was already past 11:00 pm.

Upon entering his room, he carried out a check to make sure there were no bugging devices in the place, he ordered a ham sandwich from room service, and then lay exhausted on the bed.

The sandwich arrived immediately, but before starting to eat, he looked at his watch and dialed a phone number, knowing that he would find his contact still awake and operative.

"Adrian? Comment vas tu mon ami? Toujours à Vevey? Oui, j’ai besoin de ton aide…comme autrefois…le risque n'est jamais trop élevé pour ceux d'entre nous, très bien merci, à demain, bonne nuit."

129

Dust everywhere, the smell of metal and blood in the air, people running, screaming, militiamen firing wildly in the streets. How could it be so hot in October? Everything seemed to decay so quickly.

Mark pressed against the wall for cover, trying to figure out what he could do while the agony of the Black Hawk was consumed beneath the spasms of its turbine that didn’t quit.

A few minutes passed and he decided to walk along a path between a group of houses, he absolutely had to find his father who was in danger and to do this, he first needed to get in touch with U.S. headquarters.

Suddenly he heard bullets passing over his head, smoke and dust prevented him from seeing more than five yards, then he ducked behind a water tank hoping to recover a bit of sight and he initiated radio contact. He heard an incredulous and excited voice saying: "The Super 6-1 is down! Again, the Black Hawk was shot down! The Super 6-1 is down!"

Mark Savannah awoke with a start completely covered in sweat. It was 6:25 in the morning, he heard planes flying over his building, and he was surprised to find himself in a hotel room near the Geneva airport.

For ten minutes he could not get the dream out of his mind; even if he had not lived it in person, that scene seemed to be imprinted indelibly in his memory and it always returned to haunt his nightmares.

At 7:30 am, after having his breakfast, he got into his rented car. Adrian was waiting for him at 9:00 o'clock and he could not possibly be late.

Mark loved Switzerland very much, he had been there several times when he was on duty with the British agency and every time he came back, he remained fascinated by its mountains, lakes, and the contrast between the bright green and the watery blue sky.

As he drove, he saw a tourist sign advertising the beauty of Zermatt and he thought about Anaïs, who had not yet contacted him. Even from Pavel he hadn’t got any news and this began to make him uneasy.

He left the highway and traveled a few miles along the lake, the day was beautiful, there wasn’t a cloud on the horizon and a pleasant breeze was blowing.

When he reached Vevey, he parked the car in a parking lot almost hidden from view and headed on foot to the Russian church built in 1878, whose patron saint was Saint Barbara.

He had met Adrian in Zimbabwe during his training period. Adrian was just passing through the training camp while preparing for a very complex operation in Mozambique.

Adrian was the only person who had been close to him during those hellish months in which his demons easily overpowered him; in fact, in addition to providing moral support, Adrian had also helped cure him with potions from the local shamans so that he could stand and fight the anxiety attacks and depression at night. This man, for Mark, was the only person he was certain he could rely on for help. He’d come, regardless of where he was.

Savannah entered the church through a side door and looked around. Adrian, with his long white beard, became aware of him and, paying attention not to stumble in his tunic, came up to him smiling. He was 70 years old, limped a little, but the black of his eyes were anything but liquid and dull.

"Доброе утро, мой сын (good morning, my son), we haven't met each other for a long time. How are you?" Adrian said, speaking in Russian.

"I’m happy to see you and as you can see…I still need you," Mark replied in the same language.

"Barnett, come on, let's talk in a quiet place."

Mark winced slightly and froze for a moment when he heard Adrian calling him by his real name, then he followed him and they went down into the crypt.

130

‘That's it. Now you’ll miraculously appear on the cameras of the Sion railway station, my dear Mark, and in a few hours Colonel Reed will jump in his chair when Interpol sends him the pictures,’ Pavel thought to himself, while his friend Jànos worked on testing the optogenetic frequencies.

‘Voilà...’ smiled Pavel as he continued working, ‘Hecuba Omega1, you're really interesting, but you're too greedy baby, you let yourself be fooled if I open new connections. Very well… I’ll connect you to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, you don’t know this place and so you’ll get distracted while I steal Green’s address.’

After about ten minutes, Pavel sent Mark Jago C. Green’s e-mail address.

"Jànos, any news?"

"Not at the moment, Pavel."

"What if we take a break and we go eat at the Lebanese restaurant?"

"Of course, great idea, I'm starving!"