The Ajax Protocol-7 (6 page)

"He can't keep this up, it's too public. Selena, you and Lamont stay here. I'll work across the lot and try and get behind him. If you can spot him, take a shot to keep him busy."

Selena was about to answer when they heard the squeal of rubber on pavement. Nick looked in time to see the shooter's car speed away, headed out of the hospital parking complex. The car was moving fast, already beyond an easy shot. The angle was bad.  Nick held the Sig in two hands and kept the white dots of his sights lined up on the driver's side window of the speeding vehicle. He let out half a breath and squeezed off three rounds. The big pistol rocked back in his hands.

One. Two. Three.

The window shattered. The car drifted to the right and crossed a curb at speed. It plowed into a row of parked cars with a sound as though someone had dropped ten tons of scrap metal from the sky. For a moment there was silence, then the gas tank exploded. Flame and black smoke billowed into the air over the parking lot.

Lamont and Selena stood and gazed at the destruction.

"Nice shooting," Lamont said.

"I think I saw him behind us earlier, when Selena and I drove over here," Nick said.

Selena raised an eyebrow. "You didn't say anything in the car."

"I thought I was just being paranoid."

Lamont gestured at the burning car. "Looks like you had a good reason."

Nick took out his phone. "The cops will be here soon. I'll call Harker."

CHAPTER 13

The morning after the parking lot attack, Ronnie came back from his daily run. He showered and went into his bedroom and looked in the closet, deciding which shirt to wear. It was summer, which meant one of his Hawaiian shirts. With over a hundred to choose from, it wasn't an easy decision. Not very many people had a closet like his. He'd been accumulating the shirts for years, ever since the first time he'd been in the islands, stationed at the Marine Corps barracks on Oahu. It didn't fit anymore but he still had it, hung in the place of honor as the first one on the left.

After some thought, he went for one with a scene of ukulele-strumming hula girls in grass skirts dancing beneath an unnaturally bright sky.

He finished dressing and went into the kitchen and fired up the stove. He put a half dozen pieces of bacon into a pan, took two slices of bread out of the pantry and put it in the toaster. He got a couple of eggs out of the refrigerator while the bacon was cooking. He threw some butter into the pan, turned up the flame and cracked the eggs in. He turned the bacon the couple of times, waiting for it to get dark enough so it would be crisp when he took it out. He flipped the eggs over. The toast popped up and he picked it out and put the pieces on his plate. He forked the bacon out of the pan onto a paper towel to drain the grease.

Multitasking.

Ronnie took the food over to a table and began eating. He lived in a one bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the city, where he had a place to park his car, a black Hummer. Aside from the shirts, the Hummer was the only thing Ronnie owned that he cared about.

He looked at his watch. It was time to head in for the morning briefing. He clipped the holster with his Sig onto his belt and let the shirt drape over it. He put on a pork pie hat and a pair of sunglasses and went out into the hall to the elevator.

He scanned the parking garage as he stepped out of the elevator but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He got into his car and began the drive to work. Traffic was heavy. It was always heavy, except in the early morning hours. Not like the long, empty stretches of desert highway back home.

It had been too long since he'd been home. His Auntie had done her best when she was bringing him up to pass on to him the traditions of the
Diné
,
his people. She'd made him learn
Diné bizaad
,
the Navajo language. She'd taught him respect for the healing ceremonies that traditional Navajos relied upon to restore their sense of harmony and oneness with the world.

Somehow life always managed to shatter one's sense of harmony. At the moment, about the only thing Ronnie felt at one with was the steering wheel under his hands. Lately he'd felt like he was being stalked by the
Chindi
, the evil ghosts of the enemies he'd killed. It wasn't that he really believed in ghosts, but it wouldn't hurt to undergo a healing ceremony. He decided that when this new mission was finished he would go back to Arizona for a while. Maybe he could get Lamont and Nick to go with him. He wasn't the only one who could use a little help with his ghosts.

When he got to Harker's office, he was late. Everyone was already there. Lamont pretended that the glare from Ronnie's shirt was hurting his eyes. He put on a pair of Ray Bans and leaned over to stare at one of the hula dancers.

"Nice shirt, Ronnie."

"One of these days you're going to hurt my feelings," Ronnie said. "It's not my fault you can't appreciate true art."

Harker said. "I'm glad you're back, Lamont. Now, can we focus here?"

"Sorry, Director."

She turned to Nick. "What happened yesterday?" she said.

"Someone followed us on the way to the hospital," he said. "When we came out, they began shooting. Usually the shooting doesn't start until we're in the middle of a mission."

"Looks like the mission has already started," Elizabeth said. "We need to brainstorm this. Make some assumptions."

"What do we know?" Selena said.

"We know someone considers us a threat," Nick said, "but not much else."

Harker said, "First me, then the rest of you. Coming after us is a preemptive strike. Do we all agree on that?"

She looked around the room. The others nodded.

"The question is why?"

Nick said, "It could be the same people that tried to kill Rice."

"My intuition says it is," Elizabeth said, "but I can't prove it yet."

"If it is the same people," Selena said, "they could be worried we'll find out who they are."

Stephanie was sitting apart from the others at her computer console, near Harker's desk. Now she said, "I think it has to be more than that. What do they gain by poisoning Rice?"

"It's like a regime change," Lamont said. "With Edmonds running things, it's a whole different ballgame."

"You think someone is planning a coup?" Nick said.

"Not planning it, starting it," Lamont said. "Edmonds could be in on it."

"He's not the President yet. Rice is still alive. It takes more than a failed assassination attempt to take over the government."

"What else would they need to do?" Ronnie said.

"They have to create fear," Selena said. "Enough to get everyone so upset they'll accept harsh government controls, like martial law."

"They'd need an excuse like massive riots," Stephanie said, "like what happened in Russia."

Harker said, "You think what happened in Russia is related to what's happening here?"

Stephanie frowned. "It could be. If a riot like that happened in New York or Chicago or LA, the government would have to send in troops, like they did in Russia. Impose a curfew. Take over services, all of that."

"That's a real leap, Steph," Nick said.

"I don't think so." Stephanie twisted the bracelets on her wrist, first one way than the other. "Look what happened in Novosibirsk. If that happened here, it would provide an excuse to bring down the hammer."

"That's a Presidential call," Selena said.

"And who's the acting President?" Nick looked at her. "Do you trust Edmonds to defend personal freedom?"

No one had anything to say about that.

Stephanie cleared her throat. "Speaking of Edmonds, I tracked down that helicopter that came after Elizabeth. It was manufactured in France and sold to a company called Global Enterprise Solutions."

"I've heard of them," Nick said. "Aren't they a big construction firm?"

"Construction, engineering, oil and more," Stephanie said. "It's a huge company doing billions of dollars worth of business a year. Guess who was the former CEO before he got elected to office?"

"Edmonds?"

Stephanie nodded. "It doesn't prove he's involved, but it's another one of those coincidences."

Ronnie scratched the top of his head. "Sometimes I don't like what we find when we do the assumption thing," he said.

"Do you really think a coup could happen here?" Selena said.

"If people thought we were under attack, it might be possible," Elizabeth said. "The Patriot Act suspends the Bill of Rights. It's never been hard to get most people in line when they think they're being threatened. Any new regulations would be presented as necessary and temporary."

"So what do we do now?" Lamont said.

Harker picked up her black pen. Nick waited for her to begin tapping. She set it down again.

"We have no proof at all that someone wants to overthrow our government. The key to this is that satellite weapon, or whatever it is. We need to find out what it is and who's behind it. There has to be someplace they're using as a headquarters or communication center, a place to control it. Something this sophisticated can't be called up on a cell phone."

"Once we find it, then what?" Lamont asked.

"Then we destroy it."

"Sure," Nick said, "but we have to find it first."

Stephanie said, "I have a lead. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. You remember I said I detected a micro-burst of high frequency energy when Russia got hit?"

"Yes?" Harker said.

"I traced the signal to the Western US and started to hack into the computer that sent it. It had very sophisticated firewalls and security, something I'd never seen before. Actually, it was quite a challenge. You know sometimes I miss the game, back when I was just hacking into things for the fun of it."

Harker said, "Stephanie. Would you please stick to the point?"

"Oh. Sorry."

Ronnie looked over at Nick and raised his eyebrows.

Stephanie said, "I got part way in, then someone diverted me and tried to fry our computers with his own attack. I blocked it and dropped off."

"You said out West. Where, exactly?"

"I don't know. Somewhere on the other side of the Mississippi."

"That's a lot of country," Nick said. "Doesn't help a lot."

Stephanie looked annoyed. "I said the lead wasn't much."

"Actually, it does help," Harker said. "It tells us the nerve center is here in the US."

"Unless they're using some kind of transparent system to re-route the signal," Stephanie said. "If that's the case, that computer could be anywhere."

"What's our next move, Director?" Nick asked.

Harker tapped her pen on her desk. "Normally, I'd go to the White House and talk to Rice. But I can't do that, can I? Instead I've got to do something outside the bounds."

They waited for her to finish her thought.

"I'm going to have to talk with General Vysotsky. Sooner or later, the Russians will discover that a signal was sent from American territory. I don't want them drawing the wrong conclusions and he's our best channel to the Kremlin."

"Do you think he'll be straight with you?" Out of the corner of his eye Nick saw Selena frown.

"Probably not, at least not entirely. But it's worth a try. It's to his advantage to cooperate. That's the key with him, he's an opportunist. Besides, he's smart and he may know something we don't."

"How come we always end up bailing out the Russians?" Nick asked.

"Self interest," Harker said. "We can't let them think the US is behind this. Plus if Russia goes down, they'll take everyone else with them. We can't let it happen. We have a common enemy in whoever has that weapon. That makes Russia our friend, at least for the moment."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Lamont said. "Give me a break."

"Some friend," Ronnie said.

CHAPTER 14

Alexei Vysotsky saw that Elizabeth Harker was calling on his secured line. Circumstances had forced them into an unlikely alliance in the past. At first he'd been suspicious of her. After all, she was American, in the same business as he was. Russia had benefited from the alliance, but he had to be careful. The Cold War was back, if not as frigid as it had been in the days of Stalin and Khrushchev.

She had earned his respect. He hoped he never had to take her on as an enemy. In Alexei's inner world, that thought constituted high praise.

His curiosity was aroused. He'd met her face to face once in Denmark, and he liked her. It was too bad she was on the opposite side. He picked up his phone and allowed his considerable charm to color his voice.

"Director. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Good morning, Alexei. Or I should say afternoon, where you are. You sound well. Something's come up we need to discuss."

"Oh?"

"It concerns Novosibirsk."

"That is an internal affair, Director. We'll find the terrorists responsible."

Harker knew that the best way to work with Vysotsky was to be truthful, at least when it wasn't in conflict with security concerns.

"It's gone beyond that, General. I believe that whoever is responsible is planning something here in America as well. They are a threat to both of us."

"Go on."

"We think a satellite weapon has been developed that uses targeted radio frequencies to disrupt mental behavior and that someone used it on Novosibirsk."

"You are certain?"

"Almost certain."

Vysotsky debated with himself. Should he pretend to be surprised, or respond with the truth? He decided on truth.

"We have arrived at a similar conclusion. We couldn't believe terrorists would have such technology available. Frankly, we thought it might be a hostile move on the part of your government. Or Beijing. There are several in the Kremlin who believe this."

"Our government did not do this," Harker said. "If the situation were reversed, I am sure I would have thought Moscow or Beijing was behind it." A thought occurred to her. "Have you discovered anyone who was involved?"

How did she know that? he thought.