Cutter’s expression took on a grim cast. “You weren’t the only one. We thought so, too.”
“It’s been a few decades since he saw active duty,” Thad pointed out. “Maybe his position has changed.”
Cutter shook his head slowly. “I…don’t think so. Raphael Garza and I have spoken—recently, in fact. When it became clear that the governor-general was considering him for the position, I invited him to lunch and asked him point-blank where he stood.”
The director’s eyes cut to the prime minister’s image on the holo. “Everything he told me indicated he supported a strong military. We discussed the potential threat Akkadia posed, even with its new leadership. Garza didn’t trust easily, and wasn’t convinced Dent was as altruistic as he made himself out to be.”
“So what happened?” asked Gabe, leaning back in his seat and eyeing Cutter speculatively. “Because his choice for SECDEF is sure as hell not going to be good for the Navy.”
Micah knew the secretary of defense cabinet position was one that could make life easier or much more miserable for the military and intelligence communities, depending on the individual’s political leanings.
With growing concern, he looked between Gabe and Cutter. “Okay, this one’s on me because I should have been paying attention. Who’d he appoint?”
Cutter nodded to the screen, and in the next instant, two other faces appeared, those of the newly named cabinet members.
“Jamieson.”
At Cutter’s mention of the woman’s name, everything snapped into greater clarity.
Jamieson was an isolationist who believed the Alliance was far better off not sticking its nose into other star nations’ business. She’d made her position clear on the Alliance’s military presence at the heliopause of another nation’s star system; in her eyes, it was onerously aggressive. When it was pointed out that the garrison was there to protect a Geminate-owned asset of strategic importance, she’d protested that the Alliance was nobler than this.
“We need to respect the integrity and honor of our esteemed neighbors,” she’d been known to say on more than one occasion. “Not everyone is out to get us, and to assume otherwise is both paranoid and delusional.”
It’s not paranoid to protect our interests, Micah thought. It’s plain common sense.
“This doesn’t bode well for the Navy,” Jonathan repeated quietly. “Or special forces.”
Task Force Blue was the very definition of special forces. That meant they’d likely be impacted by this, as well.
Thad ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and let out a deep exhale. “Damn. Never knew a Marine not to have your back.”
“I had every indication that he would,” Cutter insisted. “That’s what makes the message Harper is about to show you so troubling. It suggests Garza may have made those appointments under duress.”
Thad straightened, eyes narrowing. “Duress… as in, an enemy agent got to him?” The Marine’s voice was a low, threatening rumble.
“Possibly.” Cutter’s tone was noncommittal.
Sam shifted in her chair. “Have you approached him about this yet?”
Cutter shook his head. “The information we received yesterday may impact how and when we do so.”
He turned to Harper, and Micah saw tension settle onto the analyst’s shoulders as the director wordlessly ceded the floor to her.
She cleared her throat, and then indicated the holoscreen once more. Garza’s image disappeared, to be replaced by text.
Prime Minister Garza being held in Akkadian maximum-security prison. AD Sullivan suspected of collusion. Proceed with caution.
Beside him, Micah saw Sam jolt upright, her spine snapping straight.
“Are you suggesting we have an imposter in Parliament? Or are you suggesting—”
Cutter studied his niece intently. “What are you thinking, Sam?”
Sam leaned around Micah to spear Katie Hyer with a questioning look. “Admiral Toland told me you were the first one to voice the thought that our victim the other night might be chiral.”
At Katie’s nod, she continued.
“Well, you were right. He was. The sample I took with my bracer wasn’t enough to do much more, but it did confirm that. Harper used the visual file Micah sent Ell to identify his…” Sam stumbled over the next words. “… his donor.”
Micah glanced over at Harper, lifting his brows in silent question.
“His name was Chris Williams,” Harper supplied. “He worked at the NSA as an entry-level analyst. Just out of university last spring. We believe Chris was a ‘test case’ to see if they could control a pawn once they had him back in play.” Harper’s expression was bitter as she finger-quoted the words. “He’d just come back from a three-week vacation. He was supposed to have visited the casinos on Ganymede, but he never arrived.”
Jonathan scrubbed at his face. “Hell of a vacation,” he muttered under his breath.
Micah shot him a glance. “You think?”
Sympathy welled within him for a guy he’d never known. Williams hadn’t asked for what had been done to him, any more than he had.
Dammit, he sought us out, asked for help—and we failed him.
He reached for the water pitcher in the center of the table. Sam silently pushed an empty glass his way, and he was proud of the fact his hand didn’t shake as he filled it.
He looked over at Jonathan. This shit’s too close to home for my comfort, bro. We gotta shut those grav-suckers down.
Yeah, his mirror twin agreed, and then said aloud, “How’d they manage to kill him?”
Sam blew out a breath. “My guess is that their method of… bringing Chris’s chiral twin to life is different than what Stinton did to you two in Luyten’s Star. Their process must fully entangle the chiral pair, similar to what we’ve achieved in our research with the viruses.”
She swallowed hard, and then added quietly, “That was the research they stole from us, when I was captured and held prisoner on that secret base in Proxima.”
Harper took up the explanation. “If that’s the case, then when the clone escaped, all the Akkadians had to do to stop him was shoot the original Williams, the man they still had imprisoned on Eridu. Both men died as a result.”
The water Micah had downed sloshed uncomfortably in his stomach. He stared at the empty glass in his hands, thinking about what had been done to him and Jonathan.
This is shitty, bro.
His twin’s thoughts flooded his mind in response. They were as emotionally charged as his own.
Those poor fuckers had it worse than even we did. They never had a chance.
Micah nodded in silent agreement.
Gabe lifted his chin to indicate the holo. “So, you think the same thing’s happened to Garza? That the man your inside source saw imprisoned in Akkadia is the original, with the chiral Garza installed as our prime minister?”
Micah could feel the tension in the room as everyone waited to hear Cutter’s response.
The director nodded. “Yes. It’s a distinct possibility.”
“Then we need to get confirmation that the man here on Ceriba is indeed chiral.” Sam straightened and looked intently at her uncle. “That’s easy enough to confirm. All we need is a tissue sample—”
Cutter cut her off with a shake of his head. “We can’t go around asking one of the senior leaders of our star nation for a tissue sample. Not only would that tip our hand, it might also sign his death warrant, given what happened in Montpelier the other day.”
Thad crossed his arms and sat back. “Okay, then. What do you propose?”
“If they’re a chiral pair, we have to time this carefully, coordinate both rescues down to the minute.”
Cutter looked first at Micah, and then at Jonathan. “I think we all know that the only way to guarantee instantaneous, untraceable communication between Akkadia and here is to use you two.”
Micah had already come to the same conclusion. He exchanged a glance with his
twin, who sent him a subtle nod.
Valenti took up the narrative, handing out orders in her usual clipped tone.
“We split you into two teams, Micah on one, Jonathan on the other. Your missions are the same. First, you recon. Confirm that Garza’s indeed on Eridu and that the man here is his chiral clone and not a body double or imposter. Then we’ll extract.”
Cutter leaned forward. “Don’t forget; it won’t do Garza any good if we save only one of them. If they have the other, they’ll still be able to eliminate them both.”
“How do you plan to divvy this up?” Gabe asked Valenti.
The colonel’s gaze landed on Micah. “We need a legitimate reason to get one or more of you close to the prime minister. Get that DNA sample. Give the man the opportunity to reach out for help if he’s truly being coerced.”
Micah carefully set down the empty glass he’d been rolling between his palms. “Why are you looking at me, Colonel?”
“You won’t be flying the team to Akkadia. Jonathan will.”
“If this has to do with chirality,” Micah began, and Valenti lifted a hand.
“It does. If somehow the team is compromised and taken prisoner, I cannot let Akkadia get their hands on a chiral human.”
“They have their own,” Micah pointed out.
“And they don’t know the differences between theirs and ours. I’d like to keep it that way. Whatever edge we have, we use against them.”
Micah nodded. “Understood. So where do I fit in?”
Cutter smiled. “Not sure if you’ve heard, Captain, but there is a sports event taking place within the next few weeks. The Founder’s Cup.”
“The starglider regatta?” Micah was surprised by the sudden topic change.
The director’s smile widened. “I understand from Harper that you gentlemen have a bit of experience with the Founder’s Cup.”
Micah and Jonathan exchanged a look.
Jonathan shrugged. “I suppose you could say that.”
Harper lifted a brow. “Founder’s Cup champion two years in a row? I’d say it’s a given.”
“Would’ve been three,” Jonathan grumbled, “except—”
“Except the spar cracked on the starglider the following year,” Micah finished for him. “We—well, you—had to drop out.”
Cutter motioned to the holoprojector. “Which provides us with a unique opportunity. Jiu Liam, the president of An-Yang, owes us a favor for cleaning out that nest of spies in the Badlands eighteen months ago. He’ll be arriving from Shang to attend the regatta. We reached out to him very privately and asked if he’d consider challenging the prime minister to a friendly exhibition race.”
Thad’s brows rose. “Does the president of An-Yang know how to fly one of those things? For that matter, does Garza?”
Cutter chuckled. “Nope. Hasn’t a clue.” He motioned to Micah. “That’s where you’ll come in. You’re going to be the prime minister’s new personal trainer.”
Micah blinked at that. “No offense, sir, but assigning me as Garza’s trainer is a bad idea. The Akkadians will know instantly that we suspect something. It’s not like I’m an unknown.” He pointed to Sam. “Hell, they kidnapped her because of her connection to all this. There’s no way they’re going to believe this is a chance encounter.”
Gabe nodded, a skeptical look on his face. “I agree. Plus, the Akkadians are going to have agents all over the man.”
“You’re right; they will.” Cutter’s gaze swung to where Micah and Sam sat. “Akkadia knows Williams sought you two out before they eliminated him. They can’t be sure what he told you. If Garza’s a clone, they’ll expect us to make contact. So, that’s what we do.”
Katie’s nose wrinkled. “But if they know, and we know, and they know that we know… then how can we get anything done? And how do we hide it from them?”
“Old magician’s trick. We hide it in plain sight.”
Katie’s expression suggested that the director’s comment hadn’t cleared up anything for her.
Harper cut in. “While their eyes are on Micah and Sam, we’ll be working with An-Yang to handle the swap from a different angle.”
Thad’s brow lifted. “Come again? And in words a Marine like me can understand.”
“The swap will happen in midair, at the end of the exhibition race,” said Valenti.
“What? How?” Micah asked.
“Shell game. Harper will fill you in on the details later,” Cutter said. “But we’ll need you to plant a tracker on Garza’s starglider while you’re training him.”
Micah shook his head. “Won’t be easy. They’ll be watching me every second.”
Valenti leaned in. “But they won’t be watching Chief Hyer.”
“Me?” Katie yelped, jerking in her seat as if she’d been zapped with an electrical current.
Cutter nodded. “You.”
Thad sat back, scraping his palm against the stubble of his jaw as he stared thoughtfully back at the director. “So you’re saying the whole training Garza thing is a big diversion.”
Cutter shook his head. “Though it’s true that the starglider he’ll fly is equipped with an SI to autonomously fly the vessel, we still need to make sure he can land that thing if it fails.”
He looked over at Micah. “Your mission is very real. You truly will need to give Garza a rudimentary understanding of how to pilot the craft—just in case.”
“Understood,” Micah murmured.
Cutter turned to his niece. “Sam, your mission is equally critical. There’s still the possibility that Garza’s a body double, or even a plant. We need that DNA sample before we break interstellar law by infiltrating a sovereign star nation to conduct an extraction. If we can seat you at Garza’s table during the Founder’s Dinner, can you retrieve that sample for us?”
Sam’s brow furrowed. “I think so, yes.”
Valenti’s gaze bounced between Sam and Micah. “Neither of you will be going in alone. We’ll have a Unit team there as backup.”
Micah nodded but then sat back as an unhappy thought intruded.
Once the news leaked that a former two-time champion was tapped to train the prime minister, the fairgrounds would be crawling with reporters.
Sucks, bro.
Micah shot Jonathan a glare. You think? You’re off on a real assignment, while I’m playing decoy and having to sit my ass down in front of every journalist who wants a personal interest story about the Shadow Recon pilot who’s the prime minister’s personal trainer.
Sometimes, you gotta suck it up.
Thad leaned over, purposely snaring Micah’s gaze. The expression on his face told him that he knew full well he and Jonathan were having a private bitch session.
“Let the team do what they’re trained to do,” the Marine advised. “Boone and Asha can slip inside the fairgrounds undetected. The Akkadians’ll never see them—and you’ll never be without backup. Trust us to do our jobs, hoss.”
Micah raised his hands in nonverbal capitulation and then turned back to the colonel. “If I’m on Garza duty here, who’s going in to retrieve the one on Eridu?”
“Thad. Jonathan. And Agent Cyr.”
That got a reaction out of Thad. The Marine straightened, angling a questioning look Valenti’s way.
In lieu of a response, the colonel gestured to Cutter.
The director turned to the petite woman seated beside Thad. “Since you were singled out by an Akkadian assassin eighteen months ago on Hawking, we plan to exploit that, if we can.”
Ell’s expression remained unchanged, but Micah sensed that she was about as excited at this turn of events as he’d been about training the prime minister.
“That wasn’t—” began Ell, but Cutter held up a hand to cut her off.
“It might’ve been a chance encounter. You might have been the most convenient person for her to reach out to. Hell, you might’ve even been the only person she knew by name. Bottom line, it doesn’t matter.
“
Even if your… relationship with her is virtually nonexistent, it’s more than anyone else can lay claim to. We’re going to grab every advantage we can get in the situation. On the off-chance you can make contact with her while you’re there, maybe convince her to help, then it’s worth the risk.”
Thad growled softly, and it was Valenti’s turn to raise a warning hand.
Ell shot Thad a quick glance before returning her gaze to the director and nodding reluctantly. “Understood, sir.”
“Jonathan will fly Mirage,” Valenti continued. “By necessity, and because of his connection to Micah, he’ll need to go with you to the prison in order to time the extraction perfectly.”
“We’re sending you through the Alpha Centauri gate with a garrison patrol doing an early rotation,” explained Cutter. “It happens from time to time, so it shouldn’t raise suspicions.”
“Takeko, display file Eridu-One,” Valenti instructed, and then turned to face the holo when a small sea of dots appeared, floating in a field of black. “Invictus is the flag for the cruiser squadron that will take you through gate transit. Mirage will travel inside her boat bay.”
As she spoke, labels identifying additional Shadow Recon ships appeared above each icon representing one of the cruisers.
“We’re sending Wraith, Scimitar, Katana, and Eidolon, too, along with eight direct-action Novastrikes. You’ll all be hitching rides with the squadron. Once there, these ships will jump in closer to Eridu but remain on standby within the Sargon Straits. If you find you need an assist with a hot extraction, they’ll be ready.”
There were nods all around, and then Cutter cleared his throat.
“One more thing. For them to have snatched Garza out from under his protection detail tells me this was an inside job. At this point, we don’t know which organizations have been compromised, so we assume the worst. No one outside this room is to know about this. This is highest-security, codeword access.”
“Copy that,” said Thad.
His words were echoed by those around the table.
“And here we thought Asher Dent might be a more reasonable leader for the Akkadian people,” Gabe murmured.
Chiral Justice: A Hard Science Fiction Technothriller (The Biogenesis War Book 3) Page 9