“We’d better win,” repeated DeeAnn. “No matter what.”
One by one they stood up. Clay last, now only barely using his crutches.
DeeAnn then straightened her clothes. “Well, we are headed to Africa. What are you going to do with Dirk and Sally?”
“Take them home,” Alison replied.
“And where is that?”
She stared at her reflection in the tank’s glass wall. Her answer was short and solemn. “Trinidad.”
25
At over eighteen hundred square miles, Trinidad was the fifth largest island in the West Indies: known as the region shared by the Caribbean Basin and North Atlantic Ocean. Named “Island of the Trinity” by Christopher Columbus in 1498, the large island was also one of the most industrialized.
Trinidad also laid claim to several facts of cultural significance, including both the inspiration for the famed character Robinson Crusoe and host to one of the largest carnivals on the planet. In the present day, the island was a beacon of progress and economic stability derived largely from its vast natural gas reserves.
On the large screen, the pipe-shaped neighboring island of Tobago moved out of view and the frame quickly panned across miles of blue water where it stopped again, on the image of the Valant oil rig. From the top, the vessel resembled a large flat structure, its deep shadow hovering above the water.
The screen briefly zoomed out, revealing the crystal-clear image of the large, white Pathfinder ship anchored nearby.
The rest of the room was dark, illuminated only by the giant screen on the wall. Around a table sat several high-ranking Russian officers, one of whom was Admiral Koskov. A junior officer stood at the head of the table, presenting with a remote mouse in his hand. Now waiting patiently for the first question.
“And this is where Belov thinks it is,” a voice stated flatly. It belonged to Russia’s Minister of Defence. The head of the country’s armed forces and second in command only to the President of the Russian Federation.
“Yes, sir.”
“And he says the Americans are hiding it.”
“Yes.” The junior officer turned to face the table and put his hands behind his back. “The oil rig is made by Transocean Limited in Geneva. The SVR has verified that it had no reported problems before it was decommissioned. Ahead of schedule. And one day after three senior U.S. government officials arrived at Transocean headquarters in the middle of the night. Chairman Admiral Langford, Defense Secretary Miller, and CIA Director Andrew Hayes.”
“They’re sure of this?”
“Yes, sir. They have also confirmed the Americans were on the premises for less than three hours before flying back to Washington D.C. The next day Transocean issued the order to decommission the Valant rig.”
“So there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“We don’t believe so.”
The defence minister suddenly raised his voice into a growl. “I don’t want to hear what you believe. I want to hear what you know.”
The junior officer glanced briefly at Koskov’s frame in the darkness, but the older man offered nothing. When the junior officer replied, his voice wavered slightly. “It would be extremely unlikely, sir.”
The minister was silent. Russian intelligence was second to no one, not even the CIA. And Belov was no fool. He wasn’t about to go down without a fight, but he wouldn’t risk being wrong either. Not this time. He of all people knew that there were worse punishments a man could face than death.
Now it seemed the billionaire Dima Belov had seen through the Americans’ deception. Which meant they would now have to keep Belov alive, at least for the time being. The man was ruthless beyond all measure, and yet he alone appeared to know what the Americans were truly hiding. But how?
Not long ago, Belov had convinced the Russian government of the magnitude of what the Chinese had first discovered in Guyana. But his intelligence tactics had also failed miserably when the Forel submarine was later destroyed.
But what if it was true? If the prize remained in play, they would be stupid to ignore it. If the prize was as powerful as Belov claimed.
And of course, the Americans had initially blamed Russia for the sinking of their research ship, until fragments proved the Chinese were behind it. The Americans quickly backed down from their accusations, but the situation underscored just how easily they would be prepared to blame Russia again.
“How many people did you say were on the rig?”
“Twelve at any given time. Several regularly travel back and forth to the ship.”
“Twelve men on an oil rig that isn’t broken,” the minister said. “Doing what?”
This time no one answered.
He stared at the image on the screen. “Trying to take the oil rig from the Americans will not be easy.”
This time a silhouette sitting next to the minister spoke up. “We see no signs of armaments or weapons.”
“Then they know they’re being watched,” the minister replied dryly. “They have to.”
Koskov nodded in the darkness. “If they claim the rig is simply undergoing repairs, it is doubtful they would send fighting ships, for fear of discovery.”
No one could see the minister’s lips press tightly together in bemusement. “They have already been discovered.”
“They don’t know that.”
The minister leaned closer, studying the screen carefully. “They accused us of destroying their ship, yet they did nothing. Now they know it was the Chinese, and still they do nothing. Perhaps,” he said, “they are more vulnerable than we know.”
“Sir?”
The minister remained quiet, thinking. Why hadn’t the Americans retaliated? Why no word out of NATO? It was more than a little odd. Especially given that governments routinely obscured facts to justify their actions in the public eye. But this felt different. This didn’t feel like it was part of the normal political playbook. There was something unique about this oil rig, and the fact it was unguarded. It reminded him of something the Americans had done in WWII to throw off the enemy. And if he was right, if they were doing it again, then the oil rig was little more than a prop. A facade allowing them to hide something in plain sight.
He spoke to Koskov without taking his eyes off the image. “How soon?”
“We can reach it in three days without being detected.”
“Until the rig is taken.”
“Yes. Once we take the vessel, by force, we will have two hours before American reinforcements arrive. Maybe less.”
“We can’t get enough ships there in time to hold it.”
“Correct.”
The minister pursed his lips, contemplating. “Perhaps we don’t need to hold it.” He leaned back and inhaled. “Perhaps…we just need leverage.”
“Sir?”
“It’s not just us the Americans don’t want to know about it. They likely do not want anyone to know about it.”
Koskov smiled. “Extortion.”
The defence minister frowned. “Such an ugly word. But, yes. We need enough information to prevent a counterattack."
"Or enough hostages.”
“True,” he nodded. “Assuming that enough survive.”
With that, the minister sighed and turned his attention to one of the other details of the report: the visit by the Americans to Transocean. One of the names listed earlier had caught his attention. The name of Langford.
It was a name the Russians knew well.
26
Unlike the Russian defence minister, Admiral Langford’s eyes bore a look of grave worry. Without a word, he closed the large white door behind him and looked across the table at U.S. Secretary of Defense Merl Miller, wearing an expression very much the same.
Neither spoke as Langford made his way to the table and sat down in a dark leather chair across from the secretary. A silent Miller watched as Langford reached into his pocket and withdrew a small round disc, resembling a miniature hockey puck. On the top was a single button
along with several small holes.
He calmly depressed the button and waited a moment before settling back in his chair. The small device was something Will Borger called a voice jammer. Inside, a set of integrated speakers emitted competing noises in the same spectrums as both Langford and Miller’s voices. Enough to make their conversations unrecognizable to any listening devices.
The Pentagon was one of the most thoroughly swept buildings in the country for bugs and other spying devices, but that was still no guarantee. Borger’s device allowed both men to talk freely without the risk of being recorded. Or more accurately, if they were recorded, the result would be digitally undecipherable. At least that’s what he’d claimed. To them, it was hard to know if the unit was even working, save for the small green light on top.
Across from him, Miller stared at the small unit absently. When he spoke, his face was long. “I hope he’s right.” His eyes moved to Langford. “The President. I hope this was all worth it.”
“So do I.”
“The Chinese have to know that we have the bacteria.”
Langford nodded. “We must assume so.”
“Which means they’re going to want it back.”
“Presumably.”
Miller managed a wry grin. “I don’t think we need to presume. If they’d taken it from us, we’d be working on a barrage of retaliations.”
“Yes. We would.”
Both men fell silent, sinking deeply into their thoughts. The implications were expanding rapidly. The President’s National Security Council knew about the bacteria as well as the plants found underwater near Trinidad.
But there were also things they did not know. Things that Langford and Miller were keeping secret. If the President and his staff felt the implications were extensive now, they’d be absolutely stunned to learn the whole story. Or at least the parts that had been uncovered thus far.
“Eventually,” Miller said, shaking his head, “this thing is going to blow up on us. And when it does, it will be impossible to contain without the mother of all diversions. I mean a multilateral effort of the biggest kind.”
Langford’s tired eyes stared back at him. What Miller meant by multilateral was an international effort. Something beyond a single government. The U.S. government had learned many years ago both the importance of and the best ways to suppress information in an internationally coordinated effort with other friendly countries. And they had become extraordinarily effective at it. But the real question was what happened when friendly governments became competitors for the same prize? There was a point where even allies knew too much.
Bad things, Langford thought to himself. Bad things were going to happen that would eventually end up in war. Because this discovery by the Chinese had everything it needed to set the world on fire.
However, as bad as the situation was, Langford was also mulling over another possibility. A much more radical idea that he’d thought long and hard about before he’d been ready to mention it to Miller.
Langford cleared his throat and spoke carefully. “What if there’s another way?”
“Another way for what?”
“To avoid war.”
Miller stared curiously across the table. “I am all ears.”
Langford reached up and ran his finger back and forth over his bottom lip. “We let it loose.”
“We what?”
“We let it loose.”
Miller squinted at him dubiously. “What do you mean by loose?”
“We give it to everyone.”
Miller frowned. “Are you on some sort of medication?”
Langford smiled at the joke. “As a matter of fact, I am. My blood pressure and cholesterol are both too high. And this isn’t helping.” When his amusement faded, he continued. “When you boil it right down, there are only two real options here. Keeping the whole thing secret, or exposing it.”
“And you think exposing it would be better?”
“I honestly don’t know. But one thing it would do is destroy anyone else’s leverage over us. And it would almost completely eliminate the Chinese’s reason to attack.”
Miller leaned back. “Jesus, Jim. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d gone off the deep end.”
“Maybe I have,” Langford shrugged. “But if I haven’t…”
“If you haven’t, it’s an intriguing idea. But a scary one. Beginning with one hell of a population problem.”
“Eventually,” Langford acknowledged, “there’s clearly some downside. But there could be a hell of a lot of upside.”
“There could be a hell of a lot of downside too. There would be no way to know. No way to anticipate just how things would unravel.”
“True. But ask yourself this: What would happen if every country had more than enough food? More than enough energy? What would it mean if we only needed healthcare for accidents? All of us.”
“Now you’re sounding crazy. That’s just a liberal’s dream. It would never happen like that, and you know it. Not with human nature being what it is.”
“No,” Langford said. “It’s everyone’s dream. Even us conservatives.” He leaned forward, staring intently at Miller. “We’re both pushing seventy, Merl.”
“God dammit, don’t remind me.”
“Tell me something. What’s the biggest cause of your problems today? Personally.” He watched Miller’s expression tighten. “What causes you the most grief every day?”
Miller replied, reluctantly. “Health.”
“Health,” Langford nodded. “Same for me. It’s the same for everyone, sooner or later. And later ain’t that far away. For any of us. And that’s just getting old. What about diseases?”
Miller shook his head. “We’re not just talking about a court-martial, Jim. We’re talking about treason. Giving this secret up isn’t some token of goodwill by a couple of old farts who’ve seen enough war. I mean, this is actual treason, to our own country. And you know as well as I do the type of people who run this place. The same that run every country. So let’s not be naive.”
At that, Langford stopped and considered Miller’s words. He knew it wasn’t that easy. But at some point, someone needed to stand up for what was right. For humanity.
Miller could read his face. “Doing what’s right is one thing. Knowing who decides what’s right is another.”
Langford nodded. Twenty years ago he would have given up the idea without another thought. Hell, ten years ago. But being within view of the end of one’s life had a habit of changing most men.
Eventually, Langford looked back across the table. “This bacteria…this miracle is going to take us to war. It’s going to take the whole world to war. Millions of people, Merl. Millions are going to die, over the very thing that can save them.”
***
Unfortunately, Langford’s idea was short lived. Less than an hour later, onboard the research ship Pathfinder, Neely Lawton sank slowly down into her chair.
Her eyes moved across the table in front of her, from cage to cage, with a look of pure horror. Every last one of her mice were dead. And her nagging fear was now fully realized.
Their miracle bacteria came with the worst possible vengeance. Anyone carrying the DNA extracted by the Chinese would be completely healed, physically, just before their minds were literally worked to death.
27
With weary eyes, Li Na Wei peered out over the distant cityscape, studying a blanket of gray clouds as they filled the sky above seemingly endless rows of towering high-rise buildings.
She could feel the faint mist on her face, causing what was left of the coal dust to begin to dot and streak down her cheeks. From the hillside, her dark almond-shaped eyes studied the span of buildings which spread out even further than she had realized.
Li Na blinked and continued staring, mentally exhausted. She hadn’t slept in two days, and though her mind wasn’t feeling the familiar dullness of sleep deprivation, her thoughts still felt impaired. Some were beginning to fe
el scattered.
However, as strange as her head was feeling, her body had never felt better. With only a faint twinge in her heart from her degenerative disease, the rest of her felt strong. As though she could walk forever.
Of course, she already had. It had been almost twelve hours since she’d leaped from the train as it began slowing into its last stop, a giant refinery now roughly eighty kilometers away.
A small pond had helped to remove most of the grime from her face and hands, leaving the remnants to now be finished off by the heavy mist.
Without a sound, she held her gaze and felt both a sense of awe and foreboding. The city standing before her was one that few had seen and yet everyone knew about. Fabled. Talked about only in rumors and stories among the working class, yet denied or ignored by the government. This brand new city was one of dozens like it scattered throughout the country, and one that Li Na’s father had mentioned specifically. Mysterious cities known to many people outside of China as “Ghost Cities.”
No one knew why they were built, or for whom, but they knew who had it done. The government. And yet the most remarkable thing about the city in front of her was that it was empty.
All of them were. Standing solemnly in the middle of nowhere, waiting to be populated and used. Row after row of high-rise towers stretching for kilometers.
And it wasn’t just the towers. Included in the landscape were city buildings, parking lots, and shopping centers. All empty. Sitting idle, littered with weeds stretching waist-high and growing out of what appeared to be thousands of fresh cracks in the concrete. Already eroding given their poor quality and several years of inattention.
The image was nothing short of apocalyptic, as if a neutron bomb had detonated, killing everyone but leaving the buildings intact.
After descending from the hills, the first sign of life Li Na encountered was a moose, grazing on a bush near the base of a still-functioning traffic light. Rows and rows of green lights stretched down the multilane boulevard, managing traffic for cars that were nowhere to be seen.
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