The Initiative: In Harm's Way (Book One)

by Bruce Fottler

“It's where we need it to be.”

  “I'm sorry. I just don't feel comfortable with that approach.”

  “You're not suppose to be comfortable with it.” Merrill looked down with a slight melancholic expression. “God help you if you ever are.”

  Sam watched Merrill slowly regain his confident composure. He picked up his empty glass, stood up, and walked over to pour himself another drink.

  “Sam, where would your line be?”

  “Um, I guess I don't really know how to answer that yet.”

  “Would you be ready to climb back into an airplane knowing that you could be attacked again?”

  Sam hesitated. “I suppose, if I had to.”

  Merrill nodded and smiled. “Thanks for stopping by, Sam.”

  “No problem,” Sam replied as he slowly rose from the sofa, confused.

  “Oh, and I did have one last question,” Merrill said as he picked up the bottle of bourbon. “Did you know that Susan is Neil's niece?”

  Sam froze. “So, I guess you know she's not really my sister?”

  “But you never corrected me on that. Why?”

  Sam snickered. “I know she's his niece. There's not much more I can tell you, other than I trust her more than anyone I know.”

  Merrill allowed a satisfied grin as he poured a noticeably larger portion of bourbon in his glass. “It's been a nice talk, Sam. I'm very pleased how you've been able to pull yourself together after those tragic events. Not too many people could come back from those types of situations. You're a welcome addition to The Initiative. I look forward to working with you. Please enjoy your weekend.”

  As if on cue, the doors to the living-room opened as Sam approached. The attendant nodded to Merrill and escorted Sam back to his car.

  Thursday, August 3, 1995

  Capitol Hill - Washington DC

  Senator Hector Barlow rushed into the men's room with a folder tucked under his armpit. He quickly found an open urinal, and noticed another person two down was busy relieving himself.

  “Damned committee meetings,” Hector grumbled as he looked over to the other occupant. “They always run right up to an important vote and hardly give you enough time to take a leak.”

  “I can relate,” Hank replied with a smile.

  “Lots to do before recess begins and they schedule these budget votes to ram things through,” Hector continued to complain.

  “It's got me running in circles, too.”

  “Who are you staffing for?”

  “I'm just running around for a lobbyist.”

  “Well,” Hector started to say as he finished, “Good luck with whatever your guys are pushing.”

  “Thanks.”

  Hector pulled on the handle but the urinal didn't flush. “Damned things hardly work anymore.”

  Hank nodded with a smile as Hector rushed out. He almost ran into the janitor setting up an out-of-order sign in front of the door.

  “Didn't even wash your hands,” Hank muttered as he pulled out an empty sample container and a pair of latex gloves.

  Friday, August 4, 1995

  Blanchard Corporation – Chelmsford, Massachusetts

  “Barlow is a positive,” Colin reported to Merrill in his office. “Trace amounts were found, so that means he's been turned for a while. He's way past the point of return.”

  “Shit,” Merrill resigned from behind his desk. “It explains how they got high-level access. This really complicates things.”

  “We're not done testing everyone on the committee, but he's the only one so far.”

  “He's the only one they really need.” Merrill rose from his desk and walked over to the nearest window. He let out a sigh as he looked out over an irrigation pond at the side of the building. “Christine is perfectly positioned here to help them fill in any details, all while she plants more assets. I know it's only two people, but I feel like they have us completely surrounded.”

  Colin walked over to the mini-bar to pour them a strong drink. “It's going to be extremely difficult to effectively deal with this.”

  “They both have to be removed. Christine is one thing, but how do we deal with a United States Senator?”

  “May I suggest we confer with Neil? He might be able to come up with some ideas.”

  “Yes, I agree.”

  Colin smiled as he brought Merrill his drink. “It's good to see you two working together again.”

  Merrill took his drink and grimaced. “It's good to have him back, but I'd hold off on the accolades. All we seem to be doing is finding out just how fucked-up our situation really is.”

  Monday, August 7, 1995

  Safe House - Westford, Massachusetts

  “It's agreed then,” Merrill concluded to Neil, Sam, Colin, and Hank. They had spent the past couple of hours formulating a plan of action. “We make our move with the next Dignosco test flight. I'm rescheduling it to September eleventh. This date will be kept secret from everyone but key personnel. Our explanation for the date change will be over security concerns. The real explanation won't leave this room. Until then, we all have a lot of work to do.”

  “If Christine is being shut out of the flow of critical information, how do we get her the details regarding the date and transponder codes so she can pass it off?” Neil asked.

  “We have a way to do it,” Colin replied with a sly grin.

  “Is this something we'd rather not know about?” Neil asked.

  Colin nodded.

  “Let's move on to other security issues, “Merrill continued. “Have any attempts been made to hack our computer systems?”

  “No attempts so far,” Neil replied. “Our systems are clean and secure.”

  “None of our security details have noticed anything out of the ordinary,” Colin added. “They've gone quiet. It appears they're focused on the Dignosco test flight.”

  “How are the missile guidance upgrades going?” Merrill asked Neil.

  “I think we're heading in the right direction, which is away from the Phoenix platform. The AIM-120 AMRAAM missile is proving to be a far better choice. I like what you've done with the X99B, by the way. You've solved the thrust vectoring issues while increasing its ceiling.”

  “See?” Merrill jokingly mocked. “There are things we can handle by ourselves.”

  “I thought the X99 was an Air Force project,” Sam interjected.

  “It's all Blanchard, Sam,” Merrill replied, “The military has no connection.”

  “It reminded me of the Northrop YF-23. Sorry, I'm sort of a fighter-jet buff.”

  “We borrowed the YF-23 design,” Merrill explained, more than happy to digress into a subject he enjoyed talking about. “Despite losing out to the Lockheed YF-22, we found that the Northrop airframe design was better suited for the new materials and engine design we applied.” Merrill paused to chuckle. “If the Pentagon ever knew what we did with the losing design, they'd cancel the Lockheed contract in a heartbeat.”

  “And as you can see,” Neil interjected, “Merrill loves bragging about his new wonder-jet.”

  “You can't brag enough about a supersonic stealth jump-jet.” Merrill turned to Sam with a proud smile. “It's a fully VTOL-capable fighter-jet that super cruises at Mach 4.2. The next version might even push that to hypersonic.”

  Neil laughed. “See?”

  “Can I make a request about that?” Sam abruptly asked Merrill.

  “Certainly.”

  “I'd like to have Eva up there with us for this.”

  Merrill frowned. “Sorry, Sam, but she has a bit of time left on her probation. We have two other highly trained pilots in line. Either one will be able to handle the mission as well as Eva.”

  “It wasn't her fault the missiles didn't work,” Sam protested.

  “Sam, failure is something we're all going to face as we push forward with The Initiative. It's important we have people who know how to handle it. Even though Eva did everything right in the air and still missed, her real failure was that s
he let anger get to her in the aftermath. We simply can't allow that in our discipline.”

  “She was wrong to get angry, but I'm talking about trust. Those other pilots might be good, but I trust her more.”

  “Mr. Drake,” Hank added, “I'm not saying she's better than the other pilots, and it wasn't right for her to take a swing at the crew chief, but she's missed twice and knows it. That makes her far more motivated than the other two pilots. I'd feel a lot safer with that kind of motivation up there with us.”

  “Thanks, gentlemen, I'll take it under advisement.”

  Sunday, August 13, 1995

  Blanchard Corporation – Chelmsford, Massachusetts

  “The next Dignosco test flight will occur sometime after the end of this month,” Merrill explained at the weekly staff meeting. “We're purposely withholding flight details as part of our new security protocols. Everything is being compartmentalized to minimize the chance of information leaking out, so we need to make preparations as though the flight were going to take place on September first. I don't want a repeat of the last flight. Any questions?”

  “Will there be any additional in-flight security measures?”

  “That's all on a need-to-know basis,” Merrill tactfully replied. “Anything else?”

  There were a few seconds of silence while everyone glanced at each other.

  “All right, then, meeting adjourned.”

  Everyone rose and headed for the exit. Merrill was still gathering his papers as Christine approached him.

  “I'm not complaining, Merrill, but I wanted to make sure that you intended to keep me on the sideline for this.”

  “No offense, Christine, but we're all just being extra cautious this time around. If things work out, we'll review our security protocols and you'll likely be let back in the loop.”

  “Just checking, you know, to see if it wasn’t anything personal.”

  Merrill gave her a warm, sincere smile. “Absolutely not.”

  Friday, August 18, 1995

  Deluxe Regency Hotel – Chelmsford, Massachusetts

  Walt parked his car out of sight of the main entrance and walked up to a side door. After taking a quick look around, he entered and started up the stairwell. At the second level, he peered through the window at the side of the door. The hallway was empty and he slipped in. Room 214 was a short walk down from the stairway entry. He gave a quick knock as he nervously looked up and down the hallway. The door opened and he hastily entered.

  “I know it's convenient for us, but we really ought to consider finding another place a bit further away,” Walt said as he took his shirt off.

  “But I'll miss this place,” Christine replied as she unbuttoned her blouse. “Getting a little too worried over the new security arrangements?”

  “I just get the feeling I'm being watched a bit more closely these days.”

  “Let me help you forget about that for a while.”

  Saturday, August 26, 1995

  Safe House - Westford, Massachusetts

  “This will be our last meeting before the test flight,” Merrill said to everyone in the living room. “Colin, how's it going with Christine?”

  “Exactly as we expected. She used Walt's computer access yesterday.”

  “That was fast.”

  “We confirmed she's dosing him with the drug. Low concentration.”

  “How's she getting it into him?” Sam asked.

  “Skin contact through laced condoms.”

  “Oh, that's just wrong,” Hank scoffed with a wince.

  “She's been doing it for the past couple of weeks. It's enough of a dose to get small items of information from him, but not enough to get him to do anything radical. We shouldn't need to detox him.”

  “Good, he'll be sober when I kick his self-absorbed ass out the door,” Merrill added. “What did she see through Walt's access?”

  “She accessed it all,” Colin replied. “Flight departure times, transponder codes, and the missile guidance upgrades. Everything we wanted her to see.”

  “Is there any chance she'd suspect that it's bad information?” Merrill asked.

  “Not even Walt would know the difference,” Colin confidently answered while looking to Neil.

  “Good,” Merrill said. “Part one is set. Part two is on track. Senator Barlow will be in position. His meeting at Pearl is still on schedule.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence. Neil sat and stewed. Sam and Hank exchanged concerned looks.

  “Look,” Merrill implored with a sympathetic tone, “I agree that our plan involves more collateral damage than I'd want to see. I wish I could change that, but we're essentially at war. If we're going to have a chance to strike back, and make it count, then certain unpleasant actions need to be taken.”

  Reluctant nods followed.

  “All right,” Merrill continued as he turned to Eva, “Ms. Castilo, effective immediately your probation is lifted and you're back on active flight status. It's good to have you back with us.”

  “I won't let you down this time.”

  “I'm sure you won't,” Merrill replied with a cold smile, and then turned to everyone else. “There are still a lot of details to pull together, so let's not lose our focus. I've got to be back for a teleconference, so I need to get going. Good luck and good hunting.”

  “I'll get our car ready,” Hank volunteered as he rose to leave.

  Merrill got up and exited with Colin.

  “Sam,” Neil beckoned with a wave.

  “Something wrong?” Sam asked, stepping closer.

  “Please ask Colin to keep an eye on Merrill. Something seems off about him tonight.”

  “Do you think--”

  “No, it's not that. He just seems unusually distracted about something.”

  “Aren't we all?”

  “It's just that he's usually not so sympathetic when discussing collateral damage.”

  “I'll pass the word.”

  Neil turned to Eva. “Young woman, I wish you the best. I'm certain your ordnance won't fail you this time.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Eva replied with a grateful smile before turning to Sam. “Hank told me you put yourself out there for me. Thanks, that was a real decent thing to do.”

  “It was more a self-preservation thing,” Sam retorted with a grin. “ I don't want to get shot down again.”

  “You won't. Not this time.”

  Sam's demeanor shifted to a more serious tone. “Whatever it takes, I'm going to get you your shot. Promise me you'll drill those bastards.”

  “You paint them and I'll light 'em up. This one will be for Angela.”

  * * *

  Colin and Merrill sat together in the back seat of a spacious sedan as Hank drove.

  “There's only one reason why you'd want Sam on the Dignosco test flight,” Colin said after a few minutes of driving. “And it's not really for vengeance, is it?”

  “Vengeance?” Merrill retorted with a condescending chuckle. “It'll be Sam's reward.”

  “He's putting on a brave face, but he's really going to have a hell of a time just stepping back onto an airplane. I don't think Dr. Kyle would approve.”

  “I'm exploiting every angle available to us.”

  Colin snickered. “By hanging Sam out as bait?”

  There was a tense moment of silence as Hank's attention shifted to Merrill's reply.

  “They missed him twice,” Merrill said in a cold, calm tone. “I'm betting they very badly want another crack at him. Having Sam on that plane will chum the waters to guarantee the attack. Our plan has a far better chance of success if they're highly motivated.”

  “Does Sam know about this?” Hank asked, knowing he was butting into a conversation he wasn't supposed to be a part of.

  “Sam's a smart cookie,” Merrill replied with a bemused grin to Hank. “I don't need to say anything to him because he knows exactly why he really needs to be there. He'll step on that airplane because he understands that they need to
hear his voice over the communication frequency, which we leaked to them along with his name on a flight roster.”

  Hank resisted an urge to make a cynical remark.

  “Besides,” Colin added, directed to Hank. “We have another assignment for you. I'm sure you'll enjoy it better than being a target with Sam.”

  Thursday, September 7, 1995

  Regal Apartments– Lowell, Massachusetts

  Sam finished packing his last shirt when he heard the door buzzer. He walked into the entryway and flipped the talk switch on the intercom. “Yes?”

  “It's me,” Susan's voice replied.

  Sam buzzed her in and opened the door. She soon came up the stairs and walked past him into the apartment. She didn't look at him or say a word as Sam closed the door.

  “Sues, what are you--” Sam started to say but was interrupted by an abrupt embrace. “Hey, is something wrong?”

  “Sorry,” Susan faltered as she released him. “I just wanted to see you before you left.”

  “Did Neil say anything to you?” Sam asked as he walked her over to the couch and they sat.

  “I saw him a little while ago. He wanted me to pass some information to The Watcher network about what you're attempting.”

  “He told you?”

  “No. He rarely gives any detail because it's not good that we know too much ahead of time. But the look in his eye told me everything I needed to know. It's going to be dangerous, isn't it?”

  Sam's expression dropped. “Yeah, it's likely to be.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Sam took in a deep breath. A look of fear came to his eyes. “I don't know.”

  Susan hugged him again. “I've been praying. God will be there with you. You don't need to be afraid.”