Riley nodded. “I get it,” she said in admiration. “Just before their sensors go down, they’ll record three people moving with a purpose toward the back grounds. They won’t know anyone remained behind at this location. When they lose the ability to track us, they’ll assume we just kept going in the same direction.”
“That’s the hope,” said Carr. “With any luck, when they can’t find you, they’ll be forced to search the woods, just in case you managed to slip by them. I’m hoping the last thing they’ll guess is that you immediately doubled back to where you started.”
Bram looked duly impressed. “I’m beginning to think we put the right person in charge of this op,” he said.
Carr frowned, despite knowing this was meant as a compliment. He just hoped that Bram was right. If one bought into Jordan’s vision, Carr’s success or failure could cost more than his life and the lives of a few others—it might have a major impact on the future course of human history.
“Okay,” he said to his three companions. “Time to move out. Go!” he barked when they didn’t immediately carry out his order. “Thirty Mississippi,” he reminded them.
They rushed from the room without a word, returning a little over a minute later.
“Well done,” said Carr when they were back. “Janice reports their sensors are being blocked, and this occurred while you were moving toward the back grounds. We’re off of their radar. They’ll have to see us or hear us to know where we are.”
“I have a question I’ve been wanting to ask,” said Riley.
“Go ahead,” replied Carr. “But quickly. Once I see what move these guys make when they break through security, I’ll need to make preparations. So what’s your question?”
“How does this attack make any sense?” she said. “We shouldn’t be targets. If they know where to find my dad, why do they need us? They only care about me as a means to get to him.”
Carr sighed. “Yeah. I was debating whether to get into it, but I think it’s probably time to tell you what I spoke to your father about, after all.”
“What are you saying?” asked Riley. “That your private conversation can explain something about why these men are here?”
“No,” said Carr evenly. “I’m saying that our conversation can explain everything about why these men are here.”
49
“Report,” said Marat Volkov when he heard Greshnev’s voice in his ear.
“The computer is still mimicking Brennan’s manipulations,” said the captain. “I expect to be through any minute. But we’ve had a complication.”
“Go on.”
“We were able to identify four people in the main residence, but the sensors abruptly stopped working.”
“What do you mean, they all malfunctioned at once?”
“No. They can still detect us. But something is preventing them from detecting anyone on the main property.”
Volkov issued a loud curse. “It’s Cameron Carr’s doing. No doubt about it.”
“Couldn’t be,” said Greshnev. “He had no reason to expect we were coming. And Jordan left him at the mansion deaf, dumb, and blind.”
“I don’t know how he knows, but he does. Don’t let the stunner incident fool you, he’s the best the Americans have.”
“He’s one man, unarmed,” said Greshnev.
“Don’t underestimate him, Sergei. I did once, and he found a way to slip through a noose I would have sworn couldn’t be escaped.”
“Understood.”
“What were the last known positions of the four people inside the mansion?” asked Volkov.
“One had been stationary in a room near the front for a long while and was still there when the sensors died. Three others were moving quickly toward the back of the residence.”
“Make sure you have men patrolling the tree line until you’re ready to go in at full force to retrieve the girl. We can’t risk them slipping past you into the woods.”
“Roger that,” said the captain.
“Let me know when you’ve defeated perimeter security,” added Volkov, signing off.
***
“Having trouble?” asked Isaac Jordan.
“None at all,” replied Volkov.
“Really?” said Jordan. “I don’t speak Russian, but I do know cursing when I hear it—no matter what the language. I also know the translation of the Russian words, Cameron Carr. He’s not giving you any problems is he?”
“None that we can’t handle,” said Volkov. “A gnat buzzing around the face of a giant. Nothing more.”
“I don’t know,” said Jordan. “I’ve read Carr’s file. This is a gnat that you don’t want to piss off.”
50
Carr had promised Jordan not to tell his daughter about the contents of their conversation, but Jordan had never counted on a situation like this.
But before Carr reported on their private meeting, he needed to explain how he came to ask for it in the first place. “Your father is sincere about not forcing you to join him,” he began, keeping one eye on the wall of video images. “But did you wonder how he could possibly give you that choice?”
“No,” said Riley, blinking rapidly in confusion. Carr gave her a few seconds to piece it together, confident that she would. “But now that you bring it up, it’s a great question. And I don’t have any answers. Wow was I dumb not to think of this before.”
Carr shook his head. “First time you haven’t been way ahead of me. I’ve lived in the world of deception and military tactics for years. I’ve been responsible for protecting assets who are being hunted. You can outthink me on every other dimension, but not on this one.”
“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Trish asked David Bram.
“None,” he replied.
“Riley’s father gave her a choice of whether to join him or not,” explained Carr. “But suppose she declined. Suppose she elected to go back to her life. Okay, no problem. He told her he’d just erase her memory of the past few days and she’d be good to go. But this is the last thing he can let happen. Because this won’t erase Volkov’s memory. The Russians know who she is. Know she was born Melissa Jordan. So she has a huge target on her chest. Her father is smart enough to know there is no way she can go back to her life now.”
“So was he lying about giving her a choice?” asked Bram.
“Like I said, no he wasn’t. At first I figured he had to be. That, or he really didn’t care about Riley at all, willing to let her take her chances. But when he finished telling us his story, and what he had been up to, it became fairly obvious. There was a way she could go back to her life—without fear she’d be used as bait or leverage. He would simply have to die one more time. In a way that would be absolutely convincing to Marat Volkov.”
Riley’s mouth dropped open. “He’s a copy, isn’t he?” she said, as fast on the uptake as always. “Holy shit!” she added. “Unbelievable!”
Carr could well understand her reaction. His stomach had dropped to his shoes when he had first figured it out. Because it took what Jordan had accomplished in the way of mind transference from the abstract to the real.
The man they had met with was Isaac Jordan, not some pale facsimile, not some soulless monster or hollow robot. He cried and laughed and loved and hurt just like a human being. He had displayed the entire gamut of emotions.
What Jordan had said about there being no discernible difference between an organic consciousness and a perfect computer emulation was true, a fact that his own duplicate had demonstrated to perfection. If Carr had been told there was something odd about their host and been given a million guesses, he wouldn’t have guessed this.
Deep down, Carr had been a skeptic, but after deducing what Jordan was up to, that he was a copy himself, this skepticism had shattered. The man they had met was unmistakably Isaac Jordan, just as surely as if the original’s head had been cut off and reattached to a new neck.
Carr watched a stunned, awestruck look com
e over Bram’s face, as well, as he relived his time with Jordan two point oh and digested this incredible reality.
The lieutenant turned his attention to Trish Casner, who seemed to also be reeling, but in a different way. “You didn’t know?” he said.
“No,” she replied uncomfortably. “I’d think he would have told me if this was true. Are you certain?”
“Positive,” said Carr. “Jordan confirmed it. Or at least the version of Jordan that we met with did.”
“What else did he say?” asked Riley.
Carr sighed. The seven soldiers were still in a holding pattern. Part of him was desperate to leave and begin preparations, but preparations for what? They might never breach the automated security, after all. And assuming they did, while inside the panic room he could view their first move afterward, which would be critical in dictating his strategy.
Even so, he could use this time to contemplate various options.
On the other hand, he sometimes worked best when he let his experience and instincts guide him. When he didn’t waste mental energy considering all the possibilities, just the one that was developing. And he felt he owed it to Riley not to stop here. He could at least give her a few minutes more.
“I don’t have much time,” said Carr, “so let me give you the highlights. If you have any questions, save them for the end.”
He proceeded to sketch out the background on how things had ended up as they had. He and Jordan had covered a lot of ground during their ten-minute private discussion, and Carr relayed the gist of it much more quickly.
When Volkov had contacted Jordan from the church, informing him he had his daughter and demanding he give himself up at a location in the Barents Sea, Jordan had researched the Russian and known he couldn’t cooperate. Once Volkov had Jordan, it would be too easy, and too tempting, for the Russian to kill Riley to tie up loose ends. But Jordan had no other choice.
And then he overheard Carr getting a report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, and he learned where Riley was being held. A desperate plan began to take shape in his mind.
He uploaded his consciousness into a copy, into an Isaac Jordan who had come to life knowing his sole purpose was to be a sacrifice. Knowing that he had been born with a lifetime of memories and hopes, but would be snuffed out for the cause before he could begin to create any memories of his own.
The born-again Isaac Jordan would race to the church and do whatever was necessary to save Riley’s life. He would wear undetectable explosives under his clothing. He would give himself up, and then reveal that he’d booby-trapped himself. He would tell the Russians that once his daughter was free and clear, he would disarm and do whatever they wanted going forward, as long he got periodic proof that Riley remained alive.
Not too much to ask, since this is what they had promised in the first place for his surrender. If they refused to free her, on the other hand, he would blow himself up.
It would be as simple and as complicated as that.
Jordan was betting they would agree to his terms in a heartbeat. They’d be leaving Riley as a loose end, but they’d be gaining his willing cooperation.
Once his daughter was safe, Jordan would work for them for a month or two. Since they knew nothing about his success with mind transference, they wouldn’t doubt for a moment that he was the one and only Isaac Jordan. He was too recognizable, and his genius too unique.
And then he would try to escape, making sure he lost his life in the process. And that would close their file on Jordan and his daughter alike. The original version could continue reaching for his lofty goals, and Riley could live out her life safe from any further molestation.
It had been a workable plan. Only before it could be executed, Carr had beaten him to the church—and to the punch.
Luckily, Carr’s plan was also a good one.
So Jordan and his double, working together, had devised Plan B. The born-again Jordan—Jordan Two—had waited for Carr to succeed, and then had taken over his escape helicopter, bringing Riley, Bram, and Carr to meet with him in Colorado. Then he had asked a close friend, John Brennan, to pretend to betray him, making sure Volkov would take the bait. Brennan would time the attack so they wouldn’t come for Jordan Two until Riley was a safe distance away. This ensured that no matter what happened, Volkov couldn’t reach her.
Then Jordan’s original plan would be back on track. Either Volkov would honor his word to Brennan and kill the duplicate Jordan, or more likely, would try to force him to work for Russia. If Volkov tried the latter, Jordan Two would eventually agree, making sure he died in an escape attempt several months later as originally planned.
Either way, the Russians would have no doubt his death was real and would have no further use for Riley Ridgeway.
When Carr had learned of Jordan’s ability to create perfect doubles, he began to suspect the billionaire was carrying out some form of this plan. Which meant Jordan would find a way to telegraph his location to Volkov so he would be killed or captured, protecting his daughter. When Jordan had reiterated just before they parted that Riley could choose to go back to her life, this solidified Carr’s suspicions even further. Especially since Jordan had his pilot standing by to put a safe distance between himself and his daughter.
The more Carr thought about it, the more certain he became that he was right. And he couldn’t help but admire the plan. It was the exact deception he would have devised had he been in Jordan’s shoes.
Carr laid it all out for the three civilians in the panic room with impressive efficiency, barely pausing to breathe, and they hung, spellbound, on every word.
“Once I was convinced this was the plan, I confronted your father’s double.”
“And he admitted you were right?” said Riley. “Just like that?”
Carr nodded.
“Why did he insist you not tell me?”
“He was worried how you might react if you found out he’d deceived you—just when he was so desperately trying to earn back your trust.”
“So the plan was for me to never know?”
“He thought it would be better if you didn’t. Jordan One was watching a video feed of our meeting with Jordan Two. Jordan Two didn’t tell me where the original was, only that he was close enough that he could be in place by the time you made your decision. If we decided to join your father’s efforts, Jordan One would give us a tour of the underground facility. We would never know the sacrificial lamb we had first met had been slaughtered. As far as you and Jordan One would be concerned, everything would be reset to the way it was, before Volkov learned your father was alive.”
“A brilliant strategy,” said Riley. “But truly horrible, as well.”
“I agree. Because we met Jordan Two. And we don’t see him as just an expendable robot, but as a flawed man we developed a connection with. He teared up again when we discussed his plan. He was willing to die to protect you, Riley, but he was scared. Remember when he said he was prepared to die a hundred times over for you? That wasn’t just idle talk.”
“I don’t doubt he was scared,” said Riley sadly. “It couldn’t have helped him much emotionally to know that the original would remain. He talked about two copies of a novel. But while one copy is burning, it feels the pain of the flames and of dissociation. Knowing the novel won’t be lost to history because another copy still lives isn’t much comfort to the pages that are being consumed by fire.”
“He was scared,” said Carr, “but he accepted his fate. He would do anything for you. And he felt it was only the beginning of the penance he owed for the pain he had brought to others. Penance for Turlock, and the bodies of duplicates he had ordered put to sleep.”
An expression of profound sadness came over Riley’s face.
“When I realized Volkov had been listening in to our conversation with Jordan Two,” continued Carr, “I knew we were in trouble. This changed everything. Volkov had heard what was really going on. Learned that perfect doubles were possible. Whe
n Brennan first contacted him, Volkov probably thought he was on the level. But when Volkov heard about whole brain emulation, he couldn’t possibly fail to guess why John Brennan was insisting so adamantly that Jordan be killed.”
“So that’s why Volkov needs me again,” said Riley. “He knows that killing Jordan Two, as you call him, doesn’t remove the ASI sabotage threat, because the original still remains. And pressing him into service won’t work, because he was always prepared to die. So he still needs me to have any leverage.”
Carr nodded. “Which means that—”
He stopped in mid-sentence as he finally detected significant activity in the quadrant he had continued to monitor. The seven men were splitting up after having exchanged triumphant smiles all around. From the looks of it, they had finally succeeded in disabling the security perimeter.
Captain Sergei Greshnev was now leading a team of two soldiers in the direction of the guest house, while the four others spread out to patrol the perimeter, apparently waiting for their comrades to return.
This made sense. Their sensors must have picked up Estrada in the guest house when they arrived, so they would take the pilot out of the equation first. Then they would come at the residence, seven men strong.
Carr took a deep breath. “Looks like we’ll have to pick this up another time.” He forced a smile. “Maybe when we get through this and are sipping piña coladas on a beach somewhere. But for now, I want the three of you to lock yourselves inside this room.”
Before they could respond he said, “Janice, please capture images of the four of us, with enough resolution for facial and body recognition.”
“Completed,” said the room’s PDA.
“Janice, follow orders and instructions given by any of the four of us, but don’t respond to anyone else. Understood?”
“Understood and acknowledged.”
“Continue to watch the monitors,” Carr instructed the three civilians. “With any luck, they won’t find this room for a long time. And they’ll find it very difficult to penetrate.”
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