by Mike Dagons
“The card is the prototype for an interactive nanoparticle compressed module that can interface with any type of cyber technology to reproduce a wide range of complex formulas. It is a bit of technology that is expected to redefine artificial intelligence. If modified correctly, it can be used to create a super weapon,” Blue answered.
“So, you have the recipe. You can’t make the cake without the ingredients, right? So, why is it important if nobody has the materials needed to build the super weapon?” I was no chemist, but I did know that bombs and other nuclear devices were built with formulas. I just didn’t understand why having the card was a big deal if they still needed plutonium to fuel the weapon they created, and getting some was as hard as ever.
“The unique thing about this card is it formulates substitute materials,” Bender said as he walked in and picked up on the conversation. “By using nano technology, it can compute data on a level that is beyond our comprehension. It’s a guide to creating raw minerals using household products. It’s also a blueprint for recycling natural resources. Using it with a supercomputer, which is fairly easy to obtain nowadays, will make procuring radioactive chemicals like plutonium as easy as a trip to the local hardware store. That alone makes it extremely dangerous, but that’s not what makes it a threat to national security. It is reported that it has the capability to solve the problem of the asymmetry of matter and antimatter. I don’t know a damn thing about physics, and baryogenesis. But in simple terms, it holds the knowledge to produce an annihilation device that will make nuclear devices look like kid’s toys.”
“It knows how to stabilize matter and antimatter so it can exist in the same space? That would be like putting the sun in a box. It’s not possible. What can contain that kind of energy?” Rayce scoffed at the idea.
“Rayce, we’re being told that this card can give you the ability to create a weapon more powerful than the Ark of the Covenant in that Indiana Jones movie,” Bender chuckled. “It has the formula to create a device that can harness the energy of a supernova. Imagine being able to create a weapon that generates its energy by nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium.”
“Like the sun does,” she laughed.
Rayce had a degree in Physics, so she understood what he was talking about. I didn’t, but I did know that kind of power in the hand of some terrorist was not what any sane person wanted.
“Think what it would mean if our enemies knew how to harness the power of the sun. Whoever owns it could control the world,” Bender said.
“It sounds like an Armageddon for Dummies manual,” I said.
“That’s exactly what it is, but it has also been reported to store some highly sensitive, classified information that would be detrimental to our government if leaked. It is another reason why it is imperative that we get it back,” Blue concluded.
“If it’s that powerful, then why is Basin selling it? Why not keep it and rule the world?” Rayce asked.
“Apparently, he only cares about ruling his private world in Kentucky,” Ryan replied. “As you know, Ice and Anakin are in Columbia running down a lead on the man who created the fucking thing. Chavez and Roc are in South America on a similar quest. Nobody can find the guy, and I think it’s because Basin already buried him.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
“Supply and demand economics; if you can make more than one, it becomes less valuable,” Ryan answered. “We’ve learned most of what we know about Basin’s plans through your involvement with Steven Chandler. We’re relying on you to get the rest of what we need, Bender,” he said.
“Do your thing, man. Severe says that Steven was planning to wrap things up today. Hopefully, he put his final plans on this thing,” Blue handed him the computer.
“Make no mistake; Tyler Basin doesn’t give a fuck who buys it. If their price is right, he’s going to put a real weapon of mass destruction in their hands,” Blue said in closing.
“Why can’t the government just arrest Basin and drop his ass in a black hole someplace?” Rayce asked.
“Arrest him for what?” Blue chuckled dryly. “Hell, we can’t even prove the damn thing exists. If Maverick hadn’t fucked up, we wouldn’t even know about it. Tyler Basin is a rich and politically connected man. He is clever enough to keep his reputation squeaky clean in the public eye. It’s also what makes him so damn dangerous.”
Ryan tapped an area on the edge of the conference table, and its surface turned into a giant monitor with 3D imaging. “This is Basin’s mansion. It’s an old slave tobacco plantation located on the Mississippi twenty miles outside the town of Big Foot in Kentucky,” he began.
“Basin owns the town, and seventy five percent of the land surrounding it. He is extremely generous to its seven hundred residents, and they are completely devoted to him. After our tangle with his former security team, he reorganized, and put his eldest son in charge. I hear this new crew is exemplary. Since the card was lost once, security is tight around the mansion. We can’t barge in there and take the card without starting a civil war. If we’re lucky, the computer will have information we need about the auction, like the date and how to get invited. Then we can devise a plan to get it back,” Ryan concluded.
“The liquor store guys didn’t come at me like they knew who I really was, and they didn’t react like pros. They came at me straight on, and seemed surprised when I shot one of them.”
“Say what? You shot one?” Ryan frowned, and I knew he was worried that the news of a shooting in the building would draw Basin’s attention to Steven’s death sooner.
“Just a thigh wound to slow him down. My point is he wasn’t expecting me to fight back. If he knew anything about me, he would have been expecting a fight. I was listening to them, and it sounded like they only wanted the computer. It was no way they could have gotten it from Steven without killing him, so they killed him. I was just lucky he didn’t put it up last night before we…you know, or I couldn’t have gotten it either. By the way, he left the safe unlocked so we can put the computer back if you want.”
“If that’s true, and Bender finds what we need, there is no reason why we can’t still go in, Ryan,” Blue said.
“Even if the men aren’t pros, we have to assume that whoever sent them is, and it’s what they know that we have to worry about. There are still too many variables to risk sending Severe in alone. We could be sending her to her death,” Ryan argued.
“I’m willing to chance it,” I said.
“I’m not sure that I am, kid,” he responded. “We can give up the contract to a bigger agency. I was told that my personal connection with the National Security Advisor is the only reason we were selected for this job. There are a lot of agencies out there with more manpower, and more experience. Going with a new agency like ours was a leap of faith. If we can’t deliver, we owe them the courtesy of saying so now. To give them time to put another team on it,” he conceded.
“You’re overthinking this thing, Ryan!” Blue pounded his fist on the tabletop. “I don’t doubt that they can hire an agency with more manpower, but more experienced operators— never! I ain’t got as much faith in our government as you do, son. I believe the only reason we were selected to handle this thing is because we are small, and less likely to draw attention to it. We put the damn thing back in Basin’s hands, and it makes us the perfect scapegoat if the shit hits the fan. Our involvement gives your good friend plausible deniability. Frankly, I think if you try to bow out, you’ll learn we don’t really have that option. If we succeed, she gets the credit. If we fail, we die, and the government gets to blame the whole fucking thing on a rogue agency.”
Ryan looked worried. It was a new look for him, and I can’t say that I liked it.
“Okay, assuming you’re right, then what? We send this girl in there alone, unprotected, and hope for the best? Can you live with what happens if she fails?” Ryan asked.
“No, I can’t! So we need to make damn sure she don’t fail, by coming u
p with a foolproof plan before we send her in. We have some great minds working for us Ryan. I say let’s put the full weight of this agency behind Severe, and go in there, and make them muthafuckas give us the card like I know we can!”
Blue sounded so confident, I almost jumped up and shouted, GO TEAM! I was fucking inspired. “Sounds like a plan. If Bender can crack the security code,” Ryan said.
“IF I can crack it?” he grunted dismissively. “You’ll know everything that’s on this thing within the hour, but Basin is not stupid. Having the date of the auction is not the only thing we’re going to need because we can’t go in there as Genesis and buy the card, if that is what you were thinking to do,” Bender pointed out.
“Because he knows that handing it over to me would be like an admission of treason,” Ryan said.
“We can let somebody else win it, and take it from them,” Rayce suggested.
“I actually like that idea,” Ryan said. “Bender, get on it right away. If we’re going to pull this off, we need to put the computer back before Basin discovers his lawyer is dead.”
D’Agon bolted through the door waving a sheet of paper in his hand excitedly. “They’re Janie’s younger brothers, and they’re twins!”
“But they’re black,” I blurted, and wished I hadn’t when everyone gawked at me.
“They have mixed race parents, and apparently the dark skin gene is more prevalent in the brothers than it is in Janie. She does have curly hair,” D’Agon offered me an explanation that only made me feel more foolish.
“The guys who own the liquor store are Janie’s younger twin brothers?” Ryan repeated.
I’d heard that they had been an item once upon a time, but he was obviously as surprised as the rest of us to learn she was half black and had brothers.
“As far as I can tell, they’re only connection with any of it is her. It looks like Janie is behind this, Ryan,” D’Agon reported.
“Damn Delores,” he groaned, and then sank down in his chair and closed his eyes.
It was bad news with humongous implications, and he clearly didn’t want to believe it. None of us did. “It’s not what we were expecting,” Blue mimicked Ryan’s slumped and defeated posture. “If Janie is working against us, it could mean Basin has a direct channel into our operations, and he already knows we are planning to steal the card.”
“It could also mean the information Severe got from Steven is worthless. If Basin knew Steven had been pillow talking about his business, he may have even been the one who ordered the kill,” D’Agon noted.
“Basin cared about Steven, but he hated incompetence. And we know he is the kind of man who would cut off his right hand. If it offended him,” Blue said.
The news that the men were related to Janie was a fucking disaster. We were all thinking it, but nobody voiced it. It made our new plan just as risky as the old.
“Maybe the damage is contained. Let’s give Bender a chance to work on the computer before we make any final decisions. Contact Valow and give him a situation update. He needs to treat Janie like a hostile.” Ryan pressed his com-link button. “Esther, I need Choc in here, stat.”
Blue got up, and walked to the door while he was putting the call into Valow. “I’m going to lend him a hand. Put the satellite on her building,” he said to D’Agon, and then rushed out the door behind Bender.
“I can’t believe that bitch, Janie, fucked us,” Rayce hissed.
Janie’s betrayal impacted us all, and we could only hope she hadn’t done irrevocable damage to the operation, or company moral.
Chapter 5
“How did you fuck up something so simple?” Janie scolded her brother, Jamil, as she tossed clothes into a luggage.
“We spiked the Cognac, and killed the muthafucka. It was all we were suppose to do,” he growled.
“You were supposed to get his computer so we could learn how much to bid to get an invitation. Not only did you fail to do that, but you let that little bitch live. Melvin Ryan is probably already searching for you and Jamal, and after he finds you, it won’t take long for him to make the connection to me.”
“We can’t leave until Jamal is out of the hospital.”
“I can…you stay here if you want, but I’m outtá here.”
“You can’t abandon him, Janie,” he stood up and towered over her.
“Listen Jamil, it doesn’t make sense for all of us to get caught. We have to get out of here now before it’s too late. If Ryan doesn’t send somebody for me, the Russian will.”
“The Russian?” he looked puzzled. “Who the fuck is the Russian? You said Ryan ordered you to steal the computer!”
“That’s right, but the Russian has been paying me for information. Overhearing Steven talking to Severe about the bidding war while they were in the store was a lucky break for us. It gave me something to report, but I promised I could deliver the computer that you failed to get. It is a major problem.”
“So your answer to the problem is to run, and leave Jamal here to what…die?”
“I have to go,” she snatched up her luggage and headed for the door. “I transferred enough money to your account for you to disappear. Don’t try to contact me,” she opened the door, and froze.
“You going on vacation?” Valow asked. He was standing there with a HK pointed in her face.
“What are you doing here?” she shouted, hoping to alert Jamil to his presence.
Valow grabbed her arm and snatched her to him, putting a forearm around her neck, and the gun to her head. Blue had called and told him about her connection with the liquor store men, and he figured she might not be alone.
Using her as a shield, he walked her back inside her apartment. “Come out with your hands empty, or she dies,” he announced in a loud voice.
The big black man came out from a back room slowly with his hands over his head. Valow whistled in earnest. The guy was at least four inches taller than him, and he was six three.
“What is this all about Valow,” she asked like she didn’t already know.
“Janie, please don’t try to bullshit me, baby. You and your big ass brother are coming back to headquarters with me. Now, I need you to cooperate so I won’t have to kill you,” he released his hold on her neck, and took a step back.
He started to cuff her, and she snapped an elbow back at his head, which he barely reacted fast enough to deflect. She was not hesitant in her attack, and unfortunately, neither was her brother. He had Valow’s gun hand in a firm twisting grip, and she was springing off a roundhouse kick aimed at his head.
Valow ducked her foot by flipping into a backward somersault as he wrenched his gun hand free. His lead foot caught Janie under her chin with a jolting kick that snapped her head back and sent her tumbling backwards over furniture. In the same flow of movement, Valow landed on the big man’s shoulders with his thick neck clamped between his thighs. He brought him down as he brought the HK up, and shot Janie in her thigh. “I don’t need you alive,” he pressed the gun to the giant’s head, and he stopped moving.
“I’m out back. Can you open the door?” he heard Blue’s voice in his earpiece.
“Be there in a minute. I had to shoot Janie, and I have her mutant brother” he reported.
“You got company at the front door,” Melvin’s voice was in his ear, now, and he knew Blue was hearing the warning too. Ryan was watching her apartment building via satellite in real time.
Valow kicked her brother off his pinned leg, and sprang to his feet. “Get your ass up and move, unless you want to die,” he ordered.
He shoved him over to where Janie was writhing on the floor holding her bleeding leg. “Who’s coming for you, Janie?” he asked her. “Tell me, or I’ll leave you here.”
“The Russian, Petro Yeltsin,” she moaned.
“Pick her up,” he ordered her brother.
Jamil bent down and scooped her up like he was lifting a child, and then carried her to the back door. He opened it to find Blue squat w
ith his picks in hand. “They’ll be in the front door in sixty seconds,” Ryan reported.
“Move it,” Blue raced down the stairs to the Land Rover he’d parked in the alley, and they followed him.
They loaded Janie and her brother in the backseat of the truck, and took a minute they didn’t have to spare, to secure them both in the arm and leg restraints bolted to the floor.
“You need to stop my leg from bleeding,” Janie snapped.
It was a flesh wound, so she wasn’t going to die from blood loss. “Bitch, I don’t care if you bleed to death,” Blue slammed the door shut, and hopped in behind the wheel.
A gunshot pinged off the truck, and Valow dived into the cargo space behind the backseat. Blue punched it and tore out of the alley at top speed while Valow returned fire through the rear window at the men on the back porch.
“A white Pathfinder is coming into the alley behind you,” Melvin reported. He was standing in front of a multi-monitor screen watching the chase. “I see three occupants.”
Blue laid on his horn, and drifted into a hard right out the alley. A former stunt car driver, he cut a quick left at the first corner, whipping the big truck into a 180 degree bootleg turn, reversing its direction. The Land Rover’s tires glided across the pavement, spinning it into the opposite lane of traffic. Blue immediately engaged the handbrake, and the truck shifted into a sideways slide, and then stopped between two parked cars in a perfect parallel park. They went unnoticed as the Pathfinder raced by on the other side of the road in the opposition direction.
“Damn, Blue, that was slick!” Valow whooped.
“Did I lose them?” he asked Ryan.
“You damn straight…get back here.”
Blue pulled out the park, and headed North on Lakeshore. “What made you turn traitor, Janie?” he asked. He’d considered her a friend, and the fact that she had betrayed them hurt as much as it pissed him off.
“I needed the money, Blue,” she answered sadly.
“What, Melvin wasn’t paying you enough?” Valow grunted cynically.