Campbell had identified fourteen prisoners who were sure bets to have had previous dealings with Victor, but al-Ansari was the closest to their base of operations in Fresno, so the decision to pay him a visit had been obvious.
Campbell escorted Hall to a small stateroom three levels below the vast upper platform, eighty yards from where al-Ansari was being held, set up at the colonel’s orders with advanced communication equipment that ensured no calls could be traced.
Both men sat at a steel table in the very stark room, decorated by nothing but dull gray paint and cold steel. After several minutes, Hall was able to locate al-Ansari’s mind, and soon thereafter he was able to verify that the terrorist had interacted many times with the enigmatic arms dealer known only as Victor, as they had surmised.
Hall displayed the script he and Campbell had written in his mind’s eye and cleared his throat while the colonel dialed Victor’s number. The call was answered only by a tone, indicating it was ready to receive a message.
Hall took a deep breath and concentrated on delivering the scripted words in such a way that they wouldn’t seem read or pre-rehearsed.
“Victor, hello. I’m an American-born jihadist who works closely with Abu al-Ansari. I’d rather stay anonymous, so you can call me John Smith. As you may know, al-Ansari was captured six weeks ago and has been imprisoned on the USS Boxer off the coast of California. But we have a sleeper planted on the ship, and he can relay short communications back and forth between al-Ansari and me. Al-Ansari is scheduled to be taken ashore sometime within the next two months, and we believe we will be able to free him then. I have made him aware you are taking orders for BrainWeb implants, and he would like me to secure a hundred sets as soon as possible for key members of ISIS, regardless of whether his escape is successful.”
Hall took a deep breath and then completed the message, asking the arms dealer to return the call and giving him the number to use.
After this there was nothing to do but wait. The colonel pulled several thick dossiers from a briefcase and began to work, while Hall used his implants to project a movie into his visual cortex such that he perceived it to be larger, and clearer, than if he had been in a theater.
Almost four hours later the untraceable phone in the stateroom rang and both men sprang to attention. Hall let it ring a second time and then snatched it from the receiver. “Smith here,” he said.
“Mr. Smith,” came the reply, a silky smooth voice with the barest hint of a Mexican accent. They had set the incoming volume high enough for the colonel to hear both sides of the conversation, provided he kept his head within a few feet of the receiver. “This is Victor. So you claim to be an associate of my friend Abu al-Ansari. Why should I believe you?”
“Why shouldn’t you?” responded Hall calmly. “And why does it even matter, as long as I’m prepared to give you ninety million dollars?”
“You asked for a hundred sets, correct? I think you should check your math.”
“Come now, Victor, my boss has been a great customer of yours for many years. You and I both know ninety million for one hundred sets isn’t all that much of a quantity discount.”
Victor paused. “I must admit, my friend,” he said, “you make some good points. Your boss has been a valued customer. And such a discount for this kind of quantity is not uncommon. So ninety million is acceptable. And you are also correct, I don’t care who you are, or if you are truly affiliated with al-Ansari. As long as you transfer the full ninety million into my Swiss bank account, you can just tell me where you would like the implants delivered, and we can conclude our business.”
“I need to see a demonstration first.”
“I am happy to send you a video.”
“I need a demonstration in person,” insisted Hall. “Al-Ansari’s orders, I’m afraid. He tells me no one has a better reputation for trustworthiness than you. But this is ninety million dollars. And he has come to rely on my judgment. So when I get a personal demonstration, I will also be making sure the technology is impressive enough to warrant this amount, as he and I currently believe to be the case.”
“Then I’m afraid we are at an impasse, my friend. Because your request for a personal meeting forces me back to my original question. How do I know you are telling the truth? How do I know this isn’t a feeble attempt at a trap?”
“I am prepared to wire two million into your account now, as a gesture of good faith. Obviously, if I decide the implants aren’t worth it, I will expect this to be refunded.”
“Obviously,” said Victor dryly. “But while this is a nice good-faith gesture, it will take more than this for me to be comfortable arranging a face-to-face.”
“Again, my boss impressed upon me that I can trust you with my life. So I am prepared to have you do whatever it takes to convince yourself this isn’t a trap. I can meet your people wherever you want, and I will come alone and unarmed. I can wear a blindfold during key travel transitions so I won’t know where we’re going. Al-Ansari assures me that if you handle the logistics, there is no way anyone can follow me to your destination.”
“Interesting proposal,” said Victor non-committally. “And you are able to communicate with al-Ansari?”
“I am,” said Hall. “As I said, we have a man on the Boxer who facilities such communication.”
“Give me some time to consider this,” said Victor, and then silence ensued for almost a full minute.
“Here is what I am willing to do, John Smith,” he said at last. “I will give you the banking information you will need to wire in the two million good-faith money you spoke of. After you have done this, I will have you brought to me, in the manner you suggested. But first I need for you to prove you are truly an envoy of al-Ansari.”
“How?”
“You will need to get the answer to two questions from him,” replied Victor. “I know al-Ansari won’t tell his interrogators anything other than his name. But if you truly are an associate of his, he should be happy to answer them. Question one,” he said, “he and I met for dinner in Turkey three years ago. What was the name of the restaurant we were in? Question two: what did he ask me to acquire for him during this meeting?”
“What if he can’t remember?” said Hall.
“He will, I assure you.”
“Then you’ll have your answers,” said Hall confidently. “But I’m not sure how long it will take before our man inside can pose these questions, and report the answers. When I have them, I will leave another message for you.”
“That is acceptable,” said Victor, who then ended the call without another word.
Hall threw himself back in his chair in relief, letting the tension out of his body. “That couldn’t have gone better,” he said to the colonel. “I think we can really do this.”
“We’re not there yet,” said Campbell. “But this was a good start. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone as clever as Victor throws us a few curve-balls before this is over. But with you in the mix, we should be able to handle whatever he throws at us.” He paused. “I assume you’re confident you can fish out the answers to Victor’s questions from al-Ansari’s mind?”
Hall nodded, closed his eyes, and tilted his head in concentration. Two minutes later he opened his eyes and faced the colonel, a satisfied grin spreading slowly over his face. “They met at a restaurant named Beyaz Izgara in Istanbul. Victor was sure al-Ansari would remember this because al-Ansari told him it was the most secure restaurant in the city, and also his favorite. During the meal, al-Ansari requested several high-speed 3-D printers capable of printing plastic guns.”
“And to think,” said the colonel, shaking his head in wonder, “Girdler and I have been trying to infiltrate Victor’s organization for years, but without a mind reader. What were we thinking?”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” said Hall in amusement. “It’s a common mistake.”
“Are you positive you still want to do this? Victor is very dangerous, even for a mind reader.”
“Let’s give it another three hours.”
Hall nodded. “Okay. Let me wire him the two million I promised from the account Alex set up for me. And then we can call Megan and Heather with the good news.”
52
A still-disguised Nick Hall arrived at the designated clearing in the Olympic National Forest in Washington State and parked his motorbike, as instructed, grateful that it wasn’t raining—at least not yet. He walked twenty yards away from the motorized vehicle, also as instructed, and waited, searching any mind he came across in the area for intel.
While one side of the park abutted the Pacific Coast, Hall was on the opposite side, in a section of lush rainforest that was drenched by almost a hundred and fifty inches of rain each year, making it the wettest place in the continental United States, with only certain rainforests in Hawaii being slightly wetter.
Unlike tropical rainforests those of the Pacific Northwest were dominated by coniferous trees, mostly the Sitka Spruce, Western Hemlock, and Coast Douglas-fir. But what made this forest unlike any Hall had ever seen was the wide variety of lush green mosses that covered the bark of most of the trees, and even extended from many branches as moist, plush tendrils.
But as much as Hall would have liked to admire this furry green fairytale forest that filled his nostrils with crisp, clean, potpourri-scented air, he didn’t have this luxury. He wasn’t here as a tourist.
The crew Victor had sent to collect him had been careful, as expected, and one of them had called Hall several times to direct him to his final destination after he had entered the park on his newly acquired motorbike. Hall had been sure to bring a physical cell phone with him in this case, since they would be looking for a phone to confiscate once they searched him.
Hall had directed Megan and the colonel as he traveled, ensuring they stayed within five miles of him. While they had no reason to believe Victor’s people would bring an Internet dampener with them, since they would be stripping him of all electronics and would never suspect he already had implants, they decided to keep Megan within telepathic range as a precaution.
Hall located the minds of the three men who were coming for him without much trouble. They were two miles away and closing in, driving a van. They planned to park on a road just a quarter mile away through the trees, and then come the rest of the way on foot.
He scanned their thoughts one after another and cursed under his breath. Campbell had warned him this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Colonel,” thought Hall, turning his implants into a thought-to-speech cell phone. “I’ve scanned the men coming for me. None of them know where Victor is headquartered. You were right, this guy doesn’t take any chances, even when he has the upper hand.”
“We’ll get him,” replied the colonel confidently.
“They’ll be here any minute,” continued Hall. “As expected, they’ll do everything but give me a rectal exam to be sure I have no hidden weapons, electronics, phone, or transmitters. But here’s the rub. Even after they’ve convinced themselves I’ve come alone and can’t communicate with anyone, they plan to knock me out.”
“What?” said Campbell in genuine surprise. “Knock you out, how?”
Hall was surprised as well, but perhaps he shouldn’t have been. Fisher had done the same for his journey to DC, so maybe this had become the popular strategy. “I’m a customer, so they’ll be civilized. They’ll give me pills to take. I can always refuse, but they’ve been told that if I do, the meeting is off.”
“What are their instructions after you’re unconscious?” said Campbell, frustration evident in his voice.
“They’ll switch cars, activate sophisticated technology to interfere with anyone trying to track them, even with satellites, and eventually get in a helicopter. But no need for you to kill yourself trying to keep up since I know their final destination.”
“Which is?”
“They’ll be flying me south into Oregon. The pilot has been given coordinates to a runway there. I just texted them to you,” he added after a brief pause. “As far as these men know, this runway is in the middle of hundreds of miles of untouched nature. Don’t know what it’s doing there, but it’s just a transfer point. They’ll hand me over, collect their fee, and go.”
“Very smart,” said Campbell. “Victor probably has hidden runways in any number of locations. And I know he has more than a few private jets. We think he even bought an old Russian submarine that was scheduled to be decommissioned.”
“No kidding?” said Hall. “Who’d have guessed that? He doesn’t have a secret lair hidden in a dormant volcano, does he?”
Campbell ignored his feeble attempt at humor. “If they were taking anyone but you, their measures to ensure they couldn’t be followed would work beautifully. After you reach Oregon, they’ll take you the rest of the way to their headquarters. And knowing Victor, he’ll probably still assume you were followed, as unlikely as this is, and try additional evasive maneuvers.”
“Like what?”
“Our best guess is that he works out of Switzerland. So he’ll probably have you flown from this runway to somewhere like London, Paris, or Germany. Then, when you’re completing the trip on the ground, he’ll have his men run some switches to lose any possible followers.”
Hall noted that the men who were coming for him had stopped the car a quarter mile away, and two of the three had begun making their way through the woods to his location. “I only have another few minutes before I have company,” said Hall. “But we might have a big problem here. What if they put me on a plane in Oregon while I’m still out cold? I won’t be able to read where they’re taking me.”
Their plan had assumed he would remain conscious at all times and could call Campbell the moment he reached someone with knowledge of their final destination. This way, Campbell could send in an overwhelming force that would arrive before Hall did, since the men bringing him would be wasting time trying to lose a possible tail.
“That could be a problem,” agreed Campbell. After a moment of thought, he added, “Have you read yet if they’ve brought an Internet dampener?”
“They haven’t.”
“Good. If you aren’t awake until you’re in Victor’s presence, you’ll just have to read where you are and tell me then. Along with the locations of Alex and the stolen implants. Pretend to stay unconscious as long as possible so you minimize the time you have to hold your bluff until we arrive. I’ll have a team ready to go in Switzerland so they can get to you as soon as possible after you call me with the location.”
“Okay,” said Hall. “Not ideal, but it should work. They’re arriving now, so I need to focus. I’ll contact you the second my Sleeping Beauty stint is over.”
“Don’t worry, Nick,” said the colonel. “I’ve got your back. No matter what happens, with your mind reading and implants, and my resources, we’ll get through this.”
53
Megan and the colonel returned to Heather and their makeshift war room in Fresno, making it back before Hall landed in Oregon as they had expected. Oregon was closer, but losing possible followers was time consuming and required the use of a circuitous route.
Campbell had already made sure a satellite was pointing at the runway in question, and he called up this feed on the monitor while Heather retrieved a jar of peanuts and bottles of water for each of them from the kitchen.
The airfield was not only as isolated as advertised, but was painted a mottled brown-and- green so it would be difficult to spot from above, even though this airspace was well outside the path of any commercial or military flights.
“That is the wildest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Heather. “A pristine runway in the middle of nothing but brush and trees and dirt.”
“You’d be surprised,” said Campbell, s
wallowing the small handful of peanuts he had thrown into his mouth. “The US is truly vast, and has far larger stretches of untouched nature than most people could possibly guess. And the criminal element knows how to take advantage of this wilderness. Mexican cartels have any number of marijuana and opium poppy fields in America, complete with runways and helipads, in places so isolated they hadn’t seen humans in centuries before the cartels arrived.”
“But this particular runway isn’t quite so isolated, right Colonel?” said Megan.
“Not quite.” He chased the peanuts with a long swig of water from the plastic bottle. “I had one of my men research the area while Megan and I were in transit,” he explained to Heather. “You’re looking at the outermost border of a place called the Silver Lake Ranch. It was a failed hunting preserve, and someone named Adam McClure bought it a few years back in a fire sale. Probably just prospecting. This McClure doesn’t list it as his primary residence, and I’d be surprised if he visits more than once a year. Just holding on hoping land prices go up. The ranch is over four thousand acres, so he’d have no idea this was even on his property.”
“Interesting,” said Heather.
“I’ll show you both something even more interesting,” he said, motioning Heather and Megan closer to the monitor. “See how the top of the shot, the northernmost end of the runway, has the tiniest bit of shimmer to it?”
They studied the feed carefully and both nodded.
“It’s subtle, but there’s actually a plane parked there. Fantastic, isn’t it? Victor has access to stuff that’s barely made it out of the lab. There are several ways to achieve near invisibility. Electromagnetic fields that actually shunt light away from an object. Or in this case, a coating of thin, flexible display panels, tied into feeds from multiple cameras on the plane. A computer calculates what an observer above would see if the plane wasn’t there, and renders this on the displays.”
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