Turan simply says, “Next.”
As all eyes shift to the second monitor, he adds, “This should be more cinematically satisfying.”
The video zooms in on Christoff who’s still looking at his tablet. He looks up. Staring right into the camera, he flips off the drones and walks inside.
Turan shakes his head with a disapproving frown. “There are children present.” Turan nods to his executive assistant.
The drone’s first laser pulse hits the seaplane, which immediately explodes. Another pulse creates a secondary fireball as the fuel ignites. The next few pulses hit the yacht, blowing pieces off into the water and engulfing it in flames.
Turan nods. “There goes any means of escape.”
Finally, a series of pulses in rapid succession strike the house. It begins to burn fiercely.
“He might have lived through that.”
Four missiles slam into the house simultaneously. The jungle is incinerated on all sides as a huge orange fireball balloons up to the top of the island.
Turan shakes his head. “Umm … probably not now. While the tactical drones finish up, we’ll demonstrate Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation — or in simpler terms — laser cremation.” With a wry smile, he adds, “Safety first,” and puts on a pair of yellow tinted laser safety glasses.
The security agents and observers follow his lead.
Turan holds up his phone. “Hi Wendy, it’s time for that demonstration we discussed. You have a lock on the transmitter capsule code I sent?”
They hear Wendy on speakerphone. “Yes sir, but our system is showing that there are other transmitters in close proximity. It could be dangerous for them.”
Turan says, “Yes, I’m also near the target, but we’re wearing safety glasses. If you please, fire the laser.”
Josh yells, “Wendy! He’s targeting Carl Casey!”
Wendy says, “Did I hear Commander Fuze?”
“Fire the laser, Colonel.”
“No sir, not until I know what the target is.”
Turan’s voice never rises. “Colonel, we discussed this. I’m giving you a direct order as the Secretary-General. Fire the laser.”
“I’m sorry sir. I can’t do that until I have target clarification.”
Turan pulls the phone away from his ear and humming to himself softly, pushes an icon on the phone’s screen.
After a few seconds, they hear a choking sound from the phone.
Turan shakes his head. “You learn so much about people when they’re under pressure.” Sighing, he adds, “I’m sorry Josh, but it looks like we’re going to need another Wendy.”
Josh notes the position of all six agents as he slowly twists the handcuffs and finds the chain’s leverage point.
Turan continues, “I made sure that during their physicals each astronaut was implanted with a neurotoxin capsule, and I have a trusted agent onboard.” He holds up his phone. “I also had them wire in a remote override for the laser. So … while they’re busy sorting out the change of command, I can initiate the firing from here.” He smiles. “Man, I love my phone.”
63
INCINERATE
Christoff feels the vibration through the metal steps and hears muffled explosions as he jogs up the spiral staircase. He probably shouldn’t have flipped off the drone when he saw himself on the monitor.
Stopping to catch his breath, he looks at his tablet and sees the final destruction of his beautiful house. Shaking his head, he selects an app called “Sea Whiz.” Inside the app, there are several choices. He selects the flashing red icon that says, “Fully Automatic.” A second page appears that reads, “Are you sure?” He smiles and selects, “Yes.”
Judy hears Turan talking and the sounds of the drone’s destruction at the island. She opens one eye to a slit and sees the feet of her friends and Dustin looking down at her. She opens her eye and winks at him.
With the slightest of smiles, he slowly slips a hand into his pocket.
Jessica says to Greg, “You’ve got to get closer!”
Greg works the controller. “I’m trying!”
Squinting at the screen, she adds, “Keep it steady!”
Elton looks up from his monitor. “They’re receiving and hopping between feeds.”
All eyes are focused on Carl, still handcuffed to the concrete fountain.
Turan pushes the button on his phone.
There’s a blinding flash and deafening thunderclap, but it’s nowhere near Carl.
On the opposite side of the courtyard from Carl is a ball of swirling smoke. As it clears, the DNI is gone. Those sitting next to her have been blown off their chairs and are obviously singed. One man is trying to pat out a fire on the arm of his suit. Where Diane Buller sat, nothing remains except small charred bone fragments and a deep burn in the shattered granite tile.
“Oops.” With raised eyebrows, Turan taps a finger on his lip. Then frowning, he says, “Hmmm … could I have mixed up the capsule codes again?” He shakes his head and sighs. “Oh well, looks like we’re going to need another DNI. Lots of turnover in that job.” Looking back at Josh and Elizabeth, he adds, “You can’t expect everything to go perfectly during a live performance. I’m afraid we’ll have to try that again, but the ISLO’s capacitors need a minute to recharge. In the meantime….” He nods to Joann.
Sheri frowns as she watches the destruction of the beach house on her tablet. The focus moves to the monitor displaying her profile. As it zooms in, she casually slips her hand under her chin. Gently pulling the skin back toward her neck, she frowns and says to herself, “Hmm, need to tighten that up a bit.”
Turan points at the third monitor. “There’s nothing simpler than a good old fashion head shot to wrap up a television career.”
Engrossed in the TV show, Turan’s bodyguards violate the most basic rule of personal protection. Taking a deep breath, Josh slowly tilts his head forward.
On the third monitor, the crosshairs carefully center on Sheri’s temple. Then … her picture disappears, as the scope’s view swings skyward. They hear several muffled shots. Finally, a face appears in the scope — smiling.
Turan inhales sharply. “Tim? Tim Smith?! That’s impossible!”
Then the picture tumbles and comes to rest upside down in the grass.
On the first monitor, they see a tall skinny blond pull something from his pocket and slide it across the floor to Judy’s body. At the same time, a very loud ripping sound comes from the second monitor. The drone’s camera — focused on the smoking crater where the house used to be — suddenly shifts to the left. A stream of bullets interlaced with bright orange tracers is ripping the second drone apart. It disintegrates into burning fragments that fall to the ocean.
With his body in hyper-drive, Josh slams the back of his head into the face of the guard behind him. He simultaneously twists the handcuff chain at its leverage point and snaps it with almost inhuman strength. Spinning right, he uses the stunned man behind him as a pivot point for a blindingly fast round kick to the second man’s head.
He’s pulling the .45 from his holster when Josh’s shin strikes him with a knockout blow. The pistol flies straight up in the air.
Josh continues his spin and uses his momentum to drive his knee into the first agent’s jaw and then catches the pistol. In less than two seconds, both men slump to the floor unconscious.
All eyes are still glued to the monitors as the drone’s camera follows the glowing stream of bullets to its source. On the islands central peak, the camera zooms in on what looks like R2-D2 on Viagra. A large, rapidly rotating Gatling gun, spewing 75 20mm rounds per second, swivels toward the camera. The monitor flashes and then displays static.
Simultaneously, on the first monitor, Judy pulls the pin on the EMP grenade and tosses it. With a bang, the monitor goes black.
Sliding the pistol across the floor to Carl, Josh pulls a .45 from the other guard’s holster. At the same time, the two guards holding Kelly turn and se
e Josh standing over the bodies of their fellow agents. They immediately let go of Kelly and draw their pistols.
Josh beats them to the draw and puts two shots in the dominant shoulder of the nearest one. The impact spins the man and his weapon flies loose as he goes down. Josh fires two more shots at the second agent, but the bullets strike his vest as he dives behind the stage.
Turan’s personal bodyguards jump up on the stage unslinging their MP5s.
Josh points the .45 right at Turan’s head and yells, “Freeze!”
Seeing the agents still moving, he yells louder. “Don’t even twitch or Turan gets a .45 in the face!”
They freeze.
With his peripheral vision, Josh sees that Carl picked up the other pistol and is aiming it at the stage.
Josh yells, “Put your weapons down, now!”
Turan, not looking the least bit afraid, says, “Forget it. They only follow my orders.” He exhales sharply. “I’ve told you I don’t do well when my plans get changed. I’m very angry with you right now.” He shakes his head. “And after all I’ve done for you.”
Josh gives him an incredulous look. “You mean like not killing me or stealing my wife?!”
“Exactly!”
Josh just shakes his head. “Doruk Turan, you’re under arrest. Tell your men to drop their weapons now!”
Turan gives him a slight smile, “Under arrest? Seriously?”
Josh nods. “Seriously. Someone made me the Director of Global Security, which — among other things — authorizes me to arrest any member of the United Nations.” He glances at Turan’s bodyguards. “Drop your weapons or face 20 years in prison!”
They don’t move.
With a deep frown, Turan says, “You still don’t get it. Sheep need a strong shepherd. I’m superhuman and I am their future.”
“The world needs good leaders not an emperor. It’s over. We used the EMP devices at Abadon. The nano-drones are dead.”
Turan shakes his head with a slight smile. “I never put all my eggs in one basket, Josh. That’s why I will always win. The neurotoxin capsules aren’t controlled from Abadon, and I can make more nano-drones.”
Josh narrows his eyes. “I’m only going to give you one more chance.”
Turan laughs. “I know you too well. Although you shouldn’t shoot me because you’d be destroying the most perfect genes in humanity’s gene pool … the reason you won’t shoot me is because you can’t shoot an unarmed man. It’s just not in you.”
Josh tightens up on the trigger and says, “Are you sure?”
Ignoring him, Turan’s expression hardens. “I — on the other hand — have no problem killing you.”
“Doruk, it’s over. Everything you’ve said and done on this roof has been broadcast live to the world.”
Turan shakes his head. “You’re bluffing.”
“We used one of your nano-drones, the rooftop cameras and telephoto video from the building across the street. Your performance is live!”
He looks at his executive assistant. “Joann?”
Frowning, she types on her laptop and looks closely at her screen. Then, eyes wide, looks up at him and nods.
The veins on Turan’s neck and forehead begin to bulge, as his face contorts in rage. Through clenched teeth, he says to his agents, “Kill him!”
Turan’s right. He can’t shoot an unarmed man and re-aims at the agent with the .45. He gets only one shot off before taking multiple .45 and MP5 rounds in his chest.
64
CHECKMATE
Carl shoots the agent with the .45, hitting him in the hip and leg and continues firing rapidly at the agents with the MP5s.
The bodyguards stop shooting and tackle an enraged Turan to protect him. Dragging him off the back of the stage, they pull him toward one of the concrete planters.
Carl shoots through the cable holding his handcuffs and rushes to Josh’s side.
Josh sits up. “Ouch.”
As Carl grabs extra magazines from the unconscious guards, he says, “Yeah, hurts even with a bullet proof vest.” Glancing at Josh’s bleeding arm, he adds, “And provides no protection against badly aimed shots.” He helps Josh to his feet and they run for cover behind the planter with Elizabeth and Kelly.
Turan’s executive assistant and the singed observers are nowhere to be seen. It’s now Josh, Carl, Elizabeth, Kelly and a crying Caitlin on one side of the courtyard, with Turan and his two bodyguards 50 feet away on the other side.
Josh peeks over the planter and yells, “It’s over! Drop your weapons! There’s no place to run!”
Turan’s bodyguards answer with a liberal spray of automatic fire. The concrete planter isn’t big enough and Josh and Carl are the bookends. One round grazes Carl’s calf.
When the firing stops, Turan looks over the concrete planter. Sounding manic, he yells back, “You’re right. There is no place to run. I still control the neurotoxins.” They see him push a button on his phone.
Elizabeth pulls out a small, capped vial containing Josh and Elizabeth’s capsules. She throws them across the courtyard. “Looking for these?!”
Turan frowns and then yells back, “Congratulations Elizabeth, but I forgot to tell you why your TELEMED system wasn’t working. We were secretly testing a powerful microwave beam that can identify and track RFID chips from orbit. Unfortunately, it used the same frequency as your TELEMED telemetry.” Turan stands up.
His bodyguards stand nervously in front of him with guns ready. “Elizabeth, we don’t need the plutonium powered capsules anymore! We can now track any RFID chip, and … I just set the laser to track Josh’s chip! To be on the safe side, I programed it to fire a 20-foot-wide beam! Even he can’t outrun that!” He laughs. “You might want to give him some space!”
Turan taps his bodyguards and they fire bursts on both sides of the concrete planter to keep them pinned down. He yells, “Guess you’re going to have to ride it out with him!” He looks at his phone. “Only a couple seconds left.” He shakes his head. “Goodbye Josh! Goodbye Elizabeth!”
Elizabeth pokes her head over the planter and yells back, “And you should really pay more attention to your RFID chips! It’s just bad OPSEC!”
Turan frowns and then his eyes get big as he touches the back of his collar. Dropping his phone, he turns and sprints toward the edge of the building.
His bodyguards, looking confused, follow, walking backwards to cover him.
Turan doesn’t stop when he reaches the edge. He grabs the railing with one hand and swings out over—
The brilliant flash and deafening thunderclap are accompanied by a powerful shock wave.
Crouching behind the concrete planter, ears ringing, Josh waits several seconds and then peeks over the top of the planter.
Smoke swirls everywhere. Anything flammable within the 20-foot beam is gone or burning. Half the stage is incinerated, along with two trees. Tiny bits of exploded floor tile are falling back down, sounding like rain in the relative silence.
As the smoke begins to clear, Josh and Carl slowly stand up. They sweep the roof with their pistols. The two agents Josh knocked out are still unconscious where he left them. The two they shot are propped up against one of the planters to the side, but there’s no sign of Turan or his two bodyguards.
Josh says to Carl, “Stay here with them.” He jogs across the smoking courtyard, feeling the heat still radiating from the floor. As he approaches the last place he saw the bodyguards, there’s nothing but charred, smoking pieces of bone along with the melted metal of their guns.
Moving carefully toward the railing, he goes to the place he last saw Turan. Much of the metal railing is melted. The outer perimeter of the beam clearly went past the edge of the building. Stretching, he peeks over the red-hot metal. He can see the lit concrete deck at the base of the building 600 feet below. With his exceptional vision, he confirms there’s no body. There are, however, many police cars converging on the U.N.
Looking carefully at the railing, h
e sees something embedded in the smoking metal.
Elizabeth joins him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned the RFID chip, but he made me so mad.”
Josh shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. He was right. There’s no way I could outrun a 20-foot-wide beam.” He points at the railing. “Neither could he.”
Partly embedded in the melted metal are four charred finger bones.
Elizabeth grimaces. “Eww.” She shakes her head. Then, looking at Josh with a wicked smile, she shrugs. “Looks like we’re going to need another Secretary-General.”
65
BROADCAST
After Dustin helps Judy to her feet, he stands between her and the three security guards.
One of the guards has Colonel insignia on his collar. All three have their pistols drawn, but they aren’t pointing them at Judy, Dustin or their fellow conspirators.
Instead, the Colonel’s looking at the two men standing near the monitor with black bracelets. His expression isn’t friendly as he asks, “Were you aware he intended to kill her and the others?”
One of them says, “Uhhh…” as the other one runs out the door.
The Colonel nods to one of his men, who immediately takes off after him. To the other agent, he says, “Lock this one up.” On his radio, he tells all his security guards to detain everyone with a black bracelet.
The Colonel holsters his weapon and then pulls his orange bracelet off and drops it on the floor. Looking at Judy and Dustin, he says, “We’ll get those damn things off you as soon as we can.”
Dustin turns to Judy and says, “You were amazing!”
“You didn’t do too bad yourself.” Frowning, she adds, “There’s … something else you need to know.”
Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3) Page 32