The Helium-3 Conspiracy

by Colin Setterfield

  He proceeded to tell her about how Jake had made contact with him verifying his own suspicions, confirmed by the death of Jeremy Gibson. Jake's pending visit to the White House had given Rubin a bad feeling. Colleen listened quietly without interrupting him.

  Klein continued, "I asked Jake if I could meet him at the White House and we agreed on a time but I was a few minutes early, so I waited across the street."

  He described the scene that followed Jake's arrival in the parking lot. How two men had pulled up alongside Jake, then cuffed and bundled him into their vehicle. The memory stick in Jake's pocket had been discovered and quickly viewed on a laptop.

  "I was taken a little by surprise because I recognized that the two men were CIA operatives so I stayed put and watched to see what they were up to."

  Klein explained that after the men had driven off with Jake, he had quickly crossed the road to the van and found it unlocked with the keys still in the ignition. He had found the addressed envelope and another bag containing Underwood's badge in the side pocket of the door. This had to be the second memory stick Jake had told him about.

  "I guess he didn't have time to mail it."

  Klein was getting to the part that Colleen was dreading to hear in respect to her husband's fate.

  "I followed the black SUV back here, to Baltimore, and finally to Jackson's house. The two men who kidnapped Jake actually work for Mia Anderson, Deputy Director of the CIA, another reason why I was cautious not to rush in."

  Colleen interrupted him briefly to ask, "But what do you think has happened to my husband?"

  Klein continued, "I stayed around and watched for about ten minutes until the two men came out and sat on a bench in the back yard to have a smoke. Jake was not with them, so I guess Jackson will have him locked in the house somewhere. I thought it best to leave for the time being. I needed to call for backup and bring this memory stick to you. We need to get it to the White House as quickly as possible. I need to talk to Lucy Montrose's boss before I go in and get Jake out."

  Colleen was dumbfounded. "All this has come to a head so quickly. How do we get the evidence to the White House and what about Jake?"

  Klein said, "Let me use your phone. I know that the President and the Chief of staff are getting ready for the G8 Summit in the Virgin Islands starting tomorrow afternoon, so we have very little time."

  Colleen stared at him for a moment and asked, "The G8 Summit is being held in the Virgin Islands, and it starts tomorrow?"

  Rubin nodded. "Yes, the meetings will only start the day after, though, on July 20th."

  Colleen turned pale. "That's what Valkyrie must be about!" She told Rubin about Valkyrie and how frequently Jackson, or Anderson, had mentioned it in their conversations. Using a code word that was originally used for the plan to assassinate Hitler could mean only one thing.

  "They don't just plan to assassinate the President of the United States but all the heads of state who are attending."

  It was Klein who now paled and it would appear that he knew his history. "The original Valkyrie plan of the assassination was only the first phase. There was a complete plan to take over the whole of Germany! In this case, I suspect the plan is to take control of all the G8 countries."

  Colleen nodded in agreement.

  "I must try to get hold of them now," said Klein turning to the phone. "Do you have Lucy Montrose's number?"

  **

  Sorting Things Out

  Saturday, July 18, 2026

  5:00 p.m.

  Arthur Jackson was in a foul mood. He was angry, first at himself for not having picked up on the spyware, then at Mia Anderson for dressing him down in front of the others. He would have to be careful how he approached the matter of rectifying this unfortunate turn of events.

  By the time he reached the Jag, parked on H Street, he had cooled down enough to begin thinking more rationally. The afternoon shadows had lengthened considerably as he sat down behind the wheel and commanded the computer to take the car home.

  One hour later the Jag drove up the paved driveway to the Jackson mansion and parked opposite the ornate steps leading up to the front entrance. Jackson exited the vehicle and tramped up to the stairs to the front door. He had thought about a lot of things and two things had prominently jumped to the foreground—Jake Dobrowski, the meddling private investigator, and his own beloved trophy wife, Camilla. Both had to go.

  He had been extremely angry with Camilla but had heeded Wolverine's advice and said nothing about her affair with Dodd. The affair, however, had slapped his ego and, despite the fact that he had been unfaithful to Camilla on several occasions, she was his wife! Wives were meant to serve their husbands, stay at home, and keep the house clean. After all he had provided her with everything she needed. He was infuriated.

  Camilla's Lexus was not in the driveway, so Jackson knew she would be out shopping. He would have the place to himself. Downstairs in the den both Charley Baines and Greg Gladstone had been waiting patiently for him. Sitting on the floor was Jake, still with hands cuffed together. Baines spoke first.

  "We looked for the spyware and found it in various places. One on the light fixture, another on the frame of that photo on this wall," he pointed to a mounted, enlarged photo of a smiling football player handing a signed football to Jackson. "And there was this one, here on the bookcase." Jackson stood at each place indicated, to see what view the camera had been picking up. Then he walked around his desk and sat down.

  Looking at Jake for the first time he said calmly, "So we meet again, Dobrowski!"

  Jake said nothing and Jackson continued, "I see you have been spying on me. It would appear that you didn't learn your lesson the first time, which pretty well much ruined your career. This time, I'm going to make sure it will do more than just ruin your career. You will not live long enough to see the light of day again."

  Jake remained silent and stared at his feet. The shock of his abduction had already set in and his body had started to shake so badly that he clasped both hands tightly together to prevent the cuffs from rattling.

  Baines produced the memory stick and placed it on the desk in front of Jackson, who, in turn, picked it up and slid it into a port on his laptop. After a few seconds he started to view the video. There was about five minutes of viewing, the rest having been edited by Jake before downloading it to the stick. Jackson watched impassively until the end and then removed the stick.

  "Who else has seen this Jake?" he asked in an amicable tone. "How many copies are there floating around?"

  Jake thought quickly about his answer, then lied. "I made two other copies, one has been mailed to the White House and the other is in a safe place."

  Baines immediately jumped in, "You are lying through your teeth, Dobrowski! You told me that you were taking this copy to show a security agent at the White House. Why would you mail a copy and then take one to the same place?"

  Jackson held up his hand, stopping Baines as he was about to continue. "Leave it be, Charley—it doesn't really matter. This video is illegal and would not be admissible in a court of law, so don't worry yourselves regarding Kevin Dodd's elimination. What is more important is the affect it might have on the President or those close to him, if they saw it."

  Baines and Gladstone were all ears as the Senator continued. "They might get wind of what we're involved in and try to rein us in, except it's already too late for that!"

  Jackson stood to his feet. "Take him next door to the wine cellar and chain him to that steel bar on the back wall. We'll deal with him later. He needs a little time alone to think about telling us the truth about the other copies. Right now I need to talk to Condor."

  Baines and Gladstone did as they were directed and hustled Jake out of the office and into the wine cellar. On the back wall was a long, horizontally implanted, steel bar used for hanging small kegs and other wine-making paraphernalia. Jake was unceremoniously cuffed by one hand to the steel bar and the two men left, closing the door behind them a
nd locking it.

  It was dark in the cellar, and Jake couldn't see anything at first, but gradually his eyes became accustomed to the dark. He yanked at the steel bar but it was solidly implanted into the wall, and the cuffs were too strong for him to break. After a minute he sagged down against the wall to think about his predicament.

  He could feel the shakes surging through his whole body now, not completely due to shock, but more the need for his regular cocaine fix. In another hour or so the hallucinations would start and withdrawal would begin in earnest. Jake realized for the first time that he was in deep trouble. Lucy had not received the video and the second memory stick was sitting in the van's side door pocket.

  No one knew where he was, and it was only a matter of time before Jackson returned to finish him off. For an instant he felt the terror that Jeremy Gibson and Kevin Dodd must have felt in their final moments. He thought of Colleen and Kenny and, although not a religious man, he began praying that Jackson would not harm them. His last rational thoughts before the hallucinations started were that Jackson had finally won. Nobody could stop him now.

  **

  Dirty Business

  Saturday, July 18, 2026

  5:30 p.m.

  Arthur Jackson finished up on his call to Condor. The conversation had been short and to the point. Condor had advised Jackson to eliminate any further threats to Valkyrie. Jackson was to stage a vehicle accident implicating Camilla and Jake, suggesting that the two were having an affair. That way, he could kill two birds with one stone, no pun intended.

  Baines and Gladstone were still outside, smoking when Camilla drove into the driveway. They leered as she swiveled on the leather seat of the Lexus and extended her long slender legs outward to exit the low vehicle. Charley nudged Greg and they stood, throwing half-smoked cigarettes onto the ground, grinding them into the dust before walking around the side of the house to the back door.

  Slipping in through the kitchen, they walked quickly down the steps to the basement where Jackson was busy in his den. He had just got off the phone with Wolverine, assuring her that everything was in the process of being handled. Sammy Binks was leaving for the airport. It had been a short conversation. Sammy would ensure that Ensley carried out the instructions, that the coordinates would be correctly entered, and the Cerberus Satellite System was made ready for action. The first phase of Valkyrie was about to be completed.

  There was this one final detail, his wife and Dobrowski had to be silenced. After that, he would be free to follow a prosperous future—more than prosperous. The OLF would gain control and be well placed to bring Phase II of Valkyrie into reality. Condor had hinted that the oil-producing countries of the world would back a new world order and special measures would be put in place to ensure oil remained a dominant resource while enough supply still remained. For the first time, world peace might actually become a reality. Condor had also alluded that Jackson had a great role to play in the future government, of not only America, but also of the world.

  Baines and Gladstone appeared at the door, "She's here, boss. What do want us to do?"

  Jackson answered, "Ask her to come down to the office."

  Baines nodded at his side-kick, "You go, Greg!"

  Gladstone left the office and trooped up the stairs to the lounge, eventually finding Camilla in the main bedroom, removing some newly-purchased and expensive-looking clothes from plastic bags. He peered through the doorway and stood there grinning at her.

  She looked up, startled by his presence. "What do you want, Greg?"

  "The boss is asking for you," he said. "It's urgent."

  Camilla looked a little irritated and muttered, "I wonder what he wants now?" She put down the dress she had been sizing up against her shapely body and moved past Gladstone, heading for the stairs. He smiled pleasantly at her and turned to follow.

  She arrived in front of her husband's desk and he motioned for her to take a seat.

  "Did you honestly think that you would get away with it?" Jackson asked in a demeaning tone.

  She looked puzzled. "Get away with what, Honey? What are you talking about?"

  Jackson tried to control his anger, "Kevin Dodd! That's what I'm talking about."

  Camilla went pale and dropped her head. For five minutes Jackson berated her, calling her a whore, a bitch, and an ungrateful slut. Camilla burst into tears and shouted that she had been lonely—that he never took enough notice of her, but her husband was not appeased.

  Finally, the Senator ended his tirade. "My men will deal with you."

  Jackson nodded to Baines and Gladstone, who flanked Camilla and lifted her out of the chair. She screamed at Jackson, pleading with him to be forgiving, but he would not listen. He had already told the two men what he wanted them to do, and they bundled her out of the office into the wine cellar.

  There, to her surprise, was a man shackled to a horizontal bar on the back wall. The man looked at her wildly and began shouting in a hoarse voice. The walls of the wine cellar were made of stone, and it was apparent that very little sound would escape to the outside. The man looked disheveled and reeked of urine and perspiration, the cuffs holding him to the bar, had cut deeply into his wrist. He was bleeding from the nose and mouth, and she thought that he was familiar but could not place him.

  Baines and Gladstone produced another set of cuffs and proceeded to shackle Camilla to the same steel bar, right next to the frightful creature that was Jake Dobrowski. Baines gave her a toothy grin, "Get to know him well, darling. You and he will be taking a long ride together."

  **

  Arresting the Guilty

  Saturday, July 18, 2026

  6:00 p.m.

  Rubin Klein drove up to the Jackson house and parked in the lane bordering one side of the property. Next to him sat Colleen, nervously biting her nails and feeling out of her depth, yet ignoring the fear that threatened to engulf her. Klein had managed to make contact with Lucy Montrose who fortunately had been working late that evening, helping Williamson corral the president's paperwork for the coming G8 Summit. Williamson took a few minutes to talk to Klein regarding Jake and had been immediately sympathetic to the private investigator's predicament. The video had been uploaded straight to his personal laptop. He had quickly scanned through it while Klein had remained on the phone.

  After the call to the White House, Klein and Colleen had left for Jackson's house.

  Just behind them a second vehicle had pulled up and parked. Klein walked back to talk with the driver who, with his passenger, a tall slender woman wearing dark glasses, was waiting. The driver and his cohort were from the White House Security staff in D.C. and were personally assigned to the Chief of Staff. They had run a special errand for the Chief in Baltimore that day and were on their way back to Washington when Williamson had diverted them to assist Klein.

  It had been decided to bring Jackson in and arrest him on a charge of suspected murder. He was to be detained at a safe-house in Baltimore until charges could be brought against him. After that he would be removed to a holding cell at the Bureau.

  Williamson appeared to be knowledgeable about Jackson's involvement in something big and was willing to stick his neck out regarding the Senator.

  Klein and the two security people, Andrew Green and Jeannie Burns, hopped over the wall into the front of the property, and then found their way around the house to the back door. It was open and they could hear the muffled sounds of voices coming from downstairs. All three drew their weapons, moving through the kitchen to the stairs and down to Jackson's office. Jackson looked up from behind his desk, startled by their sudden intrusion. Jeannie Burns smiled at him benignly and then pointed her revolver at him, motioning him to lie prostrate on the floor in front of her.

  Jackson was surprised but not cowed.

  "What in hell's name do you think you are doing? Do you know who I am?"

  Jeannie Burns remove her dark glasses and said, "I know exactly who you are, Senator. I am arresting you for suspe
cted murder. Now...get down on the ground before I put a bullet in you!"

  Jackson complied, glaring at her, discretion being the better part of valor.

  Next door in the wine cellar, Klein and Green had found Baines and Gladstone busily cuffing Camilla to the steel bar. Jake was staring wild-eyed at them, jabbering away unintelligibly

  ∞∞

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Valkyrie

  Monday, July 20, 2026

  12:00 noon

  The afternoon was drifting along steadily for Malcolm Ensley. It was D-Day, July 20, 2026, and he had set up all the equipment for getting access to the Cerberus Satellite System. A quick test showed him that he had control and it was ready for arming. It just remained for him to key in the cipher codes to gain access to the central command computer of the first satellite. After that the iris scan had to be initiated to complete the arming procedure.

  Sammy Binks sat opposite Ensley, smoking a cigarette and talking on the phone, seemingly unaffected by the calamity that was about to be unleashed on the Virgin Islands. Sammy had brought the codes and coordinates as he had promised.

  The G8 Summit was the target. The Summit was being held at a newly-built resort on Saint Thomas, a Caribbean Island, which together with St. John and Water Island, formed a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands. The resort was appropriately called the Virgin Isles and boasted 4,000 beds. The conference center was designed for high-level executive meetings, and it was the first time that a summit of this proportion was being held there.

  Ensley had entered the coordinates—18°19'39"N - 60°52'55"W—and was waiting for Sammy's command to arm the system. The resort was five miles east of the Saint Thomas Church of Christ and three miles west of the Mariendal settlement, a forested area, outside the main city of Saint Thomas.

  By this time all the guests, dignitaries and heads of state had arrived and settled in for the summit, which was to have its first meeting that afternoon. The two airports, Henry E. Rohlsen and the Cyril E. King, on the western side of the island, were the only airports in Saint Thomas that offered international services. They must have been extremely busy, Ensley thought, to accommodate all those people.