The Shadow's Code

by Miles Goodson

  James’s neck was burning and his feet became cold.

  “You see, gentlemen. At the press of button the United States can attack twenty-one different capital cities without them being given any warning. London, Cairo, Moscow, Baghdad, Dakar, Paris, to name a few.

  The embassies have twenty-foot cement basements. In them is America’s first line of attack or defense depending on which way you see it.”

  Bill and James struggled to move as disbelief gripped their bodies.

  “This is why ‘Parasite’ is so important. It’s not just the Emperor’s gardens in Japan. It’s the major cities of the world. If Kioshi kills Lindon we would have twenty-one nuclear weapons that we have no way of controlling. If Kioshi was able to get the codes from Lindon, he may find out it’s not just the Emperor’s gardens in Japan. He could tell all those countries what we have done. Can you imagine if Mexico, France, Great Britain, Russia and every other nation in the world found out we had been putting bombs under capital cities, including those of our allies. It would be beyond a diplomatic crisis. The Russians would declare war. Our allies would disappear. Every nation in the world would want our blood… we would become a pariah state…the North Koreans would have more friends than us!”

  James and Bill took a moment to digest the information. The room remained silent.

  “I don’t understand, why? I mean, yes there is a strategic advantage against the Russians if they get too aggressive but what about all the friendly nations?” Bill asked. The president shrugged his shoulders and tapped his foot, then answered.

  “Washington’s farewell address in 1796. He advised not to get involved in… What was it… Ah yes… inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and particular attachments for other. So the simple answer is… Leverage. You never know when a friend might become an enemy.”

  Bill didn’t have a response. Lt Felix truly was a strategic mastermind, and a nutcase. “Dare I ask who else might know about this?” Bill asked. The president paused and pulled his seat out then slumped into it.

  “No one knows where the weapons are but myself, some former presidents, and Felix, and now the two of you. The head of each prong of the military, one Navy, one Army, one Air Force, holds a briefcase that is capable of an attack but no one is told the location of each weapon. They are only told that it is not on home soil and to be used only by direct order from a president. Felix spearheaded the missions. There were operatives and soldiers that made it happen of course but Felix made sure that the teams that packed the nuclear device had no contact with the teams that delivered it. The teams that created the basements had no contact with the delivery agents. The embassy staffs were told it was a package for emergency situations and not to be tampered with or touched. I can’t quite remember what Felix told them, but I think all embassy staff believe it is nuclear bomb shelter in case the city they are stationed in is attacked. They are in for a surprise should that ever happen!” the president said. “Felix is such a mastermind. He could make you think whatever he wanted you to, and he could scare you enough that you never asked a question,” the president admitted, staring down at the file that Bill had put onto the table.

  Bill’s face dropped. The last few minutes had been one surprise after another. The man who they suspected of being a traitor and feeding information to Kioshi knew just how devastating the code could be to America. It was a hammer blow to all the work James and Bill had done; every step they took Lt Felix was two steps ahead. Bill stood up quickly and paced a few steps away from the president.

  “Is there anything else? I mean next you may as well tell me aliens exist and JFK is still alive and living in Tahiti?” Bill quipped.

  The president looked at him with little expression and didn’t reply. The room was still. The lights reflected off the polished oak doors and shiny leather seats.

  “I can’t believe it,” James uttered as the scale of the project had metastasized in just a few minutes leaving him feeling lost.

  “I’m sorry to burden you both with this. When I became president I knew none of this. When I opened the briefcase, on this very desk, it was my first day as the leader of the free world. I spent four hours trying to digest this information. I wanted to end this but the world is in such a fragile state. I didn’t know what to do.” The president looked at the flag outside. The stars and stripes fluttered in the wind. “Our great nation asks a lot of the people who take this office,” he said.

  Everyone’s emotions were drained. Physically and mentally they were all running on empty. Bill and James had aged ten years in the last month. Bill tried to see his own reflection in his shoes.

  “Shall we ask the heads of the Army, Air Force and Navy to join us?” he asked.

  The president sat in thought. “They don’t know how the code is stored and I sure as hell don’t want anyone else knowing about this. Plus there is no need to involve them.” Bill and James nodded in unison. As they did Bill’s phone buzzed.

  “Warren” “Yes” “Yes” “No way” “You’re sure?” “Send me all the information you have,” he said frantically. Bill’s face lifted in an instant. “We just got a hit on Kioshi! He landed at a private airfield in Sweden three hours ago.”

  Chapter 40

  Kioshi Landed at 4am. The Learjet that Kioshi had flown on was soaring into the sky only thirty minutes after Kioshi disembarked. He watched as the jet thrust away into the darkness of the night sky. The team in Japan had worked non-stop and finally come up with a result from their painstaking work after scouring satellite images and narrowing down the path of the boat they believed Lindon had used. A drone had searched for days when it spotted a boat with the name ‘Nordak’ moored at a small Marina. Several houses had been found nearby but one was of particular interest. During the daylight it had caught sight of a person and Kioshi was sure it was his target. This was going to be final chapter of the mission for Kioshi, this time there would be no mistakes and he wasn’t taking any chances.

  He had brought along twelve of his best men. The operation in Japan had begun to close down. Each member of the team was to be rewarded handsomely when Lindon was confirmed dead. Two of Kioshi’s men headed for Stockholm to pick up two Toyota Land Cruisers that had been kitted out by a security specialist for diplomats. The cars had bulletproof glass, body armor and a clean air system in case of chemical attack. They would be back before noon. Kioshi wanted to strike late that night. He set up a tactical area to discuss the attack plan in a small hanger that he had rented at the airport. They would perform a pincer movement around Lindon’s home. Two men would stay by the cars in case Lindon attempted an escape. Kioshi and his ten other men would surround the house. Weapons were checked, re-checked and each man memorized his individual duty. Kioshi concentrated on every second of his plan. His eyes darted from one screen to another; tablet computers littered his makeshift desk. Tonight would be the culmination of his and his father’s work. After Lindon’s demise Kioshi was scheduled to board the same Learjet and fly directly to Japan. He had excavation vehicles waiting in the Emperor’s gardens. The bomb would be dropped back to the USA with a bang in less than 48 hours. Kioshi knew his life would end with the attack. He planned to fly with the bomb and then dive a target like the Kamikaze pilots of the war. He would die with his sacred honour and inflict maximum devastation on his enemy.

  At 11.30am all of Kioshi’s plans were put on hold. The traffic in Stockholm was at a standstill after a fuel tanker had overturned on the E1 highway. Cars were backed up right into the city center. Kioshi couldn’t proceed without the cars. It would be too risky to use any vehicle that wasn’t heavily armored and Kioshi was not taking any chances. He slammed his fists against a desk. A vein in his forehead throbbed and his lips quivered with rage. After two minutes he returned back to his calculating calmness. They would now wait and strike tomorrow. Everyone was to run drills in preparation. Kioshi planned to watch his men for hours. Looking for the slightest error. There was nothing else he could
do for now but wait.

  The American government issued a Gulfstream Jet to race through the sky over the Atlantic with clearance to land in Sweden. James and Bill thrashed out their plans whilst on board. The Prime Minister of Sweden had been woken up at 3am and the American president had made his urgent requests. The Prime Minister had agreed to do all he could to help. James had overheard the president’s conversation whilst Bill spoke to the U.S. Army commanding officers in Sweden. Forty American Army personnel and 26 United States Air Force personnel that were stationed in Sweden had been removed from their posts to meet their plane when it arrived at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. The convoy had been cleared to drive their military pick-up trucks and Sport Utility Vehicles at high speed with a police escort north. The frantic rush to gain information had left the team on the back foot, again. Six Special Forces operatives were travelling on the Learjet along with four CIA agents who huddled together at the back.

  Roger had also managed to wangle his way onto the jet by convincing the president that he was feeling much better after his bout of food poisoning and should oversee events to feed information back to the president. James had put up a strong argument against Roger being there. He wasn’t military or intelligence service and after London he had proven himself to be more of a hindrance than help. His place was behind a desk, not on the front line. The president agreed with James but eventually gave in to Roger’s ear-bending. James and Bill sat as far away from Roger as possible on the plane. Warren had been allowed to stay in America, as the target was now Kioshi. Lindon could slip away as far as Bill and James cared, although both of them were still unsure whether he could really be trusted. Warren’s job would be to support James and Bill in any way he could from the safety of his military base.

  “So what’s the plan once we start heading north? Did the president give any orders?” Bill asked as he crossed his legs and leaned back into the thick leather seat. James rested his palms on the oak wood table.

  “No, he didn’t, but I have some intel from my team. It’s based on some educated guesses and some questionable data but they think they have narrowed down Lindon to with a ten mile radius in Sweden.”

  Bill pressed his fingers against his lips. “How do we know it’s him?” he asked.

  “We don’t but it’s the best we’ve got right now, anyway our target is Kioshi. Assuming he is working off the same intelligence as us then he will head for the same area,” James said. Bill looked at a map.

  “So we’re going to head for this general area?” Bill queried.

  “Yeah,” James said.

  “OK, I will take charge of the military contingent when we land and you can take the team we have on the plane. If we split up we have more chance of running into Kioshi,” Bill said, rubbing his feet together.

  James looked troubled by Bill’s plan. “I think we need to work together and stay together. We have to assume Kioshi is way ahead of us He may already be near Lindon. We have over fifty guys together. We can hunt through the ten mile area fairly quickly if all of us are searching at one time.”

  Bill thought for a moment. He looked out of the window of the plane. There was light on the horizon. “OK, but what about risk assessments, ROEs and attack and defense formations?” Bill’s mind had snapped into battle mode.

  “The president said shoot on sight, get in, get out, anyone asks we claim to be training for a terrorist manhunt. If we find him we claim to have tracked down a high-ranking terrorist. Take someone off the list and job done. The Swedish authorities are fairly laissez faire with us as long as we clean everything up and give them deniability if we make mistakes. We’re green to go from the moment we land.”

  Bill had never heard of such a casual approach, but James seemed very confident. The CIA were much more used to taking on things as they happened. In the military you couldn’t just chuck out your guys and hope for the best but this was James’s playground. Bill was happy as long as he shared the credit for a successful mission and had an excuse in case it was a failure.

  The PA system crackled onboard the plane. “Thirty minutes to touch down. We’re cleared on a straight in approach. The weather is pretty poor so we may have a few bumps at low altitude. I suggest you all buckle up now until we’re on the ground.”

  Bill looked directly at James. “Let’s just hope we’re not too late!”

  James nodded and looked out of the window. Thick cloud cover surrounded the plane as it descended towards the airport. Roger sat with a determined look on his face. He was alone with his laptop trying to get some scheduling done while he could. He leaned over and asked one of the CIA agents how many hours ahead Sweden was so he could adjust his watch. The agent was asleep and didn’t respond. Roger realized and asked the man next to him who was also sleeping. Roger shrugged and leaned his seat back. A twenty-minute nap before touchdown would be all the sleep he would need.

  Bill looked over his files, scratching his forehead. James tapped away on his laptop. “You know, if Kioshi is ahead of us maybe he got his information from our mole, but if he did then how would he have got the information before us... unless they’re in contact with Lindon?” Bill said.

  “You think that someone Lindon knows is giving him up?” James’s faced creased.

  “Well there was a mission he was on before he took our bait. Perhaps he told someone about his plan, or perhaps they even helped him with his escape?” The theory wasn’t especially far-fetched but James would still take some convincing. He had worked with mercenaries and shadows for years and knew they were a tight band of brothers. An informer would be sniffed out quickly and silenced.

  The plane descended to 2,000 feet on final approach for the airport. The view out of the window was of snow-covered trees that sprang high from the ground below them. The pilot made a final announcement. “Prepare for landing. Local time 15:45. Air temperature currently minus four degrees Celsius or twenty-four Fahrenheit. Light winds on the ground.” The CIA agents who were asleep when Roger needed to know the time were now wide awake and checking their phones. Roger had been snoring for the last fifteen minutes and woke up with a jolt. He looked out of the window at the brightly lit roads beneath him. The plane was buzzing with conversations. James and Bill had been facing each other over the same table for the entire flight.

  “Glad I’ve brought my snow shoes. Looks like I will be needing them,” James remarked to Bill with a smile. Bill smiled back, trying to mask his realization that he didn’t have adequate clothing. In the rush to leave for Sweden he hadn’t had a chance to go home. He had little more than the clothes he was wearing. James always kept a ‘go’ bag in his car, just in case.

  The plane touched down a hundred feet past the threshold of the runway at 15.53. The landing was smooth but the last few minutes of flight had been filled with bumpy turbulence and swinging motions from right to left as the captain wrestled with the winds. Once the plane came to a stop in front of the hanger that had been reserved for their convoy an official from the airport rushed over. He hastily stamped passports as the men walked off the plane. Bill had forgotten his. The man shrugged his shoulders and let him pass. He was gone two minutes later.

  The sun was now setting. Bill quickly made acquaintance with the army and air force servicemen and established his command. He briefed them quickly but remained outside in the cold as he did so. James took the CIA operatives and the special ops team to a small office room inside the hanger, where it was warm. Both teams then met. Roger had milled around both talks. He preferred James’s as it was inside, out of the cold. Bill had explained that this would be a different mission from ones they would usually run. He was allowing James to take the lead. He stressed several times that the target was not Lindon. However if they find him they are to capture him, but under no circumstances kill him, even if he is shooting at them.

  “Just let him escape!” he ordered. Then gave the opposite orders for Kioshi. The man was dangerous. If they get a clear shot then take it. Bill mana
ged to borrow a thick coat and some boots from one of the Generals who was the same size as him.

  James made the decision to move tonight but not start a searching until the morning. They would head for the coast now to find any sign of the boat. A team back in Virginia was scouring satellite images manually and would do so all night. If they found anything that would help they would let James know immediately. The large convey set off. They were going to travel to within two miles of their final destination tonight. Then refine their plan of action and move in the morning. On the highway they sped up a 130 kilometers per hour. Bill and James travelled together in the lead car just behind the police. The bright blue LEDs flashed brightly in the darkness of the winter roads. The scratches on the windscreen of their car were visible every time the blue lights flashed. Roger travelled alone in the second car with two military personnel. He hadn’t paid any attention to them and didn’t know whether they were air force or army. He wondered to himself why Bill and James had given him such a cold shoulder recently. The three never really meshed together well but recently it felt a lot more like two against one. After a few minutes of worrying Roger decided to continue some work on his laptop.

  Kioshi stared at maps and frowned at the arrows he had drawn. His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text message from his contact.

  “Looks like you’re not alone hunting in Sweden. Expect company from the Americans.”

  Kioshi felt the back of his neck heat up with nervous energy as he leaned over his desk. After a few seconds he stood up straight and stared at the huddle of men.