by Chuck Black
In the split second that remained, Validus’s red-headed warrior dove from above and deflected the first round with his brilliant silver sword. It was the fastest Drew had ever seen a warrior move.
Drew continued his twisting motion while simultaneously squeezing off two rounds at the shooter. The bullet grazed his head just above his left ear as his rounds found their mark.
He quickly recovered and made a search of the surrounding area to verify there were no more of Dougherty’s men. Besides the rogue agents, six Secret Service men lay dead at various places in the lodge.
Drew returned to the conference room to discover two panic-stricken men sitting motionless in their chairs, their eyes glued to the gruesome sight of Dougherty’s body lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
“What do we do?” Harden said. “We don’t know the code—we’re going to end up like him!”
Ward pulled out his cell phone.
“No!” Drew ordered. “Any communication outside this room will tip off the terrorists, and you obviously don’t know who you can trust.” Drew looked at the two men. “Stay calm, Mr. President. We’ll sort this out.”
Validus and his men were still immersed in a ferocious fight with the enemy. This battle was just beginning.
Drew grabbed the nanobot transmitter, noticing that he had twenty-eight minutes before the next code had to be entered. He found an extra magazine for his gun in Dougherty’s briefcase, then went to Ross and knelt beside him. He looked like he was barely hanging on.
Drew found himself in the worst of predicaments. Any attention to what had just happened would tip off the terrorists and they would disperse into the populace. The outbreak of Ebola would still happen, just at a slower rate, and they would have no way of stopping them. Their only hope was to keep this entire tragedy undisclosed so they could find, capture, and possibly kill those responsible. But then how could he get help for Ross?
“How are you doing, sir?” Drew asked. “We’ll get you medical attention.”
Ross shook his head, then wheezed. “Get to the Marines, you can trust them. Secure Camp David, protect the president, find and take out the terrorists.” He grabbed Drew’s arm. “It’s up to you, Carter.”
Drew looked at the transmitter timer—twenty-seven minutes.
“We’ve got to get someone in here who can disarm these things,” Ward said.
“There’s no time, sir.” Drew grabbed his coat and put it on. “Alice, analyze transmissions emanating from this device.”
“Complete,” Alice responded. “It is an encrypted frequency modulated signal.”
“Can you duplicate the signal?” Drew asked.
“Who are you talking to?” President Harden asked.
“My coat,” Drew replied.
“Yes, but it will take me approximately thirty minutes to decipher the encryption,” Alice replied.
“Do it,” Drew said, then turned to Harden and Ward. “Dougherty had to have help to get this far, and since the UN and the IGA appear to be in this together, I’m betting those UN troops out there aren’t exactly trustworthy.”
Harden cursed. “What do you suggest?”
“I need to contact the OIC of the Marine Guard and tell him to disarm and secure the UN troops. We need to keep this under wraps if we’re going to have any hope of eliminating the terrorists.”
“My wife and children,” President Harden said.
“I’ll take their guards out first, then get to the Marines.”
“And us?” Ward asked.
“Hope I don’t die and that I get back here in twenty-five minutes. What’s the distress word for the Marine Guard, sir?”
“Shadowman,” Harden said.
Drew bolted from the conference room and then exited Laurel Lodge. He sprinted down the road toward Aspen Lodge, less than half a mile away, where the president’s wife and children were.
“Alice, scan infrared,” Drew commanded as he donned his glasses, now tint-free. Though his night vision was very clear, the infrared would illumine people much quicker. Validus and his six warriors were with him, scouting before and behind. He kept a close eye on their cues as he went.
When he arrived at Aspen Lodge, he circled the cabin and noticed two bodies lying in the woods—Secret Service agents who had been eliminated.
Drew watched Validus, who let him know where the two rogue agents were. Within three minutes, Drew had taken out the agents and assured the First Lady and her children that everything would be all right.
“Stay here until the Marines come,” he told them.
Drew checked the timer—twenty-one minutes. He ran through the woods straight toward the double fence that surrounded the camp. He needed to get the Marine officer in charge, the OIC, alone to explain the situation. That was going to be tough with the UN forces shadowing the Marines’ every move.
He looked for a perimeter guard and moved that direction. A UN soldier was walking slightly behind and to the Marine’s side. There could be no radio calls. Drew positioned himself in the trees so they would pass within ten feet of his location. Since they were protecting Camp David from intruders from the outside, surprising them on the inside was a much easier task.
First the Marine guard passed, then the UN soldier. Drew attacked from behind, quickly disarming and knocking the UN soldier out cold. The Marine immediately spun and brought his weapon to bear on Drew.
“Arms in the air! Arms in the air!” the Marine commanded. He reached for the transmit button on his radio.
Drew raised his hands. “Corporal, if you do that, the president will die. Shadowman. Shadowman.”
The corporal froze.
“Listen to me, Corporal, my name is Drew Carter. I’m a special agent with the CIA. President Harden and Intelligence Director Ward were attacked in Laurel Lodge. These UN troops are part of the plot. I need to speak to your OIC immediately—without UN troops hearing what I have to say.”
Drew stayed still with his hands in the air. The young Marine’s eyes were wide and searching. He was indecisive. This was not procedure, and Drew had just taken out a UN soldier.
“I know this stinks, Corporal, but right now the life of the president of the United States and the very fate of the nation will depend on what you do in the next thirty seconds.”
Drew could see sweat forming on the brow of the Marine. His finger hovered over the transmit key.
“Fifteen minutes remaining,” Alice said.
“Get on the ground now!” the Marine ordered.
Drew shook his head. “I’m going to slowly open my coat and show you the gun that I could have used to kill both of you.” He slowly dropped his hands to his coat and the Marine became nervous. His finger tightened on the trigger.
“Keep your hands where I can see them,” the Marine ordered, but instead Drew slowly opened his coat to reveal the silencer tucked in his belt.
“Corporal, if you make that radio call, the president dies. I need to speak to your OIC now.”
The Marine pressed the transmit button. “Sentry Three, this is Rover Two. I need to speak to Barracuda.”
“Come again, Rover Two?”
“Get me Barracuda ASAP.”
There was a long pause. “Roger, Rover Two.”
The Marine was still struggling.
“If any UN troops find out what’s happening, the president will die,” Drew said. “You have to help me get the OIC by himself so I can talk to him. We have less than fifteen minutes.”
The Marine looked at the unconscious UN soldier, then back at Drew. He slowly dropped his weapon. “At least one UN officer will be with him if I call him out. What do we do?”
Drew breathed a sigh of relief. “Make the call and help me get him into the woods.” He motioned to the unconscious UN soldier. When the OIC called back on the radio, the corporal requested he come to their location. They then gagged the UN soldier and tied him to a tree while they waited for the OIC to arrive.
Five minutes later, a Hu
mvee pulled up on the road near them.
“Ten minutes remaining,” Alice said.
A US Marine captain and a UN captain exited the vehicle and approached them. The Marine had his gun on Drew, who was on his knees.
“Corporal, what are you doing?” the captain shouted. “Why wasn’t this reported to Sentry?”
“Is this how you run security, Captain?” the UN captain said with disdain in his voice. He lifted his radio to his mouth.
The corporal lifted his rifle from Drew to the UN captain, and Drew brought his 9mm to bear on him as well.
“Put your radio down,” Drew ordered.
The Marine captain drew his weapon and pointed it at Drew. “What’s going on, Corporal?” he asked.
“You’ve got to listen to him, sir,” the corporal said, his voice unsure.
“Captain, I’m Special Agent Carter with the CIA. Shadowman,” Drew said bluntly.
The captain lowered his weapon. “Explain yourself, Agent Carter. Why is your weapon on my UN counterpart?”
“The president and Director Ward have been attacked by IGA agents, and these UN troops are part of the plot to take him out and initiate a terrorist attack against the US. Captain, I need you to disarm him and remove his radio. If any transmissions are made, the president will die.”
“This is absurd,” the UN captain said in a thick accent.
“How do I know the distress code hasn’t been compromised?” the Marine captain asked. He glared at the UN officer. There was no love lost between them.
“Secure this man, and I’ll take you to the president myself,” Drew replied.
“Seven minutes remaining,” Alice said.
“Captain, I don’t have time to explain why, but I have seven minutes to get back to the president or he dies. We have to go now!”
The captain turned to the UN officer and removed his radio and gun. “Corporal, guard this man. If he runs, shoot him.”
“Yes sir,” the corporal replied.
Drew and the captain jumped in the Humvee and headed toward Laurel Lodge. Drew learned that the captain’s name was Bates. He gave him a two-minute brief on what had happened to the president.
“Alice, have you decoded the transmission signal yet?” Drew asked.
“Not yet. Two minutes remaining,” she said calmly.
Drew and Captain Bates quickly made their way to the conference room, where President Harden and Director Ward sat staring at the transmitter. The timer was now down to the last sixty seconds. Fifty-three, fifty-two, fifty-one.
Drew first went to Ross and knelt beside him. He checked for a pulse, but there was none. Drew hung his head. Anger boiled up inside him. Why was he trying so hard to save these two corrupt men when they disregarded the lives of greater men like Ross?
“Do something, Carter!” Ward yelled.
Drew stood up, walked to the table, and looked at the timer. Forty-one, forty…“Alice, what is the status of your transmission analysis?”
“Analysis complete. There is a twenty-three percent probability that the transmission will not be an exact duplicate,” Alice said.
Thirty-four, thirty-three…
President Harden looked at Carter. He was surprisingly calm. “Are my wife and children safe?”
Carter nodded. At least he had some shred of humanity left in him. Drew would have to count on that if there was any hope of saving America.
Fourteen, thirteen, twelve…
“Alice, transmit duplicated transmission.”
Five, four, three…
Ward closed his eyes and grimaced.
Two, one…Dougherty’s transmitter emitted a high-pitched five-second tone that caused everyone in the room to jump, but neither President Harden nor Director Ward seemed affected by the nanobots. After three minutes, it was obvious that Alice had been successful and was keeping the men alive.
“Thank God it worked,” Harden said. “But we can’t live like this forever.”
Drew wanted to ask the president if he was actually thanking God or if it was just an expression of relief. He saw such things so differently now. He picked up Dougherty’s transmitter and read the nameplate. “Alice, I want you to access the Biobot Technologies database and see if there is a way of permanently disabling the nanobots. Override all security and firewalls.”
“Yes, Drew.”
“We’ll get it figured out, sir. For now we need to focus on securing Camp David,” Drew said.
“What do you want me to do, sir?” the Marine captain asked.
Ward, Drew, and Captain Bates developed a plan for disarming and securing the UN troops while maintaining radio silence. Forty-five minutes later, Captain Bates left the lodge to retake Camp David.
“Captain Bates,” Drew called after him. “Once you’ve contained the situation, I need any transmission jammers turned off.”
“Yes sir,” snapped the captain, then turned to leave.
“Drew, I’ve successfully accessed the Biobot Technologies database. There is a transmission code to permanently disable the nanobots. Would you like me to initiate transmission of the code?”
“Yes, Alice.”
He looked at President Harden and Director Ward. There was no change.
“The nanobots have been disabled,” Alice replied.
“Mr. President, Director Ward, the nanobots have been permanently disabled. We’ll need to get a doctor to figure out how to extract them from your bloodstream.”
Both men took a deep breath.
“Well done, Agent Carter,” President Harden said. He shook his head. “It looks like I’ve made a deal with the devil.”
Drew remembered the dark master walking beside Jabbar and De Luca. Goose bumps covered his body until they ached. He slowly turned and looked at Validus and his band of mighty warriors. The angels stood like statues, watching, waiting, protecting. Harden had indeed made a deal with the devil. Drew alone was privy to the ancient war between God’s holy servants and Satan’s vile demons. The stark realization frightened him, and then the whisper of God came as he looked upon the mighty servants of the Most High God.
I am with you.
The flame of the Holy Spirit swelled within him, restoring his mind, his body, and his soul with the confidence and strength of a servant of God. Validus offered the subtlest of nods, but it was all Drew needed. They were not some invisible alien-invasion force. They were not some figment of his subconscious. They were warriors from heaven, and they were here for him. Was it for this time—to save the United States of America from annihilation? What else could it be?
“What are you looking at, Carter?” President Harden asked.
Drew turned back. “The hope of our future. You have indeed made a deal with the devil, Mr. President, but God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, has not abandoned us yet.”
President Harden rubbed his eyes. “If only that were true.”
“That He hasn’t abandoned us?” Drew asked.
“No…that there was such a God.” Harden frowned and looked at Ward. “What do we do now?”
The director took a deep breath. “I don’t know who I can trust, even in my own intelligence offices. Not after today. Not after discovering what Jabbar was really after.”
“You’ve put many pro-IGA people in power,” Drew added.
Ward nodded. “The military’s our best bet, but we’ve even been grooming their leadership. Right now, as far as we know, the terrorists are moving forward with their plot. If we let it out that we know, they will scatter and disappear and we may still have an epidemic to deal with. All it takes is one more mole, and we’re done—CIA, FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, military.”
“And I have reason to believe there are a lot more than just one,” Drew added. “The IGA has penetrated deep.”
President Harden folded his hands and looked at Drew. “Then it’s up to you, Agent Carter. I don’t care what it takes. The resources of the United States government are at your disposal. You must stop them!
”
Drew suddenly felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Millions would live or die by his actions. “With all due respect, sir, the resources of the United States government are severely tainted, and as Director Ward said, we can’t afford a single leak. If you really want me to handle this, I’ll be using my own tech team and assault force. People I can trust.”
President Harden looked at Ward.
“Fortress Security is owned by Carter’s stepfather,” Ward said. “We’ve contracted them numerous times in the past two years. All ex-military—they know their stuff.”
The president hesitated, then nodded. “Very well. What’s your plan?”
“We have just over forty-eight hours. The trigger hosts are already inside our borders. Our only hope now lies in discovering the infection locations,” Drew said.
“But Ross said you didn’t know who the trigger hosts are or where the infection locations are,” Ward replied.
“Yes, but we do know who many of the terrorists are. If we can find them, we may be able to locate the infection points,” Drew replied. “Then we’ll have to take them out on the ground, one by one.”
“But even then, how will we know if we get the trigger carriers?” the president asked.
“I think there may be a way,” Drew replied.
“Two days isn’t much time, Carter,” Ward said.
Drew nodded. “If we haven’t eliminated the threat in forty-eight hours, we’ll need to initiate the CDC’s bioterrorism emergency procedures as well as shut down all air traffic, close the borders—including all shipping ports—shut down all restaurants, and broadcast emergency instructions to all citizens, explaining the threat.”
“Agreed,” Ward said.
“I will also need complete access to the CIA, Homeland Security, and FBI computer systems and databases—all of them so my tech team can tie into the information we need. Please get me all access codes immediately.”
“That would be the biggest breach in security in history,” Ward said. “Mr. President?”
“Whatever it takes, Jim. Give it to him. We have no other option.”
Ward wrote three access codes and corresponding passwords on a piece of paper along with a phone number. “There are three levels of security for this kind of access. Once you’re past the third level, you will have access to any system you need. The last number is my direct line. Call it and you can reach me anywhere.”