Blue Skies

by Ali Vali

  “To wish them well, but that was a waste of time. It only proved Rodney’s point about women in combat positions.”

  “What point is that, since any information about this mission is classified?”

  “Please,” Jerry said as he looked down. “You know as well as I do that when you work in that stone cave, nothing is classified for long for those of us lucky enough to have a window.”

  “Talk to me about New Horizons.” Drew waved Rooster in with the other box of information he’d need for this interview.

  “That’s a private business that has nothing to do with my job at the Pentagon.”

  “Okay.” Drew laughed before he took the top off the box. The first folder was in a dark blue binder. “I’d think with the heavy hitters you’ve got on the first page you’d want to brag.” He opened the folder to the page that had Board Members as a header.

  “And you’d think you’d be smart enough to let me go because of that list,” Jerry said and tapped his finger forcibly on the page.

  “The threats are going to get old if that’s the route you want to take.”

  Jerry sat back and turned to the side as if his only option was to ignore them both. “You can also admit that you and the poser who got elected are in way over your heads, but the fact you won’t is going to get even older over time.”

  “If the people thought the job you and your friends were doing was so great, the election would’ve been a landslide in the other direction,” Drew said and Jerry turned more away from him. “What you can’t stand is that President Khalid called this strike only two months after he got sworn into office. The weakling title you tried to pin on him got blown when those plants did. It didn’t escape my notice that your old bosses set this up before he was inaugurated to see if he had the balls to go through with it.”

  “Only you’ve got a bigger problem now, don’t you?” Jerry asked and laughed.

  “We’ll get to that, but not yet.” Drew took out the next folder that had a label on the front that read Secured Finance. Drew’s eyebrows rose when he saw how much money New Horizon had, but they hadn’t found it yet. “I know how much you make, as well as everyone on this list.” Drew went back to the board list. “You all must have a heck of a second job. Where’s the money coming from?”

  “I’ve got an uncle who loves me,” Jerry said then stood. “If you want any other answers then let me go. Keep me here and you can fuck yourself, Secretary Orr, but I say that with all due respect.”

  “The answers will come without your help because I had you pegged from the first day you got here.” As Drew spoke he started taking out all the files in the box and putting them on the table. “You have a picture in your head of how the world should be, and with a little bit of power you almost achieved it. The thing is, your picture doesn’t have room for anyone who doesn’t think or believe as strongly as you and your buddies.”

  “It all comes down to an us against them mentality,” Jerry said from the door. “The question you have to ask yourself is how many do you have on your side and how dedicated to winning are they? I know the answer, so I’m not worried.”

  Drew and Rooster nodded to the guard and he escorted Jerry out. “If he’s right, Adam will never break no matter what you threaten him with,” Rooster said.

  “We need to find a couple of things before we talk to Mr. Morris.” Drew dragged the financial information from the pile. “What’s the old saying—follow the money?”

  “My men tore that place apart. If it’s real, Jerry did a good job of hiding it.”

  The list of board members was the next thing Drew reviewed again. “He didn’t hide it.” His finger stopped at Rodney’s name. “He gave it to someone for safekeeping.” He tapped his finger on Rodney’s name. “But I think I know where to find it.”

  “Shouldn’t we concentrate on what exactly they’re up to?” Rooster asked. “It could just be venture capital for their New Horizon company.”

  “If I’m wrong, then I hope you get along with your new boss,” Drew said with a smile. “But I sure love that office the president gave me, so don’t think you’re going to escort me out anytime soon.”

  *

  South of Pyongyang, North Korea

  Jin hesitated before she got out of the car. They had been on the road for hours and she was stiff from sitting rigidly next to Lowe. The signs with names of towns she’d never been to had gone by like time stamps on what was left of her life.

  “You’re free to rest for the night,” Lowe said from under his umbrella even though the rain had given way to a fine mist. “I’ve arranged for a phone in your room if you’d like to make any calls.”

  Her first urge was to laugh at what wasn’t some kindness on his part, but another strand in the web he was weaving for her. “Thank you, Comrade,” Jin said instead. In her hand was her mother’s necklace. A reminder that this was the opportunity she and her mother didn’t have.

  “I’ll call for you in the morning,” Lowe said, not moving, looking at her like he was trying to crawl in her head by studying her.

  The house where they’d stopped was surrounded by some of the country’s elite forces, and they stood so straight in Lowe’s presence that Jin thought they’d snap in half if someone tipped them over. Unlike the small dwellings in the countryside outside Pyongyang, this place was rambling with a beautiful garden that even in the dark she could see was for decoration rather than for growing food.

  Every twenty feet or so strong spotlights illuminated the surroundings. It was like they’d driven until they’d reached another country. This place was definitely foreign in North Korea.

  Lowe continued to stare at Jin as she took in the house. “Is there something wrong?” he asked her.

  His question seemed to wake her from a stupor and she shook her head. “No, I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “Sir, if I could speak with you a moment,” the man who opened the door for him said once Lowe had crossed the threshold. Another man behind him pointed down a hallway for Jin to follow him to her room. “You asked for any information that seemed out of the ordinary.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “The head of the volunteer security forces from the village where you stopped earlier called to report a murder.”

  The room they entered had a wall of glass so when Lowe sat at his desk he could enjoy the view of the small lake the property had. It was the only place he felt he could let his guard down somewhat when he was alone, but with his constant errands for Jong Il there’d been no time to waste gazing at water.

  “Disputes over a chicken or an ear of corn don’t interest me,” Lowe said as he took off his coat and tossed it across a chair and sat down. He immediately picked up a pair of pliers and the man lowered his head as if he was afraid Lowe was about to take his displeasure out on him.

  The tool had been a gift from his father, and along with it he told Lowe stories of when and how he’d used it. Lowe kept it on his desk and used it as a nutcracker—one of the only things he was sentimental about. He reached for the bowl of walnuts and crushed one so severely he had to throw it away. His aggravation stemmed from having experience on his side.

  After a lifetime of service to Kim Jong Il’s father, Lowe’s father had trained Lowe not only in his trade but also on how to work for a man who was sometimes blinded by circumstance. He didn’t want to get caught in the storm the Great Leader would unleash on those responsible for what he’d lost, because he knew too well what happened to those who did.

  “I’m sorry, sir, it didn’t have anything to do with village disputes. The man was given a rifle and sent out on patrol. Sometime tonight someone was able to overpower and strangle him before he was able to get the weapon off his shoulder.”

  “What else did they find in the area? And I’m hoping they actually sent someone trained to investigate and not some farmer with delusions of being a soldier.”

  “The rain wiped out most of the tracks, but there were
still some deep impressions in the mud that the leader of the area said looked like a horse’s hoofprints,” the man said with his head still lowered. “They lead away from the body toward the southeast. Once they got to the grass, the trail was lost.”

  Lowe turned on the computer on his desk and opened a map of the area. There wasn’t much there, except for perhaps a nightmare if the security was breached. “Are there any patrols in the vicinity ready to move?”

  “Just the small group you spoke with today, sir. If you like, I can call Central Command and have a unit dispatched immediately.”

  “No,” Lowe said, and it came out as panicked as he suddenly felt. Sending men would only lead back to him if there was a problem, and Lowe’s plan to put this behind all of them was to offer his boss two sacrifices—Jin and Pak. “You’re to tell no one about this. I’ll take care of it myself.”

  “Yes, sir.” The man bowed. “Is there anything else?”

  “Make sure to bring Captain Umeko and her guest something to eat. I’m sure they’d love to get reacquainted over a meal.” The man bowed, again not needing a formal dismissal. When he closed and locked the door, Lowe called the man who’d reported the murder and told him to list it as a local dispute, for security reasons.

  The investigation into the plane crash had been given to him personally by the Great Leader, but what had been a fortuitous assignment would signal his own demise if he didn’t have answers soon or couldn’t prove the pilots of the downed plane were dead. If they were still alive, it would be disastrous if they reached the Haeju site.

  “Perhaps Captain Umeko will live longer than I’d planned,” Lowe said as he tapped his chin with the phone. It was time to change his plan and give Jin a larger role in his salvation. “Later we’ll pay a visit to the scrap heap and see what we find.”

  Chapter Thirty

  The helicopter followed the same route to return to the north and the roving spotlights were nowhere close to Berkley as she returned to where she’d left Junior. She’d checked the time. It was a couple of hours before dawn. If they were going to take a chance, it’d have to be now.

  “Time to move.” She helped Junior to stand. “But we’ve got to leave our friend behind.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Over that hill is a huge burial ground, but with a little magic I think we can raise the dead.” She turned her back to him so he could climb on.

  “If I go quietly will you explain what you’re talking about?”

  “It’s a field full of parked Russian MiGs and old tanks in pieces.” She balanced him and started back toward the hill. “My guess is it’s a junkyard their military must use for parts.”

  “Should I mention now that I’m a horrible mechanic?”

  Berkley laughed and made a mental note to buy all the maintenance crew back in Fallon a steak dinner when she made it home. “I promise to give you lessons when we get back, but once we get down there all I need is for you to hand me stuff.”

  When they reached the top of the hill Berkley helped Junior to his stomach and took out the binoculars. “How do you want to go in?” Junior asked.

  “The helicopter was the changing of the guard, and all I saw were two guys, so I want you to stay here until I signal you to come down.” She took out her pistol and checked the clip.

  “No way,” Junior said in a loud whisper. “You can’t be sure there’s only two of them, and you might need me.”

  “If there’s more than that I’ll come back, but you can’t make it all the way down there on your belly. We don’t have time to argue about it, so stay here. The only chance we’ve got is right now while they’re bunked in for the night.” She gave him the binoculars and began her crawl.

  “They just got here,” Harvey said and tapped his finger on the face of his watch to remind her of the time.

  “There’s no way they’re not going to sleep. That’s what I would do in the same circumstance.”

  The fence had posters with lightning bolts and what she assumed were caution signs, but if it was electrified, she’d be shocked. She laughed at the stupid joke she’d thought up and touched the chain links with the bottom of her boot. Her body tensed in anticipation of having to pull back, but nothing happened.

  She pulled the fence forward enough for her to roll under in the darkest part of the yard and ran in a crouch all the way to the smaller building. The place was quiet, so like she thought, they were either sleeping or they were waiting for their prey to fall into their trap.

  The door creaked a little as she opened it and she left it ajar and hesitated so she could become accustomed to the low light. The room appeared to be an office and kitchen and at the back were two doors. Judging from the outside, that was the extent of the space.

  Berkley took a deep breath and thought of Aidan and the hell Blazer had probably put her through and what she needed to do to change that. It was now just a choice of which door to pick first. Let’s hope they’re both heavy sleepers, she thought as she turned the knob to the one on the right.

  This time the door made no sound, but the room had two bunks in it, which meant the other room was the bathroom. The two men were sleeping, the nearer one uncovered and the other one under a couple of blankets as if he were freezing. She didn’t hesitate as she picked the first one and brought the butt of her gun down on the side of his head. His grunt woke the other man and to her surprise he was up and out of bed faster than she would’ve thought possible.

  He screamed something and ran right at her. It was not Berkley’s intent to kill either of them if she could help it, but before she could aim, he kicked the weapon out of her hand and it slid across the floor to the door. He then ignored her and went for the pistol.

  The guard was smaller than her by a foot, but he was fast and made it to the door first. His hand landed on the gun as Berkley landed on his back. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back as she tried to get hold of his other hand before he could get a good enough grip on the gun to fire.

  Time seemed to slow down again for Berkley as she tired to slam his head to the floor. She was able to connect but not before he twisted and got a shot off that sliced through the top of her shoulder. The pain was unbearable, but she was able to slam his head and hand down so that this time the pistol came loose and his head hit the concrete floor with a crack that sounded like a melon being dropped from the second floor.

  The fight went out of him after that and Berkley went down with him momentarily, breathing hard from the fight and from the stinging in her shoulder. When she sat up she noticed the blood pool that came from under the man was starting to spread. She checked his pulse but found none. Before she could process any thoughts about the second man she’d killed in the span of a day, the other man sat up, shaking his head, then stumbled toward her.

  Berkley forgot about her pain as she ran from him, but he was on her so fast it was as if he’d flown across the room. As she rolled over, Berkley saw him lift his fist to attack. His hand was halfway to her face when the bullet from the gun she’d grabbed ripped right through his gut and knocked him backward.

  “Shit,” she said as she glanced at both of the still men before standing to make sure they were indeed the only two. Her plan had been to bind them and leave them for their relief to find, but like her father had told her, in any situation where there can be only one winner, you killed everything that moved or looked at you funny to guarantee the winner was you.

  Another curse went through her head when she went outside and saw Harvey dragging himself under the fence. “I thought I gave you a direct order to stay put.”

  “And you said you’d come get me if there was trouble, so reprimand me after we get the fuck out of here.” He used his crutches to reach her and almost fell when he saw the blood covering the top of her flight suit. “They shot you?”

  “Pathetically, with my own gun,” she said and leaned against the building. “I don’t have time to bitch about it now, though, so go in ther
e and try to find some kind of first aid kit while I do a quick inventory.”

  The facility consisted of the building where the guards slept and another larger building fifty feet away. She opened the door expecting to see shelves of parts but instead found a plane that from a quick view was about three fourths of the way put back together, and another one behind it with an empty engine compartment.

  Berkley took a minute to look at what the guards slash mechanics had done and what was missing. But before she bothered, she searched for a fuel source, because even if the plane engine was new it’d be useless without the juice. Next to the other plane parked to the rear was a small portable tank that would get them to the Jefferson if it was close to being full.

  When she dipped a stick into it the mark, was only half of the way up. “Could at least one damn part of this not be a challenge?”

  Junior came back with a wet towel and a roll of bandages. “This is the best I could do.”

  She sat long enough for him to tie the towel in place, then got to work. Putting engines back together was something you never wanted to rush, but Berkley felt like luck was slowly walking out the door and she needed to be done before the bitch disappeared altogether.

  “Need me to do anything?” Junior asked from the bottom of the ladder she was standing on.

  “Start putting every drop of that fuel in this thing,” she said and lifted her head from under the hatch when the phone started ringing. “Once you’re done get in and buckle up.”

  The damn phone rang over fifty times. Each minute no one answered was one minute closer to the alarm being sounded. She got back to work and as she put the final pieces in place, the compass Triton had given her pressed against her thigh where she had it in her pocket. It reminded her of where she needed to get back to and why.

  No more lost chances, and no more giving in and walking away without a fight for the things she wanted. “The only thing that’ll keep me from breaking my promises is if they blow me out of the sky, baby, and that only happens once,” she whispered for Aidan.