Raven Strike d-13

by Dale Brown

  He knew it wasn’t true. And yet some might see it that way.

  Inside his office, Reid sat down and looked at Danny Freah’s most recent updates on the Whiplash operation. The involvement of the Russian agent alarmed him. He quickly brought himself up to date on the Russians and their various operations in Africa. It wasn’t clear whether they were trying to make a new push onto the continent, perhaps to be part of future mineral extraction operations, or were simply on the lookout for new clients for their weapons. Either theory made sense, and in any event neither changed the situation.

  It was inconceivable that they had caught wind of Raven and knew it would be tested there.

  Or was it?

  Even though it appeared that Whiplash had things under control at the moment, Edmund had to be informed about the Russian. Reid took a quick run through the overnight briefing, making sure there wasn’t anything major he had to be aware of, then called up to the director’s office.

  “Mr. Reid, the director is out of communication at the moment,” said his secretary. “I’ll put you through to Mr. Conklin.”

  Out of communication? That was a new one on Reid.

  Conklin came on the line. He was Edmund’s chief of staff, an assistant. Reid rarely if ever dealt with him.

  So it begins, he thought.

  “Jonathon, what can we do for you?” asked Conklin.

  “I need to speak to Herman.”

  “I’m afraid that’s going to be difficult to arrange for a while.”

  “This is critical.”

  “I’m sure. But—”

  “Why would it be difficult to arrange? Is Herman all right?”

  “The director is fine.”

  “It has to do with Raven,” said Reid, unsure whether Conklin would even know what that was.

  Apparently he did. “You should talk to Reg on that.”

  Reginald Harker: Special Deputy for Covert Operations, head of the Raven project, probably the idiot behind the whole screwed-up situation in the first place.

  Not the person Reid wanted to speak to.

  “This is really a matter for Herman,” he said. “It’s critically important.”

  “Reg is the person to speak to,” said Conklin.

  “I’ll do that. But inform Herman as well.”

  “I will pass a note to Mr. Edmund at my earliest opportunity.”

  Reid hung up. He started to dial Edmund’s private phone, then stopped.

  How paranoid should he be? The system would record the fact that he had made the call; the internal lines could also be monitored.

  Should he worry about that?

  What if it wasn’t a coincidence that the Russians were there? What if someone inside had tipped them off?

  But who?

  Reid debated with himself, but in the end decided that paranoia had its uses. He left his office, left the campus, and drove to a mall a few miles away. After making sure he wasn’t being followed, he took a lap through the building, found a drugstore and bought a prepaid phone. Then he walked through a large sporting goods store to the far entrance to a parking lot. He went outside and after once again making sure he wasn’t being followed, used the phone to call Edmund’s private phone.

  He went straight to voice mail.

  “We need to talk ASAP,” he said.

  Reid hung up, then made a call with his encrypted satellite phone. When he got voice mail again, he hung up. After sending a text through the secure system — it took forever to hunt and peck the letters — he set the ringers on both his phone and the cell to maximum and went back inside. He pretended to be interested in the treadmills and T-shirts before leaving.

  On the way back to the campus, he called Breanna, this time with an encrypted phone. She answered on the second ring.

  “Have you seen the overnight update?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “We can’t let the Russians get ahold of this. If a handoff is made to the Russian, they must take him out,” said Reid. “There should be no question.”

  “All right. We’ll need a finding.”

  “I’ll take care of that,” said Reid.

  “Did you speak to the President?” Breanna asked.

  “We had a brief session,” he said.

  “Anything I should know?”

  Reid spent a long moment thinking of what to say before answering.

  “There’s nothing that came out that affects us directly,” he said finally.

  “Jonathon — is there anything else I can do? Should I come back to D.C.?”

  “No, I think I have it under control,” he said finally. “Stay in touch. Keep your phone handy.”

  “You sound tired,” she added just before he was about to hang up.

  “Well, I guess I am,” he told her before ending the call.

  * * *

  “You’re trying to trump this up into something,” charged Harker when Reid met him in his office. He picked up the coffee cup on his desk, brought it about halfway to his mouth, then in a sudden fit of anger smacked it onto the desktop, splattering some of the liquid. “You want to create a scandal. There’s nothing here, Reid. Nothing.”

  “I’m not creating a scandal,” replied Reid. “I’m simply doing my job.”

  “Which is what?”

  “Getting Raven back. Keeping it from our enemies.”

  “I know you’re angling for the DIA slot,” said Harker. “It’s not going to work. Everybody can see through the games you’re playing.”

  Reid said nothing. Denying interest in the job — which he had absolutely no intention of taking — would only be interpreted as a lie. In fact, everything he said would be interpreted through Harker’s twisted lens. It was pointless to even talk.

  “I only came to you because I’m having trouble speaking to Edmund.” Reid rose. “And I’m concerned about the Russians.”

  “Herm doesn’t speak to traitors.”

  Reid stared at Harker. The man’s face was beet red.

  “This isn’t a question of loyalty to the Agency,” he said.

  “Get out of my office,” said Harker.

  “Gladly.”

  Chapter 5

  Duka

  Melissa watched Marie Bloom survey the reception room, her hands on her hips. The clinic director turned and looked at her with a worried expression.

  “Ordinarily, this room would be full,” she said. “But maybe we should count our blessings.”

  “Yes,” said Melissa softly.

  They had seen only a small handful of patients since opening at dawn. Now it was past noon.

  Bloom sat down on the couch that faced the door. Her face was drawn. “Did you bring these troubles?”

  “No,” said Melissa.

  “Did the man you’re hunting for?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

  “Do you know what’s going on?”

  “One of the people from Sudan First fired on the leader of Meurtre Musique.”

  “I know that. What’s really going on?”

  “That’s all that I know.”

  “The problem with you people…”

  Bloom let her voice trail off, not bothering to finish the sentence.

  “I’ll leave if you want,” said Melissa finally. “I’m only here to help. That’s the only reason.”

  “How could I ever believe that?”

  The door opened. Melissa felt her body jerking back, automatically preparing to be on the defensive.

  A pregnant woman came into the room. In her arms she had a two-year-old boy. The child was listless, clearly sick.

  Melissa looked over at Bloom. She had a shell-shocked expression.

  “I’ll take this one,” said Melissa, going over to the woman.

  She held out her arms. The mother glanced at Bloom, but gave the child over willingly. She said something in African, explaining what was wrong. Melissa could tell just by holding the baby that he had a fever.

  �
��Come,” said Melissa in English. “Inside.”

  The woman followed her into the far examining room.

  It was an infection, some sort of virus or bacteria causing the fever. Beyond that it was impossible to diagnose, at least for her. The fever was 102.4; high, yet not so high that it would be alarming in a child. There were no rashes or other outward signs of the problem; no injuries, no insect bites. The child seemed to be breathing normally. Its pulse was a little slow, but even that was not particularly abnormal, especially given its overall listless state.

  Melissa poured some bottled water on a cloth and rubbed the baby down.

  “To cool him off a little,” she said, first in English, then in slower and less steady Arabic. She got a dropper and carefully measured out a dose of acetaminophen. Gesturing, she made the woman understand that she was to give it to the baby. The mother hesitated, then finally agreed.

  As she handed over the medicine, Melissa realized that the woman was running a fever herself. She took her thermometer — an electronic one that got its readings from the inner ear — and held it in place while the woman struggled to get her baby to swallow the medicine.

  Her fever was 102.8. More serious in an adult.

  And what about her baby? The woman looked to be at least eight months pregnant, if not nine.

  Melissa took the stethoscope.

  “I need to hear your heart,” she said.

  She gestured for the woman to take off her long, flowing top. Unsure whether she truly didn’t understand or just didn’t want to be examined, Melissa told her that she was concerned about the baby.

  “You have a fever,” she said.

  The woman said something and gestured toward the young child on the examining table, who was looking at them with big eyes.

  Realizing she was getting nowhere, Melissa went out to the waiting area to get Bloom to help.

  Bloom had nodded off. Melissa bent down to wake her. As she did, the pregnant woman came out from the back, carrying her child.

  “Wait,” said Melissa, trying to stop her. “Wait!”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Bloom, jumping up from the couch.

  “She’s sick. Her baby may have a fever, too.”

  Bloom spoke in rapid Arabic. The woman answered in her own tongue. Whatever it was she said, Bloom frowned. She answered, speaking less surely. The woman waved her hand and went to the door.

  “You have to tell her,” said Melissa.

  “I can’t stop her,” said Bloom as the woman left.

  “We could at least give her acetaminophen, something for the fever.”

  “She won’t take it,” said Bloom. “It’d be a waste.”

  “But—”

  “If we push too hard, they won’t come back. They have to deal with us at their own pace.”

  “If she’s sick, the baby may die.”

  “We can’t force her to get better.”

  Melissa wanted to argue more — they could have at least made a better argument, at least explained what the dangers were. But her satellite phone rang.

  “I–I have to take this,” she said, starting for the door. “I’ll be right back.”

  Thinking it was Danny calling to tell her what was going on, she hit the Talk button as she went through the door.

  “Yes?” she asked.

  “Melissa, what’s the situation?” asked Reginald Harker.

  “Hold on, Reg. Let me get somewhere I can talk.”

  She walked outside, continuing a little way down the road. The harsh sun hurt her eyes. There was no one outside, and the nearby houses, which yesterday had been teeming with people, seemed deserted. Otherwise, the day seemed perfect, no sign of conflict anywhere.

  “I’m here,” she told Harker.

  “What’s going on with Mao Man?” he asked.

  “We have him tracked to a house on the northeastern side of town.”

  “What about the UAV?”

  “We think it’s nearby.”

  “Think?”

  “We’re not entirely sure.” His abrupt tone pissed her off. Try doing this yourself, she thought.

  “When will you be sure?”

  “I don’t know. There’s a Russian who’s trying to buy it—”

  “Do not let the Russian get it.”

  “No shit.”

  “Mao Man has to be terminated. Take down the Russian, too. Take down the whole damn village — what the hell are you waiting for?”

  “Reg—”

  “I’m serious, Melissa. Why do you think I sent you there? What the hell did we invest in your training for?”

  “I have no idea,” she told him stonily.

  “Don’t let these Whiplash people run the show. They have their own agenda. Tell them to stop pussyfooting around and get the damn thing done.”

  “Fuck yourself,” she said. But he’d already hung up.

  Melissa pushed the phone back into the pocket of her baggy pants. She was so angry she didn’t want to go back into the clinic; she needed to walk off some of her emotion. She clenched her hands into fists and began to walk.

  She’d gone only fifty yards or so when she heard trucks in the distance. The sound was faint, the vehicles far off, but instinctively she knew it was trouble.

  Chapter 6

  Washington, D.C.

  Zen sat in the hospital waiting area, tapping his fingers against the arms of his wheelchair. Not since he ran for the Senate had he felt such a combination of anticipation and anxiety. Not that he’d cared about the outcome — he would have been just as content retiring from politics as a two-term congressman and getting a job in the private sector. In some ways he’d have been happier, since few jobs had such a demand on anyone’s time.

  The door opened. Dr. Esrang walked in, alone.

  “Doc, how are we doin’?” asked Zen.

  “Hard to say,” said Esrang. “Brain activity is normal. For him. Physically, no problems. Mood — well, that’s always the question, isn’t it?”

  “Once around the block and back inside,” said Zen.

  “You’re not actually—”

  “Figure of speech, Doc,” said Zen.

  “Yes, of course. All right. We’re ready.”

  “I think it’s going to work,” said Zen.

  Esrang started for the door, then stopped. “Jeff, let me say something, if you don’t mind.”

  “Shoot.”

  “There may be setbacks.”

  “I understand.”

  “If you’re serious, we have to keep at it. If this doesn’t go well, then we try something else. All right?”

  “Absolutely,” said Zen.

  “We keep at it.” Esrang went in then. Pep talks were out of character for the doctor; maybe it was a good omen.

  Stoner emerged a few minutes later, flanked by a female nurse who was nearly as big and broad-shouldered as the two male attendants/bodyguards waiting for him. Esrang trailed them, a concerned expression on his face.

  Just a damn walk in the sunshine, Zen thought. But it was the first time Stoner would be allowed into the unfenced public area outside.

  A baby step, but an important one.

  “Hey, Mark,” said Zen. “I was thinking we’d get outside a bit today and walk around. I’m feeling a bit frisky. What do you say?”

  Stoner turned toward him but said nothing. His face was blank.

  “Good,” said Zen, as enthusiastic as if Stoner had agreed. “Let’s go.”

  He began wheeling toward the exit. Stoner and the nurse followed. Dr. Esrang stayed back.

  “Did you catch the game last night?” Zen asked. “Nationals took the Mets with a homer in the bottom of the ninth.”

  “Good.”

  It wasn’t much of a response, but Zen felt vindicated. He rolled slowly down the corridor, pacing himself just ahead of his companion. Jason Black, his aide, was standing there waiting. Jason pushed open the door and held it as the small entourage exited the building. Zen took the lead, rolling
along the cement path toward a small picnic area.

  “Good view, huh?” Zen wheeled to a stop.

  “Of garbage cans,” said Stoner.

  It seemed like a non sequitur, just a random comment. Then Zen realized Stoner was looking at the back of a building some hundred yards away.

  “Can you see them?” he asked. “How many?”

  “Eighteen.”

  “What about the flowers?” asked Zen, pointing to the nearby flower bed.

  Stoner looked, then turned to him. “Yeah?”

  “Bree likes flowers,” said Zen, searching for something to say. “Teri, too. My daughter. Teri. You have to meet her.”

  Stoner didn’t reply.

  “Good day for baseball,” said Zen.

  Stoner remained silent. Zen tried to get a conversation going, talking about baseball and football, and even the cute nurse who passed on an adjacent path. Stoner had apparently decided he wasn’t going to talk anymore, and said nothing else. After they’d been out for about fifteen minutes, Dr. Esrang came over, looking at his watch.

  “I’m afraid it’s time for Mr. Stoner’s physical therapy,” he said loudly. “If that’s OK, Senator.”

  “It’s OK with me,” said Zen. “Assuming Mark feels like sweating a bit.”

  Stoner turned toward the building and began walking. Zen wheeled himself forward to catch up with him.

  “Maybe we’ll take in some baseball, huh?” he asked. “If you’re up to it.”

  Stoner stopped. “Baseball would be good.”

  “Even if it’s the Nats?” joked Zen.

  Stoner stared at him.

  “Their record is — well, they are in last place,” admitted Zen. “So, it may be a tough game to sit through.”

  “Baseball is good,” said Stoner.

  * * *

  “That went very well,” Esrang told Zen after Stoner had returned inside. “Very well.”

  “You think so?”

  “He talked to you. He said a lot more to you than he’s said to anyone.”

  “He said three or four sentences. Then he just shut down.”

  “It’s what he didn’t do that’s important,” said Esrang. “No rage, no attempt to run away. I think he’s slowly coming back to his old self.”