by Fritz Galt
Jake closed his laptop and stared at it. The sleek device summed up the whole conflict to him. The disaster in Mongolia wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for modern technology. But he never would have solved the case without it.
For the past few weeks, he seemed to have fallen between the cracks of society. Communicating and traveling in the twilight hours between the extremes of two time zones seemed to sum up his life. Lately he had lived and explored the seams between conflicting forces: the role of the CIA against that of the FBI, the conflict between the press and the government over classified secrets, the interests of the technology industry as opposed to the survival of the environment.
He felt a deep kinship with Mongolia that was caught between Eastern and Western cultures, squeezed by the territorial ambitions of Russia and China, living in both the past and the future.
Mongolia existed as a buffer between conflicting worlds. But he also felt tremendous admiration for a land that had withstood eons of plate tectonics and for a culture that had survived centuries of warring nations. The people and their language and traditions survived because they represented something different, stronger, and more enduring than the frenetic palpitations of human progress. And they would survive long after all the dust had settled. Mongolia existed in the turmoil unharmed by the outside and unchanging from within. Only now, Jake feared, the very land upon which it sat was shifting beneath its feet. And the nature upon which it subsisted was under threat.
If Mongolia couldn’t survive, how could the world?
He reflected on his own role behind the scenes of Amber’s story. He had been chasing his own story, that of a homicide case that turned out to be a driver stepping on old Russian tank ammo, that then turned into a missing person case. It was simple police work compared to Amber’s deep dive into secret U.S. Government initiatives and a CIA employee and his father run amok.
He turned to Amber. “This is Pulitzer Prize material.”
She hung her head with humility. “It did earn me a permanent job on the international desk.”
“Congratulations.” He was truly happy for the boost in her journalism career. And maybe she could make the rent. He had no idea how the horrible eco disaster would play out over time. There was so little he could do. Saran had died for her country and the countryside was a mess. The only ray of hope lay in how much power the press had in exposing evil. “How did you figure all this out?”
“I have my sources,” she said, her eyes glittering.
“How can I know that you don’t also work for the CIA?” he asked.
She gave him an inscrutable smile. “You might never know.”
About the Author
Fritz Galt is an American novelist with over thirty years of experience in the diplomatic community. He has lived abroad in Cuba, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Taiwan, India, China, Belgium, and Mongolia. He lives with his family in Washington, DC. His bestsellers include Patient Zero, The Canton Connection, and Fatal Sting. For an in-depth look at Galt’s work, visit his Author Page.
Also by Fritz Galt
Mick Pierce Spy Thrillers
Double Cross
Thunder in Formosa
Geneva Seduction
Fatal Sting
Brad West Spy Thrillers
Destiny of the Dragon
Mind Control
The Shangri-la Code
International Thrillers
The Trap
China Gate
The Accidental Assassin
Patient Zero
Comoros Moon (short stories)
International Crime Thrillers
The Maltese Cross
The Canton Connection
Murder in Mongolia
Chasing the Tiger
Other Novels
Summerville
Lost Cutlass
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