by Bryan Murray
“Good thinking,” Henson continued. “And then what happened?”
“They put me in a room with a guard on the door and gave me some water and plain food.”
“And why do you think they kidnapped you, Mr. Jacobs?” Henson inquired. This was an answer that Jake and Sarah were also eagerly awaiting.
Ben thought a moment. “I asked myself the same question. It was obvious they weren’t going to try and get me to show them how to build a drone, and even if I’d been foolish enough to consider it if they’d tortured me, they obviously didn’t have the billion bucks or so to get it done!”
Sarah added. “Let alone be able to design the deadly missiles!”
Ben nodded. “Exactly, Sarah. And then it began to dawn on me what it might be.”
Jake was interested. “It did?”
“Yes,” Ben continued as they all listened attentively. “The Death Dart has been used many times to take out terrorist cells and their leaders, so I was wondering if they were hoping to get me to disclose a way, where since they had no way of either detecting or stopping an incoming drone, they could at least perhaps scramble the amazingly accurate targeting software, so that the deadly payload missed its true target!”
Sarah was thinking out loud. “And did they mention that at all while you were in their custody, Ben?”
Ben nodded. “It was hard to tell. At one stage after they had been knocking me around, one of the terrorists, maybe the most technical of the entire stupid bunch, did mention that they wanted to discuss targeting!”
Jake and Sarah exchanged quick glances. “He did? And what did you say?”
“I told him that kind of information was classified. That earned me another smack across the head. He then told me another man was coming the next day from Syria and he would make me tell them everything I knew!”
“And did he?” Henson asked.
Ben heaved a sigh of relief. “No, thank goodness, because that night was when Jake and the rescue team arrived!”
Henson nodded. “Thank goodness for that. And if this man had tortured you, could you have given him any information?”
“Gentlemen, I have very little tolerance for pain, but the answer is absolutely no!”
“And why is that?” Henson asked.
Ben gave a wry smile. “Two reasons. Firstly because the technology to scramble the targeting once acquired is not perfected yet, so I couldn’t have told them even if I had wanted to.”
“And the second reason?” Henson inquired.
“Because I’m a patriot,” Ben replied proudly. “I’ve also got a heart condition and the onset of prostate cancer, so they would have had to kill me rather than get me to help them!”
Melnick had been listening carefully and he had a most sympathetic look in his eyes. “Spoken like a true patriot, Mr. Jacobs. I think that will be enough for the moment, gentlemen. We need to let Mr. Jacobs get some rest ready for the return flight to the US tomorrow. Do you have any more comments before we close this meeting, Mr. Henson?”
Henson smiled. “Not at all,” he got up and came over to Ben to shake his hand. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Jacobs, please have a safe trip back to the US,” he gave Ben his card. “And please give me a call any time if you think of anything else that may have been of interest while you were in captivity.”
Ben thanked him. “Of course. Mr. Henson.”
Jake and Sarah ushered the older man out after shaking hands with Melnick and Henson. “Thank you, gentlemen.” Jake added as they left.
CHAPTER 17
Driving Ben back to the hotel for the night, Jake looked across at the older man. He looked tired, desperately in need of some sleep.
“So, what did you think of the debriefing, Ben?” he asked.
Ben thought for a moment. “I thought they were both very polite gentlemen, Jake.”
Sarah looked at him intuitively, sensing there was something more.
“Did anything else bother you, Ben?” she asked.
Ben hesitated a moment. “Oh, I don’t know. It seems like the CIA don’t trust anyone!”
“How do you mean?” Jake asked.
“Well, Jake, I was grabbed and knocked around, still in shock after seeing both Ravi and Esther butchered. I was in fear for my own life, so that trying to figure out what kind of agenda those murderers had in mind was the last thing I was thinking of!”
“I can understand!” Sarah replied soothingly.
“It was as if Mr. Henson expected me to have analysed the exact scenario of those demented assassins, when all I was concerned about was where was I going to take my next urination. My bladder goes crazy every time I get stressed!”
Jake smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t let it worry you, Ben, those guys live in a different world than we do. They see spooks behind every door!”
Ben nodded. “Maybe you’re right, Jake.”
“So, let’s get you some rest. The Mossad have already assigned an additional agent to stay outside your door until we can get you to your flight in the morning.”
“Thanks, Jake, Sarah,” Ben replied. “Thank goodness you had the presence of mind to track my GPS chip!”
“Don’t thank us, Ben. It was Roddy who first told us about it. Both he and Doug were delighted to know you were safe, they can’t wait to get you back. Isaac and Andy were also totally stressed until they knew you were safe.”
Ben nodded. “Yes, they are two exceptional people. I can’t wait to see them.”
They escorted Ben to his room and as they approached the door, they could already see Moshe, the Mossad agent sitting outside the door.
* * *
After leaving Ben to relax for the night, Jake and Sarah went down to the hotel bar for a nightcap. They were re-capping on the events of the mission,
“Well, now we have Ben back safely, we can get back and finish the audit.” Sarah began.
“Right, I guess we need to give Steve a call to see how it’s going.” Jake was already dialling the number.
Steve answered quickly. “Hi, Guys, how are things?”
Jake smiled. “Well, as you probably heard, we managed to get Ben back.”
“That’s good news,” Steve replied. “Man, I get to miss all the fun. Was there any action?”
“Oh, yeah, but we took care of it. The Mossad were great as usual!”
“Any body bags needed?”
“Quite a few.”
“Way to go, guys!”
“So, how’s the audit coming along, Steve?” Jake asked.
“Easiest money we ever made, old buddy.”
“Really?”
“You bet, these guys are super organized. No way is any jerk-off getting in here, that’s for damned sure!”
“That’s great.” Jake replied.
“So, when will you be back?”
“We’ll be on a flight in with Ben tomorrow, so we’ll see you later tomorrow afternoon, okay?”
“No problem, see you then, bye.” Steve rang off.
Jake clicked off the phone and finished his drink. “Well, I’m ready to hit the sack, can’t wait till we get back to DC.”
Sarah smiled. “Yeah, it’ll be great to be hugging you and not the pillow!”
“Amen to that!” Jake put his arm around her affectionately and kissed her as they left the bar.
CHAPTER 18
The flight back to the US with Ben the following day was uneventful and when they got back to Tullahoma, they dropped him off at his apartment to rest up after the long trip and they continued into the plant.
After quickly debriefing with Steve on what had transpired on the trip, Jake called Doug Mulgrave’s secretary to see if the CEO could see them. She checked and called back quickly to confirm that her boss would be free in an hour. Jake thanked her and in the privacy of their office suite, the three of them chatted about their views on what they needed to discuss with the CEO.
“So, what do you think we should tell Doug?” Sarah aske
d.
Jake thought for a moment. “I’m not sure, Sarah. On the audit front, from what Steve tells us, they seem to have things pretty well organized security wise, but ever since this last trip to Tel Aviv, I keep getting these vibes that something big is brewing, but for the life of me I don’t know what the hell it is!”
Sarah nodded. “I know what you mean,” that analytical mind of hers was at work once again. “And my mind keeps going back to the night they grabbed Ben.”
“I’m listening?” Jake urged her to continue.
“Here they were, two senior men, both experts in the design of drones, yet when the terrorists busted in. they shot Ravi Bernstein and his wife as if they were simply swatting bugs - but kept Ben alive, hoping to extract information from him, about what we don’t know, but it was obviously something important enough to warrant bringing some senior terrorist all the way from Syria to interrogate him.”
Jake nodded that he was with her so far. “Correct, and luckily we managed to rescue him in time.”
“This is exactly what I’m getting at, Jake,” she continued. “So, expanding the overview of this scenario, here they had Ben in custody, he was the brains behind the Death Dart, the one single item of military hardware that had been devastating the terrorist locations and killing their leaders. So, we must assume that whatever it was they wanted, it had something to do with the Death Darts!”
Steve was listening closely. “Right, whatever they may have hoped to achieve when they grabbed Ben and shot his friends and let’s face it, somebody must have told them where he would be on the night he was abducted, so that at the very root of their plans was just one thing - grab the brains that knew the Death Dart better than anyone else!”
Sarah looked at Steve and smiled. “I told Jake you weren’t just a handsome face, Steve, but smart as well. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking, not any other vendor’s drone - the Winston drone!”
Jake was in agreement. “So, if we are correct, what do we tell Doug?”
Sarah spoke up. “I’m not sure how we put it, Jake, but if we are right and something big could be going down involving the Death Dart, then what Winston needs to do to safeguard their future, goes way beyond this routine security audit!”
“You’re right as usual, Sarah,” Jake replied. “If we are correct then Doug needs to understand what needs to be done after we explain all this to him.”
“I agree,” Sarah replied. “So, we need to give him some suggestions.”
Jake grinned. “Great, now we’ve got suggestions!”
Steve also grinned. “Hell yeah, just as long as someone explains to me what they are!” he winked at Jake.
“You guys,” she chided them. “Do I have to do all the thinking around here?”
* * *
When they arrived in Mulgrave’s office he was pleased to see them and he welcomed them back.
“Come on in,” he waved them to a seat around his conference table. “Great job, guys, how’s Ben?” he asked.
“We dropped him off to get some rest, but believe me, he can’t wait to get back to work. All the way home on the flight, he was talking about jobs that still needed to be done!” Jake replied with a smile.
Mulgrave looked pleased. “And do you think he’s okay, Jake?”
“I think so. He was a bit shaken up when we got to him, but we got there ahead of some senior terrorist guy who was on his way in from Syria to no doubt question him and, if necessary, torture him!”
“My God!” Mulgrave was still in shock. “Ben’s getting old. It’s a wonder he didn’t have a heart attack when they grabbed him!”
Sarah nodded. “I agree, Mr. Mulgrave.”
“Doug, please.”
“Yes, Doug,” she continued. “And the upside is that he’s alive and kicking and raring to go, which is amazing!”
Mulgrave was no fool. “And the downside?”
Jake chose his words carefully. “The downside is something that we wanted to chat to you about, Doug!”
“Go ahead, I’m listening?”
Jake began. “This whole episode of the kidnapping of Ben and the murder of the Bernsteins is very significant. It was as if the Bernsteins were merely a drone manufacturing irritant to the terrorists, whereas Ben and the Winston Death Dart were much more important to them.”
“Carry on, I’m listening?”
Sarah continued to explain. “Well, Doug, everything the captors said to Ben seemed to involve the work he was doing. They spoke in some desert dialect, but Ben still picked up words like ‘targeting’, ‘stopping the targeting’ and when he acted as if he couldn’t understand them, they knocked him around and that was when they told him of the guy who was coming to see him the next day. They said this guy would make him talk!”
Mulgrave was concentrating hard. “You’re losing me, guys?”
“What we’re saying, Doug,” Jake explained. “Is that the only thing the JOD seem to be interested in seems to be the Death Dart!”
“Interested in what way?”
Sarah helped to explain her concerns. “Well, Doug, after what Ben told us in his debriefing, the main interest of the JOD seemed to be in stopping the Death Dart in view of the casualties it has already inflicted on them so far, maybe they are trying to figure out a way to negate the lethal effect of the drone!”
Mulgrave was getting the picture. “Negate?”
“Yes, negate,” Jake replied. “There is no way they would be able to either detect or stop an incoming UCAV, but if they could find a way to either sabotage the drones on the ground or jam the tracking and targeting software, so that if the drones did attack, there would be a chance that the deadly missiles would miss their intended targets, that would certainly be worth pursuing!”
Mulgrave nodded his head in agreement. “I see what you mean,” his sharp mind was working fast. “So, to stop any of this from happening, we need to tighten the security around the Death Dart in every way possible?”
Jake nodded. “Exactly, Doug. We need to increase security on the drones and missiles already out there with customers as well as those going through the plant. We also need to double check the security around the trained pilots both here and on customer’s sites, and at the same time double checking on the software security for controlling the targeting and tracking of the Death Dart. If hackers can get into the Department of Defense files, we need to make damned sure they don’t do the same on the Death Dart software.”
Mulgrave was thinking fast. “So, how about it, Jake?”
“How about what, Doug?”
“Now that you’ve got Ben back safely, how about if we hire you to coordinate what we just discussed. That would be in addition to the existing security audit.”
Jake glanced quickly at Sarah who shrugged as if to say ‘Why not!’ He thought for a moment before replying. “There’d be a lot of things to take care of, Doug and if our suspicions are correct and the terrorists are planning something big, we also need to get the White House, the FBI and CIA involved. Are you okay with that?”
Mulgrave was deadly serious. “Absolutely, Jake. The Death Dart is perhaps the most lethal piece of military hardware on the planet, every country is desperate to get the technology, some for defense against evil and some to perpetrate evil. We have to ensure that it is only used as a deterrent of would-be attackers of our way of life and not as a weapon of aggression!”
Jake thought for a moment. “We’d be happy to help, Doug, but maybe we ought to get your old school chum Stephen Parker on board before we get too involved?”
“You’re right, Jake, I’ll give him a call and we’ll talk again in the morning.”
“Very good, sir. Well, I guess we’ll call it a day ourselves, we’ll be in at the usual time in the morning, just call us when you’ve spoken to the President.”
“No problem, thanks again, guys.”
They got up and left.
CHAPTER 19
Up in the mountain encampment of Jihad of
Death, General Al-Amabakhu was back in session with his senior technical agent Al-Bikari. They were discussing the up to date status of their master plan.
The general was surprisingly calm at the loss of his terrorists during the daring rescue of the engineer by the Americans and Israelis and he was anxious to make sure his team stayed focussed.
“These Americans are very good at what they do and their rescue of the captive was a little too fast for us to get the maximum impact from the kidnapping. However, our senior team leader in the US, has assured us that we have all the details in place for our special revenge on the infidel Americans!”
Al-Bikari nodded in agreement. “Yes, General, the timing is flexible, our team are ready to move at a moment’s notice, and all we need from you is the date of this magnificent offensive against the infidels!”
The general thought for a moment. “I have given some thought to this and I have also discussed it with our leader and our associates with Al-Qaeda.”
Al-Bikari was curious. “And what have you decided, General?”
The general explained his decision. “This is absolutely top secret information, so handle it with extreme care. Today is September 8th and with the final details to be checked and double-checked, the date of the attack will be on the anniversary of a date that is already carved in the memories of all Americans - 9/11!”
Al-Bikari smiled. “An excellent choice, General and we are ready to move at your signal. There is however one thing that you need to be aware of.”
“And what is that?”
“I have heard from our senior agent on the project that we may have a spy in our midst!”
“And what are we doing about it?” Al-Amabakhu was suddenly concerned.
“He is being monitored, General and once we get proof he will be terminated immediately.”
There was a thunderous look on the general’s face. “Let it be so. Nothing must affect the mission, your life depends on it, my brother!”
“Of course, General.” Al-Bikari swallowed nervously as the general limped out with his bodyguards.
CHAPTER 20