End Game

by Alex Lukeman

  "They should have stuck to cooking and cleaning," Lamont said.

  From here, stairs led to the upper levels.

  "I hate stairs," Ronnie said.

  Nick's vision was coming back.

  "Remember. We need Kondor alive."

  Ronnie started up the stairs. Something rolled down the steps, past his legs .

  "Grenade!"

  Valentina grabbed the deadly cylinder, and threw it back up the stairs. The explosion ripped through the floor above.

  Ronnie ran up the stairs, the others after him.

  They were now on the main floor of the chalet. To the right of the stairs, a man lay dead. A pistol lay next to him. His lower leg was in bloody shreds, his face unrecognizable. Fragments from the grenade had ripped it apart. Along one wall, a large, antique desk was placed under a large window. The grenade had taken out most of the glass. Cold air and snow blew in through the broken panes.

  A quavering voice came from another room.

  "Hans! What is happening?"

  "That sounds like Kondor," Nick said. "Ronnie, Lamont, Valentina. Clear the upper levels. Be careful. There may be more of them. Selena, let's go talk to Herr Kondor."

  As they moved toward the stairs to the next level, Ronnie turned to Valentina.

  "Thanks," he said. "You've got a hell of an arm."

  "It is nothing," she said. "I was lucky."

  "Yeah, well, I owe you one."

  "Perhaps you buy me drink when we are home, no?"

  Ronnie grinned. "You asking me for a date?"

  Valentina looked puzzled.

  "Date?"

  "Never mind. We get back, I'll buy you a whole bottle, you want."

  "Just drink will be fine. Maybe two."

  They started up the stairs.

  Chapter 50

  Gregor Kondor lay propped up in bed against several fat pillows. A green tank next to the bed fed oxygen through a tube into his nostrils. His face was gray, a map of age and wrinkled flesh. His jowls hung loose, his eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot. He breathed through his mouth.

  The room smelled of decay and age and medicine and death. As soon as he saw him, Nick knew Kondor was not long for the world.

  "I know who you are," Kondor said, in German.

  "Speak English," Nick said. "I know you can."

  Kondor coughed, a deep, wet sound.

  "I said, I know who you are. You are my nemesis."

  "Nick, look," Selena said.

  She pointed at a plaque of solid gold hanging on the wall. In the center was a golden, nine pointed star. A Latin phrase surrounded it, in raised letters of gold.

  AETERNUS EST ORDUM NOVO

  "The new order is forever," Selena translated. "AEON. Adam was right."

  "Adam is always right," Nick said.

  "You killed my friend," Kondor said.

  "You have friends?"

  "You are too late, Carter. Events are now beyond your control."

  He coughed again. Nick took a recorder out of his pocket and turned it on.

  "I have to admit, Kondor, stealing those bombs was a brilliant move."

  Kondor laughed, a cackling, humorless laugh .

  "Yes, it was, wasn't it? You Americans, you are so sure of yourselves. Certain of the security that surrounds your nuclear arsenal. So sure no one can compromise it. If you only knew how much of your precious nuclear material is missing."

  "That may be," Nick said. "Tell me, how did you manage to pull it off? Stealing the bombs?"

  "Do you think recording this will make any difference?" Kondor said.

  "Humor me."

  "In a day or so, your recording will cease to exist, along with your capitalistic world."

  "I never would have taken you for a communist."

  "Oh no, I'm not a communist. I've never been a communist. Communists are too… common. They have no real vision. They cannot see past their flawed ideology."

  "If you're not a communist, what are you? Why have you set these events in motion? Why steal the bombs?"

  "I should think the answer is obvious," Kondor said. "Humans are on the verge of ending all life on the planet. There are too many of them. Governments are concerned only with their petty nations. Until there is one government to rule this world, there will be wars and famine and death. The old must make way for the new."

  "You want to destroy the planet with a nuclear war to make way for a new order? That doesn't make any sense."

  "You're wrong, Carter. It makes perfect sense. Not all of the world will suffer the nuclear fires. Many places will be untouched. Most of my colleagues are already safe in places where this coming war will not affect them. Once the hostilities are over, they will emerge. An era of peace will begin."

  "Let me see if I understand what you've done," Nick said. "You used terrorists to steal the bombs. How did you get them to do that?"

  "It was simple. All I had to do was find someone with the right profile, the right motivation. "

  Kondor began coughing. Nick waited until the spasms had stopped.

  "Where was I?" Kondor said.

  "Someone with the right profile," Nick said.

  "Ah, yes. The Chechens. They were perfect. Each of those men had good reasons to seek revenge on America and on the Russians. Personal reasons. The Americans and the Russians conspired to destroy their Republic. Their families were murdered by Russian bombs and bullets. As a bonus, they had all been radicalized in their religious belief. They saw the West as an evil affront to all they believed proper. It is easy to manipulate religious fanatics."

  "Must've been upsetting when the bombs kept getting found," Nick said.

  "I admit, I was worried for a while," Kondor said. "Then the final bomb went off in Belgograd. It should have been Moscow, but in the end it will make no difference. Moscow will be destroyed, along with Washington and all the rest of the great centers of power who refuse to honor the earth."

  "What about China?" Nick said. "Why didn't you target them?"

  "It wasn't necessary. Logistics were difficult. Besides, once the missiles begin to fly China will not escape. America and Russia can not afford to allow the Chinese to survive."

  Lamont, Ronnie and Valentina came into the room. Ronnie had a black leather notebook in his hand.

  "The house is clear," he said. "I found this in the desk in the other room. It's in German. I can't read it, but I think it's a diary."

  "Let me see it," Selena said.

  She opened the book and flipped through it.

  "You're right, it's a diary. He's kept a running account of how his plan was working out. It's the proof we needed."

  She handed it to Nick. He stuffed it in a pocket of his jacket .

  Kondor burst into a long fit of coughing. He reached over to the bedside table for a glass of water. His other hand fumbled with something under the covers.

  "That book is a testament to my genius," he said.

  "You're insane," Selena said.

  "Ah, she speaks."

  "You're an educated man," Selena said. "A war will destroy the great works of humanity. Art, sculpture, the museums and libraries, all of the things that redeem us as humans. Think of all the animals that will die along with the people, the trees, the grasses, the flowers. Life itself will be extinguished. Radioactive fallout will blanket the world and poison the oceans. There will be no safe places, anywhere. How can you countenance such a terrible act?"

  "You bore me," Kondor said.

  "Is there anything else you want to say before we haul you out of here?" Nick said.

  "Oh, horrors, you would drag a sick old man out of his deathbed. Shame on you, but I would expect nothing less from an animal like you."

  Kondor's hand came out from under the covers holding a Luger pistol. He fired twice before anyone could react. The bullets struck Nick and knocked him down. Ronnie brought up his gun and fired. The bullets ripped into Kondor's chest, stitching neat, round holes that quickly turned red.

  Kondor
thrashed under the covers, throwing them aside, and died.

  Lamont pointed at a black box lying next to the body.

  "What the hell is that?"

  Selena helped Nick get to his feet. His body armor had stopped the nine millimeter rounds. He was taking deep breaths.

  "You okay?" she said.

  "Yeah. Feels like I got kicked by a horse."

  "Nick," Lamont said .

  He held up the object. A timer was counting down in red, digital numbers.

  48.

  47.

  46.

  45.

  "Bomb!" Nick yelled.

  They ran for the stairs, down the steps. They reached the bottom level and sprinted down the hall toward the door, leaping over the body of Wilhelm lying on the floor.

  The back door was still open. They ran as hard as they could into the night, past the cleared area and into the trees. Branches whipped at their faces as they struggled to get far away from the building. They were fifteen or twenty yards into the trees when the bomb went off.

  The chalet lifted off the ground and disintegrated in a gigantic ball of orange flame. The force of the blast knocked them down. A blizzard of flying branches and splinters and pieces of the building whistled overhead. The sound of the explosion rolled like the thunder of gods through the peaceful Alpine valley below.

  The echoes died away. They climbed to their feet. Trees lay broken around them. Flames leapt into the air from the wreckage of the chalet with an ominous, roaring sound. For a moment they stood staring at the fire, silhouetted against the light.

  "So much for making noise," Ronnie said.

  Nick took out his phone and punched in the number Nicole had given him. She picked up on the second ring.

  "Yes."

  "We're leaving. Wake up the crew."

  "Copy," Nicole said. She disconnected.

  Next, he called Elizabeth.

  "Yes, Nick. What's your status?"

  "Kondor is dead. I've got him on tape admitting what he did. I'm sending it to you now. "

  He took out the recorder with Kondor's confession, plugged it into his satellite phone, rewound, and hit play. When the tape was done, he disconnected the recorder.

  "Did you get it, Director?"

  "Yes. Good work. Come home."

  Nick disconnected.

  "Let's get out of here," he said.

  By the time they made it back to the SUV, the snow had stopped. Fire from the chalet had spread into the trees. An orange glow on the side of the mountain marked the growing blaze. A dark column of smoke rose into the night sky, obscuring the stars. They changed into regular clothes, climbed in, and headed back down. At the highway they turned right toward the town. They'd gone no more than a kilometer or two when the night lit with the flashing lights of fire trucks coming toward them. Nick pulled over and waited for them to pass.

  "Good thing we find timer," Valentina said.

  "You are the queen of understatement," Nick said.

  "That was a little too close," Ronnie said.

  "Yep," Lamont said.

  "Are we going back to the safe house?" Selena asked.

  "Nope. We're going straight to the airport," Nick said.

  "What about bags and things in safe house?" Valentina asked.

  "Nicole will take care of that. Did you leave anything important there?"

  "No, Nick. I am very squared away."

  "Outstanding," Nick said.

  "What a creep that guy was," Lamont said.

  Nick nodded. "He got exactly what he deserved. Too bad it didn't happen years ago."

  "What a horrible man," Selena said. "He really thought it was a good idea to kill billions of people for some twisted vision of a world ruled by people like him. "

  "I can understand why someone could think they'd survive a nuclear war in a shelter," Lamont said. "What I don't get is why they'd think everything would be fine when they came out. I don't care how much money you have, or how great your shelter is. That doesn't make sense."

  "No place on earth would be safe if there was a world war," Nick said. "Everyone would use nukes. Sooner or later, even countries that weren't bombed would be overwhelmed with radioactivity. Anyone who survived wouldn't like the world they found themselves living in."

  "Reminds me of a cartoon I saw once," Ronnie said. "This couple is down in an underground shelter and up top there's nuclear explosions everywhere. The place is stocked with canned food. The guy is holding up a can and looking at it like he doesn't know what to do. The wife is saying to the guy, 'I told you to get a can opener.'"

  "That's almost funny," Nick said.

  "Have you ever seen The Twilight Zone?" Lamont said. "Every once in a while there'd be a nuclear war and weird stuff would happen to the people that survived. Like the guy who's in a nice safe bank vault with a lot of books to read, only he breaks his glasses and can't see."

  Nick drove toward the airport.

  "Kondor seemed to think he'd be saving the environment. Doing the earth a favor," Selena said. "Look what happened with Chernobyl. No one can live there for a thousand years. A nuclear war would make Chernobyl look like a backyard barbecue. What kind of environmental sense does that make? It's crazy."

  "Crazy is as crazy does," Lamont said.

  "Lot of crazy going around these days," Ronnie said.

  Chapter 51

  Stephanie transcribed Nick's phone call with the recording of Kondor's confession and sent it to Langley. Elizabeth called Clarence Hood.

  "Nick got the proof we need," she said. "He recorded Kondor admitting he stole the bombs and used Chechen terrorists to carry out his plan. He's also got Kondor's diary. It describes everything in detail. He faxed it to me from the plane. Stephanie has sent everything to you, by way of Lucas."

  Lucas Monroe was Stephanie's husband. He was also Deputy Director of the CIA.

  "Thank God," Hood said. "Now all we have to do is convince the Russians it's real."

  "You don't think they'll believe it?"

  "I honestly don't know, Elizabeth. Put yourself in their shoes. Suppose a nuke had gone off somewhere like, say, St. Louis. What would you think, if you were running the Pentagon?"

  "I'd assume we were under attack," Elizabeth said. "I would suspect the Chinese or the Russians."

  "Exactly."

  "How are you going to get this to Orlov? Through the White House?"

  "I don't think that would work. There are people in the Pentagon who want a war. They have too much influence over Hopkins. He's already left Washington for Colorado and the alternate command center at Cheyenne Mountain. He thinks he'll be safe there."

  Elizabeth laughed. "Sure he will. That has to be one of the priority targets for something big. Even if anyone survived inside the mountain, they'd never get out. Even the escape tunnels will collapse if they hit it with an H-bomb. "

  "I'll send everything to him, but it won't matter. Even if he contacted Moscow, Orlov and his generals are unlikely to believe anything he says. They don't trust him. I wouldn't either."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "There is an old tradition where the heads of opposing intelligence agencies talk to each other unofficially, if needed. I'm going to call Kerensky and hope I can persuade him I'm telling the truth. He'll go to Orlov."

  "Will he believe you?"

  "I think I can persuade him. The question is whether or not he can persuade Orlov."

  "What do you think the chances are Orlov will back off?"

  "Realistically? At best, 50-50. It's not just Orlov. It's his generals as well."

  "I guess it's time to be an optimist," Elizabeth said. "See the glass as half-full."

  "A prayer or two wouldn't go amiss, either," Hood said.

  After she'd hung up, Elizabeth turned to Stephanie.

  "We need to know what's happening in Russia. Freddie can help with this."

  "Freddie, are you tracking events in the Russian Federation?" Stephanie asked.

  Y
es, Stephanie. I am following several live satellite feeds. In addition to our own satellites, I have accessed Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and European satellites currently in position over the Federation.

  "What is your analysis of Russian actions?"

  The Russian Federation is preparing for war. I have observed intense activity at all ICBM missile installations. Many mobile launchers armed with intercontinental missiles have moved out of their normal positions. I am unable to establish the present whereabouts of all of them. I have also observed unusual naval activity.

  "What kind of unusual activity? "

  The ballistic missile submarine Admiral Nevsky has left Polyarny Naval Base before completing repairs. The Baltic fleet is putting to sea. There is unusual activity at the Odessa Naval Base. All serviceable submarines in Russian naval bases have sailed and submerged.

  "That is not a good sign," Elizabeth said.

  "Freddie."

  Yes, Stephanie?

  "If nuclear war begins between the United States and the Russian Federation, what is your estimate of the outcome?"

  The United States will win due to superior nuclear capability. However, the result will be the annihilation of both societies. China and the Far East will be uninhabitable, as will all of the northern hemisphere and some areas below the equator. Radioactive fallout will blanket the globe.

  "But the U.S. wins?"

  That is correct.

  "Some win," Stephanie said.

  Chapter 52

  Colonel-General Maxim Kerensky stood at attention in the office of Vladimir Orlov. Kerensky was not a happy man. As Director of the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, Russia's equivalent of the CIA, he was the one ultimately responsible for detecting plots against the Motherland and making sure they were stopped before they succeeded. His job made him one of the most powerful men in Russia, but it was power that came from the czar. Like all power bestowed by a ruler, it could be taken away in an instant of displeasure or mistrust. Vladimir Orlov was czar in everything but name, and there was no doubt in Kerensky's mind that he was extremely displeased.

  "Well, General?" Orlov said. "You'd better have some answers for me. Are the Americans behind this or not? Is this fantastic story of terrorists and stolen bombs true?"