Once Dead Page 22

  Gerhardt’s lips tightened into a thin line. “I’ll see to it.”

  “I’m not going to miss my launch window. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As Rolf turned to walk back to the cleanroom exit, he heard Gerhardt’s deep voice giving the necessary orders, getting everyone moving. It was a problem and problems required fixing. From what Rolf had seen, the costs involved in fixing the primary generator would probably approach a million euros. That didn’t concern him.

  Having changed out of the clean suit, Rolf returned to his office.

  Picking up his cell phone, he speed-dialed a number. It rang four times before being answered.

  “This is Dr. Dortman.”

  “Hello, Doctor. This is Rolf Koenig.”

  “Your wife is doing just fine.”

  “We both know how Rachel is doing. I want you to get her ready to travel. One of my people will be picking her up and flying her to the Baikonur Cosmodrome tonight.”

  The doctor hesitated before responding. “I’m not sure she will be completely coherent by then. I’ve been keeping her fairly heavily sedated.”

  “Coherent or not, I want her on my private jet tonight. She can sleep it off on the flight.”

  “As you wish.”

  Rolf ended the call and seated himself at his laptop. As he began composing the email instructions that would get his people in Berlin moving, he allowed himself a small smile. Except for Jack Gregory, everything was going exactly according to plan.

  CHAPTER 74

  Vladimir Roskov lifted his head at the knock on his office door.

  “Come in.”

  The man who entered wasn’t one of his people; it was Wolfram Hitzig, Koenig’s stocky lead engineer.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s moving day! We just got the call from Baikonur.”

  Vlad rose to his feet, cracking his knuckles as he did. “Okay, then. Get the package ready for shipment. I’ll have my people position the truck at the loading dock.”

  “I’ve already given my team the word.”

  “How long until it’s ready?”

  “It should take a little over three hours to secure and palletize it for shipment. After that, thirty minutes to load it on the truck and get it strapped down.”

  “Good.”

  Vlad watched as the man exited. Fabulous. He was so tired of sitting on his ass while these scientists and engineers tinkered with their bullshit electronics, even if they were destined to go bang. Shit, he felt like a Goddamn nanny, while The Ripper was out there making a fool of him.

  Vlad had begun to think that maybe this man was the arrow that was aimed at his heart. It was a stupid superstition. He knew it. But the image of Gregory’s stitched-up, bloody corpse atop that Calcutta nun’s surgery table bled into his dreams on a nightly basis. The Ripper was out there, coming for him with an otherworldly presence that he couldn’t dismiss via rational thought. In Vlad’s dreams, he had seen the man in ages long gone, wading through rivers of blood, always the reaper. And he, who had never known fear, knew it now in a way that made him doubt his sanity.

  But he couldn’t let anyone know he was afraid, least of all Rolf Koenig. So Vladimir Roskov strapped on his big-boy pants, painted a sneer on his battle-scarred face, and strode from his office in total command of his mafia. And, right now, he was in no mood to be screwed with.

  Of course all moods have to come to an end. His in-command mood ended with the arrival of Jacob Knox.

  “What the hell is going on here?”

  Vlad grinned, although he felt like his lips moved into more of a grimace.

  “We have Koenig’s delivery order. I’m delivering.”

  “It’s too early. The Ripper hasn’t hit this kill zone yet.”

  Vlad found himself enjoying the other man’s discomfort. Lord knows, he’d felt enough of his own discomfort lately.

  He reached out and patted his old friend on the shoulder. “Can’t be helped. Koenig is driving the train and he wants the package now. You’ll have to adjust.”

  Looking into Jacob Knox’s coal-black eyes, Vlad saw only death therein. It gave him a nice warm feeling inside. In the years that Jacob had lent the CIA’s secret support to the Russian army’s suppression of Chechnya, Vlad had seen that look many times. Surely Jacob’s black soul was one that even Jack “The Ripper” Gregory couldn’t effectively deal with.

  Jacob’s growling voice pulled him from his thoughts.

  “Fine. Send the package, but keep your entire security force here. We have to make The Ripper believe his target is here. This is where I kill him, not Baikonur.”

  Vlad nodded. “I agree. But I have to provide security for the package. Plus I have to send the security forces that will be required for the day of the launch.”

  “We have to make The Ripper believe this is his target. Not Baikonur.”

  “And we will. Trust me.”

  But, as Vladimir Roskov looked into Jacob Knox’s black eyes, he knew his old comrade didn’t. Unfortunately for Jacob Knox, Vlad just didn’t give a shit.

  CHAPTER 75

  With the headlights illuminating a small swath of the endless Kazakh highway, Jack Gregory glanced to his right at the sleeping Janet Price, her head propped against the Russian SUV’s passenger window. He had been with many beautiful women. But this one was different in so many ways that he couldn’t begin to categorize her. She was a spider, winding him tightly into her web, one more trapped insect. It was a fine characterization, but he didn’t believe it. Janet Price was a true spirit, a reliable ally, and a deadly enemy. He could sense it just by being in her presence.

  Hopefully he wouldn’t get her killed. To make that happen, he’d have to stay alive himself. With the government and non-government forces arrayed against them, that seemed less and less likely.

  The pothole in the asphalt bounced the car with such force that Janet opened her eyes.

  “Would you like me to drive?”

  Seeing her questioning look, Jack laughed.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

  “Really? Because it doesn’t feel like you do.”

  “Oh, I do.”

  The smile that curved Janet’s lips as she closed her eyes and settled back into her seat warmed Jack. If she was right about laughter being ammunition, then she’d just delivered a fresh airdrop. That was good. He had the feeling that this little adventure was about to get bloody, much more than it had been to date.

  Jack felt the danger-lust rise up within him. There was no doubt that death awaited them in Kyzylorda.

  CHAPTER 76

  The big black semi-truck pulled away from the loading dock inside Warehouse Five and turned hard right, away from the closed steel doors that would take it outside. Jacob watched as it descended a ramp into the tunnel that terminated inside a smaller warehouse, five kilometers to the west. From there, it would make its way to Highway M32 that would take it and its precious cargo to Baikonur. What he didn’t like was the fact that it was accompanied by a dozen members of Roskov’s security force in two panel vans.

  The original plan called for a five-member security team to escort the shipment, but Roskov had insisted on sending more, wanting to pre-position an advance team at Baikonur. Utter stupidity that left Jacob seven men shorthanded.

  He didn’t know where Jack Gregory and Janet Price were. They had pulled a grand disappearing act in Austria and the CIA hadn’t been able to find their trail since. It was one more indicator of high-level intelligence agency sponsorship, something only Janet Price could have brought to the table.

  So why the hell wasn’t Nolan Trent able to crack her background story and find out who she’d really been working for the last couple of years? And the NSA was confirming that story. Unbelievable.

  Jacob didn’t care where The Ripper and Janet Price were. He had no intention of trying to find them. The whole point of this operation was to make them come to him, right here in this Kyzylorda kill-zone
. He damn sure didn’t want to try to fend them off at Baikonur. The Cosmodrome was in the middle of nowhere and, aside from the surrounding barren landscape, it had no defensible infrastructure. While the Cosmodrome did have a small security force, there were so many ways that it could be attacked that a battalion-size force would have had a hard time establishing a secure perimeter.

  As the huge ramp closed the hole in the warehouse floor, Jacob turned his attention to the security inspection he had begun before the shipment had interrupted him. He stepped out of the city-block-sized warehouse into a dreary gray morning, one that foreshadowed heavy rain by noon. It was the first cold day of fall and the dampness certainly didn’t make it any more comfortable.

  Two hours into his review of how well the restructured guard shifts were implementing his security protocols, the wind picked up. Ten minutes later the downpour began. Because he was dissatisfied with the results of his morning inspection, because employees tended to relax after they’d just been through an inspection, and because he was Jacob Knox, he turned up his raincoat’s collar and made one more circuit.

  These men had already learned that they might receive a visit from their harsh new master at any moment of the night or day. But now that he’d had to reshuffle his crews, it was time to ratchet up the pressure.

  Of all the warehouses inside the fenced complex, only Warehouse Five hadn’t been empty. But it was important to maintain the illusion that all six contained items of equal importance. It was even more important to maintain that illusion now that the package had departed. But all Roskov and Koenig could think about was Baikonur and what was getting ready to happen there.

  Stopping just outside the guarded entry-point to Warehouse Five, Jacob stopped and turned to look left and right down the narrow concrete street that separated it from the warehouse immediately to the west. Although he could never be satisfied, the trap was a good one. When Jack and Janet penetrated the outer defenses, and Jacob knew that they would penetrate them, they would find themselves pinned down by enfilading fire from snipers on the rooftops and from response teams that would seal them in one of these alleys with nowhere to take cover. The doors into the surrounding warehouses would be secured by steel bars dropped down behind them. Game over.

  For The Ripper, this would be the train platform for his one-way ticket to hell. And on this train, Jacob Knox would be the conductor.

  CHAPTER 77

  It was 6:58 a.m. here at Fort Meade, almost five p.m. in Astana. Halfway around the world from the black-glass NSA headquarters, Janet would have been in Kazakhstan’s exotic capital city for a full day now.

  Seated at the head of the small conference table in his executive conference room, Admiral Riles studied his top analyst’s hawkish features as he waited for this morning’s update to begin. Due to the sensitivity of the subject matter, Jonny Riles was the only audience Levi Elias would have.

  Always precise, Levi began speaking as the LED time display on the centermost of the digital wall clocks changed to 7:00 a.m., the others showing local time in other cities around the world.

  “Good morning, Admiral.”

  Riles nodded his acknowledgement.

  Levi aimed his laser pointer at the map that filled the monitor on the wall opposite Admiral Riles, sending the red dot dancing in a circle around Astana.

  “We have received confirmation that Janet Price and Jack Gregory landed yesterday in Astana without incident. In keeping with their cover, they subsequently met with an oil field manager from the KG Group before linking up with Zhaniya Mustafin on Astana’s south side. They’re now on the road, headed toward Kyzylorda.”

  “You’ve spoken with Zhaniya?”

  “Two hours ago.”

  “So what equipment did they take?”

  “Some high-end communications gear and enough arms, ammunition, and explosives to start a small war. They also took a high-power scanning laser that is banned under international treaty.”

  “How high power?”

  “It damages optics and produces permanent blindness at ranges out to three kilometers. Beyond that, it dazzles out to five kilometers, depending on weather conditions, producing temporary blindness and disorientation.”

  Levi clicked the button and a price spreadsheet replaced the map on the display.

  “This might raise some eyebrows.”

  “I want all those items listed as critical electronic components for the Utah Data Center. It’s the black budget so be creative.”

  “Okay.”

  “Has Janet given any indication why they need all that firepower?”

  “I think she and Gregory just want to be ready for anything. Right now we know that the CIA is protecting Vladimir Roskov, but we don’t know why. We’ve got satellite imagery that shows Jacob Knox at Roskov’s Kyzylorda warehouse complex. Here are a couple of examples.”

  Levi clicked a button on the remote, changing the display. The NSA director leaned forward. The first shot was a high-resolution electro-optic image showing Jacob Knox standing in front of three guards, his gesture indicative of a man giving orders to subordinates. The next one showed Knox walking between warehouses beside a bigger man, clearly identifiable as Vladimir Roskov. The Russian mobster’s head was turned toward Knox and he had a big grin on his face.

  The two images piqued Riles’s curiosity.

  “Seems like Knox has become a member of the family. Old acquaintances?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Find out.”

  “Yes, sir. There’s one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “Janet Price has requested access to satellite imagery of the Roskov warehouse complex.”

  Riles had known this was coming and it put him in an awkward position. The president of the United States had ordered him to route all intelligence related to Roskov or Rolf Koenig through Trent Nolan at CIA. But a CIA agent had tried to kill one of his people and that same agent was now hanging out with Roskov in Kyzylorda. This CIA operation was dirty. Every synapse in his brain told him that. Riles had sent Janet Price into harm’s way and he’d be damned if he was going to betray her now.

  “Give Janet what she wants.”

  Levi raised an eyebrow. “Sir, given the president’s instructions, I’m not sure that’s a legal order.”

  Riles knew it wasn’t. He also knew that if Levi complied with it, in the eyes of the law, he would be just as guilty as his boss.

  “Sometimes a person has to stand up and do what he thinks is right. In my judgment, this is one of those times. You have to make your own decision.”

  Riles leaned back in his chair and watched Levi’s face tighten.

  “I’ll see Janet gets what she wants.”

  It was the decision Riles had expected, although he’d been far from certain of it.

  “This stays between the two of us.”

  Levi rose from his chair and nodded.

  “You can count on it.”

  CHAPTER 78

  The work had gone superbly, the replacement nuclear power generator unloaded, tested, and connected to the XLRMV-1 robotic mining vehicle with a precision that made Rolf proud. No panic, just well-rehearsed professionalism, the result of uncounted hours spent turning his team’s expected actions into habits. All that hard work meant they were back on schedule. The proton launch vehicle had been moved to the pad and erected. Now the countdown had begun.

  Rolf had integrated Roskov’s security detail into his own, another piece of the puzzle complete. Poor unsuspecting Vlad. He believed that he and the Russian mafia he commanded were a critical piece of Rolf’s plan to substitute the real power package with its doppelganger.

  The launch of the XLRMV-1 and subsequent EMP attack on the United States’ east coast would only be the opening act of a play that would climax with Rolf leading the effort to exploit the untold riches of the solar system. But to do that, Rolf had to come out of this operation alive and exonerated. That meant he had to have a fall guy and just
the right window dressing.

  On the day of the launch, he would stand before the cameras with his beautiful wife, supremely proud of the experimental mission he was about to send to the moon. Then satellite communications would fail, killing the news broadcasts. Roskov’s men would take control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, substituting a new team for those who were supposed to manage the launch.

  After the nuclear attack on the United States was over, Jacob Knox would put a bullet in the back of Vladimir Roskov’s head and Rolf’s personal security team would turn on Roskov’s men, killing them before they could react to being betrayed. Rolf knew that the Kazakh authorities would question him; he was counting on it. During the course of the investigations that would follow, it would become clear that the North Korean government had used Roskov’s Russian Mafia to sabotage the original XLRMV-1 power package and replace it with one of their own design.

  Deputy CIA Director Nolan Trent, who would be meeting with his British counterpart at MI6 headquarters when the attack happened, would confirm Rolf’s account, bringing the curtain down on act two of Rolf’s grand play.

  As Rolf stepped into the room that he had been given to use as an office during his stay at the Cosmodrome, his attention was drawn to the lightning that crawled across the cloudy sky outside his window. Seven seconds later, thunder rattled the glass in its frame. Two kilometers away, the storm worried him. Not this one in particular, rather the sequence of early evening thunderstorms that were happening earlier every day. It wouldn’t do to have everything in place, only to have the weather delay his launch.

  The forecast indicated that the noon launch should be okay, but even short-term weather forecasts in Kazakhstan were notoriously unreliable. If the current pattern would hold just a couple more days, all would be well. If not, well . . . Rolf refused to think about it. Worrying about things he couldn’t control accomplished nothing and wasting time wasn’t his nature.

  As he seated himself at his desk, he glanced at the countdown display on his laptop. T-minus forty-three hours and counting.