January 18, CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?” Ethan demanded over the crackling static. “Drake? Drake!” He was answered with total silence. No response. No static. Nothing. He pulled his headset off and tossed it onto a desk. “What do you see, Leo?”
Leo Buschner tapped commands into a keyboard and watched the screen. “I’m trying to get a better resolution, Ethan.”
“Just tell me what you see.”
“Well, it’s a little difficult because there was a blur.” Leo looked up at Ethan and cleared his throat. “If I had to guess, I’d say that a door opened. That would have let heat out of the building. That was the blur there for a few seconds. Then there were more separate heat signatures.”
“So, someone came out of the building?” Ethan stared at the screen. The flashing red dots blurred together, then separated. “What was that?”
“That spark?” Leo asked. “I have no idea.”
“It was a momentary heat flare,” Robyn said. “I’ve seen it before. Probably from a gun. See.” She pointed to the screen. “One of the heat signatures was moving, then stopped when the heat flare occurred.”
Ethan stared at her for a moment. “Someone fired a gun?”
Robyn nodded and pointed to the screen again. “Look, the heat signature that stopped is moving again. Back toward the others.”
The flashing red dots separated into two groups. Two flashing dots, followed by three other dots. Then they all disappeared.
“What happened now? Where did they go?” Ethan demanded.
“Into the building. That’s the only thing that would mask the heat signatures like that,” Robyn said.
“Shit!” Ethan slammed his fist against the wall.
Leo looked like he might cry. Robyn patted his shoulder and looked at Ethan. “What can we do?”
Ethan just shook his head and rubbed his forehead. “Keep an eye on that place. Anything you can see will help.”
Robyn turned to Leo. “Let’s bring up the video from the secondary satellite on this monitor, then overlay both displays here.”
“There’s a secondary satellite?” Ethan asked. “Will that tell us anything?”
“The secondary gives us a deeper penetration into the building, but the heat signatures aren’t as defined. Anything we see, well, we won’t know who or what it is. Still, it’s something.”
“Do it.” Ethan walked out of the room and headed down the hall to his office. This situation was totally unacceptable. He’d sent an untrained person in to do the job of an agent. He’d let her talk him into going in deeper than he ever should have allowed. And he didn’t know what the hell Drake might do. Ethan picked up his phone and punched in a number.
“Calder here. Sorry to wake you, sir, but we have a situation in Switzerland. I have two agents down.”
“Are they dead?” Kevin Bolton asked.
“Unknown, sir, but I have reason to believe they are still alive. We need to go in. Now.”
“Can’t do it, Ethan. We’re twenty-four hours from a go. At the least.”
“That’s not acceptable. The agents will almost certainly be dead by then.” Ethan took a deep breath. “And the Order could be gone. We need to move now.”
“I understand. But again, we’re at least twenty-four hours from a go. I have to get an okay from our contact in Switzerland, and he’s not reachable untiltomorrow. Even then, he’ll have to talk to his people. I have no doubt it’ll be a go, but we simply cannot go in until then.”
“I see.”
“Ethan, I’m sorry. I’ll move this along as quickly as I can. But until we get word, we have to stand down. You got that?”
“Yes, sir. I understand.” Ethan replaced the receiver in the cradle and walked back down the hall to the ops room.
“Ethan, we’ve got something,” Robyn said when he entered the room. “See these two heat signatures? They’ve been in this area since you’ve been gone. They move occasionally, in a limited way. The other three heat signatures that we believe were outside escorted them here and then went away.”
“You think that’s Zoe and Drake?”
“It would make sense. See that?” She pointed at the screen. “They’re still moving, but not much. Like they’re in a confined space.”
“And since the other heat signatures left, you think the others were whoever came out of the building?” he asked.
“It’s our best guess.”
“Call Cournoyer, Timmens, LaCaria, and Schufreider. No, wait. I’ll call Timmens myself. Tell the others to be ready to go.”
“We’ve got clearance to send the team in?” Robyn asked.
Ethan looked at her for a moment. “We go wheels-up in one hour. I’ll brief them on the plane.”
January 18, The Order Facility outside Bern, Switzerland
“Is it me or is there something just incredibly creepy about those guards?”
“You mean the blank eyes? The total lack of emotion?” Drake sat down on the cot next to Zoe. “Yeah, I noticed.”
“Maybe the Order brainwashed them.” Zoe shuddered and walked across the small room. “We need to get out of here.”
“Good idea. But I don’t see any way out.” Drake looked at the windowless walls and solid door.
“I do.”
Drake followed her gaze to the small vent high on the wall above the cot. “No way. It’s too small.”
“For you. Not for me.”
“Even for you.”
“Wanna bet?” Zoe stepped onto the cot and ran her fingers around the edge of the metal vent covering.
“Excellent. It’s not screwed in.”
“I still don’t think you’re going to fit through there.”
“I’ll fit.” Zoe worked her fingers around the edge of the vent, slowly pulling it off the wall. “The question is, where do I end up and how do I get you out of here?”
“You’ll figure it out.”
Zoe stopped and looked down at him. “You sound pretty positive.”
“Does that surprise you?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, what if I don’t come through?”
“You will.”
“Great. No pressure.” She dropped the vent cover into his hand and peered into the opening. “It opens up to a larger vent not far from here.”
Drake stood on the cot next to her and looked into the duct. “Good thing you’re not claustrophobic.”
“Yeah. I’ll go left when I get to the larger duct, then look for a vent that opens someplace I won’t be seen. Then I’ll come back to get you.”
“Good plan,” Drake agreed.
“You really think I can take out the guard and get to you?”
“I don’t see why not.” Drake grinned and then leaned in to brush his lips across hers.
“What’s that? A kiss for luck?” she asked.
“Maybe I can do better.”
He captured her lips again, running his tongue around the edges, nipping at the corners. Zoe responded by fitting her body against his. She relaxed into the arm that wrapped around her back. Her lips softened under his as an unbidden energy flowed through her.
“This is really bad timing.” Zoe pulled back a few inches.
“Yeah, we should have thought of doing this a long time ago.” Drake grinned. “Well, actually, I did think of it.”
“Hold on to that thought. And give me a boost up.”
Drake cupped his hands for her foot and lifted her up to the vent. Zoe put her arms through first, twisting to get her shoulders into the opening. The duct was just slightly larger than the opening and she was able to squirm the ten feet to the larger duct. She glanced back, waved, and crawled down the larger duct. She had to make two more turns before she saw another vent she could fit through.
She pressed her face up against the vent cover. An empty hallway. Exactly what she needed. Her internal clock told her it was close to midnight and she hoped that meant everyone was bedded down for the night. She pushed against the vent cover but itwas screwed into the wall. Damn it. She’d have to kick the cover off and hope there was no one around to hear. Maneuvering around, she braced herself as best she could and pulled her legs back for the thrust. Then she heard voices. She lowered her legs and waited a few minutes. The voices faded and she heard nothing more. It was now or never. She pulled her legs back and thrust out with all her strength.
The vent cover flew out and hit the far wall of the hallway. Zoe dropped from the opening, picked up the metal vent, and shoved it back into place. She ran down the hallway, stopping at the corner to make sure she was alone and unobserved. Unless there were cameras. A quick glance behind her revealed a camera in the far corner. She might have been within its range. Another glance down the connecting hallway showed another camera. Were these people paranoid or what? She turned into the adjoining hallway and sprinted to the first hallway on her right. If they were watching all the cameras, they’d already have seen her. Speed was her only option if that were the case. Another turn and she stood a few yards from the door that led to the guard.
Zoe ducked and moved to the small window in the door, popped up for a quick glance and then down again. The guard still looked creepy to her. He sat at a desk, back straight, eyes focused into the distance.
Now what? The hallway was empty. Except for a fire extinguisher. She slinked away from the door, pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall, and crept back. Taking a deep breath, she banged the red cylinder against the door. The guard looked up, then moved from behind the desk. He looked back to check the monitor on the desk, then walked to the door. Zoe knocked the fire extinguisher against the door again and stepped back.
The guard opened the door and stepped outside. Zoe didn’t hesitate. She lifted the red cylinder and threw herself into the air to bring it down on his head. The guard crumpled to the floor. She barely caught the door before it closed behind him.
Using his foot to brace the door open, she stepped over his body and sprinted to the room she thought Drake was in.
There was no doorknob. Just a flat glass panel next to the door.
Damn it!
She went back to the guard and put her arms under his shoulders. He weighed a ton. She pulled him a few yards inside the guard room and the door closed behind them. She’d dragged him within a few feet of the room when he moaned. No! She didn’t want to have to hit him again. His head moved, then lolled to one side again. She pulled him closer to the door and tugged on his arm, pressing his palm against the panel.
When she heard the soft snick of the lock releasing, she dropped his arm and pushed on the door.
“What took you so long?” Drake demanded.
“Ten minutes is a long time for you? I find that a little disappointing.”
Drake dragged the man into the room and pulled both guns from the guard’s holster. “We’ll talk about that later.” He handed one gun to Zoe, tucked the other one into his belt, stepped outside, and let the door close. “And I’ll win.”
Zoe grinned at him. “Where do you think Logan is?”
“What?”
“Logan. Where do you think he is?” She took her fanny pack off the shelf above the guard’s desk and fastened it around her waist.
“What difference does that make?
“We need to find him,” Zoe explained patiently.
“There’s no time. We need to get the hell out of here.”
“We can’t leave Logan here,” she objected.
“Look. There comes a time when you have to consider the options and make the best choice. Logan’s already made his.”
“No!” She didn’t want to believe Logan was truly a part of the Order. Not a willing part anyway.
Drake put his hands on her shoulders and staredinto her eyes. “You’d put our lives in danger because of Logan Forrester? Face it, Zoe. He’s one of them.”
Zoe shook free of his hold. “You can’t prove that.”
“I can. Given time.”
“Well, we don’t have that time, do we?” Zoe crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving without him.”
January 17, Over the Atlantic Ocean
Ethan checked his watch again. They had been in the air for an hour and would land in Bern in just over three more. Drake and Zoe had been inside the Order’s Swiss facility for over two hours. He turned and motioned Timmens, Cournoyer, LaCaria, and Schufreider to join him. They all moved forward, leaving the other eight men in the rear of the Learjet Bombardier XRS.
Ethan unrolled the satellite map and pointed to the outline of the facility. “This is our target. We have two agents inside. Primary goal is to extract the agents.”
“What do we know about security?” Timmens asked.
“Precious little,” Ethan answered. “But we can expect it to be good. Guards, electronic locks and alarms, at the least.”
“Damn, what do they do in there?” Schufreider asked.
“They’re building a better world for us,” Ethan said.
“Oh, that again.” LaCaria laughed.
“Do we know where the agents are being held?” Cournoyer asked.
“No.” Ethan indicated a spot on the map. “We suspect this area. And they might have already been moved. We have no contact with them, no way of knowing what their condition is.”
“Great. Just who are they?” Timmens asked.
Ethan turned his laptop around so the team leaders could see the screen. “Drake Leatherman. Six feet three inches, two hundred ten pounds. Green eyes, shaved head, assorted tattoos.”
“Damn. I’ve worked with him before.” LaCaria shook his head.
“Also, Zoe Alexander. Five feet one inch, one hundred five pounds. Amber eyes, curly red hair. Both agents are in exceptional physical condition, so even if they’ve been injured, they’re still probably mobile.”
“That would be a plus.” Timmens pointed at the map. “So, this is the facility. Looks like there’snothing around it, so we don’t have to worry about any citizens in the area. That’s good. It won’t limit our use of artillery.”
“Any idea of the best place for us to gain egress?” Schufreider asked.
“Once we land in Bern, we’ll take a helicopter to the site. After we’re there, you go in any way you can.” Ethan looked at the men. “We know nothing about the facility, so you’ll have to wing it.”
“I’ll set up the snipers here, here, and here.” LaCaria pointed to three places on the map. “Of course that’s a guess. It could change depending on what we find when we get there.”
“My men will go in first. They can blow an exterior door and use flash bangs if necessary. LaCaria’s snipers can give us cover,” Schufreider said. “Since we don’t know anything about the facility, I’d suggest we go in through the front doors. That’ll give us the best access routes once we’re inside.”
“My men will provide backup with heavy artillery. We’ll go in right behind you.” Timmens said.
Cournoyer nodded. “I’ll link up to Robyn and get the satellite download. I can let everyone know where there might be personnel. Unfortunately, we won’t know if they’re friendly or not.”
Timmens shrugged his massive shoulders. “I’ll go make sure everyone’s eaten and had plenty of water.”
“Great,” Schufreider said. “They’ll all have to stop to take a piss.”
“I don’t care if they piss their pants as long as they aren’t slowed down by a muscle cramp.” Timmens moved to the rear of the plane.
The copilot opened the door of the cockpit and motioned to Ethan. “Sir? You have a phone call. You can take it on that phone.”
Ethan nodded and picked up the phone. “Calder here.”
“Ethan, where the hell are you? I called your office and it took almost five minutes for them to route me to this phone.”
Ethan swallowed hard. “I’m working off-site, sir. Do you have an update?”
“Actually, I have good news. We have the goahead to proceed. How soon can you have a team in Switzerland?”
“Before you know it, sir.” Ethan glanced to the rear of the plane where the team leaders were informing their men. “Everyone’s on standby.”
“I can hardly hear you, but I got that. Sounds like you’re on a damn plane or something.”
“I’ll contact you as soon as I know something, sir.”
January 18, The Order Facility Outside Bern, Switzerland
“Okay. You check for a way out and I’ll go find Logan.” Zoe ran out of the guard station and headed up the first flight of stairs ignoring Drake’s hissed command for her to return. Maybe by the time she located Logan, Drake would have found a way out of the facility that wouldn’t alert anyone to their escape. She paused at the top of the stairs and looked down the hallway. To the left the hallway was dark. To the right she saw a partially open doorway. Zoe approached the doorway cautiously. She peered around the door jamb but the room was empty.
“He has to be here somewhere,” she muttered to herself.
“I imagine you’re looking for Logan?”
Zoe jerked and turned at the unexpected voice.
“Giovanni Castiglia. I don’t believe we’ve met.” He chuckled as he moved into the room. “Although I know quite a bit about you.”
“Sorry I can’t say the same.”
“Of course. But you know that I am Logan’s uncle.”
Zoe nodded. From what Logan had told her, Giovanni was an elderly Italian man. This man appeared to be in his sixties, but he moved like ayounger man. And he didn’t sound especially Italian. Her eyes darted about the room, looking for another way out.
“I’m afraid I’m blocking the only door.” Giovanni shook his head. “You can probably get past me but the Peacekeepers will stop you.”
“Peacekeepers?” Zoe asked.
“The guards,” Giovanni explained. “They’ve been specially trained. Actually they’ve been bred for the job. They’re very good at what they do. Exceptionally good.”
“I’ll bet.” Zoe hefted her gun. “But I’ll also bet that I can get out of here without a problem. With you as a hostage.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. They still need you, don’t they? For whatever they’re doing? The alternative energy source?”
“Ah. I didn’t realize you knew about our energy source.” Giovanni didn’t appear to be very upset about it.
“What she knows is of no importance, because she won’t be alive to tell anyone.”
Zoe’s attention flew to the sound of Weisbaum’s voice. He stood in the hallway, a few feet behind Castiglia, and behind him, one of the Peacekeepers that gave her the willies. Damn it!
“Take care of them, then meet me in the lab.” Giovanni started toward the door.
“We still don’t know where Drake is,” Weisbaum said. “I’d rather keep her alive until we have him, too. Besides, I have a few questions I want answered before we kill them.” He waved a hand toward the door, then held it out for Zoe’s gun. Zoe slapped the gun into his hand and strode past him.
“Please join us.” Weisbaum motioned toward the door with the gun, then handed it to the guard, who tucked it into his belt. “Really. I insist.”
Zoe followed Weisbaum down the hall, extremely conscious of the man behind her with the guns. Where the hell was Drake? And where was Logan? She glanced back at the Peacekeeper. No expression on his face. Zoe wondered if there ever had been.
“Here we are.” Weisbaum pressed his palm against a glass panel and the metal door slid open.
Zoe did not want to go into that room. Every fiber of her being resisted crossing that threshold. The Peacekeeper placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed. She stumbled and Giovanni put his hand under her elbow.
“This is very much the heart of the facility. Let me show you.” He walked over to a control panel.
“Really, Capo, is this necessary?” Weisbaum asked.
Giovanni shrugged. “There’s no harm in it. I just want her to see what we’re really about. To understand the service we are giving to humankind.”
Zoe shivered and looked around the vast area. At the far end of the room a glass wall separated them from a huge device. “Capo? I thought your name was Castiglia.”
Giovanni shrugged. “It’s a term. It means leader.”
“You’re the leader of the Dominion Order?” Zoe asked.
“Even the Order needs leadership. Someone who sees the big picture. Someone who sees the vision. And puts it into action.”
“Does Logan know you’re the leader?”
“Not really.” Giovanni waved a hand. “Logan is like a son to me. I never had a son to bring into the fold. Not even a daughter. But by the time I realized that it just wasn’t going to happen, Logan was already eight.” He shook his head. “Most Legacy children are indoctrinated from birth.”
“Indoctrinated?” Zoe had a really bad feeling about that.
“Just a term. We are all descended from original members of the Brotherhood. Of course, the Brotherhood disbanded at the end of the eighteenth century.” Giovanni held up a finger. “But that doesn’t mean the ideals were abandoned. Some of the members knew that this way of thinking was right. That it would save the world.”
“And we will,” Weisbaum added.
“Yes. The time has come.” Giovanni turned back to Zoe. “Our forefathers created a Legacy for us. After a while, they wrote down the instructions, the prophecies. They told us what would happen and when it would happen and how we would know the time was right.”
“Yeah, that’s gotta be handy.” Zoe glanced back at the Peacekeeper but he stood at attention, oblivious to everything. “But how does Logan figure into this?”
“Ah, yes. Logan. If he’d been my son, he’d have been indoctrinated at a much earlier age. But, as I said, I didn’t realize that I would have no children of my own. Still, I started when I could. I’d visit his mother and father every summer.” Giovanni chuckled. “But even I am not immune to doubt. Until recently, I doubted I’d be able to bring him in. To make him see the rightness of what we are doing.”
“Until recently?” Zoe asked. Where the hell was Drake? He should be here by now. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep him talking.
“Logan is almost ready. He doesn’t know that I’m the leader of the Order. Not yet. But he will. Soon. He’s almost ready to learn everything. Almost.” Giovanni pulled a small cut crystal globe from his pocket. He dangled it from the attached silver chain. “One more session. Maybe two. Then he’ll be ready.”
“You really think your little group is going to make a difference?” she asked.
“Our little group?” Weisbaum laughed. “We aren’t so little, my dear. But more importantly, we are powerful.”
“Because of your gizmo here?” Zoe gestured at the cylinder.
Weisbaum shook his head. “Our members are powerful. We have senators, princes, prime ministers, heads of powerful international corporations. We even have the next president of your country.”
“President-elect Hemings is a member of the Order?” Zoe’s stomach twisted with nausea.
“Ah, here we go.” Giovanni typed on the keyboard again, then pointed to the cylinder.
Zoe watched as a purple light shot out from a cone into the silver cylinder. Lights flashed on the bank of computer screens.
“This is the source of an energy such as man has never seen.” Giovanni’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “And we can end the threat of nuclear war. The energy can be converted into a weapon that can intercept and annihilate a nuclear device, rendering it useless.”
“Impressive. How’s it work?” Zoe asked. Surely Drake would be here soon. Unless he’d escaped and just left her behind.
“I doubt you’d understand the complexities, Zoe.”
Weisbaum stepped over to one of the computers and typed in a command. “No reason you can’t see the demonstration video, though. It’s not like you’ll be able to tell anyone about it.” He nodded at one of the monitors as the video began. “This was all done from a satellite.”
Zoe watched as the camera zoomed in on an old barn. Nothing happened for several seconds, then the barn exploded, throwing splintered wood into the air. Zoe flinched and watched as the camera panned to an old truck. After a moment, it burst into flames.
“Of course, these are small-scale demonstrations,” Weisman said. “The weapon can be targeted at a single person or an entire city.”
“Impressive. And Logan thinks this is a good idea?” Zoe asked.
“He doesn’t know all the particulars just yet.” Giovanni waved his hands in the air. “But you are only looking at this as a negative.”
“And there’s a positive side to this?” Zoe asked.
“It is our wish that the weapon never be used.”
“Of course. You just have it for what? A backup plan in case the passive path to world domination doesn’t work for you?”
“It is there to ensure that others don’t use their weapons.”
“Sure. Just another Peacekeeper, right?” Zoe asked. She glanced at the guard, then yelped at the sharp report of a gunshot. The Peacekeeper dropped his gun and fell to the floor.