Chapter 53

Kiana and Christine were searched, bound, and led by a group of Voronov’s guards into his compound. Kiana was both nervous and afraid, and reasonably so, since she had never been in a situation like that before and she did not know what was going to happen next. One thing, however, brought her a tiny bit of solace: Voronov’s guards hadn’t seen Michael. Luckily, he had been down the hill, out of their line of sight when they had first appeared. As such, he hadn’t been captured and there was a chance he would eventually be able to find a way to rescue them.

They were led through the compound’s main gate, down its central road, and into the building Christine had speculated was Voronov’s residence. Its interior was as drab as its exterior, with simple furniture and few adornments of any type, and Kiana instantly got the impression Voronov was a man who did not concern himself with trivial things like that. They were led through a small entrance hall and into a medium-sized office. Three people stood around a desk at the far side of the room, looking at some paperwork that was spread out on the desk in front of them, but their discussion came to an abrupt end as Kiana and Christine were led (quite forcibly) into the room. All three turned to face them at once. The first was an elderly man with a thick, gray beard and short hair, and he was dressed in an old-fashioned Soviet-style military uniform. Kiana surmised this was Voronov. The second was a tall, lean man with black hair and a permanent scowl on his face. Kiana had no idea who he was but assumed he must be one of Voronov’s assistants or bodyguards.

But the person of the most interest, at least as far as Kiana was concerned, was the third. That person was a young, attractive woman with long, ebony hair.

It was Olivia.

A million thoughts raced through Kiana’s mind the minute she saw her. How had this happened? What was Olivia doing here? Why was she here? Like Kiana and Christine, had she been captured? Or was she working with Voronov? And if she was, why?

Voronov’s eyes got large the minute he saw them enter the room.

“What do we have here?” His voice had a thick, Russian accent so Kiana had to concentrate to understand him.

She didn’t really know what to do, so she decided it would be best if she remained silent and let Christine do the talking. After all, Christine was the more experienced agent, so she would know what to do, right? Christine, however, said nothing.

“Answer me,” Voronov said. “Who are you? How did you get onto my island?”

Finally, Christine spoke. “My name is Carolyn Williams. This is my daughter, Amanda. We’re here on a vacation to do some hiking. A boat dropped us off on the far end of the island this morning. We apologize since we didn’t mean to trespass but we thought the island was uninhabited.”

Voronov looked immediately suspicious. “That should not have been possible. My men keep everyone off of the island.”

At that, the guard who had captured them stepped forward and handed Voronov the items he had taken from them, including their pistols, sunglasses, and cell phones.

Voronov raised an eyebrow the minute he saw the items, especially the pistols. “Hikers need weapons?”

“In Costa Rica, yes,” Christine said. “Especially on islands like this. There are all kinds of animals out there, some dangerous. Just last week we were attacked by one of those stupid howler monkeys. Ferocious buggers.”

Voronov smiled, as though he found her story amusing, but he didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he started examining their phones.

The whole time Christine and Voronov had been speaking, Kiana had been looking straight at Olivia. In return, Olivia had been looking straight at her. Olivia did not say anything but the way she looked at Kiana, deep into her eyes, told Kiana everything she needed to know. For whatever reason, Olivia wanted her to remain absolutely silent and reveal nothing.

Voronov turned to his assistant, the man with the permanent scowl. “Dimitri. Do these phones look normal to you?”

The man named Dimitri walked over, grabbed one of the phones from him, and tried to activate it. Seeing it wouldn’t activate without a thumbprint, he walked over to Christine, grabbed her by an arm, and pressed her finger against it. The phone activated, showing its main screen and the assortment of icons on it. He pushed the one that was shaped like a noose and the phone’s cable unwound from within.

“I’ve never seen an iPhone that could do that before,” Dimitri said.

Voronov smiled. “Fascinating. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my little operation here hidden forever. I knew you Americans would come scurrying around eventually and well here you are. But it is of no real concern. My operation launches tomorrow so you are much too late to do anything about it.”

“What are you talking about?” Christine asked. “What operation? We know nothing about an operation. We’re simply here to do a little hiking.”

Voronov laughed. “You Americans are so amusing. You lie all of the time (especially your government) but you never get any good at it. I know you’re onto me and you were probably sent here to figure out exactly what I’m doing here. And you know what? Since most of the preparations are already in place and since I really have nothing better to do with my time today, I’m actually going to tell you. Tomorrow morning, at precisely 9:00 am local time I’m going to launch Operation Apocalypse.”

“What are you talking about?” Christine asked. “What’s Operation Apocalypse?”

Voronov smiled. “Operation Apocalypse is my plan to destroy the world. Most of it, at least.”

Kiana’s eyes got big. What in the world was Voronov talking about? Destroying the world? Was that even possible? And if so, how?

Christine looked equally confused. “Excuse me? You plan to destroy the world? How?”

“At 9:00 am tomorrow a series of planes will launch from this compound, from the airstrip you undoubtedly saw as you were doing your surveillance work. Each of these planes will be carrying a bomb and each will be heading for one of the world’s largest and most populous cities. I have chosen my own hometown, Moscow, to be the site of the first drop. From there, other bombs will be dropped on London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Sydney, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, and countless others. At least one city on each continent will be targeted.”

“What types of bombs? Nuclear?”

Voronov laughed. “No, no. Nuclear bombs are far too old-school and way too expensive, even for a successful arms dealer like me. No, I have developed something much more deadly. A plague that will make its way across the world and wipe it out.”

“A biological weapon?”

“Of a sort. My bombs contain a toxin that, when released, instantly kills anyone within a ten mile radius. But the beautiful thing about it is the toxin does not stop working once it kills its victim. Instead of just killing the victim, it reanimates it and brings it back to life, with an insatiable desire to feed on the living. In no time, my army of undead will swarm and conquer the world.”

“That’s insane. Why are you doing this? Are you mad?”

“Perhaps. But to me, the world is a wretched place filled with wretched things. So I am doing it a favor by getting rid of that wretchedness.”

At that point, Christine didn’t really know what to say and she looked completely flabbergasted at what she had just heard. Kiana was no better. When they had started their mission, she had never pictured dealing with anything even remotely like that. A diabolical madman set on destroying the world? It reminded her of the old spy movies she had watched with Michael as a kid.

But then something unexpected happened. Up to that point, Voronov had been focused primarily on Christine since she had been the one doing the talking, but suddenly he turned his attention to Kiana. And there was intense interest in his eyes as he did.

“I must say, you’re awfully young to be an agent. What has happened? Has the mighty United States gotten so desperate for agents that they’ve now begun recruiting children?”

He took a step closer and tilted his head to one side, as if he were examining Kiana closely.

“Young or not, I must give you credit, young lady. You’re a stunning specimen. And you bear a remarkable resemblance to someone else I know, someone who just recently came into my employ. Ms. Livingston, please take a step forward.”

Olivia walked obediently to his side.

“Ms. Livingston,” Voronov said. “Is it me, or does this young lady look a lot like you?”

“You know what they say, General,” Olivia said. “All Americans look the same.”

Voronov smiled. “True. But I thought you were British?”

“I am. But I’m also American. My mother was from London and my father was from Los Angeles.”

“Most interesting. But I guess I should have known. Nowadays, the world is full of mutts. The resemblance between the two of you is striking, though. You have the same eyes. If I didn’t know better I’d think the two of you were sisters.”

Olivia laughed. “Sisters? Dimitri never told me you had a sense of humor, General. Surely you jest?”

Voronov didn’t say anything but there was an unmistakable look of suspicion in his eyes. Kiana sensed they were all in serious danger but she had no idea what to do.

Apparently, however, Olivia did.

“If this were my sister,” she said, “would I do this?”

The last thing Kiana saw was the bottom of Olivia’s foot as it hit her squarely in the forehead. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.