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They climbed a spiral staircase to Elizabeth Harker's office on the ground floor. Project HQ looked like a family home in the Virginia countryside, but it was nothing like what it appeared to be. No one got in without a key card and a retinal scan. Cameras recorded everything that came within a hundred yards of the building. A skilled observer would notice that the glass on the windows seemed unusually thick. Nothing except an RPG was getting through that glass.
Across from the house was a large, steel building painted a light tan color, the kind of building found on farms and used for storing equipment or stabling horses. There weren't any tractors or horses in the building. Inside was a computer-driven urban combat course that could be configured to imitate anything from a village to a major city.
Not far from the house was a helicopter pad. That wasn't much cause for comment in the wealthy suburbs within commuting distance of Washington, but the high fence topped with razor wire surrounding the property was unusual. That, and the armed guards and gatehouse at the entrance.
Elizabeth Harker's office was large, comfortable. A long, brown leather couch sat opposite her desk, under a row of clocks showing times in cities around the world. A flat screen monitor was mounted on the wall behind the desk. A coffee station against the wall to the right of the desk sported a new Keurig coffee maker and a regular brewing set up. Bullet proof sliding glass doors looked out over a pleasant patio, bordered by manicured flowerbeds coming into spring bloom.
A huge orange cat lay on the couch, snoring loudly. A shaved patch of fur on his belly, a fresh scar, and stitches showed where a clump of matted hair the size of a baseball had been taken out of his gut by the local veterinarian.
"Try not to wake him," Elizabeth said. "Burps is still recovering from his adventure with the vet and he's a little grouchy. Think of it as good practice for when the baby comes."
"Mmm," Nick said.
Elizabeth was a small woman, barely over five feet when wearing heels. What she lacked in physical size she made up for in intelligence and intensity. She usually dressed in combinations of black and white. Today she'd chosen a dark green business suit and a pale green silk blouse. She had milk white skin, small ears, jet black hair with a few streaks of silver in it, and emerald eyes that could bore through you with the sharpness of a laser when she was angry.
Nick thought she looked like a woodland elf in the green outfit. All she needed was a green peaked cap. He kept his thoughts to himself.
Nick and Selena sat down on the couch, away from the cat.
"We have a problem," Elizabeth said.
"What is it this time?" Nick asked.
"One of our missile destroyers collided with a Chinese freighter in the South China Sea. We've been asked to look into it."
"Casualties?"
"Yes. The exact number isn't known yet. The Chinese ship sank within minutes. I'm not sure how many survived. The USS Wayne is still afloat, but she's pumping water and barely holding on. A Chinese Corvette was shadowing her. She's on the scene and offering assistance. Ships and aircraft from the Seventh Fleet are on their way to the area."
"That's awful," Selena said.
"What happened?" Nick asked.
"All we know is that the Wayne struck the Chinese ship at high speed. There's a geostationary satellite over the South China Sea and we have video. It shows erratic movements by the Chinese vessel. It looks as though the Wayne altered course early on to avoid a collision, but then the Chinese ship steered right into her path and the Wayne changed course again to meet her. There were no further evasive movements by the Wayne. She took massive damage and damn near cut the Chinese ship in half."
"How does this concern us? It's the Navy's turf."
"The Wayne wasn't only showing the flag. She was part of a secret DARPA project."
"Oh, boy," Nick said. "The black arts boys."
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was the Pentagon's skunk works. DARPA had its hand in everything from laser cannons to flying saucers, developing weapons straight out of science-fiction. Some of those projects succeeded, some didn't. No one knew exactly how many billions DARPA spent on research. Most of what they did was hidden under a cloak blacker than Darth Vader's robe.
"Was it equipment failure?" Selena asked. "Human error?"
"DARPA was monitoring the Wayne in real time. Before the collision, she was targeted with a high-speed encrypted transmission. It may have done something to the navigational system."
"Sabotage," Nick said.
"Sophisticated sabotage."
"What was DARPA up to?"
"They were dropping smart mines into the sea."
"What are smart mines?"
"They sink to a predetermined depth and wait for an activation command. They're programmed to seek and destroy enemy vessels in case of war."
"I don't think the Chinese would appreciate that if they found out about it," Nick said.
"What happened to the Wayne sounds like something for NSA or Langley," Selena said. "Maybe both."
"I agree, but it's been handed to us." Elizabeth paused. "I think it's a set up. I believe we're meant to fail."
"What do you mean?"
"Things are changing since Corrigan took office. There are bad signs, politically speaking. It's getting harder for me to get through to him. His Chief of Staff is a fine example of someone who gets some power and begins to throw her weight around because she can. She strikes me as a spiteful and ambitious woman, and she doesn't like me. She's convinced she knows more than she does and she has far too much influence on Corrigan. That may change after he's been in office for a while, but right now he listens to her. She sees us as a political liability and she wants to close us down."
"Spiteful and ambitious isn't a good combination," Selena said.
"All the same, it's up to us to find out what happened. It's our best shot at blocking her and staying in business."
"What if it really was an accident?" Selena asked.
"That's what we need to find out. If it was an accident, everyone can move on. If it wasn't..."
Elizabeth left the sentence unfinished.
"What happens next?" Nick asked.
"We need to find out more about that transmission sent to the Wayne. I'm going to put Stephanie on it. She might be able to determine where it originated and whether or not it had anything to do with the collision."
"Sounds like a long shot," Nick said.
"Maybe so, but it's a place to start."
"And if she can pinpoint where the transmission came from?"
"Then I'm going to send the team to do something about it."