Dutch began speaking, but he had no idea how he was being forced to talk, to speak the truth.
Chapter 45
“Excuse me for just a moment while I catch the other line.” Adam then patched in his other guest while simultaneously dialing the Directors of the FBI, CIA, NSA, NSC, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and finally the Directors of MI-5, MI-6 and GCHQ in the UK. He put the latter groups on hold with a polite recording saying they were holding for POTUS.
Adam asked his other caller, “Douglas, is that you?” It was Douglas McKenzie, the new head of CSIS.
“It is, Adam. What’s up? And how did you get this number? Only the PM is supposed to have it.”
“Let’s discuss that later, but right now I have Barack on the line and a bunch of the current security heads from the States and Great Britain holding. Please listen in. OK?”
“Sure, if you want me to. You mean …?
“Tall, dark and handsome. Has a great outside shot. Just left office.”
Adam put his Canadian friend on hold and muted.
He clicked on speakerphone function and all of those waiting to speak to the current President were now on with Adam.
“Gentlemen, I’m sorry for my minor deception, but you are now on the line with Adam St. James. The President couldn’t make it. Busy at Mar-A-Lago, I imagine.”
One voice Adam immediately recognized said, “This is an outrage. How dare you bring us on a call by deception. I for one will not stand for this. I’ll file a complaint with the FBI, and your freedom will soon be a thing of the past.”
“Sit down, General. Your door is locked, and access by intercom, and all other means is disabled. You’ll leave when I let you go. Besides, the Director of the FBI is online too. So, sit down, shut up and answer my questions, and we’ll all be done quickly.
“Some time back, as you all know by now, two events took place, both in the UK just north of London. I suspect you were all in on these events directly or otherwise, somehow or another.”
The director of the NSA said, “I for one have no idea what you’re babbling about, but most assuredly you will be apprehended and brought before a federal magistrate. Perhaps in Guantanamo,” he chuckled.
“You are a liar sir, and it will be you who will be brought up on charges. And soon.”
Adam paused, then continued. “A week ago, someone kidnapped some of my family members, and associates and you had this moron here at Area 20 detain me in Las Vegas in exchange for the freedom of those I love, held in Switzerland, lured there by deception. I want everyone on this call, one by one, to tell me if you know him or about this fiasco. His name is Dutch Serwell. Not sure which of you boneheads he works for, so save us all time and speak up.”
Silence.
“His service record, which I have in front of me on my friend’s tablet shows that Mark ‘Dutch’ Franklin Serwell joined the United States Army right after college at Notre Dame, went through OCS somewhere and was subsequently assigned to Army Intelligence at Ft. Bragg. Then he went off the grid about ten years ago, leaving no record of separation from the Army or any paper trail. I will have all his service records by tomorrow, so don’t lie or dissemble. He has been assigned to interrogate, and threaten me, and my family with the harshest, and most illegal tactics in order to coerce me into working with you. You could’ve asked. I would have said no, but I highly respect civility and you are being quite uncivil at present.”
Adam waited, but no one spoke.
“Yes or no, one agency at a time. FBI?”
“Yes.”
“CIA?”
“Yes.”
“NSA?”
“Yes.”
“NSC?”
“Yes.”
“Joint Chiefs of Staff? Anyone?”
“Yes.”
“MI-5?”
“Yes.”
“MI-6?
“Yes.”
“GCHQ?”
“Yes.”
Adam sighed. “I’m, so sorry to hear that you last three, you Brits, were in on this. I thought more highly of you and trusted you. Well, no more. I have some business to conclude with good ole Dutch here. He threatened to skin and kill my family, all with your blessing. Maybe I should do the same to him and the rest of your, your wives, kids and extended relatives. It is, after all, what you intended for me and mine.”
The Director of the CIA spoke up. “What do you want, Adam? What’s done is done.”
“What’s done is not done, not by a long shot. You think you can just waive away Federal and Constitutional crimes?” Adam thought for a moment, then said, “Nope, no can do. Dutch is in the military and has illegally detained, kidnapped and threatened me and my family. Threatened to kill us all, and said he was authorized to do so. By who? Or is it whom? I never get that right. Who gave the order?”
Silence.
“Anyone? Dutch is military acting in that capacity on US soil. That’s illegal. You all knew about this. Dutch is guilty of many felonies and, so are the rest of you for conspiracy to commit murder and for an actual kidnapping. Me. Of course, that’s the least of your worries and problems, because your two biggest problems aren’t being successful in kidnapping and subsequently murdering my family. No, it’s for thinking this idiot, Dutch, could ever get close enough to actually apprehend me. Surely you knew this? No matter.
“Now, who ordered this fiasco of a mission. Anyone? Bad things will begin to happen to you if someone doesn’t speak up and fast. OK. The doors to all your offices are now locked, all electronics disabled. If I need to I will fuse your upper and lower fillings and prevent you from eating and drinking. Now, one more time. Who authorized this little project?”
A voice spoke out coldly, “It was me.”
“Jefferson from the NSC. Sad, very sad. Now who authorized this above you?”
“The President with the full knowledge, and approval of the Intelligence Committees in both houses of Congress. Everyone.”
“They actually gave that authority to this idiot? He’s a knuckle dragger.”
“We wanted to draw you out, bring you home, and go from there. It worked.”
“No, it didn’t. I’m here because I want to be here. All personnel in this facility except for Dutch and I are asleep presently, but I could just as easily kill them, and Dutch, before I leave. Self- defense. And the rest of you too, ditto. Self-defense.”
“What do you want, St. James? Just know that if you don’t turn yourself in, we’ll chase you everywhere. There’ll be nowhere to hide. It took years, but we got Bin Laden.”
“Bin Laden was nothing. The danger I represent is palpable, imminent and is able to crash governments, their militaries, and cause global panic. Financial markets, and the global financial system, will crash. You all will be dead along with anyone who ever tries to find me.”
“You’re insane. What you think you can do is the product of a demented and megalomaniac mind. Impossible.”
“OK then, there are three newly decommissioned ships in San Diego Harbor. There is a car lot of old airplanes in Arizona near Tucson. There are old tanks used as paper weights in West Texas. Call your folks. They are all gone. Destroyed by me.”
A few minutes passed, but Jefferson was back online.
“OK, I believe you. Now what?”
“The list is simple. The President, his Cabinet and all you folks, plus the members of the Congressional Intelligence Committees briefed on this matter, and assenting thereto, will resign immediately. No discussion. Resignations signed by tomorrow evening by 7:00 pm.”
“Impossible. Can’t be done!”
“I can eliminate all nuclear weapons not only in the United States, but around the world in about an hour. I can kill each of you right now and am inclined to do so. You tried to murder me, my wives and my family. Why should I show you any leniency? Or your families?”
“What we did was legal and necessary. By contrast you have never been much more that a psychopath with a trail of dead bodies
left in your wake.”
“Not even close. You’re all guilty of numerous crimes, so you haven’t got any equity on your side.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Perhaps. But you have until tomorrow night 7:00 pm Pacific time to do as I say. If it isn’t announced on the news by then, the killing starts.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“You said it, I’m a psychopath. Test my resolve, and you will go first Along with your wife, kids and that cute mistress you have stashed away in Northern Virginia.”
Adam paused, then said, “And you Brits had better get in touch with Tony. I’m mighty fucking pissed at you guys.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes, since your PM approved this too, her resignation would also be a nice gesture.”
***
Adam clicked off, and immediately brought the former President and the head of CSIS back online.
The President began tentatively, “You aren’t really going to …”
Adam said, “Oh hell no. Not in a million years. But I want them to know I can. What I would like to have happen now is for Justin, Tony and you Mr. President to get together to calm me down. Tell you folks I’m raging and crazy. Well, actually I am crazy, but not raging at this point.”
“To what end?” asked McKenzie.
“They have to stop looking for me and my family. If they don’t, or if they try to have surrogates do it, the outcome will be bad. Where we are, no one can find us. I have cordoned off the DL Main, and it cannot be accessed by anyone except me. I have made duplicates of the tech, software and data as a whole and in parts.”
The President said, “You won’t harm innocent people, will you?”
“Of course not. But I will change everything as it presently stands and the people who think they control us, and the world, will be exposed for the monsters they are. When that happens, I figure their life expectancy to be short.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Of course, sir. And one of my first projects is one that I hope your Presidential Library will want to take up as a project. Don’t bother yourself with funding, sir. The world will want in on this.”
“I still think you’re crazy.”
“And, I would never disagree with you sir on that or most other things.”
“Still talking to God?”
“Yes sir. As often as He feels the need to guide me.”
“You know what they say, right?”
“Yes sir. ‘When you talk to God, that’s prayer. When God talks to you it’s schizophrenia.’”
Chapter 46
Dutch Serwell was arrested and taken into custody, as was Director Brough and many other highly placed individuals in government. The Brits and Israeli’s were also implicated, but no action was taken against them as longstanding allies and co-conspirators. Each wanted the tech Adam possessed, but none knew who Brough was working with or how to find Adam St. James.
Upon his arrest, two hundred fifty million dollars was released into an offshore account divided equally between Brough’s wife and three daughters. Fifty million was reserved for him, ostensibly to hire the best DC criminal lawyers available, or to bribe his way to a non-extradition country.
Perhaps Qatar. The NSA had always gotten on well with their Intelligence Agencies, so any confinement there would likely be comfortable. Or, in the alternative, very short in duration. The US government still wanted Adam’s tech, and would still pursue him and his family with gusto, but Adam now had some leverage on them complete with both audio and video.
Nothing would likely stand up in court and make any difference to any charges he might face in the future. In any event Adam was guilty of so many other crimes, it really didn’t matter. Murder doesn’t have a statute of limitations in the United States at either the Federal or State levels, so he had no out there. More deaths would be on his hands in the future and the Feds had already figured out that the carnage in Idaho and Oregon had something to do with him, just not what exactly. In addition, they weren’t exactly sure what the corpses were; the DNA was very close in most respects to human DNA, but not completely. Chimera? Some unsanctioned bio-experiment?
The bodies, though mostly decomposed or burned beyond recognition, were indeed classified as chimeras; some sort of hybrid human and another distinct species. They were correct of course, but Adam St. James had disappeared again and was in the wind; very likely he wouldn’t aid in explaining the discovery anyway.
The tips received about Oregon and Idaho had come through a reliable source who wouldn’t self- identify and, otherwise, wouldn’t cooperate in identifying and solving Adam’s incredible crimes. Adam was also blamed for other terrorist attacks, namely the bombings of the labs several years ago as well as the destruction of the DataLab facility, the deaths of all inside and the Capri family.
Adam St. James was quickly high on the list of international terrorists that governments everywhere were looking for, although the attempt to freeze all St. James assets was a bust. Non-cash assets had been sold, and the cash nowhere to be found. Alana informed her former employers that if they didn’t call off the dogs, the repercussions would be severe. Dossiers would be released, the audio and video from Area 20 would be released, and she would take down all government computers of the United States, Great Britain, and Israel with mere keystrokes. Then she would inform hostile foreign governments.
What fun that would be? Nuclear weapons that didn’t work. All GPS gone. Was that what they really wanted?
Alana reminded them that the St. James family had done nothing wrong; it was the three countries who took illegal action against them at the Manor and struck first. She also reminded them that the only thing remaining that protected these countries from her wrath was the restraint of Adam St. James. Though his patience had been sorely tested, he seemed quite unmoved by the attempt to kidnap or kill him. The next time, he wouldn’t be so understanding.
Nor would she.
***
The group sat in a big conference room of the Ops Center in the City of Light. Derek was there along with the just arrived Adam along with the family, Cindy, Rod, Francoise and Kendra. They had assembled for a purpose; that purpose was to plan the attack, and loot the Great Library of Alexandria. They needed the air gapped computers, and all related genetic data.
The Anthropologists wanted the original Library materials, and Cindy thought they could do both. She was there to convince her brother to OK the mission; Derek was there to do the opposite.
“Get the computers and then get out. The other stuff can wait.”
Edward said, “We need to protect these materials; if we lose them we’ll have lost the most important find since the Rosetta Stone. We must act and act now. There’s no time to waste. If I was Paulo, I’d be planning how to destroy that Library and devoting all my resources to that end. You want the computers; he wants the computers destroyed. The other stuff is just old shit he doesn’t care about. But I do. We need to listen to Cindy and hear what she has to say.”
Adam looked at Cindy and said, “Sis you’re up. Explain what you want to do, and who supports which of your actions. I understand from Derek that not everyone agrees with you, and almost nobody agrees with him. I want to hear from everyone, and that includes you, little one.”
“OK.”
Adam continued, “And all, I want a detailed risk assessment for every step in the process, including the risk of waiting anywhere from one day to one week. Are we clear?”
Everyone nodded.
Cindy began, “Our plan is simple and straightforward, and we’re prepped and ready to go. We surround the building that houses the Library, go in with force, and breach the building entrance. We find the servers and take them, then we go for high value historical objects and clean out as many as we can between midnight and six in the morning. We use an EMP to disable all electrical in the area and bring our own power source to light up the Library behind darkened windows.”
Adam asked, “That’s it?”
“Yup. We need to go in fast even though our plan isn’t totally clean. We get the servers; that’s the main goal.”
Adam asked, “What do we know of external security? Numbers, weapons, and competence?”
Cindy said, “Nothing.”
“What do we know of the internal security in the building, same question? Locations, tech, other?”
“Nothing.”
“What do we know about the building itself, where things are, like the servers?”
“Nothing.”
“What do we know about external communications, destruct devices, professional staffing or the physical rooms themselves, safes and safe rooms, or storage? Environmental controls?”
“Nothing.”
“Likely resistance?”
“Nothing.”
“Casualties?”
“On their side, none, on our side none as well. We’re going in with gas. Nobody gets hurt; nanite knock out toxins. Trust me, nobody will be harmed.”
“And you think this is a good idea?”
“I think we must move quickly, and this is the best option. So, yeah, best idea chosen from worse ideas.”
“Derek?”
“Bad ideas on so many levels, I don’t know where to begin. No offense, but the worst is how poorly thought out this is. You guys admit you know zero about what awaits us inside.”
Cindy bristled.
“Nobody there is there to kill us or destroy the Library. Trust us to do our jobs and do them right. No offense Derek, but what the fuck do you know about tactics and execution of a plan?”
“External security of at least three hundred nearby, heavily armed and trained. Been protecting the Great Library for over two millennia and they are mean as hornets. Inside another one hundred, ten floors and redundant systems of every imaginable make and model. About three hundred staff researchers, and document specialists. Servers located on one floor or all ten, who knows? There is nothing we know or can know about any other stuff inside, including who is willing to fight. The casualty assessment on our side is a fantasy. Many more of our comrades will be dead on the grounds, assuming we can actually defeat their security forces; there is no auto destruct, I’m sure, but the staff isn’t passive. They’re ready for this, they train for this and they’ll die defending the Library. It’s in their DNA.”
Resolution Page 65
