Brady Hawk 19 - Divide and Conquer

by R. J. Patterson

  “Hawk!” Alex cried. “I’ve been hit.”

  He sprang from his spot and darted over to Alex, who hadn’t moved. Her left arm was gushing with blood. Hawk ripped off the bottom part of his shirt and formed a makeshift tourniquet for her.

  “You’re gonna be all right,” he said. “It looks like the bullet went all the way through.”

  She gritted her teeth. “We’ve gotta finish this thing. If Sinclair directs those missiles at a city—”

  “I’m on it,” he said as he handed her another gun and took the transmitter device from her. “Just in case you need extra protection.”

  Alex winced in pain and slid to the floor, clutching her arm with her left hand while holding the weapon in her right.

  “Mia, what do I need to do?” Hawk asked.

  “Just put that transmitter near the terminal, and I should be able to hack it.”

  “Roger that.”

  Two more shots ripped through the room housing the mainframe.

  “Hawk!” Alex cried. “They’re coming. Hurry.”

  He found the terminal and placed the transmitter underneath the keyboard tray. “Okay, Mia. You should be good to go now.”

  After another shot ripped through the room, Hawk hustled back toward Alex. She grimaced as she glanced at her wound.

  “You’re gonna be all right, honey,” Hawk said as he took the gun from her.

  More bullets whizzed past them, peppering the wall.

  “Mia, you don’t have much time,” Hawk said. “We’re getting pinned down here.”

  CHAPTER 24

  FALCON SINCLAIR TEMPLED his fingers as he paced in front of the world’s most powerful presidents. He wore a satisfied grin as he prepared to give the speech he’d rehearsed so many times before. With one quick sideways glance at his captive audience, he took a deep breath and launched into his speech.

  “Gentlemen,” he said, stopping and turning to face them, “now that I have your attention and the missiles are off, we need to talk about the real reason you’re here today.”

  President Young scowled. “You told me you wanted to show me a weapon you’d invented.”

  Sinclair laughed and shook his head. “So gullible, just like the American people. If they weren’t such fools, you’d never be in this position. But here you are, a career politician, standing tall after walking on the backs of everyday citizens.”

  Young bristled at the characterization of his rise to power. “If you wanted this to be a referendum on my ability to govern, you could’ve just lodged a complaint on the White House website.”

  Sinclair chuckled again, this time joined by President Karelin. “You think this is about you? I’m afraid you’ve misread my statement. No, the reason we’re here today is to discuss the new global era we’re about to enter into. You see, in the past, the world has been ruled by powerful nations. And people such as yourselves have been seated upon thrones, real or virtual, that have allowed you to operate wherever you please with complete autonomy and zero accountability. Well, that ends today. Moving forward, I will be the one ruling the world, and one of you will do my bidding.”

  “One of us?” Karelin asked.

  Sinclair grinned and rubbed his hands together. “That’s right. You’re both here because in order to have an auction, you need at least two people.”

  Young scowled. “An auction? For what?”

  “I’m glad you asked, Mr. President. For a long time, it’s been the dream of both your countries to develop a satellite weapons defense system that would prevent any airborne attack. Well, gentlemen, welcome to the future.”

  Sinclair turned and gestured toward the bank of screens on the far wall. Placing his hands behind his back, he strode toward the wall and continued.

  “The Castle-74 is the culmination of years of work by many of my dedicated staffers from various companies I oversee. We pride ourselves on developing solutions for the real world as well as inspiring imaginations. A long time ago, my imagination was inspired to become the most powerful man on the planet. And since I wasn’t interested in playing the political game, I forged a different path, one that has led me to a final destination with an audience of the two of you. What plays out over the next few minutes will determine the course of history as well as the conduit through which I shall govern the world.”

  Karelin cocked his head to one side and furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “Let me explain,” Sinclair said. “The two of you preside over massive budgets, compiled from money that you’ve extracted from hard-working citizens one way or another. But instead of building a better world, you’ve hoarded your wealth, investing it in all the wrong things. For example, there’s no excuse that either one of your two countries haven’t invented a cure for cancer or created a better health care system that doesn’t leave someone broke or either dead in the waiting room. Meanwhile, you both stoke the fires of war, banging the drums for political gain. That must end now.”

  “Why?” Young asked. “So we yield our power to you? I don’t think so.”

  Sinclair smirked. “It’s happening one way or another, Mr. Young, whether you like it or not. The only real question is if you’re going to be my partner in all this or my foe. And I can assure you that you don’t want to be my foe.”

  “This is absurd,” Young said. “I’m leaving.”

  “You might want to wait a minute or two before you storm out of here,” Sinclair said as he produced two small pads and a pair of pens from his jacket pocket. “We’re about to have a fun exercise, and if you don’t participate, I can promise you’ll have no home to go back to.”

  Karelin snatched the materials from Sinclair, while Young turned back toward the billionaire and took the items begrudgingly.

  “Now, I want you to make a short list,” Sinclair said. “Write down the name of three cities you’d like to see obliterated, preferably in the country of your enemy here.”

  “I’m not doing this,” Young said.

  But before he could finish his sentence, Karelin hurriedly jotted down a few things on his paper.

  “It’s up to you,” Sinclair said, “but I can promise you’ll completely regret it if you don’t.”

  Young sighed, unsure if he was playing right into Sinclair’s hands through this exercise. Then Young pondered if Sinclair genuinely had the type of weapon to wipe out an entire city—or if he’d really do it. Instead of balking at the request again, Young joined in, scribbling down the names of several Russian cities.

  After a minute, Sinclair declared that time was up and snatched the pieces of paper from the presidents’ hands. “Are we ready to begin?”

  Sinclair didn’t wait for an answer as he focused his attention on the screens behind him. A simulation of a rocket launch appeared on the screen, showing the missiles soaring over the earth.

  “Now I’m going to put on a demonstration for you,” Sinclair said. “However, only one of you will have a city protected by Castle-74, while the other of you will have to scramble jets to the sky. And such efforts will be woefully late.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Young said.

  “Characterize it however you wish, but the reality you’re dealing with is that one of the cities on President Karelin’s list of places he’d like to obliterate in the United States is going to have a missile aimed at it. And one of the Russian cities you wrote down will also have a missile pointed at it. But there’s just one problem. The Castle-74 can only protect one country. And that’s going to be the highest bidder. Let’s start the bidding at five hundred billion. Seems reasonable, yes?”

  “I’m not buying this,” Young said. “You wouldn’t dare attempt something like that.”

  “Believe what you may, but understand that this is very serious,” Sinclair said. “And if you aren’t interested in playing along, you’re going to have a mess to clean up when you return to Washington, at least what’s left of it.”

  “While we might be enemies ideologica
lly, neither I nor President Karelin would be interested in this twisted game of yours,” Young said.

  “Are you sure about that?” Sinclair asked.

  Karelin stroked his chin as his gaze bounced between Sinclair and Young. “Five hundred billion.”

  “Excellent,” Sinclair said. “Still uninterested, President Young?”

  Young clenched his jaw and glared at Karelin. “Six hundred billion.”

  A faint smile spread across Sinclair’s lips. “Do I hear seven hundred billion?”

  CHAPTER 25

  HAWK RELOADED AND RETURNED fire on the guards outside. But almost as soon as the gunfight started, it abruptly halted. A man rushed onto the scene and scolded the men for firing so close to the computer.

  “Come on, Alex,” Hawk said. “We need to take cover on the other side of this machine.”

  He helped her to her feet and covered her as they eased around the mainframe.

  “Mia,” Hawk said into his coms, “how’s it looking?”

  “I’ve almost breached the firewall,” Mia said.

  “Make it quick. We’re about to have company, and I don’t know what that’s going to mean for your access.”

  “Is the transmitter visible?” she asked.

  “It’s on the keyboard tray.”

  “Hide it now,” Mia said.

  Hawk didn’t hesitate, darting over to the terminal and tucking the wireless transmitter out of sight.

  “Done,” he announced as he slid next to Alex.

  “Great,” Mia said, her keyboard clicking in the background. “And I’m in.”

  Alex pumped her left fist before she stopped and winced in pain.

  “Just take it easy,” Hawk said.

  “I’m trying,” she said.

  “Look, we’re going to get out of this.”

  She leaned her head against the wall and looked upward. “How can you be so sure? We’re kind of hemmed in at the moment, and there’s nobody else on this godforsaken island who can help us.”

  “We’ll figure out a way. You’ve got to trust me on this one, but please be careful with that arm of yours.”

  Alex examined the weapon in her right hand. “At least I can still shoot.”

  He dug another gun out of his rucksack and gave it to her. “You’ve got eight shots on that one in case you run out. Choose your targets wisely.”

  “I always do,” she said with a wry grin. “You know how much I hate wasting bullets.”

  “At least you still have your sense of humor.”

  Mia interrupted the moment, squawking on the coms. “I’m in. I’m in.”

  “Do you have control yet?” Alex asked.

  “Working on it,” Mia said. “Give me another minute or two.”

  The door was positioned on the far side of the room around several rows of servers. Hawk crept around the side to see if there was any activity taking place outside. Using a bank of computers for cover, he could see the entrance. And while he couldn’t make out what the men were saying, he could hear them speaking in hushed tones.

  Hawk grabbed the walkie-talkie he’d lifted off the guard at the gate and turned up the volume to listen in on their conversation.

  “We’re down here with the mainframe,” one of the men said. “We’ve got at least two hostiles pinned down. I think one of them is injured.”

  “How many men are with you?”

  “Four.”

  “Sit tight, and I’ll send some more. Don’t take any action until you have reinforcements. The intruder is well-trained and should be considered extremely dangerous.”

  “Copy that,” the man responded.

  Hawk rushed back over to Alex. “We’re about to be heavily outnumbered.”

  “What’s that mean?” she asked.

  “I think it means we’re done here.”

  Alex clenched her jaw and shook her head subtly. “They’re gonna kill us, aren’t they?”

  Hawk nodded. “Probably. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to just lie down and take it.”

  “Do you have a plan?”

  “It’s an idea at this point, but it’s about the only one I can think of.”

  “Will it work?”

  He shrugged. “It all depends.”

  “On what?”

  “Lady Luck.”

  “Well, let’s just do what we can until Mia makes a connection with the rockets,” she said.

  Mia let out a yelp that pierced Hawk’s ear.

  “Please don’t yell like that again,” he said.

  “I’m in the program controlling the missiles,” Mia said. “I’m going to lock in a course for them to land harmlessly in the water.”

  “Good work, Mia,” Alex said. “I knew bringing you along was the best thing we could’ve done.”

  “How are things looking for you two?” Mia asked.

  “Not so good. Just remember what I told you about hiding and the flare gun in case we don’t come back,” Hawk said.

  “Wait. What? You might not make it out of there?”

  “Just focus, Mia,” Alex said. “Don’t worry about all that. We’ll figure out something. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

  Alex cocked her head to one side and glared at Hawk as she muted her microphone. “Couldn’t you have just lied there? She’s not trained like us. If she isn’t fully concentrating, we could be in big trouble.”

  “She needed to know the truth for her own sake,” Hawk said. “Her survival might depend on it.”

  “You should’ve at least waited.”

  “We may not have an opportunity to say anything once those guards storm through the door. Better to give her a fighting chance than leave her in the dark.”

  Hawk and Alex sat in silence for a minute, waiting for movement from either the guards outside or a report from Mia as to which course of action to take next.

  “You know what the worst part of this is?” Alex asked, breaking the silence.

  Hawk chuckled. “We may never get to watch a Bollywood movie together again?”

  She exhaled slowly. “That would be disappointing. But, no, the worst part is that we might die only trying to delay the inevitable. Once we’re gone, there might not be anyone standing in opposition to someone like Falcon Sinclair. He’ll just pick up where he left off moments after his guards feed our bodies to the sharks.”

  “But we have to try,” Hawk said. “If we don’t fight, we might as well roll out the red carpet for the sonofabitch. Edmund Burke once said, ‘When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.’ I know what I signed up for when I started this job, and I’ll be damned if my death is going to be an unpitied sacrifice.”

  “You really think there’s enough good men in this world to prevail over evil like Sinclair?”

  “I have hope that there is, but if we don’t fight, we’ll never know. But now’s not the time for philosophical reflection. We’re not dead yet.”

  “Guys,” Mia said over the coms.

  “What is it, Mia?” Hawk asked.

  Alex unmuted her mic. “What’s going on?”

  “This software has some incredible AI defense mechanisms that I’ve never encountered before. It’s like the computer has a mind of its own and is fighting me to retake control.”

  “What are you saying?” Hawk asked.

  “I’m saying I don’t know how much longer I can maintain control.”

  “Can you lock in those coordinates so it can’t be overridden?” Alex asked.

  “I can try.”

  Before the conversation could continue, the door flew open and several guards poured inside. They descended upon Hawk and Alex with weapons trained. Hawk gave Alex a knowing look, and she lowered her gun. They placed their pistols on the floor and raised their hands.

  “Where is it?” the head guard asked as he strode up to his captives.

  “Where’s what?” Hawk asked.

  The man clasp
ed his hands behind his back and glared at Hawk. “You know what I’m talking about. The wireless transmitter that’s enabling you to control our rockets.”

  “Why don’t you search the room yourself?” Hawk suggested. “Or I’ll tell you myself if you allow us to walk out of here.”

  The man nodded at one of the guards, who rushed over to Alex and jammed the nozzle of his gun into her head.

  “That’s not necessary,” Hawk said.

  “I’m afraid it is, Mr. Hawk, given your penchant for uncooperative behavior. You’re going to tell me where the transmitter is. And you’re going to tell me right now.”

  CHAPTER 26

  YOUNG EYED THE RUSSIAN president, who didn’t seem fazed by the auction. While Young couldn’t allow one of his own cities to be decimated, he wondered how much longer Sinclair would continue pitting the two leaders against each other. Sinclair was already a billionaire, and one of the richest in the world at that. Young wondered if the end game was to be the world’s first trillionaire and use his money to indulge himself. But despite Sinclair’s giant ego, Young figured there had to be some other motivation than greed.

  “Do I hear two point one trillion?” Sinclair asked as he turned his gaze toward Young.

  Young sighed and shook his head. “I think I’ve reached my limit. I can’t participate in this farce any longer.”

  “Oh, Mr. President, I can assure you that I’m very serious about carrying through with my promise,” Sinclair said. “If I never followed through with my threats, I would’ve never reached the heights that I have with my business. Now, perhaps you want reconsider withdrawing from the bidding, no?”

  “There comes a point when a man must stand up to extortion,” Young said.

  “And apparently, that point for you is at two trillion dollars.”

  “I don’t believe you’ll do it.”

  “So, you’re testing me?”

  Young nodded. “I’m calling your bluff. If you dared to launch an attack on Washington, you’d be signing your death warrant.”

  “That’s hardly the case,” Sinclair said. “You’d have to invade a sovereign nation to get me. And I’m counting on President Karelin being satisfied with our product. So much so that he’d protect me.”