Phoenix

by Alex Lukeman

  At the moment, whether or not the unit would continue was the least of her concerns. She was worried about her team. After Selena's call, Elizabeth had contacted Clarence Hood. He'd sent out one of Langley's covert paramilitary units to back them up, but she was afraid they'd arrive too late.

  Her private phone buzzed. There was no ID.

  Vysotsky, she thought.

  "Yes."

  "Director Harker, this is General Vysotsky."

  "General."

  "I will come directly to the point. We are aware that your President believes the Federation is responsible for the sabotage of your nuclear facility in Arizona. I am calling to assure you we had nothing to do with it."

  "I believe you, General," Elizabeth said. "I know the Federation didn't do it."

  "You do?" Vysotsky sounded shocked. "How?"

  "We've identified the man responsible. We believe he is also behind the attack on the Chinese dam and on your aircraft. My team is attempting to neutralize him as we speak."

  "Elizabeth, the Chinese are about to invade my country. We may have to use tactical nuclear weapons to stop them. I am afraid of the consequences if this becomes necessary. There is much anger here. President Orlov believes the White House is responsible for taking down our aircraft. He is angry, but he does not seek war with you. However, there are others who believe we can win a nuclear confrontation with your country."

  Vysotsky's words were chilling. He continued.

  "You must convince your President that we did not attack your facility. If you know who did this thing, you must find a way to prove it to me and to President Orlov as well. You must do it quickly. Once the Chinese cross our border, things will move out of control."

  "General, President Corrigan will not listen to me without proof, the same kind of proof you are asking me to provide to you. My team is attempting to gain that proof. If they succeed, I may be able to head this off. Our president also has advisors who think war is an answer. President Orlov must refrain from making any hostile moves toward us. I am sure such a move would be met with overwhelming retaliation."

  "I think I can promise that nothing will happen for twenty-four hours. After that, events may prevent any communication between us. You must hurry, Director."

  "Please tell President Orlov what I have told you. Tell him I will have the proof he needs within a day."

  "Sooner than a day would be better," Vysotsky said.

  After she'd hung up, Elizabeth hoped a day would be enough time to get what she needed.

  CHAPTER 56

  Nick led the others to the end of the cellblock. They stood next to the door, under the camera where it couldn't track them.

  "Anyone watching knows we're out of the cells. They'll be waiting on the other side of this door. Ronnie, have a grenade ready. I'll lead, then Ronnie, then Lamont. Selena, you bring up the rear. Everyone, up against the wall while I open the door."

  They flattened themselves against the wall. Nick reached forward, turned the knob, and pulled the door part way open. A hail of bullets slammed into the metal door and through the opening.

  "Ronnie," Nick said.

  Ronnie pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it underhand through the opening. Nick slammed the door shut. The grenade detonated. Shrapnel struck like heavy rain against the door.

  Nick pulled the door open and went through, firing as he went. Three bodies lay on the floor, shredded by the grenade. A fourth man at the other end of the room brought up his rifle. Nick cut him down.

  "Get their weapons," Nick said.

  Each of the dead men had a Kashnikov and extra magazines. Lamont, Ronnie and Selena picked up the rifles and ammunition. Selena handed the spare magazines for the MP7 to Nick. He reloaded and put them in his pocket.

  Nick stepped over the body of the man he'd shot and looked through the partially open door at a room lined with bunk beds and lockers. Light shone through another door at the far end. There was no one in the room.

  They ran across the space and paused on either side of the opening.

  "Hear that?" Lamont said. "Music."

  "Wagner," Selena said. "The 'Ride of the Valkyries.' It's the opening of Act III in one of Wagner's operas."

  "I'll take your word for it," Lamont said. "Me, I'm more into Fats Domino and Otis Redding."

  "You're not old enough to be into those guys," Ronnie said.

  "Hey, maybe they were the people you listened to in your youth, but for me they're classics."

  "Ahem," Nick said.

  Ronnie and Lamont looked at him.

  "You guys through with your music appreciation discussion?"

  "My guess is we'll find Nicklaus when we find the music," Selena said. "Who else would listen to Wagner in this place?"

  "We've been lucky so far," Nick said. "Stay alert."

  On the other side of the door, a hall went for a short distance and turned ninety degrees to the right. This hall was different. It was carpeted. Paintings hung on the walls. They moved to the junction and Nick peered around the corner. The music was louder here.

  "It's another hall," Nick said. "There's a big room at the end of it. The music is coming from there."

  Selena looked at one of the paintings. It was an original by Hieronymus Bosch, a sixteenth century Dutch painter famous for his paintings of the torments of hell and delights of heaven.

  "We must be getting close to Nicklaus' living quarters," Selena said.

  "Figures," Nick said. "He'd need some place comfortable to hang out while he waited for the bombs to stop falling."

  They moved silently toward the music, the carpet muffling their steps.

  The music built to a dramatic climax.

  They saw Nicklaus sitting in an elegant chair of leather and polished wood, his eyes closed, waving his right hand in the air in time with the music. Across from him was a wall of stereo equipment. Two large speaker cabinets were placed in the corners of the room, two more behind him. A large, ugly man stood off to the side of Nicklaus' chair, waiting for the music to finish.

  Selena whispered in Nick's ear. "That's the man who left me to burn."

  Nick smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile.

  At the conclusion of the piece, Nicklaus lifted a remote and pushed a button. The music stopped. Nick stepped into the room, followed by the others. Selena aimed her rifle at Josef.

  The room was furnished with Oriental rugs and antique wooden furniture. Medieval tapestries depicting unicorns, mythical beasts, and people in elaborate costumes hung on the walls. There were more paintings. Selena recognized a Vermeer, a Turner and two Rembrandts. A bronze bust of Lenin sat on a fluted display column near the stereo system.

  "Nice system you've got there," Nick said.

  Nicklaus sat upright and looked at them.

  "Mister Carter. I wondered how long it would take you to get here."

  Josef recognized Selena.

  "You," he said.

  His hand came up with a pistol in it, quick as a snake. He fired. The bullet screamed past her. Ronnie cried out and fell to his knees. Selena put three rounds into Josef's chest. He staggered. She put another round between his eyes, spattering the Vermeer with blood and brains. His body fell forward onto the rug.

  "Oh, dear," Nicklaus said. "I wish you hadn't done that."

  Ronnie was down on the floor. The bullet had hit him on the right side of his chest. Blood bubbled from the wound. It made a wet, whistling sound as he breathed.

  Lamont knelt next to him.

  "All right, man, I gotcha. Take it easy. Don't move."

  "Hurts," Ronnie said.

  Lamont ripped open Ronnie's shirt and exposed an ugly hole where the round had gone in. He grabbed Ronnie's hand and clamped it down over the wound.

  "Hold it there. Can you do that?"

  "Yeah."

  Lamont reached into the pack on his belt and pulled out a roll of duct tape. He tore off a piece and placed it over the wound. The whistling noise stopped. He rolled Ronnie on
to his right side.

  "Hang in there, Ronnie. Nick, he's got a sucking chest wound."

  "Do what you can," Nick said. "You, Nicklaus, is there an elevator here?"

  "It's over there," Nicklaus said.

  He waved his arm vaguely at the right side of the room. Nick saw the elevator door.

  "Selena, Lamont, get Ronnie over to the elevator."

  He turned his full attention to Nicklaus.

  "I have some questions for you before we get out of here."

  "I'm sure you do, Mister Carter. What would you like to know?"

  Nick had prepared for this conversation, in case they got this far. He reached into his shirt pocket and turned on a digital recorder.

  "Are you the one who interfered with the computers on our destroyer?"

  "That was in the nature of a small test," Nicklaus said. "Yes, I am."

  "Are you also responsible for what happened to the Three Gorges Dam?"

  "Please, Carter, don't be tedious. You already know the answer. That, and the plane crash in Russia as well. Oh, and your little radiation problem in Arizona. Tell me, how are property values in Phoenix these days?"

  "Why?" Nick asked. "Why have you done these things?"

  "It was necessary. Do you know the legend of the phoenix?"

  "I know it."

  "Then you know that renewal requires destruction. The nest of the phoenix must be consumed by flame, destroyed. Look at the state of the world, Carter. Look at the insanity humans have created. Do you think they'll ever work together to solve the problems the world is experiencing? Of course they won't. History has proven that, again and again. What humanity needs is cleansing by fire, the destruction of the nest. Then new leaders will emerge. We will create a world government where all find their appropriate place."

  "What gives you the right to decide what humanity needs?"

  "The right of superior intellect and vision."

  "You're just another elitist asshole who thinks he knows what's best for everyone else," Nick said.

  Nicklaus looked disappointed. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to be part of the new order, Carter?"

  "There's not going to be any new order, Nicklaus. Your fancy computer is permanently off-line and so is the geek you had build it for you. You can't interfere anymore. Get up."

  "Why should I?" Nicklaus said.

  "Because if you don't, I'm going to kill you right there in your fancy chair."

  Nicklaus laughed. "Mister Carter, you are so naïve. Merlin accomplished everything it was supposed to do. That little recorder you have in your pocket will never leave this room. You're not going to get a chance to play it for your president or anyone else. No one can stop what I have initiated."

  "What the hell are you talking about?"

  Nicklaus looked at the watch on his wrist, a gold and diamond studded Rolex.

  "In exactly forty-eight minutes American submarines off the coasts of China and Russia will launch all of their missiles at the People's Republic and the Federation. Both will respond with their ICBMs. The phoenix will have his day."

  Nick brought his weapon up to his shoulder.

  "Get up. I won't ask again."

  Nicklaus raised the remote in his hand.

  "Goodbye, Carter."

  He pressed a button.

  CHAPTER 57

  There was an explosion and the room instantly filled with thick, gray smoke. Nick fired in the direction of the chair where Nicklaus had been sitting. He couldn't see if he'd hit him or not. A flame glowed somewhere in the smoke.

  Nick called out.

  "Lamont, Selena, stay where you are."

  The smoke began to lift, drifting up to the high ceiling above. Nick wiped tears from his eyes. Nicklaus' chair was shattered by Nick's bullets but the man was nowhere to be seen. Flames rose in a line along the floor. One of the tapestries on the walls caught fire.

  Across the room, Nick glimpsed Nicklaus behind the closing door of the elevator. He emptied his magazine at him. A wall of flame shot up in front of the door as a closed.

  The fire was spreading. Nick felt the heat from the flames. He slung his weapon and ripped a tapestry from the wall.

  "Lamont. Help me lift Ronnie onto this. We'll carry him back to the stairs."

  Nick threw the tapestry down on the floor. Lamont helped him lift Ronnie onto it. They picked up the ends, forming a hammock.

  "Selena, lead the way."

  She took them back along the hall. Behind them, the room with the stereo had turned into an inferno. Something exploded with a dull boom.

  They reached the guard's quarters. Nick stumbled on one of the bodies and almost dropped his end of the tapestry. They went through the storage area, through the maintenance room, back along the passage with the cells, until they reached the stairs.

  "Ronnie," Nick said. "Are you with me?"

  Ronnie had his hand pressed over the makeshift patch. "Yeah. I think the patch is slipping."

  "I'm going carry you up the stairs. It will hurt."

  "Yeah, okay."

  Smoke was seeping into the corridor.

  "Lamont, give me a hand."

  They stood Ronnie on his feet. Nick knelt and hoisted Ronnie onto his shoulders. He grunted and stood.

  They started up the stairs. Nick tried to ignore the numbers painted on the walls as they climbed. A memory flashed of when he was in Recon, training for mountain warfare. The platoon had set out on a forced march in the chill of an early morning.

  Rank was suspended during the exercises. Each man carried a hundred pounds of gear plus whatever weapon was assigned to him. In Nick's case it had been an M-60 machine gun. The gun weighed twenty-four pounds. By noon they were only halfway to the top of the mountain and the gun was getting heavy. His shoulders and neck ached from the weight. His feet hurt and his calves were cramping as they strained against the slope.

  One of the instructors had come alongside. He could see Nick was hurting.

  Keep going Marine, he'd said. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time. You'll get there.

  Nick made it to the top of the mountain putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time. Sometimes that was all there was. Carrying Ronnie, he kept putting one foot in front of the other, one step at a time, passing each landing, following Selena.

  They reached the ground floor and moved out into the broad entry hall of the mansion. There was no one in sight. Nicklaus was gone.

  Nick set Ronnie down and called Harker.

  "Nick, what's happening?"

  "Nicklaus said we have subs off China and Russia that are going to launch their missiles." He checked his watch. "If he was telling the truth, we have eighteen minutes before World War III starts."

  "What?"

  "He programmed the sub computers to fire. You've got to stop it."

  "I'll call back."

  Elizabeth disconnected. Nick and Lamont carried Ronnie outside to the Suburban. They laid Ronnie in the back seat. Selena got behind the wheel. Lamont got in back with Ronnie, keeping pressure on the wound.

  They headed for the nearest hospital.

  CHAPTER 58

  Stephanie was out of the hospital. She joined Elizabeth in Nick and Selena's loft. The baby was in a carriage, sleeping. Stephanie had her laptop open, connected to Freddie. She watched Elizabeth set the phone down. Her pale skin had turned ghost white.

  Steph said, "What did he say?"

  "He said we've got eighteen minutes to stop World War III. We need Freddie."

  I heard you, Director.

  Freddie's voice was thin on the tiny laptop speaker.

  "Freddie," Elizabeth said, "identify any American nuclear missile submarines off the coasts of China and Russia."

  Processing.

  In a moment, Freddie spoke again.

  There are two SSBN submarines and one SSGN vessel off the coasts of China and the Russian Federation.

  The SSBN subs carried twenty Trident II missiles, each armed with up
to twelve warheads. Each warhead was up to forty times as powerful as the bomb that had been dropped on Hiroshima. SSGN subs carried a complement of one hundred and fifty-four nuclear tipped Tomahawk cruise missiles, fired from twenty launching tubes.

  "Freddie, can you access the missile fire control systems on these submarines?"

  If they are submerged, communication is only possible through the military ELF system.

  "Can you do it?"

  Yes.

  "Freddie, the missile firing systems have been programmed to fire without authorization, less than eighteen minutes from now. These firing sequences must be stopped."

  Do you wish me to stop them??

  "Yes, Freddie."

  It is not certain I can accomplish this within the designated time frame.

  "It's important that you do. Begin now."

  Processing.

  "Oh my God," Stephanie said.

  CHAPTER 59

  The first person Elizabeth called was Clarence Hood. She explained what Nick had told her.

  "I don't know if Freddie can do it in time," she said.

  "I'll call Adamski," Hood said. "The Pentagon might be able to get through to them."

  "I'll call the president."

  Elizabeth disconnected and called the White House. She reached Ellen Cartwright.

  "What is it, Director? I'm rather busy right now."

  "Ellen, you and I have our differences but this goes beyond that. Three of our submarines are going to launch nuclear missiles at China in the next fifteen minutes unless we can contact them and stop it. The president needs to know, now."

  "Director, I find that hard to believe. The president is in an important meeting. I can't interrupt him."

  "Damn it, Cartwright, there isn't time for this. I'm dead serious. The president needs to get out of Washington now. China will retaliate immediately. If we can't stop this, the White House is going to turn into a radioactive crater, so get your ass out of your chair and get me the president."

  "I don't have to listen to you," Cartwright said.

  She hung up.

  Elizabeth felt like throwing her phone across the room.