The Judas Strain sf-4

by James Rollins

  Monk sighed. Just great. He stared with concern toward the forest, toward where Jessie had vanished.

  Demons and cannibals.

  What’s next? Club Med?

  9

  Hagia Sophia

  JULY 6, 9:32 A.M.

  Istanbul

  With the sun blazing across the rooftop restaurant, Gray listened to the threat. It sapped all warmth out of the morning.

  “If you don’t follow my directions precisely, I’ll kill your parents.”

  Gray strangled Vigor’s cell phone within his grip. “If anything happens to them…”

  “Something will. I promise that. I’ll send you pieces. In the mail. Over months.”

  Gray heard the simple certainty in the man’s words. He turned his back on the others, needing to concentrate, to think.

  “If you attempt to contact Sigma,” Nasser continued in a dispassionate voice, “I will know. You will be punished. With the blood of your mother.”

  Gray’s throat had tightened to a strangled knot. “You bastard…I want to know they’re alive…unharmed.”

  Nasser didn’t even respond. Gray heard a shuffle of the phone, muffled voices, then his mother came on the line. “Gray?” she gasped out. “I’m sorry. Your father. I needed his pills.” Her words ended in a sob.

  Gray’s whole body trembled, teetering between fury and grief. “Doesn’t matter. Are you okay? Is Dad?”

  “We’re…yes…Gray—”

  The phone was snatched from her, and Nasser came back on the line. “I will be leaving them in the care of my colleague Annishen. I believe you met her at the safe house in D.C.”

  Gray pictured the Eurasian woman with the dyed crew cut and tattoos.

  Asian Anni.

  Nasser continued, “I will be joining you in Turkey. At nineteen hundred hours. You will not move from where you are.”

  Gray checked his watch. A little over nine hours.

  “I have men closing on your position in the Sultanahmet as we speak. Do not try to be clever. We’ve been tracking Monsignor Verona’s phone since he left Italy.”

  Vigor’s sudden departure from the Vatican must have triggered a red flag. Gray wanted to be angry at the monsignor for being so careless, but he knew Vigor did not operate at the same level of paranoia as he did. Few people did. And at the moment, Gray had no room for recriminations, too consumed by his own guilt.

  He had left his parents alone.

  “I would like to speak with Seichan now,” Nasser said.

  Gray waved Seichan over. She went to take the phone, but Gray kept hold of it. He motioned for her to come close so he could listen in on their conversation.

  With heads together, ear to ear, Seichan spoke into the phone. “Amen,” she said, using Nasser’s first name, “what do you want?”

  “You bitch…for this betrayal, I’ll make you suffer in ways—”

  “Yes, and you’ll beat my dog and kick my cat. I get it, sweetheart.” Seichan sighed, her breath tickling Gray’s neck. “But I’m afraid we’ll have to say our good-byes here. I’ll be long gone by the time you arrive.”

  Gray tensed and turned slightly to glance at her. She held up a silencing palm and shook her head. She wasn’t going anywhere.

  “My men already have you surrounded,” Nasser warned. “You try to leave, and they’ll put a bullet between your cold eyes.”

  “Whatever. As soon as this little conversation is over, I’m heading out of this damn church.” Seichan glanced significantly at Gray and pointed over the rooftop wall toward Hagia Sophia.

  She continued on the phone, “We weren’t making any progress here at Hagia Sophia anyway. Too many damned murals. It’s all yours, baby. You’ll never see me again.”

  Gray frowned. She was plainly lying. But why?

  Nasser paused, then spoke, fury thawing his icy manner. “You’ll not make it ten steps! I’ve got all the exits to Hagia Sophia covered.”

  Seichan rolled her eyes at Gray, indicating her ploy.

  “I’m sure you do, Amen,” Seichan finished. “Ciao, baby. Kiss, kiss.”

  Seichan stepped back from the phone and held a finger toward Gray, warning him to be careful.

  Gray played along. “What did you just tell her?” he snapped into the phone. “Seichan just grabbed her gun and took off out of the church. What the hell are you and that bitch up to?”

  Seichan nodded with a tight smile.

  Listening to Nasser swear sharply, Gray calculated in his head, struggling to catch up with Seichan’s subterfuge, pushing back his guilt and anger. It would not serve him, or his parents.

  He met Seichan’s eyes. The Guild might have traced Vigor’s call, but their triangulation was not perfect. That’s what Seichan had tested with her claim of being at Hagia Sophia. The Guild knew they were somewhere in the old district in Istanbul, but not exactly where.

  At least not yet.

  Gray stared across a neighboring park toward the massive hulk of Hagia Sophia, with its giant flat dome, surrounded by four spiked minarets.

  “What are you doing at Hagia Sophia?” Nasser asked.

  Gray judged how much to say. He had to be convincing, and the best way to do that was with a bit of the truth. “We’re looking for Marco Polo’s key. Monsignor Verona decoded the script at the Vatican. It led here.”

  “So Seichan told you what we’re seeking.” Another curse. “For letting her escape, I’ll have to teach you how serious we are.”

  Gray read the intent to harm his parents.

  “Seichan is no longer important,” Gray cut in sharply, protecting his parents the only way he could. “I have what you’re seeking. The angelic code off the Egyptian obelisk. I still have a copy.”

  Nasser remained silent. Gray pictured him closing his eyes with relief. Nasser needed the angelic script, more than he needed to punish Seichan.

  “Very good, Commander Pierce.” The strain from a moment ago died out of his voice. “Continue cooperating in such a manner and your mother and father will live out the rest of their lives in peace and grace.”

  Gray knew that such a promise was as thin as the air he breathed.

  “I’ll meet you inside Hagia Sophia at nineteen hundred hours,” Nasser said. “Search the church for Polo’s key if you like. But I have snipers at all the exits.”

  Gray forced down a sneer.

  “And, Commander Pierce, if you think to set up any trap, I’ll be checking back with Annishen every hour. If I’m late by a minute, she’ll start with your mother’s toes.”

  The line clicked off.

  Gray snapped Vigor’s phone closed. “We have to get to Hagia Sophia. Before the Guild’s men triangulate our true location.”

  They began quickly gathering up their material.

  He turned to Seichan. “That was risky.”

  Seichan shrugged. “Gray, if you ever hope to survive this, certainly don’t underestimate the Guild. They are powerful, with many allies. Yet, at the same time, don’t overestimate them. The Guild will prey upon your fears of their omnipotence. To use that fear to weaken your morale. Just stay focused. Be cautious, but use your head.”

  “And if you’d been wrong?” Gray asked with a bite of anger.

  Seichan tilted her head. “I wasn’t.”

  Gray breathed heavily through his nose, trying to shed his anger. His mother and father would have suffered if she’d been wrong.

  “Besides,” Seichan said, “I needed a solid excuse not to be here when Nasser arrives. He’ll keep you and Monsignor Verona alive. You’re both useful. And with your mother and father as collateral, Nasser will believe he can ride you like a well-broken horse. But Nasser would shoot me on sight. That is, if I was lucky. So I needed an exit strategy that saved my life, yet still allowed me the freedom to maneuver on my own. If I’m going to have any chance of helping you.”

  Gray finally got hold of his anger. Seichan’s parents weren’t the ones in danger. It was easier for her to be cavalier and take ris
ks. She had made a cold decision, acted swiftly, and the results would serve them all.

  Still…

  Seichan turned away and pointed. “And I’m going to need that guy.”

  “Who? Me?” Kowalski asked.

  “Like I said, Nasser will shoot me on sight. Probably Kowalski, too.”

  “Why me?” The large man’s face wilted. “What the hell did I ever do to him?”

  “You’re useless.”

  “Hey!”

  Seichan ignored his outburst. “Nasser needs no other hostages, not with Mr. and Mrs. Pierce in hand. He’ll see no value in keeping you around.”

  Gray held up a hand. “But what if Nasser already knows Kowalski is here with us?”

  Seichan just stared at him, exasperated.

  He slowly understood.

  Don’t overestimate the Guild.

  Frowning, Gray struggled to rid himself of his view that the Guild was omnipotent. It threatened to cripple him from acting. Steadying himself, considering all the angles, he realized she was right.

  He turned to Kowalski. “You’ll go with Seichan.”

  “And I’ll put him to good use,” Seichan said, swatting the former seaman on the rear.

  “At least someone thinks I’m useful,” Kowalski grumbled, rubbing his backside.

  With all their gear gathered up, they headed down. Seichan and Gray went last. Gray grabbed her arm as she tried to pass.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked once they were alone on the rooftop. “To help us?”

  “I don’t know. Not yet.”

  She held his gaze a moment too long, then tried to turn away. She plainly wanted to tell him something more, but she hadn’t quite gotten the nerve yet. It was evident in the tightness of her breathing, the slight waver to her eyes.

  “What is it?” he asked softly, concerned.

  His tenderness only seemed to make her want to pull away more. But she sighed. “Gray…I’m sorry…” she started, looking away again. “Your parents…”

  There was more than worry in her eyes and manner. There was also a measure of guilt. Why? Guilt implied responsibility. But Seichan’s involvement of Gray’s parents had been accidental. Gray had come to accept that. So where was this sudden guilt coming from?

  His mind ran through various possibilities, reviewing the recent conversations. With Nasser, with Seichan. What was bothering her—

  — then suddenly he knew.

  Seichan had practically told him a moment before.

  Don’t overestimate the Guild.

  His grip tightened on her arm. He thrust Seichan against the wall beside the doorway. He leaned close, their lips almost touching.

  “Oh my God…there is no goddamn mole at Sigma. There never was.”

  Seichan stammered to explain.

  Gray would not let her. “Nasser warned me against calling Sigma, even threatening me. Why? He knew I was aware of a Guild mole in Sigma. So why even bother threatening?” He shook her. “Unless there was no mole.”

  She flinched, struggled for a moment to knock his arm away, but he clenched tighter, bruising to the bone.

  “When were you going to tell me?” he asked sharply.

  She finally found her voice — and it was angry, unapologetic, defensive. “I was going to tell you. After this was all over.” She sighed in irritation. “But with your parents captured, I couldn’t keep it a secret any longer…not if there is to be any hope of freeing them. I’m not that callous, Gray.”

  Seichan tried to turn away, but Gray shifted to keep his eyes locked on her.

  “Then if there was no mole,” he asked, “how did Nasser know about the safe house? The ambush he set up?”

  “A miscalculation on my part.” Her eyes grew flinty. “And that’s all I’ll say. You’ll have to trust me that I acted in good faith.”

  “Trust you,” he scoffed.

  His reaction seemed to wound her, the barest lowering of her chin.

  Gray did not let up. “If I had Sigma’s support from the start—”

  Her face hardened. “You’d have been bogged down, Gray. And I’d be locked in some prison. Useless. I needed both of us out and away as cleanly and as quickly as possible. So I let you believe what you thought.”

  Gray searched for some micro-expression, a fleeting glimpse of a contrary emotion indicative of a lie. There was none. She maintained her fixed gaze, clear-eyed, challenging. She did not even bother to hide that there was more left unsaid.

  Gray scowled at her, cursing himself for not being more careful with her. “I should just let Nasser shoot you.”

  “Then who is going to watch your back, Gray? Who do you have out here? Kowalski? You’re better off alone. You’ve got me. That’s goddamn it. So let’s get past this. We can continue arguing, waste what little time you have left to call Sigma, or we can sort this all out later.”

  She nodded to the door. “There’s a phone in the hotel lobby. It’s another of the reasons I wanted Nasser to think we were somewhere else. By now, he probably has a trace on all public phones in Hagia Sophia. The one in the lobby should be safe. Or at least safe enough. And you’ll have to be short. We’re already running out of time.”

  Gray let her go, thrusting her away.

  Again a wounded expression flashed across her face.

  Let her be wounded.

  If he had known there was no mole, he could’ve contacted Painter from the start. At least arranged for his mother and father to be secure.

  She must have read the source of his anger. She wiped her face, her voice softening, sounding bone-tired. “I thought they would be safe, too, Gray. I truly did.”

  Gray wanted to snap back at her, but no words came out. Both because he was angry, but more importantly because he could not unload all his guilt on Seichan.

  There was no denying the simple truth.

  He had left his parents alone.

  Not anyone else.

  3:04 A.M.

  Washington, D.C.

  “Director Crowe, I have a secure call coming in from Istanbul.”

  Painter glanced up from the bank of satellite feeds and over to the communications chief. Who was calling from Istanbul?

  For the past hour Painter had been arguing with the powers that be at the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Security Agency, attempting to gain full access to ECHELON, their satellite surveillance system, to prioritize a search around Christmas Island. But such remote territory, sparsely populated, was designated low risk and not under constant surveillance. Going outside the box, Painter had finally convinced the Australian Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap to task one of their satellites to the area. But it would still take another fourteen minutes.

  “It’s from Commander Pierce, sir,” the communications chief said and held out the telephone receiver.

  Painter swiveled in his seat. What the hell? He took the phone. “Gray? This is Director Crowe. Where are you?”

  The voice came faint. “Sir, I don’t have much time, and I have a lot of intel to pass on.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “First, my parents have been kidnapped by a Guild agent.”

  “Amen Nasser. We know. We have a wide sweep already under way.”

  Surprised silence followed, then Gray continued. “You also have to reach Monk and Lisa. They’re in danger over in Indonesia.”

  “We’re aware. I’m attempting a satellite pass as we speak. If you’re done telling me what I already know, why don’t you start at the beginning?”

  Gray took a deep breath and quickly related what had happened since Seichan had crashed back into his life. Painter asked a few questions and pieces began to fit together like a scattered jigsaw. He had already made several realizations while he waited for the NSA to respond. He had already suspected the Guild might be involved with the incident at Christmas Island. Who else had the resources to steal an entire island’s population and vanish away? Gray just confirmed this conjecture and answ
ered why this was all happening, even giving it a name.

  The Judas Strain.

  An hour ago Painter had summoned Dr. Malcolm Jennings back into Sigma’s R&D offices, hauling him from his bed. On the car ride back to Sigma from the site of the kidnapping, Painter had gone over Lisa’s last conversations. Clearly coerced, it made all her statements suspect. Like claiming the disease that so disconcerted her earlier was now just a false alarm. He had remembered Jennings’s earlier panic about the threat of an environmental meltdown. And the man’s last chilling statement. We still don’t know for sure what killed the dinosaurs.

  Plainly here was something that might interest the Guild.

  Painter had even guessed that Seichan’s sudden appearance and Gray’s disappearance might be related to Indonesia. Two major Guild actions, striking at the same time. Painter was not a fan of coincidences. There had to be a connection. But he never would have guessed who connected it all together.

  “Marco Polo?” Painter asked.

  Gray finished his story. “The Guild is operating on two fronts. A scientific arm is pursuing the current outbreak, seeking a cure and the source. At the same time—”

  Painter cut him off. “A historical arm is following Marco’s path back to the same: a cure and the source.”

  It now made a certain awful sense.

  “And now Nasser is heading out to Istanbul,” Painter said.

  “He’s probably already in the air.”

  “I can mobilize resources out there, have assets on the ground in the next couple hours.”

  “No. The Guild will know. According to Seichan, Istanbul is one of their major hubs of activity. They’re in all agencies out here. If they realize you’ve activated forces, they’ll know we’ve talked. My parents…you can’t. I’ll have to handle Nasser on my own.”

  “But you’ve taken a huge risk as it is, Gray. Sigma’s compromised. I’ll do my best to keep this from leaking any further, but the mole here could—”

  “Director, there is no mole in Sigma.”

  Painter started. It took him a moment to regroup, to consider this possibility. “Are you certain?” he finally asked.