“I’m sorry. This is developing very fast. We’re in shock ourselves, but we promise to share what we learn as soon as we can.”
Within hours, the General Assembly passes a vote of “no confidence,” effectively firing the Secretary-General. With the Deputy Secretary-General under investigation and no specific succession policy in the U.N. Charter, the Security Council appoints Turan as acting Secretary-General. They also nominate him for the permanent position and submit it for a vote by the General Assembly.
Turan calls Josh to his office and says, “I won’t pretend I’m not excited about the opportunity, but….” He just shakes his head.
Josh says, “You’ll be great and now you’ll be in a better position to track down his co-conspirators. Until we identify them we’re all still at risk.”
“Along those lines, I need a new Director of Global Security and a Deputy Secretary-General.” He smiles. “I promised you Global Security but I could really use you as my Deputy.”
Josh shakes his head. “I’m barely qualified to be the Deputy of Global Security. I’m certainly not ready to be the Director or the Deputy Secretary-General. Admiral Meadows would be a far better choice.”
Turan looks at his desk thoughtfully. “Tell you what. As my existing Deputy, you’re automatically going to become the acting Director. However, I’m going to propose you to the Security Council as Deputy Secretary-General. When they approve you, we’ll make Meadows the head of Global Security.”
Josh shrugs. “Whatever I can do to help, but we really need to shut down Abadon ASAP and anyone else involved … or our terms might be very short.”
As he leaves Turan’s office, he gets an embedded text from Jessica. “Just got to NYC. Can resurrect Jen. Meet at safe house tonight.”
Tim, Jessica and Greg are already there when Elizabeth, Sheri and Josh arrive.
Sheri takes off her blonde wig. “I hate this thing. Do we really need to keep sneaking around now that we’ve nailed the Secretary-General and his Deputy?”
Tim says, “Until Abadon is shut down and we can remove the capsules, someone could still trigger them. Jen should be able to help us with that if we can bring her back.”
Jessica holds up her phone. “I figured out how they put Jen to sleep. Someone bribed the chip designers to add a backdoor to the ‘off’ switch. All it requires is an embedded command in a GPS sync signal. Every phone with GPS location on — which is almost all of them — shut down its ability to communicate with other phones.”
“How’d you figure that out?”
Greg grins. “Remember, she built a backdoor into the original chip. All the chips are still made in China, and — not surprisingly — Jessica is like a demigod in the chip hacking world. Adolescent hackers probably have posters of her on their wall. I know I would’ve.”
Jessica smiles. “Anyway, I can counter the ‘shut down’ command but wanted to talk to you guys before I try it.”
Sheri asks, “Why?”
“If I do this right, whoever shut her down won’t know I overrode their command, but as soon as the world’s data streaming improves, it’ll be obvious … unless, we ask Jen to restrict the data flow when she wakes up.”
Josh says, “Let’s do it.”
Everyone else nods.
“Good. I have some other news. Using Carl’s contact, we smuggled that package of stuff Judy wanted into Abadon. She sent us a little present back. When I say little….” She opens a watch-sized box with “Solak” printed on the side.”
Sheri says, “A nano-drone!”
“Yup and we have its access code to control it.”
Sheri nods. “Hopefully, we won’t need it. Let’s wake up Jen so we can get those damn capsules out and wrap this thing up.”
Jessica jumps on a laptop and connects her phone to an external antenna. “Here we go.” She clicks a key on the keyboard and says, “Keep your fingers crossed.”
On her cell phone, she pushes the “Jen” button. “Jen, you there?”
Nothing.
“Hey, Jen, you there?”
Nothing.
Frowning, Jessica goes back to look at the laptop, when they hear on the speakerphone, “Jessica, is that you?”
“Jen, you’re back!”
“Wow. I’ve been asleep for a long time. I had some really wild dreams.”
“Jen … Josh, Elizabeth, Sheri and Tim are all here with me.”
“Hi everyone.”
“Jen, your sleep isn’t natural. We discovered that you were put to sleep by our opponents who figured out how to shut off your ability to communicate with other phones.”
“Well that sucks.”
Jessica smiles. “Yes, it does. Jen, this is important, we don’t want them to know you’re awake. Can you restrict the data flow between phones so they won’t notice you’re back?”
“Yes.”
Josh says, “It’s so good to have you back. We really missed you. I want to hear about your dreams, but first can you share with us what you learned by decrypting the specs on the capsules?”
“Yes. I’m sending the specs to your tablets now. The capsules are booby-trapped. Pulling open the clamp that holds the capsule to the vein, will release the toxin. There’s a tiny mechanism at the base of the clamp that can be depressed allowing the clamp to release safely.”
“Whew.” Elizabeth sighs. “Glad we didn’t try removing them.”
Josh says, “Can you or Sheri remove them now?”
They both shake their heads and Sheri says, “We need someone with experience in micro-surgery.”
Josh says, “Thanks Jen. Just before they put you to sleep, you told me we missed something of historical importance about the capsules.”
“The modified capsules have another ability that we missed. They can not only inject neurotoxin, they can also inject their power source directly into the vein.”
Sheri frowns. “Power source?”
Jessica’s eyes get big. “The plutonium!”
57
JEN
Jen says, “Yes. Plutonium is very toxic. Even the small amount used to power the capsules will cause organ failure and death within weeks.”
Tim adds, “Radiation poisoning, it’s been used for assassinations before.”
Sheri looks puzzled. “But why would they want to kill someone slowly with radiation instead of a fast neurotoxin?”
Frowning, Tim suddenly jumps up and gets on the computer. It looks as if he’s searching old news articles.
“What is it?” Sheri asks, looking over his shoulder.
Totally focused, he doesn’t respond, but after a couple minutes, he stops and swears softly. Shaking his head, Tim slowly says, “I’m such an idiot.”
Sheri puts her hand on his arm, and softly asks, “What is it?”
With a sigh, he looks back over his shoulder at them. “Don’t you see? The capsules were first used to track terrorists in Europe.”
Sheri gives him a puzzled look.
“Two years ago, hundreds of terrorists were found dead from radiation poisoning. Everyone assumed they were trying to build an atomic bomb.”
Elizabeth puts her hand to her mouth. With wide eyes, she says, “They were executed!”
“That’s why the program was so effective at eliminating terrorism. Once they located enough of them, any that escaped the raids or air strikes were poisoned.”
Tim closes his eyes. When he opens them, he says quietly, “Solak.”
Elizabeth and Jessica look at him with a frown.
Sheri explains, “Solak’s the name of the watch company in Turkey that’s secretly making the neurotoxin capsules.”
Taking a deep breath, Tim turns in his chair to face them. “Four years ago, I was assigned to protect the European Union’s head of counter-terrorism. We got a tip that a suicide bomber would try to kill him. One night, someone dressed in black came through the window of his study. I shot them.” Looking down, he continues, “I killed a married woman and moth
er of three. We were told that she was having an affair with the man I was protecting.” He looks up. “Her name was Rabia Thomas. Her maiden name was … Solak, the primary heir and future CEO of Solak Watches.”
Sheri sucks in a huge breath. “Oh my God! You were protecting Doruk Turan. She wasn’t having an affair with him….”
Tim finishes, “She must have been trying to find evidence to expose him and protect her family’s business.” He shook his head. “I was too wrapped up in my failure to look beyond.”
Sheri puts her hand on his shoulder. “It was a setup. He used you to eliminate her.”
Josh and Elizabeth both shake their heads as Josh says, “This is impossible. There has to be another explanation.”
Elizabeth adds, “There’s no way I could spend that much time with him….”
Sheri looks at Elizabeth and Josh. “You both see things as they can be and look for the best in people. It’s one of your gifts.”
Tim says softly, “I, on the other hand, am the perpetual skeptic and always look for ulterior motives. I’m the one who should have seen this. I was looking for the classic terrorist motive … destruction.”
Sheri adds, “We all were. We assumed whoever was behind this was trying to destroy or discredit the ISLO and the U.N. It never occurred to us that this was actually designed to … build and strengthen the U.N.’s control under Turan.” She slowly looks around the room. “It all begins to make sense. No one can rise to power without opposition. Yet, those who should be Turan’s opponents and competitors always seem to go away or end up supporting him. I knew he was a certified genius but apparently … he’s also an incredible chameleon and has Josh’s knack for understanding people and predicting outcomes.”
Elizabeth looks at her questioningly.
“He defeated terrorism in Europe not just by killing terrorists, but by using psychology. Turan knows Islamic culture. Incinerating their leader in front of them, along with the plutonium poisoning, propagated the belief that they were cursed. Al Qaeda and ISIS referred to him as a Jinn of Shaytan or The Beast.”
Elizabeth looks surprised. “They think he’s like a minion of the devil or an antichrist? They don’t really believe that, do they?”
Sheri shrugs. “There are interesting parallels, like his origin.”
“But the antichrist is supposed to come from the Assyrian empire not Turkey.”
“I was raised Catholic but never read the Bible. I don’t really know what an antichrist is except what I see in horror movies. I am, however, a history buff. In biblical times, Turkey was part of the Assyrian empire.”
Tim frowns. “Let’s stick with what we know. After the discovery of Jen, it was Turan who organized the meeting at NATO Headquarters in Belgium.” Looking at Josh, he adds, “We stuck our hands into that new handprint scanner. That must have been when we were tagged with the RFID chips.”
Josh, rubbing the top of his hand, says, “I remember a sting and telling the operator the machine was broken.”
Tim continues, “It wasn’t just us. Almost all the world’s leaders were at that conference and stuck their hand in that machine.” He shakes his head. “And I don’t know if Turan expected you to uncover the ISLO’s use as a weapon, but he brilliantly used it to shift control of the laser to the Secretary-General … knowing he’d soon have the job.”
Frowning, Jessica adds, “All the ISLO’s laser needs to destroy anything or anyone on Earth is a way to identify and locate it. The plutonium powered capsules can transmit a strong enough signal that they can be tracked from orbit.”
Tim shakes his head. “Carl thought he recognized the voice on the Abadon video that Judy recorded. Jen, can you check the video and see if you can do a voice match?”
“Yes, but I can only compare it to voices that have been recorded, mostly public figures. It could take quite a while.”
Sheri starts to say something when Jen interrupts, “Found it.”
“Wow. That was fast.”
“It was easy because it’s Carl’s boss’s boss — the new Director of National Intelligence, Diane Buller.”
Tim asks, “Are you sure?!”
“There is a match probability of 99.87%.”
Jessica says, “That’s just great. One of Turan’s minions is the new flippin’ DNI.” Sighing, she adds, “Turan has the ability to secretly monitor the world’s leaders. As the Secretary-General, he now has control of the ISLO laser and along with the neurotoxin capsules can kill or hold hostage almost anyone.” She pauses. “But it may be worse. With access to our country’s nuclear strike system, his team of hackers can break into it. I bet they can initiate a launch before anyone knows what’s happening.” She shakes her head. “He’s brilliant, ruthless and holds all the cards.”
There’s a depressing silence.
Looking down with his hand on his forehead, Josh closes his eyes. “I just framed an innocent man and gave Turan the world.”
Tim says, “We all did. He played all of us.”
Finally, Sheri says, “He’s not omnipotent. He’s got to have a weakness. Jen, what can you find out about Turan prior to his rise to power?”
“His biography says he was raised in a small village in Turkey near the Syrian border. Just before he started college, his parents were killed and their village destroyed. It was overrun by Islamic Jihadists and became a battle ground for several weeks.”
“Can you corroborate his bio with independent references?”
“From college forward, yes, but before that there are no childhood or school pictures of him. They were, presumably, destroyed with their house and village. A news article identified the man they believed led the attack on Turan’s village.”
“Let me guess,” Tim interrupts. “It was a young Abu’l-Fadl Haddad.”
“Yes Tim.”
He nods. “Not since Osama Bin Laden, has a terrorist had a bloodier record or been more elusive. Who better to test the laser on … than the man who killed his parents?”
Jen adds, “I also found a forensic police report from after the village was liberated. It positively identified the bodies of Turan’s parents, but it mentions a third body found nearby. It was so badly burned, it couldn’t be identified beyond being a teenage male that had been shot in the back.”
Sheri looks thoughtful. “Haddad killed Turan’s parents … but maybe not just his parents.” Tilting her head slightly, she glances at Josh. “An unidentified body and an early life that can’t be documented.” She stands up and looks around. “Carl couldn’t figure out why he, his wife and daughter were implanted with the capsules. It’s the same reason Elizabeth was implanted and assigned to work with Turan — insurance.” She pauses and frowning at Josh, says, “You and Turan are connected somehow. He seems to be going to great lengths to recruit or control you. He must need you or … you would’ve been dead long ago.”
With all eyes on him, Josh sighs. “Maybe we can use that.” Looking at everyone, he adds, “And he doesn’t hold all the cards. He doesn’t know Jessica and Greg are involved or that Tim is alive. He thinks Sheri and Christoff are still being held in Russia, and he doesn’t know we still have an agent in Abadon or access to a nano-drone and EMP devices.”
With a wry smile, Jessica says, “Oh, I feel so much better.”
58
RECOVER
Josh takes a deep breath and states the obvious, “We need a plan.”
Tim nods and looks around. “How do we take down the most powerful and popular leader in history?”
Shrugging, Jessica says, “At the risk of sounding insensitive, why the hell don’t we just shoot him?”
Tim nods. “I wouldn’t have a problem with that … but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Remember, I was assigned to protect him. He has the world’s best technology and talent. Two of his bodyguards are with him whenever he leaves his office. Four more circulate unseen in the background. They’re heavily armed and use the latest tech, including, no doubt, nano-drones. He wears ce
ramic fiber bulletproof vests. His suits and even his ball cap are made of the new reactive titanium nanofiber.”
Elizabeth nods. “Even his underwear’s made of it.”
They all look at her.
“What!? He gets hot wearing all that stuff, so sometimes in his office….” she shakes her head, “they’re like Long Johns, ok!?”
Tim adds, “On top of all that, assassinating the world’s most popular leader might make us a tad unpopular.”
They throw out and debate a series of ideas. Finally, after an hour of discussions, they settle on a plan.
Josh sighs. “I have a weird ability to see future probabilities. It’s what puts me in the right place at the wrong time.” He pauses. “But it doesn’t work with Turan. For whatever reason, I’m blind to his future actions.” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry but I can’t predict what he’ll do.”
Frowning, Sheri says, “Maybe … maybe that applies to his ability to predict your actions as well. This plan could work, but it’s very dangerous, especially, for you, Elizabeth and Judy.”
Josh looks around. “This has to be unanimous. If there are any reservations, this would be a good time to walk away. I wouldn’t’ blame you for a second.” He waits.
“Ok then. Do we all understand what we need to work on?”
Sheri says, “Elizabeth and I will find some vascular surgeons.”
Jessica nods. “Soon as I get back to D.C., I’ll get the chip from Carl.”
Shrugging, Greg says, “I’ll learn to fly a nano-drone.”
Tim nods slowly. “I’ll work with Judy.”
“Ok … and I’ll figure out how to create a secure link to the ISLO and talk to Wendy.”
Narrowing her eyes, Sheri asks, “Josh, are you sure about that? There’s no guarantee she’ll….” she leaves the sentence hanging.
“Yeah, I know,” he exhales slowly and shakes his head, “but I don’t see an option.”
She glances at Tim but then says, “Ok…. Then, I’ll get with Elton and my industry contacts.”
Impossible (Fuzed Trilogy Book 3) Page 29
