Diamond Rain: Adventure Science Fiction Mossad Thriller (The Spy Stories and Tales of Intrigue Series Book 2)

by Michael James Gallagher

  Yatsick’s eyes lit up. His head moved up and down. “I’d be able to restrain your control of us?”

  “Hold on. I’m not stupid. You would have control but I’m going to retain a backdoor entrance into your suit in case you try to betray me. I give you my word that I’ll do that only as a last resort.”

  Yatsick nodded. It seemed a good deal. The best he’d get, anyway.

  Thomas relaxed. He removed the restraining nanocloud from around the three Mossad agents. They all flexed their hands and twisted their necks. Thomas reached towards Yatsick and handed him a familiar contrivance to wear around his wrist.

  “I’m sure you already know how to use this,” Thomas said with an amused expression.

  "What?" Yatsick tried to look surprised.

  “Don’t play with me. Remember, I can see your past thoughts and there’s a clear record of the clandestine use of Kefira’s suit by you. It’s all recorded in your head.”

  Ekaterina looked at Yatsick, who dodged her glare and continued.

  “I couldn’t resist, but I never left the lab.”

  Ekaterina shook her head. “I suppose it was to be expected. It doesn’t matter. Now, tell me if you can control him with the suit on?”

  The brilliant young technician looked grateful for being able to move and he turned the knob near his hand. A grayish cloud emerged and surrounded his body. When the mist had covered him completely, he could see the purple hue of Thomas’s suit and was aware of Thomas’ peripheral thoughts. Deeper probing was impossible.

  “I can’t control him but I think I can keep tabs on him,” Yatsick said.

  “Fair enough,” said Ekaterina. She looked happier. “Now, at the risk of sounding trite, we need a plan to defeat General Chou and get my baby back before Chou swallows up the whole world.”

  In the part of his brain that Yatsick couldn’t access, Thomas mulled over Ekaterina’s statement. Our priorities differ but the ends are the same. I’ll have to be careful to cover my thoughts. It’s Kefira that’s first on my list, not Chou. Together we’ll have more chance of using the suit to defeat him and my efforts won’t be distracted by worrying about her safety. Odd, though, for a mother not to think first of her daughter.

  Thomas acknowledged her statement. With a sudden wave he materialized a box on the table amongst them. Ekaterina recognized the box and its arrival startled her. If she needed a further demonstration of Thomas’ capabilities this was certainly it. It showed her just how much Thomas was privy to in her world. She picked it up.

  The box was indeed special. Nestled inside it was an ancient spear, a spear believed to have been carried to protect The Ark of the Covenant. Ekaterina’s hand went to the circular medallion around her neck. It contained a replica of the spear in the box and represented her connection to the past, present and future protection of the people of Israel. Mossad’s use of non-sabra Israelis as agents and especially ‘sleepers’ was a stroke of genius known to few in the intelligence community. No intelligence service could imagine that Mossad would permit other than Israelis born in Israel to work in its ranks, let alone hold the type of command position occupied by Ekaterina and Kefira.

  “How did you bring this here?” Ekaterina asked in amazement.

  “That doesn’t matter. It’s here. That’s what counts,” said Thomas.

  Ekaterina reached for the clasp on the chest that Thomas had effectively teleported into the room. She turned it, savoring the cool feel of its ancient beaten metal. The top of the coffer opened, exposing a regal-looking purple bed of silk with a hand tooled short spear sleeping on it. She breathed in, reverently caressed the weapon and lifted it out of its place. Never fails to change me when I touch it. It seems to take on my body heat, become part of me, thought Ekaterina. She placed the tip on the ground and started walking around it.

  “Spear, Vanguard. Spear Vanguard," she chanted softly, but with ever more insistence. Yochana next joined her, adding to the sound of the mantra and walking around it. The powerful energy drew Yatsick, as yet uninitiated, into its influence. In a trance, he too followed the women. Then Thomas touched the top of the spear and it rose slowly into the air in the center of the group, letting out its primordial source of power.

  For the first time in Ekaterina’s experience, the spear exerted a centrifugal attraction on the holders, bringing them into a tight circle around it. The chant overtook them until it became loud and built to a crescendo. When it stopped, they all felt a sense of anticlimax and looked at each other, with puzzled expressions, unable to explain what they had experienced.

  “I didn’t do it. At least, not consciously,” said Thomas.

  “Yatsick?” asked Ekaterina.

  “I had the suit on and I felt Thomas getting absorbed into the wave with us. He was following, not controlling. I’m quite certain of that.”

  “The spear always calmed me, but never filled me with such strength and purpose before,” Ekaterina faltered.

  “I had a message in my mind. It said we must open up. We must listen to new sources if we are to succeed against the Chinese,” said Yochana positively.

  “I had the same message. Thomas having the suit was bad enough for the Mossad and the Prime Minister to accept. But this idea we have, I don’t know how I’ll make them swallow it.” Ekaterina sounded doubtful but somehow she wasn’t thrown by the proposal.

  ****

  If Jean Pierre had initially been unconvinced about the urgency of Thomas’ summons, the military escort, followed by a helicopter waiting for him after he had received a call from the Office of the President of the United States, dispelled any doubts. Arriving at Joint Base Anacostia-Boiling and boarding a B-1B Lancer supersonic bomber, one capable of Mach 1.25 at high altitude for the long flight to Israel, he was quite certain that this was for real. Very much for real.

  Chinese Drone Trainers

  The world was confused. Videos of passive and smiling Chinese invaders advancing across the cold steppes of Central Asia, taken from the nose-cone cameras of Western spy drones and authorized flights, presented an unquantifiable threat. ‘Shock and Awe’ was the only way to describe the reaction. Though the Chinese hordes had inexplicably been halted in their advance at the Armageddon Valley, they appeared to threaten all that the West held dear. A surprise reorganization of the Chinese Central Committee had brought a previously unknown General to the fore. General Chou bowed to the world and the gist of his inaugural speech had been simple: change is coming.

  World leaders scrambled to counter these changes. Threats of nuclear war filled the news, but traditional war seemed very inappropriate. General Chou’s newly formed government referred to the invaders as ‘Chinese Tourists’ and they were appearing in alarming numbers in every capital in the world. They arrived without regard for borders or documentation and the numbers made traditional controls impossible.

  Chou knew that in setting up a Union of Asian Republics he was deliberately challenging the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Colonel Lau, as his second-in-command, continued with the plans behind the scenes. Chou and Lau were smugly confident that no one could understand how Chinese ‘walkers’, as the media called them, appeared out of nowhere in many parts of Asia. Especially near Israel. Lau was seeding the media with a calculated stream of disinformation.

  Sue Anne’s editor got a call from Colonel Lau himself. Al Jazeera was offered an exclusive in-depth interview outlining the history of drone training technology called ‘One Mind’. A specific request was made by the colonel for a certain oriental reporter to lead the charge; one in whom he had a personal interest. Soon she’ll see what I can do for her. I’m sure she’ll warm up to me. How is it possible that a man with my power is afraid to talk to a woman? Lau thought. Sue Ann’s editor, Paul, was delighted. Exclusive dissemination of information about the Chinese super drones would thrust Al Jazeera into the limelight.

  The new Chinese technology was creating a buzz with arms manufacturers and governments alike. Most military opt
ions, even cruise missiles, were fast becoming obsolete. Large sums of money were being offered for any information. Al Jazeera’s advertising revenue and research support funds started to swell. Western technicians installed monitoring equipment in Thomas’ cameras and audio systems. After negotiation, even Sue Ann and Thomas submitted to having undetectable listening mechanisms implanted, on the understanding that they had control over their function. However, only Mossad had the true ace in the form of Thomas’ diamond-based nanosuit.

  Al Jazeera recalled Thomas from Israel. Sue Ann insisted on working only with Thomas, much to the colonel’s disappointment. She only sees that bloody photographer, never me. I’ll have to change that, thought Lau. As a team they had been so successful in Samarkand that she got her way.

  ****

  In an ordinary looking, but heavily modified apartment block on Yona Street in Haifa, four people gathered to discuss strategy. Ekaterina, Yochana, Yatsick and Thomas sat around the table and made final plans.

  “Yatsick,” Ekaterina said, “I don’t understand. Why are those hordes milling around in Armageddon Valley as though their batteries need charging? Those bastards are on our doorstep, yet they haven’t acted.”

  “Quantum computers can come unglued,” Yatsick replied. Stabilizing the annealing process is a fine balance.”

  “The ‘what’ process?” asked Ekaterina. She glanced at Yochana to see if she felt equally lost.

  Thomas answered for Yatsick.

  “The Chinese ‘walkers’ exist in a nanofog that needs replenishing all the time. The drones seed the guys on the ground with fresh molecules to replace their constantly expiring carbon-based particles and the quantum computers recharge the whole system, using satellite connections.”

  “But your suit no longer needs replenishment. Why don’t the Chinese do the same?” asked Yochana.

  “Carbon constantly sheds particles at the atomic level, while I exploited the diamond-based structure of my suit. Diamond molecules resist degradation, but at the level of their DNA are receptive to recombination and-”

  “Whoa, give it to me in English,” said Ekaterina.

  “I tweaked the suit’s batteries at the cellular level.”

  Yatsick was shaking his head and he pursed his lips before Ekaterina raised her hand to stop his interjection. “No time now, Yatsick. You have the same suit. Maybe you can learn the ins and outs and better Thomas’ effort.”

  “If you breathe carbon saturated air, it becomes toxic. Maybe the Chinese suits are noxious to wear,” Thomas offered.

  “You mean this apparent inactivity is just a resupply operation for an overextended army?” Yochana asked as she started to comprehend.

  “Might be. As if we’re in the eye of the hurricane.”

  “All the more reason for you to find out their weaknesses and report back to us, Thomas, before the real attack starts. The free world is depending on you, son,” added Ekaterina.

  “One more thing,” added Thomas. The problematic nature of their carbon-based suits actually protects Kefira. General Chou won’t risk hurting her because she is his only link to an improved technology.”

  “Let’s pray you’re right. Godspeed.”

  ****

  Thomas boarded Colonel Lau’s personal Gulfstream jet on his way to Doha’s Hamad International Airport. He had switched his suit to ‘‘stealth’’ mode. This made it less likely that it would be detected, but apart from internal operations the other functions of the suit were temporarily inoperable. Thomas appeared as quite ordinary to the casual observer and even a more determined attacker would have difficulty determining his extra capabilities.

  As soon as he sat down, Thomas’s quiescent suit passed a telepathic message to him about the intensity of electronic eavesdropping washing over him. The suit’s telepathic communication, though technically electrical in form, was tuned to Thomas’ brain so tightly that it could not be detected by conventional means. Thomas relaxed. The two hour flight time passed uneventfully.

  Sue Ann waited on the tarmac inside one of the many private jet hangers at Hamad International Airport. The pilot taxied into the privacy of the hanger before he lowered the aircraft steps. There would be no customs declarations today. Thomas remained in the aisle as Sue Ann approached. She kissed him on both cheeks.

  “The least you could do is thank me for insisting on you, you deserter.” She grinned at him. “My editor wanted me to take on that new oriental guy instead, but I dug my heels in. Consider yourself honored. So, what you been up to?”

  Thomas shook his head and took her two arms in his hands. “You’d never believe me if I told you,” he said as he scratched his ear and rolled his eyes around in a previously agreed signal to let Sue Ann know about bugs on the plane.

  “Duh,” replied Sue Ann.

  The position of Thomas’ head made it impossible for the Chinese ‘listener’ to see Thomas’s eyeball signal and he quickly forgot the passage as the two journalists started talking shop about the upcoming interview. He did make an unconscious note of the word ‘duh’, for later verification on a legal pad in front of him. Intuitive scribbles covered the pad when Sue Ann and Thomas arrived on China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning, stationed in the North Pacific off the disputed Senkaku Islands. On the aircraft carrier, Sue Ann and Thomas boarded a white unmarked, sound baffled and converted attack helicopter with extra tanks to help it make the journey to an isolated area of mainland China near the Russian border. A short time after they got underway, they both recognized Lake Khanka from a recent flyover during their historic breaking news story that had brought the world the first visual record of the magnitude of the incursion of Chinese ‘walkers’ into Russia at Lake Khanka.

  The helicopter continued over the Chinese border. Thomas used his camera GPS to get his bearings. The journey followed Chinese Motorway G10; North American visitors on the ground would have been surprised to see how much the terrain and infrastructure resembled Northern Vermont near the Canadian border. As they crossed the border, the pilot remarked on the intercom:

  “The large body of water below us is Lake Khanka and the urban center you can just see on your left is Pogranichy, Russia. We will be landing shortly. Please fasten your seat belts.”

  The helicopter landed almost silently near a typical mud brick building that sat adjacent to a corrugated steel structure large enough to house the refueling and maintenance equipment for Colonel Lau’s recently acquired rotary wing aircraft. Although this place was as empty as the Arctic, surprisingly good roads headed south towards Dongning and the rest of the world. Sue Ann noted the considerable size of the electric pylons nearby before she saw Colonel Lau himself. He was standing in an entranceway leading down into the earth. He was smiling, no, leering at her, she thought. A sudden thought dawned on her. Jesus, is that why I’m getting these stories?

  After walking down one steep flight of stairs, the musty space opened onto a landing. Two elevators stood in front of them. One was obviously for freight while the other one was for passengers. Lau opened the door to this with a retina and hand scan.

  “Impressive, isn’t it?” he asked.

  Thomas nodded absently, but he was already reaching into Lau’s mind with his suit’s telepathic probes. Not surprisingly, the main thrust of Lau’s thoughts were revolving around lust for Sue Ann, but there was an underlying current in Chou's plans for world domination. Odd, he thinks of them as Chou’s plans, not his. As Thomas probed deeper, he came across a barrier established by Lau’s activation of his own nanosuit. Thomas quietly switched into ‘stealth’ mode. He needed to be sure Lau couldn’t detect his suit before he explored further. All comes to he who waits, he thought. The elevator dropped imperceptibly, yet both Sue Ann and Thomas felt the seconds it took to stabilize at the bottom of its trajectory. We’re deep, thought Sue Ann. Thomas’ suit was reporting exactly how deep and also that the cement was hardened against nuclear attack. They arrived at the conference room.

  A freshly opened
bottle of Baijiu white liquor and three sturdy glasses sat on a plain wooden table in front of them. On the walls all around them plasma screens showed all of the places in the world where Chinese ‘walkers’ waited to move to the next stage of their invasion.

  “Why are you showing us all of this, Colonel?” Sue Ann asked as she started her recording app.

  Lau chose not to answer. He commenced his prepared speech. “Our New World Order started here. What you are seeing are the historical videos that record our march into the next century. Please notice the screen dates. You should recognize yourself in screen three. Look. I must say, Miss Sue Ann, that you were very wise to tie yourselves onto the tree.” Lau smiled as he pointed a remote control device at a screen.

  A clear replica appeared of the day in Samarkand, when Thomas and Sue Ann had perched in a tree. They were once again overlooking the first and only violence so far in General Chou’s campaign to take over the globe. Sue Ann sucked in her breath.

  “Is it true that you sent these men walking so they could find women?” she demanded, trying to control the agenda of the interview.

  “That’s a gross simplification. Please take note of both the video and audio in this grand historical event. It happened just days before you landed at Lake Khanka.” He pressed the control again.

  Darkness fell on the monitors until two men, clad in black military uniforms from balaclava to boots, came into focus. Each soldier carried a large but manageable drone, which he proceeded to launch from the top of a mud hut much like the one that was above Lau's bunker. The screen darkened again and then infrared pictures taken from the nose of one of the drones replaced the previous images. Lau stopped the video and interjected.

  “All over mainland China, and especially near the Russian border, phase one of the ‘New Long March’ started on that day. UAV’s containing the final instructions of decades of indoctrination programs searched out their targets and delivered the message to move.”