by Finian Blake
“We’re so deep underground that no signal can escape the lab, so our intruder went to the approximate area of the last signal. I believe that man is probably their contact.”
“What makes you think he was alone,” Boris asked.
“Well, after I shot him nobody stepped up to help.”
“After you put that pill between his eyes, he was beyond help,” Boris laughed.
“You have a point there,” Nadia said flatly. “I’d better see if Tom and Ted are doing a serious search.”
“Before you do,” Boris started, “I need to tell you that the programming on this computer uses U.S English not Russian. It looks as if they did most of their communication by Wi-Fi and that was bumped all over the globe before it got to the computer.”
“So that means that you can’t figure out where it’s coming from.” Nadia said more than a little disappointed.
“That would be most difficult, but every programmer has a certain style. The person that did this was Henry Archer,” Boris said not trying to hide the respect in his voice. “This work is too good to hide and Henry is probably one of the best programmers out there. I would’ve hired him if it weren’t for the fact that Ardent Computers gives him 30% of their stock to work for them. Salvador Ardent is a reasonable talent with a shit load of money and Henry Archer didn’t have squat for money but he has a shit load of talent.”
“Boris, have you done anything about this yet?”
“I just found out about it.”
“Well, when you tell Cherry don’t let her do anything until she talks to me,” Nadia did not like the strange look on Boris’s face.
“You know that she wants to respond.” Boris said in a deadly serious tone.
“I know she would respond, but I don’t want her to respond to quickly or inappropriately.” Nadia wanted to make her point abundantly clear, “no threats, no overt actions, and I would prefer that you not even acknowledged the action. You know her temper.”
“If you badmouth me I will rip your tiny titties off,” Cherry said sarcastically. “I do not have a bad temper.”
“I just don’t want you kicking down his office door and shooting him in the balls,” Nadia said mustering as much sarcasm as she could.
“Well, there is that possibility,” Cherry said quietly putting on a wicked smile.
“So you don’t want me seeking revenge,” She said with a pout.
“Revenge is so petty. I prefer the term retribution.” Nadia said with Cherry and Boris nodding their agreement.
Senator Ransom strode in the outer office heading for her office door. Her assistant Molly coughed loudly.
“Excuse me ma’am but you just can’t walk in there,” Molly said with a broad smile on her face searching for an opening to comment on the Senators new look.
“Molly, it’s me,” Winnifred exclaimed.
“I know it’s you,” she laughed. “You look like a completely different woman. Like the woman in charge. What in the heck did you do this weekend?”
“I had a long interview with the managing director for Risky Fashions. They are coming out with a new line of fashions for the mature successful woman and I am going to be there new model slash spokesperson. They have asked me to evaluate the line by wearing it.” Winnifred strutted in front of Molly’s desk doing the runway walk to accentuate her wiggle. “Do you think I can sell it?”
“Of course you can sell it,” Molly said enthusiastically. “It’s about time you started looking like a successful Senator instead of a grandma.”
“I don’t take money from lobbyists, so I can’t afford tailored clothes, but I will work to earn them.” Winnifred was ecstatic with all the admiring looks that she had been receiving this morning. Senator Belight burst in the office as Winnifred was finishing a pirouette to show her new clothes off to Molly.
“Senator Ransom I barely recognized you,” Senator Belight said in a complementary tone. “The hearing on the contracts for building that fast transport for the Navy is due to begin in an hour. If you have a few minutes I would like to discuss some of the fine points.”
“I just love pleasant discussion. Would you please step in my office,” Winnifred motioned Marvin in her private office taking a seat in one of the comfortable chairs that were set to the side of her desk. “Wayne Haggard the CEO for Titan Shipyards will be testifying before us as will Paul Devon the CEO for Hall Shipbuilding. I must put up a reasonable fight for Titan Shipyards, so if you could put up a stiff argument for Hall Shipbuilding without getting too unpleasant it would take me off the hook with my constituent.”
“What if Hall Shipbuilding receives the contract,” Winnifred asked.
“Technically they can build the transports, but they only have room in their yard to build three ships at a time on a staggered start and that will put Hall eighteen months behind schedule for the ships. Titan will get the contract and since Hall has a turbine propulsion system they will get a position as a major subcontractor for the deal.” Marvin smiled wolfishly, “If we could get this tied up by noon I would appreciate it. I have a luncheon engagement that I would not like to be late for.”
“Say hello to Mary Lee for me,” Winnifred said icily.
“How…?”
“I had my secretary Molly cut the articles out of the newspaper when there is a mention of anybody that I have dealings with. I believe that the caption read: IS SENATOR BELIGHT ON A RAMPAGE… GIRL,” Winnifred picked the article up handing it to Marvin. “The picture was a little bit on the small side, but it was still nice and clear.”
“Let’s just stick to our business in the chambers. I will do my part and of course you will do your part,” Senator Belight said leaving the room without saying goodbye.
Nadia and Ted went to the corner of the roof on the computer center. They each took out a pair of range finding binoculars and started surveying the new property. With all the construction going on that seem to be the most logical point for unauthorized access. A 100-yard apron of dense trees were planned around the exterior of the combined property. Thirty-two townhomes using three acres were planned for on-site housing of personnel at the bottom of the slope near the ten acre estates, a 700 yard firing range and two ‘HOSTAGE HOUSES’ to practice rescues were the only things planned for the hundred acres with the rest of the space taken up by a combination of rocky pasture and native trees. It would be almost impossible to set up electronic security while construction was in progress. The 100-yard apron of dense trees and brush around the property will keep prying eyes away by anything passing along the road, but it also provided cover for somebody trying to infiltrate the property, so today Ted and Nadia surveyed the property looking for sniper hides. As a former sniper Nadia had developed special reflectors that were visible in a 15° arc with night vision glasses for ranging targets. As she selected the desired position a crew would install a reflector and Nadia would market it out on a ranging map. When Nadia had finished one position she moved to the next creating a map for that particular location. Nadia worked the east side of the building and the rear of the building which faced south while Ted worked the West side of building and the front which faced north. Of course there was no guarantee that a sniper would hide in the spots, but there were several different ranges for each position which would give Nadia or another sniper a solid reference for adjustment. As Nadia was setting up the final sniper position a call came through from Renée.
“Nadia, we have completed a hard search of the property using normal light and infrared. Right now I believe that we had a lone intruder this morning.”
“Thank you René, but I need to be sure would you please have Boris bring the receiver that our intruder was using up to the roof.” It only took Boris ten minutes to arrive on the roof with the receiver. Nadia turned on the receiver looking at the screen. As the receiver booted up Nadia received three blips. Two blips came from the East in the new section, and one which seemed to be coming from the area of the electrical vault. Ted worked
the spotter scope for Nadia finding the two intruders in the East. The other intruder seemed to be hiding behind the utility vault.
“And that is why the Spetsnaz does not use transceivers,” Nadia said with a sarcastic tone. “I can say with 90% certainty that this is not a Russian operation. We would probably have never found them if it hadn’t been for their transceivers.” Ted assumed the low crouch whispering to Nadia before he moved away.
“Give me ten minutes to find that third intruder, and then take out the two on the East,” Ted asked.
Nadia always preferred to use her older Dragunov sniper rifle, so she had never used the Dragunov SVU-A rifle before. Its bull pup design allowed for a shorter barrel even with 150 mm sound suppressor. She lay down on her stomach sighting the rifle through the large twelve-inch drain hole meant to move water off of the roof. Her two targets were about twenty feet from each other side on to her position. Both men are about 100-feet away from the utility vault and would have a clear shot at Ted if he tried to sneak up on the third man. Nadia selected the farthest man back sighting in for a head shot squeezing off a round and the man’s head exploded in a cloud of blood. Nadia then sighted in the forward man squeezing off a round as quickly as she could be pulling off another headshot. Both shots produced a minimal amount of sound from the Dragunov rifle and there was very little muzzle rise due to the muzzle brake. She watched Ted kneel down calling her on the radio.
“Okay Nadia, take your shot,” Ted whispered into the COM radio.
“Both men are already down. I had to shoot them or become a widow,” Nadia spoke quietly into her COM radio Nadia took her pistol out of its holster. “I’m going to fire off a few rounds to see if number three will stick his head up.” Nadia fired two shots in quick succession into the ground. The pistol shot had a distant report and the man hiding behind the utility locker stuck his head out to see what was going on.
“Ted, this one is on alert he is by the corner of the utility vault when you move into position I will fire another few rounds.” Nadia watched as Ted crept up to the corner preparing to shoot when he was in position. This time the barrel of an assault rifle came around the corner first. Nadia prepared to fire in case anything went wrong, but Ted grabbed the barrel of the rifle catching the man off guard and throwing him to the ground. In two moves Ted disabled his opponent securing his hands behind his back with plastic cuffs.
“We have somebody that we can talk to,” Ted said proudly as he walked over to pick up the man’s weapon. Suddenly the man’s hands were free and he was making a move on Ted. Nadia was not in the mood to take chances and she held the trigger down for just a short moment firing a four round burst. All four of the bullets hit the man in the shoulder and chest, but at that angle the bullet ripped through the man’s shoulder traveling into the chest and entering in his heart.
“You could have wounded him,” Ted surprise voice came over the COM radio.
“You could have frisked him,” Nadia said sarcastically. “I’m coming down.” Ted examined the corpse finding that it had four shots in a six-inch circle shredding the chest.
4.
CHEATERS
Wayne Haggard was still red faced and angry as he stormed into Senator Belight’s office unannounced. He could not believe that Senator Belight had actually caved into Senator Ransom’s demand of reviewing the bids especially the bid for Hall Shipbuilding.
“What the f…fu…fuck,” Wayne Haggard was so pissed off that he was stuttering. “W… Wh… When I buy someone I expect them to stay bought. That little stunt is going to cost me M… Mill… Millions.”
“Calm down Wayne,” Marvin held out his hands in a defensive gesture. “This could give you a few extra million.”
“W… wh… what d…d… do you mean? M…m… my stock is going to tank. I will b…b… be lucky if it only loses half of its value.”
“Do you have stock options?”
“Y…y… Yes” Wayne stuttered.
“I expect that your stock will lose about two thirds of its value especially if it gets in the news which I am sure it will.”
“A…as… Asshole,” Wayne screamed clenching and unclenching his fists.
“If I am not mistaken you have not exercised your stock option yet. And you get a fifty percent incentive when you pick up the option. Your stock is currently worth forty-two dollars a share if the stock drops by two thirds to fourteen and you exercise your stock option at a fifty percent discount that will mean you will be paying seven dollars a share.” Marvin smiled at Wayne, “if you buy it at seven dollars a share and the contract comes through what would happen to the stock?”
“The stock would go back up to forty-two dollars a share or better.” Wayne looked at Marvin, “Jesus…! But I would have to come up with cash to purchase a stock.”
“No problem, how many shares as your option limited to?”
“I have a limit of thirty thousand shares. That would be more than two hundred and ten thousand dollars.” Wayne frowned, “I don’t have that kind of cash and nobody’s going to lend me that kind of money on a stock that is tanking.”
“I have somebody that will have the cash by dinner time tonight,” Marvin smiled wolfishly.
“What if Hall Shipyards ends up with the contract?”
“You are in competition with them, so you should know their capabilities,” Marvin started his explanation. “They are more than capable of building the ships, but they don’t have the capacity to build them in time. As chairman I will insist that the ships be built in a timely manner so they will not get the contract. The only thing that I need you to do is scream like a stuck pig to the news that this delay will ruin your company because a louder you scream the more your stock will drop. You will just make more money when it comes back up again. Once you pay back the loan you should net around eight hundred thousand dollars in just over a week.” The two men’s conversation was interrupted by the intercom buzzing.
“Senator Belight, I have Mary Lee waiting in the office for you. Should I have her wait?”
“No, I believe that Mister Haggard would like to meet Mary. Please show her in immediately.” Marvin walked over to the door opening it wide. Wayne Haggard’s jaw dropped when she walked in the room.
“Platform ankle boots with eight-inch steel spiked heels, patterned hose, spandex skirt six inches above the knee, tube top with no bra and a translucent over blouse as you demanded.” Mary Lee meekly placing the large briefcase on the floor. “I hope you don’t mind but I chose maroon for color instead of bright red. Bright red looked absolutely whorish. Please don’t be mad.”
“I know that you haven’t met her, but Mary Lee is the ‘Rampage Girl’ so you probably have seen her in their ads.” Marvin pressed himself against Mary Lee’s back slipping his arm over her shoulder and sliding his hand under her tube top. “Wayne says that he would like a loan of two hundred and ten thousand dollars to exercise a stock option. Are you going to keep your promise?” Marvin took his free hand grabbing Mary Lee’s ponytail pulling her head back so that she was staring directly into Wayne’s eyes.
“Yes I will do exactly as I have promised. He can have three hundred thousand dollars just in case the stock doesn’t drop as much as you have anticipated.” Mary Lee squealed as Marvin opened her blouse pushing the tube top down to her waist. “I did everything you told me.”
“You are wearing maroon instead of red as I had instructed you to do,” Marvin said forcefully as he lifted the hem of her spandex skirt to her waist running his hand between her legs feeling a small rectangle under her panties. “What’s this?”
“It’s a red flag I hope you like your sex messy,” Mary Lee laughed with an impish grin on her face.
“Red flag, what the hell is a red flag,” Marvin asked peevishly using her braided ponytail to turn her head raising his free hand high in the air.
“I’m on the rag asshole,” Mary Lee stared defiantly into Marvin’s angry eyes. Wayne Haggard bent down picking up the brief cas
e moving to the door as quickly as possible not wanting to see any more of this bizarre scene. He failed to turn the doorknob far enough failing to unlatch the door causing him to bounce back a foot. Wayne tried the door again literally jumping through the opening and slamming it behind him.
“Now what was it all about,” Marvin said releasing Mary Lee’s hair.
“I did it as a joke,” Mary Lee giggled. “Wayne looked like a straight arrow and my news sure got rid of him quick. As you know Doctor Patch has not done his work yet, and we don’t want our dear Mister Haggard to see my eight-inch clit.”
“Speaking of which,” Marvin said with mock seriousness, “it is rather embarrassing to have a girlfriend that is better endowed than I am.” Marvin slipped off his jacket removing this tie while Mary Lee undid his pants dropping them to the floor.
Rhonda and Cherry walked in the computer lab around noon finding Boris and Nick working carefully on the hard drive that was in the laptop found in the motel room. Cherry was getting impatient for information on the new threat.
“Boris, are you and Nick still playing with that,” Cherry asked impatiently.
“No, we have most of the information we need off the hard drive,” Boris said in a distracted voice. “Henry Archer is a particularly gifted programmer plus he designs hardware too. Nick and I are studying this design work so that we won’t blow ourselves up when we play around with his work. It appears that Mary Lee was lucky last night when she pulled the hard drive and RAM set out of the computer. If she had not disconnected the battery Nick and I believe that a charge located in the screen might have killed or seriously injured her. We cannot be positive since she threw the computer in the Patapsco River, but there is an instruction in the programming labeled ‘blow charge’. From what I know about Henry Archer, he has no sense of humor when it comes to someone tampering with his work. I’m going to include a lead foil envelope for laptop computers so they cannot be remotely detonated. With this little sample of Henry’s work we can stay away from any unpleasant accidents.”
