Would he pass it to his boss, Getner?
I knew the hierarchy of the org chart for security agencies in York. Getner was at the top and all the federal intelligence agencies reported to his York Security Agency.
But maybe, just maybe, Curling could be persuaded to do something. I sat at my monitor and composed a message.
“Mr. Curling,
“Ben Nguyen, a contractor for the YSA, revealed that a coup to take over the federal government of York is imminent. A thousand troops are being trained at Fairport Base to seize the office of the prime minister of York. I suspect they will also try to seize television stations to broadcast that Ash Getner is the new prime minister.
“The date of the coup is not known but will happen soon, in less than a month, maybe just a week. Perhaps federal troops can be stationed around the PM’s office and around all four telly stations.”
I deliberately didn’t sign the message, but revealed the name of Ben Nguyen to add a detail that Curling might pursue. If he did, he was more apt to believe the message.
After I composed the message, I sent it to Zetto.
“Can you send this to Stan Curling, head of the York Federal Police, in such a way that it does not reveal who the sender was?”
#
Stan Curling read the message twice. Then he printed it out on his office printer and put the copy in his suit pocket.
He asked his office assistant to make an urgent appointment with the prime minister. Then he sat back in his chair. The PM had asked him to keep confidential an investigation of a potential coup by his boss.
When his assistant tagged back the earliest she could get an appointment was in a week, he shook his head.
“Thank you. I’ll take care of this myself. Hold all my appointments until I get back.”
He charged out of his office and headed toward the elevators.
He showed his badge to the Secret Service guards stationed outside her office. He knew both men.
“I need to see her now.”
“Just a minute,” replied Bouregard. With that, the gray suited figure sitting at the desk leaned over and pressed a button on his intercom.
“A Mr. Stan Curling of the York Federal Police is here to see the prime minister.”
After a few seconds, Bouregard raised his eyebrows.
“Thank you. I’ll tell him.”
He looked up at the standing Curling and said, “She’s in a meeting right now. Can this wait another thirty minutes?”
Stan Curling sighed.
“Can I least whisper something in her ear?”
Bouregard returned to his intercom and asked the personal assistant what Curling had just said. Then he looked up at Curling and nodded.
“You can go in for ten seconds. No more though.”
Bouregard nodded to the other Secret Service man, who opened the door for Curling.
Curling walked into the outer office and went straight to Charlotte’s desk. He noticed the half dozen others waiting in chairs. Charlotte reached down. A door buzzed and it opened an inch.
Curling opened it farther and rushed past the four men and two women sitting around the table. Nikki Su looked at him from one end of the table and stood.
He rushed up to her side, bent over, and cupped his hand as if to protect his voice from being overheard by the others present.
He whispered, “I got a message about an imminent coup.” He patted his chest.
“Let me see it,” Nikki Su replied.
He brought it out and handed it to her.
She read it and he saw her chest rise and fall as she dropped into her chair with a thud. After a few seconds, she turned to him and motioned with a finger. He leaned over and covered his ear.
She whispered, “Have you investigated this Nguyen?”
“No, ma’am.”
“You need to do that. Let me know as soon as you do.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
With that he walked out of her office, past the desks of Charlotte and Bouregard, and headed downstairs to his own office. This time he used the stairs for exercise.
With the authority of Special Prosecutor, he could examine every computer in the federal government, including those of the YSA.
Chapter 54
Stan Curling brought in his A-team. They were the few people on his staff whom he trusted to work on preventing the coup.
First was Yetter Orkov, his computer expert and the best hacker he could hire.
Curling showed the message mentioning Nguyen.
“Can you access the YSA servers?”
Orkov shook his head.
“I’ve tried but got blocked.”
Curling replied, “Let me see if I can help there.”
Second was Mary Cullens, his best field agent. Cullens had been with him when he raided the zoon to the south.
Last was Karl Foster, an analyst extraordinaire. Foster could see connections that nobody else saw.
Curling turned to Foster.
“What have you figured out?”
Foster put down his ereader.
“If Russian troops are being trained at Fairport, can we be sure of the troops in the Army and Home Front?”
“Why the connection?” asked Curling.
“Well,” replied Foster, “when the coup starts, we can expect the Army and Home Front to be neutralized. That’s what Minsky did with the Russians when he came into power.”
There went the main way to stop the coup but maybe Getner and Minksy had thought of that.
Curling tried to help Orkov send a response to the ymail address on the original warning message he had received.
“Can you give me instructions on how to access the YSA server?”
An hour later, he received a reply from that same address. “Your email could not be sent.”
Damn!
He forwarded the email to Orkov.
#
Ash Getner sat in his big chair in his office. He had just come from the prime minister’s office where Su had ordered him to open his computers to the Special Prosecutor Stan Curling.
Naturally, Getner had agreed but in reality did nothing at all.
I’ll be damned if I’ll allow that bastard to roam around on my computers and collect evidence he thinks he can use against me.
Getner smiled when he saw the emails to and from Stan Curling. As head of YSA, he had forwarded emails that his agency picked up with certain names on them. One of them was Curling. He placed an additional set of passwords on his main site reduce the chances of anyone getting in. He also had instructed his hackers to plant a virus in the ymail server. The one thing he hated the most was not knowing enough.
He sat back and thought about Curling’s messages. He made a note to have Curling executed, along with Nikki Su.
Then he got a really pleasant surprise from his hackers. The ymail address belonged to Reeben Stark. Wondering where he had seen that name before, he checked his private lists.
Reeben Stark was an alias of Vincent Stone.
Another name for my execution list.
#
Suspecting the coup could come any time and wanting to stir the pot, I sent another message to Curling.
“Mr. Curling,
“Are you aware that Ash Getner’s half-brother with the same mother is Lewinkov Minsky, dictator of Russia?”
I did not sign this message. But I rushed it off to Zetto.
Not know what else to do, I watched the news on the telly.
Today’s top stories centered on the four forest fires in southern York. The hot dry winds of the last week had turned much of the wilderness into kindling and when lightning came from the updrafts, fires started. Many of them were in unsettled areas of the nation so they received minimal attention. Satellite images showed large clouds of smoke heading east as the planet turned under them.
Thank heavens I lived far north in the city of Zor. Even though it was hot as the insides of an oven, we had no fires. Yet.
/> The one west of La Seille was big news because it threatened homes and was out of control. Cameras showed fire fighters from La Seille rushing to the scene while wearing breathing masks to protect them from the smoke. Suspicion focused on potential human causes from sparks generated as motor homes passed by the dry grasslands. The areas west and north of La Seille were popular tourist attractions, especially north of the city around the Five Finger Lakes.
I recalled my one vacation in those lakes where I fished for the large-mouthed bass that park rangers said they had stocked the lakes with. But all I caught were scorbas, the eel-like critters that lived in the lakes. I kept them because their meat was tasty and because there was no limit on catching them. Rangers preferred to kill the scorbas because they ate the eggs and the young of the bass. The economy of the region depended on tourism and most tourists came as fishermen who wanted bass, not scorbas. Being aware of the rangers’ open season on scorbas, they often threw what eels they caught onto the banks of the lakes. As a result, the smell of rotten scorbas filled the air.
Telly channels rebroadcast from La Seille showed greepers as they lunged away from the fires, their eyes wide open in fear. Not far away were screechies, but the greepers paid them no attention as they focused on running away from the fire. Then the view changed to show four-wingers in the air, heading away from the smoke.
Thanks whatever gods may be I lived in the city and seldom ventured beyond the fence!
Chapter 55
Curling got the email and printed it. A tag to Charlotte revealed the prime minister was not taking visitors this afternoon, but Curling ignored that and rushed up to her floor.
He expected a hurdle at Bouregard’s desk and Charlotte’s. But he was surprised to be ushered in soon after he arrived.
When he opened the door to Su’s office, she looked up.
“Come in, Mr. Curling,” she said. “What have you got for me?”
He pulled out the printed message and shoved it in her direction. She took it and read it while he sat in the guest chair.
“Well, well.”
“I think it’s time to call out the Home Front, ma’am,” said Curling.
She looked up at me.
“Do you have a report on Ben Nguyen?”
“He disappeared for three days,” replied the head of YFP. “The he surfaced at his home. He’s been there ever since.”
“I’m conflicted on this. Ash Getner is head of my security.”
“I understand that, ma’am.”
“I’ve appointed you as Special Prosecutor. So I urge you to investigate harder. This is your first priority. Work on it full time if necessary.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”
As Curling walked out past Bouregard’s desk, he smiled.
#
Getner got the email from Stark to Curling. He let out a sigh and squeezed his lips together and forward while he frowned.
So Curling knows about my brother.
But there wasn’t much he could act on now. The coup had been moved up as much as it could.
He returned to his plans for after the coup.
#
Nothing of important happened for another two days. By now, I was getting antsy. I spent my nights at Gancha’s and my days at the ops center.
One thing for sure, I felt guilty about not warning Sheila Fish. Her Channel One news station was only three blocks from the federal building and a block away from the York Security Building.
But something warned me not to. She didn’t know me as Mike and my message might be lost in the thousands she must receive. So I decided to postpone that decision.
Then it occurred to me that she might die in the gunfire. Knowing her, she’d insist on broadcasting until the last minute.
#
Sheila Fish addressed the camera.
“Earlier today, Prime Minister Nikki Su appointed Stanford Curling as Special Prosecutor. That means he can interview and search all records of anyone in the government. But she did not say why she had appointed him.
“The big question for all of citizens of York is: Who did she suspect of committing a major crime? Was this done to allay fears of her own Executive Orders? That could backfire as the Special Prosecutor could go wherever the evidence points, even if back to the prime minister.”
The second big story of the day were the protests. Lines of people carried signs as they marched around the Parliament Building. “Stop Su from dictating!” “No more orders!”
When questioned, the protesters said they protested the prime minister’s executive order to force federal cops to assist runaway slaves and prosecute slave masters.
Sheila reminded her viewers of the Emancipation Proclamation of then-Prime Minister Pierre Klava to free the slaves.
#
I got a tag from Gancha.
“Ja…Mike. I want to go on an op. I haven’t been on one for a long time.”
“Hmm.”
“Whatcha got?” she asked. “Anything?
“Can you be here in an hour?”
I’d been thinking of an op since yesterday. If the government wouldn’t respond by protecting the federal building, maybe we needed to add more evidence. This might be a good time to set up the cameras and visit Fairport Base.
But such an operation required lots of planning. And for that, I needed my whole team.
Gancha was the last to arrive. When she arrived in a light blue pantsuit in the planning room, I smiled. Call me prejudiced but even in business attire, she looked gorgeous.
I started the meeting.
“I want to go to Fairport Base to verify the presence of extra troops. We can take vids of them training. Hopefully, we could even get images of a fake federal building.”
But everyone shook their heads.
Gancha added, “That’s quite risky. Remember the last time you were there?”
Her question brought back painful memories of being tortured at the base.
“We’re not going inside the base. I figure we could stay outside and take pictures.”
Vince spoke, “I want to go with you this time. I speak Russian. That may come in handy.”
Gancha’s face scrunched up. “I gotta go on this one.”
I thought over their requests.
“Two is the optimum number. I don’t want to risk too many people.”
We discussed the op. After going over seven options, we settled on one. I’d go with Gancha on the dangerous part of the op.
“Vincent, can you locate the Zor Power Company’s HQ?”
He nodded and turned to his monitor.
“Zetto, you need to leave now. Vin will send the address to Chima. You may find it handy to wear the uniform of Zor Power.” Andy would follow Zee with the BIS van.
He nodded and left for the power company parking lot. An hour later, he returned to the ops center.
“Piece of cake,” said Zetto. “They’ll never miss it. I also replaced both front and rear license plates on their truck while on the op. I shall returned them when I return the truck.”
Vincent, Gancha, and I busied ourselves with loading both vehicles with the gear we would need.
Since it was getting dark and I wanted the benefit of daylight, not to mention utility workers usually worked on weekdays, we retired for the evening.
The next morning, Gancha and I put on coveralls that matched the clothing of utility workers. I put on a name tag of “Gordon Carlson” and Gancha used “Sally Winson”.
Vincent would stay in the ops center to coordinate. This might be important if anything went wrong. It usually did on an op.
Gancha wanted to drive the utility truck and I agreed. Andy and Zetto followed in the BIS van. Andy drove two cars behind the truck so Chima could check on tails.
When Gancha got two miles outside of Zor and an intersection I wanted, there sat a cop car.
Dang!
She said, “He looks like he’s waiting for speeders.”
�
�Drive past him.”
She continued east.
A mile later, we came across an intersection with a dirt road. Across the intersection rested a sign saying, “Fairport 120.”
She pulled over and we got out of the van. The BIS van and my car pulled up behind us.
It took us ten minutes to install the first camera. We drove on and placed two more on the road. Then Gancha and I entered the BIS van and changed to hiking attire. We entered my car and headed east. Zee took the power truck and Andy followed him in the BIS van as they turned around and drove back toward Zor. Vin hopped into the BIS van to head east behind Gancha and me.
Chapter 56
I drove my car the several hours it took to get to the small town of Fairport. We stopped to empty our bladders of the large amounts of coffee we had consumed and picked up carry-out food at a rest stop.
Gancha pointed out the deliberate blurriness of satellite images of the base.
We passed through the fence around Fairport and stopped at a grocery store. The checkout clerk looked at Gancha’s darker skin and then me.
“Going on a hike?”
“Yep. You noticed the bottled water and trail mix. We’re going hiking in the Orca Mountains.”
“Better bring a rifle. I hear there’s gofers up there.”
I pointed with my thumb.
“In the car.”
We soon left Fairport on the two-lane paved road. Gancha used her comm to contact the BIS van and put the conversation on her speaker.
“Where are you?” she said.
Zetto’s voice replied, “We’re about a mile from Fairport.”
They had followed from a safe distance.
We got to the other side of the fence and continued. Driving over the mountains was picturesque, I’ll say that much. But before we got to the other side, I pulled off onto a dirt road and parked. We didn’t want anyone from the base to see us on the road.
Gancha and I left my car and its relay to our comms while wearing backpacks and camouflage. We’d be out of touch for the tricky part of the op. We tried to walk with hills between us and the base but couldn’t for at least half the time.
Rebuilt: A Jake Dani/Mike Shapeck Novel (Jake Dani / Mike Shapeck) Page 20
