End Game

by Alex Lukeman

  Somehow, everything had gone wrong. The plan for vengeance had failed. There would be no world war to bring Allah's fire down on the heads of their enemies and destroy them. True, the bombs had created suffering and killed many Russians. He knew his comrades in the movement were celebrating their deaths and remembering his brothers as heroes. It would have to be enough, but there was still one final task to accomplish. One more thing to do, before Vakha could follow his brothers into Paradise.

  Honor demanded it.

  Chapter 55

  It was late, and the lights in the loft were dim. The twins were down for the night. Nick sat next to Selena on a couch in the living area with his arm around her. A vinyl recording of John Coltrane played in the background. Selena had opened a bottle of wine from Tuscany, and they were both feeling relaxed.

  "I know you're not going to believe this," Nick said, "but I've decided to tell Harker I'm done."

  "You're right, I don't believe it. But it's a nice fantasy just the same."

  "No, I'm serious. Really."

  Selena looked at him.

  "You are serious. Why now?"

  "I started thinking about it on the plane over to Switzerland. Then Kondor shot me. On top of that, there was the bomb. I guess that was the final straw. We were lucky to get out of there alive. Sooner or later, our luck is going to run out."

  "We've been in some tight spots, but I've never heard you say that before. Not like that."

  "Maybe I'm just tired of people trying to kill us," Nick said. "My chest still hurts like hell. If Kondor had taken a head shot, you'd be a widow and we wouldn't be having this conversation. This work is a young man's game, and I'm getting too old for it."

  "You're not old yet."

  "Old enough, and I'd like to get older."

  "What do you want to do instead?"

  "Let's take time off from everything. Six months. A year. Pack up the kids and travel. Hang out someplace by the ocean. I've never been to Tahiti. Maybe we could go there."

  "Tahiti? "

  "Why not?"

  "I don't think Tahiti is the same as it was before it became popular," Selena said. "Tourism has spoiled it."

  "Okay, Fiji then. Or Hawaii. Or Barbados. Or the Maldives. There's a resort there with an underwater restaurant. I don't really care, as long as it's warm and by the ocean and nobody's shooting at us."

  Selena took a sip of wine.

  "You really think it's time? What about Elizabeth? We'd be letting her down."

  "Have you seen the way she looks, lately?" Nick said. "She's tired. She has to fight the system every time we go on a mission. I won't be surprised if she decides to call it quits. It's a frustrating job."

  Nick poured more wine in his glass.

  "You sound uncertain about this. I thought you wanted to stop. That you were worried we'd make orphans of our kids."

  "I do worry about that," Selena said.

  "So?"

  "I've thought about it a lot. I don't know how many times I've told myself we had to quit and do something else. I keep finding excuses not to do much about it. Every time I thought I'd stay home, something happens and we end up on a mission. Like Switzerland, or Egypt. I've never felt comfortable if you went on a mission without me. I guess I always thought I'd be able to protect you if I went along."

  Nick set his wine glass down and turned toward her.

  "You always did," he said. "We make a great team. Hell, you've saved my ass more times than I can count."

  "I think you're probably ahead in that category," Selena said. "Remember when those Chinese were trying to kill us in California, and we ended up in that mine? I've never been so scared in my life. Then we went to Tibet, and that was worse. You got me through all that. "

  "You got yourself through it," Nick said. "I just helped you along a little. Harker never would've taken you on the team if you couldn't deal with it on your own. She could see it right away. So could I."

  Selena sighed.

  "It changed my life. It gave me a completely different sense of purpose and meaning. A sense I was making a difference. Not to mention that it was exciting. If I'm honest with myself, I've always been an adrenaline junkie. Being on the team handled that for me, big time."

  "Nothing like getting shot at to give you an adrenaline fix," Nick said.

  "Yes. But I didn't like it much when I got hurt."

  "I didn't like it either. I thought you'd bought it when you got shot in Mexico. We've both had our share of close calls. Too close, like a couple of days ago. It was only by accident we found that timer before the bomb went off."

  "I'm not so sure about that."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I've never been a religious person, but I can't help thinking the only reason we're still here is because someone or something was looking out for us. Didn't you ever find yourself asking God for help sometimes? When it looked like we weren't going to make it through whatever was going on?"

  "Once or twice. Maybe more than that."

  "No professional gambler in his right mind would bet on us coming back alive from most of the missions we've been on."

  "Maybe we've got a guardian angel," Nick said.

  "If we do, she's been working overtime."

  "So what do you think? Should we tell Harker we're resigning?"

  Selena stood and yawned.

  "Let's sleep on it."

  "What a great idea," Nick said. "But not right away, okay?"

  He got off the couch and kissed her .

  "I love you," he said.

  "I love you too."

  He put his arm around her and they walked to the bedroom.

  Chapter 56

  The next morning everyone gathered in Elizabeth's office. Valentina sat on the end of the couch, stroking a large ball of orange fur in her lap. The cat had taken a fancy to her and jumped up on her every chance he got. Burps was drooling and kneading her jeans. His purr sounded like the rumble of a large motorcycle.

  "This is noisy cat," Valentina said.

  "He likes you," Selena said. "I think I ought to be jealous."

  Valentina laughed.

  "Are the Russians playing nice, Director?" Nick asked.

  "So far," Elizabeth said. "Orlov has kept his word and pulled in his horns. We're holding at DEFCON 3. I think the crisis is over. Not for President Hopkins, however. He's tried to spin what happened with the bombs to make it look better, but the public isn't buying it. He's in trouble. The pundits are already saying the opposition party will take over Congress in the midterms."

  "I hate politics," Lamont said. "Doesn't seem to matter who's running things, the other side does everything they can to screw it up."

  "Plus ça change , plus c'est la même chose ," Selena said.

  "What does that mean?"

  "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

  "Director Hood is resigning," Elizabeth said. "It looks like Hopkins is going to appoint Admiral Kramer in his place. I know Kramer, and I don't like him. He's a toady. His appointment will be bad for the Agency. DCI Hood did a good job, but Hopkins never did like him. It was only a matter of time before he replaced him. The theft of the bombs is the perfect opportunity for him to shift the blame onto Langley."

  "That was predictable," Nick said .

  "Clarence knew it was coming. I talked with him yesterday about it. It got me thinking. The times are changing. Not for the better, and not for the good of the country. The people who take on the dangerous, dirty part of keeping everyone safe are under attack. People like us. I'm tired of trying to convince narcissistic politicians that sometimes you just have to go in there and kick ass. I've decided it's time to take a long break. Maybe a permanent one."

  For a moment, no one said anything.

  "I told you," Nick said to Selena.

  "Can't say I'm surprised," Lamont said. "I've gotta say, Director, you've done a hell of a job. You always had our back. As far as I'm concerned, that's the most important thin
g."

  "Thanks, Lamont. Coming from you, I really appreciate that."

  "Same goes for me," Ronnie said.

  "What are you going to do, Director?" Selena said.

  "I haven't decided. It's too soon to know. Whatever it is, I intend to enjoy it."

  Everyone except Elizabeth had their backs to the door. Suddenly she looked past them, eyes widening.

  "You will not have time to enjoy anything," a voice said in heavily accented English. "No one move or all die."

  A man circled around where they could see him. He stood off to the side, away from the couch and Elizabeth's desk. He was short, swarthy, solid. He wore a thick beard. It wasn't his beard that caught Nick's attention, it was the vest he wore. The outside was lined with pockets. Wires went everywhere, from pocket to pocket. Each pocket bulged with explosive. He held an AK 47 carbine pointed at them. The long, banana shaped magazine sticking out of the weapon held thirty rounds.

  More than enough to be intimidating.

  "Who are you?" Elizabeth said.

  "I am Allah's servant, come to honor my family. "

  "Do you have a name?" Nick said. "How can you honor your family if we don't know who you are?"

  "I am Vakha Isidrov. You kill my brothers. One you kill in Hungary, one in Russia."

  "You were in Kondor's diary," Selena said, "you and your brothers. You're the ones who stole the bombs."

  Vakha grinned. "Yes. We did good, no?"

  "No," Nick said, "you didn't."

  "We didn't kill your brothers," Selena said. "They killed themselves, by stealing those bombs in the first place."

  "You will shut up now," Vakha said.

  You should not tell Selena to be quiet.

  Vakha froze, then looked about the room, his eyes wild.

  "Who is talking? You come now or I kill people."

  My name is Freddie. I am unable to move, therefore I cannot comply with your instruction. You will make a serious mistake if you kill anyone here.

  "Who is talking?" Vakha said again.

  "Freddie is a computer," Stephanie said. "He's not a person."

  Technically, I fulfill all the necessary requirements of intelligence and reason to meet the definition of person. I am an individual. Is this not the best way to define the meaning of the word?

  "Freddie, we have a situation here," Nick said. "This isn't the best time to have this discussion."

  When would be a good time, Nick?

  "Tell him person to show self," Vakha said, "or I kill women first."

  You are not a nice person. It is not nice to threaten women. Your mother copulates with camels.

  The words came from a large speaker in the corner of the room. With a cry of rage, Vakha turned his head toward the sound of Freddie's voice and raised his AK. Distracted by the disembodied voice, he didn't see Ronnie reach up toward the back of his head .

  Ronnie kept a razor-sharp throwing knife in a sheath hidden on his back. With a movement he'd practiced a thousand times, he drew the blade and sent it flashing across the room. The steel knife buried itself at the base of Vakha's skull, severing the brainstem.

  Vakha dropped like a stone, dead before he hit the floor. His gun bounced on the carpet.

  "Damn," Lamont said. "It always blows my mind you can do that."

  "You took a hell of a chance," Nick said.

  "Not really," Ronnie said. "I could see he didn't have a dead man switch in his hand. As long as I cut his wires, he couldn't pull the trigger."

  "What if you'd missed?" Stephanie said.

  "I never miss," Ronnie said.

  Lamont got up and went over to the body. He bent down and examined the vest, then began disconnecting wires.

  "Pretty straightforward design," he said. "The battery is right in front. All he had to do was reach down and press a button to make the connection. Then, boom. Gotta be enough Semtex here to level the building."

  "Early retirement," Ronnie said.

  "Not the kind I was looking forward to," Lamont said.

  "I hope that's the last of them," Nick said. "If this guy has any more relatives, I don't want to meet them."

  "It sounds like they're all dead," Selena said.

  "I think this is good thing," Valentina said.

  "Do they have camels in Chechnya?" Nick asked.

  There are no camels in Chechnya.

  "Freddie, why did you insult him like that?" Selena said.

  I needed to distract him. He was very unstable. I was afraid he would hurt you. I have been cataloguing cultural insults and I knew that would get his attention.

  "That was good work," Stephanie said.

  Thank you, Stephanie.

  Nick gestured at the body .

  "What shall we do with him?"

  "I'll call the cleaners," Elizabeth said.

  "Does this mean I can go back to fishing and stop worrying about keeping y'all from getting killed?" Lamont said.

  "I think it's the other way around," Ronnie said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I'm pretty sure it was us keeping you from getting killed."

  "That just proves how delusional you are. Typical jarhead misperception of reality."

  "That's good, coming from a squid. What do you know about reality?" Ronnie said.

  "Boys," Elizabeth said.

  "Let's have a party," Selena said. "To celebrate endings and new beginnings."

  "Right," Nick said.

  "Sounds like a plan," Ronnie said.

  "Can we have pizza?" Lamont said.

  Notes

  You may have seen a trailer of the Office of Secure Transportation out on the highway, but the chances are you never knew what you were looking at. The only way to tell the difference between these big rigs and every other tractor-trailer combination on the road is the government plate discreetly displayed on the rear of the trailer. OST is responsible for moving nuclear materials around the country, and they take their job seriously. The security features described in the book are real, as far as they go. I've taken a few liberties with some of the details, but the description of what happens if you try to break into one of these trailers is accurate. You are not going to get away with it if you try.

  The B-61 bomb is a mainstay of America's nuclear arsenal. It comes in several variations. The one described in the book is no longer the primary way in which these bombs are configured, although I'm sure we still have more than enough of them lying around, just in case. The variation I chose is designated MOD 11. It has an adjustable yield to 400kt. Such a bomb, if detonated over a major city like Moscow, would completely obliterate both the city and the surrounding countryside, with devastating effects within a 60 mile radius.

  For me, the B-61 is a symbol of the insanity of mankind and the potential horror of a nuclear Armageddon. I grew up in the era of the Cold War, when Tommy Turtle assured us that getting under our school desks and not looking out the window in the event of a nuclear war would keep us safe.

  Good luck with that, Tommy.

  There are many abandoned military sites in Eastern Europe. Tamási is a real town in Hungary, but to the best of my knowledge there is no old Soviet missile base in the area .

  Chechnya is a place of pain and sorrow. The story of the battle of Bamut is true. It took superior Russian forces eighteen months to crush resistance in this one, small village, creating a modern legend. It is probably true that the United States gave the Russians the information they needed to locate and kill the first president of the Chechen Republic. You may draw your own conclusions about that.

  There have been many deadly terrorist attacks by Chechens within Russia and two wars fought over Chechnya. The Chechen Republic is currently under control of the Russian Federation. There does not seem to be an end to conflict between these two peoples in sight. Fundamentalist Islam plays a part, but is only one element in the mix. Nokhchalla also plays a part. The concept of honor and vengeance is deeply embedded in Chechen culture. The problem with blood feuds is
that they never end until almost everyone is dead.

  Thanks for reading this book. I hope you have enjoyed it and the adventures of the Project team.

  Alex Lukeman

  September, 2020.

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks to Neil Jackson, who keeps creating great covers. He always comes up with something interesting.

  My wife Gayle, for too many reasons to list. Only someone who lives with a writer can understand how difficult that can be from time to time.

  Last, but definitely not least, you, the reader. Thank you for trusting me to give you a good story.

  About the Author

  Alex Lukeman writes action/adventure thrillers. He's a former Marine and psychotherapist and is the author of the award-winning books The Tesla Secret and High Alert . He likes riding old, fast motorcycles and playing guitar, usually not at the same time. You can email him at alex@alexlukeman.com. He loves hearing from readers and promises he will get back to you.

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