by A. G. Riddle
The earpiece crackled again. It was Howard Keegan, the director of Clocktower, the counterterrorism organization David worked for. “Collector, Appraiser, it seems the seller didn’t like the market today.”
David was the chief of Jakarta Station, and Keegan was his boss and mentor. The older man clearly didn’t want to step on David’s toes by shutting down the operation, but the message was clear. Keegan had come all the way from London, hoping for a break. It was a big risk given the other ongoing Clocktower operation.
“I agree,” David said. “Let’s shut it down.”
The two operatives casually vacated their positions and melted into the throngs of scurrying Indonesians.
David took one last look at the newsstand. A tall man with a red windbreaker was paying for something. A newspaper. The New York Times.
“Stand by, Trader and Broker. We have a buyer looking at merchandise,” David said.
The man stepped back, held the paper up, and paused for a few seconds to read the front page. Without looking around, he folded the newspaper, tossed it in the trash can, and walked quickly toward the loaded train moving away from the station.
“Contact. I’m engaging.” David’s mind raced as he bounded from the shadow and into the crowd. Why was the man late? And his appearance—it was… wrong. The overt red windbreaker, the posture (a soldier’s posture, or an operative’s), the way he walked.
The man pushed onto the train and began snaking through the thick crowd of standing men and sitting women. The man was taller than almost everyone on the train, and David could still see his head. David squeezed onto the train and stopped. Why was the contact running? Had he seen something? Been spooked? And then it happened. The man turned, glancing back at David, and the look in his eyes said it all.
David wheeled around and swept the four men standing in the doorway out onto the platform. He pushed them away from the train as more anxious commuters poured onto the train in the hole he had made. David was about to shout when the explosion tore through the train, spraying shards of glass and metal into the station. The blast threw David to the concrete floor of the platform, sandwiching him between bodies, some dead, others writhing in pain. Screams filled the air. Through the smoke, pieces of ash and debris drifted down like falling snow. David couldn’t move his arms or legs. His head rolled back, and he almost lost consciousness.
For a moment he was back in New York, running away from the crumbling building, then he was under it, trapped, waiting. Hands from unseen arms grabbed him and pulled him out. “We got you, buddy,” they said. The sirens from trucks labeled “FDNY” and “NYPD” rang out as the sunlight hit his face.
But it wasn’t an ambulance this time. It was a black delivery van outside the train station. The men, not FDNY. The two operatives, Trader and Broker. They hoisted David into the van and sped away as Jakartan police and fire teams filled the streets.
3
Autism Research Center (ARC)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Playroom Four buzzed with activity. The scene was typical: toys strewn everywhere, with about a dozen children scattered throughout the room, each playing alone. In the corner, an eight-year-old child named Adi rocked back and forth as he built a puzzle with ease. When he placed the last block, he looked up at Ben, a proud smile on his face.
Kate couldn’t believe it.
The boy had just assembled a puzzle her team used to identify savants—individuals with autism and special cognitive abilities. The puzzle required an IQ in the 140 to 180 range. Kate couldn’t do it, and only one child in the study could—Satya.
Kate watched the child quickly build the puzzle, tear it down, and build it again. Adi stood up and took a seat on a bench beside Surya, a seven-year-old in the study. The smaller boy moved to the puzzle and completed it with just as much ease.
Ben turned to Kate. “Can you believe it? You think they’re doing it from memory? From watching Satya?”
“No. Or maybe. I doubt it,” Kate said. Her mind raced. She needed time to think. She had to be sure.
“This is what you’ve been working on, isn’t it?” Ben said.
“Yes,” Kate said absently. It was impossible. It shouldn’t have worked so quickly. Yesterday, these children displayed classic signs of autism—if there was such a thing. Increasingly, researchers and physicians had begun recognizing autism as a spectrum of disorders with a wide range of symptoms. At the core of autism was a dysfunction in communication and social interaction. Most affected children avoided eye contact and socializing, others wouldn’t respond to their names, and in severe cases, children couldn’t stand any contact. Yesterday neither Adi nor Surya could have completed the puzzle, made eye contact, or even taken turns.
She had to tell Martin. He would make sure that their funding wasn’t cut off.
“What do you want to do?” Ben said, excitement in his voice.
“Take them to Observation Two. I need to make a call.” Disbelief, exhaustion, and joy fought a battle in Kate’s mind. “And, uh, we should administer a diagnostic. ADI-R. No, ADOS 2, it will take less time. And let’s film it.” Kate smiled and gripped Ben’s shoulder. She wanted to say something profound, something that would mark the moment, words like she imagined brilliant and soon-to-be-famous scientists say at the breakthrough moment, but no words came, just a weary smile. Ben nodded and then took the children by the hands. Kate opened the door, and the four of them walked out into the corridor where two people were waiting. No, not people—monsters, dressed head to toe in black military gear: a helmet that covered a cloth mask, dark ski-like goggles, body armor, and black rubber gloves.
Kate and Ben stopped, glanced at each other in disbelief, and corralled the children behind them. Kate cleared her throat and said, “This is a research lab, we don’t have any cash here, but take the equipment, take whatever you want. We won’t—”
“Shut up.” The man’s voice was rough, like someone who had spent a lifetime smoking and drinking. He turned to his smaller black-clad accomplice, who was clearly a woman, and said, “Take them.”
The woman took a step toward the children. Without thinking, Kate moved into her path. “Don’t. Take anything. Take me instead—”
The man took out a handgun and pointed it at her. “Step aside, Dr. Warner. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
He knows my name.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Ben move closer, making for the gap between her and the monster with the gun.
Adi tried to run, but the woman grabbed him by his shirt.
Ben moved beside Kate, then in front of her, and they both rushed the man with the gun. They tackled him as the gun went off. Kate saw Ben roll off the black-clad man. Blood was everywhere.
She tried to get up, but the man had her. He was too strong. He pinned her to the ground, and she heard a loud crack—
4
Clocktower Safe House
Jakarta, Indonesia
Thirty minutes after the train blast, David sat at a cheap foldout table in the safe house, enduring the medical tech’s treatment and trying to make sense of the attack.
“Ow.” David winced and reeled back from the alcohol swab the tech had dabbed on his face. “Thank you, really, but let’s do this after. I’m fine. Flesh wounds.”
Across the room, Howard Keegan stood up from the bank of computer screens and walked over to David. “It was a setup, David.”
“Why? It makes no sense—”
“It does. You need to see this. I received it right before the blast.” Keegan handed him a sheet of paper.
<<< EYES ONLY >>>
<<< CLOCKTOWER >>>
<<< CENTCOMM >>>
Clocktower under attack.
Cape Town and Mar del Plata Stations destroyed.
Karachi, Delhi, Dakha, and Lahore breached.
Recommend initiate Firewall.
Please advise.
<<< END BULLETIN >>>
Keegan tucked the page back i
n his coat pocket. “He lied about our security problem.”
David rubbed his temples. It was a nightmare scenario. His head was still throbbing from the bomb blast. He had to think. “He didn’t lie—”
“Underestimated at the very least, or more likely a lie of omission to cripple and distract us for this larger attack on Clocktower.”
“The attack on Clocktower doesn’t mean the terrorist threat isn’t real. It could be a prelude—”
“Maybe. But the only thing we know is that Clocktower’s back is against the wall. Your first duty is to secure your station. You’re the largest operation in Southeast Asia. Your HQ could be under attack right now.” Keegan picked up his bag. “I’m going back to London to try to manage things from there. Good luck, David.”
They shook hands, and David saw Keegan out of the safe house.
On the street, a kid carrying a stack of newspapers ran up to David, waving them in the air and screaming, “Have you heard? Jakarta is under attack.”
David pushed him away, but the kid shoved a rolled up newspaper into his hand and darted off around the corner.
David started to toss the newspaper aside, but… it was too heavy. And there was something wrapped inside. He unrolled the paper, and a round black pipe about a foot long fell out. A pipe bomb.
5
Autism Research Center (ARC)
Jakarta, Indonesia
West Jakarta Police Chief Eddi Kusnadi mopped sweat from his brow as he walked into the crime scene—some science lab on the west end of town. A neighbor had reported a gunshot. It was a nicer neighborhood, the type where neighbors had political connections, so he had to check it out. The place was obviously some kind of medical facility, but some of the rooms looked almost like a daycare.
Paku, one of his best plainclothes officers, waved him to a room in the back where he found an unconscious woman on the floor, a dead man in a pool of his own blood near her, and several cops standing around.
“Lover’s quarrel?”
“We don’t think so,” Paku said.
In the background the chief could hear several kids crying. A native Indonesian woman entered the room, and upon seeing the bodies, instantly began screaming.
“Get this lady out of here,” the chief said. Two officers corralled her out of the room. He said to Paku, the only remaining policeman, “Who are they?”
“The woman is Dr. Katherine Warner.”
“Doctor? This is a medical clinic?”
“No. A research facility. Warner is the head of it. The woman you just saw is one of the nannies for the children—they’re doing research on disabled kids.”
“Doesn’t sound very profitable. Who’s the guy?” the chief said.
“One of the lab technicians. The nanny says another technician offered to watch the kids, so she went home. The nanny claims that two kids are missing.”
“Runaways?”
“She thinks not, says the building has safeguards,” Paku said.
“Security cameras on the building?”
“No. Some observation cameras in the rooms with the kids. We’re checking footage.”
The chief bent down and looked the woman over. She was skinny, but not too skinny. He liked that. He felt for a pulse, then turned her head side to side to see if she had any head trauma. He noticed minor bruises on her wrists, but she seemed otherwise unharmed. “What a mess. Find out if she has any money. If so, bring her to the station. If not, dump her at the hospital.”
6
Immari Corp. Research Complex
Outside Burang, China
Tibet Autonomous Region
The project director strolled into Dr. Shen Chang’s office and tossed a file onto his desk. “We have a new therapy.”
Dr. Chang grabbed the file and began riffling through the pages.
The director paced the length of the room. “It’s very promising. We’re fast-tracking it. I want the machine ready and subjects treated with the new therapy within four hours.”
Chang dropped the file and looked up.
The scientist opened his mouth, but the director waved him off. “I don’t want to hear it. The singularity could happen at any time—today, tomorrow, it could have already happened for all we know. We don’t have time for caution.”
Chang began to speak, but the director cut him off again. “And don’t tell me you need more time. You’ve had time. We need results. Now tell me what it’s going to take.”
Chang slumped in his chair. “The last test was a strain on the local power grid; we exceeded our capacity onsite. We think we fixed the problem, but the regional power authority has to be suspicious about what we’re doing. The bigger issue is that we’re low on primates—”
“We’re not testing it on primates. I want a human cohort of 50 ready to test.”
Chang straightened himself and said with more force, “Setting the morality aside, which I urge you not to do, we would simply need a lot more data to begin a human trial, we would need—”
“You have it, doctor. It’s all in the file. And we’re retrieving more data now. That’s not all. We have two subjects with sustained Atlantis Gene activation.”
Chang’s eyes widened. “You… two… how—”
The man pointed to the file in a quick, cobra-like motion. “The file, doctor; it’s all there. And they’ll be here soon. You’d better be ready. All you have to do is replicate the gene therapy.”
Chang was flipping through the pages, reading, and murmuring to himself. He looked up. “The subjects are children?”
“Yes. Is that a problem?”
“Uh, no. Well, maybe. Or maybe not.”
“Maybe not is the right answer. Call me if you need me, doctor. Four hours. I don’t have to tell you what’s at stake.”
But Dr. Chang couldn’t hear him. He was lost in the notes of Dr. Katherine Warner.
7
Clocktower Station HQ
Jakarta, Indonesia
David peered at the black pipe through the narrow window of the blast shield. Turning the cap on the pipe had taken forever with the manually operated arm. But he had to look inside. It was the weight—the pipe was too light to be a bomb. Nails, buckshot, and BBs would weigh a lot more.
Finally, the end fell off, and David tipped the pipe to one side. A rolled-up paper slid out. A thick, glossy page. A photo.
David unrolled it. It was a satellite image of an iceberg floating in a deep blue sea. In the center of the iceberg, there was an oblong black object. A submarine, sticking out of the ice. On the back, a message read:
Toba Protocol is real.
4+12+47 = 4/5; Jones
7+22+47 = 3/8; Anderson
10+4+47 = 5/4; Ames
David slipped the photo into a thick manila folder and walked over to the surveillance room. One of the two techs turned from the bank of screens. “No sign of him yet.”
“Anything from the airports?” David asked.
The man worked the keyboard, then looked up. “Yes, he landed a few minutes ago at Soekarno-Hatta. You want us to have him detained there?”
“No. I need him here. Just make sure they can’t see him on surveillance upstairs. I’ll take it from there.”
8
BBC World Report - Wire Release
Potential terror attacks in residential neighborhoods in Mar del Plata, Argentina and Cape Town, South Africa
*** Breaking News Update: Additional blasts reported in Karachi, Pakistan and Jakarta, Indonesia. We will update this report as details emerge. ***
Cape Town, South Africa // The sound of automatic gun fire and grenade explosions shattered the early morning calm in Cape Town today, as a group estimated at twenty armed assailants entered an apartment building and killed fourteen people.
Police have released no official information about the attack.
Eyewitnesses at the scene described it as a special-operations-style attack. A BBC reporter onsite took this eyewitness statement: “Yeah I seen
it, looked like a tank or something, you know, one of them armored troop carriers, rolling up on the curb and then dudes was pouring out it like ninjas or robot soldiers or something, moving all mechanical-like and then it’s like the whole building exploded, glass falling all over the place, and I ran up on out of there. I mean, it’s a rough neighborhood, but man, I ain’t never seen nothing like that. I figured, at first, it was, you know, a drug raid. Whatever it was, it done gone real wrong.”
Another witness, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the group had no official insignia on their vehicle or uniforms.
A reporter with Reuters, who briefly gained access to the scene before police removed him, described it this way: “It looked to me like a safe house, maybe CIA or MI6. It would have to be somebody very well funded to have that kind of technology: a situation-room with wall-to-wall computer screens and a massive server room. There were bodies everywhere. About half wore plainclothes; the rest were dressed in black body armor similar to what witnesses say the attackers wore.”
It remains unclear if the attackers incurred any casualties and were forced to leave anyone behind or if the bodies were those of individuals defending the location.
The BBC sought a comment from both the CIA and MI6 for this report. Both declined.
It’s unknown whether this incident is in any way related to a similar incident earlier today in Mar del Plata, Argentina, where a massive explosion in a low-income neighborhood killed twelve people at approximately two A.M. local time. Bystanders say the explosion followed a raid by a heavily armed group that no one could identify.
