by A. G. Riddle
“Throw the nets over, Eko.”
The young boy followed his father’s orders without question, throwing the nets over one by one, feeding his birthright to the slow-moving river.
When most of the nets were gone, the water stopped, and Harto slumped back into the boat, staring with absent eyes at the man.
“What’s wrong, Papa?”
When his father said nothing, Eko scooted closer to him and the man they had rescued. “Is he dead? Did—”
“We must get him home. Help me paddle, son. He may be in some trouble.”
They turned the boat and paddled back up the river, against the current, toward Harto’s wife and daughter, who would be preparing to clean and store the fish they brought back. There would be no fish today.
27
Associated Press
wire release - breaking news report
Explosions and Gunfire Rock Indonesian Capital of Jakarta Jakarta, Indonesia (AP) // The Associated Press has received multiple reports of explosions and gunfire across Jakarta. Although no terrorist groups have claimed responsibility, insiders within the Indonesian Government, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said they believe the attacks were a coordinated strike. It’s not clear at this time who the target or targets were.
At about one P.M. local time, three bomb blasts ripped through high-rise buildings in rundown residential neighborhoods across the city. Observers said at least two of the buildings were thought to be abandoned.
Those blasts were followed minutes later by explosions and automatic gunfire on the streets of the market district. Casualty figures are unavailable, and police have declined to comment.
The AP will update this story as details emerge.
The Jakarta Post
West Jakarta Police Chief Arrested The Indonesian National Police today confirmed that they have arrested West Jakarta Police Chief Eddi Kusnadi on child pornography charges. The new chief of the station, Paku Kurnia, issued this statement: “This is a sad and shameful day for the Jakarta Metro Police and the West Jakarta Police Station, but our willingness to confront evil within our own ranks will ultimately make us stronger and affirm the public’s trust in us.”
28
Immari Jakarta Headquarters
Jakarta, Indonesia
Kate sat in a chair, her hands bound behind her, the dark hood still over her head. The trip had been rough. The soldiers had tossed her about like a rag doll for the past thirty minutes, transferring her from one van to another, marching her down a series of hallways, and finally throwing her into the chair and slamming a door. The sensation of moving in pure darkness had made her nauseated. Her hands ached from the zip ties, and she couldn’t see a thing through the thick black hood. The absolute dark and quiet was disorienting, like sensory deprivation. How long had she been there?
Then she heard something coming closer: footfalls in a hallway or large room. They echoed louder with each passing second.
“Take that bag off her head!”
Martin Grey’s voice. Martin—the sound of her adoptive father’s voice sent waves of relief through Kate’s body. The darkness didn’t seem so dark, and the pain in her hands near the bindings seemed to ease. She was safe. Martin would help her find her children.
She felt the bag lift off her head. The lights blinded her, and she squinted, grimaced, and turned her head away.
“And unbind her hands! Who did this to her?”
“I did, sir. She was resisting.”
She still couldn’t see them, but she knew the voice—the man who had taken her from the truck, who had taken the children at the clinic. Ben Adelson’s killer.
“You must have been pretty scared of her.” Martin’s voice was cold and forceful. Kate had never heard him talk to anyone that way. She heard two more men chuckling, then her captor responded, “Complain all you want, Grey. I don’t answer to you. And you seemed satisfied with our work earlier.”
What did he mean by that?
Martin’s voice changed slightly; it was more amused. “You know, it almost sounds like you’re resisting, Mr. Tarea. Here, I’ll show you what happens when you do.”
Kate could see Martin now. His face was hard. He stared at the man, then turned to two other men—soldiers who must have accompanied Martin. “Take him to a holding cell. Shroud him and bind his hands. The tighter the better.”
The two men seized the kidnapper, put the bag that had been on Kate’s head on him, and dragged him out of the room.
Martin bent down to Kate and said, “Are you okay?”
Kate rubbed her hands and leaned forward. “Martin, two children were taken from my lab. That man was one of the kidnappers. We have to find—”
Martin held up a hand. “I know. I’ll explain everything. But right now, I need you to tell me what you’ve done to those children. It’s very important, Kate.”
Kate opened her mouth to respond, but she didn’t know where to start. Questions raced through her head.
Before she could speak, two more men entered the large room and spoke to Martin. “Sir, Director Sloane would like to speak with you.”
Martin looked up, annoyed. “I’ll call him back, this can’t—”
“Sir, he’s here.”
“In Jakarta?”
“In the building, sir. We’ve been instructed to escort you to him. I’m sorry, sir.”
Martin stood slowly, looking worried. “Take her downstairs, to the observation deck for the excavation. And… guard the door. I’ll be along shortly.”
Martin’s men escorted Kate out, keeping a safe distance but watching her like a hawk. She noticed that the other men treated Martin the same way.
29
Pesanggrahan River
Jakarta, Indonesia
Harto watched as the mysterious man pushed up onto his elbows, tore his helmet and goggles off, then looked around, confused. He threw the head gear over the side of the boat, and after lying down for a few minutes more, he struggled with some straps at the side of his suit. Finally, he managed to tear them loose, and he tossed the bulky vest over the side as well. Harto had noticed a large hole in the chest area of the vest. Maybe it was damaged. The man rubbed his chest, breathing heavily.
He was an American, or maybe a European. This surprised Harto. He knew the man was white—he could see part of his face when they brought him aboard the boat—but he assumed the man was Japanese, or maybe Chinese. Why would an armed European be here, in the river? Maybe he wasn’t a policeman. Maybe he was a criminal, a terrorist, or a drug cartel soldier. Had helping this man gotten them into something dangerous? He paddled faster. Eko saw the boat starting to turn, and he paddled faster too. The boy was learning so quickly.
When the white man’s breathing had leveled off some, he sat up and began speaking English.
Eko looked back. Harto didn’t know what to say. The soldier spoke slowly. Harto said the only English he knew. “My wife speak English. She help you.”
The man collapsed again to his back. He stared up at the sky and rubbed his chest while Harto and Eko paddled.
David assumed the bullet to the chest had killed the bio-monitor in the body armor. It had sure done a number on him. The tracker in the helmet would still be active, but it was at the bottom of the river.
God bless these Jakartan fisherman. They had saved him, but where were they taking him? Maybe Immari had announced a reward for him—these two had simply caught a lottery ticket. If they were going to turn him in, David needed to get free, but he could barely breathe. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it. He had to rest. He watched the river for a minute, then closed his eyes.
David felt the soft comfort of a bed beneath him. A middle-aged Jakartan woman held a wet rag against his forehead. “Can you hear me?” When she saw his eyes open, she turned away and began yelling in another language.
David grabbed her arm. She looked frightened. “I’m not going to hurt you. Where am I?” he said. He realized that he felt muc
h better. He could breathe again, but the pain was still there in his chest. He sat up and released her arm.
The woman told him their address, but David didn’t know it. Before he could ask another question, she backed out of the room, watching him cautiously, her head tilted slightly.
David rubbed the bruise on his chest. Think. If they had taken the risk to attack his convoy in the open, they had already taken Jakarta Station HQ.
Josh. Another fallen soldier. If I don’t stop Toba Protocol, there will be many more. And civilians, as there had been before…
Focus.
The current threat. What does it mean?
They took Warner. They need her. She’s involved somehow.
But he didn’t believe that. Kate Warner had been genuine, sincere. She believed in the research she was doing. She wouldn’t be involved in Toba. They needed her research; they were going to use it. They would force her to reveal it to them. She would be another innocent victim. He had to focus on getting her back. She was his best lead.
He stood and walked around the home. It was several rooms separated by paper-thin walls covered with homemade art, mostly depicting fishermen. He opened a rickety screen door and walked out onto a terrace. The home was on the third or fourth level of a building with many similar homes—all with white plaster walls, dirty screen doors, and terraces stacked like stair steps climbing the banks of the river below. He looked out into the distance. As far as the eye could see, he saw stacks and stacks of these homes, like pasteboard boxes stacked on top of each other. Clothes hung on lines outside each one, and here and there women were beating rugs, sending dust rising into the setting sun like demons fleeing the earth.
David glanced down toward the river. Fishing boats were coming and going. A few had small motors, but most were powered by paddlers. His eyes searched the buildings above. Would they be here already, looking for him?
Then he saw them. Two men, Immari Security, exiting on the second floor below him. David backed into the shadow of the balcony and watched the men go into the next home. How long did he have? Five, maybe ten minutes?
He walked back into the home and found the family huddled together in what passed for a living room, though it had two small beds in it as well. The two parents corralled a boy and a girl behind them, as if David’s look could harm them.
At six-foot-three, David was almost two heads taller than the man and woman, and his muscular frame almost filled the narrow doorway, blocking the last rays of the setting sun. He must look like a monster to them, or an alien, a completely different species.
David focused on the woman. “I’m not going to hurt you. Do you speak English?”
“Yes. A little. I sell fish in the market.”
“Good. I need help. It is very important. A woman and two children are in danger. Please ask your husband if he will help me.”
30
Immari Jakarta Headquarters
Jakarta, Indonesia
Martin Grey walked into the room cautiously, eyeing Dorian Sloane as if he were an apparition. The director of Immari Security stood on the far side of Martin’s corner office on the sixty-sixth floor of the Immari Jakarta Headquarters. Sloane looked out over the Java Sea, watching the boats come and go. Martin thought the younger man hadn’t seen him come in, so he was startled when he spoke. “Surprised to see me, Martin?”
Martin realized Sloane had watched him enter in the glass’s reflection. He saw Sloane’s eyes there now. They were cold, calculating, intense… like a predator watching his prey, waiting to strike. The incomplete reflection hid the rest of his face. His hands were clasped behind his back. His long black trench coat looked so out of place here in Jakarta, where heat and humidity forced even bankers into less formal attire. Only bodyguards, or someone with something to hide, covered up so much.
Martin made an effort to look casual. He strode to his oak desk in the middle of the giant office. “Yes, actually. I’m afraid you’ve caught me at a bad time—”
“Don’t. I know it all, Martin.” Sloane turned around slowly and spoke deliberately, never taking his eyes off Martin as he walked toward the older man behind the desk. “I know about your little ice-fishing expedition in Antarctica. Your meddling in Tibet. The kids. The kidnapping.”
Martin shifted his feet, angling to get behind the desk, to put something between the two of them, but Sloane altered his vector, approaching from the side. Martin stood his ground. He wouldn’t back away, even if the brutal man cut his throat right there in his office.
Martin returned Sloane’s stare. Sloane’s face was lean, muscular, but rough. Years of hard living had taken its toll. It was a face that knew pain.
Sloane stopped his prowling march three feet from Martin. He smiled slightly, like he knew something Martin didn’t; as if some trap had been sprung, and he was simply waiting. “I would have found out sooner, but I’ve been quite busy with this Clocktower situation. But I think you already know about that.”
“I’ve certainly seen the reports. Unfortunate and untimely, to be sure. And as you mentioned, I’ve had my hands full as well.” Martin’s hands started to shake slightly. He stuffed them into his pockets. “I had planned to reveal these recent developments—Antarctica, China—”
“Be careful, Martin. Your next lie could be your last.”
Martin swallowed and looked at the floor, thinking.
“I just have one question, old man. Why? I’ve collected all these threads you’ve spun, but I still don’t see your endgame.”
“I haven’t betrayed my oath. My goal is our goal: to prevent a war we both know we can’t win.”
“Then we agree. The time has come. Toba Protocol is in effect.”
“No. Dorian, there is another way. It’s true, I’ve kept these… developments to myself, but for good reason. It was premature, I didn’t know if it would work.”
“And it hasn’t. I read the reports from China, all the adults died. We’re out of time.”
“True, the test failed, but because we used the wrong therapy. Kate used something else; we didn’t know it at the time, but she will tell me. We could walk into the tombs by this time tomorrow—we could finally learn the truth.”
It was a long shot, and Martin was almost surprised when Sloane broke his unblinking glare. His eyes looked away, then down. A moment passed, and finally he turned around, pacing back toward the windows, taking up his original position from when Martin had first entered the room. “We already know the truth. And as for Kate and the new therapy… you took her children. She won’t talk.”
“She will to me.”
“I believe I know her better than you.”
Martin felt his blood rising.
“Have you opened the sub yet?” Sloane’s voice was quiet.
Martin was surprised by the question. Was Sloane testing him? Or did he think…
“No,” Martin said. “We’re following a more extensive quarantine protocol, just to be on the safe side. I’m told the site is almost secure.”
“I want to be there when they open it.”
“It’s been sealed for over seventy years, nothing could have—”
“I want to be there.”
“Of course. I’ll inform the site.” Martin reached for the phone. He couldn’t believe this break. The hope felt like a breath of fresh air after being underwater for three minutes too long. He dialed quickly.
“You can tell them when we get there.”
“I’d like nothing more—”
Sloane turned away from the windows. The bloodthirsty stare had returned. His eyes burned holes in Martin. “I’m not asking. We will open that sub together. I’m not letting you out of my sight, not until this is over.”
Martin put the phone down. “Very well, but I must speak with Kate first.” Martin inhaled, straightening his back. “And now, I’m not asking. You need me, we both know it.”
Sloane looked at Martin through the window’s reflection, and Martin thought he saw a
small smile cross the younger man’s lips. “I’ll give you ten minutes with her. And when you fail, we’ll leave for Antarctica, and I’ll leave her to people who will make her talk.”
31
River Village Slums
Jakarta, Indonesia
David watched the Immari Security officers pivot and then run into the five-room plaster home on the corner of the row. He had picked this home specifically because of its layout.
The men swept the rooms, moving in swift, mechanical motions, entering each room with their handguns held in front of them, jerking left, then right.
David listened from his hiding place as the men reported. “Clear. Clear. Clear. Clear. Clear.” He heard their pace slow as they walked out of the now “safe” residence.
When the second man passed him, David silently slid behind him, covered his mouth with a damp cloth, and waited for the chloroform to fill the man’s mouth and nostrils. The man thrashed about, trying desperately to grab David as he lost control of his limbs with each passing second. David held tightly at his mouth. No sound escaped. The man slumped to the ground, and David was about to turn his attention to the other man when he heard the radio in the next room crackle to life.
“Immari Recon Team Five, be advised, Clocktower reports a field locker in your area has been accessed. Target believed to be in close proximity and could be in possession of weapons and explosives from the locker. Proceed with caution. We’re sending backup units.”
“Cole? Did you hear that?”
David squatted over the man he had just incapacitated—apparently Cole.
