Kill Chain (15 page)

Starling sat shaking his
head. He had never bought into global warming and climate change, at least not
the manmade variety. After all, if man’s use of fossil fuels was behind all of
the planet’s problems, how did you explain other recent warming periods, including
the Medieval Warm Period that had allowed the Vikings to settle and grow crops
in Greenland for centuries? There were no cars filling the streets, no homes
heated by natural gas.

And he
was
a
champion for the environment. Actual proven problems. He never understood why
the real problem of pollution had been abandoned by those who purported in some
instances to love their planet more than their own lives, for the questionable
assumption of carbon-based global warming. Tackle pollution, and by extension,
much of the carbon-based pollutants they feared would be taken care of as well.

But that seemed to have
been abandoned.

It was frustrating as a
politician to be forced to agree publicly with something he didn’t believe in
privately, yet if he didn’t give at least tacit acknowledgment of the
“problem”, he could never win reelection. He had seen it first hand in
committee meetings where scientists who didn’t toe the line of the new religion
were denied funding, and ridiculous new studies having nothing to do with the
climate were now linked to climate change just in the hopes they could get
funding.

Women are more
affected by climate change? ISIL is a result of climate change? We need to
study Venus to see the impact of climate change?

“You’re eco-terrorists!”
He immediately regretted his frustrated outburst.

“We are not terrorists,
Mr. President, we are citizens of the world who will no longer sit idly by and
watch cowardly, corporate controlled politicians like yourself, put our
planet’s future at risk.”

Starling’s jaw clenched
as frustration built within. “The United States does not negotiate with
terrorists.”

“Then, Mr. President,
your daughter is dead.”

A click sealed her fate.

Shinhan
Motors Assembly Plant
Seoul,
Republic of Korea

Yum!

Niner appreciated the
petite package of Senior Inspector Kim as she talked with the Shinhan Motors officials.
She glanced at him and he smiled, there no response. He glanced at Jimmy. “I
think she’s into me.”

“I think you’ve been
sniffing glue.”

“Naw, there’s definitely
some chemistry there.”

“The only chemistry is in
your pants, and she’s not interested.”

“I think I might have to
go on the charm offensive.”

Jimmy gave him a look.
“Why? We’re leaving as soon as we find the hostages. All you’re going to do is
get yourself all horned up then we’re all going to have to hear about it the
entire flight home.”

Niner flicked a wrist at
him. “Pshaw, you assume I’m going to fail.”

“So what, you just want
to plant the flag then leave? Besides, I thought you were g—”

“Here she comes. Pretend
I just said something funny.”

“I don’t think laughter
would give the right impression considering the circumstances.”

“Gentlemen, they’ve
compiled a list of all the employees that could potentially have had access to
the vehicles.”

Niner smiled, it turning
awkward as he tried not to seem creepy, he unfortunately doing just that as he
aborted the attempt, deciding Jimmy was right. “How long a list?”

“Long.”

“We’ll need to set up
interviews with every one of them,” said Jimmy.

Kim shook her head. “That
might not be necessary.”

Niner’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”

“One of the men on this
list hasn’t shown up for work since the day after the two vehicles were
shipped.”

Niner’s eyes widened
slightly, there now a hint of hope. “When was he hired?”

“He’s worked here for
over a year.”

“What do we know about
him?”

She held up some papers
given to her by company officials. “He cleared a government background check
when he was hired since he’d have access to government vehicles, and as far as
his record goes, he was a model employee.”

“Do we have an address?”

Kim shook the papers and
smiled, the sight enough to cause Niner’s stomach to flip. “Yes.”

He returned the smile, no
awkwardness this time, what had just been a joke to tease Jimmy with, suddenly
a genuine attraction. “Then let’s go pick him up.”

Operations
Center 1
CIA
Headquarters, Langley, Virginia

“Were you
able to trace the call?”

Child shook his head,
Leroux frowning. “No. It looks like they bounced it all over the damned planet.
Whoever is behind this is good.”

Leroux drummed his
fingers on his workstation. The North Koreans were good. Not as good as they
would like the world to believe, yet not as incompetent as their leadership
would suggest. They had been trained by the Chinese, who were definitely good,
with intel suggesting the Russians were also helping develop the rogue nation’s
cyberwarfare capabilities. But the phone conversation that had just occurred
seemed to indicate the North had nothing to do with what was going on.

Innocent for the first
time.

“If these are
eco-terrorists, then they’re going far beyond anything in the past.”

“But why make it look
like North Korea is behind it?” asked Tong, turning in her chair. “Wouldn’t an
all-out war damage the environment? Hell, all the hardware we’ve got steaming
into that area is spewing enough carbon to make a true environmentalist weep!”

Leroux chuckled. “You’re
right. By making it look to the world like the North Koreans are behind this
they’re definitely risking a war, especially if the Chinese decide to take the
wrong side again.”

A burst of frustration
erupted from Child. “We need to get the word out that it’s not the North behind
this.”

Leroux shook his head.
“We can’t do that. The instructions to the President were clear. If the truth
gets out then the hostages die, starting with Nancy Starling.”

Child spun in his chair,
dropping a foot to end the motion. “Do they really think they can influence
foreign policy like this? It doesn’t make any sense! We could pass whatever
laws they want but once the hostages are freed, then what could they possibly
do to make sure we stick to the agreement?”

“Nothing that I can think
of,” agreed Tong.

Child jabbed the air with
a finger. “Exactly! That’s why none of this makes sense!” He stopped, his eyes
narrowing. “Could this all be a smoke screen? Just like the North Korean
thing?”

Leroux nodded, allowing
the speculation to continue, always encouraging freethinking among his team,
many of the best ideas coming from brainstorming sessions just like this. “It’s
possible.”

“Then what the hell’s the
real motivation here? Certainly not what we’ve been told.”

Tong interrupted, excited.
“Sir, look at this!”

Leroux stared at the
display, footage from a security camera showing the hijacked bus driving by.
Another image appeared beside it from what he assumed was the U2 flyby. “What
am I looking at?”

“Same area, a few minutes
later.”

The image zoomed in on a
building from above, the backend of the bus pulling into a building.

A smile broke out on
Leroux’s face, he leaning over and slapping Tong on the back, the woman
flushing. “I think we just found where they went.” He jumped from his chair,
pointing at the map. “Get that info to Delta right away!”

Guro
District
Seoul,
Republic of Korea

Dawson
held back with the others, his desire to take point on this operation kept in
check by the competence displayed by the South Korean team as they surrounded
the building. They were well-equipped and from all outward appearances,
well-led, the team lead already having done the courtesy of allowing him to sit
in on the final on-scene briefing, a translator provided.

A small charge detonated,
the lock on the large door the bus had gone through blasted, a man on either
side hauling it up as two of the assault team lay prone on the ground, prepared
to take out any hostiles that may be on the other side. Flashbangs bounced through
the opening, the detonation loud though muffled by the still opening door and
their frustrating position of bringing up the rear in the operation.

With the door high
enough, the remainder of the team poured in, the complete lack of gunfire just
confirming what infrared sensors had already told them.

There was no one inside.

Dawson surged forward
with Atlas, Spock, and Jagger, he and Atlas sweeping left, the others right,
visually confirming no hostiles.

But there was a bus.

The
bus.

He activated his comm.
“Control, Zero-One. We found the bus, over.”

“Any sign of the
hostages?”

Atlas pointed to his left
and Dawson looked, frowning. “We’ve got four bodies here, just like Mrs. Cheng
indicated.” He stepped over to the proof their kidnappers were to be taken
seriously. “Looks like two South Korean security personnel, the German
Chancellor’s husband, and the Chinese translator.” His eyes narrowed as he
noticed something else. “And get this.”

“What?”

“Looks like about half a
dozen drones were taken out.”

“By who?”

Dawson examined the
bodies, his eyes coming to rest on the hands of the Chinese woman, Daewoo DP-51
pistols still gripped tightly in her hands. “Looks like the translator. She’s
holding two weapons and there’s shell casings around her body.” His head bobbed
with respect. “Looks like she put up one hell of a fight. I’d run her again. I
doubt she’s part of their consular staff.” His attention was suddenly drawn by
the sight of one of the assault team trying to yank open the front door of the
bus. “Control, stand by.” He stepped toward the bus, raising his voice. “Hey!
Check that for explosives first! The witness said they were told the bus was
rigged.”

The team lead spat a
reprimand at the overzealous man, the rest of the team swarming the bus with
mirrors to check the doors and undercarriage. An all-clear was given and the
doors were forced open, the team surging inside, only to emerge moments later,
heads shaking.

“It’s empty!” yelled one
of them for their benefit.

Dawson activated his
comm. “Control, Zero-One. The bus is empty. We need a description of the
vehicle they transferred to.”

“We just got that. Some
sort of semi-trailer.”

Spock’s eyebrow shot up
as they exchanged surprised glances. “How’d you find that out? I thought the
Chinese took our witness out of the country.”

“They tried but we were
able to intercept her before she left.”

It was Dawson’s turn for
some eyebrow action. “How’d you manage that?”