Kill Chain (17 page)

Leroux felt his chest
tighten, Tong gasped. “What flight?”

Niner cursed. “It’s the
plane carrying the Chinese President’s wife.”

“Jesus! Any indication
yet what took it down?”

Another pause. “That
can’t be right. Give me a second.” Leroux’s foot tapped as he waited for Niner
to translate. “Shit! They’re saying dozens of drones were spotted entering the
engines.”

Leroux’s eyes widened as
his boss charged into the operations center. “I just got your—” He froze, his
jaw dropping as he watched the security feed of the inferno, emergency vehicles
racing toward the end of the runway, there no way in hell anyone had survived.
“How?”

“Drones, sir. Apparently
they were sent into the engines.”

Morrison dropped into a
spare chair. “Is that even possible?”

Leroux sat in his own,
shaking his head. “Evidently.”

Morrison sighed, clasping
his hands behind his neck then abruptly leaning forward, slapping his hands on
his knees. “Shit, I guess we know the Chinese aren’t involved.”

“Agreed,” said Leroux, a
pit forming in his stomach. “And we also know they’re perfectly willing to kill
the women as well.”

Crawford
Residence
Forest
Hills, Washington, DC

“Anything
buried in the video?”

Jeff shook his head.
“Nothing I’ve been able to find yet. Whoever did this was extremely careful,
which is why I don’t think it’s North Korean.”

“Why?” asked Clarence.

“Because they wouldn’t
care if you knew where it came from or how they produced it. The video admits
to it, so if you want to take credit, why bother hiding the proof?”

Vic’s head bobbed in the
chat window. “Makes sense. But hiding the transmission’s origin would be
understandable since you don’t want your agents outside the country to be
tracked.”

“True,” replied Clarence,
“but hell, they could have set things up to transmit from anywhere in the
world, or a thousand places in the world. They just program it to monitor a
site and they pull the video down when it goes live then transmit it.”

Jeff’s eyes widened as he
leaned back on his stool. “Dude, I think you figured it out!”

“I’m sure I did, I’m that
good.” Clarence’s eyes narrowed. “What did I figure out?”

“We need to find the
original site, the original source of the video.”

“Oh yeah, exactly. I’m
brilliant.”

“If we find that, then we
might just find out where this whole thing originated.”

“Okay, so we’ve established
I’m brilliant. Now how are we going to find where they uploaded the original video
to?”

“We just need to find one
of the source computers and gain access. It might still have the software
installed that pulled the video. If it does, we’ll be able to get the IP
address and go from there!”

Vic spun in his chair, a
bit of a Doppler Effect occurring. “Dude, that’s going to be nearly impossible
if they’ve been spoofing things.”

Clarence shook his head.
“No, dude, not impossible, you’re forgetting I’m brilliant. But it
is
going to take time.”

Jeff frowned. “And time
is the one thing Nancy doesn’t have.” He leaned forward, his fingers hovering
over his keyboard. “Let’s get to work.”

CIA
Safe House
Seoul, Republic
of Korea

“Dylan,
I’ve got some news on the Chinese President’s wife.”

Kane sipped his bottled
water, the ice-cold beverage immediately helping chill his insides. He had
started to feel a little queasy about half an hour ago and if the back of his
hand on his forehead was any indication, he was running a temperature.

Just what I need. The
flu!

He held the bottle
against his forehead. “Nice lady. She was happy to cooperate and was actually a
little pissed at not being given the opportunity. Has she been evac’d yet?”

“Umm, that’s why I’m
calling.”

Kane stopped rolling the
bottle over his forehead, the hesitation in Leroux’s voice suggesting something
was wrong. “What is it? Is she okay?”

“It appears that drones
took out her plane on takeoff.”

Kane bolted upright on
the couch. “What!”

“Initial reports are that
dozens of drones, perhaps over a hundred, were directed into all four engines.
One caught fire and lit the fuel.”

Kane already knew the
answer, yet had to ask. “Survivors?”

“None.”

“And we’re sure she was on
board?”

“Yes.”

“My God! I guess now we
know why she wasn’t just left behind when they switched vehicles.”

“Yeah. She was just a
pawn. She was always going to die.”

Kane sighed, closing his
eyes, picturing the earnest woman, eager to help the others in any way she
could. She had told him about the orders not to leave the country.

I should have taken
her.

He shook his head. He
couldn’t blame himself. His mission had been to interrogate her at all costs,
not save her life. And who could have predicted this? Drones taking down an
airliner? Everyone in the security business knew it was technically possible.
If bird strikes could take out a plane, drones certainly could. And with scares
occurring around the world, it was just a matter of time before tragedy struck.

Like today.

“Does this give us anything?”
He opened his eyes, leaning forward. “They could have left anyone, but they
left her. Why her? Who hates the Chinese right now?”

“Everyone? No one? Most
of the bad guys like them.”

Kane agreed. “Russia
didn’t attend. Could they be involved?”

“They’re friendly with
China now.”

“Right, another bad guy.
What’s the thinking at Langley?”

“Everything is on the
table now. We’re ruling out no one.”

Kane squeezed the bottle
in frustration, the plastic crackling loudly. “We need to find out who the hell
is behind this! Do we even know if there are any actual human beings involved
in this damned thing?”

“Just the phone call to
the President.”

Kane growled in
frustration. “Christ, for all we know that was that Watson machine from
Jeopardy.” He took a deep breath. “How can I help?”

“We need you to find the
source of the drones. The South Koreans believe they came in on a shipping
container yesterday. They’ve traced the ship to Yantai, China, but we need to
know where the shipment actually originated.”

“Okay, send me everything
you’ve got. I know someone who’s perfect for the job.”

Unknown
Location
Republic
of Korea

“What’s
that?”

Nancy looked about, at
what, she didn’t know, the back of the box van featureless save the camera,
speaker, and two drones sitting on the floor near the door. “I think we’re
inside a building?” It was a question rather than a statement, the changed
sound of the engine the only evidence she had.

They came to a halt and
she felt the Italian woman grab her hand, squeezing it tight. The drones
suddenly activated, rising several feet.

“Miss Starling, please
open the rear door and exit the vehicle. Follow the directions on the ground.”

Nancy quickly inhaled then
rose. The drones moved out of her way and she bent over, twisting the handle
near the floor. She yanked and the door rose with a clatter, revealing what
appeared to be another warehouse, this one rather well lit, skylights flooding
the structure with the midday sun.

And then there were the
drones.

Dozens of them hovering
within sight. She took a final glance at the others then hopped down. Arrows on
the floor marked a path to her right. She followed them, her eyes glued to each
arrow, terrified to leave the path, unsure of how forgiving the drones would be
should she stumble. She glanced up as she approached a wall, perhaps ten feet high,
it far short of the ceiling towering overhead. She noticed a door, the arrows leading
to it, a standard knob its only feature.

What do I do?

Her choice seemed clear.

She turned it, pushing
open the door.

And gasped.

Behind the door was a
room that could be mistaken for a large loft living room. Half a dozen couches surrounded
an oversized glass table, and as she stepped further inside, she noticed
several fridges and freezers along one wall. A series of tables held a
substantial supply of water bottles and dried goods, as well as a couple of
microwaves. To the right were two portable toilets.

Everything a dozen
hostages would need to take care of themselves.

She frowned.

For the long term.

When will this be
over?

Embassy
of the United States Seoul
32
Sejongno Street, Seoul, Republic of Korea

“Do you
think they know I’m still in Seoul?”

Starling sat back as the
teleconference with the other world leaders ended, the only person he trusted
at the moment, the only man who knew the truth, Red, standing outside of camera
shot.

“If they do, they’re
certainly not letting on. Everyone used secure comms, so we can’t even say for
certain if
they
are where they say they are.”

Starling chuckled. “Good
point.” He sighed. “I met Mrs. Cheng several times. Very nice lady. Very
formal,
very
reserved, as you’d expect, but Melanie said when the
cameras were off and they were alone, she was a delight. Good sense of humor
and surprisingly well-versed in Western culture.” He stared at a photo his
staff had brought to the office of his once happy—and complete—family. He felt
his eyes begin to burn. “Is this a message?”

“Sir?”

“Killing her, was this a
message to me that if I don’t cooperate, more will die?”

“I think she was always
meant to die, sir.”

“How can we be certain?”