The Last Election (31 page)

Holden zipped his pants and turned around to face Clark.
 
“I believe you, Sam.”

“What?” said Clark.

“I believe you,” Holden repeated. He walked to the sink and turned on the faucet. “This cyber attack is a runaway train. All of our systems are failing. Bonsam is responsible for all of this.” Holden looked up at the mirror as he washed his hands, making eye contact with Clark who was standing behind him. “And Bonsam has disappeared with the nuclear football. So, yeah, I think Bonsam is capable of anything.”

Holden pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and began drying his hands. “I need to get back to the Situation Room,” he said, then tossed the paper towel into the trash bin. He walked past Clark and pulled open the door, and as he entered the hallway said, “27... 28... 29... 30.”

Clark followed Holden out of the restroom and saw Martineau watching Holden walk back toward the Situation Room. “Well, what did he say?” she asked.

“He believes us!”

Chapter 74

Two men stood in the blazing heat, waiting for a visitor who they had never imagined they would meet. They watched as a sleek plane landed on the nearby runway. It turned around at the end of the runway and taxied toward their location. Once the plane stopped, they looked at one another and then proceeded toward the hatch. As they approached they saw the hatch open and the airstairs lowered. They halted and looked on, waiting for their visitor to
deboard
.

Moments later, Emmanuel Bonsam, former president of the United States, appeared at the top of the airstairs. To the two men waiting, he no longer looked like the leader of a great nation. A day-old beard covered his face and his eyes were hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. He sported an old, faded army jacket, black denim jeans, and worn hiking boots.

Bonsam walked toward the men who were waiting. Once he reached them, he stopped and looked at one man, then the other.
 
He slowly removed his sunglasses and said, “
As-salaam
alaikum
.”

Bonsam climbed into the back of their SUV, and in less than a minute was on his way to meet an old friend.
 
He was still pissed off from the news that Holden, Clark, and Martineau had survived the RPG blast. Gu would pay dearly for that mistake.

An hour later Bonsam was ushered into the grand hall of a magnificent palace. As he looked at the ornate surroundings, he tried in vain to comprehend why anyone in their right mind would choose to build such a majestic home in the middle of a miserable, desert wasteland.

The escort said, “The Sheikh will see you now.”

“Thank you, Hajji,” Bonsam replied respectfully.
 
His escort then pulled open the ten-foot-tall doors leading into his master’s office.

Sheikh Abdul-
Qadir
Aziz had a wide smile on his face as he walked swiftly toward Bonsam, his
keffiyeh
flowing behind him.
“As-salaam
alaikum
,
Emmanuel. It is good to see you again.”

“
Wa
alaikum
as-salaam.
It is good to see you, too, my brother.”

“I am thrilled you have made it here safely. Our friends from the Korean People’s Army are to be commended for their daring rescue. You have been in the air now, for what, 12 hours?”

“Seven, actually,” Bonsam replied.

“Oh my brother, you must promise me that someday you will take me for a ride in your jet plane,” Aziz said with excitement in his voice. “To travel over 6,300 miles in seven hours is truly amazing.”

“Of course, my brother,” replied Bonsam. “I would be honored to have you as my guest on a flight. Anyone within
Enkhtuyaa
is welcome on my plane.”

“
Shokran
jazeelan
,
Emmanuel!”

“I apologize, my brother,” replied Bonsam, “but I have forgotten how to say ‘you’re welcome’ in Arabic.”

“Do not worry about that, Emmanuel,” Aziz replied.
 
“Ah, you must be hungry. We shall have a feast in your honor.”

“You are most gracious, my brother. However, it is urgent that I begin my work. May I see the computer that you so generously offered for my use?”

“Of course, Emmanuel, I understand. We shall go now.”

Sheikh Aziz led Bonsam to the rear of the office where an open elevator awaited. They stepped inside and Aziz closed the door and pressed the down button. “I am certain that my computer will be to your satisfaction.”

The elevator descended slowly. After three minutes, Bonsam said, “Just how deep is this bunker?”

The Sheikh smiled and said, “We are almost there.”

Once the elevator stopped, Aziz opened the door and led Bonsam down a short, dark hallway. When they reached the end, Aziz flipped a huge power switch that illuminated the bunker before them.

There in the bunker stood the largest computer Bonsam had ever seen. It was mammoth, nearly 20 feet tall and covering an area larger than two tennis courts. Bonsam was astounded. He stepped forward and put his hand against the side, then turned to look at Aziz.

The Sheikh could tell Bonsam was very impressed. “This is China’s
Tianhe
LS-3000 Supercomputer. Very few people know that it exists. It is so powerful that it can carry out over eight trillion calculations per second. I also have 150 North Korean technicians at your disposal. With the information that you possess, we will be able to break into any network in the world. Once inside, there is nothing we cannot do.”

Over the next six hours Bonsam directed the upload of over 11 terabytes of the most sensitive digital information that the United States government possessed. As the data uploads were taking place, Bonsam asked Aziz to meet with him out of earshot of the technicians. “My plan is to use the LS-3000 to break into the cyber networks of every industrialized nation in the world,” said Bonsam in a menacing tone, “and seize control of their weapons systems. Someday we may need to use their own weapons against them.” Aziz was elated as he heard Bonsam’s words, though strangely, as he imagined death raining down on the infidels, Bonsam was imagining wiping out Aziz and the rest of the camel-
jackers
from this shit-hole corner of the world.

In the late hours of the evening, Aziz accompanied Bonsam on the trip back to the airfield. Before Bonsam boarded his plane, he expressed his gratitude to Aziz. “And remember, my brother, I owe you a ride on this jet,” Bonsam said with a forced smile. When Bonsam reached the top of the airstairs, he stopped and gave one last wave to Aziz, then turned around, rolled his eyes, and entered the cabin of his jet.

The pilot, who was waiting at the cockpit door, knew how much Bonsam despised Aziz. “How was your visit with the Sheikh?” he inquired.

“Fantastic,” Bonsam replied sardonically. “Aziz gave me total access to his supercomputer, but the dumb-ass has no idea that I have locked him out of it for good.” He sat down in his recliner and said, “Please, just get me the hell out of here.”

The pilot laughed. “Where to, sir?”

Bonsam looked out the window and said, “Mexico.”
 
 

Chapter 75

In the early hours of the morning, Professor Jameson was jolted awake as he felt his bed begin to shake. Before he even had the chance to say, “Oh, no,” he heard a low rumble and his bed shook even more.

“Earthquake! Everybody out!” he yelled. Jameson clambered to his feet and made his way out of his tent.

“Is everyone out, is everyone out?” He called as he frantically looked around the encampment.

“It’s all right Professor, everyone is here,” said Jesse as he walked toward the professor. “Are you ok?” he asked.

Professor Jameson was still a little shaken, but he bobbed his head affirmatively.

Everyone stood still and silent, waiting for the next tremor. Jameson was actually holding his breath. After several minutes, the students relaxed and began moving around and speaking to each other but still in hushed tones, as if speaking loudly would somehow trigger another tremor.

Jameson and the students made their way over to the main cabin. As they filtered inside and looked around, they found that there was almost no damage to the cabin. Jesse turned on the radio that was sitting on the bookshelf. “
Shhh
! Listen to this,” he said. The message was in Spanish, but everyone on the team knew enough to understand. The report said that a 2.9 magnitude earthquake had hit the area.

“A 2.9, that’s nothing,” said Jesse with a smile.

“It felt like something to me!” exclaimed Jameson. He tried to laugh it off, but still he was very uneasy.

Next the team went to the excavation site to see what damage had been done by the earthquake. As they looked around, they found that several pieces of equipment had been knocked from their stands, but other than that there was little disturbance to the site.

Jameson was still shaken from the earthquake. He was breathing hard and sweating much more than normal. He kept nervously wiping his brow with his handkerchief. Something else was bothering him, something other than the earthquake. His mind was elsewhere, and he couldn’t control it.

Jameson finally snapped out of it and saw the team members looking at him with concern on their faces. He coughed a little and said, “We need to clean this place up.” As the students began picking up the equipment, he walked toward the one section of the site that they had yet to excavate. It was as if he was being drawn there.

One of the students called out, “Be careful, Professor.” Jameson turned and looked back. His eyes met the gaze of the students. They still had that look of concern on their faces. Jameson turned back around and took one more step, and as he did the ground beneath his feet crumbled away, plunging him into a chamber beneath the surface.

Chapter 76

The students gasped as they saw Professor Jameson tumble into the hole in the ground. “Oh shit!” yelled Jesse, and he and the rest of the students scrambled over to the hole.

Fortunately, the hole was less than five feet deep. Jameson had landed flat on his ass. He sat there with his arms on his knees, shaking the cobwebs out of his head. He heard Jesse call out his name, and looked up to see him with his arm outstretched. “You okay, Professor?” Jesse asked.

“I’ll be all right,” he said as he took Jesse’s hand and pulled himself up.

“Go get the ladder,” Jesse yelled to his friend nearest the equipment racks.

Jameson stood now, shoulder deep in the ground, looking around at the students. Jesse lowered the ladder into the chamber. “Watch your step, Professor,” he said. He could see that Jameson had not fully recovered from the shock of the fall.

Jameson was indeed still shaken, both from the fall and the strange feelings he was having. His stomach churned and his mind was still spinning. He placed his hands on the sides of the ladder, and then let out a large breath of air as he prepared himself for the climb. He looked up and took a step backward, and as he did he felt something hard move beneath his feet. He looked down, but it was too dark to see what it was.

“Ready, Professor?” asked Jesse.

“Hold on, there is something down here.” He reached down to his feet and felt around. His hand soon hit something hard. He felt around it. It was not very big, and obviously made out of stone. He stood upright and lifted it into the light.

“Wow!” said Jesse, as he saw the relic the professor was holding.

The professor smiled. It was the missing piece of the tablet.