The Puppetmasters (17 page)

Just then, a young volunteer hurried up with a clipboard and handed it to the nurse. “The morgue needs you to sign off on the Radcliffe transfer order.”

The unpleasant man looked aghast, “Mrs. Radcliffe died? No! That can’t be!” He quickly turned toward the exit and strode down the corridor.

The night nurse looked exasperated. She called after him, “Wait! Who are you? How do you know Mrs. Radcliffe?” She was about to summon Security, but he turned around.

His manner had changed, and he was now calm, soothing, and pleasant. “I will speak with the people in the morgue. Please let them know I am on my way down now.”

“What is your name, Sir?”

He hesitated for the briefest of moments. “Uh, Mr. Jones.”

A flash of doubt passed through her mind, and she pushed it away, thinking her paranoia was getting the better of her. She was glad he was going to the morgue to sort things out. She alerted the morgue that Mr. Jones would be there in a few minutes. He never arrived but walked straight out of the main lobby and disappeared into the misty morning rain.

Rashid was awakened shortly after that. He was given the news of Mrs. Radcliffe’s untimely demise. He wondered if things could possibly get any worse. But he knew the answer to that. Yes, of course. Nothing in this mission had gone smoothly, particularly after the introduction of the Orion people. He cursed their existence but then thought of Kendall. He was very fond of her. She was nice to look at and had an appealing personality.

Now what was he going to do? He couldn’t very well tell her about her mother’s death. He felt like a traitor and vowed to tell her at the first opportune moment … after the rescue had been effected. Either way, he couldn’t win. She would probably take out her anger and sorrow on him. She hadn’t asked for this. But then neither had he. His involvement in the mission had been his choice from the beginning. Hers was not a choice. There was just no way around it. She would end up hating him once she was told.

He brooded in silent frustration at his dilemma and eventually resolved to work that much harder to succeed. He also vowed to do whatever he could to protect Kendall, even if it cost him his life. He took his responsibilities seriously.
From this point on he must focus like never before. He must shut out all emotions and center his thoughts and actions on the ultimate goal. He would do this, or die trying. He would draw from his mother’s most inspirational Jewish and Christian teachings.

He whispered a prayer and set out to find the Orion CEO, Paul Fields.

As usual, he found him alone in the main datacenter at the palace. While the offices of the Afghanistan Infrastructure Data Center, or the AIDC, were housed in two side-by-side, ten-story buildings in downtown Kabul, President Shazeb had insisted that he have ultimate control over the datacenter. He had installed his son Saaqib to oversee and monitor all computer activities. No major changes could be made to the infrastructure or Datacenter without Saaqib’s sign-off.

Rashid coolly strolled in to the small but impressive datacenter and looked around. “Where’s Saaqib?”

Fields rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “The usual.”

“When did he leave?”

“Thirty minutes ago.”

“Shit! He could be back soon. We don’t have much time.” Rashid pulled a chair up next to Fields.

Sensing a major shift in the wind, Fields raised his eyebrows. “What’s up?”

“We’re moving forward in two days. You will start the process by jamming all Afghanistan radio signals and interrupting the power grid.”

Rashid explained in detail that it must be an interruption that cannot be explained and easily reversed. Fields was concerned at his obvious exposure. He had also heard the nightly screams from punishments handed out to a collection of prisoners on a regular basis. He had a right to be fearful.

“What if I am accused of causing this?”

Rashid nodded. “Oh, you will most certainly be accused! Think ahead. Plan for it. Can’t you explain it away as a solar flare? That was the cause when Canada’s power grid went down.”

Fields nodded. “Maybe, but that was in 1989. We’ve come a long way since then.”

“Yeah? Well, Shazeb isn’t that computer savvy or up on historical references. He won’t know that. Just make him think it was recent. Talk fast!”

“Wha-what do I do if he wants me to fix it?” Fields stammered.

“Stall! Tell him you must check all of the internal systems, including visiting the AIDC offices in downtown Kabul. That would totally make sense.”

Fields perked up. “That’s good! I can do that!”

“Then we’ll meet you at the AIDC offices on the rooftop, where hopefully a helicopter will be waiting.”

“Oh, God, that sounds too good to be true! Do you think it will work? It’s got to work.” Then his thoughts turned to Glenn Carson. “What about Carson? How is he? Can he be moved?”

“I’m damn well going to figure out a way.”

Now Fields was exasperated. “Just wonderful! You haven’t thought that far ahead!” he said with much sarcasm.

“Leave that detail to me. I’ll figure it out.”

“Do you even have any friends here who are helping you?” The consequences of a negative response were not lost on Fields. His eyes widened at the thought, and he didn’t even wait for Rashid to answer. “Oh my God! We’re all going to die!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Fields! Everything’s under control. I am not without resources. Yes, I have friends. They’re just not physically present at this time.”

“Fine! I guess since we haven’t made much progress towards a departure time, we have nothing to lose. What do we do first?”

“I’m going to arrange for a dinner for you, Kendall, and the Shazeb family … and me, of course. It will be two nights hence.”

“Why? How will that help us?”

Rashid was impatient. “If you’d let me finish,” he spat out through clenched teeth.”

“You will tell Shazeb how frustrating it all has been, but that you and Saaqib have isolated two viruses and detected several malware strings or whatever computer maladies you can think of. Saaqib will beam and naturally take credit. He will never admit that he wasn’t watching you at all times. You must let President Shazeb see how clever you are that it has all been cleaned up and removed. But then tell him that his systems are not operating at an optimum level, and he needs to upgrade his mainframes.”

He paused and made sure Fields was listening. “Here’s the critical part. You then tell him that the current system is being stressed and could lose functionality at any time. Today, start dropping hints of this to Saaqib.”

“Won’t that piss President Shazeb off?”

Rashid nodded. “Exactly! That’s what we’re going for. Between you, Kendall, his sons, and a lot of drinking, we are going to push him over the edge.”

“God help me!”

“God help all of us!”

Just then Saaqib strode in and, catching sight of Rashid and Fields in conversation, grinned and remarked, “You two plotting the overthrow of the country?”

Rashid got up slowly, laughed, and went to Saaqib, giving him a brotherly hug. “Oh, Saaqib, how I’ve missed you these past few days!”

“Few days? We haven’t spent any time together in weeks. Have you spent all of that time with the American woman?” Saaqib winked.

Rashid felt sick at the inference but buried it. He gave Saaqib’s arm a light punch. “You old dog! Leave it to you to blame the females.”

Saaqib was pleased at the reference to his coarse reputation. Rashid continued, “Where have you been, or should I ask if you have a new conquest?”

“Rashid, I am a married man, devoted to my wife.”

“But?”

Saaqib was perturbed at the probe and chose to view it as good-natured banter. It abruptly entered his mind that Rashid might be wondering how long Fields was left alone. He ushered Rashid from the room and out of the hearing of Paul Fields. “I, uh, I haven’t been gone long, you know. I would never leave this man alone with our systems unprotected like this.”

Rashid nodded good-naturedly and assured him that he had only just arrived.

“Ahhh! So, you were looking for me?”

Rashid raised his eyebrows, “Who else would I be looking for?”

Saaqib laughed nervously. “Of course.”

Rashid continued smoothly. “I’m planning a celebratory dinner for two nights from now. Let’s get the whole family—children included—and the Orion people.”

Saaqib nodded. “Great! A party. What’s the occasion?”

“I’ve just missed all of you and the children.”

“And why do we need to include the Orion people?”

“Well, it’s just Paul Fields and Kendall Radcliffe. I have spent a lot of time with Kendall in the past couple weeks. She is sad that she is not home. She misses her mother and friends. I have come to really like her, and I think you would like her too.” Rashid poked Saaqib in the chest, his eyes twinkling. Rashid was quite alarmed and even nauseous at the debauched look that could be seen in Saaqib’s eyes.

“Really, me?”

“Yes, she has your wit. I think you two would hit it off great! So, how about it? Are you on for the party?

Saaqib was positively salivating. “Absolutely! We’ll all be there. Do you need my help?”

“No, as a matter of fact. Kendall is apparently quite a good cook and has been wanting to bake something in the palace kitchen. She’s planning the menu with the palace chef.

“Saaqib clapped his hands together. “Well, this should be interesting! Count me in, brother!”

Rashid was quite pleased with the exchange. He knew right where to find the younger brother, Ahmad. Rashid had been avoiding him. Ahmad was quite intelligent and with little thought would figure out what was going on with his ferret-like senses.

As usual, Ahmad was in the nearby barracks browbeating some new recruits. He was demonstrating the proper stance for hand-to-hand combat and encouraging the men to be quite physical with each other. Rashid was furious. He could see that a couple of the men were hurt. They were feigning enthusiasm but hung back from the crowd. He was glad he was interrupting.

Ahmad was pleased to see Rashid. He greeted him and said, “Come look, brother, at the new recruits. Do you think they’ll give me a challenge?”

“No way! If I know you, you’ll have them in shape by sundown!”

“Ha! You know it!”

Ahmad barked an order at the young recruits for vigorous courtyard exercise under his second-in-command and walked a few steps away with Rashid.

“What is it, my brother? I haven’t seen you here in days.”

“You and Saaqib! I didn’t know you were that interested in my boring daily duties as ordered by your father.”

“Not interested in the least. Better you than me, taking orders from the old man. Just wait until I’m in charge.”

“Whoa there, Ahmad. You’re getting ahead of yourself. Saaqib is older. Maybe he will be the chosen successor.”

Ahmad shoved Rashid playfully but none too lightly either. There was a scheming gleam in his eyes. “Not if I have anything to say about it.” He looked as if he knew something that no one else did.

Rashid wasn’t sure he should recognize it out loud. “Eh?”

“Well, I’m just saying that you never know what might happen. Anyway, whose side are you on?”

“Ahmad, I love both my brothers equally! You have been my friends since childhood. Please don’t ask me to choose.”

“Fair enough, Rashid, but one day you just might have to choose.” His eyes narrowed as he focused on Rashid. He lowered his voice, and Rashid stepped closer to hear. “And I know you’ll choose wisely.”

“Oh, Ahmad, don’t talk of such unpleasantness. I have news!”

With that segue, Rashid explained the plans for dinner. Ahmad wasn’t about to miss anything his brother and father might also be involved in. The younger brother readily agreed to the dinner plans. After a few more jokes, Rashid excused himself, citing the need to speak to the president and then the kitchen staff. Ahmad sent him on his way, laughing at the menial tasks Rashid often undertook.

Rather than feel sorry for Rashid, Ahmad instead was very glad that he was the actual son of President Shazeb. Yes, Ahmad was quite fond of Rashid and even preferred him over the older brother, Saaqib. But Ahmad knew that Rashid would never be president. He was not part of the Shazeb birth lineage. All that stood in Ahmad’s way was his older brother. Ahmad constantly looked for ways he could undermine his older sibling. He just kept watching and waiting, biding his time until the moment arrived. He wasn’t sure what he would do, but he would be ready and seize the opportunity.

Ahmad had done everything he could to point out to his father how emotionally immature and unstable Saaqib was. Of course, all of it was true, but Ahmad fit under those labels as well. Ahmad was just better at hiding it. He could see how angry his father got when he heard of Saaqib’s latest exploit. The two brothers were actually very similar in intellectual capacity. But Ahmad was wiser … only to the extent that he rarely got caught. Saaqib didn’t even try to hide his brutal and sexually sadistic proclivities from his father. Ahmad, on the other hand, always considered the time and place … and most importantly, the audience. He knew how to play to those present. If the father was in attendance, Ahmad was on his best behavior … showing just enough viciousness tinged with civility and wisdom to earn his father’s respect.

The only difference between the two sons was shrewdness. Ahmad was clever and Saaqib wasn’t. To make matters worse, Saaqib wasn’t intuitive enough to recognize what his brother was doing. He was too busy brutalizing women, playing with the country’s data systems, and feeling more important because he was older and in charge of the infrastructure, the very heart and soul of Afghanistan. He made the erroneous, if not naïve, assumption that the mantle of leadership would fall to him naturally because of birth order. He was caught up with self-importance and exploited the none-too-little power that was afforded him in his position.

It was only a matter of time before a decisive event fractured this family for good.

Rashid didn’t want to be far away when this happened. He wasn’t sure how it would come about, but he had no doubt that it would … and very soon. The fires of hatred, ambition, and lust for power had been stoked. The only remaining component was the metaphorical spark. Rashid planned to provide
that during the dinner, with Kendall’s help.