Terminal Connection (20 page)

A
llison sat down in front of Ed Davis’ desk in a seat next to Vinnie. Vinnie slouched in his chair and placed his feet on the desk. Ed leveled his gaze at Vinnie. They exchanged a look. Vinnie obliged him and sat up straight.

“Thanks for coming,” Ed said, looking up from a sheet of paper.

Uh, oh
, Allison thought. Ed had learned something.

He turned to her. “Do you have any idea why I called you here?” he said, picking up the piece of paper.

“Perhaps,” Allison said, eyeing the paper.

“Would you care to take a guess?”

“Um.” She cleared her throat. “You asked me earlier this week to work with Vinnie, researching Camille Anderson’s death. We found a problem with the Nexus—a defect. It killed her.”

Ed pierced her with a stare. “How long have you known this?”

“Only a couple of days.”

“Why didn’t you tell me right away? I found out about this problem from your mother! A goddamn reporter! Do you know how that looks for the agency, for the President?”

“She was here?” Allison gasped.

He nodded.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

Ed fixed her with a finger. “How could you have missed the problem in the first place?”

“We approved the Nexus Transporter in four months instead of two years. A few glitches got through,” she said.

“Oh, was it a
glitch
that Jamie referred to? That
glitch
fried people’s brains! In case you haven’t noticed, the list of victims has grown.” Davis handed the piece of paper to her.

Camille Anderson

Shannon Pierce

Skip Harvey

Brooke Donovan

Mike Burns

She cringed. “We had to cut corners to approve the Nexus in time. There was no other way to meet your schedule.”

Ed leaned back. “Oh, so these deaths are my fault now?”

She bit her lip. “No, I’m not saying that!”

“You could have told me the truth, that you were having trouble! I never asked you to lie to me! Bottom line, what’s our liability?”

Allison took a deep breath. “The Nexus has a lethal defect that may kill in the right circumstances. A hardware fix is possible, but it will take two weeks to build the necessary components. I’m working with the Nexus CEO to begin recall proceedings.”

Ed rubbed his temples.

Vinnie spoke up. “Uh, shouldn’t you tell Mr. Davis about Syzygy?”

Oh shit!
Allison squirmed.

Ed turned to her. “What about it? What’s Syzygy?”

“An online alias, sir.” Allison nervously crossed her arms. “It appears that someone going by the alias of Syzygy has exploited the defect to kill people online.”

“What? This gets better and better!”

Allison silently shook her head, not knowing what to say.

“Not only have you enabled the release of a hazardous product, but you neglected to tell me about it after the fact. I told you this once. Now try to get this through that thick cranium of yours: this situation could swallow us whole. We might all have to find new lines of work, including the President. Do you understand?”

She nodded. After several minutes, Ed’s gaze released her. She sank back into her chair. Her whole body shook, and her stomach was tied up in knots. Her career was over.

Ed rubbed his brow. “There will be no recall. Too much is at stake. Allison, as I said, Jamie came here to see me about these Nexus deaths. I need you to continue the charade. Talk to her, keep her occupied, but don’t reveal anything. That way you’ll keep out of Vinnie’s hair while he proceeds with the investigation.”

Vinnie smirked at her.

She sank back into her chair, and her gaze dropped to the ground. Inside, she was boiling. She took a deep breath, and her training kicked in. He had caught her lying. Their history meant nothing at this point. He would slowly move her out of the way. Come September, she would be
promoted
into a dead-end job, another
special
project. Eventually, when the project was through, she would be routinely let go. She had to regain Ed’s favor.

“Mr. Secretary …”

Ed held his hand up. “We’ve known each other a long time. I knew your father even longer. Please leave before I say something we’ll both regret.”

Allison had one more card to play, the same card that got her into this mess. As a reporter, her mother had resources that Steve and DARPA did not have. If she could find Syzygy, political pressures would stop Davis from doing anything rash.

Ed’s voice broke through her musing. “I said, you can go.”

She opened a portal.

“One more thing, Allison. Try to remember we’re a team, and there is no ‘I’ in team.”

She nodded her head vacantly and stepped through.

Vinnie rose from his seat.

“Wait, Vinnie,” Ed said.

“What?”

“I wanted to thank you for telling me about the girl’s death. I don’t hold you responsible for what has happened after that. You were just following orders.”

Vinnie gave a terse nod.

He shook his head. “I cannot forgive Allison, though. I’m practically her uncle, for god sakes! I don’t know what got into her.”

Vinnie nodded again in agreement.

“I need you to officially step into her shoes. I want you to be DARPA’s next Director.”

“Will that entail just the title?”

Ed laughed. “If you wanted money, you should have gone into the private sector.”

Vinnie smirked. “True enough, but the question still stands.”

“Let’s see how you handle this situation first. National security isn’t the only reason we have to catch Syzygy.”

Vinnie lost his smirk. “Let me guess, politics?”

Ed nodded. “The fate of I2 Corp is linked with the fate of the Nexus. I don’t need to explain to you what this means. I may be the President’s friend, but when it comes down to it, he is a politician first. We’re both expendable here. If Warscape fails, he’ll blame us.” Ed took a deep breath. “I need to know if you think you can handle this.”

Vinnie smirked. “I already am.”

E
d Davis marveled at the immensity of the ship as the helicopter neared the Nimitz Class Carrier,
U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln
. The carrier was a city unto itself, home to over six thousand sailors. At over eleven hundred feet long, two hundred and fifty feet wide, the carrier’s towers reached twenty stories above the waterline. It had its own fire department, post office, library, general store, and hospital. It even had its own newspapers, radio, and television stations.

The
U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln
was more than just a floating city. It was a mobile military airbase, sporting over eighty fighting aircraft and eight combat helicopters. Even by itself, the aircraft carrier was formidable. As part of the battle group, it was deadly.

The battle group included ten other ships: two cruisers, two supply/logistics ships, four destroyers, and two nuclear attack submarines. Together they formed a floating arsenal that the U.S. could park a hundred miles offshore anywhere in the world. From these international waters, the
Abraham Lincoln’s
fighters and bombers could reach over seventy percent of the world’s population. It was no wonder that whenever a crisis broke out, the first question any President asked was, “Where’s the nearest carrier?”

The helicopter landed and Ed stepped out onto the deck. He walked to the Commander in Chief of the Pacific fleet. From the President’s briefing, Ed knew that CINCPAC Marshal Spurrier was in his early fifties, so the Admiral’s youthful appearance surprised him. He was trim with brown, crew-cut hair, and although short at just over five feet, his confidence made up for his height. His razor-sharp blue eyes never wavered as Ed approached. The Admiral’s expression said everything. This man was not amused by his visit.

“Welcome aboard
Abraham Lincoln
,” the Admiral said.

Ed shook his hand. Behind them, the whine of the helicopter blades faded as its engines shut down.

“Mr. Davis, Warscape is this way.”

He followed the Admiral down a series of ladders to the Warscape compartment, deep within the bowels of the ship. Inside the cramped space, technicians tended to row after row of electronic hardware.

“This compartment contains over one thousand computers; networked together they form one of the two Warscape systems,” the Admiral said. “In short, this is Warscape’s brain. Each of these computers canvasses a particular region of Southeast Asia by communicating with sensors in the area and by using satellites. From VR, analysts verify the collected data, refine the information, and respond accordingly.”

“How big are the regions?”

“A hundred miles squared.”

“Sounds like a powerhouse!” Ed said, turning to the Admiral.

The Admiral paused and met his gaze. “Mr. Davis, we both know why you’re really here. This tour I’m giving is perfunctory. I’m not fond of Warscape and you know it. The President has sent you here to change my mind. So let us dispense with the bullshit. Okay, sir?”

Ed was taken aback. “Of course, the more candid, the better. So, tell me. Why don’t you like Warscape?”

“Sir, it’s not that I don’t like Warscape. I just don’t like how Warscape is being used as a political scape.”

“I don’t follow.”

“The President just ordered us north to an indefensible position because we have this system.”

“But the Chinese battle group will be still over two hundred miles away from the carrier!”

“Yes, but at that position the Paracel Island group will be only one hundred and fifty miles away. Being at high alert, our twelve-ship battle group is spread out, covering a wide area. Some ships are only seventy-five miles from the Paracels. One of those islands, Woody Island, has an airfield.

“Tactically, the PLA still has a hard time targeting over the horizon, aiming beyond sixty miles or so. With our F18s and our floating arsenal of SAMS, Tomahawks, and Harpoon missiles, we can easily defend against their land-based offensive. Once we move north that will change.”

Ed waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t think you should be concerned …”

“Sir, you’re new in town,” the Admiral snapped, “so let me tell you something about naval warfare. Chinese torpedo and missile technology has come a long way since the last administration and the last war. One missile, just one, will usually sink a ship.”

“I’m well aware of that, but the fact of the matter is that the PLA has no presence on Woody Island.”

“I’m afraid your intelligence is wrong, sir. Despite the treaty, the PLA has moved in a lot, and I do mean
a lot
of equipment, supplies, and troops to suppress a
few
rebellious students on Hainan Island. Some of that has found its way a hundred miles south on Woody Island.”

“Goddamn it! I just met with the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Shen Guofang,
in person
. He promised me that they had started to pull back! Are you telling me they lied again? I should have known something was up. At our meeting he tried to bribe me with a new Rolex watch.”

The Admiral raised an eyebrow. “Not a very Chinese gesture.”

He shrugged.

“Sir, what about our carrier battle group?”

“The President and his NSC decided on this course of action after consulting with the Joint Chiefs, which includes your boss. I suggest you take it up with him. So we’re moving north even though we have no clue what the Chinese are thinking or why they moved their battle group. Warscape might be great at painting blips, but it can’t get into their heads and tell us their intentions.”

“Ah, the proverbial cultural brick wall,” Ed smirked.

“That
wall
could be broken down by human Intel—good old-fashion low-tech spies—but we have no spies in China! The gutting of the CIA’s budget has seen to that!”

“I don’t see what any of this has to do with Warscape.”

“Mr. Assistant Secretary, guess what excuse the President used when cutting the CIA’s budget?”

Ed hesitated.

“That’s right, Warscape, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Do you know that every time our military strength in the region has dipped, the Chinese have conquered another island?

“In 1975 the PLA stole the entire Paracel Island Group from Vietnam just after we pulled out of Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War. Then in 1994 they took Mischief Reef from the Philippines after the Philippines kicked our bases out of their turf. Just last year, when we scaled down our military presence in the region and closed our Singapore base, the Chinese invaded the Spratly Islands.

“Now the ASEAN coalition is falling apart! Don’t you think the Chinese will see this as an opportunity? They’ll go for the Spratly Islands again! I’m sure of it!”

“I understand your concern here. The I2 Corp is new, but let me assure you the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is taking over the CIA’s role, can provide you with anything …”

“Pardon my French, sir, but the DIA can’t provide me with dick. It’s barely one-fourth the size of the CIA …”

Ed flushed. The DIA was one of the departments he ran. “That may be true, but bigger government doesn’t make for better government. For all its size, the CIA did not predict the demise of the last cold war with the Soviets. They were too busy believing in the empty missile silos the Soviets dug and the plethora of faulty equipment they exposed to our satellites. In the end, we may have won the cold war, but without the CIA it might have ended sooner. The President isn’t about to allow the CIA to blow this cold war like they blew the first one!”

“You can choose to listen to that political fluff the President’s advisers are feeding you, but I’m telling you, this whole I2 Corp concept stinks! We have no intelligence, only this battle group to fight with …”

“That is simply not true. You’re forgetting about ASEAN coalition!”

The Admiral laughed bitterly. “No, I’m not, sir! I told you, ASEAN is falling apart! Out of the ten countries in ASEAN, Vietnam and the Philippians were the only ones willing to take a stand against China. And now the Philippines is on the brink of a civil war and Vietnam isn’t faring much better.”

Ed started to respond, but stopped. He needed the Admiral’s support, and this was not the way to get it. Ed rubbed his brow. “I see your point.”

“It’s about time.”

Ed held up his hand. “But I think we’re getting off on the wrong foot. Why don’t we take up this discussion later,
after
I see Warscape in action?”

The Admiral gave him a terse nod. Ed followed him out of the compartment, down a narrow passageway, and into a small conference compartment. They squeezed in around a table that took up most of the available space. A Nexus system was positioned at each of the seats. The Admiral motioned to Ed to put his Nexus on. They entered VR.

Ed materialized in Warscape. He levitated with the Admiral at more than one hundred feet above a real-time, three-dimensional map of the South China Sea. The domed map matched the curvature of the earth. Running from the northeast to the southeast of the map were the friendly countries: Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. From the northwest running to the southwest were China and its counter balance, Vietnam. The South China Sea was sandwiched between these two groups of countries and contained Hainan Island, the Paracel Islands, and the Spratly Islands.

Neon green lines crisscrossed the map, splitting it into one hundred by one hundred mile squares. Each of the squares was labeled with a number and covered with blips of light. Most of the blips were blue while a few of them were green, yellow, and red.

“What do the lights represent?” Ed asked.

“Each one shows the location of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle that we’re tracking.”

Ed was shocked. “Why are there so many?”

“They aren’t all military. The blue blips are mostly commercial barges, but we have to track them in order to distinguish them from new military sightings.” The Admiral pointed to an ocean square just south of Hainan. Unlike the rest of the map, most of the blips there were green and yellow.

The Admiral continued. “You see there, around the Paracel Islands? Those lights are military in nature. The green dots south of the Islands are us, each light representing a ship in the battle group or a plane on patrol. The yellow dots in the center of the map represent either the PLA airbase on Woody Island within the Paracel Island group, or PLA planes in the air. The last set of yellow dots to the north represents the ships in the Chinese battle group.”

Ed nodded.

Abruptly, the neon green lines around the square containing the Paracel Islands turned yellow.

“What happened?” Ed asked.

“The analysts monitoring the region have spotted something. It’s probably the Chinese, testing our defenses again. You wanted to see Warscape in action, right? Why don’t we take a look? Computer, enter region 435.” A portal appeared and they stepped through.

They appeared in a similar room, but the map beneath them had changed. It was an expanded view of the Paracel Island region, contained in the red, grid-square of the other map. Ed saw the individual blips in the three light clusters more clearly now. Six analysts hovered over the map, analyzing the situation.

“What are they doing?”

“See the pink blip?” The Admiral pointed.

Ed saw one pink and several yellow blips above Woody Island. He nodded.

“The Chinese have launched something at us. The analysts are identifying what it is. There!” A label appeared above the pink blip and it darkened to red:

Bandit 1: SU-27 Flanker

Bullseye: Lanky

Direction: 100 degrees

Range: 132 miles

Altitude: 30 angels

Speed: 600 knots

“Okay! It’s a live one,” the Admiral explained.

“Forgive me. It’s been a while since I was out in the field. Can you explain what all that jargon means?” Ed said, pointing to the label.

“It says the blip represents a Chinese fighting aircraft called the SU-27 Flanker. It’s armed and could be above this carrier in under fifteen minutes.”

“Are we in any danger?”

The Admiral laughed. “I don’t think so. They can’t make it very far with just one aircraft.” The Admiral pointed to a green blip close to the Chinese fighter. “The analyst will probably vector that guy in. He’s one of ours, a F-18X Hornet fighter aircraft. It’s been specially equipped to deal with incursions like this.”

Suddenly, a second pink light appeared, sprouting from the red blip. The pink light arced up, traveling at roughly twice the speed of the other red blip.

“Kitchen!” one of the analysts shouted.

“Christ!” the Admiral said.

“What is it?” Ed asked.

“The bastard fired a missile at us!”