He had no use for their ilk.
When the door to room 520 opened, he stepped inside behind Carl Pratt and came face-to-face with the devil himself.
But the devil was quite pleasant, remarkably gracious, a different man. Prison.
Joel introduced himself and his son Neal to Senator Clayburn. All hands were properly shaken, all thanks duly given. The table in the small suite was covered with pastries, coffee, and juice. Four chairs had been pulled around in a loose circle, and they sat down.
“This shouldn’t take long,” Joel said. “Senator, I need your help. I don’t know how much you know about the rather messy affair that sent me away for a few years …”
“I know the basics, but there have always been questions.”
“I’m pretty sure I know the answers.”
“Whose satellite system is it?”
Joel couldn’t sit. He walked to the window, looked out at nothing, then took a deep breath. “It was built by Red China, at an astronomical cost. As you know, the Chinese are far behind us in conventional weapons, so they’re spending heavily on the high-tech stuff. They stole some of our technology, and they successfully launched the system—nicknamed Neptune—without the knowledge of the CIA.”
“How did they do that?”
“Something as low-tech as forest fires. They torched twenty thousand acres one night in a northern province. It created an enormous cloud and in the middle of it they launched three rockets, each with three satellites.”
“The Russians did that once,” Clayburn said.
“And the Russians got fooled by their own trick. They missed Neptune too—everybody did. No one in the world knew it existed until my clients stumbled across it.”
“Those Pakistani students.”
“Yes, and all three are dead.”
“Who killed them?”
“I suspect agents of Red China.”
“Who killed Jacy Hubbard?”
“Same.”
“And how close are these people to you?”
“Closer than I would like.”
Clayburn reached for a doughnut and Pratt drained a glass of orange juice. Joel continued, “I have the software—JAM as they called it. There was only one copy.”
“The one you tried to sell?” Clayburn said.
“Yes. And I really want to get rid of it. It’s proving to be quite deadly, and I’m desperate to hand it over. I’m just not sure who should get it.”
“What about the CIA?” Pratt said, because he had yet to say anything.
Clayburn was already shaking his head no.
“I can’t trust them,” Joel said. “Teddy Maynard got me pardoned so he could sit back and watch someone else kill me. Now there’s an interim director.”
“And a new President,” Clayburn said. “The CIA is a mess right now. I wouldn’t go near it.” And with that Senator Clayburn stepped over the line, becoming an advisor, not just a curious spectator.
“Who do I talk to?” Joel asked. “Who can I trust?”
“DIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency,” Clayburn said without hesitation. “The head guy there is Major Wes Roland, an old friend.”
“How long has he been there?”
Clayburn thought for a second, then said, “Ten,
maybe twelve years. He has a ton of experience, smart as hell. And an honorable man.”
“And you can talk to him?”
“Yes. We’ve kept in touch.”
“Doesn’t he report to the director of the CIA?” Pratt asked.
“Yes, everyone does. There are now at least fifteen different intelligence agencies—something I fought against for twenty years—and by law they all report to the CIA.”
“So Wes Roland will take whatever I give him and tell the CIA?” Joel asked.
“He has no choice. But there are different ways to go about it. Roland is a sensible man, and he knows how to play the politics. That’s how he’s survived this long.”
“Can you arrange a meeting?”
“Yes, but what will happen at the meeting?”
“I’ll throw JAM at him and run out of the building.”
“And in return?”
“It’s an easy deal, Senator. I don’t want money. Just a little help.”
“What?”
“I prefer to discuss it with him. With you in the room, of course.”
There was a gap in the conversation as Clayburn stared at the floor and weighed the issues. Neal walked to the table and selected a croissant. Joel poured more coffee. Pratt, obviously hungover, worked another tall glass of orange juice.
Finally, Clayburn sat back in his chair and said, “I assume this is urgent.”
“Worse than urgent. If Major Roland is available, I would meet with him right now. Anywhere.”
“I’m sure he’ll drop whatever he’s doing.”
“The phone’s over there.”
Clayburn stood and stepped toward the desk. Pratt cleared his throat and said, “Look, fellas, at this point in the game, I’d like to check out. I don’t want to hear any more. Don’t want to be a witness, or a defendant, or another casualty. So if you’ll just excuse me, I’ll be heading back to the office.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He was gone in an instant, with the door closing hard behind him. They watched it for a few seconds, somewhat taken aback by the abrupt exit.
“Poor Carl,” Clayburn said. “Always afraid of his shadow.” He picked up the phone and went to work.
In the middle of the fourth call, and the second straight to the Pentagon, Clayburn placed his hand over the receiver and said to Joel, “They prefer to meet at the Pentagon.”
Joel was already shaking his head. “No. I’m not going in there with the software until there’s a deal. I’ll leave it behind and give it to them later, but I’m not walking in there with it.”
Clayburn relayed this, then listened for a long time. When he covered the receiver again he asked, “The software, what’s it on?”
“Four disks,” Joel said.
“They have to verify it, you understand?”
“Okay, I’ll take two disks with me into the Pentagon. That’s about half of it. They can take a quick look.”
Clayburn huddled over the receiver and repeated Joel’s conditions. Again, he listened for a long time, then he asked Joel, “Will you show me the disks?”
“Yes.”
He placed the call on hold while Joel picked up his briefcase. He removed the envelope, then the four disks, and placed them on the bed for Neal and Clayburn to gawk at. Clayburn went back to the phone and said, “I’m looking at four disks. Mr. Backman assures me it is what it is.” He listened for a few minutes, then punched the hold button again.
“They want us at the Pentagon right now,” he said.
“Let’s go.”
Clayburn hung up and said, “Things are hopping over there. I think the boys are excited. Shall we go?”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby in five minutes,” Joel said.
When the door closed behind Clayburn, Joel quickly gathered the disks and stuck two of them into his coat pocket. The other two—numbers three and four—were placed back in the briefcase, which he handed to Neal as he said, “After we leave, go to the front desk and get another room. Insist on checking in now. Call this room, leave me a message and tell me where you are. Stay there until you hear from me.”
“Sure, Dad. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Just cutting a deal, son. Like in the old days.”
______
THE
taxi dropped them at the south lot of the Pentagon, near the Metro stop. Two uniformed members
of Major Roland’s staff were waiting with credentials and instructions. They walked them through the security clearances and got their photos made for their temporary ID cards. The entire time Clayburn was griping about how easy it was back in the old days.
Old days or not, he had made a quick transition from the skeptical critic to a major player, and he was thoroughly engaged in Backman’s plot. As they hiked along the wide corridors of the second floor, he reminisced about how simple life had been when there were two superpowers. We always had the Soviets. The bad guys were easy to identify.
They took the stairs to the third floor, C wing, and were led by the staffers through a set of doors and into a suite of offices where they were obviously expected. Major Roland himself was standing by, waiting. He was about sixty, still looking trim and fit in his khaki uniform. Introductions were made, and he invited them into his conference room. At one end of the long, wide center table, three technicians were busy checking out a large computer that had evidently just been rolled in.
Major Roland asked Joel’s permission to have two assistants present. Certainly. Joel had no objection.
“Would you mind if we video the meeting?” Roland asked.
“For what purpose?” Joel asked.
“Just to have it on film in case someone higher up wants to see it.”
“Such as?”
“Perhaps the President.”
Joel looked at Clayburn, his only friend in the room, and a tenuous one at best.
“What about the CIA?” Joel asked.
“Maybe.”
“Let’s forget the video, at least initially. Maybe at some point during the meeting, we’ll agree to switch on the camera.”
“Fair enough. Coffee or soft drinks?”
No one was thirsty. Major Roland asked the computer technicians if their equipment was ready. It was, and he asked them to step outside the room.
Joel and Clayburn sat on one side of the conference table. Major Roland was flanked by his two deputies on the opposite side. All three had pens and notepads ready to go. Joel and Clayburn had nothing.
“Let’s start and finish a conversation about the CIA,” Backman began, determined to be in charge of the proceedings. “As I understand the law, or at least the way things once worked around here, the director of the CIA is in charge of all intelligence activities.”
“That’s correct,” Roland said.
“What will you do with the information I am about to give you?”
The major glanced to his right, and the look that passed between him and the deputy there conveyed a lot of uncertainty. “As you said, sir, the director is entitled to know and have everything.”
Backman smiled and cleared his throat. “Major, the CIA tried to get me killed, okay? And, as far as I know, they’re still after me. I don’t have much use for the guys over at Langley.”
“Mr. Maynard’s gone, Mr. Backman.”
“And someone took his place. I don’t want money,
Major. I want protection. First, I want my own government to leave me alone.”
“That can be arranged,” Roland said with authority.
“And I’ll need some help with a few others.”
“Why don’t you tell us everything, Mr. Backman? The more we know, the more we can help you.”
With the exception of Neal, Joel Backman didn’t trust another person on the face of the earth. But the time had come to lay it all on the table and hope for the best. The chase was over; there was no place else to run.
He began with Neptune itself, and described how it was built by Red China, how the technology was stolen from two different U.S. defense contractors, how it was launched under cover and fooled not only the U.S. but also the Russians, the British, and the Israelis. He narrated the lengthy story of the three Pakistanis—their ill-fated discovery, their fear of what they found, their curiosity at being able to communicate with Neptune, and their brilliance in writing software that could manipulate and neutralize the system. He spoke harshly of his own giddy greed in shopping JAM to various governments, hoping to make more money than anyone could dream of. He pulled no punches when recalling the recklessness of Jacy Hubbard, and the foolishness of their schemes to peddle their product. Without hesitation, he admitted his mistakes and took full responsibility for the havoc he’d caused. Then he pressed on.
No, the Russians had no interest in what he was selling. They had their own satellites and couldn’t afford to negotiate for more.
No, the Israelis never had a deal. They were on the
fringes, close enough to know that a deal with the Saudis was looming. The Saudis were desperate to purchase JAM. They had a few satellites of their own, but nothing to match Neptune.
Nothing could match Neptune, not even the latest generation of American satellites.
The Saudis had actually seen the four disks. In a tightly controlled experiment, two agents from their secret police were given a demonstration of the software by the three Pakistanis. It took place in a computer lab on the campus of the University of Maryland, and it had been a dazzling, very convincing display. Backman had watched it, as had Hubbard.
The Saudis offered $100 million for JAM. Hubbard, who fancied himself a close friend of the Saudis, was the point man during the negotiations. A “transaction fee” of $1 million was paid, the money wired to an account in Zurich. Hubbard and Backman countered with half a billion.
Then all hell broke loose. The feds attacked with warrants, indictments, investigations, and the Saudis got spooked. Hubbard got murdered. Joel fled to the safety of prison, leaving a wide path of destruction behind and some angry people with serious grudges.
______
THE
forty-five-minute summary ended without a single interruption. When Joel finished, none of the three on the other side of the table was taking notes. They were too busy listening.
“I’m sure we can talk to the Israelis,” Major Roland said. “If they’re convinced the Saudis will never get their
hands on JAM, then they’ll rest much easier. We’ve had discussions with them over the years. JAM has been a favorite topic. I’m quite sure they can be placated.”
“What about the Saudis?”
“They’ve asked about it too, at the highest levels. We have a lot of common interests these days. I’m confident they’ll relax if they know that we have it and no one else will get it. I know the Saudis well, and I think they’ll write it off as a bad deal. There is the small matter of the transaction fee.”
“A million bucks is chump change to them. It’s not negotiable.”
“Very well. I guess that leaves the Chinese.”
“Any suggestions?”
Clayburn had yet to speak. He leaned forward on his elbows and said, “In my opinion, they’ll never forget it. Your clients basically hijacked a zillion-dollar system and rendered it useless without their homemade software. The Chinese have nine of the best satellites ever built floating around up there and they can’t use them. They are not going to forgive and forget, and you really can’t blame them. Unfortunately, we have little leverage with Beijing on delicate intelligence matters.”