Читать книгу Death Minus Zero - Don Pendleton - Страница 8

CHAPTER THREE

Hal Brognola, head of the covert operations based at Stony Man Farm, walked beside the President of the United States. They were at Camp David, where the President was taking a brief respite from the demands of the job. But even while he tried to wind down, he still maintained a hands-on attitude. The Commander in Chief never truly stepped away from his responsibilities, which was why he had requested Brognola’s presence to discuss a matter that was on his mind.

The tranquil atmosphere of the presidential retreat surrounded the pair as they strolled through the grounds. Unobtrusive Secret Service men followed them at a discreet distance. Brognola and the President were wearing thick topcoats against the chill of the wintery weather. The odd snowflake drifted between them. There was a promise of more in the air.

“You’ve probably worked out why I asked you to join me, Hal.”

“Kaplan going missing? We already got the word from Doug Buchanan. He picked up on Kaplan’s tracker going off-line and the failure of the device fitted to the Air Force vehicle. Agent Valens briefed us, as well. So we know about Kaplan going missing, which brings Zero into the picture.”

“Am I ever going to catch you Stony Man people out?” the President said.

“I hope not. If you ever do, Mr. President, that will be the day I resign.”

“Don’t even think about it, Hal.” The President paused to stare around him at the tranquil scene. “I sit in my office at the White House, door closed, hoping to catch a minute. Never works. But coming here is a different ball game. Just walking through these trees, surrounded by silence...it gives me space to sort out what’s buzzing around in my head.”

“And right now that’s Saul Kaplan,” Brognola concluded.

“We have to find him, Hal. Get him back alive and well.” The President hesitated before he said, “The bottom line would be to say if he can’t be retrieved then his life might have to be forfeit. I hate having to even think about that, Hal, but the knowledge Kaplan has must not be allowed to remain in enemy hands.”

“I understand that, Mr. President. Stony Man is already on this,” Brognola said.

He knew that even as he was speaking to the President the cyber team at the Farm was working flat-out as it searched for information on the whereabouts of Zero’s creator and guiding light. Stony Man had been involved with the Zero Project from its early days, with Mack Bolan stepping up to investigate when Doug Buchanan had gone AWOL. The resolution of that incident had been getting Buchanan back into the program and finally installed on Zero. If there was anything to find, where Kaplan was concerned, Aaron Kurtzman’s team would unearth it. They had the best equipment available, along with the ability to hack into databases and systems that were supposed to be hacker-resistant. The state-of-the-art technology was only as good as the people using it, and the Stony Man cyber team had no equals. If it was out there, Kurtzman’s team would find it, interpret it and strip out the data they needed.

“Zero has become a valuable listening post for us,” the President said. “I don’t have to tell you how valuable. When we complete the development of the laser-particle beam weapons systems, Zero is going to become even better than it already is.”

“Are we still having operational problems with the laser-particle beam systems?”

“Zero has conventional missiles and Slingshot capability,” the President said. “The added refinement of the other weapons is proving to be difficult. Development is ongoing. We will get there, Hal, but right now those weapons are still in the theoretical stage. There are complex problems we are still trying to overcome. Major Buchanan is working with Zero Command in the development alongside Kaplan, which is another reason why we mustn’t allow a foreign power to have their chance to get that kind of information out of him.”

“I can understand that, sir. Even without them, Zero is still a hell of an achievement. No other country has anything to match it.”

“Not at this moment in time. Which is exactly why somewhere like China would like to get their hands on it. Hal, we cannot allow this to happen. Zero is our high card. It gives us one hell of an advantage in the defense game. I won’t let it be taken from us. We fight this, Hal, with everything we have. Stony Man. Your teams. I’ll give you whatever you need in backup all the way down the line. No question here. We keep Zero because if someone like China gets its hands on it, we’ll all be in trouble. My God, Hal, can you imagine what would happen if we lost Zero to Beijing?”

“Unfortunately, I can, sir. Which makes this latest move against Saul Kaplan something we need to fully address. Stony Man will put everything we have on this.”

“I don’t care what toes you step on or who you upset. If there are territorial borders you need to cross, I’ll stand by you.”

The President’s mood and his willingness to stand by his people made Brognola aware of the implications if Zero was compromised.

“What about...?” the President started to ask.

He was asking about Mack Bolan.

The Executioner.

“The guy is off somewhere on a mission he initiated himself. He’s gone black. We’ve had no contact with him for over a week. We have no idea where he is right now. And we don’t have the luxury of waiting for him to make contact.”

“I only mentioned him because he was so deeply involved the first time around. No slight on the other teams, Hal, since I know they’ll offer us the best way out of this.”

“You can depend on that, sir. This will be our priority from right now.”

“Keep me informed, Hal. I want to be kept apprised every step of the way,” the President said. “Which brings me to ask, do you need anything?” The Man paused. “Hal, anything.”

Brognola’s phone began to ring. When he took it out, he saw that the screen was showing a call from Stony Man.

“Like I said, Mr. President, we’re on this as of right now. Excuse me, sir, I need to take this.”

The President watched as Brognola took the call. The expression on the big Fed’s face told America’s leader he wasn’t being delivered good news.

“I need to get back to Stony Man, Mr. President. This is hotting up already.”

“Then get out of here, Hal, and good luck.”

Minutes later Brognola was leaving Camp David. Jack Grimaldi, who had been entertained by Camp staff while their bosses liaised, powered the chopper into the bright, cold sky. Stony Man’s ace pilot set course for the Farm.