“Well give me the location then.”
“That, I’m afraid, is something I can’t do either.”
“I promise we won’t harm her or the Secretary.”
“Were you going to do it yourself, that may be a promise I would accept. However, you’re not and so I can’t take the risk. Your fellow Americans are well known for sledgehammers being used to crack nuts. The operative is my goddaughter and I will not risk somebody sending a cruise missile towards her.”
“But…”
“No buts Andrew, I will sort out your mess.”
Ben hung up. He had a call to make.
As Andrew replaced the silent handset, a knock on his bedroom door signaled company. His valet announced the arrival of four gentlemen.
Andrew asked him to direct them to the library while he quickly shaved and brushed his hair.
“Gentlemen,” announced Andrew as he entered the library, closing the door behind him.
Three of the men looked at Walter Koch, waiting for him to respond on their behalf.
“We,” the others nodded their consent. “Are very concerned of where we are.”
“Gentlemen.” Andrew poured himself a Scotch. He was feeling buoyed by Ben’s call. If the Israelis wanted you dead, you died. Simple. “Everything is under control.”
“Exactly how is everything under control?” asked James Lawson, his temper simmering. He was worried. His man had disappeared over three days earlier at a point when he was allegedly about to deal with the problem.
“I have just spoken to a contact and they’re sending a team to deal with it now.”
“Sending them where?”
Andrew had absolutely no idea. Ben hadn’t trusted him with that information but ever the politician. “That, gentlemen, will all become clear very shortly. Now please, let’s not dwell on issues that are resolved. I believe there were other issues you wanted to discuss.”
Walter looked at Lawson and received an imperceptible nod. Leave it and move on.
“We have two issues. The first is the nuclear weapon that is supposedly on its way here and the second is transport.”
“As for the nuclear device, there are no updates as yet but it seems this is well covered and our borders will pick up the device the second it comes anywhere near us.”
“Just like Texas?” asked Lawrence Harkness, sarcastically.
“Maybe. How much did you make out of that again?” asked Lawson. They all knew that Harkness had doubled his wealth following the atrocity in Texas but it didn’t stop Harkness complaining about it. He owned many of the military suppliers who had benefitted from the United States’ reaction to the nuclear detonation.
“It won’t happen again!” Andrew responded firmly and with conviction.
“Best cancel that new yacht you were going to buy!” joked Lawson to Harkness.
“Gentlemen, please,” asked Walter looking at the two billionaires who were constantly at each other’s throats. Walter knew that Lawson had made just as much out of the atrocity as Harkness and probably even more. Lawson’s stock in military supply organizations had shot through the roof.
“What’s even more troubling at the moment is this solar flare nonsense.”
“Sorry?” Andrew was taken totally by surprise. The solar flare had been the subject of a few briefings over the last couple of days but with other things on his mind, he’d avoided them like the plague. Another was scheduled for later that day and included the President so he’d have to attend.
“Jesus, have you not been watching the news?” asked William Hathway who until then had sat quietly.
“Honestly, no. I’ve not had time.”
“They’re suggesting that in about a week from now there will be a massive solar flare. I think it’s like an explosion within the sun which will cause some sort of geomagnetic storm,” informed Hathaway.
Andrew just stared at the four like they were speaking Greek. He had absolutely no idea what all of it meant.
“Basically, they’re talking about grounding every aircraft in the world for between three and five days!” explained Hathaway, the biggest landowner and farmer in America. To ensure top dollar, his produce was flown around the world. Grounded aircraft for three to five days would cost him tens of millions in lost revenue.
“Why the hell would they do that?” asked Andrew, stunned by the revelation and how he had missed the enormity of the problem.
“Some rubbish about magnetic field and proton storms being a risk to engines on a plane. The worry is when, and if, it hits, planes will fall out of the sky as their engines are knocked out.”
“I’m sorry. This is the first I’ve heard of this. What do you want me to do?”
“Stop it!”
“Explosions on the sun?!” asked Andrew incredulously.
“Grounding the planes!” shouted Hathaway angrily before getting up and leading his three horsemen out of the library and the house.
Andrew Russell just stared at the four empty seats. What next, he wondered.
His phone rang. The President wanted him in the Oval Office ten minutes ago.
Chapter 47
Montana, USA
It had taken the best part of two days but they had made it. A slight detour on the way had increased their number by one. The Senator’s wife, Beth was now safely ensconced with her husband in their master suite. The house, as Agent Clark had commented many times, was spectacular, nestling in the mountains below the Whitefish mountain ski resort, with views across the lake, framed by 7000 foot mountains that bordered Canada and offering the best skiing in Montana, as promised by the Senator. The house itself was vast. The lounge alone could fit Clark’s whole apartment, as could the circular fireplace in its heart.
After the events in Washington, Sam had declared that enough was enough and they had no option but to get out of dodge. The Senator had mentioned the ski lodge, over 2,000 miles away, as a joke but Sam had instantly grabbed the idea, particularly as the Senator had explained that the lodge had been purchased the previous year by the Senator’s wife’s family’s estate. He had assured Sam that there was no way it could be linked to them. Her estate was as tight as the Rockefellers. Once something went into it, it was like it never existed. They had spent a small fortune on alterations and upgrades and hadn’t set foot in it since they had bought it. Sam wanted Charles and the Secretary of Defense safe. He wanted them secured somewhere that he could leave and not worry about them.
They had taken some convincing, particularly their newest recruit, Rebecca. She wanted to contact her HQ and arrange for a safe escort to the Israeli embassy. Sam ruled it out. He couldn’t trust his own government despite having one of its most senior members under his protection, never mind a foreign one. No, they would rely on no- one else but themselves. The first plan of action was to go primitive. Rebecca and the Secretary of Defense’s cell phones were ceremoniously smashed and their SIM cards discarded. They then stripped the Humvees and the eight bodies that scattered the ground of every weapon and piece of ammunition they could find. They threw it all into Sam’s Toyota Camry and took off. If Rebecca’s version of events was correct, nobody else had tracked them, never mind discovered what they were driving. The Camry was as anonymous as any car on the road.
They had driven non-stop, picked up a very surprised Senator’s wife and settled into the lodge just as night was falling.
Clark came back into the lounge and pressed the button that closed the wall of glass that opened onto a terrace that seemed to hover above a lake below.
“Spectacular!”
Sam and Rebecca struggled to hide their smiles at the fiftieth utterance of the word ‘spectacular’ in the previous hour.
“Sorry,” said Clark realizing she was repeating herself. “It’s just…”
