“And what have you lost, Alena?”
She turned away, looking out the window at the sun slowly rising in the east. “It is not what I have lost. It is what I have gained.”
“I don’t understand.”
She slowly faced him. “Joe found me. Trusted me when no one else would. He took me in and gave me hope for a better life. He gave me…family. And now, someone in my family has betrayed us.”
He reached across the aisle, clasping her hand. “Tell me how he saved you. From what?”
Her eyes hardened, and she moved farther away. “Ask Joe…when we find him.”
Gerrit settled back, trying to get some rest, but his mind just wouldn’t relax. Different scenarios played out in his head as he tried to figure the best approach to Kane’s mansion. Unless they had reinforcements, he did not like the odds.
As he created and studied each scenario, one phrase kept coming to mind.
Suicide mission.
Richard Kane had already put the order out. He knew they were coming. It was just a matter of time. Quickly, he called in those he trusted and laid out the welcoming party he had in mind. If everything worked out, in less than twenty-four hours Gerrit and the others would be his prisoners-or they would be dead.
Either way, I win.
Richard slammed his desk drawer closed and locked it after the meeting, anxiously waiting to hear the final damage reports from Albuquerque. He wanted a firsthand account from Collette before deciding what action he would take. Whatever he decided, he knew she would not be pleased.
Failure was not an option-for her or him. Trouble always flowed downhill when plans went awry. He did not expect leniency from those in power above him, and he certainly was not inclined to give it to his subordinates when they failed.
Albuquerque was a colossal failure. It jeopardized everything they’d been striving to achieve with Project Megiddo and other efforts. This project was just one of many parts to a complicated machine, like one battle in a major war with many fronts. Project Megiddo needed to function so other parts of the machine could move forward.
He only hoped that Gerrit did not get to tamper with what the New Mexico lab had stored. There was only one other facility that retained these developments. They always tried to duplicate their research, so if one facet of the program became exposed, other parts would still function.
If Gerrit’s band of troublemakers found out about the other site, Stuart and the others would finish Richard off for good. There was only one weak link. One person whom Gerrit might begin to suspect. Hopefully, he would not put it together until it was too late. After that last phone call with Stuart, Richard knew he was on borrowed time. He must make the most of it.
At least Richard had the brains of the outfit. O’Rourke was in his custody. He rose and strode toward the door.
Time to set a trap.
Chapter 52
Atlantic Ocean, 100 miles from the Irish Coast
Willy Williams sat up and opened his laptop. The aircraft jostled him awake a few minutes earlier and he could not get back to sleep. He saw Alena dozing off again, and Gerrit sat by himself, scratching out ideas on a notepad.
Almost idly, he began to replay a record of all transmissions he’d recorded when they hit the Albuquerque lab. He studied all outgoing traffic from a server located at the lab. One IP address kept popping up every hour at the same time. He isolated the address and ran a history on this site. A pattern soon emerged that must be an automatic transmission generating from the Millennium Technologies lab to the unknown IP address, as if it was a backup system. But the backup site was not linked to any known off-site storage site-either commercially or privately run.
He copied the IP address, then pasted it into a search program he and Joe used as a locator. They used this program when they came across websites that tried to hide their location of service, sending queries like Willy’s colliding into dead ends all over the planet. It would take time for Willy’s system to connect to where he and Joe kept these master programs. He would receive an e-mail when the site had traced and identified this unknown IP address. Until then, he would study other data collected from the Albuquerque operation.
He tried not to think about Redneck. Shock over his friend’s betrayal still left Willy numb. They always butted heads, but he thought he and Redneck shared a common bond, a common understanding. His mind began dwelling on other concerns, the main one being Joe O’Rourke. Was his friend dead or alive? He shook that thought from his mind, choosing to focus on whether Mr. G’s rescue plan might work.
Dark thoughts kept pounding away. Were they too late? Would this be one big trap they were walking into, a trap none of them might walk away from? How much did Kane know about them? Were more traitors in their midst?
He studied Alena and Gerrit for a moment. Could they also be plants? Nah. He knew for sure Al was cool. She had risked everything for them on more than one occasion. She’d left everything behind to join them. She was not a traitor.
Gerrit leaned over his writing pad. Willy studied the man, thinking back over what they knew about him. Once, he’d asked the others whether it was wise to reveal their operation to this man. Someone they barely knew. How ironic that Willy raised this concern with a traitor already in their midst.
Alena and Joe forcibly argued that Gerrit could be trusted. Look at what he suffered and the service he’d already given to his country. No. Mr. G was not a traitor. In fact, he just might be the leader their group needed to survive. Funny, Hillbilly had nothing to say about whether to trust Mr. G. This was about the first time Hillbilly had nothing to mouth off about.
Willy turned back to his computer and typed more commands. There was a wealth of information he could mine from their raid on Millennium Technologies. He was about to open another program when an incoming e-mail alert popped up on his screen. He opened the e-mail. It was from Beck Malloy.
Downloaded this from lab. Tell me what it means?
He clicked on the attachment to the message and waited for it to open.
“Hey, Mr. G. You may want to see this. Just came in from Beck.”
Willy returned his attention to the screen. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Gerrit slide into the seat next to him.
“What do you have?”
“Man, whatever we’ve got here, this file is huge. Even as a zip file, this thing is taking forever to open.”
Gerrit studied Willy for a moment. Something was troubling him. Gerrit suspected it might be related to Redneck. Better to leave well enough alone.
He leaned closer. “Mind if I take a look?”
Willy turned the laptop so Gerrit had a heads-on view. “This has to be what Senator Summers was trying to tell you that night. It spells out how they intend to use Project Megiddo.”
He nodded, studying the research paper captured on the screen. He scrolled through the verbiage, getting to the heart of what he thought the project might be about. He spotted an eyes-only synopsis from the Megiddo Oversight Committee. The members of the committee were identified by code. “Look at this. This might be what we’re searching for.” He began reading out loud:
“‘MISSION STATEMENT: Project Megiddo’s first phase of this multiphase project is critical to the overall success of the entire operation. Upon implementation, Project Megiddo will be used to aggressively monitor any resistance to our ultimate goal of global unification. Political, economical, and military associates and opponents must be clearly identified and segregated by name, company, and organization. Those enlightened and motivated to work toward global unifications will be singled out for support and assistance to achieve success within their respective spheres of influence. Opponents will be aggressively targeted for isolation, quarantine, and
