elimination.’”
Alena leaned over the back of his chair. “ Oy vey! This lays out exactly what we thought Kane and the others were working toward.”
“This is why they killed my father. He was…to put it in their words, ‘targeted for elimination.’ Mom was just collateral damage.” Gerrit gripped the laptop.
She squeezed his shoulder.
He scrolled down the document until he came to the operational plan of the project. “They have already begun to implement Project Megiddo, targeting those they need to put out of business. What they don’t spell out is how they plan to achieve these goals.”
Alena removed her hand. “Willy, can you find out? This attack on those who oppose globalization?”
Willy leaned over to see the screen from a different angle. “Not from this information. All this data has to be forwarded to centralized storage facilities. I mean, it just can’t be allowed to float out there in cyberspace. We need to track where this project dumps its data-that might have been Millennium Technologies-and where the results from Megiddo’s invasive technology feeds back to storage and monitoring stations. These may or may not be the same physical location.”
Gerrit nodded. “Let’s say that the Albuquerque facility became inoperable due to our surprise visit yesterday. Where would they start up? In Harrogate?”
Willy scratched his jaw. “Maybe, but I would think they’d have secondary locations not known to us. I mean, why did they bring you to Kane’s operation in Harrogate if they weren’t sure you’d become a team player? That was taking a big risk.”
“Maybe Kane was sure he could control me, persuade me to become a part of his operation. He made a huge error, letting us know about his base of operation. Look where it is located. In the same general areas as NSA’s global electronic monitoring stations at Menwith Hill. They could tap into their fiber-optics system from Harrogate and wouldn’t need to build their own duplicating facilities. They have the one in England tied to the other allied stations like Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, Pine Gap in Australia, other suspected listening facilities in Canada and Japan, as well as many listening posts in the U.S. That is just to access communications over fiber- optics lines. Not to mention all the classified satellite surveillance capabilities of which we may or may not know about.”
Willy glanced up. “So you know about some of these places? From your time in the military?”
“Partly. And some of it comes from my research at MIT before my last military duty overseas. Because of my work, they gave me a high security clearance to be able to access some of these intelligence sources. Kane knew this. I guess that was one of the reasons he tried to recruit me. To get access to what I already knew. And to have my clearance reinstated so I could continue to feed him information.”
Alena sat quietly listening to the two men talk. She finally broke into the conversation. “What is our game plan?”
Gerrit continued to scroll through Project Megiddo, looking for anything that might lead them to their next target. “Right now, nothing has changed. We need to get inside Harrogate, get Joe out of there, and tear that place apart to find out more about Kane’s plans. To find out more about who he’s working for.”
Willy leaned back in his chair. “And what if Kane is just the tip of the iceberg? What if this is greater than his organization, however big that might be?”
Gerrit eyed him for a moment. “You can count on there being many more Richards running loose out there, layered organizations upon organizations. But I believe above all of them are a select few, an elite, those we may never discover. They’ve covered themselves with protection, allowing people like Kane to take all the risks.”
“But if we can just find one of those strings, and follow it back to those shot callers.”
“Shot callers?”
Willy grimaced. “That goes back to my days in the gangs. It was always hard for the popos to take down the shot callers. Too many homeboys and soldiers willing to lie down to protect them.”
Gerrit smiled. “Popos? Homeboys? These are the terms you learned in college?”
“Yeah. The school of hard knocks. Not something you pick up in places like MIT, Mr. G.”
“Willy, you bring a practical approach to this operation. I appreciate it.”
Willy studied Gerrit for a moment, as if trying to determine whether he might be joking. “Thanks, Mr. G…I think.”
Alena tussled Willy’s hair. “You always made my day interesting. From the second we first met.”
“Likewise, Al.”
Gerrit watched the two of them for a bit before turning back to the computer. “Okay, enough of this, everyone. We need to figure out how to save Joe and get our hands on Kane.”
His words dampened their brief moment of camaraderie. They would touch ground in less than an hour. It was time to pull things together.
He just hoped that whoever met them on the ground would be able to get him the resources needed to pull this operation off. Otherwise, they might be spending the next few years in a British prison or buried in a nearby graveyard.
Chapter 53
London, England
The pilot taxied to a part of Heathrow Airport reserved for private international flights. Gerrit knew they were all carrying solidly built documents that would support their aliases through Security and Customs.
Still, he was on edge when these documents and their faces became subjected to vigorous facial-recognition programs and document searches. Joe had assured him that between his security measures, his contacts inside certain federal agencies, and Alena’s expertise, these documents would hold up under intense scrutiny. However, Joe had been captured by Kane, somehow alerted to Joe’s illegal entry into this country after Redneck sent a warning. There had to have been a breakdown, and right now they were going in blind. There was no time to back out and try another approach.
Joe’s life depended upon them. No second chances when time was a matter of life and death.
The pilot cleared the cabin and made his way toward them. “There is someone from security coming on board. Says he needs to speak to one of you.”
Gerrit looked at the pilot. “Do you know who he wanted to speak to?”
The pilot jutted his chin toward Gerrit. “He mentioned your name.”
So the pilot knew who he was? Jack had not mentioned that he gave out Gerrit’s real identity. “Did you get this guy’s name?”
The pilot shook his head and returned to the cockpit. Willy looked at him. “Shall I let him in?”
Gerrit shrugged. “What choice do we have?”
A moment later, Willy popped open the exterior door and pushed outward and a power-operated ramp edged to the opening. Heavy footsteps came up the ramp and a familiar face popped through the hatch.
James Stafford, MI6 agent from Vienna.
“Gerrit, rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated.” Stafford stepped into the cabin, grinning at the expression on Gerrit’s face. “Back from the colonies, Doctor?” To the others, he said, “James Stafford, of her Majesty’s Secret Service. At your beck and call.”
Gerrit felt peculiar. The last time he met Stafford, the British agent had not been cordial. “I thought you worked for-”
“Lawton?” Stafford laughed. “He just thinks I work for him. Like I said last time, Gerrit, I work for a lot of people. At least I let them think that. Been working with Beck Malloy and Joe O’Rourke for years whenever they come over to my side of the pond. Come, let me help you get through security.”
Gerrit and his team grabbed their belongings and followed the muscular man off the plane. They walked across fog-drenched pavement and approached a dreary gray building with a red brick facade. Stafford punched in a security code and opened a heavy metal door, rusted hinges squeaking.
Stafford gestured them inside. “I’ve arranged the VIP tour for our guests in the most exquisite part of the
