trampling on the Constitution or the Bill of…”
“You may be an American, Miss Skyy, but I don’t believe for an instant that you care more about America than you do about your network’s shareholders, ratings, reputation, or bottom line,” Chamberlain interrupted. “I used to be a corporate executive, and I know how big companies go into self-protection and disaster-prep mode when the government is involved. I’m not saying that’s evil, but it certainly doesn’t help the government’s investigations. There are lives at stake here, Miss Skyy. Protecting the American people from another attack trumps the press’s right to report a juicy story.”
“Mr. Chamberlain, I’m telling you, we can work together on this,” Kristen maintained. “Call my network—they won’t shut you out, I guarantee it. We’ll agree to sit on the story for as long as necessary until you catch Zakharov, Khalimov, and whoever is financing or supporting them. We’ll turn over every scrap of tape and notes we have to…”
“Miss Skyy, every scrap of tape, video, recordings, or notes will be turned over to us immediately, or we will take them away from you by force,” Chamberlain said. “The chief of the investigation team has a briefcase full of warrants for the information, and he has a federal judge standing by ready to issue more warrants twenty-four- seven. I don’t need your network’s permission or coordination to get the information. And if there’s any information that you’ve already transmitted to your network, that will be turned over to us as well, or we’ll shut down your entire network on the spot.”
“Don’t do it, Mr. Chamberlain,” Kristen insisted. “You’ll have the entire country turned against you once it comes out that you’ve done this. The world press will condemn you…”
“I really don’t care about the world press, Ma’am—I only care about the United States of America,” Chamberlain said. “And you obviously have no idea about the mood of the American people right now. They want to do everything possible to stop this wave of terrorist violence sweeping this country, and they’re doing everything necessary to help accomplish that. They’re donating their money, time, and most important their full support to the cause, and they don’t think kindly of folks like you in the press who think they have some special privilege. You have information that can help us protect this country, and you will turn it over to us immediately and completely or we will take away your freedom and your rights as citizens until you do. It’s as simple as that.”
He turned to Jefferson, Richter, and Vega: “Of course I expect the utmost cooperation from you three. Major, Doctor, you two face very serious criminal charges, but your cooperation in our investigation is more important right now, so you will not be charged with a crime. That means you can be held indefinitely as material witnesses. The criminal charges will be addressed after the investigation is complete, which could take a very long time.
“Needless to say, Task Force TALON’s future was in serious question as of the day you three left this base to go off on your own,” Chamberlain went on. “I haven’t been specifically ordered to shut down the task force, but I doubt if the President will allow it to continue if its commanders are found guilty of a crime. I’m afraid it’s out of my hands. I’ll do everything I can to keep it alive, but I’m sure I’ve lost all credibility with the White House as far as you’re concerned.”
“Sir, we have got to sit down with you and tell you what we learned in Brazil,” Jason said. “We have information that will prove…”
“It’s too late for that, Major—you should have come to me immediately,” Chamberlain said wearily. “We could have taken this right to the White House. In less time than it took you to organize this stunt with Kristen Skyy, we could have mounted a full frontal assault on all the suspects you were after—it would have been fully sanctioned and supported by both the American and Brazilian governments. We could have descended on all those locations at once and set up an airtight trap for those Russians. It would have been Task Force TALON’s first and best operation, an example of what a true military-civil cooperative team could do. Instead, you decided to go off on your own, and now we’re all paying for your mistake. You blew it, Major—it’s that simple.”
He glared at Richter suspiciously, then shook his head sadly. “This is the most egregious, the most outrageous, the most foolhardy example of abuse of power and authority I’ve witnessed in all my years of government service. You were America’s best hope to track down terrorists all over the world, Major Richter. I trusted you. I wanted this thing to work, and I was hoping that technology like your CID unit would be the key. Unfortunately, you thought you didn’t need to work as a team. Not only will you and your fellow teammates, but all of America, pay the price for your lack of judgment. I should have provided better leadership.”
He looked around at all of the assembled task force members and said, “This training area has now become your detention facility, folks. All of your weapons will be impounded here and used as evidence. You are all material witnesses, and you will be held here indefinitely until our investigation is complete. You will retain your current rank, pay grade, and privileges until formal charges are levied against you. Until then, I expect nothing less than your full cooperation.” And with that, Chamberlain walked away and into his waiting vehicle and drove off.
After he was gone, the others started to drift away, murmuring comments quietly to one another, until eventually only Jefferson, Richter, Vega, Skyy, Kelsey DeLaine, Carl Bolton, Doug Moore, and Kristen’s camera crew remained.
Moore was the first to approach Richter. “I trusted you, sir,” he said simply before he walked away.
Kelsey walked over to them, looked at the wounds on Ariadna’s face with a look of concern…then turned to Richter and slapped him hard across the face. “You stupid jerk!” she shouted. “You egotistical ignorant childish bastard! You not only destroyed this task force but the careers of each and every person here!”
“You guys still don’t get it, do you?” Jason asked. “This is a setup. We’re being framed…”
“We’re not listening to you, Richter!” Bolton interjected. “You’re nothing but a crazy-ass flake. I’d sleep with one eye open from now on if I were you, buster, because folks are going to realize that their lives would be pretty much back to normal if you got yourself fragged.”
“That is enough!” Sergeant Major Jefferson shouted.
“Hey, Sergeant Major, I’m not going to listen to a damned thing you have to say either!” Bolton retorted. “You could have stopped Richter before he left the country with the CID unit! Then, when you got your clearance to go to Brazil, you over-stepped it by going to chase down that other GAMMA terrorist. You have absolutely no right to be ordering us around. You’re just as responsible for us getting shut down as he is…!”
“I am still in command of this task force…”
“Didn’t you hear, Sergeant Major—there is no task force any more, thanks to you and Richter! There’s nothing here but a bunch of soldiers and engineers in a detention facility!”
“Mr. Chamberlain did not disband this task force—until he does, I retain command of this unit, and we will continue to organize and train as before, with any equipment and resources we are allowed to have,” Jefferson said hotly. “If we’re not given any equipment to use, we’ll use sticks and stones; and if we’re not allowed to use those, we’ll do PT; but we will continue to train.”
“This is bullshit, Jefferson,” Bolton said. “It’s a waste of time. I’m not doing anything you tell me to do.”
“Until I am relieved of command, I am in charge here,” Jefferson said in a low, menacing voice, “and my first directive is aimed squarely at you, Agent Bolton—if you touch Major Richter or anyone else here with the intent of causing them any physical harm, I will personally beat you to a bloody pulp and hang your carcass on the barbed- wire fence. And if you don’t follow my orders to the letter, I’ll make your existence here at this facility extremely uncomfortable. Do I make myself clear?”
Bolton stepped over to Jefferson and stood face to face with him. Bolton was much taller than Jefferson and probably had ten to fifteen kilos on him—it would be a spectacular fight, if one broke out.
But with one look at Jefferson’s icy warning glare, Bolton blinked and backed away. “Tell me, Sergeant Major—why do you give a shit so much about that loser?” Bolton asked in a low voice. “He hasn’t been part of this team since day one; he’s succeeded in getting us all canned and ruining our careers. What do you care what happens to him? If he ends up with his teeth pushed in so he can’t talk anymore, this whole thing would be over, wouldn’t it?”
“Not by a long shot, Bolton,” Jefferson said. “If that happened, I would be extremely suspicious of the guy who did it. It would make me wonder why that guy would want to make sure Richter was permanently silenced.”
“You think I had something to do with Richter taking the CID unit to Brazil?”
“No, I’m sure that was the major’s idea, along with Miss Skyy there,” Jefferson replied. “But I’m wondering about how we got ambushed so well out there. Someone knew we were coming and tipped off the terrorists…”
“And you think I did it?”
