Zero Option

Stahl smiled. “Vernon, I realize you’re a man of high principle. I’ve always admired that part of your character. But I have to say in this instance it might not be the wisest choice. It could turn out to be unhealthy to say the least.”

“Don’t try to frighten me, Eric. I’ve been in politics too long to worry over words. And at my age threats tend to add a little spice to a life that’s run for a long time.”

“Playing the hero doesn’t suit you, Vernon. Believe me, you wouldn’t like what I could do to you.”

“I intend to go ahead with the investigation I’ve been considering. You have something to hide. You’re searching for Doug Buchanan. and you have an unhealthy interest in the Zero project. I’m going to drag it all out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The moment I have solid proof I’ll take it to the President. You have my word on that.”

“All right, Vernon. However you want it,” Stahl said and turned to leave.

“Eric,” Randolph said, “do your worst, and to hell with your damned games.”

“A neat analogy,” Stahl replied. “Just remember that games all have one thing in common. A winner and a loser. And you know well enough, Vernon, I hate to lose.”

“THE EQUATION CAN’T be that difficult to grasp,” Stahl said. “If Doug Buchanan is out there looking for some kind of sanctuary, there’s only one man he’ll look for.”

He paused, savoring the moment, his triumph over every man in the room. He was still surprised at the revelation that had come to him on his return from confronting Senator Randolph.

“Senator, don’t play fucking games,” Cal Ryan said. “And pardon my language.”

“No, you’re right, Mr. Ryan. Excuse my indulgence. The man we need to locate is Saul Kaplan. Find Kaplan, and Buchanan won’t be far away.”

“What’s the connection?” Ryan asked.

“Kaplan brought Buchanan into the Zero project, chose him as the man who would inherit Zero as his savior.”

“You mean Buchanan is the guy who gets to sit in the control seat?”

“Exactly. He was chosen because he has all the military skills, is a man with a strong moral sense of right and wrong and he has terminal cancer.”

“We playing games again? They were going to put a dying man in charge of Zero?”

“Two reasons, Mr. Ryan. Buchanan was aware that on his own he would have been dead in a couple of years, but once he became part of Zero, his biological functions, including his immune system, would be taken over by the machine. It would replace his natural bodily awareness and integrate it into the biocouch. Zero’s capabilities are far in advance of anything in existence. You can appreciate why I want it under our control, Mr. Ryan. Our control alone.”

“I’m starting to, Senator.”

“With Zero in our hands, there won’t be a nation that would dare to even think about threatening the U.S. We would be in total control of the nation and have the ability to make our enemies toe the line. If they refuse, Zero could be used to make them see sense.”

“The ultimate authority.”

Stahl smiled. “Zero tolerance, Mr. Ryan. Zero tolerance.”

“Can we be certain Buchanan will head for Kaplan?”

“I believe he will. Buchanan has no one else to turn to. The Zero project was hit by an unknown force. Destroyed. No one is certain by whom. We suspect foreign interference. Regimes who see the threat Zero would pose to them. Which is why we need the project up and running. To counter such threats. If we bring Zero fully online, anyone contemplating a strike against the U.S. is going to know they would be under Zero’s scrutiny. To answer your question, Buchanan is a man out in the cold. Who can he trust? He’ll understand his position and he’ll know he’s a wanted man. Saul Kaplan was his mentor, the one man he knows he’ll always be able to turn to. If Buchanan calls, Kaplan will help him.”

“Where do we find Kaplan?”

“Right now we don’t know where he is. Kaplan vanished from his university post weeks ago. Just took off. It could be he’s heard from Buchanan in the past few days and the pair have arranged some meeting. We have to follow it up.”

Stahl slid a folder across the desk. Picking it up, Ryan flicked through the data sheets.

“Everything there is on file about Saul Kaplan. Use it and find him. We need them both alive. Kaplan has knowledge about Zero we can use.”

Ryan nodded. He gestured to his team and they followed him from the room, leaving Stahl alone. He remained seated for a while, then stood and crossed the room. He lingered at the window, watching Ryan and his people as they climbed into their vehicles. Stahl stayed there until the cars had driven out of sight. He made his way to the desk in a corner of the room, picked up his phone, punching in a number sequence.

“Are you available, Orin? Good. Where? That’s fine. An hour?”

STAHL ARRIVED ten minutes early, which gave his security team time to check out the area around the meeting place. It paid to be careful. A man in Stahl’s position needed to be cautious. He knew he had enemies. There was no point in making it too easy for them.

His team came back to report the area was clear. They climbed back in their car, and Stahl made his way down to the canal. Even though his car was some distance away, he knew his security men would have him in their sight.

The water was flat, not a ripple breaking the surface. Birds sang in the distance, calling to their mates. Stahl took a breath, allowing himself a moment of calm.

There was no doubt, he told himself, America was a beautiful country. It had everything a man could ever want or need. It was worth defending from those who looked at it through envious eyes. Terrorists, religious fanatics, countries who saw America as their adversary. The do-gooders and the liberals, even in America itself, who wanted to weaken it from within. The government legislators. The Communist sympathizers. The list was long. The threats came from abroad and from within America’s own borders. Between them they would turn America into a soft target, with no military to speak of and the defense system pared down to the bone to appease the overwhelming lobby of pacifists and downright cowards. It was sometimes hard for Stahl to believe that America had been built by far-seeing, hardy pioneers, men and women who had crossed the primitive continent, creating the strongest, richest nation in the world. They had done it from scratch, using their bare hands and their burning desire to be free. In the end they had done just that. It had taken decades, spilled blood and the bones of the dead who littered a hundred dusty trails, but they had achieved a miracle.

And now, if it was left to the spineless administration, America would be weakened further, prey to any rogue nation that decided she was ripe for the plucking. There was talk of cutting back on defense, weakening the country’s armed forces, taking the nation’s protection out of the hands of the military. And there were too few politicians with the backbone to stand up in defense of those cutbacks. The Zero Option was ready and waiting, the ultimate weapon. In Stahl’s eyes, even if the current administration brought it online, it would step back from utilizing the weapon’s potential. Stahl would not hesitate to make the world fully aware of Zero and what it could do. His first act, once he was installed in the White House, would be a practical demonstration of Zero’s capabilities. There was nothing like a hard strike to show the world America meant business. And a hard strike was what Stahl intended. Then the world could look on and see that the new American government meant what it said.

Stahl’s hands were shaking as he plucked a cigarette from his silver case and lit it. He inhaled deeply, of smoke, letting the effect calm him. Just thinking about the enormity of his scheme unsettled him. Once he embarked on it there would be no turning aside. It would have to be seen through to the end. There was no doubt that there would be a global outcry. Condemnation. Accusing fingers aimed at America.

But what could they do?

With Zero online and able to target anyone, what could they do?

Damn them all!

America needed a hard man at the helm. Someone not afraid to take on the bitchers and the whiners and the appeasers, a man who could tell the enemies of the U.S. to go to hell, because the country had the best, the finest, the most deadly weapon under its control. Once Stahl had Zero in his camp, he could bargain his way into the White House and show the American people he wasn’t fooling. And when he had the administration firmly manned by his people and the military under the command of Orin Stengard, then it would be the turn of the global community to see that America had turned the corner and was really back as the strongest nation on Earth.

Stahl flicked ash from his cigarette and watched it fall into the water at his feet. He felt a little better after his internal rant. Sometimes his bitter feelings got the better of him, and it proved therapeutic when he gave vent to them.

He heard footsteps close by. Stahl turned and saw Orin Stengard walking toward him. He was in civilian clothing. Sharply creased slacks and an expensive leather jacket over a pale cream shirt.

“Eric,” Stengard said by way of greeting. “You made this meeting sound urgent.”

“I wouldn’t have asked to see you if it hadn’t been.”

“So?”

“I was correct. Randolph has been making more of his threatening noises. I offered him the chance to join us, but he turned the offer down point-blank.”

“Is it bluster, or does he actually know something?”

“I think he’s starting to became suspicious. You know what he’s like. He’s worked out you and I are close. He also knows about Buchanan being alive.”

“How the hell did he find out about that?”

“Not from me. Look, Orin, that old bastard has been around for a long time. He has contacts all over, a finger in every department of the administration and the military. He’s a one-man CIA. He’s done favors for so many people you couldn’t read the list on a long weekend. That man has survived so many changes of government it’s worth a fucking medal.”

“All right. So what does he want? A payoff? In on the deal? What?”