Stolen Arrows

“Brognola,” he answered, lifting the receiver.

“It’s me,” Bolan said.

“Thank God, Striker,” Brognola exhaled, leaning back in his chair. “Do you know what Project Zodiac is?” he asked without preamble.

There was a brief pause. “I have heard rumors,” Bolan replied. “Some sort of doomsday plan from the cold war.”

“Damn close. President Kennedy wanted something to put the fear of God into the Soviets, and the CIA cooked up Project Zodiac. Twelve deep-cover agents scattered across Europe, with wives, jobs, children. They lived undercover for years before receiving their Zodiac.”

“Twelve agents, each with a code name after a sign of the Zodiac,” Bolan said. “Capricorn, Virgo, and such. Cute. Sounds like the kind of nonsense the CIA thinks is clever.”

“Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Only these sleeper agents weren’t saboteurs sent to blow up certain targets, they were equipped with a compact nuclear device that fit into a standard-size briefcase.”

“Can it be that small and achieve threshold?”

“Different configuration,” Brognola stated, “and they work just fine. I’ve seen the films from the White Sands bomb range. Each of these has a full one-quarter kiloton yield, just about enough to vaporize six city blocks and destroy six more with the concussion and heat flash. Very nasty stuff, and as dirty as hell.”

“So if America fell to an enemy sneak attack, these sleeper agents walk their Zodiac to some military target and blow it up,” Bolan said, clearly thinking out loud. “How did they handle the blast? With a timer or by radio detonator?”

“A Zodiac detonates by hand,” Brognola said without emotion. “It’s a suicide device. After you set the internal trigger and close the lid, the agent only has to grab the handle tight and the next time he releases it, the bomb detonates.”

“The handle is the trigger. So shooting the agent would only set off the Zodiac when he let go. Just like shooting a man holding a primed grenade,” Bolan said, the disgust strong in his voice. “America strikes back from the grave. So what went wrong? Somebody find a list of the agents? Or did one of them turn and sell a Zodiac to some terrorist group?”

In reply, the big Fed inhaled, then let it out slowly.

“Or is it worse than that, Hal?” Bolan demanded.

“It’s worse,” the man admitted. “Last month the President canceled Project Zodiac. But when the CIA recalled the Zodiacs, they deliberately let the information slip out.”

There came a soft rustle of cloth as if the man on the other end of the line was shaking his head. “They used the nukes as bait, a damn stalking horse,” Bolan stated, not needing to hear any more. “Okay, what went wrong?”

“At first, nothing. The CIA was blowing away terrorist groups from across the globe, and then…the perimeter guards stole the truck of bombs right from under their noses.”

That only took Bolan a second to translate. “So the cheap bastards were using mercs again,” he growled.

“You got it. Save a buck and lose the war. Those guys spend too much time playing politics and trying to look good to Congress than they do getting the job done.”

“Preaching to the choir here, Hal.”

Softly in the background, Brognola could hear people chatting and machinery moving. Was it a recording, or was Striker actually calling from an airport or bus terminal?

“So the mercs now have twelve atomic bombs.”

“No, only four,” Brognola corrected. “The CIA may screw up big sometimes, but they’re not complete fools. Nobody but the mission chief knew that identical armored trucks were going to carry away every third collection. The mercs probably thought they were stealing all twelve, but they only got four.”

“Only four,” Bolan said in a graveyard voice.

“Yeah, I know. And that’s about the only goddamn good thing about this whole mess.”

“So why call me? Can’t find them?”

The man’s mind moved like lightning. “That’s about the size of it. The rendezvous point was in London somewhere and the Brits are having a fit over this going down in their backyard without their okay. MI-5 has every agent on the hunt, with the city sealed tighter than a virgin on prom night. The SAS and the CIA are tearing the countryside apart trying to find the mercs, but so far nothing. Meanwhile, the PM is screaming bloody murder at the White House.”

“Can’t blame him,” Bolan said calmly. “If another country had tried that here, we’d tear them a new one.”

“At least one, maybe two.”

“Got an ID on the mercs?”

“Yeah.” Brognola sighed, leaning forward in his chair and lifting a Top Secret file from the clutter on his desk. “I’m holding their Agency dossier in my hand. The Scion. Know them?”

There was a short pause. “Never heard of them before. Give me the basics and have the full dossier sent to a drop site at Grand Central Train Station.”

“No problem,” he said, opening the file. “Okay, their leader is a guy named Cirello Zalhares—”

Interrupting, Bolan grunted at that. “Wait, big Brazilian guy, used to work for the S2,” he said. “Works with Dog Mariano, Minas Pedrosa, and a woman, Jorgina something. A real looker, loves knives.”

“Jorgina Mizne, that’s them.”

“So Zalhares now calls his group of mercenaries the Scion? Yeah, that sounds like right. He always did enjoy grandstanding.”

“Christ, Striker,” Brognola said with a dry chuckle. “Have you got every freelance killer in the entire world locked in that mental file of yours?”

“Only the live ones,” Bolan said humorously. And yeah, he knew them. An elite group of mercs who were all former S2 agents cashiered out of the service for various crimes against their fellow police officers: murder, rape, blackmail, torture and worse. During the communications blackout, Phoenix Force had had a brief encounter with the S2 when they tried to flee Brazil. They were serious hardcases, tougher than any of the street soldiers from the Mafia or the defunct KGB.

“Is this intel hard?” Bolan demanded.

“Confirmed and double-checked,” Brognola replied. “Now we have the Middle East sealed tight, and the leader of every known terrorist group under surveillance, along with the arms dealers and top smugglers.”

“Now you want the unknown groups covered,” Bolan said slowly. “Then I’m in the right town. If anything big like this is coming into America, I have contacts in New York who will know.”

“Just one more thing, Striker. You should know that these are kamikaze models. Shoot one, and even if its not already armed, the bomb detonates automatically. The Zodiacs have to be recovered intact and undamaged.”

“Then the sooner I move, the better the chances they won’t be damaged,” Bolan said unruffled. “Talk to you later, Hal.”

“Hold the line, Striker,” Brognola said as the encrypted fax machine whined into life on his desk. “I have a report coming in from the Oval Office…. Well, I’ll be a son of bitch. We found them! The Brits got an anonymous tip from a reliable source that an Australian cargo ship, Tullamarine, is ferrying the Zodiacs out of England. The captain has refused to turn around for an inspection and now they’re pretending the radio and cell phone are all dead. RAF fighters are on the way to do a recon.”

For a moment Bolan said nothing.

“Looks like this was a lot of excitement over nothing, old friend. We have them cornered.”

“Hal, recall those planes,” Bolan stated firmly. “I’m betting that anonymous tip came from Zalhares.”

“But why would he do that?”

“Trust me, Hal. It’s some sort of trick. Recall those planes.”

Just then, the fax whined once more, extruding another encrypted report. “Too late,” Brognola said out loud, reading fast. “The RAF has already engaged the Scion.”