Death Minus Zero

Chan smiled at the man’s discomfort. He took his attaché case and made for the now open exit. As he stepped onto the tarmac he breathed in the fresh, cold air. It felt good. Zhou, still fastening his own coat, was muttering under his breath, not at all happy. As they moved away from the Gulfstream, Kai, who had followed them out, said quietly, “I will look forward to your call, Colonel.”

Chan smiled at her. “It will come,” he said. “I promise you that, my dear.”

He paused and patted his companion on the shoulder.

“Zhou, welcome to Switzerland,” he said.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_4f53b735-27f5-525d-a27b-10344cb63ecc)

Hal Brognola, head of the covert operations based at Stony Man Farm, walked beside the President of the United States. They were at Camp David, where the President was taking a brief respite from the demands of the job. But even while he tried to wind down, he still maintained a hands-on attitude. The Commander in Chief never truly stepped away from his responsibilities, which was why he had requested Brognola’s presence to discuss a matter that was on his mind.

The tranquil atmosphere of the presidential retreat surrounded the pair as they strolled through the grounds. Unobtrusive Secret Service men followed them at a discreet distance. Brognola and the President were wearing thick topcoats against the chill of the wintery weather. The odd snowflake drifted between them. There was a promise of more in the air.

“You’ve probably worked out why I asked you to join me, Hal.”

“Kaplan going missing? We already got the word from Doug Buchanan. He picked up on Kaplan’s tracker going off-line and the failure of the device fitted to the Air Force vehicle. Agent Valens briefed us, as well. So we know about Kaplan going missing, which brings Zero into the picture.”

“Am I ever going to catch you Stony Man people out?” the President said.

“I hope not. If you ever do, Mr. President, that will be the day I resign.”

“Don’t even think about it, Hal.” The President paused to stare around him at the tranquil scene. “I sit in my office at the White House, door closed, hoping to catch a minute. Never works. But coming here is a different ball game. Just walking through these trees, surrounded by silence...it gives me space to sort out what’s buzzing around in my head.”

“And right now that’s Saul Kaplan,” Brognola concluded.

“We have to find him, Hal. Get him back alive and well.” The President hesitated before he said, “The bottom line would be to say if he can’t be retrieved then his life might have to be forfeit. I hate having to even think about that, Hal, but the knowledge Kaplan has must not be allowed to remain in enemy hands.”

“I understand that, Mr. President. Stony Man is already on this,” Brognola said.

He knew that even as he was speaking to the President the cyber team at the Farm was working flat-out as it searched for information on the whereabouts of Zero’s creator and guiding light. Stony Man had been involved with the Zero Project from its early days, with Mack Bolan stepping up to investigate when Doug Buchanan had gone AWOL. The resolution of that incident had been getting Buchanan back into the program and finally installed on Zero. If there was anything to find, where Kaplan was concerned, Aaron Kurtzman’s team would unearth it. They had the best equipment available, along with the ability to hack into databases and systems that were supposed to be hacker-resistant. The state-of-the-art technology was only as good as the people using it, and the Stony Man cyber team had no equals. If it was out there, Kurtzman’s team would find it, interpret it and strip out the data they needed.

“Zero has become a valuable listening post for us,” the President said. “I don’t have to tell you how valuable. When we complete the development of the laser-particle beam weapons systems, Zero is going to become even better than it already is.”

“Are we still having operational problems with the laser-particle beam systems?”

“Zero has conventional missiles and Slingshot capability,” the President said. “The added refinement of the other weapons is proving to be difficult. Development is ongoing. We will get there, Hal, but right now those weapons are still in the theoretical stage. There are complex problems we are still trying to overcome. Major Buchanan is working with Zero Command in the development alongside Kaplan, which is another reason why we mustn’t allow a foreign power to have their chance to get that kind of information out of him.”

“I can understand that, sir. Even without them, Zero is still a hell of an achievement. No other country has anything to match it.”

“Not at this moment in time. Which is exactly why somewhere like China would like to get their hands on it. Hal, we cannot allow this to happen. Zero is our high card. It gives us one hell of an advantage in the defense game. I won’t let it be taken from us. We fight this, Hal, with everything we have. Stony Man. Your teams. I’ll give you whatever you need in backup all the way down the line. No question here. We keep Zero because if someone like China gets its hands on it, we’ll all be in trouble. My God, Hal, can you imagine what would happen if we lost Zero to Beijing?”

“Unfortunately, I can, sir. Which makes this latest move against Saul Kaplan something we need to fully address. Stony Man will put everything we have on this.”

“I don’t care what toes you step on or who you upset. If there are territorial borders you need to cross, I’ll stand by you.”

The President’s mood and his willingness to stand by his people made Brognola aware of the implications if Zero was compromised.

“What about...?” the President started to ask.

He was asking about Mack Bolan.

The Executioner.

“The guy is off somewhere on a mission he initiated himself. He’s gone black. We’ve had no contact with him for over a week. We have no idea where he is right now. And we don’t have the luxury of waiting for him to make contact.”

“I only mentioned him because he was so deeply involved the first time around. No slight on the other teams, Hal, since I know they’ll offer us the best way out of this.”

“You can depend on that, sir. This will be our priority from right now.”

“Keep me informed, Hal. I want to be kept apprised every step of the way,” the President said. “Which brings me to ask, do you need anything?” The Man paused. “Hal, anything.”

Brognola’s phone began to ring. When he took it out, he saw that the screen was showing a call from Stony Man.

“Like I said, Mr. President, we’re on this as of right now. Excuse me, sir, I need to take this.”

The President watched as Brognola took the call. The expression on the big Fed’s face told America’s leader he wasn’t being delivered good news.

“I need to get back to Stony Man, Mr. President. This is hotting up already.”

“Then get out of here, Hal, and good luck.”

Minutes later Brognola was leaving Camp David. Jack Grimaldi, who had been entertained by Camp staff while their bosses liaised, powered the chopper into the bright, cold sky. Stony Man’s ace pilot set course for the Farm.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_fa000672-d682-5268-9e00-34b1880386a2)

Stony Man Farm

David McCarter followed his team into the War Room and took his seat next to Barbara Price. The Phoenix Force commander was clutching a chilled bottle of Classic Coke; he still refused to drink the other flavors currently available, claiming they were technically not the real thing. The Briton stuck to his preferences and would not consider changing; that applied to the Player’s cigarettes he occasionally enjoyed and his beloved 9 mm Browning Hi-Power pistol.

He glanced at the manila folder Price, the Farm’s mission controller, had placed in front of him. He idly scrolled through the pages without comment as the War Room filled up with the Able Team and Hal Brognola, who had arrived at the Farm only minutes ago. Aaron Kurtzman, clutching a steaming mug of his deadly coffee brew, rolled up to the table in his wheelchair.

Five men comprised Phoenix Force, all experienced warriors who carried a long list of credentials that enabled them to face any odds put in their way. McCarter, who had inherited the mantle of leader from the late Yakov Katzenelenbogen, led his team by example.

With a legendary background that included the SAS, McCarter was an accomplished combat veteran and a noted brawler. He could handle aircraft as well as wheeled vehicles and was proficient with most any kind of weapon he could get his hands on. The man had an infectious sense of humor that often got him looked at sideways, but there was not a better man to have at your side in a firefight. He had a reputation for taking chances and ignoring the rules, but McCarter had long ago decided that in the middle of an armed conflict, where the saving of his skin and that of his partners was involved, anything went. He was ultimately proved right.

Some would label him reckless, but the Briton saw breaking the rules mattered if it led to ultimate victory. His manner got him into trouble on more than one occasion, but that did not worry him in the slightest. McCarter had a tough hide, and verbal barbs bounced off him, though after becoming leader of Phoenix Force he had made an effort to temper his impetuous nature.

His team trusted his instincts, and it was a given they would follow him to the gates of Hell to face the Devil if asked. The connection was often close to the truth. The violent savages they had to face were often close to being the mortal equivalent of Satan. McCarter was more than satisfied with the people who backed him.

Calvin James, a tall, lean black man, was the team’s resident medic. James was good-looking, wore a thin moustache and had an easy way with the ladies. As well as being handy when it came to saving lives, James was also a ferocious fighter. Coming from the south side of Chicago had given James a taste of the tough life. He had enlisted in the US Navy at seventeen, and his natural skills and dedication had brought him to the attention of the SEALs. After his service, he had become a cop in San Francisco and it was while on SWAT duty that he had been approached and recruited into Phoenix Force. He might have been a little unsure at the outset, but he now admitted it was the best thing he had ever done.

An expert demolitions man and sniper, Canadian Gary Manning had been a time-served RCMP operative and had spent time with GSG-9, which had given him detailed insight in global terrorist organizations—something he still kept up to date on. He had been a security consultant for an American company and had come to the notice of Brognola’s Special Operations Group. Manning, a powerfully built man with superb reflexes and a no-nonsense attitude, took to the closeness of Phoenix Force quickly. He was a fast thinker and maintained a tolerant attitude toward McCarter’s brashness, even though they engaged in deliberate banter at times. Over the years both men had come to respect each other.

To Rafael Encizo, a Cuban, Phoenix Force had become his family after losing most of his natural one. His experiences back in his home country, including his incarceration in a Cuban political prison from which he eventually escaped, had left Encizo with little to fall back on and a problem with trust. That was before he became a member of the team and found lasting friendship with his adopted country, having taken on citizenship, and with the men of Phoenix Force. The powerfully built commando had excellent reflexes and was a noted martial arts expert.

For Thomas Jackson Hawkins, Phoenix Force had turned out to be the best move of his life. The youngest member of the group, T.J. was also its newest recruit. Born in Georgia, he was raised in the Lone Star State and staunchly considered himself as Texan as the Alamo. After graduating high school, Hawkins joined the Army. After successfully completing Basic, he volunteered for Airborne and was later trained by the Rangers and detailed to the 75th Ranger Regiment. Years later, he moved on to Delta Force.

Following the divisive resolution of Operation Restore Hope, where Hawkins and twelve others of his Delta Force unit successfully secured a Somali village from a small-time warlord, he resigned his commission. News of his actions during that assignment had reached the ears of Hal Brognola, and he offered Hawkins a position with the SOG. “Hawk” to his friends, his genius with electronic communications and airborne ops made him a vital member of the SOG team.