Death Minus Zero

The talents and skills each man brought to the table made Phoenix Force a formidable combination. Their successful missions were mute testimony to their dedication. They went into each new situation with one single purpose—to give their best under extreme circumstances and to never back down from any challenge. Putting their lives on the line did nothing to deter Phoenix Force in any instance. They saw that situations often developed because no other agency would step in, and with the anonymity of Stony Man and the ultimate backing of the President, Phoenix Force stepped into the breach and did what they could to redress the balances. Their reward was the satisfaction of a task brought to a successful conclusion with, hopefully, the closure they desired.

Phoenix Force’s five were complemented by Able Team, who dealt mainly with domestic threats, though they occasionally took on assignments abroad. Three men from widely divergent backgrounds had blended together to form a resilient and tough team that worked on the same premise as Phoenix Force.

Carl “Ironman” Lyons was a blond ex-cop who led the trio. He was one of the hardest men around, his bull-at-a-gate attitude often resulting in utter carnage. He did not like badmen and treated them all with equal contempt. His credo could be summed up as “kill them all and let God sort them out.”

During Mack Bolan’s early career, Lyons had been one of the cops assigned to hunt him down, and though their paths had crossed, seemingly on opposite sides, the berserker that was Lyons came to not only understand the Executioner but also to change sides and back him. That backing went as far as Lyons’s becoming a member of the SOG and ultimately the head honcho of Able Team.

Lyons was fully competent with any and all kinds of weapons. He kept himself geared up to understand the latest developments and spent many hours at the Stony Man shooting range, familiarizing himself with the latest weaponry under the tutelage of John “Cowboy” Kissinger, the resident armorer. Kissinger had the skills and the expertise to advise on any kind of ordnance and would give his time willingly, because he understood what the combat teams had to face out in the field. Spending time with Kissinger and increasing his skill with weapons was one of the ways Lyons relaxed.

Lyons’s partners, also survivors of Bolan’s original war, were Hermann “Gadgets” Schwarz and Rosario “Politician” Blancanales. Each had particular skills and each was equally proficient when it came to out-and-out combat. While Blancanales had the gift of persuasion, Schwarz was the man for inventiveness with gadgets of every kind. He loved nothing better than working with electronic components, always searching for adaptations and improvements of existing hardware.

Blancanales and Schwarz also had an insatiable appetite for constantly ribbing their sometimes touchy leader. It had become an integral function of their makeup. It was part devilment and part need to release tension in stressful situations. That aside, they understood Lyons and were able to put up with his often curt responses to their verbal pronouncements. They were both older than Lyons, but they had no problem keeping in step with the former LAPD detective.

Also at the table was Hal Brognola, the Stony Man chief, his Justice Department role giving him cover for his covert running of the SOG, something he achieved with a skill even he often couldn’t understand. As far as he was concerned, it was his job and he did it the best way he knew how.

And then there was Barbara Price, the mission controller. Her wide-ranging responsibilities included mission briefings such as this one; she also had the day-to-day logistical matters to handle, and in the opinion of the Stony Man teams there was no one better. The honey-blonde, strikingly attractive former NSA agent, who felt at home in blue jeans, simple shirts and Western boots, had a magic touch when it came to organizing missions, whether she was simply buying air tickets or engaging in more involved dealings with the US Air Force when unnoticed insertions into risky areas were called for. She made sure the teams had what they wanted, where they wanted and when. If it was humanly possible Barbara Price would go that one step beyond to make sure her guys were delivered safely and, if needed, picked up under the same auspices. When they were in the field, she worried about them constantly and was always there at the end of a phone call with much-needed backup. Given the opportunity, she would have armed herself and gone to their aid if they asked.

Across from Price sat Aaron “the Bear” Kurtzman, the ruling hand of the cyber team. Confined to a wheelchair after a bullet severed his spine during an abortive attack on the Stony Man facility years back, Kurtzman was the driving force behind the team that provided logistical information for the Farm’s teams. His skills behind a keyboard, allied with those of his cyber people, meant that no digital stone was ever left unturned.

Kurtzman and his team—Akira Tokaido, Huntington Wethers and Carmen Delahunt—openly stole, siphoned and worked magic to obtain their data. Brognola had one rule: do what you have to, just don’t get caught, and don’t tell me, if you can get away with it—the last always accompanied by a knowing smile. Kurtzman’s cyber team did just that and stayed well out of reach of every agency in the country and abroad.

The Computer Room that was Kurtzman’s lair was equipped with high-power computers and lightning-fast internet connections. The walls were filled with large plasma monitor screens, and the cyber crew used their wireless appliances to push data back and forth with ease as they probed and dug for the information they needed. They had a direct connection with Zero and could deliver and exchange information with Doug Buchanan whenever needed.

The President’s covert group, from the combat teams to the on-the-job blacksuits and maintenance personnel, worked in obscurity. They asked for and received no recognition or praise. When it came to job satisfaction, Hal Brognola and his clandestine outfit found it in bringing a mission home to success.

Once everyone was settled, Brognola nodded at Kurtzman and the Stony Man cyber chief used a touch pad to power up one of the large plasma screens fixed to the wall.

“No need to ask if you are all familiar with Saul Kaplan,” Brognola began as the Zero creator’s photo appeared on the wall screen.

“The man behind the Zero Project,” Rafael Encizo attested. “Smart guy. Nice guy, as well. You don’t often get that combination.”

“I am sitting across from you,” McCarter quipped, grinning at his own wit.

Brognola interjected, “Kaplan’s missing. All the signs point to an abduction. When the Air Force car he was traveling in was found, the driver was dead—shot in the back of the head—and Kaplan was gone.”

“Any suspects?” Manning said.

“If I compiled a list we’d be here all day,” Brognola said. “Zero, as much as we want to keep it low-key, has created interested parties.”

“There haven’t been any demands,” Price noted. “Nada, from anyone.”

“I don’t anticipate that happening,” Brognola said. “Saul Kaplan is not known outside his working environment except by a select few, so I don’t believe he’s been taken by someone liable to want to ransom him. This isn’t about someone who wants a shedload of cash for the return of Saul Kaplan.”

“On the other hand, a foreign power might want him for a particular purpose,” Price said.

“Like coercing him to spill what he knows about Zero?” Hawkins asked. “I mean that’s his thing. Having knowledge about the setup.”

“That’s how we see it,” Brognola said. “And our chief suspect—coming from Agent Claire Valens—is the same one who was involved last time.”

“China,” McCarter said. “Well, we all know they were the main perps last time around. They attacked the Zero base and burned it to the ground. Doug Buchanan escaped by a fluke before they found him. And we all know how it went from there.”

“You figure they’re still in the game?” Blancanales queried.

“They have a degree of knowledge about Zero,” Encizo said. “And they still have alliances in the Pacific Rim. As long as the US has presence and influence in that area, there are going to be interested parties who want an advantage over us.”

“According to long-term analysis,” Brognola said, “the overall consensus points to China and the Pacific Rim nations. Anything that would give them a hold over the US, force us to withdraw, weaken our defenses, is going to be looked at. China, with control of Zero, would dominate the area. Hell, they would be able to threaten half the world.”

He slid a printed sheet from his file and placed it on the table. “This is the current text from a US asset in China. Been in place a couple of years. Her name is Jui Kai. She’s been able to send back a number of reports on sensitive ops being worked by the Chinese under this guy.” An image came up on the wall screen. “This is Colonel Xia Chan. Chinese military, in charge of a special projects division. And recent data points to him having been appointed as top man in a group looking at Zero.”

Kurtzman said, “We’re still building identification data. More we get, the more we will release to you. This has all come to us out of the blue.”

The image of a woman next appeared on the screen. It showed an attractive and seemingly wise individual and the text next to the image simply added to her qualifications.

“Jui Kai. US covert agent,” Kurtzman told them. “Long-term undercover in China. As Hal said, she has been in the country a couple of years using a well-established cover role. She has got herself close to Chan.”

“Hope she’s as sharp as she looks,” McCarter said. “Not an assignment I’d fancy.”

“Not you,” James said. “Let’s face it, David, you just don’t have the legs for one of those Chinese slit-sided dresses.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

Price held up a hand. “Not something I’d like to imagine.”

Carl Lyons flicked the data sheet. “It says here Kai has worked herself onto the flight team providing trips for important Chinese officials.”

“It seems she caught the roving eye of our Colonel Chan, who has a thing for young women, and was assigned to his flight roster once she established a relationship with him. Whenever Chan takes a trip, Kai is on his flight. It seems he insists she is assigned. His influence is strong enough to get him what he wants. Kai’s feedback tells us Chan is highly thought of by the Chinese top brass.”

“How did she manage to work that position?” Blancanales said.

Price cleared her throat. “I believe that’s something we don’t need to go into too deeply.”

Blancanales glanced across at her. “Really?”

“Pol, I’m sure I don’t need to go into sharp details. Suffice it to say that Miss Kai really has Colonel Chan’s attention.”

“She’s one brave lady,” Hawkins said. “From that picture, our Colonel Chan looks a pretty mean hombre.”

“Past history does show Chan has a suspect past with females,” Price said.

Brognola continued. “Phoenix Force will take a run out to Zero Command and make contact with Agent Valens. Pick up whatever you can from there. Intel is thin on the ground at the moment, but we have to make a start somewhere. Able Team can take a lead from the background data Aaron and his team have started to pull in from traffic cams in the area following the kidnap. We might get a lead from those according to what comes up. I wish we had more to go on, but for now that’s all she wrote. So let’s do it, people.”

The teams began to disperse, heading out to claim paperwork and travel gear. Stony Man transport would provide them with vehicles, and if any long-distance needs arose Price would, as usual, organize that.

Finally alone, Brognola sat back and considered what might lie ahead. The Zero Project was important. It offered America a degree of protection no other nation had, so he was not surprised that whoever was behind Kaplan’s kidnap had taken the step. If Kaplan could be persuaded, in whatever form, to spill what he knew about Zero, then trouble could be just on the horizon.

If the US lost Zero, it would lose a powerful security asset.

One that could not be replaced so easily.