Deception Point Page 98

Jesus Christ.The controller looked back at the deck. Delta-Two still hung in the Tritons claws, provided now the sub was suspend over a gaping hole in the deck. His feet dangled over the void. All Tolland had to do was release the claws, and Delta-Two would be next.Okay, the controller barked into the CrypTalk. Hold on. Just hold onRachel stood below on the deck and stared up at the Kiowa. Even from this height the controller sensed the resolve in her eyes. Rachel raised the CrypTalk to her mouth. You still think were bluffing? she said. squall the main switchboard at the NRO. Ask for Jim Samiljan. Hes in P A on the nightshift. I told him everything about the meteorite. He will confirm.Shes giving me a circumstantial name? This did not bode well. Rachel Sexton was no fool, and this was a bluff the controller could check in a matter of seconds. Although the controller knew of no cardinal at the NRO named Jim Samiljan, the organization was enormous. Rachel could quite possibly be t elling the truth. Before ordering the final kill, the controller had to confirm if this was a bluff-or not.Delta-One looked over his shoulder. You want me to inactivate the jammer so you can call and check it out?The controller peered down at Rachel and Tolland, both in plain view. If either of them made a run low for a cellphone or radio, the controller knew Delta-One could always reactivate and cut them by. The risk was minimal.Kill the jammer, the controller said, pulling out a cellphone. Ill confirm Rachels lying. therefore well find a way to get Delta-Two and end this.In Fair telefax, the operator at the NROs central switchboard was getting impatient. As I just told you, I see no Jim Samiljan in the Plans and Analysis Division.The caller was insistent. Have you tried multiple spellings? Have you tried other departments?The operator had already check out, but she checked again. After several seconds, she said, Nowhere on staff do we have a Jim Samiljan. Under any spelling.Th e caller sounded oddly pleased by this. So you are certain the NRO employs no Jim Samil-A sudden flurry of activity erupted on the line. Someone yelled. The caller cursed aloud and promptly hung up.Onboard the Kiowa, Delta-One was screaming with furore as he scrambled to reactivate the jamming system. He had made the realization too late. In the huge array of lighted controls in the cockpit, a tiny LED meter indicated that a SATCOM entropy signal was being transmitted from the Goya. But how? Nobody left the deck Before Delta-One could engage the jammer, the tie from the Goya terminated on its own accord.Inside the hydrolab, the fax machine beeped contentedly.CARRIER FOUND FAX SENT121Kill or be killed. Rachel had discovered a part of herself she never knew existed. Survival mode-a savage fortitude fueled by fear.What was in that outbound fax? the percentage on the CrypTalk de homosexualded.Rachel was relieved to hear proof that the fax had gone out as planned. abandon the area, she demanded, speaking into the CrypTalk and glaring up at the hovering chop shot. Its over. Your secret is out. Rachel informed their attackers of all the information she had just sent. A half dozen pages of images and text. Incontrovertible evidence that the meteorite was a fake. Harming us will only make your situation worse.There was a heavy pause. Who did you send the fax to?Rachel had no intention of answering that question. She and Tolland needed to buy as much time as possible. They had positioned themselves near the opening in the deck, on a hire line with the Triton, making it impossible for the chopper to shoot without hitting the pass dangling in the subs claws.William Pickering, the voice guessed, sounding oddly hopeful. You faxed Pickering.Wrong, Rachel thought. Pickering would have been her first choice, but she had been forced to choose someone else for fear her attackers had already eliminated Pickering-a move whose boldness would be a chilling testimony to her enemys resolve. In a moment of larger-than-life decision, Rachel had faxed the data to the only other fax number she knew by heart.Her sires office.Senator Sextons office fax number had been painfully engraved into Rachels memory after her mothers death when her father chose to work out many of the particulars of the estate without having to deal with Rachel in person. Rachel never imagined she would turn to her father in a time of need, but tonight the man possessed two critical qualities-all the correct political motivations to release the meteorite data without hesitation, and enough clout to call the White House and blackmail them into calling off this kill squad.Although her father was most certainly not in the office at this hour, Rachel knew he kept his office locked like a vault. Rachel had, in effect, faxed the data into a time-lock safe. Even if the attackers knew where she had sent it, chances were slim they could get through the tight federal security at the Philip A. Hart Senate Office Building and break into a senators office without anyone noticing.Wherever you sent the fax, the voice from above said. Youve put that person in danger.Rachel knew she had to speak from a position of power regardless of the fear she was feeling. She motioned to the soldier trapped in the Tritons claws. His legs dangled over the abyss, dripping blood thirty feet to the ocean. The only person in danger here is your agent, she said into the CrypTalk. Its over. Back off. The data is gone. Youve lost. Leave the area, or this man dies.The voice on the CrypTalk fired back, Ms. Sexton, you do not comprehend the importance-Understand? Rachel exploded. I understand that you killed innocent people I understand that you lied about the meteorite And I understand that you wont get away with this Even if you kill us all, its overThere was a long pause. Finally the voice said, Im coming down.Rachel felt her muscles tighten. Coming down?I am unarmed, the voice said. Do not do any thing rash. You and I need to talk face-to-face.Before Rachel could react, the chopper dropped onto the Goyas deck. The passenger door on the fuselage opened and a figure stepped out. He was a plain-looking man in a black coat and tie. For an instant, Rachels thoughts went totally blank.She was agaze at William Pickering.William Pickering stood on the deck of the Goya and gazed with regret at Rachel Sexton. He had never imagined today would come to this. As he moved toward her, he could see the spartan combination of emotions in his employees eyes.Shock, betrayal, confusion, rage.All understandable, he thought. There is so much she does not understand.For a moment, Pickering flashed on his daughter, Diana, wondering what emotions she had felt before she died. Both Diana and Rachel were casualties of the alike(p) war, a war Pickering had vowed to fight forever. Sometimes the casualties could be so cruel.Rachel, Pickering said. We can still work this out. Theres a lot I need to exp lain.Rachel Sexton looked aghast, queasy almost. Tolland had the machine gun now and was aiming at Pickerings chest. He too looked bewildered.Stay back Tolland yelled.Pickering stopped five yards away, focusing on Rachel. Your father is taking bribes, Rachel. Payoffs from snobby space companies. He plans to dismantle NASA and open space to the private sector. He had to be stopped, as a matter of national security.Rachels expression was blank.