The targeting system on the EHD was amazing. Despite running across rough terrain, the Reaper could keep the rifle stable while tracking whatever target it had identified. Paul found himself awestruck at the integration of the virtual reality technology; the digital and physical world had blurred together in the EHD.
The Russians began to pour more and more soldiers out of the surrounding buildings to attack the Americans. The Russians were truly caught off guard; they had been expecting the Americans to attack them, but had anticipated soldiers in Raptor combat suits. They did not know how to respond to this new threat.
A Russian officer observing the attack from the window of one of the buildings a little farther away from the base headquarters would later write that in his memoirs of the war that when the Americans attacked with their new weapon, it looked like something out of a Sci-Fi novel. He saw a small cluster of soldiers’ attack one of the EHDs and hit it with at least a dozen rounds, only to see the drone get back up and continue to attack. Another drone had been hit by a heavy machine gun, ripping one of its arms off. The drone continued to fight on with it’s one good arm, until the heavy machine gunner hit it with a stream of rounds that eventually disabled the drone.
Within an hour, Paul’s company had secured the airfield and their objectives. Of the 132 EHDs that participated in the attack, they had lost nineteen. Three of the soldiers from their maintenance platoon had been injured when a mortar round landed nearby their maintenance pod; however, aside from their injuries, his company had captured the enemy airfield with no casualties at all. This was a feat that would have cost his company dozens of dead or injured soldiers if they had carried out the attack with only the Raptor suits.
The success of Captain Allen’s company was repeated throughout the peninsula as they continued to take control of each objective the EHDs had been given. By the end of the first day of the operation, they had secured half a dozen enemy airfields, and several small cities and port facilities. The 32nd Infantry Division immediately began to unload the rest of their armored vehicles and tanks as they began the task of turning the peninsula into a forward operating base and launch pad for further deep penetration operations into the Russian heartland. By the end of the first week, they had secured all their objectives with very few casualties. The division had 2,600 EHDs at the start of the operation and had lost 431 to enemy action and 214 to maintenance issues. The first combat test of the EHDs had proven successful and now their implementation across the rest of the army would begin in earnest.
Honey Pot, Not so Sweet
It was cloudy and dreary outside. A light mist was starting to fall as Petr Gromley entered the Pivnoi Bar. The tavern was a small, out of the way place that afforded those government officials who did not want to be seen with unsavory characters the opportunity to conduct meetings unnoticed. Mr. Gromley was not comfortable meeting Sasha Petrosky in Moscow, even if this was a secluded backroom bar. There were too many curious eyes and ears in Moscow for Gromley’s liking. He pulled his ball cap down a little lower as he moved to a small table against the wall, not far from the door. He took a seat with his back against the wall, waiting for Sasha to arrive.
Sasha is what people in the intelligence circles called “a honey pot.” She had been specially trained by Russian intelligence to use her looks and sexuality as a weapon for the purpose of gathering intelligence, and to eliminate those her superiors directed her to kill. Sasha was still young at thirty-two years old, and highly intelligent. She had studied economics at the London School of Economics and obtained a Master’s in finance at the Wharton School in Finance by the age of 24. Following a year of specialized training with the Russian SVR, the external intelligence and espionage arm of the FSB (Russian Secret Service), she had been recruited by Goldman Sachs to work as a financial analyst and consultant. This position afforded her favorable placement, and access to a wide range of influential people across the world. Her handler at Goldman Sachs ensured that Sasha had a loose consulting schedule and little oversight, which allowed her to work on a wide variety of opportunities.
Sasha had been on assignment in London, tasked with obtaining information about the American Moon-mining operation. She had befriended the Chief Financial Officer of a British space mining corporation, who had just signed a joint venture agreement with Deep Space Industries, the leading company managing the mining operations for the American base on the Moon. Her company had helped them acquire the funding needed for the joint venture and her “new boyfriend” was only too eager to tell her all about the minerals being mined on the Moon and how the Americans were incorporating the materials into their new armor and technology.
She was finally obtaining the valuable information she had been after, and now she had been called back to Moscow for a secret meeting. She risked blowing her cover; she had to travel through several different neutral countries without drawing suspicion. It was a risk, one she was not happy about having to take.
As she walked into the bar, a place she had frequented during her SVR training many years ago, she spotted Petr. It had been said that Petr was the man behind the rise of President Fradkov and many of the other leaders within the Russian Federation. When she had been told that she would be meeting with Mr. Gromley, she was a bit taken aback. Why would such a powerful man want to meet with her? Not that she had a choice — she arranged for them to meet, and chose this place because it was a hole-in-the-wall place where two people could talk and go relatively unnoticed.
Petr recognized Sasha as soon she walked through the door into the bar. His contacts had been right. She was a very attractive woman, though she was wearing a coat and headscarf that did a good job of hiding her beauty. As she walked up to his table, she greeted him with a soft kiss on both cheeks and then took her seat next to his, as if they were close friends.
Blushing slightly, Sasha said, “It is a pleasure to meet you…but I must say I am not sure why you have asked for me.”
Sizing her up before responding, he told her, “I have recalled you because I have an important mission for you. I need someone of your skillset and trust to do what I am about to ask.”
Her eyes darted about, searching his for any signs or clues of what he meant. Not sure what this cryptic response meant, she asked, “What tasks do you have for me? I cannot be away from my original assignment for very long without drawing suspicion.”
Gromley slid a capsule across the table towards Sasha, who casually picked it up and quickly placed it in her Louis Vuitton handbag. “You are going to be brought to President Fradkov’s Dasha tomorrow night along, with one other woman. Each Wednesday night, he has two whores brought to his Dasha for the evening. We are replacing one of his regulars with you for the evening. He may be suspicious, but you will need to dissuade him from turning you away. Once he has accepted you, you need to swap out one of his Viagra pills with the one I just gave you, without being noticed.”
Sasha thought about the capsule that had just been given to her and what was most likely in it. She did not like the thought of killing the President and being one of two prostitutes in the room with him when the poison took hold.
Seeing her sour facial expression, Petr added, “The poison is time-delayed. It will take 48 hours for it to release in his body. Once it does, it will appear as if he has had a sudden heart attack. You will already be on your way back to London by the time the poison kicks in,” he said, reading her mind.