Steven Konkoly
OMEGA
To my family, the heart and soul of my writing. I couldn’t do this without their tireless support and love.
About Black Flagged Omega
Thank you for very patiently waiting for this book. I released Black Flagged VEKTOR (Book 4) in the summer of 2013, after deciding to take a short break from the series. I’d written four books back-to-back in two years and was starting to see the Black Flagged characters in my sleep. That short break turned into a long detour. Six books and several novellas, in two different series, to be exact. I really appreciate your loyalty and patience. I think you’ll find OMEGA worth the wait.
I had a lot of time to ponder the fifth book, which I thought would be the last novel in the core series. I’m very pleased to let you know that there will be a sixth book. Halfway through OMEGA, I realized that the finale I had in mind for this story was worth a full novel, so you can expect book six within the next year or so. I don’t want to give too much away, but the scope of the conspiracy unveiled in OMEGA is vast and devastating, unlike anything you may have read before.
On that note, I need to make a statement that I’ve never included in my books before OMEGA:
All characters and corporations or establishments appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Why the disclaimer? You’ll soon find out. Here’s a little background and a hint. In 2012, I created a fictitious political movement for Black Flagged APEX, called True America. Some similarities in core beliefs between the Tea Party movement and True America existed, but my intention, as stated in APEX, was to create a third, viable party vying for political power. I had plans for True America later in the series. Fast-forward to the spring of 2016, when I finished the first third of OMEGA, in which True America shocks the establishment and wins the 2008 (series time) presidential election. You can probably see where this is headed.
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t”
Black Flagged OMEGA takes place in 2009, roughly two years after the events of Black Flagged VEKTOR.
***I have also included a short story written about Daniel Petrovich’s time as an undercover operative in Serbia. CLICK HERE to read it before you start, or enjoy it after OMEGA. You can also find it in the Table of Contents titled ORIGINS.
Prologue
Srecko Hadzic shuffled impatiently along the pea green linoleum floor toward his cell. He’d just finished another unsatisfying meal of unidentifiable meat, mashed potatoes, and soft green beans in the cafeteria. He craved a cigarette, but this pleasure would have to wait. He’d waited all day for this moment. After dinner, the detention unit’s staff invariably left him alone until the first evening room check around 7:30.
His attorney had passed him a USB drive, which contained an encrypted digital file from his nephew. Srecko had received an email from Josif a few days earlier, confirming that “production of the documentary was complete,” but he gave no indication of when the film would be delivered. The suspense had aggravated Srecko’s heart palpitations as he anxiously awaited the video of Zorana Zekulic’s gang rape and murder.
The thumb drive had arrived earlier today at his attorney’s office in Amsterdam via DHL Overnight Delivery from Buenos Aires. A message from his nephew’s email account apologized for the delay and provided a decryption key for the thumb drive. He tried not to skip back to his cell. The mood in the detention unit ranged from dour to utterly depressed, and he didn’t want to raise anyone’s suspicions, including his fellow prisoners. He wanted a solid hour or two to enjoy Zorana’s last miserable moments on Earth. He wasn’t sure how long the video lasted, but he intended to savor it over and over again, fast-forwarding to the good parts… unless they were all good parts. He really hoped Josif had edited the final cut.
He walked into his cell and closed the heavy metal door behind him, making sure to shut the observation hatch. They could open the peephole, but generally respected the detainees’ privacy during daytime hours. He couldn’t remember the last time one of the detention center guards had checked on him between dinner and the evening room check. Still, his computer monitor was fixed facing the door, so he would have to be careful. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to watch the video with his pants down. He’d save that for later, after he found his favorite scenes.
He walked through his room, which resembled a decently appointed college dorm. A spare bed with clean linens sat across from a wall-mounted desk unit housing his computer. A simple hard plastic-backed metal wire chair was pushed under the desk. He moved the chair back and sat in front of the desktop, eagerly pushing the thumb drive into the single USB port on the ancient machine.
The screen activated and he quickly navigated to the contents of the thumb drive, which contained one file. He removed a scrap of paper from a folder next to the computer and clicked on the file. He was immediately prompted for the decryption password. Once entered, Windows media manager launched, recognizing the file as an MPEG. When the MPEG launched, the status window indicated “20:17.”
A little short, he thought.
He had expected more than twenty minutes; then again, a well-edited effort could be more rewarding than hours of drawn-out torture and drama. He clicked on the play button.
The video started with a panoramic view of a neatly arranged bedroom, eventually settling in on a stainless steel contraption that Srecko immediately recognized as some kind of restraining device. It looked extremely durable and sturdy, with thick straps affixed at several points along the suspension bars. He tried to envision how she would be strapped into this contraption. The video stayed focused on the device, teasing him. His nephew produced superior work. He glanced at his cell door and reconsidered his clothing options. No. He would wait.
The image faded, replaced with a close-up shot of a bloodied woman that he immediately recognized. She looked like she had been beaten and strangled for hours, her clothing and skin slick with blood. She stood there for a moment with a blank look on her face, like she had given up. He kind of wished that they hadn’t skipped the beating part of her experience. Maybe Josif would use flashbacks to show this. From what he could tell, his nephew had quite an artistic talent.
The scene changed again and Zorana was strapped into the contraption, but something wasn’t right. Why had Josif dressed her up in white coveralls? He saw Zorana struggle and twist to no avail, which eased Srecko back into his chair for a moment. The writhing stopped a few seconds later, and she lifted her head above the horizontal plane of her body. He violently launched the chair back against the bed and stood up with a disgustedly confused look on his face. Josif was strapped into the harness with duct tape across his mouth. What in the hell was wrong with his nephew? This was the person he had groomed to run the show while he was temporarily stuck in prison?
He suddenly understood what he was watching when Zorana Zekulic appeared and took a seat on the bed next to his nephew. She grinned madly at the camera and effortlessly twirled a wicked-looking black serrated knife in her right hand. He sat back down and gripped the sides of the chair, squeezing them as Zorana went to work on Josif. He forced himself to watch the rest of the video, feeding the rage that raised his blood pressure and heart rate to dangerous levels. Several minutes later, he watched helplessly as one of her accomplices summarily executed his nephew. Josif had still been strapped to the harness when the man sprayed his brains onto the bedroom wall.