We ran through a large lobby, and Fuller used his base security pass to get us into the main block. We sprinted down a long corridor, went round a corner and saw two Secret Service agents either side of a blast door.
“Down!” the sergeant yelled, raising his rifle at the startled men.
“Hold them,” Fuller commanded the two Marine privates we’d picked up in the lobby. “With me, sergeant.”
Fuller used the biometric palm reader and iris scanner to open the blast doors, and we stepped into one of the most secure places on Earth.
Chapter 108
Like rowdy party crashers, Fuller, the sergeant and I burst into a huge air-cooled room. More than eighty people were seated theatre-style, facing a podium that had been decked out in the Stars and Stripes. This was a gathering of some of the most senior military commanders in the United States, and there were a lot of uniforms and chest candy — brightly colored ribbons — on display. Marines and Secret Service agents were dotted at key points around the room. Beyond the seating area, two glass walls overlooked a vast server farm that stretched as far as the eye could see. A large clock hung from one of the interior walls, displaying a countdown that had just cycled through three minutes. The audience had been listening to Eli Carver, the Secretary of Defense, who was at the lectern, partway through his speech. He paused and looked at us in bemusement.
“Can we help you gentlemen?” he asked.
The assembled audience turned as one, and two Secret Service agents started toward us.
“Excuse me, sirs,” one of the agents said.
“Mr. Secretary, you have to stop the countdown,” Fuller responded.
“XO, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” a brigadier general asked as he got to his feet. I guessed it was Mark Hawkins, the base commander.
“Stop the countdown?” Secretary Carver asked. “Now why would we want to do that?”
“Because you’re about to hand all our military intelligence over to the Russians,” I replied.
“And you are?” Carver asked.
“My name isn’t important.”
“That’s Jack Morgan,” a woman said.
A murmur of disquiet rippled through the audience, and I scanned the room to find the speaker near the front. It was Ann Kavanagh.
Minerva.
Her words caused sensation among the crowd, who clearly recognized my name from news reports.
“He’s wanted as a Russian spy and this is clearly an attempt by a hostile government to stop us deploying technology that will give America significant tactical advantage,” Kavanagh lied.
“Take that man into custody,” Brigadier General Hawkins said.
“I can’t allow that, sir,” Fuller replied.
A squad of six Marines formed up and moved toward us, and they were joined by a couple more Secret Service agents.
“What do we do, sir?” the sergeant asked Fuller.
“Hold your ground,” Fuller replied.
“What the hell has gotten into you, Fuller?” Brigadier General Hawkins asked.
“You need to listen to this man, sir,” Fuller declared, pointing at me.
“He’s a spy and a traitor,” Ann Kavanagh countered. “He should be in prison.”
A four-star US Army general near Kavanagh stood up and barked an order. “Seize those men!”
The Marine guards and Secret Service agents rushed us, and Fuller and the sergeant raised their weapons.
“Back off!” Fuller yelled, forcing a standoff.
Everyone froze, and there was a silent, nerve-racking moment of ice-cold tension.
Only one person moved. Ann Kavanagh leaned over and spoke to a man in a dark suit. He had his back to me, but I recognized him nonetheless. I could tell who he was by the set of his shoulders. He turned to face me, and when our eyes locked, I felt a rush of anger. It was Veles, and he was posing as a member of Kavanagh’s entourage.
I couldn’t help myself. I rushed forward instinctively, and found myself staring down the barrels of a number of weapons.
“Stand down!” someone roared.
“Drop your weapons,” Fuller shouted in reply.
We were outgunned and outnumbered. It didn’t take a genius to see what would happen. The Marine squad moved in quickly, and disarmed Fuller and the sergeant, who surrendered their weapons reluctantly. I was manhandled by the Secret Service team, and the three of us were thrown face down onto the concrete floor.
We’d tried to prevent a strategic catastrophe, and we’d failed.
It was over.
Chapter 109
As bleak as things looked, I wasn’t prepared to give up.
“Mr. Secretary, you’ve got to stop this!” I yelled. I glanced up at the countdown and saw it pass through one minute. “If my story doesn’t check out, you can restart the countdown.”
Someone pressed my face into the floor.
“Shut the hell up!” a voice commanded.
It would take more than that to make me shut up. “This is our national security we’re talking about. Surely it’s worth checking out.”
“Can we get these people out of here?” a voice shouted. I was pretty sure it was the four-star general who’d been sitting near Kavanagh. “And let’s get this machine online.”
I felt strong hands lift me up, and I was frogmarched toward the blast door. Fuller and the sergeant were pushed ahead of me.
“Hold on there,” Secretary Carver said. “Someone switch this thing off.”
I glanced round and saw him gesture at the countdown.
“The man’s right. One last check won’t hurt. And if he’s wrong, we just start it up again. No harm no foul. It’s not like anyone’s got anywhere more important to be.”
There was a ripple of laughter, and the mood lightened, but I noticed two people who weren’t smiling: Ann Kavanagh and Veles.
“Mr. Secretary—” the four-star general began.
“Indulge me, general. Let’s hear what this Mr. Morgan has to say,” Carver cut him off.
The blast door opened, and Corporal Ryan entered with Hector and Dinara.
“More guests?” Secretary Carver remarked. “Why not? The more the merrier.”
Another ripple of laughter ran through the audience, but it stopped when the first gunshots rang out.
Six members of Ann Kavanagh’s entourage were on their feet, wielding handguns and shooting at the nearest Marine guards and Secret Service agents. Kavanagh ran behind the podium, while Veles leaped onto it, grabbed Carver and took him hostage.
I watched in horror as the Russian assassin disappeared behind the large swirling Stars and Stripes. He followed Kavanagh, dragging the US Secretary of Defense with him.
Chapter 110
The crowd scattered as the firefight intensified between members of Kavanagh’s entourage and the Marine guards and Secret Service agents. Screams filled the air, punctuated by semi-automatic gunfire. Jack and the two Marines with him were released and the men who’d been holding them captive joined the shootout.
“Fuller!” Jack yelled. “With me!”
He set off with Fuller in pursuit. The other Marine who was with them took a couple of paces, and was shot in the shoulder.
“Help him,” Dinara said to Hector, who nodded and rushed to the fallen man’s side.
Dinara ducked as she set off after Jack. He and Fuller ran round the seating area, behind the podium and down an access corridor that led away from the auditorium. They were chasing Kavanagh and Veles, who was being slowed by dragging a struggling man at gunpoint. A Secret Service agent was also chasing them. The agent was twenty or thirty paces ahead of Jack and Fuller, and Dinara was twenty paces behind them.
“Stop!” the Secret Service agent yelled.