He looked at his watch. It was time to head in for the morning briefing. He clipped the holster with his Sig onto his belt and let the shirt drape over it. He put on a pork pie hat and a pair of sunglasses and went out into the hall to the elevator.
He scanned the parking garage as he stepped out of the elevator but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He got into his car and began the drive to work. Traffic was heavy. It was always heavy, except in the early morning hours. Not like the long, empty stretches of desert highway back home.
It had been too long since he'd been home. His Auntie had done her best when she was bringing him up to pass on to him the traditions of the Diné, his people. She'd made him learn Diné bizaad, the Navajo language. She'd taught him respect for the healing ceremonies that traditional Navajos relied upon to restore their sense of harmony and oneness with the world.
Somehow life always managed to shatter one's sense of harmony. At the moment, about the only thing Ronnie felt at one with was the steering wheel under his hands. Lately he'd felt like he was being stalked by the Chindi, the evil ghosts of the enemies he'd killed. It wasn't that he really believed in ghosts, but it wouldn't hurt to undergo a healing ceremony. He decided that when this new mission was finished he would go back to Arizona for a while. Maybe he could get Lamont and Nick to go with him. He wasn't the only one who could use a little help with his ghosts.
When he got to Harker's office, he was late. Everyone was already there. Lamont pretended that the glare from Ronnie's shirt was hurting his eyes. He put on a pair of Ray Bans and leaned over to stare at one of the hula dancers.
"Nice shirt, Ronnie."
"One of these days you're going to hurt my feelings," Ronnie said. "It's not my fault you can't appreciate true art."
Harker said. "I'm glad you're back, Lamont. Now, can we focus here?"
"Sorry, Director."
She turned to Nick. "What happened yesterday?" she said.
"Someone followed us on the way to the hospital," he said. "When we came out, they began shooting. Usually the shooting doesn't start until we're in the middle of a mission."
"Looks like the mission has already started," Elizabeth said. "We need to brainstorm this. Make some assumptions."
"What do we know?" Selena said.
"We know someone considers us a threat," Nick said, "but not much else."
Harker said, "First me, then the rest of you. Coming after us is a preemptive strike. Do we all agree on that?"
She looked around the room. The others nodded.
"The question is why?"
Nick said, "It could be the same people that tried to kill Rice."
"My intuition says it is," Elizabeth said, "but I can't prove it yet."
"If it is the same people," Selena said, "they could be worried we'll find out who they are."
Stephanie was sitting apart from the others at her computer console, near Harker's desk. Now she said, "I think it has to be more than that. What do they gain by poisoning Rice?"
"It's like a regime change," Lamont said. "With Edmonds running things, it's a whole different ballgame."
"You think someone is planning a coup?" Nick said.
"Not planning it, starting it," Lamont said. "Edmonds could be in on it."
"He's not the President yet. Rice is still alive. It takes more than a failed assassination attempt to take over the government."
"What else would they need to do?" Ronnie said.
"They have to create fear," Selena said. "Enough to get everyone so upset they'll accept harsh government controls, like martial law."
"They'd need an excuse like massive riots," Stephanie said, "like what happened in Russia."
Harker said, "You think what happened in Russia is related to what's happening here?"
Stephanie frowned. "It could be. If a riot like that happened in New York or Chicago or LA, the government would have to send in troops, like they did in Russia. Impose a curfew. Take over services, all of that."
"That's a real leap, Steph," Nick said.
"I don't think so." Stephanie twisted the bracelets on her wrist, first one way than the other. "Look what happened in Novosibirsk. If that happened here, it would provide an excuse to bring down the hammer."
"That's a Presidential call," Selena said.
"And who's the acting President?" Nick looked at her. "Do you trust Edmonds to defend personal freedom?"
No one had anything to say about that.
Stephanie cleared her throat. "Speaking of Edmonds, I tracked down that helicopter that came after Elizabeth. It was manufactured in France and sold to a company called Global Enterprise Solutions."
"I've heard of them," Nick said. "Aren't they a big construction firm?"
"Construction, engineering, oil and more," Stephanie said. "It's a huge company doing billions of dollars worth of business a year. Guess who was the former CEO before he got elected to office?"
"Edmonds?"
Stephanie nodded. "It doesn't prove he's involved, but it's another one of those coincidences."
Ronnie scratched the top of his head. "Sometimes I don't like what we find when we do the assumption thing," he said.
"Do you really think a coup could happen here?" Selena said.
"If people thought we were under attack, it might be possible," Elizabeth said. "The Patriot Act suspends the Bill of Rights. It's never been hard to get most people in line when they think they're being threatened. Any new regulations would be presented as necessary and temporary."
"So what do we do now?" Lamont said.
Harker picked up her black pen. Nick waited for her to begin tapping. She set it down again.
"We have no proof at all that someone wants to overthrow our government. The key to this is that satellite weapon, or whatever it is. We need to find out what it is and who's behind it. There has to be someplace they're using as a headquarters or communication center, a place to control it. Something this sophisticated can't be called up on a cell phone."
"Once we find it, then what?" Lamont asked.
"Then we destroy it."
"Sure," Nick said, "but we have to find it first."
Stephanie said, "I have a lead. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. You remember I said I detected a micro-burst of high frequency energy when Russia got hit?"
"Yes?" Harker said.
"I traced the signal to the Western US and started to hack into the computer that sent it. It had very sophisticated firewalls and security, something I'd never seen before. Actually, it was quite a challenge. You know sometimes I miss the game, back when I was just hacking into things for the fun of it."
Harker said, "Stephanie. Would you please stick to the point?"
"Oh. Sorry."
Ronnie looked over at Nick and raised his eyebrows.
Stephanie said, "I got part way in, then someone diverted me and tried to fry our computers with his own attack. I blocked it and dropped off."
"You said out West. Where, exactly?"
"I don't know. Somewhere on the other side of the Mississippi."
"That's a lot of country," Nick said. "Doesn't help a lot."
Stephanie looked annoyed. "I said the lead wasn't much."
"Actually, it does help," Harker said. "It tells us the nerve center is here in the US."
"Unless they're using some kind of transparent system to re-route the signal," Stephanie said. "If that's the case, that computer could be anywhere."
"What's our next move, Director?" Nick asked.
Harker tapped her pen on her desk. "Normally, I'd go to the White House and talk to Rice. But I can't do that, can I? Instead I've got to do something outside the bounds."