She was sitting close to him, leaning in and following every word like she really cared.
Lena said, “Bill, of course. Whatever you need. When would you like to leave?”
He let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank you. Thank you so much. I hate to be a burden. I’d be happy to participate. Maybe I could help out remotely? Through the Internet? I just… I need to get back to her.”
Lena nodded and gave the warmest of smiles. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Anything at all. We can arrange for a plane first thing in the morning if you like?”
“Oh thank you so much. I… it’s just. I feel bad even asking. But I don’t want to waste any time. And I don’t know how much we’ve got… me and my wife.”
“Actually, Bill, it’s funny you phrase it like that.”
Bill frowned. “Come again? I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Lena’s demeanor changed. Her smile was a little less warm. Her eyes a bit less glowing. “How much time have we got, Bill?”
Bill shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“Bill, do you have something else you would like to share with me?”
Bill paused. He looked at her and frowned.
“Bill. Come now. Remember, I worked with your boss to get you here. I already have a good idea of what everyone knows. But we brought you here to confirm. I expected to hear you speak up today when they brought up the countdown.”
Bill let out a deep breath and looked at the floor. How could she know this? His manager didn’t even know everything.
He said, “I didn’t want to bring it up. I wasn’t sure if it was exactly what we were talking about.”
“You found a countdown embedded in satellites that you use to connect to Air Force drones halfway around the world. A countdown that was put there by a foreign entity. And you weren’t sure if it was relevant? I’m sure that you’ve been quite absorbed by what’s going on at home. But please… what do you know about the countdown?”
Bill looked at her. If he had told everyone what he knew, he never would get out of there. It was a hell of a selfish thing to do, keeping something like that to himself. But he had to see his wife. If the world really was coming to an end that soon…
“Seven months.” He finally said.
She didn’t blink. She even looked like she already knew. Which was impossible. His manager, the one that had sent him there, only knew that they had found a sequenced countdown. But as far as he knew, Bill was still working out the code.
“We found a code in one of our satellites a week ago. One that we use to relay GPS data to Predator drones. Then we checked a few other satellites. It was in all of them. Whoever put it there knew what they were doing. But we thought it was just a computer virus. Until today I had no idea what it could be for. Honest. You’re right though. We were pretty sure that some foreign agency did it. We knew it was a countdown. My boss was gone when I figured out the timing. It was coded, but I ran it through a decryption program. Then I did the math. Seven months. If this is the same cyber weapon that David was talking about, that’s how long we have until this war starts. And that’s why I have to get back to my wife. I need to be with her, Lena.”
Lena said, “What did the others here say about this when you told them?”
“Who? What others?”
“The other consultants here on the island. What did they say about this?”
Bill was embarrassed. He said quietly, “I haven’t told anyone else. Hell, my boss doesn’t even know all of that. I was going to let him know about the timing next week. He was out for a few days when I figured it out. Then Burns, my director, contacted me about this project. But he didn’t know yet either. Come to think of it, how did you-”
Bill never saw it coming.
Lena twisted her torso around, drove her arm forward, and snapped the bottom of her palm into Bill’s solar plexus with an impossibly strong force. A shot of agonizing pain and a rapid loss of the ability to breathe left Bill crumpled on the floor.
Bill tried to gasp for breath but his stomach muscles were cramped too badly. He vaguely understood that Lena was twisting his large body so that he lay flat on his back, the concrete floor cold on his neck.
He started to wheeze and she slammed her open palm into his nose, the back of his head beating against the hard stone. Then came a momentary flash of black and white stars and a ringing in his ears. Bill’s vision was a blur of dark computer screens and concrete flooring. The rain poured down loud on the roof. A clap of thunder sounded off outside.
Lena was rolling him and tying his hands and feet with something tight. He just needed a minute to rest. She had to stop. His head hurt so much. Bill didn’t understand what was going on. Lena seemed like a sweet girl. She had smiled and listened to his story. He didn’t understand why she hit him. Bill felt a trickle of blood rolling down the back of his head, where it hit the concrete. The cut must have been bad.
Lena stood over him and hissed, “Are you familiar with the blood choke? Your Marines call it that. I just adore the label.”
She pressed one foot into his chest, eyeing him like he was a prize deer she had just bagged. Her eyes were filled with a terrifying eagerness.
Bill lay on the ground, weak and not comprehending what was happening. He tried to get up but his head hurt, and Lena easily pressed his chest back down to the floor. His energy was gone and his head ached. Her hands crept over his neck. Bill instinctively tried to protect himself, but his hands and legs were tied up.
He watched as she crouched down over him, moving with the grace of a true predator. Her face got close enough that he could feel her breath. He couldn’t understand what was happening. The look in her eyes terrified him. Why was she doing this?
Lena whispered, “It’s alright. Just relax. Shhhh. Here’s what will happen. I’m going to squeeze your carotid arteries and stop the blood flow to your brain. It’s an extremely efficient technique. Much faster than cutting off the oxygen supply via your wind pipe. You’ll then go unconscious, and I’ll have to decide what to do with you. I may kill you. I am not quite ready to make that call. I need to think on it. But with any luck, you’ll wake up good as new under close supervision. Now, it’s time to sleep.”
His eyes bulged with fear. Her fingers tightened around his neck. She squeezed hard enough that it hurt. He felt the blood pressure around his face and neck begin to rise. He squirmed with all of his might, but she was incredibly strong and had too much leverage. Bill’s vision grew dark. It felt like she was choking him but he could still breath… he could still fight… he could…
Lena rose and walked to the phone, lifting the handle to her ear. She switched to a sharp-tongued Mandarin.
She said, “Contact the destroyer Lanzhou. Tell them that they must send their alert helicopter. It must land on the north end of the runway at 1:00 a.m. Be prepared to take a passenger in restraints. Call me if there are any problems. Once he is on the ship, await my further instruction. Keep him under observation. Do not let him speak with anyone.”
She hung up the phone and looked at Bill’s limp body on the floor. She needed Bill gone from this side of the island. This “voluntary” extraction of information could only go on for so long. Sooner or later they would realize that it was a charade. Some may already suspect. She hoped Bill’s imminent departure wouldn’t be the beginning of the unraveling.
Lena sat in her car and looked at her watch. He should be here any minute. She tried not to be nervous. There could be many reasons why he would make contact with her. She was almost finished with her undergraduate degree. And she had performed a few small tasks around the D.C. area. Mostly surveillance or eavesdropping. Things she had learned from her initial training on how to be an intelligence operative. By all accounts she had performed admirably. Could this be to give her praise? Perhaps this meeting was a simple check-up? Or to discuss future duties? Still, she knew this man’s reputation. Mr. Cheng Jinshan was a very important businessman. And a legendary puppeteer for his network of spies. This visit would not be for a trivial reason.