“When his Apache went down he was captured by members of Saddam’s Fedayeen. He had a broken femur, life-threatening gangrene, and God-only-knows what other injuries. Ended up losing his left leg. They tortured him for a week but never got a thing out of him.”
“Geez. How’d he get out of that?”
“He charmed the girl nursing his infection into helping him escape.”
“So he’s tough and empathetic; good. What’s your insertion point?”
“The Under Secretary of Defense — Comptroller. The Deputy Secretary of Defense has been vetting him for several months. His confirmation hearings should happen in late spring.”
“Does he even know he’s a candidate?”
“He will by tonight.”
“And Trump knows nothing about this?”
“It’s a minor appointment to him, justified as political payback. My guy on the inside was afraid to call Shariak a war hero after all the abuse Trump gave McCain.”
“You do realize that Shariak will serve as one of the chief advisors to the Secretary of Defense?”
“With oversight responsibilities for all military installations, operational energy plans and programs, major weapon systems, missile defense programs, and drum roll please… all space and intelligence programs.”
“You are good, my friend. Is he married? Any kids?”
“He recently got engaged to the chief aerospace engineer at Kemp.”
The former president looked at her photo. “Brains and beauty.”
“And a Zebra security clearance, which I’ve been informed will soon be bumped to Cosmic Clearance.”
Clinton looked up. “She’ll be on the inside. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you’re a cold sonuva bitch.”
“You asked me to do a job. You think you’re going to accomplish anything by being half-pregnant? We both know a job title means didley-squat or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Dr. Marulli is a potential means of getting Shariak on the inside, something that was denied to you for eight years as president. If you know of a better way to pierce the gauntlet, tell me.”
“No, no. You’re right.” Clinton closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What’s the potential blowback to Shariak?”
“For now, he’s flying way below the radar. Once he enters the rabbit’s hole and starts asking questions he’ll attract some low-level interest. His stepbrother is Senator Randy Hall.”
“As in Head of the Senate Appropriations Committee Hall? Good Lord, Joe. What happens when they perceive Shariak as a threat?”
“They’ll offer him a bribe. If he takes it we’ll lose him. He won’t take it.”
“The cabal will set him up or issue a TWEP order. I don’t know, Joe. I don’t want another Bill Colby on my hands.”
“Shariak’s a civilian; Colby was in the cabal’s inner circle. It wasn’t until he decided to sneak out plans for a free energy device that the radical element of MAJI murdered him. Damn sociopaths; it’s that fear factor that has kept the silent majority in line.”
“I’ve met some of these guys at a few CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) meetings; you look into their eyes and it’s like Dick Cheney — there’s no soul.”
“Are you going to tell Hillary?”
“Absolutely not. The less people who know, the better.”
“Which brings up a major hurdle. Shariak will need to be directed down the rabbit’s hole sometime after the Senate hearing and it can’t come from my guy on the inside.”
“Why not?”
“He and Shariak have a history. Besides, this has to look non-partisan and come from a higher authority.”
Clinton pinched the stress knotting in his brow. “Where and when?”
“It has to be at an event you’ll both be attending. Maybe a golf outing?”
“As long as he’s not in our foursome.” The former president handed him back the folder. “I’ve got to go. You did real well, Joe.”
“Bill, you never told me why you decided to put this in play.”
“It would have happened if Hillary had won the election; she had already started planting seeds on the Kimmel Show. Papa Bush had actually set out to do this years ago with Gorbachev and Pérez de Cuéllar. The bastards kidnapped Secretary General de Cuéllar and put the fear of God into him and Gorby’s wife. Something similar had been staged years earlier with Hans-Adams’s brother.”
“The Liechtenstein prince?”
“The abduction changed his mind, just like it did with the Secretary General. As for me, traveling around the world… my recent trips to India and Africa…you see the poverty, the effects of malaria and Ebola — it tears you up inside. We’ve accomplished more with our Global Initiative than anything we did during my eight years in the White House. But this, Joe — this is a game-changer. This is a tide of good that raises every boat on the planet.”
“Just be careful, my friend. These are some seriously fucked up people we’re dealing with, and they don’t like sharing their toys.”
3
The corporate workout room had been Adam Shariak’s idea. When he had first accepted the job at Kemp Aerospace, he had committed to a two-year lease on a one bedroom apartment in Greenbelt Station, along with a gym membership at a local club. Once he and Jessica began dating, he had practically moved in to her townhome.
Unable to afford a second gym membership, he made an “executive decision” to convert a barely used employee lounge into a weight room.
As it turned out, he and Jessica were the only ones who ever used it.
The blonde’s legs were pumping out miles on a stationary bike, her lower body no match for her thumbs, which flitted across the keyboard pad on her iPhone as she texted and listened to music on her headphones.
Adam watched her for a moment before laying back on the incline press beneath a forty-five pound barbell, each side holding and additional hundred-and-twenty pounds of iron plates.
Two-fifty-five… Two good reps, three if you want to impress your woman.
Positioning himself beneath the bar, he inhaled a deep breath and exhaled as he lifted the weight off of the stand, then drew in another breath as he lowered the barbell to his chest.
Exhaling, he pressed the first rep with relative ease.
Glancing to his right, he saw she had missed his Herculean effort and went for another rep—
— big mistake.
Touching the middle of the bar to his chest, he managed six inches before the barbell resettled on his sternum.
Sucking in several quick breaths, Adam attempted to raise the weight again, managing to get it three-quarters of the way up before his strength waned and gravity turned the barbell into a hood ornament.
No problem, he had left the collars off for just such an emergency.
Tilting the right side of the bar down, he wriggled the loose plates, attempting to slide a hundred-and-twenty pounds off one side while preventing the other side from smashing onto the rubber flooring — only the plates weren’t sliding off the rusted surface of the barbell like he had expected.
With his sternum beginning to bruise, he was about to try the left side when two hands reached down and gripped the middle of the barbell, helping him guide it back onto the incline press.
He sat up, turning to face his rescuer — surprised to see it was a woman.
She was Jessica’s height, with short brown hair and gray eyes which matched her business suit and skirt.
“That’s a lot of weight to be flipping sideways, Captain. You should have a spotter.”