Chapter 62
Karl Berg walked into his office and picked up the phone on his desk. He dialed the secretary assigned to him and informed her that he had just arrived. He took a moment to look around his office. Thanks to the events of the past month, he still hadn't found time to unpack even one of the boxes he had dragged here upon his promotion to the National Clandestine Service's (NCS) liaison to the Intelligence Directorate's Weapons, Intelligence, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Center in late March. He'd spent less than a month in that position before Thomas Manning summarily promoted him to a position that hadn't previously existed within NCS, working as Audra Bauer's deputy assistant. He would retain his duties as the Intelligence Directorate liaison, which appeared to be the only official tasking that came with the promotion at this moment.
This would give him time to put up some shelving and start unearthing his treasures. With the Zulu virus threat finally under wraps, he could start unpacking his boxes. Apparently, he wouldn't have to move again. His promotion didn't come with a new office in the "executive" zone, which suited him fine, though he had been pleasantly surprised with Thomas Manning and their director. He had expected handcuffs instead of a promotion.
He got up and started to survey the stacks of boxes covering his vinyl couch and black lacquer coffee table. The line from his secretary buzzed, and he answered it.
"Good morning, Mr. Berg. I have Darryl Jackson on the line?"
"Thank you. Put him through."
The line beeped.
"Darryl. How's my favorite go-to guy?"
"If you know someone else with access to weapons, please feel free to start using him. I'm fucking exhausted from cleaning weapons all night."
"They had a rough time up there," Berg said.
"I could tell. One of the rifles was covered in blood. How bad was it?"
"One KIA. I can't thank you enough for the help. You're one of the unsung heroes in this drama."
"That seems to be the story of my life. Hey, are you going to answer my wife's email or what? She still hasn't figured out that I've been flying all over the country delivering illegal arms shipments. Her invitation could be revoked at any moment," Jackson said.
"I'm kind of hurt that she didn't call. An email invitation to dinner seems impersonal," he joked.
"A phone call? I don't think she planned to talk to you at dinner! I just assumed she'd seat you on the deck. Baby steps, my friend. She doesn't forgive easily."
"As long as she's serving me the same food you're eating, I'll eat in the garage. I'll send her my acceptance as soon as we get off the phone and pick out a rare Bordeaux."
"Cheryl collects vintage Bordeaux."
"I guarantee she won't have this bottle. It was never for sale," Berg said.
"Sounds like you're good at taking baby steps. I have to go. I'm still dealing with the fallout from the Kazakhstan fiasco, which could be smoothed over if the CIA ponied up the money to replace the weapons that were lost…in the direct interest of national security?"
"I'm sure something could be arranged," Berg said.
"Then let's arrange it. I have two daughters in college and can't afford to buy Brown River several new rifles."
"A shipment of rifles shouldn't be difficult."
"Maybe I should take cash. I don't need one of your buried Cold War stashes."
"That hurt my feelings, Darryl."
"I'll fax you the bill. Catch you later, Karl."
Karl Berg hung up the phone and sat on the edge of his desk, staring at the boxes again. His office could always wait.
Acknowledgments
In the spirit of tighter writing, I'm going to keep the acknowledgments to a minimum. This is also an effort to keep them on one page (or two), instead of ten, which is where they were headed.
First and foremost to my wife, who spent countless hours reading and taking notes. Once again, she provided several essential course corrections that better served the storyline, and you can thank her for the twist at the very end. She has become my primary sounding board for story ideas and a continuous voice of reason throughout the writing process. Best of all, she can't avoid me.
To the beta reader crew. Bill for his "Caesar-like" thumbs up or thumbs down assessment. I'm always tense waiting to hear from him. Trent and Nancy for reading with enthusiasm and providing an exhaustive list of typos, word suggestions and reality checks. Joe S. for keeping me from writing a novel within a novel. You can thank him for Black Flagged VEKTOR, the next book in the series. Bruce, Marcia and Glen for their read through and suggestions, despite their insanely busy schedules. Jon, for his valued insight as a one of my earliest readers and reviewers. I believe he read this book somewhere in the Bering Straits. To everyone in my writing group, which has served as a guiding light for the critical aspects of character development and narrative. Beyond the furious gun battles and technological intrigue, the Black Flagged series is driven by characters, which is all too easy to forget. Finally, I want to welcome Joe Bunich to the crew. He volunteered to "informally" proof all three of my previous books, and caught errors missed by everyone. He is living proof that the "right" extra set of eyes can make a huge difference.
To the formal production crew, starting with Felicia A. Sullivan, my ever faithful editor. She's been really patient with all of my covert ops, technothriller stuff…and my deadlines. Jeroen ten Berge for the overall Black Flagged series cover concept. I can't wait to see all three covers side by side. Stef for professionally formatting all versions of this novel, in addition to my entire backlist. Trust me, we all win with Stef on the job. His product is flawless. Pauline for proofing all of my books. She's proofed over 500K words for me at this point. Just the thought of that makes me want to turn off my computer.
Cast of Characters
(In alphabetical order)
Mohammed Abusir — Al Qaeda cell leader, Newark, New Jersey
Ramish Banergee "Mish" — Black Flag Electronic Warfare Team, Europe
Alvaro Batista "Alvin" — Black Flag Electronic Warfare Team, Europe
Audra Bauer — CIA, Deputy Director, National Clandestine Service
Kerem Demir — FBI, Task Force Scorpion, Investigative Lead
Karl Berg — CIA, Assistant Deputy Director, National Clandestine Service
Tyrell Bishop — True America, Hacker Valley Compound Leader
Michael Brooks — True America, Head of Security, Poconos Lab Unit
Tommy Brown — True America, Militant Arm Commander
Jason Carnes — True America, Head of Laboratory Operations, Poconos Lab Unit
Dihya Castillo — Black Flag, Middle Eastern Group
Robert Copley — CIA Director
Rear Admiral Mark DeSantos — DIA, Strategic Services Branch Director
Miguel Estrada — True America, Militant Arm Leadership