“Of course I remember your son.” Jackson rolled his eyes. “Did you undo the damage he caused?”
“I believe so, but one thing does bother me. It seems there is a problem with my fleet of stealth jets.”
Jackson’s eyes bulged. “Stealth jets?”
Charles looked at him sternly.
“Yes, of course, your stealth jets. What’s the problem?” Jackson quickly covered his mistake.
“It seems that I cannot account for any of them.”
“Maybe they were shot down and destroyed?”
“That’s just it, they’re still functioning. Hal has no idea why they’re not responding to his commands. We have no idea where any of them are.”
“I feel like shit,” Max grunted.
Misty turned to Elizabeth. “Can you see any doors? Can we get into the store?”
“I don’t know! I can’t see a thing in here.”
“Max! Elizabeth! Are you in there?” Somebody with a bullhorn was outside the bay door.
“Who the hell is that?” Misty whispered.
“That sounds like Richard Dupree.”
“Seriously? You mean General Dupree?” asked Misty.
“Yeah, that one.”
“Max! Elizabeth! It’s Richard. I know you guys are in there! Come on, it’s time to leave!”
“I think it’s a trick. How in the hell did he get here if Hal’s been hijacked? What if he’s working with the Chinese?”
“Not in a million years. I trust Richard with my life,” Elizabeth said. “Richard! You know Hal’s been hijacked, right? What if this is a trap to bring us all to the Chinese?”
“It’s not a trap! Trust me! I know what the Chinese have done. I’ll explain everything once we’re in the air. Let’s go!”
“We’re leaving, Misty. You’re welcome to come along. The Chinese will detain and probably execute you since you assisted us. Please come with us.”
“Well, I’m certainly not staying here. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“If you trust me, then trust Richard.”
Misty and Richard raised the bay door and wheeled Max’s gurney to the decloaked stealth jet.
“Maxwell! How you doin’, buddy?” asked Richard.
“Shut up, Richard. Just get us the hell out of here.” Max squinted in the blinding sunlight.
Once the jet was airborne and cloaked, a very impatient Elizabeth spoke up. “Okay, Dupree, spill it. What’s going on? Where’s Howard?”
“Howard’s still at the Castle. We’ve planned quite a surprise for the bastard responsible for this.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“Jackson, I think you’re overreacting. Everything is going according to plan. We have control of Hal and soon we’ll occupy the Castle. A battalion of Chinese troops is on the grounds. Why must you worry so much?”
“It was too easy.”
“You think this has been easy? Years of planning, defeating the most brilliant man in the world … was easy?”
“Something doesn’t feel right to me; he’s up to something.”
“Explain it to me then, sir.”
“When I took his house from him, it was blatantly obvious that I’d won. He didn’t stand a chance of stopping me, but he fought me to the bitter end. He damn near destroyed his own house to keep me out of it. He even spilled blood in the attempt—something I didn’t think him capable of doing. I can’t believe he would just give up his beloved Castle so easily.
“Jackson, think about it for a second. The lives of everyone in that facility depended upon Howard following our demands. He knew that if he set one toe on the ground level, we would’ve slaughtered them all. What other choice did he have?”
“He’s too smart. He plans for everything, even the worst case scenarios. Something about those missing stealth jets has me worried. This isn’t over.”
“What possible advantage do stealth jets give him when he’s hundreds of feet underground? We have control of Hal and all his drones and robots. We have control of the Castle, and we have Sterling. You worry too much. Besides, your doubts will soon be answered; our troops will be at the facility in less than an hour. If Howard is up to something, he’ll have no choice but to show his cards.”
“Tell the Chinese to be ready for anything.”
“So, here we are, Simon, alone at last.”
“Yes, Howard, I’m glad we have time to do some catching up.
Howard was seated in a folding chair staring at Simon in the tiny cell. He couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that the prissy snob was his prisoner.
“You know, Howard, you might as well come in here and sit with me. After all, we’re both prisoners here.”
“How do you figure that?”
“I’m not stupid, Howard. Give me a little credit.”
Howard rolled his eyes.
“I heard the evacuation order. Even the goons watching me left without a backward glance. Besides, just listen.”
“To what?”
“Exactly! You could hear a pin drop; the silence speaks volumes. You didn’t just evacuate the civilians; you and I are the last two people left here.”
“Big assumption.”
“Then prove me wrong! Just invite one person to join us in here. You can’t, can you?”
“Okay, you’re right, big deal. Maybe I chose to stay behind.”
“The mighty captain going down with the ship? Don’t try to sell me that garbage. If you could’ve left, General Dupree would have dragged you out of here.”
“Simon, yes, I am a prisoner. Happy?”
“Happy? No, no, quite the opposite. I’ve been defeated. My Brutus stabbed me in the back and took away every ounce of my power. I’m a loser who can’t accomplish a damn thing. You, on the other hand, still have a fighting chance to do something to save this country.”
Howard winked. “You are a loser, you asshole.”
Simon laughed. “To be certain, yes, I am.”
“Wanna know a little secret, Simon?”
“I can’t wait; tell me.”
“You and I are having a private conversation.”
“Really?”
“When I was in the subbasement trying to repair Hal, I manually destroyed the audio for the command level. If Jackson and his friends are sitting in my house watching the Castle, they can’t hear a thing we’re saying.”
“You sneaky little devil! Why did you do that?”
“Simon, do you have children?”
“Yes, three.”
“You know them better than they know themselves, don’t you?”
“More or less.”
“Hal has been many things to me: my assistant, my confidant, my friend. But above all that, he was like one of my own children, my son. I personally programmed each Beck A.I., all of them. I knew the minute his system came back online that I wasn’t talking to Hal, although someone was trying to manipulate me into believing otherwise.”
“Then who were you talking to?”
“The only A.I. Hal has a direct connection with – the White House A.I.”
“Oh, Howard, I always knew! You sneaky son of a bitch. All this time, listening to Jimenez’s conspiracy theories about you controlling the White House …”
“No! It’s not like that! I kept my word with Malcolm Powers; I never had access to the White House during his administration. After you murdered the man and seized control, I had Hal interface with her. I just broke the encryption and the two of them did the rest.”
“Clever. So you’ve been spying on the UAE all this time?”
Howard smiled wickedly and shook his head.
“Then why put Stacy Reid at risk, Howard? Why use her as a double agent if you could spy on my every mo…” Simon nodded his head once he made the connection. “The written communication, of course! I guess I was right to be paranoid. She reviewed all my memos before I sent them to the regional governors. How is she, by the way? Nasty business with the finger. That was rather insensitive of me.”