“I’ll be right there,” he said, deciding not to leave anything to chance. He designated the lead Chinese aircraft as the primary target for the first UAV, then cleared the screen quickly so Wen-lo couldn’t see what he had done.
“All right, let’s go,” he said, jumping to his feet. “We have to get the Sabres loaded ASAP. The Americans are bound to send more aircraft and other reinforcements.”
20
Even though he was currently flying with passive sensors only, so he couldn’t be easily detected, Turk could see the approaching combat UAVs thanks to the input from the Cube. There were four of them, exactly like the ones he’d dealt with earlier. They were heading straight for the Chinese J-15s.
If the Chinese saw them, they didn’t react. The UAVs were also apparently using passive sensors, no doubt more sophisticated than anything the Chinese had.
Turk clicked into the Whiplash circuit to talk to Danny. “Colonel, Kallipolis has launched UAVs.”
“Four of them, right? I just heard.”
“Just a guess here, but they look like they’re going to attack the Chinese.”
“Warn the Chinese that we’re conducting an operation,” said Danny. “Tell them to stand off. And tell them about the UAVs. Make it clear that they are not ours.”
“No way they’ll believe that,” said Turk. “But yes, sir.”
Turk broadcast the warning. He got no response.
“Listen guys, I know you can hear me,” he said, dropping the formal tone he’d used at first. “No shit, there are four combat UAVs running right at you hot and heavy. And they will shoot you down. Believe me; we’ve dealt with them.”
“Stop your tricks, American,” responded one of the Chinese pilots.
“I’m not playing tricks. I’m above you to the south, about twenty-five thousand feet. I know you can’t see me. The four UAVs are low, they’re coming from the east, and they can take you down in a heartbeat.”
“We see you south.”
“That’s another flight. I’m over the ships. Those UAVs are just about on you,” added Turk, seeing the plot. “They’re going to attack. They’re climbing—”
“You are playing a trick.”
“I’m not.”
“Order them away.”
“Those aren’t our planes,” answered Turk. “They’re being run by high-tech pirates who’ve stolen technology and are helping terrorists. That’s what this operation is all about.”
The Chinese pilot didn’t answer — verbally. Instead, he turned on his weapons radar, targeting the Ospreys.
The Ospreys immediately began evasive maneuvers. Their electronic countermeasures could adequately fend off the Chinese medium-range radar missiles; heat-seekers and cannons would be a different story.
“Don’t threaten our planes or I’ll be forced to shoot you down,” said Turk.
“Stand down, American,” said the Chinese pilot.
A second later there was an electronic shriek over the circuit — the UAVs had fired their lasers in unison, destroying the lead plane.
The explosion shook the ship so badly that Danny fell against the railing on the catwalk around the bridge.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked Achmoody over the radio.
“Robot set off one of the bombs,” replied the trooper. His voice sounded shaky. “There must have been a motion detector at the far end of the corridor that we didn’t see. It blew out the entire passage.”
“Anybody hurt?”
“Just egos,” said Achmoody. “The explosion put a pretty big hole in the bulkhead. We’re starting through now.”
Danny had barely turned around when he saw a black cloud appear in the sky to the north.
“Turk, what’s going on?” he asked.
“The UAVs are engaging the Chinese aircraft. The Chinese think they’re ours,” he added.
“Tell them they’re not,” said Danny. Then he had another thought. “Can you help them? Keep them from being shot down?”
“You want me to help the Chinese?”
“Yes.”
“Colonel—”
“Do it, Turk.”
“Roger that,” snapped Turk.
21
Breanna’s throat felt as if it had turned to stone. She could barely breathe, let alone swallow. She stood just inside the inner door at the top of the Cube entrance, in front of the elevator to the lower levels. Two security aides, submachine guns in their hands, were at her side.
“Daddy, why are you here?” she asked.
“Ray said you needed help. If you don’t want me—”
“Did he tell you what we need?”
“There was a text that said something about DNA coding.”
“We need Jennifer’s body exhumed,” said Breanna. She hadn’t seen her father in nearly five years. He looked thinner, scruffier, yet somehow younger than she remembered. Emotions were flooding through her; it was a struggle not to scream at him.
“No, you need her DNA profile,” he said. “It was analyzed. I have it here.”
He held up a small USB flash drive.
“It’s part of her password,” added Tecumseh Bastian. “I know what you need it for — it’ll let you in the back door of the AI programs she worked on. All of them. Braxton stole it, didn’t he?”
“You know?”
“We suspected. That’s why he was fired.”
“I thought… he was harassing Jennifer.”
“He was. But that’s not why he was fired. She’s all on this disc, her DNA. Not her.” Bastian smiled, but it was a sad, wistful smile. “Over seven hundred fifty megabytes. She designed it herself.”
Breanna hesitated, then reached out her hand.
“It’s password protected, the drive,” he told her. “I’m not sure which password she used. She had a couple.”
The elevator opened behind her. Ray Rubeo stepped out. For a moment Breanna felt as if she were watching them on a video screen.
“Ray,” said Bastian.
“General.”
“I brought the drive with the sequence.”
“You should come downstairs,” Rubeo told him. “I may need you.”
“It’s not up to me.”
Breanna looked at her father. He still had his clearance, though after everything that had happened, Breanna didn’t know whether she should let him down or not.
There could be anything on the drive.
And did she want to trust him?
What she wanted was to yell at him, to ask why he had run away, walled himself off from her and Zen and their daughter. Leaving the military she could understand, mourning Jennifer Gleason she could definitely understand, but deserting her?
Blaming her. Along with the others. That was the reason.
“We need to move quickly,” said Rubeo. “I suspect that the launch of the UAVs is aimed at providing cover as they make off with the Sabres. It’s the only logical explanation.”
“Sabres?” asked Bastian.
“A lot has changed since you’ve been gone, Tecumseh,” said Rubeo. “We can discuss it later. I need the sequence now. Breanna?”
“I’ll take the flash drive,” she said.
“It might be more useful to have your father with us,” said Rubeo. “To get past the passwords quickly.”
“All right, yes, let’s go, come on,” said Breanna, turning swiftly. “He’s with me,” she told the guards, and then in a louder voice, repeated it for the security system monitoring their movements.
22