Lena said, “Thank you, Captain. I’ll be at the main sail hatch in one minute.”
She turned and headed back to her room. She needed to find something more appropriate to wear. She hurried to the room and dug through her bags. There it was. A bit wrinkly, but it would do nicely. She quickly put her new outfit on.
Her mood improved as she thought of what she was going to do. She smiled to herself as she ran through China’s newest attack submarine wearing a tight black dress and flats. Her jet-black hair flowed over her shoulders. She reached the main sail and climbed up the ladder. The Captain was there, wide-eyed, a crumpled message in his hand.
He said, “Do you know what this says? Do you know what they are having me do?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“If I fire my missiles at these targets, we will be destroyed.”
She stopped climbing up the ladder and gave him a stern look. Two sailors stood next to him, looking nervous. She said, “Captain, are you going to carry out your orders?”
Red-faced, he replied, “Yes. Yes, of course.”
“Very well, Captain. Good luck.”
He muttered under his breath. “But this is lunacy.”
Still looking at him, she replied, “No, Captain, it is war.”
She turned and lifted herself up the iron ladder and through the hatch. She stepped into the oven of the Persian Gulf air. Sure enough, three enlisted men held a raft in the water, waiting for her. The sailors wore masks over their faces, but she could still tell that they had open mouths as she slid down the main sail ladder and onto the hull wearing her dress, a long slit up the side of her skirt.
Within two minutes, the submarine had resubmerged and she floated by herself in the raft.
Lena had enjoyed “the game” that she had played for over a decade. Pretending to be an American spy, all the while working for her Chinese master. She also enjoyed using the skill that Jinshan had trained her for — killing. She wouldn’t lie to herself and say that she didn’t like it. It was an unexpected feeling, the first time she had taken a life, so many years ago. But now… she looked forward to it each and every time. The rush that she got was unlike anything else in life.
She was good at it. And everyone liked to do things that they were good at. Athletes loved to play their sports. Workaholics loved their work. Lena loved to kill. If there was a God, which Lena doubted, then why would he have made her so good at killing if he didn’t want her to do it? It was her calling.
A twinge of worry — an emotion her psyche rarely lent itself to — crept in. As fortunate as it had been that Chase and David had been brothers, she wondered if she would feel any regret in disappointing Chase. Their relationship had begun as pure lust. Most of Lena’s relationships were like that. A way for her to satisfy her physical needs without creating an emotional vulnerability that could be exploited by her many potential enemies. It frustrated her that she felt a connection with Chase, now. When she had found out that David Manning worked for In-Q-Tel, and on the ARES project, she had pulled strings to get him onto the Red Cell list.
Getting that list in front of Gorji had been a bit harder, but Natesh had done well there. She had used Chase, in more ways than one. She had used him to satisfy her sexual cravings. She had used him to find out what Elliot Jackson knew. And she had used him to identify someone who turned out to be a key member of the Red Cell. While David Manning’s Red Cell performance had turned out to be less than productive, that could change with the proper motivation.
The effects of the ARES cyberweapon had been strong, but not as strong as Natesh had predicted. Further expert consultation was needed.
If she was honest with herself, she did not wish to hurt Chase. She had enjoyed their time together, even if most of what she had told him was lies. She was very attracted to him, and not just physically. They were alike, in many ways. They were both heroes. Warriors who fought for what was right. The fact that they were on opposing sides was a shame, in a way.
As she looked to the east, she could see the tallest of Dubai’s skyscrapers peeking up over the horizon. The setting sun was behind her. The sound of a helicopter’s rotors grew louder. She closed her eyes and breathed in the salt air, stretching. It was a good day. She was getting ready to do what she was meant to do. Something she loved to do. Kill. She just hoped that she wouldn’t have to do it to him.
Chapter 17
A crimson sunset flooded the monstrous panoramic glass walls of the Skyview Bar. The bar sat atop the famed Burj Al Arab hotel, five hundred feet above the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf. The Burj Al Arab was built to look like a magnificent white sail cast upward and surrounded by water. The fourth tallest hotel in the world, it was built on an artificial island and was advertised as the world’s only “7-star” hotel. Movie stars, royalty, and heads of state regularly stayed in the lavish resort with rooms that could exceed one hundred thousand dollars per night. VIPs sometimes arrived by helicopter to a landing pad that was suspended in air on the twenty-fifth floor. When they landed, fireworks and drums greeted them.
Directly below, multimillion-dollar yachts cruised past. Fading daylight, sea, and the Arabian Desert collided with Dubai’s sleek and modern skyline. Through the haze, Chase could just make out the ethereal tower that dwarfed the rest of the city, the Burj Khalifa. It rose up to the heavens, reflecting the sun like a gleaming fiery sword.
He sipped iced water as he turned his gaze back inside. From his corner table for two, he held the perfect field of view as he waited for Waleed. He had called Chase, frantic, just as they picked up David and Henry from the airport.
Waleed wouldn’t go into details on the phone, but he said that he had heard from Gorji, and that it was imperative that Satoshi remain in his room at the Burj Al Arab.
It was one more crisis that Elliot had to deal with. Iran was still spewing threats of war. US forces in the area were on high alert. Moments ago, Chase had watched as his father’s former aircraft carrier had sailed into the Dubai port of Jebel Ali. He wondered if they would even let the crew off the ship for liberty, or if they would just resupply and go back out to sea. He also wondered how their communication lines were doing.
In the past thirty-six hours since Lisa… or Lena… had executed her attack in Iran, global Internet and GPS networks had been spotty at best. The news said that it had mainly affected US-based assets. TV and phones in Dubai still worked. They could send emails, although most of the ones that went to the US bounced back. Phone calls to the US weren’t getting through.
The global stock markets had plummeted in panic. The markets were still functional, but businesses were starting to suffer from network interruptions.
The classified networks were all down. Datalink, Satcom. David’s revelation of this ARES cyberweapon was scary. Scarier was the thought that China was responsible. Why would they do that? If Lena was acting on behalf of the Chinese, why would they have wanted Gorji dead? Chase needed to get back downstairs so that he could finish hearing David and Henry’s story. Elliot and he needed to finish connecting the dots.
Chase scanned the spacious room. It was a work of art. The ceiling was adorned with colossal turquoise half-ovals that gave the impression of crashing waves. The richly carpeted floors and luxurious booth cushions were similarly patterned.
He looked at his watch. Where was Waleed?