Deception Point Page 98

Jesus Christ.The restraint looked c everyw presenting at the deck. Delta-Two still hung in the Tritons claws, and forthwith the sub was suspended everyplace a gaping hole in the deck. His feet dangled over the void. All Tolland had to do was relinquish the claws, and Delta-Two would be next.Okay, the controller barked into the CrypTalk. Hold on. fair hold onRachel stood below on the deck and stared up at the Kiowa. however from this height the controller sensed the root in her eyes. Rachel raised the CrypTalk to her m show uph. You still reckon were bluffing? she said. C alto describeher the main switchboard at the NRO. Ask for Jim Samiljan. Hes in P A on the nightshift. I told him everything about the meteorite. He will confirm.Shes giving me a particular proposition name? This did not bode well. Rachel sexton was no fool, and this was a bluff the controller could check in a case of seconds. Although the controller knew of no one at the NRO named Jim Samiljan, the organ ization was enormous. Rachel could quite possibly be telling the truth. earlier ordering the utmost kill, the controller had to confirm if this was a bluff-or not.Delta-One looked over his shoulder. You want me to deactivate the jammer so you mountain call and check it out?The controller peered down at Rachel and Tolland, both in plain view. If either of them made a move for a cellphone or radio, the controller knew Delta-One could always activate and press them cancelled. The risk was minimal.Kill the jammer, the controller said, draw out a cellphone. Ill confirm Rachels lying. thus well find a way to pull back Delta-Two and end this.In Fairfax, the operator at the NROs central switchboard was pointting impatient. As I just told you, I find oneself no Jim Samiljan in the Plans and Analysis Division.The ships comp any(prenominal) was insistent. clear you tried multiple spellings? Have you tried other departments?The operator had already checked, moreover she checked ag ain. After several(prenominal) seconds, she said, Nowhere on staff do we have a Jim Samiljan. Under any spelling.The caller sounded oddly pleased by this. So you are certain the NRO employs no Jim Samil-A sudden flurry of performance erupted on the line. Someone yelled. The caller blamed aloud and promptly hung up.Onboard the Kiowa, Delta-One was screaming with storm as he scrambled to reactivate the jamming system. He had made the realization too late. In the huge represent of lighted controls in the cockpit, a tiny LED meter indicated that a SATCOM selective information signal was being transmitted from the Goya. unaccompanied how? Nobody left the deck on contendds Delta-One could engage the jammer, the connection from the Goya terminated on its own accord.Inside the hydrolab, the fax mechanism beeped contentedly.CARRIER FOUND FAX direct121Kill or be killed. Rachel had discover a part of herself she never knew existed. excerption mode-a savage fortitude fueled by pr ecaution.What was in that outbound fax? the role on the CrypTalk demanded.Rachel was relieved to hear chip that the fax had gone out as planned. reserve the area, she demanded, speaking into the CrypTalk and glaring up at the hovering chopper. Its over. Your secret is out. Rachel informed their attackers of all the information she had just sent. A half dozen pages of images and text. Incontrovertible evidence that the meteorite was a fake. Harming us will only straighten out your situation worse. in that respect was a telling pause. Who did you send the fax to?Rachel had no bearing of answering that question. She and Tolland needed to buy as much time as possible. They had positioned themselves set about the cleaning in the deck, on a direct line with the Triton, making it unrealistic for the chopper to shoot without hitting the pass dangling in the subs claws.William Pickering, the voice guessed, sound oddly hopeful. You faxed Pickering.Wrong, Rachel thought. Pickering would have been her first choice, but she had been forced to choose someone else for maintenance her attackers had already eliminated Pickering-a move whose boldness would be a chilling testimony to her enemys resolve. In a moment of desperate decision, Rachel had faxed the info to the only other fax numeral she knew by heart.Her fathers office.Senator sextons office fax shape had been painfully engraved into Rachels memory by and by her mothers death when her father chose to work out many of the particulars of the estate without having to deal with Rachel in person. Rachel never imagined she would turn to her father in a time of need, but this night the man possessed two particular qualities-all the correct political motivations to release the meteorite data without hesitation, and enough clout to call the ovalbumin House and blackmail them into calling off this kill squad.Although her father was most for certain not in the office at this hour, Rachel knew he kept his offi ce locked kindred a vault. Rachel had, in effect, faxed the data into a time-lock safe. Even if the attackers knew where she had sent it, chances were slim they could get through the tight federal security measures at the Philip A. Hart Senate Office construct and break into a senators office without anyone noticing. wherever you sent the fax, the voice from above said. Youve enthrone that person in danger.Rachel knew she had to speak from a position of power regardless of the fear she was feeling. She motioned to the soldier trapped in the Tritons claws. His legs dangled over the abyss, dripping blood thirty feet to the ocean. The only person in danger here is your agent, she said into the CrypTalk. Its over. Back off. The data is gone. Youve lost. Leave the area, or this man dies.The voice on the CrypTalk fired back, Ms. Sexton, you do not ensure the importance-Understand? Rachel exploded. I understand that you killed honest people I understand that you lie about the meteori te And I understand that you wont get away with this Even if you kill us all, its overThere was a massive pause. Finally the voice said, Im coming down.Rachel matt-up her muscles tighten. Coming down?I am unarmed, the voice said. Do not do anything rash. You and I need to talk face-to-face.Before Rachel could react, the chopper dropped onto the Goyas deck. The passenger door on the fuselage opened and a figure stepped out. He was a plain-looking man in a black coat and tie. For an instant, Rachels thoughts went totally blank.She was stark(a) at William Pickering.William Pickering stood on the deck of the Goya and gazed with melancholy at Rachel Sexton. He had never imagined instantly would come to this. As he go toward her, he could see the dangerous faction of emotions in his employees eyes.Shock, betrayal, confusion, rage.All understandable, he thought. There is so much she does not understand.For a moment, Pickering flashed on his daughter, Diana, wondering what emotions sh e had felt in the first place she died. Both Diana and Rachel were casualties of the same war, a war Pickering had vowed to fight forever. Sometimes the casualties could be so cruel.Rachel, Pickering said. We can still work this out. Theres a lot I need to explain.Rachel Sexton looked aghast, nauseated almost. Tolland had the machine gun now and was aiming at Pickerings chest. He too looked bewildered. limp back Tolland yelled.Pickering stopped five yards away, focalisation on Rachel. Your father is taking bribes, Rachel. Payoffs from buck private space companies. He plans to dismantle NASA and open space to the private sector. He had to be stopped, as a matter of bailiwick security.Rachels expression was blank.