Seattle, Washington
A brisk ocean breeze made Richard pull his coat tighter as he stood on the deck of the cabin cruiser. The boat churned through the water toward the peninsula west of Port Angeles. The vessel rose and fell beneath him, his feet balanced as the deck pitched with each wave. The last vestiges of the Seattle shoreline disappeared a while back as they plowed ahead for the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
He moved back inside the cabin, feeling warm air circulating. Rubbing his hands together, Richard peered into the sun, almost hidden by the Olympic Mountains beyond. There were quicker routes to the lab atop Angeles Point, but he wanted to protect their destination at any cost.
Gerrit and his people somehow stumbled on the Albuquerque site. This time, Richard intended to keep this lab here in Washington a secret-at least until they launched Project Megiddo. After that, it would no longer matter.
He eyed his cell phone, waiting for confirmation from his people in Harrogate. Grimacing, he hoped the contingent of security he left behind would be enough to wipe out Gerrit and the others.
As soon as Collette finished in England, she had orders to hightail it to the lab here. He wanted all hands on deck in case something went awry and they needed to protect this lab. If all went as planned in England, Gerrit and his crew would not be in any shape to cause him any more problems. It was Collette’s final chance to prove herself after the debacle in New Mexico.
That left only Joe O’Rourke. Once confirmation came in that the others were dead, Richard intended to give the order to kill that obstinate scientist after dragging out every last ounce of intelligence the man held inside. It infuriated him to no end that he had failed to make O’Rourke cave in. They threw everything they had at the man and came up empty. Here, they would take their time. Joe would not be able to resist forever.
He must ferret out Joe’s federal contacts. They must be hunted down and terminated.
Richard stared across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Just a short hop across the strait, and he could be on foreign soil if unwanted visitors showed up here. British Columbia would be a good jumping-off place to return to some of his European haunts; countries where his large cache of money greased the palms of those who could offer protection from meddling law enforcement.
Money makes the world go around. And once this project was underway, money would give him and Stuart’s people all the juice they needed to reach their goals.
For a moment, he closed his eyes and thought about the exhilarating use of power that would finally be in his grasp. Power to force armies to stand down, dictators to bend a knee to Richard’s will. No more political bickering between countries. A one-world government with enough power to bring peace to every square inch of this planet. No more wars, unless they decided to start one. No more poverty. No more wealthy class taking their undue share-except for those like himself wielding absolute power.
No more pettiness. Richard’s people would be able to fairly distribute the earth’s resources to benefit all of mankind, not just a few wealthy countries like the United States. It would be a bitter pill for those so-called patriots to swallow, but they would be offered a choice-just like everyone else-either accept this new world order or face extinction.
Disease. Hunger. War. Crime. All the plagues of mankind finally conquered by a unified and centralized power base. Some within this organization even mentioned that a Utopia might be possible, a nirvana in which mankind could live in peace, harmony and accord. There would be no more struggles to survive. Man’s technology and research could feed, clothe, house, and protect the world. No more wars. To take advantage of others. He was not one of those dreamers. Nirvana could never be reached as long as human nature imposed itself, but they might come close.
For the last fifty years, he’d been working toward this goal. Finding others with the same interest, those with enough clout to make this happen. Politicians, business leaders, military-all the cogs of society that could be used to wield together one powerful force to create this new world. People not held back by provincialism and self-interested ideology.
His cell phone vibrated. Glancing down, he saw a text message from Collette. He activated the message.
Targets entered the trap. They are about to die.
Richard turned the phone off, smiling to himself. Now he could focus on more important matters.
Every time Beck came to the Pentagon, he felt in awe at the size of this place. Today was no exception. He finally reached the office he sought and tapped on the door. “Mind if I come in?”
Jack Thompson looked up from his desk. “I’m beginning to think you’re a ghost. How did you get past security? And how did you know I wouldn’t be down at SOCOM in Florida?”
Beck grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to Thompson’s desk. “It’s all about who you know.”
Thompson chuckled. “Well, I know for a fact you do business with a ton of people. I keep running into them all over this globe. What can I do you for?”
“Tracking down Richard Kane.”
The colonel nodded. “I’d like to know where that scumbag is right now. I’d be tempted to send in a drone to take him out.”
Beck’s eyes narrowed. “You may get your chance. I’ve got a hit on a boat off the Washington State coast. Somewhere in the waters between the U.S. and Canada-Strait of Juan de Fuca.”
“How did you manage that?”
“Remember that radio-frequency tracking program DARPA farmed out to private industry?”
“Enhancement of RFID chip batteries? Yeah, but that stuff is only good for close surveillance. Not good for long-range operations.”
“Old news, Colonel. An Israeli company came up with a battery-powered RFID chip that can send out a unique identification number read by our satellites. I had one of these chips planted on Kane when he was running around Vienna trying to recruit Gerrit.”
“You were watching him over there? How did an FBI agent stateside get clearance to monitor an operation overseas?”
“I’d rather not say, sir.”
Thompson smirked. “I’ll bet you don’t.”
Beck leaned forward. “I put a trace on him ever since. He left England just before Gerrit and his crew arrived. I’ve tracked him to this boat, and we should be able to get a fix on his exact location once he hits land.”
“Does Gerrit know Kane is gone?”
Beck shook his head. “I can’t seem to raise him on the cell phone. He may have turned it off before hitting Kane’s location.”
“Well, let him know as soon as possible. Since Kane is not in Harrogate, I wonder who he left in charge.”
Beck shrugged. “Even more important…where is Joe O’Rourke?”