Black Flagged Redux

Chapter 26





7:25 PM

CIA Headquarters

Langley, Virginia





Karl Berg closed the communications circuit with U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly through his nose. A fairly routine, straightforward operation had just gone sideways on him. He leaned back in the plush black leather chair and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. He had several phone calls to make, and none of the recipients would be pleased to hear from him. His first call had to be Bauer. He could use the operation center's phones for that one. The others would have to be made on one or two of his "burner" cell phones. He had no idea what he was going to tell Bauer, but he suspected that Bauer would be prepared for this. He'd called her about four hours ago to let her know that the drone was airborne. She concurred with his decision to launch, especially based on the Monchegorsk information.

The Russians had sealed Highway M18 at points several miles north and south of the city, effectively cutting off access to Monchegorsk. The roadblocks had also sealed off Olenegorsk, a small town ten miles to the north. Intelligence assets from Murmansk had managed to interview members of several families that escaped Olenegorsk just before Russian Federation Army units arrived. All of them relayed stories of sickness and mayhem in Monchegorsk. Although none of them had seen it firsthand, reports of a violent army crackdown had been enough to send them fleeing in the direction of the regional capital, Murmansk. So far as they could tell, the sickness hadn't spread through Olenegorsk, though the hospital had been filled with patients from its sister city. Strange stories of violent, uncontrollable behavior in these patients sealed the deal and sent them driving in the middle of the night toward Murmansk, against an endless stream of Russian Federation Army vehicles.

The coincidence was too strong for either of them to ignore. Reznikov had poisoned the city somehow and was still at large. The presence of three dead Al Qaeda agents on a side road in Kazakhstan fit the pattern. Reznikov had apparently escaped the crematorium flames that consumed the rest of his laboratory staff and targeted his hometown for the debut release of his designer virus. Berg would send Sanderson's team to Monchegorsk to assess the full scope of the virus's potential. They would have to build a rock solid case against Reznikov before Audra brought this up the chain of command. Berg dialed Bauer's cell phone, which rang for longer than expected. He was about to hang up, when she answered.

"Sorry about that. I'm still in a meeting here. Good news? Aside from the fact that I'm going to have to explain the temporary loss of an armed Predator drone? I have a retrieval team on standby."

"Audra, retrieval is no longer an option. The team was ambushed by a reinforced Spetznaz platoon outside of Kaynar," Berg said.

"Jesus. How bad?"

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

"Skip the games, Karl," she said.

"The Predator drone launched both Hellfire missiles at ground targets, then crashed into a Russian attack helicopter."

"Crashed?"

"I ordered the flight crew to crash the drone into the attack helicopter. Two of the Russian helicopters were destroyed by the impact," he said.

"How many helicopters did the Russians send?"

"Three. One Mi-28 Havoc, and two transport helos," he answered.

"So, right now I'm looking at a Predator drone crashed among two burning Russian helicopters?"

"There was no other way. The Havoc was cutting our team to pieces," he said, anticipating Bauer's fury.

"I'm not suggesting there was. I trust your judgment. Please tell me that our team escaped?"

"Four of them. Our CIA liaison is dead, along with one of Sanderson's crew. The good news is that they still have the samples. I'm connecting them with someone from our embassy in Astana, so we can transfer the samples in an emergency diplomatic package. I'd like to have it in a friendly lab within twelve hours."

"I'd like it there sooner than that, but I think our best option is to get the samples back to the States. We don't have any facilities in Europe that we control."

"We're looking at twenty-four hours if we fly it back here," Berg said.

"I should be able to get it here faster on a priority Gulfstream charter. I'll contact the embassy in Astana and arrange for the samples to be transported directly to the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. This will cost a fortune, but I can't keep the Predator thing quiet for very long. We have to prepare a response, and the White House will need to be notified at some point very soon. I'd like to have those samples analyzed by the time I have to walk this down the hall. Any further word on Monchegorsk?"

"Nothing new. I'm sending Sanderson's team up there to conduct reconnaissance. We might as well keep their momentum rolling. I'll fly them into Helsinki and figure out how to get them into Russia. They'll probably have to approach on snowmobiles. Monchegorsk is roughly 150 miles from the Finnish border, so it won't be a difficult trip."

"All right, I'll activate the necessary protocols with our people in Finland. They'll get full support on the ground there," she said, "unless I get shut down here."

"I don't think we'll hear a word from the Russians. They lost two helicopters and possibly a full platoon of Spetznaz soldiers on Kazakh soil. They won't be interested in drawing any attention to that problem. With any luck, the remaining pieces of the Predator are burned beyond recognition in the helicopter wreckage. Our most immediate problem is that they know someone else is looking for Reznikov. Our team will need to be careful, and so will we. They'll be actively scanning the ground and air for information."

"Well, there won't be much for them to pick up. Since this is still in my pocket, there isn't much electronic chatter out there. They'll be in the dark for a while, unless they identify Sanderson's team. I hope they were discreet getting into Astana."

"They were, but I need to get them out of there on the next flight, and I would be surprised if they weren't identified upon departure. Kazakhstan is crawling with Russians."

Bauer muffled a laugh, which made Berg feel more comfortable. He had never seen this side of Audra, though he had heard rumors. There was a reason that she sat in the deputy director's seat.

"Here's what we need to do. Start looking for Reznikov. While the team works Monchegorsk, we need to find this guy. He may be our only link to the Al Qaeda network that hired him, or he might have stiffed them and taken all of the virus. The three dead bodies back at the lab give me some hope," she said.

"And if not?"

"Then we can't keep this quiet much longer. If the terrorist network figures out that Reznikov released the virus, they might get panicky and pull the trigger a lot earlier than anyone anticipates."

"That's what I was thinking. I'll get this rolling. I may ask Sanderson to activate some of his European assets to augment the current team if we get a lead on Reznikov," he said.

"Doesn't cost us anything at the moment, so go ahead. Look, I have to get back into this meeting. I'll keep this phone immediately accessible all night. Don't hesitate," she said.

"You know I won't," he said and hung up the phone.

It was still too early in Moscow to make the call he desperately needed to place.