Daniel Suarez - Kill Decision

Agent Blake was now acting as if she were a nonperson, and a terrible realization began to sink in: that she had fallen in with dangerous people. That much was increasingly clear.

She lay back against the seat and tried to remember what normal life was like. Instead all she could remember was how instantaneous the blast wave had been on those attack videos-bodies disintegrated by industrial weaponry, as though they were made of paper.

Would anyone ever discover what happened to her, or would she just become another one of the disappeared in the world? The researcher who disappeared somewhere in Africa. That’s Africa for you, people would say. She thought again of her father.

Just then something dark alighted on the trunk of the car.

McKinney recoiled in alarm but then turned to see a large raven marching around the trunk lid just beyond the rear window glass. It wore a small headset and what she now knew was a tiny video camera. Huginn or Muninn-she could never tell them apart. She didn’t know whether she was happy to see him or frightened.

Blake was still scanning the horizon and hadn’t noticed the bird. It flew off again unseen.

A moment later a vehicle’s headlights approached and entered on the far side of the vast lot. It was an unmarked blue utility van.

Blake opened his coat, holding his hands up where they could be seen. Before long the van coasted to a stop behind Blake’s car. She recognized a grim-faced Odin behind the wheel with his long black beard. He ignored her, instead scanning the area, keeping a wary eye on Blake.

Satisfied, he got out-the dome light not turning on-and he cautiously approached Blake’s car. Odin wore some sort of insulated orange jumpsuit with a reflective vest and ID badge. It looked like an airport technician’s outfit.

Blake moved to intercept him.

McKinney watched the men approach one another, keeping their hands visible. They converged next to the car, close enough for her to hear them through the glass.

Blake spoke first. “David Shaw. I’d ask what rock you crawled out from under, but the professor was kind enough to tell us.”

Odin glanced at McKinney.

She couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

Odin turned forward again. “I’m surprised she’s still alive.”

“Would you have shown yourself if she wasn’t?”

“No.”

Blake spread his hands. There you go.

“Homeland Security-is that your idea of a joke?”

“One must maintain a sense of humor in these trying times.”

“Why’d they send you, Ritter?”

“To talk some sense into you.”

“Or because they hoped I’d kill you.”

Blake seemed uncertain for a moment.

“But I’m long finished doing their dirty work.”

Blake relaxed a bit and smiled genially. “NorthCom isn’t your territory. You’re supposed to be over there keeping the savages busy.”

“Maybe the savages back here need watching too.”

“The old man’s bitten off more than he can chew this time, David. This isn’t Pakistan. Maybe you’ve been overseas so long you forget that it’s a team sport here. And you’re not on the team.”

“I didn’t come to talk. I came for the girl.” He headed toward McKinney’s sedan.

“Does she know you’re using her?”

Odin turned. “Yeah. You might have noticed she tried to escape.”

“You can’t stop this, David. It’s going to happen no matter what. They want it. Stop looking.”

“You of all people know that isn’t going to happen.”

“Ah, never quit the hunt. Do you want to end up like Mouse? I hear they’re still finding pieces of him over there.”

Odin paused, but then regained his calm and reached the car door.

“What if they let you come home, David? Would you be willing to walk away?”

Odin stopped. He met McKinney’s gaze for several moments. “Walk away.” He nodded silently to himself. “And the professor here?”

“She’s already dead, and you know it.”

“Good-bye, Ritter.”

“Everyone wants this, David. Everyone. You can’t fight it.”

Odin turned to appraise Ritter for a few moments. “See, that’s the difference between you and me. I don’t just fight the battles I know I can win.” Odin opened the car’s rear door.

McKinney glared at Blake-or Ritter, or whatever his name was. He seemed to have transformed into a completely different person. “How did he-”

“Not now.” Odin pulled her up out of the rear seat by her waist chain and started moving her over to the blue van.

Blake called to them. “You can’t prevent something whose time has come.”

Odin opened the side door of the van. McKinney could see that it was an empty metal shell-no padding.

“I’m sorry. I had to know.”

“Now you know.”

He picked her up with powerful arms and tossed her into the cargo hold.

“Odin, I-”

He slammed the door, leaving her in the semidarkness, craning her neck to see the safety cage between her and the driver’s compartment. Odin got in and started the van.

McKinney realized how relieved she was to see him.

He adjusted the rearview mirror to meet her gaze. “Happy now, Professor? The monsters of the deep know you by name.”

She knelt and looked up at him. “I didn’t have a choice. You gave me no good reason to trust you.”

“Smart people are always difficult. Always looking for answers. And the answers always lead to more questions.” He accelerated the van toward the parking lot exit, and she slid into the rear doors.

She crawled forward again. “Who was that man?”

“I rest my case.”

“He said he was with Homeland Security.”

“There are people who work for the people who run the world. He’s one of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they send the Black Chinook for me now.”

“You kidnapped me. You can’t seriously have expected me to trust you.”

“Why the hell did you trust them?”

“The FBI? Homeland Security?”

“You don’t seem the brand-conscious type, Professor.”

“Don’t be glib. I needed independent verification that this was real.”

“Oh, it’s real, all right. Think of it as an iceberg; you only see what’s on the surface. There are people beneath; people who built the systems that run everything.”

“In the government?”

“What difference does it make whether they’re in the government? They’re larger than government. They’re power. The world is a big system now. I don’t think anyone knows who’s in charge. But you can run afoul of various interests. That’s for damn sure. And you just did.”

She pondered that-then looked up at him again. “Shaw.”

He met her eyes in the mirror.

“That’s your real name: David Shaw.”

He clenched his jaw for a few moments. “That was his idea of a warning-letting me know that they know who I am. They think it gives them power over me.”

“But your family? Your-”

“It won’t lead them to anything. That’s why the colonel chose me.”

They locked eyes in the mirror.

“‘Shaw’ was the name of the road they found me on. It’s a common practice with foundlings at orphanages.” He looked back to the road. “All names were made up at some point. I just know when and where mine was.”

McKinney slumped against the sliding door as the van sped along a service road.

“Well, you poured some blood in the water tonight. Let’s see what shows up.”

That’s when McKinney noticed they were actually moving along the airport tarmac, approaching a large propeller-driven aircraft. McKinney recognized it as a C-130 cargo plane. She’d seen them used on various research projects in remote locales, although she’d never been aboard one. There were vehicles and work lights around it. Silhouettes of people rushing around.