Brad Thor - Full Black

Once again, the MI5 operative took several moments before responding. When he did speak, he said, “Give me two of my pain pills. Actually, make it three and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“I’ll consider giving you one,” said the Old Man, nodding to Harvath that it was okay to prep one, “when you start filling us in on what we want to know.”

Ashford looked at the two men. The tears were flowing again. He had given up. He was broken. They had him. “Where do you want me to begin?” he asked.

Harvath stepped in, opened the bottle, and shook out one of the pills. Ashford opened his mouth. Harvath placed the pill on his tongue and then gave him some more water to wash it down.

“Let’s start with who you’re working for.”

“You already know who it is,” said Ashford.

“I want to hear you say it.”

“James Standing.”

“The terror attacks in Europe and Chicago that you helped us work on, who was behind those?”

“James Standing.”

“And the attacks on movie theaters across the United States that just happened?”

“James Standing.”

“The airport attacks?”

“Standing,” Ashford repeated yet again.

“Tell me about the terror network itself,” said Carlton.

The MI5 man looked at him. “It was built by the Chinese as part of an asymmetric warfare plan called unrestricted warfare. Standing financed and helped arrange for the stealing of the plan from the Chinese military. He then had every person who had been involved in crafting the plan killed.”

“How many terror cells are in the United States?”

The Brit had to think for a moment, but then replied, “Hundreds. Easily, hundreds. Your entire country is infested.”

“How do you communicate with the cells?”

“I want a guarantee in writing that I am honestly going to get immunity from prosecution.”

Harvath leaned forward. “How about instead we dump you outside the Russian Center of Special Operations with a sign around your neck saying you helped get three Spetsnaz soldiers killed?”

Carlton motioned for Harvath to back off. “We’re not negotiating anymore, Robert. I gave you my word. Now tell me how you communicate with the cells.”

“There is a hierarchy of commanders,” Ashford finally stated. “When Aazim Aleem was killed-”

“By you,” Harvath clarified.

“Yes. By me. After I killed Aazim, a man named Mustafa Karami was promoted. I then relayed commands to him, or Standing did. He then contacted the appropriate cells through emails, chat rooms, coded telephone conversations, and the like. Despite having been set up as a tool of the Chinese, for all intents and purposes it is a fully functioning Islamic terror network.”

“Why was Aazim killed?” asked Carlton.

“Isn’t it obvious? We couldn’t have the CIA interrogating him. That would have been the end of all of it.”

“And what was your end game in all of this? What was your goal? Yours and Standing’s? Certainly, this isn’t just about terror for terror’s sake.”

Ashford grinned sadly. “It was about making the world a better place.”

“By murdering people? Innocent men, women, and children?” demanded Harvath.

“All in pursuit of a greater good.”

“In other words, the ends justify the means?”

Ashford nodded and Harvath wanted to beat the Brit to a pulp, all in pursuit of a greater good, but the Old Man could see he was getting worked up and signaled again for him to stand down.

“How were these attacks supposed to make the world a better place?” Carlton asked.

“The only hope for the world is the collapse of the narrowly focused nation-state model. The planet is too interconnected, society too complex to be ruled by mob mentalities that only care about what’s good for them and don’t give a damn about anyone else.”

“So the attacks were meant to collapse the concept of the nation- state?”

“They are meant to collapse the United States. Once the U.S. is out of the way, the rest of the world can be led-”

“Into complete and utter darkness,” interjected Harvath. “Without America, there’s no peace. Without peace, there’s no prosperity.”

The Brit shook his head slowly. “Without America, there is justice.”

Carlton studied his former friend. “How did you go from fighting communists to becoming one?”

“I opened my eyes, Reed. I saw the incredible suffering in the world. Then I opened my mind and went looking for answers.”

“You have no idea,” said Harvath, “what the world would be like without America.”

“We’ll see soon enough.”

“Really? And who’ll govern this new world order? Some elite ruling class of intellectuals? Americans will never stand for the overthrow of their government.”

Ashford smiled again. “Of course they will. It’s already happening.”

“Trust me, your attacks will only bring the American people closer together.”

“I’m not talking about the terrorist attacks. Those are simply part of the final phase. The overthrow of America has been going on for decades. If someone tried to collapse the United States overnight, of course the American people would revolt. That’s why it had to be done slowly, quietly. It has been aided from both the outside and the inside. All of the massive problems besetting your nation, all of the economic, political, and social turmoil, hasn’t suddenly picked up speed by accident. It’s all by design and it all has a singular, overriding purpose.”

The man was insane. “And just so I don’t miss this glorious new dawn of global governance when it happens, what should I be on the lookout for?” asked Harvath. “Blue-helmeted United Nations soldiers marching up Main Street, U.S.A.? Or will it be more subtle than that?”

“You don’t have to look for anything,” replied Ashford. “It’s already here. It’s all around you. You’ve been looking right at it for years without knowing. You still have your name. You still have your flag. You still believe you have your freedoms, though in reality they have been slowly siphoned away. You still believe you have a Republic when, day-by-day, what you are being left with is merely the illusion of a Republic. Your entire house, as it were, has been rebuilt one brick at a time and no one has even noticed. No one has done a single thing about it.”

“How do we stop it?” asked Carlton.

“I don’t think you can,” replied Ashford.

“Standing wants to push the nation over the edge. He has some vision in mind of how to push us past the point of no return. How does he do that? How many more attacks are coming?”

“At this point, I only know of two that have definitely been activated, but there’s literally thousands of options he can choose from. The unrestricted warfare plan is as deep as it is broad.”

“What are the two?” said Carlton, eager to ascertain whether Ashford was telling them the truth.

“All of the attacks are color-coded. The next two attacks are orange and yellow. Orange will be attacks on the corporate headquarters of the companies listed on the Dow Industrial Average. Some of the companies are in regular office buildings, others are on campuses. Provisions have been made to collapse some buildings entirely and in other cases to have explosives detonate in the offices, boardrooms, and executive dining rooms of senior management.”

So far, it appeared to Carlton that Ashford was telling the truth. “And when are those attacks supposed to happen?”

“Today.”

“What are the yellow attacks?” Harvath asked.

“The yellow attacks are a follow-on. They target the major news outlets, the idea being that if they can be taken out, national news will essentially cease to exist. Local news will continue, but there won’t be anyone to truly connect and expose the dots on a national level.”