Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

Vicky swore and punched another button on her sat-phone. ‘Harrison, you’d better be dead or missing a body part!’

Webster smiled as he listened to Vicky directing the news producer to move to the next hot spot in the city. As the view shifted, Webster’s sat-phone rang. The Caller ID confirmed it was coming from the White House. He thumbed the button and answered.

‘Hello?’ President Waggoner said. ‘Elliott? Elliott, is that you?’

‘Yes. I’m here, Jack.’ Crackles echoed along the connection.

‘Thank God,’ Waggoner said. ‘We’d lost touch with you.’

Actually, Webster deliberately hadn’t answered the last call and he knew that the secret service agents’ effort to remain in contact with their primary handler had been blocked. Spider had seen to that. The man sat in the corner of the room and stayed hooked into his computer. Spider was in his element, weaving tactical forays through the domestic and international internet. He was also responsible for making certain Vicky DeAngelo’s broadcasts got out to the communications satellites. Spider was the man behind the curtain, the wizard who made the whole experience work round the globe.

‘We’re still here,’ Webster said.

‘Is there any way you can get clear of that place?’ Waggoner asked.

‘Not without considerable risk.’

‘You’re already in considerable risk. I just watched a reporter get killed on national television.’

When Webster glanced at the television, he saw Vicky had already looped the action on the broadcast. It spun again and again in a screen-in-screen presentation. By tomorrow morning, that would be one of the images most remembered from tonight. As Webster watched, the reporter died again and the camera view turned red. Then it began once more.

‘I have Prince Khalid’s promise nothing will happen to us,’ Webster said.

‘Even if the king’s army doesn’t lay a finger on you, the rebels are gunning for you. The CIA has intercepted encrypted communications in that area between the Shia terrorists.’

That was also courtesy of Spider. Of course, the idea for that had come from Webster. Humans thrived on drama. Nothing divided them more quickly and breaking television news had become the drug of choice. That was one of the weaknesses of giving humans free will. They had to be constantly stimulated in order to use it. When the stimulation didn’t occur naturally, they artificially created it.

‘That surprises me,’ Webster said, though it didn’t.

‘They think the United States is in league with the Sunnis and the king.’

‘We’ve always given that impression. We’ve had a long history of agreeing to terms with these people until our presence in Iraq to shore up the Shias.’

‘I know, but now there’s some rumours flying around that the United States plans to take advantage of all the confusion going on to make a land grab.’

‘We both know that’s not true.’ But it was exactly what Webster had intended.

‘Not entirely,’ the president said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ve heard rumours that some of the domestic corporations are planning to use mercenary units to protect their assets over there.’

‘You could hardly blame them.’ Webster watched as a large freighter blew up in the harbour. ‘Neither Prince Khalid nor his opponents care about collateral losses. Those corporations are going to lose millions by morning. Those losses won’t mean much to the Saudis. Their economy will still be stable. They have what everyone wants, and nearly all of that is safely underground. After the fires go out and the dust settles on this, the corporations will line up again to pay for rights to drill.’

‘Only for the moment,’ Waggoner said. ‘That will change as soon as we no longer need their oil.’

‘Things always change.’

‘But until that time, we need to salvage as much of this situation as we can.’

A military helicopter flew uncomfortably close to the building. Hamilton and Napier drew back from the floor-to-ceiling glass. In the next moment, the helicopter fired a series of rockets that reduced the street in front of the hotel into piles of flaming rubble. The cannonade vibrated through the building under Webster’s feet. Smoke drifted up and momentarily obscured the battlefield outside the glass.

Waggoner swore. ‘Is that your hotel?’

Webster glanced at the television screen and saw that the view was indeed of the hotel. He wondered if Vicky DeAngelo’s people had followed a group of Shia there or if they’d returned in hopes of being granted asylum.

In the next second, a wave of fire washed over the front of the building. The heat immediately killed the landscaped grounds in front of the hotel. Only a moment later the expensive façade scorched and carbon covered the glass for a short time before the windows cracked and fell apart.

‘Yes,’ Webster said. ‘That’s our hotel.’

‘Elliott, you can’t take chances like this. You need to get yourself and those people out of there now.’

‘And where would we go?’

‘I’ve got a fleet standing by. They’ve got men on board who can get you out of there.’

‘I’m not convinced we’re through here yet.’

‘The borders of that country are becoming free-fire zones.’

‘I know, but if the United States sends a military force into this country – even to rescue the vice-president – those free-fire zones are going to turn into a conflagration that will sweep across the Middle East. Our actions will be interpreted by the Sunnis as supporting the Shia. The Shia will interpret those actions as a lack of faith and weakness in the Sunnis.’ Webster paused. ‘We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, Mike. I don’t want to have to make any decisions prematurely.’

‘Your hotel is on fire,’ Waggoner said, ‘if anything, you’re making decisions too late.’

‘A lot of American people work in this country,’ Webster said. ‘Our people, Mike. People you and I swore to defend when we took office. I can’t bail out on them.’ He paused, knowing he was hitting every narcissistic patriotic button Waggoner had. ‘If we decide to get me out of here, I want to get all the Americans out. When we finish our terms, I want to go out with a bang not a frightened whimper. I don’t want to be remembered as the vice-president who tucked his tail between his legs and ran out of Saudi Arabia to leave his fellow countrymen to die.’

Waggoner was silent for a time.

On the television, the lower storey of the hotel was suddenly filled with a snowstorm. Webster knew that the fire-suppression system had been triggered. Saudi military units rolled two fire trucks towards the hotel. Within seconds, the teams had offloaded hoses and sprayed water over the fire.

‘Do you know what you’re asking, Elliott?’ Waggoner asked.

‘A way to keep our people safe. Just like we promised.’

‘To do that, we’d have to create an American beachhead somewhere near your location. We’d have to control real estate over there. The Saudis – Prince Khalid – won’t like that because it’ll look as though we’re undercutting his authority and we don’t have faith in him.’

‘I know. But that may be what’s called for. As far as the prince’s authority, there are a lot of people flaunting it right now.’ Webster didn’t intend to settle for anything less than what he wanted.

‘And you don’t think that’s going to cause an international incident?’

‘On the contrary. I know it will. I don’t want to do it unless we have to. And if it should come to that, we need to make a statement. We may be buying the oil from this country, but that also counts as a huge investment.’ They would have to make that statement. Webster was going to see to it. Spider would make certain of it. ‘If the Saudis can make any headway in this, if they can contain the violence – soon – then it’s not going to matter. I feel certain Prince Khalid will honour his promise to take care of our people. But if he can’t, we need to be ready to take care of them ourselves.’