Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

Holding her silenced pistol before her, Cleena half ran through the underground passage that led to the building where Lourds had been taken. The corridor was longer than she’d expected.

‘You’re sure this is the way?’

‘Yes.’ Sevki didn’t hesitate. ‘Getting the blueprints of those buildings was a major undertaking. I can’t begin to express how much you owe me.’

‘After I help save the world, maybe we can discuss how large that debt is.’

‘Yeah. That.’

Sevki didn’t sound as if he believed everything that was going on. Cleena didn’t blame him. Even after everything she’d seen, she had trouble believing it herself. That’s one of Webster’s strengths, she reminded herself. Joachim and the Brotherhood had warned them.

Abruptly the corridor ended in a foyer containing a number of elevators.

‘Here.’ Joachim went to the right and found the door to a stairs. He started to pull it open.

‘No,’ Sevki interrupted. ‘The door is alarmed.’

Joachim drew his hand back.

‘Can you bypass the alarm from there?’ Cleena stepped closer and looked at the alarm system.

‘No. I tried. If I hack in, I might set it off. Then you guys are screwed.’

Cleena put her pistol away and pulled her toolkit from inside her jacket. She wore body armour, as did the monks. Tension filled her body as she concentrated on the lock.

‘Is there anything I can do?’ Joachim stood nearby.

‘I’ll get it.’ Perspiration dripped through Cleena’s eyebrows. ‘Sevki, do you have access to the building’s security cameras?’

He sounded distant when he replied. ‘I will. Possibly before you’re through that lock. They’ve got someone inside who has enhanced the cyber security already in place on site.’ He paused, then sounded pleased. ‘This guy is good.’

‘Are you through?’ Cleena popped the first round of locks and went after the second.

‘I’ve never failed you yet.’

‘Maybe we could hold the self-congratulations until the post-mortem.’ As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Cleena realized how unfortunate the term was.

‘Let’s refer to that as a debrief, shall we?’

Cleena ignored him as the last of the electronic locks gave way. Holding her breath, she put her hand on the door and pulled. It opened and she led the way inside with her pistol at the ready. She went up the steps rapidly.

Fear rattled through Lourds as he realized the full extent of the danger he was in. He hadn’t known for certain if Webster would know the difference between the scrolls, but evidently something tied them together.

‘I will not be trifled with,’ Webster roared. ‘I will have that girl killed.’ He took his phone from his pocket.

‘All right.’ Lourds took his hat off with his cuffed hands and reached inside it. He removed the protective plastic bag containing the Joy Scroll from behind the liner. It had amazed him that a document supposed to be powerful enough to save the world could fit behind his hatband.

Webster approached and reached for the package. Something, Lourds wasn’t sure what, stayed his hand. He gestured at Eckart. ‘Seize that scroll.’

Eckart plucked the scroll from Lourds’ zip-tied hands. ‘Do you want to check it?’

‘No.’ Webster wiped his hands on his pants. ‘No. That’s the scroll. I’m convinced of that. Just keep it with you.’

Eckart tucked the document inside his jacket.

‘Now, Professor Lourds,’ Webster said, ‘welcome to the end of the world as you know it. Within the next few minutes, the course of human events will drastically change.’ He looked at Eckart. ‘Bring him along.’ Then he turned and headed for the next room.

With Eckart’s rough hand gripping his neck, Lourds followed Webster.

The next room looked like a view of perdition. Blood smeared the walls and bullet holes had chopped into the fine panelling. A half-dozen dead bodies littered the floor.

Webster waved theatrically. ‘Does it appear convincing enough to you?’ He jostled one of the corpses with a foot. ‘There are a lot of bodies out in the streets waiting to be claimed.’

Not believing what he was seeing, Lourds glanced at the rest of the people in the room. No one seemed surprised or appalled. Lourds didn’t know if it was because of Lucifer’s powers or because the others had invested so heavily in the outcome of Webster’s machinations that they didn’t care.

Reaching down, Webster dabbled his fingers in the fresh blood from one of the dead men, then carefully streaked his face with it. He grinned like a child at Halloween. ‘Effective, yes? Everyone will believe this is my blood.’

Lourds didn’t say anything.

‘Come now, Professor. In your profession, with all the lectures and the attention, you must have developed a sense of the theatrical.’

‘Not this,’ Lourds said. ‘I’ll never develop anything for this except revulsion.’

Webster chuckled and applied blood to the back of one of his hands. ‘The devil is in the details, Professor. Haven’t you ever heard that?’

Lourds remained silent.

‘Now, I’ve got a plea to make. One that will bring American military forces into this country in a way that has never before been seen, and one that will not be tolerated by Prince Khalid or the rest of the Middle East.’ Webster nodded at a woman. ‘Let’s do this.’

A camera crew walked in front of Webster and the lights came on.

Silently, Lourds watched and hoped that Cleena and Joachim were somewhere near.

‘I’m in.’

Cleena stood outside the stairwell door and gazed down the corridors. Guards stood at posts. ‘Good. Now find Lourds for me.’ She held her pistol in both hands.

‘Got him. Two rooms over. Hey, the television news stations just broke for a special news bulletin coming live from Vice-President Webster.’

That, Cleena thought, can’t be good.

She went through the door, raising the pistol and shooting the first man in the face as he tried to bring up his rifle. Joachim and the monks followed.

‘My fellow Americans.’ Webster spoke into the microphone. ‘I come to you in a moment of dire straits. As you know, I came to Saudi Arabia on a peacekeeping mission. Unfortunately, things have gone badly awry here and I haven’t been as successful as I’d hoped.’

Lourds gritted his teeth and bit back a scathing retort that he felt certain wouldn’t be well received.

‘Now I find myself in as much danger as I’d hoped to save you from,’ Webster continued. ‘I’ve attempted – several times – to negotiate some kind of ceasefire, but I believe I’ve reached an impasse.’ He waved his hands to include the dead bodies around him. ‘As you can see, several of the support crews here have given their lives trying to help me.’

As Lourds gazed around the room, he was surprised to see that a few of the television crew were openly weeping. He was certain they’d known none of the dead people.

‘At this point,’ Webster said, ‘I feel I have no recourse other than to ask the president to issue orders that-’

The door burst open as Cleena, Joachim, and the monks filled the room. Automatic gunfire filled the room. Lourds threw himself to the floor and noticed that Eckart did the same. A trio of bullets thudded into Webster’s chest. Surprised, he glanced down and saw blood seeping into his shirt.

Then the room became hell on earth as bullets tore through the air and the monks threw flash-bang grenades into the room. Several of the television cameras became instant casualties of live rounds. The camera crews scrambled for safety.

‘Get Lourds!’ Webster yelled. He was lost somewhere in the haze of smoke and bright lights from the flash-bangs. ‘Get Lourds now!’