Don Pendleton - Domination Bid

Steinham could see the flush of embarrassment mixed with anger on Cyrus’s face. He’d probably not appreciated the way Steinham had phrased that particular question, but then, Steinham didn’t give a good damn. Cyrus understood quite well who paid the bills, and Steinham had been quite clear in his expectations before ever agreeing to hire the mercenary leader.

“All those of my men who were left behind are confirmed KIAs, sir. You have no reason to be concerned about security.”

“And I assume no reason to believe they will manage to trace any of those men back here.”

It was Braden who spoke up. “Begging your pardon, Colonel?”

Cyrus nodded and Braden looked at Steinham. “Sir, I was the one who personally vetted every one of the men on our team. I can assure you that nothing in their identities or covers could be traced back to you, DCDI or any of your affiliated holdings.”

“Thank you, Major Braden. I’ll take you at your word. With that matter dispensed, the only thing left to discuss is your failure to retrieve the information on the most probable entities responsible for Oleg Dratshev’s disappearance.” Steinham looked Cyrus in the eye. “You understand, Colonel, the very seriousness this failure on your part to accomplish the mission objectives?”

“I do understand,” Cyrus said, obviously trying to remain calm. “But you must realize that the reason we failed is the same reason I lost a half dozen of my men. We were set up.”

“And you have proof of this?”

“He has me, sir,” Braden said. “And again, begging your pardon, Colonel? I was there, Mr. Steinham. Our failure to accomplish mission objectives had nothing to do with incompetence. We executed the plan exactly as we told you we would. Security forces there had been beefed up and they were actually waiting inside the data vault.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what Colonel Cyrus’s report indicates,” Steinham said. “But that’s not enough to prove you were set up.”

“I would tend to agree with you, sir,” Cyrus replied. “But it does indicate they knew we were coming. And they specifically waited until we were well inside the perimeter to engage us. Had this been a legitimate federal op, they would’ve hit before we ever got the chance to get inside.”

Steinham shook his head. “What’s your point exactly, Colonel?”

“My point, sir, is that they seemed fully intent on destroying our entire team. I think they wanted to make sure none of us got out alive. Had we not been split into two teams, they might well have gotten away with it.”

Steinham considered this and finally nodded. He had to admit there was significant merit to what Cyrus and Braden had told him. “I’ll agree someone or something definitely wanted to keep the incident on the QT. But it’s still disturbing because in any case, it would indicate we have a security leak inside DCDI. We can’t have that. Ever. So, gentlemen, I will leave it up to you to find the leak and plug it.”

“And how do you suggest we plug it?” Cyrus asked. The hard, level gaze Steinham made Cyrus reply, “I see.”

“Now since we weren’t able to obtain the information I’d hoped from the data vault, I was forced to pursue a secondary line of inquiry. I got a very interesting response.”

Steinham rose and poured himself a drink from the fully-stocked wet bar. He didn’t offer either of his guests anything. They were technically on duty and would’ve refused, so Steinham figured why bother.

Ice clinked in the tumbler as Steinham continued. “I would doubt either of you is familiar with electromagnetics beyond the most rudimentary facts, so you’ll indulge me while I elaborate.

“DCDI got involved in the physics of EMP weapons about ten years ago. In fact, I funded an entire department devoted solely to such research. But after three years and employing some of the best minds, we weren’t making enough headway so I shut the project down.”

Steinham poured his brandy and then returned to his seat before continuing. “Then we got wind through our connections inside the intelligence community of back-channel talk regarding Dr. Oleg Dratshev. They were mostly rumors, but they were enough to get my attention and, based on what I knew from our time of research here, those rumblings sounded very promising.

“I tried every way I knew to persuade Dratshev to come work for me but he is a staunch socialist and a man of—how can I say this?—eclectic tastes.”

“It would seem somebody beat you to the punch,” Cyrus said.

Steinham gave the remark serious consideration. “Perhaps. Although I would not have dismissed hiring your team to perform a similar action, Colonel, much of what we do here is still scrutinized by government overseers. I have to take my hat off to whoever managed to pull off Dratshev’s abduction. Of course, we may now never know who that is given your failure to retrieve information on his disappearance from the NSA’s data storage network.”

Cyrus seemed to squirm in his seat on that remark, something that gave Steinham a small measure of satisfaction. He couldn’t really blame Cyrus. He’d given the mercenary tougher jobs and the colonel had come through with an unusually high record of success. Based on that fact alone, Steinham had to admit there was some merit to the military man’s theory they’d been set up. But by who? And what were the chances this incident would eventually be traced back to him despite Cyrus’s assurances the operation couldn’t be linked to DCDI?

Steinham took a swallow of brandy, letting its smooth burn linger in his mouth and throat before he spoke. “But given we don’t have that intelligence, we must now draft an alternate plan to obtaining Dratshev’s whereabouts.”

“You have a suggestion, sir?” Braden asked.

Steinham couldn’t resist tendering a knowing smile. “As a matter of fact, I do. Some connections I have within the military community indicate that the FSB has launched a full investigation into Dratshev’s disappearance. There’s every indication that if they are able to locate him, they will most likely kill him. I believe your particular talents are well suited to preventing that from happening, Colonel Cyrus.”

“You want to send us overseas, then?” Cyrus asked.

“It wouldn’t be my first choice but…yes. I think sending you to Minsk to make contact with my man there would be the most prudent course of action. However, I don’t want you to go personally. I need you here for another operation.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I’d like to send Major Braden.” Steinham pinned Cyrus’s adjutant with a serious gaze. “This operation will require a bit of stealth and an uncanny ability at improvisation. Outside of you, Major Braden is the only person I’d trust to do that.”

“You’ll forgive me for saying so, sir,” Cyrus replied, “but we had an agreement that my men answer to me and only me. You’re not permitted to give my men orders.”

“Be careful, Colonel Cyrus,” Steinham warned. “I don’t need to be reminded of our agreement. And I’m not attempting to give Major Braden orders. I’m merely suggesting that if he is not put in charge of the mission, I won’t move forward with it. Unfortunately that would force me to turn to other resources perhaps more…flexible.”

Cyrus didn’t say anything, so Steinham decided to let him stew on it awhile. He knew the guy would give in. His contract with Cyrus wasn’t exclusive, after all, and all present knew that fact all too well. If Steinham decided to go another way, that would signal his termination of their contractual relationship.

Steinham and DCDI had developed into an extremely lucrative contract for Cyrus’s group. To lose that contract would likely mean financial ruin.