SAN FRANCISCO – Buck Ryan made boxcars full of money repossessing aircraft
whose buyers were in default. The glamorous sounding business,
though, meant spending hours in dark and dirty locations, waiting,
watching and drinking gallons of bad coffee, poised for the right
opportunity to move. So when it came to spending that money, Buck
made up for the rough trips by making sure his accommodations back
home were designed to be luxury that rivaled a sultan?s. His
conference room in the Pyramid seated twenty at a table the size of
a landing strip. The suite was all windows except for the interior walls,
which were covered with photos of the planes Buck had snatched in
his quarter century in business. Looking out, Yvonne took in views of
the bay, the Golden Gate and the rest of the city.
?Impressive,? Yvonne said. ?This is a nice upgrade from your last
office.?
?Wish I spent more time here,? Buck said, ?but the money?s out
there.?
?This is like an aircraft archive,? Colin said as he perused the
pictures. He stopped in front of a Nam-era F-4. ?You fly this one
too??
?Flown them all. But the Phantom?s the only one I could do
barrel rolls in,? Buck said.
They sat at the end of the table closest to the bridge, leaving
vacant a space that resembled a small hangar.
Yvonne looked into the cavernous area and asked, ?Expecting
more guests??
?I?ve got that muscle you asked for,? Buck said, ?But actually no
one?s sat at the other end of the table since I can remember. Guess I
got a little carried away with the decorating. But I?ve got to spend my
money someplace.?
There was a barely audible knock at the door to the conference
room. A shaved head poked in, apologized for the interruption and
smiled.
?Come on in, boys,? Buck said.
The head and its owner had to turn a little sideways to get
through the door. The man was his own jumbo jet, maybe six-seven
and at least three hundred pounds. How he?d managed to knock so
lightly was a mystery. And speaking of boxcars, he looked like he
could lift one. Colin rose, in apparent awe, to shake his hand.
?This here?s Woody,? Buck said. ?Woody Woodman. Ex-Navy
SEAL. He was over in Afghanistan when they took out bin Laden.?
?Let me guess,? Yvonne said. ?He?s the one you use to sneak up
on the bad guys.?
Buck laughed. ?You?d be surprised,? he said. ?Woody is as quiet
as a mouse. Until it?s time to get to work. Then he?s kind of like a
tornado?you never know when or where he?s going to hit, but when
he does? well, let?s say there is significant destruction.?
Woody looked down, as though embarrassed by Buck?s praise.
He?d shielded the two men who?d entered after him, and they popped
out to be seen. Buck introduced them as Luzon Boland, his security
man, and Nigel Cross, his Oxford-educated lead pilot. Boland wore
a cowboy hat, but took it off to bow and shake Yvonne?s hand.
?A true gentleman,? she said. ?I like that.?
Yvonne was about to ask Buck how this little man, who appeared
to weigh only slightly more than she, had been named the team?s
security leader over MountWoody, but when Boland slipped into his
seat with the grace of a ninja she began to understand why. With a
name like Luzon he had to be from the Philippines. Probably trained
in the art of Eskrima or Kali.
Buck noticed her watching him. ?It?s why we call him Silk.?
?So he can slip in and out of anywhere.?
?And it feels so smooth when he does.?
?And Nigel? I suppose you have a nickname too, since everyone
seems to have one.?
?At your service, Miss Tran,? he said in regal sounding British
diction. If she?d met him on the street, she would have assumed him
to be a college professor. He was short and a little overweight, with
the gray hair and posture of a man who?s career was in books, not
airplanes. ?Some people call me Prince. Can?t say as I know why.?
?Prince Nigel,? she said. ?It fits.?
Buck gave the boys Yvonne?s background, including her ?nom
de net? of Cyber Styletto. Then it was time to get to work. ?So,
Yvonne, you?ve got a cyber war brewing,? Buck said. ?You piss off the
Chinese again??
?Not yet,? she said. ?But if they?re up to what I suspect, it?s bound
to happen.?
?Details.?
She laid out the story of the power outage and what she knew
about the mysterious chip. ?The electronic trail goes cold in Hong
Kong,? she said. ?After that all I?ve got is the serial number. I need to
get there and track it down. If I don?t, whoever?s behind it can
infiltrate and disable huge amounts of infrastructure with this
weapon.?
?More than traffic systems, I would assume,? Nigel said.
?The government is spreading the word to possible buyers of
servers with those chips, but who knows where they?ve gotten to, and
how long they?ve been at it.?
?So we?ve got to move fast,? Buck said.
?I don?t want to speed up your plans,? she said, ?but is there any
way you can be ready to leave tomorrow??
?Whaddya think, boys?? Buck asked.
Nigel and Silk nodded in agreement, but Woody just stared.
?Well, boss,? he said. ?We haven?t discussed terms.?
?Oh, yeah. I wouldn?t have made half my money if I didn?t have
Woody along. He keeps me focused on the bottom line.?
?Not to worry,? Yvonne said. ?Network Systems will take care of
you. I?ll guarantee it.?
Colin piped up. ?Hey! You never said anything about money to
me.?
Yvonne smiled. ?Darling! Isn?t my delightful company enough??
?Not if it?s going to be in separate bedrooms, like you told your
man, Stokes.?
?Don?t worry, we?ll cut you in.?
Buck sat back in his chair. ?Stokes? You still working for that old
softie??
She folded her arms as if the question were too probing. ?It?s
unavoidable. He still has leverage from the CIA case. If it wasn?t for
him I might be doing time, or worse. They might have deported me
to Mother Russia.?
?Well he?s a lucky bastard, getting to work with you on a regular
basis,? Buck said. ?At least we have this opportunity, and boys, let me
tell you, this lady is smart enough to make Bill Gates look dumb.?
?And sexy enough,? Colin said.
Yvonne gave him a look that said shut up. She?d already had
second thoughts about bringing him along. His piloting skills could be
valuable, but his maturity and reliability under pressure were in
question. More important, she didn?t want her professionalism and
authority brought into question. If Buck?s team thought for a second
that she wasn?t as dedicated to the job as they were, the mission might
be in jeopardy. And as long as Buck had Nigel to help fly, Colin would
have to be satisfied with a backup role.
?Let?s lay out our plans,? Buck said.
Buck?s soldiers leaned in to coordinate.
?Don?t you think the team needs someone with special knowledge
about the Chinese spy network? Could be important.?
Yvonne raised a hand to her ear. The implant! Stokes was
eavesdropping again. ?Dammit, Rohan,? she said. ?Back off !?
The others at the table looked on in surprise as she seemed to be
conversing with a ghost.
The voice came back. ?Open the front door, Yvonne.?
?What??
?I?m outside.?
?Outside where??
?Buck?s office.?
?Oh, no,? she said.
?What?s wrong, honey?? Buck asked.
She drew in a breath and exhaled it slowly. ?You?re not going to
believe this, Buck, but Stokes is here.?
?Here in San Fran??
?Here at your front door.?
?Well, he?d better be delivering a pizza, otherwise I?ll get rid of
him,? Colin said, getting out of his seat.
Buck put his hand up to stop him. ?Hold on, son. Let?s bring him
in and see what he wants.?
?You sure, boss?? Woody said.
?He?s a very important man with a very long title.? Buck smiled.
?We?ll hear him out and then get rid of him.?
Woody trudged off to the office lobby. Yvonne cursed under her
breath. This was the second time Stokes had embarrassed her in
public. She promised herself it would be the last.
Stokes walked in with Woody behind him and stopped to
introduce himself. He was not a small man, but his average stature
diminished as he stood next to the giant, and he began, in Yvonne?s
mind, to look less like a government official and more like Woody?s
hand puppet. She could only hope that he hadn?t come all this way
to make another attempt at getting back together.
He reached into his jacket and produced a small box, which he
slid into the center of the table.
?The latest technology from CyberCom,? he said. ?These molar implants are set to communicate with each other. One for each of us. They?re all on the same
bandwidth, so we can use them like hidden radios. You just slip it
over your molar??
?Wait a minute,? Yvonne said. ?What do you mean, ?us? and ?we???
Stokes puffed out his chest. It was still a puny image next to
Woody.
?You don?t think I came all this way to deliver a box of hardware, do you?? he said.
Colin spoke. ?Actually, we were hoping it was pizza.?
?I?m going with you,? Stokes said.
Buck Ryan laughed. The rest sat in amazement.
?The hell you are,? Buck said. ?You old goat. You can?t just horn
in on this deal. Aside from these little jewels, you don?t bring anything
to the mission.?
?Oh really? Which one of you is the expert on the Chinese
intelligence structure??
Buck looked like he was thinking it over. ?It?s not like we couldn?t
use that knowledge,? he said.
?No!? Yvonne said. ?He?s not going. He?ll just get in the way. He
only wants to go to prove that he hasn?t turned into a complete wuss.
But it?s too late for that. All those years behind a desk?and Rohan,
you?re putting your life in danger.?
?Listen,? he said. ?When I worked the field for the CIA I lived
with danger every day. Yeah, it?s been a while, but I haven?t forgotten
how to take care of myself.?
?And what about your wife??
Stokes smiled. ?I told her it was a secret mission. I didn?t even
have to lie. She was actually quite proud of me.?
?Well, he might do all right,? Buck said.
?Why not?? Nigel said. ?He?s younger than me and Buck. How
badly would he do??
?I still say no,? Yvonne said. ?And if you remember, this is my
mission. I am making the decisions, including about personnel.?
?Well, how about this?? Stokes began to pace behind the chairs,
like a teacher giving a lecture. ?You?ve been promised a lot of money
for this mission, both from the government and Network Systems. If
you want to see any of it, you?ll find me a seat on that plane.?
Yvonne could take no more. ?Rohan, you?ve gone crazy. You?re
just going to walk off your job at the Pentagon to ride with us??
?Looks like I already have,? he said, folding his arms.
Yvonne could have lived without the money from this job. She
still had plenty from her pre-CyberCom escapades, and thank God
the government hadn?t made her give it up. But Stokes also held the
purse strings for her future missions, and if she wouldn?t let him in on
this one, who was to say if he?d hold it against her and cancel any
future work? There was her lifestyle to consider, and having three
homes thousands of miles from each other, plus the cars and the
plane and the fashion show closets was an expensive proposition. His
desk job gave him the connections necessary to keep her from
working for other governments, and even some of her private sources.
If she pissed him off he might go so far as to re-initiate the charges
against her and tack on a few for the more clandestine operations
he?d allowed. And now Buck and his team smelled the money too.
They might be angry she cost them a big payday. It was like fighting
the entire U.S. intelligence system. She?d lost to Stokes before when
he tracked her down; she was going to have to lose this one too. But
in her mind it was two strikes against him.
All six now sat around the curve of the table and waited for her
decision. Stokes would be trouble. She?d have to find a way to keep
him on the periphery, occupy his time with meaningless tasks that
kept him away from her.
?All right,? she said at last. ?You can come. But if you mess things
up for us we?ll dump you somewhere over the Pacific.?
?You?d leave me out there, all alone?? Stokes asked.
?If you want company maybe we could find an island that still
had cannibals.?
Stokes smiled. ?I?ll behave,? he said. ?And you?ll see just what I
can bring to this team.?
?I can?t wait,? she said.
End Chapter 5
