WIRE Tap Read online

  Glancing at the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of her screen she groaned.

  “Not again,” she said, this was the third time this week alone that she had become so engrossed in her work she had completely lost track of time.

  Her deep brown eyes felt like someone had thrown grit in them and seeing what time it was she wasn’t surprised.

  Stretching her slim back she stood up flexing her shoulders, stretching to her full height of five feet eleven.

  Quickly she turned off her computer after saving her work then turned to leave the room.

  Her hand was on the doorknob when her phone rang. She touched her ear bud mic that was synched to her phone and the comm network used by ATLAS and said, “Yes?”

  “Colonel Qui, Captain Jean Jacques Wolfe here, I’ve been looking into the disappearance of the bodies of Dorian Ryder and Neelli Watulu,” a voice said in her ear. Jean Jacques or JJ as he liked to be called was the leader of Beta Team.

  “I didn’t know that was still an ongoing mission,” she said taking her hand off the handle and stepping back. The mention of those two names brought back memories she would rather forget.

  “The General asked me to investigate what happened,” JJ explained.

  “I see,” she said regaining some of her composure.

  “Yes, I found something,” JJ said.

  “You found something?” she said, realising she sounded afraid. She cleared her throat and said, “Tell me.”

  “It’s better that you come here,” JJ said.

  “I’m not sure, now?” she said surprised.

  “Yes, you need to see this. I know who took them.”

  4

  “Who could hack something like that?” Jack asked. He was intrigued by the notion of someone being able to hack a high-end military grade facility, but more so by the consequences of that act.

  “Whoever it was had considerable clout. They were obviously well funded to be able to afford the talent and hardware to pull something like this off,” Colclough elaborated.

  “Who are the main suspects? However, before we go into that I think you’d better tell me everything that happened on that day.”

  Colclough explained everything he’d been told by Hopkins and General Milton.

  “I know it’s not an awful lot to go on but Hopkins was adamant that for the screen to glitch like it did could mean only one thing,” he said finally.

  “And he’s afraid someone may have obtained remote access to the program?” Jack asked.

  “Yes, he’s afraid someone may be able to duplicate his research. If they did that, years of work would be for nothing.”

  “Not to say all the lucrative government contracts that would go down the drain with it. He’d potentially lose billions if that happened.”

  “That’s why he wants us to investigate.”

  “Do we have the backing of the US government on this? I don’t want to go in there without their knowledge or consent, it’ll just slow things down.”

  “As you know the US is a member of ATLAS so we have their full backing. General Milton is riding shotgun on this for us. We don’t want them thinking we’re treading on any toes so he’ll smooth the water for you and whoever you pick for your team.”

  “Well, considering there is a medical component to this I’d like to take Mary, I mean Colonel Qui with me. I know it’s not necessarily her speciality but she can cover the medical aspects of this investigation that I have no knowledge of, and we worked well together on our last case so...”

  Colclough smiled briefly then said, “You don’t have to explain to me Jack, I know you two got on well and have been seeing each other occasionally since. Just don’t let your personal life get in the way of your professional one.”

  “I would never, sir, and thanks,” Jack said relieved that his boss knew. He had been trying to hide it from him; there was an unwritten policy about fraternisation between colleagues and he was trying to avoid it being invoked.

  Jack frowned then said, “One question, sir, why the sudden urgency, couldn’t this have waited until morning?”

  “The reason Hopkins came to us is there is a possibility, however slight, that whoever gained access to the program could have also gained control through it.”

  “I can understand why that might concern him, but again with the why so urgent?” Jack repeated.

  “Because the program goes online later today, WIRE will be fitted to a protection detail in the Secret Service,” Colclough hinted.

  “I’m almost too scared to ask, who’s the detail guarding?” Jack said.

  “The President of the United States of America,” Colclough explained.

  5

  Mary arrived at the office JJ was using in Headquarters. It was deep in the bowels of the building and she had to go down several levels to reach it.

  She was soon standing outside the door where he had said he would be waiting for her. She knocked on the door and listened for any sign of movement from inside.

  As she leaned in to place her ear closer she was startled when the door suddenly jerked open.

  “Ah good, Colonel, you’ve arrived,” JJ said as he ushered her inside.

  As she stumbled inside she looked around the room, it was one she’d never seen before; in fact she didn’t even know this level existed.

  “Thanks for coming so promptly,” JJ said as he walked over to a desk he had been working from.

  “What is it you wanted to show me?” she asked tearing her eyes away from scanning the room. “I never even knew this was down here,” she added.

  “Oh, this place is one of the original levels when this bunker was first built. The rest of the base was built on top utilising the space above. What I wanted to show you was this,” JJ said as he led her to his computer.

  She saw some charts on the screen and looked at JJ her eyebrows raised in question.

  “I did some digging when the investigators had finished at the site; the van was attacked,” he started.

  “When the bodies were stolen you mean, on transit to the morgue?” she said.

  “Yes, they knew the route and planned it meticulously. They knew where every CCTV camera was located along that route and chose the attack site in the only stretch where there was a void in camera coverage.”

  “What else did you find; you said you knew who took them?”

  “I found nothing.”

  Mary stepped back, her hands on her hips, as she stared at him.

  “I hope you haven’t brought me down here under false pretences,” she warned. “You said you knew who took them.”

  “I do. Well, I think I do. When I said I found nothing I meant it. There was nothing at the site, no evidence at all and there should’ve been at least a trace of something. That attack site was scrubbed clean. Whoever did it knew how to deploy forensic counter measures.”

  “Are you saying it was the cops?”

  “I’m saying whoever did this had the expertise to wipe a scene like this clean of any evidence. No I’m leaning more towards your professional cleaners.”

  “Like a government contractor you mean?”

  JJ nodded.

  “Are you talking about the CIA or some other three-letter agency that works in the shadows we all know about?”

  “Or a private contractor, a real expert, sanctioned from someone who had a lot to lose.”

  Mary thought about that for a moment. She ran a hand over the back of her neck to ease some of the tension she was experiencing and said, “That makes a bit more sense actually. Jordin had contacts in all walks of life so its pretty safe to assume he also had them in the government. The transgenic program he was working on, I suspect, would’ve been for the military, so it’s also safe to assume if word got out there was a sample of his work wandering around they’d want it covered up.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” JJ agreed.

  “Well, this puts a slightly different dimension on the situation. Have you informed the
General yet?”

  “I was about to but I thought you’d want to know first seeing as how you and Jack were the ones who dealt with the case. I know Jack; he’ll consider it still an open case until he’s closed it himself. Having those bodies stolen will be gnawing away at him.”

  “You know him well then,” she said a little surprised.

  “Jack and I go way back. We used to be partners when we first came to ATLAS, then I was given command of Beta team and Jack remained solo, but we still keep in touch though,” he explained.

  “I didn’t know. Is there anything I should know about him?” she asked coyly.

  “You know everything you need to already. He’s a stand-up guy; if you’re his friend he’ll shift heaven and earth to help if you’re in trouble. His only fault is he expects the same commitment from others as he puts in and that doesn’t always work. He’s a one hundred per cent type, if he goes it’s all in and nothing is held back. Know what I mean?”

  “I think I’m beginning to,” she replied with a smile.

  “Okay, I thought you should know about this before I reported to Colclough with it,” JJ said.

  “Thanks,” she said and then she heard a familiar voice in her ear.

  “Mary, are you free, we have a mission?” Jack said.

  “Talk of the devil, it looks like Jack and I have got another job,” she said.

  “Say hi to him for me. I’ll keep you informed if there are any developments with this.”

  “Will do and thanks again.”

  Mary left the room and touched her ear bud, “I’m on my way, just need to freshen up first.”

  “No time, this is urgent. We have a flight to catch so meet me up top in five with your go-bag, you can freshen up on the plane,” Jack replied. His voice sounded tense so she knew this was a bad one.

  “Copy that,” she said.

  She headed for the elevator wondering what new hell she was about to delve into, but she was soothed by the knowledge that Jack would be by her side.

  6

  Jack met Mary at the entrance to the headquarters which was close by the United Nations building in New York. The headquarters was an offshoot of a nuclear fallout bunker secretly built beneath the building to house the Council members should a nuclear war ever happen. With the disarmament of recent years the bunker was never used and when ATLAS was instigated the bunker was extended and became the home of the new organisation.

  “You look tired, you been working all night again?” he said when he saw her.

  Mary averted her eyes and nodded her head. “I got caught up in what I was doing, again.” Then she look up at him and said, “You don’t look so hot yourself, same dream again?”

  “You know about the dream?” he said his eyes going wide. He thought he’d kept it from everyone. He’d been seeing Mary outside of work and they had spent a few nights together as their relationship blossomed, but he was convinced he’d kept it from her during those times.

  “Jack, I’m not that much of a sound sleeper.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I figured if you wanted me to know, you’d tell me.”

  “Okay,” he said a little stumped by her admission.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked when she saw he was lost for words.

  “Not really, and not right now, we have work to do.”

  “Okay then, work it is,” she said.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you, you know I do, it’s just, I’m trying to work it out myself,” he stumbled over the words.

  She looked at him and smiled, “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be there to listen, okay?”

  He nodded his thanks.

  “Okay let’s get going,” Jack said.

  The two of them left the headquarters, got into the car that was waiting for them, and headed towards JFK.

  Inside the car they remained quiet. Jack glanced across at her from time to time wondering why he felt he couldn’t open up to her about what he was going through. He caught her watching him from time to time and yet he still remained silent.

  He decided he would try to talk this through with her, some day, maybe.

  WHEN THE PHONE RANG the General was startled. It was the phone directly linked to those above, those who guided his actions and pulled not only the purse strings to all his endeavours but to his very life as well.

  It was not good to keep them waiting so he picked up immediately.

  “Is everything in place?” asked the mysterious voice coming through the secure line. That’s how he knew them, as the voice, nothing more.

  “It is,” he said curtly.

  “It is time to proceed to the next phase. We will make the appropriate preparations this end, you know what to do,” was all the voice said.

  The General wasn’t a general in any military sense at all; he just used the title because of his ability to organise with military precision. His real name was Alberto Sanchez and he was known for his terrorist connections throughout the world. He had built up quite a reputation for ruthless efficiency and performance. He had seen people die many times, a good percentage by his own hand. Little in this world scared him except the voice on the other end of that call. That terrified him and he would shift mountains to evade its wrath being brought down on him.

  He turned to look at the huge man constantly at his side and nodded his head.

  “It’s time,” he said which brought a cruel smile to his bodyguards’ block-like features.

  He was about to set in motion something that would change the world forever.

  7

  Jack and Mary arrived at JFK and boarded the Gulfstream 550 waiting on the tarmac for them.

  Their journey here had been completed more or less in silence. After their brief chat about how Jack was coping they both backed off from the subject not even engaging in small talk.

  As they sat down in the opulently decorated aircraft Mary asked, “Where are we going then?”

  “To see General Milton who’s in charge of this operation we’re investigating and Walter Hopkins who’s behind the application of the tec involved. There’s been an incident in the final trial of something that’s about to go into operation. Those involved think everything is okay, except Hopkins and the General, who brought it to us to take a look at under the radar. They want it kept on the quiet because of who else is involved,” Jack explained a little too cryptically for Mary and Jack saw by the pinched look she gave him it wasn’t enough.

  “Look Jack if I’m investigating with you then I need to know as much as you,” she chided.

  “Noted, what do you know of WIRE?” he asked.

  “Wireless Interface Remote Extension? About the same as you I expect, although now I’m guessing you know something I don’t, which is obvious or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Okay, what’s happened, has the system been hacked?” she said, the words tumbling out in an endless stream.

  Jack smiled, “I love it when you do that, and yes, how did you know?”

  “A system that enables a subject to communicate wirelessly with others connected to the system along with hardware, such as computers, is always going to be prone to attack,” she advised. “When is it supposed to go online?”

  “In the next few hours so we’re working against the clock here to ensure what they fear isn’t a reality.”

  “How’s this going to be introduced? I expect it’ll be for a military application, disregarding the endless other civilian applications,” she queried.

  “To garner further approval they sanctioned more tests before any military application so it was decided to be used in a small group. A close protection group and if it proved successful there, then the military applications would follow.”

  “Oh please don’t tell me what I think is going to happen, is going to happen,” she said holding her hands up in shock.

  “Yes, the close protection group issued with WIRE is the President’s Secret Service deta
il.”

  “If the system’s been hacked they could assassinate POTUS anywhere and at any time,” she said breathlessly as the shock hit her.

  “Exactly, they don’t want to unduly warn them in case their worries are unfounded. Years of research would go down the drain as well as funding and further applications in the private sector that could bring in billions of dollars to the economy. Yet on the other hand, this could bring about the death of POTUS and throw the US government into chaos. We have to work fast and silent on this. Are you up for it?” Jack explained.

  Mary smiled, “As always Jack, it’s what we signed on for, let’s go save the world once more.”

  MARCUS STEPHENS WAS worried. His work in genetic splicing was taking a course he never envisioned and it was beginning to scare him.

  As he stood in front of the large window looking inside the room at some of his best work he wondered how his ego had led him to this.

  The door to his left opened and he turned to see who was entering.

  A tall elegantly dressed man in his mid-forties with slightly greying hair at his temples strode up to him. He watched as his slate grey eyes looked through the large window into the room beyond.

  “How is he?” the man asked.

  “As well as could be expected considering what has been done to him,” Stephens replied.

  “What about the woman, is she the same?” the man asked not taking his eyes off the figure in the room who gave the impression he had no idea he was being watched through the reflective glass.

  “She’s about the same, they’re both remarkable subjects,” Stephens replied his pride showing through.

  “I agree Doctor. Have the subjects been treated?” the man said turning to face him.

  “I still think that further testing is required,” Stephens stalled.

  “That’s not what I asked Doctor, answer the question please,” the man said his eyes narrowing.