Vanishing Point - Marc Cerasini [80]
His day should have ended hours ago, after Senator David Palmer cancelled the Malignant Wave program on the spot. But instead of dismantling the device and storing it in Hangar Six, Dr. Megan Reed ordered the crew to install the Malignant Wave engine in the Blackfoot stealth helicopter in Hangar Five, ahead of the scheduled Tuesday morning deployment test.
It was, Tony felt, an exercise in reality denial. When Dr. Reed delivered news of Palmer's cancellation to the rest of the staff, it was Dr. Phillip Bascomb who reacted most strongly.
"I've dedicated my professional life, since my days at Berkeley, to develop non-lethal technology as a means to render war less odious," he'd said. "Sure, the wave causes permanent brain damage now, but with more time and research, I'm convinced we could improve the device, make the effects less debilitating — or even temporary."
"Sorry, Phillip," Dr. Reed replied, turning her perfectionist streak on herself. "I didn't make a cogent argument. I let you all down."
But it was Beverly Chang's reaction that surprised them all.
"No one has officially notified us that the project has been cancelled," she said. "Senator Palmer is only one member of a committee. The other members may have a different view. We should proceed with our test schedule until ordered to do otherwise."
Dr. Reed agreed, and set them all to work immediately. They lowered the device from the tower, moved it to Hangar Five and loaded it into the bay of the experimental helicopter. Then they began work on the electronics. It was close to eleven o'clock before the device was finally installed, along with a temporary weapons panel mounted in the cockpit.
Steve Sable wanted to knock off at that point, but Dr. Chang pushed them to conduct diagnostic tests on the control panel. It was after midnight when Tony and Steve finished, and Dr. Sable headed off to bed while Tony shut down the computers and stowed the equipment.
Now Tony stifled a yawn, wearily tapped in a code that switched him over to the secret ARPANET pathways, where he could safely retrieve the intelligence Jamey sent him. Tony was shocked back to wakefulness when he read the analysis of the data taken from Dr. Steve Sable's phone. His suspicions had been correct. Sable was the traitor. He'd made too many calls to Hugo Bix for him to claim innocence.
Tony also learned that one of Bix's henchmen had been caught with top secret Area 51 technology earlier that day. The evidence seemed incontrovertible now. It was clear he would have to move against Dr. Steve Sable in the next twenty-four hours, before the man had a chance to pass more top secret research technology to Hugo Bix.
Fingers poised over the keyboard, Tony was about to send an update to Jamey when he heard a sound behind him, saw the shadow fall across the desk. Tony looked up, saw the wrench in the intruder's upraised hand. He tried to cover his head with his arms as the first blow descended.
* * *
1:03:51 a.m. PDT
Babylon Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
Lilly rushed to the man she knew as Jaycee as soon as the elevator doors opened. She ignored the woman with him, and the big man from the Cha-Cha Lounge named Curtis.
"They're gone," she cried. "I heard shots a minute ago. I went back to the corridor, and they were gone."
That's when they heard another shot, this one aimed at them. The crack of the Russian handgun echoed off the walls. The bullet missed Nina's head by an inch, punched a hole in the plaster.
"Lock the elevator so no one can use it, then fan out," Jack commanded. He stared down the barrel of his Glock as he methodically checked the corridors around him.
The woman moved to the right, Curtis to the left. Lilly led Jaycee back to the hall. They moved slowly, wary of ambush.
"There were three of them, right here," Lilly said when they reached the corridor outside the maintenance room. "Stella had my daughter. When I came back, they were gone."
Jack was