Private Moscow

Chapter 115

“You’re going to be OK, Mr. Secretary,” I told the terrified, trembling man before setting off at a sprint for the control station.

Servers whizzed by, and moments later, I raced into the space to find Dinara pressing her pistol against Kavanagh’s head.

“You’ve got one last chance,” Dinara told her.

Kavanagh had bullet wounds in both knees and her shoulder, and she was whimpering, but offered nothing intelligible.

“Tell me how to deactivate the system, or you die,” Dinara said furiously.

“Dinara,” I tried gently, but she looked at me with the purest fury in her eyes.

Everything she’d lost, everything she’d been through, it was all focused on Kavanagh in that moment. The pressure to pull the trigger must have been almost irresistible.

“Dinara. Don’t,” I said.

I ran to the central console, which displayed a countdown. There were less than two minutes until the FORCE System came online.

“It’s no good, Dinara,” I said. “She’s prepared to die for what she believes in. Just like me. Just like you.”

Kavanagh eyed me defiantly.

“Give me her phone,” I said urgently.

Dinara hesitated, her eyes on her gun.

“Killing her won’t bring him back,” I told her.

I could feel the struggle within her as she fought the urge to kill Kavanagh, but after a moment that seemed like an age, my words reached her and she lowered the gun. Kavanagh slumped with relief. Dinara searched the Russian spy for her phone. She found it in Kavanagh’s jacket, and used the indignant woman’s thumb to unlock it.

“Here,” Dinara said, tossing me the device.

I was about to try a Hail Mary, but that’s where we were: out of options.

I dialed a number, and said a silent prayer as I heard a ring tone.

Come on, answer, I thought.

“Hello?” a familiar voice said.

“Maureen,” I responded with relief.

“Jack! What the heck is happening? One minute we’re in custody as enemies of the people, the next we’re told we can walk,” Mo-bot said.

“I don’t have time to explain,” I said. “I’m in the central control station of the FORCE Command Center and I need to know how to shut down the system before it goes online.”

“How long do we have?” Mo-bot asked, her voice coming alive with urgency.

“Ninety seconds,” I replied.

“Tell me what you can see,” she said.

“There’s a countdown on the central console,” I replied. “And beside it is a visual display of the satellite link-up. It’s showing the communication relays coming into alignment.”

“You need to activate a command window,” Mo-bot said. “Press control-alt-T.”

I did as instructed, and a black window appeared with a flashing cursor.

“I’m going to assume you’re through any security protocols,” Mo-bot said.

“Kavanagh had to get past them to activate the system,” I responded.

“Good,” Mo-bot remarked. “I want you to type GREP, leave a space, then type period EXE,” she said. “And then hit return.”

I punched in the command, and a list of programs populated the window. The countdown went through the sixty-second mark.

“What can you see?” Mo-bot asked.

“A list of programs,” I replied.

“Those are the programs the network is currently running,” Mo-bot revealed. “This won’t be elegant, and it’s going to cause millions of dollars of damage, but needs must. I want you to type RM dash ALL.”

I did what she said, but I sensed sudden movement behind me, and was horrified to see Kavanagh force herself to her feet and wrestle the pistol from Dinara’s grasp

The Russian operative brandished the gun menacingly.

“Step away from the machine!”