The Ghost Ships of Arizona

CHAPTER FIVE

Drake made ready as the Gulfstream II streaked through the clouds at forty two thousand feet, travelling around five hundred miles per hour. Endlessly modifiable and used by entities no less than NASA, the Missile Defense Agency, the CIA and John Travolta, it offered everything a frontline team like SPEAR needed. Drake made use of the weapons cache, the shower and then the onboard buffet, finally settling in his single leather seat somewhere over Kentucky. Hayden reported that both she and Kinimaka were talking to the Californian authorities over the substation threats but that all was quiet so far. Perhaps tonight wasn’t the night. Or perhaps Beauregard was full of…

Drake heard Hayden urging vigilance and telling a clearly irate individual that they’d soon be there to take charge.

“So this electrical grid,” Drake said. “I assume this isn’t the first time somebody’s thought to take it down. Surely there are contingencies in place.”

“Sure there are,” Hayden said. “But it’s the Z-boxes that pose the problem. Don’t you remember? They crack codes and the Pythians went to unbelievable lengths to acquire them. I guess this is a first step and I guess that they will override all contingencies.”

As Hayden spoke, Drake saw Kinimaka drift away to make another call. Since the big Hawaiian gravitated over to his side of the plane the Yorkshireman heard every word.

“Mahalo, sister. How are you?”

Kinimaka listened for a moment before going ahead with what he needed to say. “Kono, the stalkings are worsening. We have people watching you but you still have to be careful. Okay? No trying to blow them off. They’re around for your safety. This is serious—”

An answer stopped him short.

“I can’t say when or how long. But please, change the habit of a lifetime and listen to your brother. I might not have done so well by you in the past but I’m trying to make up for that now. Okay?”

Drake tuned out, feeling a little intrusive. Hayden still concentrated their thoughts on the Z-boxes. “The Chinese developed them to be able to crack every code, every PIN, every cypher out there. Nuclear programming. Cyber warfare. Missile data. If they’re in our system then we’re already in deep shit. Counter programming is a good idea. A deterrent. But sooner or later somebody’s going to come up with something totally off the wall… and mad-dog crazy. If the Z-boxes can already crack our passwords and download information then they can be used to take everything down.”

“They must need some kinda access,” Smyth put in. “Since substations and the like are mostly self-contained.”

“Hence, an attack,” Hayden said. “Now, I have another idea. Since this substation and the ghost ships are around California and Arizona then maybe we can split our forces? End the threat and grab a Pythian whilst we’re at it. Bell, at least, is in the field according to Beau. We’ll check out the substation and then separate. Yes?”

Drake’s thoughts centered round their dwindling numbers and all they had lost of late. Komodo, taken whilst saving Mai’s life. Mai herself feeling obligated to help Grace in Japan. Alicia, forging toward her own destruction with the Gold Team. Some fresh blood wouldn’t go amiss and, as reluctant as he was to admit it, a friendly Beauregard Alain could be a significant asset.

“We’re only eight strong,” he said. “But if we can isolate this substation and stop the mercs I’m up for that.”

“And snatching a Pythian would be a major success,” Dahl said.

Yorgi spoke up fast. “I volunteer for ghost ship quest,” he said thickly. “I no good with all this fighting.”

“Me too,” Karin said quietly. “For now.”

Drake was just glad to hear her contributing. “All right. Me too. How about Hayden, Mano and the Swede take the substations?”

Dahl cocked his head. “The Swede? Really?”

“Yeah, dumbass. That’s you.”

“Oh, please grab my sides to stop them from splitting with laughter.”

Hayden glanced around. “Pilot says we’re about to land. Once grounded we have a ten minute journey to Almaden. Are we ready?”

A stream of affirmative expletives rang out.

Her cell rang again. This time her expression changed almost immediately. When she ended the call her face was dark with anger.

“The fucking facility just got hit by a huge force. There was no extra security. No extra guards. Not even local cops. Some pretentious bastard’s gonna hang for this one. I know this is a big ask, guys, but we’re gonna have to assault a larger force that is already attacking a fortified building. We’re gonna be in one of the hardest battles of our lives.”

The team didn’t need to study each other, didn’t need words to know this was their first real threat since Komodo lost his life.

Drake made a point of exchanging his knife for a much larger one. “Then it’s a good job we’re the best fucking team in the world.”

The plane descended hard.