The Goddess Legacy

Chapter 58

The helicopter landed in the center of a barren field located in the center of a military base. They were met by a security detail, and Reynolds was off-loaded into a waiting ambulance, which roared away toward a row of buildings, their lights blazing at the edge of the expanse. The detail directed Drake, Allie, and Spencer to a personnel carrier, and after they’d climbed aboard with the heavily armed soldiers, the big vehicle lurched along a rutted strip of pavement toward a metal Quonset hut near the lit buildings.

When the conveyance had rolled to a halt, the grim-faced men instructed them to disembark, and more soldiers — these in U.S. Army uniforms with insignia rather than the black, anonymous garb of their escorts — led them into the structure, where an older man in fatigues was standing by a bank of monitors, studying the images with hawk-like concentration.

The officer on their right saluted the older man and spoke. “Sir. They’re here.”

The man looked up from the screen, obviously annoyed. “Put them in the conference room. I’ll be in shortly,” he said, his voice gruff.

The soldiers showed them to a Sheetrock enclosure on the opposite end of the hut and opened a door. Inside were a conference table and six chairs. “Have a seat,” the officer said. “There’s bottled water in the credenza.” He eyed them a final time and then closed and locked the door, leaving them alone.

“What’s going on, Spencer?” Allie whispered.

“We’re on a U.S. base. Probably in Pakistan. I know we have some here, and we weren’t flying all that long, so…”

“The DOD,” Drake spat. “I knew it. I told you Reynolds was going to screw us.”

The lock on the door clanked, and then the metal slab opened and the older man entered carrying a file folder. He sat down at the head of the table, opened the folder, and tossed a cheap ballpoint pen toward Drake. He appraised them all with cold gray eyes and then his frigid glare settled on Drake.

“Reynolds didn’t screw you, other than by being a damned fool,” he said, and removed three documents and slid them across the table. “These are security clearances. Everything you’ve seen falls under national security — top secret. Sign and date them.”

“And if we don’t?” Spencer snapped.

The man scowled. “Son, you’re testing my patience.”

“I’m not your son.”

“You want to go to jail for murder? Keep doubling down on a bad hand, and it’ll happen,” the man warned.

“So this is blackmail,” Drake said.

“This is national security. If I want to, I can hold you indefinitely with no trial, no charges, because you’re materially involved in a terrorist event. You want to play hardball with me? You’ll wish you’d never been born.”

Allie read the document and signed. “I’m not sure this is even legal if signed under duress.”

The man shrugged. “Take me to court.”

Spencer gave Drake a dark stare and scrawled his name across the bottom. “Fine. Now what?”

Drake did the same, and the man collected the documents, stood, and moved to the door. “I’ll be right back.”

He stepped out of the room and Drake leaned toward Allie and Spencer. “This is scary weird, isn’t it?”

Spencer pointed at the air-conditioning duct and held a finger to his lips. Drake’s eyes flitted to the grill and back to Spencer’s, and they sat in silence, awaiting the man’s return.

Five minutes later, their patience was rewarded. The man reentered, walked unhurriedly to the head of the table, and sat. “All right. My name’s Monroe. General Monroe. Among other things, I’m responsible for coordinating things for the military in this neck of the woods. Reynolds got you involved in something that we’ve been working on for several years — a counterterrorism operation. You almost blew it for us and narrowly avoided getting killed in the process. You can never breathe a word about anything you’ve seen or heard, or you’ll be arrested and prosecuted for treason. Is that clear?”

Spencer’s frown deepened. “Just like that? You redact everything, and we have to stay silent? Not on your life, General. You owe us an explanation. Reynolds told us we were working on behalf of the DOD. It’s going to take more than some national security mumbo jumbo, and I think you know that.”

“I can answer a few questions, but there’s a limit. Remember, anything I say is covered under that security document.”

“What does the DOD have to do with a slave labor camp, for starters?” Allie demanded.

“Nothing. That’s not our affair.”

“You said we were involved in a terrorist action. What does that mean, and how?” Drake asked.

“We learned of a particularly nasty sect of extremists operating out of Pakistan who were trying to source nuclear material a few years back. This place is a hotbed of Islamic terrorism because of the Saudi-funded schools here — they exported their brand of intolerance and extremism via these institutions, and it found fertile ground in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, twisted into Jihad by clerics who are preaching a litany of hate.”

“Nuclear material?” Spencer asked.

“Yes. After Bin Laden, we take these threats as seriously as a heart attack, so we came up with an operation where a credible third-party source would supply them with what they were after, so we could confirm the money trail, identify the ringleader, and neutralize the whole bunch in one fell swoop. That was coming to fruition, and then your buddy Carson started showing an unhealthy interest in the very area where that third party’s uranium mine is located. That’s how Reynolds and military intelligence got into the picture. By the time I put together that he was nosing around in a hot zone, it was too late — I tried squashing the inquiry and warning Reynolds off, but he went renegade on me, along with one of his agents, and then your man Carson lost his head, and the next thing I know I’ve got real problems while in the final stages of an operation that’s of the utmost importance…”

“Then you knew about the slave camp. You knew what they’re doing there — all those people condemned to a life of suffering and death,” Allie said, barely containing her disgust.

“Look, little lady, we just went in there and blew the place to kingdom come, all right? The bad guys got what was coming to them, and you got a big win: those imprisoned there are now no longer slaves. We’ll work with the locals to dismantle the place, provide some foreign aid to relocate them, the works. But there’s a limit to how things work in the real world, and it’s all about compromises. We did what we had to do. Believe me, there was no joy in dealing with any of these animals.”

“What about the treasure?” Drake asked, his voice low. “We located it. At least we think so.”

The general shook his head. “Can’t go near it. Covered under national security. That’s not negotiable.”

“Where do you get off making that call?” Spencer demanded.

“Simple. There can be no trace of anything that went on in that valley. You locate a treasure a quarter mile from where the camp was and pretty soon half the country is digging around the area, looking for more. Then there’s a lot of explaining to do when thousands of skeletons are discovered, as well as a vein of uranium in an area where none’s believed to exist. Too many questions arise — messy questions neither we nor the Indians want to have to answer.”

“So you’re going to pretend nothing happened there? That’s your solution? What about prosecuting the monsters responsible? That’s a concentration camp, plain and simple. Since when do the good guys cover those up?” Allie said, outrage tingeing every word.

“Little lady, things are never black and white. I’m sorry. That’s all I can say about it. We’ll do what we can for the survivors, and the world will keep turning. You did good, they’re free, and now it’s time to move on.”

“I’m not your little lady,” she snapped.

“No disrespect intended.”

“We’re just supposed to walk away from the treasure,” Spencer said. “Just like that?”

Monroe nodded. “Correct. Look, I know all about you three. You’re filthy rich. You don’t need the money, so this is just bragging rights for you. Here’s my advice, for what it’s worth: go enjoy being young and rich, and don’t invite consequences you can’t survive. There will be other treasures. Hell, this wasn’t even yours. It was Carson’s, and he’s dead. So get over it.” Monroe turned so that he was facing Spencer. “In return, you don’t rot in Guantanamo or an Indian prison, and you don’t have the full weight of the U.S. government landing on you like a piano. We make the Indian murder charges go away, just like magic, and you’re back to being carefree and happy. To this old man, that sounds like a hell of a deal.”

“Because it’s not you giving up your treasure,” Spencer said.

“It’s not yours, either. But fine. Let’s go down the hypothetical road. You decide to go after it, even though you’ll be charged with treason when you do so — because you think your money insulates you, even though it won’t. I can guarantee you’re never issued a permit to enter Kashmir, much less dig in a sacred site, by the Indians, who will alert us in a New York second. So you’re stopped at the border or, more likely, in India, and then you’re charged with treason. Spencer’s murder charge is resurrected after more evidence is found, and nothing changes — the treasure stays put, but your lives are ruined, and no amount of cash will buy your way clear. That sound like a good deal to you?”

Allie shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re going to let the man who enslaved those people walk away.”

“He’s too powerful. Sorry. That’s the truth. Nobody will touch him. He’s above the law in this country, and it’s their problem, not ours.”

“You worked with him to achieve your objective. That makes you culpable. What about the people who died while you were doing so — whose lives you could have saved if you’d acted?” Allie asked.

“Not that I have to justify things to you, little… Allie. But which do you think is more important: the lives of hundreds of thousands of American citizens or those imprisoned by the bad man here? In this instance, you only get to pick one. And don’t forget that in my case, it’s my sworn duty to protect Americans.” He saw the frustration on her face and nodded. “That’s right. It’s a horrible, impossible decision, and it’s the kind I have to make every day, so people like you can sleep safely at night. Welcome to my world. There’s no easy or good choices, there are just choices that save those I’m entrusted with protecting, sometimes at the expense of others, and choices that do even greater harm to my countrymen. So I do what I have to, try to hurt as few as possible in the process, and wake up every morning and look at myself in the mirror instead of eating the barrel of my pistol.” Monroe stood. “That’s all I’m prepared to say. I presume I have your cooperation.”

It wasn’t a question.

They nodded agreement. “We don’t have to like it,” Drake said.

Monroe sighed. “No, young man, you don’t. Any more than I do. But that’s life.”

“How long will we be stuck here?” Spencer asked.

“No more than twenty-four hours. We still have to conclude the operation, so you’re the guests of the taxpayers until tomorrow, at which point the murder charges will be dropped and your passports returned. Then you’re free to go. Anywhere but Kashmir. Cross that off your map for the duration. Oh, and in case you get any bright ideas of giving your information to someone else so they can hunt down the treasure, that will be treated as treason on your part, so don’t even think about it.”

“You made that quite clear,” Drake said.

The general nodded, his message received loud and clear. “Then we’re done.”

Monroe departed, leaving them fuming. The head of the security detail came in and stood at the door. “The general would like me to show you to your bunks. There are showers, and the mess is open round the clock if you’re hungry.”

Drake stood and looked at Allie. “It’ll have to be a long shower to wash the stink of this whole thing off me,” he said.

The officer’s face didn’t change. “We have unlimited soap and water. This way, please.”