Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3) (33 page)

73

In Washington, D.C., Wil Borger’s heart nearly stopped when he read the single word message from Clay on his own phone.  He stared, disbelieving, at each of the nine letters displayed on the tiny screen.

“Oh no.” 

He suddenly jumped when his desk phone rang.  He leaned over his desk and looked at the incoming number.

“You have got to be kidding.”

Upstairs, Admiral Langford turned away from his window when his office door opened and Wil Borger was shown in by his secretary.  She closed it behind him, leaving him standing awkwardly and facing Langford.

“You wanted to see me, Admiral.”

“I did.”

Langford walked back to his desk and sat on the edge, studying Borger.  He motioned to a chair.  “Have a seat.”

Borger nervously stepped forward and eased himself down.

Langford folded his arms.  “Anything you’d like to tell me, Wil?”

“Um…what do you mean?”

Langford scratched his temple, thinking.  “I just had a very interesting conversation.  Care to guess with who?”

Borger tried to smile.  “Not my mother, I hope.”

“Very funny.”

Borger’s smile disappeared.  “Sorry.”

“As insightful as a call with your mother might actually be, the person I just hung up with was Alison Shaw.”

Borger stared back with genuine surprise.  “Alison?”

“Yes.  Do you know why?”

“Uh…no, sir.”

Langford continued studying Borger.  “Do you know where she is?”

“Puerto Rico?”

“She’s aboard the Pathfinder.  Anchored not far from Trinidad.”

“I didn’t know that.”

Langford nodded.  “What’s surprising to me, however, is why Ms. Shaw called me…asking about
you
.”

“Me?”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, that makes two of us.  You see, not only is Ms. Shaw in the Caribbean on a very important mission, but now she’s calling me…and asking that I put you on a flight to Trinidad.”

“Trinidad?  What for?”

Langford stared down at Borger with steely eyes.  “I thought you might tell me.”

“I don’t know why, sir.”

“I see.”  Langford sighed and stood up.  He rounded his desk and sat down heavily in his chair.  After some consideration, he pressed his hands together in front of his face.  “Ms. Shaw is with Commander Lawton on the Pathfinder investigating what they believe could be a second location for our mysterious plants.  Like those found by Clay and Caesare in Guyana.”

“What?!”  Borger leaned forward in his seat.

“That’s right.  Another possible location, but this one is underwater.”  Langford watched as Borger remained frozen, thinking. 

There were three things going through Borger’s head, each as earth-shattering as the next.  And if it weren't automatic, he probably would have forgotten to breathe.

The possibility of a second location was stunning in and of itself.  Another source producing what could only be described as an evolutionary miracle.  A mutation capable of changing the genetic structure of a living organism, resulting in something mankind had never seen before.  But there was a reason.  A reason that was both logical, and at the same time, utterly jaw-dropping.  The secret which both Alison and Borger already knew.

The Chinese had made the find of the century.  A find that had culminated in the attack on a U.S. naval ship by the Chinese in an attempt to flee with every piece of plant they had managed to gather.  The rest they’d burned.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg.  The Chinese had fled with what they thought was the entire find.  But what they didn’t know was that the source wasn’t the plants at all –– the
source
was in the water.  Water, highly enriched by something hidden at the top of the mountain.  Something extraordinary.

A vault.  A vault hidden within the mountain, housing thousands, maybe millions, of perfectly preserved samples from an alien biosphere.  And what appeared to be the total sum of another planet’s genetic and cellular history encoded in countless protected seeds…and embryos.

It was an amazing discovery that was nearly beyond words.  But now the idea of Alison discovering a
second
site left Wil Borger completely speechless.  Because a second site could answer a pressing question that Borger had been losing sleep over ever since they discovered the vault.

With the sheer amount of materials needed to construct what was hidden in that cliff, Borger was convinced a ship had been used to transport it.  From very far away.  But the distance involved, along with the speed needed to reach Earth, would have required a level of energy that was formidable on any scale.  To Borger, it meant only one thing: a one-way trip.  And if he was right, it presented the big question that Wil Borger couldn’t answer. 
Where was the ship?

But maybe Alison’s discovery was the answer to his question…maybe she had found the ship!  By matter of simple deduction, the ship would have had to be destroyed or hidden.  Perhaps dumped somewhere that no one would find. 

How Alison had managed to find it, he couldn’t begin to imagine.  But the ramifications of
what
she may have discovered was far more important in Borger’s opinion than
how
.

“Mr. Borger,” Langford said, breaking the silence.  “You look like you have something on your mind.”

He slowly nodded.  “Yes, sir.”

“Well?” Langford said, his hands still pressed together in front of him.

Borger wanted to tell him.  He’d wanted to since they’d first found it.  But together, he, Clay, Caesare, and Alison were afraid to.  They knew what unleashing such a discovery could do.  To the world.

The power contained in whatever liquid those embryos were floating in was almost beyond comprehension.  Especially in a world that fought wars over far less, and in many cases, on lies alone.

They had kept the secret from Langford and everyone else out of the fear of what would be unleashed onto the world. 

And
that
was the third thing which had caused Borger to freeze in his chair.  It was the realization that only the threat of someone else finding out would make John Clay send Borger the message that he did. 

Nine characters.  A single message before his satellite phone lost signal permanently.

TELLNGFRD.

74

M0ngol didn’t like to be bothered.  Not by his colleagues, not by his boss, not even by his friends.  As far as he was concerned, his work was too important to be interrupted, which made the surprise visit by two Ministry of State Security agents all that more irritating.

To him, MSS agents were simply thugs, with Qin being a rare exception.  He was one of the few who truly understood what someone like M0ngol was capable of and respected his abilities.  Others, like the two now escorting the young hacker down an empty hallway, just had no idea.  Together, they were taking him through a section of the building he’d never seen before.  He had only heard of it.

However, unlike most others, M0ngol was only mildly interested to see the place in person.  He had more important things to do than to explain yet again how cyber espionage worked to someone who would never possess the capacity to understand it.

The two thugs on either side of him hadn’t said anything since pulling M0ngol out of his chair downstairs.  Together they walked briskly to the end of the hall and turned right, following another long section which ended at two faceless double doors.  Outside stood two more agents, waiting for them. 

When they reached the doors, he watched the four goons exchange looks of importance amongst themselves.  Then the door was opened and M0ngol was ushered inside.

The room was large, and unlike the dreariness of the hallways, it was richly decorated –– particularly with the giant mahogany conference table and high-back leather chairs filling the space.

Inside sat a lone person.  An elderly man looking outward from the far end of the table.  He studied M0ngol carefully before motioning to the table and chair.

“Please sit down.”

The young man complied.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Yes,” M0ngol replied.  “You’re Yu Xinzhen, Chairmen of the Politburo Standing Committee.  Most people know who you are.”

Xinzhen nodded, studying the young man.  His tone and posture spoke volumes.  He was one of the new generationals, one of the
inflicted
, as many of the elders referred to them.  Immature and emblazoned by a sense of rebelliousness.  But in the end, little more than children hiding behind a veneer of maturity, with a shroud of gadgets giving them a feeling of importance.  And then there were those like this one, swollen with self-importance and undeserved power, granted by an exploitation of technologies their parents didn’t understand.  That most of the world didn’t understand.

He stared at M0ngol with a sense of bemusement.  “Do you know why you’re here?”

“No.”

“You’ve been working with Qin.”

“I have.”

“And it seems you have uncovered a great deal.”

Xinzhen watched the expression on M0ngol’s face begin to change.  This wasn’t about giving another explanation of what M0ngol was able to do.  This was about what he knew…what he had learned.  An air of nervousness began to form.

“I have discovered some things, as requested.”

Xinzhen nodded.  “As requested.”

“Yes.”

“And by who would that be?”

M0ngol shifted slightly in his chair.  Qin had clearly spoken to the old man, but he didn’t know what was said between the two.  A fleeting thought that left M0ngol wishing he’d recorded Qin’s call.

“Qin.  He asked me to learn everything I could about General Wei.”

“And what have you learned about Wei?”

“Well, we learned that his daughter is alive.”

“And.”

“And that the general may have hidden something with her.”

“And.”

M0ngol stopped.  His mind was racing.  He looked out through the glass door to find the two agents watching him intently.  His confidence was melting.  “Um…and… an American is trying to reach her first.”

To M0ngol’s disappointment, the old man’s expression did not show the faintest hint of surprise.  Instead, he took a deep breath and placed a delicate hand on the table.  “What else?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“My dear boy.  You think me a fool.”

“No!  No, sir.”

“Then tell me.  What
else
have you been learning about?”

M0ngol swallowed.  “What else?”

Xinzhen rapped his fingers on the table. 
Oh, how quickly they shrink. 

“I know you’ve been searching for a great many things on General Wei.  Surely you’ve found more interesting facts to share with me.”

“Um…I-”

“You’ve read about our project in South America.”

The young man stammered.  “A little.”

“I think you know more than a little.  Indulge me.”

M0ngol nodded.  “They’re searching.”

A trace of interest appeared in Xinzhen’s eyes.  “Who is searching?”

“The Brazilians.  Now.  They’re searching now.”

“Searching for what?”

“Traces of the plants.  They think there is more there.”

Xinzhen’s eyes focused intently on M0ngol.  “More?”

“Yes.  And they’re also looking for a primate.  A monkey.  They think it may have absorbed some of the plant’s DNA.”

“And they’re searching now?”

“Yes, Your Eminence.  On the mountain.  The Brazilians and a small team from the U.S.”

Xinzhen leaned forward in his chair.  “The U.S. too?”

“Yes.  Friends of the American that came here to find Wei’s daughter.”

The old man’s eyes were now transfixed on M0ngol.  He had been told that all traces were wiped clean on the mountain.  Destroyed.  If the Americans were now there,
and
the Brazilians, they clearly had reason to believe that something remained.  And if they found it first, there would be no stopping them. 

Qin said he had Wei’s daughter and now the case.  But it would mean little if the Americans found their own source.

“Have they found anything yet?”

M0ngol shook his head.  “I don’t think so.  Not yet.”

Xinzhen stood up immediately and pointed to the door.  “Leave me at once.”

As the old man watched M0ngol practically run for the exit, he retrieved the phone from his suit’s breast pocket and began dialing.