The Puppetmasters (27 page)

Grabbing their respective field bags that had been stashed under the jeep’s floor, Rashid, Kendall, and Fields ran into the Afghanistan Infrastructure Data Center building and headed directly to the heart of the country’s network center. Things were very quiet as expected, and they ran into no one as they turned on various computers and communication devices. Rashid entered a password into one desktop screen and began sending secure, scrambled messages. He motioned to Fields to sit down next to him and begin shutting down the country’s radar detection system. Rashid watched as Fields moved through the system network, adeptly opening files and keying in commands. As they got to the oil and gas fields, Rashid instructed Fields to program the shutdowns on a delayed timer. He hoped it would monopolize the military’s focus, once the discovery was made in a few hours.

He figured General Omar would come looking for him in the next hour or so if he didn’t return. And once the Orion people were not accounted for—particularly Glenn Carson—the general would certainly send out search patrols.

Fields was able to program the electronic grid—supporting radio, TV, and
wireless communications networks, towers, and cell structures—to shut down in two hours. While Fields was busy shutting down the Afghanistan internal structures, Rashid pulled a piece of paper out of his field bag and began transferring hundreds of millions of dollars out of President Shazeb’s various personal and business accounts into the newly established accounts all over the world, leaving a scant few million dollars in several of the Afghan leader’s accounts.

Finally, the hard drives were then programmed to self-destruct in three hours.

The trio had been at the Afghanistan government building now for over an hour. Fields was drenched in sweat. The door burst open, and a young security guard stepped in and informed them the ambulance van had arrived. The patient and doctor were now on the roof. He was a little concerned, because he thought he heard an approaching helicopter. They had received no warning from Base Command that a helicopter was being sent to their building. Rashid patted his shoulder and assured him that it was expected. They all headed to the roof.

As they burst out of the door onto the windy roof of the ten-story AIDC building, they saw Maysah Siddra, the female doctor who visited and saw to Kendall’s needs every evening. She was standing next to a rickety-looking gurney on which Glenn Carson was lying. His IV bag had been carefully lain on his stomach, with the lines precariously arranged over his shoulder.

Just then a swirl of cool air churned about the group, and the outline of a dark, modified and elongated AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter descended from the starless night and slowly set down on the rooftop. Using the onboard Forward-Looking InfraRed, or FLIR, system, the helicopter was able to maneuver a relatively smooth landing in the dark. The unmistakable Star of David insignia stood out proudly affixed to the side of the chopper. The Apache’s side door slid open, and two uniformed soldiers jumped out. They rushed over to the gurney and quickly loaded it onto the helicopter. Paul Fields, Dr. Maysah Siddra, and all their bags were ushered on board.

Suddenly the heavy metal door out of the building onto the rooftop squeaked, and everyone turned to look as the door was shoved open. Imran stepped out, carrying an automatic weapon trained on the group. “Stop, I say. General Omar has ordered that no one has permission to leave. He knows nothing about a helicopter landing.” Imran was shouting to be heard over the downwash and rotating blades. No one moved.

Rashid yelled back. “Imran, let these people go. They were kidnapped. General Omar will have them killed. We are not like this. We are not violent.”

Imran was confused as he stared at the Star of David emblem. “Why is an Israeli helicopter here? Are these people Israeli?”

Rashid’s voice was loud but soothing. “The people are Americans. These are good people. I know you will not shoot them. Israel is helping to rescue them.”
With that, he shoved the soldiers into the copter and closed the door. The helicopter immediately rose into the night sky and flew out of sight.

Kendall was furthest from the helicopter and got left behind. She was terrified and angry. “What about me?” she shouted to Rashid.

He lowered his voice. “I’m sorry. It couldn’t be helped. If we’d wasted any more time talking, Imran would have followed his orders. As it is, he’s in big trouble.”

Rashid looked at Imran, whose eyes were wild and blazing. “Why did you do that? I’ll be punished for sure.”

Rashid walked towards him. “No, Imran. Just tell them that by the time you got up here the helicopter had taken off.”

He inclined his head sharply toward Kendall. “Yeah? Well, how do I explain that she wasn’t on board?”

“She’s with me now. I’ll take care of her. You need to go quickly, Imran. This building is about to blow up … in the next minute. Go! Now!”

Rashid tapped his earpiece. “Damn it!” he violently uttered. He grabbed Kendall’s arm and propelled her to the end of the gusty roof. They looked at the other building ten feet away. It dawned on her what he was planning. She shook her head. “No way! I can’t jump this high up and that far. I’ll never make it. I’ll fall.”

“No you won’t. I’ll help you. Quickly! We don’t have much time. A missile’s been launched.”

He backed up and threw their field packs onto the roof of the other building. Kendall’s eyes were wide and her heart was pounding. They retreated some distance from the edge. Before she could utter another protest, Rashid grabbed her hand, and they began to run toward the end of the roof. They picked up momentum and broke into a full run. At the absolute last second when they were at the edge of the roof, they leaped into the air. Rashid yanked Kendall’s body up and towards him. As they were in the air, a huge flash of light flared, and the ten-story building on which they had just been standing collapsed in a cloud of hazy dust and smoke. The sound was deafening.

The concussion from the explosion propelled Kendall the rest of the way over the ten foot chasm. They fell onto the rooftop, just barely clearing the edge. Both were momentarily stunned and deaf from the blast. Rashid hit the rooftop and rolled, as he had been trained. The violent impact sent his earpiece flying. He didn’t notice.

Rashid recovered first, but Kendall lay there a minute while she collected her wits and her breath. Her ears were ringing and her head was banging. She had bruised her knees and felt like every bone in her body was broken. She couldn’t believe she had made it. But now what?

In the dark and swirling dust, they heard voices coming from below. General Omar had sent a convoy to the government building. Quite a few of them were in the building and about to burst onto the rooftop when the missile hit. Most of them were now dead.

Rashid poked Kendall’s arm and indicated to be silent. He and Kendall quietly picked up their field bags and located the rooftop door. They stealthily made their way down to the parking garage that sat below both buildings. Rashid had purposely parked under the side of the empty building, knowing it would not be bombed. Still, the remaining building had sustained heavy damage and would most likely soon collapse. All the lights had gone out in the building and garage. A huge cloud of dust engulfed them; they could not make out Rashid’s jeep and were momentarily disoriented.

They heard voices on the other side of the wall and hugged the corner where they huddled in the pitch dark. The soldiers were speaking in excited tones, wondering where the helicopter had come from. The Afghanistan military radar system had not detected any approaching aircraft. The soldiers radioed back to General Omar that a helicopter had landed and taken off and then the main government building had been bombed. General Omar uttered several choice epithets and tried to maintain his composure. After all, he was now in charge, as he figured it. He instructed the soldiers to wait for him, advising he would be there in ten minutes. One of the men suggested they take a look around the other side of the building to see if anyone was there. They also wanted to give the general a report on whether the building could be accessed at all. They briefly peeked into the building where Rashid and Kendall were huddling. Looking right at the two, the soldiers could see nothing through the dense and dusty air, and they turned away.

As their voices receded around the corner, Rashid and Kendall, having now become accustomed to the dark, and the dust having somewhat dissipated, saw the jeep. They quickly rushed to it and got in. The vehicle punched its way out of the garage and flew past the astonished soldiers at the opposite end of the building. The vehicle was too far away to fire upon, but they ran toward their military cargo jeep. The soldiers realized they could never chase the jeep and catch up with it. They dreaded explaining this to General Omar.

The soldiers stood there helpless, awaiting orders, when several fire trucks rushed by. They looked at each other, wondering why the trucks hadn’t stopped at the government offices that had clearly been bombed. “Look!” shouted one of the soldiers, pointing toward the area where the military base was. An unmistakable glow could be seen in the distant night sky.

Five miles ahead, Rashid was driving like a man possessed. In the chaos of the moment, he wanted to put as much distance as possible between the Afghanistan military and the jeep. He knew they needed to head somewhere safe
where the locals would help them, far away from Kabul, the palace, or the base.

He looked over at a visibly frightened Kendall who was gripping the side of the jeep with white knuckles. “It’s okay! We’re safe … for now. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? We’re going to be on the road for several hours.”

She was having none of that. She wanted answers. Her eyes blazed. “Did you plan this whole thing?” she said in an accusing tone.

He sighed. “No. I went with Plan B.”

“Plan B? What the hell was Plan A?”

“I was hoping that all of us would have gotten on the helicopter, but obviously that was not to be.”

She continued with her vehement castigation. “Why did they blow up the building? That wasn’t necessary.”

“You’re telling me! I had no idea they were going to do that. The infrastructure network systems were set to deactivate on a timer. Once the building and computers were blown, everything went down at once. Look!” Rashid pointed out the eerily darkened streets of Kabul.

Kendall nodded. “What were those sirens behind us? They seemed to go past the government building?”

Rashid frowned. He had seen the fire in the distance. It seemed to be coming from the area where they started. He didn’t want to think about what it could be. But in the pit of his stomach, he knew it was bad. “I don’t know, Kendall. It doesn’t make sense. God, I hope the Israelis haven’t blown anything else up. That’s not what I signed on for.”

He carefully and expertly wended them through the heart of the city and on a northwest course through the Parwan Province. They were soon out of the city and rumbling along a crudely paved narrow highway. They were headed some eighty miles up into the Afghan mountains via the Shibar Pass. Rashid looked in the rear view mirror and, seeing that they were not being pursued, pulled over. He ran to the back of the jeep, grabbed something and returned to his seat. He donned a pair of night vision goggles, turned off his headlights, and pulled back onto the roadway.

Kendall was startled, “What the hell?”

Rashid laughed. “Night vision goggles. I can see the road ahead very clearly. No one can see us, except from the back if I brake. If any vehicle approaches, I’ll see it from far away, and we can find cover … either another road or a large rock or tree.”

Kendall looked dubious. Rashid responded with a grim look and said, “It’s the best I can do right now.”

They bumped along doing forty-five miles an hour. While the road was
newly paved, it was of poor quality and quite dangerous at that speed. They soon began to climb. One small error in judgment would send the jeep tumbling down the steep mountainside. Kendall finally relaxed from sheer exhaustion, leaned against the door frame, and fell into a deep sleep.

Rashid pushed himself on in the darkness of night. About halfway to their destination, he saw approaching lights as he came around a curve. He quickly slowed the jeep and pulled over behind an overgrown hawthorn bush. He held his breath as the approaching vehicle came closer. Kendall was fast asleep.

A rickety delivery truck finally came into view. It appeared to be wandering the entire width of the roadway. Rashid uttered an oath under his breath. He was glad for more than one reason that they pulled off the road. The delivery truck driver had obviously been drinking. There was nothing Rashid could or would do if the truck careened out of control and toppled over the edge. He just hoped it would travel enough of a distance away from them not to attract too much attention to that area. Finally, the truck was far enough down the road that Rashid felt safe enough to pull back onto the highway.

He settled into a tense but even pace as they continued on their way. As they proceeded into the night, Rashid reviewed the events of the evening. Everything had gone according to plan until they got to the rooftop of the AIDC building. He still could not believe the building and the computers had been bombed. He was very worried that the blast had affected the international wire transfers. He was going to be without any resources if they failed, and the Israelis would be the benefactors of hundreds of millions of dollars of President Shazeb’s ill-gotten gains.

On the plus side, he was relieved that Glenn Carson was finally safe and would receive the best medical care. Rashid just hoped Carson would survive to see his family again. He thought about Kendall and wondered what was in store for her. He wasn’t sure that enough of a bond had been created between Kendall and the Orion executives for them to come to her defense should any accusations be cast her way. He wouldn’t think about that now, though. He skillfully swerved to avoid a huge boulder in the middle of the road. He could hear the roar of a nearby waterfall as he pressed forward.