Chapter 27
In Kasey’s many years with the CIA, she had acquired a sixth sense for how far she could stretch lies and deception.
Each situation, of course, was unique. Facts, personalities, and risks combined for a broad range of outcomes that had to be measured against the ever-constant goal of mission success.
In essence, Kasey knew that bullshit, no matter how well backstopped or how convincingly conveyed, always had its limits.
And at that moment, she knew she’d hit a wall with Brett Sharpe.
She looked up and met his gaze. Had she been caught out by anyone else on this ice floe, she might have tried to talk her way out of it.
But Sharpe would know, even if only vaguely, what he was looking at.
He’d already brought up the subject of communication and had told her point-blank that rescuers might not be aware of their precise location.
“It’s a satcom device,” she said.
“I can see that.” He came closer, hovering over her, a clear attempt at intimidation. He looked down at Sky Fire and said, “My first instinct is to ask where you found it… but something tells me this isn’t something you just stumbled across.”
“I can explain—”
“Explain?” he cut in. “No, let me explain that one of my passengers just died for lack of medical care. Let me remind you that I entrusted you with the knowledge that I wasn’t able to send a distress message before we landed.
If we don’t get rescued soon, under these conditions, more people are going to die!
You and I talked about this, and all along you had the means to send for help? ”
“It’s not that simple. Please, just listen for a minute.”
Sharpe was livid, the muscles in his neck straining. But he remained quiet, giving her a chance.
“Look, I understand your anger. But there’s a complication you’re not aware of.”
“Something more important than the lives of nine people?”
“Actually, yes. The lives of thousands, even millions could be at stake!”
He recoiled ever so slightly. Indignance surely, but also a trace of indecision. He stilled and his eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
She glanced behind him, as if checking whether anyone else was outside.
It was a subtle bit of manipulation, but one Kasey felt justified in employing.
By implying secrecy, she would emphasize the importance of what she was about to say.
“I work for the CIA.” She looked down at the case by her feet.
“My partner and I were in Hong Kong on a mission to retrieve this, along with the man who designed it.”
She half-expected him to challenge her claim of working for the agency.
It was the kind of thing delusional people said.
People who had cracked under the stress of extreme situations.
Like airplane crashes. He gauged her for a few beats, measuring and assessing.
Then his gaze went down to the black case and the backlit screen.
After a thoughtful moment, he said, “Your name.” Not a question, but an accusation. “When I was going over the cargo manifest, I had an impulse to check the passenger list as well. There was no one named Kasey on this flight. No female with the initials K.C.”
She nodded. “You got me… I slipped up. But that only proves my point. I’m traveling under an alias. In those first moments after the crash, I was out of it. I shouldn’t have divulged my real name. Trust me, I rarely make mistakes like that.”
She saw him mentally challenging her every word. In truth, she would have been disappointed in him had he not.
Kasey continued, “My partner, Walter Ho, was in the aft section. He didn’t make it. We’ve been working together for years. He was my best friend at the agency.”
She hadn’t embellished any of these words, nor the tone in which she’d delivered them. Her confession was raw and real, and came straight from her heart. It seemed to have an effect. Ever so slightly, she saw a softening in Sharpe’s bearing.
“I’m sorry,” he offered.
She nodded her appreciation.
When he spoke again, his suspicion wasn’t completely gone. “You say the two of you were bringing back this… whatever it is, along with someone else?”
“Dr. Chen Li. He’s China’s leading researcher in the military applications of artificial intelligence.”
He glanced at the fuselage. “Did he survive the crash?”
She nodded. “You won’t see his name on the passenger list either. He’s the Asian man who was unconscious for a time. That’s why I didn’t try to use this sooner. I had no idea how to operate the system. I needed Chen to explain how to gain access so I could send a message to Langley.”
“This guy is defecting?”
“That’s right. And the technology he’s bringing with him is priceless. It would have given China a big war-fighting edge against the U.S. and its allies.”
He looked skeptically at Sky Fire. “What does it do?”
“I was only given a pencil-sketch brief. But honestly, if I did have a deeper understanding, there’s a lot I wouldn’t be able to tell you for national security reasons.
” She paused, expecting him to argue exigent circumstances or something along those lines, but he didn’t.
Sharpe was ex-military. He understood which side of the need-to-know threshold he stood on.
“Basically,” she confided in him, “it uses sophisticated artificial intelligence to allow ground commanders to seize control of military hardware.”
“AI battle management?”
“Something like that. Except it can attack and take control of both friendly and enemy assets.”
He seemed to measure his words, before saying, “You and I are here because our airplane simultaneously lost both engines. I’ve been in aviation a long time, and that’s a one-in-a-billion failure.
Now you’re telling me we had a scientist on board with a device that can take control of things.
I’m not into conspiracy theories, but does that not seem highly coincidental? ”
Kasey nodded. “It’s one of the first things I asked Dr. Chen when he regained consciousness. I pressed him on whether the Chinese could have brought down our airplane.”
“And?”
“Not with this system—it wasn’t active at the time, and this is the only prototype.”
“Then what happened?” Sharpe pressed. “Commercial aircraft just don’t drop out of the sky.”
Kasey nodded. “Chen told me one of his protégés had been working with the Ministry of State Security on a new program. They’re trying to leverage China’s manufacturing dominance by burying viruses in the control software of electronic components.
Most simply gather information, but there are also destructive variants that remained latent, serving as hidden weapons that can be activated in a crisis.
Direct strike, irregular warfare, cyberattack, sabotage…
the potential for devastation is massive. ”
“And one of these malwares, embedded in our engine controls, was the last chance to stop Chen’s defection?”
Kasey nodded.
Sharpe stood tall. She could see his rage building.
“To bring down a civilian airliner with passengers on board?” he said, as if trying to wrap his head around the idea. “That’s the kind of thing that could start a war.”
“I agree. Which tells you how important Dr. Chen and this system are to the Chinese.”
He looked at the screen. The connection was still processing, the usual spinning wheel. “The message you’re sending to the CIA right now—what does it include?”
“I told them there are nine survivors, and that they needed to reach us quickly.”
He looked at her fatalistically and said, “Because we’re all going to freeze to death? Or to rescue this defector and his prize creation?”
“I told them Dr. Chen and Sky Fire both survived the crash. Honestly, I don’t care which is a bigger motivator for them to get us the hell out of here.
But there’s something else to consider. Chen wasn’t one hundred percent sure this message wouldn’t be intercepted by the Chinese.
Even if that doesn’t happen, they already have a rough idea of where we are. ”
He looked up at the hard gray sky. “They brought us down here intentionally.”
“It’s one of the most inhospitable places on earth.”
“The edge of the old mariners’ maps where they used to draw dragons.”
“Exactly. In all honesty, I’m glad you walked out here when you did. I could use your help. Right now, there’s a race on to reach us. We have to do everything in our power to make sure the good guys win.”
Sharpe pointed his gloved hand at Sky Fire. “And this device might make that happen?”
Kasey looked at the screen. The wheel of death had stopped spinning, and in its place two words appeared: MESSAGE SENT.
“I think it just did.”
His gaze shifted to the horizon, the icy void where the main wreckage had sunk into the abyss. “I hope you’re right. Because if Chinese did cause this, and they got here first… so help me, I’d get that rifle and shoot every damned one of them.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that. But if it does, I’ll be right there helping you reload.”
Kasey no longer had any doubts. Sharpe was on her side.
That could prove critical in any number of ways.
Yet it also came with risks. The anger inside him was continuing to grow, like a massive thundercloud waiting to sling a bolt of lightning onto the world.
And anger, blind and uncontrolled, could do more harm than good.
She was about to tell him exactly that when a great roar in the distance intervened.
It reverberated in the cold but was definitely not related to the storm. It wasn’t the howl of the wind or the keening of sleet against the hull, but a resonant animalistic roar.
The two exchanged a stunned look, yet neither bothered to ask the obvious question. Because only one thing here was capable of such a primal noise.
Kasey raced toward the cargo hold and retrieved the case containing the rifle.