Chapter Twelve #3
The other man spoke up. “Perhaps we can try another patient.” He studied the man on the bed thoughtfully.
“He has been the most useful thus far, though, actually able to penetrate through COMCEN’s security net.
Most of the others could barely function after five minutes.
If we can get him calmed down enough I can ask him about the weapons and Macedonia.
It’s crucial we find out whether they’re going to the summit. ”
Jed stiffened. Summit? The mention of Macedonia and summit was too coincidental.
“We already have confirmation that the trigger pickup was on schedule, so we don’t really need him around. They aren’t good at locating things, remember?”
“Hades,” Hell interrupted. “I’m guessing that man’s a remote viewer.”
Her wonder and curiosity brushed against his consciousness. “Agreed,” Jed said. “Do you think he’s the one who was spying on us at Center?” After a moment, he added, “Perhaps even the same one who might have run into you during the mission a few days ago?”
“He looks injured and in pain. If he were the one, not only do I want to know how, because my CIA trainers told me it was impossible, but also why he attacked me at COMCEN. What was he after? And why is he hurt anyway? This place’s giving me the creeps.
The smell, the vibes, everything feels negative, Hades. ”
“I think if we find out what his handlers are after, the rest of the answers will come.”
“Yeah. They mentioned something about a summit in Macedonia. How’s that connected to our last mission in Germany?”
Jed thought about it a moment. “We were seeking out one of the lost weapons on the DC list as part of an experiment to prove your importance to the different departments. This place belongs to the CIA, by the way, so I’m thinking our men here are connected to the moles within the CIA.
” The DC list was a top secret document of all the weapons that a CIA director who had been caught recently had sold through the years.
Of that list, there was another top priority list of sensitive weapons and high-tech Intel that had to be found ASAP.
COMCEN, with their inner links to so many underground weapon dealers, had been given that list. “Remember the missing weapons we were talking about at the meeting earlier? One of the weapons, a unique explosive trigger device, has been changing hands in the black markets. With the help of the SEALs, we’ve traced its move from Asia to Macedonia.
The mention of Macedonia and the summit is troubling. ”
“Why?”
“Can’t say. We’ll discuss this later. Do you think you can remote view if the universal agreement is changed?”
“What do you mean?”
Jed looked at the scene in the room again, considering their options. The man on the bed let out a soft moan and turned around, still in a semi-fetal position. Helen’s quick intake of breath interrupted his thoughts.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I recognize that dude on the bed. He was in several of the beginning training classes.”
Jed checked out the patient again. “The Super Soldier Spy tests?” he asked, just to make sure. He didn’t recognize the face, so this man couldn’t have lasted too long. “Did he remote view with you?”
“We were divided into different groups. He wasn’t in my group but in the few experiments that we participated in together, he was one of the fastest to finish and I heard his accuracy ratio was pretty high. But he disappeared.”
“Did you ask why?”
“No, not really. We were competing for a job and I just assumed he didn’t pass some test. It wasn’t unusual for the training classes to get smaller and smaller as time went by, Hades.”
Until one was left standing, Jed added to himself.
And Elena was probably the least expected to get the coveted Super Soldier Spy funding.
It suddenly became very clear that the moles were inside so deep within the CIA they’d view the Super Soldier Spy program, and hence, the winner, as a weapon that was worth selling.
He looked at the man on the bed again. And perhaps, they were trying to create their own version.
“Yo, monitor darling, you’ve gone all quiet again. Am I supposed to be twiddling my thumbs while you solve the problem of world hunger here? Are we forgetting the focus thing? You know, that me on you and you on me mantra, babe, or we lose connection?”
Her sarcasm amused him. She was right, of course.
“Touché,” he said. “I was letting myself get distracted.”
“Not you!”
He hadn’t been teased like this in a long time and he was enjoying it too much. He changed the subject because there wasn’t a lot of time left.
“About the universal agreement, can we change it?”
“How so? What are we looking for now?”
“Our initial object was to look for the intruder. Just now, one of those men said it was crucial to find out whether the weapon’s going to the summit. That’s the explosive device and it’s supposed to be in Macedonia, but nowhere near the summit.”
“So you want to find out if the device is...where?”
Jed paused, wondering if the information would contaminate the remote viewing process.
She already knew what the weapon was, but locating anything through RV was tricky.
A mere suggestion could send the viewer on a wild goose chase, looking for something that wasn’t there. He had to be extra careful here.
“Elena, I need you to just concentrate on the missing weapon because I can’t project what I know on you.”
“Hmm. I see your problem.” There were a few moments of silence and Jed could feel her weighing different options.
He couldn’t get the thoughts but he saw random images—the man on the bed, the quick flash of the device that she’d seen from the video during the meeting, then back to the people in the room.
“I’m going to guess that one of these men is our patient’s handler and monitor.
How about I concentrate on what that man over there said, about finding the weapons and Macedonia?
We can shift the universal agreement to that man’s next remote view point. ”
Jed smiled internally. She’d managed to surprise him at her quick, innovative ideas. She always found a way.
“Can you do it? Two universal agreements, one after another. You’re going to be totally exhausted when we’re finished.”
“I’m doing my job.”
He smiled again. She was in outright mocking mode all right, sarcastically paraphrasing his oft-used words. The woman was still angry at him for what he’d done.
“I’m ready when you are. We have to both mentally think of the agreement at the same time,” she told him. “I remember his name, so it’ll be easier. I’m pretty sure it’s Jonah.”
“Let’s do it,” Jed said.
“What about this place? And them?”
“They’re after what we’ll be finding out next. So we’re one step ahead.” Which would be very good indeed. The international summit in Skopje was going to be attended by some world leaders, some of whom had a few enemies for balking the old Russian system.
He looked around one more time before he closed his eyes to merge his thoughts with Helen’s. This place might look new, but it was also attached to a very familiar old system. Things on the outside might have changed, but old spies and their world didn’t die easily.