Imagine (Fuzed Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  General Li immediately dismissed the two agents, telling them to go outside and secure the perimeter of the house.

  Jessica recounted the events beginning with Josh landing in the courtyard.

  When they got to the jetpack distraction, he looked surprised and said, “You flew a jetpack remotely and dropped it on Mr. Wong’s new Jaguar?”

  She nodded, bracing for an explosion.

  He just nodded thoughtfully. “Very accurate flying.” He paused. “I never liked imports.” He paused again. “It might be best not to share this with Mr. Wong.”

  Her mother put her hand over her mouth, suppressing a giggle.

  General Li continued, “Tell me more about this Josh and ...” he glanced briefly at his wife, “Greg Langlois.”

  Jessica recounted everything that Greg shared with her about Josh and all their previous conversations.

  Her mother said, “I took a tissue sample of him and sent it to the lab.”

  Looking at Jessica very seriously, he said, “The MSS will be more interested in killing him than capturing him at this point.” He paused. “I wish I could have talked to him.”

  Jessica smiled. “That won’t be a problem.” She showed him Josh’s text.

  It was the wee hours of the morning in Guam as Lieutenant Colonel Nancy Dowling finished the preflight of her B-2. It was quiet with a gentle tropical breeze blowing across the tarmac. Next to her jet, sat four identical, black, boomerang shaped bombers. She was the Squadron Commander in charge of these half-billion-dollar aircraft. A veteran of combat missions, they’d been deployed many times, but not like this, not carrying a full load of nukes in their bomb bay. Nuclear weapons were for deterrence. If they used them, it meant they’d failed in their intended purpose. Only hours from launch, she hoped the powers-that-be would figure it out ... quickly.

  Tim studied Josh as Josh studied his phone waiting for a reply from Jessica. He didn’t need Davidson’s genetic report to see the Asian features in Josh’s face.

  Josh looked up at him questioningly.

  Tim frowned. “Davidson told me you’re missing a bunch of your DNA.”

  “Yeah, according to Elizabeth, I only have about half.”

  Tim paused and then shrugged. “That might explain your half-assed landings.”

  With a headshake and half-smile Josh said, “Yo momma.”

  Before Tim could ask any more questions about his DNA, Josh’s text message tone sounded.

  Looking down, Josh read aloud, “Josh, my father is ready to meet you.” He looked up at Tim and asked, “What’s the plan, coach?”

  Tim exhaled. “We can set it up in a way that will minimize your exposure, but,” he shook his head, “if they really want to take you, there’s not much we can do. It’s their playground.”

  Josh nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  Tim parked the car on a busy street and looked around slowly, then texted the instructions to Jessica. When he finished, he nodded toward a small teahouse on the next block. “You’ll meet him right there. That way, they won’t have time to set a trap. Greg will stay with the car, and I’ll position myself on the roof of the building next door. From there, I can watch the approach to the teahouse.”

  Josh said, “Sounds like a good plan.”

  He shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  Josh shook his head. “Thanks for the pep talk.” Then he voice-texted, “Jen, is there any way you can set up my phone so Tim can see what my cyber glasses see without using the Chinese cellular network?”

  On speakerphone, she replied, “Yes.”

  “Thanks, Jen.”

  As Josh got out, he said to Tim, “Regardless of what happens, get the information back to Davidson.”

  Tim nodded.

  On board the Russian submarine RFS Nevsky, Captain Ivan Markov looked at the plotted position of the ballistic missile sub, USS Nebraska. How times had changed. He wasn’t targeting the Nebraska or even avoiding her. Instead, they were working together as part of a massive international taskforce. Deploying off the coast of China, they had just received their orders. The Nevsky and Nebraska were retargeting all their missiles for a decapitation strike. An appropriately descriptive name for an attack designed to take out China’s command and control and prevent a counter attack. If the Chinese leaders wanted to destroy Western civilization, they deserved decapitation, but the collateral deaths would be horrific, and that was if everything went according to plan. A decapitation strike sounded good on paper, but just as Russia and the United States devised plans to counter the strategy, he suspected the Chinese had as well. His communication officer said, “There’s a new flash message coming in.”

  Tim said, “Greg, stay here and stay low.”

  Tim, quickly slipping through locked doors, found his way to the roof of the building next door. Peeking over the edge, he had a perfect view of the front and back of the teahouse. Watching his phone’s screen, he told Josh, “Look slowly around the restaurant. I want to see the environment and your position.”

  Tim saw Josh had picked a table with his back to the wall. They quickly identified two exit points.

  Within a few minutes, a black sedan pulled up across the street and a man stepped out. Tim said, “Got a man fitting Li’s description heading to the front door. I don’t see any other suspicious cars or people.”

  Watching the video, Tim saw them shake hands and heard Josh say something in Chinese, probably a greeting.

  Li, in excellent English, said, “I am alone but probably won’t be for long. They keep a close watch over us, especially now.”

  As they sat down, he heard Josh ask, “Then let’s get right to the question. Do you know who’s behind the hacking?”

  Li said, “No. I was hoping you might.”

  “So, you’re sure that there is no entity in China that could be involved?”

  Li said, “I appreciate the way you asked the question. I spoke to the Premier of China a few hours ago, and he spoke to the Chinese President. If they don’t know, I think it’s safe to say the Chinese government isn’t involved. However, neither of us can ever be certain that there isn’t some group in our countries doing something they shouldn’t be doing.”

  Josh said, “I accept that, but many won’t. The evidence, although circumstantial, is difficult to ignore. Josh went quickly through the perspective from Washington, D.C., including Unit 61398. “If China isn’t behind this, who else would benefit?”

  Li’s eyes narrowed. “There is another explanation. As you pointed out, China and the United States are now competing directly for oil and other resources. Our currency has become the new standard, and the Chinese Navy will soon be the world’s largest.” He paused. “However, our economy would completely collapse without Western markets.” He paused again. “On the other hand, the West would not collapse with the destruction of China. But it would eliminate a lot of Western debt and delay the oil crises for another decade.”

  Josh, sounding surprised, said, “Are you suggesting that the West is fabricating all this to justify a first strike on China?”

  Li sighed. “The Premier brought it up as a possibility. It is more plausible than the idea that China would attempt to destroy the West.”

  Tim could tell that Josh was shaking his head, as he said, “Do you really think our leaders would humiliate themselves by releasing their private information?”

  Li gave him a half-smile. “What if only a few in high positions were involved? They could use this to destroy their political opposition. We have a Chinese proverb similar to your ‘kill two birds with one stone.’”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  Li looked him in the eye. “Of course not. It makes only a tiny bit more sense than China attacking the West, but now you see how it looks from our side.”

  Tim could tell Josh was nodding. “OK, but if it’s not China or the West, who’s behind it?”

  Tim saw a black Audi pull up outside the restaurant, and said, “You’ve got company
.”

  Commander Anil Mammen was onboard the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vishal. He sat in his squadron ready room listening to the strike brief, along with a dozen U.S. and British pilots. Six aircraft carriers had rendezvoused in route to China: INS Vikrant and Vishal, HMS Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth, and the USS George Washington and Ronald Reagan. Combined, they had over 300 aircraft, a quarter of which were robotic strike fighters. Their accompanying battle groups included over 40 cruisers, destroyers and frigates.

  Mammen looked at his watch. Within 24 hours, their international battle group, along with five similar fleets, would surround China’s coast. Mammen couldn’t help but think this was surreal. For the past year, the world had enjoyed one of the most peaceful times in history. It was unimaginable that only months after humanity had worked together to defeat the comet, they were about to start an epic global war. How could the Chinese leaders be crazy enough to believe they could take over the world? As he thought that, the General Quarters claxon went off, followed by, “All hands, man your battle stations.”

  34

  ESCAPE

  Josh touched his ear. “I’m being told that the MSS has located you, and I need to depart.”

  Li shook his hand and said, “You and I may believe the same thing, but unless we find another suspect, and do it quickly ... war is imminent.”

  Josh heard Tim say, “They’re headed toward the entrance. Exit through the back of the restaurant.”

  As he went to the back door, he heard Tim say, “More company just arrived at the back. Move!”

  Josh ran through the kitchen, but before he could go through the back door, Tim said, “Too late. They’re right outside.”

  Josh spun around and saw a set of stairs through a doorway. Bolting through it, he slammed the door behind him and ran up the stairs. He almost tripped on the non-standard steps, and ended up taking them two at a time. As he hit the third floor, he heard the ground-floor door open, followed by the sound of many feet coming up the stairs. Hitting the fourth floor, he burst through the door onto a flat roof. There was a clothesline and a couple of chairs. He grabbed one of the chairs and wedged it under the doorknob.

  Looking around, he saw that the building behind him, where Tim was perched, was taller. On the other side, however, the building was one story shorter with a narrow alley in between. Hearing the roof door rattle, he took a deep breath and ran as fast as he could. Jumping over the alley, he hit hard on the other roof and rolled. It knocked his cyber glasses off. As he stuck them back on, he heard Tim say, “Keep moving.”

  Josh said, “Looks a lot easier when Jackie Chan does it.”

  Josh ran to the roof door and grabbed the knob. “Locked!”

  Tim said, “Keep going. There may be an outside fire escape on the far side of the building.”

  Josh ran to the edge and looked down. “No such luck.” Looking up, the building across the street was an apartment complex, but it was three stories taller. The street between them was also much wider. He was looking at apartments with small balconies. Almost all of them had clothes drying on clotheslines. He ran back ten paces and turned to face the apartment building.

  Tim said, “You’re not thinking about—”

  Josh interrupted, “Worked in the Matrix.”

  “You can’t make that jump! No one can!”

  Josh ran as fast as he could and leaped, arms and legs windmilling. His trajectory was a bit off. Instead of landing on the balcony, he went through a clothesline full of clothes and bulls-eyed the sliding glass door. The impact knocked the door out of its frame, shattering it as it hit the floor. His right shoulder and leg took most of the impact, knocking the wind out of him. Slowly rolling out of the tangle of clothes and broken shards, he caught his breath. He was developing a real dislike for glass.

  He looked up to see a boy about six years old staring at him. Sitting in a chair, the little boy held a toy in his hand and watched Josh with eyes as big as saucers. The toy was a Transformer Robot.

  With a big smile, Josh pointed back through the broken door and said in Chinese, “I got away from the Decepticons.”

  The little boy smiled back and looked through the slider as Josh exited through the front door.

  He ran down a hallway to a staircase. Taking them three at a time, he realized standardized steps weren’t a priority in China. When he reached the bottom, he peeked outside. The coast was clear. He went out and walked casually away from the restaurant without looking back. As he reached the end of the block and turned the corner, he glanced over his shoulder. There was no one behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he said, “OK, Tim. Think I’m clear.”

  There was no response. “Tim, you there?”

  Nothing.

  Josh checked his phone and earpiece. Despite the impact, they appeared to be working. Apparently, he was on his own.

  The first order of business was to get as far away from this area as possible. The safe house was probably a good seven kilometers from here, but it gave him a destination. In the meantime, they’d be searching for him. He had to get off the streets.

  He saw what appeared to be an abandoned building down a side street. Checking to make sure no one was watching him, he found a broken door. Breaking it further, he ducked inside.

  It was a large room with cracked tile on the floor and old empty crates. Sitting down on one, he rubbed his swollen ankle. He also had good-sized bruises on his shoulder and chest, and minor cuts on his head from the glass.

  Pulling his phone out, he tried texting Tim and Greg again. Nothing. He decided to text Jen to see if his phone was still working.

  Jen responded, “Are you OK?”

  “Yes, Jen, I’m fine. How are you doing?”

  “I’m scared.”

  “Is someone trying to hurt you?”

  “No, but on the Internet everyone’s saying there’s going to be a big war. Wars are very bad. People get killed.”

  He sighed. “Yes, wars are very bad, but please don’t worry. I’m in China trying to prevent that from happening.”

  “Why would anyone want to have a war?”

  “In this situation, both sides think the other side is doing bad things.”

  “How can you stop it?”

  “We have to find out who’s really behind it.”

  “Can I help?”

  Josh said, “You already have.” He realized her fear might allow him to get more information about her situation. “Jen, I’m worried about you and want to be sure you’re safe. Please tell me if the people who are looking after you are taking care of you.”

  “They never talk to me except when they want me to do work for them.”

  “Jen, what kind of work do they make you do?”

  “Computer work they can’t do. I want to be with you.”

  His poor baby! He had to get her out of there. “Jen, please tell me where you are.” She had never shared that before.

  There was a slight delay, and then, “Mostly Atlanta, Georgia.”

  He was relieved to find that she was living in the United States. It wouldn’t protect her from a global war, but if they survived, it would make it easier to adopt her. Now that he knew she’d broken into the CIA, he could use that to motivate the CIA to help find her.

  “Thanks, Jen. When this is over, I’m going to come find you.” If someone tries to hurt you, call me immediately. If you can’t reach me, call Tim, Jessica or Elizabeth. We need your exact location so we can send someone to help you.”

  Jen replied, “What can I do to help find the bad guys?”

  He’d avoided talking about the hackers because he was afraid they might be able to find her through him, but with global war imminent, there was nothing to lose. “Jen, we need to find out who is behind the hacking of the navigation apps, stock market and the translation of all documents into Chinese. Right now, we think it’s China, and China thinks it’s us.”

  Just then, he got a text from Jessica, “Stock markets around t
he world are in free fall. U.S. just went to DEFCON 1 and the rest of the world is following suit! The MSS have orders to shoot you on sight. Meet me at the Ya Qu Teahouse in five minutes.”

  Checking his nav app, Josh saw he was only a couple kilometers from the meeting point, but he’d still have to hustle.

  They’d have a description of him. His green, long sleeve shirt was torn and missing part of a sleeve, so he took it off. Using it to wipe off some blood, he threw it away. He wore a black T-shirt under it, which wouldn’t look out of place on a nice spring day, and he noticed many men wore similar shirts.

  He walked as quickly as he could without drawing attention. The sprained ankle and bruises began to make themselves known, but he fought the urge to limp and kept moving.

  Less than 100 meters from the meeting place, a police car came around the corner. He ducked into an alley just in time. Congratulating himself on his quick identification and reaction, he jogged to the coffee shop.

  As he entered, he saw all the tables were full, so he stood near the back trying to blend in. He pulled out his phone. Staring at a phone was now the most natural and universal thing anyone could do, crossing all cultures. While he was waiting, he called up the news. He was shocked to read that the U.S., Europe, Russia and India were telling their citizens to leave China immediately.

  His text message reminder vibrated. It was an encrypted text from Davidson.

  Josh had never received a message from the CIA Director. It simply said, “The hacker’s in our pocket.”

  He was rereading it when he heard Jessica say, “Josh Fuze!” He looked up. She was standing three meters away with a frown on her face.

  As he asked, “Are you OK?” gas-propelled Taser darts struck him from four directions. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. Several men were on him immediately, and he felt an injection in his leg. Two thoughts crossed his mind before he lost consciousness. Jessica had totally set him up and Sam was right, he sucked at counter-surveillance detection.