AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After the sound of the last gunshot faded, the pair of killing machines walked up to the collection of shipping boxes, computer crates, and other office supplies, and the lead machine fired two small canisters at all the remnants of Operations Center Gama.
Both 40-millimeter thermite incendiary grenades burst into white-hot flame; the carpet and the boxes began to burn and to melt, and then the machine pivoted on its hips and fired three more grenades into different corners of the building.
The rear machine dumped all five of its 40-millimeter thermites into the pile of dead bodies in front of the elevator, and then it became the lead unit as it returned to the stairwell, climbed back to the roof, and collapsed back into a rectangular box, its legs and turret retracting, and its panel closing again.
The pair of hexacopter drones landed on top of the pair of stationary ground combat weapons, coupled with them by way of magnets, and then lifted off into the air, swirling the black smoke that was already rising out of the open stairwell.
Moments later the machines were back in the trailer in the parking lot, completely powered down. The trailer doors were closed by the two men from the cab, and the truck began rolling.
Operations Center Gama and those who operated it were no more.
•••
It was six forty-nine p.m. in Havana when Jim Pace logged on to the secure video conference from the SCIF in the U.S. embassy, which meant it was also six forty-nine p.m. eleven hundred miles to the north in McLean, Virginia.
His screen opened to a small conference room that was standing room only. Trey Watkins, DDO, sat at the head of the table; he leaned forward and started the meeting abruptly.
“We’ve read the cables, Jim. What else do you have for us?”
Pace said, “There’s a fire in Building Five at the Science Park near the port of Singapore. The entire structure is in flames. CCTV cameras from nearby facilities show a tractor-trailer arriving around six fifteen a.m., before the fire started, and a pair of weaponized drones flying out of the trailer and then onto the roof of the facility.”
Watkins said, “There went the operations center, and there went Martina Sommer.”
“If she was even still alive,” Pace said. “The drone operator said Cyrus knew she was a mole in its operation.”
“Very true.”
“And there’s more,” Pace said. “The tracker in the container that had been at the port moved over the past hour. It’s at the campus of the University of Information Science, specifically the old Soviet SIGINT building on the northwest side of the campus.”
“Where Hinton’s lab is?”
“About one block away from it, sir.”
Watkins looked around the table at his staff. “This means Hinton owns the robots from the same company as those used in Mexico the other night in the assassination of Jack Tudor.”
Pace nodded. “And it also means he was involved in the killing in Tulum. By association, it means Hinton hired Lancer for the killings in California, Mexico, Boston, and probably Toronto, because Contreras was in Tulum and he was also working with the assassin on at least some of these operations.”
“So that’s it. It wasn’t China. Anton Hinton is the culprit.”
Pace wasn’t so sure. “Hinton is a culprit, but China might also be involved. It’s important to note that from our man inside Hinton’s organization, it doesn’t appear Hinton has a direct hand in everything going on. Still…there is a way he could be doing this…without actually doing anything.”
“Explain.”
Pace talked about Cyrus, and the assertions of Dr. Ryder that AI was running the entire operation.
When he was finished, Trey Watkins let out a long, low groan. “Jesus Christ. So…you are saying the whole thing is an algorithm? Artificial intelligence. There’s nobody at the wheel? It’s a fire-and-forget system?”
Pace nodded. “It is looking like the algorithm is authorized to make its own decisions. Whether Hinton, or anybody, retains control of it is unclear.”
Lacy said, “If Cyrus is the weapon we were trying to prevent from going online, then we failed.”
“If Cyrus is the weapon,” Pace countered, “then we failed before the operation even began, because it orchestrated the op.”
“Let me guess,” Watkins said, “you want Juliet Victor to go into the SIGINT facility.”
“We need more than six guys. Can we infiltrate a Delta squadron?”
“You mean, just fly special operations forces into Cuba?”
