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36
“Very touching,”Drake had only heard the last of the conversation as he’d stepped into the room. D/CIA Clarissa Reese always brought out the worst in him.
Seeing Clarissa look anything other than conniving or viciously angry was so unusual he almost didn’t recognize her. Seeing her displaying human signs of sadness was a first. At Clark Winston’s death, she’d alternated betweenI’m-fine, business-as-usual steel-eyed-bitch,and her viciously angry-at-the-world mode.
If something happened to Lizzy, he might be angry for her being taken from him, but it would be far more about the sadness.
Clarissa looked up at him, then gave him the finger.
“Missed you, too.”
Taz Cortez jolted to her feet, snapped to attention, and saluted when he’d stepped in.
He returned it. “At ease, Colonel Cortez. Hey, Taz, Jeremy, welcome to DC. Ms. Ramson, so sorry for your loss.” Rose did indeed look distraught. Perfectly dressed, utterly exhausted, and as elegant as the one other time he’d met her. Once met, there was no forgetting Rose Ramson.
She offered him a nod that bordered that strange land between regal and charming.
“What did you learn, Clarissa?” He looked at his watch. Not because he didn’t know how pressed for time he was, but it made his point. The aftermath of last night’s traffic jam was still ugly out there though it was almost lunch time. Even his police escort had struggled to open a passage for the mile-long drive from the White House.
“The Russians say it wasn’t them and I believe them,” Clarissa stated.
“How high up is your contact?”
“To quote the song, ‘Dream On,’ Drake. I don’t give up my sources, especially not to you.”
He spotted a small headshake from Rose and a silent curse from Clarissa.
“Fine! High. Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, department head.”
Drake couldn’t stop his whistle of surprise. Damn but the womanwasconnected in strange and interesting ways.
Taz spoke up, “He claimed that they couldn’t deliver over a kilowatt to the ground from orbit.”
“Miranda said the strike was in the two-fifty to three hundred range,” Jeremy followed up seamlessly. “That’s not some simple multiplication factor. For a trans-atmospheric event, the complexity of power delivery escalates with…hmm…I’ll have to think about that. It could be the square of the increase in power. Or perhaps the log-base-ten would be a better model… Integrated through a medium—that would be the atmosphere—varying with elevation, temperature, and humidity to—”
“Jeremy.” Taz didn’t make it awkward or nasty. She simply said it in a simple conversational tone.
“Oh, sorry.” Jeremy blushed, but he wasn’t completely stopped that easily. “I’ll let you know if I can work it out more specifically. In summary, I’m actually not surprised that the Russians can’t do it. Their claims typically far exceed their actual capabilities. And this attack would be a significant leap beyond any of the leaked research I’ve read.”
Drake nodded his thanks. The boy was practically a technology savant…and young enough to be his grandson. It would be humbling, except that at Jeremy’s age he’d already been commanding an entire company of 75th Rangers in very unsavory places.
“Anything on China or India?”
Clarissa shook her head. “The silence is deafening from India. They’re still in the comm and weather satellite phase, plus every observation sat they can arrange over Pakistan. Then they’ve piled a human spaceflight goal on top of that. Space Force style capabilities appear to be nonexistent. I have no reports from China yet beyond a few educated guesses that say if they aren’t there yet, they’re close as far as capability. Iran and North Korea are focused on warheads. I’m assuming, mostly, that the EU isn’t the one shooting at us.”
Her summary was a confirmation Drake had expected rather than the out-of-hand dismissal that he’d been hoping for. His life would be easier if China couldn’t have done it. Then he’d know that General Liú Zuocheng was playing some move-countermove game by agreeing to come to the meeting. What he’d really expected to happen on the call was flat denial followed by Zuocheng hanging up the phone.
However, if they had the capability, the stakes would be much higher. That alone perhaps explained his willingness to come…if he did.
“Regrettably, that matches my wife’s assessment as well.” What did surprise him was Rose Ramson’s presence. He hadn’t known of her having any ties with the CIA or the NTSB, yet she was sitting in the NTSB headquarters during a highly sensitive call by the CIA.
“I,” Rose noted his attention, “would take some explaining, General Nason. However, you are acting as if time is not your friend at the moment.”
“I would be interested to hear it, but you’re right. Some other time. Let’s go, Clarissa. You and I are on the move.”
“Not until I shower and change my clothes.”
Drake actually looked at his watch. “Nope, sorry. Nothing personal. We’ll try to have something for you at the other end.”
