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Chapter 12
I’d like to blame Kate for this. She’s the one who talked to Death, but she didn’t stray beyond the instructions I gave her.
I wanted her to get him talking and give us a chance to trace the call.
She was supposed to insult him by calling him a vigilante.
I expected Death to make threats, maybe even make a move.
It was a gambit. If he refused to be swayed by public pressure, it would reveal his character. If he gave in and called my bluff, it would reveal his plan. Both are useful. However, Death extracted a heavy cost.
My dominance over the Masters and the telecommunications industry relies on having continued access to the KPP exploit. Without the vulnerability built into so much of the Internet’s traffic, I won’t be able to hijack communications of world leaders, surveillance footage from intelligence agencies, e-mails from high-power CEOs… Although I have other means to obtain this information, it will cost more and will take longer. This is like being forced to go back to taking the bus after owning a stealth jet.
I misjudged Death. Timo Thor and Lincoln Waterston were not particularly useful to me, which is why I’d planned to kill them both with Hamza’s missiles. Although their executions demonstrated that Anarchy, Inc. was not a force to be trifled with, the damage to my organization was minimal. Karthik Pai, on the other hand, I’d planned to keep around a lot longer.
Is it premature to worry that I’m losing control? I’ve lost a line on weapons I needed, dozens of my hired guns have been killed and now I’m going to lose a key operational asset. It’s like Death’s taking a sledgehammer to the stone foundations of my castle.
I could accept these losses if we had successfully traced the call, then carpet-bombed everything within a square mile of his location. Instead, we got nothing — and Death isn’t finished.
Who will he come after next? Does he intend to rip my organization apart, like a child tormenting a spider by yanking off one leg at a time, or is he simply weakening me to the point where he can destroy me? Is that even his goal?
If I were my own enemy, how would I proceed from here? I could target Roderick Picot, our premiere investment banker and money launderer. Exposing him to the IRS and FBI would effectively hamstring my operations — the one thing mercenaries won’t do is work for free. I have other unscrupulous accountants I could turn to, so it wouldn’t be a fatal loss, but it wouldn’t end there, of course.
My next move against myself would be Merwin Locke — as prime minister, he could pull strings with any government in the world to shield me or my allies from prosecution or extradition. Would Death have the stones or the ability to assassinate a head of state? Merwin knows he’s on the list. Good luck getting him in the cross-hairs.
Although, Hamza Bin Khaled probably thought he was untouchable as well. Anarchy, Inc. could get Roderick and Merwin if they’re determined enough, and while losing them won’t be fatal, death by a thousand cuts is still death. I have to stop the bleeding.
“Nick, call an emergency meeting,” I say, shutting off the television. “Karthik is on the island, isn’t he?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Find him and bring him to the pavilion personally.”
“Understood,” Nick says, nodding and heading off.
I pour myself a tumbler of whiskey and sit. It’s my turn to move a piece, but one never wins a chess match thinking only of the next move. Obviously I need to accelerate my plans to replace all of the Masters. The trick will be keeping them from betraying me in the interim. If they believe they’re going to die, they’ll certainly attempt to take me down with them. Why wouldn’t they?
Speaking a single word would kill them all. Maybe I should just do it and get it out of the way. Death wouldn’t predict I’d do that, and subverting your enemy’s expectations always helps — but not if the price is too high. If I kill all of them now, my empire collapses — and then Death will have won without having to win the hardest battle. That won’t do.
However, if men like Merwin and Roderick want to live, they’ll have to earn it.
—
I’m the last to arrive at the pavilion. Karthik seethes from his seat, Nick standing behind him. The others scowl and chatter angrily.
Only Jamison Hardt watches quietly, his disinterest apparent. Does he think he’s not on Death’s list, or does he not care if he is? Perhaps robbing him of his position also drained him of his passion. He’s lived a long, prosperous life — maybe he’s ready to die. After all, what can he really do about this crisis, besides throw his money around?
I suppose I have to respect the fact that Jamison isn’t letting Anarchy, Inc. scare him. If Death gets his rocks off making men like me squirm, Jamison isn’t giving him much to work with.
“You know why we’re all here,” I say, taking my seat. “What are we going to do about Anarchy, Inc.? But first, Karthik here can explain how his undetectable back-door can be detected?”
“There was always a risk someone would stumble onto it,” says Karthik. “The more you make use of it, the more you increase the chances of that happening.”
“Excuse me, am I hearing you properly?” I snarl. “Are you blaming me for this?”
“We’ve been using the KPP exploit for ten years,” says Jamison. “You’ve been in charge for eight months and now it’s been exposed. Who else would we blame?”
I should have brought a baseball bat with me so I could smack all the teeth out of his jaw before bludgeoning him to death. Triggering his implants will make his death too quick.
