Promise to Defend by Don Pendleton

Author:Don Pendleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Several minutes later the Phoenix Force warriors had gathered in the embassy’s library. McCarter studied his people and noticed that, to the man, they looked exhausted, but determined. He wasn’t surprised. Even without the several hours’ jet lag, they’d done little more than fight since arriving in Africa twenty-four hours ago. Hell, they ought to be tired. He knew he was.

McCarter swigged from his can of Coke, enjoying the sweetness coating his tongue. He’d propped his feet on the desk, leaned back in his chair and rested his eyes as he waited for his call to go through on a secure satellite phone the team carried. He was considering another cigarette and maybe a sandwich when he connected with Stony Man Farm. He and Kurtzman exchanged brisk greetings before getting down to business.

“Your friend Jasim sure can pick his buddies,” Kurtzman said. “This Markov sounds like something you’d scrape off the bottom of your shoe.”

“Tactfully said,” McCarter replied.

“Tell T.J. I’ll e-mail him a mission packet to print and distribute. But I’ll give you the highlights so you can brief the guys while we wait.”

“Go.”

“I half expected Markov to be the run-of-the-mill Russian Mafia. You know, former KGB or Soviet soldier with lots of skills and no work prospects.”

“He’s something more?”

“Lots more. Guy was one of the Soviet Union’s most brilliant aerospace scientists. The CIA even tried to entice him into defecting to the United States during the cold war. At the time, he told us to kiss his rump. Guess the guy is a genius when it comes to satellites, or he was during the Soviet era, and a lot of people wanted to tap his expertise. He had a good thing going until he screwed it up.”

“How so?”

“He’s sort of a high-tech kleptomaniac,” Kurtzman said, a trace of amusement in his voice. “A couple of years ago he got caught stealing Russian satellite secrets, downloading them into a series of redundant computer systems located throughout the world. When the Russians figured out that the guy was stealing them blind, they tried to arrest him, but he already was gone. And he took all the technology with him. According to a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report I hacked into, the guy also is connected with the theft of secrets related to the Predator, the Dragoneye and other UCAV and drone projects. Investigators followed the trail through a series of subordinates and found that Markov was the guy signing the checks.”

McCarter sat up straight, pressing the cold soft drink can to his temple to ease a throbbing pain that had set in there. It provided only minimal relief.

“If they know all this, then why the devil’s he still running around?”

“My guess is they can’t find him. If his file’s to be believed, then he completely dropped out of almost a year ago. You guys are the first ones to come across him in months. If he’s still in the espionage business, he’s at least gotten a little smarter about it.”

“Doesn’t sound too bleeding difficult,” McCarter groused.

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