Rogue Threat by A.J. Tata

Author:A.J. Tata [Tata, A.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variance
Published: 2009-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 36

The distant ring of the phone clawed at the back of his mind like a dredge raking across the sand. It was too soon to wake up, his mind was telling him. He attempted to move in one direction, then another, causing pain to rocket unimpeded through his body as if through fiber optic lines.

He glanced at the alarm clock, not believing that he had slept for ten hours, his body making a very convincing case otherwise. His left arm and shoulder were completely immobilized, causing him to lose balance as he sat up.

He picked up the cell phone and clumsily pushed the encryption button.

“Yes?”

“We have a problem.”

“We? Thought you went solo, Wood? Didn’t we just talk?” Ballantine coughed, still not fully alert.

“I know you’re drugged, but that wasn’t me you talked to. Anyway, someone is alive who we both thought was dead. His presence complicates matters extensively. I want you to . . .”—the voice searched for a word—“ . . . handle the problem rather quickly.”

“I know about the problem. I will handle it while we execute the rest of the mission,” Ballantine responded, more clearly this time.

He was confused though, certain that only hours ago he had communicated with Ronnie Wood, his contact. There was one phone number he called. The encryption technology masked the voice sufficiently to give him pause. Was he talking to the same person? He had received this call, though. He checked his cell phone display window: Private Number. Ballantine scratched his beard, his mind still swooning from the surgery and Regina’s drugs.

“Operations may be in jeopardy if we don’t act now. This individual may know, or worse yet, remember something from his past that very quickly could get in our way.”

Ballantine decided to press ahead despite his curiosity. “Why didn’t you know he was alive? You have access to everything.”

“I have less access than you might imagine, especially from my new location. Even so, the special operations files are sometimes so secretive one section doesn’t know what the other is doing. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision this possibility,” said the man who called himself Ronnie Wood.

“It is your job to think of such things. It is my job to execute,” Ballantine said. What he was really thinking was that Wood did not sound too believable.

Ballantine understood that his acquaintance on the phone already knew that he had been shot. He figured the phone call was as much to gauge his status as it was to give him the information about Zachary Garrett.

“We need to fix the problem in the next forty-eight hours,” Wood said, trying to focus Ballantine.

“Right. Are we still on track for the full plan?”

“Full scale. Is there a problem with that?”

“I need to check the equipment,” Ballantine said. “I haven’t had time since I got back.”

“Check the equipment, and get on with it. But you know your base camp is compromised, right?”

“I know,” Ballantine said, expressing some frustration. “Let me ask, have operations so far

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