Atomic Fracture. Don Pendleton

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      Hilderbrand smiled and Mani could tell that his eyes had dropped to the cross. “And how about the other thing?” he said. “The revival is still going on at my church. Great evangelist they’ve brought in. Patsy and I’d be honored to take you with us tonight.”

      Mussawi thought briefly of the hot, stuffy, tent meeting to which Hilderbrand was referring, then of the soft white flesh now hidden beneath Catherine’s navy-blue work suit.

      “I am sorry, Jason,” he said. “But I have a previous engagement.”

      Now Hilderbrand reached up and touched his own cross. “But you’ve thought about it some more, right?”

      Mussawi didn’t want to pour it on too strong. So he said, “Yes, Jason. I do think about it. A lot. But it is very difficult to reject things you have been taught since birth.”

      Hilderbrand nodded. “I understand,” he said. “But keep thinking about it, okay? Sooner or later, the Holy Spirit will bring you the Truth.”

      “I am doing my best,” said Mussawi, his mind still on Catherine.

      “I know you are.” Hilderbrand smiled. He patted Mussawi on the shoulder, then walked away.

      Mussawi returned to his computer screen and keyboard and pulled up the page listing the backpack nukes. The page had been flagged, and when he hit the icon to open his top-security interoffice email, he found an order to transfer an even dozen of the small nuclear devices to another secret storage site in the Florida Keys.

      The smile that covered his face now was not for anyone else’s benefit. It was for him, and him alone. He had kept up with the ongoing hostilities in both Central and South America and had suspected for several days now that he’d get an order such as this.

      Just because they were called backpack nukes didn’t mean they had to be carried to a detonation site like a college student on his way to English composition. They could be dropped from an airplane or encompassed in the nose of a rocket just like any other bomb. For that matter, they could be rigged with a timer and simply left somewhere.

      Mussawi closed the email and began the next long, tedious series of codes and passwords that would get the ball rolling for the transfer. He knew the United States had no intention of using the small nukes as a first strike against any of the countries south of Mexico. But they had to be prepared for the unlikely event that Iran, or North Korea, or one of the other “axis of evil” nations with nuclear capabilities but short-range delivery systems could cut a deal to launch at the U.S. from a closer site.

      After all, it was hardly a secret that the rebels in South and Central America were being backed by America’s enemies. And considering the unstable leaders who ran such countries, the decision to attack the U.S. could come based on nothing more than a sudden whim.

      Mussawi stopped typing as another form appeared in his peripheral vision. He looked up to see John Karns standing patiently next to his desk. “How about lunch today, Mani?” John was a retired Marine drill sergeant who had let himself go somewhat since leaving the service. His white shirt hung over his belt both in front and on both sides.

      Mussawi beamed again. “Sounds good, Sarge. But it’s your turn to pay and my turn to pick.”

      Karns shook his head and chuckled. “That’s a hard one to guess,” he said. “You never want to go anywhere but McDonald’s.”

      “I like Burger King, too,” said Mussawi. “But McDonald’s... It always just seems more...American.”

      Karns leaned over the desk and rested both hands next to the keyboard. “Can I tell you something, Mani?” he said, whispering almost as softly as Catherine had done.

      “Of course,” Mussawi said, letting his eyebrows furrow slightly to show concern.

      “It’s a little embarrassing,” Karns said, then cleared his throat. “But I didn’t like you much at first. I suppose I was something of a bigot. Especially after 9/11, I looked at all Arabs with suspicion. Even hated them.” He coughed a little nervously, then went on. “But we’ve been pals for what now? Ten years or so?”

      “Something like that,” Mussawi said. He feigned interest. He’d heard the same no-longer-a-racist speech from several other men and women who worked at the facility, and knew practically word for word, what was coming.

      “Well,” said Karns, “you’ve changed my attitude.”

      And now I know we’re all brothers under the skin, Mussawi mentally predicted would be the man’s next words.

      “You’ve made me realize we’re all the same no matter what we look like,” said Karns.

      “We’re all individuals regardless of our ethnic backgrounds. Some people are good, some bad. But we’re all brothers and sisters.”

      More elaborate than usual, Mussawi thought, but essentially the same self-serving speech. “That is a great compliment, Sarge,” he said. “Thank you.”

      “You’re welcome,” Karns said before walking away.

      Mussawi returned to his computer screen and keyboard. As quickly as he could, he moved through the next complex set of checks and balances to access the twelve backpack nukes that were to be shipped to Florida.

      Twelve. An even dozen. Mussawi’s hand moved to the cross suspended around his neck. Twelve was also the same number as the apostles of the Jesus that Hilderbrand kept trying to sell him on.

      Mussawi made several more entries to the file. And one deletion. And when he was through, only ten of the original dozen nuclear weapons had been cleared for shipment from the Colorado Springs facility.

      The other two had simply disappeared, as if they’d never existed.

      Mussawi sat back and clasped his hands behind his head, stretching his back as his most genuine smile of the day curled his lips upward. It was impossible to completely erase the trail he had left in his wake. His deception would be discovered. But today was Friday, and it would be Monday—at the soonest—before the backpack nukes would be missed. And by then he would be long gone from this facility in the side of the mountain.

      With the two missing nukes. On his way home to Radestan.

      As if ordered by God himself, Ralph Perkins—Mussawi’s direct supervisor—walked past as Mussawi closed his files and made his screen go black. “Ralph,” he said, his voice sounding slightly weak. “I am not feeling so good.”

      Perkins stopped in his tracks, then took a slight step back from Mussawi’s desk. “What are your symptoms?” he asked.

      “Nausea. Sore throat. And it feels like a headache’s coming on.”

      “There’s a lot of flu going around,” Perkins said. He glanced at an air duct in the ceiling. “Get out of here before it circulates through the vents and makes everybody else sick, too.”

      Mussawi nodded, stood and started toward the door. He wanted very badly to smile again. But it would not fit the СКАЧАТЬ