“I think I need to meet this lady,” Mike said, smiling.

  “You’d probably get along well,” the President said. “She’s far more steely than she generally lets on.”

  “You should hear her talk about the first attack on the Embassy in Mogadishu,” the First Lady said. “The Embassy Marines beat it off, with some help from the Embassy staff and… others. The General being then a military attache he was in the thick of it.”

  “And according to General Schnorer, so was Amelia,” the President added. “On the roof with a sniper rifle taken from a wounded Marine. I understand your meetings went well, Mike.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mike said. “Well enough.”

  “All the issues resolved?” the president asked.

  “More like in the process of being identified,” Mike admitted. “But it’s doable. Marginally.”

  “If it was easy, we wouldn’t be talking,” President Cliff noted, smiling.

  “The difficult we do immediately,” Mike responded. “The impossible takes a little longer.”

  “Take all the time you need,” the President said. “As long as you make the train.”

  * * *

  Mike shook the hand of the pilot then stepped out of the Blackhawk. Petro, son of the houseman Uncle Latif, was already there, grabbing bags from the crew-chief. Of course, with what Anastasia had bought the kid couldn’t carry it in one load.

  “Lemme get that,” Mike said, hefting both of his bags as well as one of Anastasia’s and the big case he’d bought to carry her purchases. And apparently most of them were going to be shipped. Shit. He was seriously getting heavy in the clothes department.

  “I told you not to let her go shopping,” Adams said, grabbing bags as well. “What’s up?”

  “Command room,” Mike said. “Combat staff. Daria. Thirty minutes.”

  “Got it,” Adams replied.

  * * *

  “We got ourselves one colossal fuck-up in the making,” Mike said, sighing.

  Adams, Vanner, Nielson and a somewhat nervous Daria were gathered around the staff table all of them wondering what was up.

  “Methinks I hear distant musketry,” Nielson replied.

  “Not so distant,” Mike said, rubbing his eyes. “The Russians, the mob in this case, are selling nukes again. And this time to the Chechens.”

  “Get out,” Vanner said. “Why in the hell would the Russians sell the Chechens nukes?”

  “Money?” Mike said. “Sixty mil in this case. We recover them, we get twenty. There are supposed to be three. I hope even NSA can count that high. It’s not something you want to diddle with. A nuke here, a nuke there… The problem is time and location. We know the time but it’s just a couple of weeks away. And we’ve got minimal intel. I’m planning on sending Katya in to get some more, but that has problems, too. And getting there… it’s right in the middle of the Pansiki.”

  “Gods,” Adams said, rubbing his eyes. “We could walk there in a couple of days. Drive there… about the same time as getting to Tblisi. That is… ”

  “If there weren’t a few thousand Chechens in our way,” Mike said. “We can’t use any of the regular passes or trails. They’re all watched.”

  “High,” Nielson said. “Way high up. Don’t take the low passes. Hell, in some cases don’t take passes at all, go right across the shoulders of the mountains. Serious alpine. Winter’s already started up there. It’s close here. It’s gonna be a bitch.”

  “More or less my thinking,” Mike said. “Daria, darling?”

  “Yes, Kildar?”

  “Order climbing gear from Arctic Outfitters in Alaska,” Mike said, sliding over the list he’d made up on the way back. “We’re going to need everything from soup to nuts. Clothing, crampons, ice axes, the lot. Express ship. Make sure they know we need it now and I don’t care how much it costs. Charter a plane if you have to.”

  “Yes, Kildar,” she said, making a note on the list. “I’ll match this to the Keldara teams. But you’ve got two sets of female gear. Who?”

  “That’s up to Vanner,” Mike said, turning to the intel specialist. “Katya’s going to need commo. Her implants are short ranged. Which means sending in a commo team in advance.”

  “Well, it’s the same problem, isn’t it,” Vanner pointed out. “Getting there. I mean, the girls are strong and I think they could make the walk. But they’re going to need the gear, first. Getting there ahead of Katya, or even ahead of the teams to pick up intel, that’s going to be tough.”

  “Sure would, if they were walking,” Mike said. “I seem to recall you mentioning you were airborne qualified. Ever done any freefall?”

  “Kildar… ?” Vanner said, warily.

  “See, HALO makes so much more sense,” Mike replied, grinning.

  “Oh, you have got to be out of your mind,” Vanner said, his eyes wide.

  “I like it,” Adams said with an evil grin.

  “Daria, another list,” Mike said with just as evil a grin. “Five sets of high altitude jump gear. Parachutes. Freefall trainer. The works.” He slid over another sheet of paper and grinned, again. “I’ve actually got both lists on files. I’ll give them to you.”

  “Good news,” Adams added. “He’s a fully trained HALO instructor. Got thousands of jumps. Jumpin’ fool.”

  “Great,” Vanner said. ” You go.”

  “You know why I can’t,” Mike replied. “Two of your best commo girls, at least unmarried ones. I’ll assign a couple of shooters for security. And then we start training. Piece of cake. All you have to do is fall. You can fall, right?”

  “All the way to the ground,” Vanner said with a sigh.

  “It’s fun,” Adams said. “You’ll love it. Oh, prebreathing sucks and I imagine that the DZ is probably going to be a little small. Then there’s all the problems of where, exactly, ground level is and winds in mountains and… Actually, it’s going to suck. Glad it’s you and not me.”

  “We gonna try to use any special weapons or techniques on this?” Vanner asked, ignoring the Master Chief. “With the support we’re getting we could probably get anything from the US government.”

  “I don’t think so,” Mike said after a moment’s thought. “Trying to integrate special weapons at this point would really set us back. Let’s go with conventional approach. But, out of interest, what were you talking about?”

  “There are some interesting sound weapons that are being developed,” Nielson said. “And the new thermobaric system the Marines are using.”

  “Too much overkill on that for this mission,” Adams said. “Those things are used for flattening houses.”

  “Be useful for interdiction,” Mike said. “But it takes coordination from what I’ve read. You have to penetrate the wall of the structure with a standard rocket round and then put the thermobaric through the hole. That is if you don’t have a window as a target.”

  “How fast can we get some?” Adams asked. “I can set a few of the Keldara to training on them. Run everybody through, but Shota’s shown a real knack for the Carl. Which is good given how big it is.”

  “I’ll check into it,” Nielson said, making another note.

  “First thing is to call all the troops in,” Mike said.

  “Already done,” Nielson said. “It will take about another day for Team Padrek to get back to pickup points.”

  “Get with the Georgian military,” Mike said. “I’d rather that they not get back worn out from humping. See if you can get helicopter support to pick them all up.”

  “Will do,” Nielson said, making a note.

  “Call General Umarov,” Mike said, referring to the Georgian military chief of staff. “I don’t want any petty bullshit getting in the way. He should be up on this, if he’s not, wake him up.”

  “Will do,” Nielson said.

  “Vanner, we need to get the insertion of Katya as a high priority. Her primary mission is similar to Albania; find Marina, localize her for extraction and assist in assuring her safety during extraction.”

  “Will do,” Vanner said. “You’re seriously planning on inserting me?”

  “I’ll even let you have a weapon,” Mike said, grinning. “Set up the insertion on Katya as soon as we get the data dump from Chechnik and you run through it.”

  “Will do,” Vanner said. “Does Katya know she’s being inserted?”

  “That’s my next meeting,” Mike admitted, grimacing.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You wanted to see me, Kildar?”

  Katya was, if anything, more beautiful than Anastasia and in the same mold, blonde, blue-eyed with a slight Tartar tilt. Great tits and a fine ass, delicious lilt to her voice and hips that swayed in a way that was truly extraordinary. The blue eyes could look as innocent as a child but she had long before discovered that Mike saw right through her. So the eyes he looked into, now, were as cold and dead as a shark’s.

  “I need another insertion mission,” Mike said, waving her to a chair. He’d considered doing some chit-chat but it usually was pointless with Katya. “Into the Pansiki. The vig is fifty thousand dollars. Pretty much the same as Albania; localize a hostage and support the extraction.”

  “One hundred,” Katya said. “Up front.”

  “Ten up front,” Mike said. “Sixty on completion. If you do as well as Albania a forty bonus. You did a damned good job in Albania. If you sit on your ass and just feed us intel, seventy total.”

  “I nearly got my ass shot off in Albania,” Katya said, scornfully. “Your perfectly planned mission was a disaster.”

  “No mission survives contact with the enemy… ”

  “That’s why they’re called the enemy,” Katya finished. “What’s so special about this girl?”

  Katya had revealed a very definite chip on her shoulder over the Albanian op. As she put it: “Nobody ever came to rescue me.” She’d been horribly abused in the process of being broken in as a hooker. Whether that had caused her current mental condition or if it had been there before, she was now as sociopathic as anyone Mike had ever met. And she actively enjoyed killing people, especially men.

  To make matters worse, in preparation for the Balkans op the US government had offered some very advanced “upgrades”, upgrades that even their own agents had been unwiling to have installed. Katya was now, arguably, the first generation of a sort of science fiction super-assassin. She had an internal system to dump combat chemicals that sped up her reactions and caused a “slow-time” effect, video and audio connections built right into her brain and poison glands connected to her long, and sharp, nails.

  Mike, and all the rest of the men in the house, were now absolutely unwilling to sleep with her. Not that Katya cared; she found the situation amusing.

  “She’s the daughter of a Russian WMD specialist,” Mike said. “She’s being used to force him to work for the target group.”

  “She’s not going to be in with the whores, then,” Katya pointed out. “How in the hell am I supposed to help secure her?”

  “Try to figure out a way,” Mike said with a shrug. “Be your usual helpful self.”

  At that, Katya let loose one of the few real laughs Mike had heard out of her. She was about as helpful in the harem as a snake, which was why Mike had been spreading her around to keep her busy. When she was busy, and interested, she wasn’t nearly they problem she was when bored. But she was never really “helpful.” She’d do a job until she mastered it to her satisfaction and then start causing problems. Vanner pulled her out of intercept after she started calling up the Chechens she was supposed to be monitoring and taunting them.

  Mike sometimes thought that her natural spot was psychological operations. Or maybe the Mafia. Hopefully “Jay” would be able to ensure her functionality at the very least.

  “Very well,” Katya said, still chortling. “I will go into the lion’s den, again. And for the bonus I will try to be very helpful. I’m going to need you to get me some more ‘medications.’ I used up most of my stores in Albania.”

  “Will do,” Mike said. “Can I ask you a question? You’re still hanging around. I’m, frankly, surprised. Why?”

  “Because I am learning much here,” Katya said, cold again. “From Anastasia I am learning languages, accounting, business. From Vanner I am learning electronics, computers and programming. He has even shown me some hacking and I am working hard on that; I like it very much. From you and Adams I learn combat skills, yes? Now there is Jay, who is teaching me so many new skills. When I feel there is nothing left to learn, then I will leave. But in the meantime, you feed me and keep a roof over my head while I learn. You even continue to pay me a stipend. And then there are these occasional ‘jobs’ which pay quite well. Why should I leave? Yet.”

  “The usual goes,” Mike pointed out. “If you’re burned, we’ll try to extract you. Try rather hard I’ll add. We owe you that. You may not consider yourself part of the team, but I do. But if you burn us… ”

  “Run far and fast,” Katya said, smiling coldly. “This, also, I am learning. How to run far and fast.”

  * * *

  “Come,” Mike said at a knock on the door of his office.

  He looked up from his computer screen, rubbing his eyes and frowning. He was doing more reading than doing these days and it was killing his eyes. He was afraid he was going to need glasses soon.

  The man who came through the door was dressed like any of the Keldara, if a bit short for one. One of the older guys, not one of the ones on the teams. Gray-shot beard and mustache, getting the “beer gut” that some of the older Keldara had. But when Mike rapidly ran a file of the faces of the Keldara, he couldn’t place him to save his life. He figured he’d play that off. It wasn’t like he could remember all the Keldara.

  “You know,” Jay said, walking over and flopping onto the chair in front of the desk, “if I was an assassin you’d be so dead right now. You’ve got lousy security.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Mike replied, leaning back and trying not to let his surprise show. “Good trip?”

  “Fair,” Jay said. “First class as far as Prague. It got a little rougher after that.”

  “I can imagine,” Mike said. “Can I show you around or do you already have the whole place mapped out?”

  “I will say that your security on whatever is in the basements is better than getting to your office,” Jay replied. “Doors are solid and the guys you’ve got on them weren’t fooled. I’ve seen the rest. Nice harem quarters. Who’s the blonde?”

  “Well, the basement is where your shop will be,” Mike said. “So maybe I ought to show that to you. And depending on which, the blonde is your sole ‘employee.’ ”

  “Oh, great,” Jay replied. “If ever I saw one stone psycopathic bitch of a killer… ”

  “That would be Katya,” Mike said with a laugh. “You can handle that, right?”

  “Oh, yeah,” the intel specialist said. “I like psychopathic bitches. It describes every girlfriend I’ve ever had.”

  * * *

  “Intel room here,” Mike said, nodding at the Keldara guards. They were regarding Jay with puzzlement in their eyes. They did know every single Keldara. “Commo room across the hall. Headquarters in a larger room at the end. Other way there are four more or less empty rooms and two sub-levels. There are two remaining really good apartments upstairs, although the view is of the mountain. Pick which mountain view you prefer.”

  “Any problem with getting one down here?” Jay asked, walking down the corridor and opening up one of the doors of the “more or less empty” rooms. More or less empty because they still had some left over trash from the Soviet occupation. “An apartment I mean?”

  “I don’t think so,” Mike said. “Kind of… claustrophobic.”

  “Yeah, but very secure,” Jay replied, opening up another door. “Can I get better doors and locks?”

  “Your budget,” Mike said.

  “What’s the sub-basement like?”

  “There’s a reason we call it the dungeons.”

  “I’ll stay here.”

  “Come on in the intel shop,” Mike said, opening up the door. The door was sound-proofed and the corridor immediately filled with the sound of printers and computers running at max.

  “Vanner, this is Jay,” Mike said, waving the sergeant over. “Just… Jay.”

  “It’s actually just an initial,” Jay said, shaking Vanner’s hand. “Just the letter.”

  “Very James Bond,” Vanner replied, warily. “You’re the humint guy.”

  “Spy works,” Jay said. “And I checked you out. You have a very good rep.”

  “Thanks,” Vanner said. “Can I ask with whom?”

  “Admiral Kinnison. We’ve got history.”

  “How’s his dog?” Vanner said, nodding.

  “Cat,” Jay replied. “Ginger tabby named Halsey. Died. Cancer. About six months ago. And JC was in a car-wreck with her kids. They all made it but she got really banged up. Grand-kids were okay. Well, Bobby broke his arm but I signed the cast and he was grinning at the time. Jim’s had a bad year. You should write him. I’ll give you his e-mail address.”

  “Thanks,” Vanner said, blinking.

  “We straight?”

  “Straight.”

  “Jim said you were good with micro. I’m a gadget guy when I can use them. Are you going to have time?”

  “Some,” Vanner admitted. “If it’s really complicated, we might have to shop it. I’ve got two sources.”

  “I’ve got more than two,” Jay said. “But I’d prefer to keep it in-house. We’ll manage. I ran across a new microwave design… ”

  “I’ll just go tell Anastasia that we’re going to have a guest,” Mike said. “She’ll take care of your housekeeping arrangements. Daria handles budget, I’ll speak to her as well.”

  “Thank you,” Jay replied. “What would you like me to do next?”

  “Just hang out,” Mike said. “We’ve got a mission in the planning stages. Vanner’s going to be very busy. You’re going to have to develop and do most of you tasking in your own. But that’s why I hired you.”