Caracas, Venezuela.
Scott had arrived at Altamira square for the interview ten minutes early. It was his custom to always arrive at the rendezvous site earlier to review the area and foresee any possible escape route in case of trouble or ambushes if he was discovered. So far he hadn't had any problems, and he hoped that was no exception. Despite the fact his government provided him with sufficient resources to buy a vehicle, he decided not to buy any, and he learned all the public transport routes to move around Caracas without problems. He considered that in a private vehicle they could discover him more easily, since the National Guard and the National Police used to place mobile checkpoints everywhere in order to deprive the unwary of their money under any pretext. He could not take the risk of being stopped in a vehicle and found out he was not the person saying his Colombian passport and identification. Public transport passengers were also subjec
New York, USA.Philip Richmond was going to his office in his Bentley when he got the call. He saw the screen of his cell phone and made a face of annoyance when he saw who it was. He had long admired the fidelis superior Waters, but he did not like at all that he was calling him all the time to find out how things were going. He knew the Council needed to be aware of the actions that were taking place, but not to the point of becoming a real nuisance. Deep down, he was convinced that Waters' interest was not due to pressure from the Council, but to his obsessive knack for controlling everything and everyone. He decided to take the call and inform his annoying superior of the latest news received, which was very good for them, and the actions he had already ordered accordingly.“I was about to call you, fidelis superior, I have very good news that I know the Council will like.”“Get to the point, then,&r
Washington, USA.They were having a hard time getting flights to New York, as airlines were beginning to restrict them due to the possibility of the government disrupting air traffic. They finally got one and managed to board it on time. They were already on their way, traveling economy class and the three of them together in the middle row of seats.“You told me you knew where they would take Joseph and Dr. Hansen,” David asked Mark, with Doris in the middle of the two. “Is it true, or did you just say it so he wouldn't shoot that man?”“It's true,” Mark replied. “The person who hired us, and who now hired these men, has a place prepared for them in Texas. In our office we have all the necessary information and its location.”“And who is that person?”“All we know is that he is a very powerful man, owner of half the world ...”“And
Fort Meade, USA.At NSA headquarters, Nick Rosenthal was about to take his lunch break when he decided to review the intelligence reception programs of US agents around the world. He did it every time he came back from lunch, but that day something told him to check it out before leaving. He opened the first of the programs, called Pegasus, which allowed him to receive text messages, voice, video recordings and photographs from agents destined for countries where these options were possible, even in conditions where their lives and security could sometimes be at risk, finding nine incoming messages, all text, where they explained or gave a summary of the situation in each country related to the recent terrorist attacks and the mobilizations of troops and security forces in each of them. There were no descriptions of the possible perpetrators of the attacks, only summaries of the situation. "Nothing that isn’t known," he thought, and passe
The Vatican, Vatican City State.Cardinals Agnello and Nitti were concerned about the pope's mood; since the Swiss Guard officers notified him that they could not locate Dr. Hansen and the clone boy in Argentina, his demeanor has turned taciturn and pensive. They never imagined the matter would affect them in such a way to the point of worrying them.Benito was locked up in his office all morning after asking not to be disturbed and he didn't go out at noon for lunch, so they decided to go see how he was. They knocked on the door and in a few seconds they opened and entered."I asked not to be disturbed," he said, sitting in the wide armchair with his back to the desk, looking through the large window at part of the vast Vatican gardens. He looked tired. Cardinal Agnello was the first to approach him.“Your Holiness, we are concerned for you,” he said, settling close to him, next to the desk. “You haven&rs
Valencia, Venezuela.Scott had managed to reach the bus terminal located on the outskirts of the city of Valencia and immediately looked for a taxi to take him to a hotel, where he would hide for a day or two waiting for the response from the NSA, which he expected. It means doing the same thing he was doing now: trying to leave the country. The city of Valencia is one of the closest to the capital that also has an international airport, the Arturo Michelena, avoiding using the main one in Caracas in Maiquetía, where security measures would be much stricter in case they were looking for him. In situations like that, the agency never recommended staying in the country, unless it needed more information to corroborate or verify the information sent initially and the agent was not in danger of being discovered, which almost never happened. He thought that at that precise moment all the agency's resources would be aimed at finding the milita
Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, USA.That night at dinner, Karen was concerned about what Hansen had revealed to her, who noticed that she did not take her eyes off Gilbert. It was true that he was not very talkative, but somehow Joseph managed to make him talk to him and feel comfortable with his presence. Sometimes he would look at her for a few seconds and Karen thought he had the same look as her son, but a little more enigmatic and penetrating, and also intimidating, or at least that was the impression he gave her. Perhaps she was conditioned by what she had just learned. She also watched Donna from time to time, wondering how a woman could deal with the fact that she had the antichrist himself for a son, and do nothing. Maybe she didn't know, and if she did, it was her maternal instinct, she told herself, preventing her from suffocating him at night with a pillow or doing something much worse to him. In one of her musings, she even asked how th
Washington, USA.The press conference had not been easy for Collins. They literally peppered him with questions as soon as he stepped onto the press room and, although he expected it, he was not fully prepared to face the suspicion of journalists, and even more so when the only suspects in the attacks were dead. At first, he tried to focus on his government's efforts to end the national emergency due to the attacks, but could not, since one of the journalists asked him for his opinion about what was happening in the Middle East and only said that his diplomatic corps was in talks with several countries to avoid a war in the region, and the whole press conference went there. He expressed surprise at Israel's nuclear weapons and the theft of them, and commented he had offered help to find them.“Do you think they can find them before they are used by those who stole them, as for example, against the USA, hypothetically speaking?&rdqu
Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, USA.The night before had been too busy in the complex and Hansen could not sleep well, worried about the constant arrival of more guests. When he was about to go out for breakfast, there was a knock on his room door; he opened it and was met by the smiling figure of Harvey. This time Hansen thought it was a forced smile."Mr. Richmond is waiting for you in his private study. Please follow me.”“You hadn’t told me that he had a private study.”“I didn’t it because it isn’t available to you.” Harvey said solemnly as they descended the stairs. “Besides Mr. Richmond’s room, of course.”Hansen found that comment a bit rude, but understood he was in no position to reply, at least not yet. They went through the spacious living room to the southwest corner and they found a kind of corridor, also wide, which ended in a kind of reading ro
Tel Aviv, Israel.Justin had taken advantage of the fact that his friends were already drunk when he decided to leave the bar to find a quiet place to try to call his country. He had stolen one of his companions' jeeps and already was on the outskirts of Tel Aviv when he saw in the distance what appeared to be two missiles traveling through the Israeli sky, almost at the same time, and after a few seconds slightly take two different directions approaching the ground. Within seconds he heard a loud bang and saw a huge cloud of smoke and dust rise. In the bar he had heard one of his former colleagues say that the stolen missiles had already been launched against Iran, so he assumed that those that had just hit the city had been launched by Iran in response to the initial attack.He pulled off the road and stopped about two hundred yards from it in the middle of the barren landscape. It was already waning the afternoon. He took the satellite p
Tel Aviv, Israel. In an old shack built in the middle of the desert on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, the group of mercenaries who had lost their nuclear weapons regrouped around the commander of the operation and the rest of their companions, obfuscated by the audacity of the Israelis. The commander, an African-American man with an imposing presence, had just given the news to their client, throwing the satellite phone on the table he was sitting at. He looked closely at his men and after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity to everyone, he got up and said, resting his fists on the table:“Gentlemen, I have informed our client of the latest events, and to my surprise, he has taken it very well, to the point that he has ordered us to leave the country immediately.”“¿And the rest of the payment?” One of the men asked.“The rest of the money is being deposited at the moment in the accounts of e
Tel Aviv, Israel.The five men had talked animatedly for a few minutes in one of the rooms of the old house on the outskirts of town. Abinadab was outside waiting, heard a car stop in front of the house, looked out the window and saw three men coming out of it. He recognized them and hurried to open the door for them, letting them in. Prior to the closure he made sure there was no suspicious person on the street.“Where are they?” One of them asked.“In that room,” Abinadab pointed to one of the rooms. The three men entered the room and found the other Israelis sitting on the floor in a rug, immediately ending the conversation.“Our friends, the gringos!” One of them said, the leader of the group. “Come on! Come on! Sit down with us.”The newcomers sat down next to them.“We heard there was a problem with the missiles,” the American leader said in
Washington, USA.Collins could hardly fall asleep, but he did not sleep enough because before dawn he was awakened by an urgent call from the Secretary General and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, the Englishman Frederick Williamson, and Italian Admiral Guido Martinengo, respectively. Upon reaching the telepresence room, he found both characters on either side of the big screen in front of him."I apologize for being late, gentlemen," justified Collins, sitting in the chair behind the large table in the center of the room. “Has NATO already taken a position on the conflict in the Middle East?”"Greetings, Mr. President," Williamson told him. “We are calling you to inform you that Turkey has asked the Council to activate security and defense protocols for its nation, arguing that it could soon be the target of attacks by Israel.”“I understand that Turkey is already mobilizing its troops. W
Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, USA.The night before had been too busy in the complex and Hansen could not sleep well, worried about the constant arrival of more guests. When he was about to go out for breakfast, there was a knock on his room door; he opened it and was met by the smiling figure of Harvey. This time Hansen thought it was a forced smile."Mr. Richmond is waiting for you in his private study. Please follow me.”“You hadn’t told me that he had a private study.”“I didn’t it because it isn’t available to you.” Harvey said solemnly as they descended the stairs. “Besides Mr. Richmond’s room, of course.”Hansen found that comment a bit rude, but understood he was in no position to reply, at least not yet. They went through the spacious living room to the southwest corner and they found a kind of corridor, also wide, which ended in a kind of reading ro
Washington, USA.The press conference had not been easy for Collins. They literally peppered him with questions as soon as he stepped onto the press room and, although he expected it, he was not fully prepared to face the suspicion of journalists, and even more so when the only suspects in the attacks were dead. At first, he tried to focus on his government's efforts to end the national emergency due to the attacks, but could not, since one of the journalists asked him for his opinion about what was happening in the Middle East and only said that his diplomatic corps was in talks with several countries to avoid a war in the region, and the whole press conference went there. He expressed surprise at Israel's nuclear weapons and the theft of them, and commented he had offered help to find them.“Do you think they can find them before they are used by those who stole them, as for example, against the USA, hypothetically speaking?&rdqu
Chihuahuan Desert, Texas, USA.That night at dinner, Karen was concerned about what Hansen had revealed to her, who noticed that she did not take her eyes off Gilbert. It was true that he was not very talkative, but somehow Joseph managed to make him talk to him and feel comfortable with his presence. Sometimes he would look at her for a few seconds and Karen thought he had the same look as her son, but a little more enigmatic and penetrating, and also intimidating, or at least that was the impression he gave her. Perhaps she was conditioned by what she had just learned. She also watched Donna from time to time, wondering how a woman could deal with the fact that she had the antichrist himself for a son, and do nothing. Maybe she didn't know, and if she did, it was her maternal instinct, she told herself, preventing her from suffocating him at night with a pillow or doing something much worse to him. In one of her musings, she even asked how th
Valencia, Venezuela.Scott had managed to reach the bus terminal located on the outskirts of the city of Valencia and immediately looked for a taxi to take him to a hotel, where he would hide for a day or two waiting for the response from the NSA, which he expected. It means doing the same thing he was doing now: trying to leave the country. The city of Valencia is one of the closest to the capital that also has an international airport, the Arturo Michelena, avoiding using the main one in Caracas in Maiquetía, where security measures would be much stricter in case they were looking for him. In situations like that, the agency never recommended staying in the country, unless it needed more information to corroborate or verify the information sent initially and the agent was not in danger of being discovered, which almost never happened. He thought that at that precise moment all the agency's resources would be aimed at finding the milita
The Vatican, Vatican City State.Cardinals Agnello and Nitti were concerned about the pope's mood; since the Swiss Guard officers notified him that they could not locate Dr. Hansen and the clone boy in Argentina, his demeanor has turned taciturn and pensive. They never imagined the matter would affect them in such a way to the point of worrying them.Benito was locked up in his office all morning after asking not to be disturbed and he didn't go out at noon for lunch, so they decided to go see how he was. They knocked on the door and in a few seconds they opened and entered."I asked not to be disturbed," he said, sitting in the wide armchair with his back to the desk, looking through the large window at part of the vast Vatican gardens. He looked tired. Cardinal Agnello was the first to approach him.“Your Holiness, we are concerned for you,” he said, settling close to him, next to the desk. “You haven&rs