Catalyst (Breakthrough Book 3)(123)

She didn’t answer. Instead, she simply said, “I’m putting it through.”

The next voice was deep and immediately recognizable. “Hayes, it’s Carr. Is Langford already there?”

The look on the man’s face froze. It took him several seconds to reply and he did so while glaring across his desk at Langford. “Yes, Mr. President…he’s here.”

“Good. Listen to me very carefully…”





81





In 1993, the Department of Defense established a set of directives and reporting protocols designed to allow rapid response to national incidents and emergencies. Three of these directives established a list of emergency flag words capable of activating the highest level of command structure within both the Department of Defense and National Command Authority.

One such flag word, Pinnacle, was designed to launch the highest level of military command to immediately preserve the security and national interests of the United States. Another accompanying code known by many was called Broken Arrow.

However, unlike the rest of the major military commands, the CIA was not bound by the Department of Defense directives. Instead, the agency maintained a set of its own protocols, designed as emergency responses within its international intelligence network.

Over the years, several such protocols had been activated though limited in scope.

But one had not.

One protocol, known only by the cryptonym of CLOWER was the international equivalent of the DoD’s “Pinnacle.”

And Andrew Hayes would be the first Director in CIA history to invoke it.





Once authorized, CLOWER took less than fifteen minutes to activate. The signals were sent in a fraction of a second, but the logistics were immense. Every warden, ambassador, and CIA agent in the world was on their phone or computer, arranging for the immediate evacuation of thousands of CIA operatives. Agents who had infiltrated nearly every branch of foreign government throughout Central Asia, along with their spouses and children, had less than one hundred and twenty minutes. A mere two hours to make it to an airport or an American embassy where passports and travel documents would be waiting.

Two hours…because once their covers were blown, the ripple effect would be unstoppable.





82





John Clay looked wearily at Qin and finally nodded his head. Immediately, Qin dismissed his soldiers and waited impatiently for them to leave the room.

Through the beatings, he’d watched with satisfaction the precise moment when Clay finally broke. Every man had his limit. Something Qin knew through experience in the MSS. No one could last forever.

He knelt down in front of Clay and pulled his head up by his thick dark hair. “I will show you mercy,” he whispered. “You have my word.”

He watched as Clay tried to nod again. His lips trembled and his eyes rolled back from the pain. He tried once more but still couldn’t respond. The American simply couldn’t concentrate through the agony.

Qin exhaled and retrieved a knife from his belt. He then grabbed one of the ropes suspending Clay and began cutting through it. When he severed the last strand, Clay’s right side collapsed, swinging sideways. His body now dangled by a single rope.

“Better?”

Clay came to a stop and hung there motionlessly. Only his chest moved while he breathed.

“Now tell me,” Qin said, squatting down again. “What is in this case?”

Clay whispered. “A microorganism…stops aging.”

Qin’s eyes widened. “It stops aging?”

Clay nodded weakly.

The MSS agent stared at Clay in disbelief. That’s what Xinzhen was after? An organism that would stop him from aging? That’s what it was all about? He looked back to Clay. “This organism is from the plants in South America?”

“Yes.”

An astounded Qin shook his head and stood up. It was more than he had dreamed. And yet it all made sense –– why Xinzhen wanted it so badly, why he told him so little about what General Wei was doing, and why Wei tried to hide it after destroying the cargo ship on its way home from Guyana. Xinzhen and Wei had hidden their discovery from nearly everyone, and even murdered the soldiers they forced to excavate it. God, it all made sense.

Qin shook himself from his trance and watched Clay’s nearly lifeless body as it hung from one arm. His still eyes staring at the floor. He was practically dead already.

Qin withdrew his gun and gripped it carefully in his opposite hand. He was surprised at the man before him. One of the U.S. Navy’s legendary SEALs. He was tough, but not as tough as Qin had expected. The man simply did not live up to the reputation. Where was the American arrogance now?

He’d known men, lesser men, who had lasted longer than this American. It was truly emblematic of the waning might of a once great nation. The might of the United States was fading. And the rise of China was just beginning.