“Exactly,” Jed said. “Operation updates, please.”
Screens started turning on left and right. There were whirrs of activity in different parts of the room. From where she was, Hell figured out several satellite calls being made and fax machines coming alive.
“Tsk. Hunger and sexual tension make two very frustrated human beings. High probability of—”
“Eight Ball, operation updates for now.” Jed reached over and touched the screen to his right. “We want to let Hell see the business side of you, don’t we?”
Several maps lit up on the electronic wall. The screens at her desk started flashing messages and Helen checked where they were coming from. All over the world, it seemed.
“Of course, sir.” Eight Ball’s voice turned into a snotty uppity British butler accent. “We will indeed show the vast project being undertaken by COS Command in an orderly fashion. They’re already waiting for your report, sire.”
“I’m ready.”
Immediately a few other screens came on, one showing a man, and another a woman. Both looked to be in their mid-forties. Helen didn’t recognize them.
“They’ve already contacted us on Cummings, confirming his death,” the man said immediately, without greeting.
Helen watched as Jed appeared to connect something to his wristwatch. “I took pictures of the sailing vessel for the file. Eight Ball?”
“Downloading them, sir. Analysis within the hour.”
The woman smiled. “I see we’ve got Lord Eight Ball with us today.”
“That’s supposed to be the business side of him,” Jed said dryly. “Better not give him a title. He might get ideas.”
“Pshaw,” the computer said, followed by a sniff that gave Helen an image of some dour-looking balding British actor on every British TV show she watched.
The man on the screen shook his head. “Retrieving the SEED was important but we’re now worried about what Deutsche Internationale was trying to decode when Helen Roston showed up.”
Helen sat up straighter at the sound of her name. That was her first assignment; retrieving the SEED was the first test of her remote-viewing abilities and the serum. She’d had no problem locating the decoding device. With Hades’ help in virtual reality, she added. She looked at the back of the dark head in front. Jed, she amended.
“Agent Roston destroyed the laptop they were using and T is still in there. She might find out something,” Jed said. “Itisstrange for a think-tank that’s associated with peace foundations to buy a hot market item like the SEED and use it. I agree we should try to find out what they’re after.”
“Is that your next avenue of action?” the woman asked.
“No. It’s more important right now to locate and retrieve the different missing weapons and devices.”
“Jed, we’re pleased that you finally caught up with Jack Cummings. It wouldn’t have been good for us if he had been successfully smuggled into Russia,” the man said. “He’d have gotten very wealthy by selling everything he knew to the highest bidder.”
“His price wasn’t that different from his wife’s,” Jed said. “Freedom.”
“Yes, but they didn’t choose to steal Intel and weapons for freedom, Agent McNeil. This network was deliberately set up to stay in place for a long time so that their agents could work themselves high in our system,” the woman said. “In fact, they’d created their own Virus System, infecting parts of our government from the inside.”
“Yes, they’ve taken various facets of the Virus program but with a big difference. They’re after our technology and secrets. They sustain themselves through profiting from what they can steal.”
“Point taken, Agent McNeil,” the man said, “but the problem remains. They’re in our system. The only thing going for us is that we’ve caught on and are trying to eliminate the problem.”
“But the damage done is tremendous,” the woman added. “Stopping Agent Cummings took a little pressure off. He had very high clearance. His quick disappearance, along with other key personnel, after Washington’s scandal came into light has surely warned their shadowy counterparts to move faster, don’t you agree, Jed?”
“Yes,” Jed said.
“It was fortunate then that Miss Roston was able to locate Agent Cummings, wasn’t it?” she continued.
Helen stiffened at her name being mentioned again. It had been her fault, of course, that Jack Cummings had managed to escape the first time, during the initial operation in Frankfurt. Jed had used up some precious time to help her out. She bit her lower lip.
“I didn’t have any doubt that she wouldn’t,” Jed said.
“From reviewing the video feeds, she should have canceled the man instead of tying him up,” the man said, his voice getting a bit sharper. “Then you wouldn’t have had to go down there and finish the job for her. Have you and the other commandos addressed this problem internally?”
