Chapter 275: Ripples (1)
An old man sat behind a large desk with a polished black surface and steel frame. He and the desk were sitting in a somber office with no windows and dismal fluorescent lighting. Thick steel file cabinet safes lined two walls, each drawer having its own combination dial.
A blue light on the wall blinked. The man looked up at the light, then reached out and pressed a button on his desk. There was a loud buzzing sound, and the door to his office opened.
In stepped a man in a crisp military uniform.
"Sir, if you have a moment? One of my analysts found something that doesn’t add up."
"What is it, Yuri? You don’t bother me unless it’s interesting."
The man in uniform placed a folder on the old man’s desk, then stepped back.
"One of our supply depots in Sarmatia was sabotaged, and the rats were cornered by the depot security personnel in a warehouse near the border."
"Yes, I remember reading about that," said the old man. "The rats escaped through a tunnel and collapsed it behind them, leaving a nasty surprise in their wake."
"Yes, sir. A very nasty surprise. But here’s the thing. That tunnel wasn’t as secret as we first thought."
"Oh?"
"My analyst came across a report from one of our special action teams. The report stated that the team had collapsed a tunnel as they retreated back across the border. The very same tunnel the rats supposedly used to escape. And their report is dated two weeks prior to the depot sabotage incident."
"Interesting," said the old man. "Did the rats or someone else dig out the collapse?"
"Unknown, sir. I managed to get in contact with the leader of that special action team, and he said the collapse was extensive and would probably require significant work to dig out."
"So possible, but unlikely."
"Yes, sir. My analyst concurs, stating there is a high probability that the rats did not escape through the tunnel."
"Did your analyst have any thoughts on how the rats escaped a complete encirclement of the warehouse?" asked the old man.
"Just two, sir. One possibility is that they used the explosions as a diversion as they escaped on a stealth helicopter from the roof of the warehouse. My analyst gave this a very low probability, given that neither Sarmatia, nor the Federation mercs would have access to stealth helicopters."
"Yes, the Federation is quite stingy with their stealth tech. And the second possibility?"
"Some as yet unknown technology."
"Ha," barked the old man darkly. "Might as well just say they used magic."
The man in the uniform coughed. "Yes, sir. A distinction without a difference."
"Well, Yuri. You have found a proper conundrum. I’m intrigued. Start a new code word project. Let’s call it Magic Carpet. Find those rats. I want to talk to one of them personally."
The man in uniform saluted, snapped a salute, "Yes, sir!" then turned and left the office with purpose.
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In a dark room, lit only by the glow of computer monitors, sat a middle-aged man. A lit cigarette dangled from his lips, and a cup of cooling coffee sat on his desk, amid scattered papers.
On his screen was an ongoing chat.
"White: What happened, Red? You said you had the girl properly secured!"
"Red: Fucking vanished! All the guards lost consciousness at the same time, and the security system was wiped. There were no fingerprints, but we did manage to find two hairs from unknown sources. No luck yet identifying those sources yet."
"White: Blue? Any satellite footage?"
The man in the dark room typed on his keyboard.
"Blue: Nothing conclusive yet. Only three ships in the area that could have reached the island in the requisite timeframe. Still investigating."
"Green: Does it matter who snatched the girl? This attack on the Rothschilds is costing us 25% more than it should. We should be focusing on tracking down whoever is pissing in our porridge instead of chasing ghosts."
"White: As much as it pains me to agree with Green, I concur. We can revisit the case of the disappearing girl once we solve the more pressing problem. Blue? Any ideas?"
"Blue: According to my analysis, someone is using a lot of proxy accounts to take advantage of the volatility are attack is causing. I’ve managed to compromise the trading firms hosting two of those proxy accounts. But both accounts are registered to corporations in financial haven countries. I sent the info to Red to see if they can breach the corporate veil of those two companies."
"White: Red?"
"Red: I have operatives in both countries. They are still in the early stages of their operations, so it will be a few days before we learn more."
"White: Understood. Does anyone else have anything useful to add?"
There was a long pause.
"White: Until tomorrow. Sign off."
"Red: Out."
"Green: Out."
"Blue: Out."
The man closed the chat window, then took a pull off his cigarette, then blew out the smoke.
"Fucking disaster! Whoever is taking advantage of our chaos is schooling us hard. If I knew who they were, I’d try to go work for them."
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Three men sat around a table discussing recent events. The room they were in and everything in it looked like it belonged in a museum. Each piece of furniture, each painting, each decoration gave off an aura of ancientness.
The three men were dressed in tailored suits. An older man in a slate grey suit. A middle-aged man in a navy blue suit. And a man of indeterminate age in a charcoal grey suit.
"Durante," said the man in the slate grey suit. "Care to tell us why you called this meeting?"
"Sure, Luciano. I called this meeting because our mole at Castle Group just got the boot," said the man in the charcoal grey suit.
"That hardly calls for an emergency meeting," said the man in the navy blue suit.
"Ours wasn’t the only mole that was booted out of Castle Group. The Saxon mole also got the boot along with several other executives and a double handful of other employees. They cleaned house."
"What did your contact inside SES have to say about it?" asked Luciano.