Threat Level Black

“I appreciate the sentiment. And I’m not kidding about the rail. Really.”

Fisher saw the man move his hands. He dropped down, grabbing for the backup Glock he had in a holster on his calf. Before he could fire, a flash of light blinded him.

Then there was an awful sound, something like a scream that twisted in half. The tunnel filled with acrid smoke, the scent of burnt flesh permeating the dank space.

“Told you the lights were coming back on,” said Fisher. “You didn’t think I could keep them off forever, did you? The paperwork alone is ridiculous.”

He holstered his pistol. Faud lay slumped against the third rail, still frying. The can of gas lay in the middle of the tracks, unopened.

“Andy! Andy Fisher!” yelled Macklin.

“Where the hell have you been, Macklin?” asked Fisher, turning back.

“He hit the third rail?”

“Guess he didn’t believe me about the power.” Fisher pulled out his cigarette pack. “You stopped the trains, right?”

“Like you said.”

Fisher lit up. “Good. Only damn place in New York City you can smoke in peace anymore.”

Part Seven. Home Again

Chapter 1

They left it up to the President.

The terrorist was dead, his canisters of sarin gas secured. A thorough search had turned up nothing, there were guards all over the place, and the crowd outside was as patient as New Yorkers could be.

Which wasn’t very.

“I say let’s move on with it,” said the President. “The hell with these terrorist scumbags.”

“You shouldn’t say scumbags,” said one of his advisors.

“You want me to say what I really think of them?”

The man shut his mouth.

The tip-off started at ten P.M., a delay of only an hour and a half. As an added bonus, the network agreed to cut the number of commercials and show the game as it was meant to be played, without interference.

Dr. Blitz left the President just before the end of first half of the game, walking outside with the Secret Service bodyguard to the task force trailer. There he was briefed personally by the Homeland Security agent who had coordinated the operation, Michael Macklin. Macklin, his clothes soiled with dirt and sweat, looked as if had crawled through the sewer to get there.

“We don’t know yet if the man who died down there worked alone or not,” Macklin told him. “He didn’t have an accomplice on the scene that we’ve found, which was one reason we were able to fool him with the temporary blackout. That was supposed to be his signal to begin.”

“Who figured that out?” asked Blitz.

“Andy Fisher,” said DIA agent Kowalski, standing nearby. He had a pained expression on his face. “The Andy Fisher.”

“So Fisher and Colonel Howe were right: It was connected to the UAV and the E-bomb,” said Blitz. “Which means the Korean is still at large somewhere.”

“Or he sold the thing to them before he escaped.”

Blitz turned around. A tall, bedraggled man in a rumbled brown suit stood before him. He was missing a shoe.

“Agent Fisher, how are you?”

“Actually, that’s Special Agent Fisher.” Fisher took a puff on his cigarette. “They screwed up the paperwork somewhere a few years ago and promoted me by mistake.”

Blitz shook his head. As the President said, a real pistol.

“So, where is this Korean?” Blitz asked.

Fisher shrugged. “Not my case.”

“Maybe it ought to be,” said Howe.

“Take it up with the boss,” said Fisher, drawing on his cigarette. “Meantime, I thought I’d go watch the end of this basketball game.”

Chapter 2

When dawn broke, Kuong’s ship was several hundred miles from the American coast, well on its way to Africa. Once there, Kuong would make his way to Nigeria, where he would board the first of several airplanes for the flight to Peru. How long it would take to accomplish that journey, he did not know; it would be many days if not weeks, considerably longer than the trip he had taken to board the Beneficent Goddess. But this was necessary, and because it was necessary, he did not mind it.

He had watched CNN via the satellite dish during the night. By the time the clock passed ten and there was no announcement, Kuong knew there would be none. His plan had failed.

He had been reluctant to turn the set off, hoping still that the stories would come. He longed to watch the casualty lists and footage of looters rampaging the city. He wanted to see the parade of ambulances and the somber faces. He would have laughed at their tears.

It was not to be-not now. Revenge would have to be sought far in the future.

Some men would conclude optimistically that failure would make his future success that much more delicious. But Kuong did not believe such lies. Bitterness could never really be washed away. He stood at the bow of the ship, staring at the pink light pushing back the gray of the ocean.

Chapter 3

Howe swung the door open. “Home!” he yelled.

He heard his mother talking in the kitchen, muttering about the food or maybe complaining that he was late.

“Hey,” he said, coming through the small dining room.