Read Online The First End by Victor Elmalih - Free Book Online

he finished, the line was silent for a
long time. Finally, the general’s voice came through the speaker.
“Gardner, get your butt over to the Pentagon, now. We need to talk.
As for you, Frank, this action of yours boarders on treason. I’ll
make it my personal mission in life to take you down.”
    “General, don’t be so hasty,” Bill warned. “You
could use him still.”
    “How?”
    “Let him foot the bill for this. Whoever you
send over there needs a legitimate excuse. Vellore can provide that
excuse. He has already started the process of trying to cover his
tracks. Let him proceed…or rather proceed under his name and
company. This should provide you with some cover for the operation.
The wily fox is right about one thing. If the other intelligence
services get wind of what is happening, it will turn into a turkey
shoot over there.”
    “Fine. I’ll consider it. I still want you here,
Gardner.”
    “I’m not in the service anymore, sir.”
    “You are now. I’ve just reactivated you.”
    “You can’t do that!”
    “I just did, Captain. Listen! You have benefited
from the military. You used our program Vol Ed . You’re
education as a lawyer was paid for by us. Now it's your turn to
give back to those who have made you what you are now. Get over
here! That is an order.”
    His enthusiasm for this entire situation
diminishing rapidly, he muttered, “Yes sir.” He glanced at Newman.
“Sir?”
    “What?” The general sounded impatient now.
    “Getting out may be problematic. I sort of
created a bit of a mess here and the security chief here would like
nothing more than to teach me the folly of such behavior.”
    The chief smiled at that.
    “If you are not in my office in six hours,
Gardner, I will personally turn the national guard loose on Mr.
Vellore’s house. I’ll arrest everyone there for treason. Will that
help?”
    Bill glanced inquiringly at Newman. The man
nodded. “Yep, that will do.”
    “Okay, sir. Looks good on my end.”
    “Get over here then!”
    The line went dead.
    Standing back up, the security chief nodded to
the door. “You best be going. I don’t want to get arrested because
you got stuck in traffic somewhere.”
    Bill grinned. “That would be a bit of bad luck
for you, wouldn’t it.”
    The man snorted in reply.

Chapter 9
    “You really want me to do this?” Bill asked,
dumfounded.
    “Yes, you gonna do it, Gardner!”
    “Forget it. It’s too risky.”
    Hynes nodded. “You’re the one who sold me on
it.”
    “What? How?”
    The conference room was filled with aides and
other strategic planners, even a few intelligence types conferred
together softly at the end of the large cherry wood table. The
General leaned forward, pressing his knuckles hard against the
tabletop. “This has to be a covert operation. You are a lawyer, not
a soldier—”
    “You just—” Bill tried to protest.
    “Don’t interrupt me, soldier!”
    Bill clamped his mouth shut, but he idly
wondered if anyone else in the room noticed the obvious
contradiction. From the looks of them, they didn’t care either
way.
    “Captain, the Somalis and anyone else looking
into your visit there will think that you still work for Wastend on
some project. I don’t care what. I’ve taken your advice and we will
be using Frank and his company as cover. You will be there to find
out if we’ve been compromised. Sec-Def has already signed off on
this, so no more arguments.”
    “Yes, sir!”
    “Good. What I want you to do is determine if any
of the sensitive components have been compromised. If they have, I
want you to retrieve them.” Haynes drummed his fingers on the
table, his shock of grey hair seemed longer than regulations
allowed, but generals often got away with things like that. “Will
you do it?”
    Gardner blinked in surprise. “I wasn’t under the
impression that I had a choice, sir.”
    “Of course you do. I just needed you to
understand the gravity of the situation before I gave you