The Ajax Protocol-7 by Alex Lukeman Read Free Book Online Page B

intuition says it is," Elizabeth said, "but I can't prove it yet."
    "If it is the same people," Selena said, "they could be worried we'll find out who they are."
    Stephanie was sitting apart from the others at her computer console, near Harker's desk. Now she said, "I think it has to be more than that. What do they gain by poisoning Rice?"
    "It's like a regime change," Lamont said. "With Edmonds running things, it's a whole different ballgame."
    "You think someone is planning a coup?" Nick said.
    "Not planning it, starting it," Lamont said. "Edmonds could be in on it."
    "He's not the President yet. Rice is still alive. It takes more than a failed assassination attempt to take over the government."
    "What else would they need to do?" Ronnie said.
    "They have to create fear," Selena said. "Enough to get everyone so upset they'll accept harsh government controls, like martial law."
    "They'd need an excuse like massive riots," Stephanie said, "like what happened in Russia."
    Harker said, "You think what happened in Russia is related to what's happening here?"
    Stephanie frowned. "It could be. If a riot like that happened in New York or Chicago or LA, the government would have to send in troops, like they did in Russia. Impose a curfew. Take over services, all of that."
    "That's a real leap, Steph," Nick said.
    "I don't think so." Stephanie twisted the bracelets on her wrist, first one way than the other. "Look what happened in Novosibirsk. If that happened here, it would provide an excuse to bring down the hammer."
    "That's a Presidential call," Selena said.
    "And who's the acting President?" Nick looked at her. "Do you trust Edmonds to defend personal freedom?"
    No one had anything to say about that.
    Stephanie cleared her throat. "Speaking of Edmonds, I tracked down that helicopter that came after Elizabeth. It was manufactured in France and sold to a company called Global Enterprise Solutions."
    "I've heard of them," Nick said. "Aren't they a big construction firm?"
    "Construction, engineering, oil and more," Stephanie said. "It's a huge company doing billions of dollars worth of business a year. Guess who was the former CEO before he got elected to office?"
    "Edmonds?"
    Stephanie nodded. "It doesn't prove he's involved, but it's another one of those coincidences."
    Ronnie scratched the top of his head. "Sometimes I don't like what we find when we do the assumption thing," he said.
    "Do you really think a coup could happen here?" Selena said.
    "If people thought we were under attack, it might be possible," Elizabeth said. "The Patriot Act suspends the Bill of Rights. It's never been hard to get most people in line when they think they're being threatened. Any new regulations would be presented as necessary and temporary."
    "So what do we do now?" Lamont said.
    Harker picked up her black pen. Nick waited for her to begin tapping. She set it down again.
    "We have no proof at all that someone wants to overthrow our government. The key to this is that satellite weapon, or whatever it is. We need to find out what it is and who's behind it. There has to be someplace they're using as a headquarters or communication center, a place to control it. Something this sophisticated can't be called up on a cell phone."
    "Once we find it, then what?" Lamont asked.
    "Then we destroy it."
    "Sure," Nick said, "but we have to find it first."
    Stephanie said, "I have a lead. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. You remember I said I detected a micro-burst of high frequency energy when Russia got hit?"
    "Yes?" Harker said.
    "I traced the signal to the Western US and started to hack into the computer that sent it. It had very sophisticated firewalls and security, something I'd never seen before. Actually, it was quite a challenge. You know sometimes I miss the game, back when I was just hacking into things for the fun of it."
    Harker said, "Stephanie. Would you please stick to the point?"
    "Oh. Sorry."
    Ronnie looked over at Nick and raised