Page 10 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER4

CommTECH headquarters

New York City, Northern Territory

Miriam Shepherd wantedto pick up the handblown glass paperweight on her desk and throw it at the screens covering the opposite wall.But she didn’t.She hadn’t made it to the top of the most powerful company on the planet by letting her emotions loose when things went wrong.No, she calculated, planned, and retaliated.Most of all, she was always,alwayswell-informed, which was why she was particularly upset to receive news of the attack on their research facility from the public information network instead of from her new joint heads of security.

“Why am I finding out about Houston in this way?”She motioned to the images of the Freedom fighter making her inane demands.

The two men standing beside her didn’t move a muscle, their identical features remaining equally contained.Miriam had chosen the Mercer twins for precisely these qualities.They were deadly, unemotional, and quite possibly psychotic.Perfect attributes for the heads of her personal security.

“The on-site security team deployed as soon as the attack started,” one of the twins said.

Miriam had long ago stopped trying to tell them apart; now she just called them both Mercer.Given that they worked as a unit, it was a perfect solution to the naming problem.

“They didn’t contact base until the situation was well underway,” the other twin continued.“By then, it was too late to advise or send in backup.The security team was eliminated, and communications jammed.”He glanced at the time on the far screen.“That was seven minutes ago.We sent you a priority message and came straight here as soon as we knew there was nothing more that could be done from this distance.”

“You should have told me while you were dealing with the situation.”Her previous head of security would have known to do that.Unfortunately, he was no longer alive to meet her demands, and it would take some time to break in his replacements.

The twins didn’t reply, as no response was required, but she knew that next time a security situation occurred, she would be informed immediately.

“The Houston team was foolish.”Miriam sank back into her state-of-the-art desk chair.“They should have isolated the sixty-sixth floor, left it to Freedom, and secured the rest of the building.Instead, they managed to get themselves killed and give control of the entire facility to the terrorists.”She tapped one pearly fingernail on her glass desk.“What’s your plan?”

“We need you to negotiate with Freedom, buy us some time to get to Houston and take over the operation,” the first twin said.

Miriam nodded.It was exactly as she expected.“How much time do you need?”

The Freedom woman had given her an hour to get back to her.An hour?Honestly, even if she were considering giving in to their demands, she wouldn’t be able to assemble the board and vote on governance changes within that timeframe.CommTECH’s board was difficult to assemble at the best of times.They were a hands-off board.More interested in the profit margin than in the day-to-day running of the company.Which was exactly how she liked it.

“I’ll contact Freedom a few minutes before the deadline.”Let them think she was scrambling to meet their demands.She brushed a speck of lint from her pristine white silk suit.“The hostages are not our priority.”

“Of course.”

“Secure the database at all costs.”Even though it was locked up tight, several levels beneath the building, it still wouldn’t be safe from an irrational group of terrorists armed with bombs.

“And Keiko Sato?”

Miriam waved a dismissive hand.“Collateral damage.”

The men nodded, sealing the fate of CommTECH’s press secretary.There would be no rescue for the woman.If she made it out alive, it would be a bonus, but her survival wasn’t the object of their mission.

As the twins left to clean up the physical mess in Houston, Miriam returned her attention to dealing with the public relations impact of the attack.It would not do to have the ruling company seen as vulnerable—their stock would plummet.And although she trusted that the Mercer twins would ensure everyone in Houston got the message not to mess with CommTECH, there was still public perception to finesse.

Right about now, a press secretary would have come in handy.

Pity CommTECH’s was as good as dead.