Robert Ludlum's (TM) The Bourne Initiative (Jason Bourne series)(117)

“You’re hoping for that,” Bourne said.

Keyre nodded. “Indeed I am.”

“Actually, those aren’t the first things on my mind,” Bourne said. “The Initiative has a zero-day trigger.”

Keyre’s eyes narrowed. His smile was gone now. “What do you mean?”

“Remember Morgana Roy, the cybersecurity expert you mentioned who worked for General MacQuerrie? When she told me that there’s a trigger built into the Initiative’s root code it got me to thinking. Why would Boris want such a thing? I mean, if he was going to sell it—which I know he wasn’t—or if he was going to use it as a cyber weapon—which I know he wasn’t—a zero-day trigger would make no sense. In either case, it wouldn’t be needed. In fact, it would become a detriment. An unnecessary race against time. But if he had it designed to take down the cyber-infrastructure of international banks, a zero-day trigger is logical. Boris must have known that the banks initiate a certain number of the largest international transfers in bulk at a certain time each week. That’s when the theft on an unimaginable scale would take place.”

“So that’s what it was created for. Thievery.” Keyre laughed. “That Karpov. I’ve got to hand it to him. Brilliant man. But, you know, so am I. Yes, I hijacked the Initiative. And I also redesigned it. It wasn’t too difficult if, as I did, you had the entire coding. So. First, I set up the auction idea. But then the Sovereign contacted me. He wanted the Initiative because he had something big cooking. Something very big indeed. He offered me money, lots and lots of money. But he also offered me something even more valuable than money. Can you guess?” Keyre’s eyes danced merrily. “He offered me and my shipments safe passage in the ports beyond even my reach.” He shrugged. “It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, especially when he added that he wanted me to rid him of”—Keyre snapped his fingers—“what word did he use? Oh, yes. He wanted me to rid him of several ‘unstable’ individuals. You see, your friend Karpov’s betrayal of him hit home. The Sovereign no longer trusted anyone around him. He wanted them gone.”

“Including Konstantin.”

“Yes.”

“Which suited you perfectly.”

“It did.”

“So you sent the Angelmaker to bring me to you.”

“Well. Yes. But first through neutral intermediaries I had your whereabouts transmitted to the Russians and Americans.”

“We could have been killed,” Bourne pointed out.

“No, no, Bourne. I had too much faith in you. And in the Angelmaker. I knew she’d bring you to me.”

“So no auction.”

“A ruse. I kept it going for cover.”

Bourne frowned. “Cover for what?” He checked his watch. “The zero-day trigger will activate in twenty-three minutes.”

“Ah, well, that. I’m sure you’ve heard the news stories about the Russians massing along the borders of the Baltic States. Well, instead of shutting down the banks, as Karpov planned, the Initiative will freeze NATO’s communications and defense infrastructure. Once that happens, the Russians will cross the borders into Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania. Then it will be Sweden and Finland’s turn. By the time NATO figures out a way around the Initiative, the Russian putsch will be a fait accompli.”

“Keyre, you can’t do this. Even for you—”

“But my dear Bourne. It’s already done. At least it will be in, what, nineteen minutes.”

And, as it turned out, Bourne was right in having the glimmer stuck in his consciousness like a splinter, because at that moment twin explosions rocked the camp as the generators blew, plunging the citadel into an electrical and electronic abyss.

—



Center. Breathe. “Timing is everything,” her father, the angel on her shoulder, said in her ear. Aim. Squeeze the trigger. Ka-boom!

Chaos.

But before that…Morgana had staked out Keyre’s citadel for some hours, familiarized herself with the daytime and nighttime peregrinations of the guards, as well as their shift changes. She lay on her belly, peering through the powerful eyepieces of the military-grade field glasses she’d found on the plane and stuffed into a backpack, along with everything else she thought she’d need, and finally she saw the Angelmaker exit a jeep. In this one instant, remembering Mac’s recitation of her kills in just the past five years, ending with “She’s a menace,” her decision was made for her.

She watched as the Angelmaker entered Keyre’s building with Jason Bourne. Her blood was running hot, and she had wanted to fire then and there, but the timing was off. With no way to ensure that all the guards would be pulled off of their posts, she needed to wait until they were in the right positions. She had already calculated how long it would take her to reach the area of cyclone fence she had targeted, and she factored this in.

When the time was right, Ka-boom!

And amid the chaos she scooped up her backpack and ran. She was through the fence, the wire-cutters left behind, and inside Keyre’s citadel without attracting any attention. The twin explosions had caused more chaos than she had anticipated.

She ran toward her target.

Last lap, she thought. Do or die.

She was on her way.