The Last Second (A Brit in the FBI #6)(81)

Mike and Nicholas shared a glance before getting into the SUV. Grant had given Nicholas his go-bag holding all his tactical equipment. Nicholas sat in the back, going through the bag, seeing what they had to work with.

A voice came from behind the back seats. “Hey, someone want to get me out of here?”

Mike looked over her shoulder at Nicholas, winked, called out, “Sorry, Vinny, several more police cars are right ahead of us, you’ll have to wait.”

Muffled curses, and Nicholas smiled at the clear road ahead. Then he turned his attention back to the go-bag.

Mike asked, “Anything good in there? Striped undies, a photo of Kitsune?”

Nicholas spread all the goodies out on the back seat: extra magazines, of which there were only three, two guns, a variety of medical goods, a Taser, and a high-intensity flashlight that could blind anyone approaching from up to twenty feet away.

He laughed. “I’ve looked through, no underwear at all and no photo of Kitsune. A few handy items, yes, but not nearly enough. We’ll have to load up. There’s no way we’re heading into the abyss after these two madwomen without more.”

“I doubt Grant was thinking about how to stop a nuke and two crazy women when he packed for his cruise on The Griffon. Um, about the crazy women. Assuming Patel and Byrne are in Sri Lanka, how, exactly, can we make it there in time?”

“I’m not worrying about it. Grace has to figure it out. I’m more worried about how we stop a nuke. I have to assume it’s on some sort of timer, if she’s trying to make it coincide with the lunar eclipse and the passing of the International Space Station. If I can narrow down their location, I could conceivably jam the signal, but I’ll have to be on-site to pull it off. Once I’m in the system, I’ll be able to see what sort of failsafes she has in the software.” He looked at his grandfather’s Breitling. “The eclipse is in sixteen hours.”

“I spoke with Broussard about the Grail. It emits a signature I believe must be electrical in nature, so I’m thinking we need some sort of airbased sonar. If we can focus on its signature, we might find them quicker. Wherever the stone is, Nevaeh Patel won’t be far away.”

“A good idea, though again, we’d have to be close, on-site, for it to work. What does the Grail have to do with setting off the EMP? Why else would she have gone to such lengths to steal the stone from Broussard’s yacht?”

“I don’t know, Nicholas. But we’ll find out.”

Mills said from the body bag, “Children, I know all and will tell all. Let me out and I’ll even tell you.”

“Hey, it looks clear ahead, no more police cars,” Mike said, “Open him up, Nicholas, see what Mr. Brain has to say.”





CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX


T-MINUS 16 HOURS

Lyon–Mont Verdun Air Base (Base Aérienne 942 ) is located to the northwest of Lyon. It is a center for air defense operations transferred to the site from the now-deactivated headquarters of the French Air Force at Taverny Air Base—BA921 near Paris, with an underground alternate strategic command center hardened against chemical and nuclear attack.

—Wikipedia

Mont Verdun Air Base

Lyon, France

The rolling hills of Lyon were Irish green from so much rain. And the vineyards, they stretched on either side of the road, as far as the eye could see.

“How far?” Mike asked their driver.

“Twenty minutes. You three look like leftovers. Take a nap, I’ll wake you up when we get to Mont Verdun.”

Within moments, all three were asleep.

It seemed like only a second had passed when their driver called out, “Nearly there.”

Mills stirred and yawned. “What’s the countdown?”

Mike turned, said, “We’re about sixteen hours out from the eclipse.”

“I’m thinking we should probably scramble some jets for world leaders, just in case.”

Mike’s eyebrows went up. “You want them in the air?”

“Hey, Air Force One is hardened against an EMP.”

Mike said, “Seriously, guys, if we start putting world leaders in secure bunkers or in their jets, everyone will know something bad is up and the panic will ripple across the world, causing as much damage as the EMP, if not more. Our only choice is to stop this before it goes off.”

Mills said, “You know, depending on how high above the Earth it is when it detonates, a nuclear EMP wouldn’t necessarily burn the Earth or cause great mushroom clouds of fallout.”

Mike said, “I thought you were going to tell us something we didn’t know. Well, not that I expected it. No, but as we’ve discussed, it could shut down all the communication signals from the satellites near the explosion, which would cascade through the cellular and radio signals. Anything using electricity to generate power would be disabled. If it’s high enough, it’s going to affect global communications satellites; low enough, and there will be an impact to Earth itself.”

Mills nodded. “True. People could die from the initial blast depending on its strength and position in orbit—as you’ve said, the closer to Earth, the worse the situation would be. Without communications, fresh water, food distribution, any way to get news—”

“Anarchy, within three days.”