Hammer of Angels: A Novel of Shadowstorm Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Virgo and Libra were captured very quickly, which halted the leaks from the Russian Section, and then Fredericks broke off the investigation.”
    Cyrus broils us with his oven-black googlies. “And?”
    â€œSir,” Brando says quickly, “we think Jakob Fredericks is Scorpio.”
    There’s a pregnant pause while our boss holds his glower. “Scorpio,” he mutters. “You believe the third mole was our most senior Front Desk at the time.”
    Brando and I both nod our heads.
    â€œI suppose this is why you’ve spent so much time in the library lately.”
    We nod our heads again. According to what we found in CORE, Virgo and Libra exposed every one of our agents and assets in the USSR, many of whom were executed or remain in prison. The third mole—Scorpio—seemingly had a separate agenda that continued after the two Russian agents were packed off to Leavenworth.
    The Office of Security interviewed everyone at ExOps and discovered dozens of staffers who had briefly misplaced their IDs sometime in the previous year. The investigators determined that all of those IDs had been used to access classified data about the Asexual Reproduction Initiative before magically reappearing.
    Cyrus rubs his jaw. “I assume the Scorpio reports you read were sanitized.”
    â€œYes, sir. No names.”
    â€œWell, let me tell you, then, since I was here when all that happened. After Security started monitoring the traffic into CORE, they only tracked one query for ARI-related materials. By the time they traced it, the trespasser was already gone. That was the last we ever heard of Scorpio.”
    Brando asks, “Whose ID had he used?”
    Our boss fixes a stare at us to say,
Guess who.
    I grumble, “Fredericks.” My partner and I look at each to see if we’ve got big cartoon donkey heads.
    Cyrus returns to his desk chair. “And before you ask, Fredericks was at Camp David getting his picture taken with President Nixon at the time. The Secret Service knows Fredericks by sight, so he didn’t realize his ID was missing until he tried to get back into his office later that night.”
    My boss stretches his arms over his head. “So, I’m afraid Fredericks is not a likely Scorpio suspect.” A couple of his joints crack as he extends his hands over his head. His armpits are dark with perspiration. “I’ve always thought it was Russia or China trying to jump-start their cloning program by stealing it from us.”
    â€œThe same way we stole ours from Germany?” I butt in.
    Cyrus scrutinizes me for a moment. “You
have
been doing your homework. Yes, exactly.” He drops his arms and slides one of his desk drawers open. “Fredericks has more than enough clearance to access all the ARI files he wants, but the son of a bitch wouldn’t waste his time. He knows as well as I do we’re a long way from getting mixed up in cloning again.” He nods toward Brando. “Despite the positive results achieved.”
    Brando lowers his eyes to his lap. “Thank you, sir.”
    â€œYour efforts are commendable—” Cyrus pulls a pair of file folders out of his desk drawer. “—but Scorpio is a mystery for another day.” The drawer slides shut. “There are more pressing matters to attend to.” He slides the files to us. “Scarlet, this should keep you out of trouble for a while.”
    My partner and I each grab a folder.
    Cyrus stands up again and paces across his office. “This is a big one. In fact, it’s the largest covert action I’ve ever seen. It’s called Operation ANGEL. Every section’s Front Desk will contribute all available resources. That’s Russian, Chinese, American, and, of course, my German Section.”
    Brando peeks inside his mission brief.
    â€œScarlet, you and Darwin will travel to York in northeast England. There you will establish contact