Page 93 of Clive Cussler's Quantum Tempest

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Aboard theOregon

Eric Stone was at his helm station when his earpiece buzzed with Hali Kasim’s voice.

“I’m patching the Chairman through to you, Eric.”

“Thanks, Hali.”

“Stoney, you read me?” Cabrillo’s voice barely cut through the shrill whine of the tilt-rotor’s turbines and its thundering blade wash. “We’re heading back to the barn now.” Cabrillo and his crew had just lifted off from the assassination site.

“I read you five by five, Chairman.”

“I just saw your text. You’re confirming Amador Fierro?”

“Yes, sir. Those pics and prints of the dead mercs MacD recorded at President Olmedo’s were matched to a third-party shell company operating out of Colombia. It took some digging but we found a direct connection to Fierro. He’s our guy.”

“Outstanding. Need something else from you. Murph grabbed a screenshot of the shooter he nailed with his drone this morning. I need you to ID him. I’m betting he’s a Fierro stooge.”

“On it. Anything else?”

“Oh yeah, that was the easy part. I need you to find out where Fierro’s holed up, pronto.”

“That won’t be easy—”

“I’m tired of playing defense. Fierro’s desperate and he’s escalating.If he’s willing to take out President Olmedo, what else has he got planned?”

“With his resources he could be anywhere.”

“I’ve known a few Colombians. For them, it isn’t just a home—it’s heart and soul. They hate to leave and they always go back as soon as they can. So start there.”

“Will do.”

“That’s only half of it.”

“Sir?”

“I want him located before my skids hit the landing pad. We need to work up an extraction package.”

“He’s going to have a heck of a defense set up.”

“I don’t care. He’s either going to stand down or we’re going to put him down.”

“Well, sir, not to state the obvious, but if he really is a Colombian national, doesn’t it make sense to let the Colombian government handle him?”

“The Colombian government is run by Marxists and as anti-American as you can get. There’s no telling how much La Liga dinero fills the pockets of their security people. We call them, someone will pick up the phone, and Fierro’s in the wind.”

“But invading a foreign country and seizing a sovereign citizen is a crime.”

“He’s fair game. He’s a terrorist who kills a lot of innocent people with drugs and guns. He’s no different than Osama bin Laden or Carlos the Jackal. Our only other option is to sit on our hands and hope he decides to play nice from now on. Does that sound like a good bet to you, Stoney?”

“No, sir. It’s always better to ask forgiveness than permission.”

“Attaboy. Now go find this creep.”

“We’re on it.”

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