Free The Project 02 - The Lance by Alex Lukeman

talking.
    F our hours later, the officer returned. He smiled a cold smile at Hans.
    " Thank you. Your directions were accurate."
    He stepped back and gestured. "Kill them."
    Like a well oiled machine, the guards raised their weapons in one smooth motion and began firing at the helpless people on the floor. It's not fair, Hans thought. I'm going to be married. Then his thoughts were gone.
    The officer walked among the bodies, rifle in hand. Twice, he fired.
    "All right. Let's go."
    At the top of the stairs, the last man out tossed two incendiary grenades into the station . He pulled the door closed and ran down the steps. Orange and yellow flame exploded through the windows and shot skyward.
    Someone pulled the cargo hatch closed. The engines of the DC-3 rose to a full-throttled roar. A thousand feet later, the plane lifted away and disappeared into the night. On the desolate, frozen ice shelf below, the flames from the burning station soared skyward like a beacon of warning from some dark and ancient Nordic myth.

CHAPTER TWENTY

    Elizabeth wanted the latest NSA information on President Rice's trip. She had full access to the NSA database. The kind of details NSA had on the trip were highly classified, but Elizabeth's clearance was UMBRA, as high as it got. She entered her password.
    Except the computer screen displayed a curt message.
    Access Denied.
    She tried again, with the same result. An unpleasant thought occurred to her. She entered a different search, unrelated to the President but still restricted.
    Access Denied.
    She buzzed Stephanie. "Steph, can you come in for a sec?"
    Stephanie had on one of her favorite red and black color combinations. A tailored blouse and jacket hid the Glock tucked into the waist of her black skirt. She came into Elizabeth's office.
    Steph anie was one of the secrets of Elizabeth's success. If necessary, she could take over the Project. More, there was nothing Stephanie couldn't do with a computer. Elizabeth sometimes thought Steph had binary bits and electrons running through her veins along with her blood.
    There was no need to talk about Alpha Red. Stephanie knew the drill.
    "Let's have lunch," Elizabeth said. She pointed at the screen with its infuriating message and put a finger on her lips. "We can sit out back in the shade garden."
    The back of the Project building sheltered an enclosed garden with high walls and a pleasant, shaded fountain. In good weather it was a favorite spot for lunch and impromptu meetings.
    "My pleasure." Stephanie twirled the gold bracelets on her wrist.
    Harker shut down her computer. She had Stephanie . That was all she would need.
    The two women rode down to the first floor and went out past the security station into the parking lot. They walked in silence to Elizabeth's Audi. Stephanie used a detector to make a sweep. She found a bug near the driver's side door and placed it on the curb.
    They headed for the highway.
    In a darkened room lined with monitors, the technicians manning the audio surveillance and tracking equipment noticed nothing amiss. They were multi-tasking, monitoring a stream of audio and video transmissions from multiple sources. The locator showed Harker's car parked outside her building. The bug transmitted normal background sounds. The subject had given no sign she knew she was being surveilled. There was no reason to be suspicious.
    The GPS readouts indicated the vehicle belonging to Ronnie Peete was parked in Virginia at a well known restaurant. Selena Connor's car was still in the parking lot next to Harker's and she was with Peete anyway. Everything looked good. Just another routine job.
    Elizabeth drove toward the city. She told Stephanie of the morning call from the new head of NSA.
    " Dysart is the only one who could have blocked my clearance."
    " Do you think it's personal?"
    " I hardly know him, Steph. He's got no reason to do this." She paused. "He's moved fast. General Hood only went down last night."
    Her intuition sent