Enemy One (Epic Book 5) by Lee Stephen

Fourteenth is using now. She must have been aboard it when it lifted.”
    Shaking his head, Blake said, “That’s a very bold claim—that anyone from the swamp could have escaped.”
    Kang’s beady gaze remained locked on Blake. “You know as well as I do that a number of bodies were never found. Hers was among them. The body of the colonel, Lilan, was also never found. He and others may have escaped on that Vulture, too.” He pointed to the note in Blake’s hand. “Call her instructor. He will tell you everything you need to know.” Leaning forward again, Kang returned to his scribbling.
    For several seconds, Blake said nothing—he simply stared at the old Chinese man across from him. At long last, almost incredulously, he asked, “That’s it?” When Kang ignored the question, Blake went on. “You called me all the way over here to hand me a sticky note and tell me to research it myself?” Once again, Blake was given nothing. The Briton’s composure fell, and his voice rose. “I’m talking to you.”
    Placing the pencil down, Kang propped his elbows on the table and placed his palms together as if in prayer. The Chinese director’s beady eyes stayed on Blake. “You have your role, and I have mine. You are where you are because Benjamin saw fit to place you there, but do not confuse that with being essential. I have done my part in identifying Tiffany Feathers and her instructor at Philadelphia . You must now do your part by contacting him, listening to what he has to say, then using it to your advantage.” He angled his head. “Is any part of that not appropriate?”
    His jaw set, but with his breathing controlled, Blake glared across the desk at Kang. At long last, he answered, “No.”
    “Very well,” Kang said, returning to his tablet.
    Blake stood in silence as the director returned to his own world, the Chinese man humming to himself as his pencil struck paper. Finally, after it became apparent that Kang was going to say nothing else, Blake turned without a word to make his departure. The moment he stepped out of the door, he collided with Douglas, a full cup of tea splashing out against the president’s wardrobe. Both men froze.
    “I am so sorry, Mr. President,” Douglas said.
    Wiping tea off his hands, Blake said, his tone less than cordial, “It’s quite all right.” Stepping past Douglas, Blake strode out of Intelligence without speaking to anyone else.
     
     
    *        *        *
     
     
    FLICKING ON THE light to his suite, Leonid Torokin stepped inside, gesturing for those behind him to enter. “Have a seat anywhere, gentlemen,” he said, exhausted. He slipped out of his blue coat—the hallmark indicator of an EDEN judge—and hung it on the coatrack by his front door.
    Torokin and his two counterparts on the High Command, Dmitri Grinkov and Richard Lena, had all been present in the War Room when the Fourteenth was intercepted by the pair of Superwolves. They’d all seen the green dots turn into red X’s when the Superwolves were presumed to have been shot down. Behind Grinkov and Lena were the three Vectors other than Klaus Faerber who were at EDEN Command: Vincent Hill, a British combat medic and Vector’s second in command; Minh Dang, pilot of the Relentless , one of the unit’s Vultures; and Torokin’s nephew, Alexander Kireev, or Sasha, as he was known. The young Vector scout had been visiting his uncle at EDEN Command when the events at Novosibirsk and Cairo had taken place. All the money in the world couldn’t convince him to leave now—not that anybody visiting EDEN Command had the option of choosing when they came or went.
    The Vectors had not been present in the War Room when the Superwolves were downed, but they’d heard the report as soon as the judges were dismissed from Blake’s presence. Only Klaus went back to find Blake himself—the rest followed Torokin back to his room to discuss the goings-on. The discussion was anything but lively. It was