“How low?”

“One in ten, sir.”

Dellenbaugh paused. He reached forward and poured a cup of coffee, then turned to a woman with long blond hair, seated at the far end of the table: Martha Blakely, the secretary of energy, whose agency was responsible for building America’s nuclear weapons arsenal.

“They needed explosives from the Vietnamese boat,” said Dellenbaugh. “What does that tell you, Martha?”

“Sir, this sort of nuclear bomb needs conventional explosives in order to trigger the nuclear reaction,” said Blakely. “Presumably, their nuclear expert opened up the bomb and found that the explosives were somehow compromised or degraded.”

“How hard is it to replace them?”

“Not very hard, Mr. President. There’s a chance they’ll fail, but it’s small.”

Dellenbaugh looked at Calibrisi.

“What about intelligence, Hector?”

“We know who’s behind the plot, which is a significant first step,” said Calibrisi. “Now we’re just trying to find him.”

Calibrisi nodded to the plasma. The map of the U.S. eastern seaboard was replaced by a tile of photographs, six in all. They were all photos of Cloud.

The key elements of Cloud’s biography appeared:

NAME:

VARGARIN, PYOTR ALIAS(ES): “CLOUD”

DOB:

1980 (est.) BIRTHPLACE: Sevastopol, Ukraine

1980–85

Undocumented

1986–93

St. Anselm by the Sea, orphanage (Sevastopol, UKR)

1992

First documented instance of “Cloud”

1994

Enters MSUIEC

1998

First documented attacks involving “Cloud” on computer infrastructure in U.S.

2001

Participates in activities related to 9/11 including manipulating U.S. air traffic control systems in hours leading up to attack

2002

Graduates #1 in university class/various academic honors

2002

Enters graduate school—MIPT—Russia’s top science and technology institute

2007

Earns master of science degree with highest honors

#1 in class of 1,312 students: GPA 4.33

2008

Indictment in absentia by Switzerland DOJ

2008

Indictment in absentia:

U.S. DOJ

Russia MOJ

China MOJAF

2009

Achieves grand master status following victory at Russia National Chess Championships

2010

Ph.D. with highest honors

Pushkin Prize for Highest Academic Achievement

“You’ve already seen this, everyone,” said Calibrisi, “so we don’t need to waste time rehashing Cloud’s bio. Let me cut to the chase. We believe he’s in Moscow. We’re doing everything we can to find him. It’s a game of hide-and-seek.”

“What do you have on the ground in Moscow?” asked Dellenbaugh.

“Right now, we have two operators and a case officer.”

“Is that enough manpower?”

“No, and we’re doing everything we can to build a bigger team.”

“Did we have anything to do with the events that are on the news?” asked Lindsay, the secretary of state.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On what events you’re talking about, Tim.”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about. The abduction of the ballerina.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been on the phone four times with the Russian foreign minister.”

“How’s he doing?” asked Calibrisi.

Lindsay shook his head, slightly exasperated.

“He’s pissed,” barked Lindsay. “We could’ve run this through the Russian foreign ministry. We could have—should have—flown over there and sat her down and talked to her, official channels.”

“I doubt that.”

“Why do you doubt it? Do you think he’s lying? We need to work with the Russians, Hector. And I’m not talking about the Russian mafia. My God, what has Langley gotten us into?”

Calibrisi nodded, then glanced at Rickards, the attorney general, who had obviously shared the Malnikov deal with Lindsay and others.

He took a deep breath.

“It was your State Department that led the negotiations regarding the disposition of nuclear materials after the Soviet Union imploded,” said Calibrisi. “It was Russia’s foreign minister who claimed, as recently as last month, that all Soviet-era nuclear materials and weapons were accounted for and safeguarded. This bomb was one of those weapons. If you’d like to play Monday-morning quarterback, I’d start by looking in the mirror.”

“I was a United States senator when those deals went down—”

“So it’s not your fault?” asked Calibrisi. “Is that what you want us all to know?”

“How dare you—”

“We’re in the real world now, Senator,” said Calibrisi, interrupting. “In that world, a nuclear bomb is on its way to the United States. In that world, a terrorist succeeded in penetrating Langley’s computer networks and killing six American soldiers. I will do everything in my power to stop that bomb from detonating on American soil, including working with people like Alexei Malnikov. You had to take some angry phone calls? All I can say to that is, stop your whining and either start pitching in or get out of the way.”

Lindsay, face beet red, lurched forward in his chair. But Dellenbaugh held up his hand, telling him to keep quiet.

“Enough,” said the president.

“But Mr.—”

“I said enough. If you two want to take it outside, that’s fine with me.”

The president was silent for several moments as he took control of the room. He looked at Lindsay.

“I authorized the Malnikov deal,” he said, before turning to Calibrisi. “And I was in the Senate when the Soviet Union broke up and we paid lip service to the warnings by Mossad about their nukes. So I guess if you two want to blame someone, you can blame me.

“When I was on the Red Wings, I could always tell when we weren’t going to win the Stanley Cup. It was during those seasons when guys would start pointing fingers at each other in the locker room after we lost a game.

“I would trade my life to stop that bomb, and I expect each of you feel the same way, regardless of your title, your rank, or your beliefs. If you don’t, I want your resignation right here, right now. If that bomb goes off, our country will be forever, permanently scarred. Hundreds of thousands of people, maybe millions, will die. We have to stop that bomb. There is no other option.”

80

VERNACULAR HOUSE

POBEDY PARK

MOSCOW

“Ty v poryadke?”

The words intermingled with at least a dozen screeching car alarms and sirens in the distance.

How long he’d been unconscious, Dewey didn’t know. He was on the ground. There were several people kneeling over him. Everything was cloudy and blurry.

“Ty v poryadke?” repeated the man leaning over him, asking Dewey if he was all right. He placed his hand on Dewey’s forehead.

Dewey pushed the man’s arm aside, then climbed to his feet. He looked to where the car had been. Then he turned. Flames and smoke billowed from up the block. Vernacular House was gone. The buildings on either side were rubble. The cars in front of the house were on fire.