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Charles E. Gannon

Fire With Fire

Book One:

CONTACT

Prologue

Perry City, Luna

September, 2105

Captain Chen of Taiwan’s External Security Bureau stood very straight when his temporary commander-USSF Admiral Nolan Corcoran-rounded the corner. Chen bowed quickly. “Admiral Corcoran, I-”

Corcoran, a tall, broad-shouldered man whose sharp blue eyes and trim physique belied his advancing age, raised a silencing hand. He ignored Captain Chen’s waiting covert ops team, and moved instead to the cryogenic suspension unit resting on a gurney just behind them. “Is that the intruder?”

“Yes, Admiral. We found him right outside the door to your quarters. I’m sure you have the report by now. ”

“Yes,” answered a second man who came around the same corner that Corcoran had. “But the details are sketchy. ”

Chen did not recognize the man, who spoke with an English accent. “Apologies, sir: I relayed what I had at the time. ”

The tall, thin Englishman looked up from his dataslate. “So you weren’t present at the incident?”

Chen stood straighter, stared straight ahead. “Nonetheless, I am the team leader, sirs. ”

Corcoran canted his head toward the Englishman. “Mr. Downing is not implying you were at fault, Captain Chen. We know it’s your job to report quickly and to take responsibility for what happens on your watch. Even if you weren’t there yourself. Now, what more have you learned since alerting us?”

“The subject-Mr. Riordan-was detected near your quarters at 2020 hours GMT, Admiral.

He was behaving in a suspicious manner, apparently attempting to force entry. Since you had shared classified information with him earlier today, we feared that he intended to steal additional, sensitive data from your suite. ”

Downing stared at the cryogenic suspension unit with unblinking brown eyes. “And he resisted so strongly that you had to render him unconscious and stick him in a cold cell?”

Chen felt sweat rising on his upper lip. “That was, in hindsight, an excessive response. However, when accosted, Riordan turned sharply and his hand was concealed in a bag. Our operative had originally conjectured it might hold tools, but now feared that it might conceal a weapon. So the subject was-subdued. ”

Corcoran nodded, but, Chen noted, without the peripheral signs of approval that were common among Western commanders. “That explains why he’s unconscious. Why did you put him in a cold cell?”

Chen’s upper lip was now thoroughly wet with perspiration. “Sirs, you were on the Far Side. I had no way of knowing if you had received our communications. And we had to act quickly. ”

Downing folded his arms. “Why?”

“I reasoned that Mr. Riordan’s books might have made him too well-known for us to detain until you returned. And if the local authorities had discovered him in our custody, that would have necessitated explaining why my team is here at all, thereby attracting more attenti-”

“Yes, I see the problem,” Corcoran said. And Chen saw that he meant it, but was also disappointed: the American flag officer-famed for his boldness-would probably have waited longer, accepted a greater risk to avoid this outcome. Because now that Caine Riordan was in cold sleep, there was no way to awaken him without calling attention to the covert activities being undertaken on Luna. Which meant that-