Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

Murph started shutting it down.

“But there’s a problem,” Kapoor said.

“What?” Juan said.

“Mallik has an identical setup on his yacht. He can control it via the satellite dish on board.”

Murph slapped his hand on the screen. “He’s right. Every time I try to shut it down, someone keeps reactivating it.”

“He must be furious by now for not taking the time to make the lockout include the Vajra satellites,” Kapoor said. “He can’t keep you from accessing the system, but you can’t stop him, either.”

“What happens when the new satellite gets into orbit?” Juan demanded.

“Then the system will go live automatically a minute later,” Kapoor said, cowering. “Every computer on earth will be rendered useless. After that, we won’t be able to shut any of them down ever again.”

Many of the engineers in the room stared at Kapoor, agape at the revelation.

“If you want any leniency for your part in all this,” Juan said to Kapoor, “you better help us stop Vajra. Raven, stay here to protect Murph while he keeps trying to get control of the satellites.”

She nodded. Murph didn’t even look up.

Juan sprinted out of the room with Eddie, Linc, and MacD toward where the yacht was tied up to the command ship.

As he ran, he radioed to Gomez, “Make sure nobody gets an airborne advantage in that helicopter.”

* * *

—

The smoke was starting to clear, and it was obvious by now that the fake assault had been a diversion. And Torkan saw how it had been done. Small drones littered the deck, all of them destroyed by the explosives they had carried.

He saw another one appear, just visible behind the helicopter. Torkan took aim, thinking it was coming toward him for an attack, but it settled onto one of the Huey’s twin rotor blades.

As soon as it touched down, a small grenade went off, disintegrating the drone and snapping the blade in two. It clattered to the deck.

“There’s no one here, and the Huey is no longer functional,” Torkan said over his radio to Mallik. “Are you back on the yacht?”

“Yes. I’m interfacing with the Vajra system.”

Torkan could see the 300-foot Paara moving away from the command ship.

“I saw the launch,” he said. “It looks like we’re in the clear.”

“Not yet,” said Mallik. “Someone in the mission control room is trying to deactivate Vajra.”

“Kapoor?”

“I can’t tell. You need to go back in there and shut them down.”

“Understood.”

Torkan waved for his eight men to abandon the search for intruders and come with him to the mission control room.

They were halfway to the superstructure access door when it flew open and four men came out. Torkan immediately recognized the black man and the Asian man from his previous encounters with them.

Two of his security team were taken down in the first volley. Torkan ducked behind a stanchion and radioed Mallik as a vicious firefight raged.

“Getting to mission control is going to be a problem.”