Zero control, p.14
Zero Control, page 14
“Everyone mostly in one piece?” Keiji asked.
King nodded. “Everything go okay? What took you so long?”
Rick stepped up and put his hand on Keiji’s shoulder. “My fault. I guess I inhaled a bit more smoke than I thought and had some trouble breathing as we ran back.”
“Smoke inhalation is not something to mess with. Jessica, do we have an O2 meter?”
“No, sir.” She started digging around in their emergency go kit.
“I’m fine now, I promise.”
King paused and looked long and hard at Rick. Keiji was sure he was about to call them out, but then he nodded.
“So, we have a dead target, our intel is blown all to hell, and we’re back to square one on the investigation. We have an unknown number of assailants that may or may not know our numbers, status, and/or location. Have I missed anything?”
“One correction. We didn’t completely lose all our intel. Before the attack, I backed up what we had downloaded from Saber’s hard drives to a secure cloud for further analysis. It’s about fifty percent of what he had. So while we clearly will not get any more data either from what we lost or from him, we’re not completely back at square one.”
King lifted his head to the skies and mumbled something that Keiji couldn’t catch.
“If I didn’t think Rick would punch me, I’d totally come over there and kiss you right now,” Tate said, smiling.
Keiji shook his head. “Don’t celebrate just yet. Saber alluded to the fact that he had other files hidden, but we do not know where to look.”
Rick settled his hand on Keiji’s lower back. “I bet together we can figure it out though. All of us. We can take what we’ve got and go back to your Batcave.”
BB held up his hand, “Maybe I got hit in the head harder than I thought. Did you just say Batcave?”
“Yes, After Keiji abducted me, he took me to his secret lair where he’d been investigating everything. It’s got some tricked out toys, so I started calling it the Batcave.”
BB started to shake his head, but quickly stopped with a grimace. “Makes perfect sense. Don’t forget we have the full power of the NSA backing us up. We can pull in the best analysts in the world.”
“No,” King ordered. “We already know both the Army and the intelligence agencies have been compromised on some level. This is our investigative team and we’re not expanding it.”
Tate stood up with difficulty. BB moved as if to help Tate but stopped. Keiji was confident that there were some feelings at war with each other beneath the Frenchman’s skin. He studied Tate because the man had some of the most accurate situational awareness, and he no doubt caught BB’s slight movement. Sure enough, though it was nearly imperceptible, Tate nodded his head at BB to assure the man they had banged him up but he would survive.
“Are you sure that’s wise? We know we don’t even really know what kind of time frame we’re working with. This attack may be carried out tomorrow or ten years from now. Shouldn’t we use every resource available to us?”
“If we run into an obstacle that we can’t scale then I’ll consider pulling in more operatives. Rick, since I’m Army CID I’m formally going to request that you be temporarily assigned to my team under a special classified investigation.”
“Will that raise red flags with certain members of command?”
“Probably.”
The room was silent for several heartbeats.
“Okay then.”
Keiji looked at each person. Since every one of them had more investigative experience than he did he trusted them to know what to do. The air was heavy with unspoken conversation and instead of trying to develop telepathy he decided it was time to get cleaned up.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
“I’ll join you,” Rick announced.
As they left the room he heard Tate mumble, “Damn lucky bastards.”
Keiji stood beneath the spigot as hot water rained down his back. Praise God the building had good water pressure. Blackened water swirled around the drain as the soot rinsed away from his body. There were a few spots that stung as the spray hit him, but Keiji welcomed the pain as it served a reminder that he was alive. A rush of cool air infiltrated the small steamy space. Keiji turned to watch Rick lift his face up to the water.
He took a cloth and added body wash, then scrubbed Rick’s back. “Was wondering where you’d gone.”
“Thought I’d give you a few minutes to yourself. I remember how scattered my brain felt after that first exposure to combat. All I wanted was a quiet minute to remember who I was.”
Keiji wrapped his arms around Rick’s waist and placed a kiss on the back of his neck. “Thank you.”
Water trails snaked their way down Rick’s torso, curling around his broad shoulders. Their skin tones contrasted. Keiji loved how Rick’s auburn hair darkened with the rush of water pouring over their heads. He spun Rick then kneeled at his feet. Using his hands he washed away the fear and replaced it with love. Rick’s moans of pleasure gave Keiji courage to massage his calves harder. He lifted one of Rick’s legs and braced his foot on Keiji’s quad. He’d never considered a lover’s foot before but he studied the hairs on top, the deep arch, the slightly roughened texture on the bottom and thought about the thousands of miles Rick’s feet had carried him through the stages of his life. Keiji cleansed each foot and leg with care. He’d studiously refused to stare at Rick’s cock while washing him, but now Keiji’s gaze fixated on the thick flesh. Before his eyes it firmed, ribbons of water dripping from the tip.
He looked up and caught his breath at the fire within the blue eyes that met his. He stood, the small space making his ascent less graceful and sexy than he would have liked. Keiji placed one hand on Rick’s cheek, the soapy hair curling around his more slender fingers. He then curled his hand around Rick’s neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Their tongues rubbed and danced around each other while Keiji used his other hand to wash Rick’s cock and balls. Rick’s hands gripped Keiji’s ass and he couldn’t prevent a moan from echoing in the steam-filled bathroom.
“Get us rinsed off. I’m not fucking you in this bathroom.”
They got out of the shower and dried off in record time. Keiji wrapped a towel around his waist and stuck his head outside the bathroom door to see if the hallway was clear. He heard Rick’s deep chuckle behind him.
“Pretty sure everyone here has seen a man in a towel before.”
He knew his cautious movement was silly, and while Keiji did not oppose a saucy comeback or innuendo, he was a very private person. He wasn’t comfortable throwing his and Rick’s intimacy in the other’s faces.
They made their way across the hall and into their bedroom. As soon as their door closed, he heard someone else run down the hall and claim the bathroom with a quick slam of the door.
“Goddamn it, I said I had next dibs after the love birds!” Tate yelled.
“You snooze, you lose. Besides, you can’t shower until you stop bleeding. I’m not letting you undo my handiwork,” Linder shouted back.
Rick shook his head. “I swear, I can’t tell if those two bickering at each other is their form of foreplay or if they just love to argue.”
Keiji sat down on the bed and shrugged. “Both?”
Rick sat beside him then pulled Keiji back so their bodies lay side by side. While one part of him desperately wanted to make love, another had slammed into a wall of exhaustion the moment he sat down.
Rick pulled Keiji into his arms and he rested his head on Rick’s chest, listening for the beat of his heart.
“How are you holding up?”
Keiji shrugged.
“You want to talk about it?”
He shook his head.
“Okay. Just rest baby. I’ll hold you. You’re safe here.”
“I know.”
Keiji’s found his eyes drifting closed, and he hooked a leg over Rick’s, holding him tighter as sleep overcame him.
Keiji swam up to consciousness with Rick’s lips on his skin. His lover rained kisses across Keiji’s chest.
“Welcome back.”
He stretched and looked out the window. “How long was I out?”
“An hour or so.”
He pulled Rick up and claimed his lips in a long kiss. Their hands caressed each other’s bodies, and Keiji gasped into Rick’s mouth when their cocks brushed against each other.
“What happened to the towels?”
“They got lost?”
“Lost, huh?”
“Yep. Horrible sense of direction.”
Their bodies slid together. Their arms and legs wrapped around each other. Keiji gasped as Rick took their cocks in his hand and stroked them together, his brain misfiring as pleasure danced across the synapses. With a well-rehearsed move Keiji flipped their positions and took Rick’s hard flesh into the back of his throat.
He pushed Rick back onto the bed when the man tried to sit up, holding him down with one hand while the other caressed his balls. Keiji sucked Rick to the root and back, edging him to the point of deep curses and pleas for release. Grinning, he looked up Rick’s body then lifted his legs.
“Oh God,” Rick whispered.
There were degrees of intimacy that Keiji refused to explore unless he’d reached a certain level of connection with a partner. He went down and nosed Rick’s cock and balls, inhaling the scents of his man. When he reached Rick’s hole, Keiji used his lips and tongue to consume his lover’s body. Rick grabbed a pillow and held it over his face as the exclamation of his pleasure escaped. Keiji furthered his objective by using his fingers to work Rick open. He suited up and slicked his cock with the lube. It had been a fair amount of time since he’d topped but the moment he slid into Rick’s desirable body his entire frame seized with the power of sensations arcing between them. Rick accepted Keiji’s cock, and it was the first time he loathed the practicalities of protection. He wanted to feel Rick’s bare flesh surround his cock; he wanted to fill Rick with his cum and know that a part of him would always remain in his lover.
He thrust home over and over. And Rick was his home. Keiji had lived all over the world, explored countless cultures, but never found a home until he fell into this man’s arms and surrendered control.
Rick stared up at him. His mouth open, gasping, those blue eyes filled with trust and love. Keiji’s heart nearly exploded from his chest with the realization that Rick trusted him. This warrior had sacrificed his heart into Keiji’s care. Their kisses took on a deeper level when their bodies merged. Words became unnecessary to communicate needs, desires, and pledges.
Keiji’s cock throbbed with the need to release, but he rocked their bodies together in a slow and luxurious dance. Rick’s laser-focused gaze turned hazy as he disappeared inside his pleasure. It was humbling. Keiji adjusted the angle of his strokes and Rick’s filthy moan made him feel like the most powerful man on earth. He didn’t even care that the rest of the team probably knew what they were doing. Let them hear how he and his man celebrated their love with physical pleasure. Let them dream of a day when they too could experience the power of joining that made their individual souls catch fire and from the ashes be reborn together.
Keiji lifted one of Rick’s legs and braced it on his shoulder. Rick gripped Keiji’s forearms. “Yes. There. Harder. Love me!”
“Always,” Keiji pledged.
He pulled back, nearly to Rick’s entrance, and plunged in long, deep thrusts. Time over time he merged their bodies until his body quaked and his lungs burned. Rick’s cock bounced against the dense muscle of his core. The tip dripped kisses of fluid that made Keiji’s mouth water.
“I’m coming, oh God, I’m coming.” Rick chanted.
Watching Rick’s orgasm consume him was more beautiful than the dawning of a new day over the Sea of Japan. Keiji’s cells refused to allow his soulmate to experience the culmination of their love in solitude. His muscles locked as wave after wave of the most blinding pleasure swept over him. He drove his hips as deep into Rick’s welcoming body as possible and gave his mind the freedom to fly beyond the physical world.
Chapter Thirteen
Numbers and letters flew across the screen at speeds that could be dizzying. Keiji was using an algorithm to track specific keywords in isolation or in combination on Saber’s hard drives based on the interrogation. They were trying to dig out any additional information or hidden files related to Saber’s supposed NSA work. Keiji was inclined to believe the man, but he knew King and the others required this little thing called evidence. While prosecuting Saber was now off the table, tracking his interactions was critical to identifying whoever was giving him the orders. While his program did its thing, Keiji was extracting the data that was in Saber’s hidden file and passing it along to Rick and the others for analysis.
They’d returned stateside and were held up in Keiji’s Batcave, as Rick had named it. He’d gotten a few raised eyebrows at his interior design and King had to wipe the drool from his mouth when he got a good look at Keiji’s setup. They had decided that his space was the best place to work since it was still off the radar from Blackraptor and their respective agencies.
There was something niggling in the back of his brain. Something Keiji was missing or an idea that was just outside his grasp. He closed his eyes and tried to follow the threads of thought through his brain. It was like tracing computer code. He just needed a quiet space and time, but his office was currently occupied by more bodies and big personalities than ever before, and it was harder to clear the mechanism.
Keiji startled when Rick appeared beside his chair. He gasped as a possibility came to him. He met his gaze and gripped Rick’s hand. “Memex.”
Rick groaned. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?” He bent down and kissed Keiji. “You are a genius.”
“Want to share with the rest of the class, Rebooter? By the way, I just wanted to assure you that your temporary assignment has gone through. You officially work for me now,” King announced.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Wait, isn’t Memex that hypothetical World War II device? I vaguely remember learning something about it at The Farm.”
“Tate, I always wondered, why do you spooks call Camp Peary ‘The Farm’?”
He looked over at BB, “Because it’s like some huge amount of land in rural Virginia that the government has left mostly undeveloped.”
“Are there animals? Crops?”
“No, they just keep developing the next generation of super spies,” Linder said with a frown.
“Oh, is that jealousy I hear?” Tate teased.
“Please, your little farm has nothing on SRT training at Fort Moore.”
“I have to agree with Linder,” Rick said. “SRT is the most technical and highly trained unit assigned to the LEC and acts as the primary advisor for all things OEP.”
Keiji stood. “Yeah? Well seeing as how the VP is such a VIP, shouldn’t we keep the PC on the QT? ’Cause if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA, and then we’d all be put on KP.”
“Did he just….”
“Yep.”
“Can we please just focus on the mission at hand?” King growled.
Rick almost snapped to attention. Keiji was sure now that King was his commanding officer, Rick had a Pavlovian response to the authority emanating from his voice.
“Sorry sir, DARPA launched the Memex program in order to develop software to advance online search capabilities. Think real sci-fi level stuff. The military and other governmental agencies want to use Memex software to share info and organize search subsets relevant to their respective investigations. As far as I know though, they only have theoretical technologies. I didn’t think they even had something in beta trials.”
Keiji placed his hand on Rick’s back and tried to smooth out the tension. He smiled at King trying to diffuse the scowl on his forehead. “I just happen to have a friend who works for DARPA. They have an archived project that was showing some promise using historical IP addresses of targets to try to link terrorist networks.”
“Why did they archive the project?” BB asked.
“They couldn’t prove that the users behind the IP address were actual members of the organizations.”
“So how do we make it work for us?” King asked.
“We have the numbers for the three burner phones Saber used to communicate with his handler. We can use the cell phone numbers and the software my friend developed to look for a nexus. Then once we have an established network, we’ll run a geotag trace on those numbers going back a designated period. Say… six months?”
“Criminals are stupid, right? Someone, at some point took that phone with a live battery somewhere they weren’t supposed to. If we can find a pattern between the players, we can identify at least one of them. Then the dominos will fall.”
“So like using forensic accounting to trace expenditures, only we are using cell phone numbers?” BB asked.
“Something like that. Contact this friend of yours. Let’s see if we can get our hands on this software.”
Keiji nodded at King and stepped back over to his workstation. As soon as he sat, the monitors came to life again.
“That is so fucking cool. It’s like some kind of neural network worming its way into his brain so it knows what he’s thinking and then poof, information appears.”
Rick’s laughter made him smile. Keiji was happy to purport Tate’s belief that he had magical computer powers. He needed to have some kind of advantage over this super group.
“Just how good of a friend is this guy?” Rick said softly next to him.
Keiji's heart ached a little as it always did when he thought of Drake. “We had a thing back in college.”
