Page 59 of Call Sign: Thunder
She turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door a bit too hard.
The men’s eyes met and Zach saw humor as the man he was interviewing with stood. “That woman was one of the best hires I’ve made.”
That wasn’t exactly what Zach had expected him to say, but then absolutely nothing had gone the way he’d though it would today. And just when he’d thought the interview had started going better, it looked like the man questioning him was going to just leave.
Except after unlocking the door, the man turned and asked, “Well, are you coming?”
“Where are we going?” Zach asked, falling into step behind him as they turned out into the narrow hallway again.
“You’ll see.”
Like the rest of his visit, every minute brought new surprises. The first was an industrial looking elevator hidden behind one on of the office doors they’d passed on the way in. As before, the guy interviewing him had to provide both key-codes and biometrics to pass each barrier. Only once the elevator started going down did Zach ask, “So when are you going to tell me what this place really is?”
“All in good time,” was the only answer he got.
“Fine. Can I at least know your name?”
The man didn’t answer right away. They stood each staring forward at the elevator door as they went deeper and deeper into the ground — far past any normal basement level.
Only once the doors opened to reveal a high-tech command center, abuzz with activity did the man answer his question.
“The name is Helms. Ryder Helms, but here they call me the King. Welcome to The Bunker.”
Chapter Twenty-three
ZACH
Zach didn’t even try to hide his curiosity as he scanned the hive of activity all around him. Despite being many levels underground, the middle of the huge open space was two-stories high. He’d never been to the Norad command center, but suspected this room could pass as a replica.
Mammoth screens covered two full walls with rows of computers and mainframes opposite their entry. What looked like a half-dozen global news programs played on some of the smaller screens, while the largest monitor in the center of the wall sported a satellite feed of the globe, rotating through snapshots of what looked like hot spots his team would be sent in to knock down while stationed in war zones.
“Stick with me,” Ryder said as they walked around the parameter of the room toward a row of offices and conference rooms behind a wall of what he suspected was more bulletproof glass.
Zach got the impression his escort was trying to avoid the half-dozen people sitting at the different work stations in the center of the room. They’d just arrived outside a closed office when Ryder cursed. “Assholes.”
At first Zach thought he was talking about whoever had taped a post-it note to the wall above the office nameplate. Officially, the sign read, ‘Helms’ but the scribbled name on the pink paper read ‘The King.’ It was then that the name clicked. He’d heard the senator use the name Helms on Christmas morning — when he was thanking someone for disposing of Miguel Blanco.
Things were clicking into place.
It was the loud ‘God Save The King’ music that had started piping through the entire space that Zach finally figured Helms was complaining about.
After Ryder got through the several layers of security on his office door, he ordered, “Come in and close the door behind you.”
“Love the song,” Zach added.
“Yeah, well… they linked the audio to my security entry so it plays automatically every time I arrive. Last time I was here, I warned someone’s ass is gonna get fired if it happened again. Unfortunately, everyone here knows they’re much too valuable for me to can them, so I’m gonna have to come up with a more creative incentive to make it stop.”
Zach suspected the man was up to the challenge.
They hadn’t even taken a seat when the door they’d just come through burst open and a small group of people barged in unannounced.
“I need to talk to him first,” the only woman in the group said.
“He’s waiting for my report,” a guy wearing a designer suit and glasses countered.
The third person didn’t bother stating their reason for being there. They just took a seat in one of the comfortable looking chairs facing Ryder’s huge desk.
Zach watched with amusement as Ryder’s face got more and more red before predictably blowing his top. “Enough! I’ve been here less than one minute and you’re already making me want to leave.”
