The Lazarus Moment Read Online Free Page B

sister and a niece.” He leaned closer. “Your
loss is my loss. You, my friend, are fortunate. You only have a few months left
to feel that pain. I have a lifetime, and will honor their memory for as long
as I have breath.” He reached into his pocket. “Which is why I give you this.”
He handed over a memory stick.
    “Is this
it?” asked Khomenko, his heart beginning to race.
    Dudnik nodded.
“Yes. Give this to your Airman Lennox. All he needs to do is insert it into any
terminal connected to the isolated avionics network on the aircraft, bypass the
security protocols, then remove the device. Everything else is automatic.”
    Khomenko
waved the stick between his fingers. “And you’re sure this will work?”
    Dudnik shrugged.
“Our tech division says it will. We have an old 747-200 that’s been modified to
match what we believe to be Air Force One’s configuration, including the latest
upgrades that were just completed. In fact, it was those modifications that
made all this possible.”
    Khomenko
smiled. “You have to love progress.”
    “It’s
their Achilles heel.” He motioned toward the memory stick with his chin. “If
something should happen, you never got that from me.”
    “How did you get it?”
    “A very
large bribe, paid for through my discretionary fund. Fortunately for you, my
friend, I have millions of Rubles to spend on the Ukrainian situation. I’ve
earmarked enough for your operation and the payment to your friend’s family.
Everything will be taken care of, assuming you succeed.”
    “And if
they catch you?”
    “The
money has already been moved. There’s no stopping the plan now.”
    Khomenko
smiled, holding up the memory stick. “What does it do?”
    “Let’s
just say that once Air Force One takes off, it will never land again.”
     
     

 
     
    Madison Cove, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland
    One day before the Air Force One crash
     
    Cecilia glanced at her watch.
    You’re
late.
    She
sighed.
    Again.
    She
patted her stomach, there no hiding the baby bump now. Four more months of
getting fatter and puffier and slower and fatter.
    You
said ‘fatter’ twice.
    She
turned to her side, shoving her hips forward, exaggerating her bump.
    Then
shrugged.
    So
what? Pregnant is beautiful.
    At least
that’s what her husband kept telling her, and she actually believed him. He
hadn’t lost interest in her during her first pregnancy, and he certainly hadn’t
lost interest in her yet.
    She
flushed at the thought of last night’s romp. He was leaving for a week, his job
sending him across the country and around the world on a far too frequent
basis. Yet that was the military life, and she didn’t mind it. She had grown up
in a military family so knew the sacrifices that were made, but also knew how
amazing a community it was. When you were posted, dropped into a community
where you might know no one, you were always welcomed with open arms, the
soldier treated like a brother or sister by his unit, their spouse the same.
And the kids were surrounded by others who had been through the same thing too
many times.
    She
credited the military with her ability to make friends quickly. It was a gift
forced upon her. She had lived in six different places as a child, too often
arriving late in the school year, though it had never mattered. The other
military kids would embrace her and before the end of her first week, she’d
always have a new best friend.
    And the
same was true now.
    Some of
the wives weren’t from military families and they sometimes found it difficult,
and she always made an extra effort with them. Nobody arrived at a new base
without someone showing up on their doorstep the first day to welcome them.
    Because
they were family.
    She loved the military and all it had done for her family. Her father was still serving,
he and her mother currently stationed in Okinawa. She would have loved to be
there. She had met Cameron at college in California where her dad had last