The Project 04 - Black Harvest

Relieved.
    "Was the Pentagon involved?"
    "I hope not, but I don't know. The Black Harvest scenario is part of the bio-warfare planning. I'm certain there's an equivalent Russian war game. The Chinese as well. Everyone sees crops and food supplies as a soft target. A starving nation can be defeated."
    The room was silent for a moment.
    Selena took a breath. "That's criminal."
    "That's war planning. The days of polite warfare are over. If there's a next one it will be total."
    "War is a criminal act."
    "Yes, Major, it is. So why have you and some of the others in this room prepared so well for it?"
    "To defend our nation. From aggressors like Dansinger and Lodge."
    Hood nodded. "Exactly. War initiated may be a criminal act, but war in defense of one's nation is an act of patriotism and honor. Unfortunately, soldiers pay the price for their leaders' greed and bad judgement."
    Elizabeth brought them back into focus. "We're getting off the track. What do you actually know about this organization? Dansinger's?"
    "Not much. There are hints of something but you can't track them down. Financial lines that disappear when you follow them. Political decisions that seem justified but erode freedom everywhere. Economic policies that concentrate wealth in the hands of a few. Cover ups. Facilities that appear intended for one thing but may be for another. Increased surveillance in every city. Much of it is here in the US, but it seems to be international. I know it's powerful and influential. I know it means us and everyone else no good."
    "You are suggesting something along the line of a New World Order conspiracy."
    "That's as good a name for it as anything else. I think the Demeter plot was part of a larger plan."
    "But you have no proof."
    "No."
    "If this group exists, I don't think they're going to be very happy with what's happened in the last few days."
    "I think you can count on that, Director. We'd all better watch our step."

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

    Nick, Korov, Lamont and Ronnie sat at a back table in The Point, a bar favored by Special Ops personnel, active and retired. The place was busy. A bottle of vodka sat on the table. Ronnie had a coke in front of him. The others had empty four ounce glasses. Korov poured them full.
    "In Russia, this is how we do it." He held up his full glass. " Na Z ' drovnya . To your health." He downed the glass in a single gulp, waited to see if they would follow. Lamont and Nick held their glasses up. Ronnie lifted his coke. He never drank alcohol.
    " Na Z 'drov nya . Down the hatch." They drank. Korov filled the glasses again.
    "Down the hatch?"
    "Another idiom. We have lots of them."
    "So do we."
    They sipped.
    "I return to Moscow tomorrow."
    "What did your boss say, when you told him what happened?"
    "He was impressed. As am I. We did not believe you would actually remove your CIA Director. The solution was elegant. He is pleased that the plot has been stopped."
    "What do his bosses know?"
    "That General Vysotsky has acted brilliantly to foil a threat against the Rodina. That the American CIA is in disarray. That one of his agents has successfully engaged with a secretive American intelligence unit and gained their trust."
    "That would be you?"
    Korov placed his hand over his heart and made a slight bow. He drained his glass. Nick filled it, then his own.
    "Yeah, you'll probably get a medal," Lamont said.
    "Maybe I have Vysotsky send you one."
    They laughed. The bar was filling with men. Most of them had the look.
    "This is a good place. If you come to Moscow I will show you a place like this."
    "We might not be welcome."
    "With me, you will be welcome." He made rings on the table with his wet glass.
    "Nick. I hope we are never on, how you say, the opposite side."
    "Maybe this will open a crack in the door. Our nations should not be enemies."
    "But it is the way of things, is it not? When both countries want the same thing, there is trouble."
    "Not if that thing is to our mutual benefit. Like what we did here."
    "If Hood is right," Ronnie said, "we could be working together again. Nothing like a common enemy to make new friends."
    Two hours later the second bottle was empty. Korov was singing a Spetsnaz marching song and trying to teach Nick and Lamont the words. Ronnie just shook his head. They were attracting attention. A large man walked over to them. He'd been drinking. It was the kind of bar where people drank a lot.
    "Who's your Russki friend? He doesn't belong here."
    "You don't like