The Pact - Episode 5 E-Book

Christian Marshall

• Herausgeber: Bastei Lübbe
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 101

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

EPISODE 5 OF 8: Overwhelmed by the responsibilities of becoming a father, Jian Zhang knows he must leave behind his role as an NBS agent. To do so, he'll have to put his family's business in the hands of his corrupt cousin so he can bring down The Syndicate on his own. Meanwhile, acting as an undercover NBS agent within The Syndicate, Agent Felicity Wilson has no clue her first assignment for the corrupt organization involves fellow NBS recruit Leah Carlsson. Her next surprise? Learning the project they're working on involves software capable of accessing confidential files that may contain information about her birth father a man she hasn't seen in twenty-two years. After discovering The Syndicate's plans for Project Tessarap are more complex than expected, Felicity decides to take matters into her own hands. Her single-minded approach to getting answers she needs compels Agent Nicholas Clark to leave Cape Town to protect her in New York. -- ABOUT THE SERIES: NBS agents are trained for one purpose: bringing down The Syndicate, an international crime organization aimed at profiteering by keeping countries at war with one another. When an NBS agent is murdered shortly before her first assignment, five new recruits quickly realize the agency they're working for may not be as trustworthy as it seems, forcing them to make a pact in order to survive. Can the new agents stay alive long enough to uncover the truth behind their fellow recruit's death? Or is finding answers hidden deep within both organizations tempting enough to make one of them break the pact? -- For fans of Robert Ludlum, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, John le Carré, THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, Daniel Silva, THE UNLIKELY SPY and HOMELAND. -- Christian Liberty Marshall is an Austrian-based writer, and musician with degrees from Vanderbilt University, and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. When not performing as a violist, he can be found teaching at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, writing educational material for children, or translating German literature. His first serial novel, The Pact, is available in summer 2015.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

The Pact — About the Series

About the Book

List of Main Characters

About the Author

Title

Copyright

Episode 5: Deceive

Next Episode

The Pact — About the Series

NBS agents are trained for one purpose: bringing down The Syndicate, an international crime organization aimed at profiteering by keeping countries at war with one another.

When an NBS agent is murdered shortly before her first assignment, five new recruits quickly realize the agency they’re working for may not be as trustworthy as it seems, forcing them to make a pact in order to survive.

Can the new agents stay alive long enough to uncover the truth behind their fellow recruit’s death? Or is finding answers hidden deep within both organizations tempting enough to make one of them break the pact?

About the Book

Episode 5 of 8 — Deceive

Overwhelmed by the responsibilities of becoming a father, Jian Zhang knows he must leave behind his role as an NBS agent. To do so, he’ll have to put his family’s business in the hands of his corrupt cousin so he can bring down The Syndicate on his own.

Meanwhile, acting as an undercover NBS agent within The Syndicate, Agent Felicity Wilson has no clue her first assignment for the corrupt organization involves fellow NBS recruit Dr. Leah Carlsson. Her next surprise? Learning the project they’re working on involves software capable of accessing confidential files that may contain information about her birth father — a man she hasn’t seen in twenty-two years. After discovering The Syndicate’s plans for Project Tessarap are more complex than expected, Felicity decides to take matters into her own hands. Her single-minded approach to getting answers she needs compels Agent Nicholas Clark to leave Cape Town to protect her in New York.

List of Main Characters

Paul Leclerc loves life aboard a ship. But he also loves Scotch. That’s why he chose to leave his life at sea and open up a bar in his hometown, Marseilles. Yet he’s rarely in one place for long, always travelling the globe looking for new spirits to bring back to the port city. But is there another reason this Frenchman pulls his disappearing acts?

Jian Zhang doesn’t remember much about life in China’s Guangzhou. That’s why he decided to stay in New York City, to run his family’s dumpling dynasty after his parents returned home. There’s also his wife, Agnieszka, and their hopes of starting a family. Will their love for the arts—and each other—be Jian’s moral compass? Or will shocking discoveries force him to act against his nature?

An introverted coder, Swedish-born Dr. Leah Carlsson hates getting close to anyone—be it as a member of a team or on the receiving end of a handshake. Her years of hard work have earned her a full professorship at the University of Stockholm. Upon learning her work has been compromised, she must decide if she’s willing to risk her reputation to step out from behind the walls she’s built—both around herself and in her field.

Originally from New York City, Nicholas Clark is a detective now in Cape Town, South Africa. After his fiancé’s tragic death, Nick loses himself in his police work. But ousting crooked cops and putting criminals behind bars can only numb the pain for so long. Will the opportunity to play a part in a secret agency give him the new purpose he’s been looking for?

Felicity Wilson may call Los Angeles home, but her roots are solidly in the Midwest. Fresh out of graduate school, she’s convinced all her friends and family into believing she’s ambitiously pursuing a career in politics. But what she’s secretly looking for is the answer to a question haunting her since childhood. The startling revelations she’s about to uncover will lead her to risk her life for the truth.

Eliska Novak worked as a high-class escort in Manhattan, affording her pleasures she’d only dreamt of as a child on the streets of Prague. On her first assignment as an NBS agent she met with an untimely death.

About the Author

Christian Liberty Marshall is an Austrian-based writer, and musician with degrees from Vanderbilt University, and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. When not performing as a violist, he can be found teaching at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, writing educational material for children, or translating German literature. His first serial novel, The Pact, is available in summer 2015.

Christian Liberty Marshall

Episode 5: Deceive

BASTEI ENTERTAINMENT

Digital original edition

Bastei Entertainment is an imprint of Bastei Lübbe AG

Copyright © 2015 by Bastei Lübbe AG, Schanzenstraße 6-20, 51063 Cologne, Germany

Written by Christian Liberty Marshall

Edited by Gail Werner

Project management: Lori Herber, Julia Hubschmid, Kathrin Kummer

Cover illustration and design: Travis Harvey

E-book production: Urban SatzKonzept, Düsseldorf

ISBN 978-3-7325-0843-3

www.bastei-entertainment.com

Episode 5: Deceive

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

It was the third time Jian Zhang had asked his wife the question, but each of her answers left him unsatisfied.

“Yes, Jian. It’s not anything I haven’t done before,” Agnieszka said with a groan as she grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter. Dropping them into her purse, she wrestled with an oblong portfolio wedged under her left arm. “Plus,” she emphasized, “I got lots of rest over the weekend. I feel fine.”

“I know, it’s just —”

“If I don’t go now,” Agnieszka interjected, “I’m not gonna make it to Dr. Chaffin’s in time for our appointment. You’ll meet me there?”

“Of course,” Jian said, scratching at his wrist.

“Don’t be late!” she said with a smile, shaking her index finger at her husband as a playful warning. “Dr. Chaffin’s watching your every move.”

That’s what I’m afraid of, Jian thought. Dr. Chaffin had always been skeptical of him, and now that he had secrets to hide, namely his new role as an NBS agent, he was even more concerned than before. Suppressing his paranoia, he stepped forward and kissed Agnieszka on the forehead. “See you soon, my love.”

“Bye, my love.”

Jian locked the door behind his wife and headed straight for their bedroom. Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he quickly dialed his cousin Hai. Jian had agreed to meet him to discuss a potential project, one that would bring Jian a step closer to The Syndicate by, hopefully, revealing what secrets Hai had been selling to them. For now, Hai had only told him to wait while he confirmed details.

“Perfect timing,” Hai said, his voice full of bragging confidence, as if he’d been the one to place the call.

Jian cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn’t shake. “I hope so,” he muttered, unsure of what he was about to agree to.

“I have a proposition from a client and think you could help.”

“What does it involve?”

“New technology. Blueprints to be exact. Scientists have developed several prototypes of a new device, but they don’t have access to the hardware needed to mass-produce them. My client does.”

“What sort of device? Who’s your client?”

“Meet me now and I’ll explain it in person. If you still want in, I’ll take you to meet him. But you need to decide soon: There’s only a small window of time.”

Jian felt tension gnawing at the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t miss Agnieszka’s appointment, but this was his chance to infiltrate The Syndicate, to possibly gain what information he needed to bring the organization down.

“Okay,” Jian said decisively.

“Okay,” responded Hai. “Fifty-ninth and Fifth. See you soon.”

***

When Jian arrived at the southwest corner of Central Park, he saw Hai pacing in front of its entrance. Jian noticed Hai’s sigh of relief as the two shook hands. This was the first time in years the two had exchanged a friendly greeting. It made him that much more certain of Hai’s interest in the proposition, his need for Jian to be involved. The cousins set off down the park’s busy sidewalk, Jian waiting for Hai to begin explaining.

“A small tech company has developed plans to produce organic thin film transistors called TFTs,” Hai described. “What’s special about them is they’re nearly invisible — they blend in seamlessly with any touchpad’s surface.”

He nodded to Jian’s jacket pocket. “There could be one on your cell phone right now and you wouldn’t know it.”

Jian raised a brow. “So what do they do? And why does your client need them?”

“They capture all information passing through users’ screens, rerouting it undetected to a remote server. But which information and what for, I don’t know.” Hai rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m only paid to deliver them.”

Jian was sure Hai was telling the truth. If Hai was a middleman selling to The Syndicate secrets he’d picked up from The Triad, he certainly wouldn’t know all of The Syndicate’s plans.

“Why can’t your client simply buy them?”

“The company’s not looking to sell.”

“So your plan is to steal them?” Jian asked.

“It’s not that easy. The company’s taken every extra security measure possible. Their root files are only accessible through three computers in the entire building, meaning someone must be on-site.”

“Why ask me for help?” Jian asked. If Hai knew this much information, he could certainly find a way into the company to steal the blueprints himself.

“Because,” Hai said hesitantly, “they’re not exactly local.”

“Notexactly?” Jian said, realizing he still knew little about Hai’s plans.

“Türli Enterprises, a Swiss company based in Zurich. They’re considering a joint venture with Baizhao, one of The Triad’s shell companies in Hong Kong. There’s a plan in place for someone to go in posing as a mediator who would retrieve the blueprints. Your business and language skills are the perfect cover.”

Stopping at a bench, Jian sat and closed his eyes. His mind filled with memories of TriMark and Felicity’s failed attempts at extracting the small pox samples. Even as a team of six, their plan had fallen apart.

“Am I going in alone?” Jian asked.

“A team is too risky, too obvious. My client has a plan. I’ll explain everything if you agree.”

Jian nervously surveyed his surroundings. He hadn’t been back home more than a week and already he was being ripped from the life he was desperate now to protect. He felt sick that things had come to this. He loved his wife and wanted to support her, but now his secret role as an NBS agent would put a strain on their relationship, which also meant putting their child’s life at risk. Jian reminded himself the sooner he could help bring The Syndicate down, the sooner he could leave his new life as an NBS agent behind. That’s what he wanted most.

“What’s in it for me?” Jian asked, looking down at his watch, knowing he had to meet Agnieszka at Dr. Chaffin’s office soon.

“As long as you keep your end of the deal, enough cash to let you retire early. Both of you.”

Hai’s remark came as no surprise to Jian. He knew exchanging with his cousin a share of the family business for being in the know about Hai’s criminal activities was too tempting an offer to turn down. If money had always fueled his cousin before, why should this time be any different? Especially when it came in the form of taking over the Zhang family’s successful restaurant business. Ultimately, sharing his father’s company meant sharing the family fortune with a criminal, but Jian knew his relationship with Hai was his only way of establishing contact with The Syndicate.

“And who’s buying the blueprints?” Jian was still hoping for a name.

“Meet me here again tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. I’ll take you to meet him.”

“All right.” Jian rose from the bench, having made up his mind. Now he needed to meet his wife.

“Tomorrow morning,” Hai said with a nod before turning his back and walking out of the park.

***