The Krakow Klub (34 page)

Jim spoke not a word.

John led the four of them across the grounds
to a cleared area where Mister T stood patiently waiting.

Sylvia’s heart was
racing,
and she felt fear and confusion simultaneously.
Was this a bad dream? A nightmare? How could she escape? Whatever
had possessed her to come to this island? The thoughts whirled
through her
mind,
and she just wanted to be
back in her cozy London flat right now.

She stood, staring at the
empty
space
. John spoke a soft
command,
and
the craft materialized, as if from nowhere. The hatch slid
open,
and Mister T motioned for them to
enter.

Sylvia
was frozen
in
place. Her face
drained
of
color,
and she appeared about to faint. Julia stepped to
Sylvia’s side and steadied her.

Jim wanted to comfort Sylvia but knew better
than to try, at least, right now.

Mister T spoke, “Boss, I’ve programmed the
ship for your round trip. Maxxine is waiting for you.”

John, Jim, and Julia stepped quickly inside
but Sylvia didn’t move a muscle. Mister T went over to her and
gently led her inside.

John explained the workings of the craft to
Sylvia and gave her a brief tour. By now, she had regained some of
her composure, but her poker face revealed nothing about her inner
feelings.

“John, I’ve come to know you pretty well and
I know that you’re a brilliant man, not some sort of raving
lunatic. But, this is quite a surprise even for a stiff-upper-lip
Brit like me. I read about that
spacecraft
in
our solar system, but not in my wildest dreams did I imagine that
you might have had some association with it.

“My brain tells me that this can’t be
true,
but I can reach out and touch the side
of your spaceship. I saw it materialize from thin air. Right now,
I doubt
my sanity, but under the
circumstances, I’ve got to be fair and hear you out.
All this is
a quantum leap for me.”

With that, she reached over and pinched and
twisted the skin of Mister T’s wrist. Any normal person would have
flinched at the very least. He had no reaction whatsoever.

“Miss McDonald, I have been programmed for
many functions, but feeling pain is not one of them, and for that,
I am grateful.”

Sylvia stared at Mister T with a look of
total confusion.

John continued, “Again, forgive me for
breaking this to you so unceremoniously. Unfortunately,
circumstances are such that there was no choice. I didn’t want us
to leave without at least trying to give you an honest
explanation.”

Next, John turned his attention to the robot.
“You’re in charge while we’re gone. You’ll want to stay in close
communication with Maxxine and with us. I’m concerned that there
may be attempts by outsiders to spy on the island, so deal with
them as you see fit. My primary concern is that you keep the ladies
safe. Don’t let anyone land here under any circumstances.”

Turning his attention to the ladies, John
continued, “I think that it would be best if you didn’t leave the
island for now. I don’t think that we’ve
been
discovered
yet, but I certainly can’t guarantee that. These
people have agents and contacts all over the
world,
so it’s only a matter of time until they know who
we are and where we are. Just act as if everything is normal and go
about enjoying this lovely place, or at least pretend that you’re
enjoying it.”

“I understand, Boss. Have a nice trip and
give Maxxine my regards. I think I may be in love with her.” Mister
T laughed at his
own
joke.

Julia gave John a hug and kiss. “Take care of
yourself. We’ll be just fine. Just come up with some way to destroy
this Krakow Klub.”

With
that,
she stepped
out of the ship, followed by Sylvia and Mister T. Sylvia turned
back to the two of them and said, “Be safe, John, and don’t let Jim
get into anything that he can’t handle.”

Jim blew a kiss to her and thought to
himself,
Well, at least she acknowledged my existence.

Seconds later, the craft had entered stealth
mode and disappeared leaving no trace that it had ever been
there.

The three of them returned to the
villa,
and Mister T mixed martinis for Julia and
Sylvia.

Sylvia thanked him, saying, “Stand by, sir, I
think that I may need some more of these.”

****

Mister T had evidently programmed the ship to
get them to Maxxine more quickly than usual. John and Jim had
barely gotten comfortable when the door suddenly
opened,
and they were inside the arrival port. Maxxine
welcomed them with a very sultry voice, which prompted Jim to ask
John, “Does she always sound like that?”

John just smiled, saying, “No, only when she
wants to impress a man. Maxx gave her that voice as a joke on me,
but the joke is on
him;
I love it!”

After leaving the shuttle craft, they went
directly to the control room to obtain the latest updates on the
situation.

The room was surprisingly small considering
that it was the heart of the space station. Jim was examining the
white walls
carefully,
but he could see no
signs of the powerful computer system that
must
be
somewhere inside. Just then, Maxxine came to life. The
huge video screen lit
up,
and she addressed
Jim.

“I assume that you’re the famous Dr. Slater.
I apologize for not already having a seat ready for you.” With what
sounded like the snap of electronic fingers, a small robot appeared
with a chair for Jim, placed it next to John’s chair, and then left
silently.

“Gentlemen, I have some very unsettling news.
Apparently, the Krakow Klub has obtained a nuclear device. Even
worse, it appears that they
plan
to use it
somewhere inside
the United States. That’s
just the bad news, but i
t gets even worse.
I
have not been able to determine where the nuclear device will
be placed and detonated
. However, one of my
listening devices did pick up
a
possible
location. This location is rather confusing to me so maybe you can
enlighten me.”

John was shocked. “Maxxine, a nuclear device!
That’s
a potential disaster. We must figure
out where, and when, they plan to use it.”

Maxxine replied, “The
potential
site
mentioned
was Greenbrier.
Greenbrier isn’t a common
name,
but I have
found one possible match. There is a Greenbrier Resort in West
Virginia, very near Washington, DC.”

John said in a more calm voice, “Maxxine, you
obviously still don’t have all the facts about this situation. Are
you
certain
that they plan to detonate a
nuclear device?”

“Sir, I am simply reporting what I have
gotten from our remotes. I have just received an update from the
ship that is monitoring the Washington, DC, situation. A
conversation was just recorded that sheds more light on the issue.
Apparently, the new president has ordered that Congress and many
other governmental VIPs
relocate
to that hotel
for their protection during this national crisis. They will arrive
on Wednesday by special trains and buses. The president has assured
them that they
are going to be lodged
in the hotel and not the bunker beneath it.
In
fact, the entire West Virginia wing has been reserved for them and
will be closely guarded by the military. They will only
be moved
to the underground bunker in the event of a
serious terrorist threat.”

Maxxine paused briefly, and then she
continued, “However, today, I have just learned that the nuclear
device was picked up by a man named Alexei Pawlak, a close
associate of Erik Stoellar.
This Pawlak, based in New
York City, has been instructed to add a radio-controlled device to
the bomb. That device is to be set to the same radio frequency as
the device to be used by Lt. Colonel Collins when he triggers his
plastic explosives.

“Lt. Colonel
Collins
and
his Scorpion
Battalion
have placed plastic
explosives around the perimeter of the entire West Virginia Wing of
the Greenbrier Hotel. I do not think that he knows that a nuclear
device will also
be involved
. My guess is that
the plastic explosives will be used to destroy the wing where
Congress is staying, and then, the bomb will be used to destroy the
evidence and
the military unit assigned to the
hotel.

“It appears that they plan to kill everyone,
including their men. I’ve done an analysis of the unit and I have
decided that the entire battalion consists of rogue soldiers under
the control of the Krakow Klub. They are truly a sorry lot—a band
of misfits,
deviates,
and cutthroats that will
kill indiscriminately and without question.”

John replied, “Maxxine, you’ve done a superb
job,
and I congratulate you. But, we must find
that nuclear device and disarm it. And that’s only one of our
problems. We need to do something about the plastic explosives,
too.

“Worst case, can you possibly contain the
explosions if we cannot prevent them?”

“Sir, I regret that I would not be able to
contain the nuclear explosion once the device
is
detonated
. However, there is a good possibility that I could
act to prevent the detonation of the device. I will have
to locate it precisely first
. I will do my
best. The situation is most complicated. I will confer with Maxx
before I go any further.”

John agreed that contacting Maxx would be an
excellent idea. Then, to everyone’s surprise, a booming male voice
suddenly announced, “Of course, my boy, I can once again come to
your rescue.”

John looked at Jim, smiled and said, “Okay,
Master Maxx
, your humble servant awaits your
analysis and assistance.”

Maxx continued in a rather gloating and
superior voice, “I have examined all our information about this
organization that we’ve uncovered in the past couple of years.
Fortunately, with my advanced skills and technology, I was able to
determine that there was a connection between a Russian arms dealer
and an obscure Egyptian agent of a violent jihadist group. That
agent was in the pay of the Krakow Klub.

“The Egyptian purchased the nuclear weapon
for ten million dollars just over a year ago. Delivery
was made
in
Odessa,
and the device
was transported across Europe by lorry to Amsterdam. Then, it was
shipped across the Atlantic to a port in Canada last December where
it remained until April of this year.

“In late April, the device was hidden in a
shipment of frozen fish and sent to a wholesaler in New York. The
wholesaler had knowledge that something of value
was
hidden
in the
shipment,
but he had no
idea as to what it was. He had made quite a few deals with major
New York crime families in the past, so this smuggling operation
didn’t alarm him whatsoever. Pawlak paid him handsomely to notify
him when the shipment arrived and to make arrangements for him to
retrieve the package secretly.

“Pawlak retrieved the device and then shot
the wholesaler between the eyes immediately. He made the killing
appear to be a mob hit. Not too clever but it worked as the
wholesaler was already on the NYPD radar for his mob
associations.

“Pawlak then transported the device to a
warehouse near the
waterfront in Brooklyn where he
stored
it briefly. Now, he is on his way to deliver the bomb
to the Greenbrier in a dark-colored van with a New Jersey license
plate. I believe that Maxxine could retrieve the device for you at
any time if that’s what you want. If
you
like,
I can give her a detailed description of
the van, including its license number. I wouldn’t want my little
Chickadee to have to work her pretty self into a lather over this
thing.”

John signed in relief. “Maxx, you’ve saved us
from a catastrophe.” Then, to Maxxine, “Can you simply neutralize
the device without Pawlak, or anyone else, knowing you did so?”

Maxx chuckled. “Not to worry, old friend. I
recognized the device would be a danger to you and deactivated it.
Right now, it could possibly be used as a boat anchor but nothing
else. It is totally useless. And, of course, no one knows that the
device has
been tampered
with, except me, of
course.”

Maxxine was rather miffed. “I could have done
that! I just hadn’t yet located the damn thing yet.”

Maxx, replying to Maxxine, said in a fatherly
tone of voice, “Now, now, my little one, you are doing just fine.
Do not begrudge your dear old dad a moment in the spotlight.”

Jim Slater was neither amused nor satisfied.
He interjected, “Wait a minute! What did you do to disarm the
device? They might be able
to reactivate
it
and use it as
originally planned.”

Maxx answered in a tone of voice a parent
might use when talking to a youngster who simply doesn’t understand
a simple mathematics problem. “Oh Dr. Slater, it is so nice to talk
with you again. May I call you Jim?”

John, almost yelling, interjected, “Maxx, for
God’s sake!
This is a
very serious matter, at
least to us. Please get on with it!”

Maxx, ignoring John’s plea, continued his
lecture, “The device is quite small as nuclear devices go with a
range of only one to two thousand feet. Yes, indeed it is
small
but quite deadly within its range.”