"That's the question we'll answer after the cities are secure," Daniel replied, his voice free of argument. "Time is running out. You have approximatelyforty-five minutesbefore the global detonation window begins to close. Follow my instructions with absolute precision. Mobilize your EOD, counterterrorism, and HAZMAT units. Do not attempt to move the devices. Defuse them on site, using the frequency I provided. After deactivation, begin disassembly and immediate forensic analysis, exactly as the team in New York is doing.Weigh each component and, crucially, the amount and type of nuclear material.All data must be transmitted to me in real time. I will be the global command center for this operation."
The silence that followed was heavy but brief. The urgency in Daniel's voice was undeniable. There was no alternative. One by one, the leaders nodded, their eyes, previously filled with shock, now focused with cold determination.
"Understood, Ghost. London is on the move," the MI6 chief said, his voice now firm.
"Paris ready for action," declared the head of the French DGSE.
"Tokyo follows your orders," the voice of the director of the Japanese Intelligence Agency echoed.
The global security machine, albeit reluctantly, had bowed to Daniel's authority. He had become the nerve center of a global counterterrorism operation, directing it from his ownmansionin Dubai. Henry, by his side, worked frantically, opening new communication channels, transmitting data, ensuring that every team in the field had the information they needed.
Daniel stared at the multiple screens, each now displaying a pulsing red dot on a global map, indicating the locations of the still-active devices. His mind was already calculating the quickest routes for his response teams, the specific deactivation frequencies for each device (there were subtle variations, he knew, designed to confuse), and the probabilities of success.
The fight was far from over. The morning breeze in Dubai blew gently across the vastmansion, but Daniel's mind was already miles ahead, mapping out the next steps in the complex and dangerous web of shadow war. Every second, the lives of millions hung in the balance, and Daniel was the only one who could hold them.
Daniel, the urgency still pulsing in his ears even with the warning silenced and the threat of New York neutralized, fixed his gaze onhoney brown eyeson the main screen in his office. There, the three-dimensional image of the deactivated nuclear device hovered in the air, suspended like a contained threat. The digital representation showed the internal components, complex and compact, now inert. The Pentagon general was leaning over the screen on his side of the conference, hissteel eyespeering at the image, his brow furrowed in an attempt to decipher the mystery.
"Everyone in the room," Daniel's voice echoed imperatively, cutting through the murmur of relief that still permeated the conference. "I need a full forensic analysis of the first artifact, immediately.Disassemble the equipment piece by piece now, on site.Each component is crucial evidence. And most importantly:weigh the separate components and the exact amount of nuclear product.I need precise numbers. The deactivation team I sent to the artifact's location, equipped with the frequency scanners I provided and the field analysis kits, is thirty seconds from the target."
The Secretary of Energy, his voice still a little choked with shock, but with a gleam of scientific curiosity in hiseyes, replied: "Dismantle on site? Ghost, that's... dangerous. Our explosive disposal team usually prefers to transport to a controlled environment for further analysis. The residual radiation..."
"There's no time for transportation, Secretary," Daniel interrupted him, his voice cold and sharp, leaving no room for objection or debate. HiseyesThey were fixed on the device's image, a pulsating point of light on their tactical map that represented its exact location in the urban environment. "Every second this device remains assembled, even if inert, is a risk. It was designed to explode with the slightest attempt at unsynchronized physical movement. My team is prepared. They have the most advanced training and equipment for this. They already have the HAZMAT suits and deactivation kits I designed for on-site collection and analysis. Just follow their instructions and transmit the images and all data to me in real time."
As Daniel spoke, the main screen split again, now showing live footage of the decommissioning team. Three figures in full protective suits, looking like astronauts in an alien environment, moved with calculated precision across a deserted Manhattan street. The air was thick, the gray skyscrapers looming like silent sentinels around them. They were approaching an industrial waste container, a gray, rusty object that seemed harmless but actually housed the nuclear nightmare. One of the figures, the team leader, with the Special Threat Response Task Force (STAR-TF) insignia discreetly embroidered on the shoulder of her suit, knelt with surprising agility, the material of her HAZMAT suit creaking slightly under the strain of her movements. She began assembling a handheld scanner and a tool bag, her thick nitrile rubber gloves barely moving, the surfaces of the devices reflecting the artificial light from the streetlights.
"The images are coming in, Ghost," the Pentagon General confirmed, his voice still hoarse but with a renewed urgency, watching the scene unfold in real time on the big screen in his underground bunker, the air heavy with the barely perceptible smoke of freshly brewed coffee. "We see it. Does it look like... a dumpster?" Hissteel eyesnarrowed in disbelief.
"The perfect camouflage," Daniel commented, without taking his eyes off.honey brown eyesof the images. He could see every detail of the scene—the rough texture of the container's oxidized metal, the faded graffiti on its side, the way the New York morning sunlight fell obliquely on the scene of the contained horror. "Something that blends into the urban landscape, invisible to even the most advanced systems. A ghost among ghosts. The thermal and electromagnetic signatures I detected are consistent with this model. It cannot be moved without analysis and deactivation."
The team in New York got to work. The lead technician, a burly man with calm etched into every movement, used a specialized tool to open a hidden compartment in the side of the container. The metallic sound of a latch releasing echoed through the helmet microphone, reverberating in Daniel's office in Dubai. An intricate network of colored wires, finely etched circuit boards, and an opaque metal cylinder with an eerie sheen was revealed. The enlarged image on Daniel's monitor revealed the device's disturbing complexity. The team leader, with a calm, professional voice, relayed the information in real time, her breathing slightly muffled by the helmet's filtration system. "Ghost, we're viewing the secondary detonator. Inactive. Structural integrity compromised in one of the supports. There are signs of accelerated corrosion by electromagnetic induction. Your pulse has been... surgical. Commencing disassembly."
"Proceed with the disassembly, piece by piece," Daniel instructed, his voice thick with precision. "Document everything. Every screw, every wire, every millimeter. The assembly sequence is as vital as the components themselves. Photograph from multiple angles. Most importantly, when you reach the fissile material, use the radiation measurement kits and precision scales."Weigh the amount of nuclear product.And tell me the exact type. Uranium, plutonium, or something more exotic. Double-check the measurements."
The Secretary of Energy, with theeyes shining with fascination and concern, intervened: "This is an unprecedented opportunity to understand the reverse engineering of these devices. Access to an inactivated warhead, in situ... is something we have never achieved so immediately."
"It's a necessity, not an opportunity, Secretary," Daniel corrected him bluntly. "We need every bit of information to stop what's coming. This isn't an isolated bomb. It's a pattern. My network has detected similar patterns in other key cities around the world. This isn't the only one. There are more."
The revelation fell like a silent bombshell on the conference. Faces that had been relieved minutes before were now contorted in a mixture of horror and a new urgency.Director Vancerubbed his temples, hisblue eyesclosing off for a brief second, as if the reality of what Daniel was saying was too much to bear. The desk in his office looked like a pile of paper debris. The Pentagon General gritted his teeth, his jaw clicking, the dry sound reverberating from his open microphone.
As Daniel spoke, on screen, the team leader in New York, with meticulous movements, used tweezers and tiny screwdrivers to unscrew the artifact's outer casing. Each piece was carefully placed in a shielded lead container. The technician beside him operated a handheld scanner, which emitted a soft hum as it mapped the internal components. At the top of Daniel's screen, in real time, 3D diagrams of the artifact being digitally "disassembled" appeared, replicating what was happening in the field. Each removed component was immediately weighed on a portable digital scale, the numbers appearing in a data window.
"Outer casing, aluminum and titanium alloy, weight: 4.75 kg," the team leader reported, her voice clear. "Electronic drive modules, three units, each weighing 0.08 kg. Control motherboard, 0.12 kg." Numbers filled the graphs on Daniel's screen, building an accurate profile of the device.
"Attention, team leader," Daniel instructed. "When you reach the fissile core, extra caution is required. There is a secondary proximity sensor that may have been activated as a precaution. Maintain a constant deactivation rate. Any abrupt acceleration or deceleration may be interpreted as a reactivation attempt."
The image on Daniel's screen changed, showing a new area on the same street, a few meters away, where another dumpster, identical to the first, was parked next to a fire hydrant. The team leader's scanner flashed red over this second location. An audible alert, a sharp, short "beep," cut through the silence. A line of code appeared in the corner of Daniel's screen:DUPLICATE DETECTED. IDENTICAL SIGNATURE. 50 METERS WEST.