No Corner to Hide (The Max Masterson Series Book 2) by Mark E Becker Page B

technological society. Gamma rays emitted from the sun have disrupted electronics and communications on earth. The EMP produced gamma rays in a much shorter burst. At levels much higher than the indiscriminate gamma radiation produced by solar flares, the device was capable of crashing the grid and plunging a city into darkness in less than a minute, and paralyzing all modern transportation. If used in the intended way, the bomb could be pointed in the direction of a target city, sparing civilization outside of the target area.
    In his briefing with Adam Pryor weeks prior to the incident, Darkhorse was given the details of his mission. “You know why we own those high-rises?” Pryor now inquired.
    “No sir, I don’t care. After this is over, I’ll disappear like I always do, and you can do whatever you do, and we can all part ways. I just do my job. You pay me. It’s as simple as that.”
    Darkhorse had spent a lifetime guarding his identity from everyone. He had never maintained a lasting relationship, not even a casual friendship. He liked it that way. If they don’t know you, they can’t get to you , he thought, and that more than anything guaranteed his continued existence.
    He didn’t trust Pryor to leave him alone and alive after it was over, and he had carefully devised his exit strategy. He would be gone before the bombs were detonated, and he would be in a place where nobody would look, even if they knew he was involved. His only contact was Pryor himself, and this power whore would never give him up.
    Pryor was proud of his plan, and despite his assassin’s aloof response, he outlined the details. “I am going to run Masterson out of office and regain control. I don’t want to kill a lot of people to do it, but there will be collateral damage. Survival of the fittest. You understand that, don’t you?” He turned his back to pour himself a drink but continued to watch Darkhorse in the mirror above the bar. Pryor continued to speak as he watched his hired gun shift uneasily and scan the room for available exits. There was something about this conversation that was becoming very creepy, and he wasn’t about to remain any longer than necessary.
    “You do understand,” Pryor continued. “I know you do. The people who maintain my lifestyle are counting on you to understand. I managed to get my hands on eleven weapons that this country has never seen before. Homeland Security intercepted them a few years ago in a container load down at the docks of the international seaport at Port Everglades. They were shipped from the Ukraine by way of Germany. Terrorists bought them up when the Soviet Union collapsed. I hear they paid for them with crappy cars and kitchen appliances.” He laughed as Darkhorse stared.
    “It turns out that the Soviets had improvised an EMP bomb that doesn’t nuke a city like conventional nukes. They modified them to take out all of the electronics and shut down the grid. They have some kind of cone inside that lets us direct gamma radiation in any way we want, and I’m about to take out all of the electronics and shut down the power anywhere inside the blast area. Hell, if I could find out how to get one of these babies up six miles, I could take out the whole country. But I don’t want to do that.”
    Darkhorse stood up to leave.
“No, don’t go. I haven’t got to the good part yet.” Pryor moved toward Darkhorse, intending to grab his arm. When he saw the menacing look that his advance had provoked, he backed off and continued talking. “Do you know what will happen when these things go off? I’m not talking big mushroom clouds and destruction here. I am just going to take all of society away for awhile.”
Darkhorse became curious long enough to delay his departure. “What do you mean by that?”
Pryor giggled with glee, and Darkhorse realized that this megalomaniac’s sole purpose in life was mayhem of unprecedented proportions. He hadn’t signed on to become one of the