a KGB informant in Istanbul for the simple reason
that the man had been exposed while drunk and had
lunged at him with a knife. That one incident was
enough. Stone did not like guns.
“Yes?” he said, the automatic at his side.
“Aurelius,” replied the voice behind the door.
Stone opened it and greeted his visitor “Metcalf?”
“Come in. And I think we’d better change the code.”
“I suppose I could use ‘Aquitaine’,” said the
intelligence officer, walking into the room.
“Somehow I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Somehow I don’t think I will. Do you have coffee?”
“I’ll get some. You look exhausted.”
“I ve looked better on a beach in Hawaii,” said
the slender, muscular middle-aged Air Force man.
He was dressed in summer slacks and a white Izod
jacket, and his thin face matched his short, thinning
brown hair; dark circles were prominent under his
clear authoritative eyes. “At nine o’clock
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 607
yesterday morning I drove south out of Las Vegas to
Halloran, and from there I began a series of
cross-country flights a computer couldn’t follow,
hopping from airport to airport under more names
than I can remember.”
‘You’re a frightened man,” said the civilian.
lf you’re not, I’m talking to the wrong person.”
I’m not only frightened, Colonel, I’m petrified.”
Stone went to the phone, ordered coffee, and before
hanging up he turned to Metcalf. `Would you like a
drink?” he asked.
1 would. Canadian on the rocks, please.”
‘1 envy you.” The civilian gave the order, and
both men sat down; for several moments only the
sounds of the street outside broke the silence. They
looked at each other, neither concealing the fact that
he was silently evaluating the other.
“You know who and what I am,” said the
Colonel. ‘Who are you? What?”
“CIA. Twenty-nine years. Station chief in
London, Athens, Istanbul, and points east and north.
A once disciple of Angleton and coordinator of
clandestine operations until I was fired. Anything
else?”
“No.”
“Whatever you did to your answering machine,
you did it right. The Converse woman called.”
Metcalf shot forward in the chair. “And?”
“It was touch and go for a while I wasn’t at my
best but he finally got on the line, or I should say
he finally spoke. He was there all the time.”
“Your second best must have been pretty good.”
“All he wanted to hear was the truth. It wasn’t hard.”
“Where is he? Where are they?”
“The Alps, that’s all he’d say ”
‘Goddamn it!”
” for now,” completed the civilian. “He wants
something from me first.”
“What?”
“Affidavits. You could call them depositions.”
“What9”
“You heard me. Affidavits from myself and the
people I’m working with working for,
actually stating what we know and what we did.”
“He’s out to hang you, and I don’t blame him.”
“That’s part of it, and I don’t blame him, either,
but he says it’s secondary and I believe that. He
wants Aquitaine. He
608 ROBERT LUDIUM
wants Delavane and his crowd of maniacs nailed to
the wall before the whole damn thing
erupts before the killing begins.”
‘That was Sam Abbott’s judgment. The
killing multiple assassinations, here and
throughout Europe, the quickest and surest way to
international chaos.”
‘ The woman told him.”
“No, he pieced it together from things Converse
told her. Converse didn’t understand the words.”
“He does now,” said Stone. “Did I say I was
petrified? What’s a stronger phrase?”
“Whatever it is, it applies to both of us because
we both know how simple it would be so sim pie.
We’re not dealing with woolly-brained crazies or
even your run-of-the-mill terrorists we’ve got thirty
years’ experience and ninety percent of them are in
our computers. When the signals break out, we
know where they are and usually we can stop them.
But here we’re dealing with the roughest
professionals in our own and in allied ranks, also
with years of experience. They’re walking around
the Pentagon, and on Army and Navy bases and at
an Air Force base in Nevada. Christ, where are
they? You open your mouth and you don’t know
whom you’re talking to, who’ll cut you down or
program an aircraft to break apart in the sky. How
can we stop what we can’t see?”
“Perhaps Converse’s way.”
“With Affidavits:”
“Maybe. Incidentally, he wants one from you.
Your meeting with Abbott, everything he told you,
as well as your evaluation of his mental capacities
and stability. That means you’ll have to stay here
tonight. A half-hour ago I reserved three other
rooms I said I’d give the front desk the names
later.”
“Would you mind answering my question? What
the hell are affidavits going to do? We’re dealing
with an army out there how large and how
widespread we don’t know but it is an army! At
minimum, a couple of battalions, here and in
Europe. Professional officers trained to carry out
orders, believing in those orders and in the generals
who are issuing them. Affidavits, depositions, for
Christ’s sake! Is this some kind of flaky legal
handspring that doesn’t mean anything? Do we have
time for this?”
“You’re not thinking anything I didn’t think,
Colonel. But then, I’m not a lawyer and neither are
you. Converse is, and I had a long conversation with
him. He’s taking the only route
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 609
he knows. The legal route. Oddly enough, it’s why we
sent him out.”
“Give me an answer, Stone ” said Metcalf coldly.
“Protection,” replied Stone. ‘What Converse wants
is instant protection and for all of us to be taken
seriously. Not as psychopaths or as cranks or as
people with mental aberrations or diminished
capacities I think those were his words.”
“Aren’t they nice? What in the name of sweet
Jesus do they mean? How?”
“With formal legal documents. Responsible men
setting forth what they know and, in the case of
depositions, under qualified examination. Through
the courts, Colonel. A court it only takes one, only
one judge. On the basis of the affidavits a petition is
made to the court a court, a judge that protection
be given under seal.”
“Under what?”
“Under seal. It’s completely confidential no
press, no divulging of information, simply an order
from the court transmitted to the authorities most
suited to carry out the order. In this case, all the
branches of the Secret Service instructed by the court
to provide extraordinary service.”
“Extraordinary? For whom?”
“The President of the United States, the
Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, the
Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State right
on down the line. The law, Colonel. That’s what the
law can do also his words, I think.”
“Jesus/”
There was a rapping on the door. This time
Stone covered his automatic with the folded New
York Times. He got up and admitted a waiter, who
rolled in a table with a pot of coffee, two cups, a
bottle of Canadian whisky, ice and glasses. He signed
the bill and the man left.
“Coffee or a drink first?” asked Stone.
“My God, a drink. Please.”
“I envy you.”
“You’re not going to join me?”
“Sorry, I can’t. I allow myself one in the evening;
I’ll join you then. You live in Las Vegas, so you’ll
understand. I’m trying to beat the odds, Colonel. I
intend to beat them. I was fired, remember?” Stone
brought the Air Force officer a drink and sat down.
“You can’t beat the odds, don’t you know that?”
“I’ve beaten a few. I’m still here.”
610 ROBERT LUDLUM
“The courts,” said Metcalf, shaking his head. “A
court! It’s an end run. He’s using the law to go
around the flanks of the government people he
should reach but whom he can’t trust. Can it work?”
“It buys time, a few days perhaps, it’s hard to
tell. ‘Under seal’ lasts only so long. The law also
calls for full disclosure. But what’s most important
is that it legitimately tightens the security around
potential targets, hopefully screwing up whatever
tactics Aquitaine is mounting, forcing the generals
to regroup, rethink. Again time.”
“But that’s only over here in the States.”
“Yes. That’s why Converse wants the time.”
“What for?”
“He won’t tell me, and I’m in no position to
make demands.”
“I see,” said the Colonel, his drink to his lips.
“You said three rooms. Who are the others?”
“You’ll meet them and you won’t like them.
They’re two kids who stumbled into this along with
a few others I don’t know, and they won’t say who
they are. After Halliday reached them or one of
them they provided the dossiers for Converse.
They’re young, but they’re all right, Colonel. If I
ever had a son, I’d like to think he’d be one of
them.”
“I have a son and I expect he would be,” said
Metcalf. “Otherwise, I blew it. What are the
procedures?”
Stone sat rigidly back in the chair and spoke
slowly, his voice pitched to the static emphasis of a