Noth
“Of course not. Rightly or wrongly, I believed
Converse when he told me that with our
affidavits with all the evi
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 645
dencewe provided him Mr. Simon could reach
people we couldn’t reach. Why shouldn’t I have
believed him? It was an extension of my own
thinking without a Nathan Simon but with Converse
himself. Only, my way would take longer. The
precautions would be far more elaborate, but it could
be done. We’d reach the right people and start the
counterattack.”
‘Who’d you have in mind?” asked Wellfleet sharply.
‘ The President first, obviously. Then, because
we’re dealing with half a dozen other countries, the
Secretary of State. A maximum-security screening
process would be set up immediately one
undoubtedly using those chemicals you didn’t speak
of until we had unblemished personnel, men and
women we were certain beyond doubt had no
connections to this Aquitaine. We create cells,
command posts here and abroad. Incidentally, there’s
a man who can help us immeasurably in this, a man
named Belamy in Britain’s M.1.6. I’ve worked with
him and he’s the best knows the best and he’s
done this sort of thing before. Once our cells are in
place and in deep cover, we then pull in Washburn
and at least two others we know of by description in
Bonn. Prudhomme can furnish us with the names of
those in the Surete who approve transfers, and who
furnished evidence against Converse when it didn’t
exist. And as you know from my own affidavit, we’ve
got the island of Scharhdrn under surveillance
now we think it’s a nerve confer or a
communications relay. With the proper equipment
we could tap in. The whole point is we widen the
circles of information. Once you know a strategy, you
can mount a counterstrategy without setting off
alarms.” Stone paused and looked at both men. “Mr.
Justice, Mr. Simon. I was station chief in five vital
posts in Great Britain and the Continent. I know it
can be done.”
“I don’t doubt you,” said Nathan Simon. “How
long would it take?”
“If Justice Wellfleet can get me the cooperation
and the equipment I need, with the people I
select here and abroad Derek Belamy and I can
mount a crash program. We’d be operational in eight
to ten days.”
Simon looked at the Supreme Court justice then
back at Stone. “We don’t have eight or ten days,” he
said. “We have three less than three days now.”
Peter Stone stared at the tall, portly attorney with
the
646 ROBERT LUDLUM
sad, penetrating eyes. He could feel the blood
draining from his face.
The cry of the cat was muted in fury. General
Ceorge Marcus Delavane slowly replaced the
telephone on the console. His half-body was
propped into the wheelchair, his waist strapped to
the steel poles, his arms as heavy as his breath was
short, the veins in his neck distended. He brought
his hands together, entwining his fingers and
pressing the knuckles against each other until the
surrounding flesh was white. He raised his large
head, his cold, angry eyes narrowing as he looked
up at the uniformed aide standing in front of the
desk.
“They’ve disappeared,” he said, his high-pitched
voice icily controlled. “Leifhelm was taken from a
restaurant in Bonn. They say there was an
ambulance that raced away, no one knows where.
Abrahms’guards were drugged. Others took their
places. He was driven offin his own staffcar, picked
up in front of a synagogue. Bertholdier did not
come down from his apartment on the Montaigne,
so the driver went up to discreetly remind him of
the time. The woman was bound naked on the bed,
the word ‘whore’ written in lipstick across her
breasts. She said two men took him away at
gunpoint. There was talk of a plane, she said.”
“What about Van Headmer?” asked the aide.
“Nothing. Our charming and oblivious Afrikaner
dines at the Johannesburg Military Club and says he
will put himself under extra guard. He’s not part of
the orbit; he’s too far away to matter.”
“What do you mean, General? What happened?”
“What happened? This Converse happened! We
created our own most accomplished enemy,
Colonel and I can’t say we weren’t warned. Chaim
said it, our man in the Mossad made it clear. The
North Vietnamese created a hellhound the
Mossad’s words and we created a monster. He
should have been killed in Paris, certainly in Bonn.”
“You couldn t have ordered it then,” said the
aide, shaking his head. “You had to know where he
came from, and if you couldn’t find out, you had to
isolate him, make him what was it.P_a pariah, so
no one would come forth to claim him. It was sound
strategy, General. It still remains sound. No one’s
come forth no one’s coming forth. You held them
back, and now it’s too late.”
Delavane’s eyes widened as he appraised the
calonel’s
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 647
face. “You’ve always been the best of adjutants, Paul.
You tactfully remind a superior that regardless of
periodic setbacks, his decisions were based on sound
reasons, and that those reasons will prevail.”
“I’ve disagreed when I thought it was necessary,
General, because whatever I learned I learned from
you, so l merely reminded you of yourself. Right
now, at this moment, I’m right. You were right.”
“Yes, I was I am. Nothing matters now.
Everything’s set in motion and nothing can stop it.
This Converse this bold, resourceful enemy was
also held in check by having to keep running. And
now he’s too late. In any event, the men he’s taken
are merely symbols, magnets to attract others. That’s
the beauty of clean strategy, Colonel. Once it’s set in
motion, it rolls like the ocean wave. The power
underneath is unseen, but it is relentless. Events will
dictate the only acceptable solutions. It’s my legacy,
Colonel.”
Nathan Simon had nearly finished his
explanation. It had taken less than three minutes,
during which time Peter Stone remained motionless,
his eyes riveted on the older man, his face ashen, the
taste in his mouth unbearable.
“You can see the pattern, can’t you?” concluded
the attorney. “The protests begin in the Middle East
and follow the sun and the time zones across the
Mediterranean, up through Europe, and over the
Atlantic, culminating in Canada and the United
States. They start with the Peace Now movement in
Jerusalem, then Beirut, Rome, Paris, Bonn, London,
Toronto, Washington, New York, Chicago, et cetera.
Gigantic rallies in the major cities and capitals,
covering every nation and government Delavane and
his people have infiltrated. Confrontations
occur the initial unrest growing into major disrup-
tions with the infusion of terrorist units. Bombs
wired into cars, or under the streets in sewers, or
simply rolled into the crowds the second wave of
greater violence all leading to the mass confusion
and disorder they require to put their leading players
in position. Or more precisely, once in position to
exercise their assignments.”
‘ The final assaults,” said Stone quietly. Selected
assassinations.”
Chaos,” agreed Simon. ‘World leaders suddenly
dead, the descending mantles of authority unclear,
too many men
648 ROBERT LUDLUM
protesting, one another, screaming that they are in
charge. Total chaos.”
“Scharhorn!” said the former intelligence officer.
‘ We have no other choice now. We have to go in!
May I use your telephone, Mr. Justice?” Without
waning for a reply, Stone walked to Wellfleet’s desk
as he removed his billfold and pulled out the small
piece of paper with a number in Cuxhaven, West
Germany, written on it. He turned the phone
around under the harsh gaze of the Supreme Court
justice, picked it up and dialed. The sequence of
transatlantic relays was intolerable. It rang.
“Rebel?”
The explosive invective over the line from half
a world away could be heard even by Simon and
Wellfleet. Stone broke it off. “Stop it, Johnny! I
haven’t been near the hotel in hours and I haven’t
time for this! . . . You what?” The CIA man
listened, holding his breath, his eyes growing wide.
He covered the mouthpiece and turned to Nathan
Simon. “My God, there’s a breakthrough!” he
whispered. “Photographs. Infrared, taken last night
and developed this morning all clear. Ninety-seven
men from Scharhorn getting off a boat, heading for
the airport and train station. He thinks they’re the
hit teams.”
“Get those photographs to Brussels and flown to
Washington on the fastest goddamned military
transport you can find!” ordered the venerated
justice of the Supreme Court.
39
“Preposterous!” shouted General Jacques-Louis
Bertholdier from the brocaded wing chair in the
spacious study of the Alpine chateau. “I don’t
believe you for a minute'”
“That’s a favorite word of yours, isn’t it?” said
Converse, standing by the open cathedral window
across the room, the mountain fields beyond. He
was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and a
regimental tie, all purchased in Chamonix. “The
word ‘preposterous,’ I mean,” he continued. “You
used it at least twice when we spoke in Paris, I