two are registered in his name at Das Rektorat! He
is how we found Converse!”
‘There was no attempt to conceal the name?”
“On the contrary, he used his papers to gain
entrance!”
“How bloody third-rate,” said London,
bewildered. “Or how downright sure of himself,”
added the Britisher, his tone changing. “A signal? No
one dares touch him?”
“Unsinn!It’s not so.”
“Why not?”
“He spoke to Peregrine, the ambassador. Our
man was there. Peregrine wanted to take him,
wanted him brought forcibly to the embassy. There
were complications; he got away.”
“Our man wasn’t very good, then.”
“An obstruction. Some Schauspieler an actor.
Peregrine will not discuss the incident. He says
nothing.”
“Which means no one will touch his naval officer
from California,” concluded London. “There’s a very
good reason.
“What is it?”
“He’s the brother-in-law of Preston Halliday.”
“Geneva! Mein Gott, they are into us!”
“Someone is, but not anyone with a great deal of
information. I agreed with Palo Alto, who also
agrees with our specialist in the Mossad with
Abrahms, as well.”
“The Jew? What does the Jew say? What does he
say?”
“He claims this Converse is an agent flying blind
out of Washington.”
“What more do you need ?”
“He is not to leave your house. Instructions will
follow.”
Stunned, Undersecretary of State Brewster
Tolland hung up the phone, sank back in his chair,
then shot forward and pressed the appropriate
buttons on his console.
“Chesapeake,” said the female voice. “Code, please?”
“Six thousand,” said Tolland. “May I speak with
Consular Operations, Station Eight, please?”
“Station Eight requires ”
“Plantagenet,” interrupted the Undersecretary.
“Right away, sir.”
“What is it, Six thousand?”
274 ROBERT LUDLUM
‘Cut the horseshit, Harry, this is Brew. What
have you got running in Bonn we don’t know
about?”
“Off the top of my head, nothing.”
“How far off the top is that?”
“No, it’s straight. You’re current on everything
we’re doing. There was an FRG review yesterday
morning, and I’d remember if there was anything
that excluded you.”
“You might remember, but if I’m excluded I’m out.”
“That’s right, and I’d tell you as much if only to
keep you out, you know that. What’s your
problem?”
“I just got off the scrambler with a very angry
ambassador, who may just call a very old friend at
Sixteen Hundred.”
“Peregrine? What’s his problem?”
“If it’s not you, then someone’s playing Cons Op.
It’s supposedly a covert investigation of the
embassy his embassy somehow connected with
the Navy Department.”
“The Navy? That’s crazy I mean dumb crazyl
Bonn’s a port?”
“Actually, I suppose it is.”
“I never heard of the Bismarek or the Graf Spee
steaming around the Rhine. No way, Brew. We
don’t have anything like that and we wouldn’t have.
Do you have any names?”
“Yes, one,” replied Tolland, looking down at a
pad with hastily scribbled notes on it. “An attorney
named Joel Converse. Who is he, Harry?”
“For Christ’s sake, I never heard of him. What’s
the naval angle?”
“Someone who claims to be the chief legal
officer of a major Navy base with the rank of
lieutenant commander.”
“Claims to be?”
“Well, before that he passed himself off as a
military attache working at the embassy.”
“Somewhere the inmates broke out of a home.”
“This isn’t funny, Harry. Peregrine s no fool. He
may be a vanity appointment, but he’s damned good
and he’s damned smart. He says these people aren’t
only real but may know something he doesn’t.”
“What does he base that on?”
“First, the opinion of a man who’s met this
Converse ”
“Who?” interrupted Harry of Station Eight
“He won’t say, just that he trusts him, trusts his
judgment. This person with no name says Converse
is a highly qualified, very troubled man, not a black
hat.”
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 275
“A what?”
“That was the term Peregrine used. Obviously
someone who’s okay. ‘
“What else?”
“What Peregrine calls isolated odd behavior in
his personnel ranks. He wouldn’t elaborate; he says
he’ll discuss it with the Secretary or Sixteen Hundred
if I can’t satisfy him. He wants answers fast, and we
don’t want to rock the boat over there.”
“I’ll try to help,” said Harry. “Maybe it’s
something from Langley or Arlington the bastards!
I can run a check on the Navy’s chief legals in an
hour, and I’m sure the ABA can tell us who
Converse is if he is. At least narrow him down if
there’s more than one.”
“Get back to me. I haven’t got much time and we
don’t want the White House raising its voice.”
“The last thing ever,” agreed the director of
Consular Operations, the State Department’s branch
of foreign clandestine activities.
‘Try that on for legal size!” shouted Rear
Admiral Hickman, standing by the window, angrily
addressing a rigid pale-faced David Remington. ‘And
tell me with as few goddamned details as possible
how it fits!”
“I find it impossible to believe, sir. I spoke with
him yesterday at noon and then again last
evening. He was in Sonoma!”
“So did 1, Lieutenant. And whenever there was
a scratching or an echo, what were the words? All
that rain in the hills screwed up the telephone lines!”
“Those were the words, sir.”
“He passed through Dusseldorf immigration two
days ago! He’s now in Bonn, Germany, with a man
he swore to me had something to do with his
brother-in-law’s death. The same man he’s protecting
by putting a clamp on that flag. This Converse!”
“I don’t know what to say, sir.”
“Well, the State Department does and so do 1.
They’re pushing through that vet-delay or whatever
the hell you called it in your legalese.”
“It’s vetted material, sir. It simply means ”
“I don’t want to hear, Lieutenant,” said Hickman,
head
276 ROBERT LUDLUM
ingback to his desk, adding under his breath. “Do
you know how much you bastards cost me for the
two divorces?”
“I beg your pardon, sir?”
“Never mind. I want that flag released. I brought
Fitz on board here. I gave him his striper and the
son of a bitch lied to me. He not only lied, he did it
ten thousand miles away lying about where he was
when he knew he shouldn’t be there without my
authorizationt He knew itl . . . Do you have any
objections, Lieutenant? Something you can put into
a sentence or two that won’t require my bringing in
three other legals to translate?”
Lieutenant Remington, one of the finest lawyers
in the United States Navy, knew when to put the
engines in reverse. Legal ethics had been violated
by misinformation, the course was clear. Aggressive
retreat with full boilers or nuclear power, he
supposed, although he did not really know. “I’ll
personally accelerate the vet-delay, Admiral. As the
officer responsible for the secondary CLO statute,
I’ll make it clear that the direct order is now subject
to immediate cancellation. No such order can or
should originate under questionable circumstances.
Legally ”
“That will be all, Lieutenant,” said the Admiral,
cutting off his subordinate and sitting down.
“Yes, sir.”
“No, that isn’t allI” continued Hickman, abruptly
leaning forward. “How’s that transcript released,
and how soon can you expect it?”
“With State’s input it’ll only be a matter of
hours, sir, noon or shortly afterwards, I’d guess. A
classified teletype will be sent to those requesting
the Hag. However, since SAND PAC has only
placed a restriction and not a request ”
“Request it, Lieutenant. Bring it up to me the
minute it gets here and don’t leave the base until it
does.”
“Aye, aye, sirI”
The deep-red Mercedes limousine weaved down
the curving road inside the massive gates of Erich
Leifhelm’s estate. The late-afternoon orange sun
filtered diagonally through the tall trees, which not
only bordered the road but were everywhere beyond
on both sides. The drive might have been restful
had it not been for a sight that made the whole
scene grotesque: racing alongside the car were at
least a half-dozen giant Dobermans, not one of
them making a
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 277
sound. There was something unearthly about their
running furiously in silence, black eyes flashing up at
the windows, their jaws wide with rapid, erratic teeth
bared, but no sound emerging from their throats.
Somehow Converse knew that if he stepped out of
the car without the proper commands being issued,
the powerful dogs would tear him to pieces.
The limousine pulled into a long circular drive
that fronted wide brown marble steps leading to an
arched doorway, the heavy panels covered with dark
bas-relief a remnant of some ancient pillaged
cathedral. Standing on the lower step was a man with
a silver whistle raised to his lips. Again there was no
sound a human could hear, but suddenly the animals
abandoned the car and ran to him, flanking him,
facing forward on their haunches, jaws slack, bodies
pulsating.
“Please wait, sir,” said the chauffeur as he
climbed out and ran around to Joel’s door. “If you