will step out, please, and take two paces away from
the car. Only two paces, sir.” The chauffeur now held
in his hand a black object with a rounded metal tube
extending from the front of the instrument, not
unlike a miniaturised electric charcoal starter.
“What’s that?” asked Converse.
“Protection, sir. For you, sir. The dogs, sir. They
are trained to sense heavy metal.”
Joel stood there as the German moved the
electronic detector over his clothes, including his
shoes, his inner thighs and the back of his waist. “Do
you people really think I’d come out here with a
gun?”
“I do not think, sir. I do as I am told.”
‘How original,” mumbled Converse as he
watched the man on the marble step raise the silver
whistle again to his lips. As one, the phalanx of
Dobermans suddenly leaped forward. In panic, Joel
grabbed the chauffeur, spinning the German in front
of him. There was no resistance; the man simply
turned his head and grinned as the dogs veered to
the right and raced around the circular drive into the
approach road cut out of the forest.
“Don’t apologize, mein Herr, ” said the chauffeur.
“It happens often.”
“I wasn’t going to apologise,” said Converse flatly
as he released the man. “I was going to break your
neck.” The German moved away, and Joel remained
motionless, stunned by
278 ROBERT LUDLUM
his own words. He had not spoken words like that
in over eighteen years.
“This way, sir.” said the man on the steps, his
accent oddly yet distinctly British.
Inside, the great hall was lined with medieval
banners hanging down from an interior balcony.
The hal] led into an immense sitting room, the
motif again medieval, made comfortable by soft
leather chairs and couches, gaily fringed lamps and
silver services everywhere on thin polished tables.
The room was also made ugly by the profusion of
protruding animals’heads on the upper walls; large
cats, elephants and boar looked down in defiant
anger. It was a field marshal’s lair.
It was not, however, the furnishings that
absorbed Converse’s attention but the sight of the
four men who stood beside four separate chairs
facing him.
He knew Bertholdier and LeifLelm; they stood
beside each other on the right. It was the two on
the left he stared at. The medium-sized, stocky man
with the fringe of close-cropped hair on a balding
head and wearing a rumpled safari jacket, the
ever-present boots below his khaki trousers, could
be no one but Chaim Abrahms. His pouched, angry
face with its slits of glaring eyes was the face of an
avenger. The very tall man with the gaunt, aquiline
features and the straight grey hair was General Jan
van Headmer, the Slayer of Soweto. Joel had read
the Van Headmer dossier quickly; fortunately it was
the briefest, the final summary saying it all.
In essence, Van Headmer is a Cape Town
aristocrat, an Afrikaner who has never really
accepted the British, to say nothing of the tribal
blacks. His convictions are rooted in a reality that
for him is unshakable. His forebears carved out a
savage land under savage conditions and at a great
loss of life brutally taken by savages. His thinking is
unalterably that of the late-nineteenth and
early-twentieth centuries. He will not accept the
sociological and political in
~roads made by the more educated Bantus because
he will never consider them anything more than
bush primitives. When he orders austere
deprivations and mass executions, he thinks he is
dealing only with subhuman animals. It is this
thinking that led him to be jailed along with Prime
Minister Verwoerd and the racist Vorster during
World War II. He con
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 279
curred wholeheartedly with the Nazi concept of su
perior races. His close association with Chaim
Abrahms is the single difference between him and
the Nazis, and not a contradiction for him. The
sabres carved a land out of a primitive Palestine;
their history parallels his country’s, and both men
take pride in their strength and respective
accomplishments. Van Headmer, incidentally, is one
of the most charming men one could meet. On the
surface he is cultured, extremely courteous and
always willing to listen. Underneath, he is an
unfeeling killer, and he is Delavane’s key figure in
South Africa with its vast resources.
“Mein Haus ist dein Haus,” said LeifLelm, walking
toward Joel, his hand outstretched.
Converse stepped forward to accept the
German’s hand. Their hands clasped. “That was an
odd greeting outside for such a warm sentiment,”
said Joel, abruptly releasing Leifhelm’s hand and
turning to Bertholdier. “Good to see you again,
General. My apologies for the unfortunate incident
in Paris the other night. I don’t mean to speak lightly
of a man’s life, but in those few split seconds I didn’t
think he had much regard for mine.”
Joel’s boldness had the desired effect.
Bertholdier stared at him, momentarily unsure of
what to say. And Converse was aware that the other
three men were watching him intently without
question struck by his audacity, in both manners and
words.
“To be sure, monsieur,” said the Frenchman,
pointlessly but with composure. ‘As you know, the
man disregarded his orders.”
“Really? I was told he misunderstood them.”
“It is the samel” The sharp, heavily accented
voice came from behind.
Joel turned around. ‘Is it?” he asked coldly.
“In the field, yes,” said Chaim Abrahms. “Either
one is an error, and errors are paid for with lives.
The man paid with his.”
“May I introduce Ceneral Abrahms?” Leifhelm
broke in touching Converse’s elbow and leading him
to the Israeli.
“General Abrahms, it’s a privilege,” said Joel with
convincing sincerity as they shook hands. “Like
everyone here,
280 ROBERT LUDLUM
I’ve admired you tremendously, although perhaps
your rhetoric has been excessive at times.”
The Israeli’s face reddened as soft laughter filled
the large room. Suddenly Van Headmer stepped
forward, and Converse’s eyes were drawn to the
strong face, the brows frowning, muscles taut.
“You are addressing one of my closest
associates, sir,” he said; the rebuke was
unmistakable. Then a thin smile creased his gaunt,
chiseled face. “And I could not have said it better
myself. A pleasure to know you, young man.” The
Afrikaner’s hand was stretched toward Joel, who
accepted it amid the subdued laughter.
“I am insulted!” cried Abrahms, his thick
eyebrows raised, his head bobbing in mock despair.
“By talkers I’m insulted! Frankly, Mr. Converse, they
agree with you because none of them has had a
woman in a quarter of a century. They may tell you
otherwise others may tell you otherwise but
believe me they hire whores to play cards with them
or read stories into their old grey ears just to fool
their friends!” The laughter grew louder, and the
Israeli, now playing to an audience, went on,
leaning forward and pretending to speak sotto voce
to Joel. ‘But you see, I hire the whores to tell me
the truth while I shtup them! They tell me these
fancy talkers nod off by nine o’clock, whining for
warm milk. With the Ovaltine, if it’s possible!”
“My dear sabre,” said Leifhelm, talking through
his laughter, “you read your own romantic fiction
too assiduously. ‘
“You see what I mean, Converse?” asked
Abrahms shrugging, palms extended. “You hear
that? ‘Assiduously. Now you know why the Germans
lost the war. They forever spoke so dramatically of
the Blitzkrieg and the AngrifJ:e, but actually they
were talking assiduously about what to do next!”
“They should have given you a commission,
Chaim,” said Bertholdier, enjoying himself. “You
could have changed your name, called Rommel and
Von Runstedt Jews and taken over both fronts.”
“The High Command could have done worse,”
agreed the Israeli.
“I wonder, though,” continued the Frenchman,
“if you would have stopped there? Hitler was a fine
orator, as you are
THE AQUITAINE PROGRESSION 281
a fine orator. Perhaps you would have claimed that
he, too, was a Jew and moved into the chancellery.”
“Oh, I have it on good authority that he was a
Jew. But from a very bad family. Even we have them;
of course, they’re all from Europe.”
The laughter grew again and then rapidly began
to subside. Joel took the cue. “Sometimes I speak
too frankly, General,” he said. ‘I should learn better,
but, believe me, no insult was intended. I have
nothing but admiration for your stated positions,
your policies.”
“And that’s precisely what we shall discuss,” said
Erich Leifhelm, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Positions, policies, overall philosophy, if you will.
We will stay as far away from specifics as we can,
although a few will undoubtedly intrude. However,
it is our approach to the larger abstractions that
count. Come, Mr. Converse, have a chair. Let us
begin our conference, the first of many, I trust.”
Rear Admiral Hickman slowly put down the
transcript on his desk, and looked aimlessly past his
propped-up feet out the window at the ocean under
a grey sky. He crossed his. arms, lowered his head