She Started To Get Back Up. Angrily, Georgiev Swung Toward The Woman. He Pointed His Gun At Her Head And Walked Forward. Vandal Backed Away.
“One More Word From You Or Anyone Else And They Will Die,” He Said Through His Teeth. “One More Word.” Georgiev Watched As The Woman’s Nose Flared And Eyes Widened, Just Like The Whores In Cambodia. But She Was Silent. Reluctantly, She Sat Down And Turned Her Attention To The Girl Who’d Tried To Run.
Vandal Lingered A Moment Longer And Then Returneea1 To His Post. Downer Reached Georgiev’s Side At The Sai: Time As Barone. Barone Got Very Close To The Australian. “Are You Insane?” Barone Snarled.
“I Had To Do It!” He Snapped.
“Had To?” He Said, Careful To Keep His Voice Low. “We Were Going To Try Not To Hurt The Children.” “The Mission Would Have Been In Jeopardy If She’d Gotten Away,” Downer Said.
“You Heard Me Yelling, Saw Me Running Toward Her,” Barone Said. “I Would Have Gotten To Her Before She Reached The Outer Door.” “Maybe Yes, Maybe No,” Georgiev Said. “The Important Thing Is, She Didn’t Get Away. Now, Go Back To Your Posts, Both Of You. We’ll Care For Her Here As Best We Can,” Georgiev Said. Barone Glared At Him. “She’s A Young Girl.” Georgiev Glared Back. “No One Told Her To Run!” Barone Was Furiously Silent. “Now We Have A Door Unprotected, And You Should Be Watching For The Fiber-Optic Cable,” Georgiev Said, Quietly. “Or Would You Rather See Our Planning And Effort Lost Because Of That!” He Pointed Toward Barbara. Downer Grunted And Returned To The Top Of The Gallery. Barone Huffed, Shook His Head In Frustration, Then Went Back To The Front Of The Gallery.
Georgiev Watched Them Go. Whether He Liked It Or Not, This Had Changed Things. Crime Is A Mood-Intensifying Effort. Close Quarters Heightens Emotions, And An Unexpected Drama Makes Things Even Worse.
“You Have To Let Me Send Her Out Of Here.” Georgiev Turned. The Asian Woman Was Standing Beside Him. He Hadn’t Even Heard Her Approach.
“No,” He Said. He Was Distracted. He Had To Refocus, Get His Men Back. Push The United Nations Harder. And He Thought He Knew How. “But She’s Going To Bleed To Death,” The Woman Said.
Georgiev Walked Toward One Of The Duffel Bags.
He Didn’t Want The Girl To Die Because It Might Incite A Rebellion. He Pulled A Small Blue Case From Inside And Came Back. He Handed Her The Box. “Use This,” Georgiev Said.
“A First Aid Kit?” The Woman Said. “That Isn’t Going To Help.” “That’s All I Can Give You.” “But There May Be Internal Bleeding, Organ Damage-Was The Woman Said. Downer Waved And Caught Georgiev’s Eye. The Australian Was Pointing Toward The Door.
“You’ll Have To Make Do,” The Bulgarian Said To The Woman And Motioned Vandal Over. When The Frenchman Arrived, Georgiev Told Him To Make Sure The Asian Woman Didn’t Try To Get Out. Then Georgiev Walked Toward The Stairs.
He Stepped Up To Downer. “What Is It?” “She’s Here,” The Australian Whispered Thickly. “The Secretary-General. She Knocked On The Bloody Door And Asked To Come In.” “Is That All She Said?” Georgiev Asked. “That’s All,” Downer Told Him.
Georgiev Looked Past The Australian.
Focus, He Told Himself. Things Had Changed. He Had To Think This Through. If He Let Chatterjee In, Her Efforts Would Become Focused On Getting The Girl Medical Attention, Not On Getting Them The Money. And If He Did Let The Girl Out, The Press Would Find Out That A Child Had Been Hurt, Possibly Killed. There Would Be Increased Pressure For Military Action, Despite The Risks For The Hostages. There Was Also The Chance That The Girl Might Became Conscious In The Hospital. If She Did, She Could Describe The Distribution Of The Men And Hostages To Security Personnel.
Of Course, Georgiev Could Let The Secretary-General In And Refuse To Let The Girl Out.
What Would Chatterjee Do, Risk The Lives Of The Other Children By Refusing To Cooperate? She Might, Georgiev Thought. And Just Having Her Challenge His Authority In Here Might Embolden The Captives Or Else Weaken His Influence Among His Own People.
Georgiev Looked Back At The Hostages. He Had Told The Un How To Contact Him And What To Say When They Did. His Instincts Told Him To Go Downstairs, Get Another One, And Have Him Make The Same Speech The Last Delegate Had Made. Why Should He Change His Plan, Let Them Think He Lacked Resolve?
Because Situations Tike These Are Fluid, He Told Himself.
Then It Came To Him, Suddenly, Like His Best Ideas Always Did. A Way To Give Chatterjee What She Wanted Without Compromising His Demands. He Would See Her. Only Not In The Way She Expected.
Washington, D. C. Saturday, 11:33 Part.
Most Of The Time, Bob Herbert Was An Easygoing Man. Over A Decade And A Half Before, His Injuries And The Loss Of His Wife Had Tossed Him Into A Depression That Lasted For Nearly A Year. But Physical Therapy Helped Him To Overcome Selfpity, And Getting Back To Work At The Cia Bolstered The Sense Of Selfworth That Had Been Destroyed In The Beirut Embassy Explosion.
Since Helping To Organize And Launch Op-Center Nearly Three Years Before, Herbert Had Enjoyed Some Of The Greatest Challenges And Rewards Of His Career. His Wife Would Have Found It Very Amusing That The Chronic Grouch She Had Married, The Man Whose Spirits She’d Always Tried To Raise, Was Known Around The National Crisis Mangement Center As Mr. Upbeat.
Sitting Alone In His Dark Office, Which Was Lit Only By The Glow Of The Computer Monitor, Herbert Was Neither Easygoing Nor Upbeat. He Wasn’t Only Troubled By The Fact That Paul Hood’s Daughter Was One Of The United Nations Hostages. It Wasn’t Only The Knowledge That Situations Like This Invariably Ended In Bloodshed. Sometimes It Happened Quickly, If The Host Nation Or Entity Ousted The Intruders Before They Could Become Entrenched. Sometimes It Happened Slowly, Evolving From A Standoff To A Siege, Which Turned Into An Assault As Soon As A Plan Could Be Formulated. On Those Rare Occasions When A Negotiated Settlement Could Be Reached, It Was Usually Because The Terrorists Had Only Taken Hostages To Get Attention For A Cause. When They Wanted Money Or The Release Of Prisoners-Which Was Most Of The Time-That Was When Things Got Messy. What Bothered Him Most Were Two Things. First, The United Nations Was The Target. It Had Never Been Attacked In This Way, And It Did Not Have A Record Of Taking A Hard Line With Hostile Agencies Under Any Circumstances.
Second, He Was Concerned About The E-Mail He’d Just Received From Darrell Mccaskey About The United Nations Party Roster. What The Hell Kind Of An Organization Were Those International Innocents Running?
Mccaskey Was At The Interpol Office In Madrid. The Former Fbi Agent Had Recently Helped His Friend Luis Garcia De La Vega Break Up The Coup Attempt And Had Stayed On To Spend Some Time With His Injured Associate Maria Corneja. Security Camera Images Of The United Nations Assault Had Been Sent To Interpol To See If Any Attacks In Their Files Matched The Modus Operandi Of This Team. Interpol Had Also Been Sent A List Of Delegates And Guests Who Attended The Security Council Reception. A Half Hour Before, Mccaskey Had Forwarded That Information To Herbert In Washington. All Of The Attendees Were Legitimate Representatives Of Their Nations Though That Did Not, Of Course, Make Them Diplomats. For Over Fifty Years, Innumerable Spies, Smugglers, Assassins, And Drug Runners Had Been Slipped In And Out Of The United States Under The Guise Of Being Diplomats.
However, The United Nations Had Set A New Personal Worst For Not Running Checks On Two Of The Party Guests.
When They Came To The Un Just Two Days Ago, They Had Listed Biographical Data That Could Not Be Corroborated In The Files Of Any Of The Schools Or Businesses They Cited. Either There Hadn’t Been Time For Their Government To Hack Those Files And Insert The Data, Or The Two Didn’t Expect To Be In New York Long Enough To Be Found Out. The Question Herbert Needed To Answer Was, Who Were They?
Mccaskey Had Obtained Their Id Photos From The Deputy Secretary-General Of Administration And Head Of Personnel At The United Nations. When They Were E-Mailed Over, The Op-Center Intelligence Chief Ran The Photographs Through A Database Comprised Of Images Of More Than Twenty Thousand International Terrorists, Foreign Agents, And Smugglers.
The Two Attendees Were In That File.
Herbert Read What Little Personal History Was Available On The Pairthe Real History, Not The Fake Ones They’d Given The United Nations. He Didn’t Know Anything About The People Who Had Taken Over The Security Council Chamber, But He Did Know This: However Bad Those Five Terrorists Were, These Two Could Very Well Be Worse. Herbert Had Been Informed By Striker That They Were Returning To Washington Without General Rodgers Or Colonel August. He Didn’t Know Where August Could Have Gone, But He Knew That Rodgers Was With Hood. With No. Time To Waste, Herbert Called Hood On His Cell Phone.