Mary looked at Mike for a long time. Finally she spoke.
“How does a Judas goat dress?”
30
At the embassy, in Colonel McKinney’s office, two dozen marines were being given their orders.
“I want the residence guarded like Fort Knox,” Colonel McKinney snapped. “The Romanians are being cooperative. Ionescu is having his soldiers cordon off the square. No one gets through the line without a pass. We’ll have our own checkpoints at every entrance to the residence. Anyone going in or out will have to pass through a metal detector. The building and grounds will be completely surrounded. We’ll have snipers on the roof. Any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
There was a tremendous feeling of excitement in the air. Huge spotlights ringed the residence, lighting up the sky. The crowd was kept moving by a detachment of American MPs and Romanian police. Plainclothesmen mingled with the multitude, looking for anything suspicious. Some of them moved around with trained police dogs sniffing for explosives.
The press coverage was enormous. There were photographers and reporters from a dozen countries. They had all been carefully checked, and their equipment searched, before they were allowed to enter the residence.
“A cockroach couldn’t sneak into this place tonight,” the marine officer in charge of security boasted.
In the storage room, the marine corporal was getting bored watching the person in army fatigues filling up the balloons. He pulled out a cigarette and started to light it.
Angel yelled, “Put that out!”
The marine looked up, startled. “What’s the problem? You’re filling those with helium, aren’t you? Helium doesn’t burn.”
“Put it out! Colonel McKinney said no smoking here.”
The marine grumbled, “Shit.” He dropped the cigarette and put it out with the sole of his shoe.
Angel watched to make sure there were no sparks left, then turned back to the task of filling each balloon from a different cylinder.
It was true that helium did not burn, but none of the cylinders was filled with helium. The first tank was filled with propane, the second tank with white phosphorus, and the third with an oxygen-acetylene mix. Angel had left just enough helium in each tank the night before to make the balloons rise.
Angel was filling the white balloons with propane, the red balloons with oxygen-acetylene, and the blue balloons with white phosphorus. When the balloons were exploded, the white phosphorus would act as an incendiary for the initial gas discharge, drawing in oxygen so that all breath would be sucked out of the body of everyone within fifty yards. The phosphorus would instantly turn to a hot, searing, molten liquid, falling on every person in the room. The thermal effect would destroy the lungs and throat, and the blast would flatten an area of a square block. It’s going to be beautiful.
Angel straightened up and looked at the colorful balloons floating against the ceiling of the storage room. “I am finished.”
“Okay,” the corporal said. “Now all we have to do is push these babies out into the ballroom and let the guests have some fun.” The corporal called over four guards. “Help me get these balloons out there.”
One of the guards opened wide the doors to the ballroom. The room had been decorated with American flags and red, white, and blue bunting. At the far end was the raised stand for the band. The ballroom was already crowded with guests helping themselves at the buffet tables set up along both sides of the room.
“It’s a lovely room,” Angel said. In one hour, it will be filled with burned corpses. “Could I take a picture of it?”
The corporal shrugged. “Why not? Let’s go, fellas.”
The marines pushed past Angel and started shoving the inflated balloons into the ballroom, watching as they floated to the ceiling high above.
“Easy,” Angel warned. “Easy.”
“Don’t worry,” a marine called. “We won’t break your precious balloons.”
Angel stood in the doorway, staring at the riot of colors ascending in a rising rainbow, and smiled. One thousand of the lethal little beauties nestled against the ceiling. Angel took a camera from a pocket and stepped into the ballroom.
“Hey! You’re not allowed in here,” the corporal said.