The Icarus Agenda

by Ludlum, Robert

  Winters paused, his penetrating grey eyes levelled in turn at each person around the table. 'Perhaps it takes a European deprived of his liberties to understand us, understand the reasons for our being. We are the inheritors of Inver Brass, resurrected in death by those who came before us. We ourselves were to be selected by those men should their attorneys determine that our lives continued in the way they envisaged. When the sealed envelopes were given to each of us, each of us understood. We sought no further advantages from the society we live in, coveted no benefits or positions beyond those we already possess. Through whatever abilities we had, aided by luck, inheritance or the misfortune of others, we had reached a freedom granted to few in this terribly troubled world. But with this freedom comes a responsibility and we accept it, as did our predecessors years ago. It is to use our resources to make this a better country, and through that process hopefully a better world.' Winters leaned back in the armchair, his palms upturned as he shook his head, his voice tentative, even questioning. 'Lord knows, no one elected us, no one anointed us in the name of divine grace, and certainly no bolts of lightning struck down from the heavens revealing any Olympian message, but we do what we do because we can do it. And we do it because we believe in our collective, dispassionate judgment.'

  'Don't be defensive, Sam,' interrupted Margaret Lowell gently. 'We may be privileged, but we're also diverse. We don't represent any single colour of the spectrum.'

  'I'm not sure how to take that, Margaret,' said Gideon Logan, his eyebrows arched in mock surprise as the members of Inver Brass laughed.

  'Dear Gideon,' replied Lowell. 'I never noticed. Palm Beach at this time of year? You're positively sunburned.'

  'Someone had to tend your gardens, madame.'

  'If you did, I'm no doubt homeless.'

  'Conceivably, yes. A consortium of Puerto Rican families has leased the property, madame, a commune, actually.' Quiet laughter rippled across the table. 'I'm sorry, Samuel, our levity isn't called for.'

  'On the contrary,' Jacob Mandel broke in. 'It's a sign of health and perspective. If we ever walk away from laughter, especially over our foibles, we have no business here… If you'll forgive me, the elders in the European pogroms taught that lesson. They called it one of the principles of survival.'

  'They were right, of course,' agreed Sundstrom, still chuckling. 'It puts a distance, however brief, between people and their difficulties. But may we get to the candidate? I'm absolutely fascinated. Sam says he's a brilliant choice, but totally unexpected. I would have thought otherwise, given—as Peg said—the time factor. I thought he'd be someone in the wings, on the political wings of a Pegasus, if you will.'

  'I really must read one of his books someday,' interrupted Mandel again, again softly. 'He sounds like a rabbi but I don't understand him.'

  'Don't try,' said Winters, smiling kindly at Sundstrom.

  'The candidate,' repeated Sundstrom. 'Do I gather that Varak has prepared a presentation?'

  'With his usual regard for detail," answered Winters, moving his head to his left, indicating the glowing red light on the walled console behind him. 'Along the way he's unearthed some rather extraordinary information relating to events that took place a year ago, almost to the day.'

  'Oman?' asked Sundstrom, squinting above the light of his brass lamp. 'Memorial services were held in over a dozen cities last week.'

  'Let Mr. Varak explain,' said the white-haired historian as he pressed an inlaid button on the surface of the table. The low sound of a buzzer filled the room; seconds later the library door opened and a stocky blond man in his mid to late thirties walked into the shadowed light and stood in the frame. He was dressed in a tan summer suit and a dark red tie; his broad shoulders seemed to stretch the fabric of his jacket. 'We're ready, Mr. Varak. Please come in.'

  'Thank you, sir.' Milos Varak closed the door, shutting out the dim light of the hallway beyond, and proceeded to the far end of the room. Standing in front of the lowered silver screen, he nodded courteously, acknowledging the members of Inver Brass. The glare of the brass lamps that reflected off the glistening table washed over his face, heightening the prominent cheekbones and the broad forehead below the full head of neatly combed straight blond hair. His eyelids were vaguely sloped, bespeaking a Slavic ancestry influenced by the tribes of Eastern Europe; the eyes within them were calm, knowing, and somehow cold. 'May I say it is good to see all of you again?' he said, his English precise, in his voice the accent of Prague.

  'It's good to see you, Milos,' countered Jacob Mandel, saying the name with the proper Czech pronunciation, which was 'Meelos'. The others followed with brief utterances.

  'Varak.' Sundstrom leaned back in his chair.

  'You look well, Milos.' Gideon Logan nodded.

  'He looks like a football player.' Margaret Lowell smiled. 'Don't let the Redskins see you. They need linebackers.'

  'The game is far too confusing for me, madame'

  'For them, too

  'I've told everyone about your progress,' said Winters, adding softly, 'as you believe your progress to be Before revealing the identity of the man you're submitting to us, would you care to review the guidelines'"

  'I would, sir ' Varak's eyes roamed around the table as he collected his thoughts 'To begin with, your man should be physically attractive but not “pretty” or feminine. Someone who meets the maximum requirements of your image-makers—anything less would present too many obstacles for the time we have. Therefore, a man men identify with the masculine virtues of this society and women find appealing. Nor should he be an ideologue unacceptable to vocal segments of the electorate. Further, he must give the appearance of being what you call “his own man”, above being bought by special interests and with a background to support that judgment. Naturally, he should have no damaging secrets to hide. Finally, the superficial is a most vital aspect of the search. Our man must have those appealing personal qualities that can help propel him into the political spotlight through accelerated public exposure. A figure of real or projected warmth and quiet humour, with documented acts of courage in his past but nothing he would exploit to overshadow the President.’

  'His people wouldn't accept that,' said Eric Sundstrom.

  'In any event, they won't have a choice, sir,’ answered Varak, his voice softly convincing. 'The manipulation will take place in four stages. Within three months our basically anonymous man will rapidly become visible, within six months he will be relatively well known, and at the end of the year he will have a recognition quotient on a par with the leaders of the Senate and the House, the same demographics targeted. These may be considered phases one through three. The fourth phase, several months before the conventions, will be capped by appearances on the covers of Time and Newsweek as well as laudatory editorials in the major newspapers and on TV. With the proper financing in the required areas, all this can be guaranteed ' Varak paused, then added, 'Guaranteed, that is, with the proper candidate, and I believe we've found him.'

  The members of Inver Brass stared at their Czech coordinator in mild astonishment, then cautiously looked at one another.

  'If we have," offered Margaret Lowell, 'and he comes down off the mountain, I'll marry him.'

  'So will I,' said Gideon Logan 'Mixed marriages be damned.'

  'Forgive me,' interrupted Varak, 'I did not mean to romanticize the prospect. He's quite a normal person, the qualities I attributed to him are mostly a result of the confidence born of his wealth, which he earned by extremely hard work and taking risks in the right places at the right times. He's comfortable with himself and others because he seeks nothing from others and knows what he is capable of himself.'

  'Who is he?'' asked Mandel.

  'May I show him to you?'' said Varak, speaking respectfully without replying as he took a remote control unit from his pocket and stepped away from the screen. 'It's possible some of you may recognize him, and I shall have to take back my remark about his anonymity.'

  A bolt of li
ght shot out from the console and the face of Evan Kendrick filled the screen. The photograph was in colour, accentuating Kendrick's deep tan as well as the stubble of a beard and the strands of light brown hair that crept down over his ears and the back of his neck. He was squinting into the sun, looking across water, his expression at once studious and apprehensive.

  'He looks like a hippie,' said Margaret Lowell.

  'The circumstances may explain your reaction,' answered Varak. 'This was taken last week, the fourth week of an annual journey he makes down the rivers of white water in the Rocky Mountains. He goes alone without company or a guide. ' The Czechoslovakian proceeded to advance the slides, giving each a beat of several seconds. The photographs showed Kendrick in various scenes of riding the rapids, on several occasions strenuously balancing his PVC craft and careening between the treacherous intrusion of jagged rocks, surrounded by sprays of wild water and foam. The mountain forests in the background served to emphasize the perilous smallness of man and his vessel against the unpredictable massiveness of nature.

  'Wait a minute!' cried Samuel Winters, now peering through tortoiseshell glasses. 'Hold that one,' he continued, studying the photograph. 'You never said anything about this to me. He's rounding the bend heading towards the base camp below the Lava Falls.'

  'Correct, sir.'

  'Then he must have passed through the Class Five rapids above.'

  'Yes, sir. '

  'Without a guide?’

  'Yes.'

  'He's crazy! Several decades ago I rode those waters with two guides and I was frightened to death. Why would he do it?'

  'He's been doing it for years—whenever he came back to the United States.'

  'Came back?' Jacob Mandel leaned forward.

  'Until about six years ago he was a construction engineer and developer. His work was centered on the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. That part of the world is as far removed from the mountains and the rivers as one can imagine. I think he simply found a certain relief with the change of scenery. He'd spend a week or so on business then head out to the Northwest.'

  'Alone, you say,' said Eric Sundstrom.

  'Not in those days, sir. He'd frequently take a female companion.'

  'Then he's obviously not a homosexual,' observed the only female member of Inver Brass.

  'I never meant to imply that he was.'

  'Nor did you mention anything about a wife or a family, which I'd think would be an important consideration. You simply said he now travels alone on what are obviously holidays.'

  'He's a bachelor, madame.'

  'That could be a problem,' inserted Sundstrom.

  'Not necessarily, sir. We have two years to address the situation, and given the probability factors, a marriage during an election year might have a certain appeal.'

  'With the most popular President in history in attendance, no doubt,' said Gideon Logan, chuckling.

  'It's not beyond possibility, sir.'

  'My God, you're covering the bases, Milos.'

  'A moment, please.' Mandel adjusted his steel-rimmed glasses. 'You say he worked in the Mediterranean six years ago.'

  'He was in production then. He sold the company and left the Middle East.'

  'Why was that?'

  'A tragic accident occurred that took the lives of nearly all his employees and their entire families. The loss profoundly affected him.'

  'Was he responsible?' continued the stockbroker.

  'Not at all. Another firm was charged with using inferior equipment.'

  'Did he in any way profit from the tragedy?' asked Mandel, his gentle eyes suddenly hard.

  'On the contrary, sir, I checked that out thoroughly. He sold the company for less than half its market value. Even the attorneys for the conglomerate that bought him out were astonished. They were authorized to pay three times the price.'

  The eyes of Inver Brass returned to the large screen and the photograph of a man and his craft careening around a wild bend in the rapids.

  'Who took these?' asked Logan.

  'I did, sir,' replied Varak. 'I tracked him. He never saw me.'

  The slides continued, and suddenly there was an abrupt change. The 'prospect' was no longer seen in the rugged clothes of the white water rapids or in day's-end fatigues and T-shirts around a campfire, cooking alone over the flames. He was now photographed clean-shaven, his hair cut and combed, and dressed in a dark business suit, walking up a familiar street, an attaché case in his hand.

  'That's Washington,' said Eric Sundstrom.

  'Now it's the steps leading up to the Rotunda,' added Logan with the next slide.

  'He's on the Hill,' interjected Mandel.

  'I know him!' said Sundstrom, the fingers of his right hand pressing into his temples. 'I know the face, and there's a story behind that face but I don't know what it is.'

  'Not the story I'm about to tell you, sir.'

  'All right, Milos.' Margaret Lowell's voice was adamant. 'Enough's enough. Who the hell is he?'

  'His name is Kendrick. Evan Kendrick. He's the representative from the ninth district of Colorado.'

  'A congressman?' exclaimed Jacob Mandel, as the photograph of Kendrick on the Capitol's steps remained on the screen. 'I've never heard of him, and I thought I knew just about everyone up there. By name, of course, not personally.'

  'He's relatively new, sir, and his election was not widely covered. He ran on the President's party line because in that district the opposition is nonexistent—winning the primary is tantamount to election. I mention this because the congressman does not appear to be philosophically in tune with numerous White House policies. He avoided national issues during the primary.'

  'Are you suggesting,' Gideon Logan asked, 'he has true independence and integrity?'

  'In a very quiet way, yes.'

  'Quiet and new and with a somewhat less than imposing constituency,' said Sundstrom. 'From that point of view your anonymity's safe. Too safe, perhaps. There's nothing more dismissible in political prime time than a newly elected, unheard-of congressman from an unknown district. Denver's in the first, Boulder the second and the Springs in the fifth. Where's the ninth?'

  'Southwest of Telluride, near the Utah border,' replied Jacob Mandel, shrugging as if apologizing for his knowledge. 'There were some mining stocks, very speculative, that we looked into several years ago. But that man on the screen is not the congressman we met and who tried rather desperately to persuade us to underwrite the issues.'

  'Did you underwrite them, sir?' asked Varak.

  'No, we did not,' answered Mandel. 'Frankly, the speculation went beyond the calculated risks of venture capital.'

  'What you call in America a possible “scam”?'

  'We had no proof, Milos. We just backed away.'

  'But the congressional representative from that district did his best to enlist your support?'

  'Indeed he did.'

  'That is why Evan Kendrick is now the congressman, sir.'

  'Oh?'

  'Eric,' interrupted Gideon Logan, shifting his large head to look at the academic inventor of space technology. 'You said you knew him, at least his face.'

  'I do, I'm sure I do. Now that Varak's told us who he is, I think I met him at one of those interminable cocktail parties in Washington or Georgetown, and I distinctly remember that someone said there was quite a story behind him… That was it. I never heard the story; it was simply a statement.'

  'But Milos said that whatever story you had in mind wasn't the one he was going to tell us,' said Margaret Lowell. 'Isn't that right?' she added, looking at Varak.

  'Yes, madame. The remark made to Professor Sundstrom undoubtedly concerned the nature of Kendrick's election. He literally bought it in anger, burying his opponent under an avalanche of local advertising and a series of expensive rallies that were more public circuses than political assemblies. It was said that when the incumbent complained that the election laws were being violated, Kendrick confronted him wi
th his attorneys—not to discuss the campaign but, instead, his opponent's performance in office. The complaints instantly stopped and Kendrick won handily.'

  'One could say he puts his money where his indignation is,' remarked Winters quietly. 'However, you have a far more fascinating bit of information for us, Mr. Varak, and since I've heard it, I'll repeat what I said before. It's extraordinary. Please go on.'

  'Yes, sir.' The Czech pressed the remote control and with a muted slap the next photograph appeared on the screen. Kendrick and the Rotunda steps disappeared, replaced by an overview of hysterical crowds racing down a narrow street flanked by buildings of obviously Islamic character, past shops with signs in Arabic above them.

  'Oman,' said Eric Sundstrom, glancing at Winters. 'A year ago.' The historian-spokesman nodded.

  The slides followed quickly, one after the other, depicting scenes of chaos and carnage. There were bullet-ridden corpses and shell-pocked walls, torn down embassy gates and rows of kneeling terrified hostages behind a rooftop screen of latticework; there were close-ups of shrieking young people brandishing weapons, their mouths gaping in triumph, their zealous eyes wild. Suddenly the rushing slides stopped and the attention of Inver Brass was abruptly riveted on a slide that seemed to have little relevance. It showed a tall, dark-skinned man in long white robes, his head covered by a ghotra, his face in profile, walking out of a hotel; then the screen was split, a second photograph showing the same man rushing across an Arab bazaar in front of a fountain. The photographs remained on the screen; the bewildered silence was broken by Milos Varak.