by Fritz Galt
Ahead of them, Everett skidded to a halt in the parking lot and sprang out of his car.
“So where did you take us?” Natalie asked, and slammed her door. Although she had represented America’s interests at CERN, she wasn’t very familiar with the place, especially its labs and outlying buildings.
But apparently, Everett had become an expert in her absence. “It’s called ALEPH,” he said, pointing straight down. “It’s a particle detector one hundred and fifty feet below us.”
Natalie looked for a way to get down there. All she saw was a cluster of three green buildings with neat white trim.
Everett followed her gaze. “That’s a triple shaft down to a huge vault that houses the detector.”
She let her gaze stray over the bucolic countryside fringed by forests and mottled by the gliding shadows of clouds.
“And why are we here?”
“Checking security precautions,” Everett said. “I visited the three other detectors yesterday. This is the only one left.”
They entered the first building and flashed their blue passes at the guard on duty. Behind that guard stood another guard gripping a rifle.
Natalie approved of the fact that security was doubled, the guards were armed, and they took care to study the photo IDs. When the guard called Security to verify the names on the cards, she was especially pleased that her name and Alec’s name had been removed from the watch list.
The guard let them pass, and the second guard waved the threesome into the small cage of an elevator.
When the elevator finally reached bottom, Natalie felt buried deep in the bowels of the Earth. Fifteen floors of rock and soil lay on top of her. Fortunately, the trusty LEP tunnel just happened to be passing through the subterranean neighborhood.
She looked down both directions of the illuminated tunnel and couldn’t see the end, or even the next bend. They were at the farthest point from CERN’s headquarters in Meyrin, Switzerland, and it felt like it.
The ALEPH machine was shaped like an enormous, multi-story soda can lying on its side. How it worked, she had no idea.
She followed Everett to the far side, where they encountered a young scientist in a white uniform. Beside him sat an amiable-looking soldier in battle fatigues who was just closing the chamber of his rifle.
She recognized the soldier at once. He was Kirby, a Marine guard from the U.S. Embassy in Bern.
He jumped to his feet when they approached. “Good morning, ma’am, sir.”
Everett glanced at his watch. “It’s afternoon.”
“Sorry, sir. Kind of hard to tell down here.”
“How has security been?” Everett asked.
“Tight as a drum, sir. Haven’t seen a thing.”
Everett looked at the gun. “What were you just doing?”
“I was just showing Dr. Stanton how a real accelerator works. I call it a bullet accelerator.”
“Well, keep a sharp lookout. The terrorist might come walking right down this tunnel.”
“Yes, sir.”
Natalie looked skeptically at the scientist. “He seems kind of young to be in charge of all this equipment.”
“We just hired him to keep a watchful eye on things,” Everett said.
While Everett went up to the scientist and engaged him in conversation, Natalie and Alec took a quick inspection tour through the manmade cavern.
The spokes of the ALEPH detector reminded her of the front of a turbine.
“Reminds me of a jet engine about to blow me off my feet.”
Alec gave a small laugh. “Actually, you wouldn’t feel a thing from this baby. Invisible neutrinos would pass straight through your body. And the floor. And the bedrock. And continue out the other side of the Earth.”
“And you need something this big to detect something that small?”
“Yep.”
She returned to Everett and the scientist. “Is it running?”
The scientist shook his head. “She’s shut down for now.” He pointed to a nearby monitor. “See? Luminosity is zero. There are no events, no Z zeros. Definitely no anomalies today.”
“Anybody else around?” Everett asked.
“Just a minimal shift crew today.”
“A quiet day at the old particle accelerator?” Alec said.
“That’s right,” Kirby said. “And that’s the way I like it.”
“Mankind is going nowhere today,” the scientist said.
Everett eyed the machine critically, then looked ready to go. “Well, thanks for helping out today.” He handed over his business card. “Phone me if there’s any trouble.”
“Wait a minute,” Natalie said. Maybe they could make better use of the scientist. “Your name is Dr. Stanton?”
“Stanton Frazier, actually. I’m just a grad student from Florida State.”
“Stanton, why don’t you come with us?” she suggested. “With another pair of eyes, we might be able to spot some real anomalies.”
Stanton looked at Everett for approval.
Everett shrugged. “Okay by me. Sometimes it helps to shake up security.”
“Can I go, too?” Kirby said.
“No.”
“Bye,” Stanton told his Marine buddy.
Kirby gave a half-hearted salute, then turned to Everett with a funny look. “By the way, could you tell me what this terrorist looks like?”
“No,” Everett said. “I don’t have a clue.”
Chapter 55
Alec seemed in a hurry and pulled Natalie and Stanton toward their rental car.
“All this running around seems pointless,” Natalie said. “What we need is a coherent plan.”
Everett paused before jumping into his car. “We’re running out of time for spot checks. The presidential helicopter lands at CERN’s headquarters before sunset.”
“Then we’d better meet you back at the Main Building,” Alec said. “I understand that’s where the event’s being held.”
Natalie was full of questions, but not the scientific kind.
“Alec, you and Stanton can trade notes,” she said. “I’ll ride shotgun with Everett.”
She scooted into the front seat next to Mick’s boss.
“If you need anyone,” Everett called to Alec, “just dial the Control Room for the presidential visit.” He gave Alec the number. “We’re all listed.”
Then the two cars pulled out of the parking lot and headed in separate directions.
As Everett drove in the general direction of Geneva, Natalie began to question everyone’s role in the events leading up to the president’s visit.
Everett looked at her with curiosity. “What’s on your mind?”
“Many things,” she said. “I’m just not sure if it’s my place to question things.”
“Give it a try.”
“Okay. For starters, what’s Mick up to?”
He laughed. “That question was just waiting to come out. To tell you the truth, I can’t say for sure where he is. I know that he’s back in Switzerland.”
“Back from the States? The last time I saw him, he was in Morocco. And after that, Alec saw him heading off to New York.”
“Right. He went to New York, Washington and Tennessee, I believe. But he’s somewhere near us right now. He found a sample of irradiated substrate and traded it to O’Smythe for you and Alec.”
She flinched. All time and space seemed to disappear despite the breeze and the movement of the car. Mick was still alive and on the case, tracking down results from the experiments, meeting with O’Smythe, springing her free.
“So that explains why Proteus let us go,” she whispered. “For the substrate.”
“Yeah. And believe me, Mick dodged a few bullets to get you back. We still aren’t sure if he’s okay. We lost contact with him and don’t know his circumstances at present.”
“As in, Proteus might have him?”
“I can’t say for certain.”
Natalie turned to face him directly. “Ever
ett, pull over right now and look me in the eye.”
He complied and steered for the shoulder.
She had a demand to make. “I want you to tell me if he’s been harmed in any way.”
Everett’s light brown eyes didn’t avoid hers. “I assure you, I’m being totally upfront with you. And if anything terrible happens to him, you’d be the first to know. But don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen.”
She wished she could believe that nothing bad would happen.
And she wished she could believe that Everett was strong enough to deliver bed news if it did. She might have to beat it out of him.
He was too wimpy. No, he was too kind. Something she could learn a thing or two about. She was transfixed by his eyes. “Did anybody ever tell you that you have very sexy eyes?”
“Not you, too,” he said with a note of fear. He gunned the engine and pulled back onto the road. “My wife’s going nuts over all the women I’ve been seeing lately.”
“You haven’t been—”
“No, not that way, I assure you. It’s just been a very unfortunate few weeks. Now, ask me your next question.”
“Next question?” She stared blankly at the countryside they drove through. “Oh, yes. About SATO. How did you find out that I was part of SATO? That information was supposed to be on a need-to-know basis.”
“And I definitely needed to know,” he said. “Elements within SATO were acting against our country’s interests. For one thing, this whole assassination attempt on President Damon came from within SATO.”
She stared at him. “You aren’t serious.”
“I am. Have you ever heard of someone named Robert who works for SATO out of Washington?”
“No. I had one contact, and one contact only.”
“Who was that?”
“I don’t even know. But over time, I began to grow suspicious of him. It seemed to me that he was already briefed on what I was telling him, and he wasn’t particularly interested in the most important information I had to offer. So I eventually broke off communication.”
“Good thing you did.”
“SATO was highly secretive. Scrambled voice machines. Code words. The whole bit. How did you ever crack it?”
“Eli Shaw put two and two together,” Everett said. “You know Eli?”
“Oh, yes. From China. So, was it Eli who figured out that Alec and I were members? Did he turn us in?”
“No. That honor belongs to Mick.”
“Mick turned us in?”
He nodded.
She stared blankly at the alternating green and yellow plots of hay, grain and flax. “He must think I’m a piece of worthless you-know-what.”
Everett didn’t deny it.
“So he freed me, then blew the whistle on me?”
He nodded.
“I can’t say I don’t deserve it,” she said.
“Don’t think of yourself that way. I’m sure you’ve done everything by the book.”
She laughed. “Hardly by the book. But certainly with good intentions.”
“I wonder if Mick will ever see that,” he said, not looking at her.
“You certainly didn’t believe in me at one time. I remember you sending the police after me at the Hilton in Geneva.”
“Well, what would you have done under the circumstances? You were sleeping with the enemy.”
“Sleeping? So that’s what you thought. So what, exactly, was my crime, ‘sleeping’ with someone else or ‘sleeping’ with the enemy?”
He didn’t respond.
“Why didn’t anybody trust me?” she asked.
He busily adjusted the rearview mirror.
“You still think I’m a slut. Don’t you.”
“Let’s put it this way: I wouldn’t have used your methods.”
“Stop this car, Stop right now. I’m getting out. I’ll walk to the hotel myself, thank you.”
He didn’t stop the car.
“I mean it. Pull over.”
He pulled over, braked and waited for her, his eyes staring straight ahead.
She jumped out and slammed her door. Glaring down at him through the open convertible, she thought of a few choice words. But anger wasn’t the strongest emotion welling up within her. It was a feeling of hurt, of being wrongly accused.
“How can I ever prove to you guys that I never once slept with that jerk? That I didn’t aid him in any way. I loathed him. I despised him. There wasn’t a minute I didn’t want to crack his skull open and be done with it. But I had my duty. I had a husband’s life to save. I had a brother-in-law’s life to save. I even had a president’s life to save. And believe it or not, I never stepped beyond the call of duty. Don’t you understand my taking a little initiative? What would you have done if Estrella were kidnapped, for God’s sake?”
He was smiling.
“What are you smiling at?” she shouted at him.
“I wish I could say the same things to Estrella. She and Mick can’t see past their jealousy.”
She stomped a foot and looked around. He was right. Mick was jealous. Damned jealous, and she couldn’t give him reason not to be. But she didn’t want to, either, because she was equally jealous of Mick. Tromping off with some broad in a miniskirt and leaving her to the enemy. How could she help but feel jealous?
Several trucks whooshed past, and her hair flew in her eyes. Long strands remained plastered to her cheeks, caught in the trail of tears.
Everett’s car door opened. Then, she felt a big hand with a light touch on her shoulder.
His deep voice felt like a balm to her wildly oscillating emotions. “Nobody’s cornered the market on virtue,” he said. “We all feel jealous at times.”
“Me, more than others, I’m afraid.” Her tears were mixed with laughter at herself. What a clown she was.
A car streaked past, horn blaring. Men cried out lewd and insinuating comments from the open windows.
“Oh, screw you,” she shouted after it.
Then she looked at Everett. He was shaking his head with a pained look.
His arm was still around her.
“You are a naughty old man,” she told him. “Get your hands off me.”
“See?” he said. “That’s exactly what I’ve been facing for the past two weeks. Everyone’s been on my case.”
“I can see why.”
Slowly, they returned to the car.
Everett sat there for a full minute before starting the engine. Natalie could tell that his life was in as much disarray as hers.
She waited patiently, the circular motifs of the little cockpit restoring some order to her thoughts.
“Okay,” she said at last. “We’ve got a potential assassin on the loose.”
He seemed to snap out of his gloom.
“I know what he looks like,” she said, “acts like, talks like.”
“Then we can use you.”
What a relief. She took a deep breath. “What can I do to help?”
“Lots,” he said, and put the car in gear.
As they gained speed, she listened closely, her hair whipped by the wind.
Paul Schroeder, Everett explained, acted as chief liaison on the ground with the Secret Service. Alfred Mann, the seasoned political chief, personally handled protocol for the ambassador. That left Everett free to follow his hunches, which amounted to speeding indiscriminately from site to site.
His speech was interrupted by his mobile phone.
“Excuse me.” He pulled it out. “Hello?”
His eyebrows shot up. “That’s great. See you soon.”
He turned to her.
“Good news from Paul. He just heard from Mick.”
“Thank God. Is he safe?”
“Apparently.”
“Where is he? I want to see him.”
“Paul had no idea where he was. And Mick was being evasive. It sounded like he was calling from a public phone.”
“Like here in Switzerland?”
“Most likely
. He requested security clearance.” He looked at her significantly. “I take that to mean he’ll show up sometime tonight. Entrance B has his name.”
“I’ll wait there.”
“You have other business to attend to this evening,” he said, looking at a set of road signs. “Where are you staying?”
“Meyrin.”
“I’ll take you there.”
She noticed that the countryside was giving way to small clusters of buildings.
So Mick had been to New York. She tried to picture her husband walking through the deep canyons of Manhattan. After so many years, America must have felt like a foreign country to him. She would have liked to share the experience with him.
The two of them needed to mend fences. No, they needed to dismantle fences, rebuild their lives and create a new place for themselves. It wouldn’t be easy. And she wasn’t so sure Mick was still interested.
“So, how can I help tonight?” she asked.
“Ready for this?”
“Sure. I’m ready.”
“Okay. CERN has set this up as a formal event. Lots of invitations. A speech at seven o’clock, followed by a glitzy reception. I want you to wear a cocktail dress, keep your eyes and ears open and report on anything you find.”
“I’ve been quite the snoop lately. I suppose one more night won’t hurt.”
“Good. Now that you’ve got a feel for it, I want you to call me with even the slightest suspicions you get. Any indications at all.”
“Anomalies?”
“Right. If Proteus shows up, we’ve got to seize him and get him out of there before anything dire happens. Above all, the president has got to make his speech and sign the charter.”
They were entering the town of Meyrin, the home of CERN.
She spotted the Cadett Movenpic, the hotel that she and Alec had found. “Turn off here,” she said, pointing it out.
He pulled into the parking lot.
“I’ll go find myself a cocktail dress,” she said. “Can you pick me up for the big event?”
“It’s a date.”
She pursed her lips. “Let’s not use that term.”
As he drove with the scientist back toward Switzerland from the ALEPH detector, Alec couldn’t take his mind off Anaïs.