With the name mentioned Alice perked her head up and then looked over at the portrait of Lee, which was staring back at her with that “I told you so” look that always infuriated her. The others felt horrible that the name was mentioned by Europa. They all looked at Alice, who had a change come over her as she straightened in her chair and then actually slid it up and placed her hands on the tabletop and folded them. She looked up at Niles and the fire in her eyes was palpable—this was the face they all knew from Alice Hamilton.
Niles placed his hand on the thick file and then sat down next to Alice. He shook his head and took a deep breath.
“Do you see what your persistence in this quest has done? I’m leaving it up to Jack on what to do with Charlie Ellenshaw, but I believe a year’s suspension is in order—the same for Pete Golding. Of all the personnel who know the importance of keeping Europa secure it is Dr. Golding. If the president had a mere suggestion of what happened here we would all be looking for work, if he lets us off that easy. This is a major crime. You just didn’t break a rule; you may have compromised an agent of this department. A man it has taken Jack, Senator Lee, and me six years to get into place.”
“I know how long it has taken; it was I who suggested the young man in the first place.”
“Alice, we have a man inside the Vatican archives who may have to cut and run, and that action by a member of the Vatican staff would surely leave the Swiss Guard and even the Italian Carabinieri to conclude that he was an agent. And if they ever found out it was not only an American agent, but a second lieutenant in the United States Army, well, I don’t know how the president of the United States could ever explain that one to the Catholic faith. And with the recent religious developments in the world this country does not need to antagonize another religion. They already think the president is against all religion, which he is most definitely not.”
This time Alice did hang her head.
“The only people who knew about our man in the Vatican archives were Niles, Virginia, me, and you,” Jack said.
“All for a possible Event that we have not been able to prove since all of us have been here,” Niles said as he opened the folder. “The only consensus on that animal in that vault since the day it was found buried in France in 1918 is that it cannot be real. Our own people believe it was a hoax perpetrated on the people of Bordeaux in 1187. That is the science here, Alice. Even your co-conspirator, Charlie Ellenshaw, doesn’t believe an animal like that ever existed.”
“Damn it, Niles, do not dare to sit there and quote me the fossil record data. Was what we found in South America listed in the fossil record? No. Were the animals of the Stikine River in Canada listed in the fossil record? No. And were the symbiants’ life-forms we found deep in the Marianas Trench and the Gulf of Mexico in any fossil record? No. Of anyone in this room I have earned the right to believe in the impossible after working in this basement menagerie for over sixty years.”
The room became silent as the tension hung in the air between Alice and Niles Compton. It seemed that Alice, who suddenly had come to life and back to the strong woman who used to run the Event Group like she was Genghis Khan, had been reborn in just the few seconds it took to get riled up after her project was basically called a fairy tale.
“I think we need to know what Alice here is subscribing to, Dr. Compton,” Jack said as his curiosity came to full boil when he saw how adamant Alice was. For the first time in many weeks he was not thinking about the murder of his sister. The colonel was now fearful that he was losing a great friend, and he wanted to give Alice every break possible and allow her to explain why she would risk so much.
“Alice, in her compromising of our man at the Vatican, thought she hit the jackpot with what our agent found buried in the archives.” Niles chose a picture out of the file and then slid it toward Collins, who picked it up and looked it over.
“A dog’s skull?” he asked.
Alice reached out and removed the photo from Jack’s fingers. “No, not a dog, but an exact duplicate of the specimen we have preserved in Vault 22871. Niles, I had convinced both you and Garrison, and now I have the proof, and what’s more, I think we may have a real problem with ancient artifacts that have been showing up on the black market.” Alice looked at one of her oldest friends. “Niles, you believed in this once also.”
“Believing is one thing, Alice, but you know we move and act on proof. Alice, I do believe you. I know the things we’ve seen here defy description. But I cannot justify an Event call based on an animal carcass. I need proof. For right now the issue is closed—there is not going to be an Event declaration on this.”
Niles saw Alice set her mouth in that straight line that always announced she was about to dig in her heels and not budge while he was pushing. Niles closed the file and then slid the folder down toward where Jack was sitting.
“But I will have Jack take a look at your new evidence.” Niles nodded toward the colonel. “He’s unbiased and will give you a fair shake. I have to step back from this call.”
“I do apologize for jeopardizing our agent. But when you see all that has changed in the past few days you will know why this has to be evaluated immediately.”
Niles nodded and then smiled.
“Your apology still won’t save your partners in crime.”
“Niles, leave Pete and Charlie alone, you know how scared they get when someone threatens them, and I did mention a little something about killing them if they didn’t help me.”
Most in the room smiled as Alice finally lightened a little. Even Niles smiled and then nodded.
“I’ll leave that up to the colonel also. But I think a little more fright need be placed on those two. Don’t you think, Colonel?”
Jack raised his brow. “You bet.”
Alice silently nodded and then with a last look at the file in Jack’s hands left the conference room.
“So you have believed Alice and her tale of strange animals all along?” Virginia asked Niles.
Compton laughed. “After Alice reminded us of what we have run across on our missions? Yes, I have always believed. When someone like Alice Hamilton says something is out there, you damn well better believe there is something out there.” Niles looked at Jack and then smiled wider. “Besides, she needs to sweat a little for placing our Vatican man in danger.”
“And that’s not why we are angry, Virginia,” Jack said as he hefted the thick file and stood. “It’s that she didn’t come to us and tell us she was doing it. Our man is buried at the Vatican archives for a reason, and Alice using him is what we have him there for. She just has to inform us so our young lieutenant can take the appropriate precautions.”
Both men could see that Virginia, after shaking her head at the two men, was also embarrassed as she left the conference room.
As the doors closed behind the nuclear sciences director, Niles looked at Jack with a far more serious face.
“Colonel, I’m afraid I have to ask you to postpone your trip to Washington to meet with your contact there about your sister. This,” he pointed at the thick folder, “has to take priority, because if Alice thinks it’s important enough to break security protocol over then we better check it out. And frankly, Jack, I need you here.” Niles stood and reached out and hit the intercom for Europa. “The pictures that our man at the Vatican took of his tail in Rome, well, Europa got a hit on her identity, and our problem, Colonel, just went into the red. Europa, place the information you received via secure link from Goliath please.”
Jack knew his agent at the Vatican, Lieutenant DeSilva, was code-named Goliath.
On the large monitor a picture of a young girl came up. She was beautiful, more of a student look about her than anything.
“Europa, have you identified the subject centered on the screen?” Niles asked.
“Affirmative, Dr. Compton. She has been identified through facial analysis derived from photos and cross-referenced with the CIA Ice Blue program at Langley. The subjec
t’s name is Mica Sorotzkin, a Russian-born female of Jewish heritage now living in Israel. Employment verification through the offices of the National Security Agency listed as intelligence gathering—Mossad.”
“Well, that just about does that—damn it!” Collins said as he realized they had just lost their cover inside the Vatican archives. “Mossad.” Jack knew the Israeli intelligence arm was one of the best in the world. “How in the hell did they tag him?”
“We need to get Everett to Rome and prepare to bring our operative out of the Vatican. While Carl is in Italy,” Niles tapped the file folder with Alice’s evidence, “I need you to look through this with a fine-tooth comb and see if there’s anything else that has been compromised over this. And also check Alice’s evidence and see if there’s anything there we can move on.”
Jack knew the request by Niles placed his personal investigation into the murder of his sister on hold. He looked at the file in his hands.
“Why is she so obsessed with that damn vault? If Sarah hadn’t told me about the thing inside it I would never have known it was even there.”
“Jack, she didn’t believe it either for the first few years she worked here. But she slowly became obsessed with the cryptozoology issues as far as animals’ walking upright were concerned.”
“Walking upright?” Jack pulled the picture of the skull received from the Vatican archives and looked it over. “She believes this thing walked upright?”
“That’s not only her belief, but, damn,” Niles started but looked embarrassed, “I believe it too. But I’m a little more practical. Show me the proof and then I can act.”
Collins placed the photo back into the file. “I’ll look it over,” he said as he stood and left the conference room. As he did Niles slammed the intercom button down once again.
“Get me Professor Hindershot Ellenshaw III out of his dungeon on Level 82 and get him up here, and while you’re at it bring his accomplice, Dr. Peter Golding when he returns from Mrs. Hamilton’s house.”
It was time to put the fear of God into both of the wacked-out geniuses.
* * *
Carl Everett was in the process of inventorying the components removed from Alice’s home computer system. The link had been destroyed and all relevant hard drives removed. Several hundred files, most of them unclassified departmental investigations, had been recovered. Everett slammed one of these files onto the table, making both Will Mendenhall and Jason Ryan stop what they were doing and stare at the captain.
“If Alice believes this, why in the hell can’t the director? I mean if she believes, that settles it for me.”
Both Mendenhall and Ryan were silent as they let Everett get it off his chest. They knew it wasn’t just the situation with Alice. It was more Jack cutting everyone out of the loop as far as finding his sister’s killer was concerned. Will looked at Jason wanting to know if they should comment. Ryan, the one usually to shoot his mouth off, just shook his head for Will to leave the matter alone and then went back to cataloguing files.
The door opened to the Security Department and Collins walked in. He looked at the mess on the large table as everything Event Group related had been removed from the house on Flamingo Road. Jack reached out and slowly picked up an eight-by-ten photo of Garrison Lee and Alice at a small birthday party. Alice had her arm around Garrison and was kissing his cheek. The eye patch was askew and his face held a picture of pure annoyance as he was smooched by his longtime love. Collins swallowed and then placed the picture and frame back down. He tucked the thick file folder that once belonged to Alice Hamilton under his arm as he faced Everett.
“Mr. Everett, get to your quarters and pack. Europa will have State Department identification waiting for you. Get to Nellis. Ryan, you will fly the captain to Rome.”
Everett looked at Jack and knew what was wrong.
“So the rumor is true, Goliath has been compromised, it’s a fact?” Carl asked.
“Get there and get him out. No computer communication or cell phone. Make contact and get him to the plane. Access the situation, but more than likely you’ll have to pull him out.”
Jason looked at Everett first and then nodded his head. “Yes, sir.”
“This is a priority. In the meantime I’ve been ordered to go through this file and see if Alice dug up anything that can be used to back her theory—whatever that is.”
Everett nodded as Collins turned for his office door and then entered without another word to his best friends in the world.
“There he goes again. Now he’ll be on the phone and communicating with Europa until tomorrow sometime.” Will Mendenhall placed a folder on the table and looked at Everett and Ryan. “I’m telling you he’s talking to the Frenchman. I saw his face when he talks for hours with the man. He’s planning something regarding the death of his sister and Farbeaux is in on it.”
“In lieu of us, are you kidding? He hates that man,” Ryan said.
“The colonel respects Farbeaux and you know it. He believes just like all of us that the Frenchman has been blamed for a lot around here that he didn’t actually do. Jack is willing to bet his reputation that old Henri isn’t as bad a man as he likes to make out sometimes.”
Everett looked at Ryan. His theory about Henri Farbeaux was nearly correct. But there were one or two things that Ryan and Mendenhall didn’t know that he himself did—Henri might be respected by Jack Collins but to use the word friendly in conjunction with Farbeaux was another issue altogether. That and the fact that the French antiquities thief was in love with Sarah McIntire placed the whole situation into the realm of the surreal.
Everett suddenly placed his hand to his temple and closed his eyes in thought. “Mr. Ryan, I see a Learjet 60-220 Executive Air in your near future.”
Ryan nodded and smiled at the way Carl had closed the conversation about Jack. “Shall we go to Rome, Captain, and leave this peasant Mendenhall to cover us while we vacation?”
Everett smiled for the first time in hours. “Yes, let’s do leave the Army peasant to do the easy work while we toil away in Rome.”
“You guys can kiss my—”
“At ease, Lieutenant, and get to counting,” Ryan joked as he cut off Mendenhall’s curse. Both he and Everett left the security office as Mendenhall tossed a pencil at Ryan.
ROME, ITALY
Mossad Major Mica Sorotzkin had retraced the American priest’s steps back to the cybercafe he had used on no fewer than three different occasions. She had first used one, and then two, and then finally the third computer she had noted the young priest had used during his visits. In just minutes and without any of the five people currently in the small café, Mica had successfully removed all three of the hard drives from the PCs without being noticed by anyone but the counter clerk, who just admired the beautiful woman with the carefree ponytail as she sauntered past with over a thousand dollars’ worth of his equipment. Mica Sorotzkin batted her two differently colored eyes and smiled as she nonchalantly left the building.
Three hours later the hard drives were being forensically studied by no fewer than six Israeli computer technicians at a Mossad safe house two miles from Vatican City. As she waited for further orders, Mica studied the file on the man the Israeli intelligence arm suspected had infiltrated the hardest area of Vatican City to get into—the archival department. It was so vast and so closed to the outside world that most authors of fiction get the description of its depths and contents totally off the mark. Mossad had been trying to get an agent placed for the past fifty years with no success. Now they suspected the American CIA had penetrated the most guarded religious archives in the world—Yes, she thought—either the CIA or another arm of the American government.
“Major, the general is on the secure line, it sounds urgent,” said one of the safe house security men.
“When isn’t it urgent with General Shamni? I swear the man sees Palestinians coming out of his oatmeal in the mornings.” She picked up the phone at her desk. “Major Sorot
zkin.”
“Your priorities in Rome have changed, Major. Your concentration is to be focused on whom the young priest works for and to whom he is secretly sending information regarding Project Ramesses. Your mission to possibly turn this young man and make him work for us is off for the moment.”
“Sir, I don’t have any intelligence on that particular project, what is it?”
“Listen, Major, your computer forensics team believe they will have the hard drives broken down in a few hours, they will give you the information this covert priest is sending out. We want that information and if it leads to certain … sensitive projects we will have to act and act strongly in defense of Israel, is that clear?”
“No, General, not at all.”
“Major Sorotzkin, I am ordering you to pack your bags. You are hereby on alert for assignment change if and when we find out if Project Ramesses is compromised. I am sending Lieutenant Colonel Ally Ben-Nevin to debrief you and to evaluate the importance of this young American. He will take command of the station when he arrives.”
“General, that religious zealot can only mess this up, I want him—” Mica leaned forward with a slap onto the file compiled on her American priest. “General, I have been working this man for the past year and I’ll be damned—”
The silence on the other end of the phone told the Mossad intelligence major she was talking to no one. The general had given his orders and had nothing else to say or hear, it was just that simple. Mica hung up the phone as gently as she could to control her need to throw the instrument through the window.
“Damn it!” she said with her one green and one brown eye, and then not being able to contain her anger at the obvious misstep by her superiors any longer, the major slapped the desk and then angrily slid the file she had put together piece by painstaking piece on the actions of the archival priest off her desk and onto the floor.
“Are you all right, Major Sorotzkin?” one of the technicians asked, looking around nervously at the scattered file.
“I hate this damn job sometimes.”
Carpathian: An Event Group Thriller (Event Group Thrillers) Page 10