Robert Ludlum - The Parcifal Mosaic.txt

by The Parcifal Mosaic [lit]

  And then it had happened. The frenzied hawk that was Emory Bradford In

  Washington saw the light, a different light. In an extraordinary public

  display of mea culpa he appeared before a Senate committee and announced to

  the nation that something had gone wrong, the brilliant planners-himself

  included-had erred grievously. He advocated immediate withdrawal; the

  impassioned hawk became a passionate dove.

  He was accorded a standing ovation. While heads and faces and arms and legs

  were scattered over the jungles, and

  238 Roi3ERT Lul)Luj&

  a farm boy from Idaho was doing his damnedest not to want to die as a

  prisoner of war. A standing ovation, goddamn itl

  No, Mr. Emory Bradford, I wX not risk my I#e for you. I wQ not the for

  you--again.

  The large three-story Colonial house was set back beyond a manicured lawn

  that promised a pool and a tennis court hidden somewhere. The best and the

  brightest also frolicked, it was part of their lif"tyle, intrinsic to their

  worth and their image. The farm boy from Idaho wondered how Undersecretary

  of State Emory Bradford would behave in a river cage infested with water

  rats in the Mekong Delta. Probably very well, goddamn it.

  The driver reached under the dashboard and pulled out the retractable

  microphone. He pressed the button and spoke.

  'Abraham Seven to Dispatch."

  "Go ahead, Abraham Seven."

  "Have reached location. Please raise cargo by phone.n

  'Will do, Seven. Good timing. You and Abraham Four should reach Aquarius at

  about the same time

  "Glad you approve. We try to please.'

  The three descended in the elevator together, the two older men astonished

  that the conference was to take place in one of the underground strategy

  rooms and not in the Oval Office. The undersecretary of State, briefcase in

  hand, seemed to understand why. The advantages, of course, were found in the

  equipment. There were computers and projectors that threw images and

  information onto a huge wall screen. cominunications devices that linked the

  White House to just about anybody anywhere in the world, and data-processing

  machines that isolated facts from volumes of useless scholarship. Yet all

  the sophisticated equipment in Washington was in itself useless without a

  breakthrough. Had it happened? wondered the older advisers as each looked

  questioningly at the other. Had the breakthrough come? If it had, the sum-

  mons from the President had given no indication of it- Instead, the opposite

  had been conveyed. "Scorpio descending" was aldn to catastrophe, and each

  felt the tightening of his stomach muscles as the lower level was reached

  and the elevator door opened onto the pristine white-walled corridor. They

  emerged and walked in unison down the hallway

  THE PAWWAL Mowc 239

  toward the assigned room and the President of the United States.

  President Charles Berquist greeted each -- curtly, and each understood. It

  was not in the nature of the stocky Minnesotan to be cold-tough, yes, very

  tough, but not cold; he was frightened. He gestured Impatiently at the

  raised Ushaped conference table at the end of the room; it faced the wall

  screen thirty feet away where images would be projected. The three men

  walked up the two steps with the President and took their places at the

  table, at each place was a small Tensor lamp angled down on a note pad. Ad-

  dison Brooks sat on Berquisfs right, General Halyard on his left, and the

  younger Emory Bradford beyond the statesman, one chair removed so he could

  address the three. It was a pecking order rooted in logic; most of the

  questions would be directed at Bradford, and he in turn would ask most of

  the questions directed at anyone brought in for interrogation. Below the

  U-shaped table and facing It midway to the screen was another table,

  smaller, rectangular, with two swivel chairs that enabled whoever sat in

  them to tam and watch the images projected on the wall.

  "You look tired, Mr. President," said Brooks, once all were seated and the

  lamps adjusted.

  "I am ured," agreed Berquist . " rm also sorry to bring you and Mal back to

  this rotten weather."

  OInsofar as you saw fit to call us back," commented Halyard sincerely, "rd

  say the weather is the leaA of our problems."

  "Yoere right." The President pressed a button embedded in the table on his

  left. '*Me first slide, if you please." The overhead lights were

  extinguished and only the Tensors remained on; the photographs of four men

  appeared on a split screen at the end of the room. "Do you know any of

  these menr asked Berquist, then added hastily, "rho question7s not for

  Emory. He does."

  The ambassador and the general glanced at Bradford, then turned to the

  photographs. Addison Brooks spoke. ~Me fellow on the upper right is named

  Stem. David or Daniel Stem, Lbelieve. He!s over at State, Iset he? One of

  the European Vecialists, bright, analytical, a good man."

  Yes " confirmed Berquist qLuetly Vhat about you, Mal? Reco;dz; anybody up

  therer

  240 RoBEnT Lmxum

  "rin not sure," said the retired general, squinting at the screen. Me one

  below this Stem, lower right I think rve seen him before."

  'You have," said Bradford. "He spent thne at the Pentagon."

  "I canI picture the uniform, the rank."

  "He didnt wear one, have one. He's a doctor, he testified before. a number

  of panels on P.O.W. trauma. You were seated on two or three, I believe."

  'Yes, of course, I remember now. Hes a psychfatflst~"

  'One of the leading authorities on stress behavior," said Bradford,

  watching the two old men.

  'What was that?" the ambassador asked urgently. "Stress behaviorr

  Ile words startled the advisers. The old soldier leaned forward. "Is there

  a connection?" he demanded of the undersecretary.

  "TO Parsifal?"

  'Who the hell else would I mean? Is there?"

  There is, but that's not it.-

  "What IsdtP" asked Brooks apprehensively.

  'Mfllees specialization. That's his name. Dr. Pail] Miller. We don~t think

  his link to Parsifal has anything to do with his studies of stress."

  Mank God," muttered the general.

  'Ilen. what is?' the elder diplomat pressed impatiently.

  "May 1, Mr. President?" asked Bradford, his eyes on-the Commander in Chief.

  Berquist nodded silently, the undersecretary turned to the screen and the

  photographs. 'Me two men on the left, top and bottom, respectively, are

  John Philip Ogilvie and Victor Alan Dawson."

  Dawson!s an attorney,- interrupted Addison Brooks. -rve never met him but

  rve read a number of his briefs. He!s brflRant In the area of international

  treaty negotiations. He has a gut feeling for foreign legal systems and

  their nuances.'

  '"B iant," agreed the President softly.

  'Me last man," continued Bradford rapidly, "was no less an expert in his

  line of work. He was an undercover agent for nearly twenty years, one of

  the most knowledgeable tacticians in the field of covert operations."

  The undersecretarYs use of the past tense was not lost on

  THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC 241
/>
  the two advisers. They looked at each other, and then at President Berquist

  The Minnesotan nodded.

  ~rWre dead," said the President, bringing his right hand to his forehead,

  his fingers nervously massaging his brows. 'All of them. Ogilvie died four

  days ago in Rome, a misplaced bullet, the circumstances acceptable. The

  others were not accidents; they were killed here. Dawson and Stem

  simultaneously, Miller twenty miles away at the same tfme~"

  The ambassador leaned forward, his eyes on the screen. "Vour men," he said

  anxiously. "One an expert in European affairs and policies, another an

  attorney whose work was almost exclusively in international law, the third

  a veteran undercover agent with broad tactical experience, and the fourth

  a psychiatrist !cknowledged to be a leading specialist in stress behavior.

  "An odd collection of targets," concluded the old soldier.

  'Mey're connected, Mal" said Brooks. "To each other before Parsifal. Am I

  correct, Mr. Presidentr

  "Let Emory explain," replied BerquisL "He has to take the heat, so let him

  explain~"

  Bradford's glance conveyed the fact that the explanation might be his to

  give but responsibility should be shared. Nevertheless, his slow intake of

  breath and the quiet delivery of his voice also Indicated that he expected

  the worst.

  These men were the strategists of Consular Operations."

  "Costa Braval" The name exploded in a whisper from the ambassado?s lips.

  "Mey peeled it away and found us," said Halyard, his eyes filled with a

  soldier's angry acceptance. "And they paid for it."

  'Yes," agreed Bradford, "but we don1 know how It happened."

  'How they were k&C said the general Incredulously.

  Owe know that," replied the undersecretary. "Very professionally, the

  decision made quickly."

  'Men what donI you understmdr Brooks was annoyed.

  'The connection to Parsifal."

  "But you said there was a connection," Insisted the elder statesman. "is

  there or isn't therer

  nrhere has to be. We just cadt follow ft." I can!t: follow you,- said the

  soldier.

  242 ROBERT LUMUM

  "Start from the beginning, Emory," Interrupted the President. "As you

  understand the begfiniing. From Rome."

  Bradford nodded. "Five days ago the strategists received a priority cable

  from our conduit in Rome, a Lieutenant Colonel Baylor-cover name Brown. He

  oversees the clandestine-activities networLo

  "Larry Baylor?"

  "Y6s, General."

  "One hell of a fine officer. Give me twenty Negroes like him, and you can

  throw out the War College."

  "Colonel Bayloes black, Mr. Ambassador."

  'Apparently, Mr. Undersecretary."

  "For Chrises sake, Emory," said Berquist.

  "Yes, Mr. President. To continue, Colonel Baylor's cable referred to a

  meeting he had with-:' Bradford paused. He delivered the name reluctantly:

  "Michael Havelock."

  "Costa Brava," muttered the soldier quietly.

  "Parsifal," added Brooks, halting briefly, then continuing, his words a

  protest. "But Havelock was ruled out. After the clinic and his separation,

  he was watched, tested, his every move placed under what I believe Is

  called * cro

  were assured there was nothing, absolutely =hinppe. We "Less than nothing,"

  agreed the man from State. "Under controlled chrumstances he accepted a

  teaching position-an assistant professorship-at Concord University in New

  Hampshire. For all intents and purposes, he was completely out and we were

  back with the original scenario."

  "What changed it?" asked the soldier. "What changed Havelocles status?"

  Again Bradford paused, once more his delivery reluctant. 'Ile Karas woman

  " he said quietly. 'She surfaced; he saw her. In Rome."

  The silence around the table conveyed the shook. The faces of the two old

  men hardened, both pairs of eyes boxing into the undersecretary, who

  accepted the looks with granite resignation. Finally the ambassador spoke.

  "When did this happenr

  "Ten days ago."

  "Why weren't we informed, Mr. President?' continued Brooks, his eyes still

  on Bradford.

  "Quite simply," replied the undersecretary before the

  THE pAMMAL MoSMc 243

  President could speak, his eyes locked with the statesman!s, "because I

  wasn't informed."

  "I find that unacceptable.-

  "Intolerable," added the old soldier sharply. "What the hell are you

  running over there?'

  "An extremely efficient organization that responds to input. In this case,

  perhaps too efficient, too responsive.

  "Explain that," ordered Halyard.

  'Mese four men," said Bradford, gesturing at the projected photographs of

  the dead strategists, "were convinced beyond doubt that the Karas woman was

  killed at Costa Brava. How could they think otherwise? We played everything

  out-carried everything out-down to the smallest detail. Nothing was left to

  speculation; her death was witnessed by Havelock, later confirmed by

  bloodstained clothing. We wanted it accepted and no one questioned it,

  least of all Havelock himself."

  -But she surfaced, . insisted Halyard. "You say he saw her. I presume that

  information was in Colonel Baylor's cable."

  GrYes."

  'Men why wasn!t it reported immediately?" demanded Brooks.

  "Because they didn!t believe it,- answered Bradford. "Iley thought Havelock

  was crazy~hallucmatmg-crazy, the real thing. They sent Ogilvie to Rome,

  which in itself was extraordinary, indicating how serious they consiiered

  the situation to be. Baylor confirmed it . He said Ogilvie told him

  Havelock had gone over the edge , seeing things that wereZt there, the

  hallucinations brought on by deep, latent hostilities and years of

  pressure. He simply exploded; at least that!s what Ogilvie implied."

  rhaed. be Millees judgment- interrupted the President "It!s the only one

  he could have arrived at when you think of ie

  "Havelock's behavior deteriorated rapidly," continued the undersecretary.

  "He threatened to expose past and present covert operations, which would

  have compromised us all over Europe, if he wasn7t given answers,

  explanations. He even sent disrupting cables to show what he could do. The

  strategists took him very seriously. Ogilvie was in Rome eather to bring

  Havelock back-or to kill hmL-

  244 ROBEIVr LUDLUM

  "Instead, he was killed himself,' said the soldier. A statement.

  "Tragically. Colonel Baylor was covering OgilvWs meeting with Havelock on

  the Palatine Hill; it was an isolated area. There was an argument, a

  premature eruption of nerve gas triggered by Ogdvi% and when the device

  failed, Havelock went after him with a gtm. As Baylor tells it, he waited

  until he ooulddt wait any longer. He fired at the precise moment he

  believed Havelock was about to kill Og&* and apparently he was right

  Ogilvie must have felt the same thing; at that same moment he lunged up and

  caught the bulleL Ies all in Baylor's report, available to you both, of

  course."

  "Those were the acceptable circumstances, hir. President?" asked Brooks.
/>   "Only in terms of explanation, Addison."

  "Naturally," said Halyard, nodding, looking at Bradford. 'If those are

  Larry Baylor's words, I don!t need the report. How's he taking it? That bu&

  doe=1 like to lose or goof UP.

  "He was severely wounded in his right hand. It was shattered and may not

  come back. Nabirally, iell curtail his aot1vides."

  "Doiret wash him out, ied be a mistake. Put him behind a Md desk.0

  "IM recommend that to the Pentagon, GeneraV

  Lees get back to the Cons Op strategists," said the statesman- "Ies still

  not clear to me why they dWt report Colonel BayWs informadon, especially

  the reasons behind Havelocles actions-those 'disrupting cables; I believe

  you called them. Incidentally, how disrupting were theyr

  " 'Alarming~ is a better word, 'false-alarming! better still. One menage

  came here-in a recent sixteen hundred priority cipher-ftting that there was

  a deep-cover Soviet agent in the White House. Another was sent to

  Congressional Oversight; it claimed there was CIA corruption in Amsterdam.

  In both instances the use of the cipher and naming names in Amsterdam

  obviously Imt authority to the data."

  "Any substance?- asked the soldier.

  "None whatsoever. But the reactions were volatile. The strategists knew

  they could get worse."

  "All the more reason why they should have reported Havelock's motivW

  insisted Brooks.

  THE PAwwAL MosAic 245

  "Mey may have," answered Bradford softly. "To someone We'll get to that."

  "Why they were killed? Whaes their connection to Parsffal?" The general

  lowered his voice. "To Costa Brava."

  'Mere was no 'Costa Bravd until we invited it, Mal," said the President.

  "But that, too, has to be told in sequence. Ies the only way we can make

  sense out of it . if there is any sense.*

  "It never should have happened," interjected the silverhaired statesman.

  "We had no right."

  'Ve had no choice~ Mr. Ambassador," said Bradford, leaning forward.

  "Secretary of State Matthias built the case against the Karas woman, we

  know that. His objective, as near as we can determine, was to remove

  Havelock from service, but we could never be certain. Their friendship was

  strong, going back years, their family ties stronger, reaching back to