Robert Ludlum - The Parcifal Mosaic.txt

by The Parcifal Mosaic [lit]

"The agreements. They contain offensive and defensive nuclear-strike data

  that match our deepest and most accurate penetrations of their systems."

  Michael wrote another note for himself. "Just as important," he said,

  looking at Jenna, -Parsifal knew where to find Ambiguity. The connection is

  made, the mole reaches Moscow and the evidence against you is provided-for

  my benefit. Then Ambiguity moves into Costa Brava, rewriting the scenario

  on the beach." Michael turned back to the undersecretary of State. "Ifs,

  here you think the break came, isnI it?"

  "I do, and I agree with you. I think it was Ambiguity on that beach, not

  Parsifal. I believe further that Ambiguity returned to Washington and found

  hed lost Parsifal. Hed been used, then discarded, a situation that must

  have panicked him..

  "Because in order to get the KGB to cooperate he obviously had to promise

  something extraordinary?' asked Havelock.

  "Yes, but then, theres Rostovs cable and ies a snag. He as much as told us

  that if there was a connection, it wasnI sanctioned, or even controllable."

  "He was right. I explained it to Berquist, and it fits ... from the

  beginning. les the answer to Athens. Rostov was referring to a branch of

  the KGB, a descendant of the old OGPU slaughterhouse maniacs, a pack of

  wolves."

  "Voennaya Kontra Razvedka," said Jenna, adding quietly, 4VKIV

  "Ambiguity isn~t just a major or a colonel in the KGB, he's a member of the

  wolf pack. Those are the men hes dealing with, and that, Mr. Bradford, is

  about the worst news you oDuld hear. The KGB with all its paranoia is a

  stable intelligence-gathenng organization compared with the fanatics of the

  Voennaya."

  "Fanatics and anything nuclear are a combination this world can7t afford."

  "If the Voennaya reaches Parsifal first, thaes precisely the combination

  the world is stuck with." Michael drank, swallowing more than he intended

  to, fear enveloping him. He picked up the notebook. "So we have a mole

  called Am-

  472 RoBE:RT LuDLum

  biguity who cooperated with a fellow Russian we've labeled Parsifal,

  Matthias's partner in creating these insane agreements that could blow up

  the globe. Matthias virtually collapses, is taken into custody-and

  therapy-at Poole's Island, and Parsifal goes on alone. But now really alone

  because he's dropped the mole."

  "You agree with me, then," said Bradford.

  Havelock looked up from the pad. "If you were wrong, we'd know ft. Or maybe

  we wouldet; maybe we'd be a pile of ashes. . . . Or from a less

  melodramatic, though hardly less tragic, point of view in my judgment, the

  Soviet Union would be running this country with the blessings of the rest

  of the world. 'The giant ran amok; for GoXs sake, chain him.' Moscow might

  even get a vote of confidence from our own citizens. 'Better dead than Red'

  is not a euphemism I care to test. When push comes to shove, people opt for

  hving.

  "But you and I know what that living is, Mikhail," broke in le na. "Would

  you opt for it?"

  Of course," said the undersecretary of State, mildly surprising the other

  two. "You can~t change anything by dying-unless yoere a martyr-or by taking

  yourself out. Especially when you~ve seen the worst."

  Havelock looked again at Bradford, now studying him. "I think the jury just

  came back in for you, Mr. Undersecretary. Thaes why you stayed in this

  city, isn't it? You saw the worst"

  "rin not the issue."

  "You were for us for a while. It's nice to know the terraies firmer. Call

  me Havelock, or Michael, or whatever you like, but why not drop the 'Mr.7'

  "Thanks. rin Emory-or whatever you like."

  "I'm Jenna, and rm starved."

  'Mere!s a fully stocked kitchen with a cook in residence. Hes also one of

  the guards. When we're finished, I'll introduce you."

  "Just a few more minutes." Havelock tore off a page from his notebook. "You

  said you were checking the whereabouts of everyone on the fifth floor at

  the time of Costa Brava."

  "Rechecking," interrupted Bradford. "The first check was negative all the

  way. Everyone was accounted for."

  "But we know someone waset," said Michael. "He was at

  THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC473

  Costa Brava. One of those checks of yours ran into a smoke screen, the man

  inside leaving and returning while supposedly he had stayed in place."

  "Oh?" It was the undersecretarys turn to write a note, which he did on the

  back of one of his countless pages. I haMt thought of it that way. I was

  looking for an absence where the explanation might not hold up. Ybere

  saying something quite different."

  "Yes, I am. Our man's better than that; there won!t be any explanation.

  Doet look for someone missing; look for someone who wasn't there, who waset

  where he was supposed to be."

  "Someone on assignment, then."

  "Ies a place to start," agreed Havelock tearing off a second page. "The

  higher the profile, the better, incidentally. Remember, were looking for a

  man who's got maximum clearance, and the more prominent the man the better

  the smoke screens work. Don't forget Kissinger's diarrhea in Tokyo; he was

  really in Peking."

  "I'm beginning to understand your accomplishments."

  'Considering the mistakes rve made," replied Michael,

  writing on the page he had just torn out of the notebook, "I

  wouldn't qualify for a code ring on the back of a cereal box."

  He got up, stepped around the coffee table to where Brad

  r "This list

  ford was sitting, and held out the two pages. is the

  Do you want to look it over and see if there are any problems?'

  "Sure." The undersecretary of State took the papers and settled back into

  the chair. "By the way, Ill have that drink now, if you doet mind. Bourbon

  on the rocks, please."

  "I thought you'd never ask." Havelock looked at Jerma; she nodded. He took

  her glass from the coffee table and walked around the couch as Bradford

  spoke. 'Mere are a couple of surprises here," he said, glancing up and

  frowning. "There's no problem with the Matthias material-the appointments,

  logs, itineraries-but why do you need all this stuff on the doctor in

  Maryland? Background, financial statements, employees, laboratories. We

  were thorough, believe me."

  "I do believe you. Call it a throwback. I know a doctor in the South of

  France, and he's one bell of a surgeon. But he gets brain fever when he's

  near the tables; he!s crashed a couple of times and had to get bailed out."

  474 Rom= LuoLum

  'TheWs no parallel here. Randolph hwet had to Work since his mother first

  saw him in the hospital. His family owns half the Eastern Shore, the richer

  half."

  But not the people who work for him," said Michael, pouring drinks. -Ibey

  may not even own a sailboat."

  Bradfor&s gaw again dropped to the page. "I see," he said, more

  bewilderment in his voice than conviction. "rm not sure I understand this.

  You want the names of people in the Pentagon who form the Nuclear

  Contingency Commit

  tM."

  -1 read somewhere that there are three," a
dded Havelock, carrying the

  drinks back. "They play war games, changing sides and cross-checking their

  strategies." He handed Bradford his bourbon, then sat down next to jenna;

  she took her drink, her eyes on Michael.

  "You think Matthias used them?" asked the undersecretary.

  "I don7t know. He had to use somebody."

  "For what purpose? Theres nothing in our arsenals he didnI know about, or

  have on file somewhere. He had to know, he negotiated."

  "I just want to be thorough."

  Bradford nodded with an embarrassed smile. 'Tve heard that before. Okay.-

  He went back to the page, reading aloud. " %ist of negative-possibles going

  back ten years. Follow-ups on each. Sources: CIA, Cons Op, Army

  intelligence.' I don7t know what this moms."

  "They will. There% be dozens of them"

  "What are'theyr

  "Men and women who were priority targets for defection, but never came

  over."

  "Well, if they didn't come over--"

  'Moscow doesn7t announce those who got out themselves,' interrupted

  Havelock. "The computer follow-ups will clarify current statuses."

  Bradford paused, then nodded again, reading silently.

  jenna touched Michaers arm; he looked at her. She spoke softly, her eyes

  questioning. "Pro~ ne paminyatch&-"

  "No Ted."

  "I beg your pardon?" The undersecretary glanced up as he shifted the pages

  in his hands.

  NothinC said Havelock. "Shes hungry.-

  711 be finished in a minute, get back to Washington and

  THE PARSIFAL MOSAIC475

  leave you alone; the rest of this is routine. The D.C. psychiatrists'

  reports on Matthias will have to be signed over by the President and

  additional security put on here, but it can be done. I'm seeing him when I

  get back tonight."

  "Why don1 you just take me over to Bethesda?"

  "Those records aren't there. They're down at Poole's Island locked away

  with the other psychiatric probings and very special. They're in a steel

  container and caet be removed without presidential clearance. I'll have to

  get them. rll fly down tomorrow."

  Bradford stopped reading and looked up~ startled. "This last itern ... Are

  you sure? What can they tell you? They couldn't tell us anything."

  "Put it down as my own personal Freedom of Information Act."

  "It could be very painful for you."

  "What is it?" asked Jenna.

  "He wants the results of his own twelve days in therapy," Bradford said.

  They ate by candlelight in the country-elegant dining room, the scene

  somehow shifting from the deadly sublime to the faintly ridiculous. Adding

  to the contrast was a large, reticent man who was a surprisingly

  accomplished cook, but the bulge of a weapon beneath his white jacket did

  little to emphasize his talents in the kitchen. There was, however, nothing

  humorous about his eyes; he was a military guard and as accomplished with a

  gun as he was at preparing beef Wellington. Yet whenever he left the room,

  after serving or clearing, Jenna and Michael looked across the table at each

  other, trying unsuccessfully not to laugh. But even these brief moments of

  laughter did not last; the unthinkable never left them.

  "You trust Bradford," said Jenna, over coffee. "I know you do. I can tell

  when you trust a person."

  "Yotfre right, I do. He has a conscience, and I think he!s paid for it. You

  can trust a man like that."

  "Then why did you stop me from bringing up the paminyatchiki-the

  travelers?"

  "Because he couldn't handle it and it can't help him. You heard him; he's

  the methodical man, one step at a time, each step exhaustingly analyzed.

  That's his value. With the pami-

  476 RoBERT LUDLUM

  nyatchiki bes suddenly asked to question everything geometrically."

  "I don't understand. GeometricallyP"

  "In a dozen different directions at once. Everyone's ftnmediately suspect;

  he wouldn't be looking for one man, he'd be studying whole groups. I want

  him to concentrate on smoke screens, bore into every assignment on the

  flfth floor, whether eight blocks or eight hundred miles away from the

  State Department, until he finds someone who might not have been where he

  was supposed to be."

  "You explained it very well."

  4&I'lianks."

  "You might have added the use of a puppet, however."

  Havelock looked at her through the glow of the candles, a half-smfle coming

  to his lips. She leveled her eyes with his, smiling also. "Damn it, you

  know you're absolutely right," he said, laughing softly.

  "I waset making a list, you were. You can't be expected to think of

  everything."

  "Thanks for the kindness. I'll bring it up In. the morning. Incidentally,

  why didn't you? You weren't shy in there."

  "That was asking questions, not giving orders or advice. There's a

  difference. I wouldn~t care to give orders or advice to Bradford until he

  accepts me. And if I were forced to, it would be in the form of questions,

  leading to a suggestion."

  'Mat!s an odd thing to say. Yoii~re accepted; Bradford heard it from

  Berquist. There's no higher authority."

  "I doet mean in that sense. I mean him. Hes uncomfortable with women;

  impatient, perhaps. I don't envy his wife or his women; he!s a deeply

  troubled man."

  'He couldn't have more to be troubled about.-

  'Long before this, Mikhail. He reminds me of a brilliant, talented man

  whose brilliance and talent don~t mix very well. I think he feels impotent,

  and that touches his women .

  0 women, really."

  "Am I with Sigmund again?"

  "Limbursk-# s#rr Jenna laughed. "I watch people, you know I do. Do you

  remember the jeweler in Trieste, the bald-headed man whose shop was an M.I.

  Six drop? You said he was- Whaes the peculiar word you have? Like houka&a?"

  "Horny. I said he was horny, that he walked around the

  THE PARsi7AL MosAic477

  women In his store with a spike in the middle of his trousers."

  "And I said he was gay."

  'And you were right, because you unbuttoned your blouse a few inches and

  the son of a bitch kept following me."

  They both laughed, the laughter echoing off the veloured walls. jenna

  reached over and touched his hand.

  "Ies good to laugh again, Mikhail."

  It's good to laugh with you. I don't know how often well be able to."

  "We must make time for it. I think it's terribly importane

  "I love you, jenna.-

  "Then why don't we ask our gun-bearing Escoffier where we sleep? I don't

  want to appear nevyspang, my darling, but I love you, too. I want to be

  close to you, not with a table between us."

  "You figured I wasn't gay."

  'latent, perhaps. III take what I can get."

  'Direct. I always said you were direct."

  The gun-bearing Escoffier walked in. "More coffeeP" he asked.

  "No, thank you," said Havelock.

  "Some brandy?"

  "I think not," said Jenna.

  'How about television?"

  'How about the sleeping quarters?"

  'ne reception's lousy up there."

  "Well manage," said Michael.

  Ile s
at on the antique deacon's bench in front of the dying fire in the

  bedroom, stretching his neck and moving his shoulder in circles. He was

  sitting there under orders, jenna~s favors to be withheld for seven years or

  some such nonsense if he disobeyed. She had gone downstairs to find

  bandages, antiseptic, and no doubt whatever else she could lay her hands on

  in pursuit of her immediate medical aims.

  Ten minutes ago they had walked into the room together, hands clasped,

  bodies touching, both laughing softly. When she leaned into him, Michael

  had suddenly winced from the pain in his shoulder, and she had looked into

  his eyes. She had then unbuttoned his shirt and studied the dressing un-

  derneath on his shoulder in the light of a table lamp. An ac-

  478 ROBIMT LU3DLUM

  commodating guard bad started the flre over an hour before; It was nearly

  out, but the coals were glowing, the stone hearth throwing off beat.

  "Sit down here and stay warm,' jenna had said, leadina him to the bench.

  "We never did pick up a Red Cross ld~ They must have something

  downstafrs.-

  "YOU!d better Call it Th'st-aid' or they'll think you're taking UP a

  collection."

  "Just bO still, MY darling. That shoulder's raw.-

  "I haven't thought about it, I haven't felt it," said Have. lock. watching

  her go to the door and let herself out.

  It was true; he had neither thought about the wound from Col des Moulinets

  nor, except for mild spasms, been aware of the pain. There had been no

  time. It hadn't been important enough to think about. Too much had been too

  overwhelming too quickly. He looked over at the large bedroom window, a

  window with the same thick beveled glass as the one below In the study. He

  could see the wash of floodlights beYond-distorted by the glass-and

  wondered briefly how many men Prowled the grounds protecting the sanctity

  of Sterile Five. Then his eyes wandered back to the burning coals that were

  the end of the fire. So much ... so overwhelming ... so quickly. The mind

  had to catch up before it was drowned In the onrushing revelations released

  by floodgates no longer holding back untldnkable-unbearaW-trut~.If he was

  goIng to keep his sanity, he had to find time to

  zeegood to laugh with you. I doWt know how often weU be abk to.

  We must make the time tor it. z think ws terdbiy imigorwat. .