Sir Cedric refolded the newspaper and looked at his colleagues. Anne jumped to her feet.
“This is a direct sequel to the ‘March of Folly,’” she almost shouted. “Won’t they ever learn?” Then she added softly: “I think we need no further confirmation of how proper and fitting our path is.”
“And how justified our future operation in Iran is,” Sir Cedric said. “We need to find out if the Iranians plan to take preventive action as a result of the Pyongyang disaster. The North Koreans just might share what they know with them.”
“Very true,” Martin said. “And after Iran—then what? We have no other target set up.”
“We haven’t finished with these two yet,” Anne responded immediately. “The Pyongyang business is far from over. Frankly, I do not see the present government changing right away. In fact, it’s quite likely that state oppression will increase now. We may have to act there again! So—we need to wait for Martin to report back after he talks with Charlie and Sing again. Then let’s see what’s going on in Iran.”
“And what do you suggest we should do while waiting?” Sir Cedric asked.
“What we did when we just started the association. Investigate additional targets. We have Cedric’s report on Venezuela and the papers are full about the reign of terror in Myanmar. We’ll need to recruit more scientists, get new inventions. We have very good resources on hand today, but I think we should go for even better stuff.” Anne emitted a long sigh. “I sincerely hope that what happened in Pyongyang will be studiously analyzed by every military and security agency in the world. Perhaps it will give the democracies an inkling of how dictators should really be treated!”
“Right you are!” the admiral said. “That, in itself, will help us in obtaining even more researchers and inventors of the highest quality.”
“Hear, hear!” Sir Cedric said.
EPILOGUE
Preparations for the operation in Tehran were in an advanced stage. The material and equipment had arrived safely and was distributed by the Iranian collaborators. They were all ready for the twenty-four hour alert signal, which would start the ball rolling. D-day was not far away now.
Of course, they had all heard of what had happened in Pyongyang. And they prayed that they would have at least the same success.
The association decided to employ additional inventions this time. The scientists were encouraged to discover new methods and techniques to embarrass power-crazy tyrants of the world, and to search among their colleagues and acquaintances for more brilliant minds that contribute to the cause.
Two weddings had occurred at the same church not more than a week after the North Korean operation. Anne Dupré married Martin Cooper, and Patricia Welles wed John Carmichael. They had a modest celebration attended by Anne’s parents and children, Martin’s parents and his team, Sir Cedric Norton and Retired Admiral Patrick Stone.
THE END
Table of Contents
Global Conspiracy
Prologue
Eighteen months earlier
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY-ONE
FIFTY-TWO
FIFTY-THREE
FIFTY-FOUR
FIFTY-FIVE
FIFTY-SIX
FIFTY-SEVEN
FIFTY-EIGHT
FIFTY-NINE
SIXTY
SIXTY-ONE
SIXTY-TWO
SIXTY-THREE
SIXTY-FOUR
SIXTY-FIVE
SIXTY-SIX
SIXTY-SEVEN
SIXTY-EIGHT
SIXTY-NINE
SEVENTY
SEVENTY-ONE
SEVENTY-TWO
SEVENTY-THREE
SEVENTY-FOUR
SEVENTY-FIVE
SEVENTY-SIX
Epilogue
Global Conspiracy Page 48