“Damn,” the captain said. “So, who ended up with it? The Chinese or the Russians?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“Way more complicated,” Joe added.
Kurt motioned toward the empty berths across the harbor. “When did the Chinese leave?”
“About ten minutes after our helicopter got back,” the captain said. “I guess they realized they’d lost.”
The ruse had worked, not that it had made any difference in the long run. “And the Russians?”
“About an hour ago. They hightailed it out of here.”
That sounded about right.
Kurt pulled off his coat and tossed it into a garbage bin. It was singed in places and smelled of jet fuel. “I need a cup of coffee, and a secure line to Washington.”
“Why don’t you two get some rest first?”
“We’ll sleep on the plane,” Kurt said.
“Plane?”
“Once I tell them what happened, they’re going to want to see us in person.”
Chapter 47
The NUMA helicopter took Kurt, Joe, and the Trouts over the mountains from Tromsø to the town of Vadso, where an airport large enough to handle big jets waited. A Norwegian air force C-130, dispatched at the request of the U.S. government, picked them up. It flew them to Oslo, where an extended-range Gulfstream G650 dressed up in NUMA colors collected them for the long ride back to Washington.
True to his word Kurt slept most of the flight. He woke up an hour before they began their descent into Reagan National, had a snack, and remained in the world of his thoughts, saying little to the others. After a brief check-in at NUMA headquarters all four of them went home. Twelve hours later Kurt was at the White House, where he briefed Sandecker, the President, the chief of staff, and the director of the CIA on the events of the past week.
He’d already written an exhaustive report, but they asked enough questions to make him wonder if anyone had read it in depth.
To his surprise, none of the four seemed nearly as glum as he was.
“You should be congratulated for what you accomplished,” the President began. “You frustrated the Chinese so badly that they’re plowing through the Arctic ice on their way back to China as fast asthey can go. You destroyed the C-17, and most importantly you kept the weapon out of Russian hands.”
Kurt cringed at what he was hearing. He’d never been a fan of moral victories,and he didn’t like credit or a pat on the back when he hadn’t done a thing to deserve it.
“With all due respect, Mr. President, I didn’t keep the weapon out of Russian hands, Ahab did.It was him all along. He lured NUMA up to Norway with faked artifacts from the U-boat we had been looking for. He brought the Chinese in, promised them an easy score, and then strung them out. I’m guessing he pulled the Russians in at the last minute as some kind of wild card. And while our adversaries may not have the weapon now, Ahab does. That cannot be a good thing for anyone.”
With the President’s permission the director of the CIA chimed in. “It’s a valid point, Kurt, but our sources tell us the Chinese and the Russians both believe the EAGL components were destroyed when the C-17 exploded. They think you and Zavala were behind the self-destruct code, which makes sense when viewed from the outside. Given your combined reputation as something of an unstoppable force, they have no reason to believe otherwise. We want to keep it that way.”
Something bad was coming. Something he wouldn’t like. Kurt could feel it. Otherwise they wouldn’t be laying the praise on so thickly.
Sandecker spoke next. In his own inimitable way, the Vice President added a few more cards to the stacked deck. “I know it sticks in your craw, but you’re going to be feted for this. Privately, of course, but in a way that will confirm to the Chinese and Russians that you’re being rewarded for a job well done. That will keep them thinking:Close, but no cigar. Which reminds me, as part of yourreward I’m sending you a box of cigars. You can share them with anyone at NUMA—except Al Giordano.”
“He seems to have his own,” Kurt noted, then turned back to the issue at hand. “And what if Ahab decides to sell the laser to the Russians or Chinese now?”
“We don’t believe he will,” the CIA director said.
The chief of staff chimed in next. “If he wanted to turn the laser over to them he missed his best chance. At this point he’d have to convince them you didn’t destroy the laser, and that what he has is real, and then he’d have to explain how he got it and why he didn’t give it to them before. A tall order all around.”
“Which means he’s not going to sell it to them,” the CIA director added, closing the loop.
“So what is he going to do with it?” Kurt asked.
The question landed like a lead ballon and sat there. No one had an answer. If they possessed even a clue, they were keeping it to themselves.
