Go Out With A Bang! (17 page)

She
rolled over, grabbed the pillow and hugged it tight. She couldn't
remember the last time she had cried. Perhaps a few tears as her
fingernails had been pulled slowly out. Maybe a few more as her
skin had burned from the glowing tip of the cigarettes. She touched
her left nipple and could still feel the pain.

But this
pain was different. It was the pain of wanting to love and be
loved. It was the pain of knowing she would soon be a grandmother,
maybe only ever seeing that child from a shady hiding place. Those
pains were real pains, the worst kind. And all she could do was let
her tears soak the pillow.

Chapter 54

Paul
Rose said, 'Any more security agents and there won't be room for
the politicians.'

'Is
there anything to that C I A rumour?' Sinclair Carlisle
asked.

'They're
not dismissing the possibility out of hand. They're adamant the man
they killed was the correct one. But then, they would. They are
saying that even if it were true, the security is such that
everyone will be completely safe.'

'If
they're wrong, is there any more we can do about it?'

'Yes.
Hold the conference in another country.'

'That's
you being helpful I suppose, Rosy?'

'Sorry.
Just my way of saying we are doing all we can.'

'Fully
armoured car transport from the airport with police
escort.'

'Yes.
You know all this. The army will have the route covered from every
angle. It's just three miles from the airport to the conference
centre. Once inside, our visitors will remain there until the
conference is over.'

'That
day can't come soon enough as far as I'm concerned. Good job,
Paul.'

'Thanks.
You haven't seen Ringo Starr again, have you?'

'No.
I'll be really worried if I see John Lennon.'

* * *

D I
Andersen went over the plans to escort the politicians from the
airport to the conference centre with the Chief. 'Once we get them
into the centre, the I S S will take over.'

'Dale.
I've a confession to make.'

'Why do
I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?'

'Because
you're not. I saw Sandra.'

The
mention of the Chief's sister made Andersen shudder.
'When?'

'A few
days ago. A very brief meeting.'

'Not to
arrange a family reunion, I suspect.'

The
Chief shook his head. 'She's been tracking a terrorist plot to
attack the conference.'

'The
centre's tighter than a drum. Terrorist attacks are always put into
the equation as a given. They are not regarded as an
afterthought.'

'That's
what bothers me. We know it; they know it.'

'Chief.
What exactly did she say?'

'The
conference is going to be hit. Sandra is convinced about
that.'

'And?'

'We have
to be ready.'

Andersen
sighed. 'And that's it? Useful, Chief. Really useful.'

Chapter 55

Friday
night, the mansion was filling up with Steve's relatives. Just the
men. Ferret and Nick were on barbecue duty, and Sandra had filled
chilly bins with beer and chatted easily to the men. It was a bit
of an odd mix, but nine men and one woman mingled merrily together
and to an outsider, it looked like a pleasant evening of friends
enjoying an informal meal. They all helped with the cleaning up and
then they settled in the lounge. Sandra predicted Frank would kick
things off, and he did.

'Sandra.
As much I have enjoyed the company of you and Ferret, do you have
things to tell us?'

Sandra
looked at Ferret. 'Over to you.'

Ferret,
never happy being in the spotlight, said, 'Nick and I have made
solid progress.'

'Man,
the stuff I've learned,' said Nick. 'I would never have thought we
could achieve so much in such a short time.'

'But you
have no plan?' said Steve.

'I think
we have enough for the basis of forming a plan,' said Ferret. 'Bear
in mind, these people have been planning this for many months. We
have had just a few weeks to unravel their plots. Why don't we use
what we know as a foundation to come up with something we can hit
back with.'

Frank
said, 'I saw the news. There are security people tripping over each
other. You two seriously think we can come up with something they
can't?'

Sandra
said, 'Tomorrow's another day, Frank. We'll work on it then. I'm
relying on you to be the Devil's advocate. I want you to look for
flaw's, weaknesses and potholes.'

'I'll
take some convincing to be involved in this. I can't speak for the
others, but I'll listen to what you have to say. I suggest we have
an early night and see if this thing has legs,
tomorrow.'

Sandra
looked at Ferret. One thing was clear, there was still plenty left
to do.

Chapter 56

After a
leisurely breakfast, it was time to get down to business, Sandra
sitting by Steve on the settee. Ferret and Nick had arranged copies
of their notes for everyone and had a whiteboard set up on an
easel.

'Right,'
said Ferret. 'Some things we know. Some things we can take a good
educated guess at. First. How many are we talking about? We have
taken the number from the amount of different emails sent out. On
three separate occasions, forty six emails were sent out
simultaneously. There are no other people on this email list. This
computer is only used for anything to do with communication for the
attack. Nothing else.'

Nick
said, 'On a decent laptop, he can be anywhere in the country and
stay in contact with the others. The messages we have intercepted
are written in a simple code, once the source language is known.
These people are from five different countries, and they've used an
old dead language as a common language. The language is actually an
ancient one. Not used today. You would be amazed how many dead
languages there are. Using individual letters from that, using a
code program Ferret has, then translating that into English, the
true message is revealed.'

'Wow,'
said Hank. 'From a few clues you found some old unused language,
then worked out the code they used to make sense of the
messages?'

Ferret
said, 'My computer can take most of the credit. Nick's skills with
languages was invaluable. I couldn't have done it
alone.'

Frank
said, 'I'm impressed. But how much have you decoded?'

'I've put most of it on the
notes,' said Ferret. 'They plan two methods of attack. One
thermonuclear, the other some kind of gas. Maybe biological or
chemical devices. The details are still a little sketchy. A sizable
nuclear device could be contained in a large suitcase. Same for the
chemical weapon. We know the politicians are staying confined to
the centre for the entire conference. No sightseeing. This many
leaders together would be a prime target. The CIA appreciate that,
but were dismissive of
our
man as being the one behind it.'

'Question,' said Steve. 'You say two attacks. Why not one?
Why not combine both thermonuclear and chemical?'

'Because
the one would in all probability wipe out the other. The nuclear
reaction would render the chemicals or biological effects useless.
At least the real possibility of that makes it unlikely they would
combine the two.'

Frank
said, 'A sort of belt an braces approach. Try one thing, and if
that doesn't work, try the other.'

'Possibly,' said Sandra. 'But I think both would definitely
be used, just at different times or places.'

Titch
said, 'Is it likely to be some kind of virus?'

'Too hit
and miss,' said Ferret. 'I think more of a nerve gas.'

'Through
the air conditioning vents, I'd expect,' said Steve.

'Maybe,'
said Sandra. 'If this was nineteen eighty. Sorry, Steve. The
security agents will have checked the entire system inside and out
a dozen times. Same for the water supply.'

'This is
nuts,' said Frank. 'You have information. Good stuff, too, but it
should go to those with the resources to deal with it.'

'Not
something I'd rule out, and believe it or not, if I thought that
would work, no worries,' said Sandra. 'But think about this. The
same way you lot were watching the police try to deal with the
crime you set up, the terrorists will be doing the same at the
centre. Any hint of suspicion by our agents, most if not all of the
bad guys will scatter. Then sometime in the future, reemerge to
create havoc in some other way. They're watching the centre and the
agents. When the police were trying to find you, you were all
watching the police and you had no idea Ferret and I were closing
in on you. To me, that gives us an edge.'

'That
makes sense,' said Steve. 'They would be too busy watching the
conference centre to notice us.'

'Hmm. I
can see that,' said Frank. 'But we still have no plan.'

'We all
need to work on it,' said Sandra. 'Frank. Let's cut a deal. Work
with us until tomorrow evening. If we still have nothing to work
on, Ferret and I will simply pack our bags, hand over the info and
call it a day.'

All eyes
were on Frank. Nick said, 'Frank. Just the rest of the weekend.
What do you say?'

Frank
shrugged. 'Okay. I'm here all weekend, anyway. Nothing to
lose.'

'Thanks,
Frank,' said Sandra.

Chapter 57

Titch
said, 'You know the email addresses of all the other forty six,
right?'

'Of
course,' said Ferret. 'And yes, we could use that to hack into them
if we wanted. But the more we do that, the more we risk tipping our
hand. Less is more. Also, I'm thinking they will have dedicated
computers. I'll tap in but only as a last resort. What we need to
do is to use the emails we've already downloaded and translate the
message into English from the old language and then use the basic
decoding system to find the true meaning. That's time consuming.
Let's team up in pairs and take the pile of stuff and work through
it. Anything that looks interesting, we'll all pounce on
it.'

That
agreed, they paired up, Ferret with Sandra, Nick with Frank, the
others sitting around the dining table. They had their own pile of
emails, a copy of the letters from the old language and a copy from
the code. It was all about tedious methodical slog. The hours
ticked away. Food and drinks were consumed on the job. Nick and
Ferret were the “experts” and were consulted at regular
intervals.

Any new
word was written on the white board, against the ancient language
word and the code letters. It was like learning two new languages
in twenty four hours. After thirteen straight hours, they had
reached the point where letters were floating in front of their
eyes. Titch and Hank were falling asleep on the table.

'Come
on, people,' said Steve, yawning. 'Bed.'

Ten
tired people dragged themselves off to bed. Most of them had
headaches they wouldn't wish on their worst enemies. Except perhaps
for terrorists.

Chapter 58

The
following morning, they were bracing themselves to start
again.

'I'll
never nag my kids about doing their homework ever again,' said
Frank, stretching and yawning.

Sandra
had refilled the coffee percolator and passed Frank a black strong
mug. 'Frank. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your input. Can
I tell you something?'

'Of
course.'

'I have
sacrificed just about my entire adult life for a dream. An
illusion. Do you know the conclusion I've come to?'

'Go
on.'

'The
fundamental problem with planet Earth is countries. Borders.
Control. So much energy is expended trying to protect those
borders, those countries. One day, and I believe this with all my
heart, there will be no such thing as countries. No people fighting
for scraps of this and bits of that. The energy expended on
weapons, armies, death, instead it will all go into feeding us all,
education and health care.'

Frank
smiled. Not something he did easily. 'You are a lovely lady. That
dream you have isn't going to happen in our lifetime. Do you have
family?'

A pained
look crossed her face. 'My biggest sacrifice. My family is closer
than you'd ever believe. Frank. Don't lose your family the way I've
lost mine. Pack your bags and go back to them. There's no shame in
that.'

Frank
put his mug down and leaned back against the bench-top. 'No. Not
yet. I promised you I would stick around for the full weekend.
besides...'

'What?'

Frank
grinned. 'I love the way Steve looks at you. That brother of mine
loved Camila so much. For awhile he died inside. He just limped
along, one day to the next. He's a good looking guy. A few women
set their sights on him but none could pin him down. Now he wants
to be pinned down.'