The Bourne Ultimatum jb-3

by Robert Ludlum

  There were none; there was only the constant murmuring of the forest beyond the prohibiting fence. Jason replaced the CO2 pistol in his holster and crept forward, back to the graveled road, beads of sweat rolling down his face and into his eyes. He had been away too long. Years ago such a feat as silencing an attack dog would have rolled off him-un exercise ordinaire, as the legend d'Anjou would have said-but it was no longer ordinary. What permeated his being was fear. Pure, unadulterated fear. Where was the man that was? Still, Marie and the children were out there; that man had to be summoned. Summon him!

  Bourne stripped out the binoculars and raised them to his eyes again. The moonlight was sporadic, low-flying clouds intercepting the rays, but the yellow wash was sufficient. He focused on the shrubbery that fronted the stockade fence that bordered the road outside. Pacing back and forth on a bisecting dirt path like an angry, impatient panther was the black Doberman, stopping now and then to urinate and poke its long snout into the bushes. As he had been programmed to do, the animal roamed between the opposing closed iron gates of the enormous circular drive. At each halting checkpoint it snarled, spinning around several times as if both expecting and loathing the sharp electrical shock it would receive through its collar if it transgressed without cause. Again, the method of training went back to Vietnam; soldiers disciplined the attack dogs around ammunition and materiel depots with such remote-signaling devices. Jason focused the binoculars on the far side of the expansive front lawn. He zeroed in on a third animal, this a huge Weimaraner, gentle in appearance but lethal in attack. The hyperactive dog raced back and forth, aroused perhaps by squirrels or rabbits in the brush, but not by human scent; it did not raise a throated growl, the signal of assault.

  Jason tried to analyze what he observed, for that analysis would determine his moves. He had to assume that there was a fourth or a fifth, or even a sixth animal patrolling the perimeters of Swayne's grounds. But why this way? Why not a pack roaming at will and in unison, a far more frightening and inhibiting sight? The expense that concerned the Oriental farmer was no object. ... Then the explanation struck him; it was so basic it was obvious. He shifted the binoculars back and forth between the Weimaraner and the Doberman, the picture of the longhaired German shepherd still all too clear in his mind. Beyond the fact that these were trained attack dogs, they were also something else. They were the top of their breeds, groomed to a fare-thee-well-vicious animals posing as champion show dogs by day, violent predators at night. Of course. General Norman Swayne's "farm" was not unrecorded property, not concealed real estate, but very much out in the open and undoubtedly, jealously perhaps, visited by friends, neighbors and colleagues. During the daylight hours, guests could admire these docile champions in their well-appointed kennels without realizing what they really were. Norman Swayne, Pentagon Procurements and alumnus of Medusa, was merely a dog aficionado, attested to by the quality of his animals' bloodlines. He might very well charge stud fees, but there was nothing in the canon of military ethics that precluded the practice.

  A sham. If one such aspect of the general's "farm" was a sham, it had to follow that the estate itself was a sham, as false as the "inheritance" that made its purchase possible. Medusa.

  One of the two strange three-wheeled carts appeared far across the lawn, out of the shadows of the house and down the exit road of the circular drive. Bourne focused on it, not surprised to see the Weimaraner romp over and playfully race beside the vehicle, yapping and seeking approval from the driver. The driver. The drivers were the handlers! The familiar scent of their bodies was calming to the dogs, reassuring them. The observation formed the analysis and the analysis determined his next tactic. He had to move, at least more freely than he was moving now, about the general's grounds. To do so he had to be in the company of a handler. He had to take one of the roving patrols; he raced back in the cover of the pine trees to his point of penetration.

  The mechanized, bulletproof vehicle stopped on the narrow path at midpoint between the two front gates nearly obscured by the shrubbery; Jason adjusted his binoculars. The black Doberman was apparently a favored dog; the driver opened the right panel as the animal sprang up, placing his huge paws on the seat. The man chucked biscuits or pieces of meat into the wide, anticipating jaws, then reached over and massaged the dog's throat.

  Bourne knew instantly that he had only moments to put his uncertain strategy together. He had to stop the cart and force the driver outside but without alarming the man, without giving him any reason whatsoever to use his radio and call for help. The dog? Lying in the road? No, the driver might assume it had been shot from the other side of the fence and alert the house. What could he do? He looked around in the near-total darkness feeling the panic of indecision, his anxiety growing as his eyes swept the area. Then, again, the obvious struck him.

  The large expanse of close-cropped manicured lawn, the precisely cut shrubbery, the swept circular drive-neatness was the order of the general's turf. Jason could almost hear Swayne commanding his groundskeepers to "police the area!"

  Bourne glanced over at the cart by the Doberman; the driver was playfully pushing the dog away, about to close the shielded panel. Only seconds now! What? How?

  He saw the outlines of a tree limb on the ground; a rotted branch had fallen from the pine above him. He crossed quickly to it and crouched, yanking it out of the dirt and debris and dragged it toward the paved asphalt. To lay it across the drive might appear too obvious a trap, but partially on the road-an intrusion on the pervasive neatness-would be offensive to the eye, the task of removing it better done now than later in the event the general drove out and saw it upon his return. The men in Swayne's compound were either soldiers or ex-soldiers still under military authority; they would try to avoid reprimands, especially over the inconsequential. The odds were on Jason's side. He gripped the base of the limb, swung it around and pushed it roughly five feet into the drive. He heard the panel of the cart slam shut; the vehicle rolled forward, gathering speed as Bourne raced back into the darkness of the pine tree.

  The driver steered the vehicle around the dirt curve into the drive. As rapidly as he had accelerated, he slowed down, his single headlight beam picking up the new obstruction protruding on the road. He approached it cautiously, at minimum speed, as if he were unsure of what it was; then he realized what it was and rushed forward. Without hesitation, he opened his side door, the tall Plexiglas shield swinging forward as he stepped out on the drive and walked around the front of the cart.

  "Big Rex, you're one bad dog, buddy," said the driver in a half-loud, very Southern voice. "What'd you drag out of there, you dumb bastard? The brass-plated asshole would shave your coat for messing up his eestate! ... Rex? Rex, you come here, you fuckin' hound!" The man grabbed the limb and pulled it off the road under the pine tree into the shadows. "Rex, you hear me! You humpin' knotholes, you horny stud?"

  "Stay completely still and put your arms out in front of you," said Jason Bourne, walking into view.

  "Holy shit! Who are you?"

  "Someone who doesn't give a damn whether you live or die," replied the intruder calmly.

  "You got a gun! I can see it!"

  "So do you. Yours is in your holster. Mine's in my hand and it's pointed at your head."

  "The dog! Where the hell's the dawg?"

  "Indisposed."

  "What?"

  "He looks like a good dog. He could be anything a trainer wanted him to be. You don't blame the animal, you blame the human who taught it."

  "What are you talkin' about?"

  "I guess the bottom line is that I'd rather kill the man than the animal, do I make myself clear?"

  "Nothin's clear! I jest know this man don't want to get killed."

  "Then let's talk, shall we?"

  "I got words, but only one life, mister."

  "Lower your right arm and take out your gun-by the fingers, mister." The guard did so, holding the weapon by his thumb and forefinger. "Lob it toward me, please." Th
e man obeyed. Bourne picked it up.

  "What the hell's this all about?" cried the guard, pleading.

  "I want information. I was sent here to get it."

  "I'll give you what I got if you let me get out of here. I don't want nothin' more to do with this place! I figured it was comin' someday, I told Barbie Jo, you ask her! I told her someday people'd be comin' around asking questions. But not this way, not your way! Not with guns aimed at our heads."

  "I assume Barbie Jo is your wife."

  "Sort of."

  "Then let's start with why 'people' would come out here asking questions. My superiors want to know. Don't worry, you won't be involved, nobody's interested in you. You're just a security guard."

  "That's all I am, mister!" interrupted the frightened man. "Then why did you tell Barbie Jo what you did? That people would someday come out here asking questions."

  "Hell, I'm not sure.... Jest so many crazy things, y'know?"

  "No, I don't know. Like what?"

  "Well, like the brass-plated screamer, the general. He's a big wheel, right? He's got Pentagon cars and drivers and even helicopters whenever he wants 'em, right? He owns this place, right?"

  "So?"

  "So that big mick of a sergeant-a lousy master sergeant-orders him around like he wasn't toilet-trained, y'know what I mean? And that big-titty wife of his he's got a thing goin' with the hulk and she don't give a damn who knows it. It's all crazy, y'see what I mean?"

  "I see a domestic mess, but I'm not sure it's anybody's business. Why would people come out here and ask questions?"

  "Why are you out here, man? You figured there was a meetin' tonight, didn't you?"

  "A meeting?"

  "Them fancy limousines with the chauffeurs and the big shots, right? Well, you picked the wrong night. The dogs are out and they're never let out when there's a meetin'."

  Bourne paused, then spoke as he approached the guard. "We'll continue this in the cart," he said with authority. "I'll crouch down and you'll do exactly what I tell you to do."

  "You promised me I could get out of here!"

  "You can, you will. Both you and the other fellow making the rounds. The gates over there, are they on an alarm?"

  "Not when the dogs are loose. If those hounds see something out on the road and get excited, they'd jump up and set it off."

  "Where's the alarm panel?"

  "There are two of 'em. One's in the sergeant's place, the other's in the front hall of the house. As long as the gates are closed, you can turn it on."

  "Come on, let's go."

  "Where are we goin'?"

  "I want to see every dog on the premises."

  Twenty-one minutes later, the remaining five attack dogs drugged and carried to their kennels, Bourne unlatched the entrance gate and let the two guards outside. He had given each three hundred dollars. "This will make up for any pay you lose," he said.

  "Hey, what about my car?" asked the second guard. "It ain't much but it gets me around. Me and Willie come out here in it."

  "Do you have the keys?"

  "Yeah, in my pocket. It's parked in the back by the kennels."

  "Get it tomorrow."

  "Why don't I get it now?"

  "You'd make too much noise driving out, and my superiors will be arriving any moment. It's best that they don't see you. Take my word for it."

  "Holy shit! What'd I tell you, Jim-Bob? Jest like I tole Barbie Jo. This place is weird, man!"

  "Three hundred bucks ain't weird, Willie. C'mon, we'll hitch. T'ain't late and some of the boys'll be on the road. ... Hey, mister, who's gonna take care of the hounds when they wake up? They got to be walked and fed before the morning shift, and they'll tear apart any stranger who gets near 'em."

  "What about Swayne's master sergeant? He can handle them, can't he?"

  "They don't like him much," offered the guard named Willie, "but they obey him. They're better with the general's wife, the horny bastards."

  "What about the general?" asked Bourne.

  "He pisses bright yeller at the sight of 'em," replied Jim-Bob.

  "Thanks for the information. Go on now, get down the road a piece before you start hitchhiking. My superiors are coming from the other direction."

  "You know," said the second guard, squinting in the moonlight at Jason, "this is the craziest fuckin' night I ever expect to see. You get in here dressed like some gawddamn terrorist, but you talk and act like a shit-kickin' army officer. You keep mentioning these 'soopeeriors' of yours; you drug the pups and pay us three hundred bucks to get out. I don't understand nothin!"

  "You're not supposed to. On the other hand, if I was really a terrorist, you'd probably be dead, wouldn't you?"

  "He's right, Jim-Bob. Let's get outta here!"

  "What the hell are we supposed to say?"

  "Tell anyone who asks you the truth. Describe what happened tonight. Also, you can add that the code name is Cobra."

  "My Gawd!" yelled Willie as both men fled into the road. Bourne secured the gate and walked back to the patrol cart certain in the knowledge that whatever happened during the next hours, an appendage of Medusa had been thrown into a state of further anxiety. Questions would be asked feverishly-questions for which there were no answers. Nothing. Enigma.

  He climbed into the cart, shifted gears and started for the cabin at the end of the graveled road that branched off from the immaculate circular drive.

  He stood by the window peering inside, his face at the edge of the glass. The huge, overweight master sergeant was sitting in a large leather armchair, his feet on an ottoman, watching television. From the sounds penetrating the window, specifically the rapid, high-pitched speech of an announcer, the general's aide was engrossed in a baseball game. Jason scanned the room as best he could; it was typically rustic, a profusion of browns and reds, from dark furniture to checkered curtains, comfortable and masculine, a man's cabin in the country. However, there were no weapons in sight, not even the accepted antique rifle over the fireplace, and no general-issue .45 automatic either on the sergeant's person or on the table beside the chair. The aide had no concerns for his immediate safety and why should he? The estate of General Norman Swayne was totally secure-fence, gates, patrols and disciplined roving attack dogs at all points of entry. Bourne stared through the glass at the strong jowled face of the master sergeant. What secrets did that large head hold? He would find out. Medusa's Delta One would find out if he had to carve that skull apart. Jason pushed himself away from the window and walked around the cabin to the front door. He knocked twice with the knuckles of his left hand; in his right was the untraceable automatic supplied by Alexander Conklin, the crown prince of dark operations.

  "It's open, Rachel!" yelled the rasping voice from within.

  Bourne twisted the knob and shoved the door back; it swung slowly on its hinges and made contact with the wall. He walked inside.

  "Jesus Christ!" roared the master sergeant, his heavy legs plunging off the ottoman as he wriggled his massive body out of the chair. "You! ... You're a goddamned ghost! You're dead!"

  "Try again," said Delta of Medusa. "The name's Flannagan, isn't it? That's what comes to mind."

  "You're dead!" repeated the general's aide, screaming, his eyes bulging in panic. "You bought it in Hong Kong! You were killed in Hong Kong ... four, five years ago!"

  "You kept tabs-"

  "We know ... I know!"

  "You've got connections in the right places, then."

  "You're Bourne!"

  "Obviously born again, you might say."

  "I don't believe this!"

  "Believe, Flannagan. It's the 'we' we're going to talk about. Snake Lady, to be precise."

  "You're the one-the one Swayne called 'Cobra'!"

  "It's a snake."

  "I don't get it-"

  "It's confusing."

  "You're one of us!"

  "I was. I was also cut out. I snaked back in, as it were."

  The sergeant frantically looked
at the door, then the windows. "How'd you get in here? Where are the guards, the dogs? Jesus! Where are they?"

  "The dogs are asleep in the kennels, so I gave the guards the night off."

  "You gave...? The dogs are on the grounds!"

  "Not any longer. They were persuaded to rest."

  "The guards-the goddamned guards!"

  "They were persuaded to leave. What they think is happening here tonight is even more confusing."

  "What've you done-what are you doing?"

  "I thought I just mentioned it. We're going to talk, Sergeant Flannagan. I want to get caught up with some old comrades."

  The frightened man backed awkwardly away from the chair. "You're the maniac they called Delta before you turned and went in business for yourself!" he cried in a guttural whisper. "There was a picture, a photograph-you were laid out on a slab, bloodstains all over the sheet from the bullet wounds; your face was uncovered, your eyes wide open, holes still bleeding on your forehead and your throat. ... They asked me who you were and I said, 'He's Delta. Delta One from the illegals,' and they said, 'No, he's not, he's Jason Bourne, the killer, the assassin,' so I said, 'Then they're one and the same because that man is Delta-I knew him.' They thanked me and told me to go back and join the others."

  "Who were 'they'?"

  "Some people over at Langley. The one who did all the talking had a limp; he carried a cane."

  "And 'the others'-they told you to go back and join?"

  "About twenty-five or thirty of the old Saigon crowd."

  "Command Saigon?"

  "Yeah."

  "Men who worked with our crowd, the 'illegals'?"

  "Mostly, yeah."

  "When was this?"

  "For Christ's sake, I told you!" roared the panicked aide. "Four or five years ago! I saw the photograph-you were dead!"

  "Only a single photograph," interrupted Bourne quietly, staring at the master sergeant. "You have a very good memory."