Robert Ludlum - CO 1 - The Hades Factor

by The Hades Factor [lit]

  Abruptly he came alert. He cocked his head, listening. The chop-chop of helicopter rotors was growing louder. Tremont knocked back his scotch, left his cigar in a large serpentine ashtray to die a natural death, and strode into the enormous high-beamed living room. Peering down from the log walls were the glass eyes of mounted trophy heads. Adirondack wood-and-leather furniture stood on hand-knotted rugs around the walk-in fireplace. Tremont continued past the crackling fire and along a back hall where the aroma of hot baking-powder biscuits scented the air from the kitchen.

  Finally he stepped out on the other side of the lodge into the cool dusk. The chopper, a Bell S-92C Helibus, was settling down in a clearing a hundred yards away.

  The four men who descended were in their mid-forties or early fifties, like Tremont himself. Unlike Tremont, who was dressed in custom-made chinos, pewter-colored bush shirt, Gore-Tex lined safari jacket, and a broad-brimmed safari hat that hung from its chin strap down his back, they wore expensive, tailored business suits. They were smooth-looking men with the sophisticated manners of the privileged business class.

  As the noisy rotors thundered, Tremont greeted each with the broad smile and vigorous handshake of an old friend. The chopper copilot jumped out to unload luggage. Tremont waved toward the lodge and turned to lead his visitors there.

  Moments after the Helibus took off into the twilight, a smaller 206B JetRanger III helicopter settled into the clearing. Two men very different from the occupants of the first helicopter stepped from the JetRanger. They wore ordinary, off-the-rack suits no one would look at twice. The tall, swarthy man in the dark blue suit had a pockmarked face with heavy-lidded eyes and a nose as curved and sharp as a scimitar. The round-faced, bland-looking man with the big shoulders and lanky brown hair wore charcoal gray. Neither had luggage. It was not only the ordinary clothes and lack of suitcases that marked them as different. There was something about the way they moved... a trained predatory manner that anyone who knew about such things would recognize as dangerous.

  The pair ducked under the JetRanger's flashing rotors and followed the others toward the lodge.

  Although Victor Tremont never looked back, the four other men noticed the last two. They glanced at each other uneasily, as if they had seen both men before.

  Nadal al-Hassan and Bill Griffin showed no reaction to either Tremont's indifference or to the nervousness of the other four. Silently, their gazes swept all around, and they entered the lodge by a different door.

  __________

  At the long Norwegian banquet table, Victor Tremont and his four guests dined on a feast that could have come from Valhalla itself--- wild duck confit with shitaki mushrooms, poached local lake trout, and venison shot by Tremont himself, with braised Belgian endive, potatoes dauphin, and a Rhone Hermitage reduction sauce. Flushed and sated, the men chose overstuffed chairs in the vast living room. They indulged in cognac, Remy Martin Cordon Bleu, and cigars--- Cuban Maduros made exclusively for Tremont. After they were settled in around the blazing fire, Tremont finished his status report on the project that had consumed their imaginations, hopes, and lives for the last dozen years.

  "...we'd always hypothesized the mutation would take place in the American subjects as much as a year later than it did in the non-American subjects. A matter of general health, nutrition, physical fitness, and genetics. Well..."

  Tremont paused for emphasis and to study their faces. They had all been with him from the start--- a year after he had returned from Peru with the odd virus and the monkeys' blood. There was George Hyem far off to the right, like a wing gunner. Tall and ruddy, in those days he had been a young accountant who had seen the financial potential instantly. Now he was chief accountant for Blanchard while actually working for Tremont. Next to him was Xavier Becker, going to fat, a computer genius who had shortened research on improving the virus and the serum by five years. Opposite Tremont sat Adam Cain, postdoc virologist who had seen George's numbers and decided his future was with Blanchard and Tremont, rather than with the CDC. He had found a way to isolate the lethal mutated virus and keep it stable for as much as a week. On Becker's other side was Blanchard's security chief, Jack McGraw, who had covered all their asses from the start.

  His four clandestine associates were ready and eager for the payoff.

  Tremont held the pause another beat. "The virus has surfaced here in the United States. Soon it's going to appear across the world. Country by country. An epidemic. The press doesn't know about it yet, but they will. No way to stop them or the virus. The only recourse governments will have is to pay our price."

  The four men grinned. Their eyes shone with dollar signs. Big dollar signs. But there was something else, too--- triumph, pride, anticipation, and eagerness. They were already professional successes. Now they were going to be financial successes, hugely wealthy, achieving the pinnacle of the American dream.

  Tremont said, "George?"

  George abruptly reset his face. He looked sad, crestfallen. "The profit projection for the stockholders is ready any time." He hesitated. "I'm afraid it's less than we'd hoped. Perhaps only five... six at best... billion dollars." And laughed uproariously at his joke.

  Xavier Becker, frowning severely at George's levity, did not wait to be asked. "What about the secret audit I discovered?"

  "Jack says that only Haldane has actually seen it," Tremont told them, "and I'll handle him when we meet before the board dinner at the annual meeting. What else, Xavier?" Mercer Haldane was chairman of Blanchard Pharmaceuticals.

  "I've manipulated the computer logs to show we've been working on the cocktail of recombinant antibodies that form our serum the whole ten years, improving it since we got the patent, and that we've finished our final tests and submitted it for FDA approval. The logs also now show our astronomical costs." Excitement was in Xavier's voice. "Supply's in the millions of doses and climbing."

  Adam laughed. "No one suspects a damn thing."

  "Even if they suspect, they'll never find the trail." Jack McGraw, the security chief, rubbed his hands, pleased.

  "Just tell us when to move!" George begged.

  Tremont smiled and held up his hand. "Don't worry, I've got a complete timetable based on how fast they realize they've got an epidemic on their hands. I'll make my move on Haldane before the board meeting."

  The five men drank, their futures growing brighter every second.

  Then Tremont put down his brandy. His face grew somber. He again raised a hand to silence them. "Unfortunately, we've run into a situation that could be more of a problem than the audit. How big or small the danger is, or whether there's any danger at all after some, ah, steps we were forced to take, we can't be certain yet. But rest assured it's being watched and thoroughly dealt with."

  Jack McGraw scowled. "What kind of problem, Victor? Why wasn't I told?"

  Tremont eyed him. "Because I don't want Blanchard even remotely connected." He expected Jack to be jealous of security, but in the end Tremont made all decisions. "As for the problem, it was simply one of those events no one could anticipate. When I was in Peru on that expedition where I found the virus and the potential serum, I ran into a group of young undergraduates on a field trip. Beyond being polite, we paid little attention to each other because we were interested in different studies." He shook his head in wonderment. "But three days ago one called. When she said her name, I vaguely recalled a student who had shown a lot of interest in my work. She went on to become a cell and molecular biologist. The problem was she's now at USAMRIID, which is studying the first deaths. As we expected, they hadn't been able to figure out the virus. But the unique combination of symptoms suddenly brought that trip to Peru back into her mind. She remembered my name. She called me.''

  "Jesus!" George exclaimed, his ruddy face gone white.

  "She tied the virus to you?" Jack McGraw growled.

  "To us!" Xavier exploded.

  Tremont shrugged. "I denied it. I convinced her she was wrong, that there'd been no
such virus. Then I sent Nadal al-Hassan and his people to eliminate her."

  There was a collective relaxation in the giant living room. Sighs of relief as the tension eased. They had worked hard and long for more than a decade, had risked their professions and livelihoods on this one visionary gamble, and none had any intention of losing the riches that were now within reach.

  "Unfortunately," Tremont went on, "we were unsuccessful in doing the same to her fiancé and research partner. He escaped us, and it's possible she had time to speak to him before she died."'

  Jack McGraw understood. "That's why al-Hassan is here. I knew something was up."

  Tremont shook his head. "Don't make more of this than there is. I sent for al-Hassan to report on how we stood. While I have the most to lose, we're all in it together."

  The silence in the room was louder than any noise.

  Xavier broke it. "Okay. Let's hear what he's got to say."

  The fire had died down to glowing coals and a few flickering flames. Tremont moved to the side of the stone fireplace. He pressed a button in the carved mantlepiece. First Nadal al-Hassan and then Bill Griffin entered the cavernous room. Al-Hassan joined Victor Tremont before the fireplace, while Griffin remained unobtrusive in the background. Al-Hassan related details of Sophia Russell's call to Tremont, her death, and his removal of everything that could connect the virus to the Hades Project. He described Jonathan Smith's reactions. He detailed Griffin's blackmailing of Lily Lowenstein and the subsequent erasure of all electronic evidence.

  "Nothing remains to connect us to Russell or the virus," al-Hassan finished, "unless she told Colonel Smith."

  Jack McGraw growled, "That's a pretty damn big `unless.' "

  "That is what I think," al-Hassan agreed. "Something has made Smith suspicious that her death was not an accident. He has been investigating vigorously, ignoring his share of the scientific work on the virus itself."

  "Can he find us?" the accountant, George, asked nervously.

  "Anyone can find anyone if they look long enough and hard enough. That is why I think we must eliminate him."

  Victor Tremont nodded to the rear of the room. "But you don't agree, Griffin?"

  Everyone rotated to stare at the former FBI man, who was leaning against a wall behind them. Bill Griffin was thinking about Jon Smith. He had done his damnedest to warn his friend off. He had used his old FBI credentials to learn from Jon's office that he was out of town, and then he had gone through a Rolodex of agencies acquiring one bit of information after another until he had finally uncovered which conference Jon was attending and, from there, where in London he had been staying.

  So as his canny gaze swept the five who stared at him, he did what he had to do to save himself, while trying to distract the heat from Jon: He shrugged, noncommittal. "Smith's been working so hard to find out what happened to the Russell woman that I think she must've told him nothing about Peru or us. Otherwise, he'd likely be here right now, knocking on the door to talk to you, Mr. Tremont. But our mole inside USAMRIID says Smith's stopped investigating her death and is back concentrating on the virus with the team. He's even flying to California tomorrow to do the routine interviews with the family and friends of Major Anderson."

  Tremont nodded thoughtfully. "Nadal?"

  "Our contact in Detrick says General Kielburger ordered Smith to California, but he refused," al-Hassan reported. "Later he volunteered to go, and that is a very different matter. I believe he is seeking corroboration in California for what he already suspects."

  Griffin said, "He's a doctor, so he was at the autopsy. No big deal. They found nothing. There's nothing to suspect. You've taken care of everything."

  "We do not know what Smith found at the autopsy," al-Hassan said.

  Griffin grimaced. "Kill him, then. That solves one problem. But every new murder increases the danger of questions and discovery. Especially the murder of Dr. Russell's fiancé and research partner. And especially if he's already told General Kielburger about the attacks on him in D.C."

  "To wait could be too late," al-Hassan insisted.

  The silence in the room seemed heavy enough to crush the lodge itself. The conspirators glanced at one another and settled their uneasy gazes on their aristocratic leader, Victor Tremont.

  He paced slowly in front of the fire, a frown creasing his forehead.

  At last he decided, "Griffin could be right. Better we not risk another killing involving the Detrick staff so soon."

  Again they looked at one another. This time they nodded. Nadal alHassan watched the silent vote, then he moved his hooded eyes to study Bill Griffin where the ex-FBI agent lurked in the room's shadows.

  "Well," Tremont said, smiling, "that's settled. We'd better get some sleep. With final plans to make, tomorrow will be a busy day." He shook each man's hand warmly, the gracious host and leader, as they exited the imposing living room.

  Al-Hassan and Griffin were last.

  Victor Tremont gestured them to him. "Watch Smith carefully. I don't want him to shave without your knowing when, where, and how close." He looked down at the glowing coals of the fire as if they were oracles for the future. Suddenly he lifted his head. Al-Hassan and Griffin were just turning away to leave. He called them back.

  When they stood close in front of him, he said in a low, hard voice, "Don't misunderstand me, gentlemen. If Dr. Smith proves to be trouble, of course he has to be purged. Life is a balance of risk and security, victory and loss. What we might lose in a few pointed questions about the coincidences of his and his fiancée's deaths could prove to be more than offset by stopping him from revealing the circumstances of her death."

  "If he's really digging around."

  Tremont aimed his analytical gaze at Bill Griffin. "Yes, if. It's your job to discover that, Mr. Griffin." His voice was abruptly cold, a warning. "Don't disappoint me."

  ___________________

  CHAPTER

  TWELVE

  ___________________

  10:12 A.M., Wednesday, October 15

  Fort Irwin, Barstow, California

  The C-130 transport from Andrews Air Force Base touched down at the Southern California Logistical Airport near Victorville at 1012 on a warm, windy morning. A military police Humvee met Smith on the runway.

  "Welcome to California, sir," the driver greeted Smith as he grabbed his bag and held the vehicle's door open.

  "Thanks, Sergeant. Are we driving to Irwin?"

  "To the helicopter landing area, sir. There's a chopper from Irwin waiting for you there."

  The driver heaved Smith's bag into the rear, climbed behind the wheel, and careened off across the tarmac. Smith hung on as the big combat vehicle bounced across ruts and potholes until it reached a waiting helicopter ambulance marked with the logo of the Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment--- a rearing black stallion on a diagonal red-and-white field. Its rotors were already pivoting for takeoff.

  An older man wearing the gold leaf of a major and a medical caduceus stepped out from beneath the long blades. He held out his hand and shouted, "Dr. Max Behrens, Colonel. Weed Army Hospital."

  An enlisted man took Smith's bag, and they climbed into the vibrating ambulance chopper. It lurched into the air and banked at a steep angle, low across the desert. Smith looked down as they passed over two-lane highways and the buildings of small towns. Soon they were following the broad four lanes of Interstate 15.

  Dr. Behrens leaned toward him to yell over the wind and noise "We've kept close watch on all units on the base, and no other cases of the virus have appeared."

  Smith said loudly, "Mrs. Anderson and the others ready to talk with me?"

  "Yessir. Family, friends, everyone you need. The colonel of OPFOR said you're to have anything you want, and he'd be glad to speak with you himself if that'd help."

  "OPFOR?"

  Behrens grinned. "Sorry, forgot you've been at Detrick awhile. That's our mission--- Opposing Force. What the Eleventh Cav does here is act the role of enemy to a
ll the regiments and brigades that come through for field training. We give them one hell of a hard time. It entertains us and makes them better soldiers."

  The helicopter flew across a four-lane highway and plunged deeper into the rock-strewn desert until Smith saw a road below, a WELCOME sign, and at the top of a hill a jumble of piled rocks all painted with the brightly colored logos and patches of units that had been stationed there or passed through Irwin over the years.

  They swept on above lines of fast-moving vehicles trailing clouds of dust. It was startling how much the visually modified American vehicles looked like Russian mechanized infantry BMP-2s, BRDM-2s, and armored division T-80 tanks. The chopper swooped over the main post and settled to the desert floor in a cloud of sand. A reception committee was waiting, and Smith was jolted back to why he was here.