I just know it works. He's free to associate with a degree of simulated
confidence-in a way, a replica of his former self."
"Then his day begins? His ... simulated day?"
"Exactly. Read the monitors from right to left. His day starts with
breakfast in the garden. He's brought intelligence reports and newspapers
corresponding to the dates of whatever issue is being probed. Then in the
next screen you see him walking out of his Iome~ and down his steps with an
aide who's talking to him, refining the options of the problem, building up
the case, whatever it is. Everything, by the way, is taken from his logs;
that remains constant throughout 'the day.'" Berquist paused, and gestured
at the third monitor from the right "There you see him in his limousine,
the aide still talking, bringing his focus back. He's driven around for a
while, then gradually brought in sight of places that are familiar to him,
the Jefferson Memorial, the monument, certain streets, past the South
Portico-the sequence is irrelevant. 11
"But theyre not whole," insisted Michael. "TheYre fragmentsl"
"He doesn7t see that; he sees only the impressions. But even if he did see
that they are fragments, as you call them, or miniatures of the existing
places, the doctors tell me his mind would reject that and accept the
reality of the impressions. just as he refused to accept his own
deterioration, and kept pressing for wider and wider responsibilities,
until
440 Roi3ERT LuDLum
he simply reached out and took them.... Watch the fourth screen. He's
getting out at the State Department, going inside, and telling his aide
something; it will be studied. In the fifth, you can see him walking into
his office-the same in every respect as his own on the eighth floor-and
immediately scanning the cables and reading the day's appointments, again
identical with those that were there at the time. The sixth shows him taking
a series of phone calls, the same calls he bad taken before. Often big
responses are meaningless, a part of him rejecting a voice, or a lack of
authentic repartee, but other times what we learn is mind-blowing. . . .
He's been here nearly six weeks, and there are times when we think we've
only scratched the surface. We're only beginning to learn the extent of his
massive excesses."
"You mean the things he's done?" asked Havelock, recoiling from the
frightening turn of events.
Berquist looked at Michael in the glow of the console and the flickering
light emanating from the screens across the room. "Yes, Mr. Havelock,
tbe-2things~-he's done. If ever a man in the history of representative
government exceeded the authority of his office, Anthony Matthias is that
man. There were no limits to what he promised-what be guaranteed-in the
name of the United States government. Take today. A policy was set and in
the process of being implemented, but it did not suit the Secretary of
State at this particular moment of irrationality, so he altered it. . . .
Watch the seventh screen, the one marked Current. Listen. Hes at his desk,
and in his mind Vs back about flve months, when a bipartisan decision bad
been made to close an embassy in a new African country slaughtering its
citizens with mass bangings and death squads, revolting the civilized
world. The aide is explaining."
Mr. Secretary, the Pre&kfent and the Joint Chiefs, as well as the Senate,
have gone on record as opposing any further contact at this time ...
Then uw won't tell them, will we? Antediluvian reactions cannot be a
keystone of a coherent foreign policy. I shall make contact myself and
present a cohesive and judicious plan. Arms and well-sweetened butter are
international lubric4nts, and we shall provid_- them.
Michael was stunned. "He said that? He did thatr
THE PARsiFAL MosAic441
"He~s reliving It now," replied Berquist. "In a few minutes he'll place a
call to the mission in Geneva, and another unbelievable commitment will be
made. . . . This, however, is only a minor example, one theyre working on
this morning. Actually, as outrageous as it is, ifs insignificant compared
with so many others. So many-so dangerous-so incredible."
"Dangerous?'
"One voice overriding all others, entering unthinkable negotiations,
processing agreements contrary to everything this nation supposedly stands
for-agreements that would make an outraged Congress impeach me for even
considering. But even that fact-and it is a fact-is insignificant. We can't
let the world know what hes clone. We'd be humiliated, a giant on its
knees, begging forgiveness, and if it was not forthoomIng there would be
guns and bombs. You see, he's put it all in writing."
"Could he do that?"
"Not constitutionally, no. But he was the superstar. The uncrowned king of
the republic had spoken, a god had given his word. Who questions kings or
gods? The mere existence of such documents is the most fertile grounds on
earth for international extortion. If we can't quietly invalidate those
negotiations-cliplomatically void them by anticipated congressional
rejection-they tviU be exposed. If they are, every treaty, every agreement
we've concluded during the past decade-all the sensitive alliances we're
currently negotiating everywhere in the world-will. be called into
question. This country's foreign policy will collapse; we'd never be
trusted again. And when a nation such as ours has no foreign policy, Mr.
Havelock, it has war."
Michael leaned over the console, staring at the Current screen, and brought
his hand to his forehead; he felt the beads of perspiration. "He's gone
this farF'
"Beyond. Remember, he's been Secretary of State for nearly six years, and
before he took office his influence was significant perhaps too much so, in
the two previous administrations. He was nothing short of an
ambassador-plenipotentiary for both, roaming the globe, cementing his power
bases."
"But they were for good, not thisl"
"They were, and no one knew it better than I did. I'm the
442 RoBERT LuDLum
one who convinced him that he should chuck the consulting business and take
over. I said the world needed his imprimatur, the time was right. You see,
I appealed to his ego; all great men have outrageous egos. De Gaulle was
right: the man of destiny knows it before anybody else. What he doesn't know
is the limit of his capabilities. God knows Matthias didn't."
"You said it a few minutes ago, Mr. President. We made him a god. We asked
too much of him." Havelock shook his head slowly, overwhelmed.
"Just hold it there," answered Berquist, his voice cold, his eyes
penetrating in the incandescent reflections of light. "I said it by way of
an oversimplified explanation. No one makes a man a god unless that man
wants to be one._ And, Christ-on-a-raft, Matthias has been looking for that
divine appointment all his lifel He's been tasting the holy water for
years-in his mind, bathing in it.... You know what someone called him the
other day? A hustling Socrates on the Potomac, and that's exac
tly what he
was. A hustler, Mr. Havelock. A grade-A, high-IQ, brilliant opportunist, A
man with extraordinarily persuasive words, capable of first-rate global
diplomacy-the best we could field-as long as he was the eye of the
worldwide hurricane. He could be magnificent and, as I also said, no one
knew it better than I did and I used him. But for all of that, he was a
hustler. He never stopped pushing the omniscient Anthony Matthias."
"And knowing this," said Michael, refusing to permit Berquises stare to
cower him, "you still used him. You pushed him as much as he pushed
himself. You appealed to a 'man of destiny,' wasn't that it?"
The President lowered his eyes to the dials on the console. "Yes," he said
softly. "Until he blew apart. Because I was watching a performance, not the
man, and I was blinded. I didnI see what was really happening."
"Jesusf" exclaimed Havelock his whisper a cry. "It's all so hard to
believel"
"On that assumption," interrupted Berquist, regaining his composure, "I've
had several tapes prepared for you. They're reenactments of aetual
conversations that took place during his final months in office. The
psychiatrists tell me they're valid, and the papers we've unearthed bear
them out. Put on
THE PARsrrAL Mosmc443
the earphones and ni press the appropriate buttons. The images will appear
on the last monitor on the right."
What took place on that screen during the next twelve minutes was a
portrait of a man Havelock did not know. The tapes showed Matthias at
emotional extremes as he was psy~ chologically stimulated by the combined
effects of the cbemicals and the visual trappings, and prodded by aides
using his 9:wn words. He was screaming one moment, weeping the iRext,
cajoling a diplomat over the phone with charm and flatfery-and brilliant
humility-then condemning the man as a fool and a moron once the
conversation was finished. Above all were the lies, where once there had
been essential truth. The telephone was his instrument; his resonant voice
with its European cadence, the organ.
Ms first," said Berquist, angrily stabbing a button, "is his response to
me when I bad just told him I wanted a reassessment of foreign aid in San
Miguel."
Your policy is firm, Mr. President, a clear call for decency and human
rights. I applaud you, sir. Good-bye. . . . Idiod Imbecilef One does not
have to endorse a brother, one must merebj accept geopolitical realitiesl
Get me General Sandoza on the line. Set up a very private appointment with
his ambassador. The colonels will understand we back theml
"This little number followed a joint House and Senate resolution, which I
thoroughly endorsed, to withhold diplomatic recognition . . ."
You understand, Mr. Prime Minister, that our existing ac6cords in your part
of the world prohibit what you suggest, but you should know that I am in
agreement with you. Tm meeting with the President ... no, no, I assure you
he will have an open mind ... and I have already convinced the chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relatiow Committee. A treaty between our two countries
is desirable progress, and should it be in contradistinction to prior
agreements . - -well, en4ghtened self-interest was the essence of BismarcWs
reign.
"I canI believe this," said Havelock, mesmerized.
'Neither did 1, but it's true." The President pushed a third button. "Were
now in the Persian Gulf . . ."
You are, of course, speaking unofliolally, not as your countrVs Minister of
Finance but as a friend, and what you are
4"ROBERT Lur)Lum
seeking are additional guarantees of eight hundred and fift million for your
current fiscal year, and one billion two hundred million for the next. . .
. Contrary to what you may believe, my good friend, they are entirely
plausible figures. I say this confidentially, but our territorial strategies
are not what they appear. I shall prepare, again on a confidential basis, a
memorandum of intent.
"Now we~re In the Balkans, a Soviet satellite, loyal to Mos
cow, and at our throats.... Insanityl" - I
Mr. Premier, the restrictions on arms sales to your nation, it they cannot
be lifted outright, will be overlooked. I find Vecific and considerable
advantages in our cooperating with you. "Equipment` can and will be
funneled through certain North African regimes considered to be in our
adversa?V& camp but with whom -rve met-shall we say ex- et non-offl-
cio-recently and frequently. Confidentially, a new geopolitical axis is
being formed ...
"Being formedl" exploded Berquist. "Suicidel Here's a coup in the Yemens.
Instability on course, wholesale bloodshed guaranteedl"
The emerging of a great new independent nation, Sirach Bal Shazar, though
slow to gain the recognition you deserve, will have the quiet support of
this administration We recognize the necessity of dealing firmly and
realW*xlly with internal subversion. You may be assured that the funds you
ask for will be allocated. Three hundred million once tran&terred will
indicate to the legislative branch of our govemment the faith we place in
you.
"Finally," said the President, touching a last button, his whisper
strained, his lined face looking exhausted, "the new madman of Africa."
To speak frankly and in the utmost confidence, Major General Halafi, we
approve of your proposed incursion north into the Straits. Our so-called
allies them have been weak and in4ectual, but, naturally, our
disassociation must, because of the current treaties, be gradual. The
educating process is always difficult, the reeducating of the entrenched
unfortunately a maddening chess game, fortunately played by those of us who
understand. You shaU have your weapons. Salaam, my warrior Men&
What Michael had watched and listened to was paralyz- THE PARsiFAL MosAic445
Ing. Alliances not In the Interests of the United States had been tacitly
formed or half formed, and treaties proposed or negotiated that were in
violation of existing treaties; guarantees of billions had been made that
Congress would never tolerate and the American taxpayer would never accept;
mifitary obligations had been assumed that were immoral in concept, crossing
the bounds of national honor, and irration-
* eIt was a portrait of a brilliant mind that had ftrYgmPZritvse in
a profusion of global commitments, each a lethal missile.
Michael slowly recovered from his state of shock. Suddenly the gap came
into focus; it had to be filled, explained. Havelock took off the earphones
and turned to the President. "Costa Brava," he whispered harshly. "Why? Why
'beyond salvage"?"
"I was part of the first, but I did not call for the second. As near as we
can determine, it was not officially sanctioned."
"Ambiguity?"
"Yes. We don't know who he is. However, I should tell you, I personally
confirmed the salvage order later."
"WhyP"
"Because I accepted one aspect of the oath you signed when you entered the
service of your government."
"Which wasP"
desperately enough to ask for it. Any of us would, you know that as well as
I do. Nor do I have to remind you that untold thousands have done so even
when the needs were questionable."
"Meaning the need for my life-my death-was not questionable?"
"When I gave the order, no, it was not."
Michael held his breath. "And the Czechoslovakian woman? jenna Karas?"
"Her death was never sought."
'It UV81"
"Not by us."
"Ambiguity?"
"Apparently."
"And you don!t know ... Oh, my God. But my execution was sanctioned. By
you."
446 ROBERT LUDLUM
The President nodded, his Nordic face less hard than before, his eyes still
level, still steady, but no longer a hunter~s eyes.
'May the condemned man ask why?"
"Come with me," said Berquist, rising from the console In the dim,
flickering light. "Ifs time for the last phase of your education, Mr.
Havelock. I hope to God you~re ready for it."
They left the monitor room and entered what appeared to be a short, white
corridor, guarded by a huge master seir-' geant whose face and display of
ribbons conveyed many tours and many battles. He cracked to attention the
instant he saw the President; his commander in chief nodded and proceeded
toward a wide black door at the end of the enclosure. However, it was not
a door, Michael realized as he drew nearer behind Berquist. It was a vault,
its wheel in the center, a small hand-sensor plate to the right of the
frame. The President pressed his right palm against it, a tiny row of
colored lights raced back and forth above the plate, settling on green and
white. He then reached over with his left hand and gripped the wheel; the
lights were tripped again, a combination of three greens this time. .
rm sure you know more about these devices than I do," said Berquist, "so
III only add that it can be released solely by myself . . . and one other
person in the event of my dmth.-
The significance was obvious and required no comment. The President swung
the heavy vault back, reached up and pressed an unseen plate on the inner
frame; somewhere crossbeam. trips were deactivated. Once again he nodded at
the soldier, gesturing for Havelock to enter. They stepped inside as the
Robert Ludlum - The Parcifal Mosaic.txt Page 56
