abruptly called off their reporters. Owners and editors had been reached by
respected men in government who claimed no special knowledge of the situa-
tion but had profound trust in those higher up who had appealed to them,
Play it down, let the story die. In second editions the search was
relegated to a few lines near the back Pages, and those papers with third
editions carried no mention of it at all.
And an odd thing happened at a telephone exchange beginning with the digits
0-7742. Since midnight it had not functioned, and by 8:00 A.M., when
service was suddenly, :inexplicably, resumed, telephone "repairmen" were in
the building of the Voyagers Emporium annex,, where orders were received,
and every incoming call was monitored and taped, all tapes under fifteen
seconds in length played instantly over the phone to Sterile Five. The
brevity reduced the number to a very few.
International airports were infiltrated by federal agents with
sophisticated X-ray equipment that scanned briefcases and band luggage;
they were looking for a two-inch-thick metal case with a combination lock
on the side. There were
THE PAmrFAL MosAic631
two assumptions: one, the devastating file would not be entrusted to a cargo
hold; and, two, it would remain in its original government container for
authenticity. ff container and Me were separated, either shape was
sufficient cause for examination. By 11:30 A.M. over twenty-seven hundred
attach46 cases had been opened and searched, from Kennedy to Atlanta to
Miami International.
"rhanks very much," said Havelock into the phone, forcing energy into his
voice, feeling the effects of the sleepless night. He hung up and looked
over at jenna, who was pouring coffee. "They can't understand and I can't
tell them. Pierce wouldii~t call Orphan-ninety-six unless he thought he
could get his message across with a very few words, spoken quickly. He
knows rve got the place wired and manned by now."
'Yoeve done everything you can," said jenna, carrying the coffee to the
desk. "All the airports are covered--7
"Not for him," Michael broke in. "He wouldn't risk it, and besides, he
doesnt want to leave. He wants what I want. Parsffal. . . . It's that *1
One small single-engine plane crossing the Mexican border, or a fishing
boat meeting another between here and Cuba, or out of Galveston toward
Matamoros, and that Me's on its way to Moscow, into the hand of the
overkill specialists in the Voennaya. And theres not a damn thing I can do
about it."
"Ile Mexican border is being patrolled, the agents doubled. The piers and
marinas are watched both here and in the Gulf, all boats tracked, stopped
if directions are in question. You Insisted on these things and the
President issued the orders.*
"Ies a long border, and those are large bodies of water."
"Get some rest, Mikhail. You can't function if youre exhausted-ies one of
your rules, remember."
"One of the rules... ?" Havelock brought both hands to the sides of his
head, massaging his temples with his fingers. "Yes, thaes one of the rules,
part of the rules."
"Lie down on the couch and close your eyes. I can take the calls, let you
know what they are. I slept for a while, you di(&t."
"When did you sleep?" asked Michael, looking up, doubting.
632 R033E]RT LuDLum
"I rested before the sun was up. You were talking to your Coast Guard."
"It doesn't belong to me," said Havelock wearily, pushing himself up.
"Maybe I will lie down . . . just for a few minutes. Ies part of the
rules." He walked around the desk, then stopped; his eyes roamed the
elegant study strewn with papers, notebooks and file folders. "God, I bate
this rooml" he said, heading for the couch. "Thanks for the coffee, but no
thanks."
The telephone rang, and Michael steeled himself, wondering if the bell
would stop before a second ring or whether it would remain unbroken, the
signal of an emergency. It stopped, then resumed ringing.
Havelock lowered himself down on the couch as Jenna answered, speaking
calmly. "I'lifs is Sterile Five. . . . Who's calling?" She listened, then
covered the phone and looked over at Michael. "Ies the State Department,
New York City, Division of Security. Your man's come in from the Soviet
consulate."
Havelock rose unsteadily, briefly finding it necessary to center his
balance. "I've got to talk to him " he said, walking toward the desk. "I
thought hed be ihere hours ago." Michael took the phone from Jenna and,
after peremptory identifications,, made his request. "Let me have the
candidate, please." The Russian got on the line. "Where the hell have you
been?"
"Apparently, it is considered in poor taste over here to defeat except
during business hours," began the Russian in a weary, singsong voice. "I
arrived down here at the Federal Plaza at four o'clock this morning, after
having survived an attempted mugging on the subway, only to be told by one
of the night guards that there was nothing be could do until the office
openedl I explained my somewhat precarious position, and the kind, vacuous
idiot offered to buy me a cup of coffee in a public diner. Finally getting
into the building myself-your security is ludicrous-I waited in a dark,
drafty hallway until nine o'clock, when your militia arrived. I then
presented myself and the imbeciles wanted to call the policel They wanted
to have me arrested for breaking and entering and the possible destruction
of government propertyl"
'All right, you're there now-"
"rin not fin-nishedl" yelled the Russian. "Since that auspi- TEM PAIRSIFAL MOSAIC633
cious beginning I have been filling out uncountable formswith Russian
nursery rhymes, incidentally-and repeatedly giving your number, asking to be
put in touch with you. What is it with you people? Do you limit toll calls?"
"We're in touch now---'"
"Not fin-nishedl This past hour I have been sitting alone in a room so
poorly wired I was tempted to lower my trousers and fart into the
microphones. And I have just been given additional forms to fill out,
including one inquiring about my hobbies and favorite recreational
pastimesl Are you sending me to camp, perhaps?"
Michael smiled, grateful beyond words for a momentary break in the tension.
"Only where you'll be safe," be said. "Consider the source. We're fools,
remember, not jackals. You made the right choice."
The Russian sighed audibly. "Why do I work myself up? The fruktovyie golavy
are no better in the Dzerzhinsky-why not advdt it? They're worse. Your
Albert Einstein would be on his way to Siberia, assigned to pull mules in
a gulag. Where is the sense in it all?"
"There's very little," said Havelock softly. "Except to survive. All of
us."
"A premise I subscribe to."
"So did Rostov."
"I remember the words he sent you. 'He's not my enemy any longer, but
others are who may be mine as well.' They are ominous words, Havelock."
"The Voennaya."
"Maniacsl" was the guttural reply. "
In their heads they march with the
Third Reich."
"How operational are they here?"
"Who knows? They have their own councils, their own methods of recruitment.
They touch too many you can~t see."
"The paminyatchiki? You can't see them."
"Believe me when I tell you I was trusted but never that trusted. However,
one can speculate-on rumors. There are always rumors, aren't there? You
might say the gpeculation has convinced me that I should take the action
I've taken." The Russian paused. "I will be treated as a valuable asset,
will I not?"
"Guarded and housed as a treasure. What!s the speculationP"
634 RoBERT LuoLum
"In recent months certain men have left our ranks-unexpected retirements to
well-eamed dachas, untimely ilhiesses--disappearances. None so crudely as
Rostov, but perhaps there was no time to be clever. Nevertheless, it seems
there is a disturbing sameness about the departed. They were generally
categorized as quiet realists, men who sought solutions and knew when to
pull back from confrontation. Pyotr Rostov exemplified this group; he was
in fact their spokesman in a way. Make no mistake, you were his enemy, be
despised your system-too much for the few, too little for the many-but he
understood there was a point where enemies could no longer push forward. Or
there was nothing. He knew time was on our side, not bombs."
"Are you saying those who replaced the Rostovs think otherwise?"
"That is the rumor."
The Voennaya?"
"That is the speculation. And should they take over the power centers of
the KGB, can leadership of the Kremlin be far behind? This cannot happen.
If it does. The Russian did not finish the statement.
"There'll be nothing?" offered Havelock.
"That is the judgment. You see, they think youT do nothing. They believe
they can chew you up, first in one area, then in another."
"That's nothing new."
"With tactical nuclear weapons?"
"That's very new."
"Ies insane," said the man from the KGB. "You'll have to react, the world
will demand it."
"How can we stop the VKR?"
"By giving them little or no ammunition."
"What do you mean, 'ammunition?"
"Knowledge of provocative or inflammatory actions on your part they can use
to threaten the tired old men in the Presidium. The same as over here; you
have your jackals. Beribboned generals and wild-eyed colonels closeting
themselves with overweight, overaged senators and congressmen, making
pronouncements of disaster if you don't strike first. The wisest men do not
always prevail; actually, yoifre better at that than we are. Your controls
are better."
"I hope so," said MichaeL thinking fleetingly of men like
THE PAitsmAL MosAic635
Ueutenant Commander Thomas Decker. "But you say the Voennaya has filtered
into your ranks, into the KGB."
"Speculation."
"If ies true, it means that at least several of them could be walking
around the embassy here or the consulate in New York."
"I'm not even sure of my own superior."
"And a paminyatchik outside would know them, could reach them, make a
delivery."
"You assume I know something. I don't. What delivery?"
Havelock paused, trying to still the throbbing in his temples. "Suppose I
were to tell you that just such ammunition as you describe was stolen last
night by a mole so deep and entrenched he had access to information
released only by executive order. He disappeared."
"Willing to give up his entrenched position?"
"He was found out. You were instrumental; you told me about Rostov's death
and the VKR. He belongs to the Voennaya. He's the enemy."
"Then look for the sudden diplomatic departure of a lowlevel attach6, a
street security man, or a communications officer. If there is a VKR
recruit, be would be among these. Intercept if you can; bold up the plane
if you have to. Claim stolen property, espionage, go to the limit. Don't
let them have that ammunition."
"If we're too late-2'
"What can I tell you without knowing the nature of the delivery?"
"The worst."
"Can you deny?"
"Ies beyond deniability. Part of it's false-tbe worst partbut it will be
accepted as the truth-by the beribboned generals and the wild-eyed
colonels."
The Russian was silent, then replied quietly, "You must speak with others
much higher, much wiser. We have, as you say here, a rule of thumb when
dealing with such matters. Go to substantial men in the Party between the
ages of sixty and seventy who went through Operation Barbarossa and
Stalingrad. Their memories are acute; they may help you. rm afaid I can't."
"You have. We know what to watch for at the embassy
636 ROBERT LuDLum
and the consulate.... Youll be brought down here for debriefing, you
understand that."
"I understand. Will I be permitted to see American filmson the television,
perhaps? After the interrogation sessions, of course.
"I'm sure something can be arranged."
"I do so like the Westerns. . . . Havelock, stop the delivery to Moscow.
You don't know the Voennaya."
"I'm afraid I do know it," said Michael, rounding the desk and sinking once
again into the chair. "And I'm afraid," he added, hanging up.
There was no rest for the next three hours, coffee, aspirin and coldwater
compresses serving to keep him awake and numb the piercing ache that
pounded through his head. Every department in every intelligence and
investigatory agency that had information on or access to the Soviet em-
bassy or the consulate in New York was contacted and ordered to divulge
whatever Sterile Five requested. The schedules for Aeroflot, LOT Airlines,
Czechoslovak Airhnes-CSA-and all the carriers to the Eastern bloc were
studied, their manifests checked for diplomatic passengers. The cameras
were doubled on both Soviet buildings in Washington and New York, personnel
leaving the premises placed under surveillance, the units told to keep
their subjects in sight even at the risk of being seen themselves. Ev-
erything was designed to inhibit contact, to cut off the delivery on its
way to Moscow, and nothing could achieve this more effectively than a VKR
agent knowing he might expose the fugitive if he kept a rendezvous, or
Pierce realizing he might be caught if he made one.
Helicopters crisscrossed along the Mexican border by the scores, following
small aircraft; radio checks were constant, and planes with unsatisfactory
replies were ordered to return and searched. Off the coasts of Florida,
Georgia and the Carolinas, navy jets soared low over the water, tracking
boats that veered too far southeast, radios were used here, too, and unless
explanations were satisfactory, directions were altered. Out of Corpus
Christi~ other jets and Coast Guard patrols spotted and intercepted fishing
and pleasure craft on their way toward Mexican waters; fortunately,
inclement weather in the western Gulf had reduced their number. None made
THE PARsiFAL MosAw637
c
ontact with other boats; none went beyond Port Isabel or Brazos Island.
It was a quarter to four when Havelock, exhausted, returned to the couch.
"We're holding," he said. "Unless we've missed something, we're holding.
But we may have . . ." He fell onto the pillows. "I've got to go back to
the names. He's there. Parsifal's there and I have to find himl Berquist
says we can't go beyond tonight, he can't take the chance. The world can't
take the chance."
"But Pierce never got into that room," protested jenn"He never saw the
agreements."
"The psychiatric file on Matthias spells them out-in all their insanity. In
some ways ies worse. A diagnosed madman running the foreign policy of the
most powerful, most feared country on earth. We're lepers. . . Berquist
said we'll be lepers. If we're alive."
The telephone rang; Michael expelled his breath and buried his head. The
mists were closing in again, now enveloping him, suffocating him.
"Yes, thank you very much," said jenna into the phone across the room.
"What is it?" asked Havelock, opening his eyes, staring at the floor.
"The Central Intelligence Agency unearthed five more photographs. That
leaves only one, and that man they're quite sure is dead. Others may be
also, of course."
"Photographs? Of what, whom?"
"The old men on my list."
"Oh?" Michael turned over; his eyes, fixed on the ceilin& were closing
rapidly. "Old men," he whispered. "Why?"
"Sleep, Mikhail. You must sleep. You're no good to yourself or anyone else
this way." jenna walked to the couch and knelt beside him. She pressed her
lips lightly against his check. "Sleep, my darling."
jenna sat at the desk, and each time the phone began to ring she pounced on
it like a breathless cat protecting its lair from predators. The calls came
from everywhere-progress reports issued by men who were following orders
blindly.
They were holding.
638 ROBERT LunLum
The handsome couple in riding breech", boots and emblazoned red jackets
galloped across the field on their huntersthe horses straining, nostrils
flared, long legs pounding the hard earth and plunging through the tall
grass. In the distance to their right was a split-rail fence signifying the
property line of an adjacent estate, and beyond it was another field that
Robert Ludlum - The Parcifal Mosaic.txt Page 80
