by David Archer
Noah sat there and looked at her for a moment, letting all that she was saying run through the logical filters in his mind. “Why would Russia give a fig about us? Have we taken out some of their people lately?”
Allison's face wore what could only be considered a sarcastic smile. “We're in the assassination business,” she said. “Of course we've taken out some of their people. We almost always try to make it appear to be accidental or natural, but just the timing of some of these deaths alone would be too coincidental for a cynical intelligence agency to believe. I'm sure the same is true for other countries, that they know we have cleanup crews, but don't know the details.”
“So Russia wants details, then?” Sarah asked. She glanced at Noah, then back at Allison. “What does that mean for us? Would we be exposed, would that get us shut down or anything?”
“I don't think we're in any danger of being shut down; American diplomacy can't get by without us, and we're a deeper secret than the stuff that goes on in the back of Area 51. There are already conspiracy theorists who have stumbled across hints of our existence, but we have a whole division that does nothing but play smokescreen. Every time we get mentioned or described in an article or blog post, they plant plenty of disinformation and start campaigns to discredit the writers.” She leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers under her chin. “As for Russia wanting details, however, that's a bit more serious. They're not going to worry about trying to expose us, they'll be looking for some way to counter us, keep us from getting to those of their people who become targets for us. That means they want to identify any of our operatives they can, which is why our analysts believe that we were drawn into this mess.”
“They used the girl as bait to draw us out, then,” Noah said. “That's why it was so easy to find Pendergrast. They were undoubtedly watching him, and knew when we took him. As soon as he called his Russian contact, they knew we were coming. All they had to do was follow Pendergrast the same way we did, and see who followed him.”
“It might have been even simpler than that. Once Pendergrast was on his way to Moscow, they probably started watching everyone in our embassy over there. When you met with our station chief at Sheremetyevo Airport, they were probably watching you then.”
Noah's expression did not change. “I should have seen that,” he said. “I should have realized it was a setup.”
Sarah reached over and took his hand, a comforting gesture that was wasted on him, but he didn't resist. “Noah, you did,” she said. “You told us all that it was going too smoothly, too easy, but you also said we had to follow through with the mission, anyway. Remember?”
Allison leaned forward again, bracing her arms on top of her desk. “Which was absolutely correct. CIA and NSA are both convinced that the unholy alliance between Russia, Syria and Mauritania would have been a disaster for the whole Western world, and if you had not recovered the girl, it probably would have become a reality. Frankly, I would have sent you in to retrieve her even if I had known it was a trap.”
Noah was continually running all of this information through his mind, and he reached a conclusion. “This is Nicolaich,” he said. “You said he's their version of you, so he's trying to identify our agents in order to be able to target us. That's why he was using his own son in the operation; I don't think he expected you to kill Vasily. Even a man like this wouldn’t put his own son out there as a sacrificial pawn.”
“That could be true, but he isn't above using it to his advantage.”
“Of course not,” Noah said. “Since I killed his son, he's going to call in every favor he can, get everyone possible to help him find us. He's got the perfect scenario. He can claim a father's rage as his motivation for coming after us, and an awful lot of intel operatives are going to either be afraid to get in his way, or want to score points with him by helping. He's not going to pass up a chance like this, even if he's still in mourning. I wouldn’t.”
Allison and Noah looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and then Noah broke the silence.
“Going in and rescuing that girl just painted a target on all of our heads. Nicolaich Andropov isn't just out to identify us, he's out to track us down and destroy us.”
TWELVE
“I think you're right,” Allison said. “The only question is what we do about it.”
Noah shrugged his shoulders. “Why is that a question? The only logical course of action is to take Nicolaich out of the equation. That may not stop his organization from coming after us, but it will send a message that we're not that easy to take out.”
“Camelot, Nicolaich Andropov is a ghost. According to many sources, there's never even been a photograph taken of him that we are aware of. The SVR considers him one of the most dangerous men in the world, which is why he is nicknamed the Boar, after the wild hogs that rip people to shreds in the Russian forests and swamplands. He's not going to be easy to locate, and he's probably as deadly as anyone we've got. A mission to go after him would take an awful lot of our resources.”
“No, it won't,” Noah said. “I'm the one who killed Vasily, his son; if I put myself on his radar, I won't have to track him down. He'll come to me, and when he does, I'll kill him.”
Sarah squeezed his hand. “Noah, you're talking about using yourself as bait! That could be suicidal!”
Once again, Noah shrugged. “Leaving him out there would probably be even worse. I'm the one he wants most, so I'd be the irresistible target. If I were him, I wouldn't come at me for the kill, I'd be looking to capture me, try to break me and get information about the rest of the agency. He'll be expecting a trap, but that doesn't mean I can't spring it.”
Allison stared coldly into his eyes. “And what if he does manage to capture you? He would break you eventually, and you'd give up everything you know about us. We've managed to keep this whole operation a secret. We can't risk Neverland being hit by an SVR death squad. A single assassin can devastate an organization. Imagine what several of them, working together, could do.”
“Body bomb,” Noah said. “Give me an explosive belt. Have it made so that it can be triggered remotely, and keep a bug on me. If I'm captured, detonate it. I can't give up secrets if I'm dead, and maybe we'll get lucky and take out Nicolaich along with me.”
The woman behind the desk kept her face a mask of stone. “I'd be losing a pretty valuable asset,” she said. “We've got an awful lot invested in you, you know that, and we have half a dozen missions in the planning stage right now that count on Team Camelot carrying them out. If we do this, we risk losing you, potentially compromising those missions.”
“You've got other teams. I'm sure that with a little modification to the planning, they can handle the missions I'd be missing out on. The issue is whether or not anyone else could get to Nicolaich, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. I'm the best shot we've got.”
Allison was silent for almost a minute, and it was obvious that the wheels in her head were spinning. “I want you to meet with Donald tomorrow morning, and begin planning the mission. He'll take you to Wally Lawson, he runs our R&D section. Wally can show you some of the new toys his boys and girls come up with, and make the belt you're talking about.” She got to her feet and leaned forward, her hands on the desk. “That belt will be a last resort, though, Camelot. I'm going to go ahead and authorize this mission, but I want you to give me your word right now that you'll do everything in your power to come back. There are an awful lot of people who will be pretty pissed if you go out and get yourself killed on this.”
“Yeah, and I'm one of them,” Sarah said.
“I'll do all I can, I promise you,” Noah said. “The priority has to be killing Nicolaich, though. He's the threat to the agency, and that threat has to be eliminated.”
Allison nodded once. “All right, then,” she said. “Nine o'clock in the morning, right here. Have your team with you.”
Allison sat down and opened the file, signifying that the interview was over. Noah
rose and pulled Sarah to her feet, and the two of them walked out of the office. They were quiet as they rode down the elevator, but once they were in the Corvette, Sarah looked over at him.
“Do you really think this is the smart move?”
“I think it's the only move. We got drawn into a situation that could compromise the entire agency, a setup that allowed Nicolaich and his organization to get way too much information on us, on our team. Right now, that's all he's got, but if we don't shut him down quickly he'll find other things tied to us. It's like a trail of breadcrumbs, and as he finds each crumb that gets accidentally dropped, it will lead him to the next one, and the next.”
Sarah leaned back against the headrest as Noah drove back toward his home. “And what do the rest of us do, if you get yourself killed?”
“You'll be assigned to another team,” Noah said. “All three of you have already proven yourselves, Allison isn't going to give you up just because I'm gone.”
They rode the rest of the way to the house in silence, and Sarah followed him inside. Noah went straight to the living room couch and took out his phone. He called Moose first, and then Neil, to tell them to meet at the offices in the morning in preparation for a new mission. Both of them complained, but there was no question of whether they would show up.
Noah turned on the television and began scanning through the movies that were available. After a moment, Sarah got up and went into the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with a pair of root beer floats, and snuggled up to Noah as she handed him one.
“You pick the lousiest times to volunteer yourself for a suicide mission, do you know that?”
“I have absolutely no intention of making it a suicide mission,” Noah said. “Not for me, anyway. I'm planning to make it suicidal for Nicolaich to come after me. I'm only hoping that he's as angry at me about the death of his son as little miss Selah seemed to believe he would be. One of the things I've learned over the years by observing human nature is that anger will almost always cause you to make mistakes. The angrier he is, the more emotional he is, the more likely he is to make a mistake that will give me the chance to take him out before he can do anything to me.”
Sarah looked at him for a long moment, then leaned her head on his shoulder. “I just finally got up the nerve to tell you how I feel, and if I lost you now...”
Noah thought for a second, then kissed the top of her head. “I'm going to do my best to make sure you don't,” he said. “That's all I can promise you.”
Sarah looked at the clock on the wall, and said, “It's early, but how would you feel about going on to bed? I—I need your attention. Your undivided attention, all on me. Is that okay?”
Without a word, Noah picked up the remote and turned off the television. The two of them rose from the couch and walked into the bedroom.
When they left the house the next morning, they found Neil standing outside the garage, sitting on the fender of the Corvette. His Hummer was nowhere in sight, and Sarah grinned at him. “You look like death warmed over,” she said.
“I was up most of the night,” the skinny kid said. “I can't believe they're sending us on another mission this quick, that's just not fair.”
Sarah laughed. “We work for the government,” she said, “and you're stupid enough to think they'll do things in a fair way? Besides, you can blame our fearless leader for this mission. It was his idea.”
Neil looked over at Noah. “Are you freaking kidding me? What on earth could be so important that you would drag us back out into the field when we've only just gotten home?”
Noah pointed at him to follow them, and led Sarah toward her own Camaro. “Sarah's driving this morning,” he said. “You can ride with us. As for the mission, it turns out our last one really was a setup, a scam run by the Russians to draw E & E out into the open. Andropov was apparently trying to get a lead on us, and there is very little doubt that he has photos of me, Moose and Sarah, as well as the names we were using. If he shakes the right trees, he's going to find out more about us until he cracks one of the identities. That could lead right back here to Neverland, and we can't let that happen. Nicolaich just became National Enemy Number One, and moved to the top of our target list.”
“So send one of the other teams,” Neil said as he climbed into the back seat. “Let us take a break. Isn't there something in our contracts that says they can't send us out too often?”
Sarah laughed again as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway. “You have a contract? I don't. I wish I did, because I'd be going through it trying to find a loophole to get me out of this screwy outfit.”
“It's got to be me,” Noah said. “While we were in Russia, I killed several of Nicolaich's people, including a man who is supposedly his own son. I'm sure he knows that it was me, even if he doesn't know who I really am. We've got to use that against him, by making him come after me. When he does, then I spring the trap and take him out.”
Neil made a snort. “Well, goodie, goodie for you,” he said. “And what if he turns out to be better at this game than you are? We end up without a team leader, at which point we might become expendable. Do you know what expendable means in this organization? It means dead, that's what it means!”
“No, it doesn't. When you guys were assigned to me, Allison made it plain that you are each the best in your respective fields. There's no way she's going to get rid of you, just because I get killed. You're safe enough, all they would do is assign you to another team.”
“I don't want to be on another team, dammit,” Neil said. “One of my many talents is calculating the probability of any particular outcome, based on available data concerning the participants. I applied that talent to figuring out my odds of living to the ripe old age of thirty, and they got a whole lot better once I added you into the equation. They put me with anybody else, and I'm not likely to live past twenty-two! And just for the record, Moose and Sarah probably wouldn't make it a year without you in charge. So dig down deep inside yourself and find just enough compassion to understand that we need you to stay alive and healthy, you arrogant son of a bitch!”
“Neil, chill out!” Sarah said. “At least Andropov doesn't have your picture. The way it turns out, he probably got a whole album full of Noah, Moose and me. We may not even make it out to where we have to go for this mission, and I'm still not sure he hasn't already tracked us back to here. Somebody sure as hell broke into the house the other night, I don’t care what Jefferson's people say!”
Neil slapped the back of her headrest, and Noah turned suddenly to look at him. “Don't yell at me!” Neil said. “It isn't my fault I'm freaking out over this! I wasn't expecting to have to go back out into the field this soon, and now you tell me Noah is putting his life on the line?”
Suddenly, there were tears on Neil's cheeks, and Sarah saw them in the rearview mirror. She reached over and put a finger to Noah's lips, cutting off whatever he was about to say to the frightened boy in the backseat.
“Neil, look,” Sarah said softly. “I didn't mean to yell at you. This is pretty stressful, I understand that, and I think I know what's really bothering you. You've been pretty much on your own since you were a kid, right? And the team feels like a family, now, doesn't it? That's why you're so scared of losing Noah; he's like your big brother, am I right?”
Neil turned his face to look out the back window, and for a moment the only sound that could be heard was from stifled sobs. “I'm scared of losing all of you,” he said. “What if they split us up, if something happens to Noah? What if we each get sent to a different team? We were all brand new when we got assigned to Camelot, but what would it be like to go into a team that was already together? We'd be the new guys, and we'd probably never fit in.”
“But we'd still have each other,” Sarah said. “You don't think I would turn my back on you, just because we were on different teams, do you?”
Neil sniffled a couple more times, then turned around to face forward again. “No,�
�� he said at last. “I just don't know what I'd do without all of you. Even Moose—he picks on me, but I know he'd have my back if I needed him.”
Noah turned and faced him. “Neil, believe me when I tell you I'm going to do my very best to make sure I'm the one who walks away from this. I'm going to need you, though, because between your computer and your brain, you're one of my most important assets. We're going to draw this bastard out and eliminate him, before he can do any damage to us. You are going to be a big help in that, and I know that you've always got my back, too.”
Neil managed to smile, and the sniffles faded away. When he suggested they all go out to the Sagebrush Saloon for dinner again that evening, Noah made a point of being enthusiastic in his agreement.
THIRTEEN
Moose pulled into the parking garage just behind the Corvette, and parked right beside them. They all greeted one another, and then stepped into the elevator for the ride up to Allison's office. They were surprised to find her standing there waiting when the elevator opened, but she only hooked her head at them and walked off toward the conference room.
Donald Jefferson was waiting there, and there were large cups of coffee on the table ready for each of them. Allison grinned as she took her seat at the table. “I figured we might as well make this as comfortable and cordial as we can,” she said. “I can't wait to hear what your mission plan is going to be, Camelot.” She picked up a cup and took a sip of the hot liquid.
“Yes, I'm pretty curious about that myself,” Jefferson said. “I want you to know this is the very first time I've ever seen the Dragon Lady, here, allow a team leader to declare his own mission. We're breaking a lot of rules and records, here, Camelot.”
The team had all taken their seats, and gratefully accepted the coffee. Noah took a sip of his own before he answered.
