Henri allowed his breath to escape with a hiss as he angrily looked at the British intelligence man in his tweed suit and bow tie. He knew exactly who this man was referring to, and he didn’t like the memory of the man at all. He faced both Jack and Carl.
“There are rumors around which the United States, Great Britain, and Russia, possibly Germany also, have a deep closet of historical secrets. Maybe you have heard these rumors?” He looked at Collins with a crooked grin. “I can clearly state that the Russian element is in fact a reality, among other groups, that is.” He looked from Jack to Lord Durnsford. “This group, unlike the rumors toward others, is a ruthless entity and is a smaller part of a whole. The intelligence services of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany have long suspected that the whole is in charge of the parts. In other words, gentlemen, this group of men, from their varying departments within the government, actually runs the Russian state and have for the past eighty years, more so as perestroika moved forward. The freedoms the Russian people thought they were getting were all a sham.”
“You mean Putin and the politburo aren’t in charge?” Carl asked as if Farbeaux were joking. He could tell by Lord Durnsford that Henri’s words had the spark of truth behind them, which made Everett’s normally strong body feel ill. “I mean, in general conversation, why didn’t you ever say anything?”
Farbeaux looked at Carl with a questioning glare. “Just what would have been the benefit to myself for doing so, Captain?” He said the word Captain as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“The head of this Russian group’s intelligence, their security arm, is a man whom you may have met, Colonel Farbeaux. A ruthless individual who was trained by the true leadership cast of this underground organization to this group, and one man in particular whom we have yet to identify. We here at MI6 believe he is responsible for this mirror group and acts as the internal security for all of them combined.”
“I don’t know his employers or this mysterious group’s governing body you speak of. But a Russian I once heard of murdered an entire town in the Ukraine for hiding state artifacts after the fall of the Soviet Union. If it’s the man I am thinking of, yes, I did meet him once. In deference to my two American friends here, the man is the most capable killer and guardian of Russian history and state secrets I have ever heard of. He will kill children to keep the world from knowing what it is they know. Yes, he is a man who makes the world a ruthless and hateful place. And also a man I care never to meet again.”
“The very gentleman of whom it is I speak. Colonel Farbeaux, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, sir. The president, in conjunction with the British prime minister and NATO command, has activated your temporary military status to active duty, and said status has been affirmed by Paris. You are now, once more, attached to the United States and British armed forces. You are to accompany Colonel Collins and Captain Everett on a joint NATO mission to recover something this mysterious Russian group may have lost. You will have no trouble finding this lost item, since your navy has just now begun to take her in tow in the North Atlantic. Your specific orders, Colonel, are to identify this man for Captain Everett and Colonel Collins during their mission to observe naval assets in the area and the mysterious circumstances surrounding what is now happening.”
The three men remained quiet as Lord Durnsford smiled down at the seated officers. Another message flimsy was produced by the British master spy. This one he again handed to Jack. He read.
“Are you joking?”
“We here at MI6 never have developed that sense of humor you Americans so readily ascribe to. No, no joke, Colonel.”
Jack handed the message to Carl.
“Proceed by military transport to confidential location and recover war matériel currently in NATO possession. Said war matériel is a derelict, and NATO has declared provenance and has initiated salvage rights over its discovery. You and your selected group will proceed to said undisclosed location, investigate, and determine if this war material should be considered a threat to the national security of NATO treaty nations.” Carl looked up from the flimsy. “Signed, Compton, advisory board chairman to the president on military and international affairs.”
None of the three men made comment about the disguised cover for their own director.
“Okay, what’s up, Lord Durnsford?” Collins asked as Henri stood and paced, not liking where this thing was going. “And why Henri? We could just get a description and go from there.”
“Colonel Farbeaux’s one job is to identify this man for our governments, and if at all possible, one of you three will kill him. Circumstances as to why this assassination is necessary will be readily apparent upon meeting this psychopath. I stress, Colonel Farbeaux, only if you can identify this man as the Butcher of Kharkov.”
“And us?” Everett asked.
“You, Captain and Colonel, will be in charge of a boarding party that will secure said war matériel. The final part of your instructions is to make sure Colonel Farbeaux follows his orders and, if need be, fulfill the directive as described in your orders.”
“You said this matériel was just taken in tow. Are we speaking about a ship?” Jack asked.
“Yes, we are, Colonel. A very large and even stranger ship than you could ever believe. A ship that was sunk during World War II and is now making a reappearance in the North Atlantic at a most inopportune time.”
“And why would this Russian murderer be there?” Everett beat Jack to the burning question.
“Because”—Lord Durnsford grinned broadly—“this particular ship belongs to the Russian Navy, and they have sent their number-one killer and his mysterious group to recover it. All our little puzzle pieces have now fit together somewhat nicely thanks to some highly questionable purloining of information from a very inquisitive source and his equally criminal computer somewhere within your national borders.”
“Oh, that’s just great,” Carl mumbled as he sat down. He didn’t go on to say they were now headed into danger thanks to a twentysomething kid and his maniacal new girlfriend named Europa.
“Yes, yes, it is great, Captain, as that may be the most important ship ever to set sail in the history of the world.” He smiled broadly. “You see, we believe, as do your own higher management, that this ship is only the second vessel in history to have gone to, and returned from, another dimension.”
The three men exchanged looks. After what they had just gone through to return Carl to this world, they had no doubt that this older scientific achievement had really taken place, and that was the reason why they all felt ill at that very moment.
“Gentlemen, the rest of your team will join you here shortly. They are taking a very fast aircraft and will arrive on time. Once you’ve breached Tildy, you can join the fun there with a squad of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines traveling with you.” Lord Durnsford walked to the door and opened it to leave.
“Who is Tildy?” the Frenchman asked.
“Why, it’s only the bloodiest, most hair-raising hurricane in the past five years. Good luck, gentlemen.”
Henri sat hard into a chair.
“My distaste for you has grown exponentially with every experience I have ever shared with you two… gentlemen.”
5
After the mission briefing explaining what it was Compton expected from the security man, the cryptozoologist, and the engineer on what their duties were to be once they joined with Jack and the others, none of them were feeling very perky after the supersonic flight from the western United States to Washington. Master Chief Jenks was beside the hangar, throwing up his early morning breakfast. Charlie Ellenshaw would wince every time the engineer heaved. He shook his head as he turned to face Jason Ryan, who was saying farewell to the second pilot to have flown them from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to the East Coast. Those two aircraft and the speed at which they got to Washington were the reasons for Jenks’s upset stomach. Ryan looked from the second pilot, after shaking his hand, to the F-15E Strike Eagle he had used to fly the master chief supersonic over the continental United States. The double-seat fighter had made life rough for Jenks. As for Ellenshaw, Ryan had learned that nothing of a mechanical fear ever entered into the cryptozoologist’s mind.