Jordan had never told Christine anything about Deputy Director Byrnes or their plans to take Traiman. Her look of astonishment was therefore genuine. Sandor did his best to look just as bewildered.
“I was with Andrioli and Christine. You knew that. I figured Covington was on our tail, but you know I wouldn’t count on him from here to there,” he said, pointing across the cabin with the hand Christine was not squeezing.
“Watch it,” Nelson told him.
“Right,” Jordan said, placing his palm back on the sofa. “Look Vincent, Andrioli told me about your plans to place hit teams in the States and in Europe. That’s as much as I know.”
“You’re lying, Jordan. You mentioned VX. Tell me what you know about Operation VX.”
“VX? I don’t know much. Somebody mentioned it to Andrioli in Paris.”
“Shoot the girl,” Traiman said.
Christine screamed.
Jordan hollered, “Wait,” as Nelson leveled the automatic at her leg.
Traiman raised his hand to his aide. “Well then?”
“I’ve heard rumors about a terrorist assault involving VX. I realized later that’s what McHugh wanted to talk with me about.” Sandor gave a look that suggested he had just pieced together the last part of a puzzle. “That’s it, isn’t it Vincent? That’s what Andrioli was after. The assassinations are bogus. The team they took down in DC, that’s a disinformation ploy.”
“Yes yes yes,” Traiman intoned impatiently. “But what about you? What have you cooked up for me, my old protégé?”
“I told you, Vincent. I wanted to see you, face to face.”
“Well then, you have your wish.”
“Look, if those boats were heading for this yacht, what would I be doing here now? What kind of idiocy would that be?”
Traiman thought that over. “I wonder.”
“So what are you really up to? VX nerve gas, that’s not your style, Vincent. And Martin Koppel, what’s that all that about?”
Traiman scrutinized him closely, Jordan’s gaze never leaving him.
“I recognized him, of course.” Jordan said. “Big time Wall Street at one time, right? What would you be doing with him?”
Traiman took a step back and sat in the armchair to the side of Nelson. “I’m afraid, if you insist you have nothing more to tell me, Miss Frank will have to serve as a human lie detector test.”
Christine felt all the breath go out of her.
“I told you,” Sandor said quickly, eying Nelson who was still aiming at Christine’s leg. “I know you have a plan involving VX nerve gas, that’s it.”
Traiman nodded. “A fascinating substance. Unctuous, like motor oil, more toxic than sarin, with a longer effective life. Vaporize a few canisters in Grand Central Station or Times Square at rush hour and thousands upon thousands will die. Then New York will come to a standstill — even more so than after Nine Eleven. The destruction of those towers was a devastation to be sure, the deaths of two thousand people a catastrophe. But remember what happened next. In a couple of days everyone else went back to work. The tragedy lingered in the American consciousness, but the actual terror was remote to most people. My goal is to reach further, you see? Take away the hub of a city’s transportation system, what have you got? You have hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people not willing to go to work for fear of their lives.”
Jordan shook his head slowly, the solemn look in his eyes not lost on Traiman.
“You see it, Jordan. We’ll have the same result in the BART in San Francisco, Paddington Station in London, the center of Rome. And on and on,” he said, as if the subject was beginning to bore him.
“How do you get that much VX into the country?”
Traiman smiled. “You’re always on duty, my old friend. Well,” he said with a slight shrug, “since you have very little time left, regardless of the exploits being planned out there on the water, I suppose there is no harm in sharing the cleverness of my plan with you. You are one of the few men I know who can appreciate the genius of my approach.”
Sandor responded with a grateful nod.
“You recall the explosion at the offices of the Loubar Corporation the other day?”
“Of course.”
“Such a tragedy. A nice man, Fryar, but no character. In any event, an investigation into his company had begun, all of that bureaucratic rot you and I so despise. After the explosion, which I arranged, the authorities increased their vigilance. The government demanded that all shipments from Loubar that arrived in France last week be impounded and returned to the United States. What they don’t know, however, is that these shipments, which were already at dockside in Marseilles, have now been fitted with this chemical solvent that will wreak devastation across the United States.”
“I love the French.”
“Yes, quel dommage. So you see, your own government is going to import the VX for me.”
“How will they get it through customs? Those shipments are going to be examined left, right, and sideways.”
“Of course they will. That is, once they’ve arrived and are taken off the container ship. But before that the barrels containing the VX will be separated and set aside, marked as lubricants. We don’t need much of it, believe me. And as you and I often told those dolts in Washington, the harbors of the United States are the most vulnerable access points in America, not the airports. We told them that for years. But does anyone listen?” Traiman stood up, a professor having concluded his lecture.
Sandor’s eyes narrowed as he carefully studied his old colleague. “So the team that was arrested a couple of days ago in Washington, they really weren’t part of it at all, were they? They were just a decoy you set up, then sold out. Am I right?”
“Bravo,” Traiman exclaimed. “And not even my hosts in Tripoli know my true intentions.”
“So where are the real hit teams?” Jordan asked. “Where are the men who are going to plant the VX?”
“You’re asking for names and addresses, I presume.”
“It would be a start.”
Traiman allowed himself a heartfelt laugh as he turned back to his man Nelson. “You see, yet another example of why I’ve always adored this man. Not only a patriot, not only brilliant, but one of the world’s great optimists. Just moments away from death, and he’s still planning to save the world. Ah, Jordan, if only you were ruled by a little more sense and a little less emotion.”
They stared at each other for a moment. “I don’t suppose there’s any sense to my mentioning the loss of innocent lives or any of that.”
“Don’t be absurd.”
“It’s like you said, Vincent, I just can’t help myself.”
“Yes, I realize it’s true. It may be your epitaph.” He looked to Christine and said, “Miss Frank, I am truly sorry you have to be involved in this, but you should have chosen your friends more wisely. Now I must go. I cannot be here to see a lovely young woman and my old comrade face such grisly deaths.” He turned for the door, then looked back at Nelson. “Dombroski is below decks. He’ll be back in a moment if you need him. And Mr. Nelson, please handle this outside, where you won’t make a mess of the library.”
Traiman was almost at the door when they heard a knock. He opened it, and his lookout from the port side said, “They’ve thrown a floodlight on us, off the bow.”
“How far off are they?”
“A couple hundred yards. The cabin cruiser is off to the west, but seems to be circling towards us.”
“Prepare for an assault,” Traiman snapped. He was standing in the doorway when he turned back. “You were the most talented agent I ever had the privilege to work with, on this side or that, Jordan. Even though you’ve become a horrible nuisance, I will truly miss you.”