The Icarus Agenda

He had been right; she was a striking woman who carried herself erect, almost defiantly, even now as she walked towards the massive door of the sterile house where inside she would face the unknown. Kendrick observed her dispassionately; there was no rush of remembered warmth in his reaction to her, only cold, intense curiosity. She had lied to him that late afternoon in Bahrain, lied both by what she said and what she did not say. He wondered if she would lie to him again.

The Air Force major opened the door of the enormous living room for Adrienne Rashad. She walked in and stopped, standing motionless, staring at Evan by the window. There was no astonishment in her eyes, just that frigid glare of intellect.

'I'll be going,' said the Air Force officer.

'Thank you, Major.' The door closed and Kendrick stepped forward. 'Hello, Khalehla. It was Khalehla, wasn't it?'

'Whatever you say,' she replied calmly.

'But then it isn't Khalehla, is it? It's Adrienne—Adrienne Rashad.'

'Whatever you say,' she repeated.

'That's a little redundant, isn't it?'

'And all this is very stupid, Congressman. Did you have me flown back here to give you another testimonial? Because if you did, I won't do it.'

'Testimonial? That's the last thing I want.'

'Good, I'm glad for you. I'm sure the representative from Colorado has all the endorsements he needs. So there's no need for someone whose life and the lives of a great many colleagues depend on anonymity to step forward and add to your swelling cheers.'

'That's what you think? I want endorsements, cheers?'

'What am I to think? That you took me away from my work, exposed me to the embassy and the Air Force, probably crippled a cover I've developed over the past several years just because I went to bed with you? It happened once, but I assure you it will never happen again.'

'Hey, wait a minute, bright lady,' protested Evan. 'I wasn't looking for any fast action. For Christ's sake, I didn't know where I was or what had happened, or what would happen next. I was scared stiff, and knew I had things to do that I didn't think I could do.'

'You were also exhausted,' added Adrienne Rashad. 'I was, too. It happens.'

'That's what Swann said—’

'That bastard.'

'No, hold it. Frank Swann's not a bastard—’

'Shall I use another word? Like pimp? An unconscionable pimp.'

'You're wrong. I don't know what your business was with him but he had a job to do.'

'Like sacrificing you?'

'Maybe… I admit the thought's not too attractive but he was pretty well boxed in then.'

'Forget it, Congressman. Why am I here?'

'Because I have to learn something, and you're the only one left who can tell me.'

'What is it?'

'Who broke the story on me? Who violated the agreement I made? I was told that those who knew I went to Oman and they were damn few, a tight little circle they called it—none of them would have any reason to do it and every reason in the world not to. Apart from Swann and his computer chief, whom he swears by, there were only seven people in the entire government who knew. Six have been checked out, all absolutely negative. You're the seventh, the only one left.'

Adrienne Rashad stood motionless, her face passive, her eyes furious. 'You ignorant, arrogant amateur,' she said slowly, her voice acid.

'You can call me any goddamned names you like,' began Evan angrily, 'but I'm going to—’

'May we go for a walk, Congressman?' broke in the woman from Cairo, crossing to a large bay window on the other side of the room that looked over a dock to the rocky shoreline of the Chesapeake.

'What?'

'The air in here is as oppressive as the company. I'd like to take a walk, please.' Rashad raised her hand and pointed outside; she then nodded her head twice as if reinforcing a command.

'All right,' mumbled Kendrick, bewildered. 'There's a side entrance back there.'

'I see it,' said Adrienne-Khalehla, moving towards the door at the rear of the room. They walked outside on to a flagstone patio that joined a manicured lawn and a path leading down to the dock. If there had been boats lashed to the pilings or secured to the empty moorings bouncing on the water beyond, they had been removed for the autumn winds. 'Keep up your harangue, Congressman,' continued the undercover case officer for the CIA. 'You shouldn't be deprived of that.'

'Just hold it, Miss Rashad or whatever the hell your name is!' Evan stopped on the white concrete path halfway to the shoreline. 'If you think what I'm talking about amounts to a “harangue”, you're sadly mistaken—'

'For God's sake, keep walking! You'll get all the conversation you want, more than you want, you damn fool.' The bay shore to the right of the dock was a mixture of dark sand ands tones so common to the Chesapeake; to the left was the boathouse, also common. What was not common, however, except to the larger estates, was a profusion of tall trees some fifty yards both north and south of the dock and the boat-house. They provided a measure of privacy, more in appearance than in reality, but the sight of them had appealed to the field agent from Cairo. She headed to the right, over the sand and the stones close to the gently lapping waves. They passed the border of trees and kept going until they reached a large rock that rose out of the ground by the water's edge. Above, the immense house could not be seen. 'This'll do,' said Adrienne Rashad.

'Do?' exclaimed Kendrick. 'What was that little exercise all afeowf? And while we're at it let's get a couple of things straight. I appreciate the fact that you probably saved my life—probably, not by any manner of means provable—but I don't take orders from you, and in my considered opinion I'm not a damn fool, and regardless of my amateur status you're answering to me, I'm not answering to you! Check and double check, lady?'

'Are you finished?'

'I haven't even begun.'

'Then before you do, let me address the specifics you've just raised. That little exercise was to get us out of there. I presume you know it's a safe house.'

'Certainly.'

'And that anything you say in every room, including the toilet and the shower, is recorded.'

'Well, I knew the telephone was—’

'Thank you, Mr. Amateur.'

'I don't have a damn thing to hide—'

'Keep your voice down. Talk into the water as I am.'

'What? Why?'

'Electronic voice surveillance. The trees will distort sound because there's no direct visual beam—’

'What?'

'Lasers have improved the technology—’

'What?'

'Shut up! Whisper.'

'I repeat, I haven't got a damn thing to hide. Maybe you do, but I don't!'

'Really?' asked Rashad, leaning against the huge rock and talking down into the small, slowly encroaching waves. 'You want to involve Ahmat?'

'I've mentioned him. To the President. He should know how much help that kid was—'

'Oh, Ahmat will appreciate that. And his personal doctor? And his two cousins who helped you and protected you? And El-Baz, and the pilot who flew you to Bahrain?… They could all be killed.'

'Apart from Ahmat, I never mentioned anyone specifically—'

'Names are irrelevant. Functions aren't.'

'For Christ's sake, it was the President of the United States!'

'And contrary to rumours, he does communicate beyond a microphone?'

'Of course.'

'Do you know who he talks to? Do you know them personally? Do you know how reliable they are in terms of maximum security; does he? Do you know the men who are on the listening devices up in that house?'

'Of course not.'

'What about me? I'm a field officer with an acceptable cover in Cairo. Would you have talked about me?'

'I did, but only to Swann.'

'I'm not referring to what you did with someone in authority who knew everything because he was the control, I'm talking about up there. If you started questioning me up in that house, mightn't you have brought up any or all the people I've just mentioned? And to break the bank, Mr. Amateur, isn't it conceivable that you might have mentioned the Mossad?'