'Thank you,' Aideen replied.
'I understand,' Rodgers told her. 'Proceed under the assumption that you're a go for a peaceful resolution. If there's a problem, I'll let you know. You've done very good work.'
Aideen thanked him. Rodgers clicked off. The call had taken just over one minute.
'What have we got?' Hood asked. 'Hold on,' he added. He clicked on the speakerphone. 'Edgar? Are you still there?'
'I am.'
'Mike Rodgers just got a call from one of our agents who is with Seronga,' Hood informed him. 'You will be hearing the briefing from Mike the same time we do.'
'Thanks, but I don't see what good this will do,' Kline said.
'Can you be any less goddamn hopeful, you South African misery?' Herbert snapped.
'Enough, Bob,' Hood snapped. 'Edgar, if nothing else, it will renew the partnership we were supposed to have in this operation,' Hood said.
'Fair enough,' Kline replied.
'Mike?' Hood said.
Rodgers liked what Hood had done. It was a no-lose situation for Op-Center. It accomplished three things. It neutralized Kline's charges that Hood had not been forthcoming. It reinvigorated the idea of an alliance between Op-Center and the Vatican Security Office. And most importantly, it put the next move on the shoulders of Edgar Kline.
'Gentlemen, our three operatives are with Leon Seronga,' Rodgers said. 'The word is that Seronga seems tired. From the sound of it, this whole movement is suddenly tired, or at the very least scared. Our group is meeting with Dhamballa
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and the Brush Vipers in under two hours. Our people believe they can obtain freedom for Father Bradbury and perhaps even get the Brush Vipers to disband. They have asked us to find a way to give them that opportunity. They have asked us to buy them those two hours.'
Hood waited a moment. Then he looked at the speakerphone. 'Edgar? Any thoughts?'
Kline was silent.
'I've said it before, and I'll say it now. We started this as a mission to save lives,' Hood said. 'We can't sit here and do nothing, just say this is out of our control.'
'And I've told you, the Brush Vipers chose their own path,' Kline said. 'We are not responsible for what happens to them.'
'Edgar, we are,' Hood insisted. 'This information just made us responsible. We have options. We have a duty. Our job is to manage crises, not sit on the bench and watch them explode. Your job, if I may, is to restore normalcy. We can do that. It's not impossible.'
'The crime of kidnapping Father Bradbury does not call for a response of mass murder,' Rodgers said. 'It was wrong, it was illegal, but let's deal with it in those terms.'
'And there's something else that just occurred to me,' Hood said. 'Edgar, we don't know who is traveling with Dhamballa. What if there are children at the camp who had nothing to do with any of this? Should they be punished, too?'
Hood let that thought soak in before continuing.
'Edgar, we don't have enough information to allow an air strike to take place,' Hood concluded. 'At least-at the very least-give our people the time to finish what they were sent to do.'
'Paul, I don't know,' Kline said. 'Even if I wanted to, I don't know if I can make that happen.'
'Try,' Herbert said.
'Your say-so will get the Spanish soldiers to delay entering the camp,' Hood said. 'If they don't go in, the Botswana choppers won't strike for fear of killing Father Bradbury.'
'You can tell them the camp is moving,' Rodgers^aid. 'It's true. They might miss it altogether.'
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'Paul, they may be in there already, with the Brush Vipers,' Kline said.
'Then, Edgar, we can't afford to waste any more time,' Hood pressed.
The silence that followed was tense, exaggerated. The hum of the computer fan sounded like a turbine.
Finally, Kline spoke. 'I will do what I can. I'll ask them to hold,' he said. 'But I cannot answer for the Botswana military.'
'They may not attack without knowing that Father Bradbury is out of danger,' Rodgers said.
'I pray you're right,' Kline replied.
The Vatican officer hung up.
'Well. All it took was three of us beating him with morality to get him to budge,' Herbert said.
