reputation for brokering these types of matters. He is for real. I’ve checked him out. I’ve spoken to him on Skype, got a good video cam image of the man, compared it to a known photograph. It’s him, all right.”
“So, hopefully, at least we’re not dealing with the FBI on the other end,” said Raji.
“No. Not to worry,” said Leffort. “The way I figure it, it could only be one of two, or possibly three, foreign countries, emerging nations that would have the missile and rocket technology to take advantage of Thor.”
Raji had come to the same conclusion.
“The telemetry stuff we deliver will give them a quantum leap,” said Leffort. “It will allow them to close the gap with the major powers in months instead of years. The rest is up to them. In return, they give us twenty million euros, ten for you, ten for me. The broker is making his own deal with them for a finder’s fee.”
“It’s a lot of money,” said Raji. “Still, it doesn’t seem like that much when you look at everything we’re giving them. NASA is already into the program for more than half a billion dollars.”
“You can’t expect them to pay that. Besides, it’s unproven technology,” said Leffort. “If NASA or the air force had already tested it and we could verify that it worked, then you’re right. We could get a lot more. But as it is, they’ll be using our data to invent the wheel. Question is, will it roll? As far as you and I are concerned, it won’t matter. We’ll be set for the rest of our lives.”
“OK, so after we do all of this, they get the data, we get the money, what then? Where do we go?” said Fareed.
“As part of the deal, the broker will provide new passports, not forgeries, the genuine item, as well as all the necessary documents to fashion new identities. The man has connections.”
“Passports from where? You can’t get far with something from North Korea,” said Fareed.
“That’s what I’ve been telling you. I’ve taken care of all the details. The passports will be from a Western country, one of the member states of NATO. Not to worry.”
“Then what?”
“After they transfer the money into our Swiss account, we do a couple of wire transfers out. You’re gonna want to set up an account under your new passport name as soon as you get it. I’ll have to do the same. One transfer to you, one to me. We take the passports, the money, and disappear. You go wherever you want. You have a new identity and, depending on exchange rates, something north of thirteen million U.S. dollars. I’d say that’s a pretty good nest egg to make a fresh start.”
Raji just sat there in the passenger seat thinking, mostly about all the things that could go wrong.
“You have to admit it’s better than an unemployment check.” Leffort looked over at Raji. “You don’t look happy. Do you have some problem living like royalty?”
“Hardly,” said Raji. “That’s not even as much as some state lotteries.”
“Yes, but our chances of winning are much more certain. The money is clean, there’s no way to trace it. And you’re a very smart guy. Turn your skills to the investment markets, and in a few years-I know you-you’ll double it. Especially in Asia. China is booming. Southeast Asia is not far behind, and Brazil. So smile.”
“I’ll smile when I see the money,” said Raji.
Leffort’s biggest fear, though he didn’t tell Raji, was that NASA might cancel their trip to Paris. With unemployment edging toward double digits, it didn’t look good having two guys who worked for the agency jetting off to the city of lights.
If NASA called off the trip, he and Raji would have to run for it and hope they could slip out of the country before somebody wised up and stopped them at the airport.
The European Space Agency Conference had been scheduled for more than a year. The money for the trip was already budgeted and accounted for. This was probably the only thing saving the junket, that and the fact that it was probably their last hurrah before they were cashiered and put out on the street. He was sure this was what the administrators at NASA were thinking. Leffort was thinking they were leaving the gate open, his last chance to get out of the country before the roof caved in.
“The critical thing is, we have to hold to the original timetable,” said Leffort. “We have no choice. The Paris conference. All we have to do is keep our heads for a few more days and we’re out of here, winging our way to France. Otherwise the deal’s gonna be off the table. We will have done it all for nothing.”
“What if NASA doesn’t cancel the grant?” said Raji.
“What difference does it make? Either you’re in or you’re out. You want to spend the next thirty years of your life chained to a desk with your nose glued to a computer screen, fine. Just remember, you’re never going to get an opportunity like this again.”
“I know. Still, we could always go to Paris and come back. If they don’t pull the grant, we could finish the project, trash the copied data, and nobody would ever know. Think about it. We could write our own ticket, get any grant we wanted. When they realize who we are, that we did the NEO…”
“You forget, it’s classified,” said Leffort. “Nobody’s ever gonna know. They’ll take our work and bury it on a shelf. They’ll sit back and hope that the Russians or the Chinese or some third world tyrant doesn’t figure it out. Sooner or later some other country is going to wake up and realize what’s out there, see the potential, only to rediscover it on their own. I don’t know about you, but if that’s gonna happen anyway, I’m for getting paid,” said Leffort.
“I don’t know.” Now that the time was drawing near, it looked as if Raji was having difficulty coming to grips with the thought of being transformed from a word-a-day programmer in an office to a criminal on the run, even a rich one. Unlike Leffort, he didn’t mind the routine of his life.
Leffort realized that the carrot wasn’t working. Now he tried the stick. “Lemme ask you a question. What if we go to Paris and come back and NASA decides to do a program audit on Thor? What then?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if they call you in and start asking questions?” said Leffort.
“Why would they do that?”
“It’s standard procedure when they cancel a grant. They’ll do a closing audit. What are you gonna say when they call you in and ask why certain data files are missing?”
“But nothing’s missing. Right? That was the deal.” Raji suddenly looked worried. “I thought we copied everything and put it back.”
“We did. But you can bet that after ten years, a program like this, that something’s going to be missing,” said Leffort. “It would have to be a fucking miracle if every slip of paper and all the computer files are all in the right place.”
“We can’t be responsible for that,” said Raji.
“That’s not the point. If they call us in one at a time and question us across a table piled with files, even if it’s something trivial, something that’s not our fault, it won’t matter. They’ll test what you say against what I say. We’ll end up making a mistake, inventing some stupid excuse that they’ll know is a lie. It’s what happens when somebody starts tugging on a thread; things come unraveled. They won’t have to catch us. We’ll bury ourselves.” Raji’s forehead was beginning to sweat. This was only a precursor of what might happen if they trapped him in an audit. Raji would drown everybody in the room. “I don’t want to stick around and wait for an audit. Do you?”
“No.” Raji got religion fast. He didn’t even hesitate.
“That’s what I thought. So why don’t you give me the guidance programs so we can get this thing done?”
Fareed reached for the door handle. This time he opened it and stepped out. He leaned back into the car. “Like you and the number for the Swiss account, I don’t have them with me right now.”
“Where are they?”
“I’ve got ’em; they’re safe. I’ll get them to you the next time we meet.” Raji closed the door and headed for his car.
Chapter Nine
When Liquida failed to kill Madriani’s daughter, he knew instantly that he was operating on borrowed time. No doubt, the lawyer had already informed the FBI that Liquida was connected to the D.C. bombing. With the news of the attack at the farm, federal authorities would waste no time throwing up checkpoints in Ohio and the
