Surely the logical move would be to go to the Reykjavik police?’
There was a short pause on the line.
‘She knows there’s a strong possibility that her brother’s dead,’ Ripley admitted hesitantly. ‘She may also be under the impression that someone’s trying to murder her because of a conspiracy involving the Reykjavik police, the Icelandic foreign ministry and the ministry of justice.’
‘Are you out of your goddamn minds?’
‘We underestimated the job, sir. It won’t happen again.’
‘Won’t happen again?’ Ratoff hissed. ‘It should never have happened in the first place!’
‘We’re just leaving her father’s apartment now. He’s not at home. She left a message on his answering machine and we’re taking it down to the embassy to get it translated.’
‘She knows too much. Far too much.’
‘What about Keflavik?’ Ripley asked again.
‘She may be on her way to the base. Her brother mentioned an ex-boyfriend there. She ditched him suddenly and they haven’t met in a while, but it’s possible she will look to him for help or information now.’
‘Understood, sir,’ Ripley said.
‘Don’t screw up again.’
‘Understood,’ Ripley repeated.
Ratoff gave him the man’s name and hung up, then stepped out of the communications tent and looked over at the plane. Like other members of Delta Force, he was dressed in thick, white camouflage and snow goggles which he had pushed up on his forehead, warm gloves and a balaclava. There were no names or ranks, no indications of any affiliation or any other markings on their clothes, nothing to connect them to the unit.
Carr had not told him exactly what the plane contained and he burned to know more. He knew something of its history, knew that it had taken off from Germany at the end of the war, heading for Reykjavik, and had hit bad weather and crashed. But he had no idea whether Reykjavik had been the intended destination or if the plane had been scheduled to continue, perhaps all the way to the States. Nor did he know the identity of her passengers.
He returned thoughtfully to the wreck and peered into the passenger cabin again. Ratoff had been trying to fill in the blanks by guesswork but knew it was futile; he would not be able to satisfy his curiosity until he could get inside. Turning away, he went back to his tent. An image floated into his mind of the boy’s face as he told him his sister was dead, of the torment in his eyes before he darkened them for ever. But the young men’s deaths had no impact on Ratoff. He calculated for collateral damage in all his assignments and in his view they amounted to nothing more. He would complete this job to his full satisfaction and any obstacles would have to be eliminated. Carr had asked if they were young – he was obviously getting soft in his old age. No doubt he would ask the same thing when he was informed of the woman’s death.
He gave orders to be put through to Carr.
‘We believe she’s on her way to the US base in Keflavik, sir,’ he said when Carr came on the line, ‘and I have a good idea who she’s going to meet.’
Chapter 11
CENTRAL REYKJAVIK,
FRIDAY 29 JANUARY, 2100 GMT
The meeting was extremely formal, despite the choice of venue. By special request of the US military authorities, the prime minister and foreign minister of Iceland were now seated face to face with the admiral from Keflavik air base, in his capacity as the most senior officer in the Defense Force, and the general, who was temporarily discharging the office of US ambassador to Iceland during the abrupt and unexpected absence of the regular incumbent. The ministers had been summoned to the meeting with an unceremonious haste that might be interpreted as high-handedness if the circumstances did not turn out to be exceptional. The Icelanders had been given no information about the reason for the summons and discussed a number of possible scenarios as they travelled in the prime minister’s car to the city centre hotel suite where the meeting was to be held. They were inclined to believe that it heralded an unexpected presidential visit, remembering that they had been given practically no warning when the summit meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev was held in Reykjavik in 1986.
On arrival they were greeted by the admiral, a casual acquaintance from various official receptions. He introduced them in turn to the general, a short, pugnacious-looking man whose name, the Icelanders learnt, was Immanuel Wesson; he was pudgy, red-faced and buck-toothed, and walked with a slight limp due to the fact that one of his legs was shorter than the other. The prime minister eyed him sceptically, wondering whether he had ever been on active duty or had enjoyed a lifetime’s service behind a desk and in the officers’ mess.
It was about nine in the evening, the streets were quiet and there were few guests in evidence at the hotel. The suite had been the foreign minister’s idea; he often held meetings there with overseas guests on unofficial visits who wished to keep their names out of the press. As a setting it had that bland yet expensive anonymity characteristic of hotel rooms: white leather furniture, tasteful paintings by Icelandic artists on the walls, thick white carpets on the floors and a full-size bar. The Americans surveyed the opulent surroundings and nodded to the Icelanders as if in approval of the venue. There was an atmosphere of quiet expectation.
Formalities concluded, they took their seats on the room’s ostentatious three-piece suite and the prime minister addressed the Americans:
‘Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell us what’s going on?’ he suggested, loosening the knot of his tie.
‘We would like to begin by thanking you, gentlemen, for agreeing to this emergency meeting,’ the admiral commenced, regarding each of them in turn, ‘and by apologising for the short notice. Once we’ve explained the matter, you will understand why it was unavoidable. It is absolutely vital, and I cannot emphasise this enough, that nothing said in this meeting leaves these four walls.’
The ministers nodded and waited. The general now cleared his throat.
‘As you are naturally aware, according to the terms of the defence treaty between our nations, we monitor everything that happens within and around Iceland’s borders for military purposes, using a combination of submarines, reconnaissance planes and satellites. In particular, we have in recent years been closely monitoring a section of the Vatnajokull glacier.’
‘I’m sorry, did you say Vatnajokull?’ the foreign minister interrupted, looking disconcerted.
‘Allow me to explain, gentlemen,’ the general said. ‘We can answer any questions afterwards. In the past we operated surveillance flights over this area of the glacier but since we acquired satellite capabilities the process of monitoring has become much easier. Our interest in the glacier is historical but at the same time presents something of an embarrassment for us. In the closing stages of World War II one of our aircraft crashed on the glacier and was lost in the ice. We know more or less exactly where it went down but adverse weather conditions prevented us from reaching it until too late. By the time a search party from our Defense Force in Reykjavik finally made it to the glacier, there was no trace of the plane. As I said, the glacier had swallowed it up.’
The general paused and the prime minister seized the opening this offered.
‘What’s so special about this plane?’
‘Recently, the aircraft turned up on satellite images of the glacier taken by military intelligence,’ the general continued, ignoring the interruption. ‘Having confirmed our original suspicions with the help of these images and others of the same area taken subsequently, we decided to send an expedition to the glacier to excavate the plane and transfer it to the base prior to repatriating it to the States. This will inevitably necessitate the movement of considerable numbers of military personnel and equipment through Icelandic territory.’
‘And you require the Icelandic government’s permission for this operation,’ the foreign minister concluded.
‘It has never been our wish to act against your will,’ the admiral interjected.
‘Naturally we will travel through the country as inconspicuously as possible,’ the general resumed, ‘taking the utmost care not to cause any alarm. We have drawn up plans which we will review with you in greater detail later.
