ascending to where she stood. He clapped and smiled until he reached her and then accepted his usual towel and glass of sparkling water. He drank deeply as he wiped the sweat from his face and neck.
“So, did you learn anything from your little trip?” he asked softly, hiding his anger at the lack of success in Germany. The death toll should have been much higher, and the man who had been framed for the attack wasn’t dead, only under arrest.
“It’s not what I learned, it’s what I saw,” Laurel said. She turned and stepped away from her father.
“And that is?” he asked, giving the empty glass away and accepting the robe as it was placed over his shoulders. He nodded his head to indicate that the young girl who was acting as his valet that night could leave his presence. The music in the cathedral was rising to a deafening crescendo.
Laurel stepped toward her father and tied the belt of his robe tightly around his waist.
“That we are not being aggressive enough. James and his intricate plan will only slow down the attempts at getting to the Moon, not stop them, as was proved today. One of the Chinese missions may still succeed.”
“I think two out of three is acceptable.” He looked down at his daughter, who was holding his blue eyes with her own. “McCabe is doing exceptionally well, and I would have thought you would have given your lover far more credit.”
Laurel turned away and watched her little sister’s unbridled enthusiasm as she led the final moments of the worship service.
“We need a far more dramatic statement than shooting down a bunch of rockets that have just as much chance at failure at takeoff as we have of shooting them down.”
“What are you getting at?”
“You said it yourself not a few days ago. We need to eliminate the driving force, at least on the American side.”
Rawlins smiled for the first time since he had seen the drop in attendance.
“Eliminate the driving force? Even though McCabe said it would be a mistake?”
“He’s timid, and what’s most important here is the fact that he is not family. Even more important than that-he’s not a true believer in our cause. His cause is money and survival, not the sanctity of God’s written word. He is a Judas waiting for his reward.”
“And how would we achieve such a plan? You forget, daughter, that our motives are somewhat in accordance with McCabe’s. We’re the real hypocrites here.”
“The Mechanic says he has lost faith in his own cause, but I sense he has not. My plan would involve him, a man of devout beliefs but also a man who has come to doubt those around him. A man who now says he is in it for the money like his boss, McCabe.”
“You believe he has the will and the desire to see that God prevails here?”
“More than that, he sees this as a chance to right his cause. He will do what I ask.” She turned and put her arms around her father. “Chaos will be to our benefit, and it will also place a dear friend in the highest office in the land. At the same time, after the Mechanic has done our bidding, he will continue on as our fall guy.”
“And McCabe?” he asked, knowing Laurel’s answer long before she voiced it.
“I think as soon as his Houston and Cape Canaveral missions are complete, and the second gallery inside the mine is reopened, we’ll allow him to remove any weaponry and technology from the mine. Then he will cease to be an asset to our cause. Just empty baggage that needs to be left on the ground.”
Rawlins smiled and felt better about the events of the day, even more so because his sermon had relaxed him and renewed his own enthusiasm about keeping Operation Columbus under wraps until his corporations could cash in on the technologies discovered so long ago.
“Make your plans and include your offer to our friend the Mechanic. Then we’ll see if he’s a true man of God. Show me something in two days.”
Niles Compton watched the experiment unfold.
The mineral-encrusted rocks recovered from the CIA vaults were in water and the steam they were producing was actually growing in pressure. The test had been running for thirteen hours with a steady increase of heat emanating from the meteorites.
“They are truly remarkable,” Virginia Pollock said as she stood behind the glass with Niles. “If the Chinese and the Russians have samples, they know their capabilities. I suspect that with these small stones alone we could run an entire power generation plant.”
“The long-term effects?” Niles asked, watching as the steam inside the clear glass chamber channeled into a small generator.
“We can’t know that yet,” Virginia said. She watched her boss closely. “What are you thinking?”
Niles turned away from the thick glass separating them from the laboratory and fixed Virginia with a questioning look.
“Meteorites-think about the word, Virginia. They came here as meteorites. That would mean that the space body they once belonged to may not exist today. What if the planetary body they originated from exploded, not because of some interstellar incident, but because this element is so unstable?”
“That would call for too much speculation at this time,” she countered, turning back and watching the needle on the power gauge rise by increments.
“You’re seeing what I’m seeing. No power source actually gains in intensity after expending as much energy as these stones. They’re gaining power, even as we attempt to drain it.”
“It could level off, just like our nuclear fuel, at least to a controllable level,” Virginia countered.
“As you just said, that calls for too much speculation at this time. I want the experiment terminated for the time being.”
“But Niles, we have an opportunity here to-”
“Terminate the experiment, Virginia,” Niles said as an assistant stepped through the observation room doorway and handed him a small piece of paper. Niles hesitated while he made sure Virginia understood her orders.
“Very well, we’ll start a controlled shutdown,” she said, turning for the door.
“Niles.” The president spoke from a secure hookup. “I’ve spoken directly to the German chancellor and he knows the colonel is right in the middle of a frame-up. However, at the moment, with the video evidence and the two claymores found in the U.S. Air Force jet, the chancellor is between a rock and a hard place. He would get crucified if he released the American believed responsible for over a hundred deaths.”
“How soon?”
“The FBI says they can probably come up with something to give the German chancellor a reason to free him, at least on bail and as a personal favor to me, in three weeks. Captain Everett is being extradited to Ecuador to face his charges there. Even when Collins is released, the Ecuadorians will be there ready to extradite him also. It’s a big goddamn mess, Niles.”
“I want my two scientists back. Or are they going to charge them too?” Niles asked, his anger at the situation finally cracking his stoic facade.
“They’re being released this afternoon. They haven’t any evidence against them, although my FBI sources tell me they are far more trouble than either Collins or Everett.”
“That I can believe. Has Jack spoken to our envoy in Berlin?”
“He refuses to talk to anyone, other than to pass along a message to you through the embassy. He said to check out the Faith Channel on television tonight. He said all roads lead to the Lord.”
Niles looked away from the small camera and thought a moment.
“I hope you know what the hell that means, because as far as I’m concerned these fundamentalist protesters outside my window are just about all the religion I can handle at the moment.”
“I haven’t the vaguest idea what the colonel means, but I will-”
That was as far as Niles got as a tremendous swaying motion struck his office and alarm bells started jangling. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling and the lights flickered and went out. The overhead fluorescents flashed and then came back on.
“Jesus, I just got this place back together!” Niles shouted as he looked at the camera. “I’ll call you
