the disputants settled it with a Night of the Long Knives. It doesn’t necessarily follow that the pro-violence group took the initiative against the dissidents, but that’s the way to bet it. It’s not likely that the anti-violence bunch took action against the pro-violence crowd to forestall them. It’s possible, but not probable.”
Jack went on, “The violent ones did in some of the opposition, maybe all. That would have cowed the faint hearts and the fence-sitters. They all loaded up in the blue bus and whatever other vehicles they had, abandoned Red Notch, and went underground.”
Bass said, “What about the ATF agents, Dean and O’Hara?”
Jack said, “They were outside the compound keeping it under surveillance. They had to go to keep from spoiling the Zealots’ getaway. It’s possible that Zealot assassins took them by surprise and did them in. Dean and O’Hara were monitoring the cult, but nothing on the record shows they were expecting any rough stuff. Up to now, the only thing the Zealots have shot off are their mouths. The killers drove away with the ATF agents’ dead bodies in their own car and hid it wherever they hid the rest of the cadre, living or dead, and their blue bus.”
Don Bass nodded. “Makes sense.”
Cabot Wright said, “Where does this Lobo character fit in?”
Jack said, “Near as I can figure it, he was a homeless guy, a derelict who was living in the sandstone hills above the compound. He saw something on the night of the disappearance. What’s more, somebody saw him and sent a kill team to silence him. They didn’t know what if anything he told Neal and me so they decided to make a clean sweep.”
“They being from the violent faction of the Zealots.”
“Possibly.” Jack wasn’t so sure that that was the case, he had his doubts that the killers were Zealots at all. He even had an alternate theory of the case but for now he was keeping it to himself.
Anne Armstrong said, “We’re running a trace on Lobo to determine his true identity. When we know that some more pieces of the puzzle might fit.”
Cabot Wright said, “But this is astounding! Where could the Zealots be hiding?”
Jack said, “This isn’t my home turf but from what little I’ve seen of the terrain around here, there’s a lot of places where two dozen people and a couple of vehicles could find a hole to hide in. Canyons, gorges, abandoned railway tunnels, ski lodges that’ve closed for the summer or gone out of business. The cult might not all be hiding in the same spot, either. They could have split up into cells and be hiding in a half-dozen spots, waiting for the go signal to greenlight whatever action they’re planning.”
Armstrong said, “Search planes and helicopters would be a big help. We could get county and state police pilots to start combing the region.”
Wright said flatly, “I can light a fire under them to make that happen.”
“But it’s got to be done discreetly. A mass panic is the last thing we want.” Wright blanched. “My God, no! That would ruin the Round Table!”
Jack said, “We don’t know what the Zealots are up to. Whatever it is, it’s vital that they not get into Sky Mount to carry it out.”
Don Bass said, “That’s something we can do something about! Sky Mount’s greatest strength is its defensibility. It’s protected by concentric rings of security cordons. The only viable approach is from the east. The mountains provide a natural defense barrier on the other three sides. We’ve got shooters posted on the high ledges just in case any strike force is mountain goat enough to scale those peaks.
“That leaves us open on the east. We’ve got the county and state cops controlling all access roads to the park. From there Brand takes over and our cordon is even tighter. Nobody can get in or out of the main gate without proper ID. Between our men on the gate and the police auxiliaries outside, we’ve got the firepower to repel any mass attack.”
Jack said, “Suppose they get close enough to crash the gate with a truck loaded with explosives?”
“The inside of the drive is rigged with a bed of concealed spikes a dozen yards long. If the gate goes down the spikes come up and they’ll rip to pieces the tires of any vehicle before it gets more than a couple of feet inside.”
“How about if they skip the gate and crash through a section of the fence?”
“The reinforced stone fence pillar posts are strong enough and too close for any truck to get through.”
“What about cars?”
Don Bass stroked his chin. “You might have something there. We’ll post some extra snipers and run roving patrols of crash cars along the inside of the fence line to harden the targets. We’ll pay a double bonus to the crash car drivers — I don’t think we’ll lack for volunteers.”
Jack said, “Sounds good. What about an air assault, a private plane that’s a flying bomb designed to crash into the building?”
Anne Armstrong said, “We’re ahead of you there, Jack. You came into the middle of the movie on that score. We’ve got the Air Force and the Air National Guard posted to forestall just such an attempt. The air space for a several hundred square miles around has been declared a restricted no-fly zone for the conference. Any unauthorized aircraft entering the zone will be forced down or shot down. Besides which, it would take a hell of a pilot to be able to fly through these peaks to make the approach.”
Don Bass added, “But in case some hotshot should get through, confidentially, we’ve got an anti-aircraft nest set up in the heights armed with a couple of Stinger missiles as a last resort.”
Jack said, “Glad to hear it.”
Cabot Wright shook his head sadly. “Lord! The precautions that must be taken merely to hold a peaceful and positive gathering whose purpose is the betterment of society and the national — and global— economy! It’s enough to drive one to despair…”
Jack said, “That’s the way we have to live today.”
The double doors opened and Larry Noone entered, purposeful, grim-faced. Don Bass said, “What is it, Larry?” Noone said, “Those ATF agents have just been found.”
7. THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9 A.M. AND 10 A.M. MOUNTAIN DAYLIGHT TIME
The car was at the bottom of Lone Pine Gorge. The gorge was a narrow, rocky, V-shaped cleft in the foothills of Mount Nagaii.
Jack and Anne Armstrong had to approach it by a dirt road that turned west off Nagaii Drive, traversing several miles of woodlands before curving north to run along the bottom of the slope. The rutted road was in bad shape, and it was a rough ride for the Mercedes.
The road skirted the gorge, bypassing it. The mouth of the cleft was obscured by a lot of brush and would have been easy to miss had it not been for the cars and emergency vehicles parked outside it.
A woodland path branched off the dirt road, leading into the gorge. The path was too tough for the Mercedes. The two agents had to get out and walk. They were challenged by a county sheriff’s department deputy posted at the foot of the path to keep out civilians and other unauthorized personnel. They showed their CTU ID cards and were allowed to proceed.
Trees grew on both sides of the gorge entrance, meeting overhead to form a canopy of foliage. The path was little more than a trail, accessible only to heavy-duty SUVs rigged for off-road running. The overhanging trees formed a tunnel through a hundred feet or so of greenery. It was cool and dim under the trees except where sunbeams slanted through gaps between the boughs.
The tunnel ended, opening into a steep-sided ravine bright with sunlight. A thin trickling creek ran through the middle of the bottom of the gorge. Tufts of dry, weedy grass sprouted in clumps along its length.
The rocky terrain otherwise supported little in the way of vegetation. The north side featured a projecting ledge about two hundred feet above the ground on which stood a single tree. A long-dead tree weathered silver- gray, its twisted branches bare of any foliage. Jack guessed that this was the lone pine that had given the gorge its name, although as far as he could see there was nothing about it to identify it as a pine.
Jack was feeling better, his headache had lessened, possibly because of the aspirins or being at a lower
