execution. He had no more protest to make.
“So let us review what she had achieved by this stage.
She was rid of the Baron, and the restrictions he placed upon her.
An example of these restrictions, for we will find it significant later: she was very strongly in favour of Narmco banning the sale of all weapons and armaments to the South African Government. The Baron,
ever the businessman, looked upon that country as a lucrative market.
There was also the South African sympathy for Zionism. He overruled her, and Narrnco continued to supply aircraft, missiles and light armaments to that country right up until the official UN resolution to enforce a total arms embargo, with France ratifying it. Remember the
Baroness’s anti south African attitude. We come to it again later.
“She was rid of the Baron. She was rid of her Russian control,
well able to maintain a small army to protect herself. Even her former
Russian masters would hesitate to take revenge on her. She was a
French Grande Dame now.
She had gained significant working capital twenty-five million for which she was not accountable to another living human being. She had gained an invincible power base at Altmann Industries. Although she was still under certain checks and safeguards-from the Board of
Directors, yet she had access to all its information-gathering services, to its vast resources. As the head of such a colossus she had the respect of and sympathy of the French Government, and as a fringe benefit limited but significant access to their intelligence systems. Then there was the Mossad connection: was she not the heir to
Aaron Altmann’s position-” Peter suddenly remembered Magda speaking (if her sources” and never identifying them. Was she really able to use the French and Israeli intelligence as her own private agencies? It seemed impossible. But he was learning swiftly that when dealing with
Magda Altmann, anything was A possible as Kingston Parker had pointed out, she was not an ordinary person but Parker was speaking again.
“There was a period then of consolidation, a time when she gathered up the reins that Aaron had dropped. There were changes amongst the top management throughout Altmann Industries as she replaced those who might oppose her with her own minions. A time of planning and organizing, and then the first attempt to govern and prescribe the destiny of nations. She chose the nation which most offended her personal view of the new world she was going to build. We will never know what made her choose the name of Caliph-“
“You have to be wrong.” Peter squeezed his eyelids closed with thumb and forefinger.
“You just don’t know her.”
“I don’t think anybody knows her, Peter,”
Kingston Parker murmured, and fiddled with his pipe. “I’m sorry, we are going pretty fast here. Do you want to back up and ask any questions?”
“No, it’s all right.” Peter opened his eyes again. “Go on,
will you, Kingston?”
“One of the most important lessons that Baroness
Altmann had learned was the ease with which force and violence can be used, and their tremendous effect and profitability. Bearing this lesson in mind, the Baroness chose her first act as the new ruler of mankind, and the choice was dictated by her early political convictions, those convictions formed at her father’s knee and at the
Communist Party meetings that she had attended as a precocious child in
Paris. There is a further suggestion that the choice was reinforced by the Altmann banking corporation’s interests in South African gold sales, for by this time the Baroness had tempered her socialist and communist leanings with a good healthy dollop of capitalistic self-interest. We can only guess, but if the scheme to bring out forty tons of gold and a black-based government-in-exile had succeeded,
it would not have taken very long for Caliph to gain control of both government and gold-” Parker shrugged]. We just cannot say how ambitious, even grandiose, those plans were. But we can say that
Caliph, or the Baroness, recruited her team for the execution of the plan with the skill she brought to anything she handled.” He broke Off,
and smiled.
“I think all three of us remember the taking of Flight 070 vividly enough not to have to go once more over the details.
Let me just remind you that it would have succeeded, in fact it had actually succeeded, when Peter here made his unscheduled move that brought it all down. But it succeeded. That was the important thing. Caliph could afford to congratulate herself. Her information was impeccable.
She had chosen the right people for the job. She even knew the name of the officer who would command the antiterrorist force which would be sent to intervene, and her psychology had been excellent. The execution of the four hostages had so shocked and numbed the opposition that they were powerless -the cup had been dashed from her lips by one man alone. Inevitably her interest in that man was aroused. Possibly with feminine intuition she was able to recognize in him the qualities which could be turned to her own purpose. She had that indomitable streak in her make-up that is able to recognize even in the dust of disaster that material for future victory-” Parker shifted his bulk,
and made a small deprecatory gesture. ” - I hope this will not seem immodest if I bring myself into the story at this stage. I had been given the hint that something like Caliph existed. In fact this may not have been her first act after the killing of Aaron Altmann. Two other successful kidnappings have her style one of them the OPEC
ministers in Vienna but we cannot be sure. I had been warned and I
was waiting for Caliph to surface. Dearly I would have loved a chance to interrogate one of the hijackers-“
“They would have had nothing to tell you,” Peter objected brusquely. “They were merely pawns, like the doctor we captured in Ireland.” Parker sighed. “Perhaps you are right, Peter.
But at the time I believed that our only lead to Caliph had been severed. Later when the thing had been done and I had recovered from the shock of it, it suddenly occurred to me that the lead was still there stronger than ever. You were that lead, Peter. That was why I
recommended that your resignation be accepted. If you had not resigned, I would have forced you out anyway, but you played along superbly by resigning-” He smiled again. I have never thanked you for that.”
“Don’t mention it,” said Peter grimly. “I like to be of service.”
“And you were. Almost immediately you were on the loose, the
Baroness began making her approach. First she collected every known fact about you. Somehow she even got a computer run on you. That’s a fact. An unauthorized run was made on the Central Intelligence computer four days after your resignation. She must have liked what she got, for there was the Narmco offer through conventional channels. Your refusal must have truly excited her interest, for she used her connections to have herself invited down to Sir Steven’s country house.” Parker chuckled. “My poor Peter, you found yourself without warning in the clutches of one of history’s most accomplished enchantresses. I know enough about the lady to guess that her approach to you was very carefully calculated from the complete information that she had on you. She knew exactly what type of woman attracted you. Fortunately, she fitted the general physical description-“
“What is that?” Peter demanded. He was unaware that he had a specific type of physical preference.
“Tall, slim and brunette,” Parker told him promptly.
“Think about it,” he invited. “All your women have been that.” He was right, of course, Peter realized. Hell, even at thirty-nine years of age it was still possible to learn something about yourself.
“You’re a cold-blooded bastard, Kingston. Did anybody ever tell you that?”
“Frequently.” Kingston smiled. “But it’s not true, and compared to Baroness Altmann I am Father Christmas.” And he became serious again. “She wanted to find out what we at Atlas know about her activities. She knew by this stage that we had our suspicions, and through you she had an inside ear. Of course, your value would deteriorate swiftly the longer you were out of Thor but you could still be useful in a dozen other ways. As a bonus you could be expected to do a good job at Narmco. All her expectations were fulfilled, and exceeded. You even thwarted an assassination attempt on her life-” Peter lifted an eyebrow in inquiry.
On the road to Rambouillet that night. Here we are only guessing,
