'Just like that,' said Ahmat breathlessly, but calmly.
'We all do our thing when it's our turn, Your Highness.'
Gerald Bryce walked into the computerized study of his house in Georgetown and went directly to his processor. He sat down in front of it and turned on the switch; as the screen lit up he typed in a code. Instantly the green letters responded.
Ultra Maximum Secure No Existing Intercepts Proceed
The young, strikingly handsome expert smiled and continued to type.
I have now read all the max confidential printouts reaching the CIA and coded for M. J. Payton's modem only. In a word, the entire report is incredible and already the effects of the operation are seen. To date, barely two weeks after the events in South Yemen, seven of the most prominent arms merchants have been assassinated, and it is estimated that the flow of weapons to the Middle East has been cut by 60 per cent. Our man is invincible. More to the point, however, combined with the previous information we possess, the White House must—repeat must—listen to us in the event we care to have our voice heard. We will, of course, exercise this prerogative with the utmost circumspection but it is, nevertheless, ours to exercise. For regardless of outcome, positive or negative, national and international laws have been broken, the administration has been directly and indirectly associated with murder, terrorism, corruption and, indeed, approached the edge of that all-inclusive condemnation, crimes-against-humanity. As we agree, there must always be a benevolent, selfless power above the White House to give it direction, and the means to that power is to know the innermost secrets of any administration. In this we are succeeding in ways undreamed of by those who came before us. If there is a God, may He grant that we and our successors are truthful to our beliefs. Penultimately, it strikes me that the sound and the partial cadence of Inver Brass is not far distant from a medical term: Intravenous. It's quite appropriate, I believe. Finally, I am working on several other projects and will keep you informed.
In a boat off Glorious Cay in the Bahamas, a large black man sat in the opulent cabin of his Bertram yacht studying the computer screen in front of him. He smiled at the words he read. Inver Brass was in good hands, young capable hands, immense intelligence coupled with decency and a desire for excellence. Gideon Logan, who had spent much of his wealthy adult life for the betterment of his people—even to the point of disappearing for three years as the silent, unseen ombudsman of Rhodesia during its transition to Zimbabwe—felt the relief that came with principled, outstanding succession. Time was winding down for him as it was for Margaret Lowell and old Jacob Mandel. Mortality mandated that they would be replaced; and this young man, this attractive honourable young genius, would choose their successors. The nation and the world would be better for them.
Time was winding down.
Gerald Bryce sipped his glass of Madeira and returned to his equipment. He was elated for so many reasons, not the least of which was what he termed their 'fraternity of brilliance'. What was so extraordinary was the ordinariness of its inevitability. Their brotherhood was preordained, inescapable, its origins found in the most common of occurrences: The coming together of people with similar interests, the advanced regions of those interests demanding superior intellects—and, to be realistic, little patience with a society governed by mediocrity. One thing always led to another, always obliquely, but nevertheless inevitably.
When time permitted, Bryce lectured and held seminars, a sought-after leader in the field of computer science who was careful not to publicly explore the outer limits of his expertise. But every now and then there was that extraordinary person who grasped where he was heading. In London, Stockholm, Paris, Los Angeles and Chicago—the University of Chicago. Those few people were scrutinized beyond anything their imaginations could conceive of and, to date, four had been contacted again… and again. A new Inver Brass was a faint but definite outline on the horizon. The most extraordinary of those four would be contacted now.
Bryce entered his code, punched the keys for Addendum, and read the letters on the screen.
Satellite transmission. Mod-Sahalhuddin. Bahrain. Proceed.
The Icarus Agenda
Chapter 47
Emmanuel Weingrass confounded the medical specialists, especially those at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Not that he was recovering, for he was not, and there was no change in
