Black Ops (Presidential Agent 5)

Miller grunted. "You're saying your idea of going out in glory is being boiled in a pot for somebody's juju supper? You heard what the ambassador said about the chances of a white guy in the Congo."

"And the ambassador is right, Mr. Delchamps," DeWitt said.

"If you call me 'Mr. Delchamps' one more time, I'm going to start calling you Bee Fu Om--that's short for Bald Fat Ugly Old Man."

"Let me think a minute," Castillo said.

When it seemed to Delchamps the minute had expired, he said, "Well, Ace, since we can't go to Argentina, and Ordonez made it pretty clear Porto Alegre is not a viable destination option, wherever shall we go?"

"Washington," Castillo said.

"That I think is what is known as an off-the-wall thought," Delchamps said.

"Hear me out," Castillo said. "We send Alfredo back to Argentina. He can catch a civilian flight, Aerolineas or something else. Maybe even catch a flight today. The minute he gets there, he calls Pevsner and tells him we're headed for Cancun, and to set that up for Dmitri and Svet."

"You've lost me," Delchamps said. "Cancun?"

"Actually, an island just off Cancun. With an airport that will take the Gulfstream. Cozumel. On which is the Grand Cozumel Beach & Golf Resort, featuring sandy beaches, a golf course, deep-sea fishing, and some really nice cuisine. You'll like it, Svet--"

"I am not going to . . . wherever you said."

"--and not only because it is owned by your cousin Aleksandr. It also has, for reasons I don't wish to think about, a security system that is at least as mind-boggling as the ones in Bariloche and Pilar Polo & Golf. Or Golf & Polo. Whatever the hell it is."

"Where, my Carlos, do you think you would be going without me?"

"To Washington, Svet. You hear

d what the ambassador said, what DeWitt said. Thinking that we can find the chemical factory, much less take it out, is pissing in the wind. What I can do is go directly to the President.

"According to Montvale, as of the day before yesterday, the President has been shielded from my 'outrageous behavior' in Vienna. I can see no reason for him to have told him since then, because that would mean the CIA would have to fess up that they don't have either of the top SVR agent defectors wanted on an Interpol warrant that they claim they do.

"That means I can get to the President. Just as soon as we drop Svetlana and Dmitri into the arms of luxury on Cozumel and go wheels-up, I get on the AFC and call him. Unless he's in Nome, Alaska, we can go direct to wherever he is. And with a little luck, get there before Montvale hears what's going on.

"Even if Montvale's sitting there with the President when we get there, and has told him his version of the story, the President will hear me out." He paused and looked at the men seated around Delchamps. "That is, hear us out. You're going with me, Edgar. And you, too, Alex. And Davidson, Leverette, and DeWitt. Everybody who has heard what Dmitri and Svetlana have told us and believe there's more in the Congo than a fish farm."

There was a moment's silence.

"Either the President will hear us out, or we go directly to jail without passing Go. Going with me will be on a voluntary basis, and I would be neither surprised nor disappointed if everybody elected instead to go trolling for sail-fish with Svet and Dmitri off sun-drenched Cozumel."

There was another long moment of silence.

"May I speak?" Ambassador Lorimer asked.

"Yes, sir, of course," Castillo said.

"I was thinking, Colonel, that if you thought it would be useful, I could prepare a short paper on the history of activity in that area of the Congo. For example, its initial use by the then-West Germans as a nuclear facility. That isn't well-known, and I think it's possible that he's unaware of it."

"Your President wouldn't know about that?" Berezovsky asked incredulously.

"Washington is a strange place, Dmitri," Ambassador Lorimer said. "President Truman was informed of the nuclear weapons that the United States was developing only the day after President Roosevelt died. While Truman was Vice President, he was not told one word--he had been kept completely in the dark."

"So, you are agreeing that my going to the President makes sense?" Castillo said.

"From my vantage point, which I am aware is one of near-total ignorance, it looks to me as if it is your only viable option."

Castillo nodded thoughtfully. "Then yes, sir, Mr. Ambassador, I would be very grateful if you would prepare a paper like that."

"Then I shall, even though I am about out of patience with your refusal, my friend, to address me by my Christian name."