Red Alert (27 page)

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ienly remembered Paluzzi's words. Alberto Vietri will

become Prime Minister of Italy. Camillo may yet be right. Calvieri could well be in for i big surprise.

lie meeting had been convened in a soundproof room Dwn the corridor from the conference hall. The fifteen aders were all present, along with the aides who had presented them at the morning briefing (it cut out the ed for translators for those leaders who didn't speak nglish, minimizing the chances of a security leak). Philpott felt like a headmaster as he stood in front of hem detailing the demands he had received from Calvieri. PFhere was a moment's silence after he had finished speak|ing, then the room was filled with the sound of angry IVoices as the delegates conferred, outraged at the audacity |bf Calvieri's demands. Philpott allowed them to let off |steam. After all, they were politicians. Finally he clapped his hands, bringing them to order.

'We have to discuss this rationally if we're going to |reach any kind of decision.'

'Where is Signore Bellini?' a voice called out. Philpott looked at Camillo and indicated that he should f answer.

'Signore Bellini is meeting the rest of our delegation. ; He won't be attending the opening ceremony. He feels it Iwould be better if one of his senior ministers was there

from the start. I have already informed the chairman.'

Camillo gestured to the Swiss President, who nodded in agreement. 'He has asked me to represent him at this meeting.'

Philpott raised his hand before anyone could speak. 'I

i-can understand how you must all feel about the way

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Signore Bellini has been treated, but it's neither the tim| nor the place to discuss it. We must address the second < Calvieri's demands, the payment of a hundred milliori pounds to the five terrorist groups.'

The Dutch Prime Minister raised a hand to catc Philpott's attention. 'Do you believe he would press the button if his demands were not met?'

'Yes,' Philpott replied bluntly.

'He's a madman!' someone called out.

There was a murmur of agreement.

Philpott shook his head. 'No madman could have pieced together an operation like this. It's been meticiH lously planned down to the last detail. Every loophole'sl been plugged. We're not dealing with some two-bit hood| lum here. He's probably more intelligent than most of i in this room. And that's not something I'd say lightly.'

'Couldn't your people launch a commando-style oper| ation on the room and recover the vial?' the Norwegian! Prime Minister asked.

'Out of the question,' Philpott replied. 'The rooml has no windows. The only way in is through the door.f And that would have to be blown. When I left the rooml Calvieri had his finger on the button. All he would have! to do is press it if we made any attempt to storm the| room.'

'These questions aren't getting us anywhere,' the British! Prime Minister snapped irritably. 'If Colonel Philpottj thought there was a chance of recovering the transmitter! intact he would have told us already. Obviously there! isn't. It's something we have to accept. And the sooner we 1 come to a decision, the sooner the wheels can be set injj motion to get the vial back safely.'

Philpott nodded gratefully to the Prime Minister. They j went back a long way. One of the Prime Minister's first|

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i on coming into office had been to forward Philpott's iculutn vitae, together with a personal letter of rec icndation, to the Secretary-General of UNACO for aderation as Director. He never knew whether the er had helped to sway the Secretary-General's decision : he had always been grateful for the Prime Minister's erving belief in him. It had made his job that much sier.

'I can only advise you,' Philpott said, looking around rly at the faces in front of him. 'The final decision with you. And as the Prime Minister has said, we I't have much time. It's imperative that you reach your sion as soon as possible.'

'What choice do we have?' the British Prime Minister jid. 'It's not as if we're dealing with a hijacked aeroplane a kidnapped businessman. We're dealing with a lethal i which could potentially kill millions. A virus without antidote. If it were just our lives at risk, I'd certainly ly we should stand firm against the demands. But it's at. Much as it goes against everything I believe in, I say : pay the ransom.'

'One hundred million pounds in the hands of terrorists,' : Austrian Chancellor said, breaking the sudden silence, bey will be able to buy enough arms to carry out arrendous attacks across Europe. It will snowball into a irfoody conflict, you mark my words.'

'Do you think I want to contribute to their coffers?' iie British Prime Minister's eyes were blazing. 'None of you has campaigned more vociferously than I have to nite our countries in the fight against terrorism. It sticks i my throat to have to pay one penny to these murderers, |lnit I don't see that we have any choice.'

'You misunderstand me, Prime Minister,' the Austrian |Chancellor said defensively. 'I was not criticizing you, it

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was merely an observation. In fact, I wholeheartedly agre with what you say.'

'A hundred million is a small price to pay for the safety| of our people,' the Swedish Prime Minister added. 'We will pay our share of the ransom.'

'The French Government, too, will pay its share o| the ransom,' the aide announced on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Philpott raised his hands as the noise intensified around him. 'It's no use everyone talking at the same time. There's an easy way to settle this. Is there any government whoj will not pay its share of the ransom?'

There was silence.

'I'll pass your decision on to Calvieri. Naturally we'lll do everything in our power to find the vial before the] deadline but I have to admit our chances of doing so willf be remote, to say the least. The search will have to bel undertaken in complete secrecy if we're not to alert! Calvieri and provoke a catastrophe. It's the only way we| can prevent the press from getting hold of the story.'

'We understand that,' the Swiss President said, speaking j for the first time. 'The money will be ready for the five| o'clock deadline.'

Philpott nodded. 'Naturally I'll keep you all up to date.1 on any developments that may arise during the day. But| as I said, I don't hold out much hope of finding the viall before five o'clock.'

'We know you and your team will do your best,' the] British Prime Minister said.

'I only hope that will be enough,' Philpott replied.

Whitlock had arrived at the Offenbach Centre while the j meeting was in progress and was poring over one of the \

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i with Graham when Philpott returned to the office. 3tt lit his pipe and recounted briefly what had hap, at the meeting. |At least they've agreed to pay the ransom,' Kolchinsky

SAs a last resort,' Philpott replied. 'We're going to have nil out all the stops to find the vial before five o'clock. lie ransom is paid it'll not only be a psychological jry for world terrorism, it'll also leave us with a lot

legg on our faces. It'll be the perfect ammunition for politicians who'd like nothing better than to see 4ACO disbanded. I can just imagine what they'll f. We worked with Calvieri from the start. A known srist. We even helped him smuggle the vial into the ilding.'

f 'We had no way of knowing he was the mastermind bind the whole thing,' Graham said angrily.

I"*We know that, but you can be sure our opponents will

I it against us. We have to find the vial if we're to save

e.' Philpott stabbed the stem of his pipe at the blueprint

i the desk. 'Have you compiled the list yet?'

Kolchinsky handed a sheet of foolscap paper to

bilpott. 'We're going to have to draft in more personnel, alcolm. There are over fifty possible hiding places on at list. We'd never be able to cover them all thoroughly five o'clock.'

"I had the same thought on the way back from the eting,' Philpott said. "I don't think I realized just how ; the building was until then. It means more people are

jing to know about the vial. That's something I was

aping to avoid. But it can't be helped. Five extra men,

naximum. The search has to be undertaken in secrecy.' 'I've got four men on standby at the airport,' Paluzzi

finounced. 'I had them flown in this morning in case we

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needed them. They've been on the case since Monday there will be no need to waste time briefing them.'

'Get them over here as quickly as possible,' Philpott| told him. 'There's no time to lose.'

Paluzzi disappeared into the outer office to use the| telephone.

'Michael came up with something while we were going] through the plans. What if Calvieri gave the vial to a| woman? We don't have Sabrina to check the women'sj cloakrooms.'

'Good point.' Philpott looked at Kuhlmann. 'We'll need| your best policewoman. I'll brief her personally.'

Til get on to it right away,' Kuhlmann said, and left| the room.

Philpott read through the list. 'You're going to ne some kind of cover to make it easy for you to move about! the building without drawing unnecessary attention toj yourselves.'

'I've already seen to that,' Kolchinsky replied. 'Vlok'sl bringing up half a dozen maintenance overalls for us tof use.'

Paluzzi returned. 'The men should be here in about fifteen minutes. One of my deputies, Captain Molinetti, 1 has taken a team of men to Milan to search Calvieri'sf apartment. He'll only call if they come up with something! important. I've told him to ask for you.'

'I look forward to hearing from him,' Philpott replied,| then reached for the receiver to call Calvieri.

Calvieri replaced the handset and gave Ubrino a thumbs-j up sign. Ubrino punched the air in delight and grinned at Sabrina, his animosity towards her forgotten in his mot| ment of triumph.

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'You haven't won yet,' Sabrina snapped, glaring at Srino. 'Five o'clock's still a long way off.'

'It will be for us, stuck in here,' Calvieri said, then sat own opposite Sabrina. The transmitter was still clenched

itly in his left hand. 'I don't think your colleagues would agree with you, though. They have six hours left ) find the vial. So much ground to cover and so little time i which to do it. And to make matters worse, they have

conduct the search in complete secrecy. It wouldn't

to alert the media, would it? So many problems to vercome. And even then they still won't find it. All that

ne and effort wasted.'

'Don't count on it,' she retorted, eyeing him coldly.

'I don't underestimate any of you, believe me. That suld be suicidal. I don't expect them to sit around idly aiting for the deadline. Of course they're going to try to nd the vial. But I bargained on that when I was planning

: operation. That's why I've had it hidden where they'll liever find it.'

'Where?'

Calvieri smiled faintly and put his finger to his lips.

here's a saying in Latin. Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur.'

'The man is wise who talks little,' she translated. \-~ 'In other words, know when to hold your tongue.'

'You should have borne that in mind yesterday.'

'I don't follow you,' Calvieri said with a frown.

'When you were so quick to tell Mike and me about your plans to put Italy back on its feet again. Now you're ireatening to destroy it, along with countless other nations around the world. You can't have it both ways.

uestion is, which is the truth?'

'I'm sure you're going to tell me,' Calvieri said.

'I don't have to. You answered it yourself when you |insisted that I remain here with you.'

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'I see what you're getting at,' Calvieri said, keeping i the sarcasm. 'You think I was telling the truth yesterday| And by holding you here I've prevented you from passin information on to the leaders which could have had bearing on their decision whether or not to pay the ra som.' He chuckled softly to himself. 'It's a fascinatir theory but unfortunately there's one major flaw in it.' didn't I insist on holding Graham and Paluzzi here well? They know just as much about the coalition as yofl do.'

'Because they don't know you like I do,' she replie quickly. 'Fabio knows you, and the other Brigatisti, likŤ| a teenager knows his favourite band. He knows you family histories, who your associates are and what you'v done since joining the Red Brigades. But he doesn't know you as a human being. I got to know you as a person owe these past few days. Take that incident in Venice. You treated that runaway as if he were your own son. And itj would be the children who would be the first casualties i| the virus was ever released into the atmosphere. You know! you could no more press that button than send that kid] back to the orphanage.'

Calvieri put the transmitter on the table and clapped| lightly. 'Bravo. A wonderful speech. So touching.'

Ubrino grinned at Sabrina. 'So much for your theory,J bella:

Calvieri held up the transmitter in front of Sabrina. 'Itfsj like nuclear weapons. Are they just a deterrent, or would ] they be used as a last resort? Bluff and counter-bluff. It's 1 all a game.' He shifted his chair round to face the television \ screen, then looked back at her, a faint smile on his lips. \ 'Or is it?'

z7S

3tt arranged for the final briefing to be held at 11.15 boardroom on the tenth floor. He was the last to having left Kuhlmann in Vlok's office to man the hone. After taking his place at the head of the table jk his pipe and tobacco pouch from his jacket pocket them beside the folder he had brought with him. took a wad of tobacco from the pouch and as he aped it into the mouth of his pipe he looked around iwly at the faces watching his every move. Paluzzi and i men sat on his left, Kolchinsky, Graham and Whitlock i his right. Sergeant Ingrid Hauser, the policewoman he 1 briefed only minutes earlier, sat beside Whitlock. She in her late twenties with a stocky figure and curly ck hair. Her confident manner had already impressed itn.

'Coffee, sir?' Whitlock asked, indicating the tray in the liddle of the table.

Philpott shook his head and carefully lit his pipe. He laled the smoke upwards, then opened the folder in wit of him. 'I've divided the list into four sections. I want >u to work in teams. Two to a team.' 'I'll work with C.W.,' Graham said. Philpott shook his head. 'Your Italian's nonexistent, gei's and C.W.'s isn't much better. You'll each be paired off with one of the Italians. They can cover for you.'

'I'll work with Fabio, then,' Graham said. 'I'm keeping you two well apart,' Philpott replied, jabbing the stem of his pipe at each of them in turn. 'I've |fead the Corfu report. You're a bad influence on each fother.'

Graham and Paluzzi grinned like a couple of mischievous schoolboys.

'C.W., you'll work with Major Paluzzi. You'll be

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Team One.' Philpott looked at Paluzzi. 'I need two men! to work with Sergei and Mike. Who would you suggest?'!

'Sergeant Visconti can work with Sergei,' Paluzzi re| plied, patting the arm of the swarthy man sitting beside! him.

Philpott jotted down the name. 'You'll be Tear Two.'

'Lieutenant Marco can work with Mike. They knowl each other from Rome. He's also the most levelheaded! one amongst us. He certainly won't be a bad influence oril Mike.'

There was a ripple of laughter from the Italians, which I Marco dismissed good-humouredly with a flick of his| hand.

'You'll be Team Three. Which leaves you as Team! Four,' Philpott said, pointing his pen at the two men sitting| between Visconti and Marco.

'Sergeants De Sica and Alberetto,' Paluzzi said.

Philpott wrote the names down, then handed out the! four lists. 'Teams One and Two will assume the identity! of security agents. Teams Three and Four will be maintenance men. That way you'll be able to gain access to| the areas specified on your lists. I've tried to spread the] workload evenly throughout the four lists but if a team! does fall behind it's up to them to contact me and I'll try! and get one of the other teams to help them out.' He| turned to Paluzzi. 'I assume your men are armed?'

'Beretta 92.5,' Paluzzi replied.

'Ggod.' Philpott looked at Kolchinsky. 'The handguns! you ordered arrived just before I came here. They're in] the office.'

'What about the maintenance overalls?' Graham askedJ

'They're also in the office,' Philpott answered. 'Dieter I Vlok has given me four bleepers which work off the system]

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das in his office. Each team will carry one. You'll be I only in an emergency so please respond promptly. i the office from the nearest house phone. The extension jber's on each of the lists. And one last point. For 's sake be careful of the metal detectors at the main inces. You shouldn't need to leave the premises but ťu do and you get into any difficulties, call the office. If i not there you can speak to Commissioner Kuhlmann. e'H smooth things over. But under no circumstances are i to call on each other for help. I don't want any public afrontations with the security staff. Is that understood?' pThere was a murmur of agreement. I'Well, I think that about covers everything,' Philpott eluded, closing the folder. 'All that remains now is for i to wish you luck. You all know what's at stake. That ne should be enough of an incentive.' Kolchinsky got to his feet, signalling that the briefing ; over. The others followed him out of the room. Philpott remained in his seat after they had gone. He is thinking about Sabrina. Was it any wonder that there still only one female field operative at UNACO? No : had yet come close to matching her abilities. She was |Ťut above the rest. And that included the majority of male colleagues as well. Graham was the exception, maverick. Philpott regarded him as second only to ijues Rust, in his opinion UNACO's best ever field erative. But Graham had only been with them a year. : would become the best, given time, especially if Sabrina lained his partner. Their record was unparalleled. They ad solved every case to date. Until now. If only she were ere to partner Graham now . . . He pushed the thought from his mind, reached for his ftne and got to his feet. He picked up the folder and pipe left the room, closing the door behind him.

281

ELEVEN

Whitlock checked underneath the last of the tables his section of the restaurant on the eighth floor, the straightened up and looked across despairingly at Pali

'Seventeen minutes to one,' Paluzzi muttered, glancir at his watch. 'It's taken us over an hour just to check kitchen and restaurant. We're never going to finish at I rate.'

Whitlock nodded sombrely. 'Don't remind me. What! next on the list?'

The foyer.'

'Wonderful. Now we'll be in full glare of the press.'

The bleeper sounded. It was attached to Whitlock^ belt. He switched it off and met Paluzzi's questionin look. 'Am I expecting too much?'

'Probably, but there's only one way of finding out.'

Whitlock crossed to the telephone and rang Vlok'| office. Philpott answered.

'It's C.W., sir. Has the vial been found?'

'No,' Philpott replied brusquely.

Whitlock shook his head at Paluzzi.

'I might be on to something,' Philpott told him. 'I wan the two of you to check it out.'