Tesla Secret, The (16 page)

CHAPTER FIFTY

The first two weeks of rehab had been difficult. The next two were hell. Arlene knew Selena needed to push herself. She let her do it without passing the limit of what her body could endure while it healed. The two women had become friends.

Her spine was healing. The bruising was less serious than feared, but her feet still didn't feel right. Her legs were weak. It would be months before the damage was fully repaired. If it could be. It was too soon to tell.

Once, Arlene had asked how she'd been shot. Selena had made up a story about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She knew Arlene didn't believe her, but the nurse didn't bring it up again. Nick, though, was a different subject.

"He's good looking, in a kind of scary way," Arlene said. Selena was walking on a narrow moving strip, holding on to two long parallel bars.

"I suppose so," Selena said. She didn't want to talk about Nick.

The walkway slowed and stopped. Sweat beaded her forehead. Her legs trembled. She stumbled as she stepped off the walkway. Arlene reached out and steadied her.

"Goddamn it." There were tears of frustration in her eyes.

"You're doing good. You're way ahead of where you should be. The doctors are all talking about it. Don't let it get to you."

She walked Selena over to the hot tub and helped her in. The warm, bubbling water was soothing. The jets felt good on her sore back.

Arlene leaned over and began massaging Selena's shoulders. Her touch was strong, nurturing. Suddenly Selena began crying. Arlene continued kneading and working the knots of muscle under the skin.

"It's okay. Let it out." Arlene's voice was soft. Selena put her hands over her face and sobbed, deep, racking cries that shook her body. After a while, she managed to stop.

"It's him, isn't it?" Arlene said.

Selena nodded. She still had her face covered with her hands. Arlene stopped rubbing her shoulders and reached for a hand towel.

"Here. Use this." Selena took the towel and blew her nose twice. She folded the towel over and wiped her face. Arlene took the towel and set it aside.

"You want to talk about it?"

"I can't. I mean, I can't tell you what happened."

"I can guess. It's got something to do with how you got shot."

Selena nodded again. "But it's not that. What we do..." She stopped. "I don't know if I can keep doing it. But Nick will never change. He'll do it until it kills him."

Arlene helped her out of the tub and handed her a clean towel.

"He loves you. Anyone can see that, the way he looks at you. You quit what you're doing, you think you'll lose him?"

Selena said, "It's more than that. He relies on me. They all do." She was saying too much, but she didn't care. "If I quit, I let them down. I put them all at risk."

They began the slow walk back to Selena's room.

"You think you're responsible for Nick? For his safety, and, uh, the others, whoever they are?"

"Yes. No, I know better. But I can't get over what happened. It was Nick's fault."

As soon as she said it, she started crying again. Arlene looked distressed.

"Oh my. Girl, you do have a problem. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"You talk with him about it yet?"

"No. I pushed him away. He didn't come back for a week." Selena got control of herself. "Since then everything's been wrong between us. Like we're strangers."

"Then I guess you better start talking. Looks like you're going to get your chance."

Selena saw Nick coming from the other direction. He had a dozen red flowers in one hand. She brushed tears away from her face with the back of her hand.

"Anyone who brings you roses can't be all bad," Arlene said.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Elizabeth called Alexei Vysotsky in Moscow.

"Director. We seem fated to work together."

"I take it Adam has contacted you."

"Yes. A package by way of UPS, if you can believe it. He seems determined on detente between our two organizations. He suggests a joint operation, not unlike what you and I did before."

"How much did he tell you?"

"Enough."

Elizabeth picked up her silver pen. "We have to act, Alexei."

She could feel him hesitate, thousands of miles away.

"How well do you understand what is happening here?"

How much should she say? Vysotsky was referring to the internal power struggle he was waging with Ogorov and the FSB. He was losing. There was no tactical advantage in concealing her knowledge.

"I am aware you are in a difficult situation and cannot trust many of your own people. Ogorov seems bent on getting control of your security services. Of course, it is AEON directing him."

"I've been watching him closely since our meeting in Denmark. He has been using state funds, materials, deploying troops. All without anyone in the Kremlin seeming to notice."

"How could that be possible?" Elizabeth asked.

"It isn't possible. That is what worries me. Were it not for his attempts to subvert my organization, or his membership in AEON, I would applaud him for building this weapon. As it is..."

Vysotsky left the sentence unfinished. 

It was a game of world chess with consequences far more important than the toppling of a wooden king. Vysotsky wanted to take Ogorov off the board. In that, she was his ally. But then he would want to keep the weapon for Russia. In that, they were opponents.

Elizabeth had no illusions. Vysotsky was a nationalist, a right-wing patriot. He was ambitious. He would try and get control of the weapon. It would give him a very big stick, perhaps big enough to propel him into the Kremlin without the trouble of another sham election. Russians were always looking for a strong leader. She had to make him see that if the Federation possessed Tesla's secret there would be war. The United States would not permit it. She had to make him see reason. Whether he did or not, the weapon would still have to be destroyed.

The objective was deep inside Russia and well guarded. Her team would never get close without his cooperation. Maybe she could play to his male ego.

"What do you suggest, Alexei?"

She put just a hint of uncertainty in her voice, a woman asking for the superior judgement of a powerful man.

Vysotsky laughed, a deep belly laugh. "Very good, Elizabeth. But I know you better than that. You mustn't try to use your considerable charm on me."

In Moscow, Vysotsky couldn't see her smile. "It was worth a try."

"I would have been surprised if you had not."

Choose your words with care.
"Alexei, I will be frank. In your place I would want to eliminate Ogorov and keep the weapon intact. But it must be destroyed."

"Oh?"

"If Russia gets this weapon it will have bad results."

"If we had told you there would be bad results, would that have made a difference when you built your atomic bomb?" She could hear annoyance in his voice.

"Of course not, but that was a different time. There is no defense against this weapon. It will destabilize everything. There are people here who will see it as an unacceptable threat. I am certain it will lead to war if we do not act together, a war neither of us can win. Both our nations will be destroyed."

She waited. When he spoke again, there was resignation in his voice.

"There are elements here as well that would not hesitate to use such a device."

"So far, no one knows Ogorov has built this thing. I believe Adam wants us to work together because it is the only way my government can be certain the threat is eliminated."

"You mean your President."

"I have to tell Rice what Ogorov is planning. I know the President. He doesn't want another war, certainly not with Russia. He will not act against you if there is another way to ensure our security. I need your assurances. If I tell him my team is going in and will verify destruction of the weapon, he will wait and take no counter measures. He will prepare them, but he will not use them."

"You are putting me in a difficult position, Director."

"Once this weapon is operational, the entire world is hostage. Adam has told me that AEON sent up twelve satellites in the last year that can relay the beam back to earth. They form a targeting grid that covers the globe. Neither the White House or the Kremlin is safe."

"If Adam, whoever he is, is correct. What if this is disinformation?"

"The satellites are there, I have verified it. As can you. I remind you that Adam prevented a disaster for the Federation. Why would he mislead us?"

"There are always hidden agendas."

"Neither one of us is comfortable with him, I admit. But my gut says we have to trust him on this. We know Ogorov is part of AEON. The pyramid is there. It all adds up. Plus there's more."

"More?"

Elizabeth told him about the Mafra Library. She told him about Mexico. She told him about Tesla's experiments with telluric currents.

"All of that confirms Adam's information. Ogorov is building a design that uses the unlimited power of the earth's magnetic field. We believe he found something in Mexico to help him amplify that power and make Tesla's design work."

"What was it?"

"In Mexico? I don't know."

"Ogorov has powerful friends. I cannot move openly against him."

"Then we must move secretly. A small strike team, experienced. My people and yours. Nick and Korov work well together. What do you think?"

Rice was waiting to hear the outcome of this conversation. If Vysotsky didn't agree, things were going to get complicated in short order. Complicated and dangerous.

"All right," Vysotsky said. "But Korov will command the mission."

"Agreed."

They talked until they had the outlines of an operational plan. The team would leave for Russia as soon as Vysotsky had made his preparations. They agreed on communication protocols between them and ended the conversation.

The team. She thought about Selena. No one else on the team spoke Russian.
Damn it, why did she have to get herself shot?

Elizabeth felt guilty for the thought. It looked like Selena would recover. Her body would heal, but what about her mind? She'd almost died. How would she come back from that? And then there was Nick. Since Mexico he'd been even more taciturn than usual. Moody. Trouble between him and Selena could affect his judgement. Affect the team. How would he resolve it? How would Selena?

Elizabeth didn't know. If she could have read Selena's mind at that moment, she would have realized that Selena didn't know either.

Part Three

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Korov looked inside the small box Vysotsky handed him. It contained shoulder boards with the two stars of a Lieutenant Colonel, a significant promotion, difficult to gain.

"Thank you, sir."

"You earned it, Arkady. You've done well with the Americans. They will be part of a new mission and you will be in command."

Vysotsky passed several photographs across his desk. They were taken from a distance with a telephoto lens. The pictures showed a large, distinctive shape, camouflaged to fool aerial observers.

"This is what the traitor Ogorov has been constructing. It is located on the Siberian plain, near Irtysh."

"A pyramid? Why?"

"It is a design of Nikola Tesla. You know who Tesla was?"

Korov nodded. "Of course."

"The pyramid powers one of Tesla's inventions, a weapon that projects an unstoppable, destructive beam."

"Why here? There is nothing here, only a village and an old base."

"Tesla's design draws upon the earth for its power. The pyramid is near the juncture of the Ob and the Irtysh rivers. It has been explained to me that there are strong earth currents at this location. It is isolated, difficult to attack except with missiles. There are anti-aircraft defenses. Bombers would be intercepted long before they reached their target."

"It could be attacked on the ground."

"Exactly. But that would require an invasion or an internal force."

Korov saw what was coming. "You want me to penetrate this installation. With the Americans."

Vysotsky opened his desk drawer and took out the vodka and glasses he always kept there.

"Yes."

"We could be shot for treason."

"We could." Vysotsky poured the drinks. "But we will not be shot. Not if you succeed."

He watched Korov closely. It was one thing to send him on a mission with the Americans to Texas or Italy. It was another to attack an objective within his own country. He poured the vodka.

"Na Zdrov'nya,"
he said. They downed the liquor. Vysotsky poured another.

"You will remember that AEON was behind the Demeter operation."

Korov knew all about AEON.

"Ogorov is not working for the Motherland. He is working for AEON and his own advancement. He is very close to using this weapon. If he succeeds, it will draw us into war with the United States."

"He can't believe we could beat them!" Korov was shocked. "What is the target?"

"The Americans are about to launch a new spy satellite, more advanced than the others they have. It is a major upgrade to their systems. I think that is the target."

"This weapon could reach it? It does not use missiles?"

"It could reach it." Korov shrugged. "Perhaps Ogorov thinks the United States will not know how their satellite was destroyed. There is no hope of that. We must stop Ogorov and gain this weapon for the Motherland. Then Russia will have a powerful bargaining tool with the West. It will be like the end of the Great Patriotic War, when atomic weapons made them supreme. Now it is our turn."

Korov finished his vodka. "You do not wish to destroy it."

"Of course not. I wish to control it."

"The American Project team may not agree."

"That is a problem you will solve, if it arises."

He poured another drink. They raised their glasses.

"To the Motherland," Vysotsky said.