Blown Circuit (8 page)

“Are we done yet?” Crust asked.

“We’re just getting started,” I said. “Hands on your head.”

Crust gingerly lifted his big meat-hook hands and placed one on top of the other atop his head. I didn’t have a gun. But Crust did. I could see the bulge poking out from the back of his khakis. I reached down and removed it. A Browning Hi-Power 9mm. Nice weapon. I chambered a round. Then I kicked the yatagan out of his reach and stepped around so I could see his face.
 

“What are you up to, mate?” Crust asked.

“Staying alive,” I said.

“Don’t you need a flair for disco and a love of old movies for that?”

“Cut the shit,” I said. “The question is, what are you doing here?”

“I got a tip from an asset to meet an agent from Montreal here. That’s Jean-Marc’s cover, but he’s gone dark. Where is he?”

“Well, that’s a spiritual question isn’t it?”

“What do you mean by that?” Crust asked.

“I mean Jean-Marc is dead.”

I watched Crust’s eyes. It was a surprise to him. I could see that. He was a professional, but he couldn’t keep the shock from showing.
 

“How?”

I saw no point in beating around the bush.
 

“I killed him,” I said.

“Why?” Crust replied.

“You tell me.”

“How on God’s green earth am I supposed to know that?” Crust said.

So this was the way it was going to go. Full circle. The exhaust fan on the far end of the wall sparked to life blowing out the garlic odor of the welders’ acetylene gas. Crust was directly in front of me, kneeling on the rocky ground in front of the door, his hands on his head. I held the gun. It was my show now.

“Jean-Marc asked me two questions,” I said. “Then he tried to slice my throat. I didn’t like the idea. So I sliced his.”

Which wasn’t technically true. But it got the point across.

“Did anybody see you?” Crust asked.

“Yeah. Some old guy in a towel. He’s dead too.”

“Did you kill him?”

“Jean-Marc did.”

Crust sighed deeply. After my announcement that Jean-Marc was dead, it was obvious he wasn’t surprised by anything else I had to say. He was concerned, resigned even, but not surprised, I saw that right away.

“Why did he attack me?” I asked.

“That’s a complicated question, Mike. And my knees are starting to hurt.”

I could see where this was going and it wasn’t good. I was the new guy on the block, the green guy, the guy that gets taken for a ride. I decided I wasn’t going to be that guy.

I stepped ahead and put the barrel of the Browning to Crust’s head. Then I grabbed Crust’s right thumb and stepped forward again, twisting my body and pulling his arm around so I could lever it against my own. I held his hand in a secure thumb-lock. It wasn’t a perfect position, but it wasn’t bad either. I could snap his thumb that way and, more important, it allowed me to keep my other hand on the gun.

“We haven’t known each other long, Crust. One mission. I don’t even know your real name. Or why the CIA has you talking with a half-baked Scottish accent. So it’s truth or dare time. Tell me what I want to know or I blow a hole in your skull.”

Crust coughed. A loud, squeaky cough.

“Blair, my real name’s Blair,” Crust said, his accent as flat as a prairie snow. “The Scottish accent was mission protocol back when we were targeting Kate Shaw.”

Like that, Crust had completely lost the brogue. One minute he was from the Highlands and the next he simply sounded American, neutral, nothing identifiable about his accent at all. I applied a little more pressure to his thumb, bending it the way it wasn’t supposed to go.

“So why keep up the Scottish thing,
Blair
?”

“I don’t know. I got into it, I guess. Look, you’re a badass, Mike. I get it,” Crust said. “If you’re telling me Jean-Marc attacked you, I have no idea why, all right? Not a clue. He was supposed to debrief you, that’s it. Did he say anything? Did he give you any kind of idea why he wanted to cut your throat?”

“Not much,” I said.

“So what did he tell you?”

“He asked me what I had found.”

“And?”

“And I told him.”

There was a loud knock from the other side of the door. I was going to have to bring our little Q and A session to a close before we drew unwanted attention. But I still had nothing.
 

“Look,” Crust said. “Cards on the table. I didn’t send Jean-Marc to kill you.”

“Why should I believe you?” I said.

“Because it’s the truth.”

“So what aren’t you telling me?”

There was another bang at the door, this one accompanied by loud talk in Turkish. I applied more pressure to Crust’s thumb. I was debating breaking it. I didn’t want to do it, because I wasn’t sure how effective it would be as an interrogation technique. Then again, there was a chance he wasn’t taking me seriously. It was a fine line. As it was, Crust spoke before I needed to decide.

“The mole,” Crust said. “I’m not telling you about the mole.”

I played it cool. I saw no reason to portray any reaction at all. Not until I had the facts.

“Why aren’t you telling me about the mole?” I asked.

Crust looked at me, exasperated, as though I had finally broken through.

“Because we thought you were it,” he finally said.

Chapter 13

T
HERE
WAS
ANOTHER
loud bang at the wooden door. I ignored it. Crust had broken through to the good stuff. He was talking. And I was pretty sure he would keep talking. But I wanted to make it easy for him. I wanted the words to flow right out.

“Get up,” I said.
 

Crust rose.
 

“You want to tell me what’s going on here?”
 

“Would you like to return my well-oiled pistol?”

“Sure,” I said. “But I need to trust you with it first.”

“No problem, Mike,” Crust said, motioning toward the door. “But to get some, you’re going to have to give some. Follow me!”

I still didn’t know whose side Crust was on. Not really. But I knew I needed to find out. So I picked up the yatagan and let him pull back the barrel bolt and open the door. The welders were standing around, not suspicious so much as curious. But Crust didn’t try to pick up an acetylene torch to cauterize my throat. All he did was pause in front of the dirty, half-open roll-down door and say, “You might want to put that away.”

But I didn’t. I kept the gun exactly where it was. The arabesque trills of Turkish pop music drifted in from the street while I pulled my backpack onto both shoulders and draped the checkered towel over the Browning, yatagan in my left hand. I probably looked like a pirate, but I didn’t care. In fact, I kind of liked the idea.

Crust ducked under the door and headed toward the rear of a Mercedes Sprinter panel van. I could see there was no one in the front of the van. I sincerely hoped the same was true of the back.

“I’m going to reach into my pocket and take out a key,” he said.

“And I’m going to put a bullet in your head if there’s anybody in the back of the van,” I replied.

Crust clicked his key fob and opened the left rear door. So far, I could see nobody inside.

“Open the other one too,” I said.

He swung the left door open. The van was equipped as a surveillance vehicle. It was all computers and listening equipment and, of all things, a big Turkish hookah. But there were no people, at least none that I could see.

“Now get inside, hands on your head,” I said.

Crust did as he was asked.

“Kneel at the back wall.”

He knelt and I followed him in, shutting the doors behind me.

“What’s with the water pipe?” I said.

“The Turks call it a
nargile
. We’re backpackers, right? Thought it might make a nice addition to our cover at the hostel. You want to try it? I’ve got these nifty packets of apple-flavored tobacco.”

“I’ll pass for now,” I said. “Tell me about the mole.”

“Can I at least sit down?”

“Jump seat on your left. No sudden moves.”

If Crust was going to go for a hidden weapon, that would have been the time to do it. But he didn’t. He simply pulled down the jump seat and sat. I took the seat across from him, Turkish pop music still drifting in from the street.

“We have had suggestions of a leak since the China Op,” Crust said. “They weren’t conclusive, but the pyrotechnics in the harbor were hard to ignore. Somebody knew you were going to be on that ship.”

“Why would I leak my own operation? Do I look stupid to you?”

“No, but you look green. We thought you might be trying to put us off the scent of the mole. Trust me, crazier things have been done. Think about it, Mike. No mole, then you join the team and information starts slipping out. It’s suggestive.”

“What kind of information?” I said.

“Do you want to put that thing away?”

I thought about it. No, I didn’t want to put the gun away. I did, however, want Crust to continue talking. So I compromised. I pulled the clip and emptied the chamber. If nothing else, the Browning would still make a decent club. I braced myself for a possible attack. But it didn’t come. Instead, I heard the midday call to prayer echoing through the street.

“Can I take my hands off my head now?” Crust asked.

Before I could answer, Crust reached behind his head to scratch his neck. I considered that I might have removed the clip from the Browning a little too soon. Then I heard a click, like a spring-loaded catch had been released. A fraction of a second later, I was staring down the barrel of an M9 Beretta. It wasn’t what I would have called a welcoming sight.
 

Crust smiled.

“Bang,” he said, miming pulling the trigger. “That’s for doubting me.”
 

He dropped the gun in his lap.

“Happy now?” I asked, hoping that I didn’t look as relieved as I felt.

“Not really. You should never have surrendered the advantage. Not before you knew the score.”

“I guess I wasn’t convinced you were going to crack without a little encouragement. Where did the M9 come from?” I asked.

“Safe-lock boxes,” Crust said. “The van is equipped with four of them. For situations just like this. Go ahead. Reach behind your head. Push the release.”

I reached behind my head. Found an indent in the panel wall. Pushed it. A second later, I had a loaded M9 in my hand too.

“Nifty,” I said.

“I know. Wicked feature. It was my idea. Sometimes they listen to us field guys,” Crust said. “Shall we, then?”

“Shall we what?” I asked.

“Figure this the hell out,” Crust replied.

“Why not?”

I guess I didn’t sound convinced.

“Look,” Crust said. “I understand that you don’t know who you can trust now, but I’m here to tell you that nothing has changed in that regard. I’m still your unit leader. So spell it out for me. Everything from the moment we parted ways at the hammam, exactly as it happened.”

I looked Crust in the eye. I thought about lying to him. Then I made a bet. I told the truth.

Chapter 14

I
TOLD
C
RUST
about both the Tesla journal and exactly what had happened with Jean-Marc. Crust sighed. The interior of the van was dark, the only light provided by the eerie glow of the computer screens, but I could tell that what I was saying wasn’t entirely new to him.

“Mike, you understand, that there is more going on here than just your father’s whereabouts, correct?”

“I’m beginning to get that impression.”

“The whole situation is wrapped around the Tesla technology in that journal. I’m no expert, but it sounds as though the journal you found contains research on a Tesla Device. A directed-energy weapon. We got confirmation of the Device’s existence around the same time we began to suspect a mole. That’s why you weren’t brought up to speed.”

“Because you like to send your agents in blind?”

“Because we didn’t know whether we could trust you.”

“What’s changed now?”

“You gave up your weapon, that’s what,” Crust said. “It might have been a stupid thing to do, but what’s changed is that I believe you, Mike. I believe you’re telling the truth.”

I listened, but I was going need more than that.

“Tell me what you know about Wardenclyffe Tower,” Crust said.

“It was a transmission tower built by Tesla in the early 1900s—a proof-of-concept device for wireless broadcasts and the wireless transmission of electricity.”

“And?” Crust said.

“Are you looking for speculation here?”

“Whatever you want.”

“And there are some schools of thought that say it was the wireless transmission of an electric charge from Wardenclyffe tower that caused the Tunguska event.”

“Yahtzee!” Crust said. “On June 30, 1908, five hundred thousand acres of Russian tundra near the Tunguska River were flattened and burned by an event that most of the world blamed on an asteroid strike. As it was, Tesla was documented to be running a test atop his Wardenclyffe Tower Energy Device the same night that Tunguska was hit.”

“So?” I said. “Tesla is working on his Device, Tunguska gets hit. Big deal. It’s possible that the two are related, but by no means guaranteed. They have a name for that fallacy in math. It’s called confusing correlation with causality. Just because A happened, doesn’t mean B caused it.”

“Yeah. Maybe. Cut to 1934.”

“It’s not as if I was briefed on this,” I said.
 

“So let me brief you. Twenty-six years later, in 1934, Nikola Tesla made claims to have invented a teleforce weapon. He called it a peace ray, a weapon to end all war. In reality, it was a directed-energy weapon capable of massive destruction. He tried to sell the Device to the United States, then to various European governments. He had no takers. No one believed it would work. Then he tried one more government. A government that had had experience with his experiments before.”

“So we’re back to the Russians?”

“Who else?” Crust said.

Crust reached into his pocket and tapped the screen of his Samsung smartphone. Three large monitors built into the wall of the van immediately lit up. The middle screen displayed what looked like a faded color photo taken many years previously. There was a bleak backdrop of straggly Northern trees and patches of unmelted snow. Spring in the northern latitudes. And there was a chain-link fence guarding a galvanized steel tower. The tower was made of interlocking metal struts which rose from a wide base, growing progressively narrower and more needle-like until they reached the top. At the top of the tower was a metallic ball.