Redback (52 page)

Adam Lyall and Aiden Bonney actually laughed, so that cheered the President up.

'The Vice President has informed me that he intends to stay in Sydney for the duration of the
summit,' Bonney said.

'I heard he had a hand in the capture of the terrorists who tried to kill him,' van Louden
said.

Brenda Janeway smiled. 'I believe he was present at the arrest, Nate, that's all.'

When two cell phones began ringing at the same time, the President suggested they all adjourn
soon for an early dinner.

Brenda Janeway was watching Nate van Louden take a call on his cell as she listened with a frown
to the FBI Agent from Houston who had called her. She hung up her call when the Secretary of Defense
dropped his cell in his lap and just sat there.

Before she could get everyone's attention, however, Aiden Bonney had noticed van Louden's ashen
expression.

'Nate, are you okay. My goodness, what on earth has happened this time?'

'My, my sister, Abigail,' he shook his head in disbelief.

Janeway took over. 'Nate's sister Abigail,' she waved her own cell to indicate she'd had the same
news, 'was arrested by the FBI in Houston half an hour ago.'

'Arrested?' Bonney said.

'What on earth for?' Lyall asked.

'Two counts of murder,' Janeway said.

'Actually only one was murder,' van Louden said, his face presenting a roll call of emotions.
'The other was apparently unintentional - and self-defense.'

'Who, on earth, would your sweet sister wish to kill,' Garner Brock asked, recalling the
doll-like woman he'd met just last weekend.

'A young man wanted in connection with the Dallas bombings was the accidental victim,' Janeway
said. 'So, obviously, no great loss.'

'My God,' Bonney said. 'Then who was the intended?'

'George Gantry, the Lieutenant-Governor of Texas.'

Well, that's
one
little problem solved.
Adam Lyall scratched his ear and
tried not to smile.

'Just when I thought the world could not get any more strange,' Bonney said.

'Is this something we can cover up?' Brock asked. 'Because it sounds like something we should
cover up.'

Van Louden stood to protest. 'No, no, Mr President. That is not something I could ask of you or
anyone in this room. Nor would I expect it.'

'Well, actually,' Brenda Janeway stood, to stand beside her friend Nathanial van Louden. 'Abigail
West technically just shot two of the Dallas conspirators. We have had Mr Gantry under surveillance
since Wednesday. We were about to arrest him for treason, terrorism, illegal arms dealing and
homicide, before and after the fact.'

Van Louden stared at her. 'All of that - and my 65-year-old sister beat you to it?'

'Well, all I can say,' the President said, 'is good on her.'

Back Door, Sydney Australia
Sunday 11 am

Gideon, coffee in hand, wandered towards the Recon Room, mostly because she had
nothing better to do. The worst thing about the end of a mission - even a spontaneous, last minute,
unwanted and unpaid mission - was the down-time afterwards. It was always so very down.

She didn't expect to find anyone in the Recon Room, it being Sunday and with every Redback home
and accounted for, so she was surprised to find the place a hive of activity.

'Did you forget to send my invitation?' she asked from the doorway.

'Oh, hey Bryn,' Jana said. 'Oliver has been regaling us with the technical details of his remote
control device for the now-dead Humvee.'

'Well you can stop that right now Oliver, or you'll put everyone to sleep. Why are you all here
anyway?'

Scott raised his hand. 'Oliver called me because there was an incoming video-link from Brenda
Janeway at the FBI. Apparently the elderly sister of the US Secretary of Defense shot and killed two
of the home-grown Texas terrorists, one of whom was the Lieutenant-Governor of the State.'

'You mean that lanky old bloke in the huge hat sharing the same photo opportunity with Jamal
Zahkri and Assad bin Khalid?' Gideon said.

Scott grinned. 'The very same.'

'I'm here because I saw Scott in here,' Jana said.

'Ditto Scott
and
Jana,' Coop said.

'Well, I suggest we order in lunch and make a meal of it.' Gideon sat on the edge of the
boardroom table facing the giant screen.

'I guess you've got one helluva story Scott,' Coop said.

Scott nodded. 'Oh yeah. I've still also got a helluva lot of background research to finish and
some stray facts and missing pieces to find - but I'm thinking it's a book rather than a story.'

'Hey cool, do we get to be in it?' Coop asked.

'Only if Scott is willing to name you Doofus et al,' Gideon said.

Jana patted him on the arm. 'Secret organisation Coop. Remember?'

Gideon, as usual when she was in this room, always had a bit of her mind on the always incoming
and ever-changing flow of information that coursed across the big screen. Something caught her eye
and trapped her attention.

'Hey Oliver,' she said, 'you've been running fresh stuff through your brain boxes haven't
you?'

'Always Bryn, you know that.'

'Well, what's that there, top right?' she asked pointing.

Oliver brought the top-right screen down to front and centre and twice the size.

'Telamon,' Jana read. 'What's Telamon?'

'I think I might have heard of that,' Scott asked.

'Let's see,' Oliver said. 'Telamon is an American institute-company kind of deal that specialises
in satellite technology, navigations systems and lots of my kind of techno-shit.'

'Why did it come up here, now?' Coop asked.

'Because the other day I fed in, let me see: Edward Drake, that British spy guy; and Jennifer
Leland, our High Commissioner to the UK. According to this they both have a connection to Telamon.
Him because Telamon is working with a British company to beef up military navigation systems. Her,
ditto, but with the Australian government for civilian services not military.'

'You better dig up everything you can find on them, Oliver.'

'Why, what have they got to do with this?' Scott waved his hands around and then at the screen.

'Because this is an
uh-oh
,' Gideon said.

'Uh-oh,' Coop repeated. 'That's usually an ominous sound coming from Bryn.'

'I just have a feeling this is not over.'

'Bryn, this is never over, you know that,' Coop said.

'But I don't mean the stuff that we do, Coop. I mean
this
- this
Rashmana
, Atarsa
Kára, Jamal Zahkri, Kelman, and now Telamon thing is not over.'

'What are you seeing that we not? Jana asked.

'Telamon,' Gideon stressed as she stood to face them all. 'Telamon is another word for
'caryatid', which is another word for 'atlantes'.'

'Which is the other name for the book of
Rashmana
,' said Scott.

Gideon spread her arms. 'Which was based on Assad bin Khalid's
Document of
Encouragement.
'

Jana Rossi waved her hands around her head. 'This is never ending.'

'The battle is won, but the war games go on,' Oliver said dranatically.

Bryn Gideon laughed.'Or as
I
said - this is not over yet.'

CLAN DESTINE PRESS

is proud to release

this ebook

and hopes you enjoyed the story.

http://www.clandestinepress.com.au

First published in eBook form by Clan Destine Press in 2010

PO Box 121, Bittern

Victoria 3918 Australia

Copyright © Lindy Cameron 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing
from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (The Act)
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whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational
institution for its educational purposes provided that the
educational institution (or the body that administers it) has given
a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the
Act.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-In-Publication data:

Cameron, Lindy

Redback

ISBN 978-0-9871603-0-0

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