MALONE DRANK A COCA-COLA LIGHT AND WATCHED AS THE LEAR Jet 36A approached the terminal. Samarkand’s airport lay north of the city, a single runway facility that accommodated not only commercial traffic, but also private and military. He’d beaten both Viktor and Zovastina back from Italy thanks to an F-16-E Strike Eagle that President Daniels had ordered placed at his disposal. Aviano Air Base, fifty miles north of Venice, had been a quick chopper ride and the flight east, thanks to supersonic speeds at over thirteen hundred miles an hour, had taken just over two hours. Zovastina and the Lear Jet he was now watching taxi closer had needed almost five hours.
Two F-16s had arrived in Samarkand without incident, as the United States possessed unrestricted landing rights at all Federation airports and bases. Ostensibly, the U.S. was an ally, but that distinction, he knew, was fleeting at best in this part of the world. The other fighter had carried Edwin Davis, who was, by now, at the palace. President Daniels had not liked involving Davis, he had preferred to keep him at a distance, but wisely recognized that Malone was not going to take no for an answer. Besides, as the president had said with a chuckle, the whole plan had at least a ten percent chance of working, so what the hell.
He gulped the last of the soft drink, weak by American standards but tasty enough. He’d slept an hour on the flight, the first time he’d been inside a strike fighter in twenty years. He’d been trained to fly them early in his navy career, before he became a lawyer and switched to the Judge Advocate General’s corps. Naval friends of his father had urged him to make the choice.
His father.
A full commander. Until one August day when the submarine he captained sank. Malone had been ten, but the memory always brought a pang of sadness. By the time he’d enlisted in the navy, his father’s contemporaries had risen to high rank and they had plans for Forrest Malone’s son. So out of respect, he’d done as they’d asked and ended up as an agent with the Magellan Billet.
He never regretted his choices, and his Justice Department career had been memorable. Even in retirement the world had not ignored him. Templars. The Library of Alexandria. Now Alexander the Great’s grave. He shook his head. Choices. Everybody made them.
Like the man now deplaning from the Lear Jet. Viktor. Government informant. Random asset.
Problem.
He tossed the bottle into the trash and waited for Viktor to step into the concourse. An AWACS E3 Sentry, always in orbit over the Middle East, had tracked the Lear Jet from Venice, Malone knowing precisely when it would arrive.
Viktor appeared as in the basilica, his face chapped, his clothes dirty. He walked with the stiffness of a man who’d just endured a long night.
Malone retreated behind a short wall and waited until Viktor was inside, turning toward the terminal, then he stepped out and followed. “Took you long enough.”
Viktor stopped and turned. Not a hint of surprise clouded the other man’s face. “I thought I was to help Vitt.”
“I’m here to help you.”
”You and your friends set me up in Copenhagen. I don’t like being played.”
“Who does?”
“Go back where you came from, Malone. Let me handle this.”
Malone withdrew a pistol. One of the advantages of arriving by military jet had been no Customs checks for U.S. military personnel or their passengers. “I’ve been told to help you. That’s what I’m going to do, whether you like it or not.”
“You going to shoot me?” Viktor shook his head. “Cassiopeia Vitt killed my partner in Venice and tried to kill me.”
“At the time, she didn’t know you wore the white hat.”
“You sound like you think that’s a problem.”
“I haven’t decided whether you’re a problem or not.”
“That woman is the problem,” Viktor said. “I doubt she’s going to let either one of us help her.”
“Probably right, but she’s going to get it.” He decided to try a pat on the back. “I’m told you’ve been a good asset. So let’s help her.”
“I planned to. I just didn’t count on an assistant.”
He stuffed the gun back beneath his jacket. “Get me into the palace.”
Viktor seemed puzzled by the request. “Is that all?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem for the head of the Sacred Band. No one would question you.”
Viktor shook his head. “You people are insane. Do you all have a death wish? Bad enough she’s in there. Now you? I can’t be responsible for all this. And, by the way, it’s foolish for us to even be talking. Zovastina knows your face.”
Malone had already checked. The concourse was not equipped with cameras. Those were farther on, in the terminal. No one else was around, which was why he’d decided here was a good place for a chat. “Just get me into the palace. If you point me in the right direction, I can do the heavy lifting. That’ll give you cover. You don’t have to do anything, except watch my back. Washington wants to protect your identity at all costs. That’s why I’m here.”
Viktor shook his head in disbelief. “And who came up with this ridiculous plan?”
He grinned. “I did.”
Malone 3 - The Venetian Betrayal
SIXTY-SEVEN
VINCENTI LED LYNDSEY BEYOND THE HOUSE GROUNDS, ONTO A rocky trail that inclined up into the highlands. He’d ordered the ancient path smoothed, steps carved into the rock at places, and electricity wired, knowing that he’d be making the trek more than a few times. Both the path and the mountain were within the estate’s boundaries. Every time he returned to this place he thought of the old healer who’d clambered up the rock face, catlike, clinging to the path with bare toes and fingers. Vincenti had followed, climbing with anticipation, like a child after his parent up the stairs wondering what awaited in the attic.
And he’d not been disappointed.
Gray rock streaked with mottled veins of gleaming crystals surrounded them in what seemed like a natural cathedral. His legs ached from the exertion and the breath tore at his lungs. He dragged himself up another stretch of cliff and beads of sweat gathered on his brow.
Lyndsey, a thin and wiry man, seemed unaffected.
Vincenti gave a deep exhale of thankfulness as he stopped on the final ledge. “To the west, the Federation. The east, China. We’re standing at the crossroad.”