“She may be, Michael.”
“Sure she may be. It’s a possibility. But the thing is, I know what you are, and that’s a reality. And I’ll take a certainty over a notion any day of the week. But I tell you what, we’re here, so why don’t you tell me what you want? And don’t try to make out like it’s got anything to do with the journal. If that was it, you’ve already got it. Faruk took the book and everything else from me back on the plane.”
Kate sighed. The way the last soft rays of sunlight hit her face, they made her look almost vulnerable. I knew better.
“Well?”
“You know that Russia produced a version of Tesla’s energy weapon just after World War II?”
“I’m sorry, whose energy weapon?”
“Come on, Michael. No need to be insulting. I’m sure that you were briefed.”
I just smiled. There was no point giving her anything until I knew more.
“What you may not know is that the Russians had problems with the design — both range and accuracy. The Tesla Device was supposed to offer a nine-thousand-mile range, but the Russians were projecting that they wouldn’t be able to destroy a target more than eight thousand miles away. So the Dragons made a deal with them. They began funding key scientists and politicians involved in the project in the spirit of the freedom of information.”
I took a moment. The situation was already worse than I thought. An eight-thousand-mile range confirmed that California was on the menu as well. Not to mention my mother and sister still living in Washington State.
“So you’re saying your guys bribed Russian weapons scientists.”
“There are those who would take issue with the term bribe,” Kate said, “but, effectively, yes. When the project lost its luster with the politburo, the Dragons arranged for its delivery out of the country.”
“Must have been an expensive bribe,” I said.
“I imagine it probably cost a dacha or two, but nothing compared with the R&D that went into the actual Device. At any rate, the weapon was shipped over the Black Sea and through the Bosphorus. The Russians were to hand over the ship to a Dragon crew off the island of Bozcaada on July 21, 1955.”
“What happened?”
“Nobody knows what happened. All we know is that the exchange never took place. For all intents and purposes, the ship and its cargo vanished. Neither the Russians nor the Dragons have a clue to where.”
“And the bad apples?” Given that I was speaking to Kate, I reconsidered my choice of words. “The ones who sold it out?”
“All dead,” Kate said. “Killed in their sleep. They didn’t get to enjoy their new dachas for long.”
I thought about it.
“What happened next?” I asked.
“From there on it’s conjecture.”
Great, I thought. Not only did I have to deal with lies, I needed to deal with a plain old lack of fact as well.
“But I can tell you what we think happened,” Kate said. “Tesla was a bit of a radical. He lived on milk and vegetable juice, didn’t have sex, befriended extremist groups, and firmly believed in a new world order. The man was a true internationalist. He had a Kurdish friend named Bayazidi. Bayazidi was a sculptor and a poet. He spoke a dozen languages. He’s the guy who we think drew all over Tesla’s notes in that journal you found. We know for a fact that Tesla and the much younger Bayazidi corresponded regarding their ideas for a new world order. We think that after Tesla’s death, Bayazidi hatched a plan to hijack the weapon and hide it for use at a later time when he could unite the world under his new vision.”
“Ambitious,” I said. “Bayazidi sounds like a dreamer.”
“The best ones are,” Kate replied. “We think that Bayazidi saw his opportunity in the transport of the Russian Device and was actually able to pull off its theft.”
I chewed the rest of my meat.
“Highly unlikely,” I replied. “At least not without help.”
“He may have had help. There were Kurdish sympathizers in the Turkish Parliament then. Whatever the case, there’s no denying that the Dragons lost their weapon. Now that you’ve found Tesla’s journal inscribed with Bayazidi’s sketches, it’s starting to look like the Bayazidi hypothesis is accurate. That some radical group did secret the thing away.”
“So what do you want from me?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The Dragons have recognized your talent, Michael. You’re good at what you do. You found the journal. You found the Tower. We want your help finding the rest of the Device.”
“And why would I help you?”
“Because if you don’t, Meryem and her friends will get there before us and the Device will be used to wipe out New York or Washington or Chicago, or pretty well anywhere they want. Pick a place. You’ll have blood on your hands. Mark my words, people will die.”
I thought about it. I was sure that people would die if I didn’t do my job. I just wasn’t convinced that helping the Green Dragons was the best way to stop that. This was, after all, the same group that, only days before, had been willing to sacrifice every living thing in Los Angeles to keep their secret. Helping Kate would only make things worse.
“So you’re appealing to my humanity?” I said.
“Yes, Michael. I’m appealing to everything about you. I wish I didn’t have to reduce it to these terms, but if you help me, I’ll help you.”
“How?”
“You can save the world and your father. They have what they need from him now. They’ll let him go free.”
I laughed. The lie was absurd.
“And why should I believe you?”
Kate took a breath.
“Your father isn’t the endgame here, Michael. They needed him at first, but now he’s just another pawn.”
“And you?”
“When it comes to these guys, we’re all just pawns.”
“And you don’t think that the CIA might just have a tiny little problem with us working together?”
“Oh, I think they’ll have a problem with it. But ultimately, the Langley boys are pragmatists. I think they’ll let you do it. In fact, I think they’ll insist. But why don’t you ask them yourself?”
Kate reached into her purse and pulled out an iPhone. It was sheathed in a blue waterproof polyurethane skin. I looked at the phone skeptically.
“It’s not a test, Michael. It’s a deal. Help us find the Device and we’ll give you your father. Nobody will die and you’ll get what you want. The Dragons don’t even want to use the thing, they just don’t want it to fall into the wrong hands. Your conscience will be clear.”
The sun disappeared beneath the horizon, the sky an explosion of magenta and orange hues. It was an interesting offer. A tempting offer even. But I didn’t think it was a real offer. Because I didn’t trust Kate. I didn’t trust her one little bit. She handed me the phone.
“Go ahead,” Kate said. “Call whomever you need to call. Report what I’ve offered you here. I think a part of you knows that I’m telling the truth.”
I took the phone from Kate. I wouldn’t have been surprised if merely touching the screen would transfer a lethal poison through my fingertips. But I didn’t let that deter me, after all, I’d already eaten the steak. The person I wanted to call was Mobi Stearn with the CIA tech team in Virginia. We’d never met, but given that he was such a big part of my success on the China Op, I figured that if anybody could parse through facts of what the Tesla Device was capable of, he could. But I couldn’t have a technical conversation on a compromised line so I did the next best thing and called Crust at his nonsecure number. The one he knew we needed to maintain cover on.
“I’ve got a proposition here,” I said.
I watched Kate’s face. She simply smiled brightly. Then, I heard Crust say, “Yes,” and the waiter sloshed through the waves and offered us dessert.