“Locke.”
Vaslov shifted his legs, slid the newspaper to the bench beside him. “So you can see why we must take him alive. We not only have confirmation of the Committee’s existence now, but also proof that they are about to activate an important operation. And Christopher Locke is the only man who may know what it entails.”
“He may just as easily know nothing.”
“How long was he inside with Felderberg, comrade?”
“Thirty minutes, maybe thirty-five.”
“Plenty of time for the financier to pass at least as much as he passed on to your agent in San Sebastian. Yes, Locke has data. What he lacks is any real knowledge of what’s involved.”
“Which we possess.”
Vaslov nodded again. “But I’m afraid there’s a complication, several, in fact. To begin with, the actions of the Committee are not consistent. They killed Locke’s control in London so Locke would be forced to do their bidding. Their next move is to retain you to eliminate Locke.”
“Maybe someone got nervous.”
“My thought exactly. Someone panicked over Locke being allowed to roam free. The Commander received an order from a higher level. It follows.”
“What about the other complications?”
“The second’s a bit more involved, I’m afraid. Earlier this evening, one of my men saw Locke being led away from the train platform by an old woman who’s a known free-lance assassin. He didn’t intercede because he was under strict orders just to observe. By the time he reported back to me, traces of the old woman’s body had been found on the front of a train.”
“Locke killed her?”
“She was obviously trying to do the same to him. And if Felderberg’s people had hired her, she would have led Locke back toward them, not away from the platform.”
“So someone else wants our college professor dead….”
Vaslov’s eyebrows flickered. “A third party, Grendel. And to find out who, we must trace the woman’s contacts. They are well known to me. I used the old hag a few times myself. I’ll initiate the tracing procedures as soon as we part.”
“And the third complication?”
Vaslov hesitated. “Perhaps the most confusing of all. Someone seems to want Locke alive as much as others want him dead.” Vaslov noted Dogan’s questioning stare. “After ridding himself of the hag, Locke left for Schaan. Felderberg’s top security man was found outside the station there with his chest torn in two.”
Dogan nodded. “Schaan’s quite lovely this time of year.”
“Locke must feel the same way.”
Dogan stood up. “I’d better start hunting.”
Vaslov pulled a blue gym bag from under his legs. “When you find Locke, give him these belongings. His passport is among them, and he may have need of it.”
“But how did you—”
“He paid me a hundred francs to open a locker for him.” Vaslov shifted his aching shoulders. “Felderberg’s people made me feel my age, but I was happy to be of service to Mr. Locke.”
The stranger led Locke to an Audi parked halfway up on the grass strip separating one row of cars from the next. They jumped inside and screeched away, Chris studying the stranger’s face trying to recall where he had seen him before.
“The Hauser!” he exclaimed as the Audi tore off the Sanii grounds. “You were at the Hauser! Who are you? Why’d you save my life back there?”
Dogan’s eyes darted between the road and the rearview mirror. “One question at a time. The name’s Dogan, Ross Dogan of the once-proud CIA.”
“Wait a minute, if you were at the Hauser you must have been following me all along.”
“If I was following you, Locke, how in the hell could I have been waiting inside the Hauser before you arrived? Six months at the Academy should have taught you enough to figure that out.”
Locke felt his mouth drop. “You know that much about me?”
“Mostly because I was sent to Liechtenstein to kill you.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry. A careful analysis of the situation back in Vaduz mandated a change in plans.”
The Audi thundered down the two-lane highway. Dogan reached an intersection and screeched into a right-hand turn.
“But why did the CIA send you to kill me?”
“It’s not the CIA specifically, but a subgroup called Division Six. Don’t let it confuse you. The Company’s got more hidden compartments than a rich widow’s mansion. The story was you killed a State Department man named Charney.”
“No! He was the one who pulled me into all this but I didn’t kill him. Somebody else did!”
Dogan nodded. “A friend of mine filled me in on that. Charney must have been getting too close to them. His execution not only eliminated a threat but also served to isolate you.”
“Who was he getting close to?” Locke asked.
“Later,” Dogan replied flatly. “What brought you here to Liechtenstein and Felderberg?”
“Charney’s last words.”
“Was Felderberg Lubeck’s second stop as well?”
“Wait a minute, how did you know about Lubeck?”
“What I know doesn’t matter. It’s what you know that counts, what Felderberg told you.”
Locke breathed deeply. “Brian told me the key was food and Felderberg confirmed it. Someone is buying land in South America, millions and millions of acres, and all of it arable. Billions of dollars were exchanged. Whoever these people are, they’re attempting to gain control of the entire continent. But even Felderberg didn’t know why.”
“He sent you to Sanii,” Dogan concluded.
“He discovered a connection between the plant and his elusive clients. The answer was there all right, in the top-secret agricultural wing.” Locke paused. “They’ve got wheat, corn, oats, and barley crops there that have reached full maturity in only three weeks!”
“Genetic engineering,” Dogan muttered. “Our scientists have been working on it for years with no breakthroughs whatsoever.”
“Apparently the force behind Sanii has made plenty. Who are they, Ross?” Locke asked, surprised at how calm he felt.
“They call themselves the Committee.” Dogan’s hands tightened on the wheel. “We’ve all heard stories about small groups of fanatics plotting to take over the world — usually they’re products of someone’s paranoid delusions. The Committee’s the exception. They’re real and they’ve been out there for God knows how many years looking for a way to gain control of the world economically. But its members don’t operate above the surface. Only shadows emerge. The Committee functions apart from any government. Its members come from many races, nationalities, and countries. They hold high positions, which allow them to gain accurate intelligence as well as affect policy to the Committee’s benefit.”
“You’re talking about a sub-layer of control all across the world.” Locke controlled his shock at the enormity of what he was hearing.
“And governments have no way of knowing to what extent this sub-layer has influenced their policies. The Committee’s manipulations are felt by everyone. Remember the gas lines of seventy-two? There are those who say the Committee, through a complicated series of maneuvers, was behind the whole embargo. Control oil and you control the world was the common belief back then. But America rallied and the emphasis had to be shifted.”
“To food….”
“It’s the one resource that cuts across all barriers. You can’t control the distribution of water and air, but you sure as hell can manage the flow of food.”
“But developing all this land in South America won’t go far toward controlling this flow. It’ll just expand things a bit, widen the circulation and toss a new major supplier into the market.”