Frank's tone toughened, as well. "Perhaps because it's none of your business. I will keep this an independent, international project. I will not have it taken over or destroyed by a bunch of power-hungry paranoiacs in Washington. I have informed you of my intent: to intercept a comet. I will provide you with the contracts I mentioned, to reassure you that I have not hired out to a foreign power. You have my assurances and your own investigations to show that I am using no American technology. As far as I am concerned, you have no 'need to know' anything else."
"I really wish you'd been more cooperative, Mr. Weatherly." Thomson said regretfully. "Our duty to the American people requires that we not stop there. I'm sure the Securities and Exchange Commission will be interested in your Russian investment. The IRS may feel it necessary to contact you, as well."
"I'm sure they'll keep my accountants entertained for years," Frank replied. "And unless you have some more entertaining threats, Mr. Thompson, I'm afraid this conversation is over." He hung up.
He shook his head sadly as he stared at the phone. How quickly the friendly, helpful space enthusiast had turned into a threatening bureaucrat. Once again, he mourned for his country's lost freedoms.
When he played the tape of the conversation for Susan, she was scandalized. "What is wrong with that man?" she demanded. "You told him everything he wanted to know, and still, he wasn't satisfied!"
Frank shook his head. "Typical bureaucratic investigation attitude. He couldn't believe I would tell him the truth right off, without coercion. They won't believe something unless they're told it four or five times during an interrogation. He's desperate because the U.S. has no extradition agreement with Brazil, so simply issuing an arrest warrant won't work. But he had to get me back to the States, where they would have leverage to threaten with. You notice he didn't deny my comment about the CIA and the diplomatic flight to the States. They can't extradite me, but they can kidnap me."
He shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Susie, I really am. I know the horrible feeling you're having. I've had it, too. It started during the cold war, when people like the CIA and FBI were seeing commies everywhere. Over time, they came to regard the Bill of Rights and the law as an impediment: something keeping them from doing their jobs, rather than protectors of freedom. It wasn't just them, either. A lot of people consider a witness invoking his rights under the Fifth Amendment as tantamount to an admission of guilt. You heard this guy come up with that nonsense line, 'If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear' that completely denies your right to privacy. The proper answer, of course, is the one I gave him. 'It's none of your damned business!' Unfortunately, that just convinces them that there is something to find. I know you thought I was paranoid, and maybe I am. But these days, a healthy dose of paranoia is a survival trait."
There were tears in her eyes. "But America doesn't do that stuff!" she said. "We're better than that!"
He shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Susie, but we're not. Not anymore. If we go anywhere, to Rio, or to Brasilia on business, we'll have to have armed bodyguards. The CIA is not above a quick snatch. If someone does grab you and start pushing you toward a car, start yelling, "Help" and "Rape" at the top of your lungs. If they cover your mouth, bite their hand, hard enough to draw blood. Don't be shy, honey. You could end up in a cell for years."
He sighed. "I have to fly up to Brasilia tomorrow, to play that tape for the Minister of Space and the Minister of Defense. It looks like things are heating up."
He was met at the Brasilia airport by a military-marked sedan driven by an armed, uniformed driver. A soldier armed with an M-16 rode next to the driver. They drove into a closed entryway adjoining the Defense Ministry, and stopped. A uniformed Sergeant escorted him to the Minister's office.
Gilberto Almendes stepped forward with a broad smile and greeted Frank. He was introduced to Minister of Defense Mario Delonte. He had to be reintroduced to General Javier Genesa, as Frank had not met him since their original meeting almost two months ago.
"Gentlemen," Frank said, "It's starting. I received a call from a person claiming to be high up in the NASA hierarchy. I've brought the tape of the conversation to play for you."
He put the tape in his recorder and ran it for them. After he played it, he mentioned again that Thompson had not denied the possibility of kidnap.
General Genesa was first to react. "I can tighten security at Alcântara, so that you and your beautiful lady are safe. I do not have the power to assign armed bodyguards to civilians - especially foreign civilians."
Gilberto Almendes nodded. "I suspect that someone in your position has experience in this area."
Frank smiled. "A little, sir. And I'm quite prepared to be responsible for my own security, as long as someone in the government can arrange any permits necessary to allow my employees to be armed. I'm not really concerned about the next week or so. I expect it will take them about a week to get it up to someone with the authority to order serious action."
Almendes nodded. "So, what do you think they will do?"
"I'm not really sure," Frank replied, "but based on my observation of past cases, I would guess that they'll try it in the newspapers. First, there will be a 'leak' to a government-friendly reporter that my name has come up in connection with a possible terrorism case. I'm pretty famous, and well known for having tough lawyers, so the reporter will probably play it pretty straight at first, although my name will get it on the front page. After a couple of weeks and a few more stories, I'll become the 'suspected terrorist'.
"Then will come the story that I'm 'known to have purchased rocket technology from the Russians', and the word 'suspected' will disappear. Not long after that, one of the less-reputable tabloids will carry the big, banner headline, 'BILLIONAIRE TERRORIST BUILDING LAUNCH SITE IN BRAZILIAN JUNGLE,' complete with orbital photos, and comparisons with Osama Bin Laden.
"They'll keep building the hysteria until we see 'GROUP OF SENATORS DEMANDS UN INVESTIGATION OF MAD BILLIONAIRE.'
"Oh," he continued, "the government will protest, mildly, that there is no evidence. But the media pressure will continue until the President decides that, 'the safety of the American people cannot be held hostage by a single madman.' He will send the Secretary of State to the UN to press for a resolution that will permit UN investigators to enter Brazil and examine Alcântara. Brazil will protest, of course, but the U.S. has a lot of blackmail power, and by then, they will have labeled you a 'state supporter of terrorism,' like Iran, or North Korea.
"They won't find anything incriminating, of course, but you can bet that several of those 'multinational investigators' will be CIA. The U.S. government will have found out what it wants, and I will finally be in U.S. custody. Of course, the results won't be presented that way. Instead it will be the heroic UN investigators who foiled my dastardly plot, made the world once again safe for humanity, and removed a terrorist madman from the scene."
"Deus!" said General Genesa. "It is as though you can see the future. It could happen just that way!"
"No, it can't" Frank said coldly. "I won't let it. They've played that game several times in the past," he continued, "but never against someone with my resources and my determination. I'll be alerting my lawyers in the States. As soon as they see the first story, they'll file a defamation suit against the reporter to force him to identify his informant. He'll fight it, of course, but the big news story becomes the case, not me. If we can force him to identify a NASA official, of course, then we'll go after NASA with a mass of lawsuits, subpoenas and depositions.