Valika was watching the men’s faces, noting their reactions. Even though she was Cesar’s security chief, the inner workings of the Ring he kept to himself. He had never confided in her what his ultimate plan for Aura was. She could tell some of the men around the table already knew the information he was giving them; to others it was completely new. That gave her an idea of Cesar’s confidence in the various men.
“What is this HAARP and Aura?” Naldo asked.
“I will get to that,” Cesar promised. “First, though, let me ask you all to think about something. We are very rich from our work, are we not?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “But we are always being threatened. The Americans with their Task Force Six have taken their drug war illegally into our own country, and the world turns a blind eye because we are criminals. What are they then when they thumb their nose at international borders and assassinate people? Are they not criminals also, hiding behind a flag?
“Up until now we have dared not fight back, because we did not have the means to do so with any hope of surviving. And then there are others who seek to take our part of the market-the Mafia, the Russians, now even the Chinese Triads with support from Beijing are getting stronger and stretching their muscles overseas into our markets. There is no future in this.”
“And?” Alarico asked impatiently. “What future are you crafting here on your private island?”
“The means to keep track of our enemies and when necessary defeat them. To make them fear us.”
“How?” Alarico’s question earned him hard looks from the other men at the table.
“Professor Souris has developed a computer called Aura that-”
Alarico snorted. “You’ve used our money to make computers? The Americans are supposed to be scared of a computer?”
Valika could tell that Cesar was controlling himself with great effort. “In a manner of speaking. The computer is just one piece of the entire system.”
“I am an old man,” Naldo said, interrupting and trying to throw a little water on things. “I am not, how do you say, technically proficient. My grandchild knows more about computers than I do. I do not see the connection between what you are speaking about now and what happened last night, not that I do not appreciate what happened.” Naldo nodded slightly toward Valika, the equivalent of a standing ovation in this group.
Cesar nodded in turn. “I will let the expert explain it to you as best she can.” He crooked a finger and Valika took a step back as the American came out of the shadows. “Professor Souris has been in charge of developing Aura.”
Souris inclined her head briefly in greeting to those gathered around the table. “Gentlemen. You want to know what Aura is.” A thin hand fluttered briefly from out of the robe’s sleeve. “It is all around you. It is everywhere. And nowhere. It is where we want it to be.”
Alarico shifted in his seat impatiently but said nothing as Souris continued.
“Using Aura, I was able to see the Americans last night. But not with my eyes. And I was able to direct Valika and her men to capture them. All without moving from my seat in a Land Rover a half mile away. I traveled through Aura. And I saw them from my place in Aura.
“The best way to think of Aura is that it is a virtual field like a radio transmission that we can generate that is practically on the same frequency and amplitude as that of our thoughts. Thus we can travel outside of our heads into an Aura field.”
“What is she talking about?” Alarico couldn’t hold back any longer. “She babbles like a loco woman. And what is with her head? Those marks?”
Cesar spoke up. “Think of having access to a machine that allows you to be able to travel anywhere and see and hear what is happening without ever leaving where you are. Start imagining the potential. And it goes well beyond that. It can also be used as a weapon, as we did three days ago to wipe out the crew of an American Coast Guard cutter, allowing us to land one of the largest shipments we have ever sent.”
“A computer that kills?” Naldo was leaning forward.
“Yes,” Cesar said.
Naldo ran a finger across his upper lip as he considered that. “Interesting.”
“The computer is only one part of it,” Souris corrected. “What killed was the Aura field projected by the computer through a specially designed antenna system that I have developed.”
Alarico spit once more. “This is nonsense. You bring this loco scientist and your Russian whore here and you waste our time. Just as you have wasted millions of our dollars. I am tired of paying the Ring and getting nothing out. I can protect my own.”
Cesar ignored him. “Using Aura, Professor Souris was able to discover who gave up the time and location of Señor Naldo’s shipment and thus we were able to ambush the ambushers who sought to kidnap his son.”
Valika knew that was partially a lie. Souris had discovered the source of the leak that had initiated the planning for the location of the ambush, but the information about the timing of the deployment of the Task Force Six team had been given to her from one of her sources in Bogotá.
“This is ridiculous!” Alarico was on his feet.
Valika had spent thousands of hours on live fire ranges and negotiating close-quarter combat courses. Alarico’s hand was still reaching under his jacket when she had her pistol free of the holster. By the time his cleared leather, she was in a classic shooter’s stance, a bead drawn directly between his eyes. Her finger was a millimeter from the hair trigger as Alarico froze, his gun still pointing down, his eyes fixed on the muzzle of her weapon, his face flushed bright red.
“Drop the pistol.” Cesar had not even flinched during the encounter.
It fell to the ground with a clatter.
Valika edged around so she had a better field of fire. “Move back two steps,” she ordered, staying far enough away from him so he couldn’t reach her with a surprise move. Only amateurs pressed a gun up against a foe, negating the standoff advantage inherent in a pistol.
“If you do not do as she says,” Cesar added, “I will have her shoot you in your testicles.”
Alarico shuffled back, veins in his face bulging from anger. He was now about two feet from one of the atrium pillars.
“Turn around.” Valika waited until he complied. “Now grab that pillar without moving your feet. Lean forward and press your forehead against it. Now, remove your hands and place them behind your back.”
Alarico’s weight was now distributed between his feet and his forehead. He couldn’t move without falling unless he put his hands back on the pillar. She pulled a pair of cuffs from her belt and quickly snapped them around his wrists.
“Cesar, why are you doing this to me?” Alarico asked, his voice slightly muffled as it bounced off the pillar. Unnoticed by everyone but Valika, Souris made her way out of the courtyard, through a dark doorway, and into a descending staircase.
“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” Cesar said. “You made a deal with the Americans. You gave up the route of Naldo’s shipment as a sign of good faith on your end. You wanted his son dead or kidnapped. You were planning to give up all of us eventually and be the only one left standing. You should have had more patience. That was your father’s problem, which is why I had him killed. He died like the dog he was.”
“You bastard.” Alarico started to move and his forehead slid.
“Fall to the ground and you die,” Cesar said.
“You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“No, I’m not. If you admit what Professor Souris learned through Aura in front of the others, I will let you go. You are part of one of our tests of the system. I care more about that than I do about you.” He turned to the others at the table. “Professor Souris was in Bogotá two weeks ago. I had her follow Señor Alarico using Aura. She ‘saw’ him meeting with an American intelligence officer. He told them of the shipment and that Naldo’s son would be with the shipment.”