He was dumbstruck when the request came back almost immediately. Not only was it granted, but it was approved by presidential order.
Hargrove said acidly to Pitt, "You must have friends in high places."
"I'm not out for a joyride," Pitt replied, failing to hide the satisfaction in his voice. "You weren't told, but there was far more at stake here than a covert rescue mission."
"Probably just as well," Hargrove sighed heavily. "How long do you require my men and chopper?"
"Two hours."
"And then?"
"If all goes according to my plan, it will be returned to you, along with your men and crew, in pristine condition."
"And you and Giordino?"
"We remain behind."
"I won't bother asking why," said Hargrove, shaking his head. "This whole operation has been a mystery to me."
"Ever heard of a military operation that wasn't?" said Pitt seriously. "What you accomplished here today has a ripple effect beyond anything you can imagine"
Hargrove's eyebrows lifted questioningly. "Think I'll ever know what it is you're talking about?"
"To use the time-honored method of finding out government secrets," Pitt said slyly, "you read about them in tomorrow's newspaper."
After a 20-kilometer detour to an abandoned village where they took contaminated water samples from a well in the marketplace, Pitt directed the Eagle's pilot to fly a leisurely scouting pattern around the Fort Foureau hazardous waste project.
"Let the security guards get a good look at your armament," Pitt said to the pilot. "But stay alert for ground fire."
"Massarde's executive helicopter is sitting on the landing pad with its rotor blades turning," observed Giordino. "He must be planning a hasty departure."
"With Kazim dead, he can't have received word yet on the final outcome of the fight," said Pitt, "but he's canny enough to know something went wrong."
"A shame we have to cancel his flight," Giordino said fiendishly.
"No sign of ground fire, sir," the pilot notified Pitt.
"Okay, let us off on the landing pad,"'
"You don't want us to go in with you?" asked a rugged looking sergeant,
"Now that the security guards are properly impressed, Al and I can take it from here. Hang around the area as a show of force for about thirty minutes to intimidate anyone dumb enough to resist. And stop that helicopter on the ground if it attempts to lift off. Then at my signal head back to Colonel Hargrove's field command."
"You have a welcoming committee," said the pilot, pointing to the landing pad.
"My, my," said Giordino, squinting in the bright sunlight. "It looks like our old pal, Captain Brunone."
"And a squad of his goons," Pitt added. He tapped the pilot on the shoulder. "Keep your firepower aimed at them until we wave you off."
The pilot hovered half a meter from the ground, keeping his rocket launchers and Chain gun pointed at the waiting security guards. Giordino dropped lightly to the concrete pad and then helped Pitt step down to favor his leg. They walked over to Brunone who stiffened as he recognized them and stared in astonishment.
"I did not expect to see you two again," said Brunone.
"I'll bet you didn't," muttered Giordino nastily.
Pitt stared hard at Brunone, reading an expression in the Captain's eyes that Giordino missed, an expression of relief instead of anger or fear. "You almost look happy to see us."
"I am. I was told no one ever escaped from Tebezza."
"Did you send the project engineers and their wives and children there?"
Brunone shook his head solemnly. "No, that travesty occurred a week before I arrived."
"But you knew about their imprisonment."
"I only heard rumors. I tried to investigate the matter, but Mr. Massarde pulled a wall of secrecy around it. Anyone connected with the crime has vanished from the project."
"He probably slit their throats to shut them up," said Giordino.
"You don't much like Massarde, do you?" said Pitt.
"The man is a pig and a thief," Brunone spat. "I could tell you things about this project—"
"We already know," Pitt interrupted. "Why don't you quit and fly home?"
Brunone stared at Pitt. "Those who resign from Massarde Enterprises receive funerals within a week. I have a wife and five children."
In for a penny, in for a pound. Pitt had a hunch he could trust Brunone. The Captain's cooperation could prove valuable. "As of now, you're no longer in the employ of Yves Massarde. You're working for Pitt and Giordino Industries.
Brunone thought over Pitt's proposal, more like a statement of fact, for some time, eyed the hovering helicopter that had enough firepower to level half the project, and then studied the resolute and supremely confident looks on Pitt and Giordino's faces. Then he shrugged. "Consider me hired."
"And your security guard force?"
For the first time Brunone grinned. "My men are loyal to me. They hate Massarde as much as I do. There will be no protest over a change of employers."
"Cement their loyalty by informing them their pay has just been doubled."
"And me?"
"Play your cards right," said Pitt, "and you'll be the next managing director of this establishment."
"Ah, now, a first-class incentive. You can be assured of my full cooperation. What would you like me to do?"
Pitt did a sideways nod of his head toward the project's administration building. "You can begin by escorting us to Massarde so we can give him the sack."
Brunone suddenly hesitated. "Forgotten General Kazim, haven't you? He and Massarde are partners. He won't sit by and see his share of the project go elsewhere without a fight."
"General Zateb Kazim is no longer a problem," Pitt assured him.
"How can that be? What is his present status?"
"Status, status?" Giordino replied in a mocking tone. "The last time anybody saw him he was drawing a lot of flies."
Massarde sat behind his massive desk, the steady, watchful blue eyes reflecting benign displeasure, as if the surprise appearance of Pitt and Giordino was no more than a passing annoyance. Verenne stood behind him like a loyal disciple, face scowling in disgust.
"Like the avenging furies of Greek mythology, you never cease to plague me," Massarde said philosophically. "You even look like you ascended from the underworld."
There was a large antique mirror on the wall behind the desk with a baroque gilded frame crowded with fat cherubs. Pitt looked into it and he could see Massarde had made an accurate assessment. He was in stark contrast to Giordino who was reasonably clean and intact. Combat suit tattered and filthy from smoke and dust. Bloodstained rips and tears revealing bandages on the left arm, shoulder, and right thigh, a gash that ran from cheekbone to chin, face sweatstreaked and haggard, if he could have found a street to lie in, Pitt thought he could pass for a hit-and-run victim.
"Ghosts of the murdered who torment the wicked, that's us," Pitt retorted. "And we've come to punish you for your evil ways."
"Spare me the droll humor," said Massarde. "What do you want?"
"The Fort Foureau hazardous waste project for starters."
"You want the project." He said it as if it were an everyday occurrence. "Then I must assume your brazenness indicates General Kazim failed in recapturing the escapees from Tebezza."
"If you're referring to the families you forced into slavery, yes. As we speak, they're all on their way to safety, thanks to the sacrifices laid down by the UN Tactical Team and the timely arrival of an American Special Operation Force. Once they arrive in France they'll expose your criminal acts. The murders, the hideous atrocities at your gold mine, your illegal waste dumping operation that has caused thousands of deaths among the desert peoples, enough to make you the world's number one criminal."