Davis stood up behind his desk, motioned Eric to a chair, and sat down close to it on the edge of his desk. His forehead glistened with sweat, and his eyes were red and glittering.
“How the hell did you get inside Sparrow?”
“Pure accident,” said Eric, and he sat down.
“Bullshit. You did it first try, no trial and error. Sergeant Nutt watched you do it. Who told you what to do?”
“Nobody. I’m not hiding anything. It just happened. I don’t know what the trigger was. I don’t see any clue in the manual. It was an impulsive thing, just seemed right. And I have no reason to lie to you. The manual we got is incomplete. There’s at least one section missing, something on FL-7, whatever that is. My bet is it’s to do with Sparrow’s space flight capability. There’s some kind of energy field inside that thing when you open it up. That ship has a power source we haven’t seen yet. Didn’t we pay our Russian friends enough money?”
Davis blinked, paused, and looked above Eric’s head. “I warned the fuckers. Now I’m going to the Pentagon.”
“Warned who?”
“The group of slimes who brought us Sparrow. I’ve talked to three of them, but there are more. A lot of phone calls, and half the time I don’t know who I’m talking to. They’re having disagreements among themselves on how fast to give us what we need to get Sparrow into space. When I complained yesterday I was told getting the plane to a hundred thousand feet was the necessary next step.”
“You knew the manual was still incomplete?”
“Yes, but I thought our people might get a clue from what we’d received. Getting Sparrow to open up was a surprise, Price. A big surprise, and not just for me. They already know about it. I got a short but nasty call not ten minutes ago, telling me to use whatever means possible to find out how you got inside that plane. And the call was not from the Pentagon.”
“Only Nutt and I were there when it first happened. That’s a couple of hours ago.”
“They have eyes and ears everywhere. That’s not news. They said if I don’t find out what your information source is, they’ll do the job for me.”
“A threat?” said Eric.
“That’s the way I took it. I didn’t recognize the voice. It wasn’t either of the people I regularly deal with.”
“Do you have a way of contacting them?”
“Yes, but I can’t tell you what it is.”
“I’m not asking you to. I’d call them right away, and see if they know about the call you just received. They might have a rogue in their group. The mercenaries and political entrepreneurs I’ve had experience with don’t deliver a product, collect the money, and then try to prevent the product from being used. That caller might be the source of the accidents you’ve been having. He might be Johnson’s killer, Colonel. Get after him.”
Davis gave him a hard look, but nodded. “All right, but in the meantime you don’t do things without telling me, Price.”
“You, too. Your friends aren’t friendly. You’d better find out which people you can trust.”
Davis paused, thinking, then, “Sit right there,” he said, walked around his desk, picket up the telephone and punched in four numbers.
“Davis,” he said. “Are you alone? Good. I want to clarify something. Did one of your people call me a few minutes ago? No? Well, I got a call from someone in your group, and I’m thinking about reporting it to the Pentagon.”
Davis described the call he’s received, and told about Eric’s success in opening up Sparrow. He listened, then, “How long will that take? One more ‘accident’, I’m dumping the blame on you people, and you can explain it to the Pentagon before you go to prison.”
There was a reply, and Davis’ face flushed deep red. “I don’t give a shit. I won’t be kept in the middle. Yes, I’ll tell him. Don’t call me again until you have something.” Davis slammed down the receiver as if to emphasize the point, leaned back in his chair and looked at Eric over steepled fingers.
“He claims they didn’t call me.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No. But I think I shook him up. I’m writing this up and sending it to the Pentagon right now. You’d be wise to do the same for whatever agency you’re working for, before someone starts shooting.”
Davis pulled a sheet of paper out of a drawer, and looked away from Eric. “Interesting that our foreign friend didn’t ask how you figured out how to open up the bird.”
“And what does that mean to you?” asked Eric.
“Nothing, I guess. But it might explain why he wants to meet you, Doctor Price.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NATALY
Eric’s life had gone from mysterious to bizarre overnight, and it was apparent the so-called ‘hidden base’ in the backcountry was leaking information like a sieve.
He called Gil on his secure line and told him what had happened. Gil told him not to say anything to Leon about it, and refused to explain why. “I’ll get back to you soon,” he said, and hung up.
Gil was no sooner off the line than the phone was ringing again. This time it was Coulter. “Heard you made a big breakthrough yesterday,” he said. “I hope Leon has convinced you by now that I can be trusted.”
“I suppose,” said Eric, “but I’d like to know your information source about yesterday.”
Coulter laughed at that. “Company confidential. Cost is not an issue. And my offer to you still stands if you’ll meet me again. No contracts, just a handshake, if you like, but you’ll be held to it once you’ve been paid. No more worries about living on a government pension when you’re too old for field work.”
“You presume a lot, Mister Coulter.”
“Just tell me you’ll meet me again. A man has to think about his future, and we live in a dangerously insecure world. Money can buy you security and safety, Eric.”
“You think I’m in danger?”
“We both know the answer to that.”
“Maybe I’m in danger from your client.”
“Exactly the opposite. His network can look out for you without you even knowing it. Come on, now. Meet me.”
“Okay. Same place and time. You name the day.”
“Tuesday. I get back from Phoenix the night before.”
“Busy, busy.”
“Yes, I am, and more than some of it is in your behalf.”
“Tuesday, then, and one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“No more phone calls, not on this line,” and Eric hung up before the man could answer.
He was surprised when the telephone rang again a minute later. “Christ, I just told him,” he said, and picked up the receiver.
It was Nataly.
“My, but you’re busy this morning.”
“The phone has been ringing off the wall. All business.”
“Well, I’m not business. I wanted to remind you about tonight, my house.”
“It’s on my calendar. Should I bring wine, or something?”
“Just yourself. I hope you’re adjusting to the pace of our little town. Not too boring, I hope.”
“I’m too busy for boredom. A quiet, relaxing evening will be a nice change for me.”
“Then that’s what you’ll have. See you at seven, Eric. Bye.”
“Bye,” he said, as the line went dead. He suddenly remembered his first date. He was in junior high school, and he’d had a terrible crush on a girl named Gracia Cole. She had a twin named Gloria, but Gracia was the quiet one of the two, and he was crazy about her. He’d finally worked up the nerve to call her up and ask for a date, and she said yes, and they chatted a while, and when he’d hung up the phone his heart had been pounding so hard he could scarcely breathe.
His heart was pounding like that right now.