Volkov glanced at Alexei with a look of pure hatred.
Orlov continued. "I have his report here. He states that the Americans are searching for records of an ancient power source that could provide us with a strategic advantage. His operative recovered materials in Egypt that explain where it might be found. The Americans know where to look."
Volkov turned to Vysotsky. "You had someone in Egypt?"
Alexei kept his voice mild. "Your department has no mandate to pursue foreign agents outside our borders. That is the function of SVR, as you well know. When I learned what you had done, it seemed prudent to send someone. Her orders were to observe and remain undetected. Had I known your agents were going to create an international incident, I would have ordered her to intervene."
"You are a pompous ass," Volkov said.
"At least I am not an idiot. I know better than to provoke a conflict with the Americans."
"That is because one of your agents is the sister of an American spy."
"No. It is because I am not a thug like you, always ready to bring out the jackboot at any opportunity."
Before Volkov could respond, Orlov interrupted.
"Enough. I have had enough of this childish arguing. You are two of my most important officers. If you cannot find a way to cooperate, I will replace you with others who will. Am I clear?"
Both men answered at once. "Yes, Mister President."
"General Volkov. Do not let a mistake like this happen again. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, Mister President."
"General Vysotsky. I want to know what the Americans are doing. You are not to confront them directly unless they initiate a conflict. This is now your priority. Understood?"
"Yes, Mister President."
"Dismissed."
The two generals saluted and clicked their heels together. They left the room without looking at each other.
Orlov watched them go, thinking about Vysotsky's report and Volkov's ambition.
CHAPTER 30
Nick and Selena were downstairs at Project Headquarters, getting ready to try out the new guns.
"Why did you have to say that?" Nick said. "You put Harker in an impossible position."
"What's impossible about it?"
"Come on, you know what I mean. You gave her an ultimatum. Either she gives in and lets you do it the way you want or she has to let you resign. She's concerned about security. You should've run it by her first before you talked to this guy with the boat."
"He's not just a guy with a boat. Jeffrey is an old friend."
"He's an old friend? Is that supposed to make it all right?"
"It means that I trust him. I didn't tell him what we're looking for, only that I thought I knew where there could be a sunken city like Heracleion that hadn't been discovered."
"Did you tell him who you work for?"
"Of course not. I told him I came across a mention of the city while I was translating a hieroglyphic inscription. It's close enough to the truth that I didn't have to make up a complicated explanation."
Nick shook his head. "You should have talked to Harker first."
"You said that."
"What are you going to do if she says no?"
Selena shrugged. "What I said. I'll resign. I'm not going to pass up what may be the most exciting and important find of the century because some admiral doesn't want to give us what we need."
"You can't resign. This whole thing is classified to the hilt. Even if you did, you couldn't go anywhere near that underwater site without breaking a dozen laws."
"Then we'd better hope I don't have to," Selena said, "because I would go anyway."
They were interrupted by Lamont. He came into the room carrying two of the Heckler and Koch MP7s.
"Hey, boys and girls. You ready to try out the new toys?"
He took one look at the two of them standing there, face-to-face.
"Am I interrupting?"
"We were talking about what Selena said to Harker."
Lamont looked at Selena. "Harker's got a lot on her plate right now. She doesn't need your attitude."
"My attitude? Is that what you think this is?"
"What the hell else would it be? She's right to be pissed off at you. You talked to a civilian before you cleared it with her."
"He's no more a civilian than you are," Selena said. "He was a SEAL, like you."
"He doesn't work here. That's the difference."
"Elizabeth should be grateful. I just offered her the means to accomplish the mission."
"For someone as smart as you are, you can be pretty damn stupid sometimes."
Lamont put the weapons down on a table and left the room.
"Nice going," Nick said. "Maybe you can piss off Ronnie and Stephanie too before the day's over. I'm going after him."
Selena watched Nick leave.
What is it with everybody? I was only trying to help.
She thought about picking up one of the MP7s and shredding a silhouette downrange. But the weapon was unfamiliar to her, different from the MP5 she was used to.
Better to wait. Lamont will show me later, after he cools down. She looked again at the weapon, compact and deadly, a premium creation of German weapons engineering.
If you quit, you won't have to bother with learning new weapons. You can always go back to the lecture circuit. That will be exciting. The thought came unbidden.
Sometimes when the inner voice kicked in she wished it would shut up.
If you didn't work here, you wouldn't even know about Atlantis.
"All right," Selena said out loud. "I get it."
"Get what?" Ronnie came into the room and looked around. "Who are you talking to?"
"Nothing. I was thinking out loud."
"Where's Lamont? I thought we were going to work with the guns."
"He went off with Nick. I'll go find them."
"You really going to quit?"
"It depends on Elizabeth," Selena said.
"You should talk to her. You jumped on her pretty quick."
Selena sighed. "Et tu, Brutus?"
"You know I'm right," Ronnie said. "She's going through a hard place right now."
"What about?"
"Haven't you read the papers?"
"Not since we got back."
"The tabloids are after her. Well, after the CIA. They got a picture of her and Hood smooching outside a restaurant."
"Elizabeth and Hood? Really?"
"Yup."
"Oh. That's not good."
"Yup."
"I guess I'd better go talk to her," Selena said.
"That would be a good idea."
Selena went upstairs and knocked on Elizabeth's open door. Harker was writing. She looked up.
"What is it, Selena?" Her voice was unfriendly.
"Have you got a minute?"
Elizabeth gestured at a chair near her desk.
"I want to apologize," Selena said. "I should have talked to you before I talked to my friend."
"Yes, you should have. Is that all?"
She's not making it easy.
"I also want to say that I'm sorry I said what I said. About resigning. Whatever you decide about using him, I can respect that."
Elizabeth put her pen down. "You're withdrawing your threat to quit if I don't go along with it?"
"Yes."
"You gave me an ultimatum. I can't have that kind of insubordination on the team."
"I know. It won't happen again."
"Damn it, Selena, what's going on with you? Are you and Nick having trouble? Because if you are, I need to know it. You've been preoccupied since you got back from Germany."
Selena knew she was right. Thoughts of resigning had been popping up more and more. She hadn't talked much about it with Nick. The few times she'd brought up the possibility he'd reacted badly.
"I've had plenty of time to think about what happened over there. I was helpless and they were going to cut me up a piece at a time and make a movie out of it. Sometimes I wake up at night with that movie playing through my head."