«How can I do anything?»
«You know Omega, Mr. Tanner. You know Omega very well.»
Tanner caught his breath. For a moment he believed his heart had stopped. He felt the blood rush to his head. He felt, for an instant, somewhat sick.
«I find that an incredible statement.»
«I would, too, if I were you. Nevertheless, it’s true.»
«And I gather this is the end of stage two?… You bastard. You son of a bitch!» Tanner spoke hardly above a whisper.
«Call me anything you like. Hit me if you want to. I won’t hit back… I told you, I’ve been through this before.»
Tanner got out of the chair and pressed his fingers against his forehead. He turned away from Fassett, then whipped around. «Suppose you’re wrong?» he whispered. «Suppose you Goddamn idiots have made another mistake!»
«We haven’t… We don’t claim to have flushed Omega out completely. However, we have narrowed it down. You’re in a unique position.»
Tanner walked to the window and started to pull up the shade.
«Don’t touch that! Hold it down!» Fassett leaped from his chair and grabbed Tanner’s wrist with one hand and the string of the shade with his other. Tanner looked into the agent’s eyes.
«And if I walk out of here now, I live with what you’ve told me? Never knowing who’s in my house, who I’m talking to in the street? Living, with the knowledge that you think someone might fire a rifle into this room if I lift up the shade?»
«Don’t over-dramatize. These are merely precautions.»
Tanner walked back to his side of the desk but did not sit down. «Goddamn you,» he said softly. «You know I can’t leave…»
«Do you accept the conditions?»
«I do.»
«I must ask you to sign this affidavit.» He took out a page from the manila folder and placed it in front of Tanner. It was a concise statement on the nature and penalties of the National Security Act. It referred to Omega in unspecific terms—Exhibit A, defined as the tape recording. Tanner scribbled his name and remained standing, staring at Fassett.
«I shall now ask you the following questions.» Fassett picked up the folder and flipped to the back pages. «Are you familiar with the individuals I now specify? Richard Tremayne and his wife, Virginia… Please reply.»
Astounded, Tanner spoke softly, «I am.»
«Joseph Cardone, born Guiseppe Ambruzzio Cardione, and his wife, Elizabeth?»
«I am.»
«Bernard Osterman and his wife, Leila?»
«Yes.»
«Louder, please, Mr. Tanner.»
«I said, yes.»
«I now inform you that one, two, or all three of the couples specified are essential to the Omega operation.»
«You’re out of your mind! You’re insane!»
«We’re not … I spoke of our exchange on the Albanian border. It was made known to us then that Omega, Chasm of Leather, operated out of a Manhattan suburb—and that confirmed our analysis. That Omega was comprised of couples—men and women fanatically devoted to the militaristic policies of the Soviet expansionists. These couples were well paid for their services. The couples specified—the Tremaynes, the Cardones, and the Ostermans—currently possess coded bank accounts in Zurich, Switzerland, with amounts far exceeding any incomes ever reported.»
«You can’t mean what you’re saying!»
«Even allowing for coincidence, and we have thoroughly researched each party involved, it is our opinion that you are being used as a very successful cover for Omega. You’re a newsman above reproach.
«We don’t claim that all three couples are involved. It’s conceivable that one or possibly two of the couples are being used as decoys, as you are. But it’s doubtful. The evidence—the Swiss accounts, the professions, the unusual circumstances of your association—point to a cell.»
«Then how did you disqualify me?» asked Tanner numbly.
«Your life from the day you were born has been microscopically inspected by professionals. If we’re wrong about you, we have no business doing what we’re doing.»
Tanner, exhausted, sat down with difficulty in the chair. «What do you want me to do?»
«If our information is correct, the Ostermans are flying east on Friday and will stay with you and your family over the weekend. Is that right?»
«It was.»
«Don’t change it. Don’t alter the situation.»
«That’s impossible now…»
«It’s the only way you can help us. All of us.»
«Why?»
«We believe we can trap Omega during this coming weekend. If we have your cooperation. Without it, we can’t.»
«How?»
«There are four days remaining before the Ostermans arrive. During this period our subjects—the Ostermans, the Tremaynes, and the Cardones—will be harassed. Each couple will receive untraceable telephone calls, cablegrams routed through Zurich, chance meetings with strangers in restaurants, in cocktail lounges, on the street. The point of all this is to deliver a common message. That John Tanner is not what he appears to be. You are something else. Perhaps a double agent, or a Politbureau informer, or even a bona fide member of my own organization. The information they receive will be confusing, designed to throw them off balance.»
«And make my family a set of targets. I won’t permit it! They’d kill us!»
«That’s the one thing they won’t do.»
«Why not? If anything you say is true—and I’m by no means convinced that it is. I know these people. I can’t believe it!»
«In that event, there’s no risk at all.»
«Why not?»
«If they—any one or all couples—are not involved with Omega, they’ll do the normal thing. They’ll report the incidents to the police or the F.B.I. We’ll take over then. If one or two couples make such reports and the other or others do not, we’ll know who Omega is.»
«And … supposing you are right. What then? What are your built-in guarantees?»
«Several factors. All fool-proof. I told you the ‘information’ about you will be false. Whoever Omega is will use his resources and check out what he learns with the Kremlin itself. Our confederates there are prepared. They will intercept. The information Omega gets back from Moscow will be the truth. The truth until this afternoon, that is. You are simply John Tanner, news director, and no part of any conspiracy. What will be added is the trap. Moscow will inform whoever runs a check on you to be suspicious of the other couples. They may be defectors. We divide. We bring about a confrontation and walk in.»
«That’s awfully glib. It sounds too easy.»
«If any attempt was made on your life or the lives of your family, the entire Omega operation would be in jeopardy. They’re not willing to take that risk. They’ve worked too hard. I told you, they’re fanatics. The target date for Omega is less than one month away.»
«That’s not good enough.»
«There’s something else. A minimum of two armed agents will be assigned to each member of your family. Twenty-four-hour surveillance. They’ll never be more than fifty yards away. At any time.»
«Now I know you’re insane. You don’t know Saddle Valley. Strangers lurking around are spotted quickly and chased out! We’d be sitting ducks.»
Fassett smiled. «At this moment we have thirteen men in Saddle Valley. Thirteen. They’re daily residents of your community.»
«Sweet Jesus!» Tanner spoke softly. «Nineteen-eighty-four is creeping up on us, isn’t it?»
«The times we live in often call for it.»
«I don’t have a choice, do I? I don’t have a choice at all.» He pointed to the tape recorder and the affidavit lying beside it. «I’m hung now, aren’t I?»
«I think you’re over-dramatizing again.»