"If so, whoever it is, the son of a bitch is going to do fifty years in Leavenworth." He walked to the desk and picked up the telephone.
"Yes?"
"If you were really under my command," said Colonel Stanley Witkowski harshly, "you'd be spending the rest of your life in Leavenworth for dereliction of duty!" ,
"Exactly my thoughts, but in the reverse. Only I've lost my rank temporarily."
"Shut up. Moreau just reached me and asked if I'd
talked to you about the amusement park."
"I was just going to call you. I had an acid attack-"
"Thank you," whispered De Vries.
"Cut the crap!" the colonel continued over the line.
"The car's on the way for Karin, and the sergeant has what you need. I think I should be with you boys, but Sorenson wants me to stick around.
We're trying to figure out how to make Courtland's homecoming as easy as possible."
"How did he take the news?"
"How would you if Karin turned out to be a neo?"
"Don't even think it."
"Courtland did better than that. He was shattered but convinced.
Wesley's an old-timer, like me. He doesn't pull a put-around unless he has sufficient background confirmation to make it irresistible."
"You speak a funny language, but I understand you."
"The bottom line is that the ambassador's going along with us.
He's going to play his part."
"Better you should get the actor Villier. That's going to be one hell of a 'homecoming' bed tomorrow night."
"That's what we're working on. Courtland's frightened to be alone with her. We're orchestrating a series of late night emergencies."
"Not bad. With the cumulative jet lag, it might work."
"It has to. How's your friend?"
"She continually lies to me. Her hand hurts and she won't admit it."
"A real soldier."
"A real idiot."
"Our car will be there in ten minutes. Wait till the marines are inside, then take her out."
"Will do."
"Have a good hunt." "I don't want a useless one."
Latham, in gray trousers and a blazer, climbed into the backseat of the armored [email protected] car beside Moreau and handed him the boot maker receipt and the pass for the amusement park.
"This is my associate-Jacques Bergeron-Jacques will do," said the head of the [email protected], gesturing at the man in the front passenger seat. Amenities were exchanged.
"And I believe you've met our driver," added Moreau as the agent behind the wheel angled his head around.
"Bonjour, monsieur." It was the driver who had saved his life on the avenue Gabriel, the man who insisted he get in the car only seconds before a fusillade of bullets pocked the windshield.
"Your name's Franqois," said Drew, "and I'll never forget it or you. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't---2'
"We've all read the report and [email protected] has been sufficiently commended. He took the rest of the day off to calm his nerves."
"Cest merde," said the driver under his breath as he started the car.
"Is it the park we determined, Monsieur Director?" he continued courteously in English.
"Yes, beyond Issy-les-Moulineaux. How long will it take? "
"Once we reach the rue de Vaugirard, not long. Perhaps twenty minutes or so. It's the traffic until then."
"Don't overburden yourself with city regulations, [email protected] It would be advantageous if you did not run over or crash into someone, but short of that, get us there as quickly as possible."
What followed belonged on the crassest television show, wherein automobiles replaced characters and became roaring machines hell-bent on self-destruction. The Deuxi&me vehicle not only weaved perilously in and around the cars in front, but twice [email protected] swung up on relatively empty pavements to avoid minor congestions, scattering what pedestrians there were, who ran for their lives.
"We're going to get arrested!" said an astonished Latham'.
"It might be attempted, but we haven't got time for that," disagreed Moreau.
"Our automobile is equipped with an engine superior to any police car in Paris. We could even put in use the siren, but it startles people and could actually cause accidents, which we cannot afford."
"This guy's nuts!"
"Among Franqois's talents is an extraordinary ability as a driver.
I suspect that before he came to us he was what you Americans call 'the wheels' in bank robberies-that sort of thing."
"I saw that a couple of days ago on the Gabriel."
"So don't complain."
Thirty-two minutes later, the foreheads of Drew, Jacques, and even Moreau dripping with sweat from the wild drive, they reached le Pare de Joie, a tawdry alternative to Euro Disney, popular because it was French and inexpensive. In fact, it was a poor distant relation to Disney's spectacle, more carnival than park, with grotesque, outsize