below in the river.
"There's no linkage to Water Lightning. Sorenson, who I learned is something of an expert on reservoirs, ruled out aircraft."
"He was right," said the colonel, pressing the tape on the last of the three cartons.
"Sheer numbers and altitudes would make it impossible. It'd be a strategy designed to fail."
"Wcs mentioned that reservoirs and other water sources were frequently considered for sabotage. I never knew that."
"Because it's never been done except in desert warfare, where oases have been poisoned. First, there are humanitarian concerns the victors have to live with the vanuished after hostilities cease.
And second, the logistics are damn near insurmountable."
"They've figured out a way, Stanley, I'm convinced of that."
"What can we do beyond what we've done?" said Karin.
"There's less than twenty-four hours left."
"Get this stuff over to London and pull in every analyst in MI Five MI-Six, and the Secret Service. Tell them to put everything under multiple microscopes, the more the better. "
"We can have it there in forty-five minutes," said Witkowski, taking out his portable phone and dialing.
"I want the fastest way back to Paris, to meet with whoever's in charge of guarding the water sources, wherever they are."
"Why not find out where they are and land closest to them?"
asked De Vries.
"Claude can do that."
"If he lives that long after I see him!" Latham spat out.
"He got you in here. You called him and he got you in here without telling us!"
"He had every good reason to do as I begged him begged him."
"With terrific results, I might add," said Drew.
"You were damn near raped and killed, and the mighty Gunter [email protected] is dead under a sheet, no longer able to do us any good."
"For that I'll never forgive myself. Not for killing him -he had to be killed or you would have died-but the fact that I caused it all."
"What were you thinking of?" continued Latham angrily.
"That you were going to fire up his coals and he'd spew out everything?"
"Something like that, but far more than that. Harry would have understood"
"Make me understand!"
"Frederik, for all his flaws, was once devoted to his parents and grandparents. Like many children who lose that love through separation or death, he was passionate about them. If I could fire up the coals of those memories, it was conceivable that he might break, even briefly."
"She's right, cblopak," the colonel interrupted quietly as he replaced his telephone in his pocket.
"The psychiatrists who saw the tape said he was unstable to the max. I understood that to mean he could go one way or the other under extreme stress. She tried with a courage I've rarely seen; it didn't work, but it might have. Risks like that are taken every day in our ungodly profession, more often than not by brave people who never get credit, even for losing."
"That was years ago, Stosh, not today."
"I submit, Officer
Latham, that today is the forerunner of our worst projections. You wouldn't be here now, on the banks of the Rhine, if you didn't believe that."
"Okay, Stanley, I believe it. I'dust like to have better control over my troops-they are called 'troops," aren't they?"
"Not in your case, but everything's clear in Paris. Moreau has two German jets at the airport, one heading to London, the other down into France, destination to be determined while airborne."
Captain Dietz and Lieutenant Anthony walked into the chapel from the door to the rest of the house.
"There's nothing left out there but pots and pans and furniture," said the captain.
"If there's a paper trail, it's in those boxes."
"Where to now, boss man?" asked the lieutenant.
Latham turned to Witkowski.
"I know you won't like this, Stanley but I want you to take these cartons to London. They're the best and you're the best, and no one can crack the whip better than you. Nobody gets any rest, any sleep, everyone just keeps working, reading, trying to find any clues. Karin and our two new friends will fly down into France with me."
"You're right, I don't like it, cb1opak, but logic's on your side, I'll not deny it. But, Drew, I'll need help, I'm not exactly on the joint Chiefs of Staff, you know. I need more clout behind me than I've got."
"How about Sorenson, or Talbot of the CIA, or the President of the United States?"
"I'd love to settle for the last one. Can you do it?"
"You're damn right I can-Sorenson can. Call German intelligence and have a car here in five minutes."
"It never went away, just down the road. Come