on, boys, each of us takes one of these."
As the two commandos crossed the room to retrieve the boxes, Lieutenant Gerald Anthony spotted a crushed fragment of paper on the floor at the foot of the attar. Sheer instinct made him scoop it up; he unfolded it. There were only a few words in illegible German. Nevertheless, he shoved it into his pocket.
The jet to London, its engines muted but incessantly roaring, approached the coast of England. Witkowski was continuously on the international phone, first with Wesley Sorenson, then Knox Talbot, the director of Central Intelligence, Claude Moreau of the Deuxi&me, and, finally, to his amazement, the President of the United States.
"Witkowski," said the Commander in Chief, "you're now in control of the London operation. This has been fully agreed to by the Prime Minister. You say jump, they'll ask how high."
"Yes, sir. That's what I wanted to hear. It can be a little awkward for an army colonel to give orders, especially to high ranking civilians. They resent that kind of thing."
"There'll be no resentment, only gratitude, believe me. Incidentally you're cleared at the White House switchboard to reach me whenever you call. I'd appreciate a report every hour or so, if it's convenient."
"I'll try to do that, sir."
"Good luck, Colonel. Several hundred thousand people are counting on all of you, even though they don't know it."
"I understand, sir, but if I may, shouldn't the people be informed of the possibilities?"
"And have panic in the streets, the highways at a standstill, public transportation bursting at the seams as people start racing out of Washington? If an alarm is issued that the entire city's water supply may be poisoned by terrorists, what's next? Contaminated food, Legionnaires' disease in all the air-conditioning units, germ warfare?"
"I hadn't thought of that, sir."
"And you can add wholesale destruction of property, the looting and roving gangs that would follow, rampant hostilities out of control. Also, our experts tell us that the main reservoir is armed to the teeth, every conceivable penetration prepared for. They don't believe anything like Water Lightning can happen."
"I hope they're right, Mr. President."
"They'd better be, Colonel."
Twenty minutes out of the airport in Bonn, Latham received a call from Claude Moreau.
"Please do not waste time berating me, Drew.
We can debate my decision later, argue the risk I took."
"You can bet your ass we will. So what have you got?"
"You'll be landing at a private airport in the Beauvais district; it's twelve miles away from Paris's major reservoir. You'll be met by my second-in-command, Jacques Bergeron-you remember him, I trust."
"I remember him. So?"
"He'll take you to the water tower and the military commander in charge of the defenses. He'll answer any questions you have and give you a tour of the fortifications."
"The problem is, I really don't know a goddamn thing about reservoirs other than what Sorenson told me and Witkowski confirmed."
"Well, at least you've been prepared by experts."
"Experts? They're not even engineers."
"All of us become experts and engineers when the sabotage of utilities may be on the table."
"What are you doing?"
"Overseeing,an army of agents, soldiers, and police who are searching every square foot of territory within ten miles of the waterworks. Looking for what, we don't know, but a few of our analysts have suggested missile launchers or rockets."
"That's not a bad idea-"
"Others say it's insane," the [email protected] director interrupted.
"They say that to use launchers with the accuracy required would entail a couple of tons of equipment with enough electrical power to light up a small town, or blow it out. Also, they'd need launching sites, and we've photographed every inch of ground via aircraft and satellites."
"Underground pads?"
"That's what we're afraid of, but we have over two thousand 'deputies' spreading out all over the place, asking if any unusual construction equipment has been sighted. Have you any idea how much concrete goes in a single pad? Or the electrical wiring required from a power station?"
"You're keeping busy, I'll say that."
"Not busy enough, mon ami. I know you're convinced that the pigs have figured out a way, and I agree with you. Frankly, it was the reason I let Karin convince me-but let's not go into that. I have. a gnawing feeling that we're missing something, something rather obvious, but still it eludes me."
"How about something as simple as bazooka-type rocket launchers with canisters? ""Among the first things we thought of, but using such weapons would require many hundreds, all positioned with clear sightliness You can't walk twenty paces in the woods around