as well as secure, with what must be a lovely scenic view of the rising hills beyond the wall."
"What's in the area behind the strolling path gate?"
"According to these schematics, there is the pool with a row of cabanas on both sides, beyond which are three entrances to the main structure, here, here, and here."
"Right, center, and left," said Lieutenant Anthony.
"Where do the doors lead to?"
"The right leads to what appears to be an enormous kitchen, the far left to the closed-in north veranda, and the central door opens into a very large common room."
"Like a big living room?"
"A very large one, Lieutenant," agreed Cloche.
"Are these schematics, as you call them, up-to-date?" asked Drew.
"Within two years. You must remember, monsieur, that under a Socialist regime, the rich and especially the very rich are under constant scrutiny by the Bureau of Taxation, which bases its levies on zoning and assessment."
"Bless 'em," said Latham.
"The cabanas?" mused Dietz.
"They'd be the first to be searched, with weapons on rapid fire," said Anthony.
"Then once over the wall, the captain and I will head for the right and left doors, keeping in whatever shadows we can find after throwing the hooks back over the wall."
"What about me?" said Witkowski.
"I just told you, Colone , we, is cuss t at r. What's our backup, Monsieur Cloche?"
"As we agreed, ten experienced agents du combat will be concealed just a hundred meters down the road, prepared to assault the chateau at your radio command."
"Make sure they're completely out of sight. We know these people; even the slightest hint of intruders and they'll torch every document in the place. It's vital that we bring out whatever's there."
"I share your concerns, monsieur, but a two-man operation strikes me as-how would you Americans say it? the opposite of 'overkill."
"Underkill," said Dietz.
"He's right, Cons-Op."
"Who mentioned anything about a two-man operation?" an agitated Witkowski interrupted.
"Oh, for Christ's sake, Stanley!" Latham glared at the G-2 veteran.
"I checked. You're over sixty and I'm not going to be responsible for you catching a bullet in your skull because you didn't duck in time."
"I can take you on anytime, cblopak!"
"Spare me the machismo. We'll signal you to come over when it makes sense."
"May I return to my objection," broke in the deputy director of the Etranger.
"I have managed like assaults in the Middle East Oman Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and elsewhere-when we employed the Foreign Legion. At minimum, you should have two additional personnel, if, for nothing else, to cover your rear flanks."
"He's got a damn good point, sir," said Lieutenant Anthony.
"Anything less would be ludicrous, if not suicidal," added Karin.
"Drew looked up from the map at Cloche.
"Maybe,l wasn't thinking too clearly," he said.
"Okay, two others. Who have you got?"
"Any one of the ten would be more than adequate, but there are three recruited from the Legion who have worked for the United Nations Security Forces."
6 4Pick two of them and have them here in a couple of hours.. Now, let's get to our equipment, and help me out here, Stosh."
"Outside of the grappling hooks and the rope, those new MAC Tens with auto-repeat silencers, thirty rounds a clip, four clips a man," began Witkowski.
"Also a black PVC raft, small blue penlights, UHF military radios, camouflaged fatigues, night binoculars, weighted hunting knives, garrotes, four small Beretta automatics, and in case of real trouble, three grenades apiece."
"Can you handle that, Monsieur Cloche?"
"If it is repeated slowly, it is done. Now, as to when-"
"Tonight," Latham broke in, "when it's darkest."
he ancient chateau was a Gothic remnant, an eerie silhouette against the clear night sky, the moonlight Tof the Loire Valley glancing off its turrets and spires. It was, in essence, more a small castle than a chateau, the egotistical manifestation of a lesser noble who as ired to p greater lineage. It was made of ragged stone interspersed with precision brickwork, the centuries layered upon one another, constantly remodeled as the generations progressed. There was something hypnotic about the juxtaposition of large, high television dishes with stone walls built in the 1500s, something even awesome, as if civilization were on an inevitable march from the earth to the sky, from crossbows and cannons to space stations and nuclear warheads. Which was better and where would it end?
It was shortly before two o'clock in the morning, the breezes soft, the sounds of nocturnal animals muted, as the N unit plus two agents du combat, formerly of the French Foreign Legion, moved into their positions. Following a terrain map under the dim blue