The Lazarus Vendetta - By Robert Ludlum Page 0,112

a grave expression on his face. "Now when our reporters asked officials in Washington and London to comment, they were given the royal brush-off. Everyone from the president and prime minister on down is refusing to say anything of substance to the press. No one knows whether that's just the usual reluctance to comment on intelligence operations and on criminal investigations or if it's because there's fire under all this smoke. But one thing is certain. The angry people across the globe burning all those American flags and smashing up American-owned businesses aren't going to wait to find out." •

White House Situation Room

"Listen very closely, Mr. Hanson. I don't want to hear any more waffling or evasion or bureaucratic mumbo jumbo. I want the truth, and I want it

now!" President Sam Castilla growled. He glared down the long table at his uncharacteristically silent CIA director.

Ordinarily trim and dapper under even the most trying circumstances, David Hanson looked a wreck. There were deep shadows under his eyes and his rumpled suit looked as though he had slept in it. He held a pen clutched tightly in the fingers of his right hand in a futile effort to hide the fact that his hands were trembling slightly. "I've told you what little I know, Mr. President," he said warily. "We're digging as deeply as we can into our files, but so far we haven't found anything even remotely connected to this so-called TOCSIN operation. If Hal Burke was involved in anything illegal, I'm certain that he was running it on his own hook - without authorization or help from anyone else in the CIA."

Emily Powell-Hill leaned forward in her seat. "Just how stupid do you think people are, David?" the national security adviser asked bitterly. "Do you think anyone's going to believe that Burke and Pierson were paying for a multi-million-dollar covert operation out of their own pockets - all with their personal savings and government salaries?"

"I understand the difficulties!" Hanson snapped in frustration. "But my people and I are working on this as hard and as fast as we can. Right now I've got my security personnel combing through the records and logs of every operation Burke was ever involved in, looking for anything remotely suspicious. Plus, we're setting up polygraph tests for every officer and analyst in Burke's Lazarus Movement section. If anyone else inside the CIA was involved, we'll nail them, but it's going to take time."

He frowned. "I've also sent orders to every CIA station around the world immediately terminating any operation that involves the Movement. By now there shouldn't be an Agency surveillance team within shouting distance of any Lazarus building or operative."

"That's not good enough," Powell-Hill told him. "We're getting killed over this - both domestically and overseas."

Heads nodded grimly around the Situation Room conference table. Coming as it did right on the heels of the nanophage butchery in La

Courneuve, the press reports of an illegal clandestine operation against the Lazarus Movement had been perfectly timed to inflict the maximum amount of damage on American credibility around the world. It had landed on the world stage like a match tossed into a room full of leaking gasoline drums. And the Movement was perfectly positioned to profit from the resulting explosion of anger and outrage. What had been a relatively minor nuisance for most governments and businesses was rapidly growing into a major force in global politics. More and more countries were aligning themselves with the Movement's demands for an immediate ban on all nanotech research.

"And now every lunatic who claims that we're testing some sort of nanotech-based genocide weapon is being treated respectfully by the international media - by the BBC, the other European networks, al-Jazeera, and the rest," the national security adviser continued. "The French have already recalled their ambassador for so-called consultations. A lot of other nations are going to do the same thing in a tearing hurry. The longer this drags on, the more damage we're going to suffer to our alliances and our ability to influence events."

Castilla nodded tightly. The phone call he had received from the French president had been full of ugly accusations and barely concealed contempt.

"We're in almost as much trouble on the Hill," Charles Ouray added. The White House chief of staff sighed. "Practically every congressman and senator who was screaming at us to go after