The Janson Directive - By Robert Ludlum Page 0,268

the 'long view.' "

Berquist was silent for half a minute. He was a pragmatist at heart, and used to making the cold, hard calculations that political survival depended upon. Everything else was secondary to that essential arithmetic. His forehead gleamed with sweat.

He forced a smile. "Paul," he said, "I'm afraid this meeting got off to a bad start. I'd really like to hear you out."

"Mr. President," Douglas Albright protested. "This is entirely inappropriate. We've gone through this again and again, and - "

"Fine, Doug. Why don't you tell me that you know how to nullify what Paul Janson's gone and done? I haven't heard anybody here bother to address that particular matter."

"These aren't comparables!" Albright stormed. "We're talking about the long-term interests of this geopolitical entity, not the greater glory of the second Berquist administration! There's no comparison! Mobius is bigger than all of us. There's only one right decision."

"And what about, oh, a looming political scandal?"

"Suck it up, Mr. President," Albright said quietly. "I'm sorry, sir. You've got a decent chance of toughing it out. That's what you politicians specialize in, isn't it? Cut taxes, launch a decency campaign against Hollywood, go to war in Colombia - do whatever your pollsters say. Americans have the attention span of a gnat. But, if you'll forgive my directness, you cannot sacrifice this program on the altar of political ambition."

"Always interesting to hear what you think I can and cannot do, Doug," Berquist said, leaning over and squeezing the analyst's beefy shoulders, "But I've think you've said enough today."

"Please, Mr. President - "

"Put a sock in it, Doug," Berquist said. "I'm thinking here. Doing some deep presidential-level policy revaluation."

"I'm talking about the prospects of reengineering global polities." Albright's voice rose to a squawk of indignation. "You're just talking about your reelection chances."

"You got that one right. Call me a stick-in-the-mud. I kinda have a hankering for the scenario where I'm still president." He turned to Janson. "Your game, your rules," he said. "I can live with that."

"Excellent choice, Mr. President," Janson said neutrally.

Berquist gave him a smile that combined command and entreaty. "Now give me my goddamn presidency back."

THE NOVAK TO YIELD CONTROL OF THE LIBERTY FOUNDATION BILLIONAIRE PHILANTHROPIST TURNS OVER FOUNDATION TO

AN INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF TRUSTEES. MATHIEU ZINSOU TO SERVE AS NEW DIRECTOR By Jason Steinhardt

AMSTERDAM - In a press conference held at the Amsterdam headquarters of the Liberty Foundation, the legendary financier and humanitarian Peter Novak announced that he would be relinquishing control of the Liberty Foundation, the global organization that he created and ran for more than fifteen years. Nor would the organization have any foreseeable difficulties in funding: he also announced that he was turning over all his capital assets to the foundation, which would be reconstituted as a public trust. An international board of directors would include prominent citizens from around the world, under the chairmanship of the U.N. Secretary General, Mathieu Zinsou. "My work is done," Mr. Novak said, reading from a prepared statement. "The Liberty Foundation must be greater than any one man, and my plan, all along, had been to delegate control of this organization to a public board, with broad accountability among its directors. As the foundation enters this new phase, transparency must be the watchword."

Reactions were generally positive. Some observers expressed surprise, but others said they had long anticipated such a move. Sources close to Mr. Novak suggested that the recent death of his wife had helped catalyze his decision to retire from the operations of the foundation. Others point out that the financier's reclusive habits were increasingly in conflict with the xposed and highly public position that his work at the foundation demanded. Novak was sketchy about his future plans, but some aides suggested that he planned to remove himself from the public eye entirely. "You won't have Peter Novak to kick around anymore, gentlemen," one deputy told members of the press with cheerful irony. Yet the mysterious plutocrat has long had a gift for the unexpected, and those who know him best agree that it would be a mistake to count him out.

"He'll be back," said Jan Kubelik, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, who was in town for a G-7 Conference. "Depend on it. You haven't seen the last of Peter Novak."
EPILOGUE
The lithe woman with the spiky brown hair lay prone and perfectly still, the four-foot rifle braced by sandbags fore and aft. The shadows of the belfry rendered her perfectly invisible from any distance. When she opened