Day NineFort Smith, CanadaFort Smith, in the Northwest Territories, is a prosperous town of two thousand people, most of them farmers and cattle ranchers, with a sprinkling of merchants. The climate itself is demanding, with long and rigorous winters, and the town is living proof of Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest.William Mann was one of the fit ones, a survivor. He had been born in Michigan, but in his early thirties he had passed through Fort Smith on a fishing trip and had decided that the community needed another good bank. He had seized the opportunity. There was only one other bank there, and it took William Mann less than two years to put his competitor out of business. Mann ran his bank the way a bank should be run. His god was mathematics, and he saw to it that the numbers always came out to his benefit. His favourite story was the joke about the man who went to a banker pleading for a loan so that his young son could have an immediate operation to save his
At eleven o’clock that evening William Mann’s doorbell rang. He was not expecting anyone, and he disliked unannounced callers. His housekeeper had retired, and his wife was in her room upstairs, asleep. Annoyed, Mann opened the front door. Two men dressed in black suits stood in the doorway.“William Mann?”“Yes.One of the men pulled out an identification card. “We’re from the Bank of Canada. May we come in?”Mann frowned. “What’s this about?”“We would prefer to discuss that inside if you don’t mind.”“Very well.” He led the men into the living room.“You were recently in Switzerland, were you not?”The question threw him off guard. “What? Yes, but what on earth …?”“While you were gone we had your books audited, Mr Mann. Are you aware that there is a shortage in your bank of one million dollars?”William Mann looked at the two men, aghast. “What are you talking about? I check those books every week myself. There has never been one penny missing!”“One million dollars, Mr Mann. We t
Day ElevenBrussels, 0300 HoursGeneral Shipley, the Commandant at NATO Headquarters, was awakened by his adjutant.“I’m sorry to wake you up, General, but we seem to have a situation on our hands.”General Shipley sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had had a late night entertaining a group of visiting senators from the United States.“What’s the problem, Billy?”“I just received a call from the radar tower, sir. Either all our equipment has gone crazy or we’re having some strange visitors.”General Shipley pushed himself out of bed. “I’ll be there in five minutes.”The darkened radar room was filled with enlisted men and officers gathered around the lighted radar screens in the centre of the room. They turned and sprang to attention as the General entered.“At ease.” He walked over to the officer in charge, Captain Muller. “What’s going on here, Lewis?”Captain Muller scratched his head. “It beats me. Do you know any plane that can travel 22,000 miles per hour, stop on a dir
Kiev, The Soviet UnionLike most of her countrywomen, Olga Romanchanko had become disenchanted with perestroika. In the beginning, all the promised changes that were going to happen in Mother Russia sounded so exciting. The winds of freedom were blowing through the streets, and the air was filled with hope. There were promises of fresh meat and vegetables in the shops, pretty dresses and real leather shoes and a hundred other wonderful things.But now, six years after it had all begun, bitter disillusion had set in. Goods were scarcer than ever. It was impossible to survive without the black market. There was a shortage of virtually everything, and prices had soared. The main streets were still filled with rytvina – huge potholes. There were protest marches in the streets, and crime was on the increase. Restrictions were more severe than ever. Perestroika and glasnost had begun to seem as empty as the promises of the politicians who promoted them.Olga had worked at the library in Len
Robert telephoned General Milliard from his hotel room.“I found the Russian witness. Her name is Olga Romanchanko. She works in the main library in Kiev.”“I’ll have a Russian official speak to her.”FLASH MESSAGETOP SECRET ULTRANSA TO DEPUTYDIRECTOR GRUEYES ONLYCOPYONE OF (ONE) COPIESSUBJECT: OPERATION DOOMSDAY8. OLGA ROMANCHANKO – KIEVEND OF MESSAGEThat afternoon Robert was on an Aeroflot Tupolev Tu – 154 jet to Paris. When he arrived three hours and twenty-five minutes later, he transferred to an Air France flight to Washington, DC.At two a.m. Olga Romanchanko heard the squeal of brakes as a car pulled up in front of the apartment building where she lived, on Vertryk Street.The walls of the apartment were so thin that she could hear voices outside on the street. She got out of bed and looked out of the window. Two men in civilian clothes were getting out of a black Chaika, the model used by government officials. They were approaching the entrance to her apartmentbuildin
Willard Stone and Monte Banks were natural enemies. They were both ruthless predators, and the jungle they prowled was the stone canyons of Wall Street, with its high-powered takeovers, leveraged buy-outs and stock deals.The first time the two men clashed was during the attempted takeover of a huge utility company. Willard Stone made the first bid, and anticipated no problem. He was so powerful, and his reputation so fearsome, that very few people dared challenge him. It was a great surprise then when he learned that a young upstart named Monte Banks was contesting his bid. Stone was forced to raise his own bid, and the ante kept going up. Willard Stone finally acquired control of the company, but at a much higher price than he had anticipated paying.Six months later, in a takeover bid for a large electronics firm, Stone was confronted again by Monte Banks. The bidding kept escalating, and this time, Banks won.When Willard Stone learned that Monte Banks intended to compete with him
LASH MESSAGETOP SECRET ULTRANSA TO DEPUTYDIRECTOR CIAEYES ONLYCOPYONE OF (ONE) COPIESSUBJECT: OPERATION DOOMSDAY9. KEVIN PARKER – WASHINGTON, DCEND OF MESSAGEWhen Kevin Parker arrived at Danny’s “P” Street Station, he found it even more crowded than it had been the evening before. The older men weredressed in conservative suits, while most of the younger men were in Levis, blazers and boots. There were a few who looked out of place, in blackleather outfits, and Parker thought that this element was disgusting. Rough trade was dangerous, and he had never gone in for that sort of bizarrebehaviour. Discretion, that had always been his motto. Discretion. The handsome young boy was not there yet, but Parker had not expected him tobe. He would make his entrance later, beautiful and fresh, when the others in the bar would be tired and sweaty. Kevin Parker walked up to the bar,ordered a drink and looked around. Television sets on the walls were playing MTV stations. Danny’s was an
BudapestThe flight from Paris to Budapest on Malev Airlines took two hours and five minutes. Robert knew very little about Hungary except that during World War II it had been a partner in the Axis, and had later become a Russian satellite. Robert took the airport bus to the centre of Budapest, impressed by what he saw. The buildings were old and the architecture classic. The Parliament House on the RudolphQuay was a huge, Neo-gothic structure that dominated the city, and high on Castle Hill above the city was the Royal Palace. The streets were crowded with automobiles and shoppers.The bus stopped in front of the Hotel Duna Intercontinental. Robert walked into the lobby and approached the concierge.“Excuse me,” Robert said. “Do you speak English?”“Igan. Yes. What may I do for you?”“A friend of mine was in Budapest a few days ago, and he told me he saw a wonderful carnival. I thought as long as Iwas in town, Imight take a look at it. Can you tell me where Imight find it?”The conci