Arctic Wargame

Chapter Thirty-one

“Magnus, that’s your name, right?” Justin asked the prisoner, shoving him into the backseat of the truck, next to Anna. The makeshift handcuffs fastening Magnus’s arms behind his back made his climb into the souped-up truck a bit difficult, since he was already limping. Joe started the truck, and Justin sat behind the driver, to the left of Magnus.

“Where are we going?” Magnus asked.

“Arctic Bay,” Justin replied. “So tell me. You’re Magnus Tornbjorn?”

“Yes,” Magnus replied. He winced as he lay back in the seat.

Emily had done a great job of treating the cuts and bruises on his face, but his back and his legs had suffered severe trauma during the explosion. With not much external bleeding and given the limited space in the helicopters, Magnus was out of luck. Besides, Justin wanted to have a quiet little chat with him before flying to Iqaluit.

“OK, Magnus, what was the objective of the Danish Security Service?”

“You mean the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, who designed, executed, and finally botched up this operation?”

Justin snorted. “Come on, Magnus. We know you’re the biggest fish of our catch.”

“You’re right about that. The whale, the big whale, got away. But after all, his blubber blew up to pieces in the Hercules explosion.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The mastermind behind this mission, coded Arctic Wargame, is Gunter Madsen, an Assistant Director with the Danish Defense Intelligence Service.”

“And you’re just a simple foot soldier, is that what you’re saying?” Anna asked.

“Of course not, although the idea crossed my mind.” A small grin appeared on Magnus’s tired face. “I was Chief of Operations. I was in charge of the tactical preps for this mission.”

“And?” Joe asked. “Go on. Keep talking.”

“And I have nothing else to say until we agree on the conditions of my release.”

“Huh?” Anna said.

Joe and Justin shook their heads.

“I don’t think you’re going anywhere,” Anna said. “We know how you planned the takeover of the transport plane, and we know about your plans for this and other terrorist attacks in Canada. We know everything.” She was making things up to provoke a reaction from Magnus.

“Anna, that’s more than enough,” Justin said.

“Well then, if you know everything, why are you asking me? If you’re so confident you’ve caught a terrorist, this case is closed. Hand me over to the Americans. During the flight to Egypt or Jordan, to one of their extraordinary rendition bases, I’ll tell them my side of story. Maybe they’ll show some interest in hearing my version of the facts and meet my request for political asylum.”

What does he think he has up his sleeve? And why would he want political asylum? What’s he afraid of back home?

The truck hit an ice bump. Ammunition boxes rattled in the back of the truck.

Justin rubbed his eyes with his palms then stroked his chin, replaying Magnus’s words in his mind. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s hear it, but there are no strings attached. No preconditions, no ultimatums.” He waited for Magnus to acknowledge his understanding, which he did by nodding. Justin continued, “I need credible evidence that what you’re claiming is, in fact, true.”

“The black box. Let’s begin with the Hercules’s black box. Once you retrieve the box and the bodies of Gunter and the two pilots, you’ll have more than you need to doubt the ‘official’ version of the story you may have heard.”

“Clever move,” Joe said, gazing at Magnus’s face in the rear-view mirror. “The plane exploded over the freezing waters of the Inlet. It will take months and a crap load of money to find anything, and that’s if we’re lucky, very lucky.”

“I’m sure you have something else, let’s say, more concrete and at hand,” Justin said.

“All right, how about transfer records of prisoners? A quick search of transfers in the main prisons in Denmark will reveal a common trait. The most dangerous criminals were transferred to a separate facility, with, I guess now you know what mission.”

“You mean the Danish troops were common criminals?” Anna asked.

“Well, not exactly ‘common,’ but they weren’t regular army either. Bank robbers, terrorists, murderers, arsonists, you name it. Most of them I handpicked myself.”

“This sounds more like a stalling tactic than useful information,” Justin said.

He stared attentively at Magnus’s face. The prisoner’s eyes were clear and focused, their gaze steady and determined. He did not stutter when talking, and he expressed his thoughts concisely and without pauses. I can’t tell if he’s making this up. If he is, he’s doing a great job keeping it all together. Will making him nervous reveal anything?

“These facilities, prisons, they are in Denmark, outside our jurisdiction,” Justin said, “I can’t think of any good reason for your government to accept our request or to issue clearances for us to inspect these records or visit these places.”

Magnus frowned. He winced, as Joe cut through a curve a bit faster than necessary. The truck bounced over a cluster of ice bumps on the road.

“Well, I don’t know what else would convince you,” Magnus said. “You can ask Valgerda, but you’ll think she’s my partner, so, of course, she’ll try to save me. And herself. You can ask the other men, but they also have a personal interest in this matter, and they’re hardcore criminals, so there goes their credibility.”

Magnus’s voice had no hint of desperation, just resignation. “One of them, a man called Sargon, whom I recruited personally, will confirm my words. But then, he’s a convicted terrorist staring at a life sentence, so there you have it. At some point, you’ll have to decide whether you want to trust me or not.” Magnus jerked up his shoulders and turned his head first toward Justin, then toward Anna.

“I want to trust you,” Justin said. “But after trying to kill me and my friends, trust doesn’t come easy.”

The next few minutes they drove in silence, broken only by Joe’s occasional cursing at the slippery patches on the road. Justin looked out the window at the rolling ice hills, followed by short segments of flatland, and by more rolling ice hills. He kept the prisoner within the corner of his eye, and every so often observed Magnus’s behavior for any signs of surrender. He found none.

“You know what,” Justin said, “I don’t think I can trust you. Unless you give me some facts: names, numbers, places, you’ll keep wearing those handcuffs.”

Magnus grinned and kept staring ahead. “Tell the Americans I prefer to fly business.”

“Oh, no.” Justin shook his head. “You’re not going to the Americans. I’ll take you to one of our secret locations. Once we’ve arranged for your return back to Denmark, I’ll take you back to Copenhagen. Always wanted to see the Round Tower and the Latin Quarter.” He should start to feel trapped, now. I need to keep him worried and in panic, so that he’ll see the need to bargain with me. He doesn’t want to go back to Denmark.

“You’re bluffing,” Magnus said, but without conviction. “You need me, so you can learn what we’re up to, our next moves, our future plans.”

“Is Kronborg open at this time of year? You know, Anna,” Justin said and looked over at her, “Kronborg is a fascinating castle, right on the shore of this place… hmmm, I don’t remember its name…”

“Helsingør,” Magnus offered with an uneasy smirk.

“Yes, exactly. On a clear day, from atop the castle one can see all the way across the waters to Sweden. In one of the castle halls they have this statue of one of their great heroes…” Justin gestured at Magnus with his head for the name he was looking for.

“Holger Danske.”

“Yes, that one. According to the legend, his marble statue will turn into a human being, flesh and blood, if Denmark is ever in danger, and it will rise to fight for the country’s freedom.” Justin stared into Magnus’s eyes. “I wonder what would Holger Danske do if Denmark was the aggressor toward another country that is an ally and a friend?”

Magnus closed his eyes and shook his head. “I thought you were going somewhere there, you had a point or something,” he said, his eyes still shut.

“I have a point, which is I will enjoy Copenhagen’s best, while you, well, I’m sure your authorities will decide on how best to handle you.”

“You think they’re going to kill me, do you?”

“Oh, no, I think they’ll give you a promotion. Maybe they’ll give you the position of this Gunter character. You seem to know or at least pretend to know all about the Arctic Wargame mission. I wouldn’t want you to be unhappy and go around blurting out secrets to who knows whom. I would make sure you remained silent. For good.”

Magnus opened his eyes and stared at Justin. He seemed unsure whether Justin was being sarcastic or not. Magnus looked left and right, as if he were waiting for the right moment to make a run for it. But his face was calm, his breathing regular, and his overall composure quite relaxed.

“And who knows,” Anna said with a head tilt and a slight shrug, “maybe we’ll have better luck with Valgerda.”

“Oh, you want to talk to her?”

“Yes, now that you have placed all the blame on her in order to save yourself, of course we’re going to interrogate her.”

“I haven’t said… oh, I see, you’re trying to play us against each other,” Magnus said in a mocking tone. “She’s not going to take the bait.”

“We’ll see about that,” Justin said with a confident nod.

Joe’s cellphone rang. He glanced at the screen, checking the caller ID. “It’s Ned,” he said, handing the phone to Justin.

“Hi, Ned, what’s up?” Justin said.

“Not much, just cleaning up the terminal. Listen, we’ve finally got through to someone from the Canadian Forces. They’ve dispatched a couple of Cormorant helos to check things out here, after military officials from the US and Denmark began asking all kinds of embarrassing questions.”

Justin pressed the cellphone to his ear, so Magnus and the other passengers could hear only his side of the conversation. Ned’s unexpected call had given him an idea.

“Who’s aboard the helos? I mean from the Danish side?”

“Nobody, there are no freaking Danes in there, the bastards. It’s the Canadian Forces, our army, can’t you hear me?”

“Yes, I hear you. Anyone I may know?”

“They didn’t give me any names.”

“But they’re from the Ministry of Defence, right?”

“Yeah, they call it the Department of National Defence, the DND. But you know that.”

“Do you think they would be interested in picking up one of their own?”

Justin released his grip on the cellphone. He guessed Ned’s reply and wanted Magnus to hear for himself the words that could seal the deal.

“Of course, they will, when they go back.”

“OK, Ned. Tell them to meet me in Arctic Bay, and that I have something for them. The man for whom they came this far is sitting with me in the truck as we speak. Bye!”

Justin flipped his cellphone shut. Before he could say another word, Magnus leaned toward Justin.

“Hey, move back.” Anna shoved her pistol into Magnus’s side.

Magnus sat up straight.

“It’s OK,” Justin said. “I think he wanted to whisper in my ear.”

“I want a deal,” Magnus said, his voice low and unsteady. “Don’t hand me over to the Danish troops, whoever they may be.”

“What do you want?” Justin held Magnus’s eyes. Panic had begun to replace the courage in the man’s heart.

“Political asylum and a new identity. Both for me and Valgerda.”

“That’s a steep price. Your secrets are really worth that much?”

“They are. Trust me, you’re the one getting a deal here. I’ll give you everything about the Arctic Wargame, the players, the story, everything.”

“Start talking.”

“Do I have your word?”

“A lot of people will have to sign off on this, but as far I am concerned, I’ll do my best to get it done.”

“That’s good enough for me, I guess,” Magnus agreed with a deep sigh.

“OK, I’m listening,” Justin said.

“No, you said it yourself that talk is cheap, and I know you’re a difficult man to convince. Find me a computer, and I’ll show you everything. E-mails, photos, plans, coordinates. Everything.”