Black Rose

CHAPTER 46

It was spring outside Elizabeth's office windows. The lawns at Project headquarters were turning green. The flowerbeds bloomed with new life and color. It was a beautiful day, the kind of day for leaving your desk and sitting somewhere in the sunshine. For Elizabeth, a day like that was right up there with one of Samuel Coleridge's opium dreams. The team was assembled in her office.

"We have a new mission," Elizabeth said. "Steph?"

Stephanie wore a light blue shirt that hung loose over black slacks. Elizabeth thought she might be putting on a little weight, but her clothes hid it well. As she often did, she'd chosen large gold earrings. A half dozen gold bracelets circled her left wrist. Her fingernails were painted a shade of blood red that matched her lipstick.

"Gutenberg sent a long email to Krivi Dass. He's called a face-to-face meeting of AEON's leaders."

"Where?" Nick asked.

"A villa in Normandy, near Caen. Gutenberg owns a boutique vineyard there. It produces only a few hundred bottles a year. Very high-end."

"What do you have in mind?" Nick said.

"It's time we ended this," Elizabeth said. "I want you to go to that villa and put AEON out of business, once and for all."

"You want us to kill them?" Selena said. "I thought we were the good guys."

"And they're the bad guys," Nick said. "They've started wars that caused the deaths of millions of people. They killed Adam. Those people we saw dying in Brazil, that's their doing. They gave up any rights to fair treatment a long time ago."

"I didn't say kill them." Elizabeth looked at Selena. "You can try and take them alive. We need to know where the rest of those plague samples are. We need to know what else they've planned, who they've corrupted."

"Director, you really think we can take them alive?" Ronnie asked.

Harker shrugged. "As I said, you can try. There are no rules of engagement if they resist."

Selena's expression showed her disapproval but she said nothing.

"These are important men, public figures," Nick said. "You know they'll resist. People are going to ask a lot of questions if they disappear. They'll have trained pros for bodyguards, probably ex special forces. We go after them at that villa, it's going to get noisy, fast. If we kill any of them, half the police forces in the world will be after us."

"Then you better hadn't get caught," Elizabeth said. "This one is completely off the books. No backup, no extraction. The president will not know about this mission. For this one you don't exist."

"It's not like it's the first time," Lamont muttered.

"I don't think you need to worry about noise," Stephanie said. "I searched through our satellite archives and found pictures of the villa. It's isolated. The house is surrounded by thick hedges on three sides. You could set off a bomb in there and no one would hear it."

"Inside, maybe," Nick said. "Sound carries a long way in the country. Let's see the pictures."

Stephanie clicked her mouse and a satellite photograph of the villa and grounds appeared on the wall monitor. The house was large with a slate roof. A high stone wall with a gate ran across the front of the property along the main road. A long, white gravel drive led straight and flat from the road to the house. Behind the house was a field with rows of grapevines laid out in a neat grid. There were several outbuildings scattered around the villa and another, larger building in back. A tractor was parked next to it.

"What's that building in the back?" Nick asked.

"It's where they crush the grapes," Stephanie said. "You can see an access road from the vineyard that goes right to it."

"The little old winemaker," Lamont said. "Makes me glad I drink beer, if guys like Gutenberg are the ones who make the wine."

"Pretty easy to figure out you drink beer," Ronnie said. "You really gotta work on that gut you're getting."

Harker cleared her throat, loudly. "Focus, please."

"We'll need the jet," Nick said. "Diplomatic papers to get our gear through customs. We can fly into Caen and drive from there. Steph, can you get us a floor plan?"

"I'll search the city archives at Caen. There might be something there. "

"It's not a good idea to go in there blind. That's a big house. It's going to have a lot of rooms."

"I'll task infrared surveillance on the villa," Elizabeth said. "It will tell us how many people are inside and where they are. The Pentagon has upgraded most of the satellite cameras with new technology. It almost makes the roof and walls invisible."

Nick nodded his head. "That will help a lot."

"What are we taking?" Ronnie asked.

"It's a straightforward mission, in and out. The usual stuff. Vests, MP-5s, with silencers. Flash bangs, night vision gear. Comm gear."

"C4?"

"No, but take grenades."

"Frags or offensive?"

"Both."

"Aren't all grenades offensive?" Selena asked. "I mean, it's not exactly a defensive weapon."

"Those are two different types," Ronnie said. "Frag grenades send shrapnel everywhere. Offensive grenades are small bombs with a five second fuse. They're good inside a bunker or a building."

"How do you tell them apart?"

"You're familiar with the frag type. The offensive grenades look like a shaving cream can. They're marked so you know what they are."

"Oh, that's helpful," Selena said.