Payback

44

Rubens’ car had just turned off the highway when the phone that connected him directly to the Art Room began to ring. He pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open, carefully placing his thumb at the side where it could be read by the unit’s biometric security device.

“Rubens. What is it, Ms. Telach?”

“The Peruvian rebels have issued an ultimatum threatening Lima. Their military is on full alert.”

“I’ll be down as soon as I arrive,” he told her.

By the time Rubens made it to the Art Room forty minutes later, the analysts had prepared a fresh report on Peru’s military, showing where its various units were deployed. Satellite photos revealed that two battalion-sized groups of soldiers and materiel had been dispatched to the central Andes where the rebels had been active in the past. A much larger force had gone to the south. Logically, this did not make much sense, and the analysts concluded that the military might be thinking of using the alert as a pretext to settle a local score.

Rubens noted that no reinforcements had been sent to the Amazon and northeastern areas of the country — the ones with the heaviest activity. The forces there were widely spread out. They were also under the command of the general who had warned the CIA earlier that the rebels were planning something.

Either the general staff wanted him to fail or didn’t care if he succeeded. The briefing showed that his force was undermanned to begin with — he wasn’t trusted, probably because of the prejudice against natives.

The UN election committee was alarmed about the developments and had sent several messages back to the UN Security Council, in effect asking for direction. So far they had not received an answer.

Rubens put in a call to the White House and got through to the chief of staff; he gave him a quick update. He also called the secretary of state and the U.S. ambassador to the UN, neither of whom was available to take his call.

Ordinarily, Rubens would have called Hadash first. But he didn’t want to talk to the national security adviser from the Art Room. Rubens wanted to speak someplace where he felt free to ask why Hadash hadn’t told him he was quitting.

As he started to leave, though, it occurred to Rubens that delaying was exactly the wrong thing to do. For one thing, he would be letting a personal consideration interfere with his job — a gross violation of his responsibility. And second, he didn’t particularly want to talk to Hadash about his resignation. He didn’t know what to say.

Rubens pushed the buttons and sent the call through. Most likely, he thought, Hadash would be sleeping and he would have to leave a message with an aide. But the national security adviser’s voice came right on the line.

“George Hadash.”

“George, this is Bill Rubens. The rebels in Peru have issued a threat against Lima. The military has mobilized. They’ve sent a sizable unit to the south, though their intentions there are not clear. The city itself is quiet.”

“Yes, I know. The CIA briefed me a few minutes ago.”

“Very good,” said Rubens. It was the CIA’s job, after all — but he felt as if they were interfering somehow. “Our mission is proceeding.”

“You haven’t accomplished it yet?”

The question stung Rubens, as if he had failed somehow.

“We’re moving at a prudent pace,” he said stiffly.

“I see,” said Hadash, his voice unusually cold.

Rubens wondered if he had misread his friendship with Hadash all along. Perhaps the fact that it had started as a teacher-student relationship had always colored it; maybe Hadash still thought of him as an eager but untempered young post-grad.

So be it. There was nothing he could do to change it now.

“I will keep you informed,” he told Hadash.

“Thank you.”

When he looked up, Telach was standing a few feet away, waiting to speak to him and pretending not to have overheard his conversation.

“Where are we with the mission?” he asked, eager to move on.