Sea of Fire

Chapter Forty-Six

They did things differently in Australia.

Bob Herbert had expected to be at the Darling estate by eight P.M. at the latest.

All they had to do was set the trap around back, go to the front, and knock on the door. But Leyland and Jelbart were not so impulsive. They insisted on taking several passes over the 500-acre estate in the helicopter. They used fire brigade night-vision goggles to study the terrain. They wanted to know where the security posts were and where there were places that could serve as emergency exits. The property was heavily fenced to keep out wild hare and deer. However, they found two spots where the bait could credibly be set inside. The security personnel would know those spots and probably go right to them. Jelbart wanted to time how long it would take for the teams to drive their golf carts to and from that area. Ordinarily, Herbert would have admired their thoroughness. But potential nuclear terrorists were on the run. He wanted to capture them. Herbert said so after they made their second slow pass over the estate. A pass they would explain to Jervis Darling or his security chief when they came to visit.

"We won't be able to capture anyone if our ruse is exposed," Jelbart pointed out. "We'll be the ones being investigated."

FNO Loh was sitting between Coffey and Herbert in the backseat. "I cannot believe that your government would discipline you. We are pursuing a reasonable lead in a case of some urgency," she said.

"The government would not bother us if we were pursuing the lead in a reasonable fashion," Jelbart replied. "We are not. We are invading a citizen's privacy. The law is very specific about things like that."

"Specific and constipated," Herbert said. "Remind me to quote the law to whatever guys are looking to slip nuclear material into populated cities and poison our water supplies."

"We're not certain that's the case," Coffey said.

"Certain enough to make me want to kick Darling's ass for quick answers," Herbert replied.

"And then what? If we become what we behold, then all of civilization goes to hell," Jelbart pointed out.

"If we don't, hell will come to civilization," Herbert shot back. "Don't take this personally, Jelbart, but I'm getting really sick of our leaders reacting instead of taking preventative action. Am I the only one who realizes that this isn't the twentieth century anymore?"

"What do you mean?" Coffey asked.

"Somehow, over the last forty or so years, the Western world evolved this screwed-up coddling mentality toward killers and terrorists. That is going to destroy us," Herbert said.

"This isn't about coddling killers; it's about individual voices and dignity," Coffey said. "And for the record, it came from us. From America. It came after the Vietnam War protests and civil rights movement proved effective. It came when police were required to read criminals their rights. Now everyone on earth wants a share of humanity. And I don't think that's a bad thing."

"That may have worked in the sixties and seventies, but it's a luxury we can no longer afford," Herbert said. "We don't stop eating tuna because a few dolphins get snared."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Coffey asked.

"Yes, what are you suggesting, Mr. Herbert?" Jelbart asked.

"That we hunt down bad guys aggressively," Herbert said. He was yelling so that they could hear him over the rotor. But it felt good to yell because he was angry. "Once in a while you may grab an innocent. You apologize and make amends. But that's how you protect the majority of the people."

"So you think that we should just do away with human rights?" Jelbart pressed.

"No!" Herbert shouted. "The actions can be selective. I suggest we grant exceptional authority in emergency circumstances, like these. We have fanatical racists and radical sociopaths with access to nuclear fuel. We've got mass murderers in our high schools. When I was a kid, juvenile delinquents packed zip guns and switchblades. Once in a while they flashed their weapons, and once in a really rare while they used them. Usually on other hoodlums. Usually shitting their pants when they did. Now we have kids packing AK-47s and attitude. They're cool killers, Warrant Officer. You're trying to play soccer or football or whatever the hell you call it against a team that disregards referees, fouls, out-of-bounds lines, clocks, and rules. I'm telling you that if we don't identify and neutralize them, the game is over. With us the losers."

The cockpit was silent for a long moment. After making a final pass over the estate, Leyland spoke.

"I see a tree we can use," he said. He made another pass and showed it to the others.

"Maybe we should just hang ourselves from it," Herbert said. "Save Darling or whoever is behind this plot further inconvenience."

"You know, Mr. Herbert, I sympathize with you," Captain Leyland said as the helicopter turned back to the landing pad. "I look at every camper or tourist as a potential arsonist. But that does not make them one. Even if they're smoking or carrying matches, I can't go hosing them down. That's the price we pay for freedom. If we surrender that, we still won't have security. Not really. We will only have less freedom."

"Only if you're extreme about it," Herbert told him. "Look, we already have the fire. We have a guy who picnicked at the spot that's burning. He has matches. We should have the ability to sit him down and ask him questions before he can wash away the smell of the smoke."

"Obviously we agree with that to some extent, or we wouldn't be doing this," Jelbart said.

"We're doing it by sneaking in the back door," Herbert said. "I prefer a more direct approach."

"Like beating it out of him?" Coffey asked.

"No, like point-blank asking the guy what the hell's going on," Herbert said. "And if his answers don't match the facts we do know, we take him in. Ask him again. And again."

"The legal and political fallout would be disastrous," Coffey said.

"Only if we're wrong," Herbert said.

"That's just it," Coffey said. "You could still be right and lose. Those confessions wouldn't be allowed in court. It would cost the state tens of millions of dollars to defend against a wrongful arrest lawsuit, to name just one, and you still wouldn't have your man."

"Then he has an accident, as his wife did," FNO Loh suggested.

"Bingo!" Herbert said. "I like your style. That's the price of protecting the twenty-first-century world.

The debate ended as the Bell chopper set down. Leyland unfolded a detailed map of the area. He showed Jelbart the road to the area of trees they could use to set the trap. Herbert half-listened while Loh unloaded the wheelchair and helped him from the chopper. He was sick of talk in general. While they were crisscrossing the estate, radioactive material could be making its way to a terrorist factory. Or it could already be en route to Washington or London or Sydney. How stupid would they feel looking for perimeter access if a dirty bomb was built with this material and a few sticks of TNT? How would they live with themselves if 10,000 people died from radiation poisoning? Herbert had no interest in finding out. He would rather risk the wrath of Jervis Darling.

When Leyland and Jelbart had agreed on a place to carry out the first part of the operation, the brigade commander summoned the gangly kid named Spider. The young firefighter was going to help Jelbart with the insertion. Then he would return to his post. That was already one more person than Herbert wanted to be involved.

When Herbert worked for the CIA, the objective was to streamline operations, not to pad them.

It was well after ten P.M. when Herbert, Leyland, and Loh slipped into the brigade's Humvee and headed toward the front entrance to Darling's estate. Loh had borrowed civilian clothes from Eva. They were a little roomy, but they would serve their purpose. As the trio left, Jelbart and Spider also departed. They drove out in a jeep to the tree they had selected in the flyover. A tree that was on public land but overhung the wall of the Darling estate.

The tree where they would take Little Maluka, the mascot of the Queensland North Rural Fire Brigade, to play his part in the deception.