The Eye of Shiva

CHAPTER 11

Elizabeth looked over her team and felt a vague sense of unease. Selena and Nick were sitting together but they might as well have been in different rooms. Something was off between them.

Lamont looked tired. His coffee colored skin was pale. The scar crossing his face seemed more vivid than usual. Elizabeth reminded herself to ask him if he was still taking meds. This wasn't a good time to have things getting in the way of the team's usual high level of performance. At least he was back in the mix. That counted for a lot.

Ronnie sat next to Lamont. He wore one of his many Hawaiian shirts, an endless scene of surfers at Waikiki done in unnatural colors that looked dreamed up by a mad chemist on an acid trip.

Elizabeth began. "There's been an attack on the Indian Embassy in Manila," she said. "They cut the night guard's throat, planted Semtex and did their best to blow up the building. The ambassador and his wife were killed in the explosion."

"Who did it?" Nick asked.

"Nobody is certain, yet. Possibly ISOK."

"That could explain why Abu Khan was on Mindanao."

She looked at Nick. "President Rice is trying to get new base agreements in the Philippines. With the Chinese claiming islands right off their coast and building bases in the China Sea, Manila is getting nervous. It's important that nothing disrupts those negotiations."

"The Filipinos kicked us out and now they need us," Lamont said. "Why am I not surprised?"

"American bases and our nuclear weapons are a sensitive subject over there," Elizabeth said. "There's a demonstration scheduled two days from now to protest any new agreement, with a planned march on the Embassy. Demonstrations like that have turned violent in the past. After the Indian Embassy bombing, Rice is worried the terrorists may use the march to create an incident. He wants me to send the team to Manila."

"What do you want us to do there?" Nick asked.

"Think of it as a preventative mission. See what you can find out. If Abu Sayyaf or ISOK is planning an attack, head it off at the pass."

"You want us to go in blind, sniff around for terrorist activity and then prevent an attack that might or might not happen?"

"Is that a problem?"

Nick sighed. "Anything else?"

"That's about it. Try to stay out of the way of the demonstrators."

"Mob, you mean. How do we get there?"

"Clark Air Force Base is open to us again. You'll go in on military transport. That puts you about forty miles from Manila and avoids the complications of civilian travel. Take weapons but keep it light and easy to conceal. We don't want to upset anyone. Take a comm package for the satellite uplink back here."

"When do we leave?"

"Wheels up at 0200 tomorrow from Andrews. "

"What about Langley?" Ronnie asked. "They've got to have a man in the embassy looking into the same things we are. Do we let them know we're there, or keep our distance?"

"Keep your distance," Elizabeth said. "I don't see any need to involve the agency. I'll decide if we need to bring them in."

"I know the U.S. Ambassador in Manila," Selena said. "Not well, but she attended a series of lectures I gave at Stanford a few years ago and we got to be friends. I could arrange to see her. She might be helpful."

"Good," Elizabeth said. "Definitely, go see her." She turned to Lamont. "How are you feeling, Lamont? Are you ready to go back in the field? You haven't had an easy time of it the last few months."

"I'm fine, Director. I'm going crazy sitting around doing nothing. Yeah, I'm ready."

"All right then," Elizabeth said. "Any other questions?"

No one had any.

"I'd better get going on the gear," Ronnie said. He got up and left the room and headed downstairs to the armory.

"I'll give you a hand," Nick called after him. He stood and went after Ronnie.

So much for a quiet talk over coffee, Selena thought.