The Memorist

Chapter 9

I did not begin when I was born, nor when I was conceived. I have been growing, developing, through incalculable myriads of millenniums. All my previous selves have their voices, echoes, promptings in me. Oh, incalculable times again shall I be born.

– Jack London, The Star Rover

Vienna, Austria

Saturday, April 26^th-7:30 a.m.

At the very front of the carousel, waiting for their baggage to appear, a man and a woman huddled together in the midst of a tense conversation.

“Well, then, what time do we get access to the concert hall?” The speaker was a very tall man wearing a gold Rolex watch, blue blazer with bright gold buttons, white shirt, jeans and lizard boots. Despite the casual clothes and easygoing Texas drawl, his voice was stressed and his eyes continuously swept the area around them, assessing everyone he saw as if they might be a possible threat.

“We’re set to go there tomorrow-” The woman’s drawl was softer than her companion’s and while she was dressed as casually, her clothes weren’t as expensive as his. Interrupting herself, she reached over to grab a piece of luggage. A silver cross on a thin chain fell forward and swung in the air, catching the light. By the time Tom Paxton reached out to help, she’d already lifted the large piece and dropped it at her feet.

On the luggage tag, circling a stylized gold globe insignia, were the words Global Security Inc. And below them was the woman’s name in bold: Kerri Nelson, Web site URL, phone number and address in Houston, Texas.

“Tomorrow? Are you serious?” Tom ran his hand through his sun-bleached hair and did another survey of the area. “What’s the holdup? The concert is in five days. You’ve read the reports on the building. It’s a security nightmare. We can’t wait.”

“Our team has been living there for the last four weeks straight and there are no surprises left that we haven’t-”

“Even if we had a hundred men here for a hundred days, it wouldn’t be enough. And I don’t care about the team right now. I want to see the area.” The edge in his voice sharpened. “Everyone in the industry is watching us…investors are watching us. Terrorists are drooling over this concert. Heads of government security agencies all over the world, hundreds of VIPs and experts who-”

“What do you think? That I plan for us to go sightseeing at the Vienna Zoo?” Her expression was like that of a mother with a two-year-old in the throes of a tantrum. “We’re working today. We’re just not going to the concert hall. A driver is waiting to take us to the hotel where we’re meeting with ISTA’s head of security, then the concert hall’s security team, who are coming to us, and finally we’re meeting with the head of the police department who-” Kerri spotted Tom’s luggage tumbling down the ramp and circling toward her.

This time he noticed her reaching for it and beat her to the bag. “Okay, let’s get going.”

As the two of them headed toward customs, he continued scanning the crowd, even though he knew that the only people to fear were the smart ones-and the smart ones never stood out in a crowd.