The Nostradamus File

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

Phillip Harrison III leaned back in the comfortable chair in his Boston office and worked to control his anger. The damage was done. Getting angry wouldn't help or fix things. Interference by the Project meant changes had to be made. It was annoying to deal with.

First they had eliminated Anderson, a man he'd relied on for years. It was inconvenient to lose such a valuable resource. Harrison had other sources inside Langley, though none were field agents. Good for gathering intelligence, useless for more difficult kinds of work. Anderson had been good at that. The way he'd dispatched that French mob boss and cleaned up afterward was a perfect example.

Then there was the mercenary he'd contracted with, the man who was supposed to handle things in England. He was dead too, along with his men. Another failure, but also a potential source of exposure eliminated.

Harrison was about to interview a replacement, a man named Nigel McKenzie. He came highly praised by Arthur Croft. The arms merchant said he was ruthless and reliable. It was a solid recommendation.

McKenzie had been an officer in British Special Forces before an incident in Iraq had forced him to resign his commission. Now he ran MKTA Security, a company that provided services to a small number of wealthy clients. McKenzie's employees joked that MKTA stood for Must Kill Them All. If you had trouble with unruly locals at your mines in Africa or South America, or needed someone to discourage the people who wanted to steal your oil, you called MKTA. Once they arrived on the scene, problems quickly ceased.

Harrison wasn't sure what had happened at Pembroke. No one had survived to report back. He didn't think the Project had found anything. The Ark was still out there somewhere and they'd keep looking for it. He simply had to follow them until they found it. He decided to hire McKenzie to finish the job the others had failed to accomplish. Harrison didn't like to lose. The Project had blocked him at each step of the way. It had become personal.

His secretary came into the office. "Colonel McKenzie is here, sir."

"Send him in."

McKenzie didn't so much as enter the room as fill it with his presence. He was about five ten, a solid, wide man, with shoulders like a bull. His face was hard and brown and dry from years spent under open skies and tropical suns. He moved with contained violence that smoldered behind blue eyes cold as a glacial lake.

Harrison liked him on sight.

"Please, sit down, Colonel."

McKenzie sat. "Nice office." He looked out at the panoramic view of Boston.

"Care for a drink?" Harrison said.

"After we talk, perhaps. Croft said you had an interesting proposition."

McKenzie's voice was thick with an echo of Scotland.

"Colonel, do you know who I am?"

"Enough. I know you are a wealthy man. I know you are having trouble with some, mm, discreet operatives of your government."

"That is correct. They are members of a small intelligence unit."

"What sort of trouble are they making for you?"

"Arthur said I could trust in your discretion. Is that true, Colonel?"

"Please do not insult my intelligence, Mister Harrison."

"Of course, I apologize. I am seeking an object of some antiquity. These people are also looking for it. They have managed to stay ahead of me so far and have also eliminated several valuable assets of mine."

"Ah."

"To be plain, Colonel, I want them eliminated in turn. And I want that object, if they manage to find it."

"You want me to terminate them?"

"That is correct."

"It will be expensive."

"As you said, I am a wealthy man. As long as you propose a reasonable price, there will be no problem."

"I'll need specifics. Who they are, who they work for, where they live. All that."

Harrison slid a folder across his desk. "All in there."

McKenzie nodded. He appreciated efficiency.

"What is this object?"

"Does it matter?"

McKenzie grinned. "Not really. The fee is two million Euros. Half now, half on completion to your satisfaction. One million Euros as a bonus if I secure this…object for you."

"You have considerable faith in your ability," Harrison said. "You understand, failure is not an option."

McKenzie smiled.

"Agreed," Harrison said.

McKenzie took out a pocket notebook and wrote down an account number from a bank in the Caymans. Harrison took the paper and looked at the name of the bank.

"An excellent choice. They are quite secure."

Harrison had a computer monitor on his desk. He pulled a keyboard out and entered a string of commands. He turned the monitor so McKenzie could see it. Then he pressed send. 1,000,000 Euros was transferred from one account to the other.

"I think I'll have that drink now," McKenzie said.

After the man had left, Harrison thought about the meeting. He considered the money well spent, if it brought results. Now that he'd taken steps to get things back on track he could relax a bit.

At least the operation in Israel had gone as planned. Weisner had moved ahead of the Prime Minister in the polls. Harrison didn't really care who won the election. He'd achieved his goal, to provoke a visceral response on both sides of the Middle East equation. War was inevitable, whether the Ark was found or not.

If the Project located the Ark, McKenzie would take it from them. Harrison prayed every day that they would find it. Whether they found it or not, they would soon cease to be a problem.