The Secret Cardinal

38

What are you trying to tell me? Grin stared at the four cryptic words he had written in neat block letters across the top line of the legal pad.

Kilkenny’s latest message departed from the Lord of the Rings theme of the first two. This in itself told Grin something had happened — some event that forced his friend to follow a different storyline from the one he envisioned. At this point in Kilkenny’s plan, the extraction team would have waited until dark before flying north across the Sino-Mongolian border. Under their guise as tourists, they would then depart from Ulaanbaatar for Rome via Germany.

The magnetic lock securing the workroom door buzzed loudly as it released, emitting a discordant note amid the middle movement of Mozart’s ‘Violin Concerto No. 3 in G.’

‘No rock ‘n’ roll tonight?’ Donoher asked.

‘Wolfgang Amadeus is better for solving puzzles.’

‘Puzzles? A crossword or that infernal sudoku?’ Donoher asked as he sat down by the workstation.

Grin handed over the legal pad. ‘A message from Nolan. I know I should get this, but for the moment it’s eluding me.’

‘That’s because you’re exhausted.’

‘Maybe, but I’m not on the run with half the Chinese military after me. I promise to get a solid eight in the sack right after our team gets the hell out of China.’

‘I share your sentiments.’ Donoher shrugged and placed the pad on the desktop. ‘Sadly, I can’t make heads or tails of this message either.’

As the digital clock display on Grin’s largest monitor reached 8:00 p.m., the screen cleared and filled with the image of Jackson Barnett seated in his office at the CIA’s Langley campus.

‘Good evening, gentlemen,’ Barnett said. ‘I see from the news that black smoke has once again emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.’

‘Yes,’ Donoher replied, ‘and I apologize in advance, but I am not permitted to discuss the election.’

‘No offense taken. Regarding our friends in the Far East, I have a great deal to report.’ Barnett flipped open a folder. ‘All crossings along China’s borders with Russia and Mongolia are closed. The normal complement of border guards has been augmented with PLA troops, and army helicopter units are out patrolling over three thousand miles of border, including the stretch China shares with North Korea.’ Barnett glanced up from his notes. ‘The last I heard, the Vatican’s relations with Pyongyang were as frosty as our own.’

‘A move in that direction would be out of the frying pan and into the fire,’ Donoher concurred.

‘The size of the troop movements we’re seeing has more than piqued the interest of the Russians,’ Barnett continued. ‘They’ve placed their own forces on an elevated-alert status. The Chinese are being typically closemouthed about what they’re doing, and the Russians, being Russians, are suspicious.

‘The city of Chifeng is under martial law, and PLA forces are visible in significant numbers at every transportation center in the country. The Chinese Navy is also making its presence known in the Yellow Sea and the Formosa Strait, countering any attempt to fly over water to South Korea or Taiwan. Antisubmarine warfare vessels have also been deployed, presumably against a submarine extraction.’

‘I wasn’t aware the Vatican possessed a submarine,’ Grin offered.

Ignoring the comment, Barnett pulled a page from his file and placed it on a document reader just off camera. The image on the screen immediately split into two windows, with Barnett on the right and a facsimile of a printed flier on the left. Three photographs ran down the side of the flier — prison shots of Yin and Kilkenny and a grainy image of Tao in uniform. Two blocks of text accompanied each image, one in Cyrillic and the other in Mongolian.

‘This information has been issued to all law enforcement and border personnel in Mongolia — the Bishop and our associates have been accused of a litany of offenses. As Mongolia is quite interested in fostering good relations with its neighbor to the south, the Chinese have effectively cut off this avenue of escape. It will also be only a matter of time before the authorities in Ulaanbaatar generate a match for Nolan from his tourist visa, albeit under a false identity. The question is whether they will choose to share this information with the Chinese.’

‘Why is that?’ Grin asked.

‘Embarrassment,’ Donoher answered.

‘By now, the Chinese have combed their database of foreign visitors and come up empty, which means Nolan entered their country illegally,’ Barnett continued. ‘In confirming that he was in Mongolia just days before appearing at Chifeng Prison, the Mongolians would be conceding he crossed their border into China.’

‘So they’ll get with the program and try to broom that inconvenient detail under the rug,’ Grin said.

‘I’m certain the entry paperwork for Nolan and his team has already disappeared,’ Barnett agreed.

Grin skimmed the notes on his legal pad. ‘So Mongolia is out. Same with Russia and North Korea, and I’m not sure Nolan would risk flying low over large expanses of open water.’

‘What are you getting at?’ Barnett asked.

‘Nolan’s last message,’ Grin replied. ‘He changed the reference he was using, which means his plans have changed. The next step was to fly north into Mongolia. If north is out, he has to go somewhere else.’

‘But where?’ Donoher asked. ‘You’ve already eliminated north and east, and south would be equally dangerous flying over the densely populated regions of China to where? Vietnam, Laos, or Burma.’

‘Oh, that is so bad.’ Grin groaned. ‘They’re heading west.’

‘Are you certain?’ Barnett asked.

‘Nolan wrote it down twice, just to make sure I got it. He threw me with the Seven Samurai reference because I knew there was no way they would try to fly all the way to Japan. But his reference to the “son” of the Seven Samurai is a different story. The original film has been rehashed a dozen different ways, most of which I own, including the animated film A Bug’s Life. One of the best reworkings of Kurosawa’s masterpiece is The Magnificent Seven — and the setting for this particular son of the Seven Samurai is the Old West. And in case I missed it the first time around, Nolan used the words “setting son”, and for “son” read our local star and not a male offspring.’

‘The sun sets in the west,’ Donoher said, paraphrasing the now obvious.

‘Considering their options, a westerly route would take them over the least populated regions of China,’ Barnett said. ‘The question remains is where they intend to cross.’

‘I’m sure Nolan will let us know as soon as he figures it out,’ Grin replied.

‘Doubtless,’ Barnett agreed. ‘What about the leak? Have you made any progress?’

‘Possibly,’ Donoher replied. ‘I hope to know more tonight.’

‘Well, that’s all I have, so don’t let me keep you.’

‘Thank you for all your help,’ Donoher said.

‘We both have a vested interest here,’ Barnett replied, before terminating the link.

‘So, what’s happening tonight?’ Grin asked.

‘Many things,’ Donoher replied, ‘but first we must speak with an old and trusted friend.’