Chapter 4 The Whole Shooting Match
The flight from Dulles to Vienna was uneventful. Sleep claimed all four agents for the first leg of the flight. The sun was casting the first tentative fingers of light onto the city as the flight came in for a landing. They were able to quickly change planes without a problem. Francine and Efraim took the time to go over the notes for the lecture, looking for clues they may have missed. They kept coming to the same conclusion. Efraim did trajectory calculations for possible locations of Quigley and his laser. They arrived at the International Airport Otopeni in Bucharest late in the morning. The sun danced with racing black rain clouds, though the temperature was comfortable for late November.
The plan was for Geiger to exit the plane first, check out the landing area and signal back. Amanda would leave as she was being met by an embassy employee. Francine and Efraim would come off with the bulk of the passengers, hoping to blend in and throw off anyone watching for them. The all clear signal came from Geiger; they hadn't really expected any problems at the airport. They cleared customs, and were able to get into Bucharest without delay. Amanda sent a signal telling of her safe arrival at the United States Embassy.
They checked into the Marriot Bucharest and went up to their rooms. The elevator doors closed behind Francine and Efraim as they walked down the hallway in the hotel. Efraim made mental notes of the surveillance camera's and other security items, knowing that they may need to make use of them, or avoid them. They found their own room, using the security card to enter, Beaman shielded the mechanism from the camera and re-keyed the electronics to bar any of the hotel staff from entering. Satisfied with his security changes, he tossed his coat over the chair at the desk. Francine was looking out the window at the city below. The sun was finally shining, having broken through the dark clouds that had rained on the city earlier that morning.
The streets reflected the fire of the sun, puddles now mirroring the glowing ball. Francine sighed at the sight below, the beauty of the light on the old city. Efraim put his hands on Francine's shoulders, watching couples below walk hand in hand.
"Franny," Efraim buried his face in Francine's neck, nuzzling her ear and throat. She sighed deeply, turning into his arms, pulling his face down to hers.
"Efraim," she sighed his name as his mouth closed over hers, taking the breath of her words and making them their breath. His hands pulled her close, molding her body to his length, heat leaping between them. A knock on the door brought a wry smile to his face, as he let Francine go and walked to the door.
"Bad timing?" Lee asked as he walked in the room. Efraim shook his head at him and Francine just smiled.
"I left Geiger watching the lobby, just in case. He'll be up in a few. We have the room next door. Hope you two don't snore, I'm tired."
"Lee, sometimes..."
"I know Francine, I can be a real pain in the ass. But so's payback!"
She laughed, knowing he was trying to lighten everyone's mood.
"Beaman, check these out." Lee threw a pair of goggles at Efraim, who caught them and looked through them. A big grin broke out on his face as he looked at the wall, taking them off and tossing them to Lee, who put them on and looked. He laughed, tossing them on the bed when he was finished.
"Where did you pick those up?" No one paid attention to Francine as she picked up the goggles and looked through them. "Thermal imaging glasses, brand new technology! These could come in handy." She looked at the wall and felt her jaw drop as the clear, heated image of two lovers in bed filled the eyepiece.
She ripped them off and tossed them back on the bed, only to find both Lee and Efraim watching her. They both burst into laughter which brought a snort of derision from Francine.
"The two of you are disgusting!"
Efraim held his hands up in surrender, Lee just laughed at her.
"Just be glad you aren't. . ."
Francine interrupted him. "Yeah, I know, under the bed. Where did you get them? That's pretty hot technology."
"Swiped them off the C-130 I was on; thought they'd come in handy taking a look around the auditorium tomorrow. So Navy, how does it feel to be back in uniform, so to speak?" He flashed that patented Stetson smile, making a point to needle Efraim.
"Well, Hot Shot, just fine. For one, I'll visit you in the brig after they keelhaul you for stealing government property. If they don't shoot you first." Lee just grinned; Efraim was doing a good job of giving hit for hit. "Francine's wearing off on you."
"I certainly hope so," Francine shot back.
"Let's get down to business. What do we know?"
"I'm sure he's going after the President. Billy is going to get us his agenda, if he's coming here, we have to get him to cancel and keep it quiet, or we're going to lose Quigley. We'll be able to maneuver after they make their move at the conference tomorrow. I need to do some more calculations on trajectory, and hopefully narrow his location down. This is a damn big country to go looking for a needle in a haystack."
"And if they don't take a shot at you tomorrow?" Lee asked, playing devils advocate.
Efraim sighed, avoiding Francine's eyes. "Then we give him another chance and we watch our backs."
Lee nodded, looking from Efraim to Francine and back to Efraim. "Okay, I'm going to go see my wife at the embassy. You can reach me there. I'll be back early in the morning so be ready for me." Lee picked up the infrared goggles to take them with him. Efraim stopped him on the way out, taking the goggles from him.
"Better leave these here. You don't want to get picked up in Bucharest with stolen United States classified military equipment on you, Lee."
"A man can't have any fun anymore! See you early, 6:00 AM. Be ready. Night, Francine."
"Goodnight, Lee." The door closed behind Lee, Efraim turned the locks and put the kick stop down. They heard a tapping on the door to the adjoining room. Efraim rolled his eyes, catching the Morse Code from Geiger asking if the coast was clear. He unlocked the door, throwing his arm wide in a welcoming gesture.
Geiger came in the room, sitting in one of the chairs by the window. "All clear downstairs. They must not be wasting the time to keep an eye on you, Beaman. He must be pretty sure you're going to show at the conference."
"We wouldn't want to disappoint anyone, would we?"
Geiger gestured toward his room. "Look, I brought up some local food with me, from a great place not far from here. I figured, why take a chance with room service, right? So, come on in, and lets eat and go over what we've got so far and plans for tomorrow. I have to check in with Williams and get your exit down to a science. You got a location for Quigley yet?"
"No, not yet. I'm waiting for Billy to give us the President's agenda to stake out some possible locations."
"Good idea. Look, let's eat and go over everything, okay?"
All three agents went into Geiger's room and ate dinner. He had bought local Ciorba Teraneasca, which was a Romanian Cabbage Soup and Ragout along with plenty of crusty farm house bread. They finished it off with hot, thick local tea.
Studying the layout of the auditorium, the three agents decided where an attack was likely to come from. They made sure the security was in place and placed a call to Billy. He didn't have good news for them.
"The President is starting a swing through former Soviet Bloc countries in 24 hours. He is scheduled to be in Romania 48 hours after the tour begins. He wants to see Transylvania," Billy told them, the irritation in his voice coming across the phone loud and clear.
"Great! In the shadow of the castle of Vlad the Impaler, this Quigley character is going to kill the President of the United States. How fitting," Efraim smiled when Francine finished, her sarcasm cutting and to the point.
"He's going to fly in, although the actual itinerary shows him driving in. There's a festival of some sort or another happening the day he arrives in Transylvania."
"They have a lot of festivals here, Billy. Security is going to be near to impossible. You have told the Secret Service, right?"
"The President refuses to change his itinerary. He said he has complete faith in the team in the field dealing with the threat."
"I wish I did," Efraim sighed. "Do you have an exact location of this festival?"
"It's at the Castle of Arges." The three agents looked it up on the map. Efraim accessed information on his laptop.
"Billy, you know this thing has 1425 steps. Straight up. The President is going to climb them? This is insane."
"You have to get to Quigley before the President arrives. Are you set for tomorrow?"
"Yeah, Lee and Williams are taking care of things at the auditorium. All Efraim has to do is show up and get shot." Both Efraim and Geiger gave Francine looks of disgust. She tossed her hair, showing her agitation.
"All will be well, Francine, don't worry." She rolled her eyes, Efraim was thankful their boss couldn't see the look she gave the telephone. "People, get in touch with Amanda at the embassy and get what you need for operations at Arges. I don't think you're going to get more than one shot at this."
Efraim gave a short, hard laugh. "Good choice of words, Billy."
"Can it, Beaman. Good luck people. After the conference, I want personal contact from all of you, is that clear?"
"Gotcha, we'll all check in. We're clear tonight." They hung up the phone, checked security once again and headed back into the other room.
"Well, we're going to need climbing gear, some rain gear, hiking boots, socks, a car, garlic and stakes." Francine and Efraim laughed at Geiger's dark sense of humor.
"Garlic and stakes indeed. That reminds me, I have those 3-D satellite images of Romania, let me pull those up and let's see what we can see."
"I'll call Amanda and get the gear set up."
"Thanks, Dave."
Francine closed the door between the rooms after Dave left and watched Efraim work the computer. She looked over the security plans for the conference, trying to sense the best time for the attempt on Efraim to take place. She checked for television coverage, noting that passes for the introduction had been given to several local and international news crews.
"If he's going to take a shot at you, it's going to be during the introductions. There will be television crews there; very splashy."
"I wish everyone would watch their damn adjectives. I'm starting to get touchy."
Francine wrapped her arms around Efraim's neck and shoulders. "I like it when you get 'touchy'."
"You aren't helping here, Francine."
"I'm not? Hmmmm, what can I possibly be doing wrong?" She nibbled his ear, placing tiny kisses along his jaw and the corner of his mouth.
"Francine. . . ." She laughed, deep and throaty at the warning tone in his voice.
"All work and no play makes Efraim a dull boy."
"All work and no play makes Efraim a live man."
"You will not die," she whispered.
Efraim stopped his work on the computer and looked up at Francine. He took her by the waist, pulling her onto his lap. "No, I will not die."
"Promise me, Efraim. Promise me," she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his neck, inhaling the scent of him.
"I won't die. At least not tomorrow. And I have no plans for death in the near or even distant future. I see a long lifetime ahead of me with you tormenting me, loving me, making love with me, scolding and holding me."
"You better not leave me."
"I haven't gone anywhere yet, I don't intend to now. At least not without you. I love you; you know that, don't you?"
"I know you do. I love you."
"Let me finish this, okay? I think I have an idea where to look for Quigley," Efraim was studying the satellite photographs of the Arges area. He was tapping his computer screen with his pen, gauging distance and clearance. "It would be electrical, right?"
"If you're asking about Quigley's laser, that's the assumption that everyone has been basing their models on."
"It would need quite a bit of energy to sustain the beam integrity, wouldn't it?"
"Efraim, are you thinking out loud?"
"Yeah, I am, but let me ramble, okay? Remember hearing about the 'Dark Horse' laser program? High quality opticals, all electric, free electron laser research?"
"Vaguely, but I'm not familiar with the program other than what it is."
"Okay, it uses water and electricity, it's probably compact. If Quigley worked out how to reduce the impact of atmospheric interference, it's possible to have a range of 10 kilometers, less than 6 and a half miles."
"That rules out the satellite."
"Yeah, the satellite was the clue to the target. But the President is flying in from Hungary, right?"
"Probably."
"Right over this site." Efraim tapped the Vidraru Power Plant on the River Arges.
"Alright. . ."
"Right at the base of Cetatea Poenari, the actual home of Vlad the Impaler."
"But a plane flies at what. . .?"
"Thirty three, up to thirty seven thousand feet. When it's coming in for an approach, it's well within a 10 kilometer laser hit."
"I think I need to sit down. This is all too coincidental, Efraim. I mean, I realize that it sounds good, but Quigley would have had to make a huge leap in technology to pull this off."
"He's capable of this leap. He had the best team working with him for six years from what I read in the file. And why else would he disappear now? It all fits. Think about it Francine; Quigley doesn't think we're smart enough to figure out his clues. He's laughing at us. He thinks he spelled it out for us and that we don't have the smarts to figure it out. "
"He didn't count on you."
"Oh yeah he did. He's not thinking clearly where I'm concerned. He has revenge on his mind for the humiliation of his dismissal ten years ago from Georgetown. His arrogance won't allow him to consider the possibility of anyone discovering what his plans are, especially me."
"So, he takes you out of the picture thinking you haven't had time to figure things out."
Efraim was staring at the computer screen, tapping on the desk. "He's going to hit on anyone who came with me just in case we had a plan. He's going to go after you and Dave as well."
"You can't know that."
"It's what I would do."
"What about Amanda?"
"She should be safe at the embassy, but let's get a call in to Lee now."
Francine chuckled. "Lee isn't going to be happy that we are disturbing them."
Efraim grinned. "Yeah, we probably will be. Too bad, give me the phone!"
Efraim made the phone call to Lee, who, while annoyed with the interruption, had been thinking along the same lines and promised he would make sure that Amanda was secure in the embassy. They let Geiger know what they had come up with. Dave just shook his head and said he would deal with it in the morning. He suggested everyone get some sleep; that things would get hot in the morning.
While Efraim made the phone calls, Francine walked to the window and watched the traffic in the streets of Bucharest. The city was well illuminated, lights showed off statuary to its best effect, neon signs adorned the many shops, restaurants and cafes, car's weaving red and white trails, and finally, the soft pools of light from street lamps. The city was alive. Francine wrapped her arms around herself as she watched couples walking below, stopping in cafes for a late dinner or coffee. She turned from the window to find Efraim leaning against the armoire, arms folded across his chest, his eyes darkly intense as he watched her every move.
Francine closed the distance between them, stopping in front of him. She studied his face; he was tired with a day or so worth of stubble darkening his jaw. She reached out, laying her palm against his cheek. He turned, kissing her open palm. His hands gently grasped hers, pulling them together and wrapped in his, as he kissed her fingers, never taking his eyes from hers.
Her breathing quickened and she smiled. "All you have to do is touch me Efraim and I want you."
He leaned over and kissed the corner of her mouth, running his tongue gently along her lips. Her lips parted and she sighed, and Efraim caught the sigh as his mouth closed over hers, taking possession of her. She wanted to be closer, she wanted more, and she tried to deepen the kiss.
Efraim pulled slightly away from her, his own breathing coming fast and hard. He waited for Francine to open her eyes, he watched as she focused on him, her eyes darkening with passion and desire. His voice was a harsh whisper, "Let me make love to you, Francine, let me love you."
She could only nod; she had no voice, only desire for this man she loved. She watched as he leaned in to kiss her forehead, closing her eyes when his lips caressed her. He kissed her closed eyelids, the tip of her nose, bringing a smile to her face and his. He gently touched his lips to hers, moving them to kiss her jaw and bring a trail of fire to her neck as he let his tongue trace the length of her throat, resting in the hollow of her neck.
He pulled back, slowly unbuttoning her blouse. Francine reached up to unbutton his shirt, and he pulled her hands away. "Let me." He said to her again, holding her up against him. She nodded, her eyes a mirror of the desire in his eyes. Reaching up, Francine let her hand smooth over the desire that was etched into the planes of his face.
Efraim returned to her blouse, smiling as he saw his hands shake as he opened one button, then the next. He gently moved her open blouse over her collar bone, the beige lace of her bra barely covering the swell of her breasts. Ever so softly, he kissed the hollow between them, stepping back to look at her. She was breathing fast, her breasts rising with each breath she took, knowing his gaze was making it hard for her to get enough air into her lungs. He felt as though he were memorizing her, looking into her very soul.
"You are beautiful, Francine, so very beautiful." He lifted her hand, opening the buttons at her wrist, then the other. His hands gently caressed her arms as they moved to her shoulders. His fingers slipped under the collar of her blouse, pushing the silk off of her shoulders. The rush of cool air and the touch of his hands as they followed the blouse off of her body brought slight tremors to race through her.
Efraim pulled her up against his chest, enveloping her in his embrace. He moved his hands to her waist, opening the clasp and slowly pulling the zipper down on the side of her slacks. Her slacks fell in a pool at her feet, leaving her clad only in the thin lace of her undergarments. Lifting her in his arms, he turned to lay her across the bed.
The world of lasers, madmen and spies slipped away as the two lovers clung to each other, their words of love and need creating all the reality they wanted or needed.
