Chapter 22

WSB Headquarters NYC

In her office, Connie watched the broadcast report of Susan Quincy as it was displayed on one of three monitors. The other two monitors displayed national and international news. Frisco stood by the monitor watching in silence. He cracked a small smile as Suki Kwon was interviewed.

"That man saved my life, Connie," said Frisco pointing at Suki. "He was barely out of his teens then. Look at him now."

"A good man?"

"Top drawer as the Brits say," said Frisco. "His family are all decent, hardworking people. These gang bozos think they're going to run right over them?"

"It looks like they're not taking things lying down."

"Damn straight. Why should they? This is about their livelihood, how they support their families."

"Organized crime has a way of getting its point across," said Connie. "This is happening in towns and cities all over America. For the most part, law enforcement and crime are in balance."

Frisco snorted. "Statistics! Gotta love the lies they represent."

"Frisco, you're letting your personal feelings cloud your judgment," warned Connie. She stood up and snapped her briefcase shut.

"Hard to be objective when it's my home town. You want me to care more for a bombed out village in South America? Small town USA is being nibbled at by the crime lords more and more and the local police can't do it all! I know what it's like on the street beat."

"The good guys always win in the end. Believing that gets me through my day," said Connie. She laid a comforting hand on Frisco's shoulder. "I know this is getting to you. You want to be there and not here. I understand."

"Felicia's not answering my calls. I hate it when she's mad at me."

"If I didn't need you here, I wouldn't have asked. Blame it all on me."

"It was my decision not yours. I want to finish this thing with Ross and then you can throw me out of here," said Frisco. "When I call it quits here, it's going to be on my terms."

Connie slipped her coat on. "How is the clean up going downstairs?"

"I've lifted the lockdown. The news about Ross is filtering out through unofficial channels."

"No way to stop that sort of news going out," said Connie. "Thank God, Lionel's questioning has confirmed no other moles inside."

"That Ross is aware of," said Frisco.

"True enough. But with the new procedural changes we're putting in and the segregation of some key departments, maybe we can do a better job of policing ourselves going forward," said Connie. "What else can we do but be vigilant?"

A knock sounded on the door. A tired Doctor Lionel Beam entered and promptly sat down on an armchair.

"My team has wrung out what we can out of him," said Lionel. "You wanted a turn, Frisco, before he's turned over to the Department of Justice?"

"Yeah, I did. What condition is he in?"

"The serum relaxed him enough to give us truthful answers to most of our questions," said Lionel. "But as with any interrogation, the best method is to ask the right questions."

"I got questions shooting out of my-" began Frisco.

"I want intelligence on Faison and the DVX specifically, Frisco," said Connie. "I want to know what Ross has passed on to him from the beginning. I don't care how you get it."

"I should warn you that any line of questioning about Faison causes Ross the most … ah … problems. He bristles, becomes belligerant and refuses to answer on the first go around," said Lionel. "The serum has broken down his programming to a point. That was unexpected but it's heartbreaking, Connie. I can see it in his eyes that he knows what's happening. Knows what he did and hates himself for it. Are we persecuting a loyal man?"

"I'm not going to debate this with you, Lionel, not now," said Connie. "This arrest has made the executive panel question everything we stand for. I have to think about every operative in here and out there. How many of them has Ross put in danger? Will I sacrifice one man for the good of the rest? You better believe I will. I don't have a choice."

"But Ross hasn't done-"

"Lionel, I know that you think of Ross as the victim here. I don't. I can't," said Connie. "We have to be as objective as we can be no matter how hard it is."

"You can be such a cold-hearted bitch, Connie," said Lionel. It wasn't a compliment.

Connie let the truth and the insult pass. "Lionel, you're off the case. Let the boys in suits have Ross after Frisco finishes. I'm out for a few hours. Let's meet back here at eight tonight. We'll go over every transcription of every word Ross utters. We'll redact what information is need to know, for us only and what can be shared with Justice for their case. By tomorrow, Ross will be out of our hands and minds. We start fresh. Hot spots all over the world are on alert. Europe is erupting into a horrible mess of spies catching spies. I need to decide who to pull out and who to keep in place. Get that info out of Ross, Frisco."

"Why not pull all informers and agents out of there?" asked Lionel.

"Because most of them are casual informers, amateurs. They give us the odd tidbit now and then. In the grand scheme of things, they're harmless. I'm reluctant to interrupt their perfectly normal lives with a message to run for their lives," said Connie. "I have to be sure."

"DVX message traffic has tripled. Their people are disappearing in bunches," said Frisco. "State has their hands full with defectors."

"It's an internal purge and the rats have jumped ship," said Lionel. "This happens periodically. Why be so worried for our side?"

Connie fairly snarled. "Because, Lionel, I haven't heard from a reliable agent in more than a week. I prefer to think that she's fled the country for parts unknown. But I'm more inclined to think she hasn't or can't. And, if I lose her, then we've lost an agent inside the DVX that would make Ross' activities seem trivial by comparison. You think our current 'we're all friends here' arrangement with the DVX has been easy? Do you? It's been bought by the lives and effort of many faceless people over a very long time. I care very much what happens to every one of them. If Ross sold them out, I want to know."

Finger Lakes Safe House

Susan Quincy's afternoon interview show blared on the flat panel television in the living room. Two men watched intently. One of them glanced out the window periodically out of habit than necessity. The house was on a dead-end street and the neighbors kept to themselves. It was peaceful enough.

"For such a little town, Port Charles gets a lot of press," said Prescott, a stocky man with a full beard and piercing blue eyes.

"It's the docks, proximity to Canada and the Great Lakes. It's a little city with big city factors," replied Sean. "With a police force that's too small to catch everything or everyone."

"I liked it when I was there. Regular, salt of the earth types," said Prescott.

"The city and its people have big hearts. They'll take anyone in," said Sean dryly.

Prescott grinned, "Even us less savory types."

"Port Charles gave me the good things in my life and I'm not talking about money." Sean's eyes narrowed as he heard his name.

"As I understand it, Donely Associates is handling the event. I tried to get Sean Donely on the program today but I couldn't," said the television host.

"Sean's a busy, busy man," said Suki Kwon. "But things will go smooth. I know it will."

"I'm excited already and the exhibit is weeks away yet. Is this the first time that the pearls will be on display?"

Suki nodded. "It has been under wraps for a long time - more than twenty years."

"Why do an exhibit now?"

"My grandmother, Olin, kept the pearls for a while. She and the other keepers promised to keep the pearls safe until they were no longer needed. The Ancient One always planned for the people, the community, to see them. This way we can understand that prosperity is possible through hard work, perseverance and unity," said Suki.

Edward Quartermaine seated next to Suki with Dillon to his left interjected, "Susan, it may interest you to know that the pearls were originally sold and the proceeds used to buy the canneries from Derek Barrington. However, the Asian Consortium kept their eyes on the pearls. When they were put up for sale once more, the Consortium asked me to act as a broker for re-purchasing the pearls. ELQ held them in trust until the Consortium was able to pay the balance. In exchange, the Consortium has used ELQ Shipping exclusively worldwide through the years."

"I didn't know that, Edward," said Susan.

"Few do, my dear," said Edward with a smile. "The best business deals don't appear in the papers. Heh, heh."

"The pearls were returned to the consortium and ELQ served as mediator for similar deals in other cities around the country," said Dillon. "It's not standard business practice but it worked for all parties. Happy endings all around."

"Suki, you said that they were no longer needed. Why is that?"

"They no longer have to serve as collateral. They should not remain hidden anymore. They are priceless to us because they are symbols of hope," said Suki. "Symbols need to be seen, touched and felt."

"I'd rather have the cash," commented Prescott.

"Symbols have a way of inspiring people that cash can't," said Sean.

"In my experience, cash is king." Prescott looked out the window. He picked up the remote control and opened the garage door. "Your guest is here, Sean."

Sean stood up. "Wonder what kept her? Don't let her see your face. She never forgets a face and she's WSB to the core. Go take a long walk. An hour ought to do it."

"You got it," said Prescott. He stood up and went to get his coat. "Whatever you're involved in, Sean, it's not sounding good to me."

"Just follow orders, Prescott. It's that simple." Sean left to greet Connie.

Connie followed Sean into the study briefcase in hand. They jumped straight into business.

"Sean, before you start, I have to tell you that Ross has been arrested and-"

"What? Ross?"

"He was Faison's mole," said Connie. She held up a hand to stop Sean from interrupting her. "There's more. Something is going down at DVX Central. It's open season on spies, especially in Europe. Embassies are on alert while defectors stream in at all hours."

Sean collapsed into his chair as he absorbed everything pouring out of Connie.

Connie paced across the room. "And don't even get me started on this Heritage Foundation mess. The fingerpointing is frantic. Who knew what and when? I can honestly say that we know nothing."

"The Foundation is an open and shut case. The only thing left is, ah, clean up," said Sean.

"Robert was always thorough," said Connie. "One more thing - Chase Masters. He's been trying to contact Ross and I've put him off. Ross admitted that he and Chase had some handshake deal regarding giving the Gem Group access to Guardian. He must know about Ross by now."

"How much has Ross told Chase about Guardian?" asked Sean with deep concern etched on his features.

"Not much. No details for sure. Just enough to turn Chase sweet. In the last three years, Ross has been using the Gemini Group as a private dirty tricks squad on the corporate side. A company does us wrong, he sends in the Gems to make sure they don't do it again. Or, the Gems go in and makes some mischief that results in us being called in," supplied Connie. "Chase has played Ross very well actually. He hooked Ross then reeled him in. When Chase went asking about Guardian, Ross couldn't very well say no, could he? But he didn't give the store away, thank God."

"Why didn't he? I mean Ross was the head of the entire organization. He knew everything. Why didn't he tell Chase what he knew?"

Connie shrugged, "Lionel Beam, remember him, says that Ross retains his native loyalty to the Bureau which in most cases was stronger than whatever hold Faison had on him. Personally, I think Ross withheld the information because it wasn't the right time. He had to have some kind of stick to use on Chase if he needed one in the future."

"Both makes sense, I suppose," said Sean. He looked sharply at Connie. "Are you sure that Ross' use of the Gems wasn't a directive from Faison? How much control did he have?"

"First Frisco now you! Faison is NOT the root cause of all evil."

"Faison is certainly capable of it. I've learned to NEVER underestimate him. How much has Ross passed on to Faison?"

"I don't know. Not yet. Frisco is handling that … debriefing session. Based on preliminary analysis, we think Ross was accessed sporadically. The most activity was in the late 80s and early 90s. Then it peters out after that until it dies off around 2000. However, it increased again just in the last year. Strange pattern."

"Where did this analysis come from if you haven't gotten much out of him?" asked Sean.

"Through a strange series of dots that I still haven't wrapped my head around," said Connie. "Chase got Tim, our Tim, to draft a design of a new computer system for the Gems. Tim did a demo for them and Chase loved it. The problem arose in that Tim used some algorithms from Guardian in his program. If anyone knew how to replicate key components of Guardian, it was Tim. Something spooked Tim before he could hand the design over to Chase."

"Like what? Tim doesn't scare easy."

"I can only guess that Tim found out something on the Gem end. He must have stalled Chase. Chase then turned to Ross to find out about the Babbage Protocol and its underlying system Guardian. If they couldn't build their own system, why not simply access the original?"

"But why didn't Tim tell anyone? You, certainly."

"Tim wasn't one for making unsupported accusations, Sean. He would have made sure he had his facts straight and complete before coming forward," said Connie. "I think that's what he was trying to do when he was killed. Dianara and Frisco found a disc with his new design on it on Tim's boat and they found his stash of data cards, too. I couldn't have anyone be tipped off about it so the Scorpionet team did the analysis honors. They found the pattern of Ross' activities and Frisco tied it back to Ross absolutely."

"Robert's team knows everything?"

"Pretty much all, yes," said Connie. "What do you mean Robert's team? We're all on the same team here."

"I've made some moves to distance myself from Anna and Robert now that I've decided on the plan I want to follow against Chase and the Gems," said Sean. "The less connected they are to me the better for both sides."

"Ah, Guardian," deduced Connie.

"If Chase finds out that Guardian is really one Andrew Scorpio, it's over. Anna and Robert will go to war on anyone and anything that threatens them and theirs. Anna shot Faison point blank. For once, I don't have any doubts that she would have killed him if she had to," said Sean. "For god's sake, look what Robert did to the Foundation."

"I was surprised how blatantly violent that was," said Connie. "Robert prefers a lighter touch."

"Well, our old friend has changed and maybe not for the better," said Sean. "You know this Ross thing works to MY advantage."

"In what way?"

"No Ross. No access to you. This gives me more value, utility and leverage. Chase will have to rely on me for more than he thought he would. I just have to feed him some information that confirms my influence and access to what he wants. It's perfect,"

"What's your plan?"

Sean shook his head. "No. You need some protection, too. You can't know too much."

"I'm the only back up you have or have you forgotten that?"

"Connie, the best way to close down an operation is from both ends. You on one end and me on the other. To play Chase and shutdown Minerva we can't be connected. Surely, you see that? Chase is no fool."

"I don't like you doing this solo."

"I'll be fine. I'm the last person anyone will suspect. As far as the Gems are concerned, I'm their founding father. I'm on their side."

"Which will make betrayal cut even deeper. You need some kind of protection, Sean."

Sean pointed at his head. "I have that up here. I know too much and I'm high profile enough to be missed."

"Oh, god, you're not using that as a reason. I'm a celebrity and therefore I can't be assassinated, snatched off the streets or imprisoned for life somewhere really nasty. You can't be THAT idiotic," said Connie.

"Don't worry about me. You've got enough on your plate. Here's what I want you to do," said Sean. "Keep Frisco around. He's a good shield and he takes the heat off you."

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"Frisco is due to leave the service any day now."

"He can't do that!"

"He wants … needs to keep his promise to Felicia to come home and make amends with Maxie," said Connie. "He's pulled in two directions and this time his heart is going to overule his head. I can't say I want him to stay either."

"You're going to be solo, too. You can't be. You're the critical piece in the plan! You have to talk him out of It," said Sean. "Three to four months and I'll get this wrapped up."

"You know better than to make promises like that," said Connie. "I can't and won't hold him, Sean. I may be a bitch but not a heartless one."

"When you get as deep into the you-know-what as we are now, you're allowed to be an even bigger bitch - man or woman," said Sean. His expression turned to one of astonishment. "Connie, would it be possible that Tim learned about Project Minerva being restarted?"

"Anything's possible but that's unlikely. Why would you think he would?"

"Because my head keeps going back to why Tim didn't say anything to anyone about his involvement with the Gems. There has to be something to it," said Sean.

"I told you it's not in Tim's nature to make unfounded accusations."

"You're thinking like a normal person not a techie."

"I'm not following you at all."

"Technical people are as superb at analysis and seeing patterns that hide in plain sight as they are horrible out in the field where the skills to see the obvious and to react quickly are essential," said Sean. "What if he saw me in the data somehow? He was around during the time that I was putting the Gem Group together. He may not have known anything back then but who's to say he didn't put two and two together and got three - me, Chase and the Gems. I tried to erase my tracks but someone skilled in systems could have found my trail. And who knows what Gem data he was made privy to?"

"So, he held his tongue out of a sense of loyalty to you?"

"If he did, it would mean I signed his death warrant," said Sean. "Who else knew about the Gems restarting the Minerva Project besides yourself?"

The blood drained from Connie's face. "Tim knew about Minerva but he didn't know the connection to you or to the Gems. I swear it, Sean. He was the one who found out that someone had been accessing the archives searching for data about the project. He brought it to my attention and I told him to not bother about it. That it was a dead project that never got off the ground."

"But he probably got curious and he started to dig," said Sean. "And he found me and the Gems. Chase found out and had Tim killed. It all makes sense."

"No, it doesn't. Minerva information isn't in Guardian. When I asked Tim how he found out, he said that it was an accidental discovery. He was in the paper archives hunting for information on another matter when he came across the file. You know Tim loves going through the paper stacks. He'd never heard of the Minerva Project before and he asked the archivist who had requested the information."

"Who was it?"

"Ross."

Sean rubbed at his temples. A headache was forming and fast. "But HOW did the data get archived in the first place? I burned the files. I made sure of that. How many files were in the archive?"

"Just one labelled 'Project Minerva'. There wasn't much in it except for one briefing document several pages long about recruiting a specific type of operative for an ongoing project."

"Who wrote it?"

"Gabriel de Bruin, Quebec office."

"I charged Gabriel with recruitment. He must have filed it after I'd destroyed the files," said Sean. "And the file is still there?"

"No. I destroyed the document and replaced it with some gibberish I made up."

"Good thinking," said Sean. "Did Ross speak to you about it?"

"No. I only found out through Tim."

"But why did Ross want to see it? No one outside of the European branch would have known about it. How did Ross know to ask for it?" asked Sean. "Was he doing it himself, for Chase or for Faison?"

"Do you think they could be connected via Ross? Faison and the Gems I mean."

Sean recoiled. "No way!"

"Ross is the common denominator. What Ross knows, Faison may know."

"He can't. He better not."

"Why not?"

"Just … just take my word for this. He can't," said Sean. He ran a hand across his face. "I need you to push Frisco to find out if … if Faison knows about Minerva. Tell me as soon as you know. Call my cell."

"That's against protocol."

"I don't care. I need to know ASAP," said Sean. "If Faison knows about the Gems, that doesn't impact my plan much. But if he knows about Minerva, then I have to shut down Project Minerva AND deal with Faison once and for all. Permanently. If Robert's team has Tim's data, then they have an outside chance of figuring the same thing out," said Sean thinking out loud. "I have to get that data back."

"Um, that's going to be tricky. The team printed the files out. Every last piece of data. That's how they saw the pattern by physically sorting every document by access or modification date. It's a lot of things to dispose of without getting caught," said Connie. "They haven't gone through all of Tim's material with a fine tooth comb. Maybe they never will if I tell them to stop investigating."

"Then do that," said Sean harshly. "Because if Robert or Anna figure things out, I guarantee you that it will change the Game. You think the stakes are high now, you haven't seen anything yet!"

"Are they still out of the country? My coverage team is trailing an Andrew double. That doesn't sit well with me. Where are they really?"

Sean shrugged. "All I know is that they're in Australia."

Connie was astonished. "You're really out of the loop aren't you?"

"Haven't I been saying that all along? Things have worked out this way and it's for the best," said Sean. "The distance will lessen Chase's suspicions. And, as long as I stick with my plan, no one, including Anna and Robert, will be the wiser. I'll just look really, really busy for a while."