Nelson Demille - The Lion's Game

So, off we went into the fog to meet someone in the middle of nowhere.

We drove another ten minutes or so across this sort of windswept high plateau, covered with rocks and wildflowers. There was no trail, but we didn't need one because the terrain was flat and open. We seemed to be on the highest point in the area.

Through the swirling fog, I could see something white ahead, and I picked up the rifle and focused in on it. The white thing was green-tinted now through this weird lens, and I saw that it was a concrete building about the size of a big house. The building sat at the base of a huge, man-made embankment of earth and stone. Beyond the building, at the top of the embankment, was a tall, strange-looking structure, like an upside-down funnel.

As we came within a hundred yards of these fog-shrouded, intergalactic-looking structures at the top of the world, Kate turned to me and said, "Okay-this is an X-Files moment."

Gene laughed. He said, "That's a VORTAC installation."

"Well," I said, "that clears that up."

Gene explained, "It's an aircraft navigation beacon. You understand?"

"What kind of aircraft? From what planet?"

"Any planet. It sends out omni signals-you know, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree radio signals for civilian and military aircraft to navigate. This will be replaced by the satellite Global Positioning System someday, but for now, it's still in operation." He added, "Russian nuclear submarines off the coast also use it. No charge."

The Jeep continued toward this VORTAC station, so I assumed that's where we were going. I said, "That looks like crap duty."

Gene replied, "These things are unmanned. It's all automatic, and it's monitored by Air Traffic Control in L.A. But people come up here and do routine maintenance. It has its own power source."

"Right. That would be a long extension cord back to the ranch house."

Gene sort of chuckled. He said, "We're on Federal land now."

"I feel better already. Is this where we're meeting someone?"

"Yup."

"Who?"

"Don't know." He went on with his tour and said, "Right here, where we're driving, used to be Playground Three-the presidential helipad. Concrete and lighted. It was stupid to take it out."

He stopped the Jeep about twenty yards from the VORTAC site and said, "Well, see you later."

"Excuse me? You want us to get out?"

"If you don't mind."

I said, "There's no one here, Gene."

"You're here. Somebody else is here waiting for you."

I was getting nowhere with this guy, so I said to Kate, "Okay, let's play the game." I jumped out of the open Jeep, and Kate got out, too.

She said to Gene, "Are you leaving?"

"Yup."

Gene didn't seem to be in a talkative mood any longer, but I asked him, "Can I borrow that rifle?"

"Nope."

I said, "Okay, thanks for the tour, Gene. Hey, if you're ever in New York, I'll take you to Central Park at night."

"See you later."

"Right."

Gene put the Jeep in gear and rode off into the fog.

Kate and I stood there on the open plateau, mist swirling around, not a light to be seen anywhere, except one, coming from the extraterrestrial structure sitting all by itself. I half expected a death ray to come out of that weird tower and turn me into protoplasm or something.

But, my curiosity was piqued, so off I went toward the VORTAC, Kate beside me.

Kate was looking at the structure as we walked and said, "I see some antennas. Don't see any vehicles. Maybe this is the wrong VORTAC." She laughed.

She was pretty calm, I thought, given the situation. I mean, there was a crazed assassin out there somewhere, we were armed only with pistols, we had no body armor, no transportation, and we were meeting someone who I wasn't even sure was from this planet.

When we got to the concrete building, I looked inside through the one small window, which revealed this big electronics room with blinking lights and some other weird high-tech stuff. I tapped on the window. "Hello! We come in peace! Take me to your leader!"

"John, stop being an idiot. This isn't funny."

I thought she had made a joke a minute before. But she was right-this wasn't funny.

We walked along the base of the forty-foot-high pile of dirt and rocks, on top of which was the white upside-down funnel, rising about eighty more feet into the air.

We came around to the far side of the mound, and as we turned a corner, I saw a man dressed in dark clothing, sitting on a huge flat rock at the base of the embankment. He was about thirty feet away, and even in the dark and fog, I could see that he was peering through a set of what must have been night vision binoculars.

Kate saw him, too, and we both put our hands on our pistols.

The man heard or sensed our presence because he put down the binoculars and turned toward us. I saw now that he had a long object lying across his knees, and it wasn't a fishing pole.

So, we all stared at each other for a few long seconds, then the man said, "Your journey has ended."

Kate said, in a barely audible voice, "Ted."

Well, I'll be a horned-toed hoot owl. It was Ted Nash. Why was I not completely surprised?

He didn't bother to stand and greet us, so we walked over to him and stopped at this Martian-red flat rock where Ted sat with his legs hanging over the edge.

He gave a sort of half wave, as if this was an office encounter. He said, "I'm glad you could make it."

Oh, fuck you, Ted. How cool can you get? I refused to play his silly game and said nothing.

Kate, however, said, "You could have told us it was you we were meeting." She added, "You're not cool, Ted."

This seemed to deflate him a bit, and he looked annoyed.

Kate also informed him, "We could have killed you. By mistake."

He'd obviously rehearsed this moment, but Kate wasn't reading from his script.

Anyway, old Ted had charcoal on his face, a black bandanna around his head, and was wearing black pants, a black shirt, black running shoes, and a heavy flak jacket. I said to him, "A little early for Halloween, isn't it?"

He didn't reply, but shifted the rifle on his lap. The rifle was an M-14 with a starlight scope, just like the one Gene wouldn't let me borrow.

I said to him, "Okay, talk to me, Teddy. What's up?"

He didn't answer me, probably a little put off by the Teddy thing. He reached behind him and produced a thermos bottle. "Coffee?"

I had zero patience for Mr. Cloak and Dagger. I said, "Ted, I know it's important for you to be smooth and polished, but I'm just a New York cop, and I'm really not in the mood for this shit. Say your piece, then get us a fucking vehicle, and get us out of here."

He said, "All right. First, let me congratulate you both on figuring it out."

I replied, "You knew all about this, didn't you?"

He nodded. "I knew some of it, but not all of it."

"Right. And by the way, I won ten bucks from you."

"I'll put it in as a reimbursable expense." He looked at Kate and me and informed us, "You've caused us a lot of trouble."

"Who is us?"

He didn't reply, but picked up his night vision binoculars and scanned a distant treeline. As he scanned, he said, "I'm fairly sure Khalil is out there. Do you agree?"

I said, "I agree. You should stand and wave."

"And you spoke to him."

"I did. I gave him your home address."

He laughed. He surprised me by saying, "You may not believe this, but I like you."

"And I like you, Ted. I truly do. I just don't like it when you don't share."

Kate chimed in and said, "If you knew what was happening, why didn't you say something? People have been killed, Ted."

He put down the binoculars and looked at Kate. He said, "All right, here's the story. There is a man named Boris, an ex-KGB agent, who is working for Libyan Intelligence. Fortunately, he likes money, and he also works for us." Ted considered this a moment, then said, "Actually, he likes us. And not them. Anyway, some years ago, Boris contacted us and told us about this young man named Asad Khalil, whose family was killed in the nineteen eighty-six raid-"