Russell Moran - A Climate of Doubt

“Nancy?”

“Duncan.”

“Bill?”

“Duncan.”

“Rick Bellamy?”

“Duncan.”

“Let me be a bit unorthodox and ask for a show of hands. How many people think the word Duncan is key to our next step?”

Everyone in the room raised their hand but Buster wanted to add something. When he raised his hand he said, “with an explanation.”

“When the man who our CIA director calls ‘super spook’ has an explanation, I’d like to hear it.”

“As you’re aware, Mr. President,” Buster said, “the CIA has some deeply imbedded spies at Rosetta. They’ve fed us a steady stream of information about Philip Duncan, but were it not for our astronaut friends, the Cranstons, it would be just a lot of unconnected dots. From what I’ve heard, when Bill and Nancy called Rick Bellamy and told him that Bill saw Duncan a few hours after Stargazer exploded and the man said nothing, Rick knew immediately that he had to get them into protective custody. Duncan’s silence that morning was the dot that connected all the other dots. Rick was sharp enough to tell Nancy to make up a story about her sick grandmother, a woman who passed away many years ago. The purpose of that call was to throw Duncan off the scent of knowing that they were on to him. Whisking them away also saved their lives. But Duncan is a smart guy, and it’s just a matter of time before he realizes that the government has him in the crosshairs.”

“That’s a great explanation, Buster, but do you have a recommendation about what action to take with the elusive Philip Duncan.”

“One of my imbedded moles has a talent for voice impersonation,” Buster said. “He’s always a hit at parties. He’d show up and speak to the host for a couple of minutes and then do an impersonation of the host’s voice that was perfect. A few minutes after I met the guy he did an imitation of me that made me think I was talking to myself. He’s amazing. I bet he could get on the phone right now with Nancy or Bill, two people who know Duncan well, and they would think they were speaking to the man himself. He’s also technically smart as hell, one of my best people. I recommend that we arrest Duncan and the four others we know are with him. Then, with the technical assistance of Bill and Nancy Cranston, my voice impersonation guy will talk to the Reformer astronauts, and even to Bartholomew Martin himself. So, we’ll turn Rosetta into a weather-controlling entity staffed by our people. I haven’t figured it out yet, but we can use my voice guy to lure Bartholomew out into the open.”

“He may talk a lot, but Buster’s the best damned spook on the planet,” Bill Carlini said. “Buster, how about a demonstration. Call your impersonation guy and tell him to do a Duncan imitation on speaker phone.”

Buster dialed a number from the secure phone.

“Bob Columbo, please.”

“Bob, it’s me. I’m in a meeting at the White House, and I’d like you to do an impersonation of Mr. X over the speaker phone. Bill and Nancy Mullin are here. Go ahead.”

“Phil Duncan here wishing you all a pleasant day. To celebrate, I’m cooking up a blizzard for your traveling pleasure. Bill and Nancy, congratulations on your wedding. At least I didn’t rain on your parade. This is Phil Duncan, signing off.”

Anybody in the room who had ever spoken to Duncan cracked up laughing.

“He sounds exactly like Duncan,” Nancy said, “not similar, but exactly. Here’s an idea. We must have tons of voice tapes of Bartholomew Martin from the years he was president. Imagine a fake Martin calling Duncan and then Duncan returning the call to talk about what they had discussed.”

“If you ever tire of being an astronaut, Nancy,” Buster said, “you’d make a great spook.”

“Buster, do we have a phone number where Bartholomew Martin can be reached?” Bill Carlini asked.

“Bartholomew’s phone number is one of the secrets of the universe,” Buster said.

“Okay, folks,” President Blake said, “in a few hours we’re going to pull off one of the most sensitive operations we’ve ever handled.”

FBI Agent Walter Drake was the senior agent at Rosetta headquarters. He had orders directly from FBI Director Watson to carry out a critical mission, and to accomplish it in five minutes.

“We have a list of four people to arrest,” Drake said to his group of seven FBI agents. Our first task is to lure each of them to a location where their arrest won’t be seen by witnesses. I’ve chosen the office of the CEO Philip Duncan, our primary target.”

“How will we get them there?” one of his agents asked.

“Bob Colombo, one of the CIA guys here, is a talented voice impersonator. He’ll call each of our targets, speaking in the voice of Duncan. The time to execute is set for 11:30 a.m. today, two hours from now. There is a corridor from the Duncan’s office leading directly to a private parking space behind the building. The office was set up that way, so the top man could sneak in and out of his office without being seen. We’ll escort them into a waiting van that will take them into custody. Once they’re all off premises, FBI Agent Jack Foreman will take over and announce his position as interim CEO. President Blake has cleared this with the chairman of the board of Rosetta, who is a personal friend. We’ve been briefing Foreman for days. He’s one of us, so we don’t have to worry about giving him too much information. Each of you have your scripts to recite to any employee who asks if you know what happened. Again, just say that Duncan and the others went to a meeting and should return shortly. Consider Duncan’s cell phone the most valuable piece of equipment in the entire building. I will grab it, but in case anything happens, make sure you get custody of that phone.”

Buster sat in my office at 26 Federal Plaza in New York.

“It’s time to make it happen, Buster.”

Buster dialed Bob Colombo, his undercover voice impersonator.

“Bob, it’s Buster. Okay, you’re about to launch your first live action scene as the voice of Philip Duncan. You have the script and the phone numbers of the men to call. Make all the calls right after 11 a.m. and tell them to report to Duncan’s office immediately, 11:30 at the latest. I don’t expect any questions because they’re accustomed to taking orders from Duncan. If any of them tries to say he can’t make it, switch into the ‘nasty Duncan’ voice that you’ve rehearsed with Nancy and Bill Cranston. I don’t see any problem getting them to Duncan’s office. Walter Drake, the lead FBI guy, will let me know after the deal is sealed.”

“What the hell are you doing in my office?” Duncan said to agent Walter Drake.

“Stand up with your hands in the air,” Drake said. “You’re under arrest for treason and other crimes you will find out about at your arraignment. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law and may also result in my cracking your fucking skull open. Hand me your cell phone and sit behind your desk with your hands where I can see them. We’re about to have an impromptu meeting with your colleagues.”

As each man walked into Duncan’s office, an agent immediately handcuffed him and read him his rights. Drake then cuffed Duncan and the group left the office, walking down the corridor to the waiting van. The van would take them to the airport to board a private jet to take them to Washington, where they would be jailed pending arraignment.

“Hi, Buster, it’s Walter Drake. Secretary Bellamy and Director Watson told me to communicate directly with you. I’m happy to report that Duncan and his accomplices have been apprehended and are on their way to Washington. Jack Foreman has been thoroughly briefed as you know, and has taken over as interim CEO of Rosetta, although that fact has not been announced to anyone yet.”