Page 116 - Brokenclaw - John Gardner

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him, from the rear, as though he had been waiting for his arrival.

‘Indexer?’ a voice said softly in his ear.
‘You talking to me?’ He turned his head and saw the face belonged to a
youngish man who looked uncertain and anxious, his eyes darting everywhere.
‘We’ll
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wide open.’
Rushia grunted.
‘If you want sleep, I wouldn’t bank on getting much tonight.’ The stranger
smiled happily, as though thinking that if he had to go for a couple of nights

without sleep, why should he be concerned about others having to do the same?
There was no conversation as the cab took them through the night streets,
across to the Naval facility. From there they travelled out to the carrier by
helicopter. Twenty minutes later, Commander Ed Rushia stood in the makeshift
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CIA control and communications room aboard the ship. Much had altered since
he had last been aboard. More communications and electronic gear appeared
to have been installed and there was a new tension among the men who were
controlling Operation Curve from this floating airbase.

He was also surprised when M, not the CIA Officer in charge, gave him the
briefing, running through the events which had occurred by the time he arrived.
‘To be honest, we haven’t a clue where Checklist and Custodian have been
taken.’ The Old Man looked more grizzled and tired than during the previous

meeting. A large scale map was lowered in front of him, sandwiched between
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a pair of heavy plastic plates. The surface of the plastic was covered in lines
and circles marked in various colours.
‘We know they managed somehow to stage an emergency right at a point

which made Salinas their only possible alternate.’ He raised a pointer to show
the small airfield. ‘Once there, the local people were convinced it was a
genuine problem. They also reported that a limousine picked up at least three,
possibly four, passengers. The Gulfstream’s captain, his second officer, a

steward and a chef are still at Salinas waiting for mechanics to arrive from
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their home base which apparently is Los Angeles. We’ve flown out a CIA
officer posing as an FAA inspector to try and get more firm explanations. He’ll
interrogate the crew, but they’re probably just going to tell us they were

obeying orders.
‘Now if our two people were moved from Salinas by limo, we figure they
could have been taken anywhere within a forty mile radius. They could also be

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