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"Then he knew."
"Looks that way."
"Why did he risk coming on board if he knew everyone was going to die except him?"
"As a backup, in case the main target, or targets, probably the entire contingent of Mexicans, didn't take the poison."
The President leaned back in his chair and studied the ceiling. "Okay, Kamil is a Thorn in
the side of Yazid. He pays Animar to erase her. The job is botched and the plane doesn't disappear in the middle of the Arctic Ocean as planned but comes down in Greenland. So much for mystery number one. Solid facts for a good case. We'll call it the Egyptian connection. Mystery number two, the Mexican connection, is far more cloudy. There is no obvious motive for a mass murder, and the only suspect is dead. If I were a judge I'd order the case dismissed for lack of evidence."
"I'd have to go along," said Brogan. "There has been no evidence of terrorist movements operating out of Mexico."
"You forget Topiltzin," the President said unexpectedly.
Brogan was surprised at the cold, mysterious look of pure anger that spread across the President's face.
"The agency has not forgotten Topiltzin," Brogan assured him, "or what he did to Guy Rivas. I'll have him taken out whenever you say the word."
The President suddenly sighed and sagged in his chair. "If only it was that simple. Snap my fingers and the CIA obliterates a foreign opposition leader. The risk is too great. Ken nedy found that out when he condoned the mafia's attempt to kill Castro. "
"Reagan made no objections to the attempts to get Muarnmar Qaddafi. "
"Yes," the President said wearily. "If only he had known Qaddafi would fool everyone and die of cancer!"
"No such luck with Topiltzin. Medical reports say he's as strong as a Missouri mule."
"The man is a bloody lunatic. If he takes over Mexico, we'll have a disaster on our hands."
"You played the tape made by Rivas?" Brogan asked, knowing the answer.
"Four times," the President said bitterly. "It's enough to provoke nightmares."
"And if Topiltzin topples the present government and makes good his threat by sending millions of his people flooding across our border in a mad attempt to recover the American Southwest." . . . ?" Brogan let the question hang.
The President replied in a strangely mild tone. "Then I will have no choice but to order our armed forces to treat any horde of illegal aliens as foreign invaders."
Brogan arrived back in his office at the CIA headquarters in Langley and found the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Elmer Shaw, waiting for him.
"Sorry to foul up your busy schedule," said Shaw, "but I have some interesting news that might make your day."
"Must be important to warrant your personal visit."
"It is."
"Come in and sit down. Is the news good or bad?"
"Very good."
"Nothing else is going right lately," said Brogan solemnly. "I'll be glad to hear something decent for a change."
"Our survey ship, the Polar Explorer, has been searching for the Soviet Alfa-class submarine that went missing."
"I'm familiar with the mission," Brogan interrupted. "Well, they've found it."
Brogan's eyes widened slightly, and he rapped his desk in a rare display of pleasure. "Congratulations. The Alfa class is the finest sub in both navies. Your people have pulled off a master stroke."
"We haven't got our hands on it yet," said Shaw.
