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.He told about Stein getting captured by the police and of his freeing him."But Christ, man," Colin said, "you've brought a CIA agent here.There's no way we can let him go, don't you know that?" Stein looked on edge, but somehow resigned to his fate.Colin was certain that he knew the rules of the game."He is a repository of information," Mulcifer said."One that I want to start drawing upon as quickly as possible.The computer is hooked up to the phone line, yes?""To the Internet? Yes, of course.""Mr.Stein and I will require it.In the meantime, you need to be thinking about two things.The first is if there is another way we can leave this castle beside the main road, one that can't be observed from that southern ridge.And second, we'll need a place where we can store Mr.Stein here when he's not in use.He's much more valuable to us alive than dead.""What about the other agents?" Colin asked."Do they know about the jailbreaks?""They suspect," Mulcifer said, "but they have no proof.The van was away from the castle during the escapes, so they know that we could have had something to do with it.They have been searching for me, you see, among their other activities, and have, I'm certain, connected the castle to the Templars and probably also to your father." Mulcifer glanced casually at Stein, who looked surprised."I am correct, am I not? Deductions, for a change, rather than exploring your thoughts." He looked back at Colin."The others don't know he's here.They'll probably realize that his escape could have been due only to me, but I seriously doubt that they'll report you to the English authorities.They want me, you see.This is the third time our paths have crossed, and they're unlikely to do anything that would jeopardize their own contact with me.So." He clapped his hands together."Let's get to work, Joseph.""What are you planning?" Colin asked."What information is he going to provide?""You'll know when we have it," Mulcifer replied."Or maybe a little later.But don't worry—it's all for the cause."Colin did not offer to supply Mulcifer with a guard over Stein.He knew there was no need.The pair left the room, and Colin thought about what else Mulcifer had said.There was a large open elevator in the inner ward that had been used to take supplies down to the cellars.A car or van would fit on it easily enough, and from the first cellar there was an escape door onto the beach.The van would just fit through it, he thought.Then they could drive a half mile north on the beach to an old boat access road that was still functional, and get out onto the main road without being seen by watchers on the ridge.As for where to keep Joseph Stein, the bottle dungeon would be ideal.It was located in the guardhouse of the northwest tower, and a trapdoor level with the stone floor was the only indication of its existence.It was actually shaped like a bottle, with a long, narrow opening at the top, and a wider cell beneath, accessible only by a rope or a ladder.Once at the bottom of the twenty-foot-deep dungeon, it was impossible to climb the slanted walls to the top, and even if someone miraculously could, the trapdoor would be locked.It was the only dungeon in the castle, and the only one that was ever needed.Now for the deeper questions, Colin thought.What were these CIA agents doing just outside his castle walls, and how much of a threat did they pose to his mission? After Mulcifer got through with this Stein, Colin would have to interrogate him and see.As far as Colin knew, he and his organization had not drawn the attention of MI5's counterterrorism division, and he wanted to keep it that way, even if it meant disposing of Stein and the other two agents.He preferred to keep any violence away from the peninsula, so it was something he would rather not have done.But nothing could be allowed to endanger the cause.Chapter 31Mulcifer closed the door behind them, and ordered Joseph to turn on the computer.The words were spoken gently enough, but it was an order nonetheless, and Joseph could no more have disobeyed it than flown."In 1984," Mulcifer said in his deep singer's voice, "the British government decided to dispose of a large supply of nerve gas.They buried it somewhere in Scotland.That is all I know.What I want you to find out is what kind of gas it is, why it was buried, and precisely where, along with how it is guarded, if at all.I know you have access to CIA data banks—and since the CIA's deepest secrets were entrusted to you as an intelligence interpreter, you can delve into the agency's deepest cover secrets.So." He gestured to the computer."Delve away."It took Joseph nearly an hour to find the information.He had determined not to do so, to chase around the data banks, hopping from link to link, never finding the information Mulcifer desired, telling him that it simply wasn't there.But he found that he could not deceive or disobey the man at all.He was, to his horror, like a ravenous dog sent by its master to bring back the prey, and he could do nothing else."The gas is VX," he told Mulcifer."It's similar to Sarin, the gas that was released in the Tokyo subway by Aum Shinrikyo, that Japanese cult, but this stuff is a hundred times more deadly.""And how does it kill?" Mulcifer asked."It screws up the nerves that control certain muscles, like your diaphragm.You can't breathe, you convulse, you die.Sarin just dissipates in the air, but VX is thicker.You get a drop on your hand or your face, and you're dead in minutes.""And supposedly decent, civilized countries use these things?""And worse.There's a biological weapon called Botox, a toxin made from the botulism bacteria.Iraq has a healthy—or unhealthy—supply of it
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