The Doomsday Conspiracy (15 page)

Willard Stone was in a good mood.

"I had dinner with the President last evening. He told me that he's very pleased with your work, Dustin."

"I'm very gratified."

"You're doing a fine job. You're helping to protect us against the hordes."

"The hordes?"

"Those who would try to bring this great country to its knees. But it is not just the enemy outside the walls we have to beware of. It is those who pretend to be serving our country, who fail to do their duty. Those who do not carry out their orders."

"The mavericks."

"That's right, Dustin. The mavericks. They must be punished. If-" A man walked into the room.

"Excuse me, Mr. Stone.

The gentlemen have arrived. They're waiting for you."

"Yes." Stone turned to his son-in-law.

"Finish your lunch, Dustin. I have something important to take care of. One day I may be able to tell you about it." Page 86

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he streets of Zurich were filled with weird-looking creatures with odd sbapes, misshapen giants with large, grotesque bodies and tiny eyes, and with skin the color of boiled fish. They were meat eaters, and she hated the fetid smells they exuded from their bodies. Some of the females wore animal skins, the remains of the creatures they had murdered. She was still stunned by the terrible accident that had taken away the life essence of her companions. She had been on earth for four cycles of what these strange-looking beings called luna, and she had not eaten in all that time. She was faint from thirst. The only water she had been able to drink was the fresh rainwater in the farmer's trough, and it had not rained since the night she arrived. The rest of the water on earth was undrinkable. She had gone into an alien feeding place, but she had been unable to stand the stench. She had tried to eat their raw vegetables and fruit, but they were tasteless, not like the succulent food at home.

She was called the Graceful One, and she was tall and stately and beautiful with luminous green eyes. She had adopted the appearance of an earthling after she left the site of the crash, and she walked through the crowds unnoticed.

She was seated at a table in a hard, uncomfortable chair that had been built for the human body, and she read the minds of the creatures around her.

Two of the beings were seated at a table near her. One was speaking aloud.

"It's the chance of a lifetime, Franz! For fifty thousand francs you can get in at the start. You've got fifty thousand francs, haven't you?"

She read the loud thoughts in his head.

Come on, you swine. I need the commission.

"Sure, but I don't know-" I'll have to borrow it from my wife.

"Have I ever given you bad investment advice?" Make up your mind.

"It's a lot of money." She'll never give it to me.

"What about the potential? There's a chance to make millions." Say yes.

"All right. I'm in." Maybe I can sell some of her jewelry. I have him! "You'll never regret it, Franz." He can always take a tax loss.

The Graceful One had no idea what the conversation meant. At the far end of the restaurant, a man and woman were seated at a table. They were talking in low voices. She stretched her mind to hear them.

"Jesus Christ!" the man said.

"How the hell could you get pregnant?" You stupid bitch!

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"How do you think I got pregnant?"

Your cock did it! Pregnant was how these beings gestated, procreating clumsily with their genitals, like their animals in the fields.

"What are you going to do about it, Tina?" You've got to get an abortion.

"What do you expect me to do? You said you were going to tell your wife about me." You lying bastard.

"Look, honey, I am, but this is a bad time." I was crazy to ever get involved with you. I should have known you were trouble.

"It's a bad time for me, too, Paul. I don't even think you love me." Please tell me you do.

"Of course I love you. It's just that my wife is going through a rough period right now." I don't intend to lose her.

"I'm going through a rough period right now too. Don't you understand?

I'm having your baby." And you're damn well going to marry me. Water was coming from her eyes.

"Calm down, honey. I tell you, everything is going to be fine. I want the baby as much as you do." I'll have to talk her into an abortion. At a table next to them, a male creature was seated alone. They promised me. They said the race was fixed, that I couldn't lose, and like a fool, I turned all my monry over to them. I've got to find a way to put it back before the auditors come. I couldn't stand it if they put me in jail. I'll kill myself first. I swear to God, I'll kill myself At another table, a male and female were in the middle of a discussion. ..... it's nothing like that. It's just that I've got this beautiful chalet in the mountains, and I thought it would be good for you to get away for a weekend and relax." We'll spend a lot of time relaxing in my bed, cherie.

"I don't know, Claude. I've never gone away with a man before." I wonder if he believes that.

"Oui, but this is not a sex thing. I just thought of the chalet because you said you needed a rest. You can think of me as your brother." And we will try some good, oldfashioned incest.

The Graceful One was unaware that the various peopIe were speaking in different languages, for she was able to filter them all through her consciousness and understand what they were saying. I must find a way to get in touch with the mothership, she thought. She took out the small, hand-held silvercolored transmitter. It was a divided neuronet system, half of it consisting of living organic material and the other half of a metallic compound from another galaxy. The organic material was composed of thousands of single cells, so that as they died off, others would multiply, keeping the connections constant. Unfortunately, the dilitheum crystal that activated the transmitter had broken off and was lost. She had tried to communicate with her ship, but the transmitter was useless without it. She tried to eat another leaf of lettuce, but she could no longer stand the stench. She rose and started toward the door. The cashier called out after her, "Just a minute, miss. You haven't paid for your meal." Page 88

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"I'm sorry. I do not have your medium of exchange."

"You can tell that to the police."

The Graceful One stared into the cashier's eyes and watched her go limp. She turned and walked out of the feeding place.

I must find the crystal. They are waiting to hear from me. She had to concentrate to focus her senses. But everything seemed blurred and distorted. Without water, she knew, she was going to die soon. Day Five Bern, Switzerland

Robert had come to a dead end. He had not realized how much he had counted on obtaining Mothershed's list of names. Up in smoke, Robert thought. Literally.

The trail was cold now. I should have gotten the list when I was in Mothershed's fiat. That will teach. me t~teach. Of course! A thought that had been in the back of his mind suddenly came into focus. Hans Beckerman had said, "Affenarsch! All the other passengers were excited about seeing the UFO and those dead creatures in it, but this old man kept complaining about how we had to hurry up to get to Bern because he had to prepare some lecture for the university." It was a long shot, but it was all Robert had.

He rented a car at the Bern airport and headed for the university. He turned off Rathausgasse, the main street of Bern, and drove to Langgassestrasse, where the University of Bern was located. The university is composed of several buildings, the main one a large four-story stone building with two wings and large stone gargoyles adorning the roof. At each end of the courtyard in front of the building are glass skylights over classrooms, and at the rear of the university is a large park overlooking the Aare River. Robert walked up the front steps of the administration building and entered the reception hall. The only information Beckerman had given him was that the passenger was German and that he was preparing his lecture for Monday.

A student directed him to the Office of the Administration. The woman seated behind the desk was a formidable figure. She had on a severely tailored suit, blackframed spectacles, and she wore her hair in a bun. She looked up as Robert entered her office.

"Bitte?"

Robert pulled out an identification card.

"Interpol. I'm conducting an investigation, and I would appreciate your cooperation, Miss-"

"Frau. Frau Schreiber. What kind of investigation?"

"I'm looking for a professor." She frowned.

"His name?"

"I don't know."

"You do not know his name?"

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"No. He's a visiting professor. He gave a lecture here a few days ago. Montag."

"Many visiting professors come here every day to give lectures. What is his discipline?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"What does he teach?"

Her tone was growing impatient.

"What subject did he lecture on?"

"I don't know."

She let her exasperation show.

"Tut mir leid. I can't help you.

And I am too busy for frivolous questions like this-" She started to turn away.

"Oh, it's not frivolous," Robert assured her.

"Es ist sehr dringend." He leaned forward and said in a low voice, "I'm going to have to take you into my confidence. The professor we're looking for is involved in a prostitution ring." Frau Schreiber's mouth made a small "0" of surprise.

"Interpol has been on his trail for months. The current information we have on him is that he is German and that he gave a lecture here on the fifteenth of this month." He straightened up.

"If you don't want to help, we can conduct an official investigation of the university. Of course, the publicity-"

"Nein, nein!" she said.

"The university must not be involved in anything like this." She looked womed.

"You say he lectured here on-what day?"

"The fifteenth. Monday."

Frau Schreiber rose and walked over to a filing cabinet. She pulled it open and scanned some papers. She extracted several sheets from a folder.

"Here we are. There were three guest professors who gave lectures here on the fifteenth."

"The man I want is German."

"They are all German," Frau Schreiber said stiffly. She shuffled the papers in her hand.

"One of the lectures was on economics, one on chemistry, and one on Page 90

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psychology."

"May I see those?"

Reluctantly, she handed the reports to Robert. He studied the sheets. Each one had a name written down with a home address and a telephone number.

"I can make a copy of these for you, if you wish."

"No, thank you." He had already memorized the names and numbers.

"None of these is the man I'm looking for." Frau Schreiber gave a sigh of relief.

"Well, thank God for that. Prostitution! We would never be involved in such a thing."

"I'm sorry I troubled you for nothing." Robert left and headed for a telephone booth in town.

The first telephone call was to Berlin.

"Professor Streubel?"

"Ja."

"This is the Sunshine Tours Bus Company. You left a pair of glasses on our bus last Sunday when you were touring with us in Switzerland and-"

"I do not know what you are speaking about." He sounded annoyed.

"You were in Switzerland on the fourteenth, were you not, Professor?"

"No. On the fifteenth. To give a lecture at the University of Bern."

"And you did not take our bus tour?"

"I have no time for such foolishness. I'm a busy man." And the professor hung up. The second call was to Hamburg.

"Professor Heinrich?"

"This is Professor Heinrich."

"This is the Sunshine Tours Bus Company. You were in Switzerland on the fourteenth of this month?"

"Why do you wish to know?"

"Because we found a briefcase of yours on one of our buses, Professor, and "You have the wrong person. I have been on no tour buses."

"You did not take a tour of ours to the Jungfrau?"

"I just told you, no."

"I'm sorry to have bothered you."

The third call was to Munich.

"Professor Otto Schmidt?"

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"Yes."

"Professor Schmidt, this is the Sunshine Tours Bus Company. We have a pair of your glasses that you left on our bus a few days ago, and-"

"There must be some mistake."

Robert's heart sahk. He had struck out. There was nowhere left to go. The voice went on.

"I have my glasses here. I have not lost them." Robert's spirits soared.

"Are you sure, Professor?

You were on the Jungfrau trip on the fourteenth, were you not?"

"Yes, yes, but I told you, I have not lost anything."

"Thank you very much, Professor." Robert replaced the receiver. Jackpot! Robert dialed another number, and within two minutes he was speaking with General Hilliard.

"I have two things to report," Robert said.

"The witness in London I told you about?"

"Yes?"

"He died in a fire last night."

"Really? Too bad."

"Yes, sir. But I believe I've located another witness. I'll let you know as soon as I check him out."

"I'll wait to hear from you, Commander." General Hilliard was reporting to Janus.

"Commander Bellamy has located another ~~~~~~~~)~ "Good. The group is getting restless.

Everyone is worried that this story will surface before SDI is operational."

"I'll have more information for you soon."

"I don't want information, I want results."

"Yes, Janus."

Plattenstrasse, in Munich, is a quiet residential street with drab brownstone buildings huddled together as though for protection. Number 5 was identical to its neighbors. Inside the vestibule was a row of mailboxes. A small card below one of them read, "Professor Otto Schmidt." Robert rang the bell.