his holster with his left hand and pushed the guard aside with his right, bursting into the large room beyond and slamming the door closed behind him.
The conference room was furnished with a long, wooden table seating about a dozen people. Commissioner Camille Voisin, large in body with a wide thin mouth and small eyes which moved restlessly like his plump hands, was in the chair. Beaurain glanced round at the others, all of whom he had known for years, high-ranking security officials from Western Europe, and Ed Cottel of the CIA.
"My apologies for arriving late," Beaurain began smoothly, noting there was no place for him, 'but I got held up."
"You are not included in this meeting, Beaurain."
It was Voisin who had spoken, rising from his chair to show his displeasure and more of his gross figure. He stared at Beaurain and made one of the obvious comments he was notorious for.
"You have a pistol in your hand."
"Brilliant! It belongs to the idiot outside who tried to refuse me admission."
"Exactly as ordered."
"My invitation came direct from the Minister, Voisin. Do you wish to contact him?"
Voisin's pudgy hands fluttered aimlessly, conveying to his colleagues how impossible life was. There was a phone on the table but he made no attempt to call the Minister.
"Jules, come and sit next to me!" His old friend Ed Cottel had collected a seat from by the wall and placed it next to his own. Beaurain opened the door and shoved the pistol back into the holster of the guard standing disconsolately outside. "Do be careful not to lose this again," Beaurain said severely. As he sat down next to the American he exchanged salutations with the others.
René Latour of French counter-espionage, an odd note in a gathering of policemen. Harry Fondberg from Stockholm, chief of Säpo, the Swedish secret police. Peter Hausen, the shrewd chief of Kriminalpolizei from Wieshaden, sat in another chair. Voisin stared at him, and he decided to go on the offensive.
"I appreciate being asked to attend this meeting, but perhaps I could be briefly informed of its subject?"
"Voisin couldn't be brief if the doubling of his salary depended on it," Cottel commented loudly.
"There are two subjects on the agenda," Voisin snapped. "The first is the location and destruction of Telescope, the private army of terrorists operating inside Western Europe and the United States. We have been instructed by my Minister to identify the top man in this subversive organisation, to locate their base and their sources of finance."
" You may have been instructed to do this by your Minister," Cottel interrupted, But his instructions hardly apply to Washington or, I should have thought, to any representative of any other country present. Furthermore..." Cottel rolled on as Voisin opened and closed his mouth, 'furthermore I have to challenge your description of Telescope."
"I was not, of course, suggesting that anyone else is bound by my Minister's instructions ..." Voisin began hastily.
"I have to challenge your description," Cottel continued, 'because during the past two years the Telescope people, as they call themselves perhaps because they see further than some of us have been responsible for knocking out at least forty-five top terrorists, during airport hijacks, embassy sieges and kidnap rescues. There are colleagues of mine who unofficially approve of Telescope for what it has achieved."
"You suggest nothing be done about these pirates?" Voisin was angry at the murmurings of approval which had greeted Cottel's opinion. The American ignored the question.
"Commissioner, shouldn't you tell Jules Beaurain the second item on our agenda?"
"It is a coordinated discussion on whether another :; criminal organisation known as the Syndicate exists."
"Of course it exists. We all know it," Cottel said with disgust, 'but we don't like admitting it. We do know that millions of dollars have moved to Western Europe to help finance it. We suspect that several American
The conference room was furnished with a long, wooden table seating about a dozen people. Commissioner Camille Voisin, large in body with a wide thin mouth and small eyes which moved restlessly like his plump hands, was in the chair. Beaurain glanced round at the others, all of whom he had known for years, high-ranking security officials from Western Europe, and Ed Cottel of the CIA.
"My apologies for arriving late," Beaurain began smoothly, noting there was no place for him, 'but I got held up."
"You are not included in this meeting, Beaurain."
It was Voisin who had spoken, rising from his chair to show his displeasure and more of his gross figure. He stared at Beaurain and made one of the obvious comments he was notorious for.
"You have a pistol in your hand."
"Brilliant! It belongs to the idiot outside who tried to refuse me admission."
"Exactly as ordered."
"My invitation came direct from the Minister, Voisin. Do you wish to contact him?"
Voisin's pudgy hands fluttered aimlessly, conveying to his colleagues how impossible life was. There was a phone on the table but he made no attempt to call the Minister.
"Jules, come and sit next to me!" His old friend Ed Cottel had collected a seat from by the wall and placed it next to his own. Beaurain opened the door and shoved the pistol back into the holster of the guard standing disconsolately outside. "Do be careful not to lose this again," Beaurain said severely. As he sat down next to the American he exchanged salutations with the others.
René Latour of French counter-espionage, an odd note in a gathering of policemen. Harry Fondberg from Stockholm, chief of Säpo, the Swedish secret police. Peter Hausen, the shrewd chief of Kriminalpolizei from Wieshaden, sat in another chair. Voisin stared at him, and he decided to go on the offensive.
"I appreciate being asked to attend this meeting, but perhaps I could be briefly informed of its subject?"
"Voisin couldn't be brief if the doubling of his salary depended on it," Cottel commented loudly.
"There are two subjects on the agenda," Voisin snapped. "The first is the location and destruction of Telescope, the private army of terrorists operating inside Western Europe and the United States. We have been instructed by my Minister to identify the top man in this subversive organisation, to locate their base and their sources of finance."
" You may have been instructed to do this by your Minister," Cottel interrupted, But his instructions hardly apply to Washington or, I should have thought, to any representative of any other country present. Furthermore..." Cottel rolled on as Voisin opened and closed his mouth, 'furthermore I have to challenge your description of Telescope."
"I was not, of course, suggesting that anyone else is bound by my Minister's instructions ..." Voisin began hastily.
"I have to challenge your description," Cottel continued, 'because during the past two years the Telescope people, as they call themselves perhaps because they see further than some of us have been responsible for knocking out at least forty-five top terrorists, during airport hijacks, embassy sieges and kidnap rescues. There are colleagues of mine who unofficially approve of Telescope for what it has achieved."
"You suggest nothing be done about these pirates?" Voisin was angry at the murmurings of approval which had greeted Cottel's opinion. The American ignored the question.
"Commissioner, shouldn't you tell Jules Beaurain the second item on our agenda?"
"It is a coordinated discussion on whether another :; criminal organisation known as the Syndicate exists."
"Of course it exists. We all know it," Cottel said with disgust, 'but we don't like admitting it. We do know that millions of dollars have moved to Western Europe to help finance it. We suspect that several American
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