Chapter Twenty-Six

All Bets Are Off

A situation causing the odds to change, nullifying all wagers.

*

Brussels, Belgium
Late June 2002

Klaus wasn't sure what to expect when he was called to NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Then he decided he should expect the worst when told that it was the Supreme Allied Commander: Europe, General Joseph Ralston, who wished to speak to him--personally.

Fuck.

All Klaus could think as he was escorted through the building was that his long, illustrious, if ofttimes shaky, career was over. He had fucked up royally this time. Letting a CIA mole operate right under his nose for twenty-five fucking years. NATO had to be wondering what else had gotten past him. Or worse, they might even believe that he was involved somehow. He prepared himself for a thorough, and deserved, reprimand after which he would very likely be asked to resign his commission. If he were lucky, they would ask him to retire quietly.

Either way, it was all over for Iron Klaus.

Klaus decided that he would remain professional throughout what promised to be the worst dressing down of his career. He was therefore unprepared for what happened after he was left alone with the General and completely thrown when the man did not immediately start in on him. In fact, his superior was asking for a debriefing on the conversation with Agent Marshall.

The Major gave a concise accounting of the events, after which he was shocked into silence when the General informed him that the operation that had given birth to the art thief Eroica was actually a joint CIA-NATO project going back to the early 1970s.

General Ralston spent the next several minutes filling the dumbfounded Major in on the background of the Black Ops codenamed Project: Eroica. Then he dropped the bombshell. "According to the records," he said, holding out a folder, "Project: Eroica was supposed to have been halted in 1988."

Klaus sat back in his chair, his eyes wide. Christ, it gets worse instead of better. He took the folder and looked through it, shaking his head the whole time. Fuck, now he's gonna tell me that Eroica's a double agent.

"Major," the General said seriously, "I won't pretend I don't know exactly what transpired in that interview room."

Klaus looked up sharply, meeting the superior officer's steady gaze. He did not reply, however.

"I have an assignment. An ultra secret operation that I believe you would be the best suited for," Ralston went on.

"Would I be correct in assuming that this mission is extremely dangerous?" As in a suicide mission.

"Major, this mission will be the crowning achievement of your career or the ruin of it," Ralston said bluntly. He then went on to lay out exactly what the mission entailed.

Klaus read folder after folder with "EYES ONLY" stamped across the top. When he finished, he was absolutely certain that the world he had known had ended without his knowledge and had been replaced with this cruel parody. After several minutes, he looked up, seeing the General patiently awaiting his decision. "What will happen if I refuse?" he asked cautiously.

Ralston raised his eyebrows and sat back in his chair. "Are you refusing, Major?"

Klaus closed all the files that were in his lap, giving the man a steady look. "I had assumed after that cock-up with Eroica that I would be asked to resign my commission."

"No, Major..."

"Or that you would threaten to use what was said in that room against me," Klaus said bluntly. Because I have the worst fucking timing in the world.

The General chuckled and shook his head. "No one is going to ‘out' you, Major, if that's what you're thinking," he assured. He received a skeptical sideways glance in reply. "It's because of that cock-up that I'm offering this to you--specifically. It's strictly voluntary." He paused, adding, "But if anything happens before it's completed, NATO will deny any involvement."

Klaus nodded, looked down at the folders in his lap, and then up again when the General said, "In addition, I'd also like you to find out why Project: Eroica was never called off."

Klaus considered a moment. "Is it your belief that Marshall is working on his own?"

"No, Major," came the deadly serious reply. "The consensus of those who analyzed everything is that...Agent Marshall will be terminated before the link to whoever is pulling the strings can be made."

Klaus felt his heart turn over when he heard this. It made perfect sense, of course. Marshall had been in deep cover for decades. There was no way he could be used again. Normally an agent in this situation was good for one use, after which they were dismissed. If Eroica's activities post-1988 were unauthorized, then his dismissal could well be in the form of a bullet.

He put a hand to his chin and thought everything through very carefully. He looked through the file again, double checking the facts as NATO knew them, lining up this information with what he already knew about Eroica.

"Well, Major?" Ralston said, breaking into Klaus's thoughts. "Do you accept?"

Klaus met the General's gaze steadily "I'll need my men," he said calmly. Ralston opened his mouth, but was prevented from speaking as the Major went on to say, "And I have an idea how to shield them..."

*

Gloria Estate, Bali
October, 2002

"After that meeting," Klaus was saying to the flabbergasted Earl, "I returned to Bonn, told my men we had a secret mission that no one outside our group was to be told of, and..."

"And vanished off the face of the Earth," the dazed Eroica concluded. He put a hand to his spinning head.

"Yes." Klaus gave him a steady look. "They only learned of your inclusion in the mission after we...vanished. Your being assigned to hunt me down was all a part of it."

Eroica looked up, his eyes wide. "What?"

"All the false leads, the bread crumbs you were following. That was to keep you looking until we were ready to bring you in."

"Why! Dammit, why not just--?" Eroica found himself at a loss for words. "You threatened to kill me!" He waved a hand in the direction of the Alphabet. "You told them not to harm me, but what about yourself? Were you reserving that for later?"

"How was I supposed to know you weren't a party to this? Huh?" Klaus fired back. "For all anyone knew, you were operating on your own. Or in league with a foreign government."

"You mean, how were you to know I wasn't a terrorist?"

"Well? You have contacts who can put you in touch with bloody al-Qaida!" Klaus countered fiercely. "What was I supposed to think?"

"Would you've killed me like Mohammad and the others if it turned out to be true?"

"If I had to."

"You goddamn hypocrite, I thought you loved me!" Eroica snarled.

"That doesn't mean I fucking trust you!" Klaus shot back.

Eroica's mouth dropped open. He stood staring at the man, his eyes blazing. "God, I hate you!" To the amazement of all, he hauled off and punched the Major as hard as he could, sending him sprawling to the ground.