The Pacific Conspiracy Read online

  "Nobody home yet," Frank said, hanging up the phone.

  Joe took a big bite of French toast and stood up. "No sense in waiting around anymore. Let's check out his room, at least."

  Frank nodded. A little careful snooping couldn't hurt.

  They took the stairs down one flight, to room 410. There was a big Do Not Disturb sign on the door.

  Frank knocked lightly, not expecting an answer. He wasn't expecting the door to swing open at his touch, either.

  The first thing he noticed when he stepped inside was what a lousy housekeeper Forrester was. Room service trays littered the living room, and papers were scattered everywhere.

  "Looks like we're talking about the same Forrester, at least," Joe said. He held up a baseball cap with the words Eddings Air stenciled across the brim.

  Frank stepped into the bedroom. The TV was on, and a man was lying on the floor next to the bed.

  "It's Forrester." Joe walked past Frank, bent down next to the man, and checked for a pulse. He shook his head.

  "Make that, was Forrester."

  Chapter 12

  "What now?" Joe asked.

  "We don't have much choice, do we?" Frank knelt down beside his brother to examine Forrester's body. It was cold. The man must have been dead since the night before. There were bruises around his neck, as if he'd been strangled. "We have got to contact the police - and the Network."

  "The Gray Man's just going to put us on another plane back to the States," Joe said. "And we're never going to get a chance to clean this mess up."

  There was a knock at the door. "Housekeeping," a woman's voice called out.

  Frank shook his head violently.

  Joe nodded and cleaned his throat. "Come back later," he said, in a voice as deep as he could made it.

  He was rewarded with a burst of Indonesian from the woman outside, followed again by the announcement "Housekeeping."

  "Go away!" he shouted, hoping that the maid would get the message from the tone of his voice, even if she couldn't understand the actual words.

  "Housekeeping!" the woman repeated even louder, banging on the door again.

  Great, Joe thought. He strode over to the door and swung it open. "Listen, come back in a while, would you?" he began even before the door was halfway open. "Fifteen minutes - "

  He looked down, and his jaw dropped open.

  Endang was standing in the doorway, wearing a maid's uniform and an expression of shock that probably mirrored his own.

  "I might have known," she said. Before Joe could close the door she pushed the maid's cart inside and walked past him. "What are you two doing here?"

  "We could ask you the same thing," Joe said, shutting the door.

  "One of our agents spotted Forrester leaving the airport at Denpasar yesterday morning. We were hoping that he would lead us to the others. Unfortunately, he hasn't left the room since then."

  "There's a good reason for that," Frank said. He nodded in the direction of the bedroom.

  Endang brushed past him and returned a moment later.

  "You didn't move the body, did you?"

  "What do you think we are?" Joe asked indignantly. "Amateurs?"

  "Have you learned anything from the Assassins? Any sign of them at Krakatau?" Frank asked.

  She shook her head. "The Gray Man's been interrogating Bob for hours, but he hasn't said a word. As for the others, it's almost as if they disappeared off the face of the earth."

  "So what's our next step?" Joe asked.

  "Your next step?" Endang said incredulously. "Your next step is either a jail cell or a ticket back to the U.S. For real this time."

  "Now wait a minute - " Joe began.

  "Here's something interesting," Frank interrupted. He picked up a sheaf of papers from the floor next to Forrester's body and spread them out on the bed. Joe and Endang peered over his shoulder as he examined them.

  "These are architect's blueprints," Endang said. "What would Forrester be doing with them?"

  "Maybe he was planning to start a new career," Joe said.

  "Maybe you - " Endang broke off speaking and pointed to the TV. On the screen was a picture of a smoking volcano.

  "What's that?" she asked, her voice strained.

  Frank walked over and turned the volume up so she could hear.

  "Experts are calling last night's tragic eruption of Gunang Api scientifically inexplicable," she translated almost simultaneously to the boys.

  The camera pulled back. Everywhere people were crying, picking their way through the ruins of a small village.

  "The devastation is complete. The historic island of Bandanaira, one of the fabled Spice Islands, has been almost completely destroyed by the eruption."

  A sudden chill ran down Frank's spine. It couldn't be.

  Endang sat down on the couch heavily and reached for the phone. She punched in a series of numbers, then hung up.

  Ten seconds later the phone rang. She picked it up and whispered into it. Frank did hear her mention Forrester's name, though. Then she handed the phone to him.

  "You've seen the news, I gather." It was the Gray Man.

  "Yes, sir," Frank said. He motioned to Joe to pick up the extension in the bedroom. "We're both on the line now."

  "I suppose I should be angry at you for slipping away from Rivers and Drake, but I can't really summon up much emotion for that kind of thing right now." He sighed heavily. "The Assassins' demands have just been delivered by courier. They claim responsibility for this eruption, saying that it was an example of what they can do without a hydrogen bomb. They want the U.N. General Assembly to come up with ten billion dollars by nine o'clock tomorrow morning, our time, or they promise that the next explosion will do a lot more damage."

  "Can the U.N. raise that much money?" Joe asked.

  "I don't know," the Gray Man said simply.

  Frank remembered the simulation he'd seen on Krinski's computer, the new world that had been pictured after the destruction of the old. They couldn't be serious, could they? Would the Assassins really destroy the world if their demands weren't met?

  "Frank? Are you there?" the Gray Man called.

  "I'm here."

  "Now, listen," the Gray Man said. "You boys were the last ones to have seen Krinski and Nwali. I want you to work with Endang. Try to remember what they said. Try to remember anything that could help us figure out where they are. Anything at all to help us stop them."

  There was a sharp click and then a dial tone.

  "Wow," Joe said, hanging up the phone. "I guess he's not worried about us getting hurt anymore."

  "Why should he be worried about you now?" Endang asked, her voice soft and distant. "If we don't stop the Assassins, we're all going to die, anyway."

  "That's a happy thought," Joe said.

  "Well, I'm sorry." Endang got up and crossed to the window. "Cheer me up. Tell me something that will help us locate Nwali and his gang."

  Joe shook his head. "I wish I could."

  Frank took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The Assassins had been so careful about not letting him and Joe in on their plans that he couldn't think of a thing that might give them a clue to their whereabouts.

  "Maybe Forrester left something important here," Joe suggested.

  "That whoever killed him didn't take." Frank shook his head. It didn't seem likely.

  He picked up the blueprints again and studied them. They were preliminary drawings with no writing on them anywhere, other than construction specifications. He couldn't figure out what they were for, either. It looked like a series of small huts arranged vertically, one on top of the other, along a large wall. The sheds were connected by a series of ventilation shafts and an elevator. That made no sense.

  Frank flipped the papers over in disgust. In the upper left-hand corner, on the back, there was some writing. It was so small he had to squint before he could read what it said.

  SMCS. Those were the same letters that had been stenciled on all thos
e crates they'd moved.

  "I found something!" Joe came out of the bedroom carrying a paperback book in one hand and a business card in the other. "He must have been using this as a bookmark."

  He handed the card to Frank. It was for a company called Soeder-Masto Construction Supplies.

  He smiled at Joe. "SMCS," he said.

  For a second Joe didn't get it. Then his face lit up. "The crates we unloaded from the freighter and at Krinski's house!"

  "Exactly," Frank said. "Let's contact the hotel staff and tell them about Forrester. Then we'll pay Soeder-Masto Construction Supplies a visit."

  Frank found out that the company was located in Denpasar. According to Endang, it was about a fifteen-minute drive. Five minutes later she'd changed back into street clothes, and they were on their way. It was an hour before they reached the SMCS offices, which were located in a white two-story concrete building in the center of town.

  "I can't believe all that traffic," Joe said, climbing out of the car.

  "It's usually bad but not like this," Endang said. "Denpasar was a small town that became large almost overnight because of the tourist boom. The roads haven't caught up to the traffic yet. It's a lot worse right now because of the Eka Dasa Rudra ritual."

  "The bellboy at the hotel was talking about that, too," Frank recalled. "It must be pretty important."

  "It usually takes place only once a century," Endang said. "Religious groups from all over the island go to Temple Besakih for it. The ceremony's supposed to restore harmony in the universe and exorcise evil from this world. These are the last few days, too, so it's even more crowded. And considering what happened the last time they held it - "

  "Let's do the history lesson later," Joe interrupted. "Here's SMCS."

  "Let me handle this," Endang said, stepping forward. She gave a quick rap on the door.

  Frank hung back in case there was trouble.

  "Silakan masuk!" a man's voice called out.

  Endang pushed the door open.

  A short, stocky man sat at a desk, his head down as he concentrated on his work. Papers littered his desk and covered almost every flat surface in the room as well.

  Frank exchanged a glance with Joe. This guy certainly didn't seem like the Assassin type.

  "Selamat pagi," Endang said.

  The man finished writing and raised his head. "Ah, Americans." He came around the desk and shook their hands. "Very pleased to meet you. My name is Batal Kouri. Kouri to my friends. I am president and chief operating officer of Soeder-Masto Construction Supplies. Also vice-president and chief financial officer." He smiled. "What can I help you with?"

  "I'm Endang Merdeka." Then she introduced Frank and Joe. "I'm with the Indonesian government, Mr. Kouri. These young men are with the U.S. State Department, and we're investigating some illegal smuggling of construction supplies out of this country."

  Kouri seemed confused. "What does that have to do with me?"

  Frank stepped up. "We've traced some of the material back to your company. We'd like to see a list of the people you've sold various supplies to over the last six months or so."

  Kouri frowned. "We deal with only the most reputable clients, I assure you."

  "We're not trying to imply that you've done anything wrong, Mr. Kouri," Endang said quickly. "We're just looking for a place to start."

  Kouri nodded. "I understand." He turned around and started flipping through the papers on his desk. "Ah. Here we are." He pulled out a thick stack of pages that had been stapled together and started riffling through them. "Hmm. Hmm."

  He turned back to the three of them. "There are only five projects we are currently supplying where I do not know the builder personally. Two are hotels on Irian Jaya. A high-rise in Djakarta. A guest house here on Bali, near Besakih. And an addition to the sultan's kraton in Yogyakarta."

  Frank shook his head. That didn't help them much.

  "Do you have a list of what was ordered?" Endang asked.

  "Of course," Kouri said. He put the papers back on his desk and turned to the filing cabinets next to them. He flipped through the drawers, pulled out several manila folders, and handed them to Endang.

  Frank and Joe peered over her shoulder as she scanned the contents of each folder in turn.

  "Most of those pages," Kouri said, "contain site specifications. The list of actual supplies ordered is on the yellow paper stapled to the back of each folder."

  Frank nodded. There were also photographs of the proposed sites in each file, he saw as they went through them. The high-rise in Djakarta was going to be built in the middle of a whole block of similar buildings. One of the hotels in Irian Jaya was going to go up in the middle of some of the most spectacular, pristine wilderness Frank had ever seen.

  Endang opened the folder for the guest house in Besakih. Frank saw that it wasn't scheduled for completion until later that year. Too bad. With all the activity around there because of that big religious ceremony, they probably needed another guest house now.

  Endang flipped another page, and there were a photo of the site.

  It looked like a beautiful setting. There was a series of pagodas in the foreground set against lush forests and a towering mountain peak.

  Frank suddenly realized he'd seen that view before. For a second he couldn't remember where, though. Then all at once it hit him. That night aboard the Hatta, when he'd surprised Nwali and Bob in the ship's computer room. This was almost the exact image.

  He reached over Endang's shoulder, pulled the photo out of the folder, and took a closer look.

  "It's a volcano," he said quietly.

  His brother and Endang turned around to face him.

  "What?" Joe asked.

  Endang looked at the picture Frank was holding. "You're right. That's Mount Agung, the highest peak on Bali. Those structures are at Temple Besakih."

  She paled as she realized what Frank was suggesting.

  "Agung erupted during the last Eka Dasa Rudra ceremony. It's been dormant for almost thirty years."

  Frank looked at her. "But not for much longer now."

  Chapter 13

  "This is unbelievable," Joe said. "You're sure we're heading to the right place?"

  His brother nodded. Joe really didn't doubt Frank. He knew Frank was right the second he'd identified Agung. A big enough explosion there would trigger worldwide seismic disturbances just like the ones Frank had seen on the professor's computer simulation. An explosion at this place would cause exactly the kind of "change" Nwali had been talking about back in Djakarta. Though he still didn't know why the Assassin leader was so keen on change, Joe liked Indonesia the way it was - not split in half by a hydrogen bomb.

  Normally, he wasn't in favor of rewarding terrorists, but Joe really hoped the U.N. could come up with the ten billion dollars.

  Kouri had told them the guest house was being "built" by a man named Anton Lee, the name that had been on Butch's passport. Lee was supposedly on site now, in a small village called Selat. After thanking the man, they'd gotten back into their car and started the journey there. The only problem was that Selat was on the way to Besakih. From the jammed roads ahead it seemed as if everyone else was on the way to Besakih as well.

  At least Joe was getting a glimpse of an entirely different world. The scenery was spectacular. The road climbed upward toward Mount Agung, passing through lush rain forests and several small villages. At one point there was enough of a break in the forest to see all the way down the mountainside to the ocean, several miles away.

  Along the road people were on the way to Besakih. Whole villages were traveling together, Endang said. Joe saw women in colorful sarongs, and men in shorts and shirts and turbans, holding umbrellas and carrying offerings for the Eka Dasa Rudra ceremony.

  "Check that out," Joe said. Ahead of them a number of women were walking along with jugs the size of medicine balls balanced on their heads. "Those things must weigh close to twenty pounds each."

  "Probably more," Fra
nk said. "And they're getting to move faster than we are."

  "Selat. Here we are," Endang said as they passed a large sign. She pointed at a food stand just ahead. "Pull in there. I'll see if they know anything about a construction site."

  The stand consisted of a grill and several benches. Endang went up to the man behind the grill and spoke with him.

  "We have to take that side road over there," she told Frank and Joe when she returned to the car. "He says there's something going on down a dirt road off the main road, about an hour away. He wasn't sure this car would make it."

  "We could do it on those," Frank said, pointing to a pair of motorbikes parked by the food stand. Two young men, about fifteen or sixteen, were leaning against them, wolfing down food.

  "It's worth a try," Endang said. "I'll talk to them."

  Joe watched as she started talking to one of the boys. He smiled and nodded as Endang pulled something out of her handbag and showed it to him. Then she pointed up the road toward Agung.

  He listened to Endang, then shook his head. Endang said something else. He shook his head again. She threw up her hands in exasperation and walked away.

  "What happened?" Joe asked.

  "I told him I was a government agent and that I needed to requisition his vehicle."

  "And?"

  "And I don't want to tell you what he said."

  "Let me try," Frank said.

  "His name is Haji," Endang called after Frank. "For all the good that will do you."

  Frank walked over to the boy and pointed to the motorbikes. Haji shook his head. Then Frank reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of bills, which he held out for Haji to take. Haji's eyes widened a little, and he waved his friend over.

  "We'll bring these back in a few hours," Frank said. "Do you understand?"

  The young men exchanged glances and nodded.

  "You got a deal," Haji said in clear, almost unaccented English. He took the money.

  "Watch our car, too," Joe said.

  "You got it, boss," Haji said, smiling. He walked away with his friend.