Rise of the Beast (57 page)

“Yes,” replied Leland.

Pagoni hesitated. “Leland, this is really none of my business. I am, after all, just the landlord. But something has been bothering me. I see a lot of Krissie in the conducting of my business. I’ve gotten to know her pretty well. Quite honestly, she has become almost like a daughter to me, the daughter I never had. I know that must sound overly sentimental, even foolish.”

“No, sir, not at all,” replied Leland. “I can understand completely.”

Pagoni chuckled, placing his hand on Leland’s. “Yes, I suppose you can. But she has me worried. Ever since she came back from that island, she’s been different. Oh, she doesn’t look any different, at least not until you look into her eyes. They’re so empty, Leland. I don’t know how to describe it other than that.”

That caught Leland by surprise. Still, he said nothing.

“The two of you are getting along all right, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” confirmed Leland. “It’s only that …”

“Only what?” asked Pagoni.

“She changed after the island,” said Leland.

“Leland, she has changed,” confirmed Pagoni, “and not for the better.” Again he paused. “Leland, I’ve known you since you were just a boy. I know now that something is troubling you. It has been for a long time. There is something you’re not telling me, something that I really should know. Leland, I’m on your side, I always have been. What’s wrong?”

By now there were tears coming to Leland’s eyes. He’d hidden his emotions for so long, but his willpower was at an end. He began to tell Mr. Pagoni the story. He told him everything. Pagoni turned out to be a good listener.

“Leland, if almost anyone else had come to me with a story like that, I would have called him a liar or worse, but not you. No, I believe you. Anyway, I’ve seen too many strange things this last year. I’m actually glad to see Lusan leave, the loss of a profitable tenant notwithstanding. I never did feel comfortable around him. Now I know why. But why go to Paris with him, to save your wife?”

“Yes,” confirmed Leland.

“From what you’ve told me, I think you can do more for her here,” continued Pagoni. “Look, I have a plan. I want you to stay here in New York and work with me. I’ll make it an official request to Lusan. That will give us time to sort this whole thing out. The Holy Mother Church is in jeopardy, and I won’t abandon her. Nor shall I abandon you and Krissie. You’re a part of the family, as far as I’m concerned, and family sticks together.”

Leland managed a slight smile. “You’ve always been good to me, Mr. Pagoni, thank you. Okay, I’ll stay and work with you.”

“Good,” said Pagoni. “You know, there have been things I’ve done in my life that I’m not particularly proud of. I fear I’ll have a lot to answer for on Judgment Day. Maybe it’s time to clear the slate. Maybe it’s time to fight on the side of God.”

C
HAPTER
23

The Herschel spacecraft glided silently a mere 4,000 miles above Jupiter’s clouds of orange and yellow. It was just one minute from the closest approach to the planet. It was picking up ever more velocity even as it stole a portion of the mighty planet’s momentum for itself. Right now it was being bombarded mercilessly by intense alpha and beta radiation, the penalty for its theft. This was the most dangerous aspect of the mission. If too many of those particles were to get through its shielding, hit a circuit in just the wrong place, the mission might well end there. Abruptly the craft was shaken by the roar of its main engine. Its velocity increased even more.

At mission control, they monitored the craft’s progress. Everything was going as planned. At 13:42 hours the computer shut the engines down right on schedule. A few minutes later they had confirmation; they were right on course, and no further course corrections would be needed.

Dr. Sam Florence gazed approvingly at the telemetry on the screen before him. Once again, their hastily assembled spacecraft had performed beyond their expectations. They still had to pass through several hundred thousand miles of Jupiter’s radiation belts. They weren’t out of the woods just yet. Still they were hopeful. The most difficult maneuvers were behind them, and at the speed the spacecraft was moving, it would clear the worst of the radiation belts in a matter of hours.

Right now they were about a quarter of a million miles behind the comet, closing the distance at a rate of about 20,000 miles a day. Up to this point the comet had been incredibly calm—no gas eruptions, no odd changes in course due to venting, and no surprises. That was the way he wanted it, a quiet comet that would be positively dull if it weren’t passing so close.

Their computations of its path had been right on. There was a zero percent chance of the comet hitting Earth. In reality, it would pass closer to the moon than the Earth, missing old Luna by a mere 40,000 miles. It would be an astronomer’s dream come true. In the night sky they would see a comet with its enormous tail stretching across the gibbous moon. What a sight that would be.

It was mid-afternoon when the spacecraft returned the closest view of the comet to date. It still lacked a tail, and only a faint trace of an atmosphere enshrouded the almost naked rock and ice. Their view would steadily improve until they maneuvered into orbit 13 days from now. Then they could begin mapping this dirty snowball from the depths of the solar system. The stress associated with the impending fear of a collision had passed. Now the team could concentrate on the science. It promised to be an exciting couple of years as they followed the comet through the inner solar system and back out into the darkness.

Sam couldn’t help but smile. If there had never been a danger of collision, this mission surely would not have been funded. Now, as it was, they would conduct the most detailed study of a large comet ever undertaken. Tonight he would have a mountain of data to analyze. He would love every minute of it.

“I wish you didn’t have to stay behind,” said Krissie as she prepared to head through security at JFK International.

“I don’t have a choice, love,” said Leland. “There’s a mountain of paperwork to go through. Mr. Pagoni insists on getting it all cleared away before closing the books on this place. He’s been awful good to us, you know.”

“That’s a matter of opinion, I suppose,” said Krissie. “He made a fistful of money on this deal.”

Leland held his peace. The real Krissie really loved Mr. Pagoni. She would
never have said such a thing.

“How long will you be here straightening up this mess?” asked Krissie.

“Oh, Krissie, I don’t know,” admitted Leland. “It could be a month, maybe more. I don’t like it any more than you do, but it has to be done.”

“I suppose,” said Krissie. “You’ll call a lot, right?”

“Right,” confirmed Leland.

The two kissed. Leland tried to imagine that this was the real Krissie, but it was tough to do today. She was in one of her moods. A moment later she was off down the jet way. He stood there until he could see her no more. Then he was on his way home. It was a long drive this afternoon; traffic was particularly slow.

Leland had pulled into his parking space below his condo and was on his way to the elevator when he saw a man in a dark suit.

“Hey Leland, over here,” said the rather large man.

Leland recognized him immediately; he was one of Pagoni’s men. He smiled. “Hello, Carlo.”

“Leland, no questions, just follow me, OK?” said Carlo, pointing toward a dark-colored sports car.

“Sure,” said Leland following his lead. A moment later they had pulled onto Central Park West. “What’s up Carlo?”

Carlo smiled. “Sorry about the cloak and dagger stuff, Leland, but something has come up. It wouldn’t be a good idea for you to go into your condo right now, at least not without being prepared.”

Leland was confused. “Prepared for what?”

Carlo made the turn onto 97
^th
Street, heading toward the river. “Mr. Pagoni had a bad feeling about it so he had some of the guys check out your condo, looking for bugs, and I don’t mean the kind with six legs. They went over it from top to bottom; they found four. There was one in your bedroom, one in the living room, one in your study, and one in the dining room. Whoever put them there was pretty good—they were the high-tech kind, and they were hard to find. They were all microphones, no video cameras. That at least was a break.”

“Lusan,” said Leland.

“Yeah, that’s what the boss figured,” confirmed Carlo. “He’s a slippery snake, that Lusan.”

“So were they removed?” asked Leland.

“Come on man, use your head,” said Carlo. “We remove them and Lusan knows we’re onto him. We don’t want him suspecting nothing. You’re going to have to use common sense when you’re home cuz you won’t be alone, if you get my meaning.”

“I got you,” confirmed Leland.

“We might be able to use them to our advantage, feed that snake false information, but only so long as he thinks he has the drop on us. Frank is checking your car right now to see if we have any problems there. He’ll let us know when we get back. Till then, just enjoy the ride and the pleasant company.” Carlo laughed. “Sometimes I crack myself up. Anyway, Mr. Pagoni is going to send a car around for you tomorrow morning at seven sharp. You’ll be meeting with him over at his place. He says to tell you he has the plan figured out. He said that you would understand.”

“Sure do, thanks, Carlo,” said Leland.

It was about ten minutes before they pulled back into the underground garage. Frank was waiting for them.

“There was one there, all right,” said Frank. “They’d slipped it up under the dash. I arranged for it to develop a short. Stuff happens, you know? Whoever put it there will probably figure that it just failed on its own.” Frank paused. “You told him about the ones in his condo, right?”

“Well, duh,” said Carlo.

“OK,” said Frank. “You be careful, Leland. Remember, you’re on a party line.”

“Sure, Frank,” said Leland, heading for the elevator. He paused as the door opened. “Hey guys, thanks.”

Carlo and Frank smiled, but said nothing more. The door shut and Leland was on his way up. “Not a moment of peace,” he murmured.