The Council of Ten (12 page)

Tonight people walked with faces tilted down to shield them from the weather. An arctic blast of winter had made its presence felt early, with winds whipping up through the streets and whirling about the first true snowfall of the season.

Elliana trudged through it thinking how little she liked the cold and winter in general. It had not been hard for her to get into Prague. The Mossad could cut off her contacts, but she still maintained her covers and papers. Perhaps these could be voided as well, but she knew that Isser, Moshe, and the others would not want her falling into enemy hands. So, leaving open the various avenues of transit she had developed over the years was a kind of compromise. But no help would be coming from her superiors if she landed in trouble. And, worse, whatever fear of retribution did to keep possible enemies from making bold moves against her would now be lifted. No matter. She did not plan to stay in Prague long.

The city’s cleanliness impressed her as always. Not a single scrap of litter, not even a cigarette butt to be found on the streets. Well, Communism must have its advantages, too. She continued to walk warily en route to a bar that in English translated into Friends and More. Its owner was known only as Annatoly, a genuine character, one of the most colorful sorts in the entire city.

Little was known of the mysterious Annatoly. Even gender was a mystery. The best information had it that Annatoly was a woman trying very hard to be a man. Ellie had met him/her only once before and had been unable to make up her mind on that occasion. Nor did she care. What mattered was that, man or woman, Annatoly was a storehouse of information, using it in trade whenever the need arose. Friends and More was one of the few aboveboard locations in Prague where prostitutes, drugs, and just about anything else could be obtained for the right price. Officials mostly turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the establishment. Annatoly was too outrageous to be accepted but too popular not to be tolerated.

Elliana had helped “Annie,” as Annatoly was called by friends, out of an especially tough spot once when a pair of assassins Annie had turned in managed to escape and return in search of revenge. Ellie interceded. The assassins were tried in a higher court, their bodies, to the best of Ellie’s knowledge, never recovered.

Elliana maintained a chain of people like Annatoly all over the world who owed her such favors. Mostly these were returned with the passing of vital information when it surfaced. Annie was one of several Ellie had put on the trail of the Council of Ten specifically, telling them the kind of things to look for. Annatoly’s call that she had found something had reached Elliana just before Moshe had.

Ellie held the top of her coat together to shield her neck from the cold as the wind whipped up again. Thankfully, Annie’s bar was just one more block away and Ellie turned off Hoyster Street onto a narrow avenue where Friends and More was located. Communist restrictions prohibited even Annatoly from posting a large sign or marquee, but the soft sound of music and the mixed garble of voices told Ellie that her sense of direction had been accurate. The entrance was made of solid wood, windowless, and formed a door to an altogether different world.

There was no doorman and Ellie was able to slip inside unhindered and unnoticed. The room was smaller than she remembered, most of the patrons crowding in small groups around circular tables. Others stood packed into the aisles, men conversing uneasily with women maybe to make a deal, while more lined up for drinks at the bar. The lighting was typically dim. Smoke pooled in clouds at the ceiling. It was much like an American or Israeli bar, except for the restrained voices and low-tipped eyes. Many patrons clearly didn’t want to advertise their presence.

Elliana eased her way through the crowd, smiling politely and saying “excuse me” in Czech when required. She was aware of the eyes of numerous men checking her out as if to guess her price, but she met the eyes of none as she pushed forward toward the bar. It was warmer up there and she pulled one of her arms from its sleeve when she finally gained the bartender’s attention.

“A triple vodka with no ice,” she told him.

The man eyed her quickly and nodded. That had been the signal Annatoly had instructed her to use. The bartender finished the drinks he was already working on and then poured hers. Ellie never saw him press a button concealed beneath the rows of glasses.

It was a minute after her drink had been set down before her that she glimpsed the figure in white gliding around the bar toward her.

“Ellie dear, how good to see you!”

Annatoly hadn’t changed, at least not much. She wore a loose-fitting man’s white suit with a black-rimmed hat swung low over her eyebrows. A fake mustache was pasted over her upper lip and a cigarette complete with gold filter dangled from her right hand. Her entire outfit was perfectly coordinated right down to the shirt and striped silk tie.

Elliana moved away from the bar and fought against uneasiness when the smaller Annatoly grasped her in a firm hug.

“It’s good to see you, too, Annie.”

Annatoly eased away and held Ellie by the shoulders at arms length. “Tell me, dear, how do I look?”

“Sensational.”

“Older?”

“The same.”

Annatoly hugged her again. “You are a comfort, Ellie. If only there were more like you around… .”

Ellie’s eyes circled the room. “You seem to be doing quite well.”

“Only in business, dear. Friends are at a severe premium. Trust, you understand, doesn’t exist in this part of the world. But it’s the only world I know.” Her eyes grew somber. “No older, you’re sure?”

“Positively.”

Annatoly smiled and for a moment Elliana feared her thick mask of makeup might crack.

“Then let us talk,” Annie said, and they moved under one of the lights. Only then did Ellie realize just how sunken her friend’s eyes had become. Annatoly must have been near fifty now with all the lines to show for it, more and more makeup needed to cover them. Ellie wasn’t sure where the dressing like a man came in. She had heard all the stories: transvestite, lesbian, sadist, pervert. But, even if true, none of them mattered. Annatoly was basically a gentle soul who had never felt comfortable moving in the mainstream. The outrageous had become a way of life for her, the many fetishes she had gone through more distractions than anything else. “I’ll find us a table,” she continued.

“Out here?” Ellie resisted.

“You wish to avoid attention or receive it? If I take you into my office, eyes will follow us. This way, people will think I’m just interviewing another prospective … hostess.” Annie looked her over, the tips of her fake mustache rising. “Which might not be a bad idea… .”

Ellie followed her toward a just-vacated table against the wall near the front door. A half-full pitcher contained warming beer. The empty glasses still had suds running down their sides.

“Let us speak in English,” Annatoly said after they sat down. “It will make our business considerably more private.”

“Fine by me,” Elliana said, switching over. “I’ve never been able to grasp your idioms and idiosyncrasies anyway.”

Annie ran a pair of fingers along the rim of her hat. “Idiosyncrasies have little to do with language.”

“That’s not what I meant… .”

Annie smiled. “Relax. Just my sense of humor acting up again. I enjoy being different. It keeps people from knowing who I really am. You should know all about that.”

“I suppose I do.”

“But you haven’t come here for comparisons. You are after information and I believe I have some for you.” Annatoly leaned forward, close enough for Ellie to see the edges of her close-cropped dark hair beneath her floppy hat. “I have received word about a man in the market for some unusual merchandise.”

“I’m listening.”

“He is a Frenchman, but all correspondence seems to originate from a Spanish town called Getaria. It’s on the Basque coast, in Vizcaya province. The man is after transport planes.”

“Transport planes?”

Annie nodded. “Yes. Huge ones. The bigger the better. Price is of no consequence.”

“Price is always of consequence.”

“Not for this man apparently. Supply is far more crucial. By my estimations he has already obtained a hundred or more planes capable of airlifting thousands from one continent to another.”

“I’ve never heard anything like it,” Ellie responded, her spine prickling a bit. “But where does the Council come in?”

Annatoly smiled. “Like one of my girls’ customers, you see only the surface. Go beneath it, dear.”

“All right. Where are these planes, once obtained, being stockpiled?”

“No one city or country. Spain, Italy, West Germany, the Middle East, South Africa. The choices are obviously more strategic than random.”

“Toward what end?”

“Use your imagination.”

Ellie thought briefly. “Some sort of armed invasion, I’d guess, but of what?”

Annatoly hesitated. “The transports are required to have long flying ranges.”

Ellie felt chilled. “America? Someone’s planning to attack America?”

“Not just someone, dear.”

“The Council! You have evidence of their existence, don’t you, Annie?”

“Nothing concrete, dear, only the threads I have given you. The entire operation has been handled with a degree of tact the likes of which I have never seen before. Additional information doesn’t seem to exist. All dead ends.”

Ellie nodded. “That would figure. It’s the way the Council has always operated. Even this much of a lead is unique.” Then something occurred to her. “But it can only mean one thing.”

“What?”

“A paradox, Annie, and not a pleasant one. The transports, if the Council’s behind them, indicate they’re surfacing. But I’ve always been certain that they wouldn’t surface until they have the means to implement their master plan.”

“The transports?”

“A part of the plan surely. The Council is like a hydra: many heads working as one, but in separate directions at the same time. The transports are a place to start, though. This Frenchman, who is he?”

Annie pulled a piece of paper from her suit jacket and slid it across the table. “His name is Lefleur. I’ve written down his address in Getaria. If he’s part of the Council, of course, you don’t expect him to talk or to know enough to help you even if he does.”

“No,” Ellie said. “But there’ll be another level he can pass me onto. Sooner or later I’ll reach the body of the hydra itself.”

Annie was about to speak, but she stopped when a gush of cold wind poured through the bar’s entrance along with a pair of uniformed Czech security police dressed in gray-green ankle-length overcoats. The two men flicked snow from their shoulders and closed the door behind them. Their breath was still misting. It was as though the cold of the night was draped about them.

Annatoly immediately switched her speech to Czech and changed the tenor of the conversation to small talk. It took only seconds for the security police to pick her out and approach. She saw Ellie stiffen.

“Be still,” Annie warned. “Just a routine visit. I know these two. They come by occasionally so that I can remind them that all the benefits of the house are free. Just follow my lead.”

The two officers reached the table. The taller one pulled off his gloves and glanced briefly at Elliana.

“Good evening, Comrade Annatoly,” he greeted her.

“Good evening, Colonel dear,” Annie returned, stroking the man’s ego and smiling in a way that promised a more passionate stroking from the hostess of his choice if he played his cards right.

“I see business is good tonight.”

“Not especially.”

“Pity, though there are those in the establishment who feel your operation borders too much on capitalistic exploitation.”

“Yes, and many of them are my best customers, including some of your fellows, Colonel dear. The right product for the right price has nothing to do with capitalism. Demand must be met. It’s good for the soul.” She followed the lead soldier’s eyes toward Elliana. “I was just interviewing this one for a possible position. After all, the demands of the holiday season are almost upon us. What do you think, Comrade Colonel dear?”

The soldier grasped Ellie’s chin and tilted her face toward his. She felt bile rise in her throat.

“Interesting,” the soldier said, evaluating her. “Perhaps too worn, too tired, but you know what they say about experience.”

“Yes,” Annatoly replied. “I’m a believer in experience myself. Is there any particular one that would interest you gentlemen this evening?”

The soldier’s attention was still riveted on Ellie. “Your papers, may I see them, please?”

Without hesitating, Elliana produced them from her purse. The lead soldier looked them over quickly.

“Yes,” he said, folding them and sticking the sheets into his pocket. “I’m afraid you must come with me.”

Ellie’s eyes turned to Annatoly and saw the feigned rage in them immediately. “You bitch!” Annatoly cried. “I knew you were hiding something!”

Suddenly Annatoly was across the table shaking Ellie at the shoulders. Ellie played along, cowering and shrinking back in her chair. One of Annie’s hands slipped lower and slid what felt like a pistol into the pocket of Ellie’s overcoat. Its weight was reassuring and she saw Annatoly’s eyes meet hers, warning her. Obviously she had picked up something and now Ellie’s lack of a gun had been taken care of.

The lead soldier eased Annie away from the table. The mock struggle had forced half of her fake mustache down her lip.

“You can have her back when we’re finished with her, comrade,” the soldier said.

“Keep her for all I care,” shot back Annie, spitting at Ellie.

The one called colonel beckoned Ellie to rise. “Please do not make a fuss.” He held her shoulder and she stood up without protest.

In fact, she had no intention of resisting. It seemed logical that the soldier wanted her only for the services that Annatoly indicated she could render. But Annie’s eyes had told her something when they met hers. Obviously Annie had noted something about the soldiers’ demeanor that suggested this visit was not routine.