Gillespie thought for a moment. Capturing Sam Fisher was hard enough. Now they were expected to put on a front, so that Kovac and his cronies didn't know exactly what they were doing, because the deputy director, it seemed, was bent on dismantling Third Echelon--at least according to Moreau.

"The plan sounds fine, sir," said Gillespie.

Moreau widened his eyes. "Glad we have your approval."

Valentina and n.o.boru entered, and n.o.boru wheeled in a hotel luggage cart piled high with black duffel bags.

For the next five minutes they took an inventory of all the gear--suits, rifles, pistols, and a host of other toys--until Hansen looked up at Moreau and asked, "No trifocals? They're on the list."

"Are you kidding me?" cried Moreau. "They didn't pack them?"

Hansen shook his head. "We got the NV binoculars but no goggles."

"The geeks back in shipping must've screwed up again," Moreau said with a heavy sigh. "We'll do without them for now. I have a feeling we'll be doing more hiding in plain sight than anything else. Try walking down the boulevard wearing trifocals and not not getting noticed." getting noticed."

"All right," said Hansen. "But see if they can overnight them to us."

Moreau nodded. "Leave that to me."

Gillespie detected a slight tremor in Moreau's voice . . . very odd. The ops manager then added that they were maintaining surveillance of Boutin's apartment via satellite to ensure that the old man was home when they came knocking. Boutin had left only once to do some grocery shopping; otherwise, they were certain he was home.

LATER in the day, Ames volunteered to call room service and order lunch. The others were unaware that his call was received by a field operative working for Deputy Director Kovac. This operative, a man known only by the code name Stingray, was Ames's cutout so that he could safely pa.s.s information back to the deputy director. Ames placed the order, saying, "Yes, there are five of us. . . . Oh, wait a minute, I forgot Moreau's here. Make that six drinks." in the day, Ames volunteered to call room service and order lunch. The others were unaware that his call was received by a field operative working for Deputy Director Kovac. This operative, a man known only by the code name Stingray, was Ames's cutout so that he could safely pa.s.s information back to the deputy director. Ames placed the order, saying, "Yes, there are five of us. . . . Oh, wait a minute, I forgot Moreau's here. Make that six drinks."

Stingray got the message, and within five minutes Kovac would know that Mr. Louis Moreau was in Reims, and that he and Grim were attempting to thwart the director's information-gathering efforts. That Grim and Moreau still had no idea that Ames was a mole on the Splinter Cell team was a testament to Ames's first-cla.s.s tradecraft. They could pick on him all they wanted. They could hate him as much as they wanted.

Because when it was all over, Fisher would be dead, and Moreau, Grim, and the rest of them would be locked up. Ames would be the only man standing, and he and the deputy director would rebuild Third Echelon. Eventually, Ames would ascend to his rightful place as director of all operations.

DRESSED in civilian clothes, including mock turtleneck shirts to conceal their SVTs, Hansen and the others left the hotel, bound for Boutin's apartment. Moreau remained at the hotel to monitor the open channel and the satellite feeds. It was 10:46 P.M. on Hansen's OPSAT as they left the hotel's parking garage. in civilian clothes, including mock turtleneck shirts to conceal their SVTs, Hansen and the others left the hotel, bound for Boutin's apartment. Moreau remained at the hotel to monitor the open channel and the satellite feeds. It was 10:46 P.M. on Hansen's OPSAT as they left the hotel's parking garage.

They drove both rental cars to rue de Thillois, a street a few hundred yards southeast of Boutin's apartment. A slight chill hung in the air as they parked, waited a few moments, then exited the vehicles, moving swiftly onto the empty street.

While n.o.boru and Gillespie approached from the north, gaining access past the fences to take up positions in the trees, Hansen, Valentina, and Ames would enter from the south, through the pa.s.sage Saint-Jacques.

They reached the gate, and Valentina got to work on the lock while Ames patched into the security network and turned off the motion sensors.

Keeping to the long shadows near the wall, they slipped into the pa.s.sage, and Ames did a wholly impressive job of silently climbing his way into the old tree just to its north so he could cover the north side of the courtyard and the gate entrance.

Hansen motioned for Valentina to halt. He took several long breaths to calm his nerves, then whispered in his SVT, "Nathan? Kim?"

n.o.bORU was covering the north-south entrance to the courtyard directly opposite Boutin's apartment. He had already found a particularly large branch on which to set up and was scanning the area with his NV binoculars when Hansen called. He checked in and listened to Kim do likewise. She was in much closer, having glided up like a wraith to the left side of the apartment building's main entrance and found good purchase in a tree right there. In n.o.boru's humble opinion, no one could approach the operational area without being detected. was covering the north-south entrance to the courtyard directly opposite Boutin's apartment. He had already found a particularly large branch on which to set up and was scanning the area with his NV binoculars when Hansen called. He checked in and listened to Kim do likewise. She was in much closer, having glided up like a wraith to the left side of the apartment building's main entrance and found good purchase in a tree right there. In n.o.boru's humble opinion, no one could approach the operational area without being detected.

And while they didn't have the luxury of thermal scans, Moreau's satellite feeds could detect anyone approaching from outside their bubble.

n.o.boru glanced over at the old church, just visible through all the leaf cover, and for a moment, he thought he saw a shadow creeping across the ancient stone wall. In fact, he had. Hansen and Valentina were approaching Boutin's place and had donned their balaclavas.

HANSEN checked his OPSAT once more: 11:14. He put Valentina to work on the main door, and then, on the periphery, he spotted something--a perfectly straight silhouette, unnatural against nature's curves. He shifted over, leaned down, and there it was: a cell phone, the prepaid type, leaning against the wall, its antenna sprouting up between some weeds. He glanced back at Valentina as she finished with the lock. He motioned for her to step back; then he lifted the doormat and found a tremble sensor, the kind from a vehicle's ant.i.theft GPS tracker. A tiny, almost invisible wire snaked from the sensor back to the cell phone. checked his OPSAT once more: 11:14. He put Valentina to work on the main door, and then, on the periphery, he spotted something--a perfectly straight silhouette, unnatural against nature's curves. He shifted over, leaned down, and there it was: a cell phone, the prepaid type, leaning against the wall, its antenna sprouting up between some weeds. He glanced back at Valentina as she finished with the lock. He motioned for her to step back; then he lifted the doormat and found a tremble sensor, the kind from a vehicle's ant.i.theft GPS tracker. A tiny, almost invisible wire snaked from the sensor back to the cell phone.

Hansen cursed and stage-whispered, "Let's move. He already knows we're out here!"

The old forger was a clever b.a.s.t.a.r.d, having jury-rigged his own personal alarm system to back up the building's standard security. He must've a.s.sumed someone would be coming to visit, someone who knew how to bypa.s.s the gate and door, and that deeply troubled Hansen. He withdrew his SC pistol loaded with anesthetic darts, and Valentina did likewise as he announced to the others that they were moving in.

The sensor at the door had tripped a mental alarm, and Hansen immediately decided to abandon stealth in favor of shock and awe. He gave Valentina the high sign, and they stormed through a short hall illuminated by a lone bulb, hit a stairwell, and thundered down it to reach Boutin's door.

Hansen's single kick sent the door smashing inward, and he dropped to his haunches as Valentina came in over him.

MOREAU sat at the desk in his hotel room and faced his computer while wearing the Trinity System's virtual-reality headset and gloves. The gloves were fixed with dozens of wireless sensors, and the headset resembled a narrow pair of sungla.s.ses with attached microphone that could be mistaken for an integrated Bluetooth device. The headset was both comfortable and discreet, so wearing it in public was not entirely out of the question. The gloves were another story. Images were produced by a low-intensity laser projecting them through Moreau's pupil and onto his retina. The laser scanned vertically and horizontally at high speed using a coherent beam of light, and all data was refreshed every second to continually update him. sat at the desk in his hotel room and faced his computer while wearing the Trinity System's virtual-reality headset and gloves. The gloves were fixed with dozens of wireless sensors, and the headset resembled a narrow pair of sungla.s.ses with attached microphone that could be mistaken for an integrated Bluetooth device. The headset was both comfortable and discreet, so wearing it in public was not entirely out of the question. The gloves were another story. Images were produced by a low-intensity laser projecting them through Moreau's pupil and onto his retina. The laser scanned vertically and horizontally at high speed using a coherent beam of light, and all data was refreshed every second to continually update him.

The system was the result of a joint venture between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, the army's Natick Soldier Center, and Third Echelon (whose involvement was kept cla.s.sified from Kovac and the rest of the NSA through Grim's careful maneuvering). Trinity allowed Moreau and Grim not only to meet in a virtual environment, but to interact directly with that environment in order to more expeditiously and visually share data with each other. Trinity was protected by a hybrid version of QKD, or quantum key distribution, that enabled partic.i.p.ants to produce a shared random-bit string known only to their computers. That string became a key to encrypt and decrypt messages. Should anyone attempt to hack their link, they would be notified immediately while the system attempted to trace the hack to its source.

At the moment they stood improbably in midair, about five hundred feet above Boutin's apartment and its environs, the backdrop shimmering with a phosph.o.r.escent glow. Gravity meant nothing in this place. Moreover, these weren't wire-frame images but a near-real-time streaming satellite feed enhanced by night vision, so that even the light from traffic well in the distance, gliding down the boulevards and auto-routes, was represented with only a slight delay.

Moreau could look down past his avatar's boots to see the apartment entrance, the positions of each member of the team denoted by green triangles, and the team's cars parked on the street. He glanced over at Grim, her avatar remarkably lifelike, right down to the hair color and brand of gla.s.ses. Some of the best producers, programmers, and artists from the video game industry had obviously been tapped for this project, and the results were no less than stunning.

Ahead of them, superimposed against a backdrop of stars and narrow rafts of clouds, were stacks of slightly translucent data boards similar to the home pages of websites. The boards floated like tabbed windows and were organized into groups created by Grim. She reached out with her finger, lifted one board from the stack, and drew a small circle with her finger that caused the board to hover before her. This one contained cla.s.sified information regarding an NSA employee code-named Stingray. She widened the board by extending her thumb and index finger, then lifted her hand to a navigation bar and began to tap deeper into the information, flicking doc.u.ments aside with her finger, the illuminated pages arcing high and away from the board and vanishing into the night. She wasn't just surfing information; she was bulleting through it with a vengeance.

"I think our subroutine on Kovac's network finally picked up something," said Grim. "This code name was attached to an agent who died three years ago. Why is it that agents who die always come back to life?"

"That's the zombie factor," quipped Moreau.

Grim stood back from the data board to reveal the face of an old man, probably in his sixties, with closely cropped white hair and beard. He had penetrating blue eyes and an earring in his left ear.

"So that's our tail," Moreau sang darkly. "I know him. William Harvey Deacon. Special Forces. Black ops. Deacon the Beacon. I'll kill his a.s.s and be done with it."

"No, let's see if we can put him on a diet of junk food."

"I like your style, Grim."

"The feeling's mutual--except for the part about, ahem, killing his a.s.s. We'll just keep him misinformed."

"All right. But big and noisy is more fun."

"One other thing troubles me. I told Kovac you went home sick. No one ever followed up on that. I had someone take your car home. No tails, nothing."

"Maybe he bought it."

"Or maybe he already knows you're in Reims."

"How?"

Grim faced him, the avatar's eyes narrowing. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

HANSEN and Valentina confronted Abelard Boutin in his sitting/TV/work room. The little forger was seated on his couch and just reaching over to his metal TV stand, where a pistol sat next to a large bag of potato chips. On the TV was a rerun of and Valentina confronted Abelard Boutin in his sitting/TV/work room. The little forger was seated on his couch and just reaching over to his metal TV stand, where a pistol sat next to a large bag of potato chips. On the TV was a rerun of Miami Vice Miami Vice, in French. Hansen had hoped that Boutin would be sleeping when they broke down the door, but it seemed the gnome was a fan of pastel-colored suits and white Ferrari Testarossas. Nearby was a maple workbench with attached magnifying lamps, clamps, spools of multicolored thread, and the sheets of hooks of a fly-fishing-lure maker. This, of course, was part of Boutin's cover, and those same tools could also be used as part of his forgery business.

The old man stopped in midreach as Valentina hollered in French, "No no no, monsieur. I'll take it."

Boutin blinked hard, hesitated, then sighed and collapsed back into the sofa as Valentina took his pistol and shoved it into her waistband.

Hansen shifted up beside her and asked, "Did Francois Dayreis come to see you?"

Boutin removed his thick gla.s.ses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, then said wheezily, "Who's going to pay for my broken door?"

Hansen took a deep breath. "I'm going to blow your brains out if you don't talk." He glanced over at Valentina, whose eyes were emphatic: What're you doing? What're you doing?

Boutin returned the gla.s.ses to his nose. "I think you have the wrong apartment."

"Someone gave the police an anonymous tip about the warehouse a.s.sault. Was that you?" asked Valentina.

The old man sighed. "I don't know anything."

Hansen leaned in closer. Held up his free hand. And in the blink of an eye came a blade jutting from his fist. "You're an artist. Your hands and eyes are your most important a.s.sets."

"You don't sound like a torturer."

With that, Hansen grabbed the old man by the wrist, dragged him from the sofa and over to the workbench, where he pinned the man's hand to a broad plank of maple, the stubby fingers with long gray hairs nice and flat, like sausages ready to be sliced. "Which one first? And then maybe a hook in each eye? It happens. Fishing is more dangerous than you think."

Boutin began to lose his breath.

Hansen spoke more slowly for effect. "So, I ask, is Dayreis worth it?"

The old man's face flushed, and his cratered pate was growing slick with sweat. "So you're looking for Dayreis? Okay, I'll tell you what I know. Let go."

Hansen complied but held his blade to the man's throat. Boutin rubbed his hand, took a deep breath, and said, "He came to me with five driver's licenses, and then hours later the names on those licenses were on the news. Five men a.s.saulted. I knew Dayreis was more trouble than he was worth, and I had to suspend my business because of him."

"Marty, you hearing this?" Hansen whispered into his SVT.

Moreau's voice came through the subdermal. "I'm hearing you calling me Marty."

Hansen repressed a snicker and widened his gaze on Boutin. "Do you know where Dayreis is now?"

"He said he had a friend in Tuscany."

"He's not in Tuscany," said Valentina.

Hansen looked at her. "How do you know?"

"Because he had to go see another forger since our friend here ruined his plans. So, monsieur, if you were Dayreis, who would you go see?"

"I don't know."

Valentina sighed loudly for effect. "Give us the name, and you can get back to your TV show."

Boutin closed his eyes. "I would go see Emmanuel Chenevier. He is very good."

"Spell the last name," Valentina ordered.

Boutin did.

"Run that name," Hansen whispered to Moreau.

"On it," snapped Moreau. "Give the old man some money for his door."

Hansen reached into his pocket and produced two hundred euros (about $270). Boutin took the bills and counted. "That door was an antique. I'll need twice as much."

With a snort, Hansen looked to Valentina, who managed to produce another hundred euros. "That's all we have," she said.

"It will have to do," said Boutin. "And you, lady, you are a smart one to ask me about another forger. I think you will find Mr. Dayreis. And when you do, tell him I said h.e.l.lo and that I hope he dies."

"I'm sure he'll be pleased," said Valentina.

Hansen tipped his head toward the door, and they hustled out of the apartment, notifying the others that they were on their way.

MOREAU and Grim were still connected through the Trinity System and watching as Hansen and his team went though a series of maneuvers to discreetly collapse back in on their vehicles. The team was at its most alert now, and Moreau was impressed by how deftly they came together, if not by the fact that Hansen had chosen to park both rental cars in one spot. and Grim were still connected through the Trinity System and watching as Hansen and his team went though a series of maneuvers to discreetly collapse back in on their vehicles. The team was at its most alert now, and Moreau was impressed by how deftly they came together, if not by the fact that Hansen had chosen to park both rental cars in one spot.

"Look at that," said Grim suddenly. "There's someone on the park bench, right there."

"You're not thinking what I'm thinking . . . " Moreau began.

Grim reached out toward a compa.s.slike control and used it to zoom in on the satellite feed, where they glimpsed a b.u.m with a newspaper folded over his head but lying on his side so that he could peer out from beneath it.

"I don't believe it," said Grim. "Look at Kim. She's walking right by him. Thirty feet! I told Sam to keep them close. But not that close!"