The other two men, a heavyset bald guy with horrible burn scars and a scrawny man with hair dyed jet-black, lay on the ground in pools of blood. She reported her findings to the rest of the team, and Hansen told Ames and Gillespie to rally at his position and help him get up there.

n.o.boru began to stir, and Valentina ran fingers down his cheek. That felt a little too good. She shivered. "Nathan, it's Maya. Can you hear me?"

His eyes flickered open, and then he seemed to focus on her. Finally, he smiled weakly, and she allowed herself to breathe easier.

"Are you shot? I don't see any wounds," she said. "What happened?"

He took a moment to consider, then motioned for her to help him sit up. She did, and he rubbed the back of his head and said, "Just a Cottonball."

"Was it Fisher?"

He nodded.

"Who're these guys?"

Before he could answer, Ames, Gillespie, and Hansen came up and over the hill, onto the shoulder.

"Aw, h.e.l.l, look at that," Ames cried, pointing at their cars. Only then did Valentina notice that the rear tires on both of their Audis were flat.

"Each car's got a spare," said Gillespie. So we'll still have a functional ride, once we swap out the tires."

"Time enough for Fisher to get a big lead on us."

"Hey, who're these guys?" asked Ames, staring at the two bodies.

"Maybe they were the guys tailing us back in France," said Valentina.

Hansen squinted at the men. "I'm seeing a little better now. Nathan, what the h.e.l.l happened?"

n.o.bORU had to decide how he'd answer, and for a few breaths he sat there, letting Hansen's question hang as all eyes turned on him. Perhaps it was the rush of relief that overwhelmed him, he wasn't sure, but he decided right then and there to tell them everything. The truth. Now that they were dead, the pressure was gone, and he should also relieve himself of the burden of carrying around the secrets of his past. had to decide how he'd answer, and for a few breaths he sat there, letting Hansen's question hang as all eyes turned on him. Perhaps it was the rush of relief that overwhelmed him, he wasn't sure, but he decided right then and there to tell them everything. The truth. Now that they were dead, the pressure was gone, and he should also relieve himself of the burden of carrying around the secrets of his past.

So he let it all out: the job with Gothos, the mission, his claiming what they owed him, the night they chased him. . . .

And when he was finished, he added, "I spoke to Fisher. He saved my life. We can't kill him. We have to take him alive."

Ames crossed in front of n.o.boru and got in his face. "We'll take him any way we can--and if you can't handle that, then maybe we need to talk to Grim and get you sent back home, Brucie. Got it?"

n.o.boru grabbed Ames by the neck and held him. He pulled the short man down, toward him, actually forcing Ames to kneel. "I want you to stop talking. Forever . . ."

"Nathan, let him go," ordered Hansen.

n.o.boru shoved Ames back so hard that the short man fell onto his rump. He cursed at n.o.boru and rubbed his sore neck.

"All right. Everybody up. We've got some tires to change out," said Hansen, still blinking hard. "I'll give Moreau a call and see if we can get help with these bodies. And, Nathan. I respect the fact that you only took back what was yours, but at what price? You endangered the team to keep your secret."

n.o.boru took in a long breath and nodded. "I'm sorry."

BEST WESTERN HOTEL INTERNATIONAL LUXEMBOURG.

MOREAU ordered them back to the Best Western in Luxembourg, and Hansen reluctantly complied. There was no reason to go on a blind chase across Germany when the operations manager already knew Fisher's destination. Moreau was sending a couple of men to pick up the other Audi. Once the team returned to the hotel, the bodies of Gothwhiler and Horatio would be disposed of: bundled in the remaining Audi's trunk. ordered them back to the Best Western in Luxembourg, and Hansen reluctantly complied. There was no reason to go on a blind chase across Germany when the operations manager already knew Fisher's destination. Moreau was sending a couple of men to pick up the other Audi. Once the team returned to the hotel, the bodies of Gothwhiler and Horatio would be disposed of: bundled in the remaining Audi's trunk.

Hansen respected n.o.boru for coming clean regarding those men and his relationship to them. That had taken a lot of courage for the young operator to admit, and Hansen suspected that the others felt likewise. n.o.boru had been put in a terrible position, but he had also placed the team in danger, and for that Hansen was still upset. Nevertheless, the lines between good guy and bad guy grew less distinct the longer you remained a spy, and Sam Fisher would certainly attest to that.

Late the next morning Moreau asked Hansen to come up to his room and patch into the Trinity System for a conversation directly with Grim.

Masking his awe over the virtual-reality s.p.a.ce, Hansen stared across the sky above the hotel until he saw a point of light that suddenly blossomed into the image of his boss.

"h.e.l.lo, Ben."

"Can I say that this has been a cl.u.s.ter--"

"Let me stop you right there," she said, raising her palm. "I understand your frustration. But all I need from you right now is compliance. What's at stake here is . . . everything."

"I am prepared to be enlightened . . . about everything."

"How did you know Fisher would be in Vianden?"

He grinned. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to--"

"I'm too tired for that c.r.a.p, Ben."

"All right, we played a hunch." He told her about n.o.boru's contact, Karlheinz van der Putten, a.k.a. Spock, and how Ames had made a few calls and had helped narrow down Fisher's location. The rest was police-scanner monitoring and a healthy dose of luck.

"Can you just sit tight for me now? I'll need to get you back on the road, but for now, just do as I ask."

"Grim, I can't promise that anymore. You're making it difficult. I really don't know who to trust. And we didn't come over here on vacation."

"If you can't trust me, then walk away now."

"You know I won't do that, but you need to throw me a bone. I need something more here."

"Ben, I can't. And if you insist upon moving without authorization, I'll pull you out of there. All of you."

"Really?"

"Believe it."

"That's your choice. Here's what I'm thinking: We're going to get Fisher. My plan is to take him alive. And if you won't, then he's going to tell us everything. And, you know what? I think he will, because I have a feeling you're using him the same way you're using us. I think this is all about you saving your a.s.s, and we do the dirty work. I've already put a lot into this job. I'm not going to screw it up over one administrator."

"Ben, you'll drive yourself mad if you keep trying to read into all of this. Just do as I ask."

Hansen shrugged. "Yeah. Whatever."

THAT evening Ames stole an opportunity to contact Stingray. Ames had a request for Kovac: He wanted Karlheinz van der Putten terminated, just in case Hansen decided to follow up with the man, who would say, "No, I never spoke to anyone about a special-forces operator in Vianden." evening Ames stole an opportunity to contact Stingray. Ames had a request for Kovac: He wanted Karlheinz van der Putten terminated, just in case Hansen decided to follow up with the man, who would say, "No, I never spoke to anyone about a special-forces operator in Vianden."

No loose ends.

Ames told Stingray that he wanted van der Putten's murder to look like a revenge killing. He wanted Spock's ears chopped off. Stingray said he would take care of it. And then Stingray pa.s.sed on another bit of news. It seemed Kovac had his own set of feelers reaching out for signs of Sam Fisher, and he'd just received an excellent lead.

Fisher would be in Hammerstein, Germany, and would be having a meeting with Hans Hoffman, a major player in the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany's Federal Intelligence Service. Fisher was supposed to meet Hoffman at 2:00 P.M. but the exact location of the meeting was still unknown. Kovac still wanted Fisher dead, and Ames still had his orders.

Ames returned to the hotel room and decided that he would take advantage of an already interesting situation.

Once the team had gathered in Hansen's room, Ames gauged his words very carefully. "I just got off the phone with Spock. He's got an update on Fisher's whereabouts." Ames filled them in on what he knew, but he left out the time and location of the meeting.

"Kim, pull up everything you can on Hans Hoffman," said Hansen.

"I can't, unless you want Grim to know about it."

"Use the hotel's Internet access, and I'll get you into the Gothos database," said n.o.boru. "I'll bet they've got plenty of info on this guy."

"Do it," said Hansen.

"But, Ames, how did you get Spock to talk?" asked n.o.boru. "He's a very private man."

"Not that private." Ames rubbed his fingers together: money.

"Where are you getting this money?" asked Hansen.

"I was just getting to that. I had some fun money left over from another account and another job, and I used that, figuring we'd stick it to 3E yet another way, but I'm down to fifty bucks. Spock will give us the time and location, but it'll cost us another $50K. And believe me, that's dirt cheap, given who we're talking about."

"Everybody kicks in ten grand," said Hansen.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Valentina. "I'm not using my own money to pay off some geek informant. That's insane. I say we tell Moreau what we got and get the money from them."

"Or we go pay Spock a visit and squeeze it out of him," said Gillespie.

"That would not be wise," said n.o.boru. "Spock is a very well-respected and extremely well-connected man who knows how to take care of himself."

"And there's no time for that," said Ames.

Hansen sighed. "All right, I've got some fun money myself. Tell you what, Ames. I'll give you the fifty--which, by the way, also happens to be 3E's--but I talk to Spock myself."

"He only trusts me at this point. And believe me when I say he knows exactly where Fisher will be tomorrow. I need to wire him the money right now."

Hansen thought it over. "You tell Spock if he's wrong, we'll be coming back to collect."

Ames chuckled. "He knows that. This guy's been playing this game longer than we've been alive."

"Grim will eventually find out about all these money transfers," said Gillespie.

"Yeah, but by then it'll be too late," said Ames.

Within an hour, Ames had $50K in his fun-money account, money that would not be delivered to Spock but would be, he hoped, spent on hookers and booze, and all the while he would be laughing his a.s.s off at Hansen's naivete.

WHILE Ames was on his computer, supposedly working out the deal with Spock, Hansen pulled n.o.boru aside. "You could have come to me with everything. I hope you know that." Ames was on his computer, supposedly working out the deal with Spock, Hansen pulled n.o.boru aside. "You could have come to me with everything. I hope you know that."

"I know that now."

"Not sure if we'll work together after this, but if we do, the team comes first, before you or anyone else."

"You don't have to tell me that."

"Apparently, I do."

"Ben, it's your team. I didn't want to let you down. I didn't want to let any of us down."

"I get that. You're not the best agent, but you're the biggest a.s.s kicker we've got--and I can't afford to lose you. And can I say I'm not thrilled that you confided in Ames." Hansen glanced across the room at the short man banging on his computer.

n.o.boru sighed deeply. "Neither am I."

"Do you think we can trust him?"

"The intel for Vianden was good. If Spock knows where Fisher's going to be, then, yeah, we can trust him."

"I was talking about Ames."

"I hate him."

"Me, too. But we don't have to like him to trust him."

Suddenly Ames slapped shut his laptop and cried, "Ladies and gentlemen, start packing. Fisher will be in Hammerstein tomorrow. He's got a meeting at 2:00 P.M."

"A meeting where?" asked Hansen.

Ames winced. "That's where it gets a little sketchy, but Spock's got a few ideas. . . ."

"What do we tell Moreau?" asked Valentina.

Hansen squinted into a thought. "Let me handle that."

33.