Games of State - Tom Clancy [113]
"I see," Lang said with a polite, pursed smile.
"I'm not a friend of Dominique's," she added. "I don't know him."
"It appears that few do," Lang said, still smiling tightly.
Hood excused himself to introduce Nancy to Stoll. Then he left them together and returned to the outer office.
"What is Herr Hausen doing?" he asked Lang.
"He's talking with the French Ambassador in Berlin, trying to arrange an immediate trip to France to investigate the matter of this game and its maker. Herr Hausen wants to confront this man Dominique in the presence of French authorities." Lang leaned closer. "He tried calling Dominique directly but was unable to get through. He seems unusually agitated by all of this. He takes hate crimes so very personally."
Hood asked, "How is it going with the Ambassador?"
"It isn't going well at all," Lang said. "Dominique apparently has a great deal of influence over there. He controls banks and several industries and a horrifying number of politicians."
Hood gave Hausen a short, sympathetic look, then stepped into the main office. He knew how difficult it was dealing with the system in Washington. He couldn't begin to imagine the red tape which had to exist between nations. Especially nations with a longstanding hate-hate relationship such as these two.
He stood beside Nancy as she watched Stoll guide fluidly animated dogs running through a swamp. He found it difficult to concentrate on the game.
"How're you doing, Matt?" Hood asked.
Stoll hit "P" to pause. He turned. around, his eyebrows arched. "This is one nasty game, Chief. What the characters do to people with ropes, knives, and dogs is not to be believed. You'll be able to see for yourself later," he said. "I've hooked up the VCR and I'm playing through. I'll watch the tape later in slow motion to see if there are subliminal messages or other clues or anything I've missed."
Nancy said, "I take it this is the game Herr Hausen received."
"Yup," Stoll said, unpausing the game. Almost immediately, one of the dogs he was controlling fell into quicksand and began sinking.
"Shit!" he yelled "Y'know, I was doing okay when I was alone--"
"Deal with it," Nancy said. She leaned over him and pushed the "down" arrow on the keyboard.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Stoll demanded. "Don't mess with my game--"
"You missed something," Nancy said.
"I what?"
As she held the button down, the dog drifted through the quicksand and emerged in an underground cavern. She switched between the left and right arrows, collecting Nazi memorabilia and racking up points.
Hood walked over. "How did you know that was there?"
"This is an adapatation of a game I designed called The Bog Beast," Nancy replied. "Same game screens-- background, foreground elements, traps. Different characters and scenario, though. I had a swamp monster running from its creator and angry villagers. This is obviously very much different."
"But it's definitely your game," Hood said.
"Absolutely." She turned the controls back to Stoll. "Exit by crawling into the storm drain on the left," she said.
"Thanks," he huffed as he continued playing.
Hood stepped away. He resisted the urge to take Nancy's hand and pull her along. But he'd noticed Stoll's eyes dart toward them while they stepped toward the corner. For all its quality and top-level security clearances, Op-Center was no different from other offices. It talked. His people could keep state secrets, but the phrase "personal secrets" was almost an oxymoron.
Nancy came of her own accord. Hood could see the concern, love, and lingering disappointment in her eyes.
"Paul," she said softly, "I know I screwed up in the past, but this isn't my doing. Any number of people could have made these changes."
"You mean people in the inner circle of Dominique's."
Nancy nodded.
"I believe you," Hood said. "The question is, what are we going to do about it?"
Hood's cellular phone