The Hadrian Memorandum - Allan Folsom [115]
“Tovarich,” Kovalenko said, mildly amused at their spat. “It makes no difference who ordered it. The thinking behind it was tactical. Fire up the insurgency through the army’s brutal repression of it. Slaughter or terrify anything that moves, and do it theatrically. Men, women, children, the elderly, even animals. Burn them alive if you can. It brings the rebels together with astonishing fervor. Word of it would give the insurgents sympathy from the outside. If the world were to—”
“Burn them alive?” Marten cut him off sharply. “You’ve seen the CIA briefing video.”
“True.” Kovalenko nodded. “Haupkommissar Franck worked both sides of the fence at the same time, for us and for the CIA. We knew, of course. So while he watched us, we watched him. The minute he learned that the priest killed in Equatorial Guinea was Theo Haas’s brother, he requested the video briefings and began viewing them. The transmissions were simple enough for us to intercept and copy. I must tell you in all candor that we, too, were appalled by what we saw and what General Mariano was able to carry out so efficiently. Yes, we could leak the video, but who knows if blogs or other Internet aficionados don’t already have it in hand? So why not let one of them take credit and keep us out of it. Besides, even if the video is never released, Tiombe’s reign is nearly ended. Abba’s rebel forces are too strong and impassioned for him to survive.”
Marten stared at Kovalenko. What the hell was so important in Equatorial Guinea that it would make White recruit someone like General Mariano and at the same time draw the attention of both the CIA and Russian intelligence, or whoever Kovalenko was working for—which was something he had never been able to find out, not even years before when their lives had been so profoundly intertwined.
Oil, as he had thought earlier?
Maybe. But oil was being found almost everywhere in West Africa, so that in itself it didn’t seem enough to warrant attention like this. There had to be something more. Something else.
“You are puzzled, tovarich,” Kovalenko said. “You would like some explanation as to what all this is centered on.”
“Yes.”
Kovalenko gestured with the Glock. “I think Ms. Tidrow might enlighten you. In this case I would believe what she tells you.” He looked at Anne and smiled gently. “It’s alright, you can tell him. We know.”
Anne’s eyes locked on Kovalenko’s. There was no doubt at all that he did know and that Moscow knew, so there was no point in keeping it from Marten, not now.
“In that case, I will,” she said and turned to him. “A little more than a year ago Striker engineers discovered a massive oil reserve beneath the one we were already drilling. It’s huge, probably fifty times bigger than the entire Saudi field, comparable in size to the North American Great Lakes, with a refining capacity of more than six million barrels a day, or roughly four times that of the Saudis. It’s large enough to supply oil to three-quarters of the world for the next century.
“As soon as the find was confirmed, Sy Wirth called a meeting at Striker’s Houston headquarters. Loyal Truex was there representing Hadrian as Striker’s top security contractor. So was I and a handful of others, including Arnold Moss, our chief counsel. The general consensus was that the find was worth billions, if not trillions. But there was something else—it could be an enormously strategic energy supply for the United States, freeing us from any reliance at all on OPEC. Truex warned that it wouldn’t be long before the CIA learned about it and did something to bring their protective influence to bear.” Anne glanced at Kovalenko as if to say, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Immediately she looked back to Marten.
“He meant it was important for us to take the first step and get them on board right away. Sy didn’t like it at all. He wanted no part of government interference on any level and said it was Truex’s job, not the CIA’s, to guard the find. The meeting ended on that note. As chairman