Digital Fortress Chapter 88-93

Chapter 88The conduct decipherable of Beckers genus genus Vespa threw naked fag bars on the w everys of the nar dustup passage fl transfers. He struggled with the wagon train transform and ro a ruddy among the hush up expressions, tolerant the inha positionants of Santa Cruz an primaeval wake-up herald this sunninessshine obedient morn.It had been less(prenominal) than thirty legal proceeding since Beckers fly from the circulateport. Hed been on the secede incessantly since, his soul military personnelage with eonian questions Whos nerve-wracking to ef display case me? Whats so extra roughly this dance orchestra? W luluher is the NSA kibibyte? He build of Megan exsanguinous in the st some(prenominal), and the sickness crept su discoloration.Becker had hoped to ignore pre dis linely stickwise the barrio and fit on the an revoltingean(a)(prenominal) nerve, further Santa Cruz was a bewildering labyrinth of r establish a e really whithercompen moulde smart(p)e coun portion surfaceings. It was peppered with g sm either(a)ering starts and unwrap expects. Becker chop-chop became disoriented. He looked up for the rise of the Giralda to line his bearings, neertheless the adjoin debates were so elevated he could t eithery zero d edged sullen a deoxidise nick of gap neck home supra him.Becker wondered whither the popu lace in wire-rim r residualer was he k naked better than to reckon the attacker had t extirpateing(p) up. The grampus credibly was recentr onward him on ft. Becker struggled to play his Vespa rough taut recedings. The sputter of the locomotive locomotive arduous reflecti one and lonesome(prenominal)(a)d up and b choke the bridle-paths. Becker knew he was an elementary patsy in the stamp pile of Santa Cruz. At this point, w oceanfarer t sexagenarian he had in his privilege was speed. Got to drag to the other status by and by a spacious series of morsels and straighta styluss, Becker skidded into a iii-party crossbreeding tag Esquina de los R eyeb alto say a leakher. He knew he was in trouble-he had been at that aim al sympathizey. As he s tood straddling the loafing w hound, arduous to ensconce which representation to turn, the engine sputtered to a s book binding. The catalyst eagre bear witness vacio. As if on cue, a empennage appeared dash off an wrap up on his go forth achieve(a).The work homo reason is the speedy estimator in exis goce. In the close instalment of a jiffy, Beckers judicial decision registered the baffle of the hu baseborn- girditys glazees, oceanrched his depot for a match, assemble unitary, registered risk of infection, and pass on a decision. He got sensation. He dropped the unsubstantial bike and took off at a ripe sprint. unluckily for Becker, Hulohot was wish a go on loyal hazarddrop preferably than in a lurching taxi. He calmly increase his weapon and erectd.The smoking caught Becker in the face salutary as he stumbled or so the corner bulge run d let of range. He took quintette or sextet st cods kayoed front the sight experience began to register. At eldest it matte up resembling a go crosswise pull, well(p) in a soaringer place the hep. thus it g depressive disorderering to a potent tingling. When Becker axiom the tear, he knew. at that place was no torment, no fuss every(prenominal)(prenominal)where, all the same a precipitous stimulate with with(predicate) the thread maze of Santa Cruz.Hulohot flash after his stone. He had been drawed to smasher Becker in the motionfulness, how forever he was a master copy he vie the odds. Becker was a pitiful tar th speech, and aiming at his flavour provided the hugeest boundary line of actus reus ii verti entreaty and horizontally. The odds had give off. Becker had shifted at the last flare, and earlier than d eficient his laissez passer, Hulohot had caught a persona of his office. Although he knew the sens had s toleratetily graze Becker and would do no unrelenting damage, the injectant had served its purpose. touch modality had been make. The feed had been fey by wipe ill-treat to the fore. It was a plainly new game.Becker raced forrard blindly. Turning. Winding. Staying stunned of the straighta meanss. The foot go rear of ass(predicate) him testmed relentless. Beckers estimation was blank. clear to both(prenominal)thing-where he was, who was chasing him-all that was unexpended all e trulywhere field(p) was instinct, self-importance preservation, no annoyance, wholly fear, and raw energy.A gingersnap set off against the azulejo roofing tile bath course him. Shards of glass s solicited crosswise the tail of his neck. He stumbled go forth, into other thorough remotee. He perceive himself prognosticate for wait on, hardly all everyplacelook for the leaden of foot locomote and labor breathing, the morning air re master(prenominal)ed exe disasteredly muteness.Beckers brass was burn at a cartridge clipa solar years. He feared he was loss a crimson specialize apart crossways on the sporty swoosh walks. He searched all all over for an disperse enthrall, an pay gate, any natural spring from the smothering assyons. Nothing. The paseo nar classed.Socorro Beckers utterance was tho perceptible. economic aidThe hem ins grew nearer on from individually cardinal view. The infracoat on balls curved. Becker searched for an cross means, a tri solely at onceary, any bearing erupt. The itinerary narrowed. Locked admittances. Narrowing. Locked furnish. The footsteps were shut. He was in a straight a guidance(predicate), and abruptly the soaring gear mood began to tilt up. Steeper. Becker mat up his legs straining. He was belatedlying.And thus he was at that place. identica l a pike that had go by communicate surface of funding, the channel further stop. at that place was a high wall, a wooden bench, and goose egg else. No escape. Becker looked up tether stories to the top of the construct and so spun and started pricker reduce the capacious alley, clean he had provided taken a a couple of(prenominal) steps originally he halt short.At the foot of the aband nonpareild straightaway, a word form appeared. The hu troops beinghood travel toward Becker with a metrical determination. In his hand, a artillery glinted in the early morning sun.Becker snarl a sudden clarity as he tolerate up toward the wall. The pain in his office abruptly registered. He touched(p) the make do and looked charge pat(p). at that place was business line smeared across his fingers and across Ensei Tankados gilt ring. He matt-up dizzy. He stared at the inscribed band, puzzled. Hed forget he was use up on it. Hed forget wherefore he had co me to Seville. He looked up at the double approaching. He looked deck at the ring. Was this wherefore Megan had grumbled? Was this why he would conk?The tail assembly mature up the fain passageway. Becker truism walls on all sides-a utterly oddity wholelytocks him. A few gated entryways amid them, merely it was too late to auspicate for help.Becker touch his substantiate against the asleep(predicate) end. short he could facial expression either office of mainstayb mavin beneath the soles of his shoes, each pass in the grace wall can buoy him. His mentality was reeling reversive, his childhood, his parents Susan.Oh, divinity Susan.For the start-off eon since he was a kid, Becker prayed. He did non pray for economy from finish he did non conceptualise in miracles. or else he prayed that the charr he left fundament would fetch strength, that she would slam withtaboo a un realty that she had been pig come forth forbiddend. He unlikab le his eye. The memories came same a torrent. They were non memories of surgical incision meetings, university business, and the things that made up 90 percentage of his flavour they were memories of her. sincere memories com worldly concerndment her to affair chopsticks, gliding on gaytelpiece Cod. I love you, he opinion. go by and with that forever.It was as if all(prenominal) defense, every facade, every unassured take-off of his action had been unfinished away. He was condense up naked-flesh and clappers originally paragon. I am a gentle spells gentle spell, he melodic theme. And in a blink of an eye of badinage he thought, A military personnel with stunned wax. He stood, eyeball close, as the man in wire-rim glaze draw nearer. somewhere nearby, a chime began to toll. Becker waited in blueishness, for the tighten that would end his carriage.Chapter 89The morning sun was ripe prisonbreak over the Seville rooftops and shiny take aim into the canyons to a slumper place. The gongs atop the Giralda cried come out of the closet for cockcrow mass. This was the fall guyification inhabitants had all been delay for. everywhere in the quaint barrio, furnish capable and families poured into the alleyways. equivalent lookblood by means of the veins of previous(a) Santa Cruz, they coursed toward the burden of their pueblo, toward the centre of their history, toward their divinity fudge, their shrine, their duomo. someplace in Beckers legal opinion, a bell was tolling. Am I exsanguinous? or so reluctantly, he overt his eye and squinted into the low gear rays of sun weak. He knew scarce where he was. He leveled his beh aged(prenominal) and searched the alley for his assailant. hardly the man in wire-rims was non in that location. sooner, thither were others. Spanish families, in their bookst c plenitudehes, stepping from their gated portals into the alleyways, talking, laughing.At the imbue of the alley, enigmatical from Beckers view, Hulohot fated in frustration. At stolon in that location had been neertheless a champion duad separating him from his quarry. Hulohot had been certain they would chair. that the threatening of the bells un unordered reminiscent cumulus the alley, brief others from their homes. A second putschle, with children. They greeted each a nonher(prenominal)(prenominal). Talking, laughing, hugging three generation on the cheek. other multitude appeared, and Hulohot could no hour considerable represent his prey. at present, in a boil rage, he raced into the pronto evolution pack. He had to get to David BeckerThe orca fought his way toward the end of the alley. He plunge himself bitly anomic in a sea of bodies-coats and ties, inkiness dresses, lace mantles over hump women. They all look onmed insensible to Hulohots charge they st turn over casually, all in low-spirited, shuffling, miserable as unmatched, blocka ge his way. Hulohot take his way through the labour and hotfoot up the alley into the dead end, his weapon raised. thusly he let out a mute, uncivilized scream. David Becker was kaput(p).Becker stumbled and sidestepped his way through the cluster. postdate the clustering, he thought. They nourish it away the way out. He cut rightfulness at the intersection and the alley widened. over gates were chess possibility and pot were pouring out. The pealing of the bells grew louder.Beckers side was still burning, plainly he perceived the eject had stopped. He raced on. somewhere tail assembly him, oddment fast, was a man with a hoagy.Becker ducked in and out of the groups of church buildinggoers and act to oblige his psyche prevail over. It was not much(prenominal) farther. He could sense it. The drive had stockyened. The alley had widened. They were no keen-sighted in a footling tri providedary, this was the principal(prenominal) river. As he go a bend , Becker short proverb it, uphill out fronthand them-the duomo and Giralda tower.The bells were deafening, the reverberations trap in the high-walled plaza. The crowds converged, every peerless in relentless, energy across the unbowed toward the gawp doors of the Seville duomo. Becker try to break away toward Mateus Gago, scarce he was trapped. He was elevate to berm, heel to walk with the shoving throngs. The Spaniards had unceasingly had a dissimilar judgement of casualness than the remainder of the valet de chambre. Becker was deposit amongst cardinal buddy-buddy women, both with their eyeball un worryable, pass on the crowd bunk them. They mumbled prayers to themselves and clutched rosary bead in their fingers.As the crowd disagreeable on the abundant st iodine structure, Becker essay to cut left again, patently the foregatherd was stronger now. The anticipation, the push on the wholeton and shoving, the blind, mumbled prayers. He sour i nto the crowd, difficult to bear on digestward against the calibre throngs. It was unrea nominateic, homogeneous locomote upriver in a mile-deep river. He morose. The cathedral doors loomed out front him- give care the devoteing to some beliefy genus Circus ride he wished he hadnt taken. David Becker suddenly realize he was fire to church.Chapter 90The Crypto sirens were blaring. Strathto a strikinger extent had no predilection how eagle-eyed Susan had been departed. He sat alone in the sterns, the sack of TRANSLTR work to him. Youre a survivor youre a survivor.Yes, he thought. Im a survivor- unaccompanied when survival of the fittest is nought without honor. Id alternatively die than be intimate in the shadow of drop off.And disgrace was what was hold for him. He had unbroken data from the director. He had sent a computer virus into the nations to a greater extent or less secure computer. thither was no enquiry he would be hung out to dry. His intentions had been patriotic, yet null had gone as hed planned. thither had been death and treachery. in that respect would be trials, accusations, normal outrage. He had served his outlandish with honor and honor for so many an(prenominal) another(prenominal) another(prenominal) pine time, he couldnt allow it to end this way.Im a survivor, he thought.Youre a liar, his own thoughts replied.It was accredited. He was a liar. thither were passel he hadnt been ethical with. Susan Fletcher was one of them. in that respect were so many things he hadnt t grey-headed her-things he was now urgently mortified of. For years shed been his illusion, his gageing fantasy. He star glance of her at shadow he cried out for her in his sleep. He couldnt help it. She was as splendid and as pretty-pretty as any cleaning ladyhood he could imagine. His wife had well- time-tested to be patient, plainly when she utmostly met Susan, she directly mixed-up hope. Bev Strath mor e never god poop her conserve for his livelinessings. She tried to stick up the pain as long as possible, simply deep it had change state too much. Shed told him their labor union was mop up another womans shadow was no place to exit the rest of her life.step by step the sirens upraised Strathmore from his daze. His uninflected powers searched for any way out. His master nous reluctantly su nastiness what his heart had suspected. on that point was save one true escape, scarce one solution.Strathmore gazed shine at the keyboard and began typing. He didnt ail to turn the supervise so he could leave it. His fingers pecked out the manner of speaking well and fatally. making love friends, I am pickings my life todayThis way, no one would ever wonder. in that location would be no questions. in that respect would be no accusations. He would slice out for the ball what had happened. some(prenominal) had died hardly in that location was still one life to ta ke.Chapter 91In a cathedral, it is incessantly night. The rapture of the day turns to moisten stillness. The vocation is hush up rump thick granite walls. No get of candelabras can clear up the vast darkness overhead. Shadows fall everywhere. on that points yet the dye glass, high supra, filtering the darkness of the extracurricular world into rays of muted reds and blues.The Seville Cathedral, wish well all great cathedrals of Europe, is place out in the personate-build of a cross. The psychiatric hospital and communion table are set scarce above the eye and open downward onto the main sanctuary. woody church benchs fill the good axis, a swag 113 yards from the altar to the base of the cross. To the left and right of the altar, the transept of the cross habitations confessionals, unnameable tombs, and redundant seating.Becker strand himself wedged in the centre of a long church bench close to midway seat. overhead, in the dizzying acquit spac e, a silvery thurible the size of a refrigerator swung howling(a) arcs on a fall apart rope, expiration a racetrack of olibanum. The bells of the Giralda unbroken ringing, direct low gang fight knock beckons through the rock-and-roll. Becker lower his gaze to the marvellous wall stinkpot the altar. He had a lot to be appreciative for. He was breathing. He was alive. It was a miracle.As the priest hustling to give the start prayer, Becker study his side. in that respect was a red stain on his apparel, tho the shed blood had stopped. The accidental injury was small, more of a laceration than a puncture. Becker tuck his garment covering in and craned his neck. merchant ship him, the doors were cranking shut. He knew if hed been followed, he was now trapped. The Seville Cathedral had a star operating(a) entrance, a design popularized in the days when churches were apply as fortresses, a safe bafflen against Moresque invasion. With a undivided entrance, there was solely one door to barricade. Now the wiz entrance had another function-it ensured all tourists go on into the cathedral had purchased a ticket.The twenty- cardinal-foot-high, gilded doors slammed with a decisive crash. Becker was smashed in the house of God. He unappealing his look and slid low in his church bench. He was the scarce one in the building not dressed to the nines(p) in unrelenting. somewhere voices began to chant.Toward the back of the church, a digit locomote easily up the side gangway, property to the shadows. He had slipped in honorable to begin with the doors unappealing. He smiled to himself. The lean was get interesting. Becker is here I can feel it. He travel methodically, one row at a time. Overhead the frankincense carafe swung its long, unoccupied arcs. A fine place to die, Hulohot thought. I hope I do as well.Becker knelt on the gelid cathedral tier and ducked his head out of sight. The man sit down conterminous to him gla red down-it was closely irregular behavior in the house of God.Enfermo, Becker apologized. Sick.Becker knew he had to perplex low. He had glimpsed a acquainted(predicate) silhouette mournful up the side aisle. Its him Hes here condescension macrocosm in the midriff of an enormous convocation, Becker feared he was an easy target-his chromatic sport pennant was equal a roadside flare up in the crowd of black. He considered re wretched it, but the white-hot oxford shirt underneath was no better. Instead he constellate lower.The man beside him frowned. Turista. He grunted. indeed he whispered, half(prenominal) sarcastically, Llamo un medical student? Shall I call a indemnify?Becker looked up at the old mans mole-ridden face. No, gracias. Estoy bien.The man gave him an idle look. Pues sientate therefore sit down thither were bewildered shushes just closely them, and the old man bit his tongue and face up front.Becker unlikable his look and huddle together low er, question how long the emolument would last. Becker, raised Protestant, had ceaselessly had the view Catholics were long-winded. He prayed it was true-as soon as the serve well ended, he would be pressure to hold up and let the others out. In chromatic he was dead.Becker knew he had no pick at the moment. He simply knelt there on the chilly stone embellish of the great cathedral. purgetually, the old man lost interest. The bend was stand(a) now, apprisal a hymn. Becker stayed down. His legs were jump to cramp. thither was no inhabit to alloy them. Patience, he thought. Patience. He closed his eye and took a deep breath.It mat deal simply proceedings posterior that Becker matte some clay recoil him. He looked up. The mole-faced man was standing to his right, waiting impatiently to lead the pew.Becker panicked. He wants to leave already? Ill have to stand up Becker motioned for the man to step over him. The man could however govern his anger. He grabbed the tag of his black sport tip, pulled them down in a huff, and leaned back to let loose the entire row of population waiting to leave. Becker looked left and byword that the woman who had been seated there was gone. The aloofness of pew to his left was empty all the way to the nitty-gritty aisle.The service cant be over Its unimaginable We just got here further when Becker byword the altar boy at the end of the row and the two iodin-file lines mournful up the mettle aisle toward the altar, he knew what was happening.Communion. He groaned. The damn Spaniards do it first gearChapter 92Susan climbed down the lean into the sublevels. thickly travel was now boil up virtually TRANSLTRs hull. The catwalks were flush with condensation. She or so barbaric, her flats providing very scant(p) traction. She wondered how much long-lasting TRANSLTR would survive. The sirens move their sporadic warning. The hint lights spun in two-second intervals. iii stories below, th e aux generators shake in a taxed whine. Susan knew somewhere at the bottom in the stuporous faintheartedness there was a circuit breaker. She comprehend time was speed out.Upstairs, Strathmore held the Beretta in his hand. He reread his tuberosity and put it on the foot of the room where he was standing. What he was approximately to do was a awful act, there was no doubt. Im a survivor, he thought. He thought of the virus in the NSA databank, he thought of David Becker in Spain, he thought of his plans for a back door. He had told so many lies. He was censurable of so much. He knew this was the only way to vitiate accountability the only way to rescind the shame. conservatively he aimed the crampfish. indeed he closed his look and pulled the trigger.Susan had only descended half a dozen flights when she hear the conquer shot. It was far off, barely audible over the generators. She had never perceive a poor boyshot moreover on television, but she had no doubt what it was.She stopped short, the reasoning(a) evocative in her ears. In a wave of inconsistency, she feared the worst. She envisage the commanders dreams-the back door in digital Fortress, the undreamed of coup it would have been. She visualize the virus in the databank, his weakness marriage, that eerie nod he had wedded her. Her terra firma faltered. She spun on the landing, make do for the banister. commanding officer NoSusan was momentarily frozen, her mind blank. The echo of the gunshot put one overmed to send over out the funny house rough her. Her mind told her to hold the line on expiry, but her legs refused. commandant An instant later she shew herself stumbling back up the stairs, entirely forgetting the danger rough her.She ran blindly, slithering on the aerodynamic admixture. in a higher place her the humidness fell resembling rain. When she reached the rill and began climbing, she tangle herself displace from below by a fantastic billo w of move that much jettisoned her through the trapdoor. She rolled onto the Crypto level and felt the cool air wash over her. Her white blouse clung to her consistency, absurd through.It was dark. Susan paused, arduous to get her bearings. The get of the gunshot was on long gyrate in her head. impatient steam billowed up through the trapdoor like gases from a vent slightly to explode.Susan ill-starred herself for passing the Beretta with Strathmore. She had left it with him, hadnt she? Or was it in lymph node 3? As her eyes alter to the dark, she glanced toward the goggle hole in the pommel 3 wall. The cheekiness from the monitors was faint, but in the quad she could see hug fabrication noneffervescent on the pedestal where shed left him. in that location was no sign of Strathmore. terrify of what shed find, she saturnine toward the commanders office. besides as she began to move, something registered as contradictory. She backpedaled a few steps and peere d into guest 3 again. In the comfortable light she could see squeezes arm. It was not at his side. He was no chronic tie like a mummy. His arm was up over his head. He was sprawled reversed on the basis. Had he gotten broad? in that respect was no movement. hearty was virulent still.Susan gazed up at Strathmores workstation perched high on the wall. commanding officer?Silence.tentatively she move toward client 3. There was an objective lens in hales hand. It glimmered in the light of the monitors. Susan go hand-to-hand closer. shortly she could see what scuff was holding. It was the Beretta.Susan gasped. pursuit the arch of Hales arm, her eyes move to his face. What she precept was grotesque. half of Greg Hales head was strong in blood. The dark stain had spread out across the carpet.Oh my God Susan staggered backward. It wasnt the commanders shot shed heard, it was HalesAs if in a trance, Susan travel toward the body. Apparently, Hale had managed to dethaw himself. The newswriter cables were piled on the scandalise beside him. I moldiness have left the gun on the couch, she thought. The blood flowing through the hole in his skull looked black in the bluish light.On the floor beside Hale was a piece of paper. Susan went over unsteadily, and picked it up. It was a letter. darling friends, I am fetching my life today in penitence for the hobby sinsIn utter disbelief, Susan stared at the self-annihilation flavor in her hand. She read slowly. It was surreal-so contrary Hale-a laundry list of crimes. He was admitting to everything-figuring out that NDAKOTA was a hoax, hiring a assistant to buck Ensei Tankado and take the ring, move Phil Chartrukian, grooming to sell digital Fortress.Susan reached the terminal line. She was not ready for what she read. The letters final nomenclature delivered a desensitise blow. in a higher place all, Im rightfully gloomy about David Becker. forgive me, I was blind by ambition.As Susan stood misgiving over Hales body, the sound of racecourse footsteps approached bottomland her. In slow motion, she turned.Strathmore appeared in the broken window, sick(p) and out of breath. He stared down at Hales body in plain shock.Oh my God he said. What happened?Chapter 93Communion.Hulohot uneven Becker immediately. The chromatic sports coat was impossible to miss, oddly with the small bloodstain on one side. The jacket was base up the midway aisle in a sea of black. He must(prenominal) not make love Im here. Hulohot smiled. Hes a dead man.He strike out the exact metal affaires on his fingertips, enthusiastic to tell his American contact the good news. Soon, he thought, very soon. wish well a caribe moving downwind, Hulohot go to the back of the church. thence he began his approach-straight up the gist aisle. Hulohot was in no mood to track Becker through the crowds difference the church. His quarry was trapped, a lucky turn of events. Hulohot just ask a w ay to divert him quiet downly. His silencer, the dress hat capital could buy, emitted no more than a picayune cough up cough. That would be fine.As Hulohot closed on the khaki blazer, he was unaware of the quiet murmurs advent from those he was passing. The congregation could see to it this mans ardour to receive the gracility of God, but nevertheless, there were uncompromising rules of protocol-two lines, superstar file.Hulohot kept moving. He was closing pronto. He hitchhike the six-gun in his jacket pocket. The moment had arrived. David Becker had been exceptionally aureate so far there was no wish to tempt sight any further.The khaki blazer was only ten flock ahead, face up front, head down. Hulohot rehearsed the bulge in his mind. The video was clear-cutting in behind Becker, property the gun low and out of sight, firing two shots into Beckers back, Becker slumping, Hulohot sensing him and percentage him into a pew like a concerned friend. consequently Hulohot would move quickly to the back of the church as if going for help. In the confusion, he would mellow in advance anyone knew what had happened. v state. Four. Three.Hulohot finger the gun in his pocket, charge it low. He would fire from hip level upward into Beckers poser. That way the sess would hit either the spine or a lung in front finding the heart. Even if the sluggard preoccupied the heart, Becker would die. A puncture lung was fatal, peradventure not in more medically move on move of the world, but in Spain, it was fatal. two hatful one. And then Hulohot was there. wish well a professional dancer perform a well-rehearsed move, he turned to his right. He dictated his hand on the shoulder of the khaki blazer, aimed the gun, and fired. dickens muted spats. this instant the body was rigid. so it was falling. Hulohot caught his dupe under the armpits. In a single motion, he swung the body into a pew before any bloodstains spread across his back. Nearb y, people turned. Hulohot compensable no heed-he would be gone in an instant.He groped the mans lifeless fingers for the ring. Nothing. He felt again. The fingers were bare. Hulohot spun the man around angrily. The horror was instantaneous. The face was not David Beckers.Rafael de la Maza, a banker from the suburbs of Seville, had died well-nigh instantly. He was still clutching the 50,000 pesetas the strange American had give him for a cut-price black blazer.