Alongside Night(75)
“Mrs. Tobias,” said Elliot.
Harper nodded. “Not that she gave us any clues at first. I doubt that when the FBI assigned her here that they even suspected our Cadre affiliation.”
“Then why—?”
“It was you she was to watch.”
Elliot stared at Harper intensely.
“She was assigned to get information about your family that the Administration could use against your father.”
“The microfilm?” Lorimer asked.
Harper nodded. “In the course of her work here,” he continued, “with little bits of information put together from her reports, the FBI slowly stumbled across the conclusion that Ansonia was a Cadre front.”
“But if they knew about Ansonia, why didn’t they raid it?”
“You forget, you yourself were evacuated from Aurora during the course of that raid—this past Saturday at 6:30 P.M., exactly as planned in the microfile Ms. Powers gave us on Friday. Mrs. Tobias’s resignation last Wednesday morning—using as an excuse a difference over policy—was the FBI withdrawing its operative preparatory to the raid.”
“Why did they wait until the weekend?”
“For the simple reason that Aurora did not operate during the week. There would have been no traders to arrest.”
Harper turned to Lorimer. “Ansonia will be resuming classes next Monday,” he told her. “We can have your records transferred here if you’d like to graduate with us.”
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Lorimer looked startled. “Why, I’d love to.”
“Good,” said Harper. “I’ll expect both of you Monday, 9 A.M., sharp.”
He looked at his watch and stood up. “Shall we proceed?”
Alongside Night
237
Chapter 25
Mr. Harper led the couple to a door Elliot had always thought concealed a janitor’s closet. Inserting a key, Harper opened it. There was an elevator waiting. It was the same elevator Elliot and Lorimer had been experimenting with when challenged by the Cadre Guard. They got on, Mr. Harper inserting his key into the control panel.
Lorimer had Elliot look at the panel. “Wait a second,” he said. “This elevator shows ten floors, and this building only has five stories.”
Mr. Harper smiled slightly.
Elliot looked indignant. “‘Maximum security floors’ indeed.”
When the elevator doors opened again, they were on Aurora’s Terminal floor, Harper explaining that this was in the building’s cellar. He led the two to the security alcove, inserted a photo badge into a console on the empty desk, and pressed a key twice. A concealed wall panel in the alcove slid open, revealing a second corridor. Elliot-realized that aside from a reversal of direction, the plan was the same used in Auld Lang Syne.
After reclaiming his badge, Harper preceded Elliot and Lorimer the several hundred feet to the steel door. Upon the insertion of his badge, it slid open. Elliot looked past the threshold. “Dad?”
Beyond the door was an anteroom to a suite of offices, identical to the one in Auld Lang Syne, only completely outfitted. Inside were Dr. Vreeland, lack Guerdon, and Ansonia’s headmistress, Dr. Fischer. Elliot saw only his father at first. “How did you get here?”
he asked. “Are Mom and Denise with you? They weren’t in Utopia.”
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Dr. Vreeland looked at his son gravely. “They’re not with me. I don’t know where they are…. aside from my assumption that they’re still in federal custody. As for how I got here, Dave Albaugh acted as go-between.”
“But why—?”
Harper touched Elliot on the arm. “That’s what this is all about.”
Elliot looked over, seeing Jack Guerdon and Dr. Fischer. He exchanged nods with Guerdon first and said, “When is the service?”
“Nine thirty, tomorrow morning,” Guerdon replied. “You’ll be expected to say the eulogy for Phillip, as I will for Chin.”
Elliot nodded, then turned to his headmistress. “Hello, Dr. Fischer,” he said wearily.
“Elliot,” she replied gently. “I’m sorry the circumstances of this meeting are no happier than our last.” She turned to Lorimer. “I assume you are Ms. Powers?”
Lorimer nodded.
“Well, everyone’s present,” Harper said. “About time we got down to business?”
“I thought Merce Rampart was supposed to be here?” asked Elliot.
Dr. Fischer led them into the conference room. “Merce Rampart is already here,” she said, taking a chair at the head of the table. “Shall we begin?”
After pouring coffee for those who wished it, then for herself, Dr. Merce Rampart turned to Elliot’s father. “Dr. Vreeland, you are the only person ever allowed into Aurora without first allying with us. Everyone else at this conference is contractually obligated to keep our secrets. But when you leave here, we will have no way—short of methods we never employ—to assure your silence. Yet we must be assured of it if we are freely to discuss our possible cooperation.”