Gabriel's Trumpet

Chapter 3

The young clerk at the registration desk of the Hyatt Regency in Chicago smiled at the gentleman standing at the faux marble counter.

"And it's just the one night that you'll be staying with us Mr Black?"

"Yes, hopefully, I have some unfinished business to attend to in Chicago."

The clerk pushed a small card and a pen across the counter. "Well then I just need your signature here, and here is your room key", he said, handing the gentleman a white plastic key card. "And will you need a wakeup call or an extended checkout in the morning?"

"That won't be necessary." The man at the counter replied curtly.

"Then enjoy your stay." The reception clerk smiled.

The gentleman turned, entered the closest lift at the far end of the lobby and pushed the button for the fourth floor. He made his way to room 408 and pushed the small plastic card into the metal slot mounted on the door. There was an audible click in the lock housing and the small light winked green at him. He entered and carefully shut the door behind him. After a cursory view of the room Agent Belobrov walked over to the telephone and dialled an outside line.

#

From the basement car park Dan got in the lift and headed to the tenth floor. The doors opened and he stepped out into the lobby. He turned left, waved his security pass at the card reader and pushed through the big frosted glass doors and into the department. At the desk outside his office Carol glanced up from her workstation.

"Morning Dan", she said. "Welcome back."

"Thanks."

"Did you get the message? After the news this morning, Whitman wants to get everyone together early to go over this afternoon."

"Yeah, I'm on my way", Dan called out already half way through the open doorway to his office. He dropped his coat over the back of the chair and came back out. "Which room are they in?"

"Jefferson, on twelve."

"Ok, I'm heading there now." He looked at the briefcase still in his hand. He thought about giving it to her now to see if she could trace its owner while they were in the meeting. But right now he didn't have time to explain. He decided to take it with him.

#

Eleven hundred kilometres north of the Arctic Circle at Thule air force base on Greenland's west coast, a young intercept officer picked up the telltale interference pattern of a submarine deep beneath the polar ice flows.

"Sir", he called over his commanding officer, "looks like we've got another one."

The commanding officer approached the screen.

"Where's it heading?"

"Tracking NNW, looks deep. Close to the floor."

"Speed?"

"Barely moving, Sir. One or two knots, if that."

"What the hell are they up to?"

"Beats me Sir, but that's the third one this week."

For a moment the two men just watched the stationary green dot on the screen.

"Shall I send a Flash message through to Langley Sir?"

The C.O. scraped a hand back and forth across his chin. "No, not just yet, they're not going anywhere in a hurry. Let's just hold on to it for now, until it becomes clearer what they're doing there. No point in us getting a whole lot of people out of bed in Washington until we know what we're dealing with. But in the meantime put a call through to General McGovern. He should know what's going on, just in case."