Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Nancy, who was working with the help of her four band members to finish setting up and decorate their Christmas tree in the main lounge of their mansion, suddenly froze and listened, then smiled as a familiar noise of aircraft propellers grew nearer and louder.
‘’Ingrid is arriving in her AIRCAR!’
‘’Oooh! I can’t wait to be finally able to kiss little Michael.’ said Sarah Weissman, the dedicated pianist, violin and bass player of the band, as she ran with the other girls to the entrance door. Nancy smiled to her as she unlocked the front door.
‘’How about you carry the portable baby chair for Ingrid, while I carry her bags, Sarah?’
‘’Deal!’ replied at once the young Jewish woman. The five women barely took the time to put on a coat before rushing out of the mansion and going to the Hiller AIRCAR, which was now rolling inside the multiple bay garage of the residence. Nancy was in time to hug and kiss her mother when Ingrid stepped out of her VTOL flying car.
‘’Mom, it’s so nice to have you for this Christmas. Do you mind if we help you with little Michael and with your bags?’
‘’Please, do, but don’t fight about who will carry Michael.’
‘’Too late: I won that fight, Ingrid.’ replied a smiling Sarah, who was about to open the door of the vehicle on the passenger side. The first thing she did with the nine-month-old toddler when she reached inside for him was to kiss him on the forehead.
‘’Hello, Michael! You are so beautiful! Let me take you out of your car safety seat.’
Undoing the safety straps holding the toddler in his seat, Sarah then gently grabbed him and took him out of it, then proudly straightened up, little Michael in her arms. The other
144
band members, save for Nancy, who was helping Ingrid to take out her things from the aircar, ganged up at once around Sarah, all of them wanting to kiss and cuddle the child.
That prompted a sarcastic remark from Nancy.
‘’Hey, girls, how about some help here, so that we could get little Michael out of this cold air?’
Her band members, properly chastised, did let Sarah bring Michael inside and helped with taking out of the aircar the portable baby crip and three bags stored inside the luggage compartment of the Hiller AIRCAR. They were all in the process of walking back in the house when they saw a Porsche 911 sports cabriolet turn into the driveway of the mansion. Nancy grinned with joy on seeing that car arrive.
‘’Leonardo is here, girls!’
She however took the time to bring inside the bag she was carrying before running out again and hugged and kissed her brother by adoption.
‘’Thanks so much for coming to our Christmas reception, Leo. Now, the family will be complete for the festivities.’
‘’Not quite, Nancy: don’t forget that we will be missing Hien, who needed to prepare the Christmas reception for her embassy staff in Hanoi.’
Nancy nodded her head at that, acknowledging that forgotten fact.
‘’I wish that she could have been here with us, especially since we now have little Michael. After all, Hien was the first child adopted by Ingrid, back in 1953 Vietnam.’
‘’And she is now 57 years-old and has a family of her own, Nancy. I am sure that she will have a nice Christmas and New Year in Hanoi.’
‘’Still, it would have been nice to have her here tonight. Well, let’s get inside now.
As you could see, Ingrid just arrived with little Michael.’
‘’I can’t wait to hug and kiss both of them. Uh, don’t repeat that to Ingrid but I was quite scared for her when I learned that she was fighting in the air again, in the Philippines.’
‘’And you think that I wasn’t scared for her as well? On the other hand, she was doing what she does best: fly an aircraft into combat, all for a good cause.’
‘’Well, I am sure that she will tell us all about her exploits in the Philippines during this evening.’
The two of them each grabbed one of the two pieces of luggage stored in the tiny trunk of the Porsche and, closing the garage door behind them, walked up the short flight of stairs of the entrance before entering the mansion. Nancy then led her brother by
145
adoption to one of the three guest bedrooms to be found on the ground level. Leaving Leonardo alone to unpack his suitcases, Nancy returned to the main lounge, so that she could finish decorating her Christmas tree. While she, like the four members of her band, were essentially atheists and did not believe in Christian stories, they all used Christmas to celebrate as a group the approach of a new year and to exchange gifts.
Nancy was finished with her decoration work and was in the process of lining up the group’s various gift boxes and card under the tree when Ingrid came down to the lounge with little Michael while also carrying a large, bulging sports bag. Nancy ran at once to her to help her with the bag but Ingrid withheld it from her, instead giving her her toddler son.
‘’Don’t touch that bag, Nancy: it contains the gifts I brought for you girls and for Leo. Here, take Michael instead.’
‘’Sounds like a fair exchange.’ quipped Nancy, who then took the little boy in her arms and kissed him on one cheek. ‘’You are so handsome, my little brother: girls will flock to you in a few years, of that I am sure. In fact, they are already flocking to you.’
She then handed the boy to Carmen Estrada, who had come to her and was waiting expectantly next to her.
‘’Here you are, Carmen. Don’t monopolize him too much: Erika and Lucy are also waiting to hold him.’
‘’Thanks!’
Nancy just had time to give little Michael to a happy Carmen when someone rang at the front door, surprising her and her band members.
‘’Who could that be at such an hour before Christmas?’
‘’Be careful, Nancy.’ cautioned Erika Lang, the band’s drum player. ‘’You do have a few enemies and detractors around Washington, and so does Ingrid.’
‘’Well, if this really is someone with a beef against me or Ingrid, then he will regret coming here today.’ replied Nancy. She however did take the time to look through the peephole of the thick, armored door, before unlocking it. The person she saw, waiting patiently outside while standing in front of the door, made her exclaim in disbelief.
‘’NO! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! NANCY?’
With Ingrid, Leonardo and her four band members freezing while staring at the entrance door, Nancy quickly unlocked the door and threw it open, then stood aside to let in a tall,
146
athletic woman in her mid-thirties with long black hair and green eyes. Ingrid gasped in disbelief when she recognized at once the newcomer.
‘’Nancy? But you died decades ago. Wait! You must be Natai, in Nancy Laplante’s form.’
‘’Correct, Ingrid. I am Natai and I came in the shape of your dead adoptive mother so that you could truly have a family reunion for this Christmas. After all, my soul essence is what was your adoptive mother and, even though I am now an angel of The One, I still have strong emotional feelings about you and your family. So, I came here to complete the family picture and, of course, to be able to kiss your cute little Michael.’
‘’Of course, Mother.’ replied Ingrid, now smiling. ‘’Too bad that Mike’s soul can’t be here as well to celebrate with us.’
‘’Oh, the soul of your deceased adoptive father is here with us, Ingrid, and will celebrate with us.’
‘’Uh, what do you mean by that, Nancy? Mike died in an airplane accident back in 1942. Is he now here as some kind of ghost or invisible soul?’
Natai/Nancy Laplante made an enigmatic smile then and pointed at little Michael, still in the arms of Carmen Estrada.
‘’His soul is here, but in a very much visible form, Ingrid. Mike’s soul was due for his next reincarnation a year ago and The One decided that the most appropriate...and worthy life he could next have would be as your son Michael. While he is still too young to start remembering his past incarnations, your Michael will eventually remember his prior life as my late husband and as your adoptive father, Mike Crawford.’
‘’Mike?’ could barely say Ingrid, tears coming out as she stared at her toddler son. In response, little Michael calmly stared back at her and made a gentle smile.
147
CHAPTER 11 – NEW ASSIGNMENT
09:01 (Eastern Standard Time)
Monday, January 9, 2006 ‘C’
Office of the commander, 6th Marine Regiment / 2nd Marine Division Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, U.S.A.
‘’Sir! First Lieutenant Greta Visby, reporting back for duty, sir!’
‘’At ease, Lieutenant!’ replied in a friendly tone Colonel Chris Walters, the commandant of the 6th Marine Regiment. ‘’Please, have a seat.’
‘’Thank you, sir.’ said Greta, who was wearing her camouflaged combat uniform, before sitting in an easy chair set in front and to one side of Walters’ desk. The latter looked at her in silence for a second before speaking again.
‘’Lieutenant Visby, I have reviewed your academic record from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and was very pleased with the high marks you obtained while completing your degree in Security and Emergency Management, along with a minor in Military Security Studies. I also noted your top performances in athletics while studying in Alaska: to win both the local biathlon and snowshoes competitions over both male and female opponents proved to me that you took good care of your physical fitness, something important for every true marine. Now that you are back in Camp Lejeune, you must understandably be anxious to learn what your new position will be here. Know that I saw the three top preferences for assignments which you stated in your most recent personnel form. They were all judicious choices which had lots of merits for both you and the Corps. However, a request for us to fill a particular position came recently from the Pentagon, prompting me to nominate you for that position.’
Greta felt immediate anxiety and worry on hearing those words: having the Pentagon decide where you went, rather than let the local Marine Corps unit commanders decide on a marine’s next assignment, was often not what the said marine desired. She however stayed silent and hid her reaction as Walters went on.
‘’That position is to be filled by early June this coming Summer so, in the meantime, you will take over command of the heavy weapons platoon of Bravo Company of the First Marine Battalion, and this until you depart for your new posting. I
148
know that you are a true fighting marine, Lieutenant, and that you want to command marines on combat assignments and in operations, but the Pentagon truly wants your services...as the Assistant Officer for Defense Cooperation at our embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.’
Walters, who had intentionally managed his announcement for maximum effect, grinned when his words made Greta shout out in joy while nearly jumping out of her chair. He waited until Greta calmed down before continuing.
‘’Your new bachelor’s degree from the UAF, along with the fact that you are fluent in Swedish, having been born and raised in Sweden, were the two main factors which designated you to the Pentagon. If you are in turn worried about ending up behind a desk and doing paperwork for the next two to four years, be reassured. From what the Pentagon told me, your job will involve a lot of field visits to Swedish military units and observation of Swedish field exercises and sea operations. You will also serve as a liaison officer between our embassy and our European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and, as such, will often carry in person highly classified documents between our embassy in Sweden and the EUROCOM Headquarters. So, what do you think, Lieutenant?’
‘’That it sounds like a great job and will also be a golden opportunity for me to see again my country of birth, sir.’
‘’Excellent! To finish here, know that you will need the rank of captain before you could fill that post in Sweden, along with getting your security clearance raised to ‘Top Secret Codeword’. However, I am sure that you will prove yourself worthy of that rank and assignment. You are now to report to Major Kenneth Gomer, the boss of Bravo Company. You are dismissed, Lieutenant.’
Getting up and coming to attention, Greta saluted Walters, a smile on her lips.
‘’Thank you very much, sir, for nominating me for that position.’
‘’You’re welcomed, Lieutenant.’
She then pivoted on her heels and walked out of Walters’ office. She waited until she was walking out of the regimental headquarters’ building before shouting out her joy.
15:24 (Sweden Time)
Thursday, June 15, 2006 ‘C’
International Arrival Hall, Arlanda International Airport Stockholm, Sweden
149
As requested by the U.S. State Department, Greta was wearing civilian clothes, in this case a female suit, instead of her Marine Corps uniform, for her trip to Stockholm.
Since most of her personal effects and military kit had been sent in advance in shipping boxes, she had traveled with only one large suitcase, one travel bag and her laptop computer carrying bag. When she emerged from the jetway’s corridor which linked her plane to the arrival hall, she immediately looked around for the immigration wicket reserved for diplomats and, seeing it at one end of the hall, walked to it, joining a short lineup of three other persons. When her turn came, the Swedish immigration officer took her American diplomatic passport and, quickly looking at the identification page in it, smiled and looked up at Greta.
‘’You were born here in Sweden, miss?’
‘’Yes, in Skaulo, near the border with Finland.’’ answered Greta, speaking in Swedish. ‘’I emigrated to the United States with my father at the age of fourteen but I always stayed a Swedish girl at heart and I am most happy to be back for at least a couple of years.’
‘’Then, have a nice stay in Sweden, Miss Visby.’ said the immigration officer, smiling to her while saluting her.’
‘’Thank you very much, sir.’
Recuperating her passport and grabbing her laptop bag and small travel bag, Greta then headed towards the luggage carrousels hall, one level down from the arrival hall, where she quickly recuperated her large suitcase. Again, her diplomatic passport made passing the Swedish customs counter a breeze and she soon emerged into the arrival reception hall, where about forty family members and friends of the incoming passengers were waiting. Looking around quickly, she saw a mature man in a civilian suit and tie who was holding high a sign saying ‘U.S. EMBASSY WELCOME’. Going to that man while pushing her luggage cart, Greta stopped next to him and extended her right hand for a shake.
‘’Major Kearny, I presume? I am your new assistant, Captain Greta Visby.’
To her surprise and confusion, instead of smiling to her, the man reacted with clear embarrassment while still shaking hands with her and then spoke in an English tainted with a strong Swedish accent.
150
‘’I am sorry, miss, but I am not Major Kearny, but a locally engaged embassy driver. My name is Gunnar Almstrom.’
‘’But I was expecting Major Kearny to come and greet me on arrival. Is he sick?’
‘’Er, no, miss: he is presently busy with another business at the embassy.’
Greta frowned at that, rather non-plused by that reply. By the usual military etiquette, she had every right to expect her new superior at an overseas posting to come in person to greet her at the airport. However, since this was by no way the driver’s fault, Greta nodded her head and smiled to him while speaking in her flawless Swedish.
‘’Well, that’s alright, Mister Almstrom. Are we going direct to the embassy?’
‘’No, miss: I am going to drive you to the apartment reserved for you near the embassy, where you will find your shipping boxes waiting for you. You will have the time to unpack and install yourself in your apartment before having to report to the embassy tomorrow morning, at eight thirty. I will come and get you at eight fifteen tomorrow.’
‘’How far is my apartment from the embassy, Mister Almstrom?’
‘’About 300 meters at the most, miss.’
‘’Then, I will walk to the embassy tomorrow morning. You will just need to pass by the embassy before dropping me off at my apartment. I already have a fair knowledge of Stockholm: I visited it many times while I was a teenager.’
‘’Then, I will pass the word to Lieutenant Colonel Merrick, the Defense Attaché.’
Now frankly puzzled, Greta gently stopped the driver from picking up her suitcase and looked him in the eyes.
‘’Why report that to the Defense Attaché rather than directly to Major Kearny, Mister Almstrom? What is going on, really?’
The poor driver, looking more embarrassed than ever, finally decided to answer her frankly.
‘’I was not supposed to say this to you, Miss Visby, but Major Kearny has apparently gotten into some serious personal trouble and is due to be escorted back to the United States tomorrow.’
That left Greta quite dismayed, to say the least. However, realizing that the embassy driver would not have been told any details about Major Kearny’s case and probably had only heard rumors, she did not insist and grabbed herself her big suitcase.
‘’Very well, lead me to your car, Mister Almstrom. And don’t worry about what you told me: I never heard it.’
151
Almstrom nodded his head and smiled weakly, appreciating her accommodating attitude.
A fairly short walk then led both of them outside of the airport terminal, where a big Volvo sedan with diplomatic plates was parked in a V.I.P. spot. Loading first her pieces of luggage in the trunk of the car, Greta then sat in the front passenger seat of the Volvo.
Almstrom was soon driving the car away from the airport, taking the road leading south towards downtown Stockholm, some 45 kilometers away. While driving, Almstrom started conversing with her, providing her with some useful information.
‘’You were given Apartment Number 11, at Number 46, Lovisag, just west of the embassy, which is in the Diplomatstaden section of the Ostermalm District, in downtown Stockholm. Your apartment is already fully furnished, including a full kitchenware set of plates, cups, pots, pans and utensils. However, the pantry and the refrigerator were not filled, to avoid possible food wastage. You may take the time to go do some shopping on your own after your arrival, or you could go to one of the many restaurants lining up the waterfront to the south of your apartment building. There are five other diplomatic couples or families residing in your building, including Major Steve Harvey, the American Assistant Defense Attaché, and his wife and two kids. If you need anything or have a question, you can go see the concierge, Madam Lena Sarsgaard. She is a sweet, very helpful old lady.’
‘’I will certainly go say ‘hello’ to her on arrival, Mister Almstrom. You have been working for the American embassy for how long, if I may ask?’
‘’I have been employed there for over eleven years already and know pretty well all the staff, both American and Swedish. I also know Stockholm like the inside of my own pocket.’
‘’I will remember that, Mister Almstrom. May I just call you ‘Gunnar’?’
The driver smiled at that, relaxing at seeing how friendly and informal she was.
‘’Please do, miss.’
‘’Then, please call me simply ‘Greta’ when in private.’
‘’Understood, Greta.’
They continued conversing in a relaxed fashion during the rest of the trip, with Greta asking for or getting quite a lot of useful tidbits of information, like the opening hours of various types of shops and commerce, the public transit system in Stockholm and the cost of various items and foodstuff in Sweden. Turning on Valhallahvägen, a major boulevard which connected with the highway from the airport, Almstrom went
152
down next to the waterfront of the Diplomatstaden district and passed by a large, five-story building surrounded by a tall linked
fence. The driver then pointed at it and then at a well-guarded and solid-looking entrance
gate and guardhouse.
‘’The American embassy, with its
main entrance gate. I will now go to your apartment building.’
Continuing on the Dag Hammarskjöld
avenue, on which the embassy was situated,
Gunnar crossed the next intersection and
turned right on Ulrikag, a small street opening
next to the Nobel Park (or Nobel Parken), then
turned left after about fifty meters on Lovisag, before stopping in front of an old-style
apartment building with a pink façade, pointing
at it.
‘’Your new home in Stockholm, Greta: 46 Lovisag, in the Ostermalm District.
We will now go see Madam Sarsgaard to get the keys to your apartment, Unit 11.’
‘’I like it: it has a quiet, intimate look to it.’ said Greta, smiling while detailing the five-story building, with its small balconies, pink bricks façade and rooftop dormer windows. Both of them exited the car, taking out Greta’s bags before entering the lobby of the apartment building, where Gunnar knocked at the door of Unit 01, next to the main staircase. A mature but still solid-looking woman answered him after about twelve seconds, half opening her door and smiling on recognizing him.
‘’Aah, Gunnar! What may I do for you today?’
‘’I am bringing in a new tenant for Unit 11, Lena. This is Captain Greta Visby, who just arrived from the United States. She speaks Swedish, by the way.’
Lena looked at Greta, eyeing her for a second before grinning to her.
‘’Welcome in Sweden, Miss Visby. Your name is decidedly Swedish-sounding, I must say.’
153
‘’I was born in Sweden, Madam Sarsgaard, and lived here for fourteen years before my father and I moved to the United States. I am here to take a position at the American embassy for the next two years.’
‘’Good for you, my child. Just give me a minute and I will go get your set of keys.’
The concierge then walked towards her kitchen while leaving her door open, something few people would do in the United States. She was soon back with a ring that held three keys, which she gave to Greta.
‘’Here you are, miss. You have a key for the building’s main entrance, a key for your apartment and a key for your mailbox, which is next to the foot of the staircase. I must caution you that this building doesn’t have an elevator: it was built many decades ago.’
‘’That’s alright, madam: I am big on physical fitness and climbing the stairs will be a good exercise for me.’
The concierge looked her up and down and nodded her head.
‘’You certainly look like a strong girl, miss. Well, let’s go up to your apartment: it is on the third floor.’
Greta and Gunnar then followed the woman upstairs, with Greta noticing that the concierge was still quite vigorous despite her age of around sixty. She also couldn’t help ask a couple of questions to her while climbing the stairs behind her.
‘’Gunnar told me that there are five other diplomatic couples or families occupying this building, including one American family.’
‘’Correct, miss. The Harveys live next door to your apartment, in Unit 12. They are really nice people and have a fourteen-year-old daughter and an eleven-year-old son.’
‘’And what are the other four diplomatic tenants of your building, madam?’
‘’I have one Finnish single man, one French family, one British single woman and one Norwegian family, miss. The rest of the building is occupied by Swedish tenants.
About your apartment, your kitchen stove uses natural gas piped from a central system.
As for your bathroom, it is small but was completely renovated to modern standards six years ago, along with the rest of the building... Aah, here we are! I will let you unlock the door of your apartment, miss.’
‘’Thank you, madam.’
154
Unlocking the door of her new residence and opening it, Greta took three steps inside, so that Gunnar and Madam Sarsgaard could enter as well, and looked around her. The apartment was fairly small and was composed of a living room combined with a dining space, a small semi-enclosed kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom, with a large closet situated next to the entrance door. At the end of the living room was a door giving on a small balcony. Having just spent four years living in a university residence, followed by six months in a military room for singles, Greta didn’t mind the small size of her new apartment. In fact, she had always been quite frugal about her personal needs, with most of her spare money going to buying outdoor clothes and sports gear and training equipment. Seeing the two shipping boxes that she had sent from the United States, now sitting in the middle of her lounge, she nodded her head at Gunnar and at Madam Sarsgaard.
‘’This will be perfect for me. I am now going to start to unpack my boxes and bags. I will walk to the embassy tomorrow morning, Gunnar. Thank you for driving me.’
‘’It was my pleasure, Greta. Have a good evening and night.’
‘’Thanks! And thank you for your help, Madam Sarsgaard.’
‘’You are welcomed, my child.’
Once both of them were gone, Greta went to her two shipping boxes and quickly inspected them. Thankfully, they did not appear to have been mishandled and looked intact. Greta then took about one hour to unpack her things and place or store them around her apartment. Once she was finished, she looked at her watch, which she had set to Swedish time while being driven from the airport, and saw that it was nearly six o’clock. An idea then came to her mind and she walked out of her apartment, going to the door of Unit 12 and knocking on it. A woman in her mid-thirties and with brown hair cracked open the door after a few seconds and looked at her with curiosity.
‘’Yes, miss?’
‘’Hello! My name is Greta Visby and I just arrived from the United States to take the post of Assistant to the Officer for Defense Cooperation. Is your husband home, by chance?’
‘’He arrived from the embassy some ten minutes ago, miss. Please come in.’
‘’Thank you, madam.’
As Greta entered and closed the door behind her, the woman shouted down the main hallway of the apartment.
155
‘’STEVE! CAPTAIN VISBY IS HERE TO SEE YOU!’
What followed then surprised Greta to no little amount. Before Major Steve Harvey could show up, the head and torso of a teenage girl sprang out of the door of a bedroom lining up the hallway, with a grin appearing on the face of the girl at her sight.
‘’THE VIKING SHIELD MAIDEN IS HERE, DAD!’ the teenager shouted before running to Greta and stopping right in front of her, enthusiasm on her face.
‘’You’re a captain now, miss?’
‘’I am! May I ask where you heard one of my nicknames, girl?’
‘’It was mentioned a number of times in the news, while you were fighting in Somalia and in Afghanistan and you have since become my heroine. Oh, sorry: I didn’t name myself. I am Danica Harvey.’
Quite amused by all this, Greta shook hands with the teenager.
‘’Pleased to meet you, Danica. I am flattered to see that I am so well known around.’
A fit man in his mid-thirties and wearing a U.S. Army trousers and short-sleeved shirt came to them at that time and shook Greta’s hand.
‘’Nice to see you in Stockholm, Captain Visby. I am Major Steve Harvey, Assistant Defense Attaché. Please excuse my daughter’s exuberance: she considers you like a near superheroine since learning of your exploits in Somalia and Afghanistan.’
‘’Well, many other marines fought bravely there and I was simply doing my duty, sir.’
‘’Modest, too? I like that! So, what could I do for you this evening, Captain?’
‘’Uh, no disrespect to your wife and daughter, but could we speak in private for a moment, sir?’
Harvey apparently understood at once what she wanted to discuss about and nodded his head.’
‘’Sure! Let’s go to the lounge. Danica, could you stay in your room for the moment?’
‘’Sure, Dad!’ replied the teenager in a less than enthusiast tone. Harvey’s wife also got the message and disappeared inside her kitchen. Following Harvey to the nearby lounge, Greta sat next to him in a sofa and spoke to him in a low voice.
‘’Sir, I was expecting to be greeted at the airport by Major Kearny. Instead, I found a local embassy driver waiting for me. That driver told me that I was expected to
156
report only tomorrow morning at the embassy, instead of reporting today to Major Kearny. What gives, sir?’
Major Harvey took a second to choose his words before answering her.
‘’Captain Visby, the sad truth is that Major Kearny has been relieved of his post yesterday evening and is due to be escorted back to the United States tomorrow by two of our embassy marine guards. To make a long story short, Kearny, who got divorced a few months ago, started seeing a local woman during the last few weeks. The problem is that we learned yesterday, via the Swedish counter-intelligence services, that this woman was in reality a foreign clandestine agent and that Major Kearny may well have unwittingly provided her with classified information. As far as I can figure it out, Kearny is going to face a court-martial and will probably be booted out on a dishonorable discharge...if he doesn’t end up spending some time in Fort Leavenworth13.’
‘’My God! Then, who will direct and supervise my work here, sir? This is my first embassy posting and I know little about ODC protocols and rules. Major Kearny was supposed to teach me that stuff.’
‘’I understand that this could be quite difficult for you, Captain, but we at the Defense Attaché Office will help you as much as we can and you will have full access to Major Kearny’s current affairs dossiers. Besides, your military record is quite glowing, so I have no doubt that you will manage and, as you say in the Marine Corps, will adapt and overcome the difficulties. By the way, my daughter Danica is genuinely in awe of you, due to your combat record in Somalia and Afghanistan, which was quite publicized by the Pentagon around the United States in order to bolster female recruitment in our forces.’
‘’Great! I’m now a recruitment poster.’ said Greta in a dejected tone, making Harvey chuckle briefly.
‘’Hey, no good deeds go unpunished, Captain. Talking of deeds, you collected the Silver Star and a Purple Heart in Somalia, right?’
‘’You can add the Bronze Star to that, sir, for taking down in unarmed combat a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. The Afghans fighting the Taliban at the time gave me the nickname of ‘The Lioness of the Khyber Pass’ for that and for other combat actions there. That’s on top of ‘The Viking Shield Maiden’ and of ‘Calamity Jane’, which I earned in Somalia.’
13 Fort Leavenworth: Military jail in the United States.
157
‘’Well, if that could console you, know that many in my infantry division, The Big Red One, admire your battle record, Captain. Those same guys of course admire you as well for other reasons.’
That last sentence, said in an amused tone, made Greta shake her head in false indignation.
‘’Men! They will never change.’
‘’Definitely not! With that said, maybe I should let you go before my wife suspects me of some ill intentions towards you.’
It was then Greta’s turn to chuckle.
‘’Right! Thank you for clarifying the situation for me, sir. I will show up at Colonel Merrick’s office tomorrow morning at eight thirty.’
‘’We will be waiting for you then, Captain Visby.’
‘’Uh, before I go, could you tell me if there is a gymnasium or exercise room with weight-lifting equipment at the embassy? I am a bit of a fitness nut.’
‘’Don’t worry, Captain. Our physical fitness room is very well equipped indeed.’
‘’Then, I will bring my fitness training outfit with me tomorrow, sir.’ said Greta before getting up and leaving Harvey’s apartment.
08:02 (Sweden Time)
Friday, June 16, 2006 ‘C’
# 46 Lovisag, Ostermalm District, Stockholm
When Greta left her apartment in the morning to walk to the U.S. embassy, she did so while wearing her kaki female Marine Corps service uniform with short-sleeve shirt, slacks, pump shoes and garrison cap, plus carried a large black service purse.
A service dress kaki skirt existed for female marines but Greta didn’t like wearing skirts, mostly because her legs were so muscular that they detracted with the wearing of a skirt. Her Marine Corps superiors had actually agreed with her on that point and had promulgated a special rule for her that allowed her to wear slacks instead of skirts at her convenience, and this with all types of Marine Corps uniforms. The people who crossed her path on the sidewalk as she walked at a brisk pace towards the embassy did eye or stare at her out of
158
curiosity but many wondered especially about her unusually muscular arms for a woman. In truth, she had won hands down the University of Alaska at Fairbanks competition in female weightlifting all categories, even equaling or surpassing the performances of the smaller weight male competitors and creating a sensation on the campus and in Fairbanks. Another thing that attracted quite a lot of attention and passing comments among the passersby was her impressive four rows of medal ribbons and her rifle sharpshooting and pistol marksman badges.
As she approached the main entrance gate of the American embassy, the two Marine guards on duty there spotted her from a distance and discretely detailed her while making comments between themselves.
‘’Check this out, Antonio: here comes our new ODC officer, Captain Visby. She’s a real looker.’
‘’Yeah, a looker with a killer reputation in combat. Look at all those medal ribbons: she is no simple paper pusher.’
When Greta arrived at the main gate, the two marine guards came to attention and saluted her, prompting her to salute back.
‘’Good morning, maam, and welcome to the U.S. embassy. Which section are you heading to?’
‘’I am first going to pay a visit to Colonel Merrick, at the Defense Attaché Office.
On which floor is it, Corporal?’
‘’On the fourth floor, maam, near the western corner of the embassy. Uh, may I see your passport and military identity card, maam?’
‘’Of course, Corporal.’ replied Greta, who appreciated the fact that this marine guard didn’t assume who she was just on the strength of her uniform. Handing both her Marine Corps I.D. card and her diplomatic passport to the marine guard, she got them back after a few seconds, with the corporal saluting her again.
‘’Everything is in order, maam. You may proceed.’
‘’Thank you, Corporal.’ replied Greta while saluting him back. First putting her two documents back inside her purse, she then walked briskly to the embassy building proper, entering its reception lobby and climbing at a near run the main staircase instead of calling one of the elevator cabins. She was barely breathing faster when she stepped on the fourth level floor, proof of her high level of physical fitness. Walking down the west section of the main hallway while looking at the brass plaques on the doors lining it,
159
she soon arrived at a door marked ‘Defense Attaché and Defense Cooperation Sections’. Opening that door, Greta found herself in a fairly large anteroom/waiting room where a black woman was manning a work desk next to the door. Greta thus went to what was apparently a secretary and smiled down to her.
‘’Hello, miss! I am Captain Greta Visby and I came to see Colonel Merrick, at his request.’
‘’He is indeed expecting you, Captain. I will inform him of your arrival.’ replied the secretary. While the latter grabbed her telephone and made a quick call, Greta looked around the room, noticing that there were actually six doors opening on the room.
Three were marked as being respectively the offices of the Defense Attaché, the Assistant Defense Attaché and of the Administrative Assistant to the Defense Attaché.
On the opposite wall stood three doors marked as the offices of the Officer for Defense Cooperation, the Assistant Officer for Defense Cooperation and, finally, the office of the Regional Security Officer. She was finishing her visual tour of the room when the secretary spoke to her.
‘’Colonel Merrick will receive you now, Captain Visby.’
‘’Thank you, miss.’
Knocking first on the door of the Defense Attaché, Greta entered on hearing a ‘come in’
and made a few steps inside before stopping at attention and saluting a senior officer wearing an Airforce uniform.
‘’Sir, Captain Greta Visby, reporting for duty, sir!’
The lieutenant colonel in his mid-forties sitting behind the work desk got up from his chair to salute her back, something Greta appreciated. He then walked around his desk to come shake hands with her.
‘’Welcome to Stockholm, Captain Visby. I am truly sorry that your arrival was preceded by a royal snafu14 on the part of your would-be superior here. However, we certainly can use your services here at the embassy and I will do my best to help and support you during your transition to your new job. But let’s sit and talk.’
Stanley Merrick then offered to Greta one of the four easy chairs set around a low coffee table in a corner of his office, then sat opposite Greta in another chair and eyed her soberly for a moment, noting her four rows of medal ribbons on her chest.
14 SNAFU: Situation Normal, All F..cked Up. Common expression in the American military, used to describe a chaotic or really bad situation.
160
‘’Captain Visby, I have read your military resumé and I must say that I was impressed by it. You have proved yourself to be a first-class combat leader, with lots of intelligence, courage and strength of character. Also, the degree in security and emergency management you obtained at the UAF is something that fits perfectly with your new job here. Have you been explained back in the United States what your job here is supposed to be about?’
‘’Yes sir! I also read through the more recent archives at the Pentagon concerning the various reports and correspondence which emanated from the ODC
office here in Stockholm, and this while obtaining my Top Secret Codeword clearance level.’
‘’Excellent! Please tell me in a few succinct words what the job of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Stockholm is about, Captain.’
‘’Basically, the ODC Stockholm is a subordinate unit of the U.S. European Command, or USEUCOM, and is also an integral part of the Embassy of the United States in Stockholm. The ODC supports the U.S. Ambassador, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Government of Sweden. ODC Sweden provides a bridge between the U.S. and the Swedish military and defense sectors, with a view to enhance partnerships, maintain close cooperation, build near and long-term host country military capability and increase interoperability between Sweden, the U.S. and NATO. Specific areas in which the ODC provides assistance to the Government of Sweden include security cooperation and security assistance, foreign military sales, international military education and training programs, bilateral agreements, cooperative technology exchanges and research, standardization and interoperability of defense systems and munitions and, finally, technology security through end-use monitoring procedures.’
Merrick could only nod his head slowly then, truly impressed: this was no dumb blonde.
‘’Very good, Captain. You nailed it perfectly. How is your Swedish?’
‘’I am completely fluent in speaking, reading and writing it, sir, since I was born in this country and spent my first fourteen years here. I am also fairly fluent in Finnish: while being raised in a tiny village in the Lapland region, near the Finnish border, we had many Finnish neighbors and I often played with their kids. I also learned a fair Inuktuk while living with my father in Alaska after we emigrated there in 1990, plus I learned a few words in Somali dialect while fighting piracy there.’
161
‘’Wow! Better and better! Apart from being fluent in Swedish, what other skills do you have which, in your opinion, would facilitate your job in cooperating and liaising with Swedish military units and entities?’
‘’Well, I am accustomed to cold climates and arctic conditions, am a first-rate skier and snowshoer, am a qualified rifle and pistol sharpshooter, can hunt, fish and skin game and have plenty of battle experience. I will thus be more than able to follow a Swedish infantry unit engaged in a Winter field exercise, in order to report on its level of combat preparedness.’
‘’Gee, Captain, you sound like a really tough cookie.’
‘’That’s because I am, sir!’ replied Greta, smiling. Merrick also smiled then, decidedly liking this young officer.
‘’Captain Visby, I believe that you will fit perfectly in your new position here.’
‘’Thank you, sir. Uh, are they going to replace Major Kearny soon as ODC
officer?’
‘’They should but I doubt so, Captain. Finding qualified candidates is quite hard these days and choosing a new one may take months. Consider that you will probably be acting effectively as the new ODC Sweden during most if not all of your tour in Stockholm. However, me and my office will support you to the maximum in your job.’
‘’I am most thankful for that, sir. About Major Kearny, in how much shit is he in right now, if I may ask?’
‘’He is in over his nose, Captain. After the Swedish counter-intelligence alerted us about his girlfriend being in reality a clandestine Russian agent, he was immediately suspended from his duties and placed under house arrest. Then, our embassy Regional Security Officer, Mister Charles Doherty, had our computer technician unlock Kearny’s laptop computer, where we found a shocking mix of illegal copies of highly classified documents and of a large quantity of pornographic material, some involving pedophilia.
Worst, that laptop also contained hundreds of exchanged emails between him and his Russian girlfriend, who was by the way passing herself as a Finnish immigrant. We thus suspect that Kearny may have passed on some classified information to that woman.
The FBI is presently going through his bank transactions to see if he got any suspicious money transfers to his bank account.’
Greta grimaced while wringing her hand.
162
‘’All this could mean years in jail, sir. At a very minimum, this will mean for him a dishonorable discharge and the loss of his benefits and military pension. If I would be our RSO, I would put him under suicide watch, sir.’
That last sentence made Merrick freeze and open his mouth as he realized the truth in Greta’s words.
‘’Shit! Excuse me for a second, Captain: I won’t be long.’
Merrick then nearly ran out of his office, leaving Greta to wonder if she had hit some nail that nobody else had hit before.
Merrick returned to his office after a surprisingly long delay of over four minutes, to then sit down heavily in his chair facing Greta, visibly shaken.
‘’Your words were prophetic, Captain Visby. I just went to see our RSO to tell him about your counsel. He then radioed one of the two marine guards posted at Kearny’s residence, who in turn went inside to check on him. He just found Major Kearny, dead from hanging himself. The RSO is now going to inform the ambassador about this.’
Greta closed her eyes for a moment on hearing that: Major Kearny may have committed some major mistakes or even crimes, but death was still a severe and tragic end to all this.
‘’May God have his soul! What a way to start a new posting.’
‘’You can say that again, Captain Visby. Well, I was planning to present you to Ambassador Scott after our interview but I believe that will now have to wait.’
‘’Indeed, sir! By the way, what can you tell me about the ambassador?’
‘’Well, Ambassador James Scott is a political appointee, not a career diplomat, and was a bank executive before coming here. However, he is an intelligent and caring man and is doing his honest best. He is married but his children are all grown up, so he didn’t bring them with him to Sweden. I believe that your will like him, Captain. With all this now said, I think that I will show you your new office and open its secure file cabinets and safe, so that you could start studying the files and dossiers Kearny was working on.
Follow me, Captain.’
Before leaving his office again, Merrick took out of his own safe a small envelope and a small set of keys which Greta recognized as being keys for high security padlocks. He then gave her the envelope and keys.
163
‘’Here are the combination numbers for the ‘Top Secret’ level safe and the
‘secret’ level reinforced file cabinet in Major Kearny’s office, plus the key to the padlock securing the ‘confidential’ level file cabinet he used, along with the keys to his office. I hope that you know how they should be secured before you leave after work, Captain.’
‘’I certainly do, sir.’ answered Greta while taking the envelope and keys from Merrick.
‘’Good! Let’s install you in your new kingdom…or queendom, if you prefer.’
Following Merrick out of his office, Greta crossed the waiting room and ended into the office marked as ‘ODC Officer’. As she was glancing around the fair-sized office, Merrick went to a small framed picture showing a balding U.S. Army major and unhooked it from one of the walls.
‘’You will now have a spot to hook your own picture, Captain. Did you bring one with you from the United States?’
‘’Uh, no, sir: I am not into narcissism and, contrary to many other weightlifters, I don’t kiss my muscles in the morning. I let men do that.’
That made the Airforce officer chuckle briefly at her joke.
‘’That’s a good one, Captain. Here is another joke in the same vein, one that us transport pilots tell about fighter pilots: how many fighter pilots does it take to change a lightbulb?’
‘’Uh, I don’t know, sir.’
‘’One! He holds the lightbulb while expecting the Universe to rotate around him.’
‘’Nice! I wonder how ex-General Dows would have reacted to that joke, sir.’
‘’Knowing how unconventional her thinking was, I am sure that she has a good sense of humor. Well, let’s get back to your new line of work. Before yesterday, Major Kearny had two main files he was working on at the time. One concerned a proposal by USEUCOM to enlist the help of the Swedish Army into training some of our infantrymen on Winter warfare and survival techniques. The other was about a recent bid by the Swedish ordnance manufacturer FFV to propose to us a new light antitank weapon to be used by infantrymen. Do you have experience in using antitank weapons, Captain?’
Greta grinned at that question and nodded her head.
‘’I sure do, sir! In Armenia, I stopped an enemy BTR-70 armored personnel carrier by firing my rifle-mounted grenade launcher unit, while I took out an armored Range Rover car with the same weapon in Somalia. In Afghanistan, my platoon’s
164
antitank detachment took out four Pakistani T-55 medium tanks while we were defending the Khyber Pass. Anything that could help our foot soldiers oppose enemy armor is of high interest to me, sir.’
‘’Excellent! Your job concerning that file will mostly be to check out that new FFV
weapon and see if their proposal is worth passing on to the Pentagon for technical and field evaluation. On the other current dossier, you are to get all the details you can get about that Swedish Army training proposal and to evaluate its worth. In view of your extensive arctic experience, I believe that you will be the perfect person to evaluate that training proposal. Read as well through the other files in Major Kearny’s ‘in’ basket but concentrate mostly on those two files.’
‘’Understood, sir! I will get on these right away.’
‘’Excellent! I will now leave you in peace, so that you can start looking at those files. Don’t hesitate to come and see me if you hit any kind of glitch or have a question.’
‘’I will, sir.’
Merrick nodded once his head at that, then left Greta’s new office.
It took her only a few minutes to unlock her safe and her two secure file cabinets and to take out of them all the classified files marked as ‘ongoing’ or ‘under evaluation’, spreading them on top of the large work desk that was now hers. Going through them, she did a quick triage, separating the current files of primary interest from the less pressing ones and sat down to start reading them while taking notes. It was past ten in the morning when Lieutenant Colonel Merrick came to see her, knocking first on her office door before sticking his head inside.
‘’The ambassador wishes to see you now, Captain Visby.’
‘’Just give me a minute and I will be with you, sir.’ replied Greta before quickly grabbing the classified files and putting them into her safe, then locking back her safe and cabinets. Merrick nodded in approval as she did so.
‘’You do know and apply the correct security rules about classified material, Captain. Well done!’
As soon as her last file cabinet was closed and locked, Greta then followed Merrick out of her office and out into the main hallway of the fourth floor. Going to the central staircase section, she followed him up to the top floor and went down the hallway with him before entering what proved to be a secretary’s anteroom, to which the ambassador’s office was connected. After presenting both of them to the ambassador’s
165
secretary, Merrick then led Greta inside the ambassador’s office, a large room with carpeted floor and polished wood furniture. Ambassador James Scott proved to be a man in his early fifties with graying brown hair and short beard, brown eyes and a bit of a paunch. Scott came at once from behind his big work desk to come shake hands with Greta, who saluted him on her entrance.
‘’Captain Greta Visby, reporting as requested, Mister Ambassador.’
‘’I am happy to meet you, Captain Visby. I just wished that the circumstances and timing of your arrival would have been less dramatic. Did Colonel Merrick brief you on your new job?’
‘’He did, sir. I already started reviewing the work files in the ODC’s office.’
‘’Good! Have you had time yet to make your administrative ‘in’ clearances into the embassy?’
‘’Not yet, Mister Ambassador.’
‘’Then, take the rest of the day to do your administrative ‘in’ clearances, then go back to your apartment, so that you could stock it with fresh foodstuff and domestic products. If you wish so, you may also take this weekend off, so that you could get acquainted with your new neighborhood.’
‘’Saturday will be ample enough for me to do so, sir. I already know Stockholm fairly well from the past visits I paid it while living my first fourteen years in Sweden.’
‘’So, you must be fluent in Swedish, right?’
‘’I am, sir! I also am fluent in Finnish.’
‘’Excellent! Do you have any question about your new posting that is bothering you, Captain?’
‘’Only one, sir! I did read about Swedish laws and regulations concerning firearms possessions, and this before departing the United States. I have sent in advance five firearms I own via diplomatic courier bag, but I am still not clear about legal weapons carry as a member of the embassy staff, Mister Ambassador.’
‘’Well, Major Kearny’s misadventures have in fact raised the profile of that matter and I have asked the Swedish government to clarify who in our embassy staff is cleared to carry weapons outside the embassy and in what circumstances. You may ask my administrative officer, Mister Rolf Eyerdahl, about that while making your ‘in’ clearances.
Anything else, Captain Visby?’’
‘’No, sir!’
166
‘’Then, I will not hold you longer. Again, welcome to Stockholm and to my embassy, Captain.’
‘’Thank you, Mister Ambassador.’ said Greta before saluting Scott and then pivoting on her heels to march out with Merrick. Once back in the main hallway, Merrick stopped for a moment to face her.
‘’Due to the brouhaha about Major Kearny, I will have to go take care of a few urgent things. You are now free to go see Mister Eyerdahl, whose section is on the second floor, and to start your ‘in’ clearance procedures. I will probably see you next on Monday, Captain. Take all the time you need to install yourself in Stockholm.’
‘’Thank you, sir. I however intend to come work on Sunday in order to continue getting acquainted with my ODC work files. Most stores in Sweden are closed on Sundays, while I don’t practice religion, so will have little to do that day but work.’
‘’I appreciate your dedication to duty, Captain, truly. See you on Monday.’
Merrick then walked away to return to his office, leaving Greta free to go down to the second floor in order to start her ‘in’ clearances. Despite having just been given a free rein for the next three days, Greta knew that she was going to be quite busy during her first weeks in Stockholm, both with her work and with establishing herself in her new apartment and neighborhood.
167
CHAPTER 12 – MANAGING PARENTHOOD AND WORK
07:43 (Seattle Time)
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 ‘C’
‘The Little Angels’ Daycare, Hiller aircraft plant William R. Fairchild International Airport
Port Angeles, Washington State, U.S.A.
When it was time for Ingrid to return to full-time work after taking a six-month maternity leave, she had been faced with a problem common to all working mothers: how to ensure that her child would be properly cared for while she went to work. At first, she had used a sweet, mature woman neighbor to care for little Michael. Then, as her son passed his first birthday and needed more and more vital attention from her to his upbringing and development, Ingrid had resolved to have him within easy reach of herself while she worked at the Hiller aircraft plant. At first, she had arranged for a small room near her office to be converted into a nursery and had engaged the services of a young babysitter. However, not completely satisfied with that solution, she had pushed a special project to Jeff Hiller to build a new annex to the aircraft plant which would serve as a daycare center to be used by the babies, toddlers and kindergarten-age children of the Hiller employees, and had offered part of her not inconsiderable fortune, made through the royalties from her various aeronautical engineering patents, to help finance the construction, staffing and operation of that planned daycare annex. When the word had spread around the airport about the building of a local daycare, Ingrid had then received dozens of requests for places in it once completed, coming mostly from female employees of the airport and of the local airlines flying from Port Angeles. Ingrid’s reaction to that had been to scale up the project, in order to provide more places, and had also thrown in more of her money to finance that expansion, adding things not normally found in most American daycare centers of the time, while keeping the cost to parents for getting a space in it for their children low. As a result, the daycare center had become a booming success and had helped many young mothers who had been struggling before to find adequate care for their children while preserving their present jobs.
168
This Tuesday morning, Ingrid was in good spirits as she was in the process of dropping off her little Michael at ‘The Little Angels’ daycare. Now two years and three months-old, little Michael was proving to be a real sweetheart and an easy child to care for, possibly due in part to him being more mature for his age thanks to him starting to remember his past incarnations. There was also of course the fact that he was a half-Celestial, like Nancy, and had a link to The One. Whatever the reasons, the employees of the daycare positively adored Michael, something that made Ingrid immensely proud.
As Ingrid was about to hand over her son to one of the daycare employees, a young woman named Katy who had a diploma in child education, little Michael threw his arms open and looked up at his mother, speaking two words in his little voice.
‘’Kiss, Mommy!’
‘’Of course, my little angel.’ replied Ingrid before picking him up and holding him against her. Katy smiled as Michael and Ingrid exchanged kisses on their cheeks.
‘’Oooh, that is so sweet, Ingrid. You have a truly beautiful boy.’
‘’Thanks! However, I dread the time when he will start chasing girls.’
Katty chuckled at that.
‘’And I am sure that he will attract them like bees to honey, Ingrid.’
‘’That is exactly what I am afraid of, Katy. Here you are! I should come and pick Michael up at around five this afternoon.’
‘’Then, it will be Kimi who will be in charge of him at that time. You put his little bathing suit in his bag? He loves so much playing in the toddlers’ pool of the daycare.’
‘’I know and I did include his bathing suit in his bag. He also loves it when I bring him to the shores of the Juan de Fuca Strait, near my home. Well, have fun with him.
Be nice with Katy, Michael.’
Her son waved back at her as she started to walk away, making her sigh with regret at having to leave him to go to work.
Climbing the set of stairs leading to the upper section, which contained the staff’s offices and storage rooms of the daycare center, Ingrid then used her Hiller magnetic security pass to unlock the thick glass door of the overhead communication bridge linking the daycare annex to the main building of the Hiller aircraft design and production plant. That covered bridge, lined with tough glass walls, had been built to allow the Hiller employees who dropped off their children at the daycare center to then get quickly to
169
their work and to be able to pay short visits to their kids during the day, something she herself did often. With that overhead bridge connecting directly with the executive and administrative offices floor of the plant, she then walked into her aircraft design section a mere two minutes after leaving the daycare center. Entering her personal office, she sat behind her desk and unlocked her work computer, a powerful model designed to handle large amount of data at very high speed. In fact, her work computer was about the fastest and most powerful model one could find on the market, short of a mainframe computer. That was no frivolous choice, as the computer-aided design program she used for her work needed to be fast and powerful, with lots of memory capacity. Once her computer had booted up, she immediately checked her email ‘in’ box and grinned when she found one email sent to her yesterday evening by the research and design department of the aeronautical engine division of General Electric, a major producer of advanced jet engines. That email had in fact a pretty large data file attached to it.
‘’Yes! G.E. has finally completed its study via supersonic wind tunnel and computer simulation of their G.E. 120 combined with a DSI air inlet.’
First taking the precaution to pass that email’s file attachment through an anti-virus program, she then saved a copy of it into her personal work databank. Only once that was done did she open the said data file and started avidly reading it. It took her a good fifteen minutes to review the text, aerodynamic flow charts and equations in it, taking some hand notes as she read through the file. By the time she finished reading it, she sat back in her chair, very satisfied by the results of the study done by G.E. She now had the perfect engine to power her proposed TRAN-SONIC supersonic airliner. The fuselage of the TRAN-SONIC, the main part of the aircraft that would transport the passengers and the cargo payload, had already been designed by her, with her team of engineers and technicians now busy producing the detailed production sketches for that part of her aircraft. The wings had also been designed separately, with their production sketched also being done. Only the engines sections, to be added and adapted to the wings and fuselage, had to wait until she could select a proper type of engine for her TRAN-SONIC. Now that G.E. had done its part, her supersonic airliner project could now be finalized, with a prototype to be then built once all the design drawings would be completed. If her TRAN-SONIC design proved a success, then Hiller was going to be in the enviable position of being the sole producer in the World of a commercially viable supersonic airliner of the kind that could at last make trans-Pacific trips reasonably short.
170
CHAPTER 13 – INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
08h50 (Sweden Time)
Monday, June 26, 2006 ‘C’
Defense Materiel Administration (FMV)
# 62 Banèrgatan, Stockholm
Freja Lindstrom, a civilian employee of
the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration,
or FMV, had been tasked by her superior, Major Björn Holmgren, to post herself at the main entrance of the FMV headquarters building in order to greet and then guide the new American ODC officer up to his office. The only thing she knew about the American officer she was expecting to arrive at any time now was that she was a female U.S.
Marine Corps officer named Captain Greta Visby and that she spoke fluent Swedish.
Holmgren was particularly anxious to meet that new American ODC officer, as the suicide of Major Kearny had sent a shockwave through the FMV headquarters. There were strong suspicions that some of the classified information which had been passed on to the American embassy could well have been compromised in the sordid espionage case in which Kearny had been entangled. There were thus many still unanswered and very serious questions about the security of that information.
Freja was expecting this Captain Visby to arrive by car at the FMV headquarters, so was surprised to see a tall, blond American Marine Corps female officer walk into the parking lot of the building, coming from the sidewalk along Banerg Street. She wore a khaki two-piece uniform consisting of a short-sleeve shirt and a pair of trousers and also wore on her back a small backpack, while a wedge-shaped service cap crowned her head. Her walk was energetic, yet she didn’t seem to be fatigued in the least. As she got closer to the main entrance where Freja was waiting, the latter couldn’t help note the impressive collection of medal ribbons pinned to her shirt’s left-side chest. While Freja knew little about American medals, the number of ribbons pinned on the blonde was out of the ordinary for such a low-ranking officer. Compared to her, most Swedish officers had only a handful of medal ribbons on their uniforms. Freja was also able to read the
171
nametag worn by the newcomer as she got closer to the main doors. As the American woman, who appeared to be about the same age as her, stopped in front of her, Freja offered her right hand for a shake and smiled to her.
‘’Good morning, Captain Visby! I am Freja Lindstrom, secretary to Major Björn Holmgren, and I was tasked by him to guide you to his office.’
‘’Pleased to meet you, Miss Lindstrom.’ replied Greta while shaking hands with the secretary. ‘’Show me the way.’’
‘’We are going up to the third floor, Captain. Uh, do you have any weapons with you? Visitors to FMV headquarters are not allowed to be armed.’
Greta rolled her eyes at those words and her expression showed some frustration then.
‘’No, I am not armed, miss. My request for a gun carrying permit is still being processed by your police administration, even though I have diplomatic status. I am as well still waiting for gun possession permits for the firearms I brought from the United States via diplomatic bag. The Stockholm police firearms permit department is proving particularly obtuse about delivering a permit for my DESERT
EAGLE .50 caliber pistol, which I am very proud of, by the way. According to them, handguns can
only get a permit for shooting club use and they didn’t believe me when I told them that I use that pistol to hunt, not to simply practice. Worse, even if I registered my pistol for a practice shooting permit, no Swedish gun club allows handguns of .50 caliber, saying that they are too powerful. So, I am stuck in limbo right now. The only place I will be able to keep my DESERT EAGLE right now is at my embassy. Thankfully, our marine security detachment has an indoor gun range in the basement of the embassy, so I will at least be able to practice with it there.’
Freja didn’t comment about that as she led Greta towards the bank of elevators at the end of the reception lobby. While Swedish citizens could legally acquire firearms, either for the purpose of firing practice at licensed shooting clubs or for hunting, after filling the legal requirements for firearms ownership and getting the necessary permits from their police station, carrying a handgun and using it for self-protection was illegal in Sweden, except in a very few special cases. That was in sharp contrast to what Freja believed to be the crazy free-for-all situation in terms of weapons possession and carrying in the United States. As they were waiting for a cabin to arrive on the ground level floor, a
172
young Swedish Airforce officer couldn’t help stare at the impressive four rows of medal ribbons on Greta’s chest, which contrasted to the two ribbons worn by him. Greta smiled on noticing the young lieutenant’s interest, suspecting that part of it was directed at her chest proper instead of at her ribbons.
‘’Uh, may I ask what are the medals you won, Miss?’
‘’Sure, Lieutenant! From the top down and in order of precedence, you have the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Navy Commendation Medal, which I won in 1996 in the Caucasus, the Combat Action Ribbon for the Caucasus and Somalia, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, again for the Caucasus and Somalia, the Caucasus War Campaign Medal, the Somalia Anti-Piracy Campaign Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon and the Sea Service Ribbon.
Below my medal ribbons are the Rifle Sharpshooter Badge and the Pistol Marksman Badge. May I ask you in turn about your two ribbons, Lieutenant?’
The young Swedish officer blushed a bit then, definitely intimidated by the amount and precedence of her medals.
‘’I got the Armed Forces International Service Medal, for service in Cyprus, and the Armed Forces Reserve Officer Medal. Those two top medals of yours, aren’t they for bravery, Miss?’
‘’The Silver Star and the Bronze Star are effectively bravery medals and come directly after the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. My third medal, the Purple Heart, is given for wounds sustained in combat. In my case, I suffered a commotion from the blast of a suicide bomber in Somalia. Thankfully, I didn’t suffer any lasting sequel.’
Their elevator cabin arrived at that time, with the young lieutenant keeping to himself any further questions to her as the trio entered the cabin.
Greta followed Freja out of the elevator once on the third floor and walked down a large hallway with a floor covered with linoleum tiles, until they arrived at a door marked ‘Major Björn Holmgren, Army Ordnance Materiel’. Freja opened at once that door and led Greta in what had to be her secretary’s anteroom, with a polished wooden door connecting with her office. Going to the polished wooden door, Freja knocked on it and waited to get a muffled invitation before opening it and entering with Greta.
‘’Captain Greta Visby is here, Major.’
173
‘’Thank you for bringing her in, Miss Lindstrom.’ said a tall, fit and decidedly handsome man with short black hair and green eyes. As Freja left the office and closed the door, Greta came to attention and saluted Holmgren, who had risen to his feet from his chair.
‘’Captain Greta Visby, ODC Officer at the American embassy. Thank you for receiving me, sir.’
‘’The pleasure is mine, Captain. But please sit: we have plenty to talk about.’
replied Holmgren after returning her salute. Greta took off her small backpack before sitting in an easy chair set close to Holmgren’s work desk, then took out her laptop computer, a notepad and a pen. Sitting back behind his desk, Holmgren eyed her in silence for a moment before speaking again.
‘’First, let me express my sadness at the death of Major Kearny. He may have gotten himself into trouble but he didn’t deserve to die because of that. However, what is done is done. Was your security officer able to ascertain which, if any, classified information he may have passed on to that suspected Russian spy before being discovered?’
‘’My RSO’s investigation on that matter is still ongoing but, in conjunction with the investigation led by your counter-intelligence services, he believes that Major Kearny had not had the time to be cultivated long enough by that Russian woman to have deliberately passed on any significant classified information, sir. The search of his emails and electronic files didn’t find any trace of an exchange of such documents. Your counter-intelligence services also told us that, from the recorded calls and emails made by that Russian agent to her presumed superiors, she was still in the process of softening up Major Kearny and had only heard from him hints that your government wished to offer a new anti-tank weapon to the United States. I thus believe that the secrets of your new FFV AT-5 disposable anti-tank rocket launcher are still safe.’
‘’I sure hope so, Captain Visby. We are still testing a first pre-series batch of AT-5s and have not yet introduced it into Swedish Army service. In view of the advanced features of our new AT-5, we definitely don’t want for the Russians to learn about it.
Have you had time yet to look at the document concerning the AT-5 which I sent to your embassy?’
‘’I have, sir, and I must say that your new rocket launcher looks extremely interesting in terms of its performances, and I am talking as an experienced combat user of infantry anti-tank weapons and munitions.’
174
‘’Oh? Please tell me about your experience, Captain.’
‘’Basically, apart from firing on the practice range your FFV AT-4, which is in widespread American service, I also have fired dozens of times our 60 mm rifle-mounted grenade launcher, both in training and in combat. I have destroyed one BTR-70 and one truck in the Caucasus with my AGL-95 60 mm grenade launcher, then destroyed a number of light trucks and armored cars in Somalia, plus a couple of trucks in Afghanistan. I also fired the M68/1988 90 mm recoilless rifle in use by the Marine Corps and had two of them under my command while my platoon was holding the Khyber Pass in Afghanistan.’
‘’Impressive indeed! I suppose that you would like to witness at least one test firing of our AT-5, Captain.’
‘’You suppose right, Major. I...’
A buzz and vibration from her small cell phone then interrupted Greta, who excused herself with Holmgren and took out her telephone, a flip-cover model provided by her embassy.
‘’Captain Visby speaking!’
She recognized at once the voice of her caller, even before he named himself.
‘’Greta, this is Stanley Merrick. Where are you right now?’
‘’I am presently in the office of Major Holmgren, at FMV headquarters, sir.
What’s up?’
‘’Greta, don’t react in a visible way to what I am going to say: we want the Swedes to stay ignorant about this, at least for the moment, as we now know something quite disturbing: Major Kearny’s death was not a suicide.’
Greta had some difficulty not overtly reacting to that shocking piece of news but still managed to keep a mostly straight face.
‘’Alright, sir. I am listening.’
‘’I don’t want to discuss this on the phone, Greta. Find a reason to cut your meeting with Major Holmgren and return to the embassy as fast as you discretely can.’
‘’Understood, sir.’ replied Greta before terminating the call and pocketing back her cell phone while looking back at Holmgren.
‘’I will have to go back to my embassy, Major: we just received a list of urgent requests from the Pentagon and I need to review it and respond to it today. When do you think that I could watch an AT-5 field test firing?’
175
‘’I believe that I could arrange something for sometimes next week, Captain.
Would that do?’
‘’It would be perfect, sir. I will wait for your call about that. If you will now excuse me, I will make my way back to my embassy.’
Holmgren got up at the same time as Greta, then went around his desk to shake her hand.
‘’Thank you for coming, Captain Visby. I will call you as soon as I will have a firm date and time for that field test firing.’
‘’And I will be eagerly awaiting your call, sir.’
Greta then saluted Holmgren before putting back on her backpack and walking out of his office. She forced herself to walk at a normal pace until she was out of the building and had walked some distance along Banérg Street before flagging a passing taxi.
She was feeling something approaching dread when she walked into Lieutenant Colonel Merrick’s office. That feeling intensified when she saw that Merrick was already hosting his assistant, Major Steve Harvey, the embassy’s regional security officer, Charles Doherty, and the F.B.I. senior agent attached to the embassy, Fred Sumner.
She took care of closing the door behind her before approaching the four men and saluting Merrick.
‘’I told Major Holmgren that we had just received a list of requests from the Pentagon and that I needed to respond to it quickly, sir. What have we found exactly about Major Kearny’s death?’
‘’I will let Senior Agent Sumner give you the details, Greta. Have a seat.’
Sumner waited until she had taken a chair, then spoke while looking somberly at Greta.
‘’After Major Kearny was found dead from apparent suicide by hanging, I watched the Swedish police as they took out the corpse and conducted a cursory search of his apartment. Not satisfied with the thoroughness of their work, I conducted my own search and investigation after they were gone and found a few clues they had not found.
Basically, I found traces of forced entry by one of the rear windows of his apartment, plus faint traces of footprints on his carpet, footprints which didn’t belong to him and which were in a room not visited by the Swedish police. I am thus fairly certain that someone stealthily entered his apartment and then possibly killed Kearny in a way that would appear like suicide.’
176
‘’But this puts a wholly new light on his death, Fred. I can see only one plausible suspect for that: the Russians. That in turn suggests that they wanted to silence Kearny and prevent us from learning something a lot more serious than just a dalliance with an undercover agent.’
‘’You should have joined the F.B.I., Greta: I came to the same conclusion. Know that I received yesterday the results of an investigation done by my agency concerning Kearny’s transactions touching his bank accounts in the United States. That investigation showed a number of highly suspicious bank deposits made by Kearny along the last few months, which suggests that he had been receiving clandestine money, possibly from the Russians, for quite a while before his death. I now believe that Kearny was a lot more than a man deceived by a lover. Rather, I believe that he had consciously been spying for Russia in exchange for money, and this over a period of at least a year.’
‘’But, that’s nothing less than catastrophic, for both us and for the Swedes, Fred.’
‘’It sure is, Greta. This could in turn hurt very badly our relations with the Swedes, whom we want to keep as good friends and allies.’
‘’We may indeed want to protect that relationship but this probably means that the Swedish AT-5 design is now seriously compromised, along possibly many other military projects and plans.’
‘’And that is my main concern here, Greta.’ said Merrick, who looked quite gloomy. ‘’The main question we may face now is to how to react to all this. What do we tell the Swedes?’
‘’I say: be totally frank with them about this, sir. If we really want to continue to be their friend and ally, then we must be completely honest with them about this. After all, it is their secrets that Kearny may have passed on to the Russians. If we clam up and if the Swedes eventually learn about this, then our relations will be irremediably shot.’
‘’I would tend to agree with you on that, Greta. However, I am not sure that Washington will agree with us on that. I suspect that the Pentagon would rather cover its ass on this and keep the Swedes in the dark. Unfortunately, if that is what Washington decides to do, then we will have no choice but to play along with a coverup.’
Merrick could see at once from her reaction that Greta intensely disliked that possibility.
177
‘’I know, Greta. I know. This may go against your sense of honor and honesty but, if we are ordered by Washington to cover this up, then we will have to obey its directives.’
‘’If we do that, then how am I expected to look straight in the eyes of Major Holmgren the next time I meet him, sir? Do you have anything else for me, sir? If not, I will go take care of some of my files.’
‘’That’s all on my side, Greta. You may be free to go now.’
‘’Thank you, sir!’
Greta got up from her chair and saluted Merrick before pivoting on her heels and leaving his office, closing the door behind her. Charles Doherty watched her go, then looked at Merrick, misgiving evident on his face.
‘’That girl was born here in Sweden and lived half of her life here. What tells us that she won’t side with the Swedes on this?’
In response, Merrick threw a most unfriendly look at Doherty: in truth, he didn’t like the embassy’s RSO much, never had.
‘’That ‘girl’ as you call her, distinguished herself in combat in three different theaters of operations, got decorated multiple times and got wounded in battle. She amply proved her loyalty to the United States, so I would appreciate if you would respect her and understand her sense of honesty and honor.’
Doherty didn’t reply to that, instead keeping a closed expression that Merrick nearly found insulting. The Defense Attaché then decided that he would need to talk to Ambassador Scott about this, to preempt any attempt by Doherty to create doubts about Greta Visby’s loyalty.
19:14 (Sweden Time)
Unit 11, # 46 Lovisag, Stockholm
Closing and locking her door behind her, Greta took off her small backpack and put it down next to the closet near the entrance, then went to her living room and sat heavily in her sofa, feeling down and dejected. Her initial joy at finding herself back in the country of her birth was now being tempered by the distaste she felt at the prospect of having to lie and hide to Swedish officials and officers something they had the right to know, and all this for political reasons. The word had come quickly enough from Washington in late afternoon: the full extent of Major Kearny’s treason was to be hidden
178
from the Swedes, and this in the name of ‘national security and to protect bilateral relations’. While she was still going to do her job here honestly and diligently, she was now starting to regret not having asked for a combat field position instead after completing her university degree. After a moment of reflection and introspection, Greta then decided to go have a long open-air jogging and exercising session and got up from her sofa to go change into her civilian exercise outfit. Hopefully, the fresh air and physical exertion would chase away her bad mood. Thankfully, this area of Stockholm had a number of really nice jogging paths, many of which ran along the shorelines of the lagoons around which the city was built.
20:23 (Sweden Time)
Friday, July 21, 2006 ‘C’
The ‘Nordic Wellness’ fitness club
# 100, Karlavagen, Ostermalm District
