“I doubt if even your exalted self can read it. And there’s that big heap of crap in the back yard. It’s too much for what was taken out of this room.” Carrying O’Malley’s tote bag, Merrill moved toward one of the cameras. “And there’s enough radioactivity down here to fry my computer.”

“What are you up to, Merrill?”

“Merrill was standing under the camera now. From the bag he took one of “O’Malley’s automatics and aimed it at the camera. The sound shook the room. Poor Scott Waller’s eardrums had to be shattered.

Chino was laughing out loud. “I thought you’d be pretty good with that thing, but you’re terrible. You couldn’t hit a cow in the backside with a milk bucket. You fool, put the gun down before you hurt yourself.”

Merrill shot again. The camera flew up to the ceiling. He felt like taking a bow.

“A pointless exercise, Commander —”

“Then tell me! What is this about? Why did set me up?”

“This past month of Norte Americano breast beating has been a classic exercise in misdirection, as you well know. Making a hero out of you instead of addressing the hard questions raised by Ghost allowed the real villains of the piece to remain safely hidden. You Americans live in a dream. I built my business out of nothing. If I had lost anyone’s money at any time, I would have paid for it with my life. Now my business is so big, I make more money than any of my clients. The money itself is where the money is. For years my enemies, your real masters, not incidentally, have wanted to take it from me. People I used to work with, who decided they didn’t need any more. I can’t defend myself? I’ve been defending myself for years. Ghost should have been taken for what it was, a warning. Did they let you in on what was under the fresh paint on the back of the boat? Uncle Sam. The cargo came from evidence rooms all across America. All the identifying marks and tags were sent to these people. They know who has the real power —”

“So you’re going to set off an atomic bomb and kill a lot of innocent people.”