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Back The Janson Directive
Chapters (54)
  1. Title Page
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Prologue
  4. PART ONE
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. PART TWO
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. PART THREE
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-one
  28. Chapter Twenty-two
  29. Chapter Twenty-three
  30. Chapter Twenty-four
  31. Chapter Twenty-five
  32. Chapter Twenty-six
  33. Chapter Twenty-seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-one
  38. PART FOUR
  39. Chapter Thirty-two
  40. Chapter Thirty-three
  41. Chapter Thirty-four
  42. Chapter Thirty-five
  43. Chapter Thirty-six
  44. Chapter Thirty-seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-one
  49. Chapter Forty-two
  50. Chapter Forty-three
  51. Epilogue
  52. ALSO BY ROBERT LUDLUM
  53. Critical Praise for Robert Ludlum
  54. Copyright Page

“You’re not VC at all, are you? Just honest, ordinary hardworking fishermen, right?”

“Dúng.” Right.

“Or did you say you were farmers?”

The two looked confused. “No VC,” the first man said pleadingly.

“He’s not your army comrade?” Demarest indicated his bound companion.

“Just friend.”

“Oh, he’s your friend.”

“Yes.”

“He likes you. You help each other.”

“Help each other.”

“You people have suffered a lot, haven’t you?”

“Much suffering.”

“Like our savior, Jesus Christ. Do you know that he died for our sins? Do you want to know how he died? Yes? Well, why didn’t you say so! Let me tell you. No, better idea: let me show you.”

“Please?” The word came out like plis.

Demarest turned to Bewick. “Bewick, it’s downright uncivil to leave these poor young men on the ground.”

Bewick nodded, allowing a grin to flicker on his wooden features. Then, rotating a wooden stick twice, he winched the rope tighter. The tension of the rope lifted the prisoners off the ground; the weight of their bodies was supported by their tightly bound wrists and ankles. Each emitted a loud, panicked gasp.

“Xin loi,” Demarest said gently. Sorry about that.

They were in agony, their limbs hyperextended, their arms straining at their sockets. The torsion of the position made breathing extraordinarily difficult, requiring a tremendous exertion to arch their chests and extend their diaphragms—an exertion that only increased the torque on their extremities.

Janson flushed. “Sir,” he said sharply. “May I have a word with you, alone? Sir?”

Demarest walked over to Janson. “What you’re watching may take some getting used to,” he said quietly. “But I will not have you interfering with the exercise of executive discretion.”

“You’re torturing them,” Janson said, his face tight.

“You think that’s torture?” Demarest shook his head disgustedly. “Lieutenant First Class Bewick, Lieutenant Second Class Janson is upset right now. For his own protection, I need you to restrain him—by any means necessary. Any problems with that?”

“None, sir,” Bewick replied. He leveled his combat pistol at Janson’s head.