The Medusa stone Read Online Free Page B

and Hyde was setting it right in front of him. Buried in the wasteland of northern Eritrea was a kimberlite pipe very much like the one discovered accidentally a century and a half ago in South Africa. He looked up at Hyde, his amazed expression verifying Hyde's suspicion.
    "Some of our people think so too. If there is a diamond-bearing pipe in Eritrea, it could mean economic prosperity for a nation that has absolutely no other prospects."
    Mercer reined in his excitement, forcing neutrality into his voice. "Intriguing, but from what I know of the region, there has never been any indication of diamonds or their marker minerals in the area. I can't say for certain that Eritrea has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb, but it's pretty unlikely that a find like this has gone unnoticed for the past hundred years. Especially since Eritrea fell under British protection after World War Two. The Brits rarely miss things like this."
    "But they didn't have Medusa," Hyde said. "Because Medusa was destroyed before it was calibrated, we have no way of knowing the depth of the pipe or exes,ough omission. He hadn't liked the Undersecretary on the phone yesterday, and he liked him even less now.
    The man from State continued, playing his final hand. "If you're concerned about security, I can tell you that, while not really sanctioned, I did bring in someone from Eritrea's embassy here in Washington. I didn't go into many details, merely hinting at the possibility of a tremendous mineral find, testing the waters for possible opposition if we took the initiative ourselves. As you can guess, our plan was literally jumped on. While not getting full sanction from their government, I've managed to get you the next best thing." Hyde paused and smiled. "If you're willing to go, that is."
    "Finding the pipe, if it's even possible, would take months. That's a big chunk of time, and my time doesn't come cheap. I'm going to need to think about this awhile. How about I give you an answer in a week or two?" Something was up here. Hyde still wasn't telling him everything, and no matter how interesting the project, Mercer was getting a bad feeling. He saw his tablemate's stricken expression. "Is that a problem?"
    "No, no," Hyde covered. "It's just that I led my Eritrean associate to believe that this could be done quickly. Already plans are in motion, you see."
    Suddenly the restaurant became very uncomfortable. That prickly feeling was back with a vengeance. Mercer knew when he was about to be railroaded, and rather than wait to blow Hyde off later, he made his decision. He stood abruptly. "Then I guess I'm the wrong person for the job. Sorry. I'm familiar with how to handle national secrets, I know a few myself, so rest assured what was discussed here will go no further. Please don't try to contact me again."
    He wasn't particularly angry about being lied to. From a government employee, he almost expected it, but that didn't mean he was going to waste any more time listening either. There was another agenda in place here, some shadowy plan that either Hyde wouldn't discuss or couldn't. Not that the reason really mattered to Mercer. He might be in a professional rut, but he knew Hyde's proposal wasn't the way out of it.
    He didn't pay any attention to the businessman at a table in the bar working from an open briefcase. The case hid a sophisticated unidirectional microphone. The entire conversation had been recorded.

College Park, Maryland

    The tape deck had been placed in the center of the small, faux-wood dining table, the four chairs clustered around it occupied by the station chief and the three senior members of his team. All of them had listened to the recording just forty-five minutes after Mercer's exit from the Willard Hotel.
    "Comments?" the team leader, Ibriham, invited at last.
    "Sounds like a bust," the only woman present stated. "He's not going to jump at the bait."
    "I agree," said another.
    "I was surprised by the level of detail Hyde