@@@@@Their caution was understandable; it was a
@@@@@Their
caution was understandable; it was a district to be avoided, although not necessarily because of
unsavory inhabitants, for the Moscow police were ruthlessly thorough in such areas, but because of
the stretch of decrepit buildingsThe area was in the process of renovation; however, like similar
projects in urban blights the world over, the progress had two speeds: slow and stopThe only
constant, which was at best a dangerous convenience, was the existence of electricity, and Carlos
used it to his advantage
He stood at the far end of the bare concrete room, a lamp on the floor behind him, silhouetting
him, leaving his features undefined and further obscured by the upturned collar of his black suitTo
his right was a wreck of a low wooden table with file folders spread across the top, and to his left,
under a pile of newspapers, unseen by his “disciples,” was a cut-down Type 56, AK-47 assault
weaponA forty-round magazine was inserted, a second magazine in the Jackal’s beltThe only
reason for the weapon was the normal custom of his trade; he expected no difficulty whatsoever
He surveyed his audience, noting that all eight kept glancing furtively at one anotherNo one
talked; the dank air in the eerily lit abandoned store was tense with apprehensionCarlos
understood that he had to dispel that fear, that furtiveness, as rapidly as possible, which was why he
had gathered eight distressed chairs from the various deserted office rooms in the rear of the store
Seated, people were less tense; it was a truismHowever, none of the chairs was being used
“Thank you for coming here this morning,” said the Jackal in Russian, raising his voice“Please,
each of you take a chair and sit downOur discussion will not be long, but will require the utmost
concentrationWould the comrade nearest the door close it, please
The old, heavy door was creaked shut by a stiffly walking bureaucrat as the rest reached for
chairs, each distancing his and hers from others that were nearbyCarlos waited until the scraping
sounds of wood against cement subsided and all were seatedThen, like a practiced orator-actor,
the Jackal paused before formally addressing his captive audienceHe looked briefly at each person
with his penetrating dark eyes as if conveying to each that he or she was special to himThere were
short, successive hand movements, mostly female, as those he gazed at in turn smoothed their
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
382
respective garmentsThe clothes they wore were characteristic of the ranks of upper-level
government officials—in the main drab and conservative, but well pressed and spotless
“I am the monseigneur from Paris,” began the assassin in priestly garb“I am he who has spent
several years seeking each of you out—with the assistance of comrades here in Moscow and
beyond—and sent you large sums of money, asking only that you silently await my arrival and
render me the loyalty I have shown to youBy your faces, I can anticipate your questions, so let
me amplify