Edge of Honor by Richard Herman Read Free Book Online Page A

Security Systems, or WSS, was the world’s leading private arms merchant. But WSS had taken it to a much higher level. Besides supplying weapons to the highest bidder, WSS also provided military expertise, support services, and training programs. WSS could deliver, on demand, export licenses for some of the United States’ most technologically advanced weapon systems. Further, for the right price, WSS could provide a turnkey, combat-ready, military force. It could do all this because Sammy Beason, through his father, had access to some of the most important politicians in the country. “So what is he doing here?” Pontowski asked.
    “Peddling an all-up tactical fighter force under the cover of a pilot-training program. WSS provides the instructors, the planes, weapons, maintenance, and training. The client provides the air base and the student pilots. While the students are being trained, the so-called instructors function as combat-ready pilots. Voilà, instant air force. As you can see, there is some interest.”
    Pontowski’s eyes narrowed. “I’d like to create some disinterest in that program.”
    Bender smiled. “I might be able to arrange that. Can you hang around for a few days?”
    Washington, D.C.
    It was a congenial group that gathered at Secretary of State Serick’s Georgetown townhouse for a garden party celebrating American labor. But the only people who had ever turned an honest day’s labor were the waitresses, waiters, and caterers. Most of the women were wearing bright summer dresses, although two pairs of designer jeans were to be seen. But those were worn by the young and thin trophy wives. The men all wore light summer sports coats with open-necked shirts. If a society reporter had been present, she would have noted all the dignitaries and overlooked Herbert von Lubeck, the first secretary to the German deputy minister for economic research.
    But a political commentator or reporter would have looked at the group differently. Why were so many high rollers still in the city on the last summer holiday and at a party for such a minor foreign functionary? The answer was in the second-floor den where Stephan Serick was examining the excellent Havana cigar Herbert von Lubeck had given him.
    “A gift from Cuba’s president,” von Lubeck said in German.
    Serick breathed deeply and savored the cigar’s aroma before lighting it. “Excellent,” he replied, also in German.“Unfortunately, we won’t be importing any of these for some time.”
    “A very shortsighted policy, my friend. But one that my government encourages. Our trade with Cuba benefits greatly by your absence.”
    Serick rolled the cigar in his fingers, apparently more interested in the cigar than in von Lubeck’s unusual candor. On the surface, von Lubeck had a minor post in an obscure office of the German government. In reality, he was a plenipotentiary with far-reaching powers and was in the United States for a definite purpose. Serick doubted that his visit had anything to do with Cuban cigars. “Like a good cigar,” Serick said, “foreign policy is not made in a day.”
    “The key is good soil and land,” von Lubeck said. “Without it, nothing can grow to its proper size.”
    The secretary of state chose his next words carefully. Since uniting in 1990, Germany’s agriculture sector had been the weak spot in its economy and was holding them back. “Ah, yes, your agricultural base.”
    “We are pursuing certain initiatives to correct that deficiency,” von Lubeck told him.
    Serick put on his “how interesting” expression to mask what he really thought. The State Department had been flooded with disturbing reports about renewed German interest in its pre-World War II territories in Poland. On the face of it, it seemed fair enough; the German government was helping its citizens who had lost land in Poland after the communist takeover in 1945 to reclaim their holdings or seek compensation. But what was going on below the