Rainbow Six

She had forgotten how it was, Petra realized, the sheer joy of the power she held in her hands. How had she ever gone so long without exercising it?

The first police car to arrive on the scene had been only five kilometers away on getting the radio call. Reversing direction and racing to the schloss had only taken three minutes, and now it parked behind a tree, almost totally concealed from the house.

"I see a car and a delivery truck;" the officer told his. station chief, a captain. "No movement. Nothing else to be seen at the moment."

"Very well," the captain replied. "Take no action of any kind, and report any new developments to me at once. I will be there in a few minutes."

"Understood. Ende. "

The captain replaced the microphone. He was driving to the scene himself, alone in his Audi radio car. He'd met Osterma

"Captain," the first officer said by way of greeting.

"Have you seen anything?"

"No movement of any kind. Not even a curtain."

Altmark took a minute to sweep his binoculars over the building, then lifted the radio mike to tell all units en route to come quietly and slowly so as not to alert the criminals inside. Then he got a radio call from his superior, asking for his assessment of the situation.

"This may be a job for the military," Captain Altmark responded. "We know nothing at the moment. I can see an automobile and a truck. Nothing else. No gardeners out. Nothing. But I can only see two walls, and nothing behind the main house. I will get a perimeter set up as soon as additional units arrive."

"Ja. Make certain that no one can see us," the commissioner told the captain, quite u

"Yes, of course."

Inside, Osterma

"What do you want of me?"

"We want your personal access codes to the international trading network," Furchtner told him. Hans was surprised to see the look of puzzlement on Osterma

"What do you mean?"

"The computer-access codes which tell you what is going on."

"But those are public already. Anyone can have them," Osterma

"Yes, certainly they are. That is why everyone has a house like this one." Petra managed an amused sneer.

"Herr Osterma

The fear that transformed the trader's face amused his two office guests: Yes, they knew what they weren't supposed to know, and they knew they could force him to give over the information. His thoughts were plain on his face.

Oh, my God, they think I have access to something that does not exist, and I will never be able to persuade them otherwise.

"We know how people like you operate," Petra assured him, immediately confirming his fear. "How you capitalists share information and manipulate your 'free' markets for your own greedy ends. Well, you will share that with us-or you will die, along with your lackeys." She waved, her pistol at the outer office.

"I see." Osterma

The first order of police business was to check the license= plate numbers of the vehicles parked close to the house. The automobile, they learned at once, was a rental. The truck tags had been stolen two days before. A detective team would go to the car-rental agency immediately to see what they might learn there. The next call was made to one of Herr Osterma

Soon after getting the information on the helicopter, one of his people turned up the flight crew, one at home, one at Schwechat International Airport doing some-paperwork with the manufacturer's representative for an aircraft modification. Good, Willi Altmark thought, the helicopter wasn't going anywhere just yet. But by then the fact that Erwin Osterma