The Project 05 - The Tesla Secret

weapon yet, we're using lasers. I think we are past most of the problems. With a true amplifier in place, the range of the beam will be as good as infinite. Nothing will stop it."
    "And you can sustain the beam?"
    "Once the amplification problem is solved, I am confident we can. Perhaps only for a few minutes."
    "A few minutes is all we need," Kaminsky said.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

    Elizabeth and Stephanie watched the display from a photo comparison program running on the Crays downstairs. The program scanned a combined database from Interpol, NSA, DIA, Langley and the intelligence services of Israel, Britain, and the European Union. There were a lot of bad people in that database. The computers looked for a match to the pictures transmitted from Nick's camera.
    The program analyzed distinctive facial features and body posture. Eye shape, bone structure, ear lobes, the shape of the skull. The nose. Dimensions in a 3-D axis. Beards, clothes, hats, eyeglasses, contact lenses and makeup meant little to the computer. It could be fooled, but it wasn't easy.
    On the left of the monitor screen, the pictures from the cafe flickered and changed as the computer sorted and compared. On the right, facial images from the database blurred in rapid succession. The facial recognition program was one of the foundations of anti-terrorism. It required the kind of computing power only governments could afford.
    The pictures froze. MATCH appeared in bold red letters.
    "Bingo," Stephanie said. She tapped a key. The picture went full screen. Information about the subject popped up beneath it.
    "Well, well. Not a nice man," Elizabeth said. "Zoran Jovanovich. Captain in Mladic's Scorpions. Wanted for war crimes committed at Srebrenica in '95."
    They read the file in silence.
    "A real bastard," Stephanie said.
    "He's sitting a few tables away from Nick. I don't believe in coincidences. I wonder if he's got any friends with him?"
    "I'll narrow the search to Serbian nationals, war criminals. Associations with Mladic."
    Steph entered the commands. Images flooded the screen again. Within a minute there was another match.
    "Nikola Nikovich. Also at Srebrenica, a sergeant under Jovanovich. Wanted for war crimes. He personally executed over 200 male children under Jovanovich's orders. Wanted by Interpol for rape and murder."
    "What have Nick and Selena got themselves into?" Steph asked.
    "We'll have to let them sort it out." Elizabeth picked up her sat phone. "Time to make a call."

CHAPTER TWENTY

    Prague in August was a pickpocket's dream. The crowds reminded Nick of a Tokyo subway at rush hour. They walked through the arch of the tower guarding the old town side of Charles Bridge.
    The bridge over the Vltava river had been built by Charles IV to link the city and Hradčany Castle. Construction had begun in 1357. It was 600 meters long, supported by massive arches and piers of stone. Statues of saints and kings lined the span on both sides.
    There were no vehicles allowed on the bridge. The roadway was packed with tourists and vendors and noisy with the chaotic babble of half a dozen languages. Kiosks sold food and crafts and souvenirs. High on the other side of the Vltava, the walls and towers of the castle loomed over everything.
    "Impressive." Selena looked up at the enormous building. "You want a castle, you can't beat that one. Blue Cap is behind with his friend."
    They stopped at a kiosk displaying 19th century prints of Prague and the surrounding countryside.
    "I don't like this crowd," Nick said. "If they want to hurt us, there's a lot of cover here. Confusion. No way to tell who's who."
    They began walking again, dodging a mime in white face and stripes who stepped in front of them. They kept to the middle of the broad avenue.
    "You think they want to kill us?"
    "Always assume the worst."
    "One of your rules."
    "It's a good one."
    "If the crowd works for them, it works for us, too."
    "There's that," he said.
    They were half way across. Nick's ear began itching. They stopped at a kiosk selling sunglasses lined up on a revolving rack with a mirror. Nick glanced in the mirror and saw Blue Cap moving up fast behind.
    "They're closing," he said. "Get ready. They'll have knives. They won't use guns here."
    His adrenaline started pumping. The crowd pressed around them. Blue Cap came up on the right. Nick thought block, elbow strike, leg sweep. He got ready. The man passed three feet away and kept on walking. Nick pulled himself back at the last