“WHO THE HELL are you people?” Will asked, scanning the four stoic faces seated opposite him inside a luxury appointed suite at the Wien Intercontinental Hotel.
“My name is Special Agent Reed. You’ve already met Special Agent Nelson,” Albane said, nodding at AJ. “Collectively, we are members of a special US government interagency task force assigned to investigate cases of multinational espionage and corruption. That is all I am at liberty to disclose to you at this time.”
Will nodded, stood up, and started walking toward the door.
“Where are you going, Mr. Foster?”
“If you’re not going to be straight with me, then I’m outta here.”
“The minute you walk out that door, you can forget about rescuing Julie,” she called after him. “You can’t get her back on your own.”
He stopped in his tracks, but he did not turn around. With his back to her, he said. “Will you help me rescue her if I stay?”
“We will rescue her if you stay. All we ask in return is that you answer our questions about Vyrogen.”
He turned. “What would you like to know?”
• • •
ALBANE LOOKED OVER her shoulder into the adjoining room at Will. He was sitting on a sofa, lost in thought. She turned back to AJ. The look in AJ’s eyes told her damage control was necessary. She could see that his mind was a whirlpool, spinning with questions and doubt. She had years of experience in the Tank to call upon, giving her perspective on the tangled, thorny events of the Vyrogen case as it had unfolded. With less than two days on the job, AJ did not.
“I know what you’re thinking, and no AJ, it’s not always like this,” she said. Then, laying a hand on his shoulder, she added, “This case is an aberration.”
He searched her eyes, hoping to find a glimmer of truth he could never glean from her perfectly anodyne speech. “Everything has gotten so twisted, I don’t know what to think. Since we’ve left Boston, we’ve committed espionage against our client, impersonated Czech and US government agents, and kidnapped a man. I thought we were supposed to be the good guys.”
“I know it might not feel like it, but we are the good guys. We don’t wear uniforms or carry badges, but we do serve a higher calling. Meredith Morley put us into a horrible situation. Not only did she hire us under false pretenses, but she meant to use the Tank as an instrument of malfeasance. We don’t work that way, no matter how much money the client is offering.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze. “And for the record, we didn’t kidnap Foster, we saved him from the real bad guys.”
AJ saw the glimmer in her eyes he needed to see. “You’re probably right, but that doesn’t quell the indigestion I’m feeling right now. This is nasty business. I had no idea the world outside academia was like this.”
“The real world is guns and roses; you’ll get used to it.” Then, with a smile she added, “Next thing you know, you’ll be asking to borrow keys to Kalen’s Ducati.”
AJ laughed.
Her expression turned serious. “I need to debrief Nicolora. Please go in the other room and keep an eye on Foster. Don’t let him do anything stupid.”
He nodded and did as she instructed.
Albane pressed “0” on her phone.
C. Remy—RS:Coordinator: “Coordinator.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “Coordinator, Social, request conference call with Founder One.”
C. Remy—RS:Coordinator: “Founder One is standing by; let me patch him in.”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “I listened to the entire broadcast of your Foster interview. Consider me up to speed.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “I believe him.”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “So do I.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “Now what? Foster is clearly the victim here: kidnapping, genetic piracy, human rights violations, torture . . . it’s a long, dirty list. What Vyrogen did is unconscionable.”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “I know, but before we deal with that, we have the immediate problem of the bounty hunters and Julie Ponte. After Kalen’s report from Ponte’s apartment, I confronted Meredith about torturing the roommate. She admitted to hiring German bounty hunters to find Foster, but swears she never authorized torture. I have the Coordinator uploading the bounty hunters’ bios to your computer as we speak.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “I’m receiving them now.”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “The men we’re dealing with are brothers: Raimond, Udo, and Stefan Zurn. Raimond is the brain, Udo is the brute, and Stefan is the tech.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “I don’t understand why they are still in the picture. When Meredith hired us, why didn’t she have the Zurns stand down?”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “According to Meredith, she tried, but Raimond Zurn refused and went rogue. The case became personal for him. Now, with Udo Zurn dead, we must consider Raimond to be unstable and likely to seek revenge for his brother’s death.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “They have Ponte. What do you want us to do?”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “What we always do in situations like this. Rescue her.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “Assuming we’re successful, what do we do with Ponte and Foster when we’re done?”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “Fly them back to Boston on NIATROSS. From what I’ve learned tonight, Foster deserves to get his life back. I’ll even help him out with a new identity.”
A. Mesnil—RS:Social: “What about the client?”
R. Nicolora—Founder One: “Don’t worry about that; you have more urgent matters to attend to. I’ll handle Meredith. Founder One out.”
Albane strode into the adjoining suite and with fire in her eyes, addressed her colleagues. “Gather round. . . . we’ve got a rescue mission to prep.”
• • •
“HAVE YOU EVER participated in a hostage negotiation, Mr. Foster?”
“Call me, Will. And no, I haven’t.”
Albane crossed her legs and leaned forward in her chair. “Although some would disagree with me, I consider hostage negotiations to fall under the umbrella of Game Theory. Are you familiar with the logic problem commonly referred to as the Prisoner’s Dilemma?”
Will nodded. “I studied it in college, but it’s been awhile.”
AJ shook his head. “I’ve heard the term, but to be honest, I can’t say I’m well versed on the subject.”
“Okay, let’s walk through an example to refresh everyone’s memories,” Albane said reassuringly. “The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a simple but powerful logic game with two players. In the classic scenario, two criminals are arrested for reckless driving after committing arson. However, the police don’t have sufficient evidence to convict either criminal, that is, without defecting testimony from one criminal or the other. So they place the two criminals in separate rooms for interrogation and offer them deals for their testimony in court. Both criminals find themselves to be players in a game with four outcomes; each outcome is dictated by whether the players choose to defect or cooperate with the other player.
Case One: Both criminals cooperate with each other and remain silent. Each man is sentenced to one year in jail for reckless driving. Neither is implicated in the arson.
Case Two: Criminal A defects by incriminating Criminal B in the arson, while Criminal B remains silent. Criminal A goes free. Criminal B is sentenced to ten years in jail for the reckless driving and the arson.
Case Three: Criminal A remains silent, and Criminal B defects by incriminating Criminal A in the arson. This time, Criminal B goes free and Criminal A is sentenced to ten years in jail.
Case Four: Both criminals defect and testify against the other in the arson case. Each criminal is sentenced to six years in jail.”
AJ rubbed his temples, concentrating. “Okay, so if I heard you clearly, the best scenario is for both criminals to cooperate and remain silent so that they’ll receive only one year jail terms.”
“Yes, the best mutual outcome occurs when both players cooperate with each other. But remember, each player would do best for himself if he defects and his partner remains silent,” Albane explained. “Game theory says that rational self-interested players will always defect in a single iteration prisoner’s dilemma. In the effort to achieve their personal best-case scenario of zero jail time, both criminals will defect. In doing so, each will end up with six years. Another way to think about it is, when the participants in a prisoner’s dilemma do not trust each other implicitly, then fear of being the sucker stuck with the ten-year jail sentence will drive both players to defect.”
“What do you mean by a single iteration prisoner’s dilemma?” AJ asked.
“What I mean is that cooperation only emerges as a strategy when the players both intend to participate in another round of the game. Keep in mind, prisoner’s dilemmas can be redefined in an infinite number of scenarios: business, finance, military strategy, evolution . . . you get the picture. The outcomes don’t have to be punishment; they can be tangible goods, currency, time, goodwill, etcetera. The point I’m trying to make, Will, is that screwing your opponent is a perfectly acceptable strategy if you plan on never seeing him again. But, if he is anyone you intend to have future interaction with—a business acquaintance or a friend, for example—then cooperation emerges as a leading strategy.”
“How does any of that relate to hostage negotiation?” Will questioned.
VanCleave interjected, “Two-party hostage negotiation is just a prisoner’s dilemma with window dressing. Both parties have two choices: cooperate or defect. In hostage negotiation, both sides feign cooperation while pursuing the strategy of defection. It is important that you realize this fact in our upcoming negotiation with the bounty hunter Raimond Zurn. The laws of game theory dictate that he will defect on any promise.”
Will deflated. “Whatever Zurn promises, it will be a lie?”
“Yes.”
“Then Julie will die . . . no matter what we do?”
Albane smirked. “No. Because our strategy is also to defect.”
“May the shrewdest defector win,” Kalen cheered.
“Then what is our plan?” Will asked.
“We negotiate a hostage exchange,” Albane said, her voice velvet.
“We ask for Julie and they ask for . . .”
The four compatriots stared at him, but they said nothing.
His eyes darted from face to face to face until at last, quietly, he said, “Me.”