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car for you, Commander?"
    "No, thanks." From this moment on, he was completely on his own. Robert waited until the plane taxied away, and then boarded a minibus to the airport hotel, where he collapsed into a dreamless sleep. Day Two 0800 Hours
    The next morning Robert approached a clerk behind the Europcar desk.
    "Guten Tag."
    It was a reminder that he was in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
    "Guten Tag. Do you have a car available?"
    "Yes, sir, we do. How long will you be needing it?" Good question. An hour? A month? Maybe a year or two? "I'm not sure."
    "Do you plan to return the car to this airport?"
    "Possibly."
    The clerk looked at him strangely.
    "Very well. Will you fill out these papers, please?" Robert paid for the car with the special black credit card General Hilliard had given him. The clerk examined it, perplexed, then said,
    "Excuse me." He disappeared into an office, and when he returned, Robert asked, "Any problem?"
    "No, sir. None at all."
    The car was a gray Opel Omega. Robert got onto the airport highway and headed for downtown Zurich. He enjoyed Switzerland. It was one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Years earlier he had skied there. In more recent times, he had carried out assignments there, liaising with Espionage Abteilung, the Swiss intelligence agency. During World War II, the agency had been organized into three bureaus: D, P, and I, covering Germany, France, and Italy, respectively. Now its main purpose was related to detecting undercover espionage operations conducted within the various UN organizations in Geneva. Robert had friends in Espionage Abteilung, but he remembered General Hilliard's words: "You're not to get in touch with any of them." The drive into the city took twenty-five minutes. Robert reached the Dubendorf downtown exit ramp and headed for the Dolder Grand Hotel. It was exactly as he remembered it: an overgrown Swiss chateau with turrets, stately and imposing, surrounded by greenery and overlooking Lake Zurich. He parked the car and walked into the lobby. On the left was the reception desk.
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    Sidney Sheldon - Doomsday Conspiracy
    "Guten Tag."
    "Guten Tag. Haben Sie ein Zimmer fur eine Nacht?"
    "Ja. Wie mochten Sie bezahlen?"
    "Mit Kreditkarte." The black and white credit card that General Hilliard had given him. Robert asked for a map of Switzerland and was escorted to a comfortable room in the new wing of the hotel. It had a small balcony that overlooked the lake. Robert stood there, breathing in the crisp, autumn air, thinking about the task that lay ahead of him. He had nothing to go on. Not one damned thing. All the factors to the equation of his assignment were completely unknown. The name of the tour company. The number of passengers.
    Their names and whereabouts.
    "Are the witnesses all in Switzerland?"
    "That's our problem. We have no idea where they are, or who they are." And it wasn't enough to find some of the witnesses.
    "You must find every one of them." The only information he had was the place and date: Uetendorf, Sunday, October 14. He needed a handle, something to grab onto. If he remembered correctly, all-day tour buses left from only two major cities: Zurich and Geneva. Robert opened a desk drawer and took out the bulky Telefonbuch. I should look under M, for miracle, Robert thought. There were more than half a dozen tour companies listed: Sunshine Tours, Swisstour, Tour Service, Touralpino, Tourisma Reisen... He would have to check each of them. He copied down the addresses of all the companies and drove to the offices of the nearest one listed.
    There were two clerks behind the counter taking care of tourists. When one of them was free, Robert said, "Excuse me. My wife was on one of your tours last Sunday, and she left her purse on the bus. I think she got excited because she saw the weather balloon that crashed near Uetendorf."
    The clerk frowned.
    "Es tut mir viel leid. You must be mistaken. Our tours do not go near