@@@@@?What in heaven?s name has the Jackal to do
@@@@@?What in heaven?s name has the Jackal to do with a killing in
Baltimore??
?Jason Bourne,? answered Casset?Yes, I gather that, but this is all terribly confusing! Bourne was a scum hit man out of Asia who
moved to Europe to challenge Carlos and lostAs the director just said, he went back to the Far
East and was killed four or five years ago, yet Alex talks as if he?s still alive, that he and someone
named Panov got telegrams from himWhat in God?s name does a dead scumball and the
world?s most elusive assassin have to do with last night??
?You weren?t here a few minutes ago, Steve,? again Casset answered quietly?Apparently they
had a lot to do with last night
?I think you should start at the beginning, MrConklin,? said the director?Who is Jason
Bourne??
Robert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
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?As the world knew him, a man who never existed,? replied the former intelligence officerRobert Ludlum ?? THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
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?The original Jason Bourne was garbage, a paranoid drifter from Tasmania who found his way into
the Vietnam war as part of an operation no one wants to acknowledge even todayIt was a
collection of killers, misfits, smugglers and thieves, mostly escaped criminals, many under death
sentences, but they knew every inch of Southeast Asia and operated behind enemy lines?funded
by us
?Medusa,? whispered Steven DeSoleThey were animals, killing wantonly
without reason or authorization and stealing millions
?Most, not all,? said Conklin?But the original Bourne fitted every rotten profile you could
come up with, including the betrayal of his own menThe leader of a particularly hazardous
mission?hazardous, hell, it was suicidal?found Bourne radioing their position to the North
VietnameseHe executed him on the spot, shoving the body into a swamp to rot in the jungles of
Tam QuanJason Bourne disappeared from the face of the earth
?He obviously reappeared, MrConklin,? observed the director, leaning forward on the table?In another body,? agreed Alex, noddingThe man who executed Bourne
in Tam Quan took his name and agreed to be trained for an operation that we called Treadstone
Seventy-one, after a building on New York?s Seventy-first Street, where he went through a brutal
indoctrination programIt was a brilliant strategy on paper, but ultimately failed because of
something no one could predict, even considerAfter nearly three years of living the role of the
world?s second most lethal assassin and moving into Europe?as Steve accurately described?to
challenge the Jackal in his own territory, our man was wounded and lost his memoryHe was found
half dead in the Mediterranean and brought by a fisherman to the island of Port NoirHe had no
idea who he was or what he was?only that he was a master of various martial arts, spoke a couple
of Oriental languages, and was obviously an extremely well-educated man
