attention. That’s why I needed a swim, to try to remember more of what he said.’
‘But he did say that they already knew the oil was there?’
‘Oh yes. Apparently this situation is cropping up all the time nowadays. Knowing about the existence of oil is nothing you see. Knowing how to get at it and whether it’s worth the cost of doing so are the things that count. If the price of a barrel of crude is three dollars and it will cost five to get it you don’t bother. But then the price of a barrel goes up to twelve dollars or more and you think again. Still, it’s the engineers and scientists who have to solve these equations. He said that teams like his were the new wealth-makers.’
‘But why a European team?’ I asked. ‘If the Oligarchy gave anyone an oil drilling concession for the Coraza area it would surely be to some American company. Those people have teams of their own.’
‘Ah, but this one specializes in deep-sea work. Over three hundred metres! He was very proud of that. It’s not the same as ordinary off-shore drilling. The rigs have to be different. Lots of things are different. Anyway, these men didn’t sound particularly European in spite of their passports, and among themselves they spoke American English, even the Frenchmen. What’s more they weren’t working for a company but an international consortium. I do remember that. The Consortium, he called it, as if it were God.’
‘How many companies in it? Did he say?’
‘Five, I think. Naturally, I didn’t know then about Villegas coming here or I might have asked him who the companies are.’
‘And if there’s a French company what percentage of the consortium it has?’
‘That too.’ She parked in the Place Carbet.
I listened for a moment to the crickets chirping. A lot of people find the noise soothing. I don’t.
‘You still haven’t explained why Villegas is suddenly so important,’ I said. ‘You called him a card worth having. You didn’t say in what sort of game.’
She was combing her hair. ‘If you were an oil consortium, Ernesto, and about to invest billions of dollars in a coffee republic, wouldn’t you look twice at its government before you finally committed yourself?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘And if what you saw was a group of feudal landowners running the country with petty gangsters disguised as a militia and an eighty per cent per annum rate of inflation, what would you do?’
‘Ask the CIA to change the government, I expect.’
I smiled as I said it.
She frowned. ‘Oh the CIA wouldn’t do that, not any more, and certainly not in Latin America. They’re trying to become respectable again.’
‘I was being facetious.’
She ignored that. ‘What they might do, though, is to get someone else, some other agency with an interest in the area, and the consortium, to do the dirty work for them. And, naurally, put up with the embarrassment if things went wrong. They’ve done deals with the British and the West Germans on that basis.’
‘You seem to know a lot about it,’ I remarked; ‘or are you just making this up?’
‘I know a lot about it.’ She shook out her towel. ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if now they’ve made a deal with S-dec and the French.’
I made no comment on that and she didn’t seem to expect one.
‘What I don’t understand,’ she went on thoughtfully, ‘is why they make you his doctor. Of course Franz Josef was always a little jealous of Maximilian’s popular following, especially in Lombardy, and sometimes afraid of it too. This Uncle Paco of yours, what’s his name?’
‘Segura.’
‘Yes, this Segura may be the Count Grünne of the court whose confidential advice plays on those fears.’
A Hapsburg parable was the last thing I was prepared to take at that moment. ‘Oh for God’s sake Elizabeth!’ I snapped. ‘They’ve appointed me as his doctor because he asked for one who could speak Spanish. I happen to qualify. It’s as simple as
‘But he did say that they already knew the oil was there?’
‘Oh yes. Apparently this situation is cropping up all the time nowadays. Knowing about the existence of oil is nothing you see. Knowing how to get at it and whether it’s worth the cost of doing so are the things that count. If the price of a barrel of crude is three dollars and it will cost five to get it you don’t bother. But then the price of a barrel goes up to twelve dollars or more and you think again. Still, it’s the engineers and scientists who have to solve these equations. He said that teams like his were the new wealth-makers.’
‘But why a European team?’ I asked. ‘If the Oligarchy gave anyone an oil drilling concession for the Coraza area it would surely be to some American company. Those people have teams of their own.’
‘Ah, but this one specializes in deep-sea work. Over three hundred metres! He was very proud of that. It’s not the same as ordinary off-shore drilling. The rigs have to be different. Lots of things are different. Anyway, these men didn’t sound particularly European in spite of their passports, and among themselves they spoke American English, even the Frenchmen. What’s more they weren’t working for a company but an international consortium. I do remember that. The Consortium, he called it, as if it were God.’
‘How many companies in it? Did he say?’
‘Five, I think. Naturally, I didn’t know then about Villegas coming here or I might have asked him who the companies are.’
‘And if there’s a French company what percentage of the consortium it has?’
‘That too.’ She parked in the Place Carbet.
I listened for a moment to the crickets chirping. A lot of people find the noise soothing. I don’t.
‘You still haven’t explained why Villegas is suddenly so important,’ I said. ‘You called him a card worth having. You didn’t say in what sort of game.’
She was combing her hair. ‘If you were an oil consortium, Ernesto, and about to invest billions of dollars in a coffee republic, wouldn’t you look twice at its government before you finally committed yourself?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘And if what you saw was a group of feudal landowners running the country with petty gangsters disguised as a militia and an eighty per cent per annum rate of inflation, what would you do?’
‘Ask the CIA to change the government, I expect.’
I smiled as I said it.
She frowned. ‘Oh the CIA wouldn’t do that, not any more, and certainly not in Latin America. They’re trying to become respectable again.’
‘I was being facetious.’
She ignored that. ‘What they might do, though, is to get someone else, some other agency with an interest in the area, and the consortium, to do the dirty work for them. And, naurally, put up with the embarrassment if things went wrong. They’ve done deals with the British and the West Germans on that basis.’
‘You seem to know a lot about it,’ I remarked; ‘or are you just making this up?’
‘I know a lot about it.’ She shook out her towel. ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if now they’ve made a deal with S-dec and the French.’
I made no comment on that and she didn’t seem to expect one.
‘What I don’t understand,’ she went on thoughtfully, ‘is why they make you his doctor. Of course Franz Josef was always a little jealous of Maximilian’s popular following, especially in Lombardy, and sometimes afraid of it too. This Uncle Paco of yours, what’s his name?’
‘Segura.’
‘Yes, this Segura may be the Count Grünne of the court whose confidential advice plays on those fears.’
A Hapsburg parable was the last thing I was prepared to take at that moment. ‘Oh for God’s sake Elizabeth!’ I snapped. ‘They’ve appointed me as his doctor because he asked for one who could speak Spanish. I happen to qualify. It’s as simple as
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