The recoil had flattened Leningrad.
Everything that was European Russia had been levelled!
That whole nation was no more!
I moaned.
Even worse, there went all of Rockecenter's uranium profits, with the removal of the threat of atomic war! Oh, Gods, was I in trouble now!
PART SIXTY-FOUR
Chapter 1
If I went home now, the second Lombar heard about this he would have me exterminated.
There was no doubt of that in my mind now. If ever I needed to be brilliant and think fast, it was NOW, NOW, NOW!
Heller was sitting there in the pilot seat. He seemed to be praying.
We were holding at about three hundred miles above Russia. From this point I could see Turkey on the horizon to the south.
Suddenly, at long last, I had an idea!
"Oh, God of peoples," said Heller, "forgive me."
I took immediate advantage of his mood, although I certainly couldn't understand why anybody would be sorry about wiping out a hundred million riffraff. "The tug is disabled," I said. "You cannot go directly home."
"It's just the towing equipment," he said. "I could probably make it."
"No, no," I said. "You shouldn't put yourself at risk."
"Are you recommending all of a sudden that I go to the Earth base?"
I tried to keep the gleam out of my eyes. I had the whole plan now. It was audacious beyond belief.
"I have certain information," I said. "It is very vital to you. If I divulge it, will you give me your word as a Royal officer to take me home and turn me over there for trial?"
"If it's worth anything," he said.
"Oh, it is!" I said. "You saw that that assassin pilot wanted to kill you, even though he knew who you were."
"That's true," he said.
"You'll be interested to know that at the Earth base they think you are a spy who was sent down to kill them. They will try to execute you on sight."
"I could figure that out for myself," he said.
"But you don't know this," I replied. "There is a secret way to get in."
He looked at me, puzzled. But I knew I had him. If I could just get him to the outer gate of the villa and ring that bell, he would be shot down. And even if that missed, I could get him to my secret room and sound the alarm there, and when we went down that tunnel the assembled base personnel would riddle him!
"And why should I want to sneak in?" said Heller.
And here came the very cream of my idea! "Give me a piece of paper and a pen."
He did. I wrote on it and folded it.
"The information on this is so vital to you it will change your whole life. Promise me that if I give you this sheet and you act on it, you will return me to Voltar."
He thought a moment. "For trial," he said. "I will promise that."
"Good enough," I said. And I handed him the paper.
He opened it. He went white as a sheet!
I had had the idea that would end all ideas. I had written
THE COUNTESS KRAK IS ALIVE IN A CELL AT THE EARTH BASE
What an inspiration—especially since she was dead! What genius to use a corpse to lure someone in!
And if we got that far, I had that planned, too. Somewhere between here and there, I would secrete a weapon. He would see her body and in that moment when his attention was off me, I would kill him, for he would be in shock. I was so bemused by my cleverness I did not hear what he said. He had to repeat it. "You are lying!"
"No," I said. "I am telling you the truth. Some information came to us that her plane would be sabotaged by some terrorists, and we picked her up at Rome airport and flew her to the base. She is alive and well, though of course in detention."
He did not say anything for a while. He was obviously in shock. Oh, how well this was working out!
"You'd better have some proof of this," he said.
I had that all worked out, too. I had my wallet. I opened it. I handed him a piece of paper. It was the Squeeza credit card—her card with the Empire State address written on the back of it.
He looked at it. He recognized it. His hands were shaking.
He could hardly talk. Then he said, "All right. We will go."
I was nearly delirious with joy—hard put to keep it from showing on my face. I could get him now. Of that I was sure. And then I could somehow wipe out his power company, Chryster, Okeechokee and blow up the Empire State and Izzy before those options could function. There would be repercussions with Rockecenter, but I could say proudly, "All is well, for I killed the man and your empire is intact." I would be restored to favor. I could release Black Jowl. And I still would become the next Chief of the Apparatus.
And all in all, I was absolutely amazed at my own genius. Whoever before had used a dead woman as a lure? Only a brilliant Apparatus officer would ever think of that!
Chapter 2
I think that Heller was dazed a bit, not only by my pretended news concerning the Countess Krak but also because of the destruction the assassin pilot had angled the tug into.
We had to wait for sunset. He would not let me turn the TV on. I was very sure it was full of juicy bulletins concerning the demise of Russia. Rockecenter's PRs would be rushing the media to blare how he insisted upon vast relief expeditions. But nobody need bother. There was little if anything left alive in European Russia. Probably Sweden would just move in to pick up any loot left lying around and annex the place. The so-called satellite countries would throw off the yoke and probably right this minute were murdering the Russian troops who had kept them in line and fattened off them. World power had certainly shifted. Rockecenter must be going crazy trying to figure out how to keep international tensions up now. I said as much.
"They can't blame any other nation," Heller said. "Every astronomer in the northern hemisphere plainly saw what they thought was a natural cataclysm. The planet won't destroy itself with atomic war now and that's the only benefit from this. So shut up. I don't want to hear about it."
He was doing some calculations but his mind was not on it and his eyes kept straying to the sun indicator as we hovered there, five hundred miles above Turkey.
The tug spoke up about midafternoon. "My thirty-third sub-brain has calculated that the inner core of the planet will now spin slightly more true to the axis. It will take many years longer to achieve because the blow was so glancing. I have the figures. Do you want them?"
"No," said Heller, his eyes upon the clock.
About six, with shadows growing long below, Heller went aft. He returned later to the flight deck. He was dressed in black. He had a kit bag over his shoulder.
He unchained me and took me to an engineer's quarters. He let me pick out some of the Antimanco engineer's clothes which were still hanging there.
While I was still changing, he went to the crew's galley to get me something to eat.
It was then I found something.
I could not believe my luck!
The jacket I was putting on had a hidden knife! It was about five inches long and very sharp. It lay flat against the left rib cage!
When Heller brought me back a plate and canister, I carefully schooled myself to continue to look bland.
"There's a field nobody uses," I said, "about three miles from the base. It is in a fold of the mountain and innocent of rocks. It belongs to the base but the soil is worn out and it is not leased to tenants. They are giving it a rest. If we land there after dark, we only need to walk over the shoulder of a hill and we will be on a road that goes right past the villa. And it, too, is not much used. I can get you in there but you have to take my advice and do what I say."
He was only half listening. He was looking up the passageway toward a clock. I knew what would be on his mind. Every part of him wanted to believe me but part of him was also saying that it might not be true. He looked rather white around the eyes. His hands were shaking slightly.
I was careful not to exhibit any satisfaction
over his state. What a brilliant bomb I had thrown into him! My whole situation was reversed. He was not even being careful!
Darkness crept across the land below.
Heller, on the flight deck, carefully located the field and fed in coordinates.
Finally the Earth went black under us.
"Here we go," said Heller, and he reached for the controls.
I could scarcely breathe. In only a couple of hours I would be free to wipe out the hopes of Earth for cheap fuel. Rockecenter must be saved!
Very shortly now, Heller's corpse would join the lifeless body of the Countess Krak.
Chapter 3
We landed with a whisper in the dark.
Heller, at the airlock, put the cat back inside. "You stay here and guard the ship." The cat sat down and he shut the airlock in its face.
We went across an open field and began to climb the shoulder that separated us from the road.
"We must be very quiet," I said. "When you see me stop and listen, you must stop, too."
"You stay ahead of me," said Heller. "Walk fast."
I walked along. I was desperately thinking of how I could get behind him. All it would take was just one stab. He was mortal like any other man and he seemed too impetuous for caution. And I had other ways to get him, too!
We descended the slope of the shoulder and came to the road. There was no traffic. We went along the footpath beside the road. We passed the ill-fated copse where I had had so many women in the car. We came at length within reach of the villa gate.
Everything was quiet inside. There was the glow of a single light burning in the garden and some yellow splashes from the windows of the staff hut. I held up my hand to stop him. "There's a secret lock to open the bars," I said. I reached up on the pillar and pressed the staff alarm.
Urgent lights would be flashing in their quarters now.
I silently opened the gate.
Heller pushed me ahead of him. He had no idea at all he was walking into a trap. I saw something moving in the bushes beside the walk.
Musef and Torgut!
Ah, bless them! They would be ready, as they had been for Black Jowl.
Heller stopped. I glanced back. He was looking around. But he was not looking toward that spot that had moved.
SUDDENLY TWO FLASHLIGHTS CAME ON!
One from the right! The other from the left!
They were drilling straight at Heller's face!
Below them were the muzzles of guns!
Suddenly a scream.
"The D.E.A. man!" cried Musef.
There was a clatter.
A lead pipe had fallen to the walk! The flashlights were weaving a wild pattern as they went away.
They got to the wall.
They went up and straight over the top, barbs and glass and all!
"Run for your life!" Torgut was bellowing in the field beside the villa.
The rush of frantic footsteps faded away.
I was stunned.
"What was that all about?" said Heller.
I thought fast. I was swallowing my disappointment. "We must have surprised some robbers at work," I said.
But I was very far from through. All I had to do was get to my secret room, step on a tile and sound the general alarm for the whole base. They thought he was there to kill them. I had long since made sure they believed that.
Silently we crept into the patio of the villa itself. The only sound was the fountain. We went through to my bedroom. Now, if I worked this right, I could con him into my secret room and get my foot upon the tile.
I opened the closet passageway. Heller pushed me ahead of him. I stepped through into my secret room.
The lights were on. Krak's broken viewer still lay on the floor. My gun rack glinted invitingly. Heller, seeing it, made me step back.
I only had one pace to take so I could step on the key tile and twist it to sound the general alarm. It would not be heard in here but it would bring every man on the base into the hangar and set up every gun!
Heller was in my way!
He seemed to be listening.
Then I heard it.
Someone was coming up the tunnel from the other side of the
secret door!
Heller spotted the portal.
He reached out and grabbed me by the arm to hold me still.
Yes, someone was coming. They were now at the door. It swung Inward.
UTANC!
She was coming out of the hangar! How could she ever have known it existed? How could she even know about this secret room? She was carrying two bags of heroin over her shoulder!
She stopped.
And then in a draw so fast I didn't even see a blur, she had a small gun in her hand!
With a sudden yank, Heller had me in front of him.
Utanc was raising the gun!
"Oh, darling!" I screamed. "Look, look, look! It's me! DON'T SHOOT!" In terror I watched her finger on the trigger.
I made a struggle to get free.
She looked straight at me. '
SHE FIRED! !
Chapter 4
I felt the bullet jar my ribs.
At the same instant I saw her big black eyes.
They were cold and ruthless!
I felt myself being hurled forward by Heller.
SHE FIRED AGAIN!
Then suddenly I was thrown to my left. Utanc's gun hand was in Heller's grasp.
With a heave he snapped her spinning into the room. She went down.
He was on her like a tiger!
The gun was in his left hand and pointing at her throat!
In this moment of his distraction, I saw the key tile not three feet away. With a sudden crabwise scuttle, I got my hand on it.
I twisted. I pressed. I had sounded the hangar alarm that would assemble the whole base. I felt a surge of triumph. Then I saw my hand. Blood was running down my fingers. I had been hit!
The shock of the bullets vanished. The pain struck me in a red, twisting tide. The whole room seemed to spin and upend. Items in it leaped into separate view as though unconnected with the rest. Krak's broken viewer. Heroin spilled across the floor. The door to the tunnel once more tightly shut. Utanc's heels drumming on the floor.
Heller was no longer holding a gun. He was strangling her with his left hand!
Utanc's eyes were wild! She was struggling, threshing back and forth, trying to get away.
Then I saw that Heller was doing a terrible thing. He was undressing her!
The thought surged through my pain: Gods, has he gone mad? Is this a rape?
With his free hand he tore her sleeves to bits and cast her jacket aside. His fingers stabbed under her belly band and yanked. There was a sharp rip of cloth. He tore her Turkish pants off and cast them away. His savage hand gripped her underpants and tore them into shreds!
Writhing and twisting and trying to get out from under him, Utanc was naked on the floor.
The body, every muscle taut, writhed over on its side in my direction.
Through the pink mist of pain, I could not believe what I saw.
UTANC WAS A MAN!
The comprehension hit me like another bullet. And then a wave of nausea swept through me.
Ever since this creature had come, I HAD BEEN MAKING LOVE TO A HOMO!
I vomited.
Heller still held the writhing body down. The bra had been torn away, showing a hairless but male chest. He was searching under the body's back. Then he shifted his holds and one hand started down the homo's inner thigh. He yanked and Utanc screamed. He had removed a flat wallet that was taped there.
Using one knee now to hold the creature, Heller was opening the leather. He was evidently reading something. He read it again, aloud, "Colonel Boris Gaylov of the Russian KGB!"
Heller glanced in my direction. "If this was your woman, it's the Code break of all time! You've been harboring an agent of the Soviet secret service! Was this your doing?"
I vomited again.
Heller turned to the homo he was holding down. "You'd better talk and talk fast! What were you doing here?"
He had relaxed his grip on the throat and a stream of profanity—Russian, English, French—sprayed from the contorted lips.
Heller reached across the floor to where the heroin had spilled. He scooped up a handful. "If you don't talk, this is going to go down your throat!"
Utanc screamed and writhed and tried to get away.
"Russia is no more," said Heller. "You can't betray it, as it has ceased to exist. Talk!" The handful of heroin approached her mouth.
"You beast!" screamed Gaylov.
"Information!" demanded Heller, the hand holding the heroin hard against Gaylov's chin. "Did you report this base to Moscow?"
"You son of a (bleepch)!" howled Gaylov. "Russia was winning! We would have ruled the world! We had the greatest spy network man has ever seen!"
"Information!" said Heller.
Crystals of deadly heroin had reached those perverted lips. Colonel Gaylov spat them out. "I kept our whole worldwide spy network financed with heroin and money from this base. And now everything is wrecked. Go ahead and kill me!"
I had ceased to throw up. I got a grip on myself. I had turned on the alarm. The longer he spent here, the better they would be organized in the hangar. Wounded though I was, all was not yet lost.
There was more struggle from Gaylov.
"Did you report this base?" said Heller.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Gaylov snarled, spitting out heroin crystals. "I've known you were extraterrestrials since I made that silly (bleepard) there think he bought me last fall!"
Heller threw away the heroin. He was grabbing straps and lines from the rack. As he tied the secret agent up he said to me, "Every time I think I've gotten to the bottom of your crimes and can't get any lower, you always have a new surprise! They'll execute you for sure for this Code break."
I glared at him as he was taping up Gaylov's mouth. I wasn't through. In just minutes now, I was certain that he would be dead. I hated him more than ever for costing me the love of my life— Utanc! She was gone forever.
Chapter 5
Heller turned me over. He pulled back my shirt and coat. I was afraid he would spot the knife and flinched away.
Mission Earth 8: Disaster Page 8