Dr. Greenshaw clambered down the ladder, reached up and relieved the pilot of various bags and boxes. Durand looked at the door and said: "Who the h.e.l.l is he?"

"Dr. Greenshaw," Lord Worth said. "A highly respected doctor and surgeon. We did expect a certain amount of violence aboard the Seawitch. We came prepared. We do have a dispensary and small sick bay here."

"Another wasted trip. We hold all the cards, and violence is the last thing we expect. We'll examine your equipment too, Doctor."

"If you wish. As a doctor, I deal in life and not in death. I have no concealed weapons. The medical code forbids it." Greenshaw sighed. "Please search but do not destroy."

Durand pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Send one of Palermo's men across here with an electric truck-there's quite a bit of equipment to pick up." He replaced his walkie-talkie and looked at Mitch.e.l.l. "Your hands are shaking. Why?"

"I'm a man of peace," Mitch.e.l.l said. He crossed his hands behind his back to conceal the tremor.

194.

Roomer, the only man to recognize the signals, licked his lips and looked at Mitch.e.l.l in exaggerated nervous apprehension. Durand said: "Another hero. I hate cowards."

Mitch.e.l.l brought his hands in front of him. The tremor was still there. Durand stepped forward, his right hand swinging back as if to strike Mitch.e.l.l open-handed, then let his hand fall in disgust, which was, unwittingly, the wisest thing he could have done. Durand's mind was incapable of picking up any psychic signals: had it been so attuned, he could not have failed to hear the black wings of the bird of death flapping above his head.

The only person who derived any satisfaction, carefully concealed, from this vignette, was Lar-sen. Although he had talked to Mitch.e.l.l on the telephone he had never met him-but he had heard a great deal about him from Lord Worth, more than enough to make him realize that Mitch.e.l.l would have reduced Durand to mincemeat sooner than back down before him. Mitch.e.l.l had taken only seconds to establish the role he wished to establish-that of the cowardly nonent.i.ty who could be safely and contemptuously ignored. La.r.s.en, who was no mean hand at taking care of people himself, felt strangely comforted.

Lord Worth said: "May I see my daughters?"

Durand considered, then nodded. "Search him, Aaron."

195.

Alistalr MacLean Aaron, carefully avoiding Lord Worth's basilisk glare of icy outrage, duly searched. "He's clean, Mr. Durand."

"Across there." Durand pointed through the gathering gloom. "By the side of the platform."

Lord Worth walked off without a word. The others made their way toward the accommodation quarters. As Lord Worth approached his daughters, Heffer barred his way.

"Where do you think you're going, mister?"

"Lord Worth to you, peasant."

Heffer pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Mr. Durand? There's a guy here-"

Durand's voice crackled over the receiver. "That's Lord Worth. He's been searched and he's got my permission to speak to his daughters."

Lord Worth plucked the walkie-talkie from Heffer. "And would you please instruct this individual to remain outside listening range?"

"You heard, Heffer." The walkie-talkie went dead.

The reunion between father and daughters was a tearful and impa.s.sioned one, at least on the daughters* side. Lord Worth was all that a doting parent reunited with his kidnaped children should have been, but his effusiveness was kept well under control. Marina was the first to notice this.

"Aren't you glad to see us again, Daddy?"

Lord Worth hugged them both and said simply: "You two are my whole life. If you ItHJ Sen witch don't know that by this time, you will never know it."

"You've never said that before." Even in the deepening dusk it was possible to see the sheen of tears in Melinda's eyes.

"I did not think it necessary. I thought you always knew. Perhaps I'm a remiss parent, perhaps still too much the reserved highlander. But all my billions aren't worth a lock of your black hair, Marina, or a lock of your red hair, Me-linda."

"t.i.tian, Daddy, t.i.tian. How often must I tell you?" Melinda was openly crying now.

It was Marina, always the more shrewd and perceptive of the two, who put her finger on it. "You aren't surprised to see us, Daddy, are you? You knew we were here."

"Of course I knew."

"How?"

"My agents," Lord Worth said loftily, "lie thick upon the ground."

"And what is going to happen now?"

Lord Worth was frank. "I'm d.a.m.ned if I know."

"We saw three other men come off the helicopter. Didn't recognize them-getting too dark."

"One was a Dr. Greenshaw. Excellent surgeon."

Melinda said: "What do you want a surgeon for?"

197.

Alistair "Don't be silly. What does anyone want a surgeon for? You think we're going to hand over the Seawitch on a platter?-"

"And the other two?"

"You don't know them. You've never heard of them. And if you do meet them you will give no indication that you recognize them or have ever seen them before."

Marina said: "Michael and John."

"Yes. Remember-you've never seen them before."

"We'll remember," the girls said almost in chorus. Their faces were transformed. Marina said: "But they'll be in great danger. Why are they here?"

"Something to do, I understand, with then-stated intent of taking you back home."

"How-are they going to do that?"

Again Lord Worth was frank. "I don't know. H they know, they wouldn't tell me. They've become bossy, very bossy. Watch me like a hawk: Won't even let me near my own blasted phone." The girls refrained from smiling, princ.i.p.ally because Lord Worth didn't seem particularly perturbed. "Mitch.e.l.l, especially, seems in a very tetchy mood." Lord Worth spoke with some relish. "Near as a whisker killed Durand inside the first minute. Would have, too, if you weren't being held hostage. Well, let's go to my suite. I've been to Washington and back. Long tiring day. I need refreshment."

198.

SeawlU-h Durand went into the radio room, told the regular operator that his services would not be required until further notice and that he was to return to his quarters and remain there. The operator left. Durand, himself an expert radio operator, raised the Georgia within a minute and was speaking to Cronkite thirty seconds later.

"Everything under control on the Seawitch. We have the two girls here and Lord Worth himself."

"Excellent." Cronkite was pleased. Everything was going his way, but, then, he had expected nothing else. "Lord Worth bring anyone with him?"

"The pilot and three other people. A doctor- surgeon, he says, and he seems on the level. Worth seems to have expected some blood to be spilled. I'll check his credentials in Florida in a few minutes. Also, two technicians-seismologists, or something like them. Genuine and harmless-the sight of a machine pistol gives them St. Virus's Dance. They're unarmed."

"So no worries?"

"Well, three. Worth has a squad of about twenty men aboard. They look like trained killers and I'm pretty sure they're all ex-military. They have to be because of my second worry-Worth has eight dual-purpose antiaircraft guns bolted to the platform."

"The h.e.l.l he has!"

"Yeah-also piles of mines on the sides of the 199.

platform. Now we know who heisted the Mississippi naval a.r.s.enal last night. And the third problem is that we're far too thin on the ground. There's only me and four others to watch everybody. Some of us have to sleep sometimes. I need reinforcements and I need 'em fast."

"You'll have over twenty arriving at dawn tomorrow morning. The relief rig crew are due in then. A man named Gregson-you'll recognize him by the biggest red beard you ever saw-will be in charge."

"I can't wait that long. I need reinforcements now. You have your chopper on the Georgia."

"What do you think I carry on the Georgia, an army of reinforcements?" Cronkite paused, then went on reluctantly: "I can spare eight men, no more."

"They have radar aboard.**

"So they have radar. What difference does it make? You're hi command."

"Yeah, Mr. Cronkite. But your own golden rule-never take a chance."

"When you hear our helicopter has taken off, neutralize it"

"Destroy the radar cabin?"

"No. We're going to want to use it when we've completely taken over. The scanner will be on top of the drilling derrick. Right?"

"Right."

"It's a simple mechanical job to stop it from turning. All you need is someone with a wrench 200.

and a head for heights. Now tell me exactly where Worth's men are quartered. Gregson will need this information."

Durand told him what he wanted to know and hung up.

The dispensary-sick bay and the laboratory were next to each other. Mitch.e.l.l and Roomer were helping Dr. Greenshaw unpack his very considerable amount of medical equipment. They were, understandably, not unguarded, but Aaron and his Schmeisser were on watch on the two outside doors, and Aaron was hardly in an alert or trigger-ready state of mind. In fact, he regarded his vigil as being close to pointless. He had been present when the three men disembarked from the helicopter and had formed the same opinion of them as Durand.

In the sick bay Dr. Greenshaw up-ended and removed the false bottom of one of his medical supply boxes. With a gingerly and patently nervous apprehension, he took out two belt holsters, two Smith & Wesson .38s, two silencers and two spare magazines. Wordlessly, Mitch.e.l.l and Roomer buckled on the weaponry. Dr. Greenshaw, a man, as they were discovering, of a genuinely devout turn of mind, said: "I only hope no one discovers you wearing those pistols."

Roomer said: "We appreciate your concern, Doctor. But don't worry about us."

2OI.

"I wasn't worrying about you." Dr. Greenshaw a.s.sumed his most somber expression. "A good Christian can also pray for the souls of the unG.o.dly."

A long distance away the meeting of ten was again a.s.sembled at Lake Tahoe. At the former meeting the atmosphere had been hopeful, forceful and determined, the partic.i.p.ants confident that things would go their way, spuriously motivated by their expressed intent to avert a third world war. On this evening the spirit-if that was the word-of the meeting had changed about by 180 degrees. They were depressed, vacillating, uncertain and wholly lacking in confidence, especially in view of the fact that their allegedly humanitarian attempts to prevent the outbreak of war seemed to be having precisely the opposite effect.

Again, as it was his holiday home, Benson was hosting the meeting. But this time Benson was also undoubtedly the man in charge. Opening the discussion, he said: "Gentlemen, we are in trouble. Not just simple, plain trouble, but enormous trouble that could bring us all down. It stems from two facts-we underestimated Lord Worth's extraordinary power and we overestimated Cronkite's ability to handle the situation with a suitable degree of discretion and tact. I admit I was responsible for introducing Cronkite to you, but on the other hand, you were unani- 202.

mous in your belief that Cronkite was the only man to handle the job. And we were not aware that Cronkite's detestation of Lord Worth ran to the extent of a virulent and irresponsible hatred.

"I have friends in the Pentagon, not important ones but ones that matter. The Pentagon, normally, like any other department of government, leaks secrets like a broken sieve. This time I had to pay twenty thousand dollars to a stenographer and the same to a cipher clerk which, for a pair of comparatively lowly paid government employees, represents a pretty fair return for a few hours' work.

"First, everything is known about our previous meeting here, every word and sentiment that was expressed and the ident.i.ties of all of us." Benson paused and looked round the room, partly to allow time for the d.a.m.ning enormity of this information to sink in, partly to make it clear that he expected to be recompensed for his very considerable outlay.

Mr. A, one of the vastly powerful Arabian Gulf potentates, said: "I thought our security was one hundred per cent. How could anyone have known of our presence?"

"No external agency was involved, I have good friends in California intelligence. Their interest in us is zero. Nor was the FBI involved. For that to have happened we'd have had to commit some crime and then cross state lines.

293.

Allstuir M acl^ean Neither of those have we done. And before we met last time I had an electronics expert in to check not only this room but the entire house for bugs. There were none."

Mr. A said: 'Terhaps he planted a bug?"

"Impossible. Apart from the fact that he's an old friend of immaculate reputation, I was with him all the time, a fact that did not prevent me from calling in a second expert."

Patinos, the Venezuelan, said: "We give you full marks for security. That leaves only one possibility. One of us here is a traitor."

"Yes."

"Who?"

"I have no idea. We shall probably never know."

Mr. A stroked his beard. "Mr. Corral here lives very close to Lord Worth, no?"

Corral said: "Thank you very much.**

Benson said: "Intelligent men don't make so obvious a link."

"As you said at our previous meeting, Fm the only person who had no declared interest in being here." Borosoff seemed quietly relaxed. "I could be your man."

"It's a point, but one which I don't accept. Whether you are here to stir up trouble between the United States and Russia may or may not be the case. Again it comes down to the factor of intelligence." Benson was being disarmingly frank. "You could be, and probably are, a Soviet agent 204.

But top agents are never caught in the role of agent provocateur. I am not complimenting you on your unquestioned intelligence. I prefer to rely on simple common sense." Benson, who appeared to have developed a new maturity and authority, looked around the company. "Every word spoken here will doubtless be relayed to either Lord Worth or the State Department, It no longer matters. We are here to set right any wrongs for which we may have been-however unwittingly, I may say-responsible.

"We know that a Russian missile naval craft and a Russian-built Cuban submarine are closing in on the Seawitch. We also know that a Venezuelan destroyer is doing the same. What you don't know is that countermeasures are being taken. My information-and the source is impeccable-is that Lord Worth was today closeted with Benton, the Secretary of State, in Washington. My further information is that Benton was only partially convinced by Lord Worth's suspicions. He was, unfortunately, wholly convinced when the news came through of Cron-kite's irresponsible folly in kidnaping Lord Worth's two daughters. As a result, a United States cruiser and destroyer, both armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, have moved out into the Gulf of Mexico. An American nuclear submarine is already patrolling those waters. Another American vessel is already shadowing your destroyer, Mr. Patinos: your destroyer, with its 2O5.

Alistalr MacLean vastly inferior detecting equipment, is wholly unaware of this. Additionally, at a Louisiana air base, a squadron of supersonic fighter-bombers is on instant alert.

"The Americans are no longer in any mood to play around. My information is that they are prepared for a showdown and are prepared for the eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation which John Kennedy had with Khrushchev over Cuba. The Russians, clearly, would never risk a local nuclear confrontation where the home-territory advantages are so overwhelmingly American. Neither side would dream of mounting a pre-emptive strike over the issue of a few pennies on a barrel of oil. But if the hot line between Washington and Moscow begins to burn, national prestige will make it difficult for either side to back down until they arrive at a face-saving formula, which could take quite some time and would, much worse, generate overwhelming worldwide publicity. This would inevitably involve us. So I would advise you, Mr. Borosoff and Mr. Patinos, to call off your dogs of war before that hot line starts burning. That way, and only in that way, can we survive with our good names left un-besmirched. I blame neither of you gentlemen. You may have given the nod to Cronkite, but you did not reckon on the possibility that Cronkite would carry matters to such ridiculous lengths. Please, please believe me that the Ameri- 206.

cans will not hesitate to blast your ships out of the water."