Алистер Маклин - Circus

Henry let thirty seconds pass then risked another look. The passageway was empty. Without haste Henry walked along the corridor, passed Maria’s cabin – he could hear the soft murmur of voices – reached the end and dropped down another companionway. He hadn’t spent two days so zealously – and, as he imagined, so unobtrusively – trailing Wherry without discovering where Wherry’s quarters were. That that was where he had gone Henry did not for a moment doubt.

Henry was right. Wherry had indeed gone to his cabin and was apparently so confident of himself that he had even left the door ajar. That there may have been some other reason for this apparent carelessness did not occur to Henry. Wherry was sitting with his back three-quarters turned to him, a pair of earphones, the lead of which led to a radio, clamped over his head. There was nothing unusual in this; Wherry, as did all stewards, doubled up with one of his mates, and as they were frequently on different shifts and slept at different times, the earphones insured that one could listen to the radio without disturbing the other’s sleep: it was standard practice on this and most passenger ships.

Maria sat on her cabin bed and stared at Bruno in shocked disbelief. Her face was drained of colour, leaving the eyes preternaturally huge. She said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper: ‘This is mad! It’s crazy! It’s suicidal!’

‘It’s all of that and a good deal else besides. But you have to appreciate that Dr Harper is in an impossible spot. As ideas go, it was an ingenious one, a desperate ingenuity, mind you, but there were no other options open to him, at least none that he could see.’

‘Bruno!’ She’d slipped off the bed and was on her knees beside his armchair, his left hand in both of hers; there was fear in her face and Bruno was uncomfortably aware that it wasn’t fear for herself. ‘You’ll be killed, you know you’ll be killed. Don’t. Please, don’t! No, Bruno. Nothing’s worth your life, nothing! Oh, God, there isn’t even a chance.’

He looked at her in mild surprise. ‘And all the time I thought you were a tough young CIA agent.’

‘Well, I’m not. Tough I mean.’ There was a sheen of tears in her eyes.

Almost absently, he stroked her hair. Her face was averted. ‘There might be another way, Maria.’

‘There can’t be another way.’

‘Look.’ With his free hand he swiftly sketched a diagram. ‘Let’s forget entrance via the power cable. The fact that those windows are barred may yet be the saving of us – well, me, anyway. I propose to get to this lane to the south of the research building. I’ll take with me a length of rope with a padded hook at one end. A couple of casts and I should catch a bar on a first-floor window. I haul myself up to the first floor, unhook the rope, repeat the process and reach the second floor. And so on until I get to the top.’

‘Yes?’ The scepticism now in her face hadn’t replaced the fear, merely redoubled it. ‘And then?’

‘I’ll find some way of silencing the guard or guards in the corner tower.’

‘What is it, Bruno? What drives you? You are a driven man, don’t you know that? You don’t work for the CIA and this damnable anti-matter can’t mean all the world to you. Yet I know – I don’t think – I know you’re willing to die to get inside that damnable prison. Why, Bruno, why?’

‘I don’t know.’ She couldn’t see his face but for a moment it was disturbed, almost wary. ‘Perhaps you’d best go and ask the shades of Pilgrim and Fawcett.’

‘What are they to you? You hardly knew them.’ He made no reply. She went on wearily: ‘So you’re going to silence the guards. How are you going to find a way of silencing two thousand volts of steel fencing?’

‘I’ll find a way, not by putting it out of action – that’s impossible – but by by-passing it. But I’m going to need your co-operation and you might end up in prison.’

‘What kind of co-operation?’ Her voice was toneless. ‘And what’s prison if you’re dead?’

Henry heard those words. Wherry had taken off his earphones to find some cigarettes and the conversation from Maria’s cabin, faint and tinny and distorted though it was, was understandable and unmistakable. Henry craned his head a bit more and saw that the radio was not the only piece of electrical equipment in the cabin. There was a small tape recorder on the deck with both spools slowly turning.

Wherry found his cigarettes, lit one, resumed his seat, picked up the phones and was about to replace them on his head when Henry pushed the door wide and stepped inside. Wherry swung round, his eyes wide.

Henry said: ‘I’d like to have that recorder if you don’t mind, Wherry.’

‘Mr Wrinfield!’

‘Yes, Mr Wrinfield. Surprised? The recorder, Wherry.’ Involuntarily, as it seemed, Wherry switched his glance to a spot above Henry’s left shoulder and Henry laughed. ‘Sorry, Wherry, but that’s been done before.’

Henry heard the last sound he was ever to hear, an almost soundless swish in the air behind him. His ears registered it for the fleeting fraction of a second but his body had no time to react. His legs crumpled and Wherry caught him just as he struck the deck.

‘Didn’t you hear me?’ Maria’s voice was still colourless, without expression. ‘What’s prison, what’s anything, if you’re dead? Can’t you think of me? All right, all right, so I’m being selfish, but can’t you think of me?’

‘Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’ He’d intended his voice to be harsh or at least cold but it sounded neither harsh nor cold to him. ‘We arrive in Crau on a Thursday and leave on the following Wednesday – it’s the longest stop-over on the tour. We have shows Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. Sunday is free. So on Sunday we hire a car and have ourselves a little excursion into the country. I don’t know how far we’ll be allowed to go, I believe restrictions have been relaxed, but it doesn’t matter. We can always travel around in ever narrowing circles. What does matter – and this will have to be after dusk – is that on the way back we reconnoitre Lubylan and see if they have guards patrolling outside. If there are, I’ll need your help.’

‘ Please give up this crazy idea, Bruno. Please.’

‘When I’m climbing up the south side of the research building you’ll be standing at the corner of the south lane and the main west street. This, I didn’t mention, will be after the last show on Tuesday night. The hired car, which I trust will be comprehensively insured, will be parked a few feet away in the main street. The windows will be open and you’ll have a small can of gasoline ready on the front seat. If you see a guard approaching, reach for the can, pour some fuel, not too much, on the front and rear upholstery, throw in a lighted match and stand smartly back. This will not only distract all attention but also the blaze will cast such a heavy shadow round the corner that I should be able to climb in almost complete darkness. I’m afraid you could be caught and questioned but the combination of Mr Wrinfield and Dr Harper should secure your release.’ He considered this for a moment. ‘On the other hand it may not.’

‘You’re quite mad. Quite.’

‘Too late to change my spots.’ He stood up and she with him. ‘Must get in touch with Dr Harper now.’

She reached up and locked her fingers round the back of his neck. Her voice reflected the misery in her face.

‘Please. Please, Bruno. Just for me. Please.’

He put his hands on her forearms but not to pull the fingers apart. He said: ‘Look, my lady-love, we’re only supposed to be falling in love.’ His voice was gentle. ‘This way there’s a chance.’