John Robb - Zone Zero

Gallast was on the floor, near the radio table, legs and arms bound. But for the moment there was little need for such precautions. He was still unconscious after the kick on his skull. He had been thus for more than seven hours. Perhaps he would never wake up. In which case he would be lucky. Only one other member of his party lived. He was similarly bound and in the corridor.

D’Aran worked on. The first sheet was headed Zone Zero : Fort Ney Operational Report .

The words did not come easily to him. It was an effort to concentrate. He wanted to think about other things.

About those fifty thousand francs…

What had happened when the safe was opened?

Had he been condemned immediately? Or had they—poor fools—decided to await his return before reaching a decision?

And Lucinne.

What was she doing now? It was nearly nine-thirty. Perhaps, at this very moment, she would be in that restaurant on the edge of Tala Baku. With some other officer. Perhaps with that colonel. Bien ! He was welcome to her. Slut !

He was glad to hear the clatter of boots in the corridor. Then the firm knock on the door. So the garrison wanted to speak with him. He had expected it. No doubt some of them wanted to quit their post. That would be worse than useless. It would look bad, cowardly. He would try to stop it, if he could…

“ Entre !”

Four legionnaires came in. One was Tragarth. The others included the black American and Rhuttal, the Latvian. The fourth man was a German.

D’Aran suddenly recalled a clause in the French Army Manual of Discipline. It stated very clearly that legionnaires had a right to speak to an officer at any reasonable time. But not in groups. Only individually. This was a clear contravention of that clause. But it did not matter.

Nothing mattered—except finishing that damned report and keeping one’s nerve.

The four men stood to attention. That was good. It showed that some fragments of discipline still remained. The others clustered outside the open door.

“ Repos !” D’Aran said quietly. They stood at ease. Keith spoke.

“ Man officier , some of the—”

But Rhuttal interrupted. Rhuttal would not miss such an opportunity for making an oration.

To give due credit, he outlined the situation fairly, laying particular stress on the possibility of using the two horses. But, because D’Aran was a far more intelligent man than Rhuttal, he had comprehended all the points long before the exposition was concluded. That gave him time to think, while the Latvian’s voice rose and fell.

But there was one man in that room who never ceased to listen.

It was Daak.

The weak, the ailing Professor Daak, who desperately wanted to live. It was he who spoke immediately after the Latvian.

He said: “What the man says about the horses is true. They are not so susceptible to stomach toxins as men. And the salt in the water will not do them any immediate harm:—though later it will drive them mad.”

They regarded him with surprise.

D’Aran said: “Thank you for your assurance, professor, but I can deal with these matters myself. Whether any men leave this fort or not, one thing is certain—you will stay here.”

Daak blinked weakly. He groped for his pince-nez, found it on the blanket. When it was in position, he said: “ I am an old man… I did not come here willingly… you are soldiers, so you expect to die. Surely you will give me the chance to live? Listen… I’ll make a bargain! If I am allowed to leave with three legionnaires for the foothills, I will willingly surrender to the French after the explosion. And I will reveal everything—I promise it. I know a great deal about thermonuclear explosions. I could—”

Keith was watching him. Staring at Daak in a fixed, unseeing way.

Nine words which the professor had used were hammering in his brain.

“ I know a great deal about thermo - nuclear explosions …”

That was what he had said.

There was nothing new in that. Obviously, he must have a vast knowledge of the subject. Then why were those words repeating themselves? Crashing in his head, as if trying to tell him something which was not contained in the simple context!

Why?

In the moment of realisation, Keith thought he was going to collapse. The implications were almost beyond toleration.

He moved towards D’Aran, his face taut and twisted. “ Mon officier … just for one minute, can I speak to you alone?”

D’Aran hesitated. Then he nodded as he rose from behind the desk.

“If you insist, legionnaire,” he said. “We’ll go into the compound.”

They were absent for fully fifteen minutes. And when they returned Keith’s face was flushed. D’Aran’s features betrayed a mingling of hope and doubt.

The legionnaires in the room and the corridor crowded closer.

Daak was blinking on the side of his cot. It was Daak to whom D’Aran spoke.

He said gently: “Are you sure that your knowledge would be of value to us, professor?”

Daak’s face suffused with hope.

“Most certainly! I think I have been following a different basis of calculation, but that would make my conclusions more valuable to the West.”

“And you are prepared to betray your own country?”

“I—I have changed my views. In my soul, I have always sympathised with the West. It would not be a betrayal.”

D’Aran nodded cynically.

Then he said slowly and precisely: “ Could you defuse a thermo - nuclear bomb ?”

Only the flies were unaffected. They continued to buzz round the oil lamp.

It seemed that all the men there ceased to live. For transitory seconds they did not breathe, they did not move. Then, like animals stirring after hibernation, they gave out a long, deep sigh.

Except Daak.

He remained immobile, his jaw slack.

D’Aran moved closer to him.

“Answer me, professor! Could you defuse a thermonuclear bomb? Could you ?”

Daak closed his jaw, only to open it again as he croaked: “I—I don’t know, lieutenant! I don’t think so…”

“But you boasted of your knowledge just now.”

“It was a true boast!”

“Then if we were to get you to the Sanna proving ground, surely you could render the explosive harmless!”

Daak raised both hands in a flabby gesture.

“No! You don’t understand such things! It would be necessary to immobilise the atom triggering. To do that I would have to know the type of neutron and nucleus employed. Without such knowledge I would be working in the dark. I might even set the bomb off prematurely.”

His words sounded impressively final

D’Aran said: “The bomb will be exploded through electrical contact, will it not?”

“Yes—almost certainly. Electricity is not quite the element used, but it is near enough.”

“It will be carried on a cable?”

“Certainly. There can be no other way.”

“Could we break the cable?”

Daak jerked to his feet.

“God, no! The cable will certainly be armoured! But in any case, an attempt to sever it would be more dangerous than meddling with the bomb itself!”

“Then it seems that you must meddle with the bomb, professor!”

He whimpered.

“I can’t… I wouldn’t have one chance in a hundred…”

“You’ll have no chance at all if you do not,” D’Aran said. “It is now ten o’clock. We have seventeen hours to reach the Sanna Oasis and defuse the bomb. If the horses hold out, we will get there before dawn. That ought to allow you plenty of time. But you can be assured of one thing, professor—if you fail, I won’t blame you!”