Philip Kerr - Esau

Perrins nodded slowly.

‘And what does this tardy bit of psychological evaluation have to say about our man in Himalaya?’ He laughed at his own little joke. ‘I mean, it’s not good, right?’

‘There is some evidence of recent psychological problems.’

‘Chaz, your face tells me that much. Tell me something I don’t know. Tell me what the shrink said.’

‘Apparently his thoughts and deeds no longer meet the demands of reality. He is probably suffering from some kind of psychosis.’

‘Well, we can’t afford to recall him. He’s the only card we have to play. No, the question is how to control him.’ Perrins stood up and went to the window. ‘You’ve been reading his reports, Chaz. Do you think he killed those Chinese?’

‘Yes, I do.’ Mustilli sucked noisily on his empty pipe as if he had been using an inhaler. ‘You know, it won’t necessarily stop him from getting the job done.’

‘I think you’re right, Chaz. No, I’m just worried what might happen if any of those poor fucking scientists happen to get in our psycho’s way. There’s no telling what he might do. I’ll send him an e-mail. Try and put him on the straight and narrow.’

Arriving back at ABC after another day walking around the glacier, Boyd found only a couple of Sherpas hanging around in their snowbound hotel and, underneath the clamshell, Lincoln Warner composing an electronic message on his computer.

‘Thank God for e-mail,’ grumbled the tall black man. ‘Otherwise I think I might go mad up here.’

‘You more than most,’ murmured Boyd. ‘Who’s it from?’

‘What?’

‘The message.’

‘Oh, just some students,’ he said vaguely. ‘From time to time, I zap some information about our expedition to a classroom in Washington.’

‘Nice of you.’

Boyd wondered exactly what it was that Warner actually did all day. He rarely ventured out into the Sanctuary, except for the walk he took regularly at around three o’clock in the afternoon. He seemed to spend the rest of his time sitting in front of his screen. The one time Warner had let him get near enough to see what he was doing, it had turned out he was playing some kind of interactive computer game.

‘Hey, Link, where the hell is everyone? This place looks like it’s a public holiday.’

Warner clicked his mouse to mail the message via the satellite and turned in his chair.

‘Nearly everyone’s up at Camp One. Seems like Jack found the place where the yetis are holed up.’

‘Hey, no shit?’

‘No shit.’

‘So why the face like Bela Lugosi? This means you guys are going to be famous, doesn’t it?’

‘They lost radio contact with Jack after what sounded like an attack. He could be hurt.’

‘An attack? By one of the monsters?’

Warner evinced uncomfortable. ‘Yes. If you want to put it that way.’ Boyd reminded him most of Kent in King Lear . Someone who mistook being blunt for wit.

‘That’s too bad. Anything we can do?’

‘No. Apparently not. The sirdar’s gone to rescue him. We hope.’

Boyd nodded judicially. ‘He’s a good man. If anyone can save Jack’s ass, it’s the sirdar.’

He hauled off his windproof jacket and dropped it onto the floor.

‘It looks like I was wrong, doesn’t it? What do you think it is — this yeti? Some kind of great ape, huh?’

‘I’d say that some kind of great ape was probably the most likely scenario.’

Boyd poured himself a coffee from a Beverage Butler that stood on a table and sat down opposite Warner, nursing the steaming mug in his cold hands.

‘Yessir, you and some of these other scientists are going to be famous.’

Warner rubbed his smooth chin thoughtfully. The beard was gone now, but he was missing its tactile comfort. Stroking it had made him feel more relaxed somehow. Like being your own dog.

‘If we live that long.’

‘How’s that?’

‘I was listening to the Voice of America on the radio a little while ago. It seems that the cooling-off period between India and Pakistan may be coming to a premature end. Several Muslim countries have stated that they will declare war on India if it should attack Pakistan. An act of religious solidarity, they said. They’ve already sent troops and equipment. I’m beginning to think that it might become rather difficult to get out of here.’

‘Oh, is that all?’ Boyd looked and sounded unimpressed.

‘You sound like you don’t believe the war is a possibility, Jon.’

‘They haven’t had one yet, have they? Look, if there is a war it isn’t going to be about troops and equipment,’ said Boyd. ‘It’s going to be about a failure of deterrence. If one of them thinks that they can get away with a strike. Right?’

‘Maybe. But where exactly will that leave us? That’s what I’d like to know. The Indian border is not so very far away.’

Boyd drained his coffee cup and lit a cigarette.

‘Beginning to get to you, huh?’ he said. ‘The proximity?’

‘I don’t mind admitting it.’

‘Maybe you know something I don’t. All those radio broadcasts you Listen to. You’re probably a lot better informed about the situation than I am. But frankly. Link, I wouldn’t let it bother me.’

‘No? Even a nominal nuclear case scenario is likely to have some kind of effect on the world’s weather system.’

‘Not really my area,’ said Boyd. ‘Solid fuel emissions are more likely to screw things up for us back home than a few nukes down here.’

‘But Delhi. That’s where we flew into on the way to Khat. That’s just six hundred and fifty kilometres away. If Delhi is nuked...’

‘If Delhi is nuked, then we’ll just have to find another way to fly home, is all. Calcutta probably. No way Pakistan can reach Calcutta. It’s just too far for their missiles.’ He laughed. ‘Of course if we happened to be back in Delhi at the time, now that would be different. That would be unfortunate.’ He kept on laughing as he expanded on the possibility. ‘Especially if you had also happened to have evidence that proved the existence of the Abominable Snowman.’

‘I seem to recall you saying that there was no telling what might happen if they started throwing nukes around.’

‘I was just—’ Boyd smiled ruefully. ‘Y’know, playing devil’s advocate. My honest opinion? It’s like Swifty said. This whole international situation’s been a big bonus for us. The whole world is shit scared of what’s been happening on the Indian subcontinent. We’ve got the place to ourselves. For a team of scientists, what could be better than that?’

‘Apart from those Chinese up near MBC.’

‘Funny thing about them. They’re gone. I was up that way earlier and there’s not a sign of them. I reckon Ang Tsering was on the button. They must have been deserters. Probably skedaddled as soon as Cody and Jutta were out of there. You ask me, those two people are lucky they’re still alive.’

Boyd poured himself another coffee and laughed at Warner’s gloomy expression.

‘Hey, come on, lighten up. You must have known what you were getting into when you came up here?’

‘I guess I didn’t really give it much thought.’

‘That Swift,’ laughed Boyd. ‘She can be pretty damned persuasive when she wants to be.’

‘Something like that.’

‘I thought so. She’s a good-looking girl. Not much she couldn’t persuade me to do, if she put her mind to it. If she put her body into it as well, then...’ Boyd shook his head as he tried to conjure an image of what he might be capable of doing in the carnal cause of Swift’s body.

Warner grinned back at him uncomfortably. Generally more comfortable with women than men, he especially disliked this kind of locker-room talk.