Ken Follett - Code to Zero (2000)

His colleagues groaned in mock despair and moved away.

Elspeth suppressed her impatience. She would have to play the numbers game with him before anything else. 'It's the cube of twenty,' she said.

'Not good enough.'

She thought for a moment 'Okay, it's the sum of four consecutive cubes: 11 cubed + 12cubed +13 cubed + 14 cubed equals 8,000.'

'Very good.' He gave her a dime and looked expectant She racked her brains for a curious number, then said: 'The cube of 16,830.'

He frowned, and looked affronted. 'I can't work that out, I need a computer!' he said indignantly.

'haven't you heard of it? It's the sum of all the 'Consecutive cubes from 1,134 to 2,133.'

'I didn't know that'

'When I was in high school, the number of my parents' house was 16,830, that's how I know.'

'This is the first time you've ever kept my dime.' He looked comically despondent She could not search the lab: she had to ask him. Fortunately, the other men were out-of earshot, just. She blurted out 'Do you have the duplicate set of new plugs from Huntsville?'

'No,' he replied, looking even more despondent. 'They say security is not good enough here. They put the plugs in a safe.'

She was relieved that he did not question 'her need to know. 'What safe?' 'They didn't tell me.'

'Never mind.' She pretended to make a note in her book, and went out She hurried to Hangar R, running across the sandy earth in her high-heeled shoes. She felt optimistic. But she still had a' lot to do. It was getting dark already, she noticed.

There was only one safe that she knew of and that was in Colonel Hide's office.

Back at her desk, she rolled an army envelope into her typewriter and marked it 'Dr W. Fredrickson -Eyes Only.' Then she folded two blank sheets of paper, slid them into the envelope, and sealed it She went to Hide's office, tapped at the door, and walked hi. He was alone, sitting behind his desk, smoking a pipe. He looked up and smiled: like most of the men, he was generally pleased to see a pretty face. 'Elspeth,' he said in his slow drawl. 'What can I do for you?'

'Would you keep this in the safe for Willy?' She handed him the envelope.

'Sure,' he said, 'What is it?'

'He didn't tell me.'

'Naturally.' He spun around in his chair and opened a cupboard behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Elspeth saw a steel door with a dial. She moved closer. The dial was graduated from 0 to 99, but only multiples of 10 were marked with a figure, the other numbers being indicated by a notch. She peered at the dial. She had sharp eyesight; but still it was difficult to see exactly where Hide stopped the dial. She strained forward, leaning over the desk to get closer.

The; first number was easy: 10. Then he dialed a number just below 30, either 29 or 28. finally he moved the dial to between 10 and 15. The combination was something like 10-29-13. It must be his birthday, either the 28th or 29th of October, in 1911, 1912, 1913 or 1914. That gave a total of eight possibilities. If she could get in here alone, she could try them all in a few minutes.

Hide opened the door. Inside were two plugs. 'Eureka,' Elspeth whispered.

'What was that?' Hide said.

'Nothing,'

He grunted, tossed the envelope into the safe, closed the door and spun the dial.

Elspeth was already on her way out 'Thank you, Colonel.'

'Anytime.'

Now she had to wait for him to leave his office. She could not quite see his door from her desk. However, he was farther down the corridor, so he had to pass her office to get out She propped her door open.

Her phone rang. It was Anthony. 'We're leaving here in a few minutes,' he said. 'Do you have what we need?'

'Not yet, but I will.' She wished she felt as sure as she sounded. 'What kind of car did you buy?'

'A light green Mercury Monterey, fifty-four model, the old-fashioned style, no tail fins.'

'I'll recognize it. How's Theo?'

'Asking me what he should do after tonight.'

'I assumed he'd fly to Europe and continue to work for Le Monde.'

'He's afraid they may track him down there?'

'I guess they might Then he should go with you.'

'He doesn't want to.'

'Promise him anything,' she said impatiently. 'Just make sure he's ready for tonight'

'Okay.'

Colonel Hide passed her door. 'I gotta go,' she said, and hung up.

She went out, but Hide had not disappeared. He stood in the next doorway, talking to the girls in the typing pool. He was still in sight of his door. Elspeth could not go in. She loitered for a minute, wishing he would move on. But, when he did, he returned to his office.

He stayed there for two hours.

Elspeth almost went crazy. She had the combination, she only needed to get in there and open the safe, and he would not go away. He sent his secretary to get coffee from the mobile refreshment stall they called the Roach Coach. He did not even go to the bathroom. Elspeth began to dream up ways of putting him out of action. She had been taught, in OSS,' how to strangle someone with a nylon stocking, but she had never tried it Anyway, Hide was a big man, he would put up a hell of a struggle.

She did not leave her office. Her timetable was forgotten. Willy Fredrickson would be furious, but what did that matter?

She looked at her wristwatch every few minutes. At eight-twenty Hide at last walked past, She sprang up and went to her door. She saw him heading down the stairs. Launch was now only a couple of hours away: lie was probably heading for the blockhouse..

Another man was walking along the corridor towards her. He said: 'Elspeth?' in an uncertain voice that she recognized. Her heart stopped, and she met his eye.

It was Luke.

.

8.30 P. M.

Information from the satellite's recording instruments is transmitted via radio by a musical tone. The different instruments use tones of different frequencies, so that the 'voices' can be separated, electronically, when they are Luke had been dreading this momentum:

He had dropped Billie off at the Starliter. She planned to check in and freshen up, then get a cab to the base in time to see the launch. Luke had gone straight to the blockhouse and learned that take-off was now scheduled for 10.45 p.m. Willy Fredrickson had explained the precautions the team had taken to prevent the sabotage of the rocket, Luke was not completely reassured. He wished Theo Packman had been arrested, and he would have liked to know where Anthony was. However,' neither of them could do anything with the wrong code. And the new plugs were locked in a safe, Willy told him.

He would feel less worried when he had seen Elspeth. He had not told anyone about his suspicions of her - partly because he could not bear, to accuse her, partly because he had no evidence. But when he looked into her eyes and asked her to tell him the truth, he would know.

He came up the stairs in Hangar R with a heavy heart. He had to talk to Elspeth about her betrayal, and he had to confess that he had been unfaithful to her. He did not know which was worse.

As he reached the top of the stairs he passed a man in colonel's uniform who spoke without stopping. 'Hey, Luke, good to have you back, see you in the blockhouse.' Then he saw a tall redhead emerge from an office along the corridor, looking anxious. There was a poised tension to her slender body as she stood in the doorway, looking past Luke at the colonel going down the stairs. She was more beautiful than her wedding photograph. Her pale face had a faint glow, like the surface of a lake at dawn. He felt a jolt of emotion like a shot in the arm, a strong feeling of tenderness for her.

He spoke to her, and then she noticed him. 'Luke!' She came1 quickly towards him. Her smile of welcome showed genuine pleasure, but he saw fear in her eyes. She threw her arms around him and kissed his lips. He realized he should not have been surprised - she was his wife, and he had been away all week. A hug was the most natural thing hi the world. She had no idea that he suspected her, so she was continuing to act like a normal wife.