Red Alert (24 page)

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hat about radios?' Graham asked, iibio's got one. It's all you'll need.' Kolchinsky shot am a hard look. 'As long as everyone obeys orders I stays together.'

iYeah, sure,' Graham muttered, then stood up and a yawn. 'It's been a long day and I, for. one, am tered.'

ii're not the only one,' Sabrina agreed, getting to :feet.

r'Not so fast, young lady,' Kolchinsky said. 'You've still t to brief Calvieri before you go to bed.' fc*You're all heart, Sergei,' she replied with a grimace. !| Kolchinsky saw Kuhlmann and Paluzzi to the door turned back to Graham and Sabrina. 'Strange how : human mind works. There we all were, tiptoeing about if this wasn't really a crisis. But behind the facade of afessional detachment we were all asking ourselves the jme questions. What if Ubrino slips the net and opens vial? How many millions will die before an antidote > found? And we'd be among the first to be contaminated, fet none of us has voiced our anxieties, myself included. | Strange, isn't it?'

'That's what I like about you, Sergei,' Graham said, | patting Kolchinsky on the back. 'Your unfailing optiIpism.' Kolchinsky smiled fleetingly, then exhaled deeply. 'It's f going to be a long night. I know I'm not going to get any peep.'

Sabrina glanced at Graham and noticed the uncertainty =m his eyes. A mirror image of her own? Kolchinsky was fright. None of them wanted to address the issue head on. Not even Graham. The most vociferous amongst them. S; 'None of us will, Sergei, you can be sure of that,' ^ Graham said then disappeared out into the corridor.

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Sabrina looked across at Kolchinsky who was standing with his back to her at the window then turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Whitlock stared at the food in front of him. Choucroute garnie, sauerkraut with boiled ham and Vienna sausages. One of his favourite dishes. He had bought it on the way back to the boarding house but when he had opened the carton in his room his appetite seemed to vanish. He just wasn't hungry. He had prodded the food absently with his fork for the last hour without making any attempt to eat it. Now it was cold and unappetizing. He suddenly stabbed the fork into one of the sausages and pushed the : carton away from him. He glanced at his watch. 10.40; p.m. What did time matter? He stood up and crossed to! the telephone on the bedside table. He picked up the receiver and rang the apartment in New York. He let it ring for a minute. No reply. How many times had he rung j the number in the last hour? Ten? More like fifteen. And i each time the same. He had rung Carmen's work number j half a dozen times as well, with the same result. Hej replaced the receiver, then walked to the window and looked down into the alley below him. A teenage couple were kissing in the shadows of a doorway. He turned, away angrily and sat down again. He was out of his mind j with worry. Where was Carmen? Her sister hadn't seen her. Her friends hadn't seen her. It was completely out of j character for her to act like this. He had called all the main hospitals in New York but none of them had any; record of her admittance. He had even contacted the city mortuaries but again his enquiries had drawn a blank. He j was desperate to talk to her. He suddenly banged his fist j angrily on the table. He had to stop dwelling on Carmen's \

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irance and concentrate on the assignment, in his selfishness. He had to pull himself together.

cly.

? He picked up one of the keys on the table. It was for ig's room. He had been meaning to search the room since he got back to the boarding house. Now was a time. It would help him to take his mind off irmen. Well, he could try. He left his room, looked the i of the deserted corridor, then moved to the adjacent >r, unlocked it, and slipped inside. He closed the door bind him and switched on the light. The room was ideal to his own. A double bed, a table, a chair, a chest i drawers and a washbasin beside the window. Even the wish wallpaper was the same. He searched the chest of awers and found a passport in the bottom drawer in name of Vincent Yannick. A Walther ?5 lay beside : passport. It was a good, reliable handgun, used mainly ' the West German and Dutch police forces and exported isively to both North and South America. He still erred the Browning for accuracy. Not that he had nch choice. The Browning Sabrina had given to him in jme was in the hands of the NOCS. As was everything : they had left behind at the boarding house. He looked under the bed and pulled out the pale-blue holdall Young had taken from the locker at Berne's Belpmoos Airport. He unzipped it. Inside were bundles of Swiss francs, all in 8sed notes. He would give the money to Kolchinsky to bnd over to UNICEF.

He looked around sharply when he heard the noise. It ||ame from next door, from within his own room. He imediately thought of the scientist being sent from IZurich to de-activate the booby-trapped watch. But there |was another possibility. A Red Brigades assassin. He peered out into the corridor. It was still empty. He closed

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the door silently behind him and approached his ov room cautiously, the Walther gripped tightly in his hand The door was ajar. He kicked it open and dropped to onti knee, training the Walther on the figure standing by the| window. The man was in his forties with short blond hair and wire-rimmed glasses. He raised his hands slowly.

'Who are you?' Whitlock demanded.

'My name is Dr Hans Gottfried,' came the nervousj reply. 'Monsieur Rust sent me. I did knock on the door; but there was no reply. That is why I came inside.'

Whitlock got to his feet and tucked the Walther into his belt. 'I'm sorry if I startled you but I couldn't afford! to take any chances.'

Gottfried lowered his hands. 'I quite understand.'

'Can I get you something to drink? Tea? Coffee? That's about all they serve here.'

'Nothing, thank you. May I see the watch?'

Whitlock held out his arm. Gottfried studied the watch for some time, then asked to see the transmitter. He turned] it around in his hand then undid the protective cap toj expose the detonator button.

'Don't touch that!' Whitlock shouted, his eyes wide inj horror.

Gottfried smiled gently. 'I do not intend to, I assure| you. I was just looking at the design.'

Whitlock slumped on to the bed. 'I'm sorry, I'm just| on edge. I've been like this ever since I was tricked into wearing this damn thing. What if the strap came loos while I was asleep? What if Young went on drinking and inadvertently strayed more than three miles away fror the boarding house? You could count the number o| hours' sleep I've had since Monday on one hand. I'r exhausted.'

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{lean well imagine,' Gottfried said, picking up an case from beside the bed. 'You will sleep well t, I promise you that.'

the hell could he sleep well not knowing : Carmen was? He stifled a yawn, then forced a quick when he noticed that Gottfried was watching

> you know anything about the origins of the device?' ied asked, placing the case on the table. le did say it was the first of its kind and he had this

idea to patent it if it proved successful.' iomemade. I thought as much. That means the trans er could also be booby-trapped.'

iJ'Wonderful,' Whitlock muttered, then crossed to the low and sat on the edge of the sill. 'What's the next s?'

pSottfried patted the attache case. 'This contains a port; scanner we developed last year. It works on the same riple as the X-ray machines used at airports to check es. We will be able to see if the transmitter is by-trapped.' !*And if it is? What then?'

iJfThat would depend on the nature of the device,' ried replied, opening the case and starting to piece ther the machine. 'If it is a tricky operation we will : to fly back to Zurich and defuse it in the laboratory, if something were to go wrong, God forbid, there aid be a medical team on standby.to give you immediate

mce.' *That's comforting to know,' Whitlock replied, grim

IfWe have to accept that possibility,' Gottfried said, icing up at Whitlock. 'The only way to de-activate this |ice is by cutting it off at the power source. That means

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|j opening the casing. And if this man Young knew anything || about booby-traps, he could have made the job very |! difficult indeed.'

|l Whitlock wiped the back of his hand across his clammy |f: forehead.

Iff: Gottfried removed a length of flex from the case and j| held up the plug which was attached to the end of it. !l|: 'Where is the nearest socket?' j|j; 'By the bed. Here, I'll plug it in for you.' j| 'Thank you,' Gottfried said, handing the flex to I . Whitlock. jj| 'Okay?' if 'Ja, it is working.'

I" Whitlock took up a position behind Gottfried's chair I: and looked more closely at the apparatus inside the attache Hi case: a twelve-inch fold-up square box, with protective |i: curtains at each end, a compact control console and ||: a monitor which was built into the lid of the case. Gottfried placed the transmitter inside the chamber, then pressed a series of keys on the console in front of him. An image of the transmitter's components appeared on the screen.

'The normal two wires connected to the detonator cap,' Gottfried said, pointing them out with the tip of his pen. 'Nothing unusual there.'

'What about the sides of the case? He could have set a hair-trigger device which would detonate the watch if any attempt was made to open the transmitter.'

Gottfried enlarged each side of the transmitter in turn but there were no strands of wire crossing the joins between the two halves of the case.

'There is another possibility,' Gottfried said at length. 'A light-emitting diode. It is a tiny photocell incorporated into the circuit which would trigger off the explosive

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the moment it came into contact with a light

ť

pin other words, when you removed the back of the

smitter.'

pExactly. But there is a way of getting round it. Infrared bt.' fi'Does that mean I'm going to have to fly back to Zurich

you?'Whitlock asked.

T'That is up to you. There is an infrared light built this system but if you would prefer to go to rich '

I 'Not if we can do it here,' Whitlock cut in. 'I'm on indby. My colleagues may need me at any time.' 'Very well. Will you switch off the light and close the tains, please? The infrared light can only work in nplete darkness.' I*' Whitlock did as he was asked. Gottfried activated the a-red, which was built into the lid of the case, then pitched off the scanner and removed the transmitter from chamber. He placed it face down on the table then Jected a screwdriver from the miniature tool kit he had iken from his pocket and began to unscrew the first of : four screws holding the two halves of the case together, iiitlock remained motionless behind him, his breathing hallow and ragged. He wiped the sweat from his eyes en bit his lower lip painfully when Gottfried placed the aurth screw on the table and gingerly lifted the back off be transmitter. He breathed out deeply and managed a ervous smile when Gottfried held up the back half of the lease to show him that it was perfectly harmless. Gottfried {took a pair of pliers from the kit and studied the two wires |more closely. One blue. One yellow. The standard wiring ; for a device of that kind. He used the tip of the pliers to look under the wires for any booby-trap that may not

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have shown up on the monitor. Nothing. He sat back and shook his head slowly.

'What's wrong?' Whitlock asked anxiously.

'I have this feeling that something is not right,' Gottfried replied, staring at the two wires. 'It is almost as if he is inviting us to go ahead and cut the wires. Why go to such lengths to booby-trap the watch but not the transmitter? It makes no sense.'

Whitlock remained silent. Not that he could have spoken anyway. His throat was suddenly dry. Gottfried took a small scalpel from the kit and cut a two-inch gash in the yellow flex. He peeled the plastic back and studied the fine network of wires inside it. He did the same with the blue flex and it was a couple of minutes before he sat back and nodded to himself.

'Well?' Whitlock asked.

'It is booby-trapped.' Gottfried used the scalpel to point out a single strand of wire amongst the network inside the yellow flex. 'There it is.'

Whitlock stared at Gottfried. 'How can you tell? It just looks like another wire to me.'

'It would, to an untrained eye. I have been defusingj explosive devices for the past fifteen years. I know whal to look for.' Gottfried used the scalpel as a pointer and followed the passage of the wire to the detonator cap. 'I you look closely you will see that this strand was connected j separately from the other wires. The perfect booby-] trap.'

'Is there one in the blue flex as well?'

Gottfried shook his head. 'It is not necessary. Both] lengths of flex have to be cut to defuse the device. He only j needed to booby-trap one of them.'

'Thank God for suspicious minds,' Whitlock saic wiping his forearm across his forehead.

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lore like devious minds. The only way to beat these 1 of people is to think like them.' Gottfried picked up the pliers and cut through the blue e. Then, using the tip of the screwdriver to isolate the by-trap, he cut the remaining wires inside the yellow to make safe the transmitter. ''You can take off the watch now.' 'Whitlock stared at the watch, an uncertainty in his eyes, i *Trust me, Mr Whitlock, the watch is perfectly safe ťw.'

'It's not that I don't trust you. It's Young I don't trust.' rGottfried switched the light on again then turned back Whitlock. 'You are worried about the booby-trap in strap, not so?'

Whitlock nodded. 'As I said, I don't trust that bastard ; inch. It would be just like him to have the last laugh.' 'The booby-trap needs to work off a power source. The ver source has been cut, so the booby-trap cannot ark. It is as simple as that.' Gottfried smiled at the doubt FWhitlock's eyes. 'What must I do to convince you?' fWhitlock sat on the edge of the bed and smiled ruefully attfried. 'Nothing. I'm convinced.' i take off the watch.'

litlock undipped the strap and let out a deep breath i the watch slipped off his wrist on to the back of his He eased it over his fingers and dropped it on to bed. 'Thanks,' Whitlock said softly, massaging his wrist

the watch had been pressed against his skin. e'l am glad to be of assistance.' Gottfried pointed to the i. 'May I take it with me? I would like to examine it : closely in the laboratory.'

take it,' Whitlock said, handing the watch to ied. 'I never want to see it again.'

M9

Gottfried smiled, then dismantled the X-ray machine.

'Can I at least buy you a drink before you go back to j Zurich?' Whitlock asked.

'That is very kind of you but I have to get back as] quickly as possible. Yours is not the only such difficulty I awaiting my attention, you understand.'

'Of course. I hope it all goes well.'

'I am sure it will.' Gottfried closed the attache case and j locked it. 'Nice to have met you, Mr Whitlock.'

'Likewise,' Whitlock said, shaking Gottfried's hand. 'I] just wish it had been under more relaxing conditions.'

'C'est la vie,' Gottfried replied with a resigned shrugj| then took his leave.

Whitlock closed the door behind him then kicked offl his shoes and lay on the bed, his hands clasped behind his I head. He knew he should be feeling great relief now that] he was rid of the watch. But he only felt empty. It wasj probably the same feeling the condemned man feels on! the eve of his execution. He stifled a yawn. His body wasj exhausted but his mind was awake. Very awake. HeJ glanced at the telephone and thought about Graham,! Sabrina and Kolchinsky. He knew none of them would! be sleeping. But at least they had each other for company.! He had nobody. Not even his wife. He'd probably getj back to the apartment and find the divorce pipers in the post. If he got back, he reminded himself. That all de-j pended on Ubrino.

He sat up and reached for the telephone. He rang the! apartment in New York. He let it ring for the customary] minute. No reply. He thought about calling her work number then replaced the receiver and pushed the tele-j phone away from him. Why bother? There would be noj reply.

C'est la vie . ..