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.The minutes dragged slowly, and Garst found himself unable to concentrate on any of his other work.Hepaced around the room and reread the report on Helena twice more.Finally, forty-five minutes afterHelena's disappearance, Rawling's face again appeared on the intercom screen."We've been able to triangulate her position, sir," the security chief reported."Where is she?""Out in a park at the moment.We'll have a long distance camera crew in a copter there in a minute soyou can view the scene."Garst waited with frantic impatience until Rawling's face was replaced by a fuzzy, wobbling image ofthree people in a park, sitting peacefully amid some bushes.Helena von Wilmenhorst sat in the middle,chatting as though with old friends.But it was not Helena on whom Garst's eyes focused.The man and woman who flanked her werefrighteningly familiar to him.He had met the woman once when she was calling herself CarmenVelasquez; the man, at the time, had gone under the name Georges du-Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlChamps.But he had learned, much to his sorrow, that they were two incredibly talented people whoworked as a team.He knew they had worked for some law enforcement agency-and obviously, sincethey were friends of von Wilmenhorst, they must be agents of SOTS.Between the two of them, they had totally demolished his organization on Vesa-an organization he hadspent twenty years nurturing.It was only by a ruse that he had managed to escape with his life from themaniacal fury of that DesPlainian woman.Occasionally, in a nightmare, he would see their faces comingtoward him, as though from a great distance.They would reach out their powerful hands and grab him,holding him up in the air and shaking him like a rag doll until all his stuffing flew out.He would wake fromthose terrifying dreams sweating and trembling; and always, -the afterimage was the face of thatDesPlainian woman, glaring her implacable hatred at him.Garst found himself sweating and trembling now as he stared at the fuzzy images on the screen.He didn'tknow how long he had been watching, but suddenly a voice broke him out of his waking nightmare.Rawling was speaking over the picture on the viewer."We've checked their identities with our files.Thenames are Jaroslav and Yarmilla Dubcek, brother and sister.They came in just a couple of days agofrom Cordoba.""I don't care what they' call themselves, they're poison, both of them!" Garst fairly screamed."I've dealtwith them before.They have talents that are not human.We must kill them instantly.""Is that an order, sir?""Yes.They are to be shot on sight-and with blasters, not stunners.They must be given no chance toreact; they're lightning incarnate.""The copier is out of range at the moment, and if it flies any closer they might spot it coming.I could havea whole platoon of guards there in two minutes, if you like.""Yes.no! They'll be making their move soon." Garst was shaking his head to clear it, trying hard tothink."There's only one reason they've come here-to get me.They've found out I'm alive and they'vecome to finish the job they started before.As soon as they've finished their talk they'll be on their wayhere to headquarters to ferret me out.But they're not going to get me, Rawling.I want you to pull everyguard you've got and station them around this building.Those three are not to get in."Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html"All my guards? Even from the spaceport?""You heard me." Garst was in an unreasoning fit of terror."And you want all three blasted?""Yes.Well, if you can get the von Wilmenhorst girl alive, so much the better.But that is not first priority.Kill the other two, by any and all means possible."In her own private office, Jinda Rawling clucked her tongue slightly.She'd never seen her boss like this,and it worried her.If something could frighten the imperturbable Garst this badly, it had to be important.She would make certain all her guards had instructions to kill those two DesPlainians on sight, no quartergiven.But, like any good tactician, she doubted the wisdom of removing all her people from an area asstrategic as the spaceport.If Garst was right and the trio from SOTS attacked headquarters, the guardswould certainly repel if not kill them.The agents would turn to flee, almost certainly to the port.Leavingat least a token contingent there would catch them in a pincer movement.I'll take off the extras there and leave just the normal complement, she thought, disobeying her boss'sorders.If he criticizes me, I'll tell him I misunderstood his com-mand.The trio from SOTE moved quietly on foot through the streets of Sanctuary.They dared not take theslowmoving carts now; to be caught in the open in one of those vehicles would be tantamount to suicide.So instead they skulked around the back streets or mingled in crowds traveling in the same direction.They reached the gates of the spaceport by late afternoon and hid behind a building until the sun wentdown.Night would have to be their ally, although the spaceport field would not be completely dark.Floodlights would illuminate vast areas almost as brightly as day because, as dependent as Sanctuary wason its imported materials, the flow of incoming ships could not be abated for half the day simply becauseof a little darkness.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlAs they waited, the sharp eyes of Jules and Yvette scanned the field before them, trying to pick out allthe guards and establish their routines."I'm nervous," Jules said as he surveyed the region ahead of them."I don't see very many guards.Theymust know we're headed this way.""I'd think that would make it easier," Helena said.Yvette shook her head."The guards you don't see arefar more dangerous than the ones you do.""Oh."Nightfall came, however, and there was no sign of any more guards.Every second they delayed wasanother second in which they might be discovered, so Jules and Yvette agreed that, whether they knewthe full layout or not, they would have to act now.Jules beckoned and the two women followed his lead.Their first priority was to obtain weapons.They might be battling an army, and it would be animpossibility unless they themselves had guns.With this in mind, they crept up on a nearby tower wheresome sentries were stationed, away from the main body of the guard.These people would not be missedfor a little while and, isolated as they were, they would make easy pickings.Helena was left at the bottom of the tower to act as a lookout.Though the Head's Girl Friday was eagerfor action, the d'Alemberts impressed on her the special circumstances of this operation.They wouldhave to climb up the outside of the tower and then still be prepared to fight at once.Space within thewatchroom would be crowded; Jules and Yvette could fight as a coordinated unit, but adding a thirdmember in such cramped quarters could be dangerous.Reluctantly, Helena agreed to stand at the baseof the tower and whistle a warning if anything untoward should occur [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]