I sat down at the kitchen table and spooned a lot of sugar into a
steaming cup of black coffee. It was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever
tasted. Sigurlin went to the window and looked at the Volvo in the
drive. ‘Where’s the Volkswagen?’
I grimaced. ‘It’s a write-off.’ The big Russian had said that Ilyich was
taking- it to pieces, and from the fleeting glimpse I had of it he had
been right. I said, ‘What’s it worth, Sigurlin?’ and put my hand in my
pocket for my cheque-book.
She made an impatient gesture. ‘That can wait.’ There was an edge to her
voice. ‘Elin told me everything about Slade – about Kennikin ? everything.’
‘You shouldn’t have done that, Elin,’ I said quietly.
‘I had to talk about it to someone,’ she burst out.
‘You must go to the police,’ said Sigurlin.
I shook my head. ‘So far this has been a private fight. The only
casualties have been among the professionals -the men who know the risks
and accept them. No innocent bystanders have been hurt. I want to keep
it that way. Anyone who monkeys around with this without knowing the
score is in for trouble – whether he’s wearing a police uniform or not.’
‘But it needn’t be handled at that level,’ she said. ‘Let the
politicians handle it ? the diplomats.’
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. ‘When I first came to this country
someone told me that there are three things which an Icelander can’t
explain ? not even to another Icelander: the Icelandic political system,
the Icelandic economic system, and the Icelandic drinking laws. We’re
not worried about alcohol right now, but politics and economics are
right at the top of my list of worries.’
Elin said, ‘I don’t real y know what you’re talking about.’
‘I’m talking about that refrigerator,’ I said. ‘And that electric
coffee-grinder.’ My finger stabbed out again. ‘And the electric kettle
and the transistor radio. They’re al imported and to afford imports you
have to export – fish, mutton, wool. The herring shoals have moved a
thousand miles away, leaving your inshore herring fleet high and dry.
Aren’t things bad enough without making them worse?’
Sigurlin wrinkled her brow. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There are three nations involved – Britain, America and Russia.
Supposing a thing like this is handled at diplomatic level with an
exchange of Notes saying: “Stop fighting your battles on Icelandic
territory.” Do you real y think a thing like that could be kept secret?
Every country has political wild men -.and I’m sure Iceland is no
exception – and they’d al jump on the bandwagon.’
I stood up. ‘The anti-Americans would shout about the Base at Keflavik;
the anti-communists would have a good handle to grab hold of; and you’d
probably restart the Fishing War with Britain because I know a lot of
Icelanders who aren’t satisfied with the settlement of 1961.’
I swung around to face Sigurlin. ‘During the Fishing War your trawlers
were denied entry to British ports, so built up a fair trade with
Russia, which you stil have. What do you think of Russia as a trading
partner?’
‘I think they’re very good,’ she said instantly. ‘They’ve done a lot for
us.’
I said deliberately, ‘If your government is placed in the position of
having to take official notice of what’s going on then that good
relationship might be endangered. Do you want that to happen?’
Her face was a study in consternation. I said grimly, ‘If this lark ever
comes into the open it’l be the biggest /cause celebre/ to hit Iceland
since Sam Phelps tried to set up Jorgen Jorgensen as king back in 1809.’
Elin and Sigurlin looked at each other helplessly. ‘He’s right,’ said
Sigurlin.
I knew I was right. Under the placid level of Icelandic society were
forces not safe to tamper with. Old animosities stil linger among the
longer-memoried and it wouldn’t take much to stir them up. I said, ‘The
less the politicians know, the better it wil be for everybody. I like
this country, damn it; and I don’t want the mud stirred up.’ I took
Elin’s hand. ‘I’l try to get this thing cleaned up soon. I think I
‘know a way.’
‘Let them have the package,’ she said urgently. ‘Please, Alan; let them
have it.’
‘I’m going to,’ I said. ‘But in my own way.’
There was a lot to think about. The Volkswagen, for instance. It
wouldn’t take Kennikin long to check the registration and find out where
it came from. That meant he’d probably be dropping in before the day was
over. ‘Sigurlin,’ I said. ‘Can you take a pony and join Gunnar?’
She was startled. ‘But why . . . ?’ She took the point. ‘The Volkswagen?’
‘Yes; you might have unwelcome visitors. You’d be better out of the way.’
‘I had a message from Gunnar last night, just after you left. He’s
staying out another three days.’
‘That’s good,’ I said. ‘In three days everything should be over.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘Don’t ask,’ I warned. ‘You know too much already. Just get yourself in
a place where there’s no one to ask questions.’ I snapped my fingers.
‘I’l shift the Land-Rover too. I’m abandoning it, but it had better not
be found here.’
‘You can park it in the stables.’
‘That’s a thought. I’m going to move some things from the Land-Rover
into the Volvo. I’l be back in a few minutes.’
I went into the garage and took out the electronic gadget, the two
rifles and al the ammunition. The guns I wrapped in a big piece of
sacking which I found and they went into the boot. Elin came out, and
said, ‘Where /are/ we going?’
‘Not we,’ I said. ‘Me.’
‘I’m coming with you.’
‘You’re going with Sigurlin.’
That familiar stubborn, mulish look came on to her face. ‘I liked what
you said in there,’ she said. ‘About not wanting to cause trouble for my
country. But it is my country and I can fight for it as wel as anyone
else.’
I nearly laughed aloud. ‘Elin,’ I said. ‘What do you know about fighting?’
‘As much as any other Icelander,’ she said evenly.
She had something there. ‘You don’t know what’s going on,’ I said.
‘Do you?’
‘I’m beginning to catch on. I’ve just about proved that Slade is a
Russian agent – and I loaded Kennikin just like a gun and pointed him at
Slade. When they meet he’s likely to go off, and I wouldn’t like to be
in Slade’s position when it happens. Kennikin believes in direct action.’
‘What happened last night? Was it bad?’
I slammed the boot closed. ‘It wasn’t the happiest night of my life,’ I
said shortly. ‘You’d better get some things together. I want this house
unoccupied within the hour.’ I took out a map and spread it out.
‘Where are you going?’ Elin was very persistent.
‘Reykjavik,’ I said. ‘But I want to go to Keflavik first.’
‘That’s the wrong way round,’ she pointed out. ‘You’l get to Reykjavik
first – unless you go south through Hveragerdi.’
‘That’s the problem,’ I said slowly, and frowned as I looked at the map.
The web of roads I had visualized existed al right but not as
extensively as I had imagined. I didn’t know about the Department’s
supposed manpower shortage, but Kennikin certainly wasn’t suffering that
way; I had counted ten different men with Kennikin at one time or another.
And the map showed that the whole of the Reykjanes Peninsula could be
sealed off from the east by placing men at two points – Thingvel ir and
Hveragerdi. If I went through either of those towns at a normal slow
speed I’d be spotted; if I went through hel -for-leather I’d attract an
equivalent amount of attention. And the radio-telephone which had worked
for me once would now work against me, and I’d have the whole lot of
them down on me.
‘Christ!’ I said. ‘This is, bloody impossible.’
Elin grinned at me cheerful y. ‘I know an easy way,’ she said too
casual y. ‘One that Kennikin won’t think of.’
I looked at her suspiciously. ‘How?’
‘By sea.’ She laid her finger on the map. ‘If we go to Vik I know an old
friend who wil take us to Keflavik in his boat.’
I regarded the map dubiously. ‘It’s a long way to Vik, and it’s in the
wrong direction.’
‘All the better,’ she said. ‘Kennikin won’t expect you to go there.’
The more I studied the map, the better it looked. ‘Not bad,’ I said.
Elin said innocently, ‘Of course, I’l have to come with you to
introduce you to my friend.’
She’d done it again.
Chapter II
It was an odd way to get to Reykjavik because I pointed the Volvo in the
opposite direction and put my foot down. It was with relief that I