“Come now, we can’t do that,” Savage said. “We’re prepared to pay a reasonable ransom for the colonel, of course. And if you haven’t heard, the governor’s offering amnesty on very reasonable terms.”
“No terms,” Girerd said. “No negotiations. The crop. All of it.”
“I think you’d better put Major Barton on.”
“Barton’s got nothing to do with this,” Girerd said. “Damn you people! It’s all a game to you. Nothing but a lousy stinking game! Well, it’s no game to us. It’s our lives, and our fortunes, and our honor.”
“Honor from a dope peddler,” Captain Rottermill said sotto voce.
Savage held up a hand for silence. “Do I understand that you’ve taken Colonel Falkenberg from Major Barton’s custody?”
“Damn right we have.”
“And where is Major Barton now?”
“In hell for all I know!”
Jeremy Savage touched the button to cut off the mike on the phone. His voice was low and clear, almost pleasant. “Amos, perhaps we’d better resume operations against Dragontooth. And please see what else you can muster to the southern area. We may need to assault Rochemont after all.”
“Yes, sir.” Amos Fast began typing furiously on his keyboard.
Savage activated the phone again. “Be reasonable, Mr. Girerd—”
“No. No, I will not be reasonable,” Girerd said. “I have been ruined by being reasonable.”
“You are hardly ruined. The governor’s terms are quite generous.”
“It’s ruin.”
“I assure you that’s not the case,” Savage said. “A number of your friends have already accepted. I do think you should reconsider while you have a choice.”
“No. You’ve finished me, and I won’t go alone.”
“What possible good could it do you to harm your prisoners?” Savage asked.
“None. But I’ll get the satisfaction. You get my property back, or your colonel’s dead.”
“It might take some time.”
“It better not take long. After 1700 today I will start executing prisoners. One per hour. Beginning with the youngest. Your colonel can watch them die. Goodbye.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Well, that’s torn it,” Major Savage said. “You are all familiar with the colonel’s standing orders on negotiating with terrorists.”
“How serious are they?” Captain Fast asked. “Anyone know this Girerd?”
“Governor’s office will know him,” Rottermill said.
“Ursula has met him,” Lysander said. “Major—Major, we have to do something!”
“Yes, of course we must. Ian, if you’d be kind enough to get those choppers in Ledoux’s village ready? They’ll need fuel, a pilot, guns and gun crews. Perhaps you could pick up any of your SAS troops who might be along the way there?”
“Right away, sir. I’ll be going myself, of course.” Captain Frazer lifted his phone and spoke urgently.
“Captain Rottermill, I would very much like to know what has become of Major Barton.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Mr. Prince, we’ll speak to the governor’s office, but if you would be kind enough to bring your friend here, it might be helpful to speak with someone who knows Mynheer Girerd.”
“I don’t know that she actually knows him—”
“I really would appreciate it, Mr. Prince.”
Savage hadn’t changed his tone, and his smile was pleasant, but Lysander felt a moment of fear. “Yes, sir. I’ll get her.”
“Thank you. Now, if you please. Captain Fast, perhaps it would be well to tell sergeant major about this latest development.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lysander felt relieved to get out of the staff room.
* * *
“You could have come to see me first.”
“Ursula, be reasonable. They brought me here by helicopter. I had to go to the hospital with Harv, and then I had to report! This is the first chance I’ve had.”
“I suppose. You don’t act very glad to see me.” She grinned. “Here you come back a genuine hero, and I’d already planned to give you a hero’s welcome just for getting back alive.”
“I’m looking forward to it. A lot. But just now—Ursa, the colonel’s in trouble.”
“What do you mean?”
“Girerd’s threatening to kill him if we don’t recapture their crop from the governor and turn it over to them.”
“That’s crazy. Falkenberg’s soldiers won’t do that. If they did, and the colonel got out of it alive, he’d have them shot! Even I know that!”
“Yes. And I’m scared.” He took her arm and led her to the staff room.
“Miss Gordon,” Major Savage said. “Kind of you to come. I was wondering if you could help with a problem that seems to have developed.”
“If I can—”
“I’m told you know Anton Girerd.”
“Not really,” Ursula said. “I did get to know his son Oskar—briefly but quite well—but I don’t really know Mynheer Girerd.”
“Still, you’ve met him. I’d be grateful for an opinion. Is he likely to carry out his threat?”
“Yes.”
“You sound quite positive. Why?”
“Things Oskar told me. Sometimes he was afraid of his father.”
“Sometimes?”
“When his father had been drinking. I imagine he has been now. He drinks under stress.”
“I see. So we dare not assume he is bluffing. Well, it won’t be the first time alcoholism proved fatal. Thank you. Captain Rottermill, I’d appreciate that report. You may go, Miss Gordon.”
“May I see Ursula to her rooms?”
“Certainly, Mr. Prince, but I would appreciate it if you’d come right back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ursula shuddered when they were outside. “I won’t try to keep you,” she said.
“Thanks. You felt it too?”
“He’s so calm and careful and polite, and I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so frightened of anyone in my life,” she said. “And he isn’t even mad at me.” They walked in silence for a moment. “I suppose you have to go with them?” Ursula asked.
“If they’ll let me.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because—damn it, it’s obvious.”
“No. No, Lysander, it’s not obvious that you should risk getting yourself killed in order to rescue a man who has already manipulated you into doing his work for him.”
“What? But he didn’t do that—”
She laughed. “Didn’t he? Think about it. Not much happens around him that he hasn’t planned.”
“Ursula, he was ready to do it himself. Without me.”
“Sure.”
“Well, he was.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Lynn, Lynn my darling, you really don’t understand him, do you? I wasn’t even there, and I know what happened. He was ready to go himself. Of course he was. Him and one of his Headquarters Company guards. Be only too glad to, and of course he understood. No discredit for not volunteering, none at all. Only he didn’t have to go himself because you were right there to talk him out of it. Isn’t that what happened?”
“Well—”
“See? But no, you don’t see. Forget that. But whatever happened doesn’t obligate you to go get killed for him now.”
“I won’t get killed.”
“Oh probably you won’t, they won’t even let you get close to the action now, but that isn’t the point.”
“What is the point?”
“One you’ll never understand. When are you going back to Sparta?”
“What? I don’t know. It will be a while. Have to wait for Harv to get out of the regeneration stimulators—”
“But not long after that.”
“I don’t know. I suppose not, father will be anxious for my report, Ursa, we have to discuss this . . .”
“I wish I could go with you.”
“Ursula—”
“I know. You wish it too, but it won’t happen.” She smiled thinly. “It’s all right. It would never work. It’s all wishes. Serves us both right for forgetting the rules. Goodbye, Lysander.”
“We’ll talk about this—I won’t be long—”
“No. No, my dear it’s hard enough this way.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, very lightly and very quickly. “I won’t be here when you get back.”
“Where will you go?”
“I’ll find something. I own my contract, you know. Colonel Falkenberg saw to that. Maybe I’ll look up Oskar Girerd. He really was sweet, and even with his father acting like an idiot, he’s likely to keep some of his wealth—”
“Ursula, stop, please stop—”
“I’m sorry. Maybe it wasn’t funny. Maybe I wasn’t trying to be funny.”
“How can you be so—so damned calm about it?”
“Probably caught it from Major Savage.” They had reached the door to her room. Not his. She went inside, making it clear she didn’t want him to follow. She was already closing the door when she looked up at him and said, “I do love you, you know. Goodbye, my dear.”
* * *
“I’ve got Barton,” Rottermill said.
Major Savage gestured to indicate the speaker phone. “Good afternoon, Major. Jeremy Savage here.”
“Good afternoon.”
“Sorry to trouble you, but I doubt I must explain why I have called,” Savage said.
“No, of course not.”
“Will you need our help?”
“No. We’re going in now. Sorry to have been so long. They surprised us, and it took this long to get the forces together.”
“Yes, of course,” Major Savage said. “Still, I hope you won’t be long about it.”
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273