[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

This was Alekhin.
"Where are you going?"
"To Evensk. I must speak to Colonel Arkady Zamatev or to Comrade Lebedev."
Alekhin eyed him thoughtfully, his flat, heavy-lidded eyes revealing nothing.
"Why must you speak with him?"
Ostap hesitated. If he told Alekhin, he would get nothing, nothing at all. "I
have information about the American." Then, firmly, he added, "It is for one
of them only. Nobody else."
Alekhin stared at him. This one he could twist in his hands. He could wring
Page 240
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
him out like a rag, but no one intercepted information meant for Zamatev.
Leaning from his seat, he called to the driver behind him. "Boris! Take this
one to Evensk! Call Colonel Zamatev! If you cannot, speak to Comrade Lebedev!
Quick now! Then bring him back to me unless the Colonel wishes him."
He looked at Ostap. "You speak to him. Tell him. You better have good
information, or I will speak to you after. Go now. "
In Evensk, the connection was not a good one, but Boris got Kyra on the phone
for him. "What can you tell us, Ostap?" She sounded abrupt, impatient.
"I have seen him," he said, "the American."
"What?"
"I want Katerina released," he said, "and a little something for our trouble.
You see?"
"You have actuallyseen him?"
"He is not waiting for you," Ostap said, "but if you move now, he cannot have
gone more than a few miles."
"Describe him."
Ostap was a good observer. His description was quick, accurate and brief.
"It was one of Alekhin's men who called. How did you meet him?"
"Alekhin has gone north searching for him. I told him nothing. I want Katerina
released."
"I know," she replied brusquely, "and a little something for yourself!"
"I could have called Comrade Shepilov," he replied.
"Katerina will be freed. Take Alekhin to where you saw him. I shall be there
within the hour. If this is just a story  !"
"It is not."
When he left the office he said to Boris, "Take me to Alekhin. I know where
the American is."
"I heard you," Boris replied. "You should have told him on the road."
"Katerina is my wife. Shepilov arrested her. I want her free."
"And a little something for yourself," Boris said. "All the Soviet Union needs
is a few more such patriots."
Ostap flushed, but he did not reply. Boris was a very tough, competent-looking
man. The less said to such a man the better.
Boris was speaking on the radio. Then they drove off, moving rapidly. Ostap
hung on desperately as the car careened around sharp curves and raced over
bumpy roads that were hardly more than trails.
Alekhin was waiting beside the road. He reached a hand into the car and jerked
Page 241
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Ostap out of his seat. "Tell me! Where?"
Frightened, Ostap led the way to where he had stood and pointed. "Over there,
at the edge of the trees."
"Stay back!" Alekhin ordered. Then he walked over. Ostap watched and then
said, "By that old tree! To the left!"
Alekhin moved and then stopped and began to look around, very slowly, very
carefully. The American left so little sign. He moved a step, looking, then
looking again.
Yes, there was a slight indentation in the moss at the foot of the tree.
Something or somebody had been there. Slowly, carefully, he began to work out
the sign left by the American. As always, there was very little.
He walked back to Boris and indicated what must be done. "There are roads on
three sides! I want patrols, very slow patrols! Night and day! He must not
escape this area! You understand?"
"I do. It will be done."
"What of him?" Boris jerked a thumb at Ostap.
"Let him stay. We have no time to take him back. Besides, the Colonel wishes
to speak to him."
Alekhin paused, thinking about it, and then he added, "If we do not have him
by dark, I want cars with headlights on the road. I want him taken. I want him
stopped. If you must shoot, shoot at his legs. Break his legs, but do not kill
him."
By midday Joe Mack knew he was trapped. Through a gap in the scattered trees
he glimpsed several cars on the road below. Moving further north he glimpsed
more cars cutting him off in that direction. So they knew he was in here.
Somehow they had seen him. Somehow they knew without doubt he was here. Warily
he worked his way further north and west into the roughest terrain. They had
cornered him in one of the few places around that had roads on three sides,
even though they were scarcely more than trails.
At a steady trot, he headed north. They knew where he was, and this time they
would not let him get away. He would try, but his chances were slight. They
were going to get him, so what could he do?
He could try to escape again, of course, but they would give him no chance [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]