“I do not kill harmless old fools, Colonel. You should know that about me by now. No, the good professor hung himself right next to the phase shift engine.”
Jack exhaled and then leaned against the bridge bulkhead. “Suicide,” he said as he inwardly damned himself by not making Jenks stay close to Gervais at all times. Now, so many answers and a possible ally in their escaping this mess were gone.
“Yes, but it seems strange that four fingers on his right and two on the left were snapped in half. Do you suppose he had difficulty in tying the noose around his neck?”
“You saying it was forced?”
“In the circles I have been privy to, Colonel, men such as Gervais never commit suicide. They blame, they become sorrowful for what they have done, some turn to Jesus, others to the bottle, but most never go out that way — too much of a coward. No, he was murdered.”
“My investigation says suicide, Colonel Farbeaux. Otherwise, you would have been the first person questioned if there were the least bit of suspicion as to the cause of death.”
Jack frowned as he realized the Russian had come upon them unheard. He could see Henri tense up at the sudden appearance of Salkukoff and his six commandos. Two of them were removing the covered body of Gervais from down below.
“Unfortunate, to say the least,” Jack said as he turned and faced Salkukoff.
“He has served his purpose on this mission, Colonel Collins. He has confirmed the phase shift system is still functional. His recommendation to me an hour before he decided to exit this world was that we could make the attempt at getting back to our own dimension at any time.”
“That has yet to be agreed upon by my engineer, Master Chief Jenks.”
Salkukoff smiled and placed his hands behind his back and then rocked on his heels.
“I’m afraid your calculations are far beyond your understanding of the situation, Colonel Collins. You assume that you still have jurisdiction in this matter. Your right of salvage, I think you quoted upon our initial meeting.”
Jack remained quiet, as he knew this wasn’t his play. It was Salkukoff’s.
“For tonight, we will allow these men to enjoy themselves.” He started to turn. “It would be a shame for us to have hostilities while our innocent guests are aboard.” He started walking and then stopped and faced Collins and Farbeaux once more. “After all, they have a hard enough life as it is facing the Wasakoo.”
“The very same Wasakoo you turned into pirates?”
“That was a fortunate coincidence. The Wasakoo had already stumbled up the book on board Simbirsk during the original experiment. We just happened to take advantage of it. The idiots actually think Treasure Island is like a bible of sorts. Pretty adventurous of them, agreed? Good evening, gentlemen.”
They watched the Russian and his escort of killers move away and smile and taste the offered food. Two more went the long way around while carrying the covered body of Gervais.
“May I assume the good colonel knows a little more than he did just last night?” Henri inquired. “I think we just met the architect of this whole situation. The Wasakoo — do you think he even knew he spilled the beans?”
“All he did was confirm the facts we already know, Colonel. I mean, who could make something like the Wasakoo up? I mean, if I made up a name, I would have chosen Klingon, or Romulan, or the Sith, or something.” Jack smiled.
“I am always amazed at the way in which you come to your conclusions, Colonel. Totally amazed.”
Jack merely walked away without further comment. Henri watched and then slowly followed, shaking his head at the irreverent way he joked during the most stressful times.
The radar operators on both Peter the Great and Shiloh were relieved early for their chance to join the visitors and eat their food. In the confusion of operators changing shifts, they all missed the large red blip that appeared and then vanished just as quickly.
Death was over the far horizon and was watching them closely.
Salkukoff and his commandos had transferred the body of Professor Gervais to a waiting whaleboat. Twenty-six commandos sat waiting for Salkukoff to join them as the colonel conferred with Captain Kreshenko.
“I have concerns, Colonel Salkukoff. Even though my men are jovial at the moment, I don’t expect them to take the news of this apparent suicide well. They all knew of the professor’s importance in getting them back home. Morale will plummet.”
“That is why we are removing the body to Peter the Great for storage. Allow your sailors this time to forget about their situation and enjoy the company of these”—he paused as he gestured to the hundred small boats tied to the anchored ships—“people.”
Kreshenko watched as Salkukoff waited for more questions, but the captain merely stepped back to allow the colonel his way. He watched the dark-haired man step easily into the whaleboat and then turned away. He paused when he saw the Frenchman looking at him in the light of the strangely shattered moon overhead — even stranger now that the smashed orb was rising higher into the sky with its trailing tail of moon debris.
“Interesting man,” Henri said as he stepped forward and faced the Russian sea captain.
“Interesting term, maybe? But the man is one who I’ve known for a very long time. Maybe not him, but others like him. They have been hiding in the shadows since the fall of the old regime.” Kreshenko looked directly into the Frenchman’s blue eyes. “These are men who rejoice in the troubles and sorrows of our world.” He started forward to rejoin the men at the bow and their revelry with the villagers but stopped as he came astride Henri. “I suspect he would have little or no compunction to bring that chaotic philosophy to this world also.”
“Captain?”
Kreshenko stopped but did not turn.
“We all may have to make some hard choices in the next few hours.”
Kreshenko allowed his shoulders to slump as the Frenchman made it clear that their survival might just depend on him and only him. But still the captain moved off in silence.
Farbeaux turned and went to the stern railing of the old warship and watched as the whaleboat started off toward Peter the Great. He saw the boat pause momentarily, and then it slowly moved off again. His eyes went to the anchored Shiloh and saw that her above-deck crew were relaxed, as most of them had just returned from the fabulous feast brought to them by the villagers. Again, his eyes turned away and watched the violet-whitish foam from the Russian boat as it vanished around the port side of Peter the Great.
“Is it bothering you as much as it is me?”
Henri heard Jack’s voice but remained fixed on Peter the Great five hundred yards away. “If you knew my thoughts at the moment, Colonel, you wouldn’t like them.”
Collins stepped up and stood next to the Frenchman. Although Jack would never fully trust Henri, he knew his instincts were infallible when it came to pegging the intentions of bad people. He knew Farbeaux was one of those bad men who used common sense in the way he did business.
“Where will he strike first?” Jack asked as his eyes also remained on the giant missile cruiser anchored across the way.
“It will not be where we suspect it will come, Colonel,” Henri said as he finally turned away from the sea and faced Jack. “That man cannot allow even his own people to return to our world. They have seen and heard far too much. Whoever is pulling Salkukoff’s strings wants their venture here and their treasonous activities toward Moscow kept quiet. And I suspect that for many years they have excelled in doing just that — silencing those who know of them.”