"You're a gentleman, Danton," Illya mocked.
"I try to be. After all; just because we are spies, thieves, murderers, and all that, is no reason we have to be uncouth. So, let us admit that we all want to know just why a man of Forsyte's caliber turned spy, and how he is transmitting his data."
"All right, I'll admit that," Illya agreed. "I'm rather glad to know that you don't know."
"I'm sure you are, but we will know. Now, I think you know more than we do. A bad situation. I want you to tell me what you know. Right?"
Illya shrugged. "I assure you I don't know anything."
"How does Forsyte pass the data, Illya?"
"I don't know."
"What does that health club have to do with it?"
"I don't know. Perhaps nothing."
"He went straight home from that club. We followed him. He had no other chance to pass data."
"Maybe he didn't sell any secrets today."
Danton slapped Illya. "Don't be too funny, my friend. He follows a routine like a robot! We know that. His routine today was the same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that!"
"He's a very dull boy," Illya said.
Danton spun on his immaculate heel. The elegant North American Leader of THRUSH nodded to his men.
"Take him," he said.
Two of the black-uniformed men stepped forward, grinning. They had a hypodermic syringe with a very long needle of the kind used to drip a solution into the veins. One of them held Illya's arm tight and stiff. The other prepared to use the needle. Danton had walked to a far wall and stood with his back turned. The THRUSH leader did not like the sight of violence.
Illya braced, concentrating his mind to use all the previous programming against divulgence of information he could. He felt the waves of mental strength tightening on his trained brain.
A loud buzzing sound broke the silence and the tension of the room. Danton turned abruptly and stared at a speaker on his desk. He motioned sharply.
"Wait," the dapper THRUSH leader snapped.
He strode to the speaker and flipped a switch. He listened. The voice over the speaker was too low for Illya to hear. Danton switched off and turned with a smile to Illya.
"We may not need your help after all, my dear Illya. Too bad. I'm afraid that means we have no use for you. You see, my men have brought one of the gang getting the secrets from Forsyte!"
SIX
THE DOOR TO the room opened and four men came in. Illya Kuryakin watched them. Three were obviously THRUSH agents in civilian clothes—the same three who had been in the alley. Illya saw the tall man in particular.
The fourth man was being pushed into the room by the tall man. The fourth man had his head down as if groggy, and wore the white uniform of the health club, but Illya was sure that he recognized the figure. It was someone he knew.
Danton stepped forward. "So, we've got one of you, eh? Good work, men. We'll have this one talking in no time. Or would you rather just tell us what we want to know without any trouble?"
Danton stared at the white-suited man, who still stood with his he down. The tall man pushed him forward.
"They beat up Gregor," the tall man said.
"The devil with Gregor!" Danton snapped. "What I want is to know just how Forsyte transmits his information. There has to be some very special method, and we want it. Now, you, tell us where the others are, and—"
Danton stopped. He stood there with his mouth open and stared at the figure in the white health club suit. His bright eyes blinked. Then he stepped forward and grasped the hair of the man. He pulled the head up.
Solo grinned. "Hello, Danton."
Danton dropped Solo's hair and jumped back as if he had been bitten. For a long moment he stared at Solo, who smiled and looked around the room like a man on a sightseeing tour. Solo grinned at Illya. Danton rubbed his face, brushed his hand through his immaculate grey hair. Then he began to shout.
"You fools!"
Danton shouted at the tall man. "You stupid ape! One of the others, eh? You idiotic incompetents! Do you know who this is? Eh? Don't you know your enemies! What morons am I forced to work with? I send you to get a gang with some method of taking secrets from reliable people, and you bring me another U.N.C.L.E. agent!"
The tall man stammered. "But—but he was wearing one of the uniforms. He was standing over Gregor. He—"
"Idiot! This is Napoleon Solo! Don't you know the Chief of Section-Il of U.N.C.L.E. How did you get to be an agent of THRUSH? I send you for someone valuable, and you bring me Solo!"
The tall man protested. "How could I—I mean, we're new in New York, sir, and—"
"Quiet!" Danton roared. "Do you know what else you've done?"
The tall man gulped. "No, sir.
"Shut up!" Danton shouted. "How many of you were there in your group?"
"Four, sir. The alternate group brought that other man here, and we—"
"And how many of you are there here now?" Danton snarled.
"With Gregor, sir, a total of four. We all—"
"Then who is doing your work? Eh? Who is watching the health club?"
The tall man was white. "No one, sir. They—they got out of the building without our seeing them anyway. So when they didn't come out, we went in, and we found Gregor and this man, and we were sure he was one of them, so we brought him here—"
The tall man trailed off in his weak explanation. Danton stared at him.
"You mean that you have lost contact. We have lost contact. You bunglers have let them get away, and we—"
Danton's tirade went on. All the men in the room were watching him. The three captors of Solo were pale with fear. The guards had their guns down. Solo edged away toward a guard who was looking only at Danton.
Illya touched his nose.
Solo jumped for the guard.
Illya hurled himself out of the special chair. The shock of pain, like a hammer blow, knocked him to his knees, but he was free of the chair. He jumped up and chopped a guard once on the throat.
Solo had a machine-gun in his hand. He shot down two guards who reacted to the sudden break.
Illya Kuryakin had a gun and sprayed the room.
The THRUSH agents all hurled themselves undercover. The tall man went down, spitting blood. Danton screamed and dived for a heavy oak table.
"Door!" Solo cried.
The two agents careened through the door and out into the baronial entrance hallway. Three guards came running into the vast hall. Solo and Illya shot them down with two quick bursts. Moments later they were out the front door and running across a gravel drive way toward the thick bushes of the grounds.
"There! Get them!"
It was Danton's voice, his courage back now that he was out of range. He was in the doorway behind them. Black-uniformed THRUSH guards poured across the driveway and the grounds.
Solo and Illya crashed through the thick bushes, ran across the parklike grounds under the tall oaks in the night. There was a glint of water to the left.
"The river!" Solo hissed.
"If we can," Illya panted.
They ran, and behind them the THRUSH agents pounded in mad pursuit. The night was dark and the THRUSH men were getting in each other's way. Danton's voice could be heard roaring his orders.
Illya Kuryakin stopped. "Not the river yet. They'll block us. Let's cut down the odds."