Porter sat at a table in the corner farthest from the band, one arm around the shoulders of Nancy Wing, who looked ravishing in a new auburn wig. Few who knew her would have recognized her, but she was not inconspicuous in a long sheath of green velvet. She was drinking tea, he confined himself to ginger ale, and only the man they knew as Mr Wallace had liquor in his glass.
Mr Wallace, who spoke with the vowel-flattering twang of Iowa or Nebraska, wore a necktie of shiny satin, a jacket with too-broad lapels and cufflinks the size of silver dollars. He looked at home in a Rush Street dive, and the waitresses called him by name.
Only his unblinking, hard eyes indicated that he might be other than a drygoods salesman enjoying a spree in the big city. ‘What’s your present status, pal?’
‘I collected my last pay cheque,’ Porter said, ‘and I sent a letter of resignation to the Director.’
Mr Wallace raised an eyebrow. ‘Before’ making a deal with my friends?’
‘I was fed up, and if I must I’ll buy a cottage on the Cornwall coast and settle down there. I’d like the extra money, of course. I have a special use for it.’ He patted Nancy on the thigh, then let his hand rest there.
‘You can deliver?’ Mr Wallace’s eyes bored into him.
‘Naturally. Do you take me for an amateur, old boy? Full blueprints of the hull, engines, armaments, and special equipment.’
‘No kidding?’
‘I have sample material that proves the authenticity of what I’m offering.’
‘I’ll take it.’
‘After we set the deal,’ Porter said.
‘Does your material include blueprints of special devices that might be used for the – ah – recovery of undersea treasures?’
‘I never discuss details until I know what I’m getting in return,’ Porter said.
Mr Wallace stared hard at him. ‘What’s your price?’
‘One hundred thousand dollars in cash, deposited in a Swiss bank account already opened.’
‘That’s damn high.’
Porter shrugged. ‘If your friends won’t pay it there are others who will.’ He kissed Nancy on the neck, and she snuggled closer to him.
Mr Wallace turned to her. ‘Can you verify that he’ll deliver what he says?’
‘He always keeps his word,’ she said. ‘If he didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.’
‘I can’t okay that big a payment on my own,’ Mr Wallace said.
‘I’ll have to apply for authorization through channels.’
Porter remained complacent. ‘How long will that take?’
‘A couple of days.’
‘I’ll give you forty-eight hours, Mr Wallace. After that the price will go up.’
‘You drive a hard bargain.’
‘I’m enjoying a buyer’s market.’ Porter stroked Nancy’s thigh.
‘You’ll take your material to my company’s headquarters, I assume.’
Porter laughed. ‘You may tell Andropov for me that I haven’t yet taken complete leave of my senses. I bring him my merchandise, and then I vanish forever into Lubyanka. The only one who knows or cares is Nancy, and if she gets talkative the same will happen to her. Try again.’
‘You must have something in mind,’ Mr Wallace countered.
‘I do. It’s only a matter of time before my ex-boss learns I was handy with a photocopier, and then his lads will be gunning for me. I’ve got to pull my own disappearing act before that happens. Nancy and I have our future together to protect.’ Porter’s arm tightened around her shoulders.
‘Sounds reasonable to me,’ Mr Wallace said.
Nancy entered the conversation for the first time. ‘Porter is always reasonable.’
He gazed at Her with infatuated eyes, then turned back to the KGB intermediary. ‘We’re prepared to hole up in Chicago until the day after tomorrow. Meet us here with a flat acceptance or rejection.’
‘Then what?’
‘If we have a deal, have a private aeroplane waiting for us at O’Hare Airport, and fly us to Havana. We’ll want a long-range aircraft waiting for us there, and we’ll go on. Arrange the refuelling stops wherever you please.’
‘What’s your destination?’
‘Singapore.’
Mr Wallace was incredulous. ‘Singapore?’
‘I know the town, and I have connections there. I have an obvious reason for wanting to five sitting beside me, and liquidation isn’t too easy to arrange in Singapore these days. Particularly as your company’s employees are none too popular with the government there.’ Porter’s smile was amiable.
Mr Wallace pondered for a time. ‘You won’t be carrying your merchandise on your person, of course.’
‘I’ve been in the business long enough to take basic precautions. Let’s just say I’ll hand over the merchandise, which any expert will know at once is authentic, in return for positive proof that the cash deposit has been made as I directed.’
‘Then you’ve already sent your blueprints on to someone in Singapore.’
‘Have, I, Mr Wallace? As we said when I was a schoolboy, the fascination of cricket is the many ways a ball can be bowled.’
Wallace smiled. ‘You live up to your reputation, pal.’
‘That’s comforting.’ Again Porter kissed Nancy’s neck. ‘The wear and tear are debilitating, of course, so I want to retire while I’m still young enough to have some fun.’
‘Any other conditions, Mr Porter?’
‘Just one. A minor point to safeguard your interest as well as mine. The representative of your company who meets me in Singapore must be someone with whom I’m already acquainted.’
‘Smart. That will prevent an impostor from horning into the
act.’
‘My former employers have been known to play such dirty tricks,’ Porter said. ‘And we’ll also need to be wary of people from other companies that have shown a lively interest in the merchandise.’
‘I’ll get back to you right here in forty-eight hours,’ Mr Wallace said, and signalled the waitress for the bill. ‘Boy, I’ve got to hand it to you. When it comes to guts, you’ve got them. You’re taking on the whole damn world single-handed, but it doesn’t throw you.’
Porter rose, held Nancy’s chair for her and put both arms around her when she stood. ‘It was John Dryden, I seem to recall, who said that none but the brave deserve the fair. My reward is worth whatever risks I may be taking.’
A heavy fog rolled in from the Pacific soon after dark, blanketing the shipyard harbour and complicating the task of the Corporation lookouts stationed at strategic places in the area. They solved the problem, at least in part, by putting up highway detour signs on the coastal roads and halting all traffic, both motorized and pedestrian.
The foul weather made it possible for the fishing boats and pleasure craft in the harbour to begin their operation earlier than they had originally planned. Using infra-red searchlights that enabled their crews to see without being seen, they made their way across the water to the
Neptune, where supplies, gear, and a number of highly sensitive instruments were taken on board.
At 21.00 p.m. Franklin and Marie Richards bade good night to a group of dinner guests, and soon thereafter, still wearing evening clothes, they strolled to a car parked near the rear gate of their estate. By midnight they were on board the Neptune.
Corporation representatives took further advantage of the fog by rounding up some of the scientists and technical experts who were in the area, and they, too, reached the ship by 2.00 a.m. This fortuitous circumstance would make it necessary to fly no more than about thirty of the passengers to the Neptune after she passed out of sight of land.
The last to board were members of a Corporation security detachment, led by Adrienne Howard. Their launch glided up to the ship at 4.49 a.m., and as soon as they had climbed the ladder Captain Humphries gave the order to weigh anchor.