‘I need to give a lot more thought to all that I’ve heard before giving any finite decision,’ I replied unhappily. ‘Yes… a lot of thought.’
‘Good,’ he uttered, as though I had agreed. He removed a buff envelope from an inside pocket of his jacket. ‘This is a microfilm of the plans relating to the new laser gun prototype. They are spurious but you may need to substitute them for the originals.’
He rubbed his moustache with the middle finger of his right hand before passing the envelope to me. Then he clapped his hands twice and the tall bearded Arab reappeared. Menel conveyed an order to him in Arabic after which we found ourselves shepherded out into the street, trying to adjust our eyes to the bright sunlight.
We left the house and started down the narrow street with Menel’s words buzzing in our ears. As we moved out into a wider road, something caused me to turn and I saw the black car coming towards us at speed. It was the same vehicle which had tried to run us down before. I touched Penny’s arm to alert her to the danger and we both began to run towards the crossroads at the end of the road. The black car reached the point at the same time, it’s tyres screeching as it came to a sudden halt. The two front doors opened and a man and a woman slid out of the seats to crouch defensively behind the open doors. I could see that they were both holding revolvers in their hands.
‘Stay exactly where you are!’ commanded the man loudly through a megaphone. ‘Do not attempt to move! We will come to you!’
‘Run!’ urged Penny, giving me a push in the back to start me off.
Before I knew what was happening, my legs were pounding the rough pavement towards an unknown destination. It was obvious our pursuers were not the police… but who were they? I didn’t know and I had no intention of staying to find out. They were the hunters; I was the prey! I couldn’t remember how long I kept running. When I stopped, my body was soaked with perspiration and I could scarcely breathe through exhaustion. I hesitated for a moment to regain my breath, hiding in the shadow of a strange doorway and then closed my eyes. This was becoming a nightmare! But it was real and I was living it therefore I couldn’t afford to rest… not even for a moment… in case they were close behind me. The seconds were too precious to waster… I had to move on! My face felt as though it was on fire, my head throbbed with agonising pain, while the saliva in my mouth tasted strangle like blood. A sense of urgency raced through my tired body at the echoing of footsteps hammering on the rough pavement could be heard only a short distance away. It seemed that whatever direction I took they were bound to find me. I had no idea what had happened to Penny. It was my conviction that she was safe because all the footsteps appeared to be heading towards me.
There were only two of them yet they seemed to be covering every street and alley to prevent me from making my escape.
The footsteps came near but it was difficult to determine their precise location. The only advice I could offer myself was to run like the Devil for as long as possible despite the fact that I had no idea where I was going. As I was about to drag my weary limbs a little further, I heard the faint noise of an approaching motor car. If I could get a lift, I would be able to clear the area before anyone realised that I had gone. The vehicle came into sight some distance away. It was a bright red car racing at a fast rate down the street towards me. I stepped off the kerb waving my arms wildly n an attempt to make the driver stop. There was a loud squeal as he applied the brakes and the car swerved dangerously before coming to a halt. The driver leaned out of the window to hurl a torrent of abuse at me but, before I could get to it, he had restarted the motor and driven off. Dispiritedly, I returned to the comfort of a darkened doorway. They would soon be closing in! I ran down the next street and turned into an alley, leaning against a wall as my lungs heaved painfully in my chest as I gasped for breath. The voices of the hunters sounded very near and I pressed on to find myself confronted by a wall that was some ten feet in height. At the top there were long slivers of glass embedded in cement to deter unwelcome intruders. As the man and woman appeared at the end of the alley behind me, a voice called out my name above me. Penny held a large rock in her hands which she dashed down on the glass slivers, smashing them to pieces, Then she quickly laid a discarded rug over the top and leaned out over the wall extending her arms to help carry me over it. I glanced at the dangerous edges of the nearby slivers and hesitated for a moment.
‘Now!’ she called out imperatively. ‘It must be now!’
Ny fear of the known was less than the fear of the unknown however instinctively I grabbed her arms hoping that her strength was sufficient to get me over. She wedged her feet against the other side of the wall and pulled me up slowly until I could get my leg over the top and scramble over. Then we both ran through a strange house into the next street disappearing as fast as well could away from the area. The left leg of my trousers was torn and my knee was bleeding badly. We stopped for a moment while she used my handkerchief to stem the blood and then continued at a more manageable pace. We had left the hunters behind and had escaped.
But life was never going to be that simple. Less than five minutes later, the black car appeared before us again and once more Penny and I set off in different directions Not knowing the geography of the area, I hurried off in a westerly direction which led me to a line of warehouses at the edge of the docks. It wasn’t long before I discovered that every one of the warehouses was locked. The only protection afforded me were the cranes on the wharf. I chose a derrick with a jib, hoping it would maximise protection but, to my dismay, a gunshot rang out as I began to climb the iron giant. This was followed by further shots which ricocheted off the metalwork. I had no means of escaping from my dilemma this time. In my condition, climbing the derrick was no mean feat but it was only a matter of time before they gunned me down. Then I heard the sound of a motor car approaching the area. My heart sank as I recognised the black car again. However despair rose to elation as it drove menacingly towards the first assailant. The man tried to race to the refuge of the nearest warehouse but his attempt was soon denied. The nearside bumper of the approaching vehicle struck him hard behind his legs and he was mowed down without mercy a long way short of the sanctuary. The car then turned swiftly moving towards the other assailant. He decided not to move, holding the gun in front of him, aiming it directly at the driver of the car. He fired four shots in quick succession which bounced off the bullet-proof windshield of the vehicle and was then struck with such fierce force that his body soared through the air like a missile to disappear into the sea.
The door of the car opened and Penny climbed out. ‘Some people are really stupid, you know,’ she called out coolly as though nothing serious had happened. ‘They left the keys in the ignition when they came after you.’
I was full of suspicion with regard to my secretary. How did she come to find the black car, let alone drive it? Why would the second assailant insist on firing his gun at the windshield when he knew it was bullet-proof. What was Penny’s role in all this debacle? There were so many questions flooding my mind! I climbed down off the derrick trembling like a leaf. I reckoned I had lost a few pounds in weight during the chase, not only from the effect of running but from the fear itself.