After checking with the technicians—no, everything was fine now, they would call him if there were any problems—he went to his cabin for his jacket, and then to the airtight doorway that led to the passenger section.
“Fine flight, sir,” the master-at-arms said, saluting. He was an old soldier, a sergeant, obviously transferred from the Army with all his stripes and decorations. He looked at his television screen that showed the empty corridor beyond, then pressed the button that opened the door. There were airtight doors throughout the Holger Danske, but this was the only one that could not be opened from either side. Arni nodded and went through, and found General Gev waiting for him around the first bend.
“I was hoping you would come out,” Gev said. “If not I would put a call in for you.”
“Good evening, Avri.”
“Would you come to my cabin? I have some Scotch whisky I want you to try.”
“I’m not much of a drinker ,…”
“Come anyway. Mr. Sakana gave it to me.”
Arnie stared at him, trying to read something from those impassive, tanned features. They had been talking in English. There was no one named Mr. Sakana. It was a Hebrew word meaning “danger.”
“Well—if you insist.”
Gev led the way, showing Amie in then locking the door behind him.
“What is wrong?” Arnie asked.
“In a moment. Hospitality first. Sit down, please, take that chair.”
Like all of the cabins, this one was luxurious. The port, with the metal cover now automatically swung back after passing through the Van Allen belt, opened onto the stars of space. A hand-made Rya rug was on the floor. The walls were paneled with teak and decorated with Sikker Hansen prints. The furniture was Scandinavian modern.
“And color television in every cabin,” Gev said, pointing to the large screen where cannon fired silently in a battle scene from the new film From Atlanta to the Sea. He took a bottle from the bar.
“It is practical,” Arnie said. “As well as furnishing entertainment from taped programs. It is part of the telephone system as well. Did you get me here to talk about interior decorating?”
“Not really. Here, try this. Glen Grant, pure malt, unblended, twelve years old. I developed a taste for it while I served with the British. There is something wrong aboard this ship. Lehayim.”
“What do you mean?” Arnie held his drink, puzzled.
“Just taste it. A thousand percent better than that filthy slivovitz you used to serve. I mean just that. Wrong. There are at least two men among the Eastern delegation whom I recognized. They are thugs, known agents, criminals.”
“You are sure?”
“Of course. Have you forgotten that I am charged with internal security? I read all the Interpol reports.”
“What could they be doing here?” Abstracted, he took too big a drink and started coughing.
“Sip it Like mother’s milk. I don’t know what they are doing here, but I can readily guess. They are after the Daleth drive.”
“That is impossible!”
“Is it?” Gev managed to look cynically amused and depressed at the same time. “Might I ask you what kind of security precautions have been taken?” Arnie was silent, and Gev laughed.
“So don’t tell me. I don’t blame you for being suspicious. But I do not make a very good army of one, and the only other Israeli aboard is that round-shouldered shlub of a biologist. A genius he is supposed to be, a fighting man he is not.”
“You were not this friendly the last time we talked.”
“With good reason, as you well know. But times have changed and Israel is making the best of what she has. We don’t have your Daleth drive—though at least it has a good Hebrew name—but the Danes are being far more accommodating than we ever expected. They admit that a lot of the Daleth theory was developed in Israel, therefore are giving us first priority in scientific and commercial exploitation. We are even going to have our own base on the Moon. Right now there is nothing to really complain about. We still want the Daleth drive, but at the moment we don’t intend to shoot anyone for it. I want to talk to Captain Hansen.”
Arnie chewed his lip, concentrating, then finished the rest of the whisky without even realizing it. “Stay here/’ he finally said. “I will tell him what you have seen. He will call you.”
“Don’t be too long, Arnie,” Gev said quietly. He was very serious.
Nils had made a short speech at the banquet, then retreated to the bridge pleading the charge of duty. He was sitting with one leg over the arm of his chair, looking .at the stars. He spun about when Arnie told him what Gev had said.
“Impossible!”
“Perhaps. But I believe him.”
“Could it be a trick of his own? To get to the bridge?”
“I don’t know. I doubt it. He is a man of honor—and I believe him.”
“I hope that you are right—and that he is wrong. But I can’t just ignore his charges. I’ll get him up, but the master-at-arms will be standing behind him all the time.” He turned to the phone.
General Gev came at once. The sergeant walked two paces behind him with his drawn automatic pistol in his hand. He held it at his waist, where it could not be grabbed, and he looked ready to use it.
“Could I see your passenger list?” Gev asked, then went through it carefully.
“This one and this one,” he said, underscoring their names. “They have different aliases in the files, but they are the same men. One is wanted for sabotage, the other is suspected in a bombing plot. Very nasty types.”
“It is hard to believe,” Nils said. “They are the accredited representatives of these countries…”
“Who do exactly whatever Mother Russia asks them to. Please don’t be naive, Captain Hansen. A satellite means just that. Bought and paid for and ready to dance when someone else whistles the tune.”
The telephone burred at Nils’s elbow and he switched it on automatically.
A man’s frightened face appeared on the screen, bright blood running down his face.
“Help!” he screamed.
Then there was a loud noise and the screen went blank.
23
“What compartment was that?” Nils shouted, reaching for the dial on the phone. “Did anyone recognize that man?”
Gev reached out and stopped him as he was about to diaclass="underline" the sergeant raised his gun and centered it on Gev’s back.
“Wait,” Gev said. “Think. There is trouble, you know that much. That is enough for the moment. Alert your defenses first—if you have any. Then find out what area is threatened. I saw airtight doors throughout the ship. Can they be closed from here?”
“Yes…”
“Then close them. Slow down whatever is happening.”
Nils hesitated an instant. “It’s a good idea, sir,” the sergeant said. Nils nodded.
“Close all interior bulkhead doorways,” he ordered. The instrumentation officer threw back a protective plastic cover and flipped a row of switches.
“Those doors can be opened on the spot,” the sergeant said.
“The local controls can be overridden in an emergency,” the instrumentation officer said.
“This is an emergency,” Nils told him. “Do it.”
Gev went to the wall by the door, out of their way. The sergeant lowered his gun.
“I did not mean to interfere with your command, Captain,” Gev said. “It is just that I have a certain experience in these things.”