“Give, man, give,” Davy said.
“All right. Just before dawn a United States Navy crew took possession of a newly commissioned, fully armed, fleet ballistic missile nuclear submarine and took her out to sea right under the noses of the enemy.”
“Good God!” Hewlitt said. “How did they ever do it?”
“We’ve been working on it for weeks — longer, in fact. There’s a remote chance that they might still mount a successful attack against her — she’s still pretty close in — but I doubt it very much. That’s about the size of it. She’s the newest and best that we’ve got and she’s under the direct control of the First Team; in fact one member is on board her right now.”
“What’s going to happen?” Melanie asked.
Percival went back to his drink. “Nothing for the immediate present; the submarine just escaped this morning. In two or three weeks a lot could happen. Remember: a missile-firing submarine, one that packs as many warheads as this one does, is principally a deterrent.”
“Do it or else,” Davy said.
Percival nodded at him. “That’s about it. In case you girls didn’t know, one modern FBM like this one packs more firepower inside her hull than has been released in all of the wars in the world’s history. That includes World War II and the two nuclear explosions in Japan.”
“One thing,” Mary interjected. “This opens the bag as far as our organization is concerned. They know now that we exist and that we have a considerable capability.”
“They do,” Percival agreed. “You can count on one thing: they’re going to throw everything they have into finding and destroying that submarine, because she’s our big gun now.”
Nancy, who had remained silent up to that point, spoke in her slightly reedy voice. “But she can’t stay at sea forever; she’ll have to put in to port for food and supplies. So if anything’s going to happen, it can’t wait too long.”
Percival agreed with her. “That’s true.”
“In other words,” Hewlitt said, “it could all be over in another ninety days — one way or the other.”
Percival handed his empty glass to Davy. “Yes, the chips are going to be down from here on in. It may get pretty rough, but we’re prepared for that, too.”
It was after twelve before Hewlitt turned in. There had been much discussion until they had stopped to hear the eleven o’clock news. Not a word was said about the submarine or anything else that could be associated with it. Hewlitt was used to that — he had heard many newscasts which took no notice of the major story of the day because it had not been made public and perhaps never would be. The tight control of all the news media was one of the things he resented most about the enemy occupation; withholding classified information was one thing, but total news management was another. When the news was over the girls went upstairs, Davy left on an errand of his own, and Hewlitt found himself alone with Percival.
“When this is all over, I’d like to know who you really are,” he said. “That is, if you’ll be able to tell me.”
“I think so,” Percival said. “I won’t break the cell system now for reasons that you fully understand; part of your own protection comes from the fact that we know that we’re playing for keeps and we don’t take any chances that we can possibly avoid.”
“I fully understand that.”
“Good, because there’s something I want to discuss with you. Would you like to get a little closer to the First Team in this operation?”
“I’d like that very much.”
“At an increased risk?”
“That’s part of the game, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Percival agreed, “it is. There’s another thing: after what we’ve just done to them, they’re going to try twice as hard to ferret us out now. There’s a man named Rostovitch…”
“I know,” Hewlitt interrupted without thinking, “I’ve heard about him. He’s supposed to be a very hard case.”
“He is, and I have that directly from a man who faced him once. He won’t show any mercy of any kind; if he gets you that’s it and we won’t be able to help you — at least you won’t be able to count on it.”
“What are my orders?” Hewlitt asked.
“For the moment — none. We’re going to play this a little differently; you’ll know in time what to do. Settle for that. Are you still willing?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good, I’ll pass your decision on up. At least one member of the First Team knows all about you; he’ll be handling this personally.” “I hope I’m to meet him.”
“Very possibly you will.”
“By the way,” Hewlitt said, “who is Amy Thornbush?”
“I don’t know — why?”
“The first time I met Zalinsky he said to me, ‘You know Amy Thornbush.’ It was a statement not a question. I don’t know any Amy Thornbush and I wondered if you did.”
Percival took out a small notebook and a pen. “I’ll look into that; there isn’t any Percival either, if you follow me.”
“I do, and I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You have a good memory.”
“I’ve had some training — self-administered.”
“That could come in very handy. From now on your conduct, particularly as regards this house, is to remain unchanged, but you are out of the White House cell; you’ll report directly to me and not to anyone else — all right?”
“Yes, of course. Do you mean by that that I’m not to confide in Frank anymore?”
“Not at alclass="underline" in fact if you need to see me in a hurry he has certain contacts that can help you. But you’re going to play a new role and I don’t want you to be going through intermediaries. If all goes well, you may be in at the most interesting part.”
“I’d like that.”
“Good. Go to bed.”
Hewlitt did not know when Percival left the house, and he did not concern himself with it. He went up to the small room that he used for his overnight visits, undressed, washed his face and hands in one of the two available bathrooms, and turned in. The bed was not as comfortable as it might have been, but as it had before, it would do.
He had no recollection of anything before he went to sleep. The next thing that he knew was that he was being vigorously shaken and that a flashlight was burning in the room. Then he heard
Davy’s voice cutting through to his sleep-charged brain. “Hew, hurry! Into Barbara’s room — now. We’re being raided!”
As he came to, Davy literally yanked him to his feet and pushed him into the corridor. Barbara’s room was opposite; without ceremony Davy opened the door and shoved him inside. Hewlitt turned quickly to ask a fast question but he had no chance; the tall Negro was whipping the sheets off his bed and destroying the signs of recent occupancy.
“Hew, hurry!” He heard Barbara’s voice come out of the semidarkness, then he saw her sitting up in the double bed. With a quick sweep of her arm she gestured. When he stayed at the safe house he slept in his shorts; he had them on now and nothing else. Barbara apparently wore nothing at all; he had a stabbing glance toward her and saw a magnificent pair of breasts, then her urgent voice caught him once more. “Strip,” she urged. “Get into bed, fast!” He had been in bed with women before, but for a fraction of a moment he hesitated. He was fully awake now, but this was not just a girl — this was Barbara which made things different. Then he heard a sound from her, it was not a spoken word but an almost animal gasp of desperation. After that it took him only four seconds to get out^of his shorts, fling them into a chair, and run the three or four steps to the side of her bed. As he did so he heard sudden noises downstairs, sounds of abrupt forceful entry.
He had been slow to waken, it had cost several seconds, but he made up for it now. As Barbara held the covers up for him he sprang into her bed. “Hold me,” she commanded. He put his arms around her and pressed her naked body to his own. He did not have time to react to the feel of her; within seconds the corridor outside was suddenly full of men.