'That we aren't! We're going to London.'
Faith looked at him in surprise. 'But you said—'
'That was for Stocker's benefit. We're going to London because I've got some checking to do. I can leave instructions for Roskill and Butler to reconnoitre the area outside the airfield for suspicious dummy4
bumps and so on–that'll keep them happy.'
He moved over to their rumpled bed and stared down at her.
'And you, young woman, have got a trousseau to buy –and a toothbrush. Then we'll have lunch at Feyzi's and a quiet drive back to the Bull for a reunion dinner. Panin should be nicely on the boil by then!'
But Faith was frowning at him.
'David, I think I'm having a bad effect on you. You're acting out of character–you're sticking your neck out. And they'll chop it off for sure, and I'll have an unemployed husband. Don't you think you ought to stay to meet Panin?'
It was a new experience for Audley to have someone actually worrying about him, a rather confusing experience. He looked at her tenderly. She was without doubt rather flat-chested, and with her hair in confusion and her glasses perched on her shiny nose she no longer looked the sort of girl to drive a man to reckless action.
He smiled affectionately. 'If you are having an effect, it's long overdue, Faith love. For years I've been sitting in my tower thinking what an important person I was just because they treated me politely. But actually I think I was just a sort of cheap computer substitute–as soon as I started giving inconvenient answers they booted me into the first vacant job somewhere else. So just this once I'm going to programme myself, and if they don't like it–well, we'll see if they do like it first. Maybe they'll promote me!'
Before she could reply–he could see she was still unconvinced–he jerked the covers back.
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'Hey!' she cried, scrabbling for the sheets.
'Too late for modesty now, love. And too late for inquests too–I'm like old Sir Jacob Astley before Edgehill.'
'Sir Jacob who?'
''O Lord! Thou knowest how busy I must be this day',' he quoted at her. Damn them all: she was the one who really mattered. ' 'If I forget thee, do not thou forget me'!'
XIV
Jake Shapiro set his beer down carefully on the mat on the faded plush tablecloth, wiped his moustache carefully and grinned a broad, gold-filled smile at Audley.
'Surprise, surprise! I didn't expect to see you again so soon.
Comrade Professor Panin running you ragged?'
'For me not a surprise, but a pleasure, Colonel Shapiro.'
Audley looked curiously round the publican's snug, which was furnished as though time had frozen it in late Edwardian times. The only concessions to modernity, a garish TV set and a glossy telephone, were banished to a dark alcove in one corner.
'Cosy, eh? And the best beer south of the river, take my word for it, David, old friend. Have some with me.'
'I've got a long haul ahead of me, Jake. It's too early for me to go on the beer.'
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'Your loss. But I do understand your predicament. 'Vodka and beer–no fear'. You must keep a clear head for the Professor.'
The word was out, with a vengeance, evidently.
'You know about Panin, then?'
'There's been a lot of talk, certainly,' admitted Jake generously.
'Mystery Man's got a public relations man all of a sudden. I don't know what effect it has on you, but it'd scare the life out of me.'
'That's the point, Jake. What I want to know is—'
Shapiro raised a large hand.
'Me first, David.' He drank deeply, set the glass down carefully again and wiped his moustache once more. 'My turn, after all. The Portland trials of the Nord Aviation AS15–much better than the AS12, I hear. But I'm sure you heard better.'
Jake was presenting his bill, and Audley thought not for the first time that Jake's grapevine must be very good indeed. If the AS12
was the answer to Egypt's Russian missile boats, the AS15 was the answer with knobs on.
'Much better.'
'Range?'
'Five miles.'
'Cost?'
'Since devaluation? Maybe ?2,400 a time.'
'Cheap at the price. But the bastards are still overcharging us. What about that Swedish one?'
'Let the other side buy that.'
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