Where are they?' He tightened his voice deliberately. 'I do not doubt for one moment that your Spetsnaz unit is well able to handle them. But, since this is not your country, that might cause problems, don't you think?'
Zimin relaxed fractionally. 'That problem has been dealt with.'
'Dealt with how?'
Zimin shook his head. 'It need not concern you, Dr Audley.'
The merest ghost of a smile crossed his lips. 'Our problem ...
is our property. And when we have removed that, there will be no problem at all.'
They were back to square one. With all due preparations made, the removal of one small truckload of nerve gas projectiles wouldn't pose any great insuperable problems for the Russians now that they had pulled out all their stops, judging by the smoothness with which this Spetsnaz unit had been activated — even though evacuation might not have been included in its original contingency plans. But that still left all four of them out on a very dangerous limb, thanks to his criminal complacency —
'That's not quite good enough, Colonel.'
'Madam — ?' Zimin had been watching him, so that Mary Franklin's snap caught him unprepared, from the flank.
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'Not — ?'
'Not good enough — no.' She pursed her lips. 'We require more than that.'
'Madam?' Zimin relaxed slightly, and the ghost-smile returned. And then he shook his head. 'You . . . require — ?'
It didn't necessarily mean that he was a chauvinist-pig, thought Audley even as he clutched at her confidence so desperately that he nodded agreement to it: it might simply be that he was married only to his career, and didn't know any better — that he had never seen that expression on a wife's face. Or a daughter's, even — ?
'Colonel Zimin . . . you don't seriously believe that Mr Jaggard would send me here, with Dr Audley, like this — '
The edge-of-contempt was razor sharp. 'And Dr Audley after his meeting with you on Capri, Colonel. And after Berlin, too?'
Zimin stopped relaxing: now he looked as though he was remembering his lessons about pretty faces, belatedly.
'Miss . . . Franklin?' The Colonel was a fast-rememberer. Or a fast learner, maybe?
'We took Major Richardson last night, Colonel.' Only the very slightest emphasis conveyed her contempt for all military ranks. 'So we have been monitoring this area ever since, as a precaution. And . . . notwithstanding what Dr Audley has just told you, we still weren't sure whether it was conventional arms or chemical weapons —also, in spite dummy1
of what Colonel Shapiro warned us of, Colonel —yes?'
That final rank-emphasis was inspired, thought Audley admiringly: what a perfect little liar she was! And —
'But Mr Jaggard insisted that we must take the worst-case view, Colonel Zimin.' She continued before Zimin could get the first word out of his opening mouth. 'And that was after your commanding officer delayed his meeting with him, to this afternoon — do you understand?'
'Madam — ' The last three words had been not so much razor-sharp as laser-sharp, almost standing Zimin to attention ' — madam — ?'
'Yes.' Instinct prodded Audley into support. 'Perhaps you recall the traffic-jam on the bridge at Monmouth, after the lights had been turned off? That was our delay, to get our units in place . . . after we'd spotted a unit which had no right to be on the road — out of where? The Forest of Dean
— ?' He looked to Mary Franklin for confirmation. Then he shrugged at Zimin. 'I forgot to ask. Not that that's important. . . now that they're going back home — eh, Colonel?'
'Thank you, Dr Audley.' In return for his support he received a withering glance. 'Colonel ... the fact of the matter is that you won't get five miles from here now — '
Mary Franklin consulted a tiny watch on her wrist' — if I fail to report in ... at a particular time, within a very few minutes from now . . . and with a very precise form of words. Do you understand now . . . Colonel?'
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God! It was like 'True Grit'! Audley, beyond admiration: she reminded him of himself, long ago — before he'd taken it for granted that he was better than everyone else!
'M—' Zimin caught himself talking down to her just in time.
