'The other technical consideration is that of fall-out. This in my hand is a very clean bullet indeed, to a revolutionary degree, in fact. We'll be taking all precautions today, of course, but you can rest assured that residual radioactivity is negligible. If it weren't for the heat factor, which I'll go into in a minute, ground cleared by the NHW-17 could be occupied virtually at once. There are special circumstances, however, in which the use of an altogether different type of bullet will be advantageous. For obvious reasons we shan't be firing this type today, here in the middle of the English countryside. But consider the case of an enemy center of population within reach of airborne approach. You can see the implications there.'
At this point, Hunter heard Leonard calling his name from where he had left him. He turned at once and hurried to the car.
'Blacksmith,' said Leonard.
'Have they passed the message yet?'
'I'll tell them to now.'
Leonard said into his hand-microphone, 'Hullo, Control. Pass your message. Over.'
'Hullo, Padlock,' said a voice Hunter recognized as that of one of the regular Command Post operators. 'Message begins. Bad news. I say again, bad news. Message ends. Over.'
'Thank you, Control. Message received and understood. Out.'
Beyond the frying noise from the loudspeaker Hunter could hear O'Neill going on with his briefing, but too far off for words to be distinguishable. Then the clatter of a helicopter passing above the firing-point cut out all other sound. Hunter and Leonard looked away from each other as they waited for it to recede. It had become a faint murmur before either spoke.
'What a terrible thing,' said Leonard at last. 'That poor girl. And James not able to be with her.'
'I know. It's an unpleasant situation.'
'Of course, there is a lot they can do these days. You've got quite a good chance if you catch it early on like this.'
'Yes, there is that.'
'When are you going to tell him?'
'I'll wait till I see a moment.'
'I don't envy you, Max, having to do that. What on earth is there to say in this sort of situation? One feels so helpless.'
'One does indeed.'
'Hullo, Padlock,' came from the loudspeaker. 'Charlie here. Over.'
'Padlock listening. Over.'
'Optimus now inside cordon, still proceeding roughly northwest. He'll be out of sight in a minute or two. Any further instructions? Over.'
'No, that's fine. Keep him under observation as long as you can. Report his position when you finally lose contact. You can give your men a breather now. You've all done extremely well. Over.'
'Roger. Thank you, sir. Out.'
'Hullo, Fox. Hullo, Fox. Have you understood Charlie's information? Over.'
'Hullo, Padlock. Yes, Charlie's information received and understood. Over.'
'Very good. Keep strict watch for approach of Optimus and report as soon as sighted. Over.'
'Roger. Out.'
During this, Hunter had been leaning against the doorpost of the vehicle drinking from his water- container, which did not contain only water. He picked out Churchill from the group of S1 officers sitting in a semicircle on the grass by the bunker, and stared at the back of his neck for some time. Then he settled down in a comfortable hollow in the ground a few yards away and took a paperback novel from his haversack. He had difficulty in finding his place in this and in remembering the main trend of the plot. Finally he started again at the beginning, but after a few minutes put the book aside and picked up his water-container. He sat in the hollow slowly drinking this down and smoking while O'Neill talked on and Leonard kept quiet in his car.
Eventually the briefing ended and Isaacs went through some weapon drill with one of the rifles. Hunter took some of this in, but soon began to feel drowsy. He had not time to fall asleep, however, when the group at the bunker began to break up. He got to his feet.
Churchill saw him at once and the two hurried towards each other.
'It's come, has it?'
'Yes,' said Hunter. 'Bad news.'
Churchill's mouth opened a little and closed again. 'I see.'
'Would you like a drink?'
'Yes.'
He took the container from Hunter and drank what was there.
'Thanks.'
'What are you going to do now?'
