refused a drink himself, gestured genially for the Russian to take whatever he wanted.
Hands in pockets, Sun turned away and strolled towards the open doors. Then he halted, stood quite still for a moment, and glanced at his watch, a steel-cased Longines WD pattern which he had had for nearly fifteen years. Its former owner, a captain in the Gloucestershire Regiment, had died under interrogation as bravely as anyone Sun had ever met. The watch was a precious possession, a memento, not a trophy.
Sun called sharply over his shoulder, 'Evgeny. The lights. All of them.'
Ryumin put down the Fix he had just tasted. 'All?'
'All. What can't be concealed should be flaunted. This is the remainder of our little house-party arriving.'
Just below the crest of the hillside above the house, the two men from the islet lay under a stunted fig- tree and saw the terrace and anchorage spring into bright illumination. They watched the slow approach of the motor-boat, and waited without moving or speaking while lines were thrown and secured, laughter and cries of greeting were borne faintly to their ears, and three men came ashore, one of them needing some assistance, the other two springing forward to be embraced by the two women from the house. The servant dealt with some suitcases. The party retired indoors. The boat, its engine popping gently, slid out from the shore and turned west, no doubt preparing to circumnavigate the islet and make for the public anchorage in the middle of the inner curve of Vrakonisi.
On the hillside, one man looked at the other and spread his palms. The two got up and resumed their arduous and ineffective patrol. They had eleven more houses to check on tonight.
In the house, Sun Liang-tan sat and surveyed the three new arrivals. He said nothing.
The black-haired gunman, he who had followed James Bond from Sunningdale to Quarterdeck thirty hours earlier, spoke. 'Bond,' he started to say, but his throat was dry and he had to clear it. 'Bond got away from us in England.'
Sun nodded, perfectly expressionless.
'But steps have been taken to retrieve the error and there is every reason to hope that he will be in our hands within twenty-four hours,' the man said woodenly, as if repeating what he had learnt by heart.
Sun nodded again.
'HNC-16 only takes effect at once when administered intravenously,' put in the second man. 'He was struggling so much that I could only manage an intramuscular injection, which meant he could - '
He stopped with the last word half bitten off at a tiny gesture from Sun, a mere raising of one yellow hand from the wrist.
'He escaped after damaging Doyle's face severely enough to attract attention,' the first man went on as before. 'So Doyle was eliminated on the spot. After that everything proceeded according to plan. The double diversionary tactics at the airport, were successful in - '
Again the hand came up.
'Quantz brilliantly improvised a clue which he left on Doyle's body,' the recital continued, 'and which he estimates cannot fail to lure Bond to Athens in search of his chief. The details are in here,' said the gunman in a hurry, as if to forestall another flick of the hand, and passed Sun a sealed envelope. 'By now Quantz is in Athens himself. We put the flying-boat down off Cape Sounion and he set out for the shore in the rubber dinghy. He will contact our friends in Athens. Should Bond fail to appear after all, Quantz will arrange for the abduction of one of the regular British agents there and will transport him to this island. Quantz estimates that even in that event the operation will succeed in its main object.'
Sun sat on in silence for half a minute, tapping the envelope gently against his knee. Sweat showing on their faces, the two men stood before him in awkward attitudes. Luisa sat on the day-bed and furtively watched Sun; Doni, at her side, looked from one man to the other.
At last the colonel looked up, and the purple lips parted in a smile. Tension relaxed; somebody exhaled sharply.
Turning to the gunman, Sun said, 'Well, De Graaf, you certainly seem to have had the most damnable bad luck. But I must say it looks as if you've done everything in your power to put things right.' Sun was a fair-minded man. Further, that obsession of the Chinese secret services, the splitting-up of every team project into independent units directed from the top, had seen to it that his responsibility started and finished with the Vrakonisi end of the plan. And, although bitterly disappointed at the non-arrival of Bond, he could not consider betraying any such emotion in the presence of Westerners. 'But now you'll want to relax,' he went on. 'Full discussion in the morning. Help yourselves to a drink. Evgeny will prepare a meal to your requests. These girls are called Doni and Luisa. They've been instructed to please you in every way and at any time. Oh, and finally...'
Rising unhurriedly to his feet, Sun went over to the third of the newcomers, who had remained slumped in a chair since entering the room.
'Good evening, Admiral. I am Colonel Sun Liang-tan of the People's Liberation Army. How are you feeling, sir?'
M raised his head. Some of the old sharpness had returned to his grey eyes. He spoke firmly.
'I shan't be answering any of your other questions, you yellow-faced bandit, so I might as well make a start by not answering that one. Save your breath.'
'The main reason for your presence here, Western filth, is not the answering of questions. But answer them you will when the time comes. Rest assured of that.'
Sun's tone was as equable as ever. He continued, 'Now, Lohmann, take your patient away and put him to bed with a shot of something that'll give him a good night's sleep. Evgeny will show you where.'
The doctor, a bald, under-sized man in his forties, did as he was told.
Holding a tumbler half-full of vodka, De Graaf sauntered over to the day-bed. He looked each girl up and down in the manner of a farmer at a cattle-market. Finally he pointed at Luisa.
'The colonel said any time,' he murmured. 'So now.'
