instance - would or could risk a fraction of what these people have done. But before we go on theorizing, let's have a dose of fact. Ariadne's told us the location of this event. What we need to know now is what it is.'
'All right. This is it.' Ariadne drew her legs up on to the bench and clasped her knees.
'A secret meeting has been arranged between a top Russian official - you're sure to know his name - and representatives of some countries around here and in North Africa. High-up representatives; I heard that Nasser intended to come himself, but in the end he had to appoint a substitute. All the invitees accepted the Russian invitation at last, but a snag happened when they tried to fix on a place to hold the meeting. Russia would have been the obvious one, but two of the delegates got very reactionary and said they wouldn't go there. And then they all started fighting about prestige. So they finally settled on some halfway spot on neutral ground - for some reason Greece wasn't invited. The Turks must have been behind that. Russia should have stopped them.'
Ariadne's momentary but real indignation spoke of the undying nationalism that sits in the heart of every Greek, even the most sophisticated. Litsas responded at once, nodded in sympathy, but Bond failed to notice. His thoughts were racing ahead, outlining the consequences of what Ariadne was saying and fitting this picture into the information he already had. What looked up at him was frightening.
'So,' the girl went on, 'an island seemed just ideal - out of the way, but enough tourists and people around so that a lot of visitors suddenly coming wouldn't be noticeable. Vrakonisi was chosen because at one end of it there's a big house on a kind of rock that you can only get to by water.'
'I know the place you mean,' Litsas put in. 'That was clever of them. It'd be damned difficult to take them by surprise there. And that's what the enemy must want to do.'
Bond's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. 'Let's consider his strategy,' he said.
'Over a glass of ouzo, please, James.' Litsas got up from the table and went over to the ice-box on the port side of the companion-way. 'In Greece you consider nothing unless with some stimulating drink, and it's the wrong time for coffee. We modern Hellenes must help our poor brains with something.'
From a tall wicker-covered flagon he poured three stiff drinks on to chunks of ice and handed them out.
'This stuff is from the barrel - much better than the bottled. Stronger and not so sweet.'
Bond sipped and agreed. It had the bland fieriness he looked for in all short drinks: cool and dry in the mouth, warmly powerful in the belly. He pondered for another few moments. 'The intention,' he said slowly, 'is to break up the conference by violence, killing as many people as possible in the process, and making the whole thing as public as possible. After that, the plan would have been to make it look as if my chief and I had done the job, and put us in no position to say we hadn't. Our bodies would be found with the deadly weapons in our hands. No doubt we'd have papers on us 'proving' we were acting under orders. The whole affair would stink to high heaven of being fixed, of course, and nobody who understands the British would be taken in, but that's a long way from being everybody. Enough people would believe it, or go on as if they believed it, for British influence hereabouts - which is still not negligible - to vanish overnight, British prestige to be ruined everywhere, rioting to break out, burnings, shootings, and worse... Gordienko wasn't fooling when he talked about a risk of war. I think he was making even more sense than he probably knew.'
'One moment, James.' Ariadne leaned forward earnestly. 'I agree with all this, but I still don't see why you're so sure that the Chinese must be responsible. The Americans are quite capable of this sort of thing. Consider their behaviour about Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam; they don't hesitate to- '
Bond started to speak, but Litsas held up a hand. 'Let me reply, James. Listen, young lady. At Pierce College in Athens the Americans educated you, taught you English, explained to you their way of life. Were you such a bad and lazy student that you're forgetting all that? Can you see no difference between fighting aggressive Communists and this caper, killing chaps in the public streets of a friendly and peaceful nation, taking a Security chief from England completely openly? Even the worst men in Washington would not advise that. I beg you, Ariadne, forget your Leninist Institute and start to think!'
'And,' said Bond, 'if they're still telling you there that the United States is world enemy number one they need to catch up on their studies. The Kremlin knows perfectly well that the main threat isn't the West any more, but the East. Surely that's not news to you?'
Ariadne had flushed. She gazed at Bond and said, still with a touch of defiance, 'Maybe. You could be right. I don't know.' Then she turned to Litsas and went on as before: 'But don't tell me about aggressive Communists. That's straight out of the... the Lyndon Johnson Institute!'
Bond chuckled. Litsas roared with laughter and slapped Ariadne on the thigh. The three shared a moment of total understanding and pure uplifting gaiety. It was gone in a flash. Bond sipped ouzo and took up his exposition.
'What really frightens me,' he said quietly, 'is the thought that this thing is so violent, so ruthless, so... so _crazy__, that it might easily not be a one-shot deal, but the first step in something on an even more ambitious scale. Let's consider what might conceivably happen, how bad it could be. Stage one: Britain fatally damaged, Russia's prestige weakened, in this part of the world very seriously weakened - so she couldn't even protect the delegates to a conference she'd convened, couldn't she, and what about the gross infringement of Greek territoriality? The eastern Mediterranean laid open for Chinese penetration. Stage two: the whole Arab world and/or Africa. I'll leave it to you to wonder what Stage three might be.'
Nobody spoke. The _Altair__ moved peacefully and purposefully on its way. Litsas fetched fresh drinks.
'That could be the big plan,' he said, sitting down again. 'But now the details. What might be the Chink plan of attack? Sea or land? Or air, perhaps? A few bombs would make plenty of casualties.'
'Air I rather...' Bond shook his head. 'They'd have to crash the aircraft somewhere near by, and crashes are tricky things to rig. There's the question of getting the pilot away - oh, they wouldn't think twice about his being killed, but he would. If they put the machine down on land they risk burning everything beyond recognition. In the water you're in even greater danger of losing the lot. I suppose you could try a duplication, one aeroplane for the assault and a twin for the crash, but that way you'd more than double your risks. No, for the time being I think we can rule out the air. Now, land. How well do you know the place, Niko?'
Litsas screwed up his face and sighed. 'I'm trying to remember.... That end of the island's pretty wild. Parts of it were never cleared for cultivating. Big blocks of stone and some dense bush. Difficult to move about, but first-class cover. If you knew your business you could hide a platoon in there.'
'In a different way that isn't very promising either,' said Bond. 'You'd need something a good deal heavier than small arms to make any impression on a house. And any sort of artillery would take some installing, if the going's as rough as you say.'
