Jubilant, she turned the handle and pulled open the heavy door.
The two plugs were still there. She allowed herself a smile of triumph.
There was no time now to dismantle them and sketch the wiring. She would have to take them to the beach. Theo could either copy the wiring or use the actual plug in his own transmitter.
A danger occurred to her. Was it possible someone might notice the absence of the duplicate plugs during the next hour? Colonel Hide had gone to the blockhouse and was unlikely to return before blast-off. She had to take the risk.
There were footsteps outside the office again, and this time someone tried the door.
Elspeth stopped breathing.
A man's voice called: 'Hey, Bill, you in there?' It sounded like Harry Lane. What the hell did he want? The doorknob rattled. Elspeth kept still and silent Harry said: 'Bill doesn't normally keep his door locked, does he?'
Another voice replied: 'I don't know, I guess the head of security is entitled to lock his door if he wants to.'
She heard departing footsteps, then the waning voice of Harry, saying: 'Security, hell, he doesn't want anyone stealing his Scotch.'
She grabbed the plugs from the safe and stuffed them into her purse. Then she closed the safe, spun the dial, and shut the cupboard.
She went to the office door, turned the key, and opened it.
Harry Lane was standing outside.
'Oh!' she said in shock.
He frowned accusingly. 'What were you doing in there?'
'Oh, nothing,' she said feebly, and tried to walk around him.
He grabbed her arm in a firm grasp. 'If it was nothing, why did you lock the door?' He squeezed her until it hurt.
That made her mad, arid she stopped acting' guilty. 'Let go of my arm, you big brainless bear, or I'll scratch your damn eyes out.'
Startled, he let go and stepped back; but he said: 'I still want to know what you were up to in there.'
She was struck by inspiration. 'I had to adjust my garter belt, and the ladies' room was full, so I used Bill's office in his absence. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.'
'Oh.' Harry looked foolish. 'No, I guess he wouldn't.'
Elspeth softened her tone. 'I know we have to be security-conscious, but there was no need to bruise my arm.'
Yeah, sorry.'
She walked past him, breathing hard.
She re-entered her office. Luke was sitting where she had left him, looking grim. 'I'm ready,' she said.
He stood up. 'After you leave here, you'll go straight to the motel,' he said.
He was sounding brisk and practical, but she could see by his face that he was suppressing powerful emotions. She just said: 'Yes.'
'In the morning, you'll drive to Miami and get on a plane out of the United States.'
Yes.!
He nodded, satisfied. Together they went down the steps and out into the warm night Luke walked her to her car. As she opened the door, he said: I'll take your security pass now.'
She opened her purse and suffered a moment of sheer panic. The plugs were right there, on top of a yellow silk make-up bag, glaringly visible. But Luke did not see them. He was looking away, too polite to peek into a lady's purse. She took out her Cape Canaveral security pass and gave it to him, then closed her purse with a snap.
He pocketed the pass and said 'I'll follow you to the gate in the jeep.'
She realized this was goodbye. She found herself unable to speak. She got into her car and slammed the door.
She swallowed her tears and drove off. The lights of Luke's jeep came on and followed her. Passing the launch pad, she saw the gantry inching back on its railroad tracks, ready for take-off. It left the huge white rocket standing alone in the floodlights, looking precarious, as if a careless nudge from a passer-by might topple it. She checked her watch. It was a minute before ten. She had forty-six minutes left She drove out of the base without stopping. The headlights of Luke's jeep diminished in her rearview mirror and finally disappeared as she rounded a bend. 'Goodbye, my love,' she said aloud, and she began to cry.
This time she could not control herself. As she drove down the coast road, she cried unrestrainedly, tears pouring down her face, her chest heaving with anguished sobs. The lights of other cars swept by in blurred streaks. She almost overshot the beach road. When she saw it, she jammed on her brakes and slewed across the highway in the path of the oncoming traffic. A taxicab braked hard and swerved, honking and skidding, and narrowly missed the tail of her BelAir. She bumped onto the uneven sand of the beach track and slowed to a halt, heart pounding. She had almost ruined everything.
She wiped her face on her sleeve and drove on, more slowly, to the beach.
After Elspeth left, Luke stayed at the gate in his jeep, waiting for Billie to arrive. He felt breathless and stunned, as if he had run full-tilt into a wall, and was now lying on the ground trying to recover his senses. Elspeth had admitted everything. He had been sure, for the last twenty-four hours, that she was working for the Soviets, but nonetheless it was shocking to have his beliefs confirmed. Of course there were spies, everyone knew that, and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg had both died in the electric chair for espionage; but reading about such things in the newspapers was nothing. He had been married to a spy for four years. He could hardly take it in.
Billie arrived at ten-fifteen in a taxicab. Luke signed her in with security, then they got in the jeep and headed for the blockhouse. 'Elspeth has gone,' Luke said.
'I think I saw her,' Billie replied. 'Is she in a white BelAir?'
'Yes, that's her.'
'My cab nearly hit her car. She pulled across the road right in front of us. I saw her face in the headlights. We missed her by about an inch.'
Luke frowned. 'Why did she pull in front of you?'
'She was turning off the road;'
'She told me she'd go straight back to the Starlite.'
Billie shook her head. 'No, she was heading for the beach.'
'The beach?'
'She went down one of those little tracks between the dunes.'
'Shit,' said Luke, and he turned the jeep around.
Elspeth drove slowly along the beach, staring at the groups of people who had gathered for the launch. Wherever she saw children or women, her eye moved on quickly. But there were many all-male groups of rocket buffs, standing around their cars in shirtsleeves with binoculars and cameras, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee or beer. She stared hard at their vehicles, looking for a four-year-old Mercury Monterey.
Anthony had told her it was green, but there was not enough light to see colours.
She started at the crowded end of the beach, nearest to the base, but Anthony and Theo were not there, and she guessed they had chosen a more isolated spot. Terrified of missing them, she worked her way gradually south.
At last she saw a tall man in old-fashioned braces leaning against a light-coloured car and looking through binoculars towards the glow of the Cape Canaveral lights. She stopped the car and jumped out 'Anthony!' she said.
He lowered the binoculars and she saw that it was not him. I'm sorry,' she said. She drove on.
She checked her watch. It was ten-thirty. She was almost out of time. She had the plugs, everything was ready: she just had to find two men on a beach.
The cars thinned out until they were a hundred yards or so apart Elspeth picked up speed. She drove close to a car that looked right, but it seemed to be empty. She accelerated again - then the car honked.
She slowed down and looked back. A man had got out of the car and was waving at her. It was Anthony. 'Thank God!' she said. She reversed back to him and leaped out of the car. 'I've got the duplicate plugs,' she said, Theo got out of the other car and opened its trunk. 'Give them to me,' he said. 'Quickly, for God's sake.'
