Maria looked down at the sobbing girl. 'I want to be back with you too, darling, just as quickly as I can,' she told her, then became more realistic as she added, 'If… just if, something should happen that it takes more than a few days. I'll try to send you a cable. But, please, remember, darling, that it may be impossible for me.'
'It will! I know it will!' Sandra became frantically depressed and tried to hold on to Maria, as if she could prevent her from leaving. 'It's all over! Our wonderful, beautiful vacation we planned for so long! It's over, Maria! I know it is! They'll probably send you halfway around the world to Vietnam or Japan or Hong Kong or… ”
With deliberate but slow and painless force, Maria pushed the younger girl's arms away, then grasped her by the shoulders. 'Look, darling!' she said sternly. 'I have absolutely no choice! If it wasn't for the job… and the people I know as a result of my job, we would never have had even these three idyllic days in such a beautiful spot… alone together!'
Sandra's body relaxed and she began to shake her head in resignation, recalling the flight schedule from Nice-Cannes to Paris that she had studied so often. 'Maria! The next plane for Paris isn't until this evening. It won't take long to get to the shore, and then the taxi ride to the airport. Let's… let's make love in our tent… the way honeymooners would… on the soft mattress. Please, Maria. We do have time… ”
'While the man from the telegraph office is still here?' Maria queried her companion with amusement, nodding to the man who had walked a very discreet distance away from them and was looking out at the sea. 'I'll give him an acknowledgement to send back to Washington, darling. And you run up and bring my purse down to pay him.'
'And then?' Sandra asked, hopefully.
“Yes, darling,' Maria said, throwing her a kiss. 'We'll have an hour or more just to ourselves… ”
Chapter 5
In contrast to the slim and anemic Jon Tzerny, whose previously successful career as a top Hungarian official of Communist Integrated Intelligence had been so quickly terminated in assassination by the elusive Don Cabot, Janos Kotak was a short, chubby man with coal black hair and large, bushy eyebrows. He was determined that he would never make the same mistake as his unfortunate predecessor.
And as Kotak sat quietly in his new office, blowing smoke rings from the combustion of tobacco in his extra long filtered Russian cigarette, he was musing over some ideas of his own. If Cabot had been in Budapest to seek out Eva Harnecz once, he thought, the intrepid Western agent just might be fool enough to try it again. But this time, it would be Cabot who was the victim, and Janos Kotak would be the hero.
His reverie was interrupted by a tall, slim, prune-faced woman, his secretary, who opened the door to announce that Miss Harnecz had arrived. Although he nodded for her to come in and for his secretary to close the door to his office, her arrival caused a scowl to replace the pleasurable expression on Kotak's craggy face.
He reached into his drawer and drew out a small sheaf of documents after gesturing for Miss Harnecz to be seated. 'Your request to leave the country and go to the West for a vacation is out of the question!' he announced sternly, staring at the beautiful young scientist and shoving the documents toward her. 'I suggest you tear up these request forms and forget you ever spent the time to fill them out. I am responsible for your well-being. I know… we have many agents and friends in France. But I can't let you go to the West.'
A life of worry and constant anxiety had left Kotak with a perpetual expression of concern. He was in every way the complete opposite of the late Jon Tzerny. He sat at his desk facing an angry and Hashing-eyed Eva Harnecz. She had been demanding that she be allowed to take her vacation at the French Riviera. And he knew it would not be easy to convince her that it was out of the question.
'Comrade Kotak, as you know very well, I have earned this rest from my work. The doctors will tell you that I am suffering from strain and nervous exhaustion. It is for the sake of my work that I am requesting this leave, not for my own pleasure!'
Kotak looked at her wearily. Ultimately, the decision was his, but if anything happened to her, whether she was under his immediate protection or out of the country, his life wouldn't be worth a damn. He could see her point, of course. And he had not the, slightest objection to the girl taking her well-earned vacation, providing she stayed in Eastern Europe.
But Eva insisted on traveling all the way to France, of all places. The idea was ridiculous! Utterly impossible! Surely she could see that? He tried again to persuade her of her folly.
'Comrade Harnecz, the man who infiltrated into your office, the man who killed poor Comrade Tzerny, is still alive! He is a cunning and very dangerous man, the most persistent and reckless agent the West has. If I were to permit you to travel to France, no matter how many men I send to guard you, you cannot be as safe as you are here in the East.
'Please. Think of your work and what it means to our cause. Think what would happen to our dreams, to our future, if Western agents should kidnap you! You know very well that there is no one in the world capable of completing your work: you are the most important and the most valuable woman on Earth!
'No!' he concluded, putting all the finality he could muster into his voice. 'No, I must absolutely refuse your request. You cannot leave the East, not at the present time, anyway.'
Eva stamped her foot on the inch-thick carpet and leaned over his desk, eyes blazing. 'Very well, Comrade!' she hissed at him. 'And when my work suffers, when I find that I am unable to complete my radar-proof missile, the RPM, I shall tell everyone that it is your fault! Your fault, for not allowing me to relax and renew my energy for the task ahead of me.
'And I shall tell them why you refused to let me go! Because you were unable to protect me! Because you feared that your Department was too weak to guard one woman against enemy infiltration!'
Kotak swallowed nervously. Naturally, she had the respect and attention of the highest authorities in the country. If she did fail to complete her work and blamed him for it his head would roll as surely as if she had been kidnapped while under his care.
What a bastard of a situation! Kotak couldn't see any way out of the impasse. He licked his thin lips, aware that a long silence had fallen in the room.
Eva's eyes began to glitter triumphantly. She knew that she had him just where she wanted him! For months she had looked forward to her vacation in France. It had been three years since she had set foot outside of the East and she was determined that nothing would stand in her way. In any case, it was absolutely true that she needed a complete change of locale and climate. Lately, her work had slowed down, and she was convinced that it was due to lack of relaxation and sunshine.
'All right,' Kotak said at last. He stared down at his desk blotter. 'You have put me in a position where I can hardly refuse you, Comrade. All right. I shall not stand in your way. But please, I beg of you, take every possible precaution. Speak to no one, man or woman! I shall see to it that you are as well guarded as possible. When do you wish to leave?'
Eva had visibly relaxed. She positively beamed at the worried-looking Kotak. 'I wish to leave on tomorrow's flight!' she announced. 'And I shall be away for approximately three weeks.'
Kotak looked up sharply. 'Tomorrow!' he exclaimed. 'But that means you'll travel via Paris, running an extra risk that someone from Western Intelligence will spot you! Please, reconsider, Comrade. There's no point in running unnecessary… '
Eva shrugged her shoulders. 'What does it matter?' she asked. 'Your big brave men will be on the plane to look after me, won't they?' She picked up her handbag from his desk. 'Perhaps you'll arrange the tickets and send them over to my apartment tonight. It was a statement rather than a question. Kotak nodded helplessly. Why did these brilliant scientists have to be so temperamental, he wondered. In the old days such insubordination to State Security would have been punished by death… at least.
The man watched as the beautiful girl turned her back on him and walked to the door. She dressed simply but attractively; a light grey worsted suit which hugged her exceedingly well-developed figure tightly. What a waste, he thought, what a terrible waste that such a gorgeous creature should only be attracted to members of her own sex!
Once again, he reflected that such a blatant and barely-disguised sexual desire would have been severely punished in the good old days. Nowadays it seemed that you could get away with almost anything.
