women.'
Topiltzin laughed. 'Don't tempt me. Acting like the Pope and wearing a bizan-e costume eighteen hours a day is bad enough without practicing celibacy.'
'I endure the same inconvenience.'
'We both have our own cross to bear,' Topiltzin said in a bored tone.
'Do not get careless so close to success.'
'I don't intend to. None of my people would dare disturb my privacy.
Whenever I'm alone, they think I'm communicating with the gods.'
The other man smiled. 'The routine sounds familiar.'
'Shall we get down to business?' said Topiltzin.
'All right, what's the status?'
'The arrangements are sealed. Everyone will be in his place at the right moment. I paid out over ten million pesos in bribes to set up the rendezvous. Once the fools on the take did their job, they were sacrificed, not only to guarantee their silence but also as a warning to those who are waiting to carry out our instructions. '
'My congratulations. You're very thorough.'
'I leave the cleverness to you.'
There was a friendly silence after this remark, which lasted several moments while both men rested on their thoughts. At last the caller smiled craftily and produced a small brandy snifter from beneath a fold of his gown. 'Your health.'
Topiltzin gave a satiric laugh and raised his champagne glass. 'To a successful venture.'
The ethereal visitor paused. 'A successful venture,' he repeated, and then added, 'with no snags.' After an even longer pause he said pensively, 'It will be interesting to see how our efforts alter the fumm.'
The roar of the engines lessened as the uinnarked Beechcraft jet lifted away from Buckley Field outside Denver and rose toward its crusing altitude. The snowcapped rockies fell away behind as the aircraft set its nose across the great plains.
'The President sends his best wishes for a speedy recovery,' said Dale Nichols. 'He was quite angered when briefed on your ordeal '
'Madder than hell is a better description,' Schiller cut in.
'Let's say he wasn't happy,' Nichols continued. 'He asked me to express his apologies for not providing stronger security measures and promised he will do everything within his power to ensure your safety while you remain in the United States.'
'Tell him I'm grateful,' Hala replied, 'and please beg him for me to give every consideration to the families of the men who died saving my life.'
'They'll be well taken care of,' Nichols assured her.
Hala was lying propped in a bed, wearing a white velour sweatsuit striped in jade with a knit polo collar. Her right ankle was in a plaster cast. She looked at Nichols, then toward Julius Schiller and Senator Pitt, who were all seated opposite her bed. 'I'm honored that three such distinguished gentlemen took time from their busy schedules to fly to Colorado and accompany me back to New York.'
'If we can do anything-'
'You've done much more than any foreigner on your soil could expect.'
'You have the lives of a cat,' said Senator Pitt.
Her lips parted in a slight smile. 'I owe two of them to your son. He has a capacity for appearing in the right place when you least expect him.'
'I saw Dirk's old car. It's a miracle you all survived.'
'A truly beautiful machine,' Hala sighed. 'A pity it was destroyed. '
Nichols cleared his throat. 'If we may touch on the subject of your address to the U.N. tomorrow . . .'
'Have your people turned up any solid data leading to the Alexandria missing artifacts?' Hala asked sharply.
Nichols glanced at the Senator and Schiller with the look of a man who suddenly stepped in quicksand. The Senator threw him a rope and gave the reply.
'We haven't had time to launch a massive search,' he said honestly. 'We know little more than we did four days ago.'
Nichols began hesitantly. 'The President . . . he hoped . . .'
'I'll save you time, Mr. Nichols.' Hala's eyes turned to Schiller. 'You may rest easy, Juhus, my speech will include a brief report on the inuninent discovery of the Alexandria Library antiquities.'
'I'm glad to hear you've changed your mind.'
'Considering recent events, I owe your government that much.'
Nichols was visibly relieved. 'Your announcement will give President Hasan a sharp political advantage over Akhmad Yazid, and a golden opportunity to boost Egyptian nationalism over religious fulldamentalism.'
'Don't expect too much,' said the Senator. 'We're only filling cracks on a crumbling fort.'
Schiller's lips parted in a cold smile. 'I'd give a month's salary to see Yazid's face when he realizes he's been had.'
