Pitt ignored all this. He had one driving desire: to be the first into that chilling pit of hell.
He came upon Lillie still stretched out on his back with Tidi huddled over him, his head cradled in her arms. She was talking to Lillie, saying words Pitt couldn't understand, her voice no more than a weak, hoarse whisper; she seemed to be trying her best to smile, but her lips barely curved in a pitiful grimace and there was little pleasantry in either the voice or the eyes. Pitt walked up behind her and gently touched her wetstreaked hair.
'It seems you two have become rather close friends.'
Tidi twisted around and stared dazedly at the figure standing over her. 'Good Lord, you've come back.'
She reached out and touched his hand. 'I thought I heard an airplane. Oh, God, this is wonderful, you've come back.'
'Yes,' Pitt smiled faintly, then nodded at Lillie.
'How is he?'
'I don't know,' she said wearily. 'I just don't know. He slipped into unconsciousness about half an hour ago.'
Pitt knelt down and listened to Lillie's breathing. it was slow and steady. 'He'll make it. This guy has guts ten miles long. The big question is whether he'll ever walk again.'
Tidi pressed her face against Pitts hand and began to sob, her breath coming in convulsive shudders, the shock, the pain, and the relief washing over her in rolling waves. He held her tightly saying nothing. He was still holding her shivering body and stroking her hair as the would a little girl when Captain HUH approached.
'Take the girl first,' pitt said. 'Her ankles are broken.'
'My men have set up an aid tent above the slopes.
There's a stove warming in it now. She'll be comfortable there until the Icelandic Search and Rescue Team can transport her to Reykjavik.' Hull wiped his eyes tiredly.
'Their cross-country vehicles are homing in on our radio signals now.'
'Can't you airlift her out?'
Hull shook his head. 'Sorry, Major. That old trimotor can only carry eight stretcher cases on one trip.
I'm afraid the first load will have to be the most critically injured. This is one occasion where the ladies will have to go last.' He nodded down at Lillie. 'How bad is this one?'
'Fractured shoulders and pelvis.'
Two of Hull's men appeared carrying an aluminum basket stretcher. 'Take the man first,' he ordered.
'And see that you handle him gently. This one is a back injury.'
The paramedics carefully eased Lillie's inert form into the stretcher and attached the ropes for the ascent to the treacherous ravine. Pitt couldn't help but be impressed and thankful for the efficiency and smoothness of the lifting lines. Just three minutes later Hull had returned for Tidi.
'Okay, Major. I'll take the little lady.'
'Handle her with care, Captain. She happens to be Admiral Sandecker's private secretary.'
Apparently nothing startled Hull for long. The surprise only flickered in his eyes for an instant. 'Well, well,' he boomed. 'In that case, I'll escort the lady myself.'
Hull tenderly picked Tidi up in his massive arms and carried her to a waiting basket. Then true to his word, he climbed along beside her all the way to the top of the slope and saw her comfortably bedded down inside the warm tent before he returned to direct the rescue operation.
Pitt pulled the package from under his arm and moved slowly across the broken bottom of the ravine until he stood over the Russian diplomat. 'Mr. Tamareztov, how are you getting along?'
'A Russian relishes the cold, Major Pitt.' He cupped a small handful of snow that had fallen across his chest. 'Moscow would not be Moscow without a season of snow. To me it is the same as desert sand to an Arab a curse that is part of one's very existence.'
'Are you in pain?'
'An old Bolshevik never admits to pain.'
'A pity,' Pitt said.
'A pity?' Tainareztov repeated. He looked at Pitt suspiciously.
'Yes, I was about to offer you a little something that's guaranteed to relieve discomfort caused by hay fever, headache and indigestion.'
'More Yankee humor, Major?'
Pitt let a slight grin touch his face. 'Yankee sarcasm,' he said.
'The prime reason why we're so often misunderstood by people of other countries. The average American has a sarcastic streak down his back that defies intellicent comprehension.' He sat down next to Tamareztov and produced the bottle of vodka. 'For example, you before you the fruits of my trip to the corner liquor store.'
Tamareztov could only stare incredulously.
A promise made is a promise kept.' pit cradled the injured Russian's head and tilted the bottle to the man's lips. 'Here, drink some of this.'
Tamareztov easily drained a quarter of the bottle before Pitt eased it away. He nodded his head and mumbled his thanks. Then his eyes took on a warm penetrating expression. 'Domestic, true Soviet domestic- How in the world did you manage that?' he asked.
Pitt tucked the bottle in Tamareztov's armpit.,it was on sale,' he said. Then he rose and turned to leave.
'Major Pitt.'
'Yes?'
'Thank You,' Tamareztov said simply.
He was white with snow, lying there vacantly staring at the clouds when Pitt found him. His face, calm and serene, had the expression of a man untouched by pain, a man who was happy and content and at last at peace with himself. A medic was bending over, examining him.
'Heart?' Pitt asked softly, somehow afraid he might wake him.
'Considering his age, that's as safe a bet as any, sir.' The medic turned and motioned to Hull, who was standing but a few feet away.
'Shall we evacuate him, now, Captain?'
'Leave him lay,' Hull said. 'It's our job to save the living. This man is dead. As long as there is a chance to keep any one of these people from joining him, our attention must go to them.'
'You're right, of course,' Pitt said wearily. 'This is your show, Captain. Hull's tone softened. 'You know this man, sir?'
'I wish I had known him better. His name is Sam Kelly.
The name obviously meant nothing to Hull. 'y don't you let us take you topside, Major. You're in a pretty bad way yourself.'.'
Pitt reached over 'No, I'll stay with Sam here and gently closed Kelly's eyes for the final time and lightly brushed the snowflakes from the old wrinkled face. Then he took a cigar he recognized as Sandecker's special brand from the box and slipped it into Kelly's breast pocket.
Hull stood unmoving for nearly a minute, groping for words. He started to say something but thought better of it and instead simply nodded his head in silent understanding. Then he turned and plunged back to work.
Sandecker closed the file and put it down and leaned forward as if he were about to spring. 'If you're asking for my permission, the answer is an unequivocal no!'
'You plac me in an awkward position, Admiral.'
The words came from a man who sat facing Sandecker.
He was short and seemed almost as broad as the chair.
He wore a nondescript black suit with a white shirt decorated by a black silk tie. Unconsciously, every so often, he ran his hand over a bald head as if searching for hair that once might have existed, and he peered through gray eyes that never blinked under Sandecker's blazing stare. 'I had sincerely hoped we would have no disagreement. However, since that is not to be, I must inform you that my presence here is purely an act of courtesy. I already possess the orders for Major Pitts reassignment.'
'By whose authority?' Sandecker asked.
'They were signed by the Secretary of Defense,' the other man replied matter-of-factly.
'You wouldn't mind showing me the orders,' Sandecker said. He was playing his last pawn and he knew it.
