Part 27 (1/2)

'Entropy,' Bond said.

'Exactly.' Hydt beamed. 'I'd seen a statue of Septimius Severus and I look a bit like him so I took his family name.' He focused on Bond. 'Are you feeling uneasy, Theron? Don't worry. You haven't signed on with Ahab. I'm not mad.'

Bond laughed. 'I wasn't thinking you were. Honestly. I was thinking about the million dollars you mentioned.'

'Of course.' He studied Bond closely. 'Tomorrow the first of a number of projects I'm engaged in will come to fruition. My main partners will be here. You will come too. Then you'll see what we're about.'

'For a million, what do you want me to do?' He frowned. 'Shoot somebody with real bullets?'

Hydt fondled his beard again. He did indeed resemble a Roman emperor. 'You don't need to do anything tomorrow. That project is finished. We'll just be watching the results. And celebrating, I hope. We'll call your million a signature bonus. After that, you'll be very busy.'

Bond forced himself to smile. 'I'm pleased to be included.'

Just then Hydt's mobile rang. He looked at the screen, rose and turned away. Bond guessed there was some difficulty. Hydt didn't get angry but his stillness indicated he wasn't happy. He disconnected. 'I'm sorry. A problem in Paris. Inspectors. Trade unions. It's a Green Way issue, nothing to do with tomorrow's project.'

Bond didn't want to make the man suspicious so he backed off. 'All right. What time do you want me?'

'Ten a.m.'

Recalling the original intercept that GCHQ had decrypted and the clues he'd found up in March about the time the attack would take place, Bond understood he would have about twelve hours to find out what Gehenna was about and stop it.

A figure appeared in the doorway. It was Jessica Barnes. She wore what seemed to be her typical garb a black skirt and modest white s.h.i.+rt. Bond had never liked women to wear excessive make-up but he wondered again why she didn't use even the minimum.

'Jessica, this is Gene Theron,' Hydt said absently. He'd forgotten they'd met last night.

The woman didn't remind him.

Bond took her hand. She returned a timid nod. Then she said to Hydt, 'The ad proofs didn't come in. They won't be here till tomorrow.'

'You can review them then, can't you?'

'Yes, but there's nothing more to do here. I was thinking I'd like to go back to Cape Town.'

'Something's come up. I'll be a few hours, maybe more. You can wait . . .' His eyes strayed to the door behind which Bond had seen the bed.

She hesitated. 'All right.' A sigh.

Bond said, 'I'm going back into town. I can drive you if you like.'

'Really? It's not too much trouble?' Her question, however, was not directed towards Bond but to Hydt.

The man was scrolling through his mobile. He looked up. 'Good of you, Theron. I'll see you tomorrow.'

They shook hands.

'Totsiens.' Bond gave the Afrikaans farewell, which he knew courtesy of the Captain Bheka Jordaan School of Language.

'What time will you be home, Severan?' Jessica asked Hydt.

'When I get there,' he responded absently, punching a number into his phone.

Five minutes later Jessica and Bond were at the front security post, where he again pa.s.sed through the metal detector. But before he was reunited with his gun and mobile, a guard walked up and said, 'What is that, sir? I see something in your pocket.'

The inhaler. How the h.e.l.l had he spotted the slight bulge in the windcheater? 'It's nothing.'

'I'll see it, please.'

'I'm not stealing anything from a junkyard,' he snapped, 'if that's what you're thinking.'

Patiently the man said, 'Our rules are very clear, sir. I'll see it or I have to call Mr Dunne or Mr Hydt.'

Follow your cover to the grave . . .

With a steady hand Bond withdrew the black plastic tube and displayed it. 'It's medicine.'

'Is it now?' The man took the device and examined it closely. The camera lens was recessed but, to Bond, seemed all too obvious. The guard was about to hand it back but then changed his mind. He lifted the hinged cap, exposed the plunger and put his thumb on it.

Bond eyed his Walther, sitting in one of the cubbyholes. It was ten feet away and separated from him by the two other guards, both armed.

The guard pressed the plunger . . . and released a fine mist of denatured alcohol into the air near his face.

Sanu Hirani, of course, had created the toy with typical forethought. The spray mechanism was real, even if the chemical inside was not; the camera was located in the lower part of the base. The smell of the alcohol was strong. The guard wrinkled his nose and his eyes were watering as he handed back the device. 'Thank you, sir. I hope you need not take that medicine often. It seems quite unpleasant.'

Without replying, Bond pocketed the inhaler and received his weapon and phone.

He headed towards the front door, which opened on to the no man's land between the two fences. He was almost outside when an alarm klaxon blared fiercely and lights began to flash.

48.

Bond was a split second away from spinning around, dropping into a combat shooting stance and drawing down on priority targets.

But instinct told him to hold back.

It was a good thing he did. The guards weren't even looking at him. They had gone back to watching the TV.

Bond glanced casually around. The alarm had gone off because Jessica, exempt from security procedures, had come through the metal detector with her handbag and jewellery. A guard casually flicked a switch to reset the unit.

His heartbeat returning to normal, Bond and Jessica continued outside, through the next security post and out into the car park, filled with curled brown leaves blowing in the light wind. Bond opened the pa.s.senger door of the Subaru for her, then got into the driver's seat and started the engine. They drove along the dusty road towards the N7, amid the ever-present Green Way lorries.

For a while Bond said nothing, but then, subtly, he went to work. He started with innocuous questions, easing her into talking to him. Did she like to travel? Which were her favourite restaurants here? What was her job at Green Way?

Then he asked, 'I'm curious how did you two meet?'

'You really want to know?'

'Tell me.'