02 The Miko by Eric van Lustbader

Author:Eric van Lustbader
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Adventure, Thriller, General Fiction
ISBN: 9780345484857
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 1978-01-01T17:00:00+00:00

MINCK SAW THE CONCERN on Tanya's face as she returned from putting Linnear back on his flight east. She had heard and seen everything, secreted behind the panel of the mirror that was, in the adjoining room, a rectangle of one-way glass.

"Carroll, I don't understand what you're doing," she said. "You've as good as killed him, sending him against Protorov like that. That wasn't the plan... unless I missed something."

Minck was not in a good mood, despite his success with Nicholas. "Come with me," he said brusquely. He led her through to the opposite end of the rambling house. Here, in an area that was restricted even to some of his own staff, Minck took her through several windowless laboratories and into a steel-walled cubicle. It was very cold in there.

He flipped on the fluorescent overhead light. Tanya squinted in the harsh purple-blue illumination. Still, she saw the draped corpse immediately. It would have been hard to miss since its bulk dominated the small room.

Carefully she strode over to the head and pulled back the white muslin cloth. "Oh, God," she whispered. "It's Tanker." That was not his real name. She turned to Minck. "When did he come in?"

"While you were out."

She came away from the blued body. "I wondered why you created that 'signature.' Anyone with a knowledge of how it all works would have known that in signals only code names are used, not real ones."

'Then let's be thankful that that's one area in which our Mr. Linnear is ignorant," he said acidly. "Because of this beauteous package dropped on our doorstep in Honshu I now have to deal with our brother services who were obliged to transfer Tanker here."

They stood in the dim hallway with the door closed at their backs. "We now know that Croesus is Protorov's code name, however."

"Tanker was the only one close," she said.

"Obviously he got too close." Minck closed his eyes. "Now, like it or not, we must make do with Mr. Linnear."

"Do you think that's wise?"

"That remains to be seen. But wise or not, our time has run out. I'm afraid that were we not to send Mr. Linnear into the lion's den, the lion would eat us all for supper."

"He may still do that."

For a time Minck was silent. "I take it, then, that you disapprove of my improvisation."

Tanya knew that she was on thin ice here and she thought her words out carefully.

"I think he's an amateur. Amateurs have proven in the past to be highly unreliable as well as disconcertingly unpredictable. They're not under discipline."

"Uhm. True enough. But that's also one of his great advantages. Protorov cannot connect him with us as he did Tanker or as he would you."

Minck had the manner of a country yokel, sitting on his back porch of a Sunday, sleepily passing the time with a neighbor. It was as if nothing of moment was in the air.

"And after all, he's quite frightening, you know." He seemed to be musing. "Up close like that I believe he'd frighten the devil himself.

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