Gemini Contenders by Robert Ludlum

Author:Robert Ludlum
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
ISBN: 9780586046517
Publisher: Orion
Published: 1976-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

195

only one who knew. . .'

'A lie! That is a lie!' Donatti caught himself, his lips trembling.

Fontine understood. A raw nerve had been exposed. An error

of extraordinary magnitude had been made, and the cardinal could

not bear to face it. 'You know it's the truth,' said Victor quietly.

'Now you know it's the truth and you can't stand it. Why ? Why was

he killed?'

The priest lowered his voice. 'The enemies of Christ deceived

us. The heretics of Xenope fed lies to us.' And once more Donatti

roared abruptly. 'Savarone Fontini-Cristi was the communicator of

those lies I'

'What lies could he tell you? You never believed him when he

told you the truth.'

Again the cardinal trembled. He could barely be heard. 'There

were two freights out of Salonika. Three days apart. The first we

knew nothing about; the second we picked up at Monfalcone,

making sure that Fontini-Cristi would not meet it. We did not know

then that he had already made contact with the first train. And now

you will tell us what we wish to know. What we must know.'

'4 can't give you what I don't have.'

Donatti looked at the priests and said one word. 'Now.' Victor

could never remember the length of time, for there was no tijrne,

only pain. Excruciating, harrowing, stinging, conclusive pain. He

was dragged within the gates of Campo di Fiori and taken into

the forest. There the holy apostolic priests began the torture.

They started with his bare feet; every toe was broken, the ankles

twisted until they cracked. The legs and knees were next'

crushed, inverted, racked. And then the groin and stomach - 0

Godl He wished to die I - And always, above him, blurred in the

vision of tears of pain, was the priest of the Curia with the shock

of white hair.

'Tell us I Tell us I Enemy of Christ!'

His arms were sprung from their sockets. His wrists were

turned inward until the capillaries burst, spreading purple fluid

throughout the skin. There were moments of blessed void, ended

suddenly by hands slapping him back to consciousness.

Tell us I Tell us I'The words became a hundred thousand ham-

mers, echoes within echoes. 'Tell us I Enemy of Christ I'

And a was void again. And through the dark tunnels of feeling,

be sensed the rhythm of waves and air and suspension. A floating

that deep within his brain told him he was near death.

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