"Wolfhound here, Talisman. Anybody home?"
There was no reply. I tried again; still nothing. It was too early to start worrying, but I started anyway. There were sounds on the road behind me now, the surviving troops, who-tired and happy after their evening's fun-were starting back to their billets in town. Even if my borrowed car hadn't been missed yet, the sight of it would inspire laggard memories. I couldn't stay here.
General Julius had been less than enthusiastic about my presence in Tamboula; my arrival at his headquarters in a stolen Algerian command car would hardly be calculated to soothe him. But even a stuffed shirt of a political appointee would have a hard time shrugging off what I had to show him. I gunned the car around the side of the house, cut across a field of cabbages, mounted the raised highway, and barreled for the city at flank speed.
Chapter Four
I parked the car beside a gleaming Monojag in the well-lighted but deserted ten-car garage under UN headquarters. I pulled off the suit and harness, took the lift to the third floor, walked through deserted offices to General Julius' door, and went in without knocking. He was there, sitting at his desk, square-shouldered and grim-jawed, like a cornered police chief promising the press an arrest at any moment. He didn't move as I came up.
"I'm glad I caught you, General," I said. "Something's happened that you should know about."
He was a long time reacting to my presence-as though he were a long way off. His eyes seemed to focus slowly. His mouth opened, then closed hard.
"Yes?" he snapped. "What do you want?"
"Have you had a report of a missing Bolo-and a command car?"
His dead-black eyes narrowed. I had his attention now. The room seemed very still. "Missing combat units?" Julius said expressionlessly. "Go on."
"An Algerian Mark II wandered off the beaten path. It wound up in a ravine about three miles south of the action."
Julius stared at me. "You observed this?" His fingers squeaked on the desk-top.
"That's right. The car followed the Bolo in. A major was driving it-"
"You imply that this vehicle maneuvered in violation of the Battle Plan?"
"They left the field of action and went south. Let's not play footsie about the Battle Plan. Sure I had a copy. Grow up, General; I'm not a reporter for a family magazine-I'm here on business. Part of my business is to know what's going on."
"My orders to you-"
"Don't ride a busted bluff down in flames, General. How about that Bolo?"
Julius leaned forward. "A ravine, south of the battleground?"
"That's right. There's not much left of it; it blew-"
"How close were you?"
"Close enough."
"And the car?"
"It's downstairs, in your garage."
"You brought it here?"
I let that one ride. Julius cocked his head, as though listening to voices I couldn't hear.
"Where did you find the vehicle?" he asked finally.
"Where the driver left it."
"And you took it?"
"Look, General, I didn't come here to talk about traffic violations. I saw something out there-"
"You deliberately disobeyed me?" Julius' classically chiseled upper lip was writhing back in a snarl; behind his eyes red fires burned. It seemed to be taking all his will power not to bite me. "You entered the battle zone-"
"Forget that. There's some kind of vehicle sitting out there near what's left of the Bolo. The blast probably caught it, but there should be enough to work on. I saw what got out of it. It wasn't human. It killed the driver and the major…" I stopped talking then, belatedly. What I was saying sounded wild, even to me. "Come with me, General," I said. "I'll show you."
Abruptly, he laughed-a harsh, tinny sound.
"I see… it's a joke," he said. He got to his feet. "Just one moment. I have an important call to make." I stared after him as he strode across the room, disappeared into an inner office.
There was a call-screen beside his desk. I went to it, cautiously eased the conference switch to the on position. There was a soft hum, nothing more. A pad lay on top of the cabinet, marks scribbled on it. I half turned away I stood looking down at the paper, my heart starting to thump again under my ribs. The lines on the paper were not mere random jottings; they were letters, words; words in an alien script. I had seen similar pot-hooks less than an hour before-on the paper I had taken from the pocket of the demon.
At that moment, Julius strode back into the room, his face fixed in a smile as authentic as the gold medals on a bottle of vermouth.
"Now, General Bravais," he said in a tone of forced geniality, "why don't you and I sit down and have a quiet drink together…"
I shook my head. It was time for me to stop talking and start thinking-something I hadn't done much of since the four-handed horror had stalked out of the shadows and into my world-picture. I had come here babbling out my story, wanting someone to share the shattering thing I had seen-but my choice of confidants had been as poor as the judgment I had been showing ever since I had left the ravine. I had channeled my panic into an outward semblance of sober reasonable action-but it had been panic nonetheless.
Julius had his office booze cabinet open now; shelves with ice-buckets, tongs, bottles, glasses deployed themselves at the touch of a button.
"What about a Scotch, General?" he suggested. "Bourbon? Rye? Irish?"
"I'd better be on my way, General," I said. I moved toward the door. "Perhaps I got a little too excited. Maybe I was seeing things." My hand was feeling for the dart gun-until I realized, with a pang of unpleasant excitement, that I had left it in the car with the lift-suit…
"Of course, you're probably famished. I'll just order up a bite; I haven't eaten myself."
"No, thanks, General. I'm pretty tired. I'll check in at my hotel and…"
My voice trailed off foolishly. I-and Felix-had gone to considerable trouble to leave the public with the impression that I was tucked safely away in my room. Now I was here, putting Julius on notice that while his watchdogs were curled happily on my doorstep, I had been out on the town-and the super-secret equipment Felix had lent me was lying unattended in the car.
"I have quarters right here in the building, General Bravais," Julius said. "No need to go back to your room. Just make yourself comfortable here…"
I held up a hand, fixed a silly smile in place; it came naturally. I felt as phony as a man who reaches for his wallet after a big dinner and feels nothing but his hipbone.
"I have a couple of appointments this evening," I gushed, "and some papers I want to go over. And I need to get my notes in shape-" I had the door open now. "What about first thing in the morning?"
Julius was coming toward me, with an expression on his face that human features had never been shaped for. A good soldier knows when it's time to run.
I slammed the door on the square, tight-lipped face, sprinted for the lift, then bypassed it, plunged for the stairs. Behind me, there was a heavy crash, the pound of feet. I skidded through the scattered butts on the landing, leaped down five steps at a time. I could hear Julius above, not getting any closer, but not losing any ground, either.