"Oh, all right. I'll take it," I said condescendingly.
"Gracias," he said. Then, in a harsh whisper, "Viva la revolución!"
The man walked quickly back down the corridor. I stood there with the carafe in my hands, overwhelmed by terrible doubts and confusion. I had to take the device into the room. It was too late to think of the other feelings. The most important thing in the world, in my life, was to carry that carafe into the conference room and put it on the table.
I went to the doorway.
"Hello, Carter," the CIA man there said. "What do you have there?"
"It seems the conference director wants fresh water on the conference table," I said casually. "And I'm the errand boy."
The CIA agent looked at the carafe. A Secret Service man grinned at me, then also took a look at the carafe. They seemed satisfied. The Venezuelan policemen nodded for me to go ahead and take the carafe into the room.
I carried the carafe inside. Another Secret Service man eyed me as I took the almost empty carafe from the table and replaced it with the one I'd carried in.
"What's all this about?" he asked.
I grinned at him. "You wouldn't want the conference members to have to drink stale water, would you?"
He looked at the carafe and at me, then grinned back. "Glad to see they're making constructive use of you AXE people."
"Very funny," I said.
I picked up the old carafe and propped it under my arm, then glanced back at the one I'd just placed at the center of the conference table. And I heard the words echoing in my brain:
The device will be tuned to the proper frequency by remote control after the afternoon session has begun. Within minutes it will have killed everyone within hearing range.
I turned and left the room.
Outside, I stopped beside the security guards. "I wonder what I'm supposed to do with this?" I said to them, feigning impatience.
"There's a service closet just down the corridor," one of the Venezuelans said.
"Maybe you could sweep the floor while you're at it, Carter," the CIA man at the door laughed. "There's probably a broom in the service closet" He grinned widely.
"What is this. The CIA Comedy Hour?" I asked sourly, as if their jokes bothered me. I couldn't have cared less what they said or did, just as long as they didn't suspect that the biggest security break in years had just been pulled off right under their noses.
I carried the old carafe down the corridor to the closet. Aides and officials were beginning to drift back into the conference room. I looked at my watch and found that it was already quarter past one. The stars of the show, the Venezuelan President and the American Vice-President, would be arriving in a few minutes. And before long the afternoon session would be getting underway. And nobody inside the conference room would suspect that the remainder of his life could be measured in minutes.
Everything was going according to plan.
Ten
After I'd disposed of the carafe, I drifted back down to the conference room. I was just in time to see the Venezuelan President and the American Vice-President coming down the corridor together, the Americans hand resting on the Venezuelan's shoulder. They were flanked by Secret Service agents. As I saw them disappear into the conference room, I was overcome by hatred and revulsion.
Inside, photographers were getting some last-minute shots before the conference resumed. It was rumored that some important economic agreements had been reached during the morning session. Undoubtedly they involved financial aid to the Venezuelan regime in return for permission to install American military bases. Without my intervention, this monstrous tyranny would go on forever.
I had just taken up my position across from the still-opened doors when suddenly the chief of the Venezuelan Security Police appeared beside me. This time his face was somber.
"Mr. Carter, one of your NSA agents just reported to me that you spent a few minutes in the conference room."
I felt a prickling sensation at the back of my neck. The pressure rose again in my head, making my temples throb horribly.
"Yes, sir," I said. My mind raced ahead. Maybe they'd checked and found that the conference director hadn't ordered the fresh water. Or a cautious agent might have found the device by just inspecting the carafe. They might already have removed the device from the room.
"Did everything appear normal to you?" he asked.
The tightening in my chest relaxed a little. "Yes. Everything seemed all right."
"Fine. Would you mind coming with me for just a moment? I would like you to look at this revised list of people with security clearance. It will not take long."
I felt it would be all right to deviate from my instructions to this extent. The conference room doors weren't even closed yet. Anyway, I didn't see how I could refuse. When the chief of the Venezuelan Security Police asked you to do something, you did it. I followed him into the security annex not far from the conference room. A Venezuelan policeman was there when we entered, but he walked out immediately, leaving me alone with the man I hated almost as much as the men I was about to destroy.
"This is the list." Just a quick perusal will suffice to…"
The phone on his desk rang. He went to answer it while I studied the list, trying hard to gain control of my emotions.
His face brightened. "Ah, señor Hawk!"
I felt a steel vise closing on my chest.
The Venezuelan's face changed. "What!"
There was little doubt of it. Hawk had somehow gotten loose and was now calling from another part of the palace, not trusting himself to get here in time. He had figured out that I was going to pull something during the noon recess, which was just ending.
"I can't believe it!" the Venezuelan was saying. I reached for the Luger and moved up behind him. "But señor Carter is here with…"
He turned toward me just as I smashed the handle of the Luger down against the side of his head. He fell heavily to the floor and lay there unconscious. The telephone receiver dangled beside the desk. I could hear Hawk's voice from the other end.
"Hello? What happened? Are you there?"
I stepped over the inert body and replaced the receiver in its cradle. I went to the door and looked up and down the corridor. There was no one around. I stepped out into the corridor, closing the door quickly behind me. Hopefully, nobody would go into the security annex for a while.
I walked back to the conference room just as they were closing the doors. In minutes the conference would resume, and the lethal device would be activated. I stood across the corridor, tense and acutely aware of the terrible pressure. It would soon disappear — after the device had done its work. A Secret Service agent emerged from the conference room and nodded to the guards outside. He walked over to me.
"Hello, Carter," he said in a friendly voice.
I nodded.
"Well, they're under way in there. I'll be glad when all this is over."
"Me too," I said.
I wanted him to leave, to let me just stand there and wait it out alone. The signal would come soon, and I would know it was all over. Somebody might stagger out of the room to get help, maybe a security man stationed right at the door. But neither the Venezuelan President nor the American Vice-President would make it — nobody at the table would survive.
"Everything seems quiet," the man said. "A little too quiet for my taste. I have this strange feeling. Do you have it?"
"Not today," I said. "I was really worried when I first got here, though."