She went off, filled two mugs with tea, but didn't find any rice cakes. She did find a sharp knife, which she hid in her uniform. She wasn't going to risk a rifle shot and it would be just as great a risk to try to kill him with her rifle butt.
The first man she had killed had thought he was alone. She had been able to catch him off guard. It would be more difficult with this man, who knew he wasn't alone. It took precious seconds to raise a rifle and bring the butt forward. But a short jab with the knife was quick and took half the time. That was the way she had thought it out.
She brought the cups of tea to the long wooden table and put them down. Her companion grumbled and asked for the rice cakes.
"I forgot," she said. "Have your tea. I'll get the cakes."
He lifted the cup of tea and sipped.
She was behind him now. Out came the knife. She didn't bother raising it She shoved it forward, the blade entering the middle of his back.
The cup fell from his hand. Tea ran down the table, soaking into the wood. Savage sounds came from his twisted mouth. He fell forward, the knife still in him. Blood poured from his mouth and mixed with the tea.
She put her arms under his armpits and dragged him to the closet, where he joined his dead comrade.
Lotus went to where Nick was stretched out, took out the pen, and used the antidote.
Nick opened his eyes and Lotus helped him sit up. She gave him her cup of tea and he drank it down gratefully.
"We can't stay here," she said urgently. "Someone may come in."
Nick looked about. "How did I get here?"
"Let us go to the back, where we can talk."
They went to the kitchen, and amid huge pans and pots and cold stoves she told him what had happened.
"So you substituted Store for Agent Z," Nick said admiringly. "Good thinking." Nick looked down at himself. "I need some clothes." He was still in his shorts.
"I have two dead soldiers hidden away. But their uniforms are too small for you."
"Wait a minute." Nick examined some closets and found what was the equivalent of GI fatigues. He put them on, and though they were tight he could move about freely without ripping the seams. Lotus showed him the closet where she had stored the two dead guards. He took their rifles and sidearms.
"We don't have much time," he told Lotus. "It'll be dawn soon. We have to act now."
"What are you going to do?" she asked breathlessly. Hadn't they been through enough? Wasn't it time for some rest? She would think so. And yet this man was arming himself as if he were going to attack a fort or castle. Where did he get his energy? She had never seen anything like it before.
"I'm going to level that laboratory " Nick said. "If I can't blow it up I'll burn it to the ground."
"But how?"
"There's enough inflammable material in that lab to start a holocaust"
"You may be able to do it," she reasoned. "We were supposed to guard the building after we buried you. It was the girl's orders." Her eyes widened. "But they'll be there. Sim Chan and the German. What if you run into them?"
"That's why I'm taking all the hardware. But first I have to knock out the electric-beam system. It's probably centered in the building with the searchlights on its roof."
Lotus shook her head. He was taking too many chances.
They walked to the front door and peered out. Most of the soldiers had gone to their barracks to catch up on their interrupted sleep. A few were milling about, exchanging gossip.
"Wait here till I come for you," Nick whispered to Lotus. He gave her one of the pistols. "If you see anyone coming, just duck. Stay in the back somewhere. Plenty of dark corners back there."
"Don't worry about me."
He walked out, keeping his head down, trying to make himself as small as possible. He had the pistol hidden in his fatigues and carried both rifles in one hand. He made it to the white building without being stopped. Then he was inside, and able to breathe easier. He made his way to the lab, where he found the dead body of Walther Kerner.
"So the thieves are falling out," he muttered.
He looted the medicine cabinets for the chemicals he needed and within five minutes had a fire going. It was the type of fire that could never be put out. It would die out only when there was nothing left to burn. By that time the building would be a smoldering ash.
He was sweating now from the blazing flames.
He started out when he heard footsteps. Coming down the corridor was a thick-set man in a white jacket. He wore eyeglasses that were as thick as the bottoms of milk bottles. He was muttering in German. In his hand was a Luger.
Nick backed off, raising one of the rifles. The other was on the floor. The man stepped into the lab, saw the flames and Nick, and cried out something and aimed his Luger in Nick's direction.
Nick fired, and the bullet caught the man in the left shoulder. The man stood his ground. He fired again.
Nick felt a sharp stab of pain in his left side. He fired twice, and the German dropped the Luger, clutched his belly, and fell forward. The flames were at Nick's back. He didn't bother picking up the second rifle but ran for the corridor. He jumped over the dead German's prone body and raced down the corridor. At the other end, coming toward him, were Chinese guards. He fired his rifle till it was empty. Then he retreated. Back to the lab.
It was a raging inferno.
He picked up the dead German's Luger. He couldn't get the other rifle. The flames had engulfed it.
He had started the fire. He knew what it could do.
To his left was a doorway. That was the doorway Lotus had used when she had first found the lab. He made for it, stopped, turned, and got down on one knee, the Luger steady in his hand.
The guards poured into the lab, halted as the heat of the flames reached them. Then they saw Nick.
Nick made the Luger jump in his hand. The flames were now between him and the guards. He fired the last two bullets through the flames. Then, in an act of defiance, he threw the Luger at the remaining guards. He knew he had killed at least four of them.
He got up quickly and ran, his hand reaching inside his fatigues for the pistol he had taken from one of the guards Lotus had killed.
By some miracle the corridor was empty.
He was in the compound, amid chaos, confusion and screaming Chinese soldiers. Nobody seemed to notice him. One sergeant was trying to bring order out of chaos. He was telling the men to form bucket brigades.
Nick ran to the mess hall and found Lotus, watching the fire with excited eyes. "The roof is caving in," she said, pointing.
Nick watched the roof of the building collapse. He gripped the girl's shoulder. This is the time to make a break. Even if we break the circuit of the electric eye beams we may still get away with it. The guards have too much on their minds to worry about any alarms."
They walked slowly at first, skirting the mob of soldiers, then made a quick dash between two plaster poles. Nobody tried to stop them. They kept running till they were exhausted and then they dropped to the ground. Nick looked back and saw the fire still raging. It was orange and yellow against the hazy sky.
"Now what?" she asked.
"The man with the frozen face," Nick said grimly.
Chapter 13
Bormann was cradling the phone when Captain Stryker knocked urgently on his door. "Come in," he barked. Stryker walked in, his face florid. "Sim Chan is here. She insists on seeing you. I don't like the look of it She has blood in her eye."
"Too early in the morning to be melodramatic," Bormann growled. "Where is she?"
"In your office. I told her to wait there."
"Let me get dressed. Tell her I'll be with her shortly." Bormann watched Stryker leave, then started to dress. He had just received word that the laboratory was no more. Burned to the ground. Stryker would have to know sooner or later. But how would the man react? Would he stick with him or desert?