Here's Death, twitching my ear: "Live," says he, "for I'm coming."
Nick knew what Virgil meant. Live for the moment at hand, and to hell with tomorrow.
"No dark thoughts," he said gruffly. "Not when I've got such a pretty doll like you with me." He reached for her, and she was available.
Chapter 7
Captain Stryker had never seen the Leader in such a fury. But he couldn't blame him. Two of their men had been found dead this very morning without any marks on their bodies except for puncture marks on the necks.
The last reports had just been received. No one had seen a thing.
They were in Bormann's room, just Bormann and Stryker. The man who had found the bodies had been ordered to keep silent about it, but Bormann knew such a thing was impossible. And his men and the Chinese guards had been questioned. It was futile to hope that the business of the two dead men could be covered up.
Bormann was in a rage, ranting and raving, and Stryker thought the man's face would split open. He knew about the plastic job. He had been in the next room while the operation had been in progress. He was close to Bormann and enjoyed his position. He wasn't as clever as the scientist Walther Kerner, but he was shrewd enough to know that a man of Bormann's genius could carry him far even if it meant always being a subordinate.
It took a while for Bormann to calm down, but even then he was shaking a bit. "There must be some explanation for this madness."
"The puncture marks on the necks," Stryker said. "Could that have caused their deaths?"
"Very likely. Remarkable coincidence otherwise, both men having the same marks. I don't believe Dracula has returned from the dead to inflict this tragedy on us. It had to be the same man who murdered our man Lum Fen. I see the fine hand of AXE at work. A man who enters the enemy camp undetected has to be a rather remarkable man of daring. Yes. Of course. Nick Carter. But how did he do it? How did he get past the guards? And how did he kill the men? A poison? I can't see any agent from AXE using poison."
Stryker scratched the side of his nose. "Perhaps he got through by bribing a guard?"
"A thousand-to-one shot. You think he approached a guard in the middle of the night and tried to bribe him?" Bormann's voice was incredulous. "Make sense, Captain Stryker. Nick Carter, if the man is Carter, is not a fool. No, this was well planned."
"What will I do with the men?"
"Bury them. Or perhaps you want to stuff them?" Bormann appeared exasperated. "I seem to be surrounded by incompetence."
Stryker stiffened but held his tongue. He was a good soldier and proud of it "Yes, sir."
"You questioned the guards personally?" Bormann asked for the fourth time.
"Yes."
"No man left his post?"
Stryker shook his head.
"Question them again," Bormann ordered. "I don't believe in ghosts. A man of flesh and blood did this deed. Keep after those guards. One of them must have left his post. But which one? Keep after all of them. Break them down. The man who left his post must confess."
"But why should he leave his post?" Stryker asked. "Unless he was bribed?"
"Nonsense. There has to be an explanation. And it isn't bribery. No, not bribery with money. You don't plan a mission and then approach a guard with money, hoping he will accept it and take off. That's ridiculous. But a woman can seduce a man away from his post Yes — a woman." Bormann nodded his head slowly. "That makes more sense, doesn't it?"
"Yes, I suppose it does," Captain Stryker said weakly.
"But you don't think so, is that it?" Bormann lifted a bottle of whisky and poured some into a glass. "It isn't hard for a man like Nick Carter to find a woman to help him. Even in Red China."
"Perhaps she was sent with Carter to aid him?" Stryker said.
"Yes. That's possible." Bormann drank a third of his whisky. "Either he brought a woman with him or found one here to help him. That doesn't matter, anyway. The thing that does matter is he's done damage. I can't have our men get into a panic. I need them for the right moment, and that may be very soon."
"The drug is almost perfected?"
"According to Kerner," Bormann said. "Yes, he's sure he's close to perfecting Agent Z. Very close. And then we strike. We strike hard." His voice rose and grated against Stryker's ears. "Germany is waiting for us, Captain Stryker. We cannot fail our nation."
Stryker almost raised his arm in the Nazi salute. He wanted to click his heels. It would be like the old days.
"Agent Z," Bormann said, lowering his voice. He was calm again. "It will be our salvation. You can do anything with Agent Z, depending on the dosage." He saw how eager Stryker was, hungry for more information about Agent Z. Only he and Kerner knew the real potential of Agent Z. He had fed his men bits and pieces to whet their appetite. To them Agent Z was a secret weapon, a great weapon. "I can inject you with Agent Z and you would become my slave," he suddenly boasted.
"I am your slave now," Stryker said humbly.
"But think, Captain Stryker. What if you weren't my slave but a high government official? I find a way of getting you alone and then I use Agent Z. Your mind becomes clouded, open to suggestion. I whisper in your ear, plant seeds of hate in your brain. You think the way I want you to think. Your whole personality changes. You are in a hypnotic spell that lasts forever. You are a different person. You are just what I want you to be. Imagine that, Stryker. Conquering the minds of government officials. You control them. And then you control their nation."
"It's a form of brainwashing, isn't it?"
"Yes," Bormann mused. "You can say that"
"Science has taken over," Stryker said, regretfully. "Atom bombs. Germ warfare. Everything push-button. Rifles and machine guns will soon be obsolete. Soon even soldiers will be obsolete."
"There will always be a need for the trooper, Captain Stryker. Now see about the disposal of the dead men and get after those Chinese guards. Don't be too harsh with the guards. We don't want any incidents to mar our harmonious relationships, do we?"
"I will attend to everything." Stryker bowed stiffly and stalked out.
A good man, Bormann thought, watching the door close behind Captain Stryker. Not exactly brainy but loyal to the cause.
He finished his whisky.
There was too much at stake to allow this elusive enemy to wreck his plans. He was close, very close, to accomplishing the impossible. Yes, the impossible. A Germany with a democratic form of government. Only a miracle could entirely tear it down. But there was a good chance; the recent elections told him that. He needed a miracle, and the miracle was close at hand.
His gloved hand closed over the glass and it shattered. He would shatter Carter the same way. He would find him and kill him.
Did AXE know about Agent Z? But how could they? His men had caught the AXEman before he could leave the palace grounds. The man had died with the secret still within him. Or was he wrong? Had the man managed to get a message through to Washington? It was possible.
Another man had taken his place. Another agent from AXE. Carter. He was convinced it was Carter.
How much did AXE know? He had to find out. He couldn't afford to let Carter roam about at will, wrecking all his plans. He had to silence the man once and for all.
He poured whisky into a fresh glass.
In his mind's eye he saw Carter caught and brought to him. He saw himself torturing the AXE agent. He heard Carter's screams and pleas for a quick death. He laughed and caught himself. That wouldn't do. The others would hear. They would think he was crazy. Well, perhaps he was.
He sat down heavily in a leather-backed chair. It was a miracle he wasn't completely mad. Hiding from the world, afraid of being caught by the police of almost every nation in the world. Hunted and hated.