give. But he was conscious all the while that there were only four days left before Skyprobe IV would be forced to ditch. Shaw went through that meal with mounting impatience, and, though the food was as good as Ingrid had promised, no particular appetite.
At last, during the coffee, she said suddenly, “Now there will not be long to wait, Smith. Catch the waiter’s eye and when he approaches, leave the cubicle to speak to him… so that you do not embarrass me, y6u understand? You will say to him that you would like a room so that the lady, who is feeling unwell, can he down. He will understand perfectly.”
There was a glint of sheer wicked delight in her eyes. Once again Shaw felt the blood thrust urgently through his veins.
SEVENTEEN
A young Chinese girl met them outside the door of the restaurant, bowed, and turned away with an indication that they should follow. She led them up another flight of stairs and opened the door of a room leading off the second landing. Here she left them alone. The room was small, furnished in Western style and thickly carpeted, with a soft, wide divan bed and a table beside it, and on this table a gold-shaded bedside lamp. Apart from a chair, there was no other furniture in the room.
Ingrid Lange turned to Shaw and put her arms around his neck. She drew his face down towards her own and kissed him on the lips; her own were soft, yielding, warm… and delightful. After a moment she drew away a little and whispered into his ear, “Poor Smith… you are such a conscientious man! It is talk you want now — not love. Am I right, Smith?” Her eyes were mischievous.
“For now, yes,” he told her. “I’m still human somewhere underneath, though.”
She gave a soft laugh, a laugh full of understanding. “I know that, Smith. However, we will now only talk, as you wish. I have things of importance to tell you, and this was the safest way.” She added, “Also, we must continue to be safe, no?”
“Meaning?”
She whispered, “We must behave as we are expected to behave. I would not trust Mi Ling too far, Smith. Many important persons come here because it is discreet, but it seems to me that Mi Ling could add a good deal to his fortune by eavesdropping on conversations in these rooms.”
“Bugs?”
“Exactly,” she answered. “And it would not do, to look for them and inhibit them.”
“Right,” he said. “I’m all in favour of cover!”
They lay close together on the divan, with his arms around her. Her head nestled in the crook of his elbow, her mouth close to his ear. She spoke softly, almost without moving her lips, so that her words were like a breath caressing his ear. She said, “I shall not tell you the whole story of how I have come by certain informations. I prefer always to keep my contacts and my sources private, for reasons which must be obvious to you, and please, I shall not expect you to press me on this, Smith.”
“What’s the information?” he asked impatiently.
“First,” she said, “you told me in London what your job is… and naturally I have read in the papers that there is trouble in the spacecraft that is orbiting the earth, and that an important British-born scientist is aboard this spacecraft. So, you see, I put two and two together. You understand? I recalled your visit to me, and I told myself, Smith, that the officially released story about this Skyprobe IV is not entirely the real and truthful one. Do you follow this?”
“I follow,” he whispered.
“Good.” She moved slightly on the divan, settling herself more comfortably. Shaw felt the movement of her body against his own. She went on, “I have heard something else, something that made me come all the way on from Bangkok to Hong Kong… for certain reasons.”
He said, “Just a moment. How did you know I was on my way here, anyhow?”
She told him, “Very soon after your visit I had flown to Bangkok on my own business, since Fetters’s death had interrupted what I had gone to London to do. In Bangkok I heard the news of which I have just spoken, and it indicated to me quite strongly that you would also know of it, and would come to Hong Kong because of it. So, you see, I also came! It was the sheerest chance, I confess, that I happened to travel on the same flight as you from Bangkok. Now, will that be enough of explanation, Smith?”
He said, “It’ll do for now, unless you care to tell me if you came on here principally to take another look at my manly beauty!”
“No, Smith, not quite that,” she answered with a low laugh.
“You disappoint me. What’s the information, then?”
She said, “In London you asked me about Rudolf Rencke.”
“I certainly did. Well?”
“He is here in Hong Kong, Smith. Did you not know?”
He sat up with a jerk. “Rencke — in Hong Kong! I’ll bet any money this is the last place he’ll turn up! He wouldn’t be thrusting his face into a British possession just at this particular moment of history, believe you me!”
She said, “I believe you are mistaken. I was told positively that he had passed through Bangkok for Hong Kong.”
He shook his head. “Whoever told you that had his wires crossed, Ingrid. How sure are you that he was in Bangkok, anyway?”
“Very sure, Smith. My… informant had seen him for himself.”
He said softly, “Well, that’s quite interesting, anyway.”
“This part of it you believe, Smith, but not that he is in Hong Kong?”
He said, “That’s right. For certain reasons I believe he’s very likely to be in this part of the world — unless my theories are all to hell, that is! But he won’t be in the colony. My guess is, he’s headed a long way farther north — and maybe by way of Red China at that.” He paused, and lay back again on the divan beside the girl. His mind raced over the possibilities. If Rencke was in the vicinity, then it seemed to him that this fact alone helped to confirm that the North Pacific area contained the recovery base for the interception operation. He had to get north to the Sea of Okhotsk… this couldn’t possibly be left to the searching forces, who in any case would never get that authority from their respective Governments. To fly military aircraft over Russian territory could well be to precipitate trouble, even war, and gain nothing. The Communists had quietly to be presented with a fait accompli — and the threat of exposure to world opinion of the incontrovertible physical fact of the interference base. If only he could get hold of Rencke… but Rencke couldn’t be in Hong Kong, whatever the girl believed. With an alert out for him and the whole North Pacific area under general suspicion, he could never have slipped through the security net into the colony — nor, even if he believed he could get in, would he likely to chance his ability to get out again. Shaw repeated firmly, “He won’t be here, Ingrid. Your informant fell for a bum leak if you ask me. Rencke just trailed a red herring that worked.”
She was silent for a moment, then with disappointment in her voice as if she had unwillingly accepted Shaw’s verdict, she asked, “Where, then, do you think he has gone, Smith?”