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“One minute, twelve seconds,” Sweeting said, looking up from his watch. “The overall time varies with the quality of the specimen. The fade out time, though, is always the same.” He smiled so that the edges of his mouth disappeared into the sides of his face.

Jennifer was now free to look again at the tube. Sweeting was already there, and raking out the remains of what had been Ezra Q. Jones. “Don’t make him go into that thing—please.” Hooper stood over her and tried for a sisterly look. “You won’t get him in there!” Jennifer sobbed. “I won’t let him go in.”

“I don’t think, dearest girl,” Radleigh said beside her, “you have any choice in the matter. I believe the idea is that he steps willingly into that bottle, or you take a large calibre bullet in your stomach while he’s made to watch.” He looked up at Hooper. “That is the idea, Abigail, isn’t it?”

Not looking away from Jennifer, Hooper smiled. “Jennifer’s your name, isn’t it? Well, let me give you some very sound advice: All men are bastards! You think you’re in love now? But we’ve all thought that at some point. One of these days, you’ll thank me for this.”

“That’s right, Jennifer,” the other Hooper called through the loudspeaker. “You listen to Abigail. She really does know what she’s talking about. If it starts with your sinking into his arms, it always ends with your arms in his sink.” Again in unison, the two Hoopers laughed. Then the Hooper who stood before her turned to Sweeting and the smile dropped from her face.

“How soon can we get the boy in there?” she asked.

Chapter Forty Fice

Michael closed his eyes and tried to gather his thoughts. It was rather like being drunk, but without any recollection of pleasure. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. “If I step into that machine,” he said to Tarquin, “I want some reasonable assurance that my wife will be released.” He brushed Sweeting’s arm away and stepped into the main room. He leaned against the back of a chair and willed the clouds to withdraw from the front of his mind. “Give me the assurances I want, and I’ll do whatever you tell me. Otherwise, you might as well kill us both now.” Rockville growled menacingly at Tarquin once this was put into English. He started a low and worried conversation with Hooper.

Telling himself how the sun can still peep through the heaviest cloud, Michael willed himself to think. He was a diplomat. Even when it couldn’t be avoided, catastrophe didn’t need to be total. There was always something that could be negotiated. He switched from Greek into Latin. “My Lord Robert, I have a favour to beg of you.” Robert shoved past the guards. “Our peoples are at war,” Michael said, his voice beginning to fail again. “The last time we met, you tried to kill me. But I give my wife into your hands, and charge you with her safety.”

Robert came closer and brushed ash from the front of his tunic. “As one man of honour to another,” he said, speaking loud, “and with God as my witness, I swear that I will die before I allow any harm to come to Jennifer. I will take her from this accursed country, and swear that I will treat her as if she were my own daughter.” He held out his right hand. Michael took it. For the first time since they’d been lifted out of Ulm, he felt as if he were back on firm land. Robert leaned forward to embrace and kiss Michael. “If I could think of anything that didn’t put Jennifer’s life at risk,” he breathed, “I’d rip these animals apart and spit into their blood.”

Michael stood back and nodded. “Explain in English what has been agreed,” he said to Tarquin. He listened carefully as his words were relayed. Hooper shrugged and looked at Robert. She looked at Radleigh. He nodded and spoke firmly in English. She smiled and gave a casual nod. She pointed through the glass wall at the now empty tube, and spoke several sentences with a careful absence of any tone that might help him to understand them.

“She agrees to the arrangement,” Tarquin said in a voice that faltered with sudden excitement. “She only reminds you of the need to give full cooperation once the tube is sealed. Whatever thoughts and fancies fill your mind, you must resist nothing.” He paused and had to steady himself by biting hard on the sleeve of his jacket. “Hooper says that, once you’ve gone into that tube, Jennifer will be of no value to her, and the Norman pig is welcome to her.” He stopped again and tried to bring his voice under a semblance of control. “She also says that you are strong enough to survive inside the tube. She says that the one who died was of much lower quality.”

Michael swallowed. He took a step towards Jennifer, but was immediately pulled back by the guards. Tarquin and Hooper took hold of Jennifer and pressed her into a chair. Robert came forward again and stamped his foot. “This is an outrage!” he bellowed. “The two are man and wife. They must be allowed to say goodbye.” As if she’d understood the Latin, Hooper smiled slimily and shook her head.

“Take him away,” Michael heard her say to the guards.

Michael resisted the pull of the guards. He reached out a hand for Jennifer. “If avoiding this meant that I’d never have met you,” he said quietly in English, “I’d do it all over again, and be happy.” As if by accident, the guards relaxed their hold, and he was able to reach a few inches further. For one moment, his fingers made contact with Jennifer’s.

And that was it. She was forced harder into the chair, and Michael was allowed to walk by himself through the door and over to the glass tube. He turned away from Jennifer as the wired wreath was tied about his head. The door closed, and he felt a buzzing in his head that began slowly to pass through his entire body. If it was of the same nature as the seizures, it left him strangely calm. He hadn’t believed a word of Hooper’s assurance about his own safety. He knew that he’d soon be dead. He tried not to think about the other man, and wondered if it might be worth the effort of praying for his soul. He did try, but found himself only praying that Jennifer wouldn’t see him in obvious pain.

►▼◄

In the next room, Tarquin pressed his face close against the glass wall. “I want to see this!” he snarled. He pulled himself back and looked triumphantly at Jennifer, who was still weeping out of control. “If I can’t have him, no one can!” Beside Radleigh, Robert lit another cigarette.

Radleigh sucked hard on his own cigarette. “Isn’t this all rather close to cannibalism, Abigail?”

Hooper giggled and picked up and caressed the microphone. “Too late now, Basil, to call us cannibals. In the past year, we’ve arrested twelve million people. How many of those do you imagine we really need in Ireland?” She cleared her throat and sang:

…Healthy and lean, Clean and green, Eat it while it’s steaming hot!

She stopped and clutched at her side with helpless laughter. “You’ve never been stupid enough to eat the filthy stuff?” she gasped. The guards went into a low giggle, and one nudged the other. Radleigh stared back, his mouth open in speechless shock. Even Jennifer was dimly aware of what had just been revealed.

Sweeting looked angrily round from another conversation across the void. “Is any of this relevant? We need as clear a mental state in the specimen as can be arranged.” He walked over and jabbed at Tarquin, whose breath was steaming an area of the glass wall. “We’ve no more need of Greek,” he said impatiently. “Your presence is disturbing the boy. Go back to the main level. Look for a man with red hair called Barlow. Show him your badge and tell him you’re to help with preparing the goods lift to carry stuff to the surface.”