“Because of what Colonel Rostovitch has done and what he proposes to do.”
Zalinsky rolled his head on the pillows to loosen the muscles of his neck. “The hostages, I know. But you should know what kind of a man he is, the high diver should have told you.”
“He did, I spoke with him yesterday.”
“That is impossible unless you used radio; he is on board the submarine.”
Not to the slightest degree did Hewlitt reveal the electric feeling that those words conveyed to him. He kept his face, his posture, and his voice unchanged. Percival stood on the other side of the bed, but there was no way he could pass the information, and Percival did not understand the language they were using.
“Mr. Zalinsky,” Hewlitt said. “I have known you now for some time. You are a very tough person, I have never underrated you there, but you are also a practical man with common sense. You can run steel mills.”
“If you are asking me to countermand Colonel Rostovitch, you have undertaken a hopeless task. I am the administrator; I run the country, yes, but its internal security is entirely up to the colonel, and he reports directly to the premier.”
“So do you, isn’t that so?”
“Yes, but the colonel…”
“Mr. Zalinsky, I have come to tell you something. Colonel Rostovitch received a message, only a few minutes ago, from Thomas Jefferson. Do you know what it is?”
“What is Thomas Jefferson? Of course I know!”
“I mean, do you know what the message said?”
“It has not yet been transmitted to me.”
Hewlitt was not certain, but he thought that he detected a hint of bitterness in that. The message probably would be relayed on to Zalinsky — but it might be delayed.
“I have been told what it is,” Hewlitt said. Then he quoted the context exactiy, translating it for the benefit of the administrator. “You are very important to this Thomas Jefferson, is it not so?”
Hewlitt shook his head. “No, Mr. Zalinsky, I am not. I have nothing whatever to do with decision or policy. I was sent to see you only because we know one another.”
“What is it that you want from me?”
“Mr. Zalinsky, like every decent human being, I do not like to see people die in war.”
Hewlitt was only beginning, but Zalinsky interrupted him. “Then it is easy, surrender as you were directed; give up your few and save the great many.”
“You don’t fully understand, Mr. Zalinsky. We do not want people like Colonel Rostovitch keeping watch over everything that we do, and doing the things that he has done in the past. Mr. Zalinsky, I do not want one thousand of our people to die, but much more I do not want to see three million of your people die. And more than that if the Ramon Magsaysay unleashes her full power. You will have no country left.”
“And neither will you.”
Hewlitt nodded. “But at the moment, we have much less to lose than you do, because our country has been largely taken from us. Think, Mr. Zalinsky, and count up the nations that you can call your enemies whonvould rush in to finish the job if we lay you flat on your back.”
“I am precisely in that position now,” Zalinsky said. “It is visible to you.”
“Very well, suppose that you had personal enemies in this building who knew of your condition, where you were, and that you were not only unguarded, but that there was no one to avenge you if they struck. How long would you last?”
Once more Zalinsky propped himself up on his elbows. “All right, I am a sick man. I cannot defend myself. In my office sits Gregor Rostovitch. Do you believe that he will remove himself simply to please me if I call him and suggest it? You met him, you should know.” He reached for a glass of water; Hewlitt handed it to him.
“I don’t want you to call the colonel, I want you to call the Actor,” Hewlitt said. “He is balancing on a tightwire right now. Let him release the hostages in the name of humanity and the whole world will approve.”
“And Gregor Rostovitch will sit in his chair within a month.”
The phone beside Zalinsky’s bed rang once softly. Reaching over with some effort the administrator picked it up. “It will be the message,” he said.
Hewlitt contained himself and kept his face impassive, but with an effort. He had been making his play, and it was the one time that he did not want to be interrupted for any reason.
Zalinsky listened to the instrument and then his face visibly changed color. “There is no possibility of a mistake?” he asked in his own language. Once more he listened; then he spoke a few brief words and hung up. After that he pulled bedclothes up under his chin and surveyed Hewlitt with renewed interest. “Your timing,” he said finally, “I admit that it is superb. You will know very shortly anyway so I tell you now, Colonel Rostovitch is dead. Is it now that you are going to kill me?”
Hewlitt repeated back the news, in English, as though to convince himself that he had heard correctly. “Colonel Rostovitch is dead, you absolutely affirm this?”
“I have just been so told.”
Hewlitt kept his face as composed as it had been. He had gambled before and he had won; he was prepared to gamble again. “Mr. Zalinsky, I will tell you the absolute truth: we will not permit the hostages to be killed and we have very strong ways to prevent that. But the most merciful thing is for you to give the order that they are to be released. There is no one in this country to challenge your authority and I know you — you would not do this thing that Rostovitch had planned because you are too good a manager — the price to your own people would be unthinkable. You are the man who shut down the steel mill while you put the machines where they had to be; this is the same thing. You are tough, but you are not, and never will be, insane like Rostovitch.”
“You knew that Rostovitch was to be killed then?”
Hewlitt saw a sudden ray of light. “I came here to see you. Before you knew what was to happen, you told me that I had assassinated myself.”
Zalinsky looked at him, then eased himself back onto his pillows. “If I am to die,” he said, “return to me what I did for your Major Landers and let it be very quick and painless. I am not a man of great physical courage; at least I do not wish to be exterminated.”
Hewlitt continued the role he had unwittingly assumed. “Mr. Zalinsky, I have specifically given the order that you are not to die, that your recovery is to continue with the best care that we can give you, and that you are to be treated with consideration, if you will do this one thing that will redeem you before the whole country that I represent. It is the only possible decision. Otherwise, our submarine will fire. And you know that it is not sunk; you told me so yourself a few minutes ago.”
Zalinsky raised his arms and rubbed his face. Then he picked up the telephone and called for Major Barlov once more. When he had him on the line he asked for a further report on the death of Gregor Rostovitch. When that had been done, he said, “Very well. List the names of the hostages and then let them go for the time being. I will make a decision within twenty-four hours.”
“You are a very great man,” Barlov said over the line.
“Are you one of them too?”
Apparently Barlov did not presume to take that seriously. “Excellency, I venture to say to you that I feared greatly for our country; the power of the submarine, it is terrible. Of this I know. And my wife and family, you know where they live.”
“And mine also,” Zalinsky said. “But it is the jackals I consider now — if we get into this, they will gather to devour our flesh and there are a great many of them.”
“As I said, excellency, you are a great man. You see things to which others are blind.”
“Give the necessary orders in my name.”
“Yes, excellency. What shall I do with the man who caused Colonel Rostovitch to depart from us?”