The Kremlin File

I got up and trotted to the gate. They must have started up the trail by now and I wanted to be sure they hadn’t discovered or evaded the dynamite. The war dance was over and people who had gone to their caves were hurrying back to the fort.

Passing Dr. Fleming’s room I hauled up short. He stood in front of the door between the two girls, on one foot, the splintered leg bent back in a hammock. There were no angry red streaks snaking up his bandaged arm, no gray under the rich chocolate of his face. There wasn’t time to look into it further now, but Fleming’s recovery amazed me. I put it out of mind and went on, listening for sounds as I turned down the path. If they were advancing fast enough, I might walk into them.

I hadn’t heard a thing by the time I reached the fuses. This was in a natural clearing and over the trees I could see the truck at the bottom of the ravine a quarter of a mile below. The thirty or so men lounging around the truck had not yet started up. I wondered why. Then I heard a sound behind me and Mitzy was there with the explanation. Just what I needed.

“There’s another attack, Nick. Boats are coming into the cove, a lot of them.”

That at least answered why the bunch below wasn’t on its way. It was a pincer move, radio-controlled to start on the fortress from two directions at the same time. I put an arm around the girl’s shoulder.

“Can you obey orders?”

“It’s been my life’s work. What do you want me to do?”

I pulled her down to the ground, showed her the fuses, and gave her my lighter, explaining what to do.

“The path is mined between those two points.” I pointed to them. “The fuse on the right will blow the lowest charge three minutes after it’s lit. The progression moves to the left, with the charges twenty feet apart. When the advance group reaches the turn, start the first bum. I hope that’s all you’ll need but some soldiers are pigheaded. Take your time setting them off. But stop them.”

“A bloody pleasure.” She gave me her lips and I got the notion she was saying goodbye. “Good luck with the armada.”

I grinned. “Well make it. Just keep the faith with Noah.”

I sounded far better than I felt. We were not equipped to stand off a prolonged siege on two fronts. I would do what I could with the realities, but my bones told me it would take a miracle for any of us to survive the day.

I got back to the gate as fast as I could. The scene inside had changed in the short while I’d been away. The tribe was busy. A bucket line passed stones the size of a skull from a stockpile and up the ladders set against the low continuous roof. Other bucket lines led into rooms at the two outer corners of the fortress. They were setting up concentrations of firepower at those points.

There was a fever of excitement about the rhythmic side-to-side swaying of black arms, receiving and passing material on. And, oddly, there was also an air of absolute confidence in these men and women who had never in their lives fought a flesh-and-blood army.

Noah himself while still serene, seemed less secure than his people. He was arguing with Dr. Fleming in an island of quiet near the gate, away from the activity. Fleming leaned on a crutch, sputtering, insisting.

“Very well, Noah, I accept Jerome’s duplicity. But I cannot permit you and your people to throw your lives away on my account. If Jerome is so power hungry, I must submit as I did to Hammond. I will surrender, allow myself to be exiled to the United States. Jerome is a competent man and this island has survived under military rule before. Perhaps I can even guide him. Send him my message.”

Sending Jerome a peace message would signal my death. Even if the colonel would be satisfied to call off his hounds from Noah, I wouldn’t last one minute.

Looking at failure eyeball to eyeball was bad enough. I hated it like hell. But it was worse imagining what would happen to my hide with Jerome as vindictive as I believed. It was a good hide. There were some patches on it, but the seals were tight. So far. I waited sourly for the patriarch’s reaction to Fleming’s offer. It came in a weary tirade.

“Doctor, I respect your idealism but it is blinding you. When General Hammond deposed you, the people still believed his promises to keep Grand LaClare Island for the islanders. He could afford to exile you. Carib Jerome cannot be so generous. He is as unpopular as he is ambitious. You are a threat to him so long as the population could be rallied to you.

“It is not only your life that’s at stake but ours too. If Jerome succeeds, he plans to use this place as a missile site, drive us away and move our enemies in. He cannot hold power without Communist backing. This mountain has been our sanctuary, our home, for centuries. Our people will die fighting for it.”