"And Naldi?"
"Oh, Dr. Naldi is what you would call the inside man, the mad professor, you might say, who betrayed his country because of a wild theory. And stupid Hank Wegmann, the conscientious man at the filling station, was merely a convenient dupe for these smart people. He will escape, of course, but nobody will be very concerned about that, because he is not really important… You know, of course, why I am speaking to you frankly."
I laughed shortly. "I think I've been in the business as long as you, Wegmann. I know, all right."
"It is the only way," he said. "You understand. There is nothing personal."
"Sure," I said. "I'd do it myself, if the orders were to break clean and leave no witnesses."
"I am glad you understand."
Beside me, Gail stirred slightly, listening to this. A little intake of breath said she was about to speak, to ask a question, then she sighed and was still again. The truck jolted to an abrupt halt and somebody flung open the rear. Next there was the business of untying our feet and getting us unloaded, but I didn't pay too much attention to the details. Even if there was a break, I wasn't ready to take advantage of it yet. Besides, I was looking at the contraption they had installed in the church steeple.
Maybe it was a funny place to find a church, high on the side of the mountain, but that country is full of deserted mining camps and old ghost towns, and while many of the early settlers were pretty rough hombres, many were religious folk, too. Often the church was the best-built structure in the community-the last to fall down after the population moved elsewhere.
I'd guessed we were up on the Sierra Blanca somewhere, but we weren't quite as high as I'd thought. It had seemed, riding in back all trussed up, that we'd done enough climbing to be well above timber line, but there were still heavy stands of pine around us. The little forgotten town was wedged into a fold in the mountainside which opened to the west. There were some board shacks still standing, weathered silvery gray. A couple of stone huts remained almost intact, sturdily built of irregular pieces of local rock laid up carefully, Indian fashion, with mud mortar or no mortar at all. Roofless shells and stumps of walls, half buried in the snow, showed where other houses had been. Up the hillside, above the pines, was at least one mine shaft; there were probably others.
The squat little church was of stone, and parts of it had fallen into rubble, but sections of the roof remained, and most of the bell tower. Up there, camouflaged from air observation by the remnants of the wooden belfry, was the gadget. Actually, it was a kind of parabolic antenna which I associated with radar. You see similar rigs around most military installations, turning nervously, listening like great headless ears.
To be perfectly honest, I can't guarantee such rigs are concerned with radar; that's just what somebody told me once. Electronics isn't my field at all, any more than atomics. I won't even guarantee that this dingus was parabolical. It could have been hyperbolical or spherical, but it's my impression that the electronics boys have more fun with parabolas, for mathematical reasons we won't go in here.
Anyway, it was a bowl-shaped contrivance of rods and wires several feet in diameter. It was aimed in a general westerly direction-out towards the great open valley below-and it was searching busily, swiveling back and forth and up and down in an intricate pattern. There was a man up in the belfry with it. I didn't envy him his job. For one thing, it must have been cold, just sitting there, and for another, that old stonework hadn't been designed to support a lot of heavy, vibrating machinery.
Wegmann was standing beside me. "Well, Mr. Helm?" he said. "What do you think?"
I asked, "What does it do, catch flies and small birds?"
"Not small birds, Mr. Helm," he said. "Not small birds-large ones."
XXIII
High in the old church, a hundred and fifty yards across the little gulch from where we had stopped at the edge of the pines, the radar-like gizmo continued to trace out its complex search pattern, looking more alive and intelligent and energetic than the few half-frozen people in the place. From one of the old stone huts came the incongruous putt-putt noises of an internal combustion engine, probably a diesel or gasoline generator. I stamped my feet to bring back circulation, wishing I could perform a similar favor for my hands, which were still tied behind me.
"What does he mean?" Gail asked, speaking for the first time since we'd left Ruidoso. "What is it? What is that thing, Matt?"
"You heard him. It's the Wegmann Electronic Bird-Catcher, Mark I."
Wegmann shook his head, unsmiling. "You are mistaken, Mr. Helm; I am no scientist. The original device was invented, I believe, by a gentleman named Hallenbeck, Dr. Rudolf Hallenbeck, a German physicist who was concerned with missile development for Hitler and sought refuge in the Soviet Union after World War II."
"Sought refuge," I said. "That's a nice way of putting it."
He shrugged. "You got von Braun. We got Hallenbek. Far from being Mark I, this is, I believe, the eleventh model produced, but only the fourth we have received here. Considering the difficulties of smuggling the machinery into the country and assembling it in a suitably desolate location, it can be understood that only the most promising versions reach us. The others failed to pass the preliminary tests on the Siberian missile ranges and were therefore not issued to us for field trials."
"I see," I said. "Field trials."
"An interesting concept, don't you think? What better way to test your equipment against the probable enemy's? We have been very careful. Down there, they still believe their chronic troubles to be due to stray radio transmissions of an innocent nature. They will know otherwise, of course, when they find what is left of the machine. We will not have time to dismantle and remove it, so we will have to destroy it. But we will not be here when they come."
Dr. Naldi, standing nearby, was regarding Wegmann with a puzzled air. "I don't understand," he said. "You speak of chronic troubles. I thought-"
"You thought this was the first machine of its kind, brought here with great difficulty and expense just to serve your purpose?" Wegmann laughed. "Well, perhaps we did give you some such impression, Doctor. After all, you were looking for a miracle, were you not? You had am pealed in vain to your government and the stubborn Dr. Rennenkamp to stop this dangerous test. You were willing to go to any extremes and accept help from anybody, in the name of humanity. Well, we supplied the help. Why should we make it look easy?"
"I see," Naldi said slowly. "I see."
"The only real miracle," said Wegmann, "is that we have come this close to success with no more assistance than we've got from you. You and Gunther botched your share of the operation miserably; not only that, but yesterday when you were about to be arrested, you came running to me for help instead of staying as far away from me as possible. You drew attention my way. So did Gunther, when he ran into trouble this side of the border. It is a real miracle that, between you, everything wasn't ruined. I suppose one can't expect absolute efficiency from non-professional personnel, but I did expect the two of you to make at least some attempt to follow the simple instructions you were given."
It was a real reaming-out, such as Naldi himself might have given a careless technician in his employ, and the scientist's face turned darkly red. His eyes grew narrow and angry behind his glasses.
"Really, Mr. Wegmann, what gives you the right to…?" Naldi checked himself, and sighed. "Well, perhaps there is some justice in what you say. This kind of melodrama is not in my line. Only desperate necessity forces me to assist in it. For the sake of mankind, Mr. Wegmann, that test must be stopped-or at least delayed until-"
"It will be stopped," Wegmann said.
"As for the films, I do not think it is fair to accuse me of complete failure. They must be here, somewhere."
"What makes you think so?"
Naldi frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What makes you think they must be here?" Wegmann glanced at me and laughed shortly. "My guess is that those precious films have bee
n in Washington for days, if they were not destroyed in El Paso. It is a good thing that we did not count on being able to get our bearings from your copy of the government map, Dr. Naldi, but took the precaution of making a few sights while the weather was clear. We'd be in a serious predicament if we had to aim the apparatus visually this morning, with all this haze!"
He waved his arm to the west, where the morning haze still concealed the mountains on the far side of the great geological basin. Naldi did not look that way, however, nor did Gail. They were both staring at me in a startled way. Gail spoke first.
"You mean… you mean he never had them? But he told me-"
"I have no doubt he told you many things, Mrs. Hendricks," Wegmann said, "which you, to repay the grudge you bore him, promptly related to us, as he expected you to do."
"But-"
Wegmann gestured towards the hut from which came the sound of machinery. "Please. Your feet should be able to carry you now… Yes, what is it, Naldi?"
The scientist's face showed indignation. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier? Why did you let us… If he had no films, what was the point in setting such an elaborate trap? You deliberately let us make fools of ourselves capturing and searching-"
Wegmann said gently, "Dr. Naldi, you have never needed my permission to make a fool of yourself. The search was unnecessary of course. If you'll remember, I kept saying it was a waste of time. The capture, however, was absolutely necessary."
"But why if there were no films?"
"Quite simply," Wegmann said, "because these two people had managed to obtain too much information about me to be left alive to talk, afterwards."
"You're going to kill them?" Naldi sounded shocked.
Wegmann laughed and gestured towards the apparatus in the tower. "My dear Doctor, how many people are you helping me kill with that? You're being naive!"
"But that's different. That's… unfortunately, it is an essential step towards saving thousands of other lives, maybe millions. This is just cold-blooded murder!"
"Now you are simply playing with words," Wegmann said impatiently. "And I have a question for you, Doctor. It has been reported to me that yesterday you tried to get Dr. Rennenkamp to further delay the test. Would you mind explaining why?"
"Well, I-"
"I had you arrange for one delay. It was necessary in order to get them out there precisely today. But another delay would have been fatal to our plans. You know that. Why did you try to talk Dr. Rennenkamp into another postponement?"
Naldi licked his lips nervously. Then, abruptly, he drew himself up and squared his shoulders. He spoke firmly, "Because I thought in another week it might be safe for them to make the shot. At least the risk would be much smaller; my instruments show that conditions are rapidly becoming much less critical. I thought, if I could get the old fool to hold off another week, just a few more days, we wouldn't have to go through with this terrible-"
"Naldi," said Wegmann, "you are a sentimental fool." He must have made some kind of a signal, although I didn't catch it. There was a sharp, explosive noise from the church tower, almost coincident with the crack of a rifle bullet going past and the unforgettable sound as it struck home. Naldi pitched back into the snow, dead before he fell.
"All right, Mrs. Hendricks," Wegmann said calmly. "That way, if you please. Follow the tracks carefully. We do not wish to disturb the snow unnecessarily."
Gail stared at him in a stunned way. Her eyes were very wide and her face was very white; the little freckles on her nose showed plainly. She turned her shocked stare towards the body at her feet. Dr. Naldi's bifocal lenses looked blindly up at the morning sky, askew in the dead, dark face. There was only a small spot of blood on the front of his coat. (Gail made a choked sound and turning, stumbled away.
Wegmann gestured to me to follow. I obeyed, aware that Gunther and two men were covering the jeep station wagon he had driven here which had a ski rack on top for camouflage and my truck with white canvas that would presumably make them look like snow-covered boulders from the air. Maybe they had an extra sheet for the body. The other two men seemed unaffected, but Gunther looked a little sick.
Three men here, I thought, one in the tower with a rifle and Wegmann himself-five so far. Well, I'd offered myself as bait according to instructions. I really couldn't complain because too many had taken up the offer.
Ahead of me, Gail slipped to one knee, then picked herself up again awkwardly. Her bound wrists looked unreal and theatrical. The thing up in the tower looked phony, too, like something in a science-fiction movie. I paused under the church tower and looked up. From this angle, I couldn't see the rifleman, but the gadget itself was clearly visible.
"Nervous little beast, isn't it?" I said, with a backward glance at Wegmann, who was following at a discreet distance.
"It is only seeking now," he replied. "When it finds what it is seeking, it will lock on and commence tracking. It will report distance, direction and speed of flight to the instruments inside the church. When a certain switch is thrown, it will also assume control. We will be able to steer the big bird towards us, or to send it away-say to a suitable target far across the valley."
"When it takes off like that," I said, "assuming that it does, won't the range officer hit his little red button and blow it up?"
"The range safety officer will undoubtedly close the destruct circuit, or try to," Wegmann said. "He will be very much surprised, no doubt, when nothing happens. He will be even more surprised to discover that his test missile is armed. I have taken a long time to build my organization here, Mr. Helm, and it is a very good one. I have planned this demonstration well. Dr. Naldi merely helped me to select a suitable target. Your newspapers will have a great deal to write about in the next few days."
"When does the show start?" I asked.
"The bird flies at ten," he said, and gestured with the gun he still held-my gun. I found myself wishing that I'd thought to sabotage it in some way before passing it to Gail, but that would have been a dead give-away if discovered. "Please keep moving," Wegmann said. "Mrs. Hendricks is getting ahead of us. Don't try any clever delays or diversions, I warn you. I have a use for prisoners. There is someone I wish to keep occupied and unsuspicious for the next hour or so-you have that long if you are careful. But the exact number of prisoners does not really matter. I hope you understand."
"I read you," I said, "loud and clear."
Wegmann raised his voice. "Mrs. Hendricks. That's far enough. Wait for us there."
She stopped and waited at the door of the hut. I could feel the vibration of the machinery inside as I came up. Gail glanced at me briefly and looked away. A little color had returned to her face. She brushed snow off the knee of her pants. Wegmann reached us, waved us back with the gun, and opened the door. The noise of a big gasoline engine, along with the crackling hum of the generator it was driving and a breath of warm air smelling of hot oil and grease came to us strongly.
"You will be comfortable in here, I hope," Wegmann said hospitably. Then he leaned forward and shouted to somebody inside. "Company, Mr. Romero!"
There was no answer, but he signaled us forward anyway. I followed Gail inside. The windows were blacked out; the only illumination came from a forty-watt bulb on a cord attached to one of the round log rafters-vigas they are called in that country. The machinery took up half the space in the little building. Inside the place, it made a fearful racket. I looked around for the man to whom Wegmann had yelled, assuming he'd be an engineer or mechanic on watch.
For a moment, I saw no one. Then Wegmann stepped past us and kicked at something in the corner.
"Don't play possum with me, Mr. Romero!" Wegmann shouted. "Here are some friends to keep you company. They'd like to ask you about an incident involving a gray Oldsmobile, haha!"
The bundle of clothing stirred and revealed itself to be a rather small man in a gabardine topcoat that was liberally smeared with the dirt and grease of the floor. His black hair, rather long, hung
lankly into his face which- under the dirt-was quite pale except for some spectacular bruises. He had a small, black moustache. I was looking at the man who'd tried to run us off the road up in San Agustin Pass. I was looking at the M.C. of the Club Chihuahua.
XXIV
I didn't let myself try to figure it out. One thing you learn early in the business is not to waste cerebral energy trying to solve the problems for which answers are already available at the back of the book. Our cellmate, whoever he might be, would undoubtedly tell us his sad story in due time-if we lived that long.
In the meantime, flat on my face on the dirt floor, I was busy using all the old muscle-tensing tricks to get a little slack for my ankles, which Wegmann was busy tying up. He gave me nothing that could really be called an opening-which was just as well. It Wasn't him I wanted, but things were running pretty close now, and if I had seen a chance I'd have been very tempted to take it. There might be better ones later, but then again there might not.
"All right, Mrs. Hendricks," he shouted over the noise.
Gail hesitated and dropped awkwardly to her knees. Wegmann gave her a shove that dumped her on her face, yanked her legs out straight and lashed them up.
"So," he shouted. "Now, I will leave you… Oh, make no elaborate, self-sacrificing plans about sabotaging that generator as the hour approaches, Mr. Helm. There are fully charged storage batteries in reserve, adequate to operate our equipment over the critical period. Stopping this machinery will merely deprive you of light and heat in here."
He stood up and looked us over, went over and rechecked the bonds of the character named Romero and left us alone with the noise and stink. Well, at least we weren't freezing.
"Gail," I called when the door had remained closed a reasonable period of time.
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