by Simon Latter
Mark said: "Trap?" He and Randy followed her to the monitoring room. She waved them to remain outside and be silent.
Inside, she searched for the correct keys and switches, adjusting the camera to cover herself. The screen flickered and Dr. Karadin's head and shoulders appeared. Amazement spread over his face. But April kept the gun out of sight.
"Be merciful, Dr. Karadin. There are dead men down here, and I am afraid. I cannot get out." She smiled sadly. "You are still the master."
"Dead men? Who is dead? That fool, Sirdar!"
"He's dead too. I am sick and afraid. Are you so ruthless that you would destroy me too?"
His expression changed. "Ruthless? Others are ruthless with me. Perhaps I too am sick and afraid? But we each walk into our own hell, Miss Dancer." He shrugged. "All right—I will come down to you. But I shall have to keep you prisoner. You understand?"
"Anything you say."
"Wait," he said, and moved from the screen.
April reached over and moved a control which swiveled the upstairs camera. She saw Karadin press a button and stand aside for the trap floor to open, then went swiftly into the passage.
"Corny, but effective." Mark grinned.
"You were wonderful!" said Randy, eyes glowing.
"No mistakes now," said April. "We let him get clear of the steps—part-way here—then take him. Go now—out of sight."
He came slowly off the ladder and walked towards her as she stood in the passage opening. Then suddenly he was not looking at her, for his gaze, wide and startled, was directed to a passage which opened to her left.
"Mon Dieu! Mimi! No—no— Mimi!"
His hand flashed to his pocket. The gun was halfway out when the woman fired. She kept firing until her gun was empty. She threw the gun wildly away from her. It hit Randy on the shin. He yelped. She turned.
"The young man on the hill," she said in a deep, warm voice. "So you found my cave?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Mark and April were bending over Dr. Karadin. Mark shook his head. "At least two bullets could have killed him instantly. One in the head, one in the heart."
April stood up slowly.
"Mimi!" she said softly. "Yes, of course. Mimi Karadin."
The woman smiled. She was tall, well formed, with a sad face, steady eyes, soft dark hair graying. Poised, quiet, no hysterics. An air of resignation, or was it—resolvement?
"I set him up for you, Mimi," said April. "I made it possible."
"No," she said. "Just the time—it didn't matter when. I could have done it a dozen times before. But it had to be just before his great moment. He denied me, you see. He denied me my own daughter. He denied me love and life—everything—for this—this fanaticism. So I was to deny him too. Deny him success, recognition, fortune, world power—all the myths for which he's spent his life searching."
"He was about two minutes off hearing he had failed," said Mark.
She shook her head slowly from side to side.
"Oh no, that would never do. He had to die believing he was on the verge of success—as once I was." She raised her left hand. The fingers were withered and crooked. "I was his wife, the mother of his child. They called me a great violinist. The night before my debut at the Albert Hall in London, he plunged this hand into a solution of what you may know as K.S.R.6."
"Oh no!" April breathed.
"Oh yes. He could not bear my success, so he took it from me. When, for a time, I lost my reason, he took my child." She walked over to stand over the body and spat. "Au 'voir, Carl!"
Men came rushing down the steps. April looked at Mark. He smiled gently.
"Resolvement, me old darling."
She blinked back her tears.
"The hell with it! she said.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE: CHICKS IN ARMOUR
CHAPTER TWO: WATCH IT - LOVER BOY!
CHAPTER THREE: WHERE BIRDS CAN FLY
CHAPTER FOUR: CHOPPERS AWAY
CHAPTER FIVE: THE PLUS FACTOR
CHAPTER SIX: GO— GAL— GO!
CHAPTER SEVEN: PRETTY LADY LIKE LIFT?
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE WRECKERS
CHAPTER NINE: OPERATION PHAGOCYTE
CHAPTER TEN: KEEP FINGER OFF BUTTON!
CHAPTER ELEVEN: THEY'RE ALL YOURS!
CHAPTER TWELVE: RESOLVEMENT
