Code to Zero Page 0,12

Dr Claude Lucas, known as Luke, the most dangerous man in America, the one who threatened everything Anthony had lived for.

He had been at the office most of the night, and had gone home only to shave and change his shirt. Now the guard in the lobby looked surprised and said: 'Good morning, Mr Carroll - you back already?'

'An angel appeared unto me in a dream and said: "Get back to work, you lazy son of a bitch." Good morning.' _ .

The guard laughed. 'Mr Maxell's in your office, sir.'

Anthony frowned. Pete Maxell was supposed to be with Luke. Had something gone wrong? >

He ran up the stairs.

Pete was sitting in the chair opposite Anthony's desk, still dressed in ragged clothes, a smear of dirt partly covering the red birthmark on his face. As Anthony walked in he jumped up, looking scared.

'What happened?'Anthony said.

'Luke decided he wanted to be alone.'

Anthony had planned for this. 'Who took over?'

'Simons has him under surveillance, and Betts is there for back-up.'

Anthony nodded thoughtfully. Luke had got rid of one agent, he could get rid of another. 'What about Luke's memory?'

'Completely gone.'

Anthony took off his coat and sat behind his desk. Luke was causing problems, but Anthony had expected as much, and he was ready.

He looked at the man opposite. Pete was a good agent, competent and careful, but inexperienced. However, he was fanatically loyal to Anthony. All the young agents knew that Anthony had personally organized an assassination: the killing of the Vichy French leader Admiral Darlan, in Algiers on Christmas Eve in 1942. CIA agents did kill people, but not often, and they regarded Anthony with awe. But Pete owed him a special debt On his job application form, Pete had lied, saying he had never been in trouble with the law, and Anthony had later found out that, as a student in San Francisco, he had been fined for soliciting a prostitute. Pete should have been fired for that, but Anthony had kept the secret and Pete was eternally grateful.

Now Pete was miserable and ashamed, feeling he had let Anthony down. 'Relax,' Anthony said, adopting a fatherly tone. 'Just tell me exactly what happened.'

Pete looked grateful, and sat down again. 'He woke up crazy,' he began. "Yelling "Who am I?" and stuff like that I got him calmed down ... but I made a mistake. I called him Luke.'

Anthony had told Pete to observe Luke but not to give him any information. 'No matter - it's not his real name.'

"Then he asked who I was, and I said: "I'm Pete." It just came out, I was so concerned to stop him yelling.' Pete was mortified to confess these blunders, but in fact they were not grave and Anthony waved atide his apologies. 'What happened next?'

'I took him to the gospel shop, just the way we planned it But he asked shrewd questions. He wanted to know if the pastor had seen him before.'

Anthony nodded. 'We shouldn't be surprised. In the war, he was the best agent we ever had. He's lost his memory, but not his instincts.' He rubbed his face with his right hand, tiredness catching up with him.

'I kept trying to steer him away from inquiring into his past But I think he figured out what I was doing. Then he told me he wanted to be alone.'

'Did he get any clues? Did anything happen that might lead him to the truth?'

'No. He read an article in the paper about the space programme, but it didn't seem to mean anything special to him.'

'Did anyone notice anything strange about him?'

'The pastor was surprised Luke could do the crossword. Most of those bums can't even read.'

This was going to be difficult, but manageable, as Anthony had expected. 'Where is Luke now?'

'I don't know, sir. Steve will call in as soon as he gets a chance.'

'When he does, get back there and join up with him. Whatever happens, Luke mustn't get away from US.'-' .-. - ". v =.

'Okay.'

The white phone on Anthony's desk rang, his direct line. He stared at it for a moment Not many people had the number.

He picked it up.

'It's me,' said Elspeth's voice. 'What's happened?'

'Relax,' he said. 'Everything is under control.'

7.30 A.M.

The missile is 68 feet 7 inches high, and it weighs 64,000 pounds on the launch pad - but most of that is fuel The satellite itself is only 2 feet 10 inches long, and weighs just 18 pounds.

The shadow followed Luke for a