can't try to climb up out of the mud without being crushed under the jackboot of Uncle Sam? The only thing I regret is denying you children. That was wicked. The rest, I'm proud of.'
He nodded. 'I guess I understand.'
'That's something.' She sighed. 'What are you going to do? Call the FBI?'
'Should I?'
'If you do, I'll end up in the electric chair, like the Rosenbergs.'
He winced as if someone had stabbed him. 'Christ.'
'There's an alternative.'
'What?'
'Let me go. I'll catch the first plane out. I'll go to Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, anywhere in Europe. From there I can get a flight to Moscow.'
'Is that what you want to do? Live out your days there?'
"Yes.' She gave a wry grin. 'I'm a KGB colonel, you know. I'd never be a colonel in the US.'
"You'd have to go now, immediately,' he said.
'Okay.'
'I'll escort you to the gate, and you'll have to give me your pass so you can't get back in.'
'Okay.'
He. looked at her, trying to imprint her face on his memory. 'I guess this is goodbye.'
She picked up her purse. 'Can I go to the ladies' room first?'
'Of course,' he said.
9.30 P.M.
The main scientific purpose of the satellite is to measure cosmic rays, in an experiment designed by Dr James Van Allen of the State University of Iowa. The most important instrument inside it is a Geiger counter.
Elspeth walked out of her office, turned left, passed the door of the ladies' room, and entered Colonel Hide's office.
It was empty.
She closed the door behind her and stood leaning against it, trembling with relief. The office swam in her sight as her eyes filled with tears. The triumph of her life was within her grasp, but she had just ended her marriage to the best man she had ever known; and she was committed to leave the country of her birth and spend the rest of her days in a land she had never seen.
She dosed her eyes and made herself breathe slowly and deeply: one, out, two, out, three, out After a moment she felt better.
She turned the key in the office door. Then she went to the cupboard behind Hide's desk and kneeled in front of the safe. Her hands were shaking. With an effort of will, she made them steady. For some reason she recalled her Latin lessons at school and the proverb Festina lente - hurry slowly.
She repeated the actions Hide had performed when she watched him opening the safe. First she spun the dial four times anticlockwise, stopping at ten. Next she turned it three times in the other direction, stopping at 29. Then she turned it twice anticlockwise, stopping at 14. She tried to turn the handle. It would not move.
She heard footsteps outside, and a woman's voice. The sounds from the corridor seemed unnaturally loud, like noises in a nightmare. But the footsteps receded and the voice faded.
She knew the first number was 10. She dialled it again. The second number could have been 29 or 28. She dialled 28 this time, then 14 again.
The handle still would not turn.
She had tried only two possibilities out of the eight. Her fingers were slippery with sweat, and she. wiped them on the hem of her dress. Next she tried 10, 29, 13, then 10, 28, 13.
She was halfway through the list.
She heard a distant hooter give a warning blast -two shorts and a long, sounded three times in succession. This meant that all personnel should clear the launch-pad area. The launch was an hour away. She glanced involuntarily at the door, then returned her attention to the dial. .
The combination 10, 29,12 did not work.
But 10, 28, 12 did.
Jubilant, she turned the handle and pulled open the heavy door.
The two plugs were still there. She allowed herself a smile of triumph.
There was no time now to dismantle them and sketch the wiring. She would have to take them to the beach. Theo could either copy the wiring or use the actual plug in his own transmitter.
A danger occurred to her. Was it possible someone might notice the absence of the duplicate plugs during the next hour? Colonel Hide had gone to the blockhouse and was unlikely to return before blast-off. She had to take the risk.
There were footsteps outside the office again, and this time someone tried the door.
Elspeth stopped breathing.
A man's voice called: 'Hey, Bill, you in there?' It sounded like Harry Lane. What the hell did he want? The doorknob rattled. Elspeth kept still and silent