[Magazine 1966-­08] - The Cat and Mouse Affair - Davis Robert Hart. Страница 14

He untied the wire, looped it around the pipe, took his hand-hold this time at the end of the now double strand of wire, took the rifle in his other hand, and lowered himself again out the window. He lowered feet first until he stood against the wall just above the window. Then he kicked off with his feet, swung out in the narrow space, and swung back through the window.

He crashed into the office in a shower of glass, straightened in the air form his crouch, and landed on his feet with his rifle covering the colonel. Solo jumped behind the outer door.

The door burst open and two guards came running in. Solo leaped on them from behind and dropped both with sharp blows to the neck. He bent and scooped up their weapons.

"The window!" Solo cried.

Illya Kuryakin squeezed his tiny capsule under the nose of the colonel. The colonel slumped to the floor.

Illya whirled and followed Solo to the window. The two agents climbed through and out into the narrow space between the buildings. They ran between the buildings in the direction away from the quadrangle. They reached where the buildings ended. Ahead was a wide parade ground and then a fence; beyond it the trees of the jungle rose up on the side of a mountain.

"We have to reach the fence," Illya said.

"They're busy enough," Solo said, and pointed to the left out on the open parade ground. Two platoons of soldiers had their kit spread out on the ground. The men were preparing to move.

"Too busy," Illya said, and told Solo about Zamyatta and all the preparations he had seen.

"Yes, I noticed," Solo said. "They've got the area sealed. They're all ready for something. Brown wanted very much to know how come the premier had given me permission to come up here. He didn't act like he believed me, but he was very interested."

"He probably thinks we're working for Premier Roy," Illya said. "They treated me very well, but wanted me out of the way."

Solo peered out. The soldiers were in no hurry to leave the field. Solo handed his rifle to Illya.

"Walk me out as if I were a visiting fireman with an escort," Solo said. "Maybe they won't notice."

"It's as good a way as any," Illya said. "If they raise the hue and cry, sprint for the fence."

Solo stepped out and began to walk nonchalantly across the open parade ground. Illya walked a pace behind him as if either escorting or guarding. Solo looked around with great interest as if he was inspecting. They reached the middle of the field without attracting any notice.

A few soldiers looked up, but, like all soldiers preparing for some move, they had little interest in a civilian being escorted on some inspection by one of their men.

In this fashion, Illya and Solo nearly reached the fence. Then two things happened. There was a shout and men running from the direction of the headquarters building. And a sergeant with the men preparing their gear turned at the shout and saw Solo. It was the sergeant who had picked him up at the road block.

"Run!" Illya cried.

Abandoning all pretense, the two agents sprinted for the fence that was close now. The sergeant shouted at his men. The men dropped what they were doing, picked up their weapons, and came after the two agents.

The other pursuers were farther behind.

"The ones packing won't have rounds in their guns!" Solo said.

"I hope you're right!" Illya panted.

Solo was right. The closest pursuers did not have ammunition. Illya and Solo hit the fence in strong leaps, vaulted up and scrambled over. On the other side they plunged into the jungle, just as the soldiers with ammunition came into range.

Shots whistled through the trees and brush, but none hit, and the two agents ran on through the jungle and up on the side of the mountain.

After a time there was no sound of pursuit from behind. Solo sighed.

"Well, they seem to have given up."

"I doubt it, Napoleon," Illya said drily. "Look."

The small blond Russian pointed up and ahead. High on the mountain the sunlight flashed from something—something that moved up there.

"Binoculars, and trained right on us," Illya said.

"An observation post," Solo agreed. "The mountains are full of them."

"The troops are very alert. It seems obvious why," Illya said. "There!"

To the left a cloud of dust had risen into a sky above the jungle. On the mountain the flashes from the observation post became regular.

"Vehicles on a dirt road through here," Solo said.

"And the post is signaling them. About us, no doubt," Illya said.

The two agents watched the dust moving closer in the sky. Then an observation plane flew low overhead, a face looking down. To the right there was a sudden rumbling in the distance.

Illya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo began to trot ahead, still going up the mountain toward the observation post.

THREE

The game of hide and seek went on all the rest of the day. A deadly game of hounds and hares, and Illya and Solo were the hares.

The two agents made their way through the thick jungle and up the side of the mountain. Once they crossed the dirt road just minutes before an armored car came slowly along, its turret aimed into the jungle, the officer in the turret scanning the vegetation on both sides.

Once they lay under thick growth as a squad of soldiers on foot passed within a few yards.

Once they crouched in a shadowed hollow in the mountain, their fingers on their triggers, as another squad that had almost surprised them passed within a few feet.

They eluded their pursuers all the rest of the day, but they were unable to escape. They were pushed steadily south and west, higher into the mountains and farther from San Pablo.

They climbed over the first mountains and down into the valley beyond and up the slopes of the next mountains.

"We're being herded like cattle, Napoleon," Illya said. "I don't like it very much."

"Yes," Solo said, gazing up and away to the south and east. "They know what they are doing. I'd say that we are being moved deeper into the wilderness."

"I hope that is all," Illya said.

"All?"

"I hope we are not being pushed into some real trap. They know this country and we don't."

"All this proves one thing anyway—the colonel surely doesn't want us to report to the tribunal!" Solo said. "He must have most of the regiment after us."

"You always look on the bright side," Illya said. "Which brings me to the conclusion that we had better find a way to get back."

"Yes, I'd say it was about time we stopped being pushed," Solo agreed.

Without another word, the two agents turned, checked their weapons, and began to move carefully back toward the ring of troops pursuing them so relentlessly.

It was almost night when they found the opening.

It was a deep and narrow canyon in the space between two mountain peaks high up. They had spotted a light tank on the outer slope of the left mountain, and a squad of foot soldiers on the outer slope of the right mountain. In between there was this narrow canyon, deep and shadowed.

"Shall we try it?" Illya said.

"They can't cover everywhere," Solo said. "It's too steep on both sides. If we run into anyone it couldn't be many."

"Let's go then," Illya said. "It's our best bet."

They plunged cautiously into the narrow canyon.

They were halfway through and still hadn't seen any of the soldiers. They emerged on the other side, climbed up the sides of the canyon to observe. Illya pointed to the soldiers and vehicles in the fading sunlight—the line of troops was now behind them!