Code to Zero (2000)

The Explorer's orbit will be at thirty-four degrees to the equator. Relative to the Earth's surface, it will head south-east-across the Atlantic Ocean to the southern tip of Africa, then northeast across the Indian Ocean and Indonesia to the Pacific.

Huntsville Airport was small but busy. The single terminal building had a Hertz desk, some vending machines and a row of phone booths. As soon as she arrived, Billie checked on Luke's flight and learned it was running almost an hour late, and would land in Huntsville-at three fifteen. She had three hours to kill.

She got a candy bar and a Dr Pepper from a machine. She put down the attache case that contained her Colt and stood leaning against a wall, thinking. How was she going to handle this? As soon as she saw Luke, she would warn him that Anthony was here. Luke would be on his guard, and could take precautions - but he could not go into hiding. He had to find out what he had done here on Monday, and for that he would need to move around. He had to take risks. Could she do anything to help protect him?

As she was racking her brains, a girl in Capital Airlines uniform approached her. 'Are you Dr Josephson?'

Yes.'

'I have a phone message for you.' She handed over an envelope.

Billie frowned. Who knew she was here? 'Thanks,' she muttered, tearing it open.

'You're very welcome. Please let us know if there's any way we can be of further service.'

Billie looked up and smiled. She had forgotten how polite people were in the South. 'I sure will,' she said. 'I appreciate that'

The girl walked away, and Billie read her message: 'Please call Dr Lucas on Huntsville JE 6-423L'

She was bewildered. Could Luke be here already? And how had he known she would be here?

There was only one way to find out. She dropped her pop bottle in a trash can and found a payphone.

The number she dialed answered immediately, and a man's voice said: 'Components test lab/

It sounded as if Luke was already at Redstone Arsenal. How had he done that trick? She said: 'Dr Claude Lucas, please.'

'Just one moment' After a pause the man came back. 'Dr Lucas stepped out for a minute. Who is this, please?'

'Dr Bilhah Josephson, I have a message to call him on this number.'

The man's tone changed immediately. 'Oh, Dr Josephson, I'm so glad we found you! Dr Lucas is very concerned to contact you.'

'What's he doing here? I thought he was still in the air.'

'Army security pulled him off the plane at Norfolk, Virginia, and laid on a special flight He's been here more than an hour.'

She felt relieved he was safe, but at the same time she was puzzled. 'What's he doing there?'

'I think you know.'

'Okay, I guess I do. How is it going?'

'Fine - but I can't give you details, especially over the phone. Can you get yourself down to us?'

'Where are you?'

'The lab is about an hour out of town on the Chattanooga road. I could send an army driver to pick you up, but it would be quicker for you to get a cab, or rent a car.'

Billie took a notebook out of her bag. 'Give me directions.' Then, remembering her Southern manners, she added: 'If you would, please.'

.

1 P. M.

The first-stage engine must be switched off sharply, and separated immediately, otherwise gradual thrust decay could cause the first stage to catch up with the second and misalign it. As soon as pressure drops in the fuel lines, the valves are closed, and the first stage is separated five seconds later by detonation of spring-loaded explosive bolts. The springs increase the speed of the second stage by 2.6 feet per second, ensuring that it separates cleanly.

Anthony knew the way to Luke's house. He had spent a weekend there1, a couple of years back, soon after Luke and Elspeth had moved from Pasadena. He reached the place in fifteen minutes. It was on Echols Hill, a street of large older homes a couple of blocks from downtown. Anthony parked around the corner, so that Luke would not be forewarned that he had a visitor.

He walked back to the house. He should have felt quietly confident. He held all the cards: surprise, time, and a gun. But instead he was nauseated with apprehension. Twice already he had felt he had Luke in his hands, and Luke had eluded him.

He still did not know why Luke had chosen to fly to Huntsville rather than Cape Canaveral. This inexplicable decision suggested there was something Anthony did not know about, an unpleasant surprise that might leap out at him at any moment The house was a white turn-of-the century Colonial with a pillared verandah. It was too grand for an army boffin, but Luke had never pretended to live on what he made as a scientist. Anthony opened a gate in a low wall and entered the yard. The place would have been easy to break into, but that would not be necessary. He circled around to the back. By the kitchen door was a terra cotta planter with bougainvillea spilling out of it, and under the pot was a big iron key.

Anthony let himself in.

The outside was pleasantly old-fashioned, but the interior was right up to the minute. Elspeth had every kind of gadget in the kitchen. There was a big hall decorated in bright pastel colours, a living room with a console TV and a record player, and a dining room with modern splayed-leg chairs and sideboards. Anthony preferred traditional furniture, but he had to admit this was stylish.

As he stood in the living room, staring at a curved couch upholstered in pink vinyl, he recalled vividly the weekend he had spent here. He had known within an hour that the marriage was in trouble. Elspeth had been flirtatious, always a sign of tension with her, and Luke had adopted a forced air of cheery hospitality that was quite uncharacteristic.

They had given a cocktail party on the Saturday night and invited the young crowd from Redstone Arsenal. This room had been full of badly dressed scientists talking about rockets, junior officers discussing their prospects for promotion, and pretty women gossiping about the intrigues of life on a military base. The gramophone had been stacked with long-playing jazz records, but that night the music had sounded plaintive, not joyous. Luke and Elspeth had got drunk - a rare thing for both of them - and Elspeth had grown more flirty while Luke became quieter and quieter. Anthony had found it painful to see two people he liked and admired so unhappy, and the whole weekend had depressed him.

And now the long drama of their interwoven lives was playing out its inevitable conclusion.

Anthony decided to search the house. He did not know what he was looking for. But he might turn up something that would give him a clue to why Luke was coming here, and warn him of unforeseen danger. He put on a pair of rubber gloves that he found in the kitchen. There would be . a murder investigation eventually, and he did not want to leave fingerprints.

He started in the study, a small room lined with shelves full of scientific books. He sat at Luke's desk, which looked out on to the back yard, and opened the drawers.

Over the next two hours, he searched the house from top to bottom. He found nothing.

He looked in every pocket of every suit in Luke's well-filled closet. He opened every book in the study to check for papers concealed between the pages. He took the lids off every piece of Tupperware in the enormous double-door refrigerator. He went into the garage and searched the handsome black Chrysler 300C - the fastest stock sedan in the world, according to the newspapers - from its streamlined headlamps to its rocket-ship tail fins.

He learned a few intimate secrets along the way. Elspeth coloured her hair, used sleeping pills that were prescribed by a doctor, and suffered from constipation. Luke used a dandruff shampoo and subscribed to Playboy magazine.

There was a small pile of mail on a table in the hall - put there by the maid, presumably. Anthony shuffled the letters, but there was nothing of interest: a flyer from a supermarket, Newsweek, a postcard from Ron and Monica in Hawaii, envelopes with the cellophane address window that indicated a business letter.

The search had been fruitless. He still did not know what Luke might have up his sleeve.

He went into the living room. He chose a position from which he could see through the Venetian blinds to the front yard, and also through the open door into the hallway. He sat down on the pink vinyl couch.

He took out his gun, checked that it was fully loaded, and fitted the silencer.

He tried to reassure himself by imagining the scene ahead. He would see Luke arrive, probably in a taxicab from the airport. He would watch him walk into the front yard, take out his key, and open his own front door. Luke would step into the hall, close the door, then head for the kitchen. As he passed the living room, he would glance through the open doorway and see Anthony on the couch. He would stop, raise his eyebrows in surprise, and open his mouth to speak. In his mind would be some phrase such as: 'Anthony? What the hell-?' But he would never say the words. His eyes would drop to the gun held perfectly level in Anthony's lap, and he would know his fate a split second before it happened.

Then Anthony would shoot him dead.

.

3 P. M.

A system of compressed-air nozzles, mounted in the tail of the instrument compartment, will control the tilt of the nose section when in space.

Billie was lost She had known it for half an hour. Leaving the airport in a rented Ford a few minutes before one o'clock, she had driven into the centre of Huntsville, then taken Highway 59 toward Chattanooga. She had wondered why the components testing laboratory should be an hour away from the base, and imagined it might be for safety reasons: perhaps there was a danger that components would explode under testing. But she had not thought very hard about it Her directions were to take a country road to the right exactly thirty-five miles from Huntsville. She had zeroed her trip meter on Main Street but when the revolving figures reached 55 she could not see a right turn. Feeling only mildly anxious, she went on and took the next road on the right, a couple of miles farther.

The directions, which had seemed so precise as she wrote them down, never quite corresponded with the roads on which she found herself, and her anxiety grew, but she carried on, making the likeliest interpretation. Obviously, she thought, the man she had spoken to had not been as reliable as he had sounded. She wished she had been able to speak to Luke personally.

The landscape gradually became wilder, the farmhouses ramshackle, the roads potholed and the fences broken-down. The disparity between what she expected and the landmarks she saw around her grew until she threw up her hands in despair and admitted to herself that she could be anywhere. She was furious with herself and with the fool who had given her directions.

She turned around and tried to find her way back, but soon she was on unfamiliar roads again. She began to wonder if she were going around in a huge circle. She stopped beside a field where a Negro in dungarees and a straw hat was turning the hard earth with a walking plough. She stopped her car and spoke to him. 'I'm looking for the components testing lab of Redstone Arsenal,' she said.

He looked surprised. 'The army base? That's all the way back to Huntsville and across to the other side of town.'.

'But they have some kind of facility out this way.'

'Not that! ever see.' , This was hopeless. She would have to call the lab and ask for fresh directions. 'Can I use your phone?'

'Ain't got no phone.'

She was about to ask him where the nearest pay phone was when she saw a look of fear in his eyes. She realized that she was putting him in a situation that made him anxious: alone in a field with a white woman who was not making sense. She quickly thanked him and drove away.

After a couple of miles, she came upon a dilapidated feed store with a payphone outside. She pulled over. She still had Luke's message with the phone number. She put a dime in the slot and dialed.

The phone was answered immediately. A young man's voice said: 'Hello?'

'May I speak to Dr Claude Lucas?' she said.

You got the wrong number, honey.'

Can't I do anything right? she thought desperately. 'Isn't this Huntsville JE 6-4231?'

There was a pause. Yep, that's what it says on the dial.'

She double-checked the number on the message. She had not made a mistake.. 'I was trying to call the components testing lab.'

'Well, you reached a payphone in Huntsville airport.'

'A payphone?'

Yes, maam.'

Billie began to realize she had been hoodwinked.

The voice at the other end of the line went on: 'I'm about to call my Mom and tell her to come get me, and when I pick up the phone I hear you asking for some guy named Claude.' -

'Shit!' Billie said. She slammed the phone down, furious with herself for being so gullible.

Luke had not been taken off his plane in, Norfolk and put on an army flight, she realized, and he was not at the components testing lab, wherever that was. That whole story was a lie designed to get her out of the way - and it had succeeded. She looked at her watch. Luke must have landed by now. Anthony had been waiting for him - and she might as well have been in Washington, for all the use she had been.

With despair in her heart, she wondered if Luke were still alive.

If he was, maybe she could still warn him. It was too late to leave a message at the airport, but there must be someone she could call. She racked her brains. Luke had a secretary at the base, she remembered; a name like a flower...

Marigold.

She called Redstone Arsenal and asked to speak to Dr Lucas's secretary. A woman with, a slow Alabama voice came on the line. 'Computation Laboratory, how may I help you?'

'Is that Marigold?'

Yes.'

I'm Dr Josephson, a friend of Dr Lucas.'

'Yes.' She sounded suspicious.

Billie wanted this woman to trust her. 'We've spoken before, I think. My first name is Billie.'

'Oh, sure, I remember. How are you?'

'Worried. I need to get a message to Luke urgently. Is he with you?'

'No, maam. He went to his house.'

'What's he doing there?'

'Looking for a file folder.'

'A file?' Billie saw the significance of that immediately. 'A file he left here on Monday, maybe?'

'I don't know nothing about that,' said Marigold.

Of course, Luke had told Marigold to keep his Monday visit secret. But none of that was important now. 'If you see Luke, or if he calls you, would you please give him a message from me?'

'Of course.'

'Tell him Anthony is in town.'

'That's all?'

'He'll understand. Marigold ... I hesitate to say this, in case you think I'm some kind of nut, but I guess I should. I believe-Luke is in danger.'

'From this Anthony?'

'Yes. Do you believe me?'

'Stranger things have happened. Is this all tied up with him losing his memory?'

Yes. If you get that message to him, it could save his life. I mean it'

'I'll do what I can, Doctor.'

'Thank you.' Billie hung up.

Was there anyone else Luke .might talk to? She thought of Elspeth.

She called the operator and asked for Cape Canaveral.

.

3.45 P. M.

After discarding the burnt-out first stage, the missile will coast through a vacuum trajectory while the spatial-attitude-control system aligns it so that it is exactly horizontal with respect to the Earth's surface.

Everyone was bad-tempered at Cape Canaveral The Pentagon had ordered a security alert Arriving this morning, eager to get to work on the final checks for the all-important rocket launch, staff had been made to wait in line at the gate. Some had been there for three hours in the Florida sun. Gas tanks had run dry, radiators had boiled over, air-conditioners had failed, and engines had stalled, then refused to restart. Every car had been searched - hoods lifted, golf bags taken out of trunks, spare wheels removed from covers. Tempers frayed as all briefcases were opened each lunch pail unpacked, and every woman's purse dumped out on to a trestle table so that Colonel Hide's military police could paw through her lipsticks, love letters, tampons and Rolaids.

But that was not the end of it When workers reached their laboratories and offices and engineering shops, they were disrupted all over again by teams of men who went through their drawers and filing cabinets, looked inside their oscillators and vacuum cabinets, and took the inspection plates off their machine tools. 'We're trying to launch a goddamn rocket here,' people said again and again, but the security men just gritted their teeth and carried on. Despite the disruption, the launch was still scheduled for 10.30 p.m.

Elspeth was glad of the upset. It meant nobody noticed she was too distraught to do her job. She made mistakes in her timetable and produced her updates late, but: Willy Fredrickson was too distracted to reprimand her. She did not know where Luke was and she no longer felt sure she could trust Anthony.

When the phone at her desk rang a few minutes before four o'clock, her heart seemed to stop.

She-snatched up the handset Yes?

This is Billie.'

'Billie Elspeth: was taken by surprise. 'Where are you?'

'I'm in Huntsville, trying to contact Luke.'

'What's he doing there?'

'Looking for a file he left here on Monday.'

Elspeth's jaw dropped. 'He went to Huntsville on Monday? I didn't know that'

'Nobody knew, except Marigold. Elspeth, do you understand what's going on?'

She laughed humourlessly. 'I thought I did ... but not any more.'

'I believe Luke's life is in danger.'

'What makes you say so?'

'Anthony shot at him in Washington last night'

Elspeth went cold. 'Oh, my God.'

'It's too complicated to explain right now. If Luke calls you, will you tell him that Anthony is in Huntsville?'

Elspeth was trying to recover from the shock. 'Uh ... sure, of course I will.'

'It could save his life.'

'I understand. Billie ... one more thing.'

'Yeah.'

'Look after Luke, won't you?'

There was a pause. 'What do you mean?' Billie asked. You sound like you're going to die.'

Elspeth did not answer. After a moment, she broke the connection.

A sob came to her throat She fought fiercely to control herself. Tears would not help anyone, she told herself severely. She made herself calm.

Then she dialed her home in Huntsville.

.

4 P. M.

Explorer's elliptical Orbit will take it as far as 1,800 miles into space and swing it back within 187 miles of the Earth's surface. Orbiting speed of the satellite is 18,000 miles per hour.

Anthony heard a car. He looked out of the front window of Luke's house and saw a Huntsville taxicab pull up at the curb. He thumbed the safety catch on his gun. His mouth went dry.

The phone rang.

It was on one of the triangular side tables at the ends of the curved couch. Anthony stared at it in horror. It rang a second time. He was paralyzed by indecision. He looked out of the window and saw Luke getting out of the cab. The call could be trivial, nothing, a wrong number. Or it could be vital information.

Terror bubbled up inside him. He could not answer the phone arid shoot someone at the same time.

The phone rang a third time. Panicking, he snatched it up. Yes?'

This is Elspeth.'

'What? What?'

Her voice was low and strained. 'He's looking for a file he stashed in Huntsville on Monday.'

Anthony understood in a flash. Luke had made not one but two copies of the blueprints he had found on Sunday. One set he had brought to Washington, intending to take them to the Pentagon - but Anthony had intercepted him, and Anthony now had those copies. Unfortunately, he had not imagined there might be a second set, hidden somewhere as a precaution. He had forgotten that Luke was a Resistance veteran, security-conscious to the point of paranoia. 'Who else knows about this?'

'His secretary, Marigold. And Billie Josephson - she told me. There may be others.'

Luke was paying the driver. Anthony was running out of time. 'I have to have that file,' he said to Elspeth.

'That's what I thought'

'It's not here - I just searched the house from top to bottom.'

'Then it must be at the base.'

I'll have to follow him while he looks for it.'

Luke was approaching the front door.

'I'm out of time,' Anthony said, and he slammed down the phone.

He heard Luke's key scrape in the lock as he ran through the hall and into the kitchen. He went out | the back door and dosed it softly. The key was still in the outside of the lock. He turned it silently, bent down, and slipped it under the flowerpot He dropped to the ground and crawled along the verandah, keeping close to the house and below window level. In that position he turned the corner and reached the front of the house. From here to the street there was no cover. He just had to take a chance.

It seemed best to make a break for it while Luke was putting down his bag and hanging up his coat He was less likely to look out of the window now.

Gritting his teeth, Anthony stepped forward.

He walked quickly to the gate, resisting the temptation to look behind him, expecting at every second to hear Luke shout: 'Hey! Stop! Stop, or I shoot!'

Nothing happened.

He reached the street and walked away.

.

4.30 P. M.

The satellite contains two tiny radio transmitters powered by mercury batteries no bigger than flashlight batteries. Each transmitter carries four simultaneous channels of telemetry.

On top of the console TV in the living room, next to a bamboo lamp, was a matching bamboo picture frame containing a colour photograph. It showed a strikingly beautiful redhead in an ivory silk wedding dress. Beside her, wearing a grey cutaway and a yellow vest, was Luke.

He studied Elspeth in the picture. She could have been a movie star. She was tall and elegant, with a ' voluptuous figure. Lucky man, he thought, to be marrying her.

He did not like the house so much. When he had first seen the outside, and the wisteria climbing the pillars of the shady verandah, it had gladdened his heart. But the inside was all hard edges and shiny surfaces and bright paint Everything was too neat He knew, suddenly, that he liked to live in a house where the books spilled off the shelves, and the dog was asleep right across the hallway, and there were coffee rings on the piano, and a tricycle stood upside down in the driveway and had to be moved before you could put your car in the garage.

No kids lived in this house. There were no pets, either. Nothing ever got messed up. It was like an advertisement in a women's magazine, or the set of a television comedy. It made him feel that the people who appeared in these rooms were actors.

He began to search. A buff-coloured army file folder should be easy enough to find - unless he had removed the contents and thrown away the folder. He sat at the desk in the study - his study - and looked through the drawers. He found nothing of significance.

He went upstairs.

He spent a few seconds looking at the big double bed with the yellow-and-blue covers. It was hard to believe that he shared that bed every night with the ravishing creature in the wedding photo.

He opened the closet and saw, with a shock of pleasure, the rack of navy blue and grey suits and tweed sport coats, the shirts in bengal stripes and tattersall checks, the stacked sweaters and the polished shoes 'on their rack. He had been wearing this stolen suit for more than twenty-four hours, and he was tempted to take five minutes to shower and change into some of his own clothes. But he resisted. There was no time to spare.

He searched the house thoroughly. Everywhere he looked, he learned something about himself and his wife. They liked Glen Miller and Frank Sinatra, they read Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald, they drank Dewar's scotch and ate All-Bran and brushed their teeth with Colgate. Elspeth spent a lot on expensive underwear, he discovered as he went through her closet. Luke himself must be fond of ice cream, because the freezer was full of it, and Elspeth's waist was so small she could not possibly eat much of anything at all.

At last he gave up.

In a kitchen drawer he found keys to the Chrysler in the garage. He would drive to the base and search there.

Before leaving, he picked up the mail in the hall and shuffled the envelopes. It all looked straightforwardly official, bills and suchlike. Desperate for a clue, he ripped open the envelopes and glanced at each letter.

One was from a doctor in Atlanta.

It began:

Decor Mrs. Lucas, Following your routine check-up, the results of your Hood tests have come back from the lab, and everything is normal.

However.

Luke stopped reading. Something told him it was not his habit to read other people's mail. On the other hand, this was his wife, and that word 'However' was ominous. Perhaps there was a medical problem he should know about right away.

He read the next paragraph.

However, you are underweight, you suffer insomnia, and when I saw you, you had obviously been crying, although you said nothing was wrong. These are symptoms of depression.

Luke frowned. This was troubling. Why was she depressed? What kind of husband must he be?

Depression may be caused by changes in body chemistry, -by unresolved mental problems such as marital difficulties, or by childhood trauma such as the early death of a parent. Treatment may include antidepressant medication and/or psychiatric therapy.

This was getting worse. Was Elspeth mentally ill?

In your case, I have no doubt that the condition is related to the tubal ligation you underwent in 1954.

What was a tubal ligation? Luke stepped into his study, turned on the desk lamp, took from the bookshelf the Family Health Encyclopedia, and looked it up. The answer stunned him. It was the commonest method of sterilization for-women who did not want to have children.

He sat down heavily and put the encyclopedia on the desk. Reading the details of the operation, he realized that this was what women meant when they spoke of having their tubes tied.

He recalled his conversation with Elspeth this morning. He had asked her why they could not have children. She had said: 'We don't know. Last year, you went to a fertility specialist, but he couldn't find anything wrong. A few weeks ago, I saw a woman doctor in Atlanta. She ran some tests. We're waiting for the results.'

That was all lies. She knew perfectly well why they could not have children - she had been sterilized.

She had gone to a doctor in Atlanta, but not for fertility testing - she had simply had a routine checkup.

Luke was sick at heart. It was a terrible deception. Why had she lied? He looked at the next paragraph.

This procedure may cause depression at any age, but in your case, having it six weeks before your wedding-

Luke's mouth fell open. There was something terribly wrong here. Elspeth's deception had begun shortly before they got married.

How had she managed it? He could not remember, of course. But he could guess. She could have told him she was having a minor operation. She might even have said vaguely that it was a 'feminine thing'.

He read the whole paragraph.

This procedure may cause depression at any age, but in your case, having it six weeks before your wedding, it was almost inevitable, and you should have returned to your doctor for regular consultations.

Luke's anger subsided as he realized how Elspeth had suffered. He reread the line: 'You are underweight, you suffer insomnia, and when I saw you, you had obviously been crying, although you said nothing was wrong.' She had put herself through some kind of personal hell.

But although he pitied her, the fact remained that their marriage had been a lie. Thinking about the house he had just searched, he realized that it did not feel much like a home to him. He was comfortable here in the little study, and he had felt a start of recognition on opening his closet, but the rest of the place presented a picture of married life that was alien to him. He did not care for kitchen appliances and smart modern furniture. He would rather have old rugs and family heirlooms. Most of all, he wanted children - yet children were the very thing she had deliberately denied him. And she had lied about it for four years.

The shock paralyzed him. He sat at his desk, staring through the window, while evening fell over the hickory trees in the back yard. How had he let his life go so wrong? He considered what he had learned about himself in the last thirty-six hours, from Elspeth, Billie, Anthony and Bern. 'Had he lost his way slowly and gradually, like a child wandering farther and farther from home? Or was there a turning point, a moment when he had made a bad decision, taken the wrong fork in the road? Was he a weak man, who had drifted into misfortune for lack of a purpose in life? Or did he have some crucial flaw in his character?

He must be a poor judge of people, he thought He had remained close to Anthony, who had tried to kill him, yet had broken with Bern, who had been a faithful friend. He had quarrelled with Billie and married Elspeth, yet Billie had dropped everything to help him and Elspeth had deceived him.

A large moth bumped into the closed window, and the noise startled Luke out of his reverie. He looked at his watch and was shocked to see that it was past seven. If he hoped to unravel the mystery of his life, he needed to start with the elusive file. It was not here, so it had to be at Redstone Arsenal. He would turn out the lights and lock up the house, then he would get the black car out of the garage and drive to the base.

Time was pressing. The launch of the rocket was scheduled for ten-thirty. He had only three hours to find out whether there was a plot to sabotage it Nevertheless, he remained sitting at his desk, staring through the window into the darkened garden, seeing nothing.

.

7.30 P. M.

One radio transmitter is powerful but short-lived - it will be dead in two weeks. The weaker signal from the second mil last two months.

There were no lights on in Luke's house when Billie drove by. But what did that mean? There were three possibilities. One: the house was empty. Two: Anthony was sitting in the dark, waiting to shoot Luke. Three: Luke - was lying in a pool of blood, dead. The uncertainty made her crazy with fear.

She had screwed up royally, maybe fatally. A few hours ago, she had been well placed to warn Luke and save him - then she had allowed herself to be diverted by a simple ruse. It had taken her hours to get back to Huntsville and find Luke's house. She had no idea whether either of her warning messages had reached him. She was furious with herself for being so incompetent, and terrified that Luke might have died because of her failure.

She turned the next corner and pulled up. She breathed deeply and made herself think calmly. She had to find out who was in the house. But what if Anthony were there? She contemplated sneaking up, hoping to surprise him; but that was too dangerous. It was never a good idea to startle a man with a gun in his hand. She could go right up to the front door and ring the bell. Would he shoot her down in cold blood, just for being there? He might. And she did not have the right to risk her life carelessly - she had a child who needed her.

On the passenger seat beside her was her attache case. She opened it and took out the Colt She disliked the heavy touch of the dark steel on the palm of her hand. The men she had worked with, in the war, had enjoyed handling guns. It gave a man sensual pleasure to close his fist around a pistol grip, spin the cylinder of a revolver, or fit the stock of a rifle into the hollow of his shoulder. She felt none of that To her, guns were brutal and cruel, made to tear and crush the flesh and bones of living, breathing people. They made her skin crawl.

With the pistol in her lap, she turned the car around and returned to Luke's house.

She screeched to a halt outside, threw the car door open, grabbed her gun and leaped out. Before anyone inside might have time to react, she jumped the low wall and ran across the lawn to the side of the house.

She heard no sound from within.

She ran around to the back, ducked past the door, and looked in at a window. The dim light of a distant street lamp enabled her to see that it was a simple casement with a single latch. The room seemed empty. She reversed her grip on the gun and smashed the glass, all the time waiting for the gunshot that would end her life. Nothing happened. She reached through the broken pane, undid the latch, and pulled open the window. She climbed in, holding the gun in her right hand, and flattened herself against a wall. She could make out vague shapes of furniture, a desk and some bookshelves. This was a little study. Her instinct told her she was alone. But she was terrified of stumbling over Luke's body in the dark.

Moving slowly, she crossed the room and located the doorway. Her dark-accustomed eyes saw an empty hall. She stepped cautiously out, gun at the ready. She moved through the house in the gloom, dreading at every step that she would see Luke on the floor. All the rooms were empty.

At the end of her search she stood in the largest bedroom, staring at the double bed where Luke slept with Elspeth, wondering what to do next. She felt tearfully grateful that Luke was not lying here dead. But where was he? Had he changed his plans, and decided not to come here? Or had the body been spirited away? Had Anthony somehow failed to kill him? Or had one of her warnings got through?

One person who might have some answers was Marigold.

Billie returned to Luke's study and turned on the light A medical encyclopedia lay on the desk, open at the page about female sterilization. Billie frowned in puzzlement, then put aside her questions. She called information and asked for a number for Marigold dark. After a moment the voice on the line gave her a Huntsville number.

A man answered. 'She gone to singing practice,' he said.

Billie guessed he was Marigold's husband. 'Miz Lucas is down to Florida, so Marigold conducting the choir till she come back.'

Billie recalled that Elspeth had been conductor of the Radcliffe Choral Society, and later of an orchestra for black kids in Washington. It seemed she was doing something of that sort here in Huntsville, and Marigold was her deputy. 'I need to talk to Marigold real bad,' Billie said. 'Do you think it would be all right if I interrupted the choir for a minute?'

'Guess so. They're at the Calvary Gospel Church on Mill Street'

'Thank you, I sure appreciate it.'

Billie went out to her car. She found Mill Street on the Hertz map and drove there. The church was a fine brick building in a poor neighbourhood. She heard the choir as soon as she opened the car door. When she stepped inside the church, the music washed over her like a tidal wave. The singers stood at the far end. There were only about thirty men and women, but they sounded like a hundred. The hymn went 'Everybody's gonna have a wonderful time up there -oh! Glory, hallelujah!' They clapped and swayed as they sang. A pianist played a rhythmic barrelhouse accompaniment, and a large woman with her back to Billie conducted vigorously.

The pews were neat rows of wooden folding seats. She sat in the rear, conscious that hers was the only white face in the place. Despite her anxiety, the music tugged at her heartstrings. She had been born in Texas and, to her, these thrilling harmonies represented the soul of the South.

She was impatient to question Marigold, but she felt sure she would get a better response by showing respect and waiting for the end of the song.

They finished on a high chord, and the conductor immediately looked around. 'I wondered what happened to disturb your concentration,'- she said to the choir. 'Take a short break.'

Billie walked up the aisle. 'I'm sorry to interrupt,' she said. 'Are you Marigold Clark?'

'Yes,' she said warily. She was a woman of about fifty, wearing fancy spectacles. 'But I don't know you.'

'We spoke on the phone earlier, I'm Billie Josephson.'

'Oh, hi, Dr Josephson.'

They walked a few steps away from the others. Billie said: 'Have you heard from Luke?'

'Not since this morning. I expected him to show up at the base this afternoon, but he didn't Do you think he's all right?'

'I don't know. I went to his house, but there was no one there. I'm afraid he might have been killed.'

Marigold shook her head in bewilderment 'I've worked for the army twenty years and I never heard of anything like this.'

'If he is alive, he's in great danger,' Billie said. She looked Marigold in the eye. 'Do you believe me?'

Marigold hesitated for a long moment 'Yes, ma'am, I do,' she said at last 'Then you have to help me,' Billie told her.

.

9.30 P. M.

The radio signal from the more powerful transmitter may be picked up by radio hams all over the world. The weaker signal from the second can be picked up only by specially equipped stations.

Anthony was at Redstone Arsenal, sitting in his army Ford, peering through the darkness, anxiously watching the door of the Computation Laboratory. He was in the parking lot in front of the headquarters building, a couple of hundred yards away.

Luke was in the lab, searching for his file folder. Anthony knew he would not find it there, just as he had known Luke would not find it at his home - because he had already searched there. But Anthony was no longer able to anticipate Luke's movements. He could only wait until Luke decided where to go next, then try to follow him.

However, time was on his side. Every minute that passed made Luke less dangerous. The rocket would be launched in one hour. Could Luke ruin everything in an hour? Anthony knew only that over the last two days his old friend had proved again and again that he should not be underestimated.

As he was thinking this, the door to the lab opened, spilling yellow light into the night, and a figure emerged and approached the black Chrysler parked at the curb. As Anthony had expected, Luke was empty-handed. He got in and drove off.

Anthony's heartbeat quickened.. He started his engine, switched on his headlights, and followed.

The road went south in a dead-straight line. After about a mile, Luke slowed hi front of a long one-storey building and pulled into its parking lot. Anthony drove past, accelerating hi to the night. A quarter of a mile down the road, out of sight of Luke, he turned around. When he came back, Luke's car was still there, but Luke had gone. .

Anthony pulled into the parking lot and killed his engine.

Luke had felt sure he would find the folder in the Computation Lab, where his office was. That was why he had spent so long there. He had looked at every file in his own room, then in the main office where the secretaries sat And he had found nothing.

But there was one more possibility. Marigold had said that he also went to the Engineering Building on Monday. There must have been a reason for that. Anyway, it was his last hope. If the file were not here, he did not know where else to look. And anyway, he would by then have run out of time. In a few minutes, the rocket would either be launched - or be sabotaged.

Engineering had an atmosphere quite different from that of the Computation Lab. Computation was spotlessly clean, as it had to be for the sake of the massive computers that calculated thrust and speed and trajectories. Engineering was scruffy by comparison, smelling of oil and rubber.

He hurried along a corridor. The walls were painted dark green below waist level and light green above. Most of the doors had nameplates beginning 'Dr', so he presumed they were the offices of, scientists but, to his frustration, none said 'Dr Claude Lucas'. Most likely he did not have a second office, but maybe he had a desk here.

At the end of the corridor he came upon a large open room with half a dozen steel tables. On the far side, an open door led into a laboratory with granite bench tops above green metal drawers and, beyond the benches, a big double door that looked as if it led to a loading bay outside.

Along the wall to Luke's immediate left was a row of lockers, each with a name plate. One was his. Maybe he had stashed the file here.

He took out his key ring and found a likely key. It worked, and he opened the door. Inside he saw a hard hat on a high shelf. Below that, hanging from a hook, was a set of blue overalls. On the floor stood a pair of black rubber boots that looked like his size.

There, beside the boots, was a buff-coloured army file folder. This had to be what he was looking for.

The folder contained some papers. When he took them out, he could see immediately that they were blueprints for parts of a rocket His heart hammering in his chest, Luke moved quickly to one of the steel tables and spread the papers out under a lamp. After a few moments' rapid study, he knew without doubt that the drawings showed the Jupiter C rocket's self-destruct mechanism.

He was horrified.

Every rocket had a self-destruct mechanism so that, if it should veer off course and threaten human life, it could be blown up in mid-air. In the main stage of the Jupiter rocket, a Primacord igniter rope ran the length of the missile. A firing cap was attached to its top end, and two wires stuck out of the cap. If a voltage was applied across the wires, Luke could see from the drawings, the cap would ignite the Primacord, which would rip the tank, causing the fuel to burn and be dispersed, and destroying the rocket The explosion was triggered by a coded radio signal. The blueprints showed twin plugs, one for the transmitter on the ground and the other for the receiver in the satellite. One turned the radio signal into a complex code; the other received the signal and, if the code was correct, applied the voltage across the twin wires. A separate diagram, not a blueprint but a hastily drawn sketch, showed exactly how the plugs were wired, so that anyone having the diagram could duplicate the signal.

It was brilliant, Luke realized. The saboteurs had no need of explosives or timing devices - they could use what was already built in. They did not need access to the rocket: Once they had the code, they did not even have to get inside Cape Canaveral. The radio signal could be broadcast from a transmitter miles away.

The last sheet was a photocopy of an envelope addressed to Theo Packman at the Vanguard Motel. Had Luke prevented the original being mailed? He could not be sure. Standard counter intelligence procedure was to leave a spy network in place and use it for disinformation. But if Luke had confiscated the original, the sender would have mailed another set of blueprints. Either way, Theo Packman was now somewhere in Cocoa Beach with a radio transmitter, ready to blow up the rocket seconds after it took off.

But now Luke could prevent that He glanced at the electric clock on the wall. It was ten-fifteen. He had time to call Cape Canaveral and have the launch postponed. He snatched up the phone on the desk.

A voice said: 'Put it down, Luke.'

Luke turned slowly, phone in hand. Anthony stood in the doorway in his camel-hair coat, with two black eyes and a swollen lip, holding a gun with a silencer, pointing it at Luke.

Slowly and reluctantly, Luke cradled the phone. 'You were in the car behind me,' he said.

'I figured you were in too much of a rush to check.'

Luke stared at the man whom he had so misjudged. Was there some sign he should have noticed, some feature that should have warned him he was dealing with a traitor? Anthony had a pleasantly ugly face that suggested considerable force of character, but not duplicity. 'How long have you been working for Moscow?' Luke asked him. 'Since the war?'

'Longer. Since Harvard.'

'Why?'

Anthony's lips twisted into a strange smile. 'For a better world.'

Once upon a time, Luke knew, a lot of sensible people had believed in the Soviet system. But he also knew their faith had been undermined by the realities of life under Stalin. You still believe that?' he said incredulously.

'Sort of. It's still the best hope, despite all that has happened.'

Maybe it was. Luke had no way of judging. But that was not the real issue. For him, it was Anthony's personal betrayal that was so hard to understand. 'We've been friends for two decades,' he said. 'But you shot at me last night'

Yes.'

'Would you kill your oldest friend? For this cause that you only half believe in?'

Yes, and so would you. In the war, we both put lives at risk, our own and other people's, because it was right'

'I don't think we lied to one another, let alone shot at one another.'

'We would have, if necessary.'

'I don't think so.'

'Listen. If I don't kill you now, you'll try to stop me escaping - won't you?'

Luke was scared, but he angrily told the truth. 'Hell, yes.'

'Even though you know that if I'm caught, I'll finish up in the electric chair.'

'I guess so ... yes.'

'So you're willing to kill your friend, too.'

Luke was taken aback. Surely he could not be classified with Anthony? 'I might bring you to justice. That's not murder.'

'I'd be just as dead, though.'

Luke nodded slowly. 'I guess you would.'

Anthony raised the gun with a steady hand, aiming at Luke's heart Luke dropped behind the steel table.

The silenced gun coughed, and there was a metallic clang as the bullet hit the top of the table. It was cheap furniture, and the steel of which it was made was thin, but it had been enough to deflect the shot Luke rolled under the table. He guessed Anthony was now running across the room, trying to get another shot at him. He raised himself so that his back was against the underside of the table. Grabbing the two legs at one end of the table he heaved, standing upright at the same time. The table came up off the floor and teetered forward. As it toppled, Luke blindly ran with it, hoping to collide with Anthony. The table crashed to the floor.

But Anthony was not beneath it Luke tripped and tumbled onto the inverted table. He fell on his hands and knees, and banged his head on a steel leg. He rolled sideways and came up into a sitting position, hurt and dazed. He looked up to see Anthony facing him, framed by the doorway that led into the lab, braced with his feet apart, aiming his gun two-handed. He had dodged Luke's clumsy charge and got behind him. Luke was now, literally, a sitting target, and the end of his life was a second away.

Then a voice rang out: 'Anthony! Stop!'

It was Billie.

Anthony froze, gun pointed at Luke. Luke slowly turned his head and looked behind him. Billie stood by the door, her sweater a flash of red against the army-green wall. Her red lips were set in a determined line. She held an automatic pistol hi a steady hand, levelled at Anthony. Behind her was a middle-aged Negro woman, looking shocked and scared.

'Drop the gun!' Billie yelled.

Luke half expected Anthony to shoot him anyway. If he was a truly dedicated communist, he might be willing to sacrifice his life. But that would achieve nothing, for Billie would still have the blueprints, and they told the whole story.

Slowly, Anthony lowered his arms, but he did not drop the gun.

'Drop it, or I'll shoot!'

Anthony gave his twisted smile again. 'No, you won't,' he said. 'Not in cold blood.' Still pointing the gun at the floor, he began to walk backwards, making for the open door that led into the laboratory. Luke remembered noticing a door there that looked as if it led to the outside.

'Stop!' Billie cried.

'You don't believe that a rocket is worth more than a human life, even if it's a traitor's life,' Anthony said, continuing to walk backward. He was now two steps from the door.

'Don't test me!' she cried.

Luke stared at her, not knowing whether she would shoot or not.

Anthony turned and darted through the doorway.

Billie did not shoot.

Anthony leaped over a lab bench, then threw himself at a double door. It burst open, and he disappeared into the night Luke leaped to his feet Billie came towards him with her arms wide. He looked at the clock on the wall. It said ten twenty-nine. He had a minute left to warn Cape Canaveral.

He turned away from Billie and picked up the phone.

.

10.29 P. M.

The scientific instruments on board the satellite have been designed to withstand take-off pressure of more than 100 gravities.

When the phone was picked up in the blockhouse, Luke said: 'This is Luke, give me the launch conductor.'

'Right now he's-'

'I know what he's doing! Put him on, quick!'

There was a pause. In the background, Luke could hear the countdown: 'Twenty, nineteen, eighteen-'

A new voice came on the line, tense and impatient 'This is Willy - what the hell is it?'

'Someone has the self-destruct code.'

'Shit! Who?'

'I'm pretty sure it's a spy. They're going to blow up the rocket You have to abort the launch.'

The background voice said: 'Eleven, ten-'

'How do you know?' Willy asked.

'I've found diagrams of the wiring of the coded plugs, and an envelope addressed to someone called Theo Packman.'

'That's not proof. I can't cancel the launch on such a flimsy basis.'

Luke sighed, suddenly feeling fatalistic. 'Oh, Christ, what can I say? I've told you what I know. The decision is yours,'

'Five, four-'

'Hell!' Willy raised his voice. 'Stop the countdown!'

Luke slumped in his chair. He had done it. He glanced up at the anxious faces of Billie and Marigold. 'They've aborted the launch,' he said.

Billie lifted the hem of her sweater and stuffed the pistol into the waistband of her ski pants.

'Well,' said Marigold, somewhat lost for words. 'Well, I declare.'

Over the phone, Luke heard a bunch of angry questions in the blockhouse. A new voice came on the line. 'Luke? This is Colonel Hide. What the hell is going on?'

'I've discovered what made me take off for Washington in such a hurry on Monday. Do you know who Theo Packman is?'

'Uh, yeah, I think he's a freelance journalist on the missile beat, writes for a couple of European newspapers.'

'I found an envelope addressed to him containing blueprints of the Explorer's self-destruct system, including a sketch of the wiring of the coded plugs.'

'Jesus! Anyone who had that information could blow up the rocket in mid-air!'

'That's why I persuaded Willy to abort the launch.'

'Thank God you did.'

'Listen, you have to find this Packman character right now. The envelope was addressed to the Vanguard Motel, you may find him there.'

'Got it.'

'Packman was working with someone in the CIA, a double agent called Anthony Carroll. He's the one who intercepted me in Washington before I could get to the Pentagon with the information.'

'I talked to him!' Hide sounded incredulous.

'I'm sure of it'

I'll call the CIA and tell them.'

'Good.' Luke hung up. He had done all he could.

Billie said: 'What next?'

'I guess I'll go to Cape Canaveral. The launch will be rescheduled for the same time tomorrow. I'd like to be there.'

'Me, too.'

Luke smiled. 'You deserve it. You saved the rocket' He stood up and embraced her.

'Your life, you goop. To heck with the rocket, I saved your life.' She kissed him, Marigold coughed. 'You've missed the last plane from Huntsville airport,' she said in a businesslike tone.

Luke and Billie separated reluctantly.

'Next one is a MATS flight that leaves from the base at 5.30 a.m.,' Marigold went on. 'Or there's a train on the Southern Railway System you could catch. It runs from Cincinnati to Jacksonville and stops in Chattanooga around one a.m. You could get to Chattanooga in a couple of hours in that nice new car of yours.'

Billie said: 'I like the train idea.'

Luke nodded. 'Okay.' He looked at the upturned table. 'Someone's going to have to talk to army security about these bullet holes.'

Marigold said: 'I'll do it in the morning. You don't want to be waiting around here answering questions.'

They went outside. Luke's car and Billie's rental were in the parking lot. Anthony's car had gone.

Billie embraced Marigold. 'Thank you,' she said. 'You were wonderful.'

Marigold was embarrassed, and turned practical again. 'You want me to return your rental to Hertz?'

'Thank you.'

'Off you go, leave everything to me.'

Billie and Luke got into his Chrysler and drove away.

When they were on the highway, Billie said: 'There's a question we haven't talked about'

'I know,' Luke said. 'Who sent the blueprints to Theo Packman?'

'It must be someone inside Cape Canaveral, someone on the scientific team.'

'Exactly.'

'Do you have any idea who?'

Luke winced. Yes,'

'Why didn't you tell Hide?'

'Because I don't have any evidence, or even much of a reason, for my suspicions. It's just instinct. But, all the same, I'm sure.'

'Who?'

With a heart full of grief, Luke said: 'I think it's Elspeth.'

.

11 P. M.

The telemetry encoder uses hysteresis loop core materials to establish a series of input parameters from satellite instruments.

Elspeth could not believe it. Just a few seconds before ignition, the launch had been postponed. She had been so close to success. The triumph of her life had been within her grasp - and had slipped through her fingers.

She was not in the blockhouse - that was restricted to key personnel - but on the flat roof of an administration building, with a small crowd of secretaries and clerks, watching the floodlit launch pad through binoculars. The Florida night was warm, the sea-air moist. Their fears had grown as the minutes ticked by and the rocket remained on the ground; and now a collective groan went up as technicians in overalls swarmed out of their bunkers and began the complex procedure of standing down all systems. Final confirmation came when the mobile service tower slowly moved forward on its railway tracks to take the white rocket back into its steel arms.

Elspeth was in an agony of frustration. What the hell had gone wrong?

She left the others without a word and walked back to Hangar R, her long legs covering the ground with purposeful strides. When she reached her office, the phone was ringing. She snatched it up. Yes?'

'What's happening?' The voice was Anthony's.

'They've aborted the launch. I don't know why - do you?'

'Luke found the papers. He must have called.'

'Couldn't you stop him?'

'I had him in my sights - literally - but Billie walked in, armed.'

Elspeth had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Anthony pointing a gun at Luke. It only made things worse that it was Billie who had intervened. 'Is Luke all right?'

'Yes T- and so am I. But Theo's name is on those papers, remember?'

'Oh, hell.'

'They'll ,be on their way to arrest him already. You have to find him first'

'Let me think .. ..he's on the beach ... I can be there in ten minutes ... I know his car, it's a Hudson Hornet, 'Then get going!'

'Yep.' She slammed down the phone and- rushed out of the building.

She ran across the parking lot and jumped into her car. Her white BelAir was a convertible, but she kept the top up and the windows tightly shut because of the mosquitoes that plagued the Cape. She drove fast to the gate and was waved through: Security was heavy coming in, but not going out. She headed south.

There was no regular road to the beach. From the highway several narrow, unpaved tracks led between the dunes to the shore. She planned to take the first, then continue south on the beach. That way she could not miss Theo's car. She peered at the rough brush alongside the road, trying to pick out the track in the light of her headlamps. She had to go slowly, even though she was in such a hurry, for fear of missing the turn-off. Then she saw a car emerging.

It was followed by another, and another. Elspeth flashed her left-turn indicator and slowed down. A constant stream of cars was coming from the beach. The spectators had figured out that the launch was cancelled - no doubt they, too, had seen, through their binoculars, the service gantry returning to position - and they were all going home.

She waited to turn left Infuriatingly, the track was too narrow for two-way traffic. A car behind her honked impatiently. She grunted with exasperation as she saw she was not going to be able to get to the beach this way. She flicked off the indicator and floored the gas pedal.

She soon came to another turn-off, but the picture was the same: an unbroken line of cars emerging from a track too narrow to allow two cars to pass. 'Hell!' she said aloud. She was sweating now, despite the air-conditioning in her car. There was no way for her to get to the beach- She would have to think of something else. Could she wait on the highway in the hope of spotting his car? It was too chancy. What would Theo do after he left the beach? Her best option was to go to his motel and wait there.

She sped on, driving fast through the night. She wondered if Colonel Hide and army security were already at the Vanguard Motel. They might first have called the police or the FBI. They needed a warrant to arrest Theo, she knew - although law enforcement people generally had ways around such inconveniences. Whatever happened, it would take them a few minutes to get themselves together. She had a chance of beating them if she hurried.

The Vanguard was in a short business strip alongside the highway, between a gas station and a bait-and-tackle store. It had a large parking lot out front There was no sign of police or army security: she was in time. But Theo's car was not there. She parked near the motel office, where she was sure to see anyone going in or out, and switched off her engine.

She did not have to wait long. The yellow-and-brown Hudson Hornet pulled in a couple of minutes later. Theo eased into a slot at the far end of the lot, near the road, and got out, a small man with thinning hair, dressed in chinos and a beach shirt.

Elspeth got out of her own car.

She opened her mouth to call to Theo across the lot At that moment, two police cruisers arrived.

Elspeth froze.

They were Cocoa County Sheriffs vehicles. They came in fast, but without flashing lights or sirens. Behind them followed two unmarked cars. They parked across the entry, making it impossible for cars to leave..

At first Theo did not see them. He headed across the lot, toward Elspeth and the motel office.

She knew in a flash what she had to do - but it would take a steady nerve. Stay cool, she told herself. She took a deep breath, then started walking towards him.

As he came close he recognized her and said loudly: 'What the hell happened? Did they abort the launch?'

Elspeth said in a low voice: 'Give me your car keys.' She held out her hand.

'What for?'

'Look behind you.'

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the police cars. 'Fuck, what do they want?' he said shakily.

'You. Stay calm. Give me the keys.'

He dropped them into her open hand.

'Keep walking,' she said. 'The trunk of my car is not locked. Get inside.'

'Into the trunk?'

' Yes!' Elspeth went on past him.

She recognized Colonel Hide and another vaguely familiar face from Cape' Canaveral. With them were four-local cops and two tall, well-dressed young men who might have been FBI agents. None of them was looking her way. They gathered around Hide. Distantly, Elspeth heard him say: 'We need two men to check the license plates of the cars here in the lot while the rest come inside.'

She reached Theo's car and opened the trunk. Inside was the leather suitcase containing the radio transmitter - powerful, and heavy. She was not sure she could carry it. She pulled it to the lip of the trunk and dragged it over the edge. It hit the ground with a thud. She closed the trunk lid quickly.

She looked around. Hide was still giving orders to his men. At the other end of the lot, she saw the trunk of her own car slowly closing, as if of its own volition. Theo was inside, That was half the problem solved.

Gritting her teeth, she grasped the handle of the suitcase and lifted it. It felt like a box of lead. She walked a few yards, holding it as long as she could. When her fingers became numb with strain, she dropped the case. Then she picked it up with her left hand. She managed another ten yards before the pain overcame her will and she dropped the case again.

Behind her, Colonel Hide and his men were crossing the lot towards the motel office. She prayed Hide would not look at her face. The darkness made it less likely he would recognize her. Of course, she could make up some story to explain her presence here, but what if he asked to look in the case?

Once more she changed sides and grasped the handle with her right hand. She could not lift the transmitter this time. Giving up, she began to drag it across the concrete, hoping the noise would not attract the attention of the cops.

At last she reached her car. As she opened the trunk, one of the uniformed police approached her with a cheerful smile. 'Help you with that, ma'am?' he said politely.

Theo's face stared at her from inside the trunk, white and scared.

'I got it,' she said to the cop out of the corner of her mouth. With both hands, she heaved up the suitcase and slid it in. There was a quiet grunt of pain from Theo as a corner dug into him. With a quick movement, Elspeth slammed the trunk lid and leaned on it. Her arms felt as if they would fall off.

She looked at the cop. Had he spotted Theo? He gave a puzzled grin. Elspeth said: 'My daddy taught me never to pack a bag I couldn't lift.'

'Strong girl,' the cop said in a mildly resentful tone.

'Thanks, anyway.'

The other men went past, heading purposefully towards the motel office. Elspeth was careful not to catch Hide's eye. The cop lingered a moment 'Checking out?' he said.

Yeah.'

'All alone?'

'That's right.'

He bent to the window and looked into the car, front and back seats, then straightened up again. 'Drive safely.' He walked -on.

Elspeth got into her car and started the engine.

Two more uniformed cops had stayed behind and were checking license plates. She pulled up next to one of them. 'Are you going to let me out, or do I have to stay here all night?' she said. She tried a friendly smile. He checked her license plate. 'Are you alone?'

'Yes.'

He looked through the window into the back seat. She held her breath. 'Okay,' he said at last You can go-'

He sat in one of the cruisers and moved it out of the way.

She drove through the gap and pulled onto the highway, then floored the gas pedal.

Suddenly she felt limp with relief. Her arms trembled, and she had to slow the car. 'God almighty,' she breathed. 'That was too damn close.'

.

12 MIDNIGHT

Four whip antennae, protruding from the satellite cylinder, broadcast radio signals to receiving stations around the globe. Explorer will broadcast on a frequency of 108 MHz.

Anthony had to get out of Alabama. The action was in Florida now. Everything he had worked towards for twenty years would be decided at Cape Canaveral in the next twenty-four hours, and he had to be there.

Huntsville Airport was still open, lights blazing on the runway. That meant there was at least one more plane in or out tonight. He parked his army Ford at the roadside in front of the terminal building, behind a limousine and a couple of taxicabs. The place seemed deserted. He did not trouble to lock the car but hurried inside.

The place was quiet but not empty. One girl sat behind an airline counter writing in a book, and two black women in overalls were mopping the floor. Three men stood around waiting, one in chauffeur uniform and the others in the creased clothes and peaked caps of cab drivers. Pete was sitting on a bench.

Anthony had to get rid of Pete, for the man's own sake. The scene in the Engineering Building at Redstone Arsenal had been witnessed by Billie and Marigold, and one of them would soon report it. The army would complain to the CIA. George Cooperman had already said he could not shield Anthony any longer. Anthony had to give up the pretence that he was on a legitimate CIA mission. The game was up, and Pete had better go home before he got hurt.

Pete might have been bored after twelve hours waiting at the airport, but instead he seemed excited and tense as he jumped to his feet 'At last!' he said.

'What's flying out of here tonight?' Anthony said abruptly.

'Nothing. One more flight is due in, from Washington, but nothing is leaving before seven a.m.'

'Damn. I have to get to Florida.'

'There's a MATS flight from Redstone at five-thirty going to Patrick Air Force Base, near Cape Canaveral.'

'That'll have to do.'

Pete looked embarrassed. Seeming to- force the words out, he said: You can't go to Florida.'

So that was why he was so tense. Anthony said coolly: 'How so?'

'I talked to Washington. Carl Hobart spoke to me himself. We have to go back - and no argument, to quote him.'

Anthony felt wild with rage, but he pretended to be merely frustrated. 'Those assholes,' Anthony said. You can't run a field operation from headquarters!'

Pete was not buying this. 'Mr. Hobart says we have to accept there is no operation now. The army is handling this from here on.'

'We can't let them. Army security is totally incompetent.'

'I know, but I don't think we have a choice, sir.'

Anthony made an effort to breathe calmly. This had to happen sooner or later. The CIA did not yet believe he was a double agent, but they knew he had gone rogue, and they wanted to put him out of action as quietly as possible.

However, Anthony had carefully cultivated the loyalty of his men over the years, and he should still have some credit left. 'Here's what we'll do,' he said to Pete. You go back to Washington. Tell them I refused to obey orders. You're out of it - this is my responsibility now. He half turned away, as if taking Pete's consent for granted.

'Okay,' Pete said. 'I guessed you would say that and they can't expect me to kidnap you.'

'That's right,' Anthony said casually, concealing his relief that Pete was not going to argue.

'But there's something else,' Pete said.

Anthony rounded on him, letting his irritation show. 'What now?'

Pete blushed, and the birthmark on his face turned purple. 'They told me to take your gun.'

Anthony began to fear he might not be able to get out of this situation easily. There was no way he was giving up his weapon. He forced a smile and said: 'So you'll tell them I refused.'

I'm sorry, sir, I can't tell you how sorry I am. But Mr. Hobart was very specific. If you won't hand it over, I have to call the local police.'

Anthony realized then that he had to kill Pete.

For a moment he was swamped by grief. What depths of treachery he had been led into. It hardly seemed possible that this was the logical conclusion of his commitment, made two decades ago, to dedicate his life to a noble cause. Then a deadly calm descended on him. He had learned about hard choices in the war. This was a different war, but the imperatives were the same. Once you were in, you had to win, whatever it took. 'In that case, I guess it's all over,' he said with a sigh that was genuine. 'I think it's a dumb decision, but I believe I've done all I can.'

Pete made no attempt to conceal his relief. 'Thank you,' he said. 'I'm so glad you're taking it this way,'

'Don't you worry. I won't hold this against you I know you have to follow a direct order from Hobart'

Pete's face took on a determined expression. 'So, do you want to give me the firearm now?'

'Sure.' The gun was in Anthony's coat pocket, but he said: 'It's in my trunk.' He wanted Pete to go with him to the car, but he pretended the opposite. 'Wait here, I'll get it'

As he had expected, Pete feared he was trying to escape. 'I'll come with you,' Pete said hastily.

Anthony pretended to hesitate and then give in. 'Whatever.' He walked through the door, with Pete following. The car was parked at the kerb, thirty yards from the airport entrance. There was no one in sight Anthony thumbed the trunk lid and threw it open. 'There you go/he said-

Pete bent over to look in the trunk.

Anthony drew the gun, silencer attached, from inside his coat. For a moment, he was tempted by a mad impulse to put the barrel in his own mouth and pull the trigger, bringing the nightmare to an end.

That moment of delay was a crucial mistake.

Pete said: 'I don't see any gun,' and he turned around.

He reacted fast. Before Anthony could level his gun with its cumbersome silencer, Pete stepped sideways, away from the muzzle, and swung a fist He caught Anthony with a bonejarring blow to the side of the head. Anthony staggered. Pete hit him with the other fist, connecting with his jaw, and Anthony stumbled backwards and fell; but as he hit the ground he brought the gun up. Pete saw what was going to happen. His face twisted in fear and he lifted his hands, as if they could protect him from a bullet; then Anthony pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession.

All three bullets found their target on Pete's chest, and blood spurted from three holes in his grey mohair suit He fell to the road with a thud. -.- Anthony scrambled to his feet and pocketed the gun. He looked up and down. No one was arriving at the airport, and no one had come out of the building. He bent over Pete's body.

Pete looked at him. He was not dead.

Fighting down nausea, Anthony picked up the bleeding body and tumbled it into the open trunk of the car. Then he drew his gun again. Pete lay in the trunk, twisted in pain, staring at him with terrified eyes. Chest wounds were not always fatal: Pete could live if he were treated in hospital soon. Anthony pointed the gun at Pete's head. Pete tried to speak, and blood came out of his mouth. Anthony pulled the trigger.

Pete slumped, and his eyes closed.

Anthony slammed the trunk lid and collapsed onto it He had been hit seriously hard for the second time in a day, and his head was swimming; but worse than the physical damage was the knowledge of what he had done.

A voke said: 'Are you okay, buddy?'

Anthony came upright, stuffing1 the gun inside his coat, and turned around. A taxi had pulled up behind and the driver walked up, looking concerned. He was a black man with greying hair. :, ::

How much had the man seen? Anthony did not know if he had the heart to kill him, tool The cabbie said: 'Whatever you were loading into your trunk, looks like it was heavy.'

'A rug,' Anthony said, breathing hard.

The man looked at him with the candid curiosity of small-town people. 'Someone give you a black eye? Or 'A little accident'

'Come inside, get a cup of coffee or something.' 'No, thanks. I'm okay.'

'Please yourself.' The driver ambled slowly into the terminal. :

Anthony got into his car and drove away.

.

1.30 A. M.

The first task of the radio transmitters is to provide signals enabling the satellite to be followed by tracking stations on Earth - to prove that it is in orbit.

The train pulled slowly out of Chattanooga. In the cramped roomette, Luke took off his jacket and hung it up, then perched on the edge of the lower bunk and unlaced his shoes. Billie sat cross-legged on the bunk, watching him. The lights of the station flickered then faded as the locomotive gathered speed, heading into the Southern night, bound for Jacksonville, Florida.

Luke undid his tie. Billie said: 'If this is a striptease, it doesn't have much oomph.'

Luke grinned ruefully. He was going slowly because he was undecided. They had been forced to share the roomette: only one was available. He was longing to take Billie in his arms. Everything he had learned about himself and his life told him that Billie was the woman he should be with. Yet, all the same, he hesitated. -

'What?' she said. 'What are you thinking?'

'That this is too quick,'

'Seventeen years is nothing?'

'To me it's been a couple of days, that's all I can remember.'

'It feels like forever.'

'I'm still married to Elspeth.'

Billie nodded solemnly. 'But she's been lying to you for years.'

'So I should jump out of her bed into yours?'

She looked offended. 'You should do what you want'

He tried to explain. 'I don't like the feeling that I'm seizing an excuse.' She said nothing in reply, so he added: 'You don't agree, do you?'

'Hell, no,' she said. 'I want to make love to you tonight -I remember what it was like, and I want k again, right now.' She glanced out of the window as the train flew-through a small town: ten seconds of streaking lights and they were in darkness again. 'But I know you' she went on. 'You've sever been on to five for the moment, even when we were kids. You need tune to think things through and convince yourself that you're doing the right thing,''

'Is that so bad?'

She smiled. 'No. I'm glad you're like that It makes you rock-solid reliable. If you weren't this way, I guess I wouldn't have ...' Her voice tailed off.

'What were you going to say?'

She looked him in the eye. 'I wouldn't have loved you this much, this long.' She was embarrassed, and covered up by saying something flip. 'Anyway, you need a shower.-

It was true. He had been wearing the same clothes since he had stolen them thirty-six hours ago. 'Every time I thought about changing, there was something more urgent to do,' he said. 'I have fresh clothes in my bag.'

'No matter. Why don't you climb up on top, and give me room to take off my shoes.'

Obediently, he climbed the little ladder and lay down on the top bunk. He turned on his side, elbow on the pillow, head resting on his hand. 'Losing your memory is like a new start in life,' he said. 'Like being born again. Every decision you ever made can be revisited.'

She kicked off her shoes and stood up. I'd hate that,' she said. With a swift movement she slipped off her black ski pants and stood there in her sweater and brief white panties. Catching his eye, she grinned and said: 'It's okay, you can watch.' She reached under her sweater at the back and unfastened her brassiere. Then she drew her left arm out of her sleeve, reached inside with her right hand to pull the strap off her shoulder, thrust her left arm back into the sleeve, and drew her bra out of her right sleeve with a conjurer's flourish.

'Bravo,' he said.

She gave him a thoughtful look. 'So, we're going to sleep now?'

'I guess.'

'Okay.' She stood on the edge of the lower bunk and raised herself to his level, tilting her face to be kissed. He leaned forward and touched her lips with his own. She closed her eyes. He felt the tip of her tongue flick over his lips, then she pulled away and her face disappeared.

He lay on his back, thinking about her lying a few inches below, with her round breasts inside the soft angora sweater her neat bare legs. In a few moments he was asleep.

He had an intensely erotic dream. He was Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, with donkey's ears, and he was being kissed all over his hairy face by Titania's fairies, who were naked girls with slim legs and round breasts. Titania herself, the queen of the fairies, was unbuttoning his pants, while the wheels of the train drummed an insistent beat...

He woke up slowly, reluctant to leave fairyland and return to the world of railroads and rockets. His shirt was open and his pants were undone. Billie lay beside him, kissing him. 'Are you awake?' she murmured in his ear - a normal ear, not a donkey's. She giggled. 'I don't want to waste this on a guy who's asleep.'

He touched her, running his hand along her side. She still had on the sweater, but her panties had gone. 'I'm awake,' he said thickly.

She lifted herself on hands and knees so that she was over him, poised in the narrow space below the ceiling of the roomette. Looking into his eyes, she lowered her body onto his. He sighed with intense pleasure as he slid inside her. The train rocked from side to side, and the tracks sang to an erotic rhythm.

He reached inside her sweater to touch her breasts. Her skin was soft and warm. She whispered in his ear 'They missed you.'

He felt as if he were still half in the dream, as the train rocked and Billie kissed his face and America flew by the window, mile after mile. He wound his arms around her back and held her tightly, to convince himself that she was made of flesh and blood, not fairy gossamer. Just as he was thinking that he wanted this to go on forever, his body took control, and he clung to her as waves of pleasure broke over him.

As soon as it was over she said: 'Keep still. Hold me tight' He did not move. She buried her face in his neck, her breath hot on his skin. As he lay prone, still inside her, she seemed to twitch with an internal spasm, time and time again, until at last she sighed deeply and relaxed.

They lay still a few minutes longer, but Luke was not sleepy. Billie evidently felt the same, for she said: 'I have an idea. Let's wash.'

He laughed. 'Well, I sure need it.'

She rolled off him and climbed down, and he followed. In the corner of the roomette was a tiny washbasin with a cupboard over it. Billie found a hand towel and a little cake of soap in the cupboard. She filled the basin with hot water. I'll wash you, then you can wash me,' she said. She soaked the towel, rubbed soap on it, and began.

It was delightfully intimate and sexy. He closed his eyes. She soaped his belly, then kneeled to wash his legs. 'You missed a bit,' he said.

'Don't worry, I'm leaving the best part till last.' When she had finished, he did the same for her, which was even more arousing. Then they lay down again, this time on the lower bunk.

'Now,' she said, 'do you remember oral sex?' 'No,' he said. 'But I think I can figure it out'

*

PART 6

8.30 A. M.

To help track the satellite accurately, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed a new radio technique called Microlock. The Microlock stations use a phased-lock loop tracking system which is able to lock on to a signal of only one-thousandth of a watt from as far as 20,000 miles away.

Anthony flew to Florida in a small plane that bumped and bucked with every gust of wind all the way across Alabama and Georgia. He was accompanied by a general and two colonels who would have shot him on sight if they had known the purpose of his trip.

He landed at Patrick Air Force Base, a few miles south of Cape Canaveral. The air terminal consisted of a few small rooms at the rear of an aircraft hangar. In his imagination he saw a detachment of FBI agents, with their neat suits and shiny shoes, waiting to arrest him; but there was only Elspeth.

She looked drained. For the first time, he saw signs of approaching middle age in her. The pale skin of her face showed the beginnings of wrinkles, and the posture of her long body was a little stooped. She led him outside to where her white Corvette was parked in the-hot sun.

As soon as they were inside the car, he said: 'How's Theo?'

'Pretty shook, but he'll be okay.'

'Do the local police have his description?'

'Yes - Colonel Hide gave it out.'

'Where's he hiding?'

- 'In my motel room. He'll stay there until dark.' She drove out of the base onto the highway and turned north. 'What about you? Will the CIA give out your description to the police?'

'I don't think so.'

'So you can move around fairly freely. That's good, because you'll need to buy a car.'

'The Agency likes to solve its own problems. Right now, they think I've gone rogue, and their only concern is to take me out of circulation before I embarrass them. Once they start listening to Luke, they'll realize they've been harbouring a double agent for years - but that may make them even more concerned to hush up the whole thing. I can't be sure, but my guess is there will be no high-profile search for me.'

'And no shadow of suspicion has fallen on me. So all three of us are still in play. That gives us a good chance. We can still pull this thing off.'

'Luke doesn't suspect you?'

'He has no reason to.'

'Where is he now?'

'On a train, according to Marigold,' A note of bitterness entered her voice. 'With Billie.'

'When will he get here?'

'I'm not sure. The overnight train takes him to Jacksonville, but from there he has to get a slow train down the coast Some time this afternoon, I guess.

They drove in silence for a while. Anthony tried to make himself calm. In twenty-four hours, it would be all over. They would have struck a historic blow for the cause to which they had devoted their lives, and they would go down in history - or they would have failed, and the space race would once again be a two-horse contest.

Elspeth glanced across at him. 'What will you do after tonight?'

'Leave the country.' He tapped the small case in his lap. 'I have everything I need - passports, cash, a few simple items of disguise.'

'And then?'

'Moscow.' He had spent much of the flight thinking about this. 'The Washington desk at the RGB, I imagine.' Anthony was a major in the KGB. Elspeth had been an agent longer - had, in fact, recruited Anthony, back at Harvard - and she was a colonel. 'They'll give me some kind of senior advisory-consultative role,' he went on. 'After all, I'll know more about the CIA than anyone else in the Soviet bloc.'

'How will you like life in the USSR?'

'In the workers' paradise, you mean?' He gave her a wry grin. 'You've read George Orwell. Some animals are more equal than others. I guess a lot will depend on what happens tonight If we pull this off, we'll be heroes. And if not....

You're not nervous?'

'Sure I am. I'll be lonely at first - no friends, no family, and I don't speak Russian. But maybe I'll get married and raise a brood of little comrades.' His flip answers disguised the depth of his anxiety. 'I decided, a long time ago, to sacrifice my personal life to something more important.'

'I made the same decision, but I'd still be frightened by the thought of moving to Moscow.'

'It's not going to happen to you.'

'No. They want me to stay in place, at all costs.'

She had obviously talked to her controller, whoever that was. Anthony was not surprised by the decision to leave Elspeth in place. For the last four years, Russian scientists had known everything about the US space programme. They saw every important report, all the test results, each blueprint produced by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency - thanks to Elspeth. It was as good as having die Redstone team working for the Soviet programme. Elspeth was die reason die Soviets had beaten the Americans into space. She was easily the most important spy of the Cold War.

Her work had been done at enormous personal sacrifice, Anthony knew. She had married Luke in order to spy on the space programme. But her love for him was genuine, and it had broken her heart to betray him. However, her triumph was the Soviet victory in the space race, which would be sealed tonight That would make everything worthwhile.

Anthony's own triumphs were second only to Elspeth's. A Soviet agent, he had penetrated to the highest levels of the CIA. The tunnel he had been responsible for in Berlin, which had tapped into Soviet communications, had in fact been a channel for disinformation. The KGB had used it to mislead the CIA into wasting millions shadowing men who were not spies, penetrating organizations that were never communist fronts, and discrediting Third World politicians who were in fact pro-American. If he was lonely in his Moscow flat, he would think of what he had achieved, and it would warm his heart.

Among the palm trees on the roadside ahead, he saw a huge model of a space rocket above a sign that read- 'Starlite Motel'. Elspeth slowed the car and pulled in. The office was in a low building with angular buttresses that gave it a futuristic look. Elspeth parked as far as possible from the road. The rooms were in a two-storey building around a large pool where a few early birds were already sunbathing. Beyond the pool, Anthony could see the beach.

Despite the assurances he had given Elspeth, he wanted to be seen by as few people as possible, so he pulled his hat low and walked quickly as they went from the car to her upstairs room.

The motel was making the most of the space-programme connection. The lamps were shaped like rockets, and there were pictures of stylized planets and stars on the walls. Theo was standing at the window, looking out over the ocean. Elspeth introduced the two men and ordered coffee and doughnuts from room service. Theo said to Anthony: 'How did Luke find me out - did he explain that to you?'

Anthony nodded. 'He was using the Xerox machine in Hangar R. There's a security log book beside the machine. You have to note 'the date and time and the number of copies you made, and sign the log. Luke noticed that twelve copies had been signed for by 'WvB', meaning Wernher von Braun.'

Elspeth said: 'I always used von Braun's name, because no one would dare to question the boss about the Xerox copies he needed.'

Anthony went on: 'But Luke knew something you and everyone else didn't know - that von Braun was in Washington that day. Luke's instinct rang an alarm bell. He went to the mail room and found the copies in an envelope addressed to you. But he had no clue as to who had sent the package. He decided he. couldn't trust anyone down here, so he flew to Washington. Fortunately, Elspeth called me and I was able to intercept Luke before he could tell anyone.'

Elspeth said: 'But now we're right back where we were on Monday. Luke has rediscovered what we made him forget'

Anthony asked hen 'What do you think the army will do now?'

'They could launch the rocket with the self-destruct mechanism disabled. But if it got out that they had done so, there would be hell to pay, and the fuss might spoil the triumph. So my guess is they'll change the code, so that a different signal is required to digger the explosion.'

'How would they do that?'

'I don't know.'

There was a knock at the door. Anthony tensed, but Elspeth said: 'I ordered coffee.' Theo went into the bathroom. Anthony turned his back to the door. To look natural, he opened the closet and pretended to study the clothes inside. There was a suit of Luke's hanging there, a light grey herringbone, and a stack of blue shirts. Instead of letting the waiter in, Elspeth stood in the doorway to sign the bill, tipped the man, then took the tray from him and closed the door.

Theo came out of the bathroom and Anthony sat down again.

Anthony said: 'What can we do? If they change the code we can't make the rocket self-destruct.'

Elspeth put down the coffee tray. 'I have to find out what their plan is, and figure out a way around it' She picked up her handbag and slung her jacket over her shoulders. 'Buy a car. Drive to the beach as soon as it's dark. Park as near as you can to the Cape Canaveral fence. I'll meet you there. Enjoy your coffee.' She went out After a moment, Theo said: 'You have to give her credit, she's got a cool nerve.'

Anthony nodded. 'It's what she needs.'

.

4 P. M.

A string of tracking stations stretches from north to south roughly along the line of longitude 65 degrees west of the Greenwich meridian. The network will receive signals from the satellite every time it passes overhead.

The countdown stood at X minus 390 minutes.

Countdown time was moving in step with real time, so far, but Elspeth knew that might not last. If something unexpected happened, causing a delay, the countdown would stop. After the problem had been solved, the countdown would resume where it had left off, even though ten or fifteen minutes had passed. As the moment of ignition approached, the gap often broadened, and countdown time fell farther behind real time.

Today the countdown had started half an hour before noon, at X minus 660 minutes. Elspeth had moved about the base restlessly, updating her timetable, alert for any change in procedure. So far she had gained no due as to how the scientists planned to guard against sabotage - and she was beginning to feel desperate.

Everyone knew Theo Packman was a spy. The desk clerk at the Vanguard had told people that Colonel Hide had raided the motel with four cops and two FBI men, and asked at the desk for Theo's room number. The space community quickly linked the news with the last-second cancellation of the launch. The explanation given, that a late weather report had indicated a worsening of the jet stream, was not believed by anyone inside Cape Canaveral's perimeter fence. By this morning everyone had been talking about sabotage. But no one seemed to know what was being done about it; or, if they did, they were not spreading the news. As midday cooled into afternoon, Elspeth's tension mounted. So far she had not asked direct questions, for fear of arousing suspicion, but before too long she would have to abandon caution. If she did not learn the plan soon, it would be too late for her to act it+ counter it

Luke had not shown up yet She was longing to see him, and dreading it at the same time. She missed him when he was not beside her at night But when he was there, she thought all the time about how she was working to destroy his dream. Her deceit had poisoned their marriage, she knew. All the same, she yearned to see his face, to hear his grave, courteous voice, to touch his hand and make him smile.

The scientists in the blockhouse were taking a break, eating sandwiches and drinking coffee where they-sat at their panels. There was normally some joshing when an attractive woman entered the room; but today the atmosphere was quiet and tense. They were waiting for something to go wrong: a warning light, an overload, a broken part or a malfunctioning system. As soon as a glitch appeared, the mood would change: they would all become more cheerful as they got immersed in the problem, trying out explanations, brainstorming solutions, jury-rigging a repair. They were the kind of men who were happiest fixing something.

She sat next to Willy Fredrickson, her boss, who had his headphones around his neck while he ate a grilled-cheese sandwich. 'I guess you know everyone's talking about an attempt to sabotage the rocket,' she said conversationally.

Willy looked disapproving, which she took as a sign that he knew exactly what she was talking about Before he could reply, a technician at the back of the room said: 'Willy,' and touched his own headphones.

Willy put down his sandwich and replaced his headset, then said: 'Fredrickson here.' He listened for a minute, 'Okay,' he said into his mouthpiece. 'Quick as you can.' Then he looked op and said: 'Stop the countdown.'

Elspeth tensed. Was this the due she was waiting for? She lifted her notebook and pencil expectantly.

Willy took off his headphones. There'll be a ten-minute delay,' he said. His tone of voice betrayed only the normal irritation with any glitch. He took another bite of his sandwich.

Fishing for more information, Elspeth said: 'Shall I say why we have to replace a feed-through capacitor that seems to be chattering?'

It was possible, Elspeth thought capacitors were essential to the tracking system, and 'chattering -random small electrical discharges - could be a sign that the device was going to fail. Bat she was not convinced. She made up her mind to check it out, if she could.

She scribbled a note, then got up and left with a cheery wave. Outside the blockhouse he afternoon shadows were lengthening. The white shaft of the rocket stood like a signpost to the heavens. She imagined it taking off, lifting with agonizing slowness from the launch pad on its tail flame and rising into the night. Then she saw a flash of light brighter than the sun as the rocket exploded, fragments of metal scattering like shards of glass, a ball of red-and-black flame in the night sky, and a roaring sound like the triumphant shout of all the earth's poor and wretched.

She walked briskly across the sandy lawn to the concrete launch pad, circled around the gantry to the back and entered the steel cabin in its base that housed the offices and machinery. The gantry supervisor, Harry Lane, was speaking into a phone, making notes with a thick pencil. When he hung up, she said: Ten minutes delay?'

'Could be more. He did not look at her, but that did not mean much: he was always rude, not liking to see women on the launch pad.

Writing in her notebook, she said: 'Reason?'

'Replacing a malfunctioning component,' he said.

'Would you care to tell me which component?'

'No.'

It was maddening. She still could not tell whether he was covering up for security reasons or being just, plain awkward. She turned away. Just then, a technician in oily overalls walked in. 'Here's the old one, Harry,' he said.

In his dirty hand he held a plug.

Elspeth knew exactly what it was: the receiver for the coded self-destruct signal. The pins that stuck out from it were crosswired in a complex manner, so that only the correct radio signal would cause it to ignite the firing cap.

She walked quickly out the door before Harry could see the triumphant expression on her face. Heart thumping with excitement, she hurried back to her jeep.

She sat in the driving seat, working it out To prevent sabotage they were replacing the plug. The new one would be wired differently, to work on a different code. A matching broadcast plug must have been fitted to the transmitter. The new plugs had probably been flown here from Huntsville earlier in the day.

It made sense, she thought with satisfaction. At last she knew what the army was doing. But how could she outmanoeuvre them?

The plugs were, always made in sets of four, the duplicate pair being a spare hi case of malfunction. It was the duplicate pair that Elspeth had examined, last Sunday, when she had sketched the wiring so that Theo could mimic the radio code and trigger the explosion. Now, she thought worriedly, she had to do the same all over again: find the duplicate set, dismantle the transmitter plug, and sketch its wiring.

She started the jeep and drove fast back to the hangars. Instead of going into Hangar R, where her desk was, she entered Hangar D and went to the telemetry room. This was where she had found the duplicate plugs the last time.

Hank Mueller was leaning on a bench with two other scientists, looking solemnly at a complex electrical device. When he saw her he brightened and said: 'Eight thousand.'

His colleagues groaned in mock despair and moved away.

Elspeth suppressed her impatience. She would have to play the numbers game with him before anything else. 'It's the cube of twenty,' she said.

'Not good enough.'

She thought for a moment 'Okay, it's the sum of four consecutive cubes: 11 cubed + 12cubed +13 cubed + 14 cubed equals 8,000.'

'Very good.' He gave her a dime and looked expectant She racked her brains for a curious number, then said: 'The cube of 16,830.'

He frowned, and looked affronted. 'I can't work that out, I need a computer!' he said indignantly.

'haven't you heard of it? It's the sum of all the 'Consecutive cubes from 1,134 to 2,133.'

'I didn't know that'

'When I was in high school, the number of my parents' house was 16,830, that's how I know.'

'This is the first time you've ever kept my dime.' He looked comically despondent She could not search the lab: she had to ask him. Fortunately, the other men were out-of earshot, just. She blurted out 'Do you have the duplicate set of new plugs from Huntsville?'

'No,' he replied, looking even more despondent. 'They say security is not good enough here. They put the plugs in a safe.'

She was relieved that he did not question 'her need to know. 'What safe?' 'They didn't tell me.'

'Never mind.' She pretended to make a note in her book, and went out She hurried to Hangar R, running across the sandy earth in her high-heeled shoes. She felt optimistic. But she still had a' lot to do. It was getting dark already, she noticed.

There was only one safe that she knew of and that was in Colonel Hide's office.

Back at her desk, she rolled an army envelope into her typewriter and marked it 'Dr W. Fredrickson -Eyes Only.' Then she folded two blank sheets of paper, slid them into the envelope, and sealed it She went to Hide's office, tapped at the door, and walked hi. He was alone, sitting behind his desk, smoking a pipe. He looked up and smiled: like most of the men, he was generally pleased to see a pretty face. 'Elspeth,' he said in his slow drawl. 'What can I do for you?'

'Would you keep this in the safe for Willy?' She handed him the envelope.

'Sure,' he said, 'What is it?'

'He didn't tell me.'

'Naturally.' He spun around in his chair and opened a cupboard behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Elspeth saw a steel door with a dial. She moved closer. The dial was graduated from 0 to 99, but only multiples of 10 were marked with a figure, the other numbers being indicated by a notch. She peered at the dial. She had sharp eyesight; but still it was difficult to see exactly where Hide stopped the dial. She strained forward, leaning over the desk to get closer.

The; first number was easy: 10. Then he dialed a number just below 30, either 29 or 28. finally he moved the dial to between 10 and 15. The combination was something like 10-29-13. It must be his birthday, either the 28th or 29th of October, in 1911, 1912, 1913 or 1914. That gave a total of eight possibilities. If she could get in here alone, she could try them all in a few minutes.

Hide opened the door. Inside were two plugs. 'Eureka,' Elspeth whispered.

'What was that?' Hide said.

'Nothing,'

He grunted, tossed the envelope into the safe, closed the door and spun the dial.

Elspeth was already on her way out 'Thank you, Colonel.'

'Anytime.'

Now she had to wait for him to leave his office. She could not quite see his door from her desk. However, he was farther down the corridor, so he had to pass her office to get out She propped her door open.

Her phone rang. It was Anthony. 'We're leaving here in a few minutes,' he said. 'Do you have what we need?'

'Not yet, but I will.' She wished she felt as sure as she sounded. 'What kind of car did you buy?'

'A light green Mercury Monterey, fifty-four model, the old-fashioned style, no tail fins.'

'I'll recognize it. How's Theo?'

'Asking me what he should do after tonight.'

'I assumed he'd fly to Europe and continue to work for Le Monde.'

'He's afraid they may track him down there?'

'I guess they might Then he should go with you.'

'He doesn't want to.'

'Promise him anything,' she said impatiently. 'Just make sure he's ready for tonight'

'Okay.'

Colonel Hide passed her door. 'I gotta go,' she said, and hung up.

She went out, but Hide had not disappeared. He stood in the next doorway, talking to the girls in the typing pool. He was still in sight of his door. Elspeth could not go in. She loitered for a minute, wishing he would move on. But, when he did, he returned to his office.

He stayed there for two hours.

Elspeth almost went crazy. She had the combination, she only needed to get in there and open the safe, and he would not go away. He sent his secretary to get coffee from the mobile refreshment stall they called the Roach Coach. He did not even go to the bathroom. Elspeth began to dream up ways of putting him out of action. She had been taught, in OSS,' how to strangle someone with a nylon stocking, but she had never tried it Anyway, Hide was a big man, he would put up a hell of a struggle.

She did not leave her office. Her timetable was forgotten. Willy Fredrickson would be furious, but what did that matter?

She looked at her wristwatch every few minutes. At eight-twenty Hide at last walked past, She sprang up and went to her door. She saw him heading down the stairs. Launch was now only a couple of hours away: lie was probably heading for the blockhouse..

Another man was walking along the corridor towards her. He said: 'Elspeth?' in an uncertain voice that she recognized. Her heart stopped, and she met his eye.

It was Luke.

.

8.30 P. M.

Information from the satellite's recording instruments is transmitted via radio by a musical tone. The different instruments use tones of different frequencies, so that the 'voices' can be separated, electronically, when they are Luke had been dreading this momentum:

He had dropped Billie off at the Starliter. She planned to check in and freshen up, then get a cab to the base in time to see the launch. Luke had gone straight to the blockhouse and learned that take-off was now scheduled for 10.45 p.m. Willy Fredrickson had explained the precautions the team had taken to prevent the sabotage of the rocket, Luke was not completely reassured. He wished Theo Packman had been arrested, and he would have liked to know where Anthony was. However,' neither of them could do anything with the wrong code. And the new plugs were locked in a safe, Willy told him.

He would feel less worried when he had seen Elspeth. He had not told anyone about his suspicions of her - partly because he could not bear, to accuse her, partly because he had no evidence. But when he looked into her eyes and asked her to tell him the truth, he would know.

He came up the stairs in Hangar R with a heavy heart. He had to talk to Elspeth about her betrayal, and he had to confess that he had been unfaithful to her. He did not know which was worse.

As he reached the top of the stairs he passed a man in colonel's uniform who spoke without stopping. 'Hey, Luke, good to have you back, see you in the blockhouse.' Then he saw a tall redhead emerge from an office along the corridor, looking anxious. There was a poised tension to her slender body as she stood in the doorway, looking past Luke at the colonel going down the stairs. She was more beautiful than her wedding photograph. Her pale face had a faint glow, like the surface of a lake at dawn. He felt a jolt of emotion like a shot in the arm, a strong feeling of tenderness for her.

He spoke to her, and then she noticed him. 'Luke!' She came1 quickly towards him. Her smile of welcome showed genuine pleasure, but he saw fear in her eyes. She threw her arms around him and kissed his lips. He realized he should not have been surprised - she was his wife, and he had been away all week. A hug was the most natural thing hi the world. She had no idea that he suspected her, so she was continuing to act like a normal wife.

He cut short the kiss and detached himself from her embrace. She frowned and looked hard at him, trying to read his expression. 'What is it?' she said. Then she sniffed, and sudden anger suffused her face.

'You son of a bitch, you smell of sex.' She pushed him away. 'You fucked Billie Josephson, you bastard!' A passing scientist looked startled to hear such language, but she took no notice. You fucked her on the goddamn train.'

He did not know what to say. Her betrayal was worse than his, but all the same he was ashamed of what he had done. Anything he said was going to sound like an excuse, and he hated excuses, they made a man pathetic. So he said nothing.

Her mood switched again, just as quickly. 'I don't have time for this,' she said. She looked up and down the corridor, seeming impatient and distracted.

Luke was suspicious. 'What do you have to do that is more important than this conversation?'

'My job!'

'Don't worry about that.'

'What the hell are you talking about? I have to go. We'll talk later.'

'I don't think so,' he said firmly.

She reacted to his tone. 'What do you mean, you don't think so?'

'When I was at the house I opened a letter addressed to you.' He took it out of his jacket pocket and gave it to her. 'It's from a doctor in Atlanta.'

The blood drained from her face. She pulled the letter out of the envelope and began to read it. 'Oh, my God,' she whispered.

'You had your tubes tied six weeks before our wedding,' he said. Even now he could hardly believe it.

Tears came to her eyes. 'I didn't want to do it,' she said. 'I had to.'

He recalled what the doctor had said about Elspeth's state - insomnia, loss of weight, sudden crying, depression - and he felt a surge of compassion. His voice fell to a whisper. 'I'm so sorry you've been unhappy,' he said.

'Don't be nice to me, I couldn't stand it'

'Let's go into your office.' He took her arm and led her into the room, closing the door. She went automatically to her desk and sat down, fumbling in her purse for a handkerchief. He got the big chair from behind the boss's desk and pulled it over so that he could sit close to her.

She blew her nose. 'I almost didn't have the operation,' she said. 'It broke my heart.'

He looked carefully at her, trying to be cool and detached. 'I guess they forced you to,' he said. He paused. Her eyes widened. 'The KGB,' he went on, and she stared at him. 'They ordered you to marry me so that you could spy on the space programme, and they made you get sterilized so that you would not have children to divide your loyalties.' He saw a terrible grief in her eyes, and he knew he was right 'Don't lie,' he said quickly. 'I won't believe you.'

'All right,' she said.

She had admitted it. He sat back. It was all over. He felt breathless and bruised, as if he had fallen out of a tree.

'I kept changing my mind,' she said, and tears rolled down her face as she spoke. 'In the morning I'd be determined to do it Then at lunch time. I'd call you on the phone, and you'd say something about a house with a big yard for children to run around in, and I'd make up my mind to defy them. Then, alone in bed at night, I'd think how badly they needed the information I could get if I was married to you, and I'd resolve all over again to do what they wanted.'

You couldn't do both?'

She shook her head. 'As it was I could hardly stand it, loving you and spying on you at the same time. If we'd had children I never could have done it.'

'What made you decide, in the end?'

She sniffed and wiped her face. 'You're not going to believe me. It was Guatemala.' She gave a queer little laugh. 'Those wretched people only wanted schools for their children and a trade union to protect diem and the chance to earn a living. But it would have put a few cents on the price of bananas, and United Fruit didn't want that, so what did the US do? We overthrew their government and put in a fascist puppet I was working for the CIA at the time, so I knew the truth. It made me so angry - that those greedy men in Washington could screw a poor country, and get away with it, and tell lies about it, and have the press tell Americans that it was a revolt by local anti-communists. You'll say it's a strange thing to get emotional about, but I can't tell you how mad I was.'

'Mad enough to do damage to your body.'

'And betray you, and ruin my marriage.' She lifted her head, and a proud look came over her face. 'But what hope is there for the world, if a nation of penniless peasants 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 dialed it again. The second number could have been 29 or 28. She dialed 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 Harry said: 'Bill doesn't normally keep his door locked, does he?'

Another voice replied: 'I don't know, I guess the head of security is entitled to lock his door if he wants to.'

She heard departing footsteps, then the waning voice of Harry, saying: 'Security, hell, he doesn't want anyone stealing his Scotch.'

She grabbed the plugs from the safe and stuffed them into her purse. Then she closed the safe, spun the dial, and shut the cupboard.

She went to the office door, turned the key, and opened it.

Harry Lane was standing outside.

'Oh!' she said in shock.

He frowned accusingly. 'What were you doing in there?'

'Oh, nothing,' she said feebly, and tried to walk around him.

He grabbed her arm in a firm grasp. 'If it was nothing, why did you lock the door?' He squeezed her until it hurt.

That made her mad, arid she stopped acting' guilty. 'Let go of my arm, you big brainless bear, or I'll scratch your damn eyes out.'

Startled, he let go and stepped back; but he said: 'I still want to know what you were up to in there.'

She was struck by inspiration. 'I had to adjust my garter belt, and the ladies' room was full, so I used Bill's office in his absence. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.'

'Oh.' Harry looked foolish. 'No, I guess he wouldn't.'

Elspeth softened her tone. 'I know we have to be security-conscious, but there was no need to bruise my arm.'

Yeah, sorry.'

She walked past him, breathing hard.

She re-entered her office. Luke was sitting where she had left him, looking grim. 'I'm ready,' she said.

He stood up. 'After you leave here, you'll go straight to the motel,' he said.

He was sounding brisk and practical, but she could see by his face that he was suppressing powerful emotions. She just said: 'Yes.'

'In the morning, you'll drive to Miami and get on a plane out of the United States.'

Yes.!

He nodded, satisfied. Together they went down the steps and out into the warm night Luke walked her to her car. As she opened the door, he said: I'll take your security pass now.'

She opened her purse and suffered a moment of sheer panic. The plugs were right there, on top of a yellow silk make-up bag, glaringly visible. But Luke did not see them. He was looking away, too polite to peek into a lady's purse. She took out her Cape Canaveral security pass and gave it to him, then closed her purse with a snap.

He pocketed the pass and said 'I'll follow you to the gate in the jeep.'

She realized this was goodbye. She found herself unable to speak. She got into her car and slammed the door.

She swallowed her tears and drove off. The lights of Luke's jeep came on and followed her. Passing the launch pad, she saw the gantry inching back on its railroad tracks, ready for take-off. It left the huge white rocket standing alone in the floodlights, looking precarious, as if a careless nudge from a passer-by might topple it. She checked her watch. It was a minute before ten. She had forty-six minutes left She drove out of the base without stopping. The headlights of Luke's jeep diminished in her rearview mirror and finally disappeared as she rounded a bend. 'Goodbye, my love,' she said aloud, and she began to cry.

This time she could not control herself. As she drove down the coast road, she cried unrestrainedly, tears pouring down her face, her chest heaving with anguished sobs. The lights of other cars swept by in blurred streaks. She almost overshot the beach road. When she saw it, she jammed on her brakes and slewed across the highway in the path of the oncoming traffic. A taxicab braked hard and swerved, honking and skidding, and narrowly missed the tail of her BelAir. She bumped onto the uneven sand of the beach track and slowed to a halt, heart pounding. She had almost ruined everything.

She wiped her face on her sleeve and drove on, more slowly, to the beach.

After Elspeth left, Luke stayed at the gate in his jeep, waiting for Billie to arrive. He felt breathless and stunned, as if he had run full-tilt into a wall, and was now lying on the ground trying to recover his senses. Elspeth had admitted everything. He had been sure, for the last twenty-four hours, that she was working for the Soviets, but nonetheless it was shocking to have his beliefs confirmed. Of course there were spies, everyone knew that, and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg had both died in the electric chair for espionage; but reading about such things in the newspapers was nothing. He had been married to a spy for four years. He could hardly take it in.

Billie arrived at ten-fifteen in a taxicab. Luke signed her in with security, then they got in the jeep and headed for the blockhouse. 'Elspeth has gone,' Luke said.

'I think I saw her,' Billie replied. 'Is she in a white BelAir?'

'Yes, that's her.'

'My cab nearly hit her car. She pulled across the road right in front of us. I saw her face in the headlights. We missed her by about an inch.'

Luke frowned. 'Why did she pull in front of you?'

'She was turning off the road;'

'She told me she'd go straight back to the Starlite.'

Billie shook her head. 'No, she was heading for the beach.'

'The beach?'

'She went down one of those little tracks between the dunes.'

'Shit,' said Luke, and he turned the jeep around.

Elspeth drove slowly along the beach, staring at the groups of people who had gathered for the launch. Wherever she saw children or women, her eye moved on quickly. But there were many all-male groups of rocket buffs, standing around their cars in shirtsleeves with binoculars and cameras, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee or beer. She stared hard at their vehicles, looking for a four-year-old Mercury Monterey.

Anthony had told her it was green, but there was not enough light to see colours.

She started at the crowded end of the beach, nearest to the base, but Anthony and Theo were not there, and she guessed they had chosen a more isolated spot. Terrified of missing them, she worked her way gradually south.

At last she saw a tall man in old-fashioned braces leaning against a light-coloured car and looking through binoculars towards the glow of the Cape Canaveral lights. She stopped the car and jumped out 'Anthony!' she said.

He lowered the binoculars and she saw that it was not him. I'm sorry,' she said. She drove on.

She checked her watch. It was ten-thirty. She was almost out of time. She had the plugs, everything was ready: she just had to find two men on a beach.

The cars thinned out until they were a hundred yards or so apart Elspeth picked up speed. She drove close to a car that looked right, but it seemed to be empty. She accelerated again - then the car honked.

She slowed down and looked back. A man had got out of the car and was waving at her. It was Anthony. 'Thank God!' she said. She reversed back to him and leaped out of the car. 'I've got the duplicate plugs,' she said, Theo got out of the other car and opened its trunk. 'Give them to me,' he said. 'Quickly, for God's sake.'

.

10.48 P. M.

The countdown reaches zero.

In the blockhouse, the launch conductor says: 'Firing command!' A crewman pulls a metal ring and twists it. This is the action that fires the rocket.

Prevalves open to let the fuel start flowing. The liquid oxygen vent is closed, and the halo of white smoke around the missile suddenly vanishes.

The launch conductor says: 'Fuel tanks pressurized.'

For the next eleven seconds, nothing happens.

The jeep tore along the beach at top speed, dodging in and out of family groups. Luke scanned the cars, ignoring the cries of protest as his tyres showered people with sand. Billie was standing up beside him, holding the top of the windshield. He shouted over the wind noise: 'See a white BelAir?'

She shook her head. 'It should be easy to spot!' 'Yeah,' Luke said. 'So where the hell are they?'

The last connection hose drops away from the missile. A second later, the priming fuel ignites, and the first-stage engine thunders into life. A huge orange firelick bursts from the base of the rocket as thrust builds.

Anthony said: 'For Christ's sake, Theo, hurry!'

'Shut up,' Elspeth told him.

They were bent over the open trunk of the Mercury, watching Theo fiddle with his radio transmitter. He was attaching wires to the pins of one of the plugs Elspeth had given him.

There was a roaring sound like distant thunder, and they all looked up.

With painful slowness, Explorer I lifts off the launch pad. In the blockhouse, someone yells: 'Go, baby!'

Billie saw a white BelAir parked next to a darker sedan. 'There!' she screamed.

'I see them,' Luke shouted back.

At the rear of the sedan, three people were clustered around the open trunk. Billie recognized Elspeth and Anthony. The other man was presumably Theo Packman. But they were not looking into the trunk. Their heads were raised and they were staring across the sand dunes towards Cape Canaveral.

Billie read the situation instantly. The transmitter was in the trunk. They were in the process of setting it to broadcast the detonation signal. But why were they looking up? She turned towards Cape Canaveral.

There was nothing to see, but she heard a deep, rumbling roar like the sound of a blast furnace in a steel mill.

The rocket was taking off.

'We're out of time!' she yelled.

'Hold tight!' Luke said.

She gripped the windshield as he swung the jeep around in a wide arc.

The rocket picks up speed suddenly. At one instant it seems to be hovering hesitantly over the launch pad. At the next it moves like a bullet out of a gun, shooting into the night sky on a tail-of fire.

Over the roar of the rocket, Elspeth heard another sound, the scream of a car engine being raced. A second later, the beam of headlights fell on the group around the trunk of the Mercury. She looked up and saw a jeep heading for them at top speed. She realized it was going to ram them. 'Hurry!' she screamed.

Theo connected the last wire.

On his transmitter were two switches, one marked 'Arm' and the other 'Destroy', The jeep was on them.

Theo threw the 'Arm' switch.

On the beach, a thousand faces tip backwards, watching the rocket rise straight and true, and a huge cheer goes up.

Luke drove straight for the back of the Mercury.

The jeep had slowed as he turned, but he was still travelling at about twenty miles per hour. Billie jumped out, hit the ground running, then fell and rolled.

At the last second Elspeth threw herself out of the way. Then there was a deafening bang and the crash of breaking glass.

The Mercury's rear end crumpled, it jumped forward a yard, and its trunk lid came down with a bang. Luke thought either Theo or Anthony had been crushed between the cars, but he could not be sure. He was thrown forward violently. The bottom of the steering wheel caught his lower chest, and he felt the sharp pain of cracked ribs. A moment later, his forehead hit the top edge of the wheel, and he sensed hot blood flowing down his face.

Luke pulled himself upright and looked at Billie. She seemed to have fared better than he. She was sitting on the ground rubbing her forearms, but she did not appear to be bleeding.

He looked across the hood of the jeep. Theo lay on the ground in a spread-eagle position, not moving. Anthony was on his hands and knees, looking shaken but unhurt. Elspeth had escaped injury and was scrambling to her feet She dashed to the Mercury and tried to open the trunk.

Luke leaped out of the jeep and ran at her. As the trunk lid lifted, he shoved her aside. She fell to the sand.

Anthony yelled: 'Hold it!'

Luke looked at him. He was standing over Billie with a pistol held to the back of her head.

Luke looked up. The red firetail of the missile was a bright shooting star in the night sky. As long as that was visible, Explorer could still be destroyed. The first stage would burn out when it was sixty miles high. At that point, the rocket would become invisible - for the lesser fire of the second stage would not be bright enough to be seen from the Earth - and this would be the sign that the self-destruct system would no longer work. The first stage, which contained the explosive detonator, would separate and fall away, eventually to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean. After separation, it could no longer damage the satellite.

And separation would take place two minutes and twenty-five seconds after ignition. Luke figured the rocket had been ignited roughly two minutes ago. There had to be about twenty-five seconds left It was plenty of time to throw a switch.

Elspeth got to her feet again.

Luke looked at Billie. She was on one knee, like a sprinter at the starting line, frozen in position with the long silencer of Anthony's gun pressing into her curly black hair. Anthony's hand was rock-steady.

Luke asked himself if he was ready to sacrifice Billie's life for the rocket.

The answer was No.

But what would happen, he thought, if he moved? Would Anthony shoot Billie? He might.

Elspeth again bent over the trunk of the car. Then Billie moved.

She jerked her head to one side, then threw herself backwards, hitting Anthony's legs with her shoulders.

Luke lunged at Elspeth and pushed her away from the car.

The silenced gun coughed as Anthony and Billie fell in a heap.

Luke stared in dread. Anthony had fired, but had he hit Billie? She rolled away from him, apparently unhurt, and Luke breathed again. Then Anthony lifted his gun arm, aiming at Luke.

Luke looked death in the face, and a peculiar calm possessed him. He had done all he could.

There was a long moment of hesitation. Then Anthony coughed, and blood came out of his mouth. Pulling the trigger as he fell, he had shot himself, Luke realized. Now his limp hand dropped the gun and he slumped back on the sand, his eyes staring up at the sky but seeing nothing.

Elspeth sprang to her feet and bent over the transmitter a third time.

Luke looked up. The firetail was a glow-worm in space. As he watched, it winked out.

Elspeth threw the switch and looked up into the' sky, but she was too late. The first stage had burned out and separated. The Primacord had probably detonated, but there was no fuel left to burn, and anyway the satellite was no longer connected to the first stage.

Luke sighed. It was all over. He had saved the rocket Billie put her hand on Anthony's chest, then checked his pulse. 'Nothing,' she said. 'He's dead.'

At the same moment, Luke and Billie looked at Elspeth. You lied again,' Luke said to her.

Elspeth stared at him with a hysterical light in her eyes. 'We weren't wrong!' she yelled. 'We were not wrong!'

Behind her, families of spectators and tourists were beginning to pack their belongings. No one had been close enough to notice the fighting: all eyes had been turned to the sky.

Elspeth looked at Luke and Billie as if she had more to say; but after a long moment she turned away. She got into -her car, slamming the door, and started the engine.

Instead of turning towards the road, she headed for the ocean. Luke and Billie watched in horror as she drove straight into the water.

The BelAir stopped, waves lapping at its fenders, and Elspeth got out In the car's headlights, Luke and Billie saw her begin to swim out to sea.

Luke moved to go after her, but Billie grabbed his arm and held him back.

'She'll kill herself!' he said in agony.

You can't catch her now,' Billie said. You'll kill yourself!'

Luke still wanted to try. But then Elspeth passed beyond the headlights' beam, swimming strongly, and he realized he would never find her in the dark. He bowed his 'head in defeat.

Billie put her arms around him. After a moment, he hugged her back.

Suddenly the strain of the last three days fell on him like a tree. He staggered, about to fall, and Billie held him upright.

After a moment he felt better. Standing on the beach, with their arms around one another, they both looked up.

The sky was full of stars.

.

1969

Explorer 1's Geiger counter recorded cosmic radiation a thousand times higher than expected. This information enabled scientists to map the radiation belts above the Earth that became known as the Van Allen belts, named after the State University of Iowa scientist who designed the experiment.

The micrometeorite experiment determined that about two thousand tons of cosmic dust rain down on the Earth annually.

The shape of the Earth turned out to be about one percent flatter than previously thought.

Most important of all, for the pioneers of space travel, the temperature data from the Explorer showed that it was possible to control the heat inside a missile sufficiently for human beings to survive in space.

Luke was on the NASA team that put Apollo 11 on the moon.

By then he was living in a big, comfortable old house in Houston with Billie, who was Head of Cognitive Psychology at Baylor. They had three children: Catherine, Louis, and Jane. (Luke's stepson; Larry, also lived with them, but that July he was visiting his father, Bern.)

Luke happened to be off duty on the evening of 20 July. Consequently, at a few minutes before nine o'clock, Central time, he was watching TV with his family, as was half the world. He sat on the big couch with Billie beside him and Jane, the youngest, on his lap. The other kids were on the carpet with the dog, a yellow Labrador called Sidney.

When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, a tear rolled down Luke's cheek.

Billie took his hand and squeezed it Catherine, the nine-year-old, who had Billie's colouring, looked at him with solemn brown eyes. Then she whispered to Billie: 'Mummy, why is Daddy crying?

'It's a long story, honey,' Billie said. 'I'll tell it to you, one day.'

Explorer 1 was expected to remain in space for two to three years. In fact, it orbited the Earth for twelve years. On 31 March 1970 it finally re-entered the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean near Easter Island, and burned up at 5.47 a.m., having circled the Earth 58,376 times and travelled a total of 1.66 billion miles.

.................... The End....................