The Towers Of Melnon

Chapter TWENTY-ONE

Blade was out of the hospital bed and doing exercises when the nurse announced J and Lord Leighton. He climbed back into bed, favoring the right knee a little. It was almost fully back in shape, and there was no further reason for him to be kept in the hospital. But it was standard practice to whip him off to the small hospital in the underground complex whenever he returned from Dimension X. Sometimes-as after this trip-it had been more for observation, testing, and debriefing than anything else. But at other times he had returned from Dimension X with wounds or diseases that would have carried him off within hours or days.

Both J and Lord Leighton shook hands with him, and J looked him up and down with his usual air of fatherly concern. «How's the knee, Richard?»

«Almost back to normal, sir. No problem there.»

«Good. You can get ready to leave the hospital, then, as soon as the doctors have given you a final once-over lightly. Then you can plan to take a few days off.»

Blade raised an inquiring eyebrow. «I thought you were going to want me to help plan the new training center as soon as I got back.»

Leighton shrugged. «Hardly necessary right at the moment. After all-I mean-we can't wear you out by not giving you some sort of vacation.» Lord Leighton seemed oddly unsure of himself and of his words. Blade wondered what hidden message lay behind this rather unusual circumstance.

J grinned. «Now, now, old friend, let's be honest with Richard. He ought to know the whole story. Do you want to tell him, or shall I?»

There was something lurking behind Leighton's manner. Something that had interfered with the training-center project. Leighton smiled thinly, cleared his throat, and said:

«Actually, Richard, there's been a bit of a scandal in connection with the center.»

Blade's eyebrows rose again, but this time his voice was coldly serious as he asked, «A security problem? Did somebody defect?»

«No, no, nothing like that. More-personal. You see, we had an architect all cleared and ready with plans for the restoration of the house. We could trust him completely. But unfortunately, our security check-MI6's security check-«

J threw a mock glare at Lord Leighton.

«- the security check, failed to reveal one thing about this-ah, gentleman.»

«Yes?» prompted Blade. This was beginning to sound interesting.

«He was keeping a mistress-young girl, hardly out of her teens-down in Soho. And his wife found out. Damned distressing situation for her, you must admit.»

«No doubt.» But there was still more, from Leighton's tone of voice.

«It seems she trailed him down to Soho, and surprised him with the girl, and polished both of them off with the kitchen cleaver.» The words came out in a rush, and Leighton took a deep breath and mopped his high forehead with a crumpled handkerchief.

«So the project is temporarily at a standstill,» continued J. «We've been able to keep anything about the poor blighter's work out of the papers. But you can see, it's a deadly embarrassing situation.»

Blade laughed loudly. «Yes, I can see it might be. Most of all for the architect. Perhaps he should have volunteered for the Project. That computer of yours can come in handy for getting out from between jealous women.»

Leighton and J both looked curiously at Blade. He realized that they must not have had a chance to listen to his debriefing tapes. So he explained the situation he had been in at the time of his return, caught between Mir-Kasa and Ye-Jaza. Leighton laughed briefly, J grinned even more briefly. «Glad we brought you back when we did, then.»

«I'm glad to be back.»

Which was certainly the truth.