1990 by Wilfred Greatorex Read Free Book Online Page B

'You're sure you want to get out?'
    'While there's a guarantee my family will follow,' he replied.
    'Under this Government, Doctor Vickers, nothing's for sure,' Kyle warned.
    'But the European Convention...'
    'Your wife and child have the right to follow. Unless this Government back-tracks. How are they for money?'
    'Enough to last them a year or so.'
    'A month should see them through,' Kyle said, 'and we'll make sure they're all right.'
    He was leading the way towards his car, tidily concealed in a blind alley among the metal blocks.
    'Can I pay?' Vickers asked.
    'No.'
    'I mean, it must cost you lot something.'
    Kyle gave a dismissive gesture. 'Never mind our funding, doctor.'
    The engine growled roughly to life and the little vehicle slid out of hiding and buzzed into the road.
    'What did your wife say?' Kyle asked.
    Vickers hesitated for just too long. 'I didn't tell her.'
    'Liar! You all do.'
    'She's reliable,' Vickers said, hastily. 'Tears, if that's what you mean. No hysterics, though.'
    'And your daughter?'
    'She doesn't know. We never told her. She doesn't even suspect.'
    Kyle shook his head. 'I wouldn't bank on that.'
    Vickers stared out at the passing streets. They merged grey and damp into each other. This could be his last sight of England. He felt he should absorb every detail, but his mind captured nothing. Turning towards Kyle, he simulated interest. 'Don't you ever want to get away yourself?'
    'Often. But where to?'
    'The States.'
    Kyle replied quietly, 'They don't have a Public Control Department like ours. They don't have a regime like ours. It wouldn't leave me much scope in
my
job, would it? I'd only lie around and grow fatter.'
    Alan Vickers was genuinely intrigued now. 'Do you see much of your family?'
    'Not much, no.' Kyle coldly shut him off.
    Vickers shifted uncomfortably, thrown back on his own thoughts by the forced silence. The rain was quite heavy now. His wife would be alone, except for Mary, unable to confide in anyone, not even her own parents.
    'My wife and child
will
follow inside a month?' he pressed, nervously, as though it was within Kyle's personal power to ensure it.
    'Unless the Home Secretary decides to change the rules - which I'd not put past him - and fly in the face of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva.'
    Vickers went white. He had not anticipated this at all. Everything had happened too quickly. There had been no time to think, to work it out. The idea that he might never see Katherine and Mary again had not sunk in. Now it sucked his thoughts into terrified confusion.
    The car's radio telephone buzzed and Kyle reached for it. Marly's voice, calm and unperturbed, carried clearly. 'Turn back now... Understood?'
    'Understood.' Kyle replaced the phone and looked for a point where he could turn the car. 'It's off.'
    Megatons of pressure lifted, leaving Vickers feeling giddy and sick.
    'Just like that?'
    'Just like that.'
    'But why?' Vickers stuttered, wondering if this was the luckiest or unluckiest day of his life.
    'At times like this, doctor, you don't ask why, you just do a fast U-turn.'
    Within minutes, Kyle had dropped his half-hearted passenger at Liverpool Street Station and accelerated away, looking grim. He called at the office and by the time he reached the car park, lines of strain were scoring his face. The car with the smoked glass windows was already there.
    'Sorry I'm late,' Kyle apologised, softly. 'My secretary didn't realise just how far I had to come.'
    'She told you about the freighter?' asked Faceless.
    Kyle nodded, 'I'm grateful for the tip-off.'
    'No business of mine, Kyle, but it did occur that you may have - er - acquaintances involved.' The voice was bland.
    Kyle's expression did not change. 'No,' he said flatly.
    'Good, good. Only those poor devils don't have a chance. The illegals will get the usual two years - or one on misery pills. The Department aims to be very hard in this case. Let's hope those seamen did it for gain. They'll get twelve months. If