arrived in Nick's ear as Hawk's voice — and with no loss of harshness along the way. "He's been there for three days. The doctors aren't sure they can save him, or if they can, whether his mind will ever be the same again. He was the captain of the second reserve team — Colonel Glenn Eglund. Someone tried to murder him at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston where he and his teammates were training for the project."
Hawk sketched in the details as Nick sent the silver 350 GT hurtling through the night. Colonel Eglund had been in the sealed prototype of the Apollo capsule, testing the life support system. Someone had apparently adjusted the controls from outside, stepping up the nitrogen content. This had mixed with the astronaut's own perspiration inside his space suit to form deadly, intoxicating Amine gas.
"Eglund had obviously seen something," said Hawk, "or in some way knew too much. What, we don't know. He was unconscious when found, and has never regained consciousness. But we hope to find out. That's why you're to take his place, N3. Eglund is approximately your age, your size, has your general physique. Poindexter's skill with makeup will take care of the rest."
"What about the girl?" Nick asked. "Candy Sweet."
"Let her stay where she is for the moment. By the way, N3, what's your impression of her?"
"She can be very professional at times, a damned fool at others."
"Yes — like her father," replied Hawk, and Nick could feel the ice in his tone. "I never approved of the society element in the upper echelons of the CIA, but that was before I had any say about it. Dickinson Sweet should have had more sense than to let his daughter get mixed up in a thing like this. That's another reason I flew down to Palm Beach personally — I wanted to have a chat with the girl before she contacted you." He paused. "That foray into the back of the Bali Hai that you mentioned earlier — in my opinion it was pointless and risky. Do you think you can keep her from upsetting any more apple carts?"
Nick said he could, adding, "One good thing came out of it, though. An interesting snapshot of Dr. Sun. There's also a man in it. I'll have Poindexter send it on for identification."
"Hmm." Hank's voice was non-committal. "Dr. Sun is in Houston now with the other astronauts. She doesn't know, of course, that you're subbing for Eglund. The only person outside AXE who does know is General Hewlett McAlester, the overall chief of NASA Security. He helped arrange the masquerade."
"I still have my doubts about bringing it off," said Nick. "After all, the astronauts in the team have been training together for months. They know each other intimately."
"Fortunately we have the Amine poisoning working for us," Hawk's voice rasped in his ear. "One of the chief symptoms is a weakening of the memory function. So if you don't remember all your colleagues and duties, it will seem quite natural." He paused. "Besides, I doubt that you'll have to keep the charade up for more than a day. Whoever made that first attempt on Eglund's life will try again. And he —
or
she — won't waste much time about it."
Chapter 5
She was even more beautiful than the pornographic photo had suggested. Beautiful in a chiseled, almost inhuman way which Nick found unnerving. Her hair was black — black as an arctic midnight — matching her eyes even to the glints and highlights that shone there. Her mouth was full, luscious, accented by the inherited cheekbones of her forebears — those on her father's side, at least. Nick remembered the dossier he'd studied on the flight to Houston. Her mother was English.
She hadn't seen him yet. She was walking along the neutral-smelling white corridor of the Manned Spacecraft Center, talking with a colleague.
Her body was good. The crisp white smock she wore over her street clothes couldn't hide that. She was a shapely, full-breasted woman who walked with a deliberate stance that thrust her beauty forward provocatively,
Hawk sketched in the details as Nick sent the silver 350 GT hurtling through the night. Colonel Eglund had been in the sealed prototype of the Apollo capsule, testing the life support system. Someone had apparently adjusted the controls from outside, stepping up the nitrogen content. This had mixed with the astronaut's own perspiration inside his space suit to form deadly, intoxicating Amine gas.
"Eglund had obviously seen something," said Hawk, "or in some way knew too much. What, we don't know. He was unconscious when found, and has never regained consciousness. But we hope to find out. That's why you're to take his place, N3. Eglund is approximately your age, your size, has your general physique. Poindexter's skill with makeup will take care of the rest."
"What about the girl?" Nick asked. "Candy Sweet."
"Let her stay where she is for the moment. By the way, N3, what's your impression of her?"
"She can be very professional at times, a damned fool at others."
"Yes — like her father," replied Hawk, and Nick could feel the ice in his tone. "I never approved of the society element in the upper echelons of the CIA, but that was before I had any say about it. Dickinson Sweet should have had more sense than to let his daughter get mixed up in a thing like this. That's another reason I flew down to Palm Beach personally — I wanted to have a chat with the girl before she contacted you." He paused. "That foray into the back of the Bali Hai that you mentioned earlier — in my opinion it was pointless and risky. Do you think you can keep her from upsetting any more apple carts?"
Nick said he could, adding, "One good thing came out of it, though. An interesting snapshot of Dr. Sun. There's also a man in it. I'll have Poindexter send it on for identification."
"Hmm." Hank's voice was non-committal. "Dr. Sun is in Houston now with the other astronauts. She doesn't know, of course, that you're subbing for Eglund. The only person outside AXE who does know is General Hewlett McAlester, the overall chief of NASA Security. He helped arrange the masquerade."
"I still have my doubts about bringing it off," said Nick. "After all, the astronauts in the team have been training together for months. They know each other intimately."
"Fortunately we have the Amine poisoning working for us," Hawk's voice rasped in his ear. "One of the chief symptoms is a weakening of the memory function. So if you don't remember all your colleagues and duties, it will seem quite natural." He paused. "Besides, I doubt that you'll have to keep the charade up for more than a day. Whoever made that first attempt on Eglund's life will try again. And he —
or
she — won't waste much time about it."
Chapter 5
She was even more beautiful than the pornographic photo had suggested. Beautiful in a chiseled, almost inhuman way which Nick found unnerving. Her hair was black — black as an arctic midnight — matching her eyes even to the glints and highlights that shone there. Her mouth was full, luscious, accented by the inherited cheekbones of her forebears — those on her father's side, at least. Nick remembered the dossier he'd studied on the flight to Houston. Her mother was English.
She hadn't seen him yet. She was walking along the neutral-smelling white corridor of the Manned Spacecraft Center, talking with a colleague.
Her body was good. The crisp white smock she wore over her street clothes couldn't hide that. She was a shapely, full-breasted woman who walked with a deliberate stance that thrust her beauty forward provocatively,
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