Operation Moon Rocket by Nick Carter Read Free Book Online Page B

its way to you."
    The smile was faintly mocking. It started in the eyes, then touched her mouth. "Don't be shy, Colonel Eglund. It won't be the first time I've seen you naked, after all."
    That was exactly what Nick was afraid of. He had scars on his body he was sure Eglund never had. Poindexter had done nothing about them, for this was a completely unexpected development. Editing's Documents Section had worked up a phony medical report on Walter Reed stationery. They had figured that would be enough, that NASA Medical would only test his sight, hearing, motor reactions and sense of balance.
    Nick got undressed and laid his things across a chair. Pointless to resist. "Eglund" couldn't return to training until he'd received a medical fitness okay from Dr. Sun. He heard a door open and close. High heels clicked toward him. The plastic curtains were drawn aside. "The shorts, too, please," she said. Reluctantly, he slid them off. "Step out here, please."
    In the middle of the room was an odd-looking surgical couch made of leather and gleaming aluminum. Nick didn't like the look of it. He felt more than naked. He felt vulnerable. The stiletto he usually carried up his sleeve, the gas bomb that usually nestled in his pocket, the stripped-down Luger he called Wilhelmina, all his usual "protective devices" were far away — at AXE headquarters in Washington where he'd left them before going on vacation. If the doors suddenly burst open and fifty armed men leaped in, he'd be forced to fight with the only weapon at hand — his body.
    It was lethal enough, though. Even in repose, it was streamlined, muscular, dangerous-looking. The hard, tanned flesh was creased with old scars. The muscles were etched against the bones. The hands were big, thick, knotted with veins. They looked made for violence — as befitted a man whose code name was Killmaster.
    Dr. Sun's eyes widened perceptibly as he walked across the room toward her. They remained riveted on his midsection — and he was damned sure it wasn't just his physique that she found so fascinating. It was the mementos of a half-dozen knives and bullets. A dead giveaway.
    He had to divert her attention. Eglund was a bachelor. His dossier had mentioned that he was a skirt-chaser, something of a wolf in astronaut's clothing. So what could be more natural? A man and an attractive woman alone together in a room, the man naked...
    He didn't stop when he reached her, but suddenly pressed her back against the surgical table, his hands reaching up under her skirt as he kissed her, his mouth hard and brutal against hers. It was a crude performance and it got the hand it deserved — right across his face, momentarily stunning him.
    "You animal!" She stood pressed against the table, the back of her hand to her mouth. Her eyes glinted white with outrage, fear, anger and a dozen other emotions, none of them pleasant. Looking at her now, he had trouble connecting Joy Sun with the frenzied, wanton girl in that pornographic photo.
    "I warned you about this once before, Colonel." Her mouth shook. She was on the verge of tears. "I'm not the kind of woman you seem to think I am. I will not tolerate these cheap seductions..."
    The maneuver had the desired effect. All thoughts of a physical exam were forgotten. "Please get dressed," she said icily. "It's obvious that you're completely recovered. You will report to the Training Coordinator, then join your teammates over at the Simulation Building."
* * *
    The sky behind the range of jagged peaks was midnight black, pinpointed with stars. The terrain between was rolling, crater-pocked, dotted with spiky outcroppings and splinter-sharp fragments of stone. Steep canyons crisscrossed the rubble-strewn mesa like petrified bolts of lightning.
    Cautiously Nick climbed down the gold-plated ladder attached to one of the LM's four legs. At the bottom he placed one foot on the edge of the dish-shaped pad and stepped out onto the surface of the moon.
    The dust layer