ron Goulart - Challengers of the Unknown by Ron Goulart Read Free Book Online Page B

copy of Prolijos' 1926 book in it. She studied the two sprawled men. "Most likely hired goons," she decided. "Not worth questioning, and I don't have that much time to waste anyhow. Okay, so leave them here for the trash collector."
    With a final brush at her hair, she went strolling away from there.
    The wall swung open with a creak. "You ought to oil the darn thing," said Denny Yewell. He pushed the bookcase back into place and crossed to a leather armchair. "Not my idea of efficiency."
    General Cuerpo was behind his desk, in uniform. He picked up a skinny black cigar from the humidor and placed it between his hps. "Soon you'll be able to visit me by way of the front door," he said as he lit the cigar with his gold lighter.
    "Hey, don't go rushing the coup," cautioned the American agent. "Lots of things have to be taken care of yet."
    "I fancy I know how to manage an operation of this sort."
    "I'm betting you can, too. I've got a stake in this, though, and if you screw it up I could end up in a dungeon someplace."
    The general's thin smile was blurred by gray smoke. "We don't intend to fail," he said. "You forget, by the way, that President Chanza has eliminated the dungeons previous regimes in Ereguay found so useful."
    "Okay, so much for chitchat. Did you act on my tip?"
    "Haven't you heard the news yet? I would have thought your intelligence-gathering resources were better than that."
    "You took care of Satara, then?"
    "He and his place of residence in the barrio are no more," Cuerpo informed him. "The timing of my agents could have been a bit better; in that case we would have gotten rid of two of your Challenger friends as well."
    "They're hard to kill," said Yewell.
    Cuerpo watched his cigar smoke go spiraling up toward the beamed ceiling. "We seem to have safely cut off the possibility of their ever finding Escabar," he said. "Yet I feel we'd best make completely sure."
    "I'm seeing them tonight again. If they have any idea who or where Escabar is, I'll let you know."
    "The simpler plan is to get rid of Escabar; that way no one can talk to him, ever."
    The young American raised his eyebrows very slightly. "Kill him, huh?"
    "That's the most efficient way of handling this."
    "He did a lot for you boys," said Yewell. "From what I gather. Working out the basic—"
    "The nature of Escabar's contribution is familiar to me," cut in the general. "Is this a touch of your well-known American sentimentality surfacing?"
    Yewell shook his head. "Kill him," he said. "I don't owe the guy anything."
    "We'll wait," Cuerpo said, "until you find out if these Challengers are aware of his existence."
    "Who's being sentimental now?"
    Tapping ashes into a heavy brass ashtray, the general said, "I'd like a bit more background on the Challengers of the Unknown. The awe in which some of you hold them intrigues me."
    "They've a pretty impressive record," said the National Espionage agent. "They've put the whammy on some very rough customers. Not only your run-of-the-mill bad guys, but all sorts of supernatural threats, too."
    "So their publicity states."
    "Look, General, I've long since checked all this out," Yewell said. "The Challengers of the Unknown have earned their reputation. I should think by now you'd have learned it's unwise to underestimate your enemies. Back in World War Two when—"
    "You forget I have no association with the Second World War," said Cueipo. "I am much too young to have participated in that encounter, and my native country of Ereguay remained neutral."
    "Oh, yeah, that's right. Sorry." Yewell grinned, almost winking. He settled more comfortable into his armchair. "As to the Challengers. Several years back there was a TV show in the United States that honored people who were considered heroes in various fields. A semidocumentary show, which was very popular at the time. Anyway, for one particular broadcast four men were invited to fly out to Hollywood. As things turned out, all four went by the same plane, a jet