The Living Death by Nick Carter Read Free Book Online

had wanted to do the town, and under other circumstances I would have leaped at the chance. But I couldn't shake the picture of seven brilliant men becoming vegetables practically overnight. It was a chilling, flesh-crawling thought. Our meager facts certainly pointed to the Soviets being involved but the nature of it didn't even fit their operations. When you've been in this game long enough you learn that every outfit has its own character to its operations. This one, in fact, didn't really fit into any niche, unless possibly the Chinese Communists. While the Russians could be ruthlessly cruel, they were esoterically diabolic. Perhaps the Russians were involved, but not the way we were thinking. I was still wondering about it when I went to sleep.
    Tom Dettinger was the AXE expert on procedures and techniques for protecting important people. I listened carefully to him, making mental notes as he went on. Hawk sat by, seemingly lost in his own thoughts but, I knew, not missing a word.
    "This is a little unusual, Nick," Tom said. "There's really nothing to guard against in a specific way. There's no direct threat of assassination, for example, or no known groups to watch for. We're working against something which we don't know even exists, or if it does, in what form or shape. Therefore, the only approach is the one we call the blanket approach where you become more than a bodyguard. You become glue. I'll detail it for you."
    As he went on, I was tempted to ask how you protect someone against a virus, or an invisible X-ray, but I held back. They weren't theories I had bought and neither had Hawk, which just proves that people in different professions see things in very different ways.
    What really made the difference about this affair was that Hawk and I usually could indulge in a fine exchange of thinly veiled jabs and banter. Neither of us felt like it this time. When Tom finished, he gave me a few routine protective devices to take along, and Hawk walked to the elevator with me.
    "You'll be dealing with something completely unknown and frankly, rather horrible, Nick," he said. "Exercise as much personal caution as possible within the framework of duty."
    "You mean I should be careful," I grinned. He coughed nervously. His essential concern broke through that mask every so often. I maintained my casual air. Anything else would have added to his embarrassment.
    "I'll watch it," I told him. "I'm not so crazy about vegetables that I want to become one."
    His eyes found a twinkle. "Really?" he said. "It seems to me that you're very fond of tomatoes."
    I grinned. This was more like it. It gave me a good feeling, a lift I'd been missing.

IV
    The Alitalia flight put me down in Milan and from there I rented a car and drove south to Genoa. Portofino was still further south and I continued on without stopping. The ISS meeting was quartered at the Excelsior and a room had been arranged for me adjoining Professor Caldone's quarters. I was to have the only key to both rooms. To add insurance, my instructions were to meet the Professor at a designated service station outside Portofino. He was driving up from Rome to meet me there. AXE had contacted him and thoroughly briefed him and he had agreed to cooperate fully. I turned the car in at Portofino and took an old and uncertain taxi to where I was to meet him.
    I found Professor Caldone leaning against the hood of his car, a small Fiat sedan. He was short white-haired and genial with a small, round stomach from "too much pasta," as he put it, patting it fondly. He was immediately likable, a thoroughly unpretentious little man, I quickly concluded. He had an unexpected nugget for me when he announced that his wife and niece were with him to enjoy the Riveria while he attended the meetings. They had botl gone to the washroom in the little service station while he waited for me.
    "Other than that," Professor Caldone said, "I am completely in your hands, Mr. Carter. I have been told I must