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clutched at his destroyed groin and rolled over and over on
trr ground.
For long seconds, the others didn 't know what to do. They
exchanged glances. switched the Uzi to full automatic and
sprayed twenty rounds in their direction. They lit out like
frightened rabbits, those that still lived.
I rushed to Alleen, who had taken cover under the u-uck.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
e OCould Ih-.that was a good shot." Her eyes
went to the man moaning, softly now, and holding where his
balls had been.
"He had it coming. "
' 'What now?"
"l follow them. We transportation. I'm counting on
them having a Jeep or truck we can use. Here, keep this. It
doesn't have any recoil. Just it like you'd point your
finger and pull the trigger. I'll bæk as soon as I can. "
I picked up another Uzi from one of the three dead men
near the duck and started through the forest at an easy lope.
ne guemllas ran too fast to keep up their pace for long. I
overtook them less than a mile away. They crouched to-
gether. mumbling to otw another about their misfortune,
which slowly turned into their great skill in escaping a party
of police outnumtrring them ten to one.
If they ever got back to their suFriors, that story might
sail. After all, their training chief had died with my web strap
around his neck. No one else dared admit they didn't know
the size of the force they faced. To do so would bring out that
they'd run without even trying to fight.
I let them thrash about in the forest, hunting for their lost
mock. When one of them strayed too far from the pack, I took
him out. That left three.
*Ihey surprised me by actually finding their truck. nten
they argued over how to start it. One of the fallen guerrillas
had the keys; I guessed it to be the leader 'd already killed.
Finally, one of them dove under the dashboard and riPFEd a
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few wires free. I hoped he knew what he was doing. I di
want to have to rewire the damn thing if he'd screwed it u
But his mis$rnt youth paid off. The truck protested, th
turned over, the engine sounding as if it had seen trtter days
no longer rreded these three.
"Help me!" I called out from cover. They exchang
looks, did a slow count, and finally realized that one of
surviving four hadn't survived after all.
I circled and waited for them to their hurt in
forest. When they'd gone far enough so that even a stray sh
wouldn't tx»ther me, I got into•the uuck and drove off.
'That taught them still another lesson: never leave a vehic
unattended. Crime is rampant, even in the forest.
My sense of direction is just rMfect. I had a cle
mental picture of how to get back to Alleen. Eventually
found where our first truck had smashed itself against th
Assegai tree.
"Alleen!" I called. "Come on. I found us a brand ne
taxi. "
No answer. I slipped from the truck cab and circled. Allee
would never learn. She 'd gone to aid the man who'd been s
intent on raping her. He now had her Uzi stuffed hard again
her head.
-I moved closer, not making a sound. ne wind
through the forest, making more noise than I did. Alleen sa
me. Her eyes widened a little but she gave no other sign.
The man grunted out, "Kill you, bitch. You made me les
than a man. Never have children. No sons. Kill. " He was i
stark pain. I took care of that the instant he turned to find
more comfortable position tEfore he killed the woman.
My stiletto flashed in the sunlight filtering through the
trees. The guerrilla stiffened and fell to one side. ne blade
had entered between the second and third vertebrae at the
base of his neck. He twitched like a beheaded snake, then
ceased moving altogether.
I clearrd Wilhelmina, then checked Alleen. She looked as
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if she was in sh(Xk. With all she had had to endure, it was no
We left. Alleen needed some serious psychiatric care and I
couldn 't give it to her. All I could do was nursemaid her until
we got back to civilization.
And that wouldn •t be until after I eliminated Ihtor DNA.











CHAPTER TEN
My luck had changed for the better. Not only had I stolen a
tmck with a fair amount of gasoline in it, there were enough
maps to chart me around the entire continent.
We punded along making good time for over an hour. I
felt confident making the Namibia-South Africa
soon. According to the maps, we were less than twenty miles
away.
From there, I'd have to play it by ear. I doubted we could
sneak the truck across, which was a pity. Ihat meant finding
other transportation on the far side. We 'd cross on foot, make
our way the trst we could to Windhoek, and then I'd finish
my business with Faber. I only hoped my guesswork turned
out to right. Most of the time I have to orxrate on rumors,
tenuous clues, a lot of supposition, even more intuition.
Following my nose had led me directly to Bron Fatrr. As I'd
surmised, he was Ihtor DNA. Now all I could do was
continue on course.
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I had good feelings ab)ut Windhoek, though. Everything
pointed in this direction. was egomaniac enough to
ignore the fact I'd tracked him down once. He'd trlieve he
was safe and continue his or*rat.ion as if nothing had hap-
pened. The best chance I had of finding him quickly lay in
locating the shipping firm' he used to get the metals he
extorted out of Namibia and into In a country the size
of Namibia, there couldn't more than a handful of com-
panies able to deal in such shipments.
I had good feelings a&R1t everything now. Until the bullet
whined Alleen and me.
"Damn!" I cried, swerving off the road. ' 'Who is shoot-
ing at us now?"
' 'Guerrillas, ' s the woman said. Her raven-dark hair flew in
a halo around her face. She didn't even try to brush it back.
Alleen simply sat, staring out the window into the sparse
forest.
"You 're probably right. And if they catch us, we're dead.
nere 's no way to explain how we happen to driving one
of their bucks or how a couple of their Uzis just jumlkd into
our hands. "
I swung the a-uck in the other direction. The Hillets came
with unemng accuracy. This wasn't a fight we could drive
through. Sooner or later a bullet would stop tlr buck.
It came sooner.
Steam rose from under the hood. The one working gauge
on the dashboard—the temperature indicator—showed a
meltdown approaching. One of the bullets had ruptured the
radiator. I didn't care the truck any longer, except in
how it might save us. Shoving Alleen out the far side, I
quickly followed her while the auck careened into a small
stand of trees by the road.
I held her down in a low ditch trside the road. Aiming
carefully, I let loose a burst from my Uzi. The bullets
through the gasoline tank on the u•uck. It exploded with an
adequate amount of flame and noise. If the guerrillas hadn 't
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been watching closely, they might duped into thinkin
we'd teen in the truck.
ney weren't fooled for an instant.
' Come on, " I said, tugging at Aileen's arm. "We've g
to make tracks fast. "
' 'It's no use, Nick. Let me stay.'
"Run, dammit, " I whispered harshly. g 'We 've got to g
away from here. I can see them already closing in. '
n)ese weren't untrained troops. ney moved quickly
quietly, with confidence. I might esca'k them but I saw sca
chance of toth Alleen and me making it. Hiding the Uzis an
the spare clips with some regret, I jerked hard at the dark
haired woman 's arm again to snap her out of her fugue state.
doubted that she'd later rememtrr anything atx»ut thi
sojourn across South Africa.
If there was a later for either of us.
' 'Down in the ditch, back the way we came. They won'
think to look in that direction for us. Not fora few minutes.
We scooted along on our trllies, then took the chance o
rising and running in a half-crouching position. No bullet
into my spine. I almost felt atx)ut it until I heard
the metallic smck of a rifle bolt closing and chambering a
shell.
lhe mind is a wonderful computer. Mine calculated direc-
tion, distance, the way the guemlla moved, everything. As I
dived forward, Wilhelmina slipped into my hand. I twisted in
midair, aimed and fired in a smooth motion. The 9mm slug
found a target. The man rolled backwards, dead. His finger
tensed on the trigger of his machine gun and sent a burst
harmlessly into the air.
We escaped leaden death but that burst alerted the others.
Fight and die, or try to surrender and die, apFared to
the only options
I carried the fight to the guerrillas. Nick Carter wasn't
going out with a bullet in his back while he ran.
"Stay here for a second. This might work outjust fine, " I
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said. Out of the comer Of my eye I'd caught sight of the
band's leader. Tiny red epaulettes marked him as the man in
charge. I used Aileen as bait while I a psition near the
lea&r's probable approach path.
As he walked by where I hid in the tall, dry grass, I sprang.
My slender-bladed knife crossed his throat, enough to let him
know how close death was.
"Either use it or let me go, • ' he said after a moment. "You
have no qualms killing. " His Ecent came Eross as
heavily British. I wondered if all the guerrillas had
educated at Cambridge. I asked.
"Hardly," said. 'Oxford. "
"You and Sam must get along famously. Row-
ing on the Orange River."
"He was a ofthe crew , wasn 't he?" said the man,
who finally laughed at the incongruity of the situation.
put down the knife. Or use it. Your companion will die, Of
course, if you prefer the latter course of action. "
I stepped back. He rubt*d Eross the line where Hugo had
indented the skin. He turned and stared at me. The wide,
round eyes missed nothing.
"You do not look as if you caused all the furor at the
roadblock. Am I mistaken?"
"We got caught in the cross fire, noüling more. We want
into Namibia, without having to fool around with a lot of silly
regulations. ' '
"Like travel permits?"
"Something like that, yes. "
"l should kill you."
"I'm not sure Sam Uwanatr would like that. "
g 'I'm not sure you know Sam. Using a name is easy. It
means nothing. Even the police know the narne. "
I detailed how i Sd met Uwanatx in the location outside
Johannesburg.
' Clhat changes nothing. Uwanak*'s concerns are not
mine."
"No, but our mission into Namibia might be.




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"Explain." By this time the forty guer-
rillas-—-had gathered around. Alleen blank-faced and
uncaring. These were confident, able men. Only topflight
mckery would get me out of their hands and into Namibia
safely.
"D«xtor DNA," I said slowly.
"So?" But I saw the leader's reaction. I hit the right chord
with him. Now all I had to do was push the advantage.
'Tis is a very good
friend," said, indicating
Alleen. "She and D(Xtor are to married. "
"Fat*r? And who is this?"
I laughed. • 'Don't coy. We know who mctor
DNA is. Without him, you wouldn 't get half the you
inside Namibia. What's the take off the strategic metals
shipments? Ten million? Twenty? nat kind of Etion
eeps SWAN) going. "
"We receive arms and explosives, not money. "
had him hooked.
'*Will you take us to Bron?" asked Alleen, her voice
uaking the smallest amount. I couldn't tell if it came from
ing captured or the that we might again meet
ith her precious Bron Farm.
"We shall see. Into the brush. It will not do to seen by
lice patrols."
smiled as they herded us off. We might not in
amiYa, but it was almost as good. We were still alive and
ad the chance to argue some more.
"Take cover! Plane!"
We scattered and hit the dirt. The land around here looked
lot like that in the Kruger Game Preserve. dry grassland
xtended nat and dusty in all directions. An aerial recon
lane should able to spot us in a second. But the guemllas
arried tarps. We ducked under them. Peering out from under
e edge, I barely discerned the outlines of men huddling
nder another tarpaulin not ten feet away. The plane roared
n its way without us.
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"We had not planned on returning to Namibia so soon,' '
said Michael Z.ahid, the Oxford-educated guemlla leader.
'*Still, aiding friends of Doctor Fatrr's cannot be wrong. "
No emotion crossed his broad face as he stared at me, and I
had to wonder if he was testing me again.
"SWAPO won't out anything by helping us,
" 1 told
him.
"But will we gain?"
I shrugged.
"The border is less than a mile from here. Once you are
across and into Namitia, you must find your own way. We
return to patrol deep into the Union."
' 'I understand. And your aid is appreciated. I won 't forget
it. "
"No, 'i he said slowly, a smile finally crossing his lips. ' 'I
don't think you will forget this favor. "
We hiked hard for twenty minutes over the uneven land-
and finally reached a ravine that had cut naturally under
a tall fence. Aileen walked on the tX)ttom of the ravine, her
black hair never once touching the tk)ttom strand of wire on
the fence. I had to duck slightly. Otherwise, this was all it
took getting into Namibia.
"Tell the good doctor that we can use more of the Uzis.
The last shipment contained only two dozen. We can use
twice that. "
"All nght, Michael. And be careful. "
"I'd rather be lucky. "
With that, the guemlla leader waved his men to return into
the bowels of South Africa. I wondered how much h
guessed, how deep the countercurrents ran. If my hunc
at»ut SWAPO's relationship with Doctor DNA was correct
they might not want his aid much longer. Faber's pwer
madness shone out brightly in his every move now. He migh
pose grave problems for SWAPO; its leaders might decide h
had become a liability to their cause.
If so, eliminating him from the garne ranked high on th
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151
things-to-do list. Michael Zahid was no one's fool. He read
me perfectly. He knew my trade. If an American agent killed
Fatrr, no rerrrcussions could come back to haunt SWAP()
from Fatrr's contacts. Things had worked out great for them.
Not only was a threat to their rx)wer gone, it provided an
oprxmunity to point out America •s most recent covert activ-
ity, should the need arise.
Propaganda, double-dealing, duplicity, all those are part
and parcel of my trade, too.
Let SWAK) take whatever propaganda coup they wanted.
Removing Fater took precedence.
"Do we have to walk, Nick? My feet hurt. We've been on
the go since sunrise."
"We have to it until we find a likely source of
And out here, I doubt that will soon. "
I hate it when I'm right. We walked almost a day t*fore a
ative picked us up. But the bad luck of taking so long to find
echanized was offset by the man's destina-
•on. He headed for Windh(Ek.
Exactly where I wanted to go.
Windhoek proved a city of tedious neatness. ne streets
ere clean enough to eat off and not a single cigarette butt or
andy marred European perfection of this
indup toy of a city. We alighted on the main street and
Odged the traffic. Kaiserstrasse throbbed with the lifeblood
f the city: commerce. Everywhere I looked was a small
hop, a pushcart selling food of all varieties, and larger stores
ore like those I was accustomed to seeing in Europe. The
avor of the city reminded me a great deal of Johannesburg.
or all the underneath, the veneer came off as
turmdously wealthy.
And it should. nis was one of the richest nations on earth.
oprrr, uranium, and diamonds provided a positive balance
f trade little disrupted by the vagaries of the world economic
ondition. When the U.S. and other countries boomed, the
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NICK CARTER
copper and uranium sold well. When those metals didn 't sell
due to a downturn, people trgan panicking and the diamonds
tuame the hedge against disaster.
Either way, Namibia And Windh(Ek was the
hub of that prosperity.
"Where do we go, Nick?" asked Alleen.
e •nat•s a tough question. First we find a hotel and check
in. I need a shower and some food. "
c 'I have no money."
"l •ve got some," I said. What I didn't tell her was my
need to get in touch with Hawk. The papers in my pcket
outlined how Bron Fatrr performed his miracles of genetic
engineering on the diseases. That information had to
delivered as soon as possible. I had no contacts in Namibia
and my communication gear remained in South Af-
rica, but AXE has other avenues of getting vital data
delivered.
"Look, Nick. look at the diamonds. " She'd stopped and
stared into a thick-glassed window at an array of diamond
rings. "Such nice mooi klip, " she sighed.
"What's that?' •
' 'Pretty The first native finding a diamond, an
enormous diamond, called it a pretty pebble. Bron told me
my wedding ring would be the size of the Koh-i-Noor
diamond. It wouldn't have of course, but any size
would have suited me. "
From the way she slowed to look in every window, I knew
getting the hotel room first would be a mistake. The
had to passed along. And while I had some money, a sheaf
more than eased the burden of checking into a hotel without
luggage. I took Alleen's arm and guided her down
Kaiserstrasse and away from the Beers Diamond head-
quarters. At a cross street—Goeringstrasse, named after
morphine addict and World War flying ace, Hermann—we
started off at right angles to the main street.
"Composers," Aileen said in a dreamy voice. J'AII the
R DNA
153



153
streets parallel to Kaiserstrasse are named after German
compses. "
At Brahmstrasse, I turned again and went to the contact
point. It was a CIA &op, Hit in this instance I was sure they
wouldn't mind. Some glory reflected off them if I ran a
successful mission. Next to a church noted for its neocolonial
and reactionary stand, even to the point of declaring the DTA
revisionist, found tlr small white clapt»ard store I sought.
A few trinkets were scattered üie store. A tiny case
of diamonds glinted in the sunlight in front. As we entered, a
trll tinkled and a wizened old man emerged from a
faded purple curtain in tie back of the store.
' 'May I help you?" Aileen started. ne man had spoken in
s 'Thanks, you can," 1 replied, also in g 'I would
like to see what you have in the way of Bavarian cuckoo
clocks. "
He hesitated, eyeing me.
"Black Forest or Alpine?"
"Neither. I 'd prefer to see one designed by an artist from
Stuttgart. "
"l have nothing iike that on display. However, if you will
corne into the back rc»om, there are several you might ap-
preciate. " He looked past me to Aileen, who still studied the
diamonds, as if her life depended on it. Ihis fixation kept her
busy, although it hinted that her head was even more scram-
bled than I'd thought.
'She 'II all right alotE, " I said. "If we're not too long. "
He held back the faded curtain for me. I almost sneezed
from the dust as he opened a door little used in recent months.
We sat in a room hardly larger than a closet.
"You're not CIA," he said. "You used a variation on the
recognition signal. "
"AXE," I said, confirming his suspicion. "I need these
transmitted to David Hawk as quickly as pssible. ' ' I shoved
Fat*r's palxrs across the table to the nameless German
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shopkeeper. The papers vanished into his voluminous, over-
sized jacket, as if by magic. "And I need some 9mm am-
munition for my Luger. " The faint smile on his lips told me
this wouldn't be any problem. "And some money."
' 'How much? Our t»dget has been cut back."
g 'They tell me the same thing. Call it five hundred dollars,
American. "
can let you have it in D-marks. I have some South
African rands, but with their inflation the way it is, European
currency is t*tter."
"Fire. "
He shuffled off and returned less than a minute later with
both ammunition for Wilhelmina and the money. I shoved
the bullets and morry into my pocket.
need a codename," he said.
S'N3. "
His posture straightened slightly. He nodded, made a
notation in a small book, and motioned for me to leave. I did.
lhere wasn't anything else to say. He knew whom he dealt
with now. He didn't offend me by offering assistance. We
tx»th knew whatever he could deliver would insignificant
compared to my own abilities alone.
Sometimes the CIA and AXE can get along.
I retrieved Alleen and we went to find a hotel.
I had the uneasy feeling someone was following me. For a
moment I considered a CIA tail, then decided against the
idea. The old man in the store might have several (Fatives
within Namibia, but this wasn't a large enough station to
spare men to follow even a top AXE agent. What strwk me as
being even worse, I thought someone was following us but I
never them at it.
Either my paranoia ran wild or whoever trailed me was
damn good. I didn 't like either alternative.
I'd left Aileen sleeping, heavily sedated, in a small hotel
off Kaiserstrasse. The room was small, neat, and the clerk
hadn 't asked questions when we checked in. This might a




155
country under the control of South Africa, but the reins rsted
a little looser here. The clerk hadn't even asked to see our
something that occurs all the time even in Europe.
i carefully checked my list copied from the telephone
directory. Three companies aM*ared to hot prosrrcts for
shipping the metals extorted by Fatrr in South Africa to
European prts. Two hadn't panned out. ne third
more to my liking.
A frontal assault on the had gotten me little
informauon other than the layout of the offices. Afro-
European I ines, Limited, closed shop around four-thirty
local time. I waited until the hard workers and brownnosers
left after five. Ihen I went to .work.
A rear window admitted me. A quick jimmy got me
through to the hall. Hardly any effort at all allowed me to
enter the main office. Ihen things got rough. ne massive
safe couldn't easily opened with anything less than ten
pounds of plastic explosive. I left it for last. What I needed
were hints connecting the company to Fatrr.
I found plenty of hints in office memos and letters to the
home office. I knew now that some shipping company
fronted for Fat*r. The others I'd checked on hadn 't seemed
right. Afro-European did. And from the travel vouchers in
front of me, that feeling had a lot of basis in reality. One of
the company executives made regular trips to Walvis Bay. In
and of itself, this meant nothing. Walvis Bay is the main prt
for Namibia.
ne good pan came in rental for a four-wheel vehicle while
in Walvis Bay. He went to the port city three times a
month—every ten days. mctor DNA's shipments from
South Africa came at that same interval. The distance be-
tween Windhoek and Walvis Bay was something less than
two hundred miles. At a 4uess, my traveling executive
worked his way twenty miles from Walvis Bay in his
four-wheeler. That covered a lot of territory, but it reduced
the area considerably. I had a gcx)d shot at finding where
F&r's metals shipments entered Namibia. From here, I'd






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NICK CARTER
have to track down the payment to him and then—bang. He'd
die.
I sat in the office manager's chair as worked through
other unraveling Afro-Eurorran's part in all this.
While many of the details weren't available, I decided I had a
clear enough picture for Hawk to put our E.uror*an agents
onto them.
Afro-European shipped strategic metals of all kinds.
Enough hinted that they smuggled in vast quantities of illicit
arms and supplies to interest all the governments involved.
The stopovers at Antwerp gave it away. Belgium is one ofthe
larger small arms producers in the world. No one had ever
questioned Afro-European's shipping routes t*fore.
Everything t*gan to fall into place nicely. I knew who
handled the metals. I knew what the payoffs were. The
distance of the loading and unloading was within twenty
miles of Walvis Bay. And I doubted if Fatw was far away.
As I leaned back in the swivel chair, I heard a floortx)ard in
the outer office creak. In one smooth motion, I dropped to the
floor and pulled Wilhelmina from her holster. A meaty thunk
echoed through the quiet room. A knife handle protruded
from the middle of the leather chairback. I would've been
skewered if I'd moved a fraction of a second later.
I slithered around the desk. All I saw was a shadow
receding. Moving cautiously. I made it to the outer office.
The door to the hallway hadn 't Ihe would-be assas-
sin remained in the room with me.
A small noise came from behind me.
r didn 't turn. If I had been fooled by the ruse, I 'd be &ad.
But the other man had committed himself. He rose and
trained a gun on me. I fired first. report almost deafened
me. The man slumped forward onto the secretary's desk.
' 'Let's see who you are," I said, turning him over. My
marksmanship is sometimes too good. I'd killed him cleanly.
More information can be gained from living, breathing,
talking men. Searching his pockets told me nothing. He had a
7.65mm Tokarov. I frowned. A Russian-made pistol? l'he




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man looked vaguely Balkan to me, thit this meant nothing. In
this country where virtually everyone came and went on
foreign passports, he might be from anywhere.
"You sure do make things rough for me," I said. Grunt-
ing, I heaved the limp form over my shoulders and took him
out of the office. It wouldn 't do having a corpse found the
next morning. I wanted them to prxeed with twsiness as
usual.
Of course, the office manager might wonder how the
two-inch cut in his chairback got there. But this was the only
evidence I left behind.











CHAPTER ELEVEN
Getting rid of the body proved more hazardous than I'd
thought. The city didn't have the roving police patrols I'd
noticed in Town and Johannesburg, but regular
ing txgan on the streets after sunset. Explaining how I just
happened to have a dead Balkan citizen slung over my shoul-
der might be on the difficult side.
What made matters even worse, the feeling of tping
watched, of being tailed, still persisted. I'd thought•the dead
man had tren the one so hot to follow. Now I couldn't be
sure.
I dropped him in an alley trhind the offices of Afro-
European Lines and stepped into the street. Glancing up and
down told me there wasrft any way I'd get the body out
unless I wanted to create an international incident. Izaving
him in the alley might equally as dangerous, too. The
lice checked regularly, probably looking for SWAPO ter-
orists or
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Tapping out a cigarette, turned and pretended to study the
contents of a nearby shop window as I lit it. A man walked
by, not giving me a second glance. However, his face rang all
sorts of trlls in my mind. His last name was Korchov. The
first name eluded me at the moment, he definitely tE-
longed in the Third Directorate of the KGB-—one of their
agents assigned to England.
Or had tEen. Now he walked the streets of
The dead Balkan, Korchov—what wa.s going on? It looked
like a spy convention in Namibia.
g 'Ihn' worry, he didn' se you," came the quiet words
from l*hind. I in surprise. I hadn't paying
attention, and the man had simply walked up on me.
"Achmed!" I cried. ' 'You know him?"
' 'Bela Korchov? Yes, of course I do. Recently transferred
here from London. He feels it is a demotion. I 've approached
him."
"For what organization?" I asked suspiciously.
' 'Why MI-5. ofcourse. We Britishers haven't totally dug a
hole and pulled it in after us when the sun set on our Empire. '
British intelligence. Achmed ben-Gorra. Other pieces to
the puzzle fell into place.
"You're lucky to alive," I said.
' 'I know. Many thanks for that tX)ffo performance
The Easy Ride. I'm not sure I could have captured the tsetse
fly as easily as you, old chap."
The Bantu the ship had been sent to kill an under-
cover agent, all right. Only he'd been sent to eliminate
Achmed, not me. My cover had tren intact Achmed's
had been blown. That explained why Faber didn 't recognize
me when we met in Johannesburg. He thought the foreign
agent after him had tren eliminated—and I hardly fit Ach-
med •s description. Fat*r had me, but not as being
the agent atm.rd The Easy Ride.
"Seems one of our chaps got careless in contacting me.
Faber's men are damn fine. A shame wasting them on him. "
"You don't even sound like a sailor now," I marveled.




161
"Hard work. I think I'll put in for a bit of desk work after
this is over. " He cocked his head and studied me. *'You need
help getting rid of surplus baggage?"
I nodded in the direction of the alley.
Achmed motioned. A large black cab swung up to the
curb. He opned the back door and said, help your
friend in."
I struggled with the now stiff body. Rigor mortis makes it
almost impssible to handle a body easily. I finally dumped
die corpse in the bæk. Achmed restrained me from getting
in. He slammed tie door and the cab roared off into the
twilight.
"Let me handle this. This makes us even. You saved my
life atx»ard ship, whether you knew it or not, and now I am
a favor for you. "
"Done. I hands on it.
' 'Ihis is getting to be a quite crowded place, " he said, as
we walked slowly in the direction opposite to that taken by
Komhov. "I •ve sm)tted a veritable stew of agents boiling
about. Seems Fatrr has stirred up an anthill with his extortion
scheme. "
"And?" I pressed.
' 'And?" Achmed said, one eyetrow arching slightly.
"You haven't heard, then? I doubt there's a government
leader in the world he hasn 't threatened with rather horrible
death if they don't obey his every command. He has carried
through with a few minor officials, much to their displeasure,
might say. "
Fatrr had finally gone off the deep end. As long as he
stricted his activities to South Africa, not many of the world
aders would have cared much, at least in private. If any-
ing, it might have meant trtter bargaining levers with the
ountry. Now that he'd carried his mad dreams of world
onquest into the international arena, he became a prize
get for any and all.
"At least five different countries have agents wandering
d Windhckk looking for him. "



162
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NICK CARTER
"Why here?" I asked.
"You're here," pointed out Achmed. shipping com-
pany has hardly maintained a low profile. You discovered it
in less than a day's effort. Don't discount the rest of us."
I debated merit of working with Achmed on this. His
contacts might prove beneficial, but something held me
back. The British were as staunch an ally as we had in the
world. But that didn't mean their interests coincided
with those of the United States.
"Then again, " Achmed went on, "my back in
London might not let me stick around here much longer.
Seems they want to pull in the horns. Protect all the good
folks. "
"They 've been doing that quite a while against the IRA. "
But I saw what Achmed was doing. He gave me an out if I
wanted to pursue Doctor DNA on my own.
I did.
In this business you should never get personal. Grudges
lead to mistakes. Revenge is something without sanction by
the higher-ups. And I still wanted Bron for my own.
Something about him got to me. What he'd done to Alleen
was only put of it. The woman wouldn't be the same again,
not without a considerable amount of time with a shrink. At
this point, I'd better off professionally letting Achmed
carry on. I was the one who should thinking about cashing
in and going home, not the tall British agent.
"I'll work alone on this," I heard myself saying. In spite
of all the rational, logical, good reasons against it, I heard
myself telling him I'd forge on ahead.
' 'Do keep in toucht old boy. If you need any backup, let
me know."
' 'Thanks. One last thing, Achmed. i'
"Yes?"
g 'How many other KGB agents are in Windhoek right
now? Korchov is topnotch. Have the Soviets run in an-
other?"
"You mean the one you snuffed in the Afro-European



163
omces? No, he was an independent. I he represented
Turkey or Cyryus, one of those middlin small powers in that
'Turkey?"
' 'Fatrr left out no one when he issued his demand to the
new king of the world. "
"l see. I'd get back to see how Alleen is doing."
I ignored the question. He knew damn well who she was.
"Be seeing you, Achmed. And thanks again."
I made a few moves designed to throw off anyone follow-
ing me, more out of hatit than conviction. If Achmed had
tEen the one trailing me trfore, he already knew what hotel I
stayed in. The man might know even more than that, in fact. I
figured he wanted to go it alone. Agents have egos, too. From
what I 'd seen of Achmed, he was a big man and probably had
needs to match.
I looked in on Alleen. She still slept her drugged sleep. I
silently closed the door and sat in the t*St chair in the sitting
room. ne suite had cost much less than I'd thought and the
service here matched what I'd found in South Africa. So
much for the good news. I leaned my head back and rested it
the top edge.
Before I realized it, I was asleep.
A sharp on the door jarred me awake.
I called out, "Who's there?"
"Mail, sir," came the reply.
I checked Hugo's position on my right forearm, sure that
e wouldn 't fail me. Then I opened the door. It's trtter to tr
afe than sorry. In this case, my preparations amounted to
verly cautious t*havior. 'Ihe small, fair, sandy-haired bell-
op had a small package sent to me from my "uncle" in
outh Africa. I thanked the man and gave him a couple of
marks. He smiled and left.
Ripping off the paper revealed what I'd h0FEd to find.





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NICK CARTER
Hawk had sent a television communicator device. Afte
checking to see that Alleen still slept, I attached the evice
knowing I could talk for some time yet. The se
warmed up, the picture scrambled, and then flowed int
familiar outlines.
Hawk sat with his Frennial cigar firmly •locked in th
comer of his mouth. His jaw set at an angle that told me th•
call hadn't gone through an instant scxm. If I hadn
called. I might have found the man banging on m
door. Over the years I've learned to spt the ominous signs.
This orE wasn't a good ME, of that I was psitive.
' 'Yes, sir?" I asked.
g 'It's Doctor DNA, N3, " he said without preamble. "He
-moved against the government leaders in four
countries. feel this isn't a serious attempt on his part. "
"What's 'not serious' rnean, Siro "
'Only four ministers were killed. He-could have taken ou
the echelons. Instead, he opted to remove lower
ranking Hireaucrats as a show of his Two died fro
sleeping sickness, one from yellow fever, and one simpl
rotted away in front of a crowd of reporters. He was a pres
secretary. "
"And called all the deaths?"
' 'He released word to the world press. Up till now, o
had heard of him. They assumed he was just another
and ignored him. Now he gets front page coverage every tim
be says I want him stoppd now, N3.
"Who has he contacted in the United States?"
' 'Ihe ranking officer in each branch of our armed forces
the Speaker of the House. the Vice President, and the Presi
dent himself. None is amused, N3. "
I took a deep treath. Things had moved faster than
thought, but I had a few aces up my sleeve. Faber couldn
know I'd gotten on his trail again so quickly. Ihen again,
might not matter if he knew I was here or not. ne entire ci
of Windhoek swarmed with agents. Agents of Korchov'
caliber wouldn •t take long to find the clues I already had
my pssession.




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DOCTOR DNA
c 'Is there any way of protecting them, sir?"
'Of course. "
When Hawk didn't say any more. I knew that matters
indeed serious. I didn 't have 'a need to know ' ' so h
wasn't going to even mention it. Still, I had to smile.
vision of the White House adomed with stuck me
ludicrous.
need some supprt, sir. The CIA drop was fine in
emergency, I don't wish to . .
' 'Catainly If understand your report correctly, th
Irst plæe for additional aid is not in Windrx»k tilt in Walvi
Bay. Is that correct. N3?"
"Yes, sir, it is. I want to take Alleen along. m. "
"As a lightning rod? You might draw more fire than
ploy is worth, Nick. "
"I realize risk I'm taking. But she seems attuned
Fatrr in sorne way I don't understand. Her entire world ha
tren shattered by the man, yet she keeps on with her fantas
of him marrying her. "
"She is unstable. nat SIElls even more trouble for you
Leave her in the hotel. Our men will attend to her."
"I'd prefer to keep her on, as I've outlined. I know
base Farer uses is within twenty miles or so of Walvis Bay
Alleen might able to give me a clue as to where within that
tre is. "
"By the way, N3," Hawk said in a low voice. "Ou
agents have examined the lat»ratory out on the veldt in the
Kruger Game Preserve. Good work. All the flies were killed
and no shred of evidence remained. as well with t
recombinant DNA/disease lab and I ill see that you get a nice,
long R & R."
"Ihanks," I said dryly. Whenever Hawk dished out
promises like that, it meant the job had little chance of being
easy. The AXE computers had been cranking out projections;
while Hawk would never reveal them to me, I guess they
gave me small hork of success. Not only did I compete with
agents from other countries, I might find myself up to my hip
pockets in other AXE agents.
166





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166
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
Or then again maytr not. Hawk had confidence in me and
might not want me hindered with others. I wouldn 't ask what
his decision was either way.
The last glimpse I had of Hawk was him tossing away his
cigar stub and lighting up a fresh stogie. The blue-green
clouds of noxious vapor swirled around his face just as the
television screen went to all-white.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. It was time to rouse
Alleen and go to work again.
Ihe return to Walvis Bay was as inauspicious as my first
trip here. Ihis time, instead of teing a sailor, I as a
tourist from Germany. My fluent German stood me in good
stead and away some of the anti-American sting I 'd felt
from my inquiries. Traveling with Alleen, who was obvi-
ously Ditch, hell*d immeasurably. I've long since learned
the easy way to get through a customs line in any country is to
be immediately in front of a beautiful woman.
lhe customs agents are so much in a hurry to get to the
woman that they 'II miss small items. In my case, those small
items were my Luger and stiletto, plus a powerful little radio
for communicating with AXE headquarters half the world
away.
Alleen followed me through the customs line. It took me
less than two minutes to clear. They held her up for over
fifteen minutes. In other circumstances the ingratiating,
sistent official might have wrangled the name of her hotel or
some local address from her, but the dark-haired woman still
just . . dnfted
The psychiatrists call it a fugue state. She lived and
breathed and acted, but only if pushed into it by someone
else. By herself, Alleen was little more than a lifelike
department-store dummy. Occasional flashes of animation
occurred, notably when she saw something that triggered
memories concerning Bron Fat*r.
Diamonds. That did it. White dresses. Ihat did it, too. But
otherwise she just existed, never volunteering anything and
talking only when I directed a question sr*cifically at her.





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mcroR DNA
16
In the taxi, I sat close to her, holding her hand. It hung limp
and dry as if it belonged to a lizard rather than a human tring.
"We're going to find the office for Afro-Europe
Lines," I told her as as we'd gotten out of the custom
shed. No resm:mse. 'm hoping from there we can get a line
on Bron."
"Bronis there?" she asked. "He never mentioned an
Company to me. "
"What about his shipping? You said something once abou
him having a lot of shipments from Car Town to Walvis
Bay."
"Yes, he mentioned that. "
' 'And?" I tired easily of having to force every syllable
from her shell-shcxked mind.
"Swakopmund," she said, as if the word tasted bitter on
her lips.
I leaned back in the seat and thought. Swakopmund was a
small IX)rt city just to the north of Walvis Bay. Walvis Bay
was hardly the biggest deep-water port in the world.
Swakopmund trat it out on the list for world's smallest.
Without a lot of government insrrctors, it might tr
for Farrr's metal shipments.
I sighed. The South African govemment had done very
little right in this matter. They might have stopvkd Faber a lot
than I could have if they 'd played their cards right:
given in to the extortion demands , planted transmitters in the
shipment, followed it, and then used their plitical clout to
crack down on Afro-EuroFan Lines and others involved in
getting the metals to a smelter in ney'd panicked,
tried to keep the plague a secret, had tried to be all things to all
people. As a result, ministers died, went on un-
checked, and it an outsider—me——to find out the details
of the scheme.
The South Africans didn 't even know AXE had come onto
the case, either. That was for the t*St. I wondered if they
realized the British, the Russians, and the agents of probably
a half-dozen other countries were filtering into their territory
to take care of I doubted it. The more a state relieson







168
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NICK CARTER
its police, the less likely it is to admit that anything can go
wrong.
I had to admit to being lucky in having Aileen along with
me. This eliminated a lot of the legwork that I 'd planned on.
The name "Swakopmund" alone told me the of
illicit trafficking. A twenty-mile radius of Walvis
Bay would have taken a good length of time to explore. Now
all I had to cover was a small sector.
"Here's the place you want, mister," called out the cab-
bie. I handed him five marks for the ride and helped Alleen
out. Leaning in the window, I gave the cabbie another ten,
saying, "Take our bags to the Hotel Dreifontein. "
"You betcha," he said. I cringed at the Americanism,
then smiled. He roared off. I had a brief pang of suspicion
that the cabbie might keep t»th the money and our luggage,
then I put it from my mind. I had all I needed to survive on.
Wilhelmina rested snugly under my arm and my stiletto
sheathed firmly on my right forearm.
"What are we doing here?" asked Alleen, staring at the
plain front of Afro-European Lines, Limited. She
didn 't seem to remember any of the trip in the taxi, and the
taxi was ba.rely out of sight down the street.
"Just getting an added line on Bron. I want you
saying anything while I'm inside, okay?"
"Yes, Nick.
I had the feeling she would otry as long as I promised her a
chance to see again. I shook my head. She'd been
abused in every way possible and something still
lurked inside her that cared for, even loved, Bron Fat*r.
He didn •t deserve it.
"l 'm Herr Steiner from the home office, ' ' I said, introduc-
ing myself to the receptionist. The woman's expression told
me that I was not expected, which figured. I hadn't intended
on trying this unless I was really sure of myself. With Al-
leen's lead to Swakopmund, any small confirmation would
do me.
' 'From Dusseldorf?" the woman asked, her face turning
even whiter. "But you were not Were you?"





169
not. This is a snap The chairman of the
feels it to maintain gc»d field discipline.
will see your travel vouchers now.
"Yes, ofcourse, right away. " wanted to laugh at the way
she the files to me. I had armat five minutes t*fore the
initial shcxk wore off and she found orr of her •mat
might tr about all it'd take to run down the travel vouchers
filed on this end by the executive from Windhoek. "And get
me a cup of coffee right away. "
My tone cart* out harsher than I expected, but brow-
tuting the woman got me what I wanted. Before she had
returned with coffee, I had my information.
ne four-wheel vehicle rental company, the duration of
rental destination reprt.
Aileen had teen right. used Swakopmund as his
trans-shipment point.
coffee is bitter. Is your surrrior in?"
"Herr Richter? He. that is . . . "
"Never mind. I shall return in one hour. Exactly one hour.
At that time I desire a meeting with Richter and all of his
assistants. Arrange it." With that, took Alleen's arm,
guided her out of the offce and away from the Afro-
European offices.
"What are we doing, Nick?" she asked. '*Is diis helping
us find Bron?"
"Yes. "
"Can we go to tie hotel now? I . .
. I'd like to freshen
up. "
We went back to the hotel while I arranged fora Jeep. I was
on my way to tracking down Doctor DNA and permanently
removing him and the threat he posed to the world. I didn 't
burden Alleen with that knowledge, though. I let her shower,
dress for bush country, and think her reunion with her
would all sweetness and light.
It amazed rne how well she forgot everything bad that had
happened to her. I hadn't. And that's what counted.
Ihe cargo ship creaked under the strains put on its hull by
the immense load of ore it carried. I poshed Alleen down
170





170
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
behind a Hish not a hundred yards from the docking area.
Inngshoremen moved with lazy grace, tX)th anticipating and
dreading the work ahead. When the ship had finally d(Xked
and men swarmed like ants around it, I lcx)king
elsewhere, hoping to catch sight of Faber. I didn 't know if he
rersonally the shipment or whether he left it to the
SWAPO guerrillas.
Apparently, he left it to the guemllas. Men with Uzis sto«xi
around watching every approach to the dock. If any govern-
ment inspætor chanced on this small transaction, he'd die
quickly. I had no doubt his body would be dumped at sea as
the cargo ship returned to Town.
"Is he here, Nick? you see him anywhere?"
Aileen had fanatical atnut seeing Bron again. I
quietly told her that only his assistants worked here tonight.
"But will we find him?"
'61 think we will. See that man over there? The one smok-
ing the cigarette?" A tiny orange coal gleamed in the black-
ness of shadows cast by a bailding. g 'He's the overseeer. "
S 'How can you tell?"
just can." I didn't want to get into a long, involved
description of how he held his body, how he talked to the
others, and how they talked to him. He was the leader.
It took almost two hours to unload the ore. I couldn 't tell
from here what type of strategic metal ore it was, and it didn 't
matter. I needed to see the next portion of the transaction.
Over an hour elapsed before the cargo ship left this makeshift
and another, even larger ship docked. This time the
unloading consisted of small crates.
Small arms. Ammunition. Explosives. lhe way the man I
pegged as leader came forward told me all I needed to know
the contents of the boxes. He quickly dispatched his
men to loading them onto battered u•ucks similar to the ones
I Vd already seen used by SWAPO out in the forests and on the
veldt. Then he talked with the cargomaster. Money changed
hands. And was almost taken by surprise when the guemlla
spun and suddenly left.






171
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DOCTOR DNA
He'd been paid off. Heid gotten his pound of flesh. Load-
ing the ore onto this ship was something the sailors had to do.
ne SWAB) guerrillas were done for the evening, weapons
and money in hand.
"Stay here," I said to Alleen. As silently as a shadow, I
pursued the guemlla leader. He stood with several of his men
next to a ouck, chatting, smoking cigarettes, and divvying up
the money.
Four of them. And the one I needed most—-the leader—
wasn't likely to go off by himself so I could get at him. I felt
the pressure of time and decided to make the move now. In
any mission one key action puts everything into motion, for
or for worse. This was it.
I walked boldly up to the guerrillas. Rifles came up. I
heard the of the leader's Uzi snapping shut. I kept
walking until was less than five feet from the tiny group.
"Pardon rrr, chaps, I'm looking for someone to put me in
touch with mctor DNA. " lhe fraction of a second that went
by as surprise took hold gave me the time I needed for action.
My foot found a groin. Hugo slipped between another's ribs.
I batted away a rifle barrel aimed for my head, and drove my
fist into an expsed throat. And then I faced the leader.
His machine gun came up. Everything moved in slow
motion then. If only the rest of the world had turned into
molasses, I 'd 've been firw But no matter how hard I pushed,
my own limbs felt as if I forced them through water. The
adrenaline rush #eeded up my rrrceptions but did nothing to
aid my reflexes.
I watched as his lips pulled back in a grimace. His knuckle
tumed white as it tightened on the trigger. But I noticed his
stance wasn't square, braced, ready for swift movement.
I lunged to one side. Again, I felt as if imr»ssible weights
held me back. But the slugs ripped air just inches over my
head. And I 'd dodged in the right direction. The Uzi has little
recoil, but it's an automatic weapon with all the faults physics
gives to automatics. lhe muzzle lifted up and to the right as I
faced it—I'd gone left.
172





172
+ 110%
NICK CARIER
Getting inside the guerrilla leader's guard was easy then.
Off balance, he couldn't move. My knife slashed across his
wrists. 'Ihe machine gun fell from lifeless, useless hands.
Hugo's sharp blade had severed arteries and tendons.
"Aieee!" he shrieked. "Allah merciful! My hands!"
' 'Your throat will go next if you make even one small
noise. ' ' I pressed the sharp tip of the stiletto into his Adam 's
apple. A tiny strangled noise emerged from his lips. That was
all. S 'Good," I said. "Let's get out of here. If you want to
keep on living, don't make a sound."
He obeyed well. He clutched his severed wrists the trst he
could, then realizing neither hand staunched the flow of the
other, thrust them under his arms and squeezed down.
leaked out and down the sides of his tK>dy, soaking his dirty
khaki shirt.
am dying," he protested. ' 'I will bleed to death."
"Just stay like that. It takes a while to bleed to death from
cut wrists. First you get cold, then sleepy. You still look
feverish to me. You've got a ways to go. Mayt* you even
survive the night—if you "
He sat in a huddled lump in the alley I'd chosen. Piles of
garbage and excrement belied knowledge of any modem
sanitation system. 'Ihe Germanic efficiency shown in Wind-
hoek and even Walvis Bay didn't extend this far out into the
it seemed. But this made a perfect to inter-
rogate my captive.
' 'You're SWAPO," I said.
€ 'You are not with the police?"
' 'I couldn't care less about Namibia's internal policies. Or
South Africa's. want information about your boss, Doctor
DNA."
"He is not my I am a freedom fighter." For a
moment, the recited propaganda gave him the adrenaline
rush needed to wave his hands atx)ut. •me shower of blood
convinced him against any more outtNrsts.
don't care what you call him or what you think you 're
doing. In exchange for unloading his ore shipments and
seeing that they 're on an Afro-European Lines ship bound for






173
Europe, you get paid off in arms and money. I want to talk
with him. "
No answer.
€ 'Getting cold yet? Your color's not too good. • ' guer-
nlla had turned a pasty gray color under his natural ch(xolate
skin. The effect was not pleasant.
know nothing of this tkx:tor DNA."
e 'I can afford to wait on this one, " I said, leaning casually
against a dirty, graffiti-written wall. "You can't.
He glared at me. lhe anger drove out his fear, but only for
a few seconds. Then he worked his wrists up and down
against his body. A fresh stream of blood leaked out to
dampen his chest.
"You will kill me anyway. No matter what I say, you will
kill me."
' 'Ihat might the way the Ikmocratic Turnhalle Al-
hance police leamed from their South African friends, but
it's not the way I orrrate. If you give me the information I
want, I'll see that an ambulance is sent for you."
kill "
"You're going to die here and now. Maytr you can get
away from them. I don't know. Want to match one hundred
percent chance of dying with me against some unknown
Frcent with the authorities?"
"What do you want to know?" I swear his teeth rattled.
didn 't think it was fear; it had to be the coldness of bleeding to
death setting in.
g 'Where's Doctor DNA's headquarters? They're some-
where nearby. I need to know exactly where. "
s 'The You won't forget?"
"Forget? Tell me and I'll contact the hospital imme-
diately. ' '
' 'I •m cold," he said, shaking. ' 'And so tired."
g 'Ihtor DNA," I prodded. "Where?"
"In the jungle. Outside of town. Ten miles, no more. Go
east. Marked road to Windhoek. Ten miles, no more. No
. . " He slumrrd over, unconscious.
more .
I considered what he'd said. It fit the pattern I'd noticed




174
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
with On the road to Windh(Ek provided ground trans-
port. So near Swakomnund gave him access to the shipping
lanes. Yeah, it all fit.
Dropping the man, I tore off bloody strips from his
shirt and his cut wrists to close the wounds. On my
way back to where I'd left Alleen, I found a pay telephone
and called the nearest hospital, giving them directions and
what had happened. Whether or not they respnded, don 't
know. I didn't stay around to find out.
Doctor Bron Fat*r and his disease lab were only ten miles
away. wanted to finish this mission as quickly and effi-
ciently as pssible.














CHAPTER TWELVE
I parked the Jeep atx)ut five hundred yards down the road
from the small white sign I •ci seen declaring, "Medical
Research Center." Faber's egomania roared out again. No
one intent on conquering the world would advertise his pre-
sence with a sign unless totally separated from his senses. In a
way, he was as out oftouch with reality as Aileen. They made
a pretty pair.
I glanced at the woman. She sat quietly, hands folded in
her lap. She hadn't seen the sign. She hardly noticed I'd
stopped the Jeep and gotten out. I debated atx)ut my best
course of action. Leaving her was the only logical thing to do.
couldn •t have her looking over my shoulder, yet it hardly
seemed prc:F to let her sit alone like that in the Jeep. If
anything out of the ordinary she might go flying
off into a panic from which she might not return.
Still, I had my job to think atk)ut. It came first. Killing
Bron Fatxr was top priority.
176
175




176
+ 110%
NICK CARTER
"I won't long, Aileen, " I said, resting my hand on her
arm. She tumed to face me, a tiny smile lurking on her lips.
' 'What? Oh, yes, of course, Nick. You won't tr long."
"You'll stay here, won't you?"
"Yes, Nick. "
ms time was sure I Sd made a mistake about the raven-
tressed trauty. She was off in or Walvis
Bay, yet I couldn't take the time to send her And
allowing her to travel alone had too many problems attached
to it. Not only wasn't in any to left alone, the
foreign agents rattling around Namibia would pick up on her
in an instant. They weren •t stupid; they 'd have good deErip-
tions of her as tring connected with Some. like
Achmed, would seize on the to upstage me. NO.
Alleen would stay where she was.
I cast one last look back at her entering the wcx:xis.
The ironwood trees sparsely covered the land. ne sræeze-
wood trees were more prevalent and caused me no end of
trouble. By the time I'd gotten to a small clearing with a
single building in the center, my nose was up and my
eyes watered continuously. Dabbing at the allergic reactions
did no good.
I blew my nose and wiped my eyes clear.
And saw victory ahead.
In the doorway of the building Bron wearing a
white lab smock that gently flapped in the soft breeze blow-
ing through the clearing. He held one of his magic wands for
controlling his tsetse flies. He didnst seem to aim it in my
direction, which meant I had at least one good shot at the
man.
Wilhelmina came into my hand. I quickly pulled back the
toggles. The slide jacked up into d"te air, arching its metallic
back, then slid forward in a smooth action that carried a 9mm
Parakrllum round into the I sighted.
And I didn't like the sight-picture.
Fatrr stared directly at me. And he smiled. My finger
came back on the Luger's hair trigger. The shot went wide by
a fcx)t when a powerful blow landed on the back of my neck. I



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went down, stunned, tilt somehow kept the automatic in m
grip. The world wildly spun around me and stars glowed i
hazy, constellations. It hardly seemed
what had hapr*ned to me.
I'd been attacked by a gorilla. It tk)unced up and down n
five feet away.
nose beasts have gotten lousy press. They 're vegetarians
shy, and run whenever man comes near. In fact, this shyne
has led to their virtual extinction throughout Africa. Ve
seldom do they use those prodigious muscles to fight. The
run—and are run off their temtorial breeding grounds.
"Wha-—?" was all I managed to say trfore the gorill
lumbered forward, long, incredibly pwerful arms out
stretched. I hardly t*lieved this was happening to me. 'Ihi
normally shy animal wanted my scalp.
I fired point-blank. Again. And again. Then a mighty han
batted Wilhelmina from my grip.
I heard Fatrr's distant laughter. Turning to look at him
slow understanding dawned. He held his guidance wand and
B)inted it in my direction. He controlled the gorilla with it
ne man had experimented on more than simple insects
He 'd managed to genetically alter a mountain gorilla and turn
it into a killer.
Even worse, it killed at his command.
"Die, Carter," came the mocking words. ' 'My little pet
will even ease you into a shallow grave. He's quite handy
around here—for getting rid of the garbage!"
Three 9mm slugs hadn 't even inconvenienced the animal.
Tiny spts on its chest oozed blood where the bullets had
entered, but not so anyone would notice. lhe impact of the
slugs went unnoticed, m, of the creature's bulk. It
could take incredible shocks and keep on going. I prayed that
one of the bullets had found its way into a vital organ, a liver,
a kidney, across an artery. I hoped for internal damage. The
t*ast certainly didn't pay any attention to its wounds as it
swung toward me, its tiny red eyes radiating a hatred that
bordered on the human.
"Nice, gorilla," I said, inching away. I got to my feet.




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Tensing my right arm I sent Hugo racing down into my hand.
I stabbed out just as the giant gorilla lunged. Ihe sharp blade
slashed through a furry arm. The gorilla recoiled and trl-
lowed in pain. I wasn't so sure I'd done the right thing after
all. I'd only enraged him.
It lunged again.
Humans have survived in the worst of conditions against
stronger predators through agility and intelligence. I used
agility now. mcking those powerful, crushing arms, I darted
out and into the forest. There was no way in hell I could
outmuscle that trast.
"Don't quit on me now, feet," I muttered, as my legs
pumped to put distance between the gorilla and myself.
When I'd put enough distance t*tween us, I stopped and
panted like a dog in the sun. I hadn 't counted on the gorilla 's
strong arms and Iring in terrain custom-made for it. The
simian had swung through the trees using Long, powerful
arms. ne creature was so well-adapted to this kind of coun-
try it had easily outmatched my fleet pace on the ground.
I again faced the beast.
"Easy, now," said, beginning to circle. I held my knife
in front of me, knowing this was little more than a crutch for
me now. Still, it was my tBt weapon. I tried to talk to the
beast in a low, soothing voice, hoping to lull him a bit.
Whatever magic wand did to the animal, it did too
damned well. The gorilla attacked.
I kept Hugo between us—then the blade went into the
beast's chest. Arms twice as long as mine circled my body
and held me firmly to that hard, hairy chest. Ihe grip on my
knife slipped; the blade remained inside the animal as he
applying more and more power to the back-breaking
grip he held me in.
I felt the breath gusting from my lungs. ne gorilla fought
like a boa constrictor. As soon as I exhaled, it tightened up a
little more on its crushing embrace. I slowly suffocated
because my chest muscles weren 't strong enough to allow me
to draw a good lungful of air against the inexorable tighten-
mCTOR DNA
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179
ing. Struggling, wiggling, kicking, I fought to get one arm
Even as I did, I felt the world turning black. Everything
spun crazily atX)ut me. My pulse B)unded harshly in my
temples. No oxygen made it into my lungs.
I rx)ked my thumb directly into the gorilla 's left eye. With
an agonized howl, the animal dropped me. I kicked free and
rolled and kept rolling. The world changed from black to red
as my tortured lungs fought to suck in as much oxygen as
possible. I was getting too much air. Brain came into control
over body. I held my breath until I felt the red curtain I 'd seen
being pulled away. Then I panted again, letting the life-
giving oxygen my lungs once more.
I hardly had time to regain my breath trfore the gorilla
attacked again. In my weakened condition, one more lover's
hug from the gorilla would kill me. My spine ached and
popped in protest every time I moved. I have a strong back;
but compared to the strength mustered by the gorilla, I was
like a newborn baby.
I slipped backward into the woods. I wanted a sturdy tree
Gunk trtween us. Out-dodging it seemed a likely tactic to
u•y. Nothing else I could do had a ghost of a chance of
working for very long. I had nothing to lose but my life by
trying it.
The resounding roar as he attacked shook me. Animals
don 't usually cry when on the attack. That's either before or
after the hunt. Still, I had to rememt*r that Fatrr had geneti-
cany engineered friis animal to his own specifications. He 'd
wanted a killer. nere wasn't any need for that juggernaut to
silent.
I kicked at precisely the right instant. I caught the gorilla
on a kneecap. It went down, rolled easily, and came up again,
unhurt. Hugo still stuck in the animal's ribs. As soon as it
charged again, I dashed around a tree, ducked down, and
spun. I grabtrd hold of the knife handle and twisted.
Rage.
I regained possession of my knife.




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Ihis time I played a very dangerous game. I allowed the
gorilla to encircle my tX)dy with those long, deadly arms. I •d
sucked in as much air as J could in hopes of
What I had to do might take more than a single lungful of air.
"Aieee!" I shrieked as the gorilla's arms smashed down
into my tX)dy. For a moment. all thought Of my battle plan
sliFFi away in pain. Then I brought my eltxvws down into
the gorilla 's shoulders. It felt as if I smashed into stone. The
muscles overlaying the back and shoul&rs
tensed into steely immobility.
I felt the world going away again. Not encnlgh oxygen. I
out with Hugo. The sharp bla& cut down into tlr
gorilla •s shoulders. Nothing. I cut and slashed and hacked
like some apprentice butcher. Blcx»d spattered all over now
but nothing lessened the bone-mangling grip around my
body.
Inexorably, life fled my txydy. I jabbed again, the
point striking the juncture head and torso. I couldn 't
find a neck. Blackness welled up and swept over me. I feebly
over and over. It might as well have teen a mos-
quito•s sting against a dinosaur.
I don't rememtrr passing out.
I barely remember coming to, the heavy weight pressing
down onto my Breathing was almost impssible. I
checked to make sure that the word "impssible" wasn't
absolutely mie. My mouth and nostils were filled with a
stinking fur coat. Turning my head, fresh air came in again.
It took long minutes for rrr to understand what had hap-
Even as I blacked out, I had stabbed down with my
knife. One of those thrusts had found the gorilla's carotid
artery. It had bled to death in less time than it took for the
gonlla to crush the life from me. Obviously. I still lived, it
didn't.
As it collapsed, it camed me forward. Its weight held me
down. Its dead weight.
Another minute passed before I found the strength to work





181
out from under that mountain of dead nrat. I was covered in
blood—not mine.
But lived.
And, all things considered, wasn't in tCX) bad shaF. M
ribs hurt like hell. Mayte one or two were cracked but
nothing broken, no compund fractures with naked white
promlding through the skin. My lungs wheezed and
protested a steady, regular, constant flow of air. They'd
adjust back to normal enough. And while other muscles
Ehed horribly, I was in one
Bron had just a bit more to pay for now.
backtracked the path of my wild retreat from the gorilla. I
found crushed grass and broken limbs on low-hanging trees.
nen I found Wilhelmina. I checked the action to make sure
no dirt had gotten into the works. Lugers are precision
machines. They work reliably and well under adverse condi-
dons, but dirt or sand in the slide will cause one to jam. The
last thing in the world I wanted now was for my gun to jam at
a critical moment.
I'd missed Fatrr once I wouldn't miss twice, no
matter what he sent against me.
I advanced on the building, doing a sneak-up to keep from
alerting him. And again it didn't work.
Fat*r appared in the doorway, his wand in hand.
"Carter? You amaze me," he said in a mildly agitated
tone. "You got away from the gorilla. Well, never mind.
come inside. I think you'll find what I have to show you very
instuctive. "
I raised my Luger for the shot that would take him out.
stopped in time to keep from missing once more. He'd
vanished into the building. I followed.
In my haste to dispatch ttr mad scientist, got careless. I
stalked into the room, my pistol leading the way. If anything
had moved, it would have gotten a couple of slugs instantly.
But nothing living moved. The door slammed tEhind me,
pulled shut with a slender wire leading outside. In a flash,
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NICK CARTER
screened over with heavy metal wire-mesh, and the only
other door to the room was on the far side—and closing.
"Good-bye for good this time, Carter. My faithful allies
will not make the same mistake the gorilla did." Fatrr's
taunting voice came from outside. He'd tugged on the wire
that closed the door, trapping me in this crackerbox of a
room. Given enough time, I 'd be out of here and after him.
Fatxr didn't give me that time.
Swarms of the tsetse flies gushed up from a the man
had opened t*fore leaving the room. nere was no way I
could get through the heavy screens over the windows fast
enough to keep from perishing. Doubtlessly, these flies were
infested with the worst diseases could concoct.
.lnstinct saved me. I didn't have time to logically think it
through. I simply acted. Slashing through my pants leg
revealed Pierre. The tiny gas bomb hung intact on my inner
thigh. I sucked in a deep breath, then mashed the grenade.
Odorless, invisible nerve gas billowed forth. I felt the gre-
nade turning cold against my skin; the gas is highly com-
pressed. As it gushed forth. it expanded and ccx)led to the
point that tiny ice crystals formed on my flesh.
But I didn •t worry atX)ut a little frostbite. I worried that the
tsetse flies would not be affected by the gas quickly enough to
. keep them from swarming on me, biting me, killing me.
I swatted one and crushed it. Gingerly, I its blood
off my skin using a rag I found on a nearby wooden work
table. All the while my ears filled with the buzzing of deadly
insects, 1 felt my lungs protesting. All AXE agents can hold
their breaths for four minutes—-under normal conditions.
I felt as if someone had taken baseball bats to my
The gas released from Pierre dissipates in three min-
utes. I'd only gone two and already felt dizzy. My lungs
threatened to explode unless took a nice, deep breath.
If I did, Pierre would kill me. My own faithful companion
would slay me even faster than a bullet through the brain.
ne buzzing sounded louder, more insistent. *Ihe nerve
gas didn't work against tsetse flies. I fought to reach a




183
window, to begin ripping out the heavy mesh screening.
Sinking to my knees, I knew couldn 't go on any longer. Not
even three minutes had elapsed and the buzzing sounded like
the roar Of a huge crowd.
"Nooo! I And nothing happened. I pressed my
nose close to the screen and inhaled. Fresh air. All of Pierre is
nerve gas had dissipated. Ihe cross-ventilation had cleared it
out sooner than I'd thought.
As I sucked in life-giving air, I noticed the buzzing went
away. The gas had killed the tsetse flies; all I Sd heard buzzing
was the blood roaring in my own head.
1 didn 't move for several minutes. I wanted to tr sure r was
back into fighting trim-—-or something close to it. I'd run
æross two of F&r's genetically mutated inventions today
and had bested But the cost to me physically was great.
Settling my mind helped. I pictured myself sinking into a pool
of warm, clear water. The ripples expanded outward and
soothed, calmed, renewed. By the time I pulled myself erect
and faced the middle of the I felt like I could take on
both a gorilla and a swarm of tsetse flies at the same time.
' 'You bastard, " ' muttered softly. I walked to the door and
studied it. The doorknob had removed and a plate
welded over the receptacle. I checked out the other door.
Same thing. Carefully studying the entire door frame, I
decided against forcing my way out this route. nte way
appeared to be cutting into the screen and pulling it back far
enough to snake through.
My knife nicked and dulled as I sawed through the tough
wire over the windows. Eventually I made it. A hole large
enough for my tX)dy awaited me. Something held me back. I
sat on the floor and stared at the hole, thinking hard.
What me? I frust my instincts. I have to; they've
kept me alive for a long time.
Then it hit me. I'd barely gonen to the edge of the clearing
the first time when Faber apFared and turned on his magic
wand. The gorilla had come after me even though FatEr
couldn 't have seen me. After I'd dispatched the gorilla to its



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eternal banana republic in the sky , Fat*r had t*en waiting for
me again, this time with a gimmicked room and the flight of
tsetse flies.
I didn't think he'd prepared this srxcial rcx)rn sans
doorknobs just for me. He hadn't had the tirne. nis was a
regular part of his paranoid world, a trap for the unwary,
perhaps even a test for the voracious flies. I envisioned
a native tricked into this room while watched to see
what results his latest disease had on his unsuspecting victim.
It wasn't a pretty picture, yet it was something I could see
Fatrr enthusing over.
But he had known i had finished off the gorilla and then
had lured me here. How had he known? I stared out the hole
the wire mesh again, this time studying the area around the
building more carefully.
' 'I'll be damned," I muttered to myself. On the prch
t*hind a post stood a small home alarm unit like those sold by
the big department stores in the U.S. Faber had outfitted his
buildings with a monon sensor. I tripped it both times. I
hadn't figured he would rely On mechanical or electronic
gizmos; he was a biologist and, had he run true to form,
would have been totally ignorant of such things.
I Wd underestimated the man.
It wouldn't happen again.
Moving slower than molasses flowing uphill on a cold day,
I edged through the screen. The mouon sensors can
circumvented if movement is gradual enough. *Ihe designers
didn't want a stray breeze moving a plant leaf to set off an
alarm. Ever so carefully, I sliplkd through the wire mesh,
onto the porch, and under the electronic umbrella put out by
the alarm device.
Reaching up, taking pains to be sure my hand didn't enter
the field, I switched off the machine.
"Now, Faber, we're down to a one-on-one."
I drew my Luger and went hunting.
Circling the building gave me no clues as u) Faber's
The sealed room—I was convinced now it was
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185
a test for flying untouched. Drop-
ping, I checked the dust outside the tuilding for footprints. I
found only small, indistinct indentations. But they led off
into the forest. Following slowly, I made sure I didn't walk
into another trap.
Instead, I found a small shed hidden among the trees. This
had to Fatmis real The expansive windows
were with fine-mesh screens all the screens had
tren pulled up and away for tktter ventilation. I walked
around the entire building, making sure that hadn't missed
anything. I was esFcially watchful for any more dime-store
alarm systems.
The last one I'd come æross had worked all well.
I moved in for the kill.
The wcxxien creaked as my weight descended on it.
•m light on my feet but could do nothing atX)ut the protesting
lanks. I kept going until I cart* to the first window.
utiously rising, I rrered inside the lab.
The structure seemed larger insi& than I'd've thought
ssible. It was one huge room lined with several rows of
orkt*ncbes, all black-tomxd and stained with Eids. An
drifted forth from the lab that reminded me of the
iology lab r 'd taken in school. Fonnaldehyde. My nose
rinkled at the memories brought back by that pungent
hemical smell.
A clinking of glassware caught my attention. I swiveled
nd and finally sptted Bron Fatrr. He worked with total
oncentration on some project, his back toward me. As he
rned I got a good profile view. Wilhelmina came up but I
eld my fire. I saw what the man did and it chilled me to the
In a test buzzed a tsetse fly. He stuck a syringe
gh the rubter in the test tutr. A bright, reflecting
op of a clear liquid onto the fly. He shook the test
to agitate the fly and soak it thoroughly in the liquid. I
•dn 't need a Ph.D.-in biology to know what was happening.
at harmless-appearing clear liquid contained a bacteria or




186
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NICK CARTER
virus capable Of wiping out a human life in a matter o
seconds.
If I killed now, he'd drop the syringe. It might
might not break. That didn't matter. A quick fire erase
everything. But the test tube would break when it fell and
disease-carrying messenger of &ath would wing forth.
It was stupid of me to hesitate for even a second. What w
one lousy tsetse fly compared to the infinite misery this
might cause? Still, the idea of that much death ptential
close by had held me back for a second. No longer. I
been given a dangerous mission. It was time to complete it.
I waited for Fatrr to put down the test tut* with the tl
inside. My finger tensed. I fired just as Alleen yanked m
•hand up and away, ruining the shot. Glass tinkled insi& th
telling me that I'd missed Faber completely.
"Alleen, you I shouted. Shoving her out of m
way, I kicked in the door and stood crouched, waiting f
movement inside the mom. If Fatrr so much as sneezed, I '
have him cold.
' 'Nick, don't hurt him. Please! I love him!"
"Stay back, Aileen, " I snaprrd, my eyes never stoppin
their slow scan of the lal»ratory. "After what he's done
you. I'd think you'd want the son-of-a-bitch dead.
"You don't understand, do you, Carter?" came FatEr'
rncrking voice. s 'She can't help herself. My first experi
ments were on insect control using pheromones. I adap
that to humans. My pheromones are absolutely irresistible
women. The diabolical laugh that followed told me to mov
out of the doorway. I silhouetted myself too much there. H
might have a gun hidden away. Underestimating him agai
might prove fatal. I circled to the right, constantly on th
alert.
' • nere's got to more to it than that, You don'
just smell good. "
"It's sex-linked, Carter. Absolutely nonrational. Goe
right to the most primitive instincts of humanity."
"With something like that, why with the tsetse flie



187
nd the disease? You have what all men dream "
*'Power. I want power. And you won't stop me. Carter.
o one will. I 've issued an ultimatum to all the world leaders.
f course, they didn't trlieve me. But they do now.
il!ed off ten of them. Told the press the exact time and
thod, then killed those fools. "
had him pinpointed now. He crouched t*hind one of the
lack-topped work tables. Caution overrode my instinct to
up onto another table and start firing. If I missed him and
it any of the stoppered vials on the table, one of the horse-
en of the homemade plague—would
ly released to gallop forth into the world.
I wanted to live to take the well-deserved R & R Hawk had
mised me.
S 'Bron, I love you so!" cried Alleen from the doorway.
'Please. I-Rt me stay with you. "
'He 'II kill you, Alleen, " I said. I hord she would distract
im. If he exposed even one small portion of his I'd
ave him then. A bullet doesn 't have much cross-section and
'm a good shot. Damn good.
"No, he won't. Please, Bron, let me . . . • '
"Stay back!" he cried.
As he rose up I changed plans again. He held a large glass
aker literally swarming with tsetse flies. Hundreds of them
ere inside. My eyes flashed to the large windows with the
•sed screens. nose flies would out the windows and
one in seconds. if they bred in the wild, it might impossi-
le to stop the spread of a dozen different virulent diseases.
I dived straight for Farrr, not even thinking of putting a
ullet through him. My hand closed on the wrist holding the
aker. The angry buzzing of the flies inside told me what the
akes were.
' 'You won •t win, Carter, ' ' he snarled, punching at me and
•ng to get his hand free from the traker. "They 're infected
ith my own disease. No antidote, no treatment—it
orks too fast."
I'd seen the results of his specially created disea«e. The





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NICK CARTER
flesh rotted away from the body in minutes. Death w
horrible. Hawk would have to order the entire area nuked t
keep the flies from spreading the disease worldwide.
Walvis Bay was a port for the west coast of Africa. On
pair of the tsetse flies could wipe out the entire condnent
they got aboard a freighter moving up the coast.
Or what if a ship bound for South America in
fested? From there up through Central America and int
North America. I saw entire continents dying. And the so
of all that death and misery rubtrd against my arm as I f0i8h
to get it away from Fatrr.
He kneed me in the groin. I doubled up in pain, but e
move I made came as the result of long training. I t*nt over
yes, but Hugo also free from his sheath. My knif
drove upward into Fatrr's guts. The surprised look on hi
face told me he 'd died almost instantly.
I regretted that he hadn't suffered like so many of hi
victims. lhen regretted killing him at all. The t*ak
containing the disease-carving flies sliPFEd from his hand.
grabbed for it but the blood spurting out of his belly made m
hands too slick. I felt like a pnze receiver for a football te
as I juggled the beaker.
As I closed my fingers on the neck of it, it up
away from me. A loud crash sounded. The crash of doo
The flies buzzed angrily. They'd out the windows i
seconds.
Ihey would have tEen except for Aileen Kindt. She ha
watched my sü•uggle with her lover. When the beaker brok
on the floor, she threw herself on top of it.
"God, Alleen," I said.
"The screens. Nick. drop the screens. Must, oh, m
stomach, the glass! M-must stop them from escaping. O
the flies!"
I knew the glass cut unmercifully into her body, but wh
she said was right. Running like a madman, I slammed eve
screen and then, when all were down, made the rounds agai



189
to securely lock them in place. Not one of those damned flies
would leave here.
"Done, Aileen. . .
My throat constricted at the sight. Bron Fatrr had nurtured
the disease. Quick acting, it had already claimed
Alleen in the most gruesome manner possible. She lay half-
turrrd on the floor, clutching at the beaker cutting into her
stomach. Her once t*autiful features had twisted in unteara-
ble pain. She hadnt been more than twenty-one. She now
looked a hundred. Her skin wrinkled and fell from her bones.
There wasn't any blood. Somehow, the fast-acting disease
had sucked up her life's juices. I watched in mute horror as
she aged another hundred years in seconds. Aileen had turned
into a mummy.
ne pain and terror she'd felt in those last seconds of life
remained on her face, etched there forever.
' 'Aileen, " I said, my throat dry and voice choked. I saw
the tsetse flies working their way out from under her body.
Shock wore off and I sprang into action. found a metal tin of
methyl alcohol. I it over her and lit the volatile liquid
from a nearby Bunsen burner. bright blue flames licked
at her once-gorgeous txxiy.
The flies were caught in the intense flame and cremated. I
swatted a few escaping in other directions. For over an hour I
patrolled that latx)ratory, not to look at the ravaged
corpse on the floor, as I hunted down every m)ssible fly. Only
when I was positive that every single one of the
killers had perished did I search the lab.
I found not&oks. I carefully ripped the pages
out and crumpled them. Then I found more alcohol and
doused the A last bit of bright, cleansing flame
from the Bunsen burner ignited the notes, the floor, and the
trnches.
I left then and stood outside watching, until only charred
supports remained of the building. Even then, I waited and
listened, dreading the sound of the normal African insects




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NICK CARTER
buzzing around my head, praying that I wouldn •t hear a tsetse
fly.
Only when I assured myself that I'd eliminated every
single fly did I leave. It was a long drive back to Walvis Bay.
' 'It is a shame, N3, that you couldn't have found Fatrr's
not&oks, " said Hawk. "lhey might have given us great
insight into prevention of disease. "
"He only caused it," 1 said glumly. I sat across from
Hawk, his immense desk between us. After getting back to
Walvis Bay, I'd the States, told Hawk all that had
haplkned-—with a few major changes—and then waited for
pickup. fiat night a Sea Stallion helicopter landed, me
out to a camer in the Atlantic, and from there I was flown into
Washington, D.C. I'd teen back less than three hours.
'*Being able to cause a disease is an impnant step in
finding ways to prevent and cure them, N3. You know that. ' '
He studied me with those piercing, cold eyes of his. "It's a
temble isn't it?" he said more softly.
"You had to see it for yourself to trlieve it, sir, " I said. In
my mind I still pictured Alleen aging so quickly, eaten alive
by the voracious disease spawned by Fatpr.
"And it wouldn 't do to letjust anyone have this power. We
might all turn into Bron Fatrrs. Isn't that what you're
thinking, Nick?"
S' What?" The use of my first name surprised me. mring
debriefings, Hawk is usually all business. "Yes, you're
right. "
' 'Well, that 's not right. The United States would never use
such a But we have to have the weapon, nonethe-
less. Sticking our heads in the sand won't stop others from
developing biowarfare weapons even more dangerous."
"It might. "
• 'It won•t. Stop sounding like an idioti Nick. You're upset
right now over this woman's death. You gave a very graphic
description. But think on this. If we 'd had 's knowledge'
ofdiseases, he would have been against anyone. If




191
we could cure as easily as he infected, we could have laughed
at him. "
"Would we have Eeen so free with the antidote?" I asked.
"To a counry whose policies we don't fully support?"
e 'I can 't answer that, Nick, in any way that will satisfy you
at this moment. Ugly things hapFn in the world. ne U.S. is
usually left with the unenviable task of tidying them up. We
don't cause too many of those ugly things, but we have to
deal with them. "
'Garbageman to the world. ' ' r snorted and sh€»k my head
sadly.
"Call it what you will. You did a good job. The world
owes you a of gratitude—and no one outside this office
will ever know." He paused for a moment, then added,
' 'Isn 't the knowledge of a job well dotr, a necessary job well
done, reward enough?"
He knew that wasn't what ate away at me.
could have saved her. I shouldn 't have let her come with
me. Not that last time. "
"She had valuable information, N3. By your own stan-
dards, she died as good a death as anyone-could hope for. She
saved countless lives by sacrificing her own. She stopped a
plague for which there might not have been a quick cure. She
died; your burden is continuing to live. "
I thought about what Hawk said. He was right, of course.
That's what I envy him. Winning an argument is hard
he usually comes out on top. Alleen had given her
'fe for millions, millions who would never know that she had
ven lived, much less saved them from awful death. She had
n honest and decent and, when it counted most, brave.
And there hadn 't Iren anything I could have done to stop
er from accompanying me. She had a single-minded deter-
nation to find Fatrr. Even if I'd left her in Walvis Bay,
he 'd have somehow found him. It might even forthe best,
is way. Fatrr's genetic engineering had twisted her
unci. Now she was free of his influence—-forever.
g 'Go on your vacation, Nick. You've earned it. "







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NICK CARTER
I stood and went to the
' 'Nick?" he called.
"Sir?"
"Any idea where you •re going to take that R & R?"
g 'Somewhere without flies, " I said
But Hawk wasn't listening. He already turrrd to the next
crisis brewing. I left, uhing in t»dy and spirit, thit finally
sure that things had returned to normal.