The Stainless Steel Rat eBook Collection (117 page)

Well done, I congratulated myself, then slowed
down to avoid being conspicuous. More soldiers were coming down the street towards me, running at the double, so I slipped down as far as I could and began to tug at the gray beard. It was just about time to resume my Vaska identity.

A ringing pain possessed the side of my head and I fell over, shouting aloud at the sudden agony, pulling on the steering tiller as I went. The van rushed at the
squad of soldiers who scattered in all directions. Something shiny flashed in the corner of my eye and I moved aside so the second blow caught me on the shoulder and was scarcely felt through all the clothing. A white clad arm holding a heavy pot projected in from the rear of the truck. I jammed the steering tiller hard over and the arm vanished from sight as its owner fell. In the rush I had forgotten
there might be others in the van.

Just before the truck a frightened officer was spread-eagled against the wall. I pushed the tiller again and narrowly avoided him
and we had a good look at each other as the van rushed by. He was sure to be impressed by my gas mask and beard and would instantly report it on his radio. Time was running out. Arm and pot reappeared and I chopped the wrist with the
edge of my hand and gained possession of the pot. As soon as I had whipped the van around another corner, foot hard down on the throttle now, I threw the pot back to its owner with a blackout grenade inside, silencing at least this source of trouble for the moment. I straightened the weaving course of the van, gently touched the growing knot on my head, and noticed a brace of armored vehicles that
appeared in the road ahead and turned in my direction. Buildings rushed by and I braked and turned into the next crossroad. The van was becoming more of a liability than an asset and I had to get rid of it.

But what then? I did not want to be found away from my quarters, this would bring instant suspicion, and the officers’ buildings were in the opposite direction. But the officers’ club was
not too far away in the recreation area. Could I get there? Was it possible that the unconscious drunks of the previous evening’s festivities still lay on the bunks where I had left them? This was too good a chance to miss, because if I could get back into my bunk I would certainly not be suspect.

This was close enough. There were vehicles coming towards me – and undoubtedly more behind me –
but none close for the moment. I twisted the van into a narrow street, braked to a stop and hit the ground running. Shedding my disguise as I went, coat, beard, gas mask marking the trail behind me. I stuffed the remaining grenade into my pocket, pulled on my cap, squared my shoulders in a military manner, and strolled around the corner. A squad of soldiers were pouring out of barracks and forming
ranks, but they ignored me, just another uniform among uniforms. The officers’ club was not too
far away. Two more corners and there it was. The front door sealed, but I knew the bunkroom entrance would be open.

Just as I was about to turn the corner I heard the men talking and I held back.

‘Is that all?’

‘Just a few more, sir, a couple that are hard to wake up. And one who won’t get out of
his bunk.’

‘I’ll talk to him.’

I took a quick look, then drew back.

I was too late. An officer was just entering the bunkroom door and plenty of soldiers were milling about, guiding hungover officers to a waiting truck. One of the officers was sitting on the ground, holding his head and ignoring the soldiers who were trying to entice him into the waiting transportation. Another was flipping
his cookies against the wall of the building.

Think quickly, diGriz, time is running out. I bounced the last smoke grenade in my palm, then flipped the actuator with my thumb. If I could join the drunk team I would be safe; it would be worth the risk. I stepped around the corner, arm back, and no one was looking in my direction; with a quick heave I threw the grenade over the truck as far as
it would go.

It exploded nicely, thud, boom, clouds of smoke and startled cries from the soldiery. And everyone looking in the same direction. Eight fast paces took me up behind them, to the seated officer who mumbled unhappily to himself, ignoring all else. I bent over, agreeing sympathetically with his half-heard complaints, helping him to his feet.

Then the soldiers were helping me, holding
me as well since I seemed none too steady on my feet, guiding us both to the waiting truck. I tripped and almost fell and they caught and righted me. Now the stage was set – because there was one more thing
I had to do. The cook in the truck would report that he had hit the spy on the head. So the word would be out to look for a head wound – like the one I had. I couldn’t get rid of the knob on
the side of my skull, but I could camouflage it. It would be painful, but it was necessary.

The soldiers helped me to the first step and I started up. As soon as they let go I missed the next step – and plummeted over backwards between them cracking my head on the ground.

I hit harder than I had planned and the blow on my already sore noggin felt like molten lead had been poured on it and I
must have passed out for a moment. When I recovered I was sitting up with blood running down the side of my face – I hadn’t planned that but it certainly made a nice touch – and a soldier was running up with a first aid kit. I was bandaged and calmed and this time helped all the way into the truck: I felt awful which was fine. With dragging feet I groped my way to the far end, as far from the entrance
as I could get, where a voice called out hollowly to me.

‘Vaska … ’ It changed to a hollow coughing.

My roommate Ostrov was there, looking rumpled and miserable.

‘You don’t have a drink?’ he asked, his usual morning salutation.

I gave him sympathy, if not beverage, during our brief ride.

There were aggrieved cries when the wheeled drunk tank was unloaded and the officers saw that they had
not been returned to their quarters, but had been brought instead to one of the administration buildings. I complained along with the others, although I had been expecting something like this. Someone had escaped from the Glupost base, someone else had entered. Every head would have to be counted
until the missing and/or extra party could be found. We were guided, stumbling, into a waiting area,
to be called out one by one to confer with a battery of tired clerks. While we waited there was a brisk amount of business back and forth to the latrine and I joined the queue. Mainly to leave a little soap on my fingers when I washed my hands, so I could rub some of it into my eyes. It burned like acid, but I let it stay for a moment before I rinsed it out. My eyes glared back at me from the mirror
like twin coals of fire. Perfect.

On cue, I found the clerk, showed my identification and had my name checked off on a roster. I hoped, like all the others, that we would be allowed to leave soon. Many of them had gone to sleep on the benches and I joined their number. It had been a strenuous night. What better disguise for the spy than sleeping in the heart of the enemy?

It was the sudden silence
that shook me awake. I had been lulled off by the grumbles and complaints of my fellow officers, the coming and going of soldiers, the busy whir of office machines. These noises had all stopped, and had been replaced by silence. Through the silence, first distant, then louder and louder came the sound of a single set of footsteps approaching slowly and steadily. They came towards me – and passed
by, and I kept my eyes closed and forced myself to breathe regularly. Only when they were well past did I open my eyes a crack.

I wondered at the silence. All I saw was the back of the man, a nondescript back slightly bent, a wrinkled uniform of unimpressive pale gray and a cap of the same fabric. I could not recall seeing this particular uniform before. I wondered what the fuss was about. Yawning,
I sat up and scratched my head below the bandage, watching as the man reached the end of the room and turned to face us all. He was no more prepossessing from the front than from the back. Sandy hair getting a little thin on top, an incipient
roll of fat and double chin, clean shaven with an unmemorable face. Yet when he spoke, in the tones of a stern schoolmaster, all of the veteran officers
present remained dead silent.

‘You officers, the few among you who were sober enough that is, may have heard an explosion and seen a cloud of smoke while you were on the way here. This explosion was caused by an individual who entered this base and is still undetected in our midst. We know nothing about him, but suspect that he is an offworld spy …’

This drew a gasp and a murmur as might be
expected and the gray man waited a moment until he continued.

‘We are making an intensive search for this individual. Since you gentlemen were in the immediate vicinity I am going to talk to you one at a time to find out what you might know. I also may discover … which one of you is the missing spy.’

This last shaft exacted only a shocked silence. Now that he had everyone in the mental condition
for cross-examining the gray man began calling officers forward one at a time. I was doubly grateful for the foresight that had dropped me off the truck onto the side of my head.

It was no accident that I was the third man called forward. On what grounds? General resemblance in build to the offworld spy Pas Ratunkowy? My delayed arrival at Glupost? The bandage? Some basis of suspicion must have
existed. I dragged forward with slow speed just as the others had done. I saluted and he pointed to the chair next to the desk.

‘Why don’t you hold this while we talk,’ he said in a reasonable voice, passing over the silver egg of a polygraph transmitter.

The real Vaska would not have recognized it, so I didn’t. I just looked at it with slight interest – as though I did not know it was transmitting
vital information to the lie detector before
him – and clutched it in my hand. My thoughts were not as calm.

I’m caught! He has me! He knows who I am and is just toying with me!

He looked deep into my bloodshot eyes and I detected a slight curl of distaste to his mouth.

‘You have had quite a night of it, Lieutenant Hulja,’ he said quietly, his eyes on the sheaf of paper – and on the lie detector
readout as well.

‘Yes sir, you know … having a few last drinks with the boys.’ That was what I said aloud. What I thought was
They will shoot me, dead, right through the heart!
and I could visualize that vital organ spouting my life’s blood into the dirt.

‘I see you recently had your rank reduced – and where are your fuses, Pas Ratunkowy?’

Am I tired … wish I was in the sack
I thought.

‘Fuses,
sir?’ I blinked my red orbs and reached to scratch my head and touched the bandage and thought better of it. His eyes glared into mine, gray eyes almost the color of his uniform, and for a moment I caught the strength and anger behind his quiet manners.

‘And your head wound – where did you get that? Our offworld spy was struck on the side of the head.’

‘I fell, sir, someone must have pushed
me. Out of the truck. The soldiers bandaged it, ask them …’

‘I already have. Drunk and falling down and a disgrace to the officer corps. Get away and clean yourself up, you disgust me. Next man.’

I climbed unsteadily to my feet, not looking into the steady glare of those cold eyes, and started off as though I had forgotten the device in my hand, then turned back and dropped it on his desk, but
he was bent over the papers and ignoring me. I could see a faint scar under the thin hair of his balding crown. I left.

Fooling a polygraph takes
skill, practice and training. All of which I had. It can only be done in certain circumstances and this one had been ideal. A sudden interview without normalizing tests being run on the subject. Therefore I began the interview in a near panic – before
any questions had been asked. All of this must have peaked nicely on his graph. I was afraid. Of him, of something, anything. But when he had asked the loaded questions meant to uncover a spy – the question I knew was coming – I had relaxed and the readout had shown this. The question was a meaningless one to anyone but the off-worlder. Once he saw this the interview was over, he had plenty more
to do.

Ostrov was sitting up, cold sober, eyes as big as plates when I came back and dropped onto the bench next to him.

‘What did he want?’ He spoke in a hollow whisper.

‘I don’t know. He asked me something or other that I didn’t know about and then it was over.’

‘I hope he doesn’t want to talk to me.’

‘Who is he?’

‘Don’t you
know!’
with shocked incredulity. I tread warily, covering my
complete lack of information.

‘Well you know I just came here …’

‘But
everyone
knows Kraj.’

‘Is that
him … ?’
I gasped it out and tried to look as frightened as he did and it seemed to work, because he nodded and looked over his shoulder and quickly back again. I rose and went to the latrine again to terminate the conversation at this spot. Everyone knew about Kraj.

Who was Kraj?

E
MBARKING FOR THE INVASION
came as
a relief for everyone; better a nice quiet war than the suspicions and fears that swept the Glupost base during the following days. There were sudden inspections, midnight searches, constant alarms and the sound of marching boots at all hours. I would have been proud of my efforts at sowing the seeds of disorder if I had not been a victim of that
disorder at the same time. The invasion plans must have gone ahead too far to alter because, in the midst of all the excitement, we still adhered to schedule. On B day minus two all the bars closed so that the sobering up process of the troops could begin. A few reluctant ones, myself and Ostrov included, had concealed bottles which carried us a bit further, but even this ended when our lockers
and bags were put into storage and we were issued pre-packed invasion kits. I had a small can of powdered alcohol disguised as tooth powder that I was saving for an emergency and the emergency instantly presented itself as the thought of the coming weeks without drink, so Ostrov and I finished the tooth powder on B Day minus one and that was that. After one last midnight spot check and search we
were assembled and marched to the departure area. The fleet, row after row of dark projectiles, stood waiting beyond the gates. We were called out, one at a time, and sent to our assigned places.