The Legion of the Lost, стр. 13
Then she drew nearer.
As she walked past quickly, Oster put out a hand and pinched her arm. She pulled her arm back. Palfrey felt his fists clench, only just managing to stop himself from opening hostilities there and then. Drusilla reached the landing and disappeared.
‘Sometimes we are fortunate,’ said Oster lightly. ‘The nurses—you should see the nurses! Hags, old midwives, any old useless creatures they can spare! But you saw that one? She came to us today.’ He winked. ‘She is not used to us yet, but I have no doubt she will learn.’
Conroy and Brian came out, followed by the short secretary who stood blinking at them behind his thick-lensed glasses.
‘You are being well looked after?’ Oster asked Stefan.
‘As well as can be expected,’ growled Stefan, looking at Palfrey. ‘You are satisfied so far, Herr Doktor?’
‘Very well satisfied,’ said Palfrey. ‘I have had a most interesting exchange of opinions with Dr. Raffleck.’ He glanced at the Norwegian and gripped his arm in friendly fashion. ‘I suggest that now all of us go to the room where we will find General von Tranter, and satisfy ourselves that he is being well cared for. Eh, Raffleck?’
Raffleck looked at him, dubiously.
‘This is a large number for a visit.’
‘We shall not be long,’ said Palfrey. ‘The secretary will perhaps lead the way.’ He walked with Oster and Raffleck on either side, behind Stefan and Brian, Conroy in the rear.
He saw Drusilla at the other end of the passage.
It was all working very smoothly, he thought, almost too smoothly.
Nothing went amiss, however, and the short-sighted secretary opened the last door in the passage, then stood aside for the others to enter. Raffleck made another ineffectual protest but Palfrey gripped his arm; Raffleck looked at him curiously. Brian stayed behind with Conroy at the last minute. Stefan’s vast frame seemed to fill the room where a man was lying motionless in bed with his head heavily bandaged.
His eyes were open and he was staring towards the ceiling. He did not appear to notice the intrusion.
Stefan stood aside for the doctors to go nearer to the bed, then put out his arms. It was a surprisingly smooth and easy gesture, as if he were about to commence a gargantuan yawn-cum-stretch. Instead, his hands fell upon the necks of the secretary and Oster and gripped their throats before they uttered even the beginning of a gasp.
Raffleck was going towards the patient.
Oster kicked out and tried to wrench himself away; Palfrey struck him a heavy blow on the solar plexus and robbed him of any remaining strength. Stefan, quite expressionless, increased his pressure; he was quite capable of handling the two together.
Palfrey said, in English: ‘Let them live, Stefan, we’ll only make it worse for the others if we kill them.’ He gripped Raffleck’s arm as the doctor turned in astonishment, while the German general lay staring towards the ceiling without moving, his eyes glazed as if he were dead.
‘Herr Doktor—’ Raffleck began, but his voice trailed off, he stared at Stefan and the two victims held so ludicrously in Stefan’s grasp.
Brian and Conroy had disappeared, but Drusilla was in the doorway.
‘It’s all right,’ she said swiftly, ‘they’ve gone to look after the guards.’
Palfrey said to Raffleck: ‘Just do what you’re told, you’ve nothing to fear.’ He smiled a little into the man’s startled eyes. ‘Not Pretzel, not German,’ he went on. ‘We’re taking you to England.’
Raffleck gasped: ‘It—it cannot be true! It—’ he stared at Oster, whose struggles had ceased as he had lost consciousness, then turned towards the door.
Palfrey wondered what was in his mind, was afraid for a moment that the prospect was too much for the Norwegian. He should have contrived to have broached it more care fully, he
Raffleck gabbled: ‘There are some records I must get, some formulae—I will not be more than two minutes, just two minutes!’ He moved towards the door so swiftly that he was out of sight before Palfrey started to go in his wake.
Stefan said: ‘All right, Sap, I can look after these.’
They had made no noise. No one in the adjoining rooms could have had the slightest idea of what was happening and the secretary was unconscious. As Palfrey hurried in Raffleck’s wake, Stefan let the two victims slide softly to the floor, then took a length of cord from his pocket. Drusilla passed Palfrey, her eyes flashing a smile.
‘I’ll give him a hand,’ she said.
‘Yes.’ Palfrey hurried in Raffleck’s wake. Despite the Norwegian’s haste, he was making little noise. The doors of the laboratory were standing open and Palfrey went through.
Raffleck was standing in front of his table, pulling open a drawer. Palfrey paused. The other’s movements were swift and yet he knew exactly what he was doing; he piled several notebooks and papers on top of each other neatly and with a deliberation which made Palfrey widen his eyes. Except for the one startled sentence Raffleck had shown neither surprise nor alarm; obviously he was quite sure that Palfrey told the truth.
He said, in broken English: ‘A small case, Herr Doktor—by the bench. Please!’ He continued to take things from the drawer while Palfrey picked up a small pigskin attache case. He opened it for Raffleck to bundle the papers into it. Then Raffleck’s hot eyes, showing a far different expression from that which Palfrey had first noted, turned towards Palfrey. He said simply: ‘I am ready now.’
‘We’ll manage,’ said Palfrey. ‘Come on!’ He led the way into the passage and the hall, reaching the front door as Stefan and Drusilla came down the stairs.
The party moved crabwise towards the neck of the carriage-way towards the steep hill. It grew obvious that Stefan was going to lead them first towards the