The Dagger Affair - McDaniel David - Страница 19

Then Waverly touched a button and the four representatives from Thrush were on the television monitor again.

As soon as the screen lit up, the spokesman said, "I don't believe I made clear to you the scale on that voltmeter. The amount it registered just before the subject's heart attack was quite small — it would have been moderately painful, but by no means fatal except in cases of a diseased heart or some other physical weakness. This man's heart was strong and regular until the pain was applied.

"I might also point out to you that even while under deep drug hypnosis he was able to resist our suggestions. The German he spoke turned out to be quotations, apparently at random, from various works of Nietzsche — so deeply implanted that they dominated even his subconscious.

"An organization that can indoctrinate its members this effectively is not an ordinary organization. And if our reports on the nature of their main weapons are not exaggerated, they present a threat greater than any the world has ever faced."

Waverly said, "They are not exaggerated. Every word of them is true."

The Thrush nodded. "Apparently the man panicked when he realized we were going to begin applying pain stimuli. He blurted out the name of Kim Keldur at the last moment, but the stimulus was applied anyway." He paused. "The interrogator was too quick. He has been disciplined.

"The name was checked out. Kim Keldur was found in our records — as a member of the San Francisco nest of Thrush. He was also listed as deceased, about a year ago. Discounting this, his files were examined. Keldur was — or is — a brilliant theoretical mathematician, specializing in the physical sciences. He could not have risen above the rank of technician, however, because of a dangerous psychological instability revealed by the extensive tests our applicants undergo. He could have been a danger to the organization, as intelligent as he was — his philosophy was too much at odds with our own. He believed..." (the Thrush consulted his notes briefly) "...he believed that mankind was fundamentally evil, base, worthless, and deserving only of destruction." He stopped, and looked up at the camera.

"It was our conclusion that Kim Keldur was: a) the head of an organization called DAGGER; b) the inventor of some kind of weapon of unsurpassed destructive potential; c) capable of employing that weapon to any ends, not short of total destruction of the human race. Certain evidences he left behind when he disappeared and was believed dead indicated the direction of his last researches. He was working on the nature of energy transference — the way magnetic energy becomes motion, for instance, or nuclear energy becomes heat and light. This, coupled with his psychological predilections, left us with only one conclusion.

"It was in anticipation of our course of action that all our...less socially acceptable activities on the West Coast were discontinued, and all our efforts have been bent toward locating Keldur — and DAGGER. When Mr. Solo and Mr. Kuryakin suddenly appeared in Los Angeles, we apparently overestimated your intelligence service and concluded they, too, were interested in locating and stopping Kim Keldur."

He paused, and smiled a wry little smile. "We would like very much to know how Mr. Solo managed to locate Kim Keldur and learn of his planned attack on Boulder Dam within twenty-four hours after landing in Los Angeles — especially since our evidence indicates strongly that he arrived with no knowledge of the existence of DAGGER."

Napoleon cleared his throat self-consciously. "Well," he said modestly, "I live a clean life."

"And you have helpful friends," Illya murmured.

"This is all very well researched," said Waverly, with a hint of impatience in his voice, "but what is your purpose in telling us things we already know?"

"Mr. Waverly, the idea of the destruction of the world has Thrush worried in much the same way it has U.N.C.L.E. worried. The objective of Thrush, as you know, is to rule the world — so obviously we do not want the world destroyed, especially since we would perforce go with it. We must therefore do all we can to save the world from Kim Keldur's threat.

"Thrush is well-organized, but it is not really such a large organization. We have many freedoms that you do not, but you have massive power. We have technical developments and weapons beyond yours, but you have the strength of public opinion. You have endless restrictions, but we have enemies all about us. You have been unable to do anything about Kim Keldur and DAGGER. So have we. Mr. Waverly, in view of the circumstances, Thrush offers an alliance with U.N.C.L.E. for the duration of the common threat."

There was absolute silence in the office. Waverly stared at the screen, and very slowly removed the pipe from his mouth. Without looking he set it down very softly on the table.

After a moment the Thrush spokesman added, "There are many arrangements that must be made for mutual security. We will leave a number of our key personnel as hostages for any agents working with us; Thrush extralegal activities in the affected areas will cease for the duration; and so on."

At last Waverly managed to speak. "If you don't mind, we will cut out of the circuit for a few minutes. This will take quite a bit of study." He blanked the screen and turned to face Napoleon and Illya.

Illya spoke first. "Do you really think they can be trusted?"

"Of course not — but they can be relied upon. Thrush will do anything that is most practical, most efficient, most direct. The question is, how far are they willing to go under these circumstances?"

"If they are so efficient and practical, perhaps they are correct in their appraisal of the threat of DAGGER. All our evidence — and I see no reason to doubt the evidence they showed us — indicates their analysis of the situation to be reasonably accurate."

"And since we blunted their point at Boulder Dam," Napoleon added, "DAGGER seems to have gone so far underground we couldn't find them without a mining engineer. Thrush doesn't have the personnel for heavy-duty routine footwork like this is going to be."

"Yes," said Illya. "And U.N.C.L.E. doesn't have the contacts to know where to dig."

Waverly nodded, and tapped absently at the bowl of his pipe. "Since Keldur was trained by Thrush, they would also be better able to predict his behavior. They also have access to information we lack."

"We might be able to work with them under certain conditions," said Illya, "protecting our backs at all times and watching out for doublecrosses. I think we can believe they have no desire to be destroyed along with the rest of the world."

Waverly reached for his tobacco jar, and there was silence as he carefully filled his pipe, tamped it with a moistened thumb, and set it afire. At last he said, "Is there anything else?"

There wasn't. He touched the button that put them back in communication with their visitors.

"We are willing to discuss terms for this temporary alliance you suggest. There are however, a great many aspects of security which must be handled carefully."

The Thrush spokesman smiled. "Here you have more to gain than we do — since we already know most of the inner workings of U.N.C.L.E., and you will no doubt be able to learn more about the secrets of Thrush."

Waverly cleared his throat. "In point of fact, we have little to learn about Thrush. We know almost everything about you — including exactly how much you know about us — and how much of it is true. But our focus of interest should be on finding out more about DAGGER," he added with mild reproof.