'I surely hope he does," said Dawson philosophically "Because he's the only chance

we have of getting out of here" He lifted

his left hand clumsily to take the cigarette from his mouth and knocked it against
the edge of the table He winced and a
suppressed sound escaped his lips
Wyatt said, " We'd better have a look at those hands"
"They're all right"
"You don't want them turning bad on you Let's have a look at them"
"They're all right, I tell you," Dawson protested
Wyatt looked at Dawson's drawn face "I want to look at them," he said "Things that
are all right anywhere else go your in
the tropics" He began to unfasten one of the bandages and his breath hissed as he
saw what it covered "Good Christ! What
did they do to you?"
The band was mashed to a pulp At he slowly drew the bandage away he saw, to his
horror, two finger-nails come away
with it, and the fingers were blue with one huge bruise where they weren't red-raw
as beefsteak
Dawison lay back in the chair "They held me down and beat my hands with a rubber
hose I don't think they broke any
bones, but I'll not be able to handle a typewriter for quite a while"
Wyatt had once caught his finger in a door--a trivial thing but the most painful
happening of his life The finger-nail
had turned blue but his doctor saved it, and he had been careful of his hands ever
since Now, looking down at Daw-son's
raw hand, he felt sick inside, he could imagine how painful the battered nerve-
endings would be He said glumly, "Now i
can stop being sorry I killed Roseau"
Dawson grinned faintly "I never way sorry"
Wyatt was puzzled There was more to Dawson than he had thought,this was not the
same man who had tried to steal a
car because he was scared something must have happened to him "You'll need some
embrocation on that," he said
abruptly "And a shot of penicillin wouldn't do any harm, either There's a place
across the street-- I'll see what I can find"
"Take it easy," said Dawson in alarm "That street is not the safest place in the
world right now"
"I'll waich it," said Wyatt, and went to the door Opposite was an American-style
drugstore; it had been broken into already
but he hoped the drug supplies had not been touched Before going out, he carefully
inspected the street and finding no
movement, he stepped out and ran across
The drugstore was in a mess but he ignored the chaos and went straight to the
dispensary at the back, where he rummaged
through the neat drawers looking for what he needed He found bandages and codeine
tablety and embrocation but no
antibiotics, and he wasted little time on a further search At the door of the
drugstore he paused again to check the street
and froze as he saw a man scuttle across to hide in a doorway
The man peered out behind the muzzle of a gun, then waved, and three more men ran
up the street, hugging the walls and
darting from door to door They were not in uniform and Wyatt thought they must be
the forward skirmishers of Pavel's
army Gently he opened the door and stepped out, holding his hands above his head
and clutching his medical supplies
Strangely, he was not immediately seen, and had got halfway across the street
before he was challenged He turned to face
the oncoming soldier, who looked at him with suspicion"There are none of
Serrurier's men here," said Wyatt Where is
Favel?"
The man jerked his rifle threateningly"What is that?"
"Bandages," said Wyatt "For my friend who is hurt He is in the hotel over there
where is Favel?"
He felt the muzzle of a gun press into his back but did not turn The man in front
of him moved his rifle fractionally
sideways "To the hotel," he ordered Wyatt shrugged and pepped out, surrounded by
the small group One of them pushed
through the revolving door, his rifle at the ready, and Wyatt called out in
English, "Stay where you are, Dawson-we've got
visitors"
The man in front of him whirled and pressed his gun into-Wyatt's stomach "Pren'
gar'," he said threateningly
"I was just telling my friend not to be afraid," said Wyatt evenly
He went into the hotel, to find Dawson sitting tensely in his chair looking at a
soldier who was covering him with a rifle
He said, "I've got some bandages and some codeine--that should kill the pain a bit"

Pavel's men fanned out and scattered through the ground floor, moving like
professionals Finding nothing, they
reassembled in the foyer and gathered round their leader, whom Wyatt took to be a
sergeant although he wore no insignia
The sergeant prodded the dead soldier with his foot "Who-killed this one?"
Wyatt, bending over Dawson, looked up and shrugged "I dont know," he said, and
turned back to his work
The sergeant stepped over and looked at Dawson's hand's "Who did that?"
"Serrurier police," aid Wyatt, keeping his eyes down
The sergeant grunted "Then you do not like Serrurier Good!"
"I must find Pavel," said Wyatt "I have important news for Rim"
"What is this important news, Wane?
"It is for Favel only If he wants you to know he will tell you"
Dawson stirred "What's going on?"
"I'm trying to get this man to take me to Favel I can't tell him there's going to
be a hurricane-- he might not believe it and
then I'd never get to see Favel"
The sergeant said, "You talk big, ti blanc, your so-important news had better be
good or Favel will tear out your liver" He
paused, then said with a grim smile, "And mine"
He turned to issue a string of rapid instructions, and Wyatt sighed deeply "Thank
God!" he said "Now we're getting somewhere"
Six
The highest point of Cap Sarrat was a hillock, the top of which was forty-five feet
above sea level on the top of the hillock
was a 400-foot Lattice radio mast which supported an array of radar antennae, From
the antenna right at the top of the
tower accurately machined wave-guides conducted electronic signals to a low
building at the base, these signals, amplified
many millions of times, were then projected on to a cathode-ray screen to form a
green glow, which cast a bilious light on
the face of Petty Officer (3rd Class) Joseph W Harmon
Petty Officer Harmon was both bored and tired The Brass had been giving him the
run-around all day He had been
standing to at his battle station for most of the day and then he had been told off
to do his usual job in the radar room
that night, so he had had the minimum of sleep At first he had been excited by the
sound of gun-fire reverberating across