Page 15 (2/2)

Bond smiled at the appeal for help 'Well, as ato see there is soirl shouldn't be just as silly as an English one But she uts to do what she did Does Head of T say if she realized the consequences if she was found out?'

'He said she was frightened out of her wits,' said M 'Spent the whole ti her But it seems they were the usual peasants and commuters that take these boats, and as it was a late boat there weren't ers anyway But wait apull at his pipe and blew a cloud of s fan above his head Bond watched the sness 'She told Keriradually developed into a phobia She got to hate the sight of Russian i for theainst you So she applied for a transfer abroad, and since her languages were very good–English and French–in due course she was offered Istanbul if she would join the Cipher Depart story short, after six o Then she sniffed about and soon got hold of the na that everybody in Turkey knohat he does by now He doesn't mind, and it takes people's eyes off the speciala front man in some of these places Quite a lot of custoo and who to talk to'

Bond coent often does better than theunder cover'

'So she sent Kerim the note Now she wants to know if he can help her' M paused and sucked thoughtfully at his pipe 'Of course Kerim's first reactions were exactly the sa for a trap But he si this girl over to us All this ti further and further up the Bosphorus and soon it would be turning to cootto break down her story Then,' M's eyes glittered softly across at Bond, 'caht Bond Hoell he knew those moreed

'She had a last card to play And she kneas the ace of tru her cipherwe'd give our eyes to have'

'God,' said Bond softly, hisat the immensity of the prize The Spektor! The machine that would allow them to decipher the Top Secret traffic of all To have that, even if its loss was ied, or the machine taken out of service in Russian embassies, and spy centres all over the world, would be a priceless victory Bond didn't know raphy, and, for security's sake, in case he was ever captured, wished to know as little as possible about its secrets, but at least he knew that, in the Russian secret service, loss of the Spektor would be counted a major disaster

Bond was sold At once he accepted all M's faith in the girl's story, however crazy it ift, and take the appalling risk of bringing it, could only mean an act of desperation–of desperate infatuation if you liked Whether the girl's story was true or not, the stakes were too high to turn down the gamble

'You see, 007?' said M softly It was not difficult to read Bond's mind from the exciteed 'But did she say how she could do it?'

'Not exactly But Keriht duty Apparently she's on duty alone certain nights of the week and sleeps on a camp bed in the office She seeh she realized that she would be shot out of hand if anyone even drea all this back to nal himself and send it on a one-time-only pad and keep no copy Naturally he did as she asked Directly she ht be on to the most important coup that's come our way since the war'

'What happened then, sir?'

'The stea up to a place called Ortakoy She said she was going to get off there Keriht She refused toin touch Just said that she would keep her end of the bargain if ould keep ours She said good night and -plank and that was the last Kerim saw of her'

M suddenly leant forward in his chair and looked hard at Bond 'But of course he couldn't guarantee that ouldHe thought he could guess as cos on one condition' M's eyes narrowed until they were fierce, significant slits 'That you go out to Istanbul and bring her and the ed his shoulders That presented no difficulties ButHe looked candidly back at M 'Should be a piece of cake, sir As far as I can see there's only one snag She's only seen photographs ofstories Suppose that when she sees me in the flesh, I don't come up to her expectations'

'That's where the work corimly 'That's why I asked those questions about Miss Case It's up to you to see that you do come up to her expectations'

Chapter Thirteen

'BEA Takes You There '

The four small, square-ended propellers turned slowly, one by one, and beca pools The low hum of the turbo-jets rose to a shrill smooth whine The quality of the noise, and the complete absence of vibration, were different fro horsepower of all other aircraft Bond had flown in As the Viscount wheeled easily out to the shi east-west runway of London Airport, Bond felt as if he was sitting in an expensive mechanical toy