He walked over to the television set and turned it on. A picture of Robert leaped onto the screen. The anchorman’s voice was saying: “… and Interpol believes that he is presently in Rome. He is wanted for questioning in an international drug-smuggling operation. This is Bernard Shaw for CNN News.” Pier was staring at the screen, transfixed.
The assistant manager turned off the television set. “Is everything satisfactory?”
“Yes,” Pier said slowly. A drug smuggler!
“We’ll be looking forward to seeing the Commander.”
When Pier joined Robert in the car downstairs, she looked at him with different eyes.
“Now we’re ready,” Robert smiled.
At the Hotel Victoria, a man in a dark suit was studying the guest register. He looked up at the clerk. “What time did Commander Bellamy check in?”
“He has not been here yet. His secretary reserved the suite. She said he would be here within the hour.”
The man turned to his companion. “Have the hotel staked out. Get reinforcements. I’ll wait upstairs.” He turned to the clerk. “Open the suite for me.”
Three minutes later the clerk was opening the door to the suite. The man in the dark suit moved in cautiously, gun in hand. The suite was empty. He saw the envelope on the table and picked it up. The front of it read: “Commander Robert Bellamy”. He opened the envelope and glanced inside. A moment later he was dialling the headquarters of SIFAR.
Francesco Cesar was in the middle of a meeting with Colonel Frank Johnson. Colonel Johnson had landed at Leonardo da Vinci airport two hours earlier, but he showed no signs of fatigue.
“As far as we know,” Cesar was saying, “Bellamy is still in Rome. We’ve had more than thirty reports on his whereabouts.”
“Any of them check out?”
“No.”
The phone rang. “It’s Luigi, Colonel,” the voice on the telephone said. “We’ve got him. I’m in his hotel suite at the Hotel Victoria. I have his airline ticket to Beijing. He is planning to leave Friday.”
Cesar’s voice filled with excitement. “Good! Stay there. We will be right over.” He hung up and turned to Colonel Johnson. “I’m afraid your journey was for nothing, Colonel. We’ve got him. He’s registered at the Hotel Victoria. They found an airline ticket in his name for Beijing on Friday.”
Colonel Johnson said mildly, “Bellamy registered at the hotel in his own name?”
“Yes.”
“And the plane ticket is in his name?”
“Yes.” Colonel Cesar rose. “Let’s get on over there.”
Colonel Johnson shook his head. “Don’t waste your time.”
“What?”
“Bellamy would never …”
The telephone rang again. Cesar snatched it up. A voice said, “Colonel? This is Mario. We’ve located Bellamy. He’s at the Hotel Valadier. He’s taking a train Monday to Budapest. What do you want us to do?”
“I’ll get back to you,” Colonel Cesar said. He turned to look at Colonel Johnson. “They found a train ticket to Budapest in Bellamy’s name. I don’t understand what …”
The telephone rang again.
“Yes?” His voice was pitched higher.
“It’s Bruno. We’ve located Bellamy. He’s registered at the Hotel Leonardo da Vinci. He’s planning to leave Sunday for Miami. What shall I …?”
“Come back here,” Cesar snapped. He slammed down the phone. “What the hell is his game?”
Colonel Johnson said grimly. “He’s seeing to it that you’re wasting a lot of manpower, isn’t he?”
“What do we do now?” “We trap the bastard.”
They were driving on the Via Cassia, near Olgiata, headed north toward Venice. The police would be covering all the major exits from Italy, but they would be expecting him to go west, to head for France or Switzerland. From Venice, Robert thought, I can take the hydrofoil to Trieste and make my way up to Austria. After that …
Pier’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I’m hungry.”
“What?”
“We haven’t had any breakfast or lunch.”
“I’m sorry,” Robert said. He had been too preoccupied to think about eating. “We’ll stop at the next restaurant.”
Pier watched him as he drove. She was more puzzled than ever. She lived in a world of pimps and thieves, and drug smugglers. This man was no criminal.
They stopped at the next town in front of a small trattoria. Robert pulled into the parking lot and he and Pier got out of the car.
The restaurant was crowded with patrons, and noisy with conversation and the clatter of dishes. Robert found a table against the wall, and took a seat facing the door. A waiter approached and handed them menus.
Robert was thinking: Susan should be on the boat by now. This may be my last chance to talk to her. “Look over the menu.” Robert rose. “I’ll be right back.”
Pier watched him walk over to the public telephone near their table. He put a coin in the slot.
“I would like to talk to the marine operator in Gibraltar. Thank you.”
Who is he calling in Gibraltar? Pier wondered. Is that his get-away?
“Operator, I want to place a collect call to the American yacht, Halcyon, off Gibraltar. Whiskey Sugar 337. Thank you.”
A few minutes passed while the operators talked to each other and his call was accepted.
Robert hear’d Susan’s voice on the telephone.
“Susan …”
“Robert! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I just wanted to tell you …”
“I know what you want to tell me. It’s all over the radio and television. Why is Interpol hunting you?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Take your time. I want to know.”
He hesitated. “It’s political, Susan. I have evidence that some governments are trying to suppress. That’s why Interpol is after me.”
Pier was listening intently to Robert’s end of the conversation.
“What can I do to help?” Susan asked.
“Nothing, honey. I just called to hear your voice once more in case … in case I don’t get out of this.”
“Don’t say that.” There was panic in her voice. “Can you tell me what country you’re in?”
“Italy.”
There was a brief silence. “All right. We’re not far from you. We’re just off the coast of Gibraltar. We can pick you up at any place you say.”
“No, I …”
“Listen to me. It’s probably your only chance of escape.”
“I can’t let you do that, Susan. You’d be in jeopardy.”
Monte had walked into the saloon in time to hear part of the conversation. “Let me talk to him.”
“Just a moment, Robert, Monte wants to speak to you.”
“Susan, I haven’t …”
Monte’s voice came over the line. “Robert, I understand you’re in serious trouble.
”
The understatement of the year. “You might say that.”
“We’d like to help you out. They won’t be looking for you on a yacht. Why don’t you let us pick you up?”
“Thanks, Monte, I appreciate it. The answer is no.”
“I think you’re making a mistake. You’ll be safe here.”
Why was he so eager to help? “Thanks, anyway. I’ll take my chances. I’d like to speak to Susan again …”
“Of course.” Monte Banks handed the phone to Susan. “Talk him into it,” he urged.
Susan spoke into the phone. “Please let us help you.”
“You have helped me, Susan.” He had to stop for a moment. “You’re the best part of my life. I just want you to know that I’ll always love you.” He gave a little laugh. “Although always may not be such a big deal anymore.”
“Will you call me again?”
“If I can.”
“Promise me.”
“All right. I promise.”
He slowly replaced the receiver. Why did I do that to her? Why did I do that to myself? You’re a sentimental idiot, Bellamy. He walked back to the table.
“Let’s eat,” Robert said. They ordered.
“I heard your conversation. The police are looking for you, aren’t they?”
Robert stiffened. Careless. She was going to be trouble. “It’s just a little misunderstanding. I …”
“Don’t treat me like a fool. I want to help you.”
He was watching her warily. “Why should you help me?”
Pier leaned forward. “Because you’ve been generous to me. And I hate the police. You don’t know what it’s like to be out on the streets, hounded by them, treated like dirt. They arrest me for prostitution, but they take me to their back rooms and pass me around. They are animals. I would do anything to get even with them. Anything. I can help you.”
“Pier, there’s nothing you …”
“In Venice the police will catch you easily. If you stay at a hotel, they will find you. If you try to get on a ship, they will trap you. But I know a place where you will be safe from them. My mother and brother live in Naples. We can stay at their house. The police will never look for you there.”
Robert was silent for a moment, thinking about it. What Pier said made a good deal of sense. A private house would be much safer than any other place, and Naples was a big port. It would be easy to get a ship out of there. He hesitated before he answered. He did not want to put Pier in danger.
“Pier, if the police find me, they have orders to kill me. You would be considered an accomplice. You could be letting yourself in for trouble.”
“It’s very simple.” Pier smiled. “We won’t let them find you.”
Robert returned her smile. He made up his mind. “All right. Eat your lunch. We’re going to Naples.”
Colonel Frank Johnson said, “Your men have no idea where he is headed?”
Francesco Cesar sighed. “Not at the moment. But it is only a matter of time before …”
“We don’t have time. Have you checked the whereabouts of his ex-wife?”
“His ex-wife? No. I don’t see what …”
“Then you haven’t done your homework,” Colonel Johnson snapped. “She’s married to a man named Monte Banks. I would suggest that you locate them, and fast.”
She wandered down the broad boulevard, barely conscious of where she was going. How many days had it been since the terrible crash? She had lost count. She was so tired that it was difficult for her to concentrate. She desperately needed water; not the polluted water that the Earthlings drank, but fresh, clear rain water. She needed the pure fluid to revive her life essence, to gain the strength to find the crystal. She was dying.
She staggered and bumped into a man.
“Hey! Watch where …” The American salesman took a closer look at her and smiled. “Hi, there. Imagine bumping into you like this!” What a doll.
“Yes, I can imagine that.”
“Where are you from, honey?”
“The seventh sun of the Pleiades.”
He laughed. “I like a gal with a sense of humour. Where you headed?”
She shook her head. “I do not know. I am a stranger here.”
Jesus, I think I’m on to something. “Have you had dinner?”
“No. I cannot eat your food.”
I’ve got a real weirdo here. But a beauty. “Where are you staying?”
“I am not staying anywhere.”
“You don’t have a hotel?”
“A hotel?” She remembered. Boxes for travelling strangers. “No. I must find a place to sleep. I am very tired.”
His smile broadened. “Well, Papa can take care of that. Why don’t we go up to my hotel room? I’ve got a nice, big comfortable bed there. Would you like that?”
“Oh, yes, very much.”
He could not believe his good luck. “Wonderful!” I’ll bet she’s great in the hay.
She looked at him, puzzled. “Your bed is made of hay?”
He was staring at her. “What? No, no. You like your little jokes, don’t you?”
She could barely keep her eyes open. “Could we go to bed now?”
He rubbed his hands together. “You bet! My hotel is just around the corner.”
He picked up his key at the desk and they took the elevator to his floor. When they got to his room, the man asked, “Would you like a little drink?” Let’s loosen you up.
She wanted one desperately, but not the liquids the Earthlings had to offer. “No,” she said. “Where is the bed?”
My God, she’s a hot little thing. “In here, honey.” He led her into the bedroom. “You’re sure you wouldn’t like a drink?”
“I am sure.”
He licked his lips. “Then why don’t you – er – get undressed?”
She nodded. It was an Earthling custom. She removed the dress she was wearing. She was wearing nothing underneath. Her body was exquisite.
The man stared at her and said, happily, “This is my lucky night, honey. Yours, too.” I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before. He tore off his clothes as fast as he could and jumped into bed beside her. “Now!” he said. “I’m going to show you some real action.” He glanced up. “Damn! I left the light on.” He started to get up.
“Never mind,” she said sleepily. “I will turn it off.”
And as he watched, her arm reached out, out, across the wide room, and her fingers became leafy green tendrils as they brushed against the light switch.
He was alone in the dark with her. He screamed.
They were travelling at high speed on the Autostrada del Sole, the freeway to Naples. They had been driving in silence for the last half hour, each preoccupied with his own thoughts.
Pier broke the silence. “How long would you like to stay at my mother’s house?” she asked.
“Three or four days, if that’s all right.