"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 17 - The Mountains of Brega" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

He was a skilled politician, not a spymaster, scientist, or man of action. He held the pursestrings, tried to
satisfy the project's voracious appetite for money, and kept an eye on the big picture. That last was why
he was here now. A threat to the security of the project was a threat to the security ofEngland , and
perhaps to the whole free world.
"тАФso the men themselves have no apparent ties with any foreign government," J was saying.
Before J could go on, the Prime Minister interrupted him. "Does that mean we needn't worry about
major security leaks?"
J shook his head more sharply than usual. Silly questions of that sort had annoyed the older man as
long as Blade had known him. "It means nothing of the kind. I said 'no apparent ties.' We have to dig
deeper. And there's the girl, Elizabeth."
Blade stiffened slightly in his seat. It was damned unprofessional of him, to be sure, but he was
concerned about that poor girl.
J gave him a reassuring smile. "She says she was pushed into it by a threat to her family. They're still
inCzechoslovakia . So if the people who threatened her aren't Soviet agents themselves, they're certainly
working for somebody who's in contact with the Soviet intelligence apparatus."
"What about one of the big industrial espionage firms?" put in Blade. "I wouldn't put it past some of
them to try a caper like this, if the money was right."
"Neither would I," said J sourly. "We're checking that possibility right now."
"But what about Elizabeth herself?" asked Blade.
Again J smiled. "We've tested her story every way we could. She seems to be telling the truth. We're
going to push an inquiry back through our Czech network to get further confirmation. If that also puts her
in the clear, we're going to stop worrying about her. We'll give her a new identity and arrange for her to
emigrate toCanada without any fuss or bother. Of course we'll be keeping her under surveillance for a
year or two, but that will be more for her own protection than ours."
Blade could not hold back a sigh of relief, which drew another smile from J. Then the older man's
manner became brisk and businesslike again.
"We'll push inquiries about the gunmen themselves in every possible direction," he went on. "I'd rather
not compromise any of our key people, of course, but if necessaryтАж" He left the sentence unfinished, but
Blade at least could fill in the missing words with no difficulty. "In any case, it will be a considerable aid to
us if MOD can also move on the matter." He looked at the PM.
The PM nodded. "Certainly. Ministry of Defense has as much of a stake in this as anybody else. But
it's going to mean delaying MOD support for some of the related projects, like the new people and the
training center."
"Right now, they're not that important," said J. Blade knew that statement must be costing the other
man a good deal. For years J had dreamed above all of finding someone else besides Blade to travel into
Dimension X. "If the project has been seriously compromised, we're going to have some very hard
decisions to make."
"Not to mention expensive," said the Prime Minister sourly. He knew from long and weary
experience that any major changes in the operation of a project this size usually carried a price tag in six
figures.
"I'm afraid so," said J bluntly. "Then there's Richard. I doubt if there's going to be another attempt to
snatch him soon, not with our investigation hopefully putting the opposition on the defensive. But I'd feel a
great deal better if he were somewhere they couldn't possibly get at him for a while. And I can't think of
any better place than Dimension X." He looked at Lord Leighton. "How soon could you set up the
computer to send Richard off?"
Lord Leighton considered the matter for a few seconds. Then he shrugged his thin, bowed shoulders.
"I was planning to down-line the main computer for about ten days to incorporate some of the Controlled
Return devices. But if all you want is the conventional techniquesтАФwell, what about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow will be fine," said Blade.
"Then tomorrow it is," said J.