"Reeves, James R & Taylor, James Carl - Vietnam 02 - Covert Actions" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reeves James R)

I looked at his hand and saw it slipping on the knob
as he tried to turn it. I looked at his eyes again. His
forehead was furrowed, and big beads of sweat trickled
from wrinkle to wrinkle. He shook his head, indicating
he couldn't open the door. I glanced back at it as he
released his grip. There was a keyhole. It was possible
the colonel had a habit of locking his door. But I had
to try it myself. I couldn't believe we'd come all this
way just to find the damned door locked.

Then I noticed that the crack along the doorjamb
was wider at the bottom than at the knob, or above
it. In fact, the door appeared to have a slight curve to
it, as if it had to bend slightly in order to latch. Of
course! The bulkhead was warped. There was prob-
ably a change of stress in the hull because the ship
was virtually empty of fuel. The door might be
jammed closed instead of locked.

I grasped the knob with both hands, and pulled as I
turned it. My palms were sweaty and supped, so I auto-
matically rubbed them on my chest. The wetsuit hadn't
dried out, though, and it did no good. Bob grinned and
reached inside his wetsuit for the olive drab scarf he'd
brought along in case we needed a blindfold. I wiped
my hands on it and tried again. It began to turn. I pulled
and turned very slowly, so it wouldn't click loudly when
the latchbolt cleared the facing.

The click was very faint. I held the door closed
with the knob turned fully, so that the latchbolt re-
mained completely retracted, and looked over at Bob.
There were fewer worry-wrinkles around his eyes
now. He nodded slightly to signal that he was ready

4 James R. Reeves and James C. Taylor

to go. I took the plunger end of my syringe between
two fingers of my left hand, so that it would be ready
if I needed it. I looked at my watch. About fifteen
minutes had elapsed since we'd first come aboard.

We hadn't been seen yet, but a sentry might step
into the corridor at any moment.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. My heart was
pounding so hard it was almost shaking my body with
each beat, but not from fear. It was adrenaline pumping.

When I opened that door, I would go into the state-