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 checkin?”“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. Hesaw the envelope on the table and picked it up. The front of it read: “Commander Robert Bellamy”. He opened the envelope and glanced inside. Amoment 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 hoursearlier, but he showed no signs of fatigue.“As far as we know,” Cesar was saying, “Bellamy is still in Rom
She wandered down the broad boulevard, barely conscious of where she was going. How many days had it been since the terrible crash? She hadlost count. She was so tired that it was difficult for her to concentrate. She desperately needed water; not the polluted water that the Earthlingsdrank, 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 no
From the moment Pier had seen the news broadcast about Robert Bellamy, she had known she was going to be rich. If Interpol, the internationalcriminal police force, was looking for Robert, there had to be a huge reward out for him. And she was the only one who knew where he was! Thereward would be all hers. Persuading him to go to Naples, where she could keep an eye on him, had been a stroke of genius.A man’s voice on the telephone said, “Interpol. May I help you?”Pier’s heart was pounding. She glanced out of the window to make sure Robert was still at the gas pump. “Yes. You are looking for a man namedCommander Robert Bellamy, yes?”There was a moment of silence. “Who is calling, please?”“Never mind. Are you after him or not?”“I’ll have to transfer you to someone else. Will you hold the line, please?” He turned to his assistant. “Put a trace on this. Pronto!”Thirty seconds later, Pier was speaking with a senior official. “Yes, signora. Can I help you?”No, you fool. I’m trying
They were approaching the suburbs of Naples. Old apartment houses lined the narrow streets, with laundry hanging out of almost every window,making the buildings look like concrete mountains flying colorful flags.Pier asked, “Have you ever been to Naples?”“Once.” Robert’s voice was tight. Susan was sitting beside him, giggling. I heard Naples is a wicked city. Can we do a lot of wicked things here,darling?We’re going to invent some new things, Robert promised.Pier was watching him. “Are you all right?”Robert brought his mind back to the present. “I’m fine.”They were driving along the bay of the Castel Dell’ Ovo, the old abandoned castle near the water.When they arrived at Via Toledo, Pier said, excitedly, “Turn here.”They were approaching Spaccanapoli, the old section of Naples.Pier said, “It’s just up ahead. Turn left onto Via Benedetto Croce.”Robert made the turn. The traffic here was heavier, and the noise of horns deafening. He had forgotten how noisy Naples could be. He
Naples, ItalyIn the morning, as the pale light was coming through the window, Robert awakened. He held Pier close in his arms and whispered, “Thank you.”Pier smiled mischievously. “How do you feel?”“Wonderful,” Robert said. And he did.Pier snuggled against him. “You are an animal!”Robert grinned. “You’re good for my ego,” he said.Pier sat up and said seriously, “You are not a drug smuggler, are you?”It was a naive question. “No.”“But Interpol is after you.”That hit closer to home. “Yes.”Her face lit up. “I know! You’re a spy!” She was as excited as a child.Robert had to laugh. “Am I?” And he thought, Out of the mouths of babes.“Admit it,” Pier insisted. “You’re a spy, aren’t you?”“Yes,” Robert said gravely. “I’m a spy.”“I knew it!” Pier’s eyes were glowing. “Can you tell me some secrets?”“What kind of secrets?”“You know, spy secrets … codes and things like that. I love to read spy novels. I read them all the time.”“Do you?”“Oh, yes! But they’re just made-up stories.
The more Carlo Valli thought about it, the more certain he was that he was about to make a big score. Pier’s fairy tale about the American runningaway from his wife was a joke. Mr Jones was on the run, all right, but he was running from the police. There was probably a reward out for the man.Maybe a big reward. This had to be handled very delicately. Carlo decided to discuss it with Mario Lucca, the leader of the Diavoli Rossi.Early in the morning, Carlo got on his Vespa motor scooter and headed for Via Sorcella, behind the Piazza Garibaldi. He stopped in front of a rundown apartment building, and pressed the bell on a broken mailbox marked “Lucca”.A minute later a voice yelled out, “Who the fuck is it?”“Carlo. I have to talk to you, Mario.”“It better be good at this hour of the morning. Come on up.”The door buzzer sounded, and Carlo went upstairs.Mario Lucca was standing at an open door, naked. At the end of the room Carlo could see a girl in his bed.“Che cosa? What the hell
Robert went back to the funicular station at the Piazza Umberto, and took the tram down, quietly mingling with the other passengers. When thefunicular arrived at the bottom, he walked out, carefully avoiding the ticket seller. He went over to the kiosk at the boat landing. In a heavy Spanishaccent, Robert asked, “A que horn sale el barco an Ischia?”“Sale en treinta minutos.”“Gracias.”Robert bought a ticket.He walked into a bar at the waterfront, took a seat in the back, and nursed a scotch. By now they would have undoubtedly found the car, and the huntfor him would narrow. He spread out the map of Europe in his mind. The logical thing for him to do would be to head for England and find a way toget back to the States. It would make no sense for him to return to France. So, France it is, Robert thought. A busy seaport to leave Italy from.Civitavecchia. I have to get to Civitavecchia. The Halcyon.He got a change from the owner of the bar and used the telephone. It took the marin
At the fairgrounds, five miles outside of Civitavecchia, were a dozen large, colourful balloons spread across the field, looking like round rainbows.They were moored to trucks while ground crews were busily filling their envelopes with cold air. Half a dozen chase cars stood by, ready to track theballoons, two men in each car, the driver and the spotter.Robert walked up to a man who seemed to be in charge. “It looks like you’re getting ready for the big race,” Robert said.“That’s right. Ever been in a balloon?”“No.”They were skimming over Lake Como and he dropped the balloon down until it touched the water. “We’re going to crash,”Susan screamed. Hesmiled. “No, we’re not.”The bottom of the balloon was dancing on the waves. He threwout a sandbag and the balloon began to lift again. Susanlaughed and hugged him and said …The man was speaking. “You should try it sometime. It’s a great sport.”“Yeah. Where is the race heading?”“Yugoslavia. We have a nice easterly wind. We’ll be ta