Buch lesen: «Dark Enemy»

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

IT was hot, uncomfortably so, and inside the cloistered dwelling with its thick hanging tapestries and richly carved ceilings there was little air. A huge lamp made of bronze and burnished to a rich tone burned what little oxygen penetrated the thick walls, and not even the glowing arches, picked out with lapis lazuli, or the gold and blue mosaic of the floor could compensate for the cloying atmosphere of heavy perfume, strong wines, and the inherent scent of perspiring bodies.

The Sheikh Abi Ben Abdul Mohammed, lounging on cushions of satin and silk idly helping himself to handfuls of grapes, was every inch the eastern potentate and seemed totally oblivious of the heat or the unhealthy atmosphere. But Jason Wilde was aware of it, just as he was aware that the effort to control his temper was causing rivulets of sweat to slide down his spine, plastering his shirt to his back.

‘Look, Mohammed,’ he said tautly, ‘we’ve got to get this settled. You know that and I know that, so we might as well come to an agreement.’

Sheikh Mohammed studied his companion rather appraisingly, and then said coolly: ‘You must make the agreement, Wilde. After all, it is in your interests much more than mine!’ His tones were smooth and slightly derogatory, and Jason felt an immense urge to lift him out of his bed of cushions and thrust his fist down his throat. It would be so easy and so enjoyable. The man was like a snake, deliberately causing unrest, arousing the men so that they didn’t know where to turn, uncertain of their loyalties.

But he couldn’t touch him. They were not individuals, and no amount of wishful thinking would alter the fact that he was the representative of Inter-Anglia Oil, just as the Sheikh was the ruler, and therefore the spokesman, of this small state of Abrahm.

So instead of reacting violently he said, equally coolly: ‘Neverthless, Mohammed, it would be ludicrous of me to attempt to make any kind of agreement when I don’t know exactly what it is you want.’

The Sheikh leaned forward and with slow and purposely languid movements helped himself to a cigarette, and after one of the attendants who stood rigidly to attention behind him had dashed forward to light his cigarette he drew on it deeply before speaking again.

Jason got to his feet. Sitting on the floor was not conducive to comfort when one’s legs were long, and besides, the inactivity was infuriating. The Sheikh looked up at him rather derisively, and said:

‘But, Wilde, you know what I want. I want my men to have a – square deal, just as your own men do. I do not feel that at present this is so. Besides, you are visitors here, never forget that, and as such are only welcome so long as your presence is not annoying to me.’

Jason thrust his hands into the pockets of the cotton pants he was wearing, and controlled his features. ‘Without the resources of my company, Abrahm would not be able to mount such an operation,’ he replied, quite expressionlessly.

The Sheikh shrugged. ‘No. I agree, this is so. Nevertheless, without Abrahm’s natural resources there would be no operation.’

Jason heaved a sigh. As always in matters of this kind, the Sheikh was overwhelmingly obtuse, constantly creating impasse in their discussions by remarks of this kind. There was no answer to him, and Jason knew that no matter how impatient he might become he would just have to wait until the Sheikh was prepared to state his demands without preamble.

But it was difficult to remain impassive when to add to the overheated atmosphere of the Sheikh’s magnificent habitation there was Jason’s own impatience at this needless delay. They met enough obstacles in the course of their work without meeting the unnecessary obstinacy of the Sheikh.

But now the Sheikh seemed to decide a change of subject was warranted, and with annoying urbanity, he said: ‘Tell me, Wilde, what does a man like you derive from working here? You do not strike me as the kind of man who eschews the fleshpots for more, shall we say, aesthetic pursuits.’

Jason controlled his anger. It was typical that Mohammed should endeavour to direct the course of the conversation into these channels. He had an unhealthy interest in dissecting the men who came within his sphere, examining their lives and their motivations minutely.

‘Abrahm is not the first Middle Eastern country I have worked in,’ Jason said now. ‘As a member of an oil company, one has to be prepared to work in any part of the world.’

‘Yes?’ The Sheikh sounded thoughtful. ‘I suppose this is so. Nevertheless, I understand from reliable sources that you were offered a less active part in the proceedings, which you turned down.’

Jason wondered where the man obtained his information. His refusal to accept the board’s generous offer of a seat at their table had shocked his contemporaries. But just at present it suited him to be out of England, and Sir Harold had made it plain the offer was still open.

‘Your sources of information are very astute,’ he remarked now, walking lazily across the room, as though uncaring of the swift passing of time. He picked up a small bronze statue and examined it in detail, while the Sheikh watched his movements and pondered the mind of this annoying foreigner who seemed totally indifferent to his own status here.

‘So,’ said the Sheikh at last, summoning one of his servants who produced a heavy ashtray for him to stub out his cigarette. ‘We return to the subject in hand. You think perhaps I am being unkind when I say my people are being exploited?’

Jason swung round, a ready retort dying on his lips as he realized he had almost fallen again into the Sheikh’s trap.

‘Go on,’ he said quietly.

‘Very well. Would a few more pence bankrupt your company? I think not. The English and American oil barons are growing rich on the poverty of their investment areas. My people do not have television sets, or cars or even proper homes. The standard of living here in Abrahm is very low.’

Jason could have said that it would have been useless people having television sets in a country where there was no television station. He could have said that there was no money to build roads to drive cars along until the oil began pumping along the pipeline which was barely a third completed. He could have said that the oil company was providing work for those people to enable them to have a better standard of living.

But he said none of this. Instead, he allowed Mohammed to state his case, knowing full well that to argue would cause a stream of abuse, and possibly more trouble for the company in the long run. Eventually Mohammed grew tired of the Englishman’s silence, and said: ‘Well, Wilde! What is your answer? Are you prepared to listen to reason?’

‘I’m prepared to listen to anything that is reasonable,’ replied Jason dryly. ‘All right, Mohammed, I’ve been in touch with London, and they have given me permission to offer you a two and a half pence increase.’

Sheikh Mohammed’s lip curled. ‘Five,’ he said sharply.

Jason shrugged. ‘Three – and that’s my final offer.’

Sheikh Mohammed rubbed the side of his nose with a hand that literally glittered with the rings of emerald and ruby that sparkled there. Then he summoned one of his underlings and signified that he wished someone brought to the conference chamber. Jason moved restlessly, beginning to feel impatient again. Good God, how long was this going to go on? He glanced at the gold watch on his wrist, and gave an exclamation. It was already late afternoon and by the time he got back to the site the evening meal would be in the course of being prepared. That meant yet another day had been wasted.

Even so, it was pleasant to recall the comparative luxury of his air-conditioned bungalow, and the thought of a decent drink and some food was quite appealing. After all, it wasn’t his fault they were being held up, although he seemed to bear the brunt of the complaints from the boardroom in London.

Sheikh Mohammed had summoned Krashki, his chief minister, and Jason was forced to kick his heels for almost another half hour while they talked in undertones, their gesticulations eloquent of their conversation. Eventually, when Jason was on the verge of walking out of the conference altogether, Mohammed turned to him, his expression brooding but subdued.

‘Very well,’ he said, getting to his feet, his flowing robes giving him a dignity that European clothes would not, ‘we accept your terms. But it is to be understood that when Sir Harold Mannering comes out from England I shall discuss this further with him.’

He raised his hand as Jason would have replied, and swept out of the room like some emperor of old. His servants followed him closely and for a moment Jason remained where he was looking towards the doorway through which Sheikh Abi Ben Abdul Mohammed had passed. Then with an infuriated shake of his head he stood on the butt of his cigarette and strode after him, turning away from the inner quarters of the palace with its Moorish-styled architecture towards the searing blaze of the sunlit courtyard.

The brilliance of the sun was dazzling, and he slid his dark glasses on to his nose before walking swiftly across to where his Land-Rover was parked. He slid behind the wheel and heaved a sigh. There was a sense of relaxation in actual action after the enforced inactivity of the last couple of hours. Breathing deeply, he realized that anything was preferable to the cloying heat of the Sheikh’s apartments.

Turning on the engine, he drove out of the courtyard, ignoring the stares of the guards on the gate, and quickly rolled up his windows as the vehicle encountered the track outside which was little more than an extension of that desert that stretched between here and the drilling site. He thought Abrahm was one of the most barren places on the earth. Situated between Tunisia and Libya, with a port on the Mediterranean, it had little to commend it.

He had several miles to cover between Abyrra and Castanya where the oil company had set up their camp of bungalows, and as he drove he wondered why he had not chosen a more amenable spot in which to work. In his position he could have chosen any one of a dozen locations, but he liked the crew at Castanya, and if there was little more in Abrahm than sand, sand and more sand he wasn’t particularly bothered. He was not a man who desired a hectic social life and if the site got too boring for him there was always Gitana on the Mediterranean coast where a man could find entertainment in plenty.

He drove fast, his mind on the job ahead. Already they had wasted four days. Sheikh Mohammed was not the most reasonable of men. He used his influence carelessly, and had refused to meet anyone from the oil company until it suited his purpose. Even now, Jason was aware that the peace he had won was a precarious one and would only last as long as Sheikh Mohammed desired it to do so. There had been rumours of an uprising among the nomadic Bedouin tribes against the despotism of Mohammed, but Jason doubted whether anything would come of it. Either way the oil company stood in exactly the same position. They were a nonpolitical enterprise and he doubted whether if Mohammed was overthrown their position would be any easier. Oil was the country’s salvation; only the profits and the methods of its production could be in jeopardy.

The sun was beginning to go down when he mounted the high pass above the oil fields. In a country where inland there was so little vegetation, it was surprisingly beautiful, and only the stark drilling rigs gave any indication of the century they were living in. The desert was unchanging in its isolation, and the rocks threw back the rays of the setting sun in colours of red and orange and purple. The distant mountain range was tinged with the palest of mauves while the stars were beginning to glimmer in the velvet of the night sky. He descended the pass, crossed the stretch of desert between the rocks and the camp, and entered the small community of bungalows. The oil company had provided every amenity for its men, even to the extent of mounting a swimming pool, the water of which was rarely cool but always refreshing. There was a canteen, but some of the men preferred to cater for themselves. Jason was one of these, and as he also had rather a good cook-boy in the person of Ali, he managed very well. He had known Ali for several years, first meeting him when he was working on the Gulf. Since then, Ali had visited a great number of places with him, but he always liked to return to his desert birthplace.

As he reached the office building where the paperwork of the site and its accompanying pipeline was maintained, his second-in-command, Graham Wilson, came dashing out to meet him, waving his arms about vigorously, obviously desiring Jason to stop.

Jason brought the Land-Rover to a halt, and wound down the window, reaching for his cigarettes in the breast pocket of his cream denim shirt.

‘Yeah!’ he said resignedly. ‘What now?’

Wilson wrenched open the door of the Land-Rover and slid inside. Glancing round rather surreptitiously, he said: ‘How are things with you?’

Jason frowned. ‘Could be worse. Why?’

Graham Wilson hunched his shoulders. ‘Get an eyeful of that, over there!’ He pointed towards a low-slung black limousine, now sadly covered in fine dust but still magnificently designed.

Jason looked, put a cigarette between his lips, and as he flicked his lighter, said: ‘Who’s arrived?’ rather laconically. He didn’t feel he had the strength to instil himself with any more annoyance today, not after the last couple of hours with Sheikh Mohammed.

‘Mannering!’ said Graham dramatically.

‘Mannering!’ echoed Jason, taking the cigarette out of his mouth. ‘What in hell does Mannering want? I thought he left it to me to deal with this!’

‘Not Mannering, senior,’ exclaimed Graham, with the air of one who is imparting a confidence. ‘Paul Mannering! And he’s not alone, either. He’s brought his – er – secretary with him!’

‘God Almighty!’ Jason stared at Graham disbelievingly. ‘That little punk out here! What in hell for?’

Graham half-smiled. ‘I thought you’d be pleased, Jason. Wait till you get a load of the secretary, though!’

‘I’ll get a load of nobody!’ snapped Jason violently. ‘For heaven’s sake, Graham, is old Mannering going out of his mind? Sending that pip-squeak out here! But why? Why?’

Graham shrugged. ‘Well, as I hear it, old Mannering’s cut up rough about the way Paul’s been living. You know what I mean. Anyway, there was a cable came, just after you left for Abyrra, announcing that he was sending Paul out here to learn the oil business from the bottom up. He said he’d be getting in touch with you to give you a fuller picture.’

‘Decent of him!’ muttered Jason savagely. ‘But where does this secretary come in? I mean – does Daddy know about her?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ replied Graham, shrugging. ‘Quite honestly, I can’t believe he does. But I’m not grumbling. It’s so long since I’ve seen a white woman—’

‘Pack it in, Graham,’ said Jason bleakly. ‘It’s exactly three months since you saw a white woman. Besides, remember you’ve a wife back in England!’

‘Just because I’ve bought a book doesn’t mean I can’t join the library,’ retorted Graham, with a grin. And then: ‘Anyway, it’s not my problem. It’s yours.’

Jason nodded. ‘Where are they?’

‘In there.’ Graham jerked his head back towards the office building. ‘I didn’t know what else to do with them until you returned. Coming to meet them?’

Jason shrugged and then slid wearily out of the vehicle. ‘Do I have any choice?’ he questioned dryly. ‘Okay, okay, let’s go. But I could surely use a shower and a change of clothes.’

Graham led the way up wooden steps into the air-conditioned office building. They entered a long narrow hallway with several doors opening from it. Graham opened the first of these and they entered a room of generous proportions entirely dominated by the heavy desk that stood square in the centre of the polished wooden floor. Perched on a corner of the desk was a young woman smoking a cigarette and passing the time by blowing smoke-rings into the air. At the far side of the desk a young man was standing staring through the meshed grill of the window, but he turned abruptly at their entrance and gave Jason a derogatory glance. ‘Well, well,’ he remarked, rather sarcastically, ‘Wilde himself! Surprise, surprise!’

The girl had slid off the desk now and also stood regarding him, a strange expression in the depths of eyes that were amazingly green. They were set in a face that while not possessing actual beauty held character and animation, and Jason understood why Graham had been so enthusiastic. Honey-gold hair hung to her shoulders, and was at present controlled by a wide band round her head. She was wearing mud-coloured levis and a cream shirt, and the masculine attire accentuated rather than detracted from her femininity.

‘Well,’ said Paul Mannering again. ‘Aren’t you going to say anything, Jason? I gather from Wilson that you didn’t know we were coming.’

‘No, I did not,’ agreed Jason, folding his arms and regarding them coolly, his cigarette between his lips. ‘Perhaps you’d better tell me first of all why this young woman is here. You – we can leave till later!’ There was insolence in his tone.

Paul Mannering’s face flushed with colour, but the girl didn’t turn a hair. She merely took a final draw on her own cigarette, blew a couple more smoke-rings, and then stood on the stub, almost defiantly. Jason felt angry. How dared Harold Mannering send his son out here without warning, with or without announcement? Who the hell did he think he was? Why should he, Jason, have to make a man out of a layabout like Paul Mannering? And what was more to the point of the infuriation he was feeling, how dared Paul Mannering bring his current girl-friend with him, just for kicks? Surely he knew his father wouldn’t stand for that!

‘This young woman is Nicola King,’ said Paul now, his colour subsiding a little, and a belligerent expression taking its place. ‘Contrary to the lurid ideas that are buzzing round your brain she is not my responsibility. She’s all Dad’s.’

Jason’s brows drew together in a dark scowl. ‘What does that mean?’

The girl moved, and a half-smile lifted the corners of her mouth. ‘It means, Mr. Wilde, that I am what I told your Mr. Wilson I am, a secretary, nothing more, nothing less.’

Jason gave her a scathing look. ‘And what are you doing here, Miss King? Inter-Anglia needs no secretaries in the middle of the Abyrra desert. Or has Mannering taken leave of his senses? After all, sending Paul out here is hardly the action of a sensible man!’

‘You watch your tongue,’ snapped Paul Mannering angrily.

‘I’m not a contortionist,’ muttered Jason, taking his cigarette out of his mouth. ‘Miss King, suppose you explain a little more!’

Nicola King stretched, drawing attention to the curving slenderness of her body. ‘Mr. Wilde, we have been travelling since early this morning. I am hot and tired, and as we have been hanging around here for the best part of two hours waiting for you to return I don’t think it’s unreasonable to request that we be allowed a shower, a change of clothes and something to eat before feeling inclined to answer your rather obvious questions. Believe me, my reasons for being here are strictly non-social. If I had wanted an exciting life, I would hardly have chosen an oil drilling rig, miles out in the desert, where the heat and the flies and the total absence of civilized pursuits make my toes curl!’

Jason’s eyes narrowed. He couldn’t help but admire her spirit. She had more confidence than Mannering’s son, even if he had had a public school education and delighted in making the headlines with one or other of his crazy schemes. But that did not endear her to Jason. He considered her self-opinionated and hard, and he speculated cynically on her relationship to the Mannerings. If she was not Paul’s girl-friend, he deplored the methods she must have used to get Harold Mannering to allow her to come out here.

‘Graham,’ he said harshly, ‘take the lady to Caxton’s bungalow. See she has everything she wants, and after she’s improved her temper as well as her appearance, bring her over to my place.’

Graham nodded, and Nicola King was forced to accompany him out of the door. But the glance she cast in Jason’s direction was killing. Already the swift African night was falling and outside a velvety darkness melted the heat of the day. After they had gone, Jason leaned back against the door and studied his chairman’s son rather disparagingly.

‘Now,’ he said, ‘what’s the idea?’

Mannering’s eyes widened. ‘Idea? What idea? Do you mean me being here? Or Nicola?’

‘A little of both.’

‘Like I said, it’s nothing to do with me. Do you imagine I asked to come out here? Good God, if there’d been any way of getting out of it I would have taken it. But while my hands are tied, moneywise—’ He shrugged his slim shoulders. ‘Anyway, it can’t last.’

‘What can’t?’

‘Me, being out here!’ Paul fumbled for his cigarettes and then muttered: ‘Thanks’ as Jason offered him one. When it was lit he continued: ‘I suppose you’ll get all the sordid details from Dad so I might as well tell you my story first. There was this girl—’

‘There always is,’ remarked Jason laconically.

‘Yeah, I know. And I’m always the sucker! But this doll was crazy about me, and I’m only human after all. How was I to know she’d take me seriously? Anyway, it turned out her dad was an ex-wrestler or something. He practically kidnapped me one night after I’d stopped seeing her. He went berserk!’ Paul’s young face blanched at the memory. ‘Anyhow, to cut a long story short, the police were called and the press got to know and there was a God-awful stink! You can imagine what kind of coverage it got. The girl said she was pregnant, but she wasn’t, our doctor proved that, thank heaven! But naturally it’s left a pretty nasty situation, and Dad thought it was time I got out of the country for a while. I agreed. I didn’t know he had this in mind.’

Jason’s dark brows were raised. ‘I see,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I guessed as much. How old are you now, Paul – twenty, twenty-one? Hell, I don’t ever remember being as young as you!’

‘I’m twenty-two, actually,’ replied Paul sullenly. ‘You’re not so different. What about that Ellis woman?’

Jason shrugged. ‘A little different, I think, Paul. Anyway, that’s beside the point, I suppose. You’re here now, and we’re stuck with you. But by heaven, you’re not going to lie around here. You’ll work, boy, believe me, you’ll work!’

Paul’s colour deepened again. ‘Dad knew what he was doing when he sent me here, didn’t he?’ he muttered. ‘Home from bloody home!’

‘Never mind, kid. He may take pity on you. But that still doesn’t explain that girl’s arrival. Who the hell is she? If she’s not your girl-friend, what is she?’

‘You’d better wait and ask Dad,’ retorted Paul, sniffing. ‘Now, where do I shack down?’

Jason straightened, and opened the door, pausing momentarily in the aperture. ‘I guess you could share with young Collins,’ he said. ‘He’s one of the drilling crew. He’s about your age.’

‘I’d prefer to be alone,’ said Paul moodily.

‘I expect you would. However, there are only a certain number of bungalows here, and Caxton’s is only empty because he’s home on compassionate leave. His wife’s just had their fifth child. So for the present, you’ll have to be content with sharing with Collins. That is, unless you can persuade your travelling companion that her journey wasn’t really necessary?’

‘I’ve told you,’ exclaimed Paul. ‘Nicola is not my concern.’

Jason studied him a moment, and then shrugged. ‘Okay, let’s go. I’ll drop you off and introduce you to Collins on my way to my bungalow. He’ll take you over to the cookhouse later, and see you get a meal. Tomorrow we’ll consider what we can find for you to do.’

After he had got Paul settled with young Tony Collins, Jason drove thankfully to his own bungalow, and after parking the Land-Rover, mounted the steps wearily. Ali met him in the hall.

‘At last you have come,’ he said complainingly. ‘The meal – it has been ready this half-hour.’

Jason grimaced. ‘Well, I guess it’ll have to wait another half-hour, Ali. I’m hot and sweaty, and I need a shower, not to mention a change of clothes.’

Ali pulled a long-suffering face, but Jason merely gave him a pat on the back and walked into his bedroom. The shower, despite being lukewarm, was refreshing, and clean cotton pants and a thin cotton knitted shirt felt good. He combed his thick hair, and re-entered the hall to cross it to the lounge. The bungalows were simply constructed with one long room serving as dining room and lounge, and the other side of the central hall was divided into bedroom and bathroom. The oil company erected these air-conditioned living quarters wherever they went, providing civilized accommodation for men who spent hours daily in entirely uncivilized conditions. Ali’s quarters and the kitchen were out back, while at the front of the building was a verandah where one could sit in the cool of the evening. And the evenings could be very cold.

But now Jason was glad to accept the iced lager that Ali had waiting for him in the lounge and stifled an angry exclamation when the telephone rang insistently. Lifting the receiver, he said: ‘Wilde speaking,’ in a curt tone.

‘Jason? Is that you?’ The voice was faint but familiar.

‘Yes, Harold, it’s me,’ said Jason dryly, recognizing the voice of his superior back in London.

‘You sound angry, Jason,’ said Sir Harold Mannering, chuckling. ‘I gather Paul and Nicola have arrived. Am I right?’

Jason swallowed half his lager at a gulp. ‘You’re damn right,’ he answered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘What’s the idea? Unloading your problems on to me?’

‘Oh, you can handle Paul, Jason. Has he told you what happened here?’

‘His version,’ remarked Jason coldly. ‘Okay, I admit, Paul doesn’t cause many problems, but why send the girl?’

Sir Harold laughed. ‘Now you must confess, it wasn’t such an unpleasant surprise, was it?’ he said cheerfully.

Jason’s brows drew together frowningly. ‘Have you taken leave of your senses, Harold?’ he muttered. ‘Sending a girl like that out here when I already have problems enough with the men!’

Sir Harold sounded less amiable. ‘Steady on, Jason,’ he said shortly. ‘You aren’t chairman yet, you know.’

Jason breathed hard through his nose. ‘Harold,’ he said tightly, ‘I want Nicola King back in England at the earliest opportunity.’

Sir Harold cleared his throat. ‘Are you ordering me, Jason?’

Jason sighed. ‘Hell, no, Harold! Look, try to see it my way, if Paul needs a feminine shoulder to cry on, let him take himself off to Gitana like the rest of the crew. Why should he bring his girl-friend out here? I warn you – the men won’t like it.’