"Higgins, Jack - Sheba" - читать интересную книгу автора (Higgins Jack)

Kane touched Jamal on the shoulder and the three of them got up and moved back from the entrance. 'He's got us cold,' Cunningham said. 'We can't let him hurt the women.'

Kane shook his head and his eyes were grim. 'If he wants to harm them, he will and nothing we do will have any effect on him.' He shook his head. 'I think he's stalling. He's probably got some scheme cooking.'

At that moment there was a movement high up on the face of the cliff outside and the stones rattled down on to the ledge in a fine spray.

'I told you the bastard had something up his sleeve.' Kane said, and then a grenade rolled inside the entrance of the cave, clearly visible in the patch of moonlight.

He turned, pushing Cunningham and the Somali violently backwards into the narrow entrance of the tomb and followed them, dropping to his hands and knees.

The grenade exploded, bringing down a shower of stones into the entrance, then the whole cliff seemed to tremble and the roof started to cave in.

Muller stared up at the cloud of dust clear in the moonlight. 'Oh my God. Now what?'

'We get the hell out of here,' Skiros said. 'Back to Dahrein. Leave on Selim's dhow. At least that bastard Kane and his friends have had it. I hope he takes a long time to die entombed in there.'

'But Berlin, the Fiihrer? What will happen to us?'

'Nothing, you fool. I'll get straight on the radio; tell Ritter the Catalina crashed. Hardly our fault and all they need to know.'

'And the women?'

'They can come with us for the time being. Now pull yourself together and let's get moving.'

He turned and went back down to the camp, waving Selim and the remaining Bedouins to follow him.

In Berlin, Canaris was standing at the window of his office having a cognac when there was a knock on the door and Ritter entered. The young major was pale and obviously disturbed.

'Bad news, Hans?'

'Operation Sheba, Herr Admiral. I've had a rather garbled message from Skiros. He's closing down and getting out. There was trouble of some sort, the Catalina destroyed, Romero and his men dead.'

'How very unfortunate,' Canaris said.

'But the Fiihrer, Herr Admiral. What will he say?'

'The Fiihrer, Hans, has a tendency to be very excited about something on Monday, which he has totally forgotten about by Friday.' Canaris smiled. 'And after all, he still has Poland.'

'Can you be certain he'll react in this way?' Ritter said.

'Of course. I've had considerable experience as regards the Fiihrer's mental processes, Hans.'

Canaris went and got another glass. 'Here, have a cognac. When you've been in this game as long as I have, you learn to take the rough with the smooth.'

'If you say so, Herr Admiral.'

'Oh, but I do.' Canaris raised his glass. 'To the Third Reich, Hans, and may it last a thousand years.' He laughed. 'And if you believe that, you'll believe anything.'

THIRTEEN