You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
might be the eventual undoing of their unity as a team. He had tried to bring it up several times in an<br />
indirect way, but Trevor always evaded the issue with some sort of joke or conversational<br />
redirection.<br />
“Perhaps not in terms of the case, but in general it was a most informative afternoon,” Rayley<br />
finally said.<br />
“I have no doubt.”<br />
“Go ahead and laugh at me. I fear I am on the verge of becoming the fool of the force, but I<br />
assure you that whatever degree to which I entered into any alleged frolicking, it was only so Orlov<br />
and his men would accept me as a fellow.”<br />
“What tremendous sacrifices you make in the name of Queen and country,” Trevor said, his<br />
hand cupped around his cigar to keep it from extinguishing in the breeze. “Were you able to keep your<br />
wits about you well enough to observe the design of the place?”<br />
“Observe, yes. Comprehend, no. The long halls end in a snarl of passageways and small<br />
individual rooms which I would deem nearly impossible for any private guard to monitor, no matter<br />
how many men they employ.”<br />
“I suppose Orlov and his squad would tell us that the numerous halls work to the advantage of<br />
the protectors, not any invading force. After all, they presumably understand the design of the maze<br />
rather well whereas an outsider would become immediately confused.”<br />
“That’s what they would most certainly say, but damn it all, Welles, you didn’t see the place.<br />
Dark and labyrinthine, with business of every conceivable sort being conducted in every corner.”<br />
“I suppose you felt the need to brag of your own exploits,” Trevor said indulgently, digging for<br />
another match.<br />
Rayley had already tamped out his own cigar, for the steady wind over the water had almost<br />
immediately proven that smoking would be impossible. He supposed that was one of the key<br />
differences between Trevor and himself – Rayley conceded to the inevitable quickly, devising<br />
alternative plans within seconds of an initial failure, while Trevor charged on in the face of all<br />
obstacles, as if his very will was a battering ram which would eventually shatter any reality he found<br />
displeasing. Rayley was not at all sure which of them was the closest to right, but he did know one<br />
thing. It was their differences, not their similarities, which made them such a formidable team.<br />
“Yes, I told them of my American whore,” Rayley said. “But they were hardly impressed. I