Show p J AU Over Ove A But Bui B. B ut the 1 ell p ee r h Richard Richard Powell Powell- I t T- T Tr r AN INNER INNE-A. SANCTUM i MV MYSTERY i w TERY f I 1 STARRING ARAB AND ANDY BLAKE wu V FEATURES s THE TUB STORY THUS FAR Lt Andy Blake and his wife wire Arab discovered a apy py ring headed by a Mr Jones Followed Followed Fol Fol- lowed to Andys Andy's house by Jones Jones' gang can Arab was taken prisoner Andy escaped y AndY report reported d to the army then was 1 picked up by two of Jones' Jones men and taken V S. S to the Jersey coast In crossing crossin to a athi thi small mall Island the tho boat was upset by JAndY Andy who swam ashore He e found Paula and set her free Jones made him a aR prisoner Jones realizing they must escape es R Bred cape then made plans to signal the Nazi 1 submarine to send a rubber boat for them Jones lones had a black light lIht that t b. b could signal the submarine and aud still sIDI not nota ala J a be a teen seen from shore but he wanted to tot f t radio Germany Ar c CHAPTER I IC I sneered The Th commander sees v ou coming out in the rubber boat end nd yells tricked 1 They are Americans Amers Amer- Amer ans s in our boat Ten rounds rapid f re e I Blam Blam-blam-blam-blam- Stop it That's just one way I drawled I There are a million ways he heake can r take ake care of you nl He swung back to the set His fingers jerked on the sending button 14 4 Chief I Joey cried Dont get prattled rattled Dont Don't let this guy upset iou ou Take it easy VI It The blind glasses glared at Joey The fat mans man's voice sounded as if I the were yelling through a blanket Quiet he shouted Who do do you work for tor For me or Canaris I Ier Iet Ii et er i j begin to wonder I have just ori or- or i 4 dered the commander to send in a boat now We Ve will get aboard bees bees be be- es fore f ore telling him anything I will f take over his radio I have the au- au ty 31 J He whirled back to the eyepiece bee crouched at it A message must be bel l oming back His fingers clutched en and twisted at i the legs of the trio tri- tri r o pod At last he straightened and 5 gasped He signals Deb De b picked up propeller beat beatt beate t e quarter r quarter hour ago Inshore patrol active Unsafe send boat Transmit Transmit Transmit Trans Trans- mit information first He bent tk to the sending button aga again agam n. n p Joey quavered doing now Chief There the fat man man said I instructed instructed instructed in in- him to stand by Now we wesee will see who gets the credit He Heh h went fo to the wave short-wave transmitter flipped switches I Chief Joey cried It aint 1 safe r They can pick up that radio 41 stuff I The The fat man cursed at the stubbornly stubbornly stubbornly stub stub- cold radio set A chance ina ina in ina a hundred he muttered One destroyer destroyer destroyer de de- cannot police the wave short-wave bands It would take a dozen what dozen what is wrong with this pig of a radio I He peered over the panel fumbled among tubes and wires and conden conden- sers Then he walked very quietly to tome me The tube he said M. M j I had to to play this carefully I could i wreck everything by being suspiciously suspiciously helpful What tu tube e Jl The tube you took from this set You have not broken it because there is no glass You did not have i the window raised to throw it out You ou have hidden it n I dont don't t know what youre you're talking w about about 1 The tube he said His right hand clamped across my face his thumb dug into the hollow under my right ear He pressed and said The tube I dont don't know I yelled I dont don't know Rockets whizzed and burst burstin in my head Pain shrieked down every nerve in my body I could feel it at the tips of my fingers my toes I had to take it a second I longer A second longer It had to look good It It- It In the wastebasket ket I screamed He left me and fumbled in the basket I slumped I had almost t overdone things A few seconds i more would have fixed that ear for 1 life fe He found He the tube ube and lifted tn It delicately and replaced it in the set Arab was crying Andy she said Andy did it hurt awfully I wet my lips Ups Its O. O K now Will will it help them very much having the tube III It doesn't matter I said Hed III get his news out either this way or orthe orthe IU r the other I just wanted to m make eke r things unpleasant for him if I fl could Tubes and dials glowed on the set reflected greasily on the fat mans man's face Yes he said We will settIe set set- J tIe tle for that later Renee I IIi l Ii She whispered Yes Our friends out there may be worrying I should have sent more n I than stand by Signal them that I Iam s 4 am getting the information in order and that it will take a number of minutes I 1 do not know how to signal I them Anybody can send A long press presson I i on the button for a dash A short press for a dot It is plain international international code There is a handbook on my desk 1 She slipped past my chair like a apale apale pale shadow found the book went to the tripod Joey got her a flash flash- light She masked the light with her hand band studied the i international code I and began sending slowly going back to the page for each new let let- ter In front of the fat man the big radio set was warming up It purred like a giant cat The fat fatman fatman man touched dials clamped a receiver receiver re re- r over his ears His fingers s tested tests d the sending key Joey Joey he called Here Chief Cruel i The code book Lower right-hand right drawer He flipped keys at Joey and added Get the book and paper paper paper pa pa- per and pencil This cannot go in inthe inthe inthe the clear Encode it He waited while Joey got the code book and writing materials and then said The first sentence Jones to Ull Ull- rich Second sentence For Himmler Himmler Himmler Himm- Himm ler only Third sentence e Huge task forces sailed last three days from East Coast Ports of Embarkation Fourth sentence Objective tive absolutely absolutely absolutely confirmed French North Af Af- rica Encode that And quickly There will be more O 0 K Chief The fat mans man's fingers had not stopped for a moment He was sending sending sending send send- ing a recognition signal Dit-dah- Dit dit dah dah Dit-dah-dit dah I tried to picture the waves leaping leaping leaping leap leap- i ing out over the Atlantic in huge vertical vertical vertical ver ver- zigzags caroming back and forth between the earths earth's surface and the Heaviside layer forty miles up Out on the Atlantic were Navy I radio men waiting tensely just for I this Combing segments of the wave short-wave bands Waiting for the whine of power in their ears and the crackle of an enemy message I prayed that they wouldn't miss prayed that the signal wouldn't leapfrog leapfrog leapfrog leap leap- frog the waiting aerials Dit Dit-dah-dit Dit dah dit dah Dit-dah- Dit dit dit dah He threw words at Joey now and then Joey scribbled f 1 l if A A I 4 w r rz G r z 11 i if 1 tAlI yr z II I- I I lay there for a short time dopey with concussion them down and then hunted through the secret code book for the right signal Dit dah dah Dit Dit- dit dah-dit dah dah dah It seemed to togo togo togo go on forever Renee finished her chore and moved over to watch Joey encoding Suddenly there was a change The fat tat man jerked upright His sending hand stilled quivering He listened He had been acknowledged Far Faraway Faraway Faraway away in Germany they were ready for him He ripped back a jerky stream of dots and dashes His hand reached for the first sheet of the coded message Heat lightning flickered on the horizon to the northeast My skin tingled Heat lightning at thirty min minutes tes to o November ve er I sucked in my Dream breath it might have been four i miles away I would know in ten to fifteen seconds I counted Maybe I counted aloud or maybe something something something some some- thing in the way I strained forward forward forward for for- ward registered with the group at atthe atthe the radio They swung around peered at t me I hardly noticed They were just blurs in the dim room I counted Nine ten eleven twelve twelve- Then it happened Out on the sand bar two majestic cones of water foamed up into the night sky Windows jumped in frames Sound thudded at us And AndI I went nuts They got a fix on us I I screamed Come on boys pour it itin itin in Lay it in their laps You got the radio tagged I Let em cm have it The fat man leaned over me snarling something I didn't care what I rocked deliriously in the chair and howled up at him Watch this one Jones Jones Get to the window and watch it Open your mouth and they'll drop one in Y Right one zero Eight eight hun hun- dred Fire He jerked around like a puppet on strings Lightning glared again on the horizon powder Black-powder lightning in Navy five On the way I II I shrieked Count it you rats Twelve seconds to live lOne One two VO I went on counting and raving half-forgotten half artillery commands while the room turned into a mad mad- house The fat man was rescuing his light black set He screamed or or- ders Orders to collect papers To Torun Torun Torun run to the powerhouse I heard him howl at Joey to shoot us before leaving leaving leaving leav leav- ing but I didn't give a Sl hang Eight I yelled Nine The fat man tumbled out through the door His feet clattered on the stairs Eleven twelve Twin screeches rode the air over over- head The roof seemed to lift to meet them I Glass jingled and the old house rocked and groaned like a schooner slamming onto a shoal Hurry up Joey I chanted Hurry up That was a hundred over Hurry up They got their bracket now Left five Eight seven seven seven sev sev- en hundred Hurry up Joey He was flopping around the room like a drunken rooster He picked up things and dropped them I chanted Hurry up once more and then noticed Renee She was standing standing standing stand stand- ing motionless at the window looking looking look look- ing out to sea Moonlight gilded her face For the first time she seemed to be calm almost happy The brief briel glow washed the horizon again On the Renee said way softly I II I took a deep breath and turned to Arab In the dim room her hair seemed to glow like phosphorus Her head was tilted chin up For a moment she and Renee could have been sisters They faced the ocean almost eagerly like lovely delicate figureheads on the old China clippers clip clip- pers Hold your hat I said She he smiled Id rather hold your hand I wish I could think of something deathless to say I love you Andy II And I love you nice enough she said contentedly She was still smiling at me when everything let go at the seams The blast was too close too stunning to tobe tobe tobe be heard Something pumped the theair theair theair air out of my lungs picked me up chair and all aU and slammed me back against the wall I lay there for a short time dopey with concussion My chest heaved trying to force air to my lungs At first I could only get a sip of air I worked at it got a little more more and then a big shuddering breath that put me back in tion The chair was kindling wood I doubled my feet up to my bound hands and worked on the ankle knot Either I was deaf or it was achingly quiet Moonlight seeped in through shattered windows and torn wall Dust drifted like spray the dust of ofa a generation shaken from every cranny by the explosion Andy An An dy I tried to get my slow-motion slow thoughts in line Arab was sitting near the door The blast had skated her chair back fifteen feet without toppling it I started toward her I and a ragged figure uncoiled from the floor and blocked my way It was Joey He jammed me against the wall I tried to knee him but my legs wouldn't move fast enough I There was a smear of blood across his face His jaw hung slackly He I tugged at something in his pocket I You been askin for it he mum mum- I bled You been askin Good old Joey I Said aid loudly This is the kind of shooting you like isn't it This was the kind you had in Spain Are you still putting out that yarn about the you shot down dawn Or are you telling real story now You shut up Sure you fought in Spain if you call it fighting and bombs and machine guns against rifles Tell us how you mowed em down downin in your Heinkel Your Heinkel Joey You lie liel he yelled I fought on the Loyalist side I saw Renee fumbling in the shattered shattered shattered shat shat- cabinet which had held the fat fatman's fatman's fatman's mans man's arsenal I said The State Department claims you were with the Germans fighting for Franco Tell us about it Joey Tell us about the Condor Legion Tell us how you shot Bob Fielding Somewhere in the oom 1 Toom om sounded the telltale dry clack of a rifle being cocked Joey whirled toward the sound screaming Renee he cant can't pin that on me There were lots of ofus ofus ofus us in the Condor Legion It could of been anybody Renee take it I easy Take Take- He wrenched the Luger out of his pocket I kicked his elbow a split- split second too late He got off ofT one shot before the automatic spun from his hand Renee quivered The rifle she held wavered Then the barrel came up again steadied The shots cracked slowly Six of them A click Joey twitched once on the floor and was still Arab cried hurt Andy I II I stumbled toward Renee She leaned on the desk jamming a small stained fist into her side She smiled I wistfully and said Theres a knife on the desk You'll have to help me II open it I II I turned so that she could reach my bound hands without moving The penknife touched my fingers I held it while she pried open a blade Then she took it and saw sawed d through the ropes at my wrists Take care of your wife she said II And hurry She didn't have to warn me The smoke was thickening somewhere in the house flames coiled and rustled rustled rus rus- tied like timber rattlers I slashed the cords around Arabs Arab's knees and ankles sliced the tape linking her wrists The adhesive binding her fingers into boxing glove shape would have to wait TO BE CONf CONTINUED I |