Devil May Care

harness and kissed Scarlett on the ear. At twenty feet, he pushed back and let go.
    With his hands placed protectively over his groin, Bond sliced the surface of the water like a dead duck and sank to the depths of the Volga. For a few moments, he saw weed and cold darkness reeling up past him. Then, with a shock that jarred his spine, he felt the riverbed beneath his feet and on his knees and hands, as he bent double with the impact. He pushed up hard, and saw reed and fish and water rewind past his thrashing feet and hands until he broke through into sunlight.
    At first he saw only a floating canopy on the surface of the river. Then he saw a dark, wet head coming through the water to meet him.
    Scarlett climbed into his arms and covered his dripping face with kisses. ‘My God,’ she said, laughing as she spluttered and coughed the water from her mouth. ‘You are quite something.’
    ‘Thank you for the lift,’ said Bond.
    On the riverbank, they sat for a while to gather themselves and check their injuries.
    ‘Poor Ken,’ said Scarlett.
    ‘He was a better man than I gave him credit for,’ said Bond. ‘What happened to you after I last saw you?’
    ‘The door code worked fine. There were quite a few guards but they were all running to Gorner’s office.’
    ‘And outside?’
    ‘Nothing much. Gorner’s lair is just a lump in the desert.I suppose they didn’t want to draw attention to it, so there’s not much in the way of lights. But I thought I should move fast, while they were still concentrating on you. I got round to the airliner. The cargo doors were open because they hadn’t finished working on the modifications. I was able to climb up into the hold from a sort of baggage-handling truck alongside and, once I was in there, I saw a flap that led up into the main part of the plane. They’d had to cut it out to feed all the cables for the bomb release. It was big enough for me to crawl up through. It came out just behind the flight deck. Then I found this uniform in the crew locker, changed in the lavatory between first and economy and just waited for you. Not a very comfortable night.’
    ‘Didn’t they search the plane?’
    ‘I heard someone sniffing about in the hold later on. But I suppose once they were satisfied the bombs were in position they left it at that. They probably forgot about the flap they’d cut or didn’t think it was big enough. And there were no passenger steps in place outside, so I suppose they thought no one could be in the main part of the plane.’
    ‘Well, you did a good job,’ said Bond. ‘I knew you had it in you.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Scarlett. ‘My professional expertise.’
    ‘I was banking on it.’
    ‘Now what do we do?’
    ‘Try and get help to Poppy. We’ll need to find a telephone. I suggest you do the talking. Then when we get a connection I’ll speak to my people in London. I’ll give them all the information we have.’
    ‘All right. And what do we do in the meantime?’
    ‘Go home,’ said Bond.
    ‘How?’
    ‘I reckon we’re due east of Moscow. Probably seven or eight hundred miles. In view of what’s been going on, it’s too risky to take a train. They won’t expect survivors from the plane, but they’ll be jumpy. We’ll drive. You can navigate. I’m sure your Russian’s up to asking the way.’
    ‘I’m sure it is,’ said Scarlett, ‘though my accent may be a bit old-fashioned. Pre-revolutionary. I learned from White Russians.’
    ‘Well, even Communists respect a lady, don’t they? First we need clothes, money and a car. You may need to avert your eyes for the next few hours, Scarlett. Sometimes a secret agent has to do undignified things.’
    ‘To tell the truth, James, I don’t mind what you do, so long as I can have something to eat soon. Anything else I see, I shall forget at once.’
    ‘First, you need shoes,’ he said, as he pulled Ken Mitchell’s wet loafers on to his own feet.
    ‘Yes. There were no shoes or stockings with the uniform. The hostesses supply their own. Poppy told me. And – another thing – I have no underwear.’
    ‘I know,’ said Bond. ‘Let’s see what we can find.’
    He held out his hand and pulled the weary girl to her feet.
    They walked over the plain until they found a small road and, after half an hour of trudging, a village. At a farmhouse, Scarlett secured them water, bread and something half-way between curd and cheese.
    The puzzled peasant woman who fed them couldn’t keep her