London, 54 Broadway: A Couple of Days Later
Wilderness was back in the library. Still mugging up on Erdbahn. The moustache was beginning to itch horribly.
He was slowly mastering tractors and had reached the Erdbahn T64, which sounded like a type of Russian tank, except that it was available in yellow.
Forty-four horsepower with three-point linkage.
Linkage was obvious—it was surely how the tractor connected to all the other bits at the arse end … plough, harrow, washing machine … whatever. Horsepower? How powerful was a horse? Were all horses as powerful as each other? Forty-four horsepower? Didn’t sound like much. Wasn’t a Jag E-type two hundred–odd horses?
He was beginning to think his brain might be numb from boredom or confusion when Alice Pettifer appeared with a decode.
—Arrived in Prague. H.E. not happy … woman, far too young … blah blah blah. I have you to thank for this? If so, thank you, but I need time to get me knees under the table. Could you string out your journey for a couple of weeks? I’ll arrange an embassy reception, something you can mingle with. Dunno quite what, just yet. BELL.
“Any reply, Joe?”
“Tell her yes. I could use the time too.”
“Oh, and …”
“And what, Alice?”
“Burne-Jones says you should be armed for this one, so you can tool up again. But—you never really tooled down, did you, Joe?”
Wilderness said nothing. The less Alice knew about what had happened out on the ice the better. It wouldn’t stop her guessing, it wouldn’t stop her putting two and two together and making four, but she’d never hear it from him.