The Code War (8 page)

They were all waiting for Nancy to make
the first move. In truth, since Nancy had organised the travel and
accommodation it naturally fell to her to make the decisions about
the sleeping arrangements. None of the boys showed the slightest
inclination to relieve her of this responsibility.

Also she was the girl. She had to pick
her roomshare companion. It couldn’t be the other way round.

The silences were getting
longer
.

It was time.
Nancy placed the apple on a sideboard then leant back
against it. She knew precisely what she wanted to achieve. But she
had to pitch it just right. She folded her arms and looked from one
boy to the next. Poise and timing were everything. But while she
had a delicate job to do, she also knew she had the time to enjoy
it. The moment was delicious and she intended to squeeze every last
drop from it.

Eventually her lips parted
and
she wet them slightly with her
tongue. ‘Look,’ she began, flashing her eyes quickly at all three
boys before looking down faux-demurely at the ground. ‘These are
obviously awkward times and I think we’re going to have to make do
and compromise as best we can.’ She paused. ‘What I mean is, I
think we’re going to have to be grown up about this.’

The boys looked at her, saying
nothing.

‘
The thing is,’ she
continued slowly, ‘there are only two bedrooms and I was rather
hoping that we’d be able to get three beds in one room so I could
have one bed in the other. But that would just make your room too
cramped. Or have one person sleep in the lounge. But that seems
unfair. Especially as we've all paid the same price.

So it means that we’re going to have to
think of something different. Something radical. We're going to
have to improvise and adapt ourselves to the circumstances. That's
the intelligent thing to do, isn't it?’

The boys were trying hard not to look
too intently at Nancy but each one’s antenna were straining to pick
up any kind of a clue to confirm where she was heading. No one
moved or said a word.

‘
So you see, one of
you is going to have to sleep. With me. I mean, in my room, with
me. One of you will have to sleep in the other bed in my room.’
Again she flashed her eyes at them, enjoying their obvious
discomfort and her own sense of control.

‘
But even that’s not
going to work because it’s just going to be …awkward.’

Nancy was standing with her right foot
crossed over and slightly in front of her left. She was wearing a
close-fitting white lacy blouse which revealed just a hint of her
small cleavage. Her plain cotton skirt halted a few inches above
her knees. Now she stretched her foot forward and scraped the floor
absent-mindedly, side to side, with the front of her open-toed
shoe.

‘
So I think if you’ll
all promise to keep this just between us then I see no reason why
it shouldn’t work.' A short pause. 'OK?’

The boys were now staring openly
at Nancy, all attempts at trying to look nonchalant had
disappeared. They were breathing more deeply than a few minutes
before.

‘
I don’t understand,’
Pete ventured at last, almost stammering.

‘
What are you trying
to say?’ chimed in Andy who wanted to encourage her where he
thought she was heading.

‘
Oh, I'm sure you
understand,' she chided. 'It just seems to me,’ Nancy was speaking
very slowly and deliberately now, ‘that if we can all share, I mean
if you can share, that is, all three of you, then we’ll all get on
well and there’ll be no reason for fights and there’ll be no
tension around the place.’

She stopped, in no rush to get to the
point and put them out of their misery.

‘
But it’ll be our
secret OK? I mean, I don’t want the whole of London knowing about
this.’

Nancy
was confident, looking at the boys’ faces, that her speech
was going down quite well. She was increasingly sure of the
response she would get when she finally made her offer.

‘
Look, what I’m
trying to say is that sharing is good
.
And I think you’d continue to be good friends, better friends in
fact, if you could find a way to share….’

Her voice trailed off.

‘…
.me.’

Andy
was
the first to speak.

‘
Yeah, well, er, that
sounds really fair,’ he said. ‘I mean, if you’re absolutely
sure.’

All three boys were nodding their
heads slowly while maintaining very serious expressions. They could
have just been listening to a wise statesman making an insightful
talk at a conference on world peace. Only Martin wore a slight
frown.

‘
Thank you Nancy,
that’s very kind of you,’ said Pete.

‘
Yeah, I think
that’ll work well. That’s really er, er, fair,’ agreed Martin
rather lamely.

‘
Fine,’ said
Nancy
. It felt good to be fancied by 100%
of the men present with no abstentions. ‘In that case, so that
there’s no favouritism, I think we should begin in alphabetical
order. Andy, could you help me with my case?’

Heaven's
S
hore

Jabez had his hands on his head.
Inside the globe suspended in front of him w
as the scene inside the Eilat apartment.

'Ee
eh! I
never saw that coming, not in the life of a galaxy. Not from her,
that was totally out of character. Wasn't it? What's going on,
Luke?'

Luke had also been watching the scene
unfold.

'Let me see what I can find out,'
he flicked to another view within his own sphere, one that gave him
more information about the environment around the Eilat apartment.
'The enemy's airwaves are all over this,' he reported. 'There are
passive violations of neutrality everywhere. The atmosphere around
Nancy reeks of enemy observation.'

'You don't surprise me. You know
that I don't have much experience of this, Luke. But even I know
this is unusual.'

Luke was still checking his
scopes.

'The matter that worries me,'
continued Jabez, 'is that Infernals seemed to know this was coming.
Nancy has gone from carefree innocent to dedicated seductress in an
instant. They saw it coming and we didn't. This should concern us.
Their usual pattern is to watch someone who shows signs of going
wrong and encourage them to do more. But with this girl, I mean
woman, Nancy, it's different. There was no indication that she
would behave like this. This means that Hell has just got a lot
more sophisticated than they have ever been up to now.'

'Yes,' replied Luke. 'Also, they know
we're watching. They know we can see that they're following Nancy.
And they don't seem to care.'

'If their level of competence has
leapt up the scale, we'll have to raise our game too,'
exclaimed Jabez. 'These are no bumbling
beelzebubs. Bezejel is all over this. And I still don't know how to
beat her.'

Eilat

‘
Sure.’ Andy jumped
up and followed Nancy into the bedroom. He tried to look as though
he was just heading off for another day of lectures at uni.
Privately he felt as though he’d just won the lottery.

Martin watched him go while Pete,
who had just realised the misfortune of the letter ‘P’ being so low
down the alphabet, looked forlorn.

Nancy led Andy to the room she had
chosen. As he entered carrying both their cases she shut the door
behind him.

‘
Could you lift
my case
onto the chest of drawers?’ she
said breezily, as though talking to a husband she’d been married to
for twenty years.

‘
Sure thing,’ said
Andy who was trying not to look at Nancy lest he appear
over-eager.

For several minutes they worked in
silence, opening drawers and wardrobes and putting clothes on
hangers. Eventually Nancy pushed her empty case under her bed and
stood up and turned towards him. She placed her right foot behind
her left, clasped her hands behind her back and pushed her chest
forward ever so slightly. She waited for him to become aware of
her.

Andy closed the wardrobe door
where he had hung the last of his shirts and faced her, all of four
feet away. Nancy was smiling invitingly.

‘
Oh, er, you’re
there,’ he said shyly.

Nancy made no move and Andy stood
there awkwardly, waiting for instructions. Both knew who was in
charge.

‘
Come closer.’
Nancy.

Andy found himself taking the two
steps to stand right in front of her. He looked into her eyes and
then placed his left hand on her shoulder and his right hand on her
hip. He moved in for the kiss.

Nancy stopped him with a finger on his
chest.

'First, I need a small
favour.'

'Oh?'

'
I need
you to drive me somewhere.'

'Oh? Where?'

'A kibbutz. Near Jerusalem. In a
few days' time. When I've sorted out a car.'

'Nancy, Jerusalem's hours
away
,' he spluttered. 'We came past it on
the way here. It must be five hours. Each way. It would mean a
whole day away from the dig. I can't. I'll never get
permission.'

'That's a shame.'

'Anyway, can't you drive?'

'Yes. But not
legally.
' Nancy shrugged. 'Long
story.'

'Is that…Is that why you invited
me in?' Light dawned in his eyes. 'You asked me if I had a driving
licence. Of course.'

'There's something you want. And
there's something I need. I think that's a fair exchange, don't
you?
' Nancy was looking up directly into
Andy's eyes, her face just a few inches from his. 'Anyway, won't
you help a maiden in distress? I'm trying to contact a long-lost
relative. Before he dies.'

'You certainly know how to pull
all the levers, don't you? said Andy, smiling. Then he became
serious again. 'Look, it's not just about getting permission. I
could probably get that. I'm sure the professor will give me a day
off. It's something else. You see, I'm the first in my family to go
to university. We're not educated folk. Quite humble really. I
don't want people to know because it's embarrassing. That's why
it's really important to my mum and dad that I succeed. They
borrowed the money for me to come on this trip. Taking a day off to
drive someone around Israel isn't really respecting them. All that
they've given up for me. I'm sorry.'

But Nancy held him
fast
. She tapped again on his
chest.

'Supposing,' she said slowly.
'Just supposing, I could arrange for you to have half an hour with
the former Head of Israeli Antiquities. A man who knows more about
archaeology in this country than just about anyone else. On your
own. How would that help your studies?'

Andy's eyes opened wide.
'That would be incredible. If I could tell my
tutors I'd done that, they'd be impressed. Really impressed. It
would raise my profile incredibly. It would be incredible. Can you
really do that?'

'I'll try and fix it.'

'The Head of Antiquities, you say?'

'Former Head.'

'How will you do it?'

'I know somebody.'

'Well that would be incredible,
Nancy.'

'Well I'll try to make it happen. Then
it'll be credible. Not incredible.'

Andy laughed. 'OK then, miss,' he
said finally. 'I'll drive you to Jerusalem.'

'Thank you
.
You're a gentleman,' she
said. 'Let's go and tell the others.' She unhooked herself from
Andy's hands and began walking to the door.

'Hold on Nancy. Didn't we..er..didn't
you want to..I mean…can you…?'

Nancy turned around.
'Aren't I doing enough for you already?' she
asked with a puff of impatience that she hoped was convincing. 'I'm
pulling strings to help you with your studies. And all you want to
do is take advantage of me.'

'If I remember rightly, Nancy, it was
your suggestion.'

She sighed and pursed her
lips
with an air of suffering. Impatience
turned to resignation. 'Oh yes. I did say that, didn't I?' She
walked slowly back until she was standing directly in front of him,
her eyes raised to his. She took Andy's right hand and placed it
back on her hip where it was before. Then she put her arms around
his neck and pulled herself close to him. 'All right then,' she
said softly. 'But it had better be incredible.'

In the TV lounge Martin and Pete looked
at each other.

'Is this really happening?' Pete.

'I didn't think she…' Martin couldn't
finish his sentence.

They continued in silence, both
trying to be nonchalant while listening for any tell-tale sounds
from the bedroom.

‘
Thank you,
Andy,’ said Nancy pol
itely, kissing him
on the cheek. ‘I’m going to take myself off to the
shower.’

She got up and reached for her
dressing gown. Andy felt a draught of air on his cheek as the heavy
cotton swirled about him. Then she reached for the door and was
gone.