The Rocket Man (42 page)

He stepped forward and embraced her for a moment, then held her away from him, staring at her face intently, and then her body. Neither of them spoke. He sat down on the bed next to her in sudden weariness, still holding onto her hand, and Katie sat down beside him. She said, ‘I didn't understand what you were saying, on the phone. Why am I in danger? You frightened me. Shall we leave at once?'

‘No, I'm exhausted. I couldn't drive anywhere tonight.' Then he asked, ‘Do you have a car?'

‘Yes, it's outside, with the driver.'

‘We must leave as early as we can.' Dmitry lay down on the bed and shut his eyes for a second. Katie was afraid to touch him; the room was so sordid, with the furniture so cheap, the sheets rough and grey, and their reflection distorted in the cracked mirror above the basin. Abruptly, she switched off the light.

He asked, ‘Is there somewhere to have a shower?' She pointed to the bathroom. In the darkness she heard him taking off his clothes. He put on the light in the bathroom and she heard the water running. She, too, was sweaty; it was unbearably hot and humid in the stuffy room. She slipped off her night-dress and followed him.

The water was lukewarm, but refreshing. She stood under the shower with him, running her hands over his body; then he put his arms around her. She had forgotten the feel of his skin, its softness over the hard and angular bones, and the infinite gentleness of his large, sensitive hands. To touch him gave her a feeling at once of rightness, belonging.

She turned her face up to him, shutting her eyes as the water ran over her face. ‘I was afraid I wouldn't feel the same about you.'

‘And do you?'

‘Yes.'

He began to kiss her, gentle kisses on her eyes, her cheeks, her mouth; he was aroused, but she was half afraid of him; pregnant, and having had one miscarriage, she was uncertain about making love. She left him abruptly and went into the bedroom, half-heartedly drying herself. He followed her, leaving the light on in the bathroom, casting a softer light into the room.

‘Katie; what is it?' He came to sit beside her, and she turned to him, gazing at the long red scar bisecting his chest. She ran her finger along it, thinking how she had last seen him, so distant and untouchable. His skin was very pale, with that translucent quality she remembered; against it the scar showed up harshly. He had lost some weight.

She asked, very softly, ‘What is going on, Mitya? Tell me, why did you come? If you say I am in danger I must believe you, after what happened. Is it because of Richter?'

He hesitated for a long time. ‘I heard that they are going to destroy the rocket range – Richter, everyone there, might be killed.'

‘They?'

He didn't answer her. Katie looked at him, not saying anything either. Her first thought was that she should warn Bob; but she knew Dmitry wouldn't let her. If she warned Bob, he would warn Richter, and so on. She must be very careful about what she said or did. And how did Dmitry know this? Once again she felt the prickly touch of fear.

He ran his hands over her body, kissing her, turning her towards him. She resisted. She said, ‘No, Mitya, I can't, not now, I'm afraid – the baby.' He said, ‘I can be very gentle,' and she said, ‘No, you don't understand. I lost the last baby, at three months. And I do so much want this one.' He took her in his arms then, lying down, pulling her against him, stroked her arms and neck and hair. She felt him against her, his penis hard against her thigh, and she also felt the stirrings of desire; but she didn't give into it. She felt him gradually relax, softening; after a while she realised he was asleep.

Katie could not sleep. The bed was far from comfortable; the mattress was lumpy and sagged on one side. The air was unbearably hot and humid, but if she got up and put the air conditioner on, it very rapidly became too cold. She had to pull the sheet up to protect her from the mosquito which whined overhead. She was alarmed, afraid; she wanted to get away, to get back to safety. Eventually she must have slept because she woke early, quite soon after dawn, feeling sick and headachy; Dmitry was already awake and dressed, sitting on the end of the bed, waiting for her.

He said, ‘We should go. It's already light.' They looked out of the window; the sky was overcast and heavy and it felt as if there might be a storm.

Katie went into the dining room. She saw no sign of anyone. She fetched some orange juice and bread from the kitchen and left some money on the table so as not to disturb Feldman. Mito was still outside in the car. She told him they were taking the car and he should wait here for someone to collect him. She said she wasn't well and was going to Asunción.

The clouds were dark, oppressive, and cast a grim shadow over the endless expanse of grey-green trees. Dmitry drove fast, raising a cloud of dust; Katie said, ‘Don't drive so quickly. It doesn't matter. We're not in that much of a hurry.'

‘It would be best to get to the metalled road before there's any rain.'

The landscape looked gloomy without the sun and Katie felt her spirits sinking. Dmitry, sensing this, started to sing to cheer her up, some Russian song about a crocodile. Katie put her hand on his thigh and he glanced at her; he laughed; she was not sure she had seen him so happy before. She said: ‘Are you enjoying this?'

‘Yes? Aren't you?'

‘Do you love me?'

She said it unthinkingly; she had never asked him this before. He replied as lightly, automatically, ‘Of course I do.' He had never admitted it either; she did not know why it made a difference to her to hear it said, but it made all the difference in the world. She felt high with happiness. The possibility of danger, the fear that Bob might follow her, her tiredness and nausea, all evaporated. The car, bouncing over the unmade road in the centre of the continent, became the container of all that was precious to her; her unborn child, her lover; only Anna was missing, and they would be with her soon. She said, ‘Then everything's all right.' And then the first raindrops fell.

Dmitry switched on the windscreen wipers, but the rain was falling so fast that they could hardly see. The car slipped on the wet surface of the road; it spun clockwise; Dmitry straightened it out, then it spun in the opposite direction. They had been travelling quite fast; he could not get control of it; they bounced over the rough ground at the side of the road and the vehicle seemed to make a massive leap, ending with a crunch in the thorn scrub. They sat still, stunned. The noise of the rain on the roof was deafening.

Fortunately they had both been strapped in. Katie said, ‘You were going too fast.' Dmitry turned to look at her. He said, ‘I'm sorry. I don't think there's much damage. We'll just have to wait until the rain stops.'

But it went on and on raining. It rained for over an hour. Thunder and lightning roared overheard. The rain was so heavy that it seemed to form a solid wall around them.

When the rain finally stopped it did so quite suddenly. Dmitry climbed out and examined the front of the vehicle. The lights were smashed and the bonnet was slightly buckled. Then he looked at the road. Water was lying everywhere; it lay on the grass all around them; it would take time to sink into the parched earth. He said, ‘We'll have to wait for a while before trying to drive any further.'

They sat and waited. Eventually the sun came out; the road steamed. But the car would not start. The engine growled but did not come to life. After several attempts, afraid of running down the battery, Dmitry got out and opened the bonnet.

‘Is it the battery?'

‘I don't know. Perhaps water has got into the electrics somehow. I'm afraid I'm not very good at this. I might be more use if it was nuclear-powered. Look in the front there, maybe there's a manual of some kind.'

There wasn't. Katie stood in the boiling sun and watched him checking over the engine. ‘What will we do if we can't start it?'

Dmitry didn't reply. There was no shade; the sun was directly overhead. She looked up the road, lying like a red gash across the landscape, and then, in the distance, towards Mariscal Estigarribia, she saw the sun glinting on something. Whatever it was, it was on the road and moving. She said, ‘Mitya, I think there's a car coming. Perhaps they'll be able to help.'

Dmitry stepped away from the engine. His hands were black with grease; he stood behind her and rested his forearms on her shoulders, peering into the distance. The vehicle was coming slowly, negotiating the slippery road with care; it grew imperceptibly bigger, and in the fierce sunlight and the mist of steam rising off the road it was impossible to make out anything clearly. Finally it became clear that it was a jeep; there were two men sitting on the back. They held in their hands objects which might have been sticks but which were more likely to be rifles.

The jeep drew to a halt a few yards from where they were standing. They couldn't see the driver's face at first; then as he climbed down out of the jeep and turned his face to them, Katie started violently. It was Bob.

They remained as they were; Dmitry standing behind Katie, unable to think of anything to say. In the back, the two men casually lowered the rifles to point in their direction.

Katie was aware that by standing as she was in front of Dmitry she was protecting him. She leaned closer against him; Bob looked at Dmitry as if he could not believe what he was seeing. His face was tight with anger. He said, ‘What the hell are you doing here?'

Katie began, ‘Bob – '

‘Let him answer me. And get away from him.'

‘No.'

The two men got out of the back of the jeep and stood not far away. They moved carefully, so that one of them always had a rifle covering them. They looked insolent, amused. Katie did not like the way they handled their weapons, as if eager for a chance to show their skill. She said, ‘Bob, tell them to put those things away. One of them might go off and hit us by mistake.'

‘That would be less likely to happen if you got away from him.'

‘Bob, please be reasonable. I'm in love with him. I'm leaving you. I want a divorce.'

‘You expect me to believe that? That he turns up here only to run away with you?' Bob stepped forward, took Katie's wrist and dragged her away from Dmitry. Perhaps it was because Dmitry's hands were black with engine grease that he didn't try to hold on to her; or perhaps he thought it was better not to start a fight. Once Katie was out of the line of fire, one of the men deliberately slipped the safety catch off the rifle and aimed it more accurately at Dmitry.

Katie started to shout in desperation; Bob was so angry that she thought he might do anything. She said, ‘You're not going to let them kill him –' and she grabbed her husband's shirt with one hand, raising the other to strike out at him. Then she stopped, realising its uselessness.

Bob's voice was very quiet and controlled. ‘No, that won't be necessary.' He turned to the men. ‘Tie his hands and get him in the back of the jeep.'

The taller of the two men stepped forward. ‘Put your hands behind your back.' Dmitry did so without a protest; he kept his head held up and smiled at Katie reassuringly. Katie said in a low voice, ‘Bob, you can't do this. What are you doing this for? You must have gone mad.' She had never felt so frightened. Then something happened; perhaps Dmitry had made some sudden movement, perhaps he had spoken some insult, but the guard who had been tying his hands struck him suddenly in the stomach with his rifle butt. Dmitry doubled up; the guard hit him again, and then a third time, on the back; they were heavy blows. Katie screamed; Bob restrained her; Dmitry fell to his knees, still doubled over, swaying to keep his balance with his hands behind his back.

The guard gave Dmitry a final kick in the side and he fell forward onto the road.

Bob said, ‘That's enough.' He kept an iron grip on Katie's wrist. He said, ‘Have you got your things in the car? Get them out and put them in the jeep.'

Katie did as he told her. She would have gone to Dmitry at once but she was too frightened; the two men were lifting him to his feet. He was covered in red mud and his face was white with shock and pain. He made no resistance as they took him to the jeep and half threw him into the back. Katie climbed into the front with Bob.

She asked, ‘Where are we going?'

‘Back to the rocket range. I have a feeling they will be interested to meet your friend there.'

Katie said, ‘I can't believe this. Something's happened to you. How can you behave like this?' She turned round to Dmitry; he was sitting upright and didn't look too bad. She tried to keep calm, to think of the best way to handle this. They drove back to Mariscal Estigarribia; they had to go very slowly because of the condition of the road. When they reached the town Bob said, ‘We can't drive on, the road will be impassable. What the hell do we do now?'

Katie suggested the hotel. One of the soldiers stayed in the jeep and the other came with them. He had untied Dmitry's hands. Feldman didn't seem in the least surprised at seeing them. He showed them two rooms. Bob left the soldier watching Dmitry in one while he took Katie into the other.

Katie struggled to keep her voice calm and reasonable. ‘Bob, whatever has happened, please let me go home with Mitya. I can't live with you any longer. There's something about you; you frighten me. I don't want to have anything to do with Richter and all this, I want some kind of normal life for myself, and Anna, and this other baby.'

‘What do you mean, a normal life? What kind of a life do you think you'll have with Gavrilov? Don't you realise what he's up to? He's just making use of you.'

‘That isn't true.'

‘Are you so sure of that?' Bob looked at her, white-faced; he seemed deeply shaken as well as angry.

Katie's voice was very quiet. ‘Bob, it's all over between us and there's no point in seeking revenge.'