Bond leaned on one elbow and looked down at the beautiful drowned face. There was a dew of sweat below the eyes and at the temples. A pulse beat fast at the base of the neck. The lines of authority had been sponged away by the love-making and the face had a soft, sweet, bruised look. The wet eyelashes parted and the tawny eyes, big and faraway, looked up with remote curiosity into Bond's. They focused lazily and examined him as if they were seeing him for the first time.
Bond said, ?I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that.?
The words amused her. The dimples at each side of the mouth deepened into clefts. She said, ?You talk like a girl who has had it for the first time. Now you are frightened that you will have a baby. You will have to tell your mother.?
Bond leaned down and kissed her. He kissed the two corners of her mouth and then the parted lips. He said, ?Come and swim. Then I must talk to you.? He got to his feet and held out his hands. Reluctantly she took them. He pulled her up and against him. Her body flirted with his, knowing it was safe. She smiled impishly up at him and became more wanton. Bond crushed her fiercely to him, to stop her and because he knew they had only a few more minutes of happiness. He said, ?Stop it, Domino. And come on. We don't need any clothes. The sand won't hurt your foot. I was only pretending.?
She said, ?So was I when I came out of the sea. The spines didn't hurt all that much. And I could have cured them if I'd wanted to. Like the fishermen do. You know how??
Bond laughed. ?Yes I do. Now, into the sea.? He kissed her once and stood back and looked at her body to remember how it had been. Then he turned abruptly and ran to the sea and dived deeply down.
When he got back to shore she was already out and dressing. Bond dried himself. He answered her laughing remarks through the partition with monosyllables. Finally she accepted the change in him. She said, ?What is the matter with you, James? Is anything wrong??
?Yes, darling.? Pulling on his trousers, Bond heard the rattle of the little gold chain against the coins in his pocket. He said, ?Come outside. I've got to talk to you.?
Sentimentally, Bond chose a patch of sand on the other side of the nut from where they had been before. She came out and stood in front of him. She examined his face carefully, trying to read it. Bond avoided her eyes. He sat with his arms around his knees and looked out to sea. She sat down beside him, but not close. She said, ?You are going to hurt me. Is it that you too are going away? Be quick. Do it cleanly and I will not cry.?
Bond said, ?I'm afraid it's worse than that, Domino. It's not about me. It's about your brother.?
Bond sensed the stiffening of her body. She said in a low, tense voice, ?Go on. Tell me.?
Bond took the bracelet out of his pocket and silently handed it to her.
She took it. She hardly gave it a glance. She turned a little away from Bond. ?So he is dead. What happened to him??
?It is a bad story, and a very big one. It involves your friend Largo. It is a very great conspiracy. I am here to find out things for my government. I am really a kind of policeman. I am telling you this and I will tell you the rest because hundreds and perhaps thousands of people will die unless you help to prevent it. That is why I had to show you that bracelet and hurt you so that you would believe me. I am breaking my oath in doing this. Whatever happens, whatever you decide to do, I trust you not to tell what I am going to say.?
?So that is why you made love to me-to make me do what you want. And now you blackmail me with the death of my brother.? The words came out between her teeth. Now in a soft, deadly whisper, she said, ?I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.?
Bond said coldly, in a matter-of-fact voice, ?Your brother was killed by Largo, or on his orders. I came here to tell you that. But then?-he hesitated-?you were there and I love you and want you. When what happened began to happen I should have had strength to stop it. I hadn't. I knew it was then or perhaps never. Knowing what I knew, it was a dreadful thing to have done. But you looked so beautiful and happy. I wanted to put off hurting you. That is my only excuse.? Bond paused. ?Now listen to what I have to tell you. Try and forget about your hate for me. In a moment you will realize that we are nothing in all this. This is a thing by itself.? Bond didn't wait for her to comment. He began from the beginning and went slowly, minutely, through the whole case, omitting only the advent of the Manta , the one factor that could now be of help to Largo and perhaps alter his plans. He ended, ?So you see, there is nothing we can do until those weapons are actually on board the Disco . Until that moment comes, Largo has a perfect alibi with his treasure-hunt story. There is nothing to link him with the crashed plane or with SPECTRE. If we interfere with him now, this moment, arrest the ship on some excuse, put a watch on her, prevent her sailing, there will only be a delay in the SPECTRE plan. Only Largo and his men know where the bombs are hidden. If the plane has gone for them, it will be keeping contact with the Disco by radio. If there's any hitch, the plane can leave the bombs at the hiding place or at another, dump them in shallow water anywhere, and return for them when the trouble has blown over. Even the Disco could be taken off the job and some other ship or plane used any time in the future. SPECTRE headquarters, wherever they are, will inform the Prime Minister that there has been a change of plan, or they can say nothing at all. Then, perhaps weeks from now, they will send another communication. And this time there will perhaps be only twenty-four hours' notice for the money to be dropped. The terms will be tougher. And we shall have to accept them. So long as those bombs are still lost to us, the threat is there. You see that?? ?Yes. So what is to be done?? The voice was harsh. The girl's eyes glittered fiercely as they looked at and through Bond toward some distant target-not, he thought, at Largo the great conspirator, but at Largo who had had her brother killed.
?We have got to know when those bombs are on board the Disco . That is all that matters. Then we can act with all our weight. And we have one great factor on our side. We are pretty sure that Largo feels secure. He still believes that the wonderful plan, and it is wonderful, is going exactly as it was meant to do. That is our strength and our only strength. You see that??
?And how are you to know when the bombs come on board the yacht??
?You must tell us.?
?Yes.? The monosyllable was dull, indifferent. ?But how am I to know? And how am I to tell you? This man is no fool. He is only foolish in wanting his mistress?-she spat the word out-?when so much else is at stake.? She paused. ?These people have chosen badly. Largo cannot live without a woman within reach. They should have known that.?
?When did Largo tell you to come back on board??
?Five. The boat is coming to fetch me at Palmyra.?
Bond looked at his watch. ?It is now four. I have this Geiger counter. It is simple to use. It will tell at once if the bombs are on board. I want you to take it with you. If it says there is a bomb on board, I want you to show a light at your porthole-switch the lights on in your cabin several times, anything like that. We have men watching the ship. They will be told to report. Then get rid of the Geiger counter. drop it overboard.?
She said scornfully, ?That is a silly plan. It is the sort of melodramatic nonsense people write about in thrillers. In real life people don't go into their cabins and switch on their lights in daylight. No. If the bombs are there, I will come up on deck-show myself to your men. That is natural behavior. If they are not there, I will stay in my cabin.?
?All right. Have it your own way. But will you do this?? ?Of course. If I can prevent myself killing Largo when I see him. But on condition that when you get him you will see that he is killed.? She was entirely serious. She looked at him with matter-of-fact eyes as if he were a travel agent and she were reserving a seat on a train.
?I doubt if that will happen. I should say that every man on board will get a life sentence in prison.?
She considered this. ?Yes. That will do. That is worse than being killed. Now show me how this machine works.? She got to her feet and took a couple of steps up the beach. She seemed to remember something. She looked down at the bracelet in her hand. She turned and walked down to the edge of the sea and stood for a moment looking out across the quiet water. She said some words that Bond couldn't hear. Then she leaned back and with all her strengt............