Roger awoke on a stretcher aboard a police plane. A police officer
sitting beside the stretcher answered his dazed inquiries. "You're on
a police plane. We gassed the place where you were being held, and then
moved in and took over." He grinned. "You looked so peaceful that I
didn't have the heart to give you stimulants."
"How long has it been?" Roger asked worriedly. "I'd like to call my
wife as soon as I can. She's probably worried sick by now."
"It's been close to three hours," the officer replied. "We had to buck
a snowstorm when we came out of that valley. We knew it was coming, but
we thought that we could move in ahead of it and get you out before it
struck. Unfortunately, they spotted us with those big infra red lights
of theirs and threw our timing all out of kilter. We should be in
Denver in less than half an hour."
Twenty minutes later the plane set down on the landing stage at the top
of police headquarters. Roger was helped to his feet and led from the
plane across the wind and snow lashed platform to an elevator.
A few minutes later, he sat in the office of the Federal Police
Commissioner for the Rocky Mountain district. Roger asked permission to
use the desk viewphone and quickly put through a call to Arctic City.
In a few minutes, Linda's face appeared on the screen. When she saw
Roger her face lit up with joy. "Roger!" she exclaimed. "I've been so
worried about you. I haven't been able to sleep for days, wondering
what they might do to you."
"I'm all right, honey," Roger reassured her. "I'll be home in less than
a day if the police don't detain me here."
"Better have her come to Chicago," the commissioner interrupted.
"You'll have to stay there until we get this mess straightened out."
"I guess it would be better for you to come to Chicago. The police say
that it'll take a while to clear this business up. Maybe you'd better
take a jet. It would be more comfortable for you."
"I'll take the evening rocket," Linda replied determinedly.
"OK," Roger said with a grin. "I'll see you this evening then."
"Your wife seems anxious to see you," the officer remarked drily.
"Well, you may as well tell me about this business. I'll send you on
the rocket this afternoon so that you can meet your wife. We're not
sure just what was behind this kidnapping."
Roger narrated the events of the past two weeks explaining the part the
Arabs were playing in the troubles between North and South America.
"The Arabs, eh," the officer mused. "I'm sending the prisoners to
Chicago with you. I don't think that it will be too hard to get a
cerebral analysis writ. At least I'm going to recommend such action."
"Cerebral analysis?" Roger asked. "That must be something new."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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