Read Online Black Sunday by Thomas Harris - Free Book Online Page B

particularly enjoyed. Calm and kindly compassion, suppressed excitement. Welcome home.
    "You have no plastic, do you, Michael?"
    "No." He looked away as he asked the question. "Can you get it?"
    "That's a lot. It depends."
    Water flew off his head as he snapped back to face her. "I don't want to hear that. That is not what I want to hear. Talk straight."
    "If I am convinced you can do it, if I can satisfy my commander that you can do it and will do it, then yes, I can get the plastic. I'll get it."
    "That's all right. That's fair."
    "I want to see everything. I want to go home with you."
    "Why not?"
    They did not go directly to Lander's house. He was scheduled for a night-sign flight and he took Dahlia with him. It was not common practice to take passengers on night-sign flights, since most of the seats were removed from the gondola to make room for the onboard computer that controlled the 8,000 lights along the sides of the blimp. But with crowding there was room. Farley, the copilot; had inconvenienced everyone on two previous occasions by bringing his Florida girlfriend and was in no position to grumble at giving up his seat to this young woman. He and the computer operator licked their lips over Dahlia and entertained themselves with lewd pantomimes at the rear of the gondola when she and Lander were not looking.
    Manhattan blazed in the night like a great diamond ship as they passed over at 2,500 feet. They dropped toward the brilliant wreath of Shea Stadium where the Mets were playing a night game, and the sides of the dirigible became huge flashing billboards, letters moving down its sides. "Don't forget, hire the Vet," was the first message. "Winston tastes God---" this message was interrupted while the technician cursed and fumbled with the perforated tape.
    Afterward, Dahlia and Lander watched while the ground crew at Lakehurst secured the floodlit blimp for the night. They paid special attention to the gondola, as the men in coveralls removed the computer and reinstalled the seats.
    Lander pointed out the sturdy handrail that runs around the base of the cabin. He led her to the rear of the gondola to watch while the turbojet generator that powers the lights was detached. The generator is a sleek, heavy unit shaped like a largemouth bass, and it has a strong, three-point attachment that would be very useful.
    Farley approached them with his clipboard. "Hey, you people aren't going to stay here all night."
    Dahlia smiled at him vacuously. "It's all so exciting."
    "Yeah." Farley chuckled and left them with a wink.
    Dahlia's face was flushed and her eyes were bright as they drove home from the airfield.
    She made it clear from the first that, inside his house, she expected no performance of any kind from Larder. And she was careful not to show any distaste for him either. Her body was there, she had brought it because it was convenient to do so, her attitude seemed to say. She was physically deferential to Larder in a way so subtle that it does not have a name in English. And she was very, very gentle.
    In matters of business it was quite different. Larder quickly found that he could not browbeat her with his superior technical knowledge. He had to explain his plan in minute detail, defining terms as he went along. When she disagreed with him it was usually on methods for handling people, and he found her to be a shrewd judge of people and greatly experienced in the behavior of frightened men under pressure. Even when she was adamant in disagreement she never emphasized a point with a body movement or a facial expression that reflected anything other than concentration.
    As the technical problems were resolved, at least in theory, Dahlia could see that the greatest danger to the project was Larder's instability. He was a splendid machine with a homicidal child at the controls. Her role became increasingly supportive. In this area, she could not always calculate and she was forced to feel.
    As the days passed, he began