The plot twists are intriguing. The CIO jet swoops low enough to drop Rheinbogen and his kidnap victim, Marie Dulac, into a lake, then flies on, pursued by the Delta-wing owned by Marie's father. Leaving the lake, kidnapper and victim take off their clothes to let them dry in the breeze. When Marie asks for a cigarette, Rheinbogen realizes that she has probably only recently learned to smoke, then:
"Holy Hermes, patron of thieves, she could still be a virgin!'" (p. 155) (See Three Saints And A God. Hermes = Mercury.)
He assures her:
"'...you have nothing to fear. You're under the protection of the law and my union. All we're going to do is keep you for a while in a certain place with an adequate staff and good facilities. I'm sorry to put you to this indignity but there was no choice.'" (ibid.)
He explains further that:
"'Back in the old days, before the Smashup and the reconstruction...'" (p. 156)
- amateurs kidnapped rich men's children, even babies, then often panicked and murdered them. Now she is legally protected but her detention incommunicado will put pressure on her father. Professional ethics prevent him from telling his victim who his client is. She spits, "'Ethics!'" (ibid.)
Right now I am torn between reading what happens next and reading some news about current conflicts plus a summary of what happened in Hungary seventy years ago. Back then, I was seven and thought that people in Hungary were hungry just as, earlier, I had confused Germans with germs.
(In Ian Fleming's Thunderball, a young woman kidnapped by SPECTRE is raped while detained. Blofeld electrocutes the rapist and returns part of the ransom money with an apology to the young woman's father.)
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
What happened 70 years ago were infuriated Hungarians rebelling against the brutal Marxist puppet gov't imposed on them by Stalin. I remember the disgust I felt at Western cowardice in refusing to give Hungarians the help they pleaded for before Khruschev sent in the Red Army. The source I read was THE BRIDGE AT ANDAU.
Ad astra! Sean
I read THE BRIDGE AT ANDAU as well, quite a few decades ago.
I also recall reading that it was about the same time as the Suez Crisis. IIRC Khruschev rightly thought that was a fortunate (for the Soviet Union) distraction to keep the Western powers from responding forcefully to him sending the tanks into Hungary.
Kaor, Jim!
Up to a point I agree! The Suez Crisis, involving as it did the UK, France, and Israel was a distraction diverting the attention of the US from the anti-Communist uprising in Hungary. And, yes, Khruschev must have thought that distraction a godsend (if that can be used of an atheist Communist). But it still angers me, how the major Western powers stood by and did nothing meaningful to help Hungary,
Ad astra! Sean
Workers' councils played a big role in the Hungarian uprising.
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