"No." "That's far too easy for him." "Put him on his feet." "Your name?" "John Darcy, from Lonnaville." "I'm a school teacher." "School teacher?" "Maxfield, what is it you suppose he teaches?" "Disobedience, subversion." "Oh, very good, Maxfield." "Yes, I think so." "Teaches and practices." "Uh, pardon me, sir, but... you're making a terrible mistake." "The mistakes are all yours." "First, to come into my province, an even bigger mistake to steal a military truck loaded with gold bullion." "Now, where is it?" "Gold bullion, sir?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "We'll see." "What do you think, Colonel?" "There's no doubt about it." "That's him." "That's Kitara." "I hear they're looking for an electrician." "The production manager will be in at 3:00." "How long you been in town?" "Three weeks." "Good morning, Jim." "This is John Darcy, code name Kitara, leader of a liberation movement in the African nation of Bocamo, which for over a century has been ruled by a colonial minority practicing severe racial segregation." "Darcy has been captured by Colonel Alex Kohler, a provincial governor and a ruthless tyrant." "If Kohler succeeds in torturing Darcy into revealing his true identity, the liberation movement, deprived of leadership and inspiration, will be destroyed." "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to free Darcy and end Kohler's tyranny." "As always, if you or any member of your IM Force is caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions." "Good luck, Jim." "You're shaking my confidence, Barney." "I thought I was pretty good with codes." "It's Swahili, so don't feel so bad." "The point is that Darcy will recognize it." "He'll know that whoever is using it is trying to help him." "What he doesn't know is that he's a vital part of our plan." "If we're going to get Kohler," "Darcy has to tell us where the stolen bullion is hidden." "When did Darcy hijack the bullion, Jim?" "Two days ago, from a military truck." "He was going to use the money for propaganda and medicine." "Did you check out with the magazine, Dana?" "Yes." "I had lunch with Alice Duncan today." "She's had an interview lined up with Kohler for weeks." "She was only too glad to cooperate." "According to my research," "Kohler was in an orphanage by the time he was five." "He really can't have much recollection of his early childhood." "Hmm, we're counting on it." "Bloodworth's Antiques and Memorabilia is almost ready, Jim." "It's gonna be quite a shop." "Good." "Now, we'll be hooked into their military teletype system by tomorrow, so Kohler will be expecting Doug and me." "Colonel Kohler is fastidious to the point of being neurotic." "We're going to make that work for us." "Barney?" "This is an ultraviolet sterilizer, like the one in Kohler's bathroom ceiling." "This is the bulb I'll be substituting for Kohler's." "Now, these pills give human skin the same susceptibility as the paper." "Take the pill, expose yourself to Barney's lamp, and that's what happens." "How many exposures are required?" "Just one, Dana." "The effect is pretty dramatic." "One exposure to the lamp at night, and he'll be black by morning." "How long can Darcy hold out without revealing his identity, Jim?" "Oh, he won't talk, Paris, but with what they're doing to him, if we don't get him in 72 hours, he'll be dead." "Come out of there." "Come out of there!" "Well, Kitara, how are you feeling today?" "Why are you keeping me here?" "I must tell you it's cooler in the cells, and we have ample supply of drinking water, and if you prefer, I can move you to a regular cell." "I have done nothing wrong." "I want to be set free!" "Well, perhaps even that could be arranged." "All you have to do is to confess your identity." "I cannot confess to a lie." "And that gold bullion that you hijacked?" "Hmm, Kitara?" "Even that might buy you a little relief." "I..." "I don't know anything... about any gold." "You will not get anything out of him if he is dead." "Sir, I would like to present" "Colonel Samos and Dr. Reddick." "Colonel Kohler." "Colonel." "Gentlemen, forgive me if I am less than elated to see you here." "General Vanderveer's teletype said you were coming to authenticate the identity of my prisoner." "The general thinks I'm not capable of doing that for myself?" "Please don't be offended, Colonel." "We are very pleased with what you are doing." "However, before we declare a national holiday, we wish to be sure you have the right man." "I have the right man." "Yes, Colonel, and he will tell you so himself very soon." "This man is almost dead from heat exhaustion." "I suggest you move him indoors immediately." "Doctor, I suggest you mind your own affairs." "Keeping this man alive is my affair." "Getting a confession is mine." "I've had a hundred men out here like this, and they do not die, Doctor." "They talk." "Put him back inside." "General Vanderveer is jealous, huh?" "Kitara has been making idiots of you people." "Fools!" "Agitation, subversion." "And after two years, what have you?" "Not a picture, not even a fingerprint." "Then he comes to my little backwoods province, and day after, he hijacks a truck." "I have him under lock and key." "I am well aware, Colonel, there are people in the capital who try to block my appointment to general." "They won't succeed." "Gentlemen, tea." "My estate this afternoon." "half past 4:00-- please be prompt." "Very arrogant, this colonel." "He's ambitious to be a general, and yet he cannot even tell us where a stolen shipment of gold bullion is hidden." "Guard!" "Is he always this unbending?" "What?" "He strikes me as being an obsessive-compulsive," "under tremendous strain." "Hmm." "Surely, you are not here to psychoanalyze the colonel." "Dr. Reddick is an expert on racial matters." "Racial matters?" "Among other things." "You know, Doctor, it occurs to me the colonel might want Darcy to die." "You can't get a confession from a dead man." "That way, he would make any announcement he wished." "Yes, Colonel, I see what you mean." "And that's me." "Little Alex... five years old, I think, at the time." "And my grandfather, of course, who raised me from infancy." "One of our pioneers." "I have really only the vaguest recollection of him, but he must have been a brave old man." "And died, you know, the following winter, leaving as my inheritance only this photograph and little Alex in an impoverished orphanage." "But the story has a happy ending, Miss Duncan." "I was given an education without cost by my country and every privilege and opportunity of a rich child." "A commission, a rapid advance through the ranks, and then a provincial military governorship." "And it doesn't stop there." "Before you leave, you may have a real story, Miss Duncan." "You see, there is a... a vacancy on the general's staff in the capital." "And soon as I prove to them that I have captured Kitara," "I will have that appointment." "You take sugar in your tea?" "Sir, Colonel Samos, Captain Rettick and Captain Maxfield are here." "Very good, Hawn." "Thank you." "Gentlemen, a great pleasure to see you." "Thank you for coming." "Colonel." "Nice of you to receive us." "This is an interesting house you have." "If I had my way, foreign journalists would not be allowed." "Well, Miss Duncan doesn't really approve of us, but she has promised to keep an open mind." "I'm curious about your title, Dr. Reddick." "Exactly what does a racial affairs expert do?" "It is my job to ferret out individuals who try illegally to cross racial lines." "You mean blacks who try to pass for white?" "Exactly." "And you know, Miss Duncan, you'd be surprised how many of them there are." "Yes... sometimes men in very high places." "Tell her about the incident at Jamesville, Dr. Reddick." "There's a man passing for most of his life as a white merchant." "At 60, he contracted a rare disease," "Lampossa Hycondra." "It triggered some atavistic response and within hours, he was revealed for exactly what he was." "What happened to him?" "Property confiscated." "Divorce." "Yes, and in a case like that, the children naturally would be reclassified." "It's a charming society you have here." "The more I hear, the more I think" "I will not limit myself to a single article." "A book, a history would be more in order." "Thief!" "I got a thief!" "Thief!" "I caught him, sir!" "l heard him and I caught him!" "All right, all right, thank you, Hawn." "What are you doing here?" "I was ordered here." "Ordered?" "By whom?" "By my stomach." "What were you looking for?" "There's no money in there." "Take this one away." "How about some food, huh?" "You are fed once a day here, in the morning." "You are very generous." "Hey, what is this, man?" "Breakfast." "I wouldn't let you eat this." "It is all you will get!" "Enjoy it!" "Okay." "I'll enjoy it." "Corporal!" "This man wants special treatment!" "Let us see how you enjoy that!" "I think it'll be very good today for teaching manners." "Where is he?" "Is your Colonel always this slovenly" "about keeping his appointments?" "No, sir." "He is usually extremely punctual." "I see." "Well, we can't wait any longer." "Have the prisoner Darcy brought in." "I'm sorry, sir." "I cannot do that." "What?" "The Colonel gave me explicit orders." "No one is to see Darcy unless he is present." "I cannot consider this anything but a direct obstruction of my work!" "Undoubtedly, the Colonel had his reasons." "Who is it?" "Hawn, sir." "Your door is locked." "Yes, I know it's locked." "What do you want?" "Uh, Miss Duncan is here." "Well, tell her I can't see her." "But..." "Just tell her that!" "Two years ago when the Colonel's wife was killed, was she expecting a child?" "Yes, she was." "A tragic accident." "Well, then you think it was an accident?" "Yes, sir." "The Colonel investigated it himself." "Uh-huh." "The Colonel investigated it himself." "What do you think of that, Doctor?" "Well, naturally, the child, had it survived, might have proved quite interesting." "Is the report still available?" "Yes, it is." "I do not understand." "You will, Captain, when the time comes." "You will." "Give me Captain Maxfield." "I am sorry, Miss Duncan, but the Colonel cannot see you now." "Oh?" "Is something wrong?" "I am sorry, Miss Duncan." "Very well, tell the Colonel I'll call him later in the day." "Yes, I'll put the doctor on." "Excuse me, Doctor." "Colonel Kohler." "Good morning, Colonel." "I asked to speak to the doctor." "I'm not feeling well." "I'm sorry." "Nothing serious, I hope." "No, no, no... stomach." "Then you will not mind if Dr. Reddick examines the prisoner before he comes to you." "Well, Colonel, I don't think that that's necess..." "Need I remind you that we cannot take any chances with the prisoner's life." "First, we must have his confession, secondly, we must find out what happened to the stolen bullion." "You realize what the liberation movement could do with that gold?" "Very well, Colonel, put on Captain Maxfield again, please." "Yes, Colonel." "Maxfield, the doctor may examine the prisoner, but under no circumstances will he be removed from the compound." "Yes, sir." "His body fluids are badly depleted." "Slowly now, slowly." "Now don't talk." "Just listen." "I am going to leave this with you." "Drink a bit, let a little time go by, then drink a bit more." "You understand?" "I cannot allow that." "Captain Maxfield, if this man dies," "I will not only hold Colonel Kohler responsible," "I will hold you responsible." "All right, put him inside." "This accident report on the death of the Colonel's wife-- it's very informative, yet the stairs in the Colonel's house did not appear to me to be very dangerous." "They are carpeted." "Well, they were not carpeted then." "One of the risers was loose." "Uh-huh." "Tell me, Captain, have you ever known Colonel Kohler when his head was not shaved?" "No, I have not, now that you mention it." "Then he never lets his hair grow?" "No, sir." "Have you ever asked him why he does not?" "Well, I imagine for appearance's sake." "Yes." "Yes, yes, yes." "Or perhaps he is trying to hide something." "Hide, sir?" "You and Dr. Reddick-- there are strange innuendoes between you regarding the Colonel." "I have watched them now for two days." "I should like to know what they mean." "Please bear with me, Captain." "I wish to go over this report again." "As you wish, sir." "All right, come out of there!" "What is your name?" "Raymond Tolvan." "Your full name?" "Raymond E. Tolvan." "You have to give me something, some medicine." "But we do not know what is wrong with you." "Some drug, Doctor." "I can't be seen like this." "I can't perform my duties." "Something to make the-the skin lighter." "Colonel, surely you know such drugs are highly illegal." "I don't mean that." "I mean, I meant..." "I will stop by later." "Oh." "Colonel, one thing you might do." "Mm-hmm?" "Take a hot bath." "A long, hot bath." "Mm." "What is your full name?" "Raymond E. Tolvan." "E. That's an S." "Were you or were you not talking to the prisoner known as Darcy?" "I was communicating." "Communicating." "That's a U." "About what?" "Nothing special." "Special." "That's a G." "I just wanted to see if there was a live human being in there." ""Live human being." A N..." "O." "Sugano." "Sugano-- that's a deserted native village about four kilometers north of here." "Was there more?" "No." "No, after "live human being,"" "Barney shook his head to indicate that was it." "Barney's back in the hot box again." "Yes, and Maxfield has assigned around-the-clock guards to the compound." "Is the composite ready, Paris?" "Yeah." "Right here, Jim." "We superimposed Kohler's picture on this shot of the Gunther house up-country." "Mm-hmm." "Good." "Dana?" "Well, if the gold's in Sugano, I'd better try to find it." "See you later." "Kohler, here." "Alice Duncan, Colonel." "I'd like to see you." "I'm very sorry, Miss Duncan, it will not be possible today." "I spent the day at a place called Bloodworth's." "Antiques, historical items." "I came across a picture of the old Gunther house." "I think you should see it." "Now, what has the Gunther house to do with me?" "Well, you're in the picture, Colonel." "And something else." "Believe me, this is for your own good." "All right, come over." "Ah, Miss Duncan, the Colonel is waiting for you in there." "Thank you." "Colonel?" "Oh, Miss Duncan, yes, forgive that I don't have the light on." "I'm having some difficulty with my eyes." "The tropical sun and the doctor wants me to rest them." "Oh, I hope you're not in any pain." "Thank you, no." "That photograph that you mentioned..." "Yes, right here." "Uh... will you please put it on my desk?" "Oh, do me a favor, Miss Duncan." "Would you close the door?" "Where did you get this?" "I told you." "Bloodworth's." "I don't... know that place." "It's on the other side of town." "No!" "How dare you!" "Colonel..." "Colonel, please, listen to me." "I knew you were in trouble." "First when you weren't able to see me this afternoon and then I ran into Dr. Reddick." "How I hate that man." "He... he talked to me about you." "He... he said that I would get a better story than I had bargained for, that... that it was a throwback, triggered by disease..." "No!" "No, that can't be!" "Like that man in Jamesville." "And then I..." "I found this picture." "Some kind of... practical joke." "That picture..." "some cheap practical joke." "No, Colonel." "I'm afraid not." "Who did you show that to?" "No one." "Why do you bring it here to me?" "Because I sensed you were in trouble." "Please, Colonel..." "I want to help you." "Take me to this Bloodworth." "Good evening, Miss Duncan." "I was just about to close." "Oh, but you will stay for a moment, yes?" "Yes, I suppose so." "The photograph that you sold to Miss Duncan, the Gunther Estate..." "Oh, yes." "What about it?" "This man here who's sitting in the foreground." "I told my friend you might be able to identify him." "Yes." "I might be able to help you." "I've done quite a bit of research on these old estates." "Yes." "Joshua Mankoya." "Mankoya." "Yes." "The thing that distinguished him at the time was literacy." "He was the only black in the province who could read and write." "He was a number one boy-- overseer for the Gunthers." "The child that he's holding." "Whose child is that?" "The child of his own child." "His grandson." "The child is white." "It's impossible." "Well, you know better than that." "A lot can happen in two generations." "On this estate, then-- there was a white man who resembled this Mankoya." "How can potatoes resemble apples?" "What would you say if I tell you I have a photograph," "I have an enlargement?" "And the man is identical, he's holding the child, he's wearing even the same clothes-- but is white." "I would have to say that you're mistaken." "Show it to him." "Yeah..." "What...?" "Oh, it's, uh... it's only that I have seen this sort of thing before." "you see, I am one sixteenth part black, and I know all the tricks." "Tricks?" "May I?" "Impossible." "What is it?" "I don't understand." "Impossible!" "Now I see." "But it can't be that much of a shock." "You must have known." "Come, brother." "It's not the end of the world." "It's a semihypnotic." "It'll make him far more suggestible while he's out." "And the posthypnotic will carry over after he's awake." "You can see he took the picture with him." "Where did you say this place was?" "Bloodworth's, she said." "The other side of town." "l tell you, he's turning." "Nonsense." "Then why do you think he secluded himself all day?" "I tell you, I saw it with my own eyes." "When his wife was killed two years ago, were you in the house?" "No one was here." "They were alone." "A shop called Bloodworth's, across town!" "Alex." "Alex." "Alex." "Come to me, boy." "Come to me, Alex." "It's Grandfather." "Listen." "Haven't got much time." "Photograph." "Top drawer." "Fixed." "I had it done." "Perfect." "Nobody ever know." "Take it." "It's your freedom, boy." "I made arrangements." "You'll be in the orphanage." "Never look back." "Never bow your head." "Remember... all the days of your life..." "Grandfather..." "Grandfather made you white." "All set, Paris?" "Yeah." "Fine, Doug." "I'll take it from here." "What?" "You fainted." "I would not have believed it." "You've deceived us for years." "But now it's over." "You're under arrest." "Gentlemen, please." "Don't move." "We're leaving." "So..." "I beg you, gentlemen, don't move." "Get in the jeep!" "Where are we going?" "Somewhere where we can hide." "Why are you helping me?" "Because we're brothers." "This, more than anything, should demonstrate the stupidity of your racial policies." "What difference does his color make?" "He was your commander." "I ran into Dr. Reddick at Colonel Kohler's house." "Where is he?" "Where's Kohler?" "He escaped." "Ah." "We will soon have him." "Evidently, Providence has been our ally in this business, Captain." "A disease proving what we've been trying to prove for two years." "You knew two years ago?" "We suspected." "His wife had contacted Intelligence before she so mysteriously died." "She was uneasy." "Perhaps he had made a slip." "Something." "At any rate, you will assume his command." "Thank you, sir." "Now, the next step is to take Kitara." "But we have him." "No." "You only think you have him." "I have some information from sources in the native quarter that may surprise you." "Come." "Stay in there." "I'll hide the jeep." "After him!" "Captain." "Inside." "Why inside?" "He must have had a reason for being in there." "The gold, perhaps?" "Give me the light." "Colonel, look." "You were right." "But only Kitara knew where the gold was hidden." "That's what I've been trying to tell you, Captain." "Why do you think Kitara has been so hard to capture?" "Who would have thought to look for him beneath the uniform of one of one of our own officers?" "Let me go." "Let me go!" "Let me go." "Let me go!" "I will have you shot for this!" "Kitara." "Tell Captain Maxfield we will return the prisoners as soon we have finished interrogating them." "Yes, Colonel." "How long will Kohler stay black?" "About a week." "After which, both he and Maxfield will probably turn very red." "Colonel Samos!" "Yes, Captain?" "I just received a teletype." "You are to take the gold back to the capital with you."