"What's the matter, sergeant?" "Why did you pull in here?" "I'll answer your question, General Weston." "You're all impatient." "He should be here by now." "Gentlemen, General Weston is dead and buried." "Good." "General?" "Good job, Malstrom." "My plans are usually successful." "Your plastic surgery is first-rate." "I only hope that your plan is as good, Leader." "It is, Malstrom." "I know you'd like to make all the decisions." "You'd like to sit in my chair, wouldn't you?" "Maybe someday." "Over your dead body." "I doubt you'll live that long." "Now, gentlemen." "Nightfall is go." "And with Project Nightfall, we take control of the single greatest power on the face of the earth." "The United States military." "Good morning, Mr. Phelps." "Gunnar Malstrom is one of the leaders of the Pendulum, a secret terrorist organisation seeking to dominate the power centres of our country." "We have been unable to identify any other members, but we have learned that the Pendulum group is putting into action a plan code-named Nightfall, involving a major attack on our government." "Your mission, should you decide to accept it, will be to prevent this catastrophe by discovering what Nightfall is and stopping it." "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds." "Good luck, Jim." "This ring identifies the members of the Pendulum's ruling council." "Gunnar Malstrom." "Summa cum laude at Cambrian Polytechnic Institute at 22." "Brilliant and ruthless." "He's now the head of his own electronics empire." " How are you doing with him?" " Fine." "Jim, by inserting sensor wires into the upholstery of this chair, we've turned it into a highly sensitive lie detector," "measuring pulse, respiration and perspiration." "This is a mask of Allen Bock," "Malstrom's so-called secretary, and the Pendulum's top killer." "Our headquarters is ready." "Complete with guards, an alarm system and a complete monitor network." "Good." "Gunnar Malstrom's gonna be hard to convince, so we'll offer him some very attractive bait and then spring the trap." "The first move is yours, Casey." "You win again, Gunnar." "Yeah, don't feel bad." "I never lose." "Then it's true that you designed the Malstrom 12-W computer after your own mind." "But just a little less intelligent." "Yeah, you could say that." "That's a nice way of putting it." "Andrea, you're a remarkable woman." "Thank you." "You said what you want, you get." "Always?" "Yeah, always." "What would you give for real power?" "Power over men's lives?" "Power to shape the world your way?" "To play God?" "Well, in a way, to be God." "All I want right now is just a little power over one beautiful woman." "I'm very fond of you, Gunnar." "But what's more important, I approve of you." "Without realising it, you've passed a very important test." "I'd like an explanation, Andrea." "Oh, you'll get that, darling." "Tomorrow morning in your office." "From a man named Elton Howards." "You've overstepped your authority, Andrea." "I'm recruiting him." "Andrea, what is this?" "Mr. Howards will decide." "What?" " What is this?" " I'm sorry, Gunnar, I have to leave." "Why?" " Goodbye." " Andrea?" "Mr. Elton Howards to see you." "No appointment." "He said to give you this." "Better send him in." "Does your secretary attend all your private meetings?" "That's all right, Bock." "Thank you." "What do you want?" "Why did you agree to see me?" "Is this supposed to have some special significance for me?" "I'm sure that this verbal fencing won't be interesting to either one of us." " Oh, really?" "What is?" " Pendulum." "What?" "I'm interested in contacting the leadership of Pendulum, specifically through you." "I don't understand." "This Pendulum, is that some sort of group?" "A charitable organisation or fraternal order?" "You have to be more explicit, Mr. Howards." "Mr. Malstrom, we have certain very important interests." "How did you happen to come to me?" "Who sent you?" "I'm sure that Andrea spoke of me." "When you finish sparring," "I'll be at the Fieldmont." "Manny come in here, will you?" "Bock, he's staying at the Fieldmont." "Get over there on the double." "Find out what he's doing and who he's with." "Give me a call if you find out anything." "Manny, I want you to run a check on a Mr. Elton Howards." "Financial profile, business connections," " everything." " How soon do you need it?" "Yesterday." "Get on it." "Yes, sir." "I'll leave the message, sir." "Fieldmont Hotel." "One moment please." "Incoming for Mr. Howards." "Go powder your nose." "Elton?" "The Chief's arriving at headquarters this afternoon from London." "Good." "Did he bring in the data on Project Mosque?" "Supply breakdown, casualty list, and profit projections." "What about Malstrom?" "I think he'll do." "I'll bring in a full report on him." "See you at headquarters." "Thanks, kid." "Did he get it all?" "Yes, sir." "Heard every word." "Good." "No one's ever heard of Howards, where he comes from, what he does." "No business references, nothing." "The man's a ghost." "Ghost?" "Ghosts don't establish $10 million credit lines at four separate banks." "Why, the man's assets must be worth, what, 50 million, 100." "It's possible, Mr. Malstrom, the evidence indicates even more." "I can see what the evidence indicates." "I want information on the man." "Now, get on it." " Anything?" " Howards is part of an organisation." "It's international, sounds big." "They've just pulled off something called Project Mosque and they're very interested in you." " Anything specific about me?" " No, no, no, nothing specific." "I'm going to Europe tonight on our business." "I'll dig up what I can." "All right, good." "Have a good trip." "Bock's out of the way." " How did you find out?" " Never mind." "I haven't found out enough." "I wanna know who you people are and why you're interested in me." "And also, I wanna talk to this Howards again." "Well, I'm afraid that's not possible now." "Why?" "Because he's at your headquarters?" "Meeting the Chief?" "Andrea, last night you said you were recruiting me." "In a way" "I'm responsible for you." "Well, let's get it out in the open." "Who are you, and what do you want?" "Or else I don't play." "The tanks are excellent." "But we shall also require jet fighters." "There's been some discussion about the extension of oil leases." "You have bled my people dry for these weapons." "We do have other buyers." "You would hand my enemies the knife to cut my throat?" "Your filthy organisation gives me no choice." "We will talk about it later." "Very well." "I thought it was time Gunnar had a complete explanation." "Of course." "If you'll come with me, Mr. Malstrom, I'll arrange a clean table and we'll lay our cards out on it." "Have a seat for a few moments, Mr. Malstrom." "Casey?" "Bring in your book." "But he knows so little." "For now." "But he's a brilliant man." "Pretty soon, he'll start digging for the truth." "I see." "Plus the fact he's seen the inside of our headquarters." "We can't just let him walk out of here." "You mean kill him?" "Yes." "I'll call the guards." " He's on his way, Willy." " Right." "Gentlemen, shall we begin?" "We have called this international meeting today to discuss plans for future worldwide operations." "But first, I will give you a progress report on this year to date." "Our profits to date, from sale of planes, tanks, ships and minor hardware:" "114.7 million." "Project Mosque is a complete success." "The bomb planted during the Krishna Festival killed 73, mostly pilgrims." "Thus ensuring a continuance of the war." "Projections:" "Munitions, 782 million." "This is exclusive of ground-to-air missiles." "We expect deliveries in the next two months." "This should increase our munitions income considerably." "You have the detailed breakdowns in the annual report." "And forecasting famine conditions in both countries, commodity sales should continue to rise." "Gentlemen, we are fortunate." "We have an unexpected visitor." "Mr. Gunnar Malstrom from the Pendulum group." "Oh, don't be alarmed, Mr. Malstrom." "The door is locked." "Simply to make a point that you are our prisoner." "General Weston, I thought you were in Washington, sir." "I just got back, Sam." " This is Captain Adams." " Pleasure, sir." "Oh, I'm having a very important meeting today, Sam." "Here." "Please set up the library." "Four other officers." "We need coffee and sandwiches." "And complete privacy." "Yes, sir." "An hour and a half." "And Nightfall's on its way." "Listen to me, Howards." "No, Mr. Malstrom." "You listen." "The polygraph's ready." "Right." "Don't you realise that this is all just a little ridiculous?" "I'm not a sneak thief." "You broke into the viewing room and spied on a top-secret meeting." "Damn it, you people, whoever you are, you've been sniffing around me!" "I demand..." "I have a right to some explanations!" "You don't have any rights, Mr. Malstrom." "Gunnar, why didn't you wait in the office?" "Because I heard him threaten to kill me." "You were in too much of a hurry, dear." "He hasn't got the right to make that decision." "Only the Chief has." "And he hasn't yet." "Elton, we need men like Gunnar Malstrom." "And Pendulum." "I'm not interested." "Pendulum has its own plans and its own resources." "I'd suggest you apologise and let me leave." "I'm afraid we can't do that." "You see, you know too much about Project Mosque." "You mean, that I know you're planning to foment a war." "So Pendulum does know about us." "And we know about Operation Nightfall." "So Pendulum does know about us." "And we know about Operation Nightfall." "Admiral Garson's office." "He'll be able to attend the meeting." "Good." "That's all of them." "A few hours and the heads of every major U.S. military joint-services organisation will be here." "Come in." "What are you doing here?" "We've got a problem." "Malstrom." "Gunnar, please." "There must be a way we can work this out for both of us." "We can help Pendulum achieve greater industrial strength, and we both agree on the need for increased political power." "And the military." " It's military." " Stop it, Andrea." "I'm not gonna talk about Pendulum or our plans." "The building was leased through a broker by a Swiss-based holding company." "From the way I heard this Howards talk, it's an international group." "Interested in Malstrom." "And is he involved with them?" "He claimed he didn't know a thing about them." "But as soon as he thought I was out of the country he headed straight for the place with the girl." "We can't take chances now." "Find Malstrom." "And bring him out?" "No." "Kill him." "An alliance between Pendulum and your organisation?" "That's fantasy." "Gunnar, is it so unbelievable?" "Our only concern is unnecessary conflict." "Your plan is blocking ours." "We know that you're planning a military coup." "You don't know a thing." "You can't." "Gunnar, we've picked up information ranging from collusion and bribery to assassination." "And they're all dangerous areas." "We're close." "Who would they aim at?" "The chief of staff?" "President?" "Don't be stupid." "Give Malstrom credit for more brains than that." "I would say it's a less obvious target." "Perhaps somebody in planning or intelligence." "And perhaps Santa Claus." "This is absurd." "Is it, Malstrom?" "Military intelligence and an assassination." "I'll get Barney the names of military intelligence people." "Three minutes." "Then when you activate the switch, we'll have plenty of time to get out." "How violent will the blast be?" "Oh, we'll be safe outside." "It'll just gut the room and kill everybody inside." "We've researched a number of possible military leaders." "General Davies." "Admiral Garson." "Possibly the Air Force." "General Billings." "Or General Weston." "Howards, please." "It's General Weston." "Chairman of the Joint Services Intelligence Staff." "It's not a joke, Malstrom." "Elton, that's enough." "I'm sure the Chief has enough information now to make his decision about you, Gunnar." "I agree." "What does that mean?" "What are you gonna do?" "Nothing." "Just yet." "The final decision is up to the Chief." "Six seconds." "Whoever your Chief is, he certainly values promptness." "Come in." "Who are you?" "I'm happy to meet you, Mr. Malstrom." "I assume you have some idea of our purpose?" "All I know is that you deal in wars and that you call yourself "Chief."" "Chief?" "Does a code name bother you?" "Because you may call me" "Mr. Smith or Mr. Jones or Mr. Waslowsky or whatever you prefer." "I don't deal in labels, I deal in reality." "The threefold nature of power:" "men, money, time." "But the first necessity is the right man." "And what am I right for?" "Our acquisition of Pendulum." "Your accession to real power." "That's funny." "I think of myself as already powerful." "Really?" "Yes, perhaps, in a way." "Our organisation is currently engaged in achieving industrial control of the United States." "Just like that?" "We already control the gold through our European and Asian groups." "We've placed politicians, bought unions, managed control of several major financial combines." "And now we face trouble." "Why?" "Because Pendulum is creating such a disturbance, the government is investigating every possible threat, including us." "Yes, you have power, Mr. Malstrom." "The power to cause difficulty." "We have our own plans." "Yes." "Stupid." "This latest thing, Nightfall, military assassination," "General Weston, absolute madness." "How do you know about that?" "Only our council knows about that." "Don't be naive." "We know a great deal." "Our leader insists on strict security." "Your leader?" "Yes, your leader." "How would you describe him?" "Arrogant." "Egotistical." "And incompetent." "Let me be explicit, Mr. Malstrom." "We want Pendulum, we do not want your leader." "We want you to take over control of our total operation in this hemisphere." "Why should I?" "I overheard your threats to kill me." "But if you do, Pendulum will know about it." "We never kill, except for profit." "We want you to control Pendulum for us." " The Leader?" " We will eliminate him." "For a price." "You will join us, you will call off Nightfall." "No." "I can't call off Nightfall, it's too far along." "Anyway, I don't buy all of this." "At least, not without more proof." "If I even tried to cross Pendulum, I'd be a dead man." "How do I know you'd protect me?" "Very well." "You have time to think the matter over, but not very much." "By tomorrow morning, you'll be with us, or you'll be dead." " Gunnar..." " Andrea." "He's tough and he's stubborn." "Yes, and I learned something." "We don't have much time." "Nightfall is happening soon and he's the only one who knows the exact time." "We have to get it out of him." "All right, Casey, phase two." "I'll arrange for the breakout and the killing." "Good." "I'll take it from the other end." "Keep me briefed through the micro-receiver." "Now, remember, we must make sure that Malstrom gets a clear look at you as Bock." "And what about the voice?" "Will I have to do that?" "No." "Just be sure he sees you" "and this gun before you start shooting." "Several Pendulum killings have been traced to this type of weapon." "Okay, so I rescue Malstrom." "Right, then you shoot one of the guards." "What if Malstrom starts asking me any questions?" "Don't worry, Willy will kill you." "Using blood-capsule bullets, of course." "What about the guards?" "They'll be using real bullets." "So Willy will be the only one shooting at you." " You got it?" " Right." "Why, Gunnar?" "You could have had anything." "You think I'd betray my own group?" " No." " And I recommended you, so I'll be in trouble." "And you'll be dead." "They wouldn't dare kill me, Andrea." "I'm sorry, Gunnar, for a lot of reasons." "Maybe the Chief will arrange an accident for you." "Or maybe he'll just let you loose and let your own group do the killing." " Pendulum?" " Gunnar, don't you think they know you're involved with me?" "That you've vanished into our headquarters?" "Gunnar, you're one of the ruling council at Pendulum." "You tell me, do you think they wouldn't kill you?" "Even on suspicion?" "Oh, Gunnar." "What is it?" "We're making arrangements for a cell." "And the Chief wants to see you, Andrea." "I wanna have a little talk with your Chief." "He didn't ask for you." " Tell him." " Shut up." "Malstrom's ready to be moved." "A car will pick you up at the south entrance shortly." " You'll be notified." " Right." "We'll move as soon as Jim checks in." "So you see, sir, we don't know the extent of the plan, only that it's very serious and that you are definitely involved." "Well, this is a shocker, Mr. Grayson." "Mr. Grayson's credentials are all in order, sir." "And very impressive." "Perhaps, sir, Mr. Grayson can sit in on the meeting?" " The meeting?" " Yes, this afternoon." "Top-secret, but your credentials are adequate." "That's Jim." "I'll bring the car around." "You can sit here, and help us out with this assassination plan." "Thank you, sir." "Right in here, sir." " Davies, good to see you." " Sir." " Mr. Grayson." "State." " How do you do, sir?" "General." "Gentlemen." "Good, now we can begin." "You'll be able to see Malstrom and the others perfectly from the ramp area." "But they won't see you until you start shooting." "Don't worry." "Malstrom will identify Bock as the man who's rescuing him." "And, gentlemen, we have to face the facts." "There has been a continuing deterioration in our foreign-base security." "From our reports, particularly in the European theatre." " Where are you taking me?" " To a safe place." "In there." "It's Bock." "Are you okay?" "Cover Bock." "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm all right." "He's heading for General Weston's house, where the meeting is." "Right." "Gunnar Malstrom to see General Weston." "Tell him it's urgent." "And our most serious problem is the surveillance of Soviet submarines at Petropavlovsk." "Yes?" "Oh, I see." "Thank you, Sam." "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir." "He will be with you in a minute, sir." "I have some key data on that submarine problem, Lyman." "I think perhaps we should discuss all the data, captain." "We were working on the problem earlier." "If you'll excuse us for a moment." "Oh, we'll discuss your information when we return, Mr. Grayson." "Certainly, general." "We can talk in here." "What are you doing here, Malstrom?" "Something unexpected came up." "I was taken prisoner by a secret international organisation." "Something called World Resources Unlimited." "They're bigger and they're more powerful than Pendulum." "They know about our plans." " Including about me?" " Yes." "That can't be General Weston." "They planted a double." "And they know about Project Nightfall." "If we carry it through, they're going to destroy us." "And what do you advise, Malstrom?" "That we call Nightfall off?" "Absolutely." "At least until we can contact these people, learn more about them." "I think you've learned enough." "To join them against us, against Pendulum." "And it's too late now Malstrom." "The bomb's already set." "It's only a matter of seconds now." "Well, we've gotta stop it." "I'm more concerned with the budgetary problems and the political reactions." "I think you gentlemen have the research." "Jim, Weston's a phoney." "The assassination plan is aimed at everybody at that meeting." "There's a bomb in that room." "Everybody get out of here!" "Get down, it's a bomb!"