Free At Sword's Point by Katherine Kurtz, Scott MacMillan Page B

ready. Halting a few paces in front of him, he snapped to attention and, raising his sword to his face, saluted the one-eyed soldier.
    Seated on a quiet white stallion at the far end of the arena, Kluge watched with satisfaction as Scharführer Baumann put the younger man through the paces of sword drill. Only the soft purring of the telephone on the wall eventually distracted him from the lesson.
    Almost imperceptibly, Kluge shifted his weight in the saddle, then pressed his left leg against the side of his horse, just forward of the girth. The Lipizzan responded at once, turning smoothly on its haunches. Kluge gave a gentle squeeze to the stallion's flanks, and it trotted obediently along the side of the riding school in the direction of the phone. With just the gentlest pressure on the reins,
    Kluge halted his mount within arm's reach of the still-purring instrument and took if in a gloved hand.
    "Kluge here."
    On the other end of the line, Dornberger's mouth went dry, and he had to clear his throat before speaking.
    "Herr Sturmbannführer, I think I may have another candidate for you."
    Kluge listened intently for a few minutes, and after thanking Dornberger, replaced the telephone receiver on its cradle. Turning his horse toward the center of the riding school, he brought his heels back into its flanks while releasing the pressure on the reins. The horse responded to the rider's command and went immediately into an elegant passage, floating in midair between each extended stride.
    Touching the reins, Kluge halted the white horse in front of Baumann. The one-eyed warrior snapped to attention, saluting his master. Kluge returned the salute with a nod.
    "We may have a new postulant at Wewelsberg," Kluge said, reaching down to pat his horse on the neck.
    "I will see to it at once, Hochmeister ," Baumann said, a tight smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
    Kluge sat back in his saddle and, without another word, trotted out of the riding school and into the warm afternoon sun.
    * * * *
    The painting of the sad-eyed clown kept slipping out of focus. Drummond tried to concentrate on the saccharine figure of the circus hobo, but found that his head kept slipping down onto his chest. From what seemed to be a long way off, he heard the sound of men talking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, using all the strength he could muster, he managed to rotate his head enough to see the four men sitting by the door of the cheap motel room. Squinting, Drummond recognized three of them.
    Trostler and Meier had their backs to the door, drinking coffee, while the third Israeli "diplomat" sat hunched over the table deep in conversation with another, much older, man.
    "Hey, Gluckman. I think our boy's coming to," Meier said, as he watched Drummond's head roll back onto his chest.
    The short man in the tan suit stood up from the table and walked over to where Drummond was bound to the chair with silvery duct tape. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small black case and, unzipping it, produced a disposable syringe filled with a pale pink fluid.
    Drummond vaguely felt the needle jab into the vein in his forearm and in a distracted way watched as Gluckman slowly injected the stimulant into his system.
    "How long?" Trostler asked.
    "About three minutes. I could have given him more, but I doubt he'd be able to survive the systemic shock of coming out that fast. He'll feel bad enough, as it is." Finished with the injection, Gluckman stood up and put the syringe back in its case.
    Drummond could feel the stimulant burning its way up his arm as it worked its way into his circulatory system. There was a loud rushing sound hammering at his brain as the drug dragged him from his torpor and slapped him into consciousness. As Drummond regained his senses, he was aware of a pungent, nearly sweet smell that seemed to cling to him like the cold wet seat of the chair he was taped to. His mind clearing, Drummond realized that he was