I'll be ...," Paul began. He looked down at the weapon in surprise.
"Noiseless and recoilless. What caliber is it, Derek, and what's the
muzzle velocity?"

"We call it the .38 Noiseless," Stevens said. "It has the punch of that
.44 Magnum you're presently carrying."

With a fluid motion Paul Koslov produced the .44 Magnum from the holster
under his left shoulder and tossed it to one side. "That's the last time
I tote that cannon," he said. He balanced the new gun in his hand in
admiration. "Have the front sight taken off for me, Derek, and the fore
part of the trigger guard. I need a quick draw gun." He added absently,
"How did you know I carried a .44?"

Stevens said, "You're rather famous, Koslov. The Colonel Lawrence of the
Cold War. The journalists are kept from getting very much about you, but
what they do learn they spread around."

Paul Koslov said flatly, "Why don't you like me, Stevens? In this game I
don't appreciate people on our team who don't like me. It's dangerous."

Derek Stevens flushed. "I didn't say I didn't like you."

"You didn't have to."

"It's nothing personal," Stevens said.

Paul Koslov looked at him.

Stevens said, "I don't approve of Americans committing political
assassinations."

Paul Koslov grinned wolfishly and without humor. "You'll have a hard
time proving that even our cloak and dagger department has ever
authorized assassination, Stevens. By the way, I'm not an American."

Derek Stevens was not the type of man whose jaw dropped, but he blinked.
"Then what are you?"

"A Russian," Paul snapped. "And look, Stevens, we're busy now, but when
you've got some time to do a little thinking, consider the ethics of
warfare."

Stevens was flushed again at the tone. "Ethics of warfare?"

"There aren't any," Paul Koslov snapped. "There hasn't been chivalry in
war for a long time, and there probably never will be again. Neither
side can afford it. And I'm talking about cold war as well as hot." He
scowled at the other. "Or did you labor under the illusion that only the
Commies had tough operators on their side?"

* * * * *

Paul Koslov crossed the Atlantic in a supersonic TU-180 operated by
Europa Airways. That in itself galled him. It was bad enough that the
Commies had stolen a march on the West with the first jet liner to go
into mass production, the TU-104 back in 1957. By the time the United
States brought out its first really practical trans-A