Or had Dr. Andros forgotten he was arriving? That was hard to imagine, since he had talked with her just before he left Cambridge. One thing you had to say for her, she never forgot appointments. Strange.
No helicopter. No pilot. Damned peculiar. He had no alternative but to phone Dr. Andros on her private line.
He walked over to the booth near the entrance to the terminal lobby and got some drachmas. Then he located a pay phone and placed the call.
She answered on the first ring. Good.
"Cally, what in blazes is going on down there?" He tried to open the conversation as diplomatically as he knew how. "I'm here, sitting on my butt in the Athens airport, as though I had nothing else to do. I don't see Alex anywhere. Or the Agusta. You're going to have to get rid of that boy if this happens again. Where in hell are they?"
A long uncomfortable pause ensued, and it sounded as though she was listening to someone else. Finally she answered in a shaky voice.
"Dr. Mannheim, it's been a very long night here. Maybe you—"
"Well, how did the power-up go? I need to go over the data with Georges right away."
"Dr. Mannheim, maybe—" The phone seemed to go dead. Then she came back on. "The Mark II is temporarily out of service. Can you take the ferry?"
"What! You know perfectly well that damned thing only runs once a week. And that was yesterday. Now what about the Agusta?"